The flipped classroom: motivating student nurses to learn independently

The flipped classroom has become an internationally recognised teaching strategy in higher education institutions including those which deliver nurse education and training. In 2014, the author "flipped" a first year module of the undergraduate nurse training programme at a University in the United Kingdom. Through the creation of on-line lectures and self-paced, independent e-learning activities students steered their own direction, pace and depth of learning. Class time was then dedicated to engaging students through discussions, debates and active learning exercises. The aim of this research was to explore, using self-report questionnaires, the extent to which the flipped classroom stimulates student’s motivation to engage with e-learning activities. The research concluded that the flipped classroom delivery model motivates students to learn independently. The primary motivational stimuli included a heightened student enjoyment of e-learning that provided intrinsic motivation and peer group work as an extrinsic motivator

Crawford Creations: What would we have done without Crawfords? An exploration of Crawford Productions' contribution to the development of an 'Australian Consciousness'

Between 1946 and 1987, Crawford Productions was a major independent Melbourne producer of radio and television drama, and innovative musical and educational programs. Led by orchestra conductor Hector Crawford, his sister Dorothy Crawford and her son Ian Crawford, Crawford Productions, or simply Crawfords, was influential in developing an ‘Australian consciousness and identity’ through its many successful programs. This dissertation explores several elements of Hector Crawford’s quest to create an ‘Australian consciousness’, including the opportunities he provided for many singers and artists through live musical radio programs. I argue that Dorothy Crawford’s production skills were pivotal throughout this process as well as during the formative years of television. Hector lobbied against the dominance of American television programs and in support of Australian dramatic television content which, I argue, added greatly to a public awareness that television was not portraying Australia’s national traditions and culture. I contend that this awareness helps explain why Crawfords’ television drama series such as Homicide (1964) and Division 4 (1969) were so readily accepted by national audiences. Through employee oral history accounts I demonstrate how Crawfords engendered a collegiate training environment with a ‘get the job done whatever the cost’ attitude. The ensuing employment, training and career opportunities benefited the entire television and film industry and contributed to an evolving ‘Australian consciousness’. This dissertation also examines the rationale behind Melbourne’s third commercial television licence being granted to Ansett Transport Industries and why Crawfords’ bid failed. In response to the existing literature, I argue that the Federal Government was not biased towards Ansett as a ‘business friend’. While Hector Crawford has often been described as the ‘Father of Australian Television’, I argue that his entrepreneurial and business skills alone may have been ineffectual without the contributions of family members and senior staff. I contend that ‘The Family of Australian Television’ is a more accurate epitaph

Analysing the changing relationship between the Brazilian stock market and global economic indicators

This study investigates the relationship between the Brazilian stock market and four independent variables, specifically the US stock market, the Mexican stock market, the exchange rate of the US dollar in terms of Brazilian Real and oil prices. Graphical illustrations of the movement between the Ibovespa and each independent variable were used to identify ten sub periods where the relationship was believed to have changed in some way. A preliminary multiple regression analysis found that changes in all of these independent variables with the exception of oil prices are significant in explaining changes in the principal Brazilian stock index, the Ibovespa. Further simple regressions were run between the Ibovespa and each independent variable for each sub period. Some evidence in favour of a non constant relationship was discovered. This study also suggested that whilst a relationship appears to exist between the Ibovespa and these variables, the nature of this relationship is not consistent and is in fact changing through time. Tests were conducted using a CUSUM technique to identify when structural breaks in these relationships occurred, however this technique proved to be unreliable for this purpose leading to the conclusion that a more sophisticated technique is required in order to identify when the relationships are breaking down

Best (but oft-forgotten) practices:the design, analysis, and interpretation of Mendelian randomization studies

Mendelian randomization (MR) is an increasingly important tool for appraising causality in observational epidemiology. The technique exploits the principle that genotypes are not generally susceptible to reverse causation bias and confounding, reflecting their fixed nature and Mendel’s first and second laws of inheritance. The approach is, however, subject to important limitations and assumptions that, if unaddressed or compounded by poor study design, can lead to erroneous conclusions. Nevertheless, the advent of 2-sample approaches (in which exposure and outcome are measured in separate samples) and the increasing availability of open-access data from large consortia of genome-wide association studies and population biobanks mean that the approach is likely to become routine practice in evidence synthesis and causal inference research. In this article we provide an overview of the design, analysis, and interpretation of MR studies, with a special emphasis on assumptions and limitations. We also consider different analytic strategies for strengthening causal inference. Although impossible to prove causality with any single approach, MR is a highly cost-effective strategy for prioritizing intervention targets for disease prevention and for strengthening the evidence base for public health policy

The mass of the neutron star in Cyg X-2 (V1341 Cyg)

Cygnus X-2 is one of the brightest and longest known X-ray sources. We present high resolution optical spectroscopy of Cyg X-2 obtained over 4 years which gives an improved mass function of 0.69 +/- 0.03 Msun (1 sigma error). In addition, we resolve the rotationally broadened absorption features of the secondary star for the first time, deriving a rotation speed of vsin(i) = 34.2 +/- 2.5 km per s (1 sigma error) which leads to a mass ratio of q = M_c/M_x = 0.34 +/- 0.04 (1 sigma error), assuming a tidally-locked and Roche lobe-filling secondary). Hence with the lack of X-ray eclipses (i.e. i <~ 73 degrees) we can set firm 95% confidence lower limits to the neutron star mass of M_x > 1.27 Msun and to the companion star mass of M_c > 0.39 Msun. However, by additionally requiring that the companion must exceed 0.75 Msun (as required theoretically to produce a steady low-mass X-ray binary), then M_x > 1.88 Msun and i < 61 degrees (95% confidence lower and upper limit, respectively), thereby making Cyg X-2 the highest mass neutron star measured to date. If confirmed this would set significant constraints on the equation of state of nuclear matter.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Letters, accepted, LaTeX, aasms4.st

Exploiting horizontal pleiotropy to search for causal pathways within a Mendelian randomization framework

In Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, variants that exert horizontal pleiotropy are typically treated as a nuisance. However, they could be valuable in identifying alternative pathways to the traits under investigation. Here, we developed MR-TRYX, a framework that exploits horizontal pleiotropy to discover putative risk factors for disease. We begin by detecting outliers in a single exposure-outcome MR analysis, hypothesising they are due to horizontal pleiotropy. We search across hundreds of complete GWAS summary datasets to systematically identify other (candidate) traits that associate with the outliers. We developed a multi-trait pleiotropy model of the heterogeneity in the exposure-outcome analysis due to pathways through candidate traits. Through detailed investigation of several causal relationships, many pleiotropic pathways are uncovered with already established causal effects, validating the approach, but also alternative putative causal pathways. Adjustment for pleiotropic pathways reduces the heterogeneity across the analyses

Cystic adenomatoid malformations are induced by localized FGF10 overexpression in fetal rat lung

Fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF10) is a mesenchymal growth factor, involved in epithelial and mesenchymal interactions during lung branching morphogenesis. In the present work, FGF10 overexpression was transiently induced in a temporally and spatially restricted manner, during the pseudoglandular or canalicular stages of rat lung development, by trans-uterine ultrasound-guided intraparenchymal microinjections of adenoviral vector encoding the rfgf10 transgene. The morphologic and histologic classification of the resulting malformations were dependent upon developmental stage and location. Overexpression of FGF10 restricted to the proximal tracheobronchial tree during the pseudoglandular phase resulted in large cysts lined by tall columnar epithelium composed primarily of Clara cells with a paucity of Type II pneumocytes, resembling bronchiolar type epithelium. In contrast, FGF10 overexpression in the distal lung parenchyma during the canalicular phase resulted in small cysts lined by cuboidal epithelial cells composed of primarily Type II pneumocytes resembling acinar epithelial differentiation. The cystic malformations induced by FGF10 overexpression appear to closely recapitulate the morphology and histology of the spectrum of human congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM). These findings support a role for FGF10 in the induction of human CCAM and provide further mechanistic insight into the role of FGF10 in normal and abnormal lung development.This project was in part funded by proceeds from the Ruth and Tristram C. Colket Jr. Chair in Pediatric Surgery (A.W.F.), and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (POCI/SAUOBS/56428/2004). S.G. was supported by FCT grant ref. SFRH/BD/15260/2004

Consistent Estimation in Mendelian Randomization with Some Invalid Instruments Using a Weighted Median Estimator.

Developments in genome-wide association studies and the increasing availability of summary genetic association data have made application of Mendelian randomization relatively straightforward. However, obtaining reliable results from a Mendelian randomization investigation remains problematic, as the conventional inverse-variance weighted method only gives consistent estimates if all of the genetic variants in the analysis are valid instrumental variables. We present a novel weighted median estimator for combining data on multiple genetic variants into a single causal estimate. This estimator is consistent even when up to 50% of the information comes from invalid instrumental variables. In a simulation analysis, it is shown to have better finite-sample Type 1 error rates than the inverse-variance weighted method, and is complementary to the recently proposed MR-Egger (Mendelian randomization-Egger) regression method. In analyses of the causal effects of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol on coronary artery disease risk, the inverse-variance weighted method suggests a causal effect of both lipid fractions, whereas the weighted median and MR-Egger regression methods suggest a null effect of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol that corresponds with the experimental evidence. Both median-based and MR-Egger regression methods should be considered as sensitivity analyses for Mendelian randomization investigations with multiple genetic variants.Jack Bowden is supported by a Methodology Research Fellowship from the Medical Research Council (grant number MR/N501906/1). George Davey Smith is supported by the Medical Research Council (grant number MC UU 12013/1- 9). Philip C Haycock is supported by a Cancer Research UK Population Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. Stephen Burgess is supported by a fellowship from the Wellcome Trust (100114).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via https://doi.org/10.1002/gepi.2196