Making connections: engaging student technology teachers with a mathematics module

Over the last three sessions, we have redeveloped a Mathematics module for student Technology teachers to provide an experience that is more relevant to the students’ intended career. The most recent version uses Moodle forums, wikis and the “External Tool” facility, social media, group projects and Mahara. Previously, this was essentially a revision module, intended to ensure that students could cope with the mathematical aspects of the rest of their course. Students were required to complete ten topic tests, and attendance was mandatory only until they had done so, leading to a “race to finish” attitude. Engagement was minimal and the relevance of the module to the remainder of their course was poorly understood. We introduced a “topics wiki” in which groups of students collaborate to provide additional explanations and resources around the course content. The efforts so far are very worthwhile and will be of use to those with less experience of Maths and to future students. Students are encouraged to discuss module content during class time, and in the forums and Facebook group. We are also encouraging students to use the wikis and group projects to build personal e-portfolios using Mahara. In this presentation, we shall set out our reasons for redesigning the existing course, and for selecting the additional activities. We shall report on students’ reaction to this year’s module, present examples of student engagement with the course, and put forward ideas for further development, which could be the basis for discussion

The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace

The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace Paul Moses New York: Doubleday, 200

Module facelift: engaging student technology teachers with maths

In recent years a First Year Mathematics module for student Technology teachers has undergone a significant redesign due to a combination of factors. In 2010 a new tutor took over the module and began to add more content to the existing course in order to encourage students to engage with online resources, but a total redesign was not possible due to the limitations of the existing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) (Moodle 1.9). In 2012, with support from the Learning Technology Unit, this course was restructured on the new Moodle 2.3 site in order that a new tool for quiz authoring and delivery could be embedded within the course. Previous technologies available were limited in various ways; with the arrival of this new tool sophisticated questions can be delivered and activities can be accessed on and off campus. In addition to this, the new version of the course includes tools for social networking and collaborative learnin

The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace

The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace Paul Moses New York: Doubleday, 200

Young People Creating Belonging: spaces, sounds and sights

Report for ESRC-funded project exploring belonging among 'looked after' young people from across mainland and island Scotland. The project employed innovative visual and audial methods in multiple interviews with participants

Public trust and genomic medicine in Canada and the UK.

Background: Genomic medicine could improve precise risk stratification, early prevention, and personalised treatment across a broad spectrum of disease. As this reality approaches, questions on the importance of public trust arise. The success of genomic medicine initiatives is influenced by the public's trust and willingness to engage. Specific social actors influential in the public's trust have been identified by the "Your DNA, Your Say" study, including doctors, researchers, and governments. This paper aims to identify and examine which specific social actors, if any, in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) are the most trustworthy and influential to engage the public in genomic medicine research. Methods: Using data from the 'Your DNA, Your Say' study, logistic regression models and Pearson's chi-square tests were conducted to explore trust in social actors across Canada and the UK. Results: The results demonstrate Canada and the UK significantly differ in public trust and willingness to donate. Non-profit researchers, domestic doctors, and personal doctors were identified to be the most influential and trustworthy social actors in Canada and the UK. Conclusions: The comparative results indicate that both countries would benefit from engaging the public through doctors and non-profit researchers. The UK could additionally support public trust by engaging with the public through the National Health Service. However, the results suggest that whilst public trust is significant, it may be neither necessary nor sufficient in influencing willingness to donate. Future research could do well to investigate how the importance of public trust compares in countries with lower public trust

