Optimal Receive Antenna Selection in Time-Varying Fading Channels with Practical Training Constraints

Hardware constraints, which motivate receive antenna selection, also require that various antenna elements at the receiver be sounded sequentially to obtain estimates required for selecting the `best' antenna and for coherently demodulating data thereafter. Consequently, the channel state information at different antennas is outdated by different amounts and corrupted by noise. We show that, for this reason, simply selecting the antenna with the highest estimated channel gain is not optimum. Rather, a preferable strategy is to linearly weight the channel estimates of different antennas differently, depending on the training scheme. We derive closed-form expressions for the symbol error probability (SEP) of AS for MPSK and MQAM in time-varying Rayleigh fading channels for arbitrary selection weights, and validate them with simulations. We then characterize explicitly the optimal selection weights that minimize the SEP. We also consider packet reception, in which multiple symbols of a packet are received by the same antenna. New suboptimal, but computationally efficient weighted selection schemes are proposed for reducing the packet error rate. The benefits of weighted selection are also demonstrated using a practical channel code used in third generation cellular systems. Our results show that optimal weighted selection yields a significant performance gain over conventional unweighted selection.

Retrospective adjustment of self-assessed medical competencies - noteworthy in the evaluation of postgraduate practical training courses

The efficacy of postgraduate practical training courses is frequently evaluated by self-assessment instruments. The present study analyses the effect of a basic course in laparoscopic surgery on self-assessed medical competencies.

Learning leadership is in your hands : toward a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training

A scholarship of teaching in post-graduate pre-admission practical legal training is germane to perceptions of the quality of accreditation of young Australian lawyers practicing in a globalised profession. Traditional forms of teaching scholarship in law have been identified as influencing the well being of law students and practitioners. This article reviews literature that frames a definition and prerequisites for a scholarship of teaching, its traditional and potential forms, and its subject matter. It considers the present position of a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training, and the historical and organisational epistemological approaches to professional practical training (compared to academic education) that shape that position. Problems of validity, measurement, performativity, and engagement in teaching scholarship are introduced, followed by consideration of possible methodological approaches drawing on Schon’s conception of action research, together with emergent methodologies, technologies and practical considerations that enable individual practitioners to pursue and lead a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training. The article frames questions for further doctoral research in relation to practical legal training teachers’ engagement with the scholarship of teaching.

Learning leadership is in your hands : toward a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training

This article seeks to promote discussion about scholarship of teaching in Australian postgraduate pre-admission practical legal training (PLT). This is germane to perceptions of the quality of accreditation of young Australian lawyers practicing in a globalised profession. The article gives a definition and outlines the prerequisites for scholarship of teaching. The present position of teacher engagement with scholarship of teaching in Australian PLT is considered, together with the historical and organisational epistemological approaches to professional practical training. Problems of validity, measurement, performativity, and engagement in teaching scholarship are discussed. Possible methodological approaches, including Schön’s conception of action research, together with other methodologies, technologies, and practical considerations, are considered. These discussion points are directed toward future exploration of PLT teachers’ engagement with, and leadership in, the scholarship of teaching in PLT.

Simple aquaculture training for rural development in Zimbabwe

A summary is provided of a course introduced in 1987 at the Chaminuka Training Centre in Zimbabwe for training in rural aquaculture. The recruitment of trainees, aquaculture and rural development, the curriculum and practical training are outlined.

Report of the training on seagrass conservation and monitoring, Myanmar, 26 April -3 May, 2015

Trainers from the region contributed theory and practical training to trainees from government departments, universities and NGOs relevant to conservation of seagrasses and monitoring methods.

virtX - Ein rechnergestütztes System zum Training des intraoperativen Einsatzes eines mobilen Bildverstärkers

