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Sedentary behaviour (SB) is associated with negative health outcomes and is prevalent post-stroke. This study explored SB after stroke from the perspective of stroke service staff. Qualitative mixed-methods study. Non-participant observations in two stroke services (England/Scotland) and semi-structured interviews with staff underpinned by the COM-B model of behaviour change. Observations were analysed thematically; interviews were analysed using the Framework approach. One hundred and thirty-two observation hours (October - December 2017), and 31 staff interviewed (January –June 2018). Four themes were identified: (1) Opportunities for staff to support stroke survivors to reduce SB; (2) Physical and psychological capability of staff to support stroke survivors to reduce SB; (3) Motivating factors influencing staff behaviour to support stroke survivors to reduce SB; (4) Staff suggestions for a future intervention to support stroke survivors to reduce SB. Staff are aware of the consequences of prolonged sitting but did not relate to SB. Explicit knowledge of SB was limited. Staff need training to support stroke survivors to reduce SB. Sedentary behaviour in the community was not reported to change markedly, highlighting the need to engage stroke survivors in movement from when capable in hospital, following through to home. Stroke survivor sedentary behaviour is influenced, directly and indirectly, by the actions and instructions of stroke service staff in the inpatient and community setting. The built and social environment, both in the inpatient and community settings, may limit opportunities for safe movement and can result in stroke survivors spending more time sedentary. Stroke service staff appreciate the benefit of encouraging stroke survivors to stand and move more, if it is safe for them to do so. Staff would be amenable to encourage stroke survivors to reduce sedentary behaviour, provided they have the knowledge and resources to equip them to support this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical methods used for delineation of field management zones and yield stability are frequently only applied to relatively small areas, with few studies performing rotational, whole-farm economic spatiotemporal appraisals. To enable accurate economic analysis, yield map datasets must contain minimal errors while cleaning procedures are often used to remove errors, it is rare that cleaned data is validated before its application. The objective of this study was to process, validate and combine spatial statistical approaches for a rotational yield map dataset from a whole-farm across 7 crops in a winter wheat based rotation. Developing a framework for using validated yield map datasets to support precision agriculture techniques that are applicable for farm-level decision making. The rotational completeness of a 10 year combine yield map dataset for a 435 ha farm in Eastern England was assessed. The dataset was cleaned statistically, and its accuracy assessed by comparison with recorded yields from trailer weigh cells. The cleaned, validated, and corrected yield map dataset was used to identify management zones across the whole farm using fuzzy clustering. The temporal stability of management zones and economic performance across the rotation was also assessed. Data cleaning methods removed 16% of data points, improving the degree of spatial correlation within the individual yield maps. Independent validation demonstrated varied accuracy of yield maps from combine harvester data and errors in wheat ranged from 0.53 to 1.53 t/ha RMSE. These errors have implications for researchers using combine yield data to develop and validate precision agriculture technologies. This data set required correction before yield data can be applied with confidence for on-farm decision making. Compared to the zones with the highest margin in each field, 34% of zones had an average annual margin loss of >£100 ha. The temporal stability of the resulting management zones also varied. Areas with the lowest economic performance and greatest yield stability across years will potentially see the greatest economic and environmental benefits from precision agriculture techniques. The accuracy of combine yield map data should not be assumed. The application of these datasets, including for the identification of management zones or in developing precision agriculture techniques should attempt to address this through data cleaning and validation procedures. Only then should it be used for on farm decision making, such as identifying areas with the most economic benefit by applying precision agriculture tools such as variable rate nutrient applications. [Display omitted] • Whole-farm spatial appraisals are rare and often without yield data validation. • We processed, validated and analysed a ten year whole-farm yield map data set. • Wheat yield map data had a RMSE of 1.0 t/ha with a mean error of 8.1%. • 33% of the farm was losing >£100/ha compared to the best performing zone per field. • Yield data validation is required when developing precision agriculture techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroke patients are often inactive outside of structured therapy sessions – an enduring international challenge despite large scale organizational changes, national guidelines and performance targets. We examined whether experienced-based co-design (EBCD) – an improvement methodology – could address inactivity in stroke units. Aims: To evaluate the feasibility and impact of patients, carers, and staff co-designing and implementing improvements to increase supervised and independent therapeutic patient activity in stroke units and to compare use of full and accelerated EBCD cycles. Methods: Mixed-methods case comparison in four stroke units in England. Results: Interviews were held with 156 patients, staff, and carers in total; ethnographic observations for 364 hours, behavioral mapping of 68 patients, and self-report surveys from 179 patients, pre- and post-implementation of EBCD improvement cycles. Three priority areas emerged: (1) 'Space' (environment); (2) 'Activity opportunities' and (3) 'Communication'. More than 40 improvements were co-designed and implemented to address these priorities across participating units. Post-implementation interview and ethnographic observational data confirmed use of new social spaces and increased activity opportunities. However, staff interactions remained largely task-driven with limited focus on enabling patient activity. Behavioral mapping indicated some increases in social, cognitive, and physical activity post-implementation, but was variable across sites. Survey responses rates were low at 12–38% and inconclusive. Conclusion: It was feasible to implement EBCD in stroke units. This resulted in multiple improvements in stroke unit environments and increased activity opportunities but minimal change in recorded activity levels. There was no discernible difference in experience or outcome between full and accelerated EBCD; this methodology could be used across hospital stroke units to assist staff and other stakeholders to co-design and implement improvement plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify why the National Clinical Guideline recommendation of 45 minutes of each appropriate therapy daily is not met in many English stroke units. Design: Mixed-methods case-study evaluation, including modified process mapping, non-participant observations of service organisation and therapy delivery, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. Setting: Eight stroke units in four English regions. Subjects: Seventy-seven patients with stroke, 53 carers and 197 stroke unit staff were observed; 49 patients, 50 carers and 131 staff participants were interviewed. Results: Over 1000 hours of non-participant observations and 433 patient-specific therapy observations were undertaken. The most significant factor influencing amount and frequency of therapy provided was the time therapists routinely spent, individually and collectively, in information exchange. Patient factors, including fatigue and tolerance influenced therapists' decisions about frequency and intensity, typically resulting in adaptation of therapy rather than no provision. Limited use of individual patient therapy timetables was evident. Therapist staffing levels were associated with differences in therapy provision but were not the main determinant of intensity and frequency. Few therapists demonstrated understanding of the evidence underpinning recommendations for increased therapy frequency and intensity. Units delivering more therapy had undertaken patient-focused reorganisation of therapists' working practices, enabling them to provide therapy consistent with guideline recommendations. Conclusion: Time spent in information exchange impacted on therapy provision in stroke units. Reorganisation of therapists' work improved alignment with guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Young people in the public care system ('looked-after' young people) have high levels of self-harm. Design This paper reports the first detailed study of factors leading to self-harm over time in looked-after young people in England, using sequence analyses of the Card Sort Task for Self-harm (Ca TS). Methods Young people in care (looked-after group: n = 24; 14-21 years) and young people who had never been in care (contrast group: n = 21; 13-21 years) completed the Ca TS, describing sequences of factors leading to their first and most recent episodes of self-harm. Lag sequential analysis determined patterns of significant transitions between factors (thoughts, feelings, behaviours, events) leading to self-harm across 6 months. Results Young people in care reported feeling better immediately following their first episode of self-harm. However, fearlessness of death, impulsivity, and access to means were reported most proximal to recent self-harm. Although difficult negative emotions were salient to self-harm sequences in both groups, young people with no experience of being in care reported a greater range of negative emotions and transitions between them. For the contrast group, feelings of depression and sadness were a significant starting point of the self-harm sequence 6 months prior to most recent self-harm. Conclusions Sequences of factors leading to self-harm can change and evolve over time, so regular monitoring and assessment of each self-harm episode are needed. Support around easing and dealing with emotional distress is required. Restricting access to means to carry out potentially fatal self-harm attempts, particularly for the young persons with experience of being in care, is recommended. Practitioner points Self-harm (and factors associated with self-harm) can change and evolve over time; assessments need to reflect this., Looked-after young people reported feeling better after first self-harm; fearlessness of death, access to means, and impulsivity were reported as key in recent self-harm., Underlying emotional distress, particularly depression and self-hatred were important in both first and most recent self-harm., Looked-after young people should undergo regular monitoring and assessment of each self-harm episode and access to potentially fatal means should be restricted., The CaTS would have clinical utility as an assessment tool, Recruiting participants can be a significant challenge in studies with looked-after children and young people., Future research with larger clinical samples would be valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an overview of British responses to Chinese music in the 18th century, and discusses in depth an informal musical performance by a Chinese visitor to London, not previously remarked upon in musicological literature. Taking place in 1756, this may have been the earliest Chinese musical performance in the West. The imbalance between the European response to Chinese visual and musical cultures is explored, and an examination of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen is used to argue that even in musical contexts it is Chinese visual culture, rather than musical culture, which was most prominent. British responses to Chinese music are distinguished from those of continental Europe, on which they are nevertheless shown largely to depend at least until the period of Lord Macartney’s embassy to China in 1793. A transcription of one of the pieces of music played by the Chinese visitor (which was published in a contemporary magazine account of the event as ‘A Chinese Air’) is discussed, and the Chinese performer is identified as ‘Loum Kiqua’ with the aid of other documentation of the period. A portrait of Loum Kiqua by Dominic Serres—known today only through a print by Thomas Burford—is considered. Broader issues of Chinese–Western cross-cultural musical interchange are raised with reference to the specific example of ‘The Chinese Air’, and the possibility is also considered that Loum Kiqua met Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith during his stay in London, perhaps even providing one of the inspirations for the latter’s The Citizen of the World, a satire on British society presented as written by a Chinese visitor. Amongst Western commentators on Chinese music considered are Gaspar da Cruz, Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, Joseph-Marie Amiot, John Barrow, Johann Christian Hüttner and Charles Burney. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the factors causing the bankruptcy of the National Advanced Robotics Research Center in Lancashire, England. Assessment on the revenue growth of the firm; Details on the relationship of the company with the suppliers; Valuation of assets and investments.

The Northfield Experiments took place at Hollymoor Hospital, Northfield, Birmingham, during World War II. The first experiment was conducted by Bion & Rickman. The second evolved gradually; many people contributed to its success, including Foulkes, Main and Bridger. The experiments were an important landmark in the evolution of theory and practice in group psychotherapy and in the therapeutic community movement. They were not carried out solely as responses to the need for mass treatment of neurotic disorders among army personnel; antecedent factors, the theoretical orientation of the practitioners and the nature of army life were equally important. The two experiments differed in pace and in recognition of the needs of higher-order systems, particularly the military hierarchy. They shared many underlying concepts, including responsibility to society, the therapeutic use of groups (including the hospital community) and an emphasis on process. Lessons learned at Northfield remain relevant to the practice of psychiatry today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the success of plastic bag charges in the UK, there are still around a billion single-use plastic bags bought each year in England alone, and the government have made plans to increase the levy from 5 to 10 pence. Previous research has identified motivations for bringing personal bags to a supermarket, but little is known about the individuals who are continuing to frequently purchase single-use plastic bags after the levy. In this study, over a million loyalty card transaction records from a high-street health and beauty retailer were harnessed to study 12,968 individuals' bag buying behaviour (analysed using descriptive statistics). Statistical regional differences in plastic bag buying throughout the UK were found. From the transaction data 2,326 frequent single-use plastic bag buyers were then identified and matched randomly to infrequent buyers, creating a balanced sub-sample which was used for predictive modelling (N = 4,652). For each individual in the modelling sample, their transaction data was matched to questionnaire responses measuring demographics, shopping motivations, and individual differences. Using this data, an exploratory machine learning approach was utilised to investigate the demographic and psychological predictors of frequent plastic bag consumption. It was found that frequent bag buyers spent more money in store, were younger, more likely to be male, less frugal, open to new experiences, and more displeased with their appearance. Interestingly, environmental concerns did not predict plastic bag consumption, highlighting the disconnect between predicting pro-environmental attitudes and real world environmental behaviour. • Plastic bag consumption is measured objectively using transaction data. • Personality survey responses are linked to the transaction records. • Frequent bag buyers were younger, male, less frugal, and higher in trait openness. • Environmental concerns did not predict plastic bag consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on issues discussed, and activities that took place at the Energy Choices 2004 conference organized by the British Nuclear Energy Society and the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) are presented. The conference started with a short speech given by Tony Cooper, chairman of the NIA at the Marquee Terrace of the House of Commons, London, England. There was an exhibition that saw displays by 14 exhibitors, including a stand for the scientific association Young Generation Network.