Facing NAFTA: Literacy and Work in Mexico.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Gloria Hernandez; Lankshear, Colin

2000-01-01

Outlines the deep and complex challenge faced by Mexico in its quest for closer economic integration with so-called advanced economies. Discusses extensive poverty and illiteracy, and the systematic exclusion of many people from access to the very kinds of learning required by Mexico's economic project. Argues that extraordinary efforts and…

Directions in nutritional assessment: Biomarkers and bio-indicators - providing clarity in the face of complexity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Among the greatest challenges facing the Nutrition community is integrating nutrition into all aspects of global efforts in health promotion and disease prevention. Despite compelling evidence of its importance to human development, a full appreciation of how nutrition affects health is still lackin...

Addressing Challenges to Public Understanding of Science: Epistemic Cognition, Motivated Reasoning, and Conceptual Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinatra, Gale M.; Kienhues, Dorothe; Hofer, Barbara K.

2014-01-01

Science is of critical importance to daily life in a knowledge society and has a significant influence on many everyday decisions. As scientific problems increase in their number and complexity, so do the challenges facing the public in understanding these issues. Our objective is to focus on 3 of those challenges: the challenge of reasoning about…

Ethical Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Michael

2004-01-01

All evaluators face the challenge of striving to adhere to the highest possible standards of ethical conduct. Translating the AEA's Guiding Principles and the Joint Committee's Program Evaluation Standards into everyday practice, however, can be a complex, uncertain, and frustrating endeavor. Moreover, acting in an ethical fashion can require…

Solutions to Challenges Facing a University Digital Library and Press

PubMed Central

D'Alessandro, Michael P.; Galvin, Jeffrey R.; Colbert, Stephana I.; D'Alessandro, Donna M.; Choi, Teresa A.; Aker, Brian D.; Carlson, William S.; Pelzer, Gay D.

2000-01-01

During the creation of a university digital library and press intended to serve as a medical reference and education tool for health care providers and their patients, six distinct and complex digital publishing challenges were encountered. Over nine years, through a multidisciplinary approach, solutions were devised to the challenges of digital content ownership, management, mirroring, translation, interactions with users, and archiving. The result is a unique, author-owned, internationally mirrored, university digital library and press that serves as an authoritative medical reference and education tool for users around the world. The purpose of this paper is to share the valuable digital publishing lessons learned and outline the challenges facing university digital libraries and presses. PMID:10833161

[Systems epidemiology].

PubMed

Huang, T; Li, L M

2018-05-10

The era of medical big data, translational medicine and precision medicine brings new opportunities for the study of etiology of chronic complex diseases. How to implement evidence-based medicine, translational medicine and precision medicine are the challenges we are facing. Systems epidemiology, a new field of epidemiology, combines medical big data with system biology and examines the statistical model of disease risk, the future risk simulation and prediction using the data at molecular, cellular, population, social and ecological levels. Due to the diversity and complexity of big data sources, the development of study design and analytic methods of systems epidemiology face new challenges and opportunities. This paper summarizes the theoretical basis, concept, objectives, significances, research design and analytic methods of systems epidemiology and its application in the field of public health.

Government Certification and Accreditation: Make a Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Tracy L.

2009-01-01

One of the most significant challenges faced by government officials today is securing information systems to make them more resilient to attack from increasingly complex challenges from cyber-criminals, state-sponsored groups, and other threats. Over the years, the federal government has developed and implemented Certification and Accreditation…

[The challenge of clinical complexity in the 21st century: Could frailty indexes be the answer?

PubMed

Amblàs-Novellas, Jordi; Espaulella-Panicot, Joan; Inzitari, Marco; Rexach, Lourdes; Fontecha, Benito; Romero-Ortuno, Roman

The number of older people with complex clinical conditions and complex care needs continues to increase in the population. This is presenting many challenges to healthcare professionals and healthcare systems. In the face of these challenges, approaches are required that are practical and feasible. The frailty paradigm may be an excellent opportunity to review and establish some of the principles of comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in specialties outside Geriatric Medicine. The assessment of frailty using Frailty Indexes provides an aid to the 'situational diagnosis' of complex clinical situations, and may help in tackling uncertainty in a person-centred approach. Copyright © 2016 SEGG. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Self-Assessment of Governance Teams in an Argentine Private University: Adapting to Difficult Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durand, Julio; Pujadas, Carlos

2004-01-01

Argentine Universities like similar institutions all around the world are facing a complex and challenging environment that demands a more sophisticated leadership and the development of complex managerial skills. In this paper we propose that enhancing the quality of collective decision making, and building more complex teams as a way to preserve…

Exploring the Complex Interaction between Governance and Knowledge in Education. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 67

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fazekas, Mihaly; Burns, Tracey

2012-01-01

Governments in all Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries are facing the challenge of governing increasingly complex education systems. There is a growing need for governance structures that can handle this complexity and which can provide actors with the knowledge they need to make decisions. This working paper…

Ethical Challenges Scenario: Youth Involvement in Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooksy, Leslie J.

2007-01-01

All evaluators face the challenge of striving to adhere to the highest possible standards of ethical conduct. Translating the AEA's Guiding Principles and the Joint Committee's Program Evaluation Standards into everyday practice, however, can be a complex, uncertain, and frustrating endeavor. Moreover, acting in an ethical fashion can require…

Are Water-Related Leadership Development Programs Designed to Be Effective? An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burbach, Mark E.; Floress, Kristin; Kaufman, Eric K.

2015-01-01

Water resource professionals and others involved in managing water resources face increasingly complex challenges. Effective leadership development programs are needed to produce water leaders who can address these challenges. Leadership programs must be designed not simply to increase participants' environmental and leadership knowledge but to…

Curriculum Change and Climate Change: Inside outside Pressures in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fahey, Shireen J.

2012-01-01

In higher education today, institutions are facing a number of challenges--including the challenge to create future-proof graduates. Higher education institutions have a particular mandate to develop future leaders and decision-makers capable of understanding and providing solutions to complex, global issues. Education programmes that focus on…

Impact of Military Deployment and Distance Learning on Soldier-Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, August T.

2013-01-01

Soldiers face complex challenges, issues, and decisions when pursuing distance learning while deployed. These challenges are encountered frequently while completing undergraduate and graduate degree programs on active duty overseas. Many learning programs and benefits are available and utilized by military online learners in a war zone. Education…

A Grounded Theory of School of Education Futures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doiron, Joseph A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the futures that school of education leaders envision for their institutions. American higher education institutions broadly, and schools of education specifically, face a complex of challenges to their traditional structures, processes, practices, value, and values. These challenges create…

Leadership Training Program for Medical Staff in Belgium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Claes, Neree; Brabanders, Valérie

2016-01-01

Today healthcare is facing many challenges in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment. There is a need to develop strong leaders who can cope with these challenges. This article describes the process of a leadership training program for healthcare professionals in Belgium (named "Clinical Leadership Program" or…

Implementing a Reentry Framework at a Correctional Facility: Challenges to the Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudes, Danielle S.; Lerch, Jennifer; Taxman, Faye S.

2011-01-01

Implementation research is emerging in the field of corrections, but few studies have examined the complexities associated with implementing change among frontline workers embedded in specific organizational cultures. Using a mixed methods approach, the authors examine the challenges faced by correctional workers in a work release correctional…

Exploring Stakeholder Values and Interests in Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orr, Shannon K.

2010-01-01

One of the challenges facing program evaluation education is how to bridge the need to train students in theoretical and methodological foundations, and also prepare them for the unpredictability and complex environment outside the classroom. This issue is particularly challenging in terms of understanding stakeholder values and interests. The…

Randomized controlled trials and meta-analysis in medical education: what role do they play?

PubMed

Cook, David A

2012-01-01

Education researchers seek to understand what works, for whom, in what circumstances. Unfortunately, educational environments are complex and research itself is highly context dependent. Faced with these challenges, some have argued that qualitative methods should supplant quantitative methods such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analysis. I disagree. Good qualitative and mixed-methods research are complementary to, rather than exclusive of, quantitative methods. The complexity and challenges we face should not beguile us into ignoring methods that provide strong evidence. What, then, is the proper role for RCTs and meta-analysis in medical education? First, the choice of study design depends on the research question. RCTs and meta-analysis are appropriate for many, but not all, study goals. They have compelling strengths but also numerous limitations. Second, strong methods will not compensate for a pointless question. RCTs do not advance the science when they make confounded comparisons, or make comparison with no intervention. Third, clinical medicine now faces many of the same challenges we encounter in education. We can learn much from other fields about how to handle complexity in RCTs. Finally, no single study will definitively answer any research question. We need carefully planned, theory-building, programmatic research, reflecting a variety of paradigms and approaches, as we accumulate evidence to change the art and science of education.

Decision Making Under Uncertainty and Complexity: A Model-Based Scenario Approach to Supporting Integrated Water Resources Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Gupta, H.; Wagener, T.; Stewart, S.; Mahmoud, M.; Hartmann, H.; Springer, E.

2007-12-01

Some of the most challenging issues facing contemporary water resources management are those typified by complex coupled human-environmental systems with poorly characterized uncertainties. In other words, major decisions regarding water resources have to be made in the face of substantial uncertainty and complexity. It has been suggested that integrated models can be used to coherently assemble information from a broad set of domains, and can therefore serve as an effective means for tackling the complexity of environmental systems. Further, well-conceived scenarios can effectively inform decision making, particularly when high complexity and poorly characterized uncertainties make the problem intractable via traditional uncertainty analysis methods. This presentation discusses the integrated modeling framework adopted by SAHRA, an NSF Science & Technology Center, to investigate stakeholder-driven water sustainability issues within the semi-arid southwestern US. The multi-disciplinary, multi-resolution modeling framework incorporates a formal scenario approach to analyze the impacts of plausible (albeit uncertain) alternative futures to support adaptive management of water resources systems. Some of the major challenges involved in, and lessons learned from, this effort will be discussed.

Interdisciplinary Vertical Integration: The Future of Biomechanics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gregor, Robert J.

2008-01-01

The field of biomechanics has grown rapidly in the past 30 years in both size and complexity. As a result, the term might mean different things to different people. This article addresses the issues facing the field in the form of challenges biomechanists face in the future. Because the field is so diverse, strength within the different areas of…

Teaching and Learning in English Urban Schools. A Report of a Study Visit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maeroff, Gene I.

The challenges facing urban elementary and secondary schools are like those facing suburban and rural schools, but there are complex circumstances that complicate efforts by urban school systems to carry out their mission. Schools in the cities have more students from impoverished homes, more foreign-born or minority group students, and more…

Learning to manage complexity through simulation: students' challenges and possible strategies.

PubMed

Gormley, Gerard J; Fenwick, Tara

2016-06-01

Many have called for medical students to learn how to manage complexity in healthcare. This study examines the nuances of students' challenges in coping with a complex simulation learning activity, using concepts from complexity theory, and suggests strategies to help them better understand and manage complexity.Wearing video glasses, participants took part in a simulation ward-based exercise that incorporated characteristics of complexity. Video footage was used to elicit interviews, which were transcribed. Using complexity theory as a theoretical lens, an iterative approach was taken to identify the challenges that participants faced and possible coping strategies using both interview transcripts and video footage.Students' challenges in coping with clinical complexity included being: a) unprepared for 'diving in', b) caught in an escalating system, c) captured by the patient, and d) unable to assert boundaries of acceptable practice.Many characteristics of complexity can be recreated in a ward-based simulation learning activity, affording learners an embodied and immersive experience of these complexity challenges. Possible strategies for managing complexity themes include: a) taking time to size up the system, b) attuning to what emerges, c) reducing complexity, d) boundary practices, and e) working with uncertainty. This study signals pedagogical opportunities for recognizing and dealing with complexity.

Women and women of color in leadership: complexity, identity, and intersectionality.

PubMed

Sanchez-Hucles, Janis V; Davis, Donald D

2010-04-01

This article describes the challenges that women and women of color face in their quest to achieve and perform in leadership roles in work settings. We discuss the barriers that women encounter and specifically address the dimensions of gender and race and their impact on leadership. We identify the factors associated with gender evaluations of leaders and the stereotypes and other challenges faced by White women and women of color. We use ideas concerning identity and the intersection of multiple identities to understand the way in which gender mediates and shapes the experience of women in the workplace. We conclude with suggestions for research and theory development that may more fully capture the complex experience of women who serve as leaders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Ethical challenges in developing an educational video to empower potential participants during consent processes in HIV cure research in South Africa.

PubMed

Staunton, Ciara; de Roubaix, Malcolm; Baatjies, Dianno; Black, Gill; Hendricks, Melany; Rossouw, Theresa; Moodley, Keymanthri

2018-04-01

Obtaining consent for HIV research is complex, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Low levels of education, complexity of science and research processes, confusion about basic elements of research, and socio-economic conditions that make access to medical care difficult have collectively led to concerns about the adequacy of the consent process. Given the exponential growth of HIV prevention and treatment research in South Africa, HIV researchers are increasingly facing challenges obtaining authentic informed consent from potential participants. It is anticipated that HIV cure research, despite being in its infancy in South Africa, will introduce a new discourse into a population that is often struggling to understand the differences between 'cure', 'preventive and therapeutic vaccines' and other elements of the research process. Coupled with this, South Africa has a complex history of 'illegitimate' or 'false cures' for HIV. It is therefore logical to anticipate that HIV cure research may face significant challenges during consent processes. HIV prevention research in South Africa has demonstrated the importance of early community engagement in educating potential research participants and promoting community acceptance of research. Consequently, in an attempt to extrapolate from this experience of engaging with communities early regarding cure research, a 15-minute educational video entitled ' I have a dream: a world without HIV ' was developed to educate and ultimately empower potential research participants to make informed choices during consent processes in future HIV cure clinical trials. To aid others in the development of educational interventions, this paper discusses the challenges faced in developing this educational video.

Complexity of Human Circulation Design: Tips for Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurbel, Sven; Gros, Mario; Maric, Svjetlana

2009-01-01

Medical students are faced with a challenge to comprehend the enormous complexity of the circulatory systems. There is a gap between courses of anatomy, with detailed description of all normally present macroscopic vessels, and histology, which is focused on microscopic tissue architecture. Both courses leave arterioles, capillaries, and venules…

Elementary Teachers' Selection and Use of Visual Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Tammy D.; Jones, M. Gail

2018-01-01

As science grows in complexity, science teachers face an increasing challenge of helping students interpret models that represent complex science systems. Little is known about how teachers select and use models when planning lessons. This mixed methods study investigated the pedagogical approaches and visual models used by elementary in-service…

Using a Team Approach to Meet Complex Family Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Njorge, Wanijiku F. M.

2011-01-01

Mental health clinicians who work with families with infants and toddlers often face complex challenges that require collaboration among many professionals and disciplines. A team approach to addressing infant mental health is critical to successful intervention. In this articles, a fractured family dealing with interpersonal violence and maternal…

Robust Fixed-Structure Controller Synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Corrado, Joseph R.; Haddad, Wassim M.; Gupta, Kajal (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The ability to develop an integrated control system design methodology for robust high performance controllers satisfying multiple design criteria and real world hardware constraints constitutes a challenging task. The increasingly stringent performance specifications required for controlling such systems necessitates a trade-off between controller complexity and robustness. The principle challenge of the minimal complexity robust control design is to arrive at a tractable control design formulation in spite of the extreme complexity of such systems. Hence, design of minimal complexitY robust controllers for systems in the face of modeling errors has been a major preoccupation of system and control theorists and practitioners for the past several decades.

Curricular Innovation for Sustainability: The Piedmont/Ponderosa Model of Faculty Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barlett, Peggy F.; Chase, Geoffrey W.

2012-01-01

Curricular innovation is at the center of the challenges many colleges and universities face as they seek to help students address more successfully than previous generations the complex, multi-faceted, systemic challenges of global climate change, population growth, loss of biodiversity, environmental justice, toxic wastes, and food insecurity.…

Designing Search: Effective Search Interfaces for Academic Library Web Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teague-Rector, Susan; Ghaphery, Jimmy

2008-01-01

Academic libraries customize, support, and provide access to myriad information systems, each with complex graphical user interfaces. The number of possible information entry points on an academic library Web site is both daunting to the end-user and consistently challenging to library Web site designers. Faced with the challenges inherent in…

Factors Affecting University Students' Use of Moodle: An Empirical Study Based on TAM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essel, Daniel Danso; Wilson, Osafo Apeanti

2017-01-01

Higher education institutions are faced with the complex challenges of serving increased enrollment levels within tight budgets. This challenge is prompting many universities to explore new approaches including the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle for delivering courses to help extend teaching and learning beyond the…

The Challenge of Researching Violent Societies: Navigating Complexities in Ethnography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tshabangu, Icarbord

2009-01-01

Through use of a recent study researching democratic education and citizenship in Zimbabwe, this paper examines the methodological dilemmas and challenges faced by an ethnographer, particularly by a research student in a violent context. The article posits a bricolage strategy to navigate some of the dangers and methodological dilemmas inherent so…

An Examination of Job Satisfaction among Urban High School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cui-Callahan, Natalia A.

2012-01-01

The workload of public educators has become increasingly complex in recent years. New and veteran teachers are facing a variety of internal and external challenges within the classroom environment. Internal challenges include, but are not limited to students with limited English skills, inclusion of students with special needs in the regular…

Using System Dynamics as an Evaluation Tool: Experience from a Demonstration Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fredericks, Kimberly A.; Deegan, Michael; Carman, Joanne G.

2008-01-01

Evaluators are often faced with many challenges in the design and implementation of a program's evaluation. Because programs are entangled in complex networks of structures and stakeholders, they can be challenging to understand, and they often pose issues of competing and conflicting goals. However, by using a systems mapping approach to…

The Potential of the Nutrient Uptake and Outcome network (NUOnet) to Contribute to Soil and Water Conservation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

With the national and global environmental challenges that we have related to nutrient management, there is a need to use large quantities of information to solve the complex agricultural challenges humanity faces. USDA-ARS is developing a national network called the Nutrient Uptake and Outcome netw...

Big Data, Big Challenges: Implications for Chief Nurse Executives.

PubMed

Clancy, Thomas R; Reed, Laura

2016-03-01

As systems evolve over time, their natural tendency is to become increasingly more complex. Studies in the field of complex systems have generated new perspectives on the application of management strategies in health systems. Much of this research appears as a natural extension of the cross-disciplinary field of systems theory. In this edition, I begin a series of articles on the growing challenge faced by nurse administrators of finding value in the vast amounts of information collected by health systems today.

Oral Communication Skills Assessment in a Synchronous Hybrid MBA Programme: Does Attending Face-to-Face Matter for US and International Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butz, Nikolaus T.; Askim-Lovseth, Mary K.

2015-01-01

The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill for graduates of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programmes; however, as synchronous hybrid learning becomes more common, business schools may find it challenging to assess students' proficiency in this core area. An additional layer of complexity is added by the burgeoning…

A student's perspective of managing data collection in a complex qualitative study.

PubMed

Dowse, Eileen Mary; van der Riet, Pamela; Keatinge, Diana Rosemary

2014-11-01

To highlight from a doctoral student's perspective some of the unexpected and challenging issues that may arise when collecting data in a complex, qualitative study. Using a qualitative approach to undertaking a PhD requires commitment to the research topic, the acquisition of a variety of research skills and the development of expertise in writing. Despite close research supervision and guidance, the first author of this paper experienced unexpected hurdles when collecting data. This article highlights these hurdles and compares them with similar and dissimilar challenges raised by a social researcher with 30 years' experience (White 2012). The first author's experience of field research during her PhD candidature. Informed by a critical theoretical perspective, a snowballing technique was used to examine issues related to data collection by a doctoral student in a qualitative research study. The first author found the logistics of qualitative data collection, concerns about transparency, role confusion and power differentials with participants, and the effective use of video recording technology, unexpectedly challenging. Many of these issues are highlighted in the literature and/or during research supervision. However, the student researcher remains a novice when entering the field. It is often only on reflection after encountering the hurdle that the student recognises future pre-emptive or alternative methods of data collection. The challenges faced as a doctoral student managing the data collection phase of the study concurred with White's discussion of some of the 'real life challenges that novice researchers might face' (2012). Specific guidance and prudence are needed by research students to know when enough data have been collected for manageable analysis within the limits of candidature. Use of reflexivity and mindfulness practised by the student during this phase assisted the ability to reflect, respond and learn from issues as they arose and aim for a harmonious work, study and life balance. This paper highlights these issues and offers suggestions for other research higher degree students facing similar challenges when collecting data in a complex qualitative study.

Shaping a career trajectory in academic administration: leadership development for the deanship.

PubMed

Green, Alexia; Ridenour, Nancy

2004-11-01

The nursing profession continues to face many challenges, one of which is an insufficient number of aspiring leaders. The role of an academic leader, specifically that of dean, brings with it unique challenges and opportunities. Shaping a career in academic administration requires careful consideration of the leadership skills necessary to perform in this complex and challenging role. However, it is critical to the future of nursing as a profession that ample numbers of aspiring leaders can successfully make this transition. One can be better prepared to take on this exciting and rewarding leadership opportunity when one understands the challenges deans face, asks questions such as "Do I really want a deanship?," identifies the required leadership skills, defines a career trajectory and pathway, and develops the leadership skills necessary for deans.

Challenges Facing Healthwatch, a New Consumer Champion in England.

PubMed

Carter, Pam; Martin, Graham

2016-01-21

This article engages with debates about the conceptualisation and practical challenges of patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care services. Policy in this area in England has shifted numerous times but increasingly a consumerist discourse seems to override more democratic ideas concerning the relationship between citizens and public services. Recent policy change in England has seen the creation of new consumer champion bodies in the form of local Healthwatch. The article describes these new organisational structures for PPI and shows how those who seek to influence planning and delivery of services or comment or complain about aspects of their care face considerable complexity. This is due, in part, to the ambiguous remit set out for newly instigated Healthwatch organisations by government. Drawing on governance theory, we show that it can also be understood as a function of an increasingly polycentric governance arena. Challenges that flow from this include problems of specifying jurisdictional responsibility, accountability, and legitimacy. We review Healthwatch progress to date, then we set out four challenges facing local Healthwatch organisations before discussing the implications of these for patients and the public. The first challenge relates to non-coterminous boundaries and jurisdictional integrity. Secondly, establishing the unique features of Healthwatch is problematic in the crowded PPI arena. The third challenge arises from limited resources as well as the fact that resources flow to Healthwatch from the local authorities that Healthwatch are expected to hold to account. The fourth challenge we identify is how local Healthwatch organisations negotiate the complexity of being a partner to statutory and other organisations, while at the same time being expected to champion local people's views. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Biological Invasions: A Challenge In Ecological Forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schnase, J. L.; Smith, J. A.; Stohlgren, T. J.; Graves, S.; Trees, C.; Rood, Richard (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being considered by NASA's Earth Science Vision for 2025. The invasive species problem is complex and presents many challenges. Developing an invasive species predictive capability could significantly advance the science and technology of ecological forecasting.

Harnessing the complexity of education with information technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gershenson, Carlos

2015-05-01

Education at all levels is facing several challenges in most countries, such as low quality, high costs, lack of educators, and unsatisfied student demand. Traditional approaches are becoming unable to deliver the required education. Several causes for this inefficiency can be identified. I argue that beyond specific causes, the lack of effective education is related to complexity. However, information technology is helping us overcome this complexity.

Challenges newly-arrived migrant women in Montreal face when needing maternity care: Health care professionals' perspectives.

PubMed

Peláez, Sandra; Hendricks, Kristin N; Merry, Lisa A; Gagnon, Anita J

2017-01-25

People who leave their country of origin, or the country of habitual residence, to establish themselves permanently in another country are usually referred to as migrants. Over half of all births in Montreal, Canada are to migrant women. To understand healthcare professionals' attitudes towards migrants that could influence their delivery of care, our objective was to explore their perspectives of challenges newly-arrived migrant women from non-Western countries face when needing maternity care. In this qualitative multiple case study, we conducted face-to-face interviews with 63 health care professionals from four teaching hospitals in Montreal, known for providing maternity care to a high volume of migrant women. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. Physicians, nurses, social workers, and therapists participated; 90% were female; and 17% were themselves migrants from non-Western countries. According to participants, newly-arrived migrant women face challenges at two levels: (a) direct care (e.g., understanding Canadian health care professionals' expectations, communicating effectively with health care professionals), and (b) organizational (e.g., access to appropriate health care). Challenges women face are strongly influenced by the migrant woman's background as well as social position (e.g., general education, health literacy, socio-cultural integration) and by how health care professionals balance women's needs with perceived requirement to adhere to standard procedures and regulations. Health care professionals across institutions agreed that maternity care-related challenges faced by newly-arrived migrant women often are complex in that they are simultaneously driven by conflicting values: those based on migrant women's sociocultural backgrounds versus those related to the implementation of Canadian guidelines for maternity care in which consideration of migrant women's particular needs are not priority.

Equity for Students with High-Incidence Disabilities in Statewide Assessments: A Technology-Based Solution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyen, Ed; Poggio, John; Seok, Soonhwa; Smith, Sean

2006-01-01

One of the most significant challenges facing policy makers in education today is to ensure that state assessments designed to measure student performance across specified grade-level curriculum content standards will allow all students to demonstrate what they have learned. This challenge is made complex by the varied attributes of students with…

A Global Environmental Agenda for the United States: Issues for the New U.S. Administration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Donald; Sant, Roger W.

2000-01-01

The new presidential administration faces an array of urgent challenges. Complex public policy choices are necessary to address the near-term challenges of climate change and resource degradation which will help the United States deal with the chronic problems of global inequity and human deprivation. Outlines the environmental problems…

Privileging Practice: Facing the Challenge of Integrated Working for Outcomes for Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canavan, John; Coen, Liam; Dolan, Pat; Whyte, Liam

2009-01-01

Integrated working for outcomes is complex and challenging in theory and practice. Yet, outcomes and integrated working are central to the policy goals for children and families in Ireland. In this article, the authors present two main arguments: first, that reflective practice offers a useful general methodology for engaging with the theoretical…

Teaching Civics in a Time of Partisan Polarization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Peter; Kawashima-Ginsberg, Kei

2013-01-01

At every stage in the nation's history, the next generation must be deliberately educated to be active and responsible citizens. That is always a complex and challenging task, but the challenges differ as the context evolves. Today, students and teachers of civics face special barriers as well as unusual opportunities. For one thing, national…

Sex Doesn't Matter: The Role of Gender in the Formation of Student-University Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowden, Jana; Wood, Leigh

2011-01-01

As competition intensifies, higher education providers are facing ever more complex challenges in attracting and retaining students. These new marketing challenges have necessitated a need to more comprehensively understand the factors that lead to positive perceptions of the institutions services, as well as positive referral of the brand. This…

The Special Educational Needs of Adolescents Living with Chronic Illness: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Megan

2013-01-01

Rates of chronic illness are increasing around the world and, accordingly, numbers of adolescent students living with chronic illness are also increasing. The challenges faced by these students and their teachers are complex. One of these challenges is the need of the adolescent with chronic illness to achieve some level of social conformity.…

Gaeilge Gaming: Assessing How Games Can Help Children to Learn Irish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalton, Gene; Devitt, Ann

2016-01-01

In the 2011 census almost one in three Irish teenagers claimed to be unable to speak Irish (Central Statistics Office, Ireland, 2012), despite the language being taught daily in school. The challenges facing the Irish language in schools are complex and multifaceted. The research reported here attempts to address some of these challenges by…

Universities on the Market: Academic Capitalism as a Challenge and a Window of Opportunity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demin, M. R.

2017-01-01

The modern university and the academic profession itself are facing new challenges: First, the increasing complexity of labor markets and globalization are undermining the structure of the academic profession, and secondly, the rise in cost of university research calls into question the autonomy of the university. The internationalization of the…

Human-Nature Relationships in School Science: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Middle-Grade Science Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharma, Ajay; Buxton, Cory A.

2015-01-01

Science education has a central role to play in preparing a scientifically literate citizenry that is capable of understanding complex environmental challenges facing human societies and making well-informed and evidence-based decisions that help resolve these challenges. However, evidence suggests that most Americans are poorly equipped with the…

Changing panorama for surveillance of device-associated healthcare infections: Challenges faced in implementation of current guidelines.

PubMed

Gupta, Renu; Sharma, Sangeeta; Saxena, Sonal

2018-01-01

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are preventable in up to 30% of patients with evidence-based infection prevention and control (IPC) activities. IPC activities require effective surveillance to generate data for the HAI rates, defining priority areas, identifying processes amenable for improvement and institute interventions to improve patient's safety. However, uniform, accurate and standardised surveillance methodology using objective definitions can only generate meaningful data for effective execution of IPC activities. The highly exhaustive, complex and ever-evolving infection surveillance methodology pose a challenge for effective data capture, analysis and interpretation by ground level personnel. The present review addresses the gaps in knowledge and day-to-day challenges in surveillance faced by infection control team for effective implementation of IPC activities.

A complex case of congenital cystic renal disease

PubMed Central

Cordiner, David S; Evans, Clair A; Brundler, Marie-Anne; McPhillips, Maeve; Murio, Enric; Darling, Mark; Taheri, Sepideh

2012-01-01

This case outlines the potential complexity of autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). It highlights the challenges involved in managing this condition, some of the complications faced and areas of uncertainty in the decision making process. With a paucity of published paediatric cases on this subject, this should add to the pool of information currently available. PMID:22605879

MolPrint3D: Enhanced 3D Printing of Ball-and-Stick Molecular Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paukstelis, Paul J.

2018-01-01

The increased availability of noncommercial 3D printers has provided instructors and students improved access to printing technology. However, printing complex ball-and-stick molecular structures faces distinct challenges, including the need for support structures that increase with molecular complexity. MolPrint3D is a software add-on for the…

Fostering Creative Engineers: A Key to Face the Complexity of Engineering Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Chunfang

2012-01-01

Recent studies have argued a shift of thinking about engineering practice from a linear conception to a system understanding. The complexity of engineering practice has been thought of as the root of challenges for engineers. Moreover, creativity has been emphasised as one key capability that engineering students should master. This paper aims to…

Challenges of Developing New Classes of NASA Self-Managing Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinchey, M. G.; Rash, J. I.; Truszkowski, W. F.; Rouff, C. A.; Sterritt, R.

2005-01-01

NASA is proposing increasingly complex missions that will require a high degree of autonomy and autonomicity. These missions pose hereto unforeseen problems and raise issues that have not been well-addressed by the community. Assuring success of such missions will require new software development techniques and tools. This paper discusses some of the challenges that NASA and the rest of the software development community are facing in developing these ever-increasingly complex systems. We give an overview of a proposed NASA mission as well as techniques and tools that are being developed to address autonomic management and the complexity issues inherent in these missions.

Complexities in Subsetting Satellite Level 2 Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huwe, P.; Wei, J.; Albayrak, A.; Silberstein, D. S.; Alfred, J.; Savtchenko, A. K.; Johnson, J. E.; Hearty, T.; Meyer, D. J.

2017-12-01

Satellite Level 2 data presents unique challenges for tools and services. From nonlinear spatial geometry to inhomogeneous file data structure to inconsistent temporal variables to complex data variable dimensionality to multiple file formats, there are many difficulties in creating general tools for Level 2 data support. At NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), we are implementing a general Level 2 Subsetting service for Level 2 data. In this presentation, we will unravel some of the challenges faced in creating this service and the strategies we used to surmount them.

Finding My Place at the Table.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Brien, Pat McDonald

1999-01-01

Observes that teaching today is a major challenge as teachers attempt to sift through everything that confronts them and as they constantly struggle with conflict while trying to address the complex dilemmas facing them daily in their classrooms. (SR)

Learning in Global Collaborations for Impact and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ubalijoro, Éliane

2017-01-01

This chapter looks at learning through global collaboration I have been involved in or witnessed as well as explores practices that can enhance innovation for success in addressing complex challenges we face in the twenty-first century.

Toward a standard lexicon for ecosystem services

EPA Science Inventory

The complex, widely dispersed, and cumulative environmental challenges currently facing society require holistic, transdisciplinary approaches to resolve. The concept of ecosystem services (ES) has become more widely accepted both as a framework that cuts across the dimensions of...

Complex challenges of maintaining whitebark pine in Greater Yellowstone under climate change: A call for innovative research, management, and policy approaches

Treesearch

Andrew Hansen; Kathryn Ireland; Kristin Legg; Robert Keane; Edward Barge; Martha Jenkins; Michiel Pillet

2016-01-01

Climate suitability is projected to decline for many subalpine species, raising questions about managing species under a deteriorating climate. Whitebark pine (WBP) (Pinus albicaulis) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) crystalizes the challenges that natural resource managers of many high mountain ecosystems will likely face in the coming decades. We...

A Culturally Relevant Teacher Professional Development for Teaching Climate Change to Native American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kern, Anne Liu; Honwad, Sameer; McLain, Ed

2017-01-01

The science of climate change is a complex subject to teach. Teachers find climate change a challenging topic to teach due to a myriad of reasons. Gayford, 2010 describes some of the challenges teachers face while teaching climate change science as "first, the controversial nature of the topic; second, it does not relate well to the normal…

Complexities and Challenges of Singapore Nurses Providing Postacute Home Care in Multicultural Communities: A Grounded Theory Study.

PubMed

Wong, Alfred Ka-Shing; Ong, Shu Fen; Matchar, David Bruce; Lie, Desiree; Ng, Reuben; Yoon, Kirsten Eom; Wong, Chek Hooi

2017-10-01

Studies are needed to inform the preparation of community nurses to address patient behavioral and social factors contributing to unnecessary readmissions to hospital. This study uses nurses' input to understand challenges faced during home care, to derive a framework to address the challenges. Semistructured interviews were conducted to saturation with 16 community nurses in Singapore. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts independently coded for emergent themes. Themes were interpreted using grounded theory. Seven major themes emerged from 16 interviews: Strained social relationships, complex care decision-making processes within families, communication barriers, patient's or caregiver neglect of health issues, building and maintaining trust, trial-and-error nature of work, and dealing with uncertainty. Community nurses identified uncertainty arising from complexities in social-relational, personal, and organizational factors as a central challenge. Nursing education should focus on navigating and managing uncertainty at the personal, patient, and family levels.

The services-oriented architecture: ecosystem services as a framework for diagnosing change in social ecological systems

Treesearch

Philip A. Loring; F. Stuart Chapin; S. Craig Gerlach

2008-01-01

Computational thinking (CT) is a way to solve problems and understand complex systems that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science and is well suited to the challenges that face researchers of complex, linked social-ecological systems. This paper explores CT's usefulness to sustainability science through the application of the services-oriented...

Achieving control and interoperability through unified model-based systems and software engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rasmussen, Robert; Ingham, Michel; Dvorak, Daniel

2005-01-01

Control and interoperation of complex systems is one of the most difficult challenges facing NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. An integrated but diverse array of vehicles, habitats, and supporting facilities, evolving over the long course of the enterprise, must perform ever more complex tasks while moving steadily away from the sphere of ground support and intervention.

The context, influences and challenges for undergraduate nurse clinical education: Continuing the dialogue.

PubMed

Forber, Jan; DiGiacomo, Michelle; Davidson, Patricia; Carter, Bernie; Jackson, Debra

2015-11-01

Approaches to clinical education are highly diverse and becoming increasingly complex to sustain in complex milieu To identify the influences and challenges of providing nurse clinical education in the undergraduate setting and to illustrate emerging solutions. A discursive exploration into the broad and varied body of evidence including peer reviewed and grey literature. Internationally, enabling undergraduate clinical learning opportunities faces a range of challenges. These can be illustrated under two broad themes: (1) legacies from the past and the inherent features of nurse education and (2) challenges of the present, including, population changes, workforce changes, and the disconnection between the health and education sectors. Responses to these challenges are triggering the emergence of novel approaches, such as collaborative models. Ongoing challenges in providing accessible, effective and quality clinical learning experiences are apparent. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying and Coordinating Care for Complex Patients

PubMed Central

Rudin, Robert S.; Gidengil, Courtney A.; Predmore, Zachary; Schneider, Eric C.; Sorace, James; Hornstein, Rachel

2017-01-01

Abstract In the United States, a relatively small proportion of complex patients---defined as having multiple comorbidities, high risk for poor outcomes, and high cost---incur most of the nation's health care costs. Improved care coordination and management of complex patients could reduce costs while increasing quality of care. However, care coordination efforts face multiple challenges, such as segmenting populations of complex patients to better match their needs with the design of specific interventions, understanding how to reduce spending, and integrating care coordination programs into providers' care delivery processes. Innovative uses of analytics and health information technology (HIT) may address these challenges. Rudin and colleagues at RAND completed a literature review and held discussions with subject matter experts, reaching the conclusion that analytics and HIT are being used in innovative ways to coordinate care for complex patients but that the capabilities are limited, evidence of their effectiveness is lacking, and challenges are substantial, and important foundational work is still needed. PMID:28845354

The Canadian Corporate-Academic Complex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turk, James

2010-01-01

As universities more aggressively embrace corporate values, corporate management practices, corporate labor-relations policies, and corporate money, faculty associations face troubling challenges. The new reality is particularly hostile to academic freedom, and people see that hostility in the actions of corporate funders and university…

FACE-IT. A Science Gateway for Food Security Research

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Montella, Raffaele; Kelly, David; Xiong, Wei

Progress in sustainability science is hindered by challenges in creating and managing complex data acquisition, processing, simulation, post-processing, and intercomparison pipelines. To address these challenges, we developed the Framework to Advance Climate, Economic, and Impact Investigations with Information Technology (FACE-IT) for crop and climate impact assessments. This integrated data processing and simulation framework enables data ingest from geospatial archives; data regridding, aggregation, and other processing prior to simulation; large-scale climate impact simulations with agricultural and other models, leveraging high-performance and cloud computing; and post-processing to produce aggregated yields and ensemble variables needed for statistics, for model intercomparison, and to connectmore » biophysical models to global and regional economic models. FACE-IT leverages the capabilities of the Globus Galaxies platform to enable the capture of workflows and outputs in well-defined, reusable, and comparable forms. We describe FACE-IT and applications within the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project and the Center for Robust Decision-making on Climate and Energy Policy.« less

Becoming Earth Independent: Human-Automation-Robotics Integration Challenges for Future Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marquez, Jessica J.

2016-01-01

Future exploration missions will require NASA to integrate more automation and robotics in order to accomplish mission objectives. This presentation will describe on the future challenges facing the human operator (astronaut, ground controllers) as we increase the amount of automation and robotics in spaceflight operations. It will describe how future exploration missions will have to adapt and evolve in order to deal with more complex missions and communication latencies. This presentation will outline future human-automation-robotic integration challenges.

Complexities in Subsetting Level 2 Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huwe, Paul; Wei, Jennifer; Meyer, David; Silberstein, David S.; Alfred, Jerome; Savtchenko, Andrey K.; Johnson, James E.; Albayrak, Arif; Hearty, Thomas

2017-01-01

Satellite Level 2 data presents unique challenges for tools and services. From nonlinear spatial geometry to inhomogeneous file data structure to inconsistent temporal variables to complex data variable dimensionality to multiple file formats, there are many difficulties in creating general tools for Level 2 data support. At NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), we are implementing a general Level 2 Subsetting service for Level 2 data to a user-specified spatio-temporal region of interest (ROI). In this presentation, we will unravel some of the challenges faced in creating this service and the strategies we used to surmount them.

Reaching out to take on TB in Somalia.

PubMed

Moore, David A J; Granat, Simo M

2014-01-01

Among the many challenges facing populations disrupted by complex emergencies, personal security and food security rank much higher than access to healthcare. However, over time health needs assume increasing importance. Many complex crises occur in settings where the background incidence of TB is already high; social and economic conditions in crises are then highly conducive to amplification of the existing TB problem. Innovative approaches to delivery of diagnostic and treatment services, transition planning and integration with other healthcare providers and services are vital. In the extremely challenging environment of Somalia, multiple partners are making headway though collaboration and innovation.

Cardiovascular diseases in mega-countries: the challenges of the nutrition, physical activity and epidemiologic transitions, and the double burden of disease

PubMed Central

Barquera, Simon; Pedroza-Tobias, Andrea; Medina, Catalina

2016-01-01

Purpose of review There are today 11 mega-countries with more than 100 million inhabitants. Together these countries represent more than 60% of the world's population. All are facing noncommunicable chronic disease (NCD) epidemic where high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases are becoming the main public health concerns. Most of these countries are facing the double burden of malnutrition where undernutrition and obesity coexist, increasing the complexity for policy design and implementation. The purpose of this study is to describe diverse sociodemographic characteristics of these countries and the challenges for prevention and control in the context of the nutrition transition. Recent findings Mega-countries are mostly low or middle-income and are facing important epidemiologic, nutrition, and physical activity transitions because of changes in food systems and unhealthy lifestyles. NCDs are responsible of two-thirds of the 57 million global deaths annually. Approximately, 80% of these are in low and middle-income countries. Only developed countries have been able to reduce mortality rates attributable to recognized risk factors for NCDs, in particular high cholesterol and blood pressure. Summary Mega-countries share common characteristics such as complex bureaucracies, internal ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic heterogeneity, and complexities to implement effective health promotion and education policies across population. Priorities for action must be identified and successful lessons and experiences should be carefully analyzed and replicated. PMID:27389629

Case Study: Hidden Complexity of Medicines Use: Information Provided by a Person with Intellectual Disability and Diabetes to a Pharmacist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flood, Bernadette; Henman, Martin C.

2015-01-01

People with intellectual disabilities may be "invisible" to pharmacists. They are a complex group of patients many of whom have diabetes. Pharmacists may have little experience of the challenges faced by this high risk group of patients who may be prescribed high risk medications. This case report details information supplied by Pat, a…

Teacher Educators Struggling to Make Complex Practice Explicit: Distancing Teaching through Video

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Emily J.; Taylor, Monica

2017-01-01

This self-study examines our use of video with a cohort of preservice teachers as a means to address the challenges we face as teacher educators who are working with candidates in extensive clinical practice. We came to video as a nuanced way to discuss and make meaning of complex practice and as a means of bridging theory and practice. We found…

Fostering Emotional Intelligence in Online Higher Education Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Majeski, Robin A.; Stover, Merrily; Valais, Teresa; Ronch, Judah

2017-01-01

Given the complex challenges organizations face and the importance of emotional intelligence to effective leadership, management education has begun to help adult learners develop emotional intelligence competencies. These include emotional self-control, conflict management, teamwork, cultural awareness, and inspirational leadership, among other…

Examining the "Whole Child" to Generate Usable Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rappolt-Schlichtmann, Gabrielle; Ayoub, Catherine C.; Gravel, Jenna W.

2009-01-01

Despite the promise of scientific knowledge contributing to issues facing vulnerable children, families, and communities, typical approaches to research have made applications challenging. While contemporary theories of human development offer appropriate complexity, research has mostly failed to address dynamic developmental processes. Research…

US EPA CSO CAPSTONE REPORT: THE CSO PROBLEM

EPA Science Inventory

The history of combined sewer systems (CSS) and combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the US provides unique insights into the complex challenge faced in reducing and eliminating their adverse environmental effects. The evolution of the "modern" CSS shows how early urban drainag sys...

Exploring ecological careers – A new Frontiers series

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This article provides an the introduction to a series describing non-academic careers in ecology. The world offers many niches for ecologists and the myriad and complex environmental challenges facing us continue to create new career opportunities. Historically, graduate students have interacted cl...

Challenges Faced by Parents of Children with Congenital Heart Disease

MedlinePlus

... CHD can be overwhelming, stressful, and in some cases tragic. However, some families have recognized a silver lining in having a family member with a complex medical condition like CHD. For example, siblings can be more resilient—demonstrating increased compassion, ...

[Medico-social aspects of AIDS].

PubMed

Rabitti, G; Stati, A; Del Bove Orlandi, G; Gallese, A

1992-01-01

The AIDS crisis has brought us face to face with complex medical and social challenges unparalleled in this century. The magnitude of this tragic epidemic is measured not only in the cost in human lives, but also the enormous financial burdens of health care and lost productivity which each and every one of us, as well as future generations, will ultimately bear. This article presents an opportunity to explore a variety of health, social, economic, juridical and working issues of AIDS.

Financial sustainability of academic health centers: identifying challenges and strategic responses.

PubMed

Stimpson, Jim P; Li, Tao; Shiyanbola, Oyewale O; Jacobson, Janelle J

2014-06-01

Academic health centers (AHCs) play a vital role in the health care system. The training of health care personnel and delivery of health care services, especially to the most complex and financially challenged patients, has been a responsibility increasingly shouldered by AHCs over the years. Additionally, AHCs play a significant role in researching and developing new treatment protocols, including discovering and validating new health technologies. However, AHCs face unique financial challenges in fulfilling their social mission in the health care system. Reforms being implemented under the Affordable Care Act and shifting economic patterns are threatening the financial sustainability of AHCs.The authors review challenges facing AHCs, including training new health care professionals with fewer funding resources, disproportionate clinical care of complex and costly patients, charity care to uninsured and underinsured, and reduced research funding opportunities. Then, they provide a review of some potential solutions to these challenges, including new reimbursement methods, improvements in operational efficiency, price regulation, subsidization of education, improved decision making and communication, utilization of industrial management tools, and increasing internal and external cooperation. Devising solutions to the evolving problems of AHCs is crucial to improving health care delivery in the United States. Most likely, a combination of market, government, and system reforms will be needed to improve the viability of AHCs and assist them in fulfilling their social and organizational missions.

HIV and tuberculosis coinfection: a qualitative study of treatment challenges faced by care providers.

PubMed

Wannheden, C; Westling, K; Savage, C; Sandahl, C; Ellenius, J

2013-08-01

Infectious Diseases Department, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. To understand the challenges faced by nurses and physicians in the treatment of patients co-infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB), with special focus on opportunities for information and communication technology. Using a qualitative study design, on-site observations and informal discussions were carried out to become acquainted with the clinical context. Seven nurses and six physicians were purposefully selected to participate in one-to-one in-depth interviews inspired by cognitive task analysis. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Care providers faced challenges related to 1) the complexities inherent to TB-HIV co-treatment, 2) clinical knowledge and task standardisation, 3) care coordination and collaboration, 4) information management, and 5) engaging patients in their treatment. Support is needed on several levels to address the emerging burden of TB-HIV coinfection in Sweden. Educational material and tools need to be further developed to support care providers in making decisions about adequate care, and to support collaborative activities and communication among patients and care providers. Information and communication technology based solutions may provide an opportunity to address some of these challenges.

Cultural competence: assessment and education resources for home care and hospice clinicians.

PubMed

Hines, Deborah

2014-05-01

Home healthcare and hospice clinicians face many challenges in the complex healthcare system caring for patients and their families in the home environment. One of those challenges is providing culturally competent care for an increasingly diverse population. This article will highlight free, easily accessible, online resources to assist clinicians and organizations to assess organizational and individual cultural competence and provide many resources for cultural competency education programs.

Challenges to Native American health care.

PubMed

Noren, J; Kindig, D; Sprenger, A

1998-01-01

Native American health care programs face complex and unprecedented challenges resulting from the increased assumption of clinical operations by tribal authorities, shortfalls in Federal funding, modifications in state and Federal health and welfare programs, and intensifying involvement with managed care organizations. These challenges are further complicated by service populations that are increasing at a faster rate than the growth in funding. The authors conducted onsite surveys of 39 Native American health programs in 10 states in order to assess the organizational and management problems they faced. The trend toward transfer of health programs from the Indian Health Service to tribal operation seems likely to continue and accelerate. The survey results indicate that in order for programs to be effective in the long run, they will need to be guided by skilled managers able to adapt to these powerful changes in the health care environment.

Complex systems thinking in emergency medicine: A novel paradigm for a rapidly changing and interconnected health care landscape.

PubMed

Widmer, Matthew A; Swanson, R Chad; Zink, Brian J; Pines, Jesse M

2017-12-27

The specialty of emergency medicine is experiencing the convergence of a number of transformational forces in the United States, including health care reform, technological advancements, and societal shifts. These bring both opportunity and uncertainty. 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES: Persistent challenges such as the opioid epidemic, rising health care costs, misaligned incentives, patients with multiple chronic diseases, and emergency department crowding continue to plague the acute, unscheduled care system. The traditional approach to health care practice and improvement-reductionism-is not adequate for the complexity of the twenty-first century. Reductionist thinking will likely continue to produce unintended consequences and suboptimal outcomes. Complex systems thinking provides a perspective and set of tools better suited for the challenges and opportunities facing public health in general, and emergency medicine more specifically. This article introduces complex systems thinking and argues for its application in the context of emergency medicine by drawing on the history of the circumstances surrounding the formation of the specialty and by providing examples of its application to several practice challenges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Meso and micro level workforce challenges in psychiatric rehabilitation.

PubMed

Reifels, Lennart; Pirkis, Jane

2012-01-01

Results of an exploratory study are presented which examined workforce challenges in Australia's most established psychiatric rehabilitation sector. The study had the two-fold aim of investigating workforce challenges at an organizational ("meso") level and at the level of direct-service workers' daily practice ("micro"). Data from 23 key informant interviews conducted with service managers and long-serving staff were analyzed through basic descriptive and thematic analyses. Organizations faced significant annual staff turnover (25.6%), specific staff supply shortages, and challenges in recruiting staff with adequate experience and longevity to match the complexity of client issues. Workers equally encountered challenges in this increasingly complex and rapidly changing field of work. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Workforce strategies designed to attract/retain experienced staff can improve workforce cohesiveness and sustainability, as can training and support activities aimed at equipping staff to reflect on and operate in dynamic and changing work environments.

Recommendations on Arresting Global Health Challenges Facing Adolescents and Young Adults.

PubMed

Lassi, Zohra S; Salam, Rehana A; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

The health challenges faced by young people are more complex than adults and can compromise their full growth and development. Attention must be paid to the health of this age group, yet adolescents and youth remain largely invisible and often disappear from the major global datasets. The aim of this paper is to discuss the global health challenges faced by adolescents and youth, global legislations and guidelines pertaining to this particular age group, recommendations to arrest these challenges, and research priorities. Major direct and indirect global health risks faced by adolescents include early pregnancy and childbirth, femicide, honor killing, female genital mutilation, nutritional habits and choices, social media, and peer pressure. There are no standard legal age cut-offs for adulthood; rather, the age varies for different activities, such as age of consent or the minimum age that young people can legally work, leave school, drive, buy alcohol, marry, be held accountable for criminal action, and make medical decisions. This reflects the fact that the existing systems and structures are focused on either children or adults, with very few investments and interventions directed specifically to young people. Existing legislation and guidelines need transformation to bring about a specific focus on adolescents in the domains of substance use and sexual behaviors, and the capacity for adolescent learning should be exploited through graduated legal and policy frameworks. Sustainable development goals provide an opportunity to target this neglected and vulnerable age group. A multisectoral approach is needed to bring about healthy change and address the challenges faced by adolescents and youth, from modifications at a broader legislative and policy level to ground-level (community-level) implementations. Copyright © 2017 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Use of Biological and Non-biological Surrogates for Evaluating Cryptosporidium Removal by Filtration

EPA Science Inventory

Water treatment plants are currently facing increasing challenges in monitoring Cryptosporidium in source and treated water because of complex analytical techniques and associated health risks. Surrogates may be easier to analyze than Cryptosporidium, but they must also be reliab...

Strategic Alignment: Recruiting Students in a Highly Decentralized Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Richard

2016-01-01

All enrollment managers face some level of challenge related to decentralized decision making and operations. Policies and practices can vary considerably by academic area, creating administrative complexity, restricting the scope and speed of institutional initiatives, and limiting potential efficiencies. Central attempts to standardize or…

Wrestling with the complexity of evaluation for organizations at the boundary of science, policy and practice.

PubMed

Pitt, Ruth; Wyborn, Carina; Page, Glenn; Hutton, Jonathon; Virah Sawmy, Malika; Ryan, Melanie; Gallagher, Louise

2018-04-16

Boundary organizations have been promoted as a measure to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts by building stronger relationships between scientists, policy makers, industry and practitioners (Cook et al. 2013). While their promise has been discussed in theory, the work of and expectations for boundary organizations are less defined in practice. Biodiversity conservation is characterized by complexity, uncertainty, dissent and tight budgets, so boundary organizations face the challenging task of demonstrating their value to diverse stakeholders. This paper examines the challenges that boundary organizations face when seeking to evaluate their work. While no 'off-the-shelf' solution is available for a given boundary organization, many lessons can be learned from the evaluation literature. This paper synthesizes key areas of decision making to underpin the choice of evaluation approaches, with the aim of encouraging more productive conversations about evaluation of boundary organizations and the projects they deliver. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Research on Interactive Acquisition and Use of Knowledge.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-11-01

complex and challenging endeavor. Computer scientists faced with the problem of managing software complexity have de - veloped strict design disciplines...handle most-indeed, probably all-- phenomena in the syntax and semantics of natural language. It has also turned out to be well suited for the classes of...Semantics The previous grammar performs a de facto coordination of syntax and semantics by requiring that the (syntactically) preverbal NP play the

The Politics of Knowledge and the Revitalization of American Democracy: A Response to Henry Giroux's "The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser, Cary

2009-01-01

This article presents the author's response to Henry Giroux's "The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex." Henry Giroux has written a provocative assessment of the contemporary challenges facing the United States as a society, which over the course of the 20th century had assumed the role of leader and exemplar…

Family physicians and dementia in Canada: Part 2. Understanding the challenges of dementia care.

PubMed

Pimlott, Nicholas J G; Persaud, Malini; Drummond, Neil; Cohen, Carole A; Silvius, James L; Seigel, Karen; Hollingworth, Gary R; Dalziel, William B

2009-05-01

To explore the challenges Canadian family physicians face in providing dementia care. Qualitative study using focus groups. Academic family practice clinics in Calgary, Alta, Ottawa, Ont, and Toronto, Ont. Eighteen family physicians. We conducted 4 qualitative focus groups of 4 to 6 family physicians whose practices we had audited in a previous study. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using the principles of thematic analysis. Five major themes related to the provision of dementia care by family physicians emerged: 1) diagnostic uncertainty; 2) the complexity of dementia; 3) time as a paradox in the provision of dementia care; 4) the importance of patients' families; 5) and familiarity with patients. Participants expressed uncertainty about diagnosing dementia and a strong need for expert verification of diagnoses owing to the complexity of dementia. Time, patients' family members, and familiarity with patients were seen as both barriers and enablers in the provision of dementia care. Family physicians face many challenges in providing dementia care. The results of this study and the views of family physicians should be considered in the development and dissemination of future dementia guidelines, as well as by specialist colleagues, policy makers, and those involved in developing continuing physician education about dementia.

Implementing three evidence-based program models: early lessons from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Replication Study.

PubMed

Kelsey, Meredith; Layzer, Jean

2014-03-01

This article describes some of the early implementation challenges faced by nine grantees participating in the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Replication Study and their response to them. The article draws on information collected as part of a comprehensive implementation study. Sources include site and program documents; program officer reports; notes from site investigation, selection and negotiation; ongoing communications with grantees as part of putting the study into place; and semi-structured interviews with program staff. The issues faced by grantees in implementing evidence-based programs designed to prevent teen pregnancy varied by program model. Grantees implementing a classroom-based curriculum faced challenges in delivering the curriculum within the constraints of school schedules and calendars (program length and size of class). Grantees implementing a culturally tailored curriculum faced a series of challenges, including implementing the intervention as part of the regular school curriculum in schools with diverse populations; low attendance when delivered as an after-school program; and resistance on the part of schools to specific curriculum content. The third set of grantees, implementing a program in clinics, faced challenges in identifying and recruiting young women into the program and in retaining young women once they were in the program. The experiences of these grantees reflect some of the complexities that should be carefully considered when choosing to replicate evidence-based programs. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention replication study will provide important context for assessing the effectiveness of some of the more widely replicated evidence-based programs. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

A Poll about Children and Weight: Crunch Time during the American Work and School Week--3 P.M. to Bed. Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2013

2013-01-01

Childhood obesity is a major public health challenge today, with complex roots interwoven into nearly every facet of American life. This poll addresses one narrow slice of this web: the challenges that families face during the "crunch time" of the work and school week, between 3 p.m. and the time children go to bed. Compared to the school day,…

A Poll about Children and Weight: Crunch Time during the American Work and School Week--3 P.M. to Bed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2013

2013-01-01

Childhood obesity is a major public health challenge today, with complex roots interwoven into nearly every facet of American life. This poll addresses one narrow slice of this web: the challenges that families face during the "crunch time" of the work and school week, between 3 pm and the time children go to bed. Compared to the school day, this…

Complexities of policy-driven pre-registration nursing curricula.

PubMed

McCarthy, Jilian; Holt, Maxine

This article discusses the challenges faced by two nurse educators when incorporating current health policy into a new pre-registration nursing curriculum, using public health and e-learning as examples. The article, which features the results of preliminary work from the authors' doctoral studies, includes summaries of students' discourses about e-learning and public health and how these subject areas are perceived by learners. Practical solutions to the challenges encountered are suggested.

Anticipatory Governance Practical Upgrades: Equipping the Executive Branch to Cope with Increasing Speed and Complexity of Major Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

in International Science and Technology Policy from The George Washington University. For 6 years, his work has focused on applications of foresight ...bring our management processes up to par with the nature of the challenges we face. inherited 6 Organized Foresight systems set up in foreign...disciplined foresight -policy linkage, networked management and budgeting to mission, and feedback systems to monitor and adjust. Anticipatory Governance

Wildfires in California, August 17, 2015

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Very hot, dry and unstable conditions in California and across the Pacific Northwest add to the challenges facing firefighters as they battle blazes around the region. Cal Fire is urging Californians to be extremely cautious, especially for the next few days, as the current conditions increase the dangers authorities face. This image was taken by NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument around 2145 UTC (5:45 p.m. EDT) on August 17, 2015. Northern California is seeing smoke from the River Complex, Route Complex, South Complex, Fork Complex and Mad River Complex fires combine over a large area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding, California, while the Rough Fire in Fresno County is spreading toward the Black Rock Reservoir, causing evacuations and road closures. Fires across the Pacific Northwest aren't limited to California. Please see the Suomi NPP VIIRS composites in NOAA View to see the growth and extent of fires over the past weeks. Credit: NASA/NOAA via NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

Tree physiology research in a changing world.

PubMed

Kaufmann, Merrill R.; Linder, Sune

1996-01-01

Changes in issues and advances in methodology have contributed to substantial progress in tree physiology research during the last several decades. Current research focuses on process interactions in complex systems and the integration of processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. An increasingly important challenge for future research is assuring sustainability of production systems and forested ecosystems in the face of increased demands for natural resources and human disturbance of forests. Meeting this challenge requires significant shifts in research approach, including the study of limitations of productivity that may accompany achievement of system sustainability, and a focus on the biological capabilities of complex land bases altered by human activity.

Novel technologies for decontamination of fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The complex challenges facing producers and processors of fresh produce require creative applications of conventional treatments and innovative approaches to develop entirely novel treatments. The varied nature of fresh and fresh-cut produce demands solutions that are adapted and optimized for each ...

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducing nonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Issues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previously developed urban environments. A diverse assortment of resource management tools, or

Engineers' Professional Learning: A Practice-Theory Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reich, Ann; Rooney, Donna; Gardner, Anne; Willey, Keith; Boud, David; Fitzgerald, Terry

2015-01-01

With the increasing challenges facing professional engineers working in more complex, global and interdisciplinary contexts, different approaches to understanding how engineers practice and learn are necessary. This paper draws on recent research in the social sciences from the field of workplace learning, to suggest that a practice-theory…

Zine-Making as Feminist Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creasap, Kimberly

2014-01-01

One of the challenges that many gender studies instructors face is making complex topics--such as gender identities, political theory, and media criticism--current, interesting, and relevant to students' lives. In order to help students connect feminist theory to their own experiences, the author suggest incorporating "zines" into gender…

MODELING ACUTE EXPOSURE TO SOLAR RADIATION

EPA Science Inventory

One of the major technical challenges in calculating solar flux on the human form has been the complexity of the surface geometry (i.e., the surface normal vis a vis the incident radiation). The American Cancer Society reports that over 80% of skin cancers occur on the face, he...

A Study of Arkansas Prison Inmates Concerning Occupational Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Jack D.

Meaningful participation in a technological society requires increasingly complex skills. A previous study (1966) revealed no job openings for 79 occupational programs offered by state and federal prisons, indicating that correctional institutions face a particular challenge in providing relevant occupational education for the rehabilitation of…

RISK COMMUNICATION AS A RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL: A RISK COMMUNICATION WORKBOOK

EPA Science Inventory

Communicating information about environmental risk to the people most affected by it is one of the major challenges faced by risk managers and community decision makers. Changing human behavior is a far more complex task than designing water retention systems or managing storm wa...

Supporting Older Students' Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutchewsky, Kim; Curran, Joanne

2012-01-01

According to a 2010 report by ACT, "Only 31 percent of students are performing at a college-and-career reading level with respect to successfully understanding complex text" (p. 5). This statistic demonstrates what educators know: Middle and high school students face numerous challenges in reading, understanding, connecting to, and…

Mergers and acquisitions in professional organizations: a complex adaptive systems approach.

PubMed

Walls, M E; McDaniel, R R

1999-09-01

Nurse managers face unique challenges as they cope with mergers and acquisitions among health care organizations. These challenges can be better understood if it is recognized that health care institutions are professional organizations and that the transformations required are extremely difficult. These difficulties are caused, in part, by the institutionalized nature of professional organizations, and this nature is explicated. Professional organizations are stubborn. They are repositories of expertise and values that are societal in origin and difficult to change. When professional organizations are understood as complex adaptive systems, complexity theory offers insight that provide strategies for managing mergers and acquisitions that may not be apparent when more traditional conceptualizations of professional organizations are used. Specific managerial techniques consistent with both the institutionalized characteristics and the complex adaptive systems characteristics of professional organizations are offered to nurse managers.

Adaptive Management: From More Talk to Real Action

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Byron K.; Brown, Eleanor D.

