A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships

This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered: collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership

Shallow water marine sediment bacterial community shifts along a natural CO2 gradient in the Mediterranean Sea off Vulcano, Italy.

The effects of increasing atmospheric CO(2) on ocean ecosystems are a major environmental concern, as rapid shoaling of the carbonate saturation horizon is exposing vast areas of marine sediments to corrosive waters worldwide. Natural CO(2) gradients off Vulcano, Italy, have revealed profound ecosystem changes along rocky shore habitats as carbonate saturation levels decrease, but no investigations have yet been made of the sedimentary habitat. Here, we sampled the upper 2 cm of volcanic sand in three zones, ambient (median pCO(2) 419 μatm, minimum Ω(arag) 3.77), moderately CO(2)-enriched (median pCO(2) 592 μatm, minimum Ω(arag) 2.96), and highly CO(2)-enriched (median pCO(2) 1611 μatm, minimum Ω(arag) 0.35). We tested the hypothesis that increasing levels of seawater pCO(2) would cause significant shifts in sediment bacterial community composition, as shown recently in epilithic biofilms at the study site. In this study, 454 pyrosequencing of the V1 to V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene revealed a shift in community composition with increasing pCO(2). The relative abundances of most of the dominant genera were unaffected by the pCO(2) gradient, although there were significant differences for some 5 % of the genera present (viz. Georgenia, Lutibacter, Photobacterium, Acinetobacter, and Paenibacillus), and Shannon Diversity was greatest in sediments subject to long-term acidification (>100 years). Overall, this supports the view that globally increased ocean pCO(2) will be associated with changes in sediment bacterial community composition but that most of these organisms are resilient. However, further work is required to assess whether these results apply to other types of coastal sediments and whether the changes in relative abundance of bacterial taxa that we observed can significantly alter the biogeochemical functions of marine sediments

The FERM and PDZ Domain-Containing Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, PTPN4 and PTPN3, Are Both Dispensable for T Cell Receptor Signal Transduction

PTPN3 and PTPN4 are two closely-related non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTP) that, in addition to a PTP domain, contain FERM (Band 4.1, Ezrin, Radixin, and Moesin) and PDZ (PSD-95, Dlg, ZO-1) domains. Both PTP have been implicated as negative-regulators of early signal transduction through the T cell antigen receptor (TCR), acting to dephosphorylate the TCRζ chain, a component of the TCR complex. Previously, we reported upon the production and characterization of PTPN3-deficient mice which show normal TCR signal transduction and T cell function. To address if the lack of a T cell phenotype in PTPN3-deficient mice can be explained by functional redundancy of PTPN3 with PTPN4, we generated PTPN4-deficient and PTPN4/PTPN3 double-deficient mice. As in PTPN3 mutants, T cell development and homeostasis and TCR-induced cytokine synthesis and proliferation were found to be normal in PTPN4-deficient and PTPN4/PTPN3 double-deficient mice. PTPN13 is another FERM and PDZ domain-containing non-receptor PTP that is distantly-related to PTPN3 and PTPN4 and which has been shown to function as a negative-regulator of T helper-1 (Th1) and Th2 differentiation. Therefore, to determine if PTPN13 might compensate for the loss of PTPN3 and PTPN4 in T cells, we generated mice that lack functional forms of all three PTP. T cells from triple-mutant mice developed normally and showed normal cytokine secretion and proliferative responses to TCR stimulation. Furthermore, T cell differentiation along the Th1, Th2 and Th17 lineages was largely unaffected in triple-mutants. We conclude that PTPN3 and PTPN4 are dispensable for TCR signal transduction

Aboveground Herbivory Shapes the Biomass Distribution and Flux of Soil Invertebrates

