Elimination of lipaemic interference by high-speed centrifugation

IntroductionIn order to deliver high quality results, detection and elimination of possible analytical interferences, such as lipaemia, is crucial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of high-speed centrifugation in eliminating lipaemic interference and to define own lipaemic index (LI) for the studied biochemical analytes.Materials and methodsEvaluated analytes were: albumin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine-aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate-aminotransferase (AST), calcium, creatinine, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), glucose, phosphates, total proteins, urea and total bilirubin. Those analytes and LIs have been analysed in duplicate in the Roche Diagnostics-c8000 analyser in samples centrifuged at 3000 rpm/10 minutes in the SL16 (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, USA) centrifuge and according to an own high-speed centrifugation protocol (12,900 rpm/15 minutes) in the MicroCL17R (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, USA) centrifuge. Lipaemia has been measured in each sample. The efficiency of high-speed centrifugation is verified by the Wilcoxon test (P < 0.05). In cases where significant differences are observed, our own LI is calculated. For ALT and AST, it is verified by McNemar test (P < 0.05). For creatinine, both Wilcoxon and McNemar test were applied.ResultsThere were statistically significant differences in analyte concentration before and after high-speed centrifugation for: albumin, creatinine, GGT, glucose, phosphates, urea and total bilirrubin. Own LI is calculated. McNemar test shows statistically significant diferences in the proportion of delivered results before and after high-speed centrifugation in ALT, AST and creatinine.ConclusionsThis study confirms the efficacy of high-speed centrifugation protocol for all the considered analytes, excepting calcium, alkaline phosphatase and total proteins.     

高校学科团队中魅力型领导对团队创新绩效影响的实证研究

本文在文献回顾的基础上,提出魅力型领导对团队创新绩效的假设模型,并通过对中国高校79个学科团队607名教师的问卷调查验证这一模型。结果显示:魅力型领导能力和行为对团队创新气氛与团队创新绩效具有显著正向效果,但其对团队创新绩效的直接效果不显著,其通过团队创新气氛中介作用的间接效果显著;而且高校学科团队领导能力对团队创新绩效的整体效果高于领导行为。最后指出,在实践管理中高校学科团队领导要提高学科带头能力和组织协调能力,营造平等、自由的团队创新气氛,以提高团队创新绩效。     

高校软实力评价体系设计研究

高校软实力是高校办学的综合实力和核心竞争力,其评价体系的构建,是对高校教育水平的衡量进行定量分析和综合评价的基础。本文在论述高校软实力及其特点的基础上,分析了影响高校软实力的各个因素,并针对目前国内研究现状,提出了高校软实力评价体系设计的原则,建立相应的评价指标体系,以层次分析法对高校软实力进行定量的分析和研究。     

Educational change in Singapore and its ‘tinkering’ around the edges: A critical realist perspective

This article re-examines the contents of Singapore’s Thinking Schools Learning Nation (TSLN) and Teach Less Learn More (TLLM) educational initiatives, introduced and implemented to promote change and to prepare Singaporeans for a twenty-first century knowledge-based economy. Adopting a critical realist perspective that enables investigations into complex social systems, the paper highlights the concepts, change process and possible outcomes of change proposed by realist social theory. An explanatory critique responding to the question, ‘What social structural changes were implemented by the TSLN and TLLM initiatives, and why?’ is developed, tracing the programmes of change in TSLN and TLLM. Findings reported in 2013, by a local large-scale research project, has made claims about the ineffectiveness of the initiatives in bringing about desired changes in classroom instructional practices. The critique questions—given Singapore’s recent and consistent successful performances in international benchmarking tests—whether it is only in the classroom that educational change that matters, counts. It suggests that despite making strong statements about the limited effectiveness of the TSLN and TLLM initiatives, many programs introduced and adopted by primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions, especially under TLLM, were left unexamined by the research project. The explanatory critique theorises that two kinds of changes have taken place—the reorientation of pedagogical practices in post-secondary institutions and extensions of what already exists in the primary and secondary sections. The paper concludes by highlighting some implications the explanatory critique have for research into educational change in general, and for educational change in Singapore.     

Understanding the influence of teachers’ cognitive and affective responses upon school inspection feedback acceptance

Despite the developmental perspective of school inspections, teachers in inspected schools are not always willing to accept the school inspection’s feedback for their further improvement of teaching and learning processes. Literature distinguishes several aspects of feedback that stimulate or hinder the acceptance of feedback, such as recipient’s cognitive and affective responses to feedback. This study investigates teachers’ cognitive and affective responses to school inspection feedback in relation to feedback acceptance. It draws on data from 21 in-depth interviews with teachers in eight primary schools. We found that positive perceptions of the inspectors’ credibility enhance teachers’ feedback acceptance. This is also the case for positive, clear feedback. Under these circumstances, emotions of joy, happiness and relief are expressed. Conversely, respondents tend to reject feedback when inspectors are perceived to be inadequately informed, arrogant or disrespectful. When negative feedback is rated as unfair, negative emotions, such as anger and sadness, interfere with feedback acceptance. In essence, we conclude that both feedback content and feedback source characteristics are decisive in the acceptance of process. From a practical perspective, the findings suggest there is a need to build on supportive relationships between teachers and school inspectors.     

The Validity of Comparative Educational Studies

What are the conditions that will allow for appropriate comparisons among groups" Should the concept of comparative validity be added to the lexicon of the psychometrician"     

The relationships among consumers’ ethical ideology,risk aversion and ethically-based distrust of online retailers and the moderating role of consumers’ need for personal interaction

Consumer distrust is only recently beginning to be perceived as an important e-commerce issue and, unlike online trust, the nature and role of distrust is much less established. This study examines the influence of two important consumer characteristics (ethical ideology and risk aversion) on consumer’s ethically-based distrust of online retailers. Also, the moderating role of consumer’s need for personal contact with sales staff is tested. Results from 409 online consumers confirm that both relativist-based ethical ideology and risk aversion are strongly and positively related to consumers’ distrust. Interestingly, our findings show that positive effects of relativism and risk aversion on consumer’s distrust are moderated by consumers’ need for personal interaction, which is more pronounced for those consumers with a high need for personal interaction with retail salespeople.     

论矿物材料计算与设计

矿产资源产业是国民经济的基础产业,非金属矿产是重要的固体矿产之一,80%的矿物用于材料工业,矿物加工是矿产资源高效利用、制备矿物材料的重要加工技术环节,矿物材料是国民经济中高新技术材料的重要组成,材料科学及矿物材料学科的发展,为矿物材料计算与设计理论的提出奠定了实际基础.借鉴材料设计与计算的理论和方法,在总结、分析和研究矿物加工及矿物材料制备方面大量的理论研究和实际成果的基础上,提出了矿物材料计算与设计及功能性矿物材料、复合材料化学改性药剂分子设计与模拟的学术思想,论述了矿物材料计算与设计的基本科学技术问题、研究内容、相关学科体系、研究层次及其学科地位.其意义在于:使矿物加工工程学科发展和功能性矿物材料的研发,建立在基本科学原理基础之上,将矿物加工工程学科的主要研究内容统一在总体的方向、目标之内,横向拓展了相关学科理论的研究范围;根据矿物结构、组成,通过设计与计算,对矿物材料性能进行预测、预报,进而为制备提供最佳技术路线;对于已知性能的矿物材料优化制备路线,系统分析各种矿物的结构与组成及其所具备固有性质,针对各种材料性质要求,排列对应关系,为复合材料的制备奠定基础,进而实现矿物资源的高效开发和利用,同时,使得材料设计或计算材料的学科基础向研究矿物组成与结构的纵向延伸,丰富了材料科学思想.     

Modeling Skipped and Not‐Reached Items Using IRTrees

When dealing with missing responses, two types of omissions can be discerned: items can be skipped or not reached by the test taker. When the occurrence of these omissions is related to the proficiency process the missingness is nonignorable. The purpose of this article is to present a tree‐based IRT framework for modeling responses and omissions jointly, taking into account that test takers as well as items can contribute to the two types of omissions. The proposed framework covers several existing models for missing responses, and many IRTree models can be estimated using standard statistical software. Further, simulated data is used to show that ignoring missing responses is less robust than often considered. Finally, as an illustration of its applicability, the IRTree approach is applied to data from the 2009 PISA reading assessment.