2014-02-01

The challenges currently facing resource managers are large-scale and complex, and demand new approaches to balance development and conservation goals. One approach that shows considerable promise for addressing these challenges is adaptive management, which by now is broadly seen as a natural, intuitive, and potentially effective way to address decision-making in the face of uncertainties. Yet the concept of adaptive management continues to evolve, and its record of success remains limited. In this article, we present an operational framework for adaptive decision-making, and describe the challenges and opportunities in applying it to real-world problems. We discuss the key elements required for adaptive decision-making, and their integration into an iterative process that highlights and distinguishes technical and social learning. We illustrate the elements and processes of the framework with some successful on-the-ground examples of natural resource management. Finally, we address some of the difficulties in applying learning-based management, and finish with a discussion of future directions and strategic challenges.

From Composition to Cure: A Systems Engineering Approach to Anticancer Drug Carriers.

PubMed

MacEwan, Sarah R; Chilkoti, Ashutosh

2017-06-06

The molecular complexity and heterogeneity of cancer has led to a persistent, and as yet unsolved, challenge to develop cures for this disease. The pharmaceutical industry focuses the bulk of its efforts on the development of new drugs, but an alternative approach is to improve the delivery of existing drugs with drug carriers that can manipulate when, where, and how a drug exerts its therapeutic effect. For the treatment of solid tumors, systemically delivered drug carriers face significant challenges that are imposed by the pathophysiological barriers that lie between their site of administration and their site of therapeutic action in the tumor. Furthermore, drug carriers face additional challenges in their translation from preclinical validation to clinical approval and adoption. Addressing this diverse network of challenges requires a systems engineering approach for the rational design of optimized carriers that have a realistic prospect for translation from the laboratory to the patient. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

FY 2002 Report on Software Visualization Techniques for IV and V

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fotta, Michael E.

2002-01-01

One of the major challenges software engineers often face in performing IV&V is developing an understanding of a system created by a development team they have not been part of. As budgets shrink and software increases in complexity, this challenge will become even greater as these software engineers face increased time and resource constraints. This research will determine which current aspects of providing this understanding (e.g., code inspections, use of control graphs, use of adjacency matrices, requirements traceability) are critical to the performing IV&V and amenable to visualization techniques. We will then develop state-of-the-art software visualization techniques to facilitate the use of these aspects to understand software and perform IV&V.

Face transplant: is it feasible in developing countries?

PubMed

González-García, Ignacio; Lyra-González, Iván; Medina-Preciado, David; Guerrero-Torres, Alejandro; Ramos-Gallardo, Guillermo; Armendáriz-Borunda, Juan

2013-01-01

This article is based on the case of a 28-year-old woman who was involved in a car accident, with diagnosis of polytrauma, loss of left eye, and second- and third-degree burns over the left midface, rendering an exposed area of 8 cm wide and 19 cm length, ranging from glabella to mandible, with skull exposure and loss of left eye.A latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous free flap was transferred into the defect; left eye and nose prosthetics were necessary to restore normal appearance. Excellent results were obtained; reinsertion to patient's normal life and reinstatement of facial appearance were achieved with minimal costs and no postsurgical complications.Analysis of the current situation in developing countries demonstrates that technique and infrastructure do not represent a real challenge to carry on face transplants. However, socioeconomic reality in these societies makes it difficult to establish face transplant as a feasible therapeutic opportunity for the overwhelming majority of patients who are victims of severe facial damage.Therefore, strategies such as latissimus dorsi free flap remains as an excellent therapy to face off our complex facial reconstructive challenges in developing countries such as Mexico.

Representation of People's Decisions in Health Information Systems. A Complementary Approach for Understanding Health Care Systems and Population Health.

PubMed

Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quiros, Fernan; Dawidowski, Adriana R; Figar, Silvana

2017-02-01

In this study, we aimed: 1) to conceptualize the theoretical challenges facing health information systems (HIS) to represent patients' decisions about health and medical treatments in everyday life; 2) to suggest approaches for modeling these processes. The conceptualization of the theoretical and methodological challenges was discussed in 2015 during a series of interdisciplinary meetings attended by health informatics staff, epidemiologists and health professionals working in quality management and primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases of the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, together with sociologists, anthropologists and e-health stakeholders. HIS are facing the need and challenge to represent social human processes based on constructivist and complexity theories, which are the current frameworks of human sciences for understanding human learning and socio-cultural changes. Computer systems based on these theories can model processes of social construction of concrete and subjective entities and the interrelationships between them. These theories could be implemented, among other ways, through the mapping of health assets, analysis of social impact through community trials and modeling of complexity with system simulation tools. This analysis suggested the need to complement the traditional linear causal explanations of disease onset (and treatments) that are the bases for models of analysis of HIS with constructivist and complexity frameworks. Both may enlighten the complex interrelationships among patients, health services and the health system. The aim of this strategy is to clarify people's decision making processes to improve the efficiency, quality and equity of the health services and the health system.

Moving from "They" to "We"--A Qualitative Case Study of the Perspectives and Interactions of Teams Who Support Children with Complex Communication Needs to Contribute to the Generalization of Communication Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole-Lade, Gretchen Michele

2015-01-01

Children with complex communication needs (CCN) face many challenges in their daily life. They can struggle academically and socially if their communicative needs are not supported consistently by those who provide care for them. They frequently use Augmentative or Alternative Communication (AAC) systems or devices to communicate. The purposes of…

It Is a Small World after All: Teaching Business Ethics in a Global Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budden, Connie B.; Budden, Michael C.

2011-01-01

Increasingly, managers and employees are facing ethical issues when conducting business in the global marketplace. Business educators attempting to teach appropriate ethical behavior and develop skills for dealing with complex ethical situations need to incorporate realistic case scenarios to challenge students. Such cases should appropriately…

Capacity Building: Evidence-Based Practice and Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rue, Hanna C.; Knox, Maria

2013-01-01

Empirical research in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has resulted in the identification of numerous evidence-based interventions (EBIs). Adolescents with an ASD are faced with unique academic challenges, complex social environments, and physiological changes. They often require interventions to aid in acclimating to their…

Next Steps for Research on SACD Programs: Embracing Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkins, Marc S.; Shernoff, Elisa S.; Marinez-Lora, Ane

2009-01-01

This commentary focuses on the promises and challenges facing the Social and Character Development (SACD) consortium in evaluating the effectiveness of seven universal SACD programs designed to enhance student behavior and school climate under conditions of real world practice. In this commentary, we highlight that the opportunity costs associated…

School Choice Acceptance: An Exploratory Explication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koven, Steven G.; Khan, Mobin

2014-01-01

School choice is presented by some as a panacea to the challenges facing education in the United States. Acceptance of choice as a solution, however, is far from universal. This article examines two possible contributors to choice adoption: ideology and political culture. Political culture was found to better explain the complex phenomenon of…

Higher Education Act Reauthorization: Homeless and Foster Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, 2008

2008-01-01

Youth experiencing homelessness or in foster care face numerous barriers to higher education. Inadequate college readiness, the complexity of the financial aid process, and lack of housing and support services once enrolled in college make obtaining a college degree an often insurmountable challenge. Yet a college education offers these youth the…

Transcollegial Leadership: A New Paradigm for Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, David J.; Mooney, Debra

2018-01-01

Purpose: The increasing complexity of higher education has led to the need for a different type of leader that transcends traditional boundaries and individual self-interest. The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative form of leadership consistent with the unique challenges faced by institutions of higher education today.…

A New World Ahead: Are We Ready?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Greg M.; Provo, Joanne

2006-01-01

There is no question that organization development (OD) scholars and practitioners are confronted with new and increasingly complex challenges in helping their clients cope with a tidal wave of continuous change. The questions they face today focus on the impact of leadership, technology, globalization, and the new generations entering the…

The Complexities of Supporting Asian International Pre-Service Teachers as They Undertake Practicum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spooner-Lane, Rebecca; Tangen, Donna; Campbell, Marilyn

2009-01-01

Increasing numbers of Asian international students are choosing to undertake their tertiary studies in English-speaking countries. For universities, international students are an important source of revenue. However, Asian international students face multiple challenges in adapting to a foreign culture, understanding the expectations of their…

The Pacific Northwest Research Station biodiversity initiative: collaborating for biodiversity management.

Treesearch

Peter Nelson; Rachel White; Randy Molina

2006-01-01

The Pacific Northwest Research Station launched a biodiversity initiative to assist natural resource professionals in integrating complex biodiversity concepts into natural resource management processes. We canvassed clients from various affiliations to determine the main challenges they face in biodiversity management, to define their information needs, and to...

Theorizing the University as a Cultural System: Distinctions, Identities, Emergencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Considine, Mark

2006-01-01

Universities currently face new environmental demands and significant internal complexities that appear to challenge their traditional modes of work and organization--and thus their very identities. In this essay, Mark Considine argues that the prospect of such changes requires us to reflect carefully upon the theoretical and normative…

Districts Created to Steer "Turnarounds"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samuels, Christina A.

2011-01-01

If the job of a traditional superintendent is hard, imagine the complexities involved in building a school system from scratch--especially one composed of schools with some of the most intractable educational challenges. That's the task facing education leaders in Michigan and Tennessee, which are building special districts to take over…

Catholic Ed., K-12 Charters Squaring Off

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavanagh, Sean

2012-01-01

The nation's Roman Catholic schools have labored for decades under increasingly adverse economic and demographic conditions, which have undermined their finances and sapped their enrollment. Today, researchers and supporters say those schools face one of their most complex challenges yet: the continued growth of charter schools. Since they first…

Sustainable Chemistry, the Spinning Tube-in-Tube (STT(R)) Reactor and GREENSCOPE: Innovation and Industrial Partnerships

EPA Science Inventory

The chemical industry faces environmental, social and health challenges that are common across all economic sectors. From worker exposure to toxic substances, to product design and use, to the cost and handling of waste disposal, the industry must overcome numerous complex hurdle...

Improving the Design of Workplace E-Learning Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dubois, Cathy; Long, Lori

2012-01-01

E-learning researchers face considerable challenges in creating meaningful and generalizable studies due to the complex nature of this dynamic training medium. Our experience in conducting workplace e-learning research led us to create this guide for planning research on e-learning. We share the unanticipated complications we encountered in our…

Coordinating the Commons: Diversity & Dynamics in Open Collaborations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Jonathan T.

2013-01-01

The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that open collaboration can be an effective model for organizing geographically-distributed volunteers to perform complex, sustained work at a massive scale. However, Wikipedia's history also demonstrates some of the challenges that large, long-term open collaborations face: the core community of Wikipedia…

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PROCEEDINGS, CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 9-12, 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducing nonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Issues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previo...

CD ROM: NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PROCEEDINGS, CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 9-12, 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducingnonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Isssues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previou...

Adolescence: A Time That Matters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Children's Fund, New York, NY.

Noting that there are an estimated 1.2 billion 10- to 19-year-olds in the world, this report examines the challenges faced by adolescents in both developing and developed nations. The report describes adolescence as a complex transition during which youth take on new responsibilities and experiment with independence. The importance of the…

Teaching the Holocaust through Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Misco, Thomas

2009-01-01

This article responds to the curricular challenges teachers face with Holocaust education, including cursory treatments and a lack of focus on individual experiences. First, the author argues for a case-study approach to help students reengage concrete and complex features of the Holocaust as a point of departure for subsequent inquiry. In…

Integrated bird conservation web site in the United States

Treesearch

Roxanne Bogart; Chris Eberly; Elizabeth Martin

2005-01-01

In working towards a vision of integrated bird conservation, scientists, conservationists, land managers, and administrators are faced with a variety of scientific, managerial, administrative, and logistical challenges and complexities. The broad scope of integrated bird conservation requires organizations to work together to conserve birds across taxonomic groups,...

The Potential of Grant Applications as Team Building Exercises: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siemens, Lynne

2010-01-01

Faced with increasingly complex and technologically sophisticated research questions, academics are working with others through collaboration and research teams. To be effective, these research teams need to maximize the factors that contribute to success while minimizing the potentially negative impact of associated challenges. One particular…

Virtual Team Effectiveness: An Empirical Examination of the Use of Communication Technologies on Trust and Virtual Team Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Valerie Brown

2010-01-01

Ubiquitous technology and agile organizational structures have enabled a strategic response to increasingly competitive, complex, and unpredictable challenges faced by many organizations. Using cyberinfrastructure, which is primarily the network of information, computers, communication technologies, and people, traditional organizations have…

An Examination of Paternal Influence on High-Achieving Gifted Males

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hebert, Thomas P.; Pagnani, Alexander R.; Hammond, Daniel R.

2009-01-01

The challenges facing contemporary boys are complex, highlighting the importance of positive paternal influence for young men to achieve success. This study examines the father-son relationships of 10 prominent gifted men of achievement to identify factors influencing talent development. Through biographical analysis, 6 significant themes were…

Evaluating the impacts of agricultural land management practices: A probabilistic hydrologic modeling approach

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The complexity of the hydrologic system challenges the development of models. One issue faced during the model development stage is the uncertainty involved in model parameterization. Using a single optimized set of parameters (one snapshot) to represent baseline conditions of the system limits the ...

Teaching to Multiple Intelligence by Following a "Slime Trail"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delaney, Carol J.; Shafer, Francie Keller

2007-01-01

In this age of teacher accountability and high-stakes testing, practicing middle school teachers face many complex issues. Because adolescents must deal with the challenges of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual change, they are considered the most diverse population in the public school system. One way to increase achievement and…

Identifying and Addressing Themes of Job Dissatisfaction for Secondary Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Jong, David; Grundmeyer, Trent; Yankey, Julie

2017-01-01

Secondary principals serve in important roles that are complex, high-stress, and include demanding job responsibilities. Key stakeholders such as superintendents, school board members, and legislators must understand the challenges facing secondary principals in order to address the current themes of job dissatisfaction. Using new survey data…

Adult Development: A Global Imperative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Linda E.

2016-01-01

As individuals and adult educators we consistently face an array of what seem to be increasingly complex challenges. These run the gamut from battling poverty and illness with their deleterious and deadly effects, to acquiring literacy and workplace competencies and to building expertise in communication, collaboration and innovation. And we live…

The Changing Roles Professional Development Program

Treesearch

A. Hermansen-Baez; N. Wulff

2010-01-01

As populations and urbanization expand in the Southern United States, human influences on forests and other natural areas are increasing. As a result, natural resource professionals are faced with complex challenges, such as managing smaller forest parcels for multiple benefits, and wildfire prevention and management in the wildland-urban interface (areas where urban...

Development and Classroom Implementation of an Environmental Data Creation and Sharing Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brogan, Daniel S.; McDonald, Walter M.; Lohani, Vinod K.; Dymond, Randel L.; Bradner, Aaron J.

2016-01-01

Education is essential for solving the complex water-related challenges facing society. The Learning Enhanced Watershed Assessment System (LEWAS) and the Online Watershed Learning System (OWLS) provide data creation and data sharing infrastructures, respectively, that combine to form an environmental learning tool. This system collects, integrates…

The Future Problem Solving Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crabbe, Anne B.

1989-01-01

Describes the Future Problem Solving Program, in which students from the U.S. and around the world are tackling some complex challenges facing society, ranging from acid rain to terrorism. The program uses a creative problem solving process developed for business and industry. A sixth-grade toxic waste cleanup project illustrates the process.…

Discourses of Greyness and Diversity: Revisiting the ALBE and ESL Interface.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suda, Liz

Australia's culturally and linguistically diverse society is an important consideration in the role of adult literacy and numeracy in lifelong learning and socioeconomic well-being. A case study highlights the complexities diversity brings to development of language and literacy practices and challenges facing educators in developing a culturally…

The Role of Censorship in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petress, Ken

2005-01-01

School authorities face great complexities and inevitable challenges when deciding to make or not to make censorship decisions in schools. Matters of educational content, age level, acceptability by parents and communities, and appropriateness in the school setting are among the decisions having to be made. When school official decisions result in…

MODELING THE ANATOMICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SUNLIGHT

EPA Science Inventory

One of the major technical challenges in calculating solar irradiance on the human form has been the complexity of the surface geometry (i.e. the surface normal vis a vis the incident radiation. Over 80 percent of skin cancers occur on the face, head, and back of the hands. The...

Affordance of English-Medium Instruction Contexts in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Yi-Ping; Jhuang, Wun-Ting

2015-01-01

The proliferation of English-medium instruction (EMI) in nonnative English-speaking (NNES) contexts has compelled researchers to explore the challenges students face in such environments. Mostly quantitative in nature with foci on language-related difficulties in one type of institution or curriculum, these studies obscure the complexity of NNES…

Applying to Higher Education: Information Sources and Choice Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simoes, Claudia; Soares, Ana Maria

2010-01-01

Higher education institutions are facing increasingly complex challenges, which demand a deeper understanding of the sources prospective students use when applying to a higher education institution. This research centres on students' decision-making process for higher education institutions, focusing on the pre-purchase period, and, in particular,…

Challenges Facing Guitar Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Eli

2010-01-01

The guitar is an extremely versatile instrument. It can produce complex chords and arpeggiated textures as readily as single-note melodies. In the twentieth century alone, it has appeared in a wide range of genres; classical, jazz, blues, rock, and bossa nova compose a partial list. The guitar is also a difficult instrument. Inconsistencies across…

Multicultural Counseling in Schools: A Synergetic Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herring, Roger D.

As the percentage of ethnic minority students in schools continues to increase, school counselors and counselors-in-training must broaden their cultural knowledge base and develop new strategies that are responsive to the complex challenges these students face. This text provides direction for working within the ethnic minority student's worldview…

Brand: Identity, Image, and Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danker, Stephanie Harvey

2014-01-01

Adolescents face complex dilemmas such as challenging issues of identity and self-concept, and struggles with building and maintaining relationships. These issues must be embraced in the art classroom. This Instructional Resource will focus on the concept of brand--connecting visual art, marketing, and psychology--and center on ideas found in the…

Gendered race: are infants' face preferences guided by intersectionality of sex and race?

PubMed

Kim, Hojin I; Johnson, Kerri L; Johnson, Scott P

2015-01-01

People occupy multiple social categories simultaneously (e.g., a White female), and this complex intersectionality affects fundamental aspects of social perception. Here, we examined the possibility that infant face processing may be susceptible to effects of intersectionality of sex and race. Three- and 10-month-old infants were shown a series of computer-generated face pairs (5 s each) that differed according to sex (Female or Male) or race (Asian, Black, or White). All possible combinations of face pairs were tested, and preferences were recorded with an eye tracker. Infants showed preferences for more feminine faces only when they were White, but we found no evidence that White or Asian faces were preferred even though they are relatively more feminized. These findings challenge the notions that infants' social categories are processed independently of one another and that infants' preferences for sex or race can be explained from mere exposure.

Gendered race: are infants’ face preferences guided by intersectionality of sex and race?

PubMed Central

Kim, Hojin I.; Johnson, Kerri L.; Johnson, Scott P.

2015-01-01

People occupy multiple social categories simultaneously (e.g., a White female), and this complex intersectionality affects fundamental aspects of social perception. Here, we examined the possibility that infant face processing may be susceptible to effects of intersectionality of sex and race. Three- and 10-month-old infants were shown a series of computer-generated face pairs (5 s each) that differed according to sex (Female or Male) or race (Asian, Black, or White). All possible combinations of face pairs were tested, and preferences were recorded with an eye tracker. Infants showed preferences for more feminine faces only when they were White, but we found no evidence that White or Asian faces were preferred even though they are relatively more feminized. These findings challenge the notions that infants’ social categories are processed independently of one another and that infants’ preferences for sex or race can be explained from mere exposure. PMID:26388823

Face Recognition in Humans and Machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Toole, Alice; Tistarelli, Massimo

The study of human face recognition by psychologists and neuroscientists has run parallel to the development of automatic face recognition technologies by computer scientists and engineers. In both cases, there are analogous steps of data acquisition, image processing, and the formation of representations that can support the complex and diverse tasks we accomplish with faces. These processes can be understood and compared in the context of their neural and computational implementations. In this chapter, we present the essential elements of face recognition by humans and machines, taking a perspective that spans psychological, neural, and computational approaches. From the human side, we overview the methods and techniques used in the neurobiology of face recognition, the underlying neural architecture of the system, the role of visual attention, and the nature of the representations that emerges. From the computational side, we discuss face recognition technologies and the strategies they use to overcome challenges to robust operation over viewing parameters. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a look at some recent studies that compare human and machine performances at face recognition.

Structures and mechanisms of vesicle coat components and multisubunit tethering complexes

PubMed Central

Jackson, Lauren P; Kümmel, Daniel; Reinisch, Karin M; Owen, David J

2012-01-01

Eukaryotic cells face a logistical challenge in ensuring prompt and precise delivery of vesicular cargo to specific organelles within the cell. Coat protein complexes select cargo and initiate vesicle formation, while multisubunit tethering complexes participate in the delivery of vesicles to target membranes. Understanding these macromolecular assemblies has greatly benefited from their structural characterization. Recent structural data highlight principles in coat recruitment and uncoating in both the endocytic and retrograde pathways, and studies on the architecture of tethering complexes provide a framework for how they might link vesicles to the respective acceptor compartments and the fusion machinery. PMID:22728063

Spatial Pyramid Covariance based Compact Video Code for Robust Face Retrieval in TV-series.

PubMed

Li, Yan; Wang, Ruiping; Cui, Zhen; Shan, Shiguang; Chen, Xilin

2016-10-10

We address the problem of face video retrieval in TV-series which searches video clips based on the presence of specific character, given one face track of his/her. This is tremendously challenging because on one hand, faces in TV-series are captured in largely uncontrolled conditions with complex appearance variations, and on the other hand retrieval task typically needs efficient representation with low time and space complexity. To handle this problem, we propose a compact and discriminative representation for the huge body of video data, named Compact Video Code (CVC). Our method first models the face track by its sample (i.e., frame) covariance matrix to capture the video data variations in a statistical manner. To incorporate discriminative information and obtain more compact video signature suitable for retrieval, the high-dimensional covariance representation is further encoded as a much lower-dimensional binary vector, which finally yields the proposed CVC. Specifically, each bit of the code, i.e., each dimension of the binary vector, is produced via supervised learning in a max margin framework, which aims to make a balance between the discriminability and stability of the code. Besides, we further extend the descriptive granularity of covariance matrix from traditional pixel-level to more general patchlevel, and proceed to propose a novel hierarchical video representation named Spatial Pyramid Covariance (SPC) along with a fast calculation method. Face retrieval experiments on two challenging TV-series video databases, i.e., the Big Bang Theory and Prison Break, demonstrate the competitiveness of the proposed CVC over state-of-the-art retrieval methods. In addition, as a general video matching algorithm, CVC is also evaluated in traditional video face recognition task on a standard Internet database, i.e., YouTube Celebrities, showing its quite promising performance by using an extremely compact code with only 128 bits.

A Novel Face-on-Face Contact Method for Nonlinear Solid Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wopschall, Steven Robert

The implicit solution to contact problems in nonlinear solid mechanics poses many difficulties. Traditional node-to-segment methods may suffer from locking and experience contact force chatter in the presence of sliding. More recent developments include mortar based methods, which resolve local contact interactions over face-pairs and feature a kinematic constraint in integral form that smoothes contact behavior, especially in the presence of sliding. These methods have been shown to perform well in the presence of geometric nonlinearities and are demonstratively more robust than node-to-segment methods. These methods are typically biased, however, interpolating contact tractions and gap equations on a designated non-mortar face, which leads to an asymmetry in the formulation. Another challenge is constraint enforcement. The general selection of the active set of constraints is brought with difficulty, often leading to non-physical solutions and easily resulting in missed face-pair interactions. Details on reliable constraint enforcement methods are lacking in the greater contact literature. This work presents an unbiased contact formulation utilizing a median-plane methodology. Up to linear polynomials are used for the discrete pressure representation and integral gap constraints are enforced using a novel subcycling procedure. This procedure reliably determines the active set of contact constraints leading to physical and kinematically admissible solutions void of heuristics and user action. The contact method presented herein successfully solves difficult quasi-static contact problems in the implicit computational setting. These problems feature finite deformations, material nonlinearity, and complex interface geometries, all of which are challenging characteristics for contact implementations and constraint enforcement algorithms. The subcycling procedure is a key feature of this method, handling active constraint selection for complex interfaces and mesh geometries.

Complex Challenges in the Less-Developed World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webster, P. J.

2016-12-01

The developing world faces special challenges in a changing climate. The immediate impacts of possible increased precipitation, more frequent and severe hazard events and sea-level rise are compounded by lack of resources and, often, rapidly growing populations. We examine the concept that the society that learns to deal with hazards in the current climate will be best placed to deal with possibly more frequent and more intense hazards in the future. We use as an example the conundrum facing Bangladesh where global sea-level rise is exaggerated by delta subsidence of river sediment. Sedimentation is expected to increase with increased river flow. We explore how authorities may deal with these multifaceted threats and how they need to carefully thread a strategy that leads to solutions and not exaggerations of the problem.

Astroinformatics, data mining and the future of astronomical research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brescia, Massimo; Longo, Giuseppe

2013-08-01

Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics, while on the one end appears crucial to face the technological challenges, on the other is opening new exciting perspectives for new astronomical discoveries through the implementation of advanced data mining procedures. The complexity of astronomical data and the variety of scientific problems, however, call for innovative algorithms and methods as well as for an extreme usage of ICT technologies.

Challenges to evaluating complex interventions: a content analysis of published papers

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is continuing interest among practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the evaluation of complex interventions stemming from the need to further develop the evidence base on the effectiveness of healthcare and public health interventions, and an awareness that evaluation becomes more challenging if interventions are complex. We undertook an analysis of published journal articles in order to identify aspects of complexity described by writers, the fields in which complex interventions are being evaluated and the challenges experienced in design, implementation and evaluation. This paper outlines the findings of this documentary analysis. Methods The PubMed electronic database was searched for the ten year period, January 2002 to December 2011, using the term “complex intervention*” in the title and/or abstract of a paper. We extracted text from papers to a table and carried out a thematic analysis to identify authors’ descriptions of challenges faced in developing, implementing and evaluating complex interventions. Results The search resulted in a sample of 221 papers of which full text of 216 was obtained and 207 were included in the analysis. The 207 papers broadly cover clinical, public health and methodological topics. Challenges described included the content and standardisation of interventions, the impact of the people involved (staff and patients), the organisational context of implementation, the development of outcome measures, and evaluation. Conclusions Our analysis of these papers suggests that more detailed reporting of information on outcomes, context and intervention is required for complex interventions. Future revisions to reporting guidelines for both primary and secondary research may need to take aspects of complexity into account to enhance their value to both researchers and users of research. PMID:23758638

Facing the challenges and building solutions in clinical psychiatric nursing in Iran: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Zarea, Kourosh; Nikbakht-Nasrabadi, Alireza; Abbaszadeh, Abbas; Mohammadpour, Ali

2012-10-01

Psychiatric nurses play an important role in the process of caring for mentally ill patients and are continually faced with the numerous challenges and complex issues related to this field. This study aimed to understand the perspectives of psychiatric nurses regarding the issues they face while providing care and examine the possible solutions for improvement of inpatient care in clinical settings. The study adopted a qualitative approach that utilized a content analysis of audio taped, semi-structured interviews that had been conducted with 24 nurses. Two main themes emerged from the data. The first, Challenges in Providing Care within Psychiatric Wards, had the following subthemes: Politics and Rules of Organization, Safety and Security Issues, Uncertainty about the Role, Lack of Trained Staff, and Sociocultural Issues. The second theme, Solutions for Improving Psychiatric Care, had the subthemes of Empowerment across four domains: Psychiatric Nurses, Mentally Ill Patients and their Families, The Psychiatric Mental Health System, and the Cultural Context. The results indicated that if nurses are expected to provide optimal nursing care within a psychiatric ward, then there is a need for a stable and responsible organizational structure, skilled psychiatric nurses, and community-based care along with an anti-stigma program.

Parents' perspectives on caring for children after solid organ transplant.

PubMed

Lerret, Stacee M; Johnson, Norah L; Haglund, Kristin A

2017-07-01

To explore parents' experiences of the transition from hospital to home and complex chronic illness management following their children's solid organ transplant (SOT). Qualitative component of a larger mixed methods longitudinal study. Parents of SOT recipients were interviewed three times following hospital discharge from five major pediatric transplant hospitals in the United States. Analysis of parent interviews (N = 48) resulted in three themes that characterized the phases of transition to home and complex chronic illness care. Three themes, corresponding to the three time periods of data collection, included "getting back to normal" at 3 weeks, "becoming routine" at 3 months, and "facing a future" at 6 months. Challenges families experienced over the course of their transition are also described. The transition from hospital to home and complex chronic condition care is challenging and changes over time. Nurses are called upon to prepare parents to become knowledgeable and confident to care for the child after hospital discharge. Nurses can best support families in transition after SOT by anticipating and understanding their dynamic challenging complex care needs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Supported self-management for cancer survivors to address long-term biopsychosocial consequences of cancer and treatment to optimize living well.

PubMed

Howell, Doris D

2018-03-01

As individuals are living longer with cancer as a chronic disease, they face new health challenges that require the application of self-management behaviors and skills that may not be in their usual repertoire of self-regulatory health behaviors. Increasing attention is focused on supported self-management (SSM) programs to enable survivors in managing the long-term biopsychosocial consequences and health challenges of survivorship. This review explores current directions and evidence for SSM programs that enable survivors to manage these consequences and optimize health. Cancer survivors face complex health challenges that affect daily functioning and well being. Multiple systematic reviews show that SSM programs have positive effects on health outcomes in typical chronic diseases. However, the efficacy of these approaches in cancer survivors are in their infancy; and the 'one-size' fits all approach for chronic disease self-management may not be adequate for cancer as a complex chronic illness. This review suggests that SSM has promising potential for improving health and well being of cancer survivors, but there is a need for standardizing SSM for future research. Although there is increasing enthusiasm for SSM programs tailored to cancer survivors, there is a need for further research of their efficacy on long-term health outcomes.

Going Public: Writing about Research in Everyday Language. REL 2014-051

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dynarski, Mark; Kisker, Ellen

2014-01-01

Communicating complex concepts to practitioners, policymakers, and other nontechnical readers is a challenge that all policy researchers face. Research in education uses many concepts from methodology and statistics. If researchers want to communicate their findings to an audience of other researchers, they can safely assume that their audience is…

Using Critical Thinking Styles of Opinion Leaders to Drive Extension Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Putnam, Brianne B.; Lamm, Alexa J.; Lundy, Lisa K.

