Making sense of education: sensory ethnography and visual impairment

Education involves the engagement of the full range of the senses in the accomplishment of tasks and the learning of knowledge and skills. However both in pedagogical practices and in the process of educational research, there has been a tendency to privilege the visual. To explore these issues, detailed sensory ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in further education colleges, investigating the experiences of visually impaired students who use their non-visual senses and embodied actions to achieve their learning. The study found that the full sensory schemas of the students were not always appreciated or accessed by tutors, resulting in lost learning opportunities. Whilst particularly relevant for visually impaired students, these findings have implications for pedagogy for all students. Further the study highlighted the significance of sensory ethnography as a tool to explore the processes of teaching and learning

Iaith y Ddrama / Drama'r Iaith: PhD Beirniadol a Chreadigol

Yn sail i’r astudiaeth hon y mae’r dyfyniad canlynol: ‘The problems of language in drama were crystallised – as problems – in the early dramatic criticism of Eliot’ (Kennedy, 1975, t.5). Y cwestiwn ymchwil yw: ‘I ba raddau y bu heriau ieithyddol yn ffenomenon wrth ysgrifennu drama ar gyfer y theatr a’r teledu Cymraeg?’ Eir ati i geisio ateb y cwestiwn ymchwil drwy gyfrwng astudiaeth feirniadol, ac ymatebir i’r canlyniadau drwy waith creadigol. Yn y rhan feirniadol (pennod 1 i 6), archwilir yn gyntaf i ba raddau y bu i ddramodwyr rhyngwladol wynebu heriau ieithyddol wrth ysgrifennu ar gyfer y theatr a’r teledu. Yna, edrychir ar y datblygiadau cynnar yn y theatr Gymraeg o 1880 hyd y 1950au, ac yna’r teledu Cymraeg o 1955 hyd at 1962. Dadansoddir wedyn i ba raddau y bu heriau ieithyddol yn ffenomenon i bum dramodydd unigol o gyfnodau gwahanol, sef Saunders Lewis, John Gwilym Jones, Gwenlyn Parry, Aled Jones Williams a Daf James. Ar ddiwedd yr astudiaeth feirniadol, ffocysir ar un mater neilltuol, sef y berthynas rhwng yr iaith Gymraeg a’r ddrama deledu realaidd. Er na ellir honni bod pob dramodydd Cymraeg wedi wynebu heriau ieithyddol, daw’n amlwg bod iaith fel her yn ystyriaeth gyson yng ngwaith y pum dramodydd dan sylw. Ymatebodd y dramodwyr i’r heriau ac esgorodd hyn ar gryn arbrofi, ac ar greadigrwydd aruthrol. Ym mhennod 7, ceir pontio rhwng yr adran feirniadol a’r creadigol; trafodaf yr heriau a wynebais i a hynny yng nghyd-destun y drafodaeth feirniadol. Mae penodau 8, 9 a 10 yn cynnwys y gwaith creadigol. Ceir dwy ddrama lwyfan wedi’u hysbrydoli gan gymeriadau Blodeuwedd a Branwen. Yma, archwilir heriau amryw-iaith, heriau hunan-iaith, a heriau cyfathrebu rhwng y cymeriadau. Cyfres deledu mewn tair rhan yw Pluen sydd yn defnyddio realaeth hudol a ffantasi i archwilio iaith y teledu; yma archwilir heriau cyfathrebu drwy iaith, y berthynas rhwng realaeth a’r iaith Gymraeg, ac arbrofi ieithyddol ar y teledu

Influence of solidity on the performance, swirl characteristics, wake recovery and blade deflection of a horizontal axis tidal turbine

The main focus of this thesis was to investigate the influence of solidity on the performance, swirl characteristics, wake length and blade deflection of a Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbine (HATT) using the simulation software package Ansys. An existing laboratory scale prototype HATT was modified to improve upon previously gathered experimental data and provide further confidence of the validity of the numerical models. The solidity was varied by altering the number of blades in the numerical models. The work presented in this thesis shows that, for this blade profile, increasing the solidity increases the peak Cθ and peak Cp and reduces the λ at which these occur. Ct was found to be approximately the same at peak Cp, which was assumed to be the normal operating condition. At λ above peak Cp, near freewheeling, Ct continued to increase for the 2 bladed turbine, remained approximately constant for the 3 bladed turbine and decreased for the 4 bladed turbine, due to the change in pitch angle required to maintain optimum power. This indicates that higher solidity rotors would have to withstand lower loads in the event of a failure. In addition, the thrust per blade was shown to increase with reducing number of blades. The swirl characteristics in the wake were found to agree with swirl theory and the swirl was found to increase with solidity whilst being weak or very weak in each case. Swirl number was found to be dependent on solidity only up to distances of 10 diameters downstream. At higher turbulent intensities, the wake recovery was only influenced by solidity up to 15 diameters downstream of the HATT but at low turbulence intensities the wake length increased with solidity indicating that low solidity rotors may offer higher overall array efficiencies in areas of low turbulent intensity. Blade deflection was shown to increase with a reduction in the number of blades, due to the increased thrust per blade. The power output of the 3 bladed turbine was shown to decrease by 0.4% with a deflection of 0.12 m. However, the power output of the 2 and 4 bladed turbines was found to increase with deflections as it was subsequently found that the pitch settings found in a previous study were not fully optimised for a rigid blade. At deflections above 0.20 m the power output of the 4 bladed turbine was found to decrease. It is expected that the power output of the 2 bladed turbine would eventually decrease with further deflections but no decrease was found for the maximum deflection considered, of 0.35m. This thesis therefore shows that the optimum number of blades may vary from site to site and even from one location within an array to another. It also shows that blade deflection will alter the power output and that blades could be designed so as to reach their optimum setting at a given blade deflection

Seeing sense: the effectiveness of inclusive education for visually impaired students in Further Education.

The aim of this study was to explore how visually impaired students’ learning journeys in educational environments vary by individual characteristics and prior experiences, and by the type and nature of the institution they attend. In particular the study aimed to uncover how both barriers to learning and good practice are understood, in relation to the enactment of inclusive education policies. Disability is formulated and enacted in the intersection between the individual, their impairment and psycho-emotional status, and the social context (Thomas 1999). For visually impaired students in further education settings, biographical experiences, impairments, and encounters with education all have an impact on their ability to access learning, to achieve educationally, and to formulate their sense of self and identity. The thesis draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted across three further education colleges, with six visually impaired Welsh students aged 16-25. Data were generated through interviews with student participants, staff members and peers, observation, and documentary analysis. Findings suggested that inclusion is only successful if tutors provide valid learning opportunities for visually impaired students. Access to information and other learning opportunities such as demonstrations, practical tasks, and physical activity may be compromised by inappropriate teaching and support methods. Access is also significantly affected by the nature of the visual impairment, the modes of information retrieval, and students’ attitudes and skills. The emphasis on the practical in further education settings makes this analysis particularly significant. Detailed specialist knowledge of appropriate teaching techniques and organisational considerations exists, but is located in the main in a very small number of specialist colleges across the UK. Analysis also identified two competing ideologies; commitment to the provision of inclusive mainstream learning environments as part of an inclusive society, or commitment to the provision of appropriate teaching in a specialist institution, to facilitate future inclusion in society

Expression of the SOCS family in human chronic wound tissues: Potential implications for SOCS in chronic wound healing

Cytokines play important roles in the wound healing process through various signalling pathways. The JAK-STAT pathway is utilised by most cytokines for signal transduction and is regulated by a variety of molecules, including suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) proteins. SOCS are associated with inflammatory diseases and have an impact on cytokines, growth factors and key cell types involved in the wound‑healing process. SOCS, a negative regulator of cytokine signalling, may hold the potential to regulate cytokine‑induced signalling in the chronic wound‑healing process. Wound edge tissues were collected from chronic venous leg ulcer patients and classified as non-healing and healing wounds. The expression pattern of seven SOCSs members, at the transcript and protein level, were examined in these tissues using qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Significantly higher levels of SOCS3 (P=0.0284) and SOCS4 (P=0.0376) in non-healing chronic wounds compared to the healing/healed chronic wounds were observed at the transcript level. Relocalisation of SOCS3 protein in the non-healing wound environment was evident in the investigated chronic biopsies. Thus, the results show that the expression of SOCS transcript indicated that SOCS members may act as a prognostic biomarker of chronic wound

Case study: suggesting choice: inclusive assessment processes

This project aimed to explore staff and student opinions on the introduction of choice in assessment, drawing upon the principles of Inclusive Pedagogy, Disability Studies and Universal Design. The mixed methods research explored the possibility that students may feel more positively supported during the assessment and feedback process if a range of methods of assessment are available. There was overall support for the proposal, but with some reservations, for example, parity between the different modes of assessment, and student access to different forms of assessment to develop employability skills would need to be planned. Inclusive assessment and feedback processes in Higher Education are essential if the diversity of our students is to be recognised. However, this needs to be balanced with the need to develop a range of life skills. Therefore, choice in assessment methods needs to be designed with clear strategies for skills development, and targeted individualised support

The effect of tidal flow directionality on tidal turbine performance characteristics

As marine turbine technology verges on the realm of economic viability the question of how long will these devices last is an important one. This paper looks at the axial bending moments experienced from CFD modelling of Cardiff University’s concept tidal turbine in a uniform profile for three different scenarios. The magnitude and direction in which the axial bending moment acts is an important feature in determining likely sources of wear in the drive train, such as bearings. By determining the source and magnitude of these bending moments, possibilities for reducing them and limiting their impact on devices can be made

Quantitative analysis of gene expression changes in response to genotoxic compounds

Techniques that quantify molecular endpoints sufficiently sensitive to identify and classify potentially toxic compounds have wide potential for high-throughput in vitro screening. Expression of three genes, RAD51C, TP53 and cystatin A (CSTA), in HEPG2 cells was measured by Q-PCR amplification. In parallel, we developed alternative assays for the same 3 gene signature based on an acridinium-ester chemiluminescent reporter molecule. HEPG2 cells were challenged with eighteen different compounds (n = 18) chosen to represent compounds that are genotoxic (n = 8), non-genotoxic non-carcinogenic (n = 2) or have a less well defined mechanism of action with respect to genotoxicity (n = 8). At least one of the three genes displayed dysregulated expression in the majority of compounds tested by Q-PCR and ten compounds changed the CSTA expression significantly. Acridinium-ester labelled probes for the three genes were synthesised and tested. Analytical sensitivity was characterised and suggested a limit of detection generally better than 0.1 fmol but often 10–50 attomol. A linear amplification step was optimised and this quantitative method detected statistically significant increases in RAD51C and CSTA expression in agreement with the Q-PCR results, demonstrating the potential of this technology. The broad agreement of the amplified chemiluminescent method and Q-PCR in measuring gene expression suggests wider potential application for this chemiluminescent technology