Structural studies of a fucogalactoxyloglucan from pinus radiata primary cell walls : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biochemistry at Massey University

1. The changes in carbohydrate composition of elongating Pinus radiata primary cell walls were investigated. In the hemicellulose B extracts, a large increase in the percentage of non-starch, non-cellulosic, glucose was found to occur on cessation of cell-wall elongation. 2. By fractionation of the hemicellulose B extracts, with a variety of methods involving precipitation from an aqueous solution, a xyloglucan was purified. This xyloglucan was the major hemicellulose of the Pinus radiata hypocotyl cell wall. 3. Characterisation studies on the xyloglucan involved: quantitative analysis of the monosaccharides derived by nitric acid/urea hydrolysis; identification of the partial hydrolysis products derived by trifluoroacetic acid hydrolysis; quantitation of the sugar linkages using methylation by the Hakomori method; and analysis of the anomeric configuration of component sugars using chromium trioxide oxidation. 4. From the results a tentative structure has been suggested for the xyloglucan, consisting of a backbone of B-D-gluco-pyranose residues linked together by 1-4 glycosidic bonds, and with sidechains of single xylose residues linked through C-6 of the glucose units. Galacto and fuco-1,2- galacto sidechains are attached to some of the xylose residues, probably through the C-2 of the xylose

Conceptions of excellence in teaching and learning and implications for future policy and practice

Within a diverse and expanding system of higher education (HE), such as in the UK, discourse on teaching and student learning highlights tensions between different notions of excellence. For example, excellence as a positional good for students, an aspirational target for continuous quality enhancement, a form of reputational advantage for HE institutions or a means of achieving governmental economic and social goals. Concepts of excellence such as these also operate differently at the level of the individual, the academic unit, the institution and an HE system. Discussion about excellence usually focuses on teaching, and there is much less attention given to excellence in student learning, or even students’ perceptions of excellent teaching. The emphasis tends to be on process and form rather than content; so, what is being taught and learned has become increasingly obscured by concerns over whether teaching and learning are performed excellently. In the literature on pedagogy, there is a large body of writing that employs psychologised understandings of teaching and learning processes and which focuses on micro-level transactions between teachers and students. Though there is some conflicting evidence surrounding the idea of a hierarchy of approaches to learning and teaching – surface, deep and strategic – there seems to be consensus that excellence in pedagogy is associated with more sophisticated conceptions of learning and even, perhaps, of knowledge and its construction. However, it is clear that the dynamics of the relationship between teaching and learning are mediated by students’ perceptions of their environment and by their own motivations to study: excellence in student learning may or may not require excellent teaching. Concepts of teaching excellence are linked to two other notions, viz. the scholarship of teaching and the expert teacher, with some suggestion that excellence should be an attribute of any professional teacher – perhaps confusing excellence with notions of good (enough) teaching or even ‘fitness for purpose’. Much has also been written about institutional mechanisms for recognising and rewarding excellent teaching and the need for these to reflect an institution’s values, missions and culture. A recurring critical theme within the literature contends that the current focus on teaching (and to a lesser extent learning) excellence is symptomatic of a ubiquitous contemporary desire to measure HE performance by means of standardised criteria and quasi-scientific practices. Reinforced by the marketisation of HE and the repositioning of students as consumers, commercial publishers draw on these performance measures to compile institutional rankings, which construct broader notions of ‘excellence’ and ‘world class’ qualities in particular ways. These aggregations of available data appear to be biased towards research reputation and academic prestige, and reduce teaching ‘excellence’ to the numerical ratios between students and academic faculty, and learning to the results of student satisfaction surveys. The biases in favour of particular notions of ‘excellence’ are even more apparent in the increasingly influential world rankings of institutions: with Western, English language and ‘big science’ values predominating. This paper draws on two recent research studies undertaken by the UK Open University’s Centre for Higher Education Research and Information: a review of literature on teaching and learning to elicit conceptions of excellence; and research on league tables (rankings) and their impacts on HE institutions in England. It looks at how the term ‘excellence’ is used in the context of teaching and the student learning experience in: policy documents, research literatures, guidance material and the publicity surrounding commercially published institutional rankings. It examines the key concepts underlying such usage and considers the implications of these for future policies for developing and promoting excellence in a diverse system as it moves beyond mass to universal HE

Putting the harm back into harmony: Aikido, violence and 'truth in the Martial Arts'

This paper will address the theme of ‘truth in the martial arts’, a phrase from Mitsugi Saotome’s recent reflection on his relationship as Uchi Deshi to Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. I will frame this theme sociologically, exploring it as an aspect of the martial arts as contemporary practices of the self. What is distinct about the practice of the martial arts in this context is their sustained reflection on violence, not simply as violent contest, but as a condition of irreducible insecurity per se. I would like to propose that Aikido (not unlike other martial arts) offers a response to violence by articulating a form-of-life – ‘a life that can never be separated from its form’ (Giorgio Agamben) – that is centred on the understanding that complete martial fluidity is immanent to life. The martial arts are therefore very interesting contemporary practices of the self because their paths to knowledge address key biopolitical issues of life and power through a freeing relation to violence. I would also like to propose that the framework of transcendental empiricism, which Gilles Deleuze develops to describe the dynamics of affectual as opposed to representational (i.e. mediated) experience, is both promising to characterize the experience of martial fluidity and to expand the self-understanding martial artists themselves. Martial artists are uniquely positioned to decipher Agamben’s and Deleuze’s theoretical texts because of the deep, embodied knowledge that emerges through practice

Report to HEFCE on student engagement

This study, commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), explored the extent and nature of student engagement in the higher education sector in England. The study was concerned with institutional and student union processes and practices – such as those relating to student representation and student feedback – which seek to inform and enhance the collective student learning experience, as distinct from specific teaching, learning and assessment activities that are designed to enhance individual students’ engagement with their own learning. The study found that institutions view student engagement as central to enhancing the student experience, but the emphasis seems to be placed on viewing students as consumers. For student unions, the emphasis is on viewing them as partners in a learning community. The latter notion seems to be stronger in certain subject areas (for example, Art and Design and Performing Arts) than others. The majority of HEIs and FE colleges rate their student engagement processes – comprising a basic model of student feedback questionnaires and student representation systems – as reasonably or very effective; student unions are less likely to do so. Detailed discussions with staff and students within a diverse range of HE providers showed that actual practices vary between and within institutions and that their effectiveness could be improved. Higher education institutions, student unions and further education colleges with significant higher education provision were surveyed to establish a baseline measure of the nature and extent of student engagement processes. Further exploration of institutions’ formal and informal processes and their effectiveness was undertaken through fieldwork with a number of higher education providers and student unions

Excellence in teaching and learning: A review of the literature for the Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy commissioned a review of the literature on excellence in learning and teaching in higher education to enhance the higher education sector’s understanding of the varied conceptualisations and usages of the term ‘excellence’ and consider the implications for future policy and practice in relation to promoting and developing excellence. The literature searched included published research in the form of journal articles; books; reports from UK policy bodies and other agencies; as well as ‘grey’ literature. It covered conceptual studies, academic critiques and research studies on learning and teaching, as well as policy documents. Within a diverse and expanding system of higher education, such as in the UK, discourse on teaching and student learning highlights the tensions between different notions of excellence – for example, excellence as a positional good for students, as an aspirational target for continuous quality enhancement, as a form of reputational advantage for higher education institutions or as a means for achieving governmental economic and social goals. The review addressed questions of conceptualisations and usage at different (but interlinked) levels: system-wide; institutional; departmental; individual, and from two different perspectives, teaching and student learning

Synthesis of FMSP Experience and Lessons Learned for Fisheries Co-Management, Final Technical Report

In November 2012, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) set the terms of reference for a commissioned assessment of fisheries and aquaculture science. The task was to complete a "scoping review", consisting of an in-depth assessment of the existing evidence related to fisheries and aquaculture activities in developing countries and their contribution to economic growth, food security and nutrition. For this the assessment was expected to identify the existing evidence and 'evidence in the pipeline' (i.e. to be published imminently) from the existing literature, compile it, and provide an assessment of the strength (in the sense, scientific rigor) of that evidence, and identify knowledge or evidence gaps. In addition the assessment was to be complemented by a mapping of existing relevant interventions in fisheries and aquaculture. In order to conduct this assessment, the team of consultants adopted a six step methodological protocol that allowed them to assess in a consistent manner the scientific quality of the documents included in the assessment, based on quality, size and consistency of the evidence. After scanning, 202 documents were retained. The main evidences from these 202 documents were organised under two main threads: (i) Developmental outcomes, including food security; nutrition; health; economic growth and (ii) Mediating factors focusing on governance; and gender

Uncharted Terrain: Maps Created For Military Purposes Also Possess Historical, \u27Sthetic Richness

During the Civil War, a map of good quality had the potential to make the difference between victory and defeat on the battlefield. Earl B. McElfresh\u27s Maps and Mapmakers of the Civil War brings together the War\u27s most notable, interesting, and beautiful maps, some of which have never before ...

Hyperfine structure in the rotational spectrum of asymmetric-top molecules containing two identical quadrupolar nuclei

Ph.D.J. Q. Williams and T. L. Weatherl