Academic Diary Or Why Higher Education Still Matters

On the outside of this book the spine is now broken. The plastic red covering is beginning to curl away slightly from the edges of cover. This is a book which I have carried with me; jammed into bags and packed into luggage for those moments when a good thought would make a difference. Inside my copy is littered with notes and notes and highlights (I would have to own up to being one of those book violators you hear about). Reviewing my notes and those instances that seemed to connect with my thinking I can trace some of the many links between the expositions of an academic life held within these pages andthe experience of my own. This books feels personal. Structurally the book covers the life of one academic through three terms of an academic year in one institution. There are 21 entries for autumn and spring. Summer is somewhat shorter at only 10. Rather than references at the end there are practical suggestions for relevant follow up materials. Additionally there is a nice contextualisation in the afterward which explains the books genesis. Its a useful package. The year and diary format are central to the book's construction. The academic year operates as an overarching framework or holding place for particular types of reflection about the tasks and processes that go on within a university. Importantly not all entries link to each other (more critical readers might be looking expectantly for some sort of progress in-between). Each entry forms a 'silent conversation' (pg 236) around the academic practice of the author and the reader's experience of this. The entries act almost as field notes from a phenomenological perspective (albeit well polished ones). The focus on 'small experiences' (Pg 96) woven into the larger discourses important in the world of academia ensures this book is lively and relevant. disease and become This is not a book to read in blocks. Sometimes the variation in length of entries alongside their independence meant that ideas piled in on top of each other as I read. Yet individual entries are insufficient for planned reading time. Each entry really is just meant to be read serendipitously within the space of a couple of minutes. Ideas develop. This variation sometimes threw me and I would read too many entries and feel overwhelmed. I should have stopped reading but I didn't. The subject was too compelling. Call me Les I'm going to break academic conventions and call Les by his name for the rest of this book review. This is because having read the book I think Les would approve. Les Back's style is a collegial and open one and I hope I'm joining him in the conversation he explicitly states he is opening. What follows is a personal account of what stood out for me. You may well find other connections and that is strength of this book

Academic Diary Or Why Higher Education Still Matters

On the outside of this book the spine is now broken. The plastic red covering is beginning to curl away slightly from the edges of cover. This is a book which I have carried with me; jammed into bags and packed into luggage for those moments when a good thought would make a difference. Inside my copy is littered with notes and notes and highlights (I would have to own up to being one of those book violators you hear about). Reviewing my notes and those instances that seemed to connect with my thinking I can trace some of the many links between the expositions of an academic life held within these pages andthe experience of my own. This books feels personal. Structurally the book covers the life of one academic through three terms of an academic year in one institution. There are 21 entries for autumn and spring. Summer is somewhat shorter at only 10. Rather than references at the end there are practical suggestions for relevant follow up materials. Additionally there is a nice contextualisation in the afterward which explains the books genesis. Its a useful package. The year and diary format are central to the book's construction. The academic year operates as an overarching framework or holding place for particular types of reflection about the tasks and processes that go on within a university. Importantly not all entries link to each other (more critical readers might be looking expectantly for some sort of progress in-between). Each entry forms a 'silent conversation' (pg 236) around the academic practice of the author and the reader's experience of this. The entries act almost as field notes from a phenomenological perspective (albeit well polished ones). The focus on 'small experiences' (Pg 96) woven into the larger discourses important in the world of academia ensures this book is lively and relevant. disease and become This is not a book to read in blocks. Sometimes the variation in length of entries alongside their independence meant that ideas piled in on top of each other as I read. Yet individual entries are insufficient for planned reading time. Each entry really is just meant to be read serendipitously within the space of a couple of minutes. Ideas develop. This variation sometimes threw me and I would read too many entries and feel overwhelmed. I should have stopped reading but I didn't. The subject was too compelling. Call me Les I'm going to break academic conventions and call Les by his name for the rest of this book review. This is because having read the book I think Les would approve. Les Back's style is a collegial and open one and I hope I'm joining him in the conversation he explicitly states he is opening. What follows is a personal account of what stood out for me. You may well find other connections and that is strength of this book

CLAS App ML

This is a multi-language (ML) update of the CLAS App original design by Bridget Maher from the School of Medicine at University College Cork, Ireland. The current version has an improve counting mechanism and has been translated from English to Spanish, Catalan and German languages within the European project PATIENT (www.patient-project.eu). The CLAS App ML aims to train good written communication skills as they are essential to the practice of medicine and avoidance of medical error. The hospital discharge letter is probably the most important of all written communications between hospital and General Practitioner (Family Doctors). However, discharge letters vary greatly in quality, structure, cohesion, and ‘readability’. Most discharge letters are written by junior doctors and frequently omit important information. The School of Medicine at University College Cork developed a comprehensive check-list i-phone application to improve the quality of hospital discharge letters. The CLAS scale lists the key elements of a discharge letter - reason for admission, investigations, results, diagnosis, problem list, medications, management plan, name and contact details of doctor writing the letter etc. There are 4 pages of items, divided into various sections. Either a section heading or an individual item can be ticked. Most items score 1, but some items of particular importance, such as medication, score higher. Total CLAS score is 50. At the end, the user is shown his total score and can swipe to see a list of unchecked items. By using the CLAS application as a point-of-practice reference tool, doctors and medical students can improve their letter-writing skills, decrease the risk of medical error and improve patient safety. With the new version CLAS App ML we aim to provide a standard within Europe for the structure of hospital discharge letter. Therefore, the App has been translated to 3 new languages.This work has been partly funded by the Patient Project (with support from the European Commission. 527620-LLP-1-2012-1-NLERASMUS-FEXI, http://patient-project.eu/

PATIENT WP4-Deliverable: Curriculum for Handover Training in Medical Education [Public Part]

What is handover? Handover is the accurate, reliable communication of task-relevant information between doctors and patients and from one care-giver to another. This occurs in many situations in healthcare. Why is handover important? Improperly conducted handovers lead to wrong treatment, delays in medical diagnosis, life threatening adverse events, patient complaints, increased health care expenditure, increased length of stay hospital and a range of other effects that impact on the health system(1). This is how accurate performed and well-structured handovers improve patient safety, i.e. “absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care” (2). How to teach handover? The best way to teach practical skills is, to let students perform the skill. To decrease the risk for real patients simulation is the teaching method of choice. Therefore and on the basis of the project’s preceding results (3,4), this curriculum is divided into three modules: Module 1 – Risk and Error Management Module 2 – Effective Communication Module 3 – SimulationPATIEN

Electronic Discharge Letter Mobile App

The electronic discharge letter mobile app takes advantage of Near Field Communication (NFC) within the PATIENT project and a related post-doc study. NFC enabled phones to read passive RFID tags, but can also use this short-range wireless technology to exchange (small) messages. NFC in that sense competes with bluetooth. Compared to bluetooth, NFC: ● Requires the devices to be really close (less than 4cm) ● Does not require the devices to pair before communicating We applied the Android Beam technology to facilitate the handover of medical discharge letters between doctors and patients. Sharing these letters with patients and providing extra services around gives patients more insight on their health. Furthermore the app for patients can be extended with extra functionality to give them for instance more information about e.g. their medication. In that way the eDL App encourages the standardization of discharge letters by replacing the traditional handwritten or printed letter by an electronic version (eDL) exchanged between devices. The first goal was to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) where wanted prototype the ability to complete a discharge procedure from end to end and show how a doctor can pass a discharge letter to a patient's mobile device via Near Field Communication.This work has been partly funded by the Patient Project (with support from the European Commission. 527620-LLP-1-2012-1-NLERASMUS-FEXI, http://patient-project.eu/

The Fungal Exopolysaccharide Galactosaminogalactan Mediates Virulence by Enhancing Resistance to Neutrophil Extracellular Traps

Of the over 250 Aspergillus species, Aspergillus fumigatus accounts for up to 80% of invasive human infections. A. fumigatus produces galactosaminogalactan (GAG), an exopolysaccharide composed of galactose and N-acetyl-galactosamine (GalNAc) that mediates adherence and is required for full virulence. Less pathogenic Aspergillus species were found to produce GAG with a lower GalNAc content than A. fumigatus and expressed minimal amounts of cell wall-bound GAG. Increasing the GalNAc content of GAG of the minimally pathogenic A. nidulans, either through overexpression of the A. nidulans epimerase UgeB or by heterologous expression of the A. fumigatus epimerase Uge3 increased the amount of cell wall bound GAG, augmented adherence in vitro and enhanced virulence in corticosteroid-treated mice to levels similar to A. fumigatus. The enhanced virulence of the overexpression strain of A. nidulans was associated with increased resistance to NADPH oxidase-dependent neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in vitro, and was not observed in neutropenic mice or mice deficient in NADPH-oxidase that are unable to form NETs. Collectively, these data suggest that cell wall-bound GAG enhances virulence through mediating resistance to NETs