'England expects': Nelson as a symbol of local and national identity within the museum

When Admiral Lord Nelson died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 his lifetime achievements and his agonizing death elevated him to the status of a national hero. While his reputation, significance and influence have waxed and waned his importance to British national identity has rarely been questioned. When, in 2002 a new Nelson Museum was founded in Great Yarmouth, a unique opportunity was offered to examine Nelson’s contemporary influence on the public imagination and his importance in the articulation of identity, both personal and communal. The research which is reported here was undertaken in 2004 and during 2005, the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson’s death. It focused on the key players at the museum, the founders, the Curator, volunteers and visitors, using primary source documents and qualitative interviews. The findings suggest that Nelson was, without commemorative reminders in 2004, an important symbol of identity that has for most become disassociated from his military triumphs. The bicentenary reminded people of his naval exploits and his role in the defence of Britain thus re-enforcing his importance in history. This research also suggests that for some Nelson has become symbolic of English rather than British identity

Foster Care in Missouri

In 2001, approximately 805,000 children in the United States were in foster care. The majority of children entering foster care have experienced prolonged and repeated abuse and neglect. Consequently, many have serious developmental, physical, and emotional problems and require numerous services to ameliorate their problems. Research indicates that the current foster care system does not adequately meet the needs of this population

The Earned Income Tax Credit: Lifting Working Families Out of Poverty

Includes bibliographical references.22% of Missouri's young children live under the poverty level. Research shows that a child's development is affected negatively by circumstances of poverty. Children raised in poverty are more likely to have poorer physical health and growth, poorer academic achievement, more behavior problems at home and at school, increased rates of anxiety and depression, and diminished self-esteem. Sales, excise and property taxes are more burdensome to these families than to families with higher incomes. Any increases in these taxes create additional hardships for low-income families. Missouri is among the 12 states with the greatest tax burden on working poor families. An earned income tax credit will provide substantial tax relief for these families during an economic slowdown

Elementary School Library Collections: A Content Analysis of Science Trade Books

In this study, science trade books from the libraries of 10 elementary schools across the United States were evaluated using the modified Hunsader rubric for their overall quality pertaining to science content, literacy, and critical literacy criteria. Findings indicate that 62% of the books met the overall science content criterion, 99% met the overall literacy criterion, and 41% met the overall critical literacy criterion. The majority of science trade books in each school were life science books, and the majority of books across all schools were 18–23 years old, with many being much older. Implications and recommendations are provided

A single chromosome assembly of Bacteroides fragilis strain BE1 from Illumina and MinION nanopore sequencing data

BACKGROUND: Second and third generation sequencing technologies have revolutionised bacterial genomics. Short-read Illumina reads result in cheap but fragmented assemblies, whereas longer reads are more expensive but result in more complete genomes. The Oxford Nanopore MinION device is a revolutionary mobile sequencer that can produce thousands of long, single molecule reads. RESULTS: We sequenced Bacteroides fragilis strain BE1 using both the Illumina MiSeq and Oxford Nanopore MinION platforms. We were able to assemble a single chromosome of 5.18 Mb, with no gaps, using publicly available software and commodity computing hardware. We identified gene rearrangements and the state of invertible promoters in the strain. CONCLUSIONS: The single chromosome assembly of Bacteroides fragilis strain BE1 was achieved using only modest amounts of data, publicly available software and commodity computing hardware. This combination of technologies offers the possibility of ultra-cheap, high quality, finished bacterial genomes

Detection of Tyrosinase Autoantibodies in Patients With Vitiligo Using 35S-Labeled Recombinant Human Tyrosinase in a Radioimmunoassay

Tyrosinase antibodies recently have been reported to occur frequently in patients with vitligo. We describe the detection of tyrosinase antibodies in vitiligo patients using in vitro 35S-labeled human tyrosinase in a radioimmunoassay. Of 46 vitiligo sera examined in the assay, five (10.9%) were found to be positive for tyrosinase antibodies. In contrast, 20 control sera and sera from 10 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis were negative. Four of the sera positive in the radioimmunoassay were also positive in an ELISA using mushroom tyrosinase as antigen. Absorption studies indicated that pre-incubation with mushroom tyrosinase absorbed out the immunoreactivity of the positive sera in the radioimmunoassay, suggesting cross-reactivity, but this absorption was never complete, indicating that there are tyrosinase antibodies in human sera that do not react with the mushroom protein. There was no obvious association between the presence of tyrosinase antibodies and the age of the patients (range: 22–62 y), their duration of disease (range: 5–20 y), or the type of vitiligo (one segmental, one symmetricallperiorificial, three symmetrical), although the three patients with the highest antibody levels also had an associated autoimmune disorder (one with Graves' disease; two with autoimmune hypothyroidism). The results confirm that tyrosinase autoantibodies are present in the sera of vitiligo patients but at a low frequency. The technique described is sensitive and quantitative and allows the detection of confirmational epitopes. It will be useful in longitudinal studies to determine the relation between the clinical features of vitiligo and tyrosinase antibody levels

What motivates primary healthcare practitioners to refer patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to Pulmonary Rehabilitation? A survey using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a highly effective intervention for patients with COPD but primary care referral rates are persistently low. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) provides a structure for identifying motivators for behaviour change. Aim: Using the TDF to identify & classify the key barriers and enablers for UK primary healthcare practitioners (PHPs) when referring patients with COPD to PR. Methodology: A 54-item questionnaire, derived from our previous qualitative study and guided by the TDF, was distributed to UK based PHPs. Participants were recruited by e-mail (Primary Care Respiratory Society members), social media or direct targeting of participants at PHP conferences. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse responses. Results: Of 211 respondents, 103 (49%) report referring to PR < monthly or not at all. Identified enablers aligned with TDF domains on knowledge and skills. Most PHPs believed referral is easy (129; 61.1%) and (160; 75.9%) agreed to knowing PR programme content. Major barriers related to optimism (only 49 (23.6%) consider patients motivated) and (93; 44.1% believed patients in work are unable to attend). Barriers were also evident in domains social influences (44; 21.1%), report providers rarely engage & goals, (40; 18.9%) PHPs report in-practice measures to improve referral rates are rare. Conclusion: PR referral is infrequent. Knowledge and skills are evident, but interventions to overcome barriers; PHP perceptions of patient, provider engagement and improve goal focus are needed

Clinical interventions, implementation interventions, and the potential greyness in between -a discussion paper

Background: There is increasing awareness that regardless of the proven value of clinical interventions, the use of effective strategies to implement such interventions into clinical practice is necessary to ensure that patients receive the benefits. However, there is often confusion between what is the clinical intervention and what is the implementation intervention. This may be caused by a lack of conceptual clarity between \u27intervention\u27 and \u27implementation\u27, yet at other times by ambiguity in application. We suggest that both the scientific and the clinical communities would benefit from greater clarity; therefore, in this paper, we address the concepts of intervention and implementation, primarily as in clinical interventions and implementation interventions, and explore the grey area in between. Discussion: To begin, we consider the similarities, differences and potential greyness between clinical interventions and implementation interventions through an overview of concepts. This is illustrated with reference to two examples of clinical interventions and implementation intervention studies, including the potential ambiguity in between. We then discuss strategies to explore the hybridity of clinical-implementation intervention studies, including the role of theories, frameworks, models, and reporting guidelines that can be applied to help clarify the clinical and implementation intervention, respectively. Conclusion: Semantics provide opportunities for improved precision in depicting what is \u27intervention\u27 and what is \u27implementation\u27 in health care research. Further, attention to study design, the use of theory, and adoption of reporting guidelines can assist in distinguishing between the clinical intervention and the implementation intervention. However, certain aspects may remain unclear in analyses of hybrid studies of clinical and implementation interventions. Recognizing this potential greyness can inform further discourse