Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Students’ Learning

Much evaluation of teaching focuses on what teachers do in class. This article focuses on the evaluation of assessment arrangements and the way they affect student learning out of class. It is assumed that assessment has an overwhelming influence on what, how and how much students study. The article proposes a set of ‘conditions under which assessment supports learning’ and justifies these with reference to theory, empirical evidence and practical experience. These conditions are offered as a framework for teachers to review the effectiveness of their own assessment practice

Exploratory studies to inform full-scale evaluations of complex public health interventions: the need for guidance

No abstract available

Mixed-monolayer glyconanoparticles for the detection of cholera toxin by surface enhanced raman spectroscopy

The same interactions that a pathogen uses for establishment in a host can be exploited in its detection. The carbohydrates comprising the intestinal cell surface GM1-ganglioside, are targeted by vibrio cholerae via the lectin, cholera toxin, to initiate infection. We report on the preparation of mixed-monolayer, carbohydrate-coated silver nanoparticles (glyconanoparticles) for the sensitive (56 ng/mL), low volume detection of cholera toxin B-subunit (CTB) in synthetic freshwater samples and in 5 minutes by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The detection limit falls within the recommended detection range and matches WHO approved test limits. PEGylated galactose and sialic acid are added in a specific ratio to coat the particles in GM1-ganglioside mimics for interaction with CTB and display a synergic effect greater than either glycan alone. This demonstrates the first use of a mixed-monolayer glyconanoparticle which mimics the GM1 ligand, allowing selective interaction with CTB

Strategic use of nickel(0)-catalyzed enyne–epoxide reductive coupling toward the synthesis of (−)-cyatha-3,12-diene

Various situations are explored in which the nickel(0)-catalyzed enyne–epoxide reductive coupling was utilized to access key intermediates toward the total synthesis of (−)-cyatha-3,12-diene (1). Enantioenriched 3,5-dien-1-ols with a variety of functionality were obtained in a straightforward manner from easily accessible 1,3-enynes and terminal epoxides.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (GM-063755)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Progra

Breast cancer risk and imprinting methylation in blood

Date of Acceptance: 17/08/2015 Acknowledgements This study was supported by the Breast Cancer Campaign (2008MayPR46) and Fraserburgh Moonlight Prowl Breast Cancer Charity. PH, GH and GWH acknowledge the support of the Scottish Government. We would like to thank Val Bain and Michela Donnarumma for help with the data and sample collection.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effects of wheat and oat-based whole grain foods on serum lipoprotein size and distribution in overweight middle aged people : a randomised controlled trial

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Restrictive covenants in Xanadu

Legal scholarship is naturally inclined towards explanations and justifications of contemporary law. In the case of restrictive covenants and building schemes this has led to a distorted perception of the historical record, as revealed in recorded case reports dating from the nineteenth century. It is argued that the restrictive covenant had its historical genesis not in a response to industrialisation and mass urbanisation, but in the developments of resort towns in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as a response to the needs of land developers. Furthermore, it is argued that a better historical understanding of these origins illuminates contemporary problems concerned with the adaptability of law and the potential roles of law in development

Cell cycle dependent expression of the CCK2 receptor by gastrointestinal myofibroblasts: putative role in determining cell migration.

The well-known action of the gastric hormone gastrin in stimulating gastric acid secretion is mediated by activation of cholecystokinin-2 receptors (CCK2R). The latter are expressed by a variety of cell types suggesting that gastrin is implicated in multiple functions. During wound healing in the stomach CCK2R may be expressed by myofibroblasts. We have now characterized CCK2R expression in cultured myofibroblasts. Immunocytochemistry showed that a relatively small proportion (1-6%) of myofibroblasts expressed the receptor regardless of the region of the gut from which they were derived, or whether from cancer or control tissue. Activation of CCK2R by human heptadecapeptide gastrin (hG17) increased intracellular calcium concentrations in a small subset of myofibroblasts indicating the presence of a functional receptor. Unexpectedly, we found over 80% of cells expressing CCK2R were also labeled with 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) which is incorporated into DNA during S-phase of the cell cycle. hG17 did not stimulate EdU incorporation but increased migration of both EdU-labeled and unlabelled myofibroblasts; the migratory response was inhibited by a CCK2R antagonist and by an inhibitor of IGF receptor tyrosine kinase; hG17 also increased IGF-2 transcript abundance. The data suggest myofibroblasts express CCK2R in a restricted period of the cell cycle during S-phase, and that gastrin accelerates migration of these cells; it also stimulates migration of adjacent cells probably through paracrine release of IGF. Together with previous findings, the results raise the prospect that gastrin controls the position of dividing myofibroblasts which may be relevant in wound healing and cancer progression in the gastrointestinal tract

Radio imaging of the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field - III. Evolution of the radio luminosity function beyond z=1

We present spectroscopic and eleven-band photometric redshifts for galaxies in the 100-uJy Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field radio source sample. We find good agreement between our redshift distribution and that predicted by the SKA Simulated Skies project. We find no correlation between K-band magnitude and radio flux, but show that sources with 1.4-GHz flux densities below ~1mJy are fainter in the near-infrared than brighter radio sources at the same redshift, and we discuss the implications of this result for spectroscopically-incomplete samples where the K-z relation has been used to estimate redshifts. We use the infrared--radio correlation to separate our sample into radio-loud and radio-quiet objects and show that only radio-loud hosts have spectral energy distributions consistent with predominantly old stellar populations, although the fraction of objects displaying such properties is a decreasing function of radio luminosity. We calculate the 1.4-GHz radio luminosity function (RLF) in redshift bins to z=4 and find that the space density of radio sources increases with lookback time to z~2, with a more rapid increase for more powerful sources. We demonstrate that radio-loud and radio-quiet sources of the same radio luminosity evolve very differently. Radio-quiet sources display strong evolution to z~2 while radio-loud AGNs below the break in the radio luminosity function evolve more modestly and show hints of a decline in their space density at z>1, with this decline occurring later for lower-luminosity objects. If the radio luminosities of these sources are a function of their black hole spins then slowly-rotating black holes must have a plentiful fuel supply for longer, perhaps because they have yet to encounter the major merger that will spin them up and use the remaining gas in a major burst of star formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS: 36 pages, including 13 pages of figures to appear online only. In memory of Stev