The importance of Mathematics and Statistics in Engineering

Mathematics is traditionally considered necessary for engineering courses. Over the last three decades the mathematics requirements for entry into engineering programmes has steadily weakened in Australia. Further, the mathematics component of engineering programmes has progressively decreased. This research aims to investigate the following two questions. Firstly, is mathematics a barrier for students to complete an engineering programme? And secondly, is performance in mathematics associated with performance in engineering? We investigated the significant factors associated with the weighted average mark (WAM) and completion status of engineering studies at both undergraduate and Masters level. Of particular interest was the students’ mathematical background. Furthermore, a survey of students enrolled in engineering at The University of Western Australia was conducted to obtain more in-depth views of student attitudes and perceptions towards how mathematics and statistics has affected their engineering studies. Binary logistic models were fitted to the survey data. Additionally, focus group interviews were conducted to gain student insight into how effectively mathematics was taught in their courses. The results are discussed in relation to the importance of mathematics and statistics for the engineering curriculum

Assessments: an open and closed case

Open book assessment is not a new idea, but it does not seem to have gained ground in higher education. In particular, implementing this in mathematics and statistics courses seems infeasible. There is not much literature on such applications. This paper is on the experience of open book assessments in a first-year business statistics course. I will outline my approach and discuss the findings. Data over three semesters of open book assessments provided some interesting results when compared with the closed book assessment regime

I have totally flipped—finally!

ABSTRACT No I am not crazy! But I have flipped. In stages. And now I have totally flipped! So how is the world of teaching and learning looking upside down? Did I cover the syllabus? Did it take more work? Was it more rewarding? Were the classes disorganized? Did the students love it or hate it? Did attendance improve? Did student learning improve? If you have never flipped, or have thought about it but were not sure how it would work, or wanted to flip but were scared of the unknown, come and hear the story of my journey to the dark side

Quadratic equations with absolute values: An example of developing proof in mathematics students

Proof is perhaps the most important and fundamental aspect of mathematics. However, it is generally agreed by mathematics teachers at upper high school and first year university that students lack the ideas of proof. How to develop this in students is a common, difficult and perennial problem. In this presentation, we develop some ideas of proof based on the number of solutions of an equation involving a quadratic polynomial and absolute values of linear functions. We begin with the simple idea of making more precise a question that is posed, investigating the problem through exploration, and arriving at some conjectures. We proceed to determine ways to prove the conjectures and thus convert them into theorems. The question discussed in this paper arose in a session for high school students held at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Western Australia. The result is an excellent and interesting illustration of problem posing and solving in Mathematics that underpins mathematical thinking. The paper is accessible to final year high school and first year university mathematics students. It is expected that it will serve as a resource for, and inspire further ideas and examples for, mathematics teachers for teaching proof to students

Advances in role of organic acids in poultry nutrition: A review

Anti microbial drug resistance concerns scientists all around the world epically one used as livestock feed additives. Feed grade antibiotics are given in non therapeutic doses which lead to survival of pathogenic microbes which in turn develop drug resistance, thus necessitating researchers to search for alternative ways to feed grade antibiotics besides doing least compromise on growth parameters. Organic acids are used in poultry to lower the pH of intestinal tract which favours good microbes which in turn suppress pathogenic microbes thus evicting the use of antibiotics. They are used in poultry diets and drinking water to elicit a positive growth response, improving nutrient digestibility, performance and immunity in poultry. Literature shows that organic acids have more or less pronounced antimicrobial activity, depending on both the concentration of the acid and the bacterial species that is exposed to the acid. The variability in response of organic acids and its possible mechanisms are discussed. Scope of this paper is to provide a view of the use of organic acids in the prevention of enteric disease in poultry, the effect on the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), immunity and performance of broiler or laying hens. In the current review beneficial as-pects of organic acids along with different dose combinations are discussed to promote its optimum utilization in poultry nutrition and production

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation