Welsh Basin

The Cambrian rocks of Wales mostly lie within the Avalon composite terrane, apart from a small area of Cambrian rocks of the Monian composite terrane that is discussed in Chapter 9. The Cambrian rocks of the Welsh basin form the greater part of the Dyfed Supergroup of Woodcock (1990), the base of which overlies a widespread early Cambrian unconformity and the top of which extends to the late Tremadocian (Ordovician). The Dyfed Supergroup extends onto the Midland microcraton in attenuated form, with substantial gaps in the successions locally. The correlation of the basal parts of the Dyfed Supergroup is uncertain because of the lack of suitable evidence, but Woodcock was able to interpret the supergroup as a megasequence composed of five sequences, labelled in ascending order Ia to Ie, each separated by eustatic, tectonic or volcanic events, or a combination of these (Woodcock 1990, fig. 6). Sequence Ib includes strata assigned to the later Terreneuvian and all of Series 2; the strata of Sequence Ic are those of Stage 5 and the Drumian. The bases of sequences Id and Ie are particularly strongly marked, mainly by eustatic regressions, the former in the Guzhangian and the latter near the top of the Furongian, so that Ie is essentially composed of Tremadocian strata. Based principally on his extensive work in the eastern North American sector of Avalonia, Landing (1996) divided the Cambrian to Tremadocian successions in Avalonia into ten epeirogenic sequences (Landing 1996, figs. 2, 5). He recognized equivalents of some of these sequences in selected Welsh and English successions (Landing 1996, p. 51, fig. 7), for example the base of his Sequence 6 (which corresponds to Woodcock’s Ic) and Sequence 9 (part of Woodcock’s Id). Although some correlations are doubtful, the presence in Britain of a hiatus at the level of his Sequence 5, as suggested by Landing’s analysis (1996, fig. 7), is a possibility that merits further investigation. On the other hand, the downward extension of the Arvon ‘Slate Belt’ succession to the base of the Terreneuvian appears speculative

Scotland : Hebridean Terrane

The Cambrian succession in the Hebridean Terrane extends for about 200 km from near Durness on the northern coast of the Scottish mainland SSW to Skye (Fig. 14). The classic account of the whole region is the memoir by Peach et al. (1907), which work had a great influence on British geological studies in the Lower Palaeozoic during the earlier part of the 20th century. The geology of the region was described by Park et al. (2002) and some critical localities were reviewed by Prigmore & Rushton (1999). Sedimentological studies by Swett and his collaborators (Swett & Smit 1972) and by McKie (1990a-c, 1993) and new litho- and biostratigraphical work, including the study of microfossil faunas and floras, have led to a re-appraisal of the stratigraphical succession and its correlation

Chronic cough and esomeprazole: A double-blind placebo-controlled parallel study

Background and objective: Gastro-oesophageal reflux has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic cough. Guidelines on management suggest a therapeutic trial of anti-reflux medication. Esomeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor licensed for the long-term treatment of acid reflux in adults and we compared the effects of esomeprazole and placebo on patients with chronic cough. Methods: This was a prospective, single-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study conducted over 8 weeks. Fifty adult non-smokers with chronic cough and normal spirometry were randomized. Patients completed cough-related quality-of-life and symptom questionnaires and subjective scores of cough frequency and severity at the beginning and end of the study. They also kept a daily diary of symptom scores. Citric acid cough challenge and laryngoscopic examination were performed at baseline and the end of the study. The primary outcome was improvement in cough score. Results: There were no differences in cough scores in the placebo and treatment arms of the study although some significant improvements were noted when compared to baseline. In the cough diary scores there was a trend towards greater improvement in the treatment arm in patients with dyspepsia. Conclusions: Esomeprazole did not have a clinically important effect greater than placebo in patients with cough. It suggests a marked placebo effect in the treatment of cough. There is paucity of evidence on which to base the treatment of reflux-associated cough. We demonstrate that acid suppressive therapy does not lead to a significant clinical effect in these patients. There may be some improvement in those with coexisting dyspeptic symptoms and therapy should be restricted to this group. © 2011 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology

A Comparative Study of Efficiency in European Banking

The structure of European banking markets has substantially changed over the past decade, partially as a result of the creation of the Single Internal Market. The process of integration and accompanying deregulation has embodied an incentive for bank management to focus on improving efficiency, especially given the more competitive banking environment. In this paper, employing the non-parametric DEA approach, we investigate whether the productive efficiency of European banking systems has improved and converged towards a common European frontier between 1993 and 1997, following the process of EU legislative harmonisation. We also examine the determinants of European bank efficiency using a Tobit regression model approach. We then extend the established literature on the determinants bank efficiency by taking into account the problem of the inherent dependency of DEA efficiency scores when used in regression analysis. To overcome the dependency problem a bootstrapping technique is applied. Overall, the results suggest that since the EU's Single Market Programme there has been a small improvement in bank efficiency levels, although there is little evidence to suggest that these have converged. Efficiency differences across European banking markets appear to be mainly determined by country-specific factors.Efficiency, DEA, Bootstrap, European Banks.

