Learning for change : Cross-disciplinary postgraduate programmes in sustainability

Through connecting the local and global, higher education institutions play a vital role in addressing social, environmental and economic challenges and ultimately achieving a sustainable future. New Horizons: Responding to the Challenges of the 21st Century (Scottish Government, 2008), outlines the contributions which Scottish universities should make to the economy, culture and society, and to the political priorities of the Scottish Government. Learning for Change: Scotland’s Action Plan for the Second Half of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (Scottish Government, 2010) examines progress to date and sets out the actions that higher education institutions have committed to undertaking in the second half of the decade and beyond. These two important documents provide the context for work that has taken place at the University of Strathclyde in response to the challenges set out within them. The University of Strathclyde has been ranked first in the Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Observatory Report 2008 and plans to build on this success. The challenges presented by Sustainable Development are inherently holistic, demanding equal responses from all disciplines and this requires the development of a framework for University-wide, cross disciplinary teaching. This paper describes work that has taken place within the University to develop a new university-wide, multi-disciplinary, Strathclyde Masters programme in Sustainability (SMS) aimed at articulating a framework for integrating flagship postgraduate courses & classes, sustainability literacy, skills training workshops and subsequent continuing professional development courses. Conclusions are presented from the three main bodies of work involved: a review of current thinking in ESD; a multi-stakeholder consultation process involving students, academic and professional services staff within the university, and external stakeholders, and the creation of a Sustainability Map detailing current postgraduate provision of ESD at the University

Towards a framework for university-wide postgraduate programmes in sustainability

The role of Higher Education Institutions in addressing social, environmental, and economic challenges and opportunities in today's world is immense, complex, and vital (GUNI, 2008). Traditionally responses to sustainable development (SD) have been concentrated within specific subjects, however there has been a gradual penetration of sustainability issues into a wide spectrum of disciplines (HEA, February 2009. The definition and priorities of SD are complex and multi-layered and the challenges presented, being inherently holistic, require equal responses from all disciplines. This requires the development of a framework for University-wide, cross disciplinary teaching. The University of Strathclyde has been ranked first in the Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Observatory Report 2008. Building on this success, work is underway to develop a university-wide, interdisciplinary Strathclyde Masters programme in Sustainability (SMS, aimed at articulating a framework for integrating flagship postgraduate courses & classes, sustainability literacy & skills training workshops. This paper summarises the theories of sustainability and its inherent interdisciplinary nature by examining current thinking in ESD. This has highlighted the need to review the current curriculum, identifying current interdisciplinary provision aligned with ESD, and implement a multistakeholder consultation process. The paper describes how these theories might be put into practice, detailing the conclusions drawn from the initial consultation process involving external organisations, students, academic staff and the university's professional services. In addition, a model 'Sustainability Map' is presented offering an overview of postgraduate provision of ESD within the institution as a whole, alongside details of the courses offered and contributing departments. The outcome of the multistakeholder consultation process, in conjunction with the 'Sustainability Map', will help inform future consultation focusing on structural refinement and the academic content of the interdisciplinary programme

10 out of 10 for Scottish school design? : providing an accessible, sustainable environment for 21st century education

This paper describes an on-going research project which aims to measure the extent to which the social model of disability is embedded within the school design process in Scotland. Proponents of the disability movement have called for societal structures to be reconceived based on the divergent capacities of the individual. The social model of disability can be used to explain the way in which disability is conceptualised as a barrier created by external factors which is imposed over and above an individual’s impairment. This model is used as a basis for conceiving a ‘social model of architecture’ and exploring the progress of architectural practice in responding to change. The largest school building programme in the history of Scotland has taken place, yet there is no conclusive research evaluating the performance of accessible design. This project investigates the inclusive education discourse in Scotland and its relevance to the built environment, the extent to which best practice guidelines are being met and the degree to which accessibility is considered throughout different stages of the design process. Results will be analysed to discuss the extent to which the social model is embedded within current school design and the case of Scotland’s schools will be used to develop a framework for implementation which takes into consideration a holistic view of the entire design process

NetEvo: A computational framework for the evolution of dynamical complex networks

NetEvo is a computational framework designed to help understand the evolution of dynamical complex networks. It provides flexible tools for the simulation of dynamical processes on networks and methods for the evolution of underlying topological structures. The concept of a supervisor is used to bring together both these aspects in a coherent way. It is the job of the supervisor to rewire the network topology and alter model parameters such that a user specified performance measure is minimised. This performance measure can make use of current topological information and simulated dynamical output from the system. Such an abstraction provides a suitable basis in which to study many outstanding questions related to complex system design and evolution

Assaying protein palmitoylation in plants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein S-acylation (also known as palmitoylation) is the reversible post-translational addition of acyl lipids to cysteine residues in proteins through a thioester bond. It allows strong association with membranes. Whilst prediction methods for S-acylation exist, prediction is imperfect. Existing protocols for demonstrating the S-acylation of plant proteins are either laborious and time consuming or expensive.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe a biotin switch method for assaying the S-acylation of plant proteins. We demonstrate the technique by showing that the heterotrimeric G protein subunit AGG2 is S-acylated as predicted by mutagenesis experiments. We also show that a proportion of the Arabidopsis alpha-tubulin subunit pool is S-acylated <it>in planta</it>. This may account for the observed membrane association of plant microtubules. As alpha-tubulins are ubiquitously expressed they can potentially be used as a positive control for the S-acylation assay regardless of the cell type under study.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We provide a robust biotin switch protocol that allows the rapid assay of protein S-acylation state in plants, using standard laboratory techniques and without the need for expensive or specialised equipment. We propose alpha-tubulin as a useful positive control for the protocol.</p

A Theoretical Model for ROP Localisation by Auxin in Arabidopsis Root Hair Cells

Local activation of Rho GTPases is important for many functions including cell polarity, morphology, movement, and growth. Although a number of molecules affecting Rho-of-Plants small GTPase (ROP) signalling are known, it remains unclear how ROP activity becomes spatially organised. Arabidopsis root hair cells produce patches of ROP at consistent and predictable subcellular locations, where root hair growth subsequently occurs.We present a mathematical model to show how interaction of the plant hormone auxin with ROPs could spontaneously lead to localised patches of active ROP via a Turing or Turing-like mechanism. Our results suggest that correct positioning of the ROP patch depends on the cell length, low diffusion of active ROP, a gradient in auxin concentration, and ROP levels. Our theory provides a unique explanation linking the molecular biology to the root hair phenotypes of multiple mutants and transgenic lines, including OX-ROP, CA-rop, aux1, axr3, tip1, eto1, etr1, and the triple mutant aux1 ein2 gnom(eb).We show how interactions between Rho GTPases (in this case ROPs) and regulatory molecules (in this case auxin) could produce characteristic subcellular patterning that subsequently affects cell shape. This has important implications for research on the morphogenesis of plants and other eukaryotes. Our results also illustrate how gradient-regulated Turing systems provide a particularly robust and flexible mechanism for pattern formation

Towards an engineering theory of evolution

Effective biological engineering requires the acknowledgement of evolution and its consideration during the design process. In this perspective, the authors present the concept of the evotype to reason about and shape the evolutionary potential of natural and engineered biosystems

Understanding metabolic flux behaviour in whole-cell model output

Whole-cell modelling is a newly expanding field that has many applications in lab experiment design and predictive drug testing. Although whole-cell model output contains a wealth of information, it is complex and high dimensional and thus hard to interpret. Here, we present an analysis pipeline that combines machine learning, dimensionality reduction, and network analysis to interpret and visualise metabolic reaction fluxes from a set of single gene knockouts simulated in the Mycoplasma genitalium whole-cell model. We found that the reaction behaviours show trends that correlate with phenotypic classes of the simulation output, highlighting particular cellular subsystems that malfunction after gene knockouts. From a graphical representation of the metabolic network, we saw that there is a set of reactions that can be used as markers of a phenotypic class, showing their importance within the network. Our analysis pipeline can support the understanding of the complexity of in silico cells without detailed knowledge of the constituent parts, which can help to understand the effects of gene knockouts and, as whole-cell models become more widely built and used, aid genome design