Clinical molecular genetics in the UK c.1975-c.2000

seminar transcriptChaired by Professor Martin Bobrow and introduced by Professor Bob Williamson, this Witness Seminar included geneticists from a broad range of research and clinical specialities. Discussions of molecular research into haemoglobin disorders, and the development of probes for related genes in the 1970s, included particular acknowledgment of Southern blotting as a critical tool for such research. Also noted was a landmark conference in Crete in 1978 that emphasized the special significance of research work on thalassaemia, as well as providing fruitful networking opportunities for scientists from around the world. Similarly, in 1982, a key course at Leiden University introduced molecular techniques to geneticists from across Europe. In that same year the first prenatal diagnosis by chorionic villus sampling was published, and the emotional aspects of such genetic diagnoses for patients, families and clinicians were frequently discussed during the seminar. Other issues, including the funding of research, and especially the role of patient support groups; the establishment and growth of professional interest groups and bodies such as the Clinical Molecular Genetics Society; and the development of national genetics

Emotion and performance: prison officers and the presentation of self in prisons

This article explores how prison officers manage and perform emotion on a day-to-day basis. Although the performance of emotion is invariably highlighted when things ‘go wrong’ in prison - perhaps particularly during prison disturbances - the emotional life of prisons at an everyday level has received much less attention. Moreover, although the sociology of the prison has acknowledged the impact of prison on the emotional lives of prisoners there has been much less interest in the emotional impact of the prison on its uniformed staff. This article focuses on how prison officers’ emotions are structured and performed on a daily basis. Prisons are emotional places, but like all organizations, they have their own ‘rules’ about the kinds of emotions it is appropriate for prison officers to express (and indeed feel) at work. In consequence, working in prisons demands a performative attitude on the part of staff, an (often significant) engagement in emotion-work and, relatedly, the employment of various emotion-work strategies

Teaching Compassion in Prison: A Key to Learning

In a project with long-term prisoners at HMP Dumfries, Scotland, tutors and students explore the notion and application of compassion, focusing in particular on the ways in which understanding compassion enables learning – not just the learning of academic subjects but also of interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. The project highlights the benefits of teaching a so-called extracurricular subject, at the same time as revealing its centrality to learning in the first place. A lack of adequate teaching time in prison, and the fact that compassion is not considered a core subject in education, are both cited as obstacles in consolidating the work of the project. The benefits of teaching compassion - emotional, intellectual and spiritual - was made clear through written and verbal student feedback. Three short workshops highlighted the enormous potential in developing and establishing compassion as both subject and practice in prison education. It is hoped that practitioners and researchers will support the expansion of this work throughout prisons

Reflections on an intervention to motivate student learning through in-semester online assessment

In my experience engineering degree programmes are relatively demanding in terms of class contact hours which are typically up to a factor of two greater than many equivalent arts based courses. The predominant teaching strategy involves lectures and tutorials which usually take on the form of problem solving sessions and laboratory work. This commitment of time taken together with the necessary study required to complete assignments and coursework means that a consistently, steady work pattern is generally a prerequisite of success. In my role as a lecturer in engineering I have found that increasingly academic ability needs to be supplemented by motivation, effort and a structured work ethic. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that many students cannot manage their learning without significant levels of support, guidance and direction, particularly at levels 0 and 1. This may in part be attributed to the teaching methods that students have been exposed to earlier in their education which appear to be increasingly prescriptive. However, difficulties are often exacerbated by financial pressures which require an increasing proportion of the student body to undertake part-time work with unsocial working hours often disrupting attendance at classes. A vicious circle can ensue whereby inability to manage learning serves to de-motivate and lack of motivation in turn further reduces the ability to manage study, possibly leading ultimately to failure and/or withdrawal

The Next Generation: Mentoring, Recruitment and Library Education

Good morning! Praise God for this wonderful day! I am greatly honored to speak to the audience of the Association of Christian Librarians. I also want to acknowledge the members of the Massachusetts Black Librarians Network who have come to support me. This presentation is so appropriate because I strive towards a commitment to Christian principles in my personal life, and my work life. In fact, my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc, a private non-profit organization committed to academic excellence and community service, is based on Christian principles. We set aside time for spiritual readings in our business meetings, and during service weekends, my sorority combines visits to a local church for a Sunday service. It is a wonderful way to share our Christian values with each other and our community. It is not just the motions that we go through that I appreciate, but the respect and support for each other

Transverse Spin Structure of the Nucleon through Target Single Spin Asymmetry in Semi-Inclusive Deep-Inelastic (e,e′π±)(e,e^\prime \pi^\pm) Reaction at Jefferson Lab

Jefferson Lab (JLab) 12 GeV energy upgrade provides a golden opportunity to perform precision studies of the transverse spin and transverse-momentum-dependent structure in the valence quark region for both the proton and the neutron. In this paper, we focus our discussion on a recently approved experiment on the neutron as an example of the precision studies planned at JLab. The new experiment will perform precision measurements of target Single Spin Asymmetries (SSA) from semi-inclusive electro-production of charged pions from a 40-cm long transversely polarized $^3$He target in Deep-Inelastic-Scattering kinematics using 11 and 8.8 GeV electron beams. This new coincidence experiment in Hall A will employ a newly proposed solenoid spectrometer (SoLID). The large acceptance spectrometer and the high polarized luminosity will provide precise 4-D ($x$, $z$, $P_T$ and $Q^2$) data on the Collins, Sivers, and pretzelocity asymmetries for the neutron through the azimuthal angular dependence. The full 2$\pi$ azimuthal angular coverage in the lab is essential in controlling the systematic uncertainties. The results from this experiment, when combined with the proton Collins asymmetry measurement and the Collins fragmentation function determined from the e$^+$e$^-$ collision data, will allow for a quark flavor separation in order to achieve a determination of the tensor charge of the d quark to a 10% accuracy. The extracted Sivers and pretzelocity asymmetries will provide important information to understand the correlations between the quark orbital angular momentum and the nucleon spin and between the quark spin and nucleon spin.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, minor corrections, matches published versio

British Contributions to Medical Research and Education in Africa after the Second World War

©The Trustee of the Wellcome Trust, London, 2001. First published by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, 2001. All volumes are freely available online at: www.history.qmul.ac.uk/research/modbiomed/wellcome_witnesses/Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 3 June 1999. Introduction by Dr Maureen Malowany.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 3 June 1999. Introduction by Dr Maureen Malowany.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 3 June 1999. Introduction by Dr Maureen Malowany.Annotated and edited transcript of a Witness Seminar held on 3 June 1999. Introduction by Dr Maureen Malowany.Differences in health services, research and medical education between British East and West Africa over the period to 1980, including the effects of the transition to independent states, were discussed by witnesses with an extraordinary wealth of diverse talent and experience, directed by the chairman, Professor David Bradley. The increased postwar influence of the Medical Research Council in the tropics was described, aided by a seat on the Colonial Medical Research Committee and its successor body, the MRC-based Tropical Medicine Research Board. Research outcomes of programmes in non-infectious diseases and nutrition, along with the great vector-borne diseases, including sleeping sickness and malaria, and helminth eradication spread through the tropics and also influenced treatment in the UK. The importance of Africa for the postwar development of drug treatments for tropical diseases was underlined. Witnesses include: Dr Murray Baker, Sir Christopher Booth, Dr Christopher Draper, Professor Alan Fleming, Professor Herbert Gilles, Dr Len Goodwin, Professor Ralph Hendrickse, Dr Tom Hopwood, the late Professor Michael Hutt, Professor Sir Ian McGregor, Professor George Nelson, Professor Eldryd Parry, Professor Gerry Shaper, Professor John Waterlow, and Dr Roger Whitehead. Reynolds L A, Tansey E M. (eds) (2001) British contributions to medical research and education in Africa after the second world war, Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine, vol. 10, London: The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL.The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL is funded by the Wellcome Trust, which is a registered charity, no. 210183