A study of student retention, financial support and successful student continuation in UK Higher Education in 2020 January 2021

Student retention is an ongoing problem for HE impacting both student and University. It has been a focus for research for over 100 years resulting in the identification of many factors that contribute to student withdrawal. Whilst finance has long been recognised as an issue, this research aimed to look at financial issues and specifically the role of hardship funds in helping students to persist. The research was conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews with ten students of varying ages, who were in the process of successfully completing their first year. The interviewer asked questions around financial support, their experiences at university, and the factors they feel have contributed towards them successfully progressing on their course. The interviews were then manually coded, and then based on these, several recommendations are presented, The recommendations proposed following analysis of the interviews are: Universities should have significant Hardship Funds available to help retain students, Universities should focus retention efforts on students leaving as well as students progressing, and there should be a collaborative relationship between Universities and students towards retention efforts. In addition to these, this research also proposes that institutions should understand the pressure lecturers are under, should provide students with sufficient opportunity to vent frustrations at any perceived minor issues, and also provide sufficient support for students with mental health issues

Effects of herbaceous weed control on young Douglas-fir moisture stress and growth

Profitable, even-aged forest management depends on the early establishment and rapid growth of each new forest crop. These, in turn, require that the young trees have access to an adequate supply of native resources of moisture, nutrients and light. In Mediterranean-type climates, competition for soil moisture is the most serious adverse effect of weeds. Young trees respond with elevated moisture stress levels throughout most of the summer, with reduced net assimilation and potential for growth. If soil moisture depletion is severe enough, dehydration and death ensue. This dissertation explores the relationship between soil moisture availability, as influenced by several herbaceous cover types, and Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco.] response, mainly in terms of tree moisture stress TMS) and growth; it seeks to link herbicide treatment and tree response directly, and also indirectly, by its effect on soil moisture availability and tree moisture stress. Data for this study came mainly from field observation and experimentation during the summer of 1970, and from stem analyses performed in 1972 in a set of pm-existing herbicide trial plots. These were located in a bentgrass (Agrostis tenuis Sibth) dominated meadow situated about 18 miles west of Corvallis in the Oregon Coast Range. The diverse vegetative covers of the plots in 1970 reflected histories of up to three years herbicide. treatment. Four types of data were used: total available soil moisture content; climatological records; survival records; and height, diameter and volume measurements determined by stem analysis. An early attempt was made to apply a complicated regression model to individual tree TMS using various climatological, soil, and time variables. Although approximately 80% Of the variation in TMS could be explained by this, it was clear that this model had serious inadequacies. Study of plots of TMS against Pacific daylight time (PDT), air temperature, vapor pressure deficit VPD) and solar radiation led to the development of a conceptual model of TMS based largely on postulated light- and leaf temperature-triggered responses of the stomates, sensitized and modulated by the availability of soil moisture, degree of overnight recovery of tree turgor, and the atmospheric moisture demand. A possible explanation of the so-called "freeze" damage of Douglas-fir was suggested by this model. Although abnormally favorable soil moisture conditions in the summer of 1968 caused weed control that year to have no significant effect on first year survival or height growth, first-year devegetation did have significant or highly significant positive effects on height and diameter growth in each of the subsequent four years. Likewise, treatments in 1969 and 1970 also had the effect of setting the trees on advanced growth trajectories. Of the three single treatment schedules, treatment in the first year was chosen as the best because it combined good growth response (82% increase in tree volume over control in five years) with a normally highly positive influence on tree survival. The multiple treatment schedules demonstrated that responses (especially of height growth) to later treatments are maximized when preceded by treatments which promote the accumulation of photosynthetic reserves. Treatment in the first and second years was the optimum two treatment schedule. It resulted in a 115% increase in tree volume. The three-treatment schedule enhanced tree volume by 217% and was estimated to shorten a 70 year rotation by two years, compared with controls. Tree growth responses to chemical weed control were linked quantitatively through the latter's positive effect on available soil moisture. This in turn was shown to have a negative effect on tree moisture stress, which had a positive effect on tree growth. Art economic analysis based on projected treatment-induced height differentials at stand closure indicated that for high site II areas, even where weed control may not be necessary to obtain adequate survival, the first-year-only and the three-consecutive-years treatment schedules may be justifiable on the basis of the financial return from improved growth alone; hut only if coupled with other forest management practices designed to maximize yield, and stumpages of the order of $150 per mbf. The economics of weed control should be even more attractive on less favorable growing sites, especially when the higher yield and quality caused by better stocking are taken into account

Teaching and Learning for Librarians: Course Outline

The Teaching and Learning for Librarians Course at Cambridge University Libraries runs annually. This document offers an outline of the contents of each month together with the assessment prompts used for self-reflection

Relaxed Molecular Clock Provides Evidence for Long-Distance Dispersal of Nothofagus (Southern Beech)

