Philosophy – the benign tumour in the body of Religious Education

The drastic shifts in the nature and delivery of RE in all kinds of schools in Scotland mapped out in the changes to the curriculum, from before 5-14 - particularly following the Millar Report (1972), to the Curriculum for Excellence (2004ff) and is evident in the descriptive and analytical literature produced in recent years (including Harlen (1996), Whatley (2008) Conroy et al (2013), Nixon (2008)) There has been a significant growth in the “philosophication” of RE in Scotland as outlined by Graeme Nixon in a number of articles (2009, 2012), a move that is actively supported by some within the profession and by hostile critics of religion. (see also Nixon, G. (2008) From RE to RMPS: The case for the Philosophication of Religious Education in Scotland. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ) This paper argues that the growth of philosophy within Religious Education is comparable to the growth of a benign tumour in a healthy person. These growths may not be as “benign” as their name suggests. (Ref http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/how-cancers-grow#ftpdvr42MWbjv6j8.99 ) The work of Humanist, secular and “skeptical” organisations is critically explored, and their regular claims not to be hostile to religion (from numerous sources including Humanists UK, National Secular Society, Skeptic societies) are examined. The nature and purpose of Religious Education is under threat, not only from external hostile critics, but from within (the “benign tumour” of philosophy). The insights which might be gleaned from the different theoretical perspectives on the RE curriculum in Scotland point clearly to a crisis of identity and purpose, in which the core value of RE is in danger of being subsumed into a “skills” agenda. At worst, the skills agenda is a mask for a militantly anti-religious evangelical humanist crusade

Philosophy – the benign tumour in the body of Religious Education

The drastic shifts in the nature and delivery of RE in all kinds of schools in Scotland mapped out in the changes to the curriculum, from before 5-14 - particularly following the Millar Report (1972), to the Curriculum for Excellence (2004ff) and is evident in the descriptive and analytical literature produced in recent years (including Harlen (1996), Whatley (2008) Conroy et al (2013), Nixon (2008)) There has been a significant growth in the “philosophication” of RE in Scotland as outlined by Graeme Nixon in a number of articles (2009, 2012), a move that is actively supported by some within the profession and by hostile critics of religion. (see also Nixon, G. (2008) From RE to RMPS: The case for the Philosophication of Religious Education in Scotland. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ) This paper argues that the growth of philosophy within Religious Education is comparable to the growth of a benign tumour in a healthy person. These growths may not be as “benign” as their name suggests. (Ref http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/how-cancers-grow#ftpdvr42MWbjv6j8.99 ) The work of Humanist, secular and “skeptical” organisations is critically explored, and their regular claims not to be hostile to religion (from numerous sources including Humanists UK, National Secular Society, Skeptic societies) are examined. The nature and purpose of Religious Education is under threat, not only from external hostile critics, but from within (the “benign tumour” of philosophy). The insights which might be gleaned from the different theoretical perspectives on the RE curriculum in Scotland point clearly to a crisis of identity and purpose, in which the core value of RE is in danger of being subsumed into a “skills” agenda. At worst, the skills agenda is a mask for a militantly anti-religious evangelical humanist crusade

The Goose - Step

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4210/thumbnail.jp

Visual Search at eBay

In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end approach for scalable visual search infrastructure. We discuss the challenges we faced for a massive volatile inventory like at eBay and present our solution to overcome those. We harness the availability of large image collection of eBay listings and state-of-the-art deep learning techniques to perform visual search at scale. Supervised approach for optimized search limited to top predicted categories and also for compact binary signature are key to scale up without compromising accuracy and precision. Both use a common deep neural network requiring only a single forward inference. The system architecture is presented with in-depth discussions of its basic components and optimizations for a trade-off between search relevance and latency. This solution is currently deployed in a distributed cloud infrastructure and fuels visual search in eBay ShopBot and Close5. We show benchmark on ImageNet dataset on which our approach is faster and more accurate than several unsupervised baselines. We share our learnings with the hope that visual search becomes a first class citizen for all large scale search engines rather than an afterthought.Comment: To appear in 23rd SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), 2017. A demonstration video can be found at https://youtu.be/iYtjs32vh4

