New opportunities for disadvantaged pupils: the step-up programme

In the UK, the link between low income and poor educational outcomes has been long established. The Step-Up programme, which was initiated in Northern Ireland in 2000, was conceived and developed as a specific response to the under achievement and non participation in higher education of socially and economically disadvantaged secondary school pupils.<p></p> In addition to raising educational aspirations, the programme aims to raise pupil and school performance in science in order to enable pupils to gain entry to and complete programmes of study at higher education institutions.<p></p> The programme actively involves the University, schools, industry, the local hospitals and government agencies in the delivery of a highly structured programme of academic and vocational science activities.<p></p> The pupils who have participated in the programme have achieved outstanding success with over 97 per cent progressing to universities across the UK. The retention/completion rate for students who have progressed to the University of Ulster stands at 95 per cent, which compares favourably with national and international retention rates.<p></p> The authors suggest that this level of success has been achieved through appropriate pre university preparation and post university support and they provide recommendation for the successful replication and implementation of the programme in other institutions.<p></p&gt

Elementary School Teachers Perceptions of Effective Leadership Practices of Female Principals.

The problem of this qualitative study is to assess teacher perceptions of the leadership practices of female principals. The focus of this study was at the elementary school level. The data were collected from the teachers about their perceptions regarding the female principals with whom they work. This qualitative study was conducted by interviewing 8 teachers from 3 elementary schools in northeast Tennessee. The teachers were interviewed to understand their perceptions of effective leadership practices exhibited by female principals. During the data analysis, 7 constructs were identified after examining and coding the data for related themes. These 7 constructs were: (a) vision, (b) student growth, (c) staff development, (d) organization, (e) communication, (f) caring, and (g) community. In addition to the themes, participants shared perceptions of disadvantages, advantages, and effective leadership characteristics of female principals. Based on the research the following conclusions were drawn. Teachers want to have clear expectations, organization, and follow through in the school environment. This could be accomplished through clear communication and expectations by the principal. Teachers would also like a caring work environment that is created by a principal who listens, respects, and understands others. Each teacher has a variety of different responsibilities and they would like acknowledged. Most of the teachers want a school vision that is focused on providing a productive learning environment for all the students. Recommendations for future research included the following:Only teachers were interviewed in this study. Additional research in this area could be the study of principals\u27 perception of effective leadership practices. This information could be used to determine the similarities and differences between what principals and teachers view as effective leadership practices.Interview teachers from middle and high schools to assess their perception of effective leadership practices. There could be a difference in the leadership practices of elementary, middle, and high school female principals.Additional research in this area needs to be conducted in a variety of elementary schools. This would provide a larger sample of participants.Interview teachers from elementary schools to compare their perceptions of male and female principals

Perfluoroheteroaromatics as Tools for Peptide Modification

The use of peptides as drugs has been hampered due to, in part, poor stability in vivo. To address this issue, heteroaromatics have been investigated in an attempt to improve enzymatic stability. In particular, pentafluoropyridine has emerged as an interesting tool for peptide modification due to its reactivity towards nucleophilic peptide side chains. Small dipeptides were synthesised, tagged using pentafluoropyridine and further functionalised using thiophenolate resulting in a surprising substitution pattern. Bioactive peptides Oxytocin, Vasopressin and GLP-1 were also synthesised and reacted with pentafluoropyrydine using selective and non-selective "tagging" techniques.The stability of these modified peptides were tested and compared to native peptides to establish the validity of using pentafluoropyridine as a tool to improve peptide stability

A role for CBFβ in mammary gland development and breast carcinogenesis

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a high survival rate when localised but a very poor prognosis in the metastatic stage of the disease. Recent whole genome/exon sequencing studies using human breast tumours have identified Cbf, for the first time, as a gene that is significantly mutated in breast cancer, alongside well-documented key players including TP53, GATA3, MAP3KI and PIK3CA. With Cbfβ mutated in ~5% of luminal breast cancers, it is one of the most frequently mutated genes but has not been previously linked to breast cancer. Cbfβ is the binding partner of the osteogenic transcription factor Runx2, for which a novel role as a regulator of mammary gland development and tumourigenesis has recently been shown. All members of the Runx family form heterodimeric complexes with the same co-transcription factor, core binding factor (Cbf). This complex can either activate or repress transcription of key regulators of growth, survival and differentiation pathways. This thesis describes a novel and exciting role for Cbfb in the regulation of normal mammary gland development, breast cancer progression and distal metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. This indicates a potential new definition for Cbfb as transcriptional master regulator capable of directing breast cancer pathogenesis

The elemental mechanism of transcriptional pausing.

Transcriptional pausing underlies regulation of cellular RNA biogenesis. A consensus pause sequence that acts on RNA polymerases (RNAPs) from bacteria to mammals halts RNAP in an elemental paused state from which longer-lived pauses can arise. Although the structural foundations of pauses prolonged by backtracking or nascent RNA hairpins are recognized, the fundamental mechanism of the elemental pause is less well-defined. Here we report a mechanistic dissection that establishes the elemental pause signal (i) is multipartite; (ii) causes a modest conformational shift that puts γ-proteobacterial RNAP in an off-pathway state in which template base loading but not RNA translocation is inhibited; and (iii) allows RNAP to enter pretranslocated and one-base-pair backtracked states easily even though the half-translocated state observed in paused cryo-EM structures rate-limits pause escape. Our findings provide a mechanistic basis for the elemental pause and a framework to understand how pausing is modulated by sequence, cellular conditions, and regulators

Ultrasound-triggered disruption and self-healing of reversibly cross-linked hydrogels for drug delivery and enhanced chemotherapy

Foldable photoelectronics and muscle-like transducers require highly stretchable and transparent electrical conductors. Some conducting oxides are transparent, but not stretchable. Carbon nanotube films, graphene sheets and metal-nanowire meshes can be both stretchable and transparent, but their electrical resistances increase steeply with strain <100%. Here we present highly stretchable and transparent Au nanomesh electrodes on elastomers made by grain boundary lithography. The change in sheet resistance of Au nanomeshes is modest with a one-time strain of ~160% (from ~21 Ω per square to ~67 Ω per square), or after 1,000 cycles at a strain of 50%. The good stretchability lies in two aspects: the stretched nanomesh undergoes instability and deflects out-of-plane, while the substrate stabilizes the rupture of Au wires, forming distributed slits. Larger ratio of mesh-size to wire-width also leads to better stretchability. The highly stretchable and transparent Au nanomesh electrodes are promising for applications in foldable photoelectronics and muscle-like transducers.Engineering and Applied Science

Retail-led Regeneration and Store Switching Behaviour

Retail-led regeneration of ‘food deserts’ has become accepted policy in the UK, although the impacts of such stores remain under-researched. It is assumed that residents will switch their shopping behaviour to the new store and then alter their purchasing patterns to include more healthy options. A pre- and post ‘intervention’ study in a deprived area and an equally deprived non-intervention area of Glasgow finds that high switching rates to the new store were identified, indicating some success in altering shopping behaviours. Many switched from large food stores outside the area to shopping within the area. Dietary patterns in the intervention area were maintained after store development; store switching did not induce dietary switching. Results suggest policy should be based on attempting to change both shopping and purchasing behaviours rather than assuming the latter will automatically be transformed by new retail spaces and offers

Perspectives and Forecasts

As the twenty-first century approaches it is accompanied by dramatic changes for the South. Southerners have been inundated with demographic, technological, and social developments which have exercised and will continue to effect dramatic changes in the traditional southern life-style. Once sleeping villages have become busy cities complete with shopping malls and burgeoning industry. All white public schools, businesses, and even churches have yielded to pressures for social equality and racial integration. An equable climate and multitudinous recreational and retirement opportunities have magnetized millions of Americans from the Northeast and Midwest, luring them to the Southland. All of these developments will, or at least should have far-reaching implications for southern archives and professional archivists for years to come