Masters of the Channel Night: The 10th Destroyer Flotilla’s Victory Off Ile De Batz, 9 June 1944

It was a dark and somewhat stormy night. In the western English Channel, off the Ile de Batz, twelve destroyers, eight Allied (including two Canadian) and four German, hurtled towards each other at a combined speed of 47 knots. Radar, penetrating the black murk ahead of the Allied ships, detected hostile contacts at ten miles range and the force deployed for action. Minutes later they opened devastating fire upon a startled enemy. The battle that ensued on the night of 9 June 1944 was the raison d’etre of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, a destroyer strike force based on Plymouth. When planning the Normandy invasion Allied naval commanders recognized that although Kriegsmarine surface forces represented only a limited threat to the beachhead, powerful destroyers based in Bay of Biscay ports could wreak havoc on vulnerable build-up convoys crossing the Channel. But, because of the dominance of Allied air power, enemy destroyers came out only in the hours of darkness. Therefore, to win control of the western Channel, the 10th DF had to master the difficult art of night fighting

The Case of the Phantom MTB and the Loss of HMCS \u3cem\u3eAthabaskan\u3c/em\u3e

In the early dawn hours of 29 April 1944, the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan plunged to the depths of the English Channel, her hull wracked by two powerful explosions. One hundred and twenty-eight young Canadians died with her. Fifty-two years later, in the article “I Will Never Forget the Sound of Those Engines Going Away: A Re-examination into the Sinking of HMCS Athabaskan” that appeared in this journal, Peter Dixon advanced the theory—which was presented as fact—that the second explosion, the one that sealed the destroyer’s fate, was caused by a torpedo fired by a British motor torpedo boat (MTB).2 The most significant warship loss in Canadian naval history, the theory goes, was caused by friendly fire.3 That is not so. When primary evidence overlooked by Dixon is considered and the recollections of witnesses recorded decades after the event are scrutinized, it becomes abundantly clear that Athabaskan could not have been the victim of a British torpedo

Biocontrol Agents and Plant Inoculants: Implications for Strengthening the BTWC

Ye

Biomedical Community and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

YesNegotiations to find a legally binding way to strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) of 1972 [1]are in danger of failing. The crisis was precipitated during the current round of talks, now in its final week in Geneva, when the US, alone amongst the negotiating States, rejected the text of a protocol that has taken six and a half years to negotiate

An optimised scalable synthesis of H2O@C60and a new synthesis of H2@C60

New high-yielding synthetic routes to the small-molecule endofullerenes H2O@C60, D2O@C60 and H2@C60 are described. The use of high temperatures and pressures for the endohedral molecule incorporation are avoided. A new partial closure step using PPh3, and final suturing using a novel Diels–Alder/retro-Diels–Alder sequence are amongst the advances reported

The social implications of artificial intelligence.

For 18 years. I have been publishing books and papers on the subject of the social implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is an area which is has been, and remains, in need of more academic attention of a serious nature than it currently receives. It will be useful to attempt a working definition of the field of AI at this stage. There is a considerable amount of disagreement as to what does and does not constitute AI and this often has important consequences for discussions of the social implications of the field. In brief, I define AI as the study of intelligent behaviour (in humans, animals, and machines) and the attempt to find ways in which such behaviour could be engineered in any type of artefact. My position on the definition of AI as a field of activity is set out in full in various places in the works submitted for this application. Most important are Chapter 2 of Whitby, 1988b, Chapter 3 of Whitby, 1996, and Whitby, 2000. This definition is distinctive (though not unique). For the purposes of discussion of social implications, its most distinctive feature is that it does not require the imitation or replication of human intellectual attributes. Because, under this definition, AI is not limited to the study of and attempt to build human-like intelligence the discussion of its social implications is rendered much broader. Also, because AÏ encompasses the attempt to engineer intelligent behaviour in any type of artefact, discussion of its social implications will need to consider the way in which AI technology, methods, and attitudes can permeate other different areas. This will include a wide range of technologies which include an AI element and a wide range of disciplines which are influenced by AI ideas. Thus the social implications of AI are turned into an immensely important field of study, since AI technology will steadily continue to permeate other technologies and thereby society as a whole. Many of the social implications of this technological process are nonobvious and surprising. If we are to make sensible, timely, and practical policy decisions and legislation then it is important to be as clear as possible about likely technological developments and their social implications. We may initially attempt to characterise various approaches by other authorities on the social implications of AI. Thèse range from the wildly spéculative such as Warwick (1988) and Moravec (1988) to the mainly technical, for example Michie (1986). At the wildly spéculative end of this continuum represented by Professor Warwick there are scare stories involving robots taking over the earth. (See for example Warwick, 1998 pp. 21-38) At the other end of the continuum, there are writers who often see AI as entirely positive, or as having no social implications at all. Most authorities will, or at least should, occupy a position somewhere between these extremes. However, in giving serious académie considération to this area, one needs to respond to this entire range of approaches. That is to say that one must (as a minimum) both be conversant with probable technical developments and also carefully and critically respond to speculations about the nature of future society. In my research I have consistently attempted to do just this. This is obviously a cross-disciplinary exercise and the differing methodologies of different disciplines présent further problems in determining the best (or an approximation to the best) approach. For a number of reasons, which will be fully explored in this statement, my approach has concentrated (mainly, though not exclusively) on the attempt to provide guidance to those actually concerned with the technical and scientific development of AI. The published books and papers submitted as part of this application span a period of 16 years. Thèse works form a cohérent body of research around the area of the social implications of AI. This body both develops the theme of the need for professionalism in AI and answers the criticisms of other writers in the area. They involve a full response to other writers in this area, over the entire continuum described above. This is a large, coherent, important, and generally well-regarded body of work which is in every relevant sense equivalent to that required for a PhD. by research

