Theory Competition and the Process of Change

The reasons why many educational change initiatives have little impact are often framed in terms of either a poorly designed process on the part of the change initiator, or in terms of problems with the attitudes, skills and/or knowledge of those responsible for implementation. In this paper, we seek to integrate these two perspectives more closely by focusing on their interface and the competing theories frequently held by the change initiators and implementers. This concept of theory competition is illustrated with a case of a national literacy initiative in New Zealand in which the change initiators wished to raise the achievement of low performing students through the development of “learning-centred” leadership in schools and evidence-based practice. The desired outcomes were not achieved because theories about what it means to be a successful leader in such a situation, the data needed to undertake the type of evidence-based analysis envisioned and school personnel beliefs about the target students were understood differently by those responsible for initiating the change and those responsible for implementing it.     

Curriculum Design of a Flipped Classroom to Enhance Haematology Learning

A common trend in higher education is the “flipped” classroom, which facilitates active learning during class. The flipped approach to teaching was instituted in a haematology ‘major’ class and the students’ attitudes and preferences for the teaching materials were surveyed. The curriculum design was explicit and involved four major components (1) the preparation of the students; (2) the weekly pre-class work; (3) the in-class active learning strategies and (4) closing the learning loop using formative quizzes. Each of these components is discussed in detail and was informed by sound pedagogical strategies. Several different sources of information and several freely available software tools to engage the students are discussed. Two iterations are reported here, with improved pass rate for the final examination from 47 to 48 % in the traditional class to 56–65 % in the flipped classroom approach. The majority of students (93 and 89 %) came to the class prepared, after viewing the screencasts and engaged fully with the activities within the face-to-face time. The students perceived that solving case studies (93 %) was the most beneficial activity for their learning and this was closely followed by the production of essay plans (71 %). The majority of students recommended that this approach be repeated the following year (69 and 75 %).     

DETERMINATION OF CYCLOTRIME－THYLENETRINITRAMINE IN SERUM OF RABBIT BY RP－HPLC

ＤＥＴＥＲＭＩＮＡＴＩＯＮＯＦＣＹＣＬＯＴＲＩＭＥ－ＴＨＹＬＥＮＥＴＲＩＮＩＴＲＡＭＩＮＥＩＮＳＥＲＵＭＯＦＲＡＢＢＩＴＢＹＲＰ－ＨＰＬＣＣｈｅｎＹｏｎｇ；ＹｕａｎＺｈｕｏ－ｂｉｎ（ＧｒａｄｕａｔｅＳｃｈｏｏｌ，ＡｃａｄｅｍｉａＳｉｎｉｃａ．Ｂｅｉｊ...     

Association of Elevated Serum Lipoprotein(a), Inflammation,Oxidative Stress and Chronic Kidney Disease with Hypertension in Non-diabetes Hypertensive Patients

Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular risk factor. Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], inflammation, oxidative stress and chronic kidney disease (CKD) exacerbate the response to tissue injury and acts as markers of the vascular disease, especially in glomerulosclerosis. We compared the clinical characteristics of 138 non-diabetes hypertensive women (ndHT) patients with 417 non-diabetes normotensive subjects and tested the association of hypertension with Lp(a), inflammation, CKD and oxidative stress by using multiple logistic regression. BP, BMI, waist circumference, creatinine, Lp(a), inflammation and malondialdehyde levels were significantly higher and CKD state in the ndHT patients (p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression showed hypertension associated with increased Lp(a), inflammation, ORs and 95 % CIs were 2.52 (1.33, 4.80), 2.75 (1.44, 5.27) after adjusting for their covariates. Elevated serum Lp(a) and inflammation levels concomitants with increased oxidative stress and CKD were the major risk factors associated with hypertension and implications for the increased risk of HT and vascular disease.     

The effect of extremely high glucose concentrations on 21 routine chemistry and thyroid Abbott assays: interference study

Introduction

Extremely high glucose concentrations have been shown to interfere with creatinine assays especially with Jaffe method in peritoneal dialysate. Because diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease in the world, laboratories study with varying glucose concentrations. We investigated whether different levels of glucose spiked in serum interfere with 21 routine chemistry and thyroid assays at glucose concentrations between 17-51 mmol/L.

Materials and methods

Baseline (group I) serum pool with glucose concentration of 5.55 (5.44-5.61) mmol/L was prepared from patient sera. Spiking with 20% dextrose solution, sample groups were obtained with glucose concentrations: 17.09, 34.52, and 50.95 mmol/L (group II, III, IV, respectively). Total of 21 biochemistry analytes and thyroid tests were studied on Abbott c8000 and i2000sr with commercial reagents. Bias from baseline value was checked statistically and clinically.

Results

Creatinine increased significantly by 8.74%, 31.66%, 55.31% at groups II, III, IV, respectively with P values of < 0.001. At the median glucose concentration of 50.95 mmol/L, calcium, albumin, chloride and FT4 biased significantly clinically (-0.85%, 1.63%, 0.65%, 7.4% with P values 0.138, 0.214, 0.004, < 0.001, respectively). Remaining assays were free of interference.

Conclusion

Among the numerous biochemical parameters studied, only a few parameters are affected by dramatically increased glucose concentration. The creatinine measurements obtained in human sera with the Jaffe alkaline method at high glucose concentrations should be interpreted with caution. Other tests that were affected with extremely high glucose concentrations were calcium, albumin, chloride and FT4, hence results should be taken into consideration in patients with poor diabetic control.Key words: assay interference, glucose interference, preanalytical phase, creatinine, Jaffe kinetic assay, thyroid function tests     

浙江软件企业自主创新能力构建分析

以浙江软件产业为研究对象,介绍企业创新动力、创新能力和企业持续技术创新传导机制的现状,以及浙江软件产业发展和软件企业创新能力现状,在此基础上,建立浙江软件企业自主创新能力构建路径模型,从自主研发创新和引进创新两个角度提出传导路径,探寻浙江软件企业创新能力提升的方法,得出浙江软件企业自主创新应以消化吸收再创新为主的结论。     

制度配置与改革进程:理论回顾、逻辑与模型

本文在对经济学者们比较激进式改革和渐进式改革两种方式及其绩效所提出的新理论进行简要批评性回顾基础上，利用制度配置理论分析激进式改革和渐进式改革的内在差异，论证两种改革方式在制度配置的逻辑和步骤的不同是导致改革绩效差异的主要原因。     

基于价值管理中的企业创新系统构建

本文分析了企业创新系统在基于价值管理的6I's管理模式中的作用及其构建；建立了企业创新系统构建的框架，分析了其六个组成要素以及这些要素之间的关系，初步界定了有关要素的内涵；讨论了两种基本观点的差异。     

建设创新型国家与技能型人才培养

科技创新离不开技能型人才,技能型人才的缺乏是我国科技创新能力的一个重要制约因素,职业教育是培养技能型人才的主要途径,建设创新型国家必须大力发展职业教育。