2017-01-01

In order to address the complex challenges facing the agricultural and natural resource industry, extension educators must collaborate with opinion leaders. Extension educators can use the assistance of opinion leaders in program design and implementation in order to best meet the needs of stakeholders and the public. Collaboration between…

Forced Separations and Forced Reunions in the Foster Care System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lillas, Constance M.; Langer, Lester; Drinane, Monica

2005-01-01

The juvenile court system has undergone tremendous changes over the past century, but much still needs to change in order to fully meet the complex needs of very young children. This article examines the challenges that the juvenile court system faces in preserving and supporting continuity of children's care in physically safe and…

A Theory-to-Practice Leadership Learning Arrangement in a University Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franken, Margaret; Branson, Christopher; Penney, Dawn

2018-01-01

Higher education institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of organizational change as they face complex challenges. Leadership learning has been identified as an important way of supporting change management. We describe a leadership learning arrangement that arose in the context of two of the authors needing to learn how to become…

Using Design Experiments to Understand Secondary Classroom Comprehension Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughn, Sharon; Simmons, Deborah; Wanzek, Jeanne

2013-01-01

Adolescents in the United States and their teachers face an enormous academic challenge with respect to reading comprehension. College and career readiness standards outlined in the Common Core (2012) place increased emphasis on preparing students to read increasingly complex text across a range of disciplinary content areas. At issue is how to…

Facilitating Learners' Web-Based Information Problem-Solving by Query Expansion-Based Concept Mapping

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Yueh-Min; Liu, Ming-Chi; Chen, Nian-Shing; Kinshuk; Wen, Dunwei

2014-01-01

Web-based information problem-solving has been recognised as a critical ability for learners. However, the development of students' abilities in this area often faces several challenges, such as difficulty in building well-organised knowledge structures to support complex problems that require higher-order skills (e.g., system thinking). To…

Discourse Appropriation and Category Boundary Work: Casual Teachers in the Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charteris, Jennifer; Jenkins, Kathryn; Jones, Marguerite; Bannister-Tyrrell, Michelle

2017-01-01

With the increasing casualisation of the teacher labour force, there is little written on the experiences of casual teachers and the challenges they face in brokering professional identities within constantly shifting and uncertain work contexts. Being a category bound casual teacher (a product of category boundary work) is a complex subject…

Case Study of a Cancer Survivor: Beating the Odds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ocampo, Alaine

2011-01-01

Medulla blastomas are known to be invasive and rapidly growing tumors. This case study follows a boy's journey for 3 years from when he was first diagnosed with medulla blastoma. The journey illustrates the complexities and challenges faced by individuals treated for brain tumors. A multifaceted view based on psychometric, cognitive-neuroscience,…

A Survey of Graduate Social Work Educators: Teaching Perspectives and Classroom Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danhoff, Kristin Lindsay

2012-01-01

Social work educators have the challenging task of preparing students to be ethically, morally, and socially responsible professionals. As professionals in the 21st Century, social workers are faced with ever increasing complexity and change. Teaching philosophies are at the foundation of what educators do in the classroom. Research about teaching…

The True Teamwork Model: Blending the Liberal Arts and International Business Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McInnis-Bowers, Cecilia; Chew, E. Byron

2008-01-01

As crucial stakeholders in higher education, employers have long requested, demanded, and implored that colleges and universities help students develop the team skills needed to address challenges posed by innovation. Employers seek college graduates who, in the face of persistent ambiguity and within increasingly complex environments, are able to…

Creative Living: Inside a Community for Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schapiro, Judith

2009-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorders face a complex set of challenges when they enter the school system. Inspired by the work of D.W. Winnicott and Carl Rogers, the author suggests that facilitative educational settings for these children are those that stimulate creativity, honor a child's strengths, trust the developmental process, and…

A Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective on Identity and Its Development: The Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Avi; Garner, Joanna K.

2017-01-01

Current prominent models of identity face challenges in bridging across divergent perspectives and apparent dichotomies such as personal or social-collective, conscious or unconscious, and epigenetic or discursive-relational, and affording pursuit of research questions that allows integrative answers. This article presents a coherent theoretical…

New England Colleges under Stress: Presidential Voices from the Region's Smaller Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halfond, Jay A.; Stokes, Peter

2013-01-01

Shifting demography, rising operating expenses, plummeting state and federal support, intensified competition, broken financial models… these are just a few of the complex challenges facing New England higher education institutions. Given these tensions, who would be surprised if college presidents in the region weren't occasionally plagued by…

Supporting and Fostering the Development of Alternatively Certified Teachers: Creating a Collaborative Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preach, Deborah

2013-01-01

First-year alternatively certified teachers face significant challenges as they attempt to address the complexities of classroom teaching, particularly when they are assigned to teach in urban school settings. As the number of alternatively certified teachers continues to increase, it is important to provide them with professional development…

An Exploratory Study of Female Master of Divinity Students in a Conservative West Coast Evangelical Seminary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clemen, Valerie A.

2009-01-01

Issues surrounding female participation in graduate theological education are complex and multifaceted. One important problem concerning female theological students is the lack of research exploring the experiences and unique challenges faced by conservative evangelical female Master of Divinity (M. Div.) students as they pursue academic and…

Using Grass Roots Community Programs as an Anti-Extremism Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broadbent, Robyn

2013-01-01

In recent times the Australian Government has become increasingly concerned with the challenge to the dominant culture by humanitarian immigrants entering the country. As a part of a complex strategy, emerging from the events of 9/11 and the perceived changing face of multiculturalism in Australia, the Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced…

Different Faces in Our Classrooms: Teachers' Cultural Perspectives of Heterogeneous School Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hendricks, Paige

2016-01-01

The foundation of the United States' educational system is that all students will be educated equally by offering access to knowledge, opportunities, and services resulting in the creation of positive societal contributors. However, this task is complex and challenging. Heterogeneous student populations due to increased culturally diversity, do…

An Investigation of District Leaders' Perceptions of Forces That Complicate Efforts to Succeed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, George J.; Kelly, Victoria L.; Reimer, Catherine N.; Mosunich, Daniel; Thompson, Debra

2009-01-01

This study explored the perspectives of 350 California superintendents from various-sized school districts in relation to their ability to support student learning while addressing the numerous and complex personnel, social, and economic challenges faced by schools. Specifically, this study investigated the attitudes and opinions of district…

Migrating Legacy Systems in the Global Merger & Acquisition Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katerattanakul, Pairin; Kam, Hwee-Joo; Lee, James J.; Hong, Soongoo

2009-01-01

The MetaFrame system migration project at WorldPharma, while driven by merger and acquisition, had faced complexities caused by both technical challenges and organizational issues in the climate of uncertainties. However, WorldPharma still insisted on instigating this post-merger system migration project. This project served to (1) consolidate the…

Advancing Elementary and Middle School STEM Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English, Lyn D.

2017-01-01

Navigating the current STEM agendas and debates is complex and challenging. Perspectives on the nature of STEM education and how it should be implemented without losing discipline integrity, approaches to incorporating the arts (STEAM) and how equity in access to STEM education can be increased are just a few of the many issues faced by…

Parents Who Bully the School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Robert; Thompson, Michael G.

2016-01-01

Over the last 30 years, Robert Evans and Michael Thompson have been called to consult with more than 2,000 schools independent and public, in the United States and internationally. These school visits have given them a deep appreciation for the range and complexity of challenges schools face and for their capacity to master evolving problems. With…

The Future of Natural Selection Knowledge Measurement: A Reply to Anderson et al. (2010)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nehm, Ross H.; Schonfeld, Irvin Sam

2010-01-01

The development of rich, reliable, and robust measures of the composition, structure, and stability of student thinking about core scientific ideas (such as natural selection) remains a complex challenge facing science educators. In their recent article (Nehm & Schonfeld 2008), the authors explored the strengths, weaknesses, and insights provided…

Birmingham Rep, Youth and Community, and the Products and Possibilities of Precarity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cochrane, Claire

2017-01-01

Birmingham Rep, a leading producing theatre based in the UK's "second city", has historically had a complex relationship with the cultural priorities of its home city. In recent years, Birmingham City Council has faced multiple challenges represented by debt burden, government-imposed cuts in public funding, scandals linked to failing…

The Black School Superintendent: Messiah or Scapegoat?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Hugh J.

Case studies of seven black school superintendents in the 1970s reveal the magnitude and complexity of problems they face. This 1980 book begins with a chapter on urban crisis, examining deprivation and deterioration in the inner cities. The role of the superintendent and the challenges and deficiencies of urban education are discussed. Profiles…

Examining the Development of Self-Authorship among Student Veterans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Sharon L. M.

2014-01-01

The literature has shown that student veterans arrive in college with unique characteristics and also face unique challenges (Black et al., 2007; Bonar & Domenici, 2011; Church, 2009; DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011). There is also some evidence that student veterans develop complex ways of making meaning at younger ages than students in the…

Multimedia Case-Based Instruction in Literacy: Pedagogy, Effectiveness, and Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Elizabeth A.

2009-01-01

Effective literacy teachers share a variety of instructional traits such as the ability to kidwatch, pedagogically reflect, and make informed decisions based on ill-structured and complex data. Teacher educators face the challenge of helping preservice teachers develop such traits so as to prepare them to be successful literacy teachers. One…

Integrating Six Sigma Concepts in an MBA Quality Management Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinstein, Larry B.; Petrick, Joseph; Castellano, Joseph; Vokurka, Robert J.

2008-01-01

Instructors face enormous challenges in presenting effective instruction on concepts and tools of quality management. Most textbooks focus on presenting individual concepts or tools and fail to address complex issues confronted in real-world problem-solving situations. The supplementary use of cases does not help students to understand the dynamic…

Rivers Run Through It: Discovering the Interior Columbia River Basin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Shelley; Wojtanik, Brenda Lincoln; Rieben, Elizabeth

1998-01-01

Explores the Columbia River Basin, its ecosystems, and challenges faced by natural resource managers. By studying the basin's complexity, students can learn about common scientific concepts such as the power of water and effects of rain shadows. Students can also explore social-scientific issues such as conflicts between protecting salmon runs and…

Citizenship for a Changing Global Climate: Learning from New Zealand and Norway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayward, Bronwyn; Selboe, Elin; Plew, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Young citizens under the age of 25?years make up just under half of the world's population. Globally, they face new, interrelated problems of dangerous environmental change, including increasing incidence of severe storms associated with a changing climate, and related new threats to human security. Addressing the complex challenge of climate…

School Closures and Community Revitalisation: The Case of Obidos, Portugal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godinho, Ana Sofia

2012-01-01

Rural communities in many countries are faced with the need to restructure their school networks and close some smaller facilities. Obidos, a town in western Portugal, provides a case study of how to meet these challenges by creating new school complexes that offer improved educational opportunities to the teaching staff, students and local…

[Social trauma: Clinical practice and analysis of subjectivity].

PubMed

Lagos, Mariana; Bekerman, Silvana; Sosa, Noemí

2017-07-01

Clinical and psychosocial assistance demand that we try and understand the complex effect traumatic events have on people and their subjectivity, as well as on our own stance and reference framework. Traumatic situations of social origin affect groups of individuals and the State is to some extent responsible for their genesis and the resolution of their effects. In our professional practice we are faced with problems that concern both the individuals and the relationships they establish. The way highly traumatic events are dealt with is in?uenced by various factors that challenge our therapeutic theories and approaches. The crisis of our time, characterized by uncertainty, violence patterns, intolerance of differences, fracture of social bonds, combined with major technological developments and subjective changes, triggers new and complex ways of connection -even hyperconnectivity- through social media. These vicissitudes of our time confront us with new expressions of discomfort about our own place in the world, deeply affect our identities and reinforce the suffering we experience when faced with the emergency of the devastating power of social trauma. Thus, they become part of our current challenge as professionals.

Challenges in Visual Analysis of Ensembles

DOE PAGES

Crossno, Patricia

2018-04-12

Modeling physical phenomena through computational simulation increasingly relies on generating a collection of related runs, known as an ensemble. In this paper, we explore the challenges we face in developing analysis and visualization systems for large and complex ensemble data sets, which we seek to understand without having to view the results of every simulation run. Implementing approaches and ideas developed in response to this goal, we demonstrate the analysis of a 15K run material fracturing study using Slycat, our ensemble analysis system.

Challenges in Visual Analysis of Ensembles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Crossno, Patricia

Modeling physical phenomena through computational simulation increasingly relies on generating a collection of related runs, known as an ensemble. In this paper, we explore the challenges we face in developing analysis and visualization systems for large and complex ensemble data sets, which we seek to understand without having to view the results of every simulation run. Implementing approaches and ideas developed in response to this goal, we demonstrate the analysis of a 15K run material fracturing study using Slycat, our ensemble analysis system.

Challenges faced by primary care physicians when prescribing for patients with chronic diseases in a teaching hospital in Malaysia: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Sellappans, Renukha; Lai, Pauline Siew Mei; Ng, Chirk Jenn

2015-08-27

The aim of this study was to identify the challenges faced by primary care physicians (PCPs) when prescribing medications for patients with chronic diseases in a teaching hospital in Malaysia. 3 focus group discussions were conducted between July and August 2012 in a teaching primary care clinic in Malaysia. A topic guide was used to facilitate the discussions which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic approach. PCPs affiliated to the primary care clinic were purposively sampled to include a range of clinical experience. Sample size was determined by thematic saturation of the data. 14 family medicine trainees and 5 service medical officers participated in this study. PCPs faced difficulties in prescribing for patients with chronic diseases due to a lack of communication among different healthcare providers. Medication changes made by hospital specialists, for example, were often not communicated to the PCPs leading to drug duplications and interactions. The use of paper-based medical records and electronic prescribing created a dual record system for patients' medications and became a problem when the 2 records did not tally. Patients sometimes visited different doctors and pharmacies for their medications and this resulted in the lack of continuity of care. PCPs also faced difficulties in addressing patients' concerns, and dealing with patients' medication requests and adherence issues. Some PCPs lacked time and knowledge to advise patients about their medications and faced difficulties in managing side effects caused by the patients' complex medication regimen. PCPs faced prescribing challenges related to patients, their own practice and the local health system when prescribing for patients with chronic diseases. These challenges must be addressed in order to improve chronic disease management in primary care and, more importantly, patient safety. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The space shuttle ascent vehicle aerodynamic challenges configuration design and data base development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dill, C. C.; Young, J. C.; Roberts, B. B.; Craig, M. K.; Hamilton, J. T.; Boyle, W. W.

1985-01-01

The phase B Space Shuttle systems definition studies resulted in a generic configuration consisting of a delta wing orbiter, and two solid rocket boosters (SRB) attached to an external fuel tank (ET). The initial challenge facing the aerodynamic community was aerodynamically optimizing, within limits, this configuration. As the Shuttle program developed and the sensitivities of the vehicle to aerodynamics were better understood the requirements of the aerodynamic data base grew. Adequately characterizing the vehicle to support the various design studies exploded the size of the data base to proportions that created a data modeling/management challenge for the aerodynamicist. The ascent aerodynamic data base originated primarily from wind tunnel test results. The complexity of the configuration rendered conventional analytic methods of little use. Initial wind tunnel tests provided results which included undesirable effects from model support tructure, inadequate element proximity, and inadequate plume simulation. The challenge to improve the quality of test results by determining the extent of these undesirable effects and subsequently develop testing techniques to eliminate them was imposed on the aerodynamic community. The challenges to the ascent aerodynamics community documented are unique due to the aerodynamic complexity of the Shuttle launch. Never before was such a complex vehicle aerodynamically characterized. The challenges were met with innovative engineering analyses/methodology development and wind tunnel testing techniques.

'You only have one chance to get it right': A qualitative study of relatives' experiences of caring at home for a family member with terminal cancer.

PubMed

Totman, Jonathan; Pistrang, Nancy; Smith, Susan; Hennessey, Susan; Martin, Jonathan

2015-06-01

Relatives looking after a terminally ill family member at home face numerous challenges. Studies into relatives' experiences of home caregiving have been criticised for their descriptive nature and lack of theoretical underpinnings. To explore the emotional challenges faced by home caregivers, and their experiences of healthcare professionals, from the perspective of existential psychology. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically using the Framework approach. The study took place within an inner-city London hospice. Participants (n = 15) were recently bereaved adult relatives of cancer patients who cared for their family member at home. Participants' experiences of being a caregiver and of professional support were highly varied. The analysis generated 15 themes which were organised into a framework based on Yalom's four 'existential conditions': responsibility (e.g. 'being the linchpin of care'; 'you only have one chance to get it right'), isolation (e.g. 'being on my own', 'being held in mind'), death (e.g. 'knowing but not knowing') and meaningfulness (e.g. 'giving something back', 'acceptance and gratitude'). Healthcare professionals were perceived as influential in both helping and hindering relatives in meeting the challenges they faced. Existential psychology provides a theoretical perspective from which to understand the psychological complexity of the emotional challenges home caregivers face and a framework which may usefully inform research and clinical practice. Professionals' attentiveness to caregivers' needs can have powerful effects in assuaging anxiety, reducing isolation and enabling relatives to connect with the meaningfulness of caregiving. © The Author(s) 2015.

CALFED--An experiment in science and decisionmaking

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taylor, Kimberly A.; Jacobs, Katharine L.; Luoma, Samuel N.

2003-01-01

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program faces a challenging assignment: to develop a collaborative state-federal management plan for the complex river system and involve multiple stakeholders (primarily municipal, agricultural, and environmental entities) whose interests frequently are in direct conflict. Although many resource-management issues involve multiple stakeholders and conflict is integral to their discussion, the CALFED experience is unique because of its shared state and federal roles, the magnitude and significance of stakeholder participation, and the complexity of the scientific issues involved.

From Nonclinical Research to Clinical Trials and Patient-registries: Challenges and Opportunities in Biomedical Research

PubMed Central

de la Torre Hernández, José M.; Edelman, Elazer R.

2018-01-01

The most important challenge faced by human beings is health. The only way to provide better solutions for health care is innovation, true innovation. The only source of true innovation is research, good research indeed. The pathway from a basic science study to a randomized clinical trial is long and not free of bumps and even landmines. These are all the obstacles and barriers that limit the availability of resources, entangle administrative-regulatory processes, and restrain investigators’ initiatives. There is increasing demand for evidence to guide clinical practice but, paradoxically, biomedical research has become increasingly complex, expensive, and difficult to integrate into clinical care with increased barriers to performing the practical aspects of investigation. We face the challenge of increasing the volume of biomedical research and simultaneously improving the efficiency and output of this research. In this article, we review the main stages and methods of biomedical research, from nonclinical studies with animal and computational models to randomized trials and clinical registries, focusing on their limitations and challenges, but also providing alternative solutions to overcome them. Fortunately, challenges are always opportunities in disguise. PMID:28838647

Reconstructive Management of Devastating Electrical Injuries to the Face.

PubMed

Janis, Jeffrey E; Khansa, Ibrahim; Lehrman, Craig R; Orgill, Dennis P; Pomahac, Bohdan

2015-10-01

Devastating fourth-degree electrical injuries to the face and head pose significant reconstructive challenges. To date, there have been few peer-reviewed articles in the literature that describe those reconstructive challenges. The authors present the largest case series to date that describes the management of these injuries, including the incorporation of face transplantation. A retrospective case series was conducted of patients with devastating electrical injuries to the face who were managed at two level-1 trauma centers between 2007 and 2011. Data describing patient injuries, initial management, and reconstructive procedures were collected. Five patients with devastating electrical injuries to the face were reviewed. After initial stabilization and treatment of life-threatening injuries, all five underwent burn excision and microsurgical reconstruction using distant flaps. Two of the patients eventually underwent face transplantation. The authors describe differences in management between the two trauma centers, one of which had the availability for composite tissue allotransplantation; the other did not. Also described is how initial attempts at traditional reconstruction affected the eventual face transplantation. The care of patients with complex electrical burns must be conducted in a multidisciplinary fashion. As with all other trauma, the initial priority should be management of the airway, breathing, and circulation. Additional considerations include cardiac arrhythmias and renal impairment attributable to myoglobinuria. Before embarking on aggressive reconstruction attempts, it is advisable to determine early whether the patient is a candidate for face transplantation in order to avoid antigen sensitization, loss of a reconstructive "lifeboat," surgical plane disruption, and sacrifice of potential recipient vessels. Therapeutic, V.

The High-Stakes Literacies of Undocumented, Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth Detained in America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cullerton, Alexis

2013-01-01

Every year, thousands of undocumented, unaccompanied immigrant youth take dangerous journeys to the United States only to be apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upon arrival. These youth, who are both involuntary and voluntary immigrants, are then faced with the challenge of having to navigate the complex contexts of the legal…

Challenges in an Aging Society: Presidential Address to APPAM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swartz, Katherine

2010-01-01

The United States is at a critical crossroads in its history right now. The public policy problems that the people are facing are complex and interrelated, and the demographic changes that are about to significantly change their country are not well understood by large numbers of people. In this presidential address to the Association for Public…

Ending College Remediation: Consequences for Access and Opportunity. Policy Brief. ASHE/Lumina Fellows Series. Issue 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Tara L.

2007-01-01

To what extent does eliminating remedial education impede or facilitate the opportunity to earn bachelor's degrees for underprepared students? Educating underprepared students is often viewed as one of the most challenging and complex issues facing higher education today. Recent policy decisions to end remedial education, however, signify a much…

Fostering the Development and Implementation of Principles for Managing Ethics in Higher Education Institutions: An International Comparative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marmolejo, Francisco

2006-01-01

In today's world, higher education faces important opportunities and challenges, many of which are new and unexpected. The increased complexity of higher education institutions themselves is reflected in the expansion of their roles and responsibilities. These roles and responsibilities include: greater demands for regional engagement and other…

Design and Development of an Interactive Multimedia Simulation for Augmenting the Teaching and Learning of Programming Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baloyi, Leonah L.; Ojo, Sunday O.; Van Wyk, Etienne A.

2017-01-01

Teaching and learning programming has presented many challenges in institutions of higher learning worldwide. Teaching and learning programming require cognitive reasoning, mainly due to the fundamental reality that the underlying concepts are complex and abstract. As a result, many institutions of higher learning are faced with low success rates…

Temporal Envelope Changes of Compression and Speech Rate: Combined Effects on Recognition for Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenstad, Lorienne M.; Souza, Pamela E.

2007-01-01

Purpose: When understanding speech in complex listening situations, older adults with hearing loss face the double challenge of cochlear hearing loss and deficits of the aging auditory system. Wide-dynamic range compression (WDRC) is used in hearing aids as remediation for the loss of audibility associated with hearing loss. WDRC processing has…

Planning the Fire Program for the Third Millennium

Treesearch

Richard A. Chase

1987-01-01

The fire program planner faces an increasingly complex task as diverse--and often contradictory--messages about objectives and constraints are received from political, administrative, budgetary, and social processes. Our principal challenge as we move into the 21st century is not one of looking for flashier technology to include in the planned fire program. Rather, we...

Making Sense of Academic Life: Academics, Universities and Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Peter G.

Universities and academics today are facing challenges that require more active and self-interested management. The book argues that higher education in the future will not become any more ordered, but will actually become more complex, more fractured and less bounded, and that academics will have to respond with new ways of thinking. The book…

Application of Learning Technologies to Promote Holistic Thinking and Consensus Building in Global Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trieb, Carolin-Anna

2016-01-01

Purpose: Acting in an increasingly complex and dynamic global world requires students to analyze and discuss professionally many of the international challenges that the world is facing due to globalization. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate the implementation of information and learning technologies (ILTs) in the practical…

Preparation, Clinical Support, and Confidence of Speech-Language Therapists Managing Clients with a Tracheostomy in the UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Elizabeth; Morgan, Tessa; McGowan, Sue; Spurgin, Ann-Louise; Solley, Maura

2012-01-01

Background: Literature regarding the education, training, clinical support and confidence of speech-language therapists (SLTs) working with patients with a tracheostomy is limited; however, it suggests that many clinicians have reduced clinical confidence when managing this complex population, many face role and team challenges practising in this…

Covenants Not to Compete in Employment Contracts: Worth a Closer Look in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Tonia Hap

2015-01-01

The topic of noncompetes is a rich one for a business law or legal environment course. It presents opportunities to tie law and policy, law and ethics, law and strategy. It exemplifies the challenges businesses and employees may face in a changing, complex, uncertain legal environment. Accordingly, this article provides materials on noncompetes…

Writing Strategy Instruction: Its Impact on Writing in a Second Language for Academic Purposes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Silva, Radhika

2015-01-01

Writing for academic purposes in a second/foreign language is a major challenge faced by many students at both secondary and tertiary levels. This suggests that displaying content knowledge and understanding of a subject through a second language is a very complex process. This article discusses the findings of a longitudinal intervention study…

The Fire Learning Network: A promising conservation strategy for forestry

Treesearch

Bruce E. Goldstein; William H. Butler; R. Bruce Hull

2010-01-01

Conservation Learning Networks (CLN) are an emerging conservation strategy for addressing complex resource management challenges that face the forestry profession. The US Fire Learning Network (FLN) is a successful example of a CLN that operates on a national scale. Developed in 2001 as a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, the US Forest Service, and land-...

Child Rearing in America: Challenges Facing Parents with Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halfon, Neal, Ed.; McLearn, Kathryn Taaffe, Ed.; Schuster, Mark A., Ed.

In the wake of intense national interest in very young children, this volume presents an examination of the findings of the Commonwealth Survey of Parents with Young Children, as analyzed by scholars from diverse disciplines. What emerges from this analysis is a picture of the complex forces that influence families and child rearing in the…

From Orientation Needs to Developmental Realities: The Honors First-Year Seminar in a National Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vander Zee, Anton; Folds-Bennett, Trisha; Meyer-Bernstein, Elizabeth; Reardon, Brendan

2016-01-01

The transition into college remains one of the most formative and complex phases in an individual's life. Institutions of higher learning have responded to the challenges facing first-year students in myriad ways, most often by offering summer orientation programs, dynamic living-learning environments, tailored academic and psychological support…

Applying Research in Reading Comprehension to Social Studies Instruction for Middle and High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swanson, Elizabeth; Wanzek, Jeanne

2014-01-01

Secondary-level content area teachers face unique challenges in helping their students successfully read, understand, and learn content from complex texts in their discipline. In this article, a set of research-based practices designed to provide effective and feasible instruction to improve students' reading and comprehension of text and content…

Women and Women of Color in Leadership: Complexity, Identity, and Intersectionality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez-Hucles, Janis V.; Davis, Donald D.

2010-01-01

This article describes the challenges that women and women of color face in their quest to achieve and perform in leadership roles in work settings. We discuss the barriers that women encounter and specifically address the dimensions of gender and race and their impact on leadership. We identify the factors associated with gender evaluations of…

Democracy's Orphans: Rights, Responsibility, and the Role of the State in the Lives of Incarcerated Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, Joby

2010-01-01

Transition to adulthood is increasingly complex, extended, and challenging. Working-class Brown and Black young men face very difficult transitions, as they are overrepresented in the justice system, poverty, foster care, special education, and among victims of violence. What effects do these developments have on young people's places in free…

Reaction Workup Planning: A Structured Flowchart Approach, Exemplified in Difficult Aqueous Workup of Hydrophilic Products

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, George B.; Sweeney, Joseph B.

2015-01-01

Reaction workup can be a complex problem for those facing novel synthesis of difficult compounds for the first time. Workup problem solving by systematic thinking should be inculcated as mid-graduate-level is reached. A structured approach is proposed, building decision tree flowcharts to analyze challenges, and an exemplar flowchart is presented…

Building Ecological Complexity in the Classroom Using Pea Aphids & Components of Their Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Matthew L.; Hari, Janice

2009-01-01

Teachers face the challenge of introducing ecological concepts in an authentic way that students can apply to their lives and surroundings. Fieldwork helps achieve this goal and can have a range of beneficial impacts on participants, but opportunities to conduct fieldwork can be limited, especially in urban environments. Urban environments are…

Developing Leadership in Higher Education: Perspectives from the USA, the UK and Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hempsall, Kay

2014-01-01

It is broadly acknowledged that leaders in the twenty-first century are required to navigate an increasingly complex landscape and that the types of challenges individuals and organisations face in the knowledge era require the capacity to adapt and respond to continual fluctuations and change. Outcomes from previous leadership research, combined…

Using Pictorial Mnemonics in the Learning of Tax: A Cognitive Load Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Bernadette; Shimeld, Sonia

2014-01-01

The scope and complexity of the Australian taxation system (as with other tax regimes) is daunting for many accounting students. This paper documents the implementation of new practices that were initiated in an effort to address some of the challenges faced by undergraduate students studying taxation. Based on the principles of cognitive load…

An Examination of Leadership Readiness and Empowerment among Full-Time Nursing Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bilder, Loretta Lynn

2014-01-01

Leadership skills in faculty and administrators are vital given the complex challenges faced in higher education, yet little is known about how best to prepare for a leadership role. According to the literature in other disciplines, empowerment can be identified as a primary antecedent to leadership readiness. Empowerment has been studied related…

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender-Identified School Psychologists: A Qualitative Study of Their Professional Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sowden, Beth; Fleming, Julia; Savage, Todd A.; Woitaszewski, Scott A.

2016-01-01

Despite recent socially positive progression in the view and treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the USA, the LGBT population continues to face complicated circumstances and significant hindrances in many societal institutions. One of the most challenging and complex arena is the educational system (Biegel…

Teacher Talk: The Role of Story and Anecdote in Constructing Professional Knowledge for Beginning Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doecke, Brenton; Brown, Jenny; Loughran, John

2000-01-01

Presents the stories of English teachers who described the complexities of the first teaching year. Their English methods lecturer had invited them to meet as part of a project investigating challenges facing beginning teachers. Their discussion highlights how they use narrative to give meaning to their experiences and to explore the possibilities…

Hearing the Voice of Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Training Stakeholders Using Research Methodologies and Theoretical Frames of Reference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guenther, John; Osborne, Sam; Arnott, Allan; McRae-Williams, Eva

2017-01-01

Researchers in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts within Australia are frequently faced with the challenges of working in an intercultural space where channels of communication are garbled with interference created by the complexities of misunderstood worldviews, languages, values and expectations. A concern of many researchers…

From Homemaking to Solidarity: Global Engagement as Common Good in an Age of Global Populism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toms, Cynthia

2018-01-01

The challenging and rapidly evolving times in which we live require that students understand, analyze, and address the complex realities facing their nation and world. However, efforts in global learning have primarily focused on expansion of programs rather than student learning and meaningful community engagement. Building on Bouma-Prediger and…

Changing Course in Jefferson City: Reevaluating a District Initiative to Convert Under-Enrolled Elementary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lochmiller, Chad R.

2018-01-01

This case positions the reader as the superintendent of Jefferson City Public Schools (pseudonym). Like many urban school districts in the United States, Jefferson City faces a complex milieu of fiscal challenges attributed to inadequate state funding and declining student enrollment. Within this case, the superintendent must address the failing…

Your Mouth: A Window to Your Overall Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blende, David M.

2008-01-01

Meeting the needs of a loved one with a disability or complex medical condition presents challenges everyday, and it becomes very easy for a parent or caregiver to allow concerns such as dental health to fall by the wayside in the face of other priorities. However, healthy teeth and gums are necessary for overall health. People with special needs…

Research in Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching and Learning in New Zealand (2006-2010)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ker, Alastair; Adams, Rebecca; Skyrme, Gillian

2013-01-01

This survey gives an overview of research into language teaching and learning in New Zealand over a five-year period, including the context of that research. The majority of New Zealanders are monolingual English speakers, yet the country faces complex linguistic challenges arising from its bicultural foundations and the multicultural society it…

Community-Based Collaboration for Early Childhood Teacher Education: Partner Experiences and Perspectives as Co-Teacher Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lees, Anna; Kennedy, Adam S.

