Developing experimental estimates of regional skill demand

This paper shows how novel data, in the form of online job adverts, can be used to enrich official labour market statistics. We use millions of job adverts to provide granular estimates of the vacancy stock broken down by location, occupation and skill category. To derive these estimates, we build on previous work and deploy methodologies for a) converting the flow of job adverts into a stock and b) adjusting this stock to ensure it is representative of the underlying economy. Our results benefit from the use of duration data at the level of individual vacancies. We also introduce a new iteration of Nesta’s skills taxonomy. This is the first iteration to blend an expert-derived collection of skills with the skills extracted from job adverts. These methodological advances allow us to analyse which skill sets are sought by employers, how these vary across Travel To Work Areas in the UK and how skill demand evolves over time. For example, we find that there is considerable geographical variability in skill demand, with the stock varying more than five-fold across locations. At the same time, most of the demand is concentrated among three categories: “Business, law & finance”, “Science, manufacturing & engineering” and “Digital”. Together, these account for more than 60% of all skills demanded. The type of intelligence presented in this report could be used to support both local and national decision makers in responding to recent labour market disruptions

Eyewitness identification in child witnesses on the autism spectrum

Background. Although there is increasing interest in the capabilities of children with autism at different stages of the criminal justice process, there is little research into how well this group perform when asked to identify perpetrators from identification lineups. This is despite theoretical and empirical literature suggesting that autistic children experience face recognition memory difficulties. Method. As part of a broader study into eyewitness memory skills, 50 children with autism and 162 children with typical development (TD) (all with IQs > 69) watched a mock crime event (either live or on a video) involving two male perpetrators. One week later, their eyewitness identification skills were compared, with children asked to identify the perpetrators from two ecologically valid video lineups. The children were also assessed on a standardised face memory task. Results. When asked to identify perpetrators in the video lineups, in many respects the autistic children performed at an equivalent level to the TD children. This was despite the TD children outperforming the autistic children on the standardized face memory task. Conclusions. These preliminary findings suggest that group differences between autistic and TD children may not always emerge on an ecologically valid, real world eyewitness identification lineup task, despite autistic children showing poorer performance on a standardized face memory task. However, as identification performance in both groups was low, it remains important for future research to identify how to scaffold eyewitness identification performance in both children with and without an autism diagnosis

MEDREV (pharmacy-health psychology intervention in people living with dementia with behaviour that challenges):the feasibility of measuring clinical outcomes and costs of the intervention

BACKGROUND: People living with dementia in care homes frequently exhibit "behaviour that challenges". Anti-psychotics are used to treat such behaviour, but are associated with significant morbidity. This study researched the feasibility of conducting a trial of a full clinical medication review for care home residents with behaviour that challenges, combined with staff training. This paper focusses on the feasibility of measuring clinical outcomes and intervention costs. METHODS: People living with moderate to severe dementia, receiving psychotropics for behaviour that challenges, in care homes were recruited for a medication review by a specialist pharmacist. Care home and primary care staff received training on the management of challenging behaviour. Data were collected at 8 weeks, and 3 and 6 months. Measures were Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home version (NPI-NH), cognition (sMMSE), quality of life (EQ-5D-5 L/DEMQoL) and costs (Client Services Receipt Inventory). Response rates, for clinical, quality of life and health economic measures, including the levels of resource-use associated with the medication review and other non-intervention costs were calculated. RESULTS: Twenty-nine of 34 participants recruited received a medication review. It was feasible to measure the effects of the complex intervention on the management of behaviour that challenges with the NPI-NH. There was valid NPI-NH data at each time point (response rate = 100%). The sMMSE response rate was 18.2%. Levels of resource-use associated with the medication review were estimated for all 29 participants who received a medication review. Good response levels were achieved for other non-intervention costs (100% completion rate), and the EQ-5D-5 L and DEMQoL (≥88% at each of the time points where data was collected). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to measure the clinical and cost effectiveness of a complex intervention for behaviour that challenges using the NPI-NH and quality of life measures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN58330068. Retrospectively registered, 15 October 2017

Utilisation of the static Evans method to measure magnetic susceptibilities of transition metal acetylacetonate complexes as part of an undergraduate inorganic laboratory class

The Evans method is routinely utilised to collect paramagnetic susceptibility data via the employment of relevant Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods. As the sample is normally spun, the lack of such a function on benchtop NMR instrumentation required a “static” approach to be employed. We have utilised the static Evan’s method approach to measure the magnetic susceptibilities, and subsequently the effective magnetic moment, of a series of synthesised transition metal acetylacetonate complexes in order to appraise the d-electron configuration. The obtained values were compared to those obtained using a Guoy balance and theoretical calculations. The collection of T1 relaxation data further exemplifies the effect of the paramagnetic centre in terms of aiding relaxation, and therefore links to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents, thus providing students with real-world perspective of the experiment conducted