1,553 research outputs found
Formality and informality in the summative assessment of motor vehicle apprentices: a case study
This article explores the interaction of formal and informal attributes of competenceâbased assessment. Specifically, it presents evidence from a small qualitative case study of summative assessment practices for competenceâbased qualifications within apprenticeships in the motor industry in England. The data are analysed through applying an adaptation of a framework for exploring the interplay of formality and informality in learning. This analysis reveals informal mentoring as a significant element which influences not only the process of assessment, but also its outcomes. We offer different possible interpretations of the data and their analysis, and conclude that, whichever interpretation is adopted, there appears to be a need for greater capacityâbuilding for assessors at a local level. This could acknowledge a more holistic role for assessors; recognise the importance of assessorsâ informal practices in the formal retention and achievement of apprentices; and enhance awareness of inequalities that may be reinforced by both informal and formal attributes of assessment practices
Challenges to enabling and implementing Natural Flood Management in Scotland
The research for this paper was supported by the Scottish Government RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2011â2016.We explore factors that constrain implementation of Natural Flood Management (NFM), based on qualitative analysis of interviews with those influencing and enabling flood risk management in Scotland. NFM entails collaboration by multiple individuals and organisations to plan and deliver measures such as re-meandering or buffer strips. Our interviewees identified many interacting issues. They particularly focused on difficulties in securing resources, and evidence gaps and uncertainties associated with NFM. Co-ordination was not simple, often requiring new types of skill, expertise, and resources. NFM is thus outside the âcomfort zoneâ of many leading or engaged with flood risk management. These experiences echo and elaborate on other studies of attempts to encourage sustainable flood management. To tackle these challenges, practitioners should reflect how pre-existing ideas and practices may shape and constrain new approaches to managing floods, while research is needed on specific strategies that can assist in enabling change.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Study and implementation of urogenital schistosomiasis elimination in Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba islands) using an integrated multidisciplinary approach
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is a parasitic infection that continues to be a major public health problem in many developing countries being responsible for an estimated burden of at least 1.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Africa alone. However, morbidity due to schistosomiasis has been greatly reduced in some parts of the world, including Zanzibar. The Zanzibar government is now committed to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis. Over the next 3--5 years, the whole at-risk population will be administered praziquantel (40 mg/kg) biannually. Additionally, snail control and behaviour change interventions will be implemented in selected communities and the impact measured in a randomized intervention trial. METHODS: In this 5-year research study, on both Unguja and Pemba islands, urogenital schistosomiasis will be assessed in 45 communities with urine filtration and reagent strips in 4,500 schoolchildren aged 9--12 years annually, and in 4,500 first-year schoolchildren and 2,250 adults in years 1 and 5. Additionally, from first-year schoolchildren, a finger-prick blood sample will be collected and examined for Schistosoma haematobium infection biomarkers. Changes in prevalence and infection intensity will be assessed annually. Among the 45 communities, 15 were randomized for biannual snail control with niclosamide, in concordance with preventive chemotherapy campaigns. The reduction of Bulinus globosus snail populations and S. haematobium-infected snails will be investigated. In 15 other communities, interventions triggering behaviour change have been designed and will be implemented in collaboration with the community. A change in knowledge, attitudes and practices will be assessed annually through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with schoolchildren, teachers, parents and community leaders. In all 45 communities, changes in the health system, water and sanitation infrastructure will be annually tracked by standardized questionnaire-interviews with community leaders. Additional issues potentially impacting on study outcomes and all incurring costs will be monitored and recorded. DISCUSSION: Elimination of schistosomiasis has become a priority on the agenda of the Zanzibar government and the international community. Our study will contribute to identifying what, in addition to preventive chemotherapy, needs to be done to prevent, control, and ultimately eliminate schistosomiasis, and to draw lessons for current and future schistosomiasis elimination programmes in Africa and elsewhere.Trial registrationISRCTN4883768
Collaboration and contestation in further and higher education partnerships in England: a Bourdieusian field analysis
Internationally, âCollege for Allâ policies are creating new forms of vocational higher education (HE), and shifting relationships between HE and further education (FE) institutions. In this paper, we consider the way in which this is being implemented in England, drawing on a detailed qualitative case study of a regional HEâFE partnership to widen participation. We focus on the complex mix of collaboration and contestation that arose within it, and how these affected socially differentiated groups of students following high- and low-status routes through its provision. We outline Bourdieuâs concept of âfieldâ as a framework for our analysis and interpretation, including its theoretical ambiguities regarding the definition and scale of fields. Through hermeneutic dialogue between data and theory, we tentatively suggest that such partnerships represent bridges between HE and FE. These bridges are strong between higher-status institutions, but highly contested between lower-status institutions competing closely for distinction. We conclude that the trajectories and outcomes for socially disadvantaged students require attention and collective action to address the inequalities they face, and that our theoretical approach may have wider international relevance beyond the English case
Interpreting ambiguous âtraceâ results in Schistosoma mansoni CCA Tests: Estimating sensitivity and specificity of ambiguous results with no gold standard
Background The development of new diagnostics is an important tool in the fight against disease. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of tests in the absence of a gold standard. The main field diagnostic for Schistosoma mansoni infection, Kato-Katz (KK), is not very sensitive at low infection intensities. A point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) test has been shown to be more sensitive than KK. However, CCA can return an ambiguous âtraceâ result between âpositiveâ and ânegativeâ, and much debate has focused on interpretation of traces results. Methodology/Principle findings We show how LCA can be extended to include ambiguous trace results and analyse S. mansoni studies from both CĂŽte dâIvoire (CdI) and Uganda. We compare the diagnostic performance of KK and CCA and the observed results by each test to the estimated infection prevalence in the population. Prevalence by KK was higher in CdI (13.4%) than in Uganda (6.1%), but prevalence by CCA was similar between countries, both when trace was assumed to be negative (CCAtn: 11.7% in CdI and 9.7% in Uganda) and positive (CCAtp: 20.1% in CdI and 22.5% in Uganda). The estimated sensitivity of CCA was more consistent between countries than the estimated sensitivity of KK, and estimated infection prevalence did not significantly differ between CdI (20.5%) and Uganda (19.1%). The prevalence by CCA with trace as positive did not differ significantly from estimates of infection prevalence in either country, whereas both KK and CCA with trace as negative significantly underestimated infection prevalence in both countries. Conclusions Incorporation of ambiguous results into an LCA enables the effect of different treatment thresholds to be directly assessed and is applicable in many fields. Our results showed that CCA with trace as positive most accurately estimated infection prevalence
Streaming Algorithm for Euler Characteristic Curves of Multidimensional Images
We present an efficient algorithm to compute Euler characteristic curves of
gray scale images of arbitrary dimension. In various applications the Euler
characteristic curve is used as a descriptor of an image.
Our algorithm is the first streaming algorithm for Euler characteristic
curves. The usage of streaming removes the necessity to store the entire image
in RAM. Experiments show that our implementation handles terabyte scale images
on commodity hardware. Due to lock-free parallelism, it scales well with the
number of processor cores. Our software---CHUNKYEuler---is available as open
source on Bitbucket.
Additionally, we put the concept of the Euler characteristic curve in the
wider context of computational topology. In particular, we explain the
connection with persistence diagrams
Statistical Power, the Bispectrum and the Search for Non-Gaussianity in the CMB Anisotropy
We use simulated maps of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy to
quantify the ability of different statistical tests to discriminate between
Gaussian and non-Gaussian models. Despite the central limit theorem on large
angular scales, both the genus and extrema correlation are able to discriminate
between Gaussian models and a semi-analytic texture model selected as a
physically motivated non-Gaussian model. When run on the COBE 4-year CMB maps,
both tests prefer the Gaussian model. Although the bispectrum has comparable
statistical power when computed on the full sky, once a Galactic cut is imposed
on the data the bispectrum loses the ability to discriminate between models.
Off-diagonal elements of the bispectrum are comparable to the diagonal elements
for the non-Gaussian texture model and must be included to obtain maximum
statistical power.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 20 pages, 6 figures, uses AASTeX
v5.
High-Resolution Continuum Imaging at 1.3 and 0.7 cm of the W3 IRS 5 Region
High-resolution images of the hypercompact HII regions (HCHII) in W3 IRS 5
taken with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 1.3 and 0.7 cm are presented. Four
HCHII regions were detected with sufficient signal-to-noise ratios to allow the
determination of relevant parameters such as source position, size and flux
density. The sources are slightly extended in our ~0.2 arcsecond beams; the
deconvolved radii are less than 240 AU. A comparison of our data with VLA
images taken at epoch 1989.1 shows proper motions for sources IRS 5a and IRS
5f. Between 1989.1 and 2002.5, we find a proper motion of 210 mas at a position
angle of 12 deg for IRS 5f and a proper motion of 190 mas at a position angle
of 50 deg for IRS 5a. At the assumed distance to W3 IRS 5, 1.83 +/- 0.14 kpc,
these offsets translate to proper motions of ~135 km/s and ~122 km/s$
respectively. These sources are either shock ionized gas in an outflow or
ionized gas ejected from high mass stars. We find no change in the positions of
IRS 5d1/d2 and IRS 5b; and we show through a comparison with archival NICMOS
2.2 micron images that these two radio sources coincide with the infrared
double constituting W3 IRS 5. These sources contain B or perhaps O stars. The
flux densities of the four sources have changed compared to the epoch 1989.1
results. In our epoch 2002.5 data, none of the spectral indicies obtained from
flux densities at 1.3 and 0.7 cm are consistent with optically thin free-free
emission; IRS 5d1/d2 shows the largest increase in flux density from 1.3 cm to
0.7 cm. This may be an indication of free-free optical depth within an ionized
wind, a photoevaporating disk, or an accretion flow. It is less likely that
this increase is caused by dust emission at 0.7 cm.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures To be published in The Astrophysical Journa
The Conservatives and the Union: The 'New English Toryism' and the Origins of Anglo-Britishness
The Union has for over a century been one of the cornerstones of Conservative politics, but with the changes to the old union state in the last 20âyears, its value has been increasingly questioned. While the Conservative Party remains committed to maintaining the Union, a new English Toryism is emerging, which has a strong continuity with an older English Toryism which was partially buried by the ascendancy of Unionism. English Tories have always considered the Union to be desirable, but it comes second in their thinking to the need to protect the sovereignty of the British state, the core of which is England and its traditional institutions. What is new about the contemporary Conservative Party is that there is within it the revival of an English Toryism which is happy to discard the older clothes of Empire and Union once so important to Conservative identity and which is unabashedly English in its focus. For an increasing number of contemporary Conservatives, there no longer seems to be any passion about defending the Union or even of continuing to think about the United Kingdom in Unionist terms
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