Rock Around the University - Transplanted Rock Exposures for On-campus Geoscience field Skills Training

Rock Around the University (RAU) is a teaching resource made up of 16 large (~2.5m) blocks of “local” Scottish rock which have been transplanted and orientated into carefully planned locations and elevations between the buildings of the University of Glasgow to look like natural exposures. RAU mimics a real-life fieldwork experience, on-campus, with the aim of enhancing the learning experience of undergraduate geoscience students. RAU allows progressive, reflective, and effective on-campus outdoor training of a wide-range of geological field skills and concepts, including: the description, analysis and measurements of rock features and structures; geological mapping; the use of structure contours to predict geological boundaries in terrains lacking abundant exposures; construction of cross-sections; and, the interpretation and reconstruction of 3D structure and geological history. Students visit the RAU exposures both during timetabled supervised ‘lab’ sessions and in their own time, providing an authentic fieldwork experience in a controlled location where key geological skills can be developed at the optimal rate for individual students. Being located on the campus means that there are no travel or expenses for students, fewer timetabling issues, and fewer general logistical complications and natural complexities than in remote fieldwork locations. In addition, students benefit from receiving ‘instant’ on-site feedback from staff on the challenges, problems and pedagogic issues that they encounter. RAU allows us to introduce rigorous field-based teaching at an early stage in geoscience courses and to stimulate and encourage reflective learning. Students locate, analyse and synthesise information in the field to provide effective solutions to problems and use RAU as a self-directed learning experience where they build confidence while working independently in a familiar environment. Hence the students reinforce their field skills before experiencing independent work in remote areas. In effect RAU uses the campus as a sustainable geoscience teaching resource. Experiences with all levels of undergraduate students over the eight years since RAU was established at the University of Glasgow have demonstrated that this on-campus resource is an ideal complement to the traditional programme of fieldwork classes. Students are much better prepared for their first major residential fieldwork having completed the RAU programme, and are much more confident in their field skills. RAU has allowed us to address more effectively the disconnect between laboratory and fieldwork skills, and remote fieldwork classes are now more focussed on the application, rather than the development, of field skills. RAU has also had the effect of enhancing the awareness of geoscience among the entire University community, due to the presence of students carrying out fieldwork on campus. Rock around the University is also used in recruitment and outreach, and is open to schools, amateur geoscientists, and anyone interested in Earth history. Printed leaflets are available and more information is available at https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ges/community/rockaround/

Efficient laser-driven proton acceleration from cylindrical and planar cryogenic hydrogen jets.

We report on recent experimental results deploying a continuous cryogenic hydrogen jet as a debris-free, renewable laser-driven source of pure proton beams generated at the 150 TW ultrashort pulse laser Draco. Efficient proton acceleration reaching cut-off energies of up to 20 MeV with particle numbers exceeding 109 particles per MeV per steradian is demonstrated, showing for the first time that the acceleration performance is comparable to solid foil targets with thicknesses in the micrometer range. Two different target geometries are presented and their proton beam deliverance characterized: cylindrical (∅ 5 μm) and planar (20 μm × 2 μm). In both cases typical Target Normal Sheath Acceleration emission patterns with exponential proton energy spectra are detected. Significantly higher proton numbers in laser-forward direction are observed when deploying the planar jet as compared to the cylindrical jet case. This is confirmed by two-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (2D3V PIC) simulations, which demonstrate that the planar jet proves favorable as its geometry leads to more optimized acceleration conditions

Efficient laser-driven proton acceleration from cylindrical and planar cryogenic hydrogen jets

We report on recent experimental results deploying a continuous cryogenic hydrogen jet as a debris-free, renewable laser-driven source of pure proton beams generated at the 150 TW ultrashort pulse laser Draco. Efficient proton acceleration reaching cut-off energies of up to 20 MeV with particle numbers exceeding 109 particles per MeV per steradian is demonstrated, showing for the first time that the acceleration performance is comparable to solid foil targets with thicknesses in the micrometer range. Two different target geometries are presented and their proton beam deliverance characterized: cylindrical (∅ 5 μm) and planar (20 μm × 2 μm). In both cases typical Target Normal Sheath Acceleration emission patterns with exponential proton energy spectra are detected. Significantly higher proton numbers in laser-forward direction are observed when deploying the planar jet as compared to the cylindrical jet case. This is confirmed by two-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (2D3V PIC) simulations, which demonstrate that the planar jet proves favorable as its geometry leads to more optimized acceleration conditions

Comparison of Control of Clostridium difficile Infection in Six English Hospitals Using Whole-Genome Sequencing

Background: Variation in Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) rates between healthcare institutions suggests overall incidence could be reduced if the lowest rates could be achieved more widely. Methods: We investigated whether whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of consecutive C. difficile isolates from six English hospitals over one year (2013-14) could be used to assess infection control performance. Fecal samples with a positive initial screen for C. difficile (GDH or toxin-PCR) were cultured and sequenced. Within each hospital, we estimated the proportion of cases plausibly acquired from previous cases, defined by an isolate ≤2 single nucleotide polymorphisms different from a previous isolate in the last 90-days. Results: 851/971(87.6%) sequenced culture-positive samples were toxigenic, and 451(46.4%) were fecal-toxin-positive. 128/652(20%,95%CI 17-23%) toxigenic isolates >90-days after the study started were genetically-linked to a prior patient’s isolate from the previous 90-days. Hospital-2 had the fewest linked isolates, 7/105(7%,3-13%), hospital-1 an intermediate proportion, 9/70(13%,6-23%), while hospitals 3-6 had similar proportions of linked isolates (22-26%) (p≤0.002 comparing hospital-2 vs 3-6). Results were similar adjusting for locally-circulating ribotypes. Adjusting for hospital, ribotype-027 had the highest proportion of linked isolates (57%, 95%CI 29-81%). Fecal-toxin-positive and toxin-negative patients were similarly infectious in terms of being a potential transmission donor, OR=1.01(0.68-1.49,p=0.97). There was no association between the estimated proportion of cases linked to a previous case within 90-days and testing rates (p=0.60). Conclusions: WGS can be used to identify varying rates of C. difficile transmission in different locations, and offers the potential to allow targeted efforts to reduce CDI incidence

Imagined people, behaviour and future mobility: Insights from visions of electric vehicles and car clubs in the United Kingdom

This study focuses on imagined futures of personal mobility in the United Kingdom in the context of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport. Focusing on two innovations, electric vehicles and car clubs, the study investigates how people, behaviour and mobility are imagined in a range of visioning documents about the future up to 2050, a timeline that is critically important for emission reduction targets. We find that people are imagined primarily as consumers in line with the rational actor paradigm, with many visions focusing on low-carbon vehicles as a sustainability solution. This simple technological substitution vision does not play to the strengths of electric vehicles, and diminishes their transformative potential. There are fewer car club visions; these show less car ownership, but retain high mobility and an economic growth perspective. Our findings support the idea that much future mobility visioning is used to support the status quo, rather than to explore a variety of futures with diverse portrayal of people, behaviour and mobility