Anatomy education environment measurement inventory: A valid tool to measure the anatomy learning environment

Students' perceptions of the education environment influence their learning. Ever since the major medical curriculum reform, anatomy education has undergone several changes in terms of its curriculum, teaching modalities, learning resources, and assessment methods. By measuring students' perceptions concerning anatomy education environment, valuable information can be obtained to facilitate improvements in teaching and learning. Hence, it is important to use a valid inventory that specifically measures attributes of the anatomy education environment. In this study, a new 11‐factor, 132‐items Anatomy Education Environment Measurement Inventory (AEEMI) was developed using Delphi technique and was validated in a Malaysian public medical school. The inventory was found to have satisfactory content evidence (scale‐level content validity index [total] = 0.646); good response process evidence (scale‐level face validity index [total] = 0.867); and acceptable to high internal consistency, with the Raykov composite reliability estimates of the six factors are in the range of 0.604–0.876. The best fit model of the AEEMI is achieved with six domains and 25 items (X² = 415.67, P < 0.001, ChiSq/df = 1.63, RMSEA = 0.045, GFI = 0.905, CFI = 0.937, NFI = 0.854, TLI = 0.926). Hence, AEEMI was proven to have good psychometric properties, and thus could be used to measure the anatomy education environment in Malaysia. A concerted collaboration should be initiated toward developing a valid universal tool that, using the methods outlined in this study, measures the anatomy education environment across different institutions and countries. Anat Sci Educ 10: 423–432. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Evolving through tensions: preservice teachers’ conceptions of social justice teaching

ABSTRACT

This study utilized cultural historical activity theory to explore the evolution of nine preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) conceptions of social justice teaching while enrolled in a social justice-oriented teacher education program. From three interviews conducted over one year, findings show that tensions PSTs encountered while student teaching in high-poverty schools predominantly shaped their thinking. PSTs’ conceptions of social justice teaching evolved to include navigating inequitable systems, loving students critically, and viewing social justice teaching as uniquely personal. Implications include the importance of teacher educators leveraging inevitable student-teaching tensions as learning opportunities to further PSTs’ commitment to social justice teaching.     

Effective post-literacy learning: A question of a national human resource strategy

Initial literacy courses must be followed by opportunities for consolidating the mechanics of literacy skills and practical application of three skills in life. Experience has shown that these post-literacy objectives can be achieved, not by a second stage of the literacy course, but by a range of opportunities for learning and application of learning through a network of continuing education opportunities geared to the diverse needs and circumstances of different categories of neo-literates. A taxonomy of learner categories and learning needs is seen as a basis for planning and supporting the network of post-literacy learning.Examples from China, India and Thailand demonstrate the importance of recognizing the continuity of literacy and post-literacy efforts, the need for commitment of resources for this continuum of learning, the role of an organizational structure to deal with this continuum in a coordinated way, and the value of a comprehensive range of learning opportunities for neo-literates.A necessary condition for success in building a network of continuing learning opportunities and contributing to the creation of a learning society is to make human resource development the core of national development. It is argued that the scope and dimensions of post-literacy continuing education are integrally linked with the goal of mass basic education and ultimately with the vision of a learning society. Such a vision can be a reality only with a serious human resource development focus in national development that will permit the necessary mobilization of resources, the coordination of sectors of government and society and the generation of popular enthusiasm. A radical or an incremental approach can be taken to move towards the primacy of a human resource strategy in national development. In either case, a functioning coordination and support mechanism has to be developed for the key elements of mass basic education including post-literacy learning.

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Zusammenfassung Den Anfangskursen der Alphabetisierung müssen Möglichkeiten zur Festigung der Mechanismen der Lese-, Schreib- und Rechenfähigkeiten und zur praktischen Anwendung dieser drei Fähigkeiten folgen. Erfahrungen haben gezeigt, daß diese Ziele der Nachalphabetisierung nicht durch eine zweite Stufe der Alphabetisierungskurse erreicht werden können, sondern nur durch ausreichende Gelegenheiten zum Lernen und zur Anwendung des Erlernten durch ein Netzwerk von Weiterbildung, das den diversen Bedürfnissen und Umständen der verschiedenen Kategorien der Neualphabetisierung angepaßt ist. Eine Taxonomie der Lernenden und der Lernbedürfnisse wird als Basis zur Planung und Unterstützung eines solchen Netzwerkes betrachtet.Beispiele aus China, Indien und Thailand zeigen die Bedeutsamkeit des Erkennens der Kontinuität von Alphabetisierungs- und Nachalphabetisierungsbemühungen, des Bedarfs an einer Bereitstellung von Mitteln für dieses Kontinuum des Lernens, der Rolle einer Organisationsstruktur, die mit diesem Kontinuum in einer koordinierten Weise umgeht, und eines umfassenden Bereichs von Lernmöglichkeiten für Neualphabetisierte.Eine notwendige Voraussetzung für den erfolgreichen Aufbau eines Netzwerkes von Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten und für einen Beitrag zur Schaffung einer lernenden Gesellschaft ist, daß die Entwicklung menschlicher Ressourcen zum Kern der nationalen Entwicklung gemacht wird. Ein Argument ist, daß der Bereich und die Dimensionen der Weiterbildung nach der Alphabetisierung integral mit dem Ziel der Massengrundbildung und letztlich mit der Vision einer lernenden Gesellschaft verbunden sind. Solche Vision kann nur dann Realität werden, wenn eine ernsthafte Entwicklung der menschlichen Ressourcen bei der nationalen Entwicklung ins Auge gefaßt wird, die die notwendige Mobilisierung der Ressourcen, die Koordination der Regierungsbereiche und der Gesellschaft und die Erzeugung eines allgemeinen Enthusiasmus erlaubt. Ein radikaler oder auch schrittweiser Ansatz kann zu der Bevorzugung einer menschlichen Ressourcenstrategie in der nationalen Entwicklung führen. In jedem Fall muß ein funktionaler Koordinations- und Unterstützungsmechanismus für die Grundelemente der Massengrundbildung einschließlich der Nachalphabetisierung entwickelt werden.

