Series Of Talks Research Articles

Identifying barriers and opportunities to facilitate the uptake of whole genome sequencing in paediatric haematology and oncology practice

BackgroundThe clinical utility of whole genome sequencing (WGS) in paediatric cancer has been demonstrated in recent years. WGS has been routinely available in the National Health Service (NHS) England for all children with cancer in England since 2021, but its uptake has been variable geographically. To explore the underlying barriers to routine use of WGS in this population across England and more widely in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI), a one-day workshop was held in Cambridge, United Kingdom in October 2022.MethodsFollowing a series of talks, delegates participated in open, round-table discussions to outline local and broader challenges limiting routine WGS for diagnostic work-up for children with cancer in their Principal Treatment Centres (PTCs) and Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). Within smaller groups, delegates answered structured questions regarding clinical capability, education and training needs, and workforce competence and requirements. Data was recorded, centrally collated, and analysed following the event using thematic analysis.ResultsSixty participants attended the workshop with broad representation from the 20 PTCs across the UK and ROI and the seven GLHs in England. All healthcare professionals involved in the WGS pathway were represented, including paediatric oncologists, clinical geneticists, clinical scientists, and histopathologists. The main themes highlighted by the group in ensuring equitable access to WGS identified were: lack of knowledge equity between NHS trusts, with a perception of WGS being for research only; and perception of lack of financial support for the clinical process surrounding WGS, including lack of time to take informed consent from patients. The latter also included limited trained staff available for data interpretation, affecting the turnaround time for reporting. Finally, the need for an integrated digital pathway to order, track, and return data to clinicians was highlighted.ConclusionAt the workshop, the general motivation for including WGS in the diagnostic work up for children with cancer was high throughout the UK, however a perceived lack of resources and education opportunities limit the widespread use of this commissioned assay. This workshop has led to some recommendations to increase access to WGS in this population in England and more widely in the devolved national of the UK and the ROI.

Renewing Organizational Culture, One Conversation at a Time

A newly appointed CEO sought to renew her company’s culture to focus on innovation, decentralized decision-making and faster product delivery. Company leadership engaged in a series of dialogues to align culture with strategy by embedding Appreciative Inquiry into well-understood existing group practices. By focusing on strengths and leaning into its highly affiliative and collaborative culture, the company developed actionable strategies and established cultural momentum for embracing change as part of its forward-looking identity.

Reducing obesity and overweight: Subregional Policy Dialogues in the WHO European Region

Abstract In the WHO European Region, obesity and overweight stand as leading causes of disability and premature mortality. They contribute significantly to the burden of noncommunicable diseases, hindering efforts to achieve sustainable development goals related to health, including SDG goal 3.4, aiming to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one-third by 2030. Despite some policy successes such as sugary drinks taxes, restrictions on marketing unhealthy products to children, and physical activity promotion campaigns, no country has managed to halt the rising levels of obesity. Addressing obesity requires a comprehensive approach, and WHO endeavors to support countries in implementing a wide range of policy actions across various settings. The WHO Special Initiative for NCDs and Innovation has recently adopted a subregional approach to promote evidence-based, data-informed policy action. In June 2022, it organized a series of obesity dialogues, including sessions for the Western Balkans. This session will outline the methods and outcomes of these dialogues, including stakeholder engagement, presentation of the latest obesity data, evidence-based policy recommendations, and the process of prioritizing policy options with decision-makers. It will consider the lessons learned from this process, offering insights not only for the health agenda but also for addressing other complex public health, environmental, or social challenges, which require multisectoral collaboration and comprehensive, policy actions on many levels.

Stakeholder perceptions of issues and possible solutions to access to oncology medicines: a case study of multi-stakeholder engagement

Aim This case study reports on a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues on challenges to access to oncology medicines in both the public and private sectors. Methods Key stakeholders, identified from various points in the pharmaceutical supply chain, were invited to attend a series of virtual discussion sessions to address specific medicines access challenges to the provision of cancer care in South Africa. For each session, a case scenario, based on a real world situation/event was presented for discussion, and viable solutions and areas requiring further research or legislative changes were identified. Topics covered in these discussions included registration pathways and obstacles; limitations of current medicine pricing policies; alternate reimbursement models; funders’ initiatives to ensure access to oncology medicines; and essential medicine selection and procurement in the public sector. Findings The key issues raised in the discussions included: non-transparency in the approval and pricing of unregistered medicines accessed in terms of section 21 of the Medicines and Related Substances Act of 1965 (as amended); commercial decisions related to the small market for oncology medicines in South Africa; inequities between public and private sector access; alternate forms of price negotiation in the private sector; the restrictions imposed by the single exit price model; and the role of co-payments for those medicines not included as prescribed minimum benefits. Conclusions There is a clear need for a forum where all stakeholders and actors in this field can engage in discussions to find solutions to the oncology medicines access conundrum, including the development of legislative amendments.

The politics of distraction in English-medium higher education across three global settings: a collaborative autoethnography

ABSTRACT English-medium instruction (EMI) is on the rise around the world due to globalization, internationalization and neoliberal ideologies which equate English with social capital, prestige, and success in the labour market. While many EMI policies aim to equip students with English as a ‘lingua academia’, produce ‘neoliberal subjects’ and compete in university ranking systems, such policies often overlook larger sociolinguistic, sociohistorical, and sociopolitical issues at play. This article shares findings from a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) involving the three authors as participants, who are based in three global contexts: Australia, Bangladesh, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Upon analysis of a series of dialogues amongst the authors, ‘policy distractions’ in EMI higher education were identified which resulted in the sidelining of critical issues related to native-speakerism, translingual discrimination and precarious conditions of students’ translingual practice, (lack of) choice around the medium of instruction, and the postcolonial legacy of unequal Englishes. The paper ends with suggestions for ways in which current EMI policies can be unpacked and disrupted to address larger and more pressing issues connected with complexities and intersections of social and linguistic justice.

Fragmentation of Identities: Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro

Funnyhouse of a Negro (1964) is an Obie winning play penned by a prolific writer, Adrienne Kennedy. Premiered at the 4th Street Theatre in New York City, the play has earned significant recognition for its innovative approach and poignant exploration of racial and psychological themes. The play was awarded with an Obie for Best New American Play in 1965, marking a significant milestone in Kennedy’s career and in the landscape of American Drama. Set against the backdrop of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the play reflects the era’s racial tensions and societal pressures. The play follows Sarah, a young black woman struggling with a fractured identity. Through a series of disjointed scenes and dialogues, Sarah adopts multiple personas that represent different facets of her racial, cultural, and psychological self. This paper aims to analyze Sarah’s identity by exploring the symbolism of each persona and the impact of her parents. This paper argues that Sarah’s personas are not arbitrary but represent her profound psychological conflict and the impossibility of reconciling disparate aspects of her identity.

A trio-autoethnographic analysis of the experiences and wellbeing of part-time doctoral students with full-time academic roles

ABSTRACT This study highlights the needs and potentialities of an often-overlooked group: Part-Time Doctoral Students who are Full-Time Academics at their institutions (PTSFTAs). Such students are rarely considered in the research literature, yet they face a unique set of tensions as their roles and identities evolve. This study contributes fresh understanding of PTSFTAs’ experiences and wellbeing through a thematic analysis of a series of five open conversations reflecting on the supervisory process. Three PTSFTAs who studied and work at the same institution engaged in a series of trio-autoethnographic dialogues. These dialogues were structured around five doctoral supervision concepts. Tensions are identified that have the potential to affect PTSFTA wellbeing and identity. The study concludes that a student-centred doctoral supervision process can enable PTSFAs to develop multifaceted personal and professional identities and rich personal epistemologies.

Alliances between social occupational therapy and critical occupational science: Propositions to mobilize social justice

ABSTRACT Committed to the necessity of international dialogues in occupational therapy and occupational science, we have developed a proposal for alliance between social occupational therapy and critical occupational science based on a series of theoretical dialogues between Brazilian and Canadian researchers. Through these dialogues, we have aimed to understand and propose contributions that articulate the shared intent of social transformation enhancing social justice of these disciplines. While acknowledging points of difference, we propose an alliance based on points of convergence, including emergence from concerns related to justice and equity; development coming from the ‘margins’; mobilization of critical social theory to orient knowledge production and question power relations within and outside the discipline and the profession; and an intent to work towards social justice, especially with marginalized groups. Our key arguments are informed by theoretical concepts from three authors: Judith Butler’s conceptualizations of vulnerability, precarity, and alliance; Nancy Fraser’s propositions regarding social justice; and Paulo Freire’s concept of dialogue. Through dialogue that recognizes and respects different knowledges and practices, an alliance is produced toward social justice, one that aims to realize more complex theoretical and practical resources for critical thinking about social reality. In turn, possibilities for apprehending how different oppressions impact and influence the possibilities of living can be expanded, informing approaches to building inhabitable worlds and proposing practices of freedom with persons and communities facing oppression.

