Drug calculations part 2: alternative strategies to the formula

Drug calculations are an essential skill for nurses. The clinical skill of performing a drug calculation has come under recent scrutiny,resulting in the development of essential skills clusters inwhich pre-registration nurses must be competent before qualifying (Nursing and Midwifery Council 2007). The focuson drug calculation skills places renewed emphasis on how these skills are taught in higher education institutions and how they are learned by students theoretically and in clinical practice.

Exploring genetic alternative concepts for FUELGEN

This paper describes new crossover operators and mutation strategies for the FUELGEN system, a genetic algorithm which designs fuel loading patterns for nuclear power reactors. The new components are applications of new ideas from recent research in genetic algorithms. They are designed to improve the performance of FUELGEN by using information in the problem as yet not made explicit in the genetic algorithm's representation. The paper introduces new developments in genetic algorithm design and explains how they motivate the proposed new components.

Some issues on assessment methods and learning in mathematics and statistics

This paper looks at the application of some of the assessment methods in practice with the view to enhance students’ learning in mathematics and statistics. It explores the effective application of assessment methods and highlights the issues or problems, and ways of avoiding them, related to some of the common methods of assessing mathematical and statistical learning. Some observations made by the author on good assessment practice and useful approaches employed at his institution in designing and applying assessment methods are discussed. Successful strategies in implementing assessment methods at different levels are described.

The benefits of a health impact assessment in relation to fuel poverty: assessing Luton's affordable warmth strategy and the need for a national strategy

The links between fuel poverty and poor health are well documented, yet there is no statutory requirement on local authorities to develop fuel poverty strategies, which tend to be patchy nationally and differ substantially in quality. Fuel poverty starts from the perspective of income, even though interventions can improve health. The current public health agenda calls for more partnership-based, cost-effective strategies based on sound evidence. Fuel poverty represents a key area where there is currently little local evidence quantifying and qualifying health gain arising from strategic interventions. As a result, this initial study sought to apply the principles of a health impact assessment to Luton’s Affordable Warmth Strategy, exploring the potential to identify health impact arising – as a baseline for future research – in the context of the public health agenda. A national strategy would help ensure the promotion of targeted fuel poverty strategies.