ODPM BR417 Building regulation, Health and Safety – Drowning Chapter

25.1 The nature of the hazard Unintentional drowning and near drowning are major causes of morbidity and mortality both nationally and globally. Unintentional drowning and near drowning can occur in as little as 5cm of water anywhere from a small pool of water to rivers and oceans. Drowning and near drowning episodes are a sequence of multifaceted, complex events that vary and are widely based on age, gender, geographical region, community, season, race, economic status and location of occurrence. Unintentional drowning and near drowning occurs within the built environment in a number of structures such as buckets, baths, garden ponds, wading pools, swimming pools, spas and hot tubs. Infants are most likely to drown in the home (usually in a bathtub); toddlers in bodies of water close to the home such as swimming pools or garden ponds; and older children and adults in natural bodies of open water (inland or coastal)

Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Phase Two Create Project Evaluation.

The  Social  Research  &  Regeneration  Unit  at  the  University  of  Plymouth  was  commissioned  by  Plymouth  2020  Partnership  to  evaluate  the  Community  Renewal  Education  And  Training  Enterprise  (CREATE)  project  as  part  of  Plymouth’s  overall Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) Phase Two Evaluation.  The CREATE evaluation was conducted between the autumn of 2005 and January 2006.  This report summarises  the main research findings

Workforce Development in the South West Voluntary and Community Sectors:Skill Shortages Study

The Voluntary Sector National Training Organisation, now the National  Workforce Development Hub, describes the Voluntary and Community  Sector  as  diverse  and  covering  a  variety  of  different  organisations.  Organisations range from traditional charities, to companies that trade to  support their social aims, through to informal community organisations.  The sector also includes federations, or networks of local groups working  under national umbrellas.  Voluntary and community sector organisations  provide  a  wide  range  of  services  and  activities  and  many  of  the  organisations are involved in the delivery of learning, whether through  accredited training or informal learning.  The Government has increasingly recognised the importance of Voluntary  and  community  sector  organisations  and  the  key  role  that  they  play  nationally,  regionally  and  locally.    Initiatives  to  support  the  sector,  underpinned by funding, have been undertaken and the Government has  been  active  in  encouraging  and  commissioning  research  and  strategic  planning  in  the  sector,  in  particular  emphasising  the  importance  of  developing the skills, capacities and potential of the workforce.  Sector organisations generally display a strong commitment to training  and workforce development.  However, in spite of this commitment and  the presence of a high proportion of well‐qualified workers, skills gaps,  that is skills lacking in the current workforce, and skills shortages caused  by recruitment difficulties, are present in the sector.  There are also skills  gaps and shortages in the volunteer workforce

Water incident related hospital activity across England between 1997/8 and 2003/4: a retrospective descriptive study

Every year in the United Kingdom, 10,000 people will die from accidental injury and the treatment of these injuries will cost the NHS £2 billion and the consequences of injuries received at home cost society a further £25 billion [1]. Non-fatal injuries result in 720,000 people being admitted to hospital a year and more than six million visits to accident and emergency departments each year [2]. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury mortality globally behind road traffic injuries. It is estimated that a total of 409, 272 people drown each year [3]. This equates to a global incident rate of 7.4 deaths per 100, 000 people worldwide and relates to a further 1.3 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) which are lost as a result of premature death or disability [4]. 'Death' represents only the tip of the injury "iceberg" [5]. For every life lost from an injury, many more people are admitted to hospital, attend accident and emergency departments or general practitioners, are rescued by search and rescue organisations or resolve the situation themselves. It is estimated that 1.3 million people are injured as a result of near drowning episodes globally and that many more hundreds of thousands of people are affected through incidents and near misses but there are no accurate data [4]. The United Kingdom has reported a variable drowning fatality rate, the injury chart book reports a rate of 1.0 – 1.5 per 100,000 [6] and other studies suggest a rate as low as 0.5 per 100, 000 population [7] for accidental drowning and submersion, based on the International Classification of Disease 10 code W65 – 74, however, the problem is even greater and these Global Burden of Disease (GDB) figures are an underestimate of all drowning deaths, since they exclude drownings due to cataclysms (floods), water related transport accidents, assaults and suicide [3]. A recent study in Scotland highlighted this underestimation in drowning fatality data and found that the overall death rate due to drownings in Scotland 3.26 per 100,000 [8]. Even though drowning fatality rates in the United Kingdom vary, little is known about the people who are admitted to hospital after an incident either in or on water. This paper seeks to address this gap in our knowledge through the investigation of the data available on those admitted to NHS hospitals in England

Perceptions of HIV cure and willingness to participate in HIV cure-related trials among people enrolled in the Netherlands cohort study on acute HIV infection

BACKGROUND: People who initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) during acute HIV infection are potential candidates for HIV cure-related clinical trials, as early ART reduces the size of the HIV reservoir. These trials, which may include ART interruption (ATI), might involve potential risks. We explored knowledge and perception of HIV cure and willingness to participate in cure-related trials among participants of the Netherlands Cohort Study on Acute HIV infection (NOVA study), who started antiretroviral therapy immediately after diagnosis of acute HIV infection. METHODS: We conducted 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with NOVA study participants between October–December 2018. Data were analyzed thematically, using inductive and iterative coding techniques. FINDINGS: Most participants had limited knowledge of HIV cure and understood HIV cure as complete eradication of HIV from their bodies. HIV cure was considered important to most participants, mostly due to the stigma surrounding HIV. More than half would consider undergoing brief ATI during trial participation, but only one person considered extended ATI. Viral rebound and increased infectiousness during ATI were perceived as large concerns. Participants remained hopeful of being cured during trial participation, even though they were informed that no personal medical benefit was to be expected. INTERPRETATION: Our results highlight the need for thorough informed consent procedures with assessment of comprehension and exploration of personal motives prior to enrollment in cure-related trials. Researchers might need to moderate their expectations about how many participants will enroll in a trial with extended ATI

Research Participants' Perspectives on Genotype-Driven Research Recruitment

Genotype-Driven Recruitment is a potentially powerful approach for studying human genetic variation but presents ethical challenges. We conducted in-depth interviews with research participants in six studies where such recruitment occurred. Nearly all responded favorably to the acceptability of recontact for research recruitment, and genotype-driven recruitment was viewed as a positive sign of scientific advancement. Reactions to questions about the disclosure of individual genetic research results varied. Common themes included explaining the purpose of recontact, informing decisions about further participation, reciprocity, “information is valuable,” and the possibility of benefit, as well as concerns about undue distress and misunderstanding. Our findings suggest contact about additional research may be least concerning if it involves a known element (e.g., trusted researchers). Also, for genotype-driven recruitment, it may be appropriate to set a lower bar for disclosure of individual results than the clinical utility threshold recommended more generally

HpARI protein secreted by a helminth parasite suppresses interleukin-33

Infection by helminth parasites is associated with amelioration of allergic reactivity, but mechanistic insights into this association are lacking. Products secreted by the mouse parasite Heligmosomoides polygyrus suppress type 2 (allergic) immune responses through interference in the interleukin-33 (IL-33) pathway. Here, we identified H. polygyrus Alarmin Release Inhibitor (HpARI), an IL-33-suppressive 26-kDa protein, containing three predicted complement control protein (CCP) modules. In vivo, recombinant HpARI abrogated IL-33, group 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) and eosinophilic responses to Alternaria allergen administration, and diminished eosinophilic responses to Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, increasing parasite burden. HpARI bound directly to both mouse and human IL-33 (in the cytokine's activated state) and also to nuclear DNA via its N-terminal CCP module pair (CCP1/2), tethering active IL-33 within necrotic cells, preventing its release, and forestalling initiation of type 2 allergic responses. Thus, HpARI employs a novel molecular strategy to suppress type 2 immunity in both infection and allergy. Osbourn et al identified HpARI, a protein secreted by a helminth parasite that is capable of suppressing allergic responses. HpARI binds to IL-33 (a critical inducer of allergy) and nuclear DNA, preventing the release of IL-33 from necrotic epithelial cells

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple susceptibility loci for pancreatic cancer

We performed a multistage genome-wide association study including 7,683 individuals with pancreatic cancer and 14,397 controls of European descent. Four new loci reached genome-wide significance: rs6971499 at 7q32.3 (LINC-PINT, per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74-0.84, P = 3.0 x 10(-12)), rs7190458 at 16q23.1 (BCAR1/CTRB1/CTRB2, OR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.30-1.65, P = 1.1 x 10(-10)), rs9581943 at 13q12.2 (PDX1, OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.20, P = 2.4 x 10(-9)) and rs16986825 at 22q12.1 (ZNRF3, OR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.12-1.25, P = 1.2 x 10(-8)). We identified an independent signal in exon 2 of TERT at the established region 5p15.33 (rs2736098, OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.76-0.85, P = 9.8 x 10(-14)). We also identified a locus at 8q24.21 (rs1561927, P = 1.3 x 10(-7)) that approached genome-wide significance located 455 kb telomeric of PVT1. Our study identified multiple new susceptibility alleles for pancreatic cancer that are worthy of follow-up studies