88 research outputs found
Fortissat Science Alliance podcast: Layla Mathieson
No full textLayla Mathieson was an EPSRC/MRC OPTIMA CDT PhD student studying optical medical imaging alongside an integrated Masters in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Edinburgh. She took part in the Fortissat Science Alliance podcast recordings in September 2021.What is the Fortissat Science Alliance?The Fortissat Science Alliance was a Wellcome Trust & Children In Need "Curiosity" project. This scheme provided informal STEM learning opportunities for young people who attended the community centre Getting Better Together Shotts (GBT Shotts) between 2019 and 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, deliveries had to pivot online so the podcast was founded. These recordings were made via Zoom with warm-up STEM activities sent to every young person in advance, along with a profile page for each researcher, so that they were relaxed and able to ask excellent questions.Link to episode on Spotify.Depending on the broadcast date, podcast deliveries were co-sponsored by Glasgow Science Festival, EXPLORATHON 2021, or EXPLORATHON 2022/23.For the duration of the project, it was supported jointly by Children in Need and the Wellcome Trust. In 2021, EXPLORATHON episodes were supported by the European Commission [grant agreement ID 101036101]. In 2022-23, EXPLORATHON episodes were supported by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council [grant number EP/X020894/1]. Layla was supported by the EPSRC/MRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Optical Medical Imaging (OPTIMA).Author contributions to contentLayla Mathieson was the guest featured on this episode. Rebecca Hay was the youth worker coordinating the young people who conducted the interviews as well as co-editing and broadcasting the recordings. Iain Hamilton co-edited the episodes. Kirsty Ross was the STEM consultant for the project and uploaded completed episodes to Figshare.</p
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Genome-wide analysis identifies genetic effects on reproductive success and ongoing natural selection at the FADS locus
No full textThis manuscript represents a large collaboration with many "middle" contributing authors, including the author requesting this waiver (Daniel Chasman). Iain Mathieson, Felix R. Day, Nicola Barban, Felix C. Tropf, and David M. Brazel are the starred (equal contribution) first authors; Melinda C. Mills, and John R.B. Perry are the starred last authors. Corresponding: Iain Mathieson, Melinda C. Mills, and John Perry are the corresponding authors.
Please note that while the uploaded version of the manuscript has been accepted, there may still be changes that would be incorporated in the final publication.Identifying genetic determinants of reproductive success may highlight mechanisms underlying fertility and identify alleles under present-day selection. Using data in 785,604 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 43 genomic loci associated with either number of children ever born (NEB) or childlessness. These loci span diverse aspects of reproductive biology, including puberty timing, age at first birth, sex hormone regulation, endometriosis and age at menopause. Missense variants in ARHGAP27 were associated with higher NEB but shorter reproductive lifespan, suggesting a trade-off at this locus between reproductive ageing and intensity. Other genes implicated by coding variants include PIK3IP1, ZFP82 and LRP4, and our results suggest a new role for the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) in reproductive biology. As NEB is one component of evolutionary fitness, our identified associations indicate loci under present-day natural selection. Integration with data from historical selection scans highlighted an allele in the FADS1/2 gene locus that has been under selection for thousands of years and remains so today. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that a broad range of biological mechanisms contribute to reproductive success.Accepted Manuscrip
Charlemagne, Common Sense, and Chartism: how Robert Blakey wrote his History of Political Literature
No full textThis article examines the life and works of Robert Blakey, author of the first English-language history of political thought. Studies of Blakey have typically concentrated on one aspect of his life, whether as an authority on field sports or as an historian of philosophy. However, some of Blakey’s lesser-known ventures, particularly his early Radical politics, his hagiographies, and his attempts to write a biography of Charlemagne, heavily influenced his more famous works. Similarly, Blakey’s upbringing in a Calvinist tradition, rooted in the Scottish School of Common Sense philosophy helps makes sense of his philosophical and theological commitments, yet has been largely ignored. This article provides a sketch of Blakey’s life, tying these disparate strands together, and explaining their influence upon, and relevance to, the first history of political philosophy
Reforming Civil Procedure
No full textThis paper proposes that the Rules Committee's membership should be altered, and that civil procedural rules reform should be viewed from all four of the perspectives – the judicial, and those of the litigation lawyer, the litigant and the public. It is also suggested that more thought needs to be given to the location of procedural requirements – in rules or in practice notes, or left to judicial administration. The author explains why rules are almost always preferable to practice directions. Fundamental issues of principle and policy, for example whether all rules should be readily comprehensible by non-lawyers, need to be addressed when changing the rules of civil procedure but are all too often ignored because they are too difficult and because the empirical research has not been done. 
