Researching Hard-to Reach Populations: Privileged Access Interviewers and Drug Using Parents

Accessing drug using populations is notoriously fraught with difficulties for researchers (Gurdin & Patterson, 1987; Griffiths, Gosspo & Strang, 1993; Renzetti & Lee, 1993; Spreen & Zwaagstra, 1994; Goode, 2000; Elliott et al., 2002). These difficulties are the result of a number of reasons. The main one being that drug use is often illicit and/or illegal which often leads to the stigmatization of drug users within the media and elsewhere and this may ultimately lead to their lives being 'concealed by a veil of ignorance' (Elliott et al., 2002: 172). When one adds to this the fact that the population in question may have even more reason to remain hidden, for example, that they are drug using parents who may wish to conceal their identity as either parent or as drug user, accessing them may be even more complicated for researchers, service providers and policy makers alike.Privileged Access Interviewers, Drug Using Parents

A psychological approach to providing self-management education for people with type 2 diabetes : the diabetes manual

Background: The objectives of this study were twofold (i) to develop the Diabetes Manual, a selfmanagement educational intervention aimed at improving biomedical and psychosocial outcomes (ii) to produce early phase evidence relating to validity and clinical feasibility to inform future research and systematic reviews. Methods: Using the UK Medical Research Council's complex intervention framework, the Diabetes Manual and associated self management interventions were developed through preclinical, and phase I evaluation phases guided by adult-learning and self-efficacy theories, clinical feasibility and health policy protocols. A qualitative needs assessment and an RCT contributed data to the pre-clinical phase. Phase I incorporated intervention development informed by the preclinical phase and a feasibility survey. Results: The pre-clinical and phase I studies resulted in the production in the Diabetes Manual programme for trial evaluation as delivered within routine primary care consultations. Conclusion: This complex intervention shows early feasibility and face validity for both diabetes health professionals and people with diabetes. Randomised trial will determine effectiveness against clinical and psychological outcomes. Further study of some component parts, delivered in alternative combinations, is recommended

Drafting Intellectual Property Joint Venture Agreements with an Eye Toward Termination

When joint venture ("JV") parents come together with a business idea, they expect to develop the resulting intellectual property ("IP") to the benefit of all parents. The joint venture agreement ("JVA") is crucial to the formation and operation of the IP JV. Careful drafting will account for the parties’ expectations regarding the parents’ and the JV’s IP. However, the parties should realize that the JVA is also crucial to the termination of the JV. The JV parents must accept the reality that all JVs must come to an end, and some JVs will come to an end sooner than one of the parties might have wished. Therefore, parties to the JVA should devise a plan for termination in advance

Embedding information skills training on student learning: making a difference

This article was first published in the Wolverhampton Intellectual Repository and E-Theses (WIRE). There is no printed version.This embedding project builds on one that was delivered in 2001, headed by Oliver Pritchard, Dudley Learning Centre Manager, leading a research team with staff working from different Learning Centres in the University. In the 2001 project, sessions on information skills were run in three differing subject areas for second and third years and their impact on student learning was assessed using questionnaires and focus groups for students and in-depth interviews with academic staff. Findings were encouraging. Skills and experience gained within the sessions were taken on and applied within assignment work to good effect. Within this small study there is evidence of a progression in student awareness, confidence and skills and Information Skills sessions bring a longer-term, practical and tangible element to the learning experience and are a valuable part of helping students to become more effective learners

“I Don’t Know the Secret Handshake”: Making Social Class Visible in a Learning Context

This phenomenological study focused on the lived experience of being a mature adult pursuing a doctoral degree and having a working class background. Findings illuminate the persistent influence of social class on educational experience and the implications for adult education

Migration of contaminants associated with pavement construction

In order to achieve the goals of 'Sustainable Development', alternative (secondary) materials are being increasingly used as bulk-fill aggregate within pavement construction as substitutes for traditional aggregates. This finds an end-use for stockpiles of industrial by-products (and hence the allowing the land on which they stand to be reclaimed for other uses) and protects finite, natural resources which they replace from over-extraction. Previously, there has been very little research concerned with the leaching of contaminants from alternative materials in pavement construction and the subsequent risks to water bodies from pavement drainage. It is this topic which is addressed here. Two flow regimes within a pavement have been studied in order to predict contaminant movement: (1) vertical flow through the aggregate and pavement and then vertically through the natural subgrade to ground water below and (2) horizontal flow through the aggregate to be discharged through pavement sides drains. Using these analyses a generic user-friendly risk assessment guide by which contractors may assess an aggregate prior to use is presented. A case-study is provided to illustrate some of the issues of concern. Guidelines in the risk assessment guide recommend the suitability of different physical parameters of a potential aggregate at a proposed pavement construction site for both water flow directions. If the subgrade at the site does not allow sorption by the soil to enable any contaminants in vertical flow to be below Water Quality Standards (WQS), the use of a geotextile clay liner to further increase sorption is recommended. If the concentrations of contaminants in water discharged from side drains is not below WQS for horizontal flow, guidelines determine whether the site rainfall and surface runoff allow sufficient dilution. In most situations alternative materials appear to be acceptable for use if pavement construction is on clay subgrades, with an exception of sites where the subgrades are shallower than those recommended or where they are close to areas of higher sensitivity, such as those in close proximity to protected groundwater

