Advanced Neutron Spectrometer on the International Space Station (ANS-ISS)

No abstract availabl

‘Everyone can imagine their own Gellert’: the democratic artist and ‘inclusion’ in primary and nursery classrooms

What do artists do when they work in schools? Can teachers do the same? These were the questions at the heart of our recent research, investigating the work of 12 artists working in primary and secondary schools in England. Funded by Creativity, Culture and Education as a ‘legacy’ project of Creative Partnerships (2003–2011) our intention was to develop a theorisation of artists’ practice that could inform the work that teachers do. In this paper, we report on a key aspect of the Signature Pedagogies project (www.signaturepedagogies.org.uk) the way in which artists approached the issue of inclusion. Through an examination of the work of three story-makers in primary and nursery schools, documented through observation, film and interview, we show that the democratic participatory practices they adopted were based on a fundamental belief that: every child was capable of having ideas; every child could contribute meaningfully to discussions; and every child was integral to a collective ‘performance’. We conclude that these artists’ democratic orientations may well be difficult for teachers to adopt in the current moment, but that this artistic work in schools may still provide a welcome relief for all involved, as well as maintaining an exemplar of alternative pedagogical practice that might be expanded in a changed policy environment

Pretest probability assessment derived from attribute matching

BACKGROUND: Pretest probability (PTP) assessment plays a central role in diagnosis. This report compares a novel attribute-matching method to generate a PTP for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We compare the new method with a validated logistic regression equation (LRE). METHODS: Eight clinical variables (attributes) were chosen by classification and regression tree analysis of a prospectively collected reference database of 14,796 emergency department (ED) patients evaluated for possible ACS. For attribute matching, a computer program identifies patients within the database who have the exact profile defined by clinician input of the eight attributes. The novel method was compared with the LRE for ability to produce PTP estimation <2% in a validation set of 8,120 patients evaluated for possible ACS and did not have ST segment elevation on ECG. 1,061 patients were excluded prior to validation analysis because of ST-segment elevation (713), missing data (77) or being lost to follow-up (271). RESULTS: In the validation set, attribute matching produced 267 unique PTP estimates [median PTP value 6%, 1(st)–3(rd )quartile 1–10%] compared with the LRE, which produced 96 unique PTP estimates [median 24%, 1(st)–3(rd )quartile 10–30%]. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.74 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.82) for the attribute matching curve and 0.68 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.77) for LRE. The attribute matching system categorized 1,670 (24%, 95% CI = 23–25%) patients as having a PTP < 2.0%; 28 developed ACS (1.7% 95% CI = 1.1–2.4%). The LRE categorized 244 (4%, 95% CI = 3–4%) with PTP < 2.0%; four developed ACS (1.6%, 95% CI = 0.4–4.1%). CONCLUSION: Attribute matching estimated a very low PTP for ACS in a significantly larger proportion of ED patients compared with a validated LRE

An Advanced Neutron Spectrometer for Future Manned Exploration Missions

An Advanced Neutron Spectrometer (ANS) is being developed to support future manned exploration missions. This new instrument uses a refined gate and capture technique that significantly improves the identification of neutrons in mixed radiation fields found in spacecraft, habitats and on planetary surfaces. The new instrument is a composite scintillator comprised of PVT loaded with litium-6 glass scintillators. We will describe the detection concept and show preliminary results from laboratory tests and exposures at particle accelerator

The Effect of Young Age in Hormone Receptor Positive Breast Cancer

Background. Studies have shown that young breast cancer patients have more advanced disease and worse survival compared to older patients. Our objective was to study disease characteristics and survival in the subset of young women with hormone receptor positive (HR+) and HER2 negative (HER2−) cancer. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed HR+/HER2− breast cancer patients who underwent surgery at our institution between 2002 and 2010. We compared clinical characteristics, pathology, treatment, and recurrence-free survival between younger (≤40 years) and older (>40 years) patients. Results. Of 669 HR+/HER2− breast cancer cases, 54 (8.1%) patients were 40 years or younger. Younger patients had more luminal B subtype, high grade, poor differentiation, and increased lymphovascular invasion. Younger women were treated more often with mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy. Although the unadjusted recurrence-free survival at median 55-month follow-up was lower in younger women, adjusting for stage, there was no significant difference (90.7% versus 89.3%, p=0.74) between groups. Conclusion. Younger patients with HR+/HER2− breast cancer had more advanced disease and more aggressive treatment than older patients. The unfavorable pathologic features suggest a biologically different tumor in young women. After adjusting for these factors, younger patients have a recurrence-free survival similar to older patients

Learner agency and social justice: what can creative pedagogy contribute to socially just pedagogies?

This paper extends the ongoing debate about socially just pedagogy by arguing that disadvantaged learners’ capacity to exercise learner agency, which is essential for learning but has been shown to be unequally constrained, can be more effectively enabled. This is accomplished by critically discussing the possibilities and limits of a selection of existing literature on socially just pedagogies, including Critical and Productive Pedagogies, for enabling learner agency. Using sociocultural theory of learner agency, the paper argues that these pedagogies implicitly aim to support learner agency but are to varying extents limited in this respect. It is argued that through a dialogue with the research on pedagogy for Possibility Thinking, disadvantaged learners’ agency can be significantly increased. The paper argues that this could lead to extending learner agency from learning in the form of meaning-making and knowledge construction to learners co-imagining socially just pedagogies and co-transforming existing unjust pedagogical practices