Ethical and methodological issues in engaging young people living in poverty with participatory research methods

This paper discusses the methodological and ethical issues arising from a project that focused on conducting a qualitative study using participatory techniques with children and young people living in disadvantage. The main aim of the study was to explore the impact of poverty on children and young people's access to public and private services. The paper is based on the author's perspective of the first stage of the fieldwork from the project. It discusses the ethical implications of involving children and young people in the research process, in particular issues relating to access and recruitment, the role of young people's advisory groups, use of visual data and collection of data in young people's homes. The paper also identifies some strategies for addressing the difficulties encountered in relation to each of these aspects and it considers the benefits of adopting participatory methods when conducting research with children and young people

Study protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of comparing enhanced acceptance and commitment therapy plus (+) added to usual aftercare versus usual aftercare only, in patients living with or beyond cancer: SUrvivors' Rehabilitation Evaluation after CANcer (SURECAN) trial.

BACKGROUND: Two million people in the UK are living with or beyond cancer and a third of them report poor quality of life (QoL) due to problems such as fatigue, fear of cancer recurrence, and concerns about returning to work. We aimed to develop and evaluate an intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), suited to address the concerns of cancer survivors and in improving their QoL. We also recognise the importance of exercise and vocational activity on QoL and therefore will integrate options for physical activity and return to work/vocational support, thus ACT Plus (+). METHODS: We will conduct a multi-centre, pragmatic, theory driven, randomised controlled trial. We will assess whether ACT+ including usual aftercare (intervention) is more effective and cost-effective than usual aftercare alone (control). The primary outcome is QoL of participants living with or beyond cancer measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: General scale (FACT-G) at 52 weeks. We will recruit 344 participants identified from secondary care sites who have completed hospital-based treatment for cancer with curative intent, with low QoL (determined by the FACT-G) and randomise with an allocation ratio of 1:1 to the intervention or control. The intervention (ACT+) will be delivered by NHS Talking Therapies, specialist services, and cancer charities. The intervention consists of up to eight sessions at weekly or fortnightly intervals using different modalities of delivery to suit individual needs, i.e. face-to-face sessions, over the phone or skype. DISCUSSION: To date, there have been no robust trials reporting both clinical and cost-effectiveness of an ACT based intervention for people with low QoL after curative cancer treatment in the UK. We will provide high quality evidence of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adding ACT+ to usual aftercare provided by the NHS. If shown to be effective and cost-effective then commissioners, providers and cancer charities will know how to improve QoL in cancer survivors and their families. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN: ISRCTN67900293 . Registered on 09 December 2019. All items from the World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set for this protocol can be found in Additional file 2 Table S1

An ammonia spectral map of the L1495-B218 filaments in the Taurus molecular cloud. I. Physical properties of filaments and dense cores

We present deep NH3 observations of the L1495-B218 filaments in the Taurus molecular cloud covering over a 3° angular range using the K-band focal plane array on the 100 m Green Bank Telescope. The L1495-B218 filaments form an interconnected, nearby, large complex extending over 8 pc. We observed NH3 (1, 1) and (2, 2) with a spectral resolution of 0.038 km s−1 and a spatial resolution of 31''. Most of the ammonia peaks coincide with intensity peaks in dust continuum maps at 350 and 500 μm. We deduced physical properties by fitting a model to the observed spectra. We find gas kinetic temperatures of 8–15 K, velocity dispersions of 0.05–0.25 km s−1, and NH3 column densities of 5 × 1012 to 1 × 1014 cm−2. The CSAR algorithm, which is a hybrid of seeded-watershed and binary dendrogram algorithms, identifies a total of 55 NH3 structures, including 39 leaves and 16 branches. The masses of the NH3 sources range from 0.05 to 9.5 ${{M}_{\odot }}$. The masses of NH3 leaves are mostly smaller than their corresponding virial mass estimated from their internal and gravitational energies, which suggests that these leaves are gravitationally unbound structures. Nine out of 39 NH3 leaves are gravitationally bound, and seven out of nine gravitationally bound NH3 leaves are associated with star formation. We also found that 12 out of 30 gravitationally unbound leaves are pressure confined. Our data suggest that a dense core may form as a pressure-confined structure, evolve to a gravitationally bound core, and undergo collapse to form a protostar

Services just for men? Insights from a national study of the well men services pilots.

Men continue to have a lower life expectancy in most countries compared to women. Explanations of this gendered health inequality tend to focus on male risk taking, unhealthy lifestyle choices and resistance to seeking help from health services. In the period 2005-2008 the Scottish Government funded a nationwide community health promotion programme aimed at improving men's health, called Well Men Service Pilots (henceforth WMS)

Nano-Scale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry - A new analytical tool in biogeochemistry and soil ecology

Soils are structurally heterogeneous across a wide range of spatio-temporal scales. Consequently, external environmental conditions do not have a uniform effect throughout the soil, resulting in a large diversity of micro-habitats. It has been suggested that soil function can be studied without explicit consideration of such fine detail, but recent research has indicated that the micro-scale distribution of organisms may be of importance for a mechanistic understanding of many soil functions. Due to a lack of techniques with adequate sensitivity for data collection at appropriate scales, the question 'How important are various soil processes acting at different scales for ecological function?' is challenging to answer. The nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometer (NanoSIMS) represents the latest generation of ion microprobes which link high-resolution microscopy with isotopic analysis. The main advantage of NanoSIMS over other secondary ion mass spectrometers is the ability to operate at high mass resolution, whilst maintaining both excellent signal transmission and spatial resolution ({approx}50 nm). NanoSIMS has been used previously in studies focusing on presolar materials from meteorites, in material science, biology, geology and mineralogy. Recently, the potential of NanoSIMS as a new tool in the study of biophysical interfaces in soils has been demonstrated. This paper describes the principles of NanoSIMS and discusses the potential of this tool to contribute to the field of biogeochemistry and soil ecology. Practical considerations (sample size and preparation, simultaneous collection of isotopes, mass resolution, isobaric interference and quantification of the isotopes of interest) are discussed. Adequate sample preparation avoiding biases in the interpretation of NanoSIMS data due to artifacts and identification of regions-of interest are of most concerns in using NanoSIMS as a new tool in biogeochemistry and soil ecology. Finally, we review the areas of research most likely to benefit from the high resolving power attainable with this new approach

Making sense of the evolving nature of depression narratives and their inherent conflicts

Originally a psychiatric diagnosis fashioned by Western psychiatry in the 20th Century, depression evolved to encompass varying lineages of discourse and care. This article elucidates some of the current challenges – as well as emerging discourses – influencing the category of depression. Depression-like experiences are shaped by (at times conflicting) subjectivities, claims to knowledge, material realities, social contexts and access to resources. With no unified understanding of the category of ‘depression’ available, lay people, social and neuro scientists, GPs, psychiatrists, talking therapists and pharmaceutical companies all attempt to shape narratives of depression. The current paper focuses on patient narratives about depression – in the context of these wider debates – to better elucidate the ways in which depression discourses are publically developing along varying lines. In conclusion, the paper suggests that we could better conceptualise the resulting ‘depression(s)’ with concepts such as ‘society of mind’ and notions of subjectivity unbounded by individuals

The Problem of Ethical Vagueness for Expressivism

Ethical vagueness has garnered little attention. This is rather surprising since many philosophers have remarked that the science of ethics lacks the precision that other fields of inquiry have. Of the few philosophers who have discussed ethical vagueness the majority have focused on the implications of vagueness for moral realism. Because the relevance of ethical vagueness for other metaethical positions has been underexplored, my aim in this paper is to investigate the ramifications of ethical vagueness for expressivism. Ultimately, I shall argue that expressivism does not have the resources to adequately account for ethical vagueness, while cognitivism does. This demonstrates an advantage that cognitivism holds over expressivis

Engagement with meditation as a positive health trajectory: Divergent narratives of progress in male meditators

Objective: Studying personal narratives can generate understanding of how people experience physical and mental illness. However, few studies have explored narratives of engagement in health positive behaviours, with none focusing on men specifically. Thus, we sought to examine men’s experiences of their efforts to engage in and maintain healthy behaviours, focusing on meditation as an example of such behaviour. Design: We recruited 30 male meditators, using principles of maximum variation sampling, and conducted two in-depth interviews with each, separated by a year. Main outcome measures: We sought to elicit men’s narratives of their experiences of trying to maintain a meditation practice. Results: We identified an overall theme of a ‘positive health trajectory,’ in particular, making ‘progress’ through meditation. Under this were six main accounts. Only two articulated a ‘positive’ message about progress: Climbing a hierarchy of practitioners, and progress catalysed in other areas of life. The other four reflected the difficulties around progress: Progress being undermined by illness; disappointment with progress; progress ‘forgotten’ (superseded by other concerns); and progress re-conceptualised due to other priorities. Conclusion: Men’s narratives reveal the way they experience and construct their engagement with meditation – as an example of health behaviour – in terms of progress

A 13CO and C18O Survey of the Molecular Gas Around Young Stellar Clusters Within 1kpc of the Sun

As the first step of a multi-wavelength investigation into the relationship between young stellar clusters and their environment we present fully-sampled maps in the J=1--0 lines of 13CO and C18O and the J=2--1 line of C18O for a selected group of thirty young stellar groups and clusters within 1kpc of the Sun. This is the first systematic survey of these regions to date. The clusters range in size from several stars to a few hundred stars. Thirty fields ranging in size from 8'x 8' to 60'x 30' were mapped with 47'' resolution simultaneously in the J=1-0 lines with Five College Radio Observatory. Seventeen sources were mapped over fields ranging in size from 3'x 3' to 13'x 13' in the J=2--1 line with 35'' resolution with the Heinrich Hertz Telescope. We compare the cloud properties derived from each of the three tracers in order to better understand systematic uncertainties in determing masses and linewidths. Cloud masses are determined independently using the 13CO and C18O transitions, these masses range from 30 to 4000 M_sun. Finally, we present a simple morphological classification scheme which may serve as a rough indicator of cloud evolution.Comment: 52 pages, 29 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ. Some figures have been reduced in resolution, a full resolution version is available from http://daisy.astro.umass.edu/~naomi/pubs/pubs.htm

In one’s own time: Contesting the temporality and linearity of bereavement

This article explores the experience and meaning of time from the perspective of caregivers who have recently been bereaved following the death of a family member. The study is situated within the broader cultural tendency to understand bereavement within the logic of stages, including the perception of bereavement as a somewhat predictable and certainly time-delimited ascent from a nadir in death to a ‘new normal’ once loss is accepted. Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with 15 bereaved family caregivers we challenge bereavement as a linear, temporally bound process, examining the multiple ways bereavement is experienced and how it variously resists ideas about the timeliness, desirability and even possibility of ‘recovery’. We posit, on the basis of these accounts, that the lived experience of bereavement offers considerable challenges to normative understandings of the social ties between the living and the dead and requires a broader reconceptualization of bereavement as an enduring affective state