Roundtable Event Research Articles

The history of the US Starch Round Table

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesStarch and other carbohydrates are major products of commerce because of their abundant supply and diverse functionalities. They serve as the principal source of dietary energy for humans and animals and perform various functions in many food and nonfood products. Fundamental studies of their composition, structure, and properties led to practical applications and ultimately to their commercial development to serve the food and industrial sectors.FindingsThis paper provides a historical account of the US Starch Round Table, a scientific gathering of international scientists and researchers to discuss “cutting‐edge” research on starch and other carbohydrates. From its early beginning in 1940 to the present time, the Starch Round Table played a crucial role in advancing our knowledge of starch and other carbohydrates.ConclusionsThe concept of the Starch Round Table facilitated discovery, innovation, and progress in the field of carbohydrates with an emphasis on starch. From its genesis in the United States, its popularity has spread to other regions like Japan and Europe, which have been holding a similar event since 1961 and 2010, respectively.Significance and NoveltyNew knowledge was discovered, practical applications were achieved, and successful collaboration among starch and carbohydrate scientists across the globe was made possible through this biennial round table event. Commercial development of starch and other carbohydrate products has benefited immensely from the extraordinary progress made by brilliant and diligent scientists and researchers, past and present.

Evaluating What Works in the Classroom: Best Practice and Future Opportunities

ABSTRACTDespite a high level of interest and investment in “gold standard” evaluations of interventions in education, the gap between teaching practice and the latest research on learning appears wider than ever; likewise, persistent attainment gaps between certain groups remain. This report summarizes the presentations and discussion from a roundtable event that brought together representatives from educational practice, research, and policy to explore challenges and solutions in relation to establishing “what works” in different educational contexts. The commentary addresses issues surrounding (a) who is involved and when, (b) a need for methodological innovation, (c) communication, and (d) understanding and use of evidence by educators and policymakers. Suggestions for best practice in relation to addressing these issues using national and international examples are presented. Identified recommendations related to facilitating a research culture within the teaching profession, the promotion of data sharing and communication, and conducting realistic evaluations. Outstanding questions are highlighted.

Fact check: Still not core journalism curriculum

Fact-checking has become a global industry, with more than 417 fact-checking outlets in 100 countries operating in 69 languages (Stencel, Ryan & Luther, 2023). According to the Duke Reporters’ Lab, half of the world’s fact checkers are associated with media outlets, but there are also 24 affiliated with academic institutions. Although the work is time consuming and resource intensive, fact-checking has increasingly been introduced to journalism programmes at universities and in professional settings. This expert article brings together some insights from a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) roundtable event ‘Fact-Check and Verification as Core Journalism Curriculum’ hosted by RMIT University in Australia in 2021, alongside relevant literature exploring the nature and presence of fact-check based education approaches at that time. It concludes that while fact-checking and verification are important skills for student journalists, fact checkers do not necessarily need to be journalists, nor indeed have journalistic training. However, more students are needed who are excellent journalists and the authors argue that fact-checking is just part of that training.

Fact check: Still not core journalism curriculum

Fact-checking has become a global industry, with more than 417 fact-checking outlets in 100 countries operating in 69 languages (Stencel, Ryan & Luther, 2023). According to the Duke Reporters’ Lab, half of the world’s fact checkers are associated with media outlets, but there are also 24 affiliated with academic institutions. Although the work is time consuming and resource intensive, fact-checking has increasingly been introduced to journalism programmes at universities and in professional settings. This expert article brings together some insights from a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) roundtable event ‘Fact-Check and Verification as Core Journalism Curriculum’ hosted by RMIT University in Australia in 2021, alongside relevant literature exploring the nature and presence of fact-check based education approaches at that time. It concludes that while fact-checking and verification are important skills for student journalists, fact checkers do not necessarily need to be journalists, nor indeed have journalistic training. However, more students are needed who are excellent journalists and the authors argue that fact-checking is just part of that training.

Exploring the Impact of Neurolinguistic Research on Foreign Language Education: Insights from the MGIMO University Round Table Event (Moscow, April 20, 2024)

Exploring the Impact of Neurolinguistic Research on Foreign Language Education: Insights from the MGIMO University Round Table Event (Moscow, April 20, 2024)

Strengthening research capacity of early-mid career researchers: Implementation and evaluation of the Excellence in Non-COmmunicable disease REsearch (ENCORE) program.

High-quality training and networking are pivotal for enhancing the research capacity of early- to mid-career researchers in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Beyond building research skills, these professionals gain valuable insights from interdisciplinary mentorship, networking opportunities, and exposure to diverse cultures and health systems. Despite the significance of such initiatives, their implementation remains underexplored. Here, we describe the implementation and evaluation of the Excellence in Non-COommunicable disease REsearch (ENCORE) program, a collaborative initiative between Australia and India that was launched in 2016 and spanned a duration of 3 years. Led by a consortium that included the University of Melbourne and leading Indian research and medical institutions, ENCORE involved 15 faculty members and 20 early-mid career researchers. The program comprised various elements, including face-to-face forums, masterclasses, webinars, a health-technology conference, and roundtable events. ENCORE successfully trained the early-career researchers, resulting in over 30 peer-reviewed articles, 36 conference presentations, and the submission of seven grant applications, three of which received funding. Beyond individual achievements, ENCORE fostered robust research collaboration between Australian and Indian institutions, showcasing its broader impact on strengthening research capacities across borders.

Is a unified model for patient empowerment possible or desirable?

Background: Patient empowerment has a history going back to the 1960’s ( Kayser et al. BMC Health Services Research (2019) 19:242) and originates in the movement for greater citizen participation in societal decision-making (e.g. ‘power to the people’). In the decade of the 1970’s there was a related shift in some healthcare thinking.
 While there has been a proliferation of terms, such as citizen engagement, patient participation, patient empowerment, patient activation and so forth, the fundamental underlying principle is the shift from the patient/citizen as a passive recipient of services to the patient /citizen as active, informed participant in their own health and healthcare.
 These shifts have been reflected in health care policy- person/patient centred care, personalised care and integrated care all put forward models of working that are designed to enhance patient empowerment and a shift from a bio-medical model of health care t a more holistic bio- psychosocial model of care
 Although there had been active proponents of this change, especially in parts of Northern Europe it remains a fragile part of health care
 Method: Unlike some health topics, although patient empowerment is often cited, for example in relation to current work on health technology including mHealth, there appears to be no overarching consensus on a strategy for local implementation, nor even how patient empowerment is defined for strategic purposes. This survey aimed to gather information which would, when collated, help to address these issues. To explore the current standing of patient empowerment at the beginning of 2021 a survey of experts including people expert in lived experience was carried out in a number of European countries (the final total was 25 responses from 14 countries) 
 This was followed up in 2022 by a international round table event of people of lived experience, researchers, policy makers and leading experts to explore this issue and to record the discussion as a marker for future thinking about the concept.
 Results and conclusions: Despite significant activity it was clear it was very siloed and y the concept was diversely defined or interpreted in practice.
 We concluded it seems that the majority of respondents from the 14 countries only use aspects of the concept with no common understanding.
 . If there is such a disparate use of terminology, is it meaningful to refer to ‘empowerment’ as a definition of anything? Is there a better term to use for an umbrella concept?
 These findings confirm that concepts such as person centred care, personalised care and patient empowerment have considerable variations in how they are understood.
 This has significant implication for their implementation when there is such diverse understandings at all levels - Macro, Miso and Micro leading to fragmentation and a lack of a unified approach to evaluation.

How do we differentiate not demonise - Is there a role for healthier processed foods in an age of food insecurity? Proceedings of a roundtable event.

The 'ultra-processed food' (UPF) concept, with classification of foods by 'level of processing' rather than nutrient profiles, and its relationship with health outcomes, is currently a topic of debate among academics and increasingly referred to in the media. The British Nutrition Foundation convened a virtual roundtable on 6th July 2022 to gather views on the use of the term (and current definitions of) UPF for public health messaging, seeking to establish areas of consensus and disagreement and identify topics for further research. A small group of invited expert stakeholders attended, including representatives from academia, policy, behavioural science, communications, health, food science, retail and consumer interests. Participants' discussions clustered into cogent themes which included: problems with the use of definitions for UPF, the lack of causal evidence and defined mechanisms linking processing per se with poor health outcomes, and advice that may result in consumer confusion. There was agreement that many foods classified as UPF are high in fat, sugars and/or salt and public health messages should continue to focus on reducing these in the diet since it is unclear whether reported associations between high intakes of UPF and poor health reflect poorer dietary patterns (defined by nutrient intakes), and nutrient-health relationships are well established. Examples of misalignment were also highlighted (i.e. some foods are classified as UPF yet recommended in food-based dietary guidelines [featuring in healthy dietary patterns]). This raises challenges for consumer communication around UPF. Concern was also expressed about potential unintended consequences, particularly for vulnerable groups, where advice to avoid UPF could create stigma and guilt due to lack of time or facilities to prepare and cook meals from scratch. It could also impact on nutrient intakes, as some foods classified as UPF represent more affordable sources of important nutrients (e.g. packaged wholemeal bread). Discordance between the concept of UPF and current strategies to improve public health, such as reformulation, was also discussed. The group concluded that the use of the concept of UPF in UK policy (e.g. dietary guidelines) would be unhelpful at present. Overall, participants felt that it was more important to focus on providing practical advice around selection of healthier processed foods and making healthier foods more accessible rather than promoting the avoidance of UPF. The latter may act to demonise all foods classified as UPF by current definitions, including some affordable nutrient-dense foods.

Proceedings of a roundtable event 'Workplace Diet and Health - priorities for researchers and practitioners'.

Understanding how the work environment impacts health behaviours is essential to a life course approach in public health nutrition. A roundtable event 'Workplace Diet and Health - priorities for researchers and practitioners' was held by the Nutrition Society in October 2022. The overarching aims of the roundtable event were to consider (i) the relevance of nutritional wellbeing for employers and organisations, (ii) the research priorities for workplace diet and health and (iii) how researchers and practitioners can work with stakeholders in the development and testing of workplace diet and health interventions and nutritional education. Participants represented a range of stakeholders including dietetic and nutrition professionals working in workplace health, academics and science communication with an interest in workplace diet and health, non-governmental organisations and providers of workplace nutritional health and wellbeing programmes. All roundtable participants agreed that good nutrition and access to healthy food at work was part of corporate responsibility comparable to that of health and safety provision. It was recognised that nutritional wellbeing was not seen as a priority by many companies due to the complexity and wide range of employee health and wellbeing options available and the perceived lack of clear financial benefit. Three priority areas were identified and agreed upon by roundtable participants: (1) strengthening the evidence base to demonstrate the tangible benefit of nutritional wellbeing interventions in the workplace, (2) creating a knowledge exchange hub to share best practices and experiences of working across sectors and (3) expand stakeholder engagement in workplace nutritional wellbeing.

Exploring Self and Habit in Addiction and Technology through an Enactivist Framework

From 24 August 2022 to 27 August 2022, a group of interdisciplinary experts from psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science, and other related fields met in Vancouver, Canada, for a roundtable event. The aim of the roundtable was to discuss the concept of the “self” as it pertains to the deliberate, habitual, and addicted interactions of the individual with the world, including with information technology, through the lens of an enactivist framework.

Algorithmic Technology

On October 20, 2022, Dr. Ryan Prox, S/Constable-in-Charge of the Crime Analytics Advisory & Developmental Unit at the Vancouver Police Department and Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University, presented on Algorithmic Technology: Fueling AI in an Ethical & Transparent Way at the October Digital Roundtable event hosted by the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS)-Vancouver. The key points discussed were algorithmic technology and its implementation within police services; governance, accountability, and public perceptions of AI; and mitigating risk when implementing AI. The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS-Vancouver executives.

Understanding Agency Through Testimonios: An Indigenous Approach to UX Research

Purpose:This article presents a UX study conducted during a roundtable collaborative event with Indigenous interpreters and translators. The work highlights the value of Indigenous testimonios as a UX method for gathering narratives that trace a user's experience through a collective voice. Testimonios also trace users' social and cultural contexts while prompting participants to exercise their agency and promote social change.<br/>Method:This UX study engages Indigenous testimonios as a primary method. Mapping testimonios allows researchers to explore a participant's narrative arc that begins with a personal experience that links a collective struggle resulting from a system of oppression and ends with a call for social change.<br/>Results:Using testimonios as a UX method yielded data that traced individual and collective pain points that defined the critical issues with which Indigenous interpreters and translators grapple and emphasized their civic engagement, amplifying their agency through a method situated in their contexts. This work also highlightsdialogueanddesahogo, or emotional relief, as key elements of testimonios shared in a collective setting. This study shows that Indigenous interpreters and translators, as technical communicators, are foremost community activists.<br/>Conclusion:A testimonio method prompts participants to reflect on issues at a deeper level through narratives and dialogue. It also engages the unique differences of participants while revealing general similarities. Testimonios can ultimately help design content, products, and processes that better align with the unique contexts of Indigenous individuals and other underrepresented groups who express their needs in a collective manner.

Across Time, Space, and Matter

Across Time, Space, and Matter

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology in Ibero-America: Training, Developments, Challenges, and Opportunities

Purpose: International exchange has contributed to the expansion and advancement of the communication sciences and disorders (CSD) professions across the globe including in Ibero-America. This review article presents information about the professions in Ibero-American countries as compiled through reviews of public documents and dialogue at the international virtual roundtable event “Training of Phonoaudiologists in Ibero-America: Challenges and Opportunities,” hosted by faculty from the Universidad de Cuenca (University of Cuenca), Ecuador, in 2020. Faculty attendees represented numerous Ibero-American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, and Venezuela. This international event facilitated the exchange of information regarding the history, academic training and degrees, professional organizations, research, current challenges, and proposed opportunities to collaborate and shape the future of the professions. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged this international, virtual exchange, thereby contributing to the current publication, which offers readership increased knowledge and understanding of CSD professions in additional regions of the world.

Keystone Malaria Symposium 2022: a vibrant discussion of progress made and challenges ahead from drug discovery to treatment

Keystone Malaria Symposium 2022: a vibrant discussion of progress made and challenges ahead from drug discovery to treatment

Far-right populism in Canada

On March 17, 2022, Mr. Evan Balgord, Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, presented Far-Right Populism in Canada: From M103 to the Ottawa Occupation at the March Digital Roundtable event, hosted by the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS)-Vancouver. The key points of discussion included the connections between different far-right movements in Canada and how grievances and beliefs on conspiracy theories can serve as the groundwork for radicalization and participation in far-right movements. Mr. Balgord’s presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS-Vancouver executives.

Domestic Russian politics and comparative democratization

On April 21, 2022, Dr. Lisa Sundstrom, an expert on Russian politics and a professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC), presented Domestic Russian Politics and Comparative Democratization at the April Digital Roundtable event hosted by the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS)-Vancouver. The key points of discussion included the popularity of the war in Russia, the economic impacts of sanctions and military losses, and the potential sources of opposition to President Vladimir Putin. Dr. Sundstrom’s presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS-Vancouver executives.

Sustaining Momentum

A recent roundtable event hosted by Lloyds Bank debated the sustainability challenges facing SME manufacturers

Big Data Surveillance

On October 21, 2021, Dr. Valerie Steeves presented Big Data Surveillance: Privacy and Trust Implications at the October 2021 CASIS Digital Roundtable event. This presentation was followed by a question and answer period, where CASIS Executives and attendees were given the opportunity to discuss the presentation with Dr. Steeves. The discussion topics included building an understanding of data surveillance for young people and safeguarding their privacy through building trusting relations.

70 NURSING HOME MODEL OF CARE POST COVID-19

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic is recognised as having a significant impact on older people, particularly on those within nursing homes. Prior to the pandemic, a significant focus was placed on the application of a social model of care within nursing homes. We know that COVID-19 has required the stringent application of infection prevention and control measures as well as the provision of increased amounts of clinical care. This has resulted in the recent stronger application of a medical model of care within nursing homes.MethodsA roundtable event attended by twenty-six people took place. Attendees represented clinical Gerontology, the Irish College of General Practitioner, Sage Family Forum, The Health Information and Quality Authority, Nursing Homes Ireland and nursing home providers. A number of presentations were made, and a roundtable discussion took place about the model of nursing home care post pandemic. Key messages from presentations and the discussion were captured. A report was compiled and shared with attendees to check for accuracy.ResultsThe following key messages were identified:1. Social care is a cornerstone of nursing home care2. Increased integration of nursing homes within the wider health and social care system is required3. Increased access to services for nursing home residents is required4. Regulatory reform is required5. Resourcing of nursing home care needs to be appropriately addressed6. The nursing home sector need to be included in conversations around policy and service development affecting nursing home care in Ireland.ConclusionNursing homes are an essential part of the healthcare system in Ireland and have been shown to be adaptable throughout the course of the pandemic. A one size fits all approach is an unlikely fit for purpose approach as we look towards the future with COVID-19.