Reactive-site mutants of N-TIMP-3 that selectively inhibit ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5: biological and structural implications.

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Towards Developing AI Literacy: Three Student Provocations on AI in Higher Education

This article reports the reflections of the co-organisers on a recent AI in Higher Education event which was led by students from the University of Leeds and University College London. While academic communities and experts have contributed significantly to the discourse, students’ perspectives have so far been underrepresented. Three student provocations are shared which provided the focus of the discussions during the event. The student co-authors present future-gazing visions of the impact of AI in higher education and beyond. Our collaborative reflections highlight that whether we are seeking to bring about desirable, AI-empowered futures, or aspiring to evade undesirable consequences of these new technologies, it will be vital to develop and enhance the AI literacy of students and educators alike in order to make use of it ethically, creatively and critically

The representation of scientific research in the national curriculum and secondary school pupils’ perceptions of research, its function, usefulness and value to their lives

Young people’s views on what research is, how it is conducted and whether it is important, influences the decisions they make about their further studies and career choices. In this paper we report the analysis of questionnaire data with a particular focus on pupil perceptions of research in the sciences and of the scientific method. The questionnaire was a 25-item Likert Scale (1-5) distributed to seven collaborating schools. We received 2634 returns from pupils across key stages 3, 4 and 5. We also asked teachers to complete the questionnaire in order to explore how they thought their pupils would respond. We received 54 teacher responses. Statistically significant differences in the responses were identified through a chi-square test on SPSS. As what is being taught influences secondary pupil views on research we also consider how the term ‘research’ appears in the national curriculum for England and Wales and the three main English exam boards. The main theoretical construct that informs our analysis of the questionnaire data and the national curriculum is Angela Brew’s 4-tier descriptor of perceptions of research (domino, trading, layer, journey). We use this framework in order to map what, when and how research is presented to school pupils in England and Wales. We also use this framework in order to highlight and discuss certain pupil views that emerged from the questionnaire data and which indicate areas where curriculum and pedagogy intervention may be necessary: pupils seem less confident in their understanding of research as involving the identification of a research question; and, they often see research as a means to confirm one’s own opinion. They do however understand research as involving the generation of new knowledge and the collection of new data, such as interviews and questionnaires as well as laboratory work, field trips and library searches and they appear relatively confident in their statements about their ability to do research, their school experiences of research and the importance of research in their future career choice

Exogenously added GPI-anchored tissue inhibitor of matrix metal loproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) displays enhanced and novel biological activities

The family of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) exhibits diverse physiological/biological functions including the inhibition of active matrix metalloproteinases, regulation of proMMP activation, cell growth, and the modulation of angiogenesis. TIMP-1 is a secreted protein that can be detected on the cell surface through its interaction with surface proteins. The diverse biological functions of TIMP-1 are thought to lie, in part, in the kinetics of TIMP-1/MMP/surface protein interactions. Proteins anchored by glycoinositol phospholipids (GPIs), when purified and added to cells in vitro, are incorporated into their surface membranes. A GPI anchor was fused to TIMP-1 to generate a reagent that could be added directly to cell membranes and thus focus defined concentrations of TIMP-1 protein on any cell surface independent of protein-protein interaction. Unlike native TIMP-1, exogenously added GPI-anchored TIMP-1 protein effectively blocked release of MMP-2 and MMP-9 from osteosarcoma cells. TIMP-1-GP1 was a more effective modulator of migration and proliferation than TIMP-1. While control hTIMP-1 protein did not significantly affect migration of primary microvascular endothelial cells at the concentrations tested, the GPI-anchored TIMP-1 protein showed a pronounced suppression of endothelial cell migration in response to bFGF. In addition, TIMP-1-GPI was more effective at inducing microvascular endothelial proliferation. In contrast, fibroblast proliferation was suppressed by the agent. Reagents based on this method should assist in the dissection of the protease cascades and activities involved in TIMP biology. Membrane-fixed TIMP-1 may represent a more effective version of the protein for use in therapeutic expression

SOX9 transduction of a human chondrocytic cell line identifies novel genes regulated in primary human chondrocytes and in osteoarthritis

The transcription factor SOX9 is important in maintaining the chondrocyte phenotype. To identify novel genes regulated by SOX9 we investigated changes in gene expression by microarray analysis following retroviral transduction with SOX9 of a human chondrocytic cell line (SW1353). From the results the expression of a group of genes (SRPX, S100A1, APOD, RGC32, CRTL1, MYBPH, CRLF1 and SPINT1) was evaluated further in human articular chondrocytes (HACs). First, the same genes were investigated in primary cultures of HACs following SOX9 transduction, and four were found to be similarly regulated (SRPX, APOD, CRTL1 and S100A1). Second, during dedifferentiation of HACs by passage in monolayer cell culture, during which the expression of SOX9 progressively decreased, four of the genes (S100A1, RGC32, CRTL1 and SPINT1) also decreased in their expression. Third, in samples of osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage, which had decreased SOX9 expression compared with age-matched controls, there was decreased expression of SRPX, APOD, RGC32, CRTL1 and SPINT1. The results showed that a group of genes identified as being upregulated by SOX9 in the initial SW1353 screen were also regulated in expression in healthy and OA cartilage. Other genes initially identified were differently expressed in isolated OA chondrocytes and their expression was unrelated to changes in SOX9. The results thus identified some genes whose expression appeared to be linked to SOX9 expression in isolated chondrocytes and were also altered during cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis

Experiences of learning through collaborative evaluation from a masters programme in professional education

This paper presents findings from a collaborative evaluation project within a masters programme in professional education. The project aimed to increase knowledge of research methodologies and methods through authentic learning where participants worked in partnership with the tutor to evaluate the module which they were studying. The project processes, areas of the course evaluated and the data collection methods are outlined. The findings focus on key themes from evaluating the effectiveness of using a collaborative evaluation approach, including: enhanced student engagement; creativity of the collaborative evaluation approach; equality between the tutor and students; and enhanced research skills. Discussion focuses on the outcomes and effectiveness of the project and tutor reflections on adopting a collaborative approach. This paper highlights lessons from the project relevant to those interested in staff-student partnership approaches and those facilitating postgraduate learning and teaching programmes and educational research courses

HopScotch - a low-power renewable energy base station network for rural broadband access

The provision of adequate broadband access to communities in sparsely populated rural areas has in the past been severely restricted. In this paper, we present a wireless broadband access test bed running in the Scottish Highlands and Islands which is based on a relay network of low-power base stations. Base stations are powered by a combination of renewable sources creating a low cost and scalable solution suitable for community ownership. The use of the 5~GHz bands allows the network to offer large data rates and the testing of ultra high frequency ``white space'' bands allow expansive coverage whilst reducing the number of base stations or required transmission power. We argue that the reliance on renewable power and the intelligent use of frequency bands makes this approach an economic green radio technology which can address the problem of rural broadband access

What does touch tell us about emotions in touchscreen-based gameplay?

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ACM. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution.Nowadays, more and more people play games on touch-screen mobile phones. This phenomenon raises a very interesting question: does touch behaviour reflect the player’s emotional state? If possible, this would not only be a valuable evaluation indicator for game designers, but also for real-time personalization of the game experience. Psychology studies on acted touch behaviour show the existence of discriminative affective profiles. In this paper, finger-stroke features during gameplay on an iPod were extracted and their discriminative power analysed. Based on touch-behaviour, machine learning algorithms were used to build systems for automatically discriminating between four emotional states (Excited, Relaxed, Frustrated, Bored), two levels of arousal and two levels of valence. The results were very interesting reaching between 69% and 77% of correct discrimination between the four emotional states. Higher results (~89%) were obtained for discriminating between two levels of arousal and two levels of valence