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Background ADHD affects some individuals throughout their lifespan, yet service provision for adults in the United Kingdom (UK) is patchy. Current methods for mapping health service provision are resource intensive, do not map specialist ADHD teams separately from generic mental health services, and often fail to triangulate government data with accounts from service users and clinicians. Without a national audit that maps adult ADHD provision, it is difficult to quantify current gaps in provision and make the case for change. This paper describes the development of a seven step approach to map adult ADHD service provision in the UK. Methods A mapping method was piloted in 2016 and run definitively in 2018. A seven step method was developed: 1. Defining the target service 2. Identifying key informants 3. Designing the survey 4. Data collection 5. Data analysis 6. Communicating findings 7. Hosting/updating the service map. Patients and members of the public (including clinicians and commissioners) were involved with design, data collection and dissemination of findings. Results Using a broad definition of adult ADHD services resulted in an inclusive list of identified services, and allowed the definition to be narrowed to National Health Service (NHS) funded specialist ADHD services at data analysis, with confidence that few relevant services would be missed. Key informants included patients, carers, a range of health workers, and commissioners. A brief online survey, written using lay terms, appeared acceptable to informants. Emails sent using national organisations’ mailing lists were the most effective way to access informants on a large scale. Adaptations to the methodology in 2018 were associated with 64% more responses (2371 vs 1446) collected in 83% less time (5 vs 30 weeks) than the pilot. The 2016 map of adult ADHD services was viewed 13,688 times in 17 weeks, indicating effective communication of findings. Conclusion This seven step pragmatic method was effective for collating and communicating national service data about UK adult ADHD service provision. Patient and public involvement and engagement from partner organisations was crucial throughout. Lessons learned may be transferable to mapping service provision for other health conditions and in other locations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-019-4287-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein), Background There is evidence to suggest that the broad discrepancy in the ratio of males to females with diagnosed ADHD is due, at least in part, to lack of recognition and/or referral bias in females. Studies suggest that females with ADHD present with differences in their profile of symptoms, comorbidity and associated functioning compared with males. This consensus aims to provide a better understanding of females with ADHD in order to improve recognition and referral. Comprehensive assessment and appropriate treatment is hoped to enhance longer-term clinical outcomes and patient wellbeing for females with ADHD. Methods The United Kingdom ADHD Partnership hosted a meeting of experts to discuss symptom presentation, triggers for referral, assessment, treatment and multi-agency liaison for females with ADHD across the lifespan. Results A consensus was reached offering practical guidance to support medical and mental health practitioners working with females with ADHD. The potential challenges of working with this patient group were identified, as well as specific barriers that may hinder recognition. These included symptomatic differences, gender biases, comorbidities and the compensatory strategies that may mask or overshadow underlying symptoms of ADHD. Furthermore, we determined the broader needs of these patients and considered how multi-agency liaison may provide the support to meet them. Conclusions This practical approach based upon expert consensus will inform effective identification, treatment and support of girls and women with ADHD. It is important to move away from the prevalent perspective that ADHD is a behavioural disorder and attend to the more subtle and/or internalised presentation that is common in females. It is essential to adopt a lifespan model of care to support the complex transitions experienced by females that occur in parallel to change in clinical presentation and social circumstances. Treatment with pharmacological and psychological interventions is expected to have a positive impact leading to increased productivity, decreased resource utilization and most importantly, improved long-term outcomes for girls and women., The meeting was funded by the UK ADHD Partnership (UKAP), who has been in receipt of unrestricted educational donations from Takeda. Takeda had no influence or involvement in determining the topic and arrangements of the day, the consensus process and outcomes, or writing the final manuscript. Other than reimbursement of travel expenses to attend the meeting, none of the authors received any financial compensation for attending the meeting or writing the manuscript, aside from CS who received funds for medical writing assistance., "Peer Reviewed"

The focus of this paper is on the low-value urban informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper presents a case study from Uganda, with the focus on secondary cities where much of the urban population growth is expected in the next decade. There is also good evidence that informality will persist within both dynamic and in slow urban economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Analysis of the results from fieldwork is presented in support of the basic argument that, as the informal economy is likely to persist there is need for a more conducive policy approach to ensure its positive contribution to the urban economic development; seen as a mainstay of Africa’s future economic development. Currently, the informal economy is considered ephemeral, with little institutional engagement, with the focus on restrictive measures. The paper explores the range of theoretical perspectives on the urban informal economy leading to its re-conceptualizing as part of a continuum of activities in which both formal and informal elements are interlinked. Given the need to improve productivity of activities of different constituent groups along the continuum, the aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that would enable the systematic analyses and identification of the internal diversities within the informal economy. It could be used in future policy research to identify diagnostic groups for entry points. The findings from the fieldwork carried out in the cities of Mbale and Mbarara, show that there are several viable options for sustainable livelihoods, particularly in a dynamic urban center. However, while women dominate in numbers, men remain the main actors. This calls for an inclusive, gender-mainstreamed, pro-poor development policy to complement an enterprise-based approach.

Historic, mixed-use, core urban areas such as Soho in Central London have proved remarkably resilient with building stock that is adaptable to changes of use over time. Such districts contribute significantly to the social fabric and cultural character of cities and are highly valued by their resident and user populations. In the UK, buildings, according to various estimates, contribute between 44 and 52% of the total carbon emissions and there is now considerable pressure to retrofit existing urban areas to make them more environmentally sustainable. The built fabric in the historic areas is relatively energy- and resource-inefficient, although embodied energy and carbon is high owing to the long working life of buildings. At the same time the existing buildings, because of their use, have high energy demands. Guiding retrofitting requires an integrated urban design and management approach at the district or neighbourhood scale that addresses both buildings and urban spaces. A methodology is outlined that meets the needs of cultural preservation while facilitating retrofitting of resource-efficient systems.

This paper discusses the evolving form of urban areas with particular respect to the growth of new technology and the means of mass communication. The argument is pursued that the shape of cities is moving towards a polycentric form which functions as a whole unit. Rather than resisting the evolution of such a form, as is suggested by, say, both the urban villages movement and the proponents of the compact city, the authors suggest that a multi-centred metropolis should be made to work more effectively and efficiently. To do this, it is suggested that design and managerial effort is put into the networks of movement and communication which support the general mass of urban form, paying particular attention to the nodal connections between the networks. Nevertheless, whilst such a strategy might satisfy the functional requirements of the metropolis of the twenty-first century in terms of easing congestion and decreasing energy consumption, it does not address the imaginative and associative features of 'place' which form an important part of the postmodern experience of the city. In the final part of the paper it is argued that urban designers should take cognisance of the extended knowledge of place which the information revolution has provided and should seek to integrate cities and towns more thoroughly by creating identity and reinforcing the locational attributes for nodes, sub-centres and key features of the networks. Such a strategy has implications for a reorienting of urban design away from its traditional focus on sites and centres towards an inclusion of networks, transport interchanges and suburban sub-centres.

The new Special Educational Needs Code of Practice has had wide-ranging implications, but what does it mean for children with ADHD? Dr Tony Lloyd explains

The use of fractal techniques to model aspects of urban form is now well established. However, to date these have concentrated on specific general attributes of urban form, usually focused at a macro level. In this paper we argue that the urban system is complex and its global spatial attributes related to patterns of activity and movement at the local scale. In order to arrive at a generative model which simulates the pattern of urban development, two interrelated urban spatial systems need to be modelled together. These are the built form system which reflects the pattern of uses and activities associated with the use of particular spaces and the movement system that connects those spaces. We will describe early experiments in spatial modelling which attempt to combine aspects of the two systems in the understanding of the development of informal settlements and low-income housing in developing countries.

This groundbreaking new volume on social sustainability offers both critique and creative solutions. It challenges the conventional wisdoms of social sustainability and presents practical examples of projects that will help practitioners to think carefully and innovatively about the situations they are addressing. The book consists of original contributions from academics working in the fields of urban planning, housing, regeneration, transport and international sustainable development. Drawing on case study research gathered in the UK, Europe and Africa, it adopts an original, interdisciplinary approach to both theory and practice, illustrating the challenges and opportunities facing policy-makers and practitioners attempting to develop, manage and maintain sustainable communities. The authors argue that the dominant approach of 'how to do' small scale social sustainability fails to locate it within broader social processes. Ignoring the context not only sustains, but also actively reproduces wider inequalities. The book presents a new, more coherent and more complete approach to issues of social sustainability in urban areas. The book approaches current urban policy discourses in three different ways, represented by three sections: firstly focusing on small places within the urban fabric, secondly addressing the whole urban fabric by examining whether changing urban living and working patterns. The third section explores some of the ways that funding can be secured to achieve the aims of social sustainability and the social planning associated with it.

This groundbreaking new volume on social sustainability offers both critique and creative solutions. It challenges the conventional wisdoms of social sustainability and presents practical examples of projects that will help practitioners to think carefully and innovatively about the situations they are addressing. The book consists of original contributions from academics working in the fields of urban planning, housing, regeneration, transport and international sustainable development. Drawing on case study research gathered in the UK, Europe and Africa, it adopts an original, interdisciplinary approach to both theory and practice, illustrating the challenges and opportunities facing policy-makers and practitioners attempting to develop, manage and maintain sustainable communities. The authors argue that the dominant approach of 'how to do' small scale social sustainability fails to locate it within broader social processes. Ignoring the context not only sustains, but also actively reproduces wider inequalities. The book presents a new, more coherent and more complete approach to issues of social sustainability in urban areas. The book approaches current urban policy discourses in three different ways, represented by three sections: firstly focusing on small places within the urban fabric, secondly addressing the whole urban fabric by examining whether changing urban living and working patterns. The third section explores some of the ways that funding can be secured to achieve the aims of social sustainability and the social planning associated with it.

Central London entered the period following the publication of the Urban Task Force (UTF) report from a substantially different base from other city centres in the UK. The task force ascribed this difference to London’s importance as a global centre for finance and business. Pursuing Hebbert’s (1998) conclusion that London possessed many of the qualities aspired to by the New Urbanists and by implication ‘the urban renaissance’, the report commended central London’s mixed-use areas. The new spectacular projects of the Tate Modern and the IMAX cinema were enthusiastically anticipated. On other matters the report was silent, other than noting a lack of coherent governance for London as a whole (UTF 1999a).

The Risk Assessment Work Group focused on six charge questions related to CHABS, cyanobacteria and their toxins. The charge questions covered the following topics: Research needed to reduce uncertainty in establishing health based guidelines. Research that minimize the cost and maximize the benefits of various regulatory approaches. Exposure pathways for receptors of concern. Data available to support the derivation of health-based guideline values for harmful cyanobacterial algal blooms. Ecological services that guidelines or regulations should protect? A framework for making risk management determinations that incorporates consideration of the characteristics of CHABs, the risk for human health, ecosystem viability, and the costs and benefits of CHABs detection and management? The Work Group concluded that there is a considerable amount of human case-study data and information from animal studies to demonstrate that cyanobacterial toxins pose a hazard to humans, domestic animals, wildlife, and the ecosystem. However, the data on dose-response are limited and confounded by a lack of sufficient pure toxin to conduct most of the toxicological studies that will be needed in order to answer remaining questions on risk, and to provide the data for quantitative dose-response analysis. The Work Group recommended that research on purification or synthesis of pure toxin must be accomplished before the large scale studies to establish dose-response relationships will be possible. As the necessary-pure toxins become available, the Work Group recommended that studies be prioritized by the impact that they will have on reducing the uncertainty in the risk assessment in order to minimize the research costs and maximize the risk assessment benefits. Use of quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) and toxicity equivalency factor studies are also recommended as approaches for filling dose-response data gaps. The Work Group recognized that CHABs rarely introduce single toxins into the water supply. Under CHAB conditions, affected water is likely to contain a variety of toxins in varying concentrations that may change over the duration of the bloom. Accordingly, research on cyanotoxin interactions is needed, along with the development of risk assessment approaches for CHAB mixtures. The development of simple, accurate analytical methods that can be utilized by most analytical laboratories or used in the field was recognized as a major data need for establishing exposure potential and monitoring bloom conditions. Most currently available methods are time-consuming and/or costly. Human exposure to cyanobacterial toxins can occur through ingestion of contaminated drinking water, plus dermal contact and/or inhalation of aerosols while bathing and showering in tap water. Treatment can reduce the concentrations of both the toxins and the bacteria in the treated water but there is still much to be learned about the effectiveness of most treatment technologies on cyanobacteria and toxin removal. Human exposure to cyanobacteria and their toxins also occurs through incidental ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation of aerosols during recreational use of surface waters, ingestion of contaminated fish and other foods of aquatic origin, and/or BGAS supplements. Establishing intakes and duration parameters for these exposure scenarios will facilitate the application of risk assessment approaches to these situations.

Logical Positivism is dead. With its demise the world lost a wonderful tool for dealing with nonsense: the Logical Positivists insistence on a Universal, Verification Criterion of Meaning ('UVCM').This paper examines the, much criticised, UVCM. It discovers that there is a lot to be said for a Universal, Verification, Criterion of Meaning that is stripped of 'universal' 'verification' and 'criterion' and puts forward a replacement Localised, Falsification Diagnosis of Meaning.

Why is Critical Rationalism not widely accepted? The perceived need for "good reasons" sourced in inductive verification has always mired Rationalism in a seemingly insoluble infinite regress. Critical Rationalism, on the other hand, cuts the Gordian knot by simply dispensing with any kind of verficatory support. David Miller attributes the "Mainstream's" stubborn resistance to Critical Rationalism to an addiction to so-called "good reasons". This paper suggests causes of this addiction: the craving for propositions that are in some way "forced" on us, our need to prioritise the criticism of propositions and the need to regulate interpersonal actions. The paper goes on to contend that Popperian corroboration is able to remove all and any need for verification.

Introduction Large cities in developing countries are following a spatial development trajectory similar to that in the developed countries. ‘The largest cities are, with a few exceptions, not growing especially quickly (small ones are, and so become large ones), but their inhabitants are spreading out over much larger metropolitan regions (so as population size increases, densities decline). The region absorbs smaller cities and towns’ (Harris, 1992, pp.ix-x). This pattern of development, with the growing importance of large urban regions, is similar to that found in most developed countries. However, its occurrence 50 to 100 years later means that there are important differences, in particular in relation to income structure and to the pace and scale of change. These compound the problems of the urban sprawl of developing world cities.

The new SEN Code of Practice has wide-ranging implications, but what does it mean for children with ADHD? Dr Tony Lloyd explains

Introduction 1. Understanding Social Sustainability: Key Concepts and Developments in Theory and Practice Part 1: Communities, Neighbourhoods and the Creation of Locality-Based Social Capital Introduction to Part 1 2. Creating Sustainable Neighbourhoods? The Development and Management of Mixed-Income Communities 3. Building Sustainable Communities from the Grassroots: How Community Land Trusts can Create Social Sustainability 4. Neighbourhood Asset Management: Life Cycles and Learning for Social Sustainability 5. Women's Social Networks and their Importance in Promoting Sustainable Communities Part 2: The Role of Place and Connectivity in the Urban Socio-Physical Environment Introduction to Part 2 6. Residential Intensification, Family Housing and Educational Provision 7. Transport Planning for Sustainable Communities 8. The Impacts of Teleworking on Sustainability and Travel Part 3: Regeneration and Economic Development Introduction to Part 3 9. Planning Obligations and Social Sustainability 10. The Urban Renaissance and the Night-Time Economy - Who Belongs in the City at Night? 11. The Relationship between Major Events, the Urban Fabric and Social Sustainability 12. Conclusions and Observations for Future Practice

In an economy in which consumer pressure groups are rare and the regulation of advertising is weak, the British Consumers Association, known more commonly after its journal, Which? performs two important roles: it provides a countervailing power to persuasive marketing and an incentive to manufacturers to maintain high standards. This paper will discuss the efficiency with which Which? fulfills these responsibilities and will propose an additional approach that Which? might find it useful to consider. Which? tests products either scientifically with the appropriate scientific instruments and/or by asking the opinion of consumer panels. We do not have the resources to duplicate this work and in any case have every faith that it is carried out as rigourously as might be hoped. What we believe, however, is an open question is the effectiveness with which Which? uses the data that it collects. Given the information at its disposal does Which? draw the correct conclusions?