Higher education stimulating creative enterprise

This report summarises the research undertaken by the Business & Community School at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), analysing ways that higher ediucation (HEIs) can support, and indeed stimulate, the creative economy. The research, in collaboration with the Arts University College Bournemouth (AUCB) and the University of Winchester, serves as a mere snapshot of the numerous ways that Universities engage with the diverse industries under the 'creative' nomenclature and of the very real and poistive ways that the higher education sector contributes to the growth of the creative economy in thhe UK

GED Learners\u27 Perceptions of Support Systems for Encouraging High School Completion

All 7 high schools located in a school district in Alabama have experienced a high dropout rate since 2012. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand the perceptions of recent high school dropouts about support systems that could have assisted them in completing the requirements to receive a high school diploma. Research questions centered on recent high school dropouts\u27 views on what supports from home and from teachers they could have received to assist them in completing high school and what things they could have done differently to receive their high school diplomas. Bandura\u27s theories of self-efficacy and social learning served as the conceptual framework for this study. Interview data were collected from 10 participants who were selected via purposive sampling from high schools in the Baldwin County school district\u27s local GED program. Data were analyzed using Hatch\u27s 9 step typology for open coding. All of the participants said that they had dropped out or quit school for a variety of reasons, including a change in program, family responsibilities, loss of interest, or to get a job. They reported feeling that their parents could have done more to keep them from dropping out. Only half of the participants said they had received support from teachers. Most participants reported feeling that they themselves could have done something more to complete high school. The results of this study could lead to positive social change as parents and teachers become more aware of how to support students at risk of dropping out and the impact this can have on their communities

An investigation into the effect of formatting manipulations on reading and information retrieval from text documents

The BBC Audience Lines, a call centre based in Glasgow, voiced an interest into whether their system, of responding to queries from the general public via telephone could be improved. In response to this, a detailed Task Analysis was conducted, which identified information retrieval as the specific area in which time was misused during call answering. A series of experiments was then conducted to investigate whether manipulating the layout of a text document could influence participants' reading behaviour or their strategies and latencies in a subsequent search task. Studies 2 and 3 illustrate that more fluent reading experiences and faster search latencies are evident when participants first read plain, unformatted text. Initially reading blanket bulleted text disrupts the reading process by affecting reading time and all eye movement measures, and also creates an improverished memory of the text as evidenced by poorer search latencies. This pattern of results held during both paper and computer screen search of a document. Study 4 revealed that many of the problems associated with blanket bulleted text were seen to be resolved by the use of stem sentences in combination with the bullet points, resulting in fluent reading and a faster search latency than plain formatting. The reason for this advantage for stem bulleted formatting was probed during Study 5 by investigating whether there is a stronger visual representation of the text created in memory during the reading of stem bullet formatting. Weak results were obtained, suggesting the task used in Study 5 may not actually probe the same representation created in memory as Studies 2 to 4 did. This is discussed in depth. It is concluded that during reading both semantic and visual information is encoded and play a role in information retrieval. In addition, the way the document is formatted can alter the way a person reads a piece of text and hence encodes its information content, particularly in leading participants to have a greater of lesser semantic representation of the passage. However, all formatting influences occur at the time of encoding, and no difference is seen in the ability of participants to locate information within a page of text they have not first read, regardless of format. The implication of these findings are discussed in relation to the work of the BBC Audience Lines

Designing and evaluating complex interventions to improve health care

Complex interventions are “built up from a number of components, which may act both independently and interdependently.”1 2 Many health service activities should be considered as complex. Evaluating complex interventions can pose a considerable challenge and requires a substantial investment of time. Unless the trials illuminate processes and mechanisms they often fail to provide useful information. If the result is negative, we are left wondering whether the intervention is inherently ineffective (either because the intervention was inadequately developed or because all similar interventions are ineffective), whether it was inadequately applied or applied in an inappropriate context, or whether the trial used an inappropriate design, comparison groups or outcomes. If there is a positive effect, it can be hard to judge how the results of the trial might be applied to a different context (box 1)

IO3- and I- Sorption from Groundwater by Layered Double Hydroxides

Several subsurface water plumes are found at the Hanford U.S. DOE site. These plumes contain many different types of hazardous components including radioactive iodate (IO3-) and iodide (I-), which may have deleterious health effects. To selectively uptake IO3- and I-, inorganic layered double hydroxide (LDH) compounds were synthesized and tested. LDHs are mixed transition metal hydroxides that contain positively charged layers that undergo anion exchange. When LDHs are submerged in the plume water, they can selectively uptake IO3- and I- and remove them from the plume. Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor the uptake of IO3- and I-. The thermodynamic properties of the LDHs were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), where a phase transition was observed in the thermogram of each LDH compound. The thermodynamic properties describe the temperature range where the LDH compounds are stable and uptake the highest concentration of IO3- and I-. Raman spectroscopy indicated which LDH compounds were the most selective for IO3-. Further experiments will be performed to determine IO­3- and I- sorption of LDH compounds in groundwater. Similar technology can then be applied to radioactive waste where interferences from other compounds are present

Early and Sustained Supramarginal Gyrus Contributions to Phonological Processing

Reading is a difficult task that, at a minimum, requires recognizing a visual stimulus and linking it with its corresponding sound and meaning. Neurologically, this involves an anatomically distributed set of brain regions cooperating to solve the problem. It has been hypothesized that the supramarginal gyrus (SMG) contributes preferentially to phonological aspects of word processing and thus plays an important role in visual word recognition. Here, we used chronometric transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the functional specificity and timing of SMG involvement in reading visually presented words. Participants performed tasks designed to focus on either the phonological, semantic, or visual aspects of written words while double pulses of TMS (delivered 40 ms apart) were used to temporarily interfere with neural information processing in the left SMG at five different time windows. Stimulation at 80/120, 120/160, and 160/200 ms post-stimulus onset significantly slowed subjects’ reaction times in the phonological task. This inhibitory effect was specific to the phonological condition, with no effect of TMS in the semantic or visual tasks, consistent with claims that SMG contributes preferentially to phonological aspects of word processing. The fact that the effect began within 80–120 ms of the onset of the stimulus and continued for approximately 100 ms, indicates that phonological processing initiates early and is sustained over time. These findings are consistent with accounts of visual word recognition that posit parallel activation of orthographic, phonological, and semantic information that interact over time to settle into a distributed, but stable, representation of a word

Nursing Turnover and Staffing Practices in New Zealand's DHBs: A National Survey

Nursing turnover is critical issue as nurse shortages throughout the Western world are pulling a strain on health systems. New Zealand's nursing shortage is exacerbated by international recruitment efforts targeting nurses. New Zealand is a participating country in an international study, using an agreed study design and instruments, to determine the real direct and indirect costs of nursing turnover and the systemic costs by also determining the impacts of turnover on patient and nurse outcomes. The paper reports on two components of the study. First, a pilot study was conducted in six countries, including New Zealand, to identify availability of costs and suitability of the instrument. The results of the pilot, that found that many costs were not available, are reported. Second, as part of u national Cost of Nursing Turnover study, Directors of Nursing in the 21 District Health Boards (DHBs) throughout New Zealand were contacted to complete a survey on turnover and workplace practices: 20 participated. In 13 DHBs nursing turnover was a problem, with 5 reporting rates over 20%; 5 DHBs reported low turnover at 5-10%. The survey did not establish how turnover rates were determined. Notwithstanding the importance of attracting and retaining nurses, in every DHB except 5 there are tight controls over recruitment of new staff, and several DHBs reported a freeze on recruiting RNs except for 'specialist' nurse roles

Use of Temporary Nurse Mechanisms by New Zealand's District Health Board

Nursing shortages is a concern globally, and in this context has emerged a research focus on reasons and costs of turnover and retention. A national study on the costs of nursing turnover in New Zealand public hospitals was conducted between 2005-2006, with 12 month’s data collected per randomly selected unit. Annual turnover rates were found to be high at average 39.16%, with a range between 13.83% and 73.17%. Budgeted nurse staffing per unit in is expected to be sufficient to deliver nursing work for the patient population (occupancy, acuity and complexity) and provide for leave (annual, sick, study, family, bereavement etc). In the context of study it was assumed that temporary cover mechanisms were mainly to cover vacancies and occasional unplanned contingencies such as influenza affecting staff, and higher than normal demands for nursing work. The cost of temporary cover would therefore be a cost of turnover. An unexpected finding of the study was that temporary cover mechanisms were widely used, including when actual staff numbers were equal to or exceeded budget, and no consistent relationship within vacancies was evident. It was concluded that management of nursing resource was driven by cost, no strategic, considerations. Published research on use of temporary cover and the effect of such practices on turnover of nurses provided a perspective to critique the funding