Peer-based Social Support for Young-People with Juvenile Arthritis: Views of Young People, Parents/Carers and Healthcare Professionals within the UK

Purpose: A deeper understanding was sought of what peer-based social support means to young people with juvenile arthritis within the UK and ways in which it could be best provided. Design and Methods: A secondary analysis of underused, descriptively rich data relating to peer-based support contributed by young people with juvenile arthritis, their parents/carers and healthcare professionals from a qualitative study (seeking their views on a potential self-management mobile-app) was carried out using methods suggested by Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Peer-based support can provide a new kind of ‘normality’ for young people with juvenile arthritis, including greater understanding, relief, reassurance, shared learning and increased self-efficacy. However, the risk of stigma through this shared identity suggests a need to offer various forms of access including using new electronic media. Conclusion and Implications: The evidence suggests that although desired, the potential social cost of identifying with peers living with juvenile arthritis is influenced by the way such support is provided, which in turn impacts on how readily it will be accessed. This suggests the need to provide various means of accessing peer-based contact, including electronic media, to ensure that young people with juvenile arthritis benefit. Therefore, when promoting and supporting peer-based social support, as far as possible, professionals need to individualise ways in which such support can be accessed because there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach

Fast and Slow Water Ion Populations in the Enceladus Plume

Ion velocities have been measured during the Enceladus E3 and E5 flybys using the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument on the Cassini spacecraft. Data from three sensors in the CAPS instrument have been examined from two flybys that occurred during 2008. Positive ion measurements from the CAPS Ion Beam Spectrometer and Ion Mass Spectrometer have been used to measure positive ion velocities. The CAPS Electron Spectrometer has been used to complement the positive ion findings with measurements of negative ion velocities. Two velocities for the positive ions are found, with the fast ions (2.3–5.8 km/s) originating from the high‐speed neutral gas emission and slow ions (0.2–2.2 km/s) associated with the low‐speed thermal gas emission from Enceladus. Negative ions were found to be near stationary or northerly traveling, implying a deceleration mechanism within the plume. A tentative detection of fast negative ions was also recorded for one of the flybys. These findings will aid in future modeling of plume dynamics

Characterization of mid-intestinal microbiota of farmed Chinook salmon using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding

With the growing importance of aquaculture worldwide, characterization of the microbiota of high-value aquaculture species and identification of their shifts induced by changes in fish physiology or nutrition is of special interest. Here we report the first 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding survey of the mid-intestinal bacteria of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), an economically important aquacultured species. The microbiota of 30 farmed Chinook salmon from a single cohort was surveyed using metabarcode profiling of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Seawater, feed and mid-intestinal samples and controls were sequenced in quadruplicate to assess both biological and technical variation in the microbial profiles. Over 1000 operational taxonomic units were identified within the cohort, providing a first glimpse into the mid-intestinal microbiota of farmed Chinook salmon. The taxonomic distribution of the salmon microbiota was reasonably stable, with around two thirds of individuals dominated by members of the family Vibrionaceae. We anticipate that the workflow presented in this paper could be applied in other aquacultured fish species to capture variation or dysbiosis occurring as a result of changes in feed, health or environmental conditions

Nitrogen and Hydrogen Plasma Treatments of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

This article investigates plasma treatment of vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotube (CNT) films in different plasma environments for modification of surface chemistry and morphology. The surfaces of the CNTs were functionalized with a pulsed dc plasma treatment, where the power was directly applied to the nanotube film in low pressure argon/nitrogen and argon/hydrogen backgrounds. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to detect atomic and molecular excitations in the gas mixtures as well as in pure gases in the vicinity of the CNT films. In situx-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed on the treated samples to examine CNT surface chemistry after treatment. The analysis of CNT films after nitrogen and hydrogen treatment indicated formation of both C-N and C-H bonds, respectively. Correlations of the plasma characteristics to the surface chemistry and morphology of the CNT surfaces are discussed

Anxiety and intellectual functioning in autistic children:A systematic review and meta-analysis

Autistic children experience higher levels of anxiety than their peers. Making appropriate diagnoses of anxiety disorders and providing effective treatment for these children is particularly difficult. Inconsistent evidence suggests that levels of anxiety in autistic children are related to intellectual functioning. We provide the first meta-analysis of this evidence. A systematic search identified 49 papers for review. These papers included measures of anxiety and intelligence quotient in 18,430 autistic children. Studies employing correlations showed evidence of a significant relationship between intelligence quotient and anxiety in autistic children: children with higher intelligence quotient scored higher on measures of anxiety. Studies directly comparing groups of autistic children with and without intellectual disability also supported this conclusion. Most studies employing other designs also supported this finding. Employing a quality assessment framework identified common threats to validity. Many studies used measures of anxiety that were not validated across the samples they measure. This was most notable for those autistic children with an intellectual disability. It is vital that future research determines whether the identified relationship between intelligence quotient and anxiety reflects something important in the mechanism for anxiety in autistic children, or quantifies the lack of sensitivity of our measures of anxiety across different groups

Chemical dynamics of triacetylene formation and implications to the synthesis of polyynes in Titan's atmosphere

For the last four decades, the role of polyynes such as diacetylene (HCCCCH) and triacetylene (HCCCCCCH) in the chemical evolution of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan has been a subject of vigorous research. These polyacetylenes are thought to serve as an UV radiation shield in planetary environments; thus, acting as prebiotic ozone, and are considered as important constituents of the visible haze layers on Titan. However, the underlying chemical processes that initiate the formation and control the growth of polyynes have been the least understood to date. Here, we present a combined experimental, theoretical, and modeling study on the synthesis of the polyyne triacetylene (HCCCCCCH) via the bimolecular gas phase reaction of the ethynyl radical (CCH) with diacetylene (HCCCCH). This elementary reaction is rapid, has no entrance barrier, and yields the triacetylene molecule via indirect scattering dynamics through complex formation in a single collision event. Photochemical models of Titan's atmosphere imply that triacetylene may serve as a building block to synthesize even more complex polyynes such as tetraacetylene (HCCCCCCCCH)

Football Game Program 3 1965

Football Game Program 3 196

X-rays from Saturn: A study with XMM-Newton and Chandra over the years 2002-05

We present the results of the two most recent (2005) XMM-Newton observations of Saturn together with the re-analysis of an earlier (2002) observation from the XMM-Newton archive and of three Chandra observations in 2003 and 2004. While the XMM-Newton telescope resolution does not enable us to resolve spatially the contributions of the planet's disk and rings to the X-ray flux, we can estimate their strengths and their evolution over the years from spectral analysis, and compare them with those observed with Chandra. The spectrum of the X-ray emission is well fitted by an optically thin coronal model with an average temperature of 0.5 keV. The addition of a fluorescent oxygen emission line at ~0.53 keV improves the fits significantly. In accordance with earlier reports, we interpret the coronal component as emission from the planetary disk, produced by the scattering of solar X-rays in Saturn's upper atmosphere, and the line as originating from the Saturnian rings. The strength of the disk X-ray emission is seen to decrease over the period 2002 - 2005, following the decay of solar activity towards the current minimum in the solar cycle. By comparing the relative fluxes of the disk X-ray emission and the oxygen line, we suggest that the line strength does not vary over the years in the same fashion as the disk flux. We consider possible alternatives for the origin of the line. The connection between solar activity and the strength of Saturn's disk X-ray emission is investigated and compared with that of Jupiter. We also discuss the apparent lack of X-ray aurorae on Saturn and conclude that they are likely to lie below the sensitivity threshold of current Earth-bound observatories. A similar comparison for Uranus and Neptune leads to the same disappointing conclusion.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; to be published in 'Astronomy and Astrophysics

Asylum Seekers and the Labour Market: Spaces of Discomfort and Hostility

This article examines the relationship in the UK between asylum-seeking and the labour market. Since 2002, asylum-seekers have not been allowed to work unless they have waited over twelve months for an initial decision on their asylum claim. This policy change occurred as employment was considered a ‘pull factor’ encouraging unfounded asylum claims. Despite not having the right to work, asylum-seekers – and especially those whose applications for refugee status have been refused by the UK government – interact with the labour market in manifold ways. Drawing on an ESRC-funded study in the UK's Yorkshire and Humber region and related studies, this article argues that both asylum-seekers and refused asylum-seekers form a hyper-exploitable pool of ‘illegalised’ and unprotected workers. As a vital part of their survival terrain, work is largely experienced as for-cash labouring in low-paid labour market sectors where the spectre of exploitation and even ‘modern slavery’ are perpetual threats. Recent policy shifts are deepening such threats through creating increasingly ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘hostile’ environments for certain categories of migrants