A transcriptomic time-series reveals differing trajectories during pre-floral development in the apex and leaf in winter and spring varieties of Brassica napus

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is an important global oil crop, with spring and winter varieties grown commercially. To understand the transcriptomic differences between these varieties, we collected transcriptomes from apex and leaf tissue from a spring variety, Westar, and a winter variety, Tapidor, before, during, and after vernalisation treatment, until the plants flowered. Large transcriptomic differences were noted in both varieties during the vernalisation treatment because of temperature and day length changes. Transcriptomic alignment revealed that the apex transcriptome reflects developmental state, whereas the leaf transcriptome is more closely aligned to the age of the plant. Similar numbers of copies of genes were expressed in both varieties during the time series, although key flowering time genes exhibited expression pattern differences. BnaFLC copies on A2 and A10 are the best candidates for the increased vernalisation requirement of Tapidor. Other BnaFLC copies show tissue-dependent reactivation of expression post-cold, with these dynamics suggesting some copies have retained or acquired a perennial nature. BnaSOC1 genes, also related to the vernalisation pathway, have expression profiles which suggest tissue subfunctionalisation. This understanding may help to breed varieties with more consistent or robust vernalisation responses, of special importance due to the milder winters resulting from climate change

QAA Shared Modules Collaborative Enhancement Project: Shared modules literature review

Modules taught to students on more than one degree programme, henceforth referred to as shared modules, are a common feature across the Higher Education (HE) landscape. Yet, a gap exists in the definition and study of shared modules in the HE literature and in designing pedagogical tools to support the construction of shared modules. To elicit the distinctiveness of shared modules and their implications for curriculum design, this literature review first draws on selective literature related to modularisation in HE, disciplinary identity, interdisciplinarity, interprofessional education and curriculum frameworks. From the insights gained, the second part of the review proposes a definition and typology of shared modules that includes the challenges they present. The review highlighted the institutional forces underneath the development of shared modules in HE, and the conflicting identities (disciplinary, student, teacher) and heterogeneity that emerge as a result. The review also revealed insights into issues involving a convoluted articulation between disciplinary boundaries, interaction with other disciplines and integration across disciplines. Challenges associated with shared disciplines include academic isolation and alienation, disciplinary protectionism, curricular incoherence and intractable administrative arrangements that take module sharing for granted. However, shared modules offer opportunities to highlight the potential of disciplinary interaction in the curriculum and for collaborative curriculum design and team teaching which can ultimately enhance the quality of learning. Thus, there is a need for a distinction between the process of module sharing and the shared module as a vehicle for learning and creation of interdisciplinary students. Understanding and approaching the design of shared modules to promote inclusive education requires a nuanced approach that recognizes the variations in the shared modules universe and associated issues. A typology is developed which defines and differentiates between implanted, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and interprofessional shared modules, highlighting the challenges that are associated with each. Just as important for understanding the nature of module sharing are the student pathways that underpin module sharing. Based on this review, we are proposing the following possibilities for such pathways.  • Shared by students on different programmes or pathways in the same disciplinary area  • Shared by students from different disciplinary areas which are within the same school or faculty  • Shared by students from different disciplinary areas which are in different schools or faculties  • Can be selected by students on a combined honours programme  Each of these has different implications for students’ experience, particularly in terms of identity and belonging. There is little attention in the literature to how students’ characteristics are brought into curriculum design and the learning environment in the case of shared modules

CONQUEST Quality Standards : For the Collaboration on Quality Improvement Initiative for Achieving Excellence in Standards of COPD Care

Acknowledgments We thank Dr Seyi Soremekun, Jonathan Marshall, Jennie Medin and Irena Brookes-Smith for their valuable contributions to the design of the study. We would also like to acknowledge Ms Andrea Teh Xin Yi (BSc, Hons) of the Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute (OPRI), Singapore, for editorial and formatting assistance which supported the development of this publication. Professor Dave Singh is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Funding CONQUEST is conducted by Optimum Patient Care Global and Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute and is co-funded by Optimum Patient Care Global and AstraZenecaPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Advancing Symptom Science Through Use of Common Data Elements

BACKGROUND: Use of common data elements (CDEs), conceptually defined as variables that are operationalized and measured in identical ways across studies, enables comparison of data across studies in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Although healthcare researchers are increasingly using CDEs, there has been little systematic use of CDEs for symptom science. CDEs are especially important in symptom science because people experience common symptoms across a broad range of health and developmental states, and symptom management interventions may have common outcomes across populations. PURPOSES: The purposes of this article are to (a) recommend best practices for the use of CDEs for symptom science within and across centers; (b) evaluate the benefits and challenges associated with the use of CDEs for symptom science; (c) propose CDEs to be used in symptom science to serve as the basis for this emerging science; and (d) suggest implications and recommendations for future research and dissemination of CDEs for symptom science. DESIGN: The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)-supported P20 and P30 Center directors applied published best practices, expert advice, and the literature to identify CDEs to be used across the centers to measure pain, sleep, fatigue, and affective and cognitive symptoms. FINDINGS: We generated a minimum set of CDEs to measure symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The CDEs identified through this process will be used across the NINR Centers and will facilitate comparison of symptoms across studies. We expect that additional symptom CDEs will be added and the list will be refined in future work. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Symptoms are an important focus of nursing care. Use of CDEs will facilitate research that will lead to better ways to assist people to manage their symptoms

Overview and status of EXCLAIM, the experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping

The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a balloon-borne far-infrared telescope that will survey star formation history over cosmological time scales to improve our understanding of why the star formation rate declined at redshift z < 2, despite continued clustering of dark matter. Specifically,EXCLAIM will map the emission of redshifted carbon monoxide and singly-ionized carbon lines in windows over a redshift range 0 < z < 3.5, following an innovative approach known as intensity mapping. Intensity mapping measures the statistics of brightness fluctuations of cumulative line emissions instead of detecting individual galaxies, thus enabling a blind, complete census of the emitting gas. To detect this emission unambiguously, EXCLAIM will cross-correlate with a spectroscopic galaxy catalog. The EXCLAIM mission uses a cryogenic design to cool the telescope optics to approximately 1.7 K. The telescope features a 90-cm primary mirror to probe spatial scales on the sky from the linear regime up to shot noise-dominated scales. The telescope optical elements couple to six {\mu}-Spec spectrometer modules, operating over a 420-540 GHz frequency band with a spectral resolution of 512 and featuring microwave kinetic inductance detectors. A Radio Frequency System-on-Chip (RFSoC) reads out the detectors in the baseline design. The cryogenic telescope and the sensitive detectors allow EXCLAIM to reach high sensitivity in spectral windows of low emission in the upper atmosphere. Here, an overview of the mission design and development status since the start of the EXCLAIM project in early 2019 is presented.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1912.0711

Rapid Identification of Novel Psychoactive and Other Controlled Substances Using Low-Field 1H NMR Spectroscopy

An automated approach to the collection of 1H NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra using a benchtop NMR spectrometer and the subsequent analysis, processing, and elucidation of components present in seized drug samples are reported. An algorithm is developed to compare spectral data to a reference library of over 300 1H NMR spectra, ranking matches by a correlation-based score. A threshold for identification was set at 0.838, below which identification of the component present was deemed unreliable. Using this system, 432 samples were surveyed and validated against contemporaneously acquired GC–MS (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) data. Following removal of samples which possessed no peaks in the GC–MS trace or in both the 1H NMR spectrum and GC–MS trace, the remaining 416 samples matched in 93% of cases. Thirteen of these samples were binary mixtures. A partial match (one component not identified) was obtained for 6% of samples surveyed whilst only 1% of samples did not match at all