James Kirkbride, Jeremy Coid, Craig Morgan, Paul Fearon, Paola Dazzan, Min Yang, Tuhina Lloyd, Glynn Harrison, Robin Murray and Peter Jones
Genetic and environmental factors are associated with psychosis risk, but the latter present more tangible markers for prevention. We conducted a theoretical exercise to estimate…
Abstract
Genetic and environmental factors are associated with psychosis risk, but the latter present more tangible markers for prevention. We conducted a theoretical exercise to estimate the proportion of psychotic illnesses that could be prevented if we could identify and remove all factors that lead to increased incidence associated with ethnic minority status and urbanicity. Measures of impact by population density and ethnicity were estimated from incidence rate ratios [IRR] obtained from two methodologically‐similar first episode psychosis studies in four UK centres. Multilevel Poisson regression was used to estimate IRR, controlling for confounders. Population attributable risk fractions [PAR] were estimated for our study population and the population of England. We considered three outcomes; all clinically relevant ICD‐10 psychotic illnesses [F10‐39], non‐affective psychoses [F20‐29] and affective psychoses [F30‐39]. One thousand and twenty‐nine subjects, aged 18‐64, were identified over 2.4 million person‐years. Up to 22% of all psychoses in England (46.9% within our study areas) could be prevented if exposures associated with increased incidence in ethnic minority populations could be removed; this is equivalent to 66.9% within ethnic minority groups themselves. For non‐affective psychoses only, PAR for population density was large and significant (27.5%); joint PAR with ethnicity was 61.7%. Effect sizes for common socio‐environmental risk indicators for psychosis are large; inequalities were marked. This analysis demonstrates potential importance in another light: we need to move beyond current epidemiological approaches to elucidate exact socio‐environmental factors that underpin urbanicity and ethnic minority status as markers of increased risk by incorporating gene‐environment interactions that adopt a multi disciplinary perspective.
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The demand for childcare greatly outstripsthe supply. If more women are to beencouraged to fill the predicted labourshortage, more facilities will have to beprovided. Childcare is…
Abstract
The demand for childcare greatly outstrips the supply. If more women are to be encouraged to fill the predicted labour shortage, more facilities will have to be provided. Childcare is expensive and many parents will not be able to afford its full cost. Even if companies provide more assistance it is unlikely that the supply of facilities will increase fast enough without Government assistance. A childcare allowance is suggested by the author as a way of ensuring an expansion of provision which is within the budget of more women.
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Mark Shevlin, Eoin McElroy, Jamie Murphy, Philip Hyland, Frédérique Vallieres, Ask Elklit and Mogens Christoffersen
While research has consistently identified an association between cannabis use and psychosis, few studies have examined this relationship in a polydrug context (i.e. combining…
Abstract
Purpose
While research has consistently identified an association between cannabis use and psychosis, few studies have examined this relationship in a polydrug context (i.e. combining cannabis with other illicit substances). The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study sought to examine the association between recreational drug use (cannabis only vs polydrug) and psychotic disorders. Analysis was conducted on a large, representative survey of young Danish people aged 24 (n=4,718). Participants completed self-report measures of lifetime drug use and this information was linked to the Danish psychiatric registry system.
Findings
Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between drug use (no drug use, cannabis only, cannabis and other drug) and ICD-10 psychotic disorders, while controlling for gender and parental history of psychosis. Compared with no drug use, the use of cannabis only did not increase the risk of psychosis while the odds ratio for cannabis and other drug were statistically significant.
Research limitations/implications
Psychosis risk may be associated with the cumulative effect of polydrug use.
Practical implications
Cannabis use may be a proxy for other drug use in research studies.
Originality/value
This study is innovative as it uses linked self-report and administrative data for a large sample. Administrative data were used to as an objective mental health status indicator.
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Mark Shevlin, Jamie Murphy and John Read
There have been many studies that demonstrated an association between sexual trauma and psychotic disorders or psychotic symptoms. Limited attention has been paid to gender…
Abstract
Purpose
There have been many studies that demonstrated an association between sexual trauma and psychotic disorders or psychotic symptoms. Limited attention has been paid to gender differences regarding this association. A recent study evidenced that the trauma-psychosis association may be moderated by gender and that the effect may be specific for females. However, there have been many methodological limitations, particularly that low prevalence of psychosis and sexual trauma for males leads to low statistical power, that have made this hypothesis difficult to test. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study sought to estimate the association between sexual trauma and psychosis, and to determine if the association was moderated by gender using data from the Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity among Prisoners in England and Wales (n=3,142).
Findings
Bivariate analysis showed that sexual trauma predicted probable psychosis for both females (OR=4.13) and males (OR=4.72). After controlling for confounding variables the odds ratios for males and females did not differ significantly (the shared odds ratio was 2.60) indicating that the association was not moderated by gender.
Originality/value
The relationship between sexual abuse and psychosis may neither be specific to, nor moderated by, gender.
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Paige K. Evans, Cheryl J. Craig, Donna W. Stokes and Jeffrey Morgan
teachHOUSTON is a university-based secondary STEM teacher preparation program that addresses the critical need for highly qualified STEM teachers in Texas and across the country…
Abstract
teachHOUSTON is a university-based secondary STEM teacher preparation program that addresses the critical need for highly qualified STEM teachers in Texas and across the country. STEM teachers are prepared through early and ongoing field-based teaching experiences and rigorous research-based instruction that integrates content and pedagogy provided by faculty members who have extensive teaching experience in public schools. teachHOUSTON serves the fourth largest city in the United States, along with its satellite communities and has many noteworthy features which are mapped in this chapter. Particular attention is paid to inquiry-based learning, student-centered instruction, and culturally responsive pedagogy as well as the improvements in the program based on the collaboration between physics and teachHOUSTON faculty.
