The dynamics of mixed group work in British higher education

This study examines culturally diverse groups, teams formed by home students and international students completing group tasks in Higher Education, referred to as mixed groups. This investigation differs from previous studies, and hence contributes to the existing knowledge in the field, in that it combines observational data and the use of Activity Theory as an analytical framework for furthering our understanding of group dynamics and task completion of mixed groups. This research addresses four research questions: what are students' experiences of mixed group work? What are the group dynamics in mixed groups? How do students mediate during mixed group work? What factors influences task completion in mixed groups? The study is based upon two group case studies, consisting of a non-assessed written group task and an assessed group presentation. Both case studies involved postgraduate students within the same British university. Qualitative analysis of observation and interview data revealed that students had different experiences of their group work, even among co-workers. Few group interactions were related to discussing cultural issues, highlighting the limitations that mixed group work may have in fostering internationalisation. The group dynamics described include students' interactions around: achieving a common understanding of the task, sanctioning members and conflicts regarding tool use. Both home and international students mediated in task completion in the following ways: a) acting as sources of knowledge, b) helping other members to understand the activity, and c) helping others use and learn about artefacts required in the completion of the group task and other university activities. Factors that appeared to influence mixed group work (MGW) included international students' self confidence in their spoken English, familiarity, students' positioning of self and other colleagues, expected roles, task and assessment design, and students' engagement in clarification during task completion. Some of these findings are consistent with existing literature. Finally, Activity Theory (AT) as an analytical framework was found to be useful

Accidentes laborales en veterinarios rurales

El ejercicio de la Veterinaria está asociado a numerosos riesgos ocupacionales. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron estimar la frecuencia de veterinarios rurales que tuvieron accidentes laborales (AL), describir tipo de lesión y elementos involucrados, factores asociados y ausencia laboral. Se desarrolló un censo en veterinarios rurales (N= 741) que asistieron a reuniones obligatorias de capacitación continua. La tasa de respuesta a un cuestionario estructurado anónimo fue del 75.8% (n= 562). El análisis de los datos incluyó: χ2, t de Student, correlación de Pearson y regresión logística. El 97,1% había sufrido accidentes durante el ejercicio profesional, el 59,6% había requerido atención médica y el 81,4% padecía alguna dolencia derivada de su trabajo. El 52,1% tuvo al menos un día de ausencia laboral debido a accidentes de trabajo (37,9 ± 51,7 días). Sexo, edad y antigüedad profesional estuvieron significativamente asociados con la ocurrencia de AL in labore. en el análisis bivariante, pero no en el multivariante, probablemente debido al muy bajo número de entrevistados que no sufrieron AL. Algunas características de los profesionales, unida a la especial naturaleza de los pacientes, la existencia de instalaciones inapropiadas para ejercer la práctica clínica en condiciones de campo y la necesidad de trasladarse en vehículos automotores para entrar en contacto con los pacientes pueden contribuir para que esta profesión tenga un alto riesgo laboral

Thermal Noise Compliant Synthesis of Linear Lumped Macromodels

This paper addresses the synthesis of equivalent circuits from black box state-space macromodels, as produced by model order reduction or rational curve fitting schemes. The emphasis is here on thermal noise compliance, intended as the guarantee that the produced netlists can be safely used in standard circuit solvers to perform thermal noise analysis, in addition to usual DC, AC, and transient simulations. Due to the fact that SNR is a key figure of merit in nearly all signal processing analog circuits, noise analysis is mandatory in design and verification of most analog and RF/millimeter-wave electronic applications. However, common macromodel synthesis approaches rely on components that do not (and cannot) have an associated thermal noise model, such as controlled sources or negative circuit elements. Therefore, macromodel-based noise analyses are generally not possible with currently available approaches. We propose a circuit realization derived from the classical resistance extraction synthesis, with suitable modifications for enhancing macromodel sparsity and efficiency. The resulting equivalent netlist, which is compatible with any standard circuit solver, is shown to produce exact noise characteristics, even if its elements are derived through a mathematical procedure, totally unrelated to the actual topology of the physical system under modeling. The procedure is validated by several examples

The Use of Antimalarial Drugs against Viral Infection

In recent decades, drugs used to treat malaria infection have been shown to be beneficial for many other diseases, including viral infections. In particular, they have received special attention due to the lack of effective antiviral drugs against new emerging viruses (i.e., HIV, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, Ebola virus, etc.) or against classic infections due to drug-resistant viral strains (i.e., human cytomegalovirus). Here, we reviewed the in vitro/in vivo and clinical studies conducted to evaluate the antiviral activities of four classes of antimalarial drugs: Artemisinin derivatives, aryl-aminoalcohols, aminoquinolines, and antimicrobial drugs

Breakup of 17^{17}F on 208^{208}Pb near the Coulomb barrier

Angular distributions of oxygen produced in the breakup of $^{17}$F incident on a $^{208}$Pb target have been measured around the grazing angle at beam energies of 98 and 120 MeV. The data are dominated by the proton stripping mechanism and are well reproduced by dynamical calculations. The measured breakup cross section is approximately a factor of 3 less than that of fusion at 98 MeV. The influence of breakup on fusion is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Trends in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections: effect of the MRSA "search and isolate" strategy in a hospital in Italy with hyperendemic MRSA

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the secular trends in MRSA BSIs after the introduction of a nosocomial MRSA control intervention. DESIGN: Before-after study. SETTING: An 850-bed community hospital with an ICU and vascular surgery, neurosurgery, bone marrow transplantation, and AIDS units. MRSA is endemic at this hospital; the prevalence of methicillin resistance among patients with S. aureus infection is greater than 50%. PATIENTS: Among all inpatients, MRSA BSI was identified, its origin defined, and incidence rates calculated by ward and origin. INTERVENTION: A MRSA control program was implemented based on active surveillance cultures to identify MRSA-colonized patients, followed by isolation using contact precautions. Incidence rates of MRSA BSI during the intervention (i.e., July 1, 1997, to December 31, 2001) and preintervention (i.e., January 1, 1996, to June 30, 1997) periods were compared. RESULTS: Sixty-nine MRSA BSIs were identified. When compared with the preintervention period, the incidence rate of MRSA BSI was reduced from 0.64 to 0.30 per 1000 admissions (RR, 0.46; CI95, 0.25-0.87; P = .02) during the intervention period. The impact was greater in the ICU, with an 89% reduction (RR, 0.11; CI95, 0.01-0.98; P = .03), and for CVC-associated MRSA BSIs, with an 82% decrease (RR, 0.17; CI95, 0.05-0.55; P = .002). Methicillin resistance among S. aureus blood isolates decreased from 46% to 17% (RR, 0.36; CI95, 0.22-0.62; P = .0002). CONCLUSION: A reduction in MRSA bacteremia is achievable through use of the MRSA "search and isolate" intervention even in a hospital with high rates of endemic MRSA