Researching the lives of disabled children and young people

Why a Special Issue of Children & Society dedicated to disabled children and young people? The simple answer to that question is ‘because disabled children are children first and foremost’. The vast majority of disabled children and young people in the western world live at home with their families, most attending mainstream schools, and disabled children and young people worldwide have rights to inclusion and equal treatment enshrined in national legislation and international conventions. Yet they often remain left out – from generic children’s research, from policy-making about children’s services and, in their everyday lives, from inclusion in friendship groups and social and sporting activities

Protective effect of small molecule analogues of the Acanthocheilonema viteae secreted product ES-62 on oxazolone-induced ear inflammation

ES-62 is the major secreted protein of the rodent filarial nematode Acanthocheilonema viteae. The molecule contains covalently attached phosphorylcholine (PC) residues, which confer anti-inflammatory properties on ES-62, underpinning the idea that drugs based on this active moiety may have therapeutic potential in human diseases associated with aberrant inflammation. Here we demonstrate that two synthetic small molecule analogues (SMAs) of ES-62 termed SMA 11a and SMA 12b are protective in the oxazolone-induced acute allergic contact dermatitis mouse model of skin inflammation, as measured by a significant reduction in ear inflammation following their administration before oxazolone sensitisation and before oxazolone challenge. Furthermore, it was found that when tested, 12b was effective at reducing ear swelling even when first administered before challenge. Histological analysis of the ears showed elevated cellular infiltration and collagen deposition in oxazolone-treated mice both of which were reduced by treatment with the two SMAs. Likewise, the oxazolone-induced increase in IFNγ mRNA in the ears was reduced but no effect on other cytokines investigated was observed. Finally, no influence on the mast cell populations in the ear was observed

Bounding wide composite vector resonances at the LHC

In composite Higgs models (CHMs), electroweak precision data generically push colourless composite vector resonances to a regime where they dominantly decay into pairs of light top partners. This greatly attenuates their traces in canonical collider searches, tailored for narrow resonances promptly decaying into Standard Model final states. By reinterpreting the CMS same-sign dilepton (SS2$\ell$) analysis at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), originally designed to search for top partners with electric charge $5/3$, we demonstrate its significant coverage over this kinematical regime. We also show the reach of the 13 TeV run of the LHC, with various integrated luminosity options, for a possible upgrade of the SS2$\ell$ search. The top sector of CHMs is found to be more fine-tuned in the presence of colourless composite resonances in the few TeV range.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Minor corrections for publication in JHE

Resting-state functional connectivity identifies individuals and predicts age in 8-to-26-month-olds

Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) measured with fMRI has been used to characterize functional brain maturation in typically and atypically developing children and adults. However, its reliability and utility for predicting development in infants and toddlers is less well understood. Here, we use fMRI data from the Baby Connectome Project study to measure the reliability and uniqueness of rsFC in infants and toddlers and predict age in this sample (8-to-26 months old; n = 170). We observed medium reliability for within-session infant rsFC in our sample, and found that individual infant and toddler\u27s connectomes were sufficiently distinct for successful functional connectome fingerprinting. Next, we trained and tested support vector regression models to predict age-at-scan with rsFC. Models successfully predicted novel infants\u27 age within ± 3.6 months error and a prediction

Invariant Distribution of Promoter Activities in Escherichia coli

Cells need to allocate their limited resources to express a wide range of genes. To understand how Escherichia coli partitions its transcriptional resources between its different promoters, we employ a robotic assay using a comprehensive reporter strain library for E. coli to measure promoter activity on a genomic scale at high-temporal resolution and accuracy. This allows continuous tracking of promoter activity as cells change their growth rate from exponential to stationary phase in different media. We find a heavy-tailed distribution of promoter activities, with promoter activities spanning several orders of magnitude. While the shape of the distribution is almost completely independent of the growth conditions, the identity of the promoters expressed at different levels does depend on them. Translation machinery genes, however, keep the same relative expression levels in the distribution across conditions, and their fractional promoter activity tracks growth rate tightly. We present a simple optimization model for resource allocation which suggests that the observed invariant distributions might maximize growth rate. These invariant features of the distribution of promoter activities may suggest design constraints that shape the allocation of transcriptional resources