2017-01-01

The relevance and effectiveness of traditional, course- and clinical-experience-based models of teacher preparation have been called into question, and institutions of teacher education must respond to the changing landscape of educational policy, which increasingly emphasizes that candidates must be prepared for challenges faced in complex,…

Digital Footprints in the Context of Professional Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kligiene, Stanislava Nerute

2012-01-01

The paper surveys the risks and benefits which the user faces in the networked environment and how those challenges can be overcome. The question is how to measure the potential or benefits of such a complex phenomenon--the collaborative cross-domains in social media. As one of the solutions we propose to consider this in the context of digital…

Songs of the Caged Birds: Literacy and Learning with Incarcerated Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Peter; Mercurio, Megan; Walker, Constance

2013-01-01

This article reports on the challenges teachers face when working with juveniles who are incarcerated. For example, they must devise an English curriculum that can help students develop reading and writing skills while also becoming literate about the prison industrial complex and the ways that it governs their lives. Teachers struggle to find…

Elephant Trunk-Like Teratoma of the Face with Compromised Airway in an Infant with Complex Congenital Cardiac Defects: An Anesthetic Challenge.

PubMed

Maddali, Madan Mohan; Al Balushi, Faisal Khalfan Ahmed; Waje, Niranjan Dilip

2016-02-01

Large head and neck teratomas are very rare. Depending on their site of origin, they can produce varying degrees of airway compromise and can interfere with the conduct of general anesthesia. Large space-occupying lesions of the face may even interfere with the simple task of mask ventilation rendering inhaled induction of general anesthesia and maintenance of spontaneous ventilation difficult. If these neoplasms coexist with cardiac lesions necessitating corrective or palliative procedures, the task of oxygenation, ventilation, and securing a definitive airway becomes challenging especially in the presence of underlying unstable hemodynamics. We report on the anesthetic management of a female infant with a facial teratoma and single-ventricle physiology undergoing a cardiac palliative procedure where securing a definitive airway with minimal hemodynamic instability was the immediate requirement.

Sequential Reactions of Surface-Tethered Glycolytic Enzymes

PubMed Central

Mukai, Chinatsu; Bergkvist, Magnus; Nelson, Jacquelyn L.; Travis, Alexander J.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY The development of complex hybrid organic-inorganic devices faces several challenges, including how they can generate energy. Cells face similar challenges regarding local energy production. Mammalian sperm solve this problem by generating ATP down the flagellar principal piece by means of glycolytic enzymes, several of which are tethered to a cytoskeletal support via germ cell-specific targeting domains. Inspired by this design, we have produced recombinant hexokinase type 1 and glucose-6-phosphate isomerase capable of oriented immobilization on a nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid modified surface. Specific activities of enzymes tethered via this strategy were substantially higher than when randomly adsorbed. Furthermore, these enzymes showed sequential activities when tethered onto the same surface. This is the first demonstration of surface-tethered pathway components showing sequential enzymatic activities, and it provides a first step toward reconstitution of glycolysis on engineered hybrid devices. PMID:19778729

Collision induced unfolding of isolated proteins in the gas phase: past, present, and future.

PubMed

Dixit, Sugyan M; Polasky, Daniel A; Ruotolo, Brandon T

2018-02-01

Rapidly characterizing the three-dimensional structures of proteins and the multimeric machines they form remains one of the great challenges facing modern biological and medical sciences. Ion mobility-mass spectrometry based techniques are playing an expanding role in characterizing these functional complexes, especially in drug discovery and development workflows. Despite this expansion, ion mobility-mass spectrometry faces many challenges, especially in the context of detecting small differences in protein tertiary structure that bear functional consequences. Collision induced unfolding is an ion mobility-mass spectrometry method that enables the rapid differentiation of subtly-different protein isoforms based on their unfolding patterns and stabilities. In this review, we summarize the modern implementation of such gas-phase unfolding experiments and provide an overview of recent developments in both methods and applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exercising restraint: clinical, legal and ethical considerations for the patient with Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

McBrien, Barry

2007-04-01

The number of older people using emergency care is increasing steadily and older people account for over half of all emergency admissions. In the emergency setting, nurses caring for older people with Alzheimer's disease can be faced with many complex ethical and legal challenges. Moreover, challenges such as the use of physical restraint can precipitate conflict when the nurse is placed in the precarious position of doing good, respecting autonomy and avoiding paternalism. Although, there is no complete set of "rules" that can provide nurses with an answer to each dilemma, it is of significant value for nurses to have sound knowledge of ethical and legal positions in order to analyse the many complex situations that they may encounter.

Epidemics Modelings: Some New Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boatto, Stefanella; Khouri, Renata Stella; Solerman, Lucas; Codeço, Claudia; Bonnet, Catherine

2010-09-01

Epidemics modeling has been particularly growing in the past years. In epidemics studies, mathematical modeling is used in particular to reach a better understanding of some neglected diseases (dengue, malaria, …) and of new emerging ones (SARS, influenza A,….) of big agglomerates. Such studies offer new challenges both from the modeling point of view (searching for simple models which capture the main characteristics of the disease spreading), data analysis and mathematical complexity. We are facing often with complex networks especially when modeling the city dynamics. Such networks can be static (in first approximation) and homogeneous, static and not homogeneous and/or not static (when taking into account the city structure, micro-climates, people circulation, etc.). The objective being studying epidemics dynamics and being able to predict its spreading.

Health Policy and Management: in praise of political science. Comment on "On Health Policy and Management (HPAM): mind the theory-policy-practice gap".

PubMed

Hunter, David J

2015-03-12

Health systems have entered a third era embracing whole systems thinking and posing complex policy and management challenges. Understanding how such systems work and agreeing what needs to be put in place to enable them to undergo effective and sustainable change are more pressing issues than ever for policy-makers. The theory-policy-practice-gap and its four dimensions, as articulated by Chinitz and Rodwin, is acknowledged. It is suggested that insights derived from political science can both enrich our understanding of the gap and suggest what changes are needed to tackle the complex challenges facing health systems. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Technology survey on video face tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tong; Gomes, Herman Martins

2014-03-01

With the pervasiveness of monitoring cameras installed in public areas, schools, hospitals, work places and homes, video analytics technologies for interpreting these video contents are becoming increasingly relevant to people's lives. Among such technologies, human face detection and tracking (and face identification in many cases) are particularly useful in various application scenarios. While plenty of research has been conducted on face tracking and many promising approaches have been proposed, there are still significant challenges in recognizing and tracking people in videos with uncontrolled capturing conditions, largely due to pose and illumination variations, as well as occlusions and cluttered background. It is especially complex to track and identify multiple people simultaneously in real time due to the large amount of computation involved. In this paper, we present a survey on literature and software that are published or developed during recent years on the face tracking topic. The survey covers the following topics: 1) mainstream and state-of-the-art face tracking methods, including features used to model the targets and metrics used for tracking; 2) face identification and face clustering from face sequences; and 3) software packages or demonstrations that are available for algorithm development or trial. A number of publically available databases for face tracking are also introduced.

Challenges in Modern Anti-Doping Analytical Science.

PubMed

Ayotte, Christiane; Miller, John; Thevis, Mario

2017-01-01

The challenges facing modern anti-doping analytical science are increasingly complex given the expansion of target drug substances, as the pharmaceutical industry introduces more novel therapeutic compounds and the internet offers designer drugs to improve performance. The technical challenges are manifold, including, for example, the need for advanced instrumentation for greater speed of analyses and increased sensitivity, specific techniques capable of distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous metabolites, or biological assays for the detection of peptide hormones or their markers, all of which require an important investment from the laboratories and recruitment of highly specialized scientific personnel. The consequences of introducing sophisticated and complex analytical procedures may result in the future in a change in the strategy applied by the Word Anti-Doping Agency in relation to the introduction and performance of new techniques by the network of accredited anti-doping laboratories. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Update - Concept of Operations for Integrated Model-Centric Engineering at JPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd J.; Bennett, Matthew; Delp, Christopher L.; Dvorak, Daniel; Jenkins, Steven J.; Mandutianu, Sanda

2011-01-01

The increasingly ambitious requirements levied on JPL's space science missions, and the development pace of such missions, challenge our current engineering practices. All the engineering disciplines face this growth in complexity to some degree, but the challenges are greatest in systems engineering where numerous competing interests must be reconciled and where complex system level interactions must be identified and managed. Undesired system-level interactions are increasingly a major risk factor that cannot be reliably exposed by testing, and natural-language single-viewpoint specifications areinadequate to capture and expose system level interactions and characteristics. Systems engineering practices must improve to meet these challenges, and the most promising approach today is the movement toward a more integrated and model-centric approach to mission conception, design, implementation and operations. This approach elevates engineering models to a principal role in systems engineering, gradually replacing traditional document centric engineering practices.

48 CFR 1480.903 - Award in the face of challenge.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Award in the face of challenge. 1480.903 Section 1480.903 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... Award in the face of challenge. (a) Award of a contract in the face of challenge may be made on the...

48 CFR 1480.903 - Award in the face of challenge.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Award in the face of challenge. 1480.903 Section 1480.903 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... Award in the face of challenge. (a) Award of a contract in the face of challenge may be made on the...

Biosimilars--global issues, national solutions.

PubMed

Knezevic, Ivana; Griffiths, Elwyn

2011-09-01

Biotechnology derived medicinal products are presently the best characterized biologicals with considerable production and clinical experience, and have revolutionized the treatment of some of the most difficult-to-treat diseases, prolonging and improving the quality of life and patient care. They are also currently one of the fastest growing segments of the pharmaceutical industry market. The critical challenge that the biopharmaceutical industry is facing is the expiry of patents for the first generation of biopharmaceuticals, mainly recombinant DNA derived products, such as interferons, growth hormone and erythropoetin. The question that immediately arose was how should such copies of the originator products be licensed, bearing in mind that they are highly complex biological molecules produced by equally complex biological production processes with their inherent problem of biological variability. Copying biologicals is much more complex than copying small molecules and the critical issue was how to handle the licensing of products if relying in part on data from an innovator product. Since 2004 there has been considerable international consultation on how to deal with biosimilars and biological copy products. This has led to a better understanding of the challenges in the regulatory evaluation of the quality, safety and efficacy of "biosimilars", to the exchange of information between regulators, as well as to the identification of key issues. The aim of this article is to provide a brief overview of the scientific and regulatory challenges faced in developing and evaluating similar biotherapeutic products for global use. It is intended as an introduction to the series of articles in this special issue of Biologicals devoted to similar biotherapeutic products. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Facial emotion recognition deficits: The new face of schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Behere, Rishikesh V.

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia has been classically described to have positive, negative, and cognitive symptom dimension. Emerging evidence strongly supports a fourth dimension of social cognitive symptoms with facial emotion recognition deficits (FERD) representing a new face in our understanding of this complex disorder. FERD have been described to be one among the important deficits in schizophrenia and could be trait markers for the disorder. FERD are associated with socio-occupational dysfunction and hence are of important clinical relevance. This review discusses FERD in schizophrenia, challenges in its assessment in our cultural context, its implications in understanding neurobiological mechanisms and clinical applications. PMID:26600574

Implementing a complex rehabilitation intervention in a stroke trial: a qualitative process evaluation of AVERT.

PubMed

Luker, Julie A; Craig, Louise E; Bennett, Leanne; Ellery, Fiona; Langhorne, Peter; Wu, Olivia; Bernhardt, Julie

2016-05-10

The implementation of multidisciplinary stroke rehabilitation interventions is challenging, even when the intervention is evidence-based. Very little is known about the implementation of complex interventions in rehabilitation clinical trials. The aim of study was to better understand how the implementation of a rehabilitation intervention in a clinical trial within acute stroke units is experienced by the staff involved. This qualitative process evaluation was part of a large Phase III stroke rehabilitation trial (AVERT). A descriptive qualitative approach was used. We purposively sampled 53 allied health and nursing staff from 19 acute stroke units in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone, voice-internet, or face to face. Digitally recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed by two researchers using rigorous thematic analysis. Our analysis uncovered ten important themes that provide insight into the challenges of implementing complex new rehabilitation practices within complex care settings, plus factors and strategies that assisted implementation. Themes were grouped into three main categories: staff experience of implementing the trial intervention, barriers to implementation, and overcoming the barriers. Participation in the trial was challenging but had personal rewards and improved teamwork at some sites. Over the years that the trial ran some staff perceived a change in usual care. Barriers to trial implementation at some sites included poor teamwork, inadequate staffing, various organisational barriers, staff attitudes and beliefs, and patient-related barriers. Participants described successful implementation strategies that were built on interdisciplinary teamwork, education and strong leadership to 'get staff on board', and developing different ways of working. The AVERT stroke rehabilitation trial required commitment to deliver an intervention that needed strong collaboration between nurses and physiotherapists and was different to current care models. This qualitative process evaluation contributes unique insights into factors that may be critical to successful trials teams, and as AVERT was a pragmatic trial, success factors to delivering complex intervention in clinical practice. AVERT registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12606000185561 .

Refugee Health: An Ongoing Commitment and Challenge

PubMed Central

Efird, Jimmy T.; Bith-Melander, Pollie

2018-01-01

Refugees represent a diverse group of displaced individuals with unique health issues and disease risks. The obstacles facing this population have their origins in war, violence, oppression, exploitation, and fear of persecution. Regardless of country of origin, a common bond exists, with refugees often confronting inadequate healthcare resources, xenophobia, discrimination, and a complex web of legal barriers in their new homelands. In many cases, the plight of refugees is multigenerational, manifesting as mental health issues, abuse, poverty, and family disruption. The health trajectory of refugees remains an ongoing commitment and challenge. PMID:29342831

Behavioural and neurophysiological evidence for face identity and face emotion processing in animals

PubMed Central

Tate, Andrew J; Fischer, Hanno; Leigh, Andrea E; Kendrick, Keith M

2006-01-01

Visual cues from faces provide important social information relating to individual identity, sexual attraction and emotional state. Behavioural and neurophysiological studies on both monkeys and sheep have shown that specialized skills and neural systems for processing these complex cues to guide behaviour have evolved in a number of mammals and are not present exclusively in humans. Indeed, there are remarkable similarities in the ways that faces are processed by the brain in humans and other mammalian species. While human studies with brain imaging and gross neurophysiological recording approaches have revealed global aspects of the face-processing network, they cannot investigate how information is encoded by specific neural networks. Single neuron electrophysiological recording approaches in both monkeys and sheep have, however, provided some insights into the neural encoding principles involved and, particularly, the presence of a remarkable degree of high-level encoding even at the level of a specific face. Recent developments that allow simultaneous recordings to be made from many hundreds of individual neurons are also beginning to reveal evidence for global aspects of a population-based code. This review will summarize what we have learned so far from these animal-based studies about the way the mammalian brain processes the faces and the emotions they can communicate, as well as associated capacities such as how identity and emotion cues are dissociated and how face imagery might be generated. It will also try to highlight what questions and advances in knowledge still challenge us in order to provide a complete understanding of just how brain networks perform this complex and important social recognition task. PMID:17118930

Behavioural and neurophysiological evidence for face identity and face emotion processing in animals.

PubMed

Tate, Andrew J; Fischer, Hanno; Leigh, Andrea E; Kendrick, Keith M

2006-12-29

Visual cues from faces provide important social information relating to individual identity, sexual attraction and emotional state. Behavioural and neurophysiological studies on both monkeys and sheep have shown that specialized skills and neural systems for processing these complex cues to guide behaviour have evolved in a number of mammals and are not present exclusively in humans. Indeed, there are remarkable similarities in the ways that faces are processed by the brain in humans and other mammalian species. While human studies with brain imaging and gross neurophysiological recording approaches have revealed global aspects of the face-processing network, they cannot investigate how information is encoded by specific neural networks. Single neuron electrophysiological recording approaches in both monkeys and sheep have, however, provided some insights into the neural encoding principles involved and, particularly, the presence of a remarkable degree of high-level encoding even at the level of a specific face. Recent developments that allow simultaneous recordings to be made from many hundreds of individual neurons are also beginning to reveal evidence for global aspects of a population-based code. This review will summarize what we have learned so far from these animal-based studies about the way the mammalian brain processes the faces and the emotions they can communicate, as well as associated capacities such as how identity and emotion cues are dissociated and how face imagery might be generated. It will also try to highlight what questions and advances in knowledge still challenge us in order to provide a complete understanding of just how brain networks perform this complex and important social recognition task.

Single-unit activity during natural vision: diversity, consistency, and spatial sensitivity among AF face patch neurons.

PubMed

McMahon, David B T; Russ, Brian E; Elnaiem, Heba D; Kurnikova, Anastasia I; Leopold, David A

2015-04-08

Several visual areas within the STS of the macaque brain respond strongly to faces and other biological stimuli. Determining the principles that govern neural responses in this region has proven challenging, due in part to the inherently complex stimulus domain of dynamic biological stimuli that are not captured by an easily parameterized stimulus set. Here we investigated neural responses in one fMRI-defined face patch in the anterior fundus (AF) of the STS while macaques freely view complex videos rich with natural social content. Longitudinal single-unit recordings allowed for the accumulation of each neuron's responses to repeated video presentations across sessions. We found that individual neurons, while diverse in their response patterns, were consistently and deterministically driven by the video content. We used principal component analysis to compute a family of eigenneurons, which summarized 24% of the shared population activity in the first two components. We found that the most prominent component of AF activity reflected an interaction between visible body region and scene layout. Close-up shots of faces elicited the strongest neural responses, whereas far away shots of faces or close-up shots of hindquarters elicited weak or inhibitory responses. Sensitivity to the apparent proximity of faces was also observed in gamma band local field potential. This category-selective sensitivity to spatial scale, together with the known exchange of anatomical projections of this area with regions involved in visuospatial analysis, suggests that the AF face patch may be specialized in aspects of face perception that pertain to the layout of a social scene.

E-waste: a problem or an opportunity? Review of issues, challenges and solutions in Asian countries.

PubMed

Herat, Sunil; Agamuthu, P

2012-11-01

Safe management of electronic and electrical waste (e-waste/WEEE) is becoming a major problem for many countries around the world. In particular, developing countries face a number of issues with the generation, transboundary movement and management of e-waste. It is estimated that the world generates around 20-50 million tonnes of e-waste annually, most of it from Asian countries. Improper handling of e-waste can cause harm to the environment and human health because of its toxic components. Several countries around the world are now struggling to deal with this emerging threat. Although the current emphasis is on end-of-life management of e-waste activities, such as reuse, servicing, remanufacturing, recycling and disposal, upstream reduction of e-waste generation through green design and cleaner production is gaining much attention. Environmentally sound management (ESM) of e-waste in developing countries is absent or very limited. Transboundary movement of e-waste is a major issue throughout the region. Dealing with the informal recycling sector is a complex social and environmental issue. There are significant numbers of such challenges faced by these countries in achieving ESM of e-waste. This article aims to present a review of challenges and issues faced by Asian countries in managing their e-waste in a sustainable way.

An applet for the Gabor similarity scaling of the differences between complex stimuli.

PubMed

Margalit, Eshed; Biederman, Irving; Herald, Sarah B; Yue, Xiaomin; von der Malsburg, Christoph

2016-11-01

It is widely accepted that after the first cortical visual area, V1, a series of stages achieves a representation of complex shapes, such as faces and objects, so that they can be understood and recognized. A major challenge for the study of complex shape perception has been the lack of a principled basis for scaling of the physical differences between stimuli so that their similarity can be specified, unconfounded by early-stage differences. Without the specification of such similarities, it is difficult to make sound inferences about the contributions of later stages to neural activity or psychophysical performance. A Web-based app is described that is based on the Malsburg Gabor-jet model (Lades et al., 1993), which allows easy specification of the V1 similarity of pairs of stimuli, no matter how intricate. The model predicts the psycho physical discriminability of metrically varying faces and complex blobs almost perfectly (Yue, Biederman, Mangini, von der Malsburg, & Amir, 2012), and serves as the input stage of a large family of contemporary neurocomputational models of vision.

The centennial of the Yellow Fever Commission and the use of informed consent in medical research.

PubMed

Güereña-Burgueño, Fernando

2002-01-01

The year 2000 marked the centennial of the discovery of the mode of transmission of yellow fever. Informed consent was systematically used for the first time in research. This process was the result of a complex social phenomenon involving the American Public Health Association, the US and Spanish Governments, American and Cuban scientists, the media, and civilian and military volunteers. The public health and medical communities face the AIDS pandemic at the beginning of the 21st Century, as they faced the yellow fever epidemic at the beginning of the 20th Century. Current medical research dilemmas have fueled the debate about the ethical conduct of research in human subjects. The AIDS pandemic is imposing enormous new ethical challenges on the conduct of medical research, especially in the developing world. Reflecting on the yellow fever experiments of 1900, lessons can be learned and applied to the current ethical challenges faced by the international public health research community. The English version of this paper is available too at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.

From Online Student to Online Instructor: Assistive Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKnight, Jodi

2012-01-01

With the influx of online learning opportunities, online students and instructors are faced with a variety of challenges. Online students face the same challenges as do face-to-face learners, but by facing them in an online context, the interpretations of those challenges can lead to the success or failure of their overall educational experience.…

Complexity management theory: motivation for ideological rigidity and social conflict.

PubMed

Peterson, Jordan B; Flanders, Joseph L

2002-06-01

We are doomed to formulate conceptual structures that are much simpler than the complex phenomena they are attempting to account for. These simple conceptual structures shield us, pragmatically, from real-world complexity, but also fail, frequently, as some aspect of what we did not take into consideration makes itself manifest. The failure of our concepts dysregulates our emotions and generates anxiety, necessarily, as the unconstrained world is challenging and dangerous. Such dysregulation can turn us into rigid, totalitarian dogmatists, as we strive to maintain the structure of our no longer valid beliefs. Alternatively, we can face the underlying complexity of experience, voluntarily, gather new information, and recast and reconfigure the structures that underly our habitable worlds.

A Tale of Two Paradigms: The Impact of Psychological Capital and Reinforcing Feedback on Problem Solving and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luthans, Fred; Youssef, Carolyn M.; Rawski, Shannon L.

2011-01-01

This study drew from two distinct paradigms: the social cognitively based emerging field of positive organizational behavior or POB and the more established behaviorally based area of organizational behavior modification or OB Mod. The intent was to show that both can contribute to complex challenges facing today's organizations. Using a…

Boundary Activities of Middle School Teacher Teams in a Global Era: Empirical Evidence from China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Shengnan; Feng, Daming

2016-01-01

With the tide of globalization, the external environment that schools face turns uncertain and complex. In response to the new challenges, teacher teams need to manage boundaries to maintain the sustainable development. The two studies reported in this paper, aimed to examine the boundary activities of teacher teams of middle schools in China. In…

Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School. IES Practice Guide. NCEE 2014-4012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Scott; Lesaux, Nonie; Jayanthi, Madhavi; Dimino, Joseph; Proctor, C. Patrick; Morris, Joan; Gersten, Russell; Haymond, Kelly; Kieffer, Michael J.; Linan-Thompson, Sylvia; Newman-Gonchar, Rebecca

2014-01-01

As English learners face the double demands of building knowledge of a second language while learning complex grade-level content, teachers must find effective ways to make challenging content comprehensible for students. This updated English learner practice guide, "Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and…

The Complexities of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Case Study of Two Secondary Mathematics Teachers and Their ESOL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Jacqueline; Napp, Carolina; Adeleke, Shade

2009-01-01

Culturally relevant pedagogy is not well understood as an instructional strategy in the mathematics classroom. This study reveals the challenges two teachers faced when they implemented a pilot project with ninth and tenth grade ESOL students. The task they envisioned as culturally relevant did not capture their ESOL student's interests; rather,…

"Life Skills": A Single-Sex Classroom Intervention for Black Boys Transitioning from Middle School to High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flennaugh, Terry

2017-01-01

The transition from middle school to high school can be difficult for many students due to increases in school size, the structure of an academic schedule, and the complexity of social interactions in high school. However, Black boys face unique challenges during this transition period due to racism and structural inequalities. In response to…

Leading the Charge: A Multiple Case Study of Presidential Perceptions of Essential Leadership Characteristics for the 21st Century Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonner, B. Jeanne

2013-01-01

Leadership of 21st century community colleges is more demanding today than at any other time. Community colleges are faced with an array of challenges previously unimagined, generally resulting from the impact of concurrent socio-economic changes, competing demands from various college constituencies, growing complexity of the leadership role of…

Identifying Structural Changes from Within: Emancipatory Narratives Exploring Community Constraints to Women's Education and Empowerment in Rural India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baily, Supriya

2015-01-01

Using a critical theory framework, the article explores emancipatory narratives obtained through a case study of women in rural India. In-depth interviews, focus group conversations, observations, and document analysis highlight the complexity of the subsequent set of challenges facing women as it relates to both the education and empowerment for…

Suggestions and Procedures for Choosing a Chinese Institution of Higher Education as a Partner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willis, Mike

2007-01-01

China has one of the largest and most complex higher education systems in the world, and a key challenge facing any foreign education institution is how to select an appropriate potential partner. This paper considers how a number of foreign university managers selected a university in China. Issues of location, ranking, status, programs, mutual…

Climate-induced changes in vulnerability to biological threats in the southern United States

Treesearch

Rabiu Olatinwo; Qinfeng Guo; Songlin Fei; William Otrosina; Kier Klepzig; Douglas Streett

2014-01-01

Forest land managers face the challenges of preparing their forests for the impacts of climate change. However, climate change adds a new dimension to the task of developing and testing science-based management options to deal with the effects of stressors on forest ecosystems in the southern United States. The large spatial scale and complex interactions make...

Supporting Students' Learning and Socioscientific Reasoning about Climate Change--The Effect of Computer-Based Concept Mapping Scaffolds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eggert, Sabina; Nitsch, Anne; Boone, William J.; Nückles, Matthias; Bögeholz, Susanne

2017-01-01

Climate change is one of the most challenging problems facing today's global society (e.g., IPCC 2013). While climate change is a widely covered topic in the media, and abundant information is made available through the internet, the causes and consequences of climate change in its full complexity are difficult for individuals, especially…

Adaptable Network Cooperate Catalog for Complex Information Objects. From Single Library to a Consortium: Sharing the Management and Distribution of Information Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morag, Azriel

Libraries faced with the challenge of cooperative cataloging must maintain a high degree of unification within the library network (consortium) without compromising local libraries' independence. This paper compares a traditional model for cooperative catalogs achieved by means of a Union Catalog that depends entirely on replication of data…

"Was Isaac Sacrificed in the End?" Reading Midrash in Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sigel, Deena

2009-01-01

The Torah teacher faces a dilemma of how to teach complex, ancient, sacred texts to modern children. How can she convey the relationship between rabbinic commentary and Scripture? This article recounts the story--and the challenges--of one midrash mini-course that I taught an American class as part of a wider research project. The aim of the…

Parent and Health Care Provider Perspectives Related to Disclosure of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Pediatric Emergency Departments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muskat, Barbara; Greenblatt, Andrea; Nicholas, David B.; Ratnapalan, Savithiri; Cohen-Silver, Justine; Newton, Amanda S.; Craig, William R.; Kilmer, Christopher; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie

2016-01-01

Children and youth with autism spectrum disorder presenting in emergency departments face potential cognitive, sensory, and behavioral challenges, and it is crucial for providers to be aware of their unique needs. However, disclosure of a child's autism spectrum disorder can be complex for parental caregivers and is not well understood. This…

Braking and Entering: A New CFO's Transition into A K-12 Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trautenberg, David Herbert

2016-01-01

In this autoethnography, I examine the challenges I faced as a private-to-public-sector novice CFO entering a resource-constrained 41-thousand-student K-12 urban school district in Colorado. This study chronicles how I deliberately slowed down my interactions within a complex adaptive system (CAS) through ethnographic interviewing to identify the…

The Impact of Transition Services in Facilitating College Degree Completion for Students with Visual Impairments: Post-Bachelor's Degree Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mask, Paige R.; DePountis, Vicki

2018-01-01

This article portrays the complex nature of the transition process for two students with visual impairments (VI), both functionally blind, who successfully completed a bachelor's degree. Standardized open-ended interviews provided individual perspectives on the transition services, supports, and challenges faced by the participants with VI during…

An Alternative Expert Knowledge Transfer Model: A Case Study of an Indigenous Storytelling Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spaulding, Roderick Jay

2010-01-01

The increasing complexity of technical work, the demand for highly skilled workers, and the vital challenges facing the world at large have combined to create a need for better ways to transfer knowledge, especially expert knowledge. In this dissertation, I attempted to see if an approach to this process that is more holistic than is typical in…

The Effects of Deep Approaches to Learning on Students' Need for Cognition over Four Years of College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Jui-Sheng

2013-01-01

This study examines the effect of deep approaches to learning on development of the inclination to inquire and lifelong learning over four years, as an essential graduated outcome that helps students face the challenges of a complex and rapidly changing world. Despite the importance of the inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, some…

Rewiring the Corporate Brain: Using the New Science To Rethink How We Structure and Lead Organizations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zohar, Danah

This book relates the radically new sciences of the 20th century--quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and complexity theory--to organizational problems and challenges facing corporate leaders. The book draws on the science of the human brain, with its three different kinds of neural structures--mental, emotional, and spiritual--to illustrate how to…

Microrobots: a new era in ocular drug delivery.

PubMed

Fusco, Stefano; Ullrich, Franziska; Pokki, Juho; Chatzipirpiridis, George; Özkale, Berna; Sivaraman, Kartik M; Ergeneman, Olgaç; Pané, Salvador; Nelson, Bradley J

2014-11-01

Ocular microrobots have the potential to change the way in which we treat a variety of diseases at the anterior and the posterior segments of the eye. Wireless manipulation and positioning of drug delivery magnetic millimeter and submillimeter platforms into the eye constitute a potential route for minimally invasive targeted therapy. However, the field is still in its infancy and faces challenges related to the fabrication, control an interaction with complex biological environments. This review briefly introduces the complex anatomy and physiology of the eye, which renders limitations to the current treatments of ocular diseases. The topical administration of eye drops, intravitreal injections and drug delivery implants is briefly mentioned together with their drawbacks. The authors also analyze the minimally invasive microrobotic approach as an alternative method and report the recent advancements in the fabrication, control, manipulation and drug delivery. Although microrobotics is a young field, a significant amount of work has been developed to face different challenges related to the minimally invasive manipulation of microdevices in the eye. Current research is already at the state of in vivo testing for systems and their biocompatibility. It is expected that the general concepts acquired will soon be applied for specific interventions, especially for posterior eye pathologies.

Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids at Former Manufactured Gas Plants: Challenges to Modeling and Remediation

PubMed Central

Birak, P.S.; Miller, C.T.

2008-01-01

The remediation of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) in porous media continues to be one of the most challenging problems facing environmental scientists and engineers. Of all the environmentally relevant DNAPLs, tars in the subsurface at former manufactured gas plants (FMGP’s) pose one of the biggest challenges due to their complex chemical composition and tendency to alter wettability. To further our understanding of these complex materials, we consulted historic documentation to evaluate the impact of gas manufacturing on the composition and physicochemical nature of the resulting tars. In the recent literature, most work to date has been focused in a relatively narrow portion of the expected range of tar materials, which has yielded a bias toward samples of relatively low viscosity and density. In this work, we consider the dissolution and movement of tars in the subsurface, models used to predict these phenomena, and approaches used for remediation. We also explore the open issues and detail important gaps in our fundamental understanding of these extraordinarily complex systems that must be resolved to reach a mature level of understanding. PMID:19176266

A novel strategy to construct Janus metallamacrocycles with both a Ru-arene face and an imidazolium face.

