Selling Mediation: Mimetic, Distancing, and Appellating Practices in the Marketing of an Emerging Profession

Individuals both within and outside the legal profession have been drawn by the ‘promise’ of mediation. In it they see a means for facilitating communicative exchanges between actors in conflict, which they view as a dramatic improvement on the adversarial practices of the formal legal system. However, despite the appeal of mediation to potential practitioners, there is not yet sufficient consumer demand to sustain the number of people who possess mediation skills. This has resulted in an overcrowded mediation market in which practitioners are forced to market themselves so as to compete for a limited clientele. In this context, the emerging mediation profession, with its still forming regulatory bodies, confronts the challenge of managing the image of mediation in the face of the increased marketing activities of mediators. In this paper we examine these marketing activities (described as mimetic, distancing and appellating practices) and their consequences for the public presentation of the mediation “profession.

The Treatment of Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Children: A Controlled Comparison of Cognitive-Behavioral Family Intervention and Standard Pediatric Care

This study describes the results of a controlled clinical trial involving 44 7- to 14-year-old children with recurrent abdominal pain who were randomly allocated to either cognitive-behavioral family intervention (CBFI) or standard pediatric care (SPC). Both treatment conditions resulted in significant improvements on measures of pain intensity and pain behavior. However, the children receiving CBFI had a higher rate of complete elimination of pain, lower levels of relapse at 6- and 12-month follow-up, and lower levels of interference with their activities as a result of pain and parents reported a higher level of satisfaction with the treatment than children receiving SPC. After controlling for pretreatment levels of pain, children's active self-coping and mothers' caregiving strategies were significant independent predictors of pain behavior at posttreatment

Ribosomal protein synthesis is not regulated at the translational level in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: balanced accumulation of ribosomal proteins L16 and rp59 is mediated by turnover of excess protein.

We have investigated the mechanisms whereby equimolar quantities of ribosomal proteins accumulate and assemble into ribosomes of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Extra copies of the cry1 or RPL16 genes encoding ribosomal proteins rp59 or L16 were introduced into yeast by transformation. Excess cry1 or RPL16 mRNA accumulated in polyribosomes in these cells and was translated at wild-type rates into rp59 or L16 proteins. These excess proteins were degraded until their levels reached those of other ribosomal proteins. Identical results were obtained when the transcription of RPL16A was rapidly induced using GAL1-RPL16A promoter fusions, including a construct in which the entire RPL16A 5\u27-noncoding region was replaced with the GAL1 leader sequence. Our results indicate that posttranscriptional expression of the cry1 and RPL16 genes is regulated by turnover of excess proteins rather than autogenous regulation of mRNA splicing or translation. The turnover of excess rp59 or L16 is not affected directly by mutations that inactivate vacuolar hydrolases

An inter-platform repeatability study investigating real-time amplification of plasmid DNA

BACKGROUND: The wide variety of real-time amplification platforms currently available has determined that standardisation of DNA measurements is a fundamental aspect involved in the comparability of results. Statistical analysis of the data arising from three different real-time platforms was conducted in order to assess inter-platform repeatability. On three consecutive days two PCR reaction mixes were used on each of the three amplification platforms – the LightCycler(®), ABI PRISM(® )7700 and Rotor Gene 3000™. Real-time PCR amplification using a fluorogenic 5' exonuclease assay was performed in triplicate on negative controls and DNA plasmid dilutions of 10(8)–10(2 )copies to give a total of 24 reactions per PCR experiment. RESULTS: The results of the statistical analyses indicated that the platform with the most precise repeatability was the ABI PRISM(® )7700 when coupled with the FastStart PCR reaction mix. It was also found that there was no obvious relationship between plasmid copy number and repeatability. An ANOVA approach identified the factors that significantly affected the results, in descending order of magnitude, as: plasmid copy number, platform, PCR reaction mix and day (on which the experiment was performed). CONCLUSION: In order to deliver useful, informative genetic tests, standardisation of real-time PCR detection platforms to provide repeatable, reliable results is warranted. In addition, a better understanding of inter-assay and intra-assay repeatability is required

Dual-locus DNA metabarcoding reveals southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons Owen) have a summer diet dominated by toxic invasive plants

Habitat degradation and summer droughts severely restrict feeding options for the endangered southern hairy-nosed wombat (SHNW; Lasiorhinus latifrons). We reconstructed SHNW summer diets by DNA metabarcoding from feces. We initially validated rbcL and ndhJ diet reconstructions using autopsied and captive animals. Subsequent diet reconstructions of wild wombats broadly reflected vegetative ground cover, implying local rather than long-range foraging. Diets were all dominated by alien invasives. Chemical analysis of alien food revealed Carrichtera annua contains high levels of glucosinolates. Clinical examination (7 animals) and autopsy (12 animals) revealed that the most degraded site also contained most individuals showing signs of glucosinolate poisoning. We infer that dietary poisoning through the ingestion of alien invasives may have contributed to the recent population crashes in the region. In floristically diverse sites, individuals appear to be able to manage glucosinolate intake by avoidance or episodic feeding but this strategy is less tractable in the most degraded sites. We conclude that recovery of the most affected populations may require effective Carrichtera management and interim supplementary feeding. More generally, we argue that protection against population decline by poisoning in territorial herbivores requires knowledge of their diet and of those food plants containing toxic principles

Fitting a stochastic fire spread model to data

As the climate changes, it is important to understand the effects on the environment. Changes in wildland fire risk are an important example. A stochastic lattice-based wildland fire spread model was proposed by Boychuk et al. (2007), followed by a more realistic variant (Braun and Woolford, 2013). Fitting such a model to data from remotely sensed images could be used to provide accurate fire spread risk maps, but an intermediate step on the path to that goal is to verify the model on data collected under experimentally controlled conditions. This paper presents the analysis of data from small-scale experimental fires that were digitally video-recorded. Data extraction and processing methods and issues are discussed, along with an estimation methodology that uses differential equations for the moments of certain statistics that can be derived from a sequential set of photographs from a fire. The interaction between model variability and raster resolution is discussed and an argument for partial validation of the model is provided. Visual diagnostics show that the model is doing well at capturing the distribution of key statistics recorded during observed fires.</p

Uptake, effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines in children and young people in Scotland : protocol for early pandemic evaluation and enhanced surveillance of COVID-19 (EAVE II)

Funding: This research is part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, led by Health Data Research UK in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and funded by UK Research and Innovation (grant ref MC_PC_20058). SVK acknowledges funding from a NRS Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2) and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU17).Background The dynamics of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and severity of disease among children and young people (CYP) across different settings are of considerable clinical, public health and societal interest. Severe COVID-19 cases, requiring hospitalisations, and deaths have been reported in some CYP suggesting a need to extend vaccinations to these age groups. As part of the ongoing Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19 (EAVE II) study, we aim to investigate the uptake, effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines in children and young people (CYP) aged 0 to 17 years in Scotland. Specifically, we will estimate: (i) uptake of vaccines against COVID-19, (ii) vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the outcomes of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalisation, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and death; (iii) VE for first/second dose timing among different age groups and risk groups; and (iv) the safety of vaccines. Methods and analysis We will conduct an open prospective cohort study classifying exposure as time-varying. We will compare outcomes amongst first dose vaccinated and second dose vaccinated CYP to those not yet vaccinated. A Test Negative Design (TND) case control study will be nested within this national cohort to investigate VE against symptomatic infection. The primary outcomes will be (i) uptake of vaccines against COVID-19, (ii) time to COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, ICU admissions or death, and (iii) adverse events related to vaccines. Vaccination status (unvaccinated, one dose and two doses) will be defined as a time-varying exposure. Data from multiple sources will be linked using a unique identifier. We will conduct descriptive analyses to explore trends in vaccine uptake, and association between different exposure variables and vaccine uptake will be determined using multivariable logistic regression models. VE will be assessed from time-dependent Cox models or Poisson regression models, adjusted for relevant confounders, including age, sex, socioeconomic status, and comorbidities. We will employ self-controlled study designs to determine the risk of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from the National Research Ethics Committee, South East Scotland 02. We will present findings of this study at international conferences, in peer-reviewed journals and to policy-makers.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Assumptions behind grammatical approaches to code-switching: when the blueprint is a red herring

Many of the so-called ‘grammars’ of code-switching are based on various underlying assumptions, e.g. that informal speech can be adequately or appropriately described in terms of ‘‘grammar’’; that deep, rather than surface, structures are involved in code-switching; that one ‘language’ is the ‘base’ or ‘matrix’; and that constraints derived from existing data are universal and predictive. We question these assumptions on several grounds. First, ‘grammar’ is arguably distinct from the processes driving speech production. Second, the role of grammar is mediated by the variable, poly-idiolectal repertoires of bilingual speakers. Third, in many instances of CS the notion of a ‘base’ system is either irrelevant, or fails to explain the facts. Fourth, sociolinguistic factors frequently override ‘grammatical’ factors, as evidence from the same language pairs in different settings has shown. No principles proposed to date account for all the facts, and it seems unlikely that ‘grammar’, as conventionally conceived, can provide definitive answers. We conclude that rather than seeking universal, predictive grammatical rules, research on CS should focus on the variability of bilingual grammars

Nature of orchestral noise

Professional orchestral musicians are at risk of exposure to excessive noise when at work. This is an industry-wide problem that threatens not only the hearing of orchestral musicians but also the way orchestras operate. The research described in this paper recorded noise levels within a professional orchestra over three years in order to provide greater insight to the orchestral noise environment; to guide future research into orchestral noise management and hearing conservation strategies; and to provide a basis for the future education of musicians and their managers. Every rehearsal, performance, and recording from May 2004 to May 2007 was monitored, with the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections monitored in greatest detail. The study recorded dBALEQ and dBC peak data, which are presented in graphical form with accompanying summarized data tables. The findings indicate that the principal trumpet, first and third horns, and principal trombone are at greatest risk of exposure to excessive sustained noise levels and that the percussion and timpani are at greatest risk of exposure to excessive peak noise levels. However, the findings also strongly support the notion that the true nature of orchestral noise is a great deal more complex than this simple statement would imply