Recruitment and capacity-building challenges in participatory research involving young people in Northern Ireland

Consulting young people in social research is increasingly popular and is not confined to their recruitment as participants but extends to the design, delivery and dissemination of research. In this chapter we explore the recruitment and capacity building challenges involved in working with young people as researchers. We will introduce some of the theoretical issues around young people’s participation. Drawing on experiences from four separate participatory research projects with young people in Northern Ireland, we will highlight some of the difficulties encountered and give some practical approaches to managing the research process. Strategies for recruiting and training young researchers will be considered and we also reflect on what the benefits of young people’s involvement can be; not only enhancing the research process but also empowering young people and creating the potential for social agency.

Proteomics and phylogenetic analysis of the cathepsin L protease family of the helminth pathogen Fasciola hepatica:Expansion of a repertoire of virulence-associated factors

Cathepsin L proteases secreted by the helminth pathogen Fasciola hepatica have functions in parasite virulence including tissue invasion and suppression of host immune responses. Using proteomics methods alongside phylogenetic studies we characterized the profile of cathepsin L proteases secreted by adult F. hepatica and hence identified those involved in host-pathogen interaction. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the Fasciola cathepsin L gene family expanded by a series of gene duplications followed by divergence that gave rise to three clades associated with mature adult worms (Clades 1, 2, and 5) and two clades specific to infective juvenile stages (Clades 3 and 4). Consistent with these observations our proteomics studies identified representatives from Clades 1, 2, and 5 but not from Clades 3 and 4 in adult F. hepatica secretory products. Clades 1 and 2 account for 67.39 and 27.63% of total secreted cathepsin Ls, respectively, suggesting that their expansion was positively driven and that these proteases are most critical for parasite survival and adaptation. Sequence comparison studies revealed that the expansion of cathepsin Ls by gene duplication was followed by residue changes in the S2 pocket of the active site. Our biochemical studies showed that these changes result in alterations in substrate binding and suggested that the divergence of the cathepsin L family produced a repertoire of enzymes with overlapping and complementary substrate specificities that could cleave host macromolecules more efficiently. Although the cathepsin Ls are produced as zymogens containing a prosegment and mature domain, all secreted enzymes identified by MS were processed to mature active enzymes. The prosegment region was highly conserved between the clades except at the boundary of prosegment and mature enzyme. Despite the lack of conservation at this section, sites for exogenous cleavage by asparaginyl endopeptidases and a Leu-Ser[downward arrow]His motif for autocatalytic cleavage by cathepsin Ls were preserved.

Capitalism, the state and health care in the age of austerity:A Marxist analysis

The capacity to provide satisfactory nursing care is being increasingly compromised by current trajectories of healthcare funding and governance. The purpose of this paper is to examine how well Marxist theories of the state and its relationship with capital can explain these trajectories in this period of ever-increasing austerity. Following a brief history of the current crisis, it examines empirically the effects of the crisis, and of the current trajectory of capitalism in general, upon the funding and organization of the UK and US healthcare systems. The deleterious effect of growing income inequalities to the health of the population are also addressed. Marx’s writings on the state and its relation to the capitalist class were fragmentary, and historically and geographically specific. From them, we can extract three theoretical variants: the instrumentalist theory of the state, where the state has no autonomy from capital; the abdication theory, whereby capital abstains from direct political power and relies on the state to serve its interests; and the class-balance theory of the state, whereby the struggle between two opposed classes allows the state to assert itself. Discussion of modern Marxist interpretations include Poulantzas’s structuralist abdication theory and Miliband’s instrumentalist theory. It is concluded that, despite the pluralism of electoral democracies, the bourgeoisie do have an overweening influence upon the state. The bourgeoisie’s ownership of the means of production provides the foundation for its influence because the state is obliged to rely on it to manage the supply of goods and services and the creation of wealth. That power is further reinforced by the infiltration of the bourgeoisie into the organs of state. The level of influence has accelerated rapidly over recent decades. One of the consequences of this has been that healthcare systems have become rich pickings for the evermore confident bourgeoisie.

