The impact of NQT induction programmes on the enhancement of teacher expertise, professional development, job satisfaction or retention rates: a systematic review of research literature on induction

This report is the result of a preliminary study undertaken by the Induction Review Group between January and March 2003 which essentially involved a mapping exercise to identify the range and type of research studies addressing the research question, ‘How does current research characterise the impact of induction programmes on new teachers in relation to enhancing teaching expertise, professional development, job satisfaction and retention rates?’ Results of the initial in-depth review are reported in Chapter 4. The Review Group plans further refinements of the mapping exercise and other in-depth reviews drawing on it

A Systems Approach to Healthcare: Agent-based Modeling, Community Mental Health, and Population Well-being

Purpose Explore whether agent-based modeling and simulation can help healthcare administrators discover interventions that increase population wellness and quality of care while, simultaneously, decreasing costs. Since important dynamics often lie in the social determinants outside the health facilities that provide services, this study thus models the problem at three levels (individuals, organizations, and society). Methods The study explores the utility of translating an existing (prize winning) software for modeling complex societal systems and agent\u27s daily life activities (like a Sim City style of software), into a desired decision support system. A case study tests if the 3 levels of system modeling approach is feasible, valid, and useful. The case study involves an urban population with serious mental health and Philadelphia\u27s Medicaid population (n = 527,056), in particular. Results Section 3 explains the models using data from the case study and thereby establishes feasibility of the approach for modeling a real system. The models were trained and tuned using national epidemiologic datasets and various domain expert inputs. To avoid co-mingling of training and testing data, the simulations were then run and compared (Section 4.1) to an analysis of 250,000 Philadelphia patient hospital admissions for the year 2010 in terms of re-hospitalization rate, number of doctor visits, and days in hospital. Based on the Student t-test, deviations between simulated vs. real world outcomes are not statistically significant. Validity is thus established for the 2008–2010 timeframe. We computed models of various types of interventions that were ineffective as well as 4 categories of interventions (e.g., reduced per-nurse caseload, increased check-ins and stays, etc.) that result in improvement in well-being and cost. Conclusions The 3 level approach appears to be useful to help health administrators sort through system complexities to find effective interventions at lower costs

Local Authority provision of Environmental Planning Guidelines for Event Management in Ireland

This paper discusses the environmental impacts generated by hosting events. More specifically it focuses on the case study of assessing the provision of environmental planning guidelines by Local Authorities to manage the environmental impacts of events in Ireland. In order to determine which Local Authorities provided environmental planning guidelines, a quantitative methodology in the form of a content analysis approach was utilised to investigate every Local Authority in the Republic of Ireland. Analysis has revealed that few Local Authorities are providing planning guidelines for event management, which focus on environmental concerns. As such, the realization of the need to provide environmental planning guidelines to manage the environmental impacts of event management within Local Authorities has not been recognised nationwide. As a result the need for coherent guidelines and policies with sustainable indicators within Local Authorities is vital to further develop, grow and advance the event sector in Ireland. This paper concludes that while the low levels of environmental sustainability in Local Authorities for event management is worrying; it offers an opportunity to be improved by adopting and utilising best practice indicators in environmental policies and guidelines for event management

Assessing the Economic Impact of Event Management in Ireland: A Local Authority Perspective

The purpose of this article is to examine the extent of local authority economic planning for event management in Ireland. Local authorities are increasingly using events to achieve a diverse range of economic objectives. However, achieving economic objectives can come at an expense to host communities and affect a societies social capital. Therefore, the need to plan for and manage the economic impact of events needs to be acknowledged. This study assessed 32 local authorities and city councils utilizing a content analysis approach. This methodological approach provided nationwide perspectives in relation to local authority planning for the economic impact of event management. Analysis has found that few local authorities recognized the need to provide planning guidelines and policies to manage the economic impact of event management. Therefore, support for the economic development of regions and counties in Ireland has not been realized. Further analysis revealed the necessity of providing effective policies and guidelines with the incorporation of best practice indicators to sustainably plan, manage and monitor the economic impact of event management. The findings from this article highlight the need for nationwide improvements to effectively plan for and evaluate the economic activity of event management by local authorities

