Patterns of Subject Mix in Higher Education Institutions : A First Empirical Analysis Using the AQUAMETH Database

Teaching and research are organised differently between subject domains: attempts to construct typologies of higher education institutions, however, often do not include quantitative indicators concerning subject mix which would allow systematic comparisons of large numbers of higher education institutions among different countries, as the availability of data for such indicators is limited. In this paper, we present an exploratory approach for the construction of such indicators. The database constructed in the AQUAMETH project, which includes also data disaggregated at the disciplinary level, is explored with the aim of understanding patterns of subject mix. For six European countries, an exploratory and descriptive analysis of staff composition divided in four large domains (medical sciences, engineering and technology, natural sciences and social sciences and humanities) is performed, which leads to a classification distinguishing between specialist and generalist institutions. Among the latter, a further distinction is made based on the presence or absence of a medical department. Preliminary exploration of this classification and its comparison with other indicators show the influence of long term dynamics on the subject mix of individual higher education institutions, but also underline disciplinary differences, for example regarding student to staff ratios, as well as national patterns, for example regarding the number of PhD degrees per 100 undergraduate students. Despite its many limitations, this exploratory approach allows defining a classification of higher education institutions that accounts for a large share of differences between the analysed higher education institutions.

Adolescents' beliefs about marijuana use: a comparison of regular users, past users and never/occasional users.

A questionnaire investigating adolescents' opinions and experiences regarding marijuana use was administered to 163 adolescents and young adults (96 boys and 67 girls) aged 13 to 20 (mean age = 16.8, s.d. = 1.5). Items referred to marijuana and other substances' dangerousness, representations regarding the positive and negative consequences of marijuana use. Responses were compared according to marijuana use status (classified into never/occasional use, current regular use and past regular use). Results show that adolescents' opinions differ according to their experience with marijuana use. Current regular users evaluate marijuana as less dangerous, but alcohol and heroin as more dangerous in comparison with never/occasional and past users. Current and past users are more likely to define marijuana as a medical drug and a plant used in agriculture, and less likely to define it as an illegal drug. Current and past users evaluate marijuana use as a way to cope with stress, to relax to a greater extent than do never/occasional users do. The latter attribute more negative consequences to marijuana use such as diminished driving ability and school performance and a pathway to hard drugs.

Contribution of physical education to overall physical activity.

For many children, physical activity (PA) during physical education (PE) lessons provides an important opportunity for being physically active. Although PA during PE has been shown to be low, little is known about the contribution of PA during PE to overall PA. The aim was therefore to assess children's PA during PE and to determine the contribution of PE to overall PA with special focus on overweight children. Accelerometer measurements were done in 676 children (9.3 ± 2.1 years) over 4-7 days in 59 randomly selected classes. Moderate-and-vigorous PA (MVPA; ≥ 2000 counts/min) during PE (MVPA(PE) ), overall MVPA per day (MVPA(DAY) ), and a comparison of days with and without PE were calculated by a regression model with gender, grade, and weight status (normal vs overweight) as fixed factors and class as a random factor. Children spent 32.8 ± 15.1% of PE time in MVPA. Weight status was not associated to MVPA(PE) . MVPA(PE) accounted for 16.8 ± 8.5% of MVPA(DAY) , and 17.5 ± 8.2% in overweight children. All children were more active on days with PE than on days without PE (differences: 16.1 ± 29.0 min of MVPA(DAY) ; P ≤ 0.001; 13.7 ± 28.0 min for overweight children). Although MVPA(PE) was low, PE played a considerable role in providing PA and was not compensated by reducing extracurricular MVPA.

Implementation of a nutrition education program in a handball team; consequences on nutritional status.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate nutritional status and dietary habits after implementation of a nutritional education program in professional handball players. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Longitudinal study of 14 handball players evaluated with 72-h recall, a questionnaire on food consumption and anthropometric measures during 4 months. The intervention consisted of a nutrition education program. RESULTS: Energy intake was consistently below the recommended allowances. Macronutrient intakes as a percentage of total energy intake were below the recommended allowances for carbohydrates, and above recommended allowances for fats. Nutritional education was followed by a significant increase (p < 0.01) in total energy and macronutrient intakes, with no significant changes in macronutrient or micronutrient intakes after adjustment for energy intake. DISCUSSION: The imbalance in nutrient intake in handball players suggests that detailed re-analysis is needed to determine specific recommendations for this population. Nutritional education with continuous follow-up to monitor athletes' dietary habits may lead them to adopt appropriate nutritional habits to optimize dietary intakes. The lack of specific recommendations for micronutrient intakes in athletes leads to confusion regarding appropriate intakes; biochemical tests that yield normal values (albeit approaching cut-off values for deficiency) may disguise deficient status for some nutrients when strenuous exercise is involved. CONCLUSION: In-depth studies with nutrition education programs that include long-term follow-up are advisable to avoid deficiencies that can lead to irreversible damage in competitive athletes.

An electronic portfolio for quantitative assessment of surgical skills in undergraduate medical education.

