Peer learning leaders: developing employability through facilitating the learning of other students

Employability is a key theme in higher education and attitudes towards its development have shifted from a focus on technical skills development to a broader focus on values, intellect, social engagement and performance contributing to graduate identity (Hager and Hodkinson, 2009). Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) and Language Conversation Clubs are both examples of student-led peer learning schemes at Bournemouth University (BU), and are reviewed to explore the development of students employed to lead and facilitate group learning sessions. Data from four annual evaluation surveys (n=239) is reviewed in addition to qualitative comments and reflective writing. Peer leaders were found to have developed employability attributes including: leadership, time management and organisation, communication, and cultural awareness. Above all, peer leaders identified with developing confidence in their roles. Comments provided examples of student leaders who had actively selected peer learning as an opportunity to develop their confidence and were able to transfer this to other academic and employment contexts

Stereotype threat may not impact women's inhibitory control or mathematical performance: Providing support for the null hypothesis

Underpinned by the findings of Jamieson and Harkins (2007; Experiment 3), the current study pits the mere effort motivational account of stereotype threat against a working memory interference account. In Experiment 1, females were primed with a negative self- or group stereotype pertaining to their visuospatial ability and completed an anti-saccade eye-tracking task. In Experiment 2 they were primed with a negative or positive group stereotype and completed an anti-saccade and mental arithmetic task. Findings indicate that stereotype threat did not significantly impair women's inhibitory control (Experiments 1 and 2) or mathematical performance (Experiment 2), with Bayesian analyses providing support for the null hypothesis. These findings are discussed in relation to potential moderating factors of stereotype threat, such as task difficulty and stereotype endorsement, as well as the possibility that effect sizes reported in the stereotype threat literature are inflated due to publication bias

Mitigating the impact of air pollution on brain health and dementia: Policy and practice brief

Emerging research suggests exposure to high levels of air pollution at critical points in the life course is detrimental to brain health, including cognitive decline and dementia. Social determinants such as socio-economic deprivation, environmental factors, and heightened health and social inequalities also play a significant role and make the problem more complicated. While policy and practice strategies have been proposed to address air pollution’s impact on public health more generally, their benefits for brain health, including dementia, remain undeveloped [1, 2]. This policy brief suggests necessary advances across policy and practice to mitigate air pollution and its impact on brain health and dementia

Traceability in the UK Seafood chain

Traceability in seafood supply chains is vital for ensuring food safety, proving legality and tackling illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, and verifying sustainability. UK seafood supply chains vary in complexity. As complexity across a supply chain increases, the importance of seafood transparency and traceability at each stage of the supply chain increases.The project sought examples of different supply chains of seafood landed in the UK to examine the current levels of traceability across the supply chain, examples of best practice, challenges to traceability and improvements that could be recommended for implementation in UK seafood supply chains. Case studies were sought from three UK seafood supply chains: i) Case study A: (Demersal) Dover (common) sole landed into ports in South West England; ii) Case Study B: (Pelagic) Mackerel from vessels landing into Peterhead, Scotland; and iii) Case Study C: (Shellfish) Brown crab / lobster from vessels landing into Bridlington, England. An initial seafood supply chain mapping exercise was undertaken for each case study through stakeholder structured interviews followed by in-depth semi structured interviews with actors across the supply chain.Key recommendations for improving traceability within the UK seafood supply chain include:• Focus on improving traceability up to the point of first sale.• Definitions of traceability need to more clearly stated to stakeholders.• Digitalise and integrate information systems.• Improve stakeholder engagement around data submission.• Minimise duplication of catch reporting by MMOs and IFCAs• Improvements to traceability systems are needed to allow for the distinction between sustainable versus non-sustainably caught seafood.• Increase transparency in how data submissions are used to increase data accuracy• Improve monitoring of wholesale markets.It should be acknowledged that the current approaches to improving traceability in seafood supply chains are already implementing some of the recommendations highlighted in this report. The recommendations from this report should serve to strengthen areas of traceability work that are already ongoing and to provide further impetus for development of best practice across UK seafood supply chains

