Make it so! Jean-Luc Picard, Bart Simpson and the design of e-public services

In this paper, we report on a project applying participatory design methods to include people who have experience of social exclusion (in one form or another) in designing possible technologies for e-(local)-government services. The work was part of a project for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the UK, and was concerned with ‘access tokens’ that can provide personal identification for individuals accessing public services, based on technologies such as multi-functional smartcards, flash memory sticks, mobile phone SIMs or similar devices. In particular we report on our experience using the ‘pastiche scenarios’ technique recently developed by Mark Blythe. Our findings indicate that the technique can be effective and engaging in helping people to create realistic scenarios of future technology use and highlight some possible pitfalls to consider when using this technique.</p

Successes and Barriers to the Implementation of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (CSI)

This study surveyed teacher implementation of strategy instruction for improved comprehension. The inquiry positions teachers, administrators, and teacher educators to better understand current levels of implementation of comprehension strategies and suggests ideas for meeting the challenges of increasing and/or sustaining their use

Could cancer drugs provide ammunition against aging?

Recent advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular signaling pathways that drive aging have revealed several genetic and environmental manipulations that can increase lifespan across different species. Research on the underlying biology of aging has not only revealed it to be a biologically malleable process but has also paved the way for the development of pharmacological interventions that could increase lifespan and delay the onset and/or progression of age-related disease

Child consent in South African law: Implications for researchers, service providers and policy-makers

Children under 18 are legal minors who, in South African law, are not fully capable of acting independently without assistance from parents/legal guardians. However, in recognition of the evolving capacity of children, there are exceptional circumstances where the law has granted minorsthe capacity to act independently. We describe legal norms for child consent to health-related interventions in South Africa, and argue that the South African Parliament has taken an inconsistent approach to: the capacity of children to consent; the persons able to consent when children do not have capacity; and restrictions on the autonomy of children or theirproxies to consent. In addition, the rationale for the differing age limitations, capacity requirements and public policy restrictions has not been specified. These inconsistencies make it difficult for stakeholders interacting with children to ensure that they act lawfully

Evaluation of the Water Footprint of Sugarcane in Eastern Thailand

This paper aims to present the three kinds of water footprint of sugarcane in eastern Thailand. The water footprints of sugarcane were assessed as the volume of yield in water per product unit (m3/ton). Because of, sugarcane is an important crop in Thailand. The residue left from sugarcane can develop into useful products include fuel to produce electricity, organic fertilizers, pulp and scientific material. In present, area for sugarcane is likely to add more acreage. The cultivated area would affect the use of water resources. Therefore, the study the water footprint of sugarcane is an important crop. The result water footprint of sugarcane from the period 2013 - 2014 is 178.32 m3/ton (129.60 m3/ton of green water footprint, 17.61 m3/ton of blue water footprint and 31.11 m3/ton of grey water footprint). The highest and lowest water footprints are Prachinburi and Chonburi respectively. The water footprint in the eastern Thailand for sugarcane is lower than the global average. Excepting, the grey water footprint is about 3 times higher than that. This is mainly because of high fertilizers application rate for sugarcane are 125 - 156.25 kg/ha. Another one, the water footprint can be using prediction implement of yield of sugarcane

Modeling Soil Water Movement into Plant Roots

Mathematical model was developed which describes uptake of water by plant roots as a function of leaf and soil water potentials. The model was used to estimate transpiration from corn grown in a controlled environment under soil drying conditions. The model predicted daily transpiration quite well for the period modeled

Paedophiles in the community: inter-agency conflict, news leaks and the local press

This article explores the leaking of confidential information about secret Home Office plans to house convicted paedophiles within a local community (albeit inside a prison). It argues that a politics of paedophilia has emerged in which inter-agency consensus on the issue of ‘what to do’ with high-profile sex offenders has broken down. Accordingly, the article situates newspaper ‘outing’ of paedophiles in the community in relation to vigilante journalism and leaked information from official agencies. The article then presents research findings from a case study of news events set in train following a whistle-blowing reaction by Prison Officers’ Association officials to Home Office plans. Drawing from a corpus of 10 interviews with journalists and key protagonists in the story, the article discusses both the dynamics of whistle blowing about paedophiles and also what happens after the whistle has blown

Reporting underage consensual sex after the Teddy Bear case: A different perspective

Doctors and researchers face a complex dilemma regarding the mandatory reporting of consensual underage sex, because of contradictions between the Children’s Act and the Sexual Offences Act. When providing underage children with sexual and reproductive health services, they have had to decide whether to provide these confidentially, in terms of the Children’s Act, or thereafter report the consensual but illegal sexual behaviour to the police, in terms of the Sexual Offences Act. The recent Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children, and Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (RAPCAN) v. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development case addressed whether consensual underage sex ought to be a criminal offence and thus reported. The court held that aspects of sections 15 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act infringed on the constitutional rights of adolescents (aged 12 - 15 years) by proscribing many consensual sexual activities. McQuoid-Mason has described this case in detail. He submits that following the judgement, doctors are no longer under a reporting obligation in relation to consensual underage sex. We respectfully disagree. This article critiques McQuoid-Mason’s approach, sets out our views on the mandatory reporting obligations after the Teddy Bear case and concludes with some comments on the judgement’s implications for researchers and medical practitioners

Percutaneous coronary intervention in the elderly: changes in case-mix and periprocedural outcomes in 31758 patients treated between 2000 and 2007

&lt;p&gt;Background: The elderly account for an increasing proportion of the population and have a high prevalence of coronary heart disease. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the most common method of revascularization in the elderly. We examined whether the risk of periprocedural complications after PCI was higher among elderly (age ≥75 years) patients and whether it has changed over time.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods and Results: The Scottish Coronary Revascularization Register was used to undertake a retrospective cohort study on all 31 758 patients undergoing nonemergency PCI in Scotland between April 2000 and March 2007, inclusive. There was an increase in the number and percentage of PCIs undertaken in elderly patients, from 196 (8.7%) in 2000 to 752 (13.9%) in 2007. Compared with younger patients, the elderly were more likely to have multivessel disease, multiple comorbidity, and a history of myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass grafting (χ2 tests, all P&#60;0.001). The elderly had a higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events within 30 days of PCI (4.5% versus 2.7%, χ2 test P&#60;0.001). Over the 7 years, there was a significant increase in the proportion of elderly patients who had multiple comorbidity (χ2 test for trend, P&#60;0.001). Despite this, the underlying risk of complications did not change significantly over time either among the elderly (χ2 test for trend, P=0.142) or overall (χ2 test for trend, P=0.083).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: Elderly patients have a higher risk of periprocedural complications and account for an increasing proportion of PCIs. Despite this, the risk of complications after PCI has not increased over time.&lt;/p&gt

HIV prevention responsibilities in HIV vaccine trials: Complexities facing South African researchers

Researchers should protect the welfare of research participants through providing methods to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV. This is especially important given that latephase HIV vaccine trials enrol HIV-uninfected trial volunteers from high-risk populations.Current ethical guidelines may be difficult for stakeholders toimplement, and we know very little about what prevention services researchers are currently providing to participants or their successes, best practices and challenges. We recommend that current normative guidance be systematically reviewed and actual practice at vaccine sites be documented. Adding new tools to the current package of prevention services will involve complex decision making with fewset standards, and regulatory and scientific challenges. Werecommend that stakeholders (including regulators) convene to consider standards of evidence for new tools, and that decision-making processes be explicitly documented and researched. A further critical ethical task is exploring the threshold at which adding new tools will compromise thevalidity of trial results