Analysis of Digital Media: Supporting University-Wide Online Learning via Moodle

This report aims to provide an overview of a project which explores teaching and learning within a blended mode of study. Specifically, it looks to analyse the production of digital media and online social networking with a view to enhancing the learning experience. It was the overall aim of the project to contribute to the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy by developing media content; exploring the production process, analyse digital participation and explore the challenges and opportunities locally within schools. The project has placed emphasis on the production principles which enhance our online courses whilst providing a consistent quality of experience – recognising that our students often access course material produced by staff from across schools and colleges

Public-private joint ventures: mixing oil and water?

The use of public–private partnerships (PPPs) is one of the most distinctive features of strategic management in the public sector. One of the most significant, yet understudied, forms of PPP to emerge in recent years is the public–private joint venture (PPJV). Unlike contractual PPPs, in which public organizations specify the service to be provided under contract by private sector organizations, PPJVs involve the creation of a new institutional entity that is governed by all of the parties in the alliance. This paper examines the distinctive character of PPJVs and draws on documentary and case study evidence to evaluate the ways in which the mixing of public and private within this important collaborative form can be managed best

Analysis of Digital Media: Supporting University-Wide Online Learning via Moodle

This report aims to provide an overview of a project which explores teaching and learning within a blended mode of study. Specifically, it looks to analyse the production of digital media and online social networking with a view to enhancing the learning experience. It was the overall aim of the project to contribute to the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy by developing media content; exploring the production process, analyse digital participation and explore the challenges and opportunities locally within schools. The project has placed emphasis on the production principles which enhance our online courses whilst providing a consistent quality of experience – recognising that our students often access course material produced by staff from across schools and colleges

Age-specific incidence of A/H1N1 2009 influenza infection in England from sequential antibody prevalence data using likelihood-based estimation.

Estimating the age-specific incidence of an emerging pathogen is essential for understanding its severity and transmission dynamics. This paper describes a statistical method that uses likelihoods to estimate incidence from sequential serological data. The method requires information on seroconversion intervals and allows integration of information on the temporal distribution of cases from clinical surveillance. Among a family of candidate incidences, a likelihood function is derived by reconstructing the change in seroprevalence from seroconversion following infection and comparing it with the observed sequence of positivity among the samples. This method is applied to derive the cumulative and weekly incidence of A/H1N1 pandemic influenza in England during the second wave using sera taken between September 2009 and February 2010 in four age groups (1-4, 5-14, 15-24, 25-44 years). The highest cumulative incidence was in 5-14 year olds (59%, 95% credible interval (CI): 52%, 68%) followed by 1-4 year olds (49%, 95% CI: 38%, 61%), rates 20 and 40 times higher respectively than estimated from clinical surveillance. The method provides a more accurate and continuous measure of incidence than achieved by comparing prevalence in samples grouped by time period

Aortic valve stenosis-multimodality assessment with PET/CT and PET/MRI

Aortic valve disease is the most common form of heart valve disease in developed countries and a growing healthcare burden with an ageing population. Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography remains central to the diagnosis and surveillance of patients with aortic stenosis, providing gold standard assessments of valve haemodynamics and myocardial performance. However, other multimodality imaging techniques are being explored for the assessment of aortic stenosis, including combined PET/CT and PET/MR. Both approaches provide unique information with respect to disease activity in the valve alongside more conventional anatomic assessments of the valve and myocardium in this condition. This review investigates the emerging use of PET/CT and PET/MR to assess patients with aortic stenosis, examining how the complementary data provided by each modality may be used for research applications and potentially in future clinical practice

Collagen-induced arthritis in C57BL/6 mice is associated with a robust and sustained T-cell response to type II collagen

Many genetically modified mouse strains are now available on a C57BL/6 (H-2b) background, a strain that is relatively resistant to collagen-induced arthritis. To facilitate the molecular understanding of autoimmune arthritis, we characterised the induction of arthritis in C57BL/6 mice and then validated the disease as a relevant pre-clinical model for rheumatoid arthritis

Patient and Provider Perspectives on How Trust Influences Maternal Vaccine Acceptance Among Pregnant Women in Kenya

Background Pregnant women and newborns are at high risk for infectious diseases. Altered immunity status during pregnancy and challenges fully vaccinating newborns contribute to this medical reality. Maternal immunization is a strategy to protect pregnant women and their newborns. This study aimed to find out how patient-provider relationships affect maternal vaccine uptake, particularly in the context of a lower middle- income country where limited research in this area exists. Methods We conducted semi-structured, in-depth narrative interviews of both providers and pregnant women from four sites in Kenya: Siaya, Nairobi, Mombasa, and Marsabit. Interviews were conducted in either English or one of the local regional languages. Results We found that patient trust in health care providers (HCPs) is integral to vaccine acceptance among pregnant women in Kenya. The HCP-patient relationship is a fiduciary one, whereby the patients’ trusts is primarily rooted in the provider’s social position as a person who is highly educated in matters of health. Furthermore, patient health education and provider attitudes are crucial for reinstating and fostering that trust, especially in cases where trust was impeded by rumors, community myths and misperceptions, and religious and cultural factors. Conclusion Patient trust in providers is a strong facilitator contributing to vaccine acceptance among pregnant women in Kenya. To maintain and increase immunization trust, providers have a critical role in cultivating a positive environment that allows for favorable interactions and patient health education. This includes educating providers on maternal immunizations and enhancing knowledge of effective risk communication tactics in clinical encounters

A Model of the Cellular Iron Homeostasis Network Using Semi-Formal Methods for Parameter Space Exploration

This paper presents a novel framework for the modeling of biological networks. It makes use of recent tools analyzing the robust satisfaction of properties of (hybrid) dynamical systems. The main challenge of this approach as applied to biological systems is to get access to the relevant parameter sets despite gaps in the available knowledge. An initial estimate of useful parameters was sought by formalizing the known behavior of the biological network in the STL logic using the tool Breach. Then, once a set of parameter values consistent with known biological properties was found, we tried to locally expand it into the largest possible valid region. We applied this methodology in an effort to model and better understand the complex network regulating iron homeostasis in mammalian cells. This system plays an important role in many biological functions, including erythropoiesis, resistance against infections, and proliferation of cancer cells.Comment: In Proceedings HSB 2012, arXiv:1208.315

Repair of injured plasma membrane by rapid Ca2+-dependent endocytosis

Ca2+ influx through plasma membrane lesions triggers a rapid repair process that was previously shown to require the exocytosis of lysosomal organelles (Reddy, A., E. Caler, and N. Andrews. 2001. Cell. 106:157–169). However, how exocytosis leads to membrane resealing has remained obscure, particularly for stable lesions caused by pore-forming proteins. In this study, we show that Ca2+-dependent resealing after permeabilization with the bacterial toxin streptolysin O (SLO) requires endocytosis via a novel pathway that removes SLO-containing pores from the plasma membrane. We also find that endocytosis is similarly required to repair lesions formed in mechanically wounded cells. Inhibition of lesion endocytosis (by sterol depletion) inhibits repair, whereas enhancement of endocytosis through disruption of the actin cytoskeleton facilitates resealing. Thus, endocytosis promotes wound resealing by removing lesions from the plasma membrane. These findings provide an important new insight into how cells protect themselves not only from mechanical injury but also from microbial toxins and pore-forming proteins produced by the immune system