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This article provides an analysis and critique of the education component of the 2021 "Sewell Report on Race and Ethnic Disparities." Discussion focuses on the report's spurious claims to objectivity, the erasure of racism and the inadequacy of its recommendations. It is suggested, however, that despite its many flaws, the Sewell Report poses challenges for those who have traditionally been aligned with antiracism in education. The article concludes by setting out a vision for a new progressive project aimed at advancing racial and cultural justice that, it is suggested, can begin to address these challenges.

This article explores how schools with below average attainment can support high-attaining learners in their decision-making about university. We report on a project involving longitudinal case studies of 43 high-achieving learners from a range of backgrounds across five institutions, during their sixth form career in 2013/14 and 2014/15, focusing on ways in which aspirations towards university develop. To understand schools' roles in supporting learners, we draw on Hart's analytical framework which sees the development of aspiration for higher education as a capability--the development of the opportunity freedoms of young people to pursue future trajectories that they have reason to value. We draw attention to the factors that facilitate or hinder this development, and highlight the key crunch points at which this feeds into young people's decision-making about university. We suggest that policy and practice should move beyond a traditional focus on the role of schools in raising aspirations amongst learners from non-traditional backgrounds. Instead, there should be a focus on how schools can support young people to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the university landscape, so that young people do not rule out options without fully understanding them. This will in turn lead to young people being able to make informed choices linked to future trajectories they have reason to value. 'Learning to play the game' of attending Russell Group universities needs to be seen as part of the development of this wider capability to aspire.

Background: Deaths of people with intellectual disabilities are often unplanned for and poorly managed. Little is known about how to involve people with intellectual disabilities in end-of-life care planning. Aim: To explore the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities, families, health and social care professionals and policy makers on end-of-life care planning within intellectual disability services. Design: A total of 11 focus groups and 1 semi-structured interview were analysed using qualitative framework and matrix analysis. The analysis was conducted inclusively with co-researchers with intellectual disabilities. Setting/participants: A total of 60 participants (14 people with intellectual disabilities, 9 family carers, 21 intellectual disability professionals, 8 healthcare professionals and 8 policy makers) from the UK. Results: There were differences in how end-of-life care planning was understood by stakeholder groups, covering four areas: funeral planning, illness planning, planning for living and talking about dying. This impacted when end-of-life care planning should happen and with whom. Participants agreed that end-of-life care planning was important, and most wanted to be involved, but in practice discussions were postponed. Barriers included issues with understanding, how or when to initiate the topic and a reluctance to talk about dying. Conclusions: To develop effective interventions and resources aiding end-of-life care planning with people with intellectual disabilities, clarity is needed around what is being planned for, with whom and when. Research and development are needed into supporting intellectual disability staff in end-of-life care planning conversations. Collaboration between intellectual disability staff and palliative care services may facilitate timely end-of-life care planning and thus optimal palliative end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the importance of community involvement in addressing the mpox outbreak. Topics include the potential negative impact of classifying mpox as an STI on stigma, the need for community input in discussions about mpox, and the value of including affected communities in response efforts, as exemplified by a UK clinical treatment trial.

UK statutory guidance for practitioners suggests that indebtedness is an area where safeguarding red flags should be raised and action taken to minimize the risk of exploitation. Yet, our research shows that unaccompanied migrant children have complex indebted relationships, which can range from extractive to connective. Drawing on interviews with unaccompanied children, we show that these indebted relationships can include financial debt to smugglers, responsibilities to support transnational families, as well as social obligations to peers and others. Their accounts present a nuanced understanding of the taboo nature of indebted relationships, not to be shared with the practitioners in their lives. This is due, in part, to the potential threat of reporting to the Home Office, which might jeopardize their immigration status. In response to this weaponization of social care, we demonstrate how children turn to peer networks of support, creating their own alternative forms of social protection. In so doing, we complicate critiques of adultification, which traditionally highlight the ways that racially minoritized children may be treated as adults—to their detriment. In so doing, we show that because indebtedness is normatively linked to adulthood, unaccompanied children's hopes and fears may be rendered unsayable and therefore unsupportable in social care, all in the name of safeguarding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loot boxes are purchased in video games to obtain randomised rewards of varying value and are thus psychologically akin to gambling. Disclosing the probabilities of obtaining loot box rewards may reduce overspending, in a similar vein to related disclosure approaches in gambling. Presently, this consumer protection measure has been adopted as law only in the People's Republic of China (PRC). In other countries, the videogaming industry has generally adopted this measure as self-regulation. However, self-regulation conflicts with commercial interests and might not maximally promote public welfare. The loot box prevalence rate amongst the 100 highest-grossing UK iPhone games was 77% in mid-2021. The compliance rate with probability disclosure industry self-regulation was only 64.0%, significantly lower than that of PRC legal regulation (95.6%). In addition, UK games generally made insufficiently prominent and difficult-to-access disclosures both in-game and on the game's official website. Significantly fewer UK games disclosed probabilities on their official websites (21.3%) when compared to 72.5% of PRC games. Only one of 75 UK games (1.3%) adopted the most prominent disclosure format of automatically displaying the probabilities on the in-game purchase page. Policymakers should demand more accountable forms of industry self-regulation or impose direct legal regulation to ensure consumer protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) constitute a wide variety of chemistries with diverse properties that may/can pose risks to both humans and the environment. Herein, a total of 26 compounds, including steroids, flame retardants, and plasticizers, were monitored in three major and heavily urbanized river catchments: the R. Liffey (Ireland), the R. Thames (UK), and the R. Ter (Spain), by using a single solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS) method. Occurrence and frequency rates were investigated across all locations over a 10-week period, with the highest concentration obtained for the flame retardant tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) at 4767 ng∙L−1 in the R. Thames in Central London. Geographical variations were observed between sites and were partially explained using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). In particular, discrimination between the R. Ter and the R. Thames was observed based on the presence and concentration of flame retardants, benzotriazole, and steroids. Environmental risk assessment (ERA) across sites showed that caffeine, a chemical marker, and bisphenol A (BPA), a plasticizer, were classified as high-risk for the R. Liffey and R. Thames, based on relative risk quotients (rRQs), and that caffeine was classified as high-risk for the R. Ter, based on RQs. The total risks at each location, namely ΣRQriver, and ΣrRQriver, were: 361, 455, and 723 for the rivers Liffey, Thames, and Ter, respectively. Caffeine, as expected, was ubiquitous in all 3 urban areas, though with the highest RQ observed in the R. Ter. High contributions of BPA were also observed across the three matrices. Therefore, these two compounds should be prioritized independently of location. This study represents a comprehensive EDC monitoring comparison between different European cities based on a single analytical method, which allowed for a geographically independent ERA prioritization to be performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fixing the place and provider for the resolution of disputes in advance, choice of court agreements increase procedural legal certainty and the predictability of litigation risks. Hence, their protection is crucial. This article undertakes a functional comparison of the remedies for breach of exclusive choice of court agreements in English and German courts, painting a picture of different approaches to a common problem. English courts, now no longer constrained by EU law, employ an entire arsenal of remedies, most strikingly the anti-suit injunction and damages effectively reversing a foreign judgment. In contrast, German courts exercise greater judicial restraint, even though damages for the breach of a choice of court agreement have recently been awarded for the first time. Against this backdrop, two distinct but interrelated reasons for the diverging approaches are identified and analysed, the different conceptions of choice of court agreements and the different roles of comity and mutual trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This historical account traces the beginnings of the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE) to the founding of the Society for Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education (SRPMME) in 1972, which in turn had evolved from Arnold Bentley's Research in Music Education conferences instituted in 1966. The paper charts the growth and development of SRPMME through to its transformation into SEMPRE in 2002. In conclusion there is a discussion of the society's achievements and influences which augur well for the future of research in the fields of music, education and psychology. (Contains 3 tables and 4 notes.)

Outcomes measurement has become a contemporary requirement for non-profit, government, and private sector child, youth, and family service providers throughout North America as well as in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Cost-effectiveness, care planning, service evaluations, and fiscal audits are now commonplace with efforts to improve out-of-home care, education, and treatment outcomes. There is a growing expectation that service providers demonstrate accountability and achieve specific outcomes. The authors combine the Circle of Courage and the Search Institute Assets models to record developmental outcomes. (Contains 1 figure.)

This paper investigates whether the inter-generational benefits of parental adult education exist over and above the achievement of parental educational qualifications during schooling and whether returns to parental adult learning are greatest for children of parents with low levels of education. Using data from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC, results show that mothers' participation in adult education is not associated with improvements in their children's academic attainment in English and mathematics at age 14 once the previous parental academic qualifications are included. This lack of relationship was found for the overall sample, and for subgroups defined by the type of adult education (accredited, unaccredited or informal learning), the intensity of learning (duration and engagement) and by mothers' prior educational qualifications. Although our results suggest that maternal adult learning is not a key factor for improvement in children's test scores at age 14, further research is needed to investigate the role of parental adult learning at other stages of children's cognitive development. (Contains 7 notes, 1 figure and 5 tables.)

This study investigated trajectories of parenting behaviours and children's development from infancy to early childhood, associations between parenting behaviours and children's development and how these associations vary according to socioeconomic indicators. Mothers and children were examined from an ongoing longitudinal study of families resident in the geographic area of Avon in the UK. Using growth curve modelling, four waves of data were examined when the children were 6-42 months old. Findings suggest that timing is an important factor in the relationship between parenting and children's development. The positive association between mother-child interactions and children's development was evident 12 months later, whereas engagement in outside activities had both concurrent and later positive associations with children's development. Maternal education was also highlighted as a significant moderator suggesting that interactive parenting may have a protective role for children whose mothers have lower education. (Contains 8 tables and 5 figures.)

This article presents findings from a study of mature part-time students and their reported benefits of study. It is based on data from a questionnaire survey of graduates from two major--but very different--providers of part-time higher education: Birkbeck, University of London and the Open University. Response items were grouped within a "three capitals" framework: human, identity and social capital. The first part of the analysis presents the distribution of responses within this framework, and the relation between benefits in terms of these capitals. The analysis shows considerable benefits in all the areas. Further, the patterns of benefits reported by the respondents from the two institutions were remarkably similar. The second part of the findings, based on a regression analysis, explores associations between benefits reported and the characteristics of the respondents and subject studied. Again, there were significant similarities between the two populations. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

There is growing evidence that childhood IQ is inversely associated with mortality in later life. However, the specificity of this association in terms of causes of death, whether it is continuous over the whole range of IQ scores and whether it is the same according to age and sex is not clear. In a large cohort (N = 11,603) of a complete population of children born in one city in the UK in the early 1950s, IQ measured at age 7 years (using a routinely administered picture test) was found to be inversely associated with mortality between the ages of 15 and 57 years. For every 1 SD increase in IQ at 7, the all cause mortality hazard ratio was 0.79 (95% CI 0.73, 0.85). On adjustment for a range of perinatal factors, father's social class at birth, number of sibs in the household and childhood height and weight, this was attenuated slightly to 0.81 (0.74, 0.88). Almost identical associations of IQ with mortality were seen for men and women as well as at younger (15-39) and older (40+) ages. These associations were across the entire IQ range, although some of the high mortality in the lowest category of IQ (less than 70) was accounted for by causes associated with congenital disorders. Overall, external causes of death showed the strongest association, with weaker associations being seen for cancer. Further work is required to understand the mechanisms whereby childhood IQ has such a robust association with mortality in later life. (Contains 6 tables.)

Globalization steers modern society and contributes significantly to the internationalization of higher education. New means of transport and communication expand educational and research opportunities worldwide and higher education is becoming a blossoming global industry. It is also seen as a vital part of national policy and the national economy because in today's fiercely competitive world knowledge adds real value. In this environment, countries face a tough competition to be a magnet for world-class academics and the brightest students. In other words, they must make themselves academically attractive. Therefore this article tries to answer the question of what constitutes a country's "academic attraction." We will conceptualize the phenomenon of academic attraction and identify different measures of capturing it. Finally, the paper will identify the best available indicators to assess academic attraction and apply them to selected European Union countries (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands). (Contains 3 figures, 3 tables, and 11 notes.)

Twentieth century governance models used in public universities are subject to increasing doubt across the English-speaking world. Governments question if public universities are being efficiently governed; if their boards of trustees are adequately fulfilling their trust obligations towards multiple stakeholders; and if collegial models of governance are working in increasingly complex educational environments. With declining public funding for tertiary education, growing international competition among institutions of higher learning in our information age and worrisome evidence of dysfunctional governance, critics question if established governance structures are able to meet these and other challenges. Some insist that members of faculty are most suited to govern public universities because they appreciate the vision and mission of the university. Others demand that boards of governors be skilled in financial matters and drawn primarily from corporate life. Yet others call for governance based on trust and confidence between those who govern and those who are governed. The article evaluates competing trends in models of university governance in the United Kingdom, the British Commonwealth and the United States. Arguing against a one-size-fits-all model, it sets out specific factors to consider in reforming governance models to meet the demands of our times.

This paper describes the characteristics of people who return to learning to achieve at least a level 2 qualification, drawing on the 1958 National Child Development Cohort Study. Results show that adults who gained level 2 were more likely than those who did not to have been engaged in a range of learning activities at earlier ages, including learning during childhood, staying in education during adolescence and undertaking courses leading and not leading to qualifications during adulthood. The factor that has the highest impact on progression by age 33 and by age 42 is early school attainment. This means that for individuals who do well at school there is a greater chance of achievement of qualifications during adulthood, even when this qualification is not achieved by age 23. We further find that socioeconomic constraints in adulthood may be less of a barrier to progression than is often believed. Taking together, these findings suggest that the main focus should be on paying particular attention to attitudinal barriers to learning, rather than just being concerned with removing economic and social constraints.

Although the "Mixed" primary and secondary school population is rapidly growing in both size and recognition, pupils from mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds are largely invisible in current educational policies and practices regarding minority ethnic pupils. In light of initial Local Education Authority-level data which suggested that pupils from Mixed White/Black Caribbean backgrounds were significantly underachieving and over-represented in school exclusions, the authors of this article conducted a research project which, through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, explored the educational attainment, experiences and needs of this group of pupils. Drawing on the qualitative data from the project, this article will discuss three key areas of findings. Firstly, by presenting data from the case study interviews with pupils, parents, teachers and specialist educational (local Ethnic Minority Achievement Service) advisors, the authors will discuss how the perceptions of the White/Black Caribbean pupils they encountered in the schools encompassed both traditional constructions of "mixedness"--which conceptualise mixed identities as inherently problematic--and emerging "new wave" constructions--which conceptualise mixed identities not only as unproblematic, but as positive and celebratory. Secondly, the authors discuss the extent to which these perceptions and their potential impact on pupils' achievement are supported or challenged by existing educational policies and practices. They conclude by highlighting some of the methodological and theoretical challenges encountered in researching mixedness in the educational context and discuss the implications of these for both their research project and the field of "mixed race studies" as a whole. (Contains 13 notes.)

Pupils of White and Black Caribbean descent make up the largest category of mixed heritage pupils in the United Kingdom. As a group they are at risk of underachieving and are proportionally over-represented in school exclusions. Yet little is known to date about the barriers to their achievement. The common-sense explanation for their underachievement is often in relation to the perception that mixed-heritage people are more likely to have "identity problems" and low self-esteem because of their mixed backgrounds. In some cases, this view is further compounded by low teacher expectations associated with the socio-economic background and household structure of some mixed heritage pupils. By drawing on qualitative data from recent research,1 this article will explore the barriers to achievement faced by White/Black Caribbean pupils in English schools. We argue that although White/Black Caribbean pupils are likely to experience a similar set of barriers to achievement as Black Caribbean pupils, there are important distinctions to be made. The specific barriers to achievement identified for White/Black Caribbean pupils derive from socioeconomic disadvantage, low teacher expectation linked to misunderstandings of mixed heritage identities and backgrounds, and the behavioural issues and attitudes towards achievement linked to peer group pressures. (Contains 10 notes.)

Attention is drawn to important themes thought likely to influence the continuing development of group care services for children and young people in the decade ahead. These include a poorly educated workforce, autonomous training, multi-disciplinary approaches, centres of excellence, diversified programs, new trends and issues shaping the future, and group care practice and the law. (Contains 1 note.)

We use quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the links between participation in adult learning and self-efficacy, particularly for the subgroup of adults who had low levels of achievement at school. We focus on self-efficacy because it translates into a range of wider benefits and because it may afford protection from depression and other forms of social exclusion. Quantitative analyses of data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) provide evidence for an association between taking courses and transformations in self-efficacy for all cohort members, but the association is greatest and the evidence is strongest for our subgroup. A related fieldwork project involving in depth interviews with 15 women with poor school attainment sampled from the NCDS provides insights into some of the processes that underlie the associations found: (i) perceptions of achievement in adult education increase self-efficacy; (ii) adult education leads to more challenging occupations, which build self-efficacy; (iii) resistance to participation in adult education is reduced as self-efficacy increases; and (iv) learning on the job can build self-efficacy, and although participation in employer-provided training courses does not appear to play an important role, it reflects engagement in occupations where the value of learning is recognized. The interviews also illustrate how school impacts on self-efficacy and motivation to learn throughout the life course, and how important background and life circumstances can be in shaping the impacts of adult learning on self-efficacy. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables, and 4 notes.)

Although adult education leads to a moderation of racist or authoritarian attitudes amongst the general population, little is known concerning the impact of adult education on individuals with extremist racist-authoritarian views. In this paper we group individuals from the NCDS (National Child Development Study) into various racist-authoritarian categories at ages 33 and 42 using cluster analysis. Following this identification we test various hypothesis concerning the relationship between adult education and attitude change. In particular, questioning whether adult education can transform attitudes amongst those with racist-authoritarian attitudes and/or whether adult education can sustain non-extremist views. Although there is evidence of a conditional association between adult education and sustaining non-extremist views we are sceptical concerning the ability of adult education to change extremist positions. We conclude that further work on the mechanisms linking education and extremist attitudes is required if we are to identify causal processes. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

Background Food policy is important to promote healthy and sustainable diets. However, who is responsible for developing and implementing food policy remains contentious. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how the public attributes responsibility for food policy to governments, individuals and the private sector. Methods A total of 7559 respondents from seven countries [Australia (n  = 1033), Canada (n  = 1079), China (n  = 1099), India (n  = 1086), New Zealand (n  = 1090), the UK (n  = 1079) and the USA (n  = 1093)] completed an online survey assessing perceived responsibility for 11 recommended food policies. Results Overall, preferred responsibility for the assessed food policies was primarily attributed to governments (62%), followed by the private sector (49%) and individuals (31%). Respondents from New Zealand expressed the highest support for government responsibility (70%) and those from the USA the lowest (50%). Respondents from the USA and India were most likely to nominate individuals as responsible (both 37%), while those from China were least likely (23%). The private sector had the highest attributed responsibility in New Zealand (55%) and the lowest in China and the USA (both 47%). Support for government responsibility declined with age and was higher among those on higher incomes, with a university degree, and who perceived themselves to consume a healthy diet or be in poor health. Conclusions Across seven diverse countries, results indicate the public considers government should take primary responsibility for the assessed food policies, with modest contribution from the private sector and minority support for individual responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, valuable datasets have been collected on the effects of the virus SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we combined whole genome sequencing data with clinical data (including clinical outcomes, demographics, comorbidity, treatment information) for 929 patient cases seen at a large UK hospital Trust between March 2020 and May 2021. We identified associations between acute physiological status and three measures of disease severity; admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), requirement for intubation, and mortality. Whilst the maximum National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) was moderately associated with severe COVID-19 (A = 0.48), the admission NEWS2 was only weakly associated (A = 0.17), suggesting it is ineffective as an early predictor of severity. Patient outcome was weakly associated with myriad factors linked to acute physiological status and human genetics, including age, sex and pre-existing conditions. Overall, we found no significant links between viral genomics and severe outcomes, but saw evidence that variant subtype may impact relative risk for certain sub-populations. Specific mutations of SARS-CoV-2 appear to have little impact on overall severity risk in these data, suggesting that emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants do not result in more severe patient outcomes. However, our results show that determining a causal relationship between mutations and severe COVID-19 in the viral genome is challenging. Whilst improved understanding of the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has been achieved through genomics, few studies on how these evolutionary changes impact on clinical outcomes have been seen due to complexities associated with data linkage. By combining viral genomics with patient records in a large acute UK hospital, this study represents a significant resource for understanding risk factors associated with COVID-19 severity. However, further understanding will likely arise from studies of the role of host genetics on disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to global public health. However, unsatisfactory approaches to directly measuring the AMR burden carried by individuals has hampered efforts to assess interventions aimed at reducing selection for AMR. Metagenomics can provide accurate detection and quantification of AMR genes within an individual person's faecal flora (their gut "resistome"). Using this approach, we aimed to test the hypothesis that differences in antimicrobial use across different hospitals in the United Kingdom will result in observable differences in the resistome of individual patients. Three National Health Service acute Hospital Trusts with markedly different antibiotic use and Clostridioides difficile infection rates collected faecal samples from anonymous patients which were discarded after C. difficile testing over a period of 9 to 15 months. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from these samples and sequenced using an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. The resulting sequencing reads were analysed for taxonomic composition and for the presence of AMR genes. Among 683 faecal metagenomes we found huge variation between individuals in terms of taxonomic diversity (Shannon Index range 0.10–3.99) and carriage of AMR genes (Median 1.50 genes/cell/sample overall). We found no statistically significant differences in diversity (median Shannon index 2.16 (IQR 1.71–2.56), 2.15 (IQR 1.62–2.50) and 2.26 (IQR 1.55–2.51)) or carriage of AMR genes (median 1.37 genes/cell/sample (IQR 0.70–3.24), 1.70 (IQR 0.70–4.52) and 1.43 (IQR 0.55–3.71)) at the three trusts respectively. This was also the case across the sample collection period within the trusts. While we have not demonstrated differences over place or time using metagenomic sequencing of faecal discards, other sampling frameworks may be more suitable to determine whether organisational level differences in antibiotic use are associated with individual-level differences in burden of AMR carriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Draws on emerging trends in British universities to examine arguments concerning the continued specialization of comparative and international education versus its integration into other disciplines. Argues that there is an urgent need for comparativists to become active change agents in the broader transformation of their institutions into learning organizations. (SV)

Background Previous studies had limited power to assess the associations of circulating insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) with clinically relevant prostate cancer as a primary endpoint, and the association of genetically predicted IGF-I with aggressive prostate cancer is not known. We aimed to investigate the associations of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 concentrations with overall, aggressive and early-onset prostate cancer. Methods Prospective analysis of biomarkers using the Endogenous Hormones, Nutritional Biomarkers and Prostate Cancer Collaborative Group dataset (up to 20 studies, 17 009 prostate cancer cases, including 2332 aggressive cases). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for prostate cancer were estimated using conditional logistic regression. For IGF-I, two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was undertaken using instruments identified using UK Biobank (158 444 men) and outcome data from PRACTICAL (up to 85 554 cases, including 15 167 aggressive cases). Additionally, we used colocalization to rule out confounding by linkage disequilibrium. Results In observational analyses, IGF-I was positively associated with risks of overall (OR per 1 SD = 1.09: 95% CI 1.07, 1.11), aggressive (1.09: 1.03, 1.16) and possibly early-onset disease (1.11: 1.00, 1.24); associations were similar in MR analyses (OR per 1 SD = 1.07: 1.00, 1.15; 1.10: 1.01, 1.20; and 1.13; 0.98, 1.30, respectively). Colocalization also indicated a shared signal for IGF-I and prostate cancer (PP4: 99%). Men with higher IGF-II (1.06: 1.02, 1.11) and IGFBP-3 (1.08: 1.04, 1.11) had higher risks of overall prostate cancer, whereas higher IGFBP-1 was associated with a lower risk (0.95: 0.91, 0.99); these associations were attenuated following adjustment for IGF-I. Conclusions These findings support the role of IGF-I in the development of prostate cancer, including for aggressive disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the prevalence of health anxiety in stroke survivors and its relative impact on quality of life. A cross-sectional design was used including between group comparisons of high and low health anxious stroke survivors. Stroke survivors (n = 105) were recruited via online stroke community forums. Participants completed measures of health anxiety (Short Health Anxiety Inventory), general anxiety and depression (Hospital and Anxiety and Depression Scale), disability (WHO Disability Assessment Schedule), and quality of life (Quality of Life Index). Demographics and medical histories were also assessed. Thirty percent of the sample scored above the clinical cut off for health anxiety. Stroke survivors with high health anxiety (HiHA) were found to have significantly lower quality of life (p < 0.001) and higher rates of depression (p < 0.001). Regression analysis found health anxiety to be a significant predictor of quality of life (β = –0.12; p < 0.05) in addition to levels of depression (β = –0.33; p < 0.001) and disability (β = –0.53; p < 0.001). Almost a third of stroke survivors were experiencing clinical levels of health anxiety, with HiHA significantly associated with lower quality of life. Future research should explore the use of existing evidence based psychological interventions for health anxiety in this population. Our findings suggest almost one in three stroke survivors residing in the community have clinical levels of health anxiety. High health anxiety in stroke survivors was significantly related to lower levels of quality of life. Given this finding, evidence-based treatments for health anxiety may improve quality of life and reduce distress for a significant proportion of stroke survivors. Rehabilitation approaches aimed at improving overall quality of life for stroke survivors should consider both physical and psychological interventions, with levels of physical disability, depression and anxiety all significantly associated with quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based approaches can now use electrocardiograms (ECGs) to provide expert-level performance in detecting heart abnormalities and diagnosing disease. Additionally, patient age predicted from ECGs by AI models has shown great potential as a biomarker for cardiovascular age, where recent work has found its deviation from chronological age ("delta age") to be associated with mortality and co-morbidities. However, despite being crucial for understanding underlying individual risk, the genetic underpinning of delta age is unknown. In this work we performed a genome-wide association study using UK Biobank data (n=34,432) and identified eight loci associated with delta age ( p ≤ 5 × 10 - 8 ), including genes linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) (e.g. SCN5A) and (heart) muscle development (e.g. TTN). Our results indicate that the genetic basis of cardiovascular ageing is predominantly determined by genes directly involved with the cardiovascular system rather than those connected to more general mechanisms of ageing. Our insights inform the epidemiology of CVD, with implications for preventative and precision medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research reports on a co-design project to improve creative engagement tools with academics and public sector organisations in the northwest UK. Creative engagement (which is a staple of co-design activities but also used widely outside design) is often supported by tools and resources. However, there is a need to tailor tools for specific contexts to accommodate the skills and practices of creative engagement professionals and the contexts in which they work. While there is a literature examining tools in co-design and to a lesser extent in wider creative engagement activities, there is a lack of research on how tools can be improved. This article presents a framework that enables engagement practitioners to improve the tools they use in their practice. Following a Participatory Action Research approach, three case studies document the application and testing of the improvement framework. The paper discusses the insights and lessons learnt from this process and the impact of the new improvement activities on the practices of the creative engagement professionals. The research outcomes include building improvement capabilities in participants and understanding of how the framework works in practice and how it could be more widely applied to tool improvement within and beyond co-design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reproduction number R$$ R $$ has been a central metric of the COVID‐19 pandemic response, published weekly by the UK government and regularly reported in the media. Here, we provide a formal definition and discuss the advantages and most common misconceptions around this quantity. We consider the intuition behind different formulations of R$$ R $$, the complexities in its estimation (including the unavoidable lags involved), and its value compared to other indicators (e.g. the growth rate) that can be directly observed from aggregate surveillance data and react more promptly to changes in epidemic trend. As models become more sophisticated, with age and/or spatial structure, formulating R$$ R $$ becomes increasingly complicated and inevitably model‐dependent. We present some models currently used in the UK pandemic response as examples. Ultimately, limitations in the available data streams, data quality and time constraints force pragmatic choices to be made on a quantity that is an average across time, space, social structure and settings. Effectively communicating these challenges is important but often difficult in an emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is linked to poor air quality and severe human health impacts, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and being responsible annually for approximately 23,500 premature deaths in the UK. Automated air quality monitoring stations continuously record pollutants in urban environments but are restricted in number (need for electricity, maintenance and trained operators), only record air quality proximal to their location and cannot document variability of airborne pollutants at finer spatial scales. As an alternative, passive sampling devices such as Palmes-type diffusion tubes can be used to assess the spatial variability of air quality in greater detail, due to their simplicity (e.g. small, light material, no electricity required) and suitability for long-term studies (e.g. deployable in large numbers, useful for screening studies). Accordingly, a one passive diffusion tube sampling approach has been adapted to investigate spatial and temporal variability of NO2 concentrations across the City of Manchester (UK). Spatial and temporal detail was obtained by sampling 45 locations over a 12-month period (361 days, to include seasonal variability), resulting in 1080 individual NO2 measurements. Elevated NO2 concentrations, exceeding the EU/UK limit value of 40 µg m−3, were recorded throughout the study period (N = 278; 26% of individual measurements), particularly during colder months and across a wide area including residential locations. Of 45 sampling locations, 24% (N = 11) showed annual average NO2 above the EU/UK limit value, whereas 16% (N = 7) showed elevated NO2 (> 40 µg m−3) for at least 6 months of deployment. Highest NO2 was recorded in proximity of highly trafficked major roads, with urban factors such as surrounding building heights also influencing NO2 dispersion and distribution. This study demonstrates the importance of high spatial coverage to monitor atmospheric NO2 concentrations across urban environments, to aid identification of areas of human health concern, especially in areas that are not covered by automated monitoring stations. This simple, reasonably cheap, quick and easy method, using a single-NOx diffusion tube approach, can aid identification of NO2 hotspots and provides fine spatial detail of deteriorated air quality. Such an approach can be easily transferred to comparable urban environments to provide an initial screening tool for air quality and air pollution, particularly where local automated air quality monitoring stations are limited. Additionally, such an approach can support air quality assessment studies, e.g. lichen or moss biomonitoring studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal vaccination strategy to boost responses in the context of pre-existing immune memory to the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein is an important question for global public health. To address this, we explored the SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immune responses to a novel self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccine followed by a UK authorised mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2) in individuals with and without previous COVID-19, and compared these responses with those who received an authorised vaccine alone. 35 subjects receiving saRNA (saRNA group) as part of the COVAC1 clinical trial and an additional 40 participants receiving an authorised SARS-CoV-2 vaccine only (non-saRNA group) were recruited. Antibody responses were measured by ELISA and a pseudoneutralisation assay for wildtype, Delta and Omicron variants. Cellular responses were measured by IFN-ƴ ELISpot and an activation induced marker (AIM) assay. Approximately 50% in each group had previous COVID-19 prior to vaccination, confirmed by PCR or antibody positivity on ELISA. All of those who received saRNA subsequently received a full course of an authorised vaccine. The majority (83%) of those receiving saRNA who were COVID-19 naïve at baseline seroconverted following the second dose, and those with previous COVID-19 had an increase in antibody titres two weeks following saRNA vaccination (median 27-fold), however titres were lower when compared to mRNA vaccination. Two weeks following the 2nd authorised mRNA vaccine dose, binding and neutralising antibody titres were significantly higher in the saRNA participants with previous COVID-19, compared to non-saRNA, or COVID-19 naive saRNA participants. Cellular responses were again highest in this group, with a higher proportion of spike specific CD8+ than CD4+ T cells when compared to those receiving the mRNA vaccine only. These findings suggest an immunological benefit of increased antigen exposure, both from natural infection and vaccination, particularly evident in those receiving heterologous vaccination with saRNA and mRNA. Author summary: With the continuing emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest and of concern, there is an ever-growing population of people recovered from or immunised against COVID-19. The optimal vaccination strategies are still not established, but mounting evidence suggests enhanced protection from booster vaccination, and vaccination following natural infection (hybrid immunity). In this study we have compared immune responses in individuals who have received a novel self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) COVID-19 vaccine who have then subsequently received a UK authorised vaccine, and a group who received an authorised vaccine alone. Half the participants in each group had recovered from COVID-19. We found a superior immune response in those who had previous COVID-19 and received saRNA plus a UK authorised vaccine with regards to binding and neutralising antibody production, breadth of neutralisation against variants of concern (Delta and Omicron lineage variants) and T-cell responses. These findings suggest an immunological benefit of combining previous natural infection with vaccination against COVID-19 using a combination of different vaccine platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies had limited power to assess the associations of testosterone with aggressive disease as a primary endpoint. Further, the association of genetically predicted testosterone with aggressive disease is not known. We investigated the associations of calculated free and measured total testosterone and sex hormone‐binding globulin (SHBG) with aggressive, overall and early‐onset prostate cancer. In blood‐based analyses, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for prostate cancer were estimated using conditional logistic regression from prospective analysis of biomarker concentrations in the Endogenous Hormones, Nutritional Biomarkers and Prostate Cancer Collaborative Group (up to 25 studies, 14 944 cases and 36 752 controls, including 1870 aggressive prostate cancers). In Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses, using instruments identified using UK Biobank (up to 194 453 men) and outcome data from PRACTICAL (up to 79 148 cases and 61 106 controls, including 15 167 aggressive cancers), ORs were estimated using the inverse‐variance weighted method. Free testosterone was associated with aggressive disease in MR analyses (OR per 1 SD = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.08‐1.40). In blood‐based analyses there was no association with aggressive disease overall, but there was heterogeneity by age at blood collection (OR for men aged <60 years 1.14, CI = 1.02‐1.28; Phet =.0003: inverse association for older ages). Associations for free testosterone were positive for overall prostate cancer (MR: 1.20, 1.08‐1.34; blood‐based: 1.03, 1.01‐1.05) and early‐onset prostate cancer (MR: 1.37, 1.09‐1.73; blood‐based: 1.08, 0.98‐1.19). SHBG and total testosterone were inversely associated with overall prostate cancer in blood‐based analyses, with null associations in MR analysis. Our results support free testosterone, rather than total testosterone, in the development of prostate cancer, including aggressive subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What imagery best evokes the violence unaccompanied child migrants feel when asked, or made, to tell their story over and over, as well as the violence of not being asked nor being heard? How can we show both strength and struggle in difficult times and often uncaring places such as the UK's hostile migration regime? Taking these questions as a jumping off point, this article offers three key responses, drawing on experiences of co-producing the research-based film, Stories too big for a case file, which accompanies this text. These reflections highlight the importance of participatory, change-oriented research that 'cares' for participants; the value of creative forms of knowledge production and aesthetic modes of expression for communicating the affective complexities of research material; and, the importance of turning the representational gaze outwards towards systems and institutions to avoid situating social inequities as individual failings and to, instead, invite viewers to 'walk together' in solidarity with research interlocutors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most colleges and universities across the British Commonwealth and the United States face crises of confidence in their leadership or their financial systems at some stage in their evolution. This article offers a brief reflection on some governance issues in higher education from the perspective of a Canadian who has served as a dean of law in Australia and who was educated and has taught in the United States and Canada. Governance problems often have common roots and similar attributes and can lead to similar results. Some governance problems are distinctly structural, arising, for example, when large boards of governors represent many different, and competing, interest groups. Many are financial, such as those that arise from government cutbacks or declining enrollment. Some crises relate to the nature of governance models themselves. Some governance models are autocratic, not collaborative enough, while others may be cumbersome, involving too many constituencies in the institution's decision-making process. Each crisis raises the question of whether the development of good governance practices could have averted the crisis or mitigated its impact. College and university governing bodies should understand, and take advantage of, opportunities to develop good governance practice.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are thought to drive disease risk, including stroke. We investigated the association between mtDNA abundance, as a proxy measure of mitochondrial function, and incident stroke, using multivariable-adjusted survival and Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses. Cox-proportional hazard model analyses were conducted to assess the association between mtDNA abundance, and incident ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke over a maximum of 14-year follow-up in European-ancestry participants from UK Biobank. MR was conducted using independent (R2 < 0.001) lead variants for mtDNA abundance (p < 5 × 10-8) as instrumental variables. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-ischemic stroke associations were derived from three published open source European-ancestry results databases (cases/controls): MEGASTROKE (60,341/454,450), UK Biobank (2404/368,771) and FinnGen (10,551/202,223). MR was performed per study, and results were subsequently meta-analyzed. In total, 288,572 unrelated participants (46% men) with mean (SD) age of 57 (8) years were included in the Cox-proportional hazard analyses. After correction for considered confounders (BMI, hypertension, cholesterol, T2D), no association was found between low versus high mtDNA abundance and ischemic (HR: 1.06 [95% CI: 0.95, 1.18]) or hemorrhagic (HR: 0.97 [95% CI: 0.82, 1.15]) stroke. However, in the MR analyses after removal of platelet count-associated SNPs, we found evidence for an association between genetically-influenced mtDNA abundance and ischemic stroke (odds ratio, 1.17; confidence interval, 1.03, 1.32). Although the results from both multivariable-adjusted prospective and basis MR analyses did not show an association between low mtDNA and increased risk of ischemic stroke, in-depth MR sensitivity analyses may suggest evidence for a causal relationship. [Display omitted] • Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) abundance might be causally associated with stroke. • The association between mtDNA abundance and stroke attenuated after correction. • Lower mtDNA abundance showed higher incidence of ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patient and public involvement in research is anchored in moral and epistemological rationales. Moral rationales relate to the public having a right to influence how knowledge about them is generated. Epistemological rationales relate to how research design and implementation can improve when informed by experiential, as well as technical, knowledge. In other words, public involvement can increase the epistemological resources of researchers, and contribute to research that is fit for purpose and has high external validity. Methods: This article presents an analysis of 3 meetings and 11 interviews with public collaborators and researchers in three UK‐based health research studies. Data comprised transcripts of audio‐recorded research meetings and interviews with public collaborators and researchers. Data were first analysed to develop a data‐informed definition of experiential knowledge, then thematically to investigate how this experiential knowledge was considered and received within the research space. Results: At meetings, public collaborators shared their experiential knowledge as stories, comments, questions, answers and when referring to their own roles. They were aware of crossing a boundary from everyday life, and some adapted their contributions to fit within the research space. Although researchers and public collaborators made efforts to create an inclusive climate, obstacles to impact were identified. Conclusions: Considering experiential knowledge as a boundary object highlights that this knowledge has a different form to other kinds of knowledge that contribute to research. To enable impact from experiential knowledge, researchers need to create a space where public collaborators experience epistemic justice. Patient and Public Contribution: The Peninsula Public Engagement Group (PenPEG) was involved in the planning and conceptualization of the study, including the development of the ethics application and the interview schedules. One member of this group (Richard Fitzgerald) and one from outside the group (Leon Farmer), were full members of the author team and were involved in the data analysis. Leon Farmer has since become a member of PenPEG. Richard Fitzgerald and Leon Farmer were not involved in the three research studies sampled for this study. Sadly Richard Fitzgerald died during the course of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental health and well-being of university staff and students in the UK are reported to have seriously deteriorated. Rather than taking this 'mental health crisis' at face value, we carry out network and discourse analyses to investigate the policy assemblages (comprising social actors, institutions, technologies, knowledges and discourses) through which the 'crisis' is addressed. Our analysis shows how knowledges from positive psychology and behavioural economics, disciplinary techniques driven by metrics and data analytics, and growing markets in digital therapeutic technologies work as an ensemble. Together, they instrumentalise mental health, creating motivational ecologies that allow economic agendas to seep through to subjects who are encouraged to monitor and rehabilitate themselves. Mental health' as a problem for UK universities has come to be largely defined through the outcomes of 'resilience' and 'employability' and is addressed through markets that enable training, monitoring, measuring and 'nudging' students and staff towards these outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the primary cause of all death globally. Timely and accurate identification of people at risk of developing an atherosclerotic CVD and its sequelae is a central pillar of preventive cardiology. One widely used approach is risk prediction models; however, currently available models consider only a limited set of risk factors and outcomes, yield no actionable advice to individuals based on their holistic medical state and lifestyle, are often not interpretable, were built with small cohort sizes or are based on lifestyle data from the 1960s, e.g. the Framingham model. The risk of developing atherosclerotic CVDs is heavily lifestyle dependent, potentially making many occurrences preventable. Providing actionable and accurate risk prediction tools to the public could assist in atherosclerotic CVD prevention. Accordingly, we developed a benchmarking pipeline to find the best set of data preprocessing and algorithms to predict absolute 10-year atherosclerotic CVD risk. Based on the data of 464,547 UK Biobank participants without atherosclerotic CVD at baseline, we used a comprehensive set of 203 consolidated risk factors associated with atherosclerosis and its sequelae (e.g. heart failure). Our two best performing absolute atherosclerotic risk prediction models provided higher performance, (AUROC: 0.7573, 95% CI: 0.755–0.7595) and (AUROC: 0.7544, 95% CI: 0.7522–0.7567), than Framingham (AUROC: 0.680, 95% CI: 0.6775–0.6824) and QRisk3 (AUROC: 0.725, 95% CI: 0.7226–0.7273). Using a subset of 25 risk factors identified with feature selection, our reduced model achieves similar performance (AUROC 0.7415, 95% CI: 0.7392–0.7438) while being less complex. Further, it is interpretable, actionable and highly generalizable. The model could be incorporated into clinical practice and might allow continuous personalized predictions with automated intervention suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loot boxes are virtual items in video games that offer the player randomised in-game rewards of uncertain in-game and real-world value. Paid loot boxes represent a lucrative and prevalent contemporary monetisation method that encourages repeat purchase through randomisation. The psychology literature has consistently reported a relationship between loot boxes and problem gambling. However, various implementations of loot boxes have not been sufficiently differentiated and separately examined. The literature and gambling regulators have generally argued that only loot boxes that cost real-world money to buy, and offer rewards that can be transferred to other players and are consequently worth real-world money, constitute 'gambling.' This paper identifies the potential harms of two other types of loot box: one does not cost real-world money to buy and the other does not offer rewards that are worth real-world money and argues that both may constitute 'gambling' under UK law. This paper hypothesises that even loot boxes that neither cost real-world money to buy nor offer rewards that are worth real-world money may be potentially harmful as they may normalise gambling behaviours. This paper highlights that, when the game's design and economy are exploited by players, a particular implementation of loot boxes may involve real-world money, potentially contrary to the game company's intentions, and thereby effectively constitute 'gambling.' This paper recommends that future empirical research separately examine the potential harms of each type of loot box. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Excess mortality captures the total effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mortality and is not affected by misspecification of cause of death. We aimed to describe how health and demographic factors were associated with excess mortality during, compared to before, the pandemic.Methods and Findings: We analysed a time series dataset including 9,635,613 adults (≥40 years old) registered at United Kingdom general practices contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We extracted weekly numbers of deaths and numbers at risk between March 2015 and July 2020, stratified by individual-level factors. Excess mortality during Wave 1 of the UK pandemic (5 March to 27 May 2020) compared to the prepandemic period was estimated using seasonally adjusted negative binomial regression models. Relative rates (RRs) of death for a range of factors were estimated before and during Wave 1 by including interaction terms. We found that all-cause mortality increased by 43% (95% CI 40% to 47%) during Wave 1 compared with prepandemic. Changes to the RR of death associated with most sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were small during Wave 1 compared with prepandemic. However, the mortality RR associated with dementia markedly increased (RR for dementia versus no dementia prepandemic: 3.5, 95% CI 3.4 to 3.5; RR during Wave 1: 5.1, 4.9 to 5.3); a similar pattern was seen for learning disabilities (RR prepandemic: 3.6, 3.4 to 3.5; during Wave 1: 4.8, 4.4 to 5.3), for black or South Asian ethnicity compared to white, and for London compared to other regions. Relative risks for morbidities were stable in multiple sensitivity analyses. However, a limitation of the study is that we cannot assume that the risks observed during Wave 1 would apply to other waves due to changes in population behaviour, virus transmission, and risk perception.Conclusions: The first wave of the UK COVID-19 pandemic appeared to amplify baseline mortality risk to approximately the same relative degree for most population subgroups. However, disproportionate increases in mortality were seen for those with dementia, learning disabilities, non-white ethnicity, or living in London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research on the prevalence of loot boxes in computer games in the United Kingdom (UK). Data presented shows the percentage of iPhone games with loot boxes, percentage of games only appearing in Xiao that contained loot boxes and those in Zendle. It presents a summary of disagreements among overlapping titles of video games, which included simulated casino games and a virtual claw machine game.

