Search

Research Methods for Pedagogy is one book in a series of Bloomsbury publications providing research information, insights and guidance for those researching within a variety of educational contexts...

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems in parents have been identified as a risk factor for child maltreatment. The perinatal period (from conception to 1 year) is a critical period but it is unclear whether perinatal mental health problems are also associated with increased risk. \ud \ud OBJECTIVE: To review evidence on perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment. \ud \ud METHODS: Searches were conducted on six databases and 24 studies reported in 30 papers identified. Studies were conducted in seven countries, mainly the USA (n = 14). Sample sizes ranged from 48-14,893 and most examined mothers (n = 17). Studies were conducted in community (n = 17) or high-risk (n = 7) samples.\ud \ud RESULTS: The majority of studies found a relationship between parental perinatal mental health problems and risk of child maltreatment, but inconsistent findings were observed between and within studies. The few studies that examined fathers (n = 6) all found a relationship between fathers' mental health and risk of child maltreatment. Meta-analysis of 17 studies (n = 22,042) showed perinatal mental health problems increased risk of child maltreatment by OR 3.04 (95% CI 2.29-4.03). This relationship was moderated by type of sample, with larger effects for risk of child maltreatment in high-risk samples. The relationship was not moderated by type of mental illness, child maltreatment; methodological or measurement factors.\ud \ud CONCLUSION: The association between perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment is similar to that observed at other times during childhood. Methodological heterogeneity and inconsistent findings mean conclusions are tentative and need to be considered alongside other individual, family and social/cultural risk factors.

Background In the United Kingdom (UK), in recent influenza seasons, children are offered a quadrivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4), and eligible adults mainly trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV). Aim To estimate the UK end-of-season 2017/18 adjusted vaccine effectiveness (aVE) and the seroprevalence in England of antibodies against influenza viruses cultured in eggs or tissue. Methods This observational study employed the test-negative case–control approach to estimate aVE in primary care. The population-based seroprevalence survey used residual age-stratified samples. Results Influenza viruses A(H3N2) (particularly subgroup 3C.2a2) and B (mainly B/Yamagata/16/88-lineage, similar to the quadrivalent vaccine B-virus component but mismatched to TIV) dominated. All-age aVE was 15% (95% confidence interval (CI): −6.3 to 32) against all influenza; −16.4% (95% CI: −59.3 to 14.9) against A(H3N2); 24.7% (95% CI: 1.1 to 42.7) against B and 66.3% (95% CI: 33.4 to 82.9) against A(H1N1)pdm09. For 2–17 year olds, LAIV4 aVE was 26.9% (95% CI: −32.6 to 59.7) against all influenza; −75.5% (95% CI: −289.6 to 21) against A(H3N2); 60.8% (95% CI: 8.2 to 83.3) against B and 90.3% (95% CI: 16.4 to 98.9) against A(H1N1)pdm09. For ≥ 18 year olds, TIV aVE against influenza B was 1.9% (95% CI: −63.6 to 41.2). The 2017 seroprevalence of antibody recognising tissue-grown A(H3N2) virus was significantly lower than that recognising egg-grown virus in all groups except 15–24 year olds. Conclusions Overall aVE was low driven by no effectiveness against A(H3N2) possibly related to vaccine virus egg-adaption and a new A(H3N2) subgroup emergence. The TIV was not effective against influenza B. LAIV4 against influenza B and A(H1N1)pdm09 was effective.

Background Risk perception in relation to pregnancy and birth is a complex process influenced by multiple personal, psychological and societal factors. Traditionally, the risk perception of healthcare professionals has been presented as more objective and authoritative than that of pregnant women. Doctors have been presented as more concerned with biomedical risk than midwives. Such dichotomies oversimplify and obscure the complexity of the process. This study examines pregnancy-related risk perception in women and healthcare professionals, and what women and professionals believe about each other’s risk perception. Methods A cross sectional survey of set in UK maternity services. Participants were doctors working in obstetrics (N = 53), midwives (N = 59), pregnant women (N = 68). Participants were recruited in person from two hospitals. Doctors were also recruited online. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring the degree of perceived risk in various childbirth-related scenarios; and the extent to which they believed others agreed with them about the degree of risk generally involved in childbirth. Main outcome measures were the degree of risk perceived to the mother in baby in pregnancy scenarios, and beliefs about own perception of risk in comparison to their own group and other groups. Results There were significant differences in total risk scores between pregnant women, doctors and midwives in perception of risk to the mother in 68/80 scenarios. Doctors most frequently rated risks lowest. Total scores for perceived risk to the baby were not significantly different. There was substantial variation within each group. There was more agreement on the ranking of scenarios according to risk. Each group believed doctors perceived most risk whereas actually doctors most frequently rated risks lowest. Each group incorrectly believed their peers rated risk similarly to themselves. Conclusions Individuals cannot assume others share their perception of risk or that they make correct assessments regarding others’ risk perception. Further research should consider what factors are taken into account when making risk assessments

The exploration of the chance remark – ‘Laika is a slow thinker’ (1) – between two teachers concerning a pupil some years previous – sets in train an earnest and ethical commitment by Murris. She e...

During rainfall events, rain and throughfall drops impact on individual leaves exerting a force that divides the drops into multiple droplets and produces momentary increases in the leaf inclination angle. A portion of the splash residue from the raindrop impact accumulates on the leaf surface and adds mass to the lamina of leaf. This lab-based study examined changes in leaf inclination angle after the impact of a sequence of raindrops of two different volumes (10 µl and 30 µl) on leaf surfaces of three different tree species (Acer saccharinum L., Ulmus pumila L., and Quercus gambelii Nutt.). Leaf inclination is measured as the angle between the lamina surface normal and the horizontal. The differences between the initial leaf inclination angle before raindrop impacts and the steady-state leaf inclination angles after each raindrop impact were examined to explore the hypothesis that rainsplash residue accumulated on leaves after raindrop impact will incrementally increase the steady-state leaf inclination angle as the leaves approach leaf surface storage. The difference between the initial leaf inclination angle and the steady-state leaf inclination angle after two 10 µl raindrops increased by 0.23° for Q. gambelii, 0.84° for A. saccharinum, and 1.29° for U. pumila. The difference between the initial leaf inclination angle and the steady-state leaf inclination angle after two 30 µl raindrops increased by 0.56° for Q. gambelii, 1.45° for U. pumila, and 2.05° for A. saccharinum. For each species, the mass of the accumulated water incrementally increased the steady-state leaf inclination angle after each raindrop impact. As expected, larger raindrops produced more rainsplash residue on the leaf surface based on the incremental increase in steady-state leaf inclination angle after sequential raindrop impacts. With repeated raindrop impacts, leaves in the canopy accumulate more water (mass) as the maximum leaf surface storage is achieved. Observing changes in steady-state leaf inclination angles after raindrop impact may serve as an indicator for rainfall interception totals during rainfall events.

Rainfall interception is a dynamic process where raindrops exert a force on leaf surfaces causing splashing and changes in leaf inclination angles. Leaf biomechanical properties determine the resistance to changes in leaf inclination angle due to raindrop impacts. The hydrophobicity of leaf surfaces may influence water movement off the leaf. A laboratory experiment incorporating a raindrop generator and high-speed video camera was used to examine the relationships between raindrop impact, leaf biomechanics, and water droplet retention of three tree species (Acer saccharinum, Ulmus pumila, and Quercus gambelii). Specifically, we explored if the impact of a falling raindrop resulted in the maximum leaf inclination angle exceeding the water droplet retention angle, allowing for the leaf to shed the intercepted raindrop. This study found that changes in leaf inclination angle after a single raindrop impact could explain water movement off more than 6.7% of the leaf surfaces associated with the three tree species. The change in leaf inclination angle over time produced a decaying sinusoidal curve after raindrop impact. The amplitude of the change in leaf inclination angle was greater with larger drops; however, this change varied with species. Quercus gambelii was least affected by drop impact compared with Acer saccharinum and Ulmus pumila. For species with stiff leaves, such as Quercus gambelii, the resistance of movement after raindrop impact could be a factor in inhibiting the amount of precipitation shed from the canopy. The influence of raindrop impact during rainfall events and leaf biomechanical properties may inform and enhance modeling of the dynamic process of rainfall interception.

