Transferring Davey`s Theorem on Annihilators in Bounded Distributive Lattices to Modular Congruence Lattices and Rings

Congruence lattices of semiprime algebras from semi--degenerate congruence--modular varieties fulfill the equivalences from B. A. Davey`s well--known characterization theorem for $m$--Stone bounded distributive lattices, moreover, changing the cardinalities in those equivalent conditions does not change their validity. I prove this by transferring Davey`s Theorem from bounded distributive lattices to such congruence lattices through a certain lattice morphism and using the fact that the codomain of that morphism is a frame. Furthermore, these equivalent conditions are preserved by finite direct products of such algebras, and similar equivalences are fulfilled by the elements of semiprime commutative unitary rings and, dualized, by the elements of complete residuated lattices.Comment: 18 page

The aimed or feared professional future of medical students at the Univesity of Witten/Herdecke

The current challenges of educational policy seem to be associated to changes of the health care system, to counteract concerns regarding the lack of physicians, supply shortage and migration of specialists. Therefore, expectations, wishes and concerns relevant to the anticipated everyday life as a physician of medical students at the Witten/Herdecke University (UWH) were acquired with an online questionnaire. Useful for a direct comparison the results of the online survey ‘Medical Study and Future’ throughout Germany have been used. Findings from this survey are common characteristics regarding the choice of the profession and planning of an establishment as a general practitioner and clear differences in reflecting on future issues in the occupational field

Schulische und nicht-schulische Prädiktoren für die Studienplatzzusage an der Universität Witten / Herdecke - Ergebnisse einer QUEST-Analyse [Academic and non-academic predictors for acceptance to medical studies at Witten/Herdecke University - findings of a QUEST-analysis]

[english] Aims: Changes within the German Higher Education Framework act increasingly attract notice to the fact that the debate on different methods of selecting students lies in the responsibility of german medical schools. For more than 20 years the University of Witten/Herdecke has adhered to its own concept and procedure relating to its choice of students. Since 2005 this application procedure consists of a written and an oral application phase (assessment center). Within this study a retrospective classification of all applicants in the year 2005 was conducted, with the objective of finding academic and non-academic predictors for acceptance at Witten/Herdecke. Methods: All 172 applicants of the assessment center received a questionnaire asking for: age, gender, high school graduation mark, type of school, main school subjects, intended career, attendance at open house, parent graduation and profession. All duly completed questionnaires were classified according to the QUEST model from the viewpoint of acceptance versus refusal to medical studies at Witten/Herdecke. Outcomes: The QUEST model classifies the items of the questionnaire in sequence of declining power and in coherence to the targeted variable (acceptance). Affiliated with an increased probability of acceptance were: high school mark = 1.3, Steiner and Montessori schools, absence at open house, intended career as researcher and natural/social sciences and languages as main school subjects. Predictor sensitivity was 0.53, specificity reached 0.92. The positive predictive value accounted for 0.77, whereas the negative predictive value was 0.83. Conclusions: The high school graduation mark shows to be of high significance for the admission process at the University of Witten/Herdecke. Furthermore factors such as type of school, intended career and main school subjects play a major role. The high negative predictive value points out that the QUEST analysis is not suitable for replacing the existing admission process, but might be used for pre-selecting candidates. Further studies have to show whether the found effects are specific to the investigated group (applicants 2005) or whether they can be seen as representative for other cohorts of applicants at Witten/Herdecke. [german] Zielsetzung: Die Auseinandersetzung mit unterschiedlichen Verfahren der Studierendenauswahl rückt durch die Novellierung des Hochschulrahmengesetzes zunehmend in den Verantwortungsbereich deutscher Fakultäten. Als private Universität führt die Universität Witten/Herdecke (UWH) seit 20 Jahren universitätseigene Auswahlverfahren durch. Seit 2005 besteht dieses aus einer schriftlichen ersten Phase und einem zweitägigen Assessment-Center. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung fand eine retrospektive Klassifizierung der Studierendenbewerber 2005 statt. Ziel war es, existierende schulische und nicht-schulische Prädiktoren für die Studienplatzzusage an der UWH zu identifizieren. Methodik: Allen Bewerber/innen der Phase des Assessment-Centers (n=172) wurde ein Fragebogen mit den Items: Alter, Geschlecht, Abiturnote, Leistungskurse, Schulform, Berufsziel, Teilnahme am Tag der offenen Tür, Beruf- und Bildungsabschluss der Eltern vorgelegt. Das Einschlusskriterium war ein vollständig ausgefüllter Fragebogen (n=155). Nach deskriptiver Datenauswertung erfolgte die weitere Klassifizierung auf der Basis der QUEST-Analyse unter dem Gesichtspunkt „Zusage versus Absage“ eines Studienplatzes. Ergebnis: Die QUEST-Analyse klassifiziert, in welcher Reihenfolge abnehmender Stärke die Kriterien des Fragebogens im Zusammenhang mit der Zielvariablen „Zusage“ stehen. Mit einer erhöhten Zusagewahrscheinlichkeit waren ein Abitur = 1,3, die Schulform Waldorfschule/Montessorischule, die Abwesenheit am Tag der offenen Tür, das Berufsziel „Forschung“ und die Leistungskurskombination rein naturwissenschaftlich bzw. Sprache/Gesellschaftswissenschaft verbunden. Die Sensitivität der Prädiktorkombination betrug 0,53, die Spezifität 0,92. Der positiv-prädiktiver Wert lag bei 0,77, der negativ-prädiktive Wert ergab 0,83. Schlussfolgerung: Für das Auswahlverfahren der UWH scheint auch die Abiturnote retrospektiv einen übergeordneten Stellenwert zu besitzen. Darüber hinaus spielen Faktoren wie Schulform, Berufsziel und Leistungskurskombination eine Rolle. Der hohe negativ-prädiktive Wert weist darauf hin, dass die Ergebnisse des QUEST-Modells nicht dazu geeignet sind, das bestehende Auswahlverfahren zu ersetzen, evtl. könnten sie aber zu einer Art „Vorselektion“ herangezogen werden. Weiterführende Untersuchungen müssen zeigen, ob es sich hier um kohortenspezifische Effekte oder repräsentative Ergebnisse für die Studierendenauswahl an der UWH handelt

Internationales kooperatives Lernen mit der fallbasierten Online-Lernplattform ICON

Tolks D, Quattrochi JJ, Hofmann M, Fischer MR. Internationales kooperatives Lernen mit der fallbasierten Online-Lernplattform ICON. GMS Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie. 2010;6(2).Im Rahmen des Projektes sollte erforscht werden, inwieweit sich eine kooperative Nutzung von virtuellen Fällen in einer interaktiven Lernplattform durch Studenten aus Deutschland und den USA auf Lerneffektivität und Dynamik der Gruppenarbeit auswirkt. Die onlinebasierte Lernplattform ICON ermöglicht es, Fälle online in Gruppen zu bearbeiten und dabei mit diversen Experten zu kommunizieren und den Fall je nach dem Lernbedarf der Teilnehmer im Dialog dynamisch weiterzuentwickeln. Studenten der Harvard University und der Universität Witten haben im Wintersemester 2009 online in zwei gemischten Gruppen mittels der interaktiven und nutzerzentrierten Online-Lernplattform ICON Fallgeschichten bearbeitet und entwickelten gemeinsam diagnostische Hypothesen und Therapievorschläge. Es konnte ein positiver Einfluss auf den Lernprozess, die Problemlösungskompetenz und Entscheidungsfindung nachgewiesen werden

Implicit criteria of the medical student entry selection process at Witten/Herdecke University

The entry selection process for medical students at Witten/Herdecke University (WHU) includes explicit and implicit criteria. This study’s objective is the description of implicit selection criteria of reviewers and further improvement of the process and contributes to the recurring national and international debates on the effectiveness of admission criteria for medical programs. Three qualitative studies on all phases of the selection process were conducted to determine reviewers’ implicit evaluation criteria: an extreme group comparison of motivation letter (20 pledges versus 20 rejections), semi-structured interviews (N=25) with raters and focus group wrap-up discussions closing a selection weekend (N=8, twice). Content analysis revealed 14 main categories in the motivation letters. Significant differences between the extreme groups were found in these categories: school career, career aspiration as a physician, reasons to apply at WHU, GPA, and reflection. Analysis of interviews identified three main categories of intellectual ability, motivation and social skills. Reflection skills were unveiled as an overarching category of outstanding importance to reviewers. Focus group analysis revealed four main categories of performance, personality, viability, and reflectivity. Reflectivity was confirmed as the most commonly used evaluation criterion in both focus groups. Main categories are the motivation for the job and the choice for WHU; achievement and ability to study; personality, viability and social competence as well as reflection skills as the underlying competence and overarching category. The reviewers considered reflectiveness as f the key competence for medical education and professional medical practice and is a predictor of a lifelong professional development as physician. These results shed light on the implicit selection criteria for medical students at WHU and contribute to a better understanding of its validity. The ability to reflect was identified as aspect leading to an increased likelihood of successfully passing the selection process.Implicitly, the selection process at WHU identifies candidates with both a broad scientific knowledge base and social skills and who are above all capable of self-reflection

4th International Conference Initial Stages in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

Abstract Background Prehospital trauma care is stressful and requires multi-professional teamwork. A decrease in the number of accident victims ultimately affects the routine and skills and underlines the importance of effective training. Standardized courses, like PHTLS, are established for health care professionals to improve the prehospital care of trauma patients. The aim of the study was to investigate the subjective safety in prehospital trauma care and learning progress by paramedics in a longitudinal analysis. Methods This was a prospective intervention trial and part of the mixed-method longitudinal EPPTC-trial, evaluating subjective and objective changes among participants and real patient care as a result of PHTLS courses. Participants were evaluated with pre/post questionnaires as well as one year after the course. Results We included 236 datasets. In the pre/post comparison, an increased performance could be observed in nearly all cases. The result shows that the expectations of the participants of the course were fully met even after one year (p = 0.002). The subjective safety in trauma care is significantly better even one year after the course (p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that (ABCDE)-structure is decisive (p = 0.036) as well as safety in rare and common skills (both p < 0.001). Most skills are also rated better after one year. Knowledge and specific safety are assessed as worse after one year. Conclusion The courses meet the expectations of the participants and increase the subjective safety in the prehospital care of trauma patients. ABCDE-structure and safety in skills are crucial. In the short term, both safety in skills and knowledge can be increased, but the courses do not have the power to maintain knowledge and specific subjective safety issues over a year. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register, ID DRKS00004713 , registered 14. February 201