Effects of ambient temperature and photoperiod on flowering time in faba bean (Vicia faba L.)

Flowering time is a vulnerable stage of plant development and is therefore a significant determinant of adaptation and grain yield in faba bean (Vicia faba L.). It is largely controlled by genotype, environmental factors of temperature and photoperiod, and genotype-by-environment interactions. The aim of this study was to evaluate variation in flowering time and the responses of flowering time to ambient temperature and photoperiod in Australian faba bean. Time of sowing experiments were carried out to assess variation among lines for flowering time (measured in days to flowering, thermal time to flowering and node of first flower) and to determine plant sensitivities to ambient temperature and photoperiod by regression analysis in the field, while four controlled environment experiments of differing temperature and photoperiod were undertaken to further analyse the variation in responses. Results showed significant variation in responses to both ambient temperature and photoperiod. Photoperiod was the main factor influencing variation in flowering time, with lines grouped as: sensitive, intermediate or insensitive. The responses to ambient temperature were more complex. Most lines fit the traditional linear model, but with possible variation in optimal temperature and/or vernalisation response, while some lines showed temperature insensitivity.Samuel C. Catt and Jeffrey G. Paul

The development of a questionnaire to assess the attitudes of older people to end-of-life issues (AEOLI)

Objectives: To develop an end-of-life attitudes questionnaire for use in a large community-based sample of older people. Design: Nominal groups and standardization of questions. Participants: Eighteen older people, ten academics and five specialist palliative care health professionals were involved in nominal groups. Thirty older people took part in initial pilot work and a further 50 were involved in reliability testing. Results: A 27-item attitudes of older people to end-of-life issues (AEOLI) questionnaire. Discussion: In modern times, death and dying predominantly occurs among older people and yet we know very little about older people's attitudes to end-of-life care. The AEOLI questionnaire can be used in large scale surveys to elicit attitudes on end-of life issues considered important by older people and health care professionals

EXTREQOL identifies ongoing challenges in maximising quality of survival in men with mCRPC

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Talking about risk in the context of genomic tests (TARGET): development and evaluation of an educational programme for clinicians

Purpose: Gene expression profiling (GEP) test scores calculate risks of recurrence and likely benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in ER positive, HER2 negative, early stage breast cancer. As health literacy and numeracy skills in the general population are poor, healthcare professionals (HCPs) require a wide repertoire of communication skills to explain clearly risk of recurrence scores (RSs) and uncertainty. We developed and evaluated an educational program for HCPs discussing GEP test results and adjuvant treatment. Methods: Eight hour workshops contained elements aimed at improving knowledge, communication skills, and self-awareness; these included:- the science underpinning GEP tests, an interactive risk psychology lecture, exercises and facilitated group discussions regarding 7 filmed scenarios involving discussions about high, intermediate and low RSs. Attendees were recorded explaining RSs with patient simulators pre and post workshop. Researchers blinded to time-point, analysed recordings using a study specific scoring system. Primary objective outcomes were improvements post workshop in HCPs’ competence and confidence when communicating 17 pre-specified key information areas. We estimated odds ratios (OR) using conditional logistic regression to compare pre and post workshop scores. Results: 65 HCPs attended. Objective analyses revealed significant positive shifts post-workshop which included explaining:- GEP tests (OR=2.98; 95% CI, 1.38 to 6.42; P=.001), recurrence RSs (OR=3.99; 95% CI, 1.72 to 9.25; P<.001), benefits of chemotherapy (OR= 3.99; 95% CI, 1.82 to 8.75; P<.001; and harms OR=2.31; 95% CI, 1.37 to 3.92; P<.001) using jargon free language (OR=5.29; 95% CI, 2.27 to 12.35; P<.001). Patient simulator assessments also showed significant improvements as did HCPs’ self-assessments and ratings of their self-confidence when discussing different GEP tests with diverse patient types (P<.001). Conclusion: These short, intensive, interactive TARGET workshops significantly improved HCPs’ communication about GEP results in ways likely to promote more informed decision-making by patients about chemotherapy

Quality of life after bladder cancer: a prospective study comparing patient-related outcomes after radical surgery or radical radiotherapy for bladder cancer

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Electoral management and the organisational determinants of electoral integrity

Achieving the ideals of electoral democracy depends on well-run elections. Persistent problems of electoral integrity in transitional and established democracies have prompted a burgeoning literature seeking to explain the determinants of electoral integrity around the world. However, the study of the organisations responsible for managing the electoral process has been limited to isolated national case studies. This article opens up an interdisciplinary and international research agenda on the global study of the organisational determinants of electoral integrity. It defines the concept of electoral management and provides a framework to understand how electoral management body (EMB) institutional design, EMB performance and electoral integrity are related. Findings from new data derived from cross-national surveys of EMBs are described, providing new insights into how elections are managed worldwide

Democratic cultural policy : democratic forms and policy consequences

The forms that are adopted to give practical meaning to democracy are assessed to identify what their implications are for the production of public policies in general and cultural policies in particular. A comparison of direct, representative, democratic elitist and deliberative versions of democracy identifies clear differences between them in terms of policy form and democratic practice. Further elaboration of these differences and their consequences are identified as areas for further research

Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of the Marsworth area, south-central England

To elucidate the Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of south-central England, we report the stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeoecology and geochronology of some deposits near the foot of the Chiltern Hills scarp at Marsworth, Buckinghamshire. The Marsworth site is important because its sedimentary sequences contain a rich record of warm stages and cold stages, and it lies close to the Anglian glacial limit. Critical to its history are the origin and age of a brown pebbly silty clay (diamicton) previously interpreted as weathered till. The deposits described infill a river channel incised into chalk bedrock. They comprise clayey, silty and gravelly sediments, many containing locally derived chalk and some with molluscan, ostracod and vertebrate remains. Most of the deposits are readily attributed to periglacial and fluvial processes, and some are dated by optically stimulated luminescence to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6. Although our sedimentological data do not discriminate between a glacial or periglacial interpretation of the diamicton, amino-acid dating of three molluscan taxa from beneath it indicates that it is younger than MIS 9 and older than MIS 5e. This makes a glacial interpretation unlikely, and we interpret the diamicton as a periglacial slope deposit. The Pleistocene history reconstructed for Marsworth identifies four key elements: (1) Anglian glaciation during MIS 12 closely approached Marsworth, introducing far-travelled pebbles such as Rhaxella chert and possibly some fine sand minerals into the area. (2) Interglacial environments inferred from fluvial sediments during MIS 7 varied from fully interglacial conditions during sub-stages 7e and 7c, cool temperate conditions during sub-stage 7b or 7a, temperate conditions similar to those today in central England towards the end of the interglacial, and cool temperate conditions during sub-stage 7a. (3) Periglacial activity during MIS 6 involved thermal contraction cracking, permafrost development, fracturing of chalk bedrock, fluvial activity, slopewash, mass movement and deposition of loess and coversand. (4) Fully interglacial conditions during sub-stage 5e led to renewed fluvial activity, soil formation and acidic weathering

JOB INTERVIEWS: KEYS FOR RESULTS

Many students seem disinterested in learning to handle employment interviews effectively. This article discusses students’ motivation to become skilled interviewees and steps educators and counselors can take to increase students’ interest in this crucial career activity. The article also discusses mistakes students frequently make during employment interviews and provides suggestions educators can use to help students avoid these difficulties

Therapeutic aims of drugs offering only progression-free survival are misunderstood by patients, and oncologists may be overly optimistic about likely benefits

PURPOSE: The use of novel and often expensive drugs offering limited survival benefit in advanced disease is controversial. Treatment recommendations are influenced by patient characteristics and trial data showing overall response rates (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). PFS is frequently the primary outcome in licencing studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: As part of a longitudinal study Assessing the 'VALue' to patients of PROgression Free Survival (AVALPROFS), oncologists completed checklists at baseline following consultations with patients. Questions probed perceived clinical benefits of the drugs to populations in general. Patients completed study-specific interview schedules at baseline, 6 weeks into treatment, and at withdrawal due to toxicity or progression. Patients also completed tumour- and treatment-specific quality of life questionnaires monthly for their time in the study. Only baseline results are reported here. RESULTS: Thirty-two UK oncologists discussed management options with 90 patients with heterogeneous advanced cancers. Oncologists' estimates of medical benefit in general from treatment varied between 10 and 80 %. They expected 46/90 (51 %) of their patients to derive some clinical benefit from the prescribed treatment but were either unsure or expected none for 44/90 (49 %). Predictions of life expectancy were variable but 62 % (56/90) of patients were expected to survive longer with treatment. A majority of patients 51/90 (57 %) had 'no idea' or were 'unclear' what PFS meant and 45/90 (50 %) thought extension of life was the primary therapeutic aim of treatment. CONCLUSION: Discussions between doctors and patients with metastatic disease about future management plans and likely therapeutic gains are challenging. Factors influencing decisions about putative benefits of novel drugs are often applied inconsistently can be overly optimistic and may even contradict published data