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Previous theoretical frameworks used to research and explain creative design processes tend to privilege individual expression and not address the context in which the process occurs. This is problematic due to the ways in which creative activities are embedded in and shaped by socio-cultural and historic contexts. In this article we focus on the ways in which cultural historic activity theory (CHAT) and its analytical activity systems can be used to reveal creative processes in context. We draw on the tools and concepts of CHAT and data from a study of visual communication design (VCD) students and lecturers situated within a transnational higher education (TNHE) context at a university in China. An analytical framework was constructed to research practices used in creative design process learning. The dynamic nature of CHAT offers design process research methods a set of analytical tools to capture the powerful parts played by artifacts and interactions within specific sociocultural and historic learning contexts.

Language proficiency is highlighted in the literature on the adjustment and security of international students. India is the second top source country for mobile students globally, but few studies have focused explicitly on students from India. The purpose of this study was to examine the English language experiences of Indian students at New Zealand universities. This mixed-method study utilised a questionnaire (n = 109) and interviews (n = 15). Collectively the participants had high levels of confidence and proficiency in English language and adjusted more rapidly than many international students to the new academic environment. Major differences experienced by the participants between India and New Zealand related to unfamiliar forms of academic writing and tasks, and on the role of learning support services. Formal high value assessment was for some the first indication of a problem with writing. While most students adjusted through error-based learning others struggled with argumentation and avoiding plagiarism. These findings have relevance for local and international students. We recommend the use of, and research on, early low-stakes assessment of writing and on effective support services for students transitioning into new academic contexts.

There is substantial research about international postgraduate students but little research about their experiences as parents or their children's experiences. We focus on four postgraduate international students with young children navigating early childhood education and care in New Zealand. A narrative analysis, informed by socio-cultural understandings of learning and post-structuralist understandings of identity, revealed emotional complexities, stress and transformation as parents and children made many transitions. Parents wanted their own culture respected and their host culture decoded. Families experienced tensions around the use of home and host languages as they juggled children's present and future linguistic needs. Supporting international students in their family identity has positive effects for them, their children and their doctoral studies, and hence for universities. Further research about the experiences of international students who are parents and of their children could assist in the formulation of policies to effect such support.

While the experiences of international doctoral students, especially those from Asian countries, have been well researched, fewer studies have explored the experiences of African students in Southern countries like Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. This article reports on doctoral writing and student and supervisor perspectives on English languages in a small study of supervisors and African students in New Zealand. It challenges deficit constructions of African students and illustrates how the growing internationalisation of higher education is adding to the complexities of doctoral writing, raising questions as to how students and supervisors recognise and navigate differences in Englishes and doctoral writing. It makes a number of recommendations about how supervisors might work effectively with African and other doctoral students.

Tissue-engineered implants for bone regeneration require consideration regarding their mineralization and vascularization capacity. Different geometries, such as biomimetic designs and lattices, can influence the mechanical properties and the vascularization capacity of bone-mimicking implants. Negative Embodied Sacrificial Template 3D (NEST3D) printing is a versatile technique across a wide range of materials that enables the production of bone-mimicking scaffolds. In this study, different scaffold motifs (logpile, Voronoi, and trabecular bone) were fabricated via NEST3D printing in polycaprolactone to determine the effect of geometrical design on stiffness (10.44 ± 6.71, 12.61 ± 5.71, and 25.93 ± 4.16 MPa, respectively) and vascularization. The same designs, in a polycaprolactone scaffold only, or when combined with gelatin methacryloyl, were then assessed for their ability to allow the infiltration of blood vessels in a chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay, a costeffective and time-efficient in ovo assay to assess vascularization. Our findings showed that gelatin methacrylolyl alone did not allow new chorioallantoic membrane tissue or blood vessels to infiltrate within its structure. However, polycaprolactone on its own or when combined with gelatin methacrylolyl allowed tissue and vessel infiltration in all scaffold designs. The trabecular bone design showed the greatest mineralized matrix production over the three designs tested. This reinforces our hypothesis that both biomaterial choice and scaffold motifs are crucial components for a bone-mimicking scaffold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nondestructive localization and traceability of polymers by fluorescent tagging has become a valuable tool for biomedical applications. Integration of fluorescent molecule to the pristine polymers could modify polymers' degradation rate which is still unpredictable from a scaffold application standpoint. The current study focused to understand the material perspective of fluorescently tagged biodegradable polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly (d,l‐lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA) with fluorescein amine isomer I (FITC). PCL‐FITC and PLGA‐FITC were characterized using FTIR for surface chemistry analysis and rheology for their mechanical properties. The grafted materials were utilized to form 3‐dimentional scaffolds, and their degradation was monitored under accelerated degradation conditions triggered by pH. It was found that PCL and PCL‐FITC had a very slow degradation rate, when compared to PLGA and PLGA‐FITC. Both the FITC tagged materials displayed a faster degradation rate compared to their respective pristine material. Biocompatibility of the FITC conjugated polymers was tested using human‐adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs) revealing that the sub products from the degradation of the polymers over 7 days did not negatively affect the cellular metabolic activity. This work highlights the significance of initial characterization of fluorescent modified polymers for future biomedical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a significant group of postgraduate international students overlooked by institutions and policymakers, namely those with accompanying partners and children. The economic importance of international students to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America is highlighted. It is argued that an outdated construction of the international student as young and carefree contributes to the pattern of invisibility apparent in data collection systems and in the research literature. Drawing on the NAFSA formula, estimates are calculated for numbers of accompanying family members for five selected countries, and then immigration, education, and health policies pertaining to family members are examined.

The transfer of learning from the gym to other areas of participants' lives has always been a core component of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model. The degree to which transfer of learning is successfully facilitated in the reality of Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model-based teaching and coaching is, however, uncertain. The research findings are mixed both in the commitment to transfer of learning and the level of success that has been achieved. The interest in transfer of learning is not restricted to the area of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model or physical education and sport in general, but is an area of strong academic interest with a long history of research and debate. This article draws on the knowledge and understandings of transfer of learning from this wider literature to explore ways in which to help facilitate transfer of learning for practitioners of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that transfer ability (positive and negative) varies depending on the nature of the problems, using the knowledge transfer matrix, as well as being dependent on the individual differences of the learner. A total of 178 participants from the United States and New Zealand completed measures of prior knowledge, pattern recognition, a positive transfer problem, and a negative transfer problem. Nearly 11% of participants could not successfully solve the base problem after the initial learning phase. The problem condition was a significant predictor of positive transfer success, while no significant differences were found for negative transfer, although, there was ample evidence of negative transfer. Furthermore, prior knowledge was only a significant predictor for problems in which the structural features between the problems were different. Future directions are discussed in regard to the initial learning phase, differences in transfer success, and the need for measures of negative transfer.

How do teachers and teaching appear to international students moving from the home country component of a twinning programme to the overseas partner university? This narrative study explored the perspectives of five Vietnamese students in their first months of studying for a commerce degree at a New Zealand university, having completed the first two years of their degree in Vietnam. The narratives drew on two interviews with each student, which were conducted and transcribed in Vietnamese, then translated into English. The lens of positioning theory was used to explore the students' experiences of teaching and learning in the new setting. Self-positioning and other positioning in narratives revealed that the students initially experienced a period of pedagogical dissonance when their new teachers did not act in familiar ways. As a result, they initially positioned their teachers as uncaring and themselves as being forced to "self-study". Within a short time, however, the students identified requirements for high achievement in the new environment and repositioned themselves in agentic ways and their teachers in a more positive light. This research has the potential to inform the professional development of teachers working in intercultural settings, and to support international students studying in a foreign country.

PURPOSE Financial toxicity of cancer treatment is well described in the literature, including characterizations of its risk factors, manifestations, and consequences. There is, however, limited research on interventions, particularly those at the hospital level, to address the issue. METHODS From March 1, 2019, to February 28, 2022, a multidisciplinary team conducted a three-cycle Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) process to develop, test, and implement an electronic medical record (EMR) order set to directly refer patients to a hospital-based financial assistance program. The cycles included an assessment of the efficacy of our current practice in connecting patients experiencing financial hardship with assistance, the development and piloting of the EMR referral order, and the broad implementation of the order set across our institution. RESULTS In PDSA cycle 1, we found that approximately 25% of patients at our institution experienced some form of financial hardship, but most patients were not connected to available resources because of our referral mechanism. In PDSA cycle 2, the pilot referral order set was deemed feasible and received positive feedback. Over the 12-month study period (March 1, 2021-February 28, 2022) of PDSA cycle 3, 718 orders were placed for 670 unique patients across interdisciplinary providers from55 treatment areas. These referrals resulted in at least $850,000 in US dollars (USD) in financial aid in 38 patients (mean = $22,368 USD). CONCLUSION The findings from our three-cycle PDSA quality improvement project demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of interdisciplinary efforts to develop a hospital-level financial toxicity intervention. A simple referral mechanism can empower providers to connect patients in need with available resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International student exchange programs are widely promoted in higher education as a means of developing desirable intercultural skills and understanding among students. This multimethod study employed data from student surveys, tertiary institution case studies, and interviews with key stakeholders to identify factors that inhibited or promoted the uptake of international exchange programs among New Zealand students. These factors include the development of early understanding of the benefits of studying abroad; ongoing support to students; social, cultural, and linguistic capabilities; and how effectively overseas study was integrated into student degree programs. Implications of these findings for exchange programs in general are discussed in the context of future strategic development of expanded, more diverse opportunities for study overseas. (Contains 1 note and 5 tables.)

Background: Physical activity (PA) declines as children and adolescents age. The purpose of this study was to examine how specific school factors relate to youth PA, TV viewing, and body mass index (BMI). Methods: A sample of 12- to 18-year-old adolescents in 3 cities (N = 165, 53% females, mean age 14.6 [plus or minus] 1.7 years, 44% nonwhite) completed surveys assessing days of physical education (PE) class per week, school equipment accessibility, after-school supervised PA, and after-school field access. Regression analyses were conducted to examine relationships between these school factors and PA at school facilities open to the public (never active vs active), overall PA level (days per week physically active for 60 minutes), BMI z score, and TV watching (hours per week). Results: Adjusting for demographics, days of PE per week and access to school fields after school were correlated with overall PA ([beta] = 0.286, p = 0.002, semipartial correlation 0.236 and [beta] = 0.801, p = 0.016, semipartial correlation 0.186, respectively). The association between after-school field access and overall PA was mediated by use of publicly accessible school facilities for PA. After-school supervised PA and school PA equipment were not associated with overall PA. In adjusted regression analyses including all school factors, days of PE remained correlated to overall PA independent of other school factors ([beta] = 0.264, p = 0.007, semipartial correlation = 0.136). There were no associations between school factors and BMI or TV watching. Conclusions: Based on these study findings, PE is a promising intervention to address improving overall adolescent PA within the school setting. (Contains 2 tables.)

Extrusion printing techniques are widely used across tissue engineering and related fields for producing 3D structures from biocompatible thermoplastics, however the achievable structural complexity and porosity can be limited by the nozzle‐based, layer‐by‐layer deposition process. Here, how this limitation can be overcome through a new technique termed Negative Embodied Sacrificial Template 3D printing is illustrated. It is demonstrated how the negative pattern within a 3D printed object can easily describe geometries that are extremely challenging to extrusion print directly with biomaterials, and at high resolution. Negative patterns in a water‐soluble sacrificial template can be "developed" by casting in a secondary material and dissolving the template, creating exquisitely complex 3D structures including hyper‐branched dendritic structures and open lattices with stiffnesses tuneable over 3 orders of magnitude. The technique is amenable to a plethora of materials from biodegradable thermoplastics (such as polycaprolactone) to resins (including acrylic and epoxy), silicones (including the Sylgard 184 polydimethylsiloxane formulation), ceramics (including hydroxyapatite composites), hydrogels (including agarose and gelatin methacryloyl), low‐melt temperature metal alloys and others. Using an unmodified, consumer‐grade printer, NEST3D printing achieves high resolution, intricate biomaterial structures with potential applications in biomedical implants and tissue engineering scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Applied Polymer Science has published an article titled "Cover Image, Volume 141, Issue 1." The cover image showcases polymeric scaffolds made of polycaprolactone and poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) that have been functionalized with a fluorescent molecule. These scaffolds are being studied for potential tissue engineering applications, and the fluorescent molecule helps monitor their degradation. The graphic was created in collaboration with STUDIO TULUM graphic design sole trader. The article includes contributions from multiple authors, including Dr. Lilith Caballero Aguilar. [Extracted from the article]

Playing online computer games is a common leisure activity for adolescents. The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of how playing these games influences adolescents' development. The method used was interviews with six participants who had played the Massive- Multiplayer-Online-Role-Playing-Game "World of Warcraft" when they were adolescents. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed drawing on grounded theory methods and on factors identified from developmental psychology. From the analysis it appeared that: (1) all six players had played the game differently and found individual ways to express themselves in the game; (2) these individual playstyles seemed to be related to the players' personalities; and (3) in contrast to common claims in the popular media, playing the game probably supported a healthy development by providing social and personal aspects that their normal lives lacked. The main implication of these findings is that it cannot be assumed that all players use the same game in the same way, or that one game has the same effect on all players. While it makes research on the effect of games more complex, this observation is essential in understanding the diverse influences of computer games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteochondral (OC) defects are debilitating joint injuries characterized by the loss of full thickness articular cartilage along with the underlying calcified cartilage through to the subchondral bone. While current surgical treatments can provide some relief from pain, none can fully repair all the components of the OC unit and restore its native function. Engineering OC tissue is challenging due to the presence of the three distinct tissue regions. Recent advances in additive manufacturing provide unprecedented control over the internal microstructure of bioscaffolds, the patterning of growth factors and the encapsulation of potentially regenerative cells. These developments are ushering in a new paradigm of 'multiphasic' scaffold designs in which the optimal micro-environment for each tissue region is individually crafted. Although the adoption of these techniques provides new opportunities in OC research, it also introduces challenges, such as creating tissue interfaces, integrating multiple fabrication techniques and co-culturing different cells within the same construct. This review captures the considerations and capabilities in developing 3D printed OC scaffolds, including materials, fabrication techniques, mechanical function, biological components and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degradable bone implants are designed to foster the complete regeneration of natural tissue after large-scale loss trauma. Polycaprolactone (PCL) and hydroxyapatite (HA) composites are promising scaffold materials with superior mechanical and osteoinductive properties compared to the single materials. However, producing three-dimensional (3D) structures with high HA content as well as tuneable degradability remains a challenge. To address this issue and create homogeneously distributed PCL-nanoHA (nHA) scaffolds with tuneable degradation rates through both PCL molecular weight and nHA concentration, we conducted a detailed characterisation and comparison of a range of PCL-nHA composites across three molecular weight PCLs (14, 45, and 80 kDa) and with nHA content up to 30% w/w. In general, the addition of nHA results in an increase of viscosity for the PCL-nHA composites but has little effect on their compressive modulus. Importantly, we observe that the addition of nHA increases the rate of degradation compared to PCL alone. We show that the 45 and 80 kDa PCL-nHA groups can be fabricated via indirect 3D printing and have homogenously distributed nHA even after fabrication. Finally, the cytocompatibility of the composite materials is evaluated for the 45 and 80 kDa groups, with the results showing no significant change in cell number compared to the control. In conclusion, our analyses unveil several features that are crucial for processing the composite material into a tissue engineered implant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cartilage defects and diseases remain major clinical issues in orthopaedics. Biomanufacturing is now a tangible option for the delivery of bioscaffolds capable of regenerating the deficient cartilage tissue. However, several limitations of in vitro and experimental animal models pose serious challenges to the translation of preclinical findings into clinical practice. Ex vivo models are of great value for translating in vitro tissue engineered approaches into clinically relevant conditions. Our aim is to obtain a viable human osteochondral (OC) model to test hydrogel-based materials for cartilage repair. Here we describe a detailed step-by-step framework for the generation of human OC plugs, their culture in a perfusion device and the processing procedures for histological and advanced microscopy imaging. Our ex vivo OC model fulfils the following requirements: the model is metabolically stable for a relevant culture period of 4 weeks in a perfusion bioreactor, the processing procedures allowed for the analysis of 3 different tissues or materials (cartilage, bone and hydrogel) without compromising their integrity. We determined a protocol and the settings for a non-linear microscopy technique on label free sections. Furthermore, we established a clearing protocol to perform light sheet-based observations on the cartilage layer without the need for tedious and destructive histological procedures. Finally, we showed that our OC system is a clinically relevant in terms of cartilage regeneration potential. In conclusion, this OC model represents a valuable preclinical ex vivo tool for studying cartilage therapies, such as hydrogel-based bioscaffolds, and we envision it will reduce the number of animals needed for in vivo testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]