Student experiences of peer review marking of team projects

Peer review of students is a partial response to critics of group work who cite drawbacks of "free riders" and de-motivation. It is often used to motivate and focus students on their own development within a group work setting. Pressures of time, budget and student numbers often obviate deeper study of alternative assessment techniques. The study reported in this paper, made possible by an HEA grant, allowed for analysis of a peer review mechanism that had been operating for a number of years alongside a new web-based system. The paper reviews criticisms of peer review techniques in existing literature and outlines how student experiences of peer review were researched. Qualitative outcomes are discussed alongside an analysis of quantitative data from the systems used. Key conclusions from this research are that the data collection method made no significant difference to the reported student experiences of peer review or to the peer review marks. The findings update and strengthen previous literature and provide important new insights into the emotional perspective of students. The findings from this research are being used to aid development of the webbased system and to establish 'good practice' guidance on the deployment of this valuable and innovative technique

The Demographics of Healthcare Fraud in South Florida

Health care fraud is a large problem in this country. Experts in the field estimate that 3-10% of all health care expenditures in the United States are fraudulent (National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, n.d., Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009). Financial losses due to health care fraud are estimated to range from $70 billion to a staggering$234 billion a year (The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, 2010). With this problem identified, it is important to identify and isolate possible influences and factors which perpetuate this type of fraud. Using South Florida as the subject area and health care fraud as the dependent variable, this study sets out to identify patterns and relationships between the demographic variables of ethnicity and citizenship of the perpetrators of fraud. Findings indicate that minorities with U.S. citizenship are more likely to perpetrate fraud and health care fraud than those with non-minority and non-U. S. citizen status

An Exemplary Early Childhood Program: Program Directors\u27 Perspectives

The purpose of this field experience was to develop exemplary guidelines for the implementation of an early childhood program. A survey of 78 early childhood programs in Southern Illinois was conducted. Participants surveyed were asked to respond to questions relating to the early childhood staff, screening and assessment procedures, the policy manual, meeting the needs of each child, parental involvement and the program director. In addition, a review of current literature associated with early childhood programs was presented. Included in the review of literature were books and articles related to the multiple components necessary to create an exemplary early childhood program. An analysis of the survey results is presented in tables. The findings and conclusions from this study emphasized that the early childhood programs in Southern Illinois appear to be exemplary in nature and model programs. Recommendations included the importance of a policy manual, the purpose of the early childhood program and parental involvement

An Exemplary Early Childhood Program: Program Directors\u27 Perspectives

The purpose of this field experience was to develop exemplary guidelines for the implementation of an early childhood program. A survey of 78 early childhood programs in Southern Illinois was conducted. Participants surveyed were asked to respond to questions relating to the early childhood staff, screening and assessment procedures, the policy manual, meeting the needs of each child, parental involvement and the program director. In addition, a review of current literature associated with early childhood programs was presented. Included in the review of literature were books and articles related to the multiple components necessary to create an exemplary early childhood program. An analysis of the survey results is presented in tables. The findings and conclusions from this study emphasized that the early childhood programs in Southern Illinois appear to be exemplary in nature and model programs. Recommendations included the importance of a policy manual, the purpose of the early childhood program and parental involvement

Just How Big is the Schism Between the Health Sector and the Water and Sanitation Sector in Developing Countries?

Water, sanitation and hygiene are all key aspects to a healthy environment but often they suffer from a lack of coherence within the sector itself and also a lack of synergy with the health sector. This is not acceptable given one quarter of all child deaths are directly attributable to water-borne disease. This lack of synergy is evident at many different layers including planning, resource allocation and donor commitment. Developing countries must, in consultation with their communities, examine their biggest health risks and allocate resources accordingly. Sustained dialogue and increased in-depth analysis are needed to find consensus and an improved synergy across these vital sectors

Cheminement des carrières de direction dans la fonction publique au Canada

Cet article présente un résumé d'une étude entreprise auprès des hauts fonctionnaires dans la fonction publique du Canada. Elle porte sur le cheminement des carrières et touche aussi à la mobilité, à l'occupation et aux sources de recrutement.Who are the most capable executives in the Federal Public Service ? What are their experience characteristics ? How mobile have they been ? What are their academic backgrounds ? How does age relate to seniority and earning power ?These and related questions must be answered if manpower at upper government levels is to be managed more effectively.A fourteen-month study recently completed by the Personnel Consulting Division, Bureau of Management Consulting Services, Ottawa, has made a major contribution towards providing these answers.In the Public Service of Canada, at the time the study was made in July, 1965, there were some 625 executives with salaries ranging from $16,000 to$30,000. These are the men and women who fill the top three or four levels in each department or agency. Officially, they are known as Senior Officers 1, 2, 3. and Deputy Ministers (Deputy Heads).Data on 591 of these executives was obtained from files and various other sources, coded and fed into a Bendix G-20 computer along with some 40 questions, the answers to which provided the following information :The typical executive is 51 years old and probably has a B.A. in Social Management Sciences (Arts, History, Political Science, Commerce, Sociology, etc.). While he could have graduated from any university in any province, the chances are greatest that he obtained his degree from the University of Toronto. He has had military service, reads a second language and joined the Public Service at a junior managerial level at 34 years of age, after having worked outside the Public Service for 11 years.At the time of his appointment to the executive level, he was 46 years of age and had 23 years of working experience. As of July 1, 1967, he had 28 years working experience and was earning $21,000 a year.BASIC PERSONAL DATAIn considering the personal data in more detail, it was found that ages ranged from 30 to 69, with an average age of 51.2. The average ages for the four levels (Senior Officer 1, 2, 3, and Deputy Minister — Deputy Head), were 50.3 52.6, 51.7 and 54.9 years respectively. The similarity of the averages implies career progression problems and also highlights the serious executive replacement problem the government faces in the next 10-15 years.A relatively high level of education was found among the government's top executives. 81$14,000 plus). Close to 20% entered directly at the executive level.SALARYAs of July 1, 1967, the average executive in the Public Service of Canada was earning $20,927 a year.It should be noted that this is a total figure because Public Servants do not receive bonusses or stock options, and there is not profit to be « profit-shared ».For the three career path categories they were :Public Service Only$21,297Private-Public 20,861Public-Private-Public 20,862Subsequent to this study, the government released proposed salary scales for the executive levels ranging from a maximum of $23,500 for Senior Executive Officers 1 up to a maximum of$40,000 for certain Deputy Ministers.APPOINTMENT TO EXECUTIVE LEVELThe average age at time of appointment to the Senior Officer 1 level was 45.6, to the SO 2 level 48, SO 3 level 47 and DM-DH 52. The similarity of these figures is interesting, since one would expect an executive to progress from the lowest to highest level. Also, based on today's standards, the ages would appear to be rather high.TRENDS IN AGE AT APPOINTMENTIt is generally believed that there has been a trend to appoint younger officers to the executive levels, but the study casts some doubt on the belief, certainly as far as government is concerned. However, more recent data obtained since the completion of the study indicates a change in the trend with the average ages of Senior Officers 1 appointed in 1966, 1967 and 1968, decreasing from 48 to 46 to 43 years respectively.EXPERIENCEThe average government executive has 28 years experience, almost two-thirds of which will have been spent in the Public Service. He will have spent about 15% in the category we called « Business and Self-Employed » and 10% in military service.However, there were indications that the more time executives spent in industry the less capable they were of adjusting to the political and Public Service atmosphere. Similarly it was found that extended career military service tended to reduce the rate of progress.RECRUITMENTPrior to July, 1967, about 76% of all appointments to the executive level were made from within the individuals present department and about 9% were from other departments. Therefore, some 85% of all appointments were from within the Public Service. Of the remaining 15%, some 10% came from Industry and 5% were recruited from Provincial Governments (2.4%), Universities (1.5%) and the Armed Forces (.3%).MOBILITYWithin the Public Service, a great interest has recently developed in the movement, or lack of movement, of management level personnel from one department to another. Traditionally, Public Servants have tended to remain in one department, rising to senior levels within what many claim to be a narrow occupational field.From the findings it appeared that moving from one department to another, within the Public Service, tended to improve the possibilities of achieving more rapid progress.A further analysis of movement after reaching the executive level showed that slightly more than 12% of all executives changed departments at least once after reaching this level and 1.3% had changed twice. This figure is changing rapidly as over 30% of the appointments made in 1968, at the executive level, resulted in movement between departments

PCR for the detection of pathogens in neonatal early onset sepsis.

