Meeting the growing demand for engineers and their educators: the potential for open and distance learning

As with all teaching, open and distance approaches are successful only if based on good pedagogical design addressing the purpose, structure and pace of the material, hence engaging students and encouraging active learning. For distance learning such pedagogical design is often expensive, and can only be justified by comparatively large student numbers. Much open and distance teaching offers meagre student support. To be successful, course developers must integrate student support into the learning materials, including such elements as a modest number of face-to-face sessions or electronic communication at a distance. This presentation discusses these issues in the context of SET distance teaching and presents examples of good practice from the UKOU, including: • an introductory course in ICT that adopts an issues-based approach, in order to de-mystify the subject and make it more attractive to students • resource-based approaches in engineering education • team projects at a distance • an emphasis on ‘active learning’ An argument is also to be made for the importance of openness if we really wish to promote engineering. In this context ‘openness’ means making programmes available to all students (even those without formal school-leaving qualifications) that will ultimately enable them to qualify as a professional engineer or an educator of engineers. The traditional approach to engineering education has been hierarchical and linear: a good school leaving certificate in mathematics / science followed by an often very theoretical university education plus an application-oriented final project. If we are serious about attracting new engineers, this will no longer do. An open and distance approach to engineering formation, based on outcomes rather than input educational levels, and with an emphasis on lifelong learning and professional development, can make a major contribution to chang

The Rise of Mobile and the Diffusion of Technology-Facilitated Trafficking

In this report, researchers at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) reveal how those involved in human trafficking have been quick to adapt to the 21st-century global landscape. While the rapid diffusion of digital technologies such as mobile phones, social networking sites, and the Internet has provided significant benefits to society, new channels and opportunities for exploitation have also emerged. Increasingly, the business of human trafficking is taking place online and over mobile phones. But the same technologies that are being used for trafficking can become a powerful tool to combat trafficking. The precise role that digital technologies play in human trafficking still remains unclear, however, and a closer examination of the phenomenon is vital to identify and respond to new threats and opportunities.This investigation indicates that mobile devices and networks have risen in prominence and are now of central importance to the sex trafficking of minors in the United States. While online platforms such as online classifieds and social networking sites remain a potential venue for exploitation, this research suggests that technology facilitated trafficking is more diffuse and adaptive than initially thought. This report presents a review of current literature, trends, and policies; primary research based on mobile phone data collected from online classified sites; a series of firsthand interviews with law enforcement; and key recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders moving forward

Solitude, Silence, and the Training of Psychotherapists: A Preliminary Study

The spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude have long been practiced within the contemplative Christian tradition as a means of character transformation and experiencing God. Do these disciplines affect the use of silence in psychotherapy for Christian clinicians in a graduate training program? Nineteen graduate students in clinical psychology were assigned to a wait-list control condition or a training program involving the disciplines of solitude and silence, and the groups were reversed after the ftrst cohort completed the spiritual disciplines training. One group, which was coincidentally comprised of more introverted individuals, demonstrated a striking increase in the number of silent periods and total duration of silence during simulated psychotherapy sessions during the period of training. The other group, more extraverted in nature, did not show significant changes in therapeutic silence during the training. These results cause us to pose research questions regarding the interaction of personality characteristics and spiritual disciplines in training Christian psychotherapists

Non-epileptic attack disorder: the importance of diagnosis and treatment

A 50-year-old woman was taken to hospital by emergency ambulance during her first seizure. She was admitted to hospital, treated with intravenous diazepam, diagnosed with epilepsy and started on antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. This was ineffective so she was referred to a tertiary centre where she underwent video EEG and was diagnosed with non-epileptic attack disorder. Her experience of the diagnosis was positive; it allowed her to understand what was happening to her and to understand the link between her seizures, adverse childhood experiences and the death of her mother. She stopped taking AEDs and she was referred to a psychologist which led to a significant improvement in her functioning and quality of life. We present this case as a good example of the benefits of accurate diagnosis, clear explanation and access to specialist car

Spiritual Directors and Clinical Psychologists: A Comparison of Mental Health and Spiritual Values

We surveyed a total of 315 spiritual directors, psychologist members of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), and psychologist members of the American Psychological Association (APA) to determine their respective values on ten mental health themes derived from Jensen and Bergin (1988), and three spirituality scales drawn from the writings of John of the Cross. All three groups endorsed the value of expressing feelings, personal autonomy and maturity, and integrating work and leisure. CAPS psychologists and spiritual directors endorsed more than APA psychologists the values of spirituality, forgiveness, and the three John of the Cross scales. Spiritual directors reported greater endorsement of the self-awareness and growth theme than did psychodynamic psychologists who, in turn, reported greater endorsement than cognitive-behavioral psychologists. The results are examined in light of the pre-Enlightenment paradigm and value system in which spiritual direction and Christian theology are rooted

Spiritual Directors and Clinical Psychologists: A Comparison of Mental Health and Spiritual Values (Taken from Chapter 3 of Spiritual Formation, Counseling, and Psychotherapy)

We surveyed a total of 315 spiritual directors, psychologist members of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), and psychologist members of the American Psychological Association (APA) to determine their respective values on ten mental health themes derives from Jensen and Bergin (1988), and three spirituality scales drawn from the writings of John of the Cross. All three groups endorsed the value of expressing feelings, personal autonomy and maturity, and integrating work and leisure. CAPS psychologists and spiritual directors endorsed more than APA psychologists the values of spirituality, forgiveness, and the three John of the Cross scales. Spiritual directors reported greater endorsement of the self-awareness and growth theme then did psychodynamic psychologists who, in turn, reported greater endorsement than cognitive-behavioral psychologists. The results are examined in light of the pre-Enlightenment paradigm and value system in which spiritual direction and Christian theology are rooted

The matrix metalloproteinase stromelysin-1 acts as a natural mammary tumor promoter

Extracellular matrix-degrading matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are invariably upregulated in epithelial cancers and are key agonists in angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Yet most MMPs are secreted not by the cancer cells themselves, but by stromal cells within and around the tumor mass. Because the stromal environment can influence tumor formation, and because MMPs can alter this environment, MMPs may also contribute to the initial stages of cancer development. Several recent studies in MMP-overexpressing and MMP-deficient mice support this possibility, but have required carcinogens or pre-existing oncogenic mutations to initiate tumorigenesis. Here we review the spontaneous development of premalignant and malignant lesions in the mammary glands of transgenic mice that express an autoactivating form of MMP-3/stromelysin-1 under the control of the whey acidic protein gene promoter. These changes were absent in nontransgenic littermates and were quenched by co-expression of a human tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) transgene. Thus by altering the cellular microenvironment, stromelysin-1 can act as a natural tumor promoter and enhance cancer susceptibility

Nuclear Charge Radius of 12^{12}Be

The nuclear charge radius of $^{12}$Be was precisely determined using the technique of collinear laser spectroscopy on the $2s_{1/2}\rightarrow 2p_{1/2, 3/2}$ transition in the Be$^{+}$ ion. The mean square charge radius increases from $^{10}$Be to $^{12}$Be by \delta ^{10,12} = 0.69(5) \fm^{2} compared to \delta ^{10,11} = 0.49(5) \fm^{2} for the one-neutron halo isotope $^{11}$Be. Calculations in the fermionic molecular dynamics approach show a strong sensitivity of the charge radius to the structure of $^{12}$Be. The experimental charge radius is consistent with a breakdown of the N=8 shell closure.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Collinear laser spectroscopy of atomic cadmium

Hyperfine structure $A$ and $B$ factors of the atomic 5s\,5p\,\; ^3\rm{P}_2 \rightarrow 5s\,6s\,\; ^3\rm{S}_1 transition are determined from collinear laser spectroscopy data of $^{107-123}$Cd and $^{111m-123m}$Cd. Nuclear magnetic moments and electric quadrupole moments are extracted using reference dipole moments and calculated electric field gradients, respectively. The hyperfine structure anomaly for isotopes with $s_{1/2}$ and $d_{5/2}$ nuclear ground states and isomeric $h_{11/2}$ states is evaluated and a linear relationship is observed for all nuclear states except $s_{1/2}$. This corresponds to the Moskowitz-Lombardi rule that was established in the mercury region of the nuclear chart but in the case of cadmium the slope is distinctively smaller than for mercury. In total four atomic and ionic levels were analyzed and all of them exhibit a similar behaviour. The electric field gradient for the atomic 5s\,5p\,\; ^3\mathrm{P}_2 level is derived from multi-configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations in order to evaluate the spectroscopic nuclear quadrupole moments. The results are consistent with those obtained in an ionic transition and based on a similar calculation.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure