Greater Manchester Police

There may be considerable untapped potential in using large-scale electronic primary care optometry referral data to understand referral patterns. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using different analytical methods for this type of dataset. A total of 12,339 electronic referrals made by primary care optometrists in November 2023 were examined. The dataset contained 36 demographic and clinical variables. Preprocessing involved categorising and normalising referral conditions and merging similar attributes to enhance consistency. The feasibility of descriptive evaluations of referral conditions to both ophthalmology in secondary care and within primary care was explored, and a regression analysis was conducted to investigate potential associations between patient sex and referral patterns. A spatial analysis was also conducted to map the geographic distribution of referrals and their association with social deprivation. Of all referrals, 77.3% were directed to ophthalmology in secondary care, 14.1% within primary eyecare optometry and non-optometric services, with the remaining 8.5% being unspecified. Cataracts (17.2%), glaucoma (13.5%) and YAG laser capsulotomy (12.1%) emerged as the most frequent referral reasons. Regression analysis identified significant sex differences, where referral proportions for female patients were higher than males for conditions such as glaucoma and neuro-ophthalmology (p = 0.001). Spatial analysis revealed no significant difference between the referral ratio and the deprivation level. This study demonstrated viability for evaluating electronic optometry referrals. Despite data limitations, these findings indicate that data quality and scope can support established analytical methods. Moreover, the scale of data variables suggests expanding sample sizes and extending time windows could reveal clinically informative patterns in referrals. Future investigations may further validate findings, helping to understand local, regional or national referral patterns within optometry and potentially address inequalities in eyecare.

Abstract: As the British population ages, along with those of other advanced economic societies, there will be a greater need for health and social care for this group. Successive British governments have to some extent failed to tackle this demographic issue. All health and social care professions will have to devote more of their staffing resources to working with older adults and social work is no exception. A recent research study (Carson et al., 2020), looked at how British people in the North and the South of England (n = 1608), were functioning in the week of the first COVID-19 lockdown in England. While originally planned as a study of happiness, it was obvious that participants were very worried about the growing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper we compare the findings from a group of Older participants (aged 60 to 87, n = 104), with a Younger cohort (aged 17 to 30, n = 673), on a range of measures. Older participants were seen to have significantly higher levels of Flourishing on three subscales from the PERMA Profiler. They had higher levels of Meaning and Personal Accomplishments, and lower levels of Negative Emotions. They were also found to have lower levels of Loneliness and less psychological distress. Age may have been an advantage going into the COVID-19 lockdown. We report on these findings and outline a new study of Older adults which aims to compare a large British and a Taiwanese sample. Do people in Britain have higher levels of Flourishing and less psychological distress than their Taiwanese counterparts? We also intend to look at the concept of anti-mattering. Do Older people in the UK feel they are listened to more and that their views matter to others more than their Taiwanese equivalents?

Omoregie (2023) developed the SCRAP LOC model in his book, ‘Divergent Theory of Intimate Relationships: A Theory & Remedy.’ The model provides a structured framework for addressing divergence in intimate relationships. The aim of this paper was to present the SCRAP LOC model, highlighting its theoretical underpinnings and practical applications. There were 76 couples (152 participants) who attended a relationship seminar that took place in the Greater Manchester region post covid-19 pandemic. Participants were those whose relationships had survived 10 years and above without in-between breakups. 32 key factors were extracted from participants’ perceptions as being responsible for addressing relational divergence and improving relational harmony. These factors were factorised into superordinate factors. Findings suggest that the SCRAP LOC model has promising potential for usability. Potential implications and limitations of the model were discussed.

In this paper the authors introduce readers to the field of autoethnography (AE). They provide an overview of the field, then describe several different forms of AE. These include positive autoethnography, collaborative AE, duoethnography, and digital autoethnographical psychobiography, in both national and international formats (DCAP and IDCAP). They point out how AE is distinguished from autobiography. They stress the application of AE as a way for social work academics, their students, and their service users to capture elements of their professional practice, and the nature of their working relationships and experiences. This approach enables social workers and their clients to participate as equal partners in a process which can be cathartic as well as being respectful of each other’s position.

<bold>Background:</bold> The mast cell activation test (MAT) is a passive sensitized effector cell assay used to assess allergic responses to humoral factors in serum. Its role in allergen-induced asthma-like symptoms is underexplored. <bold>Aim:</bold> To demonstrate that individuals with cat-induced asthma like symptoms (CALS) have stronger MAT responses to cat allergens than those without. <bold>Methods:</bold> Mast cells were generated from human progenitors, sensitized with subjects' serum and stimulated with cat allergen in serial dilutions with a no-allergen control. Degranulation was quantified via CD63 expression. MAT was carried out in cat-sensitised individuals with and without CALS. A subgroup of participants underwent methacholine challenge testing (MCT); inhaled cat allergen challenge was carried out in those with positive MCT. <bold>Results:</bold> Of 27 cat-sensitised subjects, 15 (56%) had CALS. Subjects with CALS had higher MAT response than those without (p=0.049). Thirteen subjects underwent MCT. Of these, all subjects who had no CALS (n=6) were MCT-negative and had low MAT responses. In subjects with CALS (n=7), 4 had negative MCT showed high MAT responses; of the 3 subjects with positive MCT and CALS, two exhibited low MAT responses. This was consistent with inhaled cat allergen challenge results, where >5 times cat allergen was required to induce bronchoconstriction in low MAT responders. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Low MAT responses to cat allergen, in combination with negative MCT, were associated with absence of cat-induced asthma-like symptoms in cat-sensitized individuals. This suggests that MAT may be useful in risk assessing cat ownership in sensitised asthmatics, and warrants further investigation.

<bold>Background:</bold> Evidence suggests that neuronal dysfunction may mediate cough in asthma, COPD and IPF, as well as refractory chronic cough (RCC). <bold>Aims and objectives:</bold> We used cough challenge to investigate the role of airway neuronal dysfunction in mediation of cough in the above groups comparing buffered hypotonic saline (activating the TRPV4- ATP-P2X3 axis) to standard tussive agents. <bold>Methods:</bold> In a single blind, randomised crossover study patients with RCC (20), IPF (21) COPD (19), asthma (21) and healthy volunteers (21) underwent 4 cough challenges 2-7 days apart. Participants inhaled 4 single breaths of each doubling concentration (capsaicin 0.97–1,000 μM, citric acid 0.03–4.0 M) or descending osmolarity of hypotonic saline (300-100 mOsmol/L, or placebo (0.9% saline) at 30 second intervals. The number of coughs in the first 15 seconds after inhalation was counted and the maximal cough response (Emax) and concentration/osmolarity required to evoke 50% of the maximal cough response ED50 were recorded. Here we present the hypotonic saline challenge data. <bold>Results:</bold> Emax to hypotonic saline discriminated most effectively between RCC and health (p<0.01). Subpopulations of IPF, asthma and COPD patients were also responsive to this agent (p<0.01), which did not evoke cough in health (table 1). <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Subpopulations of patients with these lung diseases share common mechanisms with RCC patients and may benefit from P2X3 antagonism. <table-wrap><object-id>erj;66/suppl_69/PA4718/TB1</object-id><object-id>T1</object-id><object-id>TB1</object-id><caption> Table 1: Emax responses to hypotonic saline, median and interquartile range </caption><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td></td><td>HV</td><td>RCC</td><td>IPF</td><td>COPD</td><td>Asthma</td><td>p value</td></tr><tr><td>Hypotonic Saline</td><td>0 (0-2)</td><td>15 (7-20) *</td><td>5 (0-11.5) *</td><td>1 (0-4) *</td><td>1 (1-5)*</td><td><0.001±</td></tr></tbody></table><table-wrap-foot><fn> ±Groups are compared using Kruskal Wallis test *p<0.005 compared to HVs using Mann Whitney U test </fn></table-wrap-foot></table-wrap>

In recent years, scholarship across the social sciences has increasingly engaged with the themes of decoloniality through conferences, journal publications, and edited volumes.This issue of the journal builds upon that momentum.We aim to encourage scholars to reflect on the persistent influence of colonial power dynamics in their pedagogy, research, and praxis.This issue, and those that follow, seek to contribute to a broader, transformative dialogue within the social sciences, one that challenges inherited epistemologies and opens space for more equitable and pluralistic forms of knowledge production.Dr.