Subordination in Children’s Writing

This paper reports an investigation into the use of subordinate clauses in the writing of a class of seven to nine year old children when attempting five different writing tasks. The investigation was undertaken in part-response to an inspection report on the school by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) which recommended that the school should extend the writing skills of pupils in this age-range. The importance of developing subordination in writing is related to previous research and to evidence from reviews of Ofsted inspection evidence. The different patterns of subordination are discussed, between tasks and pupils and in relation to variation in the writing of individual children when tackling the different tasks. The paper ends by suggesting how similar informal investigations can assist schools in promoting writing development. It also outlines how the teaching approaches outlined in the National Literacy Strategy will provide opportunities for this promotion, particularly by exploiting links between reading and writing

Conditional variances in UK regional house prices

The returns of house price indices for the 13 UK regions are modelled using time series processes, including conditional variances. The first conclusion is that the UK follows the USA, with some regions displaying time-varying variances and others with constant variances. Secondly, there is limited evidence of an asymmetric component in six of the seven regions displaying autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity. Thirdly, the results suggest that there are three distinct housing markets in the UK, based on common structures within their mean and variance processes, and that South West England is the region driving the other time-varying variances. Variances conditionnelles dans les prix regionaux de l'immobilier au Royaume-Uni Resume Les resultats de l'indice des prix de l'immobilier pour les 13 regions du Royaume-Uni sont modelises ici au moyen de procedes de series chronologiques, y compris des variances conditionnelles. La premiere conclusion est que le Royaume-Uni suit les Etats-Unis, certaines regions presentant des variances temporelles, d'autres des variances constantes. Deuxiemement, on releve peu de traces d'un composant asymetrique dans six des sept regions presentant une heteroscedasticite conditionnelle autoregressive. Troisiemement, les resultats indiquent qu'il y aurait trois marches de l'immobilier distincts au Royaume-Uni, sur la base de structures communes dans le cadre de leurs procedes moyens et de variance, et que le sud-ouest de l'Angleterre est la region qui dynamise les autres variances temporelles. Varianzas condicionales en los precios regionales de la vivienda en el Reino Unido Extracto Las cifras de los indices de precios de la vivienda en 13 regiones del Reino Unido se modelan utilizando procesos de series temporales, incluyendo varianzas condicionales. La primera conclusion es que el Reino Unido sigue a los EE UU, con varias regiones que muestran varianzas fluctuantes con el tiempo y otras con varianzas constantes. En segundo lugar, existe evidencia limitada de un componente asimetrico en seis de las siete regiones que muestran una heteroesquedacidad condicional autorregresiva. En tercer lugar, los resultados sugieren que existen tres mercados distintivos de la vivienda en el Reino Unido, basados en estructuras comunes dentro de sus procesos de media y varianza, y que el sudoeste de Inglaterra es la region que dirige las otras varianzas fluctuantes con el tiemp

Beyond the Hype: RPA Horizon for Robot-Human Interaction

Medium and big organizations have embraced RPA in the last years bringing to light the high maturity of the technology. Current trends are towards including “human-in-the-loop” which promotes efficient ways for robot-human interaction. This is especially relevant since most real RPA projects require a collaboration between the human and the robot leading to hybrids approaches. The challenges that arise from this line can be addressed by both asynchronous (i.e., landing area or task queues where robots and humans share information) and synchronous solutions (i.e., human digital augmentation where robots provide immediate support). This paper goes in deep elaborating in these two alternatives by setting the benefits, requirements, and future research lines which are envisioned through industrial experiences. In addition, this work exposes the role of process mining in this journey since it allows for the necessary efficiency in the process analysis, time-to-market reduction, and continuous improvement that this robot-human collaboration requires.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016-76956-C3-2-RJunta de Andalucía CEI-12-TIC02

The importance of the glycosylation of antimicrobial peptides: natural and synthetic approaches.

Glycosylation is one of the most prevalent post-translational modifications of a protein, with a defining impact on its structure and function. Many of the proteins involved in the innate or adaptive immune response, including cytokines, chemokines, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are glycosylated, contributing to their myriad activities. The current availability of synthetic coupling and glycoengineering technology makes it possible to customise the most beneficial glycan modifications for improved AMP stability, microbicidal potency, pathogen specificity, tissue or cell targeting, and immunomodulation

Interest groups and the National Health Service Act, 1946

This is a case study of the development of plans for a piece of legislation and of the part played in that process by interest or pressure groups. It examines the wording of the National Health Service Act, 1946 and, in contrast, the health services of 1939. The main events of 1939 to 1946 are surveyed together with a review of the interest groups and their views. The main evidence of the study shows the development of plans for a National Health Service from the first plan put forward by Mr. E. Brown as Minister of Health (the plan of his officials rather than himself) through the 'White Paper of 1944 and the Revised White Paper of 1945 (both prepared by Mr. H.U. Willink as Minister) to the final plan adopted in the Act of 1946. Studied section by section the plan adopted by Mr. Sevan is shown as a development of the previous plans, together with changes necessary by the arrival of a new and powerful interest group, the Labour Party, rather than any dogmatic expression of party views. This analysis brings out quite clearly the following pattern. In the first place an official’s plan (Brown Plan) was prepared as a necessary basis for discussion with the groups. (Mr. Brown discarded it and therefore was unable to make any definite progress). As a result of these discussions, another plan (the White Paper) was drawn up as a basis for more detailed discussion (or negotiation). Bit by bit a plan emerged from this further discussion which seemed to command general agreement among the main groups. This, plan, the revised White Paper plan, was being translated into legislation when the general election of 1945 brought a change of government. Mr. Bevan, the new Minister, adopted the previous plan and applied to it, as far as he considered necessary to ensure his party's support, the views of the Labour Party. The result was the National Health Service Act, 1946. In a final section some suggestions for a wider study on the role of interest groups in the drafting of legislation are made

Age- and Sex- Related Differences in Muscle Phosphocreatine and Oxygenation Kinetics during High Intensity Exercise in Adolescents and Adults

This is the author's post-print version of an article published in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Biomedicine, 2010, Vol. 23, Issue 6, pp. 569–577 Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Blackwell. The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.comThe aim of this investigation was to examine the adaptation of the muscle phosphates (e.g. phosphocreatine (PCr) and ADP) implicated in regulating oxidative phosphorylation, and oxygenation at the onset of high intensity exercise in children and adults. The hypotheses were threefold: primary PCr kinetics would be faster in children than adults; the amplitude of the PCr slow component would be attenuated in children; and the amplitude of the deoxyhaemoglobin/myoglobin (HHb) slow component would be reduced in children. Eleven children (5 girls, 6 boys, 13 ± 1 years) and 11 adults (5 women, 6 men, 24 ± 4 years) completed two to four constant work rate exercise tests within a 1.5 T MR scanner. Quadriceps muscle energetics during high intensity exercise were monitored using 31P-MRS. Muscle oxygenation was monitored using near-infrared spectroscopy. The time constant for the PCr response was not significantly different in boys (31 ± 10 s), girls (31 ± 10 s), men (44 ± 20 s) or women (29 ± 14 s, main effects: age, p = 0.37, sex, p = 0.25). The amplitude of the PCr slow component relative to end-exercise PCr was not significantly different between children (23 ± 23%) and adults (17 ± 13%, p = 0.47). End-exercise [PCr] was significantly lower, and [ADP] higher, in females (18 ± 4 mM and 53 ± 16 µM) than males (23 ± 4 mM, p = 0.02 and 37 ± 11 µM, p = 0.02), but did not differ with age ([PCr]: p = 0.96, [ADP]: p = 0.72). The mean response time for muscle tissue deoxygenation was significantly faster in children (22 ± 4 s) than adults (27 ± 7 s, p = 0.01). The results of this study show that the control of oxidative metabolism at the onset of high intensity exercise is adult-like in 13-year-old children, but that matching of oxygen delivery to extraction is more precise in adults

Extracting 3D parametric curves from 2D images of helical objects

Helical objects occur in medicine, biology, cosmetics, nanotechnology, and engineering. Extracting a 3D parametric curve from a 2D image of a helical object has many practical applications, in particular being able to extract metrics such as tortuosity, frequency, and pitch. We present a method that is able to straighten the image object and derive a robust 3D helical curve from peaks in the object boundary. The algorithm has a small number of stable parameters that require little tuning, and the curve is validated against both synthetic and real-world data. The results show that the extracted 3D curve comes within close Hausdorff distance to the ground truth, and has near identical tortuosity for helical objects with a circular profile. Parameter insensitivity and robustness against high levels of image noise are demonstrated thoroughly and quantitatively

Intracellular replication of the well-armed pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei.

The Burkholderia genus contains a group of soil-dwelling Gram-negative organisms that are prevalent in warm and humid climates. Two species in particular are able to cause disease in animals, B. mallei primarily infects Equus spp. and B. pseudomallei (BPS), that is able to cause potentially life-threatening disease in humans. BPS is naturally resistant to many antibiotics and there is no vaccine available. Although not a specialised human pathogen, BPS possesses a large genome and many virulence traits that allow it to adapt and survive very successfully in the human host. Key to this survival is the ability of BPS to replicate intracellularly. In this review we highlight recent advances in our understanding of the intracellular survival of BPS, including how it overcomes host immune defenses and other challenges to establish its niche and then spread the infection. Knowledge of these mechanisms increases our capacity for therapeutic interventions against a well-armed foe

Exploring the use of strategic frameworks in dental practice

This paper explores the use of strategic frameworks in NHS and private dental practice. It reviews the policy context of dentistry and suggests the challenges in this context will require dental practices to prioritise understanding and engagement with a strategic approach. A strategic approach will be required in order to enhance and improve performance. Two specific strategic frameworks will be explored in terms of their relevance to NHS and private dental practic