Reviews

Integrating Information Technology into Education edited by Deryn Watson and David Tinsley, London, Chapman & Hall, 1995, ISBN: 0–412–62250–5, 316 pages

Fiction, children's voices and the moral imagination: a case study

The importance of stories in educating the moral imagination of the child provides the context for this thesis, which explores children's responses to the moral dimension of fiction. Studies in narrative psychology, literary theory and children's responses to reading also provide the empirical and theoretical background for this qualitative enquiry that compares a number of developing readers' responses to fiction in a school and classroom context. Focusing on the features that distinguish their responses to questions about moral choice and virtue in a range of stories, the thesis explores a mode of response to fiction called moral rehearsal. It identifies a range of strategies children adopt to explore and evaluate the moral world of narrative texts such as the use of moral touchstones, alternative narratives and dramatisation. It presents an original application of philosophical anthropology to the data in order to distinguish between what I call mimetic and diegetic rehearsal in children's responses. This phenomenological interpretation suggests the ways in which narratives contribute to the constitution of consciousness in the child. Drawing mainly on school-based interview conversations, peer group talk and some children's written work about a range of fiction, this enquiry adopts an interpretive, case study approach to children's moral responses to fiction. It examines the child's perspective to produce an account of moral imagination in developing readers that illuminates a previously unexplored mode of reading - moral rehearsal - relevant to theories about the development of children's reading, literary response and moral sense. It represents a contribution to the literature on children's literary experience, the empirical study of children's reading and children's moral and spiritual formation

Role of Tem1 in Signalling Mitotic Exit in the Human Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

The human pathogen Candida albicans is polymorphic, and its ability to switch growth forms is thought to play an important role in virulence. The primary research aim of this thesis was to understand the role the mitotic exit network plays in C. albicans with particular focus on the Tem1 GTPase protein. This aim was split into three specific goals; to study the role of Tem1 through the construction of a regulatable tem1 mutant, to understand the regulation of Tem1 through localisation and protein interaction studies, and to construct new molecular tools utilising the NAT1 positive selection marker in order to achieve two previous goals. In this thesis we demonstrated that TEM1 is an essential gene in C. albicans, and its essential function is signalled through the Cdc15 protein. Surprisingly, Tem1p depleted cells arrested as hyper-polarised filaments containing one or two nuclei and ultimately lost viability. These filaments formed from budding yeast cells, suggestive of a blockage late in the cell cycle. Ultimately the failure of these filaments to undergo cytokinesis was linked to a defect in septin ring dynamics and the formation of actomyosin ring. To understand the regulation of Tem1 we localised both the Tem1 and Lte1 proteins and found that Tem1 localised to spindle pole bodies in a cell-cycle dependent fashion by recruited at the onset of S phase. In contrast, the Lte1 homolog localised to the daughter cell cortex prior to release into the cytoplasm at the end of the cell cycle. A yeast 2-hybrid analysis of the MEN components demonstrated the potential of Bfa1/Bub2 and Tem1 to form a complex and the ability of Tem1 to homodimerise which may play a role in its self-activation. In order to carry out various aspects of this work we constructed a fully functional set of cassettes, including the constitutively active ENO1 promoter, V5-6xHIS epitope tag and various fluorescent protein genes fused to the NAT1 positive selection marker. When considered together, these results indicate that Tem1 is required for timely mitotic exit and cytokinesis in C. albicans, similar to S. cerevisiae, but the final output of the pathway must have diverged.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counci

Fiction, children's voices and the moral imagination: a case study

The importance of stories in educating the moral imagination of the child provides the context for this thesis, which explores children's responses to the moral dimension of fiction. Studies in narrative psychology, literary theory and children's responses to reading also provide the empirical and theoretical background for this qualitative enquiry that compares a number of developing readers' responses to fiction in a school and classroom context. Focusing on the features that distinguish their responses to questions about moral choice and virtue in a range of stories, the thesis explores a mode of response to fiction called moral rehearsal. It identifies a range of strategies children adopt to explore and evaluate the moral world of narrative texts such as the use of moral touchstones, alternative narratives and dramatisation. It presents an original application of philosophical anthropology to the data in order to distinguish between what I call mimetic and diegetic rehearsal in children's responses. This phenomenological interpretation suggests the ways in which narratives contribute to the constitution of consciousness in the child. Drawing mainly on school-based interview conversations, peer group talk and some children's written work about a range of fiction, this enquiry adopts an interpretive, case study approach to children's moral responses to fiction. It examines the child's perspective to produce an account of moral imagination in developing readers that illuminates a previously unexplored mode of reading - moral rehearsal - relevant to theories about the development of children's reading, literary response and moral sense. It represents a contribution to the literature on children's literary experience, the empirical study of children's reading and children's moral and spiritual formation

Radio Observations of the Supernova Remnant Candidate G312.5-3.0

The radio images from the Parkes-MIT-NRAO (PMN) Southern Sky Survey at 4850 MHz have revealed a number of previously unknown radio sources. One such source, G312.5-3.0 (PMN J1421-6415), has been observed using the multi-frequency capabilities of the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at frequencies of 1380 MHz and 2378 MHz. Further observations of the source were made using the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) at a frequency of 843 MHz. The source has an angular size of 18 arcmin and has a distinct shell structure. We present the reduced multi-frequency observations of this source and provide a brief argument for its possible identification as a supernova remnant.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Ultraviolet Observations of Super-Chandrasekhar Mass Type Ia Supernova Candidates with Swift UVOT

Among Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) exist a class of overluminous objects whose ejecta mass is inferred to be larger than the canonical Chandrasekhar mass. We present and discuss the UV/optical photometric light curves, colors, absolute magnitudes, and spectra of three candidate Super-Chandrasekhar mass SNe--2009dc, 2011aa, and 2012dn--observed with the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. The light curves are at the broad end for SNe Ia, with the light curves of SN~2011aa being amongst the broadest ever observed. We find all three to have very blue colors which may provide a means of excluding these overluminous SNe from cosmological analysis, though there is some overlap with the bluest of "normal" SNe Ia. All three are overluminous in their UV absolute magnitudes compared to normal and broad SNe Ia, but SNe 2011aa and 2012dn are not optically overluminous compared to normal SNe Ia. The integrated luminosity curves of SNe 2011aa and 2012dn in the UVOT range (1600-6000 Angstroms) are only half as bright as SN~2009dc, implying a smaller 56Ni yield. While not enough to strongly affect the bolometric flux, the early time mid-UV flux makes a significant contribution at early times. The strong spectral features in the mid-UV spectra of SNe 2009dc and 2012dn suggest a higher temperature and lower opacity to be the cause of the UV excess rather than a hot, smooth blackbody from shock interaction. Further work is needed to determine the ejecta and 56Ni masses of SNe 2011aa and 2012dn and fully explain their high UV luminosities.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Data available on the Swift supernova website http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/sne/swift_sn.htm

Development of wearable sensors for tailored patient wound care

In recent years a specialist interest has developed worldwide in advanced wound management for difficult to heal chronic wounds. Further progress in advanced wound management will require an improvement in personalized medicine for the patient and in particular an improvement in the availability of diagnostic tests and parameters that fulfil clinical need in wound management decisions. However, without easy to use sensors for nurses and carers these potentially important near-patient diagnostic parameters will not enter clinical diagnostics. This study focuses on a number of metrics for wound condition and wound healing: wound fluid pH, wound moisture, and wound matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) enzyme activity. To observe these important markers state of the art sensors have been developed that are based on inexpensive sensing technologies that can be integrated within wound dressings. These sensors will enable the wound healing markers to be studied and profiled in clinics which will further enhance the understanding of these markers and their relationship in the complex healing process involved in chronic wound healing

Is it possible to estimate the minimal clinically important treatment effect needed to change practice in preterm birth prevention? Results of an obstetrician survey used to support the design of a trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sample sizes for obstetrical trials are often based on the opinion of investigators about clinically important effect size. We surveyed Canadian obstetricians to investigate clinically important effect sizes required before introducing new treatments into practice to prevent preterm birth.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Questionnaires were mailed to practicing obstetricians, asking the magnitude of pregnancy prolongation required to introduce treatments into practice. The three prophylactic treatments were of increasing invasiveness: vaginal progesterone, intramuscular progesterone, and cervical cerclage. We also asked about the perceived most relevant outcome measures for obstetrical trials and current obstetrical practice in preterm birth prevention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>544/1293(42.1%) completed questionnaires were received. The majority of respondents required one or two weeks' increase in length of gestation before introducing vaginal (372,77.1%), and intramuscular progesterone(354,67.9%). At least three weeks increase was required before introducing prophylactic cervical cerclage(326,62.8%). Clinicians who already used a treatment required a smaller difference before introducing it into practice. Decreasing neonatal morbidity was cited as the most important outcome for obstetrical trials (349,72.2%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Obstetricians would require a larger increase in treatment effect before introducing more invasive treatments into practice. Although infant morbidity was perceived as a more important outcome, clinicians appeared willing to change practice on the basis of prolongation of pregnancy, a surrogate outcome. We found that there is not a single minimum clinically important treatment effect that will influence all practising clinicians: rather the effect size that will influence physicians is affected by the nature of the treatment, the reported outcome measure and the clinician's own current clinical practice.</p

Report on the Exploratory on Smart Care in a Homely Setting

The Exploratory on Smart Care in a Homely Setting was arranged on the 4th May 2016 at Maxim park by the Digital Health and Care Institute. The aim of the event was to explore what care currently looks like in a homely setting, to identify citizens' and carers' needs as well as pin point potential areas for innovation to go forward. The theme covered both homes and care homes, and other home-like settings where care is being given. The findings from the Exploratory informed key themes for a follow up event, an Ecosystem organised on the 6th of June. The overall "Care in a homely setting" -program will yield Information to ideate alternatives for future home services. This document summarises the key outputs from the focus group activities arranged on the day

Swift UVOT Observations of Core-Collapse SNe

We review recent UV observations of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) with the Swift Ultra-violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) during its first two years. Rest-frame UV photometry is useful for differentiating SN types by exploiting the UV-optical spectral shape and more subtle UV features. This is useful for the real-time classification of local and high-redshift SNe using only photometry. Two remarkable SNe Ib/c were observed with UVOT -- SN2006jc was a UV bright SN Ib. Swift observations of GRB060218/SN2006aj began shortly after the explosion and show a UV-bright peak followed by a UV-faint SN bump. UV observations are also useful for constraining the temperature and ionization structure of SNe IIP. Rest-frame UV observations of all types are important for understanding the extinction, temperature, and bolometric luminosity of SNe and to interpret the observations of high redshift SNe observed at optical wavelengths.Comment: Figures are enlarged and colorized from print versio