South East England Research Articles

Comparing the Fate and Transport of MS2 Bacteriophage and Sodium Fluorescein in a Karstic Chalk Aquifer.

Groundwater flow and contaminant migration tracing is a vital method of identifying and characterising pollutant source-pathway-receptor linkages in karst aquifers. Bacteriophages are an attractive alternative tracer to non-reactive fluorescent dye tracers, as high titres (>1012 pfu mL-1) can be safely released into the aquifer, offering improved tracer detectability. However, the interpretation of bacteriophage tracer breakthrough curves is complicated as their fate and transport are impacted by aquifer physicochemical conditions. A comparative tracer migration experiment was conducted in a peri-urban catchment in southeast England to characterise the behaviour of MS2 bacteriophage relative to sodium fluorescein dye in a karstic chalk aquifer. Tracers were released into a stream sink and detected at two abstraction boreholes located 3 km and 10 km away. At both sites, the loss of MS2 phage greatly exceeded that of the solute tracer. In contrast, the qualitative shape of the dye and phage breakthrough curves were visually very similar, suggesting that the bacteriophage arriving at each site was governed by comparable transport parameters to the non-reactive dye tracer. The colloid filtration theory was applied to explain the apparent contradiction of comparable tracer breakthrough patterns despite massive phage losses in the subsurface. One-dimensional transport models were also fitted to each breakthrough curve to facilitate a quantitative comparison of the transport parameter values. The model results suggest that the bacteriophage migrates through the conduit system slightly faster than the fluorescent dye, but that the former is significantly less dispersed. These results suggest that whilst the bacteriophage tracer cannot be used to predict receptor concentrations from transport via karstic flow paths, it can provide estimates for groundwater flow and solute contaminant transit times. This study also provides insight into the attenuation and transport of pathogenic viruses in karstic chalk aquifers.

Field-based assessments of the seasonality of Culexpipiens sensu lato in England: an important enzootic vector of Usutu and West Nile viruses

BackgroundUsutu virus (USUV), which is closely related to West Nile virus (WNV), sharing a similar ecology and transmission cycle, was first reported in the UK in the southeast of England in 2020. Both USUV and WNV are emerging zoonotic viruses hosted by wild birds. The 2020 finding of USUV in England raised awareness of this virus and highlighted the importance of understanding the seasonality of Culexpipiens sensu lato (Cx. pipiens s.l.), the main enzootic vector of these viruses. Zoos are prime locations for trapping mosquitoes because of their infrastructure, security, and range of vertebrate hosts and aquatic habitats.MethodsThree independent zoo-based case studies at four locations that cover the seasonality of Cx.pipiens s.l. in England were undertaken: (i) London Zoo (Zoological Society London [ZSL]) and surrounding areas, London; (ii) Chester Zoo (Cheshire); (ii) Twycross Zoo (Leicestershire); and (iv) Flamingo Land (zoo; North Yorkshire). Various adult mosquito traps were used to catch adult Cx.pipiens s.l. across seasons.ResultsHigh yields of Cx.pipiens s.l./Culex torrentium were observed in Biogents-Mosquitaire and Center for Disease Control and Prevention Gravid traps in all studies where these traps were used. Mosquito counts varied between sites and between years. Observations of adult Cx.pipiens s.l./Cx. torrentium abundance and modelling studies demonstrated peak adult abundance between late July and early August, with active adult female Cx.pipiens s.l./Cx. torrentium populations between May and September.ConclusionsThe information collated in this study illustrates the value of multiple mosquito monitoring approaches in zoos to describe the seasonality of this UK vector across multiple sites in England and provides a framework that can be used for ongoing and future surveillance programmes and disease risk management strategies.Graphical

Exploring the effects of learning from excellence: a qualitative study of staff perspectives

Background/Aims Learning from excellence is a non-hierarchical system for staff to report episodes of good practice that they observe in the workplace, aiming to share learning from good practice, in line with the Safety-II approach. This study aimed to analyse staff perspectives of the impact of a learning from excellence system in place at a hospital in the south east of England. Methods A qualitative investigation was conducted using semi-structured focus groups with individuals from five departments at the hospital. Focus group guides were developed using existing literature about learning from excellence. The focus groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The dataset was thematically analysed using Braun and Clarke's guide to NVivo 12 software. Results Findings were triangulated across three main themes: positive impact of learning from excellence on individuals and teams; problems with learning from excellence; and learning from the reports. Conclusions Perspectives on the impact of learning from excellence were generally positive, particularly regarding the benefits for staff morale and motivation. Future studies should consider using an experimental design to compare the impact of the learning from excellence system to that of traditional incident reporting.