The relationship between self-blame for the onset of a chronic physical health condition and emotional distress : a systematic literature review

Objective: Past literature presents contrasting perspectives regarding the potential influence of self-blame on adjustment to illness. This systematic literature review aimed to summarise findings from all investigations to date that have explored the relationship between self-blame for the onset of a chronic physical health condition and emotional distress. Method: Between November 2014 and February 2015 electronic databases were searched for relevant literature. Only those studies which assessed self-blame directly and related specifically to illness onset were included within the review. The methodological and reporting quality of all eligible articles was assessed and themes within the findings were discussed using a narrative synthesis approach. Results: The majority of studies found self-blame to be associated with increased distress. However, several concerns with the quality of the reviewed articles may undermine the validity of their conclusions. Conclusions: It is important for professionals supporting people with chronic physical health conditions to have an understanding of how of self-critical causal attributions might relate to emotional distress. Further research is required to understand the concept of self-blame, the factors that may encourage this belief and to develop reliable and valid measures of this experience

Introduction: The Dynamics of Epistemic Communities

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Learning conversions in science: The case of vocational students in the UK

The paper describes two aspects of a research project that focused on vocational science students. The paper begins with a general description of vocational science in the UK, to put the work in context. It then outlines an analysis of the ways in which these students approach problems involving converting between units of measurement. Finally the development and evaluation of computer‐based activities designed to support students in learning about unit conversion are described

Health facility committees and facility management - exploring the nature and depth of their roles in Coast Province, Kenya.

BACKGROUND: Community participation has been emphasized internationally as a way of enhancing accountability, as well as a means to enhance health goals in terms of coverage, access and effective utilization. In rural health facilities in Kenya, initiatives to increase community accountability have focused on Health Facility Committees (HFCs). In Coast Province the role of HFCs has been expanded with the introduction of direct funding of rural facilities. We explored the nature and depth of managerial engagement of HFCs at the facility level in two rural districts in this Coastal setting, and how this has contributed to community accountability METHODS: We conducted structured interviews with the health worker in-charge and with patients in 30 health centres and dispensaries. These data were supplemented with in-depth interviews with district managers, and with health workers and HFC members in 12 health centres and dispensaries. In-depth interviews with health workers and HFC members included a participatory exercise to stimulate discussion of the nature and depth of their roles in facility management. RESULTS: HFCs were generally functioning well and played an important role in facility operations. The breadth and depth of engagement had reportedly increased after the introduction of direct funding of health facilities which allowed HFCs to manage their own budgets. Although relations with facility staff were generally good, some mistrust was expressed between HFC members and health workers, and between HFC members and the broader community, partially reflecting a lack of clarity in HFC roles. Moreover, over half of exit interviewees were not aware of the HFC's existence. Women and less well-educated respondents were particularly unlikely to know about the HFC. CONCLUSIONS: There is potential for HFCs to play an active and important role in health facility management, particularly where they have control over some facility level resources. However, to optimise their contribution, efforts are needed to improve their training, clarify their roles, and improve engagement with the wider community

Earnout financing in the financial services industry

This paper explores the effects of earnout contracts used in US financial services M&A. We use propensity score matching (PSM) to address selection bias issues with regard to the endogeneity of the decision of financial institutions to use such contracts. We find that the use of earnout contracts leads to significantly higher acquirer abnormal returns (short- and long-run) compared to counterpart acquisitions (control deals) which do not use such contracts. The larger the size of the deferred (earnout) payment, as a fraction of the total transaction value, the higher the acquirers' gains in the short- and long-run. Both acquirer short- and long-run gains increase when the management team of the target institution is retained in the post-acquisition period

Do Islamic and conventional banks have the same technology?

Is there a technology gap between Islamic and conventional banks? Do Islamic and conventional banks have different cost efficiency levels? We show that conventional and Islamic banks have similar mean (aggregate) cost efficiency levels in the MENA area and there is no technology gap between the two types of banks. At the country level, Islamic banks are more cost efficient than conventional banks in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates, and less efficient in Bangladesh, Kuwait, Malaysia and Tunisia. We analyse a very large sample of banks in twelve MENA and South East Asian countries between 2000 and 2006 and we use the meta-frontier approach to account for the sample heterogeneity