Analysing training needs of TVET teachers in South Africa: An empirical study

Context: This paper reports on a study of the progress of vocational education and training (VET) and the need for further profession-oriented training of lecturers in public, technical vocational colleges in South Africa, under the consideration of societal and political conditions.Approach: The study is based on a mixed methods approach in which an analysis of educational policy documents and a qualitative and a quantitative study with VET teachers and representatives of education authorities in South Africa are conducted.Findings: The classification of the results is conducted in line with the conditions defined by Phillips and Ochs regarding policy transfers. The following can thus be observed through the bilateral relationship between Germany and South Africa: (1) The Guiding Philosophy of the educational system is characterised by societal and political power structures. This is evident in an analysis of approved reforms within the last two decades. (2) The desired effects of “Ambitions Goals” have thus far not taken hold. Nonetheless, there is a willingness to enact reforms to continue developing vocational education, including the training and further education of lecturers that must be noted. Minimum requirements regarding lecturers’ basic qualifications have been formulated, which one in five vocational lecturers in South Africa currently cannot fulfil. (3) The Strategies formulated to implement training methods face the main problem of difficulty in implementation in colleges. (4) The Enabling Structures, i.e. the education-management-system as well as the financial and personnel support of the educational system, are widely perceived by lecturers as unsupportive, ineffective and discriminatory. This is observed, for example, when looking at the equipment used, teachers’ salaries, classroom sizes as well as the mentorship programme and further training opportunities. (5) Processes: a discrepancy exists on the level of the lecturers and the central need for further training regarding modern technologies, especially those used by foreign firms in their production in South Africa. (6) The results of the conducted study document a high variation of qualifications among TVET lecturers when it examines their teaching Techniques.Conclusions: Overall, the empirical results of the study reveal a complex structure with respect to the requirements for further training of TVET lecturers, describe central needs for further training of lecturers and deliver connectable knowledge for both the practical educational advancement of lecturer training and further education training, as well as for research in the context of the internationalisation of vocational training in South Africa.&nbsp

Deep Learning Development Environment in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive visualization and intuitive interaction. We leverage VR to enable any biomedical professional to deploy a deep learning (DL) model for image classification. While DL models can be powerful tools for data analysis, they are also challenging to understand and develop. To make deep learning more accessible and intuitive, we have built a virtual reality-based DL development environment. Within our environment, the user can move tangible objects to construct a neural network only using their hands. Our software automatically translates these configurations into a trainable model and then reports its resulting accuracy on a test dataset in real-time. Furthermore, we have enriched the virtual objects with visualizations of the model's components such that users can achieve insight about the DL models that they are developing. With this approach, we bridge the gap between professionals in different fields of expertise while offering a novel perspective for model analysis and data interaction. We further suggest that techniques of development and visualization in deep learning can benefit by integrating virtual reality

Intra-Arterial Delivery of Radiopharmaceuticals in Oncology: Current Trends and the Future of Alpha-Particle Therapeutics

A paradigm shift is underway in cancer diagnosis and therapy using radioactivity-based agents called radiopharmaceuticals. In the new strategy, diagnostic imaging measures the tumor uptake of radioactive agent X in a patient\u27s specific cancer, and if uptake metrics are realized, the patient can be selected for therapy with radioactive agent Y . The X and Y represent different radioisotopes that are optimized for each application. X-Y pairs are known as radiotheranostics, with the currently approved route of therapy being intravenous administration. The field is now evaluating the potential of intra-arterial dosing of radiotheranostics. In this manner, a higher initial concentration can be achieved at the cancer site, which could potentially enhance tumor-to-background targeting and lead to improved imaging and therapy. Numerous clinical trials are underway to evaluate these new therapeutic approaches that can be performed via interventional radiology. Of further interest is changing the therapeutic radioisotope that provides radiation therapy by β- emission to radioisotopes that also decay by α-particle emissions. Alpha (α)-particle emissions provide high energy transfer to the tumors and have distinct advantages. This review discusses the current landscape of intra-arterially delivered radiopharmaceuticals and the future of α-particle therapy with short-lived radioisotopes

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on chronic pain and opioid use in marginalized populations: A scoping review

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a variable effect on vulnerable populations, including patients with chronic pain who rely on opioid treatment or have comorbid opioid use disorder. Limited access to care due to isolation measures may lead to increased pain severity, worse mental health symptoms, and adverse opioid-related outcomes. This scoping review aimed to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dual epidemics of chronic pain and opioids in marginalized communities worldwide.MethodsSearches of primary databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO were performed in March 2022, restricting the publication date to December 1, 2019. The search yielded 685 articles. After title and abstract screening, 526 records were screened by title and abstract, 87 through full-text review, of which 25 articles were included in the final analysis.ResultsOur findings illuminate the differential distribution of pain burden across marginalized groups and how it serves to heighten existing disparities. Service disruptions due to social distancing orders and infrastructural limitations prevented patients from receiving the care they needed, resulting in adverse psychological and physical health outcomes. Efforts to adapt to COVID-19 circumstances included modifications to opioid prescribing regulations and workflows and expanded telemedicine services.ConclusionResults have implications for the prevention and management of chronic pain and opioid use disorder, such as challenges in adopting telemedicine in low-resource settings and opportunities to strengthen public health and social care systems with a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach

Supplementary data for article: O’Connor, S.; Szwej, E.; Nikodinović-Runić, J.; O’Connor, A.; Byrne, A. T.; Devocelle, M.; O’Donovan, N.; Gallagher, W. M.; Babu, R. P.; Kenny, S. T.; et al. The Anti-Cancer Activity of a Cationic Anti-Microbial Peptide Derived from Monomers of Polyhydroxyalkanoate. Biomaterials 2013, 34 (11), 2710–2718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.12.032

Supplementary material for: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.12.032]Related to published version: [http://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1609

Engaging with History after Macpherson

The Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) identifies a key role for education, and more specifically history, in promoting ‘race equality’ in Britain. In this article Ian Grosvenor and Kevin Myers consider the extent of young people’s current engagement with the history of ‘diversity, change and immigration’ which underpins the commitment to ‘race equality’. Finding that in many of Britain’s schools and universities a singular and exclusionary version of history continues to dominate the curriculum, they go on to consider the reasons for the neglect of multiculturalism. The authors identify the development of an aggressive national identity that depends on the past for its legitimacy and argue that this sense of the past is an important obstacle to future progress

Inhibition of SIRT1 Reactivates Silenced Cancer Genes without Loss of Promoter DNA Hypermethylation

The class III histone deactylase (HDAC), SIRT1, has cancer relevance because it regulates lifespan in multiple organisms, down-regulates p53 function through deacetylation, and is linked to polycomb gene silencing in Drosophila. However, it has not been reported to mediate heterochromatin formation or heritable silencing for endogenous mammalian genes. Herein, we show that SIRT1 localizes to promoters of several aberrantly silenced tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in which 5′ CpG islands are densely hypermethylated, but not to these same promoters in cell lines in which the promoters are not hypermethylated and the genes are expressed. Heretofore, only type I and II HDACs, through deactylation of lysines 9 and 14 of histone H3 (H3-K9 and H3-K14, respectively), had been tied to the above TSG silencing. However, inhibition of these enzymes alone fails to re-activate the genes unless DNA methylation is first inhibited. In contrast, inhibition of SIRT1 by pharmacologic, dominant negative, and siRNA (small interfering RNA)–mediated inhibition in breast and colon cancer cells causes increased H4-K16 and H3-K9 acetylation at endogenous promoters and gene re-expression despite full retention of promoter DNA hypermethylation. Furthermore, SIRT1 inhibition affects key phenotypic aspects of cancer cells. We thus have identified a new component of epigenetic TSG silencing that may potentially link some epigenetic changes associated with aging with those found in cancer, and provide new directions for therapeutically targeting these important genes for re-expression