Search

This paper evaluates a unique, transdisciplinary participatory research and knowledge exchange methodology developed in the Drought Risk and You (DRY) project and offers it as a transferable framework for others engaging stakeholders and systemic connections with environmental risk. Drought in the UK is a complex, diffuse and hidden risk, involving multiple stakeholders and systemic connections across diverse sectors. Historically, drought risk management has been underpinned by specialist science and technology implemented by statutory stakeholders. This paper critically evaluates the social learning from a longitudinal research process that involved co-working with seven river catchment-based, multi-stakeholder groups. The DRY project was a creative experiment in bringing drought science and stories into the same space, aiming to reveal different knowledges—specialist science, practical sector-level insight, and local knowledge—as a new evidence base to support better decision-making in UK drought risk management. An evaluative multi-method research methodology was overlaid on this process, using surveys, within meeting reflective evaluations, and summative semi-structured narrative interviews. This paper reflects on participant experiences of the ‘open’ scientific modelling development, ‘storying’ approaches, and their iterative interaction. It outlines the enablers, inhibitors and required support for this engagement process, which aimed to facilitate integration of different forms of knowledge as evidence, with social and sustainability learning among diverse stakeholders at its core. The process offered opportunity for valuable experiential learning as researchers of the nuanced impacts of intersecting factors on participatory place-based methods. It showed that similar approaches to science-narrative dialogic processes can play out locally to integrate aspects of social and sustainability learning in different ways. This sustainability learning provided a valuable platform for creative multi-stakeholder scenario-ing possible drought futures for increased local climate resilience. It then proposes a transferable research framework that promotes participatory, place-based, narrative-science knowledge exchange for building local capital for managing systemic environmental risk.

Isolation and loneliness are risk factors for poor health, and are increasingly affecting younger men. GPs can play an important role in recognising and addressing the problems using the tools and services being developed to help tackle the issues.

Elementary teachers can integrate social studies into their curriculum through thematic or interdisciplinary units. This study explores fourth-grade students’ responses to a month-long, structured inquiry. For two weeks, fourth-graders engaged in multiple readings of five secondary and fourteen primary sources using closed- and open-ended analysis questions and extemporaneous, text-based writing. For another two weeks, the writing process guided students through concept mapping, skeleton outlining, peer- and teacher-review, and revision. Three researchers examined students’ writings for criticality, complexity, and clarity. Findings yielded positive, statistically significant correlations between secondary source usage and historical significance, secondary source usage and continuity-and-change, and primary source usage and contextualization. Positive, weak correlations appear between primary source usage and sourcing. No relationship appears between corroboration and other variables. Meaning is extrapolated for classroom practice and applied to seminal studies. Limitations include a small sample of largely homogeneous, inexperienced students.

Elementary teachers can integrate social studies into their curriculum through thematic or interdisciplinary units. This study explores fourth-grade students’ responses to a month-long, structured inquiry. For two weeks, fourth-graders engaged in multiple readings of five secondary and fourteen primary sources using closed- and open-ended analysis questions and extemporaneous, text-based writing. For another two weeks, the writing process guided students through concept mapping, skeleton outlining, peer- and teacher-review, and revision. Three researchers examined students’ writings for criticality, complexity, and clarity. Findings yielded positive, statistically significant correlations between secondary source usage and historical significance, secondary source usage and continuity-and-change, and primary source usage and contextualization. Positive, weak correlations appear between primary source usage and sourcing. No relationship appears between corroboration and other variables. Meaning is extrapolated for classroom practice and applied to seminal studies. Limitations include a small sample of largely homogeneous, inexperienced students.

In this article, Tim Taylor, a teacher and tutor for Mantle of the Expert, and Nicole Winter, a primary school teacher and course participant, discuss a long-form Mantle of the Expert course run by the National Education Union in 2018 2019. They conclude that, whilst the approach demands a lot from teachers in terms of professional judgement and investment, it has the potential to create a classroom ethos in which children are recognised as capable learners, invested in their own learning.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) proliferate inconsistently, rendering current lymphoproliferation assays unreliable in diagnosis.

