Open University

About: Open University is a education organization based out in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 11702 authors who have published 35020 publications receiving 1110835 citations. The organization is also known as: Open University, The & Open University.

“Student Voice” and Governmentality: The production of enterprising subjects?

Abstract: “Student voice” is now taking a more central role in educational policy, guidance and thinking. As it does so, however, it becomes less clear how to interpret it: it can perhaps no longer be seen as a radical gesture that will necessarily challenge educational hierarchies. Drawing on qualitative research into one student participation project, “Students as Researchers”, the article explores how far Foucauldian concepts of governmentality may offer a more sophisticated understanding of the power relations embedded in student voice initiatives. From this perspective, for instance, such projects may be read as attempts to instill norms of individualism, self-reliance and self-management, which resonate with new configurations of power and authority under neo-liberalism, respond to specific debates about school standards, effectiveness and competition, and help construct young people as reflexive “knowledge workers”. Whilst a governmentality perspective does not preclude acknowledging the positive effects of ...

In Situ Radiometric and Exposure Age Dating of the Martian Surface

Abstract: We determined radiogenic and cosmogenic noble gases in a mudstone on the floor of Gale Crater. A K-Ar age of 4.21 ± 0.35 billion years represents a mixture of detrital and authigenic components and confirms the expected antiquity of rocks comprising the crater rim. Cosmic-ray-produced (3)He, (21)Ne, and (36)Ar yield concordant surface exposure ages of 78 ± 30 million years. Surface exposure occurred mainly in the present geomorphic setting rather than during primary erosion and transport. Our observations are consistent with mudstone deposition shortly after the Gale impact or possibly in a later event of rapid erosion and deposition. The mudstone remained buried until recent exposure by wind-driven scarp retreat. Sedimentary rocks exposed by this mechanism may thus offer the best potential for organic biomarker preservation against destruction by cosmic radiation.

Evolution of a volcanic rifted margin: Southern Red Sea, Ethiopia

Abstract: The process of strain localization as rifting proceeds to continental breakup is readily observed along the Oligocene-Recent southern Red Sea rift, yet much of the Red Sea margin in Ethiopia remains unmapped. Rifting initiated above or near a mantle plume, which is marked by the Eo-Oligocene Ethiopia-Yemen fl ood basalt province. Objectives of this fi eld, remote sensing, and geochronology study are to establish a structural and stratigraphic framework for the southernmost Red Sea passive margin using new and existing 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age data along 6 transects. We present new sketch geological maps and cross sections to document the timing of extension in relation to magmatism and its variation along strike. These new data are integrated with plate kinematic, geological, and geophysical data to present a model for evolution of the southern Red Sea margin. Faults commonly marked by eruptive centers initiated between 29 and 26 Ma, coincident with rifting in the Gulf of Aden. The Red Sea rift terminated at 10°N until linkage of the Main Ethiopian rift and southern Red Sea occurred at ca. 11 Ma. Rifting progressed in three distinct stages; each new phase saw a marked change in the style of volcanism and a narrowing of the locus of extension. Stage 1 rhyolites were emplaced from 29 to 26 Ma in basins bounded by a steep border fault system. Between 25 and 20 Ma, strain localized to narrow zones of basaltic fi ssural eruptions and minor faulting. Stage 2 faults and eruptive centers are located ~50 km to the east of the border faults, and they comprise fl ows spanning at least 16‐7 Ma. After ca. 7 Ma, the locus of strain again migrated eastward (Stage 3). Strain in Stage 3 was largely accommodated by dike injection. Plate reconstructions predict high stretching factors (β ~3) in the southern Red Sea, suggesting that Stages 2 and 3 mark the onset of formation of crust transitional between oceanic and continental.

A model for the evolution of the Grampian tract in the early Caledonides and Appalachians

Abstract: Analogy with models developed for Newfoundland suggests that the ophiolites of the Grampian tract were emplaced as hot, young oceanic crust. The conversion of a mid-ocean ridge-fracture zone system into a subduction zone resulted in the northward emplacement of a giant ophiolite nappe onto the continental margin in the early Ordovician. This obduction occurred long before the collision between the Laurentian and Baltic Shields. The general features of this model may be characteristic of orogens resulting from oceanic closure.

Flavonoid-mediated inhibition of SARS coronavirus 3C-like protease expressed in Pichia pastoris

Abstract: The 3C-like protease (3CLpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is vital for SARS-CoV replication and is a promising drug target. Recombinant 3CLpro was expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 as a 42 kDa protein that displayed a K m of 15 ± 2 μM with Dabcyl-KTSAVLQSGFRKME-Edans as substrate. Purified 3CLpro was used for inhibition and kinetic assays with seven flavonoid compounds. The IC50 of six flavonoid compounds were 47–381 μM. Quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) displayed good inhibition toward 3CLpro with IC50 values of 73, 73 and 47 μM, respectively. GCG showed a competitive inhibition pattern with K i value of 25 ± 1.7 μM. In molecular docking experiments, GCG displayed a binding energy of −14 kcal mol−1 to the active site of 3CLpro and the galloyl moiety at 3-OH position was required for 3CLpro inhibition activity.