Child–parent interaction in relation to road safety education : Part 2 – main report

• Children and young people are particularly vulnerable road users. • Child pedestrian injury rates are poor compared with the rest of Europe. • The factors that impact on children’s road safety and their capability in traffic are numerous, multi-faceted and complex. • • The systematic review conducted by Cattan et al. (2008) as the initial phase of this study shows that: • parents see themselves as being responsible for developing their children’s road safety awareness and skills; • holding hands is the most common road-crossing interaction between parents and children; • adults rarely make use of road-crossing events to give oral instructions; • few parents and children are consistent in their road-crossing behaviour; • roadside training by volunteer parents for groups of children can lead to significant improvements in children’s road safety behaviour; • belief in fate seems to influence the likelihood of parents using restraints, such as seat belts or car seats, with their children; and • parents’ understanding of the child’s perspective in carrying out road safety tasks and their motivation to actively involve their child in making decisions at the roadside can be improved through training. • Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) suggests that the modelling role of parents can make a significant contribution to children’s learning about road use and their development of traffic competence whether or not parents are aware of this. • The main aim of this study was to explore the way parents influence children and young people aged 0–16 years to be safer road users. • This study included children and young people aged 5–16 and parents of children aged 0–16 years old

The reproductive biology of the exploited razor clam, Ensis siliqua, in the Irish Sea

Knowledge of the reproductive cycle of a species is a prerequisite for sustainable management of a fishery. The infaunal marine bivalve, Ensis siliqua, is a commercially important species in Europe, and is exploited in many countries, including Ireland, where it is sold by wet weight. Seasonal variations in the reproductive cycle of subtidal razor clams from the Skerries region of the Irish Sea, an important fisheries area, were examined between June 2010 and September 2011 while monitoring weight. Histological examination revealed that the E. siliqua sex-ratio was not different from parity, and no hermaphrodites were observed in the samples collected. In the summer months of 2010 all female clams were either spent or in early development, with just a small percentage of males still spawning. The gonads of both sexes developed over the autumn and winter months of 2010, with the first spawning individuals recorded in January 2011. Spawning peaked in March 2011, but unlike in 2010, spawning continued through June and July with all animals spent in August 2011. The earlier and longer spawning period found in this species in 2011 compared to 2010 may have been due to the colder than normal temperature observed during the winter of 2010 plus the relatively warmer temperatures of Spring 2011, which could have affected the gametogenic development of E. siliqua in the Irish Sea. It was noted that wet weight dropped in the summer months of both years, immediately after the spawning period which may impact on the practicality of fishing for this species during this period. Timing of development and spawning is compared with other sites in the Irish Sea and elsewhere in Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula

Diphthamide modification of eEF2 requires a J-domain protein and is essential for normal development

The intracellular target of diphtheria toxin is a modified histidine residue, diphthamide, in the translation elongation factor, eEF2. This enigmatic modification occurs in all eukaryotes, and is produced in yeast by the action of five gene products, DPH1 to DPH5. Sequence homologues of these genes are present in all sequenced eukaryotic genomes and in higher eukaryotes there is functional evidence for DPH1, 2, 3, and 5 acting in diphthamide biosynthesis. We have identified a mouse mutant in the remaining gene, Dph4. Cells derived from homozygous mutant embryos lack the diphthamide modification of EF2 and are resistant to killing by diphtheria toxin. Reporter-tagged DPH4 protein localizes to the cytoskeleton, in contrast to the localization of DPH1, and consistent with evidence that DPH4 is not part of a proposed complex containing DPH1, 2 and 3. Mice homozygous for the mutation are retarded in growth and development and almost always die before birth. Those that survive long enough have preaxial polydactyly, a duplication of digit 1 of the hind foot. This same defect is seen in embryos homozygous for mutation of DPH1, suggesting that lack of diphthamide on eEF2 could result in translational failure of specific proteins, rather than a generalized translation downregulation

Analysing and controlling the self-assembly of Gelation

We describe new methods to analyse and control the self-assembly of gelation leading to exciting new soft materials. These materials have been shown to be of use to a wide range of applications including antimicrobial coatings, OPV devices, thermochromic materials and biomedical materials. Many of the described methods are novel or go beyond the state of the art. One of the analytical methods probes the surface chemistry of self-assembled hydrogel fibres to determine their pKa. This method not only determines the gel’s pKa but whether indeed a gel would form from a small molecule and what its rheological stiffness would be. This is the first incident of electrochemistry being used to determine the rheology of gels. Furthermore, a method to probe in the real time the self-assembly kinetics of a gelator to form a gel using multiple pulse amperometry is described. This method is expanded to complex multicomponent systems. Electrochemically fabricated hydrogels are developed and for the first time we show how the rheological properties can be controlled by controlling the electrochemical parameters. In addition to controlled rheological properties, the gels formed have unique mesh sizes and thermochromic properties. We introduce a new gelation trigger method for low molecular weight hydrogels. Dopamine autoxidation can be used to control the self-assembly of small molecules to form gels and we go on to describe how these gels can be used for antimicrobial purposes. To expand on the electrochemically fabricated hydrogels, we propose the oxidation of dopamine as a new electrochemical trigger. We describe how the rheological properties of the gels can be controlled and how they are potentially suitable for biomedical applications. Finally, we describe a method to control the self-assembly of both single and multi-component gel networks by temperature and use an array of analytical techniques to show this. We expand on this work to show how the temperature control can form gels with varying networks which lead directly to changes in the efficiency of electron transfer

What makes health promotion research distinct?

There have been concerns about the decline of health promotion as a practice and discipline and alongside this, calls for a clearer articulation of health promotion research and what, if anything, makes it distinct. This discussion paper, based on a review of the literature; the authors’ own experiences in the field; and a workshop delivered by two of the authors at the 8th Nordic Health Promotion Conference, seeks to state the reasons why health promotion research is distinctive. While by no means exhaustive, the paper suggests four distinctive features. The paper hopes to be a catalyst to enable health promotion researchers to be explicit in their practice and to begin the process of developing an agreed set of research principles

The context, influences and challenges for undergraduate nurse clinical education: Continuing the dialogue

Introduction – Approaches to clinical education are highly diverse and becoming increasingly complex to sustain in complex milieu Objective – To identify the influences and challenges of providing nurse clinical education in the undergraduate setting and to illustrate emerging solutions. Method: A discursive exploration into the broad and varied body of evidence including peer reviewed and grey literature. Discussion - Internationally, enabling undergraduate clinical learning opportunities faces a range of challenges. These can be illustrated under two broad themes: (1) Legacies from the past and the inherent features of nurse education and (2) Challenges of the present, including, population changes, workforce changes, and the disconnection between the health and education sectors. Responses to these challenges are triggering the emergence of novel approaches, such as collaborative models. Conclusion(s) – Ongoing challenges in providing accessible, effective and quality clinical learning experiences are apparent

Patterns of analgesic use, pain and self-efficacy: a cross-sectional study of patients attending a hospital rheumatology clinic

Background: Many people attending rheumatology clinics use analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for persistent musculoskeletal pain. Guidelines for pain management recommend regular and pre-emptive use of analgesics to reduce the impact of pain. Clinical experience indicates that analgesics are often not used in this way. Studies exploring use of analgesics in arthritis have historically measured adherence to such medication. Here we examine patterns of analgesic use and their relationships to pain, self-efficacy and demographic factors. Methods: Consecutive patients were approached in a hospital rheumatology out-patient clinic. Pattern of analgesic use was assessed by response to statements such as 'I always take my tablets every day.' Pain and self-efficacy (SE) were measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES). Influence of factors on pain level and regularity of analgesic use were investigated using linear regression. Differences in pain between those agreeing and disagreeing with statements regarding analgesic use were assessed using t-tests. Results: 218 patients (85% of attendees) completed the study. Six (2.8%) patients reported no current pain, 26 (12.3%) slight, 100 (47.4%) moderate, 62 (29.4%) severe and 17 (8.1%) extreme pain. In multiple linear regression self efficacy and regularity of analgesic use were significant (p < 0.01) with lower self efficacy and more regular use of analgesics associated with more pain. Low SE was associated with greater pain: 40 (41.7%) people with low SE reported severe pain versus 22 (18.3%) people with high SE, p < 0.001. Patients in greater pain were significantly more likely to take analgesics regularly; 13 (77%) of those in extreme pain reported always taking their analgesics every day, versus 9 (35%) in slight pain. Many patients, including 46% of those in severe pain, adjusted analgesic use to current pain level. In simple linear regression, pain was the only variable significantly associated with regularity of analgesic use: higher levels of pain corresponded to more regular analgesic use (p = 0.003). Conclusion: Our study confirms that there is a strong inverse relationship between self-efficacy and pain severity. Analgesics are often used irregularly by people with arthritis, including some reporting severe pain

Attentional processes in mosquito-eating jumping spiders: search imagesand cross-modality priming

Evarcha culicivora, a species of jumping spider (Araneae: Salticidae from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa, has unusual prey-choice behaviour. It preferred prey is blood-carrying mosquitoes. It also has unusually complex mate-choice behaviour, with mutual mate choice being pronounced. This thesis is a study of E. culicivora’s prey-choice behaviour and mate-choice behaviour, as well as a study of processes underlying selective attention in this unusual species. E. culicivora uses olfaction in unique and often surprising ways. This includes identifying potential mates by odour alone, as well as choosing the odour of potential mates that have recently fed on blood-carrying mosquitoes. The odour of potential mates also primes both sexes for escalating conflict with potential rivals, as well as priming selective attention to the masked odour of specifically potential mates. Besides all this, the odour of blood-carrying mosquitoes primes E. culicivora to selectively attend to the masked odour of specifically this prey. Moreover, the appearance of blood-carrying mosquitoes and of potential mates primes E. culicivora to selectively attend to specifically the appearance of cryptic blood-carrying mosquitoes and cryptic potential mates, respectively. Vision and olfaction can even work together, with olfactory and visual cues from blood-carrying mosquitoes priming E. culicivora to selectively attend to the appearance and odour, respectively, of blood-carrying mosquitoes. Furthermore, E. culicivora has a poorly-understood relationship with two plant species, Lantana camara and Ricinus communis, and E. culicivora can identify these two plant species by odour alone. These plants may be relevant to this salticid as a nectar source by which it supplements its insect diet, but these plants may also be as sites at which E. culicivora males and females find potential mates, with E. culicivora’s interactions on these plants being especially exaggerated and complex