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The article presents a study on the effects of changing from marking on paper to marking on-screen in Cambridge. It focuses on marking assessment judgments and considers issues of assessor consistency when marking essays in different modes. Moreover, he discusses the results of the study which include the variance across modes to be non-significant and the reliability of the marking was not affected by the difference in mode.

The article offers information on the conference titled "The Man and His Music 50 Years Later," held at Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge, England, in the memory of composer Ernest Bloch . It is stated that the event marked an important stage in the preparations for a 2009 International Festival to mark 50 years since the composer's death. It is stated that several keynote papers were presented during the conference.

A numerical technique for modeling fatigue crack propagation of multiple coplanar cracks is presented. The proposed method couples the extended finite element method (X-FEM) [Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng. 48 (11) (2000) 1549] to the fast marching method (FMM) [Level Set Methods & Fast Marching Methods: Evolving Interfaces in Computational Geometry, Fluid Mechanics, Computer Vision, and Materials Science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1999]. The entire crack geometry, including one or more cracks, is represented by a single signed distance (level set) function. Merging of distinct cracks is handled naturally by the FMM with no collision detection or mesh reconstruction required. The FMM in conjunction with the Paris crack growth law is used to advance the crack front. In the X-FEM, a discontinuous function and the two-dimensional asymptotic crack-tip displacement fields are added to the finite element approximation to account for the crack using the notion of partition of unity [Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engng. 139 (1996) 289]. This enables the domain to be modeled by a single fixed finite element mesh with no explicit meshing of the crack surfaces. In an earlier study [Engng. Fract. Mech. 70 (1) (2003) 29], the methodology, algorithm, and implementation for three-dimensional crack propagation of single cracks was introduced. In this paper, simulations for multiple planar cracks are presented, with crack merging and fatigue growth carried out without any user-intervention or remeshing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers information on horizon scanning of emerging issues to be selected for a paper titled "Trends in Ecology and Evolution: A Horizon Scan of Global Conservation Issues for 2010" by University of Cambridge, England professor Bill Sutherland. Sutherland cites that the emerging issues should be unknown to the majority of senior conservationists, like the greater volcanism in the Antarctic. Sutherland aims to highlight the use of horizon scanning to the conservation community.

Fifty years after Watson and Crick's insight, scientists continue to take a close look at DNA's double helix. On April 25, 1953, a brief research paper appeared in the British scientific journal "Nature." Fifty years later, it's one of the most famous publications of all time and often considered the start of the molecular biology and genetics revolution that continues today. In that report, two young scientists at Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, proposed what they called a "radically different" structure for DNA, the material that scientists of the time had recently concluded stored an organism's genetic information. The pair argued that the DNA molecule resembles a spiral staircase. In the proposed arrangement, two strands are twisted together and connected at each step by a pair of so-called chemical bases, one jutting off each strand. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the double helix's grand debut, "Science News" presents a gallery of images depicting the DNA molecule and, in one case, the genetic information it encodes.

The article reports on the findings of the study on the reliability of on-screen marking of essay examinations conducted by Cambridge Assessment in Cambridge, England. The study found out that despite the stressful procedure of electronic assessment, it is considered as a reliable test similar to paper-based assessment. The researchers suggest that there is a need for further studies to determine extra effort employed in electronic assessment will lead to inconsistency. INSET: On the mark.

The article reports that pupils appearing for A-level history examination will be required to choose their own topic, contrive a research question and investigate on it. The examination watchdog thinks this step will help the students gain the requisite skills to become historians. The secretary of the Historical Association Séan Lang thinks this way the efficacy of the students is often calculated more effectively than by the planned or artificial exercises on examination papers. The practice of individual history assignments was started by the Local Examinations Syndicate of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England in 1970.

Reports on Cambridge University's creation of an extensive online archive in Cambridge, England. Deposition of scholarly papers, theses, teaching and other materials.

Opposes the idea of a compulsory special paper devoted to the works of William Shakespeare at the Cambridge University in England. Suggestion on how the works of Shakespeare should be studied; Several literary authors with cultural significance; Suggested year in which Shakespeare should be studied.

Discusses the move of Cambridge University in England to abolish its entrance examination in favor of the British government's world-class tests. Significance of the abolition taken in the recruitment of state-school pupils; Role of the world class test to the government package of A-level reforms; Introduction of the Sixth Term Examination Papers to universities.

Reports on the grant awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University in England which enabled the institute to acquire the photographic plates taken by expedition photographer Herbert Ponting between 1910 and 1912. Amount of funds received by the institute; Number of the photographic plates acquired by the institute; Significance of the photographic plates; Plans of the institute for the photographic plates.