BACKGROUND We evaluated a newly designed electronic portfolio (e-Portfolio) that provided quantitative evaluation of surgical skills. Medical students at the University of Seville used the e-Portfolio on a voluntary basis for evaluation of their performance in undergraduate surgical subjects. METHODS Our new web-based e-Portfolio was designed to evaluate surgical practical knowledge and skills targets. Students recorded each activity on a form, attached evidence, and added their reflections. Students self-assessed their practical knowledge using qualitative criteria (yes/no), and graded their skills according to complexity (basic/advanced) and participation (observer/assistant/independent). A numerical value was assigned to each activity, and the values of all activities were summated to obtain the total score. The application automatically displayed quantitative feedback. We performed qualitative evaluation of the perceived usefulness of the e-Portfolio and quantitative evaluation of the targets achieved. RESULTS Thirty-seven of 112 students (33%) used the e-Portfolio, of which 87% reported that they understood the methodology of the portfolio. All students reported an improved understanding of their learning objectives resulting from the numerical visualization of progress, all students reported that the quantitative feedback encouraged their learning, and 79% of students felt that their teachers were more available because they were using the e-Portfolio. Only 51.3% of students reported that the reflective aspects of learning were useful. Individual students achieved a maximum of 65% of the total targets and 87% of the skills targets. The mean total score was 345 ± 38 points. For basic skills, 92% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and all achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer and assistant. For complex skills, 62% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and 98% achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer or assistant. CONCLUSIONS Medical students reported that use of an electronic portfolio that provided quantitative feedback on their progress was useful when the number and complexity of targets were appropriate, but not when the portfolio offered only formative evaluations based on reflection. Students felt that use of the e-Portfolio guided their learning process by indicating knowledge gaps to themselves and teachers.

Accompagnement thérapeutique : le chemin du suivi à long terme [Patient education: the way for long-term follow up]

L'éducation thérapeutique du patient est maintenant parfaitement intégrée dans les soins. Son champ d'application se situe essentiellement dans le domaine des maladies chroniques pour l'acquisition de compétences dans la gestion du traitement, en coopération avec les professionnels. En médecine ambulatoire, patients et soignants se heurtent actuellement aux difficultés du suivi avec sa part d'incertitude, lassitude et de pression économique. La médecine fondée sur les preuves (EBM) et les différents modèles en psychologie de la santé ne nous éclairent que partiellement le chemin. Un nouveau type de démarche réflexive est en train d'émerger. Cette réflexion devrait placer en son centre la notion de relation thérapeutique : entre science et existence. Nous résumons ici ce processus réflexif en cours d'une équipe interdisciplinaire regroupant sciences humaines, art et médecine. Therapeutic education is now perfectly integrated in caring and medicine. Its field of application is primarily in chronic diseases for the acquisition of competences in the management of treatments, in co-operation with health professionals. In ambulatory medicine, patients and health professionals are currently running up against the difficulties of the long-term follow-up with its part of uncertainty, lassitude and economic pressure. EBM and the various models of health psychology light us only partially the way. A new type of reflexive step is emerging. This way of thinking should place in its center the concept of therapeutic relation: between science and being. We summarize here our reflexive process in the course of an interdisciplinary team gathering social sciences, art and medicine

Individual, family and environmental factors associated with pediatric excess weight in Spain: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND There is a growing worldwide trend of obesity in children. Identifying the causes and modifiable factors associated with child obesity is important in order to design effective public health strategies.Our objective was to provide empirical evidence of the association that some individual and environmental factors may have with child excess weight. METHOD A cross-sectional study was performed using multi-stage probability sampling of 978 Spanish children aged between 8 and 17 years, with objectively measured height and weight, along with other individual, family and neighborhood variables. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were calculated. RESULTS In 2012, 4 in 10 children were either overweight or obese with a higher prevalence amongst males and in the 8-12 year age group. Child obesity was associated negatively with the socio-economic status of the adult responsible for the child's diet, OR 0.78 (CI95% 0.59-1.00), girls OR 0.75 (CI95% 0.57-0.99), older age of the child (0.41; CI95% 0.31-0.55), daily breakfast (OR 0.59; p = 0.028) and half an hour or more of physical activity every day. No association was found for neighborhood variables relating to perceived neighborhood quality and safety. CONCLUSION This study identifies potential modifiable factors such as physical activity, daily breakfast and caregiver education as areas for public health policies. To be successful, an intervention should take into account both individual and family factors when designing prevention strategies to combat the worldwide epidemic of child excess weight.

Prevention of congenital Chagas through treatment of girls and women of childbearing age

It is currently unknown whether treatment of Chagas disease decreases the risk of congenital transmission from previously treated mothers to their infants. In a cohort of women with Chagas disease previously treated with benznidazole, no congenital transmission of the disease was observed in their newborns. This finding provides support for the treatment of Chagas disease as early as possible.

Potential of education-based insulin therapy for achievement of good metabolic control: a real-life experience.

Diabet. Med. 28, 539-542 (2011) ABSTRACT: Aims  Achievement of good metabolic control in Type 1 diabetes is a difficult task in routine diabetes care. Education-based flexible intensified insulin therapy has the potential to meet the therapeutic targets while limiting the risk for severe hypoglycaemia. We evaluated the metabolic control and the rate of severe hypoglycaemia in real-life clinical practice in a centre using flexible intensified insulin therapy as standard of care since 1990. Methods  Patients followed for Type 1 diabetes (n = 206) or those with other causes of absolute insulin deficiency (n = 17) in our outpatient clinic were analysed in a cross-sectional study. Mean age (± standard deviation) was 48.9 ± 15.7 years, with diabetes duration of 21.4 ± 14.4 years. Outcome measures were HbA(1c) and frequency of severe hypoglycaemia. Results  Median HbA(1c) was 7.1% (54 mmol/mol) [interquartile range 6.6-7.8 (51-62 mmol/mol)]; a good or acceptable metabolic control with HbA(1c) < 7.0% (53 mmol/mol) or 7.5% (58 mmol/mol) was reached in 43.5 and 64.6% of the patients, respectively. The frequency of severe hypoglycaemic episodes was 15 per 100 patient years: 72.3% of the patients did not experience any such episodes during the past 5 years. Conclusions  Good or acceptable metabolic control is achievable in the majority of patients with Type 1 diabetes or other causes of absolute insulin deficiency in routine diabetes care while limiting the risk for severe hypoglycaemia.