How smart do you need to be to get it wrong? The role of cognitive capacity in the development of heuristic-based judgment

We examined the relationship between cognitive capacity and heuristic responding on four types of reasoning and decision-making tasks. A total of 84 children, between 5 years 2 months and 11 years 7 months of age, participated in the study. There was a marked increase in heuristic responding with age that was related to increases in cognitive capacity. These findings are inconsistent with the predominant dual-process accounts of reasoning and decision making as applied to development. We offer an alternative explanation of the findings, considering them in the context of recent claims concerning the role of working memory in contextualized reasoning.

The role of working memory capacity in multiple-cue probability learning

Multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion when outcome feedback is provided for multiple cues. A great deal of research suggests that working memory capacity (WMC) is involved in a wide range of tasks that draw on higher level cognitive processes. In three experiments, we examined the role of WMC in MCPL by introducing measures of working memory capacity, as well as other task manipulations. While individual differences in WMC positively predicted performance in some kinds of multiple-cue tasks, performance on other tasks was entirely unrelated to these differences. Performance on tasks that contained negative cues was correlated with working memory capacity, as well as measures of explicit knowledge obtained in the learning process. When the relevant cues predicted positively, however, WMC became irrelevant. The results are discussed in terms of controlled and automatic processes in learning and judgement. © 2011 The Experimental Psychology Society.

Aerobic capacity, strength, flexibility, and activity level in unimpaired extremely low birth weight (

To compare aerobic capacity, strength, flexibility, and activity level in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) adolescents at 17 years of age with term-born control subjects.

A framework for developing evaluation capacity in health care settings.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for developing an effective evaluation practice within health care settings. Three features are reviewed; capacity building, the application of evaluation to program activities and the utilization of evaluation recommendations. First, the organizational elements required to establish effective evaluation practice are reviewed emphasizing that an organization's capacity for evaluation develops over time and in stages. Second, a comprehensive evaluation framework is presented which demonstrates how evaluation practice can be applied to all aspects of a program's life cycle, thus promoting the scope of evidence-based decision making within an organization. Finally, factors which influence the adoption of evaluation recommendations by decision makers are reviewed accompanied by strategies to promote the utilization of evaluation recommendations in organization decision making.

Enhancing family physician capacity to deliver quality palliative home care:An end-of-life, shared-care model

PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED: Family physicians face innumerable challenges to delivering quality palliative home care to meet the complex needs of end-of-life patients and their families. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM: To implement a model of shared care to enhance family physicians' ability to deliver quality palliative home care, particularly in a community-based setting. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Family physicians in 3 group practices (N = 21) in Ontario's Niagara West region collaborated with an interprofessional palliative care team (including a palliative care advanced practice nurse, a palliative medicine physician, a bereavement counselor, a psychosocial-spiritual advisor, and a case manager) in a shared-care partnership to provide comprehensive palliative home care. Key features of the program included systematic and timely identification of end-of-life patients, needs assessments, symptom and psychosocial support interventions, regular communication between team members, and coordinated care guided by outcome-based assessment in the home. In addition, educational initiatives were provided to enhance family physicians' knowledge and skills. CONCLUSION: Because of the program, participants reported improved communication, effective interprofessional collaboration, and the capacity to deliver palliative home care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to end-of-life patients in the community.

High-capacity hydrogen and nitric oxide adsorption and storage in a metal-organic framework

Gas adsorption experiments have been carried out on a copper benzene tricarboxylate metal-organic framework material, HKUST-1. Hydrogen adsorption at 1 and 10 bar (both 77 K) gives an adsorption capacity of 11.16 mmol H-2 per g of HKUST-1 (22.7 mg g(-1), 2.27 wt %) at 1 bar and 18 mmol per g (36.28 mg g(-1), 3.6 wt %) at 10 bar. Adsorption of D-2 at 1 bar (77 K) is between 1.09 (at 1 bar) and 1.20(at < 100 mbar) times the H-2 values depending on the pressure, agreeing with the theoretical expectations. Gravimetric adsorption measurements of NO on HKUST-1 at 196 K (1 bar) gives a large adsorption capacity of similar to 9 mmol g(-1), which is significantly greater than any other adsorption capacity reported on a porous solid. At 298 K the adsorption capacity at 1 bar is just over 3 mmol g(-1). Infra red experiments show that the NO binds to the empty copper metal sites in HKUST-1. Chemiluminescence and platelet aggregometry experiments indicate that the amount of NO recovered on exposure of the resulting complex to water is enough to be biologically active, completely inhibiting platelet aggregation in platelet rich plasma.