PubMed

Li, Ji; Zhang, Peipei; Xu, Yan; Su, Zhi; Qian, Yong; Li, Shunli; Yu, Tao; Sadler, Peter J; Liu, Hong-Ke

2017-11-28

The bottom-up construction of highly functional metallamacrocycles from simple building blocks is a challenge of much current interest. We have used solvothermal reactions of a bifunctional p-bitmb ligand with [Ru(arene)X 2 ] 2 in CH 2 Cl 2 or CH 2 Br 2 to generate the novel mononuclear metallamacrocyclic [RuX(arene)L 2 CH 2 ]X 3 complexes 1-3 (1, arene = p-cym, X = Cl; 2, arene = bip, X = Cl; 3, arene = p-cym, X = Br), which were characterized by various techniques. These complexes are "bowl-like" and have two faces: one coordinative Ru centre (arene)Ru(N,N)X bridged by L (L = 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-2,3,5,6-tetramethylbenzene, p-bitmb) to a dipositive bis-imidazolinium centre. Cl - or Br - anions can be trapped inside the cavity of the "bowl-like" structure, forming H-bonds with the backbone. Experimental (NMR and ESI-MS) and computational (DFT calculations) studies show that the source of the bridging -CH 2 - group is the dihalogenated solvent (CH 2 Cl 2 or CH 2 Br 2 ) that links the two arms of an initially formed non-cyclic complex (arene)RuX 2 L 2 by a mechanism of nucleophilic substitution. Optimization of the reaction conditions afforded the macrocyclic complexes in almost quantitative yields. The applications of these complexes as anti-proliferative agents towards cancer cells and for selective anion sensing have been explored.

Using internet-based approaches to collect qualitative data from vulnerable groups: reflections from the field.

PubMed

Neville, Stephen; Adams, Jeffery; Cook, Catherine

2016-12-01

Undertaking qualitative research with vulnerable populations is a complex and challenging process for researchers. Traditional and common modes of collecting qualitative data with these groups have been via face-to-face recorded interviews. This article reports on three internet-based data collection methods; email and synchronous online interviews, as well as online qualitative survey. The key characteristics of using email, sychronous online interviews and an online qualitative survey including the strengths and limitations of each are presented. Reflections and insights on the use of these internet-based data collection methods are provided to encourage researchers to embrace technology and move away from using traditional face-to-face interviews when researching with vulnerable populations. Using the internet to collect qualitative data offers additional ways to gather qualitative data over traditional data collection methods. The use of alternative interview methods may encourage participation of vulnerable participants.

A challenging entanglement: health care providers’ perspectives on caring for ill and injured tourists on Cozumel Island, Mexico

PubMed Central

Crooks, Valorie A.; Snyder, Jeremy

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: Despite established knowledge that tourists often fall ill or are injured abroad, little is known about their treatment. The intent of this study was to explore health care professionals’ treatment provision experiences on Cozumel Island, Mexico. Methods: 13 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with professionals across a number of health care vocations on Cozumel Island. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed to determine common challenges faced in the provision of treatment for transnational tourists. Results: Three thematic challenges emerged from the data: human and physical resource deficiencies, medical (mis)perceptions held by patients and complexities surrounding remuneration of care. Health care providers employ unique strategies to mitigate these challenges. Conclusion: Although many of these challenges exist within other touristic and peripheral spaces, we suggest that the challenges experienced by Cozumel Island’s health care professionals, and their mitigation strategies, exist as part of a complex entanglement between the island’s health care sector and its dominant tourism landscape. We call on tangential tourism services to take a larger role in ensuring the ease of access to, and provision of quality health care services for tourists on Cozumel Island. PMID:29869593

A challenging entanglement: health care providers' perspectives on caring for ill and injured tourists on Cozumel Island, Mexico.

PubMed

Hoffman, Leon; Crooks, Valorie A; Snyder, Jeremy

2018-12-01

Despite established knowledge that tourists often fall ill or are injured abroad, little is known about their treatment. The intent of this study was to explore health care professionals' treatment provision experiences on Cozumel Island, Mexico. 13 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with professionals across a number of health care vocations on Cozumel Island. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed to determine common challenges faced in the provision of treatment for transnational tourists. Three thematic challenges emerged from the data: human and physical resource deficiencies, medical (mis)perceptions held by patients and complexities surrounding remuneration of care. Health care providers employ unique strategies to mitigate these challenges. Although many of these challenges exist within other touristic and peripheral spaces, we suggest that the challenges experienced by Cozumel Island's health care professionals, and their mitigation strategies, exist as part of a complex entanglement between the island's health care sector and its dominant tourism landscape. We call on tangential tourism services to take a larger role in ensuring the ease of access to, and provision of quality health care services for tourists on Cozumel Island.

Parenting and the parallel processes in parents' counseling supervision for eating-related problems.

PubMed

Golan, Moria

2014-04-01

This paper presents an integrative model for supervising counselors of parents who face eating-related problems in their families. The model is grounded in the theory of parallel processes which occur during the supervision of health-care professionals as well as the counseling of parents and patients. The aim of this model is to conceptualize components and processes in the supervision space, in order to: (a) create a nurturing environment for health-care facilitators, parents and children, (b) better understand the complex and difficult nature of parenting, the challenge counselors face, and the skills and practices used in parenting and in counseling, and (c) better own practices and oppose the judgment that often dominates in counseling and supervision. This paper reflects upon the tradition of supervision and offers a comprehensive view of this process, including its challenges, skills and practices.

Uncertainty in macroeconomic policy-making: art or science?

PubMed

Aikman, David; Barrett, Philip; Kapadia, Sujit; King, Mervyn; Proudman, James; Taylor, Tim; de Weymarn, Iain; Yates, Tony

2011-12-13

Uncertainty is pervasive in economic policy-making. Modern economies share similarities with other complex systems in their unpredictability. But economic systems also differ from those in the natural sciences because outcomes are affected by the state of beliefs of the systems' participants. The dynamics of beliefs and how they interact with economic outcomes can be rich and unpredictable. This paper relates these ideas to the recent crisis, which has reminded us that we need a financial system that is resilient in the face of the unpredictable and extreme. It also highlights how such uncertainty puts a premium on sound communication strategies by policy-makers. This creates challenges in informing others about the uncertainties in the economy, and how policy is set in the face of those uncertainties. We show how the Bank of England tries to deal with some of these challenges in its communications about monetary policy.

CE: Epilepsy Update, Part 1: Refining Our Understanding of a Complex Disease.

PubMed

Smith, Gigi; Wagner, Janelle L; Edwards, Jonathan C

2015-05-01

Epilepsy is a serious, common neurologic disease that affects people of all ages. As underscored in the 2012 Institute of Medicine report Epilepsy Across the Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding, the millions of people living with epilepsy in the United States face the challenges of seeking out high-quality, coordinated health care and community services; overcoming epilepsy misinformation and stigma; and finding understanding and support in their communities. This article, the first in a two-part series, discusses new research that has increased our understanding of epilepsy's etiology and pathophysiology, new definitions that are changing the ways we evaluate and treat this disease, conditions that frequently present with epilepsy, and psychosocial challenges faced by people with epilepsy. Part 2, which will appear in next month's issue, reviews comprehensive nursing care and evidence-based treatment for epilepsy and presents resources for people with epilepsy and their families.

Enabling an Open Data Ecosystem for the Neurosciences.

PubMed

Wiener, Martin; Sommer, Friedrich T; Ives, Zachary G; Poldrack, Russell A; Litt, Brian

2016-11-02

As the pace and complexity of neuroscience data grow, an open data ecosystem must develop and grow with it to allow neuroscientists the ability to reach for new heights of discovery. However, the problems and complexities of neuroscience data sharing must first be addressed. Among the challenges facing data sharing in neuroscience, the problem of incentives, discoverability, and sustainability may be the most pressing. We here describe these problems and provide potential future solutions to help cultivate an ecosystem for data sharing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethical challenges in connection with the use of coercion: a focus group study of health care personnel in mental health care.

PubMed

Hem, Marit Helene; Molewijk, Bert; Pedersen, Reidar

2014-12-04

In recent years, the attention on the use of coercion in mental health care has increased. The use of coercion is common and controversial, and involves many complex ethical challenges. The research question in this study was: What kind of ethical challenges related to the use of coercion do health care practitioners face in their daily clinical work? We conducted seven focus group interviews in three mental health care institutions involving 65 multidisciplinary participants from different clinical fields. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. We analysed the material applying a 'bricolage' approach. Basic ethical principles for research ethics were followed. We received permission from the hospitals' administrations and all health care professionals who participated in the focus group interviews. Health care practitioners describe ethical dilemmas they face concerning formal, informal and perceived coercion. They provide a complex picture. They have to handle various ethical challenges, not seldom concerning questions of life and death. In every situation, the dignity of the patient is at stake when coercion is considered as morally right, as well as when coercion is not the preferred intervention. The work of the mental health professional is a complicated "moral enterprise". The ethical challenges deserve to be identified and handled in a systematic way. This is important for developing the quality of health care, and it is relevant to the current focus on reducing the use of coercion and increasing patient participation. Precise knowledge about ethical challenges is necessary for those who want to develop ethics support in mental health care. Better communication skills among health care professionals and improved therapeutic relationships seem to be vital. A systematic focus on ethical challenges when dealing with coercion is an important step forward in order to improve health care in the mental health field.

Analytical difficulties facing today's regulatory laboratories: issues in method validation.

PubMed

MacNeil, James D

2012-08-01

The challenges facing analytical laboratories today are not unlike those faced in the past, although both the degree of complexity and the rate of change have increased. Challenges such as development and maintenance of expertise, maintenance and up-dating of equipment, and the introduction of new test methods have always been familiar themes for analytical laboratories, but international guidelines for laboratories involved in the import and export testing of food require management of such changes in a context which includes quality assurance, accreditation, and method validation considerations. Decisions as to when a change in a method requires re-validation of the method or on the design of a validation scheme for a complex multi-residue method require a well-considered strategy, based on a current knowledge of international guidance documents and regulatory requirements, as well the laboratory's quality system requirements. Validation demonstrates that a method is 'fit for purpose', so the requirement for validation should be assessed in terms of the intended use of a method and, in the case of change or modification of a method, whether that change or modification may affect a previously validated performance characteristic. In general, method validation involves method scope, calibration-related parameters, method precision, and recovery. Any method change which may affect method scope or any performance parameters will require re-validation. Some typical situations involving change in methods are discussed and a decision process proposed for selection of appropriate validation measures. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Top-down Proteomics in Health and Disease: Challenges and Opportunities

PubMed Central

Gregorich, Zachery R.; Ge, Ying

2014-01-01

Proteomics is essential for deciphering how molecules interact as a system and for understanding the functions of cellular systems in human disease; however, the unique characteristics of the human proteome, which include a high dynamic range of protein expression and extreme complexity due to a plethora of post-translational modifications (PTMs) and sequence variations, make such analyses challenging. An emerging “top-down” mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics approach, which provides a “bird’s eye” view of all proteoforms, has unique advantages for the assessment of PTMs and sequence variations. Recently, a number of studies have showcased the potential of top-down proteomics for unraveling of disease mechanisms and discovery of new biomarkers. Nevertheless, the top-down approach still faces significant challenges in terms of protein solubility, separation, and the detection of large intact proteins, as well as the under-developed data analysis tools. Consequently, new technological developments are urgently needed to advance the field of top-down proteomics. Herein, we intend to provide an overview of the recent applications of top-down proteomics in biomedical research. Moreover, we will outline the challenges and opportunities facing top-down proteomics strategies aimed at understanding and diagnosing human diseases. PMID:24723472

Care interrupted: Poverty, in-migration, and primary care in rural resource towns.

PubMed

Rice, Kathleen; Webster, Fiona

2017-10-01

Internationally, rural people have poorer health outcomes relative to their urban counterparts, and primary care providers face particular challenges in rural and remote regions. Drawing on ethnographic fieldnotes and 14 open-ended qualitative interviews with care providers and chronic pain patients in two remote resource communities in Northern Ontario, Canada, this article examines the challenges involved in providing and receiving primary care for complex chronic conditions in these communities. Both towns struggle with high unemployment in the aftermath of industry closure, and are characterized by an abundance of affordable housing. Many of the challenges that care providers face and that patients experience are well-documented in Canadian and international literature on rural and remote health, and health care in resource towns (e.g. lack of specialized care, difficulty with recruitment and retention of care providers, heavy workload for existing care providers). However, our study also documents the recent in-migration of low-income, largely working-age people with complex chronic conditions who are drawn to the region by the low cost of housing. We discuss the ways in which the needs of these in-migrants compound existing challenges to rural primary care provision. To our knowledge, our study is the first to document both this migration trend, and the implications of this for primary care. In the interest of patient health and care provider well-being, existing health and social services will likely need to be expanded to meet the needs of these in-migrants. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age synthesis and estimation via faces: a survey.

PubMed

Fu, Yun; Guo, Guodong; Huang, Thomas S

2010-11-01

Human age, as an important personal trait, can be directly inferred by distinct patterns emerging from the facial appearance. Derived from rapid advances in computer graphics and machine vision, computer-based age synthesis and estimation via faces have become particularly prevalent topics recently because of their explosively emerging real-world applications, such as forensic art, electronic customer relationship management, security control and surveillance monitoring, biometrics, entertainment, and cosmetology. Age synthesis is defined to rerender a face image aesthetically with natural aging and rejuvenating effects on the individual face. Age estimation is defined to label a face image automatically with the exact age (year) or the age group (year range) of the individual face. Because of their particularity and complexity, both problems are attractive yet challenging to computer-based application system designers. Large efforts from both academia and industry have been devoted in the last a few decades. In this paper, we survey the complete state-of-the-art techniques in the face image-based age synthesis and estimation topics. Existing models, popular algorithms, system performances, technical difficulties, popular face aging databases, evaluation protocols, and promising future directions are also provided with systematic discussions.

Tolerance for distorted faces: challenges to a configural processing account of familiar face recognition.

PubMed

Sandford, Adam; Burton, A Mike

2014-09-01

Face recognition is widely held to rely on 'configural processing', an analysis of spatial relations between facial features. We present three experiments in which viewers were shown distorted faces, and asked to resize these to their correct shape. Based on configural theories appealing to metric distances between features, we reason that this should be an easier task for familiar than unfamiliar faces (whose subtle arrangements of features are unknown). In fact, participants were inaccurate at this task, making between 8% and 13% errors across experiments. Importantly, we observed no advantage for familiar faces: in one experiment participants were more accurate with unfamiliars, and in two experiments there was no difference. These findings were not due to general task difficulty - participants were able to resize blocks of colour to target shapes (squares) more accurately. We also found an advantage of familiarity for resizing other stimuli (brand logos). If configural processing does underlie face recognition, these results place constraints on the definition of 'configural'. Alternatively, familiar face recognition might rely on more complex criteria - based on tolerance to within-person variation rather than highly specific measurement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Communication challenges in complex medical environments.

PubMed

Lee, Jessica D; Hohler, Anna

2014-06-01

The provision of health care is becoming increasingly complex and can involve multiple providers and care setting transitions, particularly as the population is living longer, and often with chronic disease. The Electronic Health Record (EHR) was intended to provide a comprehensive documentation of a patient's health-related information; however, health care systems often function in isolation with EHRs that are unique only to that system. The EHR may also limit face-to-face communication between treating physicians within the same system. It is only with diligent effort that changes in medical management plans are conveyed among providers. When multiple providers are involved in a patient's care, physician-to-patient communication may also suffer, which can impact patient satisfaction and outcome. This article describes a scenario in which several lapses in communication occurred, and it outlines other common pitfalls while providing possible solutions for improving communication across the health care spectrum.

An Experimental Study of the Project CRISS Reading Program on Grade 9 Reading Achievement in Rural High Schools. Final Report NCEE 2011-4007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kushman, Jim; Hanita, Makoto; Raphael, Jacqueline

2011-01-01

Students entering high school face many new academic challenges. One of the most important is their ability to read and understand more complex text in literature, mathematics, science, and social studies courses as they navigate through a rigorous high school curriculum. The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest conducted a study to…

Meeting the Complex Needs of Urban Youth and Their Families through the 4Rs 2Ss Family Strengthening Program: The "Real World" Meets Evidence-Informed Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, Latoya A.; Jackson, Jerrold; Gopalan, Geetha; McKay, Mary McKernan

2015-01-01

Background: Youth living in poverty face compounding familial and environmental was challenges in utilizing effective community mental health services. Ongoing stressors increase their drop-out rate in mental health service use. Difficulties also exist in staying engaged in services when involved with the child welfare system. This study examines…

The Idaho dedicated education unit model: cost-effective, high-quality education.

PubMed

Springer, Pamela J; Johnson, Patricia; Lind, Bonnie; Walker, Eldon; Clavelle, Joanne; Jensen, Nancy

2012-01-01

Faculty face many challenges in delivering clinical education, including faculty availability, the complexity of the faculty role, and limited clinical placements. Dedicated education units (DEUs) are being explored as alternatives to traditional clinical placement models. The authors describe the successful development of a DEU that resulted in positive student outcomes at reduced cost to both the school and the medical center.

Examining the Effects of a National League for Nursing Core Competencies Workshop as an Intervention to Improve Nurse Faculty Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VanBever Wilson, Robin R.

2010-01-01

Due to the complex challenges facing schools of nursing, a research study was implemented to introduce nurse faculty at one small rural northeastern Tennessee school of nursing to the NLN "Core Competencies for Nurse Educators". Utilizing Kalb's Nurse Faculty Self-Evaluation Tool as a pre- and post-intervention test, 30 nurse faculty…

Bermuda 2.0: reflections from Santa Cruz

PubMed Central

Reardon, Jenny; Ankeny, Rachel A.; Bangham, Jenny; W. Darling, Katherine; Hilgartner, Stephen; Jones, Kathryn Maxson; Shapiro, Beth; Stevens, Hallam

2016-01-01

Abstract In February 1996, the genome community met in Bermuda to formulate principles for circulating genomic data. Although it is now 20 years since the Bermuda Principles were formulated, they continue to play a central role in shaping genomic and data-sharing practices. However, since 1996, “openness” has become an increasingly complex issue. This commentary seeks to articulate three core challenges data-sharing faces today. PMID:28369360

Challenges associated with recruiting multigenerational, multicultural families into a randomised controlled trial: Balancing feasibility with validity.

PubMed

Hughes, Donna; Hutchinson, Amanda; Prichard, Ivanka; Chapman, Janine; Wilson, Carlene

2015-07-01

Recruitment of participants into research studies has become an increasingly difficult task with justifiable criticisms of representativeness of samples. The difficulties of recruitment are exacerbated when the study is longitudinal, requires multiple members from one family and incorporates people from non-dominant ethnic backgrounds. This paper describes a complex trial's recruitment process. Family groups were required for a longitudinal randomised controlled trial investigating links between health and dietary behaviours with an aim to improve primary prevention health messages and initiatives. To be representative of the multi-ethnic composition of the South Australian population, families from three of South Australia's largest ethnic backgrounds were invited to participate. Of these, only families with participating members spanning three generations were enrolled, so that links between health and lifestyle behaviours with possible generational ties could be investigated. Immense difficulties were faced during recruitment and significant modifications to the initial recruitment plan were necessary to enable the enrolment of 96 families. Challenges faced included lack of response to recruitment materials displaying complex eligibility criteria and different response outcomes from different communities. Solutions implemented included simplifying materials and tailoring recruitment activities to specific communities' needs. This trial's recruitment journey will be used as a case study to highlight the practicalities of recruiting for complex trials. Recommendations will be provided for future researchers seeking to recruit multigenerational, multi-ethnic families into the same study, along with issues to consider regarding the implications of the recruitment journey on the integrity of a complex trial and the potential threats to internal validity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Management, Analysis, and Visualization of Experimental and Observational Data – The Convergence of Data and Computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bethel, E. Wes; Greenwald, Martin; Kleese van Dam, Kerstin

Scientific user facilities—particle accelerators, telescopes, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, sequencing facilities, and more—operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) generate ever increasing volumes of data at unprecedented rates from experiments, observations, and simulations. At the same time there is a growing community of experimentalists that require real-time data analysis feedback, to enable them to steer their complex experimental instruments to optimized scientific outcomes and new discoveries. Recent efforts in DOE-SC have focused on articulating the data-centric challenges and opportunities facing these science communities. Key challenges include difficulties coping with data size, rate, and complexity inmore » the context of both real-time and post-experiment data analysis and interpretation. Solutions will require algorithmic and mathematical advances, as well as hardware and software infrastructures that adequately support data-intensive scientific workloads. This paper presents the summary findings of a workshop held by DOE-SC in September 2015, convened to identify the major challenges and the research that is needed to meet those challenges.« less

Management, Analysis, and Visualization of Experimental and Observational Data -- The Convergence of Data and Computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bethel, E. Wes; Greenwald, Martin; Kleese van Dam, Kersten

Scientific user facilities---particle accelerators, telescopes, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, sequencing facilities, and more---operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) generate ever increasing volumes of data at unprecedented rates from experiments, observations, and simulations. At the same time there is a growing community of experimentalists that require real-time data analysis feedback, to enable them to steer their complex experimental instruments to optimized scientific outcomes and new discoveries. Recent efforts in DOE-SC have focused on articulating the data-centric challenges and opportunities facing these science communities. Key challenges include difficulties coping with data size, rate, and complexity inmore » the context of both real-time and post-experiment data analysis and interpretation. Solutions will require algorithmic and mathematical advances, as well as hardware and software infrastructures that adequately support data-intensive scientific workloads. This paper presents the summary findings of a workshop held by DOE-SC in September 2015, convened to identify the major challenges and the research that is needed to meet those challenges.« less

Professionalism in 21st century professional practice: autonomy and accountability in orthopaedic surgery.

PubMed

Schneller, Eugene S; Wilson, Natalia A

2009-10-01

Orthopaedic surgical practice is becoming increasingly complex. The rapid change in pace associated with new information and technologies, the physician-supplier relationship, the growing costs and growing gap between costs and reimbursements for orthopaedic surgical procedures, and the influences of advertising on the patient, challenge all involved in the delivery of orthopaedic care. This paper assesses the concepts of professionalism, autonomy, and accountability in the 21st century practice of orthopaedic surgery. These concepts are considered within the context of the complex value chain surrounding orthopaedic surgery and the changing forces influencing clinical decision making by the surgeon. A leading impetus for challenge to the autonomy of the orthopaedic surgeon has been cost. Mistrust and lack of understanding have characterized the physician-hospital relationship. Resource dependency has characterized the physician-supplier relationship. Accountability for the surgeon has increased. We suggest implant surgery involves shared decision making and "coproduction" between the orthopaedic surgeon and other stakeholders. The challenge for the profession is to redefine professionalism, accountability, and autonomy in the face of these changes and challenges.

The Role of NOAA's National Data Centers in the Earth and Space Science Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, C. G.

2008-12-01

NOAA's National Data Centers (NNDC) provide access to long-term archives of environmental data from NOAA and other sources. The NNDCs face significant challenges in the volume and complexity of modern data sets. Data volume challenges are being addressed using more capable data archive systems such as the Comprehensive Large Array-Data Stewardship System (CLASS). Challenges in assuring data quality and stewardship are in many ways more challenging. In the past, scientists at the Data Centers could provide reasonable stewardship of data sets in their area of expertise. As staff levels have decreased and data complexity has increased, Data Centers depend on their data providers and user communities to provide high-quality metadata, feedback on data problems and improvements. This relationship requires strong partnerships between the NNDCs and academic, commercial, and international partners, as well as advanced data management and access tools that conform to established international standards when available. The NNDCs are looking to geospatial databases, interactive mapping, web services, and other Application Program Interface approaches to help preserve NNDC data and information and to make it easily available to the scientific community.

Food systems transition and disruptive low carbon innovation: implications for a food security research agenda.

PubMed

Tyfield, David

2011-07-01

There is a growing consensus that we are facing epochal challenges in global food security. Moreover, these challenges are multiple and complex. Meeting these challenges will involve nothing less than a wholesale socio-technical transition of the agri-food system. Optimizing the efficacy of the contribution of research to such a food security agenda will probably also need new institutional mechanisms and career structures to facilitate new kinds of collaborations and ongoing, longer-term projects. In short, the multiple challenges of food security demand a different political economy of research for effective intervention by science. In making this argument, the paper summarizes the major findings of a recent report regarding the potential impact of so-called 'disruptive' low-carbon innovations in China.

Assessment of Institutional and Personnel-Related Challenges Facing Educational Programme for the Mentally Challenged Persons at Kaimosi Special School, Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mmbwanga, Daniel M.; Matemba, Collins K.; Bota, Kennedy N.

2015-01-01

The mentally challenged child (MC) can achieve a lot if the right environment and curriculum are designed for him/her. However, the realization of the desirable outcomes faces many challenges. The objective of the study was to examine institutional and personnel-related challenges facing education programs for the MC persons at Kaimosi Special…

Clustering Millions of Faces by Identity.

PubMed

Otto, Charles; Wang, Dayong; Jain, Anil K

2018-02-01

Given a large collection of unlabeled face images, we address the problem of clustering faces into an unknown number of identities. This problem is of interest in social media, law enforcement, and other applications, where the number of faces can be of the order of hundreds of million, while the number of identities (clusters) can range from a few thousand to millions. To address the challenges of run-time complexity and cluster quality, we present an approximate Rank-Order clustering algorithm that performs better than popular clustering algorithms (k-Means and Spectral). Our experiments include clustering up to 123 million face images into over 10 million clusters. Clustering results are analyzed in terms of external (known face labels) and internal (unknown face labels) quality measures, and run-time. Our algorithm achieves an F-measure of 0.87 on the LFW benchmark (13 K faces of 5,749 individuals), which drops to 0.27 on the largest dataset considered (13 K faces in LFW + 123M distractor images). Additionally, we show that frames in the YouTube benchmark can be clustered with an F-measure of 0.71. An internal per-cluster quality measure is developed to rank individual clusters for manual exploration of high quality clusters that are compact and isolated.

Challenge clusters facing LCA in environmental decision-making-what we can learn from biofuels.

PubMed

McManus, Marcelle C; Taylor, Caroline M; Mohr, Alison; Whittaker, Carly; Scown, Corinne D; Borrion, Aiduan Li; Glithero, Neryssa J; Yin, Yao

Bioenergy is increasingly used to help meet greenhouse gas (GHG) and renewable energy targets. However, bioenergy's sustainability has been questioned, resulting in increasing use of life cycle assessment (LCA). Bioenergy systems are global and complex, and market forces can result in significant changes, relevant to LCA and policy. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the complexities associated with LCA, with particular focus on bioenergy and associated policy development, so that its use can more effectively inform policymakers. The review is based on the results from a series of workshops focused on bioenergy life cycle assessment. Expert submissions were compiled and categorized within the first two workshops. Over 100 issues emerged. Accounting for redundancies and close similarities in the list, this reduced to around 60 challenges, many of which are deeply interrelated. Some of these issues were then explored further at a policy-facing workshop in London, UK. The authors applied a rigorous approach to categorize the challenges identified to be at the intersection of biofuels/bioenergy LCA and policy. The credibility of LCA is core to its use in policy. Even LCAs that comply with ISO standards and policy and regulatory instruments leave a great deal of scope for interpretation and flexibility. Within the bioenergy sector, this has led to frustration and at times a lack of obvious direction. This paper identifies the main challenge clusters: overarching issues, application and practice and value and ethical judgments. Many of these are reflective of the transition from application of LCA to assess individual products or systems to the wider approach that is becoming more common. Uncertainty in impact assessment strongly influences planning and compliance due to challenges in assigning accountability, and communicating the inherent complexity and uncertainty within bioenergy is becoming of greater importance. The emergence of LCA in bioenergy governance is particularly significant because other sectors are likely to transition to similar governance models. LCA is being stretched to accommodate complex and broad policy-relevant questions, seeking to incorporate externalities that have major implications for long-term sustainability. As policy increasingly relies on LCA, the strains placed on the methodology are becoming both clearer and impedimentary. The implications for energy policy, and in particular bioenergy, are large.

Challenge clusters facing LCA in environmental decision-making—what we can learn from biofuels

DOE PAGES

McManus, Marcelle C.; Taylor, Caroline M.; Mohr, Alison; ...

2015-08-07

Purpose: Bioenergy is increasingly used to help meet greenhouse gas (GHG) and renewable energy targets. However, bioenergy’s sustainability has been questioned, resulting in increasing use of life cycle assessment (LCA). Bioenergy systems are global and complex, and market forces can result in significant changes, relevant to LCA and policy. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the complexities associated with LCA, with particular focus on bioenergy and associated policy development, so that its use can more effectively inform policymakers. Methods: The review is based on the results from a series of workshops focused on bioenergy life cycle assessment. Expertmore » submissions were compiled and categorized within the first two workshops. Over 100 issues emerged. Accounting for redundancies and close similarities in the list, this reduced to around 60 challenges, many of which are deeply interrelated. Some of these issues were then explored further at a policy-facing workshop in London, UK. The authors applied a rigorous approach to categorize the challenges identified to be at the intersection of biofuels/bioenergy LCA and policy. Results and discussion: The credibility of LCA is core to its use in policy. Even LCAs that comply with ISO standards and policy and regulatory instruments leave a great deal of scope for interpretation and flexibility. Within the bioenergy sector, this has led to frustration and at times a lack of obvious direction. This paper identifies the main challenge clusters: overarching issues, application and practice and value and ethical judgments. Many of these are reflective of the transition from application of LCA to assess individual products or systems to the wider approach that is becoming more common. Uncertainty in impact assessment strongly influences planning and compliance due to challenges in assigning accountability, and communicating the inherent complexity and uncertainty within bioenergy is becoming of greater importance. Conclusions: The emergence of LCA in bioenergy governance is particularly significant because other sectors are likely to transition to similar governance models. LCA is being stretched to accommodate complex and broad policy-relevant questions, seeking to incorporate externalities that have major implications for long-term sustainability. As policy increasingly relies on LCA, the strains placed on the methodology are becoming both clearer and impedimentary. The implications for energy policy, and in particular bioenergy, are large.« less

State of Science: ergonomics and global issues.

PubMed

Thatcher, Andrew; Waterson, Patrick; Todd, Andrew; Moray, Neville

2018-02-01

In his 1993 IEA keynote address, Neville Moray urged the ergonomics discipline to face up to the global problems facing humanity and consider how ergonomics might help find some of the solutions. In this State of Science article we critically evaluate what the ergonomics discipline has achieved in the last two and a half decades to help create a secure future for humanity. Moray's challenges for ergonomics included deriving a value structure that moves us beyond a Westernised view of worker-organisation-technology fit, taking a multidisciplinary approach which engages with other social and biological sciences, considering the gross cross-cultural factors that determine how different societies function, paying more attention to mindful consumption, and embracing the complexity of our interconnected world. This article takes a socio-historical approach by considering the factors that influence what has been achieved since Moray's keynote address. We conclude with our own set of predictions for the future and priorities for addressing the challenges that we are likely to face. Practitioner Summary: We critically reflect on what has been achieved by the ergonomics profession in addressing the global challenges raised by Moray's 1993 keynote address to the International Ergonomics Association. Apart from healthcare, the response has largely been weak and disorganised. We make suggestions for priority research and practice that is required to facilitate a sustainable future for humanity.

