Comparing Contact Education and Digital Distant Pedagogy Strategies: Lockdown Lessons Learnt for University-Level Teacher Education

Teaching and learning experienced a rapid change in spring 2020, and the learning environments for university students changed almost overnight. An integrative science centre education informal learning course for Finnish teaching students has been arranged for over 20 years with latest technologies and innovations. This cross-sectional study compared survey data of teaching students between four time points: in 2019 (n = 108), in 2020 (n = 115), in 2021 (n = 110), and in 2022 (n = 90). The course content was the same, only the implementation differed. In the spring of 2019 and 2022 the course was implemented as contact-teaching, but during the critical phase of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 as distant teaching. Data were analysed by using ANOVA and the prediction of possible effects of the contact/distance learning by the structural equation path model (SEM). The analysis showed that the results favoured the first contact instruction course in 2019: their confidence of integrating the learned contents of the science centre into practical school matters differed from all the other groups. This group also appreciated the usefulness of the course more than the other groups. In turn, the first distant course had a more negative opinion of the usability of the course than all the other groups. Despite that the distant group in 2020 and even more so the other distant group in 2021 felt more confidence in the direct integration of the course content into future teaching based on the path analysis. Gender had two kinds of effects, one in the distance learning group in 2020: being a female directly predicted the future use of science centre type pedagogy, and the other in the contact learning group in 2022: being a female predicted the appreciation of the science centre course. As a limitation of the study, more students’ prior experience and attitudes with online learning is needed from future research. The preliminary results and best practises of this study are utilised internationally in several EU-Erasmus+ projects

Motivationaalisten uskomusten merkitys oppimisessa

Peer reviewe

Aerosol concentrations and size distributions during clinical dental procedures

Background Suspected aerosol-generating dental instruments may cause risks for operators by transmitting pathogens, such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aim of our study was to measure aerosol generation in various dental procedures in clinical settings. Methods The study population comprised of 84 patients who underwent 253 different dental procedures measured with Optical Particle Sizer in a dental office setting. Aerosol particles from 0.3 to 10 μm in diameter were measured. Dental procedures included oral examinations (N = 52), restorative procedures with air turbine handpiece (N = 8), high-speed (N = 6) and low-speed (N = 30) handpieces, ultrasonic scaling (N = 31), periodontal treatment using hand instruments (N = 60), endodontic treatment (N = 12), intraoral radiographs (N = 24), and dental local anesthesia (N = 31). Results Air turbine handpieces significantly elevated 5 μm median (p = 0.023), maximum (p = 0.013) particle number concentrations,> 5 μm particle mass concentrations (p = 0.021) and maximum total particle mass concentrations (p = 0.022). High-speed dental handpieces elevated aerosol concentration levels compared to the levels produced during oral examination. Conclusions Air turbine handpieces produced the highest levels ofPeer reviewe

Excited-state OH Mainline Masers in AU Geminorum and NML Cygni

Excited-state OH maser emission has previously been reported in the circumstellar envelopes of only two evolved stars: the Mira star AU Geminorum and the hypergiant NML Cygni. We present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the 1665, 1667, and excited-state 4750 MHz mainline OH transitions in AU Gem and Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) observations of the excited-state 6030 and 6035 MHz OH mainline transitions in NML Cyg. We detect masers in both mainline transitions in AU Gem but no excited-state emission in either star. We conclude that the excited-state OH emission in AU Gem is either a transient phenomenon (such as for NML Cyg outlined below), or possibly an artifact in the data, and that the excited state OH emission in NML Cyg was generated by an episode of enhanced shock between the stellar mass-loss and an outflow of the Cyg OB2 association. With these single exceptions, it therefore appears that excited-state OH emission indeed should not be predicted nor observable in evolved stars as part of their normal structure or evolution.Comment: ApJ Letter, accepted, 4 pages, 2 figure

Systemic-to-pulmonary collateral flow associations with antegrade pulmonary flow in single ventricle patients: insights from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

PurposeIn the palliated single ventricle anomalies, a considerable amount of the aortic flow may be absorbed by the systemic-pulmonary collateral flow (SPCF), which can be noninvasively assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). The aims of this study were to (1) identify factors associated with SCPF in pediatric single ventricle patients, and (2) establish a cutoff values indicating an association between SCPF and a reduction in antegrade pulmonary flow.MethodsA retrospective single-tertiary-center cohort study included 158 consecutive CMR studies of patients with a single ventricle. In the uni- and multivariable analysis, SPCF was presented as a percentage of the total pulmonary venous flow (SPCF%PV). The minimal clinically important difference in QP/QS ratios was estimated as ≥0.50, and an optimal cutoff value was defined using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.ResultsSPCF%PV was significantly smaller in the post-total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) group than in the pre-TCPC patients (p < 0.001). The patient's higher age and a higher antegrade pulmonary flow were associated with a lower SPCF%PV. A negative weak association was observed between the SPCF%PV and systemic saturation (r = −0.39, p < 0.001). SPCF%PV did not associate with ventricular volumes nor ejection fraction. The SPCF%PV was significantly smaller in patients that were palliated primarily with a pulmonary artery banding compared to those palliated with a BT-shunt (p = 0.002) or RV-PA- shunt (p = 0.044). In the ROC analysis, for pre-TCPC patient's, a cutoff of SPCF%PV 42% yielded a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 80% for significantly reduced antegrade pulmonary flow (AUC 0.97). In the post-TCPC group, the optimal SPCF%PV cutoff was 34% (sensitivity 100%, specificity 98%, AUC 0.99).ConclusionSPCF results in a considerable left-to-right shunt, which subsequently diminishes spontaneously after TCPC. Our findings indicated that for pre-TCPC patients, an SPCF%PV threshold of 42% (sensitivity 100%, specificity 80%), and for the post-TCPC group, a threshold of 34% (sensitivity 100%, specificity 98%) were effective in identifying reduced antegrade pulmonary flow

Evidence of Innovative Assessment: Literature Review and Case Studies

This report presents the outcomes and analyses of the study Evidence of Innovative Assessment. It provides an overview of innovative (digital and non-digital) assessment approaches and evidence on how these have been implemented to various settings. The first part describes the rational of the study, defines innovative assessment and gathers evidence on the effectiveness of a variety of assessment practices such as self- and peer-assessment, open badges, simulation and learning analytics. The second part presents eight case studies that have integrated innovative assessment approaches from a range of different contexts (formal, non-formal learning, employment, elderly care), covering different age groups, assessment purposes and implementation strategies. Through cross comparisons, the report identifies the challenges and success factors and the replicability of these cases. The report ends with recommendations for research, educational policy and practice.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

Evidence of Innovative Assessment : Literature Review and Case Studies

Non peer reviewe

Brain free fatty acid uptake is elevated in morbid obesity, and is irreversible 6 months after bariatric surgery: A positron emission tomography study

AimTo investigate whether there are differences in brain fatty acid uptake (BFAU) between morbidly obese and lean subjects, and the effect of weight loss following bariatric surgery.Materials and methodsWe measured BFAU with 14(R, S)‐[18F]fluoro‐6‐thia‐heptadecanoic acid and positron emission tomography in 24 morbidly obese and 14 lean women. Obese subjects were restudied 6 months after bariatric surgery. We also assessed whether there was hypothalamic neuroinflammation in the obese subjects using fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsObese subjects had a higher BFAU than lean subjects (1.12 [0.61] vs. 0.72 [0.50] μmol 100 g−1 min−1, P = 0.0002), driven by higher fatty acid uptake availability. BFAU correlated positively with BMI (P = 0.006, r = 0.48), whole body fatty acid oxidation (P = 0.006, r = 0.47) and leptin levels (P = 0.001, r = 0.54). When BFAU, leptin and body mass index (BMI) were included in the same model, the association between BFAU and leptin was the strongest. BFAU did not correlate with FLAIR‐derived estimates of hypothalamic inflammation. Six months after bariatric surgery, obese subjects achieved significant weight loss (−10 units of BMI). BFAU was not significantly changed (1.12 [0.61] vs. 1.09 [0.39] μmol 100 g−1 min−1, ns), probably because of the ongoing catabolic state. Finally, baseline BFAU predicted worse plasma glucose levels at 2 years of follow‐up.ConclusionsBFAU is increased in morbidly obese compared with lean subjects, and is unchanged 6 months after bariatric surgery. Baseline BFAU predicts worse plasma glucose levels at follow‐up, supporting the notion that the brain participates in the control of whole‐body homeostasis.</p