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Conceptualizing teaching quality: problems, prospects, and a proposal for moving forward
No full textEmpirical studies in teaching effectiveness research (TER) have largely yielded small and inconsistent effects. To better understand and explain these effects, we argue that it is core to consider how teaching and its quality have been conceptualized and defined in TER. Looking both within and beyond TER, we identify and discuss three potential contributors: lack of a common definition of teaching and its quality and overemphasis on effects on student academic achievement in the definition of teaching quality, a simplistic assumption that there is a universally valid conceptualization of teaching, and inaccurate conceptualization of the dynamics among different aspects of teaching. To address these challenges, we offer three steps related to giving conceptualization a more prominent role in TER; defining and using terms more clearly, consistently, and transparently; and enriching, extending, or revising TER models to better embrace the complexity of the work of teaching
Spectral irradiance variability in Lyman-alpha emission during Solar flares
No full textThe Lyman-alpha (Lyα; 1216 Å) line is the brightest emission line in the quiescent solar spectrum and radiates a significant fraction of the available nonthermal energy during flares. Despite its importance, there is a lack of detailed studies of Lyα spectral variability during flares. Recently, spectrally resolved Lyα flare observations from the SORCE/SOLSTICE instrument have become available. This study examines Lyα spectral variability and its relationship with HXR emission from nonthermal electrons, using observations of two M-class flares from SORCE/SOLSTICE and RHESSI. Imaging observations from STEREO/SECCHI EUVI and SDO/AIA provide further context. Enhancements across the Lyα line profile were found to closely correlate with bursts of HXR emission, suggesting a primarily nonthermal origin. Red enhancement asymmetries at the peak of each flare were attributed to chromospheric evaporation, while blue wing enhancement and blue asymmetry were linked to a bright filament-eruption seen in SDO/AIA 1600 Å images. These findings contribute to the understanding of spectral Lyα variability during flares and highlight the need for future studies using a higher quality and quantity of spectral Lyα flare observations. Such studies will further characterise the physical mechanisms driving Lyα flare variability.<br/
What role do luting cements play in zirconia crown survival?
No full textA Commentary onTorres C, Mailart M C, Ávila D et al.Influence of glass ionomer-based luting cements on the clinical success of zirconia crowns: randomized clinical trial. Oper Dent 2025; 50: 144–156.DesignThis 24-month prospective, split-mouth randomised clinical trial compared the performance of conventional glass ionomer cement (GIC) and resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) for luting full-coverage ceramic-fused-to-zirconia crowns.ParticipantsThirty participants were enrolled; 27 attended the 12-month review and 24 were assessed at the 24-month follow-up. Inclusion criteria included adults who needed two anterior or two posterior crowns. Silicone impressions were used to fabricate casts, which were scanned for CAD/CAM milling of zirconia copings. Clinical outcomes were assessed at 7 days, 12 months, and 24 months by calibrated, blinded examiners.Data analysisThe primary outcome was crown retention; whilst secondary outcomes included fracture, wear, pulpal response, patient satisfaction, plaque and bleeding indices, and marginal integrity. Assessments followed modified USPHS and FDI criteria. An intention-to-treat analysis using last observation carried forward was applied. Fisher’s Exact test compared anterior and posterior outcomes, while Kaplan–Meier estimates and log-rank tests were used to evaluate restoration survival (p < 0.05).ResultsSuccess rates recorded were 93.3% for GIC and 100% for RMGIC. For anterior crowns, GIC success declined to 83.3% at two years, while RMGIC maintained a 100% success rate throughout. Posterior crowns showed 100% success in both groups, with no loss of retention or secondary caries recorded.ConclusionsBoth GIC and RMGIC demonstrated favourable short-term outcomes. However, anterior crowns cemented with GIC were more prone to failure, suggesting that crown location should inform cement selection. Optimising luting agent choice may improve long-term clinical success.<br/
Highly efficient removal of cadmium from wastewater using eco-friendly and cost-effective amorphous silicoaluminophosphates as adsorbent particles
No full textThis article presents a study on the development of amorphous aluminophosphate (Am-AlP) and silico-aluminophosphate (Am-SiAlP) materials for the removal of cadmium (Cd) from wastewater. Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that poses significant environmental and health risks, and its removal from water sources is crucial. This study explores the synthesis of these materials, focusing on the impact of silicon content on their adsorption properties. The materials were characterized using various techniques, including FTIR, XRD, TGA, and BET analysis, which revealed that the incorporation of silicon increased the surface area and porosity of the adsorbents, enhancing their cadmium removal efficiency. The Am-SiAlP (7.5) sample, with a 7.5 mol% Si content, showed the highest adsorption capacity (52.63 mg g−1) and removal efficiency (93%). Kinetic studies revealed that over 90% of cadmium was removed within the first 30 min, indicating rapid adsorption capabilities. The adsorption process was found to follow a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating chemisorption as the rate-limiting step. The Langmuir isotherm model best described the adsorption, suggesting monolayer adsorption of cadmium on the adsorbent surface. This study also investigated the effect of interfering ions, showing that while the presence of other ions slightly reduced the adsorption efficiency, the Am-SiAlP (7.5) material still performed well. This research concludes that Am-SiAlP materials, particularly Am-SiAlP (7.5), are promising adsorbents for cadmium removal due to their high efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness.<br/
Media Voices NI:Website
No full textMedia Voices NI is a website I created to bring together the oral history of Broadcast media in Northern Ireland as told by past, present and future broadcasters. In its first collection, Media Voices NI is home to the voices and recollections of Producers, Cameramen, Directors, Floor Managers, News Editors who have shaped our TV and Radio industries in Northern Ireland from the first broadcast of Ulster TV in 1959. At the time, Television was an invention that wasn’t expected to surpass newspapers. These professionals reported from the Troubles, a civil war happening in their back yards. And at night, they went back to their homes and their divided neighbourhoods. These men and women defined the craft of television production as we know it today. Filmed in 2022, the 31 interviews in this collection show the dedication of the cameramen, light engineers, editors, studio floor managers, vision mixers, directors, presenters, news editors, secretaries who each worked with passion and determination and remember each other like family. I facilitated the donation of these interviews to Queen's University in 2024. They were edited and transcribed in February - May, 2025. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad and other times harrowing, these are accounts of real life incidents from the work of TV professionals learning on the job as they launched the TV Northern Irish industry as we know it. TV personality Eamonn Holmes, much loved Sports Commentator Jackie Fullerton, Presenter Gerry Kelly, News Editor and Controller Robin Walsh, Presenter Gordon Burns are just a few of these professionals. They talked about programmes like Good Evening Ulster, or UTV's first News show: Roundabout, the Gerry Kelly show and many others. It's an important dive into how recruitment worked in the media industry 60 years ago, gender and workplace rights challenges but also the fun, the parties and the warm family atmosphere they all remember. As one of the interviewees puts it: 'There was never any Monday' in UTV back then. This website will be a living thing for future generations of students to engage with and learn about the NI Media and Broadcast history. It will include further interviews with notable figures from Media professionals in Northern Ireland. It will discuss current and future Media, Media development and technology, as well as Media trends and culture. The creation of the website was a laborious task. With a group of 5 dedicated students, we went through 32 interviews, we edited them and transcribed them with a lot of attention to detail to ensure the accuracy of the names of people mentioned in these interviews. A dataset was created to preserve these transcripts for future generations. A further special collection at Queen's McClay's Library is currently being created from these videos and will be launched in June 2025. The website will then link to the videos hosted in the special collection
Adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia antigens and enriched pathways identify new targets for therapy
No full textBackground: Adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (aB-ALL) is characterised by abnormal differentiation and proliferation of lymphoid progenitors. Despite a significant improvement in relapse-free and overall survival for children with B-ALL, aB-ALL has a particularly poor prognosis with a 5-year survival rate of 20%. First remission is achieved for most patients, but relapse is common with a high associated mortality. New treatments such as immunotherapy offer an opportunity to extend remission and prevent relapse. Methods: aB-ALL antigens were identified using different sources—immunoscreening, protoarrays, two microarrays and one cancer-testis antigen database, and a review of the genomic analyses of aB-ALL. A total of 385 aB-ALL-associated gene products were examined for their association with patient survival. Results: We identified 87 transcripts with differential expression between aB-ALL and healthy volunteers (peripheral blood, bone marrow and purified CD19+ cells), and 42 that were associated with survival. Enrichr analysis showed that the Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGFβ), Wnt and Hippo pathways were highly represented (p < 0.02). We found that SOX4 and ROCK1 were upregulated in all types of B-ALL (ROCK1 having a p < 0.001 except in t(8;14) patients), as well as SMAD3 and TEAD4 upregulation being associated with survival (p = 0.0008, 0.05 and 0.001, respectively). Expression of each aB-ALL antigen was verified by qPCR, but only TEAD4 showed significant transcript upregulation in aB-ALL compared to healthy volunteer CD19+ cells (p = 0.01). Conclusions: We have identified a number of antigens and their pathways that play key roles in aB-ALL and may act as useful targets for future immunotherapy strategies.<br/
Protestant martyrs in three best-selling English ballads, c. 1540-1710
No full textThis article examines three highly successful English broadside-ballads about Protestant martyrs of the mid-sixteenth century and seeks to explain their evident popularity. It argues that ballads were very important in encouraging people to think about martyrs and identify as Protestants, and that the highlighted examples have been either overlooked or underestimated by scholars. The songs also shed new light on commonplace religious tastes and preoccupations, revealing an apparent preference for female martyrs and an apparent distaste for gruesome detail. In both respects, the ballads are contrasted with John Foxe’s much more famous ‘Book of martyrs’.<br/
Adaptation and validation of the Washington group/unicef child functioning module in a nationally representative sample of Canadian children and youth
No full textBackground: The Washington Group/UNICEF Child Functioning Module (WG/UNICEF CFM) was developed to identify children and youth with disabilities by assessing functional difficulties. This study focuses on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components of the WG/UNICEF CFM, as these domains are particularly relevant to understanding child and youth mental health and developmental functioning. The objective of this study was to examine the latent structure of these domains using a graded response scale in a nationally representative sample of Canadian children and youth aged 5–17 years and to evaluate how this approach captures the dimensional nature of functional difficulties. Methods: Data for analyses come from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (n = 33,420). Survey data were collected by Statistics Canada using an electronic questionnaire that was either self-completed online or interviewer-administered by telephone. To assess the latent structure of the WG/UNICEF CFM, analyses were conducted in four linked phases focusing on the following 9 domains: self-care, communication, learning, remembering, concentrating, accepting change, behavior, relationships, and emotions. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted first, followed by, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), then evaluations of measurement invariance across age and sex and external validity using structural equation modeling and instrumental variables. Results: Results indicated that a two-factor model best described the data, χ2(26, N = 16,810) = 619.076, p < 0.002, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.037). Factor one represented Cognitive, Behavioural and Interpersonal Functional Difficulties; while Factor two represented Emotional Functional Difficulties. The construct validity tests supported the distinction between the two factors by demonstrating stronger associations with instrumental variables measuring similar underlying constructs. Conclusions: This study extends existing research by demonstrating the utility of the WG/UNICEF CFM in assessing cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, and emotional functional difficulties at the population level in a high-income country. The measure’s strong psychometric properties, ease of use, and cost-free administration support its applicability in general population health surveys of children and youth. Findings highlight the value of a dimensional approach to functional difficulties, offering a more comprehensive understanding of population-level variations in functioning. Integrating this measure into large-scale surveys can facilitate trend monitoring, improve data-driven policy interventions, and support strategic planning for education, healthcare, and social services. These insights contribute to optimizing resource allocation and ensuring equitable access to services that address the diverse functional needs of children and youth
Umbral oscillations in the photosphere. A comprehensive statistical study
No full textIt is well-known that the global acoustic oscillations of the Sun’s atmosphere can excite resonance modes within large-scale magnetic concentrations. These structures are conduits of energy between the different layers of the solar atmosphere, and understanding their dynamics can explain the processes behind coronal heating and solar wind acceleration. In this work, we studied the Doppler velocity spectrum of more than a thousand large-scale magnetic structures (i.e. sunspots) in the solar photosphere that crossed near the disk centre of the Sun. We exploited the excellent stability and seeing-free conditions of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to cover nearly seven years of observations, providing the most comprehensive statistical analysis of its kind. Here, we show that the power spectra of the umbra of sunspots in the photosphere is remarkably different from the one of quiet-Sun regions, with both exhibiting a primary peak at 3.3 mHz, but the sunspot umbrae also displaying a closely packed series of secondary peaks in the 4–6 mHz band. Understanding the origin of such peaks is a challenging task. Here, we explore several possible explanations for the observed oscillations, all pointing towards a potential resonant interaction within these structures and an unknown driver. Our observational result provides further insight into the magnetic connectivity between the different layers of the dynamic atmosphere of the Sun.<br/
Survival of European children, adolescents and young adults diagnosed with haematological malignancies in the period 2000–2013: Results from EUROCARE-6, a population-based study
No full textBackground: While cancer survival has steadily improved over time for adolescents and young adults (AYAs), previous studies have shown poorer survival in AYAs compared to children with leukaemia and lymphomas. In this study, we provided updated European 5-year relative survival (RS) estimates for AYAs with haematologic malignancies compared to children and assessed improvements in survival over time. Methods: We used the EUROCARE-6 database, with population-based cancer registries data from 29 European countries. Using the period approach, we calculated 5-year RS for European children (0-14 years) and AYAs (15-39 years) in the follow-up period 2010- 2014 separately for leukaemia, lymphomas, relevant morphological subgroups, age- subgroups, and sex. We estimated 5-year RS time trends between 2000 and 2013. Results: Compared to children, AYAs had a worse RS for all acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALL) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), but a better survival for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). No differences in RS were observed between children and AYAs with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). Compared to children, AYAs had a worse RS for HL and NHL in general, and specifically for lymphoblastic, Burkitt, follicular and NK/T cell lymphomas. In AYAs, RS increased between 2000-2013 for leukaemia overall (by 9% points), ALL (by 11% points), AML (by 8% points) and CML (by 11% points). Conclusion: Despite increasing European survival for AYAs with haematological malignancies, we showed poorer survival in AYAs than in children for most types of leukaemia and lymphomas. These results reflect that further efforts are needed to improve the survival for this distinctive patient group.</p