Evaluation of extended training for general practice in Northern Ireland: qualitative study.

Objective To evaluate participants' perceptions of the impact on them of an additional six months' training beyond the standard 12 month general practice vocational training scheme. Design Qualitative study using focus groups. Setting General practice vocational training in Northern Ireland. Participants 13 general practitioner registrars, six of whom participated in the additional six months' training, and four trainers involved in the additional six months' training. Main outcome measures: Participants' views about their experiences in 18 month and 12 month courses. Results Participants reported that the 12 month course was generally positive but was too pressurised and focused on examinations, and also that it had a negative impact on self care. The nature of the learning and assessment was reported to have left participants feeling averse to further continuing education and lacking in confidence. In contrast, the extended six month component was reported to have restimulated learning by focusing more on patient care and promoting self directed learning. It developed confidence, promoted teamwork, and gave experience of two practice contexts, and was reported as valuable by both ex-registrars and trainers. However, both the 12 and 18 month courses left participants feeling underprepared for practice management and self care. Conclusions 12 months' training in general practice does not provide doctors with the necessary competencies and confidence to enter independent practice. The extended period was reported to promote greater professional development, critical evaluation skills, and orientation to lifelong learning but does not fill all the gaps.

Second-order distorted wave calculation for electron impact ionization of hydrogen

The triple differential cross sections for ionization of atomic hydrogen by electron impact are analysed in the case of coplanar, asymmetric geometry within the framework of second- order distorted wave theory. Detailed calculations are performed without making any approximations (other than numerical) in the evaluation of the second-order amplitude. The present results are compared with experimental measurements and other theoretical calculations for incident energies of 250, 150 and 54.4 eV. It is found that the second-order calculations represent a marked improvement over the results obtained from first-order theories for impact energies of 150 eV and higher. The close agreement between the present second-order plane wave calculation and those of Byron et al calculated using the closure approximation at an incident energy of 250 eV implies that the closure approximation is valid for this energy. The large difference between the present second-order distorted wave calculations and experiment at an incident energy of 54.4 eV suggests that higher order effects are important for incident energies less than 100 eV.

Electron-impact excitation of Cr II A theoretical calculation of collision and effective collision strengths for forbidden transitions

Context. Absorption or emission lines of Cr II are observed in a wide variety of astrophysical spectra and accurate atomic data are urgently needed to interpret these lines. Many of these data are impossible to measure experimentally and a full theoretical treatment is the only means by which these data can be obtained.

Aims. In this paper, we present collision strengths and effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of Cr II for forbidden transitions among the lowest-lying 74 fine-structure levels. Effective collision strengths have been computed for 18 individual electron temperatures of astrophysical importance, ranging from 2000-100 000 K.

Methods. The parallel suite of R-matrix packages, RMATRX II, which has recently been extended to allow for the inclusion of relativistic effects, has been used in the present work to compute the collision strengths and effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of Cr II. We concentrate in this publication on low-lying forbidden lines among the lowest 74 jj fine-structure levels with configurations 3d(5) and 3d(4)4s, although atomic data has been evaluated for all 39 060 transitions among the 280 jj levels of configurations 3d(5), 3d(4)4s and 3d(4)4p. This work constitutes the largest evaluation ever performed for this ion involving 1932 coupled channels.

Results. Collision and effective collision strengths are presented for all transitions among the lowest 74 J pi states of Cr II and comparisons made with the work of Bautista et al. (2009). While the effective collision strengths agree well for some transitions, significant discrepancies exist for others. We believe that the present atomic data represents the most accurate, most sophisticated and most complete data set for electron-impact excitation of Cr II and we would recommend them to astrophysicists and plasma physicists in their application work. We would expect that the effective collision strengths presented for the important low-lying forbidden lines are accurate to within 15%.

Championing the interface between mental health and child protection: evaluation of a service initiative to improve joint working in Northern Ireland

The importance of establishing effective interagency working between adult mental health services and child care services in order to safeguard children has been repeatedly identified by research, policy, inquiries and inspection reports. This article reports on the evaluation of an initiative in one Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland that aimed to facilitate joint working and so improve service provision and protection for children and families. The Champions Initiative involved identifying a champion in each multi-disciplinary community mental health team and in each family and child care team who would have responsibility for providing information, promoting joint working and identifying any obstacles to better co-operation. The evaluation of this initiative assessed levels of experience, training, confidence, understanding and awareness in the Champions and their team members at baseline. The Champions and their Team Leaders were then followed-up after six months to obtain their qualitative views of the impact of the initiative. The results include comparisons between mental health and child care staff, and crucially, views about whether the initiative has had any impact on working together. This study also generated recommendations for further service development in this complex and important area of practice.

