Attracting psychologists to learning disability services: starting with assistants

Assistants employed in a split support worker/psychology assistant post rated the experience of working with people with a learning disability positively and as an opportunity to increase knowledge of clinical psychology theory and its direct application to practice. Drawbacks included role ambiguity

Spectral ambiguities : the tradition of psychosomatic supernaturalism in Scottish fiction

This thesis aims to prove that there exists in Scottish literature a previously undervalued, or indeed, overlooked tradition of ‘psychosomatic supernaturalism’, which like other literary traditions, refers to an evolving constellation of texts with similar themes, motifs and techniques. It is widely accepted that the continued presence of supernatural elements is a common feature in Scottish literature. However, the modifier ‘psychosomatic’, a term borrowed from the field of psychiatry, designates those specific supernatural events or beings around which accumulate sustained doubt as to whether their origins are in the actual or the psychological. This supernatural/psychological tension – discussed but rarely analysed closely by critics – occurs primarily in fiction throughout the national literary history from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day. The evocation of this tension is a subversive strategy, challenging realism and its associated modes of representation. Perhaps the most renowned example of the tension occurs in James Hogg’s Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824). However, Hogg wrote a number of equally significant psychosomatic supernatural tales, including the novel The Three Perils of Woman (1823), and the short story ‘The Brownie of the Black Haggs’ (1828). The start of the nineteenth century marks the establishment of psychiatry, and the underlining of the distinction between madness and supernatural forces, a demarcation that was previously hazy. This was something Hogg was fully aware of, and as a writer with a documented interest in the supernatural and folk tradition, and in evolving views on mental illness, his work forms the starting point for the thesis. The development of this tradition throughout the nineteenth century is subsequently traced. During this time ‘social realism’ is a prominent mode in fiction. There are, however, critical and subversive exceptions to this in the work of writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Margaret Oliphant and J.M. Barrie. The thesis considers their work, and then examines how this tradition is manifested during the period now referred to by critics as the Scottish Renaissance. Late twentieth-century manifestations of the tradition are then analysed, against a background of the increasing dominance of realism and its associated metanarratives in Scottish fiction, and mass media contexts such as film and television

A comparison of neuropsychological test performance on the Ravello Profile between bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa

Background The Ravello Profile is a battery of standardised neuropsychological measures of areas of functioning that evidence indicates are impaired in Anorexia Nervosa (AN), namely visuo-spatial functioning, central coherence and executive functioning. The neuropsychological profile of individuals with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) is less well established. The current study aimed to examine differences in cognitive performance between people with BN, AN and non-eating disordered controls on the Ravello Profile. Methods The AN group (N=60) comprised participants from an existing database (Frampton et al. 2009). The BN group (N=22) largely comprised participants from NHS adult out-patient services. The non-eating disordered control group (N=20) comprised of colleagues and acquaintances of the researcher. Differences between AN, BN and control samples on visuo-spatial functioning, central coherence, executive functioning and error rates were examined. Results The AN group performed significantly worse than the BN group on a measure of central coherence and on some measures of executive function, but the BN group did not perform worse than the control group. There was no significant difference between the groups on three measures of visuo-spatial functioning. However, the AN group was significantly slower than both the BN and control group to copy the figure. The results showed some evidence of increased error rates in BN relative to AN, which may reflect greater impulsivity in BN. Conclusions The results indicate separate patterns of neuropsychological performance between AN, BN and controls, with AN demonstrating poorer performance on measures of executive function and central coherence, whilst BN participants showed higher rates of errors. The BN group were also generally faster to complete some tasks, indicative of a preference for speed over accuracy or impulsivity. Those working with individuals with AN or BN should take into consideration possible effects of their respective cognitive limitations and adapt interventions accordingly

Africa Groundwater Atlas: Making African groundwater information more visible and accessible

