Review of Social Work Education : To What Extent Should Social Work Education have a Stronger Focus on Community Development and Engagement?

How is community development and community engagement currently taught within social work programmes in Scotland? How might this be strengthened across existing programmes as a means to support implementation of current Scottish Government policies around strong, resilient and supportive communities? What role do social workers adopt in community development and engagement in other countries and how is this supported by their education and training

A meta-analysis of the impact of traffic-related air pollution on health and the factors affecting exposure

ISSN 1743-354

The Predictive Value of Exercise Testing and Invasive Assessment Post-Myocardial Infarction Following Treatment With Thrombolysis

Introduction: The introductory chapters describe the use of thrombolytic therapy in the treatment of myocardial infarction and discuss the usefulness of exercise testing post-myocardial infarction in the pre and post-thrombolytic eras

Pathfinder cells provide a novel therapeutic intervention for acute kidney injury

Pathfinder cells (PCs) are a novel class of adult-derived cells that facilitate functional repair of host tissue. We used rat PCs to demonstrate that they enable the functional mitigation of ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury in a mouse model of renal damage. Female C57BL/6 mice were subjected to 30 min of renal ischemia and treated with intravenous (i.v.) injection of saline (control) or male rat pancreas-derived PCs in blinded experimentation. Kidney function was assessed 14 days after treatment by measuring serum creatinine (SC) levels. Kidney tissue was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for markers of cellular damage, proliferation, and senescence (TUNEL, Ki67, p16ink4a, p21). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to determine the presence of any rat (i.e., pathfinder) cells in the mouse tissue. PC-treated animals demonstrated superior renal function at day 14 post-I/R, in comparison to saline-treated controls, as measured by SC levels (0.13 mg/dL vs. 0.23 mg/dL, p<0.001). PC-treated kidney tissue expressed significantly lower levels of p16ink4a in comparison to the control group (p=0.009). FISH analysis demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of repaired kidney tissue was mouse in origin. Rat PCs were only detected at a frequency of 0.02%. These data confirm that PCs have the ability to mitigate functional damage to kidney tissue following I/R injury. Kidneys of PC-treated animals showed evidence of improved function and reduced expression of damage markers. The PCs appear to act in a paracrine fashion, stimulating the host tissue to recover functionally, rather than by differentiating into renal cells. This study demonstrates that pancreatic-derived PCs from the adult rat can enable functional repair of renal damage in mice. It validates the use of PCs to regenerate damaged tissues and also offers a novel therapeutic intervention for repair of solid organ damage in situ

Optimizing Reliability of Digital Inclinometer and Flexicurve Ruler Measures of Spine Curvatures in Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis of the Spine: An Illustration of the Use of Generalizability Theory

The study illustrates the application of generalizability theory (G-theory) to identify measurement protocols that optimize reliability of two clinical methods for assessing spine curvatures in women with osteoporosis. Triplicate measures of spine curvatures were acquired for 9 postmenopausal women with spine osteoporosis by two raters during a single visit using a digital inclinometer and a flexicurve ruler. G-coefficients were estimated using a G-study, and a measurement protocol that optimized inter-rater and inter-trial reliability was identified using follow-up decision studies. The G-theory provides reliability estimates for measurement devices which can be generalized to different clinical contexts and/or measurement designs

Lake-size dependency of wind shear and convection as controls on gas exchange

High-frequency physical observations from 40 temperate lakes were used to examine the relative contributions of wind shear (u*) and convection (w*) to turbulence in the surface mixed layer. Seasonal patterns of u* and w* were dissimilar; u* was often highest in the spring, while w * increased throughout the summer to a maximum in early fall. Convection was a larger mixed-layer turbulence source than wind shear (u */w*-1 for lakes* and w* differ in temporal pattern and magnitude across lakes, both convection and wind shear should be considered in future formulations of lake-air gas exchange, especially for small lakes. © 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.Jordan S. Read, David P. Hamilton, Ankur R. Desai, Kevin C. Rose, Sally MacIntyre, John D. Lenters, Robyn L. Smyth, Paul C. Hanson, Jonathan J. Cole, Peter A. Staehr, James A. Rusak, Donald C. Pierson, Justin D. Brookes, Alo Laas, and Chin H. W

Effect of an exercise consultation on maintenance of physical activity after completion of phase III exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation

Background Many patients do not maintain physical activity levels after completion of phase III exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. Design This study determined the effect of the exercise consultation on maintenance of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness 12 months after completion of a phase III exercise programme. Seventy cardiac patients were randomized to the experimental (exercise consultation and exercise information) or control groups (exercise information only). Methods Outcomes recorded at baseline, six and 12 months were physical activity (stage of change, 7-day recall, accelerometer), cardiorespiratory fitness, lipids, quality of life, anxiety and depression. Results Both groups were regularly active at baseline. The between group difference for the change in total activity (minutes/week) assessed by the 7-day recall was significant from baseline to 12 months (98%CI –295, -20). Total activity was maintained in the experimental group (98%CI -63, 154) and significantly decreased in the control group (115 minutes/week; 98%CI -228, -28) from baseline to 12 months. The between group difference for the change in accelerometer counts/week was not significant from baseline to six (98%CI -1143720, 607430) or 12 months (98%CI -1131128, 366473). A comparable, significant decrease in peak oxygen uptake occurred from baseline to 12 months in experimental (1.8 ml/kg/min; 98%CI -3.2, -0.3) and control participants (2.3 ml/kg/min; -3.8, -0.8). Lipids, quality of life, anxiety and depression were normal at baseline and did not significantly change in either group over time. Conclusion Exercise consultation was effective in maintaining self-reported physical activity, but not peak oxygen uptake, for 12 months after completion of phase III

Overcoming barriers to engaging socio-economically disadvantaged populations in CHD primary prevention: a qualitative study

<p><b>Background:</b> Preventative medicine has become increasingly important in efforts to reduce the burden of chronic disease in industrialised countries. However, interventions that fail to recruit socio-economically representative samples may widen existing health inequalities. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators to engaging a socio-economically disadvantaged (SED) population in primary prevention for coronary heart disease (CHD).</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The primary prevention element of Have a Heart Paisley (HaHP) offered risk screening to all eligible individuals. The programme employed two approaches to engaging with the community: a) a social marketing campaign and b) a community development project adopting primarily face-to-face canvassing. Individuals living in areas of SED were under-recruited via the social marketing approach, but successfully recruited via face-to-face canvassing. This paper reports on focus group discussions with participants, exploring their perceptions about and experiences of both approaches.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Various reasons were identified for low uptake of risk screening amongst individuals living in areas of high SED in response to the social marketing campaign and a number of ways in which the face-to-face canvassing approach overcame these barriers were identified. These have been categorised into four main themes: (1) processes of engagement; (2) issues of understanding; (3) design of the screening service and (4) the priority accorded to screening. The most immediate barriers to recruitment were the invitation letter, which often failed to reach its target, and the general distrust of postal correspondence. In contrast, participants were positive about the face-to-face canvassing approach. Participants expressed a lack of knowledge and understanding about CHD and their risk of developing it and felt there was a lack of clarity in the information provided in the mailing in terms of the process and value of screening. In contrast, direct face-to-face contact meant that outreach workers could explain what to expect. Participants felt that the procedure for uptake of screening was demanding and inflexible, but that the drop-in sessions employed by the community development project had a major impact on recruitment and retention.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> Socio-economically disadvantaged individuals can be hard-to-reach; engagement requires strategies tailored to the needs of the target population rather than a population-wide approach.</p&gt