Final evaluation of the saving gateway 2 pilot: main report

The Saving Gateway is a government initiative aimed at encouraging savings behaviour among people who do not usually save. Each pound placed into a Saving Gateway account is matched by the government at a certain rate and up to a monthly contribution limit. Matching provides a transparent and understandable incentive for eligible individuals to place funds in an account

Research Brief No. 12 - The effect of work arrangements on perceived work-family balance

The combined demands of the modern work world and raising a healthy family have many Canadian struggling to find enough time. Canadians are working more and more hours while wages largely remain stagnant. In order to address this growing concern, alternate work arrangements have been increasingly used to help employees strike some degree of work-family balance and decrease related issues of absenteeism and turnover in the workplace. This research explores the effect of three unique work strategies — flexible schedules, shift work and self-employment — on men and women in dual-earner families. It examines each arrangement’s impact on reported satisfaction with balance between family and work lives. Results indicate that using flexible schedules and increasing employees’ enjoyment of their work can help promote work-family balance

Whetting disadvantaged adults’ appetite for nutrition education

Objective: To identify the features of a nutrition education programme for disadvantaged adults deemed most attractive and useful by participants. Design: A two-year, multi-method, qualitative evaluation of pre and post data collected from programme participants. Data were imported into NVivo10 for coding to facilitate a thematic analysis. Setting: Western Australia. Participants: Individuals attending the Western Australian FOODcents nutrition education programme that is designed to provide knowledge and skills needed to consume a healthy diet on a budget. Focus groups were conducted several weeks after course completion (five groups, forty-seven participants), observations were conducted during FOODcents sessions (thirty-one observation episodes, 237 participants), and open-ended questions were asked in pre–post hard-copy surveys administered in sessions (n 927) and an online survey administered on average six weeks after course completion (n 114). Results: The course attributes that were found to be especially important to participants were: (i) user-friendly, practical information that could be immediately translated to their daily lives; (ii) experiential learning that involved direct contact with food products; and (iii) opportunities for social interaction. These aspects of nutrition education were described as being highly influential in the decision to participate in the course, the application of the information in their subsequent food purchase and preparation activities, and their word-of-mouth communications with others about the course. Conclusions: Incorporating aspects of most importance to participants into nutrition education programme delivery and promotion may increase joining rates, enjoyment, satisfaction with course content and, ultimately, the uptake of recommended behaviours

A lack of response of irrigated soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) in rotation with cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in the Mississippi Delta, USA

The effects of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.): soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotations on the respective crops are limited. This manuscript discusses the response of irrigated soybean in crop rotation with cotton. An irrigated soybean: cotton rotation experiment was conducted from the year 2012 through 2015 near Elizabeth, MS. The crop rotation sequences were included continuous soybean (SSSS), continuous cotton (CCCC), cotton followed by soybean (SCSC), soybean followed by cotton (CSCS), soybean followed by two year of cotton (SCCS), and cotton followed by two year of soybean (CSSC). The rotations were grown under two production systems conventional and transgenetic with respect to weed control. During this study, a weed control treatment of (pendimethalin pre-emergence vs. glyphosate post-emergence) as included on the soybean plots was used. The soybean yields across rotations within a year were not significantly different. The means yields differed among years (3655.1, 3023.6, 3500.6 and 2600.3 Kg ha-1 for the year 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively) and appear related to difference in rainfall/irrigation amounts. The results revealed that the weights of 100 seed samples averaged 13.9g in the year 2015 which differed from the previous years (16.2, 15.6, and 16.2g; 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively). Therefore, the rotations of cotton with soybean appear to have neither a beneficial or negative effect on soybean yield

Large-scale general practice in England: what can we learn from the literature?

Traditional general practice is changing. Three-quarters of practices are now working collaboratively in larger-scale organisations – albeit with varying degrees of ambition and organisational integration. Policy-makers and practitioners have high hopes for these organisations and their potential to transform services both within primary care and beyond. But can we be confident that they can live up to these expectations? This report presents findings of an extensive literature review on the subject of large-scale general practice, and contributes to a stream of work by the Nuffield Trust in this area, details of which can be found at: www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/large-scale-general-practice

SeisCORK meeting report

SeisCORK meeting, November 15 and 16, 2004, Stress/Mohr Engineering, Houston, Texas 77041-1205The purpose of this meeting was to explore design options to simultaneously acquire borehole seismic data and hydro-geological data (pressure, temperature, fluid sampling and microbiological sampling) on a single CORK system. The scientific focus was to add a seismic component to the Juan de Fuca Hydrogeology program. By permanently installing a sensor string in the borehole our goal was to enable: l) time-lapse VSP's and offset VSP's with sufficient data quality to study amplitude versus offset, shear wave anisotropy, and lateral heterogeneity; 2) monitoring of micro- and nano- earthquake activity around the site for correlation with pressure transients. Because of the difficulty in ensuring adequate coupling through multiple casing strings we concluded that it was impractical to install the vertical seismic array with 10m spacing (50-60 nodes) that would be necessary for VSP's and time-lapse VSP's. We did describe a scenario for a vertical seismic array with approximately 100m spacing (5-6 nodes) that could be used for offset-VSP's and seismic monitoring. This uses some unique technology and involves two seismic strings: one in the annulus between the 4- 1/2" and 10-3/4" casings and one in the middle of the 4-1/2" casing.Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE-0450318

MRI Techniques for Cardiovascular Imaging

Over the last several years, cardiovascular MRI has benefited from a number of technical advances which have improved routine clinical imaging techniques. As a result, MRI is now well positioned to realize its longstanding promise of becoming the comprehensive cardiac imaging test of choice in many clinical settings. This may be achieved using a combination of basic advanced techniques. In this overview, the basic cardiac MRI techniques which are clinically useful are reviewed, and the recent technical advances which are clinically promising are described. These advances include routine black blood and cine bright blood techniques that are high speed (slice), multislice whole heart perfusion imaging methods, and recently emerging real-time imaging methodologies. J Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;10:590–601. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc

The organisational and human resource challenges facing primary care trusts : protocol of a multiple case study

BACKGROUND: The study is designed to assess the organisational and human resource challenges faced by Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). Its objectives are to: specify the organisational and human resources challenges faced by PCTs in fulfilling the roles envisaged in government and local policy; examine how PCTs are addressing these challenges, in particular, to describe the organisational forms they have adopted, and the OD/HR strategies and initiatives they have planned or in place; assess how effective these structures, strategies and initiatives have been in enabling the PCTs to meet the organisational and human resources challenges they face; identify the factors, both internal to the PCT and in the wider health community, which have contributed to the success or failure of different structures, strategies and initiatives. METHODS: The study will be undertaken in three stages. In Stage 1 the key literature on public sector and NHS organisational development and human resources management will be reviewed, and discussions will be held with key researchers and policy makers working in this area. Stage 2 will focus on detailed case studies in six PCTs designed to examine the organisational and human resources challenges they face. Data will be collected using semi-structured interviews, group discussion, site visits, observation of key meetings and examination of local documentation. The findings from the case study PCTs will be cross checked with a Reference Group of up to 20 other PCG/Ts, and key officers working in organisational development or primary care at local, regional and national level. In Stage 3 analysis of findings from the preparatory work, the case studies and the feedback from the Reference Group will be used to identify practical lessons for PCTs, key messages for policy makers, and contributions to further theoretical development