An Extra Slice of Jo Brand

In this candid interview Jo Brand, one of Britain’s most popular and successful comedians, discusses her comedy career. Brand shares experiences and critical reflections on a wide range of comedy, from her first stand-up gig in the 1980s through to presenting the Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice [2014-present]. She discusses the inspiration and motivation for her comic material, explains the highs and lows of working in television comedy and offers pragmatic advice for comedians wishing to pursue a career in comedy today

Dynamics of partisan journalism: journalist-source relations in the context of a local newspaper's anti-paedophile housing agenda

This article explores the influence of partisanship on the framing of a local news agenda. Using a case study approach, it explores how one local newspaper in the East Midlands of England, the Nottingham-based Evening Post, reacted with hostility to leaked Home Office plans housing high profile paedophiles in its locality (albeit inside the grounds of the local jail). Within weeks, though, the paper’s news frame had shifted from hostility toward the Home Office to a more sympathetic news frame reporting how local professionals would manage risks posed by paedophiles in Nottingham. In order to make sense of the local dynamic underpinning this changing news frame the paper uses interview data to explore interactions between local journalists and key protagonists to understand the predictable and unpredictable factors that shaped the terms of their reporting. The article concludes by discussing the significance of partisan dynamics on the framing of a highly charged local and national paedophile-related issue

Hearing voices: mental illness and cultural recognition

Popular misconceptions about the danger of madness have undermined mentally ill people’s struggle for social inclusion. Consequently, efforts to think through how we might belong together must take account of mental patients’ right to a public voice. However, the article takes issue with an excessively cognitive and rationalistic conception of the public citizen. It suggests, instead, that ‘alternative’ forums can be constructed which counters the dominant cultural image of the “mad, crazy, nutter”. It concludes by discussing one innovative TV series (Video Diaries) in which ‘mentally ill’ participants’ reveal their capacity to speak for themselves

'I Like the Metamorphosis of the Characters': Dynamics of Transnational Television Comedy Engagement

This article contributes to debates on transnational television comedy audiences through analysis of Eastern European audiences’ engagement with British television comedy. Using questionnaire and focus group data it examines the extent and nature of British television comedy engagement by Romanian audiences and the limits of broadcasting British television comedy to Romanian audiences. The research reveals Romanian audiences’ high involvement with television comedy. Over half of questionnaire respondents watch British television comedy. Three themes regarding Romanian audiences’ engagement with British television comedy are identified in the focus group data: 1) transnational television comedy aesthetics; 2) transnational television comedy as intellectual comedy; and 3) ethical limits of transnational television comedy. These themes highlight the complex contours of transnational television comedy engagement.https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2941/152

Interpersonal violence and fracture patterns in 18th and 19th century London.

Violent behaviour can be seen all over the world and across time; it is also intrinsically linked to culture. As such, the analysis of skeletal material presents excellent physical evidence of violent occurrences within communities. The current thesis looks to understand the possible presence of fracture patterns and interpersonal violence in London during the 18th and 19th centuries by analysing the fracture patterns observed on six skeletal collections from the geographical area and characterised by various social and economic contexts. The contextualisation of each burial ground proved to be imperative to the research. The statistical results revealed that grouping collections together based on their socioeconomic status does not describe nor explain the fracture patterns seen in the collections considering that some did not emulate the characterisation implemented upon them by the media or City officials at the time. It also was found that the patrilineal society and the subsequent sexual division of labour had a profound effect on the results especially when comparing the prevalence of fractures between men and women. Therefore, this thesis provides a comprehensive overview of fracture patterns and the presence of interpersonal violence in regards to the different lifestyles and socioeconomic contexts found in London during the 18th and 19th centuries and how such behaviour affected the individuals’ daily lives

Identifying the characteristics of support Australian university teachers use in their design work: Implications for the learning design field

