Assessing Curriculum Planning for Humanities Inquiry: The Challenges and Opportunities of Poster Presentation

Authentic assessment has been promoted in teacher education as a means of addressing the challenge that pre-service teachers often face in translating theory into practice. In this article, we outline one approach to authentic assessment that utilises a poster format to present a humanities inquiry sequence. Drawing on a practice-based research project into inquiry learning, we explore the challenges and opportunities of this mode of assessment in meeting our curriculum aims. While we acknowledge limitations in this method, we conclude that posters provide a succinct and engaging means of organising, disseminating and assessing inquiry planning in humanities

Can screening and brief intervention lead to population-level reductions in alcohol-related harm?

A distinction is made between the clinical and public health justifications for screening and brief intervention (SBI) against hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. Early claims for a public health benefit of SBI derived from research on general medical practitioners' (GPs') advice on smoking cessation, but these claims have not been realized, mainly because GPs have not incorporated SBI into their routine practice. A recent modeling exercise estimated that, if all GPs in England screened every patient at their next consultation, 96% of the general population would be screened over 10 years, with 70-79% of excessive drinkers receiving brief interventions (BI); assuming a 10% success rate, this would probably amount to a population-level effect of SBI. Thus, a public health benefit for SBI presupposes widespread screening; but recent government policy in England favors targeted versus universal screening, and in Scotland screening is based on new registrations and clinical presentation. A recent proposal for a national screening program was rejected by the UK National Health Service's National Screening Committee because 1) there was no good evidence that SBI led to reductions in mortality or morbidity, and 2) a safe, simple, precise, and validated screening test was not available. Even in countries like Sweden and Finland, where expensive national programs to disseminate SBI have been implemented, only a minority of the population has been asked about drinking during health-care visits, and a minority of excessive drinkers has been advised to cut down. Although there has been research on the relationship between treatment for alcohol problems and population-level effects, there has been no such research for SBI, nor have there been experimental investigations of its relationship with population-level measures of alcohol-related harm. These are strongly recommended. In this article, conditions that would allow a population-level effect of SBI to occur are reviewed, including their political acceptability. It is tentatively concluded that widespread dissemination of SBI, without the implementation of alcohol control measures, might have indirect influences on levels of consumption and harm but would be unlikely on its own to result in public health benefits. However, if and when alcohol control measures were introduced, SBI would still have an important role in the battle against alcohol-related harm

The Effect of Glucagon-Like Peptide-2 Receptor Agonists on Colonic Anastomotic Wound Healing

Background. Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) is an intestinal specific trophic hormone, with therapeutic potential; the effects on intestinal healing are unknown. We used a rat model of colonic healing, under normoxic, and stress (hypoxic) conditions to examine the effect of GLP-2 on intestinal healing. Methods. Following colonic transection and reanastomosis, animals were randomized to one of six groups (n = 8/group): controls, native GLP-2, long-acting GLP-2 (GLP-2- MIMETIBODY, GLP-2-MMB), animals were housed under normoxic or hypoxic (11%  O2) conditions. Animals were studied five days post-operation for anastomotic strength and wound characteristics. Results. Anastomotic bursting pressure was unchanged by GLP-2 or GLP-2-MMB in normoxic or hypoxic animals; both treatments increased crypt cell proliferation. Wound IL-1β increased with GLP-2; IFNγ with GLP-2 and GLP-2-MMB. IL-10 and TGF-β were decreased; Type I collagen mRNA expression increased in hypoxic animals while Type III collagen was reduced with both GLP-2 agonists. GLP-2 MMB, but not native GLP-2 increased TIMP 1-3 mRNA levels in hypoxia. Conclusions. The effects on CCP, cytokines and wound healing were similar for both GLP-2 agonists under normoxic and hypoxic conditions; anastomotic strength was not affected. This suggests that GLP-2 (or agonists) could be safely used peri-operatively; direct studies will be required

National identity in fragile states: insights from tertiary students in Melanesia and Timor-Leste

The challenges of nation building in Melanesia and Timor-Leste have often been neglected in the regional focus on state-building challenges. High levels of ethno-linguistic diversity, combined with an array of regional, historical and cultural divisions, continue to present obstacles to the creation of a cohesive sense of national political community leading these nations to be labelled ‘fragile’. This paper presents the findings of a comparative study on the attitudes of tertiary students in Melanesia and Timor-Leste to national identity and nation building. A strong pan-Melanesian pattern of group identification was identified, common to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The ongoing importance of traditional authority and custom in informing conceptions of political community and identity was evident in all four case study sites, but was in each case matched by indicators of respect for modern state authority. The survey also reveals some significant gender differences in key attitudes towards national identity, including the role of traditional authorities. Most importantly, the study reveals high degrees of national pride, and faith in democratic principles and citizenship; but conversely, low levels of pride in contemporary democratic performance and inter-group tolerance

The Grizzly, March 7, 1986

Meyer to Undergo Surgery • Teachers Always Looking to the Future: NASA Finalists Speak to Some U.C. Students • Garbage: It\u27s Expensive Stuff • Letters: CAB Responds to Only at Ursinus Comments; Student Offended by Walkman Listener at Haydn Concert • Bomberger Concerts Deserve Crowd, Too • Tie for First in Air Band • How to get that \u27A\u27 • It\u27s All in Good Fun Guys • What are You Doing Next Week? • Nuclear War as a Just War • Women\u27s Studies Offered in Fall • Mer Chicks a Success at MAC\u27s • U.C. Boys Bearing Down • Women\u27s Lacrosse Preview • Coach Brown Named Ass\u27t Athletic Director • Townshend Strikes Gold With White City LP • Tolkien Collection On Display in Myrin • Faculty Views of Pledginghttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1160/thumbnail.jp

Bridging the gap from medical to psychological safety assessment: consensus study in a digital mental health context

Background: Digital Mental Health Interventions (DMHIs) that meet the definition of a medical device are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK. The MHRA uses procedures that were originally developed for pharmaceuticals to assess the safety of DMHIs. There is recognition that this may not be ideal, as is evident by an ongoing consultation for reform led by the MHRA and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Aims: The aim of this study was to generate an experts’ consensus on how the medical regulatory method used for assessing safety could best be adapted for DMHIs. Method: An online Delphi study containing three rounds was conducted with an international panel of 20 experts with experience/knowledge in the field of UK digital mental health. Results: Sixty-four items were generated, of which 41 achieved consensus (64%). Consensus emerged around ten recommendations, falling into five main themes: Enhancing the quality of adverse events data in DMHIs; Re-defining serious adverse events for DMHIs; Reassessing short-term symptom deterioration in psychological interventions as a therapeutic risk; Maximising the benefit of the Yellow Card Scheme; and Developing a harmonised approach for assessing the safety of psychological interventions in general. Conclusion: The implementation of the recommendations provided by this consensus could improve the assessment of safety of DMHIs, making them more effective in detecting and mitigating risk

Acute pain pathways:protocol for a prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Opioid analgesics are often used to treat moderate-to-severe acute non-cancer pain; however, there is little high-quality evidence to guide clinician prescribing. An essential element to developing evidence-based guidelines is a better understanding of pain management and pain control among individuals experiencing acute pain for various common diagnoses. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This multicentre prospective observational study will recruit 1550 opioid-naïve participants with acute pain seen in diverse clinical settings including primary/urgent care, emergency departments and dental clinics. Participants will be followed for 6 months with the aid of a patient-centred health data aggregating platform that consolidates data from study questionnaires, electronic health record data on healthcare services received, prescription fill data from pharmacies, and activity and sleep data from a Fitbit activity tracker. Participants will be enrolled to represent diverse races and ethnicities and pain conditions, as well as geographical diversity. Data analysis will focus on assessing patients’ patterns of pain and opioid analgesic use, along with other pain treatments; associations between patient and condition characteristics and patient-centred outcomes including resolution of pain, satisfaction with care and long-term use of opioid analgesics; and descriptive analyses of patient management of leftover opioids. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has received approval from IRBs at each site. Results will be made available to participants, funders, the research community and the public. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04509115

Asymmetric brittle deformation at the Pāpaku Fault, Hikurangi Subduction Margin, NZ, IODP Expedition 375

Quantifying fault damage zones provides a window into stress distribution and rheology around faults. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expeditions 372/375 drilled an active thrust splay fault within the Hikurangi subduction margin. The fault, which is hosted in Pleistocene clastic sediments, is surrounded by brittle fractures and faults as well as ductile deformation features. We find that fracture density in the damage zone enveloping the fault is asymmetric, with the hanging wall showing greater overall fracture density and at greater distances from the fault than the footwall. Furthermore, the peak in fracture density occurs within an area of mesoscale folding and localized slip in the hanging wall rather than adjacent to the main fault zone. We attribute the asymmetry in damage to disparate deformation histories between the hanging wall and footwall, greater ductile deformation within the footwall, and/or dynamic stress asymmetry around a propagating rupture. Damage asymmetry is common at shallow depths in subduction zones and influences the mechanical and hydrological properties of the fault, such as channelized fluid flow and fault stability. Finally, we demonstrate that subduction zone faults show similar damage-displacement scaling as continental faults

Beta-HPV E6 Contributes To Skin Cancer by Hindering DNA Repair

<div><p>Recent work has explored a putative role for the E6 protein from some β-human papillomavirus genus (β-HPVs) in the development of non-melanoma skin cancers, specifically β-HPV 5 and 8 E6. Because these viruses are not required for tumor maintenance, they are hypothesized to act as co-factors that enhance the mutagenic capacity of UV-exposure by disrupting the repair of the resulting DNA damage. Supporting this proposal, we have previously demonstrated that UV damage signaling is hindered by β-HPV 5 and 8 E6 resulting in an increase in both thymine dimers and UV-induced double strand breaks (DSBs). Here we show that β-HPV 5 and 8 E6 further disrupt the repair of these DSBs and provide a mechanism for this attenuation. By binding and destabilizing a histone acetyltransferase, p300, β-HPV 5 and 8 E6 reduce the enrichment of the transcription factor at the promoter of two genes critical to the homology dependent repair of DSBs (BRCA1 and BRCA2). The resulting diminished BRCA1/2 transcription not only leads to lower protein levels but also curtails the ability of these proteins to form repair foci at DSBs. Using a GFP-based reporter, we confirm that this reduced foci formation leads to significantly diminished homology dependent repair of DSBs. By deleting the p300 binding domain of β-HPV 8 E6, we demonstrate that the loss of robust repair is dependent on viral-mediated degradation of p300 and confirm this observation using a combination of p300 mutants that are β-HPV 8 E6 destabilization resistant and p300 knock-out cells. In conclusion, this work establishes an expanded ability of β-HPV 5 and 8 E6 to attenuate UV damage repair, thus adding further support to the hypothesis that β-HPV infections play a role in skin cancer development by increasing the oncogenic potential of UV exposure.</p></div