Secondary Education and Health Outcomes in Young People from the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS)

AIM: Education is one of the strongest social determinants of health, yet previous literature has focused on primary education. We examined whether there are additional benefits to completing upper secondary compared to lower secondary education in a middle-income country. METHODS: We performed a longitudinal analysis of the Cape Area Panel Study, a survey of adolescents living in South Africa. We undertook causal modeling using structural marginal models to examine the association between level of education and various health outcomes, using inverse probability weighting to control for sex, age, ethnicity, home language, income, whether employed in past year, region of birth, maternal educational status, marital status, whether currently pregnant and cognitive ability. Educational attainment was defined as primary (grades 1–7), lower secondary (grades 8–9) or upper secondary (grades 10–12). RESULTS: Of 3,432 participants, 165 (4.8%) had completed primary education, 646 (18.8%) lower secondary and 2,621 (76.3%) upper secondary. Compared to those completing lower secondary, males completing upper secondary education were less likely to have a health problem (OR 0.49; 95%CI 0.27–0.88; p = 0.02); describe their health as poor (0.52; 0.29–0.95; p = 0.03) or report that health interferes with daily life (0.54; 0.29–0.99; p = 0.047). Females were less likely to have been pregnant (0.45; 0.33–0.61; p<0.001) or pregnant under 18 (0.32; 0.22–0.46; p<0.001); and having had sex under 16 was also less likely (males 0.63; 0.44–0.91; p = 0.01; females 0.39; 0.26–0.58; p<0.001). Cigarette smoking was less likely (males 0.52; 0.38–0.70; p = <0.001; females 0.56; 0.41–0.76; p<0.001), as was taking illicit drugs in males (0.6; 0.38–0.96; p = 0.03). No associations were found between education and alcohol use, psychological distress, obesity, increased waist circumference or hypertension. CONCLUSION: Completing upper secondary education was associated with improved health outcomes compared with lower secondary education. Expanding upper secondary education offers middle-income countries an effective way of improving adolescent health

Portraits of people with dementia : three case studies of creating portraits

Peer reviewedPreprin

Adolescent cohorts assessing growth, cardiovascular and cognitive outcomes in low and middle-income countries

INTRODUCTION: Life-course studies are needed to explore how exposures during adolescence, particularly puberty, contribute to later cardiovascular risk and cognitive health in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), where 90% of the world's young people live. The extent of any existing cohorts investigating these outcomes in LMIC has not previously been described. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature review to identify population cohort studies of adolescents in LMIC that assessed anthropometry and any of cardiovascular risk (blood pressure, physical activity, plasma glucose/lipid profile and substance misuse), puberty (age at menarche, Tanner staging, or other form of pubertal staging) or cognitive outcomes. Studies that recruited participants on the basis of a pre-existing condition or involved less than 500 young people were excluded. FINDINGS: 1829 studies were identified, and 24 cohorts fulfilled inclusion criteria based in Asia (10), Africa (6) and South / Central America (8). 14 (58%) of cohorts identified were based in one of four countries; India, Brazil, Vietnam or Ethiopia. Only 2 cohorts included a comprehensive cardiovascular assessment, tanner pubertal staging, and cognitive outcomes. CONCLUSION: Improved utilisation of existing datasets and additional cohort studies of adolescents in LMIC that collect contemporaneous measures of growth, cognition, cardiovascular risk and pubertal development are needed to better understand how this period of the life course influences future non-communicable disease morbidity and cognitive outcomes

Good practice or positive action? Using Q methodology to identify competing views on improving gender equality in academic medicine

Objectives: The number of women entering medicine has increased significantly, yet women are still under-represented at senior levels in academic medicine. To support the gender equality action plan at one School of Medicine, this study sought to (1) identify the range of viewpoints held by staff on how to address gender inequality and (2) identify attitudinal barriers to change. Design: Q methodology. 50 potential interventions representing good practice or positive action, and addressing cultural, organisational and individual barriers to gender equality, were ranked by participants according to their perception of priority. Setting: The School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, UK. Participants: Fifty-five staff members were purposively sampled to represent gender and academic pay grade. Results: Principal components analysis identified six competing viewpoints on how to address gender inequality. Four viewpoints favoured positive action interventions: (1) support careers of women with childcare commitments, (2) support progression of women into leadership roles rather than focus on women with children, (3) support careers of all women rather than just those aiming for leadership, and (4) drive change via high-level financial and strategic initiatives. Two viewpoints favoured good practice with no specific focus on women by (5) recognising merit irrespective of gender and (6) improving existing career development practice. No viewpoint was strongly associated with gender, pay grade or role; however, latent class analysis identified that female staff were more likely than male to prioritise the setting of equality targets. Attitudinal barriers to the setting of targets and other positive action initiatives were identified, and it was clear that not all staff supported positive action approaches. Conclusions: The findings and the approach have utility for those involved in gender equality work in other medical and academic institutions. However, the impact of such initiatives needs to be evaluated in the longer term

Submillimeter Studies of Prestellar Cores and Protostars: Probing the Initial Conditions for Protostellar Collapse

Improving our understanding of the initial conditions and earliest stages of protostellar collapse is crucial to gain insight into the origin of stellar masses, multiple systems, and protoplanetary disks. Observationally, there are two complementary approaches to this problem: (1) studying the structure and kinematics of prestellar cores observed prior to protostar formation, and (2) studying the structure of young (e.g. Class 0) accreting protostars observed soon after point mass formation. We discuss recent advances made in this area thanks to (sub)millimeter mapping observations with large single-dish telescopes and interferometers. In particular, we argue that the beginning of protostellar collapse is much more violent in cluster-forming clouds than in regions of distributed star formation. Major breakthroughs are expected in this field from future large submillimeter instruments such as Herschel and ALMA.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference "Chemistry as a Diagnostic of Star Formation" (C.L. Curry & M. Fich eds.

