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This paper discusses the methodological issues involved in assessing the impact of organizational structure upon the innovative capacity of voluntary organizations. It reports the use of a specific methodological tool—the Aston measures—as an approach to these issues. In addition to the empirical findings reported, this paper argues for these measures as a useful addition to the methodological tool kit of voluntary sector researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:There is considerable interest in the possibility of provision of lung cancer screening services in many developed countries. There is, however, no consensus on the target population or optimal screening regimen.Methods:In this paper, we demonstrate the use of published results on lung cancer screening and natural history parameters to estimate the likely effects of annual and biennial screening programmes in different risk populations, in terms of deaths prevented and of human costs, including screening episodes, further investigation rates and overdiagnosis.Results:Annual screening with the UK Lung Screening Study eligibility criteria was estimated to result in 956 lung cancer deaths prevented and 457 overdiagnosed cancers from 330 000 screening episodes. Biennial screening would result in 802 lung cancer deaths prevented and 383 overdiagnosed cancers for 180 000 screening episodes.Interpretation/conclusion:The predictions suggest that the intervention effect could justify the human costs. The evidence base for low-dose CT screening for lung cancer pertains almost entirely to annual screening. The benefit of biennial screening is subject to additional uncertainty but the issue merits further empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an innovative statistical matching method to combine the advantages of large national surveys and time diary data. We use data from two UK datasets that share stylised time-use information, crucial for the matching process. In particular, time-diary information of an individual from the Home On-line Study, our donor data set, is imputed to a similar individual from the British Household Panel Survey, our recipient dataset. Propensity score methods are used in conjunction with Mahalanobis matching to increase matching quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a survey study exploring new lecturers' views on assessment design (using a questionnaire called the Assessment Design Inventory) with 586 newly qualified or still qualifying lecturers from UK universities. A factor analysis established two factors labelled 'desirable practice' and 'constraints'. Participants felt that their university teaching programmes had changed their views on assessment design and that assessment practices could be improved. Over 50 % agreed that there were practical restrictions on assessment design. Findings revealed a perception that there is little incentive to innovate in assessment and that students may not welcome such innovation in any case. Further statistical analysis specified the 'external' variables of institution and discipline to be important in shaping desirable practice and perception of constraints. 'Individual' variables of gender, length of teaching experience and qualification status showed a statistically significant effect. These analyses demonstrate some key influences on new lecturers' views of assessment design and suggest reasons why they do not always feel able to put what they learn about assessment into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a surge in withdrawn scientific papers from scholarly literature and on the system for handling such post-publication retractions in Great Britain. It states that retraction notices are increasing to more than 400 notices even though the number of papers published has increased by only 44% since 2001. It cites the British Committee on Publication Ethics' (COPE) survey on editors' attitudes toward retraction which showed inconsistencies in policies and practices.

Assigning credit and blame in systems of multilevel government, such as federal states, requires information. This paper examines how voters respond to information about policy outcomes when attributing responsibility to multiple levels of government in a European context. Using an experimental design, we show that the responsibility attributions of British voters are affected by perceptual biases, notably their feelings about the government and the European Union (EU). But interestingly, we also find that voters, regardless of their predispositions, are only responsive to information they receive from their national government, whereas they ignore information provided by EU officials. These findings have implications not only for our understanding of attribution in systems of multiple levels of government, but also for how voters use information selectively depending on the credibility of the source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income is regarded as one of the clearest indicators of socioeconomic status and wellbeing in the developed world and is highly correlated with a wide range of outcomes. Despite its importance, there remains an issue as to the best way to collect income as part of surveys. This paper examines differences in how income is collected in a nationally representative UK birth cohort, the Millennium Cohort Study, looking at variations by questions asked and by respondent characteristics before then examining the implications different methods of collecting and reporting income may have for measuring poverty. Results show that less than a third of respondents give consistent information on income between measurement tools. Using multiple questions is associated with a substantially lower response rate but this method generally results in a higher estimate of family income than using a single question. This is particularly true for certain groups of the population-those on means tested benefits, in self-employment and in part-time employment. Not surprisingly then in our analysis of poverty, using a single question produces an inflated proportion of families who could be classified as living in poverty and is less associated with other measures of financial deprivation than the more conservative poverty measure based on multiple questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most countries experience periodic dry spells/droughts and climatologists predict these may become more severe and of longer duration in the future. Whilst ground movement associated with shrink/swell is well known, other implications of changes in the general climatic conditions are less often considered by the construction industry. Having discussed the effect of shrink/swell in open field and wooded areas, the pressures involved in re-hydration, the significance of desiccation cracks for slope stability and the influence of dry and moist periods on road construction, the paper highlights how a change in ground water level and/or temperature can induce the development of ground sulphates and cause irreversible heave in lime-stabilised ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the ideas of Greek prospective primary teachers about the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, particularly about its causes, consequences and cures. For this purpose, a survey was conducted: 265 prospective teachers completed a closed-form questionnaire. The results showed serious misconceptions in all areas (causes, consequences and cures). The most prominent misconception found by this survey is the conflation between the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer depletion, which is widely reported in the literature. There is also the notion that 'good things' (like clean beaches) can help ameliorate the greenhouse effect, whereas 'bad things' (like insecticides) can enhance it. One of the secondary results of the survey is that prospective teachers' main source of information about the greenhouse effect is school. This calls for educational interventions to fight misconceptions