Springshare’s eReserves in the Classroom

Discoverability and immediate access to course material information remains critical for student success. Adding the resources to an eReserve that’s integrated in the classroom creates a space to catalog the Open Educational Resources (OER) and library resources that are increasingly adopted

Register Variation Remains Stable Across 60 Languages

This paper measures the stability of cross-linguistic register variation. A register is a variety of a language that is associated with extra-linguistic context. The relationship between a register and its context is functional: the linguistic features that make up a register are motivated by the needs and constraints of the communicative situation. This view hypothesizes that register should be universal, so that we expect a stable relationship between the extra-linguistic context that defines a register and the sets of linguistic features which the register contains. In this paper, the universality and robustness of register variation is tested by comparing variation within vs. between register-specific corpora in 60 languages using corpora produced in comparable communicative situations: tweets and Wikipedia articles. Our findings confirm the prediction that register variation is, in fact, universal

A literature review of applied adaptive design methodology within the field of oncology in randomised controlled trials and a proposed extension to the CONSORT guidelines

Background: The application of adaptive design methodology within a clinical trial setting is becoming increasingly popular. However the application of these methods within trials is not being reported as adaptive designs hence making it more difficult to capture the emerging use of these designs. Within this review, we aim to understand how adaptive design methodology is being reported, whether these methods are explicitly stated as an 'adaptive design' or if it has to be inferred and to identify whether these methods are applied prospectively or concurrently. Methods: Three databases; Embase, Ovid and PubMed were chosen to conduct the literature search. The inclusion criteria for the review were phase II, phase III and phase II/III randomised controlled trials within the field of Oncology that published trial results in 2015. A variety of search terms related to adaptive designs were used. Results: A total of 734 results were identified, after screening 54 were eligible. Adaptive designs were more commonly applied in phase III confirmatory trials. The majority of the papers performed an interim analysis, which included some sort of stopping criteria. Additionally only two papers explicitly stated the term 'adaptive design' and therefore for most of the papers, it had to be inferred that adaptive methods was applied. Sixty-five applications of adaptive design methods were applied, from which the most common method was an adaptation using group sequential methods. Conclusion: This review indicated that the reporting of adaptive design methodology within clinical trials needs improving. The proposed extension to the current CONSORT 2010 guidelines could help capture adaptive design methods. Furthermore provide an essential aid to those involved with clinical trials

Conceptualising comorbidity and multimorbidity in dementia: A scoping review and syndemic framework

BackgroundOlder people and people with dementia experience a high prevalence of multiple health conditions. The terms ‘comorbidity’ and ‘multimorbidity’ are often used interchangeably to describe this, however there are key conceptual differences between these terms and their definitions. This has led to issues in the validity and comparability of research findings, potentially inappropriate intervention development and differences in quality of health care.ObjectiveTo review how the terms ‘comorbidity’ and ‘multimorbidity’ are defined within peer-reviewed dementia research and propose an operational framework.DesignA scoping review of definitions within dementia research was carried out. Searches took place across five databases: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO. PRISMA-ScR guidelines were followed.ResultsContent analysis revealed five key themes, showing significant overlap and inconsistencies from both within, and between, the comorbidity and multimorbidity definitions; 1. Number of conditions; 2. Type of health conditions; 3. The co-occurrence of conditions; 4. The inclusion of an index disease (or not); 5. Use of medical language. The analysis also revealed gaps in how the underlying concepts of the definitions relate to people with dementia living with multiple health conditions.ConclusionThis scoping review found that current definitions of comorbidity and multimorbidity are heterogeneous, reductionist and disease-focussed. Recommendations are made on the design of research studies including transparency and consistency of any terms and definitions used. A syndemic framework could be a useful tool for researchers, clinicians and policy makers to consider a more holistic picture of a person with dementia’s health and wellbeing

A randomised trial evaluating Bevacizumab as adjuvant therapy following resection of AJCC stage IIB, IIC and III cutaneous melanoma : an update

At present, there are no standard therapies for the adjuvant treatment of malignant melanoma. Patients with primary tumours with a high-Breslow thickness (stages IIB and IIC) or with resected loco-regional nodal disease (stage III) are at high risk of developing metastasis and subsequent disease-related death. Given this, it is important that novel therapies are investigated in the adjuvant melanoma setting. Since angiogenesis is essential for primary tumour growth and the development of metastasis, anti-angiogenic agents are attractive potential therapeutic candidates for clinical trials in the adjuvant setting. Therefore, we initiated a phase II trial in resected high-risk cutaneous melanoma, assessing the efficacy of bevacizumab versus observation. In the interim safety data analysis, we demonstrate that bevacizumab is a safe therapy in the adjuvant melanoma setting with no apparent increase in the surgical complication rate after either primary tumour resection and/or loco-regional lymphadenectomy

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)alpha expression in T cells mediates gender differences in development of T cell-mediated autoimmunity.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)alpha is a nuclear receptor that mediates gender differences in lipid metabolism. PPARalpha also functions to control inflammatory responses by repressing the activity of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) and c-jun in immune cells. Because PPARalpha is situated at the crossroads of gender and immune regulation, we hypothesized that this gene may mediate sex differences in the development of T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. We show that PPARalpha is more abundant in male as compared with female CD4(+) cells and that its expression is sensitive to androgen levels. Genetic ablation of this gene selectively removed the brake on NF-kappaB and c-jun activity in male T lymphocytes, resulting in higher production of interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor (but not interleukin 17), and lower production of T helper (Th)2 cytokines. Upon induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, male but not female PPARalpha(-/-) mice developed more severe clinical signs that were restricted to the acute phase of disease. These results suggest that males are less prone to develop Th1-mediated autoimmunity because they have higher T cell expression of PPARalpha

Staff/Student Partnership to Encourage Active and Blended Learning

This poster and GASTA talk are a reflective commentary on the steps and collaboration undertaken to redevelop the VLE pages of the University of Glasgow Dental Programme. There are two primary aims of this project, the first is to improve the usability of Moodle by altering the structure and layout. The secondary aim is to facilitate creativity from academic staff by removing barriers that are present in the confines of the current platform and enabling them with a more tailored and functional Moodle. Staff will receive support in the development of more interactive teaching methods, such as interactive videos, flipped classroom, active and blended learning techniques. Moodle is currently primarily used as a repository for lecture slides and lacks a sense of cohesion as each lecturer formats their folders in different ways. Staff experience confusion over what they are responsible for and which files belong to which academic, resulting in increased clutter over many years. For some time, students – through staff/student liaison committees – and staff have complained about the difficulty of navigating and finding resources within our Moodle section. Also, as the current layout does not lend itself well to enabling staff wishing to try innovative active or use blended learning approaches only a few early adopters have tried. So, at the beginning of academic year 2018/19 a decision was made to consider a full redevelopment of programme Moodle structures with a ‘blank slate’ philosophy. Utilising Adekola et al’s (2017) framework for guiding transitions into blended and online education we identified the key factors, stakeholders, and barriers & enablers to making this scale of change. As part of engaging stakeholders, the project would initially be carried out as a collaboration between early innovator academics, technical support, and students. The Dental School already has many years of experience in engaging students in e-learning development (McKerlie et al, 2016) so could engage with the student experience through our established Technology Enhanced Learning & Teaching Partnership staff/student forum. As we also already had extensive School experience in the use of flipped classroom techniques (Crothers et al, 2017) we could use these structures and lessons learned as a starting point from which to develop templates. Using the ABC Learning Design technique (Young & Perovic, 2016) to support lecturers to build their content around the Biggs (2003) model of Constructive Alignment the aim was to utilise the Clinical Dentistry course to create Moodle pages organised both chronologically and by subject, with active and blended learning elements embedded throughout. With the development of these structures and templates we expect more lecturers will find it easier to engage with and utilise TELT techniques. This poster and session will reflect on the journey and experience of collaborating to redevelop the Clinical Dentistry section into the new model and offer insights into how to support academic staff to utilise creative approaches through online and blended learning

Staff/Student Partnership to Encourage Active and Blended Learning

This poster and GASTA talk are a reflective commentary on the steps and collaboration undertaken to redevelop the VLE pages of the University of Glasgow Dental Programme. There are two primary aims of this project, the first is to improve the usability of Moodle by altering the structure and layout. The secondary aim is to facilitate creativity from academic staff by removing barriers that are present in the confines of the current platform and enabling them with a more tailored and functional Moodle. Staff will receive support in the development of more interactive teaching methods, such as interactive videos, flipped classroom, active and blended learning techniques. Moodle is currently primarily used as a repository for lecture slides and lacks a sense of cohesion as each lecturer formats their folders in different ways. Staff experience confusion over what they are responsible for and which files belong to which academic, resulting in increased clutter over many years. For some time, students – through staff/student liaison committees – and staff have complained about the difficulty of navigating and finding resources within our Moodle section. Also, as the current layout does not lend itself well to enabling staff wishing to try innovative active or use blended learning approaches only a few early adopters have tried. So, at the beginning of academic year 2018/19 a decision was made to consider a full redevelopment of programme Moodle structures with a ‘blank slate’ philosophy. Utilising Adekola et al’s (2017) framework for guiding transitions into blended and online education we identified the key factors, stakeholders, and barriers & enablers to making this scale of change. As part of engaging stakeholders, the project would initially be carried out as a collaboration between early innovator academics, technical support, and students. The Dental School already has many years of experience in engaging students in e-learning development (McKerlie et al, 2016) so could engage with the student experience through our established Technology Enhanced Learning & Teaching Partnership staff/student forum. As we also already had extensive School experience in the use of flipped classroom techniques (Crothers et al, 2017) we could use these structures and lessons learned as a starting point from which to develop templates. Using the ABC Learning Design technique (Young & Perovic, 2016) to support lecturers to build their content around the Biggs (2003) model of Constructive Alignment the aim was to utilise the Clinical Dentistry course to create Moodle pages organised both chronologically and by subject, with active and blended learning elements embedded throughout. With the development of these structures and templates we expect more lecturers will find it easier to engage with and utilise TELT techniques. This poster and session will reflect on the journey and experience of collaborating to redevelop the Clinical Dentistry section into the new model and offer insights into how to support academic staff to utilise creative approaches through online and blended learning