Students' ontological security and agency in science education - an example from reasoning about the use of gene technology

This paper reports on a study of how students' reasoning about socioscientific issues is framed by three dynamics: societal structures, agency and how trust and security issues are handled. Examples from gene technology were used as the forum for interviews with 13 Swedish highschool students (year 11, age 17–18). A grid based on modalities from the societal structures described by Giddens was used to structure the analysis. The results illustrate how the participating students used both modalities for 'Legitimation' and 'Domination' to justify positions that accept or reject new technology. The analysis also showed how norms and knowledge can be used to justify opposing positions in relation to building trust in science and technology, or in democratic decisions expected to favour personal norms. Here, students accepted or rejected the authority of experts based on perceptions of the knowledge base that the authority was seen to be anchored in. Difficulty in discerning between material risks (reduced safety) and immaterial risks (loss of norms) was also found. These outcomes are used to draw attention to the educational challenges associated with students' using knowledge claims (Domination) to support norms (Legitimation) and how this is related to the development of a sense of agency in terms of sharing norms with experts or with laymen.Web of Scienc

High levels of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen precede the development of type 2 diabetes in a longitudinal population study. The Northern Sweden MONICA Study

BACKGROUND: Impaired fibrinolysis is found in impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes, associated with components of the metabolic syndrome. There are no data concerning fibrinolysis in subjects with normal glucose tolerance that convert to diabetes. METHODS: We studied the activities of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and the levels of tPA antigen (a marker of endothelial dysfunction) in 551 subjects with normal glucose tolerance in 1990 in relation to incident diabetes during nine years of follow-up. RESULTS: Subjects with diabetes at follow-up (n = 15) had significantly lower baseline tPA activity and higher PAI-1 activity and tPA antigen than non-converters. The risk of diabetes increased linearly across quartiles of PAI-activity (p = 0.007) and tPA antigen (p < 0.001) and decreased across quartiles of tPA activity (p = 0.026). The risk of diabetes with low tPA activity or high PAI-1 activity persisted after adjustment for age and sex but diminished to a non-significant level after further adjustments. The odds ratio of diabetes for high tPA antigen was 10.4 (95% confidence interval 2.7–40) adjusted for age and sex. After further adjustment for diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, insulin, triglycerides, fasting and post load glucose the odds ratio was 6.5 (1.3–33, p = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Impaired fibrinolysis and endothelial dysfunction are evident in subjects with normal glucose tolerance who later develop diabetes. High tPA antigen is predictive of future diabetes independent from the metabolic syndrome

Concepts and definitions for product recovery -Analysis and clarification of the terminology used in academia and industry.

Abstract This paper presents and clarifies the academic and industrial terminology used in the area of product recovery. It is concluded that there exist many different concepts and definitions in academia and industry, several of which are unclearly defined. Given this, a new way to define product recovery is presented through the use of a model. This model is based on actual industrial product recovery cases, existing academic product recovery concepts and definitions and product design theory. The presentation contains a holistic model that can be used for describing and analyzing different product recovery scenarios. In addition, several industry cases are presented as a verification of the model

Proliferation and differentiation potential of chondrocytes from osteoarthritic patients

Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) has been shown, in long-term follow-up studies, to be a promising treatment for the repair of isolated cartilage lesions. The method is based on an implantation of in vitro expanded chondrocytes originating from a small cartilage biopsy harvested from a non-weight-bearing area within the joint. In patients with osteoarthritis (OA), there is a need for the resurfacing of large areas, which could potentially be made by using a scaffold in combination with culture-expanded cells. As a first step towards a cell-based therapy for OA, we therefore investigated the expansion and redifferentiation potential in vitro of chondrocytes isolated from patients undergoing total knee replacement. The results demonstrate that OA chondrocytes have a good proliferation potential and are able to redifferentiate in a three-dimensional pellet model. During the redifferentiation, the OA cells expressed increasing amounts of DNA and proteoglycans, and at day 14 the cells from all donors contained type II collagen-rich matrix. The accumulation of proteoglycans was in comparable amounts to those from ACT donors, whereas total collagen was significantly lower in all of the redifferentiated OA chondrocytes. When the OA chondrocytes were loaded into a scaffold based on hyaluronic acid, they bound to the scaffold and produced cartilage-specific matrix proteins. Thus, autologous chondrocytes are a potential source for the biological treatment of OA patients but the limited collagen synthesis of the OA chondrocytes needs to be further explained

NKS ICP User 2017 Seminar Proceedings

The ICP User seminar was held at Risø, Denmark, during 25-27 September 2017. The seminar consisted of 2-day lectures given by six invited professionals and thirteen seminar participants, as well as 1-day lab training by invited expert. The lectures covered different topics including theoretical principles of ICP, methodology development and application of ICP techniques for different isotopes/isotopic ratios, recent development of new ICP technology and its application, etc. The results obtained from the inter-comparison exercise 2016 were presented and discussed. The lab training covered demonstration of the operation of ICP-MS, software and technical instructions. The seminar was attended by 51 individuals from 26 organisations

Risk factors of dengue fever in an urban area in Vietnam: a case-control study

BackgroundDengue is a mosquito-borne flavivirus present in many metropolitan cities of tropical countries.MethodsDuring and after the dengue season (September 2018 to January 2019), we conducted a case-control study in order to determine the risk factors for dengue fever in Hanoi city, Vietnam. 98 dengue patients and 99 patients with other acute infections, such as Hepatitis B virus infection, were recruited at Department of Infectious Disease of Bach Mai national hospital in Hanoi. Patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire covering demographic, housing, environmental factors and knowledge, attitude, and practice on dengue prevention and control. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine the risk factors of dengue status.ResultsThe mean score of knowledge items and practice items was only 7.9 out of total 19 points and 3.9 out of total 17 points, respectively. While the mean score of attitude items was 4.8 out of total 6 points. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that older patients had lesser risk of getting dengue infection as compared to younger adults aged 16-30, and patients living in peri-urban districts were less likely to suffer of dengue fever than patients living in central urban districts (OR=0.31; 95% CI 0.13-0.75). This study could not find any association with occupation, water storage habit, knowledge, attitude, or practice on dengue prevention.ConclusionsAll patients had a relatively low level of knowledge and practice on dengue prevention and control. However, the attitude of the participants was good. We found that age group and living district were the risk factors correlated with the dengue status. Communication programs on raising dengue awareness should be repeated all year round and target particular groups of adolescents, younger adults, landlords and migrants from other provinces to improve their knowledge and encourage them to implement preventive measures against dengue fever

Effect of light-touch intervention and associated factors to microbial contamination at small-scale pig slaughterhouses and traditional pork shops in Vietnam

Traditional pork value chains dominate the production and distribution of pork in Vietnam; however, the high level of microbiological contamination in pork may increase the risk of food-borne disease for consumers. There is limited evidence about how to feasibly and scalably reduce microbial contamination in pork sold in traditional markets. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of light-touch interventions for changing worker behaviour in small-scale slaughterhouses and vendors at traditional pork shops, as well as to identify risk factors for pork contamination. The intervention packages consisted of providing hygiene tools and delivering a food safety training which had been designed in a participatory way and covered 10 small-scale slaughterhouses and 29 pork shops. Pig carcasses, retailed pork, contact surfaces, and hands were sampled to measure the total bacterial count (TBC) and Salmonella contamination before, three and six weeks after the intervention, and trainee practices were observed at the same time. Linear and generalized linear mixed effects models were constructed to identify risk factors for TBC and Salmonella contamination at the slaughterhouses and pork shops. The interventions at slaughterhouses and pork shops both showed a slight reduction of TBC contamination in pig carcasses and Salmonella prevalence in retailed pork, while the TBC in retailed pork decreased only marginally. For slaugh-terhouses, the regression model indicated that smoking or eating during slaughtering (indicating poor hygienic practices) was associated with TBC increasing, while cleaning floors and wearing boots reduced TBC contami-nation. For pork shops, using rough materials (cardboard or wood) to display pork was the only factor increasing TBC contamination in pork, whereas cleaning knives was associated with lower TBC. Besides, the presence of supporters and wearing aprons reduced the probability of Salmonella contamination in pork. The findings highlight the effectiveness of light-touch interventions in reducing microbial contamination in pig carcasses at small-scale slaughterhouses and pork at traditional shops over the study period

Вызовы и риски современной системы здравоохранения

МЕДИЦИНСКОЙ ПОМОЩИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ /ТЕНДЕНЦИИЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЕ, ПРИОРИТЕТЫЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЕ РЕСПУБЛИКИ БЕЛАРУСЬОБРАЗОВАНИЕ МЕДИЦИНСКОЕ /ТЕНДЕНЦИИЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ СЛУЖБ МАРКЕТИНГЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ ПЛАНИРОВАНИЕМЕДИЦИНСКОЙ ПОМОЩИ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЙ СЕКТО