Mathematically gifted and talented learners: Theory and practice

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 40(2), 213-228, 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00207390802566907.There is growing recognition of the special needs of mathematically gifted learners. This article reviews policy developments and current research and theory on giftedness in mathematics. It includes a discussion of the nature of mathematical ability as well as the factors that make up giftedness in mathematics. The article is set in the context of current developments in Mathematics Education and Gifted Education in the UK and their implications for Science and Technology. It argues that early identification and appropriate provision for younger mathematically promising pupils capitalizes on an intellectual resource which could provide future mathematicans as well as specialists in Science or Technology. Drawing on a Vygotskian framework, it is suggested that the mathematically gifted require appropriate cognitive challenges as well as attitudinally and motivationally enhancing experiences. In the second half of this article we report on an initiative in which we worked with teachers to identify mathematically gifted pupils and to provide effective enrichment support for them, in a number of London Local Authorities. A number of significant issues are raised relating to the identification of mathematical talent, enrichment provision for students and teachers’ professional development

The remnants of galaxy formation from a panoramic survey of the region around M31

In hierarchical cosmological models, galaxies grow in mass through the continual accretion of smaller ones. The tidal disruption of these systems is expected to result in loosely bound stars surrounding the galaxy, at distances that reach $10 - 100$ times the radius of the central disk. The number, luminosity and morphology of the relics of this process provide significant clues to galaxy formation history, but obtaining a comprehensive survey of these components is difficult because of their intrinsic faintness and vast extent. Here we report a panoramic survey of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). We detect stars and coherent structures that are almost certainly remnants of dwarf galaxies destroyed by the tidal field of M31. An improved census of their surviving counterparts implies that three-quarters of M31's satellites brighter than $M_V < -6$ await discovery. The brightest companion, Triangulum (M33), is surrounded by a stellar structure that provides persuasive evidence for a recent encounter with M31. This panorama of galaxy structure directly confirms the basic tenets of the hierarchical galaxy formation model and reveals the shared history of M31 and M33 in the unceasing build-up of galaxies.Comment: Published in Nature. Supplementary movie available at https://www.astrosci.ca/users/alan/PANDAS/Latest%20news%3A%20movie%20of%20orbit.htm

Police Culture and Police Leadership

Police leadership is a key focus for police practitioners and academics. However, little attention has been paid to the relationship between police leadership and police culture. In a policing field where, in rhetorical terms, leadership is presented as a means of limiting the damage caused by occupational culture, it is important for commentary to provide a critical focus upon the relationship between these two complex concepts. This chapter provides, by drawing on international policing literature and contexts, a conceptual and critical account of three main issues. First, whether or not police leaders can be conceptualized as having a particular cultural orientation. Second, by explaining the inherent conceptual tensions in the relationship. Finally, it explores the assumption that police culture represents a barrier to police leadership

Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa

There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, 'place provisioning', longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada; NORAM; American-Scandinavian Foundation; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [SFRH/BPD/73598/2010]; IGERT [DGE 0801634]; Hyde Family Foundations; Institute of Human Origins; National Science Foundation [BCS-9912465, BCS-0130713, BCS-0524087, BCS-1138073]; John Templeton Foundation to the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State Universit

Association Study of the β2-Adrenergic Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Hypertension in the Northern Han Chinese

Background: The beta 2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) gene has been widely researched as a candidate gene for essential hypertension (EH), but no consensus has been reached in different ethnicities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible association between the ADRB2 gene polymorphisms and the EH risk in the Northern Han Chinese population. Methodology/Principal Findings: This study included 747 hypertensive subjects and 390 healthy volunteers as control subjects in the Northern Han Chinese. Genotyping was performed to identify the C-47T, A46G and C79G polymorphisms of the ADRB2 gene. G allelic frequency of A46G polymorphism was significantly higher in hypertensive subjects (P = 0.011, OR = 1.287, 95% CI [1.059-1.565]) than that in controls. Significant association could also be found in dominant genetic model (GG+AG vs. AA, P = 0.006, OR = 1.497, 95% CI [1.121-1.998]), in homozygote comparison (GG vs. AA, P = 0.025, OR = 1.568, 95% CI [1.059-2.322]), and in additive genetic model (GG vs. AG vs. AA, P = 0.012, OR = 1.282, 95% CI [1.056-1.555]). Subgroup analyses performed by gender suggested that this association could be found in male, but not in female. Stratification analyses by obesity showed that A46G polymorphism was related to the prevalence of hypertension in the obese population (GG vs. AG vs. AA, P&lt;0.001, OR = 1.645, 95% CI [1.258-2.151]). Significant interaction was found between A46G genotypes and body mass index on EH risk. No significant association could be found between C-47T or C79G polymorphism and EH risk. Linkage disequilibrium was detected between the C-47T, A46G and C79G polymorphisms. Haplotype analyses observed that the T-47-A46-C79 haplotype was a protective haplotype for EH, while the T-47-G46-C79 haplotype increased the risk. Conclusions/Significances: We revealed that the ADRB2 A46G polymorphism might increase the risk for EH in the Northern Han Chinese population.Multidisciplinary SciencesSCI(E)7ARTICLE4null

The significance of the F variant of alpha-1-antitrypsin and unique case report of a PiFF homozygote

BackgroundInheritance of the F variant of alpha-1-antitrypsin is associated with normal circulating protein levels, but it is believed to be dysfunctional in its ability to inhibit neutrophil elastase and therefore has been implicated as a susceptibility factor for the development of emphysema. In this study, its functional characteristics were determined following the identification of a unique patient with the PiFF phenotype, and the implications as a susceptibility factor for emphysema are considered both in homozygotes and heterozygotes.MethodsSecond order association rate constants were measured for M, Z, S and F variants of alpha-1-antitrypsin with neutrophil elastase and proteinase 3. Clinical characteristics of the PiFF homozygote and six PiFZ heterozygote subjects were studied.ResultsThe F variant had a reduced association rate constant with neutrophil elastase (5.60???0.83 ? 106 M-1?s-1) compared to the normal M variant (1.45???0.02 ? 107 M-1?s-1), indicating an increased time to inhibition that was comparable to that of the Z variant (7.34???0.03 ? 106 M-1?s-1). The association rate constant for the F variant and proteinase 3 (1.06???0.22 ? 106 M-1?s-1) was reduced compared to that with neutrophil elastase, but was similar to that of other alpha-1-antitrypsin variants. Of the six PiFZ heterozygotes, five had airflow obstruction and radiological evidence of emphysema. The PiFF homozygote had airflow obstruction but no emphysema. None of the patients had clinical evidence of liver disease.ConclusionsThe F variant may increase susceptibility to elastase-induced lung damage but not emphysema, whereas co-inheritance with the Z deficiency allele may predispose to emphysema despite reasonable plasma concentrations of alpha-1-antitrypsin