Building virtual models by postprocessing radiology images: A guide for anatomy faculty

Radiology and radiologists are recognized as increasingly valuable resources for the teaching and learning of anatomy. State‐of‐the‐art radiology department workstations with industry‐standard software applications can provide exquisite demonstrations of anatomy, pathology, and more recently, physiology. Similar advances in personal computers and increasingly available software can allow anatomy departments and their students to build their own three‐dimensional virtual models. Appropriate selection of a data‐set, followed by processing and presentation are the key steps in creating virtual models. The construction, presentation, clinical application, and educational potential of postprocessed imaging techniques including multiplanar reformats, minimum intensity projections, segmentation, volume‐rendering, surface‐rendering, fly‐throughs, virtual endoscopy, angiography, and cine‐loops are reviewed using examples created with only a personal computer and freeware software. Although only static images are presented in this article, further material is available online within the electronic version of this article. Through the use of basic and advanced image reconstruction and also paying attention to optimized presentation and integration, anatomy courses can be strengthened with appropriate radiological material. There are several key advantages for the anatomy department, which is equipped with the ability to produce virtual models using radiology images: (1) Opportunities to present anatomy using state‐of‐the‐art technology as an adjunct to current practices, (2) a means to forge an improved relationship with the local radiology department, and (3) the ability to create material locally, which is integrated with the local curriculum avoiding the problem of information overload when using the internet or other commercially available resources. Anat Sci Educ 3:261–266, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

ACADEMIC EXCHANGES: EXPERIENCE AND TRENDS

The coincidence that much of Eastern Europe is democratizing at the same time that much of Western Europe is moving towards greater integration gives the universities in both regions the chance to profit from both phenomena and to train their graduates in ways that will enable them to contribute to their further development. One of the best forms of preparation is student mobility. A listing of the perceived priorities and aims of student mobility is followed by a brief statement of the engagement of the Technical University of Budapest (TUB) in mobility and exchange activities.     

Youth transition to employment in Vietnam: a vulnerable path

Literature suggests that educational attainment is one of the significant factors affecting youth transition to work. The process of capital accumulation through education is suggested as the key marker of social inclusion and exclusion. This paper compares the educational attainment among youth in Vietnam with their status in employment. It uses the data from the school-to-work transition survey of the International Labour Office with 2722 youth participants aged 15–29 in different geographical areas in Vietnam. The findings indicate that Vietnamese youth have to face many challenges when negotiating their transition to work, especially when the educational attainment of the majority youth is low. A wide gap between education and learners’ needs and interests, the economic burden many young people had to bear and the low level of development of the economy with a large proportion of the informal sector are the main reasons for youth in Vietnam to leave school early and to accept low quality work to earn their living. These problems need to be solved to help youth in Vietnam approach better jobs in the market.     

Complexities of Vietnamese femininities: a resource for rethinking women's university leadership practices

This paper develops a dialogical encounter between northern-inspired theorisations of gender and Vietnam's historical and cultural differentiation identified through the presence of matriarchy in ancient societies and its popularity in folklore and contemporary politics. The article draws on interviews with 12 senior women from 8 universities in Northern and Southern Vietnam. Three main themes are explored: (1) the Vietnamese woman as ‘general of the interior’; (2) the ‘woman behind the throne’; and (3) ‘behind a woman is another woman’. These themes illustrate the distinctiveness of a historically produced Vietnamese gender order as reflected in current university women's experience. By providing insights into the complex dynamics of Vietnamese women's ‘informal power’, as evident in both spheres of home and university, the paper presents a discussion of forms of Vietnamese femininity that contributes to re-theorising Connell's concepts of ‘hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity’.     

Linear and orthogonal models of acculturation and its relations to cultural variables: An examination of the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA)

The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA) is the most widely used measure of acculturation for Asians. The purpose of the current study was twofold: First, the study explored the consistency of the SL-ASIA in characterizing Asian American men's level of acculturation - Asian-Identified, Western-Identified, Bicultural - using the items of the scale in orthogonal versus linear approaches. Second, the study examined the association between the two scoring methods and characteristics indicative of Asian culture—family allocentrism, loss of face, and affect intensity. An orthogonal approach suggests individuals may identify both with Asian and Western cultures, whereas a linear approach indicates an individual identifies with one culture at the expense of the other (e.g., high Asian, low Western identified). We examined the classification rates of these two methods using a large sample of Asian-American collegiate men (n = 521) and then within each ethnic subgroup of Asian men (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean). Results suggested the two methods of characterizing men consistently diverged. Across the Asian subgroups, the overall agreement rates using linear and orthogonal methods were approximately at chance. Furthermore, significant correlations were observed among acculturation scoring methods and variables indicative of social integrity and family attitude. The implications for these findings and potential future directions for the study of acculturation are discussed.     

‘Responsibility in mobility’: international students and social responsibility

Enhancing the educational experience and social connectedness for international students is the responsibility of different involved parties among whom international students themselves and host institutions play a key role. However, the question of how the condition of cross-border mobility has shaped and re-shaped international students’ responsibility towards the home and host country and other social relationships that have been formed via their mobility experiences is often neglected. This paper examines the social nature of international students’ responsibility. It is derived from a research project funded by the Australian Research Council that includes fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with 155 staff and international students from 25 institutions in Australia over 4 years. Using positioning theory as a conceptual framework, the study shows that it is important to take into account the tangible aspects of transnational mobility in understanding international student responsibility rather than merely locating their responsibility in simple cultural, personal or institutional parameters. The study suggests the important roles of host institutions and community in creating conducive conditions and opportunities for international students to exercise responsibility as social members and intercultural learners. Enhancing student social responsibility and capacity for enacting responsibility is essential for nurturing meaningful transnational citizenship.     

Teacher Education in Hungary: system,process, perspectives

The author sees the Hungarian teacher education system as being in a state of transition and development and identifies a number of the planning issues to be faced.

There has existed, traditionally in Hungary, the two routes through teacher‐training familiar to many Western countries, characterised as the e'cole normale/university dichotomy. This has revealed a familiar problem: the older the age‐range for which the student is being trained, the less emphasis on pedagogy in the training.

Hungarian teacher education faces other problems. There is still a shortage of teachers, despite a high level of demand for training; demographic problems weigh heavily.

Attempts at finding solutions through mergers of institutions at different levels meet resistance, and the conflict of values from universities and teachers’ colleges echoes similar debates in, for example, France and Greece. The problems encountered raise a fundamental question: who should decide the nature of the teacher‐training programme: the specialist academics and pedagogues, or the employing community? In Hungary, the debate continues.     

香港公开大学的开放和远程教育理念

香港公开大学以“有教无类,卓越进取”为宗旨,在继承和发扬中国的传统化、借鉴国外先进经验的基础上,根据香港特殊的背景和需要,建立了独特的开放和远程教育的理念：实行开放入学,采用远程教学的灵活的学习模式,精心设计优质的自学教材,以学生为本提供良好的学习支援,善用现代教育技术,迎接远程教育的国际化。