English funding of the Scottish armies in England and Ireland 1640-1648

The rebellion against Charles I's authority that began in Edinburgh in 1637 involved the Scots in successive invasions of England and armed intervention in Ireland. Historians have almost universally taken a negative view of Scottish involvement in these wars, because it has been assumed that the Scottish political leadership sacrificed all other considerations in order to pursue an unrealistic religious crusade. This article suggests that aspects of the Anglo-Scottish relationship need to be reappraised. Using estimates of English payments to the Scots during the 1640s, it will be argued that the Scottish leadership made pragmatic political decisions based on a practical appreciation of the country's military and fiscal capacity. Substantial payouts from the English parliament enabled the Scottish parliamentary regime to engage in military and diplomatic activities that the country could not otherwise have afforded. The 1643 treaty that brought the Scots into the English Civil War on the side of parliament contrasts favourably with the 1647 Engagement in support of the king. It will be shown that, although the English parliament did not honour all of its obligations to the Scots, it does not automatically follow that the alliance was a failure in financial terms

Randomised controlled trial of a novel dietetic treatment for childhood obesity and a qualitative study of parents’ perceptions of dietetic treatment

Introduction Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in the world and is widely acknowledged as having become a global epidemic.(1) The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United Kingdom (UK) dramatically increased over a short number of years in the 1990s.(2-4) There are well-recognised health consequences of childhood obesity, both during childhood as well as those tracking into adulthood affecting health, psychological and economical welfare.(5;6) However, there is a surprising lack of well conducted published research into effective childhood obesity treatment strategies and few with relevance to the UK National Health Service (NHS).(5;7) This thesis describes (a) the Scottish Childhood Obesity Treatment Trial (SCOTT), a randomised controlled trial (RCT) that compared standard NHS dietetic management of childhood obesity with a novel intensive dietetic approach in Scottish primary school aged (5 – 11 years old) children and (b) reports a complementary qualitative study that explored the parents’ perceptions of the dietetic treatments their child received during the SCOTT project. The SCOTT project was conceived to be an easily reproducible treatment programme within the UK NHS system for primary school aged children. Methodology The SCOTT quantitative study was a single-blind RCT involving 134 obese children of primary school age (5 -11 years), 75 females and 59 males. Inclusion criteria were children with ‘simple’ obesity (body mass index (BMI) 98th centile on the UK 1990 charts) and families that perceived the child’s weight as a problem and were motivated to change. The intervention arm involved an evidence-based novel dietetic treatment over 6-months giving 5 hours of treatment and used client-centred behavioural change techniques to increase motivation for changing diet (using a modified traffic light diet), increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour. The control arm received 1.5 hours of ‘typical’ dietetic weight management delivered in a traditional (educational) manner. Outcomes recorded at baseline, six and 12 months were BMI standard deviation (SD) score, objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour (using accelerometers) and possible adverse effects of treatment (height growth and quality of life). The primary outcome was change in BMI SD score at six months. The complementary qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore the thoughts and feeling of parents of the children who had completed the dietetic intervention. All interviews took place after the SCOTT 12 month outcome measurements had been completed. Purposive sampling was used and out of the 79 eligible SCOTT parents 17 were interviewed. The interviews were taped and then transcribed by experienced secretaries. Analysis was carried out using the Framework methodology (8) and aided by Nvivo software. Key Results The novel treatment programme had no significant effect relative to the standard dietetic care on BMI SD score from baseline to six months (-0.10 vs -0.06; 95% CI -0.05 to 0.11) and 12 months (-0.07 vs -0.19; 95% CI -0.17 to 0.07). BMI SD score decreased significantly within both groups from baseline to six and 12 months. There were significant differences between the groups in favour of the novel treatment group for changes in total percentage of time spent in physical activity (95%CI 0.8 to 6.3) and light intensity physical activity (95%CI -4.8 to -0.5). In the qualitative study we found themes and concepts both on our original evaluation and emergent data on the parents’ thoughts and feelings on entering, continuing and leaving treatment. Those parents who had taken part in the behavioural change techniques applauded the process finding it child-friendly and talked of ‘forming a partnership’ with the child and dietitian. Developing a rapport with the dietitian was significant for the parents in their perception of a positive experience. Parents appeared to be characterised as being unaware of their child’s weight problem, in denial, or actively seeking treatment. Parents were consistently motivated to enter treatment due to perceived benefits to their child’s self esteem or quality of life, and weight outcomes were considered less important. During treatment parents expressed a lack of support for lifestyle changes outside the clinic, and noted that members of the extended family often undermined changes. Parents generally felt that treatment should have continued beyond six months, and that it had provided benefits to their child’s well-being, self-esteem, and quality of life, and this is what motivated many of them to remain engaged with treatment. Conclusions The modest magnitude of the benefits observed in the SCOTT study perhap suggest that interventions should be longer term and more intense. The results of the qualitative study suggested that longer term interventions would be acceptable to parents. The qualitative study was an informative addition to the SCOTT quantitative study as it allowed exploration of the subtle differences as perceived by the parents who took part in both arms of the study. It may help inform future treatments for childhood obesity by providing insights into the aspects of treatment and approaches applauded by parents. Future treatments may need to consider providing greater support to lifestyle changes within the extended family, and may need to focus more on psychosocial outcomes. This study highlighted skills and qualities required by dietitians and other health professionals to engage with families of obese children

Running-mass models of inflation, and their observational constraints

If the inflaton sector is described by softly broken supersymmetry, and the inflaton has unsuppressed couplings, the inflaton mass will run strongly with scale. Four types of model are possible. The prediction for the spectral index involves two parameters, while the COBE normalization involves a third, all of them calculable functions of the relevant masses and couplings. A crude estimate is made of the region of parameter space allowed by present observation.Comment: Latex file, 20 pages, 11 figures, uses epsf.sty. Comment on the observation of the spectral index scale dependence added; Fig. 3-6 improve

Stability of a bi-layer free film: simultaneous or individual rupture events?

We consider the stability of a long free film of liquid composed of two immiscible layers of differing viscosities, where each layer experiences a van der Waals force between its interfaces. We analyse the different ways the system can exhibit interfacial instability when the liquid layers are sufficiently thin. For an excess of surfactant on one gas–liquid interface the coupling between the layers is relatively weak and the instability manifests as temporally separated rupture events in each layer. Conversely, in the absence of surfactant the coupling between the layers is much stronger and the instability manifests as rupture of both layers simultaneously. These features are consistent with recent experimental observations

School Site Visits: What can we learn from choice schools in Milwaukee?

The School Site Visits study is part of the fifth series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP). It describes some of the major challenges experienced and common practices demonstrated by thirteen (13) K-12 schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). During the 2010-11 school year, there were 107 religious and secular schools participating in the MPCP. This report is based on visits to six of the high schools and seven K-8 schools that collectively reflect the wide range of characteristics associated with participating schools. This includes whether schools scored above or below average on the 2010-11 Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations in math and reading. Teams of researchers from the SCDP conducted one-day visits to each school during the spring and fall of 2011. Using a variety of interview, survey and observation instruments, the research teams gathered information about school practices in six general areas: (1) school culture, (2) student academic success, (3) effective leadership, (4) teacher quality, (5) religious integration and accommodation, and (6) school facilities. We use the data collected during the visits to describe the most common challenges the schools face and the common practices and strategies they use to overcome these challenges. Overall, a number of general lessons were learned

pyWitness 1.0 : A python eyewitness identification analysis toolkit

Acknowledgements We are grateful to John T. Wixted for sharing his MATLAB code for the model fits presented in this paperPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Observational constraints on an inflation model with a running mass

We explore a model of inflation where the inflaton mass-squared is generated at a high scale by gravity-mediated soft supersymmetry breaking, and runs at lower scales to the small value required for slow-roll inflation. The running is supposed to come from the coupling of the inflaton to a non-Abelian gauge field. In contrast with earlier work, we do not constrain the magnitude of the supersymmetry breaking scale, and we find that the model might work even if squark and slepton masses come from gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. With the inflaton and gaugino masses in the expected range, and $\alpha = g^2/4\pi$ in the range $10^{-2}$ to $10^{-3}$ (all at the high scale) the model can give the observed cosmic microwave anisotropy, and a spectral index in the observed range. The latter has significant variation with scale, which can confirm or rule out the model in the forseeable future.Comment: Latex, 19 pages, 14 figures, uses epsf.st

Dietary Quercetin Supplementation in Mice Increases Skeletal Muscle PGC1α Expression, Improves Mitochondrial Function and Attenuates Insulin Resistance in a Time-Specific Manner.

Aims/Hypothesis High fat diet (HFD)-induced insulin resistance (IR) is partially characterized by reduced skeletal muscle mitochondrial function and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC1α) expression. Our previous study showed that a high dose of the bioflavonoid quercetin exacerbated HFD-induced IR; yet, others have demonstrated that quercetin improves insulin sensitivity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether differing doses of quercetin act in a time-dependent manner to attenuate HFD-induced IR in association with improved skeletal muscle mitochondrial function and PGC1α expression. Methods C57BL/6J mice were fed HFD for 3 or 8 wks, with or without a low (50 ug/day; HF+50Q) or high (600 ug/day, HF+600Q) dose of quercetin. Whole body and metabolic phenotypes and insulin sensitivity were assessed. Skeletal muscle metabolomic analysis of acylcarnitines and PGC1αmRNA expression via qRT-PCR were measured. Results Quercetin at 50 ug/day for 8 wk attenuated HFD-induced increases in fat mass, body weight and IR and increased PGC1α expression, whereas 600 ug/day of quercetin exacerbated fat mass accumulation without altering body weight, IR or PGC1α. PGC1α expression correlated with acylcarnitine levels similarly in HF and HF+600Q; these correlations were not present in HF+50Q. At both time points, energy expenditure increased in HF+50Q and decreased in HF+600Q, independent of PGC1α and IR. Conclusions/Interpretation Chronic dietary quercetin supplementation at low but not higher dose ameliorates the development of diet-induced IR while increasing PGC1α expression in muscle, suggesting that skeletal muscle may be an important target for the insulin-sensitizing effects of a low dose of quercetin

Maternal folic acid supplementation and the risk of ankyloglossia (tongue-tie) in infants; a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Maternal folic acid supplementation is protective against the development of neural tube defects (NTDs) in babies. However, recent public-facing communications have raised concerns about a causal relationship between folic acid supplementation, particularly after the first trimester, and ankyloglossia (tongue-tie) in infants. Non-evidence-based communications are potentially harmful because they could adversely affect adherence to folic acid supplementation, increasing NTD occurrence. This study aimed to review evidence on the relationships between maternal folic acid supplementation during preconception and/or pregnancy and the risk of ankyloglossia in infants. METHODS: We searched the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Scopus. We searched for observational, and interventional studies, and systematic reviews investigating the effect of maternal folic acid supplementation during preconception or pregnancy on the occurrence of ankyloglossia in offspring. The search was registered on PROSPERO on 01/12/2022, ID: CRD42022375862. RESULTS: The database searches yielded 93 articles. After removing duplicates and screening titles and abstracts, 26 remained. One article was judged relevant for inclusion in analyses; a case-control study that directly mentions the relationship between folic acid supplementation and ankyloglossia. This study reported that regular intake of folic acid supplements was higher in women with infants with ankyloglossia. However, this study has limitations regarding design, selection bias, and confounding, calling the findings into question. CONCLUSIONS: Insufficient evidence exists for a relationship between folic acid supplementation and ankyloglossia. Currently, the benefits of folic acid supplementation far outweigh the risks. This must be clearly communicated to patients by their clinicians during preconception and antenatal care