Inclusive Assessment: Challenges Faced by Autistic Students in Higher Education

Autistic students account for approximately 1-2% of the third level student population, however their graduation rates compared to their neuro typical peers is much lower. Any mechanism put in place to support autistic students should, address the issues behind these low graduation rates specifically. For example, students who do not inform an institute of their diagnosis and don’t avail of local accommodations how can we best support these students? Supports need to be integrated at the subject/module level ranging from employing technology aides to techniques such as Universal Design Learning and Inclusive Assessments to assist in achieving positive outcomes

Inclusive Assessment and Autistic students in Third Level Education in Ireland

The current third level education system requires a square peg to fit into a round hole when it comes to assessment. Assessments are designed for the majority where students who are autistic or neurodiverse are only provided accommodations to “fit in”. These accommodations are usually not fit for purpose e.g. providing a student extra time to complete an assessment could compound their challenges as it increases burden. If we consider a wheelchair user being provided more time to climb the steps compared to others, would this be considered a reasonable accommodation? In our current education system, we expect students with dyslexia to be able to provide written reports to the same level as students without dyslexia. Autistic people account for approximately 1-2% of the general population, however they form 16% of the student population. Unfortunately, their graduation rates compared to their neurotypical peers is much lower. Success rates at graduation are not solely linked to a student’s level of knowledge or understanding but also their ability to demonstrate this knowledge or understanding through assessments. Accommodations are put in place for neurodiverse and autistic students to help them to demonstrate their knowledge within assessments, but as mentioned these accommodations are not always fit for purpose. Supports need to be integrated at the subject/module level ranging from employing technology aides to techniques such as Universal Design Learning and Inclusive Assessments to assist in achieving positive outcome

Identifying Agile Practices to Reduce Defects in Medical Device Software Development

Medical Device Software (MDS) defects have caused death of patients and continue to be the major cause of recalls of medical devices in the US and Europe. Despite various approaches proposed to address defects, dealing with defects in MDS is an increasingly difficult task as MDS has become more complex to support a growing number of functions. To increase quality in any software development project, it is essential that defects are identified and addressed quickly in the early stages of the software development life cycle. Agile methods have been advocated to increase software quality by minimising defects through their agile practices. However, agile methods on their own are deficient in satisfying the regulatory requirements for the MDS domain. Instead, the common approach is to integrate agile practices into the plan driven methods. Consequently, frameworks have been developed to help developers in the MDS domain to accrue the benefits of agile development while fulfilling regulatory requirements. Despite the adoption of agile practices in MDS development, it is still unclear as to which agile practice(s) is effective and how it is applied to address MDS defects. The purpose of this research is to identify agile practices that can assist in addressing defects in MDS development. This will help MDS developers to select the appropriate agile practice(s) to address defects

Inclusive Assessment to Support First Year Students on Third Level Computer Science Courses

Approximately 20% of the general population can be defined as neurodiverse, with 10% being dyslexic, 4-5% with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 1-2% being autistic[1]. Typically, neurodiverse adults in third level education will register with the support services of a college to avail of accommodations such as early access to notes, extra time to complete exams etc to support them throughout their educational journey. However, many of these accommodations are done to “fit” a neurodiverse student into the education system designed for neurotypical students. This has been shown to be ineffective as the graduation rates of neurodiverse students compared to neurotypical peers are lower

Examining the alcohol-related consequences of adult drinkers who self-report medicating low mood with alcohol: an analysis of the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions survey data.

The aim of this paper is to examine the alcohol-related consequences experienced by adults who experienced a two-week period of low mood and identify as a 'self-mediator' compared to those who do not. Our focus is on assessing whether the conceptualization of alcohol use disorder severity differs across adult drinkers who self-medicate with alcohol during a period of low mood, compared to those who do not. This study used secondary data from the NESARC survey. The analytic sample consisted of 5945 participants who answered questions from the alcohol abuse/dependence (alcohol experiences) section, in the last 12 months. The sample was split into four groups by whether they self-medicated with alcohol or not, and drank alcohol in the last year and their drinking class. The findings indicated that a one factor model was the best fit and all items were a strong indicator of alcohol use disorder. The two-parameter model had the best fit, indicating that the diagnostic criteria were placed as a good fit along a continuum of severity. It was revealed that the hazardous drinking group who self-medicated, experienced more consequences even at low levels of severity. As the self-medicating hazardous drinking group also showed the highest estimates for alcohol use disorder severity, this may indicate that this group are high functioning self-medicators who are trying to regulate their drinking, and may not be as clinically high risk as expected, due to their drinking patterns

A dose ranging trial to optimize the dose of Rifampin in the treatment of tuberculosis