Gait variability is altered in patients with peripheral arterial disease

Objective Claudication is the most common presentation of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), producing significant ambulatory compromise. Claudicating patients, most of whom are elderly, have reduced mobility and poor health outcomes, including an increased risk of falls. The gait of elderly fallers is characterized by increased variability. Increase in the variability of the locomotor system makes the gait more noisy and unstable. The purpose of this study is to investigate gait variability in patients with PAD. Methods Nineteen symptomatic PAD patients (age, 63.6 ± 9.8 years; body mass, 82.1 ± 18.5 kg; height, 1.71 ± 0.06 m) walked on a treadmill in the absence of pain or claudication symptoms while joint flexion and extension kinematics were captured. Results were compared with results obtained from 17 matched healthy controls (age, 65.2 ± 12.5 years; body mass, 82.0 ± 25.9.5 kg; height, 1.73 ± 0.08 m). Relative joint angles were calculated for the ankle, knee, and hip flexion/extension, and the stride-to-stride variability of joint flexion and extension was calculated from at least 30 consecutive footfalls. Variability was expressed using the largest Lyapunov exponent, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. Independent t tests were used to compare gait variability between groups. Results Symptomatic PAD patients had significantly higher largest Lyapunov exponent values and coefficient of variation values for all joints, and higher standard deviation values at the ankle and the hip (P \u3c .05). Conclusion Symptomatic PAD patients have increased gait variability at the ankle, knee, and hip joints at baseline ambulation in the absence of claudication pain. Our findings indicate significant baseline deterioration in the locomotor system of symptomatic PAD patients. This deterioration results in increased noise and instability of gait and is a potential contributing factor to the falls and mobility problems experienced by symptomatic PAD patients

The short-term impact of the alcohol act on alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions in Scotland: a natural experiment

Background and aim: The introduction of the Alcohol Act in Scotland on 1 October 2011, which included a ban on multi-buy promotions, was likely associated with a fall in off-trade alcohol sales in the year after its implementation. The aim of this study was to test if the same legislation was associated with reduced levels of alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions in the 3-year period after its introduction. Design: A natural experiment design using time series data to assess the impact of the Alcohol Act legislation in Scotland. Comparisons were made with unexposed populations in the rest of Great Britain. Setting Scotland with comparable data obtained for geographical control groups in other parts of Great Britain. Participants: For alcohol-related deaths, a total of 17,732 in Scotland and 88,001 in England/Wales across 169 four-week periods between January 2001 and December 2013. For alcohol-related hospital admissions, a total of 121,314 in Scotland and 696,892 in England across 182 four-week periods between January 2001 and December 2014. Measurements: Deaths and hospital admissions in Scotland and control groups that were wholly attributable to alcohol for consecutive four-week periods between January 2001 and December 2014. Data were obtained by age, sex and area-based socioeconomic position. Findings: There was no evidence to suggest that the Alcohol Act was associated with changes in the overall rate of alcohol-related deaths [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.99, 95% confidence interval (0.91 to 1.07)] or hospital admissions [IRR 0.98 (0.95 to 1.02)] in Scotland. In control group analyses, the pseudo intervention variable was not associated with a change in alcohol-related death rates in England/Wales [IRR 0.99 (0.95 to 1.02)], but was associated with an increase in alcohol-related hospital admission rates in England [IRR 1.05 (1.03 to 1.07)]. In combined models, the interaction analysis did not provide support for a ‘net effect’ of the legislation on alcohol-related deaths in Scotland compared with England/Wales [IRR 0.99 (0.95 to 1.04)], but suggested a net reduction in hospital admissions for Scotland compared with England [IRR 0.93 (0.87 to 0.98)]. Conclusion: The implementation of the Alcohol Act in Scotland has not been associated clearly with a reduction in alcohol-related deaths or hospital admissions in the 3-year period after it was implemented in October 2011

Next-gen sequencing of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumanii at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry

Background Acinetobacter baumannii is a nonfermentative Gram-negative bacillus, which easily acquires antibiotic resistance determinants and causes life-threatening nosocomial infections [1]. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains are common therefore, empirical treatment choices are limited. More knowledge is needed regarding genetic diversity patterns and resistance phenotypes in a given clinical setting. Our goal is to identify the resistance genotypes of A. baumanii at Nashville General Hospital and correlate them with MDR phenotypes [1]

