"Thrown in the deep end": Informal learning in a primary music classroom

In recent years an increasing number of music educators have drawn attention to the dichotomy between in- and out-of-school learning, and studies exploring the range of informal learning outside schools and institutions have resulted in the identification of implications for classroom teaching practice. Green’s Informal Learning approach aims to foster student agency by immersing secondary school learners in the informal practices of popular musicians. Conducted as an ethnographic case study, this project explored the implementation of Green’s Informal Learning approach in a primary school in the South- West of Sydney. Thirty children aged 10 to 12 years took part in ten researcher-led music lessons which were based on Green’s five Informal Learning principles and data were collected through researcher observation, focus group interviews and audio-visual recordings of student activities whilst engaged in the project. Children responded to the pedagogy’s inherent learner agency in an enthusiastic manner and all friendship groups were observed to be positively engaged in a range of meaningful music making activities. The data revealed that pedagogy of this nature provides teachers with an opportunity to “connect the contexts” between children’s music learning at home and at school. The results of this study support the need for teacher reconsideration of the place of informal learning approaches in primary school music

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

DETAILED CROP SUITABILITY MAPS AND AN AGRICULTURAL ZONATION SCHEME FOR MALAWI Spatial information for agricultural planning purposes

Although relatively small, Malawi is a country with significant agro-ecological diversity reflecting the diverse landforms associated with the Great Rift Valley that runs the length of the country. The effects of those landforms on soil formation processes, local climates, the distribution of water resources, and vegetation patterns results in a variety of quite complex farming systems across Malawi that farmers have developed to exploit distinct combinations of local agricultural resources. One important implication of this variety of farming systems is that the comparative advantage of different areas of Malawi for the production of different crops, livestock, and other agricultural products, whether for commercial purposes or for household food security, will differ significantly from place to place. In consequence, any agriculture plans that assume that a single technical approach to improving agricultural productivity and increasing the economic returns that households receive from their agricultural livelihoods will fail in many places. In designing agricultural development policies for the country, the geographic diversity of Malawian agriculture needs to be considered

THE QUALITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY POLICY PROCESSES AT NATIONAL LEVEL IN MALAWI: RESULTS FROM THE 2015 MALAWI AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY POLICY PROCESSES BASELINE SURVEY

Over the past ten years, there have been several initiatives in Malawi to strengthen the processes through which the design and content of policies, strategies, and programs in the agriculture sector that affect the nation’s food security are established. Broadly linked to the operationalization in Malawi of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of the African Union, the government of Malawi led a multi-stakeholder effort to develop the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAp) for the period 2011 to 2015. This serves as the CAADP agricultural sector investment plan for the country. The implementation of the ASWAp is guided technically by multi-stakeholder Technical Working Groups (TWG), of which there are seven. The TWGs report to a higher-level Agricultural Sector Working Group (ASWG), whose membership is drawn from across the full range of stakeholders in Malawi’s agriculture sector. The ASWG has onward links to the political leadership of Malawi. A key component of the implementation of ASWAp is a mutual accountability framework for monitoring and evaluating progress made. The regular meetings of the TWGs and the ASWG are components of this, while an annual agricultural Joint Sector Review (JSR) report provides a formal accounting of progress achieved and challenges that remain

RESULTS FROM THE 2015 MALAWI AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY POLICY PROCESSES BASELINE SURVEY

Over the past ten years, there have been several initiatives in Malawi to strengthen the processes through which national policies, strategies, and programs in the agriculture sector are designed and approved. These processes define how the nation assures the food security and nutrition of its citizens. As a consequence, in addition to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Water Development (MoAIWD), which continues to coordinate these policy processes, a broader and more diverse range of civil society and non-governmental organizations, firms or representatives of sub-sectoral umbrella organization from the private sector, and agricultural and food policy researchers from various institutions all now engage in the policy processes more regularly. Development partners remain engaged, although more so than in the past their perspectives are now more harmonized through the Donor Committee on Agriculture and Food Security

RESULTS FROM THE 2015 MALAWI AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY POLICY PROCESSES BASELINE SURVEY

Over the past ten years, there have been several initiatives in Malawi to strengthen the processes through which the design and content of policies, strategies, and programs in the agriculture sector that affect the nation’s food security are established. Broadly linked to the operationalization in Malawi of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of the African Union, the government of Malawi led a multi-stakeholder effort to develop the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAp) for the period 2011 to 2015. This serves as the CAADP agricultural sector investment plan for the country. The implementation of the ASWAp is guided technically by multi-stakeholder Technical Working Groups (TWG), of which there are seven. The TWGs report to a higher-level Agricultural Sector Working Group (ASWG), whose membership is drawn from across the full range of stakeholders in Malawi’s agriculture sector. The ASWG has onward links to the political leadership of Malawi. A key component of the implementation of ASWAp is a mutual accountability framework for monitoring and evaluating progress made. The regular meetings of the TWGs and the ASWG are components of this, while an annual agricultural Joint Sector Review (JSR) report provides a formal accounting of progress achieved and challenges that remain

CARDIAC RESYNCHRONIZATION THERAPY OF CHRONIC HEART FAILURE AS «BRIDGE» TO CARDIAC TRANSPLANTATION

Cardiac transplantation (CTX) remains the gold standard for treatment of terminal forms of heart failure. Nevertheless, all over the world shortage of donors and postoperative complications leads to search of alternative therapeutic strategy. Cardiac resynchronization therapy is discussed alternative CTX. Besides, now it is not clear, whether it is possible to prevent CRT CTX in long-term prospect. Thus, we aspired to estimate long-term clinical results in the big group of candidates to CTX which have received CRT-systems in Institute of Transplantation last years. In total 70 patients are operated, from them 5 patients in connection with condition deterioration heart transplantation has been executed. The received experience shows that at patients with left ventricular dissinhroniсity, which are in a waiting list to heart transplantation, application of method CRT may to prevent or delay necessity for heart transplantation, or to become a link as «bridge» to transplantation

The Quality of Agriculture and Food Security Policy Processes at National Level in Malawi Results from the 2017/18 Malawi Agriculture and Food Security Policy Processes Endline Survey

KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS -A survey of 55 participants in national-level policy processes around agriculture and food security in Malawi was implemented in 2015 (baseline) and in 2017/18 (endline) to examine the quality of these processes and the institutions involved. -The 2015 baseline survey analysis showed that assessments of the quality of these processes were positive, even if improvements were still needed. -However, contrary to expectations, the endline survey of 2017/18 showed increased pessimism among respondents as to the quality of the processes and the institutions involved in them. -This result was unexpected, as policy developments around agriculture and food security between 2015 and 2017/18 were positive—several important agricultural policy achievements had been realized. -However, Malawi also experienced recurrent widespread food insecurity crises over this period. -Consequently, there is a disconnect between the reasonably high quality of the policies and strategies developed through these processes and the results obtained. Respondents to the endline survey were more skeptical than anticipated of the quality of these policy processes. -Better quality policy processes are not sufficient for achieving better outcomes in Malawi’s agricultural sector and food security for Malawi’s citizens. -Effective implementation of the policies developed through these processes is the most important proof of their quality and value. Policy implementation remains inadequate and a continuing challenge