Experiences of a student with a visual impairment transitioning to higher education: A narrative inquiry

Transition to higher education is a considerable period of change for students, and can be a particularly challenging time for students with a visual impairment. The aim of this study was to understand the transition experiences of an undergraduate student in Sport Rehabilitation with a visual impairment. A narrative inquiry was conducted with one participant purposively sampled due to being certified severely sight impaired. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview, and analysed by creating narrative threads within Clandinin and Connelly’s three-dimensional framework. The social influence of role models, peers, and staff were noted in relation to their impact on confidence and feeling of fitting in. Navigating the campus, teaching spaces, and demonstrations were all highlighted as spatial factors that affected independence and participation during transition. Time-related aspects such a personal development, proactivity, and pre-, during, and post-teaching session experiences were identified as key considerations. The narratives uncovered should serve as a tool to trigger reflection on previous teaching practice, and inform future direction. The findings and recommendations within this study will benefit transition and inclusivity for students with a visual impairment, particularly on Sport Rehabilitation or other healthcare programmes, allowing them to study and practice effectively

Shops, retailing and consumption in eighteenth-century provincial England: Norwich 1660-1800

The history of retail and consumption during the eighteenth-century has enjoyed interest from historians for a number of decades, yet few studies have concentrated on large cities or utilised a case study method to develop an in-depth and longitudinal understanding of change across the whole century. This study seeks to rectify this by concentrating on the city of Norwich, which was the second largest city in England in 1700, in order to build up a detailed social history of retail, shopping and consumption. The research seeks to clarify the exact nature of change in urban retail and consumption, exploring the existence of consumer and retail 'revolutions' and the relationship between them. Using a variety of archival sources the study uncovers the extent of the consumption of novel goods, the changing nature of the economic character of each of Norwich's thirty-four parishes and uncovers the dual personality of the city, with evidence for a leisured town set within the larger industrial city. Detailed mapping of directory data points to a concentration of luxury retail in key streets, making up a cultural thoroughfare which linked the traditional cultural centre of the city in the east to the new purpose-built leisure arena on the western boundary. The character of retail change and the role of the shopkeeper is assessed through newspaper advertisements, trade cards, probate inventories, diaries and contemporary visual representations of the city centre. While a clear transformation was detected across the century, the evidence suggests that change was cumulative rather than a big shift at a fixed point in time. However, although the changes noted in this research did not constitute 'revolution' in an immediate sense, the modifications in urban spaces, retail and consumption, which were evident from the beginning of the century, were undoubtedly significant in their long-term effects by laying the foundations for current practice

Equity for Artists: Reflections on the Political Economy and Sociology of Ownership

This PhD by publication synthesises eight years of work investigating economic sustainability for artists, a body of work begun experientially fifteen years ago through social-practice teaching. The unifying theme across the works is an exploration of property and value by considering shared ownership and equity as a mode of distributing resources more fairly and inclusively. The direct submission for the PhD comprises the three fractional equity papers as well as two additional papers that show the fractional equity work in application to intellectual property law and to cultural heritage restitution, respectively. This thesis refers to other writings undertaken in the past decade—in particular the books Art Thinking (2016) and Economics of Visual Art (forthcoming, 2021) as well as further papers on blockchain, financial records in artists’ archives, and artists’ community investment trusts. The first chapter places the work within a thematic context of how market value is defined across art and economics, especially when the value of art often comes to be known only over time. The second chapter offers a treatment of the submitted papers, lacing them together as an inquiry into property. The third chapter distills the themes investigated in the course of the PhD—notably valuation, commensuration, and performativity—and offers related contextualization and reappraisal of my own work. Because these papers traverse a broad set of methods across disciplines, the conclusions also offer some reflection on interdisciplinary research

Student expectations of teaching and learning when starting university: a systematic review

Student expectations are complex constructs that can influence adaptability, engagement, achievement, satisfaction and retention. A number of individual studies have been published on the expectations of students when starting university, however none that synthesise student expectations of teaching and learning. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to understand student expectations of teaching and learning when starting university. A systematic search strategy identified 2950 studies, of which nine met all eligibility criteria. Relevant data was extracted and a narrative synthesis conducted, revealing four key themes: additional study, self-managing learning, teaching and learning activities, and accessibility. Students expect to complete additional study and take responsibility for their own learning, but may be unsure how to manage this. They expect to have to attend all sessions and commonly expect lectures, but thoughts on other methods of teaching and learning vary. Students also have high expectations of teaching staff, particularly with regards to access and resources. This knowledge is important in enabling teaching staff to better align preconceived ideas of university teaching and learning with reality, support a positive university experience, and improve satisfaction and retention. Future research should further investigate student expectations of teaching and learning independently, perhaps from a qualitative perspective, as well as exploring interventions to help manage these expectations when necessary

