Cost effectiveness of cascade testing for familial hypercholesterolaemia, based on data from familial hypercholesterolaemia services in the UK

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

PARP regulates nonhomologous end joining through retention of Ku at double-strand breaks

Poly ADP-ribosylation polymerases are necessary for recruitment and/or retention of Ku at double-strand breaks during nonhomologous end-joining DNA repair

Fostering Program Comprehension in Novice Programmers - Learning Activities and Learning Trajectories

This working group asserts that Program Comprehension (ProgComp) plays a critical part in the process of writing programs. For example, this paper is written from a basic draft that was edited and revised until it clearly presented our idea. Similarly, a program is written incrementally, with each step tested, debugged and extended until the program achieves its goal. Novice programmers should develop program comprehension skills as they learn to code so that they are able both to read and reason about code created by others, and to reflect on their code when writing, debugging or extending it. To foster such competencies our group identified two main goals: (g1) to collect and define learning activities that explicitly address key components of program comprehension and (g2) to define tentative theoretical learning trajectories that will guide teachers as they select and sequence those learning activities in their CS0/CS1/CS2 or K-12 courses. The WG has completed the first goal and laid down a strong foundation towards the second goal as presented in this report. After a thorough literature review, a detailed description of the Block Model is provided, as this model has been used with a dual purpose, to classify and present an extensive list of ProgComp tasks, and to describe a possible learning trajectory for a complex task, covering different cells of the Block Model matrix. The latter is intended to help instructors to decompose complex tasks and identify which aspects of ProgComp are being fostered

Multidimensional treatment foster care for preschoolers: early findings of an implementation in the Netherlands

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) has been shown to be an evidence based alternative to residential rearing and an effective method to improve behavior and attachment of preschool foster children in the US. This preliminary study investigated an application of MTFC for preschoolers (MTFC-P) in the Netherlands focusing on behavioral outcomes in course of the intervention. To examine the following hypothesis: “the time in the MTFC-P intervention predicts a decline in problem behavior, as this is the desired outcome for children assigned to MTFC-P”, we assessed the daily occurrence of 38 problem behaviors via telephone interviews. Repeated measures revealed significant reduced problem behavior in course of the program. MTFC-P promises to be a treatment model suitable for high-risk foster children, that is transferable across centres and countries

What the disjunctivist is right about

There is a traditional conception of sensory experience on which the experiences one has looking at, say, a cat could be had by someone merely hallucinating a cat. Disjunctivists take issue with this conception on the grounds that it does not enable us to understand how perceptual knowledge is possible. In particular, they think, it does not explain how it can be that experiences gained in perception enable us to be in ‘cognitive contact’ with objects and facts. I develop this chal- lenge to the traditional conception and then show that it is possible to accommo- date an adequate account of cognitive contact in keeping with the traditional conception. One upshot of the discussion is that experiences do not bear the explanatory burden placed upon them by disjunctivists

Developing an outcomes framework for children and young people in Hampshire, England

BackgroundIn the county of Hampshire, England, numbers of children and young people are increasing, along with a corresponding increase in demand for health and social care services. The move from measuring processes to measuring outcomes is motivated by a need to improve the population's wellbeing at this time of great challenge. Outcomes-based commissioning provides a means by which shared outcomes across the system can be used to drive quality improvement while ensuring the best use of finite resources. The aim of developing an outcomes framework was to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people in Hampshire through articulating this collective vision and facilitating greater integration between health and care systems.MethodsThe outcomes framework was developed by Hampshire County Council's public health team, working with Captivated outcome-based incentivised care (Cobic), which provides consultancy services on outcome-based care, and Private Public Ltd (PPL), a consultancy for projects promoting health, wellbeing, and economic success in the UK. Development involved: reviewing evidence from key policy documents (eg, Every Child Matters and the Marmot report on the social determinants of health) and existing national and local outcomes frameworks; engaging children and young people (aged 12–19 years), families, services providers, commissioners, and other partners through about 20 separate focus groups, workshops, and interviews; populating the framework with baseline data; and testing and agreeing the finalised framework with a reference group comprising these stakeholders. Ethical approval was not required.FindingsThe framework has six domains: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, being ready for adulthood, and system sustainability. Within each domain there are “I” statements reflecting service user priorities (eg, “I feel informed to make the right choices about drugs and alcohol”). Beneath the “I” statements are quantitative targets for system-wide improvement, such as hospital admissions for substance abuse. Through the engagement process, it became clear that feeling prepared for adulthood was an important theme for children and young people in Hampshire, leading to development of “I” statements and indicators to support this.InterpretationOur ambition is that the framework will become embedded within Hampshire County Council and the National Health Service, supporting both service improvement and integration efforts. This will encourage organisations to work together to address complex issues that are influenced by wider health determinants. A consideration of local drivers and barriers will ensure that any similar framework can be meaningfully adopted elsewhere.FundingNone