Fire play: ICCARUS—Intelligent command and control,acquisition and review using simulation*

Is it possible to educate a fire officer to deal intelligently with the command and control of a major fire event he will never have experienced? The authors of this paper believe there is, and present here just one solution to this training challenge. It involves the development of an intelligent simulation based upon computer managed interactive media. The expertise and content underpinning this educational development was provided by the West Midlands Fire Service. Their brief for this training programme was unambiguous and to the point:

• 1 Do not present the trainee with a model answer, because there are no generic fires. Each incident is novel, complex, and often ‘wicked’ in that it changes obstructively as it progresses. Thus firefighting demands that Commanders impose their individual intelligence on each problem to solve it.
• 2 A suitable Educational Simulator should stand alone; operate in real time; emulate as nearly as possible the ‘feel’ of the fireground; present realistic fire progress; incorporate the vast majority of those resources normally present at a real incident; bombard the trainee with information from those sources; provide as few system‐prompts as possible.
• 3 There should also be an interrogable visual debrief which can be used after the exercise to give the trainees a firm understanding of the effects of their actions. This allows them to draw their own conclusions of their command effectiveness. Additionally, such a record of command and control will be an ideal initiator of tutorial discussion.
• 4 The simulation should be realisable on a hardware/software platform of £10 000.
• 5 The overriding importance is that the simulation should ‘emulate as nearly as possible the feelings and stresses of the command role’.

     

Unequal academic achievement in high school: the mediating roles of concerted cultivation and close friends

Building from the classic Wisconsin model of status attainment, this study examines whether a specific style of parenting, concerted cultivation, and a close friend’s school-related attitudes and behaviors mediate the relationship between a family’s socioeconomic status and their child’s academic achievement in the United States. Using a recursive path model on nationally representative panel data of high school students (N = 10,350), the results confirm a direct association between socioeconomic status and concerted cultivation. In addition, concerted cultivation and close friends are shown to mediate the relationship between a family’s socioeconomic status and their child’s academic achievement.     

Modeling of D-STATCOM in distribution systems load flow

This paper presents modeling of Distribution STATCOM (D-STATCOM) in load flow calculations for the steady- state voltage compensation. An accurate model for D-STATCOM is derived to use in load flow calculations. The rating of this device as well as the direction of required reactive power injection for voltage compensation in the desired value (1 p.u.) is de- rived and discussed analytically and mathematically by the phasor diagram method. Furthermore, an efficient method for node and line identification used in load flow calculations is presented. The validity of the proposed model is examined by using two standard distribution systems consisting of 33 and 69 nodes, respectively. The best location of D-STATCOM for under voltage problem mitigation approach in the distribution networks is determined. The results validate the proposed model for D- STATCOM in large distribution systems.     

Pedagogical Considerations for Examining Rater Variability in Rater‐Mediated Assessments: A Three‐Model Framework

Rater‐mediated assessments are a common methodology for measuring persons, investigating rater behavior, and/or defining latent constructs. The purpose of this article is to provide a pedagogical framework for examining rater variability in the context of rater‐mediated assessments using three distinct models. The first model is the observation model, which includes ecological/environmental considerations for the evaluation system. The second model is the measurement model, which includes the transformation of observed, rater response data to linear measures using a measurement model with specific requirements of rater‐invariant measurement in order to examine raters’ construct‐relevant variability stemming from the evaluative system. The third model is the interaction model, which includes an interaction parameter to allow for the investigation into raters’ systematic, construct‐irrelevant variability stemming from the evaluative system. Implications for measurement outcomes and validity are discussed.     

Virtual Reality Simulation: Effects on Academic Performance Within Two Domains of Writing in Science

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role textbooks can play on writing complexity and lexical density as a proxy for critical thinking and ultimately learning, in relation to argumentative and summative writing when integrated with a virtual reality experience. In this study, differences in writing complexity and lexical density scores were measured across four different pedagogical modalities: VR alone, VR followed by textbook readings, textbook readings followed by VR, and textbook readings alone. Adult students, recruited from non-science-based higher education programs, responded to two prompts related to content found in the VR environments and discussed in the textbooks. The authors hypothesized that exposure to a virtual marine environment prior to responding to the writing prompts would enhance both argumentative and summative writing products, when compared to participants who only had access to the textbook experiences. Participants who were exposed to the VR environment then a textbook demonstrated significantly greater writing complexity and lexical density scores than those who had access to VR alone, or access to the text alone.

     

Sexual Health Education in Massage Therapy Programs: A Survey of Program Directors

Massage therapy program directors completed an online survey to explore sexual education in massage therapy programs. The overall data suggest that program directors are supportive of sexual health education in the training of massage therapists and that such education is integrated into several aspects of their training programs. To enhance sexual health education, massage therapy programs could collaborate with specialists in sex therapy or sexuality education. Massage therapy training may need to include the following topics: working with clients who have been sexually abused, working with transsexual clients, understanding sexual arousal processes, and understanding dynamics between men and women.     

Application of real options analysis for pharmaceutical R&D project valuation—Empirical results from a survey

Real options analysis was often recommended as an emerging valuation technique for high-risk investment projects. Former inter-sectoral surveys have drawn an ambivalent picture of real options usage in general. In addition, there is a lack of sector-specific investigations. In the following article the results of an in-depth analysis of collected empirical data regarding the application of this new tool in the pharmaceutical sector is presented by capturing the internal view from the pharmaceutical companies themselves and the external view from the health care departments of financial service firms. R&D stage specific modi of application, reasons for reluctance in the employment of real options and their assumed future prospects are elucidated.     

(Residual) Public Music Radio in the Streaming Era: Listening for Diversity and Frequency on CBC Music

The aim of this article is to assess whether and how the CBC’s music radio programming reflects the corporation’s mandate of showcasing a diversity of music and culture. I argue that a program logic that privileges an international corporate music industry strategy persists (particularly during the peak morning and afternoon drive time programs) and limits the capacity for public radio to imagine and project alternative musical trajectories. My aspiration is to imagine CBC Music’s over-the-air radio as a residual broadcast service, one that presents novel opportunities at a time when digital and online streaming music is dominant.