The Operation of the Crichel Down Rules (Final Report to the DETR by The University of Reading and Gerald Eve)

Report for the DETR on the operation of the Crichel Down Rules (July 2000). The Crichel Down Rules are non-statutory rules relating to the offer back to the previous owners of surplus government land that was acquired from the previous owners by, or under the threat of, compulsory purchase.

Moving on. Where should the university map collection be going?

This paper argues for the importance of retaining a map library presence on UK university campuses at a time when many are under threat of closure, and access to geospatial data is increasingly moving to web-based services. It is suggested that the need for local expertise is undiminished and map curators need to redefine themselves as geoinformation specialists, preserving their paper map collections, but also meeting some of the challenges of GIS, and contributing to national developments in the construction of distributed geolibraries and the provision of metadata, especially with regard to local data sets.

The contribution of building research to the independence and quality of life of older people

Many nations are experiencing rapid rises in the life expectancy of their citizens. The implications of this major demographic shift are considerable offering opportunities as well as challenges to reconsider how people should spend their later years. A key task is enhancing the quality of life of older people through enabling them to continue to live independently even though illness, accident or frailty may have severely reduced their physical and sensory abilities and, possibly, mental health. Yet the needs of older people and disabled people have been largely ignored in the design of everyday consumer products, the home, transport systems and the built environment in general. Whilst the need for designers, engineers and technologists to provide products, environments and systems which are inclusive of all members of society is widely accepted, there is little understanding of how this can be achieved. In 1998 the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council established its EQUAL Initiative. This has encouraged design, engineering and technology researchers in universities to join with their colleagues from the social, medical and health sciences to investigate a wide range of issues experienced by older and disabled people and to propose solutions. Their research, which directly involves older and disabled people and, for example, social housing providers, social services departments, charities, engineering and architectural consultants, and transport firms, has been extremely successful. In a very short time it has influenced government policy on housing, long-term care, and building standards, and findings have been taken up by architects, designers, health-care professionals and bodies which represent older and disabled people.

Introduction to the DISRUPT postprandial database: subjects, studies and methodologies

Dysregulation of lipid and glucose metabolism in the postprandial state are recognised as important risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Our objective was to create a comprehensive, standardised database of postprandial studies to provide insights into the physiological factors that influence postprandial lipid and glucose responses. Data were collated from subjects (n = 467) taking part in single and sequential meal postprandial studies conducted by researchers at the University of Reading, to form the DISRUPT (DIetary Studies: Reading Unilever Postprandial Trials) database. Subject attributes including age, gender, genotype, menopausal status, body mass index, blood pressure and a fasting biochemical profile, together with postprandial measurements of triacylglycerol (TAG), non-esterified fatty acids, glucose, insulin and TAG-rich lipoprotein composition are recorded. A particular strength of the studies is the frequency of blood sampling, with on average 10-13 blood samples taken during each postprandial assessment, and the fact that identical test meal protocols were used in a number of studies, allowing pooling of data to increase statistical power. The DISRUPT database is the most comprehensive postprandial metabolism database that exists worldwide and preliminary analysis of the pooled sequential meal postprandial dataset has revealed both confirmatory and novel observations with respect to the impact of gender and age on the postprandial TAG response. Further analysis of the dataset using conventional statistical techniques along with integrated mathematical models and clustering analysis will provide a unique opportunity to greatly expand current knowledge of the aetiology of inter-individual variability in postprandial lipid and glucose responses.

The effect of postnatal depression on mother-infant interaction, infant response to the still-face perturbation, and performance on an instrumental learning task

A representative community sample of primiparous depressed women and a nondepressed control group were assessed while in interaction with their infants at 2 months postpartum. At 3 months, infants were assessed on the Still-face perturbation of face to face interaction, and a subsample completed an Instrumental Learning paradigm. Compared to nondepressed women, depressed mothers' interactions were both less contingent and less affectively attuned to infant behavior. Postnatal depression did not adversely affect the infant's performance in either the Still-face perturbation or the Instrumental Learning assessment. Maternal responsiveness in interactions at 2 months predicted the infant's performance in the Instrumental Learning assessment but not in the Still-face perturbation. The implications of these findings for theories of infant cognitive and emotional development are discussed.

Treatment response in child anxiety is differentially related to the form of maternal anxiety disorder

An examination was made of the extent to which maternal anxiety predicted response to treatment of children presenting with an anxiety disorder. In a sample of 55 children referred to a local NHS CAMH service for treatment of an anxiety disorder, systematic mental state interview assessment was made of both mothers and children, and both completed self-report questionnaires to assess aspects of anxiety, both immediately before the children received treatment and following treatment. Children of mothers with anxiety disorder overall responded less well to treatment than children of mothers with no anxiety disorder. There was some diagnostic specificity in this in that children of mothers with GAD did as well in treatment as children whose mothers had no anxiety, whereas children of mothers with social phobia did poorly. The outcome for children with anxiety appears to be related to the presence and nature of maternal anxiety. It would seem prudent that treatment of children with anxiety involves assessment of maternal anxiety. It is important to establish in systematic investigation whether treatment of maternal anxiety improves the outcome for child anxiety.