5,494 research outputs found
Sure Start Winsford parent satisfaction survey
This report is available through the Chester Digital Repository.This project report evaluates user satisfaction with Sure Start services for families with young children.Sure Start Winsfor
Gothic Opera in Britain and France: Genre, Nationalism, and Trans-Cultural Angst
Rescue operas developed along two somewhat different lines: âtyrantâ operas and âhumanitarianâ operas within the general category of âopera semiseria,â or âopĂ©ra comique.â The first type corresponds to the conservative British âloyalty gothic,â with its focus on the trials and tribulations of the aristocracy, while the second type draws upon the Sentimental âvirtue in distressâ or âwoman in jeopardyâ genre, with its focus on middle class characters or women as the captured or besieged. The first category emphasized political injustice or abstract questions of law and embodied the threat of tyranny in an evil man who imprisons unjustly a noble character. Etienne MĂ©hulâs Euphrosine and H.-M. Bertonâs Les rigueurs du cloĂźtre (both 1790) are typical examples of the genre. âHumanitarianâ operas, on the other hand, do not depict a tyrant, but instead portray an individualâusually a woman or a worthy bourgeoisâwho sacrifices everything in order to correct an injustice or to obtain some personâs freedom. Dalayracâs Raoul, Sire de CrĂ©qui (1789) or Bouillyâs and Cherubiniâs Les deux journĂ©es (1800) are examples, along with Sedaineâs pre-1789 works. But why, we might ask, were gothic dramas quickly transformed into gothic operas or what are known now as ârescue operasâ? This essay examines the social and political ideologies that are explicit in the major gothic operatic adaptations of the most popular gothic novels of Britain, while at the same time examining British operaâs very close connections with French models as well as French adaptations of British cultural works
Cheshire Children's Fund learning mentor service: An evaluation
This report describes a learning mentor service based in a number of Chester primary schools and assesses whether the service is benefiting users, meeting Children's Fund objectives, and how the service is performing.Commissioned and funded by Cheshire Children's Fund
A Metabolomic Approach to Assessing Life-History Traits in Caenorhabditis elegans
The proximate causes of ageing and the biological processes that determine
lifespan are still unclear. However, many studies using model organisms
have led to the identification of genes associated with longevity. While there
is a clear link between changes in metabolism and changes in longevity,
there has been relatively little ageing-related research that has measured
metabolites directly. Metabolic profiling of low molecular weight metabolites
(metabolomics) has an advantage over other 'omics' techniques, in that
it directly samples the metabolic changes in an organism, and integrates
information from changes at the gene, transcript and protein levels, as well
as post-translational modification.
This thesis demonstrates that metabolic profiling provides a new and
useful phenotyping tool for studying ageing in the nematode Caenorhabditis
elegans. Using both nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), I have identified metabolites
that are linked with long life. I have carried out the first characterisation
of the C. elegans metabolome throughout both development and ageing.
Comparing these metabolic changes in wild type worms with those seen in a
long-lived mutant aid the understanding of when and how mutant worms
acquire their long-lived phenotype. In addition to this, I have examined the
effects on metabolism of a commonly used technique in C. elegans ageing
research: the inhibition of DNA synthesis to maintain synchronous ageing
populations. This provided a way to control for the effects of this technique
when used in my work, but also demonstrated that its use may result in
artefacts in data. I have also investigated the effect of mutation accumulation
on the C. elegans metabolic profile. I have shown that metabolomics provides
a way to obtain new phenotypes in this type of study, and novel information
about the variation that occurs as a result of spontaneous mutation
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Digital, material and networked: some emerging themes for SET education
Boundaries between the digital and material worlds are becoming blurred as the internet increasingly connects us to things as well as people and information. This is increasingly relevant to education as initiatives which significantly combine digital and material elements in networks are becoming a reality for Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) learning. Our paper reports on the initial findings of a project to carry out a âstate of the artâ review of literature to establish the key themes, opportunities and obstacles that are emerging from the development and use of these âhybridâ systems in learning. We wanted to explore the extent to which this new domain of study is being reported in the literature and to identify work representative of this area. Our aim was to investigate the depth of research in this area by going beyond the technologically descriptive to focus on pedagogical and organisational issues raised in the literature.
To identify the state of current research in the area we carried out a systematic search of databases of Science, Engineering and Technology education literature. We found 808 papers relating to the hybrid learning initiatives we are interested in, of which the majority, 81%, involved the Engineering and Technology disciplines while 6.8% related to Science. The vast majority of papers referred to remote laboratories and most of these were concerned with describing the technologies involved. In order to explore issues emerging from the research, we carried out an in-depth text review of a particular subset of the papers found that focussed on pedagogical issues. The three main themes that emerged were: the importance of real data and authenticity in learning; the importance of a sense of presence (e.g. telepresence, social presence and/or immersion) and the locus of control in, and responsiveness of, a hybrid system. We conclude that these new digital âhybridâ pedagogies offer a lens with which to view both the more traditional material pedagogies, e.g. laboratory-based learning, and purely digital pedagogies, e.g. virtual labs. Finally, issues of authenticity, presence and control/responsiveness will be of increasing pedagogical importance to other âhybridâ systems, such as those involving ubiquitous computing
Offendersâ perceptions of the UK prison smoking ban
Purpose
Despite overall reductions in levels of smoking in the UK, rates of offender smoking remain high. In 2016, it was announced that prisons in England and Wales would gradually introduce a smoking ban. The purpose of this paper is to explore offendersâ perceptions around the upcoming smoking ban.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of eight focus groups were conducted in four prisons across the North of England. Both smoking and non-smoking offenders participated in the focus groups, and thematic analysis was used to explore the findings.
Findings
Themes generated from the data were âfreedom and rightsâ, âthe prison environmentâ and âguiding supportâ. Participants discussed how the smoking ban was viewed as a punishment and restricted their freedom, with perceptions as to why the ban was being implemented centring around others trying to control them. Participants expressed concerns around the financial implications of the smoking ban on already stretched prison resources. Participants also recommended improving the nicotine replacement therapy on offer, and increasing the range of leisure activities within the prison to prepare for the smoking ban.
Originality/value
Overall, it was apparent that participantsâ awareness of the smoking ban was generally poor. It is recommended that offenders need to be made more aware of the smoking cessation support they will receive and given the opportunity to ask questions about the smoking ban. Increasing offendersâ awareness of the ban may reduce stress associated with a perceived lack of choice around their smoking behaviours
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Out there and in here: design for blended scientific inquiry learning
One of the beneïŹts of mobile technologies is to combine âthe digitalâ (e.g., data, information, photos) with âïŹeldâ experiences in novel ways that are contextualized by peopleâs current located activities. However, often cost, mobility disabilities and time exclude students from engaging in such peripatetic experiences. The Out There and In Here project, is exploring a combination of mobile and tabletop technologies in support for collaborative learning. A system is being developed for synchronous collaboration between geology students in the ïŹeld and peers at an indoor location. The overarching goal of this research is to develop technologies that support people working together in a suitable manner for their locations. There are two OTIH project research threads. The ïŹrst deals with disabled learner access issues: these complex issues are being reviewed in subsequent evaluations and publications. This paper will deal with issues of technology supported learning design for remote and co-located science learners. Several stakeholder evaluations and two ïŹeld trials have reviewed two research questions:
1. What will enhance the learning experience for those in the ïŹeld and laboratory?
2. How can learning trajectories and appropriate technologies be designed to support equitable co-located and remote learning collaboration?
This paper focuses on describing the iterative linked development of technologies and scientiïŹc inquiry pedagogy. Two stages within the research project are presented. The 1st stage details several pilot studies over 3 years with 21 student participants in synchronous collaborations with traditional technology and pedagogical models. Findings revealed that this was an engaging and useful experience although issues of equity in collaboration needed further research. The 2nd stage, in this project, has been to evaluate data from over 25 stakeholders (academics, learning and technology designers) to develop pervasive ambient technological solutions supporting orchestration of mixed levels of pedagogy (i.e. abstract synthesis to speciïŹc investigation). Middleware between tabletop âsurfaceâ technologies and mobile devices are being designed with Microsoft and OOKL (a mobile software company) to support these developments. Initial ïŹndings reveal issues around equity, ownership and professional identity
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