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Relationships and sex education in special schools: highlighting the need for safeguarding for children with learning disabilities
No full textSex education is a key aspect of safeguarding, particularly for children with learning disabilities who are significantly more at risk of sexual abuse. To contribute to research in the field of sex education of children with learning disabilities, we examined teachers’ perceptions of how Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education programmes are taught in Special Schools and to what extent children can be supported through these programmes. This small-scale study involved in-depth interviews with five special school teachers in England. Thematic analysis identified two main themes: the first theme covered key aspects of sex education and included the subtopics of delivering sex education; the age for receiving sex education; the place of receiving sex education; and the person who delivers sex education. The second theme was that of protection and prevention, with the subtopics of age for receiving sexual abuse prevention programmes; programmes, and how to better protect children with learning disabilities from sexual abuse. Study findings highlight ways in which schools can strengthen their practices, with the goal of supporting children with learning disabilities to protect themselves from abuse as well as offering a foundation for further research and resource development.</p
Principles governing the effects of sensory loss on human abilities: an integrative review
No full textBlindness or deafness can significantly influence sensory abilities in intact modalities, affecting communication, orientation and navigation. Explanations for why certain abilities are enhanced and others degraded include: crossmodal cortical reorganization enhances abilities by providing additional neural processing resources; and sensory processing is impaired for tasks where calibration from the normally intact sense is required for good performance. However, these explanations are often specific to tasks or modalities, not accounting for why task-dependent enhancement or degradation are observed. This paper investigates whether sensory systems operate according to a theoretical framework comprising seven general principles (the perceptual restructuring hypothesis) spanning the various modalities. These principles predict whether an ability will be enhanced or degraded following sensory loss. Evidence from a wide range of studies is discussed, to assess the validity of the principles across different combinations of impaired sensory modalities (deafness or blindness) and intact modalities (vision, audition, touch, olfaction). It is concluded that sensory systems do operate broadly according to the principles of the framework, but with some exceptions.</p
The optimal cut-off threshold of soluble suppressor of tumorigenicity 2 for prognostication in acute decompensated heart failure
No full textSoluble Suppressor of Tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) is a member of the interleukin-1 receptor superfamily that primarily reflect cardiac fibrosis and remodelling in Heart Failure (HF). It has been shown to be a promising prognostic biomarker in chronic HF and recommended as an additional test for risk stratification of HF in the 2017 ACC/AHA/HFSA guidance. A sST2 concentration of 35ng/ml was suggested to be an important prognostic cut-off value by the International ST2 Consensus Panel. While prognostic capability of the biomarker was also demonstrated in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), the threshold for this is less well characterised...</p
Turn to the Wind
No full textFeeling cut off and cast out from the communities they called home, two crews of veterans sail the coast of the British Isles and navigate the Thames to find peace in being at one with nature and a true sense of belonging and purpose again as part of a team.</p
Investigation of the contribution of non-canonical inflammasome activation to LPS-induced foam cell formation in macrophages
No full textBacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been shown to promote the accumulation of cytosolic lipid droplets in macrophages, converting them into so-called ‘foam cells’. This process may contribute to atherosclerosis, but it is not clear how LPS signalling connects to lipid metabolism in macrophages. In this project, the hypothesis that detection of LPS via the non-classical caspase-11 inflammasome may contribute to macrophage foam cell formation was investigated using small molecule inhibitors, gene knockout and overexpression experiments.Supportive of the hypothesis, foam cell formation was increased by transfection of LPS into the cytosol of macrophages, in comparison to exposure without transfection. LPS was also found to both prime and activate caspase-11 at later timepoints (>48 h) without requirement for transfection, suggesting that it can enter the cell by natural means. Two different inhibitors of caspase-11, wedelactone and scutellarin, significantly blunted lipid accumulation in response to LPS treatment. LPS-induced lipid accumulation was lower, but not completely absent, in a Tlr4-/- macrophage cell-line in comparison to wild-type control cells. Further investigation using Asc-/- macrophages showed that there is no requirement for the classical inflammasome for this process to occur.Bioinformatics analysis revealed potential caspase-4 cleavage sites in the lipid regulatory proteins sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)1a, SREBP1c, and SREBP2. Overexpression of human caspase-4 in HEK-293 cells by transfection successfully replicated the gasdermin-D cleavage and pyroptosis responses of non-classical inflammasomes in response to LPS. However, as a FLAG tagged SREBP construct did not express well in this system, it remains unclear if SREBPs may be cleaved by caspase-4 activation.The present findings suggest that caspase-11 signalling contributes to LPS-induced lipid accumulation in macrophages cultured in vitro. Further experiments using in vivo studies of caspase-11 knockout mice will be necessary to test this hypothesis further.</p
Engaging with immigrant students’ voices in the school environment: an analysis of policy documents through school websites
No full textBackground: For students to feel happy and supported in school, it is important that their views are taken seriously and integrated into school policies. However, limited information is available how the voices of immigrant students are considered in European school contexts. This study generated evidence from written documents to ascertain how student voice practices are described at school websites. Methods Between 2 March and 8 April 2021, we reviewed the policy documents publicly available on school websites. The schools located in areas of high immigration in six European countries: Austria, England, Finland, Germany, Romania, and Switzerland. The READ approach was used to guide the steps in the document analysis in the context of policy studies (1) ready the materials, 2) data extraction, 3) data analysis, 4) distil the findings). A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches with descriptive statistics (n, %, Mean, SD, range) was used for analysis. Results A total of 412 documents (305 schools) were extracted. Based on reviewing school websites, reviewers’strongly agreed’ in seven documents (2%) that information related to seeking student voices could be easily found. On the contrary, in 247 documents (60%), reviewers strongly indicated that information related to seeking student voices was missing. No clear characteristics could be specified to identify those schools were hearing students’ voices is well documented. The most common documents including statements related to student voice were anti-bullying or violence prevention strategies (75/412) and mission statements (72/412). Conclusions Our document analysis based on publicly accessible school websites suggest that student voices are less frequently described in school written policy documents. Our findings provide a baseline to further monitor activities, not only at school level but also to any governmental and local authorities whose intention is to serve the public and openly share their values and practices with community members. A deeper understanding is further needed about how listening to student voices is realized in daily school practices.</p
Does a nature walk improve state body appreciation in children?
No full textThe available evidence suggests that exposure to natural environments promotes more positive body image, but to date this research is limited to adult populations. Conversely, it is not currently known whether nature exposure has similar effects in children. To answer this question, we invited two groups of children in Poland – matched in terms of age, gender identities, and racialised status – to go for either a walk in a natural environment (n = 80) or a built environment (n = 81). Before and after the walks, they were asked to complete a measure of state body appreciation, adapted for completion by children. The results of a mixed analysis of variance and tests of simple effects indicated that children who went for a walk in the natural environment reported a significant improvement to state body appreciation (d = 0.35), whereas those who went for a walk in the built environment did not (d = 0.04). The results also showed no significant impact of gender identity (girls vs. boys) or age (middle vs. late childhood) on this finding. In discussing our findings, we acknowledge the preliminary nature of the present study, suggest directions for extending our work, and consider the implications of our work in terms of promoting positive body image in children.</p
Teleaudiology Today: Revolutionizing Hearing Care Practices
No full textIn recent times, teleaudiology has emerged as a critical field in audiology, gaining unprecedented momentum due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world faced these unique challenges, the audiology profession experienced a pressing need for innovation, particularly in the realm of teleaudiology. Though the technology and the concept had been available, its urgency and importance skyrocketed due to the restrictive physical distancing measures. Major strides were taken in the development and expansion of teleaudiology practices, significantly enhancing clinician and patient openness to this approach to service delivery. As editors of “Teleaudiology Today: Remote Assessment and Management of Hearing Loss,” we recognized the growing demand for practical guidance in this area. Our book is therefore designed as a practical guide that offers a comprehensive overview of teleaudiology focusing on adults with hearing loss, aiming to serve as a crucial resource for audiologists and students navigating the changing landscape of hearing care. </p
"What are the challenges faced by primary school teachers to teach the new computing curriculum in a multi academy trust?"
No full textComputing was introduced to the curriculum to challenge learners while improving their technical abilities in this fourth industrial revolution. Computing’s classification as a mandatory subject brought challenges to teachers as it led to the requirement for teachers to develop their subject knowledge while improving their technical know-how of the subject. Provision to develop computing teachers’ ability to teach effectively has changed immensely in the last 10 years though teacher confidence remains low.Situated in a multi-academy trust sampled for its convenience, the research is posited within an interpretivist paradigm using a case study methodological approach to explore how teachers view their own professional development since the introduction of computing. The trust implemented a highly funded ICT development strategy aimed, in part, at improving computing teaching and learning. At the same time, a government funded initiative to provide computing professional development to all teachers was introduced, supplementing other programmes that were already in place. It is therefore of great importance for this research to examine how all these factors have affected teacher confidence and development in their teaching.The research findings show that The People’s Academy Trust is a very progressive setting that provides opportunities for the improvement of learning and teaching of computing. There is also evidence showing that confidence in teaching computing goes beyond mere provision of professional development, but also relies on depth of knowledge of subject at conceptual level as well as a corresponding understanding of technology required in the teaching. Results have also shown that where success in teacher confidence has been reported, academy trust ethos has had a big part to play. Collaboration and support have been seen to contribute greatly to better understanding of the computing curriculum.The research concludes by noting how there is acknowledgement that computing is an essential subject and that there is a need for better pooling of and publicising and personalising of strategies designed to improve teacher confidence. This thesis considers the complex relationship between the curriculum, teacher development needs and the place computing has in education.</p
Over-elevation: a Favourable Practice for Cities
No full textThis article takes a broad view of the practice of over-elevation in cities in the context of the climate crisis and the housing emergency</p
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