A Design-Based introduction to learning centres

In the last decades, outskirt areas in Denmark have suffered from depopulation and economic decline, a development that has led to a centralised education system where higher education institutions are vested in a central body in urban areas rather than in rural communities. University College Zealand has initiated a research project in collaboration with three municipalities in the region of Zealand and partners from the Nordic countries, which investigates the potential of municipal learning centres as a means to solve educational challenges in outskirt areas. A municipal learning centre is a physical location owned by a municipality, which offers (a)synchronous courses through digital couplings to higher education institutions. The paper presents research findings showing that the development of an ecosystem based on collaboration between municipalities, higher education institutions and private and public businesses is pivotal for achieving a sustainable model for online education in rural areas. Furthermore, the paper presents a series of thinking technologies in the form of models and categories, which can be used as tools for establishing learning centres and designing learning activities for learning centres. --- Kommuner placeret i yderområder i Danmark har i de seneste årtier oplevet affolkning og økonomisk nedgang, og denne udvikling har medvirket til et centraliseret uddannelsessystem, hvor videregående uddannelsesinstitutioner flyttes fra yderområder til større byer. University College Sjælland har igangsat et forskningsprojekt i samarbejde med tre kommuner i Region Sjælland og partnere fra de nordiske lande, som har til formål at undersøge hvorvidt uddannelseskonceptet kommunale læringscentre kan medvirke til at løse uddannelsesudfordringer i landets yderområder. Et kommunalt læringscenter er en fysisk lokation som ejes af en kommune, som gennem læringscenteret kan give borgere mulighed for at tage et kursus eller en uddannelse via synkrone og asynkrone koblinger til en uddannnelsesinstitution. Artiklen præsenterer forskningsresultater, som viser at udviklingen af et økosystem, som fordrer samarbejde mellem kommuner, videregående uddannelsesinstitutioner og private såvel som offentlige virksomheder, er en forudsætning for at opnå en bæredygtig model for online uddannelse i yderområder. Artiklen præsenterer desuden en række tænketeknologier i form af modeller og kategorier, som kan anvendes i arbejdet med at etablere læringscentre og udvikle læringsdesign til konceptet

Outcomes of a 12-week ecologically valid observational study of first treatment with methylphenidate in a representative clinical sample of drug naïve children with ADHD

Randomized placebo-controlled trials have reported efficacy of methylphenidate (MPH) for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, selection biases due to strict entry criteria may limit the generalizability of the findings. Few ecologically valid studies have investigated effectiveness of MPH in representative clinical populations of children. This independently funded study aims to describe treatment responses and their predictors during the first 12 weeks of MPH treatment using repeated measurements of symptoms and adverse reactions (ARs) to treatment in 207 children recently diagnosed with ADHD. The children were consecutively included from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centre, Mental Health Services, The Capital Region of Denmark. The children (mean age, 9.6 years [range 7–12], 75.4% males) were titrated with MPH, based on weekly assessments of symptoms (18-item ADHD-rating scale scores, ADHD-RS-C) and ARs. At study-end 187 (90.8%) children reached a mean end-dose of 1.0 mg/kg/day. A normalisation/borderline normalisation on ADHD-RS-C was achieved for 168 (81.2%) children on the Inattention and/or the Hyperactivity-Impulsivity subscale in week 12, and 31 (15.0%) children were nonresponders, which was defined as absence of normalisation/borderline normalisation (n = 19) or discontinuation due to ARs (n = 12), and eight (3.8%) children dropped out from follow-up. Nonresponders were characterised by more severe symptoms of Hyperactivity-Impulsivity and global impairment before the treatment. ARs were few; the most prominent were appetite reduction and weight loss. A decrease in AR-like symptoms during the treatment period questions the validity of currently available standard instruments designed to measure ARs of MPH. This ecologically valid observational study supports prior randomized placebo-controlled trials; 81.2% of the children responded favourably in multiple domains with few harmful effects to carefully titrated MPH. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov with registration number NCT04366609

The Grizzly, February 21, 2002

Former U.S Ambassador to Sierra Leone now Ursinus Professor • Professor Melrose Testifies Before the Senate • Fire in Reimert: Where Were the Smoke Detectors? • Grant Will Enhance Ursinus Asian Studies Program • Marisol: A Lesson in Living in the Aftermath of September 11th • Winter Olympics Take Salt Lake by Storm • Save a Life: Donate Blood at the March Blood Drive • Opinions: Dressing Up: What Happened to Everyone\u27s Style?; Heart-wrenching and Heart-warming Olympics; For the Appropriateness of Fraternities and Sororities on Campus • When Making Love Becomes Sex: Diversifying Love and Sex • Price Comparison: Don\u27t Let the Cold Season Hurt Your Wallet • Pledging in the Past • Women\u27s Basketball Shoots Out Bryn Mawr to end 2002 Season • Men\u27s Basketball Looks Toward Showdown with Franklin & Marshall • Centennial Conference Wrestling Tournament Held at Ursinushttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1508/thumbnail.jp

Assessing distinct patterns of cognitive aging using tissue-specific brain age prediction based on diffusion tensor imaging and brain morphometry

Multimodal imaging enables sensitive measures of the architecture and integrity of the human brain, but the high-dimensional nature of advanced brain imaging features poses inherent challenges for the analyses and interpretations. Multivariate age prediction reduces the dimensionality to one biologically informative summary measure with potential for assessing deviations from normal lifespan trajectories. A number of studies documented remarkably accurate age prediction, but the differential age trajectories and the cognitive sensitivity of distinct brain tissue classes have yet to be adequately characterized. Exploring differential brain age models driven by tissue-specific classifiers provides a hitherto unexplored opportunity to disentangle independent sources of heterogeneity in brain biology. We trained machine-learning models to estimate brain age using various combinations of FreeSurfer based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging based indices of white matter microstructure in 612 healthy controls aged 18–87 years. To compare the tissue-specific brain ages and their cognitive sensitivity, we applied each of the 11 models in an independent and cognitively well-characterized sample (n = 265, 20–88 years). Correlations between true and estimated age and mean absolute error (MAE) in our test sample were highest for the most comprehensive brain morphometry (r = 0.83, CI:0.78–0.86, MAE = 6.76 years) and white matter microstructure (r = 0.79, CI:0.74–0.83, MAE = 7.28 years) models, confirming sensitivity and generalizability. The deviance from the chronological age were sensitive to performance on several cognitive tests for various models, including spatial Stroop and symbol coding, indicating poorer performance in individuals with an over-estimated age. Tissue-specific brain age models provide sensitive measures of brain integrity, with implications for the study of a range of brain disorders

A pig model of acute Staphylococcus aureus induced pyemia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sepsis caused by <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>constitutes an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans, and the incidence of this disease-entity is increasing. In this paper we describe the initial microbial dynamics and lesions in pigs experimentally infected with <it>S. aureus</it>, with the aim of mimicking human sepsis and pyemia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted in anaesthetized and intravenously inoculated pigs, and was based on bacteriological examination of blood and testing of blood for IL-6 and C-reactive protein. Following killing of the animals and necropsy bacteriological and histological examinations of different organs were performed 4, 5 or 6 h after inoculation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Clearance of bacteria from the blood was completed within the first 2 h in some of the pigs and the highest bacterial load was recorded in the lungs as compared to the spleen, liver and bones. This probably was a consequence of both the intravenous route of inoculation and the presence of pulmonary intravascular macrophages. Inoculation of bacteria induced formation of acute microabscesses in the lungs, spleen and liver, but not in the kidneys or bones. No generalized inflammatory response was recorded, i.e. IL-6 was not detected in the blood and C-reactive protein did not increase, probably because of the short time course of the study.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrates the successful induction of acute pyemia (microabscesses), and forms a basis for future experiments that should include inoculation with strains of <it>S. aureus </it>isolated from man and an extension of the timeframe aiming at inducing sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock.</p

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms