Actually existing vitality rights: resisting neoliberal affects at a video game design camp

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to demonstrate the power of affective pedagogies and playful literacies to resist neoliberal framings of video game play and design in educational contexts. Design/methodology/approachFocusing on the Giga-Games Camp, a video game design camp for adolescents, the authors mobilize different methodological impulses across a number of different registers, using interview data to trace institutional arcs, focal frames from a GoPro camera to see vitality in action and descriptions of platform events to follow these lines through the shift to online instruction brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. FindingsThe authors narrate three transversal movements of the Giga-Games Camp to reveal how play-centered pedagogies can challenge the neoliberal tendency to assimilate young people's video gaming practices as a vehicle for future-proof science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning. Originality/valueThe authors offer the concept of actually existing vitality rights to describe how attending seriously to vitality in learning spaces will often manifest organically in very real strategies to reimagine and restructure preexisting, neoliberally sedimented uses of space, institutional configurations and constellations of sociopolitical power.

Innovating the TESOL Practicum in Teacher Education: Design, Implementation, and Pedagogy in an Era of Change

Recognizing new opportunities and challenges brought about by technological and social change, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, this volume explores innovative design, implementation, and pedagogy for practica experiences in teacher education programs in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. By showcasing research and practice undertaken in a range of teacher education courses and programs, the volume offers evidence-based approaches to enhancing pre- and in-service teachers’ learning and cultural awareness. Chapters come together coherently to address issues and explore innovative structures revolving around high-quality TESOL practica. Particular attention is paid to emerging opportunities offered by virtual and simulated learning in online and in-person practica, as well as potential changes to best practice in community-based programs. Using a diverse set of lenses to examine the practical, theoretical, and methodological aspects of TESOL practica, this volume will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers with an interest in TESOL education, as well as in open and distance education. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Chang Pu and Wayne E. Wright;individual chapters, the contributors.

Economic Evaluation of the Protecting Teeth @ 3 Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: An economic evaluation (EE) was conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial (the Protecting Teeth @ 3 Study [PT@3]), exploring the additional preventive value of fluoride varnish (FV) application at 6-monthly intervals in nursery schools compared to treatment as usual (TAU) in the same nurseries. TAU represented a multicomponent national child oral health improvement intervention, the Childsmile program, apart from nursery FV. METHODS: The EE was a within-trial cost-utility analysis (CUA) comparing the FV and TAU groups. The CUA was conducted from a National Health Service perspective and followed relevant methods guidance. Within-trial costs included intervention costs and health care resource use costs. Health outcomes were expressed in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) accrued over the 2-y follow-up period. The Child Health Utility 9 Dimensions questionnaire was used to obtain utility scores. National reference costs were used, a discount rate of 1.5% for public health interventions was adopted, multiple imputation methods for missing data were employed, sensitivity analyses were conducted, and incremental cost-utility ratios were calculated. RESULTS: Data from 534 participants from the 2014-2015 PT@3 intake were used in the EE analyses, n = 265 (50%) in the FV arm and n = 269 (50%) in the TAU arm. Mean incremental cost per child in the FV arm was £68.37 (P = 0.382; 95% confidence interval [CI], -£18.04 to £143.82). Mean incremental QALY was -0.004 (P = 0.636; 95% CI, -0.016 to 0.007). The probability that the FV intervention was cost-effective at the UK £20,000 threshold was 11.3%. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that applying FV in nurseries in addition to TAU (all other components of Childsmile, apart from nursery FV) would not be deemed cost-effective given current UK thresholds. In view of previously proven clinical effectiveness and economic worthiness of the universal nursery toothbrushing component of Childsmile, continuation of the additional, targeted nursery FV component in its pre-COVID-19 form should be reviewed given its low probability of cost-effectiveness. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: The results of this study can be used by child oral health policy makers and dental public health professionals. They can form part of the evidence to inform the Scottish, UK, and international guidance on community-based child oral health promotion programs.

Ischemic stroke in COVID-19: A need for early identification and management

Objective: We aimed to describe the clinical and radiographic characteristics of patients who were admitted with COVID-19 and had an acute ischemic stroke. Background: In the setting of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, a potential association of this disease with stroke has been suggested. Design/Methods: This is a case series of PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients with ischemic stroke admitted to an academic health system in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) between March 24th, 2020 and July 17th, 2020. Demographic, clinical, and radiographic characteristics were described. Results: Of 396 ischemic stroke patients admitted during this study period, 13 (2.5%) were also diagnosed with COVID-19. The mean age of patients was 61.6 ± 10.8 years, 10 (76.9%) male, 8 (61.5%) were Black Americans, mean time from last normal was 4.97 ± 5.1 days, and only one received acute reperfusion therapy. All 13 patients had at least one stroke-associated comorbidity. The predominant pattern of ischemic stroke was embolic with 4 explained by atrial fibrillation. COVID-19 patients had a significantly higher rate of cryptogenic stroke than nonCOVID-19 patients during the study period (69% vs 17%, p=0.0001). 4 patients (30.7%) died by the end of the study period. Conclusions: In our case series, ischemic stroke affected COVID-19 patients with traditional stroke risk factors, but mainly affecting males and Black Americans. We observed a predominantly embolic pattern of stroke with a higher than expected rate of cryptogenic strokes, a prolonged median time to presentation and symptom recognition limiting the use of acute reperfusion treatments along with a high mortality. These results highlight the need for increased community awareness, early identification, and management of AIS in COVID-19 patients. Further studies to determine the effects of COVID-19 associated coagulopathy on ischemic stroke risk as well as the interactions between COVID-19 and other known stroke risk factors are warranted.