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The Modernisation of Disabled Students’ Allowances, 2014-2018: Help or hindrance to inclusive teaching and learning?
No full textThis research explores the question, “How and to what extent did the Modernisation of DSAs, 2014-2018, help or hinder Inclusive Teaching and Learning in English HEPs?” Six mixed method, semi-structured questionnaire studies were conducted over three academic years with respondents supporting disabled students as: diagnostic assessors for Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs), study skills support tutors, disability advisers, specialist mentors, and managers and heads of disability services. Respondents were both employed or under contract to HEPs, or authorised independent 3rd parties. Respondents also included HEPs’ project managers creating more inclusive teaching and learning (ITL) environments. Additionally, two Freedom of Information Requests (FOIR) were sent to all English HEPs. Three further FOIRs were sent to bodies responsible for regulating and funding English HE and its disabled students. The literature revealed 20+ years of international and UK efforts identifying, defining and operationalising ITL within Widening Participation (WP) activities, in parallel with a philosophical move away from an individualised model of disability to a social model. The literature also revealed that DSA support existed as co-curricular to rather than integrated with ITL environments. Results showed the Modernisation caused disruption in day-to-day delivery of DSA support and impeded progress to integrated ITL environments. Sector-wide definition of and progress to ITL environments was inconsistent in breadth and depth, teaching academics’ professional education lacked content regarding operationalising ITL in daily practice. Most HEPs spent little money in improving ITL for their disabled students, notwithstanding Government funding provided and recommended for that purpose. This research recommends establishing an Institute for Inclusive Teaching and Learning (IITL), to lead the sector in: defining ITL, encouraging inter-HE organisation collaboration to achieve its operationalisation through Whole Institution (WI) and whole-sector initiatives, formulating and promoting its objective transparent measurement, and integrating DSA within it
Galanthamine production in tissue culture and metabolomic study on Amaryllidaceae alkaloids in Narcissus pseudonarcissus cv. Carlton
Get PDFThe Amaryllidaceae alkaloids e.g. galanthamine (Gal), lycorine and narciclasine are noted for their pharmaceutical properties. Gal is a long acting, selective, and competitive acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approved for the treatment of early to mid-stage Alzheimer's diseases. The biosynthesis of alkaloids by plants using in vitro systems has been considered as a tool for drug discovery and production since total chemical synthesis is not economic. The biosynthetic pathways, especially for Gal, are starting to be understood, but still far from complete. This study is emphasised on the yield from whole plant and developing cell culture systems for optimized alkaloid production.
In vitro cultures of Narcissus pseudonarcissus (cv. Carlton) initiated from twin-scale explants cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar medium fortified with different concentrations of growth regulators, were screened for their ability to produce alkaloids through GC–MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry). Callus obtained mainly from the MS medium containing high concentration of auxins i.e. 20 mg/l NAA (naphthalene acetic acid), while media with low auxin (4 mg/l NAA) and MS basal medium gave bulblets with both white and green shoots. Regenerated bulblets developed from callus found in both high and low auxin MS media. Tissue culture derived materials (callus and bulblets) and field grown samples (bulb, basal plate and leaves) from 'Carlton' were analyzed for galanthamine content. The highest amount of galanthamine was obtained from basal plate tissue followed by bulb tissues, leaves, bulblets with green shoots, bulblets with white shoots and regenerated bulblets. Trace amount of galanthamine was found in callus.
An NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) based metabolomic analysis showed that the relative concentrations of compounds involved in phenylalanine and tyrosine metabolism, the initial stage biosynthetic pathways that yield the Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, were higher in field samples than in vitro samples which support the GC–MS findings of high Gal production in field samples
Understanding UK Farmers’ Brexit Voting Decision: a Behavioural Approach
Get PDFIn spite of the potential negative effects that Brexit could bring to the United Kingdom (UK), the majority of the electorate voted to leave the European Union (EU). As a result of this paradoxical choice, a number of studies have been developed to understand the factors that triggered this voting decision. Most of them take into account factors related to immigration from East Europe, national identity, and sovereignty recovering, among others. However, these factors do not seem to reflect the reasons behind farmers’ Brexit voting choice. Using a behavioural approach based on the theory of planned behaviour, the aim of the study was to contribute to the body of literature by undertaking an indicative study of UK farmers’ Brexit voting decisions. The study found that for the sample group, voting choice was strongly influenced by farmers’ perceptions about EU legislation, their attitudes towards the EU, their perceived capacity to control factors that impact on the farm performance, their sense of self and their notions of autonomy within the confines of prescriptive agricultural policy and the influence of their social relationships
Food waste management: a review of retailers’ business practices and their implications for sustainable value
Get PDFFood waste is a global challenge that has significant environmental, social and economic implications. Food retailers are in a powerful position to influence food waste reduction by producers, manufacturers and consumers. There is a paucity of worldwide understanding regarding the scope and scale of operations by retailers in minimising/managing food waste. The aim of this research was to develop a systematic understanding of how food retailers deal with food waste both internally and externally, within a five-tier ‘food waste hierarchy’ framework. This study is based on a qualitative synthesis of 460 articles systematically gathered from nine bibliographic databases and eight grey literature sources and published in English between 1998 and 2019. The review suggests a growing research/reporting interest in retail food waste management. The review identified 199 named and unnamed retailers from 27 countries that have reported some form of the 35 types of food waste management activities. There is evidence of retailers following the food waste hierarchy in reporting their practices with more focus on reducing food waste and redistribution of surplus food for human consumption, and less on recycling and energy recovery by incineration. The wide range of practices adopted by food retailers to mitigate food waste were mapped in a sustainable value framework which showed a typology of five approaches: repositioning, reallocating, reacting, re-engineering and relating. This demonstrates that economic, social and environmental benefits can be realised by retailers’food waste management, but not in a homogeneous way. Further empirical work should be undertaken to see how different retail business models aligns with the different approaches in the sustainable value framework
Veterinary Diagnostic Practice and the Use of Rapid Tests in Antimicrobial Stewardship on UK Livestock Farms
Get PDFIn this paper we consider the shifting role, practice and context of veterinary diagnosis in addressing concerns over what is, in the context of the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, considered unnecessary or excessive antimicrobial medicine use in UK livestock farms. With increasing policy and regulatory interest in diagnostic practices and technologies, coupled with an expanding focus on the development and deployment of new rapid and point-of-care on-farm diagnostic testing, this paper investigates current diagnostic practices amongst veterinarians working on dairy, pig and poultry farms in Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and, more specifically, veterinarians' use and perceptions of new and emerging rapid and point-of-care diagnostic tests. Drawing on a series of 30 semi-structured interviews with farm animal veterinary professionals across the three sectors, this paper examines the manner in which such tests are both used and anticipated in clinical farm animal veterinary practice and the possible impact rapid test technologies might have on broader farm animal health management and disease control. Analysis of the transcribed interviews reveals a number of complexities around the use of rapid and point-of-care diagnostic tests. The relative rapidity and simplification of such tests, facilitating immediate treatment responses, is held in balance against both the accuracy and the more detailed and documented procedures of established laboratory testing routes. In situations of multifaceted on-farm etiologies, respondents maintained that rapid tests may offer restricted diagnostic capabilities, though in other situations they were found to offer ready confirmation of disease presence. A third complexity arising from the growth of rapid and point-of-care testing and revealed in this study relates to the shifting distribution of responsibilities in animal health care within contemporary food chains. The growing availability of rapid and point-of-care tests effectively diversifies the range of diagnostic actors with consequences for the flow of diagnostic and disease information. The veterinarians in this study identified areas where new rapid and point-of-care tests would be of particular value to them in their clinical practice particularly in addressing concerns over inappropriate antimicrobial use in animal treatment. However, despite the considerable policy advocacy on rapid and point-of-care tests as key tools in shifting diagnostic practice and reducing unnecessary antimicrobial use, veterinarians in this study, while recognizing the potential future role of such tools and technologies, nonetheless viewed diagnostic practice as a far more complex process for which rapid tests might constitute only a part
Friend or foe? Intestinal parasites of horses and sustainable worm control mechanisms
Get PDFIntestinal parasites of horses were historically managed solely by anthelmintics. Horse managers have developed a fear of intestinal worms associated with the risk of colic onset. This has driven horse managers to control parasites solely using anthelmintics rather than focussing on diagnostic techniques and pasture management. However anthelmintic resistance is a growing concern and prophylactic anthelmintic use is no longer acceptable. There are four primary intestinal parasites of veterinary importance that should be the focus of parasite management. Practitioners need to encourage horse owners to engage in a holistic and sustainable approach to parasite control to reduce the risk of intestinal disease
HENNOVATION: Learnings from Promoting Practice-Led Multi-Actor Innovation Networks to Address Complex Animal Welfare Challenges within the Laying Hen Industry
Get PDFThe Hennovation project, an EU H2020 funded thematic network, aimed to explore the potential value of practice-led multi-actor innovation networks within the laying hen industry. The project proposed that husbandry solutions can be practice-led and effectively supported to achieve durable gains in sustainability and animal welfare. It encouraged a move away from the traditional model of science providing solutions for practice, towards a collaborative approach where expertise from science and practice were equally valued. During the 32-month project, the team facilitated 19 multi-actor networks in five countries through six critical steps in the innovation process: problem identification, generation of ideas, planning, small scale trials, implementation and sharing with others. The networks included farmers, processors, veterinarians, technical advisors, market representatives and scientists. The interaction between the farmers and the other network actors, including scientists, was essential for farmer innovation. New relationships emerged between the scientists and farmers, based on experimental learning and the co-production of knowledge for improving laying hen welfare. The project demonstrated that a practice-led approach can be a major stimulus for innovation with several networks generating novel ideas and testing them in their commercial context. The Hennovation innovation networks not only contributed to bridging the science-practice gap by application of existing scientific solutions in practice but more so by jointly finding new solutions. Successful multi-actor, practice-led innovation networks appeared to depend upon the following key factors: active participation from relevant actors, professional facilitation, moderate resource support and access to relevant expertise. Farmers and processors involved in the project were often very enthusiastic about the approach, committing significant time to the network’s activities. It is suggested that the agricultural research community and funding agencies should place greater value on practice-led multi-actor innovation networks alongside technology and advisor focused initiatives to improve animal welfare and embed best practices
From pioneering to organized business: the development of ecological farming in China
Get PDFSmall-scale ecological and community farming and their associated alternative food networks, are increasingly important in China, as a response to poor farm incomes from traditional small-scale agriculture and as a contribution to widespread concerns about environmental degradation and food safety. However, despite the enormous market potential and the notable success of some ventures, this type of farming remains at the margins, with many businesses struggling to develop beyond their start-up phase and consumers struggling to build confidence in the new produce and routes to market. Many of these farms display the classic elements of what are understood in the West to be pioneer businesses, including high reliance on charismatic individuals, insecure land rights, high transaction and monitoring costs and fragile routes to market. Empirically, many of these businesses fail, largely because they cannot grow out of the pioneer phase before the pioneer grows tired of the business. While this is a problem for all small businesses, it is particularly acute in business sectors like ecological and ‘alternative’ farming in China, where there is very little evidence of suitable and sustainable developmental models. Using Bernardus Lievegoed’s work on organizational development applied to two case study farms, we suggest that there are Western developmental models that are applicable to small scale ecological farming and that have the potential to offer insights into how this might be achieved with Chinese characteristics. We conclude by arguing that, just as in the West, Chinese ecological farms have to plan explicitly for a form of development that allows them to remain committed to their ideals while moving them away from dependence on charismatic individuals, family labor and volatile customer bases
Development of a Comprehensive Protein Microarray for Immunoglobulin E Profiling in Horses with Severe Equine Asthma (sEA)
Get PDFAbstract:
Background - Severe equine asthma (sEA) is a prevalent, performance-limiting disease associated with increased allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) against a range of environmental aeroallergen.
Objective – To develop a protein microarray platform to profile IgE against a range of proven and novel environmental proteins in sEA-affected horses.
Animals - Six sEA-affected and six clinically healthy warmblood performance horses.
Methods - A protein microarray (n=384) was developed using protein extracts and purified proteins from a large number of families including pollen, bacteria, fungi and arthropods associated with the equine environment. Conditions were optimized and assessed for printing, incubation, immunolabeling, biological fluid source, concentration techniques, reproducibility and specificity.
Results – This method identified a number of novel allergens, while also revealing an association between sEA and pollen sensitization. Immunolabeling methods confirmed the accuracy of a commercially available mouse anti-horse IgE 3H10 source (R2=.91). Biological fluid source evaluation demonstrated that sera and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) yielded the same specific IgE profile (average R2=.75). Amicon centrifugal filters were found to be the most efficient technique for concentrating BALF for IgE analysis at 40-fold. Overnight incubation maintained the same sensitization profile while increasing sensitivity. Reproducibility was demonstrated (R2=.97), as was specificity via protein inhibition assays. As expected, arthropods, fungi and pollens have shown the greatest discrimination for sEA.
Conclusion - Here we have established that protein microarrays can be used for large scale IgE mapping of allergens associated with the equine environment. This technology provides a sound platform for specific diagnosis, management and treatment of sEA