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Language development can be framed as the process of learning how to mean (Halliday, 1975). From this perspective, the role of communicative function is central to the language-learning process with development being guided by interaction with experienced others. In the current study, we present a detailed analysis of the communicative functions used in interaction with prelinguistic infants aged 10-12 months from three cultural groups living in the United Kingdom. The findings indicate that caregivers from all three groups used a wide range of communicative acts when interacting with their infants, ranging from directives to discussions of inner thoughts and feelings. In addition, we identified significant differences in the frequency with which different communicative acts were used across our three groups. The study complements the positive contributions made by pivotal studies on language socialisation by highlighting the diversity and variation of caregiver speech at the functional level.

COVID-19 and the looming economic recession threatens adult educators' long-fought battle to create dialogical spaces for transformatory learning. Previous experience of designing and delivering community programmes to marginalised, non-traditional students, has taught us the necessity of building strong tutor-student and student-peer relationships. This paper maps the trajectory of a creative educational outreach response to reconfigure into an online platform. We reflect on the challenges and opportunities presented to us as adult educators, as well as those presented to the adult learners with whom we engaged.

Many Western industrialized nations have high levels of ethnic diversity but to date there are very few studies which investigate prelinguistic and early language development in infants from ethnic minority backgrounds. This study tracked the development of infant communicative gestures from 10 to 12 months (n = 59) in three culturally distinct groups in the United Kingdom and measured their relationship, along with maternal utterance frequency and responsiveness, to vocabulary development at 12 and 18 months. No significant differences were found in infant gesture development and maternal responsiveness across the groups, but relationships were identified between gesture, maternal responsiveness, and vocabulary development.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to adopt the perspective of personal construct theory to conceptualise employability. The study explores differences in the implicit employability theories of those involved in developing employability (educators) and those selecting and recruiting higher education (HE) students and graduates (employers). Design/methodology/approach: A repertory grid technique (RGT) was employed to uncover the implicit theories of 22 employers and 14 educators across the UK. Findings: A total of 717 constructs were elicited. A differential analysis of data gathered demonstrated several areas of consensus among employers and educators (including emotional management, confidence, professionalism), as well as divergence in representations of commitment, proactivity, interpersonal competencies and vision to the conceptualisation of employability. Practical implications: Findings from this analysis indicate a need to integrate group process assessments within undergraduate programmes and recruitment procedures. Originality/value: This study represents a personal construct approach to employability, utilising the unique value of RGT to further inform our understanding of employability within an HE context. This study contributes to an understanding of employability as a continually re-constructed concept. This study provides insights to its nature via two information rich cases that have extensive knowledge on the topic.

Purpose: Resistance training is often performed in a traditional training style using deliberate relatively longer repetition durations or in an explosive training style using maximal intended velocities and relatively shorter repetition durations. Both improve strength, "power" (impulsivity), and speed. This study compared explosive and traditional training over a 6-week intervention in 30 healthy young adult male recreational soccer players. Method: Full body supervised resistance training was performed 2 times a week using 3 sets of each exercise at 80% of one repetition maximum to momentary failure. Outcomes were Smith machine squat 1 repetition maximum, 10 meter sprint time, and countermovement jump. Results: Both groups significantly improved all outcomes based on 95% confidence intervals not crossing zero. There were no between-group differences for squat 1 RM (TRAD = 6.3[5.1 to 7.6] kg, EXP = 5.2[3.9 to 6.4] kg) or 10 meter sprint (TRAD = -0.05[-0.07 to -0.04] s, EXP = -0.05[-0.06 to -0.03] s). Explosive group had a significantly greater increase in countermovement jump compared to the traditional group (TRAD = 0.7[0.3 to 1.1] cm, EXP = 1.3[0.9 to 1.7] cm). Conclusion: Both the traditional training and explosive training performed to momentary failure produced significant improvements in strength, speed, and jump performance. Strength gains are similar independent of intended movement speed. However, speed and jump performance changes are marginal with resistance training.

