“Teacher Burnout Is One of My Greatest Fears”: Interrupting a Narrative on Fire

Teacher burnout is often positioned as a common result of the complex demands of the teaching profession (García-Carmona et al., 2019). While there is no denying the demanding nature of teaching, in this article we present an alternative perspective on the widespread burnout discussion that distinguishes between burnout and the complexities of teacher attrition, and offer a more hopeful and strengths-based approach to the teaching profession. In a qualitative study that analyzed the anticipatory beliefs that pre-service teachers expressed in a reflective assignment for a course focused on Comprehensive School Health (CSH), we found evidence to suggest that the burnout narrative may threaten teacher candidates’ self-efficacy before entering the teaching profession. We call for a disruption to the overemphasis of burnout narratives in teacher education programs as they may undermine the profession.L’épuisement professionnel des enseignants est souvent perçu comme un résultat commun découlant des exigences complexes de la profession d’enseignant (Garcia-Carmona et al., 2019). Bien que la nature exigeante de l’enseignement soit indéniable, nous présentons dans cet article une perspective alternative sur la discussion générale concernant l’épuisement professionnel qui fait la distinction entre l’épuisement professionnel et les complexités de l’attrition des enseignants, et offre une approche plus optimiste et fondée sur les forces de la profession enseignante. Une étude qualitative a analysé les croyances anticipées exprimées par des enseignants en formation initiale. Dans un travail de réflexion effectué par ceux-ci dans le cadre d’un cours axé sur la santé scolaire globale, nous avons trouvé des preuves qui indiquent que le discours sur l’épuisement professionnel peut menacer l’autoefficacité des candidats avant même leur entrée dans la profession. Nous appelons à une cessation de la trop grande importance accordée aux récits d’épuisement professionnel dans les programmes de formation à l’enseignement puisqu’elle pourrait miner la profession

a PREVIEW intervention study

3706738). The Cambridge Weight Plan® (Northants, UK) kindly donated all low-energy diet products. This study was also supported by grants from the University of Helsinki, the Mary and Georg Ehnrooth Foundation and the Otto A. Malm Foundation.BACKGROUND: Low-energy diets (LEDs) comprise commercially formulated food products that provide between 800 and 1200 kcal/day (3.3-5 MJ/day) to aid body weight loss. Recent small-scale studies suggest that LEDs are associated with marked changes in the gut microbiota that may modify the effect of the LED on host metabolism and weight loss. We investigated how the gut microbiota changed during 8 weeks of total meal replacement LED and determined their associations with host response in a sub-analysis of 211 overweight adults with pre-diabetes participating in the large multicentre PREVIEW (PREVention of diabetes through lifestyle intervention and population studies In Europe and around the World) clinical trial. METHODS: Microbial community composition was analysed by Illumina sequencing of the hypervariable V3-V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Butyrate production capacity was estimated by qPCR targeting the butyryl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase gene. Bioinformatics and statistical analyses, such as comparison of alpha and beta diversity measures, correlative and differential abundances analysis, were undertaken on the 16S rRNA gene sequences of 211 paired (pre- and post-LED) samples as well as their integration with the clinical, biomedical and dietary datasets for predictive modelling. RESULTS: The overall composition of the gut microbiota changed markedly and consistently from pre- to post-LED (P = 0.001), along with increased richness and diversity (both P < 0.001). Following the intervention, the relative abundance of several genera previously associated with metabolic improvements (e.g., Akkermansia and Christensenellaceae R-7 group) was significantly increased (P < 0.001), while flagellated Pseudobutyrivibrio, acetogenic Blautia and Bifidobacterium spp. were decreased (all P < 0.001). Butyrate production capacity was reduced (P < 0.001). The changes in microbiota composition and predicted functions were significantly associated with body weight loss (P < 0.05). Baseline gut microbiota features were able to explain ~25% of variation in total body fat change (post-pre-LED). CONCLUSIONS: The gut microbiota and individual taxa were significantly influenced by the LED intervention and correlated with changes in total body fat and body weight in individuals with overweight and pre-diabetes. Despite inter-individual variation, the baseline gut microbiota was a strong predictor of total body fat change during the energy restriction period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The PREVIEW trial was prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01777893 ) on January 29, 2013.publishersversionpublishe

Impact of Motivational Interviewing by Social Workers on Service Users - a systematic review

Purpose: This systematic review was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI), by social workers, on service user outcomes. Methods: A literature search was undertaken between 2007 and 2018. All eligible studies were analyzed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool. As heterogeneity was high, a narrative synthesis approach was employed, using thematic analysis for categorizing data. Results: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. MI had a positive effect on service user experience, but this was not consistent. Training was variable, but the evidence suggests that practitioner’s need ongoing training, supervision, or coaching while providing MI. Discussion: There is a paucity of research examining the impact of MI on children, which was a limitation of this review. There is a need for more qualitative research to surface views and experience of service users to determine why MI is effective

The prevalence, correlation, and co-occurrence of neuropathology in old age: harmonisation of 12 measures across six community-based autopsy studies of dementia

Background: Population-based autopsy studies provide valuable insights into the causes of dementia but are limited by sample size and restriction to specific populations. Harmonisation across studies increases statistical power and allows meaningful comparisons between studies. We aimed to harmonise neuropathology measures across studies and assess the prevalence, correlation, and co-occurrence of neuropathologies in the ageing population. Methods: We combined data from six community-based autopsy cohorts in the US and the UK in a coordinated cross-sectional analysis. Among all decedents aged 80 years or older, we assessed 12 neuropathologies known to be associated with dementia: arteriolosclerosis, atherosclerosis, macroinfarcts, microinfarcts, lacunes, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, Braak neurofibrillary tangle stage, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) diffuse plaque score, CERAD neuritic plaque score, hippocampal sclerosis, limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy neuropathologic change (LATE-NC), and Lewy body pathology. We divided measures into three groups describing level of confidence (low, moderate, and high) in harmonisation. We described the prevalence, correlations, and co-occurrence of neuropathologies. Findings: The cohorts included 4354 decedents aged 80 years or older with autopsy data. All cohorts included more women than men, with the exception of one study that only included men, and all cohorts included decedents at older ages (range of mean age at death across cohorts 88·0–91·6 years). Measures of Alzheimer's disease neuropathological change, Braak stage and CERAD scores, were in the high confidence category, whereas measures of vascular neuropathologies were in the low (arterioloscerosis, atherosclerosis, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and lacunes) or moderate (macroinfarcts and microinfarcts) categories. Neuropathology prevalence and co-occurrence was high (2443 [91%] of 2695 participants had more than one of six key neuropathologies and 1106 [41%] of 2695 had three or more). Co-occurrence was strongly but not deterministically associated with dementia status. Vascular and Alzheimer's disease features clustered separately in correlation analyses, and LATE-NC had moderate associations with Alzheimer's disease measures (eg, Braak stage ρ=0·31 [95% CI 0·20–0·42]). Interpretation: Higher variability and more inconsistency in the measurement of vascular neuropathologies compared with the measurement of Alzheimer's disease neuropathological change suggests the development of new frameworks for the measurement of vascular neuropathologies might be helpful. Results highlight the complexity and multi-morbidity of the brain pathologies that underlie dementia in older adults and suggest that prevention efforts and treatments should be multifaceted. Funding: Gates Ventures

Educated mother-tongue South African English: A corpus approach

South Africa is anecdotally known for its complex system of speech varieties correlating with variables such as ethnicity, first language, class and education. These intuitions (e.g. Lass 1990) require further investigation, especially in the context of a changing South Africa where language variety plays a key role in identifying social, economic and ethnic group membership. Thus, in this research, the extent to which these variables play a role in variety is explored using a corpus approach (the nature of class and race in the corpus is discussed more fully later in the article). The corpus project, focusing primarily on accent, has been undertaken by members of the Department of English Language and Linguistics at Rhodes University in South Africa, collaborating with staff from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. A corpus (the first of its kind) is being compiled, comprising the speech of educated, white, mother-tongue speakers of South African English (as distinct from Afrikaans English, Indian English, and the second language (L2) varieties of English used by speakers of indigenous African languages), and data collection is well under way. This short article aims to describe the aims of the project, and the methodological approach which underpins it, as well as to highlight some of the more problematic aspects of the research

Drowning in data, thirsty for information and starved for understanding: A biodiversity information hub for cooperative environmental monitoring in South Africa

The world is firmly cemented in a notitian age (Latin: notitia, meaning data) – drowning in data, yet thirsty for information and the synthesis of knowledge into understanding. As concerns over biodiversity declines escalate, the volume, diversity and speed at which new environmental and ecological data are generated has increased exponentially. Data availability primes the research and discovery engine driving biodiversity conservation. South Africa (SA) is poised to become a world leader in biodiversity conservation. However, continent-wide resource limitations hamper the establishment of inclusive technologies and robust platforms and tools for biodiversity informatics. In this perspectives piece, we bring together the opinions of 37 co-authors from 20 different departments, across 10 SA universities, 7 national and provincial conservation research agencies, and various institutes and private conservation, research and management bodies, to develop a way forward for biodiversity informatics in SA. We propose the development of a SA Biodiversity Informatics Hub and describe the essential components necessary for its design, implementation and sustainability. We emphasise the importance of developing a culture of cooperation, collaboration and interoperability among custodians of biodiversity data to establish operational workflows for data synthesis. However, our biggest challenges are misgivings around data sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration

Drowning in data, thirsty for information and starved for understanding: A biodiversity information hub for cooperative environmental monitoring in South Africa

The world is firmly cemented in a notitian age (Latin: notitia, meaning data) – drowning in data, yet thirsty for information and the synthesis of knowledge into understanding. As concerns over biodiversity declines escalate, the volume, diversity and speed at which new environmental and ecological data are generated has increased exponentially. Data availability primes the research and discovery engine driving biodiversity conservation. South Africa (SA) is poised to become a world leader in biodiversity conservation. However, continent-wide resource limitations hamper the establishment of inclusive technologies and robust platforms and tools for biodiversity informatics. In this perspectives piece, we bring together the opinions of 37 co-authors from 20 different departments, across 10 SA universities, 7 national and provincial conservation research agencies, and various institutes and private conservation, research and management bodies, to develop a way forward for biodiversity informatics in SA. We propose the development of a SA Biodiversity Informatics Hub and describe the essential components necessary for its design, implementation and sustainability. We emphasise the importance of developing a culture of cooperation, collaboration and interoperability among custodians of biodiversity data to establish operational workflows for data synthesis. However, our biggest challenges are misgivings around data sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements