The role of training in IBA implementation beyond primary health care settings in the UK

There has been a considerable drive to encourage a wide range of professional groups to incorporate alcohol screening (or identification) and brief advice (IBA) into their everyday practice. This article aims to examine the role of training in promoting IBA delivery in contexts outside primary care and other health settings. The data are drawn mainly from a structured online survey supplemented by illustrative material from nine qualitative interviews and insights from an expert workshop. Findings support the results from other research that issues relating to role relevance and role security continue to act as barriers to professional change. Furthermore, issues of organisational commitment and organisational barriers are insufficiently addressed in strategy to promote wider use of IBA. The article concludes that development of appropriate training for alcohol IBA needs to take account of the role of IBA within a complex interactive system of related services and help seeking pathways and consider how training can contribute to changing both professional attitudes and behaviours and organisational approaches to implementing and sustaining IBA in everyday professional practice

Educational outcomes in extremely preterm children : neuropsychological correlates and predictors of attainment

This study assessed the impact of extremely preterm birth on academic attainment at 11 years of age, investigated neuropsychological antecedents of attainment in reading and mathematics, and examined early predictors of educational outcomes. Children born extremely preterm had significantly poorer academic attainment and a higher prevalence of learning difficulties than their term peers. General cognitive ability and specific deficits in visuospatial skills or phoneme deletion at 6 years were predictive of mathematics and reading attainment at 11 years in both extremely preterm and term children. Phonological processing, attention, and executive functions at 6 years were also associated with academic attainment in children born extremely preterm. Furthermore, social factors, neonatal factors (necrotizing enterocolitis, breech delivery, abnormal cerebral ultrasound, early breast milk provision), and developmental factors at 30 months (head circumference, cognitive development), were independent predictors of educational outcomes at 11 years. Neonatal complications combined with assessments of early cognitive function provide moderate prediction for educational outcomes in children born extremely preterm

Measuring and Correcting Wind-Induced Pointing Errors of the Green Bank Telescope Using an Optical Quadrant Detector

Wind-induced pointing errors are a serious concern for large-aperture high-frequency radio telescopes. In this paper, we describe the implementation of an optical quadrant detector instrument that can detect and provide a correction signal for wind-induced pointing errors on the 100m diameter Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The instrument was calibrated using a combination of astronomical measurements and metrology. We find that the main wind-induced pointing errors on time scales of minutes are caused by the feedarm being blown along the direction of the wind vector. We also find that wind-induced structural excitation is virtually non-existent. We have implemented offline software to apply pointing corrections to the data from imaging instruments such as the MUSTANG 3.3 mm bolometer array, which can recover ~70% of sensitivity lost due to wind-induced pointing errors. We have also performed preliminary tests that show great promise for correcting these pointing errors in real-time using the telescope's subreflector servo system in combination with the quadrant detector signal.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in PAS

Stability of the Autism Diagnostic Interview—Revised from Pre-School to Elementary School Age in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study examined the stability of scores on the ADI-R from pre-school to elementary school age in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Participants were 35 children who, at T1, all had a clinical diagnosis of ASD. On initial assessment (mean age 3.5 years; SD 0.6), all met ADI-R algorithm criteria for autism. ADI-R assessments were repeated at follow up (FU; mean age 10.5 years; SD 0.8). Changes in ADI-R total, domain and ADI-R algorithm item scores were assessed. Twentyeight children continued to score above the ADI-R cut-off for autism at FU, although significant decreases in ADI-R domain and item scores were also found. In conclusion, while classification of children according to ADI-R criteria, generally remained stable between pre-school and elementary school age, many children demonstrated significant improvements in symptom severity

Conformational changes of calmodulin upon Ca2+ binding studied with a microfluidic mixer

A microfluidic mixer is applied to study the kinetics of calmodulin conformational changes upon Ca2+ binding. The device facilitates rapid, uniform mixing by decoupling hydrodynamic focusing from diffusive mixing and accesses time scales of tens of microseconds. The mixer is used in conjunction with multiphoton microscopy to examine the fast Ca2+-induced transitions of acrylodan-labeled calmodulin. We find that the kinetic rates of the conformational changes in two homologous globular domains differ by more than an order of magnitude. The characteristic time constants are ≈490 μs for the transitions in the C-terminal domain and ≈20 ms for those in the N-terminal domain of the protein. We discuss possible mechanisms for the two distinct events and the biological role of the stable intermediate, half-saturated calmodulin

Routine activities and proactive police activity: a macro-scale analysis of police searches in London and New York City

This paper explored how city-level changes in routine activities were associated with changes in frequencies of police searches using six years of police records from the London Metropolitan Police Service and the New York City Police Department. Routine activities were operationalised through selecting events that potentially impacted on (a) the street population, (b) the frequency of crime or (c) the level of police activity. OLS regression results indicated that routine activity variables (e.g. day of the week, periods of high demand for police service) can explain a large proportion of the variance in search frequency throughout the year. A complex set of results emerged, revealing cross-national dissimilarities and the differential impact of certain activities (e.g. public holidays). Importantly, temporal frequencies in searches are not reducible to associations between searches and recorded street crime, nor changes in on-street population. Based on the routine activity approach, a theoretical police-action model is proposed

A multiscale hybrid model for pro-angiogenic calcium signals in a vascular endothelial cell

Cytosolic calcium machinery is one of the principal signaling mechanisms by which endothelial cells (ECs) respond to external stimuli during several biological processes, including vascular progression in both physiological and pathological conditions. Low concentrations of angiogenic factors (such as VEGF) activate in fact complex pathways involving, among others, second messengers arachidonic acid (AA) and nitric oxide (NO), which in turn control the activity of plasma membrane calcium channels. The subsequent increase in the intracellular level of the ion regulates fundamental biophysical properties of ECs (such as elasticity, intrinsic motility, and chemical strength), enhancing their migratory capacity. Previously, a number of continuous models have represented cytosolic calcium dynamics, while EC migration in angiogenesis has been separately approached with discrete, lattice-based techniques. These two components are here integrated and interfaced to provide a multiscale and hybrid Cellular Potts Model (CPM), where the phenomenology of a motile EC is realistically mediated by its calcium-dependent subcellular events. The model, based on a realistic 3-D cell morphology with a nuclear and a cytosolic region, is set with known biochemical and electrophysiological data. In particular, the resulting simulations are able to reproduce and describe the polarization process, typical of stimulated vascular cells, in various experimental conditions.Moreover, by analyzing the mutual interactions between multilevel biochemical and biomechanical aspects, our study investigates ways to inhibit cell migration: such strategies have in fact the potential to result in pharmacological interventions useful to disrupt malignant vascular progressio