Interview with Zeva Schub

Length: 67 minutes Oral history interview of Zeva Schub by Lynette Marie Rei

A Comparison of the Motivations of Pre-degree and Degree Education Students for Becoming Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand

In New Zealand the Ministry of Education is committed to attracting and retaining ‘high quality individuals’ to the teaching profession who represent the diverse cultural and socio-economic communities in the country. One way to achieve this has been through the provision of multiple pathways into initial teacher education (ITE). Such pathways provide access for students significantly underrepresented in Teacher Education. This research sought to investigate and compare the motivation of students enrolled on the Certificate of Introduction to Early Childhood Education (ECE) or the Bachelor of Education (BEd) Primary and ECE specialism. As other research has suggested, there is a correlation between student motivation to teach and their success in ITE programmes, through to being qualified and working in the teaching profession. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered from a questionnaire and focus groups, using semi-structured questions to expand on questionnaire responses. Findings from data sources highlighted that, despite the differences in academic achievement on entry between both groups, motivations for pursuing teaching as a career were remarkably similar, showing comparable responses in relation to altruistic, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Challenging deficit default and educators’ biases in urban schools

This paper explores kindergarten and 1st grade teachers’ beliefs about students in an urban elementary school. Teachers situated concerns about a new literacy program and benchmark goals within an ideology that pathologized poor students of color as being academically unprepared. Teachers’ claims were corroborated by their grade-level administrator. However, an analysis of student performance data revealed educators’ pathological beliefs to be unwarranted. Deficit beliefs about the capabilities of the poor students of color were associated with fear of failure, uncritical acceptance of poverty as brain trauma, and their ascription to negative views about poor and minority students

Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand position statement on acute oxygen use in adults : 'swimming between the flags'

Oxygen is a life-saving therapy but, when given inappropriately, may also be hazardous. Therefore, in the acute medical setting, oxygen should only be given as treatment for hypoxaemia and requires appropriate prescription, monitoring and review. This update to the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) guidance on acute oxygen therapy is a brief and practical resource for all healthcare workers involved with administering oxygen therapy to adults in the acute medical setting. It does not apply to intubated or paediatric patients. Recommendations are made in the following six clinical areas: assessment of hypoxaemia (including use of arterial blood gases); prescription of oxygen; peripheral oxygen saturation targets; delivery, including non-invasive ventilation and humidified high-flow nasal cannulae; the significance of high oxygen requirements; and acute hypercapnic respiratory failure. There are three sections which provide (1) a brief summary, (2) recommendations in detail with practice points and (3) a detailed explanation of the reasoning and evidence behind the recommendations. It is anticipated that these recommendations will be disseminated widely in structured programmes across Australia and New Zealand

Characterization of Filtration Scale-Up Performance

The scale-up performance of sintered stainless steel crossflow filter elements planned for use at the Pretreatment Engineering Platform (PEP) and at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) were characterized in partial fulfillment (see Table S.1) of the requirements of Test Plan TP RPP WTP 509. This test report details the results of experimental activities related only to filter scale-up characterization. These tests were performed under the Simulant Testing Program supporting Phase 1 of the demonstration of the pretreatment leaching processes at PEP. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted the tests discussed herein for Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) to address the data needs of Test Specification 24590-WTP-TSP-RT-07-004. Scale-up characterization tests employ high-level waste (HLW) simulants developed under the Test Plan TP-RPP-WTP-469. The experimental activities outlined in TP-RPP-WTP-509 examined specific processes from two broad areas of simulant behavior: 1) leaching performance of the boehmite simulant as a function of suspending phase chemistry and 2) filtration performance of the blended simulant with respect to filter scale-up and fouling. With regard to leaching behavior, the effect of anions on the kinetics of boehmite leaching was examined. Two experiments were conducted: 1) one examined the effect of the aluminate anion on the rate of boehmite dissolution and 2) another determined the effect of secondary anions typical of Hanford tank wastes on the rate of boehmite dissolution. Both experiments provide insight into how compositional variations in the suspending phase impact the effectiveness of the leaching processes. In addition, the aluminate anion studies provide information on the consequences of gibbsite in waste. The latter derives from the expected fast dissolution of gibbsite relative to boehmite. This test report concerns only results of the filtration performance with respect to scale-up. Test results for boehmite dissolution kinetics and filter fouling are reported elsewhere (see Table S.1). The primary goal of scale-up testing was to examine how filter length influenced permeate flux rates. To accomplish this, the existing cells unit filter system, which employs a 2-ft-long, 0.5-in. (inner) diameter sintered stainless steel filter element, was redesigned to accommodate an 8-ft. sintered stainless steel filter element of the same diameter. Testing was then performed to evaluate the filtration performance of waste simulant slurries. Scale-up testing consisted of two separate series of filtration tests: 1) scale-up axial velocity (AV)/transmembrane pressure (TMP) matrix tests and 2) scale-up temperature tests. The AV/TMP matrix tests examined filtration performance of two different waste simulant slurries in the 8-ft. cells unit filter system. Waste simulant slurry formulations for the 8-ft. scale-up test was selected to match simulant slurries for which filtration performance had been characterized on the 2-ft CUF. For the scale-up temperature tests, the filtration performance at three test temperatures (i.e., 25°C, 40°C, and 60°C) was determined to evaluate if filter flux versus temperature correlations developed using the 2-ft filters were also valid for the 8-ft filters

Half a Century of Wilson & Jungner: Reflections on the Governance of Population Screening.