Contains fulltext : 72659.pdf ( ) (Open Access)Background Living soil invertebrates provide a universal currency for quality that integrates physical and chemical variables with biogeography as the invertebrates reflect their habitat and most ecological changes occurring therein. The specific goal was the identification of “reference” states for soil sustainability and ecosystem functioning in grazed vs. ungrazed sites. Methodology/Principal Findings Bacterial cells were counted by fluorescent staining and combined direct microscopy and automatic image analysis; invertebrates (nematodes, mites, insects, oligochaetes) were sampled and their body size measured individually to allow allometric scaling. Numerical allometry analyses food webs by a direct comparison of weight averages of components and thus might characterize the detrital soil food webs of our 135 sites regardless of taxonomy. Sharp differences in the frequency distributions are shown. Overall higher biomasses of invertebrates occur in grasslands, and all larger soil organisms differed remarkably. Conclusions/Significance Strong statistical evidence supports a hypothesis explaining from an allometric perspective how the faunal biomass distribution and the energetic flux are affected by livestock, nutrient availability and land use. Our aim is to propose faunal biomass flux and biomass distribution as quantitative descriptors of soil community composition and function, and to illustrate the application of these allometric indicators to soil systems.7 p

Sexual Behaviour and HPV Infections in 18 to 29 Year Old Women in the Pre-Vaccine Era in the Netherlands

Contains fulltext : 71058.pdf ( ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary event in the multi-step process of cervical carcinogenesis. Little is known about the natural history of HPV infection among unscreened young adults. As prophylactic vaccines are being developed to prevent specifically HPV 16 and 18 infections, shifts in prevalence in the post vaccine era may be expected. This study provides a unique opportunity to gather baseline data before changes by nationwide vaccination occur. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This cross-sectional study is part of a large prospective epidemiologic study performed among 2065 unscreened women aged 18 to 29 years. Women returned a self-collected cervico-vaginal specimen and filled out a questionnaire. All HPV DNA-positive samples (by SPF(10) DEIA) were genotyped using the INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping assay. HPV point prevalence in this sample was 19%. Low and high risk HPV prevalence was 9.1% and 11.8%, respectively. A single HPV-type was detected in 14.9% of all women, while multiple types were found in 4.1%. HPV-types 16 (2.8%) and 18 (1.4%) were found concomitantly in only 3 women (0.1%). There was an increase in HPV prevalence till 22 years. Multivariate analysis showed that number of lifetime sexual partners was the most powerful predictor of HPV positivity, followed by type of relationship, frequency of sexual contact, age, and number of sexual partners over the past 6 months. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: This study shows that factors independently associated with HPV prevalence are mainly related to sexual behaviour. Combination of these results with the relative low prevalence of HPV 16 and/or 18 may be promising for expanding the future target group for catch up vaccination. Furthermore, these results provide a basis for research on possible future shifts in HPV genotype prevalence, and enable a better estimate of the effect of HPV 16-18 vaccination on cervical cancer incidence

The effect of fluid resuscitation on the effective circulating volume in patients undergoing liver surgery: a post-hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial

To assess the significance of an analogue of the mean systemic filling pressure (Pmsa) and its derived variables, in providing a physiology based discrimination between responders and non-responders to fluid resuscitation during liver surgery. A post-hoc analysis of data from 30 patients undergoing major hepatic surgery was performed. Patients received 15 ml kg(-1) fluid in 30 min. Fluid responsiveness (FR) was defined as an increase of 20% or greater in cardiac index, measured by FloTrac-Vigileo((R)). Dynamic preload variables (pulse pressure variation and stroke volume variation: PPV, SVV) were recorded additionally. Pvr, the driving pressure for venous return (=Pmsa-central venous pressure) and heart performance (EH; Pvr/Pmsa) were calculated according to standard formula. Pmsa increased following fluid administration in responders (n = 18; from 13 +/- 3 to 17 +/- 4 mmHg, p < 0.01) and in non-responders (n = 12; from 14 +/- 4 to 17 +/- 4 mmHg, p < 0.01). Pvr, which was lower in responders before fluid administration (6 +/- 1 vs. 7 +/- 1 mmHg; p = 0.02), increased after fluid administration only in responders (from 6 +/- 1 to 8 +/- 1 mmHg; p < 0.01). EH only decreased in non-responders (from 0.56 +/- 0.17 to 0.45 +/- 0.12; p < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of Pvr, PPV and SVV for predicting FR was 0.75, 0.73 and 0.72, respectively. Changes in Pmsa, Pvr and EH reflect changes in effective circulating volume and heart performance following fluid resuscitation, providing a physiologic discrimination between responders and non-responders. Also, Pvr predicts FR equivalently compared to PPV and SVV, and might therefore aid in predicting FR in case dynamic preload variables cannot be used

