The social geography of childcare: 'making up' the middle class child

Childcare is a condensate of disparate social forces and social processes. It is gendered and classed. It is subject to an excess of policy and political discourse. It is increasingly a focus for commercial exploitation. This is a paper reporting on work in progress in an ESRC funded research project (R000239232) on the choice and provision of pre-school childcare by middle class (service class) families in two contrasting London locations. Drawing on recent work in class analysis the paper examines the relationships between childcare choice, middle class fractions and locality. It suggests that on the evidence of the findings to date, there is some evidence of systematic differences between fractions in terms of values, perspectives and preferences for childcare, but a more powerful case for intra-class similarities, particularly when it comes to putting preferences into practice in the 'making up of a middle class child' through care and education

Summary and recommendations

According to Carpenter (1993), the first problem for nutritional science, to identify the chemicals required in a diet to support human growth and maintenance, has been solved. Enough information has been amassed from the study of many populations to enable nutritionists to offer safe recommendations about daily intakes of energy and nutrients for all stages of the human life cycle (see reviews by Nesheim and by Solomons, this volume). Adoption of these recommendations would generally correct deficiency diseases and would reduce the incidence of health complications which are linked to excessive intakes of fat, sodium, alcohol and other substances. Carpenter also drew attention to malnutrition, the solution of which he believed to have become largely political and economic although the fact remains that very many people still do not receive or grow enough food. In the context of this volume, Carpenter's most interesting point was his view that our understanding of the complex relationship between nutrition and disease was still at an early stag

Learning with technology during emergencies: A systematic review of K-12 education

Abstract: Emergency situations that cause damage to educational buildings or require the closure of schools due to unsafe health, environmental, or political conditions can be an unwelcomed interruption to education. Indeed, the recent COVID‐19 pandemic created the largest disruption of education in history, affecting 94% of the world's student population. In emergencies, technology is often utilised as part of a crisis response protocol by continuing education using emergency remote education (ERE). The purpose of this study is to determine how technology has been used to continue K‐12 learning remotely during an emergency. This systematic review included an aggregated and configurative synthesis to examine extant empirical work over eleven years, from January 2010 to December 2020. Following a rigorous, PRISMA selection process, 60 articles were included in the final analysis from 48 countries. Grounded coding of the strategies used for learning revealed the following categories: communication, delivery systems, student ERE readiness, partnerships, promoting student learning and engagement, and resources. Grounded coding of the technologies revealed that types of technologies used were divided into two major categories: Internet‐based and non‐Internet based, with the majority using Internet‐based technologies. Practitioner notes: What is already known about this topic The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused school closures across the globe and prevented in‐person school teaching. The rapid shift to distance education in schools can be conceptualised as ‘emergency remote education’ (ERE). Prior ERE research focused on bounded geographic locations where localised emergencies occurred. What this paper adds This provides the scholarly community with a unique systematic review of existing academic research on K‐12 ERE implementation in emergencies. This provides aggregated data and analysis on the past 11 years of the types of emergencies, participants, subject domain, technologies used, and location information. This provides findings of the types of remote teaching strategies involving technology used to continue K‐12 learning in emergency situations. This provides a set of recommendations on ERE for teachers, school leaders, policy makers, and funders. This provides researchers with a review of the field with identification of gaps and future research opportunities. Implications for practice and/or policy Recommendations regarding ERE are provided in this paper that will be of benefit to K‐12 teachers, school leaders policymakers, and funders in the continuing COVID‐19 pandemic and future emergencies. The research gaps highlighted in this paper, such as the lack of studies conducted in low and low middle‐income countries, are presented with suggestions for much needed future research. This can lead to changes in practice and policy

‘I never realised everybody felt as happy as I do when I am around autistic people’: A thematic analysis of autistic adults’ relationships with autistic and neurotypical friends and family

AbstractMany autistic people are motivated to have friends, relationships and close family bonds, despite the clinical characterisation of autism as a condition negatively affecting social interaction. Many first-hand accounts of autistic people describe feelings of comfort and ease specifically with other autistic people. This qualitative research explored and contrasted autistic experiences of spending social time with neurotypical and autistic friends and family. In total, 12 autistic adults (10 females, aged 21–51) completed semi-structured interviews focused on time spent with friends and family; positive and negative aspects of time spent with neurotypical and autistic friends and family; and feelings during and after spending time together. Three themes were identified: cross-neurotype understanding, minority status and belonging. Investigation of these themes reveals the benefits of autistic people creating and maintaining social relationships with other autistic people, in a more systematic way than previous individual reports. They highlight the need for autistic-led social opportunities and indicate benefits of informal peer support for autistic adults.Lay abstractAlthough autistic people may struggle to interact with others, many autistic people have said they find interacting with other autistic people more comfortable. To find out whether this was a common experience, we did hour-long interviews with 12 autistic adults. We asked them questions about how it feels when spending time with their friends and family, and whether it felt different depending on whether the friends and family were autistic or neurotypical. We analysed the interviews and found three common themes in what our participants said. First, they found spending with other autistic people easier and more comfortable than spending time with neurotypical people, and felt they were better understood by other autistic people. Second, autistic people often felt they were in a social minority, and in order to spend time with neurotypical friends and family, they had to conform with what the neurotypical people wanted and were used to. Third, autistic people felt like they belonged with other autistic people and that they could be themselves around them. These findings show that having time with autistic friends and family can be very beneficial for autistic people and played an important role in a happy social life

Effect of selected plant species within biodiverse pasture on in vitro fatty acid biohydrogenation and tissue fatty acid composition of lamb

