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This paper is the first to use the concept of realized volatility to forecast Value-at-Risk ( VaR) for ICE Brent Crude oil futures. We examine sensitivities in the VaR forecasts across intra-daily sampling frequency used to calculate realized volatility. We evaluate the VaR forecasts using Christoffersen's test for conditional coverage on quantiles of particular interest. Additionally, we examine a percentile-percentile plot of the VaR forecasts for all percentiles. The main empirical results show that very good VaR forecasts can be obtained using Gaussian critical values in combination with volatility forecasts based on realized volatility. An examination of the sampling frequency suggests that the most accurate VaR forecasts are obtained with a sampling frequency of between 1 and 10 min. This has important implications for practitioners operating in the financial oil sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, the first citizenship ceremony was conducted in the London Borough of Brent. These compulsory ceremonies for those who have been granted British citizenship had been proposed in the government white paper and then in the 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act. They were designed to celebrate the moment of achieving citizenships and were one response to a perceived ‘crisis of citizenship’ in Britain. This study examines the texts of the ‘local welcome’ which is given by a local dignitary at every ceremony as a moment of invention of tradition and of narrating citizenship and thereby narrating the nation-state. The study explores how and what the speeches tell us about understandings of citizenship and its relationship to diversity. It explores how history is also represented within the speeches. Finally, the study interrogates the texts' telling of a multi-cultural story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent initiatives for increasing participation in UK elections have yet to replace the traditional method of in-person voting at designated polling stations. Recent research has shown that voter turnout can be sensitive to geographical factors relating to the costs of voting, such as distance travelled to the polling station; government policy has stated that accessibility is a key criterion when siting polling stations. With this paper we directly address these important issues by predicting the probability of electoral turnout to parliamentary, local, and European elections when polling stations are resited to optimal and suboptimal locations based on polling district voter density in the London Borough of Brent. The differences in these predicted probabilities show that, for some polling districts, resiting the polling place could improve the probability of turnout by up to five percentage points. These findings lead to some recommendations for future policy relating to the siting of polling places in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Management methods to control or eradicate invasive alien species should be guided by research into their efficacy in relation to the target species as well as their wider effects on the community. Impatiens glandulifera Royle (Balsaminaceae) is an invasive alien species, which has spread rapidly across Europe and North America, particularly colonizing riverbanks, wet woodlands, and wastelands. The effectiveness of two mechanical control measures and their impacts on community plant species richness and diversity within the riparian zone of the urban river Brent, London, England, was assessed. Over 2 years, an experiment was performed across three sites that exhibited contrasting levels of invasion of I. glandulifera: high, moderate and low. The experiment involved three treatments on replicated plots at all three sites: pruning at 6-week intervals, weeding at 6-week intervals, and a control. The effects of these control measures were most clearly seen at the site with the highest level of invasion and, to a smaller extent, at the moderately invaded site. Weeding was more successful in controlling the species than pruning, and the greatest impact of these treatments on community plant species richness and diversity was only apparent after 2 years of the experiment. Although seedlings of 10 other alien species were found, there was no evidence that their presence on the plots was detrimental to native species during the experimental period. Three common native species each approached 10% cover on the weeded plots at the heavily invaded site by the end of the experiment: Poa annua, Rumex obtusifolius, and Urtica dioica. These assessments provide guidance for implementing mechanical control of I. glandulifera in riparian zones. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The Borough of Brent has one of the largest ethnic minority populations in England, with a growing number of refugee communities from Africa and Europe. Two important issues to be considered when developing culturally sensitive services in the hospital (including food provision) are that practices meet the religious and cultural requirements of the population that the hospital serves and that staff are equipped with the skills to understand cultural differences in illness and treatment. Aims To review accessibility and suitability of multicultural meals to minority ethnic communities across five hospital sites in Brent and determine the level of nursing staff knowledge of multicultural dietary competencies. Methods One survey was completed in each of the five hospital sites to gather information about current catering practices. Two separate questionnaires obtained information of the level of inpatient satisfaction with multicultural meals amongst Hindu, Muslim, Caribbean and Jewish patient groups and knowledge of nursing staff about multicultural competencies. Community groups representing minority ethnic populations participated in focus groups to establish feedback about dietary requirements in hospitals. Results Access to multicultural meals varied across hospital sites. Of 98 patients in the inpatient satisfaction survey, 74% were aware of the availability of multicultural meals with 51% of these patients not ordering any of the Asian vegetarian, Asian halal, Caribbean or kosher meals, citing satisfaction with European food as the main reason. Those ordering multicultural meals reported satisfaction most of the time (42%), satisfied most of the time (38%) and never satisfied (19%). The African Muslim group was the least satisfied with current halal meal provision. Forty-seven per cent of nurses questioned could accurately answer questions about multicultural dietary competencies. Conclusions Improvements could be made to improve... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a recent study which revealed that the level of priority given to injury prevention is alarmingly low. The study involved a literature review and completion of a questionnaire by professionals in health, social care, and voluntary organisations in Brent, England. This short project was carried out as part of the injury prevention course run by the University of Newcastle and Child Accident Prevention Trust by one of the students, Tracy Walsh, a health promotion specialist at Brent Primary Care Trust.