at the source. Some suggestions are presented in this paper. The results of this study are compared with the results of two similar studies conducted in the UK and in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers eustatic sea level rise to be a major impact driven by climate change. Relative sea level change, whether positive or negative, will affect industries, communities and ecology along the world's coastlines and estuaries. Estimates of global eustatic sea level rise between 1961 and 2003 are 1.8 ± 0.5 mm a, reflecting results from validated global tide gauge records. Over the last two decades, several studies have used automatic tide gauge records with at least 80 years of data to generate global prediction models. The IPCC recognises that global change is not uniform, therefore local policy for flood management and coastal protection should rely on local change models that incorporate glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) and apply accurate data correction techniques. Some of the longest tidal records are held within the Northern Hemisphere, e.g. Cascais, Amsterdam, Aberdeen, Sheerness and Newlyn. The UK provides several important case studies highlighting changes in relative sea level between the north and the south, primarily due to variations in GIA rates of land uplift and subsidence. Tide gauge records are held by a variety of governmental, non-governmental and private organisations. However, each source may typically compile data in different ways, relying on diverse equipment and recording techniques, often with variations in frequency, length, quality and corrections applied. Even within a single organisation there may be differences in dataset quality. This paper examines some of the key sources of error when working with historical tidal datasets in local geographic areas and aims to identify the limitations of locally derived data thereby assisting in the determination of relative sea level trends that are of widespread value to infrastructure and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed building structures rely on the integrity of beam to column connections to avoid collapse in the event of damage to some part of the building. This requirement is often referred to as robustness and in UK practice may be assumed to be achieved (for certain categories of building) if the beam to column connections are designed to resist a specified tensile force. However, prior to the current work, no published data existed on the behaviour of connections subjected to rapid, non-cyclical loading to failure, and models of frame response to localised damage typically use either very simplified assumptions for connection behaviour (e.g. fully rigid against translation and rotation) or data from static connection tests. This paper describes experimental equipment which has been designed, fabricated and commissioned in order to facilitate this type of testing. The experimental test rig is capable of applying an axial tension load or a combination of moment and tension to a connection. The loading can be applied at quasi static or high-rate dynamic rates, with connections taken to failure in a few hundredths of a second. A methodology for analysis of the data, in particular in allowance for inertial effects in interpreting the load/moment data is presented, along with validation tests and examples of results from connection tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:There are currently two million cancer survivors in the United Kingdom, and in recent years this number has grown by 3% per annum. The aim of this paper is to provide long-term projections of cancer prevalence in the United Kingdom.Methods:National cancer registry data for England were used to estimate cancer prevalence in the United Kingdom in 2009. Using a model of prevalence as a function of incidence, survival and population demographics, projections were made to 2040. Different scenarios of future incidence and survival, and their effects on cancer prevalence, were also considered. Colorectal, lung, prostate, female breast and all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) were analysed separately.Results:Assuming that existing trends in incidence and survival continue, the number of cancer survivors in the United Kingdom is projected to increase by approximately one million per decade from 2010 to 2040. Particularly large increases are anticipated in the oldest age groups, and in the number of long-term survivors. By 2040, almost a quarter of people aged at least 65 will be cancer survivors.Conclusion:Increasing cancer survival and the growing/ageing population of the United Kingdom mean that the population of survivors is likely to grow substantially in the coming decades, as are the related demands upon the health service. Plans must, therefore, be laid to ensure that the varied needs of cancer survivors can be met in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the phrase 'basic research' as a term used in science policy discussion dates only to about 1920. At the time the phrase referred to what we today commonly refer to as applied research in support of specific missions or goals, especially agriculture. Upon the publication of Vannevar Bush's well-known report, Science - The Endless Frontier, the phrase 'basic research' became a key political symbol, representing various identifications, expectations and demands related to science policy among scientists and politicians. This paper tracks and evaluates the evolution of 'basic research' as a political symbol from early in the 20th century to the present. With considerable attention having been paid to the on-going evolution of post-Cold War science policy, much less attention has focused on the factors which have shaped the dominant narrative of contemporary science policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To estimate the current occupational cancer burden due to past exposures in Britain, estimates of the number of exposed workers at different levels are required, as well as risk estimates of cancer due to the exposures. This paper describes the methods and results for estimating the historical exposures. All occupational carcinogens or exposure circumstances classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as definite or probable human carcinogens and potentially to be found in British workplaces over the past 20-40 years were included in this study. Estimates of the number of people exposed by industrial sector were based predominantly on two sources of data, the CARcinogen EXposure (CAREX) database and the UK Labour Force Survey. Where possible, multiple and overlapping exposures were taken into account. Dose-response risk estimates were generally not available in the epidemiological literature for the cancer-exposure pairs in this study, and none of the sources available for obtaining the numbers exposed provided data by different levels of exposure. Industrial sectors were therefore assigned using expert judgement to 'higher'- and 'lower'-exposure groups based on the similarity of exposure to the population in the key epidemiological studies from which risk estimates had been selected. Estimates of historical exposure prevalence were obtained for 41 carcinogens or occupational circumstances. These include exposures to chemicals and metals, combustion products, other mixtures or groups of chemicals, mineral and biological dusts, physical agents and work patterns, as well as occupations and industries that have been associated with increased risk of cancer, but for which the causative agents are unknown. There were more than half a million workers exposed to each of six carcinogens (radon, solar radiation, crystalline silica, mineral oils, non-arsenical insecticides and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin); other agents to which a large number of workers are exposed included benzene, diesel engine exhaust and environmental tobacco smoke. The study has highlighted several industrial sectors with large proportions of workers potentially exposed to multiple carcinogens. The relevant available data have been used to generate estimates of the prevalence of past exposure to occupational carcinogens to enable the occupational cancer burden in Britain to be estimated. These data are considered adequate for the present purpose, but new data on the prevalence and intensity of current occupational exposure to carcinogens should be collected to ensure that future policy decisions be based on reliable evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Food is responsible for around one-fifth of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from products consumed in the UK, the largest contributor of which is meat and dairy. The Committee on Climate Change have modelled the impact on GHG emissions of three dietary scenarios for food consumption in the UK. This paper models the impact of the three scenarios on mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer.SUBJECTS/METHODS:A previously published model (DIETRON) was used. The three scenarios were parameterised by fruit and vegetables, fibre, total fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, cholesterol and salt using the 2008 Family Food Survey. A Monte Carlo simulation generated 95% credible intervals.RESULTS:Scenario 1 (50% reduction in meat and dairy replaced by fruit, vegetables and cereals: 19% reduction in GHG emissions) resulted in 36 910 (30 192 to 43 592) deaths delayed or averted per year. Scenario 2 (75% reduction in cow and sheep meat replaced by pigs and poultry: 9% reduction in GHG emissions) resulted in 1999 (1739 to 2389) deaths delayed or averted. Scenario 3 (50% reduction in pigs and poultry replaced with fruit, vegetables and cereals: 3% reduction in GHG emissions) resulted in 9297 (7288 to 11 301) deaths delayed or averted.CONCLUSION:Modelled results suggest that public health and climate change dietary goals are in broad alignment with the largest results in both domains occurring when consumption of all meat and dairy products are reduced. Further work in real-life settings is needed to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a substantial literature on the use of oral history in archaeology, but there has been little consideration of the kinds of oral history and memory produced by the practice of archaeology. Through the personal narratives of a range of people involved in excavation during the 1960s in Britain, this paper explores understandings of what has been described as an archaeological 'sub-culture'. It examines the ideas and interests that motivated peoples' engagement in the 'digging circuit' at this time, and looks at how these were implicated in the archaeology that was produced. We argue that such accounts do not simply expose the 'subjective' context in which archaeological knowledge of these sites emerged but constitute an explicit and vital challenge to established accounts of archaeology in Britain at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of human prehistory was a provocative and profoundly influential new notion that took shape gradually during the nineteenth century. While archaeology played an important role in providing the evidence for this idea many other sciences such as geology, paleontology, ethnology, and physical anthropology all made critical contributions to discussions about human prehistory. Many works have explored the history of prehistoric archaeology but this paper examines the conceptual content of the idea of "human prehistory" as it developed in the British scientific community. Both the natural and the human sciences contributed to what was in fact a complex collection of individual elements that together constituted the prevailing idea of human prehistory, although there were other competing conceptions of human prehistory endorsed by various scientists and critics of the new view of early human history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fieldwork is assumed by most practitioners to be an important if not essential component of a degree level education in the environmental sciences. However, there is strong evidence that as a result of a wide range of pressures (academic, financial and societal) fieldwork is in decline in the UK and elsewhere. In this paper we discuss the value of fieldwork in a higher education context and present the results of a case study which illustrates its value to student learning and the wider student experience. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to compare the impact of two learning tasks upon the affective and cognitive domains of students. We designed two tasks. One task that included fieldwork, and required students to collect organisms from the field and make labelled drawings of them, and one task that omitted the fieldwork and simply required drawing of specimens that the students had not collected. We evaluated the students' experience through structured and semi-structured questionnaires and written exercises. Students did not perceive the two tasks as being equivalent to one another. They reported that they enjoy fieldwork and value it (in the contexts of their learning at university, life-long learning, and in relation to their career aspirations) and felt that they learn more effectively in the field. Our students were better able to construct a taxonomic list of organisms that they had collected themselves, better able to recall the structural detail of these organisms and were better able to recall the detail of an ecological sampling methodology that they had personally carried out in the field rather than one that a tutor had described to them in a classroom setting. Our case study supports the growing body of evidence that fieldwork is an important way of enhancing undergraduate learning and highlights some key areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loch Leven is a large, shallow lake in lowland Scotland, UK. Scientific research began here almost 200 years ago. Early research characterised the biodiversity and physical characteristics of the loch, providing an important historical background for future research. In the mid-1960s, this ad hoc approach was superseded by a more structured research programme under the umbrella of the International Biological Programme. This was the beginning of the Loch Leven long-term monitoring programme. Today, the results of these studies form one of the longest and most comprehensive limnological datasets for shallow freshwater lakes in the world, comprising more than 500 physical, chemical and biological variables collected at two-weekly intervals. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the start of the long term monitoring programme, and to highlight the scientific investigations still being conducted at Loch Leven, the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) organised a symposium entitled "Loch Leven: 40 years of scientific research" in Kinross, Scotland, UK, on 11 December 2008. This examined the role of long-term monitoring in developing our understanding of the links between pollution, climate change and ecological responses in shallow lakes. This article introduces a series of papers summarising the scientific results presented at this meeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides evidence on the effect of welfare reform on fertility, focusing on UK reforms in 1999 that increased per-child spending by 50% in real terms. We use a difference-in-differences approach, exploiting the fact that the reforms were targeted at low-income households. The reforms were likely to differentially affect the fertility of women in couples and single women because of the opportunity cost effects of the welfare-to-work element. We find no increase in births among single women, but evidence to support an increase in births (by around 15%) among coupled women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the current state of knowledge about the relationship between different national publics and biobanks, how different publics perceive biobanks, and which issues are identified as important by various stakeholders. We discuss existing studies and emerging governance strategies dealing with the biobank-publics interface and argue that the search for phantom (biobank) public(s) is on, but still much needs to be done. We argue that the existing data originate in a relatively few regions, among them Northern Europe, the United Kingdom, and in certain U.S. states and are often based on survey research with small samples and short questionnaires. Combined usage of qualitative and quantitative methodology in studies is still rare though of great importance in order to investigate distributions of public opinion and also to be able to explain these patterns. Many important questions in the relationship between publics and biobanks are unexplored, or the existing data are inconsistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and validation of a multi-dimensional instrument to measure servant leadership. Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on an extensive literature review and expert judgment, 99 items were formulated. In three steps, using eight samples totaling 1571 persons from The Netherlands and the UK with a diverse occupational background, a combined exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis approach was used. This was followed by an analysis of the criterion-related validity. Findings: The final result is an eight-dimensional measure of 30 items: the eight dimensions being: standing back, forgiveness, courage, empowerment, accountability, authenticity, humility, and stewardship. The internal consistency of the subscales is good. The results show that the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) has convergent validity with other leadership measures, and also adds unique elements to the leadership field. Evidence for criterion-related validity came from studies relating the eight dimensions to well-being and performance. Implications: With this survey, a valid and reliable instrument to measure the essential elements of servant leadership has been introduced. Originality/Value: The SLS is the first measure where the underlying factor structure was developed and confirmed across several field studies in two countries. It can be used in future studies to test the underlying premises of servant leadership theory. The SLS provides a clear picture of the key servant leadership qualities and shows where improvements can be made on the individual and organizational level; as such, it may also offer a valuable starting point for training and leadership development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, debates over medical curriculum reform have centred on the role of science in medical education, but the meaning of 'science' in this domain is vague and the persistence of the debate has not been explained. Following Bourdieu, this paper examines struggles over legitimate knowledge and the forms of capital associated with science in contemporary UK medical education. Data are presented from a study of two UK medical schools, one with a traditional, science-oriented curriculum, another with an integrated curriculum. Constructions of legitimate knowledge were explored at both schools through six months participant observation, interviews with faculty members (n=15) and students (n=37) and documentary analysis. Findings show that medical schools compete for both scientific and clinical capital, but ultimately science has greater legitimacy. 'Science' is defined in accordance with the structure of the traditional curriculum and has become a symbolic resource - a mark of distinction for both medical schools and medical students - which is equated with clinical competence. The significance of science is circumscribed by the medical education field, yet the struggles for scientific capital there have ramifications beyond medical education itself. It is argued that Bourdieu's concepts are particularly useful tools for studying the meanings that science takes on outside of the scientific field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the popular method for fitting a regression function is regularization: minimizing an objective function which enforces a roughness penalty in addition to coherence with the data. This is the case when formulating penalized likelihood regression for exponential families. Most of the smoothing methods employ quadratic penalties, leading to linear estimates, and are in general incapable of recovering discontinuities or other important attributes in the regression function. In contrast, non-linear estimates are generally more accurate. In this paper, we focus on non-parametric penalized likelihood regression methods using splines and a variety of non-quadratic penalties, pointing out common basic principles. We present an asymptotic analysis of convergence rates that justifies the approach. We report on a simulation study including comparisons between our method and some existing ones. We illustrate our approach with an application to Poisson non-parametric regression modeling of frequency counts of reported acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

strong negative correlation is often found between schooling and teenage childbearing. The question at the center of this research is whether this correlation represents a causal relation. This paper uses changes in compulsory schooling laws in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to purge schooling estimates of biases resulting from individual-specific error components correlated with education. The results suggest that increased schooling does appear to reduce the incidence of teenage childbearing. Moreover, the results serve to highlight an important change in the impact of schooling on teenage childbearing following the legislation on contraception in the late 1960s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional political wisdom has it that educational expansion helps to reduce socioeconomic inequalities of access to education by increasing equality of educational opportunity. The counterarguments of Maximally Maintained Inequality (MMI) and Effectively Maintained Inequality (EMI), in contrast, contend that educational inequalities tend to persist despite expansion because those from more advantaged social class backgrounds are better placed to take up the new educational opportunities that expansion affords (MMI) and to secure for themselves qualitatively better kinds of education at any given level (EMI). This paper sets out to test the predictions of the MMI and EMI hypotheses against empirical data for the case of Britain where higher education expanded dramatically during the 1960s and again during the early 1990s. The results show that quantitative inequalities between social classes in the odds of higher education enrolment proved remarkably persistent for much of the period between 1960 and 1995, and began to decline only during the early 1990s, after the enrolment rate for the most advantaged social class had reached saturation point. Throughout this same 35 year period, qualitative inequalities between social classes in the odds of enrolment on more traditional and higher status degree programmes and at 'Old' universities remained fundamentally unchanged. In short, social class inequalities in British higher education have been both maximally and effectively maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeTo evaluate current practice of transscleral diode laser cyclophotocoagulation (cyclodiode) laser treatment among consultant ophthalmologists in the United Kingdom.MethodsA 31-question survey was emailed to all practising consultant ophthalmologists who were members of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. All non-responders were sent a postal version of the questionnaire. This paper looked at cyclodiode practice patterns and consisted of questions on demographic data, transillumination, and power settings, factors influencing practice, post-operative care, and repeat treatment.ResultsA total of 510 participants (53.6%) responded. A total of 180 (35.3%) responders reported performing cyclodiode laser treatment, of which 84 (46.7%) were glaucoma