The effect of botanical diversity on supply of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to ruminants in vitro, and the fatty acid (FA) composition of muscle in lambs was investigated. Six plant species, commonly grown as part of UK herbal ley mixtures (Trifolium pratense, Lotus corniculatus, Achillea millefolium, Centaurea nigra, Plantago lanceolata and Prunella vulgaris), were assessed for FA profile, and in vitro biohydrogenation of constituent PUFA, to estimate intestinal supply of PUFA available for absorption by ruminants. Modelling the in vitro data suggested that L. Corniculatus and P. Vulgaris had the greatest potential to increase 18:3 n-3 supply to ruminants, having the highest amounts escaping in vitro biohydrogenation . Biodiverse pastures were established using the six selected species, under-sown in a perennial ryegrass-based sward. Lambs were grazed (~50 days) on biodiverse or control pastures and the effects on the FA composition of m. longissimus thoracis (lean and subcutaneous fat) and m. semimembranosus (lean) were determined. Biodiverse pasture increased 18:2 n-6 and 18:3 n-3 contents of m. semimembranosus (+14.8 and +7.2 mg/100g tissue respectively) and the subcutaneous fat of m. l. thoracis (+158 and +166 mg/100g tissue respectively) relative to feeding a perennial ryegrass pasture. However, there was no effect on total concentrations of saturated FA in the tissues studied. It was concluded that enhancing biodiversity had a positive impact on muscle FA profile reflected by increased levels of total PUFA

Whole-blood transcriptomic signatures induced during immunization by chloroquine prophylaxis and Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites

A highly effective vaccine that confers sterile protection to malaria is urgently needed. Immunization under chemoprophylaxis with sporozoites (CPS) consistently confers high levels of protection in the Controlled Human Malaria infection (CHMI) model. To provide a broad, unbiased assessment of the composition and kinetics of direct ex vivo human immune responses to CPS, we profiled whole-blood transcriptomes by RNA-seq before and during CPS immunization and following CHMI challenge. Differential expression of genes enriched in modules related to T cells, NK cells, protein synthesis, and mitochondrial processes were detected in fully protected individuals four weeks after the first immunization. Non-protected individuals demonstrated transcriptomic changes after the third immunization and the day of treatment, with upregulation of interferon and innate inflammatory genes and downregulation of B-cell signatures. Protected individuals demonstrated more significant interactions between blood transcription modules compared to non-protected individuals several weeks after the second and third immunizations. These data provide insight into the molecular and cellular basis of CPS-induced immune protection from P. falciparum infection

A cortisone sensitive CD3low subset of CD4+CD8− thymocytes represents an intermediate stage in intrathymic repertoire selection

Two populations of CD4 single positive (SP) thymocytes were found In transgenic mice bearing class l-restricted Mls-1a reactive (Vβ8.1) TCR genes in the absence of the restriction element. CD3high CD4 sp cells were deleted In the presence of Mls-15 and were cortisone resistant, whereas CD3low CD4 SP cells were not deleted In the presence of Mls-1* and were cortisone sensitive. Intravenous transfer of CD3low CD4 SP cells into nude mice resulted in significant peripheral expansion of these cells with apparent upregulation of CD3. These data Indicate that CD3low CD4 SP thymocytes represent an Intermediate stage In the transition from CDSlow double positive (DP) to CD3high SP thymocytes and raise the possibility that these cells may have undergone positive but not negative selection events (at least to Mls-1a). Furthermore the fact that CD3high DP thymocytes were also deleted by Mls-1a in these mice suggests strongly that sensitivity to Mls-1a deletion is dependent upon stage of thymic maturation (as revealed by TCR density) rather than CD4/CD8 phenotyp

Lattice QCD at finite isospin density at zero and finite temperature

We simulate lattice QCD with dynamical $u$ and $d$ quarks at finite chemical potential, $\mu_I$, for the third component of isospin ($I_3$), at both zero and at finite temperature. At zero temperature there is some $\mu_I$, $\mu_c$ say, above which $I_3$ and parity are spontaneously broken by a charged pion condensate. This is in qualitative agreement with the prediction of effective (chiral) Lagrangians which also predict $\mu_c=m_\pi$. This transition appears to be second order, with scaling properties consistent with the mean-field predictions of such effective Lagrangian models. We have also studied the restoration of $I_3$ symmetry at high temperature for $\mu_I > \mu_c$. For $\mu_I$ sufficiently large, this finite temperature phase transition appears to be first order. As $\mu_I$ is decreased it becomes second order connecting continuously with the zero temperature transition.Comment: 23 pages, Revtex, 9 figures. Major revision of sections 3 and 4 to include new analyses of critical scaling which we now find to be in the universality class of mean-field theor

The pseudo-Goldstone spectrum of 2-colour QCD at finite density

We examine the spectrum of 2-colour lattice QCD with 4 continuum flavours at a finite chemical potential ($\mu$) for quark-number, on a $12^3 \times 24$ lattice. First we present evidence that the system undergoes a transition to a state with a diquark condensate, which spontaneously breaks quark number at $\mu=m_\pi/2$, and that this transition is mean field in nature. We then examine the 3 states that would be Goldstone bosons at $\mu=0$ for zero Dirac and Majorana quark masses. The predictions of chiral effective Lagrangians give a good description of the behaviour of these masses for $\mu < m_\pi/2$. Except for the heaviest of these states, these predictions diverge from our measurements, once $\mu$ is significantly greater than $m_\pi/2$. However, the qualitative behaviour of these masses, indicates that the physics is very similar to that predicted by these effective Lagrangians, and there is some indication that at least part of these discrepancies is due to saturation, a lattice artifact.Comment: 32 pages LaTeX/Revtex, 8 Postscript figure