Autonomous Elements Research Articles

The impact of differential transposition activities of autonomous and non-autonomous hAT transposable elements on genome architecture and gene expression in Caenorhabditis inopinata.

Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences capable of moving within genomes and significantly influence genomic evolution. The nematode Caenorhabditis inopinata exhibits a much higher TE copy number than its sister species, C. elegans. In this study, we identified a novel autonomous TE belonging to the hAT superfamily from a spontaneous TE-insertion mutant in C. inopinata and named this transposon Ci-hAT1. Further bioinformatic analyses uncovered three additional autonomous hAT elements-Ci-hAT2, Ci-hAT3, and Ci-hAT4-along with over 1,000 copies of two non-autonomous miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs), mCi-hAT1 and mCi-hAT4, likely derived from Ci-hAT1 and Ci-hAT4 through internal deletion. We tracked at least three sequential transpositions of Ci-hAT1 over several years. However, the transposition rates of the other three autonomous hAT elements were lower, suggesting varying activity levels. Notably, the distribution patterns of the two MITE families differed significantly: mCi-hAT1 was primarily located in the chromosome arms, a pattern observed in the TEs of other Caenorhabditis species, whereas mCi-hAT4 was more evenly distributed across chromosomes. Additionally, interspecific transcriptome analysis indicated that C. inopinata genes with upstream or intronic these MITE insertions tend to be more highly expressed than their orthologous genes in C. elegans. These findings highlight the significant role of de-silenced TEs in driving the evolution of genomes and transcriptomes, leading to species-specific genetic diversity.

Improved LINE-1 Detection through Pattern Matching by Increasing Probe Length.

Long Interspersed Element-1 (LINE-1 or L1) is an autonomous transposable element that accounts for 17% of the human genome. Strong correlations between abnormal L1 expression and diseases, particularly cancer, have been documented by numerous studies. L1PD (LINE-1 Pattern Detection) had been previously created to detect L1s by using a fixed pre-determined set of 50-mer probes and a pattern-matching algorithm. L1PD uses a novel seed-and-pattern-match strategy as opposed to the well-known seed-and-extend strategy employed by other tools. This study discusses an improved version of L1PD that shows how increasing the size of the k-mer probes from 50 to 75 or to 100 yields better results, as evidenced by experiments showing higher precision and recall when compared to the 50-mers. The probe-generation process was updated and the corresponding software is now shared so that users may generate probes for other reference genomes (with certain limitations). Additionally, L1PD was applied to other non-human genomes, such as dogs, horses, and cows, to further validate the pattern-matching strategy. The improved version of L1PD proves to be an efficient and promising approach for L1 detection.

La “Stiva da Morts”. In bilico tra due dimensioni sensoriali

In Vrin there is a building that is not dissimilar frommost of the buildings in the village in terms of its general characteristics, but at the same time it appears as an autonomous element in relation to its context. This building is known as ‘Stiva da Morts’, chamber of the dead, by the villagers, and was designed by architect Gion A. Caminada to host the traditional ritual of visiting the deceaseed in their coffin before burial. This ritual took on collective meanings in addition to the sentimental and individual ones already present. An ambivalence towards the individual seems to be expressed by some formal choices, which made the Stiva da Morts a new landmark in the anthropic fabric.

GWAS reveals determinants of mobilization rate and dynamics of an active endogenous retrovirus of cattle

Five to ten percent of mammalian genomes is occupied by multiple clades of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), that may count thousands of members. New ERV clades arise by retroviral infection of the germline followed by expansion by reinfection and/or retrotransposition. ERV mobilization is a source of deleterious variation, driving the emergence of ERV silencing mechanisms, leaving “DNA fossils”. Here we show that the ERVK[2-1-LTR] clade is still active in the bovine and a source of disease-causing alleles. We develop a method to measure the rate of ERVK[2-1-LTR] mobilization, finding an average of 1 per ~150 sperm cells, with >10-fold difference between animals. We perform a genome-wide association study and identify eight loci affecting ERVK[2-1-LTR] mobilization. We provide evidence that polymorphic ERVK[2-1-LTR] elements in four of these loci cause the association. We generate a catalogue of full length ERVK[2-1-LTR] elements, and show that it comprises 15% of C-type autonomous elements, and 85% of D-type non-autonomous elements lacking functional genes. We show that >25% of the variance of mobilization rate is determined by the number of C-type elements, yet that de novo insertions are dominated by D-type elements. We propose that D-type elements act as parasite-of-parasite gene drives that may contribute to the observed demise of ERV elements.

Blockchain for the digital twin-driven autonomous optical network

In recent years, optical networks have become increasingly large-scale and complex, resulting in mounting pressures on operation and maintenance management. The techniques of the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital twin (DT) have been applied to optical networks to pave the way for creating the self-optimizing and self-controlling autonomous optical network (AON). However, the AON is confronted with many security and reliability issues: the centralized architecture is prone to data loss during system disconnection and active/standby switchover, and the massive data, DT models, and control instructions in the AON all face the risk of being tampered with, directly affecting the effectiveness of network regulation. In addition, the reliability of complex autonomous processes should be ensured. To address these challenges, in this paper, we applied blockchain to a DT-driven AON with the designed architecture and deployment scheme to realize data loss prevention, anti-tamper storage, secure autonomous operations, access control, and network element controller decisions. A blockchain-based solution was studied by considering the quality of transmission (QoT) estimation and link optimization as examples. Four chaincodes were designed and developed to perform the model storage, service definition, telemetry subscription, data collection, model implementation, and instruction delivery in the AON. Furthermore, the proposed solution was developed and deployed using Hyperledger Fabric. The Hyperledger Caliper was used to test the performance of the proposed blockchain system. The distributed environment is used for performance testing to simulate the real scenario. The test results are analyzed to indicate the future development direction.

The influence of femoral lytic tumors segmentation on autonomous finite element analysis

BackgroundThe validated CT-based autonomous finite element system Simfini (Yosibash et al., 2020) is used in clinical practice to assist orthopedic oncologists in determining the risk of pathological femoral fractures due to metastatic tumors. The finite element models are created automatically from CT-scans, assigning to lytic tumors a relatively low stiffness as if these were a low-density bone tissue because the tumors could not be automatically identified. MethodsThe newly developed automatic deep learning algorithm which segments lytic tumors in femurs, presented in (Rachmil et al., 2023), was integrated into Simfini. Finite element models of twenty femurs from ten CT-scans of patients with femoral lytic tumors were analyzed three times using: the original methodology without tumor segmentation, manual segmentation of the lytic tumors, and the new automatic segmentation deep learning algorithm to identify lytic tumors. The influence of explicitly incorporating tumors in the autonomous finite element analysis on computed principal strains is quantified. These serve as an indicator of femoral fracture and are therefore of clinical significance. FindingsAutonomous finite element models with segmented lytic tumors had generally larger strains in regions affected by the tumor. The deep learning and manual segmentation of tumors resulted in similar average principal strains in 19 regions out of the 23 regions within 15 femurs with lytic tumors. A high dice similarity score of the automatic deep learning tumor segmentation did not necessarily correspond to minor differences compared to manual segmentation. InterpretationAutomatic tumor segmentation by deep learning allows their incorporation into an autonomous finite element system, resulting generally in elevated averaged principal strains that may better predict pathological femoral fractures.

The hAT family hopper transposon exists as highly similar yet discontinuous elements in the Bactrocera tephritid fly genus.

The hAT family transposable element, hopper, was originally discovered as a defective 3120-bp full-length element in a wild-type strain of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), and subsequently a functional 3131-bp element, hopperBdwe , was isolated from a white eye mutant strain. The latter study showed that closely related elements exist in melonfly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a closely related subgenus, suggesting that hopper could have a widespread presence in the Bactrocera genus. To further understand the distribution of hopper within and beyond the B. dorsalis species complex, primer pairs from hopperBdwe and its adjacent genomic insertion site were used to survey the presence and relatedness of hopper in five species within the complex and four species beyond the complex. Based on sequence identity of a 1.94 kb internal nucleotide sequence, the closest relationships were with mutated elements from B. dorsalis s.s. and species synonymized with B. dorsalis including B. papayae, B. philippinensis and B. invadens, ranging in identity between 88.4% and 99.5%. Notably, Bactrocera carambolae (Drew & Hancock) (Diptera: Tephritidae), which is most closely related to B. dorsalis beyond the synonymized species, shared hopper identities of 97.3%-99.5%. Beyond the B. dorsalis complex, Z. cucurbitae,Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) (Diptera: Tephritidae) shared identities of 83.1%-97.1%, while hopper was absent from the Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae) strain tested. While the functional autonomous hopperBdwe element was not detected in these species, another closely related hopper element isolated from a B. dorsalis genetic sexing strain has an uninterrupted transposase open reading frame. The discontinuous presence of hopper in the Bactrocera genus has implications for its use for genomic manipulation and understanding the phylogenetic relationship of these species.

Demand‐led industrialisation policy in a dual‐sector small open economy

AbstractThis article models the process of structural transformation and catching‐up in a demand‐led Southern economy constrained by its balance of payments. Starting from the Sraffian Supermultiplier Model, we model a dual‐sector small open economy with a traditional and a modern sector that interacts with a technologically advanced Northern economy. We propose two (alternative) autonomous elements that define the growth rate of this demand‐led economy: government spending and exports. Drawing from the Structuralist literature, productivity in the technologically laggard Southern economy grows by absorbing technology from the Northern economy, by both embodied and disembodied spillovers, and potentially closing the technology gap. The gap affects the income elasticity of exports, bringing a supply‐side mediation to the growth rates in line with the Balance of Payments Constrained Model. We observe that a demand‐led government policy plays a central role in structural change, pushing the modern sector to a larger share of employment than what results under export‐led growth. Such a demand policy is the only way in which partial catching up (in productivity and GDP per capita) can result, and this is facilitated by a global market place in which the balance of payments constraint is relatively soft.

Actor modeling of real-time cognitive systems: ontological basis and software-mathematical implementation

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of increasing the reliability of modeling of cognitive systems, to which the authors refer not only human intelligence, but also artificial intelligence systems, as well as intelligent control systems for production, technological processes and complex equipment. It is shown that the use of cognitive systems for solving control problems causes very high rapidity requirements for them. These requirements combined with the necessity to simplify modeling methods as the modeling object becomes more complex determine the choice of an approach to modeling cognitive systems. Models should be based on the use of simple algorithms in the form of trend detection, correlation, as well as (for solving intellectual problems) on the use of algorithms based on the application of various patterns of forms and laws. In addition, the models should be decentralized. An adequate representation of decentralized systems formed from a large number of autonomous elements can be formed within the framework of agent-based models. For cognitive systems, two models are the most elaborated: actor and reactor models. Actor models of cognitive systems have two possible realizations: as an instrumental model or as a simulation. Both implementations have the right to exist, but the possibilities of realizing a reliable description when using the tool model are higher, because it provides incommensurably higher rapidity, and also assumes variability of the modeled reality. The actor model can be realized by means of a large number of existing programming languages. The solution to the problem of creating simulative actor models is available in most languages that work with actors. Realization of instrumental actor models requires rapidity, which is unattainable in imperative programming. In this case, the optimal solution is to use actor metaprogramming. Such programming is realizable in many existing languages.

Diversity and evolution of an abundant ICEclc family of integrative and conjugative elements in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Microbial populations swiftly adapt to changing environments through horizontal gene transfer. While the mechanisms of gene transfer are well known, the impact of environmental conditions on the selection of transferred gene functions remains less clear. We investigated ICEs, specifically the ICEclc-type, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates. Our findings revealed co-evolution between ICEs and their hosts, with ICE transfers occurring within strains. Gene functions carried by ICEs are positively selected, including potential virulence factors and heavy metal resistance. Comparison to publicly available P. aeruginosa genomes unveiled widespread antibiotic-resistance determinants within ICEclc clades. Thus, the ubiquitous ICEclc family significantly contributes to P. aeruginosa's adaptation and fitness in diverse environments.

Femurs segmentation by machine learning from CT scans combined with autonomous finite elements in orthopedic and endocrinology applications

Efficient, accurate and reliable segmentation of femurs from CT-scans is of major importance for patient-specific autonomous finite element analysis (AFE) to determine bone's stiffness and strength. We present a fully automated segmentation algorithm for whole and partial femurs with or without tumors, and clinical applications of the AFE [1] in clinical practice.The segmentation is based on an U-Net convolutional neural network, resulting a 3D mask representing the desired femur in a CT scan. It is robust, independent of the scanning parameters such as slice spacing, pixel size, scanner manufacturer or the femoral length available in the scan. The U-Net was trained on 178 manually segmented femurs (23,721 images) and tested on 43. The performance evaluation resulted in a Dice similarity score (DSC) of 0.9924, intersection over union (IoU) of 0.9849, Hausdorff distance of 4.3315 mm and symmetric average surface distance (ASD) of 0.1326 mm. The algorithm is competitive with the best state-of-the-art femoral segmentation methodologies available.Based on the segmentation an automatic p-FE mesh is generated and physiological boundary conditions representing sidewise falls or stance are being applied automatically to improve the performance of the AFE described in [1]. New examples of the usage of the AFE in endocrinology and orthopedic oncology demonstrate this disruptive technology in actual clinical practice. We present the use of AFE for predicting hip fracture risk in the elderly population due to a sidewise fall and the identification of patients who require a prophylactic surgery due to metastatic tumors in their femurs.