Hintergrund und Fragestellung: Die korrekte intraoperative Positionierung und Einstellung eines mobilen Bildverstärkers (auch C-Bogen) kann zurzeit theoretisch mit Hilfe von Lehrbüchern erlernt, am Gerät selbst aber nur ohne visuelle Rückmeldung, d.h. ohne ein zur Ausrichtung korrespondierendes Röntgenbild, trainiert werden. Hieraus ergibt sich die Fragestellung, inwiefern das Training der Handhabung und richtigen Einstellung des C-Bogens in verschiedenen Operationsszenarien durch ein C-Bogen Simulationssystem als Teil eines CBT-Systems (Computer Based Training) unterstützt werden kann. Methoden: In Kooperation mit Ärzten aus Unfallchirurgie und Radiologie wurde das computer-basierte Trainingssystem virtX entwickelt. virtX kann dem Nutzer verschiedene Aufgaben zur Einstellung eines C-Bogens stellen und die Ausführung und das Ergebnis bewerten. Die Aufgaben können mit Hilfe eines Autorensystems erstellt und vom Trainierenden in verschiedenen Modi erfüllt werden: im rein virtuellen Modus oder im kombinierten virtuell-realen Modus. Im rein virtuellen Modus steuert der Nutzer den virtuellen C-Bogen in einem virtuellen OP-Saal mittels einer grafisch-interaktiven Benutzungsoberfläche. Im virtuell-realen Modus hingegen wird die Ausrichtung eines realen C-Bogens erfasst und auf den virtuellen C-Bogen übertragen. Während der Aufgabenerfüllung kann der Benutzer zu jeder Zeit ein realitätsnahes, virtuelles Röntgenbild erzeugen und dabei alle Parameter wie Blendenstellung, Röntgenintensität, etc. wie bei einem realen C-Bogen steuern. virtX wurde auf einem dreitägigen Kurs für OP-Personal mit 120 Teilnehmern eingesetzt und auf der Basis von Fragebögen evaluiert. Ergebnisse: Von den Teilnehmern gaben 79 einen ausgefüllten Evaluations-Fragebogen ab. Das Durchschnittsalter der 62 weiblichen und 15 männlichen Teilnehmer (zwei o.A.) lag bei 34 ± 9 Jahren, die Berufserfahrung bei 8,3 ± 7,6 Jahren. 18 Personen (23%) gaben an, gelegentlich mit einem C-Bogen zu arbeiten, 61 (77%) arbeiteten regelmäßig damit. Über 83% der befragten Teilnehmer empfanden virtX als eine sinnvolle Ergänzung zur herkömmlichen Ausbildung am C-Bogen. Das virtuelle Röntgen wurde mit einer Zustimmung von 91% der befragten Teilnehmer als besonders wichtig für das Verständnis der Arbeitsweise eines C-Bogens beurteilt. Ebenso erhielt der kombinierte virtuell-reale Modus mit 84% Zustimmung einen vergleichsweise hohen Stellenwert. Schlussfolgerung: Die Befragung zeichnet ein positives Bild der Akzeptanz des virtX-System als substanzielle Ergänzung zur herkömmlichen Ausbildung am C-Bogen.

Investigative interviewers' perceptions of the value of different training Tasks on their adherence to open-ended questions with children

Prior research has highlighted the considerable difficulties investigative interviewers have in adhering to open-ended questions in child abuse interviews. Although improvements in interviewing can be achieved by providing training that incorporates multiple practice opportunities and feedback, currently little is known about the way in which these elements are best administered. The current study extends debate and research on this issue by examining the perceptions of 15 trainee interviewers (police as well as social workers) regarding the relative value of various practical training exercises experienced in a recent training program. The findings indicated that although practice in interviewing was deemed essential, not all tasks were perceived to be equally beneficial. The two most favoured exercises were (a) simulated interviews involving trained actors playing the role of the child, and (b) self-evaluation of a transcribed interview using an objective coding protocol. A summary of the participants' perceptions is provided along with a discussion of the implications for trainers and researchers.

Narrative structure analysis with education and training videos for e-learning

This paper deals with the problem ofstructuralizing education and training videos for high-level semantics extraction and nonlinear media presentation in e-learning applications. Drawing guidance from production knowledge in instructional media, we propose six main narrative structures employed in education and training videos for both motivation and demonstration during learning and practical training. We devise a powerful audiovisual feature set, accompanied by a hierarchical decision tree-based classification system to determine and discriminate between these structures. Based on a two-liered hierarchical model, we demonstrate that we can achieve an accuracy of 84.7% on a comprehensive set of education and training video data.

Rationale, scope, and 20-year experience of vascular surgical training with lifelike pulsatile flow models

Vascular surgical training currently has to cope with various challenges, including restrictions on work hours, significant reduction of open surgical training cases in many countries, an increasing diversity of open and endovascular procedures, and distinct expectations by trainees. Even more important, patients and the public no longer accept a "learning by doing" training philosophy that leaves the learning curve on the patient's side. The Vascular International (VI) Foundation and School aims to overcome these obstacles by training conventional vascular and endovascular techniques before they are applied on patients. To achieve largely realistic training conditions, lifelike pulsatile models with exchangeable synthetic arterial inlays were created to practice carotid endarterectomy and patch plasty, open abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery, and peripheral bypass surgery, as well as for endovascular procedures, including endovascular aneurysm repair, thoracic endovascular aortic repair, peripheral balloon dilatation, and stenting. All models are equipped with a small pressure pump inside to create pulsatile flow conditions with variable peak pressures of ~90 mm Hg. The VI course schedule consists of a series of 2-hour modules teaching different open or endovascular procedures step-by-step in a standardized fashion. Trainees practice in pairs with continuous supervision and intensive advice provided by highly experienced vascular surgical trainers (trainer-to-trainee ratio is 1:4). Several evaluations of these courses show that tutor-assisted training on lifelike models in an educational-centered and motivated environment is associated with a significant increase of general and specific vascular surgical technical competence within a short period of time. Future studies should evaluate whether these benefits positively influence the future learning curve of vascular surgical trainees and clarify to what extent sophisticated models are useful to assess the level of technical skills of vascular surgical residents at national or international board examinations. This article gives an overview of our experiences of >20 years of practical training of beginners and advanced vascular surgeons using lifelike pulsatile vascular surgical training models.

A model of career training in international contexts

Este artículo describe un modelo para la capacitación de practicantes de orientación ocupacional en contextos internacionales. Este modelo utiliza un enfoque de "compromiso activo" y se fundamenta en los siguientes factores: 1. Relativos a Competencia/Habilidad; 2. Aprendizaje Experimental; 3. Desafío de Fortaleza; 4. Pensamiento Crítico; 5. Intervenciones y Procesos Dinámicos; y 6. Aprendizaje e Innovación Integradas. También se incluye un debate sobre otras cuestiones prácticas relativas a la capacitación.

A model of career training in international contexts

Este artículo describe un modelo para la capacitación de practicantes de orientación ocupacional en contextos internacionales. Este modelo utiliza un enfoque de "compromiso activo" y se fundamenta en los siguientes factores: 1. Relativos a Competencia/Habilidad; 2. Aprendizaje Experimental; 3. Desafío de Fortaleza; 4. Pensamiento Crítico; 5. Intervenciones y Procesos Dinámicos; y 6. Aprendizaje e Innovación Integradas. También se incluye un debate sobre otras cuestiones prácticas relativas a la capacitación.

A model of career training in international contexts

Este artículo describe un modelo para la capacitación de practicantes de orientación ocupacional en contextos internacionales. Este modelo utiliza un enfoque de "compromiso activo" y se fundamenta en los siguientes factores: 1. Relativos a Competencia/Habilidad; 2. Aprendizaje Experimental; 3. Desafío de Fortaleza; 4. Pensamiento Crítico; 5. Intervenciones y Procesos Dinámicos; y 6. Aprendizaje e Innovación Integradas. También se incluye un debate sobre otras cuestiones prácticas relativas a la capacitación.

Australian Clinical Psychology Training Program Directors Survey

A survey of clinical psychology program directors was conducted to provide an illustrative snapshot of clinical training in Australia. Postgraduate clinical psychology program directors from 27 universities in all States in Australia and the Australian Capital Territory offering postgraduate clinical training programs were emailed the survey; 19 surveys were returned. The present paper reports on a range of issues of relevance to clinical training programs, including numbers of students, types and content of courses, staff workload, relationship with professional bodies, practical training and university-based clinics, and concerns raised by directors. The information is intended to assist those responsible for training in clinical psychology in Australia in their work of increasing the quality of postgraduate training by being informed of the practices of other programs.

Pre-service home economics teachers’ attitudes on selected aspects of practical teaching

This paper presents the results of a study conducted among pre-service home economics teachers from the Faculty of Education of the University of Ljubljana with different levels of practical experience in teaching. The pre-service Home Economics teachers in the 3rd year of their studies had just completed their first class of teaching experience in contrast to the pre-service teachers from the 4th year of their faculty studies, who had conducted more teaching lessons. The results showed that the 4th-year pre-service teachers had fewer doubts and problems concerning the planning and conducting of a lesson. They also statistically significantly agreed that they are sufficiently prepared to teach than the 3rd-year pre-service teachers are. The results showed that the majority of the pre-service teachers agreed that the feedback from their colleagues was helpful for their professional development. The results suggest the importance of practical teaching experience in the context of professional development and the intention to continue a career in education. However, the results also revealed some critical points in the teacher’s development of competency. The results suggest problems related to the application of theoretical knowledge on the children’s development in practice and pro problems related to classroom management in specific situations. (DIPF/Orig.)