A systematic review of economic evaluations of the use of robotic assisted laparoscopy in surgery compared with open or laparoscopic surgery

Peer reviewed

Copy Number Variations in DISC1 and DISC1-Interacting Partners in Major Mental Illness

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the patients, relatives and control individuals who participated in the study. We are indebted to the late Prof. Walter Muir, Chair of Developmental Psychiatry and Honorary Consultant in Learning Disability Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, who initiated these studies and whose work was dedicated to the welfare of the patients who generously participated. We are also grateful to Mrs. Pat Malloy for her assistance with DNA collection and MAQ assays screening of the Scottish samples. The Scottish sample collection was supported by a grant from the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), part of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates. This research was funded by grants from the CSO to B.S.P. (grant CZB/4/610), The Academy of Medical Sciences/Wellcome Trust to M.J. (grant R41455) and The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust (grant D21419 together with J.H.), the Swedish Research Council (grants 2003-5158 and 2006-4472), the Medical Faculty, Umeå University, and the County Councils of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Sweden, as well as by grants from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO-F), the Industrial Research Fund (IWT) and the Special Research Fund of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. M.J. is funded by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship for MB PhD graduates (R42811). We acknowledge the contribution of the personnel of the VIB Genetic Service Facility (http://www.vibgeneticservicefacility.be/) for the genetic analysis of the Swedish samples. Research nurses Gunnel Johansson, Lotta Kronberg, Tage Johansson and Lisbeth Bertilsson are thankfully acknowledged for their help and expertise. The Betula Study was funded by the Swedish Research Council (grants 345-2003-3883 and 315-2004-6977). We also acknowledge the contribution by the staff in the Betula project

(Re)discovering the Gaulcross Hoard

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Charles and Helen Gray for permitting access to the land and for support in the excavation of the hoard. Thanks also to Bruce Mann and the Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service for advice and supporting the radiocarbon dating. Fraser Hunter and Tanja Romankiewicz assisted during a very cold excavation. Fraser and Alice Blackwell kindly read and commented on drafts of this paper. The fieldwork was funded through a donation to the University of Aberdeen’s Development Trust and undertaken as part of the Northern Picts project, in association with the Tarbat Discovery Centre.

Effectiveness of initiating extrafine-particle versus fine-particle inhaled corticosteroids as asthma therapy in the Netherlands

Acknowledgements Gokul Gopalan (a Senior Global Medical Director [Respiratory], at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Frazer, PA, US, at the time of this study), assisted with study design. Funding Funds to acquire the dataset from the Pharmo Institute for Drug Outcomes Research (Utrecht, the Netherlands) were provided by RiRL. The study received institutional support from Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe B.V. Gokul Gopalan, a Senior Global Medical Director (Respiratory), at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Frazer, PA, US, at the time of this study, assisted with study design, but neither Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe B.V. nor Teva Pharmaceuticals, Frazer, PA, US, contributed, either in part or in whole, to the collection, analysis, or interpretation of study data, manuscript writing, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Erratum The original version of this article unfortunately contained errors that have since been corrected. The word “pharmo” has been fully capitalised to “PHARMO” throughout the article. The reference to Table 2 in the first and second sentence under the Outcomes heading has been replaced with Fig. 3. Under the Abbreviations heading ‘extrafine-particle’ was repeated, this has been corrected to ‘EF-HFA-BDP [Qvar®]: extrafine-particle hydrofluoroalkane beclomethasone dipropionate’. The competing interests of Nicolas Roche and Theresa Guibert have been amended. Academic affiliations for Dirkje S. Postma (2), Richard J. Martin (3), Ron M.C. Herrings (4), Jetty Overbeek (4), and Nicolas Roche (7) have been corrected. Figure 3 in the online and pdf version did not match, this been amended

In search of innovative capabilities of communities of practice : a systematic review and typology for future research

Peer reviewed

From Theory-Inspired to Theory-Based Interventions : A Protocol for Developing and Testing a Methodology for Linking Behaviour Change Techniques to Theoretical Mechanisms of Action

This research is funded by UK Medical Research Council grant number MR/L011115/1. We would like to thank the 105 experts in behaviour change who have committed their time and offered their expertise for study 2 of this research. We are also very grateful to all those who sent us peer-reviewed behaviour change intervention descriptions for study 1. Finally, we would like thank Dr. Emma Beard and Dr. Dan Dediu for their statistical input and to all the researchers, particularly Holly Walton, who have assisted in the coding of papers for study 1.

