Special Collections as a catalyst for flexible pedagogical approaches: three case studies

University Special Collections are increasingly being recognised as a valuable pedagogical resource in higher education teaching and learning. The value of historic artefacts as a cross-disciplinary tool to promote higher order thinking processes such as criticality, questioning and narrative construction is well-established in the museum education literature and is gaining increasing attention in teaching and learning development. In this paper, we present three case studies in which we explore the application of Special Collections in a range of learning development contexts, in order to help students engage with their discipline and discipline-specific higher order skills. Our case studies are explorative in the sense of ‘trialling’ the use of historic artefacts in the classroom, to inform our next steps and development of our method. We conclude with our reflections on the process and outcomes of our explorations, to inform our practice and that of other educators looking to apply this method

Lessons from Canada’s notice of compliance with conditions policy for the life-cycle regulation of drugs

Innovative health technologies are not well regulated under current pathways, leading regulators to adopt contextual, life-cycle regulatory models, which authorize drugs based on earlier clinical evidence subject to the conduct of post-market trials that confirm clinical benefit and safety. In this paper, we evaluate all drugs authorized in Canada under the Notice of Compliance with conditions (NOC/c) policy from 1998 to 2021 to analyze its function, identify challenges and areas for improvement, and make recommendations to inform Health Canada\u27s regulatory reforms. We analyzed a sample of 148 drugs authorized between 1998 and 2021, including characteristics about the pre- and post-market clinical trials, finding that most NOC/c authorizations are based on one, single-arm clinical trial using a surrogate endpoint. Post-market trials are more likely to be randomized, Phase III trials but mostly use surrogate endpoints. Based on our findings, we recommend increasing decision-making transparency throughout the regulatory process, developing comprehensive eligibility criteria for selecting appropriate health technologies, modernizing pre-market evidence requirements, adopting a more active role in designing post-market trials, and utilizing automatic expiry, stronger penalties, and ongoing disclosure of the status of post-market trials to promote compliance

Multiplication and Composition in Weighted Modulation Spaces

We study the existence of the product of two weighted modulation spaces. For this purpose we discuss two different strategies. The more simple one allows transparent proofs in various situations. However, our second method allows a closer look onto associated norm inequalities under restrictions in the Fourier image. This will give us the opportunity to treat the boundedness of composition operators.Comment: 49 page

Immersive horizons: navigating ethical terrain and practical boundaries in the use of virtual reality for cancer symptom management – a comprehensive narrative review

Cancer is a significant healthcare problem. However, advancements in diagnostic procedures and therapeutic modalities have led to a decline in cancer mortality rates by 1% annually in most countries. Cancer patients often experience symptoms such as pain, cancer-related fatigue, anxiety, and lymphedema. To counter these side effects, there have been tremendous efforts. One such effort is the use of virtual reality (VR) technology, which is an interactive technology. VR has played a significant role in managing disorders such as phobias and anxiety disorders, and support for patients with cognitive and physical rehabilitation, acute and chronic pain management, and emotional support in different settings such as during hospitalizations. Our team conducted an extensive search for electronic literature on virtual reality in various databases, such as Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Psych INFO, up to July 2023. We used keywords like "virtual reality," "cancer care," "depression," "cognition," "pain," "telemedicine," "rehabilitation care," "physical therapy," "radiotherapy," "telerehabilitation," "avatar," "video games," and "visual aid" as our search criteria. VR interventions for cancer patients include exposure therapy, psycho-education, and relaxation techniques, which have been shown to reduce symptoms significantly. VR distraction can also mitigate pain during medical procedures. Studies suggest that VR holds promise in rehabilitation and oncologic treatment, as it can improve function metrics, range of motion, and motivation for treatment. The review scrutinizes the use of digital information and virtual reality technology to alleviate cancer-related distress by providing remote care.

