Multi-wavelength photometric variation of PG1605+072

In a large coordinated attempt to further our understanding of the $p$-mode pulsating sdB star PG1605+072, the Multi-Site Spectroscopic Telescope (MSST) collaboration has obtained simultaneous time-resolved spectroscopic and photometric observations. The photometry was extended by additional WET data which increased the time base. This contribution outlines the analysis of the MSST photometric light curve, including the four-colour BUSCA data from which chromatic amplitudes have been derived, as well as supplementary FUV spectra and light curves from two different epochs. These results have the potential to complement the interpretation of the published spectroscopic information.Comment: 6 pages, to be published in "Interpretation of asteroseismic data", proceedings of the HELAS NA5 Workshop, eds. W. Dziembowski, M. Breger and M. Thompson, Communications in Asteroseismology, 15

Applying the trigger review method after a brief educational intervention: potential for teaching and improving safety in GP specialty training?

<p>Background: The Trigger Review Method (TRM) is a structured approach to screening clinical records for undetected patient safety incidents (PSIs) and identifying learning and improvement opportunities. In Scotland, TRM participation can inform GP appraisal and has been included as a core component of the national primary care patient safety programme that was launched in March 2013. However, the clinical workforce needs up-skilled and the potential of TRM in GP training has yet to be tested. Current TRM training utilizes a workplace face-to-face session by a GP expert, which is not feasible. A less costly, more sustainable educational intervention is necessary to build capability at scale. We aimed to determine the feasibility and impact of TRM and a related training intervention in GP training.</p> Methods We recruited 25 west of Scotland GP trainees to attend a 2-hour TRM workshop. Trainees then applied TRM to 25 clinical records and returned findings within 4-weeks. A follow-up feedback workshop was held. <p>Results: 21/25 trainees (84%) completed the task. 520 records yielded 80 undetected PSIs (15.4%). 36/80 were judged potentially preventable (45%) with 35/80 classified as causing moderate to severe harm (44%). Trainees described a range of potential learning and improvement plans. Training was positively received and appeared to be successful given these findings. TRM was valued as a safety improvement tool by most participants.</p> <p>Conclusion: This small study provides further evidence of TRM utility and how to teach it pragmatically. TRM is of potential value in GP patient safety curriculum delivery and preparing trainees for future safety improvement expectations.</p&gt

Bringing installation art to reconnaissance to share values and generate action

The English education system has recently seen something of a revival of enthusiasm for the use of research both to develop educational practices and to gather evidence about their effectiveness. These initiatives often present action research as a model of individual problem-solving, which, we argue, communicates a limited conception of action research. In this paper we propose an alternative to this ‘problem-solving’ conception of action research that acknowledges the complex, messy nature of action research through the use of arts installations. Specifically, we present the reconnaissance phase of a project which brought together a partnership comprising a water heritage museum, university staff, teachers and artists. A pedagogical adaptation of contemporary installation art theory and practice fostered the exploration of individual and collective understandings of water, and also established a shared approach to curriculum development and ownership of the project among all participants. We propose that this creative practice enhanced and changed the process of reconnaissance; it allowed the group to establish and share commitments to the value of water conservation and generated a wide range of options for our action research

The Use of the Term “DNA” as a Missiological Metaphor in Contemporary Church Narratives

Missiologists propose that the Church and mission are inseparable as the Church has its very being because there is mission, and it is the Missio Dei which constitutes the Church. In recent history the Anglican Church has interpreted this as the essential ‘DNA’ of the local church which is to be a missional community. The church’s mission therefore is presented as the gift of participating through the Holy Spirit in the Son’s mission from the Father to the world. In other words, it is proposed that the Church is both the fruit of God’s mission and the agent of His mission. But, in order to communicate this relationship between Church and mission in a postmodern context, the use of new metaphors and new terminologies, which are derived from our contemporary context, is shaping new ways of thinking. An exploration of the development of missional churches considers the significance of developing and embedding what has become referred to as missional DNA or mDNA at every level of the organisation of the Church. This mDNA is the outward model of missional behaviour that compels the whole church to reach a lost world. It can be seen from evidence-based, case study research amongst large churches in the UK that there is consistency in the adoption and use of the term DNA by its leadership in reference to the local church’s values and its attitude towards mission. This article explores the hypothesis that the term DNA is commonly accepted amongst local churches as a contributor to a contemporary language that forms the narrative of the Church and explores its feasibility and shortcomings as an adopted missiological metaphor

Still armed after domestication? Impacts of domestication and agronomic selection on silicon defences in cereals