The study was funded by the EDCTP (European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership), NACCAP (Netherlands-African partnership for Capacity development and Clinical interventions Against Poverty-related diseases) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.Rationale: Rifampin at a dose of 10 mg/kg was introduced in 1971 based on pharmacokinetic, toxicity and cost considerations. Available data in mice and humans showed that an increase in dose may shorten the duration of tuberculosis treatment. Objectives: To evaluate the safety and tolerability, the pharmacokinetics and the extended early bactericidal activity of increasing doses of rifampin. Methods: Patients with drug-susceptible tuberculosis were enrolled into a control group of 8 patients receiving the standard dose of 10 mg/kg rifampin, followed by consecutive experimental groups with 15 patients each receiving rifampin 20 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg and 35 mg/kg, respectively, for 14 days. In all patients isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol were added in standard doses for the second 7 days of treatment. Safety, pharmacokinetics of rifampin, and fall in bacterial load were assessed. Measurements and Main Results: Grade 1 and 2 adverse events were equally distributed between the five dose groups; there were 5 grade 3 events of which 1 was a possibly related hepatotoxicity. Areas under the time-concentration curves and peak serum concentrations of rifampin showed a more than proportional increase with dose. The daily fall in bacterial load over 14 days was 0.176, 0.168, 0.167, 0.265, and 0.261 log10CFU/ml sputum in the 10, 20, 25, 30 and 35 mg/kg groups respectively. Conclusions: Two weeks of rifampin up to 35 mg/kg was safe and well tolerated. There was a non-linear increase in exposure to rifampin without an apparent ceiling effect and a greater estimated fall in bacterial load in the higher dosing groups. Clinical trial registration available at www.clinicaltrials.gove, ID NCT01392911.PostprintPeer reviewe

Protein expression, survival and docetaxel benefit in node-positive breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy in the FNCLCC - PACS 01 randomized trial

International audienceABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: The PACS01 trial has demonstrated that docetaxel addition to adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy improves disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival of node-positive early breast cancer (EBC). We searched for prognostic and predictive markers for docetaxel benefit. METHODS: Tumor samples from 1.099 recruited women were analyzed for the expression of 34 selected proteins using immunohistochemistry. The prognostic and predictive values of each marker and four molecular subtypes (luminal A, luminal B, HER2-overexpressing, and triple-negative) were tested. RESULTS: Progesterone receptor-negativity (HR=0.66; 95%CI 0.47-0.92, P=0.013), and Ki67-positivity (HR=1.53; 95%CI 1.12-2.08, P=0.007) were independent adverse prognostic factors. Out of the 34 proteins, only Ki67-positivity was associated with DFS improvement with docetaxel addition (adjusted HR=0.51, 95%CI 0.33-0.79 for Ki67-positive versus HR=1.10, 95%CI 0.75-1.61 for Ki67-negative tumors, P for interaction=0.012). Molecular subtyping predicted the docetaxel benefit, but without providing additional information to Ki67 status. The luminal A subtype did not benefit from docetaxel (HR=1.16, 95%CI 0.73-1.84); the reduction in the relapse risk was 53% (HR=0.47, 95%CI 0.22-1.01), 34% (HR=0.66, 95%CI 0.37-1.19), and 12% (HR=0.88, 95%CI 0.49-1.57) in the luminal B, HER2-overexpressing, and triple-negative subtypes, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with node-positive EBC receiving adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy, the most powerful predictor of docetaxel benefit is Ki67-positivity

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization

Background: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions. Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies. Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species. High-quality genomic data will inform key aspects of bumblebee biology, including susceptibility to implicated population viability threats. Results: We report the high quality draft genome sequences of Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens, two ecologically dominant bumblebees and widely utilized study species. Comparing these new genomes to those of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera and other Hymenoptera, we identify deeply conserved similarities, as well as novelties key to the biology of these organisms. Some honeybee genome features thought to underpin advanced eusociality are also present in bumblebees, indicating an earlier evolution in the bee lineage. Xenobiotic detoxification and immune genes are similarly depauperate in bumblebees and honeybees, and multiple categories of genes linked to social organization, including development and behavior, show high conservation. Key differences identified include a bias in bumblebee chemoreception towards gustation from olfaction, and striking differences in microRNAs, potentially responsible for gene regulation underlying social and other traits. Conclusions: These two bumblebee genomes provide a foundation for post-genomic research on these key pollinators and insect societies. Overall, gene repertoires suggest that the route to advanced eusociality in bees was mediated by many small changes in many genes and processes, and not by notable expansion or depauperation

Meta-Analysis of Gene Level Tests for Rare Variant Association

The vast majority of connections between complex disease and common genetic variants were identified through meta-analysis, a powerful approach that enables large sample sizes while protecting against common artifacts due to population structure, repeated small sample analyses, and/or limitations with sharing individual level data. As the focus of genetic association studies shifts to rare variants, genes and other functional units are becoming the unit of analysis. Here, we propose and evaluate new approaches for performing meta-analysis of rare variant association tests, including burden tests, weighted burden tests, variable threshold tests and tests that allow variants with opposite effects to be grouped together. We show that our approach retains useful features of single variant meta-analytic approaches and demonstrate its utility in a study of blood lipid levels in ∼18,500 individuals genotyped with exome arrays