The voice of experienced Elective Home Educating (EHE) parents: The risk of missing home-educated children in the education policy response to school closure and lessons for adapting home learning

Written evidence submitted by the Centre for Social Mobility, University of Exeter regarding: The effect of cancelling formal exams, including the fairness of qualifications awarded and pupils’ progression to the next stage of education or employment. Written evidence submitted by Joanna Merrett, Malcolm Richards and Anna Mountford-Zimdars (The Centre for Social Mobility). The Centre for Social Mobility at the University of Exeter is a joint practitioner-academic centre set up to advance social mobility through robust research and evidence-based policy and practic

Biodiversity of the Deep-Sea Continental Margin Bordering the Gulf of Maine (NW Atlantic): Relationships among Sub-Regions and to Shelf Systems

Background: In contrast to the well-studied continental shelf region of the Gulf of Maine, fundamental questions regarding the diversity, distribution, and abundance of species living in deep-sea habitats along the adjacent continental margin remain unanswered. Lack of such knowledge precludes a greater understanding of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and limits development of alternatives for conservation and management. Methodology/Principal Findings: We use data from the published literature, unpublished studies, museum records and online sources, to: (1) assess the current state of knowledge of species diversity in the deep-sea habitats adjacent to the Gulf of Maine (39–43uN, 63–71uW, 150–3000 m depth); (2) compare patterns of taxonomic diversity and distribution of megafaunal and macrofaunal species among six distinct sub-regions and to the continental shelf; and (3) estimate the amount of unknown diversity in the region. Known diversity for the deep-sea region is 1,671 species; most are narrowly distributed and known to occur within only one sub-region. The number of species varies by sub-region and is directly related to sampling effort occurring within each. Fishes, corals, decapod crustaceans, molluscs, and echinoderms are relatively well known, while most other taxonomic groups are poorly known. Taxonomic diversity decreases with increasing distance from the continental shelf and with changes in benthic topography. Low similarity in faunal composition suggests the deep-sea region harbours faunal communities distinct from those of the continental shelf. Non-parametric estimators of species richness suggest a minimum of 50% of the deep-sea species inventory remains to be discovered. Conclusions/Significance: The current state of knowledge of biodiversity in this deep-sea region is rudimentary. Our ability to answer questions is hampered by a lack of sufficient data for many taxonomic groups, which is constrained by sampling biases, life-history characteristics of target species, and the lack of trained taxonomists

Abstracts from the NIHR INVOLVE Conference 2017

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Sex differences in oncogenic mutational processes.

Sex differences have been observed in multiple facets of cancer epidemiology, treatment and biology, and in most cancers outside the sex organs. Efforts to link these clinical differences to specific molecular features have focused on somatic mutations within the coding regions of the genome. Here we report a pan-cancer analysis of sex differences in whole genomes of 1983 tumours of 28 subtypes as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. We both confirm the results of exome studies, and also uncover previously undescribed sex differences. These include sex-biases in coding and non-coding cancer drivers, mutation prevalence and strikingly, in mutational signatures related to underlying mutational processes. These results underline the pervasiveness of molecular sex differences and strengthen the call for increased consideration of sex in molecular cancer research

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Presentation of a 'cognitive variant' of multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the Central Nervous system, Cognitive impairment occurs in approximately half of patients during the disease course, Clinical case reports of an atypical presentation of MS describe cognitive dysfunction as the primary or predominant presentation, with relative absence of motor or sensory impairments, This study aimed to describe the pattern and severity of cognitive deficits in a group of MS patients with cognitive dysfunction as the primary or predominant symptom ('Cognitive MS'), and investigate how their neuropsychological profile differs from an otherwise matched group of typically presenting MS patients (Typical MS') and healthy controls.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Positional related injury in elite female field hockey players

The aim of this paper is to examine injury patterns in elite female field hockey players, and to identify the injury rates of different playing positions so that preventative measures can be implemented. Based on available research it was hypothesised that goalkeepers and midfielders will have the highest rate of injury. However, after the injury data was collected from the team's physiotherapist, post 2003 hockey season, it was found that within the distribution of injuries by position, forwards had the greatest percentage (44%), followed by those positioned in the midfield (23%), goals (18%), and back (15%). The most common type of injury was categorised as bruising or inflammation (27%), predominantly occurring in the lower limb with most of these cases reported as shin splints. Other prevalent types of injury included joint sprains (119%) and muscle hypertonicity (19%) occurring in the ankle and thigh areas. A greater percentage of injuries occurred to the lower limb in this study, when compared to others. This may be due to the use of elite hockey players. Leading to more advanced stick control and accurate hitting, combined with the flatter surface of artificial turf - which all play and training was executed on. If accurate and comprehensible injury data on injury patterns for particular positions were available, more attention could be made to tailoring training and rehabilitation programs for positions susceptible to specific injuries. Theoretically, this should eventually lead to minimising the prevalence and severity of injury. This minor thesis was written by a post-graduate student as part of the requirements of the Master of Health Science (Osteopathy) program

UKRN ORCC Primer on Working in Open Research

This is an introductory guide for those working and considering working in the area of open research. It was drafted by members of the Open Research Competencies Coalition. There are many resources available on the topic of open research either aimed at those working in open research roles or more generally on open research practices. A list is included in the document

[In Press] Comparison of liver cancer incidence and survival by subtypes across seven high-income countries

International comparison of liver cancer survival has been hampered due to varying standards and degrees for morphological verification and differences in coding practices. This article aims to compare liver cancer survival across the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership's (ICBP) jurisdictions whilst trying to ensure that the estimates are comparable through a range of sensitivity analyses. Liver cancer incidence data from 21 jurisdictions in 7 countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom) were obtained from population-based registries for 1995-2014. Cases were categorised based on histological classification, age-groups, basis of diagnosis and calendar period. Age-standardised incidence rate (ASR) per 100 000 and net survival at 1 and 3 years after diagnosis were estimated. Liver cancer incidence rates increased over time across all ICBP jurisdictions, particularly for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with the largest relative increase in the United Kingdom, increasing from 1.3 to 4.4 per 100 000 person-years between 1995 and 2014. Australia had the highest age-standardised 1-year and 3-year net survival for all liver cancers combined (48.7% and 28.1%, respectively) in the most recent calendar period, which was still true for morphologically verified tumours when making restrictions to ensure consistent coding and classification. Survival from liver cancers is poor in all countries. The incidence of HCC is increasing alongside the proportion of non-microscopically verified cases over time. Survival estimates for all liver tumours combined should be interpreted in this context. Care is needed to ensure that international comparisons are performed on appropriately comparable patients, with careful consideration of coding practice variations