A failure of meiotic chromosome segregation in a fbh1Δ mutant correlates with persistent Rad51-DNA associations

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Rad51/Dmc1 paralogs and mediators oppose DNA helicases to limit hybrid DNA formation and promote crossovers during meiotic recombination

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to J ¨urg Kohli, Ramsay J. McFarlane, Paul Russell, Gerald R. Smith, Walter W. Steiner and the National BioResource Project (NBRP) Japan for providing strains and to C. Bryer for technical assistance. FUNDING Wellcome Trust [090767/Z/09/Z to M.C.W.]; College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen [to A.L., in part]. Funding for open access charge: Wellcome TrustPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Merging the theory and practice of restorative approaches in schools :an exploration of 'restorativeness' through qualitative research synthesis and appreciative inquiry

D. App. Ed. Psy ThesisThis thesis explores the understanding and enactment of restorative approaches (RAs) in educational settings. It is made up of three chapters; a literature review, an empirical research project and a bridging document linking them. Behaviour and discipline in schools, in the United Kingdom, has been a perennial concern of educators and politicians alike. Recently, an independent review exploring pupil behaviour in schools has expressly considered the important role of a school’s disciplinary culture on pupil behaviour and outcomes. RAs are being increasingly adopted by schools and educators to offer an alternative response to other forms of behaviour management systems in schools which have been identified as punitive. When implemented over a long period RAs are considered to have transformative potential, with schools being able to develop a relational ethos/culture. However, for this to occur, schools and educators need to understand and enact the conceptual values and philosophies underpinning RAs. How educators are conceptualising RAs whilst enacting them in school is the focus of a literature review in Chapter One. A qualitative research synthesis of six journal articles and doctoral theses is presented. The findings of each paper are analysed and synthesised to construct a broader understanding of how RAs are being conceptualised. Four key conceptualisations of RAs are presented: RAs as a tool, RAs as a process, RAs as a culture and RAs as an identify/belief. However, the synthesis goes beyond these conceptualisations and identifies how discourses of behaviour management and relationships discursively mediate these conceptualisations, whilst also recognising how the context of school further influences these. I propose and present a visual and metaphorical model, of a kaleidoscope, to understanding the fluid and shifting nature of how RAs are conceptualised. Implications for practitioners, who may be involved in facilitating training/development of RAs, are offered. These include an argument for the importance of developing educator understandings of the principles and philosophy underpinning RAs. Based on the findings from the literature review, I suggest educators require opportunities to explore and reflect on the values-base and principles of RAs before attempting to enact specific practices, such as restorative conferences. An empirical research project, in Chapter Three, describes an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) project which involved a small group of educators from a primary school: developing their own definition of ‘restorativeness’, exploring how the school is already ‘restorative’, and considering how they can build upon this to further develop RAs in their setting. An inductive thematic analysis, utilising a hybrid approach of semantic-latent coding and theme development sessions is presented. ‘Restorativeness’ at the school is tentatively suggested to be understood under five broad themes: developing mutual and reciprocal relationships, working ‘with’ the pupils, being self-aware and in-tune with emotions of self and others, fostering an affective school climate and collaborating to develop a iv community of ‘restorative’ practice. Further to this, insights and learnings from the AI process are considered, including the transformative possibilities. The project closes by considering the implications for professionals supporting the development of RAs in schools. These chapters are linked by a bridging document which outlines the theoretical, ethical, philosophical and methodological stance underpinning the empirical research project. The ideas of prospective and retrospective reflexivity are utilised to explore the developing researcher-practitioner identity which has influenced the project