Conceptualising energy use and energy poverty using a capabilities framework

In this article we conceptualise energy use from a capabilities perspective, informed by the work of Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and others following them. Building on this, we suggest a corresponding definition of energy poverty, as understood in the capabilities space. We argue that such an understanding provides a theoretically coherent means of comprehending the relationship between energy and wellbeing, and thus conceptualising energy deprivation, that makes sense across settings including both the global North and South: a coherence which has previously been lacking. At the same time, it has the flexibility to be deployed in a way that is sensitive to local contexts. Understanding energy use in the capabilities space also provides a means for identifying multiple sites of intervention, including some areas that are currently largely overlooked. We argue that this is advantageous for attempts to address energy poverty in the context of climate change and imperatives for the containment of aggregate energy consumption

Successful elimination of factor VIII inhibitor using cyclosporin A

No abstract available

Electricity as (big) data:metering, spatiotemporal granularity and value

Electricity is hidden within wires and networks only revealing its quantity and flow when metered. The making of its properties into data is therefore particularly important to the relations that are formed around electricity as a produced and managed phenomenon. We propose approaching all metering as a situated activity, a form of quantification work in which data is made and becomes mobile in particular spatial and temporal terms, enabling its entry into data infrastructures and schemes of evaluation and value production. We interrogate the transition from the pre-digital into the making of bigger, more spatiotemporally granular electricity data, through focusing on those actors selling and materialising new metering technologies, data infrastructures and services for larger businesses and public sector organisations in the UK. We examine the claims of truth and visibility that accompany these shifts and their enrolment into management techniques that serve to more precisely apportion responsibility for, and evaluate the status of, particular patterns and instances of electricity use. We argue that whilst through becoming big data electricity flow is now able to be known and given identity in significantly new terms, enabling new relations to be formed with the many heterogeneous entities implicated in making and managing energy demand, it is necessary to sustain some ambivalence as to the performative consequences that follow for energy governance. We consider the wider application of our conceptualisation of metering, reflecting on comparisons with the introduction of new metering systems in domestic settings and as part of other infrastructural network

Relationship between sociodemographic factors and specialty destination of UK trainee doctors:a national cohort study

We are grateful to UKMED for releasing the data for this project. We also are grateful to the following for their support of the application to UKMED for this and other research projects: Dr Sally Curtis (University of Southampton, UK), Dr Sandra Nicholson (Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK). We thank Daniel Smith and Andy Knapton of the General Medical Council of the UK for their support for the application and throughout the project, particularly regarding data linkage and troubleshooting.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Necessary energy uses and a minimum standard of living in the United Kingdom:energy justice or escalating expectations?

Access to affordable energy is a core dimension of energy justice, with recent work examining the relation between energy use and well-being in these terms. However, there has been relatively little examination of exactly which energy uses should be considered basic necessities within a given cultural context and so of concern for energy justice. We examine the inclusion of energy-using necessities within the outcomes of deliberative workshops with members of the public focused on defining a minimum-standard of living in the UK and repeated biannually over a six year period. Our secondary analysis shows that energy uses deemed to be necessities are diverse and plural, enabling access to multiple valued energy services, and that their profile has to some degree shifted from 2008 to 2014. The reasoning involved is multidimensional, ranging across questions of health, social participation, opportunity and practicality. We argue that public deliberations about necessities can be taken as legitimate grounding for defining minimum standards and therefore the scope of ‘doing justice’ in fuel poverty policy. However we set this in tension with how change over time reveals the escalation of norms of energy dependency in a society that on climate justice grounds must radically reduce carbon emissions

Are there differences between those doctors who apply for a training post in Foundation Year 2 and those who take time out of the training pathway? A UK multi-cohort study

Introduction Knowledge about the career decisions of doctors in relation to specialty (residency) training is essential in terms of UK workforce planning. However, little is known about which doctors elect to progress directly from Foundation Year 2 (F2) into core/specialty/general practice training and those who instead opt for an alternative next career step. Objectives To identify if there were any individual differences between these two groups of doctors. Design This was a longitudinal, cohort study of “home” students who graduated from UK medical schools between 2010 and 2015 and completed the Foundation Programme (FP) between 2012 and 2017. We used the UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) to access linked data from different sources, including medical school performance, specialty training applications, and career preferences. Multivariable regression analyses were used to predict the odds of taking time out of training based on various socio-demographic factors. Results 18380/38905 (47.2%) of F2 doctors applied for, and accepted, a training post offer immediately after completing F2. The most common pattern for doctors taking time out of the training pathway after FP was to have a one-year (7155: 38.8%) or a two-year break (2605: 14.0%) from training. The odds of not proceeding directly into core or specialty training were higher for those who were: male, white, entered medical school as (high) school leavers, and whose parents were educated to degree level. Doctors from areas of low participation in higher education were significantly (0.001) more likely to proceed directly into core or specialty training. Conclusion The results show that UK doctors from higher socio-economic groups are less likely to choose to progress directly from the FP into specialty training. The data suggest that widening access and encouraging more socio-economic diversity in our medical students may be helpful in terms of attracting F2s into core/specialty training posts

Environmental Justice in Western Europe

In this chapter we aim to provide an overview of the variety of topics and methods that characterise the evolving set of environmental justice discourses in Western Europe. In the first section of this chapter the range of discourses on environmental justice in Western Europe is introduced through an overview that focuses on the forms of concern and normativity that have been central to environmental justice claim-making. This is followed by an overview of similarities and differences in methodological approaches and results regarding distributional inequalities, based on selected studies. In the second section the role of spatial and environmental planning and the involvement of citizens in planning processes and access to information will be dealt with, focusing therefore on questions of procedural justice. Decision making in this context will be focused on the specific context of implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the European Union. In the final section we take the dimension of future generations into account and discuss the relation between environmental justice and sustainability using the example of the energy sector and ways of dealing with nuclear power

Relationship between sociodemographic factors and selection into UK postgraduate medical training programmes: a national cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge about allocation of doctors into postgraduate training programmes is essential in terms of workforce planning, transparency and equity issues. However, this is a rarely examined topic. To address this gap in the literature, the current study examines the relationships between applicants' sociodemographic characteristics and outcomes on the UK Foundation Training selection process.METHODS: A longitudinal, cohort study of trainees who applied for the first stage of UK postgraduate medical training in 2013-2014. We used UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) to access linked data from different sources, including medical school admissions, assessments and postgraduate training. Multivariable ordinal regression analyses were used to predict the odds of applicants being allocated to their preferred foundation schools.RESULTS: Applicants allocated to their first-choice foundation school scored on average a quarter of an SD above the average of all applicants in the sample. After adjusting for Foundation Training application score, no statistically significant effects were observed for gender, socioeconomic status (as determined by income support) or whether applicants entered medical school as graduates or not. Ethnicity and place of medical qualification were strong predictors of allocation to preferred foundation school. Applicants who graduated from medical schools in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were 1.17 times, 3.33 times and 12.64 times (respectively), the odds of applicants who graduated from a medical school in England to be allocated to a foundation school of their choice.CONCLUSIONS: The data provide supportive evidence for the fairness of the allocation process but highlight some interesting findings relating to 'push-pull' factors in medical careers decision-making. These findings should be considered when designing postgraduate training policy