7,349 research outputs found
Implications of the Improvement of Teaching Quality for Professional Development (PD) of Academics at the Colleges of Applied Sciences (CASs) in the Sultanate of Oman
No full textThe Oman Accreditation Council (OAC), which is called later the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA), designed a higher education institution (HEI) Quality Assurance (QA) framework for Omani public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), starting with a quality audit process in 2008. The Colleges of Applied Sciences (CASs), as a public HEI, are required to ensure the quality of all services and activities to meet particular national standards (specified in the framework) in order to gain a HEI and programme certificate. In line with a quality audit scope, the quality of the fields of PD and related teaching quality should be ensured and enhanced by the promotion and contribution of the former field to the maintenance and improvement of the latter one.
The chief purpose of this study was to identify the uptake and implications of the growing requirement to improve teaching quality and the PD of academics at the CASs in the Sultanate of Oman especially in the context of the application of the QA framework. The study focused on examining the academics’ participation in professional development programmes (PDPs) and current perceptions of PD with respect to the improvement of teaching quality improvement at these colleges. The current study also dealt with a reorganization and prioritization of academics’ PD needs, barriers to effective PD, and factors to enhance PD of academics regarding teaching quality improvement in the colleges.
Based on the purpose and research objectives, the current study adopted both positivist (quantitative) and interpretive (qualitative) research paradigms. Because the study perused quantitative and qualitative data regarding certain variables, it chose a mixed-research design. The researcher designed survey questionnaire to collect quantitative data and a semi-structured interview and a focus group discussion to probe and interpret quantitative findings. After fulfillment of the validity and reliability measurements, a self-completion questionnaire was distributed to a stratified random sample of academics (170) over the six CASs. A total of 150 questionnaires (out of 170) were completed and returned and the response-rate reached 88.2%. The quantitative data was analyzed by appropriate analysis using the Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS), while the qualitative data was analyzed by appropriate qualitative analysis.
The findings of the study showed that the level of academics’ participation in PDPs to improve teaching quality in the last two years in the CASs seems to be unsatisfactorily low. The current perceptions of the PD situations in the colleges, relating to teaching quality improvement, signified a shortage in the number of available PDPs and/or a discouragement of academics’ participation in these programmes in the last two years. The study also revealed all the 22 PD needs of academics regarding the improvement of teaching quality are significantly demanded by participants; the higher rated needs focused on a development of ‘student centred’ skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Furthermore, the study illustrated that the highest significant perceived barriers to effective PD in the CASs, as related to teaching quality improvement, focus on a lack of a clear institutional PD policy and a lack of appropriately systematic PD plans. The study also revealed all 10 perceived factors to enhance PD regarding teaching quality improvement are very important. The most significant factors represented and stressed particular problematic issues (the high rated barriers) and a reduction of a heavy workload to enhance academics’ participation in PD regarding the improvement of teaching quality.
Conclusions drawn from the discussion of the findings of study include a lack of a clear PD policy at national and institutional levels and absence of a particular authority/unit concerning PD issues in Omani HEIs. The two problematic issues resulted in a lack of systematic and realistic PD plans in the CASs, involving a lack of academics’ involvement in PD plans, a misconnection of academics’ PD needs to PD, inappropriate facilities and resources allocation, and inappropriate evaluation processes of PD. In addition, the conclusions also include that PD of academics regarding the improvement of teaching quality in the colleges requires more attention and focus to manage particular significant issues perceived by participants as both barriers and potential facilitators relating to PD of academics.
Based on identified conclusions, particular implications for policy and practice to enhance PD to improve teaching quality were set at three levels: governmental, institutional, and individual. Moreover, achievements of the current study according to the research questions were identified and contributions of the study to the fields of PD, teaching quality, and the context of QA and quality audit in HE were addressed. Based on the findings and conclusions, particular directions and recommended issues were suggested to be studied by further research to benefit the enhancement of PD and related teaching quality improvement
Blood lead levels in pregnant women and the neonate
No full textPopulation studies carried out during the 1980s had shown that the Maltese population was characterized by high blood lead (PbB) levels. These high levels appeared to be a feature at all age groups including neonates. A number of environmental control measures had been initiated to attempt to decrease these PbB levels. The present study reviews PbB levels in pregnant women and newborns. It is shown that mean cord PbB levels decreased significantly in the last decade from a mean of 165.1 + 87.9 ug/I in 1985 to 89.79 + 31.23 ug/I in 1996. This decrease did not correlate with the increasing use of multimineral supplements which include the zinc cation said to be useful to counter the effects of chronic lead intoxication. Placental transfer of lead is also shown to follow closely maternal levels with a correlation coefficient of 0.81. In spite of the apparent decrease in PbB levels, about half of newborns still I have levels which require preventive community measures.peer-reviewe
Prospective study of human herpesvirus 6, human herpesvirus 7, and cytomegalovirus infections in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients
No full textBlood samples from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients were monitored for cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), and HHV-7 by PCR. We detected CMV in 17% of the patients, HHV-6 in 6%, and HHV-7 in 3%. The viral loads of CMV were significantly higher than those of HHV-6 (P = 0.007) or HHV-7 (P = 0.01). Detection of CMV and HHV-6 was associated with low and high CD4 counts, respectively
Fullerene-like WS<sub>2</sub> supported Pd catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction
No full textHydrogen is the most desirable green energy carrier and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water is a promising route for hydrogen production. The search for efficient, low-cost HER catalysts is a challenging and attracting topic. In this work, we report that inorganic fullerene-like WS2 supported Pd nanoparticles (Pd/WS2), with Pd loading of 0.76 wt%, are active for electrocatalytic HER conducted in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, with overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 current density of ~130 mV and Tafel slope of 82.4 mV dec−1, which is comparable to that of Pt/WS2 (0.88 wt% Pt loading) with higher costs. Characteristic results indicate that WO3 impurities were in-situ produced on the WS2 surface and the Pd NPs are primarily located inside the WS2 nanocages. Contrasting experiments suggest that the WO3 impurities play a crucial role in generating Hads intermediate and the Pd NPs are active sites of H2 production, and a reaction mechanism is proposed. The Pd/WS2 catalyst also shows good long-term stability owing to the location of Pd NPs inside the WS2 cages. The high HER activity, low costs and good stability make the Pd catalyst a potential alternative to Pt catalyst for HER.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Micro and Nano Engineerin
CMV in the gut: a critical review of CMV detection in the immunocompetent host with colitis.
No full textAs scientific techniques for the detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) improve, we are able to detect small amounts of CMV in the mucosal wall. As clinicians, we are unsure how to interpret the results of this novel test. There is controversy in the literature as to the significance of the detection of CMV in the gut. Whilst the importance of CMV and reactivation of the virus is clear in those patients such as allograft recipients with established immune compromise, the role is less clear in patients with less damaged immune systems. We explore whether the detection of CMV in such cases influences outcome and how it should be optimally managed. We discuss the optimal management of such cases, according to current guidelines, with a review of the literature
Enhanced T-Cell Immunity to Osteosarcoma Through Antibody Blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 Interactions
No full textabstract: Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in children and adolescents. Although 70% of patients with localized disease are cured with chemotherapy and surgical resection, patients with metastatic osteosarcoma are typically refractory to treatment. Numerous lines of evidence suggest that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) limit the development of metastatic osteosarcoma. We have investigated the role of PD-1, an inhibitory TNFR family protein expressed on CTLs, in limiting the efficacy of immune-mediated control of metastatic osteosarcoma. We show that human metastatic, but not primary, osteosarcoma tumors express a ligand for PD-1 (PD-L1) and that tumor-infiltrating CTLs express PD-1, suggesting this pathway may limit CTLs control of metastatic osteosarcoma in patients. PD-L1 is also expressed on the K7M2 osteosarcoma tumor cell line that establishes metastases in mice, and PD-1 is expressed on tumor-infiltrating CTLs during disease progression. Blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions dramatically improves the function of osteosarcoma-reactive CTLs in vitro and in vivo, and results in decreased tumor burden and increased survival in the K7M2 mouse model of metastatic osteosarcoma. Our results suggest that blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions in patients with metastatic osteosarcoma should be pursued as a therapeutic strategy.This is a non-final version of an article published in final form as Lussier, Danielle M., O'Neill, Lauren, Nieves, Lizbeth M., McAfee, Megan S., Holechek, Susan A., Collins, Andrea W., Dickman, Paul, Jacobsen, Jeffrey, Hingorani, Pooja, & Blattman, Joseph N. (2015). Enhanced T-Cell Immunity to Osteosarcoma Through Antibody Blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 Interactions. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOTHERAPY, 38(3), 96-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/CJI.000000000000006
Modeling of Surface Segregation for Binary Alloys in Vacuum and Gas Environments: Applied to Pd-alloys
No full textComputational modeling offers the possibility to design alloys in a cheaper and faster way. A model for surface segregation for binary alloys in vacuum and by adsorption and absorption of gases was developed and applied. The proposed model was used in conjunction with the Miedema semi-empirical model for the calculation of enthalpies of solution and formation of binary alloys and with the cluster variation method (CVM) for the calculation of the ? and ? phase boundaries in the ternary Pd-M-H systems. The models for segregation were applied in a temperature range from 298K to 600K, considering the surface plane (111) of the FCC crystal structure. The model for segregation in vacuum was applied to Pd-Au, Pd-Ag, Pd-Cu, Pd-Ni and Pd-Pt. For this case Pd is segregated for the Pd-Pt alloys only. By increasing the temperature from 298K to 600K, the surface concentrations of Pd decreased for all of the alloys. By varying the plane from (111) to (100) few changes were observed. The calculated results compared to experiments were found to be in good agreement for Pd-Au and Pd-Ag. For the model of surface segregation by adsorption and chemisorption, H2, CO and O2 gases on Pd-Ag, Pd-Cu, Pd-Ni and Pd-Pt were considered. In the presence of adsorbed or chemisorbed hydrogen, segregation of Pd was found for Pd-Ag, Pd-Cu and Pd-Pt alloys. For adsorbed O2 and CO on Pd-Ag and Pd-Cu alloys gases, segregation of Pd was enhanced. The model for segregation by absorption of hydrogen was applied for Pd-Ag, Pd-Cu, Pd-Ni and Pd-Pt alloys, using a hydrogen (bulk) concentration of 0.50 H/M. No Pd segregation was found for Pd-Ag alloys. For Pd-Pt alloys, Pd segregation was observed. For Pd-Cu alloys with large concentrations of Pd, a surface enrichment of Pd was calculated, while for alloys with low concentration of Pd a slight Cu surface enrichment was observed. Enhanced segregation of Ni was found for Pd-Ni alloys. The H/M fractions at the boundaries of the ? and ? phase obtained with the CVM for the Pd85Ag15H system were used as input values to calculate the surface concentration of Ag. As the hydrogen concentration was increased, the surface segregation of Pd also increased. For the surface segregation by adsorption and absorption combined, segregation of Pd was observed for Pd-Ag, Pd-Cu and Pd-Pt alloys. Surface enrichment of Ni was found for Pd-Ni alloys. The proposed model enables to predict surface segregation under various conditions and the results show that it is affected by many parameters.Master Materials Science and EngineeringDepartment of Materials Science and EngineeringMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin
Recommended from our members
Novel fuzzy logic controllers with self-tuning capability
No full textTwo controllers which extend the PD+I fuzzy logic controller to deal with the plant having time varying nonlinear dynamics are proposed. The adaptation ability of the first self tuning PD+I fuzzy logic controller (STPD+I_31) is achieved by adjusting the output scaling factor automatically thereby contributing to significant improvement in performance. Second controller (STPD+I_9) is the simplified version of STPD+I_31 which is designed under the imposed constraint that allows only minimum number of rules in the rule bases. The proposed controllers are compared with two classical nonlinear controllers: the pole placement self tuning PID controller and sliding mode controller. All the controllers are applied to the two-links revolute robot for the tracking control. The tracking performance of STPD+I_31 and STPD+I_9 are much better than the pole placement self tuning PID controller during high speed motions while the performance are comparable at low and medium speed. In addition, STPD+I_31 and STPD+I_9 outperform sliding mode controller using same method of comparison study
THE EFFECT OF CMV INFECTION ON PROGRESSION OF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS DISEASE IN A COHORT OF HEMOPHILIC MEN FOLLOWED FOR UP TO 13 YEARS FROM SEROCONVERSION
No full textThe effect of prior infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV) on progression of HIV disease in a cohort of 111 men with haemophilia was studied after 13 years followup. The relative hazards associated with CMV positivity on progression to AIDS, death and a CD4 count of 0.05 x 10(9)/l were 2.28, 2.42 and 2.34, respectively. CMV seropositive patients were significantly older than the seronegative and this was controlled for by using a Cox proportional hazards model. The relative hazards for the three endpoints decreased to 1.89, 1.82 and 1.93 respectively and were marginally non-significant (P = 0.05, 0.08 and 0.08 for the three endpoints respectively). We conclude that this cohort continues to show evidence of a 'co-factor' effect associated with prior infection with CMV which is confounded by age but not completely explained by age differences. The potential biological significance of these results is discussed in the context of recent controlled clinical trials which show a survival benefit from long-term high-dose acyclovir, a drug with activity in vivo against CMV and other herpesviruses
Historical changes on rocky shores in the Western Cape, as revealed by repeat photography
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.Photography has always had a record-keeping purpose, whether to document famous people, or other news-worthy events, such as wars (Webb et al . 2010). Prior to photography becoming a practical tool, researchers in biology relied on drawings and precise descriptions to pass on what they observed during field work (George 1980). In truth, there are very few fields in science which have not made use of photography in some form (George 1980). Taxonomy has been a benefactor, since colour images taken in the field can be used to record distinctive characteristics of organisms that may later lose their pigmentation during preservation (George 1980). Of more relevance to this paper are the many uses of photography in marine ecology which George (1980) suggests are “...to aid site and habitat description, to record the relationship of plants and animals to the environment and to one another, to measure population numbers and the size of individual organisms, and to record the changes in community structure that take place with time.” This list does not take into account the advantages of video to document behavioural studies. As the old adage explains, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and photographs taken at the shore are often far more valuable than lengthy written descriptions used to “set the scene” (George 1980). As with all methods of sampling, however, there is a trade-off between the advantages and disadvantages involved. The disadvantages are similar to those shared with most disciplines interested in sea-shore studies. For example, time is a limiting constraint, as most photographs need to be taken at low tide and indeed the most effective photographic sampling is carried out during spring low tides , when the greatest area of intertidal habitat is exposed. Capturing images during these brief windows often complicates large-scale spatial studies, especially with limited resources (Murray et al . 2006). Furthermore, issues may arise with the detail that can occur due to the resolution of the photograph, as well as identifying taxa of a similar appearance, and problems with analysis may arise where the organisms are in high concentrations and/or stratified (Murray et al . 2006). There are, however, many advantages to the correctly applied photographic method: the greatest perhaps being that the images may be stored and used for further analysis at a later date. These stored images can also be kept on record and used to analyse changes that may have occurred over time. Photographs also have another advantage, in that they are more easily interpreted by people without scientific backgrounds that may not easily understand graphs or complicated figures (Murray et al . 2006). Further examples of the application of photographic techniques in marine biology include photographic surveys and photographic tagging, which has for many years been used in identifying whales, dolphins or seals (McConkey 1999). Photography has also proved useful as a tool for conducting population counts, such as on the West Coast, where seal populations are photographed from the air to determine breeding success (Griffiths et al . 2004). Aerial photography has also been used in conjunction with infra-red photographic techniques to determine the extent of kelp populations along the South African coast (Bolton and Anderson 1990)... This chapter uses repeat photography to illustrate changes that have occurred on rocky shores in the Western Cape over the past hundred years. Changes are documented under four categories; changes in range, climate change, intertidal invasion and direct anthropogenic effects. Images were sourced from books, members of the public and subject specialists and were selected based on their suitability. The sites of the images were identified and repeat photographs captured. The images depict the slow but progressive easterly spread of the kelp Ecklonia maxima and the range contraction of the warmer-water mussel Perna perna. Evidence suggests that a changing climate is the major driver of both of these changes. No change in zonation due to changing sea levels was observed. However, the range contraction of P. perna is complicated by the introduction of an alien mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. Repeat photography shows the changes that M. galloprovincialis has caused on the intertidal community in Saldanha Bay. Another invasive organism, Balanus glandula, is shown to have greatly altered the community structure of the Blouberg intertidal zone. Also of interest is the degree of building development that has taken place along the shore. Repeat photography proved a useful tool for documenting changes that are separated by large amounts of time, and is recommended as a useful technique for the surveillance and monitoring of rocky shores
- …
