Professional learning for school principals: development in Scotland

This paper discusses the recent origins and development of professional learning and especially preparation programmes for Scottish school principals. Scotland has adopted a 'standards' based approach to continuing professional development and a Framework if Standards has emerged since 1998. A synthesis of the official reports and some of the research available is offered with a view to highlighting the further developments now being advocated and consulted upon under the aegis if a teacher-focused national Continuous Professional Development Advisory Group and its sub-group on leadership

Domain discovery method for topological profile searches in protein structures

We describe a method for automated domain discovery for topological profile searches in protein structures. The method is used in a system TOPStructure for fast prediction of CATH classification for protein structures (given as PDB files). It is important for profile searches in multi-domain proteins, for which the profile method by itself tends to perform poorly. We also present an O(C(n)k +nk2) time algorithm for this problem, compared to the O(C(n)k +(nk)2) time used by a trivial algorithm (where n is the length of the structure, k is the number of profiles and C(n) is the time needed to check for a presence of a given motif in a structure of length n). This method has been developed and is currently used for TOPS representations of protein structures and prediction of CATH classification, but may be applied to other graph-based representations of protein or RNA structures and/or other prediction problems. A protein structure prediction system incorporating the domain discovery method is available at http://bioinf.mii.lu.lv/tops/

ELISA detection of phenazepam, etizolam, pyrazolam, flubromazepam, diclazepam and delorazepam in blood using Immunalysis® benzodiazepine kit

Phenazepam and etizolam were the first uncontrolled benzodiazepines available for sale in the UK. Pyrazolam, flubromazepam and diclazepam are not used medicinally anywhere in the world; they are produced exclusively for the uncontrolled, recreational market. It is important to know whether potentially abused drugs like these can be detected in routine toxicological screening tests. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Immunalysis® Benzodiazepines ELISA kit could detect phenazepam, etizolam, pyrazolam, flubromazepam, diclazepam and its metabolite delorazepam. Their cross-reactivity was assessed by comparing the absorbance of the drug with that of oxazepam, the reference standard. This study found that these uncontrolled benzodiazepines cross-react sufficiently to produce a positive result with the Immunalysis® Benzodiazepine ELISA kit. Cross-reactivity ranged from 79 to 107% for phenazepam, etizolam, pyrazolam, flubromazepam, diclazepam and delorazepam fortified into blood. The results show that it is possible to detect these newer benzodiazepines with traditional forensic toxicology laboratory tools and it is important to include these benzodiazepines in the confirmation tests

SODAS: Surveillance of Drugs of Abuse Study

Objective: Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) as a form of recreational drug use has become increasingly popular. There is a paucity of information with regards the prevalence and clinical sequalae of these drugs. The aim of this study was to detect NPS in patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) with suspected toxicological ingestion. Methods: The prospective study was performed in a large Emergency Department (ED) in the UK. During a three month period eighty patients were identified by clinicians as having potentially ingested a toxicological agent. Urine sample were analysed using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry and basic clinical data was gathered. Results: 80 patients with a history of illicit or recreational drug consumption had urine screenings performed. 49% (39) of patients undergoing a screen had more than one illicit substance detected. 20% (16) of patients tested positive for at least one NPS. Conclusions: Almost half of patients presenting had ingestion of multiple substances which correlated poorly with self reporting of patients. Developing enhanced strategies to monitor evolving drug trends is crucial to the ability of clinicians to deliver care to this challenging group of patients

The Thermal Degradation of Copolymers of Methyl Methacrylate and Methyl Acrylate and Some Related Topics

Abstract Not Provided

Theory of short-range magnetic order for the t-J model

We present a self-consistent theory of magnetic short-range order based on a spin-rotation-invariant slave-boson representation of the 2D t-J model. In the functional-integral scheme, at the nearest-neighbour pair-approximation level, the bosonized t-J Lagrangian is transformed to a classical Heisenberg model with an effective (doping-dependent) exchange interaction which takes into account the interrelation of ``itinerant'' and ``localized'' magnetic behaviour. Evaluating the theory in the saddle-point approximation, we find a suppression of antiferromagnetic and incommensurate spiral long-range-ordered phases in the favour of a paramagnetic phase with pronounced antiferromagnetic short-range correlations.Comment: 2 pages, 1 Postscript figure, LTpaper.sty, Proc. XXI Int. Conf. on Low Temp. Phys. Prague 9

Analysis and clinical findings of cases positive for the novel synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist MDMB-CHMICA

Context: MDMB-CHMICA is a synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist which has caused concern due to its presence in cases of adverse reaction and death. Method: 43 cases of suspected synthetic cannabinoid ingestion were identified from patients presenting at an Emergency Department and from post-mortem casework. These were subjected to liquid-liquid extraction using tertiary-butyl methyl ether and quantitatively analysed by Electospray Ionisation Liquid Chromatography – tandem Mass Spectrometry. For positive samples, case and clinical details were sought and interrogated. Results: 11 samples were found positive for MDMB-CHMICA. Concentrations found ranged from <1 – 22 ng/mL (mean: 6 ng/mL, median: 3 ng/mL). The age range was 15 – 44 years (mean: 26 years, median: 21 years), with the majority (82%) of positive results found in males. Clinical presentations included hypothermia, hypoglycaemia, syncope, recurrent vomiting, altered mental state and serotonin toxicity, with corresponding concentrations of MDMB-CHMICA as low as <1 ng/mL. Duration of hospitalisation ranged from 3 – 24 hours (mean: 12 hours, median: 8 hours). Discussion: The concentration range presented in this case series is indicative of MDMB-CHMICA having a high potency, as is known to be the case for other synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists. The age range and gender representation were consistent with that reported for users of other drugs of this type. The clinical presentations observed were typical of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and show the difficulties in identifying reactions potentially associated with drugs of this type. Conclusion: The range of MDMB-CHMICA concentrations in Emergency Department presentations (n=9) and post-mortem cases (n=2) was reported. No correlation between the concentration of this drug and clinical presentation or cause of death was reported in this sample. However, the potential for harm associated with low concentrations of MDMB-CHMICA and the symptoms of toxicity being non-specific was highlighted

Spin-orbit induced mixed-spin ground state in RRNiO3_3 perovskites probed by XAS: new insight into the metal to insulator transition

We report on a Ni L$_{2,3}$ edges x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) study in $R$NiO$_3$ perovskites. These compounds exhibit a metal to insulator ($MI$) transition as temperature decreases. The L$_{3}$ edge presents a clear splitting in the insulating state, associated to a less hybridized ground state. Using charge transfer multiplet calculations, we establish the importance of the crystal field and 3d spin-orbit coupling to create a mixed-spin ground state. We explain the $MI$ transition in $R$NiO$_3$ perovskites in terms of modifications in the Ni$^{3+}$ crystal field splitting that induces a spin transition from an essentially low-spin (LS) to a mixed-spin state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted as PRB - Rapid Comm. Dez. 200