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BackgroundNumerous studies have explored the concept of ‘professionalism’ in medicine, yet little attention has been paid to the concept in a mental health services context.AimsThis study sought to determine how the lived experience of patients, carers and healthcare professionals in mental health services align with medically defined, generic, professionalism standards.MethodInterviews and focus groups were conducted with patients, carers, nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists. A framework analysis approach was used to analyse the data, based on the ‘Improving Selection to the Foundation Programmes’ Professional Attributes Framework.ResultsFifty-six individuals participated. Data aligned to all nine attributes of the Professional Attributes Framework, however the expectations within each attribute varied from that originally cited. A tenth attribute was devised during the process of analysis; Working with Carers. This attribute acknowledges the need to liaise with, and support carers in mental health services. Situational examples included both online and offline behaviours and the topic of ‘black humour’ emerged.ConclusionsCompared to a conventional medical definition of professionalism, additional themes and differing emphases were observed for mental health and learning disability services. These findings should be used to inform the teaching and evaluation of professionalism, especially for staff pursuing mental health service careers.

Like most of its kind, the Swedish Green Party could originally have been described as anti-establishment and policy-seeking. The slogan ‘neither left nor right’ reflected its preferred position be...

The parliamentary election of 14 September 2014 induced decidedly mixed feelings in the Swedish Green Party (Miljopartiet de grona). It led to the ejection of the centre-right government and the installation, for the first time, of Green cabinet ministers. However, the party also experienced a small but unexpected loss of votes compared to its score in the previous election. Moreover, partly because a far-right party built impressively on its breakthrough into the national parliament in 2010, the new government rests on a precariously narrow parliamentary base.

The parliamentary election in Sweden on 14 September 2014 resulted in defeat for the four-party centre-right coalition that had governed for eight years.1 It was displaced by another coalition, com...

The efficacy of dolutegravir (DTG) has been demonstrated in 5 randomized studies in integrase inhibitor (INI)-naive adult populations. To date, a detailed safety review of DTG has not been provided in the literature.To describe the safety and tolerability profile of DTG in adults based on 5 randomized, controlled trials and comparison with drugs in 3 major antiretroviral (ARV) classes.Safety data from phase IIb/III/IIIb trials in ART-naive and ART-experienced, INI-naive adults were integrated.In 4 ART-naive (SPRING-1, SPRING-2, SINGLE, FLAMINGO) and 1 ART-experienced, INI-naive study (SAILING), 1,579 individuals received a DTG-containing regimen. The proportion of individuals from DTG treatment arms who withdrew due to adverse events (AEs) was low (≤2%) compared to raltegravir (RAL; 2% SPRING-2, 4% SAILING), efavirenz (EFV)-containing comparator arm (10% SINGLE), and darunavir + ritonavir (DRV/r; 4% FLAMINGO). The most frequently observed AEs (diarrhea, nausea, headache), typically grade 1 or 2 in severity, did not lead to study discontinuation. Psychiatric and nervous system disorders with DTG were comparable to RAL- and DRV/r-containing regimens and favorable to EFV-containing regimens. In hepatitis B and/or C coinfected ART-naive individuals, the incidence of transaminase elevations was lower with DTG versus RAL and EFV comparators, but was similar to DRV/r. In SAILING, transaminase elevations were more commonly observed with DTG, particularly in the setting of inadequate hepatitis B therapy or immune reconstitution. On DTG treatment, mild creatinine elevations occurred and stabilized early. Few cases of hypersensitivity reaction and/or severe rash were seen. Rates of these events were comparable to or lower than with RAL-, EFV-, and DRV/r-containing regimens.The safety profile for DTG 50 mg once daily in INI-naive individuals was comparable to RAL- and DRV/r-containing regimens and generally favorable compared with EFV-containing regimens.

In this essay, we examine the introduction of three points for a win in senior football, a reform that eventually became universally adopted. We have two objectives. First, we seek to answer the qu ...

This article addresses political-party organization in Estonia, especially candidate selection. Its first objective is to describe the ways in which the main parties chose their candidates before the 2011 parliamentary election. A second objective is to evaluate those procedures in light of expectations generated by established theory. The focus is on two conditions: the institutional framework, particularly the electoral system, and the relative youth of Estonian democracy. The evidence confirms these expectations only partially, which suggests that an individual party’s ideological, organizational and strategic circumstances, in addition to structural and institutional conditions, are critical to understanding why it performs this basic function as it does.

