Exploring student perspectives on the extended program

Abstract: Many students find the transition from high school to university difficult specifically in engineering. It has been established that there is a gap in mathematics ability between high school and university. Internationally the high school curricula focuses on increasing access to tertiary institutions. Many of these curricula teach superficial learning to high school students. At University level deep learning is required. Students who do not meet entry requirements for engineering first year have the option to enter an extended program. This paper explores whether the extended program offered at the University of Johannesburg for mechanical and industrial engineering students is perceived as beneficial. A survey was conducted on first and second year students that started their qualification with the extended program. The results were statistically analysed. Information from the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) system was used to compare performance of students who completed the extended program and those in the mainstream. Based on the research it seems that the extended program does benefit students

Exploring student perspectives on an extended mechanical and industrial engineering program

Many students find the transition from high school to university difficult specifically in engineering. It has been established that there is a gap in mathematics ability between high school and university. Internationally the high school curricula focus on increasing access to tertiary institutions. Many of these curricula teach superficial learning to high school students. At University level deep learning is required. Students who do not meet entry requirements for engineering first year have the option to enter an extended program. This paper explores whether the extended program offered at the University of Johannesburg for mechanical and industrial engineering students is perceived as beneficial. A survey was conducted on first- and second-year students that started their qualification with the extended program. The results were statistically analysed. Information from the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) system was used to compare performance of students who completed the extended program and those in the mainstream. Based on the research it seems that the extended program does benefit students.Institute for Science and Technology Education (ISTE

UK Renal Registry 18th Annual Report: Chapter 7 Adequacy of Haemodialysis in UK Adult Patients in 2014: National and Centre-specific Analyses

Data suitable for urea reduction ratio (URR) analyses were available for 14,761 (71.9%) of the 20,539 patients receiving haemodialysis (HD) in the UK on the 30/9/2014. In 2014, 88.6% of prevalent HD patients achieved a URR .65%. The between centre range of prevalent patients achieving this target was wide (74.9-97.0%). The median URR in 2014 was 75%. URR was greater in those with longer dialysis vintage, with 91.2% of patients who had survived on renal replacement therapy (RRT) for more than two years achieving a URR .65% compared with only 73.4% of those on RRT for less than six months. Large variation between centres in the percentage of patients achieving the UK Renal Association's (RA) URR guideline persists

Constructing Infinitary Quotient-Inductive Types

This paper introduces an expressive class of quotient-inductive types, called QW-types. We show that in dependent type theory with uniqueness of identity proofs, even the infinitary case of QW-types can be encoded using the combination of inductive-inductive definitions involving strictly positive occurrences of Hofmann-style quotient types, and Abel's size types. The latter, which provide a convenient constructive abstraction of what classically would be accomplished with transfinite ordinals, are used to prove termination of the recursive definitions of the elimination and computation properties of our encoding of QW-types. The development is formalized using the Agda theorem prover.Comment: The accompanying Agda code can be found at https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.4818

Die bestuur van die eiendomsportefeuljes van self-geadministreerde pensioenfondse

M.Comm. (Investment Management)Property investments have always been a major attraction to the private individual and the institutional investor. Pension funds were slow to venture into this market but in South Africa there was increasing activity in the property market by pension funds over the last eight to ten years. The main reason for this development can be attributed to the fact that inflation in South Africa caused salaries and wages to increase substantially and increased salaries and wages resulted in increased contributions to pension funds. Pension Fund Administrators were, and they still are, faced with ever-increasing cash flows which must be invested to meet long term commitments. Venturing into the property market, left pension funds at what could be termed the mercy of developers and Estate Agents. Standardisation of presentation of investment details and commonly used evaluation methods and procedures are lacking. Proper knowledge of legal and contractual requirements are being obtained from legal advisers, but the pension fund movement is not yet self supporting in any of these fields. This study is an effort to identify the legal aspects, contractual requirements, methods of property development and minimum requirements for evaluation purposes. Inherent in the requirements are those aspects worthy of special reference in relation to the decision making process. It may be said that property investment by the private individual is not different from that of the pension fund. This statement is, however, only partly true. The requirements for the decision making process depends on the objectives of the investor. The pension fund, for example, has a long term view and sustained growth in cash flow as well as capital appreciation of the investment over the long term is a major determinant

Randomized trial comparing proactive, high-dose versus reactive, low-dose intravenous iron supplementation in hemodialysis (PIVOTAL) : Study design and baseline data

Background: Intravenous (IV) iron supplementation is a standard maintenance treatment for hemodialysis (HD) patients, but the optimum dosing regimen is unknown. Methods: PIVOTAL (Proactive IV irOn Therapy in hemodiALysis patients) is a multicenter, open-label, blinded endpoint, randomized controlled (PROBE) trial. Incident HD adults with a serum ferritin 700 μg/L and/or TSAT ≥40%) or a reactive, low-dose IV iron arm (iron sucrose administered if ferritin <200 μg/L or TSAT < 20%). We hypothesized that proactive, high-dose IV iron would be noninferior to reactive, low-dose IV iron for the primary outcome of first occurrence of nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for heart failure or death from any cause. If noninferiority is confirmed with a noninferiority limit of 1.25 for the hazard ratio of the proactive strategy relative to the reactive strategy, a test for superiority will be carried out. Secondary outcomes include infection-related endpoints, ESA dose requirements, and quality-of-life measures. As an event-driven trial, the study will continue until at least 631 primary outcome events have accrued, but the expected duration of follow-up is 2-4 years. Results: Of the 2,589 patients screened across 50 UK sites, 2,141 (83%) were randomized. At baseline, 65.3% were male, the median age was 65 years, and 79% were white. According to eligibility criteria, all patients were on ESA at screening. Prior stroke and MI were present in 8 and 9% of the cohort, respectively, and 44% of patients had diabetes at baseline. Baseline data for the randomized cohort were generally concordant with recent data from the UK Renal Registry. Conclusions: PIVOTAL will provide important information about the optimum dosing of IV iron in HD patients representative of usual clinical practice. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2013-002267-25.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Accurate laboratory wavelengths of the e 3 Σ–(ν' = 5) – X 1 Σ+(ν'' = 0) band of 12C16O

CITATION: Dickenson, G. D. et al. 2010. Accurate laboratory wavelengths of the e 3 Σ–(ν' = 5) – X 1 Σ+(ν'' = 0) band of 12C16O. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 714(2):L268–L270, doi:10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L268.The original publication is available at https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205The forbidden singlet-triplet transitions of carbon monoxide (CO) are important in the interpretation of vacuum ultraviolet interstellar absorption spectra and in particular for the measurement of large CO column densities. Twenty rovibronic lines of the e 3Σ–(ν' = 5) – X 1Σ+(ν'' = 0) band of 12 C 16O for which laboratory wavelengths were previously unavailable were identified in laser-induced fluorescence excitation spectra. Wavelengths were assigned to five rovibronic transitions to an average accuracy of 0.0028 Å. A further 15 lines could not be fully resolved and average wavelengths were measured for these groups of closely spaced lines. A wavelength difference of 0.011 ± 0.0028 Å between the measured wavelengths and the calculated wavelengths in the atlas of Eidelsberg & Rostas demonstrates the need for more experimental data on CO.https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L268Publisher's versio

Guidelines for negotiating social research in communities living adjacent to transboundary protected areas: Kruger National Park

The objective with these Guidelines is to assist local people and social researchers to negotiate equitable research agreements. This document lays out the purpose of the guidelines, provides some background information about the process that led to this document, and provides some general principles and practical guidelines for social research in local communities. The Guidelines have their origins in a long process of consultation, discussion and exchange between social researchers and local people, which took place in South Africa over a period of three years (2005-2008). It draws on the substantial experience of people living adjacent to the Kruger National Park with research and researchers; also on the collective experience of the informal network of researchers that participated in the development of the guidelines. Local people have experienced research in positive and negative ways. Some communities in the area adjacent to the Kruger National Park can justifiably feel over-exposed to researchers, while others feel that opportunities and insights potentially generated by research passes them by. Yet even these often feel that some guidelines are required to avoid duplication and negative engagement. Important is to mention that the engagement between social researchers and communities is not a matter of these two groups alone. Many facilitating, structurating stakeholders such as NGOs, parastatals conservation organisations and government organisations, are important influencing players in this engagement. Therefore, while the guidelines focus specifically on researcher-community interactions, these other players should not be forgotten and should themselves be aware of their effects in these interactions. The guidelines outline opportunities and constraints that arise when local people and social researchers engage one another. The guidelines are not prescriptive, but raise issues and suggest ways in which these can be dealt with

Measurement of antiacetylcholine receptor auto-antibodies in myasthenia gravis

Two different acetylcholine receptor (AChR) preparations derived from amputated human muscle (AChRAMP) and from the human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line TE671 (AChRTE67,) were compared in radio-immunoprecipitation assays for the detection of AChR auto-antibodies in serum specimens from 20 patients with proven myasthenia gravis. Tests performed with the AChRTE67, and AChRAMP antigen preparations were positive in all the patients and in 19/20 respectively. A high degree of correlation (r = 0,94) was evident between the two auto-antigen preparations. Assays based on the use of TE671-derived antigen represent a useful alternative to the conventional assay using AChRAMP  for the detection of AChR autoantibodies