Extended pleurectomy decortication for complete macroscopic resection for pleural mesothelioma has never been evaluated in a randomised trial. The aim of this study was to compare outcomes after extended pleurectomy decortication plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone. MARS 2 was a phase 3, national, multicentre, open-label, parallel two-group, pragmatic, superiority randomised controlled trial conducted in the UK. The trial took place across 26 hospitals (21 recruiting only, one surgical only, and four recruiting and surgical). Following two cycles of chemotherapy, eligible participants with pleural mesothelioma were randomly assigned (1:1) to surgery and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone using a secure web-based system. Individuals aged 16 years or older with resectable pleural mesothelioma and adequate organ and lung function were eligible for inclusion. Participants in the chemotherapy only group received two to four further cycles of chemotherapy, and participants in the surgery and chemotherapy group received pleurectomy decortication or extended pleurectomy decortication, followed by two to four further cycles of chemotherapy. It was not possible to mask allocation because the intervention was a major surgical procedure. The primary outcome was overall survival, defined as time from randomisation to death from any cause. Analyses were done on the intention-to-treat population for all outcomes, unless specified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02040272 , and is closed to new participants. Between June 19, 2015, and Jan 21, 2021, of 1030 assessed for eligibility, 335 participants were randomly assigned (169 to surgery and chemotherapy, and 166 to chemotherapy alone). 291 (87%) participants were men and 44 (13%) women, and 288 (86%) were diagnosed with epithelioid mesothelioma. At a median follow-up of 22·4 months (IQR 11·3–30·8), median survival was shorter in the surgery and chemotherapy group (19·3 months [IQR 10·0–33·7]) than in the chemotherapy alone group (24·8 months [IQR 12·6–37·4]), and the difference in restricted mean survival time at 2 years was –1·9 months (95% CI –3·4 to –0·3, p=0·019). There were 318 serious adverse events (grade ≥3) in the surgery group and 169 in the chemotherapy group (incidence rate ratio 3·6 [95% CI 2·3 to 5·5], p<0·0001), with increased incidence of cardiac (30 vs 12; 3·01 [1·13 to 8·02]) and respiratory (84 vs 34; 2·62 [1·58 to 4·33]) disorders, infection (124 vs 53; 2·13 [1·36 to 3·33]), and additional surgical or medical procedures (15 vs eight; 2·41 [1·04 to 5·57]) in the surgery group. Extended pleurectomy decortication was associated with worse survival to 2 years, and more serious adverse events for individuals with resectable pleural mesothelioma, compared with chemotherapy alone. National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (15/188/31), Cancer Research UK Feasibility Studies Project Grant (A15895). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a distinct lack of literature considering childhood bereavement within the United Kingdom. There is particularly a lack of age-specific research into childhood bereavement and the types of support schools are providing for this group of children. In light of this lack of research, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences, perspectives and views of teachers on supporting children in British primary schools. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis (TA). Analysis revealed four major themes relating to bereavement support: 'support available is inconsistent', 'systemic limitations', 'lack of policy and guidance' and 'speaking to children about death'. The research showed that bereavement support in British primary schools is varied and inconsistent, with examples of good practice and areas for improvement. At the same time, both childhood bereavement and the support available to bereaved children are socially biased, with those in socioeconomically deprived areas more likely to experience a bereavement and receive lower quality support. This study indicates that government policy or guidance with regards to childhood bereavement would be advantageous, for staff and children alike.

Pollen food syndrome (PFS) is an IgE-mediated food hypersensitivity reaction that typically results in immediate-onset oral and oropharyngeal symptoms in individuals who are sensitized to pollen. Symptoms are often mild, but systemic allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, occur rarely. Using a cases series of six patients who were referred to our oral medicine department and for whom a diagnosis of PFS was made, we illustrate the clinical features of PFS and discuss the possibility that oral mucosal lesions may be a feature. Patients with PFS (or indeed other food hypersensitivities) may present to dental professionals in the first instance, therefore, it is important to be able to recognize key signs/symptoms, to give advice and to investigate/refer appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In typical development, early reading is underpinned by language skills, like vocabulary and phonological awareness (PA), as well as taught skills like letter knowledge. Less is understood about how early reading develops in children with neurodevelopmental disorders who display specific profiles of linguistic strengths and weaknesses, such as Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS). Methods: Early reading, letter knowledge, rhyme matching, phoneme matching and receptive vocabulary were assessed in 26 children with DS and 26 children with WS between 4 and 8 years, as well as in two groups of typically developing (TD) children matched on nonverbal mental age (NVMA controls) or reading (RA controls). Reading was also measured 1 year later in DS, WS and RA controls to assess reading growth and its longitudinal predictors. Results: Despite poor PA and vocabulary, children with DS displayed good reading and letter knowledge, compared with NVMA controls. Performance of children with WS was equivalent to RA controls and superior to NVMA controls on all tasks. Longitudinal delays emerged in reading in both DS and WS compared with RA controls. Vocabulary was a significant longitudinal predictor of reading growth for all children, but, for both children with DS and WS, and unlike RA controls, letter knowledge and PA were not. Conclusions: Children with DS and WS display atypical developmental patterns in the earliest stages of reading, further underlining the importance of cross-syndrome, longitudinal research, which tracks all levels of development in neurodevelopmental disorders. Identifying early syndrome-specific profiles of strengths and weaknesses underlying literacy development is critical for planning intervention programmes. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

This article describes the development and validation of the Career Competencies Indicator (CCI); a 43-item measure to assess career competencies (CCs). Following an extensive literature review, a comprehensive item generation process involving consultation with subject matter experts, a pilot study and a factor analytic study on a large sample yielded a seven-factor structure; goal setting and career planning, self-knowledge, job performance, career-related skills, knowledge of (office) politics, career guidance and networking, and feedback seeking and self-presentation. Coefficient alpha reliabilities of the seven dimensions ranged from 0.93 to 0.81. Convergent validity was established by showing that all 7-CCs loaded substantially onto a single second-order factor representing the general CC construct. Discriminant validity was established by showing less than chance similarity between the 7-CCI subscales and the Big Five personality scales. The results also suggested criterion-related validity of the CCI, since CCs were found to jointly predict objective and subjective career success. (Contains 2 notes and 5 tables.)

In British adult education Marxism has been a persistent if marginalised current that has consistently informed its more radical movements and practitioners. This article firstly introduces some contested Marxist perspectives on adult education, particularly around the issues of ideology and incorporation into bourgeois society. Secondly, it examines the adult educational context, contrasting the themes of middle-class-provided "liberal" adult education and "independent" working-class education. It then focuses on the trajectories of workers' education in the twentieth century and the contrasting roles Marxist education played in the Communist Party and the National Council of Labour Colleges up to the Second World War. In the post-war period the rebirth of community education in the 1960s and 1970s absorbed more cosmopolitan Marxist influence, such as those of Antonio Gramsci and Paulo Freire. The article ends by assessing what remains of the Marxist tradition in the twenty-first century and the authors conclude that in a capitalist system that remains deeply unequal and globally exploitative, Marxism still offers a valuable framework of analysis through which adult educators may be able to engage in a dialogue with emergent social movements.

The prevalence of Down's syndrome by age and sex in the United Kingdom was established from questionnaires sent to 30 registers. The overall prevalence was determined to be 6.7 per 10,000 population, representing approximately 30,000 affected individuals. A prevalence-based projection method and an incidence-based/mortality-based projection method revealed no differences in results. (Author/JDD)

Access to higher education is still largely determined by social class. To succeed, social reform movements must include popular education, which has a long tradition in Britain. (SK)

The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is soon to implement the Quality Outcomes in Oral in Maxillofacial Surgery (QOMS) to provide a platform for quality management across the specialty in the UK. The initial oncology and reconstruction audits for QOMS involves data collection on specific procedures and metrics. The aim of this report is to determine their appropriateness using extant audit datasets in our institution that overlap substantially with the QOMS audits. Pre-existing datasets comprising information on patients treated for oral cavity SCC with curative intent were analysed. Data on surgical margins, lymphadenectomy lymph node yield, delay between surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy, duration of hospital stay, and complications including flap failures were analysed. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 25. Run charts describing longitudinal data were generated using SPC for Excel version 6. Twenty three patients (3.1%) of 701 resections had a positive surgical margin reported. Seventeen (4.3%) of patients had less than 18 LNs in the ND specimen analysed. Mean time to start date of adjuvant therapy was 62 days. Only 9% of patients commenced adjuvant therapy within 6 weeks. The median duration of stay was 18 days. In 1153 free flaps a failure rate of 4.3% was identified. A total of 1349 complications (CD I-V) were recorded in the 1111 patients undergoing major surgery with free flap reconstruction. The QOMS selected metrics for oncology and reconstruction are clinically relevant, readily measurable, and likely to be actionable by the surgical team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We examined the association of prostate specific antigen testing with prostate cancer incidence, tumor differentiation and mortality according to socioeconomic status. Materials and Methods: Participants were 96,484 men between 40 and 99 years old without preexisting prostate cancer who were registered with a general practitioner in the Tayside region of Scotland, United Kingdom, between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2008. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis using anonymized health data, including biochemistry data on prostate specific antigen tests, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, cancer registry data set and General Register Office for Scotland death records. Main outcome measures were prostate specific antigen testing, prostate cancer incidence and death. Results: Men in the most affluent Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile had a greater chance of undergoing a prostate specific antigen test (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.40–1.57, p <0.001) and having prostate cancer (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.15–1.91, p = 0.002) than men in the most deprived quintile, adjusting for age. There was no association between deprivation index quintile and prostate cancer death. Conclusions: Increased affluence was associated with a higher likelihood of a prostate specific antigen test and a higher incidence of prostate cancer. However, there were no observed differences by social class of the likelihood of a positive prostate specific antigen test or prostate cancer related death. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]