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Circadian rhythms coordinate endogenous events with external signals, and are essential to biological function. When environmental contaminants affect these rhythms, the organism may experience fitness consequences such as reduced growth or increased susceptibility to pathogens. In their natural environment plants may be exposed to a wide range of industrial and agricultural pollutants. Here, we investigate how the addition of various metal salts to the environment can impact plant-circadian rhythms, via the promoter:luciferase system. The consequences of these environmental changes were found to be varied and complex. Therefore, in addition to Fourier-based analyses, we apply novel wavelet-based spectral hypothesis testing and clustering methodologies to organize and understand the data. We are able to classify broad sets of responses to environmental contaminants, including pollutants which increase, or decrease, the period, or which induce a lack of precision or disrupt any meaningful periodicity. The methods are general, and may be applied to discover common responses and hidden structures within a wide range of biological time series data.

Rhythmic processes are found at all biological and ecological scales, and are fundamental to the efficient functioning of living systems in changing environments. The biochemical mechanisms underpinning these rhythms are therefore of importance, especially in the context of anthropogenic challenges such as pollution or changes in climate and land use. Here we develop and test a new method for clustering rhythmic biological data with a focus on circadian oscillations. The method combines locally stationary wavelet time series modelling with functional principal components analysis and thus extracts the time-scale patterns arising in a range of rhythmic data. We demonstrate the advantages of our methodology over alternative approaches, by means of a simulation study and real data applications, using both a published circadian dataset and a newly generated one. The new dataset records plant response to various levels of stress induced by a soil pollutant, a biological system where existing methods which assu...

Rhythmic data are ubiquitous in the life sciences. Biologists need reliable statistical tests to identify whether a particular experimental treatment has caused a significant change in a rhythmic signal. When these signals display nonstationary behaviour, as is common in many biological systems, the established methodologies may be misleading. Therefore, there is a real need for new methodology that enables the formal comparison of nonstationary processes. As circadian behaviour is best understood in the spectral domain, here we develop novel hypothesis testing procedures in the (wavelet) spectral domain, embedding replicate information when available. The data are modelled as realisations of locally stationary wavelet processes, allowing us to define and rigorously estimate their evolutionary wavelet spectra. Motivated by three complementary applications in circadian biology, our new methodology allows the identification of three specific types of spectral difference. We demonstrate the advantages of our methodology over alternative approaches, by means of a comprehensive simulation study and real data applications, using both published and newly generated circadian datasets. In contrast to the current standard methodologies, our method successfully identifies differences within the motivating circadian datasets, and facilitates wider ranging analyses of rhythmic biological data in general.

Background Safe and high quality health care is underpinned by health care professionals possessing the knowledge, skills and professional attributes which are necessary for their specific clinical speciality and area of practice. Education is crucial as it enables clinicians to learn and put into practice their specialist knowledge, skills and attributes. These elements will be based on clinical standards, which set the agenda for quality and safety in health care. Aim The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon how a post-registration, degree-level critical care nursing course provided by an English university facilitates nurses to deliver high quality, safe nursing care for critically ill patients and their families. Methods As a reflective analysis, the process of reflection will be guided and structured according to Rolfe's framework for reflective practice. The reflection is based upon the personal observations and teaching experiences of two university lecturers involved in the delivery of the critical care course. Conclusions Critical care nursing education can incorporate informed practice, simulation and non-technical skills into post-registration critical-care nursing courses as a way of promoting high-quality, safe clinical practice in the critical care setting. This article provides examples from one course's experience with doing this and ends with specific recommendations for how critical care nursing courses can enhance further the promotion of quality and safety. Relevance to clinical practice Educators, mentors and students of post-registration critical care nursing courses are encouraged to explore the relevance of nursing education in promoting safe and high-quality clinical practice.

This article presents the author's experience, in the role of a transfusion practitioner (TP), of developing and implementing a major haemorrhage protocol. A definition is given for the term ‘major haemorrhage’ in conjunction with the incidence of and outcomes for people experiencing excessive blood loss. The advantages and disadvantages of clinical protocols are discussed. Rather than reject the use of protocols because of issues of compliance and resourcing, these should be acknowledged in order to better inform the development and implementation of a protocol. With reference to the specific design of a major haemorrhage protocol for use in an acute NHS trust, a detailed explanation of the stages involved in developing a protocol is given. This is followed by a summary of the standard recommendations specified for protocol implementation. The findings from an audit showed on average that the time to the first transfusion was 26 minutes less for patients in the post-protocol group compared to the pre-protocol group.

Safe and high quality health care is underpinned by health care professionals possessing the knowledge, skills and professional attributes which are necessary for their specific clinical speciality and area of practice. Education is crucial as it enables clinicians to learn and put into practice their specialist knowledge, skills and attributes. These elements will be based on clinical standards, which set the agenda for quality and safety in health care.The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon how a post-registration, degree-level critical care nursing course provided by an English university facilitates nurses to deliver high quality, safe nursing care for critically ill patients and their families.As a reflective analysis, the process of reflection will be guided and structured according to Rolfe's framework for reflective practice. The reflection is based upon the personal observations and teaching experiences of two university lecturers involved in the delivery of the critical care course.Critical care nursing education can incorporate informed practice, simulation and non-technical skills into post-registration critical-care nursing courses as a way of promoting high-quality, safe clinical practice in the critical care setting. This article provides examples from one course's experience with doing this and ends with specific recommendations for how critical care nursing courses can enhance further the promotion of quality and safety.Educators, mentors and students of post-registration critical care nursing courses are encouraged to explore the relevance of nursing education in promoting safe and high-quality clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: While alcohol consumption and heavy episodic (binge) drinking are well-established predictors of male-to-male alcohol-related aggression (MMARA), the role of the father-son relationship in MMARA has yet to be explored. METHODS: This study therefore examined whether fathering by the biological father rather than another father figure, negative fathering, and gender role modeled by the father figure were significant predictors of involvement in MMARA, once drinking frequency and quantity and heavy episodic drinking were controlled for. A total of 121 university students aged 18 to 25 years (M = 20.63, SD = 1.77 years) voluntarily completed the online questionnaire. RESULTS: The only significant predictors of perpetration of MMARA were a more abusive paternal relationship and drinking quantity (number of standard drinks usually consumed when drinking). CONCLUSIONS: Negative father-son relationships may play a role in fostering young men's perpetration of MMARA in the barroom context. Language: en

Universities are often criticised for not adequately preparing students for the workplace. In particular, the testing of taught content through examinations does not reflect the open nature of most roles, which require the application of knowledge. The BSc Mathematics course at Sheffield Hallam University embeds employability development and applications throughout the course. In 2018/19 two work-related group assessments were introduced, in which first year students work collaboratively with companies and other students on real-world problems. This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation of the two projects, including the challenges and benefits, as observed by staff, students and clients.