Development and evaluation of an intervention to improve further education students' understanding of higher education assessment criteria: three studies

Three studies about helping Further Education students prepare for study at universityThis paper reports three studies about preparing Further Education (FE) students for the transition to Higher Education (HE) by improving their understanding of HE assessment criteria. In study 1, students and tutors in both FE and HE were interviewed for a qualitative analysis of their understandings and expectations about assessment criteria. In study 2, students in FE and HE completed questionnaires measuring self-rated understanding and ability about assessment criteria, and beliefs about essay writing. Studies 1 and 2 both showed that FE students were more confident than HE students about their understanding and ability in relation to assessment criteria, but FE students’ understandings suggested more surface approaches to learning and more naïve epistemological beliefs. In study 3, a workshop intervention to improve FE students’ understandings of HE assessment criteria was evaluated in a comparative longitudinal trial. The intervention reduced FE students’ self-rated understanding and ability, and promoted more sophisticated beliefs about essay writing, by comparison with students who received standard tuition. We concluded that interventions to develop more realistic understandings of what is required in academic writing could be used to prepare FE students more effectively for the transition to HE

Comparative Analysis of the Major Polypeptides from Liver Gap Junctions and Lens Fiber Junctions

Gap junctions from rat liver and fiber junctions from bovine lens have similar septilaminar profiles when examined by thin-section electron microscopy and differ only slightly with respect to the packing of intramembrane particles in freeze-fracture images. These similarities have often led to lens fiber junctions being referred to as gap junctions. Junctions from both sources were isolated as enriched subcellular fractions and their major polypeptide components compared biochemically and immunochemically. The major liver gap junction polypeptide has an apparent molecular weight of 27,000, while a 25,000-dalton polypeptide is the major component of lens fiber junctions. The two polypeptides are not homologous when compared by partial peptide mapping in SDS. In addition, there is not detectable antigenic similarity between the two polypeptides by immunochemical criteria using antibodies to the 25,000-dalton lens fiber junction polypeptide. Thus, in spite of the ultrastructural similarities, the gap junction and the lens fiber junction are comprised of distinctly different polypeptides, suggesting that the lens fiber junction contains a unique gene product and potentially different physiological properties

Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable Accretion Flows

We have used a magnetic accretion model to investigate the accretion flows of magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) throughout a range of parameter space. The results of our numerical simulations demonstrate that broadly four types of flow are possible: discs, streams, rings and propellers. We show that the equilibrium spin periods in asynchronous mCVs, for a given orbital period and magnetic moment, occur where the flow changes from a type characterised by spin-up (i.e. disc or stream) to one characterised by spin-down (i.e. propeller or ring). 'Triple points' occur in the plane of spin-to-orbital period ratio versus magnetic moment, at which stream-disc-propeller flows or stream-ring-propeller flows can co-exist. The first of these is identified as corresponding to when the corotation radius is equal to the circularisation radius, and the second as where the corotation radius is equal to the distance from white dwarf to the L1 point. If mCVs are accreting at their equilibrium spin rates, then for a mass ratio of 0.5, those with Pspin/Porb < 0.1 will be disc-like, those with 0.1 < Pspin/Porb < 0.5 will be stream-like, and those with Pspin/Porb ~ 0.5 will be ring-like. In each case, some material is also lost from the binary in order to maintain angular momentum balance. The spin to orbital period ratio at which the systems transition between these flow types decreases as the mass ratio of the stellar components increases, and vice versa

Energy Requirement of Control: Comments on Szilard's Engine and Maxwell's Demon

In mathematical physical analyses of Szilard's engine and Maxwell's demon, a general assumption (explicit or implicit) is that one can neglect the energy needed for relocating the piston in Szilard's engine and for driving the trap door in Maxwell's demon. If this basic assumption is wrong, then the conclusions of a vast literature on the implications of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and of Landauer's erasure theorem are incorrect too. Our analyses of the fundamental information physical aspects of various type of control within Szilard's engine and Maxwell's demon indicate that the entropy production due to the necessary generation of information yield much greater energy dissipation than the energy Szilard's engine is able to produce even if all sources of dissipation in the rest of these demons (due to measurement, decision, memory, etc) are neglected.Comment: New, simpler and more fundamental approach utilizing the physical meaning of control-information and the related entropy production. Criticism of recent experiments adde

Book Reviews

When considered as an installment in the unfolding of Friedmann\u27s views, based on his earlier writings, the conclusion to the book under review is to be cherished. When considered, on the other hand, solely in context of the contributed chapters of the same volume, the conclusion does not emerge as Friedmann at his most forceful or persuasive. To find the best of Friedmann, we need only sample his prolific contributions to the law reviews, whether on the United States involvement in the Vietnam conflict, the judgment of the International Court in the South West Africa cases, the risks to humanity arising from genetic engineering, or the relationship between law and mankind\u27s sense of justice

