Journal articles on the topic 'Technical University Dresden, Alumni'

This paper considers university educational environment to be an important factor in the development of students' organizational and managerial competence. The authors discuss the approaches to the educational environment of the university, analyze its parameters and characteristics and study the connection between the developmental educational environment and a high level of managerial competence attained by technical university graduates. The authors rely on the environmental approach which allows them to assess the impact of the educational environment on students' organizational and managerial competence taking into account the analysis of empirical data obtained by monitoring methods of sociological research. This method also made it possible to improve self-organization and self-management skills of students and to achieve a high level of resilience both on the environmental and personal level.

In European countries, primarily in German-speaking countries, first of all, in Germany (Dresden), the concept of engineering pedagogy (EP) has existed for more than 70 years. In Eastern Europe, particularly in the Russian Federation, the tradition of EP has more than 20 years and shows an extensive network of universities actively participating in IGIP (International Society of Engineering Pedagogy). Several universities offer the IGIP curricula and work on various projects related to majoring in engineering education and pedagogy in Russian Higher Education Institutions. In Spanish-speaking countries the concept of EP is relatively recent. Particularly, since 2014, the Technical University of Dresden (TU Dresden) works in cooperation with Chilean universities to strengthen engineering pedagogy and education in the university context. This goal was concretized through two cooperation projects “Engineering Didactics at Chilean Universities” (PEDING-Project) and “Strengthening engineering training at Chilean universities through practice partner-ships” (STING-Project), both financially supported by DAAD. The main goal of this paper is to present the results of a survey about teaching needs in engineering pedagogy in a Chilean university. In general, the results showed the high level of interest and motivation that a training course on engineering pedagogy specifically oriented for the academic staff of engineering faculties may have. The project was led by the International Center of Engineering Education (CIEI) at the University of Talca (Chile) under the pedagogical support of the TU Dresden (Germany).

A survey of business people, Victoria University business studies alumni and business academics revealed a strong preference for curricula, learning activities and assessments that develop professional skills and personal attributes, adding value to the student learning experience and developing graduate capabilities beyond discipline and technical knowledge. This research underscores evidence on the importance of both the cognitive and dispositional dimensions of critical thinking and the skills and attributes of effective problem solvers. Employers are increasingly looking for balanced graduates: capable, motivated, self-aware, effective communicators with a sense of a future in which work and business will be dynamic and ever-changing.

Undergraduate students in engineering face many important decisions in the final 2 years of their degree program. These decisions can have an impact on long-term career choices, such as specialization area, career role of interest, and whether to apply to graduate school. Unfortunately, uninformed decisions can lead to missed opportunities, as well as the student potentially leaving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education due to choosing a specialization that is not well aligned with their interests. This survey-based study assists students by analyzing the personality types, demographics, and career paths of 567 alumni that have earned an undergraduate degree in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) and are no longer enrolled in a university. Study findings include the fact that certain demographics, personality types, and job preferences are significant predictors of the final outcome of an alumni’s career when choosing between the different technical areas within CEE and professional roles. Family history of having an engineer in the immediate family did not prove to be a significant factor in these decisions. In addition, little significance was found between the data captured in the survey of whether or not someone would go on to earn a graduate degree in CEE. Given where significant relationships were found, it is recommended that future studies focus on testing additional personality types (e.g., is enthusiastic) and job traits (e.g., likes a desk job) to provide even greater distinctions between the technical areas and roles.

<p>Employers, especially those in industries, have lately been complaining on the preparedness of university engineering graduates to take up employment. This is despite the fact that universities require engineering undergraduates to undertake Industry Based Learning which is a form of attachment that introduce them to field of work and practical skills while still undertaking their undergraduate course. An investigation into the perceptions of alumni of University of Nairobi and their employers on the effectiveness of the Industrial Based Learning programme was made. Alumni who graduated with Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree between 2007 and 2011 participated in the study. Using case study survey designs, a sample of 265 respondents was accessed from a population of 417 graduates through snowball method. Thirty employers were purposefully sampled and 20 were accessed. In addition,5 out of 48 academic and technical staff of Department of Electric and Electrical Engineering answered the questionnaires. Questionnaires were self-administered to the respondents at their place of work. For respondents who were in far-flung areas, questionnaires were emailed followed with telephone discussions. The alumni rated the Industry Based Learning as unsatisfactory largely due to the University’s inadequate assistance in securing attachments for students and failure of lecturers to adequately supervise students during attachments. The employers perceived Industry Based Learning as a critical experience that improved employees’ productivity. One of the conclusions was that undergraduate attachment was important for it provided a valuable opportunity for gaining necessary skills and training for subsequent use in employment. A major recommendation was the need to formulate an Industry Based Learning/internship policy in the University.</p>

Community service activities in the form of training in the application of appropriate technology for shredded production aimed at providing entrepreneurial skills and motivation. In this activity, technical guidance is carried out to increase knowledge and skills as well as work insights to the target so that they can form a shredded meat business group so that they can supply shredded needs for the people in the city of Kendari and surrounding areas. The activity method uses the technical guidance method where the participants are first given counseling related to basic knowledge of raw materials, equipment, manufacturing processes and abon assessment. Then there was a demonstration to make floss making involving the participants. The results achieved in this activity, in the form of increased knowledge and understanding of the training participants consisting of alumni of the Department of Animal Science, Halu Oleo University, were very interested and enthusiastic about receiving training materials and were very actively participating in the training activities. This situation shows that alumni majoring in animal husbandry are still in dire need of additional practice material because of the limited practical opportunities they have. In evaluating activities, participants' perception responses to follow-up activities are divided into three categories. Most want to make it for consumption and sell it as a source of income (60%), some want to make it for their own consumption with their families (30%) and some are interested but it is difficult to buy raw meat because of economic incapability (10%).

Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry has been used to analyse a range of cationic aniline dyes from the 19th century. Mauveine from the Chandler museum is used as a standard for comparison. This consists of a typical W. H. Perkin mixture of mauveine A and B. Mauveine from a historic collection in Dresden is different and consists of mainly mauveine A and a monomethyl mauveine chromophore. Possible synthetic routes and its significance are discussed. Three samples of phenylated rosanilines have been analysed, and a list of 19 possible components compiled. An analysis by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry works well on this complex mixture giving clear information on retention times and accurate mass molecular weights. Mono-, di- and triphenylrosanilines are present in two samples, and a third sample has mainly monophenylrosaniline. In each sample, a small amount of higher molecular weight homologues appear. The thin-layer chromatography plate, from left to right, has fuchsin or rosaniline then mono-, di- and triphenylrosaniline. The two spots on the right-hand side are blue, and the two spots on the left-hand side are red.

In der Praxis der Filmseminare mit Studentinnen und Studenten hat sich gezeigt, dass diese meist nicht über hinreichendes Vorwissen für Filmanalysen verfügen und ihnen auch die Fachbegriffe im Bereich der filmischen Gestaltungsmittel fehlen. Da die Filmanalyse-Seminare allein schon wegen der jedes Universitäts-Zeitraster sprengenden Filmlänge sinnvollerweise als Blockveranstaltungen durchgeführt werden, bekommen die Studenten zur Vorbereitung und als Hilfmittel für eigene Filmanalysen eine grundständige Einführung. Dieses Basiswissen über „Filmsprache und Filmanalyse in der Medienpädagogik“ ist in den letzten zwanzig Jahren immer wieder optimiert worden und wird in der vorliegenden Fassung an der TU Dresden und der Universität Duisburg/Essen eingesetzt.The experience with film seminars for students has shown that these mostly do not dispose of enough foreknowledge for film analyses and they also lack the technical terms of the cinematic means. Since the length of films blows up each university time slot pattern, and therefore the seminars are conducted as block events, the students get an introduction from scratch in an orientation session as basic knowledge and tools for their own film analysis. This basic knowledge of "film language and film analysis in the media education" has been optimized again and again in the last twenty years and is used in the present version at the TU Dresden and the University of Duisburg/Essen.

In der Praxis der Filmseminare mit Studentinnen und Studenten hat sich gezeigt, dass diese meist nicht über hinreichendes Vorwissen für Filmanalysen verfügen und ihnen auch die Fachbegriffe im Bereich der filmischen Gestaltungsmittel fehlen. Da die Filmanalyse-Seminare allein schon wegen der jedes Universitäts-Zeitraster sprengenden Filmlänge sinnvollerweise als Blockveranstaltungen durchgeführt werden, bekommen die Studenten zur Vorbereitung und als Hilfmittel für eigene Filmanalysen eine grundständige Einführung. Dieses Basiswissen über „Filmsprache und Filmanalyse in der Medienpädagogik“ ist in den letzten zwanzig Jahren immer wieder optimiert worden und wird in der vorliegenden Fassung an der TU Dresden und der Universität Duisburg/Essen eingesetzt.The experience with film seminars for students has shown that these mostly do not dispose of enough foreknowledge for film analyses and they also lack the technical terms of the cinematic means. Since the length of films blows up each university time slot pattern, and therefore the seminars are conducted as block events, the students get an introduction from scratch in an orientation session as basic knowledge and tools for their own film analysis. This basic knowledge of "film language and film analysis in the media education" has been optimized again and again in the last twenty years and is used in the present version at the TU Dresden and the University of Duisburg/Essen.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus school, a team of researchers from “Bulgarian Modernist Architecture” examined archives of German technical universities where Bulgarian architects studied in the first half of the 20th century. The archives in Munich, Berlin and Dresden have preserved the names and records of hundreds of Bulgarian architects from the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Their education, university professors, the environment in which they were formed (exhibitions, artistic trends and events) including Bauhaus connections, and how all of these informed the architecture in our country between the two world wars were among the questions explored by the researchers Vassil Makarinov and Theodore Karakolev. After the research in Germany, the team also plans to delve in the industrial architecture from the interwar period - a topic that is poorly known in our country.

This study aims to determine the management of the University of North Sumatra Consolatio Choir, regarding planning, implementation, and monitoring of evaluations that have been carried out. This study uses a qualitative descriptive analysis approach. Data collection is obtained through: interviews, observation and documentation studies. The research informants were the Chair of the Daily Management Board, Conductor, and Members of the USU Consolation Choir. Data analysis was performed using qualitative data analysis and with technical inductive analysis. Qualitative research is basically building theory, so in this study there is a new theory that is built namely "Service Management". Service here means that organizational management does not expect profits, but the organization still exists. USU's Consolatio Choir, an informal organization, from the outset of planning, the organization has presented the organization's vision and mission to prospective members from USU students and alumni, which in its implementation, the organization's mission went well and everything that was done selflessly and feared God . After the evaluation monitoring, there were still a few weaknesses in non-technical management by BPH. Conclusion of research, choirs can be formed from USU students, or can even be formed from any group who wants to sing in a choir.

