UCET Discussion paper on effective Continuing Professional Development

This report is based on the wealth of experience and scholarship shared by UCET colleagues. It reflects on key aspects of CPD-related policy, practice and research over the past 50 years and highlights the following principles: - Education professionals require an expanding range of competences over their career; these are often context-specific, unforeseen and go beyond any single framework - As well as being research-informed, CPD should engage educators in theory so they can adapt their learning creatively to enrich their own setting - Reflective practitioners are best cultivated by supporting teachers’ in conducting their own research - Effective CPD is built on trusted relationships between deliverers and learners and include a strong element of coaching and/or mentoring often by peers - For sustained impact, CPD needs to be sustained over time (at least across two terms), making use of multiple formats - By engaging teachers in their wider social, economic and environmental contexts, CPD will ensure responsible professionals in the fullest sense - Developing teachers’ agency will enable them to consider their practice critically, lead their own learning and thus maximise the positive impact they have on their learners - All CPD should be subject to robust quality assurance mechanisms

Cylinder Wake – Boundary Layer Interaction in the Near Field

The interaction between the wake generated from separation off a cylinder and turbulent structures evident in a boundary layer are of significant importance in understanding the flows for cooling towers, submerged and semi-submerged vessels. This investigation was conducted on a wall mounted circular cylinder 25.4mm in diameter in the near wake region using MCCDPIV (multi-grid cross correlation digital particle image velocimetry) using a PCO4000 CCD array with full resolution of 4008 x 2672 pixels2 per image. The investigation was conducted for (ReD ≡ DU / ν) of 3600 and 5400. It was seen in the mean after taking the ensemble average of the instantaneous results that a stagnation line was formed between x / D = 1 and 1.5 downstream of the cylinder. The region of the cavity wake was highly turbulent having the largest velocity fluctuations in this region. The shape of the stagnation line was also seen to change, where for the ReD = 3600 the stagnation line position from the cylinder changed for a given height above the flat plate surface at y / D = 0

Kolmogorov Similarity Hypotheses for Scalar Fields: Sampling Intermittent Turbulent Mixing in the Ocean and Galaxy

Kolmogorov's three universal similarity hypotheses are extrapolated to describe scalar fields like temperature mixed by turbulence. By the analogous Kolmogorov third hypothesis for scalars, temperature dissipation rates chi averaged over lengths r > L_K should be lognormally distributed with intermittency factors I that increase with increasing turbulence energy length scales L_O as I_chi-r = m_T ln(L_O/r). Tests of Kolmogorovian velocity and scalar universal similarity hypotheses for very large ranges of turbulence length and time scales are provided by data from the ocean and the Galactic interstellar medium. The universal constant for turbulent mixing intermittency m_T is estimated from oceanic data to be 0.44+-0.01, which is remarkably close to estimates for Kolmogorov's turbulence intermittency constant m_u of 0.45+-0.05 from Galactic as well as atmospheric data. Extreme intermittency complicates the oceanic sampling problem, and may lead to quantitative and qualitative undersampling errors in estimates of mean oceanic dissipation rates and fluxes. Intermittency of turbulence and mixing in the interstellar medium may be a factor in the formation of stars.Comment: 23 pages original of Proc. Roy. Soc. article, 8 figures; in "Turbulence and Stochastic Processes: Kolmogorov's ideas 50 years on", London The Royal Society, 1991, J.C.R. Hunt, O.M. Phillips, D. Williams Eds., pages 1-240, vol. 434 (no. 1890) Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A, PDF fil

Modeling ontology views: An abstract view model for semantic web

The emergence of Semantic Web (SW) and the related technologies promise to make the web a meaningful experience. However, high level modelling, design and querying techniques proves to be a challenging task for organizations that are hoping to utilize the SW paradigm for their industrial applications. To address one such issue, in this paper, we propose an abstract view model with conceptual extensions for the SW. First we outline the view model, its properties and some modelling issues with the help of an industrial case study example. Then, we provide some discussions on constructing such views (at the conceptual level) using a set of operators. Later we provide a brief discussion on how such this view model can utilized in the MOVE [1] system, to design and construct materialized Ontology views to support Ontology extraction

Suicide Screening in Primary Care: Use of an Electronic Screener to Assess Suicidality and Improve Provider Follow-Up for Adolescents

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using an existing computer decision support system to screen adolescent patients for suicidality and provide follow-up guidance to clinicians in a primary care setting. Predictors of patient endorsement of suicidality and provider documentation of follow-up were examined. Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted to examine the implementation of a CDSS that screened adolescent patients for suicidality and provided follow-up recommendations to providers. The intervention was implemented for patients aged 12–20 years in two primary care clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana. Results The sample included 2,134 adolescent patients (51% female; 60% black; mean age = 14.6 years [standard deviation = 2.1]). Just over 6% of patients screened positive for suicidality. A positive endorsement of suicidality was more common among patients who were female, depressed, and seen by an adolescent−medicine board-certified provider as opposed to general pediatric provider. Providers documented follow-up action for 83% of patients who screened positive for suicidality. Documentation of follow-up action was correlated with clinic site and Hispanic race. The majority of patients who endorsed suicidality (71%) were deemed not actively suicidal after assessment by their provider. Conclusions Incorporating adolescent suicide screening and provider follow-up guidance into an existing computer decision support system in primary care is feasible and well utilized by providers. Female gender and depressive symptoms are consistently associated with suicidality among adolescents, although not all suicidal adolescents are depressed. Universal use of a multi-item suicide screener that assesses recency might more effectively identify suicidal adolescents

Relationships Between Chemoreflex Responses, Sleep Quality, and Hematocrit in Andean Men and Women.

Andean highlanders are challenged by chronic hypoxia and many exhibit elevated hematocrit (Hct) and blunted ventilation compared to other high-altitude populations. While many Andeans develop Chronic Mountain Sickness (CMS) and excessive erythrocytosis, Hct varies markedly within Andean men and women and may be driven by individual differences in ventilatory control and/or sleep events which exacerbate hypoxemia. To test this hypothesis, we quantified relationships between resting ventilation and ventilatory chemoreflexes, sleep desaturation, breathing disturbance, and Hct in Andean men and women. Ventilatory measures were made in 109 individuals (n = 63 men; n = 46 women), and sleep measures in 45 of these participants (n = 22 men; n = 23 women). In both men and women, high Hct was associated with low daytime SpO2 (p < 0.001 and p < 0.002, respectively) and decreased sleep SpO2 (mean, nadir, and time <80%; all p < 0.02). In men, high Hct was also associated with increased end-tidal PCO2 (p < 0.009). While ventilatory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia did not predict Hct, decreased hypoxic ventilatory responses were associated with lower daytime SpO2 in men (p < 0.01) and women (p < 0.009) and with lower nadir sleep SpO2 in women (p < 0.02). Decreased ventilatory responses to CO2 were associated with more time below 80% SpO2 during sleep in men (p < 0.05). The obstructive apnea index and apnea-hypopnea index also predicted Hct and CMS scores in men after accounting for age, BMI, and SpO2 during sleep. Finally, heart rate response to hypoxia was lower in men with higher Hct (p < 0.0001). These data support the idea that hypoventilation and decreased ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia are associated with decreased day time and nighttime SpO2 levels that may exacerbate the stimulus for erythropoiesis in Andean men and women. However, interventional and longitudinal studies are required to establish the causal relationships between these associations

Autism and the U.K. secondary school experience

This research investigated the self-reported mainstream school experiences of those diagnosed on the autistic spectrum compared with the typically developing school population. Existing literature identifies four key areas that affect the quality of the school experience for students with autism: social skills, perceived relationships with teaching staff, general school functioning, and interpersonal strengths of the young person. These areas were explored in a mainstream U.K. secondary school with 14 students with autism and 14 age and gender matched students without autism, using self-report questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analyses showed consistent school experiences for both groups, although content analysis of interview data highlighted some differences in the ways in which the groups perceive group work, peers, and teaching staff within school. Implications for school inclusion are discussed, drawing attention to how staff awareness of autism could improve school experience and success for students with autism attending mainstream schools