Nostalgia, belonging and mattering: an institutional framework for digital collegiality drawn from teachers’ experience of online delivery during the 2020 pandemic

This article explores the experiences of two teachers in different institutions (UK and China) specifically selected for this study because of their largely positive institutional experiences of using technology during the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020. Our aim is to understand the emotional outcomes relative to their uses of technology, whilst working from home. In this study, we asked, “what is the role of technology in the affective outcomes of teaching during the pandemic when everyone was at home?” and “Why might teachers feel a sense of nostalgia for a moment of educational crisis?” A proposal was submitted and gained ethical approval from the University of Derby. A qualitative methodology was adopted using semi-structured online interviews and inductive analysis. We address concerns that ‘sense of belonging’ may be an incomplete account of the emotional landscape arising from the use of technology during this educational emergency. We identify three ways in which technology was used and which made experience (1) flexible (2) communal, and (3) visible. We map these uses onto corresponding emotional outcomes which are (1) mattering (2) belonging (3) nostalgia. As a result, we provide a model of ‘E-Motional Good Practice’ in support of institutional, and digital collegiality. Finally, we consider implications for university education departments

Risky behaviour: a new framework for understanding why young people take risks

Theories of youth risk taking range from the realist to the sociocultural. Much of this theorising, particularly in the field of epidemiology, has been strongly influenced by the Health Belief Framework. More recently, attention has shifted to understanding how young people perceive risk and what makes some of them resilient to risk taking. In this article we develop a framework that brings together diverse theoretical perspectives on youth risk taking. We draw on lessons from across the social science disciplines to inform a conceptual framework incorporating the broad context and internal processes of young people’s decisions to take risks. Our Youth Risk Interpretation Framework (Y-RIF) has been developed from insights gained during an ethnographic study conducted in South Africa (REMOVED FOR BLIND REVIEW). We argue that our framework is useful, as it offers new ways of understanding why some young people take risks while others are more cautious. It could be used to inform youth behaviour surveillance research and interventions. However, it will need to be rigorously tested

Model Cards for Model Reporting

Trained machine learning models are increasingly used to perform high-impact tasks in areas such as law enforcement, medicine, education, and employment. In order to clarify the intended use cases of machine learning models and minimize their usage in contexts for which they are not well suited, we recommend that released models be accompanied by documentation detailing their performance characteristics. In this paper, we propose a framework that we call model cards, to encourage such transparent model reporting. Model cards are short documents accompanying trained machine learning models that provide benchmarked evaluation in a variety of conditions, such as across different cultural, demographic, or phenotypic groups (e.g., race, geographic location, sex, Fitzpatrick skin type) and intersectional groups (e.g., age and race, or sex and Fitzpatrick skin type) that are relevant to the intended application domains. Model cards also disclose the context in which models are intended to be used, details of the performance evaluation procedures, and other relevant information. While we focus primarily on human-centered machine learning models in the application fields of computer vision and natural language processing, this framework can be used to document any trained machine learning model. To solidify the concept, we provide cards for two supervised models: One trained to detect smiling faces in images, and one trained to detect toxic comments in text. We propose model cards as a step towards the responsible democratization of machine learning and related AI technology, increasing transparency into how well AI technology works. We hope this work encourages those releasing trained machine learning models to accompany model releases with similar detailed evaluation numbers and other relevant documentation

Naturalising Semiramide in 1842: Adaptation, Spectacle and English Prima Donnas

This thesis examines how Rossini’s Semiramide was adapted by T.H. Reynoldson for Covent Garden in 1842, where it was mounted for the first time in the English language, in a spectacular production. Semiramide was performed by Adelaide Kemble, a compelling actress who overturned what had been the dominant interpretation of the role, Giuditta Pasta’s, creating a new one that was vulnerable and womanly. Mary Shaw as Arsace had a refined simplicity and gave meaning to recitative in a way that was unknown in England. With their high standard, Kemble and Shaw were seen as English singers who could compete as equals with the fashionable foreign singers at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The transfer of Semiramide to Covent Garden resulted in an entanglement of English, Italian and other cultural values and operatic practices. The main purpose of this study is, through a close reading of newspapers, memoirs, letters and other contemporary documents, as well as existing iconography, to examine how the opera was ‘naturalised’ for Covent Garden; and to test how well Werner and Zimmermann’s model of histoire croisée and Homi Bhabha’s theories about ambivalence can be applied to this revival of Rossini’s opera. In so doing, it analyses the norms, prejudices and preoccupations of the interpretative communities of the adapters, singers and critics. I argue that the adaptation and spectacle tilted the opera towards the populist genres of melodrama and pantomime. I also propose that Kemble and Shaw’s performances represented a fusion of English and Italian singing. On a larger scale, this study shines a light on the values and performance practices in London theatres at the time and adds to the body of literature about operatic adaptations and staging, as well as prima donna cultur