Groundwater information and data is vital to sustainably developing groundwater resources, and to hydrogeological research, in Africa. But robust groundwater information for Africa is often not visible, available and/or accessible. The online Africa Groundwater Atlas is a major initiative involving hydrogeologists across Africa, coordinated by the British Geological Survey and funded by the UK UPGro programme. The Atlas provides a systematic overview of the hydrogeology and groundwater resources of 51 African countries, and a gateway for those wishing to learn more. Alongside geology and hydrogeology maps and descriptions for each country, the Atlas includes supporting information on rainfall, soils and surface waters; and on groundwater status and management. So far, 25 detailed country profiles have been developed in collaboration with 58 hydrogeological specialists for the relevant country, including members of IAH and AGW-Net. The remaining country pages include the same maps and supporting data, but have been produced without input as yet from country experts and so have more limited information. These will be updated in Phase 2 of the project, which began in May 2017. The Atlas has been developed in parallel with the online Africa Groundwater Literature Archive, which so far indexes nearly 7000 references related to African groundwater. These can be searched spatially or by thematic keyword, and as many as possibly are freely available as digital downloads. This initiative grew out of the publication of quantitative groundwater maps for Africa in 2012, which renewed interest amongst donors in the key role that groundwater resources can have in shaping Africa’s future, and highlighted the need for more information at a country scale, to better support the sustainable, integrated development of groundwater resources. The Africa Groundwater Atlas and Literature Archive provide a readily updateable platform to highlight and improve access to the wealth of groundwater information and expertise that already exists in Africa

The impact of across-slope forest strips on hillslope subsurface hydrological dynamics

Forest cover has a significant effect on hillslope hydrological processes through its influence on the water balance and flow paths. However, knowledge of how spatial patterns of forest plots control hillslope hydrological dynamics is still poor. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of an across-slope forest strip on sub-surface soil moisture and groundwater dynamics, to give insights into how the structure and orientation of forest cover influences hillslope hydrology. Soil moisture and groundwater dynamics were compared on two transects spanning the same elevation on a 9° hillslope in a temperate UK upland catchment. One transect was located on improved grassland; the other was also on improved grassland but included a 14 m wide strip of 27-year-old mixed forest. Sub-surface moisture dynamics were investigated upslope, underneath and downslope of the forest over 2 years at seasonal and rainfall event timescales. Continuous data from point-based soil moisture sensors and piezometers installed at 0.15, 0.6 and 2.5 m depth were combined with seasonal (~bi-monthly) time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys. Significant differences were identified in sub-surface moisture dynamics underneath the forest strip over seasonal timescales: drying of the forest soils was greater, and extended deeper and for longer into the autumn compared to the adjacent grassland soils. Water table levels were also persistently lower in the forest and the forest soils responded less frequently to rainfall events. Downslope of the forest, soil moisture dynamics were similar to those in other grassland areas and no significant differences were observed beyond 15 m downslope, suggesting minimal impact of the forest at shallow depths downslope. Groundwater levels were lower downslope of the forest compared to other grassland areas, but during the wettest conditions there was evidence of upslope-downslope water table connectivity beneath the forest. The results indicate that forest strips in this environment provide only limited additional sub-surface storage of rainfall inputs in flood events after dry conditions in this temperate catchment setting

Can uptake of childhood influenza immunisation through schools and GP practices be increased through behaviourally-informed invitation letters and reminders: two pragmatic randomized controlled trials

Background: The UK is rolling out a national childhood influenza immunisation programme for children, delivered through primary care and schools. Behaviourally-informed letters and reminders have been successful at increasing uptake of other public health interventions. Therefore, we investigated the effects of a behaviourally-informed letter on uptake of the vaccine at GP practices, and of a letter and a reminder (SMS/ email) on uptake at schools. Methods and results: Study 1 was a cluster-randomised parallel trial of 21,786 two- and three-year olds in 250 GP practices, conducted during flu season (September to January inclusive) 2016/7. The intervention was a centrally-sent behaviourally-informed invitation letter, control was usual care. The proportion of two- and three-year olds in each practice who received a vaccination by 31st January 2017 was 23.4% in the control group compared to 37.1% in the intervention group (OR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.82, 2.05, p < 0.001). Study 2 was a 2 (behavioural letter vs standard letter) × 2 (reminder vs no reminder) factorial trial of 1108 primary schools which included 3010 school years 1–3. Letters were sent to parents from providers, and reminders sent to parents from the schools. In the standard-letter-no-reminder arm, an average of 61.6% of eligible children in each school year were vaccinated, compared to 61.9% in the behavioural-letter-no-reminder arm, 63.5% in the standard-letter-plus-reminder arm, and 62.9% in the behavioural-letter-plus reminder condition, F(3, 2990) = 2.68, p = 0.046. In a multi-level model, with demographic variables as fixed effects, the proportion of eligible students in the school year who were vaccinated increased with the reminder, β = 0.086 (0.041), p < 0.036, but there was no effect of the letter nor any interaction effect. Conclusion: Sending a behaviourally informed invitation letter can increase uptake of childhood influenza vaccines at the GP surgery compared to usual practice. A reminder SMS or email can increase uptake of the influenza vaccine in schools, but the effect size was minimal. Trial registration: Study 1: Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02921633. Study 2: Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02883972

Groundwater : the world's neglected defence against climate change

Currently, millions of people across the globe don’t have safe water to drink. As climate change continues to wreak havoc, communities will see their homes and means of survival washed away, their drinking water contaminated or dry up, their crops wither and fail, their health devastated by infectious diseases, and their children forced out of school. Communities need sustainable and safe water and sanitation to have the best chance of combatting the devastating impacts of extreme weather, like heatwaves, droughts and floods. Yet one in four people across the globe do not have safely managed water in their homes. However, new analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and WaterAid, reveals that many countries in Africa – including most parts of subSaharan Africa – and parts of Asia, have enough water to meet everyone’s daily needs. And this hidden resource is often right under our feet – groundwater. Groundwater – which exists almost everywhere underground, in gaps within soil, sand and rock – has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives and be the world’s insurance policy against climate change. It would help communities cope with slow onset climate impacts like drought and irregular rainfall, and provide broader resilience after floods by ensuring there is safe water available for all. But groundwater will only be able to lessen the impacts of climate change if it is carefully managed and if we invest in mechanisms to ensure that it gets to the people who need it most. All too often, this is not the case. In some regions, there isn’t enough investment in the services needed to find, capture, treat, manage and distribute groundwater – so it remains largely untouched. In others, we see rampant over-extraction with far too much groundwater being used, particularly by the agricultural sector. In both cases, only a limited amount of this life-saving resource gets to those who need it most. BGS and WaterAid assessed data on the amount of groundwater there is, how quickly it is replenished by rain, and how much the rocks can store. Our experts concluded that, on a national level, most countries in Africa have sufficient groundwater for people to not only survive, but to thrive. This includes countries such as Ethiopia and Madagascar, where only half the population have clean water close to home, and large parts of Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Although, on a sub-national level, there are some places where groundwater is more difficult to get to or is contaminated, our research estimated that today’s total groundwater on the continent could provide people with enough drinking water for at least five years in the event of a drought – and in some cases even decades. This calculation is based on 130 litres of domestic water use a day per capita, which would provide people with more than enough to drink, cook and wash with.i What’s more, as groundwater is below the surface, it is more resilient to extreme weather than other water sources – such as lakes, rivers, streams and dams – and is largely protected from evaporation and less susceptible to pollution. This means that even if our weather becomes more extreme and unpredictable, there is enough groundwater stored in aquifersii to provide a buffer for many years to come for the millions of people living on the frontline of climate change. For them, daily life is already a struggle simply because they do not have access to sustainable and safe water and sanitation

Integrating stakeholder knowledge through modular cooperative participatory processes for marine spatial planning outcomes (CORPORATES)

This research was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council NERC (Knowledge Exchange Award 2014-2016) RC Grant reference: NE/M000184/1Peer reviewedPostprin