Plant phenotypes reflect trade‐offs between competing resource‐intensive physiological processes. A shift in resource allocation, away from anti‐herbivore defences and towards growth and reproduction, is predicted through plant domestication, such that crops are faster growing and higher yielding than their wild ancestors. These changes are hypothesized to have come at the cost of defence investment, leaving crops “disarmed by domestication”. Silicon is the principal anti‐herbivore defence in grasses, including many of our most important staple cereal crops, but the impact of domestication on silicon‐based defences is unknown. We measured the effects of both domestication and modern agronomic selection on growth rate and a suite of anti‐herbivore defences, specifically leaf toughness, silicon and phenolic concentrations. Our comparison of wild, landrace and modern cultivated cereals spanned multiple cereal species, including wheat, barley and maize, sampling eight independent domestication events and five examples of modern agronomic selection. Leaf silicon concentration showed a small, but significant, 10% reduction through domestication, but there was no effect of modern agronomic selection, and phenolic concentration was not affected by either factor. Silicon concentration correlated positively with leaf tensile strength, but negatively with foliar phenolic concentrations, suggesting a trade‐off between chemical and physical defences. Size‐standardized growth rate was independent of domestication status, and did not trade‐off with silicon or phenolic defences. However, modelling showed that relative growth rate slowed more with increasing size in plants with higher silicon levels, so that they reached a smaller final size, implying a cost of silicon‐based defence. We found the opposite pattern for phenolic‐based defence, with increasing phenolic concentrations associated with a greater plant size at maturity, and faster maximum relative growth rates. Silicon‐based defences have been reduced in cereals through domestication, consistent with our predicted costs of these defences to growth. However, modern agronomic selection has not influenced silicon defences in cereal crops and the small decrease in silicon concentration associated with domestication is unlikely to have a major effect on the ability of cereals to withstand a range of abiotic and biotic stresses. These findings have broad implications for crop protection and our understanding of plant trade‐offs

Monitoring patient safety in primary care: an exploratory study using in-depth semistructured interviews

Objectives To explore how information and data are used to monitor patient safety and quality of primary care by professionals working in, or supporting, primary healthcare. Design Qualitative study of semistructured interviews with a directed content analysis of transcripts. Setting North-West London, UK. Participants 21 individuals from various levels of the primary healthcare system were recruited, including general practitioners, practice nurses, practice managers, members of Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) governing bodies, and senior members of regional patient safety teams. Results Participants described being overwhelmed with complicated data which lacked any meaningful analyses about safety and quality. There was also a lack of clarity over which patient safety events are expected to be reported or monitored. Participants also reported uncertainty on whose responsibility it was to act on patient safety information or concerns. At the practice level, there was a range of disincentives for responding to and acting on safety issues and concerns, with few reported benefits. Participants made recommendations to improve future monitoring. Conclusions There is a need for clearer information in the form of specific guidelines, policies and procedures with regard to who monitors patient safety in primary care, what is monitored and how it should be monitored

Missing domesticated plant forms: can artificial selection fill the gap?

In the course of their evolution, the angiosperms have radiated into most known plant forms and life histories. Their adaptation to a recently created habitat, the crop field, produced a novel form: the plant that allocates an unprecedented 30–60% of its net productivity to sexual structures. Long-lived trees, shrubs and vines of this form evolved, as did annual herbs. Perennial herb forms with increased allocation to asexual reproduction evolved, but there are no examples of perennial herbs with high sexual effort. We suggest that sowing seed into annually tilled fields favored shorter-lived herbs because of trade-offs between first-year seed production and relative growth rate and/or persistence. By propagating cuttings, people quickly domesticated tuber crops and large woody plants. Perennial herbs were too small to be efficiently propagated by cuttings, and the association between longevity, allogamy and genetic load made rapid domestication by sexual cycles unlikely. Perennial grain crops do not exist because they could not have evolved under the original set of conditions; however, they can be deliberately developed today through artificial phenotypic and genotypic selection

The Leeds Evaluation of Efficacy of Detoxification Study (LEEDS) prisons project: a randomised controlled trial comparing dihydrocodeine and buprenorphine for opiate detoxification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many opiate users entering British prisons require prescribed medication to help them achieve abstinence. This commonly takes the form of a detoxification regime. Previously, a range of detoxification agents have been prescribed without a clear evidence base to recommend a drug of choice. There are few trials and very few in the prison setting. This study compares dihydrocodeine with buprenorphine.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Open label, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial in a large remand prison in the North of England. Ninety adult male prisoners requesting an opiate detoxification were randomised to receive either daily sublingual buprenorphine or daily oral dihydrocodeine, given in the context of routine care. All participants gave written, informed consent. Reducing regimens were within a standard regimen of not more than 20 days and were at the discretion of the prescribing doctor. Primary outcome was abstinence from illicit opiates as indicated by a urine test at five days post detoxification. Secondary outcomes were collected during the detoxification period and then at one, three and six months post detoxification. Analysis was undertaken using relative risk tests for categorical data and unpaired t-tests for continuous data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>64% of those approached took part in the study. 63 men (70%) gave a urine sample at five days post detoxification. At the completion of detoxification, by intention to treat analysis, a higher proportion of people allocated to buprenorphine provided a urine sample negative for opiates (abstinent) compared with those who received dihydrocodeine (57% vs 35%, RR 1.61 CI 1.02–2.56). At the 1, 3 and 6 month follow-up points, there were no significant differences for urine samples negative for opiates between the two groups. Follow up rates were low for those participants who had subsequently been released into the community.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings would suggest that dihydrocodeine should not be routinely used for detoxification from opiates in the prison setting. The high relapse rate amongst those achieving abstinence would suggest the need for an increased emphasis upon opiate maintenance programmes in the prison setting.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN07752728</p