Personal development planning in the first year

The approach to quality and standards in higher education (HE) in Scotland is enhancement led and learner centred. It was developed through a partnership of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Universities Scotland, the National Union of Students in Scotland (NUS Scotland) and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) Scotland. The Higher Education Academy has also joined that partnership. The Enhancement Themes are a key element of a five-part framework, which has been designed to provide an integrated approach to quality assurance and enhancement. The Enhancement Themes support learners and staff at all levels in further improving higher education in Scotland; they draw on developing innovative practice within the UK and internationally The five elements of the framework are: z a comprehensive programme of subject-level reviews undertaken by higher education institutions (HEIs) themselves; guidance is published by the SFC (www.sfc.ac.uk) z enhancement-led institutional review (ELIR), run by QAA Scotland (www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/ELIR) z improved forms of public information about quality; guidance is provided by the SFC (www.sfc.ac.uk) z a greater voice for students in institutional quality systems, supported by a national development service - student participation in quality scotland (sparqs) (www.sparqs.org.uk) z a national programme of Enhancement Themes aimed at developing and sharing good practice to enhance the student learning experience, facilitated by QAA Scotland (www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk). The topics for the Enhancement Themes are identified through consultation with the sector and implemented by steering committees whose members are drawn from the sector and the student body. The steering committees have the task of establishing a programme of development activities, which draw on national and international good practice. Publications emerging from each Theme are intended to provide important reference points for HEIs in the ongoing strategic enhancement of their teaching and learning provision. Full details of each Theme, its steering committee, the range of research and development activities as well as the outcomes are published on the Enhancement Themes website (www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk). To further support the implementation and embedding of a quality enhancement culture within the sector - including taking forward the outcomes of the Enhancement Themes - an overarching committee, the Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Committee (SHEEC), chaired by Professor Kenneth Miller, Vice-Principal, University of Strathclyde, has the important dual role of supporting the overall approach of the Enhancement Themes, including the five-year rolling plan, as well as institutional enhancement strategies and management of quality. SHEEC, working with the individual topic-based Enhancement Themes' steering committees, will continue to provide a powerful vehicle for progressing the enhancement-led approach to quality and standards in Scottish higher education

Prediction of Dry Powder Inhaler Formulation Performance From Surface Energetics and Blending Dynamics

The Purpose of these studies was to investigate the ability of surface energy measurements and rates of mixing in dry powder inhaler formulations to predict aerosol dispersion performance. Two lactose carrier systems comprising either spray dried or milled particles were developed such that they had identical physical characteristics except for surface morphology and surface energies avoiding confounding variables common in other studies. Surface energy measurements confirmed significant differences between the powder systems. Spray dried lactose had a higher surface entropy (0.20 vs. 0.13 mJ/m2K) and surface enthalpy (103.2 vs. 79.2 mJ/m2) compared to milled lactose. Mixing rates of budesonide or fluorescein were assessed dynamically and significant differences in blending were observed between lactose systems for both drugs. Surface energies of the lactose carriers were inversely proportional to dispersion performance. In addition, the root mean square of blending rates correlated positively with aerosol dispersion performance. Both techniques have potential utility in routine screening dry powder inhaler formulations

The Intersections of Race, Gender, Age, and Socioeconomic Status: Implications for Reporting Discrimination and Attributions to Discrimination.

This study employed an intersectional approach (operationalized as the combination of more than one social identity) to examine the relationship between aspects of social identity (i.e., race, gender, age, SES), self-reported level of mistreatment, and attributions for discrimination. Self-reported discrimination has been researched extensively and there is substantial evidence of its association with adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined the relationship of multiple demographic variables (including social identities) to overall levels self-reported mistreatment as well the selection of attributions for discrimination. A diverse community sample (N = 292; 42.12% Black; 47.26% male) reported on experiences of discrimination using the Everyday Discrimination Scale. General linear models were used to test the effect of sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., race, gender, age, SES) on total discrimination score and on attributions for discrimination. To test for intersectional relationships, we tested the effect of two-way interactions of sociodemographic characteristics on total discrimination score and attributions for discrimination. We found preliminary support for intersectional effects, as indicated by a significant race by age interaction on the selection of the race attribution for discrimination; gender by SES on the age attribution; age by gender on the education attribution; and race by SES on the economic situation attribution. Our study extends prior work by highlighting the importance of testing more than one factor as contributing to discrimination, particularly when examining to what sources individuals attribute discrimination

Ansiedad y personalidad como indicadores del rendimiento académico universitario en el aula de idiomas

The main purpose of this study is to test whether students’ performance in official language tests in the university context is influenced, apart from anxiety, by certain personality traits. A sample of 394 university students in Spain were assessed in language academic performance using the Test of English for International Communication: Listening and Reading (TOEIC L&R), Foreign Language Anxiety using the Spanish version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), Test Anxiety, by means of the Spanish version of the Test Anxiety Inventory and Personality Traits through the Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Frequency analyses for the categorical variables, and means and standard deviations for continuous variables were calculated, and a forward stepwise regression model was used to assess the independent variables that contributed significantly to the variance in the score on the academic performance. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) correlated most significantly with student foreign language academic performance, followed by the Neuroticism dimension, Test Anxiety and Extraversion. These results show that anxiety can still be considered the best indicator to predict language academic performance and that personality traits do play a relevant part in the foreign language learning process in the university context.El objetivo de este estudio es comprobar si, aparte de la ansiedad, ciertas dimensiones de la personalidad tienen influencia en el rendimiento académico universitario en exámenes oficiales de idiomas. En una muestra de 394 estudiantes de una universidad española, se evaluó el rendimiento académico en idiomas mediante el examen Test of English for International Communication: Listening and Reading (TOEIC L&R), la ansiedad en lengua extranjera con la FLCAS, la ansiedad ante los exámenes con el Test Anxiety Inventory y las dimensiones de la personalidad con el NEO-FFI. Se calcularon análisis de frecuencias para las variables categóricas, y medias y desviación estándar para las variables continuas, y se aplicó un modelo de regresión lineal múltiple por pasos para identificar las variables independientes que contribuyen de manera significativa a la varianza del resultado del rendimiento académico. La ansiedad en el aula de idiomas es la variable que correlaciona más significativamente con el rendimiento académico, seguida por la dimensión de Neuroticismo, la Ansiedad ante los Exámenes y Extraversión. Los resultados muestran que la ansiedad puede seguir siendo considerada el indicador más eficaz para predecir el rendimiento académico en idiomas y que las dimensiones de la personalidad tienen cabida en el proceso de aprendizaj

On the Mahler measure of 1+X+1/X+Y+1/Y1+X+1/X+Y+1/Y

We prove a conjectured formula relating the Mahler measure of the Laurent polynomial $1+X+X^{-1}+Y+Y^{-1}$, to the $L$-series of a conductor 15 elliptic curve.Comment: 18 pages, Fixed typos in Lemmas 3 and

State Folk Arts Programs: Achievements, Challenges And Needs

State Arts Agencies Folk Arts Peer Group Planning Committee in association with the American Folklore Society National Assembly of State Arts Agencies National Endowment for the Arts, Folk and Traditional Arts Progra

100 Gbit/s real-time all-analogue filter bank OFDM based on a gain-switched optical comb

A real-time 5×21.6 Gbit/s WDM electro-optical transceiver is presented. Optical carriers were spaced by 20 GHz and each one transmitted four orthogonally overlapping broadband subcarriers. Only analogue electronics were employed, achieving an unprecedented spectral efficiency in DSP-less SCM links