Nothofagus (southern beech), with an 80-million-year-old fossil record, has become iconic as a plant genus whose ancient Gondwanan relationships reach back into the Cretaceous era. Closely associated with Wegener's theory of “Kontinentaldrift”, Nothofagus has been regarded as the “key genus in plant biogeography”. This paradigm has the New Zealand species as passengers on a Moa's Ark that rafted away from other landmasses following the breakup of Gondwana. An alternative explanation for the current transoceanic distribution of species seems almost inconceivable given that Nothofagus seeds are generally thought to be poorly suited for dispersal across large distances or oceans. Here we test the Moa's Ark hypothesis using relaxed molecular clock methods in the analysis of a 7.2-kb fragment of the chloroplast genome. Our analyses provide the first unequivocal molecular clock evidence that, whilst some Nothofagus transoceanic distributions are consistent with vicariance, trans-Tasman Sea distributions can only be explained by long-distance dispersal. Thus, our analyses support the interpretation of an absence of Lophozonia and Fuscospora pollen types in the New Zealand Cretaceous fossil record as evidence for Tertiary dispersals of Nothofagus to New Zealand. Our findings contradict those from recent cladistic analyses of biogeographic data that have concluded transoceanic Nothofagus distributions can only be explained by vicariance events and subsequent extinction. They indicate that the biogeographic history of Nothofagus is more complex than envisaged under opposing polarised views expressed in the ongoing controversy over the relevance of dispersal and vicariance for explaining plant biodiversity. They provide motivation and justification for developing more complex hypotheses that seek to explain the origins of Southern Hemisphere biota

A world of gorse: persistence of Ulex europaeus in managed landscapes

Gorse (Ulex europeus L.) is a woody legume and invasive woody weed that has been introduced to temperate pastoral landscapes worldwide. Despite the apparent cosmopolitan distribution of Gorse across much of the temperate agroecological landscapes of the world, research and practice pertaining to the management of Gorse has been largely constrained to single-treatments, regions or timeframes. Gorse eradication has been widely attempted, with limited success. Using the PRISMA method, and a quasi-metanalytical approach, we reviewed the seminal ~299 papers pertaining to Gorse management. We identified (a) the ecological characteristics of the species that predispose Gorse to behaving invasively, and (b) the success of management actions (from a plant ecological life history perspective) in reducing weed vigour and impact. A broad ecological niche, high reproductive output, propagule persistence and low vulnerability to pests allow for rapid landscape exploitation by Gorse throughout much the world. Additionally, there are differences in flowering duration and season in the northern and Southern Hemisphere that make gorse particularly pernicious in the latter, because Gorse flowers twice per year. The implications of these life history stages and resistance to environmental sieves after establishment are that activity and efficacy of control is more likely to be favourable in juvenile stages. Common approaches to Gorse control, including herbicides, biological controls and fire have not been ubiquitously successful, and may in fact target the very site resources – sward cover, soil stability, hydrological balance – that, when degraded, facilitate Gorse invasion. Ongoing seedling regeneration presents difficulties if eradication is a goal, but facilitated competition may reduce costs via natural suppression. Mechanical methods of Gorse removal, though highly successful, induce chronic soil erosion and land degradation and should hence be used sparingly

Evaluation of prognostic risk models for postoperative pulmonary complications in adult patients undergoing major abdominal surgery: a systematic review and international external validation cohort study

Background Stratifying risk of postoperative pulmonary complications after major abdominal surgery allows clinicians to modify risk through targeted interventions and enhanced monitoring. In this study, we aimed to identify and validate prognostic models against a new consensus definition of postoperative pulmonary complications. Methods We did a systematic review and international external validation cohort study. The systematic review was done in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We searched MEDLINE and Embase on March 1, 2020, for articles published in English that reported on risk prediction models for postoperative pulmonary complications following abdominal surgery. External validation of existing models was done within a prospective international cohort study of adult patients (≥18 years) undergoing major abdominal surgery. Data were collected between Jan 1, 2019, and April 30, 2019, in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. Discriminative ability and prognostic accuracy summary statistics were compared between models for the 30-day postoperative pulmonary complication rate as defined by the Standardised Endpoints in Perioperative Medicine Core Outcome Measures in Perioperative and Anaesthetic Care (StEP-COMPAC). Model performance was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCC). Findings In total, we identified 2903 records from our literature search; of which, 2514 (86·6%) unique records were screened, 121 (4·8%) of 2514 full texts were assessed for eligibility, and 29 unique prognostic models were identified. Nine (31·0%) of 29 models had score development reported only, 19 (65·5%) had undergone internal validation, and only four (13·8%) had been externally validated. Data to validate six eligible models were collected in the international external validation cohort study. Data from 11 591 patients were available, with an overall postoperative pulmonary complication rate of 7·8% (n=903). None of the six models showed good discrimination (defined as AUROCC ≥0·70) for identifying postoperative pulmonary complications, with the Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia score showing the best discrimination (AUROCC 0·700 [95% CI 0·683–0·717]). Interpretation In the pre-COVID-19 pandemic data, variability in the risk of pulmonary complications (StEP-COMPAC definition) following major abdominal surgery was poorly described by existing prognostication tools. To improve surgical safety during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and beyond, novel risk stratification tools are required. Funding British Journal of Surgery Society