‘Workers’ Educational Association: A Crisis of Identity? Personal Perspectives on Changing Professional Identities.

This work is concerned with how the State’s general educational policy affects the structure, identity and practices of the informal adult education sector. The poster focuses on the Workers’ Educational Association, a voluntary movement established over one hundred years ago to provide purposeful education for the working class -and which today is the largest voluntary provider of adult education. However, regardless of the organisation’s expansion, there are fears for the WEA’s future as it increasingly relies upon government funds and processes which tend to promote and enforce the re-structuring of state education. It is this wholesale political re-structuring of education which is believed to be eroding the WEA’s distinctive identity and contribution to transformative adult education (Doyle, 2003). The Worker’s Educational Association has, however, always been a contested site of struggle; a struggle for existence, an ideological struggle against the State and other independent working class educational organisations and a methodological struggle to deliver really ‘useful knowledge’ to the disadvantaged. This qualitative research uses a broad critical realist approach to investigate the validity of this present struggle, looking at it over time through the personal lens of six long serving WEA Tutor Organisers. These men and women drawn from the Midlands and the North, give their own highly personalised, differentiated and reflexive perspectives of the WEA and reveal it to be an organisation that has to continuously renegotiate itself. Yet, past reflections of the whole cohort single out human agency as a defining WEA characteristic, one that informed personal, professional and organisational identity and it is clear from the narrative analysis that this has been compromised. Using Archer’s ‘morphogenetic’ insights (Archer, 1995) has allowed an analytical framework to be used to understand just exactly what is taking place in this multi-faceted crisis of identity

WORKERS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION: A CRISIS OF IDENTITY? PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGING PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES

This thesis uses the personal narratives of six long-serving former Tutor Organisers to explore the impact of the state's educational policy on the WEA and its special educational mission. Although this historic mission has changed many times since its creation in 1903, its core values still maintain a commitment to provide educational opportunities to those who need them most and through socially purposeful adult education, achieve, 'a better world, just, equal and democratic' (WEA, 2013a). These rich biographical accounts - which span over 20 years - offer fascinating insights into the identities and practices of some of the WEA’s key agents, and in doing so, they reveal much about the organisational identity itself, and how over time and under certain conditions, these identities have been subject to change. Using Archer’s theory of human agency to analyse the narratives, a meta-narrative emerges to illustrate the importance of the structure/agency relationship between the WEA and its agents: a relationship which appears to have altered since the WEA's reorganisation in 2004. Based on a critical realist approach which appreciates the formation of identity over a lengthy timeframe, the findings of this study reveal that the WEA's identity has always been a contested site of struggle, and subject to powerful internal and external influences that result in an organisation that is not so much in crisis, as in contradiction. The evidence also suggests that the recalibration of the Association’s structure/agency relationship following the radical restructure of 2004 may be compromising its agents' practices and the WEA’s distinctive identity

Affinity modulation of platelet integrin alphaIIbbeta3 by beta3-endonexin, a selective binding partner of the beta3 integrin cytoplasmic tail.

Platelet agonists increase the affinity state of integrin alphaIIbbeta3, a prerequisite for fibrinogen binding and platelet aggregation. This process may be triggered by a regulatory molecule(s) that binds to the integrin cytoplasmic tails, causing a structural change in the receptor. beta3-Endonexin is a novel 111-amino acid protein that binds selectively to the beta3 tail. Since beta3-endonexin is present in platelets, we asked whether it can affect alphaIIbbeta3 function. When beta3-endonexin was fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and transfected into CHO cells, it was found in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus and could be detected on Western blots of cell lysates. PAC1, a fibrinogen-mimetic mAb, was used to monitor alphaIIbbeta3 affinity state in transfected cells by flow cytometry. Cells transfected with GFP and alphaIIbbeta3 bound little or no PAC1. However, those transfected with GFP/beta3-endonexin and alphaIIbbeta3 bound PAC1 specifically in an energy-dependent fashion, and they underwent fibrinogen-dependent aggregation. GFP/beta3-endonexin did not affect levels of surface expression of alphaIIbbeta3 nor did it modulate the affinity of an alphaIIbbeta3 mutant that is defective in binding to beta3-endonexin. Affinity modulation of alphaIIbbeta3 by GFP/beta3-endonexin was inhibited by coexpression of either a monomeric beta3 cytoplasmic tail chimera or an activated form of H-Ras. These results demonstrate that beta3-endonexin can modulate the affinity state of alphaIIbbeta3 in a manner that is structurally specific and subject to metabolic regulation. By analogy, the adhesive function of platelets may be regulated by such protein-protein interactions at the level of the cytoplasmic tails of alphaIIbbeta3

Catalytic enantioselective Minisci-type addition to heteroarenes.

Basic heteroarenes are a ubiquitous feature of pharmaceuticals and bioactive molecules, and Minisci-type additions of radical nucleophiles are a leading method for their elaboration. Despite many Minisci-type protocols that result in the formation of stereocenters, exerting control over the absolute stereochemistry at these centers remains an unmet challenge. We report a process for addition of prochiral radicals, generated from amino acid derivatives, to pyridines and quinolines. Our method offers excellent control of both enantioselectivity and regioselectivity. An enantiopure chiral Brønsted acid catalyst serves both to activate the substrate and induce asymmetry, while an iridium photocatalyst mediates the required electron transfer processes. We anticipate that this method will expedite access to enantioenriched small-molecule building blocks bearing versatile basic heterocycles

Pruritus is a common feature in sheep infected with the BSE agent.

BACKGROUND: The variability in the clinical or pathological presentation of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in sheep, such as scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been attributed to prion protein genotype, strain, breed, clinical duration, dose, route and type of inoculum and the age at infection. The study aimed to describe the clinical signs in sheep infected with the BSE agent throughout its clinical course to determine whether the clinical signs were as variable as described for classical scrapie in sheep. The clinical signs were compared to BSE-negative sheep to assess if disease-specific clinical markers exist. RESULTS: Forty-seven (34%) of 139 sheep, which comprised 123 challenged sheep and 16 undosed controls, were positive for BSE. Affected sheep belonged to five different breeds and three different genotypes (ARQ/ARQ, VRQ/VRQ and AHQ/AHQ). None of the controls or BSE exposed sheep with ARR alleles were positive. Pruritus was present in 41 (87%) BSE positive sheep; the remaining six were judged to be pre-clinically infected. Testing of the response to scratching along the dorsum of a sheep proved to be a good indicator of clinical disease with a test sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 98% and usually coincided with weight loss. Clinical signs that were displayed significantly earlier in BSE positive cases compared to negative cases were behavioural changes, pruritic behaviour, a positive scratch test, alopecia, skin lesions, teeth grinding, tremor, ataxia, loss of weight and loss of body condition. The frequency and severity of each specific clinical sign usually increased with the progression of disease over a period of 16-20 weeks. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BSE in sheep presents with relatively uniform clinical signs, with pruritus of increased severity and abnormalities in behaviour or movement as the disease progressed. Based on the studied sheep, these clinical features appear to be independent of breed, affected genotype, dose, route of inoculation and whether BSE was passed into sheep from cattle or from other sheep, suggesting that the clinical phenotype of BSE is influenced by the TSE strain more than by other factors. The clinical phenotype of BSE in the genotypes and breed studied was indistinguishable from that described for classical scrapie cases

Comment mesurer les progrès de la lecture?

