The impact of NQT induction programmes on the enhancement of teacher expertise, professional development, job satisfaction or retention rates: a systematic review of research literature on induction

This report is the result of a preliminary study undertaken by the Induction Review Group between January and March 2003 which essentially involved a mapping exercise to identify the range and type of research studies addressing the research question, ‘How does current research characterise the impact of induction programmes on new teachers in relation to enhancing teaching expertise, professional development, job satisfaction and retention rates?’ Results of the initial in-depth review are reported in Chapter 4. The Review Group plans further refinements of the mapping exercise and other in-depth reviews drawing on it

University Student Beliefs About Sexual Violence in Prison: Rape Myth Acceptance, Punitiveness, and Empathy

Although prison rape has been recognised for years, it began to receive increased attention in the USA following the passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). In addition to prevalence and victimisation estimates, several researchers have examined the attitudes of correctional personnel towards prison rape. However, few have surveyed the opinions of those not currently working in the criminal justice system. Drawing from the body of research on rape myths, our goal was to examine prison rape myth acceptance among a university student sample to describe these beliefs, as well as examine attitudinal correlates. The findings indicated that prison rape-supportive beliefs were evident among a minority of the sample and were predicted by general punitiveness and male and female rape myth acceptance. The acceptance of victim-blaming myths identified in this study warrants further investigation. It is possible that educational efforts would be successful in reducing these rape-supportive beliefs

Water Quality, nutrients and the European Union’s Water Framework Directive in a lowland agricultural region: Suffolk, south-east England.

The water quality of 13 rivers in the lowland, agricultural county of Suffolk is investigated using routine monitoring data for the period 1981 to 2006 collected by the Environment Agency of England and Wales (EA), and its predecessors, with particular emphasis on phosphorus (as total reactive phosphorus, TRP) and total (dissolved and particulate) oxidised nitrogen (TOxN – predominantly nitrate NO3). Major ion and flow data are used to outline fundamental hydrochemical characteristics related to the groundwater provenance of base-flow waters. Relative load contributions from point and diffuse sources are approximated using Load Apportionment Modelling for both TRP and TOxN where concurrent flow and concentration data are available. Analyses indicate a mixture of point and diffuse sources of TRP, with the former being dominant during low flow periods, while for TOxN diffuse sources dominate. Out of 59 sites considered, 53 (90%) were found to have annual average TRP concentrations greater than 0.05 mg P l-1, and 36 (61%) had average concentrations over 0.120 mg P l-1, the upper thresholds for ‘High’ and ‘Good’ ecological status, respectively. Correspondingly, for TOxN, most of the rivers are already within 70% of the 11.3 mg N l-1 threshold, with two rivers (Wang and Ore) being consistently greater than this. It is suggested that the major challenge is to characterise and control point-source TRP inputs which, being predominant during the late spring and summer low-flow period, coincide with the peak of primary biological production, thus presenting the major challenge to achieving ‘good’ ecological status under the Water Framework Directive. Results show that considerable effort is still required to ensure appropriate management and develop tools for decision-support

Phosphatase Regulation of CFTR

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride channel is tightly regulated by the opposing actions of protein kinases and phosphatases. Its phosphorylation and activation by protein kinases A (PKA) and C (PKC) have been studied in some detail but phosphatase regulation of the channel has received less attention. Several phosphatases may control CFTR in various cell types, however in epithelia most deactivation is mediated by a membrane-bound phosphatase with functional properties resembling those of PP2C, the prototypic member of the PPM gene family of serinelthreonine phosphatases. The PP2C-like phosphatase requires Mg2+, is insensitive to the inhibitors okadaic acid and calyculin A, does not require Ca2+ or calmodulin, and is inhibited non-specifically by phenylimidazothiazoles. It is closely associated with CFTR and can be co-immunoprecipitated or co-purified from celllysates by affinity chromatography with, or without, pretreatment with chemical crosslinking reagents. Current efforts are directed towards identifying the phosphatase at the molecular level; i.e., determining if it is a novel isoform or alternatively spliced variant of a known PP2C isoform, or a new membrane-targeted phosphatase in the PPM family. Identifying and characterizing the phosphatase will open many new avenues of investigation into basic aspects of CFTR regulation, and may have clinical significance since the phosphatase is a potential target for pharmacotherapies to treat cystic fibrosis and secretory diarrhea

Trends, over 14 years, in the ground cover on an unimproved western hill grazed by sheep, and associated trends in animal performance

peer-reviewedThe frequency of individual plant species at ground level and the species composition of the unimproved vegetation on a western hill farm, stocked with Scottish Blackface sheep, were monitored from 1995 to 2008. Performance criteria of the flock that relied totally, or almost totally, on this vegetation for sustenance from 1994 to 2011 were evaluated. The frequency of vegetation increased over time (from 65% to 82% of the surface area; P 60% better, depending on the variable, than similar flocks in the National Farm Survey at comparable stocking rates. A well-defined rational management system can sustain a productive sheep enterprise on unimproved hill land without negative consequences for the frequency or composition of the vegetation.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Cuticle thickening associated with pyrethroid resistance in the major malaria vector Anopheles funestus

BACKGROUND: Malaria in South Africa is primarily transmitted by Anopheles funestus Giles. Resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in An. funestus in northern Kwazulu/Natal, South Africa, and in neighbouring areas of southern Mozambique enabled populations of this species to increase their ranges into areas where pyrethroids were being exclusively used for malaria control. Pyrethroid resistance in southern African An. funestus is primarily conferred by monooxygenase enzyme metabolism. However, selection for this resistance mechanism is likely to have occurred in conjunction with other factors that improve production of the resistance phenotype. A strong candidate is cuticle thickening. This is because thicker cuticles lead to slower rates of insecticide absorption, which is likely to increase the efficiency of metabolic detoxification. RESULTS: Measures of mean cuticle thickness in laboratory samples of female An. funestus were obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These females were drawn from a laboratory colony carrying the pyrethroid resistance phenotype at a stable rate, but not fixed. Prior to cuticle thickness measurements, these samples were characterised as either more or less tolerant to permethrin exposure in one experiment, and either permethrin resistant or susceptible in another experiment. There was a significant and positive correlation between mean cuticle thickness and time to knock down during exposure to permethrin. Mean cuticle thickness was significantly greater in those samples characterised either as more tolerant or resistant to permethrin exposure compared to those characterised as either less tolerant or permethrin susceptible. Further, insecticide susceptible female An. funestus have thicker cuticles than their male counterparts. CONCLUSION: Pyrethroid tolerant or resistant An. funestus females are likely to have thicker cuticles than less tolerant or susceptible females, and females generally have thicker cuticles than males. In pyrethroid resistant An. funestus, this increase in cuticle thickness is likely to have developed as an auxiliary to the primary mode of pyrethroid resistance which is based on enzyme-mediated detoxification

Microstructural strain energy of α-uranium determined by calorimetry and neutron diffractometry

The microstructural contribution to the heat capacity of α-uranium was determined by measuring the heat-capacity difference between polycrystalline and single-crystal samples from 77 to 320 K. When cooled to 77 K and then heated to about 280 K, the uranium microstructure released (3±1) J/mol of strain energy. On further heating to 300 K, the microstructure absorbed energy as it began to redevelop microstrains. Anisotropic strain-broadening parameters were extracted from neutron-diffraction measurements on polycrystals. Combining the strain-broadening parameters with anisotropic elastic constants from the literature, the microstructural strain energy is predicted in the two limiting cases of statistically isotropic stress and statistically isotropic strain. The result calculated in the limit of statistically isotropic stress was (3.7±0.5) J/mol K at 77 K and (1±0.5) J/mol at room temperature. In the limit of statistically isotropic strain, the values were (7.8±0.5) J/mol K at 77 K and (4.5±0.5) J/mol at room temperature. In both cases the changes in the microstructural strain energy showed good agreement with the calorimetry