1,532 research outputs found
The education of children in care in North East England
This report presents findings from a multi-strategy study conducted by UCL Institute of Education, commissioned by and in collaboration with Virtual School Headteachers (VSH) from across the twelve local authorities (LA) in North East England and DAppEdPsy Educational Psychology students from Newcastle University. The overall aim of the project was to gain an insight into teaching and learning practice in schools in North East England at the pupil and whole school level to support the education of children in care. Previously reported research has often highlighted many of the shortcomings of provision in schools and how the education system collectively has not always met the education needs of children and young people in care. It was within this national and regional context that the North East England region of Virtual School Headteachers wanted to learn more about the effective teaching and learning of children and young people in care. Moreover, this study purposefully identified a group of children who had very positive experiences of education and were thriving in their settings, in order to learn more about what success looks like in schools to support the education of children and young people in care. Over the spring and summer terms of 2018, data were collected from an e-survey of over 400 designated teachers (DT) across North East England, focus group meetings with DTs, face-to-face interviews with children and lesson observations. The research is one of the first large scale studies in England to investigate, in depth, teaching and learning practices in schools, for a group of children and young people who experience significant disadvantage
Identification of functional information subgraphs in complex networks
We present a general information theoretic approach for identifying
functional subgraphs in complex networks where the dynamics of each node are
observable. We show that the uncertainty in the state of each node can be
expressed as a sum of information quantities involving a growing number of
correlated variables at other nodes. We demonstrate that each term in this sum
is generated by successively conditioning mutual informations on new measured
variables, in a way analogous to a discrete differential calculus. The analogy
to a Taylor series suggests efficient search algorithms for determining the
state of a target variable in terms of functional groups of other degrees of
freedom. We apply this methodology to electrophysiological recordings of
networks of cortical neurons grown it in vitro. Despite strong stochasticity,
we show that each cell's patterns of firing are generally explained by the
activity of a small number of other neurons. We identify these neuronal
subgraphs in terms of their mutually redundant or synergetic character and
reconstruct neuronal circuits that account for the state of each target cell.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Chronic treatment with hydroxychloroquine and SARS-CoV-2 infection
Hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQ) is being scrutinized for repositioning in the treatment and prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. This antimalarial drug is also chronically used to treat patients with autoimmune diseases. By analyzing the Portuguese anonymized data on private and public based medical prescriptions we have identified all cases chronically receiving HCQ for the management of diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases. Additionally, we have detected all laboratory confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and all laboratory confirmed negative cases in the Portuguese population (mandatorily registered in a centrally managed database). Cross linking the two sets of data has allowed us to compare the proportion of HCQ chronic treatment (at least 2 grams per month) in laboratory confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection with laboratory confirmed negative cases. Out of 26 815 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, 77 (0.29%) were chronically treated with HCQ, while 1215 (0.36%) out of 333 489 negative patients were receiving it chronically (P = .04). After adjustment for age, sex, and chronic treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressants, the odds ratio of SARS-CoV-2 infection for chronic treatment with HCQ has been 0.51 (0.37-0.70). Our data suggest that chronic treatment with HCQ confer protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Is first-gen an identity? How first-generation college students make meaning of institutional and familial constructs of self
Institutions increasingly use first-generation categorizations to provide support to students. In this study, we sought to understand how students make meaning of their first-generation status by conducting a series of focus groups with 54 participants. Our findings reveal that students saw first-generation status as an organizational and familial identity rather than a social identities. This status was connected to alterity and social distance that was most salient in comparison to continuing-generation peers. Our recommendations include re-examining the role of first- generation specific programming on campus, creating opportunities for meaning-making, supporting students within changing family dynamics, and exploring the interaction between first-generation status and other marginalized identities
The Impact of Endometriosis-Associated Pelvic Pain on the Social and Academic Wellbeing of Women Enrolled in University
Background: Endometriosis, a medical condition in which endometrial tissue lining grows outside of the uterus, affects approximately 10-15 percent of women of reproductive age. While research has shown that symptoms of endometriosis negatively affect quality of life in women, few studies have examined the impact of this condition specifically in college students who may be overwhelmed with the stress of school, living independently, and managing the symptoms of their endometriosis. Purpose: To examine the impact of endometriosis on academic and psychosocial factors in university students. Methods: Four college females completed the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), a 10-item survey used to measure participants’ confidence in performing a range of activities despite their pain, and a modified version of the Endometriosis Impact Questionnaire (EIQ), a 21-item survey that examines the physical, psychological, and social impact of endometriosis. Participants also completed semi-structured Zoom interviews that focused on how their symptoms affected their academic performance, physical health, social interactions, and psychological well-being. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was used to quantify and extract relevant themes. Results: Themes were identified for academic impact (negative impact, lack of awareness of academic accommodations, improvement in study habits), physical impact (pain, nausea, fatigue), social impact (avoidance of social events, impact on romantic relationships, importance of social support), and psychological impact (anxiety over symptoms, negative impact on self-esteem, increased compassion for others). Conclusion: Although endometriosis negatively impacted participants, positive impacts, such as improved study habits and greater feelings of compassion for others with chronic conditions, were reported as well. Future studies should further examine the impact of endometriosis in larger samples of college students
Density-dependence of functional development in spiking cortical networks grown in vitro
During development, the mammalian brain differentiates into specialized
regions with distinct functional abilities. While many factors contribute to
functional specialization, we explore the effect of neuronal density on the
development of neuronal interactions in vitro. Two types of cortical networks,
dense and sparse, with 50,000 and 12,000 total cells respectively, are studied.
Activation graphs that represent pairwise neuronal interactions are constructed
using a competitive first response model. These graphs reveal that, during
development in vitro, dense networks form activation connections earlier than
sparse networks. Link entropy analysis of dense net- work activation graphs
suggests that the majority of connections between electrodes are reciprocal in
nature. Information theoretic measures reveal that early functional information
interactions (among 3 cells) are synergetic in both dense and sparse networks.
However, during later stages of development, previously synergetic
relationships become primarily redundant in dense, but not in sparse networks.
Large link entropy values in the activation graph are related to the domination
of redundant ensembles in late stages of development in dense networks. Results
demonstrate differences between dense and sparse networks in terms of
informational groups, pairwise relationships, and activation graphs. These
differences suggest that variations in cell density may result in different
functional specialization of nervous system tissue in vivo.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Promoting the achievement of looked after children and young people in South Tyneside
As of March 2016, there were 70,440 children and young people in care in England. The number of looked after children has continued to increase steadily over the last eight years. Sixty per cent of these children are in care because of abuse or neglect and three-quarters are placed in foster care arrangements. Children and young people who are in or have experienced care remain one of the lowest performing groups in terms of educational outcomes. Last year, 14% of looked after children achieved five or more A*–C GCSEs or equivalent, including English and mathematics. As a consequence, they also experience poorer employment and health outcomes after leaving school compared to their peers. They are over-represented amongst the offender population and those who experience homelessness. However, research is emerging to show that children and young people in care can have very positive experiences of school and are supported effectively to reach their full potential academically and socially. The purpose of this report is to share practice in selected South Tyneside schools that is contributing to improved outcomes and school experiences for children and young people in care. In July 2015, the South Tyneside Virtual School (VS) collaborated with UCL Institute of Education to run their Promoting the Achievement of Looked After Children (PALAC) programme with seven schools in the local authority (LA). This report presents an account of the programme, including the activities undertaken by the participants and the outcomes of the programme to date for students in care and staff in the participating school
Hydrodynamic scaling from the dynamics of relativistic quantum field theory
Hydrodynamic behavior is a general feature of interacting systems with many
degrees of freedom constrained by conservation laws. To date hydrodynamic
scaling in relativistic quantum systems has been observed in many high energy
settings, from cosmic ray detections to accelerators, with large particle
multiplicity final states. Here we show first evidence for the emergence of
hydrodynamic scaling in the dynamics of a relativistic quantum field theory. We
consider a simple scalar model in 1+1 dimensions in the
Hartree approximation and study the dynamics of two colliding kinks at
relativistic speeds as well as the decay of a localized high energy density
region. The evolution of the energy-momentum tensor determines the dynamical
local equation of state and allows the measurement of the speed of sound.
Hydrodynamic scaling emerges at high local energy densities.Comment: 4 pages, 4 color eps figures, uses RevTex, v2 some typos corrected
and references adde
Dressing Up the Kink
Many quantum field theoretical models possess non-trivial solutions which are
stable for topological reasons. We construct a self-consistent example for a
self-interacting scalar field--the quantum (or dressed) kink--using a two
particle irreducible effective action in the Hartree approximation. This new
solution includes quantum fluctuations determined self-consistently and
nonperturbatively at the 1-loop resummed level and allowed to backreact on the
classical mean-field profile. This dressed kink is static under the familiar
Hartree equations for the time evolution of quantum fields. Because the quantum
fluctuation spectrum is lower lying in the presence of the defect, the quantum
kink has a lower rest energy than its classical counterpart. However its energy
is higher than well-known strict 1-loop results, where backreaction and
fluctuation self-interactions are omitted. We also show that the quantum kink
exists at finite temperature and that its profile broadens as temperature is
increased until it eventually disappears.Comment: 13 pages, latex, 3 eps figures; revised with yet additional
references, minor rewordin
Interaction between vortices in models with two order parameters
The interaction energy and force between widely separated strings is analyzed
in a field theory having applications to superconducting cosmic strings, the
SO(5) model of high-temperature superconductivity, and solitons in nonlinear
optics. The field theory has two order parameters, one of which is broken in
the vacuum (giving rise to strings), the other of which is unbroken in the
vacuum but which could nonetheless be broken in the core of the string. If this
does occur, there is an effect on the energetics of widely separated strings.
This effect is important if the length scale of this second order parameter is
longer than that of the other fields in the problem.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes in the text. Accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
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