Questions In Course Research Articles

Student Mistakes in Solving Math Story Problems (Class V Study at SDN Sedatigede I Sidoarjo)

In working on word problems in mathematics, students often find answers that are not quite right. The purpose of this research is to describe the pattern of errors when working on math story problems, the factors that cause work errors, and alternative learning solutions to minimize student errors in solving word problems. Research data collection techniques used math tests in the form of story questions and student interviews. Factors that cause students' mistakes in solving math word problems, are the lack of mastery of mathematical concepts and understanding of problems in story problems, students' learning methods are not organized (not every day), they are lacking in doing exercises especially story problems, working on easy questions Of course, if you have difficulty don't ask directly to the teacher or friends who can (students choose to be silent), are not careful in carrying out calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operations), don't pay close attention to question orders, don't carry out the procedures used to solve problems. story problems and lack of mastery of material concepts related to story problems.

Imposing versus Enacting Commitments for the Long‐Term Energy Transition: Perspectives from the Firm

Imposing versus Enacting Commitments for the Long‐Term Energy Transition: Perspectives from the Firm

Develop Academic Question Recommender Based on Bayesian Network for Personalizing Student’s Practice

Study in Literatures shows that tracing knowledge state of student is corner stone of intelligent tutoring system for personalized learning. In this paper, an academic question recommender based on Bayesian network is developed for personalizing practice question sequence with tracing mastery level of student on knowledge components. This question recommender is discussed with theoretical analysis, and designed and implemented in software engineering way. It provides instructor with tools for building knowledge component network and setting question of course. It also makes student personalize practice questions of course. This question recommender is planned to deploy in real learning context for the future validation of how well such question recommendation improves performance and saves practice time for student.

Don't blame the BAME: Ethnic and structural inequalities in susceptibilities to COVID-19.

This article has been written from the UK, using British terminology to refer to ethnic minorities where BAME (Black, Asian, minority ethnic groups) is a commonly used and recognized acronym. In the United Kingdom, Asian also generally refers to minorities from South Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. In the United States, Asian more frequently refers to people from Southeast Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. Socially constructed categories used to refer to minoritized groups are variously constructed in different countries; for example, British nomenclature most often refers to ethnicity rather than race.

Under false flag: using technical artifacts for cyber attack attribution

The attribution of cyber attacks is often neglected. The consensus still is that little can be done to prosecute the perpetrators – and unfortunately, this might be right in many cases. What is however only of limited interest for the private industry is in the center of interest for nation states. Investigating if an attack was carried out in the name of a nation state is a crucial task for secret services. Many methods, tools and processes exist for network- and computer forensics that allow the collection of traces and evidences. They are the basis to associate adversarial actions to threat actors. However, a serious problem which has not got the appropriate attention from research yet, are false flag campaigns, cyber attacks which apply covert tactics to deceive or misguide attribution attempts – either to hide traces or to blame others. In this paper we provide an overview of prominent attack techniques along the cyber kill chain. We investigate traces left by attack techniques and which questions in course of the attribution process are answered by investigating these traces. Eventually, we assess how easily traces can be spoofed and rate their relevancy with respect to identifying false flag campaigns.

MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN MEMBACA KRITIS DENGAN STRATEGI KWL PADA MAHASISWA PENDIDIKAN GURU MADRASAH IBTIDAIYAH FAI UMSB

The level of ability to read the understanding of PGMI students is still lacking, as evidenced by the appearance of the scaled and scandalous, only the text book in describing it is less deft in processing it into its own language. Likewise in asking questions that are only term and understanding, explain, specify, examples are only questions that answers can be found in the paper. So that the learning outcomes did not increase significantly and the results of the UTS and UAS were only standard, even the graphs went up and down from those that climbed high to descend, because the exam questions are given in essay form so that the answers can indeed measure the ability of students in analyzing the questions of course by reading critically the questions and writing answers by describing them using their own language is not the language of the book.Keywords: Critical Reading, KWL Strategy

EU Institutional Politics of Secrecy and Transparency in Foreign Affairs: A Commentary

International diplomacy has long been regarded as the domain of an elite hand-picked few, instructed and groomed in something considered an art form. Both the secrecy and the pomp have their rational place. Political interventions from regime change through to more standard economic and social challenges cue both subtle and dramatic shifts in relationships and alignments and diplomats must rightly handle such situations with great delicacy. Premature or too much public disclosure about diplomatic exchanges could risk undermining the mutual trust and confidence on which the conduct of international relations and negotiations depends. The question of course concerns the determination of what constitutes ‘premature’ or ‘too much’ and who decides the point at which public access can or should occur. We have certainly seen a trend towards greater transparency in foreign affairs in recent times, but this will always remain one of the most sensitive areas for national governments and international organisations. Contributors to this publication pose important questions about transparency in the context of foreign affairs at EU level. The question ‘How much is enough?’ is particularly pertinent. I welcome the exploration of topics of secrecy and transparency in this thematic issue and look forward to further contributions as the theory and practice of the ideas put forward are developed.

Health economic quality of life the bane of genuine outcomes?

Bone & Joint 360Vol. 5, No. 1 EditorialFree AccessHealth economic quality of life the bane of genuine outcomes?Ben OllivereBen OllivereEditor-in-ChiefSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:21 Feb 2018https://doi.org/10.1302/2048-0105.44.360418AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsAdd to Favourites ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail As Douglas Adams famously said, the answer to life, the universe and everything is “42”. (Question of course as yet unknown). I was taught as a trainee and a young academic that the perennial problem in conducting research is asking the right question – a point Adams makes very eloquently. If you don’t ask the correct question you clearly will not get a reasonable answer – “garbage in – garbage out”. Over the last few years the quality of orthopaedic research in terms of methodology has skyrocketed. Randomised controlled trials abound and there doesn’t seem to be an edition of 360 that goes by without a number of excellent randomised controlled trials to comment upon.Controversially I have become however increasingly concerned about the RCT. Whilst methodologically better at addressing biases there is a risk in the orthopaedic community that we are missing the point and putting methodology above substance. We have moved so far from the days of ‘notes to friends’ describing in elegant English the treatment of a few cases (anyone with any time should read Sir Astley Coopers 1822 masterpiece ‘A treatise on dislocations and fractures’; essentially a series of case descriptions) with complex statistics and involvement of methodologists, health economists and the all-important ‘qualitative’ arm of the research, I can’t help wondering if the pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction.Research questions should of course include a measure of uncertainty, and for a randomised trial to work, the questions should be asked where the treating teams are genuinely in equipoise. However with much funding for health sciences research based around health economics, questions being posed are based more around the funder’s framework than that of the clinicians. This all too often results in research questions that are not based on patient focus, but on costs of healthcare delivery.Much of what we do in Orthopaedics is life-enhancing surgery, but not necessarily at a large enough impact to provide a quality of life benefit in a pragmatic study. Does this make it any less valuable? No. If orthopaedics and trauma is to survive, smaller studies need to improve their methodology answering questions that are more patient-focussed, using outcome measures that reflect patients’ quality of life. There is no perceptible impact of Dupytren’s surgery on hand function using the QuickDASH or quality of life scores in some studies. Does this mean it is valueless? Patients and surgeons would say not. Perhaps then we are asking the wrong questions; or the right questions in the wrong manner. By random chance 50% of completed randomised controlled trials should provide a positive answer, however the chances of doing so appear dramatically affected by the outcome measure chosen.There is an urgent need for validated and appropriate outcome scores that are either disease- and limb-specific, or have been validated with a known MCID. There is a danger that with so many intervention studies with ‘negative’ health economic outcomes for established treatments, and the majority of other studies establishing that many new treatments do not offer improved disease-specific outcomes, that the evidence base for orthopaedics is looking rather shaky. There are very few RCTs in orthopaedics demonstrating a significant and clinically relevant treatment effect. With the lack of validated outcome scores in many domains the use of general quality of life scores such as the EQ5D and SF36 offers the tantalising option of a ‘one size fits all’ outcome measure which not only provides an easy route to undertake quality of life analysis, but also health economic outcomes. The question we need to ask ourselves as a surgical and scientific community is, are we happy to accept outcomes that are up to and including affecting overall quality of life as equivalent? If we aren’t we need to generate, validate and implement scores, pilot observations and definitive studies to evaluate clinically relevant outcome measures – after all whilst a patient with Dupytren’s will tell you his quality of life is impacted upon by loss of hand function, sadly the same patient’s global quality of life scores do not.The issue here is not the methodology, but high-quality methodology alone does not substitute from asking the right question in the right way.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 5, No. 1 Metrics History Published online 21 February 2018 Published in print 1 February 2016 InformationCopyright © 2016, The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery: All rights reservedPDF download

Commentary on article by Ferguson et al.: "A comparison of lateral release rates in fixed- versus mobile-bearing total knee arthroplasty".

Many surgeons have been intrigued by mobile-bearing (MB) total knee arthroplasty (TKA) designs due to the concept of self-alignment and the suggestion that those designs can accommodate small mismatches in the position of the femoral and tibial components. The natural question of course is whether this self-alignment translates into improved patellar tracking, thus decreasing the prevalence of lateral retinacular releases. In any medical or surgical specialty, the backbone of the literature is randomized clinical trials (RCTs). In this excellent RCT completed by Ferguson et al. [1], the authors randomized 352 patients undergoing TKA to receive either a MB or fixed-bearing (FB) construct. In addition, patients were further sub-randomized into patellar resurfacing or retention groups. As shown in other RCTs [3, 4], the authors found a similar lateral release rate between the FB and MB groups. However, the rate in both groups (approximately 10 %) was higher than most contemporary reports [4]. Of note, there were two additional interesting findings. First, patellar resurfacing resulted in significant lower release rates (6 % vs. 14 %, respectively; P = 0.0179). Second, the lower release rate in resurfaced patellae was significant only when a MB construct was utilized. In essence, it appears that the use of a MB construct and resurfacing the patella are symbiotic, resulting in a 3 % lateral release rate. In comparison, there was a 16 % lateral release rate for retained patellae in the MB group, and an 11 % lateral release rate for retained patellae in the FB group. This study has several strengths. Foremost, it is a well-executed RCT with a single knee design (i.e., DePuy P.F.C. Sigma®), an identical fixation method (i.e., cemented), and a similar postoperative rehabilitation course in both groups. In addition, it appears that no patients withdrew from the study or were lost to follow-up. Unfortunately, a power analysis was not included. A power analysis not only helps the reader know the sample size required to detect an effect of a given size with a given degree of confidence, but also tells the reader what outcome parameter [i.e., lateral release rates, Knee Society Scores (KSS), anterior knee pain, etc.] the power analysis was completed to investigate. In 2004, Pagnano et al. [4] from the Mayo Clinic completed a RCT of 240 patients randomized to an all-polyethylene tibia, a modular metal-backed tibia, or a rotating-platform (RP) tibia with the same femoral component. The authors found no difference in lateral release rates between any groups, with the prevalence being 3.8 % in each group. However, the prevalence of patellar tilt was 5 % in the all-polyethylene group, 7 % in the modular metal-backed group, and 11 % in the RP group. In an update of a 2015 Cochrane review on cruciate-retaining TKAs, no difference was noted between FB and MB in regards to knee pain, clinical and functional scores, health-related quality of life, revision surgery, mortality, reoperation rate, and other serious adverse events [2]. Similarly, Smith et al. [5] completed a meta-analysis and systematic review of 14 RCTs and found no difference between MB and FB TKAs in regards to KSS, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scores, or range of motion. In summary, this study has added to the growing body of literature suggesting no significant difference between MB and FB TKAs, particularly with regards to lateral release rates.