Exposing the Challenges and Coping Strategies of Field-Ecology Graduate Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leon-Beck, Mika; Dodick, Jeff

2012-11-01

In this paper, we expose the unique challenges confronting graduate field-ecology students and the coping strategies they adopt to overcome such challenges. To do so, we used a qualitative (in vivo) research method that combines interviews, observations and open questionnaires with a group of five Israeli graduate students. The two major challenges that the students faced were the uncontrolled nature of field research (or complexity), and the nature of field setting, which isolated the students from authoritative guidance. In response to these challenges, the students developed a set of research skills which were expressed in this study by a series of three (metacognitive) strategies which we designated as 'protocol-dominated', 'intermediate' or 'field-dominated'. In order to develop such research skills, our subjects rely upon declarative and procedural knowledge. In contrast to declarative knowledge, learned in coursework, procedural knowledge is learned and activated via the situated experience of implementing research in authentic field environments. We also found that fieldwork complexity imposes itself the minute the students step into the field; potentially, this can negatively impact students' motivation. However, as the students accumulate field experience and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to overcome the field's complexity, their motivation improves. Recognizing the unique learning components connected to field research will help novice students better cope with fieldwork challenges, as well as help their advisers in guiding them. This work also has implications for designing inquiry curricula in field sciences for university and high-school students.

Planetary Cartography and Mapping: where we are Today, and where we are Heading For?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naß, A.; Di, K.; Elgner, S.; van Gasselt, S.; Hare, T.; Hargitai, H.; Karachevtseva, I.; Kersten, E.; Manaud, N.; Roatsch, T.; Rossi, A. P.; Skinner, J., Jr.; Wählisch, M.

2017-07-01

Planetary Cartography does not only provides the basis to support planning (e.g., landing-site selection, orbital observations, traverse planning) and to facilitate mission conduct during the lifetime of a mission (e.g., observation tracking and hazard avoidance). It also provides the means to create science products after successful termination of a planetary mission by distilling data into maps. After a mission's lifetime, data and higher level products like mosaics and digital terrain models (DTMs) are stored in archives - and eventually into maps and higher-level data products - to form a basis for research and for new scientific and engineering studies. The complexity of such tasks increases with every new dataset that has been put on this stack of information, and in the same way as the complexity of autonomous probes increases, also tools that support these challenges require new levels of sophistication. In planetary science, cartography and mapping have a history dating back to the roots of telescopic space exploration and are now facing new technological and organizational challenges with the rise of new missions, new global initiatives, organizations and opening research markets. The focus of this contribution is to summarize recent activities in Planetary Cartography, highlighting current issues the community is facing to derive the future opportunities in this field. By this we would like to invite cartographers/researchers to join this community and to start thinking about how we can jointly solve some of these challenges.

Lessons Learned in Evaluating a Multisite, Comprehensive Teen Dating Violence Prevention Strategy: Design and Challenges of the Evaluation of Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships.

PubMed

Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Taylor, Bruce G; Latzman, Natasha E; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M; Valle, Linda Anne; Tharp, Andra T

2016-03-01

This paper describes the multisite, longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design of the evaluation of the Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Relationships initiative, and discusses challenges faced in conducting this evaluation. Health departments in 4 communities are partnering with middle schools in high-risk, urban communities to implement 2 models of teen dating violence (TDV) prevention over 4 years. Schools were randomized to receive either the Dating Matters comprehensive strategy or the "standard of care" strategy (an existing, evidence-based TDV prevention curriculum). Our design permits comparison of the relative effectiveness of the comprehensive and standard of care strategies. Multiple cohorts of students from 46 middle schools are surveyed in middle school and high school, and parents and educators from participating schools are also surveyed. Challenges discussed in conducting a multisite RCT include site variability, separation of implementation and evaluation responsibilities, school retention, parent engagement in research activities, and working within the context of high-risk urban schools and communities. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our approaches to these challenges in the hopes of informing future research. Despite multiple challenges, the design of the Dating Matters evaluation remains strong. We hope this paper provides researchers who are conducting complex evaluations of behavioral interventions with thoughtful discussion of the challenges we have faced and potential solutions to such challenges.

Lessons Learned in Evaluating a Multisite, Comprehensive Teen Dating Violence Prevention Strategy: Design and Challenges of the Evaluation of Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships

PubMed Central

Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Taylor, Bruce G.; Latzman, Natasha E.; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M.; Valle, Linda Anne; Tharp, Andra T.

2018-01-01

Objective This paper describes the multisite, longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design of the evaluation of the Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Relationships initiative, and discusses challenges faced in conducting this evaluation. Method Health departments in 4 communities are partnering with middle schools in high-risk, urban communities to implement 2 models of teen dating violence (TDV) prevention over 4 years. Schools were randomized to receive either the Dating Matters comprehensive strategy or the “standard of care” strategy (an existing, evidence-based TDV prevention curriculum). Our design permits comparison of the relative effectiveness of the comprehensive and standard of care strategies. Multiple cohorts of students from 46 middle schools are surveyed in middle school and high school, and parents and educators from participating schools are also surveyed. Results Challenges discussed in conducting a multisite RCT include site variability, separation of implementation and evaluation responsibilities, school retention, parent engagement in research activities, and working within the context of high-risk urban schools and communities. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our approaches to these challenges in the hopes of informing future research. Conclusions Despite multiple challenges, the design of the Dating Matters evaluation remains strong. We hope this paper provides researchers who are conducting complex evaluations of behavioral interventions with thoughtful discussion of the challenges we have faced and potential solutions to such challenges. PMID:29607239

Boundary‐spanning actors in complex adaptive governance systems: The case of multisectoral nutrition

PubMed Central

Gervais, Suzanne; Hafeez‐ur‐Rehman, Hajra; Sanou, Dia; Tumwine, Jackson

2017-01-01

Abstract A growing literature highlights complexity of policy implementation and governance in global health and argues that the processes and outcomes of policies could be improved by explicitly taking this complexity into account. Yet there is a paucity of studies exploring how this can be achieved in everyday practice. This study documents the strategies, tactics, and challenges of boundary‐spanning actors working in 4 Sub‐Saharan Africa countries who supported the implementation of multisectoral nutrition as part of the African Nutrition Security Partnership in Burkina Faso, Mali, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Three action researchers were posted to these countries during the final 2 years of the project to help the government and its partners implement multisectoral nutrition and document the lessons. Prospective data were collected through participant observation, end‐line semistructured interviews, and document analysis. All 4 countries made significant progress despite a wide range of challenges at the individual, organizational, and system levels. The boundary‐spanning actors and their collaborators deployed a wide range of strategies but faced significant challenges in playing these unconventional roles. The study concludes that, under the right conditions, intentional boundary spanning can be a feasible and acceptable practice within a multisectoral, complex adaptive system in low‐ and middle‐income countries. PMID:29024002

Understanding Leadership in Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: A Chilean Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahumada, Luis; Galdames, Sergio; Clarke, Simon

2016-01-01

During the last 10 years, research into schools facing challenging circumstances has attracted the attention of researchers around the world. The aim of this study was to understand the challenges that school leaders face as they per form their work, the nature of the context in which these challenges arise, the strategies school leaders adopt to…

Engineers' professional learning: a practice-theory perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reich, Ann; Rooney, Donna; Gardner, Anne; Willey, Keith; Boud, David; Fitzgerald, Terry

2015-07-01

With the increasing challenges facing professional engineers working in more complex, global and interdisciplinary contexts, different approaches to understanding how engineers practice and learn are necessary. This paper draws on recent research in the social sciences from the field of workplace learning, to suggest that a practice-theory perspective on engineers' professional learning is fruitful. It shifts the focus from the attributes of the individual learner (knowledge, skills and attitudes) to the attributes of the practice (interactions, materiality, opportunities and challenges). Learning is thus more than the technical acquisition and transfer of knowledge, but a complex bundle of activities, that is, social, material, embodied and emerging. The paper is illustrated with examples from a research study of the learning of experienced engineers in the construction industry to demonstrate common practices - site walks and design review meetings - in which learning takes place.

The space shuttle launch vehicle aerodynamic verification challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wallace, R. O.; Austin, L. D.; Hondros, J. G.; Surber, T. E.; Gaines, L. M.; Hamilton, J. T.

1985-01-01

The Space Shuttle aerodynamics and performance communities were challenged to verify the Space Shuttle vehicle (SSV) aerodynamics and system performance by flight measurements. Historically, launch vehicle flight test programs which faced these same challenges were unmanned instrumented flights of simple aerodynamically shaped vehicles. However, the manned SSV flight test program made these challenges more complex because of the unique aerodynamic configuration powered by the first man-rated solid rocket boosters (SRB). The analyses of flight data did not verify the aerodynamics or performance preflight predictions of the first flight of the Space Transportation System (STS-1). However, these analyses have defined the SSV aerodynamics and verified system performance. The aerodynamics community also was challenged to understand the discrepancy between the wind tunnel and flight defined aerodynamics. The preflight analysis challenges, the aerodynamic extraction challenges, and the postflight analyses challenges which led to the SSV system performance verification and which will lead to the verification of the operational ascent aerodynamics data base are presented.

Challenges Facing a Deaf Family Member Concerning a Loved One’s Dying

PubMed Central

Kehl, Karen A.; Gartner, Constance M.

2010-01-01

Individuals who are Deaf face challenges both similar and unique from those faced by hearing individuals when a family member is dying. This study was guided by the question “What are the challenges faced by a Deaf family member when a loved one is dying?” Methods - This qualitative study is guided by critical theory and an interpretive perspective. Robert, a college-educated older adult who has been Deaf from birth was interviewed in American Sign Language using a death history format. Results – There are challenges for Deaf family members that affect communication with both the dying person and health care professionals. Patient-family communication issues included physical challenges and financial challenges. Lack of cultural competence concerning the Deaf community created challenges communicating with professionals. Decision-making was also a challenge. Conclusions These findings provide a framework for future research concerning the needs of Deaf individuals facing the end of life and provide guidance for clinicians. PMID:19910395

Engaging with Underserved Urban Communities on Climate Resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akerlof, K.; Moser, F. C.; Baja, K.; Dindinger, J. M.; Chanse, V.; Rowan, K. E.; Rohring, B.

2016-12-01

Meeting the needs of urban high-risk/low-resource communities is one of the most critical challenges in improving climate resilience nationally, but little tailored information exists to guide community engagement efforts specifically for these contexts. This case study describes a collaboration between universities, local governments, and community members working in underserved neighborhoods of the City of Baltimore and Prince George's County, Maryland. In service of current and developing community programs, the team surveyed residents door-to-door about their perceptions of the socio-environmental risks they face, their priorities for change, and the ways in which communication may build protective social capital. We highlight theoretical, applied, and pedagogical aspects of the study that inform both the promise and limitations of these collaborations. These include: 1) the role of citizen participation in climate adaptation decision-making; 2) the meaning, use, and potential impact of community data; 3) balancing differing organizational priorities, timelines, and cultures within community-based projects; and 4) research participation of undergraduate students. The results of the survey illuminate climate risk perceptions in neighborhoods facing complex stressors with lessons for communication and engagement in other urban areas facing similar adaptation challenges.

Fuzzy Entropy Method for Quantifying Supply Chain Networks Complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jihui; Xu, Junqin

Supply chain is a special kind of complex network. Its complexity and uncertainty makes it very difficult to control and manage. Supply chains are faced with a rising complexity of products, structures, and processes. Because of the strong link between a supply chain’s complexity and its efficiency the supply chain complexity management becomes a major challenge of today’s business management. The aim of this paper is to quantify the complexity and organization level of an industrial network working towards the development of a ‘Supply Chain Network Analysis’ (SCNA). By measuring flows of goods and interaction costs between different sectors of activity within the supply chain borders, a network of flows is built and successively investigated by network analysis. The result of this study shows that our approach can provide an interesting conceptual perspective in which the modern supply network can be framed, and that network analysis can handle these issues in practice.

Complex contribution of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder to veteran suicide: facing an increasing challenge.

PubMed

Lee, Elizabeth A D

2012-04-01

The purpose of this case study is to present the complex contribution of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to suicide and international standards of treatment among veterans deployed to the Middle East. PTSD carries increased physical and psychological health risk in combat soldiers. Internationally, guidelines for PTSD promote cognitive behavior therapies, specifically exposure therapy, as first line treatment; however, implementation varies among countries. Evidence supports the benefit of exposure-based psychotherapy for combat-related PTSD. Commonly prescribed antidepressants and other psychotherapy treatments may not be as beneficial. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Measuring the Complexity of Treatment for Challenging Behavior using the Treatment Intensity Rating Form.

PubMed

Zarcone, Jennifer; Hagopian, Louis; Ninci, Jennifer; McKay, Chloe; Bonner, Andrew; Dillon, Christopher; Hausman, Nicole

2016-01-01

The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a tool to measure the complexity and intensity of psychotropic medication interventions, behavioral interventions, and issues related to crisis management for challenging behavior using a standardized rating form. The Treatment Intensity Rating Form (TIRF) is a 10-item scale with three categories: pharmacological interventions, behavior supports, and protective equipment. In a retrospective review we examined the final treatment recommendations for 74 individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) based on psychiatric and behavioral notes and reports. We also compared whether TIRF scores differed across individuals for whom SIB was maintained by social reinforcement (e.g., to access attention or toys/activities, or escape from tasks) versus those for whom SIB was maintained by automatic reinforcement (e.g., occurs independent of social variables, and is presumed to be maintained by sensory reinforcement). The TIRF was demonstrated to have strong inter-rater reliability (98%) and appears to have good face validity. As hypothesized, individuals with SIB maintained by automatic reinforcement had significantly more medication trials (p=0.0005) and required more protective equipment than individuals with SIB maintained by social reinforcement (p=0.0002). Antidepressant medication was used more often with individuals with automatically reinforced SIB, although antipsychotics and anticonvulsants were also commonly used across both groups. Findings provide initial support for the TIRF's reliability, and face validity as a measure the level of complexity of medical and behavioral treatment plans - although additional research is needed to fully evaluate its psychometric properties.

1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-01-01

1991 was continued rapid growth for the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) as it broadened its interdisciplinary research into the organization, evolution and operation of complex systems and sought deeply the principles underlying their dynamic behavior. Research on complex systems--the focus of work at SFI--involves an extraordinary range of topics normally studied in seemingly disparate fields. Natural systems displaying complex behavior range upwards from proteins and DNA through cells and evolutionary systems to human societies. Research models exhibiting complexity include nonlinear equations, spin glasses, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, classifier systems, and an array of other computational models. Some of the majormore » questions facing complex systems researchers are: (1) explaining how complexity arises from the nonlinear interaction of simples components, (2) describing the mechanisms underlying high-level aggregate behavior of complex systems (such as the overt behavior of an organism, the flow of energy in an ecology, the GNP of an economy), and (3) creating a theoretical framework to enable predictions about the likely behavior of such systems in various conditions. The importance of understanding such systems in enormous: many of the most serious challenges facing humanity--e.g., environmental sustainability, economic stability, the control of disease--as well as many of the hardest scientific questions--e.g., protein folding, the distinction between self and non-self in the immune system, the nature of intelligence, the origin of life--require deep understanding of complex systems.« less

1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-12-31

1991 was continued rapid growth for the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) as it broadened its interdisciplinary research into the organization, evolution and operation of complex systems and sought deeply the principles underlying their dynamic behavior. Research on complex systems--the focus of work at SFI--involves an extraordinary range of topics normally studied in seemingly disparate fields. Natural systems displaying complex behavior range upwards from proteins and DNA through cells and evolutionary systems to human societies. Research models exhibiting complexity include nonlinear equations, spin glasses, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, classifier systems, and an array of other computational models. Some of the majormore » questions facing complex systems researchers are: (1) explaining how complexity arises from the nonlinear interaction of simples components, (2) describing the mechanisms underlying high-level aggregate behavior of complex systems (such as the overt behavior of an organism, the flow of energy in an ecology, the GNP of an economy), and (3) creating a theoretical framework to enable predictions about the likely behavior of such systems in various conditions. The importance of understanding such systems in enormous: many of the most serious challenges facing humanity--e.g., environmental sustainability, economic stability, the control of disease--as well as many of the hardest scientific questions--e.g., protein folding, the distinction between self and non-self in the immune system, the nature of intelligence, the origin of life--require deep understanding of complex systems.« less

The future of PanDA in ATLAS distributed computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De, K.; Klimentov, A.; Maeno, T.; Nilsson, P.; Oleynik, D.; Panitkin, S.; Petrosyan, A.; Schovancova, J.; Vaniachine, A.; Wenaus, T.

2015-12-01

Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) face unprecedented computing challenges. Heterogeneous resources are distributed worldwide at hundreds of sites, thousands of physicists analyse the data remotely, the volume of processed data is beyond the exabyte scale, while data processing requires more than a few billion hours of computing usage per year. The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) system was developed to meet the scale and complexity of LHC distributed computing for the ATLAS experiment. In the process, the old batch job paradigm of locally managed computing in HEP was discarded in favour of a far more automated, flexible and scalable model. The success of PanDA in ATLAS is leading to widespread adoption and testing by other experiments. PanDA is the first exascale workload management system in HEP, already operating at more than a million computing jobs per day, and processing over an exabyte of data in 2013. There are many new challenges that PanDA will face in the near future, in addition to new challenges of scale, heterogeneity and increasing user base. PanDA will need to handle rapidly changing computing infrastructure, will require factorization of code for easier deployment, will need to incorporate additional information sources including network metrics in decision making, be able to control network circuits, handle dynamically sized workload processing, provide improved visualization, and face many other challenges. In this talk we will focus on the new features, planned or recently implemented, that are relevant to the next decade of distributed computing workload management using PanDA.

Faculty Perceptions of Effective Practices for Utilizing a Framework to Develop a Concept-Based Curriculum in Nursing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magorian, Kathryn G.

2013-01-01

All programs of healthcare education face increasing change and daunting challenges to prepare new graduates for the real world of practice as care providers in complex systems. The necessity for change in nursing education is at a critical level, called on from a variety of sources. New nurses must be able to enter practice as competent, safe,…

Educating towards Inclusive Education: Assessing a Teacher-Training Program for Working with Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Enrolled in General Education Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shani, Michal; Hebel, Orly

2016-01-01

Implementing inclusive education is one of the major challenges facing the educational system. One of the main difficulties in implementing inclusive education is that general education teachers receive insufficient training to work in complex teaching contexts and to respond to the unique needs of all the pupils in their classroom. The objective…

The Authorizer and Charter School Closures: Exercising Adaptive Leadership to Protect the Public Interest. Authorizer Issue Brief. Number 8

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geyer, Veronica

2005-01-01

Part and parcel of a charter school authorizer's oversight responsibility is the unenviable task of closing a school that fails to pass muster. As with most challenges that authorizers face, closing a charter school can be a complex task; executing a closure decision can entail a web of issues that the prudent authorizer must unravel carefully.…

Challenges to the development of complex virtual reality surgical simulations.

PubMed

Seymour, N E; Røtnes, J S

2006-11-01

Virtual reality simulation in surgical training has become more widely used and intensely investigated in an effort to develop safer, more efficient, measurable training processes. The development of virtual reality simulation of surgical procedures has begun, but well-described technical obstacles must be overcome to permit varied training in a clinically realistic computer-generated environment. These challenges include development of realistic surgical interfaces and physical objects within the computer-generated environment, modeling of realistic interactions between objects, rendering of the surgical field, and development of signal processing for complex events associated with surgery. Of these, the realistic modeling of tissue objects that are fully responsive to surgical manipulations is the most challenging. Threats to early success include relatively limited resources for development and procurement, as well as smaller potential for return on investment than in other simulation industries that face similar problems. Despite these difficulties, steady progress continues to be made in these areas. If executed properly, virtual reality offers inherent advantages over other training systems in creating a realistic surgical environment and facilitating measurement of surgeon performance. Once developed, complex new virtual reality training devices must be validated for their usefulness in formative training and assessment of skill to be established.

Lessons learned in multisite, nursing education research while studying a technology learning innovation.

PubMed

North, Sarah; Giddens, Jean

2013-10-01

Multiple challenges must be addressed when educational research is being conducted that involves a teaching innovation at multiple sites over time, including the consistent adoption and use of the intervention, attrition, response rates, and other aspects related to managing a complex study. After an 18-month nursing education study was conducted at multiple institutions across the United States, the authors' study team reflected on strategies that worked well, the challenges faced, and what could have been done differently. This article details the challenges and offers recommendations for other researchers conducting similar studies. Recommendations related to communication and engagement, innovation fidelity, survey fatigue, multiple institutional review board applications, and flexibility are provided. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Category search speeds up face-selective fMRI responses in a non-hierarchical cortical face network.

PubMed

Jiang, Fang; Badler, Jeremy B; Righi, Giulia; Rossion, Bruno

2015-05-01

The human brain is extremely efficient at detecting faces in complex visual scenes, but the spatio-temporal dynamics of this remarkable ability, and how it is influenced by category-search, remain largely unknown. In the present study, human subjects were shown gradually-emerging images of faces or cars in visual scenes, while neural activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Category search was manipulated by the instruction to indicate the presence of either a face or a car, in different blocks, as soon as an exemplar of the target category was detected in the visual scene. The category selectivity of most face-selective areas was enhanced when participants were instructed to report the presence of faces in gradually decreasing noise stimuli. Conversely, the same regions showed much less selectivity when participants were instructed instead to detect cars. When "face" was the target category, the fusiform face area (FFA) showed consistently earlier differentiation of face versus car stimuli than did the "occipital face area" (OFA). When "car" was the target category, only the FFA showed differentiation of face versus car stimuli. These observations provide further challenges for hierarchical models of cortical face processing and show that during gradual revealing of information, selective category-search may decrease the required amount of information, enhancing and speeding up category-selective responses in the human brain. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Homeland Security. Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-12-01

Security Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT...including attention to management practices and key success factors. HOMELAND SECURITY Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership www.gao.gov/cgi...significant management and coordination challenges if it is to provide this leadership and be successful in preventing and responding to any future

Prospects of application of additive technologies for increasing the efficiency of impeller machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belova, O. V.; Borisov, Yu. A.

2017-08-01

Impeller machine is a device in which the flow path carries out the supply (or retraction) of mechanical energy to the flow of a working fluid passing through the machine. To increase the efficiency of impeller machines, it is necessary to use design modern technologies, namely the use of numerical methods for conducting research in the field of gas dynamics, as well as additive manufacturing (AM) for the of both prototypes and production model. AM technologies are deservedly rightly called revolutionary because they give unique possibility for manufacturing products, creating perfect forms, both light and durable. The designers face the challenge of developing a new design methodology, since AM allows the use of the concept of "Complexity For Free". The "Complexity For Free" conception is based on: complexity of the form; hierarchical complexity; complexity of the material; functional complexity. The new technical items design method according to a functional principle is also investigated.

[Giving medico-legal opinions in cases with suspicion of medical mistake. part 2. Expert evidence in cases with suspicion of medical mistake - expectations, possibilities, threats…].

PubMed

Chowaniec, Czesław; Chowaniec, Małgorzata; Wilk, Mateusz

Problems of medical mistake and therapeutic failure are inextricably linked with realization of medical services. In recent years, mostly by the media and increasing demanding attitude, a rapid increase of initiated cases opened by judicial body in conjunction with medical mistake made by medical staff is observed. Making medico-legal opinions is not easy task and often face many difficulties. These consist of lacks in medical documentation, time rigor, formal tightening and need to create team that consist of both forensic medicine specialist and clinicians, who together shall write complex medico-legal opinion. This article touches the essence of the opinion-making problem in the aspect of medical mistake. It shows specifics of the role of forensic medicine specialist, his challenges and difficulties in creating opinions. The article confronts real possibilities of court experts with expectations of judicial body, outlining new challenges and dangers which court experts have to face.

Advanced Engineering Environments: Implications for Aerospace Manufacturing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, D.

2001-01-01

There are significant challenges facing today's aerospace industry. Global competition, more complex products, geographically-distributed design teams, demands for lower cost, higher reliability and safer vehicles, and the need to incorporate the latest technologies quicker all face the developer of aerospace systems. New information technologies offer promising opportunities to develop advanced engineering environments (AEEs) to meet these challenges. Significant advances in the state-of-the-art of aerospace engineering practice are envisioned in the areas of engineering design and analytical tools, cost and risk tools, collaborative engineering, and high-fidelity simulations early in the development cycle. These advances will enable modeling and simulation of manufacturing methods, which will in turn allow manufacturing considerations to be included much earlier in the system development cycle. Significant cost savings, increased quality, and decreased manufacturing cycle time are expected to result. This paper will give an overview of the NASA's Intelligent Synthesis Environment, the agency initiative to develop an AEE, with a focus on the anticipated benefits in aerospace manufacturing.

When health systems are barriers to health care: challenges faced by uninsured Mexican kidney patients.

PubMed

Kierans, Ciara; Padilla-Altamira, Cesar; Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo; Ibarra-Hernandez, Margarita; Mercado, Francisco J

2013-01-01

Chronic Kidney Disease disproportionately affects the poor in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Mexico exemplifies the difficulties faced in supporting Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) and providing equitable patient care, despite recent attempts at health reform. The objective of this study is to document the challenges faced by uninsured, poor Mexican families when attempting to access RRT. The article takes an ethnographic approach, using interviewing and observation to generate detailed accounts of the problems that accompany attempts to secure care. The study, based in the state of Jalisco, comprised interviews with patients, their caregivers, health and social care professionals, among others. Observations were carried out in both clinical and social settings. In the absence of organised health information and stable pathways to renal care, patients and their families work extraordinarily hard and at great expense to secure care in a mixed public-private healthcare system. As part of this work, they must navigate challenging health and social care environments, negotiate treatments and costs, resource and finance healthcare and manage a wide range of formal and informal health information. Examining commonalities across pathways to adequate healthcare reveals major failings in the Mexican system. These systemic problems serve to reproduce and deepen health inequalities. A system, in which the costs of renal care are disproportionately borne by those who can least afford them, faces major difficulties around the sustainability and resourcing of RRTs. Attempts to increase access to renal therapies, therefore, need to take into account the complex social and economic demands this places on those who need access most. This paper further shows that ethnographic studies of the concrete ways in which healthcare is accessed in practice provide important insights into the plight of CKD patients and so constitute an important source of evidence in that effort.

E-Mentoring the Online Doctoral Student from the Dissertation Prospectus through Dissertation Completion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Ronald

2017-01-01

Faculty who mentor online doctoral candidates face many of the same challenges and opportunities as those mentoring doctoral candidates in traditional, face-to-face modalities. The main difference is that E-Mentoring is based on interacting in the online space rather than interacting face-to-face, which may present challenges for both the…

Ethical practice under fire: deployed physicians in the global war on terrorism.

PubMed

Sessums, Laura L; Collen, Jacob F; O'Malley, Patrick G; Jackson, Jeffery L; Roy, Michael J

2009-05-01

The Global War on Terrorism brings significant ethical challenges for military physicians. From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay, the actions of health care providers have come under considerable scrutiny. Military providers have dual roles as military officers and medical professionals, which have the potential to come into conflict. Often they are inadequately prepared to manage this conflict. We review pertinent historical precedents, applicable laws, ethical guidelines, and military regulations. We also present examples of ethical challenges deployed clinicians have faced and their ethical solution. Finally, we propose a practical strategy to educate physicians on how to manage complex ethical dilemmas in war time settings.

A survey on hair modeling: styling, simulation, and rendering.

PubMed

Ward, Kelly; Bertails, Florence; Kim, Tae-Yong; Marschner, Stephen R; Cani, Marie-Paule; Lin, Ming C

2007-01-01

Realistic hair modeling is a fundamental part of creating virtual humans in computer graphics. This paper surveys the state of the art in the major topics of hair modeling: hairstyling, hair simulation, and hair rendering. Because of the difficult, often unsolved problems that arise in all these areas, a broad diversity of approaches are used, each with strengths that make it appropriate for particular applications. We discuss each of these major topics in turn, presenting the unique challenges facing each area and describing solutions that have been presented over the years to handle these complex issues. Finally, we outline some of the remaining computational challenges in hair modeling.

But I Don't Understand You: One Faculty's Observations of the Challenges Facing International Healthcare Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DuBose, Cheryl O.

2017-01-01

International students face many challenges when pursuing a degree in higher education. Communication and cultural differences are typically cited as the most challenging aspects of any study abroad program. Students attempting to complete a healthcare program face sometimes insurmountable issues, as communication, cultural differences, and…

The Sisters of Mercy in the Crimean War: Lessons for Catholic health care

PubMed Central

Paradis, Mary Raphael; Hart, Edith Mary; O’Brien, Mary Judith

2017-01-01

In 1856, an appeal went out to nurses in both England and Ireland, and especially to religious nurses, to care for the troops fighting in the Crimean War. The Sisters of Mercy, founded in 1831 by Venerable Catherine McAuley, answered that call. This article describes the enormous challenges the Sisters faced in that mission, which was a test of their nursing skills, flexibility, organizational ability, and their spirit of mercy. The challenges they faced professionally and as religious Sisters, the manner in which they faced those challenges, and their spiritual lives as religious women shaped their ability to give comprehensive care. Some applications are made to the challenges which religious communities and organizations working in health care face in our country at this time. Summary: This article describes the challenges faced by a group of Sisters of Mercy from England and Ireland who volunteered to serve as nurses in the Crimean War from 1856 to 1858. Applications are made to challenges which are faced by religious communities and organizations in the current secular healthcare environment. PMID:28392597

The Sisters of Mercy in the Crimean War: Lessons for Catholic health care.

PubMed

Paradis, Mary Raphael; Hart, Edith Mary; O'Brien, Mary Judith

2017-02-01

In 1856, an appeal went out to nurses in both England and Ireland, and especially to religious nurses, to care for the troops fighting in the Crimean War. The Sisters of Mercy, founded in 1831 by Venerable Catherine McAuley, answered that call. This article describes the enormous challenges the Sisters faced in that mission, which was a test of their nursing skills, flexibility, organizational ability, and their spirit of mercy. The challenges they faced professionally and as religious Sisters, the manner in which they faced those challenges, and their spiritual lives as religious women shaped their ability to give comprehensive care. Some applications are made to the challenges which religious communities and organizations working in health care face in our country at this time. Summary: This article describes the challenges faced by a group of Sisters of Mercy from England and Ireland who volunteered to serve as nurses in the Crimean War from 1856 to 1858. Applications are made to challenges which are faced by religious communities and organizations in the current secular healthcare environment.

HIT implementation in critical access hospitals: extent of implementation and business strategies supporting IT use.

