How are Institutions of Higher Education Implementing First-Year Transition Courses for Veterans?

To better support veterans in their transition from the military to college, current literature recommends the use of a first-year transition course. However, it does not suggest how to implement this intervention nor if this tool is indeed effective at increasing retention and persistence toward graduation. In this pilot study, five institutions of various sizes and locations were surveyed to discover common themes related to their courses’ structure, objectives, assignments, and assessment practices. The goal of the study was to compile “best practices” among the findings and provide practical application tools for institutions looking to start a course or adapt an existing one. </p

An aphasia research agenda - a consensus statement from the collaboration of aphasia trialists.

Coordination of international aphasia research would minimise duplication of effort, support synergistic international activities across languages and multidisciplinary perspectives, and promote high-quality conduct and reporting of aphasia research, thereby increasing the relevance, transparency, and implementation of findings. The Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs) sought to develop an aphasia research agenda to direct future research activities, based on priorities shared by people with aphasia, family members, and healthcare professionals. Our established international research network spanning 33 countries contributed to this activity. Research literature reporting the priorities of stakeholders was reviewed and synthesised (phase 1). Representatives from Working Groups on Aphasia Assessment & Outcomes, Prognosis & Predictors of Recovery, Effectiveness of Interventions, and Societal Impact & Reintegration participated in a two-day research agenda setting meeting. The CATs expert panel refined research objectives and identified constituent components of research and methodological developments required to address these research components. The objectives and research components were grouped into overarching themes (phase 2). The resultant list was then circulated to more than 180 CATs members for review, revision, and approval. Consensus on the final aphasia research agenda and road-map was reached by CATs executive committee (phase 3). The expert panel identified five overarching research themes: (i) evidence-based interventions for people with aphasia, (ii) effective interventions to support those communicating with people with aphasia, (iii) cross-linguistic assessment and core outcomes for aphasia research, (iv) predictors of language recovery, and (v) clinical implementation of research findings. Within these broad themes, 30 research objectives and 91 individual aphasia research components were identified and sequentially ordered. This agenda builds on research priorities identified by people with aphasia and their families, and includes priorities of healthcare professionals and researchers, and will support the rehabilitation and recovery of people with aphasia. Our internationally relevant research agenda promotes rigour in methodology, considers international applicability, synergistic activities, and sharing of resources and expertise

End of season influenza vaccine effectiveness in adults and children in the United Kingdom in 2017/18

Background: In the United Kingdom (UK), in recent influenza seasons, children are offered a quadrivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4), and eligible adults mainly trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV). Aim: To estimate the UK end-of-season 2017/18 adjusted vaccine effectiveness (aVE) and the seroprevalence in England of antibodies against influenza viruses cultured in eggs or tissue. Methods: This observational study employed the test-negative case–control approach to estimate aVE in primary care. The population-based seroprevalence survey used residual age-stratified samples. Results: Influenza viruses A(H3N2) (particularly subgroup 3C.2a2) and B (mainly B/Yamagata/16/88-lineage, similar to the quadrivalent vaccine B-virus component but mismatched to TIV) dominated. All-age aVE was 15% (95% confidence interval (CI): −6.3 to 32) against all influenza; −16.4% (95% CI: −59.3 to 14.9) against A(H3N2); 24.7% (95% CI: 1.1 to 42.7) against B and 66.3% (95% CI: 33.4 to 82.9) against A(H1N1)pdm09. For 2–17 year olds, LAIV4 aVE was 26.9% (95% CI: −32.6 to 59.7) against all influenza; −75.5% (95% CI: −289.6 to 21) against A(H3N2); 60.8% (95% CI: 8.2 to 83.3) against B and 90.3% (95% CI: 16.4 to 98.9) against A(H1N1)pdm09. For ≥ 18 year olds, TIV aVE against influenza B was 1.9% (95% CI: −63.6 to 41.2). The 2017 seroprevalence of antibody recognising tissue-grown A(H3N2) virus was significantly lower than that recognising egg-grown virus in all groups except 15–24 year olds. Conclusions: Overall aVE was low driven by no effectiveness against A(H3N2) possibly related to vaccine virus egg-adaption and a new A(H3N2) subgroup emergence. The TIV was not effective against influenza B. LAIV4 against influenza B and A(H1N1)pdm09 was effective

Reasonable accommodation: Equal education for learners with disabilities

This paper analyses the concept of reasonable accommodation which is integral to realising the Education Act 1989’s promise of equal education for persons with disabilities. Currently, that promise is undermined by discriminatory practices in schools. Reasonable accommodation is relevant to determining whether discrimination by State schools is justified pursuant to s 5 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. It raises considerations of the effectiveness of any accommodation and burden of that accommodation on State schools. This paper applies those considerations to the facts of A v Hutchinson and Green Bay High School to conclude that discrimination in the disciplinary decision at issue was not justified. Having assessed that situation, this paper turns to broader policy issues of the limited effectiveness of the law in remedying discrimination by State schools and the need to upskill, educate and support educators to realise the promise of equal education

Inclusive constitution-making: Lessons from Iceland and Ireland for Aotearoa New Zealand

New Zealand’s constitutional journey has been revived in recent years through three expert-led dialogues on more certain, formalised and new constitutionalism: the Constitutional Advisory Panel (2013), Matike Mai Aotearoa (2016) and Constitution Aotearoa (2017). This paper advocates that any constitution-making in New Zealand should follow inclusive processes to uphold democratic legitimacy and facilitate deliberation. There are three key elements of inclusive constitution-making. First, the people should have ownership over important parts of the process. Second, there should be a citizen-led representative drafting body–a constituent assembly without the power to make ordinary law and comprised of politically independent delegates. Third, there should be public oversight of the process to ensure transparency and provide for meaningful consultation. This paper undertakes a comparative exercise, analysing recent inclusive constitution-making experiences in Iceland and Ireland, to offer proposals for inclusive constitution-making in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand’s most significant challenge in terms of ownership is considering the proper role for experts and balancing the power of political elites in a climate of constitutional apathy. In terms of representation, the most significant challenge for New Zealand is how to represent the interests of Māori as tangata whenua and how to represent traditionally marginalised voices in politics, such as those of women, ethnic minorities and youth. In terms of public oversight, the biggest challenge is how we can use digital democracy in constitution-making

Inclusive constitution-making: Lessons from Iceland and Ireland for Aotearoa New Zealand

New Zealand’s constitutional journey has been revived in recent years through three expert-led dialogues on more certain, formalised and new constitutionalism: the Constitutional Advisory Panel (2013), Matike Mai Aotearoa (2016) and Constitution Aotearoa (2017). This paper advocates that any constitution-making in New Zealand should follow inclusive processes to uphold democratic legitimacy and facilitate deliberation. There are three key elements of inclusive constitution-making. First, the people should have ownership over important parts of the process. Second, there should be a citizen-led representative drafting body–a constituent assembly without the power to make ordinary law and comprised of politically independent delegates. Third, there should be public oversight of the process to ensure transparency and provide for meaningful consultation. This paper undertakes a comparative exercise, analysing recent inclusive constitution-making experiences in Iceland and Ireland, to offer proposals for inclusive constitution-making in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand’s most significant challenge in terms of ownership is considering the proper role for experts and balancing the power of political elites in a climate of constitutional apathy. In terms of representation, the most significant challenge for New Zealand is how to represent the interests of Māori as tangata whenua and how to represent traditionally marginalised voices in politics, such as those of women, ethnic minorities and youth. In terms of public oversight, the biggest challenge is how we can use digital democracy in constitution-making

Maximizing Positive Porfolio Diversification

In this article we introduce a new strategy for optimal diversification which combines elements of Diversified Risk Parity [1], [2] and Diversification Ratio [3], with emphasis on positive risk premiums. The Uncorrelated Positive Bets strategy involves the identification of reliable, independent sources of randomness and the quantification of their positive risk premium.We use principal component analysis to identify the most significant sources of randomness contributing to the market and then apply the Randomness Deficiency Coefficient metric [4] and principal portfolio positivity to identify a set of reliable uncorrelated positive bets. Portfolios are then optimized by maximizing their diversified positive risk premium. We contrast the performance of a range of diversification strategies for a portfolio held for a two-year out-of-sample period with a 30 stock constraint. In particular, we introduce the notion of diversification inefficiency to explain why diversification strategies might outperform the market