Using a model of group psychotherapy to support social research on sensitive topics

This article describes the exploratory use of professional therapeutic support by social researchers working on a sensitive topic. Talking to recently bereaved parents about the financial implications of their child's death was expected to be demanding work, and the research design included access to an independent psychotherapeutic service. Using this kind of professional support is rare within the general social research community, and it is useful to reflect on the process. There are likely to be implications for collection and interpretation of data, research output and the role and experience of the therapist. Here, the primary focus is the potential impact on researcher well-being

Quantum-Dot-Based Telecommunication-Wavelength Quantum Relay

The development of quantum relays for long-haul and attack-proof quantum communication networks operating with weak coherent laser pulses requires entangled photon sources at telecommunication wavelengths with intrinsic single-photon emission for most practical implementations. Using a semiconductor quantum dot emitting entangled photon pairs in the telecommunication O band, we demonstrate a quantum relay fulfilling both of these conditions. The system achieves a maximum fidelity of 94.5% for implementation of a standard four-state protocol with input states generated by a laser. We further investigate robustness against frequency detuning of the narrow-band input and perform process tomography of the teleporter, revealing operation for arbitrary pure input states, with an average gate fidelity of 83.6%. The results highlight the potential of semiconductor light sources for compact and robust quantum-relay technology that is compatible with existing communication infrastructures

Liquor licences issued to Australian schools

BACKGROUND: Children's positive socialisation to alcohol is associated with early initiation of drinking and alcohol-related harm in adult life. Internationally, there have been reports of adults' alcohol consumption at school events in the presence of children. The aim of this research was to identify the conditions under which Australian schools are required to apply for a liquor licence and the associated prevalence of liquor licences for these events where children were likely to be present. METHODS: A document review was conducted to examine temporary liquor licensing legislation. Quantitative analysis was used to examine relevant licensing data. Coding criteria was developed to determine school type, student year levels and the likely presence of children. RESULTS: Four jurisdictions provided data on 1817 relevant licences. The average annual licences/100 schools was highest amongst Independent schools followed by Catholic and public (government) schools. The rates were highest in Queensland and Victoria where children were present at 61% and 32% of events respectively. CONCLUSIONS: While there are legislative differences across jurisdictions, the prevalence of adults' alcohol use at school events in the presence of children may reflect the various education department policies and principals' and school communities' beliefs and attitudes. Licences are not required for all events where liquor is consumed so the prevalence of adults' use of alcohol at school events is likely to be higher than our analyses imply. Such practices may undermine teaching about alcohol use in the school curriculum and health promotion efforts to develop alcohol-free events when children are present

Exploring the equity of GP practice prescribing rates for selected coronary heart disease drugs: a multiple regression analysis with proxies of healthcare need

Background There is a small, but growing body of literature highlighting inequities in GP practice prescribing rates for many drug therapies. The aim of this paper is to further explore the equity of prescribing for five major CHD drug groups and to explain the amount of variation in GP practice prescribing rates that can be explained by a range of healthcare needs indicators (HCNIs). Methods The study involved a cross-sectional secondary analysis in four primary care trusts (PCTs 1–4) in the North West of England, including 132 GP practices. Prescribing rates (average daily quantities per registered patient aged over 35 years) and HCNIs were developed for all GP practices. Analysis was undertaken using multiple linear regression. Results Between 22–25% of the variation in prescribing rates for statins, beta-blockers and bendrofluazide was explained in the multiple regression models. Slightly more variation was explained for ACE inhibitors (31.6%) and considerably more for aspirin (51.2%). Prescribing rates were positively associated with CHD hospital diagnoses and procedures for all drug groups other than ACE inhibitors. The proportion of patients aged 55–74 years was positively related to all prescribing rates other than aspirin, where they were positively related to the proportion of patients aged >75 years. However, prescribing rates for statins and ACE inhibitors were negatively associated with the proportion of patients aged >75 years in addition to the proportion of patients from minority ethnic groups. Prescribing rates for aspirin, bendrofluazide and all CHD drugs combined were negatively associated with deprivation. Conclusion Although around 25–50% of the variation in prescribing rates was explained by HCNIs, this varied markedly between PCTs and drug groups. Prescribing rates were generally characterised by both positive and negative associations with HCNIs, suggesting possible inequities in prescribing rates on the basis of ethnicity, deprivation and the proportion of patients aged over 75 years (for statins and ACE inhibitors, but not for aspirin)

Electric-field-induced coherent coupling of the exciton states in a single quantum dot

The signature of coherent coupling between two quantum states is an anticrossing in their energies as one is swept through the other. In single semiconductor quantum dots containing an electron-hole pair the eigenstates form a two-level system that can be used to demonstrate quantum effects in the solid state, but in all previous work these states were independent. Here we describe a technique to control the energetic splitting of these states using a vertical electric field, facilitating the observation of coherent coupling between them. Near the minimum splitting the eigenstates rotate in the plane of the sample, being orientated at 45{\deg} when the splitting is smallest. Using this system we show direct control over the exciton states in one quantum dot, leading to the generation of entangled photon pairs