Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education: A mapping study of the prevalent models of delivery and their effectiveness

In October 2008, then Schools Minister Ji, Knight announced that Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education would become compulsory (for Key Stages 1-4). Following this, In November 2009, Sheffield Hallam University was contracted by DCSF (now DfE) to conduct a mapping exercise of PSHE education in primary and secondary schools in England. This resulted from a recommendation in the Macdonald Review, whcih identified the need for research to establish and report on the prevalent models of delivery for PSHE education and their effectiveness in improving outcomes for children and young people (Macdonald, 2009:8)

Hosts of avian brood parasites have evolved egg signatures with elevated information content.

Hosts of brood-parasitic birds must distinguish their own eggs from parasitic mimics, or pay the cost of mistakenly raising a foreign chick. Egg discrimination is easier when different host females of the same species each lay visually distinctive eggs (egg 'signatures'), which helps to foil mimicry by parasites. Here, we ask whether brood parasitism is associated with lower levels of correlation between different egg traits in hosts, making individual host signatures more distinctive and informative. We used entropy as an index of the potential information content encoded by nine aspects of colour, pattern and luminance of eggs of different species in two African bird families (Cisticolidae parasitized by cuckoo finches Anomalospiza imberbis, and Ploceidae by diederik cuckoos Chrysococcyx caprius). Parasitized species showed consistently higher entropy in egg traits than did related, unparasitized species. Decomposing entropy into two variation components revealed that this was mainly driven by parasitized species having lower levels of correlation between different egg traits, rather than higher overall levels of variation in each individual egg trait. This suggests that irrespective of the constraints that might operate on individual egg traits, hosts can further improve their defensive 'signatures' by arranging suites of egg traits into unpredictable combinations.EMC was supported by the Pomona College-Downing College Student Exchange Scholarship, MS by a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/G022887/1), and CNS by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/J014109/1), and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Royal Society Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.059

Speech Communication

Contains research objectives and reports on three research projects.U. S. Air Force (Electronic Systems Division) under Contract AF19(628)-5661National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NB-04332-04

Hosts elevate either within-clutch consistency or between-clutch distinctiveness of egg phenotypes in defence against brood parasites

In host-parasite arms races, hosts can evolve signatures of identity to enhance the detection of parasite mimics. In theory, signatures are most effective when within-individual variation is low ('consistency'), and between-individual variation is high ('distinctiveness'). However, empirical support for positive covariation in signature consistency and distinctiveness across species is mixed. Here, we attempt to resolve this puzzle by partitioning distinctiveness according to how it is achieved: (i) greater variation within each trait, contributing to elevated 'absolute distinctiveness' or (ii) combining phenotypic traits in unpredictable combinations ('combinatorial distinctiveness'). We tested how consistency covaries with each type of distinctiveness by measuring variation in egg colour and pattern in two African bird families (Cisticolidae and Ploceidae) that experience mimetic brood parasitism. Contrary to predictions, parasitized species, but not unparasitized species, exhibited a negative relationship between consistency and combinatorial distinctiveness. Moreover, regardless of parasitism status, consistency was negatively correlated with absolute distinctiveness across species. Together, these results suggest that (i) selection from parasites acts on how traits combine rather than absolute variation in traits, (ii) consistency and distinctiveness are alternative rather than complementary elements of signatures and (iii) mechanistic constraints may explain the negative relationship between consistency and absolute distinctiveness across species.Peer reviewe

Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization

This study presents an investigation for comparing the regeneration process of two activated carbons saturated with Basic Blue 9 (BB9) and Acid Blue 93 (AB93) using conventional (250–500 °C) and microwave heating (100–300 W). The effect of the textile dye used on the regeneration performance was analyzed by determining their dielectric properties using the perturbation cavity method from 20 to 600 °C and by TG/DTG analysis. The efficacy of the regenerated carbons was investigated by their physical properties characterized by pore structural analysis using N2 adsorption isotherms. Results showed only 3 min are required by microwaves to achieve similar textural parameters obtained by conventional heating at 190 min. The results indicate that the adsorbate plays a determining role on the regeneration efficiency as results of their interaction with the adsorbent, being easily regenerated when AB93 is the adsorbate. The adsorption capacity of microwave regenerated samples for AB93 and BB9 was 192–240 and 154–175 mg/g, respectively. Additionally, the equilibrium isotherms were simulated using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms models and the results suggest the textile dye removal is achieved on multilayer adsorption

Formation of Metallurgical Coke within Minutes through Coal Densification and Microwave Energy

This paper shows how feedstock densification gives rise to a step change in the time required to create a metallurgical grade coke using microwave energy. Five densified coking and non-coking coals were heated in a multi-mode microwave 2450 MHz cavity for varying treatment times (2-20 minutes) with a fixed power input (6 kW). Proximate analysis, intrinsic reactivity, coke reactivity, dielectric properties, and petrographic analysis of the coals and microwave produced lump cokes were compared to a commercial lump coke. Densifying the sample prior to microwave treatment enabled a dramatic acceleration of the coking process when combined with targeted high microwave energy densities. It was possible to form fused coke lump structures with only 2 minutes of microwave heating compared to 16-24 hours via conventional coking. Anisotropic coke morphologies (lenticular and circular) were formed from non-coking coal that are not possible with conventional coking and increasing treatment time improved overall coke reflectance. Three of the coals produced coke with equivalent coke reactivity index values of 20-30, which are in the acceptable range for blast furnaces. The study demonstrated that via this process, non-coking coals could potentially be used to produce high quality cokes, potentially expanding the raw material options for metallurgical coke production

A drug-repositioning screen using splicing-sensitive fluorescent reporters identifies novel modulators of VEGF-A splicing with anti-angiogenic properties.

