An evaluation of a school-based intervention to reduce risk behaviour in adolescents

Risk-Avert is a school-based programme established by The Training Effect and Essex County Council with the aim of reducing risk behaviour and improving emotional health, resilience and self-efficacy in adolescents. Prior to beginning Risk-Avert adolescents complete the Risk-Avert Screening Tool to assess their vulnerability to and engagement in risk behaviour. This research aimed to a) establish the validity and reliability of the Risk-Avert Screening Tool, and b) add to the evidence-base regarding the programme’s effectiveness. Study one used existing secondary data from completion of the Risk-Avert Screening Tool. Principal components analysis revealed more underlying componentsthan the expected four-componentstructureand low internal reliability. Study two involved year eight students from two schools with no previous involvement with Risk-Avert. Scores for the Risk-Avert Screening Tool were compared to those for other validated risk and wellbeing measures. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis found that the Risk-Avert Screening Tool was accurate in identifying risk behaviour. Study three was longitudinal and aimed to assess the impact of the Risk-Avert programme by comparing questionnaire scores pre-and post-completion. Although participants in the programme did not demonstrate reduction of risk behaviour between time one and time two, there was also no evidence of an increase. Conversely, non-participants of the programme appeared to increase their level of risk behaviour over the same period. Study four utilised semi-structured interviews with nine staff members who had led the Risk-Avert programme. The interviews concerned the practicalities and impact of Risk-Avert. Analysis identified that interviewees generally felt the programme had positive impacts, but there was variation in how the Risk-Avert programme was implemented. Overall, the Risk-Avert Screening Tool was found to be accurate in identifying risk behaviour and it appeared the Risk-Avert programme may have some preventive effect regarding risk behaviour, as suggested by both quantitative and qualitative findings

Surrogate Accelerated Bayesian Inversion for the Determination of the Thermal Diffusivity of a Material

Determination of the thermal properties of a material is an important task in many scientific and engineering applications. How a material behaves when subjected to high or fluctuating temperatures can be critical to the safety and longevity of a system's essential components. The laser flash experiment is a well-established technique for indirectly measuring the thermal diffusivity, and hence the thermal conductivity, of a material. In previous works, optimization schemes have been used to find estimates of the thermal conductivity and other quantities of interest which best fit a given model to experimental data. Adopting a Bayesian approach allows for prior beliefs about uncertain model inputs to be conditioned on experimental data to determine a posterior distribution, but probing this distribution using sampling techniques such as Markov chain Monte Carlo methods can be incredibly computationally intensive. This difficulty is especially true for forward models consisting of time-dependent partial differential equations. We pose the problem of determining the thermal conductivity of a material via the laser flash experiment as a Bayesian inverse problem in which the laser intensity is also treated as uncertain. We introduce a parametric surrogate model that takes the form of a stochastic Galerkin finite element approximation, also known as a generalized polynomial chaos expansion, and show how it can be used to sample efficiently from the approximate posterior distribution. This approach gives access not only to the sought-after estimate of the thermal conductivity but also important information about its relationship to the laser intensity, and information for uncertainty quantification. We also investigate the effects of the spatial profile of the laser on the estimated posterior distribution for the thermal conductivity

Seaforms

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ibn Rushd, al-Ghazali, al-Jabari, and Tarabichi in eight centuries of dialogue without dialogue

textScholars, philosophers, and theologians have debated the compatibility of Hellenic Philosophy with Islam since the eighth century CE. In his book Averroes et l’Averroisme (1852), Ernst Renan identified Tahāfut al-Falsifa by al-Ghazali and Tahāfut al-Tahāfut by ibn Rushd as the two key texts resolving the issue: the Islamic world accepted al-Ghazali and fell into decline, while Europe accepted ibn Rushd (Averroës) and experienced the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Renan’s argument has endured among Arab liberal intellectuals over the past one-hundred sixty years, but using ibn Rushd as the mascot for Arab Rationalism has failed to inspire anything resembling asecond Nahda. Two contemporary Arab intellectuals, Mohammad ʿAbed al-Jabari and George Tarabichi, have engaged in their own dialogue about the works of al-Ghazali’s and ibn Rushd’s and whether or not Averroism can effect real change in the modern Arab world. This paper examines the works of al-Ghazali, ibn Rushd, Renan, al-Jabari, and Tarabichi in their historical, cultural, and geographical contexts to conclude that the solution to the problems of the modern Arab world, if one exists, does not lie solely within the works of ibn Rushd.Histor

Nitric oxide-dependent vasodilation is compromised in isolated pulmonary arteries from COX knockout mice

Cyclooxygenase (COX) has two isoforms and is essential for prostanoid synthesis. COX-1 is constitutive whilst COX-2 is induced in inflammation. Two COX products, prostacyclin (PGI2) and thromboxane (TxA2), regulate vessel tone; PGI2 mediates vasodilation and platelet inhibition, and TxA2 opposes this. PGI2 therapies are used in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Endogenous TxA2/PGI2 has been linked to PAH in animal models, but the mechanism and isoform involved is debated. We hypothesized that pulmonary artery (PA) from COX-1–/– and COX-2–/– mice would have altered vasodilatory function compared with wild-type (WT; C57Bl6) mice. Vasomotor responses to contractile and relaxant agents were measured by myography. PA from all mice responded similarly to contraction by high potassium or the TxA2 mimetic, U46619. Relaxation to PGI2 receptor or PPARβ/ agonists was also similar in all PAs. However, COX-1–/– and, to a lesser extent, COX-2–/– PA had impaired vasodilation to acetylcholine (ACh), which stimulates endothelial nitric oxide (NO) release, and COX-1–/– PA also dilated less to sodium nitroprusside (SNP); an NO donor that works on smooth muscle (Fig 1). These data indicate an interaction between COX and NO sensing pathways in pulmonary vessels, and have implications for our understanding of PAH.Non peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Veil Dance

