Regression Models for Strength Assessment Method Selection and Performance Predictions

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The Australian Early Years Learning Framework: learning what?

Early childhood education and care have assumed importance in many government policy agendas. This attention is often accompanied by calls for greater accountability regarding the anticipated learning outcomes for young children. In Australia, the expected learning outcomes for children aged birth to five years are outlined in the recently published Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). In this article, the author examines the relationship between the EYLF’s outcomes and subject area or content knowledge. The article draws from post-structural and social constructionist understandings of knowledge as unfinished, contestable and contextual. The author concludes that it is not content knowledge itself that is problematic, but it is the way the child and teacher are often positioned in relation to that knowledge that constrains the potential for effective teaching and learning in the early years. The author suggests that revisiting traditional assumptions about content knowledge extends and develops many of the ideas about teaching and learning that are identified in the EYLF, and opens up new identity positions for both children and early childhood educators

Distances sets that are a shift of the integers and Fourier basis for planar convex sets

The aim of this paper is to prove that if a planar set $A$ has a difference set $\Delta(A)$ satisfying $\Delta(A)\subset \Z^++s$ for suitable $s$ than $A$ has at most 3 elements. This result is motivated by the conjecture that the disk has not more than 3 orthogonal exponentials. Further, we prove that if $A$ is a set of exponentials mutually orthogonal with respect to any symmetric convex set $K$ in the plane with a smooth boundary and everywhere non-vanishing curvature, then # (A \cap {[-q,q]}^2) \leq C(K) q where $C(K)$ is a constant depending only on $K$. This extends and clarifies in the plane the result of Iosevich and Rudnev. As a corollary, we obtain the result from \cite{IKP01} and \cite{IKT01} that if $K$ is a centrally symmetric convex body with a smooth boundary and non-vanishing curvature, then $L^2(K)$ does not possess an orthogonal basis of exponentials

The Influence of Series Elastic Bands on Energy During Acceleration Training

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Weight change and sulfonylurea therapy are related to 3 year change in microvascular function in people with type 2 diabetes

Aims/hypothesis: Although cardiovascular disease is the biggest cause of death in people with diabetes, microvascular complications have a significant impact on quality of life and financial burden of the disease. Little is known about the progression of microvascular dysfunction in the early stages of type 2 diabetes before the occurrence of clinically apparent complications. We aimed to explore the determinants of endothelial-dependent and -independent microvascular function progression over a 3 year period, in people with and without both diabetes and few clinical microvascular complications. Methods: Demographics were collected in 154 participants with type 2 diabetes and in a further 99 participants without type 2 diabetes. Skin microvascular endothelium-dependent response to iontophoresis of acetylcholine and endothelium-independent responses to sodium nitroprusside were measured using laser Doppler fluximetry. All assessments were repeated 3 years later. Results: People with type 2 diabetes had impaired endothelial-dependent microvascular response compared with those without (AUC 93.9 [95% CI 88.1, 99.4] vs 111.9 [102.3, 121.4] arbitrary units [AU] × min, p < 0.001, for those with vs without diabetes, respectively). Similarly, endothelial-independent responses were attenuated in those with diabetes (63.2 [59.2, 67.2] vs 75.1 [67.8, 82.4] AU × min, respectively, p = 0.002). Mean microvascular function declined over 3 years in both groups to a similar degree (pinteraction 0.74 for response to acetylcholine and 0.69 for response to sodium nitroprusside). In those with diabetes, use of sulfonylurea was associated with greater decline (p = 0.022 after adjustment for co-prescriptions, change in HbA1c and weight), whereas improving glycaemic control was associated with less decline of endothelial-dependent microvascular function (p = 0.03). Otherwise, the determinants of microvascular decline were similar in those with and without diabetes. The principal determinant of change in microvascular function in the whole population was weight change over 3 years, such that those that lost ≥5% weight had very little decline in either endothelial-dependent or -independent function compared with those that were weight stable, whereas those who gained weight had a greater decline in function (change in endothelial-dependent function was 1.2 [95% CI -13.2, 15.7] AU × min in those who lost weight; -15.8 [-10.5, -21.0] AU × min in those with stable weight; and -37.8 [-19.4, -56.2] AU × min in those with weight gain; ptrend < 0.001). This association of weight change with change in endothelial function was driven by people with diabetes; in people without diabetes, the relationship was nonsignificant. Conclusions/interpretation: Over 3 years, physiological change in weight was the greatest predictor of change in microvascular function.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.This work was supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (the SUMMIT consortium, IMI-2008/115006).published version, accepted version (12 month embargo

Changes in children’s cognitive development at the Start of School in England 2001–2008.

Since 1997, England has seen massive changes in the Early Years including the introduction of an early childhood curriculum, free pre-school education for three-year-olds and local programmes for disadvantaged communities. Many of these initiatives took time to introduce and become established. Beginning in 2001, and each year thereafter until 2008, the authors collected consistent data from thousands of children when they started school at the age of four on a range of variables, chosen because they are good predictors of later success. These included vocabulary, early reading and early mathematics. Children from the same set of 472 state primary schools in England were assessed each year. This paper contributes to the existing studies of educational trends over time by examining the extent to which children's scores on these measures changed over that period; in general, they were found to have remained stable

Rapid treatment of moderate to severe hypertension using a novel protocol in a single-centre, before and after interventional study.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record Rapid treatment to target in hypertension may have beneficial effects on long-term outcomes. This has led to a new recommendation in the 2018 European hypertension guidelines for patients with grade II/III hypertension to be treated to target within three months. However, whether it is feasible and safe to quickly manage treatment-naïve grade II/III hypertension to target was unclear. We examined this using a single-centre before and after interventional study, treating newly diagnosed, never-treated, grade II/III hypertensive patients with a daytime average systolic ABP ≥ 150 mmHg to target within 18 weeks. The proportion at office target BP at 18 weeks was determined, together with office and ambulatory BP change from baseline to after the intervention. The protocol was designed to maximise medication adherence, including a low threshold for treatment adaptation. Safety was evaluated through close monitoring of adverse events and protocol discontinuation. Fifty-five participants were enrolled with 54 completing the protocol. 69 ± 12.3% were at office target BP at their final visit, despite a high average starting BP of 175/103 mmHg, as a consequence of significant reductions in both office and ambulatory BP. Of those at office target BP, 51% were above target on ambulatory measurement. Adherence testing demonstrated that 92% of participants were adherent to treatment at their final visit. Therefore we conclude that the accelerated management of treatment-naïve grade II/III hypertension is feasible and safe to implement in routine practice and there is no evidence to suggest it causes harm. Further large-scale randomised studies of rapid, adaptive treatment, including a cost-effectiveness analysis, are required.Gawthorn Cardiac TrustNational Institute for Health Researc

Theorising interprofessional pedagogic evaluation: framework for evaluating the impact of interprofessional CPD on practice change

This paper outlines the development of a conceptual framework to guide the evaluation of the impact of the pedagogy employed in continuing professional development for professionals in education, health and social care. The work is developed as part of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Interprofessional Learning across the Public Sector (CETL: IPPS) at the University of Southampton. The paper briefly outlines the field for pedagogic research and comments on the underpinning theories that have so far been used to guide research into interprofessional learning (IPL). It maps out the development of interprofessional CPD in its specific context as part of the CETL: IPPS with its links to a local authority undergoing service reorganisation and the role of the continuing professional development (CPD) in effecting change. It then brings together a theoretical framework with the potential toexplore, explain and evaluate the essential features of the model of pedagogy used in interprofessional CPD, in which professionals from education have for the first time been included alongside those from health and social care. The framework draws upon elements of situated learning theory, Activity Theory and Dreier’s work (2002, 1999) on trajectories of participation, particularly Personal Action Potency. By combining the resulting analytic framework with an adapted version of an established evaluation model, a theoretically-driven, practicable evaluation matrix is developed. The matrix has potential use in evaluating the impact of pedagogic input on practice change. The paper models a process for developing a conceptual framework to steer pedagogic evaluation. Such a process and the resulting matrix may be of use to other researchers who are similarly developing pedagogic evaluation

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Spanish MINICHAL instrument into English for use in the United Kingdom.

This is the final version. Available from BMC via the DOI in this record. Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a highly prevalent condition, with optimal treatment to BP targets conferring significant gains in terms of cardiovascular outcomes. Understanding why some patients do not achieve BP targets would be enhanced through greater understanding of their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the only English language disease-specific instruments for measurement of HRQoL in hypertension have not been validated in accordance with accepted standards. It is proposed that the Spanish MINICHAL instrument for the assessment of HRQoL in hypertension could be translated, adapted and validated for use in the United Kingdom. The aim of the study was therefore to complete this process. METHODS: The MINICHAL authors were contacted and the original instrument obtained. This was then translated into English by two independent English-speakers, with these versions then reconciled, before back-translation and subsequent production of a 2nd reconciled version. Thereafter, a final version was produced after cognitive debriefing, for administration and psychometric analysis in the target population of patients living in the Exeter area (Southwest UK) aged 18-80 years with treatment-naïve grade II-III hypertension, before, during and after 18 weeks' intensive treatment. RESULTS: The English-language instrument was administered to 30 individuals (median age: 58.5 years, 53% male). Psychometric analysis demonstrated a floor effect, though no ceiling effect. Internal consistency for both state of mind (StM) and somatic manifestations (SM) dimensions of the instrument were acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81 and 0.75), as was test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.717 and 0.961) and construct validity, which was measured through co-administration with the EQ-5D-5L and Bulpitt-Fletcher instruments. No significant associations were found between scores and patient characteristics known to affect HRQoL. The EQ-5D-5L instrument found an improvement in HRQoL following treatment, with the StM and SM dimensions of the English language MINICHAL trending to support this (d = 0.32 and 0.02 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The present study details the successful English translation and validation of the MINICHAL instrument for use in individuals with hypertension. The data reported also supports an improvement in HRQoL with rapid treatment of grade II-III hypertension, a strategy which has been recommended by contemporaneous European guidelines. Trial registration ISRCTN registry number: 57475376 (assigned 25/06/2015).National Institute for Health ResearchGawthorn Cardiac Trus

Reprogramming of pancreatic adenocarcinoma immunosurveillance by a microbial probiotic siderophore

There is increasing evidence suggesting the role of microbiome alterations in relation to pancreatic adenocarcinoma and tumor immune functionality. However, molecular mechanisms of the interplay between microbiome signatures and/or their metabolites in pancreatic tumor immunosurveillance are not well understood. We have identified that a probiotic strain (Lactobacillus casei) derived siderophore (ferrichrome) efficiently reprograms tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and increases CD8 + T cell infiltration into tumors that paralleled a marked reduction in tumor burden in a syngeneic mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Interestingly, this altered immune response improved anti-PD-L1 therapy that suggests promise of a novel combination (ferrichrome and immune checkpoint inhibitors) therapy for pancreatic cancer treatment. Mechanistically, ferrichrome induced TAMs polarization via activation of the TLR4 pathway that represses the expression of iron export protein ferroportin (FPN1) in macrophages. This study describes a novel probiotic based molecular mechanism that can effectively induce anti-tumor immunosurveillance and improve immune checkpoint inhibitors therapy response in pancreatic cancer