Taking an ethics of care perspective on two university teacher training programmes

This paper shows the usefulness and interest of taking an ethics of care perspective to evaluate university teacher training programmes. More precisely, in this case study we use the five elements of care identified by Tronto – attentiveness, responsibility, competence, responsiveness and trust – to assess two multiple-day training programmes offered at the University of Geneva. We show how small changes in our practice such as giving some choice to the participants over the topics addressed, adapting the schedule to meet the participants’ constraints or dedicating time slots specifically for the questions and concerns raised by the participants can have a big impact on the level of care provided. We moreover argue that this framework brings interesting and novel elements that appropriately “counterbalances” traditional evaluations that are usually implicitly based on notions such as performance, efficiency and measurability. Finally, we briefly explain how the ethics of care could be used a basis to not only evaluate but to rethink and elaborate training programmes

Syntheses of 4′-thioribonucleosides and thermodynamic stability and crystal structure of RNA oligomers with incorporated 4′-thiocytosine

A facile synthetic route for the 4′-thioribonucleoside building block 4′SN (N = U, C, A and G) with the ribose O4′ replaced by sulfur is presented. Conversion of l-lyxose to 1,5-di-O-acetyl-2,3-di-O-benzoyl-4-thio-d-ribofuranose was achieved via an efficient four-step synthesis with high yield. Conversion of the thiosugar into the four ribonucleoside phosphoramidite building blocks was accomplished with additional four steps in each case. Incorporation of 4′-thiocytidines into oligoribonucleotides improved the thermal stability of the corresponding duplexes by ∼1°C per modification, irrespective of whether the strand contained a single modification or a consecutive stretch of 4′SC residues. The gain in thermodynamic stability is comparable to that observed with oligoribonucleotides containing 2′-O-methylated residues. To establish potential conformational changes in RNA as a result of the 4′-thio modification and to better understand the origins of the observed stability changes, the crystal structure of the oligonucleotide 5′-r(CC4′SCCGGGG) was determined and analyzed using the previously solved structure of the native RNA octamer as a reference. The two 4′-thioriboses adopt conformations that are very similar to the C3′-endo pucker observed for the corresponding sugars in the native duplex. Subtle changes in the local geometry of the modified duplex are mostly due to the larger radius of sulfur compared to oxygen or appear to be lattice-induced. The significantly increased RNA affinity of 4′-thio-modified RNA relative to RNA, and the relatively minor conformational changes caused by the modification render this nucleic acid analog an interesting candidate for in vitro and in vivo applications, including use in RNA interference (RNAi), antisense, ribozyme, decoy and aptamer technologie

Syntheses of 4′-thioribonucleosides and thermodynamic stability and crystal structure of RNA oligomers with incorporated 4′-thiocytosine

A facile synthetic route for the 4′-thioribonucleoside building block (4′S)N (N = U, C, A and G) with the ribose O4′ replaced by sulfur is presented. Conversion of l-lyxose to 1,5-di-O-acetyl-2,3-di-O-benzoyl-4-thio-d-ribofuranose was achieved via an efficient four-step synthesis with high yield. Conversion of the thiosugar into the four ribonucleoside phosphoramidite building blocks was accomplished with additional four steps in each case. Incorporation of 4′-thiocytidines into oligoribonucleotides improved the thermal stability of the corresponding duplexes by ∼1°C per modification, irrespective of whether the strand contained a single modification or a consecutive stretch of (4′S)C residues. The gain in thermodynamic stability is comparable to that observed with oligoribonucleotides containing 2′-O-methylated residues. To establish potential conformational changes in RNA as a result of the 4′-thio modification and to better understand the origins of the observed stability changes, the crystal structure of the oligonucleotide 5′-r(CC(4′S)CCGGGG) was determined and analyzed using the previously solved structure of the native RNA octamer as a reference. The two 4′-thioriboses adopt conformations that are very similar to the C3′-endo pucker observed for the corresponding sugars in the native duplex. Subtle changes in the local geometry of the modified duplex are mostly due to the larger radius of sulfur compared to oxygen or appear to be lattice-induced. The significantly increased RNA affinity of 4′-thio-modified RNA relative to RNA, and the relatively minor conformational changes caused by the modification render this nucleic acid analog an interesting candidate for in vitro and in vivo applications, including use in RNA interference (RNAi), antisense, ribozyme, decoy and aptamer technologies

Modelling glacier-bed overdeepenings and possible future lakes for the glaciers in the Himalaya—Karakoram region