Laser ultrasonics conventionally use direct absorption in the sample to generate ultrasound and monitor the sample to detect the ultrasound. However, in some circumstances there are significant advantages to using an optical transducer – a device to facilitate the conversion of optical energy into acoustic energy or to facilitate the modulation of light by an acoustic wave. These devices are known as ‘cheap optical transducers’ (CHOTs). For some applications, they offer considerable advantages over conventional laser ultrasonics or conventional contact ultrasonics. In this paper, the design, operation and applications of CHOTs are discussed, and the concept is extended to the use of superCHOTs that can achieve amplitudes and sensitivities above the usual laser ultrasound limits, nano-scale devices capable of the generation and the detection of ultrasound with wavelengths smaller than that of visible light and devices capable of generating modes not normally accessible to laser ultrasound.

Background: Biomass has been identified as an important source of renewable energy. However, growing demand for dedicated energy crops could lead to conflicts with food production and ecosystem services. This study uses a geographic information systems-embedded modeling approach to assess the spatial supply of short-rotation coppice, taking into account social, economic and environmental constraints. Results: Results suggest that 7.5 million tons of biomass (from short-rotation coppice) is realistically available in England. Such production would require 0.8 million ha and could be grown almost entirely on poor quality marginal lands. Conclusion: We therefore conclude that short-rotation coppice energy crops have the potential to play an important role in meeting UK renewable energy targets without compromising environmental sustainability or food production.

Clinical supervision is of growing importance, but poor conceptualization continues to impede research and practice. We conducted a “best evidence synthesis” (empirical review) of the literature to generate an integrative summary of the concepts and models used (implicitly or explicitly) in 24 published empirical articles. Using the qualitative data from these adequately rigorous, successful manipulations of supervision, we constructed inductively a basic model of clinical supervision. That is, we proffer an evidence-based, conceptually integrative, and suitably complex model of supervision. The model features 32 contextual variables of successful supervision (e.g., administrative support), 26 supervision interventions (i.e., corrective feedback), and 28 outcomes (i.e., how supervisees learned from supervision).

The Swedish Social Democrats are one of the most successful political parties in the democratic world. Between 1932 and 2006 they were out of government for just over nine years, and had not needed...

Review of book edited by Knut Heidar ; Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 2004, NOK 299, ISBN 8-2150-0628-0 (pbk)

[Review of] Stefano Fella, "New Labour and the European Union : Political Strategy, Policy Transition and the Amsterdam Treaty Negotiations"

review of a book by Tapio Raunio and Teija Tiilikainen ; London, Frank Cass, 2003, ISBN 0 7146 8309 4

This study identified two potential novel biomarkers of peroxisome proliferation in the rat. Three peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligands, chosen for their high selectivity towards the PPARalpha, -delta and -gamma subtypes, were given to rats twice daily for 7 days at doses known to cause a pharmacological effect or peroxisome proliferation. Fenofibrate was used as a positive control. Daily treatment with the PPARalpha and -delta agonists produced peroxisome proliferation and liver hypertrophy. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and multivariate statistical data analysis of urinary spectra from animals given the PPARalpha and -delta agonists identified two new potential biomarkers of peroxisome proliferation--N-methylnicotinamide (NMN) and N-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide (4PY)--both endproducts of the tryptophan-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) pathway. After 7 days, excretion of NMN and 4PY increased 24- and three-fold, respectively, following high doses of fenofibrate. The correlation between total NMN excretion over 7 days and the peroxisome count was r=0.87 (r2=0.76). Plasma NMN, measured using a sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method, was increased up to 61-fold after 7 days' treatment with high doses of fenofibrate. Hepatic gene expression of aminocarboxymuconate-semialdehyde decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.45) was downregulated following treatment with the PPARalpha and -delta agonists. The decrease was up to 11-fold compared with controls in the groups treated with high doses of fenofibrate. This supports the link between increased NMN and 4PY excretion and regulation of the tryptophan-NAD+ pathway in the liver. In conclusion, NMN, and possibly other metabolites in the pathway, are potential non-invasive surrogate biomarkers of peroxisome proliferation in the rat.

[Review of] William R. Shaffer (1998), "Politics and Parliaments : Political Change in Norway" and Donald R. Matthews and Henry Valen (1999), "Parliamentary Representation: The Case of the Norwegian Storting"

[Review of] Ian Budge, Ken Newton et al (1997), "The Politics of the New Europe : Atlantic to Urals"

Sweden voted in November 1994 to approve EU membership. Although the Social Democratic Party's leadership advocated approval, the membership was badly divided. Against the backdrop of two Nordic sister parties’ similar difficulties, this article examines the leadership's management of the internal conflict. It analyses the evolution and main elements of its management strategy, the most important being an attempt to accommodate rather than confront the party's Eurosceptics. As the leadership's two goals for 1994, an election victory and a ‘Yes’ in the referendum, were both achieved, the strategy must be considered a qualified, short‐term success.