Transgender individuals have biological gender identities that differ from the sex recorded at birth. To proceed with medical therapy, a diagnosis of gender incongruence must be made. Although not all transgender patients desire medical intervention, hormone treatment and surgeries are available. Hormone therapy is safe, and appropriate screening for malignancy and adverse events should be considered. For adolescents, initial treatment includes puberty blockade before hormone therapy and surgery. These treatments can be destructive of fertility, thus preservation should always be discussed. Barriers to effective care for transgender patients exist, necessitating an increase in the number of knowledgeable transgender health care providers.

BACKGROUND Monitoring the effectiveness of the influenza vaccination programme within the UK is necessary in order to assess its clinical impact. Data are collected from general practice sentinel network computerised medical record (CMR) systems on patients from whom virology specimens have been taken for influenza. The data collected includes demographics, comorbidities, vaccine exposure and if patients have had a virology specimen taken. Unfortunately not all virology specimens collected can be used in the vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies conducted. OBJECTIVE To describe the proportion, reasons and any trends in virology specimen data collected but not used in influenza VE analyses, with the goal of defining strategies to reduce collection of specimens ineligible for use in VE studies. METHODS We examined UK influenza VE studies from the past 10 years and identified incidences where data were labelled unusable. We categorised reasons for not using data as: (1) Vaccination history: Missing or Uncertain categories (including patient not registered with the practice at the start of the season); (2) Swab timing: Not recorded; More than 7 days (historically over 29 days) after symptom onset or within 14 days of vaccination; (3) Laboratory: Not sufficient data for processing (e.g. no age), CT values; (4) Flu or vaccination type of no interest (including pandemic years). The proportion, reasons and trends for data loss were identified through descriptive statistics and graphical representations. We included an analysis of where other data had been available at the point of analysis but not used. RESULTS Over 30% (13292/41337) of virology specimen data was not used across all seasons. Data loss gradually began to decrease from 2014/15 onwards. Data loss were highest for flu or vaccination type of no interest and swab timing. Retrospective and prospective actions were identified to reduce data loss in future. Around 60% of samples could have been included if identifiable data were better shared between records. CONCLUSIONS The reasons for excluding samples and missing data varied, particularly prior to 2014; consistent categorisation was in place from 2014 onwards. Leaving aside the different issues around pandemic years, many of the virology swabs not included were due to suboptimal case selection by practices, but over half (58%) could have been included if identifiable data were better shared between data sources. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

BACKGROUND The European Medicines Agency (EMA) requires vaccine manufacturers to conduct enhanced real-time surveillance of seasonal influenza vaccination. The EMA has specified a list of adverse events of interest to be monitored. The EMA sets out 3 different ways to conduct such surveillance: (1) active surveillance, (2) enhanced passive surveillance, or (3) electronic health record data mining (EHR-DM). English general practice (GP) is a suitable setting to implement enhanced passive surveillance and EHR-DM. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to test the feasibility of conducting enhanced passive surveillance in GP using the yellow card scheme (adverse events of interest reporting cards) to determine if it has any advantages over EHR-DM alone. METHODS A total of 9 GPs in England participated, of which 3 tested the feasibility of enhanced passive surveillance and the other 6 EHR-DM alone. The 3 that tested EPS provided patients with yellow (adverse events) cards for patients to report any adverse events. Data were extracted from all 9 GPs’ EHRs between weeks 35 and 49 (08/24/2015 to 12/06/2015), the main period of influenza vaccination. We conducted weekly analysis and end-of-study analyses. RESULTS Our GPs were largely distributed across England with a registered population of 81,040. In the week 49 report, 15,863/81,040 people (19.57% of the registered practice population) were vaccinated. In the EPS practices, staff managed to hand out the cards to 61.25% (4150/6776) of the vaccinees, and of these cards, 1.98% (82/4150) were returned to the GP offices. Adverse events of interests were reported by 113 /7223 people (1.56%) in the enhanced passive surveillance practices, compared with 322/8640 people (3.73%) in the EHR-DM practices. CONCLUSIONS Overall, we demonstrated that GPs EHR-DM was an appropriate method of enhanced surveillance. However, the use of yellow cards, in enhanced passive surveillance practices, did not enhance the collection of adverse events of interests as demonstrated in this study. Their return rate was poor, data entry from them was not straightforward, and there were issues with data reconciliation. We concluded that customized cards prespecifying the EMA’s adverse events of interests, combined with EHR-DM, were needed to maximize data collection. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015469

Background The European Medicines Agency (EMA) requires vaccine manufacturers to conduct enhanced real-time surveillance of seasonal influenza vaccination. The EMA has specified a list of adverse events of interest to be monitored. The EMA sets out 3 different ways to conduct such surveillance: (1) active surveillance, (2) enhanced passive surveillance, or (3) electronic health record data mining (EHR-DM). English general practice (GP) is a suitable setting to implement enhanced passive surveillance and EHR-DM. Objective This study aimed to test the feasibility of conducting enhanced passive surveillance in GP using the yellow card scheme (adverse events of interest reporting cards) to determine if it has any advantages over EHR-DM alone. Methods A total of 9 GPs in England participated, of which 3 tested the feasibility of enhanced passive surveillance and the other 6 EHR-DM alone. The 3 that tested EPS provided patients with yellow (adverse events) cards for patients to report any adverse events. Data were extracted from all 9 GPs’ EHRs between weeks 35 and 49 (08/24/2015 to 12/06/2015), the main period of influenza vaccination. We conducted weekly analysis and end-of-study analyses. Results Our GPs were largely distributed across England with a registered population of 81,040. In the week 49 report, 15,863/81,040 people (19.57% of the registered practice population) were vaccinated. In the EPS practices, staff managed to hand out the cards to 61.25% (4150/6776) of the vaccinees, and of these cards, 1.98% (82/4150) were returned to the GP offices. Adverse events of interests were reported by 113 /7223 people (1.56%) in the enhanced passive surveillance practices, compared with 322/8640 people (3.73%) in the EHR-DM practices. Conclusions Overall, we demonstrated that GPs EHR-DM was an appropriate method of enhanced surveillance. However, the use of yellow cards, in enhanced passive surveillance practices, did not enhance the collection of adverse events of interests as demonstrated in this study. Their return rate was poor, data entry from them was not straightforward, and there were issues with data reconciliation. We concluded that customized cards prespecifying the EMA’s adverse events of interests, combined with EHR-DM, were needed to maximize data collection. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015469

Background: Living in a conurbation, urban, or rural environment is an important determinant of health. For example, conurbation and rural living is associated with increased respiratory and allergic conditions, whereas a farm or rural upbringing has been shown to be a protective factor against this. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess differences in general practice presentations of allergic and infectious disease in those exposed to conurbation or urban living compared with rural environments. Methods: The population was a nationally representative sample of 175 English general practices covering a population of over 1.6 million patients registered with sentinel network general practices. General practice presentation rates per 100,000 population were reported for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and infectious conditions grouped into upper and lower respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infection, and acute gastroenteritis by the UK Office for National Statistics urban-rural category. We used multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, comorbidities, and smoking status, reporting odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs. Results: For allergic rhinitis, the OR was 1.13 (95% CI 1.04-1.23; P=.003) for urban and 1.29 (95% CI 1.19-1.41; P Conclusions: Those living in conurbations or urban areas were more likely to consult a general practice for allergic rhinitis and upper respiratory tract infection. Both conurbation and rural living were associated with an increased risk of urinary tract infection. Living in rural areas was associated with an increased risk of asthma and lower respiratory tract infections. The data suggest that living environment may affect rates of consultations for certain conditions. Longitudinal analyses of these data would be useful in providing insights into important determinants.

