1,109 research outputs found
Incorporating the mature students voice and lived experiences into continuous quality improvement
Improving academic quality requires feedback from students since they have specific insight in their lived educational experience. Most institutions assess educational experience by evaluating individual modules. Few institutions collectively review evaluation data from multiple modules or explore this data for evidence of curriculum transformation. The University of Pretoria developed four curriculum transformation drivers and the School of Health Systems and Public Health developed and implemented 19 transformation-related statements. We revised the standard end-of-module evaluations to explore student experiences regarding the implementation of these drivers. 45 modules were reviewed. The quantitative data were analysed in Excel. Qualitative data were analysed using an inductive approach with open-coding. We generated categories and themes before comparing these to the curriculum transformation drivers. Four major themes emerged from the qualitative data: reflecting the âwhatâ, âwhyâ, âwhenâ, âwhereâ, âhowâ and âwhoâ of the student experience. Categories and subcategories were explored and linked to the quantitative results. The results show that the students valued their educational experience and felt valued as students. The studentsâ voices provided a rich source of data regarding curriculum transformation and included detailed suggestions for quality improvement. Our study presents substantive evidence of authentic educational and philosophical intentions that were realised in practice
Attributions for psychobiological changes in ecstasy/MDMA and other polydrug users
Ecstasy [3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)] use has been
associated with a number of psychopathological problems. However,
research suggests that reported symptoms might be associated more with
heavy polydrug use in general rather than ecstasy per se. The current study
aimed to determine the role of other drug use in reports of long-term
effects by some ecstasy-polydrug users. Problematic ecstasy users (n = 53),
reporting problems which they attributed to ecstasy use, were compared
with non-problematic ecstasy users (n = 62), polydrug (n = 62) and
alcohol/nicotine using controls (n = 111). Drug use was recorded, and
positive and negative life changes were assessed along with which
previous drug use, if any, they attributed these changes too. Both ecstasy
groups reported higher drug use compared with polydrug controls.
Polydrug and ecstasy users more often reported life changes compared
with non-drug users, and ecstasy users appeared to experience more life
changes than polydrug users, with problematic ecstasy users experiencing
most alterations. Ecstasy users reported changes more to a combination of
drugs than to one specific drug, suggesting that polydrug use in these
groups has an impact on their life experiences. These findings emphasise
that research into the psychological effects of ecstasy should not
underestimate the role of other polydrug use
The relationship between early pregnancy dietary intakes and subsequent birthweight and neonatal adiposity
Background: Maternal nutrition intakes may influence neonatal birthweight and adiposity; however, inconsistencies within the literature exist. The relationships between maternal dietary intakes in early pregnancy and both birthweight and neonatal adiposity requires elucidation. This study examined the relationship between early pregnancy dietary intakes and subsequent birthweight and neonatal adiposity.
Methods: Women were recruited at their convenience after sonographic confirmation of a singleton pregnancy. Women completed a Willet food frequency questionnaire evaluating habitual food and nutrient intakes at their first antenatal visit. Neonatal body composition was measured using air-displacement plethysmography.
Results: Of the 385 mother-neonate dyads, mean maternal age was 30.8 ± 5.3 years, mean Body Mass Index (BMI) was 24.5 ± 4.8 kg/m2 and 41.8% (n = 161) were nulliparous. There were no relationships between maternal food intakes and birthweight (P \u3e 0.05) (n = 385). On multivariable analysis there was a positive relationship between polyunsaturated fat and neonatal fat mass index (FMI) (beta = 0.015, 95% CI = 0.002-0.028, P = 0.04) (n = 80).
Conclusion: Dietary intakes of polyunsaturated fat in early pregnancy are positively associated with neonatal FMI at birth on multivariable analysis. Further longitudinal studies need to explore this association and the long-term implications for the neonate
A long hard look at MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton and BeppoSAX
We summarise the primary results from a 320 ks observation of the bright
Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 with XMM-Newton and Beppo-SAX.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. Proc. of the meeting: "The Restless High-Energy
Universe" (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), E.P.J. van den Heuvel, J.J.M. in 't
Zand, and R.A.M.J. Wijers Ed
Atomic X-ray Spectroscopy of Accreting Black Holes
Current astrophysical research suggests that the most persistently luminous
objects in the Universe are powered by the flow of matter through accretion
disks onto black holes. Accretion disk systems are observed to emit copious
radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, each energy band providing
access to rather distinct regimes of physical conditions and geometric scale.
X-ray emission probes the innermost regions of the accretion disk, where
relativistic effects prevail. While this has been known for decades, it also
has been acknowledged that inferring physical conditions in the relativistic
regime from the behavior of the X-ray continuum is problematic and not
satisfactorily constraining. With the discovery in the 1990s of iron X-ray
lines bearing signatures of relativistic distortion came the hope that such
emission would more firmly constrain models of disk accretion near black holes,
as well as provide observational criteria by which to test general relativity
in the strong field limit. Here we provide an introduction to this phenomenon.
While the presentation is intended to be primarily tutorial in nature, we aim
also to acquaint the reader with trends in current research. To achieve these
ends, we present the basic applications of general relativity that pertain to
X-ray spectroscopic observations of black hole accretion disk systems, focusing
on the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions to the Einstein field equations. To
this we add treatments of the fundamental concepts associated with the
theoretical and modeling aspects of accretion disks, as well as relevant topics
from observational and theoretical X-ray spectroscopy.Comment: 63 pages, 21 figures, Einstein Centennial Review Article, Canadian
Journal of Physics, in pres
Microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended impurities: a real-space renormalization group approach
Using a real-space renormalization group (RSRG) technique, we compute the
microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended
impurities. To do this, we invoke a semiclassical approximation which naturally
accesses the Andreev bound states localized near each impurity. Tunneling
corrections (which are captured using the RSRG) lead to a delocalization of
these quasiparticles and an associated contribution to the microwave
conductivity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. 2 figures added to previous versio
A ray of sunshine in the COVID-19 environment, with a virtual sunburst elective
Traditionally there has always been a one-month elective opportunity for
third-year medical students at the Univesity of Pretoria, South Africa. In
pre-pandemic years, students have used this elective to explore a future
area of specialisation and/or gain practical experience at a self-selected
suitable health facility or placement. The completion mark for the elective
was based on the submission of a student-generated reflective report about
their experience. This practice was, however, severely challenged in the
prevailing COVIDâ19 pandemic with movement restrictions and concerns
about transmission. Therefore, a decision was made and supported by the
Deanery to explore the possibility of a virtual self-paced online elective
for 300 medical students. Of note here is that not only were these students
adjusting to lecture-led online-synchronised classes, but they also had never
before been exposed to online learning in the form of massive open online
courses (MOOCs) as part of their formal qualification.http://www.ajhpe.org.zaSchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH
Effect of logic family on radiated emissions from digital circuits
Radiated emissions were measured for simple digital circuits designed to operate with various logic families. Emissions in the near and far field were found to depend both on the circuit layout and the choice of logic family. However, the difference in peak emissions between any two logic families was found to be independent of circuit layout. The greatest difference in peak emissions was between high-speed 74ACT logic and low-speed 4000 CMOS logic devices, with a mean value of approximately 20 dB. Emissions from a more complex circuit were compared with the measurements on simple loop circuits. Test circuits were used to measure the propagation delay, the rise and fall times, the maximum operating frequency and the transient switching currents between two successive logic gates for each logic family. Empirical formulas have been derived that relate relative peak emissions to these switching parameters. It is hoped that these will assist designers to assess the effect of choice of logic family on electromagnetic compatibility
We know but we hope : a qualitative study of the opinions and experiences on the inclusion of management, health economics and research in the medical curriculum
The achievement of global and national health goals requires a health workforce that is sufficient and trained. Despite considerable steps in medical education, the teaching of management, health economics and research skills for medical doctors are often neglected in medical curricula. This study explored the opinions and experiences of medical doctors and academic educationalists on the inclusion of management, health economics and research in the medical curriculum. A qualitative study was undertaken at four medical schools in Southern Africa (February to April 2021). The study population was medical doctors and academic educationalists. Semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled participants were conducted. All interviews were recorded and professionally transcribed. Constructivist grounded theory guided the analysis with the use of ATLAS.ti version 9.1.7.0 software. In total, 21 academic educationalists and 28 medical doctors were interviewed. In the first theme We know, participants acknowledged the constraints of medical schools but were adamant that management needed to be taught intentionally and explicitly. The teaching and assessment of management and health economics was generally reported to be ad hoc and unstructured. There was a desire that graduates are able to use, but not necessarily do research. In comparison to management and research, support for the inclusion of health economics in the curriculum was insignificant. Under We hope, educationalists hoped that the formal clinical teaching will somehow instil values and best practices of management and that medical doctors would become health advocates. Most participants wished that research training could be optimised, especially in relation to the duration of allocated time; the timing in the curriculum and the learning outcomes. Despite acknowledgement that management and research are topics that need to be taught, educationalists appeared to rely on chance to teach and assess management in particular. These qualitative study findings will be used to develop a discrete choice experiment to inform optimal curricula design.DATA AVAILABITY STATEMENT : Data cannot be
shared publicly because of the sensitive nature of
the research and concerns about potential loss of
confidentiality and violating the terms of informed
consent. The data underlying the results presented
in the study (number 277/2020) are available upon
request to the Faculty of Health Sciences Research
Ethics Committee, University of Pretoria (contact
via +27 (0)12 356 3084 / [email protected].
za).SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL : S1 Checklist.The Department of
Research and Innovation, University of Pretoria
Research Development Programme and the
University Capacity Development Programme for
the University of Pretoria.http://www.plosone.orgSchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH
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