Background: In their landmark report on the "Principles and Practice of Screening for Disease" (1968), Wilson and Jungner noted that the practice of screening is just as important for securing beneficial outcomes and avoiding harms as the formulation of principles. Many jurisdictions have since established various kinds of "screening governance organizations" to provide oversight of screening practice. Yet to date there has been relatively little reflection on the nature and organization of screening governance itself, or on how different governance arrangements affect the way screening is implemented and perceived and the balance of benefits and harms it delivers. Methods: An international expert policy workshop convened by Sturdy, Miller and Hogarth. Results: While effective governance is essential to promote beneficial screening practices and avoid attendant harms, screening governance organizations face enduring challenges. These challenges are social and ethical as much as technical. Evidence-based adjudication of the benefits and harms of population screening must take account of factors that inform the production and interpretation of evidence, including the divergent professional, financial and personal commitments of stakeholders. Similarly, when planning and overseeing organized screening programs, screening governance organizations must persuade or compel multiple stakeholders to work together to a common end. Screening governance organizations in different jurisdictions vary widely in how they are constituted, how they relate to other interested organizations and actors, and what powers and authority they wield. Yet we know little about how these differences affect the way screening is implemented, and with what consequences. Conclusions: Systematic research into how screening governance is organized in different jurisdictions would facilitate policy learning to address enduring challenges. Even without such research, informal exchange and sharing of experiences between screening governance organizations can deliver invaluable insights into the social as well as the technical aspects of governance

Blood cultures for the diagnosis of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis among HIV-infected patients from rural South Africa: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The yield of mycobacterial blood cultures for multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) among drug-resistant TB suspects has not been described.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis to determine the yield of mycobacterial blood cultures for MDR-TB and XDR-TB among patients suspected of drug-resistant TB from rural South Africa. Secondary outcomes included risk factors of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>bacteremia and the additive yield of mycobacterial blood cultures compared to sputum culture.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From 9/1/2006 to 12/31/2008, 130 patients suspected of drug-resistant TB were evaluated with mycobacterial blood culture. Each patient had a single mycobacterial blood culture with 41 (32%) positive for <it>M. tuberculosis</it>, of which 20 (49%) were XDR-TB and 8 (20%) were MDR-TB. One hundred fourteen (88%) patients were known to be HIV-infected. Patients on antiretroviral therapy were significantly less likely to have a positive blood culture for <it>M. tuberculosis </it>(p = 0.002). The diagnosis of MDR or XDR-TB was made by blood culture alone in 12 patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mycobacterial blood cultures provided an additive yield for diagnosis of drug-resistant TB in patients with HIV from rural South Africa. The use of mycobacterial blood cultures should be considered in all patients suspected of drug-resistant TB in similar settings.</p

Characterization, Leaching, and Filtration Testing for Tributyl Phosphate (TBP, Group 7) Actual Waste Sample Composites

.A testing program evaluating actual tank waste was developed in response to Task 4 from the M-12 External Flowsheet Review Team (EFRT) issue response plan. The bulk water-insoluble solid wastes that are anticipated to be delivered to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) were identified according to type such that the actual waste testing could be targeted to the relevant categories. Eight broad waste groupings were defined. Samples available from the 222S archive were identified and obtained for testing. The actual waste-testing program included homogenizing the samples by group, characterizing the solids and aqueous phases, and performing parametric leaching tests. The tributyl phosphate sludge (TBP, Group 7) is the subject of this report. The Group 7 waste was anticipated to be high in phosphorus as well as aluminum in the form of gibbsite. Both are believed to exist in sufficient quantities in the Group 7 waste to address leaching behavior. Thus, the focus of the Group 7 testing was on the removal of both P and Al. The waste-type definition, archived sample conditions, homogenization activities, characterization (physical, chemical, radioisotope, and crystal habit), and caustic leaching behavior as functions of time, temperature, and hydroxide concentration are discussed in this report. Testing was conducted according to TP-RPP-WTP-467

Results of Large-Scale Testing on Effects of Anti-Foam Agent on Gas Retention and Release

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of River Protection’s Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) will process and treat radioactive waste that is stored in tanks at the Hanford Site. The waste treatment process in the pretreatment facility will mix both Newtonian and non-Newtonian slurries in large process tanks. Process vessels mixing non-Newtonian slurries will use pulse jet mixers (PJMs), air sparging, and recirculation pumps. An anti-foam agent (AFA) will be added to the process streams to prevent surface foaming, but may also increase gas holdup and retention within the slurry. The work described in this report addresses gas retention and release in simulants with AFA through testing and analytical studies. Gas holdup and release tests were conducted in a 1/4-scale replica of the lag storage vessel operated in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Applied Process Engineering Laboratory using a kaolin/bentonite clay and AZ-101 HLW chemical simulant with non-Newtonian rheological properties representative of actual waste slurries. Additional tests were performed in a small-scale mixing vessel in the PNNL Physical Sciences Building using liquids and slurries representing major components of typical WTP waste streams. Analytical studies were directed at discovering how the effect of AFA might depend on gas composition and predicting the effect of AFA on gas retention and release in the full-scale plant, including the effects of mass transfer to the sparge air. The work at PNNL was part of a larger program that included tests conducted at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) that is being reported separately. SRNL conducted gas holdup tests in a small-scale mixing vessel using the AZ-101 high-level waste (HLW) chemical simulant to investigate the effects of different AFAs, their components, and of adding noble metals. Full-scale, single-sparger mass transfer tests were also conducted at SRNL in water and AZ-101 HLW simulant to provide data for PNNL’s WTP gas retention and release modeling