This ethnographic study examines the role of public libraries in supporting lifelong learning (LLL) activities. It was undertaken in a library in the North of England. This study adopted the community of practice (CoP) as a conceptual framework to highlight the importance of the public library as a lifelong learning institution and to explore the significance of the knowledge and skills that are developed through social interaction with learners (users of the library) and librarians and the effects of that on users’ learning and identity. Fieldwork was conducted in the library during a period of nine months. Participant observation and unstructured interviews with 11 librarians, semi-structured interviews with 48 users, along with documentary analysis, were used to generate qualitative data on the library as a lifelong learning institution and the role of librarians in supporting lifelong learning activities. The findings reveal the potential for the public library to be a lifelong learning institution which are: the stimulating learning environment of the library; diversity in the library; a variety of learning resources and accessible facilities as well as cooperation with other organisations in the community. The findings also suggest that the library has integrated social, economic and educational effects on both individuals and communities. The library offers equal and free learning opportunities for everyone, regardless of their background, which provides learners with on-going skills. In this sense, the library is considered as key to unlocking inequality. The findings reveal that the library achieves social justice, fosters social cohesion and prevents social isolation. In addition, the public library plays a vital role in promoting individuals’ health and well-being through bibliotherapy sessions. The findings also show that the library constructs learners’ identities as they become confident, independent learners, critical thinkers and active citizens. On an economic level, the library has a direct and indirect economic impact on individuals, as well as on the whole community. The direct role has been demonstrated by saving users money and supporting people to find jobs as well as starting up their own businesses. Its indirect role is demonstrated though saving money for the public Exchequer, such as the NHS. However, the library faces challenges which affect the quality of delivering those services such as funding cuts, leading to the closure of library buildings, lack of public perception of the library’s value and misunderstanding the rules by the users. The study also highlights that the librarians play a significant role in supporting lifelong learning activities. The librarians deliver the learning sessions as proficient teachers. They also support library users by guiding them to access the valuable information resources and learning sessions which meet their needs. This study shows that there are criteria for librarians to be able to support LLL activities. However, the data indicates that the librarians face challenges such as replacing them with volunteers to run the library services. In addition, there is a lack of public awareness about their significant role in the community.

Individuals who have been in care are often thought of as a homogenous group who, because of past and ongoing contextual adversities, have outcomes reflecting hardship in various do mains. Aggregated outcomes may conceal the presence of individuals within this group who develop life projects and are able to put plans into action. Some manage to succeed educationally and take up places on university course. This research seeks to explore the reflexivity, internal conversations and social networks of young people who had been in care but had managed to become students at university. Five young people were interviewed using Archer’s (2003, 2007) semi-structured internal conversation inter view and then using Hartman’s (1978) ecogram to graphically represent their social network. Data was analysed using Robinson and Smith’s (2010) composite analysis, which incorporates elements of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (2015) and the Inter active Model (Miles and Huberman (1995)). The young people’s accounts showed that they were proudly independent, demonstrating considerable personal agency, but were well connected and able to access emotional and practical support in their social networks. They felt different to others and managed their difficult histories in a variety of ways. The results are considered in relationship to Archer’s theory and theories of resilience.

This research aimed to investigate the starting school transition by exploring how the transition from home and/or nursery was being understood, interpreted and experienced by school staff, parents and children. Furthermore, it aimed to explore the discourses that surround the transitional experience and gain an understanding of how they may impact upon the daily experience. It found that the parents and children socially constructed the transition using the discursive notion of a ‘good’ school child (Thornberg, 2009) which was understood to represent one who is able to follow the rules, carry out the work and listen to adults. Additionally, the parents appeared to be drawing on a number of discourses (e.g. ‘good’ parents and ‘pushy’ parents) that impacted upon their overall experience of the transition and which also impacted their understanding of what the concept was about. This is because the discourses meant that the parents were peripherally positioned (Davies and Harré, 1990; 1999) within the child’s transitional experience, even though they are positioned within the wider schooling discourse as being equal partners (DfE, 2010b; 4Children, 2015). During the transitional experience, three discursive practices were observed that helped the children understand what a ‘good’ school child was and how he or she was being constructed. These were the three R’s of transition: the use of school routines, school rules and the reduction of the children’s rights. These disciplinary tools (Foucault, 1982) were used in a manner in which they shaped the children’s behaviour and expectations of the schooling experience. Finally, these tools also allowed the children to be positioned and repositioned (Drewery, 2005) in a variety of ways. These positions were related to the ‘good’ school child notion entwined with this transition. However, the use of agency (Devine, 1998; James, 2011) in the uptake or refusal of these positions was also observed meaning the children had a choice in the position they were given by others or which they produced for themselves. The research concludes by suggesting that the social construction of the transition by families and individual schools and their communities needs to be considered when anticipating the support required for this transition. Attention needs to be paid to the positioning of the parents and their ability to offer support to their child’s experience and also to the positions made available within the classroom for the children to take up. A number of suggestions are made that will assist the overall experience stemming from the starting school transition.

