Informed choice? How the United Kingdom's Key Information Set fails to represent pedagogy to potential students

This paper explores the ways in which information about course pedagogy has been represented to potential students through national descriptors and specifications such as the United Kingdom’s Key Information Set. It examines the extent to which such descriptors provide helpful information about pedagogy, for example innovative uses of technology. The paper starts by exploring the wider context within which these descriptors have been developed, including a comparison of similar descriptions internationally. This is followed by a comparative analysis, in which two courses (one single honours undergraduate degree, one Massive Open Online Course) are classified and compared. This serves to illustrate the blind spots in classifications such as the Key Information Set. The paper concludes by arguing that further work is needed to develop classification schemes that both address explicitly the interests of potential students and are able to represent the pedagogic decisions that differentiate teaching in contemporary higher education

Industrial relations in the UK shipping industry since the Second World War

The shipping industry has undergone a period of rapid and fundamental change during the three decades since the end of the Second World War. While these changes have been experienced world-wide and have promoted the implementation of technological advances and the growth of the world fleet, they have occurred during a period which has also witnessed a substantial relative decline in Britain's maritime position. It is the aim of this study to analyse their effect on industrial relations in the U.K. shipping industry

Randomized controlled trial of live lactobacillus acidophilus plus bifidobacterium bifidum in prophylaxis of diarrhea during radiotherapy in cervical cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Radiation-induced diarrhea is frequently observed during pelvic radiotherapy. This study was performed to determine the ability of a probiotic containing live lactobacillus acidophilus plus bifidobacterium bifidum to reduce the incidence of radiation-induced diarrhea in locally advanced cervical cancer patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients who were undergoing pelvic radiotherapy concurrent with weekly cisplatin were randomly assigned to a study drug or placebo, in a double-blind study. Diarrhea was graded weekly according the Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) system. Stool consistency and white and red blood cell count in stool were also assessed. The primary endpoint was to reduce the incidence of diarrhea, defined by a CTC grade 2 or more, and the need for anti-diarrheal medication.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 63 patients were enrolled. Grade 2 -3 diarrhea was observed in 45% of the placebo group (n = 31) and 9% of the study drug group (n = 32) (p = 0.002). Anti-diarrheal medication use was significantly reduced in the placebo group (p = 0.03). The patients in the study drug group had a significantly improved stool consistency (p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Live lactobacillus acidophilus plus bifidobacterium bifidum reduced the incidence of radiation-induced diarrhea and the need for anti-diarrheal medication and had a significant benefits on stool consistency.</p

Comparison of multiple vaccine vectors in a single heterologous prime-boost trial

The prevention of infectious disease via prophylactic immunization is a mainstay of global public health efforts. Vaccine design would be facilitated by a better understanding of the type and durability of immune responses generated by different vaccine vectors. We report here the results of a comparative immunogenicity trial of six different vaccine vectors expressing the same insert antigen, cowpox virus B5 (CPXV-B5). Of those vectors tested, recombinant adenovirus (rAd5) was the most immunogenic, inducing the highest titer anti-B5 antibodies and conferring protection from sublethal vaccinia virus challenge in mice after a single immunization. We tested select heterologous prime-boost combinations and identified recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) and recombinant Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replicons (VRP) as the most synergistic regimen. Comparative data such as those presented here are critical to efforts to generate protective vaccines for emerging infectious diseases as well as for biothreat agents

Associations between APOE Variants and Metabolic Traits and the Impact of Psychological Stress

In a previous study, we observed that associations between APOE rs439401 and metabolic traits were moderated by chronic stress. Thus, in a population of stressed and non-stressed Danish men, we examined whether associations between APOE rs439401 and a panel of metabolic quantitative traits, all metabolic traits which may lead to T2D and CVD were moderated by psychological stress.Obese young men (n = 475, BMI ≥ 31.0 kg/m(2)) and a randomly selected control group (n = 709) identified from a population of 141,800 men were re-examined in two surveys (S-46: mean age 46, S-49: mean age 49 years) where anthropometric and biochemical measures were available. Psychological stress factors were assessed by a self-administered 7-item questionnaire. Each item had the possible response categories "yes" and "no" and assessed familial problems and conflicts. Summing positive responses constituted a stress item score, which was then dichotomized into stressed and non-stressed. Logistic regression analysis, applying a recessive genetic model, was used to assess odds ratios (OR) of the associations between APOE rs439401 genotypes and adverse levels of metabolic traits.The APOE rs439401 TT-genotype associated positively with BMI (OR = 1.09 [1.01; 1.17]), waist circumference (OR = 1.09 [1.02; 1.17]) in stressed men at S-46. Positive associations were observed for fasting plasma glucose (OR = 1.42 [1.07; 1.87]), serum triglycerides (OR = 1.41 [1.05; 1.91]) and with fasting plasma insulin (OR = 1.48 [1.05; 2.08]) in stressed men at S-49. Rs439401 TT-genotype also associated positively with surrogate measures of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; OR = 1.21 [1.03; 1.41]) and inversely with insulin sensitivity (Stumvoll index; OR = 0.90 [0.82; 0.99], BIGTT-S(I); OR = 0.60 [0.43; 0.85]) in stressed men. No significant associations were observed in non-stressed men, albeit the estimates showed similar but weaker trends as in stressed men.The present results suggest that the APOE rs439401 TT-genotype is associated with an adverse metabolic profile in a population of psychologically stressed Danish men

Social network types and functional dependency in older adults in Mexico

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Social networks play a key role in caring for older adults. A better understanding of the characteristics of different social networks types (TSNs) in a given community provides useful information for designing policies to care for this age group. Therefore this study has three objectives: 1) To derive the TSNs among older adults affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security; 2) To describe the main characteristics of the older adults in each TSN, including the instrumental and economic support they receive and their satisfaction with the network; 3) To determine the association between functional dependency and the type of social network.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Secondary data analysis of the 2006 Survey of Autonomy and Dependency (N = 3,348). The TSNs were identified using the structural approach and cluster analysis. The association between functional dependency and the TSNs was evaluated with Poisson regression with robust variance analysis in which socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and medical history covariates were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified five TSNs: diverse with community participation (12.1%), diverse without community participation (44.3%); widowed (32.0%); nonfriends-restricted (7.6%); nonfamily-restricted (4.0%). Older adults belonging to widowed and restricted networks showed a higher proportion of dependency, negative self-rated health and depression. Older adults with functional dependency more likely belonged to a widowed network (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.5; 95%CI: 1.1-2.1).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The derived TSNs were similar to those described in developed countries. However, we identified the existence of a diverse network without community participation and a widowed network that have not been previously described. These TSNs and restricted networks represent a potential unmet need of social security affiliates.</p

Using SSM in Project Management: aligning objectives and outcomes in organizational change projects

This paper aims to contribute to the use of SSM in Project Management, by exploring what happens in a real-world organisational change projects when stakeholders seem to agree in a set of initial-objectives and final-outcomes of the project. SSM Analyses are then use to explore the misalignments between initial-objectives and final-outcomes along the project life cycle. Initial results suggest that SSM helps to “shadow” these misalignments when structuring an unclear complex situation such as organisational change projects and that the application of SSM facilitates negotiations, generates debate, understanding and learning. This leads to meaningful collaboration among stakeholders and enables key changes to be introduced reflecting on the potential misalignments. Results also support SSM analysis of changes in role, norms or value adversely influencing project outcome