Discrimination against ethnic minorities in Britain: why did racial discrimination increase from 2010 to 2015?

This paper investigates the extent to which ethnic minorities face discrimination in the British labour market. It uses data from ‘Labour Force Survey’ and ‘British Social Attitudes’ surveys, from 1983 to 2014. Several kinds of discrimination are assessed – including the chance of finding paid work, and wage-rates for employees. This paper considers how far Britain’s labour force is ‘meritocratic’ (i.e.unprejudiced).This paper considers the possibility suggested by Charteris-Black(2006) that Conservative governments may have increased racial prejudice; empirical evidence from 1979 to 1997, and from 2010 to 2015, are used to assess this question

Hippurate: the natural history of a mammalian-microbial co-metabolite

Hippurate, the glycine conjugate of benzoic acid, is a normal constituent of the endogenous urinary metabolite profile and has long been associated with the microbial degradation of certain dietary components, hepatic function and toluene exposure, and is also commonly used as a measure of renal clearance. Here we discuss the potential relevance of hippurate excretion with regards to normal endogenous metabolism and trends in excretion relating to gender, age, and the intestinal microbiota. Additionally, the significance of hippurate excretion with regards to disease states including obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, impaired renal function, psychological disorders and autism, as well as toxicity and parasitic infection, are considered

Qualitative perspectives toward prostitution's perceived lifestyle addictiveness

Background and aims: The aim of the present study was to provide a phenomenological perspective of individuals who actively engage in street-level prostitution and identified a lifestyle addiction associated with their activities. Methods: We interviewed 25 women who were incarcerated in American county jails (at the time of interviews) for prostitution crimes. The transcripts were analyzed for themes that represented the shared consensus of the research participants. Results: Four negative psychological dynamics related to prostitution. First, participants described accounts of physical and emotional violence which they experienced at the hand of clients and others involved in the lifestyle. Second, interviewees explained an extreme dislike for their actions relating to and involving prostitution. These individuals did not describe themselves as being sexually addicted; sex was means to a desired end. Third, participants described how prostitution's lifestyle had evolved into something which they conceptualized as an addiction. As such, they did not describe themselves as feeling addicted to sex acts — but to lifestyle elements that accompanied prostitution behaviors. Finally, participants believed that freedom from prostitution's lifestyle would require social service assistance in order to overcome their lifestyle addiction. Conclusions: The results show that, although the prostitutes repeatedly and consistently used the term “addiction” when describing their lifestyles, they did not meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for addiction. Rather, they shared many of the same psychological constructs as do addicts (e.g., feeling trapped, desiring escape, needing help to change), but they did not meet medical criteria for addictive dependence (e.g., tolerance or withdrawal)

Field Assessment Form Evaluation Focusing on Updating for Student Success

The purpose of this assessment mini grant was to evaluate and modify the Field Assessment Form (FAF) allowing us to better serve a diverse student population with integrity. The FAF was created and implemented a decade ago and thanks to this mini grant has been updated taking diversity, equity, and the progressive change of education into account. The FAF is completed during practicum and student teaching experiences for students in the Early Childhood, undergraduate Professional Teacher Education, and graduate Professional Teacher Education programs. The FAF is a School of Teacher Education evaluation tool. The FAF is a rubric evaluation that is intended to evaluate teaching in the elementary classroom, and it is utilized by the mentor teacher (the elementary classroom teacher where our student is located) and the supervisor (UNC faculty). The results are then shared with the student to improve teaching. The previous rubric covers criteria of content knowledge, instruction, assessment, classroom management, affective skills, and professionalism. These criteria were then evaluated on five levels: developing, partially proficient, proficient, accomplished, and exemplary. There are then indicators describing the specifics of what this looks like in the classroom. Students need to score in the proficient or above to meet Teacher Quality Standards demonstrating they have achieved this requirement for teaching licensure. This assessment grant allowed the outdated FAF to be updated based upon stakeholder input in the form of focus groups and current research on evaluating preservice teachers. The primary purpose and goal for this project was to improve student learning through effective and efficient feedback given to students after watching them teach in an elementary classroom

Qualitative Perspectives Towards Prostitution\u27s Perceived Lifestyle Addictiveness