Assessing L2 Argumentation in the UAE Context

In this rapidly changing world, argumentation and critical thinking skills are undeniably crucial for new generations of Emirati students. These skills lay the groundwork for a competitive economy, which is a priority for the UAE in its Vision 2021. Specifically, today’s modern workplaces require workers to evaluate different propositions and develop their own after weighing up these various ideas, and thus the ability to defend arguments in English has become increasingly important for UAE university students in English-medium universities as well as their future professional contexts. Despite this importance, research regarding argumentation and the related critical thinking skills is sorely lacking in the UAE. This chapter delineates how written argumentation was assessed in a timed essay in a mandatory argumentative writing course taken by university freshmen in a government university in the UAE, and how the feedback gleaned from this common assessment was mapped to the teaching curriculum to shed light on the teaching effectiveness and to provide directions for future teaching

Influence of the balanced scorecard on the science and innovation performance of Latin American universities

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Knowledge Management Research & Practice on 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14778238.2019.1569488[EN] Pressure on the education system to meet society's needs has led some universities to adopt organisational performance measurement systems as strategic control tools. One of the most commonly used systems in business is the balanced scorecard (BSC). For Latin American universities, the urgent task of increasing the quantity and quality of research and innovation has led these universities to update their essential processes. A suitable control system is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of these new policies. Based on strategic management theory, this study focuses on the implementation of a BSC method in Latin American public universities. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of BSC implementation on universities? research and innovation performance. The results reveal similar patterns of indicators to measure performance in public universities. Furthermore, these indicators develop favourably following implementation of the BSC.Peris-Ortiz, M.; García-Hurtado, D.; Devece Carañana, CA. (2019). Influence of the balanced scorecard on the science and innovation performance of Latin American universities. Knowledge Management Research & Practice. 17(4):373-383. https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2019.1569488S373383174Agostino, D., & Arnaboldi, M. (2012). Design issues in Balanced Scorecards: The «what» and «how» of control. European Management Journal, 30(4), 327-339. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2012.02.001Al-Ashaab, A., Flores, M., Doultsinou, A., & Magyar, A. (2011). A balanced scorecard for measuring the impact of industry–university collaboration. Production Planning & Control, 22(5-6), 554-570. doi:10.1080/09537287.2010.536626Ankrah, S., & AL-Tabbaa, O. (2015). Universities–industry collaboration: A systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 31(3), 387-408. doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2015.02.003Broadbent, J., & Laughlin, R. (2009). Performance management systems: A conceptual model. Management Accounting Research, 20(4), 283-295. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2009.07.004Chen, S., Yang, C., & Shiau, J. (2006). The application of balanced scorecard in the performance evaluation of higher education. The TQM Magazine, 18(2), 190-205. doi:10.1108/09544780610647892Ferreira, A., & Otley, D. (2009). The design and use of performance management systems: An extended framework for analysis. Management Accounting Research, 20(4), 263-282. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2009.07.003Franceschini, F., & Turina, E. (2011). Quality improvement and redesign of performance measurement systems: an application to the academic field. Quality & Quantity, 47(1), 465-483. doi:10.1007/s11135-011-9530-1Gibbert, M., Ruigrok, W., & Wicki, B. (2008). What passes as a rigorous case study? Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 1465-1474. doi:10.1002/smj.722Ittner, C. D., Larcker, D. F., & Randall, T. (2003). Performance implications of strategic performance measurement in financial services firms. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(7-8), 715-741. doi:10.1016/s0361-3682(03)00033-3Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2001). Transforming the Balanced Scorecard from Performance Measurement to Strategic Management: Part II. Accounting Horizons, 15(2), 147-160. doi:10.2308/acch.2001.15.2.147Khalid, S., Knouzi, N., Tanane, O., & Talbi, M. (2014). Balanced Scoreboard, the Performance Tool in Higher Education: Establishment of Performance Indicators. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 4552-4558. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.984Kraus, K., & Lind, J. (2010). The impact of the corporate balanced scorecard on corporate control—A research note. Management Accounting Research, 21(4), 265-277. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2010.08.001Langfield-Smith, K. (1997). Management control systems and strategy: A critical review. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 22(2), 207-232. doi:10.1016/s0361-3682(95)00040-2Lawrence, S., & Sharma, U. (2002). Commodification of Education and Academic LABOUR—Using the Balanced Scorecard in a University Setting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 13(5-6), 661-677. doi:10.1006/cpac.2002.0562Lee, B., Collier, P. M., & Cullen, J. (2007). Reflections on the use of case studies in the accounting, management and organizational disciplines. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 2(3), 169-178. doi:10.1108/17465640710835337Neely, A., Gregory, M., & Platts, K. (1995). Performance measurement system design. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 15(4), 80-116. doi:10.1108/01443579510083622Philbin, S. (2008). Process model for university‐industry research collaboration. European Journal of Innovation Management, 11(4), 488-521. doi:10.1108/14601060810911138Pritchard, R. D., Roth, P. L., Jones, S. D., & Roth, P. G. (1990). Implementing feedback systems to enhance productivity: A practical guide. National Productivity Review, 10(1), 57-67. doi:10.1002/npr.4040100107Ridwan, R., Harun, H., An, Y., & Fahmid, I. M. (2013). The Impact of the Balanced Scorecard on Corporate Performance: The Case of an Australian Public Sector Enterprise. International Business Research, 6(10). doi:10.5539/ibr.v6n10p103Sayed, N. (2013). Ratify, reject or revise: balanced scorecard and universities. International Journal of Educational Management, 27(3), 203-220. doi:10.1108/09513541311306440Spender, J.-C. (2014). Business Strategy. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199686544.001.0001Tangen, S. (2005). Analysing the requirements of performance measurement systems. 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Many-Body Currents and the Strange-Quark Content of 4he

