Lithium : old & new uses in medicine

Lithium has been used in psychiatry since 1949, and since the mid 1960s its use has escalated until it is estimated that about 500,000 patients receive it world-wide. During the last decade a new phase of interest in lithium has begun. Lithium is being used with beneficial effects as a treatment in other health related problems unrelated to psychiatry.peer-reviewe

Development of Empathy

The research of this project will revolve around how empathy develops in younger children and teenagers. The final product is a pamphlet discussing the benefits of empathy and suggest means of fostering it. The pamphlet will be directed towards the teachers, mentors, parents and anyone who works with children. The goal of the product is to help increase knowledge of how to support the development of empathy

If the divide between politicians and the public is to be bridged, we need better understanding on both sides

Over recent years, the relationship between members of the public and the democratic process has fallen into serious disrepair. To an extent, this is to do with perceptions of the ethics of politicians, but it is also to do with politicians communications techniques, particularly in interviews. Sarah Birch and Nicholas Allen argue that a greater degree of understanding is required on both sides of the divide if the problem is to be overcome

The Rochester by-election highlights a pervasive ‘anti-politics’ mood in the UK

The result in the Rochester and Strood by-election makes clear that many are looking to Westminster and venting their dissatisfaction with what they perceive to be a distant, unresponsive and dishonest political class. The anger underpinning UKIP support is a product of the particular performance of the governing and opposition parties’ in the current economic climate as well as the perceived failings with mainstream politics more generally, argue Nicholas Allen and Sarah Birch

‘Post-truth’ politics are a debasement of standards in public life

Verbal dexterity, inconsistency and ‘spin’ are part and parcel of normal politics but the exaggerations and distortions of the EU referendum campaign has led to concerns about ‘post-truth’ politics. Nicholas Allen and Sarah Birch write there is a need for someone to provide a moral lead, and argue the Committee for Standards in Public Life could play a valuable role by establishing some relevant basic markers

Iwaidja Jurtbirrk songs: bringing language and music together

Song brings language and music together. Great singers are at once musi- cians and wordsmiths, who toss rhythm, melody and word against one another in complex cross-play. In this paper we outline some initial findings that are emerg- ing from our interdisciplinary study of the musical traditions of the Cobourg region of western Arnhem Land, a coastal area situated in the far north of the Australian continent 350 kilometres northeast of Darwin. We focus on a set of songs called Jurtbirrk, sung in Iwaidja, a highly endangered language, whose core speaker base is now located in the community of Minjilang on Croker Island. We bring to bear analytical methodologies from both musicology and linguistics to illuminate this hitherto undocumented genre of love songs.Volkswagen Foundation’s Documentation of Endangered Languages (DOBES) programm

Identification of Novel Pesticides for Use against Glasshouse Invertebrate Pests in UK Tomatoes and Peppers

To inform current and future pesticide availability to glasshouse vegetable growers, the current project trialled more than twenty products, including existing industry standards, against four key pests of glasshouse tomatoes and bell peppers. These included experimental conventional chemical pesticides as well as alternative biopesticide and biorational products based on phytochemicals, microbials and physically-acting substances. The results suggest that certain biopesticide products, particularly botanicals, provide good levels of pest control, with the same being true of experimental conventional chemical pesticides not yet recommended for use against these pests on these crops. Efforts are on-going to ensure that results of the current project translate to industry benefit via new pesticide approvals

Amplitude modulation of solar p-modes by surface magnetic fields

Context.It is known from Doppler velocity measurements that the amplitudes of solar p-modes are modulated by strong photospheric magnetic field. Aims.The aim of this paper is to investigate amplitude modulation by model surface magnetic fields. Methods.Linearised magnetohydrodynamics equations, in the absence of gravity, are used to derive the inhomogeneous wave equation which is then solved using the Born Approximation. Results.The amount of modulation depends on the plasma beta, the distance from the magnetic region and the wavenumber. It is also found that the direction of observation could also have an effect on the amount of modulation. Finally, the applicability of the findings to the observational data suggests that the modulation depends on the properties of the magnetic field region and measuring it is an un-contaminating probe for the magnetic field