Skin tribology: Science friction?

Abstract The application of tribological knowledge is not just restricted to optimizing mechanical and chemical engineering problems. In fact, effective solutions to friction and wear related questions can be found in our everyday life. An important part is related to skin tribology, as the human skin is frequently one of the interacting surfaces in relative motion. People seem to solve these problems related to skin friction based upon a trial-and-error strategy and based upon on our sense for touch. The question of course rises whether or not a trained tribologist would make different choices based upon a science based strategy? In other words: Is skin friction part of the larger knowledge base that has been generated during the last decades by tribology research groups and which could be referred to as Science Friction? This paper discusses the specific nature of tribological systems that include the human skin and argues that the living nature of skin limits the use of conventional methods. Skin tribology requires in vivo, subject and anatomical location specific test methods. Current predictive friction models can only partially be applied to predict in vivo skin friction. The reason for this is found in limited understanding of the contact mechanics at the asperity level of product-skin interactions. A recently developed model gives the building blocks for enhanced understanding of friction at the micro scale. Only largely simplified power law based equations are currently available as general engineering tools. Finally, the need for friction control is illustrated by elaborating on the role of skin friction on discomfort and comfort. Surface texturing and polymer brush coatings are promising directions as they provide way and means to tailor friction in sliding contacts without the need of major changes to the product.

News

News

The use of narrative hermeneutical approach in the counselling of abortion patients within an African context

Our country has celebrated democracy for more than a decade now, the democracy in which everyone enjoys all the basic human rights, including the right to an abortion. Public and private hospitals and some traditional healers are engaged in this act where some give pre-abortion and post-abortion counselling to their patients whilst others do not. It becomes a serious question of course to ask whether those patients who did not receive counselling, cope with life after the experienced trauma. By the looks of things it seems very clear that the people who commit abortion have a special need for help in order to cope with life thereafter. Another question now is whether the little counselling that they receive in the hospital before and after an abortion is satisfactory to their individual needs. That is why the author’s focus is on the method or approach which the author thinks will better help the patients who find themselves in such a traumatic situation. The concentration is on the narrative-hermeneutical approach as one of the applicable approaches from the author’s point of view.

Signalling while fighting: further comments on soft song

We thank Osiejuk (2011) for his comments on our discussion of the evolution of soft song in agonistic contexts (Akcay et al. 2011). Osiejuk raises several criticisms of one specific hypothesis we put forward in our paper, the readiness hypothesis. Here we discuss further some of the hypotheses on soft song, reply to Osiejuk’s criticisms and expand upon the readiness hypothesis. In our original discussion (Akcay et al. 2011), we outlined five hypotheses that have been discussed in the literature (see Table 1 for brief descriptions), and proposed a sixth one, the readiness hypothesis, that might explain why soft aggressive calls are soft. Under the readiness hypothesis, low-amplitude calls are thought to be a by-product of gearing up for a potential physical fight. In the case of songbirds, the need to track an opponent visually prior to a physical fight may preclude singing loudly (which requires that the head be thrown back). The same reasoning may apply to cases such as corncrakes, Crex crex (Rek & Osiejuk 2011), which despite calling nocturnally and in a dense habitat would probably still have to adopt an attacking posture and possibly locate the target visually before launching (or avoiding) a successful attack. As Osiejuk and we both noted, there are two interesting questions about soft song or calls. The first one is simply, why are they soft? This first question applies not only to aggressive soft vocalizations but also to any vocal signals that are low in amplitude. The second question is why is soft song so reliable a predictor of attack? This second question of course only applies to aggressive soft songs (Dabelsteen et al. 1998). The hypotheses put forward in the literature differ inwhich of these questions they seek to answer and their scope. Table 1 shows whether these hypotheses are generally applicable to soft vocalizations other than aggressive ones.

