The effect of seasonality on the immune response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The primary aim of the work carried out in this thesis was to determine if season influences the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) immune system. It is already well established that seasonality dominates the life history of fish for example in reproductive activity, food intake, locomotor activity, body weight and body condition. To accomplish this, a twelve month trial was carried out in which a variety of innate immune and haematological parameters were measured every month (Chapter 2). Several of the parameters studied exhibited seasonal patterns. Further trials were carried out to examine the proximate cues of temperature (Chapter 3) and photoperiod (Chapter 4) and their effect on a variety of innate immune responses. These studies concluded that temperature exerted a significant effect on several of the parameters studied whereas, photoperiod, was found to have little or no effect. Furthermore, winter was generally found to have an immunosuppressive effect on the immune system. A second twelve month trial was carried out, investigating possible methods of alleviating seasonal immunosuppression. The effect of melatonin on the immune system of O. mykiss was examine, firstly to determine if it acts as an immunostimulant and secondly to investigate if it improves vaccination protection. The results of this trial generally corroborated those of the Base Level Trial (Chapter 2) in that generally, parameters were suppressed in winter, with the exception of haematocrits which were suppressed in summer. To investigate if the immune system of rainbow trout exhibits a circadian rhythm a trial was carried out where a variety of innate immune and haematological parameters were measured every 6 hours over a 24 h period (Chapter 6). None of the innate immune parameters studied were observed to exhibit a circadian rhythm. It is anticipated that this research investigating the seasonal effects of natural and artificial photoperiods and temperatures on immune function will be of benefit to the aquaculture industry. It will provide information that will allow administration of commercial diets containing functional supplements to be timed effectively and will facilitate our understanding of the epidemiology of specific fish pathogens

Academic Integrity Institutionalization in an Online RN-BSN Program

This poster illustrates how the four stages of the Gallant and Drinan (2008) Model of Academic Integrity Institutionalization is applied to a large online RN-BSN program . Faculty concern about academic integrity is consistent with stage one of the model, response generation. A comparative descriptive study is used to evaluate the differences in academic integrity between the online and traditional face-to-face classroom cohorts in the RN-BSN program. The results indicate very low levels of self-reported academic dishonesty among both online (n=330, 16% ) and traditional face-to–face ( n=44, 44%) RN-BSN students. The traditional classroom cohort reported higher levels of cheating compared to the online cohort. The results of the first study did not find higher levels of cheating in the online RN-BSN program. An academic integrity intervention study is in progress and a tool for assessing academic integrity in online programs is in development

Developing intercultural language learning textbooks: Methodological trends, engaging with the intercultural construct, and personal reflections on the process

Historically, textbook development for languages education has reflected methodological trends in languages learning, from grammar-translation methods used in the first half of the twentieth century, through audio-lingual, notionalfunctional, communicative language learning and other methodological paradigms. A current methodological trend – arguably more an ‘orientation’ to languages learning than a ‘method’ – involves developing ‘intercultural’ perspectives. In this orientation,learners are invited to constantly consider the interrelationship of language and culture; what this interplay means within variable cultural contexts; to work ‘across and between’ the languages they know and are learning; and to think reflexively on how developing understandings of new languages and cultures ultimately affects them as individuals and members of communities. The authors have been researching and working with intercultural language learning over a number of years. In response to the need for resources reflecting this orientation and their own desire to see how this might be realised in commercially available materials (textbooks and online support), Lesley Harbon, Michelle Kohler and Anne-Marie Morgan have developed a textbook series with an intercultural orientation for Australian middle years learners of Indonesian. The journey in developing these materials has raised many questions and challenges, including considering how a diversity of perspectives about languages and cultures might be represented and catered for in ‘static’ resources. This article situates the current trend towards intercultural language learning within an historical context of textbook development and language teaching methodologies; explores current understandings of the intercultural construct and considers how this understanding has influenced the writing of the series; and provides reflections on the complexities and challenges of development of this resource

Planejando para a diferenciação: a experiência de professores de escolas primárias da Irlanda do Norte

This paper describes how a group of primary schools in Northern Ireland planned a differentiated curriculum, and the extent to which subject co-ordinators offer guidance to teacher colleagues in planning for English, mathematics and science. The views of headteachers, subject co-ordinators and teachers on the ways in which plans are translated into classroom practice for higher and lower attaining pupils in both classwork and homework were obtained. The curriculum support staff described how far they consider teachers are applying the principles of differentiation, including progression and continuity. The results showed that, although most teachers were said to understand the meaning of differentiation moderately well, help was needed in drawing up schemes of work and providing for the extremes of pupil attainment

The scattering of electrons by atomic systems

The eigenfunction expansion method is used to describe the scattering of low energy electrons by atoms or ions having any number of incomplete subshells. Hartree Fock wave functions are used to describe the target system and allowance is made for the inclusion of any number of excited electronic configurations in the expansion. The continuum electron wave functions are given as the solutions of coupled integro differential equations with prescribed boundary conditions. Expressions for the photoionisation cross sections are also derived within this approximation. The formalism presented in this thesis uses the technique of angular momentum recoupling which greatly simplifies the evaluation of the potential terms which appear in the equations and the expressions for the photoionisation cross sections. This has enabled us to write, for the first time, a computer program for the calculation of the various electron scattering and photoionisation cross sections for a general atomic system, which requires as input only the Hartree Fock functions for the bound orbitals and the parameters needed to specify the terms to be included in the eigenfunction expansion. A program which calculates the necessary recoupling coefficients for any given expansion is described

Biotic interactions in soil and dung shape parasite transmission in temperate ruminant systems : An integrative framework

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are thankful to QUADRAT doctoral training partnership for providing the opportunity to complete this work. This work was supported by a QUADRAT doctoral training program PhD studentship from UK Research and Innovation, via the Natural Environment Research Council. Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Grant Number: NE/S007377/1 UKRIPeer reviewe

Quest for certainty regarding early discharge in paediatric low-risk febrile neutropenia : a multicentre qualitative focus group discussion study involving patients, parents and healthcare professionals in the UK

OBJECTIVES: A systematic review of paediatric low-risk febrile neutropenia found that outpatient care is safe, with low rates of treatment failure. However, this review, and a subsequent meta-ethnography, suggested that early discharge of these patients may not be acceptable to key stakeholders. This study aimed to explore experiences and perceptions of patients, parents and healthcare professionals involved in paediatric febrile neutropenia care in the UK. SETTING: Three different centres within the UK, purposively selected from a national survey on the basis of differences in their service structure and febrile neutropenia management. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two participants were included in eight focus group discussions. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: Experiences and perceptions of paediatric febrile neutropenia care, including possible future reductions in therapy. RESULTS: Participants described a quest for certainty, in which they attempted to balance the uncertainty involved in understanding, expressing and negotiating risk with the illusion of certainty provided by strict protocols. Participants assessed risk using both formal and informal stratification tools, overlaid with emotional reactions to risk and experiences of risk within other situations. The benefits of certainty provided by protocols were counterbalanced by frustration at their strict constraints. The perceived benefits and harms of previous inpatient care informed participants' appraisals of future treatment strategies. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the previously underestimated harms of admission for febrile neutropenia and the paternalistic nature of decision making, along with the frustrations and challenges for all parties involved in febrile neutropenia care. It demonstrates how the same statistics, generated by systematic reviews, can be used by key stakeholders to interpret risk differently, and how families in particular can view the harms of therapeutic options as different from the outcomes used within the literature. It justifies a reassessment of current treatment strategies for these children and further exploration of the potential to introduce shared decision making

Musculoskeletal care pathways for adults

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are the most frequently reported chronic conditions and one of the biggest causes of disability in the UK. Given the ageing population and the impact of these problems, the demand for MSK treatment will rise. Despite reduced waiting times, MSK pathways have remained variable and inconsistent and need to be improved to meet patient needs. The aim of this systematic review is to understand the evidence for the effectiveness of current models of service delivery and care pathways for adult hip/knee pain patients accessing secondary care for specialist opinions. Methods: MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, CINAHL, Embase, PEDro, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central and HMIC databases will be searched without language restrictions for papers published from 1990 onward. Websites will be reviewed for grey literature including care pathways, policy documents and unpublished MSK research. Additionally, reference lists will be checked and citations tracked for included studies. Discussion: The following evidence will be included: research considering care pathways at the intersection between primary and secondary care for adults with hip and/or knee pain in countries with an established clinical pathway. Studies considering generalised inflammatory arthropathy and post-surgical care pathways will be excluded. Screening for included data will be conducted independently by two reviewers. After benchmarking, quality assessment and data extraction will be conducted by one reviewer and checked by a second. A mixed method analysis will be conducted. This systematic review will be used as part of a programme of research to identify best practice for MSK hip and knee pain care pathways. It will provide recommendations for pathway re-design to meet patient needs and ensure efficient streamlining of the patient journey. The review will combine a wide range of information sources including patient and clinician opinion, clinical guidelines, health service delivery research and stakeholder requirements. This should result in a pathway that provides better patient experience and outcomes, whilst meeting the demands placed on the NHS for high-quality evidence-based interventions with efficient use of resources

The correlation between inflammatory biomarkers and polygenic risk score in Alzheimer's Disease

Plasma biomarkers to aid the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or to monitor disease progression have long been sought and continue to be widely studied. Biomarkers that correlate with AD polygenic risk score, a measure of the polygenic architecture of the disease and highly predictive of AD status, would be excellent candidates. Therefore, we undertook a preliminary study to assess the association of plasma inflammatory biomarkers with an overall AD polygenic risk score as well as with an inflammation-specific AD polygenic risk score in a sample set of 93 AD cases. We measured five complement biomarkers [complement receptor 1 (CR1), clusterin, complement component 9 (C9), C1 inhibitor (C1inh), terminal complement complex (TCC)] and the benchmark inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP). Plasma clusterin level showed an association with overall AD polygenic risk score, while clusterin, C1inh, and CRP levels each displayed some association with the inflammatory-specific AD polygenic risk score. The results suggest that elevated plasma levels of inflammatory biomarkers, including complement proteins, associate with polygenic risk scores in AD, further strengthening the link between genetic and biomarker disease predictors and indicating a potential role for these markers in disease prediction and patient stratification in AD