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Defining the molecular basis of interaction between R3 receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases and VE-cadherin

Receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) of the R3 subgroup play key roles in the immune, vascular and nervous systems. They are characterised by a large ectodomain comprising multiple FNIII-like repeats, a transmembrane domain, and a single intracellular phosphatase domain. The functional role of the extracellular region has not been clearly defined and potential roles in ligand interaction, di-merization, and regulation of cell-cell contacts have been reported. Here bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) in live cells was used to examine the molecular basis for the interaction of VE-PTP with VE-cadherin, two proteins involved in endothelial cell contact and maintenance of vascu-lar integrity. The potential of other R3-PTPs to interact with VE-cadherin was also explored using this method. Quantitative BiFC analysis, using a VE-PTP construct expressing only the ectodomain and transmembrane domain, revealed a specific interaction with VE-cadherin, when compared with con-trols. Controls were sialophorin, an unrelated membrane protein with a large ectodomain, and a mem-brane anchored C-terminal Venus-YFP fragment, lacking both ectodomain and transmembrane do-mains. Truncation of the first 16 FNIII-like repeats from the ectodomain of VE-PTP indicated that re-moval of this region is not sufficient to disrupt the interaction with VE-cadherin, although it occurs predominantly in an intracellular location. A construct with a deletion of only the 17th domain of VE-PTP was, in contrast to previous studies, still able to interact with VE-cadherin, although this also was predominantly intracellular. Other members of the R3-PTP family (DEP-1, GLEPP1 and SAP-1) also exhibited the potential to interact with VE-cadherin. The direct interaction of DEP-1 with VE-cadherin is likely to be of physiological relevance since both proteins are expressed in endothelial cells. Together the data presented in the study suggest a role for both the ectodomain and transmembrane domain of R3-PTPs in interaction with VE-cadherin

Identification and Expression of the Family of Classical Protein-Tyrosine Phosphatases in Zebrafish

Protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) have an important role in cell survival, differentiation, proliferation, migration and other cellular processes in conjunction with protein-tyrosine kinases. Still relatively little is known about the function of PTPs in vivo. We set out to systematically identify all classical PTPs in the zebrafish genome and characterize their expression patterns during zebrafish development. We identified 48 PTP genes in the zebrafish genome by BLASTing of human PTP sequences. We verified all in silico hits by sequencing and established the spatio-temporal expression patterns of all PTPs by in situ hybridization of zebrafish embryos at six distinct developmental stages. The zebrafish genome encodes 48 PTP genes. 14 human orthologs are duplicated in the zebrafish genome and 3 human orthologs were not identified. Based on sequence conservation, most zebrafish orthologues of human PTP genes were readily assigned. Interestingly, the duplicated form of ptpn23, a catalytically inactive PTP, has lost its PTP domain, indicating that PTP activity is not required for its function, or that ptpn23b has lost its PTP domain in the course of evolution. All 48 PTPs are expressed in zebrafish embryos. Most PTPs are maternally provided and are broadly expressed early on. PTP expression becomes progressively restricted during development. Interestingly, some duplicated genes retained their expression pattern, whereas expression of other duplicated genes was distinct or even mutually exclusive, suggesting that the function of the latter PTPs has diverged. In conclusion, we have identified all members of the family of classical PTPs in the zebrafish genome and established their expression patterns. This is the first time the expression patterns of all members of the large family of PTP genes have been established in a vertebrate. Our results provide the first step towards elucidation of the function of the family of classical PTPs