A Sandwich Snack for Mr Grinling: A design and technology project

The following design and technology project was carried out in the autumn term of 200 I with a Year 2 and 3 class in a small rural primary school. There were 25 children in the class. The project was carried out on a Thursday and Friday afternoon for four weeks

Exploring employer behaviour in relation to Investors in People

"This report explores employer behaviour in relation to choices they make about Investors in People (IIP) accreditation in order for the future IIP strategy to ensure IIP is relevant, adds value to employers and tackles any barriers to successful delivery. The research focuses on the decision-making processes and experiences of three key groups of employers: employers that have held IIP accreditation for a number of years; employers who previously held IIP accreditation but have let this lapse; and employers who committed to gaining IIP accreditation but subsequently did not to go through the assessment process" - page 1

The threshold of 'normality' : transformation in theatre for adults with learning disabilities and recovering from mental illness

This thesis explores the change that occurs through the experience of Applied Theatre and participatory drama with specific participant groups: adults with learning disabilities, and those recovering from mental illness. Termed 'transformation' through an anthropological perspective of theatre and subsequent links with ritual theory, the thesis asks how and why this change (and the potential for it) can be identified through the fictive situation offered by participation in drama or theatre. This analysis occurs through the application of a particular theory: Turner's liminality (1969). Turner's (1969) theory of ritual, following Van Gennep (1977) is applied to discussion of practical field work with seven different groups to unravel the relationships between individual and group, the pretence and the real, and the self within the pretence and the real. Methodological and ethical issues arising from this are discussed. Turner's theory of the 'liminal zone': the space 'in between' one state in ritual and the next, is applied to the space of the 'theatre event' in both making (the process) and performing (the product) drama and theatre. Turner's 'communitas' is outlined as a description of the human group connection that occurs during this making and performing. The conceptual relationship between the social form of reality and the aesthetic form of pretence is discussed with reference to the work of Schechner (1988). The potential of a different objective self is of particular relevance for these participant groups because the fiction challenges the social categorisation of these groups imposed by contemporary British society. One outcome of the research is the recognition of this correlation between the fiction and reality. The participants recognise their ability as objective selves (within the pretence) and this contributes to a changed perception of their subjective selves (beyond the pretence). This is affirmed by the witnessing of the changes effected by the pretence and underlines the importance of the group within the theatre event. This transformation is outlined as a reflexive cycle, drawing on research in Health and Social Care, and in disability politics, in situating the participants as active contributors to the research practice

Randomised controlled trial of fish oil supplement to treat cancer cachexia

Patients with advanced cancer often suffer from cachexia, a debilitating and complex extreme weight loss syndrome which is also associated with shorter survival times. A pragmatic randomised controlled trial was conducted to determine whether an oral nutritional supplement containing the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was able to improve quality of life and survival times of patients with advanced solid tumour cancer in a mixed tumour cancer type population

Using Data Visualization to Demonstrate Outcomes—Examples From Ripple Effects Mapping

If you have conducted a ripple effects mapping (REM) event, you may have wondered What is the best way to use these data, and what are some creative options for sharing the findings? REM involves a mind mapping approach to evaluation and is an effective way to collect qualitative data that document the direct and indirect impacts of complex programs and projects. We provide examples of visual ways to display the gathered data and describe how to use the information to elevate your program outcomes

A Theoretically Based Model of Rat Personality with Implications for Welfare

As animal personality research becomes more central to the study of animal behavior, there is increasing need for theoretical frameworks addressing its causes and consequences. We propose that regulatory focus theory (RFT) could serve as one such framework while also providing insights into how animal personality relates to welfare. RFT distinguishes between two types of approach motivation: promotion, the motivation to approach gains, and prevention, the motivation to approach or maintain safety. Decades of research have established the utility of RFT as a model of human behavior and recent evidence from zoo-housed primates and laboratory rats has suggested that it may be applicable to nonhuman animal behavior as well. Building on these initial studies, we collected data on 60 rats, Rattus norvegicus, navigating an automated maze that allowed individuals to maintain darkness (indicative of prevention/safety-approach motivation) and/or activate food rewards (indicative of promotion/gain-approach motivation). As predicted, both behaviors showed stable individual differences (Ps <0.01) and were inversely associated with physiological signs of chronic stress, possibly indicating poor welfare (Ps <0.05). Subsequently, half the rats were exposed to a manageable threat (noxious novel object) in the homecage. Re-testing in the maze revealed that threat exposure increased darkness time achieved (P<0.05), suggesting a mechanism by which prevention motivation may be enhanced. These results point toward the potential utility of RFT as a model for animal behavior and welfare

How Enrichment Affects Exploration Trade-Offs in Rats: Implications for Welfare and Well-Being

We propose that a comparative approach to well-being could be the key to understanding 'the good life.' Inspired by current theories of human well-being and animal welfare, we designed a novel test of exploration behavior. Environmentally and socially enriched Long-Evans female rats (N = 60) were trained in four simultaneously presented arms of an eight-arm radial-maze. They learned to expect successes in two arms and failures in the other two. After training, 20 animals remained in enriched housing (enrichment-maintenance) while 40 animals were re-housed in standard, isolated conditions (enrichment-removal). Two weeks later, all animals were re-tested in the maze, initially with access to the four familiar arms only. In the final minute, they also had access to the unfamiliar ambiguous-arms. Though both groups showed significant interest in the ambiguous-arms (P less than .0001), the enrichment-maintenance group showed a significantly greater exploratory tendency (P less than .01) despite having equivalent levels of activity (P greater than .3). Thus, we show not only that rats will abandon known rewards and incur risk in order to explore, indicating that exploration is valuable in its own right, but also that individuals with (vs. without) enriched housing conditions are more likely to engage in such exploratory behavior. This novel test contributes to the body of knowledge examining the importance of exploration in humans and other animals; implications for animal welfare and human well-being are discussed

An 18S rDNA Perspective on the Classification of Criconematoidea

In the nematode family Criconematidae, a taxonomy primarily based on cuticle characters has created classifications that are notoriously volatile. Molecular characters may lead to their stabilization. A phylogenetic tree of Criconematoidea was constructed using 166 new near full-length 18S rDNA sequences and 58 sequences from GenBank. Bayesian and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses produced trees with similar topologies. Major features include a strongly supported clade that includes Criconematidae and Hemicycliophoridae, excluding Paratylenchidae and Tylenchulidae. Another well-supported clade groups Criconema, Ogma, Crossonema, and Hemicriconemoides plus Xenocriconemella, combining nematodes with cuticular scales with those without scales at any life stage. Mesocriconema, Discocriconemella limitanea, Hemicaloosia, and Lobocriconema are recognized as monophyletic groups, but Criconemoides is paraphyletic. Both trees support an unexpected sister relationship between Bakernema and Hemicycliophora. The 18S rDNA dataset was insufficient for distinguishing genus boundaries between Criconema, Ogma, and Crossonema. The relationships depicted by the 18S rDNA phylogeny suggest that key morphological characters used in the classification of Criconematidae are not homologous