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The General Medical Council hearing into events at the Bristol Royal Infirmary resulted in verdicts of serious professional misconduct against three senior doctors. After the longest-running hearing in the GMC’s history the press response was fierce. This paper reviews the reporting of the Bristol case (and issues arising from it) in the main broadsheet and tabloid national newspapers (dailies and Sundays) in the 5-week period around the GMC’s delivery of the verdicts and subsequent sentencing. The aim was to describe the main themes emerging from the press coverage and to assess the implications for future debates over clinical performance and accountability. Media interest in the Bristol case was intense (184 published items in 5 weeks). The reporting was emotive and largely hostile, raising doubts about not just isolated lapses of care but also the possibility of more systematic failings. Diminished trust and reduced public confidence were recurrent themes, powerfully expressed. Professional self-regulation received scathing criticism, with calls for more public access to individual performance data. Future debates about clinical governance will need to take account of the new public context in the wake of Bristol. Arguments about the relative merits of self-regulation or data-driven performance management systems now need to be played out for a knowing and openly sceptical print media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on an article on populist journalism, in relation to a court hearing in Bristol, England in 1998. Excerpt from an editorial on professional self-regulation; Issue surrounding the revalidation of doctors by Great Britain's General Medical Council; Criticism against the practice of journalism.

We know the policy of quarantining plague victims and their families together within their households entailed considerable costs and controversy in early modern Europe. Less clear is the extent to which the authorities implemented the policy in the face of this. This paper presents a novel approach to the measurement of enforcement which relies on linking deceased individuals listed in parish registers into household groups and then measuring changes in within‐household mortality between parishes and epidemics. This provides a more complete assessment of the scale of implementation than would be possible using documentary sources alone. Measuring within‐household mortality allows us to understand patterns of quarantine enforcement in settlements across early modern Europe. Here the focus is restricted to three epidemics that occurred in Bristol – one of England's most populous and prosperous cities. The analysis reveals household quarantine was enforced in 1603–4 with unprecedented vigour. The effects of quarantine are particularly pronounced in the affluent parishes where elite residence was highest. Greater evidence for enforcement is explained by greater elite oversight and control, as well as their desire to protect their own households. The scale of the impact is shocking. Household quarantine could double within household mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about my job as a research supporter. I was part of a team, with three people with learning difficulties. They had paid jobs as researchers. The project was at a People First organisation, and it was about direct payments.These are the things I tried to do in my job:It is not always easy to do these things. The supporter needs to learn how to step back, and find ways for researchers with learning difficulties to do things for themselves.It is important that people with learning difficulties know how powerful they can be when they are doing research.People First organisations need to decide for themselves about the research they may want to do.Thank you to CHANGE for the use of pictures from their PictureBank. In a previous article [Brit J Learn Disabil27: 48–51], entitled‘Researching Together’, I described the process by which a team of People First researchers and myself worked together on a small-scale project in Bristol. The project was started by self advocates, and followed their own ideas, although they had support. Walmsley refers to it [Disabil Soc16: 198] as a‘team approach, rather than one where the people with learning disabilities are in charge’, admitting that the title‘Researching Together’ led her to this conclusion. My basic aim in writing this sequel, then, is to consider the notion of‘together’. Is the equation of togetherness about equal roles, or does it automatically imply that one partner is more powerful than the others? This is a practice paper, which offers some analysis of our own experiences in a large-scale, funded research project, in which the self advocates had paid employment as researchers. All members of the team can contribute to this kind of reflexivity. The article concludes that inclusive research is something new, with its own hallmarks and styles. The research supporter has to remain aware of the potential power in her own role, and to be prepared to divest herself of that power and to step back, so that People First members take control of the process of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intervenes in the debate on ethnic segregation in British cities by paying attention to the hitherto neglected phenomenon of territorial stigmatisation. It discusses the stigma attached to the neighbourhood of St Paul's, Bristol; how it emerged, how it is felt and negotiated by local residents 'from below', and its effects on how that neighbourhood is managed by policy elites 'from above'. The paper critically reviews some recent influential treatments of ethnic segregation in the UK and the moral panic over ghettoisation, before explaining how the racialisation of urban space and extreme events such as the riots of 1980 and recent high-profile activities connected to Bristol's drugs economy have installed a damaging reputation of St Paul's as a segregated 'ghetto' of vice and dereliction. Using a mixed-methods approach, we show that black-white segregation in St Paul's is in fact low, and then explain how its ghetto reputation affects the experiences of residents. The paper concludes by arguing that in order to understand the complexities of ethnically diverse urban communities in Britain, territorial stigmatisation must be subjected to analytical scrutiny to complement the high-profile statistical approaches of recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Although exhibition opportunities for short films arc' expanding in the digital age, problems of obtaining .financial and marketing support remain. However, a number of creative initiatives, involving partnerships between companies, funding bodies and filmmakers, show that fundraising is possible even for projects that are difficult to sponsor. One of these is Brief Encounters, the Bristol Short Film Festival, which, over the past six years, has created long-term partnerships with a range of companies and funders, and built a new and successful festival. These creative partnerships are explored in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that innovation is a key to both national and local economic growth. It examines the significance of military research and development (R&D) in the context of innovation-driven economic growth and also the prospects for such growth with accelerating cuts in expenditure on military R&D. It discusses the potential significance of cuts in military R&D for the main European countries in general. It then goes on to examine the changes taking place in Great Britain in Particular. This analysis leads to the conclusion that cuts are likely to affect those industrial sectors and places which have been most dependent on defense contracts primarily concerned with aerospace and electronics. The paper then examines case studies of aerospace, electronics, the Bristol Region in England and the Thames Valley in Great Britain. These are the industries and areas most likely to experience the effects of the peace dividend on R&D in Great Britain. The paper evaluates the local economic implications of cuts in defense R&D. It is argued that although R&D employment is only a small proportion of total employment, it has significant multiplier effects. Cuts will therefore have short-term effects in linked industries and long-term effects on local skill bases.

