Time, institutional support and quality of decision making in child protection:A cross-country analysis

This paper examines perceptions of time and institutional support for decision making and staff confidence in child welfare staffs ultimate decisions – examining differences and similarities between and within the service-oriented Nordic countries (Norway and Finland) and the risk-oriented Anglo-American countries (England and California). The study identifies a high degree of work pressure across all the countries, lines of predominantly vertical institutional support and relatively high confidence in decisions. Finland stands out with higher perceived work pressure and with a horizontal support line, whereas England stands out with workers having a lower degree of confidence in their own and others’ decisions

Van der Waals Frictional Drag induced by Liquid Flow in Low- Dimensional Systems

We study the van der Waals frictional drag force induced by liquid flow in low-dimensional systems (2D and 1D electron systems, and 2D and 1D channels with liquid). We find that for both 1D and 2D systems, the frictional drag force induced by liquid flow may be several orders of magnitude larger than the frictional drag induced by electronic current.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Leading the evaluation of institutional online learning environments for quality enhancement in times of change

This paper reports on findings from a nationally funded project which aims to design and implement a quality management framework for online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation is a key component of any quality management system and it is this aspect of the framework that is the focus of this paper. In developing the framework initial focus groups were conducted at the five participating institutions. These revealed that, although regarded as important, there did not appear to be a shared understanding of the nature and purpose of evaluation. A second series of focus groups revealed there were multiple perspectives arising from those with a vested interest in online learning. These perspectives will be outlined. Overall, how evaluation was undertaken was highly variable within and across the five institutions reflecting where they were at in relation to the development of their OLE

Design of a high efficiency cyclone for collection of rare and low concentration airborne pathogens

Recent serious outbreaks of pathogens such as Chalara Fraxinea, (Ash Dieback) demonstrate the vulnerability of UK’s forests, woods, and trees. Early detection of threats is critical in the fight against such tree pests and pathogens. This requires a process for collecting and analysing the spores which is robust, flexible and can be deployed rapidly, but which also has sufficient sensitivity to detect the earliest precursors. The work presented here describes a newly-developed high-efficiency detection apparatus and is part of an ongoing BBRSC project to improve the UK’s biosecurity. Our automatic spore system is capable of collecting and analysing Chalara Fraxinea using a novel cyclonic pathogen collector. Cyclones are an effective way to separate small particles (spores) from large quantities of surrounding air and store them for analysis. Our system incorporates a purpose-designed high efficiency cyclone directly integrated with a low power custom impeller to maximise volumetric air sampling while minimising the power requirement. 3D printing was used extensively to validate theoretical models and the particle collection and retention capability of this series of prototypes was evaluated experimentally within our Aerosol test chamber. We found that we could collect greater than 90% of particulate in the target size range, thus providing a front-end to a detection platform. Our system is capable of operating autonomously and at low power, with a high sensitivity to ambient particles. The final system design incorporates the use of multiple cyclone storage vessels ensuring complete isolation of each sample, eradicating cross-contamination, and facilitating automated handling of the sample inside the same apparatus. COTS – commercial off the shelf components were incorporated into the cyclone to make a series of cost effective collection vessels. Early collection and detection of pathogens in-situ represents a considerable advance in surveillance and monitoring of pathogens strengthening UK biosecurity for the future

Development of an automated smart trap for wheat pathogens

National surveys show fungicide use on wheat continues to increase despite fluctuations in disease pressure, reaching a 30 year high in 2012 (Defra). Septoria tritici is the most significant foliar disease in UK wheat causing between £43M to £53M in yield losses annually; Yellow and brown rust are more sporadic but have caused significant losses during high disease years. In all cases control is by fungicide application costing £82M annually (GFK Kynetec 2013). Effective disease management relies on either prophylactic pesticide use or significant manual intervention and time consuming assessment of crop disease indicators by farmers and agronomists. Furthermore indications are that current levels of pesticide use could lead to increased risk of pesticide resistance, if this should occur it is estimated that wheat yields could reduce by up to 20%. To address this we have developed a prototype integrated and automated spore detection system, designed for unattended field application, to monitor and identify the presence of Septoria, brown and yellow rust. The prototype system incorporates novel cyclonic pathogen collection, on-board sample processing and isothermal DNA amplification chemistry (LAMP). We present the engineering design, optimisation and evaluation of our prototype system reporting on successfully completed laboratory testing and initial field trial results. This prototype will be the basis for the development of a commercially available system which, in addition to inoculum detection, will be capable of providing growers/agronomists with real-time information on inoculum moving into a crop enabling more effective timing and selection of fungicide application, and thus better control, increased yield, and improved environmental stewardship

