Data reuse across international contexts? Reflections on new methods for International Qualitative Secondary Analysis

This research note reports on five online workshops by an international team of scholars, the authors, with shared interests in drug (mis)use. The workshops comprise a novel form of collective international qualitative secondary analysis (iQSA) exploring the possibilities for, and value of, qualitative data reuse across international contexts. These preparatory workshops comprise the preliminary stages of a longer programme of methodological development of iQSA, and we used them to identify what challenges there may be for translating evidence across international contexts, what strategies might be best placed to support or facilitate analytical engagement in this direction, and if possible, what empirical value such exchange might have. We discuss how working across international contexts involved the authors in new 'translational' work to address the challenges of establishing and sharing meaning. Such ‘translation’ entailed a modest degree of empirical engagement, namely, the casing of empirical examples from our datasets that supported an articulation of our various research studies, a collective interrogation of how, why and which such cases could be used for best translational effect and a collective reflexive engagement with how these cases generated new and novel questions that in turn re-engaged us with our own data in new ways. Descriptions of our datasets, therefore, emerged as multifaceted assemblages of ‘expertise’ and comprised the evidential bases for new empirical insights, research questions and directions.

Physicists fabricate a non-radiating antenna

An international team of physicists has created a non-radiating source of electromagnetism by placing antennas inside a hollow dielectric disc.

The Cambridge Handbook of Identity

While 'identity' is a key concept in psychology and the social sciences, researchers have used and understood this concept in diverse and often contradictory ways. The Cambridge Handbook of Identity presents the lively, multidisciplinary field of identity research as working around three central themes: (i) difference and sameness between people; (ii) people's agency in the world; and (iii) how identities can change or remain stable over time. The chapters in this collection explore approaches behind these themes, followed by a close look at their methodological implications, while examples from a number of applied domains demonstrate how identity research follows concrete analytical procedures. Featuring an international team of contributors who enrich psychological research with historical, cultural, and political perspectives, the handbook also explores contemporary issues of identity politics, diversity, intersectionality, and inclusion. It is an essential resource for all scholars and students working on identity theory and research.

The Cambridge History of Atheism

The two-volume Cambridge History of Atheism offers an authoritative and up to date account of a subject of contemporary interest. Comprised of sixty essays by an international team of scholars, this History is comprehensive in scope. The essays are written from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including religious studies, philosophy, sociology, and classics. Offering a global overview of the subject, from antiquity to the present, the volumes examine the phenomenon of unbelief in the context of Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish societies. They explore atheism and the early modern Scientific Revolution, as well as the development of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and its continuing implications. The History also includes general survey essays on the impact of scepticism, agnosticism and atheism, as well as contemporary assessments of thinking. Providing essential information on the nature and history of atheism, The Cambridge History of Atheism will be indispensable for both scholarship and teaching, at all levels.

The Role of Wild and Domesticated Animals in the Origin and Transmission of the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

The review highlights animal coronaviruses, their pathogenicity, and the possible role of domestic and agricultural animals in the further spread of the COVID-19. Joint researches have been established amongst international team of scientists regarding a close phylogenetic relationship of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 with the coronaviruses of bats and carnivores, especially with the representatives of Felidae family (domestic cats). However, the case of Middle Eastern SARS transmitted by camels is required a special attention to biological safety measures in farms.

International Curriculum Comparison in Vocational Education and Training: A Collaborative Development of an Analysis Instrument

Context: International comparative research on Vocational Education and Training (VET) is gaining importance, as global cooperation and mutual learning in VET grows. However, it is characterized by a high degree of complexity, due on one hand, to the heterogeneity of the VET sector, and on the other hand to the unique challenges of international comparisons. In addition, comparative research projects are increasingly conducted in the form of cross-border collaborations, which have their own particular organizational and methodological considerations, opportunities, and challenges. This paper presents an example of a cooperative research process, aimed at investigating the complex phenomenon of the competence-based approach in Russian and Chinese VET. In providing an example of developing an instrument for curriculum analysis and comparison, we discuss and reflect on the methodological and organizational peculiarities and challenges of the research process conducted collaboratively by an international team. Method: The instrument for analysis and comparison of curricular documents, was developed in an iterative multi-stage process, combining deductive and inductive steps. The embeddedness of the elements of a competence-based approach in curricular documents is investigated, using qualitative content analysis. To develop a coding frame, we started with a comprehensive partially systematic literature review of international, Russian and Chinese discourses on competence-based curricula. The frame was built on the selected model of competence-based education, and on accumulated results of the literature analysis of national discourses. Furthermore, during the first coding process, an iterative adaptation of the developed instrument took place. Results: The result of this process was the development of an analysis instrument which, on the one hand, is well-adapted to each national context and, on the other hand, allows a comparison of results along the same dimensions of analysis, in our case, elements of the competence-based approach in curriculum. Conclusion: Developing an analysis framework for a cross-cultural comparative investigation of such a diffuse and heterogeneous construct as the competence-based approach, can pose a methodological challenge for an international team of researchers. However, an effective application of own team resources such as proficiency in different languages, insider and outsider perspectives, along with continuous intensive communication and a flexible, iterative research process, allows development of a well-adapted analysis instrument for international comparison.

Sindrome de Behçet: Enfermedad de la ruta de la seda

La enfermedad de Behcet es un trastorno inflamatorio multisistémico vasculítico de vaso variable caracterizado por úlceras aftosas orales, genitales, recurrentes, panuveítis bilateral posterior, manifestaciones articulares y ocasionalmente compromiso del sistema nervioso central y grandes vasos . Las variadas manifestaciones clínicas y la falta de pruebas patognomónicas hacen de la enfermedad un reto diagnóstico cuya prevalencia en Colombia se desconoce. El diagnostico se basa en criterios diagnósticos propuestos ante la falta de una prueba Gold Standard. Con relación a la etiología se han estudiado diversas teorías, entre ellas las de origen inmunológico, especialmente por la existencia del HLA - B51, le siguen aquellas que responsabilizan a agentes infecciosos, daño endotelial, entre otros. Se presenta el caso de un paciente femenino de 35 años, con cuadro crónico y recurrente de aftas orales, presencia de lesiones dermatológicas y aparición de ulceras genitales. Descartándose causas inmunomediadas, infecciosas e inflamatorias. Considerándose un cuadro de aftosis bipolar recurrente y ante los síntomas dermatológicos, se propuso aplicar los criterios diagnósticos del International Team for the Revision of International Criteria for Behçet Disease, con una puntuación de 4, lo que avala el diagnostico de enfermedad de Behcet. El manejo se basó en la instauración de medidas terapéuticas a base de corticosteroides sistémicos e inmunosupresores, con adecuada respuesta clínica.

Reassessment of Varronia bellonis - a threatened, endemic plant from Puerto Rico

Varronia bellonis (Urb.) Britton is a lianescent or recumbent shrub that is endemic to Puerto Rico where it is restricted to specific geology types with a limited extent on the western half of the Island. The species occurs on serpentinite geology covered by serpentine-derived soils in the west-central mountains and on limestone geology in the the northern karst region. The species area of occupancy is estimated to range between 108 km2 and 268 km2 and its extent of occurrence to be between 644 km2 and 852 km2. The number of locations are estimated to be four. There are 418 known mature individuals in the wild (Hamilton 2020a). The species was previously assessed as Critically Endangered (Linsky and Sustache 2014), based on available information. However, an international team have been collaborating to conserve the species and, based on new information derived from this work, the species is reassessed as Endangered (EN), based on Criteria B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v), according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (version 3.1) and guidelines (IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee 2019). Areas of suitable habitat across the native range of the threatened plant, V. bellonis, were surveyed by a team of experts between 2016 and 2019 to determine the species habitat preferences, identify threats to the species survival and provide an up-to-date meta-population status. The new information enabled members of the international team to reassess the species status and will enable sound and scientifically-based recovery actions to be recommended that can secure Varronia bellonis populations for the future. Parallel efforts are ongoing to explore the species population genetics and reproductive biology.

An Examination of Training Load, Match Activities, and Health Problems in Norwegian Youth Elite Handball Players Over One Competitive Season

Talent development is integral to the policy and organizational practice of competitive sport, but has also been associated with excessive amounts of training and competition, and athlete injuries and illnesses. The lack of available prospective data on the training and match activities of youth athletes and their health problems is therefore of concern. The aim of this study was two-fold: (a) to examine the amount and frequency of training load, match activities, injury and illness incidence, and prevalence among Norwegian youth elite handball players over the course of the 2018–2019 competitive season; and (b) to explore whether the injury rates are related to the sex or competition level of players, or their membership of the youth international team. We recruited 205 handball players (64% female, 36% male), aged 15–18 years (17.2 years ± 0.9) from five different sport school programs in southeast Norway. Data were collected daily from September 2018 to May 2019, during the competitive handball season. The variables included types of athlete activities, the number of activities, the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and the duration of training and matches. Injury and illness data were collected weekly using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC) questionnaire. The mean number of matches per week per player was 0.9 ± 1.29; the number of weekly training events was 6.1 ± 4.4; and the mean weekly session RPE was 986 ± 1 412 arbitrary units. The players reported a total of 472 injuries, and the mean number of injuries per player was 2.3 ± 2.9. The results demonstrated a 53% weekly injury prevalence, of which 38% were categorized as substantial injuries. Male players and players who participated at the highest level of senior competition and/or the youth international team reported significantly lower weekly incidences of health problems, compared to other players. Our findings showed that players enrolled in sport school programs are exposed to high training and competition loads, and that both general and substantial health problems are common. The potential implications for talent development and future research are discussed.