This thesis examines how feedback is used by pre-registration healthcare students to support their learning. It investigates feedback experiences in authentic academic and practice-based environments, using the student's experience as the main vehicle by which to develop an understanding about the value and impact of feedback. This interpretative phenomenological study utilises a small sample of pre-registration healthcare students and staff from a single UK university and explores their lived experiences of feedback through a lifeworld lens. Situated learning and the theory of communities of practice is used to understand the data. The study identifies the significance of the healthcare discipline to shape the learning from feedback experiences of the students in relation to their developing identity as practitioners. The situation in which learning takes place for pre-registration healthcare students is complex. Students learn across multiple sites and have a dual role of learner and clinician. This complexity of the learning experience alongside the students’ uncertainties in relation to their developing identity affects how they engage with feedback. The students’ perception of “self” also influences how feedback is understood and internalised. The study argues that relationships and learning-focussed communities of practice are core to the way that feedback is experienced by these students. The dual role that these students occupy, and lack of direction from their educators in making clear how feedback should be used, appears to create a lack of clarity regarding the purpose of feedback. The authenticity of the learning experience was also found to be significant in supporting the students’ learning. The relationship between the learner “self”, the purpose of feedback, the authenticity of the learning experience, and the membership of multiple communities of practice are intertwined and appear to be significant to the impact and value of learning from feedback for the pre-registration healthcare students.

This thesis explores the institutional development of social engagement (SE) programmes within higher education institutions (HEIs). Since the 1990s, universities in the United States and Canada have become increasingly active in directly addressing social issues such as poverty, social exclusion and political participation in their own local communities. The past decade has seen similar developments at universities in the United Kingdom. At the global level as well, there are increasing discussions about the role and responsibilities of HEIs in human and social development. To facilitate their engagement with wider social issues, HEIs frequently create SE programmes which coordinate activities between university-based actors and community-partners. A significant body of literature exists on SE programmes; however, these writings fall into two categories: firstly, promoting the concept of university engagement and, secondly, evaluating the impacts of such programmes on communities or students. What is far less theorised or researched are the intermediary processes which enable the social engagement aspirations of HEIs to come to fruition, generating these documented impacts. This study aims to produce new knowledge and insights on how university SE programmes are created and institutionalised over time. This research is a qualitative study of SE programmes at three HEIs, two in the UK and one in the US. The data for the study has been drawn from primary programme documents, participatory workshops and interviews with more than one-hundred staff, academics, students and community-partners involved with these programmes. The research suggests that, despite differences in size, mission and national context, there are common enabling factors which lead to the creation of these programmes and which facilitate their successful institutionalisation within their respective institutions. Moreover, the research also suggests that the presence of these programmes catalyses unexpected outcomes within the HEIs themselves, such as changes in the formal curriculum as well as changes in the overall learning culture of the institutions where these SE programmes were located. Considered together, these findings suggest that the presence of these programmes contributes to the development of a systemic ―institutional pedagogy‖ which encourages students, staff and academics to engage with important social and developmental issues in their local communities, and often more widely as well.

The Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) is the Royal Navy‘s assessment centre whose role is to select young people for officer training. The two aims of the study were (1) to investigate the relative value of psychometric versus other assessment centre selection measures and (2) the value of these and other approaches for selecting naval commanding officers for practitioners. The AIB selection data was used to investigate the long-term prediction of some of the selection measures, particularly the psychometric tests, in predicting the outcome for students attending the Submarine Command Course. Few pieces of research have looked at the long-term prediction of a real command situation. This research examines the prediction of a practical naval command situation where the student has to make rapid decisions under pressure and where failure to make the correct decision could be costly. A literature review showed that whilst cognitive tests, personality inventories and other assessment measures can predict job performance and training successes, the meta-analytical techniques used to pool research studies have produced inconsistent findings that could confuse practitioners. The students attended the command course, on average, thirteen years after the initial AIB selection process. Selection scores were available for 93 students, 57 of whom also completed a 'Big-Five' personality inventory and an Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) at the start of the 24-week course. The average age of the students starting the course was 32. The students were assessed throughout the course and were graded as pass or fail. They were also given an A to F Course Grade. In addition, 88 students were graded on twenty aspects of performance covering eight tactical grades, three administrative grades and nine personality grades. The results showed that the means of the pass and fail groups on the AIB Non-verbal test were statistically significantly different with a moderate effect size. The correlation for this relationship (with the A to F Course Grade) was 0.20. The Non-verbal test score also correlated with the course instructor‘s grades on tactical performance at 0.30 and the Verbal test correlated 0.23 with the administration grades. None of the other AIB selection measures showed significant results. While this is a disappointing result, the students were a very homogeneous group and to obtain these findings for the Non-verbal and Verbal test after thirteen years shows the predictive power of these tests. Although the findings may be of theoretical interest the low correlations mean that not much variance in performance is explained. The tests would not be a useful screening device to reduce the failure rate on the course because there would be too much misclassification. None of the Big Five personality scales predicted success on the course or the other course grades but statistically significant differences were found for the means of two the OSI scales: these were for 'Ambition' and a Type A Behaviour measure. Ambition was the only scale which correlated significantly with the A to F Course Grade at 0.43. Ambition was also found to correlate with the total score for the twenty performance grades, the tactical grades and the personality grades and several individual performance grades including Practical Ability, Leadership and Command Presence with correlations approaching 0.4. Further research on this aspect of behaviour may be worthwhile. However, there are lessons to be learned. The literature review shows that practitioners need to scrutinize journal articles and book chapters on the validity of selection measures extremely carefully. It may be that measures which have been shown to predict the performance of junior staff are inappropriate for the selection of more senior staff with similar job experience.

A prevalência da obesidade e da síndrome metabólica (SM) vem aumentando dramaticamente em jovens e está se tornando um problema de saúde pública na maioria dos países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento. Tanto a obesidade quanto a SM aumentam o número de pacientes expostos ao risco de doença cardiovascular. Estudos recentes mostram que uma redução na biodisponipilidade de óxido nítrico (NO) é um dos principais fatores que contribui para a ação deletéria da insulina nos vasos de pacientes adultos com obesidade e SM. O NO, potente vasodilatador e anti-agregante plaquetário, tem como precursor o aminoácido catiônico L-arginina que é transportado para o interior das plaquetas através do carreador y+L. Uma família de enzimas denominadas NO sintases (NOS) catalisa a oxidação da L-arginina em NO e L-citrulina e é composta de três isoformas: neuronal (nNOS), induzível (iNOS) e endotelial (eNOS). Os objetivos principais do presente estudo são de investigar diferentes etapas da via L-arginina-NO em plaquetas associando agregação plaquetária, concentração plasmática de L-arginina, estresse oxidativo, marcadores metabólicos, hormonais, clínicos e inflamatórios em pacientes adolescentes com obesidade e SM. Foram incluídos no estudo trinta adolescentes, sendo dez com obesidade, dez com SM, e dez controles saudáveis pareados por idade, sexo e classificação de Tanner (controles: n= 10, 15.6 0.7 anos; obesos: n= 10, 15 0.9 anos; SM: n= 10, 14.9 0.8 anos). O transporte de L-arginina (pmol/109céls/min) através do sistema y+L estava diminuído nos pacientes com SM (18.4 3.8) e obesidade (20.8 4.7), comparados aos controles (52.3 14.8). Houve uma correlação positiva do influxo de L-arginina via sistema y+L com os níveis de HDL-Colesterol. Por outro lado, foi encontrada uma correlação negativa do influxo de L-arginina com os níveis de insulina, os índices Homa IR, relacionado a RI, Homa Beta, relacionado a função da célula beta e também com os índices de Leptina. Em relação a produção de NO, a obesidade e a SM não afetaram a atividade e expressão das enzimas NOS. A atividade da superóxido dismutase (SOD), através da mensuração da inibição da auto-oxidação da adrenalina, mostrou diferença significativa nas plaquetas de pacientes com obesidade (4235 613,2 nMol/mg de proteína), quando comparada aos controles (1011 123,6 nmol/mg de proteína) e SM (1713 267,7 nmol/mg de proteína). A nível sistêmico, foi também evidenciada uma ativação desta enzima anti-oxidante no soro de pacientes obesos, em relação aos controles. A peroxidação lipídica avaliada pelas substâncias reativas ao ácido tiobarbitúrico (TBARS) estava inalterada no soro dos pacientes e controles. Estes resultados sugerem que o transporte de L-arginina diminuído nas plaquetas de adolescentes obesos e com SM pode ser um marcador precoce de disfunção plaquetária. A alteração desta via correlaciona-se com a resistência à insulina e hiperinsulinemia. A contribuição deste estudo e de fatores que possam ser precocemente identificados pode diminuir o risco cardiovascular na vida adulta desta população de pacientes. / The prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS) is dramatically increasing in young people and becoming a public health problem in the majority of developed and developing countries. Both obesity and MS increase the number of patients exposed to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have shown that a reduction in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is one of the major factors contributing to the deleterious action of insulin in the blood vessels of adult patients with obesity and MS. NO, a powerful vasodilator and platelet anti-aggregating agent, has the cationic amino acid L-arginine as a precursor, which is transported into platelets via transport system y+L. A family of enzymes known as NO sinthases (NOS) catalyses the oxidation of L-arginine in NO and L-citrulline and is composed of three isoforms: neuronal (nNOS), inducible (iNOS) and endothelial (eNOS). The major objectives of this study are to investigate different steps of the L-arginine-NO pathway in platelets and their association with platelet aggregation, L-arginine plasma concentration, oxidative stress, and metabolic, hormonal, clinical and inflammatory markers in adolescent patients with obesity and MS. Thirty adolescents were included in this study: ten with obesity, ten with MS and ten healthy controls paired by age, sex and Tanner classification (controls: n= 10, 15.6 0.7 years; obese: n= 10, 15 0.9 years; MS: n= 10, 14.9 0.8 years). Larginine transport (pmol/109cells/min) via system y+L was reduced in patients with MS (18.4 3.8) and obesity (20.8 4.7) compared to controls (52.3 14.8). There was a positive correlation between L-arginine influx via system y+L and HDL-cholesterol. On the other hand, a negative correlation was found between L-arginine influx via system y+L and insulin levels, Homa-IR related to insulin resistance, Homa-Beta, related to betacell function and the leptin index. In relation to nitric oxide production, obesity and MS do not affect the activity and expression of NOS enzymes. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), by measuring the inhibition of adrenaline autoxidation, showed a significant difference in platelets from patients with obesity (4235 613,2nMol/mg protein) compared to controls (1011 123,6 nmol/mg de protein) and MS (1713 267,7 nmol/mg protein). At the systemic level, an activation of this anti-oxidant enzyme was also observed in the serum of patients with obesity and MS in relation to controls in the presence of similar levels of substances that are reactive to tiobarbituric acid (TBARS), a marker of lipid peroxidation. These results suggest that diminished L-arginine transport in platelets from adolescents with obesity and MS may be an early marker of platelet dysfunction. The alteration of this pathway correlates to insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. The contribution of this study and of factors that can be identified early may reduce cardiovascular risk during adult life in this population of patients.