An Examination of the Quality and Development of Educational Plans for Gifted Students

This two-phase mixed-methods study applied a researcher-created instrument (Education Plan Quality Assessment) to extant documents created by teachers in a single central Florida school district. A true random sample of 337 student educational plans was drawn from a gifted population of 2,370 students. A snowball sample, which utilized the student sample to recruit a teacher sample, was created from teachers who worked on the plans and those teachers were contacted to complete the Opinions about the Gifted and their Education (OGE) opinionnaire which provided teacher opinion scores related to giftedness. Teachers were surveyed as to their opinions of giftedness to examine the relationship between teacher opinions towards giftedness and the quality of the educational plans they produce. The Educational Plan Quality Assessment (EPQA) was created and implemented to review the quality of educational plans in a sample of 337 educational plans. Relational and differential analyses were run between the quality scores of the educational plans and the teacher opinion scores. No significant association was found between the quality of plans produced and the opinions towards gifted education the teacher held for the overall sample, however, the relationship between the two scores was found to be moderated by whether the teacher held a gifted endorsement, and the number of years spent teaching gifted students. The findings were discussed from a post-positivist lens and recommendations for future research were provided

Integrating Industrial Laser Scanners for Small Vessel Operations

The NOAA Navigation Response Teams (NRTs) perform hydrographic surveys to support nautical charting updates for 175 ports of the United States Marine Transportation System.These include the identification of bathymetric and anthropogenic features that may pose a danger to navigation. In addition, NRTs respond to emergencies, speed the resumption of shipping after storm events, and protect life and property from underwater dangers. The spectrum of dangers occurs from natural features, such as rocks to anthropogenic objects such as piers.Previous work conducted by the NOAA Office of Coast Survey have shown that survey-grade laser scanners can be used to remotely map features that are dangers-to-navigation. However, the justifications to purchase these systems are difficult since one system can be on the order of several hundred thousand dollars. An alternative solution is proposed through the use of economical industrial laser scanners. The capabilities of these systems can vary widely with range and angular resolution and require additional integration (e.g., translation into geographic space and timing considerations) into the network of sensors typical of vessels engaged inhydrographic operations. This paper presents evaluation work to balance cost versus performance using an industrial laser scanner into a hydrographic system. The laser scanner wasevaluated in a laboratory setting at the Joint Hydrographic Center / Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM/JHC), University of New Hampshire (UNH) water tank facilities and aboard the R/V Coastal Surveyor (Portsmouth Harbor, NH). The results of the study include a first-order analysis of Velodyne’s VLP-32E system and its target detection performance on piers, piles, air gaps and overhanging cables

The super challenge of retirement income policy

Examines the economic impacts of Australia\u27s ageing population and decreasing housing affordability. Executive Summary Australia’s three-pillar approach to retirement income is internationally well regarded. However, many Australians currently approaching retirement face potential poverty, especially if they do not own their own homes. Australia’s aged dependency ratio (the number of people over 65 for every working-age person 15 to 64) is expected to double over the next 40 years, and the Australian Government recognises that current arrangements are fiscally unsustainable. Many Australians nearing retirement age today have not had compulsory superannuation for their entire working lives. While this issue will abate as the system matures, Australians are still worried they are not saving enough to live comfortably in retirement. Home ownership is a growing retirement issue. Renters not only have no owneroccupied housing wealth, but they also have considerably lower holdings of other forms of wealth. In  younger households, the net wealth of owners is around double that of renters. In older households, the net wealth of owners is around six times higher than that of renters. While home ownership among current retirees is up to 85 per cent, increasing numbers of retirees do not own their own dwellings and live at the mercy of the expensive private rental market in low economic resource (LER) households. The number of older income- and asset-poor households is likely to grow rapidly over the next 40 years, and many are likely to be in the private rental market

Prehospital critical care is associated with increased survival in adult trauma patients in Scotland

Background Scotland has three prehospital critical care teams (PHCCTs) providing enhanced care support to a usually paramedic-delivered ambulance service. The effect of the PHCCTs on patient survival following trauma in Scotland is not currently known nationally. Methods National registry-based retrospective cohort study using 2011-2016 data from the Scottish Trauma Audit Group. 30-day mortality was compared between groups after multivariate analysis to account for confounding variables. Results Our data set comprised 17 157 patients, with a mean age of 54.7 years and 8206 (57.5%) of male gender. 2877 patients in the registry were excluded due to incomplete data on their level of prehospital care, leaving an eligible group of 14 280. 13 504 injured adults who received care from ambulance clinicians (paramedics or technicians) were compared with 776 whose care included input from a PHCCT. The median Injury Severity Score (ISS) across all eligible patients was 9; 3076 patients (21.5%) met the ISS>15 criterion for major trauma. Patients in the PHCCT cohort were statistically significantly (all p < 0.01) more likely to be male; be transported to a prospective Major Trauma Centre; have suffered major trauma; have suffered a severe head injury; be transported by air and be intubated prior to arrival in hospital. Following multivariate analysis, the OR for 30-day mortality for patients seen by a PHCCT was 0.56 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.86, p=0.01). Conclusion Prehospital care provided by a physician-led critical care team was associated with an increased chance of survival at 30 days when compared with care provided by ambulance clinicians

Subjective and objective indicators of neighbourhood safety and physical activity among UK adolescents

Background: The health benefits of regular physical activity in adolescence are well-documented and many health-related behaviours are established in adolescence. The neighbourhood environment is a key setting for physical activity for adolescents and feeling unsafe in their neighbourhood may be a potential barrier to physical activity. Aim: This study aimed to examine associations between neighbourhood safety and physical activity using objective and subjective measures for both. Methods: Participants (n = 10,913) came from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative UK longitudinal birth cohort. Linear regression and Zero Inflated Poisson models were used to examine associations between subjective and objective indicators of safety (self-reported safety, Index of Multiple Deprivation crime, Reported Crime Incidence) and physical activity (self-reported weekly and device-measured physical activity). Results: Adolescents who feel unsafe in their neighbourhood, or who live in areas with high IMD crime or violent crime rates report 0.29 (95% CI -0.49, −0.09) 0.32 (95% CI -0.47, −0.16) and 0.20 (95% CI -0.39, −0.20) fewer days of physical activity, respectively. No associations were found between Reported Crime Incidence and either objective or subjective measures of physical activity. Conclusions: This study demonstrates varying associations between subjective safety and objective crime with physical activity levels in adolescence, highlighting the complexities around subjective and objective measurements and their associations with health outcomes

Similitude:decentralised adaptation in large-scale P2P recommenders

Decentralised recommenders have been proposed to deliver privacy-preserving, personalised and highly scalable on-line recommendations. Current implementations tend, however, to rely on a hard-wired similarity metric that cannot adapt. This constitutes a strong limitation in the face of evolving needs. In this paper, we propose a framework to develop dynamically adaptive decentralised recommendation systems. Our proposal supports a decentralised form of adaptation, in which individual nodes can independently select, and update their own recommendation algorithm, while still collectively contributing to the overall system’s mission. Keyword

Bacteriophages to Control Campylobacter in Commercially Farmed Broiler Chickens, in Australia

© Copyright © 2020 The State of Queensland (through the Department Agriculture and Fisheries). This study describes the development and use of bacteriophage cocktails to control Campylobacter in broiler chickens, in a commercial setting, in Queensland Australia, following the birds from farm to the processing plant. The components of the bacteriophage cocktails were selected to be effective against the maximum number of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates encountered on SE Queensland farms. Farms were identified that had suitable Campylobacter target populations and phage were undetectable 1 week prior to the intended treatment. Cocktails of phages were administered at 47 days of age. Groups of study birds were slaughtered the following day, on-farm, at the end of flock transport to the plant, and at processing (approximately 28 h post-treatment). On Farm A, the phage treatment significantly reduced Campylobacter levels in the ceca at the farm in the range of 1–3 log10 CFU/g (p = 0.007), compared to mock treated controls. However, individual birds sampled on farm (1/10) or following transport (2/10) exhibited high cecal Campylobacter counts with low phage titers, suggesting that treatment periods > 24 h may be required to ensure phage replication for effective biocontrol in vivo. At the time of the trial the control birds in Farm B were phage positive despite having been negative one week earlier. There was no significant difference in the cecal Campylobacter counts between the treatment and control groups following treatment but a fall of 1.7 log10 CFU/g was observed from that determined from birds collected the previous week (p = 0.0004). Campylobacter isolates from both farms retained sensitivity to the treatment phages. These trials demonstrated bacteriophages sourced from Queensland farms have the potential to reduce intestinal Campylobacter levels in market ready broiler chickens

Conceptual design analysis for a two-stage-to-orbit semi-reusable launch system for small satellites

This paper presents the conceptual design and performance analysis of a partially reusable space launch vehicle for small payloads. The system employs a multi-stage vehicle powered by rocket engines, with a reusable first stage capable of glided or powered flight, and expendable upper stage(s) to inject 500 kg of payload into low Earth orbits. The space access vehicle is designed to be air-launched from a modified aircraft carrier. The aim of the system design is to develop a commercially viable launch system for near-term operation, thus emphasis is placed on the efficient use of high TRL technologies and on the commercial potential of the technical design. The vehicle design is analysed using a multi-disciplinary design optimisation approach to evaluate the performance, operational capabilities and design trade-offs. Results from two trade-off studies are shown, evaluating the choice wing area and thus aerodynamic characteristics, and the choice of stage masses and engines selection on the mission performance

Moving from concept to control; use of phages for Campylobacter reduction

Poultry are a major source of Campylobacter with the organism having no impact on the bird. Irrespective of this situation, the important single source of campylobacteriosis is considered to be broiler meat (European Food Safety Authority 2016). The reported number of cases of campylobacteriosis in Australia in 2015 was 22,573 (Communicable Disease Intelligence 2019). Studies have suggested that a reduction in Campylobacter levels by greater than 2-log10 units would contribute to the reduction of the public health risk by more than 90% (European Food Safety Authority 2011). Overseas models have suggested that bacteriophage treatment has the greatest potential of all known/potential methods to reduce Campylobacter levels in the live chicken (Havelaar et al. 2007). Campylobacter naturally colonises the chicken gut, where it can reach high numbers and potentially contaminate the marketed product. A low number of organisms can cause human illness. This study is exploring a biocontrol option using bacteriophages (phages) to reduce Campylobacter numbers in chickens. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill the target bacteria. These specific, Campylobacter-killing phages occur naturally in farm chickens, where they are already in a ‘predator–prey relationship’ with Campylobacter. The aim of this study is to better the outcome of this natural phenomenon. The study builds upon data from previous studies to progress the option of using Campylobacter bacteriophages to control Campylobacter levels in poultry. The report is targeted at the Australian Poultry Industry, those with a role of food-safety at an industry level and also have a regulatory role