Prison Advice and Care Trust

Context. The tip-tilt stabilisation system of the 1.8 m Auxiliary Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer was never dimensioned for robust fringe tracking, except when atmospheric seeing conditions are excellent. Aims. Increasing the level of wavefront correction at the telescopes is expected to improve the coupling into the single-mode fibres of the instruments, and enable robust fringe tracking even in degraded conditions. Methods. We deployed a new adaptive optics module for interferometry (NAOMI) on the Auxiliary Telescopes. Results. We present its design, performance, and effect on the observations that are carried out with the interferometric instruments.

The archive of the La Silla Paranal Observatory is a powerful science resource for the ESO astronomical community. It stores both the raw data generated by all ESO instruments and selected processed (science-ready) data. We present the new capabilities and user services that have recently been developed in order to enhance data discovery and usage in the face of the increasing volume and complexity of the archive holdings. Future plans to extend the new services to processed data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are also discussed.

The archive of the La Silla Paranal Observatory is a powerful scientific resource for the ESO astronomical community. It stores both the raw data generated by all ESO instruments and selected processed data. We present new capabilities and user services that have recently been developed in order to enhance data discovery and usage in the face of the increasing volume and complexity of the archive holdings. Future plans to extend the new services to processed data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are also discussed.

This paper reports an original approach to family literacy in two UK men’s prisons. Brief consideration of family literacy research precedes consideration of specific issues of imprisonment and literacy, and recent initiatives for incarcerated fathers. The significance of the study lies in the demonstration that theories of early literacy development can successfully be shared with imprisoned fathers, and related practices incorporated into the literacy-oriented family visits. A rigorous interpretivist approach highlights the importance of prisoners learning about children’s early literacy development. Although the opportunity to see their children provides a strong motivation to enrol on the programme, the paper argues that the men’s manifest engagement with the ideas and activities in the workshops and the literacy-oriented family visits indicate successful programme adaptation: primary success lies in influencing fathers’ concern to support their children whilst incarcerated, though impact on their resolve to desist from crime and re-establish their fathering roles is also notable. Implications for policy and practices to enhance incarcerated parents’ involvement with their children’s developing literacy are discussed.