The aim of the present study was to provide a phenomenological perspective of individuals who actively engage in street-level prostitution and identified a lifestyle addiction associated with their activities. Methods: We interviewed 25 women who were incarcerated in American county jails (at the time of interviews) for prostitution crimes. The transcripts were analyzed for themes that represented the shared consensus of the research participants. Results: Four negative psychological dynamics related to prostitution. First, participants described accounts of physical and emotional violence which they experienced at the hand of clients and others involved in the lifestyle. Second, interviewees explained an extreme dislike for their actions relating to and involving prostitution. These individuals did not describe themselves as being sexually addicted; sex was means to a desired end. Third, participants described how prostitution’s lifestyle had evolved into something which they conceptualized as an addiction. As such, they did not describe themselves as feeling addicted to sex acts – but to lifestyle elements that accompanied prostitution behaviors. Finally, participants believed that freedom from prostitution’s lifestyle would require social service assistance in order to overcome their lifestyle addiction. Conclusions: The results show that, although the prostitutes repeatedly and consistently used the term “addiction” when describing their lifestyles, they did not meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for addiction. Rather, they shared many of the same psychological constructs as do addicts (e.g., feeling trapped, desiring escape, needing help to change), but they did not meet medical criteria for addictive dependence (e.g., tolerance or withdrawal)

Outcomes of percutaneous vertebroplasty in multiple myeloma: a tertiary neurosciences experience with long-term follow-up

BackgroundMultiple myeloma is diagnosed in 5,800 people in the United Kingdom (UK) each year with up to 64% having vertebral compression fractures at the time of diagnosis. Painful vertebral compression fractures can be of significant detriment to patients’ quality of life. Percutaneous vertebroplasty aims to provide long-term pain relief and stabilize fractured vertebrae.Methods and materialsData was collected from all cases of percutaneous vertebroplasty performed on patients with multiple myeloma from November 2017 to January 2019. Pain scores were measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) pre-procedure, 2 months post procedure and 4 years post-procedure. Procedure related complications and analgesia use were also documented.Results22 patients were included with a total of 119 vertebrae treated. Patients reported a significant improvement in overall pain score with a median pre-procedure VAS of 8 and a median post-procedure VAS of 3.5 (p<0.0001). There was a median pre-procedure ODI score of 60% and a median post-procedure ODI score of 36% (p<0000.1). There was improvement across all ODI domains and a 77% reduction in analgesic requirement. There were small cement leaks into paravertebral veins or endplates at 15 levels (12%) which were asymptomatic. There were 8 responders to the long-term follow-up questionnaire at 4 years. This demonstrated an overall stable degree of pain relief in responders with a median VAS of 3.5 and median ODI of 30%.ConclusionAt this center, vertebroplasty has been shown to reduce both VAS and ODI pain scores and reduce analgesia requirements in patients with VCFs secondary to multiple myeloma with long lasting relief at 4 years post-procedure

Ceiling effects in the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) suggest that non-parametric scoring methods are required

Initially designed to identify children's movement impairments in clinical settings, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) is also widely used to evaluate children's movement in research. Standardised scores on the test are calculated using parametric methods under the assumption of normally-distributed data. In a pilot study with thirty five 8-10 year old children (i.e., in Age Band 2 of the MABC-2), we found that maximal performance was often reached. These ‘ceiling effects’ created distributions of scores that may violate parametric assumptions. Tests of normality, skew, and goodness-of-fit revealed this violation, most clearly on three of the eight sub-tests. A strong deviation from normality was again observed in a sample of 161 children (8-10 years, Experiment 1), however ceiling effects were reduced by modifying the scoring methods, and administering items designed for older children when maximal performance was reached. Experiment 2 (n=81, 7-10 years) further refined the administration and scoring methods, and again improved the distributions of scores. Despite reducing ceiling effects, scores remained non-parametrically distributed, justifying non-parametric analytic approaches. By randomly and repeatedly resampling from the raw data, we generated non-parametric reference distributions for assigning percentiles to each child's performance, and compared the results with the standardised scores. Distributions of scores obtained with both parametric and non-parametric methods were skewed, and the methods resulted in different rankings of the same data. Overall, we demonstrate that some MABC-2 item scores are not normally-distributed, and violate parametric assumptions. Changes in administering and scoring may partially address these issues. We propose that resampling or other non-parametric methods are required to create new reference distributions to which an individual child's performance can be referred. The modifications we propose are preliminary, but the implication is that a new standardisation is required to deal with the non-parametric data acquired with the MABC-2 performance test

An investigation of mental imagery in bipolar disorder: Exploring "the mind's eye".

