Predicting university performance in psychology: the role of previous performance and discipline-specific knowledge

Recent initiatives to enhance retention and widen participation ensure it is crucial to understand the factors that predict students' performance during their undergraduate degree. The present research used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test three separate models that examined the extent to which British Psychology students' A-level entry qualifications predicted: (1) their performance in years 1-3 of their Psychology degree, and (2) their overall degree performance. Students' overall A-level entry qualifications positively predicted performance during their first year and overall degree performance, but negatively predicted their performance during their third year. Additionally, and more specifically, students' A-level entry qualifications in Psychology positively predicted performance in the first year only. Such findings have implications for admissions tutors, as well as for students who have not studied Psychology before but who are considering applying to do so at university

The deep water fisheries of the Rockall trough: some insights gleaned from Irish survey data

This article was originally published by ICES on their website http://www.ices.dk/The Fisheries Research Centre (FRC) has conducted trawl and longline surveys in the Rockall Trough since 1993, fishing a total of 223 stations over the depth range 201 to 4,945m. Trawls produced greater species diversity and higher discard rates than longlines, which selected larger squalifurm sharks. In 1997, limited selectivity work, based on ten comparative tows, showed that the size range of roundnose grenadier (Coryphaenoides rupestris) caught using a commercial trawl (llOmm), with and without a small mesh end liner (30mm), were similar. This indicates that mesh size, because of poor selectivity and perceived low survival rates of escapees, may not be a useful management tool in the regulation of the trawl fishery

The pharmacokinetics of medetomidine administered subcutaneously during Isoflurane anaesthesia in Sprague-Dawley rats

Anaesthetic protocols involving the combined use of a sedative agent, medetomidine, and an anaesthetic agent, isoflurane, are increasingly being used in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of the rodent brain. Despite the popularity of this combination, a standardised protocol for the combined use of medetomidine and isoflurane has not been established, resulting in inconsistencies in the reported use of these drugs. This study investigated the pharmacokinetic detail required to standardise the use of medetomidine and isoflurane in rat brain fMRI studies. Using mass spectrometry, serum concentrations of medetomidine were determined in Sprague-Dawley rats during medetomidine and isoflurane anaesthesia. The serum concentration of medetomidine for administration with 0.5% (vapouriser setting) isoflurane was found to be 14.4 ng/mL (±3.0 ng/mL). The data suggests that a steady state serum concentration of medetomidine when administered with 0.5% (vapouriser setting) isoflurane can be achieved with an initial subcutaneous (SC) dose of 0.12 mg/kg of medetomidine followed by a 0.08 mg/kg/h SC infusion of medetomidine. Consideration of these results for future studies will facilitate standardisation of medetomidine and isoflurane anaesthetic protocols during fMRI data acquisition

Resolving Zeeman splitting in quantum dot ensembles

This letter presents a technique for the investigation of the fine structure and spin properties of quantum dot (QD) ensembles, allowing measurement of QD parameters previously accessible only from studies of individual QDs. We show how ∼μeV splittings can be deduced from information contained in the shape of the ensemble polarization spectra and demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by measuring Zeeman splittings, g-factors, and sensitivity to QD fine structure effects

The Landscape Archaeology of Knettishall Heath, Suffolk and its Implications

This paper briefly describes the results of archaeological fieldwork carried out in an area of heathland, currently managed as a nature reserve, in East Anglia. Although the earthworks recorded are for the most part unremarkable, they demonstrate the variety and intensity of human exploitation which shaped this ‘traditionally managed’ habitat. They also serve to emphasise the extent to which modern conservation management can radically change the long-term character of individual places

