Managed moves: schools collaborating for collective gain

Government guidance in the United Kingdom encourages groups of schools to take collective responsibility for supporting and making provision for excluded pupils and those at risk of exclusion. Managed-moves are one way that some schools and authorities are enacting such guidance. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of one such scheme. The scheme, involving seven neighbouring secondary schools, was nearing its first year of completion. The paper draws primarily on interview data with pupils, parents and school staff to describe a number of positive outcomes associated with the scheme and to explore how these were achieved. We found that while some of these could be attributed directly to the managed-move, others arose from the more inclusive ethos and practices of particular schools. The concepts of tailored support, care and commitment emerged as strong themes that underpinned the various practical ways in which some schools in the cluster were able to re-engage 'at-risk' pupils. As managed moves become more widely practiced it will be important to remember that it is how the move proceeds and develops rather than the move itself that will ultimately make the difference for troubled and troublesome pupils

The X-ray luminosity function of AGN at z~3

We combine Lyman-break colour selection with ultradeep (> 200 ks) Chandra X-ray imaging over a survey area of ~0.35 deg^2 to select high redshift AGN. Applying careful corrections for both the optical and X-ray selection functions, the data allow us to make the most accurate determination to date of the faint end of the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) at z~3. Our methodology recovers a number density of X-ray sources at this redshift which is at least as high as previous surveys, demonstrating that it is an effective way of selecting high z AGN. Comparing to results at z=1, we find no evidence that the faint slope of the XLF flattens at high z, but we do find significant (factor ~3.6) negative evolution of the space density of low luminosity AGN. Combining with bright end data from very wide surveys we also see marginal evidence for continued positive evolution of the characteristic break luminosity L*. Our data therefore support models of luminosity-dependent density evolution between z=1 and z=3. A sharp upturn in the the XLF is seen at the very lowest luminosities (Lx < 10^42.5 erg s^-1), most likely due to the contribution of pure X-ray starburst galaxies at very faint fluxes.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Mealtime support for adults with intellectual disabilities: Understanding an everyday activity

Background: Mealtime support has a direct bearing on the diet-related health of men and women with intellectual disabilities as well as opportunities for expressing dietary preferences. Method: Semi-structured interviews with a sample of direct support staff providing mealtime support to adults with intellectual disabilities. Results: When managing tensions between a person's dietary preferences and ensuring safe and adequate nutrition and hydration, direct support staff are sensitive to a wide range of factors. These include the following: clinical advice; service users’ rights to choose; their (in)capacity to weigh up risks; how service users communicate; the constituents of a healthy diet; and a duty to protect service users' health. Conclusions: Those responsible for setting standards and regulating the care practices need to look beyond too simple ideas of choice and safety to recognize ways in which providing support at mealtimes is a complex activity with serious consequences for people's health and well-being

Interaction Between The Broad-lined Type Ic Supernova 2012ap and Carriers of Diffuse Interstellar Bands

The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are absorption features observed in optical and near-infrared spectra that are thought to be associated with carbon-rich polyatomic molecules in interstellar gas. However, because the central wavelengths of these bands do not correspond with electronic transitions of any known atomic or molecular species, their nature has remained uncertain since their discovery almost a century ago. Here we report on unusually strong DIBs in optical spectra of the broad-lined Type Ic supernova SN 2012ap that exhibit changes in equivalent width over short (~30 days) timescales. The 4428 and 6283 Angstrom DIB features get weaker with time, whereas the 5780 Angstrom feature shows a marginal increase. These nonuniform changes suggest that the supernova is interacting with a nearby source of the DIBs and that the DIB carriers possess high ionization potentials, such as small cations or charged fullerenes. We conclude that moderate-resolution spectra of supernovae with DIB absorptions obtained within weeks of outburst could reveal unique information about the mass-loss environment of their progenitor systems and provide new constraints on the properties of DIB carriers.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The incidence of obscuration in active galactic nuclei

We study the incidence of nuclear obscuration on a complete sample of 1310 AGN selected on the basis of their rest-frame 2-10 keV X-ray flux from the XMM-COSMOS survey, in the redshift range 0.3<z<3.5. We classify the AGN as obscured or un-obscured on the basis of either the optical spectral properties and the overall SED or the shape of the X-ray spectrum. The two classifications agree in about 70% of the objects, and the remaining 30% can be further subdivided into two distinct classes: at low luminosities X-ray un-obscured AGN do not always show signs of broad lines or blue/UV continuum emission in their optical spectra, most likely due to galaxy dilution effects; at high luminosities broad line AGN may have absorbed X-ray spectra, which hints at an increased incidence of small-scale (sub-parsec) dust-free obscuration. We confirm that the fraction of obscured AGN is a decreasing function of the intrinsic X-ray luminosity, while the incidence of absorption shows significant evolution only for the most luminous AGN, which appear to be more commonly obscured at higher redshift. We find no significant difference between the mean stellar masses and star formation rates of obscured and un-obscured AGN hosts. We conclude that the physical state of the medium responsible for obscuration in AGN is complex, and mainly determined by the radiation environment (nuclear luminosity) in a small region enclosed within the gravitational sphere of influence of the central black hole, but is largely insensitive to the wider scale galactic conditions.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication by MNRA

Epidemiology, genetics, and subtyping of preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) in COPDGene.

BackgroundPreserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry (PRISm), defined as a reduced FEV1 in the setting of a preserved FEV1/FVC ratio, is highly prevalent and is associated with increased respiratory symptoms, systemic inflammation, and mortality. Studies investigating quantitative chest tomographic features, genetic associations, and subtypes in PRISm subjects have not been reported.MethodsData from current and former smokers enrolled in COPDGene (n = 10,192), an observational, cross-sectional study which recruited subjects aged 45-80 with ≥10 pack years of smoking, were analyzed. To identify epidemiological and radiographic predictors of PRISm, we performed univariate and multivariate analyses comparing PRISm subjects both to control subjects with normal spirometry and to subjects with COPD. To investigate common genetic predictors of PRISm, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS). To explore potential subgroups within PRISm, we performed unsupervised k-means clustering.ResultsThe prevalence of PRISm in COPDGene is 12.3%. Increased dyspnea, reduced 6-minute walk distance, increased percent emphysema and decreased total lung capacity, as well as increased segmental bronchial wall area percentage were significant predictors (p-value &lt;0.05) of PRISm status when compared to control subjects in multivariate models. Although no common genetic variants were identified on GWAS testing, a significant association with Klinefelter's syndrome (47XXY) was observed (p-value &lt; 0.001). Subgroups identified through k-means clustering include a putative "COPD-subtype", "Restrictive-subtype", and a highly symptomatic "Metabolic-subtype".ConclusionsPRISm subjects are clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Future investigations into the pathophysiological mechanisms behind and potential treatment options for subgroups within PRISm are warranted.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT000608764

AGN X-ray variability in the XMM-COSMOS survey

We took advantage of the observations carried out by XMM in the COSMOS field during 3.5 years, to study the long term variability of a large sample of AGN (638 sources), in a wide range of redshift (0.1<z<3.5) and X-ray luminosity ($10^{41}<$L(2-10)$<10^{45.5}$). Both a simple statistical method to asses the significance of variability, and the Normalized Excess Variance ($\sigma^{2}_{rms}$) parameter, where used to obtain a quantitative measurement of the variability. Variability is found to be prevalent in most AGN, whenever we have good statistic to measure it, and no significant differences between type-1 and type-2 AGN were found. A flat (slope -0.23+/-0.03) anti-correlation between $\sigma^{2}_{rms}$ and X-ray luminosity is found, when significantly variable sources are considered all together. When divided in three redshift bins, the anti-correlation becomes stronger and evolving with z, with higher redshift AGN being more variable. We prove however that this effect is due to the pre-selection of variable sources: considering all the sources with available $\sigma^{2}_{rms}$ measurement, the evolution in redshift disappears. For the first time we were also able to study the long term X-ray variability as a function of $M_{\rm BH}$ and Eddington ratio, for a large sample of AGN spanning a wide range of redshift. An anti-correlation between $\sigma^{2}_{rms}$ and $M_{\rm BH}$ is found, with the same slope of the anti-correlation between $\sigma^{2}_{rms}$ and X-ray luminosity, suggesting that the latter can be a byproduct of the former one. No clear correlation is found between $\sigma^{2}_{rms}$ and the Eddington ratio in our sample. Finally, no correlation is found between the X-ray $\sigma^{2}_{rms}$ and the optical variability.Comment: 14 Pages, 13 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal on December 6, 201

Using XML and XSLT for flexible elicitation of mental-health risk knowledge

Current tools for assessing risks associated with mental-health problems require assessors to make high-level judgements based on clinical experience. This paper describes how new technologies can enhance qualitative research methods to identify lower-level cues underlying these judgements, which can be collected by people without a specialist mental-health background. Methods and evolving results: Content analysis of interviews with 46 multidisciplinary mental-health experts exposed the cues and their interrelationships, which were represented by a mind map using software that stores maps as XML. All 46 mind maps were integrated into a single XML knowledge structure and analysed by a Lisp program to generate quantitative information about the numbers of experts associated with each part of it. The knowledge was refined by the experts, using software developed in Flash to record their collective views within the XML itself. These views specified how the XML should be transformed by XSLT, a technology for rendering XML, which resulted in a validated hierarchical knowledge structure associating patient cues with risks. Conclusions: Changing knowledge elicitation requirements were accommodated by flexible transformations of XML data using XSLT, which also facilitated generation of multiple data-gathering tools suiting different assessment circumstances and levels of mental-health knowledge