Rationale, design and conduct of a comprehensive evaluation of a school-based peer-led anti-smoking intervention in the UK: the ASSIST cluster randomised trial [ISRCTN55572965]

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Reducing smoking in adolescents: cost-effectiveness results from the cluster randomized ASSIST (A Stop Smoking In Schools Trial)

Introduction: School-based smoking prevention programmes can be effective, but evidence on cost-effectiveness is lacking. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of a school-based “peer-led” intervention.<p></p> Methods: We evaluated the ASSIST (A Stop Smoking In Schools Trial) programme in a cluster randomized controlled trial. The ASSIST programme trained students to act as peer supporters during informal interactions to encourage their peers not to smoke. Fifty-nine secondary schools in England and Wales were randomized to receive the ASSIST programme or usual smoking education. Ten thousand seven hundred and thirty students aged 12–13 years attended participating schools. Previous work has demonstrated that the ASSIST programme achieved a 2.1% (95% CI = 0%–4.2%) reduction in smoking prevalence. We evaluated the public sector cost, prevalence of weekly smoking, and cost per additional student not smoking at 24 months.<p></p> Results: The ASSIST programme cost of £32 (95% CI = £29.70–£33.80) per student. The incremental cost per student not smoking at 2 years was £1,500 (95% CI = £669–£9,947). Students in intervention schools were less likely to believe that they would be a smoker at age 16 years (odds ratio [OR] = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.66–0.96).<p></p> Conclusions: A peer-led intervention reduced smoking among adolescents at a modest cost. The intervention is cost-effective under realistic assumptions regarding the extent to which reductions in adolescent smoking lead to lower smoking prevalence and/or earlier smoking cessation in adulthood. The annual cost of extending the intervention to Year 8 students in all U.K. schools would be in the region of £38 million and could result in 20,400 fewer adolescent smokers.<p></p&gt

In-situ nanoSIMS measurements of isotopic hotspots in the CM2 meteorite Cold Bokkeveld

Previous studies have identified iso-topic hotspots in insoluble organic matter (IOM) from carbonaceous chondrites. The origins and formation mechanisms of these hotspots and the host IOM are a matter of ongoing debate. For example, it is not clear whether D and 15N enrichments in IOM formed within a common organic precursor in cold interstellar environments or due to irradiation of organic material in the early Solar System. It is also unclear what effect parent body processes would have had with regard to the alteration of meteoritic IOM. In order to address these issues, more recent studies have attempted to make in-situ measurements of isotopic anomalies in IOM. In this study we present in-situ NanoSIMS isotopic analyses of material within a sample of the CM2 meteorite Cold Bokkeveld, comparing the distribution of hotspots and bulk H, C and N isotopic composition in the rims and interiors of altered chondrules

Superhumps in Cataclysmic Binaries. XXII. 1RXS J232953.9+062814

We report photometry of 1RXS J232953.9+062814, a recently discovered dwarf nova with a remarkably short 64.2-minute orbital period. In quiescence, the star's light curve is that of a double sinusoid, arising from the "ellipsoidal" distortion of the Roche-lobe-filling secondary. During superoutburst, common superhumps develop with a period 3-4% longer than P_orb. This indicates a mass ratio M_2/M_1=0.19+-0.02, a surprisingly large value in so compact a binary. This implies that the secondary star has a density 2-3 times higher than that of other short-period dwarf novae, suggesting a secondary enriched by H-burning prior to the common-envelope phase of evolution. We estimate i=50+-5 deg, M_1=0.63 (+0.12, -0.09) M_sol, M_2=0.12 (+0.03, -0.02) M_sol, R_2=0.121 (+0.010, -0.007) R_sol, and a distance to the binary of 180+-40 pc.Comment: PDF, 17 pages, 3 tables, 5 figures; accepted, in press, to appear June 2002, PASP; more info at http://cba.phys.columbia.edu

Human rights and public education

This article attempts a contrast to the contribution by Hugh Starkey. Rather than his account of the inexorable rise of human rights discourse, and of the implementation of human rights standards, human rights are here presented as always and necessarily scandalous and highly contested. First, I explain why the UK has lagged so far behind its European neighbours in implementing citizenship education. Second, a comparison with France shows that the latest UK reforms bring us up to 1789. Third, the twentieth-century second-generation social and economic rights are still anathema in the UK. Fourth, the failure to come to terms with Empire and especially the slave trade means that the UK’s attitude to third-generation rights, especially the right of peoples to self-determination, is heavily compromised. Taking into account the points I raise, citizenship education in the UK might look very different

Going places

Journeys. We all make them. Often they take us to exotic places. Sometimes they take us even further. They might take us through time. Or they might take us into a new way of life. There are times too, when we go all over the world and back again only to find that home is, after all, where it’s all happening. This book contains stories about many different types of journey. We hope you will enjoy travelling into it and finding a world that suits you

Distinctive impact craters are formed by organic rich cometary dust grains

Introduction: Preliminary Examination (PE) of the Stardust cometary collector revealed many tracks in the silica aerogel and impact craters on aluminium (Al) foil, from which Wild 2 dust particle fluence and size distribution were determined. Laboratory light gas gun (LGG) shots provided impactor size calibrations. Analogue impacts of diverse mineral compositions and aggregate particles aided interpretation of dust composition and structure. We now describe our recent impact experiments on foil by organic materials, which reveal distinctive crater surface textures, and even preserved residue

Net Gain: Seeking better outcomes for local people when mitigating biodiversity loss from development

Economic development projects are increasingly applying the mitigation hierarchy to achieve No Net Loss, or even a Net Gain, of biodiversity. Because people value biodiversity and ecosystem services, this can affect the wellbeing of local people, however these types of social impacts from development receive limited consideration. We present ethical, practical and regulatory reasons why development projects applying the mitigation hierarchy should consider related social impacts. We highlight risks to local wellbeing where projects restrict access to biodiversity and ecosystem services in biodiversity offsets. We then present a framework laying out challenges and associated opportunities for delivering better biodiversity and local wellbeing outcomes. Greater coordination between social and biodiversity experts, and early and effective integration of local people in the process, will ensure that efforts to reduce the negative impacts of development on biodiversity can contribute to, rather than detract from, local people’s wellbeing

Oxygen isotopic evidence for accretion of Earth's water before a high-energy Moon-forming giant impact

The Earth-Moon system likely formed as a result of a collision between two large planetary objects. Debate about their relative masses, the impact energy involved, and the extent of isotopic homogenization continues. We present the results of a high-precision oxygen isotope study of an extensive suite of lunar and terrestrial samples. We demonstrate that lunar rocks and terrestrial basalts show a 3 to 4 ppm (parts per million), statistically resolvable, difference in D17O. Taking aubrite meteorites as a candidate impactor material, we show that the giant impact scenario involved nearly complete mixing between the target and impactor. Alternatively, the degree of similarity between the D17O values of the impactor and the proto-Earth must have been significantly closer than that between Earth and aubrites. If the Earth-Moon system evolved from an initially highly vaporized and isotopically homogenized state, as indicated by recent dynamical models, then the terrestrial basalt-lunar oxygen isotope difference detected by our study may be a reflection of post-giant impact additions to Earth. On the basis of this assumption, our data indicate that post-giant impact additions to Earth could have contributed between 5 and 30% of Earth's water, depending on global water estimates. Consequently, our data indicate that the bulk of Earth's water was accreted before the giant impact and not later, as often proposed