Abstract The Payambar Mosque and Sistani House are two best-preserved monuments of Bam citadel, which suffered severe destruction by the 2003 Bam earthquake. After Bam earthquake, as a part of the national and international efforts for reconstruction of some of the key properties of Bam Citadel, the Iranian experts from RPBCH and Dresden Technical University of Germany, respectively have contributed comprehensive intervention plans for Payambar Mosque and Sistani House. The central idea of these two proposed plans were to find a sensitive balance between the demands of the two adobe world cultural heritage properties and the demands of modern retrofitting techniques in an area with high seismic activity. However, each group through using some new technical methods, which had similarity in manners and differences in employed materials, tried to meet the stability of these adobe monuments. Since by performing a SWOT analysis between the related projects or intervention plans with a common goal, looking at their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, we can compare the results, it would help us to know which procedure can be considered as an ideal method for similar projects in the future. Therefore, in this paper, to get a better insight about the effectiveness of those intervention plans implemented, a comparative analysis (SWOT) as an organization's strategic planning tool is considered for comparison scale.

SummaryBackground: In 2003, the University of São Paulo established the first Biomedical Infor -matics (BMI) undergraduate course in Brazil. Our mission is to provide undergraduate students with formal education on the fundamentals of BMI and its applied methods. This undergraduate course offers theoretical aspects, practical knowledge and scientifically oriented skills in the area of BMI, enabling students to contribute to research and methodical development in BMI. Course coordinators, professors and students frequently evaluate the BMI course and the curriculum to ensure that alumni receive quality higher education. Objectives: This study investigates (i) the main job activities undertake by USP BMI graduates, (ii) subjects that are fundamental important for graduates to pursue a career in BMI, and (iii) the course quality perceived by the alumni. Methods: Use of a structured questionnaire to conduct a survey involving all the BMI graduates who received their Bachelor degree before July, 2015 (attempted n = 205). Results: One hundred and forty-five gradu -ates (71 %) answered the questionnaire. Nine out of ten of our former students currently work as informaticians. Seventy-six gradu -ates (52 %) work within the biomedical informatics field. Fifty-five graduates (38 %) work outside the biomedical informatics field, but they work in other IT areas. Ten graduates (7 %) do not work with BMI or any other informatics activities, and four (3 %) are presently unemployed. Among the 145 surveyed BMI graduates, 46 (32 %) and seven (5 %) hold a Master‘s degree and a PhD degree, respectively. Database Systems, Software Engineering, Introduction to Computer Science, Object-Oriented Programming, and Data Structures are regarded as the most important subjects during the higher education course. The majority of the graduates (105 or 72 %) are satisfied with the BMI education and training they received during the undergraduate course. Conclusions: More than half of the gradu -ates from our BMI course work in their primary education area. Besides technical adequacy, the diverse job profiles, and the high level of satisfaction of our graduates indicate the importance of undergraduate courses specialized in the BMI domain are of utmost importance.

Nowadays, modern standards apply the proof of competence method to prove that a design force does not exceed a certain limit to ensure a certain safety level. Furthermore, standards elaborated during the last years apply a cycle-based approach instead of a time-based approach. The shortcomings of the standard ISO 16625:2013 need to be addressed in a revision. Therefore, a working group WG3 of ISO/TC 96 SC3 has been established in 2015 to prepare a new working draft ISO/WD 16625. Objectives are to adopt a cycle-based approach and to incorporate proofs of competence for static strength and fatigue strength for running ropes and stationary ropes, based on scientific inputs. The research work about steel wire ropes by the University of Stuttgart and the Technical University of Dresden developed the method Stuttgart and the method Leipzig, both representing regression models to determine the attainable number of bending cycles of a wire rope. The present paper briefly explains the method Leipzig and the method Stuttgart in chapter 3. In chapter 4, the partly implementation of findings from the method Stuttgart to the standard EN 13001-3-2:2014 is discussed and shortcomings are identified. Those shortcomings have also been addressed by the new developed concept of ISO/WD 16625 that is outlined in chapter 5. Finally, chapter 6 provides an overview on the revised ISO/WD 16625 to conclude the current state of the standardization work.

Background Medical education outcomes and clinical data exist in multiple unconnected databases, resulting in 3 problems: (1) it is difficult to connect learner outcomes with patient outcomes, (2) learners cannot be easily tracked over time through the education-training-practice continuum, and (3) no standard methodology ensures quality and privacy of the data. Objective The purpose of this study was to develop a Medical Education Outcomes Center (MEOC) to integrate education data and to build a framework to standardize the intake and processing of requests for using these data. Methods An inventory of over 100 data sources owned or utilized by the medical school was conducted, and nearly 2 dozen of these data sources have been vetted and integrated into the MEOC. In addition, the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile data of the University of Minnesota Medical School (UMMS) graduates were linked to the data from the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry to develop a mechanism to connect alumni practice data to education data. Results Over 160 data requests have been fulfilled, culminating in a range of outcomes analyses, including support of accreditation efforts. The MEOC received data on 13,092 UMMS graduates in the AMA Physician Masterfile and could link 10,443 with NPI numbers and began to explore their practice demographics. The technical and operational work to expand the MEOC continues. Next steps are to link the educational data to the clinical practice data through NPI numbers to assess the effectiveness of our medical education programs by the clinical outcomes of our graduates. Conclusions The MEOC provides a replicable framework to allow other schools to more effectively operate their programs and drive innovation.

A review of:
 
 Ward, David. “Why Users Choose Chat: A Survey of Behavior and Motivations.” Internet Reference Services Quarterly 10.1 (2005): 29-46.
 
 Objective – To investigate reasons why undergraduate and postgraduate students choose to use chat reference services and their satisfaction with the experience.
 
 Design – User survey.
 
 Setting – Large academic library in the United States.
 
 Subjects – A total of 341 library users took part in the survey. Of these, 79 were graduate students, 215 undergraduates, 21 staff, 5 alumni and 21 members of the public.
 
