Longevity of blanket forts as a measure of caregiver distress during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic

The Journal of Imaginary Research responded to the crisis many academics during the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic by offering a call-out for a special edition of 'Imaginary Research' and fantastical author biographies. This comedic short fiction piece takes the form of a scientific journal article, but the research is, as the title suggests, imaginary

Evaluation Within UK Trusts and Foundations : Practice, Use and Challenges

This report presents a picture of evaluation within primarily larger trusts and foundations in the UK. It is based on the findings of an online survey completed by 34 trusts and foundations – 94% of whom awarded grants of more than £1m in 2013/14.The survey was designed to address a need for information about the positioning, resourcing and uses of evaluation in trusts and foundations which was highlighted at the inaugural convening of the UK Evaluation Roundtable in March 2014.Specifically, the survey aimed to:Understand the range of evaluative activities that trusts and foundations are undertaking and how these activities are being organised and invested in.Explore perceptions about how well trusts and foundations are making use of evaluative information to inform their work.Explore the challenges that trusts and foundations are facing in relation to their evaluation practices

Prostitution and Sex Work: Situating Ireland’s New Law on Prostitution in the Radical and Liberal Feminist Paradigms

Several distinct ideologies have emerged from feminist theory. However, insofar as feminist ideologies differ, they agree in their recognition that women are essentially oppressed. It is in their explanation as to why oppression occurs and how they propose to combat it that differences arise. Competing ideological perspectives and consequent views on issues such as prostitution and sex work have splintered feminist thinking for decades. This paper discusses the two dominant feminist positions, liberal feminism and radical feminism and reviews their differing perspectives which are especially influential in the Irish prostitution and sex work debate. In exploring these perspectives, we will address defining positions in the debate, such as prostitution is a form of violence in and of itself versus the proposition that prostitution is a form of paid work freely entered into and chosen like any other career. In this paper we will also briefly touch on the ideas of survival and the personal agency of women and the relationship between prostitution and sex trafficking. Finally, we will give a brief outline of the Irish Government’s recent legislation on prostitution, passed on 14th February 2017, in the context of the ‘Nordic Model’ on which it is based

The Modified McGoon Index does not Predict Mortality in Infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Background: Infants diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) continue to have a high mortality despite medical advances such as inhaled nitric oxide (iNO), high frequency ventilation (HFV) and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The mortality in some studies exceeds 80%. The modified McGoon index (MMI), a ratio of pulmonary artery size to aortic size has been reported to predict survivability in these infants: infants with a MMI ≤ 1.3 have an 85% mortality: (Pediatr 2000;105:1106). Objective: To evaluate the utility of MMI in predicting mortality in our population. Design/Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all infants with CDH admitted to the University of New Mexico NICU between January 2000 and November 2002. All available echocardiograms were reviewed by a single pediatric cardiologist blinded to the outcome of the infants, and the MMI was calculated (LPA + RPA/ Ao). The following information was also recorded from each infants record: gestational age, birth weight, Apgar scores, need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the delivery room, length of hospital stay, days of ventilation, use of high frequency ventilation, use of iNO, use of ECMO and survival to discharge. Results: Eighteen infants with CDH were admitted; echocardiograms were available for 15. MMI ranged from .06 to 2.37 in the 15 infants. Seven infants died and 8 survived to discharge. There was no significant difference in birth weight between groups (lived (L): 3151 ± 203; died (D): 2735 ± 186 grams, mean ± SE), gestational age (L: 38.3 ± .4; D: 38.3 ± 1.1), CPR in delivery room (L: 1/8; D: 3/7). Infants who died had lower 5-minute Apgar scores (L: 7.1± .5; D: 4.8 ± .7, p\u3c 0.05). A greater number of infants who died received ECMO. There were no differences between groups in the number of infants on HFV or iNO. An MMI of ≤ 1.3 did not predict death in our patient population: mortality in patients with an MMI ≤ 1.3 was 46% (6 of 13 infants), while mortality in patients with MMI 65 1.3 was 50% (1 of 2 infants). Conclusion: MMI ≤ 1.3 did not predict mortality in our population.\u2

the Reproductive Priming Effect Revisited: Mate Poaching, Mate Copying, Or Both?.

