Validity and worth in the science curriculum: learning school science outside the laboratory

It is widely acknowledged that there are problems with school science in many developed countries of the world. Such problems manifest themselves in a progressive decline in pupil enthusiasm for school science across the secondary age range and the fact that fewer students are choosing to study the physical sciences at higher levels and as careers. Responses to these developments have included proposals to reform the curriculum, pedagogy and the nature of pupil discussion in science lessons. We support such changes but argue from a consideration of the aims of science education that secondary school science is too rooted in the science laboratory; substantially greater use needs to be made of out-of-school sites for the teaching of science. Such usage should result in a school science education that is more valid and more motivating and is better at fulfilling defensible aims of school science education. Our contention is that laboratory-based school science teaching needs to be complemented by out-of-school science learning that draws on the actual world (e.g. through fieldtrips), the presented world (e.g. in science centres, botanic gardens, zoos and science museums) and the virtual worlds that are increasingly available through information and communications technologies (ICT)

Evolution of RFID applications in construction:A literature review

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been widely used in the field of construction during the last two decades. Basically, RFID facilitates the control on a wide variety of processes in different stages of the lifecycle of a building, from its conception to its inhabitance. The main objective of this paper is to present a review of RFID applications in the construction industry, pointing out the existing developments, limitations and gaps. The paper presents the establishment of the RFID technology in four main stages of the lifecycle of a facility: planning and design, construction and commission and operation and maintenance. Concerning this last stage, an RFID application aiming to facilitate the identification of pieces of furniture in scanned inhabited environments is presented. Conclusions and future advances are presented at the end of the paper

A Novel Human Cytomegalovirus Locus Modulates Cell Type-Specific Outcomes of Infection

Clinical strains of HCMV encode 20 putative ORFs within a region of the genome termed ULb′ that are postulated to encode functions related to persistence or immune evasion. We have previously identified ULb′-encoded pUL138 as necessary, but not sufficient, for HCMV latency in CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) infected in vitro. pUL138 is encoded on polycistronic transcripts that also encode 3 additional proteins, pUL133, pUL135, and pUL136, collectively comprising the UL133-UL138 locus. This work represents the first characterization of these proteins and identifies a role for this locus in infection. Similar to pUL138, pUL133, pUL135, and pUL136 are integral membrane proteins that partially co-localized with pUL138 in the Golgi during productive infection in fibroblasts. As expected of ULb′ sequences, the UL133-UL138 locus was dispensable for replication in cultured fibroblasts. In CD34+ HPCs, this locus suppressed viral replication in HPCs, an activity attributable to both pUL133 and pUL138. Strikingly, the UL133-UL138 locus was required for efficient replication in endothelial cells. The association of this locus with three context-dependent phenotypes suggests an exciting role for the UL133-UL138 locus in modulating the outcome of viral infection in different contexts of infection. Differential profiles of protein expression from the UL133-UL138 locus correlated with the cell-type dependent phenotypes associated with this locus. We extended our in vitro findings to analyze viral replication and dissemination in a NOD-scid IL2Rγcnull-humanized mouse model. The UL133-UL138NULL virus exhibited an increased capacity for replication and/or dissemination following stem cell mobilization relative to the wild-type virus, suggesting an important role in viral persistence and spread in the host. As pUL133, pUL135, pUL136, and pUL138 are conserved in virus strains infecting higher order primates, but not lower order mammals, the functions encoded likely represent host-specific viral adaptations

Field Research Is Essential to Counter Virological Threats

The interface between humans and wildlife is changing and, with it, the potential for pathogen introduction into humans has increased. Avian influenza is a prominent example, with an ongoing outbreak showing the unprecedented expansion of both geographic and host ranges. Research in the field is essential to understand this and other zoonotic threats. Only by monitoring dynamic viral populations and defining their biology in situ can we gather the information needed to ensure effective pandemic preparation.</p

Putting it into perspective: Mathematics in the undergraduate science curriculum

Mathematics and science are tightly interwoven, yet they are often treated as distinct disciplines in the educational context. This study details the development, implementation and outcomes of a teaching intervention that highlights the links between mathematics and science, in the form of a first-year interdisciplinary course. A mixed method study using surveys and focus groups was employed to investigate undergraduate science students' perceptions of their experiences. Findings reveal that students bring strong beliefs about the nature of mathematics and science from secondary school, which can impact significanly on the success of interdisciplinary science-mathematics courese at the teritary level. Despite this, a range of beneficial outcomes can arise from such courses when they are delivered within a framework of analysing real-world issues. However, students with weak mathematical skills derived little benefit from an interdisciplinary approach and are likely to disengage from learning, in comparision with students who enter university with a solid foundation in mathematics