Expectations and challenges : the implementation of mobile devices in a Scottish primary school

Acknowledgements Sincere thanks are due to all who have contributed to this study, which was funded in part by the Local Authority. The Head Teacher and Local Authority Officer have been instrumental in encouraging and supporting the research and the teachers and pupils at the school, along with several local authority support staff, have contributed directly. Colleagues from the University of Aberdeen, including Prof Do Coyle, Dr Yvonne Bain, and Phil Marston, helped to guide the project and provided useful feedback.

The Bennachie Colony : A Nineteenth-Century Informal Community in Northeast Scotland

Acknowledgments The investigation of the Bennachie Colony is part of a broader initiative called the Bennachie Landscape Project, a collaborative endeavour between the Bailies of Bennachie and the University of Aberdeen. To date, funding for the project has been generously provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in the form of a Connected Communities Grant (G. Noble PI) and more recently through a larger Development Grant (J. Oliver PI). The research that this paper is based on could not have been undertaken without the generous assistance of a large number of volunteers, university students and staff members. While it would be impossible to name everyone who has contributed, we would like to acknowledge the regular members of the “landscape group” whose infective enthusiasm for the project has provided a stimulating environment for learning and co-production. Particular thanks go to Jackie Cumberbirch, Barry Foster, Chris Foster, Angela Groat, David Irving, Alison Kennedy, Harry Leal, Ken Ledingham, Colin Miller, Iain Ralston, Colin Shepherd, Sue Taylor and Andrew Wainwright. Further assistance with fieldwork was provided by Ágústa Edwald, Patrycia Kupiec, Barbora Wouters, Óskar Sveinbjarnarson, members of Northlight Heritage and several cohorts worth of University of Aberdeen undergraduate and graduate students. We are indebted to the RCAHMS for assistance with plane table survey and to Óskar Sveinbjarnarson for help with mapping. Others have supported additional aspects of the Bennachie Landscape project or have provided specialist advice. Thanks go to Neil Curtis, Liz Curtis, Rowan Ellis, Marjory Harper, Siobhan Convery and the University of Aberdeen Special Collections staff. Access to undertake fieldwork was graciously provided by the Forestry Commission Scotland. Helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper were provided by Barry and Chris Foster, Ken Ledingham, Collin Miller, Collin Shepherd, Sue Taylor, Andrew Wainwright and two anonymous reviewers.

Coupled symplectic maps as models for subdiffusive processes in disordered Hamiltonian lattices

Acknowledgements One of us (T. B.) acknowledges many interesting discussions on coupled maps with Professor C. Tsallis. We are also grateful to the anonymous referees for their constructive feedback that helped us improve the manuscript and to the HPCS Laboratory of the TEI of Western Greece for providing the computer facilities where all our simulations were performed. C. G. A. was partially supported by the “EPSRC EP/I032606/1” grant of the University of Aberdeen. This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) - Research Funding Program: THALES - Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund.

A Test of the Biogenicity Criteria Established for Microfossils and Stromatolites on Quaternary Tufa and Speleothem Materials Formed in the “Twilight Zone” at Caerwys, UK

Natural Resources Wales and Steven Griffiths are thanked for access to Caerwys quarry and permission to work on the site. Sebastiaan Edelman and Thomas Logeman assisted with fieldwork and provided some of the field photographs. Bouke Lacet (Sedimentology laboratory, VU University Amsterdam) prepared the thin-sections. Three anonymous reviewers helped to sharpen the manuscript, and Sherry Cady provided valuable editorial advice and assistance. A.T.B. was inspired by Martin Brasier. He dedicates this manuscript to his father’s memory.