A study of participation in the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of National Association of Social Workers

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Effects of soft foam insulation impact

High temperature reusable surface insulation (HTRSI) tiles were impacted by a variety of foam insulation materials typical of the debris expected to strike the shuttle orbiter during the initial phases of flight. Failure of the HIRSI coating was strongly dependent on the density and size of the projectile. The failure threshold was as low as 140 ft/sec for rubber and as high as 740 ft/sec for styrofoam. In addition, the impact pressure was measured for a variety of debris materials as a function of velocity

Gestational dating by metabolic profile at birth: a California cohort study.

BackgroundAccurate gestational dating is a critical component of obstetric and newborn care. In the absence of early ultrasound, many clinicians rely on less accurate measures, such as last menstrual period or symphysis-fundal height during pregnancy, or Dubowitz scoring or the Ballard (or New Ballard) method at birth. These measures often underestimate or overestimate gestational age and can lead to misclassification of babies as born preterm, which has both short- and long-term clinical care and public health implications.ObjectiveWe sought to evaluate whether metabolic markers in newborns measured as part of routine screening for treatable inborn errors of metabolism can be used to develop a population-level metabolic gestational dating algorithm that is robust despite intrauterine growth restriction and can be used when fetal ultrasound dating is not available. We focused specifically on the ability of these markers to differentiate preterm births (PTBs) (&lt;37 weeks) from term births and to assign a specific gestational age in the PTB group.Study designWe evaluated a cohort of 729,503 singleton newborns with a California birth in 2005 through 2011 who had routine newborn metabolic screening and fetal ultrasound dating at 11-20 weeks' gestation. Using training and testing subsets (divided in a ratio of 3:1) we&nbsp;evaluated the association among PTB, target newborn characteristics, acylcarnitines, amino acids, thyroid-stimulating hormone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and galactose-1-phosphate-uridyl-transferase. We used multivariate backward stepwise regression to test for associations and linear discriminate analyses to create a linear function for PTB and to assign a specific week of gestation. We used sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value to evaluate the performance of linear functions.ResultsAlong with birthweight and infant age at test, we included 35 of the 51 metabolic markers measured in the final multivariate model comparing PTBs and term births. Using a linear discriminate analyses-derived linear function, we were able to sort PTBs and term births accurately with sensitivities and specificities of ≥95% in both the training and testing subsets. Assignment of a specific week of gestation in those identified as PTBs resulted in the correct assignment of week ±2 weeks in 89.8% of all newborns in the training and 91.7% of those in the testing subset. When PTB rates were modeled using the metabolic dating algorithm compared to fetal ultrasound, PTB rates were 7.15% vs 6.11% in the training subset and 7.31% vs 6.25% in the testing subset.ConclusionWhen considered in combination with birthweight and hours of age at test, metabolic profile evaluated within 8 days of birth appears to be a useful measure of PTB and, among those born preterm, of specific week of gestation ±2 weeks. Dating by metabolic profile may be useful in instances where there is no fetal ultrasound due to lack of availability or late entry into care

X-ray Orbital Modulations in Intermediate Polars

We present an analysis of 30 archival ASCA and RXTE X-ray observations of 16 intermediate polars to investigate the nature of their orbital modulation. We show that X-ray orbital modulation is widespread amongst these systems, but not ubiquitous as indicated by previous studies that included fewer objects. Only seven of the sixteen systems show a clearly statistically significant modulation depth whose amplitude decreases with increasing X-ray energy. Interpreting this as due to photoelectric absorption in material at the edge of an accretion disc would imply that such modulations are visible for all system inclination angles in excess of 60 degrees. However, it is also apparent that the presence of an X-ray orbital modulation can appear and disappear on a timescale of ~years or months in an individual system. This may be evidence for the presence of a precessing, tilted accretion disc, as inferred in some low mass X-ray binaries.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 9 pages of text, plus 5 pages of tables, plus 33 pages of figure

Fly-by-light flight control system technology development plan

The results of a four-month, phased effort to develop a Fly-by-Light Technology Development Plan are documented. The technical shortfalls for each phase were identified and a development plan to bridge the technical gap was developed. The production configuration was defined for a 757-type airplane, but it is suggested that the demonstration flight be conducted on the NASA Transport Systems Research Vehicle. The modifications required and verification and validation issues are delineated in this report. A detailed schedule for the phased introduction of fly-by-light system components has been generated. It is concluded that a fiber-optics program would contribute significantly toward developing the required state of readiness that will make a fly-by-light control system not only cost effective but reliable without mitigating the weight and high-energy radio frequency related benefits