Young people’s perceptions of visible difference

Visible facial differences (VFDs) can pose a number of psychosocial challenges for those affected by them. In particular, the experience of being stigmatised may have a harmful effect on the psychological adjustment of the individual concerned. This is especially pertinent for young people, who are at an age where appearance becomes increasingly central to social interaction and self-esteem. Suitable and effective interventions are needed to reduce stigma in general, but in the case of appearance-relateddiscrimination the prevalence and the processes involved are poorly understood. The aim of this research was therefore to explore young people’s perceptions of visible difference.A mixed-methods online questionnaire was administered to a cross-sectional sample of 412 pupils aged 12–14 years, recruited from three UK schools. Participants were asked to look at five photographs of people with VFDs and to indicate their level of agreement with 30 statements using a 5-point Likert scale. They were also asked to answer the open-ended question ‘What do you think when you see people with facial differences?’ Although quantitative responses were overwhelmingly neutral, inductive content analysis revealed a number of insights. Four main themes were identified: them and us, initial reactions, common assumptions and behavioural intentions. Participants reported a wide range of complex responses. Although negative reactions and judgements were described, these were often due to seeing something unusual, or to a lack of understanding, rather than to the intention to cause harm. Conflicting emotions led to uncertainty and lack of confidence about how best to behave around peoplewith VFDs. The findings suggest the need for a two tieredapproach to intervention: first, to raise awareness of VFDs and to facilitate the development of appropriate social skills within the general population, and secondly, to provide support to enable those with VFDs to cope with any negative reactions they may encounter

Effects of spatial dispersion in near-field radiative heat transfer between two parallel metallic surfaces

We study the heat transfer between two parallel metallic semi-infinite media with a gap in the nanometer-scale range. We show that the near-field radiative heat flux saturates at distances smaller than the metal skin depth when using a local dielectric constant and investigate the origin of this effect. The effect of non-local corrections is analysed using the Lindhard-Mermin and Boltzmann-Mermin models. We find that local and non-local models yield the same heat fluxes for gaps larger than 2 nm. Finally, we explain the saturation observed in a recent experiment as a manifestation of the skin depth and show that heat is mainly dissipated by eddy currents in metallic bodies.Comment: Version without figures (8 figures in the complete version

Methodological overview of systematic reviews to establish the evidence base for emergency general surgery

BACKGROUND: The evidence for treatment decision‐making in emergency general surgery has not been summarized previously. The aim of this overview was to review the quantity and quality of systematic review evidence for the most common emergency surgical conditions. METHODS: Systematic reviews of the most common conditions requiring unplanned admission and treatment managed by general surgeons were eligible for inclusion. The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination databases were searched to April 2014. The number and type (randomized or non‐randomized) of included studies and patients were extracted and summarized. The total number of unique studies was recorded for each condition. The nature of the interventions (surgical, non‐surgical invasive or non‐invasive) was documented. The quality of reviews was assessed using the AMSTAR checklist. RESULTS: The 106 included reviews focused mainly on bowel conditions (42), appendicitis (40) and gallstone disease (17). Fifty‐one (48·1 per cent) included RCTs alone, 79 (74·5 per cent) included at least one RCT and 25 (23·6 per cent) summarized non‐randomized evidence alone. Reviews included 727 unique studies, of which 30·3 per cent were RCTs. Sixty‐five reviews compared different types of surgical intervention and 27 summarized trials of surgical versus non‐surgical interventions. Fifty‐seven reviews (53·8 per cent) were rated as low risk of bias. CONCLUSION: This overview of reviews highlights the need for more and better research in this field

PAK4 interacts with p85 alpha: implications for pancreatic cancer cell migration

CMW was supported by the Guys and St Thomas Charity. HK was supported by Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. KT is the recipient of a Clinical Research Training Fellowship from The Wellcome Trust 104485/Z/14/Z and a Cancer Research UK training bursary C51714/A18521. AW was supported by a CRUK project grant C7125/A3847

Credibility and adjustment: gold standards versus currency boards

It is often maintained that currency boards (CBs) and gold standards (GSs) are alike in that they are stringent monetary rules, the two basic features of which are high credibility of monetary authorities and the existence of automatic adjustment (non discretionary) mechanism. This article includes a comparative analysis of these two types of regimes both from the perspective of the sources and mechanisms of generating confidence and credibility, and the elements of operation of the automatic adjustment mechanism. Confidence under the GS is endogenously driven, whereas it is exogenously determined under the CB. CB is a much more asymmetric regime than GS (the adjustment is much to the detriment of peripheral countries) although asymmetry is a typical feature of any monetary regime. The lack of credibility is typical for peripheral countries and cannot be overcome completely even by “hard” monetary regimes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40078/3/wp692.pd

The role of phase separation and related topography in the exceptional ice-nucleating ability of alkali feldspars

Our understanding of crystal nucleation is a limiting factor in many fields, not least in the atmospheric sciences. It was recently found that feldspar, a component of airborne desert dust, plays a dominant role in triggering ice formation in clouds, but the origin of this effect was unclear. By investigating the structure/property relationships of a wide range of feldspars, we demonstrate that alkali feldspars with certain microtextures, related to phase separation into Na and K-rich regions, show exceptional ice-nucleating abilities in supercooled water. We found no correlation between ice-nucleating efficiency and the crystal structures or the chemical compositions of these active feldspars, which suggests that specific topographical features associated with these microtextures are key in the activity of these feldspars. That topography likely acts to promote ice nucleation, improves our understanding of ice formation in clouds, and may also enable the design and manufacture of bespoke nucleating materials for uses such as cloud seeding and cryopreservation

Maintaining independence in individuals with dementia at home after a fall: a protocol for the UK pilot cluster randomised controlled trial MAINTAIN

\ua9 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Introduction Individuals with dementia face an increased risk of falls. Falls can cause a decline in the individual\u27s overall functionality. All types of falls, including those that do not result in injury, can lead to psychosocial consequences, such as diminished confidence and a fear of falling. Projections indicate a rising trend in dementia diagnoses, implying an increase in fall incidents. Yet, there is a lack of evidence to support interventions for people living with dementia who have fallen. Our objective is to test the feasibility of a falls intervention trial for people with dementia. Method and analysis This is a UK-based two-arm pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. In this study, six collaborating sites, which form the clusters, will be randomly allocated to either the intervention arm or the control arm (receiving treatment as usual) at a 1:1 ratio. During the 6 month recruitment phase, each cluster will enrol 10 dyads, comprising 10 individuals with dementia and their respective carers, leading to a total sample size of 60 dyads. The primary outcomes are the feasibility parameters for a full trial (ie, percentage consented, follow-up rate and cost framework). Secondary outcomes include activities of daily living, quality of life, fall efficacy, mobility, goal attainment, cognitive status, occurrence of falls, carer burden and healthcare service utilisation. Outcome measures will be collected at baseline and 28 weeks, with an additional assessment scheduled at 12 weeks for the healthcare service utilisation questionnaire. An embedded process evaluation, consisting of interviews and observations with participants and healthcare professionals, will explore how the intervention operates and the fidelity of study processes. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the NHS and local authority research governance and research ethics committees (NHS REC reference: 23/WA/0126). The results will be shared at meetings and conferences and will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number ISRCTN16413728