Editorial

Sentinal malaria surveillance - More than a research too

Exploring the interdependencies of research funders in the UK

Investment in medical research is vital to the continuing improvement of the UK's health and wealth. It is through research that we expand our understanding of disease and develop new treatments for patients. Medical research charities currently contribute over £1 billion annually to medical research in the UK, of which over £350 million is provided by Cancer Research UK. Many charities, including Cancer Research UK, receive no government funding for their research activity. Cancer Research UK is engaged in a programme of work in order to better understand the medical research funding environment and demonstrate the importance of sustained investment. A key part of that is the Office of Health Economics‟ (OHE) 2011 report “Exploring the interdependency between public and charitable medical research”. This study found that there are substantial benefits, both financial and qualitative, from the existence of a variety of funders and that reductions in the level of government financial support for medical research are likely to have broader negative effects. This contributed to other evidence which found that the activities and funding of the charity, public and private sectors respectively are complementary, i.e. mutually reinforcing, rather than duplicative or merely substituting for one another. “Exploring the interdependencies of research funders in the UK” by the Office of Health Economics (OHE) and SPRU: Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, represents a continued effort to build the evidence base around the funding of medical research. This report uncovers the extent to which funders of cancer research are interdependent, nationally and internationally. Key figures show that two thirds of publications acknowledging external support have relied on multiple funders, while just under half benefited from overseas funding, and almost a fifth are also supported by industry. In addition the analysis shows that the general public would not want tax funding of cancer research to be reduced, but would not donate enough to charities to compensate for any such reduction

PAPPA: Primordial Anisotropy Polarization Pathfinder Array

The Primordial Anisotropy Polarization Pathfinder Array (PAPPA) is a balloon-based instrument to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background and search for the signal from gravity waves excited during an inflationary epoch in the early universe. PAPPA will survey a 20 x 20 deg patch at the North Celestial Pole using 32 pixels in 3 passbands centered at 89, 212, and 302 GHz. Each pixel uses MEMS switches in a superconducting microstrip transmission line to combine the phase modulation techniques used in radio astronomy with the sensitivity of transition-edge superconducting bolometers. Each switched circuit modulates the incident polarization on a single detector, allowing nearly instantaneous characterization of the Stokes I, Q, and U parameters. We describe the instrument design and status.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Proceedings of the Fundamental Physics With CMB workshop, UC Irvine, March 23-25, 2006, to be published in New Astronomy Review

Network Harmonisation of Physical Activity Variables Through Indirect Validation

Harmonisation of data for pooled analysis relies on the principle of inferential equivalence between variables from different sources. Ideally, this is achieved using models of the direct relationship with gold standard criterion measures, but the necessary validation study data are often unavailable. This study examines an alternative method of network harmonisation using indirect models. Starting methods were self-report or accelerometry, from which we derived indirect models of relationships with doubly labelled water (DLW)-based physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) using sets of two bridge equations via one of three intermediate measures. Coefficients and performance of indirect models were compared to corresponding direct models (linear regression of DLW-based PAEE on starting methods). Indirect model beta coefficients were attenuated compared to direct model betas (10-63%), narrowing the range of PAEE values; attenuation was greater when bridge equations were weak. Directly and indirectly harmonised models had similar error variance but most indirectly derived values were biased at group-level. Correlations with DLW-based PAEE were identical after harmonisation using continuous linear but not categorical models. Wrist acceleration harmonised to DLW-based PAEE via combined accelerometry and heart rate sensing had lowest error variance (24.5%) and non-significant mean bias 0.9 (95%CI: -1.6; 3.4) kJ•day-1•kg-1. Associations between PAEE and BMI were similar for directly and indirectly harmonised values, but most fell outside the confidence interval of the criterion PAEE-to-BMI association. Indirect models can be used for harmonisation. Performance depends on the measurement properties of original data, variance explained by available bridge equations, and similarity of population characteristics.This work was funded by UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/3) and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Cambridge (IS-BRC-1215-20014). UK Biobank is acknowledged for contributing to the costs of the fieldwork. Newcastle University and MedImmune are acknowledged for contributing to the costs of the doubly labelled water measurements. The funders had no role in the design, conduct, analysis, and decision to publish results from this study

Luminescence Dating Without Sand Lenses: an Application of Osl to Coarse-grained Alluvial Fan Deposits of the Lost River Range, Idaho, USA

