Factors effecting basic needs service design and innovation at the bottom of the pyramid

The research carried out in thesis is sub-set of a longer on-going project to facilitate a sustainable ‘demand driven’ approach to water and sanitation product and service development. The project aims to achieve public and private health benefits where urban low-income tenant households, typically living in slums and informal housing areas, cannot access the conventional infrastructure. These families that rent a single room in a slum for $10 per month and who may be earning an uncertain wage of$2 per day. Unable to afford to invest in fixed assets when they might be required to move at very short notice. The project seeks to deliver desirable products to the local market, the one billion growing to two billion slum dwellers, which will be available for years to come. This is irrespective of any on-going donor involvement and possibly in advance of formal recognition and infrastructure investment by conventional service providers. Cont/d

Contributions and silence in academic talk: exploring learner experiences of dialogic interaction

The benefits of dialogic interaction which engenders academic talk are greater understanding of concepts and ultimately higher educational standards. However, recent research suggests students, both home and international, face certain challenges in contributing to dialogic interaction in a higher education context. This article reports on a study which explored learner experiences of dialogic interaction and reasons for contributing or remaining silent. Data were gathered from a one-semester postgraduate module at a UK university through interviews, audio recordings of sessions, stimulated recall sessions and course assignments. Results suggest that sociocultural factors such as confidence in language, confidence in knowledge, previous educational experiences, and expectations of roles influenced the learners’ willingness to contribute to the academic talk

Teacher interventions in small group work in secondary mathematics and science lessons

Collaborative problem solving, when students work in pairs or small groups on a curriculum-related task, has become an increasingly common feature of classroom education. This paper reports a study of a topic which has received relatively little attention: how teachers can most usefully intervene when students are working in a group, but have encountered some sort of problem. The data used comes from a large scale interventional study of mathematics and science teaching in secondary schools in south east England, in which interactions between teachers and students were recorded in their usual classrooms. We identify the typical problem situations which lead to teachers’ interventions, and describe the different ways teachers were observed to intervene. We examine the different types of intervention, and consider how effective they are in helping group work proceed in a productive manner. Finally, we offer some conclusions about the practical implications of these findings.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2015.112536

A “Learning Revolution”? Investigating Pedagogic Practices around Interactive Whiteboards in British Primary Classrooms

Interactive whiteboards have been rapidly introduced into all primary schools under UK Government initiatives. These large, touch-sensitive screens, which control a computer connected to a digital projector, seem to be the first type of educational technology particularly suited for whole-class teaching and learning. Strong claims are made for their value by manufacturers and policy makers, but there has been little research on how, if at all, they influence established pedagogic practices, communicative processes and educational goals. This study has been designed to examine this issue, using observations in primary (elementary) school classrooms. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and builds on the authors’ previous research on ICT in educational dialogues and collaborative activities

Seed fates in crop–wild hybrid sunflower: crop allele and maternal effects

Domestication has resulted in selection upon seed traits found in wild populations, yet crop-wild hybrids retain some aspects of both parental phenotypes. Seed fates of germination, dormancy, and mortality can influence the success of crop allele introgression in crop-wild hybrid zones, especially if crop alleles or crop-imparted seed coverings result in out-of-season germination. We performed a seed burial experiment using crop, wild, and diverse hybrid sunflower (Helianthus annuus) cross types to test how a cross type's maternal parent and nuclear genetic composition might affect its fate under field conditions. We observed higher maladaptive fall germination in the crop- and F1- produced seeds than wild-produced seeds and, due to an interaction with percent crop alleles, fall germination was higher for cross types with more crop-like nuclear genetics. By spring, crop-produced cross types had the highest overwintering mortality, primarily due to higher fall germination. Early spring germination was identical across maternal types, but germination continued for F1-produced seeds. In conclusion, the more wild-like the maternal parent or the less proportion of the cross type's genome contributed by the crop, the greater likelihood a seed will remain ungerminated than die. Wild-like dormancy may facilitate introgression through future recruitment from the soil seed bank

Meaning making as an interactional accomplishment: a temporal analysis of intentionality and improvisation in classroom dialogue

In this paper we offer a significant development of Baldry and Thibault’s (2006) notion of a ‘meaning-making trajectory’ to explore the collective, and often improvisational, interactional processes of meaning making in classroom dialogue. We report a sociocultural discourse analysis (Mercer, 2004) of a series of history lessons with a class of 6-7 year-old children, which utilises the notion of ‘meaning potential’: to highlight the valuable distinction and flexible interplay between a teacher’s intended meaning-making trajectory, and the meaning-making trajectories that are instantiated in interaction with pupils through dialogic interaction. We argue that where disparities are identified, often through pupils’ unexpected questions or contributions, there can be valuable teaching-and-learning opportunities for collaboratively constructing and appropriating common knowledge

The Rapid Rise of Generative AI: Assessing risks to safety and security

This CETaS Research Report presents the findings from a major project exploring the implications of generative AI for national security. It is based on extensive engagement with more than 50 experts across government, academia, industry, and civil society, and represents the most comprehensive UK-based study to date on the national security implications of generative AI. The research found that generative AI could significantly amplify a range of digital, physical and political security risks. With the rapid proliferation of generative AI tools across the economy, the national security community needs to shift its mindset to account for all the unintentional or incidental ways in which generative AI can pose security risks, in addition to intentionally malicious uses. The report provides recommendations to effectively mitigate the security risks posed by generative AI, calling for a new multi-layered, socio-technical approach to system evaluation

Can we use postal surveys with anonymous testing to monitor chlamydia prevalence in young women in England? Pilot study incorporating randomised controlled trial of recruitment methods

OBJECTIVES: Chlamydia prevalence in the general population is a potential outcome measure for the evaluation of chlamydia control programmes. We carried out a pilot study to determine the feasibility of using a postal survey for population-based chlamydia prevalence monitoring. METHODS: Postal invitations were sent to a random sample of 2000 17-year-old to 18-year-old women registered with a general practitioner in two pilot areas in England. Recipients were randomised to receive either a self-sampling kit (n=1000), a self-sampling kit and offer of £5 voucher on return of sample (n=500) or a self-sampling kit on request (n=500). Participants returned a questionnaire and self-taken vulvovaginal swab sample for unlinked anonymous Chlamydia trachomatis testing. Non-responders were sent a reminder letter 3 weeks after initial invitation. We calculated the participation rate (number of samples returned/number of invitations sent) and cost per sample returned (including cost of consumables and postage) in each group. RESULTS: A total of 155/2000 (7.8%) samples were returned with consent for testing. Participation rates varied by invitation group: 7.8% in the group who were provided with a self-sampling kit, 14% in the group who were also offered a voucher and 1.0% in the group who were not sent a kit. The cost per sample received was lowest (£36) in the group who were offered both a kit and a voucher. CONCLUSIONS: The piloted survey methodology achieved low participation rates. This approach is not suitable for population-based monitoring of chlamydia prevalence among young women in England

The anti-fibrotic effect of inhibition of TGFβ-ALK5 signalling in experimental pulmonary fibrosis in mice is attenuated in the presence of concurrent γ-herpesvirus infection.

Journal ArticleTGFβ-ALK5 pro-fibrotic signalling and herpesvirus infections have been implicated in the pathogenesis and exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis. In this study we addressed the role of TGFβ-ALK5 signalling during the progression of fibrosis in a two-hit mouse model of murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) infection on the background of pre-existing bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Assessment of total lung collagen levels in combination with ex vivo micro-computed tomography (µCT) analysis of whole lungs demonstrated that MHV-68 infection did not enhance lung collagen deposition in this two-hit model but led to a persistent and exacerbated inflammatory response. Moreover, µCT reconstruction and analysis of the two-hit model revealed distinguishing features of diffuse ground-glass opacities and consolidation superimposed on pre-existing fibrosis that were reminiscent of those observed in acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF). Virally-infected murine fibrotic lungs further displayed evidence of extensive inflammatory cell infiltration and increased levels of CCL2, TNFα, IL-1β and IL-10. Blockade of TGFβ-ALK5 signalling attenuated lung collagen accumulation in bleomycin-alone injured mice, but this anti-fibrotic effect was reduced in the presence of concomitant viral infection. In contrast, inhibition of TGFβ-ALK5 signalling in virally-infected fibrotic lungs was associated with reduced inflammatory cell aggregates and increased levels of the antiviral cytokine IFNγ. These data reveal newly identified intricacies for the TGFβ-ALK5 signalling axis in experimental lung fibrosis, with different outcomes in response to ALK5 inhibition depending on the presence of viral infection. These findings raise important considerations for the targeting of TGFβ signalling responses in the context of pulmonary fibrosis.MRCNovartis CASE studentshi