Learning to Teach About Ideas and Evidence in Science : The Student Teacher as Change Agent

A collaborative curriculum development project was set up to address the lack of good examples of teaching about ideas and evidence and the nature of science encountered by student teachers training to teach in the age range 11-16 in schools in England. Student and teacher-mentor pairs devised, taught and evaluated novel lessons and approaches. The project design required increasing levels of critique through cycles of teaching, evaluation and revision of lessons. Data were gathered from interviews and students' reports to assess the impact of the project on student teachers and to what extent any influences survived when they gained their first teaching posts. A significant outcome was the perception of teaching shifting from the delivery of standard lessons in prescribed ways to endeavours demanding creativity and decision-making. Although school-based factors limited newly qualified teachers' chances to use new lessons and approaches and therefore act as change-agents in schools, the ability to critique curriculum materials and the recognition of the need to create space for professional dialogue were durable gains

The host ubiquitin-dependent segregase VCP/p97 is required for the onset of human cytomegalovirus replication

The human cytomegalovirus major immediate early proteins IE1 and IE2 are critical drivers of virus replication and are considered pivotal in determining the balance between productive and latent infection. IE1 and IE2 are derived from the same primary transcript by alternative splicing and regulation of their expression likely involves a complex interplay between cellular and viral factors. Here we show that knockdown of the host ubiquitin-dependent segregase VCP/p97, results in loss of IE2 expression, subsequent suppression of early and late gene expression and, ultimately, failure in virus replication. RNAseq analysis showed increased levels of IE1 splicing, with a corresponding decrease in IE2 splicing following VCP knockdown. Global analysis of viral transcription showed the expression of a subset of viral genes is not reduced despite the loss of IE2 expression, including UL112/113. Furthermore, Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that VCP strongly colocalised with the viral replication compartments in the nucleus. Finally, we show that NMS-873, a small molecule inhibitor of VCP, is a potent HCMV antiviral with potential as a novel host targeting therapeutic for HCMV infection

Human cytomegalovirus latency-associated proteins elicit immune-suppressive IL-10 producing CD4⁺ T cells.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widely prevalent human herpesvirus, which, after primary infection, persists in the host for life. In healthy individuals, the virus is well controlled by the HCMV-specific T cell response. A key feature of this persistence, in the face of a normally robust host immune response, is the establishment of viral latency. In contrast to lytic infection, which is characterised by extensive viral gene expression and virus production, long-term latency in cells of the myeloid lineage is characterised by highly restricted expression of viral genes, including UL138 and LUNA. Here we report that both UL138 and LUNA-specific T cells were detectable directly ex vivo in healthy HCMV seropositive subjects and that this response is principally CD4⁺ T cell mediated. These UL138-specific CD4⁺ T cells are able to mediate MHC class II restricted cytotoxicity and, importantly, show IFNγ effector function in the context of both lytic and latent infection. Furthermore, in contrast to CDCD4⁺ T cells specific to antigens expressed solely during lytic infection, both the UL138 and LUNA-specific CD4⁺ T cell responses included CD4⁺ T cells that secreted the immunosuppressive cytokine cIL-10. We also show that cIL-10 expressing CD4⁺ T-cells are directed against latently expressed US28 and UL111A. Taken together, our data show that latency-associated gene products of HCMV generate CD4⁺ T cell responses in vivo, which are able to elicit effector function in response to both lytic and latently infected cells. Importantly and in contrast to CD4⁺ T cell populations, which recognise antigens solely expressed during lytic infection, include a subset of cells that secrete the immunosuppressive cytokine cIL-10. This suggests that HCMV skews the T cell responses to latency-associated antigens to one that is overall suppressive in order to sustain latent carriage in vivo

The place of values in the aims of school science education

Debates about the aims of school science education are perennial (e.g., Reiss & White, 2014; see also Kidman & Fensham, Chapter “ Intended, Achieved and Unachieved Values of Science Education” this volume), particularly in Western cultures. In this chapter we review some of these arguments about the aims of school science education, and look at what has changed in the last decade since one of us (Michael) considered a similar debate (see Reiss, 2007). We have situated this review of arguments in current global circumstances including rapid technological advances, a continuing demand for workers with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) qualifications and the increasing acknowledgement of the deeply worrying effects that humans have on the Earth’s ecology, and indeed its future. Part of our argument is that decisions about the aims of school science education are inevitably decisions about values in education in general and values in school science education more specifically. This means that for a country, a group of schools, an individual school or a classroom teacher to come to a view about the aims of science education in the classroom is to have made a judgement, implicitly or explicitly, about values