92 research outputs found
Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP): Randomized trial to assess the effects of lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol among 9,438 patients with chronic kidney disease
No full textLee Silverman voice treatment versus NHS speech and language therapy versus control for dysarthria in people with Parkinson's disease (PD COMM): pragmatic, UK based, multicentre, three arm, parallel group, unblinded, randomised controlled trial.
No full textTo assess the clinical effectiveness of two speech and language therapy approaches versus no speech and language therapy for dysarthria in people with Parkinson's disease. Pragmatic, UK based, multicentre, three arm, parallel group, unblinded, randomised controlled trial. The speech and language therapy interventions were delivered in outpatient or home settings between 26 September 2016 and 16 March 2020. 388 people with Parkinson's disease and dysarthria. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups (1:1:1): 130 to Lee Silverman voice treatment (LSVT LOUD), 129 to NHS speech and language therapy, and 129 to no speech and language therapy. LSVT LOUD consisted of four, face-to-face or remote, 50 min sessions each week delivered over four weeks. Home based practice activities were set for up to 5-10 mins daily on treatment days and 15 mins twice daily on non-treatment days. Dosage for the NHS speech and language therapy was determined by the local therapist in response to the participants' needs (estimated from prior research that NHS speech and language therapy participants would receive an average of one session per week over six to eight weeks). Local practices for NHS speech and language therapy were accepted, except for those within the LSVT LOUD protocol. Analyses were based on the intention to treat principle. The primary outcome was total score at three months of self-reported voice handicap index. People who received LSVT LOUD reported lower voice handicap index scores at three months after randomisation than those who did not receive speech and language therapy (-8.0 points (99% confidence interval -13.3 to -2.6); P<0.001). No evidence suggests a difference in voice handicap index scores between NHS speech and language therapy and no speech and language therapy (1.7 points (-3.8 to 7.1); P=0.43). Patients in the LSVT LOUD group also reported lower voice handicap index scores than did those randomised to NHS speech and language therapy (-9.6 points (-14.9 to -4.4); P<0.001). 93 adverse events (predominately vocal strain) were reported in the LSVT LOUD group, 46 in the NHS speech and language therapy group, and none in the no speech and language therapy group. No serious adverse events were recorded. LSVT LOUD was more effective at reducing the participant reported impact of voice problems than was no speech and language therapy and NHS speech and language therapy. NHS speech and language therapy showed no evidence of benefit compared with no speech and language therapy. ISRCTN registry ISRCTN12421382. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Technology-based assessment of collaborative problem-solving skills: a bibliometric analysis and review
No full textClassroom instruction in the 21st century embraces collaborative problem-solving as a vital student skill. This study systematically reviews the existing literature on this topic to identify and analyze the current trends in technology-based assessment of CPS skills research. For this study, bibliometric analysis was conducted using Vosviewer analysis. Moreover, visualization and bibliographic software programs were utilized to examine the present status of CPS research. The study sample consisted of Web of Science articles published between 2014 and 2024 ( N = 2,247; exclusion criteria: non-English-language studies published before 2014; inclusion criteria: meta-analysis articles included). We used the following search keywords: CPS skills, collaborative, and technology-based assessment. The findings revealed that the publication in the field of CPS began declining after peaking in 2019, with a particularly sharp drop in 2024. The findings also showed that Gwo-Jen Hwang was the most influential author, having an h-index of 4, a g-index of 4, and a total citation of 94 citations across four publications. Furthermore, most research concentrated on junior secondary school learners, indicating a particular emphasis on this group, according to a systematic evaluation of 20 publications that satisfied the specific exclusion criteria. An examination of keyword patterns showed that, between 2014 and 2024, the emphasis of research on problem-solving and collaborative learning significantly changed, with distinct terms becoming less and less frequent. The most common method in CPS assessments was the human-to-human interaction approach
An exploration of the effects of group summative assessment marking on higher education students’ overall marks
No full textGroupwork and group summative assessment (GSA) are important learning, teaching and assessment methods used by many educational institutions, not just universities. The differences between the marks that HEI students were awarded for their own independent individual summative assessment (IISA) work and their GSA marks were explored.
The study topic presented itself while the author was contemplating studying for a first degree, when it became apparent that group working and group summative assessment was included in summative assessment methods used in the chosen programme.
Three data sources were from UK undergraduates and graduates, and one was from Australian PG students. Module marks data were collected from over 4000 HE students. They were divided into eighteen faculty/year data sets from four HEI sources.
A systematic difference was found between the distributions of GSA and IISA marks, supporting Lejk et al. (1999). Lower IISA ability students scored higher in GSA modules than in IISA modules. Higher IISA ability students scored lower in GSA modules.
In addition, the mean GSA mark was higher than the mean IISA mark. The standard deviation of the GSA marks was lower than the SD of the IISA marks. Both of these findings support Downie (2001). The relationship was found to vary between the data sets, modules, assessment items and especially between faculties.
The results and conclusions from this study will empower stakeholders, enabling them to be better informed in their choice of first-degree study programmes. They will also allow the use and impact of GSA to be more transparent and better understood, leading to further research and improvement in practice
Childhood socioeconomic position and objectively measured physical capability levels in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis
No full text<p><b>Background:</b> Grip strength, walking speed, chair rising and standing balance time are objective measures of physical capability that characterise current health and predict survival in older populations. Socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood may influence the peak level of physical capability achieved in early adulthood, thereby affecting levels in later adulthood. We have undertaken a systematic review with meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that adverse childhood SEP is associated with lower levels of objectively measured physical capability in adulthood.</p>
<p><b>Methods and Findings:</b> Relevant studies published by May 2010 were identified through literature searches using EMBASE and MEDLINE. Unpublished results were obtained from study investigators. Results were provided by all study investigators in a standard format and pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. 19 studies were included in the review. Total sample sizes in meta-analyses ranged from N = 17,215 for chair rise time to N = 1,061,855 for grip strength. Although heterogeneity was detected, there was consistent evidence in age adjusted models that lower childhood SEP was associated with modest reductions in physical capability levels in adulthood: comparing the lowest with the highest childhood SEP there was a reduction in grip strength of 0.13 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.06, 0.21), a reduction in mean walking speed of 0.07 m/s (0.05, 0.10), an increase in mean chair rise time of 6% (4%, 8%) and an odds ratio of an inability to balance for 5s of 1.26 (1.02, 1.55). Adjustment for the potential mediating factors, adult SEP and body size attenuated associations greatly. However, despite this attenuation, for walking speed and chair rise time, there was still evidence of moderate associations.</p>
<p><b>Conclusions:</b> Policies targeting socioeconomic inequalities in childhood may have additional benefits in promoting the maintenance of independence in later life.</p>
Researching the mental health needs of hard-to-reach groups: managing multiple sources of evidence
No full textBackground: common mental health problems impose substantial challenges to patients, carers, and health care systems. A range of interventions have demonstrable efficacy in improving the lives of people experiencing such problems. However many people are disadvantaged, either because they are unable to access primary care, or because access does not lead to adequate help. New methods are needed to understand the problems of access and generate solutions. In this paper we describe our methodological approach to managing multiple and diverse sources of evidence, within a research programme to increase equity of access to high quality mental health services in primary care.Methods: we began with a scoping review to identify the range and extent of relevant published material, and establish key concepts related to access. We then devised a strategy to collect - in parallel - evidence from six separate sources: a systematic review of published quantitative data on access-related studies; a meta-synthesis of published qualitative data on patient perspectives; dialogues with local stakeholders; a review of grey literature from statutory and voluntary service providers; secondary analysis of patient transcripts from previous qualitative studies; and primary data from interviews with service users and carers.We synthesised the findings from these diverse sources, made judgements on key emerging issues in relation to needs and services, and proposed a range of potential interventions. These proposals were debated and refined using iterative electronic and focus group consultation procedures involving international experts, local stakeholders and service users.Conclusions: our methods break new ground by generating and synthesising multiple sources of evidence, connecting scientific understanding with the perspectives of users, in order to develop innovative ways to meet the mental health needs of under-served group
Investigating the Blazar TXS 0506+056 through Sharp Multiwavelength Eyes during 2017-2019
No full textFunding Information: We would like to thank the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias for the excellent working conditions at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. The financial support of the German BMBF, MPG, and HGF; the Italian INFN and INAF; the Swiss National Fund SNF; the ERDF under the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) (PID2019-104114RB-C31, PID2019-104114RB-C32, PID2019-104114RB-C33, PID2019-105510GB-C31,PID2019-107847RB-C41, PID2019-107847RB-C42, PID2019-107847RB-C44, PID2019-107988GB-C22); the Indian Department of Atomic Energy; the Japanese ICRR, the University of Tokyo, JSPS, and MEXT; the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, National RI Roadmap Project DO1-400/18.12.2020 and the Academy of Finland grant nr. 320045 is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Spanish Centro de Excelencia “Severo Ochoa” (SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2017-0709, CEX2019-000920-S), the Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu” (CEX2019-000918-M, MDM-2015-0509-18-2) and by the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya; by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project 13.12.1.3.02; by the DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB823/C4 and SFB876/C3; the Polish National Research Centre grant UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00382; and by the Brazilian MCTIC, CNPq and FAPERJ. E.P. acknowledges funding from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) through the “Dipartimenti di eccellenza” project Science of the universe. M.C. has received financial support through the Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship Programme from la Caixa Banking Foundation, grant No. LCF/BQ/LI18/11630012. This research has made use of data from the OVRO 40 m monitoring program, which was supported in part by NASA grants NNX08AW31G, NNX11A043G, and NNX14AQ89G, and NSF grants AST-0808050 and AST-1109911, and private funding from Caltech and the MPIfR. This publication makes use of data obtained at Metsähovi Radio Observatory, operated by Aalto University in Finland. The authors would like to thank the anonymous referee for their comments that improved the present manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.The blazar TXS 0506+056 got into the spotlight of the astrophysical community in 2017 September, when a high-energy neutrino detected by IceCube (IceCube-170922A) was associated at the 3σ level with a 3-ray flare from this source. This multi-messenger photon-neutrino association remains, as per today, the most significant association ever observed. TXS 0506+056 was a poorly studied object before the IceCube-170922A event. To better characterize its broadband emission, we organized a multiwavelength campaign lasting 16 months (2017 November to 2019 February), covering the radio band (Metsähovi, OVRO), the optical/UV (ASAS-SN, KVA, REM, Swift/UVOT), the X-rays (Swift/XRT, NuSTAR), the high-energy 3 rays (Fermi/LAT), and the very high-energy (VHE) 3 rays (MAGIC). In 3 rays, the behavior of the source was significantly different from the behavior in 2017: MAGIC observations show the presence of flaring activity during 2018 December, while the source only shows an excess at the 4σ level during the rest of the campaign (74 hr of accumulated exposure); Fermi/LAT observations show several short (on a timescale of days to a week) flares, different from the long-term brightening of 2017. No significant flares are detected at lower energies. The radio light curve shows an increasing flux trend that is not seen in other wavelengths. We model the multiwavelength spectral energy distributions in a lepto-hadronic scenario, in which the hadronic emission emerges as Bethe-Heitler and pion-decay cascade in the X-rays and VHE 3 rays. According to the model presented here, the 2018 December 3-ray flare was connected to a neutrino emission that was too brief and not bright enough to be detected by current neutrino instruments.Peer reviewe
Testing models of collaboration among high school science teachers in an electronic environment
No full textTeacher collaboration is one of the strategies for encouraging teaches to work together to achieve their common ends. In a complex modern world, teachers rarely have time to collaborate with each other. E-mail and Internet technology encourages teacher collaboration to emerge with personal interaction. E-mail is rapid, permitting responses within the same day or even a few hours. On the network, teachers can seek advice from teachers on other campuses and around the world, and at the same time, they can build their relationship with other users. In Western Australia, an e-mail network for science curriculum leaders was established in both primary and secondary schools. In 1998, a study showed that 93 heads of science departments in government high schools were connected to this e-mail network, and more than two-thirds of them had their computers connected to the World Wide Web.
This study aims to: firstly, test Fishbough's models of collaboration among high school science teachers in an electronic environment (e-mail and Internet); and secondly, presents a detailed science web site analysis in terms of the potential of these websites to foster collaboration. The investigation is divided into two distinct studies: Study One is a survey of the teachers' perceptions of collaboration via the Internet and Study Two is a detailed science website analysis.
Study One employed both mail questionnaire and face-to-face interview techniques as methods of data collection. The Science Teacher Collaboration via E-mail and Internet Questionnaire was developed and used to collect data on models of collaboration and interaction perspective of collaborative relationships via the Internet of science teachers at the selected schools. The information from quantitative analysis was used to compose the interview schedule. The follow-up interview was conducted with science teachers who agreed to be interviewed at the sample schools.
Study Two adopted a content analysis technique for analysis of data collected from the two kinds of science websites, specific science websites for science teachers and science websites for general audiences from five chosen continents, Australia, Asia, Europe, America and Africa.
The study found that the Consulting model of collaboration is frequently used by science teachers and science web sites from five chosen continents
Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research (IPCOR) registry: cohort profile
No full text\ua9 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. PURPOSE: To describe the Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research (IPCOR) registry. The cohort was collected to inform and improve the prostate cancer journey of men in Ireland. PARTICIPANTS: Established in 2015, IPCOR was a unique large-scale prospective cohort study registering men with prostate cancer in Ireland. From 2016 to 2020, IPCOR collected data on 6816 men who were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer across 16 hospitals, both public and private. A comprehensive clinical dataset was collected, capturing detailed information on men\u27s diagnosis, treatments and follow-up. In addition, a subset of 873 men completed patient-reported outcome measures. FINDINGS TO DATE: The IPCOR study has revealed several key insights into prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment in Ireland. The data indicate a high rate of diagnosis through opportunistic Prostate-Specific Antigen screening, with many cases identified at an early stage. FUTURE PLANS: IPCOR invites collaboration from the global cancer research community to use this resource to advance prostate cancer research and improve patient outcomes worldwide. IPCOR aims to continue updating long-term survival follow-up data for this cohort. It also plans to continue its collaborative approach with patients, engaging with the Lived Experience Advisory Panel in interpreting results emerging from this dataset. Moving forward, IPCOR is planning its next phase of the project, IPCOR 2.0. This will be a prospective, longitudinal, multi-centre clinical quality registry and biorepository
The Micro Geopolitics of (Eco)Tourism: Competing Discourses and Collaboration in New Zealand and Brazil
No full textDVD Slideshow disc of supplementary material available with the print copy of this thesis, held at the University of Waikato Library.This social science, interdisciplinary research deals with 'competing discourses' and 'collaboration'. The thesis examines issues of power in (eco)tourism development as manifested in the discursive construction and positionality of local stakeholders. It then inquires whether collaborative schemes can bridge the various interest groups dealing with nature tourism activities in a way that they can expand social, economic and environmental benefits. The language they use, the context they live in, and their relationships and interactions are systematically deconstructed to unveil possible collaborative models for conflict resolution that can advance the practices of (eco)tourism as well as bring collective gains regionally. The study maps the micro geopolitics that exist in all levels of ecotourism development: in its conceptualisation, design, planning and management.
Focusing on nodes of conflict and nodes of collaboration, case studies were chosen in New Zealand and in Brazil that encompass public and private actors in (eco)tourism such as government agencies and small-scale tour operators. The 100% Pure New Zealand campaign, Kuaka New Zealand Education Travel, and Silves and Itacar in Brazil are investigated in depth. The researcher is concerned with the values, perceptions and attitudes of local actors about the role and importance of (eco)tourism as a concentration area for conservationist networks.
The author is skeptical about the constructions of (eco)tourism outside the context of local stakeholders that are 'imported' or imposed on them in a way that it increases pre-existing tensions and conflicts. With many cases in the literature showing that (eco)tourism lacks an institutional archetype to deliver all its promises, it is plausible to talk about nature-based tourism instead. However, the claim is not that simple, because ecotourism entails contentious issues; it is a complex activity as one takes it for social inclusion and as a tool for regional economic development. The author advocates that representative collaboration and partnerships can ease the move from destructive to constructive conflicts in (eco)tourism. Ecotourism is a complex activity as one uses it for social inclusion and as a tool for regional economic development. The author argues that the way (eco)tourism has been envisaged demands participatory managing structures such as local environmental governance (LEG) and deliberative associational spaces. One of the assumptions is that '(eco)tourism' can become even more meaningful and functional in its conservationist mission if locally discursively constructed, negotiated, and consensually implemented.
For deconstructing the cases, 'critical contextual discourse analysis' (CCDA) was developed. It is a methodological approach and tool used to shed light on textual production (written or spoken), consumption and interpretation, and its influences on social practices within a specific regional context. Social constructionism and theory of collaboration conceptually introduce the case. The author adopted a 'critical realist' stand. In the analysis, collaborative adaptive management, triple bottom line, corporate social responsibility, accreditation programmes, and the importance of environmental education for human attachment to nature are discussed as a background. On the whole, 17 interviewees in New Zealand and 42 in Brazil contributed to this study. Yet, in order to contrast statements on the ground, questionnaires were sent to 37 tour operators in New Zealand. Secondary qualitative and quantitative data significantly added to the investigation, helping to validate or refute preliminary assumptions
- …
