2,890 research outputs found
Developing sexual competence? Exploring strategies for the provision of effective sexualities and relationships education
School-based sexualities and relationships education (SRE) offers one of the most promising means of improving young people's sexual health through developing 'sexual competence'. In the absence of evidence on whether the term holds the same meanings for young people and adults (e.g. teachers, researchers, policy-makers), the paper explores 'adult' notions of sexual competence as construed in research data and alluded to in UK Government guidance on SRE, then draws on empirical research with young people on factors that affect the contexts, motivations and outcomes of sexual encounters, and therefore have implications for sexual competence. These data from young people also challenge more traditional approaches to sexualities education in highlighting disjunctions between the content of school-based input and their reported sexual experience. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these insights for developing a shared notion of what SRE is trying to achieve and suggestions for recognition in the content and approaches to SRE.</p
Development and validation of a tool to measure belongingness as a proxy for participation in undergraduate clinical learning
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.Background
âParticipationâ in a âcommunity of practiceâ is often proposed as a mechanism for clinical learning; however, the use of both terms is variable â ranging from technical to vernacular. Belongingness is a related single concept and development of a tool that measures belongingness may therefore be useful in adding to our understanding of when participation and hence learning takes place in clinical settings.
Methods
After identifying relevant material from the literature, a draft belongingness assessment tool was developed, based on previously published work. This was piloted on 181 undergraduate medical students and the results subjected to factor analysis. The final version was then used to identify whether differences exist between two different clinical teaching environments.
Results
Our belongingness assessment tool had internal and external validity, with Cronbachâs alpha = 0.940, and detected statistically significant differences between primary and secondary care teaching environments.
Conclusions
The belongingness scale described in this paper is a valid tool for the study of undergraduate medical students. This has the potential to investigate how variation in student experiences of participation in communities of practice influences learning. This tool revealed significant differences in student belongingness between primary and secondary care learning environments
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Understanding the influence of processing conditions on the extraction of rhamnogalacturonan-I âhairyâ pectin from sugar beet pulp
Sugar beet pectin is rich in rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) region, which is a potential source of prebiotics. RG-I
pectin cannot be extracted the same way as commercial homogalacturan-rich pectin using hot acid. Therefore,
this study has explored several alternative methods, including microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and conventional-
solvent extraction (CSE) at atmospheric pressure using different solvents, and microwave-assisted
hydrothermal extraction (MAHE) under pressure using water. No conclusive differences in microwave and
conventional heating were found with heating rate controlled. The optimum treatment times of both MAE and
CSE at 90 °C atmospheric pressure and regardless of the solvents used were 120 min; however, MAHE at 130 °C
under pressure can dramatically reduce the time to 10 min. Alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS) extracted using pH13
solvent by MAE had both the highest RG-I yield at 25.3% and purity at 260.2 mg/g AIS, followed by AIS extracts
using water by MAHE with 7.5% and 166.7 mg/g AIS respectively
Estimating Small Area Income Deprivation: An Iterative Proportional Fitting Approach
Small area estimation and in particular the estimation of small area income deprivation has
potential value in the development of new or alternative components of multiple deprivation
indices. These new approaches enable the development of income distribution threshold based
as opposed to benefit count based measures of income deprivation and so enable the
alignment of regional and national measures such as the Households Below Average Income
with small area measures. This paper briefly reviews a number of approaches to small area
estimation before describing in some detail an iterative proportional fitting based spatial
microsimulation approach. This approach is then applied to the estimation of small area HBAI
rates at the small area level in Wales in 2003-5. The paper discusses the results of this
approach, contrasts them with contemporary âofficialâ income deprivation measures for the
same areas and describes a range of ways to assess the robustness of the results
VLBI Images of 49 Radio Supernovae in Arp 220
We have used a Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) array at 18cm
wavelength to image the nucleus of the luminous IR galaxy Arp 220 at ~1 pc
linear resolution, and with very high sensitivity. The resulting map has an rms
of 5.5 microJy/beam, and careful image analysis results in 49 confirmed point
sources ranging in flux density from 1.2 mJy down to ~60 microJy. Comparison
with high sensitivity data from 12 months earlier reveals at least four new
sources. The favored interpretation of these sources is that they are radio
supernovae, and if all new supernovae are detectable at this sensitivity, a
resulting estimate of the supernova rate in the Arp 220 system is 4 +/- 2 per
year. The implied star formation rate is sufficient to power the entire
observed far-infrared luminosity of the galaxy. The two nuclei of Arp 220
exhibit striking similarities in their radio properties, though the western
nucleus is more compact, and appears to be ~3 times more luminous than the
eastern nucleus. There are also some puzzling differences, and differential
free-free absorption, synchrotron aging and expansion losses may all be playing
a role. Comparison with the nearby starburst galaxy M82 supports the hypothesis
that the activity in Arp 220 is essentially a scaled-up version of that in M82.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Ap.
Obligations in the Shade: The Application of Fiduciary Directorsâ Duties to Shadow Directors
This paper argues that shadow directors, as defined in English law, ought to owe the full range of directorsâ duties, both fiduciary and non-fiduciary, enacted in the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006), ss 171-177, to the relevant company under their influence. Following the enactment of the recent Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act (SBEEA) 2015, these general duties are likely to apply to shadow directors, although there is still a case to be made as to why shadow directors should owe fiduciary duties to the relevant company. It is argued here that such a relationship is fiduciary in nature, but the current approach deployed in the English courts, based upon the application of Finnâs originally formulated âundertakingâ test alone, is inadequate.
Given these inadequacies, it is proposed that the Canadian âpower and discretionâ test be deployed alongside the âundertakingâ test, in order to provide a far more comprehensive justification for the application of fiduciary obligations to shadow directors. This position is supported by establishing a theoretical basis for the âpower and discretionâ test, via Paul Millerâs âfiduciary powers theoryâ, as well as considering the application of such a test to shadow directors
VLBI Imaging of Luminous Infrared Galaxies: AGN Cores in Mrk231, UGC 5101 & NGC 7469
We report 18cm VLBI continuum imaging observations at 5 mas resolution for
UGC 5101, NGC 7469, and Mrk 231, all part of a sample of Luminous Infrared
Galaxies which have been shown to have strong VLBI radio cores. The radio
morphology of these three systems on VLBI scales is AGN-like, with well-defined
ridgelines and high-brightness yet spatially resolved components. The structure
and flux densities of these VLBI components are not consistent with starburst
generated radio supernovae of the type found in Arp 220. On scales of 100pc the
radio continuum in all three objects appears to be dominated by an AGN, not a
starburst. Radio emission on larger scales may well originate in a less compact
circumnuclear star-forming region.
Confirming and extending VLBI imaging of Mrk 231 by Ulvestad et al. (1999),
our continuum image shows a triple structure, with a core and two lobes,
classifying it as a Compact Symmetric Object (CS0). If the southern (primary)
lobe/hot-spot in Mrk 231 is confined by ram pressure, we estimate a lobe
advance speed, , and an age for the jet/compact source, . We have also imaged the 1667 MHz OH maser emission in Mrk 231, which
is extended on scales of 50--100 milliarcsec (40--80 pc) and probably coincides
with the inner region of the disk which is seen in CO emission and HI
absorption. Among OH megamasers studied at high sensitivity with mas
resolution, Mrk 231 is unique in the stringent upper limits placed upon the
flux density of compact OH structures of the type found in Arp 220 and other
LIGs. It is possible that the circumnuclear environment of Mrk 231 has been
sufficiently disrupted by the emergent QSO that the cool, dense clouds
necessary for such compact masers no longer exist.Comment: 43 pages, 7 figure
Target Selection for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2 Survey
APOGEE-2 is a high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopic survey observing
roughly 300,000 stars across the entire sky. It is the successor to APOGEE and
is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). APOGEE-2 is expanding
upon APOGEE's goals of addressing critical questions of stellar astrophysics,
stellar populations, and Galactic chemodynamical evolution using (1) an
enhanced set of target types and (2) a second spectrograph at Las Campanas
Observatory in Chile. APOGEE-2 is targeting red giant branch (RGB) and red
clump (RC) stars, RR Lyrae, low-mass dwarf stars, young stellar objects, and
numerous other Milky Way and Local Group sources across the entire sky from
both hemispheres. In this paper, we describe the APOGEE-2 observational design,
target selection catalogs and algorithms, and the targeting-related
documentation included in the SDSS data releases.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures. Accepted to A
A glycoconjugate of Haemophilus influenzae Type b capsular polysaccharide with tetanus toxoid protein: hydrodynamic properties mainly influenced by the carbohydrate
Three important physical properties which may affect the performance of glycoconjugate vaccines against serious disease are molar mass (molecular weight), heterogeneity (polydispersity), and conformational flexibility in solution. The dilute solution behaviour of native and activated capsular polyribosylribitol (PRP) polysaccharides extracted from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and the corresponding glycoconjugate made by conjugating this with the tetanus toxoid (TT) protein have been characterized and compared using a combination of sedimentation equilibrium and sedimentation velocity in the analytical ultracentrifuge with viscometry. The weight average molar mass of the activated material was considerably reduced (Mwâ~â0.24âĂâ106âg.molâ1) compared to the native (Mwâ~â1.2âĂâ106âg.molâ1). Conjugation with the TT protein yielded large polydisperse structures (of Mwâ~â7.4âĂâ106 g.molâ1), but which retained the high degree of flexibility of the native and activated polysaccharide, with frictional ratio, intrinsic viscosity, sedimentation conformation zoning behaviour and persistence length all commensurate with highly flexible coil behaviour and unlike the previously characterised tetanus toxoid protein (slightly extended and hydrodynamically compact structure with an aspect ratio of ~3). This non-protein like behaviour clearly indicates that it is the carbohydrate component which mainly influences the physical behaviour of the glycoconjugate in solution
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