Preservice Professional Employment Portfolios for Middle Schools

The thoughtful thematic presentation of artifacts or exhibits can visually represent preservice teacher candidates’ experiences as they grow into the teaching role. The literature on professional portfolios in teacher education has refined its expectations and the advent of electronic possibilities offer teacher education students varied ways to present their accomplishments. This article considers ways to incorporate the trends in middle level education to a professional portfolio and suggests guidelines and sources

Examining agreement between clinicians when assessing sick children.

BACKGROUND: Case management guidelines use a limited set of clinical features to guide assessment and treatment for common childhood diseases in poor countries. Using video records of clinical signs we assessed agreement among experts and assessed whether Kenyan health workers could identify signs defined by expert consensus. METHODOLOGY: 104 videos representing 11 clinical sign categories were presented to experts using a web questionnaire. Proportionate agreement and agreement beyond chance were calculated using kappa and the AC1 statistic. 31 videos were selected and presented to local health workers, 20 for which experts had demonstrated clear agreement and 11 for which experts could not demonstrate agreement. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Experts reached very high level of chance adjusted agreement for some videos while for a few videos no agreement beyond chance was found. Where experts agreed Kenyan hospital staff of all cadres recognised signs with high mean sensitivity and specificity (sensitivity: 0.897-0.975, specificity: 0.813-0.894); years of experience, gender and hospital had no influence on mean sensitivity or specificity. Local health workers did not agree on videos where experts had low or no agreement. Results of different agreement statistics for multiple observers, the AC1 and Fleiss' kappa, differ across the range of proportionate agreement. CONCLUSION: Videos provide a useful means to test agreement amongst geographically diverse groups of health workers. Kenyan health workers are in agreement with experts where clinical signs are clear-cut supporting the potential value of assessment and management guidelines. However, clinical signs are not always clear-cut. Video recordings offer one means to help standardise interpretation of clinical signs

Obtenção de biodiesel de sebo bovino por diferentes rotas de transesterificação

Nas últimas décadas o governo brasileiro vem criando diversos programas para a utilização de biocombustíveis no país, visando reduzir a poluição gerada por derivados do petróleo. Um combustível muito importante usado no país é o diesel, visto que a economia brasileira é dependente do transporte com a utilização de caminhões. Sendo assim, há um grande incentivo na produção de biodiesel proveniente de matérias-primas renováveis. O óleo de soja é muito utilizado como matéria-prima, entretanto há várias discussões sobre a utilização para outros fins de um produto que possa ser utilizado como alimento. Outro produto que se mostra vantajoso para a produção do biodiesel é o sebo bovino. Ele tem as vantagens de ser um produto barato, de haver grande disponibilidade no país e sua utilização na produção de biodiesel diminuiria o problema de destinação desse resíduo. O biodiesel é formado a partir da reação de transesterificação de óleos e gorduras. Existe a reação de transesterificação utilizando catalisadores ácidos e catalisadores básicos. A transesterificação em meio ácido não é utilizada pois requer longos períodos de tempo. Já a transesterificação em meio básico é muito sensível à umidade e ao índice de acidez da matéria-prima. O objetivo desse trabalho foi comparar o rendimento da obtenção de biodiesel proveniente do sebo bovino por três diferentes métodos: transesterificação simples (I), esterificação seguida de transesterificação (II) e transesterificação em duas etapas (III). A reação de transesterificação simples (I) foi realizada 5 vezes, utilizando como matéria-prima misturas de diferentes proporções de óleo de soja e sebo bovino. Já as reações de esterificação seguida de transesterificação (II) e a reação de transesterificação em duas etapas (III) foram realizadas somente utilizando sebo bovino como matéria-prima. Verificou-se que quanto maior é a quantidade de óleo de soja na matéria-prima na mistura para a produção do biodiesel menor é a acidez da mistura e melhor o rendimento em biodiesel. Os processos II e III obtiveram um rendimento aproximadamente igual (cerca de 72%), que foi o mesmo rendimento da mistura soja 1:1 sebo no processo I. Visualmente verificou-se que o biodiesel proveniente da soja é mais amarelado e menos viscoso em temperaturas baixas quando comparado ao biodiesel proveniente do sebo bovino

Repórteres mulheres e apresentadoras do Jornal Nacional e o lugar de fala a partir de uma perspectiva de gênero : beleza, juventude e exclusão

Essa pesquisa tem como objetivo descobrir que vozes têm lugar de fala na redação do Jornal Nacional a partir de uma perspectiva de gênero, e como as repórteres e apresentadoras estão representadas dentro da redação. Usa como como amostra uma semana composta de 2016 do Jornal Nacional. Ampara-se na Teoria Construcionista (TRAQUINA, 2012) e nos estudos de telejornalismo de Olga Curado (2002) e Eugênio Bucci (2005). Como aporte teórico dos estudos de gênero, são utilizados textos de Beauvoir (2016), Butler (2003) e Scott (1993). A metodologia utilizada é o estudo de vozes da Análise de Discurso de linha francesa (ORLANDI, 2001; BENETTI, 2007). Dentro do período analisado, o número de apresentadores e apresentadoras se equivale, mas as repórteres são minoria: uma mulher para cada 2 homens. A aparência das jornalistas apresenta uma rígida definição que não é cobrada dos homens, e os apresentadores e repórteres têm uma idade média muito superior à das mulheres: 59 anos enquanto a das mulheres é 48 anos. A diferença de gênero também aparece nas pautas: em assuntos como esporte e mundo, as mulheres não têm representação.This study aims to find out which voices have a place of speech in the Jornal Nacional newspaper office from a gender perspective, and also how the female reporters and newscasters are represented in the office. It considers a sample week composed of random days in 2016 of Jornal Nacional. It is supported by the Teoria Construcionista (TRAQUINA, 2012) and by Olga Curado's (2002) and Eugênio Bucci's (2005) studies on telejournalism. The theoretical basis for gender studies are Beauvoir (2016), Butler (2003) and Scott (1993). The methodology used on the study is voices on Speech Analysis of french guideline (ORLANDI, 2001; BENETTI, 2007). In the period analysed, the number of male and female newscasters are equivalent, but the female reporters are a minority: one woman for every two men. The looks of the female journalists follow a rigid pattern than is not required for men, and the male newscasters and reporters have an avarage age a lot higher than women: 59 years old, while for women the avarage is 48. The gender difference also appears in the subjects covered by female and male journalists: woman don't have representation in some topics, such as sports and world

Changes in Clinical Trials Methodology Over Time: A Systematic Review of Six Decades of Research in Psychopharmacology

Background: There have been many changes in clinical trials methodology since the introduction of lithium and the beginning of the modern era of psychopharmacology in 1949. The nature and importance of these changes have not been fully addressed to date. As methodological flaws in trials can lead to false-negative or false-positive results, the objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of methodological changes in psychopharmacology clinical research over the past 60 years. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed a systematic review from 1949 to 2009 on MEDLINE and Web of Science electronic databases, and a hand search of high impact journals on studies of seven major drugs (chlorpromazine, clozapine, risperidone, lithium, fluoxetine and lamotrigine). All controlled studies published 100 months after the first trial were included. Ninety-one studies met our inclusion criteria. We analyzed the major changes in abstract reporting, study design, participants' assessment and enrollment, methodology and statistical analysis. Our results showed that the methodology of psychiatric clinical trials changed substantially, with quality gains in abstract reporting, results reporting, and statistical methodology. Recent trials use more informed consent, periods of washout, intention-to-treat approach and parametric tests. Placebo use remains high and unchanged over time. Conclusions/Significance: Clinical trial quality of psychopharmacological studies has changed significantly in most of the aspects we analyzed. There was significant improvement in quality reporting and internal validity. These changes have increased study efficiency; however, there is room for improvement in some aspects such as rating scales, diagnostic criteria and better trial reporting. Therefore, despite the advancements observed, there are still several areas that can be improved in psychopharmacology clinical trials

CONSORT 2010 statement: extension checklist for reporting within person randomised trials.

Evidence shows that the quality of reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is not optimal. The lack of transparent reporting impedes readers from judging the reliability and validity of trial findings and researchers from extracting information for systematic reviews and results in research waste. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement was developed to improve the reporting of RCTs. Within person trials are used for conditions that can affect two or more body sites, and are a useful and efficient tool because the comparisons between interventions are within people. Such trials are most commonly conducted in ophthalmology, dentistry, and dermatology. The reporting of within person trials has, however, been variable and incomplete, hindering their use in clinical decision making and by future researchers. This document presents the CONSORT extension to within person trials. It aims to facilitate the reporting of these trials. It extends 16 items of the CONSORT 2010 checklist and introduces a modified flowchart and baseline table to enhance transparency. Examples of good reporting and evidence based rationale for CONSORT within person checklist items are provided

Looking for Landmarks: The Role of Expert Review and Bibliometric Analysis in Evaluating Scientific Publication Outputs

To compare expert assessment with bibliometric indicators as tools to assess the quality and importance of scientific research papers.Shortly after their publication in 2005, the quality and importance of a cohort of nearly 700 Wellcome Trust (WT) associated research papers were assessed by expert reviewers; each paper was reviewed by two WT expert reviewers. After 3 years, we compared this initial assessment with other measures of paper impact.Shortly after publication, 62 (9%) of the 687 research papers were determined to describe at least a ‘major addition to knowledge’ –6 were thought to be ‘landmark’ papers. At an aggregate level, after 3 years, there was a strong positive association between expert assessment and impact as measured by number of citations and F1000 rating. However, there were some important exceptions indicating that bibliometric measures may not be sufficient in isolation as measures of research quality and importance, and especially not for assessing single papers or small groups of research publications. expert peer reviews of research paper quality and importance to more quantitative indicators, such as citation analysis would be valuable additions to the field of research assessment and evaluation