The development of political concepts in children between the ages of seven and eleven years

The aim of the study is to explore the hypothesis that children, between the ages of seven and eleven, not only have concepts of politics, but that these develop, following a basic Piagetian model, through consecutive, cumulative stages. Investigation of this idea is carried out by examining childrens’ responses, both verbal and written, to particular questions, and subsequently relating these responses to a body of theory, which draws together some important contributions to present knowledge of childrens’ cognitive and social development. This provides both a point of reference and a disciplined structure for examining the significance of the collected data, as it enables an analytic approach to be made to studying the ways in which children perceive and enact political ideas, and gradually acquire the ability to use political concepts. The first section of the study is concerned with establishing this theoretical basis. The second part of the study presents approximately eight hundred childrens’ responses to questions which were intended to elicit their perceptions of the content of political activity, concepts of the processes and roles of government and attitudes to authority, freedom and the rule of law. These are accompanied by commentary, and followed by further discussion in terms of the nature of the development observed at different stages, and what appear to be the formative influences upon it. These include the influence of social class on political understanding, and raise questions concerning the role of the family group's language in political concept-formation, the political function of early schooling, sex-linked differences in political understanding and the influence of television on that understanding. The study has therefore both a practical and theoretical content. It is a study of children in action cognitively, and of the structures and directions of their developing thought on politics, from its earliest identifiable appearance, in ways which have not emerged, or been taken into account, in existing literature

Buffalo Reading List

This reading list gathers together literature focused on buffalo (also known as bison) to support ongoing efforts to restore this iconic species to its keystone cultural and ecological role. The books and articles compiled here are grounded in a wide range of academic disciplines and approaches, representing many distinct ways of thinking about buffalo within the realm of Western sciences. This is not intended to be an exhaustive account of what is known about buffalo, much of which is held in Indigenous knowledge systems and communities. This academic list is designed as a resource for those working towards buffalo restoration, including conservation practitioners, researchers, parks and government officials, and Tribal communities. It is divided into categories according to either discipline or thematic focus, each containing a subset of pertinent literature. Topics include the paleobiology of bison, histories of buffalo loss, relationships between Indigenous Peoples and buffalo, buffalo restoration and reintroduction, buffalo ecology, buffalo and climate change, governance and human dimensions of buffalo, bison and cattle, bison as livestock, and the genetics of bison. This list is intended as a living document to grow with the increasingly rich scholarship on buffalo, and will be updated regularly

Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Burkholderia pseudomallei Bsa Type III Secretion System Effectors Using Hypersecreting Mutants

Burkholderia pseudomallei is an intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of melioidosis, a severe disease of humans and animals. One of the virulence factors critical for early stages of infection is the Burkholderia secretion apparatus (Bsa) Type 3 Secretion System (T3SS), a molecular syringe that injects bacterial proteins, called effectors, into eukaryotic cells where they subvert cellular functions to the benefit of the bacteria. Although the Bsa T3SS itself is known to be important for invasion, intracellular replication, and virulence, only a few genuine effector proteins have been identified and the complete repertoire of proteins secreted by the system has not yet been fully characterized. We constructed a mutant lacking bsaP, a homolog of the T3SS “gatekeeper” family of proteins that exert control over the timing and magnitude of effector protein secretion. Mutants lacking BsaP, or the T3SS translocon protein BipD, were observed to hypersecrete the known Bsa effector protein BopE, providing evidence of their role in post-translational control of the Bsa T3SS and representing key reagents for the identification of its secreted substrates. Isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantification (iTRAQ), a gel-free quantitative proteomics technique, was used to compare the secreted protein profiles of the Bsa T3SS hypersecreting mutants of B. pseudomallei with the isogenic parent strain and a bsaZ mutant incapable of effector protein secretion. Our study provides one of the most comprehensive core secretomes of B. pseudomallei described to date and identified 26 putative Bsa-dependent secreted proteins that may be considered candidate effectors. Two of these proteins, BprD and BapA, were validated as novel effector proteins secreted by the Bsa T3SS of B. pseudomallei

Uncovering multiple Wolf-Rayet star clusters and the ionized ISM in Mrk 178: the closest metal-poor Wolf-Rayet H ii galaxy

New integral field spectroscopy (IFS) has been obtained for the nearby metal-poor Wolf–Rayet (WR) galaxy Mrk 178 to examine the spatial correlation between its WR stars and the neighbouring ionized interstellar medium (ISM). The strength of the broad WR features and its low metallicity make Mrk 178 an intriguing object. We have detected the blue and red WR bumps in different locations across the field of view (∼300 pc × 230 pc) in Mrk 178. The study of the WR content has been extended, for the first time, beyond its brightest star-forming knot uncovering new WR star clusters. Using Large/Small Magellanic Cloud-template WR stars, we empirically estimate a minimum of ∼20 WR stars within the region sampled. Maps of the spatial distribution of the emission lines and of the physical–chemical properties of the ionized ISM have been created and analysed. Here, we refine the statistical methodology by Pérez-Montero et al. (2011) to probe the presence of variations in the ISM properties. An error-weighted mean of 12+log(O/H) = 7.72 ± 0.01 is taken as the representative oxygen abundance for Mrk 178. A localized N and He enrichment, spatially correlated with WR stars, is suggested by this analysis. Nebular He II λ4686 emission is shown to be spatially extended reaching well beyond the location of the WR stars. This spatial offset between WRs and He II emission can be explained based on the mechanical energy input into the ISM by the WR star winds, and does not rule out WR stars as the He II ionization source. We study systematic aperture effects on the detection and measurement of the WR features, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra combined with the power of IFS. In this regard, the importance of targeting low metallicity nearby systems is discussed

Gamma Prime Precipitate Evolution During Aging of a Model Nickel-Based Superalloy

The microstructural stability of nickel-based superalloys is critical for maintaining alloy performance during service in gas turbine engines. In this study, the precipitate evolution in a model polycrystalline Ni-based superalloy during aging to 1000 hours has been studied via transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography and neutron diffraction. Variations in phase composition and precipitate morphology, size and volume fraction were observed during aging, whilst the constrained lattice misfit remained constant at approximately zero. The experimental composition of the γ matrix phase was consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium predictions, whilst significant differences were identified between the experimental and predicted results from the γʹ phase. These results have implications for the evolution of mechanical properties in service and their prediction using modeling methods.The authors wish to acknowledge Mrs. S. Rhodes, Dr. H.T. Pang, Dr. D.M. Collins, and Dr. O.M.D.M. Messé for their assistance with the experiments performed. Funding was provided by the EPSRC/Rolls-Royce Strategic Partnership under EP/M005607/1 and EP/H022309/1. The Oxford Atom Probe facility was funded by the EPSRC under EP/M022803/1. Neutron diffraction beam time was supported through the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre under Experiment number 1258

Lenition, fortition and the status of plosive affriction: the case of the spontaneous RP English /t/

This paper reports on a phonetic and phonological study of /t/-affrication in spontaneous British English Received Pronunciation. The study is motivated by the uncertainty surrounding plosive affrication in the literature on lenition and fortition. We suggest that a decision as to the status of a given pattern involving affrication in terms of lenition or fortition should be based on thorough phonetic and phonological analysis. We present a phonetic and phonological account of /t/-affrication, which takes into consideration the temporal and spectral characteristics of the sounds involved, as well as their distribution across phonological environments. Crucially, we compare affricated instances of /t/ with aspirated and fricated ones in the same dataset ― the former arguably unmarked in this variety, the latter uncontroversially the result of lenition. We argue that the phonetic and phonological characteristics of /t/-affrication presented in this paper are consistent with an account in terms of fortition rather than lenition