Targeting social need in a divided society: an evaluation of a community-based adult education initiative

This article examines the impact of a community-based adult education initiative designed to target social need in Northern Ireland. Set against a backdrop of extreme civil unrest and disadvantageous socio-economic conditions a cohort of adults was identified to participate in a personal and social development programme. The initiative was funded from Peace and Reconciliation resources made available to Northern Ireland by the European Union. High levels of unemployment and negativity about previous learning experiences were characteristic features among participants. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme was carried out and a follow-up qualitative survey ensued 6 months after the completion of the training. Results indicate that the learner-centred methodology was effective in providing a gateway to further education and training and enhancing participants' self-esteem, confidence, motivation, tolerance, social skills, community involvement and

Evaluation of a hospital-based community liaison pharmacy service in Northern Ireland

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a hospital based community liaison pharmacy service on a range of outcomes in patients aged more than 55 years and taking more than 3 prescribed drugs, who had been admitted to the medical unit of a district general hospital in Northern Ireland.

Workspace evaluation of manipulators through finite-partition of SE(3)

Workspace analysis and optimization are important in a manipulator design. As the complete workspace of a 6-DOF manipulator is embedded into a 6-imensional space, it is difficult to quantify and qualify it. Most literatures only considered the 3-D sub workspaces of the complete 6-D workspace. In this paper, a finite-partition approach of the Special Euclidean group SE(3) is proposed based on the topology properties of SE(3), which is the product of Special Orthogonal group SO(3) and R^3. It is known that the SO(3) is homeomorphic to a solid ball D^3 with antipodal points identified while the geometry of R^3 can be regarded as a cuboid. The complete 6-D workspace SE(3) is at the first time parametrically and proportionally partitioned into a number of elements with uniform convergence based on its geometry. As a result, a basis volume element of SE(3) is formed by the product of a basis volume element of R^3 and a basis volume element of SO(3), which is the product of a basis volume element of D^3 and its associated integration measure. By this way, the integration of the complete 6-D workspace volume becomes the simple summation of the basis volume elements of SE(3). Two new global performance indices, i.e., workspace volume ratio Wr and global condition index GCI, are defined over the complete 6-D workspace. A newly proposed 3 RPPS parallel manipulator is optimized based on this finite-partition approach. As a result, the optimal dimensions for maximal workspace are obtained, and the optimal performance points in the workspace are identified.

Improving children's attitudes toward refugees: An evaluation of a school-based multicultural curriculum and an anti-racist intervention

We evaluated the impact of the Friendship Project, a program designed to improve elementary school children's attitudes toward refugees. Participants either received 4 weekly lessons based on the program, or they received no lessons. All participants completed attitude measures before and after implementation of the program. Half completed the post-test 1 week after completion of the program, while the other half completed the post-test 7 weeks after its completion. The program led to more positive attitudes toward refugees in the short term, but not in the long term. Moreover, although it did not increase empathy, the program increased the proportion of participants who preferred an acculturation strategy of integration and reduced the number of participants who had conflictual acculturative fit.

Development and application of a multiple linear regression model to consider the impact of weekly waste container capacity on the yield from kerbside recycling programmes

The paper describes the development and application of a multiple linear regression model to identify how the key elements of waste and recycling infrastructure, namely container capacity and frequency of collection affect the yield from municipal kerbside recycling programmes. The overall aim of the research was to gain an understanding of the factors affecting the yield from municipal kerbside recycling programmes in Scotland. The study isolates the principal kerbside collection service offered by 32 councils across Scotland, eliminating those recycling programmes associated with flatted properties or multi occupancies. The results of a regression analysis model has identified three principal factors which explain 80% of the variability in the average yield of the principal dry recyclate services: weekly residual waste capacity, number of materials collected and the weekly recycling capacity. The use of the model has been evaluated and recommendations made on ongoing methodological development and the use of the results in informing the design of kerbside recycling programmes. The authors hope that the research can provide insights for the ongoing development of methods to optimise the design and operation of kerbside recycling programmes.

A qualitative study exploring the perceived impact of supervision training on cognitive therapy supervisor practice

Although cognitive therapy (CT) has a large empirical base, research is lacking for CT supervision and supervision training, which presents an obstacle for evidence-based practice. A pilot CT supervision training programme, based on Milne’s (2007a, 2009) evidence-based supervision and Roth and Pilling (2008) supervision competences was developed by the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation (NICTT), an organisation specialising in CT therapy provision and training. This study qualitatively explores CT supervisors’ perceptions of the impact the training had on their practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Burnard’s (1991) thematic content analysis.

Findings illustrated that experienced CT supervisors perceived benefit from training and that the majority of supervisors had implemented contracts, used specific supervision models and paid more attention to supervisee learning as a result of the training. Obstacles to ensuring good supervision included the lack of reliable user-friendly evaluation tools and supervisor consultancy structures.

Recommendations are also made for future research to establish the long-term effects of supervision training and its effect on patient outcomes. Implications for future training based on adult learning principles are discussed.

Predicting low-velocity impact damage on a stiffened composite panel

An intralaminar damage model, based on a continuum damage mechanics approach, is presented to model the damage mechanisms occurring in carbon fibre composite structures incorporating fibre tensile and compressive breakage, matrix tensile and compressive fracture, and shear failure. The damage model, together with interface elements for capturing interlaminar failure, is implemented in a finite element package and used in a detailed finite element model to simulate the response of a stiffened composite panel to low-velocity impact. Contact algorithms and friction between delaminated plies were included, to better simulate the impact event. Analyses were executed on a high performance computer (HPC) cluster to reduce the actual time required for this detailed numerical analysis. Numerical results relating to the various observed interlaminar damage mechanisms, delamination initiation and propagation, as well as the model’s ability to capture post-impact permanent indentation in the panel are discussed. Very good agreement was achieved with experimentally obtained data of energy absorbed and impactor force versus time. The extent of damage predicted around the impact site also corresponded well with the damage detected by non destructive evaluation of the tested panel.

Production and evaluation of the utility of novel phage display-derived peptide ligands to Salmonella spp. for magnetic separation

Aims: The objectives of this study were to produce Salmonella-specific peptide ligands by phage display biopanning and evaluate their use for magnetic separation (MS).
Methods and Results: Four phage display biopanning rounds were performed and the peptides expressed by the two most Salmonella-specific (on the basis of phage binding ELISA results) phage clones, MSal020401 and MSal020417, were chemically synthesized and coupled to MyOne™ tosylactivated Dynabeads®. Peptide capture capability for whole Salmonella cells from non-enriched broth cultures was quantified by MS + plate counts and MS + Greenlight™ detection, and compared to capture capability of anti-Salmonella (antibody-coated) Dynabeads®. MS + Greenlight™ gave a more comprehensive picture of capture capability than MS + plate counts and showed that Peptide MSal020417-coated beads exhibited at least similar, if not better, capture capability to anti-Salmonella Dynabeads® (mean capture values of 36.0 ± 18.2 % and 31.2 ± 20.1 %, respectively, over Salmonella spp. concentration range 3 x 101 - 3 x 106 cfu ml-1) with minimal cross-reactivity (= 1.9 %) to three other foodborne bacteria.
Conclusions: One of the phage display-derived peptide ligands was demonstrated by MS + Greenlight™ to be a viable antibody-alternative for MS of Salmonella spp.
Significance and Impact of Study: This study demonstrates an antibody-free approach to Salmonella detection and opens substantial possibilities for more rapid tests for this bacterium.

A service evaluation of the role of complementary therapies for patients with cancer - By Action Cancer

Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer has resulted in longer survival, meaning that cancer patients are now living with what may be termed a chronic type condition. As a result of this the needs of patients living with a cancer diagnosis has changed, placing a greater emphasis on survivorship which in turn has an effect on quality of life and sleep patterns. Evidence suggests that counselling and complementary therapies have a positive impact not only on the cancer patient’s quality of life but also on family members and friends.

The aim of this study was to determine if there is an improvement in client’s quality of life and sleep patterns after availing of counselling and complementary therapy services as offered by a local cancer charity.

All clients availing of the counselling or complementary therapies offered by the charity were invited to participate in a Service Evaluation. The regulations relating to research involving human participants as outlined by the “Research Governance Framework” at a local university were also adhered to. A seven piece questionnaire was used for evaluation of services.

Access to anonymous data from the cancer patients, their families and carers was granted by the Research and Development Officer within Action Cancer.
A total of 507 participants completed the initial questionnaires immediately before therapy and 255 participants completed the questionnaires immediately after therapy, the total matched sample is 230. When considering counselling and complementary therapies together (therapeutic services) there were statistically significant results indicating improved quality of life and sleep patterns between the two sets of data. However this was not the trend when considering counselling and complementary therapies alone.

While some of the findings closely reflect the literature and on the whole supports the use of therapeutic services in having a positive effect on cancer patient’s quality of life and sleep patterns.

A randomised control trial evaluation of a literacy after-school programme for struggling beginning readers

While there is evidence for effective in-school programmes
for struggling beginning readers, the evidence in relation to after-schools
interventions focusing on academic outcomes is particularly weak. This study
seeks to contribute to this body of evidence through a randomized trial (n=464)
of an after-school literacy programme (DoodleDen) for struggling beginning readers in a deprived area of Dublin, Ireland.

The programme based on a balanced literacy framework, was delivered in group
settings, and had a strong focus on staff development. Doodle Den was found to improve the children’s overall literacy (d=+0.17), teacher assessments of their literacy ability (d=+0.28) and to positively impact on problem behaviours in regular school class (d=-0.18). The implications for
the development of after-school programmes are discussed.