“10 lessons for new clinicians”

The paper will focus on the experiences and expectations of two new clinicians in their first year in legal clinic. They will draw on their own training experiences compared to the training the students receive in clinic. The paper will take the format of 10 (or maybe more!) lessons for new clinicians. A sneak preview of some of the lessons includes “How to deal with a hopeless student – its not private practice so you cannot sack them so what can you do?” and “Patience!– don’t forget that they are not trainee solicitors with full time exposure to cases like with training contracts”. The paper is intended to be light hearted yet thought provoking view of clinical practice. We hope that from this paper you will be able to reflect on your own practice as they have reflected upon their own experiences as some of the themes drawn from the paper will be common within the discipline. New clinicians will be able to learn from their experiences and also their mistakes. This paper is presented by 2 solicitors with very different experiences who moved into education in September 2007 direct from private practice. Angela Macfarlane’s qualification as solicitor was by BA honours degree, post graduate diploma in law (common professional examination -CPE), post graduate diploma in legal practice (LPC) and finally a law society training contract in private practice. For the 2 years prior to joining Northumbria University as a Senior Lecturer she was engaged in commercial and employment work, primarily acting for business clients. Prior to this her experience was with police work and crime, either representing police officers accused of criminal offences, or suing the police for civil “crimes”. Paul McKeown’s qualification was by LLB Honours (Dunhelm), post graduate diploma in legal practice (LPC) and finally a Law Society training contract. Prior to joining Northumbria University he was engaged exclusively in publicly funded work, primarily in the areas of Housing and Employment law. Paul is now employed as a Solicitor/Tutor in Northumbria’s Student Law Office

A Cluster Randomised Trial Evaluation of the Media Initiative for Children: Respecting Difference Programme

Evaluates trial outcomes of a preschool program designed to raise awareness of diversity issues, increase empathy, and promote inclusive behaviors among children, early childhood practitioners, and parents. Considers implications for further development

β-arrestin regulates estradiol membrane-initiated signaling in hypothalamic neurons.

Estradiol (E2) action in the nervous system is the result of both direct nuclear and membrane-initiated signaling (EMS). E2 regulates membrane estrogen receptor-α (ERα) levels through opposing mechanisms of EMS-mediated trafficking and internalization. While ß-arrestin-mediated mERα internalization has been described in the cortex, a role of ß-arrestin in EMS, which underlies multiple physiological processes, remains undefined. In the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH), membrane-initiated E2 signaling modulates lordosis behavior, a measure of female sexually receptivity. To better understand EMS and regulation of ERα membrane levels, we examined the role of ß-arrestin, a molecule associated with internalization following agonist stimulation. In the present study, we used an immortalized neuronal cell line derived from embryonic hypothalamic neurons, the N-38 line, to examine whether ß-arrestins mediate internalization of mERα. β-arrestin-1 (Arrb1) was found in the ARH and in N-38 neurons. In vitro, E2 increased trafficking and internalization of full-length ERα and ERαΔ4, an alternatively spliced isoform of ERα, which predominates in the membrane. Treatment with E2 also increased phosphorylation of extracellular-signal regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) in N-38 neurons. Arrb1 siRNA knockdown prevented E2-induced ERαΔ4 internalization and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In vivo, microinfusions of Arrb1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) into female rat ARH knocked down Arrb1 and prevented estradiol benzoate-induced lordosis behavior compared with nonsense scrambled ODN (lordosis quotient: 3 ± 2.1 vs. 85.0 ± 6.0; p < 0.0001). These results indicate a role for Arrb1 in both EMS and internalization of mERα, which are required for the E2-induction of female sexual receptivity

Expansion of radio galaxies in a cosmologically evolving medium: Possible implications for the cosmic star-formation history

We compare earlier estimates of the volumes filled by lobes of radio galaxies during the quasar era based upon non-evolving ambient media with new ones assuming a strong cosmological evolution of the ambient medium. If the sources remain active for over 10^8 years the volumes filled by them are found to be comparable for the two scenarios. This strengthens our earlier inference that much of the cosmic web of gaseous filaments, the site of galaxy formation, was probably permeated by radio lobes during the quasar era and this could have triggered extensive star formation and made large contributions to the spread of magnetic fields and metals through the universe by z ~ 2.Comment: To appear in Bull. Astron. Soc. India; 10 pages, 3 Figures, basi.sty LaTex fil

Oxytocin Increases Generosity in Humans

Human beings routinely help strangers at costs to themselves. Sometimes the help offered is generous offering more than the other expects. The proximate mechanisms supporting generosity are not well-understood, but several lines of research suggest a role for empathy. In this study, participants were infused with 40 IU oxytocin (OT) or placebo and engaged in a blinded, one-shot decision on how to split a sum of money with a stranger that could be rejected. Those on OT were 80% more generous than those given a placebo. OT had no effect on a unilateral monetary transfer task dissociating generosity from altruism. OT and altruism together predicted almost half the interpersonal variation in generosity. Notably, OT had twofold larger impact on generosity compared to altruism. This indicates that generosity is associated with both altruism as well as an emotional identification with another person.Oxytocin, generous, altruism, ultimatum game, dictator game, punishing, rejection

The effect of primer choice and short read sequences on the outcome of 16S rRNA gene based diversity studies

Different regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene evolve at different evolutionary rates. The scientific outcome of short read sequencing studies therefore alters with the gene region sequenced. We wanted to gain insight in the impact of primer choice on the outcome of short read sequencing efforts. All the unknowns associated with sequencing data, i.e. primer coverage rate, phylogeny, OTU-richness and taxonomic assignment, were therefore implemented in one study for ten well established universal primers (338f/r, 518f/r, 799f/r, 926f/r and 1062f/r) targeting dispersed regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. All analyses were performed on nearly full length and in silico generated short read sequence libraries containing 1175 sequences that were carefully chosen as to present a representative substitute of the SILVA SSU database. The 518f and 799r primers, targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene, were found to be particularly suited for short read sequencing studies, while the primer 1062r, targeting V6, seemed to be least reliable. Our results will assist scientists in considering whether the best option for their study is to select the most informative primer, or the primer that excludes interferences by host-organelle DNA. The methodology followed can be extrapolated to other primers, allowing their evaluation prior to the experiment

Implementation challenges influencing the efficacy of group-work tasks that require inductive or deductive reasoning during physical sciences lessons

We explore the implementation challenges and efficacy of instructional strategies focussing on tasks which require learners to attempt sense-making either using inductive, or deductive, reasoning during group discussions. Data were collected via participant observation from 73 grade 10-12 learners the first author taught and included field notes, audio visual recordings, interviews, questionnaires and learner journals. The researchers underwent the inductive, cyclic process of implementation, data collection, reflection and modification over 20 research cycles, 4 of which are reported here, over 3 years. The study suggests considerably more variability in efficacy, time-consumption and implementation challenges, for the inductive instructional strategy. We did, however, find consistent efficacy for an overall deductive oriented strategy, although such a strategy is also accompanied by a number of challenges. These findings provide support for the value of sense-making group discussions when carefully planned

Ohio River Bridges Project: Communications & Public Outreach

The Ohio River Bridges Project has provided a special opportunity for communication and public outreach. The project, administered by the states of Indiana and Kentucky and bordering numerous municipalities, has presented challenging internal and external communication issues. Through defined protocols and innovative tracking, communications and public involvement has been a success story for our customers. In this session we will discuss the effort to date and lessons learned for the future