Understanding the efficiency of GPU algorithms for matrix-matrix multiplication

Utilizing graphics hardware for general purpose numerical computations has become a topic of considerable interest. The implementation of streaming algorithms, typified by highly parallel computations with little reuse of input data, has been widely explored on GPUs. We relax the streaming model's constraint on input reuse and perform an in-depth analysis of dense matrix-matrix multiplication, which reuses each element of input matrices O(n) times. Its regular data access pattern and highly parallel computational requirements suggest matrix-matrix multiplication as an obvious candidate for efficient evaluation on GPUs but, surprisingly we find even nearoptimal GPU implementations are pronouncedly less efficient than current cache-aware CPU approaches. We find the key cause of this inefficiency is that the GPU can fetch less data and yet execute more arithmetic operations per clock than the CPU when both are operating out of their closest caches. The lack of high bandwidth access to cached data will impair the performance of GPU implementations of any computation featuring significant input reuse

Community Engagement in Drive Tourism: Case Study of the Wild Atlantic Way

This paper presents research which investigates community engagement with the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) drive tourism product. This drive tourism product is Ireland’s first long distance drive touring route stretching along the Atlantic coast for 2500km on the western coastline from Donegal to West Cork. Qualitative interviews were employed with a representative sample of community members along the WAW. The results presented in this paper provide a deeper insight into community engagement with drive tourism on the WAW. The research revealed a high level of approval for the project but a low level of community-integrated involvement with the WAW. The research also identified community perspectives in relation to drive tourism in Ireland. Finally this paper concludes that while there are low levels of community engagement with the drive tourism product, there is a significant level of community support for the development of this drive tourism product in Ireland

Angle-resolved photoemission and first-principles electronic structure of single-crystalline α\alpha-uranium (001)

Continuing the photoemission study begun with the work of Opeil et al. [Phys. Rev. B \textbf{73}, 165109 (2006)], in this paper we report results of an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study performed on a high-quality single-crystal $\alpha$-uranium at 173 K. The absence of surface-reconstruction effects is verified using X-ray Laue and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) patterns. We compare the ARPES intensity map with first-principles band structure calculations using a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and we find good correlations with the calculated dispersion of the electronic bands

Quantitative EEG as a Prognostic Tool in Suspected Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Antibody Encephalitis

PURPOSE: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a form of autoimmune encephalitis associated with EEG abnormalities. In view of the potentially severe outcomes, there is a need to develop prognostic tools to inform clinical management. The authors explored whether quantitative EEG was able to predict outcomes in patients with suspected anti-NMDAR encephalitis. METHODS: A retrospective, observational study was conducted of patients admitted to a tertiary clinical neuroscience center with suspected anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Peak power and peak frequency within delta (<4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8 - 13 Hz), and beta (13-30 Hz) frequency bands were calculated for the first clinical EEG recording. Outcome was based on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 1 year after hospital discharge. Binomial logistic regression using backward elimination was performed with peak frequency and power, anti-NMDAR Encephalitis One-Year Functional Status score, age, and interval from symptom onset to EEG entered as predictors. RESULTS: Twenty patients were included (mean age 48.6 years, 70% female), of which 7 (35%) had a poor clinical outcome (mRS 2-6) at 1 year. There was no association between reported EEG abnormalities and outcome. The final logistic regression model was significant (χ2(1) = 6.35, P < 0.012) with peak frequency in the delta range (<4 Hz) the only retained predictor. The model explained 38% of the variance (Nagelkerke R2) and correctly classified 85% of cases. Higher peak frequency in the delta range was significantly associated (P = 0.04) with an increased likelihood of poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: In this exploratory study, it was found that quantitative EEG on routinely collected EEG recordings in patients with suspected anti-NMDAR encephalitis was feasible. A higher peak frequency within the delta range was associated with poorer clinical outcome and may indicate anti-NMDAR-mediated synaptic dysfunction. Quantitative EEG may have clinical utility in predicting outcomes in patients with suspected NMDAR antibody encephalitis, thereby serving as a useful adjunct to qualitative EEG assessment; however, given the small sample size, replication in a larger scale is indicated