BACKGROUND Living in a conurbation, urban, or rural environment is an important determinant of health. For example, conurbation and rural living is associated with increased respiratory and allergic conditions, whereas a farm or rural upbringing has been shown to be a protective factor against this. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to assess differences in general practice presentations of allergic and infectious disease in those exposed to conurbation or urban living compared with rural environments. METHODS The population was a nationally representative sample of 175 English general practices covering a population of over 1.6 million patients registered with sentinel network general practices. General practice presentation rates per 100,000 population were reported for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and infectious conditions grouped into upper and lower respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infection, and acute gastroenteritis by the UK Office for National Statistics urban-rural category. We used multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, comorbidities, and smoking status, reporting odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs. RESULTS For allergic rhinitis, the OR was 1.13 (95% CI 1.04-1.23; P=.003) for urban and 1.29 (95% CI 1.19-1.41; P CONCLUSIONS Those living in conurbations or urban areas were more likely to consult a general practice for allergic rhinitis and upper respiratory tract infection. Both conurbation and rural living were associated with an increased risk of urinary tract infection. Living in rural areas was associated with an increased risk of asthma and lower respiratory tract infections. The data suggest that living environment may affect rates of consultations for certain conditions. Longitudinal analyses of these data would be useful in providing insights into important determinants.

BACKGROUND: A significant proportion of women with young children experience mental health problems and recent research suggests fathers may also be affected. This may have a long term negative impact on the child's development with significant costs to society. Appropriate measures are therefore needed to identify parents and children at risk.\ud \ud METHOD: This literature review aimed to identify the most reliable, evidence based global measures of mental health for parents of infants from pregnancy to 5 years postpartum (0-5 years). Literature searches were conducted on online databases and hand searches of reference lists were also carried out. Studies were included in the review if they reported information on measures of global psychological distress or wellbeing from 0 to 5 years postpartum.\ud \ud RESULTS: A total of 183 studies were included in the review, 19 of which directly examined the psychometric validity of an outcome measure. These studies reported information on 23 outcome measures, 4 of which had been validated in parents of children from 1 to 5. These were: the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Symptom Checklist (SCL), the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) and the Kessler scale (K10/6). Reliability and validity varied across studies.\ud \ud LIMITATIONS: Only a small number of studies included fathers and examined psychometric validity across the entire period of early childhood.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS: The GHQ was the most frequently validated but results suggest poor reliability and validity. The SRQ and K10/6 were the most promising measures in terms of psychometric properties and clinical utility.

Perinatal psychological problems such as post-natal depression are associated with poor mother-baby interaction, but the reason for this is not clear. One explanation is that mothers with negative mood have biased processing of infant emotion. This review aimed to synthesise research on processing of infant emotion by pregnant or post-natal women with anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Systematic searches were carried out on 11 electronic databases using terms related to negative affect, childbirth and perception of emotion. Fourteen studies were identified which looked at the effect of depression, anxiety and PTSD on interpretation of infant emotional expressions (k = 10), or reaction times when asked to ignore emotional expressions (k = 4). Results suggest mothers with depression and anxiety are more likely to identify negative emotions (i.e., sadness) and less accurate at identifying positive emotions (i.e., happiness) in infant faces. Additionally, women with depression may disengage faster from positive and negative infant emotional expressions. Very few studies examined PTSD (k = 2), but results suggest biases towards specific infant emotions may be influenced by characteristics of the traumatic event. The implications of this research for mother-infant interaction are explored.

Background Conduct disorders and adolescent violence have been found to be a significant problem in the United Kingdom. Method Nonviolent Resistance (NVR) Parenting Groups were piloted in Kent to address the demand on CAMHS for young people with this issue, and preliminary analysis on outcome measures was conducted. Results A significant difference in a positive direction was found on all but one of the measurements used. Conclusion Findings suggest that using NVR methods in a group format is an effective intervention for these families. De-escalation and acts of unconditional love were rated by parents as the most useful interventions.

This article explores the process of university Ethical Review both as lived experience and as part of institutional governance at an English university. The article uses Blackburn's distinction between ethics and Ethics (Ethics—A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001) as a framework to examine the themes of ‘vulnerability’, ‘power’ and ‘relationships’. These themes are analysed closely both within the institutional and the fieldwork contexts, attempting to include the perspectives of all those involved in the research ethics process. The article does not seek to draw any definitive conclusions but rather to stimulate, and add to the iterative discussion on the process of Ethical Review within institutions. Nonetheless, it does conclude by making some suggestions concerning the way in which the lived experience of ethics could better inform the practice of institutional Ethical Review.

Within the growing field of music preferences, little is currently known about the concept of a favourite piece of music. The current study explores listeners’ nominated favourite pieces of music over short and longer time-spans, combining diary and interview methods to uncover what a favourite means, how stable it is, and what factors influence the development of favourites. Nine undergraduate students participated in a diary study spanning one month, with follow-up interviews conducted with two participants. Results indicate that musical favourites are subject to rapid change and highly context-dependent. Most daily favourites were heard on the day, either deliberately or by chance. ‘Magpie’ listeners collected a large number of relatively transient favourites, while ‘squirrel’ listeners had a large catalogue of music stored from which to select. Long-term favourites differed from daily favourites, being associated with intense emotional events in listeners’ lives. In this small-scale study, diary methods successfully captured fluctuations in music preferences over time for most listeners, while interviews revealed more about listeners’ motivations and personal stories connected with their favourite music. Future research is required with larger samples to tease out the complexities of developing music preferences over time and engagement with music in everyday life settings.

Les As. decrivent une methode de production de mots a partir d'une image et montrent dans quelle mesure elle peut etre utilisee pour identifier differents systemes linguistiques du langage par signes dans une aire geographique, en l'occurrence, l'ile d'Amami au sud du Japon. L'analyse de la coherence lexicale et de l'agencement dans la denomination de 25 mots revele des schemas distincts qui sont correles avec les schemas d'interaction sociale entre les 21 personnes soumises a cette experience. En se basant sur les schemas d'interaction sociale et familiale de ces personnes, les As. identifient les types de systemes gestuels qu'ils attendent de chaque groupe, en les classant en gestes non linguistiques, en signes utilises a la maison de maniere isolee et en signes utilises a la maison d'une maniere plus developpee. Cette methode s'avere etre un outil tres efficace pour identifier la variation dans une communaute utilisant le langage par signes

In a recent study ( Stone, Webb, & Mahootian, 1991 ), we failed to replicate the findings of Goldin-Meadow and colleagues ( Church & Goldin-Meadow, 1986 ; Perry, Church, & Goldin-Meadow, 1988 ) regarding the value of gesture-speech mismatch as an index of transitional knowledge. In a response to our article, Perry, Church, and Goldin-Meadow (1992, this issue) point out three differences between their work and our own in the operational ization of the mismatch hypothesis and argue that the discrepant findings can be attributed to methodological artifacts. In the present article, we discuss these methodological points and present the results of additional analyses which still fail to replicate the original findings. Methodological and theoretical issues are raised concerning the generality and function of gesture-speech mismatch.

The purpose of the present study was to explore the proposed diagnostic role of gesture-speech mismatches as an index of transitional knowledge (Church & Golden-Meadow 1986; Perry, Church, & Goldin-Meadow 1988). A group of forty-three 15-year-olds was videotaped while working on a control-of-variables task. The prediction from the earlier work would be that those subjects with a transitional mastery of the isolation-of-variables strategy would show greater gesture-speech mismatch during explanations of their testing than would subjects with consolidated mastery, or subjects exhibiting no access to the strategy. Gestural and spoken references to potential causal variables were coded independently. Although individual differences were evident in several indices of the frequency of gesture-speech mismatches, there was no evidence of any relation between these measures and measures of the status of subjects' knowledge of the control-of-variables strategy. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between the present findings and those of past studies are discussed in terms of the differing conceptual domains tapped by the two tasks and in terms of the types of gestures elicited by the tasks.

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used in conjunction with an experimental design to optimise a gradient HPLC separation of nine benzodiazepines. Using the best performing ANN, the optimum conditions predicted were 25 mM formate buffer (pH 2.8), 10% MeOH, acetonitrile (ACN) gradient 0-15 min, 6.5-48.5%. The error associated with the prediction of retention times and peak widths under these conditions was less than 5% for six of the nine analytes. The optimised method, with limits of detection (LODs) in the range of 0.0057-0.023 μg/mL and recoveries between 58% and 92%, was successfully applied to authentic post-mortem samples. This method represents a more flexible and convenient means for optimising gradient elution separations using ANNs than has been previously reported. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.