980 research outputs found
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Alu elements in primates are preferentially lost from areas of high GC content
No full textThe currently-accepted dogma when analysing human Alu transposable elements is that ‘young’ Alu elements are found in low GC regions and ‘old’ Alus in high GC regions. The correlation between high GC regions and high gene frequency regions make this observation particularly difficult to explain. Although a number of studies have tackled the problem, no analysis has definitively explained the reason for this trend. These observations have been made by relying on the subfamily as a proxy for age of an element. In this study, we suggest that this is a misleading assumption and instead analyse the relationship between the taxonomic distribution of an individual element and its surrounding GC environment. An analysis of 103906 Alu elements across 6 human chromosomes was carried out, using the presence of orthologous Alu elements in other primate species as a proxy for age. We show that the previously-reported effect of GC content correlating with subfamily age is not reflected by the ages of the individual elements. Instead, elements are preferentially lost from areas of high GC content over time. The correlation between GC content and subfamily may be due to a change in insertion bias in the young subfamilies. The link between Alu subfamily age and GC region was made due to an over-simplification of the data and is incorrect. We suggest that use of subfamilies as a proxy for age is inappropriate and that the analysis of ortholog presence in other primate species provides a deeper insight into the data
Creating a temporary community? An ethnographic study of a residential fieldtrip
No full textThis paper explores the evolving perceptions of community sentiments, for three teachers and 36 AS-level students on a week-long residential fieldtrip. For this in-depth study I adopted an ethnographic methodology in which I participated in, observed and recounted some of the complex and fluid spatial arrangements and processes, analysing their influence on social relationships and attitudes to learning at a UK residential field study centre. Whilst seemingly offering a different and more informal educational setting from school, I argue that the accompanying teachers attempted to influence proceedings through spatial management to meet some of their explicitly declared aims for the trip. Furthermore I argue that the physical isolation of the centre, together with the deliberately managed exclusion of external influences, effectively created a bounded setting, thereby temporarily replicating some of the characteristics associated with traditional notions of community. Within this teacher-shaped environment evolving relationships linked to the new place setting, together with impromptu communitas moments, contributed to community sentiments in line with more contemporary interpretations of the concept
Local implementation of national policy – A case-study critique of the Free Swimming Initiative for the 60+ population
No full textThere is a well-established link between ageing and declining health, and this is exacerbated in areas of
socio-economic deprivation. Being physically active can alleviate many of the major health problems for
older people, yet participation in this demographic category remains low. The present study is part of a
larger programme of research concerned with a major national public health intervention, the Free
Swimming Initiative. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to address local implementation of the
national policy imperative in Wales and explored the views of non-users (n=20) and community leisure
providers (n=7). The research was based in Abertillery – a traditional mining town in the South Wales
Valleys with higher than average levels of social deprivation. Findings revealed a series of weaknesses in
the delivery of this public policy intervention. They are (i) a lack of partnership infrastructure, (ii)
insufficient participant involvement, (iii) evidence gap, and (iv) disjointed multiple aims
Ireland: economic, political and social issues
No full textIreland was once viewed as the "sick man" of Europe, but over the course of a generation, it was transformed into the home of the "Celtic Tiger." However, the prosperity of the "Celtic Tiger" was short lived, and by 2008 the economic "miracle" was over and the tiger’s roar was heard no more. The recession was soon felt across the whole country. This book examines some of the economic, political and social issues facing contemporary Ireland. Some of the issues examined clearly relate to the recession, while others have roots in Irish history. This book presents an in-depth analysis of a range of topical issues that are of both national and international significance. Each issue is presented by an expert drawn from a range of social science disciplines. In doing so the book seeks to provide a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion of these issues, in the expectation that other scholars working both within and outside Ireland will use this work to further the collective understanding of these issues at home and abroad
GCSE Geography revision: an action research project
No full textGeography education has been criticised for concentrating on ‘what works’, ignoring critical questions about theory (Firth and Morgan, 2010). Developing more effective revision strategies that worked was the aim of the action research project described here. It was guided by the question: what types of revision strategies are most
effective for GCSE geography students? In some ways, the research might be judged a success: several new strategies were implemented, with evidence of whole-school dissemination, and GCSE grades improved. However, of greater
significance were the critical questions provoked by the research journey. Action research is often associated with a view that research that produces nothing but books is inadequate (Lewin, 1946). What about revision that produces
nothing but better grades
Teaching in primary schools in China and India: contexts of learning
No full textThis book compares primary education in urban and rural China and India. It focuses on how the sociocultural context including educational policy, educators and parents’ beliefs, and the conditions under which teaching and learning occur shape classroom pedagogy and determine children’s attainment
Mis/representation of culture in two Hampshire churches
No full textThis paper is about my experience in the ‘Church of Hampshire’ and the ‘Cosmopolitan Church of Hampshire’ (anonymous names) in Hampshire, England, where I wanted to play the dùndún and gángan, the two Yorùbá talking drums. For this I shall be adopting the stance of a reflective practitioner. I have played the dùndún in churches in Nigeria and Hungary. It was this experience that encouraged me to attempt to introduce it to the two churches, hoping that they would welcome new possibilities. This paper will analyse how such expectations were unfulfilled. The extracts in italics are taken from my personal journal. The names of the people in this paper are anonymized. I will start by thoroughly describing the position of music within the Yorùbá culture, and the nature of indigenous Yorùbá spiritual practice
Looking at and looking along: a conceptual framework for teaching different perspectives in geography
No full textThis paper builds on arguments made by Chalmers, Keown, and Kent [Exploring different ‘perspectives’ in secondary geography: Professional development options. International
Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 11(4), 313–324 (2002)], about teaching different theoretical perspectives in geography. A conceptual framework developed by C.S. Lewis is discussed and offered as one way of facilitating the teaching of different perspectives. The framework involves an analytic distinction between looking at and looking along. Looking at is associated with abstract, external, impersonal,
uninvolved knowledge. Looking along is presented in terms of participant, inhabited, personal, committed knowledge. The analytic distinction between these approaches is
applied to geography education using the perspectives suggested by Chalmers et al. of post-Fordism and deep ecology. Suggestions are made to illustrate what it might mean to look at and look along both of these theoretical perspectives. An argument is made that the analogy of looking at and looking along may inform on-going discussions in geography education research, such as critiques of school geography for not engaging
with different perspectives, and debates surrounding the place of advocacy in the curriculum