Shipping containers and speed boats: exploring the contexts and relational spaces professionals navigate to safeguard young people from criminal exploitation

PurposeThis paper aims to present a mixed methods study of child criminal exploitation (CCE), particularly in the form of “county lines”, in three local authorities in southeast England. The data is analysed using a framework constructed from two relevant contextual and relational theories to understand experiences of CCE and the safeguarding responses undertaken to protect young people from harm.Design/methodology/approachData were drawn from a survey (n = 118); interviews (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 15) with professionals; interviews with parents (n = 4); and from secondary analysis of eight interviews with young people affected by criminal exploitation. The analytic framework was applied to the data to answer two research questions: what is the role and significance of young people’s interactions with peers, parents and professionals in their CCE trajectories; and how do professionals understand and address risks within contexts in which young people are exposed to CCE? The mixed methods data collected by the authors were coded and analysed using this framework.FindingsAlthough professionals were aware of contexts and relational power dynamics, the situated and temporal nature of CCE remained overlooked within safeguarding systems. Professionals required more space, time and support to fully and flexibly engage with young people and their families to increase safety.Originality/valueThere is limited research available that critically examines safeguarding responses to CCE in diverse geographic and cultural contexts. This paper contributes a critical account of how professionals might create connections and opportunities for change with young people, identifying structural constraints within practice systems alongside emerging examples of effective practice.

Recent outbreaks of the spruce bark beetle Ips typographus in the UK: Discovery, management, and implications

The eight-toothed spruce bark-beetle Ips typographus is the most damaging insect pest of Norway spruce in Europe, and it poses a serious risk to spruce in other countries where it is not currently present but might be introduced. The beetle is not native to the UK and before 2018 it had not been found established anywhere within the country. In November 2018, however, several adult Ips typographus were found in a billet trap set up as part of annual surveys that the UK carries out to monitor for this and other quarantine bark beetle pests. The finding of adult beetles in the billet trap, a few miles south of Ashford in Kent, led to the discovery of a breeding population in an adjacent woodland. Delimiting surveys to 1 km and further surveys to 50 km showed that the infestation was confined to a single stand of Norway spruce. The stand was felled in January and February 2019, and the material destroyed, and beetles emerging on the site were trapped out using pheromone traps, billet piles and trap trees. These prompt actions eradicated the breeding population, but small numbers of adult Ips typographus continued to be caught on the outbreak site in 2020 and 2021. These captures, and numerous adult Ips typographus caught in pheromone traps set up across the region in response to the outbreak, indicate that incursions of adult Ips typographus are occurring on a regular basis, most likely from source populations in northern France and Belgium. The arrival of adult Ips typographus over a wide area and the potential for further outbreaks represents a continuing threat to spruce woodlands in south-east England, and has important implications for surveillance and monitoring and the management of spruce in this part of the UK.

Bringing lay knowledge into place-making? A critical exploration of community review panels in London and Southeast England

ABSTRACT This article serves as the first academic inquiry into the establishment and functioning of community review panels (CRPs) in England. CRPs are an innovation in public participation in planning. The first CRP was established in 2018 to operate within the boundaries of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) in West London. It was set up to mirror the workings of a Design Review Panel, with people selected to serve on the CRP for their local knowledge and ability to participate in substantive discussions. CRPs are now active in six areas of London and Southeast England, predominantly in locations experiencing significant development or regeneration. The article is based on analysis of primary interview and observation data, grey literature on CRPs, and a review of academic and policy debates on public participation and lay knowledge. It explores the potential for CRPs to provide meaningful input into planning and place-making. It concludes that well-managed panels can make meaningful contributions to the development control process, but could be more effectively employed in broader place-making. Both outcomes are contingent on local planners' willingness and ability to serve as brokers of different types of knowledge, testing lay and expert perspectives alongside each other.

