The teaching and learning research programme (TLRP) in Wales: research evidence for educational policy and practice in Wales

Alex Morgan and Jane Waters, Swansea University; Jane Williams

The Financial Market Impact of UK Quantitative Easing

After outlining some of the monetary developments associated with Quantitative Easing (QE), we measure the impact of the UK's initial 2009-10 QE Programme on bonds and other assets. First, we use a macro-finance yield curve both to create a counterfactual path for bond yields and to estimate the impact of QE directly. Second, we analyse the impact of individual QE operations on a range of asset prices. We find that QE significantly lowered government bond yields through the portfolio balance channel by around 50 or so basis points. We also uncover significant effects of individual operations but limited pass through to other assets

Non-conventional monetary policies: QE and the DSGE literature

At the zero lower bound, the scale and scope of non-conventional monetary policies have become the key decision variables for monetary policy makers. In the UK, quantitative easing has involved the creation of a fund to purchase medium term dated government bonds with borrowed central bank reserves and so has increased the liquidity of the non-bank financial sector and temporarily eased the budget constraint of HMT. Some of these reserves have been used to increase the extent of capital held by banks and there have also been direct injections of capital into the banking system. We assess some of the issues arising from the three policies by using three separate DSGE models, which take seriously the role of financial frictions. We find that it is possible to correct the effects of a lower zero bound in DSGE models, by (i) offsetting the liquidity premium embedded in long term bonds and/or (ii) adopting countercyclical subsidies to bank capital able and/or (iii) the creation of central bank reserves that reduce the costs of loan supply. But the correct quantitative response and ongoing interaction with standard monetary policy remains an open question

Characteristics of Social Smoking Among College Students

Social smoking is a newly identified phenomenon in the young adult population that is poorly understood. We investigated differences in social smoking (smoking most commonly while partying or socializing) and other smoking within a convenience sample of college smokers (n = 351) from a large midwestern university. Results revealed that 70% of 351 current (past 30-day) smokers reported social smoking. No significant difference was found in motivation to quit between smoking groups. However, a significant difference was found between groups in confidence to quit, the number of days smoked, and the number of cigarettes smoked on those days. More social smokers than expected did not perceive themselves as smokers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that lower physical and psychological dependence and higher social support scores predicted social smoking

Effects of Syntactic Complexity in Discourse Comprehension

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of syntactic complexity in discourse comprehension in persons with aphasia (pwa) and age-matched controls.  Data suggest that syntactic complexity does influence processing at the discourse level and that heuristic processing alone is not enought to compensate for syntactic processing demands in disourcse.  Results also showed that the Test of Syntacitc Effects in Discourse Comprehension (Levy et al, 2010) is sensitive to syntactic complexity in a way that the Discourse Comprehension Test-Revised (Brookshire and Nicholas, 2008) is not

Using the ideas café to explore trust in autonomous vehicles

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019. Trust has been shown to play a key role in our ability to safely use autonomous vehicles; hence the authors used the Ideas Café to explore the factors affecting trust in autonomous vehicles. The Ideas Café is an informal collaborative event that brings the public together with domain experts for exploratory research. The authors structured the event around factors affecting trust in the technology, privacy and societal impact. The event followed a mixed methods approach using: table discussions, spectrum lines and line ups. 36 participants attended the Ideas Café event held at the Coventry Transport Museum in June 2017. Table discussions provided the key findings for Thematic Analysis as part of Grounded Theory; which found, contrary to current research trends, designing for the technology’s integration with society as equally important for trust as the vehicle design itself. The authors also reported on the emergent high level interface guidelines

Carbohydrate−π Interactions: What Are They Worth?

Protein-carbohydrate interactions play an important role in many biologically important processes. The recognition is mediated by a number of noncovalent interactions including an interaction between the α-face of the carbohydrate and the aromatic side chain. To this end, this interaction has been studied in the context of a β-hairpin in aqueous solution, in which the interaction can be investigated in the absence of other cooperative noncovalent interactions. In this β-hairpin system both the aromatic side chain as well as the carbohydrate was varied in an effort to gain greater insight into the driving force and magnitude of the carbohydrate-π interaction. The magnitude of the interaction was found to vary from -0.5 to -0.8 kcal/mol, depending on the nature of the aromatic ring and the carbohydrate. Replacement of the aromatic ring with an aliphatic group resulted in a decrease in interaction energy to -0.1 kcal/mol, providing evidence for the contribution of CH-π interactions to the driving force. These findings demonstrate the significance of carbohydrate-π interactions within biological systems and also demonstrate its utility as a molecular recognition element in designed system