subspecialists (GSS). Initial median power settings used were 1500 mW and 2000 ms. The average number of applications delivered per sitting was 25.5±1.2 applications for GSS vs20.6±2.0 for non-GSS in a seeing eye (P=0.0013). In all, 65% routinely transilluminated the globe of which 78% were GSS and 52.3% were non-GSS (P=0.0009). In all, 43% of the GSS vs17% of the non-GSS lowered power settings in uveitic glaucoma (P=0.013). In blind eyes, 30% of the GSS vs12% of the non-GSS increased energy levels (P=0.0014). In all, 60% of the responders performed cyclodiode at any visual acuity, whereas 22% performed combined cyclodiode and cataract surgery.ConclusionsThis survey highlights a wide variation in the use of cyclodiode laser treatment amongst GSS and non-GSS. However, the most frequently used practice may not be the optimal practice. A more individualised parameter according to the condition of the eyes may optimise the outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What depth of learning can policy appraisal stimulate? How we can account for the survival policies that are known to pose significant countervailing risks? While heralded as a panacea to the inherent ambiguity of the political world, the proposition pursued is that policy appraisal processes intended to help decision-makers learn may actually be counterproductive. Rather than simulating policy-oriented learning, appraisals may reduce policy actors' capacity to think clearly about the policy at hand. By encouraging a variety of epistemic inputs from a plurality of sources and shoehorning knowledge development into a specified timeframe, policy appraisal may leave decision-makers overloaded with conflicting information and evidence which dates rapidly. In such circumstances, they to fall back on institutionalised ways of thinking even when confronted with evidence of significant mismatches between policy objectives and the consequences of the planned course of action. Here learning is 'single-loop' rather than 'double-loop'-focussed on adjustments in policy strategy rather than re-thinking the underlying policy goals. Using insights into new institutional economics, the paper explores how the results of policy appraisals in technically complex issues are mediated by institutionalised 'rules of the game' which feed back positively around initial policy frames and early interpretations of what constitutes policy success. Empirical evidence from UK biofuels policy appraisal confirms the usefulness of accounts that attend to the temporal tensions that exist between policy and knowledge development. Adopting an institutional approach that emphasises path dependence does not however preclude the possibility that the depth of decision-makers' learning might change. Rather, the biofuels case suggests that moves towards deeper learning may be affected by reviews of appraisal evidence led by actors beyond immediate organizational context with Chief Scientific Advisers within government emerging as potentially powerful catalysts in this acquisition of learning capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AimsCoats disease is an uncommon form of retinal telangiectasis. Published case series mostly originate from tertiary referrals centres and may provide a skewed view of disease severity. We conducted a prospective population-based study of Coats disease in the United Kingdom to ascertain the incidence and provide a more representative picture.MethodsThe study was conducted through the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit. This first paper reports the features at presentation; gender, mode of presentation, visual acuity, anterior and posterior segment findings, amount of retinal exudation, and disease staging.ResultsA total of 55 eligible cases of Coats disease were identified giving an estimated population incidence of 0.09 per 100 000 of the population. All cases were unilateral and 85% were male. Mean age at presentation was 146 months (median 96 months). The mean age of diagnosis was markedly different with differing mechanisms of presentation. Cases presenting with leucocoria or strabismus presented early whereas subjective visual loss presented much later. A large proportion of eyes (44%) were blind at diagnosis. The great majority of eyes (71%) had 6 or fewer clock hours of retinal exudation. More severe forms/stages of Coats disease were more common in the youngest patients.ConclusionsCompared with published studies of Coats disease, we have found milder disease severity at presentation. This is most likely because of the population-based nature of our study reflecting the full disease spectrum. A large proportion of eyes with Coats have poor visual acuity and disease severity is worse in younger patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AimsCoats disease is an uncommon form of retinal telangiectasia. We conducted a prospective population-based study of Coats disease in the United Kingdom to provide a more balanced picture. This paper reports the investigations and treatments used for Coats disease and their anatomic and visual outcomes.MethodsThe study was conducted through the British Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit. All ophthalmologists notifying cases of Coats disease were sent a baseline questionnaire and a follow-up questionnaire after 6 months.ResultsIn total, 55 baseline and 42 follow-up questionnaires were returned. All cases were unilateral. Ultrasound was performed in 26% of cases, fluorescein angiography in 35%, and examination under anaesthesia in 42% of the cases. Laser photocoagulation was by far the primary treatment modality, used in 92%, with cryotherapy used mainly as a second-line or adjunctive treatment. In more advanced cases with significant retinal detachment, laser photocoagulation combined with pars plana vitrectomy and drainage of sub-retinal fluid can produce anatomic stability and prevent progress to end-stage disease. Intravitreal injections of steroids or VEGF inhibitors are currently of unproven efficacy in Coats disease. Overall, treatment resulted in stabilisation of visual acuity. Anatomic stabilisation or improvement was achieved in virtually all eyes.ConclusionLaser photocoagulation to telangiectatic retinal vessels is the most commonly used treatment for Coats disease. Other treatments are either adjunctive or of unproven efficacy. A realistic treatment goal is to achieve anatomic stability and avoidance of enucleation for painful end-stage disease. Visual improvement is however unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a strong tradition in Britain of volunteering involving a wide range of activities and organisations. Increasingly volunteering is seen as a way of benefiting health and building sustainable communities. In a study in 2007 we aimed to address the research questions: what are the motivations for, barriers to, and benefits of formal practical environmental volunteering for those individuals involved? Qualitative and quantitative data collection was undertaken while spending a day each with ten volunteer groups as they undertook their practical conservation activities. In this paper we focus primarily on the physical, mental and social well-being benefits that volunteers derived from their activities. Our research involved 88 people volunteering regularly in a range of places from scenic natural landscapes to urban green spaces in northern England and southern Scotland. Respondents described a range of benefits they gained from their involvement including improved fitness, keeping alert, meeting others and reducing stress levels. We suggest that practical environmental volunteering has flexibility in the types of activity available and the time scale in which activities are undertaken and therefore can provide a range of physical, social and mental well-being benefits to people with very differing abilities and from different socio-economic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition of Mesolithic impacts in mid Holocene pollen diagrams of the British Isles has led to the development of models describing