Use of computed tomography imaging during long-term follow-up of nine feline tuberculosis cases

Case series summary: Feline tuberculosis is an increasingly recognised potential zoonosis of cats. Treatment is challenging and prognosis can vary greatly between cases. Pulmonary infection requires extended courses of antibiotics, but methodologies for sensitively monitoring response to treatment are currently lacking. In this case series, we retrospectively examined the serial computed tomography (CT) findings in nine cats that had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Changes in pathology (where applicable to tuberculosis) were correlated with the clinical presentation of each of the cats, the treatment protocol, and previous and contemporary diagnostic investigations. This study found that changes in CT findings during the medium- to long-term management of feline tuberculosis were highly variable between cats. The majority of cats had reduced pathology at re-examination during anti-tuberculous therapy, but pathology only resolved in a minority of cases. In some cases recurrence of pathology detected by CT imaging preceded clinical deterioration, allowing for rapid therapeutic intervention. Relevance and novel information: When considered in combination with clinical findings, CT studies can aid in decision making regarding tapering of antibiotic protocols, or reintroduction of therapy in cases of recurrence or reinfection. This series also highlights that, in some cases, persistent abnormalities can be detected by CT, so complete resolution of CT pathology should not always be a goal in the management of feline tuberculosis

‘Collaborating2Create’: A conceptual tool to develop learners’ capacity for collaborative creativity through Virtual Internships in schools

Background: Many employers are clear about the skills future workers need: technical and practical skills, alongside transferable skills including an ability to effectively solve problems and to work creatively within a team. School-based ‘Virtual Internships’ offer potential to respond to these calls, enabling learners to engage in pedagogically-aligned challenges grounded in authentic workplace practices. Limited research has, however, investigated how schools may facilitate authentic workplace experiences virtually – through online interaction as well as role-play of workplace practices: to enable young people to develop important competencies around creative groupwork through curricular activities. Aim: In this paper we outline the development of ‘Collaborating2Create’ (C2C): a conceptual tool devised through the ‘Virtual Internships Project’ to support the teaching of group creativity, in a way that meaningfully links education to the world of work. Method: We offer a critical literature review followed by extracts from qualitative discourse analysis of classroom data, selected to evidence the value and practice of C2C in genuine classroom interaction. Extracts are presented with integrated analytic commentary, followed by a summary, to make salient features of dialogic interaction that promote C2C. Extracts from a teacher post-programme interview and student focus group, around the deductive theme of C2C, are incorporated to evidence how the programme was developed iteratively based on learning from trials. Findings & Implications: This paper argues that C2C conceptualised as a ‘complex competency’ within a broader Virtual Internship programme offers a conceptual tool that can be embedded and have value beyond the current project. Further, many charities and businesses are keen to establish links with education but their capacity to engage learners in schools is limited. It is argued that C2C could act as an effective ‘bridging concept’ between education and the world of work.Project funded by BT and Huawe

Simulated internships in schools::Engaging learners with the world of work to promote collaborative creativity

School curricula have often struggled to authentically engage young people with the world of work. This chapter examines the potential of ‘simulated’ school classroom-based internships to support collaborative and creative learning and links to the workplace. It reports on design-based research in areas of low social mobility in England. This investigates how simulated internships give students access to authentic experiences of workplace practices in addition to enhancing skills associated withcollaborative creativity. Through a challenge-based learning pedagogy implemented as part of regular classroom instruction, simulated internships involve small groups of students aged 11-13 studying Computing or Design and Technology. Over six-to-seven-weeks, together they design, model, or build a local solution to a global challenge presented virtually by engineers in two leading international telecommunications companies. An empirical ‘case study’, based on discourse andthematic analysis, is provided to evidence the scope and challenges of embedding a mutual focus on creative collaboration and supporting authentic insights into the world of work. Reported research is significant as it offers a proof of concept that identifies the potential of simulated internships in generating meaningful insights into the world of work. Focused on the development of collaborative creativity, this conceptualisation of simulated internships can inform and guide future pedagogical and research initiatives. Potentially this could expand to cover other curricular areas and, indeed, other educational settings

Simulated internships in schools::Engaging learners with the world of work to promote collaborative creativity

School curricula have often struggled to authentically engage young people with the world of work. This chapter examines the potential of ‘simulated’ school classroom-based internships to support collaborative and creative learning and links to the workplace. It reports on design-based research in areas of low social mobility in England. This investigates how simulated internships give students access to authentic experiences of workplace practices in addition to enhancing skills associated with collaborative creativity. Through a challenge-based learning pedagogy implemented as part of regular classroom instruction, simulated internships involve small groups of students aged 11-13 studying Computing or Design and Technology. Over six-to-seven-weeks, together they design, model, or build a local solution to a global challenge presented virtually by engineers in two leading international telecommunications companies. An empirical ‘case study’, based on discourse and thematic analysis, is provided to evidence the scope and challenges of embedding a mutual focus on creative collaboration and supporting authentic insights into the world of work. Reported research is significant as it offers a proof of concept that identifies the potential of simulated internships in generating meaningful insights into the world of work. Focused on the development of collaborative creativity, this conceptualisation of simulated internships can inform and guide future pedagogical and research initiatives. Potentially this could expand to cover other curricular areas and, indeed, other educational settings

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum

Developing learners’ dialogic collaborative problem-solving skills in a real-time 3D environment

Gaming2Development (G2D: 2020-21) investigated learners’ dialogic interactions in - and virtually around - a powerful real-time 3D creation tool. Led by a team of academics, charitable partners and technology developers, design-based research involving four teachers and 50 students (aged 13-19) was undertaken in the north of England during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working in small groups, students participated in 12-hours of G2D workshops in classroom and home contexts. Through innovative access to virtual machines with necessary processing power, working synchronously, students used the Unreal Engine to work dialogically on a collaborative challenge-based learning task. This presentation reports on an exploratory (embedded) single-case study of a two-day collaborative challenge involving one group of five Creative Digital Media students (aged 16-18) working remotely (non co-located). Data includes workshop observations, student-only discussion, student focus groups, and teacher interviews. Analysis involved systematically coding screen-/video-recorded workshops, sociocultural discourse analysis and thematic analysis. Findings reveal how alongside drastic shifts in learning due to the pandemic, students worked creatively to overcome technical barriers and adapted their means of dialogue to ensure each group member’s contribution was appropriately represented. However, while most students saw advantages of contributing to the group effort, some still perceived barriers to this. Analysis of student-only dialogue also demonstrates different patterns of interaction compared to facilitated workshops. Our conjecture is that engagement in the workshops provided an opportunity for students’ to develop transferable skills: technical skills related to the real-time 3D environment, alongside future skills of collaborative dialogue and problem solving. However, it is apparent that the digital, physical, and social boundaries of home- and education-life were unclear and that this may have impeded dialogue. While acknowledging methodological limitations, the significance of this research lies in demonstrating the potential role of real-time 3D development environments in enabling new opportunities for educational dialogue to support collaborative problem-solving online

Far away from the ivory tower: The impact of university education on disadvantaged people & their communities

This report presents the findings of the Plymouth Marjon University (PMU) Brian Simon Research Project, which explored the experiences of individuals in higher education (HE), with a specific emphasis on those who were the first in their family to attend university. The project, conducted by a multidisciplinary team, aimed to explore the impact of HE on individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, utilising artefacts from the university's extensive archive to scaffold discussion