Mutator transposon insertions within maize genes often provide a novel outward reading promoter.

The highly active family of Mutator (Mu) DNA transposons has been widely used for forward and reverse genetics in maize. There are examples of Mu-suppressible alleles that result in conditional phenotypic effects based on the activity of Mu. Phenotypes from these Mu-suppressible mutations are observed in Mu-active genetic backgrounds, but absent when Mu activity is lost. For some Mu-suppressible alleles, phenotypic suppression likely results from an outward-reading promoter within Mu that is only active when the autonomous Mu element is silenced or lost. We isolated 35 Mu alleles from the UniformMu population that represent insertions in 24 different genes. Most of these mutant alleles are due to insertions within gene coding sequences, but several 5' UTR and intron insertions were included. RNA-seq and de novo transcript assembly were utilized to document the transcripts produced from 33 of these Mu insertion alleles. For 20 of the 33 alleles, there was evidence of transcripts initiating within the Mu sequence reading through the gene. This outward-reading promoter activity was detected in multiple types of Mu elements and does not depend on the orientation of Mu. Expression analyses of Mu-initiated transcripts revealed the Mu promoter often provides gene expression levels and patterns that are similar to the wild-type gene. These results suggest the Mu promoter may represent a minimal promoter that can respond to gene cis-regulatory elements. Findings from this study have implications for maize researchers using the UniformMu population, and more broadly highlight a strategy for transposons to co-exist with their host.

The place and role of cultural diplomacy in the process of consolidating the country's image on the international arena

The article examines the peculiarities of cultural diplomacy, and also determines the place and role of cultural diplomacy in the process of consolidating the country's image on the international arena. It was determined that cultural diplomacy plays an important role in modern international relations. The spread of traditions and cultural values contributes to the destruction of barriers and stereotypes, promotes mutual understanding of representatives of different cultures. The spread of cultural heritage, familiarization with the intellectual contribution of the people of a separate state forms a general perception, attracts attention, increases the level of respect and forms a positive image of the country. Considering the fact that cultural interaction is an autonomous element of interstate interaction, contributing to the achievement of established foreign policy goals, its implementation becomes possible thanks to the deep relationship between traditional diplomatic missions and special cultural institutions. It is noted that in order to create a positive image of the country, it is worth using various forms of cultural international cooperation, such as festivals, forums, exhibitions, tours of outstanding creative groups, fairs and holidays of national culture. During the organization of such events, representatives of diplomatic institutions should contribute to the resolution of organizational issues (signing of documentation, organization of negotiations with public authorities of the host country), while employees of cultural organizations are responsible for the substantive side of these initiatives. It was established that in order to form the image of the state, it is impossible to do without the use of communication strategies specific to the sphere of cultural foreign policy. The state's cultural policy and cultural diplomacy should mainly operate with communicative strategies in the information sphere to popularize national culture outside the state. It has been proven that the key factors in the process of implementing state policy in the field of cultural diplomacy should be Ukrainian cultural achievements abroad, taking into account heritage and modernity, as well as emphasizing the need to form strategic planning to support the image of Ukraine on the international arena.

Mobilome characterization of the beetle Euchroma gigantea (Buprestidae) uncovers multiple long range Tc1-Mariner horizontal transfer events

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile repetitive DNA sequences that can transfer horizontally between species. Due to their mutagenic characteristics, TEs are associated with different evolutionary events, including chromosomal rearrangements that are abundant in the beetle Euchroma gigantea. In order to understand more in depth the impact of TEs on the genomic evolution of E. gigantea, we characterized the E. gigantea mobilome and evaluated the horizontal transfer of Tc1-Mariner elements. Genomic sequencing data was generated on the Illumina Hiseq plataform, from a specimen (Northeast lineage) collected in Recife, Pernambuco - Brazil. The TEs were characterized by two independent approaches based on the clustering and assembly of highly repetitive sequences, the RepeatExplorer and dnaPipeTE. The sequences obtained were further characterized using ORFfinder and CD-Search, to obtain the TEs’ potential coding proteins and verify the presence and integrity of known TE domains. Evidence for horizontal transfer was evaluated by nucleotide and protein genetic distance between TEs from E. gigantea and other species and phylogenetic incongruences detected between TEs and hosts phylogenetic trees. The mobilome of E. gigantea represents about 21 to 26% of its genome. This mobilome is composed of TEs from 31 superfamilies, belonging to different classes and most known orders of TEs. Several types of TEs with intact domains were observed with emphasis on Tc1-Mariner suggesting the presence of potentially autonomous elements. This superfamily also stands out for having the greatest abundance and diversity, with TEs being classified into four families. When compared to TEs deposited in databases, Mariner TEs stood out as having the highest nucleotide identity (above 90%) with TEs from phylogenetically distant species, such as ants and bees. Altogether these results suggest that E. gigantea Mariner TEs underwent multiple horizontal transfer events to other insect species.

Prinsip-Prinsip Humanisme Menurut Ali Syari'ati

Islam has universal teachings, namely human values. Ali Shari'ati is one of the Islamic revolutionary thinkers who paid attention to humanism. According to him, humanism is a school of philosophy that views groups that aim to achieve perfection in humans. Ali Shari'ati emphasized that humans are creatures that have various values given by God. Humans are the most unique nature, because humans were created by God as the noblest creatures, have their own freedom, and are not controlled by something, so that humans can determine the direction of their lives freely and be responsible for their choices. This research aims to explore Ali Shariati's thoughts related to the principles of humanism. This research is a literature study that uses a qualitative approach with descriptive-analytic method. The result of this research is that according to Ali Shariati, humans as God's representatives on earth certainly have divine values that form moral, cultural and religious values. Then, in the principle of humanism built by Ali Shari'ati, he explained that there are seven basic concepts in Islamic humanism, including humans having autonomous elements, having freedom, thinking creatures, conscious creatures, creatures that have creativity, creatures that have desires, and creatures that have morals.

Methods for Applying Matrices when Creating Models of Group Pursuit

Introduction. It is obvious that in the near future, the issues of equipping moving robotic systems with autonomous control elements will remain relevant. This requires the development of models of group pursuit. Note that optimization in pursuit tasks is reduced to the construction of optimal trajectories (shortest trajectories, trajectories with differential constraints, fuel consumption indicators). At the same time, the aspects of automated distribution by goals in group pursuit were not considered. To fill this gap, the presented piece of research has been carried out. Its result should be the construction of a model of automated distribution of pursuers by goals in group pursuit.Materials and Methods. A matrix was formed to study the multiple goal group pursuit. The control parameters for the movement of the pursuers were modified according to the minimum curvature of the trajectory. The methods of pursuit and approach were considered in detail. The possibilities of modifying the method of parallel approach were shown. Matrix simulation was used to build a scheme of multiple goal group pursuit. The listed processes were illustrated by functions in the given coordinate systems and animation. Block diagrams of the phase coordinates of the pursuer at the next step, the time and distance of the pursuer reaching the goal were constructed as a base of functions. In some cases, the location of targets and pursuers was defined as points on the circle of Apollonius. The matrix was formed by samples corresponding to the distribution of pursuers by goals.Results. Nine variants of the pursuit, parallel, proportional and three-point approach on the plane and in space were considered. The maximum value of the goal achievement time was calculated. There were cases when the speed vector of the pursuer was directed arbitrarily and to a point on the Apollonius circle. It was noted that the three-point approach method was convenient if the target was moving along a ballistic trajectory. To modify the method of parallel approach, a network of parallel lines was built on the plane. Here, the length of the arc of the line (which can be of any shape) and the array of reference points of the target trajectory were taken into account. An equation was compiled and solved with these elements. On an array of samples with corresponding time values, the minimum time was found, i.e., the optimal time for simultaneous group achievement of multiple goals was determined. For unified access to the library, the control vector was expressed through a one-parameter family of parallel planes. A library of calculations of control vectors was formed. An example of applying matrix simulation to group pursuit was shown. A scheme of group pursuit of multiple goals was presented. For two goals and three pursuers, six samples corresponding to the distribution of pursuers by goals were considered. The data was presented in the form of a matrix. Based on the research results, the computer program was created and registered – “Parallel Approach on Plane of Group of Pursuers with Simultaneous Achievement of the Goal”.Discussions and Conclusion. The methods of using matrices in modeling group pursuit were investigated. The possibility of modifying the method of parallel approach was shown. Matrix simulation of group pursuit enabled to build its scheme for a set of purposes. The matrix of the distribution of pursuers by goals would be generated at each moment of time. Methods of forming matrices of the distribution of pursuers and targets are of interest in the design of virtual reality systems, for tasks with simulating the process of group pursuit, escape, evasion. The dynamic programming method opens up the possibility of automating the distribution with optimization according to the specified parameters under the formation of the matrix of the distribution of pursuers by goals.

MOV10 recruits DCP2 to decap human LINE-1 RNA by forming large cytoplasmic granules with phase separation properties.

Long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1) is the only active autonomous mobile element in the human genome. Its transposition can exert deleterious effects on the structure and function of the host genome and cause sporadic genetic diseases. Tight control of LINE-1 mobilization by the host is crucial for genetic stability. In this study, we report that MOV10 recruits the main decapping enzyme DCP2 to LINE-1 RNA and forms a complex of MOV10, DCP2, and LINE-1 RNP, exhibiting liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) properties. DCP2 cooperates with MOV10 to decap LINE-1 RNA, which causes degradation of LINE-1 RNA and thus reduces LINE-1 retrotransposition. We here identify DCP2 as one of the key effector proteins determining LINE-1 replication, and elucidate an LLPS mechanism that facilitates the anti-LINE-1 action of MOV10 and DCP2.

Human LINE-1 retrotransposons: impacts on the genome and regulation by host factors.

Genome sequencing revealed that nearly half of the human genome is comprised of transposable elements. Although most of these elements have been rendered inactive due to mutations, full-length intact long interspersed element-1 (LINE-1 or L1) copies retain the ability to mobilize through RNA intermediates by a so-called "copy-and-paste" mechanism, termed retrotransposition. L1 is the only known autonomous mobile genetic element in the genome, and its retrotransposition contributes to inter- or intra-individual genetic variation within the human population. However, L1 retrotransposition also poses a threat to genome integrity due to gene disruption and chromosomal instability. Moreover, recent studies suggest that aberrant L1 expression can impact human health by causing diseases such as cancer and chronic inflammation that might lead to autoimmune disorders. To counteract these adverse effects, the host cells have evolved multiple layers of defense mechanisms at the epigenetic, RNA and protein levels. Intriguingly, several host factors have also been reported to facilitate L1 retrotransposition, suggesting that there is competition between negative and positive regulation of L1 by host factors. Here, we summarize the known host proteins that regulate L1 activity at different stages of the replication cycle and discuss how these factors modulate disease-associated phenotypes caused by L1.

The 2010–15 coalition government and the legacy of free schools in England

Free schools were a flagship policy of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition (2010–15), aligned with the broader academisation programme, yet both consolidating and transcending New Labour’s educational narrative between 1997 and 2010. Driven by political ‘modernisers’ such as Prime Minister David Cameron and his Education Secretary Michael Gove, these schools were framed as an innovative and revitalised educational policy approach, aspiring to eclipse previous ‘failed’ policies of both left and right. They proposed greater autonomy and liberation from statist bureaucracy, incorporating non-state bodies as providers, while remaining within the broader state educational structure. Primarily exported from Scandinavia as ‘all-ability’ schools, and with a distinctive autonomous and communitarian element, yet analysis and measurement of the impact of free schools both internationally and domestically has since been mixed. The article seeks (with the benefit of added hindsight and perspective) to focus on the circumstances in which this policy was implemented from 2010, assessing various challenges it faced within a coalition government environment, while ultimately analysing its overall impact on the English educational system in subsequent years.

Energy efficient out-of-oven manufacturing of natural fibre composites with integrated sensing capabilities and improved water barrier properties

Bio-based and eco-friendly materials have gained a great amount of attention, thanks to the increased awareness of sustainable development and global environments. The use of natural fibres in composites can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon footprint compared to many synthetic fibres. However, some challenges and concerns remain in natural fibre-reinforced plastics, such as the high moisture absorption and high energy consumption during their manufacturing stage. To tackle these challenges, this study developed an energy-efficient out-of-oven manufacturing method based on a conductive biopolymer nanocomposite film to fabricate natural fibre-reinforced composites with integrated multifunctionalities throughout their life cycle. The smart nanocomposite layer works as an autonomous self-regulating heating element to cure the laminates at the desired temperature without the risk of overheating. Extremely high energy efficiency has been achieved with a significantly reduced energy consumption (a 95% reduction compared with traditional oven curing), which has been attained through the direct heat conduction from the surface layer to the laminates. The embedded nanocomposite surface film on the cured laminate subsequently becomes an integrated multifunctional layer, providing integrated real-time deformation and damage sensing capabilities with enhanced water barrier properties to prolong the service life of natural fibre composites.