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/3662/thumbnail.jp

Identification and molecular characterisation of chemotaxis genes in agrobacterium tumefaciens

Using heterologous probing, with fragments from the S. meliloti che operon, putative chemotaxis genes were identified in A. tumefaciens. The cosmid pDUB1911, from a representative genomic library of C58C1, was identified and found to contain a cluster of chemotaxis-related genes. A 9.6kb region of pDUB1911 was completely sequenced (GenBank Accession No. AF044495), in both directions, and found to contain an 8kb chemotaxis cluster. The cluster begins with orf1, followed by orf2, cheYl, cheA, cheR, cheB, cheY2, orf9 and orflO. All of the identified homologues showed a high degree of sequence conservation with their counterparts in the chemosensory regions of the related bacteria S. meliloti and R. sphaeroides, and were arranged in a similar order. A homologue of the flagellar gene fliF was identified directly downstream of the che cluster. This arrangement is similar to that seen in S. meliloti, where the che operon is followed by a large region containing flagellar/motility-related genes. It was therefore postulated that the region identified in this work could be linked to the cluster of flagellar/motihty-related genes previously identified in A. tumefaciens. Mutant strains were created by in-frame deletion of cheA and orflO, and insertion of a neomycin resistance cassette in orfl, cheA and fliF. The oifl and cheA mutants showed wild type motility, but impaired chemotactic capabilities. Deletion of orflO appeared to have no effect on either motility or chemotaxis, under the conditions studied. Mutation of fliF resulted in a non-motile, non-flagellate phenotype. A "gutted" strain was created by deletion of the entire che cluster. As with the orfl and cheA mutant strains, the gutted strain showed severely impaired chemotaxis, but wild type patterns of motility. Preliminary work was conducted on the construction of a selectively-infective phage (SIP) system for studying bimolecular interactions within, and between, the che and vir systems of A. tumefaciens. A phage vector was constructed, which following further testing, should allow such work to begin. Probing with a fragment coding for the conserved region of an MCP recently identified m R. leguminosarum, suggested that A. tumefaciens could contain a number of proteins resembling the classical MCPs of E. coli. A putative MCP homologue was also identified in pDUB1911, downstream of the main che cluster. Although the che cluster was found not to contain a homologue of cheW, heterologous probing and PGR using consensus primers indicated that c/ieWmaps elsewhere in the A. tumefaciens genome

Variability in foraging by humpback whales (Megaptera novaenangliae) on the Kodiak, Alaska, feeding ground

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014The North Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) population has been growing rapidly following a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. Knowledge of humpback whale foraging on feeding grounds is becoming increasingly important as the growing population consumes more prey, including economically important commercial fishes. The goal of this thesis is to better understand how marine resources are shared among the growing humpback whale population and sympatric apex predators, including western Steller sea lions (SSLs; Eumetopias jubatus), on the Kodiak, AK, feeding ground. To address this, we explored spatial and temporal (inter-annual and within-feeding season) variability in summer foraging by humpback whales along the eastern side of the Kodiak Archipelago as described by stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope ratios of humpback whale skin (n = 118; 2004-2013). We found evidence for the existence of two sub-aggregations of humpback whales ('North', 'South') on the feeding ground that fed at different trophic levels (TLs) throughout the study period. Bayesian stable isotopic mixing models were applied to describe the proportional contribution of prey species to the diet of humpback whales for the two regions. The 'North' region humpback whale sub-aggregation consumed a mixed diet of euphausiids and forage fishes, whereas the 'South' region sub-aggregation foraged predominantly on euphausiids. Results from these analyses were compared to diet composition of Kodiak SSLs of the recovering western SSL population estimated from fecal samples (n = 656; 2000-2005), to explore spatial differences in the degree of overlap in trophic niche between these predators. Western SSLs underwent a marked population decline starting in the late 1970's and have shown slow and variable signs of recovery. Regional variability in SSL and humpback whale diets resulted in a higher degree of overlap in trophic niche, although not biologically significant (Ojk < 0.60), for individuals in the 'North' region compared with the 'South'. However, humpback whale consumption appears to overlap considerably with multiple piscivorous fishes that are prominent prey for SSLs, and thus, consumption by humpback whales may indirectly impact the prey resources of SSLs. Therefore, this study highlights the complexity of the Kodiak ecosystem and suggests consumption by an increasing population of humpback whales has the potential to indirectly impact the recovery of SSLs on a regional scale depending on the biomass of prey species and diet composition of humpback whales in the region

Playing the Game Or Buying in : Charter School Teachers and Professionalism in an Era of Choice and Accountability

Charter schools were initially created with the intention of empowering teachers to implement school and classroom strategies in accordance with their educational expertise. Such autonomy and respect for teacher expertise indicates a commitment to teacher professionalism. Yet charter schools have also have higher rates of teacher turnover and hire fewer credentialed, experienced teachers. In the context of shifting and contested notions of teacher professionalism, charter schools provide insight into how teachers fare under contemporary educational policy arrangements. This comparative qualitative case study investigates how charter schools have lived up to their theoretical promise for teacher professionalism. The study finds that the autonomy built into the charter school model falls on school- and network-level administrators, who then frame the school-level organizational context in which teachers work, creating diverse conditions for professionalism. As administrators worked to meet external accountability mandates, however, they tended to implement stricter controls over teachers\u27 work. Teachers enacted professionalism with varying degrees of success, as they resisted or navigated administrative strictures in order to implement their own ideas of best practices. This study addresses the impact of market-based reforms on teachers, and the implications for the future of teaching as a profession