Scottish Research Research Articles

Clinical research nursing has a bright future

The author reflects on the career development potential for clinical research nurses in Great Britain, which was the main topic at the Scottish Research Nurse and Co-ordinators Network's (SRNCN) annual conference in Dundee, Scotland. The author says that the field has become a career option for nurses from being an isolated profession. They add that nursing networks have provided career development opportunities. University of Dundee nursing professor Julie Taylor urged nurses at the conference to participate in scholarly activities.

Scottish Research Register 2008–2009

Th e p u r p o s e of the Scottish Research Register is to highlight completed research undertaken by students from Scottish universities, which relate to the history of Scottish architecture. The Register includes undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations and theses. It is organised into three categories for quick reference: Architect, Region and Other. ‘Architect’ is alphabetised by the architects’ name, highlighted in bold; ‘Region’ is sub-divided geographically and alphabetised by author; ‘Other’ is alphabetised by author. Titles belonging to more than one category are included in each. Each entry contains the author, dissertation title, university/college, qualification and year. The information is recorded as presented by the universities. The universities in this seventh edition of the Register are: University of Strathclyde and University of St Andrews. We will endeavour to include those universities not included in this Register in future editions. This seventh edition of the Register lists those papers completed in 2007–2009. The Scottish Research Register features annually within Architectural Heritage and any suggestions for its enhancement are welcome. We look forward to a greater number of universities and colleges participating in the next edition. Thanks must be given to the librarians and members of teaching staff from all the Scottish universities and colleges who assisted in compiling the Register by providing material. Although many of the dissertations and theses may be consulted in their relevant university library, inclusion in the Register does not imply that access will always be available.

Personal factors might influence induction rate of labour.

More than a quarter of induced labours are not explained by clinical factors, Scottish researchers report.

Living in Kinship Care: A Child-Centred View

Jane Aldgate describes findings from a Scottish research study on kinship care. Her article is drawn from a commissioned study which informed a government review of children looked after by local authorities in Scotland in 2006. The article presents the perspectives of the 30 children in the study on living in kinship care. It explores children's understanding of the reasons for their placements and their views on the future, as well as on the roles and tasks of social workers. Children speak of both the negative and positive challenges of living in kinship care, including maintaining contact with parents and siblings. Children's everyday lives, including experiences of school, peers and activities are recounted. The article ends by describing the Scottish Government's new policy for improving services for children in kinship care.

What Does Left Hand Know That Right Hand Doesn't?

What Does Left Hand Know That Right Hand Doesn't?

Creating Critical Mass of Research Excellence in the Region: The Case of Scottish Research Pooling Initiatives

This article examines the recent development of, and policy rationale for “research pooling” initiatives in Scotland. Research pooling initiatives have been started with financial support from the Scottish Funding Council in order to form inter-organizational “international critical mass” of research excellence at universities at the regional level. This article examines the development of university cooperations at the regional level as vehicles for obtaining “strategic resources”. Then the “multi-level governance” structure of research pooling is explored in light of the future development of a Scottish regional innovation system (RIS). Particular attention is drawn to challenges concerning knowledge transfer, which is critical in integrating research pooling initiatives in the development of RIS in Scotland.

Low Countries Imprints in Scottish Research Libraries

Low Countries Imprints in Scottish Research Libraries

Lay Religiosity, Piety, and Devotion in Scotland c. 1300 to c. 1450

In recent Scottish historical research on issues of ecclesiastical renewal and reform, the chief academic focus has rested on three strands: the radical restructuring of the twelfth century, popular devotion in the immediate pre-Reformation period, and the dramatic events of the sixteenth-century Reformation. This does not mean that other aspects of medieval Church history have been neglected, for there has been much new research into its institutions, personnel, and properties. Access to papal records, published as the Calendars of Papal Letters and the Calendars of Scottish Supplications to Rome, has not only shed light on issues of papal provision to benefices, clerical celibacy, illegitimacy and education, and the continuing role and nature of lay patronage and benefaction of the secular and regular Church but has transformed scholarly understanding of the operation of the secular Church in Scotland, the organization and functioning of its governmental structures, and the exercise of canon law, and has given fresh insight into the influence which the clergy wielded over the lives of the lay population. Research founded on these and earlier papal record sources has borne much fruit in the last twenty years, with major studies of Scoto-papal relations and the government of the Scottish Church by, for example, Paul Ferguson for the pre-1286 period, Andrew Barrell for the mid-fourteenth century, and Donald Watt for the period down to 1472 stimulating a general reassessment of interactions between the Scottish clergy and the papal curia and offering insights into the development and functioning of the legal and judicial structures and mechanisms which characterized the later medieval Church in Scotland. More recently, both Irene Furneaux’s and Jennifer McDonald’s doctoral research into the Scottish material in the records of the Sacred Penitentiary has begun to be published. The full impact of their research is yet to be felt, but the evidence which they present for the level of ecclesiastical influence on routine aspects of the daily lives of both clerical and lay populations in the period after 1470, the volume of communication between Scotland and the Sacred Penitentiary, and fundamental elements of religious practice and belief will undoubtedly trigger a radical reassessment of sacred and profane behaviour and belief among the lay population and the composition, character, and quality of the clergy.

Scottish Research Register 2006

Scottish Research Register 2006

Using a Virtual Research Environment to support new models of collaborative and participative research in Scottish education

Drawing on research supported within the Scottish ‘Applied Educational Research Scheme’ this paper explores the use of the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) in developing ‘communities of enquiry’ in Scottish education and research. It focuses on the role of VREs in influencing collaborative working and educational research. The paper uses three vignettes to illustrate the ways in which VREs have the potential to transform the processes of collaborative enquiry and research in education, by offering new ways of conducting research and engaging various stakeholders (the policy, practice and research communities). The paper argues that, while initially the work conceptualised VREs essentially as tools to support communities of enquiry, it has become clearer during the analysis of emerging data from the project that VREs are developing as new environments in which participants engage and generate new forms of knowledge. They pose ethical dilemmas and challenge the status and analysis of data. The authors conclude that practitioner use of VREs needs to be recognised as a legitimate approach to collaborative working and that virtual dimensions to communities of enquiry require careful nurturing if they are to prove successful.

Scottish Research Register 2005

Scottish Research Register 2005

Families, Intimacy and Social Change: Editorial Introduction

Introduction1.1 The papers in this special issue of Sociological Research Online were all presented at the BritishSociological Association Annual Conference, held at the University of York in March 2004. The conferencetheme was ‘Sociological Challenges: Conflict, Anxiety and Discontent’. As members of the organisingcommittee we wanted to ensure that a selection of the best papers was published in an accessible outlet.We are delighted to guest edit this special issue which show cases some of the most innovative andinsightful work in the field. We will be following this up with a further special issue next March focusing onthe theme of ‘Politics, Responsibility and Risk’.1.2 Tragically while this special issue was being assembled, one of the contributors, Sue Innes, died aftermany months of being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Sue was Research Fellow at the Centre for Researchon Families and Relationships, Glasgow Caledonian University in 2001 and again in 2004 and 2005. Shewas a founder of Engender, the Scottish women's research and information organisation and perhaps bestknown for her publication, Making It Work, which looked at the challenges facing women and work in the1990s. It is highly fitting that this special issue is dedicated to her memory.1.3 In this brief editorial we explain the intellectual rationale for this special issue and the significance of thechosen papers for current sociological debates. The 2004 conference was designed to focus upon how thetask of sociology is defined by the social conflicts that take place in modern societies. We wanteddelegates to consider how the sociological imagination is animated by issues of social division, economichardship, cultural disadvantage and political oppression and how under these circumstances, our disciplineis in constant debate, defining its social role and value. We sought to encourage debate in relation to theimpending ecological crisis, the negative consequences of neo-liberal capitalism, the extreme inequalitiesbetween the developed and developing world and the aggravated uncertainties associated with anintensifying experience of rapid social and technological change. In organising the conference we hoped toprovide opportunities for delegates to debate the sociological challenges that continue to define ourdiscipline, as well as those that are emerging as the core concerns for social life in the twenty-first century.We asked the question: how might sociology venture to identify its purpose and identity in the world itseeks to explain?1.4 We invited papers addressing the following themes:Embodied expressions and oppressionIntimacy, work and family lifePolitics, responsibility and neglectCulture, conflict and everyday lifeThe challenge to sociological theoryTeaching and learningSpecial plenary sessions were organised to provide the intellectual context for the shifting sociologicalagenda. Professor Sue Scott, from the University of Durham, presented a talk on ‘Sexuality, Anxiety andthe Challenge to Sociology’ which highlighted key sexual antimonies that characterise everyday life in the21st century. The final plenary was given by Professor Joan Busfield from the University of Essex, whotalked about ‘Pills, Power, People’ and how sociological analysis can further understandings of the growingimpact of the pharmaceutical industry on our lives. We also held two social theory roundtables‘Sociologists and their audiences’ and ‘The future of the social’, as well as a lively roundtable on risk,entitled ‘The social reality of risk’.1.5 Within this special conference issue, these ‘best papers’ are organised around the theme of ‘Intimacy,work and family life’ since this stream produced some of the most lively and significant contributions. Giventhe diverse range of papers the selection process for inclusion in this special issue was not an easy task.

