Write away from it all! The Value of Running a Writing Retreat for Doctoral Students

Doctoral candidates often struggle to write at doctoral level. This struggle has many causes, but one of these is finding the time and support to write. We describe and analyse a doctoral writing retreat aimed to encourage doctoral candidates to develop their academic writing and offer new insights into successful retreats. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the literature about writing retreats and how these have been conceived and devised. Reviewing international literature about development of academic writing, we discuss the range of retreats, their aims and successes. We identify the approach to writing within the UK and the limited references to retreats to support doctoral candidates to develop their writing. The writing retreat we devised is described in detail, to enable others to make use of this approach. Features of the retreat which were valued by participants are identified and explored. The structured element chosen by some candidates supported the development of specific skills and techniques to enable participants to write more confidently. Participants stated the value to them of the time and space to write, in a supportive environment. The writing retreat provided a period of time which enabled participants to engage in a prolonged period of writing and to establish practice in writing. Particular advantages were identified for participants who are part-time doctoral candidates. The findings extend the knowledge and understanding within the existing literature about doctoral writing retreats

Meta-teaching in Initial Teacher Education - An analysis of teacher educator pedagogy using stimulated recall method in a UK-based university

Abstract Title: Meta-teaching in Initial Teacher Education - An analysis of teacher educator pedagogy using stimulated recall method in a UK-based university. A longstanding issue for teacher educators has been the successful integration of theory and practice for student teachers. This thesis explored how teacher educators’ pedagogy supports the development of student teachers’ understanding of these two aspects. A case study approach was utilised for data collection, drawing on the perceptions of teacher educators’ and student teachers’ experiences, locating it in a social constructivist paradigm. Five experienced teacher educators were interviewed using a stimulated recall method, in which video recordings of seminar teaching were discussed via 1:1 semi-structured interviews. A stimulated recall method was chosen, as it had not been extensively used in teacher education. Additionally, two student focus group interviews were undertaken, and voluntarily submitted reflection sheets from further students were collected. Interviews were transcribed, and the data was coded and organised using thematic analysis. The study was framed by concepts of pedagogical reasoning and Swennen et al’s view of congruent teaching (2008), in which the explicit modelling and deconstruction of practice supports student teachers’ development. The findings revealed that teacher educators used meta-teaching and modelling strategies in their practice to support understanding of theory in teaching. Teacher educators also highlighted the importance of opportunities for students to reflect on practice. The use of stimulated recall emerged as an important method to support teacher educators’ own professional development. The findings revealed that students were able to identify the meta-teaching within teacher educators’ practice and valued the opportunities to reflect on their own understanding. Theory was viewed by the students as an important component of their development as teachers

He ara whakaora i whaia e atahi wahine i tukinohia = Long term effects of childhood sexual abuse among Maori women: A healing path for abused women

He Ara Whakaora I Whaia E Etahi Wahine I Tukinohia: A Healing Path for Abused Women is a qualitative study of long term effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse among Maori women. Thirteen Maori women of diverse ages, sexual orientations, socioeconomic, religious, and tribal backgrounds shared their life experiences in a series of semistructured interviews. The women describe the physical, social and emotional impact the sexual abuse had on them. lndepth case studies are used to explore how these women rallied their personal, interpersonal, and social resources to survive the abuse, and ultimately find a way of healing. A theoretical synthesis comprising Tikanga Maori, Ecological Psychology, Social Systems theory, and Feminist theory is used to shed light on the participants' narratives. They also identify characteristics of their perpetrators, most were male and all but one was a trusted individual. A culturally competent model of healing for Maori survivors of sexual abuse was generated from the collective survival and healing strategies described by the participants

Write away from it all! The Value of Running a Writing Retreat for Doctoral Students

Doctoral candidates often struggle to write at doctoral level.  This struggle has many causes, but includes finding the time and support to write.  We analyse a doctoral writing retreat aimed to encourage doctoral candidates to develop their academic writing and offer new insights into successful retreats. A comprehensive review of the literature about writing retreats and how these have been conceived and devised, includes the international literature about development of academic writing and the range of retreats. We identify the approach to writing within the UK and the limited references to retreats to support doctoral candidates to develop their writing. The writing retreat we devised is considered in detail. Features of the retreat which were valued by participants are identified and explored including specific skill development, a supportive environment with time and space to write. The findings extend the knowledge and understanding within the existing literature about doctoral writing retreats

Parent-of-origin-specific allelic associations among 106 genomic loci for age at menarche.

Age at menarche is a marker of timing of puberty in females. It varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality. Studies of rare human disorders of puberty and animal models point to a complex hypothalamic-pituitary-hormonal regulation, but the mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to disease risk remain unclear. Here, using genome-wide and custom-genotyping arrays in up to 182,416 women of European descent from 57 studies, we found robust evidence (P < 5 × 10(-8)) for 123 signals at 106 genomic loci associated with age at menarche. Many loci were associated with other pubertal traits in both sexes, and there was substantial overlap with genes implicated in body mass index and various diseases, including rare disorders of puberty. Menarche signals were enriched in imprinted regions, with three loci (DLK1-WDR25, MKRN3-MAGEL2 and KCNK9) demonstrating parent-of-origin-specific associations concordant with known parental expression patterns. Pathway analyses implicated nuclear hormone receptors, particularly retinoic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid-B2 receptor signalling, among novel mechanisms that regulate pubertal timing in humans. Our findings suggest a genetic architecture involving at least hundreds of common variants in the coordinated timing of the pubertal transition

Using latent class analysis to develop a model of the relationship between socioeconomic position and ethnicity: cross-sectional analyses from a multi-ethnic birth cohort study

Background: Almost all studies in health research control or investigate socioeconomic position (SEP) as exposure or confounder. Different measures of SEP capture different aspects of the underlying construct, so efficient methodologies to combine them are needed. SEP and ethnicity are strongly associated, however not all measures of SEP may be appropriate for all ethnic groups. Methods: We used latent class analysis (LCA) to define subgroups of women with similar SEP profiles using 19 measures of SEP. Data from 11,326 women were used, from eight different ethnic groups but with the majority from White British (40%) or Pakistani (45%) backgrounds, who were recruited during pregnancy to the Born in Bradford birth cohort study. Results: Five distinct SEP subclasses were identified in the LCA: (i) "Least socioeconomically deprived and most educated" (20%); (ii) "Employed and not materially deprived" (19%); (iii) "Employed and no access to money" (16%); (iv) "Benefits and not materially deprived" (29%) and (v) "Most economically deprived" (16%). Based on the magnitude of the point estimates, the strongest associations were that compared to White British women, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women were more likely to belong to groups: (iv) "benefits and not materially deprived" (relative risk ratio (95% CI): 5.24 (4.44, 6.19) and 3.44 (2.37, 5.00), respectively) or (v) most deprived group (2.36 (1.96, 2.84) and 3.35 (2.21, 5.06) respectively) compared to the least deprived class. White Other women were more than twice as likely to be in the (iv) "benefits and not materially deprived group" compared to White British women and all ethnic groups, other than the Mixed group, were less likely to be in the (iii) "employed and not materially deprived" group than White British women. Conclusions: LCA allows different aspects of an individual’s SEP to be considered in one multidimensional indicator, which can then be integrated in epidemiological analyses. Ethnicity is strongly associated with these identified subgroups. Findings from this study suggest a careful use of SEP measures in health research, especially when looking at different ethnic groups. Further replication of these findings is needed in other populations

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Evaluation of the impact of universal testing for gestational diabetes mellitus on maternal and neonatal health outcomes: a retrospective analysis

Background: Gestational diabetes (GDM) affects a substantial proportion of women in pregnancy and is associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal and long term outcomes. Treatment seems to improve perinatal outcomes, the relative effectiveness of different strategies for identifying women with GDM however is less clear. This paper describes an evaluation of the impact of a change in policy from selective risk factor based offering, to universal offering of an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to identify women with GDM on maternal and neonatal outcomes. Methods: Retrospective six year analysis of 35,674 births at the Women’s and Newborn unit, Bradford Royal Infirmary, United Kingdom. Results: The proportion of the whole obstetric population diagnosed with GDM increased almost fourfold following universal offering of an OGTT compared to selective offering of an OGTT; Rate Ratio (RR) 3.75 (95% CI 3.28 to 4.29), the proportion identified with severe hyperglycaemia doubled following the policy change; 1.96 (1.50 to 2.58). The case detection rate however, for GDM in the whole population and severe hyperglycaemia in those with GDM reduced by 50-60%; 0.40 (0.35 to 0.46) and 0.51 (0.39 to 0.67) respectively. Universally offering an OGTT was associated with an increased induction of labour rate in the whole obstetric population and in women with GDM; 1.43 (1.35 to 1.50) and 1.21 (1.00 to1.49) respectively. Caesarean section, macrosomia and perinatal mortality rates in the whole population were similar. For women with GDM, rate of caesarean section; 0.70 (0.57 to 0.87), macrosomia; 0.22 (0.15 to 0.34) and perinatal mortality 0.12 (0.03 to 0.46) decreased following the policy change. Conclusions: Universally offering an OGTT was associated with increased identification of women with GDM and severe hyperglycaemia and with neonatal benefits for those with GDM. There was no evidence of benefit or adverse effects in neonatal outcomes in the whole obstetric population

Patient and informal carer experience of hip fracture: A qualitative study using interviews and observation in acute orthopaedic trauma

Objectives The time taken for older people to recover from hip fracture can be extensive. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of patient and informal carer experience of recovery in the early stage, while in acute care. Design A phenomenological (lived experience) approach was used to guide the design of the study. Interviews and observation took place between March 2016 and December 2016 in acute care. Setting Trauma wards in a National Health Service Foundation Trust in the South West of England. Participants A purposive sample of 25 patients were interviewed and observation taking 52 hours was undertaken with 13 patients and 12 staff. 11 patients had memory loss, 2 patients chose to take part in an interview and observation. The age range was 63-91 years (median 83), 10 were men. A purposive sample of 25 informal carers were also interviewed, the age range was 42-95 years (mean 64), 11 were men. Results The results identified how participants moved forward together after injury by sharing the journey. This was conveyed through three themes: (1) sustaining relationships while experiencing strong emotions and actively helping, (2) becoming aware of uncertainty about the future and working through possible outcomes, (3) being changed, visibly looking different, not being able to walk, and enduring indignity and pain. Conclusion This study identified the experience of patients and informal carers as they shared the journey during a challenging life transition. Strategies that support well-being and enable successful negotiation of the emotional and practical challenges of acute care may help with longer term recovery. Research should focus on developing interventions that promote well-being during this transition to help provide the foundation for patients and carers to live fulfilled lives.Fil: Tutton, Elizabeth. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Saletti, Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad; ArgentinaFil: Lanstaff, Debbie. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Wright, Julie. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Grant, Richard. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Willett, Keith. University of Oxford; Reino Unid