6 results
Search Results
2. Illicit drug use in university students in the UK and Ireland: a PRISMA-guided scoping review.
- Author
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Boden, Maeve and Day, Ed
- Subjects
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DRUG abuse , *COLLEGE students , *EVIDENCE gaps , *COLLEGE administrators , *DRUG utilization - Abstract
Background: Interest in the health and well-being of university students has increased in the UK and Ireland in the past two decades as their numbers have grown. Recent high-profile deaths of students after using illicit drugs have highlighted the importance of the topic for policy makers. This scoping review maps the state of the existing literature evaluating use of illicit drugs in university students in the UK and Ireland. It aims to highlight research gaps and inform policy. Method: We conducted a systematic search of papers related to psychoactive drug use in university students in the UK and Ireland published before August 2021. The 18 extracted study characteristics included author(s); year of publication; journal; location of data collection; study design; delivery method (e.g., online survey, in-person, postal survey); number of participants; response rate; participant course of study, year of study, degree level (i.e., undergraduate, postgraduate), gender and age; time-period assessed (e.g., lifetime, current use, past 12 months); primary aim; primary outcome; ethical approval; and funding source. Results: The PRISMA-guided search strategy identified 1583 papers for abstract review; of 110 papers retained for full-text review, 54 studies met criteria for inclusion for this paper. Primary outcomes were coded into five groups: prevalence and patterns of drug use; factors associated with drug use; attitudes and knowledge about, and motivation for, drug use; supply of drugs; consequences of drug use. The results show that there is no coherent body of research in this area. The prevalence of reported drug use has crept up and the range of substances reported has broadened over time, and attitudes to drugs on average have normalised. However, there are significant methodological limitations that limit the utility of these findings. There was little evidence of published work on prevention of, or intervention to reduce, drug-related harms. Conclusion: The domains identified offer a framework for university administrators, researchers and policy makers to understand the potential response to drug use in university students in the UK and Ireland. Recommendations are made to fill the gaps in the research evidence base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Call to action: a five nations consensus on the use of intravenous zoledronate after hip fracture.
- Author
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Johansen, Antony, Sahota, Opinder, Dockery, Frances, Black, Alison J, MacLullich, Alasdair M J, Javaid, M Kassim, Ahern, Emer, and Gregson, Celia L
- Subjects
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BONE fracture prevention , *OSTEOPOROSIS prevention , *CONSENSUS (Social sciences) , *THERAPEUTICS , *INTRAVENOUS therapy , *HEALTH services accessibility , *OSTEOPENIA , *ATTITUDE (Psychology) , *HIP fractures , *MEDICAL care , *ZOLEDRONIC acid , *OSTEOPOROSIS , *PREVENTIVE health services , *MEDICAL protocols , *COST effectiveness , *BONE density , *BONE fractures , *DISEASE risk factors - Abstract
Currently in the UK and Ireland, after a hip fracture most patients do not receive bone protection medication to reduce the risk of refracture. Yet randomised controlled trial data specifically examining patients with hip fracture have shown that intravenous zoledronate reduces refracture risk by a third. Despite this evidence, use of intravenous zoledronate is highly variable following a hip fracture; many hospitals are providing this treatment, whilst most are currently not. A range of clinical uncertainties, doubts over the evidence base and practical concerns are cited as reasons. This paper discusses these concerns and provides guidance from expert consensus, aiming to assist orthogeriatricians, pharmacists and health services managers establish local protocols to deliver this highly clinically and cost-effective treatment to patients before they leave hospital, in order to reduce costly re-fractures in this frail population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Millions of digitized historical sea‐level pressure observations rediscovered.
- Author
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Hawkins, Ed, Alexander, Lisa V., and Allan, Rob J.
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ISLANDS , *TWO thousands (Decade) , *WEATHER , *TRANSCRIPTION (Linguistics) - Abstract
Millions of sub‐daily sea‐level pressure observations taken between 1919 and 1960 over the British and Irish Isles were transcribed from paper records in the early 2000s but were not published and subsequently forgotten. A chance discussion led to the rediscovery of the transcribed data and 5.47 million observations from 160 locations are now made available, although the data have not been fully quality‐controlled. Much of the data are 3‐hourly, allowing for detailed examinations of synoptic weather variations for this region and time period, and will be invaluable for constraining future reanalyses. We illustrate the value of the data using a stormy period during October and November 1928 and discuss the remaining quality‐control issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Millions of historical monthly rainfall observations taken in the UK and Ireland rescued by citizen scientists.
- Author
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Hawkins, Ed, Burt, Stephen, McCarthy, Mark, Murphy, Conor, Ross, Catherine, Baldock, Mike, Brazier, John, Hersee, Gill, Huntley, Jacqui, Meats, Richard, O'Grady, John, Scrimgeour, Ian, and Silk, Tim
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ARCHIVAL resources , *NATIONAL archives , *ATMOSPHERIC sciences , *QUALITY control , *DROUGHTS - Abstract
Recovering additional historical weather observations from known archival sources will improve the understanding of how the climate is changing and enable detailed examination of unusual events within the historical record. The UK National Meteorological Archive recently scanned more than 66,000 paper sheets containing 5.28 million hand‐written monthly rainfall observations taken across the UK and Ireland between 1677 and 1960. Only a small fraction of these observations were previously digitally available for climate scientists to analyse. More than 16,000 volunteer citizen scientists completed the transcription of these sheets of observations during early 2020 using the RainfallRescue.org website, built using the Zooniverse platform. A total of 3.34 million observations from more than 6000 locations have so far been quality controlled and made openly available. This has increased the total number of monthly rainfall observations that are available for this time period and region by a factor of six. The newly rescued observations will enable longer and much improved reconstructions of past variations in rainfall across the British and Irish Isles, including for periods of significant flooding and drought. Specifically, this data should allow the official gridded monthly rainfall reconstructions for the UK to be extended back to 1836, and even earlier for some regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Traits data for the butterflies and macro‐moths of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Author
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Cook, Patrick M., Tordoff, George M., Davis, Tony M., Parsons, Mark S., Dennis, Emily B., Fox, Richard, Botham, Marc S., and Bourn, Nigel A. D.
- Subjects
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BUTTERFLIES , *PREDATION , *PLANT ecology , *CITIZEN science , *LEPIDOPTERA , *SPECIES distribution , *HOST plants - Abstract
Butterflies and moths, collectively Lepidoptera, are integral components of ecosystems, providing key services such as pollination and a prey resource for vertebrate and invertebrate predators. Lepidoptera are a relatively well studied group of invertebrates. In Great Britain and Ireland numerous citizen science projects provide data on changes in distribution and abundance. The availability of high‐quality monitoring and recording data, combined with the rapid response of Lepidoptera to environmental change, makes them ideal candidates for traits‐based ecological studies. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of studies documenting traits‐based responses of Lepidoptera, highlighting the demand for a standardized and referenced traits database. There is a wide range of primary and secondary literature sources available regarding the ecology of British and Irish Lepidoptera to support such studies. Currently these sources have not been collated into one central repository that would facilitate and enhance future research. Here, we present a comprehensive traits database for the butterflies and macro‐moths of Great Britain and Ireland. The database covers 968 species in 21 families. Ecological traits fall into four main categories: life cycle ecology and phenology, host plant specificity and characteristics, breeding habitat, and morphological characteristics. The database also contains data regarding species distribution, conservation status, and temporal trends for abundance and occupancy. This database can be used for a wide array of purposes including further fundamental research on species and community responses to environmental change, conservation and management studies, and evolutionary biology. There are no copyright restrictions, and this paper must be cited if data are used in publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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