Medical students' attitudes towards the addictions

Background: The need for medical students to engage with patients with addictive problems is projected to increase in coming years. There will also be a concomitant greater emphasis on community-based learning. The present study assessed the impact of a community based teaching initiative, the Student Selected Component (SSC) Lay and Professional Perspectives on the Addictions, on students' attitudes to these groups. Summary of Work: The SSC is assessed by a final student report which includes a self-reflective section. The free text data from this section of 28 qualitative reports over 7 years was analysed using content analysis. Summary of Results: Students were clear they believed the experience of the SSC had increased their understanding of both the psychological and social complexity related to the addictions and the role of medicine within this. Conclusions: We discovered that the SSC Lay and Professional Perspectives on the Addictions not only gave students first-hand experience of those suffering from and treating addictive problems, but also had a positive effect on their attitude towards this group

Representations of symplectic reflection algebras and resolutions of deformations of symplectic quotient singularities

We give an equivalence of triangulated categories between the derived category of finitely generated representations of symplectic reflection algebras associated with wreath products (with parameter t=0) and the derived category of coherent sheaves on a crepant resolution of the spectrum of the centre of these algebras.Comment: References added and some typos correcte

A Novel Chronic Disease Policy Model

We develop a simulation tool to support policy-decisions about healthcare for chronic diseases in defined populations. Incident disease-cases are generated in-silico from an age-sex characterised general population using standard epidemiological approaches. A novel disease-treatment model then simulates continuous life courses for each patient using discrete event simulation. Ideally, the discrete event simulation model would be inferred from complete longitudinal healthcare data via a likelihood or Bayesian approach. Such data is seldom available for relevant populations, therefore an innovative approach to evidence synthesis is required. We propose a novel entropy-based approach to fit survival densities. This method provides a fully flexible way to incorporate the available information, which can be derived from arbitrary sources. Discrete event simulation then takes place on the fitted model using a competing hazards framework. The output is then used to help evaluate the potential impacts of policy options for a given population.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, 11 table

An Approach to the Aetiology of Prematurity: A Study of the Obstetric Histories of Mothers of Premature Babies with an Appendix on the Progress and Development of Premature Children

1. The neo-natal death rate among premature babies is very much higher than that among mature babies, and as a result of the changing pattern in infant mortality in recent years prematurity has become relatively more important as a cause, or contributing cause, of infant deaths. 2. When surviving premature children are compared with surviving mature children it has been found that the premature children are at a disadvantage in various respects. 3. For these reasons it is important to attempt to reduce the incidence of prematurity, but this object is hampered by inadequate knowledge of the aetiology of prematurity. 4. A premature child is defined as a child who weighs 5 1/2 lbs. (2500 G.) or less at birth, regardless of the length of gestation. In spite of its faults, this is the best definition available. 5. The aetiology of prematurity is not fully understood. In about half the cases of prematurity which occur no cause can be defined. In the remaining half the prematurity is associated with complications of pregnancy and it is generally assumed that these complications are the cause of the prematurity, but the way by which this is brought about is not known. It is known that a large number of factors such as social class, maternal age, and parity influence the prematurity rate. It is also known that prematurity tends to be repeated and this tendency may be associated with a tendency to abort and show signs of toxaemia. 6. The aim of this study was to examine the occurrence of prematurity against the background of the reproductive tendencies of the mothers of premature children. In order to do this, we interviewed the mothers of 515 single-born premature children who had been born in Glasgow during the year 1950, and obtained the obstetric histories of these mothers. There does not appear to be any bias in the sample which would influence the conclusions which will be drawn. 7. The incidence of prematurity among the single-born sib- lings of these premature children was 26.4%. It was shown that in a number of cases the prematurity in 1950 might have been caused by factors associated with that particular pregnancy, but if these cases were excluded it would be reasonable to postulate that the prematurity in the remaining cases was due to a predisposition on the part of the mothers to have premature babies. 8. This predisposition to prematurity is made up of two tendencies: one to have mature babies of low birth weight which are by definition premature, and the other to have abnormally short pregnancies. 9. There is no fundamental difference between the reproductive histories of mothers who have premature babies after uncomplicated pregnancies and mothers who have premature babies after complicated pregnancies. Such differences as appear to exist are due to a tendency for the mothers who had complicated pregnancies to have still-births and abortions instead of premature live-births among their other pregnancies, and to the fact that most of the mature children of low birth weight who are classified as premature are born after uncomplicated pregnancies. There is an important relationship between prematurity and complications of pregnancy in that prematurity occurs more often in the presence of complications than in their absence, but the similarity in reproductive histories, and the absence of satisfactory evidence to the contrary, justifies the rejection of the view that prematurity is caused by complications of pregnancy. 10. The incidence of abortions among the other pregnancies of the mothers of these premature children was unduly high, especially when the birth weight of the premature child had been low. This and other evidence led to the conclusion that there is some common factor in the aetiologies of abortion, prematurity, and toxaemia. 11. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that most cases of prematurity are due to a maternal predisposition to have premature babies. This may simply be a tendency for certain mothers, probably of small stature, to have full-time babies of low birth weight,but more often it is due to a tendency to have abnormally short pregnancies. These short pregnancies are caused by a maternal-foetal reaction due ultimately to the genetic constitution of the foetus. This conclusion is supported by the finding that there is a relationship between a history of prematurity in the family of either parent and the incidence of prematurity among their children. Most of the remaining cases of prematurity, which are not due to a maternal predisposition, are caused by the action of factors associated with first pregnancies, high parity, and pregnancies during the later child-bearing years. A small residue is due to various other causes

The application of S isotopes and S/Se ratios in determining ore-forming processes of magmatic Ni–Cu–PGE sulfide deposits: a cautionary case study from the northern Bushveld Complex

