Designed for learning: A case study in rethinking teaching and learning for a large first year class

This paper presents a case study in which the principles of scholarship were applied to designing an approach to learning suitable for large classes. While this case study describes an Australian first year Business Law unit, the findings presented in this paper would be relevant to a wide range of teachers faced with large enrollments in first year higher education courses. In the present case, the teacher had the challenge of teaching very large first year classes comprising students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, many of whom were enrolled in the course not from choice but because it was compulsory for their degree. In this paper the authors describe how the teaching of the course was designed to enhance and encourage student learning. The authors’ focus is on implementation of first year curriculum design principles; use of computer-based tutorials and audience response systems; and a team approach to teaching. The teaching practices discussed in this paper are underpinned by references to relevant literature and contextualized within an ethics approved research project. The findings presented in this paper are likely to be of interest to teachers of law, teachers of large classes, and to curriculum and academic developers

Contribution of climate and air pollution to variation in coronary heart disease mortality rates in England

There are substantial geographic variations in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in England that may in part be due to differences in climate and air pollution. An ecological cross-sectional multi-level analysis of male and female CHD mortality rates in all wards in England (1999&ndash;2004) was conducted to estimate the relative strength of the association between CHD mortality rates and three aspects of the physical environment - temperature, hours of sunshine and air quality. Models were adjusted for deprivation, an index measuring the healthiness of the lifestyle of populations, and urbanicity. In the fully adjusted model, air quality was not significantly associated with CHD mortality rates, but temperature and sunshine were both significantly negatively associated (p&lt;0.05), suggesting that CHD mortality rates were higher in areas with lower average temperature and hours of sunshine. After adjustment for the unhealthy lifestyle of populations and deprivation, the climate variables explained at least 15% of large scale variation in CHD mortality rates. The results suggest that the climate has a small but significant independent association with CHD mortality rates in England.<br /

Contribution of climate and air pollution to variation in coronary heart disease mortality rates in England

There are substantial geographic variations in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in England that may in part be due to differences in climate and air pollution. An ecological cross-sectional multi-level analysis of male and female CHD mortality rates in all wards in England (1999&ndash;2004) was conducted to estimate the relative strength of the association between CHD mortality rates and three aspects of the physical environment - temperature, hours of sunshine and air quality. Models were adjusted for deprivation, an index measuring the healthiness of the lifestyle of populations, and urbanicity. In the fully adjusted model, air quality was not significantly associated with CHD mortality rates, but temperature and sunshine were both significantly negatively associated (p&lt;0.05), suggesting that CHD mortality rates were higher in areas with lower average temperature and hours of sunshine. After adjustment for the unhealthy lifestyle of populations and deprivation, the climate variables explained at least 15% of large scale variation in CHD mortality rates. The results suggest that the climate has a small but significant independent association with CHD mortality rates in England.<br /

Contribution of climate and air pollution to variation in coronary heart disease mortality rates in England

There are substantial geographic variations in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in England that may in part be due to differences in climate and air pollution. An ecological cross-sectional multi-level analysis of male and female CHD mortality rates in all wards in England (1999&ndash;2004) was conducted to estimate the relative strength of the association between CHD mortality rates and three aspects of the physical environment - temperature, hours of sunshine and air quality. Models were adjusted for deprivation, an index measuring the healthiness of the lifestyle of populations, and urbanicity. In the fully adjusted model, air quality was not significantly associated with CHD mortality rates, but temperature and sunshine were both significantly negatively associated (p&lt;0.05), suggesting that CHD mortality rates were higher in areas with lower average temperature and hours of sunshine. After adjustment for the unhealthy lifestyle of populations and deprivation, the climate variables explained at least 15% of large scale variation in CHD mortality rates. The results suggest that the climate has a small but significant independent association with CHD mortality rates in England.<br /

Medical graduates’ early career choices of specialty and their eventual specialty destinations: UK prospective cohort studies

Objective To report on doctors’ early choices of specialty at selected intervals after qualification, and eventual career destinations

Retention in the British National Health Service of medical graduates trained in Britain: cohort studies

Objective To report the percentage of graduates from British medical schools who eventually practise medicine in the British NHS

Career progression and destinations, comparing men and women in the NHS: postal questionnaire surveys

Objective To study the career progression of NHS doctors, comparing men and women

Quantifying urbanisation as a risk factor for non-communicable disease

Aim of this study was to investigate the poorly understood relationship between the process of urbanization and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Sri Lanka using a multi-component, quantitative measure of urbanicity.NCD prevalence data were taken from the Sri Lankan Diabetes and Cardiovascular Study comprising a representative sample of people from seven of the nine provinces in Sri Lanka (n=4,485/5,000; response rate=89.7%). We constructed a measure of the urban environment for seven areas using a seven-item scale based on data from study clusters to develop an ―urbanicity&rdquo; scale. The items were population size, population density, and access to markets, transportation, communications/media, economic factors, environment/sanitation, health, education, and housing quality. Linear and logistic regression models were constructed to examine the relationship between urbanicity and chronic disease risk factors.Among men, urbanicity was positively associated with physical inactivity (OR: 3.22; 2.27 &ndash; 4.57), high body mass index (OR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.88 &ndash; 3.20) and diabetes mellitus (OR: 2.44; 95% CI: 1.66 &ndash; 3.57). Among women, too, urbanicity was positively associated with physical inactivity (OR: 2.29; 95% CI: 1.64 &ndash; 3.21), high body mass index (OR: 2.92;95% CI: 2.41 &ndash; 3.55) and diabetes mellitus (OR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.58 &ndash; 2.80).There is a clear relationship between urbanicity and common modifiable risk factors for chronic disease in a representative sample of Sri Lankan adults.<br /

Determinants of the decline in mortality from acute myocardial infarction in England between 2002 and 2010: linked national database study

Objective To report trends in event and case fatality rates for acute myocardial infarction and examine the relative contributions of changes in these rates to changes in total mortality from acute myocardial infarction by sex, age, and geographical region between 2002 and 2010