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T23:26:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_10243_66-Drielly Stephania Gouvea.pdf: 1399699 bytes, checksum: e6b26f6146f35ffd98e203f6bc0a8018 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-28 / A embriogênese somática é o processo de desenvolvimento de embriões a partir de células somáticas. Objetivou-se com este trabalho analisar a eficiência de reguladores de crescimento nas diferentes fases da embriogênese somática indireta a partir de plantas in vitro do mamoeiro hermafrodita hibrido UENF/Caliman 01. Discos foliares destas brotações foram inoculadas em meio de indução (MI): meio MS (Murashige; Skoog, 1962), com concentração total de sais, e suplementado com auxinas, ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D)(6; 9; 12; 15 e 18 μM) e ácido 4- clorofenoxiacético (4-CPA)(19; 22; 25; 28 e 31 μM). Os tratamentos foram dispostos em delineamento inteiramente casualizados (DIC), com cinco repetições, e cinco explantes por repetição. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância pelo teste F e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Skott-Knott em nível de 5% de significância. Ao transcorrer, 90 dias da indução, visualizou-se a formação de alguns embriões somáticos nos calos friáveis formados. As concentrações da auxina 2,4-D, foram inibitórias, ocorrendo somente a formação de calos de coloração marromclara, os quais tiveram resultados inferior a 20% na formação de embriões somáticos, enquanto a suplementação com 4-CPA resultou em 96% de calos embriogênicos para a concentração de 25 μM. Os calos embriogênicos, foram ix transferidos para o meio de maturação (MM): MS sem regulador de crescimento; ABA ácido abiscísico (0,5 μM); ABA (0,5 μM) + CA carvão ativo (15 g L-1); ABA (0,5 μM) + CA (30 g L-1); ABA (0,5 μM) + PEG polietilenoglicol (60 g L-1) durante 30 dias. Foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os meios de maturação testados, uma reação positiva em relação a quantidade de embriões desenvolvidos e os efeitos de cada tratamento. O meio de maturação constituído de ABA 0,5 μM + CA 30 g L-1 foi o mais eficiente no desenvolvimento de embriõessomáticos cotiledonares. Estes embriões cotiledonares maduros, foram inoculados em meio de germinação (MG): MS sem regulador de crescimento; GA3 (0,5 mg L-1); GA3 (1,0 mg L-1) e GA3 (1,5 mg L-1).

Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T23:26:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_7930_45 - Dissertacao - Helder Ivo Pandolfi20150903-152939.pdf: 1914550 bytes, checksum: a2ef395c6f20f25fec76f8ea26d0e783 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-24 / O cacaueiro é cultivado em toda região tropical do mundo e sua amêndoa é o principal ingrediente do chocolate. Alguns locais de cultivo tendem a sofrer com alagamento em determinada época do ano. A baixa disponibilidade de oxigênio, provocada pelo alagamento, induz alterações nos processos fisiológicos e morfológicos modificando o desenvolvimento e crescimento das plantas. A aeração da solução nutritiva é necessária para disponibilizar oxigênio para as raízes em plantas cultivadas em sistema hidropônico. O silício é benéfico para várias culturas, principalmente quando submetidas a algum tipo de estresse, o que pode ajudar a aliviar os danos provocados pelo alagamento. Na literatura não há relato do cultivo de cacau com omissão enível de silício, principalmente pela presença do elemento em todos os tipos de solo. Com base nessa prerrogativa, foi realizado um experimento com mudas de cacaueiro, cv. Catongo. O experimento foi realizado na casa de vegetação do CEUNES, localizada no município de São MateusES. O experimento foi realizado em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições sendo uma planta por repetição na primeira e segunda época de avaliação e na terceira foram utilizadas duas plantas por repetição. Os tratamentos foram distribuídos num arranjo fatorial 2x3x5, sendo com e sem aeração da solução nutritiva, três épocas de avaliação (1, 10 e 30 dias) e 5 níveis de silício (0; 0,5; 1,0; 1,5; 2,0 mmol L-1). As avaliações realizadas foram divididas em dois capítulos, o primeiro avaliou as variáveis de crescimento, teor foliar de silício e teores de pigmentos fotossintéticos. O segundo capítulo, reuniu os caracteres de fluorescência da clorofila a e trocas gasosas. Com base nos resultados, foram observadosa influência da falta de aeraçãono teor foliar de silício, degradaçãode pigmentos fotossintéticos, fluorescência da clorofila a e trocas gasosas. Pode ser observadoo efeito isolado do silíciosobre algumas variáveis fisiológicas de plantas não submetidas ao estresse, bem como em plantas submetidas, nesse caso aliviando o estresse provocado pela falta de aeração.

Cílem této diplomové práce je popsat a analyzovat marketingovou strategii Divize luxusních výrobků společnosti L´Oréal v ČR. Na tomto příkladu uvádím specifika trhu luxusní kosmetiky a odlišnosti marketingu v této oblasti. Diplomová práce obsahuje a popisuje vývoj trhu s luxusní kosmetikou, současné trendy a faktory, které trh ovlivňují. Dále prezentuje nejvýznamnější společnosti, věnuje se historii a prezentaci společnosti L´Oréal, představuje i jejího největšího konkurenta, společnosti LVMH. Dále analyzuje marketingovou strategii všech značky obsažené v portfoliu Divize luxusních výrobků společnosti L´Oréal.