On the Edge: a drama‐based mental health education programme on early psychosis for schools

Aims: On the Edge is a mental health education programme designed to support early intervention by increasing knowledge and understanding of early psychosis, reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues and improving awareness of avenues of help. The target audience was young people aged 14–22 years in schools and colleges. Methods: An interactive drama programme was developed through collaborative working across psychiatry, applied drama and those with direct experience of psychosis. A national tour engaged 2500 students in 71 performances that took place in 51 schools and colleges. The programme was evaluated against its aims with data collected both during and after the tour. Results: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation found significant gains with respect to all three aims. Thirty‐one schools developed supportive links with local mental health services. Conclusions: This programme shows the value and effectiveness of delivering health education on early psychosis through the medium of applied drama, and offers a model for a programme that can be incorporated into early intervention services. Lessons learned through delivering this programme are a valuable contribution towards future developments of mental health education programmes for schools.     

Radium-226 dose to a boy from playing on mill tailings

Two boys born in September 1949 played on uranium mill tailings from about ages 8 to 12. One of these boys was diagnosed as having leukemia at age 15.5. The 226Ra body burden of the survivor was measured at age 38. The whole-body 226Ra content measured by counting in vivo was 0 +/- 17 Bq and independently by Rn breath analysis as 4.3 +/- 2.1 Bq. At the same time, a control subject with no known exposure to 226Ra, matched in age, height, and weight, was also measured. The whole-body content was estimated as 4 +/- 15 Bq and independently by Rn breath analysis as 5.5 +/- 3.7 Bq. The body burden of the control subject was not significantly different from that of the exposed person. The radiation dose to the marrow-free skeleton assuming a constant 226Ra:Ca ratio since birth was 0.49 and 1.33 mGy at ages 14 and 38, respectively. The radiation dose to the marrow-free skeleton assuming 226Ra intake only between ages 8 to 12 was 1.4 and 2.8 mGy at ages 14 and 38, respectively. The best estimate is the mean of these two estimates: 0.9 and 2.1 mGy at ages 14 and 38, respectively. The alpha-particle dose to the red marrow from 226Ra and its decay products was 0.05 mGy at age 14 and 0.10 mGy at age 38. Since no excess was found for the radium dial painters whose doses were much higher, the induction of leukemia by doses of this magnitude would seem quite unlikely.     

Children's categorisation of play and learning based on social context

While much time has been spent deliberating about the definition of play, little emphasis has been placed on what children themselves perceive as play. The aim of the present study was to examine social context as a cue for children's perceptions of play and learning. Ninety-two children aged between four and six years (mean four years nine months) participated in the study and completed the Activity Apperception Story Procedure. Children were asked to sort photographic stimuli into those they believed depicted play/not play and learning/not learning. Each of the stimuli were identified by independent raters as containing one of the following social cues; teacher absence (solitary activity, parallel activity or cooperative activity) or teacher presence (teacher involved activity or teacher directed activity). Findings revealed that children associated teacher absence with play. More specifically, children made links between play and the presence of peers (parallel and cooperative activity). Findings are discussed in relation to play in the early years curriculum, differences in children's early educational experiences and the importance of understanding children's perceptions of play.     

Age-related changes in lung collagen metabolism. A role for degradation in regulating lung collagen production

Lung collagen levels are determined by a balance between synthesis and degradation, processes known to have rapid rates in young animals. Here, we report age-related changes in lung collagen synthesis and degradation in rats at five ages from 1 month to 2 yr. Synthesis rates were determined after injection of [14C]proline with a flooding dose of unlabeled proline, and its appearance as hydroxy-[14C]proline in protein. To determine degradation of newly synthesized collagen, the appearance of hydroxy-[14C]proline, either free or in low-molecular-weight peptides, was compared with hydroxy-[14C]proline in protein. Fractional collagen synthesis rates decreased from 13.51 +/- 0.54%/day at 1 month to 0.97 +/- 0.14%/day at 2 yr of age (p less than 0.05). Total lung collagen production also fell, but only after 15 months, when it decreased from 2.01 +/- 0.16 mg/day at 15 months to 0.54 +/- 0.10 mg/day at 2 yr of age (p less than 0.05). Fractional rates of total collagen degradation, calculated from the difference between rates of synthesis and rates of collagen deposition, decreased 20-fold from 1 month to 2 yr of age. The proportion of newly synthesized collagen degraded increased from 27.6 +/- 3.2% at 1 month to a maximum of 82.3 +/- 1.1% at 15 months. These results suggest that lung collagen synthesis and degradation occur throughout life, and that degradative pathways may play important roles in regulating collagen production during growth and ageing.     

Promotion of radiation-induced liver neoplasia by ethanol.

The risk of americium-induced liver cancer in beagle dogs that received long-term dietary ethanol was two to three times that of their nonalcoholic cohorts, even though the radionuclide retention time in hepatic tissue was shortened by the alcohol treatment. Liver malignancies did not occur in the ethanol-treated, nonirradiated controls. An ethanol-induced tumor-promoting effect was not observed in organs or tissues other than the liver.