Publications (7) View all
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Article: The variation in academics’ experiences of teaching in an intense study centre compared with their traditional university settings
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ABSTRACT: This article explores how teachers’ experiences of teaching accelerated courses in a residential setting compared with their experiences of teaching in their traditional contexts. It looks at how teachers responded to the opportunities the accelerated format provided and how this caused them to revisit not only what they taught, but how they taught. Teaching in an intense residential setting also allowed teachers to be more aware of their students as learners and caused them to revisit the purpose of higher education. Suggestions are made for how accelerated courses could be seen as part of an academic year as they offer advantages to both teacher and student.Journal of Further and Higher Education 08/2011; 35(3):339-353. -
Article: The response of Physical Science post-graduates to training courses and the connection to their PhD studies
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ABSTRACT: Training in both employability and discipline-specific skills has been provided and expanded over a number of years for post-graduate research students, (PGRs) in the Faculty of Physical Sciences administered by the Physical Sciences Graduate School (PSGS) at the University of Glasgow. This project explored the training provided in 2005/06 with a view to further developing a programme that students and faculty alike consider appropriate, timely and developmental for the needs of research students. The training provided by the PSGS had grown over a number of years in response to suggestions from academic staff in the Faculty of Physical Sciences. Data were collected from Postgraduate Research students (PGRs) from all the stages of the 3 year PhD process to enable a complete map of views to emerge. In particular, the way PGR students perceive the training they undergo in relation to their core PhD research and career progression was examined. The students in our study also identified clearly where they perceived they were developing such transferable skills, and training sessions are not seen as the sole or even major source; the research group itself would appear to play a major role. The authors believe the finding could inform the provision of PGR training in other UK institutions.International Journal for Researcher Development. 01/2009; -
Article: The putative role of transforming viruses in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
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ABSTRACT: Epidemiological evidence suggests that infection is involved in the etiology of common acute lymphoblastic leukemia, either by stimulating an inappropriate immune response or in the form of a classical transforming agent. In an attempt to elucidate the role that infection is playing in this disease, we used representational difference analysis (RDA) to examine tumor samples for the presence of exogenous genomes. Twenty RDA experiments were carried out, using four different restriction enzymes, but no exogenous sequences were identified within leukemic cells. These results suggest that it is unlikely that a single, direct transforming agent is involved in the pathogenesis of common acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Haematologica 03/2006; 91(2):240-3. · 6.42 Impact Factor -
Article: Association between simian virus 40 DNA and lymphoma in the United kingdom.
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ABSTRACT: Recent studies have reported the presence of simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA sequences in approximately 40% of tumor samples from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients from the United States. We examined a series of 259 tumor and blood samples, including 152 NHL samples, from patients in the U.K. with lymphadenopathy and lymphoid leukemia for the presence of SV40 DNA using a highly sensitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and a consensus PCR assay capable of detecting the polyomaviruses SV40, BK, and JC. SV40 DNA sequences were not detected in any sample using either assay. Because the incidence of NHL is similar in the U.K. and the United States, this finding suggests that SV40 is unlikely to have an etiologic role in NHL.CancerSpectrum Knowledge Environment 08/2003; 95(13):1001-3. · 14.07 Impact Factor -
Article: Viruses and Hodgkin disease: no evidence of novel herpesviruses in non-EBV-associated lesions.
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ABSTRACT: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a proportion of cases of Hodgkin disease (HD) and this association is believed to be causal. Epidemiological studies suggest that an infectious agent is involved in the aetiology of young adult HD, however, cases in this age group are less likely to have EBV-associated disease than cases diagnosed in early childhood or older adult years. Molecular studies have failed to find a consistent association between HD and other candidate viruses, and the aetiology of non-EBV-associated cases remains obscure. We looked for evidence of herpesvirus infection in samples of non-EBV-associated HD using a highly sensitive, degenerate PCR assay. Despite exhaustive sequence analysis of PCR products, no novel herpesviruses were identified. These results suggest that it is extremely unlikely that a novel herpesvirus is involved in the pathogenesis of non-EBV-associated HD.International Journal of Cancer 10/2002; 101(3):259-64. · 5.44 Impact Factor