Teaching and learning anatomy by using human cadaveric specimens has been a foundation of medical and biomedical teaching for hundreds of years. Therefore, the majority of institutions that teach topographical anatomy rely on body donation programmes to provide specimens for both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching of gross anatomy. The COVID‐19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to anatomy teaching because of the suspension of donor acceptance at most institutions. This was largely due to concerns about the potential transmissibility of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus and the absence of data about the ability of embalming solutions to neutralise the virus. Twenty embalming solutions commonly used in institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland were tested for their ability to neutralise SARS‐CoV‐2, using an established cytotoxicity assay. All embalming solutions tested neutralised SARS‐CoV‐2, with the majority of solutions being effective at high‐working dilutions. These results suggest that successful embalming with the tested solutions can neutralise the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, thereby facilitating the safe resumption of body donation programmes and cadaveric anatomy teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abstract contributes to the literature by identifying a new form of voluntarism, the employer-led voluntarism of Employer Forums in the United Kingdom. Forums carry out private voluntary regulation to raise labour and social standards within their member firms through introducing codes of conducts and implementing norms through assessments, benchmarking, and certification. The article compares this new form with the traditional approach where unions and employer associations regulate jointly through collective bargaining. While the scope, scale, and impact of new and traditional voluntarism diverge, both are underpinned by the regulation of Employment Relations by non-state actors. Voluntarism is not in secular decline, but instead continues through the emergence of new employer-led forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Schizophrenia is a clinically heterogeneous disorder. It is currently unclear how variability in symptom dimensions and cognitive ability is associated with genetic liability for schizophrenia.Objective: To determine whether phenotypic dimensions within schizophrenia are associated with genetic liability to schizophrenia, other neuropsychiatric disorders, and intelligence.Design, Setting, and Participants: In a genetic association study, 3 cross-sectional samples of 1220 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were recruited from community, inpatient, and voluntary sector mental health services across the UK. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to create phenotypic dimensions from lifetime ratings of the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, and the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery. Analyses of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were used to assess whether genetic liability to schizophrenia, other neuropsychiatric disorders, and intelligence were associated with these phenotypic dimensions. Data collection for the cross-sectional studies occurred between 1993 and 2016. Data analysis for this study occurred between January 2019 and March 2021.Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcome measures included phenotypic dimensions defined from confirmatory factor analysis relating to positive symptoms, negative symptoms of diminished expressivity, negative symptoms of motivation and pleasure, disorganized symptoms, and current cognitive ability. Exposure measures included PRSs for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and intelligence.Results: Of the 1220 study participants, 817 were men (67.0%). Participants' mean (SD) age at interview was 43.10 (12.74) years. Schizophrenia PRS was associated with increased disorganized symptom dimension scores in both a 5-factor model (β = 0.14; 95% CI, 0.07-0.22; P = 2.80 × 10-4) and a 3-factor model across all samples (β = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.05-0.15; P = 2.80 × 10-4). Current cognitive ability was associated with genetic liability to schizophrenia (β = -0.11; 95% CI, -0.19 to -0.04; P = 1.63 × 10-3) and intelligence (β = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.16-0.30; P = 1.52 × 10-10). After controlling for estimated premorbid IQ, current cognitive performance was associated with schizophrenia PRS (β = -0.08; 95% CI, -0.14 to -0.02; P = 8.50 × 10-3) but not intelligence PRS.Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this study suggest that genetic liability for schizophrenia is associated with higher disorganized dimension scores but not other symptom dimensions. Cognitive performance in schizophrenia appears to reflect distinct contributions from genetic liabilities to both intelligence and schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]