Analytical examination of animal remains from Borneo:the painting of bone and shell

Examination of a selection of shell and bone from archaeological assemblages excavated at Niah Cave and Gua Sireh, both of which are located in Sarawak, Borneo, has revealed the deliberate application of coloured material to one or more surfaces. Small fragments of the surface colourant were analysed using a variety of techniques, including microscopy, energy dispersive microwave analysis and infra-red spectrophotometry. These procedures established that, although red in colour, the applied coating in each instance was not red iron oxide. It is suggested that, based on the chemical components present, this coating was a tree resin or a similar organic substance. The paper further reports the presence of enhanced chloride values in the colourant recovered from the ancient human cranial fragment tested. It is suggested that elevated concentrations of this trace element may indicate that the site, the human remains or ingredients within the colourant were once in close proximity to the sea. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Earthquake aftershock anxiety: An examination of psychosocial contributing factors and symptomatic outcomes.

This study examined the direct and indirect effects of cognitions and anxiety associated with aftershocks on psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, acute stress) and daily functioning (general and relationship). Participants were 600 adults from Christchurch. Data collection was approximately four months after the fatal 2011 earthquake. Path analysis was used. Socioeconomic status was directly associated with appraisals of uncontrollability of response to aftershocks. These cognitions were directly related to aftershock anxiety, which heightened general anxiety, depression and acute stress symptoms. These symptoms were directly associated with relationship and general life dysfunction. Aftershock anxiety plays a significant role in ongoing psychological distress associated with earthquakes.

A constructive approach for examination timetabling based on adaptive decomposition and ordering

In this study, we investigate an adaptive decomposition and ordering strategy that automatically divides examinations into difficult and easy sets for constructing an examination timetable. The examinations in the difficult set are considered to be hard to place and hence are listed before the ones in the easy set in the construction process. Moreover, the examinations within each set are ordered using different strategies based on graph colouring heuristics. Initially, the examinations are placed into the easy set. During the construction process, examinations that cannot be scheduled are identified as the ones causing infeasibility and are moved forward in the difficult set to ensure earlier assignment in subsequent attempts. On the other hand, the examinations that can be scheduled remain in the easy set.

Within the easy set, a new subset called the boundary set is introduced to accommodate shuffling strategies to change the given ordering of examinations. The proposed approach, which incorporates different ordering and shuffling strategies, is explored on the Carter benchmark problems. The empirical results show that the performance of our algorithm is broadly comparable to existing constructive approaches.

An examination of student and provider perceptions of voluntary sector social work placements in Northern Ireland

Practice based learning in Northern Ireland is a core element of social work education and comprising 50% of the degree programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students. This article presents evidence about the perceptions of practice learning from voluntary sector/non-government organisation (NGO) placement providers and final year social work students on social work degree programmes in Northern Ireland in 2011. It draws on data from 121 respondents from189 final year students and focus group interviews with voluntary sector providers offering 16% (85) of the total placements available to students. The agencies who participated in the research study provide a total of 55 PLOs to social work students, and are therefore fairly representative in terms of voluntary sector (NGO) provision. The article locates these data in the context of practice learning pedagogy and the changes introduced by the Regional Strategy for Practice Learning Provision in Northern Ireland 2010–2015. Several themes emerged including; induction, support and guidance, practice educator/student relationship, professional identity and confidence in risk assessment and decision-making. Social work educators, placement providers and employers must be cognisant of newly qualified social workers’ needs in terms of consolidating knowledge within the formative stages of their professional development.

Neurology assessment by objective structured video examination (OSVE)

Summary
Background
The ability to carry out a neurological examination and make an appropriate differential diagnosis is one of the mainstays of our final Bachelor of Medicine (MB) exam; however, with the introduction of objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) it has become impossible to arrange for adequate numbers of suitable real patients to participate in the exam.

Context
It is vital that newly qualified doctors can perform a basic neurological examination, interpret the physical signs and formulate a differential diagnosis.

It is vital that newly qualified doctors can perform a basic neurological examination

Innovation
Since 2010 we have introduced an objective structured video examination (OSVE) of a neurological examination of a real patient as part of our final MB OSCE exam. The students view clips of parts of the examination process. They answer questions on the signs that are demonstrated and formulate a differential diagnosis.

Implications
This type of station is logistically a lot easier to organise than a large number of real patients at different examination sites. The featured patients have clearly demonstrated signs and, as every student sees the same patient, are perfectly standardised. It is highly acceptable to examiners and performed well as an assessment tool. There are, however, certain drawbacks in that we are not examining the student's examination technique or their interaction with the patient. Also, certain signs, in particular the assessment of muscle tone and power, are more difficult for a student to estimate in this situation

The effects of sevoflurane and ketamine on intraocular pressure in children during examination under anesthesia

