Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored

The Mock LISA Data Challenges: from Challenge 3 to Challenge 4

The Mock LISA Data Challenges are a program to demonstrate LISA data-analysis capabilities and to encourage their development. Each round of challenges consists of one or more datasets containing simulated instrument noise and gravitational waves from sources of undisclosed parameters. Participants analyze the datasets and report best-fit solutions for the source parameters. Here we present the results of the third challenge, issued in Apr 2008, which demonstrated the positive recovery of signals from chirping Galactic binaries, from spinning supermassive--black-hole binaries (with optimal SNRs between ~ 10 and 2000), from simultaneous extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (SNRs of 10-50), from cosmic-string-cusp bursts (SNRs of 10-100), and from a relatively loud isotropic background with Omega_gw(f) ~ 10^-11, slightly below the LISA instrument noise.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of the 8th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, New York, June 21-26, 200

Descent or Dissent? A future of social work education in the UK post-Brexit

This conceptual paper explores the potential crises arising for social work and social work education following the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK. After exploring the complex political terrain of Brexit voting, the political and moral complications arising, this paper attempts to dispel some of the myths associated with the voter types. Subsequently, the uncertain and possibly dangerous futures of social care and welfare are examined before moving to consider the implications for social work education in the UK, as part of the European Union, and beyond. The need for the UK to continue to pursue its relationships and links with other EU colleagues if social work is not to become parochial and somewhat removed from the international stage is highlighted

Inflammatory bowel disease patient‐reported quality assessment should drive service improvement: A national survey of UK IBD units and patients

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Wiley. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17042Background & Aims Healthcare service provision in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is often designed to meet targets set by healthcare providers rather than those of patients. It is unclear whether this meets the needs of patients, as assessed by patients themselves. This nationwide study assessed patients' experience of IBD and the healthcare they received, aiming to identify factors in IBD healthcare provision associated with perceived high-quality care. Methods Using the 2019 IBD Standards as a framework, a national benchmarking tool for quality assessment in IBD was developed by IBD UK, comprising a Patient Survey and Service Self-Assessment. Results In all, 134 IBD services and 9757 patients responded. Perceived quality of care was lowest in young adults then increased with age, was higher in males and those >2 years since diagnosis. No hospital services met all the National IBD Standards for recommended workforce numbers. Key metrics associated with patient-reported high-quality care were as follows: identification as a tertiary centre, patient information availability, shared decision-making, rapid response to contact for advice, access to urgent review, joint medical/surgical clinics and access to research (all p < 0.001). Higher numbers of IBD nurse specialists in a service was strongly associated with patients receiving regular reviews and having confidence in self-management and reporting high-quality care. Conclusions This extensive patient and healthcare provider survey emphasises the importance of aspects of care less often measured by clinicians, such as communication, shared decision-making and provision of information, and demonstrates that IBD nurse specialists are crucial to meeting the needs of people living with IBD.This work was supported by Crohn's & Colitis UK.Published onlin

Self-reported safety belt use among emergency department patients in Boston, Massachusetts

BACKGROUND: Safety belt use is 80% nationally, yet only 63% in Massachusetts. Safety belt use among potentially at-risk groups in Boston is unknown. We sought to assess the prevalence and correlates of belt non-use among emergency department (ED) patients in Boston. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey with systematic sampling was conducted on non-urgent ED patients age ≥18. A closed-ended survey was administered by interview. Safety belt use was defined via two methods: a single-item and a multiple-item measure of safety belt use. Each was scored using a 5-point frequency scale. Responses were used to categorize safety belt use as 'always' or less than 'always'. Outcome for multivariate logistic regression analysis was safety belt use less than 'always'. RESULTS: Of 478 patients approached, 381 (80%) participated. Participants were 48% female, 48% African-American, 40% White, median age 39. Among participants, 250 (66%) had been in a car crash; 234 (61%) had a valid driver's license, and 42 (11%) had been ticketed for belt non-use. Using two different survey measures, a single-item and a multiple-item measure, safety belt use 'always' was 51% and 36% respectively. According to separate regression models, factors associated with belt non-use included male gender, alcohol consumption >5 drinks in one episode, riding with others that drink and drive, ever receiving a citation for belt non-use, believing that safety belt use is 'uncomfortable', and that 'I just forget', while 'It's my usual habit' was protective. CONCLUSION: ED patients at an urban hospital in Boston have considerably lower self-reported safety belt use than state or national estimates. An ED-based intervention to increase safety belt use among this hard-to-reach population warrants consideration

The Mock LISA Data Challenges: from Challenge 1B to Challenge 3

The Mock LISA Data Challenges are a programme to demonstrate and encourage the development of LISA data-analysis capabilities, tools and techniques. At the time of this workshop, three rounds of challenges had been completed, and the next was about to start. In this article we provide a critical analysis of entries to the latest completed round, Challenge 1B. The entries confirm the consolidation of a range of data-analysis techniques for Galactic and massive--black-hole binaries, and they include the first convincing examples of detection and parameter estimation of extreme--mass-ratio inspiral sources. In this article we also introduce the next round, Challenge 3. Its data sets feature more realistic waveform models (e.g., Galactic binaries may now chirp, and massive--black-hole binaries may precess due to spin interactions), as well as new source classes (bursts from cosmic strings, isotropic stochastic backgrounds) and more complicated nonsymmetric instrument noise.Comment: 20 pages, 3 EPS figures. Proceedings of the 12th Gravitational Wave Data Analysis Workshop, Cambridge MA, 13--16 December 2007. Typos correcte

The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer statement on best practices for multiplex immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining and validation.

OBJECTIVES: The interaction between the immune system and tumor cells is an important feature for the prognosis and treatment of cancer. Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) and multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) analyses are emerging technologies that can be used to help quantify immune cell subsets, their functional state, and their spatial arrangement within the tumor microenvironment. METHODS: The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) convened a task force of pathologists and laboratory leaders from academic centers as well as experts from pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies to develop best practice guidelines for the optimization and validation of mIHC/mIF assays across platforms. RESULTS: Representative outputs and the advantages and disadvantages of mIHC/mIF approaches, such as multiplexed chromogenic IHC, multiplexed immunohistochemical consecutive staining on single slide, mIF (including multispectral approaches), tissue-based mass spectrometry, and digital spatial profiling are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: mIHC/mIF technologies are becoming standard tools for biomarker studies and are likely to enter routine clinical practice in the near future. Careful assay optimization and validation will help ensure outputs are robust and comparable across laboratories as well as potentially across mIHC/mIF platforms. Quantitative image analysis of mIHC/mIF output and data management considerations will be addressed in a complementary manuscript from this task force

Utility of Post-Mortem Genetic Testing in Cases of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) describes a sudden death with negative autopsy and toxicological analysis. Cardiac genetic disease is a likely etiology. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the clinical utility and combined yield of post-mortem genetic testing (molecular autopsy) in cases of SADS and comprehensive clinical evaluation of surviving relatives. METHODS: We evaluated 302 expertly validated SADS cases with suitable DNA (median age: 24 years; 65% males) who underwent next-generation sequencing using an extended panel of 77 primary electrical disorder and cardiomyopathy genes. Pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants were classified using American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) consensus guidelines. The yield of combined molecular autopsy and clinical evaluation in 82 surviving families was evaluated. A gene-level rare variant association analysis was conducted in SADS cases versus controls. RESULTS: A clinically actionable pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant was identified in 40 of 302 cases (13%). The main etiologies established were catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and long QT syndrome (17 [6%] and 11 [4%], respectively). Gene-based rare variants association analysis showed enrichment of rare predicted deleterious variants in RYR2 (p = 5 × 10(-5)). Combining molecular autopsy with clinical evaluation in surviving families increased diagnostic yield from 26% to 39%. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular autopsy for electrical disorder and cardiomyopathy genes, using ACMG guidelines for variant classification, identified a modest but realistic yield in SADS. Our data highlighted the predominant role of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and long QT syndrome, especially the RYR2 gene, as well as the minimal yield from other genes. Furthermore, we showed the enhanced utility of combined clinical and genetic evaluation

Protocol for Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged study (BAFTA): a randomised controlled trial of warfarin versus aspirin for stroke prevention in the management of atrial fibrillation in an elderly primary care population.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important independent risk factor for stroke. Randomised controlled trials have shown that this risk can be reduced substantially by treatment with warfarin or more modestly by treatment with aspirin. Existing trial data for the effectiveness of warfarin are drawn largely from studies in selected secondary care populations that under-represent the elderly. The Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged (BAFTA) study will provide evidence of the risks and benefits of warfarin versus aspirin for the prevention of stroke for older people with AF in a primary care setting. Study design A randomised controlled trial where older patients with AF are randomised to receive adjusted dose warfarin or aspirin. Patients will be followed up at three months post-randomisation, then at six monthly intervals there after for an average of three years by their general practitioner. Patients will also receive an annual health questionnaire. 1240 patients will be recruited from over 200 practices in England. Patients must be aged 75 years or over and have AF. Patients will be excluded if they have a history of any of the following conditions: rheumatic heart disease; major non-traumatic haemorrhage; intra-cranial haemorrhage; oesophageal varices; active endoscopically proven peptic ulcer disease; allergic hypersensitivity to warfarin or aspirin; or terminal illness. Patients will also be excluded if the GP considers that there are clinical reasons to treat a patient with warfarin in preference to aspirin (or vice versa). The primary end-point is fatal or non-fatal disabling stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic) or significant arterial embolism. Secondary outcomes include major extra-cranial haemorrhage, death (all cause, vascular), hospital admissions (all cause, vascular), cognition, quality of life, disability and compliance with study medication