Meson-exchange current (MEC) contributions to the parity-violating (PV) asymmetry for elastic scattering of polarized electrons from $^4$He are calculated over a range of momentum transfer using Monte Carlo methods and a variational $^4$He ground state wavefunction. The results indicate that MEC's generate a negligible contribution to the asymmetry at low-|\qv|, where a determination of the nucleon's mean square strangeness radius could be carried out at CEBAF. At larger values of momentum transfer -- beyond the first diffraction minimum -- two-body corrections from the $\rho$-$\pi$ \lq\lq strangeness charge" operator enter the asymmetry at a potentially observable level, even in the limit of vanishing strange-quark matrix elements of the nucleon. For purposes of constraining the nucleon's strangeness electric form factor, theoretical uncertainties associated with these MEC contributions do not appear to impose serious limitations.Comment: 32 TEX pages and 7 figures (not included, available from authors upon request), CEBAF Preprint #TH-94-1

Magnetic energy-level diagrams of high-spin (Mn12_{12}-acetate) and low-spin (V15_{15}) molecules

The magnetic energy-level diagrams for models of the Mn12 and V15 molecule are calculated using the Lanczos method with full orthogonalization and a Chebyshev-polynomial-based projector method. The effect of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on the appearance of energy-level repulsions and its relevance to the observation of steps in the time-dependent magnetization data is studied. We assess the usefulness of simplified models for the description of the zero-temperature magnetization dynamics

Heat affected zones and oxidation marks in fiber laser-oxygen cutting of mild steel

The effect of cutting speed and sheet thickness on surface oxidation and heat affected zones (HAZs) has been investigated for laser-oxygen cutting of mild steel sheet with a fiber laser. Optical and scanning electron micrographs were used to determine the extent of surface oxidation and HAZ from plan and cross-sectional views, respectively. The HAZ is consistently wider at the bottom of the cut compared to the HAZ at the top of the cut. With increasing speed, the width of the HAZ at the top of the cut decreases whereas the HAZ width at the bottom of the cut generally increases. No simple, direct relationship between HAZ width and surface oxidation was seen. However, it is possible to state that in each case considered here, the HAZ would be completely removed if they are machined back by a depth equal to the extent of the surface oxidation. (C) 2011 Laser Institute of America