Human health is a key factor for population well-being, and depends on the conditions and functioning of the ecosystem and its ability to provide adequate and healthy flows of ecosystem services, as stated by the well-known approach of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA). The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature focusing on the links between ecosystem services and human well-being, starting from a reinterpretation of the MEA framework. In this process, we highlight the need to consider the mechanism of exposure through passive, consumptive and active behaviour, as well as contextual factors such as socio-economic, demographic and climatic factors. In this context, tourism, recreation and leisure are linked to active engagement.

The article discusses the association between community planning and public health and the need of planning infrastructures that are conducive to improving public healthy as presented by Great Britain-based Town & Country Planning Association. The topics discussed include the importance of spacial planning on physical and mental well being of a community, the effect of blue infrastructures like inland lakes on public health, and the responsibility of planners to build green infrastructure.

The article discusses the importance of information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) convergence in power distribution. According to the author, convergence will result in a smarter grid, a more effective workforce, and more informed stakeholders, and the requirement to implement this includes data modeling, training, and scalability. This will result in an efficient and reliable system, lower operating and capital costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

The article discusses the court cases Football Association Premier League Ltd. & others v. QC Leisure & others, and Karen Murphy v. Media Protection Services Ltd., wherein the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that football broadcasting licensing violates the EU's principles of freedom to provide services and competition. The CJEU noted the absence of any copyright or intellectual property rights in football. It rejected the restriction of services to protect rights-holders.

The article focuses on the railroad yards in Sacramento, California located at the largest urban infill sites in the U.S. It reports that the 244 acres of railyards with 243 buildings restrict and shape the city's development being the home to the largest locomotive fabrication and maintenance. It discusses the planning efforts and the financing of redevelopment of the railyards.

Using a mouse mutant that fractures spontaneously and dies at a very young age, we identified that a deletion of the GULOgene, which is involved in the synthesis of vitamin C, is the cause of impaired osteoblast differentiation, reduced bone formation, and development of spontaneous fractures.

Using a mouse mutant that fractures spontaneously and dies at a very young age, we identified that a deletion of the GULOgene, which is involved in the synthesis of vitamin C, is the cause of impaired osteoblast differentiation, reduced bone formation, and development of spontaneous fractures.Introduction: A major public health problem worldwide, osteoporosis is a disease characterized by inadequate bone mass necessary for mechanical support, resulting in bone fracture. To identify the genetic basis for osteoporotic fractures, we used a mouse model that develops spontaneous fractures (sfx) at a very early age.Materials and Methods: Skeletal phenotype of the sfxphenotype was evaluated by DXA using PIXImus instrumentation and by dynamic histomorphometry. The sfxgene was identified using various molecular genetic approaches, including fine mapping and sequencing of candidate genes, whole genome microarray, and PCR amplification of candidate genes using cDNA and genomic DNA as templates. Gene expression of selected candidate genes was performed using real‐time PCR analysis. Osteoblast differentiation was measured by bone marrow stromal cell nodule assay.Results: Femur and tibial BMD were reduced by 27% and 36%, respectively, in sfxmice at 5 weeks of age. Histomorphometric analyses of bones from sfxmice revealed that bone formation rate is reduced by >90% and is caused by impairment of differentiated functions of osteoblasts. The sfxgene was fine mapped to a 2 MB region containing ∼30 genes in chromosome 14. By using various molecular genetic approaches, we identified that deletion of the gulonolactone oxidase(GULO) gene, which is involved in the synthesis of ascorbic acid, is responsible for the sfxphenotype. We established that ascorbic acid deficiency caused by deletion of the GULOgene (38,146‐bp region) contributes to fractures and premature death because the sfxphenotype can be corrected in vivo by treating sfxmice with ascorbic acid and because osteoblasts derived from sfxmice are only able to form mineralized nodules when treated with ascorbic acid. Treatment of bone marrow stromal cells derived from sfx/sfxmice in vitro with ascorbic acid increased expression levels of type I collagen, alkaline phosphatase, and osteocalcin several‐fold.Conclusion: The sfxis a mutation of the GULOgene, which leads to ascorbic acid deficiency, impaired osteoblast cell function, and fractures in affected mice. Based on these and other findings, we propose that ascorbic acid is essential for the maintenance of differentiated functions of osteoblasts and other cell types.

The premise that DNA coding for antigens produces proteins to stimulate the immune system when inoculated directly into muscle tissues, has the immense attractions of simplicity, versatility and economy. When other vaccination approaches are experiencing practical problems, meeting such challenges as AIDS and malaria, considerable attention has focused on DNA vaccines with entire conferences and a flood of commercial companies devoted to exploring the possibilities. A number of clinical trials for both infectious diseases and cancer have already commenced, even though a number of major issues have to be resolved.

In view of their known high incidence of noninsulin dependent diabetes(NIDDM), we sought to determine whether Native American (Plains Indian) children and adolescents show evidence of risk factors for both NIDDM and cardiovascular disease. Children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 19 y were recruited, and field days were organized for data collection, which included height, weight [to compute body mass index (BMI)], waist and hip circumference, family histories, quantum of Native American ancestry, and blood sampling for fasting lipids, apolipoproteins, insulin, and glucose. BMI increased with age in boys and girls and tended to be higher than in Caucasian children. The difference was significant in 5-9-y-old (p < 0.05) and 10-14-y-old (p < 0.05) boys and 10-14-y-old girls(p < 0.001). Ten- to 14-y-old girls in the highest quartile for BMI had higher triglyceride levels (p < 0.05) and lower HDL cholesterol (p < 0.001) when compared with those in the lower quartiles. In contrast, 15-19 y olds in the highest quartile for BMI had higher cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B (p < 0.001). The mean fasting insulin levels were not related to BMI. The data suggest that, within this Plains Indian population, obesity associated with elevated lipid levels tends to begin at an early age in Native American children. Insulin levels do not appear to be related to BMI, a putative index of adiposity, in this population of children known to be prone to NIDDM in adult life.

Tim Taylor stands up for the use of play in the primary classroom, and shows how imaginative inquiry and the coventions of dramatic action can be put into practice.

The article discusses a court case wherein an injunction was granted by the British High Court against defendant, an internet service provider, ordering it to block access by its users to a website allowing free downloads of copyrighted sports content. Complainants sought the injunction to prevent infringements of its intellectual property. The court reviewed the case and ruled in favor of plaintiff on the basis of the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 under section 97A.

The article discusses the ambush marketing activities for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Ambush marketing, which occurs when a non-sponsoring entity of an event carries out marketing activities without the permission of the event owner, violates the London Olympic Association Right (LOAR) and Olympic Association Right (OAR), set by the Olympic Symbol etc. Protection Act 1995. The British Olympic Association (BOA) and the British Paralympic Association (BPA) have been conferred exclusive rights by the OAR in relation to some Olympic words and symbols.

The article discusses a court case where the English High Court ruled that the annual league fixture lists of the English and Scottish Premier Leagues and Football Leagues qualify for copyright as databases but not for database right protection. Complainants English and Scottish Premier Leagues and Football Leagues claimed that defendants' alleged unlawful use of their annual league fixtures lists is a breach of the claimants' intellectual property rights. The decision is said to give legal weight to the licensing activities of Football DataCo.

The article analyzes the decision of the High Court in the case Hudson Bay Apparel Brands LLC v. Umbro International Ltd., wherein the court demonstrated the importance of a well-drafted contract to sports brand licensing. Hudson Bay sued Umbro UK for breach of contract since its off-field wear license overlapped with the exclusive license for on-field replica wear given by Umbro UK to Dick's Sporting Goods. Lessons that could be learned from the case are the importance of clarity in exclusivity and license scope clauses and of approvals clauses.

The article discusses methods for a successful coffee brewing demo including the quality of coffee, connecting while serving consumers, and personally engaging with the consumers.

This article reports on the publication of Social Media, Blogging and Internet Guidelines by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for participants at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. The guidelines will regulate the use of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and blogs and other websites by participants during the Olympic period. The guidelines restricted participants from promoting any brand, product or service on any social media platform.

The article reports on the failure of the bid by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) to allow the World Cup and European Championship finals to be shown as a regular television show. It presents the arguments rejected by the European Union (EU) General Court submitted by the governing bodes' event organizers. The sale of television broadcasting rights for the World Cup and European Championships is reportedly a major source of income of FIFA and UEFA.

The article focuses on the recommendation of Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEU) Advocate-General Juliane Kokott that European law does not prevent the live transmission of football matches in pubs using foreign decoder cards published on February 3, 2011. The background of the cases referred by the English High Court to the CJEU which led to the recommendation is presented. The recommendation is expected to affect the Football Association Premier League (FAPL).