Major Research Grant Research Articles

Initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on time Japanese nursing faculty devote to research: Cross-sectional survey.

AimTo investigate how nursing faculties' perceived time devoted to research changed during the first wave of the pandemic in Japan (April–June 2020) compared to pre‐pandemic.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted online from July 1 to August 10, 2020 and involved 1,023 nursing faculties in Japan. Participants were asked to respond to a questionnaire based on their experiences from April to June 2020. We calculated descriptive statistics for several measures and examined associations between professional/personal demographic factors and declines in overall research time.ResultsOf the 1,023 participants, 71.1% were spending less time on overall research activity; 79.6% spent less time attending academic events/conferences, and 77.4% spent less time conducting experiments/surveys. In contrast, 81.2% spent more time teaching, a much greater proportion than the global scientific community in a previous survey. As for work time allocation during the pandemic, teaching was by far the one activity that participants spent the most time on. Logistic regression analysis revealed that declines in overall research time were associated with several professional demographic factors, such as type of university, current academic position, and acquisition status of Japan's major research grant (KAKENHI) (all p < .05).ConclusionsNursing faculties in Japan clearly spent less time on research, and more time on teaching during the first wave of the pandemic compared to pre‐pandemic. The initial impact of the pandemic on nursing faculties revealed through this study is an eye‐opener and a start for addressing the long‐term impact on the nursing scientific community.

Measuring the impact of a library-hosted showcase event

In 2015, an academic library at a R1 institution initiated an annual showcase event, to acknowledge the significant achievements of university faculty. The event honors faculty who authored a book, participated in a major performance or exhibition, commercialized new technologies and inventions, or received a major research grant during the previous calendar year. The event intends to cultivate collaboration among the honorees while also increasing the visibility of the university libraries and their services. The authors used a series of surveys to elicit feedback from honored faculty and their administrators who attended the events. Analysis of the data indicates that the event is valuable to attendees and it increases their awareness and use of specific library resources.

Short Chain Fatty Acid Transporter/Receptor Expression and Signaling in Enteric Glial Cells

Abstract Objectives The enteric nervous system (ENS) independently coordinates gastrointestinal functions such as motility, secretion, and absorption. Enteric glial cells (EGCs), the largest group of cells within the ENS, secrete neurotrophic factors that support enteric neurons and epithelial growth factors that promote integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier. Although numerous studies have examined the effect of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) on functional properties of several intestinal cell types, including enterocytes, enteroendocrine cells, and gut immune cells, no studies to date have examined if and how SCFA influence EGCs. We sought to determine: (1) if EGCs have the capacity to respond to SCFAs; (2) signaling pathways downstream of SCFA transporters/receptors are active in EGCs. Methods Experiments were performed in a stably transformed enteroglial cell line (Ruhl et al., 1998). Cells were treated with propionate (0–10 mM), butyrate (0–5 mM), AR420626 (an FFAR3 agonist), or an FFAR2 agonist. Activation of transporters and receptors was assessed using Western blotting for acetylation and phosphorylation state of proteins downstream of the receptors. Expression of SCFA transporters and receptors was assessed using quantitative PCR. Results Basal expression of monocarboxylate transporter (MCT)-1 and MCT-4, as well as the G-protein coupled receptors FFAR2 and FFAR3 was detected, with expression levels of MCT-1 the highest. GPR109a and Olfr920 were not present in these cells. Butyrate treatment for 2 hours significantly elevated levels of acetylated histone H2B and H3 (P &amp;lt; 0.05), but not histone H2A, suggesting that this SCFA is transported across the plasma membrane to exert intracellular effects. Neither SCFAs nor AR420626 blocked forskolin-induced phosphorylation of protein kinase A (PKA), suggesting that FFAR3 signaling is not active in EGCs. Butyrate, but not the FFAR2 agonist, significantly increased phosphorylation of protein kinase C (PKC) (P &amp;lt; 0.05), suggesting that signaling pathways independent of FFAR2 are triggered by SCFA in EGCs. Conclusions Our preliminary evidence suggests that SCFAs are internalized by EGCs and affect intracellular signaling events. Future studies will determine the implications of histone deacetylation and PKC activation by SCFA on EGC function. Funding Sources University of Winnipeg Major Research Grant.

Talking back: trans youth and resilience in action

In 2015 the Gender Vectors research team received a major research grant to conduct research with and about transgender youth in the Greater Vancouver Area. A unique aspect of this research project involved combining social action research with the development of a prototype of a video game as a knowledge translation tool to depict the life experiences of trans youth. We draw on transformative gender justice theory to document and address the diminished life chances of and the need to promote resilience among trans youth in the region and more broadly, across Canada and the United States. This article provides an overview of the research project and concludes by identifying key insights relating to resiliency that resulted from 15 narrative interviews with transgender youth, focus group meetings with the Project’s Youth Advisory Council, and dialog from an intergenerational workshop for transgender youth and adult care/service providers and allies. These themes informed the creation of the prototype.

She Sees Epilepsy Patients and Heads Up Major Research Grants. Off Hours, She's Designing Fine Chocolate

She Sees Epilepsy Patients and Heads Up Major Research Grants. Off Hours, She's Designing Fine Chocolate

Heinrich Taegtmeyer: "All is in Flux".

Heinrich Taegtmeyer: "All is in Flux".

Status of Women in Academic Anesthesiology: A 10-Year Update.

Gender inequity is still prevalent in today's medical workforce. Previous studies have investigated the status of women in academic anesthesiology. The objective of this study is to provide a current update on the status of women in academic anesthesiology. We hypothesized that while the number of women in academic anesthesiology has increased in the past 10 years, major gender disparities continue to persist, most notably in leadership roles. Medical student, resident, and faculty data were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The number of women in anesthesiology at the resident and faculty level, the distribution of faculty academic rank, and the number of women chairpersons were compared across the period from 2006 to 2016. The gender distribution of major anesthesiology journal editorial boards and data on anesthesiology research grant awards, among other leadership roles, were collected from websites and compared to data from 2005 and 2006. The number (%) of women anesthesiology residents/faculty has increased from 1570 (32%)/1783 (29%) in 2006 to 2145 (35%)/2945 (36%) in 2016 (P = .004 and P < .001, respectively). Since 2006, the odds that an anesthesiology faculty member was a woman increased approximately 2% per year, with an estimated odds ratio of 1.02 (95% confidence interval, 1.014-1.025; P < .001). In 2015, the percentage of women anesthesiology full professors (7.4%) was less than men full professors (17.3%) (difference, -9.9%; 95% confidence interval of the difference, -8.5% to -11.3%; P < .001). The percentage of women anesthesiology department chairs remained unchanged from 2006 to 2016 (12.7% vs 14.0%) (P = .75). To date, neither Anesthesia & Analgesia nor Anesthesiology has had a woman Editor-in-Chief. The percentage of major research grant awards to women has increased significantly from 21.1% in 1997-2007 to 31.5% in 2007-2016 (P = .02). Gender disparities continue to exist at the upper levels of leadership in academic anesthesiology, most importantly in the roles of full professor, department chair, and journal editors. However, there are some indications that women may be on the path to leadership parity, most notably, the growth of women in anesthesiology residencies and faculty positions and increases in major research grants awarded to women.

Grow Your ORCiD Profile

Do you have an ORCiD profile? You should. Do you know about ORCiD? If not, I suggest you investigate. ORCiD is the Open Researcher and Contributor ID and it provides you with a unique, personalized online profile where you can list publications and research grants and other legitimate academic outputs including blogs. The important aspect of ORCiD is that the information there can be verified; DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) and URL (Uniform Resource Locator) links to articles are provided. For most major research grant funding bodies, a link can be provided whereby the grant could be verified if necessary. ORCiD provides you with a unique number that will follow you for the remainder of your career—and, in fact, beyond (even beyond your life)—and it can also be linked to Web of Science and your ResearcherID profile and Scopus so that citations and h-index can be checked. One incidental advantage of an ORCiD profile is that it survives name changes—for example, marriage or gender realignment—and it is a great bonus for people from regions where many people have the same name; for example, in the Far East and Middle East. One recent development is the capacity to download a QR code which can be copied and pasted into CVs and PowerPoint® presentations. If you are not convinced so far and not already creating your own ORCiD profile, then read on. In addition to the benefits of having an ORCiD profile, such as a verifiable and portable list of achievements, ORCiD may soon be a common and, indeed, compulsory feature of grant applications, manuscript submissions, and promotion procedures. Already, leading publishers are requesting that you provide your ORCiD number when you create a profile on their online submission systems. To do this, the process is protected by your ORCiD password so nobody else can use this number in the submission process. Therefore, it is an unambiguous identifier for you as an author. Furthermore, it is now becoming common to see the ORCiD logo and an author's number displayed next to their name in the by-line of published articles. In the online version, this provides a link whereby the profile of the author can be checked. Grant awarding bodies are also requesting that applicants provide their ORCiD number along with project grant applications. ORCiD is easy and free to use. It takes only a few minutes to set up a profile; articles already on ResearcherID and Scopus can be transferred across, others can be searched online or entered manually. ORCiD staff are working with groups and organizations to create “macros” that allow citations to be easily imported to your profile. You can “search and link” from various databases, such as CrossRef or EuropePMC, and more are in the works. Research grants can be found using ÜberWizard for ORCID. All data can be entered manually; your employment record must be entered this way. Of course, manual entry takes more time, but the profile does not all have to be completed all at once. Finally, there is provision to write, free text, a profile about yourself, your interests and achievements. The possibilities for using ORCiD are many and only restricted by the imagination of the user. The ORCiD logo and the QR code could be a useful addition to business cards so that people can easily check your profile. ORCiD may come to replace CVs in the process of applying for jobs. Instead of the varied online profiles—or none—of academic staff, a profile picture accompanied by a link to ORCiD and one to ResearcherID could simplify these considerably and obviate the need to update them and avoid having out-of-date and incomplete information on profile pages. Amidst a plethora of online platforms for recording and sharing achievements, some of which have already proven ephemeral, ORCiD is a genuine industry-wide attempt to create an international gold standard. ORCiD is a club to which anyone can belong. I am sure that it will be considered unusual—or simply obstinate—in the near future, in academia, not to have an ORCiD profile. Finished yours yet? Roger Watson, PhD, FAAN, FRCN is Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Advanced Nursing; Editor, Nursing Open, and Professor of Nursing, University of Hull, UK. He is also a member of the Authors-in-Residence for Nurse Author & Editor. Contact Roger by email: r.watson@hull.ac.uk and follow him on Twitter: @rwatson1955. His ORCiD ID is orcid.org/0000–0001–8040–7625

A welcome to Raj Buyya as the new co‐editor

Last year, one of the journal's two co-editors, Andy Wellings, announced that he wanted to step down by the end of 2014. That would complete an astounding 20 years of service as a co-editor. A search for Andy's replacement was successful, and his replacement is Dr. Rajkumar Buyya (or Raj for short). Raj is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Raj's term as co-editor commences on July 1, so that there is a transition period while Andy's work is progressively taken over by Raj. Andy will not be taking on responsibility for new submissions to the journal; they will go to Raj instead. Andy will continue to handle papers that were previously assigned to him and revisions of those papers until the end of the year. Raj's name should be well known to researchers and software practitioners in the fields of cloud computing and grid computing. At the University of Melbourne, Raj is the director of the Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems Laboratory. He is also serving as the founding CEO of Manjrasoft Pty Ltd., a spin-off company of the University, commercializing its innovations in Cloud Computing. He has a long list of accomplishments achieved during his career as a professor. These include several best paper awards, recognition awards from technical organizations, innovation awards, patents, major research grants, industrial collaborations, and a long list of publications in major journals and at major conferences. ‘A Scientometric Analysis of Cloud Computing Literature’ by German scientists reported that Raj is not only the world's most influential researcher but also the most productive one in the area of cloud computing. Originally from India, where he obtained Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees, Raj moved to Australia to study for his doctorate. He began his degree at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, but completed it at Monash University, in Melbourne, when he was forced to find a new supervisor. His thesis on grid computing was accepted in 2002 under the supervision of Professor David Abramson. Software technologies for Grid and Cloud computing developed under Raj's leadership have gained rapid acceptance and are in use at several academic institutions and commercial enterprises in 40 countries around the world. On a personal note, Raj reports that he is married to Dr. Smrithi Buyya and they have two lovely daughters. He says he is a member of International Society for Krishna Consciousness and that one day he hopes to become a master of ‘spiritual science’! Software: Practice and Experience is fortunate that Raj has agreed to take on the role as co-editor. He has been helpful to the journal in the past, helping it achieve a more prominent position in rankings maintained by the Australian Research Council, by refereeing papers, by submitting papers, and by being a guest editor of a special issue on cloud computing. As the co-editor who will work alongside Raj, I extend a very special welcome to Raj. I am anticipating that there will be many new initiatives and a new focus for the journal, which will help it maintain its place as a leading journal, relevant to software practitioners and researchers around the world.

Expression of androgen receptor target genes in skeletal muscle

We aimed to determine the mechanisms of the anabolic actions of androgens in skeletal muscle by investigating potential androgen receptor (AR)-regulated genes in in vitro and in vivo models. The expression of the myogenic regulatory factor myogenin was significantly decreased in skeletal muscle from testosterone-treated orchidectomized male mice compared to control orchidectomized males, and was increased in muscle from male AR knockout mice that lacked DNA binding activity (ARΔZF2) versus wildtype mice, demonstrating that myogenin is repressed by the androgen/AR pathway. The ubiquitin ligase Fbxo32 was repressed by 12 h dihydrotestosterone treatment in human skeletal muscle cell myoblasts, and c-Myc expression was decreased in testosterone-treated orchidectomized male muscle compared to control orchidectomized male muscle, and increased in ARΔZF2 muscle. The expression of a group of genes that regulate the transition from myoblast proliferation to differentiation, Tceal7, p57Kip2, Igf2 and calcineurin Aa, was increased in ARΔZF2 muscle, and the expression of all but p57Kip2 was also decreased in testosterone-treated orchidectomized male muscle compared to control orchidectomized male muscle. We conclude that in males, androgens act via the AR in part to promote peak muscle mass by maintaining myoblasts in the proliferative state and delaying the transition to differentiation during muscle growth and development, and by suppressing ubiquitin ligase-mediated atrophy pathways to preserve muscle mass in adult muscle.

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Patient Advocacy in Research

Patient Advocacy in Research

Comparison of patients managed in specialised spinal rehabilitation units with those managed in non-specialised rehabilitation units

Prospective open cohort study. Compare the demographic characteristics and rehabilitation outcomes for both non-traumatic SCI (NT-SCI) and traumatic SCI (T-SCI) patients admitted into either specialist spinal cord injury rehabilitation units (SCIRUs) or non-specialist rehabilitation units (NSRUs). Rehabilitation units in Australia. The Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre maintains a national database on inpatients admitted to most (130/145) public and private rehabilitation units in Australia. Patients were included if they had a diagnosis of spinal cord injury (SCI) and were discharged between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006. Patients were excluded if admitted for <7 days, only for assessment, or were a readmission following a previous SCI. There were 668 patients with confirmed SCI admitted (NT-SCI n=361, 54.0%; T-SCI n=307, 46.0%). NT-SCI patients were much less likely to be admitted into a specialist SCIRU (30.5%) compared with T-SCI patients (70.4%). For both NT-SCI and T-SCI patients, those admitted to a specialist SCIRU tended to be younger (P=0.000), have a longer length of stay in rehabilitation (P=0.000), and lower Functional Independence Measure (FIM) motor subscale score on admission (P=0.000) than those admitted to a NSRU. For NT-SCI patients, after adjusting for covariates, those admitted into specialist SCIRU had greater improvement in their FIM motor score during rehabilitation. This finding was not demonstrated in T-SCI patients. There are differences in the characteristics of SCI patients admitted to SCIRU compared with NSRU. NT-SCI patients admitted to SCIRU have greater functional gain.

Jonathan O Cole

Jonathan Cole was a unique personality, a creative clinical scientist, the consummate visionary. He entered the psychiatric scene at the time psychotropic drugs, a revolutionary development in the treatment of mental disorder, were discovered. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) recruited him with eminent neurophysiologist Ralph Gerard to organize a national conference on the new science of psychopharmacology. Prestigious psychiatrists, pharmacologists, psychologists, and neurochemists conferred on structuring the new science, initiating a major effort by the National Institutes of Health to build on these discoveries. The conference volume, ‘Psychopharmacology: Problems in Evaluation', had world-wide impact, setting the stage for radical changes in the science of mental disorders. The Congress appropriated $2 million for the program. Robert Felix, Director, NIMH, recruited Jonathan to lead. He convened an interdisciplinary advisory committee and then mounted a national collaborative evaluation of the efficacy of new drugs, while concurrently initiating a major research grants effort to investigate their basic mechanisms. It was a grand mission for a young psychiatrist. The results proved that the NIH selected the right man. In a decade as head of the NIMH Psychopharmacology Service Center, Jonathan assembled interdisciplinary staff to accomplish the Congress' mission. Evaluating psychiatric treatments in 1956 was still relatively primitive. In that climate Jonathan led the first controlled, multihospital collaborative double-blind evaluation of phenothiazines in the treatment of acute schizophrenia. That project provided a prototype, a model for subsequent NIMH collaborative evaluations of the new classes of drugs: lithium as a treatment for mania, tricyclic antidepressants for depression, and the benzodiazepines for anxiety disorders. For that landmark study, Jonathan's group received psychiatry's Hofheimer award, their most prestigious award for scientific accomplishment. Jonathan was also aware that the new drugs had been discovered not in a controlled basic laboratory, but even earlier by the ‘green-thumb' psychiatrists. On the basis of their long experience, they could, by observing a few patients, discern a new drug as ‘remarkable' in its effects, warranting further evaluation. This creative insight led to the ‘early clinical drug evaluation' program, which was a support for astute clinicians in their search for new psychoactive compounds. The program was so successful that its spirit remains in effect. The group meets annually as the NCDEU, and is still partially supported by the NIMH. Jonathan excelled at monitoring support of basic research and the provision of adequate funds for developmental studies of drug mechanisms. It is little known today that the NIMH's program for research on substance abuse also started within his Psychopharmacology Service Center. Young psychiatrists he trained would help expand this field until it became an Institute in itself. In 1967 Jonathan followed notable figures in psychiatry to become Superintendent, Boston State Hospital, then to direct psychopharmacology at Harvard and McLean Hospital, and to guide young clinical investigators. Co-author of several textbooks, he founded the Psychopharmacology Bulletin. A member of several important NIMH committees, we viewed him as a ‘model clinical science administrator' and relied on his guidance in dealing with the complexities of interdisciplinary research in psychiatry. Jonathan, a founder and early ACNP president, received the first Paul Hoch Distinguished Service Award. As CINP secretary, 1965–1969, his contributions were recognized internationally with the coveted Pioneers in Psychopharmacology award. Of most consequence, however, for the creation of the discipline of psychopharmacology was the combining of Congress' foresight in appropriating $2 million and the sagacious appointment of this young, creative psychiatrist to lead its initial development. Jonathan Cole truly was a pioneer, distinguished by his capacity to reach out to people, to innovate, to spark the US program off to a broad-ranged and exciting start. No award, however, satisfied Jon as much as his colleagues' appreciation of his forthrightness, his integrity, and his capacity to tell the truth as he saw it. Many credited him with their later successes. His typical response to compliments was a sincere show of surprise. Jonathan leaves a lasting impression, masterly shining a creative light onto our paths into the future.

Television, Democracy and Elections in Russia by Sarah Oates (review)

766 SEER, 86, 4, OCTOBER 2008 Despite these, and other, shortcomings, Runaway State-Building is a signifi cant and substantive monograph which develops a valuable link between state building and party competition, and presents important findings. It is a recommended read for those interested in state-building and patronage innew democracies, as well as party scholars more generally. Department ofPolitical Science& International Studies Ingrid van Biezen Universityof Birmingham Oates, Sarah. Television,Democracy andElections inRussia. BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies, 27. Roudedge, London and New York, 2006. xv + 222 pp. Figures. Tables. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Index. ?65.00. Television is the primary means of top-down political communication in Russia today. Slick, careful, pro-government reporting and analysis present reality as the Kremlin sees it, and Russians, by and large, accept this state-of affairs with resignation. Sarah Oates's study shows us how this came about, using an impressive array of interviews with media professionals, focus-group findings and survey data. An enormous amount of work, supported by several major research grants, has gone into this book. Oates analyses three elements in the process of political communication: media environment, content and audience. In tackling the first of these, she finds that although media law seems to provide for freedom of speech, in reality journalists face multiple constraints on their independence and professional freedom. Both state officials and owners of commercial or semi commercial media oudets use themedia to promote political and corporate interests.For journalists who engage indaring or confrontational investigative reporting, there is a high risk of being fired, and the persistent offender runs the risk of being physically attacked or even murdered. Oates's focus is on TV election coverage and political advertising. She analyses approximately one month of evening news programmes on the lead ing state-owned channel, ORT, and the leading commercial channel, NTV, during each of three Duma and three presidential election campaigns from 1995 through 2004. Concurrently, she examines a selection of the paid political advertising and free-time spots provided toparties under election law. In the 1995-96 election season the state or state interests did not have a controlling stake in NTV. Although NTV had taken a critical stance on thewar inChechnya in 1995, both channels rallied toEl'tsin's support in the crucial 1996 presidential election, eschewing any pretence at objectivity. The loyalist trend continued during the 1999 and 2000 election season, and moves during Putin's first term against oligarchs with television interests eliminated the few remaining pockets of editorial independence. By 2003, Kremlin dominance of all national TV channels appeared to have been consolidated. Oates uses focus-groups to tap into viewers' responses. These included a series of twenty-four focus groups before and after the 2000 presidential elec tions, as well as ten focus groups after the 2004 election. Participants were REVIEWS 767 asked about the role of themedia, their own viewing habits, and specifically about whether or not themedia influenced theirvote.Most showed awareness of bias on television and of deliberate attempts tomanipulate public opinion. An oil worker said of the 2000 campaign 'There was the impression that only one man was really running, i.e. Putin [...] It didn't beat you over the head, itwas very competent [eto ne v lob delaetsya, a ochen' gramotno]' (p. 145). Some participants admitted being influenced by what they watched even though theyknew the informationwas one-sided. Others appeared to accept bias as natural: theirprincipal criticismswere not about a lack of objectivity but about the negativity of themedia. Focus-group findings such as these can enhance our sensitivity to the Russian audience, but do not prove that TV carries the vote. On this point, Oates turns to survey data. She organized an opinion survey dedicated tomedia issues in 2001, updated by an additional survey in the winter of 2003/04. Her 2001 data snowed that themedian Russian adult watched two to three hours of television on a weekday, and four tofive hours on days off.The 2003/04 survey showed thatmore than four-fifths of respon dents heard about politics on television either daily or several times a week. She presents regressions showing that, controlling for demographic...

Dr. Andrei Yakovlev: Visionary, Leader, Iconoclast

Dr. Andrei Yakovlev: Visionary, Leader, Iconoclast

What Makes a Journal an International Journal?

What makes a journal an international journal? Is it the geopolitical distribution of editorial staff and/or board members? Is it the distribution of authors, reviewers and/or readers? Or is it more a question of content? Surely all of these factors are germane to the question. Based on the distribution of authors, the geopolitical centre of the JBI is clearly the Tasman Sea: 75% of all papers currently accepted for publication have first authors based in Australia or New Zealand. It follows, however, that a quarter of the accepted articles has first authors based elsewhere. Moreover, the latter proportion is growing. This trend is also reflected in the distribution of reviewers. In 2004, all reviewers were from either Australia or New Zealand. Over time the mix has diversified to include scholars from the USA, UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Canada. Later this year, the JBI aims to disrupt the Western Anglophone bias with a good dose of Asian scholarship. Jing-Bao Nie, who co-edited the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry throughout 2006, has done much to expand the journal’s circle of reviewers. His tireless work has also helped to build this year’s content, including the planned special issue on bioethics in Asia. Sadly, we bid him farewell after this issue. Having secured a major research grant last year, his attention is now focussed firmly back on his own research. We thank him for his generous contribution and wish him all the best for the future. The JBI is currently re-organising the editorial positions so as to distribute responsibility over a larger team of specialist associate editors. This is necessary due to the increasing workload that comes with a rapidly growing journal, and also due to changes in bioethics itself. Bioethics is becoming more diverse in terms of the disciplines and perspectives it engages. Since the JBI is committed to helping that process along, our editorial team is also diversifying. To this end, we welcome the addition of two new associate editors. Shelley Tremain will be responsible for developing the journal’s content in the area of disability, and Rob Irvine will develop future content relating to non-human animals. Whilst both of these associate editorships index established topics of bioethical inquiry, Tremain and Irvine bring distinct perspectives to bear. Tremain’s work draws on disability studies, feminism and Foucault. Irvine brings a sociological perspective, and he also aims to help put bioethics back in touch with a much broader vision of the field – one that integrates the natural sciences, the social sciences and humanities to form an “interdisciplinary ethics.” During the next month we will be retiring two workhorses that have served the JBI well. The first is Bioethical Inquiry (2007) 4:1–2 DOI 10.1007/s11673-007-9040-y

From research to practice: a local mental health services needs assessment.

Service planning based on aggregated needs assessment is rarely practised. There is a lack of research into how population-based needs assessment approaches can be translated into routine clinical settings. This study aimed to ascertain the 2-month period prevalence of psychosis in Gloucester City, to investigate the level of need among those in contact with mental health services, and to identify the compromises which are involved in routine collection of data to inform services, compared with specifically funded research studies. Method People with ICD-10 diagnosis of functional psychosis were identified by searching General Practice and mental health service records in Gloucester City. The needs of the sub-sample in touch with mental health services were assessed using the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS). Four hundred and seventy-four cases were identified, including 403 in contact with mental health services. Staff CANSAS data were collected for 225 patients, with a mean rating of 7.0 met and 3.6 unmet needs per patient. Unmet need was higher in the non-Caucasian group. In this locality, patients with functional psychosis were largely in contact with mental health services, were in employment, were disproportionately looked after by a few City centre General Practitioners, and high levels were in supported accommodation. Higher levels of need were found than previously demonstrated. Systematic assessment of needs with research instruments to contribute to locality service planning is possible without a major research grant, but involves compromises on established research designs.