The application of S/Se ratios and S isotopes in the study of magmatic Ni–Cu–PGE sulfide deposits has long been used to trace the source of S and to constrain the role of crustal contamination in triggering sulfide saturation. However, both S/Se ratios and S isotopes are subject to syn- and post-magmatic processes that may alter their initial signatures. We present in situ mineral δ34S signatures and S/Se ratios combined with bulk S/Se ratios to investigate and assess their utility in constraining ore-forming processes and the source of S within magmatic sulfide deposits. Magmatic Ni–Cu–PGE sulfide mineralization in the Grasvally Norite–Pyroxenite–Anorthosite (GNPA) member, northern Bushveld Complex was used as a case study based on well-defined constraints of sulfide paragenesis and local S isotope signatures. A crustal δ34S component is evident in the most primary sulfide assemblage regardless of footwall lithology, and is inferred that the parental magma(s) of the GNPA member was crustally contaminated and sulfide saturated at the time of emplacement. However, S/Se ratios of both the primary and in particular secondary sulfide assemblages record values within or below the mantle range, rather than high crustal S/Se ratios. In addition, there is a wide range of S/Se ratio for each sulfide mineral within individual assemblages that is not necessarily consistent with the bulk ratio. The initial crustal S/Se ratio is interpreted to have been significantly modified by syn-magmatic lowering of S/Se ratio by sulfide dissolution, and post-magmatic lowering of the S/Se ratio from hydrothermal S-loss, which also increases the PGE tenor of the sulfides. Trace element signatures and variations in Th/Yb and Nb/Th ratios support both an early pre-emplacement contamination event as seen by the S isotopes and S/Se ratios, but also a second contamination event resulting from the interaction of the GNPA magma with the local footwall country rocks at the time of emplacement; though this did not add any additional S. We are able to present an integrated emplacement and contamination model for the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex. Although the multitude of processes that affect variations in the δ34S signature and in particular S/Se ratio may be problematic in interpreting ore genesis, they can reveal a wealth of additional detail on a number of processes involved in the genetic history of a Ni–Cu–PGE deposit in addition to crustal contamination. However, a prerequisite for being able to do this is to utilize other independent petrological and mineralogical techniques that provide constraints on both the timing and effect of various ore-forming and modifying processes. Utilizing both bulk and in situ methods in concert to determine the S/Se ratio allows for the assessment of multiple sulfide populations, the partitioning behaviour of Se during sulfide liquid fractionation and also the effects of low temperature fluid alteration. In comparison, S isotopes are relatively more robust and represent a more reliable indicator of the role of crustal S contamination. The addition of trace element data to the above makes for an incredibly powerful approach in assessing the role of crustal contamination in magmatic sulfide systems

Foot and Mouth Epidemic Reduces Cases of Human Cryptosporidiosis in Scotland.

In Scotland, rates of cryptosporidiosis infection in humans peak during the spring, a peak that is coincident with the peak in rates of infection in farm animals (during lambing and calving time). Here we show that, during the outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in 2001, there was a significant reduction in human cases of cryptosporidiosis infection in southern Scotland, where FMD was present, whereas, in the rest of Scotland, there was a reduction in cases that was not significant. We associate the reduction in human cases of cryptosporidiosis infection with the reduction in the number of young farm animals, together with restrictions on movement of both farm animals and humans, during the outbreak of FMD in 2001. We further show that, during 2002, there was recovery in the rate of cryptosporidiosis infection in humans throughout Scotland, particularly in the FMD-infected area, but that rates of infection remained lower, though not significantly, than pre-2001 levels

The Educational Attainment of Looked After Children - Local Authority Pilot Projects : Final Research Report

The aim of the research was to identify interventions that appeared to make the most difference in terms of both the educational experience and outcomes of the looked after children and young people participating in the local authority pilot projects. Data on attendance, exclusions and attainment were collected for a population of more than 600 children and young people. The research also analysed qualitative data, based on interviews with project co-ordinators, professionals, children and young people, and their parents and carers

Practice learning: challenging neoliberalism in a turbulent world.

The turmoil, struggle, deepening poverty and inequality in which the world finds itself requires a responsive social work practice, theory and education. However, the current era of neoliberalism, 'post-welfare capitalism' and external socio-political pressures (Ioakimidis et al, 2014), increasingly suppresses social work's mandate of working for social justice and social change (Yazbek, 2014, Sewpaul, 2013). The reconceptualisation of social work in a context of rampant wealth accumulation and deepening poverty has led to the need for more orthodox social work assumptions and theories to be challenged (Ioakimidis et al, 2014; Sewpaul, 2014; Harms Smith, 2013)

The impact of study support : a report of a longitudinal study into the impact of participation in out-of-school-hours learning on the academic attainment, attitudes and school attendance of secondary school students

Study support makes a difference. It has an impact on three key aspects of students’ school careers: • attainment at GCSE and KS3 SATs; • attitudes to school; • attendance at school. These findings were consistent for all groups of students in all schools in the study. - Study support can help to improve schools and can influence the attitudes to learning of teachers and parents as well as students

Assessing Metadata and Curation Quality

Since 2017, the publisher Springer Nature has provided an optional Research Data Support service to help researchers deposit and curate data that support their peer-reviewed publications. This service builds on a Research Data Helpdesk, which since 2016 has provided support to authors and editors who need advice on the options available for sharing their research data. In this paper, we describe a short project which aimed to facilitate an objective assessment of metadata quality, undertaken during the development of a third-party curation service for researchers (Research Data Support). We provide details on the single-blind user-testing that was undertaken, and the results gathered during this experiment. We also briefly describe the curation services which have been developed and introduced following an initial period of testing and piloting