From welfare to correction: a review of changing discourses of secure accommodation

Any group care centre has in various ways to incorporate aspects of treatment, teaching, nurturance and control according to the specific needs of the children referred there. Yet experience has shown that the ethos of most group care centres is heavily dominated by the single yet simplistic purpose that underpins the resource system sponsoring a centre. This often results in the overall developmental needs of children being overwhelmed by a single purpose, which although important is an incomplete response at best

Universal screening for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus : interim results from the NHS Scotland pathfinder project

Following recommendations from a Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a prospective cohort study of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening of all admissions (N = 29 690) to six acute hospitals in three regions in Scotland indicated that 7.5% of patientswere colonised on admission to hospital. Factors associated with colonisation included re-admission, specialty of admission (highest in nephrology, care of the elderly, dermatology and vascular surgery), increasing age, and the source of admission (care home or other hospital). Three percent of all those who were identified as colonised developed hospital-associated MRSA infection, compared with only 0.1% of those not colonised. Specialtieswith a high rate of colonisation on admission also had higher rates of MRSA infection. Very few patients refused screening (11 patients, 0.03%) or had treatment deferred (14 patients, 0.05%). Several organisational issues were identified, including difficulties in achieving complete uptake of screening (88%) or decolonisation (41%); the latter was largely due to short duration of stay and turnaround time for test results. Patient movement resulted in a decision to decontaminate all positive patients rather than just those in high risk specialties as proposed by the HTA. Issues also included a lack of isolation facilities to manage patients with MRSA. The study raises significant concerns about the contribution of decolonisation to reducing risks in hospital due to short duration of stay, and reinforces the central role of infection control precautions. Further study is required before the HTA model can be re-run and conclusions redrawn on the cost and clinical effectiveness of universal MRSA screening

Calculations of liquid helium and neon VUV emission spectra, self-absorption and scattering for a neutrino detector

To evaluate the feasibility of the recently proposed detection scheme of low energy neutrinos released from the Sun and supernovae called CLEAN, Cryogenic Low Energy Astrophysics with Noble Gases, which relies on the transparency of noble-gas cryogenic liquids to VUV radiation produced by neutrinos, we analyze theoretically VUV emission, self-absorption, and scattering of liquid helium and neon, primary candidates for CLEAN. Owing to strong repulsion of noble-gas atoms in the ground states at the equilibrium distance of the relevant excited state, the emission spectrum is substantially shifted from the absorption spectrum, and in principle the absorption is expected very small, allowing building large detectors. Our analysis, however, shows that the self-absorption and Rayleigh scattering are comparable to the size of the proposed detector. Our theoretical emission spectra are found in agreement with experimental observations although some deviation exists due to binary-interaction approximation, and our ab initio Rayleigh scattering lengths are found in agreement with other calculations based on the extrapolation of experimental refraction indices. The absorption process can result in either re-emission, which conserves the number of photons but delays their escape from the liquid, or in non-radiative quenching

Towards an ecological network for the Carpathians

The Carpathian Biodiversity Information System (CBIS) and the proposal for an ecological network for the eastern part of the Carpathians are the two main outcomes of the project funded by the BBI Matra program of the Dutch government. This brochure presents information on how the CBIS was designed, and how the data stored can be retrieved and used. It also clarifies how the CBIS data were used to design the ecological network and, last but not least, it offers recommendations for the use of the proposed ecological network in supporting sustainable developmentin the Carpathians. Due to funding restrictions, the project focused on three east Carpathian countries: Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, which together host the largest area of the Carpathians (Fig. 2). Geographically, the Eastern Carpathians also include parts of the Carpathians located in Poland and Slovakia. Data collection in the Western Carpathians (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary) will be completed by 2010 and is funded by a parallel project

Chemostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic carbonates: implications for 'blind dating'

The delta C-13(carb) and Sr-87/Sr-86 secular variations in Neoproteozoic seawater have been used for the purpose of 'isotope stratigraphy' but there are a number of problems that can preclude its routine use. In particular, it cannot be used with confidence for 'blind dating'. The compilation of isotopic data on carbonate rocks reveals a high level of inconsistency between various carbon isotope age curves constructed for Neoproteozoic seawater, caused by a relatively high frequency of both global and local delta C-13(carb) fluctuations combined with few reliable age determinations. Further complication is caused by the unresolved problem as to whether two or four glaciations, and associated negative delta C-13(carb) excursions, can be reliably documented. Carbon isotope stratigraphy cannot be used alone for geological correlation and 'blind dating'. Strontium isotope stratigraphy is a more reliable and precise tool for stratigraphic correlations and indirect age determinations. Combining strontium and carbon isotope stratigraphy, several discrete ages within the 590-544 Myr interval, and two age-groups at 660-610 and 740-690 Myr can be resolved

Magnetic Flux of EUV Arcade and Dimming Regions as a Relevant Parameter for Early Diagnostics of Solar Eruptions - Sources of Non-Recurrent Geomagnetic Storms and Forbush Decreases

This study aims at the early diagnostics of geoeffectiveness of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from quantitative parameters of the accompanying EUV dimming and arcade events. We study events of the 23th solar cycle, in which major non-recurrent geomagnetic storms (GMS) with Dst <-100 nT are sufficiently reliably identified with their solar sources in the central part of the disk. Using the SOHO/EIT 195 A images and MDI magnetograms, we select significant dimming and arcade areas and calculate summarized unsigned magnetic fluxes in these regions at the photospheric level. The high relevance of this eruption parameter is displayed by its pronounced correlation with the Forbush decrease (FD) magnitude, which, unlike GMSs, does not depend on the sign of the Bz component but is determined by global characteristics of ICMEs. Correlations with the same magnetic flux in the solar source region are found for the GMS intensity (at the first step, without taking into account factors determining the Bz component near the Earth), as well as for the temporal intervals between the solar eruptions and the GMS onset and peak times. The larger the magnetic flux, the stronger the FD and GMS intensities are and the shorter the ICME transit time is. The revealed correlations indicate that the main quantitative characteristics of major non-recurrent space weather disturbances are largely determined by measurable parameters of solar eruptions, in particular, by the magnetic flux in dimming areas and arcades, and can be tentatively estimated in advance with a lead time from 1 to 4 days. For GMS intensity, the revealed dependencies allow one to estimate a possible value, which can be expected if the Bz component is negative.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Solar Physic

Biocompatible silk fibroin scaffold prepared by reactive inkjet printing

It has recently been shown that regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) aqueous solution can be printed using an inkjet printer. In this communication, we demonstrate an alternative reactive inkjet printing method that provides control over RSF crystallinity through β-sheet concentration. A biocompatible film has successfully been produced through the alternate printing of RSF aqueous solution and methanol using reactive inkjet printing. Control over the formation of the β-sheet structure was achieved by printing different ratios of RSF to methanol and was confirmed using Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy. The biocompatibility of the printed silk scaffold was demonstrated by the growth of fibroblast cells upon its surface

Quantum magneto-oscillations in a two-dimensional Fermi liquid

Quantum magneto-oscillations provide a powerfull tool for quantifying Fermi-liquid parameters of metals. In particular, the quasiparticle effective mass and spin susceptibility are extracted from the experiment using the Lifshitz-Kosevich formula, derived under the assumption that the properties of the system in a non-zero magnetic field are determined uniquely by the zero-field Fermi-liquid state. This assumption is valid in 3D but, generally speaking, erroneous in 2D where the Lifshitz-Kosevich formula may be applied only if the oscillations are strongly damped by thermal smearing and disorder. In this work, the effects of interactions and disorder on the amplitude of magneto-oscillations in 2D are studied. It is found that the effective mass diverges logarithmically with decreasing temperature signaling a deviation from the Fermi-liquid behavior. It is also shown that the quasiparticle lifetime due to inelastic interactions does not enter the oscillation amplitude, although these interactions do renormalize the effective mass. This result provides a generalization of the Fowler-Prange theorem formulated originally for the electron-phonon interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

The effect of culture preservation techniques on patulin and citrinin production by Penicillium expansum Link

Aims: To study the influence of culture preservation methods and culture conditions on the production of the mycotoxins patulin and citrinin by Penicillium expansum. Methods and results: Ten strains of Penicillium expansum were preserved using subculture and maintenance at 4 ºC, mineral oil, drying on silica gel and freeze-drying. Patulin and citrinin production was assessed on yeast extract sucrose agar (YES) and grape juice agar (GJ), using TLC before and after 0.5, 2–3, 6 and 12 months preservation. Citrinin was detected in all cultures for all preservation techniques on YES. The patulin profiles obtained differed with strain and culture media used. Conclusions: Citrinin production seems to be a stable character for the tested strains. There is a tendency for patulin detection with time apparently more consistent for silica gel storage and freeze-drying, especially when the strains are grown on GJ. Significance and Impact of the Study: Variability in the profiles of the mycotoxins tested seems to be more strain-specific than dependent on the preservation technique used

Thinking about growth : a cognitive mapping approach to understanding small business development

School of Managemen