The role of special educational needs coordinators in implementing the 2014 special educational needs and disability legislation: a juggling act

The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and discover how the new Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years (DfE 2015) was being enacted in schools. The main argument presented through this thesis is that the SENCO role is currently overly focused on carrying out bureaucratic tasks rather than supporting inclusive classroom practice. The literature review situates the research within its historical and cultural context by considering the development of special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision, including the role of the SENCO. A conceptual framework for the SENCO role and identity is advanced which adds to our understanding of the SENCO role. This applied social research adopted a phenomenological methodology where the self-reported experience of individuals is the source of data (Creswell 2007; Husserl 1970). The field work for the research involved two sets of interviews, separated by an interval of 12 months, with seven SENCOs from across several London boroughs. The qualitative data gathered was analysed using categorisation and coding, a method drawn from grounded theory (Charmaz 2006; Glaser and Strauss 1967). A rating scale and analysis of threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths (TOWS) was also used to gauge the confidence and attitudes of SENCOs towards aspects of the new SEND legislation (Children and Families Act 2014). The research contributes to our evidence base on how the SEND reforms are being implemented in schools. The findings demonstrate that SENCOs broadly welcome the principles underpinning the new SEND Code of Practice (ibid). However, SENCOs find that some of the procedures associated with the Code of Practice (ibid) are proving problematic. The thesis concludes by asserting that, if these issues are not addressed, then the aspirations of the new SEND legislation will not be fully realised and SENCOs will be yet further removed from their work in supporting colleagues in developing inclusive practice. The thesis makes a number of recommendations at school, local and national level to support further the implementation of the SEND reforms. It also identifies areas for future research including: investigating the SEND reforms from the perspective of children, their parents or carers and young people; and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the SENCO role

The Immunogenicity of Cholangiocyte Cellular Therapies

Cholangiocytes are the epithelial cells of the biliary system, responsible for the transport and modification of bile. Cholangiocyte disorders, known as cholangiopathies, are a diverse group of life-threatening conditions characterised by cholestasis, ductopenia and eventual liver failure. There are currently no curative treatments for cholangiopathies aside from liver transplantation and while individual cholangiopathies are rare, together they account for a third of adult and 70% of paediatric liver transplants. There is a scarcity of suitable organs for transplantation, however, so development of cholangiocyte cellular therapies capable of replacing or repairing damaged bile ducts would have significant therapeutic value. The safety of such therapies must be assessed before they are suitable for clinical translation and an essential component of that is an evaluation of immunogenicity. In this dissertation I investigated the immunogenicity of cholangiocyte organoids (COs) from an established system developed within the Vallier lab. I first assessed the survival of COs in vivo and generate CO lines expressing luciferase to allow for real-time bioluminescent imaging in vivo. I characterised the expression of HLA molecules on COs compared to primary cholangiocytes and after exposure to a series of pro-inflammatory environments and demonstrated that expression of HLA molecules is reduced in COs compared to primary cholangiocytes but that exposure to pro-inflammatory cytokines restored high levels of HLA expression. I also showed that physiologically-relevant concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines were sufficient to upregulate HLA class II expression on COs. To assess the immunogenicity of COs in a transplant environment I used two humanised mouse models. I demonstrated that these models can induce an immune response against allogeneic COs and compared the response to allogeneic and autologous COs in both models. I identified HLA-matched CO lines and immune cell donors and investigated the impact of HLA-matching on the immunogenicity of CO allografts in a humanised mouse model. Overall, the work presented in this dissertation advances the understanding of the immunogenicity of cholangiocyte organoids, both in terms of their expression of immunogenic antigens and the response towards COs within both an allogeneic and autologous transplantation setting

The Missionary as Cultural Mediator: Alexander Don and the Chinese and European Communities in New Zealand

Missionaries to China, by virtue of their positions and knowledge, frequently became important channels of information between cultures. They transmitted Christianity and Western learning to Chinese people while simultaneously describing China to home audiences through their writings and public speaking. This thesis examines how Alexander Don, Presbyterian missionary to the New Zealand Chinese in Otago from 1879 to 1913, performed similar functions as a "cultural mediator". For most of his career, Don was one of the most significant links between Chinese and European people in New Zealand. He developed a relationship with the Chinese community while simultaneously describing Chinese culture to Europeans in his published reports. While Don's missionary career has been extensively documented, there have been no studies of his significance from the perspective of cross-cultural dialogue and exchange. In this thesis I will discuss the ways that Don acted as a cultural mediator, as well as the factors that impelled him to do so. I will make an in-depth investigation of Don's presentation of Chinese culture to European readers through his mission reports, and how this image changed over the course of his career. The picture Don painted was both motivated and influenced by his mission aims, his growing understanding of Chinese culture, and his developing rapport with Chinese people. In order to demonstrate that Don was unique as a cultural mediator in New Zealand, I will compare him to other sources of information on Chinese culture. It will be shown that he provided very different data and opinions from those conveyed by secular writers and authors, and that his descriptions were generally more detailed than those of other missionaries to the New Zealand Chinese and New Zealand missionaries in China. Don will also be compared to more well-known China missionaries, in order to show that he was similar to them in terms of educating Westerners about the East. Finally, I will weigh the impact of Don's cultural mediation activities. Although he gained few converts, he played a crucial role in improving Sino-European understanding and relations. In the final analysis, Don had a greater impact in these areas than he did in the field of evangelism

Shear and thermal effects in boundary film formation during sliding

A prerequisite for understanding mechano- and tribochemical reaction pathways is that the interface be in thermodynamic equilibrium and that the temperature be well defined. It is suggested that this occurs in two regimes: when the surfaces are only slightly perturbed during sliding, leading to negligible frictional heating, and when the surface temperatures are very high (1000 K), in the so-called extreme pressure regime. The tribochemistry occurring in each regime is discussed in terms of the elementary steps leading to tribofilm formation, namely (i) a reaction of the additive or gas-phase lubricant on the surface to form an adsorbed precursor, (ii) decomposition of the molecular precursor, (iii) a process that causes the formation of a tribofilm that (iv) regenerates a clean surface that allows this tribochemical cycle to continue to form a thicker film. These steps are thermally driven in the extreme-pressure regime, while under milder conditions, they are induced by interfacial shear. In intermediate situations, the processes are likely to be a combination of those occurring at the extrema.Fil: Furlong, Octavio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Miller, Brendan Paul. Chevron Oronite Company LLC; Estados UnidosFil: Kotvis, Peter V.. University Of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Adams, Heather. University Of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Tysoe, Wilfred T.. University Of Wisconsin; Estados Unido

Kinetic Monte Carlo theory of sliding friction

The sliding friction as a function of scanning velocity at the nanometer scale was simulated based on a modified one-dimensional Tomlinson model. Monte Carlo theory was exploited to describe the thermally activated hopping of the contact atoms, where both backward and forward jumps were allowed to occur. By comparing with the Monte Carlo results, improvements to current semiempirical solutions were made. Finally, experimental results of sliding friction on a NaCl(100) as a function of normal load and scanning velocity where successfully simulated. © 2009 The American Physical Society.Fil: Furlong, Octavio Javier. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: Manzi, Sergio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: Pereyra, Victor Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: Bustos Giunta, Victor Angel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: Tysoe, Wilfred T.. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; Estados Unido

Training and cross-educational effects of a six-week isokinetic eccentric program on dorsiflexion range of motion, plantarflexor strength, and muscle-tendon mechanics dataset

This dataset in the excel spreadsheet depicts the raw data for all variables collected before and after a six-week eccentric resistance training programme. Data for each variable (column A) are separated into 3 groups: 1) the trained (right) lower-limb of the experimental group (columns B [pre-training] and C [post-training]), 2) the untrained (left) contralateral lower-limb of the experimental group (columns D [pre-training] and E [post-training]), and 3) the left lower-limb of the control group (columns F [pre-training] and G [post-training]). The equipment and software used to measure and collect the data for the variables listed in the spreadsheet are listed in the word document with all abbreviations reported in full

Influence of dimple shape on tribofilm formation and tribological properties of textured surfaces under full and starved lubrication

Lubrication conditions have significant influences on the formation of tribofilms and then affect tribological behavior. In this work, the influence of tribofilm formation on the tribological behavior of textured surfaces with oval shapes was measured using a pin-on-plate tribometer. The results show that, under full lubrication, the adsorbed oil film controlled the friction and wear behavior of steel/steel tribopairs but under starved lubrication, the formation of a tribofilm significantly influenced the tribological behavior. The appropriate textured surfaces with oval-shaped dimples contribute to obtaining excellent antifriction and antiwear behavior. However, excessively high ratios of the major to the minor axis of the oval can result in high contact stresses which can destroy the tribofilm.Fil: Xu, Yufu. Hefei University of Technology; República de ChinaFil: Zheng, Quan. Hefei University of Technology; República de ChinaFil: Abuflaha, Rasha. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unidos. Al al-Bayt University; JordaniaFil: Olson, Dustin. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Furlong, Octavio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: You, Tao. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Qiangqiang. Hefei University of Technology; República de ChinaFil: Hu, Xianguo. Hefei University of Technology; República de ChinaFil: Tysoe, Wilfred T.. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unido

Automated quantification of stroke damage on brain computed tomography scans: e-ASPECTS

Emergency radiological diagnosis of acute ischaemic stroke requires the accurate detection and appropriate interpretation of relevant imaging findings. Non-contrast computed tomography (CT) provides fast and low-cost assessment of the early signs of ischaemia and is the most widely used diagnostic modality for acute stroke. The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is a quantitative and clinically validated method to measure the extent of ischaemic signs on brain CT scans. The CE-marked electronic-ASPECTS (e-ASPECTS) software automates the ASPECTS score. Anglia Ruskin Clinical Trials Unit (ARCTU) independently carried out a clinical investigation of the e-ASPECTS software, an automated scoring system which can be integrated into the diagnostic pathway of an acute ischaemic stroke patient, thereby assisting the physician with expert interpretation of the brain CT scan. Here we describe a literature review of the clinical importance of reliable assessment of early ischaemic signs on plain CT scans, and of technologies automating these processed scoring systems in ischaemic stroke on CT scans focusing on the e-ASPECTS software. To be suitable for critical appraisal in this evaluation, the published studies needed a sample size of a minimum of 10 cases. All randomised studies were screened and data deemed relevant to demonstration of performance of ASPECTS were appraised. The literature review focused on three domains: i) interpretation of brain CT scans of stroke patients, ii) the application of the ASPECTS score in ischaemic stroke, and iii) automation of brain CT analysis. Finally, the appraised references are discussed in the context of the clinical impact of e-ASPECTS and the expected performance, which will be independently evaluated by a non-inferiority study conducted by the ARCTU