Innovation in literacy and numeracy using e-learning technologies in Australian primary schools 2002

The 2002 Commonwealth Bank e-Learning Grants program provided $350,000 in additional funding to primary schools across all states and territories and education sectors. The grant application process provided the data for this study. The 2002 e- Learning Grants program, through the grant application process, has provided an invaluable opportunity to gain an insight into the way in which teachers and construct innovative e-learning projects within the context of their school. It has also provided a national ‘snapshot’ of the levels of school ICT infrastructure in primary schools. Implicit in government policies and the significant investment in technology is the belief that integration of ICT into Australian schools will have a ’transforming’ effect on education. By 2002 the average ratio of computers to students in state and territory government schools was 1 to 5.3. Achieving such ratios has been a direct result of the policies of state and territory governments and individual schools. While the impact of ICT on curriculum is at an early stage the 2002 e-Learning Grant applications indicate that they have the potential to challenge the structure of schools, the curriculum and the pedagogies employed by teachers as they integrate ICT’s into their classrooms. A Report funded by and prepared for the Commonwealth Bank Foundation

Choosing the SIPHER health indicators

The overarching aim of the SIPHER (Systems science In Public Health and health Economics Research) consortium is to use a complex systems perspective to foster and support a wider perspective on Public Health and the ways in which policy can shape this1. The three key research questions SIPHER aims to tackle are: 1. How can we capitalise on recent advances in complex systems science and multi-criteria optimisation to maximise the health-generating potential of public policy? 2. How can we design complex systems research processes, models and decision tools to be most useful to academic and policy audiences? 3. Which pathways and strategies best translate complex systems science evidence into policy? An important step in the pathway to answering these questions in practical terms is to establish an agreed definition of ‘health’. Modelling and evaluating the impact of public policy on health requires a shared understanding of how we conceptualise and measure health as an outcome. This short report describes the process and outcomes used to develop a set of ‘health indicators’ for use within SIPHER

Increases in ‘deaths of despair’ during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and the United Kingdom

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted mental health, health-related behaviours such as drinking and illicit drug use and the accessibility of health and social care services. How these pandemic shocks affected ‘despair’-related mortality in different countries is less clear. This study uses public data to compare deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide in the United States and the United Kingdom to identify similarities or differences in the impact of the pandemic on important non-COVID causes of death across countries and to consider the public health implications of these trends. Study design and methods: Data were taken from publicly available mortality figures for England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the United States of America, 2001–2021, and analysed descriptively through age-standardised and age-specific mortality rates from suicide, alcohol and drug use. Results: Alcohol-specific deaths increased in all countries between 2019 and 2021, most notably in the United States and, to a lesser extent, England and Wales. Suicide rates did not increase markedly during the pandemic in any of the included nations. Drug-related mortality rates rose dramatically over the same period in the United States but not in other nations. Conclusions: Mortality from ‘deaths of despair’ during the pandemic has displayed divergent trends between causes and countries. Concerns about increases in deaths by suicide appear to have been unfounded, whereas deaths due to alcohol have risen across the United Kingdom and in the United States and across almost all age groups. Scotland and the United States had similarly high levels of drug-related deaths pre-pandemic, but the differing trends during the pandemic highlight the different underlying causes of these drug death epidemics and the importance of tailoring policy responses to these specific contexts

Comparing trends in mid-life ‘deaths of despair’ in the USA, Canada and UK, 2001–2019: is the USA an anomaly?

Objectives In recent years, ‘deaths of despair’ due to drugs, alcohol and suicide have contributed to rising mid-life mortality in the USA. We examine whether despair-related deaths and mid-life mortality trends are also changing in peer countries, the UK and Canada. Design Descriptive analysis of population mortality rates. Setting The USA, UK (and constituent nations England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) and Canada, 2001–2019. Participants Full population aged 35–64 years. Outcome measures We compared all-cause and ‘despair’-related mortality trends at mid-life across countries using publicly available mortality data, stratified by three age groups (35–44, 45–54 and 55–64 years) and by sex. We examined trends in all-cause mortality and mortality by causes categorised as (1) suicides, (2) alcohol-specific deaths and (3) drug-related deaths. We employ several descriptive approaches to visually inspect age, period and cohort trends in these causes of death. Results The USA and Scotland both saw large relative increases and high absolute levels of drug-related deaths. The rest of the UK and Canada saw relative increases but much lower absolute levels in comparison. Alcohol-specific deaths showed less consistent trends that did not track other ‘despair’ causes, with older groups in Scotland seeing steep declines over time. Suicide deaths trended slowly upward in most countries. Conclusions In the UK, Scotland has suffered increases in drug-related mortality comparable with the USA, while Canada and other UK constituent nations did not see dramatic increases. Alcohol-specific and suicide mortalities generally follow different patterns to drug-related deaths across countries and over time, questioning the utility of a cohesive ‘deaths of despair’ narrative

Towards the 3D Web with Open Simulator

Continuing advances and reduced costs in computational power, graphics processors and network bandwidth have led to 3D immersive multi-user virtual worlds becoming increasingly accessible while offering an improved and engaging Quality of Experience. At the same time the functionality of the World Wide Web continues to expand alongside the computing infrastructure it runs on and pages can now routinely accommodate many forms of interactive multimedia components as standard features - streaming video for example. Inevitably there is an emerging expectation that the Web will expand further to incorporate immersive 3D environments. This is exciting because humans are well adapted to operating in 3D environments and it is challenging because existing software and skill sets are focused around competencies in 2D Web applications. Open Simulator (OpenSim) is a freely available open source tool-kit that empowers users to create and deploy their own 3D environments in the same way that anyone can create and deploy a Web site. Its characteristics can be seen as a set of references as to how the 3D Web could be instantiated. This paper describes experiments carried out with OpenSim to better understand network and system issues, and presents experience in using OpenSim to develop and deliver applications for education and cultural heritage. Evaluation is based upon observations of these applications in use and measurements of systems both in the lab and in the wild

Trends in purchasing cross-border, illicit and home-brewed alcohol: A population study in Great Britain, 2020–2023

Introduction: The last 3 years have seen substantial changes in Great Britain (GB) including the COVID-19 pandemic, cost-of-living crisis and policy changes such as minimum unit pricing. We examined changes in purchasing cross-border, illicit and home-brewed alcohol among risky drinkers over this period. // Methods: Data were used from 22,086 adult (≥18 years) increasing/higher-risk drinkers (AUDIT-C ≥5) participating in a monthly cross-sectional survey between October 2020 and August 2023. We estimated time trends in the proportion reporting obtaining alcohol from: (i) cross-border (any/within-GB/international); (ii) illicit; and (iii) home-brewed sources in the past 6 months. // Results: Between October 2020 and August 2023, the proportion reporting cross-border alcohol purchases increased (from 8.5% to 12.5% overall; prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.47 [95% CI 1.17–1.86]). This was largely driven by an increase in cross-border purchases abroad (PR = 1.52 [1.13–2.05]), with a smaller, uncertain increase in cross-border purchases within GB (PR = 1.37 [0.96–1.95]). The prevalence of cross-border alcohol purchasing was higher in Wales (13.8% [12.3–15.4%]) and Scotland (6.1% [5.4–6.8%]) than England (3.6% [3.3–3.9%]). There was little change in illicit alcohol purchasing in England or Wales (4.1% [3.7–4.4%]; 4.2% [3.2–5.1%]), but in Scotland it fell from 5.7% to 2.4% (PR = 0.42 [0.19–0.81]). Home-brewed alcohol was rare (GB: 3.1% [2.9–3.4]) and stable. // Discussion and Conclusions: The proportion of increasing/higher-risk drinkers in GB purchasing cross-border alcohol increased between October 2020 and August 2023, due to an increase in people buying alcohol abroad. Cross-border alcohol purchases within GB were more commonly reported in Wales and Scotland. The small proportion purchasing illicit alcohol did not change substantially in England or Wales, but fell by half in Scotland

Evaluation of quality attributes in the freight transport market. Stated preference experiments in Switzerland

Globalization and European integration increase the claim for better quality in freight transport and logistics services. The paper focuses on the evaluation of different quality attributes of transport services in a significant segment in the Swiss freight market. The paper is based on conjoint analysis, generated by discrete binary choices between alternatives of hypothetical transport services, described by a combination of four attributes articulated on different levels. The estimated results confirm the high importance of punctuality and avoidance of damages. It could also show the statistically significant relation of the declining value of time with increasing distance

Insufficient Reporting of Factors Associated with Exercise Referral Scheme Uptake, Attendance, and Adherence: A Systematic Review of Reviews

Background: Exercise Referral Schemes (ERS) are prescribed programmes aimed at tackling physical inactivity and associated non-communicable disease. Inconsistencies in reporting, recording and delivering ERS make it challenging to identify what works, why, and for whom. Methods: PRISMA guided this narrative review of reviews. Fifteen electronic databases were searched for systematic reviews of ERS. Reviewers applied inclusion criteria and quality assessed via the AMSTAR tool. Data on uptake, attendance and adherence were extracted. Results: Eleven reviews met the inclusion criteria. AMSTAR quality was medium. Definitions of uptake varied within reviews. Uptake ranged from 35%-81%. Groups reported as more likely to take up ERS included, (i) females and (ii) older adults. Attendance was defined variably but ranged from 12%-49%. Men were more likely to attend ERS. Effect of medical diagnosis upon uptake and attendance was inconsistent. Exercises prescribed were unreported and therefore, adherence to exercise prescriptions was unreported. The influence of theoretically-informed approaches on uptake, attendance and adherence was generally lacking, however, self-determination, peer support and supervision support were reported as influencing attendance. Conclusions: There was insufficient reporting across studies about uptake, attendance and adherence. Complex interventions like ERS require consistent definitions, recording and reporting of these key facets, but this is not evident from the existing literature