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is increasingly used to estimate the age of fluvial deposits. A significant limitation, however, has been that conventional techniques of sampling and dose rate estimation are suitable only for thick (\u3e60 cm) layers consisting of sand size or finer grains. Application of OSL dating to deposits lacking such layers remains a significant challenge. Alluvial fans along the western front of the Lost River Range in east-central Idaho, USA are one example. Deposits are typically pebble to cobble sheetflood gravels with a sandy matrix but thin to absent sand lenses. As a result, the majority of samples for this project were collected by excavating matrix material from gravelly deposits under light-safe tarps or at night. To examine the contributions of different grain-size fractions to calculated dose-rates, multiple grain-size fractions were analyzed using ICP–MS, high resolution gamma spectrometry and XRF. Dose rates from bulk sediment samples were 0.4–40% (mean of 18%) lower than dose-rate estimates from the sand-size fractions alone, illustrating the importance of representative sampling for dose rate determination. We attribute the difference to the low dose-rate contribution from radio-nuclide poor carbonate pebbles and cobbles that occur disproportionately in clast sizes larger than sand. Where possible, dose rates were based on bulk sediment samples since they integrate the dose-rate contribution from all grain sizes. Equivalent dose distributions showed little evidence for partial bleaching. However, many samples had significant kurtosis and/or overdispersion, possibly due to grain-size related microdosimetry effects, accumulation of pedogenic carbonate or post-depositional sediment mixing. Our OSL age estimates range from 4 to 120 ka, preserve stratigraphic and geomorphic order, and show good agreement with independent ages from tephra correlation and U-series dating of pedogenic carbonate. Furthermore, multiple samples from the same deposit produced ages in good agreement. This study demonstrates that with modified sampling methods and careful consideration of the dose rate, OSL dating can be successfully applied to coarse-grained deposits of climatic and tectonic significance that may be difficult to date by other methods

Lightweight sidewalls for aircraft interior noise control

A theoretical and experimental study was performed to devise lightweight sidewalls for turboprop aircraft. Seven concepts for new sidewalls were analyzed and tested for noise reduction using flat panels of 1.2 m x 1.8 m (4 ft x 6 ft), some of which were aircraft-type constructions and some of which were simpler, easier-to-construct panels to test the functioning of an acoustic principle. Aircraft-application sidewalls were then conceived for each of the seven concepts, and were subjectively evaluated for their ability to meet aircraft nonacoustic design requirements. As a result of the above, the following sidewall concepts were recommended for further investigation: a sidewall in which the interior cavity is vented to ceiling and underfloor areas; sidewalls with wall-mounted resonators, one having a conventional trim panel and one a limp one; and a sidewall with a stiff outer wall and a limp trim panel. These sidewalls appear to promise lower weights than conventional sidewalls adjusted to meet similar acoustic requirements, and further development may prove them to be practical

Creative Assessment in Programming: Diversity and Divergence

Negative stereotypes persist in computing, and align poorly with research into the motivations of female students. In particular, female students are more inclined to want to work creatively and have a positive impact through their work. However programming assignments are often tightly constrained and rather pointless in themselves so are doubly unattractive. Alongside this, concerns are often raised about plagiarism in programming assignments, particularly when the assessment process is automated. We attempt to address both of these issues by designing more creative programming assignments, allowing students to engage in work aligned with whatever their interests are. By providing a more divergent assessment, automated plagiarism detectors are much more effective because the likelihood of false positives is much lower than in more constrained, convergent assessments. We also show how to combine this with partial automation of assessment. To examine this approach we compare the results of two subsequent years of delivery of the same second-year undergraduate programming module, and find that, using more creative assessments, female students average scores were substantially increased so that they outperform male students. While the results are not quite statistically significant (according to 2-way ANOVA), they demonstrate potential that could be verified with a larger sample

Feminism, Abortion and Disability: irreconcilable differences?

There has been considerable discussion of the political allegiance between the feminist and disability movements, but the question of abortion remains a thorny one. Disability rights advocates have been keen to demonstrate that it is possible to believe in a woman's right to sovereignty over the body and, yet, be opposed to the selective abortion of an impaired foetus – describing the latter as a form of 'weak' eugenics. The aim of this paper is to show that whilst there may be some points of agreement between the feminist and disability movements on the question of abortion, there exist fundamental and irreconcilable differences