Self-assessment of clinical nurse mentors as dimensions of professional development and the capability of developing ethical values among nursing students : A correlational research study

Date of Acceptance: 08/04/2015 The paper presents, in part, the results of a broader non-profit development project entitled “Advance level of knowledge for quality in clinical mentorship — professional ethics and continuously professional development”. The project was financed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia (contract no. 3211-11-000263, the number of project OP RCV_VS-11-14). The members of the development group of the project were: Brigita Skela-Savič (leader), Karmen Romih, Sanela Pivač, Katja Skinder Savić and Andreja Prebil. The research report for the entire project is available on the online bibliographic database COBIB.si, at the Faculty of Health Care Jesenice and at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia.

The expression and prognostic significance of bcl-2-associated transcription factor 1 in rectal cancer following neoadjuvant therapy

Date of Acceptance: 12/07/2015 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Acknowledgements This study was supported by funding from the Encompass kick start and SMART:Scotland award schemes of Scottish Enterprise and Friends of Anchor. The Grampian Biorepository assisted with the immunohistochemical investigations.

Expectations and challenges : the implementation of mobile devices in a Scottish primary school

Acknowledgements Sincere thanks are due to all who have contributed to this study, which was funded in part by the Local Authority. The Head Teacher and Local Authority Officer have been instrumental in encouraging and supporting the research and the teachers and pupils at the school, along with several local authority support staff, have contributed directly. Colleagues from the University of Aberdeen, including Prof Do Coyle, Dr Yvonne Bain, and Phil Marston, helped to guide the project and provided useful feedback.

The Bennachie Colony : A Nineteenth-Century Informal Community in Northeast Scotland

Acknowledgments The investigation of the Bennachie Colony is part of a broader initiative called the Bennachie Landscape Project, a collaborative endeavour between the Bailies of Bennachie and the University of Aberdeen. To date, funding for the project has been generously provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in the form of a Connected Communities Grant (G. Noble PI) and more recently through a larger Development Grant (J. Oliver PI). The research that this paper is based on could not have been undertaken without the generous assistance of a large number of volunteers, university students and staff members. While it would be impossible to name everyone who has contributed, we would like to acknowledge the regular members of the “landscape group” whose infective enthusiasm for the project has provided a stimulating environment for learning and co-production. Particular thanks go to Jackie Cumberbirch, Barry Foster, Chris Foster, Angela Groat, David Irving, Alison Kennedy, Harry Leal, Ken Ledingham, Colin Miller, Iain Ralston, Colin Shepherd, Sue Taylor and Andrew Wainwright. Further assistance with fieldwork was provided by Ágústa Edwald, Patrycia Kupiec, Barbora Wouters, Óskar Sveinbjarnarson, members of Northlight Heritage and several cohorts worth of University of Aberdeen undergraduate and graduate students. We are indebted to the RCAHMS for assistance with plane table survey and to Óskar Sveinbjarnarson for help with mapping. Others have supported additional aspects of the Bennachie Landscape project or have provided specialist advice. Thanks go to Neil Curtis, Liz Curtis, Rowan Ellis, Marjory Harper, Siobhan Convery and the University of Aberdeen Special Collections staff. Access to undertake fieldwork was graciously provided by the Forestry Commission Scotland. Helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper were provided by Barry and Chris Foster, Ken Ledingham, Collin Miller, Collin Shepherd, Sue Taylor, Andrew Wainwright and two anonymous reviewers.

Coupled symplectic maps as models for subdiffusive processes in disordered Hamiltonian lattices

Acknowledgements One of us (T. B.) acknowledges many interesting discussions on coupled maps with Professor C. Tsallis. We are also grateful to the anonymous referees for their constructive feedback that helped us improve the manuscript and to the HPCS Laboratory of the TEI of Western Greece for providing the computer facilities where all our simulations were performed. C. G. A. was partially supported by the “EPSRC EP/I032606/1” grant of the University of Aberdeen. This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) - Research Funding Program: THALES - Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund.