Developing through reflection and collaborative enquiry

Professionalism in teaching is not a status ascribed on qualifying to teach, but a dynamic process of action, reflection, enquiry and experimentation. This chapter identifies critical reflection and collaborative enquiry as core tenets of professionalism in teaching. We acknowledge that professional learning is most effective when it addresses the specific needs of teachers and the pupils they teach (i.e. grows from locally identified priorities), is undertaken in situ (within the context of practice), and is sustained over time (at least two terms for bespoke Continuing Professional Development). The frameworks and strategies outlined in this chapter are intended to support your development as a learning professional in school. The chapter is structured in two sections. First, we revisit the crucial role of reflection for professional learning drawing on examples from primary teachers at different stages of their professional learning journey. Cycles of reflection are used to illustrate the process of iterative professional learning. Second, we address the importance of collaboration using four examples of collaborative professional learning used in primary and secondary schools, and across clusters of schools: guided viewing of video, lesson study, learning rounds, and collaborative curriculum enquiry. The chapter concludes by drawing key themes together to help you plan for professional growth through the early career stage

Lack of persistent microchimerism in contemporary transfused trauma patients (Editorial, p. 3291)

BackgroundFollowing transfusion, donor white blood cells (WBCs) can persist long-term in the recipient, a phenomenon termed transfusion-associated microchimerism (TA-MC). Prior studies suggest TA-MC is limited to transfusion following traumatic injury, and is not prevented by leukoreduction.Study design and methodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study at a major trauma center to evaluate TA-MC following injury. Index samples were collected upon arrival, prior to transfusion. Follow-up samples were collected at intervals up to one year, and beyond for those testing positive for TA-MC. TA-MC was detected by real-time quantitative allele-specific polymerase chain reaction assays at the HLA-DR locus and several polymorphic insertion deletion sites screening for non-recipient alleles.ResultsA total of 378 trauma patients were enrolled (324 transfused cases and 54 non-transfused controls). Mean age was 42 ± 18 years, 74% were male, and 80% were injured by blunt mechanism. Mean Injury Severity Score was 20 ± 12. Among transfused patients, the median (interquartile range) number of red cell units transfused was 6 (3,12), and median time to first transfusion was 9 (0.8,45) hours. Only one case of long-term TA-MC was confirmed in our cohort. We detected short-term TA-MC in 6.5% of transfused subjects and 5.6% on non-transfused controls.ConclusionsIn contrast to earlier studies, persistent TA-MC was not observed in our cohort of trauma subjects. Short-term TA-MC was detected, but at a lower frequency than previously observed, and rates were not significantly different than what was observed in non-transfused controls. The reduction in TA-MC occurrence may be attributable to changes in leukoreduction or other blood processing methods

The Naucoridae (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) of Belize

Few regional faunistic treatments of aquatic Heteroptera exist for Mesoamerica. Records given here are the result of three extensive, coincident projects, each generating many specimens of Naucoridae. Thus, presented here is an annotated list of Naucoridae occurring in Belize, with an illustrated taxonomic key and notes on habitat. Three species are new country records, and ten species in four genera are now known from Belize

Shortfalls in extinction risk assessments for plants

Research on species recovery, reintroduction, and conservation disproportionally focusses on birds and mammals. Typically, less attention is given to hyper-diverse but ecologically important groups such as plants and invertebrates. In this study, we focussed on a continent with one of the world’s highest proportions of endemic plant species (Australia) comparing the number of extinction risk assessments relative to birds and mammals. Specifically, we generated a checklist of Australian endemic vascular plants and used three resources which differ in styles and scope to collate information on how many have an extinction risk assessment – the ThreatSearch database, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, (EPBC Act). Between 76 and 93% of endemic Australian plants examined lack an extinction risk assessment based on data from our three sources. We also compared the proportions of endemic plants assessed relative to birds and mammals. Of all endemic plant taxa examined, only 6.8% have been assessed under the EPBC Act, compared with 9.4% of birds and 28.9% of mammals. Similarly, only 8.8% of endemic plants have been assessed for the IUCN Red List, compared with 29.1% of birds and 61.1% of mammals, whereas all birds and mammals have been examined in National Action Plans. This represents a significant underestimation of the actual proportion of Australian endemic plants that are likely to satisfy extinction-risk criteria for listing as threatened. This shortfall in risk assessments for plants is a matter of international significance for conservation given Australia’s high rate of plant endemism. A change in policy and approach to assessing extinction risk is needed to ensure adequate assessment effort across different taxonomic groups

Pharmacogenomics in kidney transplant recipients and potential for integration into practice.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Pharmacogenomic biomarkers are now used in many clinical care settings and represent one of the successes of precision medicine. Genetic variants are associated with pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes leading to medication adverse effects and changes in clinical response. Actionable pharmacogenomic variants are common in transplant recipients and have implications for medications used in transplant, but yet are not broadly incorporated into practice. METHODS: From the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium and Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group guidelines, and PharmGKB databases, 12 pharmacogenomic genes with 30 variants were selected and used to create diplotypes and actionable pharmacogenomic phenotypes. A total of 853 kidney allograft recipients who had genomic information available from a genome-wide association study were included. RESULTS: Each recipient had at least one actionable pharmacogenomic diplotype/phenotype, whereas the majority (58%) had three or four actionable diplotypes/phenotypes and 17.4% had five or more among the 12 genes. The participants carried actionable diplotypes/phenotypes for multiple medications, including tacrolimus, azathioprine, clopidogrel, warfarin, simvastatin, voriconazole, antidepressants and proton-pump inhibitors. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Pharmacogenomic variants are common in transplant recipients, and transplant recipients receive medications that have actionable variants. CLINICAL TRIAL: Genomics of Transplantation, clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01714440)

Global shortfalls in threat assessments for endemic flora by country

Societal Impact Statement: Plants are fundamental to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are key to human livelihoods. To protect plant diversity, systematic approaches to conservation assessment are needed. Many nations have legislation or other policy instruments that seek to protect biodiversity (including plants), and species-level assessments are essential for identifying the most threatened species that require special and immediate protection measures. Some plants occur in only one place (for instance, a single country) and here we have estimated how many of these ‘endemic’ species have had their threats assessed in each country or close country-equivalent worldwide. We show that the level of assessment completion is only weakly related to the income of countries or the likely level of threat that species face. Summary: The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation ambitiously called for an assessment of the conservation status of all recognised plant taxa by 2020. This target was not met in the short term. Nevertheless, the need for conservation assessments remains urgent as plants go extinct and face increasing threats from human impacts on the biosphere. Here, the completeness of threat assessments for endemic flora in 179 countries or their close equivalents was assessed. To do so, distribution information from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants was combined with assessments collated in the ThreatSearch database. The completeness of assessments was expected to be associated with the objective affluence of countries (measured using inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)) and/or the exposure of their plant species to threats associated with human impacts (measured using Global Human Modification index (GHM)). The number of endemic species per country was also hypothesised to influence the completion of assessments. Overall, 58% of all country-based endemic species examined have no conservation assessment (127,643 species). Countries\u27 progress toward the completion of threat assessments for endemic plants could not be confidently predicted by IHDI, GHM or the richness of endemic plant flora. The shortfall in threat assessments identified here restricts national regulation of actions which imperil plant species, with particular consequences for endemic plant species subject to local laws. Some nations with high IHDI scores (i.e. wealthier nations) are not systematically assessing extinction risk in their endemic species. Scarce funding should be directed to global hotspots of endemism with few available resources for assessment

[In Press] Areas of global importance for conserving terrestrial biodiversity, carbon and water

To meet the ambitious objectives of biodiversity and climate conventions, the international community requires clarity on how these objectives can be operationalized spatially and how multiple targets can be pursued concurrently. To support goal setting and the implementation of international strategies and action plans, spatial guidance is needed to identify which land areas have the potential to generate the greatest synergies between conserving biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. Here we present results from a joint optimization that minimizes the number of threatened species, maximizes carbon retention and water quality regulation, and ranks terrestrial conservation priorities globally. We found that selecting the top-ranked 30% and 50% of terrestrial land area would conserve respectively 60.7% and 85.3% of the estimated total carbon stock and 66% and 89.8% of all clean water, in addition to meeting conservation targets for 57.9% and 79% of all species considered. Our data and prioritization further suggest that adequately conserving all species considered (vertebrates and plants) would require giving conservation attention to ~70% of the terrestrial land surface. If priority was given to biodiversity only, managing 30% of optimally located land area for conservation may be sufficient to meet conservation targets for 81.3% of the terrestrial plant and vertebrate species considered. Our results provide a global assessment of where land could be optimally managed for conservation. We discuss how such a spatial prioritization framework can support the implementation of the biodiversity and climate conventions