The quantum-classical crossover of a field mode

We explore the quantum-classical crossover in the behaviour of a quantum field mode. The quantum behaviour of a two-state system - a qubit - coupled to the field is used as a probe. Collapse and revival of the qubit inversion form the signature for quantum behaviour of the field and continuous Rabi oscillations form the signature for classical behaviour of the field. We demonstrate both limits in a single model for the full coupled system, for states with the same average field strength, and so for qubits with the same Rabi frequency.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures (in this version the figures, text and references have all been expanded

Conscientisation and Communities of Compost: Rethinking management pedagogy in an age of climate crises

The unprecedented scale of the climate crisis has led to a questioning of conventional approaches to sustainability in management education, centred around business case for sustainability narratives. Such critique gives rise to serious questions around how we approach teaching the universality of the climate crisis, species extinction and biodiversity loss differently. Working with Freire’s stress on the political role of the educator, action rooted in the concrete, and the interconnections he establishes between pedagogy and political organization, our contribution is to connect these interventions with Haraway’s (2016) call to stay ‘with the trouble’ and generate Communities of Compost - that is, collective more than human communities of multi-species flourishing. In doing so, we propose threading together ecocentric and political economy approaches in management education, to present an alternative to corporate sustainability solutionism and to politically rethink scalar mismatches - that is when problems and proposed ‘solutions’ to the climate crisis apply to different sets of relations. As a way of addressing this, we develop pedagogical practices around Haraway’s multi-species Communities of Compost and combine this with the political movement of La Via Campesina - focusing on its campaigns for agroecology and food sovereignty

Polarized cell motility induces hydrogen peroxide to inhibit cofilin via cysteine oxidation

Mesenchymal cell motility is driven by polarized actin polymerization [1]. Signals at the leading edge recruit actin polymerization machinery to promote membrane protrusion, while matrix adhesion generates tractive force to propel forward movement. To work effectively, cell motility is regulated by a complex network of signaling events that affect protein activity and localization. H2O2 has an important role as a diffusible second messenger [2], and mediates its effects through oxidation of cysteine thiols. One cell activity influenced by H2O2 is motility [3]. However, a lack of sensitive and H2O2-specific probes for measurements in live cells has not allowed for direct observation of H2O2 accumulation in migrating cells or protrusions. In addition, the identities of proteins oxidized by H2O2 that contribute to actin dynamics and cell motility have not been characterized. We now show, as determined by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, that motile cells generate H2O2 at membranes and cell protrusions and that H2O2 inhibits cofilin activity through oxidation of cysteines 139 (C139) and 147 (C147). Molecular modeling suggests that C139 oxidation would sterically hinder actin association, while the increased negative charge of oxidized C147 would lead to electrostatic repulsion of the opposite negatively charged surface. Expression of oxidation-resistant cofilin impairs cell spreading, adhesion, and directional migration. These findings indicate that H2O2 production contributes to polarized cell motility through localized cofilin inhibition and that there are additional proteins oxidized during cell migration that might have similar roles

Quantum Signal Processing with the one-dimensional quantum Ising model

Quantum Signal Processing (QSP) has emerged as a promising framework to manipulate and determine properties of quantum systems. QSP not only unifies most existing quantum algorithms but also provides tools to discover new ones. Quantum signal processing is applicable to single- or multi-qubit systems that can be qubitized so one can exploit the SU$(2)$ structure of system evolution within special invariant two-dimensional subspaces. In the context of quantum algorithms, this SU$(2)$ structure is artificially imposed on the system through highly nonlocal evolution operators that are difficult to implement on near-term quantum devices. In this work, we propose QSP protocols for the infinite-dimensional Onsager Lie Algebra, which is relevant to the physical dynamics of quantum devices that can simulate the transverse field Ising model. To this end, we consider QSP sequences in the Heisenberg picture, allowing us to exploit the emergent SU$(2)$ structure in momentum space and synthesize QSP sequences for the Onsager algebra. Our results demonstrate a concrete connection between QSP techniques and Noisy Intermediate Scale quantum protocols. We provide examples and applications of our approach in diverse fields ranging from space-time dual quantum circuits and quantum simulation, to quantum control.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Comments are welcom

Quantum Computation by Communication

We present a new approach to scalable quantum computing--a ``qubus computer''--which realises qubit measurement and quantum gates through interacting qubits with a quantum communication bus mode. The qubits could be ``static'' matter qubits or ``flying'' optical qubits, but the scheme we focus on here is particularly suited to matter qubits. There is no requirement for direct interaction between the qubits. Universal two-qubit quantum gates may be effected by schemes which involve measurement of the bus mode, or by schemes where the bus disentangles automatically and no measurement is needed. In effect, the approach integrates together qubit degrees of freedom for computation with quantum continuous variables for communication and interaction.Comment: final published versio