Soft networks for bridging the gap between research and practice: illuminative evaluation of CHAIN

Objectives To explore the process of knowledge exchange in an informal email network for evidence based health care, to illuminate the value of the service and its critical success factors, and to identify areas for improvement.Design Illuminative evaluationSetting Targeted email and networking service for UK healthcare practitioners and researchers.Participants 2800 members of a networking service.Main outcome measures Tracking of email messages, interviews with core staff, and a qualitative analysis of messages, postings from focus groups, and invited and unsolicited feedback to the service.Results The informal email network helped to bridge the gap between research and practice by serving as a rich source of information, providing access to members' experiences, suggestions, and ideas, facilitating cross boundary collaboration, and enabling participation in networking at a variety of levels. Ad hoc groupings and communities of practice emerged spontaneously as members discovered common areas of interest.Conclusion This study illuminated how knowledge for evidence based health care can be targeted, personalised, and made meaningful through informal social processes. Critical success factors include a broad based membership from both the research and service communities; a loose and fluid network structure; fight targeting of messages based on members' interests; the presence of a strong network identity and culture of reciprocity; and the opportunity for new members to learn through passive participation

Feeding the fire: Tracing the mass-loading of 10^7 K galactic outflows with O VI absorption

Galactic outflows regulate the amount of gas galaxies convert into stars. However, it is difficult to measure the mass outflows remove because they span a large range of temperatures and phases. Here, we study the rest-frame ultraviolet spectrum of a lensed galaxy at z~2.9 with prominent interstellar absorption lines from O I, tracing neutral gas, up to O VI, tracing transitional phase gas. The O VI profile mimics weak low-ionization profiles at low velocities, and strong saturated profiles at high velocities. These trends indicate that O VI gas is co-spatial with the low-ionization gas. Further, at velocities blueward of -200 km/s the column density of the low-ionization outflow rapidly drops while the O VI column density rises, suggesting that O VI is created as the low-ionization gas is destroyed. Photoionization models do not reproduce the observed O VI, but adequately match the low-ionization gas, indicating that the phases have different formation mechanisms. Photoionized outflows are more massive than O VI outflows for most of the observed velocities, although the O VI mass outflow rate exceeds the photoionized outflow at velocities above the galaxy's escape velocity. Therefore, most gas capable of escaping the galaxy is in a hot outflow phase. We suggest that the O VI absorption is a temporary by-product of conduction transferring mass from the photoionized phase to an unobserved hot wind, and discuss how this mass-loading impacts the observed circum-galactic medium.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Trade Unions and Institutional Power Resources in the United Kingdom

Purpose (limit 100 words) The paper examines the approach of UK Trade Unions to the use of institutional power resources (IPR) in the second half of the twentieth century. Design/methodology/approach (limit 100 words) using secondary material it examines the unions’ approach to IPR in three cases; collective bargaining; worker representation;and trade union structure. Findings (limit 100 words) The paper concludes that unions did not appreciate the importance of, and lacked a strategic approach to, IPR. Although employer and government action were largely responsible for the decline of industrial relations institutions, the failure of the unions to engage with IPR contributed to this process. It explains the failure of the unions to engage with IPR by reference to their lack of strategic capabilities and skills in relation to power resources in general and IPR in particular. Research limitations/implications (limit 100 words) It would have been interesting to collect primary data via interviews with union actors from the period examined to text the interpretation of secondary data contained in the article. Practical implications (limit 100 words) The paper has identified the kind of strategic decision making which is necessary for unions to engage effectively with IPR. It is has also indicated the key skills which unions need to develop to be able to manage their engagement with IPR. Originality/value (limit 100 words) Analysis of the decline of industrial relations institutions in this period has emphasized the role of employers and the state. This paper contributes to a more balanced perspective on this decline by drawing attention to the lack of a union strategy towards IPR and the importance of the detail of the management and employment of power resources. Social Implications (limit 100 words) The paper has implications for the role of trade unions in society - showing the need for them to develop narratives to convince society of the importance of their role and action and to develop the skills which enable them to connect with other social groups e.g intermediation, engagement with coalitional resources

International briefing 34: training and development in Spain

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd This article locates training and development in Spain within the country's socio-economic context. It maps the major changes which have been introduced into the training and development system since the briefing by Escardíbul and Llinas-Audet published in this journal in 2010. It relates those changes to the ongoing economic crisis which began in 2009 and the growing emphasis on employers’ demands in the design of the training system. Finally, it identifies the challenges presented to Spanish policy-makers by a number of weaknesses in the current system. The Spanish experience is particularly relevant for countries in which social partner involvement and a significant small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) presence are important issues in the development of their training system. It is also particularly useful for those countries in Latin America whose training systems have been influenced by the Spanish model

