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Background: The risk of suicide is complex and often a result of multiple interacting factors. Understanding which groups of the population are most at risk of suicide is important to inform the development of targeted public health interventions. Methods: We used a novel linked dataset that combined the 2011 Census with the population-level mortality data in England and Wales. We fitted generalized linear models with a Poisson link function to estimate the rates of suicide across different sociodemographic groups and to identify which characteristics are independent predictors of suicide. Results: Overall, the highest rates of suicide were among men aged 40-50 years, individuals who reported having a disability or long-term health problem, those who were unemployed long term or never had worked, and those who were single or separated. After adjusting for other characteristics such as employment status, having a disability or long-term health problem, was still found to increase the incidence of suicide relative to those without impairment [incidence rate ratio minimally adjusted (women) = 3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI)=3.3-3.6; fully adjusted (women) 3.1, 95% CI=3.0-3.3]. Additionally, while the absolute rate of suicide was lower in women compared with men, the relative risk in people reporting impairments compared with those who do not was higher in women compared with men. Conclusions: The findings of this work provide novel population-level insights into the risk of suicide by sociodemographic characteristics in England and Wales. Our results highlight several sociodemographic groups who may benefit from more targeted suicide prevention policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet chestnut, an Asiatic tree introduced in many parts of Europe including the United Kingdom, is planted for nut production, timber, and amenity. Its major threat is the disease called blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, which infects through wounds by airborne spores. Field trapping using sticky rods rotating traps was performed in an infected area in Devon (between May 2021 and April 2023). An improved dual hydrolysis Taqman probes real-time PCR was used. The number of spores was calculated by comparing the cycle threshold to the Ct of standards with known amounts of conidia or known target fragment copies cloned into a plasmid. Weekly spore counts were in the range of around 60 to approximately 8.5 × 103, with fluctuations of peaks (mainly in late summer–autumn 2021) and troughs. The effects of weather parameters were modelled, finding correlations between spore numbers and temperature, humidity, dewpoint, rainfall, wind speed, and wind duration. Additionally, an insect trapping was performed to confirm the presence/absence and quantity of C. parasitica conidia potentially phoretic on some insects by using the same molecular approach. None of the ten collected insect species harboured spores of this fungus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how non‐marine thrombolites are formed through a complex, multiphase process of microbial framework construction, erosion, cementation, recrystallization and episodes of internal sedimentation. Recognition of such phases of thrombolite construction provides a framework for the interpretation of the fluctuating environmental conditions leading to their formation. Microbialite frameworks are examined in detail from the Purbeck Limestone Group and their affinities and palaeo‐environmental significance assessed. Three types of thrombolite, one stromatolite and a leolite are described and interpreted. The thrombolite frameworks include: a peloidal mesoclotted type, a thrombolite constructed by the filamentous alga Cladophorites and a type with concentrically laminated micritic mesoclots. Physical and chemical erosion led to extensive early cavity formation within the frameworks. Early calcite rim cements with associated spherulites then developed over the microbial frameworks and these were reworked into cavities. Frameworks were also replaced by chalcedonic quartz and calcite spherulites. Internal sediments comprise peloids, intraclasts and brackish‐water molluscs and ostracods, together with their debris. The thrombolites grew in moderate‐energy to high‐energy shallow, lacustrine, microbial mounds whereas stromatolites occurred in deeper‐water settings. A brackish‐water, lacustrine setting is indicated by the preserved macro‐biota, microbes, absence of charophytes and syndepositional evaporites, and negative stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios. Strontium isotopes suggest that the carbonate‐rich waters were fed from erosion of Mid–Lower Jurassic limestones on the western basin margin with possible mixing with waters from nearby uplifted Upper Jurassic limestones and with Late Jurassic seawater. The research indicates that non‐marine thrombolites have a complex, multiphase origin resulting in a diverse succession of textures and structures relating to microbially induced and influenced construction, dissolution, cementation, recrystallization and mineral replacement which have not been previously recorded and indicate the major differences between marine and non‐marine thrombolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focused on the benefits and challenges for second year Education Studies undergraduate students acting as near-peer mentors for year 12 students (aged 16-17). Near-peer mentoring often involves postgraduate students working with new undergraduates