 Method – A user survey form was posted on the library website for a period of one month (March 2003). Users of the chat reference service received an automatic closing message asking them to complete the survey. Responses were fed into a database to be analysed by the research staff. Additional data was also gathered about the behaviour of all users of the chat service during that period – both responders and non-responders.
 
 Main results – The most popular reason for choosing to use a chat service was the desire for a speedy response, followed by ‘distance from the library’. Responders chose to use chat to ask a range of different kinds of questions. Nearly half (45%) were looking for a specific resource and 23% were seeking help at the beginning of their research. There were notable differences between undergraduate and graduate students. Twice as many undergraduates as graduates used the service to help them get started on their research. Graduates were three times as likely as undergraduates to be using the service to address technical problems they were having with the website. Overall satisfaction with the service was extremely high, with 77.5% rating it 5 out of 5 and 94.5% giving it 4 or 5 out of 5. 
 
 Conclusion – Chat reference services are popular with users primarily because they are quick and convenient. However, users expect that these services will be able to deal with all types of questions, including help with research. This challenges an assumption by library staff that the medium is only suitable for short factual enquiries and general questions about library services. It is suggested that a detailed analysis of the chat transcripts from this period could provide a valuable addendum to the survey results.

IntroductionInsufficient physical activity is one of the most important risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Physical activity should therefore be intensively promoted in all age groups. Several trials suggest that it can be effectively increased through smartphone interventions.However, few of the smartphone-interventions available on the market have been scientifically evaluated. Therefore, the described study aims to assess the short-term and long-term effects of the smartphone intervention ‘VIDEA bewegt’ to increase physical activity. The trial is designed as a single-armed observational trial to assess effects under real-life conditions.Methods and analysisThe intervention consists of the smartphone-application ‘VIDEA bewegt’, which is a video-based preventative programme to improve physical activity in everyday life. The application contains several features and components including educational videos, documentation of activity and motivational exercises. A sample size of at least 106 participants is aimed for.The primary objective of this study is to determine the effect of the application on physical activity in German adults. Secondary objectives are to evaluate the self-efficacy, health-related quality of life and usability of ‘VIDEA bewegt’.Data collection is based on online questionnaires, as well as system-internal recorded data.Changes of outcomes from baseline to programme completion and follow-up will be calculated.Ethics and disseminationThe Ethics Committee of the Technical University Dresden approved the study on 25 May 2019 (EK 272062019). All data are processed anonymously and stored on servers only accessible by authorised personnel. The results of the study and the results of the usability test are aimed to be published in a scientific journal.Trial registration numberGerman Clinical Trials Registry (DRKS00017392).

Malaysia Polytechnic Transformation Program was launched to improve the quality of vocational and technical education in Malaysia and form a quality human capital capable of increasing productivity significantly. Human capital that produced should be the ICT literacy groups and will contribute to the needs of industry. Hence, Computer Application course that offered to the students must be revised from time to time and updated content to fulfill the needs of industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relevance of Computer Application course to the polytechnic graduates from the perceptions view of students and employers. Review and survey involved 375 students who have completed their six months industrial training and was continue study in the final semester currently on five polytechnics which have been identified through cluster sampling and purposive sampling. In order to get the perception of the employers, convenient sampling was used in this study. The instruments used are two sets of questionnaires adapted from University Putra Malaysia, the Exit Survey for Graduating Students and Stakeholders Survey for Outcome Based Education (OBE) - Industry / Employer / Alumni developed by Professor Dato Ir. Dr. Radin Umar Radin Sohadi. The pilot test obtained the Alpha Cronbach value of 0.962. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation, and percentage. Through this study, the highest mean value on attributes of the graduate attainment is derived from students’ perceptions is Lifelong Learning and information management, which was 3.74. Next, the research showed the lowest mean value of 3.60 on the thinking and scientific skills approach. The findings also show that the perception of the employers on polytechnic graduates that they have the ability to apply their knowledge of computer literacy into careers with the highest mean value of 4.20. However, only 52% of employers give opinion that’s Polytechnic graduates are able to act as a manager / leader with a mean value of 3.36. The findings also showed that 96% of employer agrees that BC101 course is relevant and fulfills market needs.

Neutron radiation detector for nuclear reactor applications plays an important role in getting information about the actual neutron yield and reactor environment. Such detector must be able to operate at high temperature (up to 600° C) and high neutron flux levels. It is worth nothing that a detector for industrial environment applications must have fast and stable response over considerable long period of use as well as high energy resolution. Silicon Carbide is one of the most attractive materials for neutron detection. Thanks to its outstanding properties, such as high displacement threshold energy (20-35 eV), wide band gap energy (3.27 eV) and high thermal conductivity (4.9 W/cm·K), SiC can operate in harsh environment (high temperature, high pressure and high radiation level) without additional cooling system. Our previous analyses reveal that SiC detectors, under irradiation and at elevated temperature, respond to neutrons showing consistent counting rates as function of external reverse bias voltages and radiation intensity. The counting-rate of the thermal neutron-induced peak increases with the area of the detector, and appears to be linear with respect to the reactor power. Diamond is another semi-conductor considered as one of most promising materials for radiation detection. Diamond possesses several advantages in comparison to other semiconductors such as a wider band gap (5.5 eV), higher threshold displacement energy (40-50 eV) and thermal conductivity (22 W/cm·K), which leads to low leakage current values and make it more radiation resistant that its competitors. A comparison is proposed between these two semiconductors for the ability and efficiency to detect fast neutrons. For this purpose the deuterium-tritium neutron generator of Technical University of Dresden with 14 MeV neutron output of 1010 n·s-1 is used. In the present work, we interpret the first measurements and results with both 4H-SiC and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond detectors irradiated with 14 MeV neutrons at room temperature.