Peripheral arterial disease affects ground reaction forces during walking

Objective: Claudication is the most common manifestation of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), producing significant ambulatory compromise. The gait of claudicating patients has been evaluated using primarily temporal and spatial parameters. With the present study, we used advanced biomechanical measures to further delineate the ambulatory impairment of claudicating patients. We hypothesized that the claudicating legs of PAD patients have an altered kinetic gait pattern compared with normal legs from control subjects. Methods: Ambulation kinetics (ground reaction forces) were evaluated in claudicating patients and compared with age-matched healthy controls. Forces were analyzed in the vertical, anterior–posterior, and medial–lateral directions. Time from heel touch-down to toe-off (stance time) and time spent in double-limb support were also evaluated. Results: The study recruited 14 PAD patients (age, 58 ± 3.4 years; weight, 80.99 ± 15.64 kg) with femoropopliteal occlusive disease (ankle-brachial index [ABI], 0.56 ± 0.03) and five controls (age, 53 ± 3.4 years; weight, 87.38 ± 12.75 kg; ABI, ≥1.00). Vertical force curve evaluation demonstrated significant flattening in claudicating patients resulting in a lower and less fluctuant center of mass when ambulating. In the anterior–posterior direction, claudicating patients demonstrated significantly decreased propulsion forces. In the medial–lateral direction, they had significantly increased forces consistent with wider steps and an inability to swing their legs straight through. Claudicating patients demonstrated a greater stance time and time in double limb support compared with healthy controls. Most importantly, gait abnormalities were present before the onset of claudication, with gait worsening after the onset of claudication. Conclusion: Claudicating patients demonstrate significant gait impairments that are present even before they experience any limb discomfort. These alterations may make them feel more stable and secure while attempting to minimize use of the affected limb. Advanced biomechanical analysis, using ambulation kinetics, permits objective and quantitative evaluation of the gait of claudicating patients. Such evaluation may point to new rehabilitation strategies and provide objective measurement of functional outcomes after medical and surgical therapy

Third-Wave Therapies for Long-Term Neurological Conditions::A Systematic Review to Evaluate the Status and Quality of Evidence

Background: Adults with long-term neurological conditions can face complex challenges including anxiety and depression. Emerging research suggests the utility of third-wave approaches (the third development of psychotherapies) in working transdiagnostically with these difficulties. Aims: This systematic review sought to summarise and appraise the quality of published empirical studies using third-wave therapies such as Compassion Focused Therapy; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Method: Review procedures followed PRISMA guidelines, with 437 abstracts screened, 24 full-text articles retrieved and 19 studies found to meet inclusion criteria. Six out of seven randomised studies had unclear or high risk of bias, whilst the majority of non-randomised studies were considered moderate quality. Results: Overall, studies reported a statistically significant reduction in emotional distress. Of the 13 studies that used model-specific process measures, 10 found statistically significant improvements in transdiagnostic factors. Discussion: The findings indicate that third-wave therapies show promise in addressing transdiagnostic difficulties within neurological conditions. A number of methodological and conceptual issues for the included studies were highlighted during the quality appraisal process. Clinical implications include consideration of intervention length and use of outcome measures. Research implications are discussed by considering the progressive stages of development for behavioural treatments.</p

Open-label, randomised, multicentre crossover trial assessing two-layer compression bandaging for chronic venous insufficiency: results of the APRICOT trial

Background Compression bandaging is the mainstay therapy for chronic venous insufficiency and venous leg ulcers, but patient compliance can be challenging due to associated discomfort. Aims Comparison of AndoFlex® TLC Calamine versus Coban2® compression bandaging in relation to patient comfort and related pruritus symptomology, with severity of pruritus scale as primary outcome. Methods Multi-centre, prospective, non-blinded, randomised controlled crossover trial involving 39 randomised participants. Two periods for chronic venous insufficiency patients, to wear either AndoFlex® TLC Calamine or Coban2® for three weeks each. Findings No significant differences in validated pruritus outcome measures were observed, including a non-significant treatment effect for the severity of pruritus scale (n = 35 trial completers, p-value 0.24, Wilcoxon test). However, after trying both bandages, 21 out of 35 patients (60%) definitely preferred AndoFlex® TLC Calamine whereas 4 patients (11%) definitely preferred Coban2®. Conclusion AndoFlex® TLC Calamine compression bandage therapy is preferred by the majority of patients, although this observation could not be confirmed using validated patient-reported outcome measures for pruritus. Further research is indicated to establish if patient preference translates into favourable clinical outcomes