Information about the annual general meeting of the British Ecological Society held at the University College in London on January 6-7, 1949 and its thirty-fourth annual meeting held at Bristol University in London on January 9, 1948 are presented. Various woods and rare plants in Great Britain were discussed in the 1949 event accompanied by exhibits of various photographs of species while the 1948 meeting was about hydrography and ecology.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) using a GB plant-level data set. The main findings relate to whether spatial spillovers and 'place' effects are important: plants located in cities generally perform better than plants in the same region outside of these cities; but with the exception of Bristol, no city has significantly higher TFP levels than the South East. This suggests that spatial externalities associated with city location are not as important as the benefits of being situated in the South East region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. This paper describes a female with X-linked amelogenesis imperfecta (XAI). This case is unusual in having taurodontism, pulpal calcifications, coronal defects prior to tooth eruption and unerupted teeth. These findings have been reported in some cases of autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive AI but have not previously been documented in XAI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the author's experience as a panel member for the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry into the care of children receiving complex cardiac services at the BRI between 1984 and 1995 to describe the process of inquiry and to reflect on recent moves towards a more managed court system, in both civil and criminal jurisdictions. We may begin to question the traditional sharp distinction between adversarial and inquisitorial court processes and to consider the similarities as well as the differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, the carer's perspective has dominated research on families who include someone with a learning disability and recent legislation has underlined the carer's rights. Previous research has found that some more able people with learning disabilities were very aware of their parents' growing needs, and were taking on responsibilities within the family to help and support their carer/parents. However, recent legislation still dichotomizes family members into carers and cared-for people. The present paper is based on a research study of the impact of the UK Carers Act 1995 on families with someone with a learning disability. It involved canvassing the views of people with learning disabilities about their experience of assessments and their relationships within the family. The present authors found that many people with learning disabilities expressed empathy for their carer's point of view and that several people (including some who had high support needs themselves) were performing care tasks for their elderly parents. However, no one appeared to recognize the situation as one of mutual care, and parents generally carried on defining themselves as carers since they took responsibility and exercised control. The present authors conclude that mutual caring is far more common than is recognized and includes people with severe learning disabilities. A more holistic approach to assessment of needs is required that can take into account the complex web of interdependence within a family. Rather than categorizing people into 'carers' and 'cared-for', the present authors suggest a model that recognizes mutually supportive partnerships within the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that the 22nd annual meeting of the British Society for Oral Pathology was held from September 11-12, 1997 in Bristol, England. Reviewers of abstracts who contributed to the meeting are Gordon MacDonald, Howard Moody, Paul Speight. Abstracts of research papers presented in the meeting are provided in the article. Topics covered in these papers include cellular differentiation in tumour-derived human keratinocytes, regulation of matrix metalloproteinase, and normal buccal epithelium.

