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Introduction: Peer-supported Open Dialogue (POD) is a novel approach to mental health care that is currently being practiced and researched in the United Kingdom. For POD to be successfully implemented, effective training must be provided to make sure trainees are prepared to deliver the approach as intended. Therefore, a specific instrument that can assess the development and competence of POD trainees, as well as the effectiveness of POD training is crucial. Therefore, the current study aimed to establish an inventory named the Peer-supported Open Dialogue Attitude and Competence Inventory (PODACI), measuring the changes in attributes and attitudes of trainees before and after training. Methods and Results: To generate the inventory, a four-round modified Delphi approach was used. We first identified the dimensions that are essential and specific to POD through an extensive literature review and individual interviews with practitioners (n = 8). After generating the items, we further refined the items through two rounds of questionnaires, asking practitioners to rate the relevance of each item from 1 (not essential) to 4 (highly essential; n = 21 and n = 10), and finalized the inventory via a focus group interview with POD trainers (n = 4). In total, 76 items were included in the PODACI. A good consensus on the items was reached: the median score of the items was all above 3.00 (essential) and achieved an agreement level greater than 85%. The Kendall coordination coefficient W was 0.36 and 0.28 in the two questionnaires employed, indicating a fair level of agreement between participants. Discussion: The PODACI provides a way to measure attitudinal and competency factors related to the treatment integrity of POD as well as the efficacy of the training courses being offered. This highly enriched instrument opens up a wide range of possibilities for POD research and application, facilitating the development of Open Dialogue services. The next step is to assess the psychometric properties of the inventory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses and transcribes an inventory of the wardrobe goods of Anna of Denmark, queen consort of Scotland and England, which was compiled in 1608, and annotated up to and including 1611. The inventory reveals the types of goods that Anna owned, the movement of garments between residences, her involvement in the politicized custom of gift exchange and the concept of her appearance as a point of diplomacy. Arguing that Anna's visual appearance was considered and strategic, it further discredits her narrow and largely negative historiography, which has routinely cast her as a recklessly indulgent and fanciful queen. Anna's tactical visual emulation of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), pointed use of recognizable pieces of inherited jewellery and politically significant colours of dress are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite interest in the importance of the home food environment and its potential influence on children's diets and social norms, there remain few self-report checklist methods that have been validated against the gold standard of researcher-conducted inventories. This study aimed to assess the criterion validity and reliability of the 'Home Food Availability Inventory Checklist' (HFAI-C), a 39-item checklist including categories of fruit, vegetables, snacks and drinks. Methods: The HFAI-C was completed by 97 participants of White and Pakistani origin in the UK. Validity was determined by comparing participant-reported HFAI-C responses to data from researcher observations of home food availability using PABAK and weighted kappa statistics. The validity of measuring the amount of items (in addition to presence/absence) available was also determined. Test-retest reliability compared repeated administrations of the HFAI-C using intra-class correlation coefficients. Results: Validity and reliability was fair to moderate overall. For validity, the average category-level PABAK ranged from 0.31 (95 % CI: 0.25, 0.37) for vegetables to 0.44 (95 % CI: 0.40, 0.49) for fruits. Assessment of the presence/ absence of items demonstrated higher validity compared to quantity measurements. Reliability was increased when the HFAI-C was repeated close to the time of the first administration. For example, ICCs for reliability of the measurement of fruits were 0.52 (95 %CI: 0.47, 0.56) if re-administered within 5 months, 0.58 (95 % CI: 0.51, 0.64) within 30 days and 0.97 (95 %CI: 0.94, 1.00) if re-administered on the same day. Conclusions: Overall, the HFAI-C demonstrated fair to moderate validity and reliability in a population of White and South Asian participants. This evaluation is consistent with previous work on other checklists in less diverse, more affluent populations. Our research supports the use of the HFAI-C as a useful, albeit imperfect, representation of researcher-conducted inventories. The feasibility of collecting information using the HFAI-C in large, multi-ethnic samples can facilitate examination of home food availability in relation to exposures such as ethnicity and outcomes including behavioural, social and health outcomes. Future work using the HFAI-C could provide important insights into a modifiable influence with potential to impact health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the available guidelines, good practices for calculating nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission factors (EFs) for livestock excreta and manure application include that sampling duration should be of at least one year after the nitrogen (N) application or deposition. However, the available experimental data suggest that in many cases most emissions are concentrated in the first months following N application. Therefore resources could be better deployed by measuring more intensively during a shorter period. This study aimed to assess the contribution of the N 2 O flux in the period directly after N application to the annual net emission. We used a database of 100 year-long plot experiments from different excreted-N sources (dung, urine, farmyard manure and slurry) used to derive EFs for the UK and Ireland. We explored different shorter potential measurement periods that could be used as proxies for cumulative annual emissions. The analysis showed that the majority of emissions occur in the first months after application, especially in experiments that i) had urine as the N source, ii) had spring N application, iii) were conducted on fine-textured soils, or iv) showed high annual emissions magnitude. Experiments that showed a smaller percentage of emissions in the first months also had a low magnitude of annual net emissions (below 370 gN 2 O–N ha−1 year−1), so the impact of measuring during a shorter period would not greatly influence the calculated EF. Accurate EF estimations were obtained by measuring for at least 60 days for urine (underestimation: 7.1%), 120 days for dung and slurry (4.7 and 5.1%) and 180 days for FYM (1.4%). At least in temperate climates, these results are promising in terms of being able to estimate annual N 2 O fluxes accurately by collecting data for less than 12 months, with significant resource-saving when conducting experiments towards developing country-specific EFs. • Sampling period to calculate country-specific N 2 O emission factors was revised. • We analyzed data from 100 year-long IPCC compliant manure and excreta experiments. • A high proportion of annual emissions occurred in the months directly after N application. • Accurate EFs were measured at 60–180 days, with significant resource saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A detailed inventory framework was developed to estimate nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions from UK agriculture using the IPCC approach. The inventory framework model was illustrated by combining relevant emission factors with agricultural census data for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the year 2000 to derive country-specific emission estimates which were summed to derive the UK total. The framework enables simple assessment to be made of the impact on national emissions of using different emission factors (EFs) (e.g. site- or local-specific compared with IPCC default factors). The framework was used to calculate the average annual emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) for specific livestock and crops, and amounts lost through volatilisation, leaching and runoff for each country in the UK. The framework provides a simple, realistic and transparent approach to estimating national emissions and can easily be updated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates inventory management issues in a distribution network. The study is motivated by examining the operation of a wholesaling car parts company. Customer service requirements are of paramount importance in this market sector. The nature of the demand facing the company is characterised. The breadth of range of stock keeping units (SKUs) held at a stocking location and the quantity of each SKU held are normally treated in isolation but in this case, the rule developed to select the range of SKU was extended to determine the level of stock to hold. It is intuitively obvious that these two factors should be linked, yet the authors have not found any other literature developing the connection in a practical context. Forecasting issues are explored as the rule on stock range depends on a forecast of the number of orders received for each SKU at each stocking unit. Some implementation issues and extensions are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods for forecasting intermittent demand are compared using a large data set from the UK Royal Air Force. Several important results are found. First, we show that the traditional per period forecast error measures are not appropriate for intermittent demand, even though they are consistently used in the literature. Second, by comparing the ability to approximate target service levels and stock holding implications, we show that Croston's method (and a variant) and Bootstrapping clearly outperform Moving Average and Single Exponential Smoothing. Third, we show that the performance of Croston and Bootstrapping can be significantly improved by taking into account that an order in a period is triggered by a demand in that period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different stock keeping units (SKUs) are associated with different underlying demand structures, which in turn require different methods for forecasting and stock control. Consequently, there is a need to categorize SKUs and apply the most appropriate methods in each category. The way this task is performed has significant implications in terms of stock and customer satisfaction. Therefore, categorization rules constitute a vital element of intelligent inventory management systems. Very little work has been conducted in this area and, from the limited research to date, it is not clear how managers should classify demand patterns for forecasting and inventory management. A previous research project was concerned with the development of a theoretically coherent demand categorization scheme for forecasting only. In this paper, the stock control implications of such an approach are assessed by experimentation on an inventory system developed by a UK-based software manufacturer. The experimental database consists of the individual demand histories of almost 16 000 SKUs. The empirical results from this study demonstrate considerable scope for improving real-world systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A dynamic model of plutonium behaviour in the marine environment has been developed, representing the oxidation state distribution and partitioning of plutonium between the soluble, colloidal, suspended particulate and seabed sediment fractions. With simple re-parameterisation, this model can also be applied to 137Cs. The model, which is calibrated and validated against field data, has been used to predict concentrations of Pu(α) and 137Cs in both water and seabed sediments from the vicinity of the Sellafield Ltd. reprocessing plant in Cumbria, UK. The model predicts that sediment reworking and transport are the key environmental processes as the Sellafield Pu(α) and 137Cs discharge continues to decline. Inventory calculations generated by the model are consistent with previous estimations. For a hypothetical post-discharge scenario, the concentrations of these radionuclides in both seawater and surface sediments are predicted to decrease sharply, concurrent with a downward vertical migration of the activity retained in sediments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2010 target of