The needs of stakeholders in the formation of a local children's university : an exploration through grounded theory of participant drivers and their underpinning features

There are over ninety local Children’s Universities (CUs) throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. CUs aim to recognise the learning needs of children which are met through extracurricular and out of school provision. The performance of some local CUs has been evaluated for the National Children’s University on an annual basis. There has never been a detailed exploration of factors underpinning the needs of stakeholders, including children, teachers, teacher education students and Higher Education tutors, involved in the formation of a local CU. The aim of this research was to identify motives for stakeholder participation in the local CU, to discover their needs and identify issues that contributed to those needs. This qualitative study used open, unstructured individual and focus group interviews with stakeholders using a constructivist grounded theory approach. The research identified that the unique approach by this CU benefited learners at several levels of development by providing a context within which children, teachers, teacher education students and Higher Education (HE) tutors could learn in a less formal way than in standard school practice. There was informal acquisition of knowledge and skills by children, continuing professional development for teachers and modelling of effective practice to teacher education students by their tutor. Teachers described the pedagogy adopted as innovative. They considered the tutor as a trusted expert who was able to support their professional development. Tutor credibility was enhanced in the eyes of the teacher education students who valued the opportunity to observe their tutor teaching children rather than just modelling it to them. These views were upheld in comments made by other education-related professionals, by school governors and by parents. Findings have implications for the professional development of teachers. They are relevant to current moves to ‘train’ new teachers in schools. This approach, with more emphasis on non-formal learning, is valued by students and by teachers but the latter, in particular, value the presence of someone with expertise to moderate the process

Can you join the “7 lb club”?

Maximize milk fat and milk protein yields to maximize milk revenue

Cognitive psychology and problem solving in the physical sciences

This paper provides and introduction to the literature on cognitive psychology and problem solving in physical sciences. We consider the working memory and its three different components, two of which hold and record information and are controlled by an executive that controls attention. Working memory alone cannot explain problem solving ability and we review the influence of schemata, the construction of mental models, visual reasoning and the cognitive style of field dependence

Genetic susceptibility to allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in asthma: a genetic association study

Background: In patients with asthma, the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus can cause allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Familial ABPA is reported, and some genetic factors have been associated with the disease, however, these are small studies (n ≤ 38) and do not explain all cases of ABPA.Methods: We analysed SNPs in 95 ABPA patients, comparing frequencies to 152 atopic asthmatic and 279 healthy controls. Twenty two genes were selected from literature, and 195 tagging SNPs were analysed for genetic association with ABPA using logistic regression corrected for multiple testing. We also analysed monocyte-derived macrophage gene expression before and during co-culture with A. fumigatus.Results: Seventeen ABPA-associated SNPs (ABPA v Atopic asthma) were identified. Three remained significant after correction for multiple testing; IL13 rs20541, IL4R rs3024656, TLR3 rs1879026. We also identified minor differences in macrophage gene expression responses in the ABPA group compared to the control groups.Conclusions: Multiple SNPs are now associated with ABPA. Some are novel associations. These associations implicate cytokine pathways and receptors in the aberrant response to A. fumigatus and susceptibility to ABPA, providing insights into the pathogenesis of ABPA and/or its complications. We hope these results will lead to increased understanding and improved treatment and diagnostics for ABPA

Developmental and individual differences in conditional reasoning: The role of contradiction training and cognitive style

Previous research has suggested that logical competence may not always be reflected in task performances but is influenced by various moderator variables that affect the actual application of competence. The present research examines the development of conditional reasoning from the perspective of a competencemoderator-performance approach (Overton, 1985; Overton & Newman, 1982). The effects of task interpretation and cognitive style as moderator variables for conditional reasoning were examined with 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. Half of the students at each grade received training with contradictory evidence to alert them to faulty task interpretations. Generalization of training was assessed with a second conditional reasoning task. Cognitive style was assessed with the Matching Familiar Figures test. Results indicate that only the 12th graders benefit from training and training generalized to the subsequent task. It was also found that a reflective style enhanced performance at each grade level for the initial task. However, the beneficial effects of a reflective style were restricted on the generalization task to 12th graders who had received contradiction training. Conditional reasoning has been a central concern of recent research on logical though

The effect of ranolazine on maintaining sinus rhythm in patients with resistant atrial fibrillation

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) may arise out of anomalous impulse activity at atrial venous junctions. Triggered activity may be a source of abnormal impulse activity. Ranolazine is an anti-anginal agent, which inhibits normal and abnormal late Na+ channel current in the ventricle and peak Na+ channel current in the atrium. This produces an energy sparing effect and stabilizes cardiac membranes. Ranolazine is a potent inhibitor of triggered activity. The purpose of this report is to describe our initial experience with ranolazine used in patients with resistant AF.Methods: Seven patients (4 males, 3 females, 67 ± 9 years) who developed recurrent AF within hours to a few days of restoring sinus rhythm despite AF ablation and /or failing one or more anti-arrhythmic agents were started on ranolazine (500-1000 mg/twice/day) after stopping all other anti-arrhythmic therapy. All but one patient had some form of associated structural heart disease. Results: Two patients received no apparent benefit from ranolazine developing recurrent AF within 2 days. All other patients derived significant benefit. Four patients have experienced no recurrent AF. The other patient relapsed at 3 months and again at 6 months. The mean time in sinus rhythm to date, or to the first relapse, for the five responders was 27 ± 11 weeks. No clinically evident pro-arrhythmic episodes occurred. Conclusion: Ranolazine was helpful in maintaining sinus rhythm in the majority of patients in which more established measures had failed. A controlled prospective trial is warranted to further investigate the efficacy of ranolazine in AF

Sea lice removal by cleaner fish in salmon aquaculture: a review of the evidence base

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Prosthesis use is associated with reduced physical self-disgust in limb amputees

Self-disgust is an emotion schema negatively affecting people’s body image and is triggered by bodily imperfections and deviations from the “normal” body envelope. In this study, we explore the idea that “normalising” the body in those with limb amputations via the prosthesis would be linked to reduced self-directed disgust. An international clinical community sample (N = 83) with mostly lower limb amputations completed measures about their demographics, prosthesis, adjustment, body image disturbance, psychological distress, and self-directed disgust in a survey design. Consistent with the “normalising” hypothesis, correlation and bootstrapped regression models revealed, first, that frequency of prosthesis use was significantly and negatively associated with physical self-disgust. Second, prosthesis use significantly mediated the exogenous effect of time since amputation on physical self-disgust. These results emphasise the psychological value of the prosthesis beyond its functional use, and stress its importance in normalising the body envelope in those with limb amputations, which may in turn promote psychological well-being