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An IRT model based on the Rasch model is proposed for composite tasks, that is, tasks that are decomposed into subtasks of different kinds. There is one subtask for each component that is discerned in the composite tasks. A component is a generic kind of subtask of which the subtasks resulting from the decomposition are specific instantiations with respect to the particular composite tasks under study. The proposed model constrains the difficulties of the composite tasks to be linear combinations of the difficulties of the corresponding subtask items, which are estimated together with the weights used in the linear combinations, one weight for each kind of subtask. Although the model does not belong to the exponential family, its parameters can be estimated using conditional maximum likelihood estimation. The approach is demonstrated with an application to spelling tasks.
To explore the views of general practitioners (GPs) and nurses on type 2 diabetes (T2D) management, including the use of recently funded T2D medications in New Zealand (NZ) and their perceived barriers to providing optimal care.
Background:
T2D is a significant health concern in NZ, particularly among Māori and Pacific adults. Characterised by prolonged hyperglycaemia, T2D is generally a progressive condition requiring long-term care.
Methods:
Semi-structured interviews were conducted between July and December 2022 with 21 primary care clinicians (10 GPs and 11 nurses/nurse prescribers) from nine different general practice clinics across the Auckland and Waikato regions of NZ. Framework analysis was conducted to identify common themes in clinicians’ perceptions and experiences with T2D management.
Findings:
Three themes were identified: health-system factors, new medications, and solution-based approaches. Lack of clinician time, healthcare funding, staff shortages, and burn-out were identified as barriers to T2D management under health-system factors. The two newly funded medications, empagliflozin and dulaglutide, were deemed to be a positive change for T2D care in that they improved patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes, but several clinicians were hesitant to prescribe these medications. Participants suggested that additional education and specialist diabetes support would be helpful to inform optimal medication prescribing and that better use of a multi-disciplinary team (clinical and support staff) could support T2D care by reducing workload, addressing cultural gaps in healthcare delivery, and reducing burnout. An improved primary care work environment, including appropriate professional development to support prescribing of new medications and the value of collaboration with a non-regulated workforce, may be required to facilitate optimal T2D management in primary care. Future research should focus on interventions to increase support for both clinical teams and patients while adopting a culturally appropriate approach to increase patient satisfaction and improve health outcomes.
Populist radical right (PRR) parties are often more successful in some regions of their countries than in others. However, previous research shows that the relationship between context and PRR support is not straightforward. We develop and test an expanded framework linking local conditions to PRR support through two causal mechanisms. First, we argue economic and cultural contextual factors can influence citizens by fostering a sense of perceived local decline, which in turn predicts both populist and nativist attitudes and, hence, PRR support (mediation). Second, we expect that citizens with fewer resources and stronger local embeddedness are more strongly influenced by the context in which they live (moderation). Combining geocoded survey data with contextual data from four countries (DE, FR, GB and NL), we show that the link between local context and PRR support is indeed mediated and moderated, providing a better understanding of the spatial distribution behind recent PRR success.
This article does not attempt to paint a complete picture of Michael Wolters (b.1971) as composer, teacher or researcher. Rather, it is a collection of comments and reflections drawn from a number of recent conversations with him. In these conversations we considered the work he has produced across his career, with a particular focus on his ideas about conceptual working, his outsider position and the essential part that accessibility plays in his creative decision-making.
Alopecia areata (AA) is an immunological disorder characterised by hair loss. Individuals with AA report high levels of social anxiety. One intervention that holds potential for reducing social anxiety in individuals with AA is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).
Aims:
Our key aim was to investigate whether MBCT reduces social anxiety in individuals with AA. The study also investigated whether MBCT reduces depression, general anxiety, and increases quality of life and increases trait mindfulness in individuals with AA.
Method:
Five participants with AA took part in an 8-session in-person MBCT intervention. A multiple-baseline single-group case series design was adopted. Idiographic measures of social anxiety were measured each day from baseline, through intervention, to follow-up. Standardised questionnaires of trait mindfulness, social anxiety, depression, anxiety, and quality of life were completed at baseline, post-intervention, and at 4-week follow-up.
Results:
All participants completed the MBCT course, but one participant was excluded from the idiographic analysis due to a high amount of missing data. The remaining four participants demonstrated reductions in idiographic measures of social anxiety from baseline to follow-up. These effects were larger between baseline and follow-up, than between baseline and post-intervention. Two participants demonstrated significant improvement in standardised measures of wellbeing from baseline to follow-up – they also practised mindfulness most regularly at home between sessions.
Conclusion:
MBCT may be effective in reducing social anxiety and improving wellbeing in individuals with AA, although this might be dependent on the extent to which participants regularly practise mindfulness exercises.
Parents of children with eczema or psoriasis experience high levels of parenting stress, which can negatively impact their child’s mental and physical health.
Aims:
We aimed to investigate the effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of a mindful parenting intervention for parents of children with eczema or psoriasis.
Method:
Seven parents of children (4–12 years old) with eczema or psoriasis took part in an 8-week mindful parenting group intervention. A single-case experimental design was adopted, whereby parents completed daily idiographic measures of parenting stress related to their child’s skin condition. Parents also completed standardised questionnaires measuring their parenting stress, depression, anxiety and quality of life, and children completed a quality of life measure, at four time points: baseline, pre-intervention, post-intervention and 6-week follow-up. Parents provided qualitative feedback after the intervention.
Results:
All parents completed the intervention and showed improvements in idiographic measures of parenting stress from baseline to follow-up. Improvements in parenting stress were larger at follow-up than post-intervention, suggesting the benefits of intervention continue beyond the intervention. Six of seven parent–child dyads showed improvement in at least one of the wellbeing measures, from pre-intervention to post-intervention or follow-up. Feasibility was demonstrated through good participant retention, adherence to home practice, and treatment fidelity. Acceptability was demonstrated through positive parent evaluations of the intervention.
Conclusions:
Mindful parenting can be an effective, feasible and acceptable intervention for parents of children with eczema or psoriasis. Future studies should attempt to replicate the findings through randomised controlled trials.
The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.
This paper describes initial experimental results from an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation-pulsed atom probe microscope. Femtosecond-pulsed coherent EUV radiation of 29.6 nm wavelength (41.85 eV photon energy), obtained through high harmonic generation in an Ar-filled hollow capillary waveguide, successfully triggered controlled field ion emission from the apex of amorphous SiO2 specimens. The calculated composition is stoichiometric within the error of the measurement and effectively invariant of the specimen base temperature in the range of 25 K to 150 K. Photon energies available in the EUV band are significantly higher than those currently used in the state-of-the-art near-ultraviolet laser-pulsed atom probe, which enables the possibility of additional ionization and desorption pathways. Pulsed coherent EUV light is a new and potential alternative to near-ultraviolet radiation for atom probe tomography.
Pulsed coherent extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is a potential alternative to pulsed near-ultraviolet (NUV) wavelengths for atom probe tomography. EUV radiation has the benefit of high absorption within the first few nm of the sample surface for elements across the entire periodic table. In addition, EUV radiation may also offer athermal field ion emission pathways through direct photoionization or core-hole Auger decay processes, which are not possible with the (much lower) photon energies used in conventional NUV laser-pulsed atom probe. We report preliminary results from what we believe to be the world’s first EUV radiation-pulsed atom probe microscope. The instrument consists of a femtosecond-pulsed, coherent EUV radiation source interfaced to a local electrode atom probe tomograph by means of a vacuum manifold beamline. EUV photon-assisted field ion emission (of substrate atoms) has been demonstrated on various insulating, semiconducting, and metallic specimens. Select examples are shown.
Discrepancies between population-based estimates of the incidence of psychotic disorder and the treated incidence reported by early psychosis intervention (EPI) programs suggest additional cases may be receiving services elsewhere in the health system. Our objective was to estimate the incidence of non-affective psychotic disorder in the catchment area of an EPI program, and compare this to EPI-treated incidence estimates.
Methods
We constructed a retrospective cohort (1997–2015) of incident cases of non-affective psychosis aged 16–50 years in an EPI program catchment using population-based linked health administrative data. Cases were identified by either one hospitalization or two outpatient physician billings within a 12-month period with a diagnosis of non-affective psychosis. We estimated the cumulative incidence and EPI-treated incidence of non-affective psychosis using denominator data from the census. We also estimated the incidence of first-episode psychosis (people who would meet the case definition for an EPI program) using a novel approach.
Results
Our case definition identified 3245 cases of incident non-affective psychosis over the 17-year period. We estimate that the incidence of first-episode non-affective psychosis in the program catchment area is 33.3 per 100 000 per year (95% CI 31.4–35.1), which is more than twice as high as the EPI-treated incidence of 18.8 per 100 000 per year (95% CI 17.4–20.3).
Conclusions
Case ascertainment strategies limited to specialized psychiatric services may substantially underestimate the incidence of non-affective psychotic disorders, relative to population-based estimates. Accurate information on the epidemiology of first-episode psychosis will enable us to more effectively resource EPI services and evaluate their coverage.
OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: To diversify the workforce by providing leadership and career coaching training to mentors so that they can be better leaders with their trainees and incorporate career coaching skills into their mentoring style. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: PROMISED Program helps current and future members of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) develop management, leadership, and career coaching skills so that they may be more effective in guiding their mentees. Studies show that mentees remain engaged in research when they drive their own careers, but mentors rarely help them recognize ways to do this. PROMISED aims to address by providing online leadership training and career coaching training. We developed innovative online leadership training for mentors committed to mentoring people from diverse backgrounds that are focused on management and leadership skills. These modules contain exercises, self-assessments, and discussion boards. We also have reading materials and other supplemental work such as videos to augment the modules. We also created 2-day training on career coaching skills for mentors. Certified career coaches trained participants in career coaching tools so that they could incorporate these skills into their mentoring style. Mentors tend to view themselves as content advisors, and they focus on the next step in the research project rather than the research career. We trained mentors to provide career coaching to their mentees, which will help the mentee establish a successful biomedical research career trajectory. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In total, 45 mentors attended the Career Coaching Workshop. We assessed 26 mentoring/career coaching traits. Every trait improved on post survey (Likert scale 1–7), for example, “Taking into account the biases and prejudices you bring to the mentor/mentee relationship” (Pre: 4.16, Post: 5.38) and Working with mentees to set clear expectations of the mentoring relationship (Pre: 4.27, Post: 5.32). Some comments from attendees included: “amazing,” “powerful,” “excellent program,” “learned so much.” For the online module, we have a maximum of 20 fellows enrolled in each module. Results show that the fellows rate the module extremely useful. A comment from 1 fellow confirms this: “This session has changed my life and I know that the PROMISED program will transform my abilities as a mentor and as a person.” DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Providing Career Coaching Training and Online leadership skills can significantly improve mentors ability to mentor people, particularly those from diverse backgrounds. In addition, this training can help mentors who are committed to mentoring people from diverse backgrounds promote their own careers as well as their mentees.
A comprehensive analysis of early dinosaur relationships raised the possibility that the group may have originated in Laurasia (Northern Hemisphere), rather than Gondwana (Southern Hemisphere) as often thought. However, that study focused solely on morphology and phylogenetic relationships and did not quantitatively evaluate this issue. Here, we investigate dinosaur origins using a novel Bayesian framework uniting tip-dated phylogenetics with dynamic, time-sliced biogeographic methods, which explicitly account for the age and locality of fossils and the changing interconnections of areas through time due to tectonic and eustatic change. Our analysis finds strong support for a Gondwanan origin of Dinosauria, with 99 % probability for South America (83 % for southern South America). Parsimony analysis gives concordant results. Inclusion of time-sliced biogeographic information affects ancestral state reconstructions (e.g., high connectivity between two regions increases uncertainty over which is the ancestral area) and influences tree topology (disfavouring uniting fossil taxa from localities that were widely separated during the relevant time slice). Our approach directly integrates plate tectonics with phylogenetics and divergence dating, and in doing so reaffirms southern South America as the most likely area for the geographic origin of Dinosauria.
