Healthy early years settings: a scoping study

This briefing paper considers the diversity in early years provision. It was produced for the Healthy Early Years study, which was funded by the Department of Health, to help inform decisions about extending the Healthy Schools Programme approach to early years settings. The paper focuses on childcare and early education provision for children aged from birth to five years: maintained and private nursery schools, Sure Start local programmes, children's centres, day nurseries, pre-school playgroups and childminders. An overview of the relevant issues and of the distinguishing features of each type of setting is provided

Hatching Strategies in Monogenean (Platyhelminth) Parasites that Facilitate Host Infection

In parasites, environmental cues may influence hatching of eggs and enhance the success of infections. The two major endoparasitic groups of parasitic platyhelminths, cestodes (tapeworms) and digeneans (flukes), typically have high fecundity, infect more than one host species, and transmit trophically. Monogeneans are parasitic flatworms that are among the most host specific of all parasites. Most are ectoparasites with relatively low fecundity and direct life cycles tied to water. They infect a single host species, usually a fish, although some are endoparasites of amphibians and aquatic chelonian reptiles. Monogenean eggs have strong shells and mostly release ciliated larvae, which, against all odds, must find, identify, and infect a suitable specific host. Some monogeneans increase their chances of finding a host by greatly extending the hatching period (possible bet-hedging). Others respond to cues for hatching such as shadows, chemicals, mechanical disturbance, and osmotic changes, most of which may be generated by the host. Hatching may be rhythmical, larvae emerging at times when the host is more vulnerable to invasion, and this may be combined with responses to other environmental cues. Different monogenean species that infect the same host species may adopt different strategies of hatching, indicating that tactics may be more complex than first thought. Control of egg assembly and egg-laying, possibly by host hormones, has permitted colonization of frogs and toads by polystomatid monogeneans. Some monogeneans further improve the chances of infection by attaching eggs to the host or by retaining eggs on, or in, the body of the parasite. The latter adaptation has led ultimately to viviparity in gyrodactylid monogeneans

Discursive constructions of youth cancer: findings from creative methods research with healthy young people

Purpose: As part of work to understand the experiences of young people who had cancer we were keen to examine the perspectives of peers who share their social worlds. Our study aimed to examine how cancer in young people, young people with cancer, and young cancer survivors are represented through language, metaphor, and performance. Methods: We generated data using creative activities and focus group discussions with three high school drama classes, and used Foucauldian discourses analysis to identify the discursive constructions of youth cancer. Results: Our analysis identified two prevailing discursive constructions: youth cancer as an inevitable decline towards death and as overwhelming personhood by reducing the young person with cancer to ‘cancer victim’. Conclusions: If we are to understand life after cancer treatment and how to support young people who have been treated for cancer, we need a sophisticated understanding of the social contexts they return to. Discourses shape the way young people talk and think about youth cancer; cancer as an inevitable decline towards death and as overwhelming personhood are key discursive constructions that young people draw on when a friend discloses cancer. Implications for cancer survivors: The way cancer is constructed shapes how friends react to and relate to a young person with cancer. These constructions are likely to shape challenging social dynamics, such as bullying, that many young cancer survivors experience. 2 Awareness of these discursive constructions can better equip young cancer survivors, their family and health professionals, negotiate life after cancer. Keywords: cancer; survivorship; return to school; young people; representations; discourse analysis; creative methodsAustralian Research Council’s Linkage Projects funding scheme (Project Number LP0883632

Manifesto on Art, Design and Social Science - Method as Speculative Event.

Proposes that techniques from art and design can be used within social science research as part of a speculative methodology. Provides a set of heuristic principles for speculative method, characterizing it as processual, performative, playful, promising and propositional. Keywords: speculative, method, art, design, social science, researchn/

Australian’s Knowledge and Perceptions of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genome Testing

Background: As direct-to-consumer personal genome testing (DTC-PGT) is increasingly available in Australia, knowledge of Australian’s perceptions and attitudes towards his technology is needed in order to assess the (potential) impact it might have on the Australian public and health care system. Aims: To explore the knowledge and perceptions of direct-to-consumer personal genome testing (DTC-PGT) in an Australian sample. Methods: An online survey asking about knowledge and perceptions of DTC-PGT, undertaken between October 2011 and April 2012, of 270 Australian residents. Results were analysed using SAS. Results: Our study found limited consumer knowledge of, and interest in pursuing DTC-PGT in Australia. 93% of respondents correctly identified DTC-PGT as available to consumers directly, but only 40% correctly identified its availability in Australia. When asked about the content and value of the information DTC-PGT provides, the majority of respondents indentified that DTC-PGT could provide information about one’s health and/or ancestry (82% and 74%). Additionally, respondents indicated they believed this information to be equally important as non-genetic information about one’s ancestry and health. Conclusion: While few respondents expressed an intention to pursue DTC-PGT (27%), the majority of people, irrespective of whether they wished to pursue it or not, believed that genetic information was as important as non-genetic information in regards to their health and their ancestry. The value ascribed to genetic information suggests genetics plays a role in people’s lives and at this time, further qualitative research could explore the ways in which people might use and understand the genetic information provided by DTC-PGT. Keywords: predictive genetic testing, consumer health information, ethical issues, survey methodolog

Manifesto on Art, Design and Social Science - Method as Speculative Event.

Proposes that techniques from art and design can be used within social science research as part of a speculative methodology. Provides a set of heuristic principles for speculative method, characterizing it as processual, performative, playful, promising and propositional. Keywords: speculative, method, art, design, social science, researchn/

Parents as Advocates for the Psychosocial Survival of Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer

Many young people with cancer have a parent or parents who care for them during their hospitalisation and treatment, and remain an important part of their lives after the ‘crisis’ has passed and young people have moved into survivorship. This qualitative study explored the impact of cancer diagnosis, treatment and survival during adolescence and young adulthood on the practice and experiences of parenting. We conducted focus groups with a total of 22 parents of young people diagnosed with various cancers between the ages of 11 and 19 years old. The results indicated that parents advocated for their offspring in different ways at different points of the cancer journey. Parents used their parental knowledge of their offspring to secure a medical diagnosis and treatment, developed medical knowledge to advocate for appropriate treatment within the medical system, and then used parental and medical knowledge to advocate for their offspring’s successful psychosocial survival. In this final point in the journey, parents entered social worlds from which they would normally be absent and some went to great lengths to ensure their offspring were not socially disadvantaged. Key Words: Adolescent, Young Adult, Parent, CancerAustralian Research Council's Linkage Projects funding scheme (project number LP0883632

Thinking beyond the hybrid:“actually-existing” cities “after neoliberalism” in Boyle <i>et al.</i>

In their article, ‘The spatialities of actually existing neoliberalism in Glasgow, 1977 to present’, Mark Boyle, Christopher McWilliams and Gareth Rice (2008) usefully problematise our current understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Our response is aimed at developing a sympathetic but critical approach to Boyle et al's understanding of neoliberal urbanism as illustrated by the Glasgow example. In particular, the counterposing by Boyle et al of a 'hybrid, mutant' model to a 'pure' model of neoliberalism for us misrepresents existing models of neoliberalism as a perfectly finished object rather than a roughly mottled process. That they do not identify any ‘pure’ model leads them to create a straw construct against which they can claim a more sophisticated, refined approach to the messiness of neoliberal urbanism. In contrast, we view neoliberalism as a contested and unstable response to accumulation crises at various scales of analysis

Functional specialization of transcription elongation factors

Elongation factors NusG and RfaH evolved from a common ancestor and utilize the same binding site on RNA polymerase (RNAP) to modulate transcription. However, although NusG associates with RNAP transcribing most Escherichia coli genes, RfaH regulates just a few operons containing ops, a DNA sequence that mediates RfaH recruitment. Here, we describe the mechanism by which this specificity is maintained. We observe that RfaH action is indeed restricted to those several operons that are devoid of NusG in vivo. We also show that RfaH and NusG compete for their effects on transcript elongation and termination in vitro. Our data argue that RfaH recognizes its DNA target even in the presence of NusG. Once recruited, RfaH remains stably associated with RNAP, thereby precluding NusG binding. We envision a pathway by which a specialized regulator has evolved in the background of its ubiquitous paralogue. We propose that RfaH and NusG may have opposite regulatory functions: although NusG appears to function in concert with Rho, RfaH inhibits Rho action and activates the expression of poorly translated, frequently foreign genes