The extension of collective agreements in France, Portugal and Spain

This article examines the role of extension provisions for collective agreements in France, Portugal and Spain, three countries that have faced pressure to introduce more flexibility in their employment regimes during recent economic crises. The article establishes the continuing importance of extension provisions for maintaining high bargaining coverage in all three countries and traces the origin of national differences in their evolution to the strategies of the various actors, governments, employers and trade unions, and the context in which they are operating. It also looks at the characteristics of the extension regulations themselves

Time Delay Measurements for the Cluster-lensed Sextuple Quasar SDSS J2222+2745

We report first results from an ongoing monitoring campaign to measure time delays between the six images of the quasar SDSS\,J2222$+$2745, gravitationally lensed by a galaxy cluster. The time delay between A and B, the two most highly magnified images, is measured to be $\tau_{\rm AB} = 47.7 \pm 6.0$ days (95\% confidence interval), consistent with previous model predictions for this lens system. The strong intrinsic variability of the quasar also allows us to derive a time delay value of $\tau_{\rm CA} = 722 \pm 24$ days between image C and A, in spite of modest overlap between their light curves in the current data set. Image C, which is predicted to lead all the other lensed quasar images, has undergone a sharp, monotonic flux increase of 60-75\% during 2014. A corresponding brightening is firmly predicted to occur in images A and B during 2016. The amplitude of this rise indicates that time delays involving all six known images in this system, including those of the demagnified central images D-F, will be obtainable from further ground-based monitoring of this system during the next few years.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Version accepted for publication in Ap

USCID regional meetings -- 1989

Presented at Planning for water shortages: water reallocations and transfers drought management: proceedings from the 1989 regional meetings held on August 24-25, 1989 in Boise, Idaho and on October 19-21, 1989 in St. Louis, Missouri.Some irrigation projects in the Pacific Northwest are 50 - 70 years old. Storage and delivery facilities were originally constructed based on the best available data and permanent water allocations were made to meet the identified agricultural water needs. The intervening years have brought changes in farming practices and associated water needs, as well as the identification of new competing demands for water. When water supplies are fully allocated to existing users, the opportunities to develop new uses may be very limited. Water banking provides an opportunity to temporarily transfer water from an established water right holder to another. Two water banks are presently functioning within the State of Idaho. These banks enable water users to transfer their storage entitlements to other users. Water banking is expressly authorized by Idaho law and the existing water banks function with the support and assistance of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Idaho Department of Water Resources

On the lack of correlation between Mg II 2796, 2803 Angstrom and Lyman alpha emission in lensed star-forming galaxies

We examine the Mg II 2796, 2803 Angstrom, Lyman alpha, and nebular line emission in five bright star-forming galaxies at 1.66<z<1.91 that have been gravitationally lensed by foreground galaxy clusters. All five galaxies show prominent Mg II emission and absorption in a P Cygni profile. We find no correlation between the equivalent widths of Mg II and Lyman alpha emission. The Mg II emission has a broader range of velocities than do the nebular emission line profiles; the Mg II emission is redshifted with respect to systemic by 100 to 200 km/s. When present, Lyman alpha is even more redshifted. The reddest components of Mg II and Lyman alpha emission have tails to 500-600 km/s, implying a strong outflow. The lack of correlation in the Mg II and Lyman alpha equivalent widths, the differing velocity profiles, and the high ratios of Mg II to nebular line fluxes together suggest that the bulk of Mg II emission does not ultimately arise as nebular line emission, but may instead be reprocessed stellar continuum emission.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, in press. 6 pages, 2 figure

The cosmic evolution of radio-AGN feedback to z=1

This paper presents the first measurement of the radio luminosity function of 'jet-mode' (radiatively-inefficient) radio-AGN out to z=1, in order to investigate the cosmic evolution of radio-AGN feedback. Eight radio source samples are combined to produce a catalogue of 211 radio-loud AGN with 0.5<z<1.0, which are spectroscopically classified into jet-mode and radiative-mode (radiatively-efficient) AGN classes. Comparing with large samples of local radio-AGN from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the cosmic evolution of the radio luminosity function of each radio-AGN class is independently derived. Radiative-mode radio-AGN show an order of magnitude increase in space density out to z~1 at all luminosities, consistent with these AGN being fuelled by cold gas. In contrast, the space density of jet-mode radio-AGN decreases with increasing redshift at low radio luminosities (L_1.4 < 1e24 W/Hz) but increases at higher radio luminosities. Simple models are developed to explain the observed evolution. In the best-fitting models, the characteristic space density of jet-mode AGN declines with redshift in accordance with the declining space density of massive quiescent galaxies, which fuel them via cooling of gas in their hot haloes. A time delay of 1.5-2 Gyr may be present between the quenching of star formation and the onset of jet-mode radio-AGN activity. The behaviour at higher radio luminosities can be explained either by an increasing characteristic luminosity of jet-mode radio-AGN activity with redshift (roughly as (1+z) cubed) or if the jet-mode radio-AGN population also includes some contribution of cold-gas-fuelled sources seen at a time when their accretion rate was low. Higher redshifts measurements would distinguish between these possibilities.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA