Evidence on the effects of flame retardant substances at ecologically relevant endpoints: a systematic map protocol

Background Flame retardant (FR) substances are known to pose a risk to environmental health. A list of potential FR substances has been developed; however, detailed information on the risk, or hazard of such substances to the environment, specifically ecologically relevant endpoints involving animals, plants, bacteria and fungi, has not yet been collated. Methods The main objective of this study is to identify, organise and group existing primary evidence of the ecologically relevant (eco)toxicological effects of FR substances to the environment. Search Strategy We will search several databases across two electronic academic indexes (Scopus and Web of Science [All Collections]). Eligibility criteria Eligible studies must contain primary research investigating the risk (or hazard) of one or more included FR substances and study an ecologically relevant effect in any non-human animal, plant, bacteria and/or fungi. Ecologically relevant effects include impacts on growth, development, survival, reproduction and behaviour. Screening & extraction Articles will be screened at title and abstract, before a full-text review. All articles will be screened by a single reviewer, with a second reviewer assessing articles for consistency. Data extraction will be performed on all articles included at full text, with articles that do not meet the eligibility criteria excluded. All articles excluded at full text will be confirmed by a second reviewer. Study mapping & reporting Results will be published in a narrative summary and visualised in a publicly available, user-friendly, interactive and interrogable evidence map

Using Adobe Connect to deliver innovative learner support

The University of Sheffield has recently moved to improve its digital offer for students within learning and teaching. Lecture capture was introduced in 2016/17, and this was recently followed by the University of Sheffield Digital Media Hub to host and disseminate video content. Although helpful to all students, the move is particularly beneficial to those not predominantly based in Sheffield: distance and off-campus learners, international partners and part-time students. In this environment of change, the University Library’s Faculty Engagement Team (FET) decided to develop our digital offer and increase the number of students able to access library support. This article outlines the ‘Digital Delivery Project’, established by FET to explore, test and implement strategies for expanding the Library’s learner support online

In a Trinitarian Embrace: Reflections from a Local Eucharistic Community in a Global World

The context of the chapter is an Anglican “liberal Catholic” congregation in the Church of England, within a multicultural northern UK city, where those who gather represent the diversity of the globalized, postcolonial world. The chapter highlights the relationship between Anglo-Catholic Eucharistic liturgy, with its Trinitarian form, and feminist commitment to justice-making. The exclusion of feminist reimagining from current rethinking of Trinitarian theology is challenged by affirming the place of a sparse Trinitarian rule, in order to expose heteropatriarchal contraventions of the rule and then to re-site feminist reimagining in relation to it. This enables female imagery for God to infuse, rather than displace, classical liturgical language of God as Father-Son-Spirit, and undermines deeply entrenched heteropatriarchal contraventions. The metaphor of a Trinitarian embrace reflects this opening of the received Trinitarian liturgical form. The impetus for the feminist struggle for justice is found in being swept up into Christ through the Trinitarian missio Dei, in anticipation of the abundant table spread by Divine Wisdom for all people

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in the environment and humans: A review

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) are brominated aliphatic cyclic hydrocarbons used as flame retardants in thermal insulation building materials, upholstery textiles, and electronics. As a result of their widespread use and their physical and chemical properties, HBCDs are now ubiquitous contaminants in the environment and humans. This review summarizes HBCD concentrations in several environmental compartments and analyzes these data in terms of point sources versus diffuse sources, biomagnification potential, stereoisomer profiles, time trends, and global distribution. Generally, higher concentrations were measured in samples (air, sediment, and fish) collected near point sources (plants producing or processing HBCDs), while lower concentrations were recorded in samples from locations with no obvious sources of HBCDs. High concentrations were measured in top predators, such as marine mammals and birds of prey (up to 9600 and 19 200 ng/g lipid weight, respectively), suggesting a biomagnification potential for HBCDs. Relatively low HBCD concentrations were reported in the few human studies conducted to date (median values varied between 0.35 and 1.1 ng/g lipid weight). HBCD levels in biota are increasing slowly and seem to reflect the local market demand. One important observation is the shift from the high percentage of the gamma-HBCD stereoisomer in the technical products to a dominance of the alpha-HBCD stereoisomer in biological samples. A combination of factors such as variations in solubility, partitioning behavior, uptake, and, possibly, selective metabolism of individual isomers may explain the observed changes in stereoisomer patterns. Recommendations for further work include research on how HBCDs are transferred from products into the environment upon production, use, and disposal. Time trends need to be analyzed more in detail, including HBCD stereoisomers, and more data on terrestrial organisms are needed, especially for humans. Whenever possible, HBCDs should be analyzed as individual stereoisomers in order to address their fate and effects

Integrated STEM in initial teacher education: Tackling diverse epistemologies

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) each have distinct epistemological foundations for the production of knowledge, yet a recent international trend in education is to integrate these fields as an approach to teaching and learning. According to the literature, integrated STEM education involves concurrent teaching of two or more knowledge domains from the collection of traditional knowledge silos that constitute S.T.E.M.. The rationale for integrated STEM education is grounded in a perceived need to simulate the complexity of real-world situations, where examples of integrated STEM tend to evolve over time, through the need to solve problems in naturalistic contexts by teams of researchers with different disciplinary expertise. In educational settings, each school S.T.E.M. discipline has evolved with pedagogical responses to simulate real-world contexts such as science inquiry or mathematical problem solving, however, the notion of integrated STEM adds layers of complexity to pedagogical responses. Our aim in this chapter is to address this complexity from the perspective of integrated STEM in initial teacher education programs, based on critical reflections of our recent teaching experiences and learning experiences of our students. We explore the demands on initial teacher education STEM students in terms of the diversity of analytical epistemological orientations, and we consider possible strategies for understanding synthetic epistemological orientations that may inform better our understanding of learning through integrated STEM

From black and white to shades of grey : a longitudinal study of teachers’ perspectives on teaching sociocultural and subjective aspects of science

Traditional school science has been described as focused on indisputable facts where scientific processes and factors affecting these processes become obscured or left undiscussed. In this article, we report on teachers’ perspectives on the teaching of sociocultural and subjective aspects of the nature of science (NOS) as a way to accomplish a more nuanced science teaching in Swedish compulsory school. The teachers (N = 6) took part in a longitudinal study on NOS and NOS teaching that spanned 3 years. The data consists of recorded and transcribed focus group discussions from all 3 years. In the analysis, the transcripts were searched for teachers’ suggestions of issues, relevant for teaching in compulsory school, as well as opportunities and challenges connected to the teaching of these issues. The results of the analysis show that (a) the number of suggested issues increased over the years, (b) teachers’ ways of contextualizing the issues changed from general and unprecise to more tightly connected to socio-scientific or scientific contexts, and (c) the number of both opportunities and challenges related to NOS teaching increased over the years. The most evident changes occurred from the beginning of year 2 when the focus group discussions became more closely directed towards concrete teaching activities. Tensions between the opportunities and challenges are discussed as well as how these can be met, and made use of, in science teacher education