Social and emotional development in nurture groups : the narrative structure of learning through companionship

This paper provides insight into the intersubjective nature of the nurture group experience for children in the early stages of primary school. The study investigates the psychological processes involved in the socio-emotional development of children in nurture groups and considers how they participate and make meaning through the relationships they build in the groups. A theory of narrative meaning-making guides the understanding of the ways in which children make sense of their nurture group experience and provides a methodological tool to explore this experience. Over one school year, the children’s interconnectedness with others is measured through their levels of involvement and participatory engagement with people and experiences in the nurture group. Patterns of embodied narrative engagement are studied to provide a ‘picture’ of the child’s lived experience, and its development over time

The embodied narrative nature of learning : nurture in school

Learning is participatory and embodied. It requires active participation from both teacher and learner to come together to co-create shared projects of discovery that allow meaning to unfold and develop between them. This paper advances theory on the intersubjective and embodied nature of cognition and meaning-making as constituted by co-created narrative units. Learning within embodied narrative episodes incorporate affective, energetic, and intentional components to produce schemas of engagement that structure knowledge and become units held in memory. We examine two cases of non-verbal narrative patterns of engagement between teacher and child within Nurture Group practice, a special pedagogy that attunes to the affects and interests of children. Analysis of these cases reveal patterns that established shared rhythm, affect, and body movement between teacher and child, which, on completion, generated shared joy and learning. Thus, we identify an embodied, co-created narrative structure of embodied cognition essential for learning and participatory meaning-making

Structure-based drug design of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 inhibitors

The enzyme 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 1 (11β-HSD1) catalyses the intracellular biosynthesis of the active glucocorticoid cortisol. Tissue specific dysregulation of the enzyme has been implicated in the development of metabolic syndrome and other associated diseases. Experiments with transgenic mice and prototype inhibitors show that inhibition of 11β-HSD1 in visceral adipose tissue and liver leads to a resistance of diet-induced hyperglycemia and a favourable lipid and lipoprotein profile as compared to controls. 11β-HSD1 inhibition has thus been proposed as an effective strategy to decrease intracellular glucocorticoid levels without affecting circulating glucocorticoid levels that are essential for stress responses. The clinical development of selective and potent drugs has therefore become a priority. In this research, a process of virtual screening employing the novel algorithm UFSRAT (Ultra Fast Shape Recognition with Atom Types) was used to discover compounds which had specific physicochemical and spatial atomic parameters deemed essential for inhibition of 11β-HSD1. The top scoring compounds were assayed for inhibitory activity against recombinant human and mouse enzyme, using a fluorescence spectroscopy approach. In addition, HEK-293 cell based assays with either human, mouse or rat enzymes were carried out using a scintillation proximity assay (SPA). The most potent compound competitively inhibited human 11β-HSD1 with a Kiapp value of 51 nM. Recombinant mouse and human enzyme were expressed, purified and characterised and used in a series of ligand binding assays. Further to this, an X-ray crystal structure of mouse 11β-HSD1 in complex with a tight binding inhibitor – carbenoxolone was solved

‘Sustaining the Ambition’: The contribution of GTCS-registered teachers as part of the Early Learning and Childcare Workforce in Scotland

This report is about young children and the hopes and ambitions Scotland has for them. Scottish Government policy aspires to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. Part of this ambition is to tackle child poverty in Scotland and narrow the gap that disadvantage brings to educational outcomes. At the same time as increasing the free entitlement to early learning and childcare (ELC) with the aim of this rising to 1,140 hours per year by 2020, there has been, over the last 10 years in Scotland, a 29% reduction in the numbers of GTCS-registered teachers employed in such services, but only a 4% drop in child numbers, which gives a ratio of 1 teacher to 84 children at this important stage. The numbers of GTCS-registered teachers in pre-school services face further reductions: if Scotland is to achieve its aspiration of changing child outcomes, no further attrition in teacher employment can be tolerated and serious consideration needs to be given to the future composition of the ELC workforce: a task that is underway following the Scottish Government’s Response to the Independent Review of the Workforce (Siraj & Kingston, 2015)

UFSRAT:Ultra-fast shape recognition with atom types -The discovery of novel bioactive small molecular scaffolds for FKBP12 and 11βHSD1

MOTIVATION:Using molecular similarity to discover bioactive small molecules with novel chemical scaffolds can be computationally demanding. We describe Ultra-fast Shape Recognition with Atom Types (UFSRAT), an efficient algorithm that considers both the 3D distribution (shape) and electrostatics of atoms to score and retrieve molecules capable of making similar interactions to those of the supplied query. RESULTS:Computational optimization and pre-calculation of molecular descriptors enables a query molecule to be run against a database containing 3.8 million molecules and results returned in under 10 seconds on modest hardware. UFSRAT has been used in pipelines to identify bioactive molecules for two clinically relevant drug targets; FK506-Binding Protein 12 and 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1. In the case of FK506-Binding Protein 12, UFSRAT was used as the first step in a structure-based virtual screening pipeline, yielding many actives, of which the most active shows a KD, app of 281 µM and contains a substructure present in the query compound. Success was also achieved running solely the UFSRAT technique to identify new actives for 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, for which the most active displays an IC50 of 67 nM in a cell based assay and contains a substructure radically different to the query. This demonstrates the valuable ability of the UFSRAT algorithm to perform scaffold hops. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION:A web-based implementation of the algorithm is freely available at http://opus.bch.ed.ac.uk/ufsrat/

Nurturing children's social and emotional development in primary schools : a pilot study

Nurture Groups provide an early intervention resource for children displaying social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, whose needs cannot be met in a mainstream class. The groups are informed by Attachment Theory, have positive effects on behaviour, social and emotional wellbeing and academic attainment, and allow children who may be at risk of exclusion to remain within mainstream education

Structure-based drug design of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 inhibitors

The enzyme 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 1 (11β-HSD1) catalyses the intracellular biosynthesis of the active glucocorticoid cortisol. Tissue specific dysregulation of the enzyme has been implicated in the development of metabolic syndrome and other associated diseases. Experiments with transgenic mice and prototype inhibitors show that inhibition of 11β-HSD1 in visceral adipose tissue and liver leads to a resistance of diet-induced hyperglycemia and a favourable lipid and lipoprotein profile as compared to controls. 11β-HSD1 inhibition has thus been proposed as an effective strategy to decrease intracellular glucocorticoid levels without affecting circulating glucocorticoid levels that are essential for stress responses. The clinical development of selective and potent drugs has therefore become a priority. In this research, a process of virtual screening employing the novel algorithm UFSRAT (Ultra Fast Shape Recognition with Atom Types) was used to discover compounds which had specific physicochemical and spatial atomic parameters deemed essential for inhibition of 11β-HSD1. The top scoring compounds were assayed for inhibitory activity against recombinant human and mouse enzyme, using a fluorescence spectroscopy approach. In addition, HEK-293 cell based assays with either human, mouse or rat enzymes were carried out using a scintillation proximity assay (SPA). The most potent compound competitively inhibited human 11β-HSD1 with a Kiapp value of 51 nM. Recombinant mouse and human enzyme were expressed, purified and characterised and used in a series of ligand binding assays. Further to this, an X-ray crystal structure of mouse 11β-HSD1 in complex with a tight binding inhibitor – carbenoxolone was solved.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Companionship effects for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties

Nurture Groups in primary schools provide an early intervention resource for children displaying social, emotional and behavioural difficulties at school entry, whose needs cannot be met in a mainstream class. The Groups are informed by attachment theory and are shown to have a positive effect on behaviour, social and emotional wellbeing (Mackay et al., 2010; Seth-Smith et al., 2010; Cooper & Whitebread, 2007) and academic attainment (Mackay et al., 2010) in children. Success is attributed to the theoretical underpinnings of the intervention, however little is understood about the psychological processes involved in the efficacy of the Groups. It is hypothesised that the Groups address a missing aspect of ‘affect attunement’ in children with SEBD by establishing relationships built on ‘Companionship’, which provide a forum for learning and development. This study aims to improve understanding of the means of affective attunement and efficacy of Companionship in Nurture Group intervention, to inform best practice in this and other domains. A longitudinal study using audio-video recording and observation methods is being carried out to examine the behavioural and relational patterns of children attending the Groups. The video data will be analysed for dimensions of attunement between the children and their peers and teachers. Behavioural and emotional patterns will be examined and narrative sequences of interaction quantified by measures of affective quality, rhythm and duration. Emotional and behavioural change over time will be measured to provide understanding of the patterns of behaviour, emotional attunement and intensity of intersubjective experience that assist children’s development