152 research outputs found
SCHOOL BASED TRAINING: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF AN ARTICLED TEACHER COURSE AND A ONE YEAR PGCE
Get PDFMerged with duplicate record 10026.1/760 on 27.03.2017 by CS (TIS)This research is based on a case study of two primary Post Graduate Certificate
in Education (PGCE) courses at the same university which was carried out at a
time of rapid change and major reform. One of those courses, the Articled
Teacher (AT) PGCE was of the 'school based' variety much heralded at the time
as the way forward for the preparation of teachers. In this scheme, learner
teachers were based, usually alone, for two years in one school in the care of a
mentor, with a chance of a 'teaching practice' in another school. The ATs came
into the university for seminars, lectures and tutorials. The other route was a
more traditional one year course where the students, 75 in number, were based
in the university and were sent out, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups,
into two or three different schools for 'teaching practice' or 'school experience'.
The research focussed on three major factors in making comparisons between
the two groups:
1) patterns of loyalty to, and support from, the university and the school;
2) the sources of their theorising about teaching - the ATs relying more on their
own personal experience mainly because of their constant need to survive in
their schools;
3) the differences between the course providers in schools and in the university
which were more important for the ATs because of their course's emphasis on
'partnership' rather than 'integration'.
The findings of the fieldwork are placed in the context of a discussion of the
recent reforms in initial teacher education with particular reference to their
implications for school based training
Real-time functional architecture of visual word recognition.
Get PDFDespite a century of research into visual word recognition, basic questions remain unresolved about the functional architecture of the process that maps visual inputs from orthographic analysis onto lexical form and meaning and about the units of analysis in terms of which these processes are conducted. Here we use magnetoencephalography, supported by a masked priming behavioral study, to address these questions using contrasting sets of simple (walk), complex (swimmer), and pseudo-complex (corner) forms. Early analyses of orthographic structure, detectable in bilateral posterior temporal regions within a 150-230 msec time frame, are shown to segment the visual input into linguistic substrings (words and morphemes) that trigger lexical access in left middle temporal locations from 300 msec. These are primarily feedforward processes and are not initially constrained by lexical-level variables. Lexical constraints become significant from 390 msec, in both simple and complex words, with increased processing of pseudowords and pseudo-complex forms. These results, consistent with morpho-orthographic models based on masked priming data, map out the real-time functional architecture of visual word recognition, establishing basic feedforward processing relationships between orthographic form, morphological structure, and lexical meaning.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from MIT Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_0069
Neural dynamics of inflectional and derivational processing in spoken word comprehension: laterality and automaticity.
Get PDFRapid and automatic processing of grammatical complexity is argued to take place during speech comprehension, engaging a left-lateralized fronto-temporal language network. Here we address how neural activity in these regions is modulated by the grammatical properties of spoken words. We used combined magneto- and electroencephalography to delineate the spatiotemporal patterns of activity that support the recognition of morphologically complex words in English with inflectional (-s) and derivational (-er) affixes (e.g., bakes, baker). The mismatch negativity, an index of linguistic memory traces elicited in a passive listening paradigm, was used to examine the neural dynamics elicited by morphologically complex words. Results revealed an initial peak 130-180 ms after the deviation point with a major source in left superior temporal cortex. The localization of this early activation showed a sensitivity to two grammatical properties of the stimuli: (1) the presence of morphological complexity, with affixed words showing increased left-laterality compared to non-affixed words; and (2) the grammatical category, with affixed verbs showing greater left-lateralization in inferior frontal gyrus compared to affixed nouns (bakes vs. beaks). This automatic brain response was additionally sensitive to semantic coherence (the meaning of the stem vs. the meaning of the whole form) in left middle temporal cortex. These results demonstrate that the spatiotemporal pattern of neural activity in spoken word processing is modulated by the presence of morphological structure, predominantly engaging the left-hemisphere's fronto-temporal language network, and does not require focused attention on the linguistic input
Genetic characterization of early renal changes in a novel mouse model of diabetic kidney disease
Get PDFGenetic factors influence susceptibility to diabetic kidney disease. Here we mapped genes mediating renal hypertrophic changes in response to diabetes. A survey of 15 mouse strains identified variation in diabetic kidney hypertrophy. Strains with greater (FVB/N(FVB)) and lesser (C57BL/6 (B6)) responses were crossed and diabetic F2 progeny were characterized. Kidney weights of diabetic F2 mice were broadly distributed. Quantitative trait locus analyses revealed diabetic mice with kidney weights in the upper quartile shared alleles on chromosomes (chr) 6 and 12; these loci were designated as Diabetic kidney hypertrophy (Dkh)-1 and -2. To confirm these loci, reciprocal congenic mice were generated with defined FVB chromosome segments on the B6 strain background (B6.Dkh1/2f) or vice versa (FVB.Dkh1/2b). Diabetic mice of the B6.Dkh1/2f congenic strain developed diabetic kidney hypertrophy, while the reciprocal FVB.Dkh1/2b congenic strain was protected. The chr6 locus contained the candidate gene; Ark1b3, coding aldose reductase; the FVB allele has a missense mutation in this gene. Microarray analysis identified differentially expressed genes between diabetic B6 and FVB mice. Thus, since the two loci identified by quantitative trait locus mapping are syntenic with regions identified for human diabetic kidney disease, the congenic strains we describe provide a valuable new resource to study diabetic kidney disease and test agents that may prevent it
Observations of cold extragalactic gas clouds at towards PKS 1610-771
Full text linkWe present results from MUSE observations of a 21-cm HI absorption system
detected with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder radio telescope
at redshift towards the quasar PKS 1610-771. We
identify four galaxies (A, B, X and Y) at the same redshift as the 21-cm H I
Damped Lyman-{\alpha} (DLA) absorption system, with impact parameters ranging
from less than 10 kpc to almost 200 kpc from the quasar sightline. Ca II and Na
I absorption is seen in the MUSE spectrum of the background QSO, with
velocities coinciding with the initial HI 21-cm detection, but tracing less
dense and warmer gas. This metal-line component aligns with the rotating
ionised disc of galaxy B (impact parameter 18 kpc from the QSO) and appears to
be co-rotating with the galaxy disc. In contrast, the 21-cm HI absorber is
blueshifted relative to the galaxies nearest the absorber and has the opposite
sign to the velocity field of galaxy B. Since galaxies A and B are separated by
only 17 kpc on the sky and km s in velocity, it appears likely that
the 21-cm detection traces extragalactic clouds of gas formed from their
interaction. This system reveals that the cold 100 K neutral gas critical for
star formation can be associated with complex structures beyond the galaxy
disc, and is a first case study made in preparation for future large 21-cm
absorption surveys like the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in HI.Comment: Accepted. 13 pages, 7 figure
Refreshing the emergency medicine research priorities
Get PDFopen access articleThe priorities for UK emergency medicine research were defined in 2017 by a priority setting partnership coordinated by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in collaboration with the James Lind Alliance (JLA). Much has changed in the last 5 years, not least a global infectious disease pandemic and a significant worsening of the crisis in the urgent and emergency care system. Our aim was to review and refresh the emergency medicine research priorities
Typing complex meningococcal vaccines to understand diversity and population structure of key vaccine antigens [version 1; referees: 2 approved]
Get PDFBackground: Protein-conjugate capsular polysaccharide vaccines can potentially control invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) caused by five (A, C, W, X, Y) of the six IMD-associated serogroups. Concerns raised by immunological similarity of the serogroup B capsule, to human neural cell carbohydrates, has meant that ‘serogroup B substitute’ vaccines target more variable subcapsular protein antigens. A successful approach using outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) as major vaccine components had limited strain coverage. In 4CMenB (Bexsero®), recombinant proteins have been added to ameliorate this problem. Methods: Here, scalable, portable, genomic techniques were used to investigate the Bexsero® OMV protein diversity in meningococcal populations. Shotgun proteomics identified 461 proteins in the OMV, defining a complex proteome. Amino acid sequences for the 24 proteins most likely to be involved in cross-protective immune responses were catalogued within the PubMLST.org/neisseria database using a novel OMV peptide Typing (OMVT) scheme. Results: Among these proteins there was variation in the extent of diversity and association with meningococcal lineages, identified as clonal complexes (ccs), ranging from the most conserved peptides (FbpA, NEISp0578, and putative periplasmic protein, NEISp1063) to the most diverse (TbpA, NEISp1690).  There were 1752 unique OMVTs identified amongst 2492/3506 isolates examined by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). These OMVTs were grouped into clusters (sharing ≥18 identical OMVT peptides), with 45.3% of isolates assigned to one of 27 OMVT clusters. OMVTs and OMVT clusters were strongly associated with cc, genogroup, and Bexsero® antigen variants, demonstrating that combinations of OMV proteins exist in discrete, non-overlapping combinations associated with genogroup and Bexsero® Antigen Sequence Type. This highly structured population of IMD-associated meningococci is consistent with strain structure models invoking host immune selection. Conclusions: The OMVT scheme facilitates region-specific WGS investigation of meningococcal diversity and is an open-access, portable tool with applications for vaccine development, especially in the choice of antigen combinations, assessment and implementation
Mutationen im PTS-Gen und mögliche Auswirkungen auf Funktion und Struktur der 6-Pyruvoyl-Tetrahydropterin-Synthase
Get PDFBackground: Research on Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) should support patients, caregivers/parents (carers) and clinicians to make important decisions in the consulting room and eventually to improve the lives of patients with JIA. Thus far these end-users of JIA-research have rarely been involved in the prioritisation of future research. Main body: Dutch organisations of patients, carers and clinicians will collaboratively develop a research agenda for JIA, following the James Lind Alliance (JLA) methodology. In a 'Priority Setting Partnership' (PSP), they will gradually establish a top 10 list of the most important unanswered research questions for JIA. In this process the input from clinicians, patients and their carers will be equally valued. Additionally, focus groups will be organised to involve young people with JIA. The involvement of all contributors will be monitored and evaluated. In this manner, the project will contribute to the growing body of literature on how to involve young people in agenda setting in a meaningful way. Conclusion: A JIA research agenda established through the JLA method and thus co-created by patients, carers and clinicians will inform researchers and research funders about the most important research questions for JIA. This will lead to research that really matters.</p
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