Controversies in mammography screening: let us not ignore science in this never-ending debate

There has been an ongoing debate on mortality reduction from mammography screening since the randomized control trials in the 1970s and 1980s which showed a mortality reduction of about 25%. In addition to the mortality reduction, the debates have been focusing on screening of women below 50 years of age and over-diagnosis. Randomized control trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for investigations of new therapies and diagnostic interventions. The design of a RCT is challenging, and some of the mammographic RCTs had, without doubt, limitations. RCTs are comparing the outcome of women invited to intervention (mammography screening) versus a control group. However, many women invited do not attend (‘nonattenders’) and many women in the ‘control group’ have a mammographic examination outside the program. No correction is made for this bias in the RCTs. Results from the Swedish RCTs have been of utmost importance, and are the scientific rationale for implementing mammographic service screening. The recently published results from the Swedish ‘Two-County Trial’ with a follow-up of three decades has confirmed that a highly significant reduction in breast cancer mortality of 30% in women invited to screening has persisted throughout the long follow-up period (1). The Nordic countries have today nationwide populationbased screening programs. An overview of service screening from 13 Swedish counties reported a substantial reduction in breast cancer mortality between 40% and 45% (2). The Icelandic mammography screening, the oldest populationbased program worldwide, showed a 35–40% reduction in breast cancer mortality based on a case-control study (3). A similar mortality reduction was reported in the Copenhagen screening for women actually participating in the mammography program (4). The Danish screening program has recently become nationwide. The smaller impact on mortality rate reported in the Finnish program has been explained by the younger age group targeted in Finland (5). It should be noted that a remarkably high mortality reduction of more than 70% after correction for selfselection bias has recently been reported (6). Evaluation of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) has just started, and the results are expected within one to two years. Another controversy has been mammography screening for women aged 40–49 years. Most of the RCTs were not designed to evaluate the impact on this age group. However, several studies have clearly indicated that screening would be of benefit for women below 50 years of age. A recent publication from Sweden on the effectiveness of population-based service screening for women aged 40– 49 years showed a reduction in breast cancer mortality of 29% in the age group 40–49 years and 37% in the age group 45–49 years for the women who actually attended the mammographic screening program (7). In 2009 the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) declared that routine screening mammography in women aged 40–49 years should not be recommended (8). This statement has been heavily criticized as it is not supported by science. The age of 50 years is nothing but an arbitrary threshold without biological or scientific importance and has been arbitrarily chosen as a surrogate for menopause (9). Over-diagnosis, defined as a cancer diagnosed at mammography which would never have presented in the women’s lifetime in the absence of screening is another controversy. Over-diagnosis exists, but the question is how big the problem is: 1%, 10%, 25%, or even higher (10–12). The reason is that presently there is no way to determine which cases of DCIS (and perhaps even small low-grade invasive cancers) that will progress to lethal cancers. Spontaneous regression, on the other hand, is obviously a very rare phenomenon (12). Headlines in newspapers and medical journals over the last years on a minor effect of mammographic screening on mortality and a substantial over-diagnosis rate are beginning to disturb our belief. A register-based study on the NBCSP published in New England Journal of Medicine concluded that mammography screening accounted for only one-third of the moderate reduction in breast cancer mortality (13). Another recent publication compared results from Sweden and Norway, and concluded that screening did not play ‘a direct part’ in the reduction of breast cancer mortality (14). Over-diagnosis up to 50% has been postulated (11). If so, the question of course would be whether ‘mammographic screening is justifiable considering its substantial over-diagnosis rate and minor effect on mortality’ (10). The flaws in these estimations have been summarized in an overview on over-diagnosis in mammography screening (12). Regarding the recently reported minor effect on mortality and the high over-diagnosis rate in the NBCSP (10, 11, 13, 14), it is important to be aware that these publications are register-based research without access to individualized data. Register-based studies have several limitations (which is also the case for case-control studies!). For

Cool channel subunits reveal their independent interactions with menthol

Cool channel subunits reveal their independent interactions with menthol

…To the Shores of Tripoli

…To the Shores of Tripoli

Standardising dental processes

A global transformation is taking place in dentistry with the use of CADCAM based technology. Whilst the headlines in the dental press continue to be dominated by precision fitting ceramic dental prostheses it is reasonable for us to ask--how well do they fit and how good are they? These questions of course cannot be answered in the absence of any benchmarked standards. Throughout manufacturing industry, process controls are designed to deliver constant improvement and eliminate failure--everything has to be measured. The best companies retain their competitive advantage by developing and selling products that are all made within an envelope of excellence. Likewise we must be able to measure clinical excellence objectively and demonstrate the benefits to our patients.

Pragmatic Treatment versus Elaborative but Incomplete Testing

Pragmatic Treatment <i>versus</i> Elaborative but Incomplete Testing

Influenza Vaccination in Europe – Still a Long Way to Go

The indications for vaccination against influenza are uniformly accepted throughout most countries of the world and include persons aged 65 and over, persons suffering from chronic illness, and healthcare workers. Annual vaccination against influenza is safe, rather cheap, and simple to administer. Many countries perform annual campaigns to promote influenza vaccination in target populations. Despite these campaigns and the widely accepted indications, the proportion of vaccinated persons in the target groups remains unsatisfactorily low. In this issue of INFECTION colleagues Muller and Szucs report the data of a telephone based household survey regarding influenza vaccination in 5 European countries, namely, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain [1]. This survey was conducted in the seasons 02/03, 03/04 and 04/05. The results are sobering. Although there was a slight increase of the overall vaccination coverage from 21% in the first season to 23.7% in the last surveyed season, such a low coverage is epidemiologically meaningless and raises the question whether the current approach to promote influenza vaccination in the target population needs to be questioned and modified. Apart from the public health impact of influenza vaccination, this vaccine plays a role in the protection of the individual. It is therefore reassuring that almost 50% of persons suffering from chronic illness were vaccinated. Again, this rate needs to be increased. The rate of vaccination among healthcare workers is similarly low as in the overall population, averaging roughly 23%. The question of course is: how can this low rate of vaccination coverage be increased? There is no easy answer to this question, as there are many reasons for declining influenza vaccination. Future efforts probably should focus on the fears and possible misconceptions, which are voiced by persons belonging to various population groups. As there is no country in Europe, which stands out regarding vaccination acceptance in the population, we unfortunately cannot profit from the knowledge of any particular country. It is probably necessary to analyze the reasons for the refusal to be vaccinated in each of the population groups on a national level and to provide sufficient arguments to individuals to get vaccinated. In this regard, the family physician, as pointed out in the article of Muller and Szucs, plays a crucial role. This family physician should be supported by adequate educational and promotional material on the topic of influenza, influenza vaccination, and in particular the risk-benefit ratio of this simple measure. Infectious disease physicians may take on an important role in aiding their colleagues in general practice by providing good evidence-based arguments.

Effectiveness of Challenge‐Based Instruction in Biomechanics

AbstractStudies were designed to determine the effectiveness of challenge‐based instruction (CBI) versus traditional lecture‐based instruction. Comparisons were made over a three‐year period between student performance on knowledge‐based questions in courses taught with taxonomy‐based and challenge‐based approaches to instruction. When performance on all questions was compared, CBI classes scored significantly better than control classes on 26 percent of the questions, while control classes outperformed CBI classes on eight percent of the questions, but there was no significant difference in overall performance. However, students in CBI classes performed significantly better than students in control classes on the more difficult questions (35 percent versus four percent). We attribute these differences to additional opportunities available in CBI classrooms for learners to examine their conceptual understanding. Student surveys indicate a slight preference for the challenge‐based approach. We believe that the challenge‐based approach is effective and has the potential to better prepare students for the workplace and for life‐long learning.