OBJECTIVES: Mental imagery abnormalities occur across psychopathologies and are hypothesized to drive emotional difficulties in bipolar disorder (BD). A comprehensive assessment of mental imagery in BD is lacking. We aimed to test whether (i) mental imagery abnormalities (abnormalities in cognitive stages and subjective domains) occur in BD relative to non-clinical controls; and (ii) to determine the specificity of any abnormalities in BD relative to depression and anxiety disorders. METHODS: Participants included 54 subjects in the BD group (depressed/euthymic; n=27 in each subgroup), subjects with unipolar depression (n=26), subjects with anxiety disorders (n=25), and non-clinical controls (n=27) matched for age, gender, ethnicity, education, and premorbid IQ. Experimental tasks assessed cognitive (non-emotional) measures of mental imagery (cognitive stages). Questionnaires, experimental tasks, and a phenomenological interview assessed subjective domains including spontaneous imagery use, interpretation bias, and emotional mental imagery. RESULTS: (i) Compared to non-clinical controls, the BD combined group reported a greater impact of intrusive prospective imagery in daily life, more vivid and "real" negative images (prospective imagery task), and higher self-involvement (picture-word task). The BD combined group showed no clear abnormalities in cognitive stages of mental imagery. (ii) When depressed individuals with BD were compared to the depressed or anxious clinical control groups, no significant differences remained-across all groups, imagery differences were associated with affective lability and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to non-clinical controls, BD is characterized by abnormalities in aspects of emotional mental imagery within the context of otherwise normal cognitive aspects. When matched for depression and anxiety, these abnormalities are not specific to BD-rather, imagery may reflect a transdiagnostic marker of emotional psychopathology

High salt intake activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, amplifies the stress response, and alters tissue glucocorticoid exposure in mice

Aims: High salt intake is common and contributes to poor cardiovascular health. Urinary sodium excretion correlates directly with glucocorticoid excretion in humans and experimental animals. We hypothesized that high salt intake activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation and leads to sustained glucocorticoid excess. Methods and results: In male C57BL/6 mice, high salt intake for 2-8 weeks caused an increase in diurnal peak levels of plasma corticosterone. After 2 weeks, high salt increased Crh and Pomc mRNA abundance in the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary, consistent with basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation. Additionally, high salt intake amplified glucocorticoid response to restraint stress, indicative of enhanced axis sensitivity. The binding capacity of Corticosteroid-Binding Globulin was reduced and its encoding mRNA downregulated in the liver. In the hippocampus and anterior pituitary, Fkbp5 mRNA levels were increased, indicating increased glucocorticoid exposure. The mRNA expression of the glucocorticoid-regenerating enzyme, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase Type 1, was increased in these brain areas and in the liver. Sustained high salt intake activated a water conservation response by the kidney, increasing plasma levels of the vasopressin surrogate, copeptin. Increased mRNA abundance of Tonebp and Avpr1b in the anterior pituitary suggested that vasopressin signalling contributes to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation by high salt diet. Conclusion: Chronic high salt intake amplifies basal and stress-induced glucocorticoid levels and resets glucocorticoid biology centrally, peripherally and within cells.</p

Geospatial analysis of California strawberry fields reveals regional differences in crop rotation patterns and the potential for lengthened rotations at current levels of production

Strawberries in California are grown in specific coastal areas where land is scarce and climate change threatens future production. Strawberry growers are under pressure to adopt sustainable production strategies such as crop rotation, but this practice requires more land than back-to-back planting. The objectives of this research were to quantify the rate of crop rotation across the three main strawberry producing regions in California (Ventura, Santa Maria, and Monterey Bay), and evaluate geographic and edaphic influences on crop rotation. All strawberry fields in the main strawberry producing regions of California were identified by satellite imagery and manual inspection for the years 2017 through 2022. ArcGIS Pro was used to outline each strawberry field and compare among years to determine the period between successive strawberry plantings. Edaphic characteristics and shapefiles for surrounding fields were retrieved from public datasets. The three regions significantly differed in their rates of crop rotation. On average, 95, 52, and 25% of strawberry hectares were rotated each year in the Monterey Bay, Santa Maria, and Ventura regions, respectively. Shorter rotation lengths were associated with reduced distance from the ocean and soil with a higher percentage of sand. Based on 2 years of disease surveys, fields infested with Macrophomina phaseolina tended to be further inland than fields infested with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae in the Monterey Bay region. This study determined that distance from the ocean and soil texture are associated with crop rotation lengths in California strawberry production. Enough land may be available in the Santa Maria and Monterey Bay regions for growers to lengthen crop rotations, but water quality, social networks, and financial considerations that were outside the scope of this study are likely to limit the ability for strawberry growers to maximize the duration of crop rotations