Professional Learning and Development for Older workers: a study of one UK Higher education institution

Extended working lives will affect us all. The lifting of the default retirement age (DFA) in the UK, rising life expectancy and increasing numbers of older workers (ONS 2013), spotlights the place of older workers, their engagement and professional learning needs. This empirical research aims to answer the value of professional development and learning to older workers and to management in the higher education workplace. It explores understandings of older workers in professional roles in a higher education institution, their perspectives of professional development and learning, together with those of management. This research concerns professional learning at a microorganizational level to inform at a macro-organizational level in an adult workplace setting. The research is located within adult professional development and learning literature but is also connected to related workplace learning theories. The research focus is on understanding what older workers and management see as valuable professional development and learning in a higher education (HE) case study in England. Pragmatic in approach, it emphasises high performance. It considers older workers wish to do their best in their work and management want the best from their workers. The research questions consider: - What professional development do older workers see as valuable in the HE case study? - What professional development does management see as valuable for older workers in the HE case study? - How might any differing views on what professional development should be offered, be reconciled

Older Workforces: Re-imagining Later Life Learning

Motivations to learn at older stages of a career are important in shedding light on types of learning and development seen as valuable and valid to both older workers and management. Therefore, finding ways to meet the learning needs of older workers to encourage extended working lives is pertinent. This chapter explores the major theories of workplace learning and human flourishing, workplace learning connected to lifelong learning for older workers, and sustained employability and motivation of older workers. Links are made between workplace learning and lifelong learning and how it might be further cultivated. Definitions and participation rates in workplace learning are explored. Participation and motivation of older workers in their own learning needs is considered. Critical social theory is explored through Habermasian ideal speech theories, giving older workers a voice

Exploring professional development for older workers in the higher education workplace.

This study of one UK university, concerned four related issues of flourishing, empowerment, potential alienation and inequality of professional older workers in a higher education setting, relative to their professional development. The study identified what is required to support sustained and extended working lives. The lifting of the default retirement age in the UK, rising life expectancy and increasing numbers of older workers spotlight the phenomena of extended working lives, the place of older workers, their engagement and professional learning needs. This thesis explored perceptions of older workers regarding their professional development and learning in professional roles in a UK higher education institution, together with what development was considered valuable by both staff and management. An interpretative case study methodology, using a dual approach of survey and semi-structured interviews with staff and management, probed what was happening in a little-understood situation in a university environment. This critical study built on a conceptual framework which regarded older workers as agentic and able to contribute as well as receive, while recognizing that older workers look to develop lifelong skills beyond the workplace. Workplace learning was seen from a broad, holistic life course perspective to include career progression. Forms of professional development, offering a ‘best fit’ to continue an effective working life of benefit to employer and employee, were explored. The main contribution of the thesis was to generate new perspectives about what was valued by professional staff and management in terms of the learning and professional development of older workers; the implications of what was valued and what it was to be engaged in professional development at a Higher Education Institution (HEI) as an older worker. It recommended strategic responses of interest to broader workplace settings into what supported older workforce retention. The research findings will be of benefit to academic research, policy-makers and practitioners

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of urine and faeces as novel nutritional biomarkers of meat and fish intake

Purpose Meat and fish consumption are associated with changes in the risk of chronic diseases. Intake is mainly assessed using self-reporting, as no true quantitative nutritional biomarker is available. The measurement of plasma fatty acids, often used as an alternative, is expensive and time-consuming. As meat and fish differ in their stable isotope ratios, δ13C and δ15N have been proposed as biomarkers. However, they have never been investigated in controlled human dietary intervention studies. Objective In a short-term feeding study, we investigated the suitability of δ13C and δ15N in blood, urine and faeces as biomarkers of meat and fish intake. Methods The dietary intervention study (n = 14) followed a randomised cross-over design with three eight-day dietary periods (meat, fish and half-meat–half-fish). In addition, 4 participants completed a vegetarian control period. At the end of each period, 24-h urine, fasting venous blood and faeces were collected and their δ13C and δ15N analysed. Results There was a significant difference between diets in isotope ratios in faeces and urine samples, but not in blood samples (Kruskal–Wallis test, p < 0.0001). In pairwise comparisons, δ13C and δ15N were significantly higher in urine and faecal samples following a fish diet when compared with all other diets, and significantly lower following a vegetarian diet. There was no significant difference in isotope ratio between meat and half-meat–half-fish diets for blood, urine or faecal samples. Conclusions The results of this study show that urinary and faecal δ13C and δ15N are suitable candidate biomarkers for short-term meat and fish intake

Elevation and cholera: an epidemiological spatial analysis of the cholera epidemic in Harare, Zimbabwe, 2008-2009

BACKGROUND: In highly populated African urban areas where access to clean water is a challenge, water source contamination is one of the most cited risk factors in a cholera epidemic. During the rainy season, where there is either no sewage disposal or working sewer system, runoff of rains follows the slopes and gets into the lower parts of towns where shallow wells could easily become contaminated by excretes. In cholera endemic areas, spatial information about topographical elevation could help to guide preventive interventions. This study aims to analyze the association between topographic elevation and the distribution of cholera cases in Harare during the cholera epidemic in 2008 and 2009. METHODS: We developed an ecological study using secondary data. First, we described attack rates by suburb and then calculated rate ratios using whole Harare as reference. We illustrated the average elevation and cholera cases by suburbs using geographical information. Finally, we estimated a generalized linear mixed model (under the assumption of a Poisson distribution) with an Empirical Bayesian approach to model the relation between the risk of cholera and the elevation in meters in Harare. We used a random intercept to allow for spatial correlation of neighboring suburbs. RESULTS: This study identifies a spatial pattern of the distribution of cholera cases in the Harare epidemic, characterized by a lower cholera risk in the highest elevation suburbs of Harare. The generalized linear mixed model showed that for each 100 meters of increase in the topographical elevation, the cholera risk was 30% lower with a rate ratio of 0.70 (95% confidence interval=0.66-0.76). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the risk reduction with an overall estimate of the rate ratio between 20% and 40%. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of considering topographical elevation as a geographical and environmental risk factor in order to plan cholera preventive activities linked with water and sanitation in endemic areas. Furthermore, elevation information, among other risk factors, could help to spatially orientate cholera control interventions during an epidemic

Nutrition, lifestyle and colorectal cancer incidence: a prospective investigation of 10 998 vegetarians and non-vegetarians in the United Kingdom

In a cohort of 10998 men and women, 95 incident cases of colorectal cancer were recorded after 17 years. Risk increased in association with smoking, alcohol, and white bread consumption, and decreased with frequent consumption of fruit. The relative risk in vegetarians compared with nonvegetarians was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.55-1.32)

Undifferentiated spondyloarthritis following allogeneic stem cell transplantation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stem cell transplant has been utilized in the treatment of malignancies and rheumatic disease. Rheumatic disease may be transferred from the donor with active disease or may be developed in a recipient de novo as a late complication of SCT.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We here report the rare case of a 26-year old male patient, who has been diagnosed with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy after unique circumstance. The patient suffered from intermittent inflammatory back pain and peripheral joint swelling for several years and did not find relief through multiple emergency room visits at different medical facilities. After a thorough history and physical exam, it was noted that our patient had developed signs of axial disease along with dactylitis and overall that he had been insidiously developing an undifferentiated spondyloarthopathy after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our observation supports the hypothesis that de novo rheumatic disease can develop after stem cell transplant for a variety of reasons. Thus, larger studies and awareness of this association are needed to delineate the exact underlying mechanism(s).</p

Identification and functional characterisation of CRK12:CYC9, a novel cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-cyclin complex in Trypanosoma brucei

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, is spread by the tsetse fly and causes trypanosomiasis in humans and animals. Both the life cycle and cell cycle of the parasite are complex. Trypanosomes have eleven cdc2-related kinases (CRKs) and ten cyclins, an unusually large number for a single celled organism. To date, relatively little is known about the function of many of the CRKs and cyclins, and only CRK3 has previously been shown to be cyclin-dependent in vivo. Here we report the identification of a previously uncharacterised CRK:cyclin complex between CRK12 and the putative transcriptional cyclin, CYC9. CRK12:CYC9 interact to form an active protein kinase complex in procyclic and bloodstream T. brucei. Both CRK12 and CYC9 are essential for the proliferation of bloodstream trypanosomes in vitro, and we show that CRK12 is also essential for survival of T. brucei in a mouse model, providing genetic validation of CRK12:CYC9 as a novel drug target for trypanosomiasis. Further, functional characterisation of CRK12 and CYC9 using RNA interference reveals roles for these proteins in endocytosis and cytokinesis, respectively

Evaluation of the current knowledge limitations in breast cancer research: a gap analysis

BACKGROUND A gap analysis was conducted to determine which areas of breast cancer research, if targeted by researchers and funding bodies, could produce the greatest impact on patients. METHODS Fifty-six Breast Cancer Campaign grant holders and prominent UK breast cancer researchers participated in a gap analysis of current breast cancer research. Before, during and following the meeting, groups in seven key research areas participated in cycles of presentation, literature review and discussion. Summary papers were prepared by each group and collated into this position paper highlighting the research gaps, with recommendations for action. RESULTS Gaps were identified in all seven themes. General barriers to progress were lack of financial and practical resources, and poor collaboration between disciplines. Critical gaps in each theme included: (1) genetics (knowledge of genetic changes, their effects and interactions); (2) initiation of breast cancer (how developmental signalling pathways cause ductal elongation and branching at the cellular level and influence stem cell dynamics, and how their disruption initiates tumour formation); (3) progression of breast cancer (deciphering the intracellular and extracellular regulators of early progression, tumour growth, angiogenesis and metastasis); (4) therapies and targets (understanding who develops advanced disease); (5) disease markers (incorporating intelligent trial design into all studies to ensure new treatments are tested in patient groups stratified using biomarkers); (6) prevention (strategies to prevent oestrogen-receptor negative tumours and the long-term effects of chemoprevention for oestrogen-receptor positive tumours); (7) psychosocial aspects of cancer (the use of appropriate psychosocial interventions, and the personal impact of all stages of the disease among patients from a range of ethnic and demographic backgrounds). CONCLUSION Through recommendations to address these gaps with future research, the long-term benefits to patients will include: better estimation of risk in families with breast cancer and strategies to reduce risk; better prediction of drug response and patient prognosis; improved tailoring of treatments to patient subgroups and development of new therapeutic approaches; earlier initiation of treatment; more effective use of resources for screening populations; and an enhanced experience for people with or at risk of breast cancer and their families. The challenge to funding bodies and researchers in all disciplines is to focus on these gaps and to drive advances in knowledge into improvements in patient care