The functions and failings of the Abortion Supervisory Committee: A Critique of the New Zealand Supreme Court Decision in Right to Life New Zealand Inc v The Abortion Supervisory Committee

In 2012 the Supreme Court of New Zealand ruled on Right to Life New Zealand Inc v The Abortion Supervisory Committee. The case was brought by way of application for judicial review, with Right to Life New Zealand Inc arguing that the Supervisory Committee had made an error of law in interpreting its functions under the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977. A majority of the Court held that the Supervisory Committee does not have the power to review decisions made by certifying consultants in individual cases. However, both the text and the purpose of the Act support the minority view, that the Supervisory Committee must seek information about individual cases in order to fulfil its functions under the Act. It appears that the majority judgment was motivated by policy concerns due to an arguable change in Parliamentary intent since 1977. The majority should have acknowledged the policy values that guided its decision or accorded with the minority view rather than straining the statutory wording. Either of those actions would have better prompted Parliament to reform the law to reflect modern circumstances

‘Violence can mean a lot of things can't it?’ An exploration of responses to harm associated with indoor sex work in Scotland

The association of violence with sex work has been widely documented within research and policy. This thesis provides a critique and development of such perspectives. Framed from a qualitative approach, it extends current research which has offered limited insight into the realities of how violence is experienced and responded to by sex workers and agencies involved in the provision of support to sex workers. In this way, the research develops beyond a presumption and narrow understanding of violence/harm in sex work to consider how sex workers and service providers experience, define, and thus construct their responses to harm. Findings from the data indicate variation amongst participants in their responses to harm associated with sex work, with experiences of violence or supporting violence and relationships and interactions between sex workers and service providers being important factors in how these responses are constructed. Both sex workers and service providers, however, recognised and understood associations of sex work with violence and victimisation, and related attempts to encourage individuals to cease or limit involvement in sex work, although this may not apply or be appropriate to all experiences of sex work and sex workers. The thesis contends that in order to gain an informed understanding of, and develop responses to, harm associated with sex work, it is important to consider the diversity of existing experiences of sex work. This should include alternative understandings and experiences of harm that are not limited to, or focused on, violence within sex work, as informed by the experiences of different sex workers. In doing so, there is the potential to better understand and accommodate a range of sex workers’ experiences, needs and interests in ways that do not impact on sex workers’ safety, or contribute to continued stigmatisation or exclusion, where some sex workers do not identify with a view of their work as harmful, or wish to exit sex work. Consequently this could aid the provision and development of services that respect and offer support where required, for different experiences of sex work amongst sex workers

Developing and Using Rubrics in Quantitative Business Courses

A rubric is a set of guidelines for assessing student performance. Rubrics have several important uses in the classroom, in program evaluation, and in accreditation review. A process for rubric development and examples of four types of rubrics are given. The best type of rubric for a quantitative task depends on the nature of the task and the reason for using a rubric. The major contribution of this article is a table that helps faculty select a rubric type for quantitative problems and three types of case problems

Guilty of using Google: Reconciling the right to a fair trial with the right to freedom of expression and addressing juror misconduct in the age of social media

It is widely accepted that the right to a fair trial is one of the most important guarantees contained within our legal system. That right is undermined when a jury member conducts his or her own research into a case. This type of juror misconduct constitutes contempt of court. In the light of the fact that the law of contempt is currently the subject of review in a number of jurisdictions, this paper considers how the law of contempt could be adapted to better manage the risk of jurors undertaking independent research. After a discussion of the current law and some problems with it, particularly those created by modern communications technology, this paper considers a number of possible reform options. It makes two broad recommendations. First, that the law should focus relatively more on preventing jurors undertaking their own research than on limiting publication. Second, that independent research by jurors should be the subject of statutory criminalisation, and a range of measures should be adopted to increase jurors’ understanding of the importance of not going outside the evidence before them and to minimize any incentives for jurors to conduct their own research

Evaluation of living well, taking control: A community-based diabetes prevention and management programme

IntroductionType 2 diabetes is a serious, expensive and growing public health challenge. In England, national guidance recommends intensive lifestyle interventions promoting weight loss for people at risk of diabetes and programmes of individualised care, information and advice for those recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (NICE, 2012; NICE, 2015). There has been little formal evaluation of ‘real-world’ type 2 diabetes prevention and management programmes in the UK, particularly those delivered by community and voluntary agencies. To inform options for action on type 2 diabetes, there is an urgent need for evidence on the implementation and effectiveness of innovative service models.Living Well, Taking ControlLiving Well, Taking Control (LWTC) is a programme designed to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes in non-clinical, community settings. Between July 2013 and October 2015, LWTC was led by Westbank Community Health and Care, and funded as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s (BLF) Wellbeing Programme. LWTC was delivered through third-sector agencies Westbank based in Devon, and Health Exchange in the West Midlands. The programme is compliant with NICE guidance. Evaluation questionsThe evaluation sought to address the following research questions:1.What are the characteristics of the population that the programme attracts?2.What are the patterns of participation in the programme?3.How well does the programme perform in terms of the main outcomes of weight loss and change in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), and secondary outcomes (e.g. physical activity, diet, mental wellbeing)?4.What is the association between programme exposure and outcomes?5.What is the association between practice effects (changes in delivery over time) and outcomes?Evaluation methodsThe evaluation is based upon a pre-post assessment of the experiences of programme participants, with additional data derived from programme delivery records. All individuals taking part in LWTC were asked to complete questionnaires and provide biometric measures at the point of enrolment between November 2013 and April 2015. Participants provided follow-up data for a minimum of six months post-enrolment up to the end of October 2015. In addition, all participants who had reached the point of 12 months post-enrolment were asked to provide further follow-up data.Key FindingsParticipants enrolled in LWTC achieved statistically significant improvements in weight and most associated measures (BMI, waist circumference), for those with pre-diabetes and diabetes, at six-month and 12-month measurement points. Of those participants who provided data, 2kg weight loss was achieved by 41.9% (n=156/372) at Month 6 and 44.2% (n=73/165) at Month 12. The 2kg weight loss was achieved by more participants with pre-diabetes than those with diabetes, with 42.9% (n=115/268) and 39.4% (n=41/104), respectively at Month 6. Weight loss and HbA1c were, in the main, closely paralleled by changes in the secondary outcome measures. Overall, there were statistically significant positive changes in general health state, overall life satisfaction, mental wellbeing, anxiety and depression, and self-reported diet at both Months 6 and 12. However, changes in self-reported physical activity were not statistically significant at either measurement point.Further details on the findings are available in the main report.ConclusionsThe evaluation findings suggest potential positive effects of LWTC on diabetes risk and the early stage management of diabetes. The LWTC programme model offers a number of features that are important for scaling up and embedding action on type 2 diabetes. LWTC incorporates key elements of NICE guidance on both the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. It has developed successful methods for recruitment in partnership with primary care agencies. The programme builds upon the local expertise and capacity of third sector providers, trained community facilitators and local partner agencies

