The Generation R Study: design and cohort update 2010

The Generation R Study is a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life until young adulthood. The study is designed to identify early environmental and genetic causes of normal and abnormal growth, development and health during fetal life, childhood and adulthood. The study focuses on four primary areas of research: (1) growth and physical development; (2) behavioural and cognitive development; (3) diseases in childhood; and (4) health and healthcare for pregnant women and children. In total, 9,778 mothers with a delivery date from April 2002 until January 2006 were enrolled in the study. General follow-up rates until the age of 4 years exceed 75%. Data collection in mothers, fathers and preschool children included questionnaires, detailed physical and ultrasound examinations, behavioural observations, and biological samples. A genome wide association screen is available in the participating children. Regular detailed hands on assessment are performed from the age of 5 years onwards. Eventually, results forthcoming from the Generation R Study have to contribute to the development of strategies for optimizing health and healthcare for pregnant women and children

First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. VII. Polarization of the Ring

The Event Horizon Telescope observed the horizon-scale synchrotron emission region around the Galactic center supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), in 2017. These observations revealed a bright, thick ring morphology with a diameter of 51.8 ± 2.3 μas and modest azimuthal brightness asymmetry, consistent with the expected appearance of a black hole with mass M ≈ 4 × 106 M ⊙. From these observations, we present the first resolved linear and circular polarimetric images of Sgr A*. The linear polarization images demonstrate that the emission ring is highly polarized, exhibiting a prominent spiral electric vector polarization angle pattern with a peak fractional polarization of ∼40% in the western portion of the ring. The circular polarization images feature a modestly (∼5%–10%) polarized dipole structure along the emission ring, with negative circular polarization in the western region and positive circular polarization in the eastern region, although our methods exhibit stronger disagreement than for linear polarization. We analyze the data using multiple independent imaging and modeling methods, each of which is validated using a standardized suite of synthetic data sets. While the detailed spatial distribution of the linear polarization along the ring remains uncertain owing to the intrinsic variability of the source, the spiraling polarization structure is robust to methodological choices. The degree and orientation of the linear polarization provide stringent constraints for the black hole and its surrounding magnetic fields, which we discuss in an accompanying publication

Teachers' responses to the school reopening strategy

This report is the first of a series of reports that focus on how schools and colleges in England are responding to the current coronavirus pandemic. The surveys on which these reports are based were developed in collaboration with Schoolzone. The first survey was launched at 9am on 12th May, two days after the Prime Minister announced steps for lifting the lockdown in England including the partial reopening of schools scheduled for 1st June. This survey received over 4,600 responses, reflecting the strength of feelings teachers have about the issue. These responses have given us an insight into what matters to teachers and pupils and what concerns them most. They will be valuable in informing future policy decisions on support and provisions for schools, teachers and children

Teachers' wellbeing and workload during Covid-19 lockdown

This report is the second in a series of reports looking at how teachers have responded to the current coronavirus pandemic. The first focused on teachers’ thoughts about the government’s reopening strategy and how they felt about returning to school. This second report considers workload, wellbeing and the use of educational technology (edtech). The findings in this report are based on a survey conducted 10 weeks into lockdown, which received 3404 responses. Our intention was to find out more about levels of wellbeing during the closures and gradual reopening of educational institutions, and to see what practical teaching strategies were being used along the way. The Spring term of 2020 may have seen the biggest test of the use of distance learning for mass education we have; these findings could be useful for education policy and teacher training