The article presents the highlights of the 9th Biennial conference on the European Association of Social Anthropologists held from September 18 to 21, 2006 at Bristol, Great Britain. The global dimensions of particular ethnographic encounters based on the theme of the conference "Europe and the world" is focussed. Various events held at the conference including workshops, presentation of papers and discussions on cultural diversities are mentioned.

Reports on the British Society for Matrix Biology's autumn meeting in Bristol, England. Paper presentations; Key speakers; Event highlights.

Presents a progress report on a randomized controlled trial known locally as Speech and Language Therapy Effectiveness with Preschool Children (STEP) in Bristol, England. Evaluation of the progress made by children under the age of 3 and 1/2 years who have been referred to speech and language therapy; Short versus long term effects; Methodological and practical advantages and disadvantages afforded by the services setting of the study.

From December 14th through 16th, 1983, the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Psychophysiology Society will be held at Charing Cross Medical School, London, England. Details for the submission of papers may be obtained from: Dr. D. Papakostopoulos, Burden Neurological Institute, Stoke Lane, Stapleton, Bristol, England. Applications for registrations at the conference can be had from a different contact person whose address can be had from the article.

The present paper describes age-related fractures in 68 people with intellectual disability and epilepsy (39 females and 29 males). A higher incidence of fractures in epileptic subjects (269%) was noted when they were compared with non-epileptic patients (15%). In the sample of 263 epileptics (121 females and 142 males), a higher number of females (32%) sustained fractures than their male counterparts (20%). The peak period of all fractures is between 40 and 49 years of age. The highest incidence of fractures in females occurred during the periods from 10 to 19 and 40 to 49 years, while the peak was between 30 and 39 years for males. The causes of fractures and preventative measures are discussed, and further avenues for research are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the annual meeting of the British Ecological Society at the Departments of Botany and Zoology in Bristol University in Bristol, England on January 8-9, 1948 is presented. It featured exhibitions of ecological works including the work on the hydrography and ecology of the Lough Ine Rapids, Co. Cork and the botanical exhibits of a transect of dunes at Brauton Burrows. The report of the Thirty-third Annual Meeting of the Society in January 1947 is also featured.

Features Oliver Russell of the Norah Fry Research Centre and Linda Ward of the Centre and Professor of Disability and Soial Policy at the University of Bristol in England. Educational and career background of Rusell in psychiatry; Commendation on the selection of Ward as the successor of Russell; Working relations of Russell and Ward.

The article looks at the form of the accounts of the City of Bristol, England, from 1532 until the reform of the Corporation in 1835. The author focuses on the form and content of the account books and indications of the uses to which they were put. An examination of the Audits reveals that they were written up after the accounting period had ended. The author assumes that there must have been books of original entry and a record of the funds not contained in the Mayor's Audits, as none prior to 1615 remain. Reports found dated past 1615 have made it possible to trace the efforts of the mayor and commonalty in obtaining effective financial control.

Presents information on a study being conducted that examines the admission documents and clinical records of patients admitted from England and Wales to the Stoke Park Group of Hospitals in Bristol, England for seasonal variation of birth and death. Number of patients out of the total number of admissions to the hospitals whose dates of birth was confirmed by birth certificate from 1909 to 1989; Number of patients who died in the hospitals between 1940 and 1989.