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of neonates are treated for presumed bacterial sepsis with broad spectrum antibiotics even though their blood cultures subsequently show no growth. This study aimed to investigate PCR-based methods to identify pathogens not detected by conventional culture. METHODS: Whole blood samples of 208 neonates with suspected early onset sepsis were tested using a panel of multiplexed bacterial PCRs targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS), Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Ureaplasma parvum, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma genitalium, a 16S rRNA gene broad-range PCR and a multiplexed PCR for Candida spp. RESULTS: Two-hundred and eight samples were processed. In five of those samples, organisms were detected by conventional culture; all of those were also identified by PCR. PCR detected bacteria in 91 (45%) of the 203 samples that did not show bacterial growth in culture. S. aureus, Enterobacteriaceae and S. pneumoniae were the most frequently detected pathogens. A higher bacterial load detected by PCR was correlated positively with the number of clinical signs at presentation. CONCLUSION: Real-time PCR has the potential to be a valuable additional tool for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Composition and concentration anomalies for structure and dynamics of Gaussian-core mixtures

We report molecular dynamics simulation results for two-component fluid mixtures of Gaussian-core particles, focusing on how tracer diffusivities and static pair correlations depend on temperature, particle concentration, and composition. At low particle concentrations, these systems behave like simple atomic mixtures. However, for intermediate concentrations, the single-particle dynamics of the two species largely decouple, giving rise to the following anomalous trends. Increasing either the concentration of the fluid (at fixed composition) or the mole fraction of the larger particles (at fixed particle concentration) enhances the tracer diffusivity of the larger particles, but decreases that of the smaller particles. In fact, at sufficiently high particle concentrations, the larger particles exhibit higher mobility than the smaller particles. Each of these dynamic behaviors is accompanied by a corresponding structural trend that characterizes how either concentration or composition affects the strength of the static pair correlations. Specifically, the dynamic trends observed here are consistent with a single empirical scaling law that relates an appropriately normalized tracer diffusivity to its pair-correlation contribution to the excess entropy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Nutritional Support for Small Ruminant Development Based on Oil Palm By-products

Biomass by-products or plant residues from the plantation system would play a crucial role in animal production since the utilization of forages from the underneath tree crops would be less or minimal when the palm oil crop mature. By-products generated from the palm oil system vary, but in relation to the animal production they could be generally categorized into the fibrous by-products and the non-fibrous (concentrate) by-products. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) and palm kernel cake (PKC) are concentrate by-products produced during the processing of palm oil extraction which have great potency to support sheep and goat production, although limiting factors such as contamination of shell and high copper level in PKC need to be considered in their utilization as feed. The fibrous palm oil by-products include oil palm fronds (OPF) and oil palm trunk (OPT) generated from the palm crop trees and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and palm pressed fiber (PPF) generated from processing of fresh fruits to yield crude oil. These fibrous by-products cannot meet the metabolisable energy required for high growth rate and for lactation of sheep and goats due to low DM digestibility, low crude protein content, low fermentable carbohydrate and low level of intake. Limited inclusion level in ration should be applied for those by-products to yield an acceptable production level of sheep and goats. Pretreatments (physical, chemical, and biological) gave some improvement in their nutritional qualities, however additional cost of pretreatments need to be considered. In the future, there would be a great challenge for the utilization of those fibrous by-products as animal feed since bioconversion of lignocellulosic materials to products such as chemicals (bioethanol, sugar, and bioplastic), fuels, and organic fertilizers are receiving greater interest. Some comparative advantages of these natural wastes are their relatively low cost, renewable and widespread in nature for used in an industrial operation