A Tale of Two Cities: the sequel An international comparison of the contributions of professional services staff to student outcomes

This paper reports on a comparative study examining the contribution of professional services staff (PSS) to the student experience: in particular, their contribution to retention and successful outcomes. This is the second phase, involving in-depth interviews, comparing an Australian and a UK institution. Results from the first phase, which used a Delphi Survey method, were reported in the 2013 SRHE conference. Because of the wide-ranging roles of professional services staff, more in-depth exploration was needed to gain a better understanding. This presentation will report on findings from the second phase comparative analysis, following the UK interviews being undertaken in spring 2015. Initial analysis shows a consistent view on the contribution of PS towards institutional behaviours that deal promptly and knowledgably with students’ enquiries, whilst exhibiting a friendly demeanor. However, this phase also highlights some important differences, which have implications for institutional cultures and the provision of professional development

Pedagogical partnerships and professionalisation : changing work and identities of professional staff at one Australian university

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.The purpose of this research was to develop an improved understanding of the work of professional staff in Australian universities. Over the last two decades, external pressures on universities have increased significantly, such that there is even greater need to understand the work of all staff in our universities, and to make the most of their talents. Professional staff comprise more than 50% of staff in Australian universities. Yet little research has been undertaken into the work of professional staff, particularly in relation to teaching and learning. This doctoral research project was undertaken at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), in 2009–2012, with the aim of investigating how professional staff contribute to student outcomes, from the perspectives of the staff themselves. Three key conceptualisations emerged from this research project: 1. the Professional Staff–Student Outcomes (PSSO) Framework, which defines a new method and framework for the study of the work of professional staff in relation to student outcomes; 2. pedagogical partnerships, providing a novel conceptualisation of the ways in which professional staff contribute to student outcomes; and 3. professionalisation, with a key theme of changing professional identities, conceptualising the growing professionalisation of professional staff. Professional Staff–Student Outcomes (PSSO) Framework Using as a basis 13 propositions for student support that had been derived in an earlier meta-study, the Schmidt Delphi method was modified to test the validity of these propositions in relation to the contributions of professional staff to student outcomes. Moderate agreement resulted, and further verification was achieved through member checking of results. Replication of my methodology is currently underway in the United Kingdom, where preliminary results confirm my results. Pedagogical partnerships It was found that professional staff form relationships – for the achievement of positive student outcomes – with a range of different individuals and groups including other professional staff, academic staff, students and, at times, external stakeholders. In these pedagogical partnerships, learning and teaching occur through activities, undertaken by professional staff in co-operation with these partners, which contribute to student retention, persistence and achievement. These activities primarily occur when professional staff are providing behaviours, environments and processes that are welcoming and efficient, as well as when providing a comprehensive range of services and facilities. Professionalisation The phenomenon of changing identities, which is set in the context of growing professionalisation of professional staff, emerged as both an enabler and a driver for the development of pedagogical partnerships. Professional staff who are highly qualified, have specialised knowledge, are experienced networkers, and are confident decision-makers, are both more able to form pedagogical partnerships, and are more likely to initiate such partnerships. In conclusion, a proposal is made for a Roles Matrix and a single pay spine system for mapping and equitably rewarding the work of all university staff. Together, the Roles Matrix and the single pay spine would facilitate flexible career paths and would permit equal pay for equal value of work. This study indicates that the work of all staff is essential to students achieving their learning outcomes, and that all staff need to work together, supportively, valuing the work of their colleagues

Outcomes of Childhood Asthma and Wheezy Bronchitis. A 50-Year Cohort Study

Rationale: Cohort studies suggest that airflow obstruction is established early in life, manifests as childhood asthma and wheezy bronchitis, and continues into early adulthood. Although an association between childhood asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in later life has been demonstrated, it is unclear if childhood wheezy bronchitis is associated with COPD. Objectives: To investigate whether childhood wheezy bronchitis increases the risk of COPD in the seventh decade. Methods: A cohort of children recruited in 1964 at age 10 to 15 years, which was followed up in 1989, 1995, and 2001, was followed up again in 2014 when at age 60 to 65 years. Discrete time-to-event and linear mixed effects models were used. Measurements and Main Results: FEV1 and FVC were measured. COPD was defined as post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC <0.7. Childhood wheezing phenotype was related to 1989, 1995, 2001, and 2014 spirometry data. Three hundred thirty subjects, mean age 61 years, were followed up: 38 with childhood asthma; 53 with childhood wheezy bronchitis; and 239 control subjects (of whom 57 developed adulthood-onset wheeze between ages 16 and 46 yr). In adjusted multivariate analyses, childhood asthma was associated with an increased risk of COPD (odds ratio, 6.37; 95% confidence interval, 3.73–10.94), as was childhood wheezy bronchitis (odd ratio 1.81; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–2.91). The COPD risk increased with childhood asthma, and wheezy bronchitis was associated with reduced FEV1 that was evident by the fifth decade and not an accelerated rate of FEV1 decline. In contrast, adulthood-onset wheeze was associated with accelerated FEV1 decline. Conclusions: Childhood wheezy bronchitis and asthma are associated with an increased risk of COPD and reduced ventilatory function

Towards an optimal swap gate

We present a novel approach that generalizes the well known quantum SWAP gate to higher dimensions and construct a regular quantum gate composed entirely in terms of the generalized CNOT gate that cyclically permutes the states of d qudits for d prime. We also investigate the case for d other than prime. A key feature of the construction design relates to the periodicity evaluation for a family of linear recurrences which we achieve by exploiting generating functions and their factorization over the complex reals

A Study of Initialization in Linux and OpenBSD

The code that initializes a system can be notoriously difficult to understand. In secure systems, initialization is critical for establishing a starting state that is secure. This paper explores two architectures used for bringing an operating system to its initial state, once the operating system gains control from the boot loader. Specifically, the ways in which the OpenBSD and Linux operating systems handle initialization are dissected

The impact of consent on observational research: a comparison of outcomes from consenters and non consenters to an observational study

Background Public health benefits from research often rely on the use of data from personal medical records. When neither patient consent nor anonymisation is possible, the case for accessing such records for research purposes depends on an assessment of the probabilities of public benefit and individual harm. Methods In the late 1990s, we carried out an observational study which compared the care given to affluent and deprived women with breast cancer. Patient consent was not required at that time for review of medical records, but was obtained later in the process prior to participation in the questionnaire study. We have re-analysed our original results to compare the whole sample with those who later provided consent. Results Two important findings emerged from the re-analysis of our data which if presented initially would have resulted in insufficient and inaccurate reporting. Firstly, the reduced dataset contains no information about women presenting with locally advanced or metastatic cancer and we would have been unable to demonstrate one of our initial key findings: namely a larger number of such women in the deprived group. Secondly, our re-analysis of the consented women shows that significantly more women from deprived areas (51 v 31%, p = 0.018) received radiotherapy compared to women from more affluent areas. Previously published data from the entire sample demonstrated no difference in radiotherapy treatment between the affluent and deprived groups. Conclusion The risk benefit assessment made regarding the use of medical records without consent should include the benefits of obtaining research evidence based on 100% of the population and the possibility of inappropriate or insufficient findings if research is confined to consented populations

Dual Function of the pUL7-pUL51 Tegument Protein Complex in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection

The tegument of herpesviruses is a highly complex structural layer between the nucleocapsid and the envelope of virions. Tegument proteins play both structural and regulatory functions during replication and spread, but the interactions and functions of many of these proteins are poorly understood. Here we focus on two tegument proteins from herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), pUL7 and pUL51, which have homologues in all other herpesviruses. We have now identified that HSV-1 pUL7 and pUL51 form a stable and direct protein-protein interaction, their expression levels rely on the presence of each other, and they function as a complex in infected cells. We demonstrate that expression of the pUL7-pUL51 complex is important for efficient HSV-1 assembly and plaque formation. Furthermore, we also discovered that the pUL7-pUL51 complex localizes to focal adhesions at the plasma membrane in both infected cells and in the absence of other viral proteins. The expression of pUL7-pUL51 is important to stabilize focal adhesions and maintain cell morphology in infected cells and cells infected with viruses lacking pUL7 and/or pUL51 round up more rapidly than cells infected with wild-type HSV-1. Our data suggest that, in addition to the previously reported functions in virus assembly and spread for pUL51, the pUL7-pUL51 complex is important for maintaining the attachment of infected cells to their surroundings through modulating the activity of focal adhesion complexes. $\textbf{IMPORTANCE}$: The $\textit{Herpesviridae }$ is a large family of highly successful human and animal pathogens. Virions of these viruses are composed of many different proteins, most of which are contained within the tegument, a complex structural layer between the nucleocapsid and the envelope within virus particles. Tegument proteins have important roles in assembling virus particles as well as modifying host cells to promote virus replication and spread. However, little is known about the function of many tegument proteins during virus replication. Our study focuses on two tegument proteins from herpes simplex virus 1 that are conserved in all herpesviruses: pUL7 and pUL51. We demonstrate that these proteins directly interact and form a functional complex that is important for both virus assembly and modulation of host cell morphology. Further, we identify for the first time that these conserved herpesvirus tegument proteins localize to focal adhesions in addition to cytoplasmic juxtanuclear membranes within infected cells.This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust (grant RPG-2012-793 to C.M.C.), the Royal Society (University Research Fellowship UF090010 to C.M.C.), and the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust (Sir Henry Dale Fellowship 098406/Z/12/Z to S.C.G.). L.D. was supported by Wellcome Trust Ph.D. Programme funding (086158/Z/08/Z). D.J.O. was supported by a John Lucas Walker studentship. M.F.A. was supported by a Commonwealth Scholarship Commission PhD scholarship (BDCA-2014-7)

Inspiratory muscle training reduces blood lactate concentration during volitional hyperpnoea

Although reduced blood lactate concentrations ([lac−]B) have been observed during whole-body exercise following inspiratory muscle training (IMT), it remains unknown whether the inspiratory muscles are the source of at least part of this reduction. To investigate this, we tested the hypothesis that IMT would attenuate the increase in [lac−]B caused by mimicking, at rest, the breathing pattern observed during high-intensity exercise. Twenty-two physically active males were matched for 85% maximal exercise minute ventilation (V˙Emax) and divided equally into an IMT or a control group. Prior to and following a 6 week intervention, participants performed 10 min of volitional hyperpnoea at the breathing pattern commensurate with 85% V˙Emax