sophisticated woodland management, particularly through the use of fire, by Mesolithic populations. However, the significance of human agency in creating mid Holocene woodland disturbances is unclear, with natural and human-induced clearings arguably indistinguishable in the pollen record. Analysis of non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) should aid the identification of events and processes occurring within these woodland disturbances and provide more precise palaeoecological data. In this paper we present pollen, charcoal and NPP analyses from a potentially critical location in the Mesolithic impacts debate. NPP types aid significantly in the reconstructions, suggesting periods of dead wood, grazing, local burning and wetter ground conditions. The results indicate that between 7700 and 6800 cal b.p., a predominantly wooded environment periodically gave way to phases of more open woodland, with inconsistent evidence for animal grazing. From 6800 cal b.p., a phase of open woodland associated with high charcoal concentrations and indicators of grazing was observed. This probably represents the deliberate firing of vegetation to improve grazing and browse resources, although it remains unclear whether fire was responsible for initially creating the woodland opening, or if it was part of an opportunistic use of naturally occurring woodland clearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we critically review recent developments in policies, practices and philosophies pertaining to the mediation between science and the public within the EU and the UK, focusing in particular on the current paradigm of Public Understanding of Science and Technology (PEST) which seeks to depart from the science information-transmission associated with previous paradigms, and enact a deliberative democracy model. We first outline the features of the current crisis in democracy and discuss deliberative democracy as a response to this crisis. We then map out and critically review the broad outlines of recent policy developments in public-science mediation in the EU and UK contexts, focusing on the shift towards the deliberative-democratic model. We conclude with some critical thoughts on the complex interrelationships between democracy, equality, science and informal pedagogies in public-science mediations. We argue that science and democracy operate within distinct value-spheres that are not necessarily consonant with each other. We also problematize the now common dismissal of information-transmission of science as inimical to democratic engagement, and argue for a reassessment of the role and importance of informal science learning for the 'lay' public, provided within the framework of a deliberative democracy that is not reducible to consensus building or the mere expression of opinions rooted in social and cultural givens. This, we argue, can be delivered by a model of PEST that is creative and experimental, with both educational and democratic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundConjunctival intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) typically occurs in elderly individuals. A number of aetiological factors are implicated in CIN, including life-long exposure to ultra-violet light and immunodeficiency states, particularly HIV infection. Asthma is a common condition affecting more than 3.5 million individuals in the UK, and is associated with atopy in approximately 70% of cases. In this paper we describe CIN occurring in young patients with asthma.MethodsRetrospective case series: A review of our ocular oncology database helped to identify 11 patients <55 years of age and presenting with CIN. Of these, seven (64%) were noted to have co-existent asthma.ResultsSeven patients were included in the study (six male and one female). Mean age at presentation was 44 years (range 36–54 years). Five patients showed unilateral disease, whereas two showed bilateral. Five patients showed local recurrence; however, there were no cases of metastasis.ConclusionThe occurrence of CIN, particularly bilateral CIN, in younger immunocompetent individuals is very unusual, and the presence of asthma in 64% of our patient cohort suggests that atopic asthma may be a further aetiological factor involved in the development of this rare neoplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a key methodological challenge in the modeling of individual poverty dynamics—the influence of measurement error. Taking the US and Britain as case studies and building on recent research that uses latent Markov models to reduce bias, we examine how measurement error can affect a range of important poverty estimates. Our data are taken from the British Household Panel Survey and the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics, for working-aged adults over the period 1993–2003. For both national samples we ask how common vulnerability to poverty was over the period in question, what the entry and exit probabilities were for the group likely to transition into or out of poverty, and how effective redistributive programs were at protecting those most at risk. Crucially, in answering these questions we estimate and remove the effects of error in the measurement of poverty status. Throughout, we compare our results with estimates that do not take this error into account, and assess the implications for understanding poverty dynamics both within and between the two countries. Our modeling strategy extends previous research in several respects, enabling us to make stronger statements about measurement error and individual poverty dynamics. We find that correcting for error affects conclusions in important ways: Poverty is less temporary and risks are less widely dispersed than otherwise assumed, while cross-national differences are more pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives:Nutrient profile models have the potential to help promote healthier diets. Some models treat all foods equally (across-the-board), some consider different categories of foods separately (category specific). This paper assesses whether across-the-board or category-specific nutrient profile models are more appropriate tools for improving diets.Subjects/Methods:Adult respondents to a British dietary survey were split into four groups using a diet quality index. Fifteen food categories were identified. A nutrient profile model provided a measure of the healthiness of all foods consumed. The four diet quality groups were compared for differences in (a) the calories consumed from each food category and (b) the healthiness of foods consumed in each category. Evidence of healthier diet quality groups consuming more of healthy food categories than unhealthy diet quality groups supported the adoption of across-the-board nutrient profile models. Evidence of healthier diet quality groups consuming healthier versions of foods within food categories supported adoption of category-specific nutrient profile models.Results:A significantly greater percentage of the healthiest diet quality group's diet consisted of fruit and vegetables (21 vs 16%), fish (3 vs 2%) and breakfast cereals (7 vs 2%), and significantly less meat and meat products (7 vs 14%) than the least healthy diet quality group. The foods from the meat, dairy and cereals categories consumed by the healthy diet quality groups were healthier versions than those consumed by the unhealthy diet quality groups.Conclusions:All other things being equal, nutrient profile models designed to promote an achievable healthy diet should be category specific but with a limited number of categories. However models which use a large number of categories are unhelpful for promoting a healthy diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National mechanisms for comparing the research profiles of higher education institutions (HEIs) have become increasingly common. Probably the best known of these is the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) conducted in the United Kingdom, and used as the basis for the allocation of research funding. Such exercises are expensive. They would have additional value if the data could be used by HEIs to inform the development of their research strategies. In this paper we use publicly available RAE outcome data to demonstrate this potential. We contrast the two units’ research profiles with other units of assessment within the HEI, with other like-units nationally, and finally we examine the relative performance of all the HEI’s units of assessment against their national counter-parts. Finally we discuss the kinds of insights these data may offer in the development of research strategy at the level of the institution, and at the level of the School or Department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically analyzes the labor supply effects of two “making work pay” reforms in Germany. We provide evidence in favor of policies that distinguish between low effort and low productivity by targeting individuals with low wages rather than those with low earnings. We discuss our results more generally and with comparisons to the family-based tax credits in force in the US and the UK. For the evaluation of the policies, we apply a static structural labor supply framework and explicitly account for demand-side constraints by using a double-hurdle model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper provides a one-page visual summary of the previously published relative survival estimates for 42 types of cancers in 23 countries in Europe.Methods: The cancer patients in these analyses were 15 years or older at the time of their diagnosis in the period 1995-1999. Follow-up was to the end of 2003 and relative survival estimates were computed by the cohort method.Results: The analysis of 1-year survival had good discriminatory power and visibly separated a group of countries with consistently high survival estimates (Switzerland, France, Sweden, Belgium and Italy) and another group of countries with lower estimates (Poland, Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark and United Kingdom-Northern Ireland). After the first year, there was less variation between the countries.Conclusion: To more fully understand the UK situation, a rational comparison would select countries with data-quality, prosperity and healthcare systems that are similar to the United Kingdom. In otherwise comparable populations, a pronounced difference in 1-year survival is most likely to be due to variation in a strong prognostic factor, which exerts its effect in the short term. A likely explanation for the short-term survival deficit in the United Kingdom compared with the Nordic countries is a less favourable stage distribution in the United Kingdom. However, the present superficial analysis does not exclude possible functions for other factors relating to the organisation and quality of cancer care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective and methodSafer care is a strategic priority for healthcare organisations. Yet, the detail of how to improve patient safety is complex. To this end the Royal College of Ophthalmologists has provided guidance to improve ophthalmic patient safety, and is presented in this paper. Which patient safety incidents to report and analyze in ophthalmic practice are outlined and how to do so is also discussed. The focus and setting of this review is on the current organisation of healthcare in United Kingdom and primarily—but not exclusively—within the National Health Service (NHS) provision, as relevant to ophthalmology.ConclusionsEfforts for improvement in ophthalmic patient safety and quality of care are vital and require professional leadership and engagement. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists’ role and position in this regard is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is methodologically based, addressing the study of mathematics teaching by linking micro- and macro-perspectives. Considering teaching as activity, it uses Activity Theory and, in particular, the Expanded Mediational Triangle (EMT) to consider the role of the broader social frame in which classroom teaching is situated. Theoretical and methodological approaches are illustrated through episodes from a study of the mathematics teaching and learning in a Year-10 class in a UK secondary school where students were considered as “lower achievers” in their year group. We show how a number of questions about mathematics teaching and learning emerging from microanalysis were investigated by the use of the EMT. This framework provided a way to address complexity in the activity of teaching and its development based on recognition of central social factors in mathematics teaching–learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on earlier work by the author to explore the international dimensions of a study of the changing roles and identities of professional staff in higher education (Whitchurch , ). It further develops the concept of the blended professional, characterising individuals with identities drawn from both professional and academic domains, and examines the institutional spaces, knowledges, relationships and legitimacies that they construct. Comparisons between the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States are used to provide indicators of possible futures for this group of staff, including their positioning in the university community, the challenges they face, and the potentials that they offer to their institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current veterinary history has not engaged significantly with patient histories. In many historical accounts of veterinary medicine, animal patients are backgrounded or completely invisible. Yet modern veterinary medicine, in its dominant form of companion animal practice, has become increasingly patient-centred. The modern animal patient is accorded something near full subject status in many veterinary clinical interactions. Embracing this raises issues of how to handle animals in veterinary history. Animals are the recipients of veterinary medicine, they exert agency in the clinic and field, yet they have remained problematical for the historian and sociologist, who have remained anthropocentric in orientation. This paper explores different constructions of the veterinary surgical patient in the 20th century in an attempt to begin examination of veterinary history as an animal-patient history "from below." In doing so, a trajectory of the development of British 20th-century veterinary medicine is presented which suggests the value of minding animals in historical accounts. Further interdisciplinary studies of veterinary procedures and practices are needed in order to foreground animals more and evaluate their subject status within historical and contemporary veterinary medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the more striking findings in recent work on political discussion among citizens has been that exposure to disagreement in discussion networks demobilises people, making political participation less likely. This runs counter to the expectations of theories of social capital and deliberative democracy, and also to the finding that exposure to cross-cutting views leads to greater tolerance of the opinions of others. This result is of great significance if it proves to be a general finding, holding in a variety of contexts and for a range of forms of political activism. This paper therefore provides a test, analysing a wide range of forms of political activism. The results suggest that it is premature to blame disagreement for demobilisation: in some circumstances, and for some forms of activism, exposure to countervailing views may actually motivate participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most histories of livestock disease in Britain treat the development of control policy as a government responsibility, to which farmers made little constructive contribution. Similarly, farmers rarely appear in accounts of disease research. This paper uses the example of contagious abortion (brucellosis) at the turn of the twentieth century to reveal that state-farming collaboration in research and policy did in fact occur, and that it operated in various ways, with often unexpected outcomes. The collaborative approach to contagious abortion is partly attributed to its clinical and epidemiological features, which made it an unsuitable candidate for the existing, state-led policy of stamping out disease. It is claimed that such collaboration has been overlooked by historians on account of their focus upon diseases that were amenable to stamping out. This focus needs to change if history is to inform present-day disease governance in Britain, which is founded on the concept of ‘partnership’ between farmers and the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear engineer emerged as a new form of recognised technical professional between 1940 and the early 1960s as nuclear fission, the chain reaction and their applications were explored. The institutionalization of nuclear engineering—channelled into new national laboratories and corporate design offices during the decade after the war, and hurried into academic venues thereafter—proved unusually dependent on government definition and support. This paper contrasts the distinct histories of the new discipline in the USA and UK (and, more briefly, Canada). In the segregated and influential environments of institutional laboratories and factories, historical actors such as physicist Walter Zinn in the USA and industrial chemist Christopher Hinton in the UK proved influential in shaping the roles and perceptions of nuclear specialists. More broadly, I argue that the State-managed implantation of the new subject within further and higher education curricula was shaped strongly by distinct political and economic contexts in which secrecy, postwar prestige and differing industrial cultures were decisive factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives:Assessing food choice and/or nutrient intake in older people, particularly the oldest old (85 years and over), presents particular challenges. In some cases the respondent may have little or no involvement in food acquisition or preparation, in others, cognitive/memory impairment may restrict the ability to recall intake, or physical limitations may affect the ability to record intake. The assessment may therefore need to involve whoever provides care for the older person, of whom there may be more than one. For these reasons, there is a need for validated methods for dietary assessment in large populations within this age range. The need is particularly acute in view of the secular increase in the numbers of older people and the interest in the role of nutrition in maintaining health and ameliorating age-related decline. This paper describes a comparison of two different methods of dietary assessment within the Newcastle 85+ Study; a UK cohort study of health and ageing in the oldest old.Methods:Two methods, the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (based on broad recall of the previous 12 months intake) and the repeated multiple pass recall (MPR) tool (based on detailed recall of the previous day's intake on two separate occasions), were applied in two different groups of approximately 85 individuals aged 85 years. FFQ data were collected during a pilot study conducted between 2003 and 2004, MPR data were collected in the main Newcastle study in 2006. Relative validity was measured by calculation of the ratio of reported energy intake to estimated basal metabolic rate (EI/BMR) and by comparison with dietary intakes reported for subjects of similar age in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.Results:EI/BMR ratios for MPR were 1.56 and 1.39 for men and women, respectively, and for FFQ were 2.18 and 2.14. The FFQ was found to overestimate energy and nutrient intake considerably. The MPR gave more realistic estimates of energy and nutrient intakes, and was found to be acceptable for use in this population group. However, use of this tool required greater investigator (nurse) time, extra resources for training and quality assurance and additional time and expertise in data processing.Conclusions:In the Newcastle 85+ Study, where the overall aims include detailed investigation of diet in relation to many variables describing biological, clinical and psychosocial status, we concluded that MPR was the preferable method, although there remains a need for non-subjective methods for assessing dietary intake, that is, biomarker approaches, which can give a comprehensive and objective assessment of dietary exposure.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2009) 63, S6–S18; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2008.60 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, sport is increasingly recognized as a means for promoting social inclusion. However, evaluation, to date, is limited with regard to the achievement of social inclusion through sport. Based on the database of Sport England’s National Benchmarking Service, this paper aims to investigate the extent to which public leisure facilities were used by socially disadvantaged groups in England over the past 10 years. The statistical evidence demonstrates the consistent pattern of numerical under-representation of the most disadvantaged socio-economic group and people aged over 60 years. Furthermore, there were significant and linear decreases in participation of young people aged 11–19 years and disabled people aged under 60 years. Finally, facility type and management type were found to be the main sources of performance gaps in certain indicators. In spite of these findings, further research is still required to investigate whether under-representation and the deterioration of performance are due to constraints or preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the current status of the Anglophone (Anglo-American) publishing business and draws some comparisons with publishing in other languages. It then critically reviews the impact of the Harry Potter phenomenon and the questionable progress of e-books in the trade sector, using the example of Stephen King’s Riding the Bullet. It also comments on Amazon’s introduction of the Kindle e-book reader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the conceptual development of a self-enumerated scale of quality of life (CASP-19) and presents an empirical evaluation of its structure using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approaches across three different survey settings for older people living in England and Wales in the new millennium. All evaluations are conducted using MPlus which allows the analyst to evaluate the properties of the scale for a set of multivariate categorical items which are subject to item non-response. CASP-19 is a subjective measure of well-being derived from an explicit theory of human need spanning four life domains: control, autonomy, self-realisation and pleasure. Put formally, CASP-19 is a self-reported summative index consisting of 19 Likert scale items. The three survey settings include a postal survey of 263 people in early old age followed up from childhood when the respondents were first interviewed in the 1930's, the first wave (2002) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA_1) and the eleventh wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS_11) also conducted in 2002. These nationally representative surveys consisted of 9300 and 6471 respondents aged 55 years and older. The Boyd-Orr sample provides an exploratory context for the evaluation and ELSA_1 together with BHPS_11 provide the opportunity for confirmatory analyses of three measurement models. There is some support for the use of CASP-19 as a stand alone summative index. However, the analysis reveals that a shortened 12-item scale which combines the life domains 'control and autonomy' in a second order measurement model is the recommended model for analysts. The work was funded under the UK's Economic and Social Research Council's Growing Older Programme and their Priority Network on Human Capability and Resilience. Grant Nos. L480254016 & L326253061. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]