Historical wealth accounts for Britain : progress and puzzles in measuring the sustainability of economic growth

We thank the Leverhulme Trust for funding this research under the project ‘History and the Future’.Estimates of Britain's comprehensive wealth are reported for the period 1760-2000. They include measures of produced, natural, and human capital, and illustrate the changing composition of Britain's assets over this time period. We show how genuine savings, GS (a year-on-year measure of the change in total capital and a claimed indicator of sustainable development) has evolved over time. Changes in total wealth are compared to alternative, investment-based measures of GS, including variants augmented with the value of exogenous technology. Additionally, the possible effects of population change on wealth, and the implications of including carbon-dioxide emissions in natural capital are considered.PostprintPeer reviewe

A reassuring presence: An evaluation of Bradford District Hospice at Home service

Within the United Kingdom, a developing role for primary care services in cancer and palliative care has resulted in an increase in palliative home care teams. The provision of professional care in the home setting seeks to provide necessary services and enhanced choice for patients whose preference is to die at home. A mismatch between patient preference for home death and the actual number of people who died at home was identified within Bradford, the locality of this study. In response to this mismatch, and reflecting the policy environment of wishing to enhance community service provision, the four Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in the city sought to offer support to patients who wished to remain in their own homes through the final stages of a terminal illness. To offer this support they set up a dedicated hospice at home team. This would provide services and support for patients in achieving a dignified, symptom free and peaceful death, allowing families to maximise time spent together. The aim of the study was to evaluate the Bradford hospice at home service from the perspective of carers, nurses and General Practitioners. Postal questionnaires were sent to carers (n = 289), district nurses (n = 508) and GP's (n = 444) using Bradford's hospice at home service. Resulting quantitative data was analysed using the Statical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and qualitative data was analysed using grounded theory techniques. The data from carers, district nurses and GPs provide general support for the Bradford hospice at home service. Carers valued highly the opportunity to 'fulfil a promise' to the individual who wished to be cared for at home. District nurses and GPs cited the positive impact of access to specialist expertise. This was a 'reassuring presence' for primary healthcare teams and offered 'relief of carer anxiety' by providing prompt, accessible and sensitive care. Carers and health professionals welcomed the increased possibility of patients being cared for at home. The study identified the need to focus on improving skill levels of staff and on ensuring continuity of care

The potential roles of osmotic and non-osmotic sodium handling in mediating effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on heart failure

Concomitant type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases the risk of heart failure (HF). Recent STUDIES: demonstrate beneficial effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) on CKD progression and HF hospitalization in patients with and without diabetes. In addition to inhibiting glucose reabsorption, SGLT2i reduce proximal tubular sodium reabsorption, possibly leading to transient natriuresis. We review the hypothesis that SGLT2i's natriuretic and osmotic diuretic effects mediate their cardio-protective effects. The degree to which these benefits are related to changes in sodium, independent of the kidney, is currently unknown. Aside from effects on osmotically active sodium, we explore the intriguing possibility that SGLT2i could also modulate non-osmotic sodium storage. This alternative hypothesis is based on emerging literature that challenges the traditional two-compartment model of sodium balance to provide support for a three-compartment model that includes the binding of sodium to glycosaminoglycans, such as those in muscles and skin. This recent research on non-osmotic sodium storage, as well as direct cardiac effects of SGLT2i, provides possibilities for other ways in which SGLT2i might mitigate HF risk. Overall, we review the effects of SGLT2i on sodium balance and sensitivity, cardiac tissue, interstitial fluid and plasma volume, and non-osmotic sodium storage

Productive resistance within the public sector: exploring organisational culture

The article examines how South Korean civil servants responded to the introduction of pay for performance. Drawing upon 31 in-depth interviews with career civil servants, it identifies what became known as 1/n, a form of ‘discreet resistance’ that emerged and evolved. The analytical framework allows productive resistance to be seen as ebbing and flowing during organisational change that sees institutionalisation, deinstitutionalisation and re-institutionalisation. In understanding the cultural context of organisational resistance the contribution is three-fold. First, a nuanced definition and understanding of productive resistance. Second, it argues that productive resistance must be seen as part of a process that does not simply reflect ‘offer and counter-offer’ within the change management process. Thirdly, it identifies differences within groups and sub-cultures concerning commitment towards resistance and how these fissures contribute towards change as new interpretive schemes and justifications are presented in light of policy reformulations

Data from a pooled post hoc analysis of 14 placebo-controlled, dapagliflozin treatment studies in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without anemia at baseline

Dapagliflozin is a highly selective sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor associated with stabilization of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR); reductions in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), systolic blood pressure, body weight, and albuminuria; and a small and consistent increase in hematocrit [1], [2], [3], [4]. This data set is based on the associated article [5] analyzing data from 5325 patients with type 2 diabetes from 14 placebo-controlled, phase 3 (one phase 2/3), double-blind dapagliflozin treatment studies of 24-104 weeks' duration. Data on dapagliflozin's effects (vs. placebo) on hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit, serum albumin, serum total protein concentrations, urine albumin/creatinine ratio, eGFR, heart rate, blood pressure, body weight, and safety in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without anemia were pooled and analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to baseline Hb levels: anemia (Hb 16.5 g/dL in men and >16.0 g/dL in women). Because anemia commonly occurs in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease [6], the data can be of value to further analyze trends in relevant physiological and pathophysiological parameters

Patents and Industrialisation. An Historical Overview of the British Case, 1624-1907

A Report to the Strategic Advisory Board on Intellectual Property Policy (SABIP), U

Towards the development of a simulator for investigating the impact of people management practices on retail performance

               \ud           \ud 

A survey study to gather requirements for designing a mobile service to enhance learning from cultural heritage

This study was carried out to gather user requirements using a questionnaire survey. The study has investigated how people may use mobile location-aware technologies for learning purposes in cultural heritage contexts. This paper presents the results of this survey study and outlines a number of challenges for further development