“Drown Your Troubles in Coffee”: Place, Heterotopia, and Immersion in the Coffee Talk Series

This article contributes to the growing body of research on space, place, and immersion in video games and offers an analysis of placeness in Coffee Talk (Toge Productions, 2020) and Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (Toge Productions, 2023). Building on the work of Michel Foucault (1967/2008), this article begins by analyzing the coffee shop of this series as a heterotopia that allows the game characters and the player to find a form of comfort. Then, it examines the series in light of theories of immersion and pays particular attention to the place where the author played the two games – his bed – and also describes it as a heterotopia. This paper shows the usefulness of Foucault’s concept of heterotopia to understand placeness and coziness in video games, and the relevance of taking into account the physical space of play when we conduct a textual analysis.

Topics in group schemes and surfaces in positive characteristic

This paper is based on a series of talks that the author gave at the University of Edinburgh in March 2023 on surfaces in positive characteristic. In particular, infinitesimal group schemes and their actions on algebraic surfaces are discussed, the structure of the automorphism group scheme of a surface of general type and the failure of the Kodaira vanishing theorem.

Science for All at CERN

In the 1960s CERN initiated a series of popular-science talks for nonacademic staff in the belief that getting them interested in science was key to its becoming a world-leading laboratory.

'Solitude is not thrust upon any lovable person': loneliness, shame, and the problem (of) personality.

The relationship between loneliness and shame is frequently asserted, usually under-theorised, and very rarely subject to historical attention and care. Researchers in and across a number of disciplines are comfortable in the truism that shame and stigma are attached to loneliness through a series of psychosocial processes and dialogues, with negative social, medical, cultural and political valuations of loneliness dovetailing into neoliberal (and older) logics of individual responsibility for relationships and health. Far less clear is where these languages come from; how shame has accrued (or been assembled) around loneliness as an emotion or experience; and how this has changed over time. Drawing on the author’s practice as a historian of medicine, this article follows the problem of ‘personality’ through primary sources in print journalism, loneliness activism, public health work, and the psy and social sciences. It traces shaming narratives on loneliness through interwar and postwar conversations on selfishness, self-pity and the typology of lonely personalities, and considers how discourses on hostility and intolerance shaped a growing theorisation of chronic and intractable loneliness.

Does location matter in IS research? A developing country perspective from India

AbstractThis paper examines the question of doing information systems (IS) research from a location, particularly from a developing country like India. Our analysis reveals that IS publications from India are relatively few in number, though increasing in recent years; hardly focussed on context‐specific issues and concerns; and are largely in lower‐ranked journals. Using neo‐institutional theory, we show that the reasons are dominantly coercive (measuring up to rankings and accreditation agencies) and mimetic (following leaders). Normative (influence of professional bodies) forces appear to counterbalance this by necessitating continuous improvement in research outputs and emphasising location‐specific, impactful research. Institutional responses to these forces manifest in policies and mechanisms to operationalise them, such as resource availability, balancing teaching load with research expectations, promotion and tenure policies amongst others. We examine the paths by which more rigorous and relevant research, responsible to a location can be achieved, based on the insights from a series of talks given by eminent IS scholars. We opine that there is a need to consciously seek out such paths, perhaps by actively seeking collaboration with other disciplines and practitioners; establishing programmes of research; and building contextualised theories. We conclude with a relook at the underlying dynamics of the various institutional responses, recommended paths and some policy implications of our findings.

Let's Get LOUD: An Engaging Talk Series to Build Exceptional Nurses.

Professional development specialists have been met with the challenge of engaging and retaining new graduate nurses in a postpandemic learning environment. Utilizing the idea of brain-based learning, one educator restructured their facility's nurse residency program and created the "Let's Get LOUD" talk series to increase learner satisfaction, engagement, and first-year retention among novice nurses.

Understanding older people's voice interactions with smart voice assistants: a new modified rule-based natural language processing model with human input.

The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the integration of Smart Voice Assistants (SVA) among older people. The qualitative data derived from user commands on SVA is pivotal for elucidating the engagement patterns of older individuals with such systems. However, the sheer volume of user-generated voice interaction data presents a formidable challenge for manual coding. Compounding this issue, age-related cognitive decline and alterations in speech patterns further complicate the interpretation of older users' SVA voice interactions. Conventional dictionary-based textual analysis tools, which count word frequencies, are inadequate in capturing the evolving and communicative essence of these interactions that unfold over a series of dialogues and modify with time. To address these challenges, our study introduces a novel, modified rule-based Natural Language Processing (MR-NLP) model augmented with human input. This reproducible approach capitalizes on human-derived insights to establish a lexicon of critical keywords and to formulate rules for the iterative refinement of the NLP model. English speakers, aged 50 or older and residing alone, were enlisted to engage with Amazon Alexa™ via predefined daily routines for a minimum of 30 min daily spanning three months (N = 35, mean age = 77). We amassed time-stamped, textual data comprising participants' user commands and responses from Alexa™. Initially, a subset constituting 20% of the data (1,020 instances) underwent manual coding by human coder, predicated on keywords and commands. Separately, a rule-based Natural Language Processing (NLP) methodology was employed to code the identical subset. Discrepancies arising between human coder and the NLP model programmer were deliberated upon and reconciled to refine the rule-based NLP coding framework for the entire dataset. The modified rule-based NLP approach demonstrated notable enhancements in efficiency and scalability and reduced susceptibility to inadvertent errors in comparison to manual coding. Furthermore, human input was instrumental in augmenting the NLP model, yielding insights germane to the aging adult demographic, such as recurring speech patterns or ambiguities. By disseminating this innovative software solution to the scientific community, we endeavor to advance research and innovation in NLP model formulation, subsequently contributing to the understanding of older people's interactions with SVA and other AI-powered systems.

Reflecting (on) identities: Melliti’s Io, l’altro and Crialese’s Terraferma

In recent decades, Sicily has often featured in the headlines since it is the first landing place for those who cross the Mediterranean Sea, braving adversity to escape war, hunger and poverty in their home countries. Mohsen Melliti and Emanuele Crialese, in Io, l’altro (I, the Other) (2007) and Terraferma (2011) respectively, zoom in on the intrinsic duality of Sicilian identity as local inhabitants are forced to question the Other – ironically as outcasts themselves in their own country. They must observe this Other as if seeing their own images in a mirror, a magic device that reflects years of control, struggle, assimilation and reinvention. Using a psychoanalytic theoretical framework to interpret filmic choices, I illustrate how this is represented in the well-orchestrated development of events. Through a series of frames and succinct dialogues, Melliti and Crialese project the refractions of their protagonists on to the dark blue waters of the Mediterranean, underscoring the complex backgrounds of their stories and identities.

Observing Ocean Boundary Currents: Lessons Learned from Six Regions with Mature Observational and Modeling Systems

Ocean boundary currents are complex and highly variable systems that play key roles in connecting the open and coastal ocean through cross-slope circulation and upwelling of nutrient-rich water. The structure, strength, and variability of boundary currents are associated with a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. For that reason, long-term boundary current monitoring is challenging and requires the use of complementary observing platforms and sensors coupled with numerical simulations. The Ocean Observations Physics and Climate Panel Boundary Systems Task Team recently held a virtual dialogue series to discuss six mature boundary current monitoring systems. The goal of the series was to examine strategies for developing a conceptual design for sustained observing activities applicable to a wide range of boundary current systems. This article provides a brief overview of the six systems, including users and the observational and modeling components needed to achieve scientific, operational, and societal goals. Ocean observing best practices and recommendations are shared to provide guidance for the coordination and sustainability of observing systems at ocean boundaries and to strengthen and integrate partnerships across and within the global observing networks.

IEEE CASS/EDS/SSCS Wuhan Joint Chapter Holds Artificial Intelligence Systems and Sensors Design Technical Talk Series [Chapters

IEEE CASS/EDS/SSCS Wuhan Joint Chapter Holds Artificial Intelligence Systems and Sensors Design Technical Talk Series [Chapters

Digitizing Integrated Care – Aligning technology to values

Introduction: This workshop will build on an international integrated knowledge translation project that seeks to advance meaningful adoption of digital health services to enable delivery of high-quality and equitable person-centred integrated care. 
 Problem: Digital health solutions and services are recognized as critical to achieve person-centred integrated health and social care. To date work in this area has focused on the development and adoption of these technologies in supporting the (functional) activities of integrated care delivery, but less known is how these technologies can advance, or upend, the (normative) values of the communities, teams, and organizations that underpin their vision for greater integration. With the global rapid uptake of digital health tools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, systems are faced with the opportunity to quickly leverage innovative solutions, and the risk of doing so without a clear view the path this adoption sets us up to follow.
 Audience: To address the problem this workshop will share findings from the work of the Value Aligned Digital Health Consortium to develop a set of recommendations to inform implementation, evaluation, scale and spread of value-aligned technologies in person-centred integrated care. The Consortium includes researchers, providers, systems leaders, industry representatives as well as a central community partnership ensuring representation of diverse patient, caregiver and community stakeholders. As such, the audience for this workshop will include a similar range of representative groups, bringing in additional international perspectives to discuss how recommendations can be refined and adapted to meet local needs and contexts. 
 Structure and engagement: The Consortium has been running a series of deliberative dialogues with diverse stakeholder groups to arrive at recommendations and guidelines. This workshop would run a modified dialogue session in which delegates will discuss and refine recommendations to account for contextual considerations across different regions. Delegates will work in small groups (5-6 per table), facilitated by our team members, to discuss three topics: values, implementation recommendations, and evaluation recommendations. Facilitators will use a live Google Jamboard to record ideas shared by the group. 
 Workshop structure: 1) Introduction and background of the project (10 minute presentation from project co-leads Carolyn Steele Gray and Jay Shaw); 2) Understanding values of integrated care (10 minute presentation by Nick Zonneveld); 3) patient/community reflection from a patient consortium member (8 minutes) 4) Dialogue methods and activity set up (7 minute presentation by Marissa Bird to describe methods and set up the dialogue activity for delegates); 4) Facilitated small group work on 3 topics, values, implementation, evaluation (45 minutes; 15 minutes per topic); 5) Wrap-up (10 minutes – facilitators present the live Jamboards and elicit any additional feedback from delegates.
 Summarizing take home messages: This workshop will directly inform the final report to be published on this project. We will additionally be generating info-graphics and short videos to help disseminate learning generated by this workshop and the broader project. All delegates of the workshop will be invited to join the Consortium should they wish to have ongoing engagement. 

What is the contribution from INTEGRATED CARE to enhancing value-based care at the level of the person and the population?

Introduction: This workshop will build on an international integrated knowledge translation project that seeks to advance meaningful adoption of digital health services to enable delivery of high-quality and equitable person-centred integrated care. 
 Problem: Digital health solutions and services are recognized as critical to achieve person-centred integrated health and social care. To date work in this area has focused on the development and adoption of these technologies in supporting the (functional) activities of integrated care delivery, but less known is how these technologies can advance, or upend, the (normative) values of the communities, teams, and organizations that underpin their vision for greater integration. With the global rapid uptake of digital health tools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, systems are faced with the opportunity to quickly leverage innovative solutions, and the risk of doing so without a clear view the path this adoption sets us up to follow.
 Audience: To address the problem this workshop will share findings from the work of the Value Aligned Digital Health Consortium to develop a set of recommendations to inform implementation, evaluation, scale and spread of value-aligned technologies in person-centred integrated care. The Consortium includes researchers, providers, systems leaders, industry representatives as well as a central community partnership ensuring representation of diverse patient, caregiver and community stakeholders. As such, the audience for this workshop will include a similar range of representative groups, bringing in additional international perspectives to discuss how recommendations can be refined and adapted to meet local needs and contexts. 
 Structure and engagement: The Consortium has been running a series of deliberative dialogues with diverse stakeholder groups to arrive at recommendations and guidelines. This workshop would run a modified dialogue session in which delegates will discuss and refine recommendations to account for contextual considerations across different regions. Delegates will work in small groups (5-6 per table), facilitated by our team members, to discuss three topics: values, implementation recommendations, and evaluation recommendations. Facilitators will use a live Google Jamboard to record ideas shared by the group. 
 Workshop structure: 1) Introduction and background of the project (10 minute presentation from project co-leads Carolyn Steele Gray and Jay Shaw); 2) Understanding values of integrated care (10 minute presentation by Nick Zonneveld); 3) patient/community reflection from a patient consortium member (8 minutes) 4) Dialogue methods and activity set up (7 minute presentation by Marissa Bird to describe methods and set up the dialogue activity for delegates); 4) Facilitated small group work on 3 topics, values, implementation, evaluation (45 minutes; 15 minutes per topic); 5) Wrap-up (10 minutes – facilitators present the live Jamboards and elicit any additional feedback from delegates.
 Summarizing take home messages: This workshop will directly inform the final report to be published on this project. We will additionally be generating info-graphics and short videos to help disseminate learning generated by this workshop and the broader project. All delegates of the workshop will be invited to join the Consortium should they wish to have ongoing engagement.