The Packed Lunch Project: Parent Survey

The Packed Lunch Project revolves around parents’ preference for providing packed lunches for their children in primary schools. Our study aims to gain an insight into parents' viewpoints in order to inform our knowledge and understanding of this key aspect of child nutrition. As part of this study we designed an online survey; the data collected is summarised in this report

A pilot study examining garment severance damage caused by a trained sharp-weapon user

The pilot study summarized in this paper aimed to raise awareness of a gap that exists in the forensic textile science literature about damage caused to clothing by trained sharp-weapon users. A male trained in the Filipino martial arts discipline of Eskrima performed attack techniques on a physical model of a male torso covered with a 97% cotton/3% elastane knitted T-shirt, that is, a garment commonly worn by males. Fabric severance appearance created by three different, but commonly available, knives was evaluated. High-speed video was used to capture each attack. After each attack the resulting damage to the garment was assessed. This pilot study highlighted differences in severances associated with weapon selection, that is, not all knives resulted in similar patterns of textile damage. In addition, a mixture of stab and slash severances were observed. The findings demonstrated the possible misinterpretation of textile damage under these circumstances compared to damage patterns reported in the existing forensic textile science literature for more commonly occurring knife attacks (i.e. stabbings)

The Effects of a Non-Basal Holistic Curriculum of Reading in a Fourth Grade Class

iv, 31 leaves. Advisor: Bruce Vennard and Ray HockThe problem. The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not attitudes and certain identified reading skills can be affected by using a non-basal holistic curriculum as proposed in the report "Becominq a Nation of Readers" prepared by Richard C. Anderson, Elfrieda H. Hiebert, Judith A. Scott, fan A, G, Wilkinson, and other members of the Commission on Reading. Procedure. The Estes Attitude Scale was given as a pre- and post-test to a population of forty-nine fourth graders in a Des Moines public school. The students' progress in mastering specific reading skills was documented by the administering of criterion tests developed by the Des Moines Public Schools. These tests will be referred to as SARI (Systematic Approach to Reading Improvement). Findings. Desired attitude responses on the Estes Attitude Scale were determined prior to administering the instrument. The McMemar test was used on the results of the pre-evaluation and post-test data. The results of the pre and post-SARI tests were computed into percentages using a criterion of 80 percent as mastery. The percentages indicated that the students did master the identified reading skills at the eightieth percentile or above. Conclusions. Attitudes of fourth graders involved in the study were positively affected. The students also mastered identified reading skills at an eightieth percentile or above. If we embrace the concept that a student's attitude affects learning, then the results of the Estes Attitude Survey also indicated a positive effect on learning. Recommendations. There is a need for further longitudinal studies to be done comparing a non-basal holistic reading curriculum to a traditional three-reading-group basal curriculum

Measuring ligand efficacy at the mu-opioid receptor using a conformational biosensor.

The intrinsic efficacy of orthosteric ligands acting at G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) reflects their ability to stabilize active receptor states (R*) and is a major determinant of their physiological effects. Here, we present a direct way to quantify the efficacy of ligands by measuring the binding of a R*-specific biosensor to purified receptor employing interferometry. As an example, we use the mu-opioid receptor (µ-OR), a prototypic class A GPCR, and its active state sensor, nanobody-39 (Nb39). We demonstrate that ligands vary in their ability to recruit Nb39 to µ-OR and describe methadone, loperamide, and PZM21 as ligands that support unique R* conformation(s) of µ-OR. We further show that positive allosteric modulators of µ-OR promote formation of R* in addition to enhancing promotion by orthosteric agonists. Finally, we demonstrate that the technique can be utilized with heterotrimeric G protein. The method is cell-free, signal transduction-independent and is generally applicable to GPCRs