School Direct, a policy for initial teacher training in England: plotting a principled pedagogical path through a changing landscape

This paper explores the role of teacher educators in schools and universities in England and the changes that have arisen within the field of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) as a result of the Coalition government’s (2010 onwards) School Direct initiative. The discussion which follows and the conclusions suggested are live, current and of pivotal interest to all universities with ITT programmes, as well as all schools involved in the delivery of ITT, and all parties with a policy interest in the supply of effective teacher education. After setting the context, the discussion starts with a critical examination of ITT policy in England over the course of the last 20 years. We then consider troubling binaries inherent in teacher education and go on to explore insights from research: the importance of beliefs; the problem of enactment; the theory/practice divide. These are then used to craft the enabling constraints for third-space activity designed to set in motion a hybridisation process from which a new breed of teacher educator could emerge. We suggest that university and school colleagues working together in collaborative partnership can provide a principled pedagogical path through a changing landscape of education policy

Completion Dissection or Observation for Sentinel-Node Metastasis in Melanoma.

Sentinel-lymph-node biopsy is associated with increased melanoma-specific survival (i.e., survival until death from melanoma) among patients with node-positive intermediate-thickness melanomas (1.2 to 3.5 mm). The value of completion lymph-node dissection for patients with sentinel-node metastases is not clear. In an international trial, we randomly assigned patients with sentinel-node metastases detected by means of standard pathological assessment or a multimarker molecular assay to immediate completion lymph-node dissection (dissection group) or nodal observation with ultrasonography (observation group). The primary end point was melanoma-specific survival. Secondary end points included disease-free survival and the cumulative rate of nonsentinel-node metastasis. Immediate completion lymph-node dissection was not associated with increased melanoma-specific survival among 1934 patients with data that could be evaluated in an intention-to-treat analysis or among 1755 patients in the per-protocol analysis. In the per-protocol analysis, the mean (±SE) 3-year rate of melanoma-specific survival was similar in the dissection group and the observation group (86±1.3% and 86±1.2%, respectively; P=0.42 by the log-rank test) at a median follow-up of 43 months. The rate of disease-free survival was slightly higher in the dissection group than in the observation group (68±1.7% and 63±1.7%, respectively; P=0.05 by the log-rank test) at 3 years, based on an increased rate of disease control in the regional nodes at 3 years (92±1.0% vs. 77±1.5%; P<0.001 by the log-rank test); these results must be interpreted with caution. Nonsentinel-node metastases, identified in 11.5% of the patients in the dissection group, were a strong, independent prognostic factor for recurrence (hazard ratio, 1.78; P=0.005). Lymphedema was observed in 24.1% of the patients in the dissection group and in 6.3% of those in the observation group. Immediate completion lymph-node dissection increased the rate of regional disease control and provided prognostic information but did not increase melanoma-specific survival among patients with melanoma and sentinel-node metastases. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and others; MSLT-II ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00297895 .)

Creativity and Design as Exploration

This paper considers the problem of creative design, and in particular the role of a priori knowledge or “prototypes” in the design process. A design problem is characterised as one in which both the objectives and the means available for achieving these objectives are (of necessity) initially only poorly defined. Some observations concerning the nature of design process based on this characterisation are presented, and a model of the design process as a knowledge-based exploration task described. The role of prototypes in organising this knowledge is examined, and the widely accepted view that prototypes can form the principle source of knowledge for creativity in design is challenged. In a final section we outline the structural principles of a representation scheme which aims to overcome of these difficulties and describe a design support system which uses this scheme to support the design process

The communication bottleneck in knitwear design: Analysis and computing solutions

Communication between different members of a designteam often poses difficulties. This paper reports onthe results of a detailed empirical study ofcommunication in over twenty British, German andItalian knitwear companies. The knitwear designprocess is shared by the designers, who plan thevisual and tactile appearance of the garments, and thetechnicians, who have to realise the garment on aknitting machine. They comprise a typical but smalldesign team whose members have different backgroundsand expertise. Knitwear design allows a detailedanalysis of the causes and effects of communicationbreakdown. Designers specify their designsinaccurately, incompletely and inconsistently;technicians interpret these specifications accordingto their previous experience of similar designs, andproduce garments very different from the designers'original intentions. Knitwear is inherently difficultto describe, as no simple and complete notationexists; and the relationship between visual appearanceand structure and technical properties of knittedfabric is subtle and complex. Designers andtechnicians have different cognitive approaches andare very different people. At the same time theinteraction between designers and technicians is badlymanaged in many companies. This paper argues thatimproving the accuracy and reliability of designers'specifications would significantly enhance the designprocess. It concludes with a description of thearchitecture of an intelligent automatic design systemthat generates technically correct designs from thedesigners' customary notations

Video assisted esophagectomy for esophageal cancer

Video assisted surgery for esophageal cancer is an advanced surgical technique. It is being adopted with a concept of minimally invasive surgery. Since there are several options of the operative procedure for thoracic esophageal cancer, there are several laparoscopic approaches. The first VATS esophagectomy through a right thoracoscopic approach and the first transhiatal esophagectomy were reported in early 1990's. Mediastinoscope-assisted esophagectomy is also reported as a substitute of the blunt dissection of the esophagus. Moreover, video assisted Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy by right thoracotomy with intrathoracic anastomosis has also been tried. Furthermore, laparoscopic gastric mobilization and gastroplasty is also widely accepted as a substitution for open laparotomy. This article serves to review the literature on laparoscopic approaches for esophageal cancer