Contact, trust and social capital in Northern Ireland: a qualitative study of three mixed communities

In a recent paper, Robert Putnam (2007) challenges the contact hypothesis by arguing that ethnic diversity causes people to ‘hunker down’ and essentially withdraw themselves from society. Drawing on
qualitative data collected from three mixed communities in Northern Ireland, this paper explores the extent and quality of contact experienced by Protestants and Catholics in their everyday lives. Themes emerging from our data are generally consistent with the contact hypothesis. There is also some support for Putnam’s theory that mixed environments can induce ‘hunkering down’ and that inter-group trust may be compromised. However, our data challenge Putnam’s argument that these responses are a consequence of ‘anomie’ or ‘social malaise’. Rather, we find that withdrawal from social activity in the neighbourhoods we observed was a calculated response at times of threat, often aimed at protecting existent positive inter-ethnic relations.

Controlling Assembly of Mixed Thiol Monolayers on Silver Nanoparticles to Tune Their Surface Properties

Modifying the surfaces of metal nanoparticles with self-assembled monolayers of functionalized thiols provides a simple and direct method to alter their surface properties. Mixed self-assembled monolayers can extend this approach since, in principle, the surfaces can be tuned by altering the proportion of each modifier that is adsorbed. However, this works best if the composition and microstructure of the monolayers can be controlled. Here, we have modified preprepared silver colloids with binary mixtures of thiols at varying concentrations and modifier ratios. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy was then used to determine the effect of altering these parameters on the composition of the resulting mixed monolayers. The data could be explained using a new model based on a modified competitive Langmuir approach. It was found that the composition of the mixed monolayer only reflected the ratio of modifiers in the feedstock when the total amount of modifier was sufficient for approximately one monolayer coverage. At higher modifier concentrations the thermodynamically favored modifier dominated, but working at near monolayer concentrations allowed the surface composition to be controlled by changing the ratios of modifiers. Finally, a positively charged porphyrin probe molecule was used to investigate the microstructure of the mixed monolayers, i.e., homogeneous versus domains. In this case the modifier domains were found to be <2 nm.

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of a mixed phosphine-phosphine oxide catalyst and its application to asymmetric allylation of aldehydes and hydrogenation of alkenes

The chemoenzymatic synthesis of a Lewis basic phosphine-phosphine oxide organocatalyst from a cis-dihydrodiol metabolite of bromobenzene proceeds via a palladium-catalysed carbon-phosphorus bond coupling and a novel room temperature Arbuzov [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of an allylic diphenylphosphinite. Allylation of aromatic aldehydes were catalysed by the Lewis basic organocatalyst giving homoallylic alcohols in up to 57% ee. This compound also functioned as a ligand for rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation of acetamidoacrylate giving reduction products with ee values of up to 84%.

Public health education for midwives and midwifery students: a mixed methods study

Background: Current national and international maternity policy supports the importance of addressing public health goals and investing in early years. Health care providers for women during the reproductive and early postnatal period have the opportunity to encourage women to make choices that will impact positively on maternal and fetal health. Midwives are in a unique position, given the emphasis of the philosophy of midwifery care on building relationships and incorporating a holistic approach, to support women to make healthy choices with the aim of promoting health and preventing ill health. However, exploration of the educational preparation of midwives to facilitate public health interventions has been relatively limited. The aim of the study was to identify the scope of current midwifery pre registration educational provision in relation to public health and to explore the perspectives of midwives and midwifery students about the public health role of the midwife.

Methods: This was a mixed methods study incorporating a survey of Higher Educational Institutions providing pre registration midwifery education across the UK and focus groups with midwifery students and registered midwives.

Results: Twenty nine institutions (53% response) participated in the survey and nine focus groups were conducted (59 participants). Public health education was generally integrated into pre registration midwifery curricula as opposed to taught as a discrete subject. There was considerable variation in the provision of public health topics within midwifery curricula and the hours of teaching allocated to them. Focus group data indicated that it was consistently difficult for both midwifery students and midwives to articulate clearly their understanding and definition of public health in relation to midwifery.

Conclusions: There is a unique opportunity to impact on maternal and infant health throughout the reproductive period; however the current approach to public health within midwifery education should be reviewed to capitalise on the role of the midwife in delivering public health interventions. It is clear that better understanding of midwifery public health roles and the visibility of public health within midwifery is required in order to maximise the potential contribution of midwives to achieving short and long term public health population goals.

A correction to the analytical solution of the mixed-mode bending (MMB) problem

This paper addresses the analytical solution of the mixed-mode bending (MMB) problem. The first published solutions used a load separation in pure mode I and mode II and were applied for a crack length less than the beam half-span, a <= L. In later publications, the same mode separation was used in deriving the analytical solution for crack lengths bigger than the beam half-span, a > L. In this paper it is shown that this mode separation is not valid when a > L and in some cases may lead to very erroneous results. The correct mode separation and the corresponding analytical solutions, when a > L, are presented. Results, of force vs. displacement and force vs. crack length graphs, obtained using the existing formulation and the corrected formulation are compared. A finite element solution, which does not use mode separation, is also presented

A strategy to identify critical appraisal criteria for primary mixed-method studies

The practice of mixed-methods research has increased considerably over the last 10 years. While these studies have been criticized for violating quantitative and qualitative paradigmatic assumptions, the methodological quality of mixed-method studies has not been addressed. The purpose of this paper is to identify criteria to critically appraise the quality of mixed-method studies in the health literature. Criteria for critically appraising quantitative and qualitative studies were generated from a review of the literature. These criteria were organized according to a cross-paradigm framework. We recommend that these criteria be applied to a sample of mixed-method studies which are judged to be exemplary. With the consultation of critical appraisal experts and experienced qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method researchers, further efforts are required to revise and prioritize the criteria according to importance.

Revisiting the quantitative-qualitative debate:Implications for mixed-methods research

Health care research includes many studies that combine quantitative and qualitative methods. In this paper, we revisit the quantitative-qualitative debate and review the arguments for and against using mixed-methods. In addition, we discuss the implications stemming from our view, that the paradigms upon which the methods are based have a different view of reality and therefore a different view of the phenomenon under study. Because the two paradigms do not study the same phenomena, quantitative and qualitative methods cannot be combined for cross-validation or triangulation purposes. However, they can be combined for complementary purposes. Future standards for mixed-methods research should clearly reflect this recommendation.