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Résumé Après les cours d'alphabétisation initiale, des possibilités doivent être offertes pour fixer les mécanismes des compétences d'alphabétisme et de mise en pratique des rudiments de l'instruction dans la vie. L'expérience acquise a montré que les objectifs de postalphabétisation peuvent être atteints, non pas en suivant un second cycle d'alphabétisation, mais par le moyen de nombreuses possibilités d'apprentissage et d'application de celui-ci à travers un réseau d'occasions d'éducation continue centrées sur les diverses exigences et circonstances des différentes catégories de néo-alphabètes. Une taxonomie des catégories d'apprenants et des besoins d'apprentissage sert de base à la planification et au soutien du réseau de l'apprentissage de postalphabétisation.Les exemples de la Chine, de l'Inde et de la Thaïlande prouvent l'importance qu'il y a à reconnaître la continuité des efforts d'alphabétisation et de postalphabétisation, la nécessité d'allouer des ressources à ce continuum d'apprentissage, le rôle d'une structure organisationnelle pour traiter celui-ci de manière coordonnée, et la valeur d'une série complète d'occasions d'apprentissage destinées aux néo-alphabètes.La condition nécessaire pour pouvoir établir un réseau d'occasions d'apprentissage continu et contribuer à la création d'une société qui apprend est de faire du développement des ressources humaines le centre du développement national. Il est dit que la portée et les dimensions de l'éducation continue de postalphabétisation sont entièrement liées à l'objectif de l'éducation fondamentale de masse et enfin à la vision d'une société qui apprend. Une telle vision ne peut être réalité que si le développement national met un accent majeur sur celui des ressources humaines qui permettra la mobilisation nécessaire des ressources, la coordination des secteurs du gouvernement et de la société et la génération de l'enthousiasme populaire. On peut adopter une démarche radicale ou progressive pour se diriger vers la stratégie des ressources humaines dans le développement national. Dans les deux cas, il convient de mettre au point un mécanisme de coordination et de soutien des éléments-clés de l'éducation fondamentale de masse incluant la postalphabétisation.

     

Delivering audiovisual content with MPEG-21-enabled cross-layer QoS adaptation

Future multimedia communication systems have to support the user‘s needs, the terminal capabilities, the content specification and the underlying networking technologies. The related protocols and applications must be designed from this integration perspective in a cross-layer centric manner. In this paper, we propose an implementation of a streaming service (e.g.,Television over IP service) with a unified QoS management concept that enables an IP driven integration of different system components (terminal, user, content, and network). The MPEG-21 framework is used to provide a common support for implementing and managing the end-to-end QoS. The main focus of this paper is on the architecture design, protocols specification and implementation evaluation. Performance evaluations using PSNR and SSIM objective video quality metrics show the benefit of the proposed MPEG-21-enabled cross-layer adaptation.     

Assessment of renal acidification capacity of stone formers by acid challenge test

Acid challenge test was carried out on 87 subjects (37 normal and 50 radiologically proven stone formers) to assess their renal acidification capacity. NS were given three doses viz. 75, 100 and 150 mg NH₄Cl/Kg body weight while the SF were tested with only 150 mg dose which was found to be an adequate dose. Ammonium chloride was given in gelatin capsules with breakfast and hourly urine samples were collected for next 7 hours. pH, creatinine, calcium, inorganic phosphorus, citrate, titrable acid and ammonium were analysed in all the samples. The incidence of renal tubular acidosis (RTA) in NS, tested with 75 mg and 100 mg/kg doses of ammonium chloride, was 50% and 10% respectively while it was nil and 24% respectively in NS and SF tested with 150mg/kg dose. Complete RTA was detected in one SF. No significant difference was observed in urinary profile of NS and SF except that the hourly titrable acid excretion was lower in later. A comparison between with and without RTA SF revealed that titrable acid and phosphate excretion decreased in RTA defect. Overall data indicate that (a) RTA was an etiologic factor in one fourth of the SF; (b) an oral acid challenge test is a good adjunct to detect this condition and (c) acid challenge increases calcium, phosphate and titrable acid excretion and decreases citrate.     