© 2018 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. Quality teaching is a strategic objective for universities; thus, there is an expectation that university teachers design high quality learning experience for their students. The field of learning design has developed over the past 15 years as a way to support teachers in their design work. There has been significant research and development work that has focused on creating support tools to help teachers plan, develop and deliver learning experiences. However, little is known about what supports teachers access and use when they design and overall how teachers undertake their design work. This paper presents the findings from a qualitative study that investigated the types of supports 30 teachers from 16 Australian universities reported using in their design work. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews, and the results show that participants accessed a variety of supports depending on their design need. The kind of support participants accessed in their design work were colleagues, literature, workshops and seminars, conferences, institutional support services, and enrolment in postgraduate study. How participants explained using these supports can be characterised as varied, personalised, dynamic and networked. Based on these results, implications for the learning design field are discussed with recommendations for future research

Investigating University Educators’ Design Thinking and the Implications for Design Support Tools

All university educators perform design work as they prepare and plan learning experiences for their students. How such design work is undertaken, conceptualised, and optimally supported is the focus of ongoing research for the authors. The purpose of this article is to present the results of a research study that sought to gain a richer understanding of university educators’ design work; investigate how the idea of Learning Design could support design work; and examine how learning designs could be made available within a Learning Management System (LMS) as a design support tool. An overview of the outcomes from the entire research project is presented. The project’s aims and outcomes and what was achieved are explained and potential future directions for this area of research are discussed

Social capital from online discussion forums: Differences between online and blended modes of delivery

© 2015. This study explored the concept of social capital in higher education contexts by investigating student discussion forum activity and academic performance. To address these aims online discussion forum logs, student marks and teaching delivery method (blended or fully online) data were extracted from the universities learning management system (LMS). Student social network centrality measures were then calculated from the course discussion activity and correlated against student academic performance for each delivery mode. Drawing on social capital and social network theories the analyses identified that in comparison to low performing students the high-performing group held more central positions in their networks and tended to establish dense social connections with students of a similar academic ability. It was also observed that the relationships formed in blended teaching units were of a greater intensity and reciprocity than those established in fully online teaching units indicating a higher level of social capital was reached. This difference in the amount of available social capital between the two teaching modes suggests that students in blended units have comparatively greater access to resources embedded within the network, which in turn can be mobilised to assist them in their academic endeavours

Muon spin rotation studies of niobium for superconducting RF applications

In this work we investigate superconducting properties of niobium samples via application of the muon spin rotation/relaxation (muSR) technique. We employ for the first time the muSR technique to study samples that are cutout from large and small grain 1.5 GHz radio frequency (RF) single cell niobium cavities. The RF test of these cavities was accompanied by full temperature mapping to characterize the RF losses in each of the samples. Results of the muSR measurements show that standard cavity surface treatments like mild baking and buffered chemical polishing (BCP) performed on the studied samples affect their surface pinning strength. We find an interesting correlation between high field RF losses and field dependence of the sample magnetic volume fraction measured via muSR. The muSR line width observed in ZF-muSR measurements matches the behavior of Nb samples doped with minute amounts of Ta or N impurities. An upper bound for the upper critical field Hc2 of these cutouts is found.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figure

Isolation and characterization of the full-length cDNA encoding a member of a novel cytochrome p450 family (CYP320A1) from the tropical freshwater snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni

Cytochrome p450s (cyp450s) are a family of structurally related proteins, with diverse functions, including steroid synthesis and breakdown of toxins. This paper reports the full-length sequence of a novel cyp450 gene, the first to be isolated from the tropical freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata, an important intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni. The nucleotide sequence is 2291 bp with a predicted amino acid sequence of 584aa. The sequence demonstrates conserved cyp450 structural motifs, but is sufficiently different from previously reported cyp450 sequences to be given a new classification, CYP320A1. Initially identified as down-regulated in partially resistant snails in response to S. mansoni infection, amplification of this gene using RT-PCR in both totally resistant or susceptible snail lines when exposed to infection, and all tissues examined, suggests ubiquitous expression. Characterization of the first cyp450 from B. glabrata is significant in understanding the evolution of these metabolically important proteins