The effects of integration and generation of immigrants on language and numeracy achievement

In many Western countries the pressure exerted on immigrants to integrate has become intense in recent years. Efforts to preserve their ethnic identity through multicultural recognition has now been replaced by the requirements of active civic participation and assimilation. Of course integration is considered important not only for the immigrant parents but also for their children. The central question in this article is whether there is a relationship between the degree of integration of the immigrant parents and the generation of their children on the one hand and the level of language and numeracy achievement of the children on the other. To answer this question we use data collected in 2008 from the Dutch COOL^5–18 cohort study. The information comes from more than 9000 immigrant and 16,000 indigenous children and their parents. The results show that as immigrant parents are better integrated and their children are of later generations, the language and numeracy skills of the children improve, though there remain large differences in achievement between different ethnic groups.     

Improving graduate education to support a branching career pipeline: recommendations based on a survey of doctoral students in the basic biomedical sciences

Today's doctoral programs continue to prepare students for a traditional academic career path despite the inadequate supply of research-focused faculty positions. We advocate for a broader doctoral curriculum that prepares trainees for a wide range of science-related career paths. In support of this argument, we describe data from our survey of doctoral students in the basic biomedical sciences at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Midway through graduate training, UCSF students are already considering a broad range of career options, with one-third intending to pursue a non-research career path. To better support this branching career pipeline, we recommend that national standards for training and mentoring include emphasis on career planning and professional skills development to ensure the success of PhD-level scientists as they contribute to a broadly defined global scientific enterprise.     

Team-based learning in anatomy: an efficient, effective, and economical strategy

Team-based learning (TBL) strategy is being adopted in medical education to implement interactive small group learning. We have modified classical TBL to fit our curricular needs and approach. Anatomy lectures were replaced with TBL that required preparation of assigned content specific discussion topics (in the text referred as "discussion topics"), an individual self-assessment quiz (IRAT), analysis of the discussion topics, and then the team retaking the same quiz (GRAT) for discussion and deeper learning. Embryology and clinical correlations were given as lectures. Unit examinations consisted of graded IRAT and GRAT. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Subject Examination was the comprehensive final examination. To evaluate the effect of TBL on student performance we compared the departmental and NBME subject examination scores between the traditional and TBL curricula. We collected five years of data on student performance in TBL-based anatomy and lecture-based preclinical courses. Our results show that departmental and NBME subject examination scores for TBL-based anatomy were higher than those for lecture-based anatomy. We subsequently compared average NBME scores for anatomy with those in other preclinical courses that were lecture-based. Average NBME anatomy scores were significantly higher than those for all the lecture-based preclinical courses. Since the introduction of TBL in anatomy, student performance has progressively improved in the NBME subject examination. Students perceived TBL as a motivator to be a responsible team member and to contribute to collective learning by the team. Further, it reinforced self-directed learning and fostered an appreciation for peer respect. Interestingly, these perceptions were uniform irrespective of student course performance.     

Home IV Antibiotic Therapy and Exercise Capacity in Children with CF: A Case Series

Purpose: This case series describes the effect of home intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy on spirometry and exercise capacity in a group of children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Methods: Outcomes from 10 children with CF who were prescribed a 14-day course of home IV antibiotics for a respiratory exacerbation are reported. All children performed spirometry and a modified shuttle test (MST) before and after 14-days of home IV therapy. Results: After 14 days, FEV₁ increased by mean (± SE) 12 ± 4 % (p < 0.05) but mean MST did not improve compared to baseline. All children improved or maintained spirometry values with treatment, however, only 5 improved MST distance. Conclusion: After 14 days of home IV antibiotic therapy, a significant improvement in spirometry, but not exercise capacity, was seen in this small series of children with CF. The lack of improvement in exercise capacity for all children following home IV antibiotic therapy suggests factors other than spirometry determine exercise capacity. Identifying and investigating the factors that influence exercise capacity during home IV antibiotic therapy requires further investigation.Key Words: cystic fibrosis, home IV therapy, FEV₁, Modified Shuttle Test     

提高篮球远距离投篮效果的模式

为使合格球队的训练和比赛过程更具有现代化,研究人员提出了增加远距离投篮有效性的结构内容模式,并将投篮训练作为运动员技、战术的组成部分。投篮训练是一项专门性训练,要在不同情况下完成不同方式的投篮练习。通过各种不同的训练方式来掌握投篮技术并提高投篮的准确性。该模式是用来为每一名选手选取远距离和超长距离投篮方式,完善投篮技术,选择技、战术行为,制定不同训练周期和阶段个人和全队的投篮训练。结论:提高篮球远距离投篮效果的模式可以达到如下目的:1)队员的有效安排;2)完善投篮技术;3)为每一名选手选择不同的投篮训练模式;4)每一名队员投篮准确性的数据资料可以为全队的战术安排提供参考;5)定性地规划每一名球员和球队的投篮训练并作为球队技、战术训练的主要组成部分。     

The information needs of users of scientific libraries

This paper reflects the results of the analysis of user information needs that was carried out by the Library of Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LNS RAS) for the purpose of gathering information on the quality of a reference-bibliographic and information service for specialists of the RAS in the subject of their studies.     

A Review on Salivary Genomics and Proteomics Biomarkers in Oral Cancer

Oral cancer has emerged as an alarming public health problem with increasing incidence and mortality rates all over the world. Therefore, the implementation of newer screening and early detection approaches are of utmost importance which could reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease. Sensitive and specific biomarkers for oral cancer are likely to be most effective for screening, diagnosis, staging and follow-up for this dreaded malignancy. Unlike other deep cancers, oral cancer is located in oral cavity. Hence, the direct contact between saliva and oral cancer lesion makes the measurement of tumor markers in saliva an attractive alternative to serum and tissue testing. The DNA, RNA and protein molecules derived from the living cancer cells can be conveniently obtained from saliva. Thus, salivary biomarkers, a non-invasive alternative to serum and tissue-based biomarkers may be an effective modality for early diagnosis, prognostication and monitoring post therapy status. In the current post-genomic era, various technologies provide opportunities for high-throughput approaches to genomics and proteomics; which have been used to evaluate altered expressions of gene and protein targets in saliva of oral cancer patients. The emerging field of salivary biomarkers has great potentials to prove its clinical significance to combat oral cancer. Hence, we have reviewed importance of several salivary genomics and proteomics biomarkers for oral cancer.     

The European university landscape: A micro characterization based on evidence from the Aquameth project

This paper provides a new and systematic characterization of 488 universities, from 11 European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and UK. Using micro indicators built on the integrated Aquameth database, we characterize the European university landscape according to the following dimensions: history/foundation of university, dynamics of growth, specialization pattern, subject mix, funding composition, offer profile and productivity.     

Reliability modelling and analysis of a two unit continuous casting plant

The aim of this paper is to present a reliability modeling and analysis of a two-unit system of a continuous casting (CC) plant. Real maintenance data of a steel production plant have been used for the purpose. Three types of failures were noted: repairable, replaceable and reconditioning/reinstallation. The two-unit system is operating in parallel, on full-reduced installed capacity. Upon the unit failure, an inspection is carried out to decide the type of maintenance task to be performed. Optimized reliability indices of the plant such as mean time to system failure, availability, expected busy periods of the repairman for various maintenance tasks, expected number of visits by the repairman, expected number of repairs, replacements and reconditioning/reinstallation are obtained. Semi-Markov processes and regenerative point techniques are used for the analysis. Profit incurred to the CC plant is also evaluated and related graphs are plotted to demonstrate the results.     

Exact analysis for the identification of non-minimum phase processes

Analytical expressions are derived from a single symmetrical relay feedback test for the identification of open loop stable and unstable non-minimum phase processes. The second derivative of the limit cycle output helps in finding the time delay of the process. The derived expressions can be used to identify the process models with up to five unknowns. The effectiveness of the proposed identification method is verified through different simulation results.