1,592 research outputs found
The influence of external forces, institutional forces, and academics' characteristics on the adoption of positive teaching practices across australian undergraduate engineering
Š 2016 TEMPUS Publications. This study investigates how academics' personal beliefs, perspectives on institutional forces, and perspectives on external influences relate to their teaching and learning decision-making. Using a national-level survey of Australian engineering academics (n = 591; 16% of Australia's engineering academics), analyses investigate (1) how influences external and internal to the university environment vary across characteristics of academics, and (2) how academics' characteristics, organizational features, and external drivers relate to issues informing academics' teaching and their actual teaching practices. External and internal influences differed across academics based on their individual characteristics and university contexts, and academics' individual characteristics explained the greatest variability in their teaching considerations and practices. For external influences (e.g., accreditation), promoting awareness of educational goals for undergraduate engineering-as opposed to forcing outcomes into course planning-relates to more desirable teaching and learning practices. No internal institutional policy driver related to teaching practice variables. This study points to informed, professional development that seeks to capitalize on academics' personal interests and characteristics and assists in helping them understand how curricula and outcomes may better align to help student learning. Findings support working from a bottom-up model of change to improve the teaching and learning culture within engineering programs
Determinants of adults' intention to vaccinate against pandemic swine flu
This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Vaccination is one of the cornerstones of controlling an influenza pandemic. To optimise vaccination rates in the general population, ways of identifying determinants that influence decisions to have or not to have a vaccination need to be understood. Therefore, this study aimed to predict intention to have a swine influenza
vaccination in an adult population in the UK. An extension of the Theory of Planned Behaviour provided the theoretical framework for the study.
Methods: Three hundred and sixty two adults from the UK, who were not in vaccination priority groups, completed either an online (n = 306) or pen and paper (n = 56) questionnaire. Data were collected from 30th October 2009, just after swine flu vaccination became available in the UK, and concluded on 31st December 2009. The main outcome of interest was future swine flu vaccination intentions.
Results: The extended Theory of Planned Behaviour predicted 60% of adultsâ intention to have a swine flu vaccination with attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, anticipating feelings of regret (the impact of missing a vaccination opportunity), intention to have a seasonal vaccine this year, one perceived barrier: âI cannot be bothered to get a swine flu vaccinationâ and two perceived benefits: âvaccination decreases my chance of getting swine flu or its complicationsâ and âif I get vaccinated for swine flu, I will decrease the frequency of having to consult my doctor,â being significant predictors of intention. Black British were less likely to intend to have a vaccination compared to Asian or White respondents.
Conclusions: Theoretical frameworks which identify determinants that influence decisions to have a pandemic influenza vaccination are useful. The implications of this research are discussed with a view to maximising any future pandemic influenza vaccination uptake using theoretically-driven applications.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund
Can programme theory be used as a 'translational toolâ to optimise health service delivery in a national early yearsâ initiative in Scotland: a case study
Background
Theory-based evaluation (TBE) approaches are heralded as supporting formative evaluation by facilitating increased use of evaluative findings to guide programme improvement. It is essential that learning from programme implementation is better used to improve delivery and to inform other initiatives, if interventions are to be as effective as they have the potential to be. Nonetheless, few studies describe formative feedback methods, or report direct instrumental use of findings resulting from TBE. This paper uses the case of Scotlandâs, National Health Service, early yearsâ, oral health improvement initiative (Childsmile) to describe the use of TBE as a framework for providing feedback on delivery to programme staff and to assess its impact on programmatic action.<p></p>
Methods
In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders explored perceived deviations between the Childsmile programme 'as deliveredâ and its Programme Theory (PT). The data was thematically analysed using constant comparative methods. Findings were shared with key programme stakeholders and discussions around likely impact and necessary actions were facilitated by the authors. Documentary review and ongoing observations of programme meetings were undertaken to assess the extent to which learning was acted upon.<p></p>
Results
On the whole, the activities documented in Childsmileâs PT were implemented as intended. This paper purposefully focuses on those activities where variation in delivery was evident. Differences resulted from the stage of roll-out reached and the flexibility given to individual NHS boards to tailor local implementation. Some adaptations were thought to have diverged from the central features of Childsmileâs PT, to the extent that there was a risk to achieving outcomes. The methods employed prompted national service improvement action, and proposals for local action by individual NHS boards to address this.<p></p>
Conclusions
The TBE approach provided a platform, to direct attention to areas of risk within a national health initiative, and to agree which intervention components were 'coreâ to its hypothesised success. The study demonstrates that PT can be used as a 'translational toolâ to facilitate instrumental use of evaluative findings to optimise implementation within a complex health improvement programme.<p></p>
Mortality after discharge from long-term psychiatric care in Scotland, 1977 â 94: a retrospective cohort study
BACKGROUND: Recent United Kingdom strategies focus on preventable suicide deaths in former psychiatric in-patients, but natural causes of death, accidents and homicide may also be important. This study was intended to find the relative importance of natural and unnatural causes of death in people discharged from long-term psychiatric care in Scotland in 1977 â1994. METHODS: People discharged alive from psychiatric hospitals in Scotland in 1977 â 94 after a stay of one year or longer were identified using routine hospital records. Computer record linkage was used to link hospital discharges to subsequent death records. Mortality was described using a person-years analysis, and compared to the general population rates. RESULTS: 6,776 people were discharged in the time period. 1,994 people (29%) died by the end of follow-up, 732 more deaths than expected. Deaths from suicide, homicide, accident and undetermined cause were increased, but accounted for only 197 of the excess deaths. Deaths from respiratory disease were four times higher than expected, and deaths from other causes, including cardiovascular disease, were also elevated. CONCLUSION: Suicide is an important cause of preventable mortality, but natural causes account for more excess deaths. Prevention activities should not focus only on unnatural causes of death
Evo-devo of human adolescence: beyond disease models of early puberty
Despite substantial heritability in pubertal development, much variation remains to be explained, leaving room for the influence of environmental factors to adjust its phenotypic trajectory in the service of fitness goals. Utilizing evolutionary development biology (evo-devo), we examine adolescence as an evolutionary life-history stage in its developmental context. We show that the transition from the preceding stage of juvenility entails adaptive plasticity in response to energy resources, other environmental cues, social needs of adolescence and maturation toward youth and adulthood. Using the evolutionary theory of socialization, we show that familial psychosocial stress fosters a fast life history and reproductive strategy rather than early maturation being just a risk factor for aggression and delinquency. Here we explore implications of an evolutionary-developmental-endocrinological-anthropological framework for theory building, while illuminating new directions for research
Three newly discovered sub-Jupiter-mass planets: WASP-69b and WASP-84b transit active K dwarfs and WASP-70Ab transits the evolved primary of a G4+K3 binary
We report the discovery of the transiting exoplanets WASP-69b, WASP-70Ab and WASP-84b, each of which orbits a bright star (V âź 10). WASP-69b is a bloated Saturn-mass planet (0.26 MJup, 1.06 RJup) in a 3.868-d period around an active, âź1-Gyr, mid-K dwarf. ROSAT detected X-rays 60Âą27 arcsec from WASP-69. If the star is the source then the planet could be undergoing mass-loss at a rate of âź1012 g sâ1. This is one to two orders of magnitude higher than the evaporation rate estimated for HD 209458b and HD 189733b, both of which have exhibited anomalously large Lyman Îą absorption during transit. WASP-70Ab is a sub-Jupiter-mass planet (0.59 MJup, 1.16 RJup) in a 3.713-d orbit around the primary of a spatially resolved, 9â10-Gyr, G4+K3 binary, with a separation of 3.3 arcsec (âĽ800 au). WASP-84b is a sub-Jupiter-mass planet (0.69 MJup, 0.94 RJup) in an 8.523-d orbit around an active, âź1-Gyr, early-K dwarf. Of the transiting planets discovered from the ground to date, WASP-84b has the third-longest period. For the active stars WASP-69 and WASP-84, we pre-whitened the radial velocities using a low-order harmonic series. We found that this reduced the residual scatter more than did the oft-used method of pre-whitening with a fit between residual radial velocity and bisector span. The system parameters were essentially unaffected by pre-whitening
First Neutrino Observations from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The first neutrino observations from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory are
presented from preliminary analyses. Based on energy, direction and location,
the data in the region of interest appear to be dominated by 8B solar
neutrinos, detected by the charged current reaction on deuterium and elastic
scattering from electrons, with very little background. Measurements of
radioactive backgrounds indicate that the measurement of all active neutrino
types via the neutral current reaction on deuterium will be possible with small
systematic uncertainties. Quantitative results for the fluxes observed with
these reactions will be provided when further calibrations have been completed.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, 10 figures, Invited paper at Neutrino 2000
Conference, Sudbury, Canada, June 16-21, 2000 to be published in the
Proceeding
Multiple populations in globular clusters. Lessons learned from the Milky Way globular clusters
Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not
simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence
stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for
the formation of massive star clusters, which includes several episodes of star
formation. While this provides an explanation for several features of globular
clusters, including the second parameter problem, it also opens new
perspectives about the relation between globular clusters and the halo of our
Galaxy, and by extension of all populations with a high specific frequency of
globular clusters, such as, e.g., giant elliptical galaxies. We review progress
in this area, focusing on the most recent studies. Several points remain to be
properly understood, in particular those concerning the nature of the polluters
producing the abundance pattern in the clusters and the typical timescale, the
range of cluster masses where this phenomenon is active, and the relation
between globular clusters and other satellites of our Galaxy.Comment: In press (The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review
Fuzzy modelling of acid mine drainage environments using geochemical, ecological and mineralogical indicators
Fuzzy logic was applied to model acid mine
drainage (AMD) and to obtain a classification index of the environmental impact in a contaminated riverine system.
The data set used to develop this fuzzy model (a fuzzy classifier) concerns an abandoned mine in Northern Portugalâ
Valdarcas mining site. Here, distinctive drainage environments (spatial patterns) can be observed based on the AMD formed in the sulphide-rich waste-dumps. Such environments were established, as the effluent flows through the mining area, using several kinds of indicators.
These are physicalâchemical, ecological and mineralogical parameters, being expressed in a quantitative or qualitative basis. The fuzzy classifier proposed in this paper is a minâ
max fuzzy inference system, representing the spatial behaviour of those indicators, using the AMD environments as patterns. As they represent different levels (classes) of contamination, the fuzzy classifier can be used as a tool, allowing a more reasonable approach, compared with classical models, to characterize the environmental impact caused by AMD. In a general way it can be applied
to other sites where sulphide-rich waste-dumps are promoting the pollution of superficial water through the
generation of AMD
"A convenient truth": air travel passengers' willingness to pay to offset their CO2 emissions
Several economic reviews demonstrate the substantial costs related to climate
change and consequently call for early action. These reviews, however, have been limited
to measuring âobjectiveâ risks and expected material damage related to climate change. The
âsubjectiveâ perceived risk of climate change and societyâs willingness to pay (WTP) to
avoid these risks are expected to provide an important additional motivation for direct
action. We investigate whether and why air travel passengersâan increasingly important
source of greenhouse gas emissionsâare supportive of measures that increase the cost of
their travel based on the polluter pays principle and compensate the damage caused by their
flight. Compared to the results of the few previous studies that have elicited WTP estimates
for climate policy more generally, our results appear to be at the lower end of the scale,
while a comparison to estimates of the social cost of carbon shows that the average WTP
estimate in this study is close to the estimated marginal damage cost. Although significant
differences are found between travellers from Europe, North America, Asia and the rest of
the world, we show that there exists a substantial demand for climate change mitigation
action. The positive risk premium over and above the expected property damage cost
assessments should be accounted for more explicitly in economic reviews as it will add to
the burden of proof of direct action. Measurements of passenger WTP will help policy
makers to design effective financial instruments aimed at discouraging climate-unfriendly
travel activities as well as to generate funds for the measures directed at climate change
mitigation and adaptation. Based on stated WTP by travellers to offset their greenhouse gas
emissions, funds in the order of magnitude of âŹ23 billion could be generated annually to
finance climate change mitigation activities
- âŚ