Photocatalytic antimicrobial activity of thin surface films of TiO2, CuO and TiO2 /CuO dual layers on Escherichia coli and bacteriophage T4

TiO2 coated surfaces are increasingly studied for their ability to inactivate microorganisms. The activity of glass coated with thin films of TiO2, CuO and hybrid CuO/TiO2 prepared by atmospheric Chemical Vapour Deposition (Ap-CVD) and TiO2 prepared by a sol-gel process was investigated using the inactivation of bacteriophage T4 as a model for inactivation of viruses. The chemical oxidising activity was also determined by measuring stearic acid oxidation. The results showed that the rate of inactivation of bacteriophage T4 increased with increasing chemical oxidising activity with the maximum rate obtained on highly active sol-gel preparations. However these were delicate and easily damaged unlike the Ap-CVD coatings. Inactivation rates were highest on CuO and CuO/TiO2 which had the lowest chemical oxidising activities. The inactivation of T4 was higher than that of Escherichia coli on low activity surfaces. The combination of photocatalysis and toxicity of copper acted synergistically to inactivate bacteriophage T4 and retained some selfcleaning activity. The presence of phosphate ions slowed inactivation but NaCl had no effect. The results show that TiO2/CuO coated surfaces are highly antiviral and may have applications in the food and healthcare industries

Marine Evidence-based Sensitivity Assessment (MarESA) – A Guide

The Marine Evidence-based Sensitivity Assessment (MarESA) methodology was developed by the Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) team at the Marine Biological Association of the UK. The following guide details the approach, its assumptions, and its application to sensitivity assessment. The guide discusses: • key terms used in sensitivity assessment; • the definitions and terms used in the MarESA approach; • its assumptions; • the definition of resistance, resilience and sensitivity; • the definition of pressures and their benchmarks; • the step by step process by which the possible sensitivity of each feature (habitat, biotope or species) to each pressure is assessed; • the interpretation and application of evidence to sensitivity assessments on a pressure by pressure basis; and • limitations in the application of sensitivity assessments in management. The MarESA methodology provides a systematic process to compile and assess the best available scientific evidence to determine each sensitivity assessment. The evidence used is documented throughout the process to provide an audit trail to explain each sensitivity assessment. Unlike other expert-based approaches, this means that the MarESA assessments can be repeated and updated. The resultant 'evidence base' is the ultimate source of information for the application of the sensitivity assessments to management and planning decisions. The MarESA dataset and MarLIN website represent the largest review of the potential effects of human activities and natural events on the marine and coastal habitats of the North East Atlantic yet undertaken

The Psy-Security-Curriculum ensemble: British Values curriculum policy in English schools

Framed as being in response to terrorist attacks and concerns about religious bias in some English schools, ‘British Values’ (BV) curriculum policy forms part of the British Government’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, 2015. This includes a Duty on teachers in England to actively promote British Values to deter students from radicalisation. This paper, first, traces the history of Britishness in the curriculum to reveal a prevalence of nationalistic, colonial values. Next, an ensemble of recent policies and speeches focusing on British Values is analysed, using a psycho-political approach informed by anti-colonial scholarship. Finally, we interrogate two key critiques of the British Values curriculum discourse: the universality of British Values globally, and concerns over the securitisation of education. Findings indicate that the constitution of white British supremacist subjectivities operate through curriculum as a defence mechanism against perceived threats to white privilege, by normalising a racialised state-controlled social order. The focus is on ‘British’ values, but the analytic framework and findings have wider global significance

An RxLR effector from phytophthora infestans prevents re-localisation of two plant NAC transcription factors from the endoplasmic reticulum to the nucleus

The plant immune system is activated following the perception of exposed, essential and invariant microbial molecules that are recognised as non-self. A major component of plant immunity is the transcriptional induction of genes involved in a wide array of defence responses. In turn, adapted pathogens deliver effector proteins that act either inside or outside plant cells to manipulate host processes, often through their direct action on plant protein targets. To date, few effectors have been shown to directly manipulate transcriptional regulators of plant defence. Moreover, little is known generally about the modes of action of effectors from filamentous (fungal and oomycete) plant pathogens. We describe an effector, called Pi03192, from the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which interacts with a pair of host transcription factors at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) inside plant cells. We show that these transcription factors are released from the ER to enter the nucleus, following pathogen perception, and are important in restricting disease. Pi03192 prevents the plant transcription factors from accumulating in the host nucleus, revealing a novel means of enhancing host susceptibility

Mind the gap: sentencing, rehabilitation and civic purgatory

This article discusses the relationships and tensions between the sentencing, statutory supervision and legal rehabilitation of lawbreakers under UK legislation. It does so with reference to both the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which allows some criminal records to become ‘spent’ after a set period of time, and the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, which was designed to significantly expand statutory supervision arrangements. The article also demonstrates how, post-supervision, many former lawbreakers are cast into a state of ‘civic purgatory’, before suggesting that a more fully integrated approach to rehabilitation is required

The geographies of access to enterprise finance: the case of the West Midlands, UK

The geographies of access to enterprise finance: the case of the West Midlands, UK, Regional Studies. Whilst there is a long history of credit rationing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, the financial crisis has seen banks retreat further from lending to viable SMEs due to a reassessment of risk and lack of available capital. In so doing, the credit crunch is thought to be creating new geographies of financial exclusion. This paper explores the financial inclusion of enterprise through community development finance institutions (CDFIs) which provide loan finance to firms at the commercial margins in the West Midlands, UK. The paper concludes that CDFIs could partially address the financial exclusion of enterprise as an additional, alternative source of finance to that of mainstream banks

Effects of seismic devices on transverse responses of piers in the Sutong Bridge

The Sutong Bridge in China opened to traffic in 2008, and is an arterial connection between the cities of Nantong and Suzhou. It is a cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 1,088 m. Due to a tight construction schedule and lack of suitable seismic devices at the time, fixed supports were installed between the piers and the girder in the transverse direction. As a result, significant transverse seismic forces could occur in the piers and foundations, especially during a return period of a 2500-year earthquake. Therefore, the piers, foundations and fixed bearings had to be designed extraordinarily strong. However, when larger earthquakes occur, the bearings, piers and foundations are still vulnerable. The recent rapid developments in seismic technology and the performance-based design approach offer a better opportunity to optimize the transverse seismic design for the Sutong Bridge piers. The optimized design can be applied to the Sutong Bridge (as a retrofit), as well as other bridges. Seismic design alternatives utilizing viscous fluid dampers (VFD), or friction pendulum sliding bearings (FPSB), or transverse yielding metallic dampers (TYMD) are thoroughly studied in this work, and the results are compared with those from the current condition with fixed transverse supports and a hypothetical condition in which only sliding bearings are provided on top of the piers (the girder can move “freely” in the transverse direction during the earthquake, except for frictional forces of the sliding bearings). Parametric analyses were performed to optimize the design of these proposed seismic devices. From the comparison of the peak bridge responses in these configurations, it was found that both VFD and TYMD are very effective in the reduction of transverse seismic forces in piers, while at the same time keeping the relative transverse displacements between piers and the box girder within acceptable limits. However, compared to VFD, TYMD do not interact with the longitudinal displacements of the girder, and have simpler details and lower initial and maintenance costs. Although the use of FPSB can also reduce seismic forces, it generally causes the transverse relative displacements to be higher than acceptable limits

Assessing sustainability in housing LED urban regeneration : insights from a housing association in Northern England

How far do current assessment methods allow the thorough evaluation of sustainable urban regeneration? Would it be useful, to approach the evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of housing regeneration schemes, by making both hidden pitfalls and potentials explicit, and budgeting costs and benefits in the stakeholders’ perspective? The paper aims at answering these questions, by focusing on a case study located in the Manchester area, the City West Housing Trust, a nonprofit housing association. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and including several interviews with key experts from this housing association, the paper first attempts to monetize the environmental and social value of two extant projects – a high-rise housing estate and an environmentally-led program. It then discusses whether and how a stakeholder-oriented approach would allow more engagement of both current and potential funders in the projects at hand. Findings from both the literature and the empirical data that was gathered show how in current housing regeneration processes, room for significant improvements in terms of assessment methods still exist. Findings additionally show that the environmental and social spillovers are largely disregarded because of a gap in the evaluation tools. This may also hinder the potential contributions of further funders in the achievements of higher impacts in terms of sustainability

Socioeconomic Position and DNA Methylation Age Acceleration across the Lifecourse.

Accelerated DNA methylation age is linked to all-cause mortality and environmental factors, but studies of associations with socioeconomic position are limited. Studies generally use small selected samples, and it is unclear how findings with two commonly used methylation age calculations (Horvath and Hannum) translate to general population samples including younger and older adults. In 1099 UK adults aged 28-98 y in 2011-12, we assessed the relationship of Horvath and Hannum DNA methylation age acceleration with a range of social position measures: current income and employment, education, income and unemployment across a 12-year period, and childhood social class. Accounting for confounders, participants less advantaged in childhood were epigenetically 'older' as adults: compared to participants with professional/managerial parents, Hannum age was 1.07 years higher (95% confidence interval (CI):0.20-1.94) for those with parents in semi-skilled/unskilled occupations, and 1.85 years higher (95%CI:0.67-3.02) for participants without a working parent at age 14. No other robust associations were seen. Results accord with research implicating early life circumstances as critical for DNA methylation age in adulthood. Since methylation age acceleration as measured by the Horvath and Hannum estimators appears strongly linked to chronological age, research examining associations with the social environment must take steps to avoid age-related confounding

In the Shadow of Celebrity? World-Class University Policies and Public Value in Higher Education

The growing popularity of the concept of world-class universities raises the question of whether investing in such universities is a worthwhile use of public resources. Does concentrating public resources on the most excellent universities improve the overall quality of a higher education system, especially if definitions of excellence and world-class are made by external ranking organizations? This paper addresses that question by developing a framework for weighing up trade-offs between institutional and system performance, focusing on the potential system-wide improvements which world-class university programmes (WCUPs) may bring. Because WCUPs are in a relatively early stage of their development, systemic effects are not yet clear. We therefore analyse the ex ante reasons that policy makers have for adopting WCUPs to see if they at least seek to create these systemic benefit