Accounting students and communication apprehension: a study of Spanish and UK students

Accounting is about measuring and communicating. Accounting bodies and employers have expressed opinions, which have been supported by research results, advocating that greater emphasis is placed on the development of communication skills throughout the education and training of accountants. Consequently, an increasing number of accounting programmes now include communication skills as educational objectives or learning outcomes, and have integrated activities into the curriculum specifically to develop these skills. It is important to recognise that certain factors can severely restrict the development of communication skills; a major factor is communication apprehension. Research suggests that the existence of high levels of communication apprehension will make efforts to improve communication skills ineffective. Previous research findings indicate that accounting students have high levels of communication apprehension. This paper compares and contrasts the levels and profiles of communication apprehension exhibited by accounting students at the (UK University) and those at the (ESP University). The levels of communication apprehension are also compared with those of students from other disciplines at the same institutions. The results confirm the high levels of communication apprehension in European accounting students. There are notable differences between the two countries however in certain underlying factors.</p

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester decreases acute pneumonitis after irradiation in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is relatively resistant to radiation treatment and radiation pneumonitis is a major obstacle to increasing the radiation dose. We previously showed that Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) induces apoptosis and increases radiosensitivity in lung cancer. To determine whether CAPE, an antioxidant and an inhibitor of NF-kappa B, could be a useful adjuvant agent for lung cancer treatment, we examine the effects of CAPE on irradiated normal lung tissue in this study. METHODS: We compared the effects of CAPE on cytotoxicity and intracellular oxidative stress in normal lung fibroblast and a lung cancer cell line. For in vivo analysis, whole thorax radiation (single dose 10 Gy and 20 Gy) was delivered to BALB/c male mice with or without CAPE pretreatment. NF- kappaB activation and the expression levels of acute inflammatory cytokines were evaluated in mice after irradiation. RESULTS: The in vitro studies showed that CAPE cause no significant cytotoxicity in normal lung as compared to lung cancer cells. This is probably due to the differential effect on the expression of NF-kappa B between normal and malignant lung cells. The results from in vivo study showed that CAPE treatment decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines including IL-1 alpha and beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha and TGF- beta, after irradiation. Moreover, histological and immunochemical data revealed that CAPE decreased radiation- induced interstitial pneumonitis and TGF-beta expression. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that CAPE decreases the cascade of inflammatory responses induced by thoracic irradiation without causing toxicity in normal lung tissue. This provides a rationale for combining CAPE and thoracic radiotherapy for lung cancer treatment in further clinical studies

Formal specification of multi-agent systems by using EUSMs

The behavior of e-commerce agents can be defined at different levels of abstraction. A formalism allowing to define them in terms of their economic activities, Utility State Machines, has been proposed. Due to its high level of abstraction, this formalism focuses on describing the economic goals rather on how they are achieved. Though this approach is suitable to specify the objectives of e-commerce agents, as well as to construct formal analysis methodologies, this framework is not suitable to define the strategic behavior of agents. In this paper we develop a new formalism to explicitly define the strategic behavior of agents in a modular way. In particular, we reinterpret the role of utility functions, already used in USMs in a more restrictive manner, so that they define strategic preferences and activities of agents. We apply the formalism to define the agents in a benchmark e-commerce agent environment, the Supply Chain Management Game. Since the strategic behavior of agents is located in a specific part of the formalism, different strategies can be easily considered, which enhances the reusability of the proposed specification

Modeling Backgrounds for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) experiment containing $\sim$30 kg of p-type point contact germanium detectors enriched to 88% in 76Ge and $\sim$14 kg of natural germanium detectors. The detectors are housed in two electroformed copper cryostats and surrounded by a graded passive shield with active muon veto. An extensive radioassay campaign was performed prior to installation to insure the use of ultra-clean materials. The DEMONSTRATOR achieved one of the lowest background rates in the region of the $0\nu\beta\beta$ Q-value, 15.7 $\pm$ 1.4 cts/(FWHM t y) from the low-background configuration spanning most of the 64.5 kg-yr active exposure. Nevertheless this background rate is a factor of five higher than the projected background rate. This discrepancy arises from an excess of events from the 232Th decay chain. Background model fits aim to understand this deviation from assay-based projections, potentially determine the source(s) of observed backgrounds, and allow a precision measurement of the two-neutrino double-beta decay half-life. The fits agree with earlier simulation studies, which indicate the origin of the 232Th excess is not from a near-detector component and have informed design decisions for the next-generation LEGEND experiment. Recent findings have narrowed the suspected locations for the excess activity, motivating a final simulation and assay campaign to complete the background model.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Proceedings from the Low Radioactivity Techniques Workshop 2022 in Rapid City, SD, US