The Sera Lecture 2005 Learning from Each Other: International Perspectives on Research Communities

by language? The answer in any one case will in all probability be some combination of these. In any event it’s a great pleasure to rejoin the Scottish research community, position as head of a small international policy research unit which seeks actively to promote its links with research communities in OECD countries and beyond. The which have generated insights into the challenges that face researchers who seek include a set of reviews of national policies on educational research and development; a series of events focussing on the nature of evidence-based policy research; and a

An Organisation for a Scottish Research Community

An Organisation for a Scottish Research Community

Scottish Research Register 2004

Scottish Research Register 2004

The Epsin 4 Gene on Chromosome 5q, Which Encodes the Clathrin-Associated Protein Enthoprotin, Is Involved in the Genetic Susceptibility to Schizophrenia

Chromosome 5q33 is a region that has previously shown good evidence of linkage to schizophrenia, with four LOD scores >3.00 in independent linkage studies. We studied 450 unrelated white English, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish research subjects with schizophrenia and 450 ancestrally matched supernormal controls. Four adjacent markers at the 5' end of the Epsin 4 gene showed significant evidence of linkage disequilibrium with schizophrenia. These included two microsatellite markers, D5S1403 (P=.01) and AAAT11 (P=.009), and two single-nucleotide-polymorphism markers within the Epsin 4 gene, rs10046055 (P=.007) and rs254664 (P=.01). A series of different two- and three-marker haplotypes were also significantly associated with schizophrenia, as confirmed with a permutation test (HapA, P=.004; HapB, P=.0005; HapC, P=.007; and HapD, P=.01). The Epsin 4 gene encodes the clathrin-associated protein enthoprotin, which has a role in transport and stability of neurotransmitter vesicles at the synapses and within neurons. A genetically determined abnormality in the structure, function, or expression of enthoprotin is likely to be responsible for genetic susceptibility to a subtype of schizophrenia on chromosome 5q33.3.

Evidence of re‐nesting after brood loss in Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus

The Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus is a single-brooded species that can re-lay if a clutch is lost during the nesting period (Cramp & Simmons 1980). However, there is no reported evidence regarding second clutches being attempted after a brood of young chicks is lost. Indeed, there is only one record of re-nesting after brood loss in Galliformes and this refers to the Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus (Dumke & Pils 1979). In that study four ‘wild’ Pheasant hens in Wisconsin were recorded as having re-nested after brood loss. However, doubts about the short time intervals between suspected re-laying, incubation and hatching noted for at least two of the birds suggest that nest appropriation played some part in the result (Dumke & Pils 1979). During the summer of 2003, we monitored a number of radiotagged hen Red Grouse on a heather Calluna vulgaris moor managed for Red Grouse in the Scottish central highlands. Without disturbing the hen, we used radio-telemetry on alternate days through May to monitor whether the hen was incubating and thus determine hatch date. After hatch, we located hens by radiotelemetry and used trained pointing dogs to find chicks on days 5, 10 and 15 after hatching. Thirty-three hens successfully hatched chicks from their first nesting attempt. Of these, 15 lost their entire brood in the first 15 days after hatching. However, we found that two of these hens (A and B) produced a second brood after the loss, for unknown reasons, of their first brood between days 5 and 10. The presence of a second brood was established on the 50th day after each first clutch had hatched, as hens were located at this time to determine survival rates. Hens A and B were found to have chicks judged, from the juvenile primaries, to be under 12 days of age (Parr 1975). In comparison with other chicks of known ages, they were estimated to be 7–10 days of age for the four chicks with Hen A and 10–12 days for the five chicks with Hen B. We estimate that Hen A would have re-laid between 4 and 9 days after brood loss and Hen B between 3 and 8 days after brood loss. These second broods would have hatched in mid-June 2–3 weeks after the main hatching period. Hence Red Grouse can, if rarely, re-lay and produce second broods after losing the first. Although we cannot exclude nest appropriation, we think that the time between brood loss and re-laying, along with the well-documented parental abilities of Red Grouse, support our conclusion. We thank Phones and Ralia estates for access, David Howarth, Nadine Clark and Scott Newey for help during the field season, Kate Graham and two anonymous referees for comments on the manuscript, and the Game Conservancy Scottish Research Trust for funding.

Scottish Research Register 2003

Scottish Research Register 2003

Strategy Characteristics and Biotechnology

Biotechnology developed in the early 1970s as a consequence of major advances in biochemistry, genetics, cell biology and microbiology. There are now over 600 biotechnological companies in Europe. Scottish research groups have international reputations in some of the key areas of biotechnology. This paper identifies the main strategic characteristics of the Scottish biotechnology sector using a questionnaire-based approach of 100 Scottish biotechnology firms. Important strategic behaviour included the use of industry analysis to examine threats and generic strategies to locate products in the marketplace. A key finding concerned the use of strategic networks and partnership development in areas such as research and development, product marketing and international developments.

Facilitating Scottish cultural publishing online

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the goals and broad outcomes of the SAPIENS project. SAPIENS was set up to provide electronic versions of current Scottish cultural periodicals. The project's approach was to offer assistance to smaller Scottish publishers to create online serial publications by providing server space, technical support, a high‐profile gateway and various value‐added services, thus, heightening Scotland's cultural presence in the global information environment. This not only increases the visibility of Scottish knowledge and research, but accessibility of learning resources and scholarly work on Scottish culture can be widened, perpetuating the study of Scotland's cultural heritage. The project has shown that electronic publishing is not cost‐free and that a subscription model is necessary to sustain such a service.