Learners' perspectives on what is missing from online learning: Interpretations through the community of inquiry framework

Despite the success that instructors and learners often enjoy with online university courses, learners have also reported that they miss face-to-face contact when learning online. The purpose of this inquiry was to identify learners' perceptions of what is missing from online learning and provide recommendations for how we can continue to innovate and improve the online learning experience. The inquiry was qualitative in nature and conducted from a constructivist perspective. Ten learners who had indicated that they missed and/ or would have liked more face-to-face contact following their participation in an online course were interviewed to elicit responses that would provide insights into what it is they miss about face-to-face contact when learning online. Five themes emerged: robustness of online dialogue, spontaneity and improvisation, perceiving and being perceived by the other, getting to know others, and learning to be an online learner. Garrison and colleagues' (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) community of inquiry framework was used to interpret the findings

Live long and prosper : durable benefits of early-life care in banded mongooses

Kin selection theory defines the conditions for which altruism or 'helping' can be favoured by natural selection. Tests of this theory in cooperatively breeding animals have focused on the short-term benefits to the recipients of help, such as improved growth or survival to adulthood. However, research on early-life effects suggests that there may be more durable, lifelong fitness impacts to the recipients of help, which in theory should strengthen selection for helping. Here, we show in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) that care received in the first 3 months of life has lifelong fitness benefits for both male and female recipients. In this species, adult helpers called 'escorts' form exclusive one-to-one caring relationships with specific pups (not their own offspring), allowing us to isolate the effects of being escorted on later reproduction and survival. Pups that were more closely escorted were heavier at sexual maturity, which was associated with higher lifetime reproductive success for both sexes. Moreover, for female offspring, lifetime reproductive success increased with the level of escorting received per se, over and above any effect on body mass. Our results suggest that early-life social care has durable benefits to offspring of both sexes in this species. Given the well-established developmental effects of early-life care in laboratory animals and humans, we suggest that similar effects are likely to be widespread in social animals more generally. We discuss some of the implications of durable fitness benefits for the evolution of intergenerational helping in cooperative animal societies, including humans. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.Peer reviewe

Eradication of hepatitis C infection: the importance of targeting people who inject drugs

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects ~170 million people worldwide and causes significant morbidity and mortality.1 In high-income countries, people who inject drugs (PWID) are at greatest risk of HCV infection.2 Until recently HCV eradication seemed unlikely, but recent advances in HCV treatment and improved understanding of the effectiveness of harm-reduction intervention effectiveness give reason for optimism. Current HCV treatments can cure ~75% of patients and new drugs will further improve effectiveness (over 90% cure) and improve tolerability.3 If HCV treatment can be delivered effectively to those at highest risk of onward transmission, significant reductions in future HCV cases are possible. The feasibility of disease eradication must be assessed on both scientific criteria (e.g., epidemiological susceptibility, effective and practical intervention available, and demonstrated feasibility of elimination) and political criteria (e.g., burden of disease, cost of intervention).4 With effective, curative treatment now available, HCV meets these criteria

Causes and consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative banded mongooses

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier Masson via the DOI in this record.Conflict between groups is a notable feature of many animal societies. Recent theoretical models suggest that violent intergroup conflict can shape patterns of within-group cooperation. However, despite its prevalence in social species, the adaptive significance of violent intergroup conflict has been little explored outside of humans and chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. A barrier to current understanding of the role of intergroup conflict in the evolution of social behaviour is a lack of information on the causes and consequences of aggression between groups. Here, we examined the causes and fitness consequences of intergroup conflict in the banded mongoose, Mungos mungo, using a 16-year data set of observed intergroup interactions, life history and behaviour. Banded mongooses are cooperative breeders that live in highly territorial groups and engage in frequent, aggressive and violent intergroup interactions. We found that intensified population-wide competition for food and mates increased the probability of intergroup interactions, and that increased intergroup conflict was associated with periods in which groups were growing in size. Intergroup conflict had fitness costs in terms of reduced litter and adult survival but no cost to pregnant females: in fact, females were less likely to abort following an intergroup interaction than when there had been no recent intergroup conflict. Our results suggest that intergroup conflict has measurable costs to both individuals and groups in the long and short term, and that levels of conflict among groups could be high enough to affect patterns of within-group cooperative behaviour. Establishing the consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative species can shed light on patterns of conflict and cooperation within groups and, in turn, facilitate our understanding of social evolution.Funding was provided by a Natural Environment Research Council grant no. NE/J010278/1 to M.A.C. and a European Research Council grant no. 309249 to M.A.C

