Euniwell: Maximising Academic And Social Outcomes In Engineering Education

The ERASMUS+ European University for Well-Being (EUniWell) alliance’s mission aims to resolve the paradox of Europeans’ relative prosperity against the global security and sustainability challenge. “Maximising Academic and Social Outcomes in Engineering Education” is a project which interprets this contradiction for engineering educators; how to best teach non-technical skills to ensure engineers make the utmost contribution to societal wellbeing? Appreciably, the social outcome for the person who becomes an engineer is positive because the profession is relatively well-paid. Therefore, engineering education is good for social mobility providing the learning environment narrows attainment gaps between disadvantaged and mainstream cohorts. Accordingly, our strategy is to bring together the expertise of the British, French, Italian and Swedish faculties to transfer best practice for professional, business and sustainability skill teaching, while contrasting how their disadvantaged cohorts present. The project has two primary objectives: To understand how partners differ in terms of skill teaching, and how students from disadvantaged backgrounds are accommodated. The paper describes the background and rationale of the project, and its research design and methodology. Although the project is still in progress and data collection is still underway, this paper provides insights and perspectives for engineering educators looking to design similar collaborations to share best practice, while considering engineering identities and their underlying competencies

Remineralization of demineralized dentin using a dual analog system.

ObjectiveImproved methods are needed to remineralize dentin caries in order to promote conservation of dentin tissue and minimize the surgical interventions that are currently required for clinical treatment. Here, we test the hypothesis that bulk substrates can be effectively mineralized via a dual analog system proposed by others, using a tripolyphosphate (TPP) "templating analog" and a poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or poly(aspartic acid) (pAsp) "sequestration analog," the latter of which generates the polymer-induced liquid-precursor (PILP) mineralization process studied in our laboratory.Material & methodsDemineralized human dentin slices were remineralized with and without pre-treatment with TPP, using either PAA or pAsp as the PILP process-directing agent. A control experiment with no polymer present was used for comparison.ResultsNo mineralization was observed in any of the PAA groups. In both the pAsp and no polymer groups, TPP inhibited mineralization on the surfaces of the specimens but promoted mineralization within the interiors. Pre-treatment with TPP enhanced overall mineralization of the pAsp group. However, when analysed via TEM, regions with little mineral were still present.ConclusionPoly(acrylic acid) was unable to remineralize demineralized dentin slices under the conditions employed, even when pre-treated with TPP. However, pre-treatment with TPP enhanced overall mineralization of specimens that were PILP-remineralized using pAsp

Oxidative stress and adrenocortical insufficiency

This work has been supported by the Wellcome Trust (Clinical Research Training Fellowship grant number WT095984AIA to R P) and the Medical Research Council UK (project grant number MR/K020455/1 to L A M

Morphology and photoluminescence study of titania nanoparticles

Titania nanoparticles are prepared by sol–gel chemistry with a poly(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate triblock copolymer acting as the templating agent. The sol–gel components—hydrochloric acid, titanium tetraisopropoxide, and triblock copolymer—are varied to investigate their effect on the resulting titania morphology. An increased titania precursor or polymer content yields smaller primary titania structures. Microbeam grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering measurements, which are analyzed with a unified fit model, reveal information about the titania structure sizes. These small structures could not be observed via the used microscopy techniques. The interplay among the sol–gel components via our triblock copolymer results in different sized titania nanoparticles with higher packing densities. Smaller sized titania particles, (∼13–20 nm in diameter) in the range of exciton diffusion length, are formed by 2% by weight polymer and show good crystallinity with less surface defects and high oxygen vacancies

Beyond outputs: pathways to symmetrical evaluations of university sustainable development partnerships

As the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) draws to a close, it is timely to review ways in which the sustainable development initiatives of higher education institutions have been, and can be, evaluated. In their efforts to document and assess collaborative sustainable development program outcomes and impacts, universities in the North and South are challenged by similar conundrums that confront development agencies. This article explores pathways to symmetrical evaluations of transnationally partnered research, curricula, and public-outreach initiatives specifically devoted to sustainable development. Drawing on extensive literature and informed by international development experience, the authors present a novel framework for evaluating transnational higher education partnerships devoted to sustainable development that addresses design, management, capacity building, and institutional outreach. The framework is applied by assessing several full-term African higher education evaluation case studies with a view toward identifying key limitations and suggesting useful future symmetrical evaluation pathways. University participants in transnational sustainable development initiatives, and their supporting donors, would be well-served by utilizing an inclusive evaluation framework that is infused with principles of symmetry

Från maskin till hologram: – reflexioner kring museernas organisation

From Machine to Hologram - Thoughts about the Organisation of Museums The author was one of two secretaries working for the Committee responsible for the state report Memory and Education. In this paper he discusses the connection between the metaphors for organisational structures prevalent among leaders and employees in museums and the demands made on the structures as a result of the nature of the museum mission and its working methods. The material gathered by the State Committee indicates that many museum curators apply the machine metaphor to their institutions. However in many circumstances such a metaphor is unsuited to the activities a museum should unfold responding to the rapid change in the surrounding world.

Planning and evaluation in aid organizations

The success (or failure) of aid programmes in developing countries is difficult to measure in terms of results. In fact international cooperation in development programmes seems to have reached few of its objectives. World recessions and wildly fluctuating commodity prices have hit many developing countries hard, while an ecological doomsday looms in the background. What went wrong with development cooperation through aid? What can be done better? What should the objectives of development programmes be? These questions imply that we need to study not only the impact of development projects but also initiation, implementation and evaluation processes for aid programmes. Aid organizations need to emphasize the efficiency of these processes if development programmes are to succeed. This book deals with structures and processes in aid organiztions. It shows how planning and evaluation work in practice in a comparative study of two organizations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). Several examples of industrial development projects in Tazania are used - some successful, some failures, with others somewhere in between. The aim is to learn from this experience - whether successful or not - and to delineate the potential for more effective development cooperation

Nordens hus och institut : En utvärdering av mål, verksamhet och resultat

Det nordiska samarbetet är ett av världens mest omfattande regionala samarbeten. Det omfattar de nordiska länderna samt Färöarna, Grönland och Åland. Det nordiska samarbetet är politiskt, ekonomiskt och kulturellt förankrat. Den nordiska gemenskapen arbetar för ett starkt Norden i ett starkt Europa. Det nordiska samarbetet avser att stärka nordiska och regionala intressen och värderingar i en global omvärld. Gemensamma värderingar länderna emellan bidrar till att stärka Nordens ställning som en av världens mest innovativa och konkurrenskraftiga regioner