Considering the external and internal challenges, including accession of Ukraine to the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area, the adoption of the Laws of Ukraine «On Education» (2017), «On Scientific and Technical Activities» (2016), «On Higher Education» (2014) the systematic reforming higher education began. One of the directions of reforming higher education is to increase the requirements for the professional level of scientific and pedagogical workers, since only a highly qualified specialist is able to provide a high level of training for the applicants for higher education and, accordingly, to prepare a competitive specialist.
 The article is aimed to identify the tools for students to evaluate the professional activities carried out by the scientific and pedagogical workers in foreign and domestic higher education institutions. To achieve the aim and solve the set tasks, we used a complex of methods of scientific research: theoretical analysis of academic literature - to clarify the achievements of the scientists on a particular topic of research; structural and system analysis - to identify the tools of evaluation used by the students to assess professional activity of scientific and pedagogical workers of foreign and domestic higher education institutions; comparative method - to carry out a comparative analysis of the content of domestic and foreign instruments for evaluating the professional activities carried out by scientific and pedagogical workers. Summarizing the results of the study indicates that there is a positive experience in the market economies, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States of America (USA) regarding the involvement of students in evaluating the professional performance of teaching staff. The reasonability of engaging students in evaluating the professional work of students' teaching staff is primarily due to the fact that they most often contact with the teaching staff and they are the direct consumers of their services. Based on an analysis of the best university practices in the UK, Australia, and the United States for assessing students' professional work and their personal qualities, it has been established that the main tools are: an online assessment system; student ratings; feedback from students to improve teaching and learning, including student letters prepared from the whole group or course; feedback from alumni (including masters and PhD students, as well as graduate assistants) and more. The analysis of domestic practices showed that instruments such as anonymous questionnaires and student rankings are mostly used to evaluate the professional activities of academic staff of higher education institutions and their personal qualities. The introduction of foreign experience of the use of various tools for assessing the professional activities of the scientific and pedagogical workers in domestic higher education institutions will contribute to the self-reflection of their own professional activities, the development of a trajectory of professional development focused on the areas that require professional development and improvement of quality.

A review of the Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SML) technology applied to urban transportation will be presented. The historical time line will be highlighted, pointing out the pioneering efforts at Southwest Jiatong University (SWJTU), China, followed by the Supra Trans project in IFW-Dresden, Germany, and the MagLev-Cobra project in UFRJ, Brazil.
 Background: Details of the MagLev-Cobra project, the first, and until today the single one, applying the SML technology that counts with a real scale prototype, operating regularly in open air, will be disclosed. The inauguration of the MagLev-Cobra project was on the 1st October 2014, the last day of the “22nd International Conference on Magnetically Levitated Systems and Linear Drives (MAGLEV)” held in Rio de Janeiro. Curiously, this day coincides with the 50th anniversary of the successful operation of the Shinkansen in Tokyo. On the 1st October 1964, the first high-speed wheel and rail train in the world was inaugurated in time for the first Olympic Games that took place in Asia. This historical coincidence is a good omen for the MagLev-Cobra project. In fact, since October 2014, the system operates regularly for demonstration at the UFRJ Campus, every Tuesday. More than 12.000 visitors have already had the opportunity to take a test ride.
 Aim: The Proceedings of the MAGLEV conferences, which first edition dates back to 1977 (http://www.maglevboard.net), are the documentary files of the importance of this achievement. Initially, the methods named Electromagnetic Levitation (EML) and Electrodynamic Levitation (EDL) were considered.
 Methods: At the end of last century, due to the availability of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets and High Critical Temperature Superconductors (HTS), an innovative levitation method, called Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SML), started to be considered. This method is based on the flux pinning effect property of HTS in the proximity of magnetic fields given by rare earth permanent magnets. The first experiments with SML, as expected, were small scale prototypes, or laboratory vehicles for one, two or four passengers, proposed mainly by researchers from Germany, China and Brazil. The Proceedings of the 16th MAGLEV, held in year 2000, confirms this fact. After 14 years of research and development, the team of the Laboratory of Applied Superconductivity (LASUP) of UFRJ achieved the construction of the first real scale operational SML vehicle in the world.
 Results: This retrospective will be followed by a comparison with the EML technology, that has already four urban commercial systems, will be presented and the application niches delimited.
 Conclusion: The perspectives of the MagLev-Cobra project and the cooperation efforts with China to turn it a commercial experience will finish the paper. As will be explained, before the commercial application of the MagLev-Cobra technology, the system must be certified and the technical, economic and environmental viability for a first deployment concluded.

In my postgraduate formation during the last years of the 80’s, we had close to thirty hospital beds in a pavilion called “sépticas” (1). In Colombia, where abortion was completely penalized, the pavilion was mostly filled with women with insecure, complicated abortions. The focus we received was technical: management of intensive care; performance of hysterectomies, colostomies, bowel resection, etc. In those times, some nurses were nuns and limited themselves to interrogating the patients to get them to “confess” what they had done to themselves in order to abort. It always disturbed me that the women who left alive, left without any advice or contraceptive method. Having asked a professor of mine, he responded with disdain: “This is a third level hospital, those things are done by nurses of the first level”.
 Seeing so much pain and death, I decided to talk to patients, and I began to understand their decision. I still remember so many deaths with sadness, but one case in particular pains me: it was a woman close to being fifty who arrived with a uterine perforation in a state of advanced sepsis. Despite the surgery and the intensive care, she passed away. I had talked to her, and she told me she was a widow, had two adult kids and had aborted because of “embarrassment towards them” because they were going to find out that she had an active sexual life. A few days after her passing, the pathology professor called me, surprised, to tell me that the uterus we had sent for pathological examination showed no pregnancy. She was a woman in a perimenopausal state with a pregnancy exam that gave a false positive due to the high levels of FSH/LH typical of her age. SHE WAS NOT PREGNANT!!! She didn’t have menstruation because she was premenopausal and a false positive led her to an unsafe abortion. Of course, the injuries caused in the attempted abortion caused the fatal conclusion, but the real underlying cause was the social taboo in respect to sexuality.
 I had to watch many adolescents and young women leave the hospital alive, but without a uterus, sometime without ovaries and with colostomies, to be looked down on by a society that blamed them for deciding to not be mothers. I had to see situation of women that arrived with their intestines protruding from their vaginas because of unsafe abortions. I saw women, who in their despair, self-inflicted injuries attempting to abort with elements such as stick, branches, onion wedges, alum bars and clothing hooks among others. Among so many deaths, it was hard not having at least one woman per day in the morgue due to an unsafe abortion.
 During those time, healthcare was not handled from the biopsychosocial, but only from the technical (2); nonetheless, in the academic evaluations that were performed, when asked about the definition of health, we had to recite the text from the International Organization of Health that included these three aspects. How contradictory!
 To give response to the health need of women and guarantee their right when I was already a professor, I began an obstetric contraceptive service in that third level hospital. There was resistance from the directors, but fortunately I was able to acquire international donations for the institution, which facilitated its acceptance. I decided to undertake a teaching career with the hope of being able to sensitize health professionals towards an integral focus of health and illness.
 When the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo in 1994, I had already spent various years in teaching, and when I read their Action Program, I found a name for what I was working on: Sexual and Reproductive Rights. I began to incorporate the tools given by this document into my professional and teaching life. I was able to sensitize people at my countries Health Ministry, and we worked together moving it to an approach of human rights in areas of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This new viewpoint, in addition to being integral, sought to give answers to old problems like maternal mortality, adolescent pregnancy, low contraceptive prevalence, unplanned or unwanted pregnancy or violence against women. With other sensitized people, we began with these SRH issues to permeate the Colombian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, some universities, and university hospitals. We are still fighting in a country that despite many difficulties has improved its indicators of SRH.
 With the experience of having labored in all sphere of these topics, we manage to create, with a handful of colleagues and friend at the Universidad El Bosque, a Master’s Program in Sexual and Reproductive Health, open to all professions, in which we broke several paradigms. A program was initiated in which the qualitative and quantitative investigation had the same weight, and some alumni of the program are now in positions of leadership in governmental and international institutions, replicating integral models. In the Latin American Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FLASOG, English acronym) and in the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO), I was able to apply my experience for many years in the SRH committees of these association to benefit women and girls in the regional and global environments.
 When I think of who has inspired me in these fights, I should highlight the great feminist who have taught me and been with me in so many fights. I cannot mention them all, but I have admired the story of the life of Margaret Sanger with her persistence and visionary outlook. She fought throughout her whole life to help the women of the 20th century to be able to obtain the right to decide when and whether or not they wanted to have children (3). Of current feminist, I have had the privilege of sharing experiences with Carmen Barroso, Giselle Carino, Debora Diniz and Alejandra Meglioli, leaders of the International Planned Parenthood Federation – Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF-RHO). From my country, I want to mention my countrywoman Florence Thomas, psychologist, columnist, writer and Colombo-French feminist. She is one of the most influential and important voices in the movement for women rights in Colombia and the region. She arrived from France in the 1960’s, in the years of counterculture, the Beatles, hippies, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre, a time in which capitalism and consumer culture began to be criticized (4). It was then when they began to talk about the female body, female sexuality and when the contraceptive pill arrived like a total revolution for women. Upon its arrival in 1967, she experimented a shock because she had just assisted in a revolution and only found a country of mothers, not women (5). That was the only destiny for a woman, to be quiet and submissive. Then she realized that this could not continue, speaking of “revolutionary vanguards” in such a patriarchal environment.
 In 1986 with the North American and European feminism waves and with her academic team, they created the group “Mujer y Sociedad de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia”, incubator of great initiatives and achievements for the country (6). She has led great changes with her courage, the strength of her arguments, and a simultaneously passionate and agreeable discourse. Among her multiple books, I highlight “Conversaciones con Violeta” (7), motivated by the disdain towards feminism of some young women. She writes it as a dialogue with an imaginary daughter in which, in an intimate manner, she reconstructs the history of women throughout the centuries and gives new light of the fundamental role of feminism in the life of modern women. Another book that shows her bravery is “Había que decirlo” (8), in which she narrates the experience of her own abortion at age twenty-two in sixty’s France.
 My work experience in the IPPF-RHO has allowed me to meet leaders of all ages in diverse countries of the region, who with great mysticism and dedication, voluntarily, work to achieve a more equal and just society. I have been particularly impressed by the appropriation of the concept of sexual and reproductive rights by young people, and this has given me great hope for the future of the planet. We continue to have an incomplete agenda of the action plan of the ICPD of Cairo but seeing how the youth bravely confront the challenges motivates me to continue ahead and give my years of experience in an intergenerational work.
 In their policies and programs, the IPPF-RHO evidences great commitment for the rights and the SRH of adolescent, that are consistent with what the organization promotes, for example, 20% of the places for decision making are in hands of the young. Member organizations, that base their labor on volunteers, are true incubators of youth that will make that unassailable and necessary change of generations. In contrast to what many of us experienced, working in this complicated agenda of sexual and reproductive health without theoretical bases, today we see committed people with a solid formation to replace us. In the college of medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the College of Nursing at the Universidad El Bosque, the new generations are more motivated and empowered, with great desire to change the strict underlying structures.
 Our great worry is the onslaught of the ultra-right, a lot of times better organized than us who do support rights, that supports anti-rights group and are truly pro-life (9). Faced with this scenario, we should organize ourselves better, giving battle to guarantee the rights of women in the local, regional, and global level, aggregating the efforts of all pro-right organizations. We are now committed to the Objectives of Sustainable Development (10), understood as those that satisfy the necessities of the current generation without jeopardizing the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own necessities. This new agenda is based on:
 - The unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals
 - Pending commitments (international environmental conventions)
 - The emergent topics of the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental.
 We now have 17 objectives of sustainable development and 169 goals (11). These goals mention “universal access to reproductive health” many times. In objective 3 of this list is included guaranteeing, before the year 2030, “universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including those of family planning, information, and education.” Likewise, objective 5, “obtain gender equality and empower all women and girls”, establishes the goal of “assuring the universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in conformity with the action program of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Action Platform of Beijing”. It cannot be forgotten that the term universal access to sexual and reproductive health includes universal access to abortion and contraception.
 Currently, 830 women die every day through preventable maternal causes; of these deaths, 99% occur in developing countries, more than half in fragile environments and in humanitarian contexts (12). 216 million women cannot access modern contraception methods and the majority live in the nine poorest countries in the world and in a cultural environment proper to the decades of the seventies (13). This number only includes women from 15 to 49 years in any marital state, that is to say, the number that takes all women into account is much greater. Achieving the proposed objectives would entail preventing 67 million unwanted pregnancies and reducing maternal deaths by two thirds. We currently have a high, unsatisfied demand for modern contraceptives, with extremely low use of reversible, long term methods (intrauterine devices and subdermal implants) which are the most effect ones with best adherence (14).
 There is not a single objective among the 17 Objectives of Sustainable Development where contraception does not have a prominent role: from the first one that refers to ending poverty, going through the fifth one about gender equality, the tenth of inequality reduction among countries and within the same country, until the sixteenth related with peace and justice. If we want to change the world, we should procure universal access to contraception without myths or barriers. We have the moral obligation of achieving the irradiation of extreme poverty and advancing the construction of more equal, just, and happy societies.
 In emergency contraception (EC), we are very far from reaching expectations. If in reversible, long-term methods we have low prevalence, in EC the situation gets worse. Not all faculties in the region look at this topic, and where it is looked at, there is no homogeneity in content, not even within the same country. There are still myths about their real action mechanisms. There are countries, like Honduras, where it is prohibited and there is no specific medicine, the same case as in Haiti. Where it is available, access is dismal, particularly among girls, adolescents, youth, migrants, afro-descendent, and indigenous. The multiple barriers for the effective use of emergency contraceptives must be knocked down, and to work toward that we have to destroy myths and erroneous perceptions, taboos and cultural norms; achieve changes in laws and restrictive rules within countries, achieve access without barriers to the EC; work in union with other sectors; train health personnel and the community. It is necessary to transform the attitude of health personal to a service above personal opinion.
 Reflecting on what has occurred after the ICPD in Cairo, their Action Program changed how we look at the dynamics of population from an emphasis on demographics to a focus on the people and human rights. The governments agreed that, in this new focus, success was the empowerment of women and the possibility of choice through expanded access to education, health, services, and employment among others. Nonetheless, there have been unequal advances and inequality persists in our region, all the goals were not met, the sexual and reproductive goals continue beyond the reach of many women (15). There is a long road ahead until women and girls of the world can claim their rights and liberty of deciding. Globally, maternal deaths have been reduced, there is more qualified assistance of births, more contraception prevalence, integral sexuality education, and access to SRH services for adolescents are now recognized rights with great advances, and additionally there have been concrete gains in terms of more favorable legal frameworks, particularly in our region; nonetheless, although it’s true that the access condition have improved, the restrictive laws of the region expose the most vulnerable women to insecure abortions.
 There are great challenges for governments to recognize SRH and the DSR as integral parts of health systems, there is an ample agenda against women. In that sense, access to SRH is threatened and oppressed, it requires multi-sector mobilization and litigation strategies, investigation and support for the support of women’s rights as a multi-sector agenda.
 Looking forward, we must make an effort to work more with youth to advance not only the Action Program of the ICPD, but also all social movements. They are one of the most vulnerable groups, and the biggest catalyzers for change. The young population still faces many challenges, especially women and girls; young girls are in particularly high risk due to lack of friendly and confidential services related with sexual and reproductive health, gender violence, and lack of access to services. In addition, access to abortion must be improved; it is the responsibility of states to guarantee the quality and security of this access. In our region there still exist countries with completely restrictive frameworks.
 New technologies facilitate self-care (16), which will allow expansion of universal access, but governments cannot detach themselves from their responsibility. Self-care is expanding in the world and can be strategic for reaching the most vulnerable populations. There are new challenges for the same problems, that require a re-interpretation of the measures necessary to guaranty the DSR of all people, in particular women, girls, and in general, marginalized and vulnerable populations. It is necessary to take into account migrations, climate change, the impact of digital media, the resurgence of hate discourse, oppression, violence, xenophobia, homo/transphobia, and other emergent problems, as SRH should be seen within a framework of justice, not isolated.
 We should demand accountability of the 179 governments that participate in the ICPD 25 years ago and the 193 countries that signed the Sustainable Development Objectives. They should reaffirm their commitments and expand their agenda to topics not considered at that time. Our region has given the world an example with the Agreement of Montevideo, that becomes a blueprint for achieving the action plan of the CIPD and we should not allow retreat. This agreement puts people at the center, especially women, and includes the topic of abortion, inviting the state to consider the possibility of legalizing it, which opens the doors for all governments of the world to recognize that women have the right to choose on maternity. This agreement is much more inclusive:
 Considering that the gaps in health continue to abound in the region and the average statistics hide the high levels of maternal mortality, of sexually transmitted diseases, of infection by HIV/AIDS, and the unsatisfied demand for contraception in the population that lives in poverty and rural areas, among indigenous communities, and afro-descendants and groups in conditions of vulnerability like women, adolescents and incapacitated people, it is agreed: 
 33- To promote, protect, and guarantee the health and the sexual and reproductive rights that contribute to the complete fulfillment of people and social justice in a society free of any form of discrimination and violence.
 37- Guarantee universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services, taking into consideration the specific needs of men and women, adolescents and young, LGBT people, older people and people with incapacity, paying particular attention to people in a condition of vulnerability and people who live in rural and remote zone, promoting citizen participation in the completing of these commitments.
 42- To guarantee, in cases in which abortion is legal or decriminalized in the national legislation, the existence of safe and quality abortion for non-desired or non-accepted pregnancies and instigate the other States to consider the possibility of modifying public laws, norms, strategies, and public policy on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy to save the life and health of pregnant adolescent women, improving their quality of life and decreasing the number of abortions (17).

