An Independent Scotland:The Road to Membership of the European Union

•This paper addresses the road to membership of the European Union for an independent Scotland. • The UK Government and Scottish Government each undertook in the Edinburgh Agreement of 15 October 2012 to respect the result of the referendum of 18 September and to work in the interests of the people of Scotland and the United Kingdom. In light of this, and of widespread agreement that it would be in the interests of the people of the UK to see an independent Scotland admitted to the European Union, it is likely that both governments will, in the event of a Yes vote, work to facilitate Scotland’s membership of the European Union. • There are strong reasons to believe that following a Yes vote the European Union would also be prepared to open negotiations aimed at securing the membership of an independent Scotland. Scotland is already part of a Member State, its residents are European citizens, the writ of European law already runs in Scotland and its territorial location is of importance to the European Union for strategic and resource-based reasons. • In the event of a Yes vote we anticipate that tripartite negotiations will be established involving the Scottish Government, the UK Government and institutions of the European Union, most obviously the European Commission, working towards the accession of Scotland to full membership of the EU and any necessary adjustment of the UK’s level of representation within European institutions. It is likely that in this period preparatory drafting of a formal accession treaty will take place. • It is highly likely that the United Kingdom will continue in membership of the European Union and that Scotland will require to be admitted as a new member state. Article 48 TEU provides a feasible route by which Scotland’s membership could be realised. It is, however, more likely that Scotland will require to make an application to join the European Union by way of the Article 49 of the Treaty of the European Union procedure and that, accordingly, the unanimous agreement of all Member States to any ratification agreement will be required. • The Scottish Government hopes that Scotland will formally accede to membership of the EU by March 2016. This timetable is ambitious. There will be a number of complex and potentially contentious substantive issues to be negotiated. It is also not possible to predict with certainty how long the ratification process in each Member State might take. • In the event that Scotland’s full membership of the European Union is not achieved by the date of Scottish independence (in particular, pending conclusion of the respective Article 48 or 49 treaty amendment/accession processes) it is likely that the EU will put temporary provisions in place to ensure that the rights and obligations arising from the EU treaties will continue to apply to Scotland in the interim period. This could be done by giving provisional effect to the core aspects of the draft accession treaty until this is finally ratified by all Member States. • In the event of any deadlock in the process of Scotland’s accession to the European Union, the European Union treaties seem to contain an implicit obligation upon the institutions of the EU and the Member States, based upon the principle of European citizenship and the treaties’ fundamental rights provisions, to negotiate towards Scotland’s accession to the EU. There are different grounds of action through which individual citizens could seek to enforce this duty in the Court of Justice of the European Union. There are reasons to believe that the CJEU would intervene to articulate the existence of a duty upon interested parties to negotiate Scotland’s accession to membership in good faith

Physical activity, weight status and diet in adolescents: are children meeting the guidelines?

Childhood obesity is on the increase and maintaining regular physical activity and consuming a healthy diet have become essential tools to combat the condition. The United Kingdom government has recommended guidelines for optimal levels of diet and activity in children. The aim of this paper is to describe and compare self-reported physical activity levels, diet, and Body Mass Indices (BMI) amongst adolescent children, aged 11-15, in the South West (SW) and North West (NW) regions of England and to see if these children were meeting the current targets for optimal levels of: physical activity; fruit/vegetable consumption; fat consumption and BMI. We report the results of a cross-sectional survey of four secondary schools and 1,869 children using the self-reported Western Australian Child and Adolescent Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (CAPANS) physical activity instrument and a food intake screener questionnaire, in summer and winter. We found that 25% (469/1869) 95% CI: 23% to 27%, of children engaged in 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day; 53% (995/1866) 95% CI: 51% to 56%, took 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day; while 22% (407/1861) 95% CI: 20% to 24% consumed recommended amount of fats, and 23.7% (276/1164) 95% CI: 21% to 26%, of pupils were obese or overweight as classified by their BMI. Self reported physical activity in young people regardless of area is lower than previously reported and the lack of students engaging in 60 minutes moderate to vigorous activity could have serious public health consequences. If sustained, this could lead to more overweight adults, and more ill health

Physical activity among adolescents and barriers to delivering physical education in Cornwall and Lancashire, UK: a qualitative study of heads of PE and heads of schools. BMC Public Health Journal 2008 Aug 1;8:273.

BACKGROUND: Recent initiatives have been introduced by the UK government into secondary schools to increase pupils' access to physical activity (PA). Despite this, not enough is known about pupils' levels of physical activity or whether the delivery of these initiatives in schools facilitates or creates a barrier for pupils' PA. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of adolescents PA levels from the perspective of those responsible for delivering physical education (PE) in schools; heads of PE (HOPE) and heads of school (HS). METHODS: Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with a snowball sample of HOPE and HS in schools in the Northwest and Southwest of England. Thematic data analysis using NVIVO was used to identify emergent themes.RESULTS:17 core themes were generated, 12 of which confirmed the findings from similar research. However, five themes relating to 'ethos of performance/elitism', 'lower fitness leads to lower ability', 'undervaluing activities within PE dept' or school as a whole', 'role of the school' and 'PE department doing all it can' offer valuable new insight into the factors which may encourage or prevent PA inside or outside the curriculum. CONCLUSION: Despite many positive perceptions of the delivery of PE in schools, it is evident that barriers still exist within that delivery which discourages physical activity. More research is needed to particularly address the complex issues of elitism and the ethos of PA in schools

Factors Affecting the Release of Transmitters in the Heart

1. The aim of this study was to investigate the presynaptic interactions that exist between the adrenergic and cholinergic nerves in the rat heart. 2. The negative chronotropic response of the heart rate, evoked by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve in the pithed rat, was enhanced when the sympathetic cardio-accelerator nerves were stimulated simultaneously. 3. The negative chronotropic response of the heart rate, evoked by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve in the anaesthetised rat, was inhibited by clonidine and potentiated by a combination of yohimbine and prazosin. A. Field stimulation of rat, isolated, spontaneously beating paired atria resulted in a complex post-stimulus response. The initial negative inotropic component of this response was abolished by atropine. The positive inotropic component of this response was inhibited by propranolol and guanethidine. Atropine and yohimbine both potentiated the positive inotropic component. Clonidine inhibited the positive inotropic component only in the presence of atropine. 5. Clonidine and acetylcholine inhibited the field stimulation- evoked overflow of 3H from atria previously incubated in [3H]-NA. Yohimbine and atropine potentiated the overflow of 3H from such atria. 6. Clonidine and acetylcholine inhibited the field stimulation-evoked overflow of from atria previously incubated in [14C]-choline. Atropine and yohimbine potentiated the overflow of from such atria. The results suggest that field stimulation of atria causes the simultaneous release of NA and ACh and that these transmitters neuromodulate each others release. 7. Part of the study investigated the role of cyclic nucleotides in governing the field stimulation-evoked release of NA and ACh from rat atria. 8. Isobutylmethylxanthine potentiated the field stimulation-evoked overflow of 3H from atria previously incubated in [3H]-NA. 9. In the absence and in the presence of atropine, 8-Bromo-cAMP potentiated the field stimulation-evoked overflow of 3H from atria previously incubated in [3H]-NA. 10. Sodium nitroprusside and 8-Bromo-cGMP both potentiated the field stimulation-evoked overflow of 3H from atria previously incubated in [3H]-NA. In the presence of atropine, sodium nitroprosside was unable to potentiate 3H overflow. 11. Sodium nitroprusside inhibited the field stimulation-evoked overflow of 14C from atria previously incubated in [14 C-choline in the absence and in the presence of prazosin and yohimbine. The results suggest that sodium nitroprusside indirectly potentiated the overflow of 3H by removing the cholinergic-mediated restraint on NA release. 12. In the pithed rat, sodium nitroprusside inhibited the negative chronotropic response of the heart rate evoked by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve. In the anaesthetised rat, sodium nitroprusside inhibited the same response but this required the presence of prazosin and yohimbine. 13. Part of the study investigated the effects of chronically treating rats with thyroxine (T4). The level of T4 in the serum was increased in rats pretreated with T4, and this was accompanied by changes in pre- and post-synaptic receptor sensitivity. 14. Pretreatment with T4 produced a postsynaptic supersensitivity to isoprenaline amd a postsynaptic subsensitivity to phenylephrine. A presynaptic subsensitivity to clonidine, but not to ACh, was produced by T4 pretreatment. In these pretreated animals the ability of clonidine but not that of ACh to inhibit the field stimulation-evoked overflow of 3H was diminished