Traceability in the UK Seafood chain

Traceability in seafood supply chains is vital for ensuring food safety, proving legality and tackling illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, and verifying sustainability. UK seafood supply chains vary in complexity. As complexity across a supply chain increases, the importance of seafood transparency and traceability at each stage of the supply chain increases.The project sought examples of different supply chains of seafood landed in the UK to examine the current levels of traceability across the supply chain, examples of best practice, challenges to traceability and improvements that could be recommended for implementation in UK seafood supply chains. Case studies were sought from three UK seafood supply chains: i) Case study A: (Demersal) Dover (common) sole landed into ports in South West England; ii) Case Study B: (Pelagic) Mackerel from vessels landing into Peterhead, Scotland; and iii) Case Study C: (Shellfish) Brown crab / lobster from vessels landing into Bridlington, England. An initial seafood supply chain mapping exercise was undertaken for each case study through stakeholder structured interviews followed by in-depth semi structured interviews with actors across the supply chain.Key recommendations for improving traceability within the UK seafood supply chain include:• Focus on improving traceability up to the point of first sale.• Definitions of traceability need to more clearly stated to stakeholders.• Digitalise and integrate information systems.• Improve stakeholder engagement around data submission.• Minimise duplication of catch reporting by MMOs and IFCAs• Improvements to traceability systems are needed to allow for the distinction between sustainable versus non-sustainably caught seafood.• Increase transparency in how data submissions are used to increase data accuracy• Improve monitoring of wholesale markets.It should be acknowledged that the current approaches to improving traceability in seafood supply chains are already implementing some of the recommendations highlighted in this report. The recommendations from this report should serve to strengthen areas of traceability work that are already ongoing and to provide further impetus for development of best practice across UK seafood supply chains

The NF1 somatic mutational landscape in sporadic human cancers

Abstract Background Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1: Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) #162200) is an autosomal dominantly inherited tumour predisposition syndrome. Heritable constitutional mutations in the NF1 gene result in dysregulation of the RAS/MAPK pathway and are causative of NF1. The major known function of the NF1 gene product neurofibromin is to downregulate RAS. NF1 exhibits variable clinical expression and is characterized by benign cutaneous lesions including neurofibromas and café-au-lait macules, as well as a predisposition to various types of malignancy, such as breast cancer and leukaemia. However, acquired somatic mutations in NF1 are also found in a wide variety of malignant neoplasms that are not associated with NF1. Main body Capitalizing upon the availability of next-generation sequencing data from cancer genomes and exomes, we review current knowledge of somatic NF1 mutations in a wide variety of tumours occurring at a number of different sites: breast, colorectum, urothelium, lung, ovary, skin, brain and neuroendocrine tissues, as well as leukaemias, in an attempt to understand their broader role and significance, and with a view ultimately to exploiting this in a diagnostic and therapeutic context. Conclusion As neurofibromin activity is a key to regulating the RAS/MAPK pathway, NF1 mutations are important in the acquisition of drug resistance, to BRAF, EGFR inhibitors, tamoxifen and retinoic acid in melanoma, lung and breast cancers and neuroblastoma. Other curiosities are observed, such as a high rate of somatic NF1 mutation in cutaneous melanoma, lung cancer, ovarian carcinoma and glioblastoma which are not usually associated with neurofibromatosis type 1. Somatic NF1 mutations may be critical drivers in multiple cancers. The mutational landscape of somatic NF1 mutations should provide novel insights into our understanding of the pathophysiology of cancer. The identification of high frequency of somatic NF1 mutations in sporadic tumours indicates that neurofibromin is likely to play a critical role in development, far beyond that evident in the tumour predisposition syndrome NF1

Evaluation of the Economic Burden of Psoriatic Arthritis and the Relationship Between Functional Status and Healthcare Costs

Doce imágenes de un liposarcoma metastatizado situado en el cerebro de un paciente de 44 años.Twelve pictures of a metastasized liposarcoma located in the brain of a 44-year-old male patient