Participation of future pharmacists in a professional development certificate scheme; the paradox of personal identity

The white paper ‘Pharmacy in England’ advocates establishing a new pharmacy regulator, building leadership and integrating undergraduate education.[1] Students must morph into competent pharmacists with the skills, expertise and confidence to lead the profession to 2020 and beyond.[2] One way individuals are encouraged to ‘professionalise’ is through participation in personal/professional development schemes. The British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) and the College of Pharmacy Practice have operated a professional development certificate (PDC) scheme since 2001. The scheme rewards students with a joint certificate for evidence of participation in five accredited activities in one academic year. Although the scheme is relevant to development of students, less than 2% of BPSA members take part annually. We wanted to understand the reasons for the low uptake. Our primary objectives were to examine the portrayal of the scheme and to investigate what it signifies to individuals. We describe our attempts to apply social marketing techniques[3] to the PDC, and we use ‘logical levels of change’[4] to highlight a paradox with personal identity.

Establishing field margins to promote beetle conservation in arable farms

This study investigates the function of non-cropped field margins in arable farming systems for enhancing the biodiversity value of beetle communities. Three different sown seed mixtures were used to establish field margins, a Countryside Stewardship mix, a fine grass and forbs mix and a tussock grass and forbs mix. The structure of beetle communities in the first full year of establishment was found to show no difference between the tussock grass and Countryside Stewardship margins. However, both differed from the fine grass margins, which supported lower overall abundance and species richness of beetles. This was attributed to small-scale architectural differences between species of fine and tussock grasses, rather than differences in plant composition. Body size distributions of beetles showed distinct similarities between the Countryside Stewardship and tussock margins. A greater abundance of large beetles was found in fine grass margins, although in all cases these body size distributions were attributed to a small number of species or a taxonomically distinct group. All three margin types included beetle species of conservation value. The importance of these results was discussed in the context of the value of these seed mixtures for invertebrate conversation. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The long and the short of it: negotiating the right space for Asian theatre in the university drama curriculum

This article compares two approaches to teaching Asian theatre at undergraduate level in the United Kingdom. One approach samples a variety of different traditions as a means to challenge students to produce performance for a combined audience of hearing and deaf, whereas the other focuses on the effect of exploring one geographical area intensively over the course of one academic year. The article seeks to highlight the merits and pitfalls of both approaches, and questions whether student work that actively questions ethnicity and identity, as well as the tension between innovation and tradition, might be considered diasporic in character.

The impact of Group Intelligence software on enquiry-based learning

Despite the increasing use of groupware technologies in education, there is little evidence of their impact, especially within an enquiry-based learning (EBL) context. In this paper, we examine the use of a commercial standard Group Intelligence software called GroupSystems®ThinkTank. To date, ThinkTank has been adopted mainly in the USA and supports teams in generating ideas, categorising, prioritising, voting and multi-criteria decision-making and automatically generates a report at the end of each session. The software was used by students carrying out an EBL project, set by employers, for a full academic year. The criteria for assessing the impact of ThinkTank on student learning were those of creativity, participation, productivity, engagement and understanding. Data was collected throughout the year using a combination of interviews and questionnaires, and written feedback from employers. The overall findings show an increase in levels of productivity and creativity, evidence of a deeper understanding of their work but some variation in attitudes towards participation in the early stages of the project.

Accelerated loss of alpine glaciers in the Kodar Mountains, south-eastern Siberia

The recession of mountain glaciers around the world has been linked to anthropogenic climate change and small glaciers (e.g. < 2 km2) are thought to be particularly vulnerable, with reports of their disappearance from several regions. However, the response of small glaciers to climate change can be modulated by non-climatic factors such as topography and debris cover and there remain a number of regions where their recent change has evaded scrutiny. This paper presents results of the first multi-year remote sensing survey of glaciers in the Kodar Mountains, the only glaciers in SE Siberia, which we compare to previous glacier inventories from this continental setting that reported total glacier areas of 18.8 km2 in ca. 1963 (12.6 km2 of exposed ice) and 15.5 km2 in 1974 (12 km2 of exposed ice). Mapping their debris-covered termini is difficult but delineation of debris-free ice on Landsat imagery reveals 34 glaciers with a total area of 11.72 ± 0.72 km2 in 1995, followed by a reduction to 9.53 ± 0.29 km2 in 2001 and 7.01 ± 0.23 km2 in 2010. This represents a ~ 44% decrease in exposed glacier ice between ca. 1963 and 2010, but with 40% lost since 1995 and with individual glaciers losing as much as 93% of their exposed ice. Thus, although continental glaciers are generally thought to be less sensitive than their maritime counterparts, a recent acceleration in shrinkage of exposed ice has taken place and we note its coincidence with a strong summer warming trend in the region initiated at the start of the 1980s. Whilst smaller and shorter glaciers have, proportionally, tended to shrink more rapidly, we find no statistically significant relationship between shrinkage and elevation characteristics, aspect or solar radiation. This is probably due to the small sample size, limited elevation range, and topographic setting of the glaciers in deep valleys-heads. Furthermore, many of the glaciers possess debris-covered termini and it is likely that the ablation of buried ice is lagging the shrinkage of exposed ice, such that a growth in the proportion of debris cover is occurring, as observed elsewhere. If recent trends continue, we hypothesise that glaciers could evolve into a type of rock glacier within the next few decades, introducing additional complexity in their response and delaying their potential demise.

Five years of carbon dioxide fluxes measurements in a highly vegetated suburban area

Suburban areas continue to grow rapidly and are potentially an important land-use category for anthropogenic carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here eddy covariance techniques are used to obtain ecosystem-scale measurements of CO2 fluxes (FC) from a suburban area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA (2002–2006). These are among the first multi-year measurements of FC in a suburban area. The study area is characterized by low population density (1500 inhabitants km−2) and abundant vegetation (67.4% vegetation land-cover). FC is correlated with photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), soil temperature, and wind direction. Missing hourly FC is gap-filled using empirical relations between FC, PAR, and soil temperature. Diurnal patterns show net CO2 emissions to the atmosphere during winter and net CO2 uptake by the surface during summer daytime hours (summer daily total is −1.25 g C m−2 d−1). Despite the large amount of vegetation the suburban area is a net CO2 source of 361 g C m−2 y−1 on average.

The future of bioscience fieldwork in UK higher education

Fieldwork is an important and often enjoyable part of learning in Bioscience degree courses, however it is unclear how the recent reforms to Higher Education (HE) may impact the future funding of outdoor learning. This paper reports on the findings from a recent survey of 30 HE Bioscience practitioners from across the UK. Their current level of fieldwork provision and factors affecting this provision in the future were explored. The data showed that the level of fieldwork had remained similar over the past five years and this was set to remain so over the next academic year and also into the next five years (when it may even increase). Funding of fieldwork was under review in most institutions due to the increase in student tuition fees and it was found that in some cases the cost of compulsory fieldwork will be subsumed within the overall course fee. Many influencing factors were discussed, but the most frequently raised topics were that of the development of employability skills during fieldwork and its importance in attracting and retaining students. Both topics are high on the agenda of HE institutions going forward into the new funding model, suggesting that fieldwork will remain a central part of the Bioscience curriculum.

Using problem-based learning in a chemistry practical class for pharmacy students and engaging them with feedback

Objective: To introduce a new approach to problem based learning (PBL) used in the context of medicinal chemistry practical class teaching pharmacy students. Design: The described chemistry practical is based on independent studies by small groups of undergraduate students (4-5), who design their own practical work taking relevant professional standards into account. Students are carefully guided by feedback and acquire a set of skills important to their future profession as healthcare professionals. This model has been tailored to the application of PBL in a chemistry practical class setting for a large student cohort (150 students). Assessment: The achievement of learning outcomes is based on the submission of relevant documentation including a certificate of analysis, in addition to peer assessment. Some of the learning outcomes are also assessed in the final written examination at the end of the academic year. Conclusion: The described design of a novel PBL chemistry laboratory course for pharmacy students has been found to be successful. Self-reflective learning and engagement with feedback were encouraged, and students enjoyed the challenging learning experience. Skills that are highly essential for the students’ future careers as healthcare professionals are promoted.

A model of the three-dimensional evolution of Arctic melt ponds on first-year and multiyear sea ice

During winter the ocean surface in polar regions freezes over to form sea ice. In the summer the upper layers of sea ice and snow melts producing meltwater that accumulates in Arctic melt ponds on the surface of sea ice. An accurate estimate of the fraction of the sea ice surface covered in melt ponds is essential for a realistic estimate of the albedo for global climate models. We present a melt-pond–sea-ice model that simulates the three-dimensional evolution of melt ponds on an Arctic sea ice surface. The advancements of this model compared to previous models are the inclusion of snow topography; meltwater transport rates are calculated from hydraulic gradients and ice permeability; and the incorporation of a detailed one-dimensional, thermodynamic radiative balance. Results of model runs simulating first-year and multiyear sea ice are presented. Model results show good agreement with observations, with duration of pond coverage, pond area, and ice ablation comparing well for both the first-year ice and multiyear ice cases. We investigate the sensitivity of the melt pond cover to changes in ice topography, snow topography, and vertical ice permeability. Snow was found to have an important impact mainly at the start of the melt season, whereas initial ice topography strongly controlled pond size and pond fraction throughout the melt season. A reduction in ice permeability allowed surface flooding of relatively flat, first-year ice but had little impact on the pond coverage of rougher, multiyear ice. We discuss our results, including model shortcomings and areas of experimental uncertainty.

Evidence for interplay between genes and parenting on infant temperament in the first year of life: monoamine oxidase A polymorphism moderates effects of maternal sensitivity on infant anger proneness

Background The low expression polymorphism of the MAOA gene in interaction with adverse environments (G × E) is associated with antisocial behaviour disorders. These have their origins in early life, but it is not known whether MAOA G × E occurs in infants. We therefore examined whether MAOA G × E predicts infant anger proneness, a temperamental dimension associated with later antisocial behaviour disorders. In contrast to previous studies, we examined MAOA G × E prospectively using an observational measure of a key aspect of the infant environment, maternal sensitivity, at a specified developmental time point. Methods In a stratified epidemiological cohort recruited during pregnancy, we ascertained MAOA status (low vs. high expression alleles) from the saliva of 193 infants, and examined specific predictions to maternal report of infant temperament at 14 months from maternal sensitivity assessed at 29 weeks of age. Results Analyses, weighted to provide general population estimates, indicated a robust interaction between MAOA status and maternal sensitivity in the prediction of infant anger proneness (p = .003) which became stronger once possible confounders for maternal sensitivity were included in the model (p = .0001). The interaction terms were similar in males (p = .010) and females (p = .016), but the effects were different as a consequence of an additional sex of infant by maternal sensitivity interaction. Conclusions This prospective study provides the first evidence of moderation by the MAOA gene of effects of parenting on infant anger proneness, an important early risk for the development of disruptive and aggressive behaviour disorders.

Internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement: bi-directional prospective relations in adolescence

Prior research has documented negative, concurrent relations between internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement among adolescents. The present study provided the first rigorous, longitudinal examination of the bi-directional, prospective relations between adolescent internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement. One hundred and thirty adolescents reported depression and anxiety annually from 6th through 10th grades, and GPA records were obtained annually from schools. Results showed that a) high depression and anxiety at the beginning of a school year predicted lower GPA during that school year, and b) low GPA in any school year predicted higher depression and anxiety at the beginning of the following school year. These findings underscore the tight link between adolescent internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement.