Search

This study examines teachers' justifications for addressing unplanned controversial issues in the classroom. It builds on the premise that controversial issues arise unexpectedly in the classroom context and that some teachers actively choose to address such issues rather than avoid them. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with teachers from different school contexts in Europe, we found that the justifications need to be understood within a temporal framework characterized by the immediacy of the situation, encompassing the teachers' past experiences and a desired future, unfolding in a specific context in which emotions play a significant role. The justifications are, at the same time, intricately embedded in teachers' personal and professional beliefs and their task perception. Participants' justifications were also guided by their moral convictions so that their actions may be understood as morally motivated responses to what they perceive to be unjust. The results suggest that the extent to which teachers' personal and professional beliefs are aligned and anchored to a justice and equity framework, and what teachers understand by justice and equity, has implications in the classroom. The study proposes a model that can support teachers to reflect on their pedagogical decision-making when addressing unplanned controversial issues in the classroom.

Controversial issues characterise life in democratic societies and they often arise unexpectedly in the classroom, without being planned for by the teacher. However, controversial issues are rarely addressed beyond a mandatory curriculum and are often avoided. The aim of this exploratory study is to investigate what teachers identify and address as unplanned controversial issues in the classroom and the content of such issues. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 12 teachers from primary, secondary and upper-secondary schools across Europe. Unplanned controversial issues identified fell into three categories (1) mainstream controversy, (2) teacher-initiated controversy and (3) controversial pedagogy. Mainstream controversies follow mainstream definitions of controversial issues. In teacher-initiated controversies, teachers reacted to statements made by students, taking a stand against examples of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. Controversial pedagogy refers to instances in which the teachers' behaviour was deemed controversial by the teachers themselves. The content of the unplanned controversial issues that teachers identified and addressed is multi-faceted and draws upon personal, current, cultural and historical dimensions. The findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid, among other things, to the political dimension of education, teacher vulnerability, and who the person in teaching is.

The first European Assembly Election was not governed by a simple electoral law nor by any common electioneering policy. This article evaluates to what extent the rules of the European Election game varied from one country to the next. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Guidelines differ in their recommendations on therapy to prevent gastrointestinal bleeding for patients treated with dual antiplatelet treatment (DAPT). We sought to investigate the effectiveness of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to prevent upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleeding in patients using DAPT following myocardial infarction (MI) in relation to current European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommendations., Methods and Results: We linked Danish nationwide registries to identify patients taking DAPT 7 days following hospital discharge for an acute MI, and excluded individuals on anticoagulation therapy. We used multiple Cox regression modelling, to compute average risk of UGI bleeding in relation to PPI use. The associated treatment efficacy was compared based on guideline risk assessment. We studied 46 301 patients on DAPT after MI. Only 35% of patients at higher risk of UGI bleeding received recommended treatment with a PPI based on the guideline criteria. The 1--year risk of UGI bleeding was 1.0% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.9-1.1%] and 1.7% (CI 1.5-2.0%) for high-risk patients. Overall PPI compared with no therapy, was associated with a risk ratio for UGI bleeding of 0.62 (CI 0.48-0.77) corresponding to an absolute risk difference of 0.44% (CI 0.39-0.48%). Proton pump inhibitor therapy was associated with a similar absolute risk difference [0.47% (CI 0.43-0.51%)] for high-risk patients., Conclusion: Proton pump inhibitor therapy is used less than suggested by guidelines in patients treated with DAPT following MI and was generally associated with reduced risk of UGI bleeding. Considering the overall low risk of bleeding, more focus should be on identifying patients benefiting the most from PPI therapy., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2019. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Purpose: Within the EU RENEB project, seven laboratories have taken part in training and harmonisation activities to strengthen triage gamma-H2AX-based radiation exposure assessment. This has culminated in a second triage biodosimetry exercise., Materials and Methods: Whole blood and separated lymphocyte samples were homogenously irradiated with 60 Co gamma rays at 0.5, 2.5 (blind samples), 0 and 2 Gy (reference samples). Following post-exposure incubations of 4 and 24 h, 16 samples were shipped on ice packs to each partner. The samples were stained and scored for gamma-H2AX foci, using manual and/or automated fluorescence microscope scoring strategies. Dose estimates were obtained and used to assign triage categories to the samples., Results: Average dose estimates across all the laboratories correlated well with true doses. The most accurate assignment of triage category was achieved by manual scoring of the 4-h blood and lymphocyte samples. Only three samples out of a total of 46 were miscategorized in a way that could have adversely effected the clinical management of a radiation casualty., Conclusions: This inter-comparison exercise has demonstrated that following a recent acute radiation exposure, the gamma-H2AX assay could be a useful triage tool that can be successfully applied across a network of laboratories.

Purpose: To conduct a feasibility study on the application of the γ-H2AX foci assay as an exposure biomarker in a prospective multicentre paediatric radiology setting., Materials and Methods: A set of in vitro experiments was performed to evaluate technical hurdles related to biological sample collection in a paediatric radiology setting (small blood sample volume), processing and storing of blood samples (effect of storing blood at 4°C), the reliability of foci scoring for low-doses (merge γ-H2AX/53BP1 scoring), as well as the impact of contrast agent administration as potential confounding factor. Given the exploratory nature of this study and the ethical constraints related to paediatric blood sampling, blood samples from adult volunteers were used for these experiments. In order to test the feasibility of pooling the γ-H2AX data when different centres are involved in an international multicentre study, two intercomparison studies in the low-dose range (10-500 mGy) were performed., Results: Determination of the number of X-ray induced γ-H2AX foci is feasible with one 2 ml blood sample pre- and post-computed tomography (CT) scan. Lymphocyte isolation and fixation on slides is necessary within 5 h of blood sampling to guarantee reliable results. The possible enhancement effect of contrast medium on the induction of DNA DSB in a patient study can be ruled out if radiation doses and the contrast agent concentration are within diagnostic ranges. The intercomparison studies using in vitro irradiated blood samples showed that the participating laboratories, executing successfully the γ-H2AX foci assay in lymphocytes, were able to rank blind samples in order of lowest to highest radiation dose based on mean foci/cell counts. The dose response of all intercomparison data shows that a dose point of 10 mGy could be distinguished from the sham-irradiated control (p = 0.006)., Conclusions: The results demonstrate that it is feasible to apply the γ-H2AX foci assay as a cellular biomarker of exposure in a multicentre prospective study in paediatric CT imaging after validating it in an in vivo international pilot study on paediatric patients.