Unemployment Duration, Schooling and Property Crime

It is well known that there is no consensus with respect to the relationship between unemployment and crime. As well, there is very little research on the linkages between crime and the educational experiences of young people. In this paper we show a very strong positive relationship between criminal activity and the extent of youth male long-term unemployment. We also show that criminal activity is negatively associated high school completions, and positively associated with high school non-completion rates. The analysis suggests that labour market and education policies have the potential to significantly reduce property crime. However, increased high school participation of the targeted group only decreases crime if it results in graduation. This suggests that the effectiveness of education policy is a critical influence on crime activity, a unique finding for the literature

Relative safety: risk and unprotected anal intercourse among gay men diagnosed with HIV

Duration: January 1998 - January 1999 This study investigated the experiences of gay men with diagnosed HIV in order to better understand the range of social, psychological and cultural meanings attached to HIV risk. We examined how men engaged in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) and how they felt about it. We looked at the meanings they attached to UAI, the risks (if any) they perceived, and how engaging in UAI affected their lives. The study generated data from two sources. First, information on sexual risk behaviour was provided by the second annual Gay Men's Sex Survey in 1998. We compared the demographics and sexual behaviour of men diagnosed with HIV, those who had never tested and those who had tested negative in order to gain a comparative picture of sexual risk behaviour. This data demonstrated that, on a population level, substantial differences in sexual behaviour occurred between men who had never tested for HIV and those that had. Men who had never tested were substantially less likely to engage in sexual activities implicated in HIV exposure (UAI and sero-discordant UAI) compared to those who had tested. Among those who had tested, men with diagnosed HIV were no more likely to engage in UAI than those tested negative. However, among men that engaged in UAI, men who had tested positive did so substantially more often. The study also included 64 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with gay men who had diagnosed HIV. All had engaged in UAI in the previous year: some with partners who they knew were also HIV infected; others with partners whom they knew to be uninfected; and some with partners whose HIV status they did not know. Most interviewees had done UAI with a range of partners from all three categories. We found that UAI was an act that resists easy classification, imbued with multiple meanings, it's perceived safety and desirability dependent upon the circumstances in which it occurs and the partners involved. Moreover, the concepts of safety and risk that health promoters employ in relation to UAI were not necessarily shared by the positive men we interviewed. Important for our purposes was that gay men with diagnosed HIV engaging in UAI, felt they were risking something entirely different to their uninfected partners. For them, risk was experienced in a mediated and diffuse manner on three levels: risks to personal health, risks to psychological well-being and risks to social standing. The final report was called Relative safety: risk and unprotected anal intercourse among gay men diagnosed with HIV

A paediatric telecardiology service for district hospitals in south-east England: an observational study.

The attached article is a Publisher version of the final published version which may be accessed at the link below. Copyright © 2010 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. All rights reservedOBJECTIVES: To compare caseloads of new patients assessed by paediatric cardiologists face-to-face or during teleconferences, and assess NHS costs for the alternative referral arrangements. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study over 15 months. SETTING: Four district hospitals in south-east England and a London paediatric cardiology centre. PATIENTS: Babies and children. INTERVENTION: A telecardiology service introduced alongside outreach clinics. MEASUREMENTS: Clinical outcomes and mean NHS costs per patient. RESULTS: 266 new patients were studied: 75 had teleconsultations (19 of 42 newborns and 56 of 224 infants and children). Teleconsultation patients generally were younger (49% being under 1 year compared with 32% seen personally (p = 0.025)) and their symptoms were not as severe. A cardiac intervention was undertaken immediately or planned for five telemedicine patients (7%) and 30 conventional patients (16%). However, similar proportions of patients were discharged after being assessed (32% telemedicine and 39% conventional). During scheduled teleconferences the mean duration of time per patient in sessions involving real-time echocardiography was 14.4 min, and 8.5 min in sessions where pre-recorded videos were transmitted. Mean cost comparisons for telemedicine and face-to-face patients over 14-day and 6-month follow-up showed the telecardiology service to be cost-neutral for the three hospitals with infrequently-held outreach clinics (1519 UK pounds vs 1724 UK pounds respectively after 14 days). CONCLUSION: Paediatric cardiology centres with small cadres of specialists are under pressure to cope with ever-expanding caseloads of new patients with suspected anomalies. Innovative use of telecardiology alongside conventional outreach services should suitably, and economically, enhance access to these specialists.The Department of Health and the Charitable Funds Committee of the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust funded the project

London counts: HIV prevention needs and interventions among gay men in 16 London Health Authorities

Duration: December 1998 - February 2001 Commissioned by the sixteen London Health Authority Commissioners, the Link Evaluation included work by both Sigma Research, and the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London. The LINK Evaluation aimed to identify whether and why HIV prevention interventions are successful for Gay men in London. Objectives of the study included: Identification and agreement of health promotion aims with all commissioners and prevention agencies within the partnership. Collation of data and information from related studies of Gay men’s HIV health promotion needs and comparable programme evaluations. Annual health promotion ‘Activity Map' which described all HIV health promotion interventions planned for London for each year. Annual ‘Needs Map' report concerning the needs of Gay men in London. Examination of the collective impact of the activities of collaborating agencies on the population of Gay men in London. Four examinations of the performance and impact of individual interventions or groups of interventions sharing methodological characteristics. The LINK Evaluation was a rolling programme of utilisation-focussed outcome evaluation and needs assessment of HIV health promotion intended to reduce the incidence of HIV through sex between men resident in London. A range of research methods were employed including: self-completion questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and workshops. Sample sizes varied according to the specific programme activity: 1500 men were recruited to a rolling cohort to examine their changing HIV health promotion needs, a further 200 were recruited for more in-depth needs and experiences mapping and over 100 agencies were recruited to examine the health promotion activity being delivered in London. Findings were useful in answering questions such as: i) What needs required addressing - the Needs Map was used to prioritise health promotion aims and population groups, and to guide intervention selection and the development of services within a broad programme planning approach. ii) Which interventions best address identified need - findings regarding the performance and impact of specific interventions were used in order to maximise cost-efficiency. iii) Where interventions were being implemented, and where they were not - the Activity Maps were used to gauge intended impact, identify gaps in provision and to facilitate collaborative planning. iv) Whether the programme of HIV health promotion was working - the programme evaluation findings were used to identify the overall impact of a strategic and collaborative London-wide programme and to inform future developments. v) Why the programme of HIV health promotion was working - the in-depth data from those exposed to interventions was used to identify the key features of a strategic programme which contribute to change. Two reports are available: London counts: HIV prevention needs and interventions among gay and bisexual men in 16 London Health Authorities and HIV health promotion activity map for Greater London 1999-2000

A ship-based methodology for high precision atmospheric oxygen measurements and its application in the Southern Ocean region

A method for achieving continuous high precision measurements of atmospheric O-2 is presented based on a commercially available fuel-cell instrument, (Sable Systems, Oxzilla FC-II) with a precision of 7 per meg (approximately equivalent to 1.2 ppm) for a 6-min measurement. The Oxzilla was deployed on two voyages in the Western Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, in February 2003 and in April 2004, making these the second set of continuous O-2 measurements ever made from a ship. The results show significant temporal variation in O-2, in the order of +/- 10 per meg over 6-hourly time intervals, and substantial spatial variation. Data from both voyages show an O-2 maximum centred on 50 degrees S, which is most likely to be the result of biologically driven O-2 outgassing in the region of subtropical convergence around New Zealand, and a decreasing O-2 trend towards Antarctica. O-2 from the ship-based measurements is elevated compared with measurements from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography flask-sampling network, and the O-2 maximum is also not captured in the network observations. This preliminary study shows that ship-based continuous measurements are a valuable addition to current fixed site sampling programmes for the understanding of ocean-atmosphere O-2 exchange processes. [References: 39

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the New South Wales adult drug court program

In New South Wales, Australia, a cost-effectiveness evaluation was conducted of an adult drug court (ADC) program as an alternative to jail for criminal offenders addicted to illicit drugs. This article describes the program, the cost-effectiveness analysis, and the results. The results of this study reveal that, for the 23-month period of the evaluation, the ADC was as cost-effective as were conventional sanctions in delaying the time to the first offense and more cost-effective in reducing the frequency of offending for those outcome measures selected. Although the evaluation was conducted using the traditional steps of a cost-effectiveness analysis, because of the complexity of the program and data limitations it was not always possible to adhere to textbook procedures. As such, each step involved in undertaking the cost-effectiveness analysis is discussed, highlighting the key issues faced in the evaluation. © 2004 Sage Publications

Keeping Confidence: Responsibility and public health

Keeping Confidence: HIV and the criminal law from service provider perspectives Duration: June 2012 - March 2013 The Monument Trust generously funded Sigma Research at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Birkbeck College to undertake a qualitative study on perceptions of criminal prosecutions for HIV transmission among HIV service providers. Five short reports outlining the key findings of the study focus on the main themes arising from our analysis of the focus group discussions. The findings and associated policy and practice recommendations will be of interest to: those who provide HIV health and social care and their professional bodies (for instance NHIVNA, CHIVA, BHIVA, BASHH, SSHA, BPS), police and others who play a role in criminal investigations and trials, and people with diagnosed HIV

Keeping Confidence: Understanding the Law

Keeping Confidence: HIV and the criminal law from service provider perspectives Duration: June 2012 - March 2013 The Monument Trust generously funded Sigma Research at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Birkbeck College to undertake a qualitative study on perceptions of criminal prosecutions for HIV transmission among HIV service providers. Five short reports outlining the key findings of the study focus on the main themes arising from our analysis of the focus group discussions. The findings and associated policy and practice recommendations will be of interest to: those who provide HIV health and social care and their professional bodies (for instance NHIVNA, CHIVA, BHIVA, BASHH, SSHA, BPS), police and others who play a role in criminal investigations and trials, and people with diagnosed HIV

Keeping Confidence: Identifying resources

Keeping Confidence: HIV and the criminal law from service provider perspectives Duration: June 2012 - March 2013 The Monument Trust generously funded Sigma Research at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Birkbeck College to undertake a qualitative study on perceptions of criminal prosecutions for HIV transmission among HIV service providers. Five short reports outlining the key findings of the study focus on the main themes arising from our analysis of the focus group discussions. The findings and associated policy and practice recommendations will be of interest to: those who provide HIV health and social care and their professional bodies (for instance NHIVNA, CHIVA, BHIVA, BASHH, SSHA, BPS), police and others who play a role in criminal investigations and trials, and people with diagnosed HIV. Catherine Dodds, Matthew Weait, Adam Bourne, Siri Egede, Kathie Jessup and Peter Weatherburn