Educative Ethics: Lessons for Teacher Preparation Programs

We contend that the role of “educative ethics,” teaching and learning about ethical practice in education, is one of the most untapped, yet, potentially necessary and influential elements of educational experience, for students and teachers. This paper explores some of the relevant literature, cites examples for the need for educative ethics and presents a tentative framework for the inclusion of educative ethics in teacher preparation curriculum. The inclusion of this type of framework would allow such programs, and other educational organizations, to incorporate educative ethics into teacher preparation practices. Over time, a larger framework involving a critical pedagogy designed to consistently monitor the “ethical pH” of teacher preparation programs may emerge from considerations such as the one presented in this paper

40 Jahre Fachrichtung Angewandte Mechanik

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Ermittlung des Kontaktbereiches beim Zahnradeingriff

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Ein Programmkonzept zur Parallelisierung von FEM-Algorithmen

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Modellierung des mehrflächigen Reibungskontaktes zweier Rotationskörper

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Das biegesteife Seil unter Fliehkraftbeanspruchung

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Optimal Supersaturated Designs for Lasso Sign Recovery

Supersaturated designs, in which the number of factors exceeds the number of runs, are often constructed under a heuristic criterion that measures a design's proximity to an unattainable orthogonal design. Such a criterion does not directly measure a design's quality in terms of screening. To address this disconnect, we develop optimality criteria to maximize the lasso's sign recovery probability. The criteria have varying amounts of prior knowledge about the model's parameters. We show that an orthogonal design is an ideal structure when the signs of the active factors are unknown. When the signs are assumed known, we show that a design whose columns exhibit small, positive correlations are ideal. Such designs are sought after by the Var(s+)-criterion. These conclusions are based on a continuous optimization framework, which rigorously justifies the use of established heuristic criteria. From this justification, we propose a computationally-efficient design search algorithm that filters through optimal designs under different heuristic criteria to select the one that maximizes the sign recovery probability under the lasso

Evolutionary game of coalition building under external pressure

We study the fragmentation-coagulation (or merging and splitting) evolutionary control model as introduced recently by one of the authors, where $N$ small players can form coalitions to resist to the pressure exerted by the principal. It is a Markov chain in continuous time and the players have a common reward to optimize. We study the behavior as $N$ grows and show that the problem converges to a (one player) deterministic optimization problem in continuous time, in the infinite dimensional state space

Infection prevention and control interventions in the first outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in an equine hospital in Sweden

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The first outbreak of methicillin-resistant <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(MRSA) infection in horses in Sweden occurred in 2008 at the University Animal Hospital and highlighted the need for improved infection prevention and control. The present study describes interventions and infection prevention control in an equine hospital setting July 2008 - April 2010.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>This descriptive study of interventions is based on examination of policy documents, medical records, notes from meetings and cost estimates. MRSA cases were identified through clinical sampling and telephone enquiries about horses post-surgery. Prospective sampling in the hospital environment with culture for MRSA and genotyping of isolates by <it>spa</it>-typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Interventions focused on interruption of indirect contact spread of MRSA between horses via staff and equipment and included: Temporary suspension of elective surgery; and identification and isolation of MRSA-infected horses; collaboration was initiated between authorities in animal and human public health, human medicine infection control and the veterinary hospital; extensive cleaning and disinfection was performed; basic hygiene and cleaning policies, staff training, equipment modification and interior renovation were implemented over seven months.</p> <p>Ten (11%) of 92 surfaces sampled between July 2008 and April 2010 tested positive for MRSA <it>spa</it>-type 011, seven of which were from the first of nine sampling occasions. PFGE typing showed the isolates to be the outbreak strain (9 of 10) or a closely related strain. Two new cases of MRSA infection occurred 14 and 19 months later, but had no proven connections to the outbreak cases.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Collaboration between relevant authorities and the veterinary hospital and formation of an infection control committee with an executive working group were required to move the intervention process forward. Support from hospital management and the dedication of staff were essential for the development and implementation of new, improved routines. Demonstration of the outbreak strain in the environment was useful for interventions such as improvement of cleaning routines and interior design, and increased compliance with basic hygienic precautions. The interventions led to a reduction in MRSA-positive samples and the outbreak was considered curbed as no new cases occurred for over a year.</p