Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2009: data report - part 2, data analysis

This document sets out the details of the sampling processes and the methodology of the 2009 Schools Survey and the choices made in organising the analysis

Media, politics, and climate change : the ASA Task Force report and beyond

This review essay focuses on the American Sociological Association (ASA) Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change final report, Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives. We take the report as a jumping off point to provide an overview of research on climate change in the media sphere and in the political sphere. The political sphere and the media sphere are key sites for the politics of climate change, where the meaning of the causes and consequences of climate change, as well as policy responses for mitigation and adaptation, are contested and negotiated among policy makers, corporate interests, environmental scientists, environmental movements and counter-movements. While there are substantial bodies of research on climate change within both the political and media spheres, less research specifically addresses how the social dynamics of one of these spheres shapes social interaction in the other sphere. Insights into the relationships between these spheres are suggested by the ASA Task Force report, but this area is under examined in current research. As such, we argue that there is a need for more research that bridges policy-oriented and media-oriented perspectives on climate change.Peer reviewe

Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2009: data report – part 1, descriptive analysis

This document, the data report, is a reference document which presents the data in tabular form for anyone who wants to examine the findings of the Harnessing Technology Schools Survey (HTSS) in depth, for example in relation to specific areas of technology or policy, or by school sector. The findings for each question are also set out by school sector by primary, secondary and special school sub-samples

Media Coverage and Perceived Policy Influence of Environmental Actors: Good Strategy or Pyrrhic Victory?

In this article we analyze how media coverage for environmental actors (individual environmental activists and environmental movement organizations) is associated with their perceived policy influence in Canadian climate change policy networks. We conceptualize media coverage as the total number of media mentions an actor received in Canada’s two main national newspapers—the Globe and Mail and National Post. We conceptualize perceived policy influence as the total number of times an actor was nominated by other actors in a policy network as being perceived to be influential in domestic climate change policy making in Canada. Literature from the field of social movements, agenda setting, and policy networks suggests that environmental actors who garner more media coverage should be perceived as more influential in policy networks than actors who garner less coverage. We assess support for this main hypothesis in two ways. First, we analyze how actor attributes (such as the type of actor) are associated with the amount of media coverage an actor receives. Second, we evaluate whether being an environmental actor shapes the association between media coverage and perceived policy influence. We find a negative association between media coverage and perceived policy influence for individual activists, but not for environmental movement organizations. This case raises fundamental theoretical questions about the nature of relations between media and policy spheres, and the efficacy of media for signaling and mobilizing policy influence

Method for sequencing heteropolymeric target nucleic acid sequence

The invention relates to a method for sequencing a heteropolymeric target nucleic acid sequence that involves stochastic sensing. The invention also relates to a method for improving a pore for sequencing a target nucleic acid sequence by modifying one or more sites in the pore

Climate change policy networks : Why and how to compare them across countries

Why do some countries enact more ambitious climate change policies than others? Macro level economic and political structures, such as the economic weight of fossil fuel industries, play an important role in shaping these policies. So do the national science community and the national culture of science. But the process by which such macro-structural factors translate into political power and national climate change policies can be analyzed through focussing on meso level policy networks. The Comparing Climate Change Policy Networks (COMPON) research project has studied climate change policy networks in twenty countries since 2007. Along with some findings, this paper presents some methodological challenges faced and the solutions developed in the course of the project. After a presentation of the project, we first outline some practical challenges related to conducting cross-national network surveys and solutions to overcome them, and present the solutions adopted during the project. We then turn to challenges related to causal explanation of the national policy differences, and propose Qualitative Comparative Analysis as one solution for combining different levels of analysis (macro and meso) and different data types (quantitative, network and qualitative).Peer reviewe

Protocol for a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial of PRoGRAM-A (Preventing gambling-related harm in adolescents):A secondary school-based social network intervention

BackgroundIn the UK, recent evidence of young people and gambling indicates a higher prevalence of gambling in comparison to other addictive behaviours. Engaging in gambling-related behaviour at a young age is associated with short and long-term consequences, including financial, emotional, academic, interpersonal, and physical and mental health detriments; otherwise known as gambling-related harms (GRH). Given the unique vulnerability of this younger group, early interventions aimed at delaying or preventing gambling are critical. PRoGRAM-A (Preventing Gambling-Related Harm in Adolescents) is a school-based, social network intervention to protect young people from future GRH, by delaying or preventing gambling experimentation.MethodsPilot cluster RCT with an embedded process evaluation and health economic scoping study.ParticipantsPRoGRAM-A will be delivered in four schools, with two control schools acting as a comparator. All are secondary schools in Scotland. Baseline surveys were conducted with students in S3 (ages 13–14). Follow-up surveys were conducted with the same cohort, six months post-baseline.InterventionPRoGRAM-A trainers will deliver a 2-day, out-of-school training workshop to Peer supporters. Peer supporters will be nominated by peers among their school year group (S3, age 13–14). Workshops will provide peer supporters with information on four gambling-related topics: (1) what is gambling? (2) gambling and gaming, (3) gambling marketing, (4) identifying harm and reducing risk. Peer supporters will disseminate the information (message diffusion) they have learned among their friends and family over a 10-week period. After the 2-day workshop, PRoGRAM-A trainers will conduct × 3 in-school follow-up sessions with peer supporters to offer support, encouragement, and advice to Peer Supporters as well as monitor and explore the extent of their message diffusion.Primary outcomeThe primary outcome of the pilot cluster RCT (cRCT) will be whether progression to a phase III RCT is justified.DiscussionThis will be the first pilot cluster RCT (cRCT) of an intervention to prevent gambling-related harms among young people within the UK. If findings indicate feasibility and acceptability, funding will be sought for a phase III RCT of effectiveness.Trial registrationResearchregistry8699. Registered 21st February 2023

Single molecule binding of a ligand to a G-protein-coupled receptor in real time using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, rendered possible by nano-encapsulation in styrene maleic acid lipid particles

The fundamental importance of membrane proteins in cellular processes has driven a marked increase in the use of membrane mimetic approaches for studying and exploiting these proteins. Nano-encapsulation strategies which preserve the native lipid bilayer environment are particularly attractive. Consequently, the use of poly(styrene co-maleic acid) (SMA) has been widely adopted to solubilise proteins directly from cell membranes by spontaneously forming "SMA Lipid Particles" (SMALPs). G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are ubiquitous "chemical switches", are central to cell signalling throughout the evolutionary tree, form the largest family of membrane proteins in humans and are a major drug discovery target. GPCR-SMALPs that retain binding capability would be a versatile platform for a wide range of down-stream applications. Here, using the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) as an archetypical GPCR, we show for the first time the utility of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to characterise the binding capability of GPCRs following nano-encapsulation. Unbound fluorescent ligand CA200645 exhibited a monophasic autocorrelation curve (dwell time, τD = 68 ± 2 μs; diffusion coefficient, D = 287 ± 15 μm2 s-1). In the presence of A2AR-SMALP, bound ligand was also evident (τD = 625 ± 23 μs; D = 30 ± 4 μm2 s-1). Using a non-receptor control (ZipA-SMALP) plus competition binding confirmed that this slower component represented binding to the encapsulated A2AR. Consequently, the combination of GPCR-SMALP and FCS is an effective platform for the quantitative real-time characterisation of nano-encapsulated receptors, with single molecule sensitivity, that will have widespread utility for future exploitation of GPCR-SMALPs in general