This article seeks to build upon recent work on the impact of empire in mid-18th-century Britain by study of the electoral experience of parliamentary candidates who had lived in the West Indies and could boast a direct familiarity with the Caribbean. By 1750, a significant number of rich planters had relocated to Britain, and, in common with the Indian nabobs, their efforts to enter parliament aroused much adverse commentary at the elections of 1754-74. While these attacks were damaging to their interest, and occasioned the most thorough review of Caribbean society to date, the West Indians were able to respond by adapting their political campaigns to assuage metropolitan sensibilities, thereby ensuring that they were not bracketed with the nabobs or rebellious North Americans as imperial sources of domestic upheaval. Their success highlights the possibilities for successful imperial integration in mid- Georgian Britain, although the West Indians could not rely on the same strategies to combat the abolitionist movement after 1787. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a case study based in Bristol, this article explores how the ‘law of place’ has transformed multiple heterogeneous city centre spaces into a single homogeneous and commodified privately owned retail site. Drawing on de Certeau, Lefebvre, and humanistic geographers including Tuan, the article explores how law facilitates spatial and temporal enclosure through conventional understandings of private property, relying on techniques of masterplanning, compulsory purchase, and stopping up highways. It suggests that the law of place draws on binary spatial and conceptual distinctions to apparently separate places from spaces, applying different legal rules either side of an often invisible boundary line. The article questions this legally facilitated spatial and conceptual enclosure, particularly as it restricts spatial practices within the public realm. It concludes by rejecting an urban ‘right to roam’ as insufficiently transformative, calling for a broader interpretation of Lefebvre's ‘right to the city’ instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the appointment of Anita Schwartz as the new Fort Dodge Feline Fellow at the Feline Center at the School of Veterinary Science in Bristol, England.

The purpose of this article is not to affirm or deny particular philosophical positions, but to explore the limits of intelligibility about what post-mortem harm means, especially in the light of improper post-mortem procedures at Bristol and Alder Hey hospitals in the late 1990s. The parental claims of post-mortem harm to dead children at Alder Hey Hospital are reviewed from five different philosophical perspectives, eventually settling on a crucial difference of perspective about how we understand harm to the dead. On the one hand there is the broadly ‘analytical’ tradition 1 of thinking that predicates the notion of harm on the basis of an existing subject. Since the dead are non-existent persons, it makes little sense to view the dead as being harmed. On the other hand, there is a phenomenological perspective, where the dead, in respect to the experience of grief, are existentially absent. This forms the basis that it is possible to harm grieving parent's experiences of how their dead are treated. The article ends with a short examination of what harming the dead implies for traditional bioethical concerns, namely, obtaining informed consent from significant others when planning medical research on the newly dead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing Bourdieu's concept of the habitus, Keith Macdonald has recently examined the elite social origins of the British officer corps. His analysis is valid as far at it goes but it ignores the professional practices of British officers. This article examines Britain's Joint Services Command and Staff College to assess the unification of the three services around common forms of military practice. It argues that while the new staff college has been effective in disseminating new forms of professional expertise among British officers, various practices have been institutionalized which actively undermine the unity of the officer corps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores some of the issues around the agenda for workforce reform as it applies to professionals who work in early years classrooms (4-7 year olds), who work alongside class teachers in supporting learning. Their changing roles, responsibilities and professional identities are examined through a small scale case study of four women, two nursery nurses and two teaching assistants, from an infants school in a suburb of Bristol. Their close professional and personal relationships with the six female class teachers with whom they work are considered. Their stories are analysed for their significance as women whose levels of skill and dedication are undervalued in terms of career structure, salary and job security. Whilst contributing to the debates around the changing roles and the valuable work of teaching assistants, this research endorses the view that these professionals' voices are too often silenced in educational debates and in strategic decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Involving members of the public in setting priorities for health research in becoming increasingly common practice. One method used in public involvement exercises is the citizens' jury. Objective This article examines some challenges and benefits of citizens' juries, including issues relating to process, public engagement and outcome. Design In Bristol, UK, a citizens' jury was held with the aim of identifying local priorities for research into health and social care. This jury is used as an example through which key issues in public involvement and jury processes are explored. Setting and Participants The Bristol Citizens' Jury comprised 20 members of the public (`jurors'), an oversight panel and a steering group. The jurors met at 11 consecutive sessions during 2006 over a period of 16 weeks, which culminated in a written report. All the sessions were audio-recorded, five sessions were observed and video-recorded, and 16 jurors completed written feedback forms at the end of the jury process. Findings and conclusion In this article we discuss degree and timing of public involvement in the process of health research; the role of context; representation of communities; processes of deliberation and knowledge production; and how constraints of time and cost may affect public involvement. It was clear that jurors who took part in the Bristol Citizens' Jury were engaged and committed. This engagement may be related to jurors' belief in their ability to shape future research alongside concern about the relevance of the issues under discussion. Opposing emotions of tension and harmony are a crucial part of the deliberation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though they are fed daily by their owners, free-ranging pet cats Felis catus may kill wild birds and, given their high densities (typically > 200 cats/km2), it has been postulated that cat predation could be a significant negative factor affecting the dynamics of urban bird populations. In this study, we: (1) used questionnaire surveys in 10 sites within the city of Bristol, UK, to estimate cat density; (2) estimated the number of birds killed annually in five sites by asking cat owners to record prey animals returned home; and then (3) compared the number of birds killed with breeding density and productivity to estimate the potential impact of cat predation. In addition, we (4) compared the condition of those birds killed by cats versus those killed in collisions, e.g. window strikes. Mean (± sd) cat density was 348 ± 86 cats/km2 ( n = 10 sites); considering the eight species most commonly taken by cats, the mean ratios of adult birds/cats and juvenile birds/cats across the five sites were 1.17 ± 0.23 and 3.07 ± 0.74, respectively. Approximately 60% of the cats studied for up to 1 year at each site never returned any prey home; despite this, the estimated number of birds killed was large relative to their breeding density and productivity in many sites. Across species, cat-killed birds were in significantly poorer condition than those killed following collisions; this is consistent with the notion that cat predation represents a compensatory rather than additive form of mortality. Interpretation of these results is, however, complicated by patterns of body mass regulation in passerines. The predation rates estimated in this study would suggest that cats were likely to have been a major cause of mortality for some species of birds. The effect of cat predation in urban landscapes therefore warrants further investigation. The potential limitations of the current study are discussed, along with suggestions for resolving them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) was deployed as a tool to determine the internal loads between the residual limb and prosthetic socket for below-knee amputees. This was achieved by using simulated load data to validate the ANN and captured clinical load data to predict the internal loads at the residual limb–socket interface. Load/pressure was applied to 16 regions of the socket, using loading pads in conjunction with a load applicator, and surface strains were collected using 15 strain gauge rosettes. A super-position program was utilised to generate training and testing patterns from the original load/strain data collected. Using this data, a back-propagation ANN, developed at the University of the West of England, was trained. The input to the trained network was the surface strains and the output the internal loads/pressure. The system was validated and the mean square error (MSE) of the system was found to be 8.8% for 1000 training patterns and 8.9% for 50 testing patterns, which was deemed an acceptable error. Finally, the validated system was used to predict pressure-sensitive/-tolerant regions at the limb–socket interface with great success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legislation and guidance require that transition planning takes place for all children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs. The research reported here was undertaken by Linda Ward, Professor of Disability and Social Policy at the University of Bristol, where she is director of the Norah Fry Research Centre; Robina Mallett, Carer Support Officer at the Home Farm Trust; Pauline Heslop, Research Fellow at the Norah Fry Research Centre; and Ken Simons, Senior Research Fellow at the Norah Fry Research Centre until his untimely death in January 2003, to find out how well this legislation and guidance works in practice from the perspective of young people with learning disabilities and their families. Based on information from questionnaires completed by parents and separate in-depth interviews with youngsters with learning disabilities and their parents, this article reveals that many young people in the study left school without any transition planning, as far as their parents were aware. Where transition planning had occurred, there was a stark mismatch between the topics families wanted to cover and those addressed by the professionals involved. Many of the youngsters who did receive transition planning had little if any involvement in the process; parental involvement was also significantly less than it should have been. In drawing conclusions from their research, the authors review the most positive aspects of the process from the perspective of the young people and their parents; parents' ideas for improving transition planning; and messages from the research for professionals, including those working in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the concept of informed consent for removal and retention of organs in the immediate circumstances of bereavement of parents whose children died following a complex heart surgery. Alternative proposal for the practice; Codes of practice drafted by the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry of Bristol, England regarding the removal and retention of organs; Rationale of the code of practice.

The article focuses on smuggling in Bristol, England during the middle 16th century. Smuggling is recognized as one of the most serious, and certainly most baffling problems in Great Britain. While most studies of the subject have concentrated on the eighteenth century, large-scale smuggling was not a new development in that period. The illicit trade of mid-sixteen-century Bristol is studied through records relation to and generated by merchant-smugglers. By carrying out record linkage between entries in merchant account books and by cross-referencing these to customs accounts and charter parties it is shown that while smuggling was widespread, it was, at least in the 1530-1540s, extremely narrowly defined. In particular it is argued that smuggling, or what contemporaries referred to as 'frauds,' was largely limited to two specific elements of the city's export trade. Nevertheless, it is shown that the great profits achievable in this large-scale and carefully organized trade made this an important business for the city's merchants. It examines the accuracy of the Bristol customs accounts of the 1530s and 1540s by comparing entries in the customs accounts for particular shipments with entries in independently generated commercial records that deal with the shipment of the same consignments. This comparison has used charter parties for part of the exercise.

Presents information on a study which discussed the contributions of four datasets to generate improved models of residential densities in Bristol, England. Overview of the population surface model; Details on the Code-Point based model; Background of the Address-Point model; Representations of urban density; Conclusions.

Studies of high commitment management (HCM) and high performance work systems (HPWS) have, in the main, been undertaken through quantitative surveys of a large number of firms. It has often been noted that there is a further need for longitudinal, more qualitative work. This study of the RAC customer call centre in Bristol is designed to show how a bundle of HCM practices evolved at a time of significant competitive challenge to the business, and how the HRM choices were woven in, both in process and content terms, with changes to other functional strategies inside and outside the organisation. The article draws out how the case study provides a rich illustration of HCM in action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In 1986 I took on the public health responsibility for the cervical screening service in Avon. Like many others, I understood screening to be a simple, highly effective, and inexpensive way of stopping people getting cancer. The only problem so far as I was aware was in making sure those most at risk took up the opportunity to be screened. The more involved I became with screening, however, the more I was obliged to modify this view. In summary, I was confronted with two problems. The Avon cervical screening service—thanks to contributions from many individuals over the previous two decades—was already well organized and population coverage was already high. Why then were women still dying from cancer of the cervix? Why also was there a substantial and rising number of women requiring colposcopic investigation for screen-detected abnormality when, according to screening theory, the ‘prevalence’ pool should have been cleared and the rate of newly detected ‘incident’ abnormalities should equate to the incidence of serious disease? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides information about various congresses related to psychophysiology as of March 1983. London, England-based EEG Society and the Psychophysiology Society announced the First Joint Conference on Experimental and Clinical Psychophysiology to be held on June 29th through July 1st, 1983 at the Burden Neurological Institute, Bristol, England. The Conference will consist of formal paper sessions, symposia and poster sessions. From July 6-9, 1983, the inaugural meeting of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences will be held at the Henry VIII Hotel, Leinster Gardens, London W2, England.

The Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Psychophysiology Society will be held from December 19-22, 1989 in Bristol, England as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Bristol, England-based Burden Neurological Institute. The main theme of the three-day conference will be psychophysiological applications in the clinical field, in particular brain imaging, schizophrenia, neurology, innovative electrodermal applications, and anxiety-cardiovascular interactions. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 14 August 1989.

This article presents information about the launch of course by various institutes related to psychopathology. From July 5th through 9th, 1982. a course on Evoked Potentials will be held at the Burden Neurological Institute. Bristol, England. It is intended for those emb!irking cm work with evoked potentials in either a research or clinical context. From July 12th through 17th. 1982. Massachusetts Institute of Technology will offer a one-week elementary course in Design and Analysis of Scientific Experiments.

The article focuses on a study that was undertaken to find out the problems which children with asthma experience at school and at home. Patient interviews with 32 asthmatic children aged between 6 and 16 years using a semi-structured questionnaire were carried out in an inner city practice in Bristol. Twenty-three children experienced exercise-induced bronchospasm which particularly upset them at school. Eleven of 14 secondary schoolchildren said that not being able to participate in sport was the worst thing about having asthma. Every child in the study admitted to some aspect of home or school life being affected by having asthma. Apart from one primary school child, they viewed these issues negatively. The most striking aspect of this small study was the degree to which exercise induced asthma adversely affected children in the practice.

With the support of the Department of Health, Bristol University is carrying out a small-scale research study of single-person adoption. In advance of the findings, the author surveys existing arguments for and against the approval of single people as adoptive parents. The debate raises some larger questions - not simply about adoption and necessary safeguards, but about the nature of the approval process itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Data on 1141 foxes from London and 1701 foxes from Bristol were used to describe the demography of two urban fox populations. These data were combined with the results of a mark-recapture study in Bristol and used to construct population models. The results demonstrate that the calculated parameters from the demographic study produce stable populations. (2) The structure and monthly mortality patterns of the two populations were compared.. The total fox population for Bristol was 211 family groups; these comprised 716 adults producing 897 cubs per annum. Of these, 353 adults and 363 cubs survived to the following year. in London a comparable 211' family groups consisted of 578 adults producing 904 cubs per annum; of these, 263 adults and 315 cubs survived to the following year. (3) II is suggested that in London the fox control operations do not significantly reduce the number of fox family groups but reduce the total number of adult foxes and cubs in the population and hence mean family group size. In London, mortality rate in adults and cubs is higher than in Bristol, and a stable population is maintained by increased productivity. This is not achieved by altering litter size but by reducing the proportion of non-breeding vixens and the proportion of dog foxes in the cub and adult populations. (4) In Bristol the fox population structure remained constant irrespective of population density and hence habitat quality. Even in the most favourable urban habitats, when population density approached five fox family groups per square kilometre, sex ratio, productivity and mortality rates remained the same. (5) These data are discussed in relation to current ideas on fox social biology and to a rabies. control campaign in an urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) In two areas of Bristol, one 5.5 km [²], the other 3.2 km [²] fox litter counts in two consecutive years were used to estimate the number of fox groups. There were 3.64 family groups/km [²] in the smaller. In parts of the larger area densities of 4-5 family groups/km [²] were recorded. (2) To obtain data on the distribution and relative densities of foxes throughout Bristol nearly 88,000 school children were asked to record fox sightings for a period of one month. Since the absolute fox densities were known for two areas the distribution of recorded sighting could then be used to estimate fox densities throughout the city. By this means it was calculated that there were 211 fox family groups I an area of 116 sq km, a mean density of 1.82 fox family groups/km[²]. (3) Fox distribution in the city was uneven, and fox density was not found to correlate with household density, housing type, age of housing stock, or an other obvious habitat feature. There was a negative correlation (P< 0.001) between the distribution of stray dogs and urban foxes. This was attributed of the fox population by stray dogs. It is suggested that disturbance may be particularly important in the breeding season; dogs were the second major cause of mortality in young fox cubs. (4) Based on post-mortem material, it was calculated that the ratio of breeding to non-breeding vixen was 1:0.35, and so the adult fox population consisted of 211 males, 211 breeding females and 74 barren females. Assuming that all fox family groups breed each year, with a mean birth litter size of 4.80 (calculated from placental scars), the annual cub production would be 1013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the studies made on the biology of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England. It presents a description of an inquiry made on the physical features and the fauna of the estuary starting above Gloucester to Ilfracombe. It is noted that mud of Severn water is high, which increases in winter, while the mud zone remains constant. The highest turbidity takes place more on saline water during summer than in winter but there is more silt in winter than in summer. Moreover, the floods from fresh-water in winter push the salt water to the sea. The animals from Ilfracombe to Gloucester has also been studied and it dies out rapidly above Avonmouth.

This article examines the hypothesis on management of real estate in Whitchurch in Bristol, England, proposed by economist M.M. Postan. Whitchurch's suitability as a case study is fourfold. First, it provided revenues from all the principal sources of landed and seigneurial income in the fifteenth century. Five-sixths of the lands were in the hand of copyholders paying fixed rents, which in 1400 provided approximately one-third of the income. Secondly, there were no special advantages such as offered by the cloth industry on the Castle Coombe estate of John Fastolf. Whitchurch was not geared to a special sector of the economy. Thirdly, the estate was administered at different times both personally by its lord and on his behalf by a well-established bureaucracy. One factor that cannot be ignored in the study of the fifteenth-century economy is the difficulty of making generally applicable conclusions for a kingdom with very marked regional differences, which tended to make economic movements and the responses to them less than uniform. There would seem, for instance, to have been significant differences between the counties feeling the pull of the London market, the midland plain, and the lands of the Welsh and Scottish marches.

Highlights the Association of Veterinary Students' congress held at the University of Bristol in Bristol, England from February 7-9, 2003. Featured speakers; Topics discussed.

Presents editorial notes for the February 1982 issue of "History," the journal of the Historical Association. Call for donations for safeguarding the series of publications by the Bristol Branch of the Historical Association on the history of the city; List of publications on local British history; General history publications.

The article reports on the speech of Doctor Gerald Coles, veterinary parasitologist at the University of Bristol about the improper use of antihelmintic products intended for cattle by horse owners in Great Britain. Coles spoke before representatives from the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry who gathered for the conference at the Cheltehham racecourse on November 9, 2006.