How Are They Going?: A Project to Monitor Student Engagement

The transition from school or work to university studies is not always a smooth change for many students. The university context may appear threatening, strange and isolating for some students, whether the courses be offered in on-campus or online contexts. While most modern day universities offer a raft of support services for students, including both academic and non-academic services, problems of low retention and high attrition rates still plague some institutions and some sections of particular institutions in the higher education sector. This paper presents an innovative program that uses technology-supported strategies within a regular learning management system (LMS) to arrest problems that may lead to students withdrawing from their courses. By focusing on students engaged in their first year of study, early intervention systems, known as the Virtual Mentoring Program (VMP) and the Learning Engagement Analytics Platform (LEAP), are presented as examples of how higher education institutions can reduce attrition and increase retention

The Promotion of ‘Grab Bags’ as a Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy.

Introduction: An all-of-society approach to disaster risk reduction emphasizes inclusion and engagement in preparedness activities. A common recommendation is to promote household preparedness through the preparation of a ‘grab bag’ or ‘disaster kit’, that can be used to shelter-in-place or evacuate. However, there are knowledge gaps related to how this strategy is being used around the world as a disaster risk reduction strategy, and what evidence there is to support recommendations. Methods: In this paper, we present an exploratory study undertaken to provide insight into how grab bag guidelines are used to promote preparedness in Canada, China, England, Japan, and Scotland, and supplemented by a literature review to understand existing evidence for this strategy. Results: There are gaps in the literature regarding evidence on grab bag effectiveness. We also found variations in how grab bag guidelines are promoted across the five case studies. Discussion: While there are clearly common items recommended for household grab bags (such as water and first aid kits), there are gaps in the literature regarding: 1) the evidence base to inform guidelines; 2) uptake of guidelines; and 3) to what extent grab bags reduce demands on essential services and improve disaster resilience

A Synthesis of Tagging Studies Examining the Behaviour and Survival of Anadromous Salmonids in Marine Environments

This paper synthesizes tagging studies to highlight the current state of knowledge concerning the behaviour and survival of anadromous salmonids in the marine environment. Scientific literature was reviewed to quantify the number and type of studies that have investigated behaviour and survival of anadromous forms of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), brown trout (Salmo trutta), steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii). We examined three categories of tags including electronic (e.g. acoustic, radio, archival), passive (e.g. external marks, Carlin, coded wire, passive integrated transponder [PIT]), and biological (e.g. otolith, genetic, scale, parasites). Based on 207 papers, survival rates and behaviour in marine environments were found to be extremely variable spatially and temporally, with some of the most influential factors being temperature, population, physiological state, and fish size. Salmonids at all life stages were consistently found to swim at an average speed of approximately one body length per second, which likely corresponds with the speed at which transport costs are minimal. We found that there is relatively little research conducted on open-ocean migrating salmonids, and some species (e.g. masu [O. masou] and amago [O. rhodurus]) are underrepresented in the literature. The most common forms of tagging used across life stages were various forms of external tags, coded wire tags, and acoustic tags, however, the majority of studies did not measure tagging/handling effects on the fish, tag loss/failure, or tag detection probabilities when estimating survival. Through the interdisciplinary application of existing and novel technologies, future research examining the behaviour and survival of anadromous salmonids could incorporate important drivers such as oceanography, tagging/handling effects, predation, and physiology

Prospective, multicentre study of screening, investigation and management of hyponatraemia after subarachnoid haemorrhage in the UK and Ireland

Background: Hyponatraemia often occurs after subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). However, its clinical significance and optimal management are uncertain. We audited the screening, investigation and management of hyponatraemia after SAH. Methods: We prospectively identified consecutive patients with spontaneous SAH admitted to neurosurgical units in the United Kingdom or Ireland. We reviewed medical records daily from admission to discharge, 21 days or death and extracted all measurements of serum sodium to identify hyponatraemia (<135 mmol/L). Main outcomes were death/dependency at discharge or 21 days and admission duration >10 days. Associations of hyponatraemia with outcome were assessed using logistic regression with adjustment for predictors of outcome after SAH and admission duration. We assessed hyponatraemia-free survival using multivariable Cox regression. Results: 175/407 (43%) patients admitted to 24 neurosurgical units developed hyponatraemia. 5976 serum sodium measurements were made. Serum osmolality, urine osmolality and urine sodium were measured in 30/166 (18%) hyponatraemic patients with complete data. The most frequently target daily fluid intake was >3 L and this did not differ during hyponatraemic or non-hyponatraemic episodes. 26% (n/N=42/164) patients with hyponatraemia received sodium supplementation. 133 (35%) patients were dead or dependent within the study period and 240 (68%) patients had hospital admission for over 10 days. In the multivariable analyses, hyponatraemia was associated with less dependency (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.35 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.69)) but longer admissions (aOR=3.2 (1.8 to 5.7)). World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies grade I–III, modified Fisher 2–4 and posterior circulation aneurysms were associated with greater hazards of hyponatraemia. Conclusions: In this comprehensive multicentre prospective-adjusted analysis of patients with SAH, hyponatraemia was investigated inconsistently and, for most patients, was not associated with changes in management or clinical outcome. This work establishes a basis for the development of evidence-based SAH-specific guidance for targeted screening, investigation and management of high-risk patients to minimise the impact of hyponatraemia on admission duration and to improve consistency of patient care

Preston, Ralph C., and Estoy T. Reddin, Status of the Curriculum, Review of Educational Research, 27(June, 1957), 250-261.

Treats briefly types of curriculum organization and programs (including core curriculum and various subjects) and other related topics

How are They Going?: A Project to Monitor Student Engagement

The transition from school or work to university studies is not always a smooth change for many students. The university context may appear threatening, strange and isolating for some students, whether the courses be offered in on-campus or online contexts. While most modern day universities offer a raft of support services for students, including both academic and non-academic services, problems of low retention and high attrition rates still plague some institutions and some sections of particular institutions in the higher education sector. This paper presents an innovative program that uses technology-supported strategies within a regular learning management system (LMS) to arrest problems that may lead to students withdrawing from their courses. By focusing on students engaged in their first year of study, early intervention systems, known as the Virtual Mentoring Program (VMP) and the Learning Engagement Analytics Platform (LEAP), are presented as examples of how higher education institutions can reduce attrition and increase retention

Data from: Climate change and the latitudinal selectivity of ancient marine extinctions

Geologically rapid climate change is anticipated to increase extinction risk non-uniformly across the Earth’s surface. Tropical species may be more vulnerable than temperate species to current climate warming because of high tropical climate velocities and reduced seawater oxygen levels. To test if rapid warming indeed preferentially increased the extinction risk of tropical fossil taxa, we combine a robust statistical assessment of latitudinal extinction selectivity (LES) with the dominant views on climate change occurring at ancient extinction crises. Using a global dataset of marine fossil occurrences, we assess extinction rates for tropical and temperate genera, applying log-ratios to assess effect size and Akaike weights for model support. Among the classical ‘Big Five’ mass extinction episodes, the end-Permian mass extinction exhibits temperate preference of extinctions, whereas the Late Devonian and end-Triassic selectively hit tropical genera. Simple links between the inferred direction of climate change and LES are idiosyncratic, both during crisis and background intervals. More complex models, including sampling patterns and changes in the latitudinal distribution of continental shelf area, show tropical LES to be generally associated with raised tropical heat and temperate LES with global cold temperatures. With implications for the future, our paper demonstrates the consistency of high tropical temperatures, habitat loss and the capacity of both to interact in generating geographic patterns in extinctions

Marine invertebrate migrations trace climate change over 450 million years

Aim Poleward migration is a clear response of marine organisms to current global warming but the generality and geographical uniformity of this response are unclear. Marine fossils are expected to record the range shift responses of taxa and ecosystems to past climate change. However, unequal sampling (natural and human) in time and space biases the fossil record, restricting previous studies of ancient migrations to individual taxa and events. We expect that temporal changes in the latitudinal distribution of surviving taxa will reveal range shifts to trace global climate change. Location Global. Time period Post‐Cambrian Phanerozoic aeon. Major taxa studied Well‐fossilized marine benthic invertebrates comprising stony corals, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, trilobites and calcifying sponges. Methods We track deviations in the latitudinal distribution of range centres of age boundary crossing taxa from the expected distribution, and compare responses across latitudes. We build deviation time series, spanning hundreds of million years, from fossil occurrences and test correlations with seawater temperature estimates derived from stable oxygen isotopes of fossils. Results Seawater temperature and latitudinal deviations from sampling are positively correlated over the post‐Cambrian Phanerozoic. Simulations suggest that sampling patterns are highly unlikely to drive this putative signal of range shifts. Systematically accounting for known sampling issues strengthens this correlation, so that climate is capable of explaining nearly a third of the variance in ancient latitudinal range shifts. The relationship is stronger in low latitude taxa than higher latitude taxa, and in warm ages than cool ages. Main conclusions Latitudinal range shifts occurred in concert with climate change throughout the post‐Cambrian Phanerozoic. Low latitude taxa show the clearest climate‐migration signal through time, corroborating predictions of their shift in a warming future

The biogeographical imprint of mass extinctions

Mass extinctions are defined by extinction rates significantly above background levels and have had substantial consequences for the evolution of life. Geographically selective extinctions, subsequent originations and species redistributions may have changed global biogeographical structure, but quantification of this change is lacking. In order to assess quantitatively the biogeographical impact of mass extinctions, we outline time-traceable bioregions for benthic marine species across the Phanerozoic using a compositional network. Mass extinction events are visually recognizable in the geographical depiction of bioregions. The end-Permian extinction stands out with a severe reduction of provinciality. Time series of biogeographical turnover represent a novel aspect of the analysis of mass extinctions, confirming concentration of changes in the geographical distribution of benthic marine life

Data from: Marine invertebrate migrations trace climate change over 450 million years

Aim: Poleward migration is a clear response of marine organisms to current global warming but the generality and geographical uniformity of this response are unclear. Marine fossils are expected to record the range shift responses of taxa and ecosystems to past climate change. However, unequal sampling (natural and human) in time and space biases the fossil record, restricting previous studies of ancient migrations to individual taxa and events. We expect that temporal changes in the latitudinal distribution of surviving taxa will reveal range shifts to trace global climate change. Location: Global. Time period: Post-Cambrian Phanerozoic aeon. Major taxa studied: Well-fossilised marine benthic invertebrates comprising stony corals, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, trilobites and calcifying sponges. Methods: We track deviations in the latitudinal distribution of range centres of age-to-age surviving taxa from the expected distribution, and compare responses across latitudes. We build deviation time series, spanning hundreds of million years, from fossil occurrences and test correlations with seawater temperature estimates derived from stable oxygen isotopes of fossils. Results: Seawater temperature and latitudinal deviations from sampling are positively correlated over the Post-Cambrian Phanerozoic. Simulations suggest that sampling patterns are highly unlikely to drive this putative signal of range shifts. Systematically accounting for known sampling issues strengthens this correlation, so that climate is capable of explaining nearly a third of the variance in ancient latitudinal range shifts. The relationship is stronger in low latitude taxa than higher latitude taxa, and in warm ages than cool ages. Main conclusions: Latitudinal range shifts occurred in concert with climate change throughout the post-Cambrian Phanerozoic. Low latitude taxa show the clearest climate-migration signal through time, corroborating predictions of their shift in a warming future