Surface digital elevation models (DEMs) and slope-related estimates of glacier thickness enable modelling of glacier-bed topographies over large ice-covered areas. Due to the erosive power of glaciers, such bed topographies can contain numerous overdeepenings, which when exposed following glacier retreat may fill with water and form new lakes. In this study, the bed overdeepenings for ~28 000 glaciers (40 775 km²) of the Himalaya-Karakoram region are modelled using GlabTop2 (Glacier Bed Topography model version 2), in which ice thickness is inferred from surface slope by parameterizing basal shear stress as a function of elevation range for each glacier. The modelled ice thicknesses are uncertain (±30%), but spatial patterns of ice thickness and bed elevation primarily depend on surface slopes as derived from the DEM and, hence, are more robust. About 16 000 overdeepenings larger than 10⁴m² were detected in the modelled glacier beds, covering an area of ~2200 km² and having a volume of ~120km³ (3-4% of present-day glacier volume). About 5000 of these overdeepenings (1800 km²) have a volume larger than 10⁶m³. The results presented here are useful for anticipating landscape evolution and potential future lake formation with associated opportunities (tourism, hydropower) and risks (lake outbursts)

Parity violation in deuteron photo-disintegration

We analyze the energy dependence for two types of parity-non-conserving (PNC) asymmetries in the reaction $\gamma D\to np$ in the near-threshold region. The first one is the asymmetry in reaction with circularly polarized photon beam and unpolarized deuteron target. The second one corresponds to those with an unpolarized photon beam and polarized target. We find that the two asymmetries have quite different energy dependence, and their shapes are sensitive to the PNC-meson exchange coupling constants. The predictions for the future possible experiments to provide definite constraints for the PNC-coupling constants are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Phys.Rev.C 10Oct.0

Dependence of pp->pp pi0 near Threshold on the Spin of the Colliding Nucleons

A polarized internal atomic hydrogen target and a stored, polarized beam are used to measure the spin-dependent total cross section Delta_sigma_T/sigma_tot, as well as the polar integrals of the spin correlation coefficient combination A_xx-A_yy, and the analyzing power A_y for pp-> pp pi0 at four bombarding energies between 325 and 400 MeV. This experiment is made possible by the use of a cooled beam in a storage ring. The polarization observables are used to study the contribution from individual partial waves.Comment: 6 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, corrected equations 2 and

An experiment for the measurement of the bound-beta decay of the free neutron

The hyperfine-state population of hydrogen after the bound-beta decay of the neutron directly yields the neutrino left-handedness or a possible right-handed admixture and possible small scalar and tensor contributions to the weak force. Using the through-going beam tube of a high-flux reactor, a background free hydrogen rate of ca. 3 s$^{-1}$ can be obtained. The detection of the neutral hydrogen atoms and the analysis of the hyperfine states is accomplished by Lamb shift source type quenching and subsequent ionization. The constraints on the neutrino helicity and the scalar and tensor coupling constants of weak interaction can be improved by a factor of ten.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to EPJ

Surgeon experience with dynamic intraligamentary stabilization does not influence risk of failure

Purpose: Studies on dynamic intraligamentary stabilization (DIS) of acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures reported failure rates similar to those of conventional ACL reconstruction. This study aimed to determine whether surgeon experience with DIS is associated with revision rates or patient-reported outcomes. The hypothesis was that more experienced surgeons achieved better outcomes following DIS due to substantial learning curve. Methods: The authors prospectively enrolled 110 consecutive patients that underwent DIS and evaluated them at a minimum of 2 years. The effects of independent variables (surgeon experience, gender, age, adjuvant procedures, tear location, preinjury Tegner score, time from injury to surgery, and follow-up) on four principal outcomes (revision ACL surgery, any re-operation, IKDC and Lysholm score) were analyzed using univariable and multivariable regressions. Results: From the 110 patients enrolled, 14 patients (13%) were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 96 patients, 11 underwent revision ACL surgery, leaving 85 patients for clinical assessment at a mean of 2.2 +/- 0.4 years (range 2.0-3.8). Arthroscopic reoperations were performed in 26 (27%) patients, including 11 (11%) revision ACL surgeries. Multivariable regressions revealed: (1) no associations between the reoperation rate and the independent variables, (2) better IKDC scores for 'designer surgeons' (b = 10.7; CI 4.9-16.5; p < 0.001), higher preinjury Tegner scores (b = 2.5, CI 0.8-4.2; p = 0.005), and younger patients (b = 0.3, CI 0.0-0.6; p = 0.039), and (3) better Lysholm scores for 'designer surgeons' (b = 7.8, CI 2.8-12.8; p = 0.005) and preinjury Tegner score (b = 1.9, CI 0.5-3.4; p = 0.010). Conclusion: Surgeon experience with DIS was not associated with rates of revision ACL surgery or general re-operations. Future, larger-scaled studies are needed to confirm these findings. Patients operated by 'designer surgeons' had slightly better IKDC and Lysholm scores, which could be due to better patient selection and/or positively biased attitudes of both surgeons and patients