and is more common during Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) programmes. There is little research available, outside of STEM, about how near-peer mentors might influence the aspirations of students to access HE, or of the impact on undergraduate mentors themselves. The student near-peer mentors were part of the Research Higher project in an area of England with unexplained low participation rates in HE. The project involved circa 200 students from local schools in a programme of weekly events where they designed and conducted their own research. Second year Education Studies undergraduate students supported two cohorts of year 12 students during their on-campus seminar activities. The findings draw on thematic analysis of undergraduate student interviews at the end of the project. They indicate that near-peer mentoring has unexpected benefits for undergraduate Education Studies students including meta-cognition about their own learning and confidence in working with older students. Recommendations for future near-peer mentoring programmes are proposed based on student feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student difficulties with the transition to writing in higher education are well documented whether from a 'study skills', an 'academic socialisation' or an 'academic literacies' perspective. In order to more closely examine the challenges faced by students from widening participation backgrounds and diverse routes into undergraduate study, this project focuses on first-year undergraduate experiences of developing academic literacies on an Education Studies programme at one university in England. It highlights the impact of different support and guidance within and beyond their degree programme where attempts to embed academic literacy development are part of subject modules. The paper reports the findings generated using a mixed methods interpretive approach. Questionnaires were collected at the beginning (n = 48) and end of the students' first year (n = 44), and interviews and visual data collection methods (n =19) were used at the mid-point of the academic year. Key findings highlight students' expectations of achievement on entry to university and the influence of the emotional journey of students as they begin to make progress as academic writers. Identifying, selecting and applying academic reading were an enduring concern whilst some students struggled with the digital literacy implicit in undergraduate work. Importantly, some strategies developed to support student transition to academic writing in higher education may have unintended consequences as they progress through the first year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Elevation of the ECG J-point in the inferior and lateral leads (early repolarization) has been described in survivors of ventricular fibrillation (VF) arrest and occurs in adult first-degree relatives of sudden cardiac death (SCD) probands at a frequency significantly greater than in controls, raising the possibility that this could represent an independent risk factor in the aetiology of SCD. However, data on early repolarization in the paediatric population are lacking. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of early repolarization in paediatric first-degree relatives of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) victims.Methods and Results: Paediatric relatives (aged <18 years) of SADS probands referred to the Inherited Arrhythmia Clinic at Great Ormond Street Hospital had their initial screening ECG reviewed for evidence of J-point elevation. J-point elevation was defined as QRS-ST slurring or a discrete notch in two or more inferior (II, III, aVF) or lateral (I, aVL, V4, V5, V6) leads with the change beginning >1 mV from baseline. The ECGs of 77 consecutive paediatric first-degree relatives of SADS victims from 46 families were reviewed by two assessors. J-point elevation was present in 24 patients (31%) of this patient group compared with the reported prevalence of 5-13% in the published general paediatric population (P = 0.02) and that of 19% in the internal control group (P = 0.07). Subgroup analysis according to J-point elevation and ST segment morphologies showed a significantly higher prevalence of inferior early repolarization 0.1-0.2 mV in the study group compared with controls (75 vs. 38%; P = 0.02).Conclusion: Inferolateral J-point elevation occurs in a substantial proportion of paediatric first-degree relatives of SADS probands with a similar prevalence to that described in adults. This suggests that early repolarization could be an important inherited trait when evaluating relatives of SADS victims. However, prospective follow-up of this group of children is important to establish the implication of this finding in future risk stratification, given the apparently high prevalence in normal individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years the rod and net catch of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., on the River Tamar in south-west England has decreased markedly, resulting in a consistent failure to meet the minimum egg deposition target (conservation limit). Compliance with the target is by annual assessment using rod catch as the major input variable. Further analysis suggested a disproportionate deterioration in the rod fishery performance of the Tamar compared with rivers locally, regionally and nationally. A concomitant decrease in rod licence sales and fishing effort, above both national and regional trends was also evident. However, examination of juvenile electric fishing and adult fish counter data revealed a different trend for the past 10 years, indicating a stable fish population, albeit at a lower level of abundance than previously. The analyses suggested that without consideration of changes in effort and rod exploitation rate, rod catch alone is not a reliable indicator of stock abundance and hence should not be used as such in stock assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tamar Lakes is comprised of two reservoirs, which are located in South West England and in the headwaters of River Tamar at approximately 135 m above ordnance datum. Upper Tamar Lake (UTL) is a direct feed source reservoir of potable water in North Cornwall. Immediately following completion in 1975, UTL was subject to intense blue-green algal blooms that continue to the present. These blooms create operational problems for water treatment, especially in hot-dry years. Lower Tamar Lake (LTL) was constructed as a water supply reservoir in 1819 and became obsolete following UTL coming on-line. Detailed water quality investigations over a period of some 28 years have confirmed the source of nutrient enrichment that fuels the algal blooms to be agriculturally derived, corresponding with a substantial increase in livestock farming. Associated poor land management practices, such as extensive field drainage and inappropriate slurry disposal to land, are linked with substantial elevations in organic contaminants such as ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids (SS) during rainfall events. Evidence demonstrates that both reservoirs act as primary treatment lagoons, substantially reducing the worst of these pollutants and providing significant environmental gain. The implications of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and regulatory monitoring are discussed in relation to resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Change process models, developed in the tradition of Lewin, tend to emphasize people as resisting change, portray leading and coping with change as discrete entities, and reify the organization. In contrast, this article reports on findings from two descriptive surveys examining leading and coping processes. Attitudes, opinions and organizational practices were investigated to identify and describe variability in change in financial service institutions in the City of London as led by top managers and as experienced by employees. A 'leading and coping with change' framework that emphasizes the social process dynamics of change is developed which managers can utilise as a conceptual tool to guide action. This is built around the finding that change leaders are themselves part of the process, and that the judgmental and cognitive processes which employees engage in, in their relationship with those leading change, is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From an extensive literature survey and from analytical data of 130 species from the Sheffield flora, the physiological and molecular attributes, and occurrence of fructan are considered. The exceptionally high concentrations of fructan in many native species and its exclusive vacuolar location are noted. In view of the contention that fructan may function in low temperature tolerance, estimates are given of their maximum vacuolar concentration. For most species examined, this is unlikely to make a significant contribution to low temperature tolerance under the field conditions of the Sheffield flora. The association of high concentrations in the shoots of several species with high nuclear 2C DNA values is recorded. It is this correlation which may be of significance to several early-season growing species. By maintaining supplies of fructose and sucrose from vacuoles in tissue undergoing expansion at low temperatures (a feature associated with high DNA values), such species obviate the need for transport of carbohydrate over distance as in starch-storing species. By shortening supply lines at critical cold periods, fructan-rich species may have a considerable advantage over starch-storing, small-celled, transport-dependent species. However, such an advantage is not commonly exploited by the contemporary Sheffield flora. It is suggested that the ecological significance of fructan may best be seen in floras of the past or in contemporary floras undergoing more severe environmental stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the diagnosis of patients with hematuria in England. Symptoms of the disease; Complications of delay in diagnosis of hematuria; Causes of delay; Examination on the bacteriological and cytological aspects of urine.

Many providers aspire to scale up proactive care that prevents escalation of health and care needs, delays onset of disability, and reduces demand for emergency department attendance or admission to hospital or care home. NHS England offers guidance on personalised and coordinated multi-professional support and interventions for people with moderate or severe frailty. This article reflects on the growing international evidence for an integrated proactive approach for older people with frailty and why investing in high-quality, joined-up care for older people across the whole system improves outcomes for people, reduces demand for services, increases system resilience, and delivers economic and societal benefits. Facing up to frailty requires creative whole system workforce planning and development that will be challenging to deliver in the current financial and recruitment context yet all the more worthwhile as scaling up proactive care has the potential to be a game changer.