Managing the screen-viewing behaviours of 5-6 year old children:a qualitative analysis of parental strategies

OBJECTIVES: The present study used qualitative methods to: (1) examine the strategies that were used by parents of children aged 5–6 years to manage screen viewing; (2) identify key factors that affect the implementation of the strategies and (3) develop suggestions for future intervention content. DESIGN: Telephone interviews were conducted with parents of children aged 5–6 years participating in a larger study. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using an inductive and deductive content analysis. Coding and theme generation was iterative and refined throughout. SETTING: Parents were recruited through 57 primary schools located in the greater Bristol area (UK). PARTICIPANTS: 53 parents of children aged 5–6 years. RESULTS: Parents reported that for many children, screen viewing was a highly desirable behaviour that was difficult to manage, and that parents used the provision of screen viewing as a tool for reward and/or punishment. Parents managed screen viewing by setting limits in relation to daily events such as meals, before and after school, and bedtime. Screen-viewing rules were often altered depending on parental preferences and tasks. Inconsistent messaging within and between parents represented a source of conflict at times. Potential strategies to facilitate reducing screen viewing were identified, including setting screen-viewing limits in relation to specific events, collaborative rule setting, monitoring that involves mothers, fathers and the child, developing a family-specific set of alternative activities to screen viewing and developing a child's ability to self-monitor their own screen viewing. CONCLUSIONS: Managing screen viewing is a challenge for many parents and can often cause tension in the home. The data presented in this paper provide key suggestions of new approaches that could be incorporated into behaviour change programmes to reduce child screen viewing

Time-resolved photoionization spectroscopy of mixed Rydberg-valence states:indole case study

Time-resolved photoelectron imaging reveals subtle new mechanistic insight into the ultraviolet relaxation dynamics of gas-phase indole.</p

Controlled release of microencapsulated docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by spray–drying processing

The omega-3-fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) 22:6 n-3, is an important food component for the visual and brain development of infants. In this study two approaches have been explored for the encapsulation of DHA in the pH dependant polymer hydroxyl-propyl-methyl-cellulose-acetate-succinate (HPMCAS). In the first approach Direct Spray Drying (DSD) was implemented for the microencapsulation of DHA/HPMCAS organic solutions, whilst in the second approach solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) dispersions of DHA, were first produced by high-pressure homogenization, prior to being spray dried in HPMCAS aqueous solutions. The DSD approach resulted in significantly higher quantities of DHA being encapsulated, at 2.09 g/100 g compared to 0.60 g/100 g in the spray-dried SLNs. The DHA stability increased with the direct spray-drying approach. Release studies of DHA in the direct sprayed dried samples revealed a lag time for 2 h in acidic media followed by rapid release in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8)

Simulation studies for dielectric wakefield programme at CLARA facility

Short, high charge electron bunches can drive high magnitude electric fields in dielectric lined structures. The interaction of the electron bunch with this field has several applications including high gradient dielectric wakefield acceleration (DWA) and passive beam manipulation. The simulations presented provide a prelude to the commencement of an experimental DWA programme at the CLARA accelerator at Daresbury Laboratory. The key goals of this program are: tunable generation of THz radiation, understanding of the impact of transverse wakes, and design of a dechirper for the CLARA FEL. Computations of longitudinal and transverse phase space evolution were made with Impact-T and VSim to support both of these goals.Comment: 10 Pages, 4 Figures, Proceedings of EAAC2017 Conferenc