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Despite the large number of people with visual impairments in Australia, all Western Australian secondary students are required to complete their secondary exams using handwriting, unless they qualify for special provisions. Students with visual impairments do not necessarily qualify for special provisions on the basis of their visual impairment alone. It is hypothesized that students with visual impairments in Western Australia experience more difficulties with handwriting than their fully sighted peers, which can potentially limit their optimal performance. To date, there is only one study that indicates that the assessment of visual-motor integration abilities is also positively correlated to handwriting ability in people with visual impairments (Uysal & Aki, 2012). The primary objective of the study presented here is to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in the handwriting performance of people with visual impairments compared to that of sighted individuals. As a secondary objective, this study makes an effort to determine if there is evidence supporting the use of The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery & Beery, 2010) as an indicator of handwriting performance in individuals with visual impairments.

Craddock's book ' I Living against austerity; A feminist investigation of doing activism and being an activist i ' provides an in-depth understanding of the meanings and practices of the local anti-austerity culture in Nottingham. It draws on data collected through Craddock's participant observation of local anti-austerity events, as well as 30 semi-structured interviews conducted with people who self-identified as being involved in the local anti-austerity activism scene. Living against austerity; a feminist investigation of doing activism and being an activist: Bristol Press by Emma Craddock, Bristol University Press, 2020, £21.59 (hardback), ISBN: 978-1529205756. [Extracted from the article]

Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) is an increasingly important component of research conduct to enhance processes and potential for impact, yet is rarely critically interrogated. This paper draws on Foucauldian analysis to highlight the disciplinary powers and tensions arising in PPIE. The paper draws on a nested evaluation interview study with three PPIE members and eight academics, who had been involved in an implementation science study focused on palliative care. PPIE members were involved in the whole study and are co‐authors of this article. Through shared values and commitments to the study, a team culture of equality was developed. Yet while power was dispersed and taken‐up by all team members, in so doing a self‐governance approach within the team was developed. The pace and focus of discussions was at times more subjugating than co‐production. Identities and positions were porous; the simplistic division of ‘academic’ and ‘PPIE’ did not stand up to scrutiny, with an increasing blurring of boundaries as people’s experiences and insights changed over time. Continual, subtle, negotiations of roles, inputs and identities were manifest throughout the project. PPIE in research involves subtle, complex and ongoing disciplinary practices enacted by all members of the team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that visual impairment impacts around 1.8 million people in Australia and is defined as a visual acuity or equivalent field loss of less than 6/18 (20/60) by the International Statistical Classificationof Diseases and Related Health Problems. A person with visual impairment is expected to experience difficulties like lower legibility of handwriting and slower writing speed.

Objective: Saphenous vein grafts (SVG) used for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) often develop a gradual luminal narrowing over the first year due to neointimal hyperplasia (NH). Although the basic science of NH is well studied, our clinical understanding of this issue is limited. The purpose of this cohort study was to investigate clinical risk factors for NH by monitoring luminal narrowing within SVG using multichannel CT angiography (CTA). Methods: Thirty patients underwent CABG involving SVG (N = 44) and arterial grafts (N = 36). Patient variables were recorded and the baseline quality of each conduit determined intraoperatively by analyzing surplus segments for intima-media thickness ratio (IMT) by histology and matrix metalloproteinase-2 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Percent luminal narrowing (%LN) was calculated for each patent graft by comparing the CTA appearance on day 5 to a repeat study at 1 y. Results: Compared with arterial grafts, SVG showed significantly higher IMT at baseline (0.9 ± 0.65 versus 0.22 ± 0.17, P < 0.0001) and more %LN over the first year (6.9 ± 7.5 versus 25.3 ± 13.3% LN, P< 0.0001). Of all of the measured variables, the only significant predictors of %LN included baseline IMT (r = 0.58, P = 0.002) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 levels (r = 0.60, P = 0.002) in SVG. Conclusions: The degree of NH at baseline, a phenomenon exclusive to SVG and not found in arterial grafts, was significantly related to the development of lumen loss in the conduit over the first year after CABG. The study of SVG using serial CTA may provide unique insights into the natural history of SVG remodeling and to identify factors that influence the long-term function of this conduit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Endovascular stent grafting has emerged as an effective method for the treatment of complicated acute type B aortic dissections. In cases where access to the aorta cannot be established through the ileofemoral trunks, the axillary arteries are used as an alternative route. Often, however, these arteries are too small to accommodate the device sheath. We report the case of an 82-year-old female with complicated type B aortic dissection treated with deployment of an endovascular stent-graft through an 8 mm Dacron graft sewn to the innominate artery.