Molecular and cellular basis of Exogen and Anagen induction

The hair follicle has the unique capacity to pass through periods of growth, regression and rest before regenerating itself to restart the cycle. This dynamic cycling capacity enables animals to change their coats, and for hair length to be controlled at different body sites. While progress has been made on some of the outstanding questions in hair follicle biology, many of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in driving hair follicle cycling remain undiscovered. The first section of work in this thesis reports on the dermal papilla, an essential component of the hair follicle with a key role in follicle regeneration. Using hanging drop cultures spheres of human dermal papilla cells were created, and the expression of cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix components characteristic of intact papillae were analysed using immunohistochemistry and real time PCR. I found evidence that over time the gene and protein expression profiles of the papilla cell spheres became more representative of intact dermal papillae, although differences were seen between papilla cells strains derived from different individuals. I then demonstrated the inductive capability of human dermal papilla cells using this spherical model in an amputated follicle assay. This data provides some of the first evidence that cultured human dermal papilla cells can retain inductive capacity without having to be combined with other cell types. This induction phenomenon may also have relevance to anagen initiation and cycling. The second section of this thesis was concentrated on the process of club fibre shedding, now widely recognised as a phase of the follicle cycle known as exogen. The vibrissa follicle, with its predictable timing of club fibre loss, was first developed as a new model for exogen, and the structural and adhesive changes associated with the progression towards club fibre release were analysed using SEM and ТЕМ. Combined with plucking experiments these showed club loss to be gradual process. The expression of proteins involved in cell adhesion, differentiation, communication and digestion, all potential mediators of fibre loss were examined around "young “and "old" club fibres using immunohistochemistry. To further assess the mechanism of exogen, and to search for signalling molecules microarray technology was utilised, enabling the identification of 75 genes that were associated with the process. Group analysis highlighted a particular role for proteases and their inhibitors in the retention and final release of the club fibre. Moreover, immunofluorescent analysis of the results from the microarray identified a process of differentiation, specific to the cell layer surrounding the club fibre prior to club fibre release. This data provides evidence that the process of exogen is progressive, associated with maturation of the cells surrounding the club fibre, and terminating with the release of the club fibre. The processes involved in club fibre release are becoming more widely recognised as an important aspect of the hair cycle and this thesis is one of the first comprehensive pieces of work that analyses club retention and release as an active phase

The Preparation and Self-Efficacy of Teachers of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

Inadequate preparation, combined with challenging work conditions, contribute to the shortage of skilled special educators in the United States (Levenson, 2011). Because teacher quality is linked to student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2001), the discrepancy in access to qualified teachers has remained a serious issue, particularly for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD), whose intensive needs present great obstacles to learning. Although the research identifies strong content knowledge and social emotional competence as critical skills for educators (Bridgeland, Bruce, & Hariharan, 2012; Shulman, 1986), current standards for licensure (as they apply to EBD teachers) largely overlook these attributes (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2011a), leaving teachers poorly equipped to address the needs of the students in their classrooms and making them more vulnerable to burnout (Adams, 2013). This mixed methods study explored the issues of teacher preparation and self-efficacy as they relate to secondary special educators who serve students with EBD in Massachusetts. This research employed a sequential explanatory design, utilizing 118 surveys and six telephone interviews to: (a) identify how secondary special educators who teach students with EBD are prepared; (b) explore their self-efficacy regarding their ability to teach secondary level content and to respond to the social and emotional needs of their students; and (c) understand how they explain the factors that influence their self-efficacy in the classroom. Results revealed the limited effect of credentials (such as licensure and/or a degree) on EBD teacher self-efficacy as well as the impact of school culture. In particular, several implications emerged related to the preparation and support of this population of teachers: (a) content area credentials had no bearing on teacher self-efficacy and (b) special education credentials negatively impacted self-efficacy for teaching content, while (c) training in social and emotional learning positively impacted self-efficacy related to social emotional responsiveness and special education pedagogy. Additionally, results suggested that (d) private school employment increased self-efficacy for teaching content and (e) administrative support strengthened self-efficacy for applying special education strategies. Findings may be useful to school districts, educator preparation programs, and policymakers as they consider how to support educators in this field

Nobody feels safe: vulnerability, fear and the micro-politics of ordinary voice in crime news television

The new prominence of ordinary voice in crime journalism – claims to have seen things, experienced things, felt things ‘first-hand’ – has the potential to decenter elite perspectives and open up crime news narratives to the voices of systemically criminalized subjects. However, I argue in this paper that the political potential of ordinary voice can only be realized in and through concrete instances of its use, and so needs to be examined within news texts as sites of micro-political struggle over meaning. Looking at Australian current affairs television coverage of so-called ‘African gang’ crime in Melbourne, this paper approaches crime news texts as sites of vulnerability politics, where different and sometimes competing claims to vulnerability encounter one another and struggle for public recognition. A close multi-modal analysis of three episodes of current affairs television uncovers four specific strategies of textual composition and presentation by which the criminalization of Black African youth is able to persist despite the testimonial interventions of the criminalized: appropriation, marginalization, subjugation and calculation. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this analysis for future studies of ordinary voice and citizen testimony in news reporting

The Belfast Youth Development Study (BYDS): A prospective cohort study of the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use from adolescence to adulthood in Northern Ireland

Background: Substance misuse persists as a major public health issue worldwide with significant costs for society. The development of interventions requires methodologically sound studies to explore substance misuse causes and consequences. This Cohort description paper outlines the design of the Belfast Youth Development (BYDS), one of the largest cohort studies of its kind in the UK. The study was established to address the need for a long-term prospective cohort study to investigate the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use, alongside life course processes in adolescence and adulthood. The paper provides an overview of BYDS as a longitudinal data source for investigating substance misuse and outlines the study measures, sample retention and characteristics. We also outline how the BYDS data have been used to date and highlight areas ripe for future work by interested researchers. Methods: The study began in 2000/1 when participants (n = 3,834) were pupils in their first year of post-primary education (age 10/11 years, school year 8) from over 40 schools in Northern Ireland. Children were followed during the school years: Year 9 (in 2002; aged 12; n = 4,343), Year 10 (in 2003; aged 13; n = 4,522), Year 11 (in 2004; aged 14; n = 3,965) and Year 12 (in 2005; aged 15; n = 3,830) and on two more occasions: 2006/07 (aged 16/17; n = 2,335) and 2010/11 (aged 20/21; n = 2,087). Data were collected on substance use, family, schools, neighbourhoods, offending behaviour and mental health. The most novel aspect of the study was the collection of detailed social network data via friendship nominations allowing the investigation of the spread of substance use via friendship networks. In 2004 (school year 11; respondents aged 14), a sub-sample of participants’ parents (n = 1,097) and siblings (n = 211) also completed measures on substance use and family dynamics. Results: The most recent wave (in 2010/2011; respondents aged 20/21 years) indicated lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis among the cohort was 94, 70 and 45 per cent, respectively. The paper charts the development of drug use behaviour and some of the key results to date are presented. We have also identified a number of key areas ripe for analysis by interested researchers including sexual health and education. Conclusions: We have established a cohort with detailed data from adolescence to young adulthood, supplemented with parent and sibling reports and peer network data. The dataset, allowing for investigation of trajectories of adolescent substance use, associated factors and subsequent long-term outcomes, constitutes an important resource for longitudinal substance misuse research. A planned further wave as the cohort enter their late twenties and potential to link to administrative data sources, will further enrich the datasets

A4_8 The Power of Mjolnir

This paper calculates the maximum kinetic energy of Mjolnir can achieve being thrown by Thor and how much energy he can use from the redirection of lightning strikes during thunderstorms. The kinetic energy achieved from a throw was calculated to be 5.97 x 1018 J and the energy redirected from a single lightning flash was 108 J. It was also calculated that Thor could use the total power output of a thunderstorm equivalent to 2 x 1012 W

A4_4 Deeper Than Any Elephant Has Gone Before

 In this paper, the depth of an Olympic size swimming pool required to crush an elephant is calculated. The depth of the swimming pool required to half the volume of an elephant was calculated to be 1.02 x 106 m (1020km) equivalent to a pressure of 1.004 x 1010 Pa (approximately 100000 times that of atmospheric pressure). Although this is an overestimate, it shows the strength of bone

A4_3 The Human Barbecue

This paper considers the feasibility of the Human Torch, calculating the energy taken to turn a human body to plasma, generate a large amount of heat for long periods of time, and how much food would need to be consumed to provide the necessary energy. Johnny Storm's secondary power of absorbing thermal energy from his surroundings is also calculated as another way of fuelling his flames

Queer Vulnerability and Disaster Situations

The appropriateness of branding certain disaster events as a natural disaster continues to be academically debated, given that few disasters are solely the result of uncontrollable forces of nature, and are instead anthropogenic in their creation, or exacerbated by the relationship humans have with actual and potential hazards. Therefore, this socially constructed nature of disasters also makes groups that are marginalized within society, such as queer people, more vulnerable to these disasters. Utilizing a Bourdieusian framework, the field of disaster preparedness, management, and recovery is examined for queer vulnerability, which is deconstructed here as a product of global and local cultures, in their distribution of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic capital away from queer people. The concepts of habitus and subsidiary concepts of ethos and doxa are deployed to understand the ingrained ways of doing and being that perpetuate discrimination against queer individuals through said inequitable distributions of capital. It is argued that the field is privileged for heteronormative lives, thus leading to heteronormative assumptions and actions that further marginalize queer experiences before, during, and after disasters during disasters. In light of this, we call for a more social justice informed approach to disaster risk reduction and relief, in which heteronormativity is consciously decentered to ensure all groups are kept safe from disasters, which can arguably never be natural

A4_7 Supermassive (Interstellar) Black Hole

This paper considers the plausibility of an event from the 2014 film Interstellar. It states that an hour on a planet orbiting a supermassive back hole is equivalent to 7 years passing on Earth. Calculations made state that the planet is inside the minimum orbit for a planet around a black hole and would thus fall with a ballistic trajectory into the centre.However, a static system was assumed, so with an optically spinning black hole the planet may be in a stable orbit. A spacecraft orbiting at a distance unaffected by time dilation is also considered and found to be largely implausible

Queer vulnerability & resilience to natural disasters

So-called “natural disasters” have devastating impacts on society, and the increase in the frequency and intensity of these disasters due to climate change means the impact of these are an increasingly salient concern to all. However, previous research has shown the disproportionate impacts of said disasters on marginalised populations, including the queer community, who are vulnerable to these impacts before, during and after. Through the framework of social constructionism, this paper explores how we as a society create inequity for queer people, respond to disasters without inclusion and recover from them with exclusion is what makes them a disaster, and an unnatural one at that. The paper also looks to the queer community and their acts of resilience as a lever to recast them from the role of victim, whilst acknowledging the limitations and sometimes harmful impact of expecting individuals and groups to be resilient in the face of such disasters