Factors Related To Attrition From Doctor Of Education Programs In The College Of Human Resources And Education At West Virginia University (Nongraduates, Dropouts, Students).

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible relationships among selected psychological, sociological, and economic characteristics of doctoral students and compare these characteristics to the completion or noncompletion of EdD degrees in the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University. In addition, academic departments within the college were compared on eight variables to see if differences within departments contributed to completion or noncompletion of the EdD. A questionnaire, specifically designed for this study, was mailed to 254 EdD recipients and 287 nongraduates. A response rate of 82.98% of the graduates and 63.40% of the nongraduates was received. A total of 31 null hypotheses were tested. After computer tabulation, chi-square and t test statistical procedures were utilized to test for significant differences at the .05 level. Results from the study indicate that EdD recipients were more likely than nongraduates to have: (a) grown up outside of West Virginia; (b) spent more time in full-time study; (c) lived closer to the university during course work; (d) decided on his/her major field of study before receiving the undergraduate degree; (e) had a stronger commitment to his/her career; (f) had a higher financial subsistence level; (g) had different sources of financial subsidy, primarily assistantships; (h) had more positive relationships with faculty, other students, doctoral committees, faculty advisors, and doctoral committee chairs; (i) perceived course work to be of high quality and value; (j) had a better orientation to academic expectations and support services from both departments and WVU sources; (k) had less difficulty with the dissertation; and (l) perceived the value of the doctorate to be a definite asset in material and nonmaterial rewards. Variables which were not significant in explaining completion or noncompletion of EdD degrees were: (a) sex; (b) race; (c) marital status; (d) number of dependent children; (e) age when beginning or terminating the doctorate; (f) number of family members pursuing postsecondary education; (g) educational level of parents; (h) distance from the university during the dissertation; (i) physical and emotional health; (j) number of hours employed; (k) motive for beginning doctoral study; (l) second and third sources of financial subsidy; and, (m) student\u27s perception of doctoral study when first enrolled

Learning Progression: Implications for Curriculum and Assessment

This short brief is targeted to policy makers in governments and school districts who may be thinking about learning progressions and the implications for curriculum, teaching, and assessment

Rethinking Learner Progression for the Future

This paper presents arguments for placing the concept of learners’ progression at the centre of thinking about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Clinical manifestations of intermediate allele carriers in Huntington disease

Objective: There is controversy about the clinical consequences of intermediate alleles (IAs) in Huntington disease (HD). The main objective of this study was to establish the clinical manifestations of IA carriers for a prospective, international, European HD registry. Methods: We assessed a cohort of participants at risk with <36 CAG repeats of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Outcome measures were the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor, cognitive, and behavior domains, Total Functional Capacity (TFC), and quality of life (Short Form-36 [SF-36]). This cohort was subdivided into IA carriers (27-35 CAG) and controls (<27 CAG) and younger vs older participants. IA carriers and controls were compared for sociodemographic, environmental, and outcome measures. We used regression analysis to estimate the association of age and CAG repeats on the UHDRS scores. Results: Of 12,190 participants, 657 (5.38%) with <36 CAG repeats were identified: 76 IA carriers (11.56%) and 581 controls (88.44%). After correcting for multiple comparisons, at baseline, we found no significant differences between IA carriers and controls for total UHDRS motor, SF-36, behavioral, cognitive, or TFC scores. However, older participants with IAs had higher chorea scores compared to controls (p 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that aging was the most contributing factor to increased UHDRS motor scores (p 0.002). On the other hand, 1-year follow-up data analysis showed IA carriers had greater cognitive decline compared to controls (p 0.002). Conclusions: Although aging worsened the UHDRS scores independently of the genetic status, IAs might confer a late-onset abnormal motor and cognitive phenotype. These results might have important implications for genetic counseling. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01590589

Effect of Antiplatelet Therapy on Survival and Organ Support–Free Days in Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19

International audienc