Developing sexual competence? Exploring strategies for the provision of effective sexualities and relationships education

School-based sexualities and relationships education (SRE) offers one of the most promising means of improving young people's sexual health through developing 'sexual competence'. In the absence of evidence on whether the term holds the same meanings for young people and adults (e.g. teachers, researchers, policy-makers), the paper explores 'adult' notions of sexual competence as construed in research data and alluded to in UK Government guidance on SRE, then draws on empirical research with young people on factors that affect the contexts, motivations and outcomes of sexual encounters, and therefore have implications for sexual competence. These data from young people also challenge more traditional approaches to sexualities education in highlighting disjunctions between the content of school-based input and their reported sexual experience. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these insights for developing a shared notion of what SRE is trying to achieve and suggestions for recognition in the content and approaches to SRE.</p

‘REALITY WORLDS’ COLLIDE: FILM AND VIDEOGAMES AS PEDAGOGICAL TOOLS FOR THE CLASSICS

Since the early eighties, the personal computer has come to form anintegral part of most aspects of our existence. In Hollywood thisis no different. Indeed, the influence of the computer is so powerfulthat it is rare for an action-adventure film to be able to call itselfa ‘blockbuster’ unless it is released with some sort of videogametie-in following closely in its wake, as the case of James Cameron’sAvatar (2010) suggests. It is the relationship between film andvideogame and their combined strengths as a teaching tool that arethe concerns of this article. The analysis therefore centres on twoexamples of film and videogame tie-in: Clash of the Titans andPercy Jackson &amp; the Olympians: The lightning thief, both 2010releases. The investigation targets this film / videogame complexthrough the use of a new concept, the ‘reality world’, to be defined inthe course of the article that better allows an assessment of therelevance and utility of films and their videogame tie-ins aspedagogical tools for the teaching and study of the discipline ofClassics

Changes in nerve conduction velocity in the mouse after acute and chronic administration of nitroimidazoles.

The effect of the nitroimidazoles misonidazole, Ro-05-9963, RGW-608 and metronidazole on nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were measured in the anaesthetized mouse. The compounds were administered by i.p. injection either as a single dose of 1 mg/g (only 0.5 mg/g for RGW-608) or in 36 fractions of 0.15 mg/g over 18 days (only 4 fractions in 2 days for RGW-608). After single doses a reduction in nerve conduction velocity was seen with all the compounds except metronidazole, which had no significant effect. During chronic exposure, a reduction in NCV occurred towards the end of the course of injections. All compounds produced an effect, although RGW-608 was the most neurotoxic, giving the largest reduction in NCV after only 4 injections. After the end of chronic exposure to misonidazole, Ro-05-9963 and metronidazole, recovery to normal took 2-3 weeks

A Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Study of the Accreting Magnetic White Dwarf SDSS J121209.31+013627.7 and its Substellar Companion

The nature of the excess near-infrared emission associated with the magnetic white dwarf commonly known as SDSS 1212 is investigated primarily through spectroscopy, and also via photometry. The inferred low mass secondary in this system has been previously detected by the emission and variation of H$\alpha$, and the $1-2.5$ $\mu$m spectral data presented here are consistent with the presence of a late L or early T dwarf. The excess flux seen beyond 1.5 $\mu$m in the phase-averaged spectrum is adequately modeled with an L8 dwarf substellar companion and cyclotron emission in a 7 MG magnetic field. This interesting system manifests several observational properties typical of polars, and is most likely an old interacting binary with a magnetic white dwarf and a substellar donor in an extended low state.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, Accepted to Ap

CO-dependent H2 evolution by Rhodospirillum rubrum: Role of CODH:CooF complex

AbstractUpon exposure to CO during anaerobic growth, the purple phototrophic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum expresses a CO-oxidizing H2 evolving enzymatic system. The CO-oxidizing enzyme, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH), has been purified and extensively characterized. However the electron transfer pathway from CODH to the CO-induced hydrogenase that evolves H2 is not well understood. CooF is an Fe–S protein that is the proposed mediator of electron transfer between CODH and the CO-induced hydrogenase. Here we present the spectroscopic and biochemical properties of the CODH:CooF complex. The characteristic EPR signals observed for CODH are largely insensitive to CooF complexation. Metal analysis and EPR spectroscopy show that CooF contains 2 Fe4S4 clusters. The observation of 2 Fe4S4 clusters for CooF contradicts the prediction of 4 Fe4S4 clusters based on analysis of the amino acid sequence of CooF and structural studies of CooF homologs. Comparison of in vivo and in vitro CO-dependent H2 evolution indicates that ∼90% of the activity is lost upon cell lysis. We propose that the loss of two labile Fe–S clusters from CooF during cell lysis may be responsible for the low in vitro CO-dependent H2 evolution activity. During the course of these studies, a new assay for CODH:CooF was developed using membranes from an R. rubrum mutant that did not express CODH:CooF, but expressed high levels of the CO-induced hydrogenase. The assay revealed that the CO-induced hydrogenase requires the presence of CODH:CooF for optimal H2 evolution activity