Enabling the transfer of skills and knowledge across classroom and work contexts

Increasingly, contemporary work means graduates will operate in multiple workplace settings during their careers, catalysing the need for successful transfer of capabilities across diverse contexts. The transfer of skills and knowledge, however, is a complex area of learning theory which is often assumed and lacks empirical analysis. Facilitating transfer is critical for preparing students for effective transition to the workplace. Work Integrated Learning (WIL) provides an opportunity for tertiary education students to ‘practice’ transfer across classroom and work settings. Building on existing scholarship and using a mixed-methods design, this study aimed to explore the nature of transfer across these contexts during WIL, influencing factors and WIL design principles that optimise transfer. Survey data were collected from WIL students (N = 151) and interview data from WIL industry supervisors (N = 24) across different disciplines/professions in three universities (Australia and New Zealand). Findings indicate that students practice transfer during WIL, yet it is often during less complex tasks that relate to discipline-specific skills, rather than generic ones. WIL thus augments transfer, yet certain program and workplace characteristics enhance student confidence and capabilities in this process, highlighting the need for careful curricula design. Findings also highlighted the important role of paid work and volunteering and emphasise the importance of educators taking a holistic approach to developing students’ transfer ability, drawing on practical and authentic learning in curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, particularly those that engage industry. Implications for stakeholders are discussed, and strategies identified to enhance skills and knowledge transfer from classrooms to the workplace

Poetry, prose, and the loss of verse

In this essay, I argue that the presence of verse in a text initiates a mutually generative relationship between a text’s sonic and semantic qualities, and that critics’ tendency to praise great prose passages as “poetic” is a result of poetry’s historical connection to verse and the semantic elegance which said verse tends to inspire. I base this argument on Fredrich Nietzsche’s first book, The Birth of Tragedy, and explore, through it, various examples of prosimetrum - that is, works combining poetry and prose

Trigger point dry needling for musculoskeletal pain and disability: a systematic review of comparative effectiveness research

Background: Dry needling (DN) has been proposed to reduce pain and improve function related to myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). Several primary studies and systematic reviews have been conducted to examine the effect of DN versus placebo. However the comparative effectiveness of DN and established interventions has yet to be established. Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to determine whether DN was more effective than other established therapies to treat MTrPs. Data Sources: MEDLINE Complete, EBSCO, CINAHL, Sport Discus and Cochrane library databases were searched. Study Selection: Randomized controlled trials that used DN directed to MTrPs and used at least one other intervention method were included. Studies that had a placebo or sham group were excluded. Data Extraction: Of 394 records screened, 8 studies met the established criteria. The quality of each study was assessed using the PEDro scale. Data Synthesis: When DN was compared to standard therapy programs, 3 of the 4 studies found that DN was more effective in reducing pain and 1 found no difference. When DN was compared to stretching, DN reduced pain more effectively. Dry needling was not significantly more effective than high-power pain threshold ultrasound (US), laser, non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, and percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS). Limitations: Included studies were relatively small and some lacked sound methodology. Conclusions: The results are mixed on the effectiveness of DN over standard rehab. More large scale, high quality studies are needed before definitive decisions can be made about the role of DN in physical therapy practice

Fully Self-consistent RPA description of the many level pairing model

The Self-Consistent RPA (SCRPA) equations in the particle-particle channel are solved without any approximation for the picket fence model. The results are in excellent agreement with the exact solutions found with the Richardson method. Particularly interesting features are that screening corrections reverse the sign of the interaction and that SCRPA yields the exact energies in the case of two levels with two particles.Comment: 37 pages, 1 figure and 17 table

Compaction and dilation rate dependence of stresses in gas-fluidized beds

A particle dynamics-based hybrid model, consisting of monodisperse spherical solid particles and volume-averaged gas hydrodynamics, is used to study traveling planar waves (one-dimensional traveling waves) of voids formed in gas-fluidized beds of narrow cross sectional areas. Through ensemble-averaging in a co-traveling frame, we compute solid phase continuum variables (local volume fraction, average velocity, stress tensor, and granular temperature) across the waves, and examine the relations among them. We probe the consistency between such computationally obtained relations and constitutive models in the kinetic theory for granular materials which are widely used in the two-fluid modeling approach to fluidized beds. We demonstrate that solid phase continuum variables exhibit appreciable ``path dependence'', which is not captured by the commonly used kinetic theory-based models. We show that this path dependence is associated with the large rates of dilation and compaction that occur in the wave. We also examine the relations among solid phase continuum variables in beds of cohesive particles, which yield the same path dependence. Our results both for beds of cohesive and non-cohesive particles suggest that path-dependent constitutive models need to be developed.Comment: accepted for publication in Physics of Fluids (Burnett-order effect analysis added

Multiparametric MRI and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging is a potential prognostic imaging biomarker in recurrent glioblastoma

Purpose/objectivesMultiparametric advanced MR and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging may be important biomarkers for prognosis as well for distinguishing recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) from treatment-related changes.Methods/materialsWe retrospectively evaluated 30 patients treated with chemoradiation for GBM and underwent advanced MR and FDG-PET for confirmation of tumor progression. Multiparametric MRI and FDG-PET imaging metrics were evaluated for their association with 6-month overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) based on pathological, radiographic, and clinical criteria.Results17 males and 13 females were treated between 2001 and 2014, and later underwent FDG-PET at suspected recurrence. Baseline FDG-PET and MRI imaging was obtained at a median of 7.5 months [interquartile range (IQR) 3.7–12.4] following completion of chemoradiation. Median follow-up after FDG-PET imaging was 10 months (IQR 7.2–13.0). Receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis identified that lesions characterized by a ratio of the SUVmax to the normal contralateral brain (SUVmax/NB index) >1.5 and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of ≤1,400 × 10−6 mm2/s correlated with worse 6-month OS and PFS. We defined three patient groups that predicted the probability of tumor progression: SUVmax/NB index >1.5 and ADC ≤1,400 × 10−6 mm2/s defined high-risk patients (n = 7), SUVmax/NB index ≤1.5 and ADC >1,400 × 10−6 mm2/s defined low-risk patients (n = 11), and intermediate-risk (n = 12) defined the remainder of the patients. Median OS following the time of the FDG-PET scan for the low, intermediate, and high-risk groups were 23.5, 10.5, and 3.8 months (p < 0.01). Median PFS were 10.0, 4.4, and 1.9 months (p = 0.03). Rates of progression at 6-months in the low, intermediate, and high-risk groups were 36, 67, and 86% (p = 0.04).ConclusionRecurrent GBM in the molecular era is associated with highly variable outcomes. Multiparametric MR and FDG-PET biomarkers may provide a clinically relevant, non-invasive and cost-effective method of predicting prognosis and improving clinical decision making in the treatment of patients with suspected tumor recurrence

The EVIL-MC Model for Ellipsoidal Variations of Planet-Hosting Stars and Applications to the HAT-P-7 System

We present a new model for Ellipsoidal Variations Induced by a Low-Mass Companion, the EVIL-MC model. We employ several approximations appropriate for planetary systems to substantially increase the computational efficiency of our model relative to more general ellipsoidal variation models and improve upon the accuracy of simpler models. This new approach gives us a unique ability to rapidly and accurately determine planetary system parameters. We use the EVIL-MC model to analyze Kepler Quarter 0-2 (Q0-2) observations of the HAT-P-7 system, an F-type star orbited by a nearly Jupiter-mass companion. Our analysis corroborates previous estimates of the planet-star mass ratio q = (1.10 +/- 0.06) x 10^(-3), and we have revised the planet's dayside brightness temperature to 2680 +10/-20 K. We also find a large difference between the day- and nightside planetary flux, with little nightside emission. Preliminary dynamical+radiative modeling of the atmosphere indicates this result is qualitatively consistent with high altitude absorption of stellar heating. Similar analyses of Kepler and CoRoT photometry of other planets using EVIL-MC will play a key role in providing constraints on the properties of many extrasolar systems, especially given the limited resources for follow-up and characterization of these systems. However, as we highlight, there are important degeneracies between the contributions from ellipsoidal variations and planetary emission and reflection. Consequently, for many of the hottest and brightest Kepler and CoRoT planets, accurate estimates of the planetary emission and reflection, diagnostic of atmospheric heat budgets, will require accurate modeling of the photometric contribution from the stellar ellipsoidal variation.Comment: Accepted to ApJ; minor revisions to original submission; An IDL version of the EVIL-MC model is publicly available at http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~bjackson/idl_code/index.htm

Coarse-grained computations of demixing in dense gas-fluidized beds

We use an "equation-free", coarse-grained computational approach to accelerate molecular dynamics-based computations of demixing (segregation) of dissimilar particles subject to an upward gas flow (gas-fluidized beds). We explore the coarse-grained dynamics of these phenomena in gently fluidized beds of solid mixtures of different densities, typically a slow process for which reasonable continuum models are currently unavailable

Reproduction, Embryonic Development, and Maternal Transfer of Contaminants in the Amphibian Gastrophryne carolinensis

Although many amphibian populations around the world are declining at alarming rates, the cause of most declines remains unknown. Environmental contamination is one of several factors implicated in declines and may have particularly important effects on sensitive developmental stages. Despite the severe effects of maternal transfer of contaminants on early development in other vertebrate lineages, no studies have examined the effects of maternal transfer of contaminants on reproduction or development in amphibians. We examined maternal transfer of contaminants in eastern narrow-mouth toads (Gastrophryne carolinensis) collected from a reference site and near a coal-burning power plant. Adult toads inhabiting the industrial area transferred significant quantities of selenium and strontium to their eggs, but Se concentrations were most notable (up to 100 μg/g dry mass). Compared with the reference site, hatching success was reduced by 11% in clutches from the contaminated site. In surviving larvae, the frequency of developmental abnormalities and abnormal swimming was 55–58% higher in the contaminated site relative to the reference site. Craniofacial abnormalities were nearly an order of magnitude more prevalent in hatchlings from the contaminated site. When all developmental criteria were considered collectively, offspring from the contaminated site experienced 19% lower viability. Although there was no statistical relationship between the concentration of Se or Sr transferred to eggs and any measure of offspring viability, our study demonstrates that maternal transfer may be an important route of contaminant exposure in amphibians that has been overlooked