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Describes the application of an ultrasonic sensing system for the non‐destructive inspection of welds as an alternative to X‐rays. Replacing radiography with ultrasound not only allows faster, more economical inspections but also eliminates the health and safety risks associated with radiography. In practical terms that means there is no need to evacuate the site for inspection purposes – construction work can continue, round the clock if necessary, thus dramatically reducing construction times.

A study of community college students enrolled in a for-credit study abroad program in Costa Rica sought to identify the experiences that influence intercultural competency growth during study abroad trips and to learn how the experiences influence the development of global leadership competencies. The results led to a modified global leadership development expertise model for understanding the process of global leadership development in student populations. The study revealed a key link between antecedent characteristics of participants and their transformational ability during the study. The study also revealed that there are types of transformational experiences that, when experienced sequentially, can maximize transformational potential and the development of intercultural competencies.

Between 1965 and 1973 the percentage of married women practicing contraception in the United States increased from 64.2 to 69.9. This increase was accompanied by changing social values, increased information, and important technological innovations. The major technological innovations were the birth control pill and the Intrauterine Device (IUD), as well as new and safer techniques for female sterilization. The blossoming of private and public family planning programs in this period may also have been instrumental in the increased use of contraception.

A new company, The MatEval NDT Co. Ltd. based in Warrington, has been launched specifically to provide a comprehensive non‐destructive testing service to a wide range of industries.

Shared decision making (SDM) prioritises joint deliberation between practitioner and service user, and a respect for service-users’ experiential knowledge, values and preferences. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature pertaining to key stakeholders’ attitudes towards SDM in mental health. It examines whether perceived barriers and facilitators differ by group (e.g. service user, psychiatrist, nurse and social worker) and includes views of what facilitates and hinders the process for service users and practitioners.

This review adopts the principles of a qualitative research synthesis. A key word search of research published between 1990 and 2016 was undertaken. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies were included.

In total, 43 papers were included and several themes identified for service user and practitioner perspectives. Both practitioners and service users see SDM as an ethical imperative, and both groups highlight the need to be flexible in implementing SDM, suggesting it is context dependent. A range of challenges and barriers are presented by both practitioners and service users reflecting complex contextual and cultural features within which interactions in mental health take place. There were qualitative differences in what service users and practitioners describe as preventing or enabling SDM. The differences highlighted point towards different challenges and priorities in SDM for service users and practitioners.

The presentation of nuanced views and attitudes that practitioners and service users hold represent an important and under reported area and offer insight into the reasons for the gap between idealised policy and actual practice of SDM in mental health settings.

These two books reflect very different attitudes to classical economics: O'Brien writes from a neoclassical standpoint, Napoleoni from a Marxist one. Two questions deserve consideration. Is anything worthwhile to be gained by devoting attention to the works of the classical economists (and of Marx)? Where, if we do turn to the classics, do they lead us?

During the twentieth century mathematics has expanded at an unprecedented rate. This expansion has been accompanied by the increased application of mathematics to science. At a time when pure mathematics has been placing more and more emphasis on abstraction and the analysis of broad concepts there has been a corresponding proliferation of practical applications. This seems to have resulted from the fact that the sciences, too, have become more concerned with the discernment of general patterns in the study of nature. This search for simplifying ideas has increased the demand for ever more abstract tools of analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe, in a systematic way, the various academic discourses on the rationale for shared decision making (SDM) in mental health care, and so provide a comprehensive account of the ways in which this emerging field is being conceptualised in the research literature.

This study is a systematic review of peer-reviewed papers presenting a rationale for SDM in mental health. Relevant databases were searched from inception to July 2016. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis which aimed to identify and describe different discourses on the rationale for SDM in mental health care. Data were extracted into a standardised data extraction form which contained fields representing the developing thematic framework, study information and research methodology.

An initial search returned returned 1,616 papers, of which 175 were eligible for inclusion in this review. The authors developed ten distinct but interrelated themes which capture the various academic discourses on the rationale for SDM and represent some compelling arguments for SDM from a range of different perspectives including ethical, clinical, “user” focussed, economic and political. Dominant narratives in the literature linked SDM to the recovery moment and person-centred care, and adherence and engagement with mental health services.

The authors are unable to make any conclusions about the strength of evidence for these rationales. The review was restricted to peer-reviewed publications, published in English.

The findings could be a useful framework to support the selection of outcome measures for SDM evaluations.

There have been no systematic reviews published in this area previously.