VEX1 controls the allelic exclusion required for antigenic variation in trypanosomes

Allelic exclusion underpins antigenic variation and immune evasion in African trypanosomes. These bloodstream parasites use RNA polymerase-I (pol-I) to transcribe just one telomeric variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) gene at a time, producing superabundant and switchable VSG coats. We identified trypanosome VSG exclusion-1 (VEX1) using a genetic screen for defects in telomere-exclusive expression. VEX1 was sequestered by the active VSG and silencing of other VSGs failed when VEX1 was either ectopically expressed or depleted, indicating positive and negative regulation, respectively. Positive regulation affected VSGs and nontelomeric pol-I-transcribed genes, whereas negative regulation primarily affected VSGs. Negative regulation by VEX1 also affected telomeric pol-I-transcribed reporter constructs, but only when they contained blocks of sequence sharing homology with a pol-I-transcribed locus. We conclude that restricted positive regulation due to VEX1 sequestration, combined with VEX1-dependent, possibly homology-dependent silencing, drives a "winner-takes-all" mechanism of allelic exclusion

Psychosocial Characteristics and Obstetric Health of Women Attending a Specialist Substance Use Antenatal Clinic in a Large Metropolitan Hospital

Objective. This paper reports the findings comparing the obstetrical health, antenatal care, and psychosocial characteristics of pregnant women with a known history of substance dependence (n = 41) and a comparison group of pregnant women attending a general antenatal clinic (n = 47). Method. Face-to-face interviews were used to assess obstetrical health, antenatal care, physical and mental functioning, substance use, and exposure to violence. Results. The substance-dependent group had more difficulty accessing antenatal care and reported more obstetrical health complications during pregnancy. Women in the substance-dependent group were more likely to report not wanting to become pregnant and were less likely to report using birth control at the time of conception. Conclusions. The profile of pregnant women (in specialised antenatal care for substance dependence) is one of severe disadvantage and poor health. The challenge is to develop and resource innovative and effective multisectoral systems to educate women and provide effective care for both women and infants

Insights into antitrypanosomal drug mode-of-action from cytology-based profiling

Chemotherapy continues to have a major impact on reducing the burden of disease caused by trypanosomatids. Unfortunately though, the mode-of-action (MoA) of antitrypanosomal drugs typically remains unclear or only partially characterised. This is the case for four of five current drugs used to treat Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT); eflornithine is a specific inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase. Here, we used a panel of T. brucei cellular assays to probe the MoA of the current HAT drugs. The assays included DNA-staining followed by microscopy and quantitative image analysis, or flow cytometry; terminal dUTP nick end labelling to monitor mitochondrial (kinetoplast) DNA replication; antibody-based detection of sites of nuclear DNA damage; and fluorescent dye-staining of mitochondria or lysosomes. We found that melarsoprol inhibited mitosis; nifurtimox reduced mitochondrial protein abundance; pentamidine triggered progressive loss of kinetoplast DNA and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential; and suramin inhibited cytokinesis. Thus, current antitrypanosomal drugs perturb distinct and specific cellular compartments, structures or cell cycle phases. Further exploiting the findings, we show that putative mitogen-activated protein-kinases contribute to the melarsoprol-induced mitotic defect, reminiscent of the mitotic arrest associated signalling cascade triggered by arsenicals in mammalian cells, used to treat leukaemia. Thus, cytology-based profiling can rapidly yield novel insight into antitrypanosomal drug MoA