1,009 research outputs found
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Key Skills: making connections between HE and the workplace
This paper draws on a recent research project into high-level key skills links between HE and employment. The project has worked with groups in several universities and companies to explore how the developmental model embedded in the QCA key skills national standards can be used to support learning and assessment of higher level (QCA levels 4 and 5) key skills. Employers increasingly value skills such as teamworking, communicating effectively with partners and customers, and being able to adapt to new situations and develop new capabilities. Within organisations individuals may be expected to move from project to project and job to job. They may be expected to identify their own particular training needs, work within the company business goals and develop their own individual skills portfolio to satisfy professional
recognition requirements. HE currently appears to offer relatively little support or training to develop the key skills needed in such environments. As part of the project students in HE have used a framework of
planning, monitoring progress, presenting outcomes and reviewing progress to develop their skills. The model encourages learners to recognise and articulate their own capabilities more clearly, and offers an assessment structure for profiling achievement. It is this 'meta-skills' approach that is used to bridge the gap between HE and employment by encouraging learners to be actively aware of the context in which they are currently situated, and to make connections with experience, skills and knowledge they have gained elsewhere. The paper presents some preliminary findings and comments from the project
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Learning outcomes and their assessment: putting Open University pedagogical practice under the microscope
The Open University (OU) is the United Kingdom's only university devoted to distance learning. It is also the UK's largest university with over 200,000 students overall. Around 150,000 students are studying undergraduate level courses. Over the last decade major policy changes have impacted on UK higher education. Following the recommendations of the National Committee of
Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing Report, 1997) and the establishment of the Quality Assurance Agency, all UK universities have been required to define learning outcomes for their programmes and link learning outcomes to teaching and assessment. This major pedagogic shift
led the OU to establish the Learning Outcomes and their Assessment (LOTA) project to re-examine the ways its courses are planned, designed, delivered and assessed, and to initiate necessary institution-wide changes. Explicitly linking outcomes, assessment and teaching, actively using assessment for learning, and supporting academic staff development are key elements in enhancing student learning
Modified immersion suits for helicopter aircrew: evidence for improved conspicuity from sea trials
In this article we evaluate a modified immersion suit for use by helicopter aircrew. Helicopter aircrew operating over water are subject to international regulations which govern the personal protective equipment and clothing worn. Our modification increases the area of retroreflective material in a unique configuration. Highly reflective materials can cause unwanted reflections in the cockpit and data as to their efficacy in improving conspicuity in rescue at sea has not previously been captured. In this study we address this problem. Two methods were developed to test the acceptability and efficacy of a modified immersion suit to improve conspicuity in rescue operations at sea. Firstly, land-based trials employing subject matter experts were conducted to assess the tolerability of reflections in the cockpit from the modifications made to the immersion suit. Secondly, trials at sea using UK search and rescue teams captured data to assess the efficacy of the modification. Our results provide preliminary evidence for the acceptability of the modified immersion suit design and that the modification improves conspicuity in night time conditions, measured using the distance at which a target is detected. Our results support re-examination of the standard associated with passive lifesaving systems in helicopter aircrew immersion suit design to include an increase in the area of retroreflective material in the proposed novel configuration. Finally, our results support the use of coloured retroreflective tape to provide increased visual contrast, especially where this colour is coordinated with the main suit fabric
Mid-IR spectroscopic instrumentation for point-of-care diagnosis using a hollow silica waveguide gas cell
Laser spectroscopy provides the basis of instrumentation developed for the diagnosis of infectious disease, via
quantification of organic biomarkers that are produced by associated bacteria. The technology is centred on a multichannel
pulsed quantum cascade laser system that allows multiple lasers with different wavelengths to be used
simultaneously, each selected to monitor a different diagnostic biomarker. The instrument also utilizes a hollow silica
waveguide (HSW) gas cell which has a very high ratio of interaction pathlength to internal volume. This allows sensitive
detection of low volume gas species from small volume biological samples. The spectroscopic performance of a range of
HSW gas cells with different lengths and bore diameters has been assessed using methane as a test gas and a best-case
limit of detection of 0.26 ppm was determined. The response time of this cell was measured as a 1,000 sccm flow of
methane passed through it and was found to be 0.75 s. These results are compared with those obtained using a multi-pass
Herriot cell. A prototype instrument has been built and approved for clinical trials for detection of lung infection in
acute-care patients via analysis of ventilator breath. Demonstration of the instrument for headspace gas analysis is made
by monitoring the methane emission from bovine faeces. The manufacture of a hospital-ready device for monitoring
biomarkers of infection in the exhaled breath of intensive care ventilator patients is also presented
Theory and design of InGaAsBi mid-infrared semiconductor lasers: type-I quantum wells for emission beyond 3 m on InP substrates
We present a theoretical analysis and optimisation of the properties and
performance of mid-infrared semiconductor lasers based on the dilute bismide
alloy InGaAsBi, grown on conventional (001) InP
substrates. The ability to independently vary the epitaxial strain and emission
wavelength in this quaternary alloy provides significant scope for band
structure engineering. Our calculations demonstrate that structures based on
compressively strained InGaAsBi quantum wells (QWs)
can readily achieve emission wavelengths in the 3 -- 5 m range, and that
these QWs have large type-I band offsets. As such, these structures have the
potential to overcome a number of limitations commonly associated with this
application-rich but technologically challenging wavelength range. By
considering structures having (i) fixed QW thickness and variable strain, and
