Education at the local level seen in the light of the 1972 report of the International Commission on the Development of Education

(i) That individualised learning be adopted where this is feasible and that a combination of programming and counselling be adopted that facilitates learning under existing constraints and where possible initiates the learner into the system of self - directed learning (p. 23 here)(ii) That, on an experimental basis, primary French should be taught using an individualised audio - visual process involving the playback of audio- casettes linked to picture books, and periodic conversation with native (or possibly merely fluent) speakers. (p. 28 here)(iii) That primary teacher exchange between France and Scotland be encouraged in the interest of the teaching of primary French. (p. 28 here)(iv) That provision for the non -contractual remuneration of nonteacher native speakers be made. (p.28 here)(v) That group teaching, using a class group of four teachers, be tried at primary level on an experimental basis. (p. 28 here)(vi) That activity schedules be provided, on an individual and negotiated basis, for each learner. (p.31 here)(vii) That each learner maintain and submit for periodic inspection, as a basis for counselling, an activity log book or diary. (p.31 here)(viii)That school facilities form the basis for a socio- educational scheme partly administered by the social work department and operating mostly during out -of- school hours. (p. 44 here)(ix) That formal religious instruction be replaced by the study of comparative religion, the interaction between culture and religion, philosophy, logic, psychology and the humanistic bases of morality. (p.50 here).(x) That children should not receive religious education from merely one teacher, but from a group and that this group should include non -specialists. (p. 50 here)(xi) That actual broadcasts should be used more often both 'live' and recorded by either audio or video tape- recorders. (p.60 here)(xii) That where and whenever feasible, suitable 'live' and recorded network programmes should be incorporated into the Open Programmed System (p.60 here)(xiii)That learners should be introduced to educational broadcasts on television and, more especially, radio. (p.60 here)(xiv) That every school and college take at least one copy of each of the Radio Times and the T.V. Times. (p.60 here)(xv) That a feasibility study be made of the setting up of a local 'piped' audio and video educational transmitting network. (p. 63 here)(xvi) That the boards of governors and management of educational institutions should include learner, staff, and where appropriate (e.g. in schools) parent members, and that these members should be representatives of organised bodies such as student councils, staff associations and parent associations. (p.72 here)(xvii) That at least two members of each such association be members of the board, in order that their weight be more than merely nominal. (p.72 here).(xviii) That such boards of management and governors have professionals such as those well versed in sociology, pedagogy and democracy, amongst their numbers. (p.72 here).(xix) That all individual members of staff, including even headmasters and principals, be exposed to the notion that a learner (of any age) is entitled to respect. (p. 72 here).(xx) That each locality set up a body to which all local institutions involved in adult education (e.g. the education authority, the W.E.A., university and art college extra -mural departments) be invited to send staff and student representatives to discuss their joint and individual policies and practices in the field of adult education. (p.78 here)(xxi) That student -mobility between the formal and informal educational activities of institutions involved in adult education be encouraged and facilitated. (p.78 here)(xxii)That where possible individual learning facilities be integrated into adult education, and that simultaneously the social isolation of the adult learner be eradicated by a properly structured learning situation. (p.78 here).(xxiii) That adult educatees have regular individual discussions with constantly available counsellors who could provide information on mobility within the educational system. (p.78 here)(xxiv) That daytime adult educational facilities be made available to the mothers of children of ages appropriate to attendance at creches, playgroups, nursery schools and kindergartens, and that where possible the adult and children's facilities be adjacent. (p.78 here

Gaze tracking and its application to video coding for sign language.

Sign language communication via videotelephone has demanding visual quality requirements. In order to optimise video coding for sign language it is necessary to quantify the importance of areas of the video scene. Eye movements of deaf users are tracked whilst watching a sign language video sequence. The results indicate that the gaze tends to concentrate on the face region with occasional excursions (saccades). The implications of these results for prioritised coding of sign language video sequences are discussed

Video telephony for the deaf: analysis and development of an optimised video compression product.

The multimedia capability of video telephony and video conferencing systems has many applications and benefits. This paper describes research and development that aims to optimise video compression systems for a specific application - personal communication at a distance for deaf people. Results of eye movement tracking experiments and proposals for image content prioritisation based on these results are presented. The requirement for an appropriate quality assessment methodology is also addressed

The m.13051G>A mitochondrial DNA mutation results in variable neurology and activated mitophagy.

Maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations cause symptoms of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) in -1 in 30,000 individuals. Most of the affected individuals lack respiratory chain defects1 and there is no proven prophylactic treatment

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Symptom-based stratification of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome: multi-dimensional characterisation of international observational cohorts and reanalyses of randomised clinical trials

Background Heterogeneity is a major obstacle to developing effective treatments for patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. We aimed to develop a robust method for stratification, exploiting heterogeneity in patient-reported symptoms, and to relate these differences to pathobiology and therapeutic response. Methods We did hierarchical cluster analysis using five common symptoms associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pain, fatigue, dryness, anxiety, and depression), followed by multinomial logistic regression to identify subgroups in the UK Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Registry (UKPSSR). We assessed clinical and biological differences between these subgroups, including transcriptional differences in peripheral blood. Patients from two independent validation cohorts in Norway and France were used to confirm patient stratification. Data from two phase 3 clinical trials were similarly stratified to assess the differences between subgroups in treatment response to hydroxychloroquine and rituximab. Findings In the UKPSSR cohort (n=608), we identified four subgroups: Low symptom burden (LSB), high symptom burden (HSB), dryness dominant with fatigue (DDF), and pain dominant with fatigue (PDF). Significant differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte counts, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibody positivity, as well as serum IgG, κ-free light chain, β2-microglobulin, and CXCL13 concentrations were observed between these subgroups, along with differentially expressed transcriptomic modules in peripheral blood. Similar findings were observed in the independent validation cohorts (n=396). Reanalysis of trial data stratifying patients into these subgroups suggested a treatment effect with hydroxychloroquine in the HSB subgroup and with rituximab in the DDF subgroup compared with placebo. Interpretation Stratification on the basis of patient-reported symptoms of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome revealed distinct pathobiological endotypes with distinct responses to immunomodulatory treatments. Our data have important implications for clinical management, trial design, and therapeutic development. Similar stratification approaches might be useful for patients with other chronic immune-mediated diseases. Funding UK Medical Research Council, British Sjogren's Syndrome Association, French Ministry of Health, Arthritis Research UK, Foundation for Research in Rheumatology

Homogenisation of sulphide inclusions within diamonds: A new approach to diamond inclusion geochemistry

Base metal sulphide (BMS) inclusions in diamonds provide a unique insight into the chalcophile and highly siderophile element composition of the mantle. Entombed within their diamond hosts, these provide a more robust (closed system) sample, from which to determine the trace element, Re-Os and S-isotopic compositions of the mantle than mantle xenoliths or orogenic peridotites, as they are shielded from alteration during ascent to the Earth’s crust and subsequent surface weathering. However, at temperatures below 1100 °C some BMS inclusions undergo subsolidus re-equilibration from an original monosulphide solid solution (Mss) and this causes fractionation of the major and trace elements within the inclusions. Thus to study the subjects noted above, current techniques require the entire BMS inclusion to be extracted for analyses. Unfortunately, ‘flaking’ of inclusions during break-out is a frequent occurrence and hence the risk of accidentally under-sampling a portion of the BMS inclusion is inherent in current practices. This loss may have significant implications for Re-Os isotope analyses where incomplete sampling of a Re-rich phase, such as chalcopyrite that typically occurs at the outer margins of BMS inclusions, may induce significant bias in the Re-Os and 187Os/188Os measurements and resulting model and isochron ages. We have developed a method for the homogenisation of BMS inclusions in diamond prior to their break-out from the host stone. Diamonds are heated to 1100 °C and then quenched to chemically homogenise any sulphide inclusions for both major and trace elements. Using X-ray Computed Microtomography (µCT) we determine the shape and spatial setting of multiple inclusions within a host stone and crucially show that the volume of a BMS inclusion is the same both before and after homogenisation. We show that the homogenisation process significantly reduces the inherent variability of in situ analysis when compared with unhomogenised BMS, thereby widening the scope for multiple methods for quantitative analysis, even on ‘flakes’ of single BMS inclusions. Finally we show that the trace elements present in peridotite (P-type) and eclogitic (E-type) BMS are distinct, with P-type diamonds having systematically higher total platinum-group element (particularly Os, Ir, Ru) and Te and As concentrations. These distinctions suggest that the PGE and semi-metal budgets of mantle-derived partial melts will be significantly dependent upon the type(s) and proportions of sulphides present in the mantle source