Exploring the recovery journey of COVID-19 critical care survivors during the first year after hospital discharge.

To explore the longitudinal recovery of patients admitted to critical care following COVID-19 over the year following hospital discharge. To understand the important aspects of the patients' recovery process and key elements of their caregivers' experiences during this time. A longitudinal qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Two acute hospitals in South East England and follow-up in the community. Six COVID-19 critical care survivors from the first wave of the pandemic (March-May 2020) and five relatives were interviewed 3 months after hospital discharge. The same six survivors and one relative were interviewed again at 1 year. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, anonymised and a reflexive thematic analysis was conducted. Three themes were developed: (1) 'The cycle of guilt, fear and stigma'; (2) 'Facing the uncertainties of recovery' and (3) 'Coping with lingering symptoms - the new norm'. The first theme highlights survivors' reluctance to share their experiences associated with contracting the disease. The second theme, explores challenges faced by the survivors and their relatives in navigating the recovery process, given the unknown nature of the illness. The final theme illustrates the mechanisms survivors develop to come to terms with the remnants of their illness and critical care stay. The longitudinal nature of the study highlighted the persisting symptoms of long COVID-19, their impact on survivors and coping methods amidst the ongoing pandemic. Further research into the experiences of those affected in the first and subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, is desirable to help guide the formulation of the optimally supported recovery pathways.

Factors influencing urban greenspace use among a multi-ethnic community in the UK: The Chalkscapes Study

In the UK, there are disparities in the use of urban greenspaces, particularly among low-income, ethnically diverse communities. Determining how populations interact with greenspaces and the barriers and facilitators that influence use remains pertinent to improve access. This study aimed to examine how people who reside in an ethnically diverse community use and engage with urban greenspaces and, drawing on the COM-B model (capability, opportunity, motivation, and behaviour), aimed to assess the potential barriers and facilitators that influence use. A cross-sectional survey, conducted across two ethnically diverse towns in southeast England investigated greenspace usage, including activities and reasons for using greenspaces and included the Brief Measure of Behavior Change (COM-B). The survey was shared online via Qualtrics and widely disseminated in the local community via bilingual fieldworkers and community networks. The sample comprised 906 participants (60.7 % female; mean age 38 ± 16.37 years). The findings revealed that the use of greenspaces was low with around 33 % visiting greenspaces frequently (at least once a week). Older people, those with higher levels of deprivation and/or those from a minority ethnic background were all shown to be the lowest users of greenspaces. The findings also confirmed that the types of activities and reasons for visiting greenspaces were shown to vary by a range of socio-demographic characteristics. The COM-B model was shown to be a useful explanatory framework with physical capability and motivation identified as significant predictors of frequency of greenspace use. We now encourage future research to consider what factors underpin motivation and the opportunities to use greenspaces, and how these vary across the wider population.

Why do we make changes to the long-term experiments at Rothamsted?

The long-term field experiments at Rothamsted in south-east England (UK) are an important resource that has been used extensively to study the effects of land management, atmospheric pollution and climate change on soil fertility and the sustainability of crop yields. However, for these and other long-term experiments around the world to remain useful, changes are sometimes needed. These changes may be required to ensure that the experiment is not compromised by e.g. acidification or weeds, but often they are needed to ensure that the experiment remains relevant to current agricultural practice, e.g. the introduction of new cultivars and the judicious use of pesticides. However, changes should not be made just for the sake of change or to investigate aspects of management that could be better resolved in a short-term experiment. Rather, modifications should only be made after carefully considered discussion, involving scientists from different disciplines. It must be remembered however that there are limitations to what can be achieved in one experiment. In this paper we give examples of why certain changes were made to the Rothamsted experiments and what the results of those changes have been. We also highlight the value of archiving crop and soil samples for future studies.

Developing a hope-focused intervention to prevent mental health problems and improve social outcomes for young women who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET): A qualitative co-design study in deprived coastal communities in South-East England.

Young women who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) experience poorer health and social outcomes compared to non-NEET young women and to NEET young men, especially in deprived areas with intersecting inequalities. The evidence on effective public health approaches is scarce. Interventions that target hope, which NEET young women notably lack, offer a promising theory-driven and intuitive means to prevent mental health problems and improve social outcomes. Hope can be defined as a goal-focused mindset comprising self-agency (motivation and self-belief) and pathways (identifying routes to achieving goals). Hope is implicated in a variety of evidence-based psychosocial interventions for young people, but is not directly targeted by existing prevention programmes for NEET populations. The current study used a phased qualitative research design and participatory methods to model a hope-focused intervention for NEET young women. Phase 1 investigated population needs and intervention parameters through semi-structured interviews with 28 key informants living or working in disadvantaged coastal communities in South-East England. The sample comprised eight NEET young women, four family members, and 16 practitioners from relevant support organisations. Phase 2 refined intervention parameters and outcomes through co-design sessions with four NEET young women, followed by a theory of change workshop with 10 practitioners. The resulting intervention model is articulated as a mentor-supported, in-person psychosocial intervention that builds hope by enhancing positive sense of self and time spent in meaningful activities, before explicitly teaching the skills needed to identify, set, and pursue personally meaningful goals.

Assessing the Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity Among Women in Southeast England

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in restricting daily physical activity (PA). Women’s PA levels have been disproportionately negatively affected by the pandemic, compared with men. It is important to determine how women’s PA has changed over the pandemic, and if new barriers to PA participation exist since the release of restrictions. Aims: To assess how women in southeast England changed their activity during the pandemic and postpandemic, including how barriers and facilitators to activity have changed. Methods: Three hundred and thirty females completed the first online questionnaire (during lockdown), and 139 completed the postlockdown questionnaire. Questionnaires were designed from the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire and International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Participants self-reported PA, and barriers and facilitators to exercise. Eighteen females then participated in online semistructured focus groups. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used for questionnaire data, and focus group transcriptions were thematically analyzed. Results: Most females maintained PA levels throughout the pandemic. Significant barriers to activity were lack of access to equipment/space, limited time to exercise, limited access to social groups, and finances as well as legal restrictions, safety concerns, gender, and lack of childcare. Similarly, significant facilitators were identified during lockdown and postlockdown for access to equipment, finances, having more time to exercise, and exercising with a social group. Participants both expressed desires to return to prelockdown PA habits, but also maintain new ones that were created. Conclusion: It is evident that the pandemic affected and changed the barriers and facilitators to female PA participation. Governments and industries in the sector should focus on providing services that address these changing habits to improve activity levels in women.

On placemaking and wellbeing: Practitioner perspectives on third sector support for refugees and asylum seekers

Migration studies foreground ‘placemaking’ as key to the wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers. In the absence of state support, third sector organisations play a significant role in supporting refugee placemaking and wellbeing. Yet very little is known about how third sector practitioners themselves conceptualise and support refugee placemaking and wellbeing on the basis of their own experiences in the field. This article responds to the gap in the literature by drawing on five semi-structured interviews with third sector practitioners who work with refugees and asylum seekers in southeast England. The research found that third sector practitioners conceptualise (and support) refugee placemaking and wellbeing in terms of ‘belonging’, ‘knowing’, ‘contributing’, ‘connecting’, and ‘remembering’. In sharing the perspectives of third sector practitioners, this research makes an original contribution to scholarship on placemaking and wellbeing in contexts of forced displacement.

Commissioning [Integrated] Care in England: An Analysis of the Current Decision Context

Background: The emergence of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) across England poses an additional challenge and responsibility for local commissioners to accelerate the implementation of integrated care programmes and improve the overall efficiency across the system. To do this, ICS healthcare commissioners could learn from the experience of the former local commissioning structures and identify areas of improvement in the commissioning process. 
 Aim & Audience: This study describes the investment decision process in integrated care amid the transition toward ICSs, highlights challenges, and provides recommendations to inform ICSs in their healthcare commissioning role. It is expected that this study encourages an open discussion within the emerging ICSs on the barriers and enablers of the local commissioning of integrated care. We also believe that findings of this study are likely to be of international interest as countries are gradually moving towards integrated care, and local purchasers of healthcare from high-income economies are likely to encounter similar challenges as the ones faced by local commissioners in England.
 Methods: We conducted twenty-six semi-structured interviews with local commissioners and other relevant stakeholders in South East England in 2021. Interviews were supplemented with existing evidence from the literature.
 Results: England’s local healthcare commissioning has made the transition towards a new organisational architecture, with some integrated care programmes running, and a dual top-down and bottom-up prioritisation process in place. The commissioning and consequent development of integrated care programmes have been hindered by various barriers, including difficulties in accessing and using information, operational challenges, and resource constraints. Investment decisions have mainly been driven by national directives and budget considerations, with a mixture of subjective and objective approaches. This contrasts with what seems to be a set of desirable prioritisation criteria, with the triple aim framework at the front. A systematic and data-driven framework could replace this ad-hoc prioritisation of integrated care and contribute to a more rational and transparent commissioning process. To develop such a framework, a good reference point could be the health technology assessment framework established at national level to guide priority-setting decisions. 
 Conclusion & next-steps: The local healthcare commissioning structures in England are complex, the evidence available is rich, and integrated care is undoubtedly the goal to achieve. However, the multiple barriers that commissioners face hinder the development of integrated care programmes and limit the local use of evidence in healthcare decision-making. The emerging ICSs seem to open an opportunity for local commissioners to strengthen the commissioning process of integrated care with evidence-based priority-setting approaches similar to the well-established health technology assessment framework at the national level. To support this, we are developing a data-driven framework to monitor and assess ‘integrated care programmes’. 

Modelling and simulation of low-risk energy retrofit measures for Traditional Listed Dwellings in the UK

The UK owns the oldest dwellings in Europe. Most of them have special historic and/or architectural value but low energy performance and are responsible for high operational carbon emissions. Energy retrofit of this part of the stock is much needed but problematic, due to the risks associated with altering their complex thermo-hygrometric behavior and their heritage features, which limit the range of suitable interventions. This study aimed to propose a range of suitable energy retrofit measures for Traditional Listed Dwellings (TLDs) in the South-East of England. It used representative case studies, selected in the city of Brighton and Hove, and devised a mixed-methods approach to model their energy performance and carbon emissions, before and after the application of interventions; the results obtained from dynamic energy simulation were assessed by means of parametric and sensitivity analysis. Providing an overview of the methodology adopted in the study, this paper presents the results of its first stage, aimed at addressing low-risk interventions. The discussion shows that the range of energy and carbon savings potential of the investigated measures is strictly intertwined with the range of baseline conditions of the dwellings investigated; the simulation of the retrofit interventions - individually and combined - highlighted the major effectiveness of draught-proofing amongst the low-risk retrofit measures for this part of the stock. The main novelty of this paper lays in the rigorous, layered, and systemic approach taken to assess low-risk energy retrofit solutions for TLDs by applying and testing them on multiple representative case studies.

Linear snowfall trails during freezing fog in South East England, 23 January 2023: evidence for anthropogenic snowfall

AbstractAnthropogenic (industrial) snowfalls in the UK have hitherto been regarded as rare and extremely localised. This article analyses the distribution and possible causes of three ‘stripes’ of anthropogenic snow extending up to 10 km from the vicinity of London’s Heathrow airport on 23 January 2023. The early morning had been exceptionally cold at the airport, partly due to the relatively late arrival of freezing fog compared to other parts of the lower Thames valley. This is likely to have facilitated the formation of the snowfall by means of ice nuclei.

A Journey through language and diversity in the English-speaking community: from its origins to the Colombian case

This article is meant to be a journey through the English community and its diversity, depicted by a variety of people, accents and dialects existing in several native English-speaking countries. It is a brief but meaningful historical background, which starts from the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles, in the fifth century of our era, and it continues until the spread of English as an international language. A fairly relevant part is also dedicated to the first dispersal of ‘Englishes’, people who migrated from the south-east of England mostly to North America and Australia, giving birth to new and meaningful linguistic varieties.
 The impact of English on higher education will be extensively analysed and discussed; this includes the brand-new role of twentieth-century English teachers, as well as the history of English in Colombia and its influence in culture, education and language policies, from its origins to its current handling.

