Skyscapes of Clifton

Skyscapes are a combination of landscape, sky, and people in the context of a full place experience including the temporal dimension. When a viewer becomes aware of rhythms in sky and environments, memories and history unravel. The viewer enters a dialogue with place and experiences the skyscape through watching, allowing the exploration of its meaning. This project is an interdisciplinary approach towards skyscape through deeper engagement with the place of Clifton campus at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). A phenomenological approach will identify locations that reveal memories and an affectional dimension. The panorama will be implemented into a planetarium software (Stellarium) to experience the passage of celestial objects in time, and reveal rhythms and cycles through which the Clifton campus defines itself. Essentially, it will illutstare how place and therefore skyscape is explored

Environmental Sustainability and Quality Education: Perspectives from a community living in a context of poverty

This paper presents perspectives on sustainability, quality and relevance of education found in a resettlement community in Zimbabwe. The exploratory research triangulated data from community meetings, interviews, focus group discussions and digital photography. The results showed that the community lived in a context of risk and vulnerability where a range of economic, cultural, social and environment issues and poor quality of education posed a threat to the quality of life. Tensions in the community and between the school and community, lack of solidarity, and the weakening of the traditional Unhu/Ubuntu moral and ethical framework contributed to the community’s failure to envision and implement interventions towards quality education and towards sustainable development. The participatory research helped ease these tensions, enabling it to realise opportunities to deal with some of its sustainability issues. It enhanced teacher– community relations, leading to cooperation and solidarity around school improvement and environmental projects. The case study demonstrated the relevance of environmental education and education for sustainable development to quality of formal education in the school community and to the quality of formal and informal education in the broader community context

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

integrating school community concerns in framing ESD and educational quality

This chapter focuses on bridging the educational quality gaps for vulnerable groups when dealing with ESD concerns valued by both teachers and parents. The chapter draws from a qualitative case study that sought to develop teachers’ capabilities and agency to integrate HIV/AIDS education in different subjects across the secondary school curriculum in one secondary school in Zimbabwe. The research site was chosen due to its predisposition as a rich source of data for HIV/AIDS and ESD interactions. Data was gathered from 50 teachers through interactive workshops, interviews, focus groups and open-ended questionnaires. Findings from the study suggest the curriculum could work as a mediating device making connections between the school and its community. The study highlights the role of teachers in mobilising opportunities for learning in diverse classrooms where HIV/AIDS pose unique challenges for particular learners. The study concludes that given the right training and mindsets, teachers become agents of change, and classrooms become therapeutic laboratories where learners’ concerns are valued. Consequently, quality of ESD learning improves as the community of teachers and learners are empowered to live differently. The study recommends reorientation of teacher education to embrace skills for teaching in contexts of risk, vulnerability and uncertainty. Legislators may review and enact policy changes so HIV/AIDS teaching takes a whole-school approach. More so, conceptions of quality education and teacher competency ought to be broadened beyond learner pass rates to include aspects such as creativity and making the world a better place

The Framing and Reframing of Science Education, Training and Research in Zimbabwe

This chapter highlights how Zimbabwe science education, training and research was framed, is being framed and will be framed in sub-Saharan Africa. It explores the structure of education in Zimbabwe as well as the history of the development of science education from the colonial period to date

Complication of intraprosthetic dislocation of dual-mobility hip implant following closed reduction.

Total hip replacement is a successful operation for the management of hip pain but there are potential complications, of which dislocation is one of the most common. The management of recurrent dislocation is a challenging problem that requires a multimodal approach and the use of dual-mobility implants is one option. We present a patient who was previously revised with a dual-mobility implant for recurrent dislocation, who had a complication after closed reduction of a subsequent intraprosthetic dislocation. Following a missed radiographical diagnosis, the patient experienced mechanical symptoms on hip flexion caused by a disassociated dual-mobility implant. Subsequent surgical removal of the failed implant and revision was required. Careful study of radiographs revealed an eccentric femoral head and evidence of the disassociated implant within the surrounding soft tissues. Radiographs following closed reduction of intraprosthetic dislocations should be scrutinised closely to detect implant failure to prevent further complications

Between the Newsroom and the Pub: The Mobile Phone in the Dynamics of Everyday Mainstream Journalism Practice in Zimbabwe

This study is published as part of a collection of essays in a special issue of Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism (12:6, 2011), themed ‘New Media and Journalism Practice in Africa: An Agenda for Research’, which I co-edited with Professor Chris Atton of Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. The themed issue sought to mainstream African journalism research in the global discourses of convergence, interactivity and ‘digital storytelling’. In contributing to this agenda, my article sought to offer theoretically driven ethnographic case-study insights into the changing ecology of media narratives in Africa as a result of the pervasive diffusion and penetration of new technologies such as the mobile phone. It forms part of a research theme of mine investigating the changing nature of media-based storytelling in the digital age. Generally conceived as a response to the general research gap on how African journalism is adjusting to the era of digital mobile communication technologies and convergence, the study’s findings offer empirical data for exploring similarities and differences between developments in the economically developed North and those in the South. It provides an empirical base upon which we can begin to discriminate between what could or should be universal professional values and what might be context-dependent practices of journalism in the age of mobile communication. The study therefore contributes to the development of insights that inform our understanding of journalism and media practice globally. It offers a comprehensive research tool that gives researchers and practitioners models for cross-cultural comparisons as well as insights for understanding contemporary media practice in all its contextual complexities., The study’s findings were initially presented at a Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) Conference, hosted by the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, (6-8 January 2010)

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

Background: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit