Uist Lagoons Survey

Scotland has around a hundred saline lagoons, coastal lochs that are not quite as saline as the sea. A small number of organisms are confined to these lochs, but most of these are very small and belong to groups that are difficult to identify. A consortium of specialists in identification at the National Museum of Scotland and ecologists sampled most of the saline lagoons on designated sites (SSSI and SAC) in the Uists, the area believed to have the best biodiversity of lagoon organisms in Scotland. The study not only confirmed the presence of these specialist species, but also that they were more widely distributed in the Uists than had been believed. Samples of the organisms have been placed in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Scotland and (for plants) in the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, where they will be available for future study

The three-dimensional Anderson model of localization with binary random potential

We study the three-dimensional two-band Anderson model of localization and compare our results to experimental results for amorphous metallic alloys (AMA). Using the transfer-matrix method, we identify and characterize the metal-insulator transitions as functions of Fermi level position, band broadening due to disorder and concentration of alloy composition. The appropriate phase diagrams of regions of extended and localized electronic states are studied and qualitative agreement with AMA such as Ti-Ni and Ti-Cu metallic glasses is found. We estimate the critical exponents nu_W, nu_E and nu_x when either disorder W, energy E or concentration x is varied, respectively. All our results are compatible with the universal value nu ~ 1.6 obtained in the single-band Anderson model.Comment: 9 RevTeX4 pages with 11 .eps figures included, submitted to PR

Social trajectories or disrupted identities? : Changing and competing models of teacher professionalism under New Labour

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, the teacher’s role in England has changed in many ways, a process which intensified under New Labour after 1997. Conceptions of teacher professionalism have become more structured and formalized, often heavily influenced by government policy objectives. Career paths have become more diverse and specialised. In this article, three post-1997 professional roles are given consideration as examples of these new specialised career paths: Higher Level Teaching Assistants, Teach First trainees and Advanced Skills Teachers. The article goes on to examine such developments within teaching, using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to inform the analysis, as well as Bernstein’s theories of knowledge and identity. The article concludes that there has been considerable specialization and subsequent fragmentation of roles within the teaching profession, as part of workforce remodelling initiatives. However, there is still further scope for developing a greater sense of professional cohesion through social activism initiatives, such as the children's agenda. This may produce more stable professional identities in the future as the role of teachers within the wider children’s workforce is clarified

Using airborne LiDAR Survey to explore historic-era archaeological landscapes of Montserrat in the eastern Caribbean

This article describes what appears to be the first archaeological application of airborne LiDAR survey to historic-era landscapes in the Caribbean archipelago, on the island of Montserrat. LiDAR is proving invaluable in extending the reach of traditional pedestrian survey into less favorable areas, such as those covered by dense neotropical forest and by ashfall from the past two decades of active eruptions by the Soufrière Hills volcano, and to sites in localities that are inaccessible on account of volcanic dangers. Emphasis is placed on two aspects of the research: first, the importance of ongoing, real-time interaction between the LiDAR analyst and the archaeological team in the field; and second, the advantages of exploiting the full potential of the three-dimensional LiDAR point cloud data for purposes of the visualization of archaeological sites and features

Empowering SMEs to make better decisions with Business Intelligence: A Case Study

With the advance of Business Information Systems (BIS), irrespective of the size, companies have adopted an approach to electronic data collection and management for two decades. The advancement in technology means they have in their possessions large volumes of historical data. Large organizations have cached on this and use a range of tools and techniques to leverage the usefulness of this information to make more informed business decisions. For most small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs), however, such data typically sits in an archive without being utilized. While SMEs appreciate the need for utilizing historical data to make more informed business decisions, they often lack the technical knowhow and funding to embrace an effective BI solution. In this paper, drawing from our experience in implementing a BI solution for a UK SME we discuss some potential tools and strategies that could help SMEs overcome these challenges so as to reap the benefits of adopting an effective BI solution

Bayes and health care research.

Bayes’ rule shows how one might rationally change one’s beliefs in the light of evidence. It is the foundation of a statistical method called Bayesianism. In health care research, Bayesianism has its advocates but the dominant statistical method is frequentism. There are at least two important philosophical differences between these methods. First, Bayesianism takes a subjectivist view of probability (i.e. that probability scores are statements of subjective belief, not objective fact) whilst frequentism takes an objectivist view. Second, Bayesianism is explicitly inductive (i.e. it shows how we may induce views about the world based on partial data from it) whereas frequentism is at least compatible with non-inductive views of scientific method, particularly the critical realism of Popper. Popper and others detail significant problems with induction. Frequentism’s apparent ability to avoid these, plus its ability to give a seemingly more scientific and objective take on probability, lies behind its philosophical appeal to health care researchers. However, there are also significant problems with frequentism, particularly its inability to assign probability scores to single events. Popper thus proposed an alternative objectivist view of probability, called propensity theory, which he allies to a theory of corroboration; but this too has significant problems, in particular, it may not successfully avoid induction. If this is so then Bayesianism might be philosophically the strongest of the statistical approaches. The article sets out a number of its philosophical and methodological attractions. Finally, it outlines a way in which critical realism and Bayesianism might work together. </p

Screening for breast cancer : medicalization, visualization and the embodied experience

Women’s perspectives on breast screening (mammography and breast awareness) were explored in interviews with midlife women sampled for diversity of background and health experience. Attending mammography screening was considered a social obligation despite women’s fears and experiences of discomfort. Women gave considerable legitimacy to mammography visualizations of the breast, and the expert interpretation of these. In comparison, women lacked confidence in breast awareness practices, directly comparing their sensory capabilities with those of the mammogram, although mammography screening did not substitute breast awareness in a straightforward way. The authors argue that reliance on visualizing technology may create a fragmented sense of the body, separating the at risk breast from embodied experience

Genetic association of zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes cases

Autoantibodies to zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8A) are associated with risk of type 1 diabetes. Apart from the SLC30A8 gene itself, little is known about the genetic basis of ZnT8A. We hypothesise that other loci in addition to SLC30A8 are associated with ZnT8A. The levels of ZnT8A were measured in 2,239 British type 1 diabetic individuals diagnosed before age 17 years, with a median duration of diabetes of 4 years. Cases were tested at over 775,000 loci genome wide (including 53 type 1 diabetes associated regions) for association with positivity for ZnT8A. ZnT8A were also measured in an independent dataset of 855 family members with type 1 diabetes. Only FCRL3 on chromosome 1q23.1 and the HLA class I region were associated with positivity for ZnT8A. rs7522061T &gt; C was the most associated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the FCRL3 region (p = 1.13 x 10(-16)). The association was confirmed in the family dataset (p a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 9.20 x 10(-4)). rs9258750A &gt; G was the most associated variant in the HLA region (p = 2.06 x 10(-9) and p = 0.0014 in family cases). The presence of ZnT8A was not associated with HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1, HLA-A, HLA-B or HLA-C (p &gt; 0.05). Unexpectedly, the two loci associated with the presence of ZnT8A did not alter risk of having type 1 diabetes, and the 53 type 1 diabetes risk loci did not influence positivity for ZnT8A, despite them being disease specific. ZnT8A are not primary pathogenic factors in type 1 diabetes. Nevertheless, ZnT8A testing in combination with other autoantibodies facilitates disease prediction, despite the biomarker not being under the same genetic control as the disease

A probabilistic analysis of argument cogency

This paper offers a probabilistic treatment of the conditions for argument cogency as endorsed in informal logic: acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency. Treating a natural language argument as a reason-claim-complex, our analysis identifies content features of defeasible argument on which the RSA conditions depend, namely: change in the commitment to the reason, the reason’s sensitivity and selectivity to the claim, one’s prior commitment to the claim, and the contextually determined thresholds of acceptability for reasons and for claims. Results contrast with, and may indeed serve to correct, the informal understanding and applications of the RSA criteria concerning their conceptual dependence, their function as update-thresholds, and their status as obligatory rather than permissive norms, but also show how these formal and informal normative approachs can in fact align

Love and limblessness: male heterosexuality, disability, and the Great War

Tens of thousands of British men were permanently wounded as a result of war service. Their return home sparked debates about the wounded male body, female accountability for war-injuries, and the ideology, performance, and practice of masculinity. Other historians have shown how ‘broken heroes’ from the First World War were constituted into ‘men’ in four contexts: physical appearance, occupation, sport, and Britishness. This article explores a fifth dimension: sexuality. It explores debates about the need for war-disabled men to establish stable marital relationships and investigates some attempts to encourage this, including encouraging women to take the initiative in proposing marriage and the establishment of The League for the Marrying of Broken Heroes