E-Pedagogy of Handheld Devices 2013 Survey: Patterns of student use for learning

The Pedagogy of Ebooks (E-Ped) project began in 2012 and seeks to document, analyse and explain the changing study practices of UK distance learning students as they employ, adapt and integrate the use of new portable digital devices such as e-book readers and tablets into their learning. This report describes the results of an undergraduate survey undertaken in 2013 at the Open University (UK) which asked students how they used e-readers, tablets and smartphones for study. This research represents a snapshot of the rapidly changing interaction between technology and education, and highlights issues and opportunities for Higher Education in supporting student adoption of appropriate technologies and development of effective new methods of study

Learning nests and local habitations

In this paper, we return to two descriptions of the ways that learning is located in technology enhanced environments. The idea of a local habitation arose in the context of an ecological view of the way people shaped new technologies for their own needs and it stood in opposition to the idea that new media and technologies led to inevitable consequences. The second term learning ‘nests’ arose out of research that focused on student study-bedrooms. Both terms were useful in humanising the relationships between new networked technologies and their users and locating the students and teachers who made use of them. We revisit the idea of learning nests understood as a local habitation using data collected as part of an ESRC funded project examining The Net Generation encountering e-learning at university. The report is based on 19 first year undergraduate students who took part in a cultural probe exercise. During 24 hours they received SMS text messages and recorded answers to a fixed set of prompt questions either using a small hand held video camera or using a small notebook. Our findings illustrate how students give meaning to the array of technologies and services they are presented with. They show that the technological landscape has changed markedly in the past 10 years but that student practices do not seem to have moved as quickly. Students still use the kinds of learning spaces they used 10 years ago despite the increased availability of network access to the Internet and the increased ownership and availability of mobile devices. An area where there has been significant change is in the social character of students’ engagements with networked technologies and the integration of the mobile phone, social networking and other social technologies into the everyday fabric of student life. However there is little evidence of significant change in student practices in terms of the adoption of mobile network access from this research and this should lead to caution in making predictions of change

Exploring the occupational experiences of livestock farmers during drought: A narrative inquiry

Introduction: For much of the 21st century, Australia has endured the most prolonged and severe drought since records began. This drought has been found to have negative and long-lasting consequences upon both the physical and mental well-being of farmers and their families. To date, however, no research has examined the experience of drought from an occupational perspective. Objective: This study aims to explore the way in which drought impacts upon the lived experience of the farming role and the way in which the occupational identity of farmers influences the meanings attributed, and response to, drought. Methods: Narrative inquiry and thematic analysis were used to explore the experiences of drought among six farming men and four farming women from Northern Queensland. Findings: Four inter-related themes were identified. These being: ‘Becoming a farmer – Rites of passage on entry to the farming role’; ‘Farmers as guardians over the land’; ‘Drought as siege’ and; ‘Leisure occupations as temporary bridges to a world beyond drought’. Each of these themes offer insights into the way in which drought comes to be understood by farmers and, in turn, experienced and responded to. Conclusion: By better understanding the occupational experiences of farmers during drought, resources can be more effectively targeted towards promoting occupational balance and well-being. Interventions aimed at reframing the way in which the farming role is conceptualised from a young age and supporting occupations beyond farming as bridges to the outside world may be effective in achieving positive outcomes during drought

Understanding methods of wound debridement

Autolytic debridement describes the body's natural method of wound-bed cleansing, helping it to prepare the wound bed for healing. In acute wounds, autolytic debridement occurs automatically and often does not require intervention, as during the inflammatory stage of a wound, neutrophils and macrophages digest and removes devitalised tissue, cell debris and contaminants, clearing the wound of any cellular barriers to healing. In chronic wounds, by contrast, healing is often delayed, frequently because of inadequate debridement. The autolytic process becomes overwhelmed by high levels of endotoxins released from damaged tissue (Broadus, 2013). Therefore wound debridement becomes an integral part of chronic-wound management and practitioners involved in wound care must be fully competent at wound-bed assessment and have an awareness of the options available for debridement. This article will review wound-bed assessment, highlighting variations in devitalised tissue, and explore options available for wound debridement, taking into consideration patients’ pain and quality of life

Differential expression of cyclin-dependent kinases in the adult human retina in relation to CDK inhibitor retinotoxicity

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are a family of kinases associated predominantly with cell cycle control, making CDK inhibitors interesting candidates for anti-cancer therapeutics. However, retinal toxicity (loss of photoreceptors) has been associated with CDK inhibitors, including the pan-CDK inhibitor AG-012896. The purpose of this research was to use a novel planar sectioning technique to determine CDK expression profiles in the ex vivo human retina with the aim of identifying isoforms responsible for CDK retinotoxicity. Four CDK isoforms (CDK11, 16, 17 and 18) were selected as a result of IC50 data comparing neurotoxic (AG-012986 and NVP-1) and non-neurotoxic (dinaciclib and NVP-2) CDK inhibitors, with IC50s at CDK11 showing a clear difference between the neurotoxic and non-neurotoxic drugs. CDK11 was maximally expressed in the photoreceptor layer, whereas CDK16, 17 and 18 showed maximal expression in the inner nuclear layer. CDK5 (an isoform associated with retinal homeostasis) was maximally expressed in the retinal ganglion cell layer. Apart from CDK18, each isoform showed expression in the photoreceptor layer. The human Müller cell line MIO-M1 expressed CDK5, 11, 16 and 17 and AG-01298 (0.02–60 µM) caused a dose-dependent increase in MIO-M1 cell death. In conclusion, CDK11 appears the most likely candidate for mediation of photoreceptor toxicity. RNA profiling can be used to determine the distribution of genes of interest in relation to retinal toxicity in the human retina

