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Introduces Kolb′s learning cycle and the construction of a learning contract within the work setting. Describes learning logs and learning from other people. Concludes that learning should not be left to chance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of brokerage as a vehicle for integrating research and practice within the mentor role in the Practitioner Research: Older People Programme.

The main component is a reflective analysis of the experience of mentoring three practitioners working within an NHS acute hospital environment.

Mentors played a key role integrating research into the practitioner ' s work environment as well as supporting achievement of the programme objectives. Personal reflection highlighted four components: being a research advisor; supporting the practitioner; quality assuring the process; and championing practitioner-research. A key element linking each of these components was that of being a knowledge broker, which accorded with the concept of “boundary-spanning”, whereby the practitioners fulfilled a new role of being both practitioners and researchers. Mentors adopted different approaches, which were partly influenced by geographical proximity and their relative position in the partner organisation.

Mentors fulfil a crucial role brokering the worlds of research and practice and need to be able to tailor their support to individual needs.

The notion of brokerage as a way of integrating the practitioner-researcher role is a useful way to conceptualise the mentor role.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the major factors affecting health during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period and outline the evidence for interventions to improve outcomes in women and their children.

Selective review of the literature. A number of electronic bibliographic databases were searched, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PubMed and PsycINFO, for relevant studies published since 1990. Papers were restricted to those published in English which presented data from studies conducted in high-income countries, with priority given to systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials and other quantitative studies which present a higher level of evidence.

Many factors may affect maternal and infant health during and after pregnancy. Potentially modifiable factors with an evidence base to support intervention include improving diet, and the avoidance of smoking, alcohol and illicit drugs. Good clinical management of underlying illness is also important, along with attempts to engage women in improving health prior to conception and postnatally rather than once pregnancy is established.

The evidence base for interventions on some potentially modifiable risk factors is incomplete. There is good evidence of benefit from some health behaviours such as smoking cessation and uptake of breastfeeding and accumulating evidence of the benefit of some models of maternity care.

Good maternal health during and after pregnancy plays a key role in giving the child a better start in life. Improved health behaviours are vital but often these are heavily dependent on social context and hence working to tackle social inequality and provide maternity care tailored to individual need is likely to be just as important as trying to directly alter behaviour.

Pregnancy and the postnatal period present an opportunity to improve maternal health and have a positive effect on future child health. Greater investment is required in this antenatal period of life.

The purpose of this paper is to report an evaluation of a leading-with-compassion recognition scheme and to present a new framework for compassion derived from the data.

Qualitative semi-structured interviews, a focus group and thematic data analysis. Content analysis of 1,500 nominations of compassionate acts.

The scheme highlighted that compassion towards staff and patients was important. Links to the wider well-being strategies of some of the ten organisations involved were unclear. Awareness of the scheme varied and it was introduced in different ways. Tensions included the extent to which compassion should be expected as part of normal practice and whether recognition was required, association of the scheme with the term leadership, and the risk of portraying compassion as something separate, rather than an integral part of the culture. A novel model of compassion was developed from the analysis of 1,500 nominations.

The number of respondents in the evaluation phase was relatively low. The model of compassion contributes to the developing knowledge base in this area.

The model of compassion can be used to demonstrate what compassion “looks like”, and what is expected of staff to work compassionately.

A unique model of compassion derived directly from descriptions of compassionate acts which identifies the impact of compassion on staff.

Foetal programming is one of the key mechanisms by which physical and social adversity is biologically embedded during pregnancy. While early interest in such programming focused on the long-term impact of the mother's nutritional state on the child's later physical health, more recent research has identified an increased risk of psychopathology in children of women who have experienced stress, anxiety and depression during pregnancy. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature addressing the impact of stress in pregnancy and the implications for practice.

An overview of the literature has been provided.

Both anxiety and depression in pregnancy are common, with a prevalence in the region of 20 per cent. Exposure in pregnancy to anxiety, depression and stress from a range of sources (e.g. bereavement, relationship problems, external disasters and war), is associated with a range of physical (e.g. congenital malformations, reduced birthweight and gestational age), neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and emotional and behavioural (e.g. ADHD, conduct disorder) problems. The magnitude is significant, with the attributable risk of childhood behaviour problems due to prenatal stress being between 10 and 15 per cent, and the variance in cognitive development due to prenatal stress being around 17 per cent. A range of methods of intervening are effective in improving both maternal anxiety and depression, and in the longer term should improve outcomes for the infant and child.

This research highlights the importance of intervening to support the psychological wellbeing of pregnant women to improve outcomes for infants and children, and points to the need for further research into innovative ways of working, particularly with high-risk groups of pregnant women.

The paper provides an update of earlier overviews.

Microfiber is one of the major sources of microplastic emission into the environment. In recent times, research on microfiber has gained momentum, and research across different disciplines was performed. However, no complete study was performed from the viewpoint of textiles to analyse the microfiber shedding behaviour by relating the properties textiles. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the microfiber shedding behaviour in textiles.

Articles on the microfiber shedding across different disciplines were collected and analysed systematically to identify the influencing factor. The influence of laundry parameters is found to be majorly discussed section, yet very few research data is found on the effect of yarn and fabric properties on the microfiber shedding.

Most of the articles listed laundry detergent addition, higher temperature, use of softeners, type of washing machines used and amount of liquid used as the major factors influencing the fiber shedding. Concerning the fiber and yarn characteristics, yarn twist, fiber type (staple/filament), method of production, fabric structure and specific density are reported as influencing factors. Some articles highlighted the influence of ageing of textiles on the fiber shedding.

The review identified the research gap in the textile sector and reports that so far, no research performed on microfiber shedding with the textile parameters. The review further urges the importance of research works to be performed in the textile by considering the fabric and yarn properties.

THE year 1954 opened more brightly, in some respects, than most previous years. Salaries are better than they used to be, staffs are larger, and hours are shorter. But there is even less room for complacency or even bare satisfaction than there was forty years ago. Then, however poor was the pay and however long the hours, there was every indication that librarianship was gradually becoming recognized as a profession which in time would rank with the great professions. Principles and objectives were clear and were never lost sight of, but librarians and assistants of that day realized that the great professions were dependant, not only on principles but upon absolute mastery of technique; that no lawyer could survive who merely talked grandiloquently about the principles and objectives of his calling; that the medical man endured—and in many instances enjoyed—a severe and lengthy training in technique and practice, and that even when he became a specialist his prime need and principal qualification was absolute mastery and up to date knowledge of technique and practice in his field of specialisation. In the light of that fad a detailed study of library technique became accepted as essential, and a mass of practical and technical literature was studied and mastered by more than one generation. For examination purposes, perhaps more than for any other reason, the present generation of assistants continues that study, but there has been a change of weight. Today we hear frequently that technique is relatively unimportant and that principles and objectives are the vital essentials.

The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a substantial audience among public library patrons.

Every since OPEC forced us to face the fact that oil and gas were not going to be cheap and available forever, increased attention has been paid to alternative energy sources. Among the most attractive of these is solar energy—clean, free at the source, resistant to monopolistic control, and plentifully available in most regions. Solar energy, which had been utilized for heating from the time of the Greek and Roman civilizations, has been rediscovered. Among those focusing on its potentialities are government, industry, conservation groups, and academic agencies. Masses of information are becoming available, variously aimed at the researcher, the consumer, community groups and specialized audiences—political, commercial, and industrial. A selection for the vertical file, including some programming aids and bibliographies useful in collection development, follows. As before, we are defining inexpensive as under $2.50 plus postage.