An economic evaluation of the early impact of Aimhigher: excellence challenge on pre-16 outcomes: update to previous analysis

The Aimhigher: Excellence Challenge intervention seeks to encourage more young people to articipate in tertiary education. This paper updates previous estimates of the impact of the programme on the GCSE marks and reported expected school leaving ages, among year 11 pupils. Information from 3 different cohorts is used (whereas the previous analysis had data on the first 2 cohorts). In some schools the second and third cohorts have been exposed to the policy, whereas in others only the third cohort was exposed to the policy. This distinction is used to model the impact of the policy using linear regression analysis. However the lack of a comparison group in Spring 2004 means that the impact of the policy can only be estimated under relatively strong assumptions about the evolution of the impact of the policy across time. Under the assumption that the policy had the same impact in the original treatment (EiC Phase 1 & 2 areas) in Spring 2004 as in Spring 2003, we find evidence that being part of the Aimhigher: Excellence Challenge programme in the new areas (EiC Phase 3) has led to a 5.2 percentage point increase in the year 11 pupils expecting to leave education at age 20 or over. Although slightly larger, this estimate is not statistically significantly different from the increase of 3.7 percentage points found in the original (EiC Phase 1 & 2) areas. Across both types of area (EiC Phase 1& 2 and EiC Phase 3) we estimate that the average impact of the policy is to increase the percentage of year 11 pupils reporting that they will leave education at age 20 or above by 4.6 percentage points. We also find some evidence of a similar positive impact on GCSE English results, although the impact across other GCSEs is less clear. While the assumptions made in producing these new estimates are relatively strong it is clear that the analysis of the new data does not contradict the previous estimates (which were reliant on less strong assumptions)

The Boat is My Family: Embodiment and Belonging in Shetland Fishing Communities

On the Shetland Islands in Scotland, members of fishing communities describe the act of fishing as “a way of life.” With growing world populations putting ever more pressure on the oceans as a source of protein, there are increasing clashes between communities who extract marine resources, and governments who limit that extraction. Shetland fishermen feel that when fishery policy makers do not consider the effects of policy on fishing communities, it threatens fishing as “a way of life.” By considering the forms of identity that Shetland fishermen create through metaphor, I analyze the ways in which Shetland fishermen use the bodies of fish and boats as forms to express fishing as their way of life. I argue that, through language, fishermen connect the fate of these non-human bodies to their own social lives. In this thesis, I therefore reconceive the relationship between Shetland fishermen and the EU in terms of biopolitics, because from the fishermen’s perspective, fisherman-EU interactions occur on the level of life and death, selfhood and bodies

Increased human pathogenic potential of Escherichia coli from polymicrobial urinary tract infections in comparison to isolates from monomicrobial culture samples

The current diagnostic standard procedure outlined by the Health Protection Agency for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in clinical laboratories does not report bacteria isolated from samples containing three or more different bacterial species. As a result many UTIs go unreported and untreated, particularly in elderly patients, where polymicrobial UTI samples are especially prevalent. This study reports the presence of the major uropathogenic species in mixed culture urine samples from elderly patients, and of resistance to front-line antibiotics, with potentially increased levels of resistance to ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim. Most importantly, the study highlights that Escherichia coli present in polymicrobial UTI samples are statistically more invasive (P<0.001) in in vitro epithelial cell infection assays than those isolated from monomicrobial culture samples. In summary, the results of this study suggest that the current diagnostic standard procedure for polymicrobial UTI samples needs to be reassessed, and that E. coli present in polymicrobial UTI samples may pose an increased risk to human health

Time-dependent transonic flow solutions for axial turbomachinery

Three-dimensional unsteady transonic flow through an axial turbomachine stage is described in terms of a pair of two-dimensional formulations pertaining to orthogonal surfaces, namely, a blade-to-blade surface and a hub-to-casing surface. The resulting systems of nonlinear, inviscid, compressible equations of motion are solved by an explicit finite-difference technique. The blade-to-blade program includes the periodic interaction between rotor and stator blade rows. Treatment of the boundary conditions and of the blade slipstream motion by a characteristic type procedure is discussed in detail. Harmonic analysis of the acoustic far field produced by the blade row interaction, including an arbitrary initial transient, is outlined. Results from the blade-to-blade program are compared with experimental measurements of the rotating pressure field at the tip of a high-speed fan. The hub-to-casing program determines circumferentially averaged flow properties on a meridional plane. Blade row interactions are neglected in this formulation, but the force distributions over the entire blade surface for both the rotor and stator are obtained. Results from the hub-to-casing program are compared with a relaxation method solution for a subsonic rotor. Results are also presented for a quiet fan stage which includes transonic flow in both the rotor and stator and a normal shock in the stator

Keep Calm and Carry On: Children’s Self-Regulation in Early Years Settings

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Ireland promotes the development and education of children aged from birth to six years. Over a third of nine-month-olds and over half of three-year-olds experience some form of non-parental care in Ireland (Williams, Murray, McCrory and McNally, 2013), with type and duration of ECEC experiences varying considerably. However, almost all children aged between three and four years avail of the free pre-school year which was introduced in January 2010, administered by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Irish ECEC policy is developing rapidly. Responsibility for policy developments in the ECEC sector is shared by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA). Two key frameworks underpinning ECEC provision are Síolta, the national quality framework for Early Childhood Education (Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, 2006) and Aistear, the early childhood curriculum framework (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2009). Implementation of the early childhood curriculum is not mandatory, however, in ECEC settings (French, 2013)..

Draft genome sequences of three newly identified species in the genus Cronobacter, C. helveticus LMG23732T, C. pulveris LMG24059, and C. zurichensis LMG23730T

Cronobacter helveticus, Cronobacter pulveris, and Cronobacter zurichensis are newly described species in the Cronobacter genus, which is associated with serious infections of neonates. This is the first report of draft genome sequences for these species

Draft genome sequence of the earliest Cronobacter sakazakii sequence type 4 strain, NCIMB 8272

The Cronobacter sakazakii clonal lineage defined as sequence type 4 (ST4) is associated with severe cases of neonatal meningitis and persistence in powdered infant formula. For genome sequencing of the earliest deposited culture collection strain of Cronobacter sakazakii ST4, we used the strain NCIMB 8272, originally isolated from milk powder in 1950

Directional gene flow and ecological separation in Yersinia enterocolitica

Yersinia enterocolitica is a common cause of food-borne gastroenteritis worldwide. Recent work defining the phylogeny of the genus Yersinia subdivided Y. enterocolitica into six distinct phylogroups. Here, we provide detailed analyses of the evolutionary processes leading to the emergence of these phylogroups. The dominant phylogroups isolated from human infections, PG3–5, show very little diversity at the sequence level, but do present marked patterns of gain and loss of functions, including those involved in pathogenicity and metabolism, including the acquisition of phylogroup-specific O-antigen loci. We tracked gene flow across the species in the core and accessory genome, and show that the non-pathogenic PG1 strains act as a reservoir for diversity, frequently acting as donors in recombination events. Analysis of the core and accessory genome also suggested that the different Y. enterocolitica phylogroups may be ecologically separated, in contrast to the long-held belief of common shared ecological niches across the Y. enterocolitica species

Genomic dissection of the 1994 Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak in a French neonatal intensive care unit

Background: Cronobacter sakazakii is a member of the genus Cronobacter that has frequently been isolated from powdered infant formula (PIF) and linked with rare but fatal neonatal infections such as meningitis and necrotising enterocolitis. The Cronobacter MLST scheme has reported over 400 sequence types and 42 clonal complexes; however C. sakazakii clonal complex 4 (CC4) has been linked strongly with neonatal infections, especially meningitis. There have been a number of reported Cronobacter outbreaks over the last three decades. The largest outbreak of C. sakazakii was in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in France (1994) that lasted over 3 months and claimed the lives of three neonates. The present study used whole genome sequencing data of 26 isolates obtained from this outbreak to reveal their relatedness. This study is first of its kind to use whole genome sequencing data to analyse a Cronobacter outbreak. Methods: Whole genome sequencing data was generated for 26 C. sakazakii isolates on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The whole genome phylogeny was determined using Mugsy and RaxML. SNP calls were determined using SMALT and SAMtools, and filtered using VCFtools. Results: The whole genome phylogeny suggested 3 distant clusters of C. sakazakii isolates were associated with the outbreak. SNP typing and phylogeny indicate the source of the C. sakazakii could have been from extrinsic contamination of reconstituted infant formula from the NICU environment and personnel. This pool of strains would have contributed to the prolonged duration of the outbreak, which was up to 3 months. Furthermore 3 neonates were co-infected with C. sakazakii from two different genotype clusters. Conclusion: The genomic investigation revealed the outbreak consisted of an heterogeneous population of C. sakazakii isolates. The source of the outbreak was not identified, but probably was due to environmental and personnel reservoirs resulting in extrinsic contamination of the neonatal feeds. It also indicated that C. sakazakii isolates from different genotype clusters have the ability to co-infect neonates