Accelerating Change for Women and Girls: The Role of Women's Funds

In recent years, interest in philanthropy for and by women has intensified, accompanied by a growing acceptance of the idea that philanthropic investments in women and girls can accelerate positive change in communities. To understand this evolution in thinking and practice within philanthropy, the Foundation Center partnered with the Women's Funding Network, a global movement of women's funds, to chart the current landscape of philanthropy focused on women and girls and document the specific role played by women's funds

Developing, piloting and evaluating a Medicines Safety School Programme to be delivered by student pharmacists.

The aim of this research was to develop the content, pilot delivery and evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative Medicines Safety School Programme delivered by student pharmacists to primary school pupils. With the transition of healthcare to a more person centred approach, various pedagogical approaches, including peer education, have been identified to improve student pharmacists' communication skills. Defined as "sharing of information, attitude or behaviour by people who are not professionally trained educators, but who's goal is to educate peer education benefits both educators and learners (Aburahma and Mohamed 2017). To widen and enhance the educational experiences of student pharmacists, an opportunity was identified to develop an innovative role emerging placement (Depasquale et al. 2021)

Monocyte dynamics in breast cancer

Work in mouse models has highlighted a role for classical monocytes in promoting cancer. Furthermore, recent human studies show that blood monocytes in a variety of cancers exhibit transcriptional shifts from steadystate. However, it remains unclear exactly how cancer affects monocyte homeostasis and function. To study monocyte regulation in cancer, blood was analysed over the course of tumour progression in mice that develop spontaneous mammary cancers (MMTV-PyMT). Monocyte production, release and turnover were investigated by colony forming unit assays and BrdU tracing. RNA extracted from blood and bone marrow (BM) monocytes was sequenced. Next, gene expression was compared with monocytes in human breast cancer patients. Finally, Accessibility of Transposase Assay (ATAC) sequencing was used to investigate chromatin conformation of monocytes in human breast cancer. In mice, blood monocyte numbers were significantly increased in late cancer compared with controls. This increase was equivalent in both classical and non-classical monocytic populations. The proliferation of classical monocytes in the BM was increased in cancer, whereas monocyte release and half-life in the circulation were unaltered. Classical monocytes in mice with late stage cancer featured down-regulation of genes involved in interferon response, cytokine stimulus, and antigen-cross-presentation. These changes were conserved across cells in the BM and blood and across two mice strains. There were no orthologous genes or functional pathways with humans whom had early stage cancer. In patients with early breast cancer, there was an upregulation of NFKB pathway signalling in circulating monocytes. Findings by ATACseq were inconclusive but established the use of this technique in this context. This study suggests that the cancer manipulates the transcriptional landscape of monocytes. The effects in mice may be secondary to haematopoietic stress. This contrasts with humans, where it seems that conditioning of circulating monocytes results in a pro-tumoural phenotype. Due to the lack of orthologous changes in mice, further work needs to be undertaken in humans. To this end, the use of ATAC sequencing of human circulating monocytes has been optimised. These findings lay the foundation from which to understand the transcriptional regulation of monocytes in breast cancer

Building professional relationships with the International Librarians Network

What we\u27re going to talk about: 1. Why international professional networks are valuable 2. The International Librarians Network - what it is and how it works 3. How to build your own international professional networ

Sexual Harassment and Assault Experienced by Reservists During Military Service: Prevalence and Health Correlates

The current investigation identified the gender-specific prevalence of sexual harassment and assault experienced during U.S. military service and the negative mental and physical health correlates of these experiences in a sample of former reservists. We surveyed a stratified random sample of 3,946 former reservists about their experiences during military service and their current health, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, somatic symptoms, and medical conditions. Prevalence estimates and confidence intervals of sexual harassment and assault were calculated. A series of logistic regressions identified associations with health symptoms and conditions. Both men and women had a substantial prevalence of military sexual harassment and assault. As expected, higher proportions of female reservists reported sexual harassment (60.0% vs 27.2% for males) and sexual assault (13.1% vs 1.6% for males). For both men and women, these experiences were associated with deleterious mental and physical health conditions, with sexual assault demonstrating stronger associations than other types of sexual harassment in most cases. This investigation is the first to document high instances of these experiences among reservists. These data provide further evidence that experiences of sexual harassment and assault during military service have significant implications for the healthcare needs of military veterans