Coleman maps and the p-adic regulator

This paper is a sequel to our earlier paper "Wach modules and Iwasawa theory for modular forms" (arXiv: 0912.1263), where we defined a family of Coleman maps for a crystalline representation of the Galois group of Qp with nonnegative Hodge-Tate weights. In this paper, we study these Coleman maps using Perrin-Riou's p-adic regulator L_V. Denote by H(\Gamma) the algebra of Qp-valued distributions on \Gamma = Gal(Qp(\mu (p^\infty) / Qp). Our first result determines the H(\Gamma)-elementary divisors of the quotient of D_{cris}(V) \otimes H(\Gamma) by the H(\Gamma)-submodule generated by (\phi * N(V))^{\psi = 0}, where N(V) is the Wach module of V. By comparing the determinant of this map with that of L_V (which can be computed via Perrin-Riou's explicit reciprocity law), we obtain a precise description of the images of the Coleman maps. In the case when V arises from a modular form, we get some stronger results about the integral Coleman maps, and we can remove many technical assumptions that were required in our previous work in order to reformulate Kato's main conjecture in terms of cotorsion Selmer groups and bounded p-adic L-functions.Comment: 27 page

Non-verbal interaction in the design of telepresence robots for social nomadic work

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-84).Telepresence robots have emerged as a novel solution to meeting the social communication needs of nomadic workers. This thesis provides an overview of non-verbal communication cues for telepresence robot applications, and a snapshot of the competitive landscape for commercially available telepresence robots today. It then follows the design of a low-cost telepresence robot which can be remotely operated whilst running Skype, and discusses how further non-verbal communication cues could be incorporated to increase the feeling of social presence. Specifically, face tracking and the ability to communicate gaze is developed in the final prototype.by Jennifer S. Milne.S.M

The Mechanism Underlying the Hypotensive Effect of Isometric Handgrip Training: Is it Cardiac Output Mediated?

Isometric handgrip (IHG) training lowers blood pressure (BP) in normotensive individuals yet the mechanisms remain equivocal, and some evidence suggests that men and women respond differently to training. To date, non-sex specific mechanisms influencing total peripheral resistance, either in response to a single IHG bout or with training, have been a primary research focus, and the effects of acute and chronic IHG on cardiac output (Q) in either sex are under-explored. The purpose of the current study was two-fold: 1) to investigate the effects of IHG training (4, 2-minute sustained bilateral isometric contractions at 30% of maximal contraction, 1-minute rest between, 3X/week for 10 weeks) on resting Q, and 2) to examine the Q response to an IHG bout, and the effects of training on this response. Resting BP (Dinamap Carescape v100, Critikon) was measured after 10 minutes of seated rest in twenty-two normotensive participants (10 women; mean age= 24 ± 5.0 years). To assess Q, aortic root diameter (ARD; 3S-RS probe; Vivid I, GE Healthcare), velocity-timed integral (VTI; P2D probe; Vivid I), and HR (Dinamap) were measured pre- and post- an IHG bout. Both variables were re-assessed post-training. Reductions in resting systolic BP of a similar magnitude (p>0.05) were observed in both men (2.4 ± 6.2 mmHg) and women (2.9 ± 4.6 mmHg) following 10 weeks of training (p=0.04). This was accompanied by reductions in resting Q (p=0.007) in both men (6.6 ± 2.2 to 6.3 ± 1.8 L/min) and women (5.8 ± 0.7 to 5.1 ± 0.8 L/min) and reductions in HR (p=0.036), both of which were similar between sexes (all p>0.05). In both groups, no changes in Q were observed in response to an IHG bout, and this response was similar pre- and post- training (all p>0.05). In conclusion, resting Q is reduced with training, potentially implicating it as a mechanism of post-training BP reductions. The acute response to an IHG bout remains unchanged with training

MAP Kinase-Interacting Kinases—Emerging Targets against Cancer

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-interacting kinases (Mnks) regulate the initiation of translation through phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). Mnk-mediated eIF4E activation promotes cancer development and progression. While the phosphorylation of eIF4E is necessary for oncogenic transformation, the kinase activity of Mnks seems dispensable for normal development. For this reason, pharmacological inhibition of Mnks could represent an ideal mechanism-based and nontoxic therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of Mnk biological roles, structures, and functions, as well as clinical implications. Importantly, we propose different strategies for identification of highly selective small molecule inhibitors of Mnks, including exploring a structural feature of their kinase domain, DFD motif, which is unique within the human kinome. We also argue that a combined targeting of Mnks and other pathways should be considered given the complexity of cancer