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In a European project about formative assessment, Local Working Groups (LWGs) from six participating countries made use of a format for teacher-researcher collaboration. The activities in each LWG involved discussions and reflections about implementation of four assessment formats. A key aim was close collaboration between teachers and researchers to develop teachers' formative assessment practices, which were partially evidenced with changes in attributes of self-efficacy. The research question was: to what extent do working with formative assessment strategies in collaboration with researchers and other teachers differentially affect individual self-efficacy beliefs of practicing teachers across different educational contexts? A 12-item teacher questionnaire, with items selected from a commonly used international instrument for science teaching self-efficacy, was distributed to the participating teachers before and after their work in the LWGs. A novel method of analysis using networks where participants from different LWGs were linked based on the similarities of their answers, revealed differences between empirically identified groups and larger super groups of participants. These analyses showed, for example, that one group of teachers perceived themselves to have knowledge about using formative assessment but did not have the skills to use it effectively. It is suggested that future research and development projects may use this new methodology to pinpoint groups, which seem to respond differently to interventions and modify guidance or instruction accordingly.

We respond to an article by Panagos et al.—‘The new assessment of soil loss by water erosion in Europe’ in Environ. Sci. Policy, 2015, 54, 438–447. It is aimed at helping policy makers make better decisions. The assessment uses a Geographical Information Systems approach based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. RUSLE is based on data gained from plot experiments. The authors assume RUSLE is the only way to assess erosion and ignore critiques of erosion models and other ways of assessing erosion. A different way of assessing water erosion, based on collecting information on extent, frequency and rates, mainly from farmers’ fields but also grazed uplands, has been carried out over recent decades in Britain. The two ways of assessing erosion, one largely theoretical, the other based on reality, evolved in response to particular situations. However, they should relate well to each other. We show that the model is inappropriate to assess soil loss by water erosion in Britain, not only for agricultural land but also for uncultivated land. Predicted high rates of erosion do not relate well to where erosion actually occurs and are too high, and the model takes no account of the spatial extent of erosion on the ground. In other words, the model does not reflect reality. Policy decisions should not be taken based on such a model. Erosion must be assessed in a better way with a large field-based element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of IL-1 inhibitor rilonacept (IL-1 Trap) for gout flare (GF) prevention during initiation of uric acid-lowering therapy (ULT) with allopurinol in a multiregional phase 3 clinical trial.Methods. Hyperuricaemic adults (n = 248) from South Africa, Germany and Asia with gout and two or more GFs within the past year were initiated on allopurinol and randomized 1:1:1 to once-weekly s.c. treatment with placebo (PBO), rilonacept 80 mg (R80) or rilonacept 160 mg (R160) for 16 weeks. The primary endpoint was the number of GFs per patient through week 16.Results. The population was predominantly male and racially diverse (white, 53.2%; Asian, 33.1%; black, 13.7%). Across treatments, most patients completed the study (87.8–92.9%). At 16 weeks the mean number of GFs per patient was reduced by 71.3% with R80 (0.35) and by 72.6% with R160 (0.34) relative to PBO (1.23; both P < 0.0001). The proportion of patients without GFs was higher with R80 (74.4%) and R160 (79.5%) than with PBO (43.9%; both P &leq; 0.0001), and the proportions of patients on rilonacept with multiple GFs were significantly lower (P < 0.001). Overall, the incidence of adverse events (AEs) was similar between PBO (61.0%) and rilonacept (65.1%). Injection site reactions, generally mild, were the most frequent AE with rilonacept (1.2% PBO, 12.2% R80 and 17.9% R160); none of these injection site reactions led to withdrawal. There were no study drug-related serious AEs or deaths.Conclusion. Rilonacept significantly reduced the occurrence of GFs associated with initiation of ULT, with >70% of patients having no flares, and demonstrated an acceptable safety and tolerability profile.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, http://clinicaltrials.gov/, NCT00958438. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tracheid dimensions influence the quality of wood and that of pulp and paper. Both between- and within-ring variations are influenced by tree developmental stage, site, genetics, and forest management. To contribute to the knowledge in this regard, the radial and tangential tracheid dimensions on Norway spruce, defined as the lumens and double cell wall thickness, have been measured using a SilviScan device. Namely, 4947 annual rings from 35 trees from plantations in France, Norway, and Sweden were examined. Mixed-effects models were constructed concerning the radial and tangential tracheid widths for the total ring and in three within-ring compartments - earlywood (EW), transition wood (TW), and latewood (LW) - as functions of age, radius, height in the tree, and growth rate. Between-site and between-tree variations were also considered. The mean radial tracheid width was 34.2 μm (EW), 29.9 μm (TrW), and 22.1 μm (LW). The tangential tracheid width was on average 30.1 μm in all compartments. The radial and tangential tracheid widths in the rings and compartments increased from the pith to the bark and decreased with greater growth rates. Within a given ring, both properties decreased with height in the tree. The fixed part of the models of the radial tracheid width accounted for 68% (EW), 45% (TW), and 33% (LW) while for the models of the tangential fibre width it accounted for 42% of the variation in all compartments. Climate or hydraulic maintenance was hypothesised to be responsible for the variation of the radial tracheid width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst historians of early modern Europe, the relation between confession and nation has been largely neglected, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world. The dominant discourse on nationhood, in contrast, was established by historians of modern history such as Elie Kedourie, Ernest Gellner, Eric Hobsbawm, Benedict Anderson, and Miroslav Hroch. This article evaluates the contributions of two historiographical debates to the study of early modern Central Europe, which were conducted in parallel, from the 1980s, but have not been assessed in context. It argues for the necessity to combine the perspectives of 'confessionalization', developed by early modernists, with the focus of nationalism, championed by students of the nineteenth and twentieth century, in order to achieve a full understanding of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the evolution of European health care systems as of February 25. Universal and comprehensive systems of collective payment for health care, financed through general taxation or compulsory health-specific levies instituted by nations in the region; Task of confronting the relentless pressures for cost escalation inherent in all modern health care systems; Specific institutional framework for regulatory and administrative mechanisms sufficiently powerful to contain the cost problem, developed by the nations from within; Increasing efforts at significant structural reforms.

Background: Previous studies of infliximab in psoriasis have demonstrated rapid improvement with induction therapy and sustained response with regularly administered maintenance therapy., Objective: The efficacy and safety of continuous (every-8-week) and intermittent (as-needed) maintenance regimens were compared., Methods: Patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis (n = 835) were randomized to induction therapy (weeks 0, 2, and 6) with infliximab 3 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg or placebo. Infliximab-treated patients were randomized again at week 14 to continuous or intermittent maintenance regimens at their induction dose., Results: At week 10, 75.5% and 70.3% of patients in the infliximab 5 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg groups, respectively, achieved PASI 75; 45.2% and 37.1% achieved PASI 90 (vs 1.9% [PASI 75] and 0.5% [PASI 90] for placebo; P < .001). Through week 50, PASI responses were better maintained with continuous compared with intermittent therapy within each dose, and with 5 mg/kg compared with 3 mg/kg continuous therapy., Limitations: Longer term (>1 year) maintenance therapy and further study of infliximab serum concentrations over this period, in both PASI 75 responders and non-responders, would be preferable., Conclusions: Through week 50, response was best maintained with continuous infliximab therapy. Infliximab was generally well-tolerated in most patients.