Studies on the Control of Renin Release From Human Cultured Nephroblastoma Cells

A novel in vitro model system has been used to study the control of renin release. Human cultured nephroblastoma cells, which secrete active renin and prorenin at high levels, were used to investigate the intracellular messengers that are involved in the renin secretory response to hormones (e. g. AII, ANP) and drugs (e. g. isoprenaline, Enalaprilat)

Production of case studies of the delivery of skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work

This report summarises the main themes to emerge from a study to highlight good practice in delivering practical, applied or vocational learning provision for all pupils

Charting Complex Changes: Application of the eHealth Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT) in the Delivering Assisted Living Lifestyles at Scale (dallas) Programme

The 'dallas' (Delivering Assisted Living Lifestyles at Scale) programme is a UK-wide digital healthcare initiative that has been designed to support independent living, enhance preventative care, and improve lifestyles by harnessing the potential of e-health technologies and digital services. This short paper presents a brief update on one strand of the University of Glasgow evaluation of the dallas programme. We have used the e-Health Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT) to investigate processes involved in the implementation of e-health tools and digital services being developed and deployed across the dallas communities and to assess 'distance travelled' by communities from baseline to midpoint of a three year programme. Qualitative data analysis was guided by the Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) and Framework Analysis. The e-HIT scores indicated that the dallas communities had underestimated the amount of work involved in implementing at scale. Qualitative data analysis showed that communities have successfully navigated barriers in order to make significant progress in strategic areas, including the development of new models of partnership working resulting in brand recognition and agile service design. The dallas communities are now sharing lessons learned and generating new professional knowledge, skills and understanding across several key strategic areas required for operationalising the implementation of e-health technologies and digital services at scale. The new knowledge being generated through the dallas programme will contribute to the ongoing transformation of digitally enabled healthcare based on more personalised flexible models of provision which resonates with the current e-health policy environment

Mechanisms and context in the San Patrignano drug recovery community, Italy: a qualitative study to inform transfer to Scotland

The San Patrignano drug recovery community, Italy, is regarded as one of the most successful in the world. However, if this model is to be transferred to other countries, it is necessary to clarify its underlying mechanisms and how far their success is context dependent. This qualitative study investigated these features of the San Patrignano model. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with six key stakeholders and 10 days’ observational field notes. Data were synthesised using frameworks and analysis was informed by realist principles. Individual level mechanisms include: commitment to change, removal from former social environment, communal living, peer mentor with lived experience and meaningful work. These operate in the context of a free of charge, long term (3–4 year) residential community. Organisational level mechanisms are: visionary leadership, staff dedication, social enterprise and adaptable learning. Organisational contextual factors include: a gap in suitable provision for drug recovery and the region’s high level of social capital. Articulating the programme theory of the recovery model and its contextual dependency helps clarify which elements should be transferred and how far they need to be adapted for different socio-cultural settings. The recognition of context is crucial when considering transfer of effective complex interventions across countries

Clitic Left Dislocation in Absence of Clitics: a Study in Trilingual Acquisition

This paper discusses an unusual structure in the English of a trilingual child acquiring English, Italian and Scottish Gaelic. The child uses a structure where it appears that an object DP is “dou-bled” by a pronoun for an extended period of time (10 months): (1) He don\u27t like it dinosaur (2) He forget it the teddy In Italian, sentences that contain old information take two possible structures: they might contain a left dislocated topic resumed by a clitic: (3) Il libro, l\u27ho letto the book it-have.1SG read \u27The book, I have read it\u27 These are called Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) structures in the literature. Alternatively, the topic (the given information) can be introduced as a right dislocated element, again linked to a clitic: (4) L\u27ho letto, il libro It-have.1SG read the book ‘I have read it, the book’ These are called clitic right dislocation (CLRD) structures. The structures produced in English by the subject of this study seem to be similar in some fundamental ways to this second kind of topi-calisation strategy. We suggest that this reflects a deep: transfer of CLRD structures from Italian, even though at the stage when the doubling structures occur, there is no evidence of overt clitics in the child’s Italian. Our paper contributes to the debate in the literature concerning the existence or not of some form of transfer in multilingual acquisitio

Inter-Life: a novel, three-dimensional, virtual learning environment for life transition skills learning

Devlin, A., Lally, V., Sclater, M., and Parussel, K. Keywords: Inter-Life; transition skills learning; 3-dimensional virtual learning environment; social constructivism Introduction The present study details a novel approach to life transition skills learning using Inter-Life, which is a novel technology enhanced, three-dimensional, immersive virtual learning environment. The Inter-Life research project is an interdisciplinary project funded by the EPSRC/ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme technology-enhanced learning (TEL) phase (http://www.tlrp.org/tel/) in the U

Inter-Life: a novel, three-dimensional, virtual learning environment for life transition skills learning

This paper presents the findings from one of the first empirical research studies which has investigated the impact of Inter-Life; a novel three-dimensional immersive virtual learning environment, on learning and development of social and educational life transition skills in a group of looked after and accommodated children. Drawing on social constructivism in which meaningful learning is related to context and situated in practice, we report on a series of Inter-Life workshops that enabled young people to work together and through the processes of participation in authentic learning activities contributed to the development of life transition skills such as self-confidence, empathy, negotiation and mediation skills, teamwork and active problem-solving skills. The novel affordances of the Inter-Life virtual world which contributed to the development of the learning community included the ability to personalise learner engagement and activities from the outset along with ‘co-presence’ and ‘immersion’ and the flexibility provided by the innovative, technology-enhanced Inter-Life platform. This study presents some empirical evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of new models of learning that are mediated by innovative malleable technologies that can be shaped by the learner in a participatory manner

Factors affecting participation in the eRedBook:A personal child health record

A personal child health record called the eRedBook was recently piloted in the United Kingdom. A qualitative exploratory case study was used to examine how public health nurses engaged or recruited parents and what factors hindered participation. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with those implementing the eRedBook and those taking part in the pilot study. A range of project documentation was also reviewed. Thematic analysis using the framework approach was applied to draw out themes. Numerous socio-technical factors such as the usability of the software, concerns over data protection and costs, poor digital literacy skills and a lack of Internet connectivity emerged. These barriers need to be addressed before the eRedBook is implemented nationwide