Exploring British and Finnish preregistration nursing students’ experiences of learning emergency and acute care nursing through a collaborative online international (COIL) classroom

Background: This case study describes the development and evaluation of a collaborative online international learning (COIL) nursing collaboration between Finland and UK in ‘Care of the Acutely Ill Patient’. Aim: The aim was to plan and deliver an online programme of learning experiences on a shared rofessional subject with mixedinternational students, then evaluate this learning experience with a view to expanding or extending it in future as a core element of our nursing programmes. Method: A steering group led the design format of this short course, aligning it to each university’s curriculum and professional goals. Then, a teaching team devised the learning materials and learning sessions. Finally, the steering group evaluated the course. In total there were 38 student participants (Finland n=21, UK n=17). Results: 80 per cent (n= 20) of students felt that their understanding of the subject had increased as a result of taking the course. In total 64 per cent (n=16) felt that the course had enabled them to gain skills to help their future career development. Perceptions of working in mixed international groups was diverse, with challenges of communication, time and perceptions of what constituted ‘group work’ between UK and Finnish students. Learning new nursing aspects from teachers and peers as well as sharing ideas from another country in a novel way was perceived as beneficial and overall ‘uplifting’. Conclusion: This COIL has significant strengths but also some challenges. The outcomes of this case study point to its potential and value within nursing and other professional programmes

Poor neural and perceptual phoneme discrimination during acoustic variation in dyslexia

Whereas natural acoustic variation in speech does not compromise phoneme discrimination in healthy adults, it was hypothesized to be a challenge for developmental dyslexics. We investigated dyslexics’ neural and perceptual discrimination of native language phonemes during acoustic variation. Dyslexics and non-dyslexics heard /æ/ and /i/ phonemes in a context with fo variation and then in a context without it. Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a responses to phoneme changes were recorded with electroencephalogram to compare groups during ignore and attentive listening. perceptual phoneme discrimination in the variable context was evaluated with hit-ratios and reaction times. MMN/N2bs were diminished in dyslexics in the variable context. Hit-ratios were smaller in dyslexics than controls. MMNs did not differ between groups in the context without variation. These results suggest that even distinctive vowels are challenging to discriminate for dyslexics when the context resembles natural variability of speech. This most likely reflects poor categorical perception of phonemes in dyslexics. Difficulties to detect linguistically relevant invariant information during acoustic variation in speech may contribute to dyslexics’ deficits in forming native language phoneme representations during infancy. Future studies should acknowledge that simple experimental paradigms with repetitive stimuli can be insensitive to dyslexics’ speech processing deficits.Peer reviewe

Safety limitations of MR-HIFU treatment near interfaces : a phantom validation

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Luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsitykset oppilaiden lahjakkuudesta, heidän opettamisestaan sekä omista valmiuksistaan opettaa lahjakkaita oppilaita

Tiivistelmä. Nykypäivänä yhä useammassa luokassa on lahjakkaita oppilaita, joiden opetuksesta ja tukemisesta vastaavat luokanopettajat. Ilman oikeanlaisia tukemisen keinoja oppilaan lahjakkuus ei pääse kehittymään täyteen mittaansa, vaan se voi pahimmassa tapauksessa jopa hiipua. Jotta opetaajat pystyisivät tukemaan lahjakkaita oppilaita oikealla tavalla, tulee heillä olla tarpeeksi tietoa aiheesta. Luokanopettajakoulutus tulisi antaa valmiuksia opettaa kaiken tasoisia oppilaita, mutta antaako se? Tämän pro gradu tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsityksiä lahjakkuudesta, lahjakkaista oppilaista, lahjakkaiden oppilaiden opettamisesta sekä heidän omista valmiuksistaan opettaa lahjakkaita oppilaita. Tutkielma on toteutettu fenomenografisena tutkimuksena ja aineisto kerättiin puolistrukturoidun haastattelun avulla. Aineisto koostui seitsemästä maisterivaiheen luokanopettajaopiskelijan haastattelusta (N=7). Aineisto kerättiin kevään 2021 aikana. Analyysi tapahtui fenomenografisen analyysin avulla. Tutkielman tuloksien mukaan luokanopettajaopiskelijat käsittävät lahjakkuuden olevan jollainlailla synnynnäinen asia. Oppilaassa lahjakkuus käsitetään näkyvän muun muassa nopeutena työskentelyssä ja oppimisessa. Luokanopettajaopiskelijat käsittävät oppilaan lahjakkuuden tulevan ilmi myös oppilaan häiriökäytöksenä, joka johtuu oppilaan tylsistyttyä helppoihin tehtäviin. Lahjakkaiden oppilaiden opettaminen käsitettiin olevan haastavaan johtuen useammasta eri syystä. Yhdeksi syyksi nousi sopivien materiaalien puute sekä se, että lahjakkaiden opettaminen tuottaa lisätöitä opettajalle. Omat valmiutensa opettaa lahjakkaita oppilaita luokanopettajaopiskeijat käsittivät huonoiki. Opiskelijoiden käsityksen mukaan luokanopettajakoulutuksesta ei juurikaan ole saanut tietoa lahjakkaiden opettamisesta. Tutkielman tulokset antavat saman suuntaisia tuloksi, kuin tutkimukset, joiden kohde ryhmänä ovat olleet luokanopettajat. Aihe on ajankohtainen ja sitä tulisi tutkia enemmän erityisesti luokanopettajakoulutuksen näkökulmasta. Tutkielman pienuus vaikuttaa sen luotettavuuteen eikä yleistyksiä tutkielmasta voida tehdä, mutta tutkielma tarjoaa hyvän pohjan tuleville tutkimuksille

Associations between cognition and employment outcomes after epilepsy surgery

Objectives: Previous studies have shown that younger age, higher education, and seizure freedom after epilepsy surgery are associated with employment. However, very few studies have investigated associations with cognition and employment status in epilepsy surgery patients.Methods: This retrospective study consists of 46 adult patients, who underwent resective epilepsy surgery in the Helsinki University Hospital between 2010 and 2018 and who had been assessed by a neuropsychologist prior to surgery and 6 months after surgery using a systematic test battery. In addition to neuropsychological evaluation, neurologists assessed the patients prior to surgery and followed up the patients up to 24 months after the surgery and evaluated work status of the patients. Logistic regression models were used to assess the effects of cognition on changes in employment status, while controlling for age and education. Results: Out of the 46 patients 38 (82.6%) were seizure free and 7 (15.2%) had their seizures reduced 2 years postsurgically. From prior to surgery to 2 years postsurgery, use of antiseizure medication was reduced in most of the patients, mean reduction of the dosage being 26.9%. Employment status improved in 10 (21.7%) patients, remained unchanged in 27 (58.7%) and worsened in 3 (6.5%). An additional 6 patients were already not working prior to surgery. Subsequent analyses are based on the subsample of 37 patients whose employment status improved or remained unchanged. Mistakes in executive function tasks (p = 0.048) and working memory performance (p = 0.020) differentiated between the group whose employment status remained similar and those who were able to improve their employment status. Epilepsy surgery outcome or changes in antiseizure medication (ASM) use were not associated with changes in employment status.Conclusions: In the subsample of 37 patients, errors in executive function tasks and poorer working memory differentiated patients whose employment status did not change from those patients who could improve their employment status. Problems in executive function and working memory tasks might hinder performance in a complex work environment. When assessing the risks and opportunities in returning to work after surgery, difficulties in working memory and executive function performance should be taken into consideration as they may predispose the patient to challenges at work.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe