Human papillomavirus ‘reflex' testing as a screening method in cases of minor cytological abnormalities

The aim was to evaluate human papillomavirus (HPV) ‘reflex genotyping' in cases of minor cytological abnormalities detected in the gynaecological screening programme in Stockholm, Sweden. Liquid-based cytology samples showing minor cytological abnormalities were analysed using HPV genotyping (Linear Array, Roche diagnostics). Colposcopically directed cervical biopsies were obtained and the HPV test results were correlated with the histological results. In all, 63% (70/112) of the samples were high-risk (HR) HPV (HR-HPV) positive. A statistically significant correlation was found between high-grade cervical lesions and HR-HPV (P=0.019), among which HPV 16, 18, and 31 were the most important. The negative predictive value of HR-HPV detection for histologically confirmed high-grade lesions was 100%. An age limit for HPV reflex testing may be motivated in cases of low-grade squamous intraepithelial neoplasia (LSIL), because of high HR-HPV prevalence among younger women. By using HPV reflex genotyping, additional extensive workup can safely be avoided in about 50% of all cases of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) and LSIL among women ⩾30 years. This screening strategy could potentially reduce the total abnormal cytology-reporting rate in the Swedish screening programme by about 1% and provide more accurately directed follow-up, guided by cytological appearance and HPV test results

Can Preening Contribute to Influenza A Virus Infection in Wild Waterbirds?

Wild aquatic birds in the Orders Anseriformes and Charadriiformes are the main reservoir hosts perpetuating the genetic pool of all influenza A viruses, including pandemic viruses. High viral loads in feces of infected birds permit a fecal-oral route of transmission. Numerous studies have reported the isolation of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) from surface water at aquatic bird habitats. These isolations indicate aquatic environments have an important role in the transmission of AIV among wild aquatic birds. However, the progressive dilution of infectious feces in water could decrease the likelihood of virus/host interactions. To evaluate whether alternate mechanisms facilitate AIV transmission in aquatic bird populations, we investigated whether the preen oil gland secretions by which all aquatic birds make their feathers waterproof could support a natural mechanism that concentrates AIVs from water onto birds' bodies, thus, representing a possible source of infection by preening activity. We consistently detected both viral RNA and infectious AIVs on swabs of preened feathers of 345 wild mallards by using reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and virus-isolation (VI) assays. Additionally, in two laboratory experiments using a quantitative real-time (qR) RT-PCR assay, we demonstrated that feather samples (n = 5) and cotton swabs (n = 24) experimentally impregnated with preen oil, when soaked in AIV-contaminated waters, attracted and concentrated AIVs on their surfaces. The data presented herein provide information that expands our understanding of AIV ecology in the wild bird reservoir system

Vocational education in practice : a study of work-based learning in a construction programme at a Swedish upper secondary school

In many OECD countries an apparent connection is shown between education, the local economy and the local labor market. This connection seems to be stronger and more radical in Sweden, than in other similar countries. The construction program is thereby also a part of this market. Given the needs of the building industry for competent workers and the requirements from specific course syllabuses this paper explores how project-based vocational education contributes to the student's vocational competences. The aim of this study was to describeand analyse students’ perceptions of vocational competence gained from a PBVE environment and identify how this competence is constituted. From this broad aim, the following research questions were asked: (1) What kinds of competence are the students able to develop in a PBLE? (2) In what ways do the developed competence and vocational skills relate to the specific course syllabuses? (3) How is the students’vocational competence constituted? Methods adopted for this study are observations over student action in a project-based vocational education and focus group interviews with observed students. The result indicates a gap between acquired vocational competence at the project and the related learning goals in the course syllabuses. The developed vocational competence seems more adopted to fit the demands of the building industry rather than the intended course goals. Further, the findings indicate that the relationship between learning and support from teachers are strong whereas the room for individual initiative in the learning environment is limited. This study highlights the relationship between student action and the complexity in vocational education as a project based vocational education. The project’s high complexity affects the students’ learning ability to take own decisionsin the learning environment. This also affects the students’ motivation and ability to develop competences required to fulfill goals in course syllabuses. So, if the students’ are supposed to be able to be a part of their own learning the complexity in the task should not be too high. Hence, if the task is to easy the students’ will not be challenge enough in order to develop vocational competences

What can higher education learn from the workplace?

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. This chapter examines how insights from workplace learning research might be used to problematize some common understandings of higher education practice and lead to new ones. It begins by outlining features of the changing higher education context that have implications for how we might think differently about traditional higher education. Following this it contrasts practices in higher education with several themes drawn from two decades of workplace learning research (e.g. learning as embedded, situated; social, and formed through practice). It focuses on specific higher education practices (both existing and possible) that have potential to meet new and different learning needs of the changing student population. Implications centre around four ideas. The first is that being a ‘learner’ is not as powerful as being a producer. The second is that the tasks students engage in should not be seen as isolated from the broader context they will be entering on graduation. The third idea is that assessment needs to be appropriated by learners, and finally, students must more actively construct their own learning

Urban Living Labs: opportunities in and for planning

This chapter explores some of the most significant potentials of Living Lab environments in urban systems while viewing urban planning as the entire set of transformative practices possible and available in urban contexts. It explores three main potentials of Urban Living Labs, i.e., their being practice-based innovation environments, their capacity to create cross-boundary arenas where many diverse actors and organizations can interact, and, lastly, their being contexts for new modes of urban activism. This chapter also analyzes some challenges launched by Living Labs in urban environments and discusses some possible roles for planners who recognize Living Lab potentials as transformative drivers. Finally, considering the collective (public) experimental perspective introduced by Urban Living Labs, the idea of the city as a laboratory is discussed