Fostering Capacity Sharing in Permafrost Research Processes: Learnings from the APECS and Arctic PASSION’s Sharing Circle

Arctic research is moving towards being application-oriented to address the needs of those directly facing the impacts of accelerating change across permafrost landscapes. Capacity sharing is a two-way knowledge exchange process developed from a basis of reciprocity, communication and collaboration. Multi-directional knowledge exchange can exist in a variety of contexts including intercultural collaboration and the science-policy interface. The Sharing Circle, a workshop organized by the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and the EU Horizon 2020 Arctic PASSION Project, took place in Sevettijärvi and Inari, Sápmi (northern Finland) in early October 2023. The event brought together Arctic youth and early career researchers (ECRs), with in total 18 participants. Hosted in the Skolt Sámi community, the event created a space that facilitated cross-cultural learning between each other and experienced collaborators (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) who have together co-created environmental monitoring and restoration projects. The week was filled with a diverse range of activities including seminars circled around a wood fire and on the land learning activities. The program included both environmental and societal topics, contributing to the transdisciplinary nature of the event. Discussions and activities were centred around topics including: (1) a holistic understanding of the socio-ecological impacts of permafrost thaw (2) challenges and opportunities associated with fostering intercultural collaboration and (3) translating science into policy change. Permafrost warming, a pressing challenge across the circumpolar Arctic (Biskaborn et al., 2019), and its associated impacts on environment and society was discussed heavily. This topic was introduced on an outdoor excursion to a palsa mire in Neiden, northern Norway. Participant-led presentations discussed the potential for co-created community-based monitoring approaches and challenges associated through the presentation of case studies from Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Canada (Mercer et al., 2023a, 2023b). The concept of co-management was presented by the Snowchange Cooperative (see at http://www.snowchange.org/). Due to high land-use pressure and climate change impacts, environmental degradation is evident in Sápmi. Long-term cross-cultural collaboration that addresses local priorities has led to successful management and restoration practices at regional scales. Learnings from Snowchange highlighted the need to weave together diverse knowledge systems to better preserve and restore biodiversity (Mustonen, 2021; Ogar et al., 2020). As permafrost scientists, we carry a responsibility to acknowledge the land and empower Indigenous-led research. Doing so can produce greater equity in research outcomes and contribute to a better understanding of the multifaceted impacts of rapid change across permafrost landscapes. Capacity sharing processes help to build long-term and co-created research projects. Therefore, providing opportunities for ECRs to attend events like the Sharing Circle are crucial to creating a step-change in the way research is conducted in the Arctic

Teaching science students to communicate - a teaching resource

This teaching resource contains five science communication activities, to be run in undergraduate science classes such as workshops, practicals, or tutorials. The skills taught in these activities are specifically for the communication of science to non-scientific audiences, although all skills are transferrable to other contexts – including communication with scientific audiences also. Activities have been designed to allow for discipline-specific science content to be integrated into, and taught alongside, the communication skills. All activities have been trialled and evaluated in undergraduate science courses across year levels and disciplines – for full details of evaluation see Mercer-Mapstone & Kuchel (2015). These skill have been derived from a thorough review of the literature across science, communication, science communication; and education, and validated by science communication and education experts to be relevant and essential within the context of undergraduate science. For details on the development of these communication skills, see Mercer-Mapstone & Kuchel (2015a)

Integrating communication skills into undergraduate science degrees: A practical and evidence-based approach

The introduction of generic skills, such as communication, into undergraduate science degrees is becoming common in higher education and has met with mixed implementation success. This study designed, piloted, and evaluated a set of adaptable activities that scaffold the explicit teaching and learning of science communication with non-scientific audiences. These activities were implemented in undergraduate science classes from three disciplines at an Australian research-intensive university. A mixed- methods approach was used to evaluate learning gains by collecting data from: student surveys; semi-structured interviews with academic teaching staff; and student performance by marking of assessment tasks. Self-reported learning gains showed 95% of all students perceived improvements in their ability to do all communication skills and 94% perceived improvements in their confidence in communicating science as a result of the activities. Academic teaching staff reported improvements in students’ communication skills and understanding of core science content, and indicated that the tasks were explicit, engaging, and sustainable for use in future years. Students successfully transferred their learning to their assignments, demonstrating on average, a ‘good,’ ‘excellent,’ or ‘outstanding’ standard for each of the science communication criteria. These activities provide a promising starting point for integrating employable communication skills into undergraduate science degrees

Communication in undergraduate science - how can we better engage students?

Communication is a ubiquitous graduate attribute and learning outcome for undergraduate science degrees across the world and an invaluable tool for students to demonstrate their learning. Most undergraduate science students in general science degrees engage poorly with communication tasks and all too often do not see the relevance of communication to their role as scientists. Simultaneously most academic staff teaching into science degrees are familiar with only a narrow set of communication tools and approaches, and often no theory, despite them recognising the value of effective communication. This results in a narrow range of somewhat outdated communication tasks being assessed. This ideas exchange session aims to stimulate detailed discussions and direction for the education of undergraduate science students in communication and discuss how to obtain evidence to inform decisions about what communication students should learn. Participants will be asked what communication practices, models and principles should undergraduate science students learn to better engage them with communication? And how might evidence be obtained/sought to support decisions about what communication to teach and/or development of a framework for educating science students in communication? One option is to document outcomes of such discussions in documented in a framework to help inform best educational practice. We welcome discussion with colleagues interested in furthering these ideas

Developing and testing accelerated partner therapy for partner notification for people with genital Chlamydia trachomatis diagnosed in primary care: a pilot randomised controlled trial

Background Accelerated partner therapy (APT) is a promising partner notification (PN) intervention in specialist sexual health clinic attenders. To address its applicability in primary care, we undertook a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of two APT models in community settings. Methods Three-arm pilot RCT of two adjunct APT interventions: APTHotline (telephone assessment of partner(s) plus standard PN) and APTPharmacy (community pharmacist assessment of partner(s) plus routine PN), versus standard PN alone (patient referral). Index patients were women diagnosed with genital chlamydia in 12 general practices and three community contraception and sexual health (CASH) services in London and south coast of England, randomised between 1 September 2011 and 31 July 2013. Results 199 women described 339 male partners, of whom 313 were reported by the index as contactable. The proportions of contactable partners considered treated within 6 weeks of index diagnosis were APTHotline 39/111 (35%), APTPharmacy 46/100 (46%), standard patient referral 46/102 (45%). Among treated partners, 8/39 (21%) in APTHotline arm were treated via hotline and 14/46 (30%) in APTPharmacy arm were treated via pharmacy. Conclusions The two novel primary care APT models were acceptable, feasible, compliant with regulations and capable of achieving acceptable outcomes within a pilot RCT but intervention uptake was low. Although addition of these interventions to standard PN did not result in a difference between arms, overall PN uptake was higher than previously reported in similar settings, probably as a result of introducing a formal evaluation. Recruitment to an individually randomised trial proved challenging and full evaluation will likely require service-level randomisation

Validity and reliability of high-resolution ultrasound imaging for the assessment of regional body composition in stage 5 chronic kidney disease patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Tom Mercer - ORCID: 0000-0002-5078-4769 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5078-4769Tobia Zanotto - ORCID 0000-0002-6571-4763 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6571-4763Background: Accurate measurement of muscle mass is an important research and clinical tool. High-resolution ultrasound (US) has shown potential as a method to assess muscle and fat mass at specific anatomical sites. However, there is limited evidence for the reliability of US to measure muscle size in patients receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Therefore, we examined the validity and reliability of an US method compared to a gold standard comparison for the assessment of a quadriceps muscle in this clinical population. Methods: Twenty people receiving CAPD (mean age = 56.5 ± 16.7 years) at a single dialysis unit were assessed on two occasions, 7 days apart. Measures of the mid-thigh, such as vastus lateralis (VL) anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSA), VL muscle thickness and subcutaneous fat thickness were compared for US reliability and validity compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures. Results: US had high validity against gold standard MRI measures, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) equating to VL ACSA of 0.95, VL thickness of 0.99 and fat thickness of 0.98. The US measurements also exhibited high intra-rater reliability (ICCs: VL thickness = 0.98, total muscle thickness = 0.97 and fat thickness = 0.99) in measuring body composition at the mid-VL site in the study population. Conclusions: Valid assessment of regional body composition can be achieved via high-resolution US in patients receiving CAPD. The validity and reliability of the US in repeated measures (in comparison to the gold standard MRI) warrant further investigation in the wider chronic kidney disease population.42pubpub

The association between multimorbidity and mobility disability-free life expectancy in adults aged 85 years and over:A modelling study in the Newcastle 85+ cohort

BACKGROUND: Mobility disability is predictive of further functional decline and can itself compromise older people’s capacity (and preference) to live independently. The world’s population is also ageing, and multimorbidity is the norm in those aged ≥85. What is unclear in this age group, is the influence of multimorbidity on (a) transitions in mobility disability and (b) mobility disability-free life expectancy (mobDFLE). METHODS AND FINDINGS: Using multistate modelling in an inception cohort of 714 85-year-olds followed over a 10-year period (aged 85 in 2006 to 95 in 2016), we investigated the association between increasing numbers of long-term conditions and (1) mobility disability incidence, (2) recovery from mobility disability and (3) death, and then explored how this shaped the remaining life expectancy free from mobility disability at age 85. Models were adjusted for age, sex, disease group count, BMI and education. We defined mobility disability based on participants’ self-reported ability to get around the house, go up and down stairs/steps, and walk at least 400 yards; participants were defined as having mobility disability if, for one or more these activities, they had any difficulty with them or could not perform them. Data were drawn from the Newcastle 85+ Study: a longitudinal population-based cohort study that recruited community-dwelling and institutionalised individuals from Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside general practices. We observed that each additional disease was associated with a 16% increased risk of incident mobility disability (hazard ratio (HR) 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07 to 1.25, p < 0.001), a 26% decrease in the chance of recovery from this state (HR 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63 to 0.86, p < 0.001), and a 12% increased risk of death with mobility disability (HR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.07- to .17, p < 0.001). This translated to reductions in mobDFLE with increasing numbers of long-term conditions. However, residual and unmeasured confounding cannot be excluded from these analyses, and there may have been unobserved transitions to/from mobility disability between interviews and prior to death. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest 2 implications from this work. (1) Our findings support calls for a greater focus on the prevention of multimorbidity as populations age. (2) As more time spent with mobility disability could potentially lead to greater care needs, maintaining independence with increasing age should also be a key focus for health/social care and reablement services

Integrating communication skills into undergraduate science degrees: A practical and evidence-based approach

The introduction of generic skills, such as communication, into undergraduate science degrees is becoming common in higher education and has met with mixed implementation success. This study designed, piloted, and evaluated a set of adaptable activities that scaffold the explicit teaching and learning of science communication with non-scientific audiences. These activities were implemented in undergraduate science classes from three disciplines at an Australian research-intensive university. A mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate learning gains by collecting data from: student surveys; semi-structured interviews with academic teaching staff; and student performance by marking of assessment tasks. Self-reported learning gains showed 95% of all students perceived improvements in their ability to do all communication skills and 94% perceived improvements in their confidence in communicating science as a result of the activities. Academic teaching staff reported improvements in students' communication skills and understanding of core science content, and indicated that the tasks were explicit, engaging, and sustainable for use in future years. Students successfully transferred their learning to their assignments, demonstrating on average, a 'good,' 'excellent,' or 'outstanding' standard for each of the science communication criteria. These activities provide a promising starting point for integrating employable communication skills into undergraduate science degrees

Patients' views on interactions with practitioners for type 2 diabetes:a longitudinal qualitative study in primary care over 10 years

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that interactions between patients and practitioners in primary care have the potential to delay progression of complications in type 2 diabetes. However, as primary care faces greater pressures, patient experiences of patient-practitioner interactions might be changing.AIM: To explore the views of patients with type 2 diabetes on factors that are of significance to them in patient-practitioner interactions in primary care after diagnosis, and over the last 10 years of living with the disease.DESIGN AND SETTING: A longitudinal qualitative analysis over 10 years in UK primary care.METHOD: The study was part of a qualitative and quantitative examination of patient experience within the existing ADDITION-Cambridge and ADDITION-Plus trials from 2002 to 2016. The researchers conducted a qualitative descriptive analysis of free-text comments to an open-ended question within the CARE measure questionnaire at 1 and 10 years after diagnosis with diabetes. Data were analysed cross-sectionally at each time point, and at an individual level moving both backwards and forwards between time points to describe emergent topics.RESULTS: At the 1-year follow-up, 311 out of 1106 (28%) participants had commented; 101 out of 380 (27%) participants commented at 10-year follow-up; and 46 participants commented at both times. Comments on preferences for face-to-face contact, more time with practitioners, and relational continuity of care were more common over time.CONCLUSION: This study highlights issues related to the wider context of interactions between patients and practitioners in the healthcare system over the last 10 years since diagnosis. Paradoxically, these same aspects of care that are valued over time from diagnosis are also increasingly unprotected in UK primary care.</p