Effective use of PowerPoint in a lecture environment

There is now widespread use of presentation software, such as PowerPoint, in United Kingdom higher education. The extent of this presentation revolution is that PowerPoint has now almost totally replaced the overhead projector as the presentation medium of choice for lecturers and, in addition, largely supplanted whiteboard and blackboard. In addition, there is the greater potential for using presentation software as part of a distance learning material and it is easy to see why it is becoming the de facto standard for lectures. While there is a wide variety of guidance material available for somebody planning to make a presentation, there is only a limited amount of information available for the particular requirements of using presentation software in a lecture environment. Indeed, the starting point for this guide was through personal reflection on using presentation software and seeking (what turned out to be limited) further information to improve personal practice. It is also fair to say that many of the ideas in this guide are from discussion of these issues with colleagues, for whom I am grateful for their thoughts, advice and encouragement

Effectiveness of Elevated Skid Trail Headwater Stream Crossings in the Cumberland Plateau

One of the primary concerns associated with timber harvesting is the production of sediments from stream crossings. While research has shown that using improved haul road crossings can mitigate sediment production in perennial streams compared to the use of unimproved crossings little research has been undertaken on temporary skidder crossings of headwater streams, a situation common to a significant percentage of ground skidding operations. This experiment consisted of a controlled replicated testing of the effectiveness of four types of temporary skidder stream crossings (unimproved ford, corrugated culvert, wood panel skidder bridge, and PVC pipe bundle) relative to bedload and suspended sediment production. Automated samplers were used to monitor sediment and bedload production during the construction, use, removal, and post-removal phases associated with the use of these temporary crossings. Results showed that elevated crossings mitigated total sediment production compared to unimproved fords. Further, wood panel bridges yielded lower amounts of sediment than culverts but PVC pipe bundles show no difference between bridges or culverts. Sediment production varied by crossing type and use phase. While no differences were found among crossings types during construction, there was a difference between improved crossings and fords during use. Further, bridges and PVC pipe bundle crossings produced significantly less sediments than culverts during both their removal and during post-removal sampling and fords produced the largest amount of sediments during these phases

Assessing the effect of dynamics on the closed-loop protein-folding hypothesis

The closed-loop (loop-n-lock) hypothesis of protein folding suggests that loops of about 25 residues, closed through interactions between the loop ends (locks), play an important role in protein structure. Coarse-grain elastic network simulations, and examination of loop lengths in a diverse set of proteins, each supports a bias towards loops of close to 25 residues in length between residues of high stability. Previous studies have established a correlation between total contact distance (TCD), a metric of sequence distances between contacting residues (cf. contact order), and the log-folding rate of a protein. In a set of 43 proteins, we identify an improved correlation ( r 2 = 0.76), when the metric is restricted to residues contacting the locks, compared to the equivalent result when all residues are considered ( r 2 = 0.65). This provides qualified support for the hypothesis, albeit with an increased emphasis upon the importance of a much larger set of residues surrounding the locks. Evidence of a similar-sized protein core/extended nucleus (with significant overlap) was obtained from TCD calculations in which residues were successively eliminated according to their hydrophobicity and connectivity, and from molecular dynamics simulations. Our results suggest that while folding is determined by a subset of residues that can be predicted by application of the closed-loop hypothesis, the original hypothesis is too simplistic; efficient protein folding is dependent on a considerably larger subset of residues than those involved in lock formation. </jats:p

Conservation of Functional Heritage Railway Buildings as an Archetype for the Conservation of Functional Heritage Buildings