Modelling semiconductor pixel detectors
No full textIn this thesis the work will focus on the modelling of highly pixellated solid-state devices. Results are presented on the performance of a pixellated spectroscopic silicon detector - the Dash-E detector. The electronic noise is measured to be 228 eV with the system observed to be close to the Fano limit at room temperature. The characteristic X-rays of Mn-55, Cu, Rb, Mo, Ag and Ba have been used to examine the spectroscopic performance of the detectors. Good linearity over the required energy range 1 keV to 25 keV has been observed. A higher than expected background is evident in all of the spectra taken - approximately a 1:1 correspondence in the peak counts to background counts. The modelled performance of a 3-D GaAs detector is analysed. The effect of the metallic column-like electrode structure on the particle interactions is simulated via the Monte Carlo code MCNP. The effective dead area due to these electrodes is reduced from 8 % to 4.5 % due to the secondary particle interactions. The modelled structure becomes depleted at 50 V with a slight over-depletion of 75 V necessary to minimise the inter-electrode low field regions. The principle benefit of these depletion voltages is that they remain constant for whatever detection thickness that fabrication allows. The charge transport in the devices are also examined, with the damage effects of dry-etching included - a technique used to form the electrode holes in the GaAs material. Full charge collection can be expected after 200 ps in most cases. The effect of reducing the charge carrier lifetime and examining the charge collection efficiency has been utilised to explore how these detectors would respond in a harsh radiation environment. It is predicted that over critical carrier lifetimes (10 ps to 0.1 ns) an improvement of 40 % over conventional detectors can be expected. This also has positive implications for fabricating detectors, in this geometry, from materials which might otherwise be considered substandard. An analysis of charge transport in CdZnTe pixel detectors has been performed. The analysis starts with simulation studies into the formation of contacts and their influence on the internal electric field of planar detectors. The models include a number of well known defect states and these are balanced to give an agreement with a typical experimental I-V curve. The charge transport study extends to the development of a method for studying the effect of charge sharing in highly pixellated detectors. The case of X-ray, as well as higher energy #gamma#-ray, interactions are considered. The charge lost is studied for these interactions over a range of pixel sizes (1#mu#m to 10 mm). The aforementioned Dash-E detector has been used to obtain experimental data for comparison with the models developed, with close agreement being observed. The combination of MCNP and MEDICI is used to form a complete picture of photon interactions in semiconducting materials and also compares well with experiment. The models predict that the dominant term in the sharing of charge is due to diffusion and that the difference with photon energy is due to the energy given to the photoelectron. (author)Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN047631 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
BUILDING EXCELLENCE – A REPOSITORY FOR ALL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH TEACHING AND LEARNING
No full textBackground: The practice of environmental health (EH) varies little around the world. International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) is looking to develop the definitive syllabus and teaching & learning resource, available to every member University to access, adjust and utilize.
Aim: Academics around the world spend 40-60% of their time designing teaching and learning material/ rubrics/ assessments. The lack of a single repository for such material was identified by the IFEH Faculty Forum in Auckland 2018. The IFEH FF calls upon academics and practitioners across the world to work together in collaboration.
Methods: This paper will show colleagues how EH material can be packaged and uploaded into an accessible repository where it can be accessed by colleagues around the world, adapted to local needs and enhanced before re uploading and making available to colleagues.
Results: In time IFEH FF hope to create a range of definitive teaching resources, assessments and rubrics that enhance the student teaching and learning experience across the world.
Conclusion(s): The author of this paper is the current chair of IFEH FF and calls upon all academics present and around the world to contribute unreservedly and without prejudice to the repository.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
Savings investment correlations and capital mobility in developing countries
No full textThe author estimates savings and investment correlations for 58 developing countries to assess the capital mobility (in the Feldstein-Horioka sense) in these countries. Using a new estimation technique (fully modified ordinary least squares) - which simultaneously corrects for serial correlation, endogeneity, and sample bias (asymptotically) - the author finds that many developing countries are financially integrated in the long run. More important, the estimates from this robust estimation technique indicate that savings-investment correlations are lower for middle-income than for lower-income countries. The author also provides evidence of capital mobility for several of these countries in the short run.Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Macroeconomic Management,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Scientific Research&Science Parks
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