New observations of Neptune’s clouds in the near infrared were acquired in October 2013 with SINFONI on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. SINFONI is an Integral Field Unit spectrometer returning a 64 × 64 pixel image with 2048 wavelengths. Image cubes in the J-band (1.09 – 1.41 μm) and H-band (1.43 – 1.87 μm) were obtained at spatial resolutions of 0.1″and 0.025″per pixel, while SINFONI’s adaptive optics provided an effective resolution of approximately 0.1″. Image cubes were obtained at the start and end of three successive nights to monitor the temporal development of discrete clouds both at short timescales (i.e. during a single night) as well as over the longer period of the three-day observing run. These observations were compared with similar H-band observations obtained in September 2009 with the NIFS Integral Field Unit spectrometer on the Gemini-North telescope in Hawaii, previously reported by Irwin et al., Icarus 216, 141-158, 2011, and previously unreported Gemini/NIFS observations at lower spatial resolution made in 2011. We find both similarities and differences between these observations, spaced over four years. The same overall cloud structure is seen with high, bright clouds visible at mid-latitudes (30 – 40°N,S), with slightly lower clouds observed at lower latitudes, together with small discrete clouds seen circling the pole at a latitude of approximately 60°S. However, while discrete clouds were visible at this latitude at both the main cloud deck level (at 2–3 bars) and in the upper troposphere (100–500mb) in 2009, no distinct deep (2–3 bar), discrete circumpolar clouds were visible in 2013, although some deep clouds were seen at the southern edge of the main cloud belt at 30–40°S, which have not been observed before. The nature of the deep sub-polar discrete clouds observed in 2009 is intriguing. While it is possible that in 2013 these deeper clouds were masked by faster moving, overlying features, we consider that it is unlikely that this should have happened in 2013, but not in 2009 when the upper-cloud activity was generally similar. Meanwhile, the deep clouds seen at the southern edge of the main cloud belt at 30 – 40°S in 2013, should also have been detectable in 2009, but were not seen. Hence, these observations may have detected a real temporal variation in the occurrence of Neptune’s deep clouds, pointing to underlying variability in the convective activity at the pressure of the main cloud deck at 2–3 bars near Neptune’s south pole and also in the main observable cloud belt at 30 – 40°S.</p

Comparative genomics of the genus porphyromonas identifies adaptations for heme synthesis within the prevalent canine oral species porphyromonas cangingivalis

© 2015 The Author(s). Porphyromonads play an important role inhuman periodontal disease and recently have been shownto be highly prevalent in canine mouths. Porphyromonas cangingivalis is the most prevalent canine oral bacterial species in both plaque from healthy gingiva and plaque from dogs with early periodontitis. The ability of P. cangingivalis to flourish in the different environmental conditions characterized by these two states suggests a degree of metabolic flexibility. To characterize the genes responsible for this, the genomes of 32 isolates (including 18 newly sequenced and assembled) from18Porphyromonad species fromdogs, humans, and other mammals were compared. Phylogenetic trees inferred using core genes largely matched previous findings; however, comparative genomic analysis identified several genes and pathways relating to heme synthesis that were present in P. cangingivalis but not in other Porphyromonads. Porphyromonas cangingivalis has a complete protoporphyrin IX synthesis pathway potentially allowing it to synthesize its own heme unlike pathogenic Porphyromonads such as Porphyromonas gingivalis that acquire heme predominantly from blood. Other pathway differences such as the ability to synthesize siroheme and vitamin B12 point to enhanced metabolic flexibility for P. cangingivalis, which may underlie its prevalence in the canine oral cavity

Protocol for the Delirium and Cognitive Impact in Dementia (DECIDE) study: A nested prospective longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND: Delirium is common, affecting at least 20% of older hospital inpatients. It is widely accepted that delirium is associated with dementia but the degree of causation within this relationship is unclear. Previous studies have been limited by incomplete ascertainment of baseline cognition or a lack of prospective delirium assessments. There is an urgent need for an improved understanding of the relationship between delirium and dementia given that delirium prevention may plausibly impact upon dementia prevention. A well-designed, observational study could also answer fundamental questions of major importance to patients and their families regarding outcomes after delirium. The Delirium and Cognitive Impact in Dementia (DECIDE) study aims to explore the association between delirium and cognitive function over time in older participants. In an existing population based cohort aged 65 years and older, the effect on cognition of an episode of delirium will be measured, independent of baseline cognition and illness severity. The predictive value of clinical parameters including delirium severity, baseline cognition and delirium subtype on cognitive outcomes following an episode of delirium will also be explored. METHODS: Over a 12 month period, surviving participants from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study II-Newcastle will be screened for delirium on admission to hospital. At the point of presentation, baseline characteristics along with a number of disease relevant clinical parameters will be recorded. The progression/resolution of delirium will be monitored. In those with and without delirium, cognitive decline and dementia will be assessed at one year follow-up. We will evaluate the effect of delirium on cognitive function over time along with the predictive value of clinical parameters. DISCUSSION: This study will be the first to prospectively elucidate the size of the effect of delirium upon cognitive decline and incident dementia. The results will be used to inform future dementia prevention trials that focus on delirium intervention