Conservation of heritage buildings has a theoretical basis dating from the Renaissance, popularised by the 18th Century ‘grand tour’ and codified by the 19th Century. This approach recognised great works of architecture and artistry, while consciously eschewing contemporary ‘functional’ buildings developed throughout the Industrial Revolution. Subsequent writers identify that these functional buildings are an integral part of a wider cultural significance and equally worthy of conservation, while recognising that these buildings present new problems in applying the accepted principles of building conservation. One suggested approach to defining an approach to conservation of these functional buildings is to identify the context and narrative presented by these buildings, possibly by using a survey process to identify the taxonomical values. There is an apparent hesitancy in recognising the development of functional buildings, with discussion of the revolutionary nature of structures associated with Industrial Revolution transport tending to concentrate on the engineering aspects, such as bridges or passenger station train sheds. However, many of the functional buildings developed as railways matured during the 19th Century were innovatory. Included in these innovatory structures are railway signal boxes, small specialist structures that present difficulties in conversion to a different use without losing the original significance, presented as an exemplar of functional buildings. After defining the case and imposing a constraint of mainland Great Britain, the chosen sample for taxonomy survey covered a range in terms of type, age, location, and custodianship. The taxonomy survey identified the context of each building and applied a narrative to a sample as conceptually perceived by a casual observer of the building. For each sample case study building it was possible to identify a context and apply an effective narrative. Results suggest that for functional buildings such as railway signal boxes there is a clear divergence from accepted theories of building conservation, with a sense of context more critical than the purity of location or building. Furthermore, this conservation is strongly narrative driven, requiring a wider participation than a purely academic discourse that, nevertheless, needs protecting from an idealised, even sentimental, mythologising narrative that this wider discourse could potentially attach to functional buildings. There is a further weakness that the custodians of functional buildings predominately have a limited motivation, and may even be hostile, concerning accepted philosophies of building conservation. To apply the principle of using a narrative to define conservation of heritage functional buildings, this narrative must encapsulate the history, articulate the social aspects, reinvent excellence, and facilitate the experiential. Research findings that include narrative results present a potential cultural shift in building conservation, a shift that fully encompasses conservation of heritage functional buildings. Applying to every building a clearly defined evidential value that looks beyond traditional values provides a multifaceted perception, thus creating an approach that draws upon the perception of disparate people connected with a heritage building rather than only the custodian or building conservationists. This process is dynamic and transferrable, so using a narrative that includes intangible values strengthens the processes for conserving heritage functional buildings

Bioinformatic Extraction of Functional Genetic Diversity from Heterogeneous Germplasm Collections for Crop Improvement

Efficient utilization of genetic variation in plant germplasm collections is impeded by large collection size, uneven characterization of traits, and unpredictable apportionment of allelic diversity among heterogeneous accessions. Distributing compact subsets of the complete collection that contain maximum allelic diversity at functional loci of interest could streamline conventional and precision breeding. Using heterogeneous population samples from Arabidopsis, Populus and sorghum, we show that genomewide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data permits the capture of 3–78 fold more haplotypic diversity in subsets than geographic or environmental data, which are commonly used surrogate predictors of genetic diversity. Using a large genomewide SNP data set from landrace sorghum, we demonstrate three bioinformatic approaches to extract functional genetic diversity. First, in a “candidate gene” approach, we assembled subsets that maximized haplotypic diversity at 135 putative lignin biosynthetic loci, relevant to biomass breeding programs. Secondly, we applied a keyword search against the Gene Ontology to identify 1040 regulatory loci and assembled subsets capturing genomewide regulatory gene diversity, a general source of phenotypic variation. Third, we developed a machine-learning approach to rank semantic similarity between Gene Ontology term definitions and the textual content of scientific publications on crop adaptation to climate, a complex breeding objective. We identified 505 sorghum loci whose defined function is semantically-related to climate adaptation concepts. The assembled subsets could be used to address climatic pressures on sorghum production. To face impending agricultural challenges and foster rapid extraction and use of novel genetic diversity resident in heterogeneous germplasm collections, whole genome resequencing efforts should be prioritized

Does investment in the health sector promote or inhibit economic growth?

BACKGROUND: Is existing provision of health services in Europe affordable during the recession or could cuts damage economic growth? This debate centres on whether government spending has positive or negative effects on economic growth. In this study, we evaluate the economic effects of alternative types of government spending by estimating "fiscal multipliers" (the return on investment for each $1 dollar of government spending). METHODS: Using cross-national fixed effects models covering 25 EU countries from 1995 to 2010, we quantified fiscal multipliers both before and during the recession that began in 2008. RESULTS: We found that the multiplier for total government spending was 1.61 (95% CI: 1.37 to 1.86), but there was marked heterogeneity across types of spending. The fiscal multipliers ranged from -9.8 for defence (95% CI: -16.7 to -3.0) to 4.3 for health (95% CI: 2.5 to 6.1). These differences appear to be explained by varying degrees of absorption of government spending into the domestic economy. Defence was linked to significantly greater trade deficits (β = -7.58, p=0.017), whereas health and education had no effect on trade deficits (peducation=0.62; phealth= 0.33). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that government spending on health may have short-term effects that make recovery more likely