Perturbating the assessment of individuals and groups: Listening for challenges to mathematics teacher educators

In this article I begin by focusing on different ways in which the term assessment can be understood and practised.  Having done this, I turn my gaze onto one particular teacher education situation and explore student teacher assessment as they are prepared for a career in teaching. In describing some of the particular ways in which I try to heighten the awareness of this particular group of student teachers regarding assessment and evaluation, I reflect on the experience and pose questions for teacher educators in general to consider about their own practice

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MODERN AND THE LOWER BODY GOLF SWING TECHNIQUES– PILOT STUDY WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR LOWER BACK INJURY RISK

The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical characteristics of the lower body swing to modern swing techniques, with a focus on lower back injury risk. Fifteen male individuals free from lower back injury participated in this study. Nine participants utilized the modern swing (age = 48.0 ± 13.6 years; height = 176.8 ± 4.4 cm; mass = 82.1 ± 5.3 kg) while six utilized the lower body swing (age = 53.9 ±12.1 years; height = 182.9 ± 6.1 cm; mass = 92.5 ± 14.8 kg). Whole body kinematics were recorded with a ten-camera motion analysis system while individuals performed 5 shots with a driver for maximum distance. Continuous waveform and discrete point analysis was used to explore the differences between these two techniques. The lower body swing demonstrated favourable kinematics in the majority of variables related to lower back pain and lumbar load

Black box probabilistic numerics

Peer reviewe

Black box probabilistic numerics

Peer reviewe

Automated prediction of mastitis infection patterns in dairy herds using machine learning

© 2020, The Author(s). Mastitis in dairy cattle is extremely costly both in economic and welfare terms and is one of the most significant drivers of antimicrobial usage in dairy cattle. A critical step in the prevention of mastitis is the diagnosis of the predominant route of transmission of pathogens into either contagious (CONT) or environmental (ENV), with environmental being further subdivided as transmission during either the nonlactating “dry” period (EDP) or lactating period (EL). Using data from 1000 farms, random forest algorithms were able to replicate the complex herd level diagnoses made by specialist veterinary clinicians with a high degree of accuracy. An accuracy of 98%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 86% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 99% was achieved for the diagnosis of CONT vs ENV (with CONT as a “positive” diagnosis), and an accuracy of 78%, PPV of 76% and NPV of 81% for the diagnosis of EDP vs EL (with EDP as a “positive” diagnosis). An accurate, automated mastitis diagnosis tool has great potential to aid non-specialist veterinary clinicians to make a rapid herd level diagnosis and promptly implement appropriate control measures for an extremely damaging disease in terms of animal health, productivity, welfare and antimicrobial use

Mental health in UK Biobank: development, implementation and results from an online questionnaire completed by 157 366 participants

Background UK Biobank is a well-characterised cohort of over 500 000 participants that offers unique opportunities to investigate multiple diseases and risk factors. Aims An online mental health questionnaire completed by UK Biobank participants was expected to expand the potential for research into mental disorders. Method An expert working group designed the questionnaire, using established measures where possible, and consulting with a patient group regarding acceptability. Case definitions were defined using operational criteria for lifetime depression, mania, anxiety disorder, psychotic-like experiences and self-harm, as well as current post-traumatic stress and alcohol use disorders. Results 157 366 completed online questionnaires were available by August 2017. Comparison of self-reported diagnosed mental disorder with a contemporary study shows a similar prevalence, despite respondents being of higher average socioeconomic status than the general population across a range of indicators. Thirty-five per cent (55 750) of participants had at least one defined syndrome, of which lifetime depression was the most common at 24% (37 434). There was extensive comorbidity among the syndromes. Mental disorders were associated with high neuroticism score, adverse life events and long-term illness; addiction and bipolar affective disorder in particular were associated with measures of deprivation. Conclusions The questionnaire represents a very large mental health survey in itself, and the results presented here show high face validity, although caution is needed owing to selection bias. Built into UK Biobank, these data intersect with other health data to offer unparalleled potential for crosscutting biomedical research involving mental health

Estimating seabed pressure from demersal trawls, seines, and dredges based on gear design and dimensions

This study assesses the seabed pressure of towed fishing gears and models the physical impact (area and depth of seabed penetration) from trip-based information of vessel size, gear type, and catch. Traditionally fishing pressures are calculated top-down by making use of large-scale statistics such as logbook data. Here, we take a different approach starting from the gear itself (design and dimensions) to estimate the physical interactions with the seabed at the level of the individual fishing operation. We defined 14 distinct towed gear groups in European waters (eight otter trawl groups, three beam trawl groups, two demersal seine groups, and one dredge group), for which we established gear “footprints”. The footprint of a gear is defined as the relative contribution from individual larger gear components, such as trawl doors, sweeps, and groundgear, to the total area and severity of the gear's impact. An industry-based survey covering 13 countries provided the basis for estimating the relative impact-area contributions from individual gear components, whereas sediment penetration was estimated based on a literature review. For each gear group, a vessel size–gear size relationship was estimated to enable the prediction of gear footprint area and sediment penetration from vessel size. Application of these relationships with average vessel sizes and towing speeds provided hourly swept-area estimates by métier. Scottish seining has the largest overall gear footprint of ∼1.6 km2 h−1 of which 0.08 km2 has an impact at the subsurface level (sediment penetration ≥ 2 cm). Beam trawling for flatfish ranks low when comparing overall footprint size/hour but ranks substantially higher when comparing only impact at the subsurface level (0.19 km2h−1). These results have substantial implications for the definition, estimation, and monitoring of fishing pressure indicators, which are discussed in the context of an ecosystem approach to fisheries managemen

Synergistic and competitive aspects of the adsorption of Poly(ethylene glycol) and Poly(vinyl alcohol) onto Na-Bentonite

Graph Presented) The competitive adsorption of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) onto Na-bentonite has been assessed quantitatively. Particular emphasis was focused on the amount of organic located within the bentonite interlayer and any subsequent eff ects on the extent of layer expansion. The individual isotherms showed strong adsorption for both PVOH and PEG at amounts lower than the quantities required to produce a fully loaded bilayer (0.33 g of PVOH/g of clay) and single layered structures (0.10 g of PEG/g of clay), respectively. Above these concentrations, the incremental amounts adsorbed were smaller, and the concentration of adsorbates in solution gradually increased. Na-bentonite adsorbed more PVOH than PEG at any given concentration. In the competitive study, the amount of PVOH adsorbed was enhanced in the presence of PEG (0.10 and 0.30 g/g of clay), but less PEG was adsorbed. At low loadings of PVOH (0.02-0.10 g/g of clay), the amount of adsorbed PEG was increased but at higher PVOH levels PEG adsorption was reduced. The XRD data showed stepped changes in the d-spacing as the adsorbed amounts of both PEG and PVOH increased. The PEG-bentonite samples did not expand beyond a bilayer structure (18 A˚), but the XRD data for PVOH-treated samples indicated the formation of multilayer structures (d ≥ 44 A˚)

The effect of organoclay addition on the properties of an acrylate based, thermally activated shape memory polymer

Shape Memory Polymers (SMPs) exhibit the intriguing ability to change back from an intermediate, deformed shape back to their original, permanent shape. In this contribution a systematic series of t-butylacrylate-co-poly(ethyleneglycol) dimethacrylate (tBA-co-PEGDMA) polymers have been synthesised and characterised prior to incorporation of organoclay. Increasing the poly(ethyleneglycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) content in increments of 10% increased the storage modulus from 2005 to 2250 MPa, reduced the glass transition temperature from + 41 to − 26 °C and reduced the intensity of the associated tan δ peak. The tBA-co-PEGDMA crosslinked networks displayed useful shape memory properties up to PEGDMA contents of 40%. Above this PEGDMA percentage the materials were prone to fracture and too brittle for a realistic assessment of their shape memory capability. The system containing 90% t-butylacrylate (tBA) and 10% PEGDMA was selected as the host matrix to investigate how the incorporation of 1 to 5 mass% of a benzyl tallow dimethylammonium-exchanged bentonite (BTDB) influenced the shape memory properties. X-ray diffraction data confirmed that BTDB formed a microcomposite in the selected matrix and exerted no influence on the storage modulus, rubbery modulus, glass transition temperature, Tg, or the shape or intensity of the tan δ peak of the host matrix. Therefore, it was anticipated that the presence of BTDB would have no effect, positive or negative, nor on the shape memory properties of the host matrix. However, it was found that the incorporation of clay, especially at the 1 mass% level, significantly accelerated the speed, compared with the clay-free SMP, at which the microcomposite returned to the original, permanent shape. This accelerated return to the permanent shape was also observed when the microcomposite was coated onto a 100 μm PET film