Care proceedings: Exploring the relationship between case duration and achieving permanency for the child

The 1989 Children Act in England and Wales and the derivative 1995 Children (NI) Order in Northern Ireland provide the legislative framework within which issues pertaining to the care and supervision of children that come before the Courts are examined. Both pieces of legislation were intended to address a number of problems with the way that such issues were dealt with by the Court, particularly the tendency for proceedings to become protracted and for children to ‘drift’ in care as a consequence. The imposition of the ‘No Delay’ principle in both jurisdictions was designed specifically to address these concerns. However, since the introduction of both the 1989 Children Act (implemented in October 1991) and the 1995 Children (NI) Order (implemented in November 1996), there has been a steady increase in the average duration of proceedings and concerns remain about the impact that this may be having upon the children involved. This paper presents the findings of a research study (McSherry et al., 2004) that explored the complex relationship between the duration of care proceedings and costs to children in terms of the likelihood of achieving permanency.

Relationship between biomedical catheter surface properties and lubricity as determined using textural analysis and multiple regression analysis

In this study, the surface properties of and work required to remove 12 commercially available and developmental catheters from a model biological medium (agar), a measure of catheter lubricity, were characterised and the relationships between these properties were examined using multiple regression and correlation analysis. The work required for removal of catheter sections (7 cm) from a model biological medium (1% w/w agar) were examined using tensile analysis. The water wettability of the catheters were characterised using dynamic contact angle analysis, whereas surface roughness was determined using atomic force microscopy. Significant differences in the ease of removal were observed between the various catheters, with the silicone-based materials generally exhibiting the greatest ease of removal. Similarly, the catheters exhibited a range of advancing and receding contact angles that were dependent on the chemical nature of each catheter. Finally, whilst the microrugosities of the various catheters differed, no specific relationship to the chemical nature of the biomaterial was apparent. Using multiple regression analysis, the relationship between ease of removal, receding contact angle and surface roughness was defined as: Work done (N mm) 17.18 + 0.055 Rugosity (nm)-0.52 Receding contact angle (degrees) (r = 0.49). Interestingly, whilst the relationship between ease of removal and surface roughness was significant (r = 0.48, p = 0.0005), in which catheter lubricity increased as the surface roughness decreased, this was not the case with the relationship between ease of removal and receding contact angle (r = -0.18, p > 0.05). This study has therefore uniquely defined the contributions of each of these surface properties to catheter lubricity. Accordingly, in the design of urethral catheters. it is recommended that due consideration should be directed towards biomaterial surface roughness to ensure maximal ease of catheter removal. Furthermore, using the method described in this study, differences in the lubricity of the various catheters were observed that may be apparent in their clinical use. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship between G894T polymorphism (Glu 298 Asp variant) in endothelial nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide mediated endothelial function in human atherosclerosis.

Nitric oxide (NO), produced by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), plays important roles in normal vascular homeostasis, and reduced endothelial NO bioactivity is an important feature of vascular disease states. The Glu298Asp (G894T) polymorphic variant of eNOS has been associated with vascular disease, but functional data are lacking. Accordingly, we examined the relationships between NO-mediated endothelial function, the presence of the eNOS Glu298Asp variant, and clinical risk factors for atherosclerosis. Endothelium-dependent vasorelaxations to different agonists were determined in human saphenous veins obtained from patients with coronary artery disease and identified risk factors (n = 104). Patients were genotyped for the eNOS G894T polymorphism. Nitric oxide-mediated endothelial vasorelaxations were highly variable between patients. Reduced vasorelaxations were associated with increased number of clinical risk factors for atherosclerosis (r = - 0.54, P