CT-based online adaptive radiotherapy improves target coverage and organ at risk (OAR) avoidance in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for prostate cancer

INTRODUCTION: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an emerging treatment modality for clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa). Online daily adaptive radiotherapy (ART) could potentially improve the therapeutic ratio of prostate SBRT by accounting for inter-fraction variation in target and OAR volumes. To our knowledge, no group has evaluated the clinical utility of a novel AI-augmented CT-based ART system for prostate SBRT. In this study we hypothesized that adaptive prostate SBRT plans would result in improved target coverage and lower dose to OARs in comparison to unadapted treatment plans. METHODS: Seven patients with favorable intermediate to oligometastatic PCa treated with 5-fx prostate adaptive SBRT were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were treated with 3625 cGy to the prostate and seminal vesicles. 6 patients additionally received 2500 cGy to the pelvic nodes, 5 patients underwent a boost to 4000 cGy to the prostate. For each fraction, a CBCT was acquired and OARs (rectum, bladder, bowel, sigmoid, femurs) were segmented/deformed using AI. CTVs were rigidly registered. Volumes were adjusted manually and PTV expansions added. Adaptive treatment plans were developed based on the contoured targets and OARs and dose to these volumes for the adapted vs. initial plans were compared for each fraction. V100 and the D0.03 cc between scheduled and adapted treatment plans were compared using a Student\u27s RESULTS: Seven patients completed 35 Fx\u27s of adaptive RT. Daily adaptation resulted in a statistically significant mean improvement in PTV V100 for all targets: [21.4 % ± 4.3 % for PTV 4000 (p \u3c 0.0001); 8.7 % ± 1.1 % for PTV 3625 (p \u3c 0.0001); and 11.5 % ± 3.1 % for PTV 2500 (p = 0.0013)]. Mean rectal D0.03 was significantly reduced by 38.8 cGy ± 5.95 cGy (p \u3c 0.0001) per fraction (194 cGy/5 fractions) compared to the initial plans. There was a modest increase in bladder dose of 10.9 cGy ± 4.93 cGy per fraction (p = 0.0424) for the adaptive plans. The adaptive plans met bladder constraints for every fraction. There were no statistically significant differences between sigmoid or bowel dose for adapted vs. initial plans. No patients experienced acute CTCAE grade ≥ 3 GI/GU adverse events (median F/U 9.5 months). All statistically significant differences were maintained in the presence and absence of rectal hydrogel spacer (p \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CT-based online adaptive SBRT resulted in statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in PTV coverage and D0.03 cc dose to the rectum. A trial evaluating CT adaptive whole-pelvis prostate SBRT is underway

2017 Scientific Consensus Statement: land use impacts on the Great Barrier Reef water quality and ecosystem condition, Chapter 2: sources of sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants to the Great Barrier Reef

This chapter provides an up-to-date review of the state of knowledge relating to the source of sediment and nutrients as well as pesticides and other pollutants delivered to the Great Barrier Reef from adjacent catchments. The strengths and limitations of the various datasets are also discussed. Collectively, sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants (e.g. petroleum hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals) are described as ‘pollutants’. This chapter is focused on defining the major source areas of these pollutants across the Great Barrier Reef, how these sources have varied in space and time, the major processes (e.g. hillslope, gully and streambank erosion) delivering these pollutants, their relative loads to the Great Barrier Reef and a summary of the main drivers in terms of land use, land condition and agricultural practices. Plot- and paddock-scale studies, including the effectiveness of remediation approaches, are summarised in Chapter 4. Acknowledging that all forms of data used to estimate pollutant loads to the Great Barrier Reef have constraints and limitations, this review uses a ‘multiple lines of evidence’ approach and draws on data from three main sources. These include the Queensland Government load monitoring data, the latest Queensland Government whole of Great Barrier Reef Source Catchments modelling results (which underpin the Report Card 2015) as well as a summary of the numerous individual research projects and synthesis reports published over the last four years. Data and information are included that was published, publicly available and that had undergone a peer review process. In a few cases, grey literature (e.g. consulting reports) and journal publications currently in review are included. A synthesis of the broad findings of this chapter are outlined below and in Table 1. A detailed description of what has changed since the last Scientific Consensus Statement is provided in Table 20