Curriculum Decision Making for National Interest in the Tertiary Sector: An Evaluation of a Curriculum Project

This paper is concerned with a study of comparative curriculum practice within the tertiary sector. Within Australia, curriculum practice, innovation, planning and evaluation has occurred mainly within the primary and secondary school system. However, since the mid-1980s, educational strategies for national interest have seen the evolution of informed curriculum research and development within the tertiary sector, as universities and colleges endeavour to meet nationally determined educational goals and objectives. This study relates the research process involved when tertiary educators (and researchers) are faced with the task of reconciling local, regional and national objectives. In particular, it considers the dynamics of planning for nationally determined priorities as a basis for implementing sustainable and informed curriculum innovation and evaluation

Site-selective multi-porphyrin attachment enables the formation of a next-generation antibody-based photodynamic therapeutic

Herein we present a significant step towards next-generation antibody-based photodynamic therapeutics. Site-selective modification of a clinically relevant monoclonal antibody, with a serum-stable linker bearing a strained alkyne, allows for the controlled Cu-free “click” assembly of an in vitro active antibody-based PDT agent using a water soluble azide porpyhrin

Swimming with Broad Strokes: Publishing and Presenting Beyond the LW Discipline

(Excerpt) In our greater skills community, we share ideas, borrow and tweak theories from other disciplines, and create new approaches. It is understandable how our community may expand pedagogy to the brim of legal writing or explore topics outside of the field. Skills professors are, by nature, a creative collective who teach from the heart and enjoy writing and thinking. Our publishing pursuits can be boundless. Both Authors of this Article share mutual experiences of dipping our toes in a pond beyond the legal writing continent. Our writing experiences have influenced our teaching, bringing these broader perspectives to our legal writing pedagogy. Part I provides our research and publication fields that we have individually explored and suggests why writing beyond the LRW curriculum could be beneficial. Part II gives examples of how our research has created synergies with our legal writing assignments and classroom exercises. Part III recommends resources readily available to our legal writing community for researching and writing on broader topics

Regioselective and stoichiometrically controlled conjugation of photodynamic sensitizers to a HER2 targeting antibody fragment

The rapidly increasing interest in the synthesis of antibody–drug conjugates as powerful targeted anticancer agents demonstrates the growing appreciation of the power of antibodies and antibody fragments as highly selective targeting moieties. This targeting ability is of particular interest in the area of photodynamic therapy, as the applicability of current clinical photosensitizers is limited by their relatively poor accumulation in target tissue in comparison to healthy tissue. Although synthesis of porphyrin–antibody conjugates has been previously demonstrated, existing work in this area has been hindered by the limitations of conventional antibody conjugation methods. This work describes the attachment of azide-functionalized, water-soluble porphyrins to a tratuzumab Fab fragment via a novel conjugation methodology. This method allows for the synthesis of a homogeneous product without the loss of structural stability associated with conventional methods of disulfide modification. Biological evaluation of the synthesized conjugates demonstrates excellent selectivity for a HER2 positive cell line over the control, with no dark toxicity observed in either case