Linking academic emotions and student engagement: mature-aged distance students’ transition to university

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Further and Higher Education on 2013, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0309877X.2014.895305Research into both student engagement and student emotions is increasing, with widespread agreement that both are critical determinants of student success in higher education. Less researched are the complex, reciprocal relationships between these important influences. Two theoretical frameworks inform this paper: Pekrun’s taxonomy of academic emotions and Kahu’s conceptual framework of student engagement. The prospective qualitative design aims to allow a rich understanding of the fluctuating and diverse emotions that students experience during the transition to university and to explore the relationships between academic emotions and student engagement. The study follows 19 mature-aged (aged 24 and over) distance students throughout their first semester at university, using video diaries to collect data on their emotional experiences and their engagement with their study. Pre and post-semester interviews were also conducted. Findings highlight that different emotions have different links to engagement: as important elements in emotional engagement, as inhibitors of engagement and as outcomes that reciprocally influence engagement. There are two key conclusions. First, student emotions are the point of intersection between the university factors such as course design and student variables such as motivation and background. Second, the flow of influence between emotions, engagement, and learning is reciprocal and complex and can spiral upwards towards ideal engagement or downwards towards disengagement and withdrawal.Publishe

The engagement of mature distance students

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Higher Education Research and Development in 2013, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07294360.2013.777036.Publishe

Histopathological analysis and in situ localisation of Australian tiger snake venom in two clinically envenomed domestic animals

Objective: To assess histopathological changes in clinically envenomed tiger snake patients and identify tissue specific localisation of venom toxins using immunohistochemistry. Samples: One feline and one canine patient admitted to the Murdoch Pet Emergency Centre (MPEC), Murdoch University with tiger snake (Notechis sp.) envenoming. Both patients died as a result of envenomation. Non-envenomed tissue was also collected and used for comparison. Methodology: Biopsy samples (heart, lung, kidney andskeletal muscle tissue) were retrieved 1-2 h post death and processed for histopathological examination using Haemotoxylin and Eosin, Martius Scarlet Blue and Periodic Acid Schiff staining. Tissues were examined by light microscopy and tissue sections subjected to immunohistochemical staining using in-house generated monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against Notechis venoms. Results: Venom-induced pathological changes were observed in the lungs, kidneys and muscle tissue of both patients. Evidence, not previously noted, of procoagulant venom effects were apparent, with formed thrombi in the heart, lungs (small fibrillar aggregates and larger, discrete thrombi) and kidneys. Immunohistochemical assays revealed venom present in the pulmonary tissue, in and around the glomerular capsule and surrounding tubules in renal tissue and scattered throughout the Gastrocnemius muscle tissue. Conclusion: This work has shown pathological evidence of procoagulant venom activity supporting previous suggestions that an initial thrombotic state occurs in envenomed patients. We have shown that venom toxins are able to be localised to specific tissues, in this case, venom was detected in the lung, kidney and muscle tissues of clinically envenomed animals. Future work will examine specific toxin localisation using monoclonal antibodies and identify if antivenom molecules are able to reach their target tissues

Magnetic Braking and Viscous Damping of Differential Rotation in Cylindrical Stars

Differential rotation in stars generates toroidal magnetic fields whenever an initial seed poloidal field is present. The resulting magnetic stresses, along with viscosity, drive the star toward uniform rotation. This magnetic braking has important dynamical consequences in many astrophysical contexts. For example, merging binary neutron stars can form "hypermassive" remnants supported against collapse by differential rotation. The removal of this support by magnetic braking induces radial fluid motion, which can lead to delayed collapse of the remnant to a black hole. We explore the effects of magnetic braking and viscosity on the structure of a differentially rotating, compressible star, generalizing our earlier calculations for incompressible configurations. The star is idealized as a differentially rotating, infinite cylinder supported initially by a polytropic equation of state. The gas is assumed to be infinitely conducting and our calculations are performed in Newtonian gravitation. Though highly idealized, our model allows for the incorporation of magnetic fields, viscosity, compressibility, and shocks with minimal computational resources in a 1+1 dimensional Lagrangian MHD code. Our evolution calculations show that magnetic braking can lead to significant structural changes in a star, including quasistatic contraction of the core and ejection of matter in the outermost regions to form a wind or an ambient disk. These calculations serve as a prelude and a guide to more realistic MHD simulations in full 3+1 general relativity.Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, 3 tables, AASTeX, accepted by Ap

Rehabilitation following rotator cuff repair: A nested qualitative study exploring the perceptions and experiences of participants in a randomised controlled trial

Objective: To investigate acceptability, barriers to adherence with the interventions, and which outcome measures best reflect the participants’ rehabilitation goals in a pilot and feasibility randomised controlled trial evaluating early patient-directed rehabilitation and standard rehabilitation, including sling immobilisation for four weeks, following surgical repair of the rotator cuff of the shoulder. Design: Nested qualitative study. Setting: Five English National Health Service Hospitals. Subjects: Nineteen patient participants who had undergone surgical repair of the rotator cuff and 10 healthcare practitioners involved in the trial. Method: Individual semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed thematically. Results: Four themes: (1) Preconceptions of early mobilisation; many participants were motivated to enter the trial for the opportunity of removing their sling and getting moving early. (2) Sling use and movement restrictions; for some, sling use for four weeks was unacceptable and contributed to their pain, rather than relieving it. (3) Tensions associated with early mobilisation; clinical tensions regarding early mobilisation and the perceived risk to the surgical repair were apparent. (4) Processes of running the trial; participants found the trial processes to be largely appropriate and acceptable, but withholding the results of the post-operative research ultrasound scan was contentious. Conclusion: Trial processes were largely acceptable, except for withholding results of the ultrasound scan. For some participants, use of the shoulder sling for a prolonged period after surgery was a reported barrier to standard rehabilitation whereas the concept of early mobilisation contributed tension for some healthcare practitioners due to concern about the effect on the surgical repair

A ‘3P’ soft power model: an agile approach to diplomatic strategy

Soft power is the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction rather than coerce using hard power. Today, most countries are embracing the notion of soft power. Managing soft power resources at the disposal of governments and deploying them effectively is critical for an agile government to build an attractive country image, and thereby enhancing their competitiveness in today’s dynamic and competitive global landscape. This includes but not limited to promoting their country’s products and services globally, attract foreign investors, and promoting international tourism. In this study, we develop and validate a novel ‘3P’ soft power model, using the perceptions about a country’s ‘products’, ‘places’, and ‘people’. Using 167 usable responses obtained from a structured country-wide survey in the UAE, the 3P model developed from the literature was tested for reliability, validity, and model-fitness. While Cronbach’s alpha values confirmed the reliability of first-order constructs (products, place and people), the second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) established the convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs, and operationalization of ‘3P Soft Power’ as a higher (second)-order model. The results have implications for governments and researchers in promoting soft power by leveraging its products, places and people. A robust higher-order factor model for soft power using 3P’s has not been developed previously and constitutes the novelty of this study

An unusually severe presentation of dolphin poxvirus in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) within the Swan-Canning Estuary

In 2009 two adult female bottlenose dolphins were found dead within the Swan-Canning Estuary. Both dolphins had severe ulcerative skin lesions covering over 70% of their skin surface area. Histological analyses identified viral inclusion bodies characteristic of poxvirus within these skin lesions. The severity and extent of the lesions were deemed to have caused terminal debilitation in the two dolphins. Infection with dolphin poxvirus is usually characterised by one to several mild skin lesions in juveniles that regress with time. Poxvirus infection has never been documented as the cause of death in adult dolphins; furthermore the severe skin lesions observed in the two dolphins mark a novel presentation of dolphin poxvirus infection. The definitive mechanisms by which the characteristic poxvirus lesions may have progressed to the unusually severe lesions is currently unknown but possible factors may include: the presence of a poxvirus strain possessing greater virulence; and/or the potentially immunosuppressive effects associated with living in a heavily utilised and inherently stressful estuarine environment. Dolphins are recognised as biosentinels for coastal and estuarine ecosystems, and atypical disease presentations such as this may be indicative of the environmental conditions of systems like the Swan-Canning Estuary

Test of Nuclear Wave Functions for Pseudospin Symmetry

Using the fact that pseudospin is an approximate symmetry of the Dirac Hamiltonian with realistic scalar and vector mean fields, we derive the wave functions of the pseudospin partners of eigenstates of a realistic Dirac Hamiltonian and compare these wave functions with the wave functions of the Dirac eigenstates.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, minor changes in text and figures to conform with PRL requirement

The First Forty Years of the Alternatives Approach: Refining, Reducing, and Replacing the Use of Laboratory Animals

The concept of the Three Rs— reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use in biomedical experimentation—stems from a project launched in 1954 by a British organization, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). UFAW commissioned William Russell and Rex Burch to analyze the status of humane experimental techniques involving animals. In 1959 these scientists published a book that set out the principles of the Three Rs, which came to be known as alternative methods. Initially, Russell and Burch’s book was largely ignored, but their ideas were gradually picked up by the animal protection community in the 1960s and early ’70s. In the ’80s, spurred by public pressure, the alternatives approach was incorporated into national legislation throughout the developed countries and embraced by industry in Europe and America. Government centers devoted to the validation and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods were established during the ’90s. By 2000 the use of animals in research had fallen by up to fifty percent from its high in the 1970s

Experimental Predictions of The Functional Response of A Freshwater Fish

The functional response is the relationship between the feeding rate of an animal and its food density. It is reliant on two basic parameters; the volume searched for prey per unit time (searching rate) and the time taken to consume each prey item (handling time). As fish functional responses can be difficult to determine directly, it may be more feasible to measure their underlying behavioural parameters in controlled conditions and use these to predict the functional response. Here, we tested how accurately a Type II functional response model predicted the observed functional response of roach Rutilus rutilus, a visually foraging fish, and compared it with Type I functional response. Foraging experiments were performed by exposing fish in tank aquaria to a range of food densities, with their response captured using a two-camera videography system. This system was validated and was able to accurately measure fish behaviour in the aquaria, and enabled estimates of fish reaction distance, swimming speed (from which searching rate was calculated) and handling time to be measured. The parameterised Type II functional response model accurately predicted the observed functional response and was superior to the Type I model. These outputs suggest it will be possible to accurately measure behavioural parameters in other animal species and use these to predict the functional response in situations where it cannot be observed directly