Dialogue and materiality/embodiment in science|arts creative pedagogy: their role and manifestation

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.This paper responds to recent calls to explore the nuances of the interaction between the sciences, the arts and their inherent creativity to better understand their potential within teaching and learning. Building on previous arguments that the science-arts-creativity relationship is dialogic and relational, this research focuses on the question: How are dialogue and material/embodied activity manifested within creative pedagogy? We begin with a fusion of Bakhtinian-inspired and New-Materialist understandings of dialogue drawing out the importance of embodiment in order to revitalize how we articulate dialogue within creative educational practice. We then take on the challenge of a materialist diffractive analysis to conduct research which complements the theoretical framing and offers our outcomes in a way that appropriately makes the phenomena tangible. We present the outcomes of the diffractive analysis including the constitution of matter as well as meaning in the dialogic space; and the emergence of new assemblages of embodied teachers, students, ideas, and objects within transdisciplinary educational practice. We conclude by arguing for the benefits of diffractive analysis: that we have fore-fronted the entangled relationality of trans-disciplinary creative pedagogy; avoided bracketing out aspects of education that are often side-lined; opened out the space of pedagogical approaches that might be attempted; and begun to challenge what education is for. In so doing, the article aims to open up new ways for teachers, students and researchers to experience seeing, doing, feeling and researching science|arts creative pedagogy and provoke conversations about how this might develop in the future.European Commissio

Mathematical modelling long-term effects of replacing Prevnar7 with Prevnar13 on invasive pneumococcal diseases in England and Wales

England and Wales recently replaced the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) with its 13-valent equivalent (PCV13), partly based on projections from mathematical models of the long-term impact of such a switch compared to ceasing pneumococcal conjugate vaccination altogether. A compartmental deterministic model was used to estimate parameters governing transmission of infection and competition between different groups of pneumococcal serotypes prior to the introduction of PCV13. The best-fitting parameters were used in an individual based model to describe pneumococcal transmission dynamics and effects of various options for the vaccination programme change in England and Wales. A number of scenarios were conducted using (i) different assumptions about the number of invasive pneumococcal disease cases adjusted for the increasing trend in disease incidence prior to PCV7 introduction in England and Wales, and (ii) a range of values representing serotype replacement induced by vaccination of the additional six serotypes in PCV13. Most of the scenarios considered suggest that ceasing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine use would cause an increase in invasive pneumococcal disease incidence, while replacing PCV7 with PCV13 would cause an overall decrease. However, the size of this reduction largely depends on the level of competition induced by the additional serotypes in PCV13. The model estimates that over 20 years of PCV13 vaccination, around 5000–62000 IPD cases could be prevented compared to stopping pneumococcal conjugate vaccination altogether. Despite inevitable uncertainty around serotype replacement effects following introduction of PCV13, the model suggests a reduction in overall invasive pneumococcal disease incidence in all cases. Our results provide useful evidence on the benefits of PCV13 to countries replacing or considering replacing PCV7 with PCV13, as well as data that can be used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of such a switch

Surgery for degenerative rotator cuff tears: a health technology assessment

Source at https://www.fhi.no/.Vi har utarbeidet en fullstendig metodevurdering av kirurgi med sutur sammenlignet med ikke-kirurgisk behandling ved degenerativ fulltykkelse rotatorcuff-ruptur. Vi inkluderte fem randomiserte og 18 ikke-randomiserte studier. Vi sammenstilte studiene i metaanalyser og vurderte tilliten til effektestimatene med GRADE-tilnærmingen. For pasienter med ruptur i én sene gir kirurgi liten eller ingen klinisk relevant forskjell i smerte, nattesmerte, funksjon, pasienttilfredshet og helserelatert livskvalitet sammenlignet med ikke-kirurgisk behandling ved ett år (GRADE: middels til lav). For pasienter med ruptur i én eller to sener gir kirurgi litt høyere pasienttilfredshet, men liten eller ingen klinisk relevant forskjell i smerte, nattesmerte, funksjon og helserelatert livskvalitet sammenlignet med ikke-kirurgisk behandling ved ett år (GRADE: middels til lav). Re-ruptur / manglende tilheling forekom hos mellom 5 % og 35 % seks måneder til ti år etter kirurgi og økt rupturstørrelse hos 59 % etter ti år ved ikke-kirurgisk behandling (GRADE: ikke vurdert). Det ble rapportert få alvorlige uønskede hendelser, men kunnskapsgrunnlaget her er tynt og vi er usikre på absolutt risiko. Den helseøkonomiske hovedanalysen viste at kirurgi er det mest kostbare alternativet, med en kostnadsforskjell på ca 36 000 kroner og en forventet akkumulert forskjell i effekt over fem år på 0,09 QALYs. Dette gir en IKER på 389 035 kroner per QALY. • Potensielle årlige kostnadsbesparelser ved å velge kun ikke-kirurgisk behandling framfor kirurgi kan utgjøre inntil 81 millioner kroner. Estimatet er usikkert, og vil antakelig være noe lavere siden kirurgi vil være et behandlingsalternativ for enkelte pasienter. </uli

When is a randomised controlled trial health equity relevant? Development and validation of a conceptual framework

Background Randomised controlled trials can provide evidence relevant to assessing the equity impact of an intervention, but such information is often poorly reported. We describe a conceptual framework to identify health equity-relevant randomised trials with the aim of improving the design and reporting of such trials.Methods An interdisciplinary and international research team engaged in an iterative consensus building process to develop and refine the conceptual framework via face-to-face meetings, teleconferences and email correspondence, including findings from a validation exercise whereby two independent reviewers used the emerging framework to classify a sample of randomised trials.Results A randomised trial can usefully be classified as 'health equity relevant' if it assesses the effects of an intervention on the health or its determinants of either individuals or a population who experience ill health due to disadvantage defined across one or more social determinants of health. Health equity-relevant randomised trials can either exclusively focus on a single population or collect data potentially useful for assessing differential effects of the intervention across multiple populations experiencing different levels or types of social disadvantage. Trials that are not classified as 'health equity relevant' may nevertheless provide information that is indirectly relevant to assessing equity impact, including information about individual level variation unrelated to social disadvantage and potentially useful in secondary modelling studies.Conclusion The conceptual framework may be used to design and report randomised trials. The framework could also be used for other study designs to contribute to the evidence base for improved health equity

Intensive Case Finding and Isoniazid Preventative Therapy in HIV Infected Individuals in Africa: Economic Model and Value of Information Analysis

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) accounts of much of the morbidity and mortality associated with HIV. We evaluate the costeffectiveness of different strategies to actively screen for TB disease in HIV positive individuals, where isoniazid preventative therapy (IPT) is given to those screening negative, and use value of information analysis (VOI) to identify future research priorities. Methodology / Principal Findings: We built an individual sampling model to investigate the costs (2010 US Dollars) and consequences of screening for TB, and providing TB treatment or IPT in adults testing HIV positive in Sub-Saharan Africa. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess performance of the nine different TB screening strategies evaluated. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted to incorporate decision uncertainty, and expected value of perfect information for the entire model and for groups of parameters was calculated. Screening all HIV infected individuals with sputum microscopy was the least costly strategy, with other strategies not cost-effective at WHO recommended thresholds. Screening those with TB symptoms with sputum microscopy and CXR would be cost-effective at a threshold ICER of $7,800 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY), but associated with significant uncertainty. VOI analysis suggests further information would be of value. Conclusions / Significance: Resource-constrained countries in sub-Saharan Africa wishing to scale up TB preventativ

Discounting in Economic Evaluations

Appropriate discounting rules in economic evaluations have received considerable attention in the literature and in national guidelines for economic evaluations. Rightfully so, as discounting can be quite influential on the outcomes of economic evaluations. The most prominent controversies regarding discounting involve the basis for and height of the discount rate, whether costs and effects should be discounted at the same rate, and whether discount rates should decline or stay constant over time. Moreover, the choice for discount rules depends on the decision context one adopts as the most relevant. In this article, we review these issues and debates, and describe and discuss the current discounting recommendations of the countries publishing their national guidelines. We finish the article by proposing a research agenda

Forsøk med lagring av levende europeisk flatøsters (Ostrea edulis)

I dette prosjektet er det utført forsøk med lagring av levende europeisk flatøsters (Ostrea edulis) i åpne anlegg (gjennomstrømningstanker) og lukkede anlegg (100% resirkuleringstanker). Tetthet og skjellenes plassering lageranleggene og lagringstid er vurdert som viktige parametre som kan influere på skjellenes kvalitet. Til vurdering av skjellkvalitet er benyttet bruttovekt i forhold til vekt av skjell-mat (fyllingsgrad), form på skjellmat og sensoriske parametre som lukt, søt- og saltsmak. Dødelighet er registrert, samt vannkvalitetens parametre som temperatur, salinitet, oksygen og pH. Lukt og fyllingsgrad ble noe dårligere når skjellene ble lagret ved høy tetthet, dvs. 200 skjell/kasser i både åpne og lukkede anlegg. Strømningshastighet synes ikke påvirke skjellkvaliteten. Dødeligheten var høyest i kasser med høy lagringstetthet og større skjell lagret i midt- og toppkasser i forhold til bunnkasser. Lagringstid var den parameter som viste flest sammenhenger med endringer i skjellkvaliteten. Lukt hadde en sterk sammenheng med lagringstid og var uforandret for skjell i åpne anlegg, mens den ble forverret for skjell i lukkede anlegg. Antall døde skjell økte med tiden, noe som tyder på at skjellene hadde en øvre tids-toleransegrense for lagring. Lengste lagringstid var 93 dager hvorav 82 i åpent anlegg. Det var vanskeligere å opprettholde tilfredstillende vannkvalitet over lengre tid i de lukkede anleggene