Austerity, Health and Public Safety in Low-Income Neighborhoods: Grassroots Responses to the Decline of Local Services in Southeast England

This article uses ethnographic and qualitative research to explore the health implications and social responses of a low-income neighborhood in Southeast England, to more than a decade of austerity policies and declining institutional and welfare support. Findings examine how cuts to public services and welfare programs alongside changes to the area’s social structure shape resident’s perceptions of health risks and threats. Residents pointed to poor levels of mental health that were exacerbated by financial insecurity, the closure of community facilities and difficulties accessing support and professional help. An increase in social disorder and sense of danger within the vicinity were attributed to changes in the area’s social composition and a reduction of policing in the neighborhood, which were an additional cause of anxiety for residents. Many people felt their neighborhood was treated inequitably with regard to law-and-order, health provision and other services designed to address health problems and risks and dangers in their social environment. This institutional vacuum generates unmet health needs facilitating informal practices and methods for managing health, such as through self-provision or using alternative, and more readily available, sources of medical advice and treatment. The demise of older forms of social control and surveillance that ran parallel with closure of the area’s communal spaces had been partly compensated by social media usage, while informal methods of policing were a growing presence in the neighborhood in reaction to rising lawlessness and the ineffectiveness of police and local authorities.

Factors associated with dementia attitudes in an adolescent cohort: structural equation modelling

AbstractBackgroundDementia related stigma is a key barrier to people living well with dementia. The global action plan on the public health response to dementia outlines the need to tackle the stigma towards dementia among the general population (WHO, 2017). Adolescents represent an under researched group among the general population but may already have experience of dementia and will become future carers or healthcare workers. Adolescents are ideal targets for anti‐stigma initiatives since the adolescence period has a key role in attitude formation. Understanding the factors involved in dementia attitude formation is useful when developing anti‐stigma initiatives. This study aims to identify predictors of dementia attitudes in adolescents.MethodThis is a cross‐sectional study using secondary data analysis. 470 participants aged 12‐15 years old from secondary schools in the Southeast of England, United Kingdom completed validated questionnaires relating to dementia attitudes (KIDS and Brief A‐ADS) as well as demographic information. A path analysis via a structural equation model was used to test for direct and mediatory effects between dementia attitudes, contact, career interest, empathy and sex.ResultThe overall fit of the model was very good, χ2(16) = 16.913, p = .15, CFI = .99, GFI = .99, AGFI = .97, TLI = .98, RMSEA = .03, Pclose = .82. There was a significant direct effect observed between the following paths; sex to dementia attitudes (p = .001), attitudes to willingness to work with people with dementia, (p < 0.001), empathy to dementia attitudes (p = .01), contact to empathy (p = .01), and empathy to contact (p < 0.001). Within the final structural equation model, empathy was a key mediator between contact and dementia attitudes.ConclusionThis study highlights the pivotal role that contact with dementia can have in influencing dementia attitudes in adolescents with empathy a key mediator between contact and dementia attitudes. The translational significance of this work is that it provides organizations with the knowledge needed to create effective policy and interventions. Interventions that use contact should consider stimulating empathetic responses to shape dementia attitudes.

Planning for healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southeast of England: a system dynamics modelling approach

ObjectivesTo develop, test, validate and implement a system dynamics model to simulate the pandemic progress and the impact of various interventions on viral spread, healthcare utilisation and demand in secondary...

The Portable Antiquities Scheme and the potential of non-metallic finds: A Viking Comb from Shotley, Suffolk

This article presents a case study in maximising the potential of publicly collected archaeological finds, through collaboration between finder, recorder, curating institution and the research community. It focuses on an object reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, of a type not usually well represented among metal-detected finds: an early-medieval antler hair comb. Typological and biomolecular analysis of the comb - found on the shores of the river Orwell, Suffolk - shows that it was manufactured in Scandinavia in the mid-10th century, before being brought to south-east England. This is the first comb found in England to be identified as Scandinavian via biomolecular means, and represents an important, scientifically-verified demonstration of contact between the regions in the period following initial settlement.