Making the law accessible to non-lawyers: effects of different kinds of expertise on perceived usability of online legal information services

To help design an environment in which professionals without legal training can make effective use of public sector legal information on planning and the environment - for Add-Wijzer, a European e-government project - we evaluated their perceptions of usefulness and usability. In concurrent think-aloud usability tests, lawyers and non-lawyers carried out information retrieval tasks on a range of online legal databases. We found that non-lawyers reported twice as many difficulties as those with legal training (p = 0.001), that the number of difficulties and the choice of database affected successful completion, and that the non-lawyers had surprisingly few problems understanding legal terminology. Instead, they had more problems understanding the syntactical structure of legal documents and collections. The results support the constraint attunement hypothesis (CAH) of the effects of expertise on information retrieval, with implications for the design of systems to support the effective understanding and use of information.

Development in vitro of the neuromusculature of two strigeid trematodes, Apatemon cobitidis proterorhini and Cotylurus erraticus

Confocal microscopy interfaced with cytochemical procedures has been used to monitor development of the major muscle systems and associated serotoninergic (5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine) and peptidergic (FaRP, FMRFamide-related peptide) innervation of the strigeid trematodes, Apatemon cobitidis proterorhini and Cotylurus erraticus during cultivation in vitro. Sexually undifferentiated metacercariae were successfully grown to ovigerous adults using tissue culture medium NCTC 135, chicken serum and egg albumen. Eggs were produced after 5 days in culture but had abnormal shells and failed to embryonate. 5-HT and FaRP (the flatworm FaRP, GYIRFamide) were localised immunocytochemically in both central and peripheral nervous systems of developing worms. During cultivation, the central serotoninergic and FaRPergic neuronal pathways of the forebody became more extensive, but retained the same basic orthogonal arrangement as found in the excysted metacercaria. Longitudinal extensor and flexor muscles of the hindbody provide support for the developing reproductive complex. The male reproductive tracts were established in advance (day 3) of those of the female system (day 4); completion of the latter was marked by the appearance of the ootype/egg chamber. The inner longitudinal muscle fibres of the female tract appeared prior to the outer and more densely arranged circular muscles. Circular fibres dominate the muscle complement of both alimentary and reproductive tracts. 5-HT- and GYIRFamide-immunoreactivities were demonstrable in the central nervous system (CNS) and subtegumental parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) throughout the culture period, but innervation of the developing reproductive structures was reactive just for 5-HT. Only at the onset of egg production was FaRP-IR observed in the reproductive system and was expressed only in the innervation of the ootype, a finding consistent with the view that FaRPs may regulate egg assembly in platyhelminths.

Assessment of data quality in a multi-centre cross-sectional study of participation and quality of life of children with cerebral palsy

Background: SPARCLE is a cross-sectional survey in nine European regions, examining the relationship of the environment of children with cerebral palsy to their participation and quality of life. The objective of this report is to assess data quality, in particular heterogeneity between regions, family and item non-response and potential for bias. Methods: 1,174 children aged 8–12 years were selected from eight population-based registers of children with cerebral palsy; one further centre recruited 75 children from multiple sources. Families were visited by trained researchers who administered psychometric questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to assess factors related to family non-response and self-completion of questionnaires by children. Results: 431/1,174 (37%) families identified from registers did not respond: 146 (12%) were not traced; of the 1,028 traced families, 250 (24%) declined to participate and 35 (3%) were not approached. Families whose disabled children could walk unaided were more likely to decline to participate. 818 children entered the study of which 500 (61%) self-reported their quality of life; children with low IQ, seizures or inability to walk were less likely to self-report. There was substantial heterogeneity between regions in response rates and socio-demographic characteristics of families but not in age or gender of children. Item non-response was 2% for children and ranged from 0.4% to 5% for questionnaires completed by parents. Conclusion: While the proportion of untraced families was higher than in similar surveys, the refusal rate was comparable. To reduce bias, all analyses should allow for region, walking ability, age and socio-demographic characteristics. The 75 children in the region without a population based register are unlikely to introduce bias

Efficient heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis of the Mukaiyama aldol reaction by silica- and ionic liquid-supported Lewis acid copper(II) complexes of bis(oxazolines)

Lewis acid complexes based on copper(II) and an imidazolium-tagged bis(oxazoline) have been used to catalyse the asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reaction between methyl pyruvate and 1-methoxy-1-tri-methylsilyloxypropene under homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions. Although the ees obtained in ionic liquid were similar to those found in dichloromethane, there was a significant rate enhancement in the ionic liquid with reactions typically reaching completion within 2 min compared with only 55% conversion after 60 min in dichloromethane. However, this rate enhancement was offset by lower chemoselectivity in ionic liquids due to the formation of 3-hydroxy-1,3-diphenylbutan-1-one as a by-product. Supporting the catalyst on silica or an imidazolium-modified silica using the ionic liquid or in an ionic liquid-diethyl ether system completely suppressed the formation of this by-product without reducing the enantioselectivity. Although the heterogeneous systems were characterised by a drop in catalytic activity the system could be recycled up to five times without any loss in conversion or ee.

Recyclable copper catalysts based on imidazolium-tagged bis(oxazolines): A marked enhancement in rate and enantioselectivity for Diels-Alder reactions in ionic liquid

Imidazolium-tagged bis(oxazolines) have been prepared and used as chiral ligands in the copper(II)-catalysed Diels-Alder reaction of N-acryloyl- and N-crotonoyloxazolidinones with cyclopentadiene and 1,3-cyclohexadiene in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide, [emim][NTf2]. A significant and substantial enhancement in the rate and enantioselectivity was achieved in [emim][NTf2] compared with dichloromethane. For example, complete conversion and enantioselectivities up to 95 % were obtained for the reaction between N-acryloyloxazolidinone and cyclopentadiene within 2 min in [emim][NTf2] whereas the corresponding reaction in dichloromethane required 60 min to reach completion and gave an ee of only 16 %. The enhanced rates obtained in the ionic liquid enabled a catalyst loading as low as 0.5 mol % to give complete conversion within 2 min while retaining the same level of enantioselectivity. The imidazolium-tagged catalysts can be recycled ten times without any loss in activity or enantioselectivity and showed much higher affinity for the ionic liquid phase during the recycle procedure than the analogous uncharged ligand.

Does a Patient-Held Quality-of-Life Diary Benefit Patients With Inoperable Lung Cancer?

Purpose To examine the effect of weekly completion of a patient-held quality-of-life (QOL) diary in routine oncology practice for palliative care patients.

Quality of life and inflammation in exacerbations of bronchiectasis.

Patients with bronchiectasis often have impaired quality of life (QoL), which deteriorates with exacerbations. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in QoL and how these were influenced by changes in airway physiology and inflammation in patients with bronchiectasis before and after resolution of an exacerbation. Sputum induction and a QoL questionnaire were undertaken on the first day, day 14, and 4 weeks after completion of intravenous antibiotics (day 42). Eighteen patients (12 female) were recruited, median (IQ range) age of 54 (47–60) years. There was a trend towards an improvement in lung function from visit 1 to visit 2, but this was not statistically significant. C-reactive protein (CRP) [mean (SEM)] reduced between visit 1 and visit 2 [55.4 (21.5) vs 9.4 (3.1) mg/L, P = 0.03] but did not increase significantly on visit 3 [44.4 (32.9) mg/L, P = 0.27]. The median (interquartile range) sputum cell count (×106 cells/g of sputum) decreased from visit 1 to visit 2 [21.6 (11.8–37.6)–13.3 (6.7–22.9) × 106 cells/g, respectively, P = 0.008] and increased from visit 2 to visit 3 [26.3 (14.1–33.6) × 106 cells/g, P = 0.03]. All soluble markers of inflammation significantly reduced from visit 1 to visit 2 but increased on visit 3 with the exception of TNF-a. Regarding QoL, three of the four domains (dyspnoea, emotional, mastery) significantly improved from visit 1 to visit 2 but did not change between visit 2 and visit 3. The improvements in QoL scores could not be explained by the improvements in lung function or inflammatory markers.

Common input to different regions of biceps brachii long head

The purpose of the experiment was to compare the level of synchronization exhibited by pairs of motor units located within and between functionally distinct regions of the biceps brachii muscle. Pairs of single motor units were recorded from seven subjects using separate electrodes located in the lateral and medial aspects of the long head of biceps brachii. Participants were required to exert a combination of flexion and supination torques so that both motor units discharged at approximately 10 pps for a parts per thousand yen200 s and the level of motor unit synchronization could be quantified. When motor unit recordings were sufficiently stable at the completion of this synchrony task, a series of ramp contractions with multiple combinations of flexion and supination torques were performed to characterize the recruitment thresholds of the motor units. Common input strength (CIS) was significantly greater (P <0.01) for the within-region pairs of motor units (0.28 extra sync. imps/s, n = 26) than for the between-region pairs (0.13 extra sync. imps/s, n = 18), but did not differ significantly for the 12 within-region pairs from the lateral head and 14 from the medial head (0.27 vs. 0.29 extra sync. imps/s; P = 0.83). Recruitment thresholds were measured for 33 motor units, but there was only a weak association between CIS and the respective recruitment patterns for motor unit pairs (n = 9). The present investigation provides evidence of a differential distribution of synaptic input across the biceps brachii motor neuron pool, but this appears to have minimal association with the recruitment patterns for individual motor units.

Training-induced changes in the pattern of triceps to biceps activation during reaching tasks after chronic and severe stroke

This exploratory study was undertaken to investigate the mechanisms that contributed to improvements in upper limb function following a novel training program. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to examine training-induced changes in the pattern of triceps and biceps activation during reaching tasks in stroke survivors with severe paresis in the chronic stage of recovery. The EMG data were obtained in the context of a single blind randomised clinical trial conducted with 42 stroke survivors with minimal upper limb muscle activity and who were more than 6 months post-stroke. Of the 33 participants who completed the study, 10 received training of reaching using a non-robotic upper limb training device, the SMART Arm, with EMG triggered functional electrical stimulation (EMG-stim), 13 received training of reaching using the SMART Arm alone, and 10 received no intervention. Each intervention group engaged in 12 1-h training sessions over a 4-week period. Clinical and laboratory measures of upper limb function were administered prior to training (0 weeks), at completion (4 weeks) and 2 months (12 weeks) after training. The primary outcome measure was 'upper arm function' which is Item 6 of the Motor Assessment Scale (MAS). Laboratory measures consisted of two multijoint reaching tasks to assess 'maximum isometric force' and 'maximum distance reached'. Surface EMG was used to monitor triceps brachii and biceps brachii during the two reaching tasks. To provide a comparison with normal values, seven healthy adults were tested on one of the reaching tasks according to the same procedure. Study findings demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in upper limb function for stroke participants in the two training groups compared to those who received no training however no difference was found between the two training groups. For the reaching tasks, all stroke participants, when compared to normal healthy adults, exhibited lower triceps and biceps activation and a lower ratio of triceps to biceps activation. Following training, stroke participants demonstrated increased triceps activation and an increased ratio of triceps to biceps activation for the task that was trained. Better performance was associated with greater triceps activation and a higher ratio of triceps to biceps activation. The findings suggest that increased activation of triceps as an agonist and an improved coordination between triceps and biceps could have mediated the observed changes in arm function. The changes in EMG activity were small relative to the changes in arm function indicating that factors, such as the contribution of other muscles of reaching, may also be implicated.

A systematic review protocol on the use of teaching portfolios for educators in further and higher education.

portfolio and undergraduate students have suggested that a teachingportfolio may have a benefit for educators in higher education as a means to providerelevancy and focus to their teaching.Design. The objectives of the review are to evaluate how a teaching portfolio assistseducators in teaching and learning; to evaluate the effects of maintaining a teachingportfolio for educators in relation to personal development; to explore the type ofportfolio used; to determine whether a teaching portfolio is perceived more beneficialfor various grades and professional types; and to determine any motivatingfactors or workplace incentives behind its implementation and completion. A searchof the following databases will be made MEDLINE, CINAHL, BREI, ERIC andAUEI. The review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance for systematicreviews of quantitative and qualitative research.Conclusion. The review will offer clarity and direction on the use of teachingportfolios, for educators, policymakers, supervisory managers and researchers involvedin further and higher education.

Demonstrating the merits of the peer research process: A Northern Ireland case study

This article discusses the benefits and challenges of involving peer researchers in social research projects. A research project on pupil participation in policy making on school bullying in Northern Ireland’s schools was commissioned by the Office of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People and undertaken by the National Children’s Bureau in conjunction with researchers from Queen’s University Belfast in fourteen schools across Northern Ireland, utilizing a mixed methods approach. We trained and employed nine 15–18-year-old peer researchers to support them in this project. After the project’s completion, we conducted interviews with six of the peer researchers to investigate how they experienced their involvement in the research. We discuss the findings from these interviews and contextualize in a review
of literature on research involving children and young people.

Real time monitoring of the polymerisation of PMMA bone cement using Raman spectroscopy

In this investigation Raman spectroscopy was shown to be a method that could be used to monitor the polymerisation of PMMA bone cement. Presently there is no objective method that orthopaedic surgeons can use to quantify the curing process of cement during surgery. Raman spectroscopy is a non-invasive, non-destructive technique that could offer such an option. Two commercially available bone cements (Palacos® R and SmartSet® HV) and different storage conditions (4 and 22°C) were used to validate the technique. Raman spectroscopy was found to be repeatable across all conditions with the completion of the polymerisation process particularly easy to establish. All tests were benchmarked against current temperature monitoring methods outlined in ISO and ASTM standards. There was found to be close agreement with the standard methods and the Raman spectroscopy used in this study.

The Philosophy and Practice of Interpretivist Research in Entrepreneurship Quality, Validation, and Trust

Knowledge production in entrepreneurship requires inclusivity as well as diversity and pluralism in research perspectives and approaches. In this article, the authors address concerns about interpretivist research regarding validity, reliability, objectivity, generalizability, and communicability of results that militate against its more widespread acceptance. Following the nonfoundationalist argument that all observation is theory-laden, context specific, and that there are no external criteria against which to assess research design and execution and the data produced, the authors propose that quality must be internalized within the underlying research philosophy rather than something to be tested upon completion. This requires a shift from the notion of validity as an outcome to validation as a process. To elucidate this, they provide a guiding framework and present a case illustration that will assist an interpretivist entrepreneurship researcher to establish and demonstrate the quality of their work.

Confirming the Existence of Gaps and Depletions in the Irish Oak Tree-Ring Record

In the course of building the 7000 year Belfast long oak chronology a series of depletion problems were encountered. These problems were overcome by 1984 when the completion of the long chronology was announced. The solution to the bridging of the various ‘gaps’ in the Irish chronology lay in the use of long sections of oak chronology from Britain. Now that a quarter of a century has elapsed and large numbers of additional oak samples, and site assemblages, have been accumulated it seems reasonable to review the ‘gaps’ in order to see if the Irish chronology could now be constructed without the use of British material. That is, are the depletion periods in the Irish chronology still evident, and if so, what might they imply about past conditions and human populations? The perhaps surprising conclusion is that the original depletions are still evident after 25 years of quasi-random sampling by archaeologists and palaeoecologists throughout Ireland.

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