It pays to promote joint PhD programmes between academia and the private sector

The prosperity of a country is closely related to its level of education to fuel research and innovation. Doctoral graduates have attained the highest education level and should be the key players in research and innovation. The number of doctoral graduates is increasing rapidly in most/many countries, but is less well correlated to changes in prosperity of a country.The innovative medicines initiative (IMI) was established to help Europe strengthen its position in biomedical research and development. During its planning stage IMI observed large gaps in the scientific interaction between academia and industry in Europe, and that undergraduate students were not realizing the career opportunities within biomedical R&D. A major objective for the education and training section of IMI, the European Medicines Research Training Network (EMTRAIN, http://www.emtrain.eu), has therefore been to work out a framework for public private partnership PhD (PPP-PhD) and to create a cohort of networking, industry-aware scientists

Computer-assisted method based on continuous feedback to improve the academic achievements of first-year students on Computer Engineering

The student-centered learning is being promoted worldwide in higher education, from 2005, in North-American universities [Principles of teaching. Carnegie Mellon University [Online]. Available www.cmu.edu/ teaching/principles/ teaching.html], in 2010 in the European Union, but also in Asian countries like Japan [J. M. Bachnik, Roadblocks on the Information Highway: The IT Revolution in Japanese Education, ser. Studies of Modern Japan. Lexington Books, 2003.]. This paradigm is characterized by applying innovative methods of teaching that involve students as active participants in their own learning. In this paper, it is proposed a method based on detecting the students’ learning gains by using low time consuming “Pretests” and “Posttests”, on a selection of learning activities. The overload of introducing the “Pretest-Posttest” is minimized by using information and communication technologies. The results of the “Pretests” and “Posttests”, provided online, allow the students to be aware of their learning progress. The analysis of these results helps teachers adapt their strategies when presenting the learning activities. The method has been applied on a first-year course on Computer Engineering, during the 2010–2011, 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 academic years. To verify that the method works, two student groups, one control and one experimental, were created. The method was applied in the experimental group. The statistical analysis of the obtained results by the experimental and control groups, shows that the method enhances the grades of the experimental group. Additionally, the support of Information and Communication Technologies minimizes the overload of using this method. 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:610–620, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21633Contract grant sponsor: Spanish Government; Contract grant number: TIN 2012-32180Lemus Zúñiga, LG.; Montañana Aliaga, JM.; Buendía García, F.; Poza-Lujan, J.; Posadas-Yagüe, J.; Benlloch-Dualde, J. (2015). Computer-assisted method based on continuous feedback to improve the academic achievements of first-year students on Computer Engineering. Computer Applications in Engineering Education. 23(4):610-620. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.21633S61062023

Competencies: A new currency for continuing professional development

“No research without trained researchers” has become the mantra of the EU-funded Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) education and training projects. However, it is often hard to determine the type of training required at different stages of a scientist’s career. The situation is further complicated by the constantly changing environment, e.g. the growth of disruptive technologies, societal expectations of biomedical sciences, the greater need for multi-disciplinary collaborations, and conservative or changing regulatory requirements. This article summarises the experience from a series of five EMTRAIN Public Private Partnership PhD workshops that included both scientific and transferrable skill training. This is followed by an example of a recently developed training programme, including a competency profile, for translational research and medicines development; the C-COMEND teaching programme. The emphasis is on competencies as a new currency for continuing professional development. Finally, this paper describes what we consider to be the next steps required by the scientific community to address solutions to the current training challenges so that society can benefit from the innovations that only science can provide

The role of hydrogen and fuel cells in the global energy system

Hydrogen technologies have experienced cycles of excessive expectations followed by disillusion. Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence suggests these technologies form an attractive option for the deep decarb onisation of global energy systems, and that recent improvements in their cost and performance point towards economic viability as well. This paper is a comprehensive review of the potential role that hydrogen could play in the provision of electricity, h eat, industry, transport and energy storage in a low - carbon energy system, and an assessment of the status of hydrogen in being able to fulfil that potential. The picture that emerges is one of qualified promise: hydrogen is well established in certain nic hes such as forklift trucks, while mainstream applications are now forthcoming. Hydrogen vehicles are available commercially in several countries, and 225,000 fuel cell home heating systems have been sold. This represents a step change from the situation of only five years ago. This review shows that challenges around cost and performance remain, and considerable improvements are still required for hydrogen to become truly competitive. But such competitiveness in the medium - term future no longer seems an unrealistic prospect, which fully justifies the growing interest and policy support for these technologies around the world

Manganese superoxide dismutase from Thermus thermophilus: A structural model refined at 1.8 A resolution

The structure of Mn(III) superoxide dismutase (Mn(III)SOD) from Thermus thermophilus, a tetramer of chains 203 residues in length, has been refined by restrained least-squares methods. The R-factor (= [summation operator]||Fo|-|Fc||/[summation operator]|Fo|) for the 54,056 unique reflections measured between 10[middle dot]0 and 1[middle dot]8 A (96% of all possible reflections) is 0[middle dot]176 for a model comprising the protein dimer and 180 bound solvents, the asymmetric unit of the P41212 cell.The monomer chain forms two domains as determined by distance plots: the N-terminal domain is dominated by two long antiparallel helices (residues 21 to 45 and 69 to 89) and the C-terminal domain (residues 100 to 203) is an [alpha] + [beta] structure including a three-stranded sheet. Features that may be important for the folding and function of this MnSOD include: (1) a cis-proline in a turn preceding the first long helix; (2) a residue inserted at position 30 that distorts the helix near the first Mn ligand; and (3) the locations of glycine and proline residues in the domain connector (residues 92 to 99) and in the vicinity of the short cross connection (residues 150 to 159) that links two strands of the [beta]-sheet. Domain-domain contacts include salt bridges between arginine residues and acidic side chains, an extensive hydrophobic interface, and at least ten hydrogen-bonded interactions.The tetramer possesses 222 symmetry but is held together by only two types of interfaces. The dimer interface at the non-crystallographic dyad is extensive (1000 A2 buried surface/ monomer) and incorporates 17 trapped or structural solvents. The dimer interface at the crystallographic dyad buries fewer residues (750 A2/monomer) and resembles a snap fastener in which a type I turn thrusts into a hydrophobic basket formed by a ring of helices in the opposing chain.Each of the metal sites is fully occupied, with the Mn(III) five-co-ordinate in trigonal bipyramidal geometry. One of the axial ligands is solvent; the four protein ligands are His28, His83, Asp166 and His170. Surrounding the metal-ligand cluster is a shell of predominantly hydrophobic residues from both chains of the asymmetric unit (Phe86A, Trp87A, Trp132A, Trp168A, Tyr183A, Tyr172B, Tyr173B), and both chains collaborate in the formation of a solvent-lined channel that terminates at Tyr36 and His32 near the metal ion and is presumed to be the path by which substrate or other inner-sphere ligands reach the metal. A pocket adjoining the metal, formed by His33, Trp87, His83 and Tyr36, is postulated to be the substrate-binding site. Refinement of 2.3 A data from crystals reduced with dithionite indicates that the co-ordination geometry at the metal is not changed by reduction.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29328/1/0000395.pd

Impact of clinical phenotypes on management and outcomes in European atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF (EORP-AF) General Long-Term Registry

Background: Epidemiological studies in atrial fibrillation (AF) illustrate that clinical complexity increase the risk of major adverse outcomes. We aimed to describe European AF patients\u2019 clinical phenotypes and analyse the differential clinical course. Methods: We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward\u2019s Method and Squared Euclidean Distance using 22 clinical binary variables, identifying the optimal number of clusters. We investigated differences in clinical management, use of healthcare resources and outcomes in a cohort of European AF patients from a Europe-wide observational registry. Results: A total of 9363 were available for this analysis. We identified three clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 3634; 38.8%) characterized by older patients and prevalent non-cardiac comorbidities; Cluster 2 (n = 2774; 29.6%) characterized by younger patients with low prevalence of comorbidities; Cluster 3 (n = 2955;31.6%) characterized by patients\u2019 prevalent cardiovascular risk factors/comorbidities. Over a mean follow-up of 22.5 months, Cluster 3 had the highest rate of cardiovascular events, all-cause death, and the composite outcome (combining the previous two) compared to Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 (all P <.001). An adjusted Cox regression showed that compared to Cluster 2, Cluster 3 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.27\u20133.62; HR 3.42, 95%CI 2.72\u20134.31; HR 2.79, 95%CI 2.32\u20133.35), and Cluster 1 (HR 1.88, 95%CI 1.48\u20132.38; HR 2.50, 95%CI 1.98\u20133.15; HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.74\u20132.51) reported a higher risk for the three outcomes respectively. Conclusions: In European AF patients, three main clusters were identified, differentiated by differential presence of comorbidities. Both non-cardiac and cardiac comorbidities clusters were found to be associated with an increased risk of major adverse outcomes

Learner Support Services for Online Students: Scaffolding for success

A critical component of an effective retention program for online students is a learner support services program. While many factors contribute to attrition, at the top of the list are level of interaction and support. To this end, some students in distance learning programs and courses report feelings of isolation, lack of self-direction and management, and eventual decrease in motivation levels. This article describes the types of learner support services strategies that can effectively address these retention challenges. Examples from Western Governors University (WGU) are provided to describe these strategies in action

Learner Support Services for Online Students: Scaffolding for success

A critical component of an effective retention program for online students is a learner support services program. While many factors contribute to attrition, at the top of the list are level of interaction and support. To this end, some students in distance learning programs and courses report feelings of isolation, lack of self-direction and management, and eventual decrease in motivation levels. This article describes the types of learner support services strategies that can effectively address these retention challenges. Examples from Western Governors University (WGU) are provided to describe these strategies in action

Bounded Community: Designing and facilitating learning communities in formal courses

Learning communities can emerge spontaneously when people find common learning goals and pursue projects and tasks together in pursuit of those goals. Bounded learning communities (BLCs) are groups that form within a structured teaching or training setting, typically a course. Unlike spontaneous communities, BLCs develop in direct response to guidance provided by an instructor, supported by a cumulative resource base. This article presents strategies that help learning communities develop within bounded frameworks, particularly online environments. Seven distinguishing features of learning communities are presented. When developing supports for BLCs, teachers should consider their developmental arc, from initial acquaintance and trust-building, through project work and skill development, and concluding with wind-down and dissolution of the community. Teachers contribute to BLCs by establishing a sense of teaching presence, including an atmosphere of trust and reciprocal concern. The article concludes with a discussion of assessment issues and the need for continuing research