The Extra Load Index as a method for comparing the relative economy of load carriage systems

The Extra Load Index (ELI) has been proposed as a suitable method of assessing the relative economy of load carriage systems. The purpose of this study was to determine, based on empirical evidence, that the ELI can accommodate variations in both body composition and added load. In total, 30 women walked carrying loads of up to 70% body mass at self-selected walking speeds whilst expired air was collected. In addition, each of the women had body composition assessed via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results show that the ELI is independent of body composition variables, the magnitude of additional loads and the speed of progression. Consequently, it is suggested that it represents an appropriate method of comparing load carriage systems in both scientific and commercial arenas. Statement of Relevance:This paper demonstrates that ELI is independent of body composition, added load and speed and is therefore an appropriate method to generalise comparisons of load carriage systems. It has the advantage of being easily understood by manufacturers and consumers whilst retaining appropriate scientific precision

The perceptions of practicing West Virginia K-3 reading teachers of working with Reading First coaches in Title I Distinguished Schools

This research was conducted to offer insight regarding how Reading First K--3 teachers working in West Virginia Title I Distinguished Schools perceive the role of the reading coach. The study examined the importance of reading coach activities in improving reading instruction as perceived by these K--3 teachers. It was further investigated whether differences existed between reading coach activities perceived by the teachers as important to improving reading instruction and knowledge by these teachers that the activities were performed by the coaches. An electronic survey was distributed to all Reading First K--3 teachers working in West Virginia Title I Distinguished Schools for a population of 160 participants in which 71 or 44% responded. Findings indicate that these K--3 teachers perceive reading coach activities as important in improving reading instruction and they are knowledgeable that the activities are performed by reading coaches within their schools

Called to Collaboration: The University Consortium for Catholic Education

This article describes the University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE) as an example of collaboration between Catholic colleges, universities, schools, and other stakeholders. The UCCE supports a collaborative cadre of primarily Catholic colleges and universities as they design and implement graduate level teaching service programs for the purpose of supporting K-12 Catholic education in the United States. The article provides a brief introduction to the work of the consortium and analyzes its impact through the lens of Archbishop Michael Miller’s (2006) five benchmarks of truly Catholic schools. The authors collected data and testimony from UCCE program directors, current participants, and alumni to describe the consortium’s model for Catholic teacher preparation, to demonstrate the centrality of collaboration for the success of a program, and to testify to the impact of programs on participants and Catholic colleges and schools

Visualization of Global Sensitivity Analysis Results Based on a Combination of Linearly Dependent and Independent Directions

A useful technique for the validation and verification of complex flight systems is Monte Carlo Filtering -- a global sensitivity analysis that tries to find the inputs and ranges that are most likely to lead to a subset of the outputs. A thorough exploration of the parameter space for complex integrated systems may require thousands of experiments and hundreds of controlled and measured variables. Tools for analyzing this space often have limitations caused by the numerical problems associated with high dimensionality and caused by the assumption of independence of all of the dimensions. To combat both of these limitations, we propose a technique that uses a combination of the original variables with the derived variables obtained during a principal component analysis

Women, Faith and Humanitarian Interventions:Policy Options and Opportunities

The Women, Faith and Humanitarian Interventions network is acollaboration between practitioners and academics who are deeplyconcerned about the global progress required for women and girlsin terms of sustainable development goals, and who value thepositive potential of faith and religious literacy in working towardthose goals. The project, funded by the Arts and HumanitiesResearch Council and based at the University of Birmingham. Thenetwork teamed with international NGO Global One, to bringtogether further partners for conversation at a series of events inBirmingham, Glasgow, Amman (Jordan) and – in the final phase –Westminster. At these events, participants were asked to identifykey priorities for women and girls from their various perspectives,and to reflect on how matters of faith and gender intersect indevelopment terms. This working paper draws together insightsgained through these events, with the aim of proposing policyrecommendations to support gender- and faith-responsivehumanitarian programming

Expectations and Understanding of Learning in Practice: Student Speech and Language Therapists’ and Practice Educators’ Perspectives of Learning

Research in speech and language therapy education has focussed on investigating models of clinical placements, rather than how learning is optimised in practical settings. A distinction has been made in practice-based learning in medical education between ‘capability’ and ‘competency’, urging educators to prioritise learning that enables problem solving and application of theory. We know little about student speech and language therapists’ (SLTs) and educators’ perception and expectations of clinical learning in placement and how this relates to capability. We investigated student SLTs’ and educators’ beliefs and experiences of successful learning in clinical settings and how they perceived their learner/educator roles using a qualitative study. Data was gathered from 28 students and educators using individual interviews and focus groups. The data was investigated using thematic analysis. Educators see their role as facilitators, developing core skills such as clinical reasoning, understanding professional identity and gaining independence. Some educators see this as a co-learning model, creating opportunities for their own learning. Students’ conceptions change during clinical placements, from focussing on their own development to seeking to understand the client’s perspective as well as identify needs, and respond with well-reasoned options for intervention. Aiming to equip SLT learners to be capable professionals, able to apply skills of clinical reasoning, is considered a core skill for SLT educators. Developing models for clinical placements informed by understanding how students learn to become capable could enhance the readiness of student SLTs to enter professional practice

The Limitation and Practical Acceleration of Stochastic Gradient Algorithms in Inverse Problems.

In this work we investigate the practicability of stochastic gradient descent and recently introduced variants with variance-reduction techniques in imaging inverse problems, such as space-varying image deblurring. Such algorithms have been shown in machine learning literature to have optimal complexities in theory, and provide great improvement empirically over the full gradient methods. Surprisingly, in some tasks such as image deblurring, many of such methods fail to converge faster than the accelerated full gradient method (FISTA), even in terms of epoch counts. We investigate this phenomenon and propose a theory-inspired mechanism to characterize whether a given inverse problem should be preferred to be solved by stochastic optimization technique with a known sampling pattern. Furthermore, to overcome another key bottleneck of stochastic optimization which is the heavy computation of proximal operators while maintaining fast convergence, we propose an accelerated primal-dual SGD algorithm and demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in image deblurring experiments.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Internet Treatment for Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Clinician vs. Technician Assistance

Background Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) for depression is effective when guided by a clinician, less so if unguided. Question: Would guidance from a technician be as effective as guidance from a clinician? Method Randomized controlled non-inferiority trial comparing three groups: Clinician-assisted vs. technician-assisted vs. delayed treatment. Community-based volunteers applied to the VirtualClinic (www.virtualclinic.org.au) research program, and 141 participants with major depressive disorder were randomized. Participants in the clinician- and technician-assisted groups received access to an iCBT program for depression comprising 6 online lessons, weekly homework assignments, and weekly supportive contact over a treatment period of 8 weeks. Participants in the clinician-assisted group also received access to a moderated online discussion forum. The main outcome measures were the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Item (PHQ-9). Completion rates were high, and at post-treatment, both treatment groups reduced scores on the BDI-II (p<0.001) and PHQ-9 (p<0.001) compared to the delayed treatment group but did not differ from each other. Within group effect sizes on the BDI-II were 1.27 and 1.20 for the clinician- and technician-assisted groups respectively, and on the PHQ-9, were 1.54 and 1.60 respectively. At 4-month follow-up participants in the technician group had made further improvements and had significantly lower scores on the PHQ-9 than those in the clinician group. A total of approximately 60 minutes of clinician or technician time was required per participant during the 8-week treatment program. Conclusions Both clinician- and technician-assisted treatment resulted in large effect sizes and clinically significant improvements comparable to those associated with face-to-face treatment, while a delayed treatment control group did not improve. These results provide support for large scale trials to determine the clinical effectiveness and acceptability of technician-assisted iCBT programs for depression. This form of treatment has potential to increase the capacity of existing mental health services.9 page(s

A pilot investigation of load-carrying on the head and bone mineral density in premenopausal, black African women

Although the influence of weight bearing activity on bone mass has been widely investigated in white women, few studies have been conducted in black, African populations. We investigated bone mineral density (BMD) in black South African women, with and without a history of load-carrying on the head. We also investigated whether load carrying may offer protection against low BMD in users of injectable progestin contraception (IPC). Participants were 32 black, South African women (22.4±3.2 yrs). Load carrying history was determined by questionnaire and interview and participants were grouped as load carriers (LC; n=18) or non load carriers (NLC; n=14). Ten women were using IPC and 6 were load-carriers. Total body (TB), lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (H) BMD were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. There were no differences in BMD between LC and NLC, and after controlling for age and BMI using two-tailed partial correlations. IPC users had lower BMD at all sites compared to non IPC users (p&lt;0.05) and there were no associations between load carrying and BMD in this group. When IPC users were excluded from analysis, LC had higher LS BMD than NLC (p&lt;0.005). Correlations were found between the weight of load carried and LS BMD (r=0.743, p&lt;0.005), and between years of load carrying and LS and TB BMD (r=0.563, r=0.538 respectively; both p&lt;0.05). Load carrying on the head may offer osteogenic benefits to the spine but these benefits did not appear in women using IPC