Multi-layered Ruthenium-modified Bond Coats for Thermal Barrier Coatings

Diffusional approaches for fabrication of multi-layered Ru-modified bond coats for thermal barrier coatings have been developed via low activity chemical vapor deposition and high activity pack aluminization. Both processes yield bond coats comprising two distinct B2 layers, based on NiAl and RuAl, however, the position of these layers relative to the bond coat surface is reversed when switching processes. The structural evolution of each coating at various stages of the fabrication process has been and subsequent cyclic oxidation is presented, and the relevant interdiffusion and phase equilibria issues in are discussed. Evaluation of the oxidation behavior of these Ru-modified bond coat structures reveals that each B2 interlayer arrangement leads to the formation of α-Al 2 O 3 TGO at 1100°C, but the durability of the TGO is somewhat different and in need of further improvement in both cases

A probabilistic model for gene content evolution with duplication, loss, and horizontal transfer

We introduce a Markov model for the evolution of a gene family along a phylogeny. The model includes parameters for the rates of horizontal gene transfer, gene duplication, and gene loss, in addition to branch lengths in the phylogeny. The likelihood for the changes in the size of a gene family across different organisms can be calculated in O(N+hM^2) time and O(N+M^2) space, where N is the number of organisms, $h$ is the height of the phylogeny, and M is the sum of family sizes. We apply the model to the evolution of gene content in Preoteobacteria using the gene families in the COG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups) database

Variability in the efficacy of a standardized antenatal steroid treatment is not due to maternal or fetal plasma drug levels. Evidence from a sheep model of pregnancy.

Background Antenatal steroids (ANS) are standard of care for women judged to be at imminent risk of preterm delivery. Worldwide, there is significant variation in ANS dosing strategy, selection for treatment criteria, and agent choice. This, combined with very limited optimization of ANS use per se means that treatment efficacy is highly variable and the rate of respiratory distress syndrome is decreased perhaps as little as 40%. In some cases, ANS use is associated with limited benefit and potential harm. Objective We hypothesized that individual differences in maternal and fetal steroid exposure would contribute to observed variability in ANS treatment efficacy. Using a chronically catheterized sheep model of pregnancy, we aimed to explore the relationship between materno-fetal steroid exposure and ANS treatment efficacy as determined by functional lung maturation in preterm lambs undergoing ventilation. Methods Ewes carrying a single fetus had surgery to catheterize a fetal and maternal jugular vein at 119 days’ gestation. Animals recovered for 24h before being randomized to either: i) a single maternal intramuscular injection (IM) of 2ml saline (Negative Control Group, n=10); or ii) a single maternal IM of 0.25mg/kg betamethasone phosphate + acetate (ANS Group, n=20). Serial maternal and fetal plasma samples were collected from each animal over 48h before fetuses were delivered and ventilated for 30 minutes. Total and free plasma betamethasone concentration was measured by mass spectrometry. Fetal lung tissue was collected for analysis using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results One animal of the Control Group and one animal from the ANS Group had did not complete their treatment protocol and were removed from analyses. Animals in the ANS Group were divided into a Responder (n=12/19) Sub-Group and a Non-Responder Sub-Group (n=7/19) using a cut-off of a PaCO2 at 30 minutes ventilation within 2SD of the mean value from saline-treated Negative Control Group animals. While ANS improved fetal lung maturation in the undivided ANS group, and in the Responder Sub-Group both physiologically (blood gas and ventilation related data) and biochemically (mRNA expression related to fetal lung maturation), these values were not improved relative to saline-treated Control Group animals in the ANS Non-Responder Sub-Group. Interestingly, no differences in betamethasone distribution, clearance, or protein binding were identified between the ANS Responder and Non-Responder Sub-Groups. Conclusion This study correlated individual materno-fetal steroid exposures with preterm lung maturation as determined by pulmonary ventilation. Herein, approximately 40% of preterm lambs exposed to antenatal steroids had lung maturation not significantly different to saline-treated Control Group animals. These non-responsive animals received maternal and fetal betamethasone exposures identical to animals that had a significant improvement in functional lung maturation. These data suggest that the efficacy of ANS therapy is not solely determined by materno-fetal drug levels, and that individual fetal or maternal factors may play a role in determining treatment outcomes in response to glucocorticoid-driven signaling