What unites Europe and what divides it? Solidarity and the European heritage reconsidered

Despite the on-set on new divisions, there is a strong case to be made for the view that ultimately Europe is more united than divided. There is still significant continuity with the post-war project of reconstruction and peace and that this common ground that constitutes the European heritage needs to be given greater recognition. One of the defining features of European self-understanding is opposition to war

Efficacy of exercise counselling as an aid for smoking cessation: a randomized controlled trial.

To examine whether exercise counselling increases smoking abstinence and reduces tobacco withdrawal and gains in weight and body fat

Implementing Customer Relationship Management in the Hotel Sector: Does \u27IT\u27 Always Matter?

Travellers are becoming more price sensitive, less brand loyal and more sophisticated. To enhance guest loyalty, hotels must focus on developing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies that aim to seek, gather, store and share guest information throughout the entire organisation for creating personalised, unique guests experiences. Although CRM in the hospitality industry has been defined by the myriad of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) suppliers that highlight and overstate the importance of ICT capabilities and tools, it is now being widely recognized that successful CRM strategies should effectively combine and align ICT functionality with business operations and strategy. As a widely accepted framework to achieve this has not so far been developed, this paper proposed a model for managing and integrating ICT capabilities into CRM strategies. The model argues that successful CRM implementation requires the management and alignment of three managerial areas: ICT, relationship (internal and external) and knowledge management. The model is applicable and useful for all industries, but by gathering data from a dataset of hotels in Greece, its validity is tested while interesting contextual findings regarding CRM implementation are revealed. Suggestions for future research are also provided

A Genealogy of Crisis : Europe's Legal Legacy and Ordoliberalism

Peer reviewe

Measurement of physical activity and energy expenditure using heart rate, motion sensors and questionnaires

This dissertation was designed to examine new techniques to measure physical activity (PA) and energy expenditure (EE) during lifestyle activities. The specific aims were: 1) to evaluate heart rate (HR), using percent of HR reserve in relation to percent of oxygen uptake reserve, as a method for assessing moderate intensity PA in the field setting; 2) to validate the simultaneous heart rate-motion sensor (HR+M) technique to estimate EE of selected activities; 3) to validate the simultaneous HR +M technique to predict EE over an extended time period; and 4) to use the simultaneous HR+M technique to validate selected PA questionnaires over a 7-day period. For the first aim, sixty-one males performed physical tasks in both a laboratory and field setting. HR and oxygen uptake (V0 2) were continuously measured during 15- min tasks. HR data was used to predict EE using age-predicted maximum HR and estimated maximal V0 2. The correlation between HR and measured V0 2 was r=0.68. After adjusting for age and fitness level, HR provided an accurate estimate of EE, r=0.87. Using percent HR reserve to estimate percent V02 reserve significantly improved the estimation of EE

Toward interprofessional learning and education:Mapping common outcomes for prequalifying healthcare professional programs in the United Kingdom

Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) continues to be a key component in prequalifying health professional education, with calls for regulators to publish a joint statement regarding IPE outcomes. To date, the regulatory documents for healthcare education in the United Kingdom have not been examined for common learning outcomes; information that could be used to inform such a statement and to identify opportunities for interprofessional learning. Methods: A mapping of the outcomes/standards required by five, UK, health profession regulatory bodies was undertaken. This involved the identification of common outcomes, a keyword search and classification of common outcomes/standards; presented as themes and subthemes. Results: Seven themes were identified: knowledge for practice, skills for practice, ethical approach, professionalism, continuing professional development (CPD), patient-centered approach and teamworking skills, representing 22 subthemes. Each subtheme links back to the outcomes/standards in the regulatory documents. Conclusions: This study identifies the key areas of overlap in outcomes/standards expected of selected healthcare graduates in the United Kingdom. The mapping provides a framework for informing prequalifying IPE curricula, for example, identifying possible foci for interprofessional education outcomes and associated learning opportunities. It allows reference back to the standards set by regulatory bodies, a requirement for all institutions involved in health profession education

Interprofessional, student-led intervention to improve insulin prescribing to patients in an Acute Surgical Receiving Unit

Our aim was to test the feasibility of interprofessional, workplace-based learning about improvement through a 4-week placement for one medical and two pharmacy final year students in an Acute Surgical Receiving Unit (ASRU). The target was insulin because this is a common, high-risk medicine in this ASRU and the intervention was medicines reconciliation. Baseline data were collected from 10 patients and used to construct a cause and effect diagram and a process map through feedback and discussions with staff. Hypoglycaemia occurred in four patients but hyperglycaemia occurred in eight patients, of whom six were placed on intravenous insulin infusion (IVII). We estimated that £2454 could be saved by preventing one patient from going on IVII. The students designed and tested a sticker to improve medicines reconciliation for insulin patients. An online form was created to capture clinician feedback on the layout and usability of the sticker. The intervention was associated with improvements in the reliability of medicines reconciliation. The students’ work contributed to a larger project to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia in the ASRU. This proved beneficial in enabling the students to engage with the clinical team. Nonetheless, it was challenging for students from two Universities to get a shared understanding of improvement methods and work effectively with the clinical team. The students said that they learnt more about quality improvement in a working healthcare environment than they would ever learn in a classroom and they valued the opportunity to work with students from other healthcare backgrounds in practice. Despite the additional staff time required to support students from two Universities, both have supported continuation of this work

The malaria parasite egress protease SUB1 is a calcium-dependent redox switch subtilisin.

Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite that replicates within an intraerythrocytic parasitophorous vacuole. Release (egress) of malaria merozoites from the host erythrocyte is a highly regulated and calcium-dependent event that is critical for disease progression. Minutes before egress, an essential parasite serine protease called SUB1 is discharged into the parasitophorous vacuole, where it proteolytically processes a subset of parasite proteins that play indispensable roles in egress and invasion. Here we report the first crystallographic structure of Plasmodium falciparum SUB1 at 2.25 Å, in complex with its cognate prodomain. The structure highlights the basis of the calcium dependence of SUB1, as well as its unusual requirement for interactions with substrate residues on both prime and non-prime sides of the scissile bond. Importantly, the structure also reveals the presence of a solvent-exposed redox-sensitive disulphide bridge, unique among the subtilisin family, that likely acts as a regulator of protease activity in the parasite

Yellow card reports associated with use of natural health products in children: an exploratory analysis.

Abstract of a presentation given at the Research council for complementary medicine 2015 conference (RCCM): demonstrating the value of integrative medicine, 10 September, London, UK

The use of complementary and alternative medicine among children in Aberdeen: an outcomes-based cross-sectional survey.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in paediatric subjects is increasing globally. However, most of the data available in the UK is based on hospital-based studies; and studies of such use in the general population are scarce. Also, available British studies were mostly conducted in England; with much fewer Scottish studies. The only such study in Aberdeen, North-east Scotland, was conducted 10 years ago. Current data on the subject is therefore needed, particularly for paediatric CAM use in the general population