(ii) fixed strain and variable QW thickness, we quantify key trends in the
properties and performance as functions of the alloy composition, structural
properties, and emission wavelength, and on this basis identify routes towards
the realisation of optimised devices for practical applications. Our analysis
suggests that simple laser structures -- incorporating
InGaAsBi QWs and unstrained ternary
InGaAs barriers -- which are compatible with established
epitaxial growth, provide a route to realising InP-based mid-infrared diode
lasers.Comment: Submitted versio
Genetic Determinants of Lipid Traits in Diverse Populations from the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study
For the past five years, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified hundreds of common variants associated with human diseases and traits, including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) levels. Approximately 95 loci associated with lipid levels have been identified primarily among populations of European ancestry. The Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study was established in 2008 to characterize GWAS–identified variants in diverse population-based studies. We genotyped 49 GWAS–identified SNPs associated with one or more lipid traits in at least two PAGE studies and across six racial/ethnic groups. We performed a meta-analysis testing for SNP associations with fasting HDL-C, LDL-C, and ln(TG) levels in self-identified European American (∼20,000), African American (∼9,000), American Indian (∼6,000), Mexican American/Hispanic (∼2,500), Japanese/East Asian (∼690), and Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian (∼175) adults, regardless of lipid-lowering medication use. We replicated 55 of 60 (92%) SNP associations tested in European Americans at p<0.05. Despite sufficient power, we were unable to replicate ABCA1 rs4149268 and rs1883025, CETP rs1864163, and TTC39B rs471364 previously associated with HDL-C and MAFB rs6102059 previously associated with LDL-C. Based on significance (p<0.05) and consistent direction of effect, a majority of replicated genotype-phentoype associations for HDL-C, LDL-C, and ln(TG) in European Americans generalized to African Americans (48%, 61%, and 57%), American Indians (45%, 64%, and 77%), and Mexican Americans/Hispanics (57%, 56%, and 86%). Overall, 16 associations generalized across all three populations. For the associations that did not generalize, differences in effect sizes, allele frequencies, and linkage disequilibrium offer clues to the next generation of association studies for these traits
Targeting DNA Damage Response and Replication Stress in Pancreatic Cancer
Background and aims:
Continuing recalcitrance to therapy cements pancreatic cancer (PC) as the most lethal malignancy, which is set to become the second leading cause of cancer death in our society. The study aim was to investigate the association between DNA damage response (DDR), replication stress and novel therapeutic response in PC to develop a biomarker driven therapeutic strategy targeting DDR and replication stress in PC.
Methods:
We interrogated the transcriptome, genome, proteome and functional characteristics of 61 novel PC patient-derived cell lines to define novel therapeutic strategies targeting DDR and replication stress. Validation was done in patient derived xenografts and human PC organoids.
Results:
Patient-derived cell lines faithfully recapitulate the epithelial component of pancreatic tumors including previously described molecular subtypes. Biomarkers of DDR deficiency, including a novel signature of homologous recombination deficiency, co-segregates with response to platinum (P < 0.001) and PARP inhibitor therapy (P < 0.001) in vitro and in vivo. We generated a novel signature of replication stress with which predicts response to ATR (P < 0.018) and WEE1 inhibitor (P < 0.029) treatment in both cell lines and human PC organoids. Replication stress was enriched in the squamous subtype of PC (P < 0.001) but not associated with DDR deficiency.
Conclusions:
Replication stress and DDR deficiency are independent of each other, creating opportunities for therapy in DDR proficient PC, and post-platinum therapy
Identification of unique neoantigen qualities in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal cancer with fewer than 7% of patients surviving past 5 years. T-cell immunity has been linked to the exceptional outcome of the few long-term survivors1,2, yet the relevant antigens remain unknown. Here we use genetic, immunohistochemical and transcriptional immunoprofiling, computational biophysics, and functional assays to identify T-cell antigens in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer. Using whole-exome sequencing and in silico neoantigen prediction, we found that tumours with both the highest neoantigen number and the most abundant CD8+ T-cell infiltrates, but neither alone, stratified patients with the longest survival. Investigating the specific neoantigen qualities promoting T-cell activation in long-term survivors, we discovered that these individuals were enriched in neoantigen qualities defined by a fitness model, and neoantigens in the tumour antigen MUC16 (also known as CA125). A neoantigen quality fitness model conferring greater immunogenicity to neoantigens with differential presentation and homology to infectious disease-derived peptides identified long-term survivors in two independent datasets, whereas a neoantigen quantity model ascribing greater immunogenicity to increasing neoantigen number alone did not. We detected intratumoural and lasting circulating T-cell reactivity to both high-quality and MUC16 neoantigens in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer, including clones with specificity to both high-quality neoantigens and predicted cross-reactive microbial epitopes, consistent with neoantigen molecular mimicry. Notably, we observed selective loss of high-quality and MUC16 neoantigenic clones on metastatic progression, suggesting neoantigen immunoediting. Our results identify neoantigens with unique qualities as T-cell targets in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. More broadly, we identify neoantigen quality as a biomarker for immunogenic tumours that may guide the application of immunotherapies
Shared genetic risk between eating disorder- and substance-use-related phenotypes:Evidence from genome-wide association studies
First published: 16 February 202
A Roadmap for HEP Software and Computing R&D for the 2020s
Particle physics has an ambitious and broad experimental programme for the coming decades. This programme requires large investments in detector hardware, either to build new facilities and experiments, or to upgrade existing ones. Similarly, it requires commensurate investment in the R&D of software to acquire, manage, process, and analyse the shear amounts of data to be recorded. In planning for the HL-LHC in particular, it is critical that all of the collaborating stakeholders agree on the software goals and priorities, and that the efforts complement each other. In this spirit, this white paper describes the R&D activities required to prepare for this software upgrade.Peer reviewe
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