Exploration of potential triggers for self-directed behaviours and regurgitation and reingestion in zoo-housed chimpanzees

The unique challenges faced by animals living in zoos can lead to the production of anxiety-related behaviours. In this study we aimed to understand what specific factors may cause chimpanzees to display these behaviours. In non-human primates, displacement behaviours, such as self-scratching and yawning, are considered markers of anxiety and stress, and Regurgitation and Reingestion (R/R) is considered an abnormal behaviour with negative consequences for physical health. We examined the possible triggers of R/R, scratching, and yawning in a group of zoo-housed chimpanzees and followed this up with an analysis of long-term data to examine further aspects of R/R behaviour. In the first study we conducted focal observations on 18 adult chimpanzees at Edinburgh Zoo, UK, in addition to all occurrence sampling of visitors using flash photography, screaming and banging on the glass in the exhibit. 158 h of data were analysed and Generalised Linear Mixed Models revealed that yawning was significantly more likely if there was a long period of time since the last feed and when there were moderate numbers of visitors in the zoo. There were trends that yawning was more likely to occur if children screamed and that scratching was more likely to occur if visitors used flash photography. R/R occurred most often within 40 min of a feed, but was not affected by the inter-feed interval preceding that feed, positive or negative social interactions, or visitor numbers or behaviour. As there was no obvious daily trigger for R/R, an analysis of long-term data (2009 to 2015) was conducted to investigate if social or dietary factors affected rates of R/R over a larger timescale. It was found that R/R rates in the months before a significant diet change were not different from R/R rates in the months after, but it was found that R/R rates decreased over the five-year period. Lastly, we found no evidence that the introduction of individuals engaging in R/R lead to resident chimpanzees habitually adopting the behaviour, despite considerable opportunities to observe it. These findings have implications for welfare interventions aimed to reduce R/R and/or anxiety behaviours in captive populations and for the translocation of individuals that are known to engage in R/R between groups.Peer reviewe

Pilot study: Is a long‐term follow‐up service beneficial for patients undergoing revision hip replacement surgery?

PurposeTotal hip arthroplasty (THA) is highly successful but some patients will require later revision surgery. This pilot study evaluates the effects of long‐term follow‐up for patients undergoing revision hip replacement.MethodsConsecutive patients undergoing aseptic revision of THA were recruited from a large orthopaedic unit to a single centre, observational study. Primary outcomes were changes in patient‐reported scores from pre‐revision to 12 months post‐surgery. Secondary outcomes were costs during hospital stay up to 6 months post‐revision. Participants were retrospectively allocated to two groups—those with regular orthopaedic review prior to revision (Planned revision) or those without (Unplanned revision).Resultspatients were recruited, 7 were unrevised, one incomplete baseline questionnaires. There were 25 planned and 19 unplanned revisions with no significant differences between groups at baseline. At 12 months, 34 complete data sets were available for analysis, 17 in each group. Change scores were analysed with Mann–Whitney U test; none reached statistical significance. There was a significant difference for length of stay: Planned group 5 days (2–22), Unplanned 11 days (3–86) (Mann–Whitney U test, p = 0.023). No significant differences found for theatre time or component costs. Resource costs post‐revision surgery are presented.ConclusionThis pilot study indicates that some change in methods would be required for future work. The results show that there may be some financial benefit from providing long‐term follow‐up of THA but a larger study is needed to explore these findings and to discuss the impact on recommended guidelines

The immune evasion protein Sbi of Staphylococcus aureus occurs both extracellularly and anchored to the cell envelope by binding lipoteichoic acid

The Sbi protein of Staphylococcus aureus comprises two IgG-binding domains similar to those of protein A and a region that triggers the activation of complement C3. Sbi is expressed on the cell surface but its C-terminal domain lacks motifs associated with wall or membrane anchoring of proteins in Gram-positive bacteria. Cell-associated Sbi fractionates with the cytoplasmic membrane and is not solubilized during protoplast formation. S. aureus expressing Sbi truncates of the C-terminal Y domain allowed identification of residues that are required for association of Sbi with the membrane. Recombinant Sbi bound to purified cytoplasmic membrane material in vitro and to purified lipoteichoic acid. This explains how Sbi partitions with the membrane in fractionation experiments yet is partially exposed on the cell surface. An LTA-defective mutant of S. aureus had reduced levels of Sbi in the cytoplasmic membrane