How can we confidently judge the extent to which student voice in higher education has been genuinely amplified? A proposal for a new evaluation framework

This article aims to contribute to the development of frameworks for evaluating student voice projects in higher education by offering a critically evaluative account of two student voice projects. Although both projects had been underpinned by the principles of participatory (inclusive) research, one appeared to be more successful than the other in engaging students in a productive or meaningful way. In order to confirm and explain these perceived differences, this paper draws on both student voice and participatory research literature to identify two potentially useful evaluation criteria: reach and fitness for purpose. These criteria are applied to three project factors: aims and assumptions, processes and outcomes to produce an amplitude framework for evaluating student voice in higher education. It is argued that this framework has the potential to enable a rich account of the relative successes and failures of student voice initiatives in higher education

Development of a gene silencing DNA vector derived from a broad host range geminivirus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene silencing is proving to be a powerful tool for genetic, developmental, and physiological analyses. The use of viral induced gene silencing (VIGS) offers advantages to transgenic approaches as it can be potentially applied to non-model systems for which transgenic techniques are not readily available. However, many VIGS vectors are derived from Gemini viruses that have limited host ranges. We present a new, unipartite vector that is derived from a curtovirus that has a broad host range and will be amenable to use in many non-model systems.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The construction of a gene silencing vector derived from the geminivirus <it>Beet curly top virus </it>(BCTV), named pWSRi, is reported. Two versions of the vector have been developed to allow application by biolistic techniques or by agro-infiltration. We demonstrate its ability to silence nuclear genes including ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit (<it>rbcS</it>), <it>transketolase</it>, the sulfur allele of magnesium chelatase (<it>ChlI</it>), and two homeotic transcription factors in spinach or tomato by generating gene-specific knock-down phenotypes. Onset of phenotypes occurred 3 to 12 weeks post-inoculation, depending on the target gene, in organs that developed after the application. The vector lacks movement genes and we found no evidence for significant spread from the site of inoculation. However, viral amplification in inoculated tissue was detected and is necessary for systemic silencing, suggesting that signals generated from active viral replicons are efficiently transported within the plant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The unique properties of the pWSRi vector, the ability to silence genes in meristem tissue, the separation of virus and silencing phenotypes, and the broad natural host range of BCTV, suggest that it will have wide utility.</p

Potential loss of nutrients from different rearing strategies for fattening pigs on pasture

Nutrient load and distribution on pasture were investigated with fattening pigs that: 1) spend a proportion of or their entire life on pasture, 2) were fed either restrictively or ad libitum, and 3) were weaned at different times of the year. The N and P retention in pigs decreased the longer they were kept on pasture. The contents of soil inorganic N and exchangeable K were significantly raised compared to the soil outside the enclosures but with no differences between treatments. Pig grazing did not affect extractable soil P. Regular moving of huts, feeding and water troughs was effective in ensuring that nutrients were more evenly distributed on the paddocks. Grass cover, as determined by spectral reflectance, was not related to the experimental treatments but only to time of year. During spring and summer, grass was present in parts of the paddocks, whereas during autumn and winter the pigs kept grass cover below 10%. Fattening pigs on pasture carries a high risk of nutrient loss and it is concluded that the most environmentally acceptable way of keeping fattening pigs on pasture involves a combination of reduced dietary N intake, reduced stocking rate and seasonal rather than all year production

Students and academics working in partnership to embed cultural competence as a graduate quality

Since 2014, the University of Sydney has been experimenting with a new initiative motivated by the research on “students as partners”. In 2014, six students were selected as Ambassadors of the Sydney Teaching Colloquium (STC)-the University’s annual learning and teaching conference-as undergraduate researchers. In that year, the focus was on assessment standards

Cultivating student-staff partnerships through research and practice

No abstract available

Flavor and Charge Symmetry in the Parton Distributions of the Nucleon

Recent calculations of charge symmetry violation(CSV) in the valence quark distributions of the nucleon have revealed that the dominant symmetry breaking contribution comes from the mass associated with the spectator quark system.Assuming that the change in the spectator mass can be treated perturbatively, we derive a model independent expression for the shift in the parton distributions of the nucleon. This result is used to derive a relation between the charge and flavor asymmetric contributions to the valence quark distributions in the proton, and to calculate CSV contributions to the nucleon sea. The CSV contribution to the Gottfried sum rule is also estimated, and found to be small

Asymptotic Behavior of Ext functors for modules of finite complete intersection dimension

Let $R$ be a local ring, and let $M$ and $N$ be finitely generated $R$-modules such that $M$ has finite complete intersection dimension. In this paper we define and study, under certain conditions, a pairing using the modules \Ext_R^i(M,N) which generalizes Buchweitz's notion of the Herbrand diference. We exploit this pairing to examine the number of consecutive vanishing of \Ext_R^i(M,N) needed to ensure that \Ext_R^i(M,N)=0 for all $i\gg 0$. Our results recover and improve on most of the known bounds in the literature, especially when $R$ has dimension at most two

Bacterial genomics reveal the complex epidemiology of an emerging pathogen in Arctic and boreal ungulates

Northern ecosystems are currently experiencing unprecedented ecological change, largely driven by a rapidly changing climate. Pathogen range expansion, and emergence and altered patterns of infectious disease, are increasingly reported in wildlife at high latitudes. Understanding the causes and consequences of shifting pathogen diversity and host-pathogen interactions in these ecosystems is important for wildlife conservation, and for indigenous populations that depend on wildlife. Among the key questions are whether disease events are associated with endemic or recently introduced pathogens, and whether emerging strains are spreading throughout the region. In this study, we used a phylogenomic approach to address these questions of pathogen endemicity and spread for Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, an opportunistic multi-host bacterial pathogen associated with recent mortalities in arctic and boreal ungulate populations in North America. We isolated E. rhusiopathiae from carcasses associated with large-scale die-offs of muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and from contemporaneous mortality events and/or population declines among muskoxen in northwestern Alaska and caribou and moose in western Canada. Bacterial genomic diversity differed markedly among these locations; minimal divergence was present among isolates from muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic, while in caribou and moose populations, strains from highly divergent clades were isolated from the same location, or even from within a single carcass. These results indicate that mortalities among northern ungulates are not associated with a single emerging strain of E. rhusiopathiae, and that alternate hypotheses need to be explored. Our study illustrates the value and limitations of bacterial genomic data for discriminating between ecological hypotheses of disease emergence, and highlights the importance of studying emerging pathogens within the broader context of environmental and host factors

Translating Learners, Researchers, and Qualitative Approaches through Investigations of Students’ Experiences in School

This article uses the conceptual framework offered by ‘translation’ to argue for transforming students into authorities and agents in research on educational practice. Drawing on various definitions of translation and highlighting the influence of recent feminist perspectives on translation studies, the article presents two cases that illustrate how learners can be translated into co-researchers of educational experiences, researchers translated into partners with students in making meaning through the research process, and qualitative research’s approaches and modes of presenting findings translated into new versions of those processes and products