Background This study aimed to determine the impact of pulmonary complications on death after surgery both before and during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Methods This was a patient-level, comparative analysis of two, international prospective cohort studies: one before the pandemic (January–October 2019) and the second during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (local emergence of COVID-19 up to 19 April 2020). Both included patients undergoing elective resection of an intra-abdominal cancer with curative intent across five surgical oncology disciplines. Patient selection and rates of 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications were compared. The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative mortality. Mediation analysis using a natural-effects model was used to estimate the proportion of deaths during the pandemic attributable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results This study included 7402 patients from 50 countries; 3031 (40.9 per cent) underwent surgery before and 4371 (59.1 per cent) during the pandemic. Overall, 4.3 per cent (187 of 4371) developed postoperative SARS-CoV-2 in the pandemic cohort. The pulmonary complication rate was similar (7.1 per cent (216 of 3031) versus 6.3 per cent (274 of 4371); P = 0.158) but the mortality rate was significantly higher (0.7 per cent (20 of 3031) versus 2.0 per cent (87 of 4371); P < 0.001) among patients who had surgery during the pandemic. The adjusted odds of death were higher during than before the pandemic (odds ratio (OR) 2.72, 95 per cent c.i. 1.58 to 4.67; P < 0.001). In mediation analysis, 54.8 per cent of excess postoperative deaths during the pandemic were estimated to be attributable to SARS-CoV-2 (OR 1.73, 1.40 to 2.13; P < 0.001). Conclusion Although providers may have selected patients with a lower risk profile for surgery during the pandemic, this did not mitigate the likelihood of death through SARS-CoV-2 infection. Care providers must act urgently to protect surgical patients from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Concerns are raised regarding the place of the arts in education, specifically as they are used in the social science context of educational research under the title ‘arts-based research’. An examination of Elliot Eisner’s claim that art is research concludes that, though the arts may be used for display, data, or heuristic in educational research, they are not being recognised for their distinctive characteristics. John White’s critique of the theory of multiple intelligences is revisited to mitigate common claims for the arts based upon Gardner. Given the dominance of scientism in today’s research climate, it is argued that the arts take their rightful place as foil to research in its quest for certainty; that they be the antagonist mode of thought called for by John Stuart Mill.

This paper revisits how late 20th‐century attempts to account for conceptual and other difficult art‐work by defining the concept ‘art’ have failed to offer a useful strategy for educators seeking a non‐instrumental justification for teaching the arts. It is suggested that this theoretical ground is nonetheless instructive and provides useful background in searching for a viable approach to justification. It is claimed that, though definition may fail and grand theories not coalesce, one would be wise to emulate Passmore (1954, 1990) who argues for an aesthetic approach to works of art and who proceeds like the fox, from a specific work that becomes more complex through analysis. His approach is employed in describing a performance series by the Cellist of Sarajevo, which raises further questions regarding what it means to start from a specific art‐work and how doing so exemplifies Fleming's (2006) suggestion that in justifying the arts we connect them to our ethical lives. Passmore's strategy is then extended to the aesthetic experience of reading this essay and the paper concludes with the author's personal anecdote in response to Higgins' (2008) call for genuinely aesthetic defences of aesthetic education.

The concept 'silence' has diametrically opposed meanings; it connotes peace and contemplation as well as death and oblivion. Silence can also be considered a practice. There is keeping the rule of silence to still the mind and find inner truth, as well as forcibly silencing in the sense of subjugating another to one's own purposes. The concept of teaching runs the gamut between these extremes, from respectfully leading students to search and discover, to relentlessly bending them to one's own will. This article examines contradictory connotations and practices of silence and teachers' ambivalent perceptions of it in order to conceptualize a positive practice of silence for teacher education.Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise (Proverbs 17: 28). Le silence éternel de ces espaces infinis m'effraie.The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me (Pascal, Pensées, iii.206) The rest is silence. [Hamlet dies] (Hamlet, V.ii.310).Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent (Paul's first letter to Timothy, 1 Timothy 2: 11-12).Whether one is a categorical realist or not, it is difficult to deny that the concepts we use to describe existence (dog, table, existence) are how we make sense of and come to understand our lives. In general philosophical use, a concept is 'that which a person has when he [or she] understands or is able to use some portion of his [or her] language' (Flew, 1979). Flew distinguishes weak criteria for possessing a concept whereby one can only pick out that to which the concept applies, like saying 'sheep' in the presence of one, and stronger criteria requiring more factual knowledge (p. 69), such as a shepherd would possess, or a linguist regarding the etymology of the word 'sheep' and its variants (sheepish, sheep's clothing). Concepts for grouping how we distinguish one thing or phenomenon from another are created and adapted continually to identify new phenomena (computer literacy, post-modernism) or fall into disuse as times change bs_bs_banner

In this paper, we explore how stories can serve as a pedagogical strategy in pre-service teacher education. Sharing concerns for students facing the complexities of today's classrooms evoked memories of moments from our own early years as teachers. Making sense of our fears many years later, led to the recognition that our students are facing similar situations. Through the exploration of our stories we demonstrate how we have gained insights into teaching and begun to make meaning from our experiences. Key to these stories is a sense of beliefs being disrupted by a fear of teaching.Leading up to the installation of his work entitled Room of Fears at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Michael Fernandes (2006), a Halifax-based conceptual artist, placed cards at strategic spots (e.g., cafeteria check-outs) around campus inviting community members to complete the following sentence: "I am afraid of …." He was to include the replies in his art installation. The walls of the gallery were painted flat black with blue horizontal chalk lines from ceiling to floor and the artist had written in chalk everyone's fears-one after the other all around the room. Entering the installation space, one was likely to be struck by the fact that the work alluded to classroom blackboards __________________________________________________________________ Mary Jane Harkins is a faculty member in the Literacy Education, Curriculum Studies and Bachelor of Education programs at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to coming to MSVU, Mary Jane was an administrator with the Tri County Regional School Board. Her recent research areas include university-community partnerships, Aboriginal studies, and inclusive education.Michelle Forrest is an Associate Professor of Education at Mount Saint Vincent University. She has taught secondary-school language arts and drama and now teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in philosophy of education, aesthetics, and media. Her interests include values education, the role of the arts in the development of open-mindedness, art-work as research in education, and collaborative process in research and teaching.Terrah Keener is a part-time instructor at Mount Saint Vincent University and teaches in the areas of social justice and is currently a PhD candidate with the University of South Australia. Terrah's doctoral research is a narrative and arts based inquiry that explores the intersection of school and family within the schooling experiences of non-heterosexual parents and their children.