title: Effect of statin and aspirin use on toxicity and pathological complete response rate of neo-adjuvant chemoradiation for rectal cancer

authors: Hardie, Claire

subjects: aspirin

abstract: Aim
To retrospectively evaluate the potential impact of statin and aspirin use on acute toxicity and pathological complete response (pCR) rate in rectal cancer patients receiving neo-adjuvant long-course radiation therapy (LCRT) with concurrent chemotherapy.

Methods
A retrospective review was performed of all patients undergoing neo-adjuvant LCRT for rectal adenocarcinoma at the Regional Cancer Treatment Service between 1 September 2007 and 1 June 2011. Data obtained include demographic details; date and radiological TNM stage at diagnosis; medication taken at time of RT; toxicity during LCRT; and surgical histology to determine if a pCR was obtained following LCRT.

Results
Neo-adjuvant LCRT was administered to 142 patients for rectal cancer during this period; concurrent chemotherapy was omitted in 13 due to significant comorbidities. TNM stage was 2 or 3 radiologically at diagnosis in 127 (89.4%) of patients. At the time of LCRT, 23% were taking a statin and 25% were taking aspirin. Of 135 assessable patients, 34 (13%) achieved a pCR at surgery. On logistic regression, pCR was not significantly associated with the use of chemotherapy, statins, aspirin, other NSAIDs, T-stage or N-stage. There was no significant correlation between statin or aspirin use with bladder or rectal toxicity. Actuarial time to maximum rectal toxicity was not different in statin users or nonusers.

Conclusion
In contrast to other larger retrospective series, this study did not find improvements in toxicity or pCR rate through statin or aspirin use in rectal cancer patients undergoing LCRT. Their potential benefits in this setting would be best studied prospectively in a large randomized trial.

text: Effect of statin and aspirin use on toxicity and pathological complete response rate of neo-adjuvant chemoradiation for rectal cancer Aim
To retrospectively evaluate the potential impact of statin and aspirin use on acute toxicity and pathological complete response (pCR) rate in rectal cancer patients receiving neo-adjuvant long-course radiation therapy (LCRT) with concurrent chemotherapy.

Methods
A retrospective review was performed of all patients undergoing neo-adjuvant LCRT for rectal adenocarcinoma at the Regional Cancer Treatment Service between 1 September 2007 and 1 June 2011. Data obtained include demographic details; date and radiological TNM stage at diagnosis; medication taken at time of RT; toxicity during LCRT; and surgical histology to determine if a pCR was obtained following LCRT.

Results
Neo-adjuvant LCRT was administered to 142 patients for rectal cancer during this period; concurrent chemotherapy was omitted in 13 due to significant comorbidities. TNM stage was 2 or 3 radiologically at diagnosis in 127 (89.4%) of patients. At the time of LCRT, 23% were taking a statin and 25% were taking aspirin. Of 135 assessable patients, 34 (13%) achieved a pCR at surgery. On logistic regression, pCR was not significantly associated with the use of chemotherapy, statins, aspirin, other NSAIDs, T-stage or N-stage. There was no significant correlation between statin or aspirin use with bladder or rectal toxicity. Actuarial time to maximum rectal toxicity was not different in statin users or nonusers.

Conclusion
In contrast to other larger retrospective series, this study did not find improvements in toxicity or pCR rate through statin or aspirin use in rectal cancer patients undergoing LCRT. Their potential benefits in this setting would be best studied prospectively in a large randomized trial.

year: 2016-03-07

title: Re-engaging students in science: issues of assessment, funds of knowledge and sites for learning

authors: Cowie, Bronwen

subjects: assessment for learning

abstract: International assessment data paints a complex picture of the engagement and achievement of New Zealand students in science. New Zealand was second only to Finland in the top achievers group in PISA 2006, but it also has one of the widest spreads in student achievement, particularly in relation to Mori and Pasifika students. Thus, the challenges faced by New Zealand students, teachers, schools and policy makers resonate with those from elsewhere. New Zealand has a strong research and development tradition around student ideas in science education, but recently, there has been increased recognition at the policy and practice level of the importance of both engagement and participation linked to student identity. A sociocultural orientation to identity has the potential to generate new ways of thinking about and responding to the challenge of engaging students in science. This orientation involves considering classrooms as sites for students working through the development and performance of science-related identities, or not. In this paper, three suggestions from long-term research studies are made for ways forward in addressing the challenge of increasing student engagement and participation through an expansion of the possibilities for students to express and develop science-related identities. These are reconceptualising assessment, the inclusion of student funds of knowledge and strategies for breaching the classroom walls.

text: Re-engaging students in science: issues of assessment, funds of knowledge and sites for learning International assessment data paints a complex picture of the engagement and achievement of New Zealand students in science. New Zealand was second only to Finland in the top achievers group in PISA 2006, but it also has one of the widest spreads in student achievement, particularly in relation to Mori and Pasifika students. Thus, the challenges faced by New Zealand students, teachers, schools and policy makers resonate with those from elsewhere. New Zealand has a strong research and development tradition around student ideas in science education, but recently, there has been increased recognition at the policy and practice level of the importance of both engagement and participation linked to student identity. A sociocultural orientation to identity has the potential to generate new ways of thinking about and responding to the challenge of engaging students in science. This orientation involves considering classrooms as sites for students working through the development and performance of science-related identities, or not. In this paper, three suggestions from long-term research studies are made for ways forward in addressing the challenge of increasing student engagement and participation through an expansion of the possibilities for students to express and develop science-related identities. These are reconceptualising assessment, the inclusion of student funds of knowledge and strategies for breaching the classroom walls.

year: 2010

title: Relational Responsive Pedagogy, Teachers and Māori students Listening and Learning from each other

authors: Joyce, Chrisandra Itirana

subjects: Relational Pedagogy

abstract: This thesis examines the culturally responsive and relational pedagogical practices of a group of teachers in one Phase four Te Kotahitanga school. It then considers the influences of these pedagogies on four Māori students.
The thesis begins by seeking to understand the two different worldviews in Aotearoa/New Zealand (a Western worldview and a Māori worldview) and some of the discourses that have emerged in the shared Māori and colonial history of this country. It examines kaupapa Māori as both a movement of resistance to the dominant Western worldview that came with colonisation; and a movement of revitalisation to Māori ways of knowing and understanding the world that began to be lost at the same time. It focuses on Te Kotahitanga as a kaupapa Māori response in secondary schools.
The collaborative storying of teachers and Māori students in a Te Kotahitanga school alongside their data of practice and achievement are discussed and examined. Shifts across three levels of the school are identified and understood alongside the Te Kotahitanga professional development cycle. These understandings are discussed in relation to Māori metaphors.  The overall implications of Māori metaphors in relation to the research questions are then considered.
This thesis concludes with considerations and implications for others in addressing the on-going educational disparities of Māori students in mainstream educational settings in New Zealand.

text: Relational Responsive Pedagogy, Teachers and Māori students Listening and Learning from each other This thesis examines the culturally responsive and relational pedagogical practices of a group of teachers in one Phase four Te Kotahitanga school. It then considers the influences of these pedagogies on four Māori students.
The thesis begins by seeking to understand the two different worldviews in Aotearoa/New Zealand (a Western worldview and a Māori worldview) and some of the discourses that have emerged in the shared Māori and colonial history of this country. It examines kaupapa Māori as both a movement of resistance to the dominant Western worldview that came with colonisation; and a movement of revitalisation to Māori ways of knowing and understanding the world that began to be lost at the same time. It focuses on Te Kotahitanga as a kaupapa Māori response in secondary schools.
The collaborative storying of teachers and Māori students in a Te Kotahitanga school alongside their data of practice and achievement are discussed and examined. Shifts across three levels of the school are identified and understood alongside the Te Kotahitanga professional development cycle. These understandings are discussed in relation to Māori metaphors.  The overall implications of Māori metaphors in relation to the research questions are then considered.
This thesis concludes with considerations and implications for others in addressing the on-going educational disparities of Māori students in mainstream educational settings in New Zealand.

year: 2012