Involvement in midwifery education: experiences from a service user and carer partnership.

This article provides a critical reflection on the experiences of the Bournemouth University Public Involvement in Education and Research (PIER) partnership in developing approaches to involving service users and user groups within midwifery programmes of education; an NMC requirement since 2009. Specific models and activities are explored, including using social media to consult with expectant and new parents; organising direct conversations between women, their families, academics and students to explore experiences such as grief and loss and the use of support networks during pregnancy; and developing digital resources to create real, in depth and meaningful case studies. Three key benefits to having meaningful and well supported involvement are identified: emotional impact and the opportunity to develop insight and resilience; knowledge impact and the opportunity to better understand the application of theory; and practical impact, which can lead to tangible changes to students’ subsequent practice

Testing the 'Extreme Female Brain' Theory of Psychosis in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder with or without Co-Morbid Psychosis.

INTRODUCTION: Males and females in the general population differ, on average, in their drive for empathizing (higher in females) and systemizing (higher in males). People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a drive for systemizing over empathizing, irrespective of sex, which led to the conceptualisation of ASD as an 'extreme of the typical male brain'. The opposite cognitive profile, an 'extreme of the typical female brain', has been proposed to be linked to conditions such as psychosis and mania/hypomania. METHODS: We compared an empathizing-over-systemizing bias (for short 'empathizing bias') in individuals with ASD, who had experienced psychotic illness (N = 64) and who had not (N = 71). RESULTS: There were overall differences in the distribution of cognitive style. Adults with ASD who had experienced psychosis were more likely to show an empathizing bias than adults with ASD who had no history of psychosis. This was modulated by IQ, and the group-difference was driven mainly by individuals with above-average IQ. In women with ASD and psychosis, the link between mania/hypomania and an empathizing bias was greater than in men with ASD. CONCLUSIONS: The bias for empathizing over systemizing may be linked to the presence of psychosis in people with ASD. Further research is needed in a variety of clinical populations, to understand the role an empathizing bias may play in the development and manifestation of mental illness.FVL was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) UK and the Baily Thomas Charitable Trust. M-CL was supported by the William Binks Autism Neuroscience Fellowship, the European Autism Interventions—A Multicentre Study for Developing New Medications (EU-AIMS), and Wolfson College, Cambridge. APW and AJH received support from the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East of England at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust during the preparation of this manuscript. SB-C was supported by the MRC, EU-AIMS, and the Autism Research Trust.This is the final version. It was first published by PLOS at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0128102#abstract0

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening : a 318-target study

Publisher Copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).Peer reviewe

AIMS Born-Digital Collections: An Inter-Institutional Model for Stewardship

The AIMS project evolved around a common need among the project partners — and most libraries and archives — to identify a methodology or continuous framework for stewarding born-digital archival materials. These materials have been slowly accumulating in archival backlogs for years but are rapidly growing as more contemporary collections are accessioned. Alongside the many and complex technological requirements, the challenges of stewarding born-digital material demand new strategies as well as a redefinition of archival workflows. If the archival profession aims to preserve and manage born-digital material to standards matching those of paper-based collections, a broader and deeper understanding of these issues must be developed, and this understanding must be incorporated into training of new archival professionals, professional development programs, and continuing education.Into this climate, the AIMS partners proposed an inter-institutional framework for stewarding born-digital content. The AIMS partners realized that they could not solve all problems associated with born-digital materials but decided to focus their attention on professional practice defined by archival principles and by the current state of collections at the partner institutions. The AIMS Framework was developed to define good practice in terms of archival tasks and objectives necessary for success. The Framework, as defined in the White Paper found below, presents a practical approach but also a recognition that there is no single solution for many of the issues that institutions face when dealing with born-digital collections. Instead, the AIMS project partners developed this framework as a further step towards best practice for the professionThe AIMS Project was a partnership between the University of Virginia Libraries, Stanford University Libraries and Academic Resources, the University of Hull Library, and Yale University Library with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Affirmative Action Dents the National Labor Policy

In this author\u27s earlier review of Executive Order 11,246, published in February, 1971, it was predicted that 1971 would be the year in which affirmative action would achieve the awe and the respect of the legal profession. Among the reasons then given for the profession\u27s expanding awareness were the following: (1) the far greater circulation of equal opportunity certification forms among government contractors and subcontractors; (2) the growing tendency of federal, state and local civil rights enforcement agencies to use affirmative action criteria in adjudicating issues of discrimination; (3) the federal government\u27s readiness to use stop orders in the construction industry; (4) and perhaps most significant, the serious challenges of affirmative action to the Congressionally mandated national labor policy. Since February, 1971, construction industry affirmative action plans have survived concentrated attacks in two landmark cases: Contractors Association of Eastern Pennysylvania [sic] v. Sec. of Labor and Southern Illinois Builders Association v. Ogilvie