Alternative splicing of the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) terminal exon generates two protein families with differing functions. Pro-angiogenic VEGF-Axxxa isoforms are produced via selection of the proximal 3' splice site of the terminal exon. Use of an alternative distal splice site generates the anti-angiogenic VEGF-Axxxb proteins. A bichromatic splicing-sensitive reporter was designed to mimic VEGF-A alternative splicing and was used as a molecular tool to further investigate this alternative splicing event. Part of VEGF-A's terminal exon and preceding intron were inserted into a minigene construct followed by the coding sequences for two fluorescent proteins. A different fluorescent protein is expressed depending on which 3' splice site of the exon is used during splicing (dsRED denotes VEGF-Axxxa and EGFP denotes VEGF-Axxxb). The fluorescent output can be used to follow splicing decisions in vitro and in vivo. Following successful reporter validation in different cell lines and altering splicing using known modulators, a screen was performed using the LOPAC library of small molecules. Alterations to reporter splicing were measured using a fluorescent plate reader to detect dsRED and EGFP expression. Compounds of interest were further validated using flow cytometry and assessed for effects on endogenous VEGF-A alternative splicing at the mRNA and protein level. Ex vivo and in vitro angiogenesis assays were used to demonstrate the anti-angiogenic effect of the compounds. Furthermore, anti-angiogenic activity was investigated in a Matrigel in vivo model. To conclude, we have identified a set of compounds that have anti-angiogenic activity through modulation of VEGF-A terminal exon splicing

Using species A rotavirus reverse genetics to engineer chimeric viruses expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike epitopes:Heterologous viral peptide expression by rotavirus A

Species A rotavirus (RVA) vaccines based on live attenuated viruses are used worldwide in humans. The recent establishment of a reverse genetics system for rotoviruses (RVs) has opened the possibility of engineering chimeric viruses expressing heterologous peptides from other viral or microbial species in order to develop polyvalent vaccines. We tested the feasibility of this concept by two approaches. First, we inserted short SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides into the hypervariable region of the simian RV SA11 strain viral protein (VP) 4. Second, we fused the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, or the shorter receptor binding motif (RBM) nested within the RBD, to the C terminus of nonstructural protein (NSP) 3 of the bovine RV RF strain, with or without an intervening Thosea asigna virus 2A (T2A) peptide. Mutating the hypervariable region of SA11 VP4 impeded viral replication, and for these mutants, no cross-reactivity with spike antibodies was detected. To rescue NSP3 mutants, we established a plasmid-based reverse genetics system for the bovine RV RF strain. Except for the RBD mutant that demonstrated a rescue defect, all NSP3 mutants delivered endpoint infectivity titers and exhibited replication kinetics comparable to that of the wild-type virus. In ELISAs, cell lysates of an NSP3 mutant expressing the RBD peptide showed cross-reactivity with a SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibody. 3D bovine gut enteroids were susceptible to infection by all NSP3 mutants, but cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibody was only detected for the RBM mutant. The tolerance of large SARS-CoV-2 peptide insertions at the C terminus of NSP3 in the presence of T2A element highlights the potential of this approach for the development of vaccine vectors targeting multiple enteric pathogens simultaneously. IMPORTANCE We explored the use of rotaviruses (RVs) to express heterologous peptides, using SARS-CoV-2 as an example. Small SARS-CoV-2 peptide insertions (<34 amino acids) into the hypervariable region of the viral protein 4 (VP4) of RV SA11 strain resulted in reduced viral titer and replication, demonstrating a limited tolerance for peptide insertions at this site. To test the RV RF strain for its tolerance for peptide insertions, we constructed a reverse genetics system. NSP3 was C-terminally tagged with SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides of up to 193 amino acids in length. With a T2A-separated 193 amino acid tag on NSP3, there was no significant effect on the viral rescue efficiency, endpoint titer, and replication kinetics. Tagged NSP3 elicited cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies in ELISA. We highlight the potential for development of RV vaccine vectors targeting multiple enteric pathogens simultaneously

A drug-repositioning screen using splicing-sensitive fluorescent reporters identifies novel modulators of VEGF-A splicing with anti-angiogenic properties.

Alternative splicing of the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) terminal exon generates two protein families with differing functions. Pro-angiogenic VEGF-Axxxa isoforms are produced via selection of the proximal 3' splice site of the terminal exon. Use of an alternative distal splice site generates the anti-angiogenic VEGF-Axxxb proteins. A bichromatic splicing-sensitive reporter was designed to mimic VEGF-A alternative splicing and was used as a molecular tool to further investigate this alternative splicing event. Part of VEGF-A's terminal exon and preceding intron were inserted into a minigene construct followed by the coding sequences for two fluorescent proteins. A different fluorescent protein is expressed depending on which 3' splice site of the exon is used during splicing (dsRED denotes VEGF-Axxxa and EGFP denotes VEGF-Axxxb). The fluorescent output can be used to follow splicing decisions in vitro and in vivo. Following successful reporter validation in different cell lines and altering splicing using known modulators, a screen was performed using the LOPAC library of small molecules. Alterations to reporter splicing were measured using a fluorescent plate reader to detect dsRED and EGFP expression. Compounds of interest were further validated using flow cytometry and assessed for effects on endogenous VEGF-A alternative splicing at the mRNA and protein level. Ex vivo and in vitro angiogenesis assays were used to demonstrate the anti-angiogenic effect of the compounds. Furthermore, anti-angiogenic activity was investigated in a Matrigel in vivo model. To conclude, we have identified a set of compounds that have anti-angiogenic activity through modulation of VEGF-A terminal exon splicing