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Thematic Network (thematic + network)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Quality assurance and benchmarking: an approach for European dental schools

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2007
M. L. Jones
Abstract:, This document was written by Task Force 3 of DentEd III, which is a European Union funded Thematic Network working under the auspices of the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE). It provides a guide to assist in the harmonisation of Dental Education Quality Assurance (QA) systems across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). There is reference to the work, thus far, of DentEd, DentEd Evolves, DentEd III and the ADEE as they strive to assist the convergence of standards in dental education; obviously QA and benchmarking has an important part to play in the European HE response to the Bologna Process. Definitions of Quality, Quality Assurance, Quality Management and Quality Improvement are given and put into the context of dental education. The possible process and framework for Quality Assurance are outlined and some basic guidelines/recommendations suggested. It is recognised that Quality Assurance in Dental Schools has to co-exist as part of established Quality Assurance systems within faculties and universities, and that Schools also may have to comply with existing local or national systems. Perhaps of greatest importance are the 14 ,requirements' for the Quality Assurance of Dental Education in Europe. These, together with the document and its appendices, were unanimously supported by the ADEE at its General Assembly in 2006. As there must be more than one road to achieve a convergence or harmonisation standard, a number of appendices are made available on the ADEE website. These provide a series of ,toolkits' from which schools can ,pick and choose' to assist them in developing QA systems appropriate to their own environment. Validated contributions and examples continue to be most welcome from all members of the European dental community for inclusion at this website. It is realised that not all schools will be able to achieve all of these requirements immediately, by definition, successful harmonisation is a process that will take time. At the end of the DentEd III project, ADEE will continue to support the progress of all schools in Europe towards these aims. [source]

Environmental change and the phenology of European aphids

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 8 2007
RICHARD HARRINGTON
Abstract Aphids, because of their short generation time and low developmental threshold temperatures, are an insect group expected to respond particularly strongly to environmental changes. Forty years of standardized, daily data on the abundance of flying aphids have been brought together from countries throughout Europe, through the EU Thematic Network ,EXAMINE'. Relationships between phenology, represented by date of first appearance in a year in a suction trap, of 29 aphid species and environmental data have been quantified using the residual maximum likelihood (REML) methodology. These relationships have been used with climate change scenario data to suggest plausible changes in aphid phenology. In general, the date of first record of aphid species in suction traps is expected to advance, the rate of advance varying with location and species, but averaging 8 days over the next 50 years. Strong relationships between aphid phenology and environmental variables have been found for many species, but they are notably weaker in species living all year on trees. Canonical variate analysis and principal coordinate analysis were used to determine ordinations of the 29 species on the basis of the presence/absence of explanatory variables in the REML models. There was strong discrimination between species with different life cycle strategies and between species feeding on herbs and trees, suggesting the possible value of trait-based groupings in predicting responses to environmental changes. [source]

Periodontology as a recognized dental speciality in Europe

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PERIODONTOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
Mariano Sanz
Abstract The impetus of the Bologna Process under the auspices of European Union governments has raised enormous expectations. It is the major educational change in Europe within the last 50 years and all the focus from university institutions, learned societies and thematic networks has shifted to this process, with the aim of developing consensus schemes in order to arrive at the expected European Convergence in Higher Education (to be completed by 2010). Dentistry as one of the health professions with clear Educational Standards, as defined by the European Dental Directives, is also reviewing its educational processes within this Bachelor,Master,Doctorate scheme and evaluating how the current and future dental specialities should be accommodated within this framework. Among these specialities, Periodontology is currently considered a formal dental speciality in 11 countries belonging to the EU however it lacks this legal status in the rest of the 14 EU countries. The purpose of this position paper is to provide evidence for the need for a recognized specialty in Periodontology at European level focusing on both the educational and professional perspective, with the hope of providing discussions that may contribute to facilitate its legal establishment as a new dental speciality in Europe. [source]

Assessing an author's influence using time series historiographic mapping: The oeuvre of conrad hal waddington (1905,1975)

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2008
Katherine W. McCain
A modified approach to algorithmic historiography is used to investigate the changing influence of the work of Conrad Hal Waddington over the period 1945,2004. Overall, Waddington's publications were cited by almost 5,500 source items in the Web of Science (Thomson Scientific, formerly Thomson ISI, Philadelphia, PA). Rather than simply analyzing the data set as a whole, older works by Waddington are incorporated into a series of historiographic maps (networks of highly cited documents), which show long-term and short-term research themes grounded in Waddington's work. Analysis by 10,20-year periods and the use of social network analysis soft- ware reveals structures,thematic networks and subnetworks,that are hidden in a mapping of the entire 60-year period. Two major Waddington-related themes emerge,canalization/genetic assimilation and embryonic induction. The first persists over the 60 years studied while active, visible research in the second appears to have declined markedly between 1965 and 1984, only to reappear in conjunction with the emergence of a new research field,Evolutionary Developmental Biology. [source]