PURPOSE: We studied the effects on intraocular pressure (IOP) of anesthesia administered during examination under anesthesia (EUA) in children. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. METHODS: This randomized trial compared IOP after inhaled sevoflurane gas to that after intramuscular ketamine hydrochloride in children undergoing EUA. IOP was measured in 30 eyes with TonoPen XL (Mentor, Inc, Norwell, Massachusetts, USA) as soon as possible after anesthesia induction (T1) and two, four, six, and eight minutes thereafter. At the same times, we recorded systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and heart rate (HR). RESULTS: Compared with the mean IOP at T1, IOP in the sevoflurane group was significantly lower for all measurements from two to eight minutes thereafter (mean decrease in IOP: two minutes = 12%, four minutes = 19%; six minutes = 19%; eight minutes = 17%, all P < or = .01). In the ketamine group, mean IOP was not significantly changed from T1 through six minutes, whereas at eight minutes, it was 7% lower (P = .03). SBP and DBP were significantly lower for sevoflurane than for ketamine at all measurements from two minutes onward, and HR was lower for sevoflurane than for ketamine at two, four, and six minutes. CONCLUSIONS: IOP measured after ketamine sedation is more likely to represent the awake IOP than that after sevoflurane anesthesia. Changes in SBP, DBP, and HR caused by sevoflurane suggest that hemodynamic alterations may underlie its effects on IOP.

'This is a beautiful school.' 'This school is useless!' Explaining disengagement in a Greek vocational school through the examination of teacher ideologies

This multimethod case study of a Greek vocational school explored teachers’ culture (including beliefs about education, teachers’ role, and students’ nature) using the concept of Pupil Control Ideology to explain problems of disengagement and low morale among staff and students, as well as tensions in relationships. A prominent custodial culture was identified in the school using a functional/apolitical pedagogy to transmit ‘legitimate’ knowledge to students whose working-class background did not produce desired outcomes. This generated deficit views of students, teachers’ sympathy, and a seemingly caring school ethos which was, nevertheless, oppressive. Students’ failings were naturalised and vocational education misinterpreted as merely a streaming device in a system honouring academic achievement and middle-class ways. Teachers were blind to these cultural subtleties, believing they acted ‘rationally’ and altruistically. A humanistic subculture emphasising student empowerment and social transformation consisted of a minority of teachers and was rather marginalised. This disallowed meaningful dialogue and the identification of an alternative rationale for the sector, generating strong feelings of futility. Positive change in this school necessitated the deconstruction and (subsequent) reconstruction of custodial teachers’ worldview as embedded in their practice.

An Empirical Examination of the Impacts from Termination of a Performance-Based Incentive Plan

This paper reports on the financial impacts from the termination of a pay for performance plan for the salesforce at a retail establishment. Using monthly panel data spanning more than eight years for 15 outlets of a major retailer, this study documents that store-level sales and operating profits decrease after the incentive plan is terminated. Individual performance data are then investigated to help identify the role of effort and selection effects in explaining the documented decrease. The analysis of the individual employee sales data reveals that virtually all of the declining store level sales can be explained by selection effects.

The Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative: An examination of MOOC usage for professional workforce development outcomes in Colombia, the Philippines, & South Africa

The potential of online learning has long afforded the hope of providing quality education to anyone, anywhere in the world. The recent development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) heralded an exciting new breakthrough by providing free academic instruction and professional skills development from the world’s leading universities to anyone with the sufficient resources to access the internet. The research in Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative study was designed to analyze the MOOC landscape in developing countries and to better understand the motivations of MOOC users and afford insights on the advantages and limitations of MOOCs for workforce development outcomes. The key findings of this study challenge commonly held beliefs about MOOC usage in developing countries, defying typical characterizations of how people in resource constrained settings use technology for learning and employment. In fact, some of the findings are so contrary to what has been reported in the U.S. and other developed environments that they raise new questions for further investigation.

Examination of the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) among British and Trinidadian adults

Much debate in schizotypal research has centred on the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), with research variously showing higher-order dimensionality consisting of two to seven dimensions. In addition, cross-cultural support for the stability of those factors remains limited. Here, we examined the factor structure of the SPQ among British and Trinidadian adults. Participants from a White British sub-sample (n = 351) resident in the UK and from an African Caribbean sub-sample (n = 284) resident in Trinidad completed the SPQ. The higher-order factor structure of the SPQ was analysed through confirmatory factor analysis, followed by multiple-group analysis for the model of best-fit. Between-group differences for sex and ethnicity were investigated using multivariate analysis of variance in relation to the higher-order domains. The model of best-fit was the four-factor structure, which demonstrated measurement invariance across groups. Additionally, these data had an adequate fit for two alternative models: a) 3 factors and b) a modified 4-factor. The British sub-sample had significantly higher scores across all domains than the Trinidadian group, and men scored significantly higher on the disorganised domain than women. The four-factor structure received confirmatory support and, importantly, support for use with populations varying in ethnicity and culture.

Drink availability is associated with enhanced examination performance in adults

While dehydration has negative effects on memory and attention, few studies have investigated whether drinking water can enhance cognitive performance, and none have addressed this in a real-world setting. In this study we explored the potential benefits of the availability of water for undergraduates. The exam performance of students who brought drinks in to exams was compared with those that did not for three cohorts of undergraduates (N = 447). We employed earlier coursework marks as a measure of underlying ability. Students who brought water to the exam achieved better grades than students who did not. When coursework marks were covaried, this effect remained statistically significant, suggesting that this finding was not simply due to more able students being more likely to bring in water. This implies that water consumption may facilitate performance in real-world settings, and, therefore, have specific implications for the assessment of undergraduate learners under examination conditions, but further research is required to evaluate this hypothesis.

Examination timetabling automation using hybrid meta-heuristics

Trabalho de projeto realizado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática e de Computadores