E. Smith

Dispute resolution in additional and special educational needs: Local authority perspectives

The UK Government is keen to encourage the use of mediation, rather than court or tribunal, as the best means of resolving disputes between citizen and state on the grounds that legal proceedings are costly, lengthy and stressful. The policy of proportionate dispute resolution appears to be particularly applicable to the field of special educational needs (SEN), where both mediation and tribunal are available as dispute resolution mechanisms. However, evidence suggests that very little use has been made of mediation in either England or Scotland. In order to understand this phenomenon, this paper begins with investigating the dominant policy frameworks in SEN (England) and additional support needs (ASN; Scotland). Subsequently, the attitudes of English and Scottish local authority (LA) officers are explored. It is argued that both countries now have an eclectic mix of policy frameworks in play, including the traditional models of bureaucracy and professionalism, and the more recent models of managerialism, consumerism and legality. In Scotland, professionalism and bureaucracy continue to dominate, and this is associated with more restricted access to and less use of all forms of dispute resolution, in particular the tribunal.

'Trying to get it right': What prison staff say about implementing race relations policy

Race Relations in English and Welsh prisons have a history of critical events and flawed management. There is evidence that at the policy level the Prison Service has responded to policy directives to improve race relations. This article is based on research that examined the relationship between national legislation, Prison Service policy and practice. The focus of the article is the views of operational Prison Service staff, revealing the complexities in implementing race relations policy in the testing prison environment. The article concludes that the policies implemented by the Prison Service appear, theoretically, to be a rational and appropriate means of achieving positive race relations. Operationally the Prison Service has experienced the challenges of the prison setting, the need for proper resources and the stresses and strains in meeting the demands of its own race relations policy.

OTU-001 Identification of a novel therapeutic agent for treating IBD guided by systems medicine

Introduction There remains an unmet need in the treatment of IBD. The SysmedIBD project established a multi-disciplinary consortium to systematically investigate patients with inflammatory bowel disease, focusing on the dynamics of NF-&kgr;B signalling. Through this approach we identified an established drug with potential for repurposing to treat IBD, in selected patients. Methods Novel targets with potential for impacting outcomes of IBD were identified in-silico by combining integrated promoter/pathway analysis of published microarray data and systematic text-mining of the published literature using the geneXplain software platform. An established drug with potential for repurposing was assessed as a proof-of-concept agent using a multi-step validation pipeline based on its effect on NF-&kgr;B dynamics in-vitro and in-vivo, and its ability to ameliorate murine experimental colitis. Results 3191 pharmacological agents (Prestwick Chemical Library) were assessed in-silico. 36 agents were highly significantly predicted to influence NF-&kgr;B and other IBD target activity. Amongst the highest ranked agents were the macrolide antibiotics. Clarithromycin (CLA) was selected as a paradigm for subsequent analyses. The effects of CLA were investigated in 5 experiments:NF–&kgr;B mediated transcription was investigated using peritoneal macrophages and enteric organoids from a mouse expressing firefly luciferase under the control of the human TNF promoter: CLA suppressed responses in both tissues (p<0.05).NF–&kgr;B(p65) protein shuttling dynamics were characterised in enteric organoids cultured from a mouse expressing human p65–dsRed: CLA suppressed TNF induced oscillation of p65 (p=0.0002).C57BL/6 mice were treated with intra–peritoneal LPS (0.125u2009mg/kg) to induce small intestinal NF–&kgr;B activation: CLA suppressed DNA binding of p65 (p=0.002).The effect of CLA on DSS colitis was studied: mice treated with CLA lost significantly less weight (p<0.05), and had less severe histology than mice treated with vehicle (p=0.004).The effect of CLA on TNF induced nuclear localisation of p65 in human enteric organoids was studied: CLA suppressed p65 nuclear localisation (p<0.0001). Conclusions Using a systems biology approach, we have identified an agent with potential for repurposing to treat IBD. Outcomes of earlier clinical trials of clarithromycin were discordant: we are developing a biomarker of NF-&kgr;B responsiveness that may enable precise selection of patients for a personalised medicine trial.