Reasons for choosing a further education: the views of 700 new entrants

This article explores some reasons for choosing a further education given by 700 new entrants to 10 Scottish further education colleges. It tries to distinguish between instrumental reasons, such as those concerned with the quest for employment and what students perceive as most intrinsically worthwhile about a further education. It also tries to identify some of the methods of communication that are most effective in attracting students to further education. It seems that leaflets and mail shots are by far the most effective methods of communication before students enter college. The local reputation of the college as a place where good social relationships are fostered including those fostered in the classroom seems more important than the resources devoted to teaching. Even though many new entrants cite instrumental reasons as being very important, detail in the curriculum seems to be much less important to them. We speculate that this is because students are prepared to trust such detail to teachers they perceive to be good. Colleges therefore have an opportunity, if not a responsibility, to take students beyond instrumentalism

Summary of Workshop to Review an OMB Report on Regulatory Risk Assessment and Management

Summary of the results of an invitational workshop conducted to peer review the 1990 OMB report, CURRENT REGULATORY ISSUES IN Risk ASSESSMENT AND Risk MANAGENMENTIN REGULATORY PROGRAM OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, APRIL 1, 1990 - MARCH 31, 1991

The percutaneous absorption of soman in a damaged skin porcine model and the evaluation of WoundStat™ as a topical decontaminant

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate a candidate haemostat (WoundStat™), down-selected from previous in vitro studies, for efficacy as a potential skin decontaminant against the chemical warfare agent pinacoyl methylfluorophosphonate (Soman, GD) using an in vivo pig model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An area of approximately 3 cm2 was dermatomed from the dorsal ear skin to a nominal depth of 100 µm. A discrete droplet of 14C-GD (300 µg kg-1) was applied directly onto the surface of the damaged skin at the centre of the dosing site. Animals assigned to the treatment group were given a 2 g application of WoundStat™ 30 s after GD challenge. The decontamination efficacy of WoundStat™ against GD was measured by the direct quantification of the distribution of 14C-GD, as well as routine determination of whole blood cholinesterase and physiological measurements. RESULTS: WoundStat™ sequestered approximately 70% of the applied 14C-GD. Internal radiolabel recovery from treated animals was approximately 1% of the initially applied dose. Whole blood cholinesterase levels decreased to less than 10% of the original value by 15 min post WoundStat™ treatment and gradually decreased until the onset of apnoea or until euthanasia. All treated animals showed signs of GD intoxication that could be grouped into early (mastication, fasciculations and tremor), intermediate (miosis, salivation and nasal secretions) and late onset (lacrimation, body spasm and apnoea) effects. Two of the six WoundStat™ treated animals survived the study duration. CONCLUSIONS: The current study has shown that the use of WoundStat™ as a decontaminant on damaged pig ear skin was unable to fully protect against GD toxicity. Importantly, the findings indicate that the use of WoundStat™ in GD contaminated wounds would not exacerbate GD toxicity. These data suggest that absorbent haemostatic products may offer some limited functionality as wound decontaminants.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Optimising the analysis of transcript data using high density oligonucleotide arrays and genomic DNA-based probe selection

Background: Affymetrix GeneChip arrays are widely used for transcriptomic studies in a diverse range of species. Each gene is represented on a GeneChip array by a probe-set, consisting of up to 16 probe-pairs. Signal intensities across probe-pairs within a probe-set vary in part due to different physical hybridisation characteristics of individual probes with their target labelled transcripts. We have previously developed a technique to study the transcriptomes of heterologous species based on hybridising genomic DNA (gDNA) to a GeneChip array designed for a different species, and subsequently using only those probes with good homology. Results: Here we have investigated the effects of hybridising homologous species gDNA to study the transcriptomes of species for which the arrays have been designed. Genomic DNA from Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa) were hybridised to the Affymetrix Arabidopsis ATH1 and Rice Genome GeneChip arrays respectively. Probe selection based on gDNA hybridisation intensity increased the number of genes identified as significantly differentially expressed in two published studies of Arabidopsis development, and optimised the analysis of technical replicates obtained from pooled samples of RNA from rice. Conclusion: This mixed physical and bioinformatics approach can be used to optimise estimates of gene expression when using GeneChip arrays

Mechanisms of degassing at Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia

Author Posting. © Geological Society, 2003. This article is posted here by permission of Geological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Geological Society 160 (2003): 507-521, doi:10.1144/0016-764902-028.Nevado del Ruiz volcano is an andesite stratovolcano located in the northern Andes of Colombia. The volcano erupted on 11 September 1985, 13 November 1985, and 1 September 1989. The last two eruptions emitted juvenile solid material. This paper examines the volatile and light lithophile trace element contents of melt inclusions and matrix glasses from this juvenile material, and proposes a model for degassing within the volcano. Major element distributions in the glasses show two evolutionary trends, with subsidiary points that lie between the two trends. The data suggest the existence of two separate magmas, which have interacted, mingled, and mixed during their ascent and eruption. Water contents in melt inclusions, as determined by secondary ionization mass spectrometric analysis, are generally low, averaging between 1.6 and 3.3 wt.%. Halogen concentrations in the glasses range from 400 to 1200 ppm for fluorine and from 1100 to 1500 ppm for chlorine. Sulphur contents are low, not exceeding 500 ppm, with most glasses containing <200 ppm. Lithium concentrations range from 20 to 40 ppm, beryllium from 1.5 to 2 ppm, and boron exhibits high variability from 30 to 100 ppm. The only significant difference between melt inclusions and matrix glasses is for water, with matrix glasses having significantly lower concentrations (<0.5 wt.%) than the melt inclusions. The generally elevated concentrations of boron in the magma may be a consequence of enrichment in the source region of the magma, i.e. by subduction of altered oceanic crust and/or sediments. Yet the large degree of boron heterogeneity in both melt inclusions and matrix glasses necessitates subsequent addition of boron at shallower depths as well, by the assimilation of crustal sedimentary rocks or by interaction with hydrothermal fluids. Evidence for pre-eruptive magma emplacement at shallow levels is provided by (1) anhydrous mineral assemblages of plagioclase and pyroxene, (2) high silica contents of glasses, and (3) low water contents in melt inclusions. When combined, these observations suggest a period of magma residence at shallow depths, probably <3 km beneath the summit of the volcano. A multistage model of magma transport and degassing involves alternating periods of magma ascent and magma ponding. Initially, volatile-bearing magma ascends from depths of 9–15 km, driven by buoyancy. During decompression, the magma loses gas, particularly CO2 and sulphur. The magma eventually ponds at its neutral buoyancy level. At this point, the gas-saturated magma cools and crystallizes, thereby liberating gas under isobaric conditions. As a result, CO2 is depleted from the magma whereas H2O and SiO2 are enriched. The H2O enrichment is caused by its increased solubility in the magma as CO2 is degassed, whereas SiO2 is enriched by fractional crystallization. The density of the magma decreases as the level of dissolved H2O increases, eventually causing the magma to become buoyant once more and to continue its ascent, either to erupt or to freeze at shallow depths.This work was funded with grants to J.S. by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and by the Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l’aide a` la recherche (Que´bec)

Undernutrition and stage of gestation influence fetal adipose tissue gene expression

Funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS), including the Strategic Partnership for Animal Science Excellence (SPASE) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (HD045784). None of the authors had any financial or personal conflicts of interest.Peer reviewedPostprin

Erosion of the cliffs of Outer Cape Cod : tables and graphs

Originally issued as Reference No. 64-21, series later renamed WHOI-.The following tables and graphs place in convenient storage the results of several years of careful surveying and at the same time provide rudimentary interpretation of resuIts by comparing erosion rates. The reader will find listed in the bibliography pertinent published papers which analyze these coastal erosion data in great detail.This work has been supported by the Geography Branch of the Office of Naval Research, Contract Number Nonr 1254 (00), (NR-388-018), and by Nonr 2196 (00)

Connecting the time domain community with the Virtual Astronomical Observatory

The time domain has been identified as one of the most important areas of astronomical research for the next decade. The Virtual Observatory is in the vanguard with dedicated tools and services that enable and facilitate the discovery, dissemination and analysis of time domain data. These range in scope from rapid notifications of time-critical astronomical transients to annotating long-term variables with the latest modeling results. In this paper, we will review the prior art in these areas and focus on the capabilities that the VAO is bringing to bear in support of time domain science. In particular, we will focus on the issues involved with the heterogeneous collections of (ancillary) data associated with astronomical transients, and the time series characterization and classification tools required by the next generation of sky surveys, such as LSST and SKA.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of SPIE Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes and Systems IV, Amsterdam, 2012 July 2-