Influence of seabird nutrient input on intertidal ecology in the Farne Islands, Northumberland

Seabirds are keystone species, providing inter-habitat connectivity by transporting vast quantities of nutrients from their pelagic feeding grounds to terrestrial and marine ecosystems, dictating community structure and dynamics, and providing multiple ecosystem services. This flow of nutrients is being disrupted by human activities, such as invasive species, and seabirds are now one of the most threatened bird groups. Whether seabird nutrients are cycling through nearshore, temperate systems, in particular in the United Kingdom (UK), impacting biodiversity and productivity, and how these inputs may vary temporally, remains unknown. The impact of nutrient subsidies to the Farne Islands, Northumberland, areas of high seabird densities during breeding season, was compared to nearby low seabird density areas on the Northumberland coast. Seabird densities and nitrogen inputs of up to 2334 and 1054 times higher, respectively, on seabird islands resulted in both substantially enriched nitrogen stable isotope (δ15N) values and higher total nitrogen content in terrestrial and intertidal organisms, including soil, terrestrial plants, lichen, barnacles, and limpets, and just higher δ15N values in macroalgae and turf algae. Temporal variation was also detected, though, surprisingly, nitrogen loads were higher during early breeding season. Some support was found for increased biodiversity in intertidal areas of seabird islands, in higher densities of intertidal predators and marginally greater algal species richness, though diversity differences were small overall. A marginal difference in limpet size was found, whilst on plots artificially cleared to simulate a disturbance event, barnacles were unexpectedly found to recolonise faster on mainland sites, which was likely caused by the mainland’s increased exposure level. These findings provide evidence that seabirds are cycling pelagic nutrients into terrestrial and intertidal ecosystems on UK islands, though support for seabird nutrient input increasing biodiversity and productivity was mixed. Given the threats to seabirds globally, these findings promote seabird conservation, including the removal of invasive species, such as rat eradication programmes

Distance Learners’ Use of Handheld Technologies: Mobile Learning Activity, Changing Study Habits, and the ‘Place’ of Anywhere Learning

This study investigates how and where distance learners use handheld devices and the impact this has on learning habits, access to learning content and quality of work. It analyses the spatial dimension of ‘anytime anywhere’ learning and, with a focus on anywhere learning, it explores students’ ongoing negotiation of the flow between and across study locations. The study concludes by proposing two new concepts: the ‘flow of places’ and ‘place of space.’ These should help direct the framing of future studies into the places, spaces, and mobility of formal and informal seamless learning. A dataset comprising 446 responses from undergraduate students enrolled at the UK’s largest distance learning university was analysed in respect to three research questions. All age groups, study levels, and disciplines were represented. Five key findings are: students now use handheld devices for study-related learning; the distribution of study-related learning tasks was similar in all seven study places; there is a strong, statistically-significant correlation between the number of study places in which handheld are used and the number of study task types performed; two fifths of students using a handheld device for learning have noticed a change in study habit and benefit to learning; and multiple regression analysis shows three variables (number of study places, number of study tasks, and change in study habits) are predictors of finding it easier to access learning materials and improved quality of learners’ work

Factors affecting the population dynamics of the Skomer vole, Clethrionomys glareolus skomerensis

This thesis describes a twelve year study of the Skomer vole (Clethrionomys glareolus skomerensis) which highlighted remarkable similarities between the voles' biology and that of other island rodents. Capture-recapture trapping provided demographic data. The population fluctuated annually with a trough at the beginning and a peak at the end of the breeding season. There was no regular multi-annual population cycle. Densities between 58/ha and 475/ha were recorded. Most young were produced by over-wintered animals; few animals bred in the year of birth. The numbers of adult males present during the breeding season varied little from year to year; the number of adult females was more variable. A removal experiment showed that interactions with adult females did not prevent the maturation of females in the year of birth. The dispersion of adult males and females was random. Intrinsic population regulation was by reduced litter size, a shortened breeding season and delayed maturation of both sexes. Extrinsic factors appeared to influence the timing of the breeding season and the maturation of animals in the year of birth. Factors affecting the over-winter survival of females and the survival of young of both sexes during the breeding season were thought to be important in regulating the population. The animals required dense cover and were closely associated with bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and bluebells (Endymion non-scriptus). Dense grass under the bracken led to a reduced vole population. The voles' diet consisted mainly of bracken, bluebells and grass; they ate little animal material. They had an annual fat cycle with a winter peak. Predation may have exerted a local effect but probably did not regulate the population. There was no link between haemoparasitic infections and fluctuations of the vole population. Infections with pneumotropic viruses may have played a part in limiting the population of voles.<p

A New Metric for Prioritising Intrusion Alerts Using Correlation and Outlier Analysis

In a medium sized network, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) could produce thousands of alerts a day many of which may be false positives. In the vast number of triggered intrusion alerts, identifying those to prioritise is highly challenging. Alert Correlation and prioritisation are both viable analytical methods which are commonly used to understand and prioritise alerts. However, to the author’s knowledge, very few dynamic prioritisation metrics exist. In this paper, a new prioritisation metric - OutMet, which is based on measuring the degree to which an alert belongs to anomalous behaviour is proposed. OutMet combines alert correlation and prioritisation analysis and in given attack scenarios, is capable of reducing false positives by upto 100%. The metric is tested and evaluated using the recently developed cyber-range dataset provided by Northrop Grumman