University business incubators (UBIs) are uniquely positioned to foster transnational entrepreneurship and the evolution of business and technical communication practices on a worldwide basis. UBIs facilitate the launch of start-ups by professors, students, researchers, and local entrepreneurs. This study uses assemblage theory to profile four UBIs. Its findings concern their process of exporting incubation models and training transnational entrepreneurs, the roles of alumni and students, and the genres and conventions of entrepreneurship.

The issue of graduate writing is one that has attracted much focus and debate in higher education, particularly around maintaining ‘academic standards’ at a time of expansion in this sector. The need to develop academic skills, including writing, for higher education study has increasingly been linked to the skills that graduates need to gain employment (Davies et al., 2006). This raises the question of whether the type and purpose of writing within university programmes is different to, and possibly in tension with, writing required for employment after university. This is a point raised by recent research (Day, 2011) which shows that students studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects are more confident with oral rather than writing skills. The material discussed in this article is part of a two-year mixed method study looking at literacies, including writing, which undergraduate students develop at university, and the relationship of these literacies to employability. This article focuses on six first-year STEM students studying Forensic Science and Computing Science within the larger study. The qualitative data, gathered through repeat interviews, is discussed in relation to a small sample of employers and alumni working in science-based industries describing writing for transition into work and for on-going employment. The project therefore provides a useful student insight into writing, comparing this with employer expectations and the experience of alumni who have made the transition into work. What emerges from our study is the need to see writing at university as part of a wider communicative repertoire supported by a social and cultural approach to situated writing. This approach is more than simply skills based and is one that encourages and develops social as well as academic learning. We argue that such an approach, added to by technical skills support, enables greater engagement and success with learning in addition to enhancing employability.

Higher education is more than just a simple production line for job-ready graduates as it is the role of HEIs to provide relevant technical and vocational trainings on top of a well-planned curriculum, solid teaching force, and sustainable instructional infrastructures. Pursuant to RA 7722, this graduate tracer study of BSEd-TLE alumni from SY 2008-2009 to SY 2011-2012 measures job search time and self-perceptions of curriculum impact on self-esteem, financial assistance extended, and financial capability. This descriptive research (n=41) examined these variables as influenced by personal and educational profile. Waiting time for the first job with a mean of 6.44 months (between one to 18 months) is seem to be unaffected by both personal and educational profile. On average, the respondents expressed optimism on the effect the TLE curriculum on their self-esteem. Evidence suggests very high ratings in competence, confidence, commitment, compassion, faith, hope, honesty, diligence, hard work, punctuality, self-discipline, and zeal for service. Inferential statistics shows only grade point average had a significant influence on self-perceptions of self-esteem effects. Furthermore, TLE majors explained they are moderately able to support basic, educational, and shelter needs. The results warrant further analysis and follow-up so necessary revisions to the curriculum may be in order. Keywords – Education, job search time, self-perceptions, curriculum impact, descriptive design, Mindanao University of Science and Technology, Philippines

AbstractThis study investigated whether a dot immunoassay (DIA) can provide simultaneous detection of anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG), anti-deamidated gliadin (DG) and total IgA antibodies, as required in the work-up of celiac disease (CD) patients.Celiac disease patients (n=111) consecutively diagnosed from 2001 to 2011 at the Children’s Hospital and Institute of Immunology (Technical University Dresden) were tested for anti-tTG, anti-DG and total IgA by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and DIA retrospectively. Blood donors (n=45) and non-CD individuals with low IgA serum levels (n=8) were included as controls. Antibodies to endomysial antigens (EmA) were assessed by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF).Four (3.6%) of 111 CD patients demonstrated an IgA deficiency with total IgA below 50 mg/L by ELISA. Total IgA of the 107 IgA-non-deficient CD patients varied from 70 to 6000 mg/L. All four IgA-deficient CD patients were detected by a reduced reaction control of DIA and demonstrated positive anti-tTG or anti-DG IgG by DIA or ELISA. Detection of anti-tTG and anti-DG by DIA and ELISA showed a very good agreement (IgA: κ=0.972, 0.856, respectively; IgG: 0.921, 0.895, respectively).Immunodot assay is a reliable and easy-to-use technique for the detection of IgA-deficient CD patients. Simultaneous assessment of anti-tTG and anti-DG IgA antibodies, and IgA deficiency by DIA can improve the efficacy of CD serology.