A new macroscopic model describing the rheology and microstructure of dilute emulsions with droplet morphology is developed based on an internal contravariant conformation tensor variable which is physically identified with the deformed ellipsoidal geometry of the dispersed phase. The model is consistent with existing first-order capillary number, $O(Ca)$, theory describing the microstructure as well as $O(Ca^{2})$ theory describing the emulsion-contributed extra stress. These asymptotic solutions are also used to determine all of the model parameters, making it the only macroscopic emulsion model that is consistent with all available asymptotic theories in the limit of small $Ca$. The governing equations are obtained from the Poisson and dissipation brackets, as developed for an incompressible fluid system endowed with an internal contravariant second-order tensor, subject to the imposition of the constraint of a unit determinant. First proposed by Maffettone & Minale (J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., vol. 78, 1998, pp. 227–241), this constraint physically corresponds to conservation of the volume of the dispersed phase in the emulsion. The Hamiltonian of the emulsion is expressed through the surface energy of the dispersed phase, in addition to the kinetic energy, following previous work by Grmela et al. (J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., vol. 212, 2014, pp. 1–12), but employing a more accurate evaluation of the surface area in terms of the internal contravariant conformation tensor. Structural predictions of the ellipsoid droplet morphology obtained with the new model are compared with classic experiments by Torza et al. (J. Colloid Interface Sci., vol. 38, 1972, pp. 395–411), showing good agreement.
We aimed to evaluate the availability and nature of services for people affected by personality disorder in England by conducting a survey of English National Health Service (NHS) mental health trusts and independent organisations.
Results
In England, 84% of organisations reported having at least one dedicated personality disorder service. This represents a fivefold increase compared with a 2002 survey. However, only 55% of organisations reported that patients had equal access across localities to these dedicated services. Dedicated services commonly had good levels of service use and carer involvement, and engagement in education, research and training. However, a wider multidisciplinary team and a greater number of biopsychosocial interventions were available through generic services.
Clinical implications
There has been a substantial increase in service provision for people affected by personality disorder, but continued variability in the availability of services is apparent and it remains unclear whether quality of care has improved.
We examined whether image analysis could separate leafy spurge from other plant species and objects by comparing image analysis to the ocular method of estimating cover. Image analysis was acceptably precise at low and medium cover levels. Image analysis was as repeatable as the ocular method at all sites and cover levels and acceptably reliable at low and medium cover levels but estimated cover lower by 12 to 22% than the ocular method at high cover levels. The average error levels of image analysis and the ocular method did not differ. Estimating leafy spurge cover with a 10% error required only 20 quadrats when image analysis was used, while twice as many quadrats were needed when cover was measured ocularly. Image analysis was recommended as a measurement tool because quantification was efficient, the equipment is inexpensive, and the color prints provide a permanent photo record of the study.
Field studies were conducted at 35 sites throughout the north-central United States in 1998 and 1999 to determine the effect of postemergence glyphosate application timing on weed control and grain yield in glyphosate-resistant corn. Glyphosate was applied at various timings based on the height of the most dominant weed species. Weed control and corn grain yields were considerably more variable when glyphosate was applied only once. The most effective and consistent season-long annual grass and broadleaf weed control occurred when a single glyphosate application was delayed until weeds were 15 cm or taller. Two glyphosate applications provided more consistent weed control when weeds were 10 cm tall or less and higher corn grain yields when weeds were 5 cm tall or less, compared with a single application. Weed control averaged at least 94 and 97% across all sites in 1998 and 1999, respectively, with two glyphosate applications but was occasionally less than 70% because of late emergence of annual grass and Amaranthus spp. or reduced control of Ipomoea spp. With a single application of glyphosate, corn grain yield was most often reduced when the application was delayed until weeds were 23 cm or taller. Averaged across all sites in 1998 and 1999, corn grain yields from a single glyphosate application at the 5-, 10-, 15-, 23-, and 30-cm timings were 93, 94, 93, 91, and 79% of the weed-free control, respectively. There was a significant effect of herbicide treatment on corn grain yield in 23 of the 35 sites when weed reinfestation was prevented with a second glyphosate application. When weed reinfestation was prevented, corn grain yield at the 5-, 10-, and 15-cm application timings was 101, 97, and 93% of the weed-free control, respectively, averaged across all sites. Results of this study suggested that the optimum timing for initial glyphosate application to avoid corn grain yield loss was when weeds were less than 10 cm in height, no more than 23 d after corn planting, and when corn growth was not more advanced than the V4 stage.