What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools

This research report has been written under the auspices of the University College London (UCL) Centre for Holocaust Education. The Centre is part of the UCL Institute of Education – currently the world’s leading university for education – and is comprised of a team of researchers and educators from a variety of different disciplinary fields. The Centre works in partnership with the Pears Foundation who, together with the Department for Education, have co-funded its operation since it was first established in 2008. A centrally important principle of all activity based at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is that, wherever possible, classroom practice should be informed by academic scholarship and relevant empirical research. In 2009, Centre staff published an extensive national study of secondary school teachers’ experience of and attitudes towards teaching about the Holocaust (Pettigrew et al. 2009). This new report builds on that earlier work by critically examining English school students’ knowledge and understanding of this history. In both cases, research findings have been – and will continue to be – used to develop an innovative and ground-breaking programme of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers and educational resources that are uniquely responsive to clearly identified classroom needs. The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is the only institution of its kind, both within the United Kingdom and internationally, where pioneering empirical research is placed at the heart of work to support teachers and their students encountering this profoundly important yet complex and challenging subject in schools. The Centre offers a wide-ranging educational programme appropriate to teachers at all stages of their careers through a carefully constructed ‘pathway of professional development’. This provides opportunities for individuals to progressively deepen their knowledge and improve their practice. It offers a national programme of Initial Teacher Education in Holocaust education and a variety of in-depth and subject-specific CPD. In addition, the Centre also offers online distance learning facilities, including a fully accredited taught Masters-level module The Holocaust in the Curriculum. Through its Beacon School programme, Centre staff work intensively with up to 20 schools across England each year in order to recognise and further develop exemplary whole-school approaches and effective pedagogy. All of the courses and classroom materials developed by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education are available free of charge to teachers working in England’s statefunded secondary schools. Further information can be found at www.ioe.ac.uk/holocaust

Critical properties of Φ1+14\Phi^4_{1+1}-theory in Light-Cone Quantization

The dynamics of the phase transition of the continuum $\Phi ^{4}_{1+1}$-theory in Light Cone Quantization is reexamined taking into account fluctuations of the order parameter $$ in the form of dynamical zero mode operators (DZMO) which appear in a natural way via the Haag expansion of the field $\Phi (x)$ of the interacting theory. The inclusion of the DZM-sector changes significantly the value of the critical coupling, bringing it in agreement within 2% with the most recent Monte-Carlo and high temperature/strong coupling estimates. The critical slowing down of the DZMO governs the low momentum behavior of the dispersion relation through invariance of this DZMO under conformal transformations preserving the local light cone structure. The critical exponent $\eta$ characterising the scaling behaviour at $k^2 \to 0$ comes out in agreement with the known value 0.25 of the Ising universality class. $\eta$ is made of two contributions: one, analytic $(75$) and another (25%) which can be evaluated only numerically with an estimated error of 3%. The $\beta$-function is then found from the non-perturbative expression of the physical mass. It is non-analytic in the coupling constant with a critical exponent $\omega=2$. However, at D=2, $\omega$ is not parametrisation independent with respect to the space of coupling constants due to this strong non-analytic behaviour.Comment: Latex, 22 pages, 8 Postscript figures,Appendi

The challenge of enterprise/innovation: a case study of a modern university

In the prevailing economic and political climate for Higher Education a greater emphasis has been placed on diversifying the funding base. The present study was undertaken between 2012 and 2014 and addressed the implementation of an approach to the transformation of one academic school in a medium-sized modern university in Wales to a more engaged enterprise culture. A multimethod investigation included a bi-lingual (English and Welsh) online survey of academic staff and yielded a 71% response rate (n = 45). The findings informed a series of in-depth interviews (n = 24) with a representative sample of those involved in enterprise work (support staff, managers, senior managers), and those who were not. The results provided the platform for the ‘S4E model’ for effective engagement with enterprise: (1) Strategic significance for Enterprise, (2) Support for Enterprise, (3) Synergy for Enterprise, and (4) Success for Enterprise. The outcomes of the research and the recommendations from it have potential to inform practice in other academic schools within the university and, in a wider context, within other Schools of Education regionally, nationally and internationally. Its original empirical exploration of enterprise within education studies is a significant contribution to that body of knowledge

Compactification near and on the light front

We address problems associated with compactification near and on the light front. In perturbative scalar field theory we illustrate and clarify the relationships among three approaches: (1) quantization on a space-like surface close to a light front; (2) infinite momentum frame calculations; and (3) quantization on the light front. Our examples emphasize the difference between zero modes in space-like quantization and those in light front quantization. In particular, in perturbative calculations of scalar field theory using discretized light cone quantization there are well-known ``zero-mode induced'' interaction terms. However, we show that they decouple in the continuum limit and covariant answers are reproduced. Thus compactification of a light-like surface is feasible and defines a consistent field theory.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

Lipid Membranes in Poxvirus Replication

Poxviruses replicate in the cytoplasm, where they acquire multiple lipoprotein membranes. Although a proposal that the initial membrane arises de novo has not been substantiated, there is no accepted explanation for its formation from cellular membranes. A subsequent membrane-wrapping step involving modified trans-Golgi or endosomal cisternae results in a particle with three membranes. These wrapped virions traverse the cytoplasm on microtubules; the outermost membrane is lost during exocytosis, the middle one is lost just prior to cell entry, and the remaining membrane fuses with the cell to allow the virus core to enter the cytoplasm and initiate a new infection

Variety of transversus thoracis muscle in relation to the internal thoracic artery: an autopsy study of 120 subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The transversus thoracis muscle is a thin muscular layer on the inner surface of the anterior thoracic wall that is always in concern during harvesting of the internal thoracic artery. Because the muscle is poorly described in the surgical literature, the aim of the present study is to examine in details its variations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The data was obtained at standard autopsies of 120 Caucasian subjects (Bulgarians) of both sexes (97 males and 23 females), ranging in age from 18 to 91 years (mean age 52.8 ± 17.8 years). The transversus thoracis morphology was thoroughly examined on the inner surface of the chest plates collected after routine incisions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An overall examination revealed that in majority of cases the transversus thoracis slips formed a complete muscular layer (left - 75.8%, right - 83.3%) or some of the slips (left - 22.5%, right - 15%) or all of them (left - 1.7%, right - 1.7%) were quite separated. Rarely (left - 3.3%, right - 5.8%), some fibrous slips of the transversus thoracis were noted. In 55.8% of the cases there was left/right muscle symmetry; 44.2% of the muscles were asymmetrical. Most commonly, the highest muscle attachment was to the second (left - 53.3%, right - 37.5%) or third rib (left - 29.2%, right - 46.7%). The sixth rib was the most common lowest attachment (left - 94.2%, right - 89.2%). Most frequently, the muscle was composed of four (left - 31.7%, right - 44.2%) or fifth slips (left - 53.3%, right - 40.8%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study provides detailed basic information on the variety of the transversus thoracic muscle. It also defines the range of the clearly visible, uncovered by the muscle part of the internal thoracic artery and the completeness of the muscular layer over it. The knowledge of these peculiar muscle-arterial relations would definitely be beneficial to cardiac surgeon in performing fast and safe arterial harvesting.</p