Technology: How to Stay out of Court

It is hard to believe that over a century ago business professionals, educators, high school and college students were writing letters with a pen and ink, making telephone calls on a land line phone, and physically making home visits to family and friends. In today’s society, texting has replaced phone calls, picture and video messaging has replaced face to face conversation, emails has replaced letter writing and social networking is changing the face of how electronic communication is viewed along and administered. Electronic communication has led the way in this new millennium of communication and because technology is changing so rapidly, student affairs professionals must stay on top of what electronic communication is. And how electronic communication is relevant to students, our professions, to the university as well as the best way to understand what legal ramifications which may develop from it. This guidebook will provide several subjects of technology involving technology: Electronic communication, plagiarism regarding electronic communication, distance and web learning as well as social networking, as well as the purpose of technology in higher education

A linguistic awareness intervention targeting spelling and written expression in a 10-year-old dyslexic child

We report the case of a monolingual English-speaking boy (AM) aged 10, and the intervention targeting AM’s spelling and written expression difficulties. AM’s performance was contrasted in all experimental measures to a group of 13 typically developing spellers attending the same class. Literacy and cognitive assessments revealed for AM pseudowordreading difficulties, and deficits in spelling, written expression, phonological ability, verbal memory and rapid automatised naming. AM took part in nine sessions of linguistic awareness intervention that focused on promoting simultaneous attention to phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics and syntax. Results revealed a substantial improvement in spelling, pseudowordreading, writing and handwriting. The results indicate that raising linguistic awareness can have a robust impact on spelling and written expression

A linguistic awareness intervention targeting spelling and written expression in a 10-year-old dyslexic child

We report the case of a monolingual English-speaking boy (AM) aged 10-years, and the intervention targeting spelling and written expression difficulties that AM had. AM’s performance was contrasted in all experimental measures to a group of 13 typically developing spellers attending the same class. Literacy and cognitive assessments revealed for AM non-word reading difficulties, and deficits in spelling, written expression, phonological ability, verbal memory and rapid automatized naming. AM took part in nine sessions of linguistic awareness intervention that focused on promoting simultaneous attention to phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics and syntax. Results revealed a significant improvement in spelling, non-word reading, writing and handwriting. The results indicate that raising linguistic awareness can have a robust impact on spelling and written expression

Migration of contaminants associated with pavement construction

In order to achieve the goals of 'Sustainable Development', alternative (secondary) materials are being increasingly used as bulk-fill aggregate within pavement construction as substitutes for traditional aggregates. This finds an end-use for stockpiles of industrial by-products (and hence the allowing the land on which they stand to be reclaimed for other uses) and protects finite, natural resources which they replace from over-extraction. Previously, there has been very little research concerned with the leaching of contaminants from alternative materials in pavement construction and the subsequent risks to water bodies from pavement drainage. It is this topic which is addressed here. Two flow regimes within a pavement have been studied in order to predict contaminant movement: (1) vertical flow through the aggregate and pavement and then vertically through the natural subgrade to ground water below and (2) horizontal flow through the aggregate to be discharged through pavement sides drains. Using these analyses a generic user-friendly risk assessment guide by which contractors may assess an aggregate prior to use is presented. A case-study is provided to illustrate some of the issues of concern. Guidelines in the risk assessment guide recommend the suitability of different physical parameters of a potential aggregate at a proposed pavement construction site for both water flow directions. If the subgrade at the site does not allow sorption by the soil to enable any contaminants in vertical flow to be below Water Quality Standards (WQS), the use of a geotextile clay liner to further increase sorption is recommended. If the concentrations of contaminants in water discharged from side drains is not below WQS for horizontal flow, guidelines determine whether the site rainfall and surface runoff allow sufficient dilution. In most situations alternative materials appear to be acceptable for use if pavement construction is on clay subgrades, with an exception of sites where the subgrades are shallower than those recommended or where they are close to areas of higher sensitivity, such as those in close proximity to protected groundwater