Discovering New Variable Stars at Key Stage 3

Details of the London pilot of the `Discovery Project' are presented, where university-based astronomers were given the chance to pass on some real and applied knowledge of astronomy to a group of selected secondary school pupils. It was aimed at students in Key Stage 3 of their education, allowing them to be involved in real astronomical research at an early stage of their education, the chance to become the official discoverer of a new variable star, and to be listed in the International Variable Star Index database, all while learning and practising research-level skills. Future plans are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

What Can Quantitative Gait Analysis Tell Us about Dementia and Its Subtypes? A Structured Review

Distinguishing dementia subtypes can be difficult due to similarities in clinical presentation. There is increasing interest in discrete gait characteristics as markers to aid diagnostic algorithms in dementia. This structured review explores the differences in quantitative gait characteristics between dementia and healthy controls, and between four dementia subtypes under single-task conditions: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia, and vascular dementia. Twenty-six papers out of an initial 5,211 were reviewed and interpreted using a validated model of gait. Dementia was associated with gait characteristics grouped by slower pace, impaired rhythm, and increased variability compared to normal aging. Only four studies compared two or more dementia subtypes. People with AD are less impaired in pace, rhythm, and variability domains of gait compared to non-AD dementias. Results demonstrate the potential of gait as a clinical marker to discriminate between dementia subtypes. Larger studies using a more comprehensive battery of gait characteristics and better characterized dementia sub-types are required

Limited Activity Of Miltefosine In Murine Models Of Cryptococcal Meningoencephalitis And Disseminated Cryptococcosis

Miltefosine is an alkyl phosphocholine with good oral bioavailability and in vitro activity against Cryptococcus species that has gained interest as an additional agent for cryptococcal infections. Our objective was to further evaluate the in vivo efficacy of miltefosine in experimental in vivo models of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis and disseminated cryptococcosis. Mice were infected intracranially or intravenously with either C. neoformans USC1597 or H99. Miltefosine treatment (1.8 to 45 mg/kg of body weight orally once daily) began at either 1 h or 1 day postinoculation. Fluconazole (10 mg/kg orally twice daily) or amphotericin B deoxycholate (3 mg/kg intraperitoneally once daily) served as positive controls. In our standard models, miltefosine did not result in significant improvements in survival or reductions in fungal burden against either C. neoformans isolate. There was a trend toward improved survival with miltefosine at 7.2 mg/kg against disseminated cryptococcosis with the H99 strain but only at a low infecting inoculum. In contrast, both fluconazole and amphotericin B significantly improved survival in mice with cryptococcal meningoencephalitis and disseminated cryptococcosis due to USC1597. Amphotericin B also improved survival against both cryptococcal infections caused by H99. Combination therapy with miltefosine demonstrated neither synergy nor antagonism in both models. These results demonstrate limited efficacy of miltefosine and suggest caution with the potential use of this agent for the treatment of C. neoformans infections.Pharmac

Ipratropium/Salbutamol Comparator Versus Originator for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations : USA Observational Cohort Study Using the Clinformatics™ Health Claims Database

Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank Priyanka Raju Konduru of Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute Pte Ltd (OPRI) for assistance with data extraction. This study was sponsored and funded by Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products, R&D, Inc. Lynanne McGuire, PhD, of MedVal Scientific Information Services, LLC (Princeton, NJ, USA) provided medical writing and editorial assistance. This manuscript was prepared according to the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals’ ‘Good Publication Practice for Communicating Company-Sponsored Medical Research: the GPP3 Guidelines.’ Funding to support medical writing assistance was provided to MedVal by Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D, Inc., Frazer, PA, USA. Teva provided a full review of the article and provided funding of the journal’s article processing charges. All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given final approval to the version to be published. All authors had full access to all of the data in this study and take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Program Update: Multi-State Extension Conference Addresses Food Diversity from Farm to Table

In 2005 and 2006, The Ohio State University Extension, University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and Purdue University Cooperative Extension Services developed and coordinated two conferences addressing food diversity from farm to table. The overall goal of the conferences was to foster a tri-state network of multi-disciplinary approaches to meet the needs of diverse audiences related to food. Self-reported email evaluation surveys suggested that conference goals and objectives were achieved. Future diversity trainings should continue to be multidisciplinary and should seek to attract others working in non-extension roles

Widening Participation:Developing ‘Academic’ Programmes in Light of Recruitment Pressure

The emergence of the 'Widening Participation' (WP) agenda in English Higher Education (HE) has been intensified by the shift to tuition fees of ?9000 or more. Now, universities have an obligation to devote funds to encouraging participation of students from a range of groups identified by the Office for Fair Access as being under-represented and disadvantaged. For a discipline like Politics/International Relations, with implicit concerns for the examination of concepts such as social justice, there is both prima facie reason and intellectual capacity for engagement in WP programmes. In this article, we explore the tension between 'intrinsic' 'professional' WP and 'instrumental' 'academic' WP, arguing that a number of pressures need to be navigated in order for academics to engage successfully in such work. We advance an approach to maximising the value of WP programmes for academics by way of illustrating the considerations, costs and benefits of engaging with the agenda. While the article draws on experience in England, the implications are relevant to the profession in most industrialised countries, since growing inequality and the rising cost of HE study mean that WP is an agenda which will only expand

Interrogating the technical, economic and cultural challenges of delivering the PassivHaus standard in the UK.

A peer-reviewed eBook, which is based on a collaborative research project coordinated by Dr. Henrik Schoenefeldt at the Centre for Architecture and Sustainable Environment at the University of Kent between May 2013 and June 2014. This project investigated how architectural practice and the building industry are adapting in order to successfully deliver Passivhaus standard buildings in the UK. Through detailed case studies the project explored the learning process underlying the delivery of fourteen buildings, certified between 2009 and 2013. Largely founded on the study of the original project correspondence and semi-structured interviews with clients, architects, town planners, contractors and manufacturers, these case studies have illuminated the more immediate technical as well as the broader cultural challenges. The peer-reviewers of this book stressed that the findings included in the book are valuable to students, practitioners and academic researchers in the field of low-energy design. It was launched during the PassivHaus Project Conference, held at the Bulb Innovation Centre on the 27th June 2014

‘Design against crime’: awareness in design education

Whilst various social issues, such as ecological concerns, ageing and disability have received increasing attention within the design curriculum over recent years, crime and crime reduction issues have yet to be addressed to a similar extent. Informed design can be used effectively as a tool for reducing crime associated with environments, products and services through designing in crime reduction measures during the initial stages of the design process. This paper reports on research carried out as part of the Government's Crime Reduction Programme, looking at the topic of design against crime, assessing current awareness of crime amongst professional and student designers, and identifying methods to bring crime reduction more prominently into the design forum. The current awareness and inclusion of crime reduction in design education was explored by means of a questionnaire circulated to design course leaders, with follow-up in-depth interviews with key respondents. From the research gathered, ideas and recommendations are presented as to how crime reduction can be introduced as an integral part of design education