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Siddharth Suhas Kulkarni, Craig Chapman, Hanifa Shah and David John Edwards
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis between a straight blade (SB) and a curved caudal-fin tidal turbine blade (CB) and to examine the aspects relating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis between a straight blade (SB) and a curved caudal-fin tidal turbine blade (CB) and to examine the aspects relating to geometry, turbulence modelling, non-dimensional forces lift and power coefficients.
Design/methodology/approach
The comparison utilises results obtained from a default horizontal axis tidal turbine with turbine models available from the literature. A computational design method was then developed and implemented for “horizontal axis tidal turbine blade”. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results for the blade design are presented in terms of lift coefficient distribution at mid-height blades, power coefficients and blade surface pressure distributions. Moving the CB back towards the SB ensures that the total blade height stays constant for all geometries. A 3D mesh independency study of a “straight blade horizontal axis tidal turbine blade” modelled using CFD was carried out. The grid convergence study was produced by employing two turbulence models, the standard k-ε model and shear stress transport (SST) in ANSYS CFX. Three parameters were investigated: mesh resolution, turbulence model, and power coefficient in the initial CFD, analysis.
Findings
It was found that the mesh resolution and the turbulence model affect the power coefficient results. The power coefficients obtained from the standard k-ε model are 15 to 20 per cent lower than the accuracy of the SST model. Further analysis was performed on both the designed blades using ANSYS CFX and SST turbulence model. The variation in pressure distributions yields to the varying lift coefficient distribution across blade spans. The lift coefficient reached its peak between 0.75 and 0.8 of the blade span where the total lift accelerates with increasing pressure before drastically dropping down at 0.9 onwards due to the escalating rotational velocity of the blades.
Originality/value
The work presents a computational design methodological approach that is entirely original. While this numerical method has proven to be accurate and robust for many traditional tidal turbines, it has now been verified further for CB tidal turbines.
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Siddharth Kulkarni, Craig Chapman, Hanifa Shah, Erika Anneli Parn and David John Edwards
This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive literature review in the tidal energy physics, the ocean environment, hydrodynamics of horizontal axis tidal turbines and bio-mimicry.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive literature review in the tidal energy physics, the ocean environment, hydrodynamics of horizontal axis tidal turbines and bio-mimicry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an insight of the tidal turbine blade design and need for renewable energy sources to generate electricity through clean energy sources and less CO2 emission. The ocean environment, along with hydrodynamic design principles of a horizontal axis tidal turbine blade, is described, including theoretical maximum efficiency, blade element momentum theory and non-dimensional forces acting on tidal turbine blades.
Findings
This review gives an overview of fish locomotion identifying the attributes of the swimming like lift-based thrust propulsion, the locomotion driving factors: dorsal fins, caudal fins in propulsion, which enable the fish to be efficient even at low tidal velocities.
Originality/value
Finally, after understanding the phenomenon of caudal fin propulsion and its relationship with tidal turbine blade hydrodynamics, this review focuses on the implications of bio-mimicking a curved caudal fin to design an efficient horizontal axis tidal turbine.
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Cheryl J. Craig, Paige K. Evans and Donna W. Stokes
This chapter outlines the contents of Preparing Secondary STEM Teachers to Teach in America's Urban Schools. The volume begins with an overview of the teachHOUSTON STEM teacher…
Abstract
This chapter outlines the contents of Preparing Secondary STEM Teachers to Teach in America's Urban Schools. The volume begins with an overview of the teachHOUSTON STEM teacher education program in Chapter 2 and is followed by an account of the collaboration that took place between a Physics professor and a teachHOUSTON Physics teacher educator and its impact on STEM teacher preparation in Chapters 3-4. Chapters 5 and 6 include discussions about formal and informal learning opportunities and include a narrative of a student's experience on how the Noyce Internship Institute contributed to their STEM teacher learning. In Chapters 7–9, readers learn about the influence of parents, teachers, and professors on students' entry into and decision to work in the STEM and/or STEM education field, with an emphasis on those in STEM teacher education. Chapter 10 highlights the value of scholarship grants; Chapter 11 addresses the growth and development of teachHOUSTON, the impact of the scholarships awarded to many of its students and traces where its graduates currently are teaching in order to demonstrate that teachHOUSTON has fulfilled its mission. The final chapter of the book reflects on teachHOUSTON as a secondary urban teacher education program and summarizes significant points that have led to its success.
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Paige K. Evans, Mariam Manuel, Ha Nguyen, Donna W. Stokes, Cheryl J. Craig, Xiao Han and Jeffrey Morgan
This chapter traces the career trajectories of the teachHOUSTON science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers since the inception of the program. It asks…
Abstract
This chapter traces the career trajectories of the teachHOUSTON science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers since the inception of the program. It asks whether the National Science Foundation (NSF) investment of millions of dollars in STEM education produced more STEM teachers of high quality for the diverse, urban area. The chapter is filled with descriptive statistics and stories. Two major findings are that the teachHOUSTON program produced double-digit physics teachers when the Greater Houston area had not had a freshly prepared physics teacher in over a decade. Additionally, teachHOUSTON graduates have distinguished themselves by being named recipients of several awards such as beginning teacher of the year awards, district teacher of the year awards, among other distinctions. teachHOUSTON alumni are also serving in a variety of leadership capacities for high-need public school districts. The chapter ends with a discussion of the program's strengths as well as the areas in which it continues to grow. Three new NSF grants allow for continued improvement and transition this work into two additional books proposed in this three-volume series.