The International Impact of COVID-19 and "Emergency Remote Teaching" on Computer Science Education Practitioners

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed "emergency remote teaching" across education globally, leading to the closure of institutions across all settings, from schools through to universities. This paper looks specifically at the impact of these disruptive changes to those teaching the discipline of computer science. Drawing on the quantitative and qualitative findings from a large-scale international survey (N=2,483) conducted in the immediate aftermath of closures, implementation of lockdown measures, and the shift to online delivery in March 2020, we report how those teaching computer science across all educational levels (n=327) show significantly more positive attitudes towards the move to online learning, teaching and assessment (LT&A) than those working in other disciplines. When comparing educational setting, computer science practitioners in schools felt more prepared and confident than those in higher education; however, they expressed greater concern around equity and whether students would be able to access the teaching made available online. Furthermore, while practitioners across all sectors consistently noted the potential opportunities of these changes, they also raised a number of wider concerns on the impact of this shift to online, especially on workload and job precarity. More specifically for computer science practitioners, there were concerns raised regarding the ability to effectively deliver technical topics online, as well as the impact on various types of formal examinations and assessment. We also offer informed commentary from this rapid response international survey on emerging LT&A strategies that will likely continue to be constrained by coronavirus into 2021 and possibly beyond

Vice-chancellor narcissism and university performance

Universities hold a prominent role in knowledge creation through research and education. In this study, we examine the effects of VC narcissism on university performance. We measure VC narcissism based on the size of the signature, in line with a methodological approach which has been widely used in the recent literature and repeatedly validated in laboratory experiments. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment of VC changes and employ a Difference-in-Difference research design, which alleviates concerns related to endogeneity and identification bias. We show that the appointment of a highly narcissistic VC leads to an overall deterioration in research and teaching performance and concomitantly league table performance. We further identify excessive financial risk taking and empire-building as possible mechanisms explaining the main results and provide evidence on the moderating role of university governance. Our findings are consistent with the view that narcissism is one of the most prominent traits of destructive leadership; they also have practical implications for leadership recruitment and the monitoring of leadership practices in the higher education sector. The results of this study extend prior research in several ways. Extant literature on executive leadership and narcissism yields inconclusive findings; this literature has mainly focused on for-profit organisations and has not considered universities. In addition, prior research in higher education on the determinants of university performance has not yet examined the role of leadership personality traits

An audit of provincial gastroenterology services in the Western Cape

Background: While disorders such as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and inflammatory bowel disease are prevalent among all racial groups in the Western Cape, there is little knowledge of local GI service provision. The state of equipment, facilities and staffing is largely unrecorded and to date unknown. The aim of this study was to audit the availability of GI facilities in the provincial sector, which provides care for the majority of people in the Western Cape. Method: All hospitals in the Western Cape providing endoscopy were evaluated by means of a hands-on audit, to identify available organisational infrastructure. Data including staffing, details and utilisation of existing equipment, maintenance and disinfection techniques and delays in service provision were collected. Results: Over a period of 12 months, 17 Western Cape hospitals were visited : 3 tertiary, 5 regional and 9 district-level institutions. There are currently 89 GI endoscopes in state service, with an average age of 6.1 years (range 1 - 23 years). While most institutions utilise video endoscopy, in many instances equipment is near the end of its economic life. A total of 26 434 endoscopic procedures were performed over a 12-month period. Overall at least 60% of all adult endoscopy was undertaken at tertiary institutions. The mean delay from consultation until gastroscopy or colonoscopy was 9.25 weeks (range 0.5 - 28 weeks) and 8 weeks (range 1 - 20 weeks), respectively. Only 1 tertiary and 1 regional hospital employed fully trained, registered nurses, and the majority of institutions did not conform to internationally accepted standards for the maintenance and disinfection of endoscopic equipment. Conclusion: While endoscopy equipment is widely distributed throughout the province, it is evident from this study that services in the Western Cape fall short of international standards, with delays in endoscopic provision, lack of adequate equipment, inadequate scope maintenance and disinfection and a shortage of trained staff. As such, much of the population reliant on state facilities has poor access to GI health care. These deficiencies need to be addressed

Carnival of youth: the dramaturgy of the sixties counterculture

This thesis is a study of anti-hegemonic, youth counterculture. It uses a retro-sampling of four aspects of the 1960s hippie counterculture, namely the Beats, Hippies, the Diggers and the Yippies. These are used as a case-study of a culture of resistance that are reapplied as signifiers of cultural and commercial distinction, fashioning a notion and ideal of youth. The thesis uses the theory of Bakhtinian carnivalesque to interpret the performance of dissident youth culture. It examines one fragment of subversive counterculture best described as performative. The performance of counterculture, its street happenings, Acid-Tests, Be-Ins, rock concerts and media pranks, are shown to be assimilated and transformed into commercial entities which are used to frame what it is loosely defined as a 'post-modern' cultural subjectivity. This study provides a reminder of the paradoxes of cultural endeavour, such as the local and global, commercial and cultural, and how anti-hegemonic counterculture is an explicit portrayal of this. The performance of the hippie counterculture is shown as a process of constant reinvention and bricolage enriching and challenging social perceptions and ways of living. The carnival of the American counterculture is a case-study of cultural antagonisms, which demonstrates how performance is infinitely adaptable and replicable for different user groups. Its music, which forms a central part of the thesis, is its legacy, a cultural landmark and recurrent means of expression channelling the voice of carnival, youth and the potential of an inverted world

Evaluation of a locally produced rapid urease test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection

Background. The rapid urease test (RUT) is used at Groote Schuur Hospital for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection. This is an in-house method, which has not been validated. Objective. To validate our practice of reading the RUT immediately after endoscopy (RUT0), by comparing this with a reading at 24 hours (RUT24) and with histological analysis. Design. Ninety consecutive patients undergoing upper endoscopy over a 6-week period from October 2005 to November 2005, and in whom rapid urease testing was indicated, were included in the study. Patients with recent exposure (within 2 weeks of endoscopy) to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), histamine receptor antagonists (H2RAs) and antibiotics (confounders) were noted and included in the cohort. Two antral and two body biopsies were taken for histological examination and a third antral biopsy was placed in the RUT bottle. Both haematoxylin and eosin and modified Giemsa staining methods were used to identify H. pylori. The RUT was read immediately (within 5 minutes of upper endoscopy) (RUT0), as per our current practice, and each specimen was re-read at 24 hours (RUT24). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and the impact of confounders were calculated. Results. Of the 90 patients undergoing rapid urease testing, 39% were male and 61% were female, with a mean age of 55 years (range 22 - 79 years). Histological examination revealed H. pylori in 67.8% (N=61) of the biopsy specimens. In the 65 patients without confounders, the sensitivity and specificity of the RUT0 were 65.9% and 100% respectively, and 90.9% and 100% for RUT24. After including the 25 patients with confounders, the sensitivity and specificity were 68.8% and 100% for RUT0, and 90.1% and 100% for RUT24 respectively. Thirteen RUT0 specimens (30.9%) that were initially negative became positive at the RUT24 reading. There were 6 (9.8%) RUT0- and RUT24-negative but histology-positive specimens. Four of these 6 false-negative RUT24 results could be accounted for by a low H. pylori density on histological analysis (2 patients were taking PPIs). Confounders did not alter the sensitivity and specificity outcomes or impact on the number of false-negative RUTs. Conclusions. Our locally prepared RUT is a specific test for the detection of H. pylori infection. The sensitivity is greatly enhanced by reading the test at 24 hours. The use of PPIs, H2RAs and antibiotics preceding endoscopy did not impact significantly on the results. South African Medical Journal Vol. 97 (12) 2007: pp. 1281-128

Novel multicomponent B2-ordered aluminides: Compositional design, synthesis, characterization, and thermal stability

For the first time, multicomponent alloys belonging to a B2-ordered single phase were designed and fabricated by melting route. The design concept of high entropy alloys is applied to engineering the transition metal sublattice of binary B2 aluminide. The equiatomic substitution of transition metal elements in the Ni sublattice of binary AlNi followed to produce Al(CoNi), Al(FeNi), Al(CoFe), Al(CoFeNi), Al(CoFeMnNi), and Al(CoCuFeMnNi) multicomponent alloys. CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) approach was used to predict the phases in these alloys. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the B2 ordering in the alloys. Thermal stability of the B2 phase in these alloys was demonstrated by prolonged heat treatments at 1373 K and 1073 K up to 200 h. © 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

‘Pandemia’: a reckoning of UK universities’ corporate response to COVID-19 and its academic fallout:A reckoning of UK universities’ corporate response to COVID-19 and its academic fallout.

Universities in the UK, and in other countries like Australia and the USA, have responded to the operational and financial challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic by prioritising institutional solvency and enforcing changes to the work-practices and profiles of their staff. For academics, an adjustment to institutional life under COVID-19 has been dramatic and resulted in the overwhelming majority making a transition to prolonged remote-working. Many have endured significant work intensification; others have lost — or may soon lose — their jobs. The impact of the pandemic appears transformational and for the most part negative. This article reports the experiences of n=1,099 UK academics specific to the corporate response of institutional leadership to the COVID-19 crisis. We find articulated a story of universities in the grip of 'pandemia' and COVID-19 emboldening processes and protagonists of neoliberal governmentality and market-reform that pay little heed to considerations of human health and wellbeing

Book Reviews

Basic Neurology. Ed. by J. Gilroy and P. L. Holliday. Pp. vii + 373. Illustrated. R27,90. London: Macmillan. 1982.The Pathology of the Heart. By E. G. J. Olsen. Pp. ix + 402. Illustrated. R91,85. London: Macmillan. 1982.Profile of Disease and Health Care in South Africa. By H. C. J. van Rensburg and A. Mans. Pp. xvii + 319. R29,50. Pretoria: Academica Press. 1982.Principles of Ambulatory Medicine. Ed. by L. R. Barker, J. R. Burton and P. D. Zieve. Pp. xiii + 1127. Illustrated. R78,-. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams & Wilkins. 1982.Topical Reviews in Accident Surgery, vol. 2. Ed. by N. Tubbs and P. S. London. Pp. ix +258. Illustrated. £18,50. London: Wright PSG.1982.Early Care of the Injured Patient. 3rd ed. Ed. by A. J. Wait, L. F. Peltier, B. A. Pruitt jun, D. D. Trunkey and R. F. Wilson. Pp. xv + 413. Illustrated. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1982.Current Pediatric Therapy. 10th ed. By S. S. Gellis and B. M. Kagan. Pp. xxxviii + 776. R94,25. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1982.Selected Techniques in Interventional Radiology,vol. 19 (Saunders Monographs in Clinical Radiology). By S. Kadir, S. L. Kaufman, K. H. Barth and R. 1. White jun. Pp. xi +216. Illustrated. R76,75. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1982.Clinical Topics in Internal Medicine. Ed. by G. M. Tisi and H. M. Ranney. Pp. xii 173. Illustrated. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams & Wilkins. 1982.Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation: Genetic Embryologic and Clinical Aspects (Major Problems in Clinical Pediatrics, vo!. vii). 3rd ed. By W. David and M. D. Smith. Pp. xvii + 653. Illustrated. R78,55. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1982.The Patient and the Plastic Surgeon. By R. M. Goldwyn. Pp. xiii + 255. Boston: Little, Brown. 1981.The Aging Lumbar Spine. By S. W. Wiesel, P. Bernini and R. H. Rothman. Pp. 257. Illustrated. R69,55. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1982.Postoperative Complications of Intracranial Neurological Surgery. By N. H. Horwitz and H. V. Rizzoli. Pp. xi + 472. Illustrated. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. 1982.Current Topics in Inflammation and Infection (International Academy of Pathology Monograph). Ed. by G. Majno, R. S. Cotran and . Kaufman. Pp. xi + 242. Illustrated. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams & Wilkins. 1982.Radiology of the Ear, Nose and Throat. By G. E. Valvassori, G. D. Porter, W. N. Hanafee, B. L. Carter and R. A. Buckingham. Pp. viii + 342. Illustrated. RI94,30. Philadelphia: \Y/. B. Saunders. 1982.Neuropathology ofParasitic Infections. By W. J. Brown and M. Voge. Pp. 240. Illustrated. RI5,-. Oxford: Oxford Medical Publishers. 1982.Herzkrankheiten: Pathophysiologie, Diagoostik, Therapie. 2nd ed. By H. Roskamm and H. Reindel!. Pp. xxxiii + 1543. Illustrated. DM 278,-. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 1982.Review ofSpeech, Language and Hearing, vols I, 2and 3. By N. J. Lass, L. V. McReynolds, J. L. Northern and D. E. Yoder. Illustrated. R36,20 each. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1982

Symbolic violence and the invisibility of disability

Disability as a social justice issue is not part of mainstream talk. Approximately 15% of the world’s population has a disability, and yet persons with disabilities are systematically subjected to this sort of exclusion. If considered in terms of social power, then persons with disabilities are the largest single minority group. Amongst minorities, exclusion from the social and representational order is a forceful form of symbolic violence. Persons with disabilities are systematically subjected to this sort of exclusion. In the public domain, persons with disabilities are either not represented at all, or misrepresented. The misrepresentation of persons with disabilities takes a host of cultural forms. This paper explores a few examples of these forms, as they can be considered examples of symbolic violence. We explore how negative social value may be internalised, and how this constitutes a form of symbolic violence experienced by persons with disabilities. We argue that persons with disabilities must constantly act against subtle and blatant acts of symbolic violence – including exclusion – and that the necessity of constant resistance characterises the lives of disabled persons. We argue that it is necessary not only to recognise the detrimental effects of having to confront the symbolic violence of a society which is structured for the benefit of those with typical embodiment, but also to frame this social injustice as something which leads to very real and very dangerous exclusions