According to the reproductive priming effect, an individual who enters into a romantic relationship tends to see an increase in admirers. To further understand the mechanisms underlying this effect and its relationship with mate poaching and copying, 560 undergraduates were asked to report their experiences of being a romantic target (i.e., experiencing more admirers when in a new relationship) or an admirer (having greater attraction for someone in a relationship). Over two thirds of respondents noticed this increase in admirers, and approximately half reported being more attracted to a person who recently entered a new relationship. Many of the responses indicated that this increased interest was a result of “jealousy” and reported that they wanted what they couldn\u27t have. Behavioral changes were varied and correlated only weakly with the effect (both as admirer and target), which suggests that the attraction is mainly due to the target’s relationship status. Men were found to be seeking out other opportunities when in a new relationship, indicating a unique mating strategy

If you leave, don\u27t leave now: The role of gender, sociosexuality, and fear of being single on desire to engage in breakup sex

Experiencing a romantic breakup is often a complicated and emotional experience, and in many cases, this emotional ambivalence leads to people having “breakup sex” with their ex-partners. To better understand this complicated relationship stage, we sampled 987 single adults to understand how individual differences in sociosexuality and fear of being single predict one\u27s desire to have breakup sex and previous breakup sex experience. We observed that both men and women who reported more unrestricted sociosexual orientations reported greater desire for breakup sex. However, women—but not men—who reported greater fear of being single reported a greater desire for breakup sex. Lastly, those who reported a more unrestricted sociosexual orientation were more likely to have had breakup sex in the past. Results suggest that both men\u27s and women\u27s desire for casual sex impacts engagement in breakup sex and that women\u27s desire is also motivated by their fear of being single

PRS4 ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TUBERCULOSIS AMONG TB PATIENTS IN NORTH EAST LIBYA

Monthly newsletter with updates on events on the Boston University Medical Campus

Decisional support for young people who self-harm: protocol for a feasibility trial

Introduction: Self-harm is common in adolescents and it is the strongest predictor of suicide. Young people who self-harm are often unsure of how and where to get help. Decision aids (DA) have been shown to help with decisional conflict where there is uncertainty around different options. We have developed an online DA to support young people in help-seeking for self-harm. A feasibility trial will examine the acceptability of the online intervention, and the ability to recruit and follow-up participants within a school setting. Methods and Analysis: In this parallel arm, single blind feasibility trial, 60 participants aged 12-18 years who have self-harmed in the past 12 months, will be randomised to either: 1) a group receiving the online DA or 2) a control group receiving general information about feelings and emotions. Both groups will complete measures assessing decision-making and help-seeking behaviour. The school counsellor will be notified of any participants who have been randomised to ensure safeguarding for the young person. Participants in both groups will be followed up at 4-weeks and the measures will be repeated. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with a subset of participants to explore their views and experiences of the DA and of participation in the study. Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval was granted by King’s College London (KCL) College Research Ethics Committee. Results of this study will help to clarify if we can recruit and administer an online decisional support intervention within a school setting for young people who self-harm. The study will inform the design and implementation of a larger randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of the DA. Dissemination of the study findings will target publication in peer-reviewed journals of general and special interest. The funder will be sent a report outlining the major findings of the study

Web-based decision-aid to assist help-seeking choices for young people who self-harm: outcomes from a randomised controlled feasibility trial

Background: Adolescents who self-harm are often unsure how or where to get help. We developed a web-based personalised decision aid (DA), designed to support young people in decision-making about seeking help for their self-harm. Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the DA intervention and the randomised controlled trial (RCT) in a school setting. Methods: We conducted a 2-group, single blind, randomised controlled feasibility trial in a school setting. Participants aged 12-18 years who reported self-harm in the past 12 months were randomised to either a web-based DA or to general information about mood and feelings. Feasibility of recruitment, randomisation and follow-up rates were assessed, as was acceptability of the intervention and study procedures. Descriptive data were collected on outcome measures examining decision-making and help-seeking behaviour. Qualitative interviews were conducted with young people, parents/carers and staff, and subjected to thematic analysis to explore their views of the DA and study processes. Results: Parental consent was a significant barrier to young people participating in the trial, with only 208 (18%) of the 1,164 parent/guardians contacted for consent responding to study invitations. Where parental consent was obtained, we were able to recruit 82% (n=170) of young people into the study. Of those young people screened, 14% (n=23) had self-harmed in the past year. Ten participants were randomised to receiving the DA and 13 were randomised to the control group. Four-week follow-up assessments were completed with all participants. The DA had good acceptability but qualitative interviews suggested that a DA that addressed broader mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and self-harm may be more beneficial. Conclusions: A broad-based mental health DA addressing a wide range of psychosocial problems may be useful for young people. The requirement for parental consent is a key barrier to intervention research on self-harm in the school setting. Adaptations to the research design and/or the intervention are needed before generalisable research about DAs can be successfully conducted in a school setting