Mathematical models for process commonality under quality and resources breakdown in multistage production

It is essential to manage customers’ diverse desires and to keep manufacturing costs as low as possible for survival in competition and eventually in production. Sharing resources in manufacturing for different products is a vital method of accomplishing this goal. The advantages of using a common process in production are stated in the literature. However, the mathematical models as well as simulation or conceptual models are not sufficient. The main objective of this paper is to develop mathematical models for multiproduct and multistage production under quality and breakdown uncertainties. The idea of the process commonality is incorporated in the proposed models. The models are validated by primary data collected from a Malaysian company and comparison of the timely requirement schedules of earlier MRP II and the proposed models under stable and perfect production environments. An appreciable convergence of the outcomes is observed. However, the proposed models are carrying additional information about the available locations of the parts in a time frame. After validation, the effects of process commonality on cost, capacity and the requirement schedule under uncertainties are examined. It is observed that the use of common processes in manufacturing is always better than the non-commonality scenario in terms of production cost. However, the increase in capacity requirement for commonality designs is higher for an ideal system, while it is less when the system suffers from breakdowns and a quality problem.     

Experimental approaches and analytical technique for determining heavy metals in fallen dust at ferrosilicon production factory in Edfu, Aswan, Egypt

In this study aimed to evaluate the pollution extent of metals and nonmetals inside and outside the ferrosilicon production factory in Edfu, Aswan, Egypt, raw materials (quartz, cokes, iron oxides), ferrosilicon alloy, silica fume, dust and suspended dust (at different sites) samples were collected from the factory, and fallen dust samples were collected from outside the factory, horizontally (at different sites and different distance and directions) and vertically (at different floors in the selected buildings). Gravimetric methods, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), flame photometer, wide range carbon determinator and atomic absorption spectroscopy tools were used for elements determination. The results indicating that the fallen dust and its element contents on southern factory walls being higher than those on eastern factory walls may be due to the nature of the dusts and effects of wind force and wind direction. Fallen dust levels in different regions outside the factory were found to be affected by the distance, direction and floors. The nature of dust samples was affected by gravity and the suspended dust in different factory units depended on the work capacity and method of handling materials by personnel in different production units. Silica fume was a complicated problem, had dangerous effect against the workers' health, and was characterized by high concentrations of SiO2(90.6%～93.6%) and heavy metals (Mn, 420.6×10-6～520.3×10-6; Fe, 2354×10-6～2685×10-6; Co, 80.7×10-6～101.6×10 6 and Ni,5.3× 10-6～6.05× 10-6). The TSP (Total Suspended Particulate) levels in all factory units were higher than the recommended air quality value (70 μg/m3) under Egyptian law. The effect of ferrosilicon factory fallen dust on the surrounding regions decreased with increasing distance between the factory and these regions. The suspended dust samples in the factory units and their components greatly exceeded national and international standards, so health and environmental criteria must be enforced on these units.     

Mapping inequality in access to meaningful learning in secondary education in Ethiopia: implications for sustainable development

ABSTRACT

The rapid expansion of primary education in Ethiopia has enabled most children to attend primary education—or at least to start schooling. This expansion, however, is largely “symbolic” rather than “substantive” where “substantive” refers to access that generates meaningful learning. The article explores spatial inequality in access to meaningful learning in secondary education in Ethiopia with a particular focus on the Amhara region, and addresses the question: Is substantive learning equitably distributed? To operationalise this question, “access-to-learning” is conceptualised using a new method of constructing a learning-oriented measure of educational quality that combines grade survival (access) and test score (quality). Moreover, the “zones of exclusion” framework has been used to see the systematic loss of students from the education system at different points in time. Using GIS tools, the extent of spatial inequality in access-to-learning was determined by mapping the proportion of students who achieved the required level of performance, and geographical variation in the distribution of inequality factors. The paper concludes with implications for educational policy and planning and recommendations for further research.     

利用残留冗余量的联合信源信道解码在EVRC语音解码器中的应用

宽带扩频系统的语音服务采用增强型的可变比率编码器，该标准已在IS－95和J－STC－008个人移动通信系统得到应用。本致力于利用增强可变比率编码器中内在残留冗余信息的信道解码器。由于残留冗余信息可以用一阶产夫模型表示，同时相关频率的变化可以用熵率来表示，从而，信道解码器可利用这种残留冗余量。仿真结果表明，和没有利用这种信息量的解码器相比，由于编码增益，系统性能有明显改善，其中，信道编码采用了卷积码、Turbo码两种方式。