achieving a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth is particularly pertinent for crop wild relatives (CWR). These taxa are directly associated with wealth creation and food security as they include the wild crop progenitors possessing many beneficial traits that can be bred into crops to address the changing environmental and market demands. These species are being eroded yet they have been widely neglected by national agencies because agricultural agencies generally have no responsibility for conservation and ecological conservation agencies tend to focus their efforts on habitat or rare and threatened taxa conservation. If the CBD 2010 target is to be achieved for CWR taxa there is a need for a complex interdisciplinary approach that outlines what diversity is present, what threatens that diversity and how it might be best conserved for use by future generations. When attempting to address these issues within the United Kingdom several key topics were identified: (1) creation of a national CWR inventory, (2) analysis of the national CWR inventory content, (3) national patterns of CWR distribution, (4) threat status for CWR diversity, (5) assessment of current conservation actions, (6) identification of priority sites for CWR conservation, and (7) creation of CWR conservation action plans. These issues are used to formulate an effective national conservation strategy for UK CWR diversity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents new data on the distribution of long-lived radionuclides in Irish Sea subtidal sediments, contaminated as a result of the BNFL Sellafield discharges. The results from different sampling campaigns in 1999 have been combined to assess the extent of radionuclide mobility relative to earlier surveys, in both the eastern and western Irish Sea areas, and to investigate changes in radionuclide distribution over time. The results appear to confirm the trend of continuing re-distribution and transfer of contamination away from the English coast. West of the Isle of Man, radionuclide concentrations and inventories have remained more or less constant. The inventory of radionuclides in sandy sediments in the eastern Irish Sea is still under-represented by current sampling, but could be improved by deeper and more extensive vibrocoring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We describe the development and application of an integrated data and modelling system for estimating soil carbon (C) fluxes from mineral soils caused by changes in climate, land use and land management at 1-km resolution in the UK (RothCUK). The system was developed with the aim of improving methods for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol accounting and integrates national scale data sets of soil properties, land use and climate with the Rothamsted carbon model (RothC). A preliminary estimate of soil C fluxes because of land use change (LUC) over the period 1990–2000 is presented as an example application of the system. RothCUK shows LUC to be a net source of CO2 from 1990 to 2000 although the RothC estimate was smaller (6488 kt C) than the estimate from the single exponential model (SEM) method currently used to calculate C fluxes due to LUC for the UK National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (mean: 9412 kt C). Based on previous studies, an uncertainty range in our estimates of ±50–100% seems plausible. In agreement with the SEM, RothCUK suggests that the largest single contributor to soil C fluxes from LUC was conversion of grassland to arable land. Differences between the results may be attributed to differences in the two models and the assumptions and underlying data used in making the calculations. The RothCUK system provides a powerful method for estimating changes in soil C stocks, enabling areas and management systems with particularly large changes in soil C stocks to be located at fine resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple bioenergetics models were used to derive annual nitrogen excretion rates of each seabird species occurring at colonies in the UK. These were combined with population distribution data and an estimated fraction of nitrogen volatilized to estimate the spatial distribution of NH3 emissions from seabird colonies at a 1 km resolution. The effect of these emissions on atmospheric NH3 concentrations and nitrogen deposition in the UK was assessed using the FRAME atmospheric chemistry and transport model. The total emission of NH3 from the UK seabird colonies is estimated at 2.7 kt yr-1. Emissions from seabirds are largely concentrated in remote parts of Britain, where agricultural and other anthropogenic emissions are minimal. Although seabirds account for less than 1% of total UK NH3 emissions (~370 kt yr-1), their occurrence in remote areas and frequently large colony sizes results in seabirds providing a major fraction of the atmospheric nitrogen deposition for many remote ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To make an inventory of physiotherapy programmes, a survey was carried out in 17 countries from the European Union and European Fare Trade Association. A compact, postal questionnaire was developed by 24 people from 14 different countries. Results showed the existence of 3- and 4-year educational programmes, mainly organized in semesters and terms. Overall, many differences are found in contact hours and in clinical hours. Funding of the programme is mostly derived from the Department of Education or Ministry of Health. Many institutes have additional entrance requirements. The use of a credit transfer system is minor. Cultural and political differences, a lack of definitions in the questionnaire and language problems led to important interpretation problems. However, results show that further research in the field of physiotherapy education is necessary and would be useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper outlines rules for estimating realizable holding gains within a current cost framework. The foundation for the procedures lies with a theorem properly named for Edwards and Bell (1961). The theorem is stated and proved and then employed to derive the relevant quadrature rules. Estimates of the holding gains applicable to U.K. manufacturing industry are then made. The estimates are found to be highly sensitive to the quadrature rule used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]