Wunderlich Revisited: New Limits on Judicial Review of Administrative Determination of Government Contract Disputes

The overall purpose of the thesis is to explore the school subject Art as an arena where pupils and Art teachers do gender. The study focuses on how pupils interact and position themselves during Art lessons and in the artworks they create, and also on how their notions of Art are linked to notions of gender. The study was conducted using a range of methods for gathering data, inspired by visual ethnography. A total of 50 Art lessons have been observed. The empirical material consists of observation notes, photographs and sound recordings from the observed lessons, the artworks created by the pupils during those lessons, and also interviews with pupils and Art teachers. Included in the study are more than 70 pupils, 14-16 years old, and two Art teachers, from two different schools. The theoretical perspective is doing gender, meaning that gender is perceived as something that is accomplished through actions and interactions between people and in institutional arenas. The concepts interpretative repertoires and subject positions have been used for analysing the interviews. The pupils’ artworks have been analysed with concepts from visual semiotics.  In both schools, the pupils were asked to describe their identity in pictures during the observed lessons, and in both schools the students positioned themselves in accordance with common notions of gender in their artworks. In one of the schools, girls positioned themselves as feminine using symbols such as hearts, suns and smiley faces, thus portraying a harmless and caring femininity. In the other school, girls presented themselves as preoccupied with their appearance, or as objects for the male gaze, or portrayed longing and anticipation, thus positioning themselves as passive beings. Boys in both schools positioned themselves, to a greater extent, as masculine through their interests in e.g. sports, computers, music or motor vehicles. Many of the pupils chose not to reveal too much about themselves in their pictures and instead presented themselves in an impersonal way, which is interpreted as a form of resistance to the theme, since it was going against the intentions of the assignments. Some girls resisted the teaching or the theme by working very fast to free up time that allowed them to pursue private projects, resisting in a less overt manner, to gain control of their time in the Art classroom. Some boys resisted the theme by using humour and irony in their artworks. Many boys also protested verbally and asked critical questions during instructions.  The study suggests that the legacy of the ideas of the free creative expression persists in Art teaching as well as in the pupils’ notions of what Art is. The notion of Art as a subject for expressing emotions makes the subject appear as feminine to the pupils. The study also points to the importance of a clear framework for the pupils to relate to in their creative work. In the absence of this framework, gender stereotypes are more prevalent in the artworks that are created

DNA Cleaving "Tandem-Array" Metallopeptides Activated With KHSO5: Towards the Development of Multi-Metallated Bioactive Conjugates and Compounds

Amino terminal peptides of the general form Gly-Gly-His have been used to introduce single sites of metal binding and redox activity into a wide range of biomolecules to create bioactive compounds and conjugates capable of substrate oxidation. We report here that Gly-Gly-His-like peptides linked in a tandem fashion can also be generated leading to multi-metal binding arrays. While metal binding by the native Gly-Gly-His motif (typically to Cu(2+), Ni(2+), or Co(2+)) requires a terminal peptide amine ligand, previous work has demonstrated that an ornithine (Orn) residue can be substituted for the terminal Gly residue to allow solid-phase peptide synthesis to continue via the side chain N-δ. This strategy thus frees the Orn residue N-α for metal binding and permits placement of a Gly-Gly-His-like metal binding domain at any location within a linear, synthetic peptide chain. As we show here, this strategy also permits the assembly of tandem arrays of metal binding units in linear peptides of the form: NH2-Gly-Gly-His-[(δ)-Orn-Gly-His]n-(δ)-Orn-Gly-His-CONH2 (where n = 0, 1, and 2). Metal binding titrations of these tandem arrays monitored by UV-vis and ESI-MS indicated that they bind Cu(2+), Ni(2+), or Co(2+) at each available metal binding site. Further, it was found that these systems retained their ability to modify DNA oxidatively and to an extent greater than their parent M(II)•Gly-Gly-His. These findings suggest that the tandem array metallopeptides described here may function with increased efficiency as "next generation" appendages in the design of bioactive compounds and conjugates

Systematic review of communication technologies to promote access and engagement of young people with diabetes into healthcare

Background: Research has investigated whether communication technologies (e.g. mobile telephony, forums, email) can be used to transfer digital information between healthcare professionals and young people who live with diabetes. The systematic review evaluates the effectiveness and impact of these technologies on communication. Methods: Nine electronic databases were searched. Technologies were described and a narrative synthesis of all studies was undertaken. Results: Of 20,925 publications identified, 19 met the inclusion criteria, with 18 technologies assessed. Five categories of communication technologies were identified: video-and tele-conferencing (n = 2); mobile telephony (n = 3); telephone support (n = 3); novel electronic communication devices for transferring clinical information (n = 10); and web-based discussion boards (n = 1). Ten studies showed a positive improvement in HbA1c following the intervention with four studies reporting detrimental increases in HbA1c levels. In fifteen studies communication technologies increased the frequency of contact between patient and healthcare professional. Findings were inconsistent of an association between improvements in HbA1c and increased contact. Limited evidence was available concerning behavioural and care coordination outcomes, although improvement in quality of life, patientcaregiver interaction, self-care and metabolic transmission were reported for some communication technologies. Conclusions: The breadth of study design and types of technologies reported make the magnitude of benefit and their effects on health difficult to determine. While communication technologies may increase the frequency of contact between patient and health care professional, it remains unclear whether this results in improved outcomes and is often the basis of the intervention itself. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of increasing the use of communication technologies between young people and healthcare professionals

Serum neurofilament dynamics predicts neurodegeneration and clinical progression in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a promising fluid biomarker of disease progression for various cerebral proteopathies. Here we leverage the unique characteristics of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network and ultrasensitive immunoassay technology to demonstrate that NfL levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (n = 187) and serum (n = 405) are correlated with one another and are elevated at the presymptomatic stages of familial Alzheimer's disease. Longitudinal, within-person analysis of serum NfL dynamics (n = 196) confirmed this elevation and further revealed that the rate of change of serum NfL could discriminate mutation carriers from non-mutation carriers almost a decade earlier than cross-sectional absolute NfL levels (that is, 16.2 versus 6.8 years before the estimated symptom onset). Serum NfL rate of change peaked in participants converting from the presymptomatic to the symptomatic stage and was associated with cortical thinning assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, but less so with amyloid-β deposition or glucose metabolism (assessed by positron emission tomography). Serum NfL was predictive for both the rate of cortical thinning and cognitive changes assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination and Logical Memory test. Thus, NfL dynamics in serum predict disease progression and brain neurodegeneration at the early presymptomatic stages of familial Alzheimer's disease, which supports its potential utility as a clinically useful biomarker