DIAGNOSTIC REPORT

The final report on the first phase (2013) of the “Development of the strategic directions for education reform in Kazakh- stan for 2015-2020” project was implemented by the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The purpose of this research is to conduct a diagnosis of the education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the educational system and the subsequent identification of areas for further modernization at each level

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318‑target study

Información suplementaria en: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54655-z.The Atomwise AIMS Program está formado por más de 300 investigadores de distintos países.High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on‑demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high‑quality X‑ray crystal structures, or manual cherry‑picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug‑like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small‑ molecule drug discovery

Cross-sectional and longitudinal neuroanatomical profiles of distinct clinical (adaptive) outcomes in autism

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (henceforth referred to as autism) display significant variation in clinical outcome. For instance, across age, some individuals' adaptive skills naturally improve or remain stable, while others' decrease. To pave the way for 'precision-medicine' approaches, it is crucial to identify the cross-sectional and, given the developmental nature of autism, longitudinal neurobiological (including neuroanatomical and linked genetic) correlates of this variation. We conducted a longitudinal follow-up study of 333 individuals (161 autistic and 172 neurotypical individuals, aged 6-30 years), with two assessment time points separated by ~12-24 months. We collected behavioural (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale-II, VABS-II) and neuroanatomical (structural magnetic resonance imaging) data. Autistic participants were grouped into clinically meaningful "Increasers", "No-changers", and "Decreasers" in adaptive behaviour (based on VABS-II scores). We compared each clinical subgroup's neuroanatomy (surface area and cortical thickness at T1, ∆T (intra-individual change) and T2) to that of the neurotypicals. Next, we explored the neuroanatomical differences' potential genomic associates using the Allen Human Brain Atlas. Clinical subgroups had distinct neuroanatomical profiles in surface area and cortical thickness at baseline, neuroanatomical development, and follow-up. These profiles were enriched for genes previously associated with autism and for genes previously linked to neurobiological pathways implicated in autism (e.g. excitation-inhibition systems). Our findings suggest that distinct clinical outcomes (i.e. intra-individual change in clinical profiles) linked to autism core symptoms are associated with atypical cross-sectional and longitudinal, i.e. developmental, neurobiological profiles. If validated, our findings may advance the development of interventions, e.g. targeting mechanisms linked to relatively poorer outcomes

Roadmap on advancements of the FHI-aims software package

Electronic-structure theory is the foundation of the description of materials including multiscale modeling of their properties and functions. Obviously, without sufficient accuracy at the base, reliable predictions are unlikely at any level that follows. The software package FHI-aims has proven to be a game changer for accurate free-energy calculations because of its scalability, numerical precision, and its efficient handling of density functional theory (DFT) with hybrid functionals and van der Waals interactions. It treats molecules, clusters, and extended systems (solids and liquids) on an equal footing. Besides DFT, FHI-aims also includes quantum-chemistry methods, descriptions for excited states and vibrations, and calculations of various types of transport. Recent advancements address the integration of FHI-aims into an increasing number of workflows and various artificial intelligence (AI) methods. This Roadmap describes the state-of-the-art of FHI-aims and advancements that are currently ongoing or planned

Global energy growth is outpacing decarbonization

Recent reports have highlighted the challenge of keeping global average temperatures below 2 °C and—even more so—1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). Fossil-fuel burning and cement production release ~90% of all CO2 emissions from human activities. After a three-year hiatus with stable global emissions (Jackson et al 2016; Le Quéré C et al 2018a ; IEA 2018), CO2 emissions grew by 1.6% in 2017 to 36.2 Gt (billion tonnes), and are expected to grow a further 2.7% in 2018 (range: 1.8%–3.7%) to a record 37.1 ± 2 Gt CO2 (Le Quéré et al 2018b). Additional increases in 2019 remain uncertain but appear likely because of persistent growth in oil and natural gas use and strong growth projected for the global economy. Coal use has slowed markedly in the last few years, potentially peaking, but its future trajectory remains uncertain. Despite positive progress in ~19 countries whose economies have grown over the last decade and their emissions have declined, growth in energy use from fossil-fuel sources is still outpacing the rise of low-carbon sources and activities. A robust global economy, insufficient emission reductions in developed countries, and a need for increased energy use in developing countries where per capita emissions remain far below those of wealthier nations will continue to put upward pressure on CO2 emissions. Peak emissions will occur only when total fossil CO2 emissions finally start to decline despite growth in global energy consumption, with fossil energy production replaced by rapidly growing low- or no-carbon technologies