PubMed

Bahensky, James A; Ward, Marcia M; Nyarko, Kwame; Li, Pengxiang

2011-08-01

Small rural hospitals face considerable financial and personnel resource shortages which hinder their efforts to implement complex health information technology (HIT) systems. A survey on the use of HIT was completed by 85% of Iowa's 82 Critical Access Hospitals (CAH). Analyses indicate that low IT staffing in CAHs is a barrier to implementing HIT solutions. CAHs with fewer staff tend to employ alternative business strategies. There is a clear relationship between having IT staff at a CAH and the types of technologies used. Many CAHs report having difficulty expanding upon HIT functionalities due to the challenges of finding IT staff with healthcare expertise. Most CAHs are in the transition point of planning for or beginning implementation of complex clinical information systems. Strategies for addressing these challenges will need to evolve as the HIT investments by rural hospitals race to keep pace with the goals for the nation.

Reference Materials: Significance, General Requirements, and Demand.

PubMed

Kiełbasa, Anna; Gadzała-Kopciuch, Renata; Buszewski, Bogusław

2016-05-03

Reference materials play an important part in the quality control of measurements. Rapid development of such new scientific disciplines as proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics also necessitates development of new reference materials. This is a great challenge due to the complexity of the production of new reference materials and difficulties associated with achieving their homogeneity and stability. CRMs of tissue are of particular importance. They can be counted among the matrices that are most complex and time consuming in preparation. Tissue is the place of transformation and accumulation of many substances (e.g., metabolites, which are intermediate or end products resulting from metabolic processes). Trace amounts of many substances in tissues must be determined with adequate precision and accuracy. To meet the needs stemming from research and from problems and challenges faced by chemists, analysts, and toxicologists, the number of certified reference materials should be continuously increased.

Preparing national health systems to cope with the impending tsunami of ageing and its associated complexities: Towards more sustainable health care.

PubMed

Amalberti, René; Nicklin, Wendy; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

2016-06-01

Healthcare systems across the world are experiencing increased financial, organizational and social pressures attributable to a range of critical issues including the challenge of ageing populations. Health systems need to adapt, in order to sustainably provide quality care to the widest range of patients, particularly those with chronic and complex diseases, and especially those in vulnerable and low-income groups. We report on a workshop designed to tackle such issues under the auspices of ISQua, with representatives from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Emirates, France, Ireland, Jordan, Qatar, Malaysia, Norway, Oman, UK, South Africa and Switzerland. We discuss some of the challenges facing healthcare systems in countries ageing rapidly, to those less so, and touch on current and future reform options. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Preparing future fisheries professionals to make good decisions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colvin, Michael E.; Peterson, James T.

2017-01-01

Future fisheries professionals will face decision-making challenges in an increasingly complex field of fisheries management. Though fisheries students are well trained in the use of the scientific method to understand the natural world, they are rarely exposed to structured decision making (SDM) as part of an undergraduate or graduate education. Specifically, SDM encourages users (e.g., students, managers) to think critically and communicate the problem and then identify specific, measurable objectives as they relate to the problem. Next, users must think critically and creatively about management alternatives that can be used to meet the objectives—there must be more than one alternative or there is no decision to be made. Lastly, the management alternatives are evaluated with regard to how likely they are to succeed in terms of multiple, possibly completing, objectives, such as how stakeholder groups value outcomes of management actions versus monetary cost. We believe that exposure to SDM and its elements is an important part of preparing future fisheries professional to meet the challenges they may face. These challenges include reduced budgets, the growth of potentially competing natural resource interest groups, and stakeholder desire to be involved in management decisions affecting public trust resources, just to name a few.

Contributions and challenges for worldwide vaccine safety: The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety at 15 years.

PubMed

Asturias, Edwin J; Wharton, Melinda; Pless, Robert; MacDonald, Noni E; Chen, Robert T; Andrews, Nicholas; Salisbury, David; Dodoo, Alexander N; Hartigan-Go, Kenneth; Zuber, Patrick L F

2016-06-17

In 1999, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide independent scientific advice on issues relating to the safety of vaccines and immunization. Fifteen years onward, we conducted a multi-faceted review to evaluate the impact, reach and challenges facing GACVS, including the role GACVS plays in informing global, regional and WHO member state vaccine policy. The methods included measures of organizational structure, citation impact, themes approached, and a discussion by previous and current members to evaluate past, present and future challenges. Given the increasing range of data sources and the deployment of many new vaccines, the Committee is facing the complex task of identifying the best available evidence for recommendations on vaccine safety. To help meet the increased demand for public transparency in decision making, GACVS-structured methodology for evidence-based decisions is evolving. GACVS also promotes best practices and capacity building for timely and accurate risk assessment; risk communications; outreach to help countries maintain and, if needed, rebuild public trust in vaccines; and advocacy for bridging the major gaps in vaccine safety capacity globally. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anaesthetic Considerations in the Perioperative Management of Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy.

PubMed

Sheshadri, Deepak B; Chakravarthy, Murali R

2016-06-01

Cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy has emerged as one of the primary modalities of treatment of diffuse peritoneal malignancies. It is a complex surgical procedure with the patients facing major and potentially life threatening alterations of haemodynamic, respiratory, metabolic and thermal balance with significant fluid losses and the perioperative management is challenging for anaesthesiologists and intensive care physicians. Though the alterations are short lived, these patients require advanced organ function monitoring and support perioperatively. The anaesthesiologist is involved in the management of haemodynamics, respiratory function, coagulation, haematologic parameters, fluid balance, thermal variations, and metabolic and nutritional support perioperatively. The chemotherapy instillate used are known to cause nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, dyselectrolytemia and lactic acidosis. The preoperative polypharmacy for pain control, previous surgery and/or chemotherapy, malnourished status secondary to feeding problems and tumour wasting syndrome make the task all the more challenging. The anaesthesiologist also needs to consider the perioperative care from a quality of life perspective and proper preoperative counselling is important. The present overview summarizes the challenges faced by the anaesthesiologist regarding the pathophysiological alterations during the Cytoreductive surgery and Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative periods.

Bermuda 2.0: reflections from Santa Cruz.

PubMed

Reardon, Jenny; Ankeny, Rachel A; Bangham, Jenny; W Darling, Katherine; Hilgartner, Stephen; Jones, Kathryn Maxson; Shapiro, Beth; Stevens, Hallam

2016-12-01

In February 1996, the genome community met in Bermuda to formulate principles for circulating genomic data. Although it is now 20 years since the Bermuda Principles were formulated, they continue to play a central role in shaping genomic and data-sharing practices. However, since 1996, "openness" has become an increasingly complex issue. This commentary seeks to articulate three core challenges data-sharing faces today. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Challenges and Opportunities for Tribal Waters: Addressing Disparities in Safe Public Drinking Water on the Crow Reservation in Montana, USA.

PubMed

Doyle, John T; Kindness, Larry; Realbird, James; Eggers, Margaret J; Camper, Anne K

2018-03-21

Disparities in access to safe public drinking water are increasingly being recognized as contributing to health disparities and environmental injustice for vulnerable communities in the United States. As the Co-Directors of the Apsaálooke Water and Wastewater Authority (AWWWA) for the Crow Tribe, with our academic partners, we present here the multiple and complex challenges we have addressed in improving and maintaining tribal water and wastewater infrastructure, including the identification of diverse funding sources for infrastructure construction, the need for many kinds of specialized expertise and long-term stability of project personnel, ratepayer difficulty in paying for services, an ongoing legacy of inadequate infrastructure planning, and lack of water quality research capacity. As a tribal entity, the AWWWA faces additional challenges, including the complex jurisdictional issues affecting all phases of our work, lack of authority to create water districts, and additional legal and regulatory gaps-especially with regards to environmental protection. Despite these obstacles, the AWWWA and Crow Tribe have successfully upgraded much of the local water and wastewater infrastructure. We find that ensuring safe public drinking water for tribal and other disadvantaged U.S. communities will require comprehensive, community-engaged approaches across a broad range of stakeholders to successfully address these complex legal, regulatory, policy, community capacity, and financial challenges.

Challenges and Opportunities for Tribal Waters: Addressing Disparities in Safe Public Drinking Water on the Crow Reservation in Montana, USA

PubMed Central

Doyle, John T.; Kindness, Larry; Realbird, James; Camper, Anne K.

2018-01-01

Disparities in access to safe public drinking water are increasingly being recognized as contributing to health disparities and environmental injustice for vulnerable communities in the United States. As the Co-Directors of the Apsaálooke Water and Wastewater Authority (AWWWA) for the Crow Tribe, with our academic partners, we present here the multiple and complex challenges we have addressed in improving and maintaining tribal water and wastewater infrastructure, including the identification of diverse funding sources for infrastructure construction, the need for many kinds of specialized expertise and long-term stability of project personnel, ratepayer difficulty in paying for services, an ongoing legacy of inadequate infrastructure planning, and lack of water quality research capacity. As a tribal entity, the AWWWA faces additional challenges, including the complex jurisdictional issues affecting all phases of our work, lack of authority to create water districts, and additional legal and regulatory gaps—especially with regards to environmental protection. Despite these obstacles, the AWWWA and Crow Tribe have successfully upgraded much of the local water and wastewater infrastructure. We find that ensuring safe public drinking water for tribal and other disadvantaged U.S. communities will require comprehensive, community-engaged approaches across a broad range of stakeholders to successfully address these complex legal, regulatory, policy, community capacity, and financial challenges. PMID:29561815

Facial Asymmetry-Based Age Group Estimation: Role in Recognizing Age-Separated Face Images.

PubMed

Sajid, Muhammad; Taj, Imtiaz Ahmad; Bajwa, Usama Ijaz; Ratyal, Naeem Iqbal

2018-04-23

Face recognition aims to establish the identity of a person based on facial characteristics. On the other hand, age group estimation is the automatic calculation of an individual's age range based on facial features. Recognizing age-separated face images is still a challenging research problem due to complex aging processes involving different types of facial tissues, skin, fat, muscles, and bones. Certain holistic and local facial features are used to recognize age-separated face images. However, most of the existing methods recognize face images without incorporating the knowledge learned from age group estimation. In this paper, we propose an age-assisted face recognition approach to handle aging variations. Inspired by the observation that facial asymmetry is an age-dependent intrinsic facial feature, we first use asymmetric facial dimensions to estimate the age group of a given face image. Deeply learned asymmetric facial features are then extracted for face recognition using a deep convolutional neural network (dCNN). Finally, we integrate the knowledge learned from the age group estimation into the face recognition algorithm using the same dCNN. This integration results in a significant improvement in the overall performance compared to using the face recognition algorithm alone. The experimental results on two large facial aging datasets, the MORPH and FERET sets, show that the proposed age group estimation based on the face recognition approach yields superior performance compared to some existing state-of-the-art methods. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Community in Online Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arasaratnam-Smith, Lily A.; Northcote, Maria

2017-01-01

Exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with the concepts of community and communication in online higher education, this paper reconsiders the intention to replicate face-to-face learning and teaching strategies in online learning environments. Rather than beginning with the assumption that face-to-face education is the prototype…

Boundary-spanning actors in complex adaptive governance systems: The case of multisectoral nutrition.

PubMed

Pelletier, David; Gervais, Suzanne; Hafeez-Ur-Rehman, Hajra; Sanou, Dia; Tumwine, Jackson

2018-01-01

A growing literature highlights complexity of policy implementation and governance in global health and argues that the processes and outcomes of policies could be improved by explicitly taking this complexity into account. Yet there is a paucity of studies exploring how this can be achieved in everyday practice. This study documents the strategies, tactics, and challenges of boundary-spanning actors working in 4 Sub-Saharan Africa countries who supported the implementation of multisectoral nutrition as part of the African Nutrition Security Partnership in Burkina Faso, Mali, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Three action researchers were posted to these countries during the final 2 years of the project to help the government and its partners implement multisectoral nutrition and document the lessons. Prospective data were collected through participant observation, end-line semistructured interviews, and document analysis. All 4 countries made significant progress despite a wide range of challenges at the individual, organizational, and system levels. The boundary-spanning actors and their collaborators deployed a wide range of strategies but faced significant challenges in playing these unconventional roles. The study concludes that, under the right conditions, intentional boundary spanning can be a feasible and acceptable practice within a multisectoral, complex adaptive system in low- and middle-income countries. © 2017 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Complex networks repair strategies: Dynamic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Chaoqi; Wang, Ying; Gao, Yangjun; Wang, Xiaoyang

2017-09-01

Network repair strategies are tactical methods that restore the efficiency of damaged networks; however, unreasonable repair strategies not only waste resources, they are also ineffective for network recovery. Most extant research on network repair focuses on static networks, but results and findings on static networks cannot be applied to evolutionary dynamic networks because, in dynamic models, complex network repair has completely different characteristics. For instance, repaired nodes face more severe challenges, and require strategic repair methods in order to have a significant effect. In this study, we propose the Shell Repair Strategy (SRS) to minimize the risk of secondary node failures due to the cascading effect. Our proposed method includes the identification of a set of vital nodes that have a significant impact on network repair and defense. Our identification of these vital nodes reduces the number of switching nodes that face the risk of secondary failures during the dynamic repair process. This is positively correlated with the size of the average degree 〈 k 〉 and enhances network invulnerability.

Integrating research tools to support the management of social-ecological systems under climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, Brian W.; Morisette, Jeffrey T.

2014-01-01

Developing resource management strategies in the face of climate change is complicated by the considerable uncertainty associated with projections of climate and its impacts and by the complex interactions between social and ecological variables. The broad, interconnected nature of this challenge has resulted in calls for analytical frameworks that integrate research tools and can support natural resource management decision making in the face of uncertainty and complex interactions. We respond to this call by first reviewing three methods that have proven useful for climate change research, but whose application and development have been largely isolated: species distribution modeling, scenario planning, and simulation modeling. Species distribution models provide data-driven estimates of the future distributions of species of interest, but they face several limitations and their output alone is not sufficient to guide complex decisions for how best to manage resources given social and economic considerations along with dynamic and uncertain future conditions. Researchers and managers are increasingly exploring potential futures of social-ecological systems through scenario planning, but this process often lacks quantitative response modeling and validation procedures. Simulation models are well placed to provide added rigor to scenario planning because of their ability to reproduce complex system dynamics, but the scenarios and management options explored in simulations are often not developed by stakeholders, and there is not a clear consensus on how to include climate model outputs. We see these strengths and weaknesses as complementarities and offer an analytical framework for integrating these three tools. We then describe the ways in which this framework can help shift climate change research from useful to usable.

Whither vaccines?

PubMed

Rodrigues, Charlene M C; Pinto, Marta V; Sadarangani, Manish; Plotkin, Stanley A

2017-06-01

Currently used vaccines have had major effects on eliminating common infections, largely by duplicating the immune responses induced by natural infections. Now vaccinology faces more complex problems, such as waning antibody, immunosenescence, evasion of immunity by the pathogen, deviation of immunity by the microbiome, induction of inhibitory responses, and complexity of the antigens required for protection. Fortunately, vaccine development is now incorporating knowledge from immunology, structural biology, systems biology and synthetic chemistry to meet these challenges. In addition, international organisations are developing new funding and licensing pathways for vaccines aimed at pathogens with epidemic potential that emerge from tropical areas. © 2017 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Logistics in smallpox: the legacy.

PubMed

Wickett, John; Carrasco, Peter

2011-12-30

Logistics, defined as "the time-related positioning of resources" was critical to the implementation of the smallpox eradication strategy of surveillance and containment. Logistical challenges in the smallpox programme included vaccine delivery, supplies, staffing, vehicle maintenance, and financing. Ensuring mobility was essential as health workers had to travel to outbreaks to contain them. Three examples illustrate a range of logistic challenges which required imagination and innovation. Standard price lists were developed to expedite vehicle maintenance and repair in Bihar, India. Innovative staffing ensured an adequate infrastructure for vehicle maintenance in Bangladesh. The use of disaster relief mechanisms in Somalia provided airlifts, vehicles and funding within 27 days of their initiation. In contrast the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) faces more complex logistical challenges. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The changing face of nanomaterials: Risk assessment challenges along the value chain.

PubMed

Mattsson, Mats-Olof; Simkó, Myrtill

2017-03-01

Risk assessment (RA) of manufactured nanomaterials (MNM) is essential for regulatory purposes and risk management activities. Similar to RA of "classical" chemicals, MNM RA requires knowledge about exposure as well as of hazard potential and dose response relationships. What makes MNM RA especially challenging is the multitude of materials (which is expected to increase substantially in the future), the complexity of MNM value chains and life cycles, the accompanying possible changes in material properties over time and in contact with various environmental and organismal milieus, and the difficulties to obtain proper exposure data and to consider the proper dose metric. This article discusses these challenges and also critically overviews the current state of the art regarding MNM RA approaches. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Disability and accommodation in the healthcare workplace.

PubMed

Niccolini, Robert R; Basu, Nina

2009-04-01

Employers in the healthcare industry face unique challenges regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Healthcare employers must reasonably accommodate employees in complex and often physically challenging positions, while ensuring safe and effective patient care. These challenges have become even more difficult with the recent passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), which significantly expands the definition and scope of "disability" under the ADA, and legislatively reverses several key Supreme Court decisions favorable to employers. Although the ultimate impact of the ADAAA remains to be determined, this article will help employers and their counsel understand how federal disability discrimination laws may affect their businesses going forward, with an analysis of the language of the ADAAA, case law under the ADA, and guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Limited rights of minors in the Dutch healthcare.

PubMed

Brands, Wolter; Brands, Marieke; Brands-Bottema, Gea

2014-11-30

In many countries, if not all, the autonomy of minors is limited. Especially in countries with comprehensive legislation in the field of health law the (lack of) autonomy of minors may create challenges. These problems become more complex if the costs of treatment are not paid by the government or covered by insurance. Some challenges are: At what age is a minor able to decide about his health? As not every treatment is the same, how should the system take this into account? The Netherlands has a long history of very comprehensive health care legislation. This legislation includes a section about the treatment of minors that addresses the questions of the conditions in which the autonomy of minors is limited. Though this legislation is limited to the Netherlands other countries face the same challenges.

Towards understanding the complexity of cardiovascular oscillations: Insights from information theory.

PubMed

Javorka, Michal; Krohova, Jana; Czippelova, Barbora; Turianikova, Zuzana; Lazarova, Zuzana; Wiszt, Radovan; Faes, Luca

2018-07-01

Cardiovascular complexity is a feature of healthy physiological regulation, which stems from the simultaneous activity of several cardiovascular reflexes and other non-reflex physiological mechanisms. It is manifested in the rich dynamics characterizing the spontaneous heart rate and blood pressure variability (HRV and BPV). The present study faces the challenge of disclosing the origin of short-term HRV and BPV from the statistical perspective offered by information theory. To dissect the physiological mechanisms giving rise to cardiovascular complexity in different conditions, measures of predictive information, information storage, information transfer and information modification were applied to the beat-to-beat variability of heart period (HP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and respiratory volume signal recorded non-invasively in 61 healthy young subjects at supine rest and during head-up tilt (HUT) and mental arithmetics (MA). Information decomposition enabled to assess simultaneously several expected and newly inferred physiological phenomena, including: (i) the decreased complexity of HP during HUT and the increased complexity of SAP during MA; (ii) the suppressed cardiorespiratory information transfer, related to weakened respiratory sinus arrhythmia, under both challenges; (iii) the altered balance of the information transferred along the two arms of the cardiovascular loop during HUT, with larger baroreflex involvement and smaller feedforward mechanical effects; and (iv) an increased importance of direct respiratory effects on SAP during HUT, and on both HP and SAP during MA. We demonstrate that a decomposition of the information contained in cardiovascular oscillations can reveal subtle changes in system dynamics and improve our understanding of the complexity changes during physiological challenges. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Measuring the Complexity of Treatment for Challenging Behavior using the Treatment Intensity Rating Form

PubMed Central

Zarcone, Jennifer; Hagopian, Louis; Ninci, Jennifer; McKay, Chloe; Bonner, Andrew; Dillon, Christopher; Hausman, Nicole

2016-01-01

Objectives The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a tool to measure the complexity and intensity of psychotropic medication interventions, behavioral interventions, and issues related to crisis management for challenging behavior using a standardized rating form. Method The Treatment Intensity Rating Form (TIRF) is a 10-item scale with three categories: pharmacological interventions, behavior supports, and protective equipment. In a retrospective review we examined the final treatment recommendations for 74 individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) based on psychiatric and behavioral notes and reports. We also compared whether TIRF scores differed across individuals for whom SIB was maintained by social reinforcement (e.g., to access attention or toys/activities, or escape from tasks) versus those for whom SIB was maintained by automatic reinforcement (e.g., occurs independent of social variables, and is presumed to be maintained by sensory reinforcement). Results The TIRF was demonstrated to have strong inter-rater reliability (98%) and appears to have good face validity. As hypothesized, individuals with SIB maintained by automatic reinforcement had significantly more medication trials (p=0.0005) and required more protective equipment than individuals with SIB maintained by social reinforcement (p=0.0002). Antidepressant medication was used more often with individuals with automatically reinforced SIB, although antipsychotics and anticonvulsants were also commonly used across both groups. Conclusion Findings provide initial support for the TIRF’s reliability, and face validity as a measure the level of complexity of medical and behavioral treatment plans - although additional research is needed to fully evaluate its psychometric properties. PMID:27917287

Examining Challenges Related to the Production of Actionable Climate Knowledge for Adaptation Decision-Making: A Focus on Climate Knowledge System Producers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ernst, K.; Preston, B. L.; Tenggren, S.; Klein, R.; Gerger-Swartling, Å.

2017-12-01

Many challenges to adaptation decision-making and action have been identified across peer-reviewed and gray literature. These challenges have primarily focused on the use of climate knowledge for adaptation decision-making, the process of adaptation decision-making, and the needs of the decision-maker. Studies on climate change knowledge systems often discuss the imperative role of climate knowledge producers in adaptation decision-making processes and stress the need for producers to engage in knowledge co-production activities and to more effectively meet decision-maker needs. While the influence of climate knowledge producers on the co-production of science for adaptation decision-making is well-recognized, hardly any research has taken a direct approach to analyzing the challenges that climate knowledge producers face when undertaking science co-production. Those challenges can influence the process of knowledge production and may hinder the creation, utilization, and dissemination of actionable knowledge for adaptation decision-making. This study involves semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observations to analyze, identify, and contextualize the challenges that climate knowledge producers in Sweden face as they endeavor to create effective climate knowledge systems for multiple contexts, scales, and levels across the European Union. Preliminary findings identify complex challenges related to education, training, and support; motivation, willingness, and culture; varying levels of prioritization; professional roles and responsibilities; the type and amount of resources available; and professional incentive structures. These challenges exist at varying scales and levels across individuals, organizations, networks, institutions, and disciplines. This study suggests that the creation of actionable knowledge for adaptation decision-making is not supported across scales and levels in the climate knowledge production landscape. Additionally, enabling the production of actionable knowledge for adaptation decision-making requires multi-level effort beyond the individual level.

Technological intimacy in haemodialysis nursing.

PubMed

Bennett, Paul N

2011-09-01

BENNETT PN. Nursing Inquiry 2011; 18: 247-252 Technological intimacy in haemodialysis nursing Technology plays a major role in nursing care. Among the challenges for nurses is being able to maintain a patient focus while surrounded by highly complex technology. The provision of high quality nursing care in technologically complex environments is particularly challenging when nurses develop relationships with their patients over an extended period of time. In these environments the potential for intimate relationships can increase. This potential for intimacy is evident in the haemodialysis context where dialysis technology, nurses and patients interface. As nurses and patients can spend up to 20 hours per week together intimate relationships can develop. This paper identifies the challenges these dialysis nurses face and introduces the concept of technological intimacy. Technological intimacy can be defined as physical touching and self disclosure, associated with closeness and knowing, that is undertaken in the full view of others in a healthcare environment dominated by technology. In the haemodialysis context technological intimacy has been scarcely acknowledged and rarely researched. Further research will assist in guiding haemodialysis nursing practice. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Career Development as a Long-distance Hike

PubMed Central

2008-01-01

Traditional images of achievement do not capture today’s more complex career development realities. Approaching career development as a long-distance expedition can help professionals in addressing the strenuous challenges they face, in seeing that a career can be built in many ways, and in taking a long-term view of their journeys. Skills are like muscles, self-efficacy is like sturdy boots, advancement “how-to’s” are like maps, and mentors are like trail guides. Among the tasks each hiker faces are selecting destinations, navigating through rough terrain and weather, and balancing their packs. To further their hikers’ resilience, departments should pay more attention to the career development ecology, including improving access to qualified trail guides and to alternate paths. PMID:18953615

Reforming Long-Term Care Funding in Alberta.

PubMed

Crump, R Trafford; Repin, Nadya; Sutherland, Jason M

2015-01-01

Like many provinces across Canada, Alberta is facing growing demand for long-term care. Issues with the mixed funding model used to pay long-term care providers had Alberta Health Services concerned that it was not efficiently meeting the demand for long-term care. Consequently, in 2010, Alberta Health Services introduced the patient/care-based funding (PCBF) model. PCBF is similar to activity-based funding in that it directly ties the complexity and care needs of long-term care residents to the payment received by long-term care providers. This review describes PCBF and discusses some of its strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, this review is intended to inform other provinces faced with similar long-term care challenges and contemplating their own funding reforms.

Challenges of Virtual School Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Jayson W.; LaFrance, Jason; Beck, Dennis

2015-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to examine challenges faced by virtual school leaders in the United States. Through semistructured interviews, the researchers explored challenges faced by eighteen leaders of fully online or blended online programs. Analysis revealed six main challenges: funding, staff, accountability, time, parents, and…

A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority. Version 1.0

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

global force is the traffic on the oceans, seas, and waterways, including the sea floor – the classic maritime system. For millennia, the seas have...turn driving an accelerating rate of change – from music to medicine, from microfinance to missiles. 2 The third interrelated force is the...continues to grow. Why a “Design?” The scope and complexity of the challenges we face demand a different approach than that offered by a classic

PRISM, Volume 6, Number 1, 2016: Women, Peace and Inclusive Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

Operations. PRISM is a security studies journal chartered to inform members of U.S. Federal agencies, allies, and other partners on complex and...thrown the national security community into disarray. Faced with such diverse challenges, the U.S. and its allies must step up with a response equally...pool? PRISM is not a journal of advocacy, but rather a venue for informed and rational discourse. The Editors’ goal is to further American and

The immune system

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

All organisms are connected in a complex web of relationships. Although many of these are benign, not all are, and everything alive devotes significant resources to identifying and neutralizing threats from other species. From bacteria through to primates, the presence of some kind of effective immune system has gone hand in hand with evolutionary success. This article focuses on mammalian immunity, the challenges that it faces, the mechanisms by which these are addressed, and the consequences that arise when it malfunctions. PMID:27784777

Towards Engineering Biological Systems in a Broader Context.

PubMed

Venturelli, Ophelia S; Egbert, Robert G; Arkin, Adam P

2016-02-27

Significant advances have been made in synthetic biology to program information processing capabilities in cells. While these designs can function predictably in controlled laboratory environments, the reliability of these devices in complex, temporally changing environments has not yet been characterized. As human society faces global challenges in agriculture, human health and energy, synthetic biology should develop predictive design principles for biological systems operating in complex environments. Natural biological systems have evolved mechanisms to overcome innumerable and diverse environmental challenges. Evolutionary design rules should be extracted and adapted to engineer stable and predictable ecological function. We highlight examples of natural biological responses spanning the cellular, population and microbial community levels that show promise in synthetic biology contexts. We argue that synthetic circuits embedded in host organisms or designed ecologies informed by suitable measurement of biotic and abiotic environmental parameters could be used as engineering substrates to achieve target functions in complex environments. Successful implementation of these methods will broaden the context in which synthetic biological systems can be applied to solve important problems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges Faced by Female-Students in Engineering-Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madara, Diana Starovoytova; Cherotich, Sharon

2016-01-01

Gender-related challenges in learning technical courses are universal phenomenon. These challenges could restrain female students from achieving their fullest potential. The main focus of this study, therefore, is to examine self-recognized challenges faced by undergraduate female students in pursuing engineering at the School of Engineering…

Identifying challenges for academic leadership in medical universities in Iran.

PubMed

Bikmoradi, Ali; Brommels, Mats; Shoghli, Alireza; Khorasani-Zavareh, Davoud; Masiello, Italo

2010-05-01

CONTEXT The crucial role of academic leadership in the success of higher education institutions is well documented. Medical education in Iran has been integrated into the health care system through a complex organisational change. This has called into question the current academic leadership, making Iranian medical universities and schools a good case for exploring the challenges of academic leadership. OBJECTIVES This study explores the leadership challenges perceived by academic managers in medical schools and universities in Iran. METHODS A qualitative study using 18 face-to-face, in-depth interviews with academic managers in medical universities and at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran was performed. All interviews were recorded digitally, transcribed verbatim and analysed by qualitative content analysis. RESULTS The main challenges to academic leadership could be categorised under three themes, each of which included three sub-themes: organisational issues (inefficacy of academic governance; an overly extensive set of missions and responsibilities; concerns about the selection of managers); managerial issues (management styles; mismatch between authority and responsibilities; leadership capabilities), and organisational culture (tendency towards governmental management; a boss-centred culture; low motivation). CONCLUSIONS This study emphasises the need for academic leadership development in Iranian medical schools and universities. The ability of Iranian universities to grow and thrive will depend ultimately upon the application of leadership skills. Thus, it is necessary to better designate authorities, roles of academic staff and leaders at governance.

United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Updike, Randall G.; Ellis, Eugene G.; Page, William R.; Parker, Melanie J.; Hestbeck, Jay B.; Horak, William F.

2013-01-01

Along the nearly 3,200 kilometers (almost 2,000 miles) of the United States–Mexican border, in an area known as the Borderlands, we are witnessing the expression of the challenges of the 21st century. This circular identifies several challenge themes and issues associated with life and the environment in the Borderlands, listed below. The challenges are not one-sided; they do not originate in one country only to become problems for the other. The issues and concerns of each challenge theme flow in both directions across the border, and both nations feel their effects throughout the Borderlands and beyond. The clear message is that our two nations, the United States and Mexico, face the issues in these challenge themes together, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) understands it must work with its counterparts, partners, and customers in both countries.Though the mission of the USGS is not to serve as land manager, law enforcer, or code regulator, its innovation and creativity and the scientific and technical depth of its capabilities can be directly applied to monitoring the conditions of the landscape. The ability of USGS scientists to critically analyze the monitored data in search of signals and trends, whether they lead to negative or positive results, allows us to reach significant conclusions—from providing factual conclusions to decisionmakers, to estimating how much of a natural resource exists in a particular locale, to predicting how a natural hazard phenomenon will unfold, to forecasting on a scale from hours to millennia how ecosystems will behave.None of these challenge themes can be addressed strictly by one or two science disciplines; all require well-integrated, cross-discipline thinking, data collection, and analyses. The multidisciplinary science themes that have become the focus of the USGS mission parallel the major challenges in the border region between Mexico and the United States. Because of this multidisciplinary approach, the USGS possesses a unique set of capabilities that can address these challenges. The USGS can apply geographical, geospatial, biological, hydrological, and geological sciences to these complex issues and thereby provide insight into the area’s natural systems and their relation to human activity.As we come to better understand the complexities of the components of these challenge themes, we discover that each part is inextricably intertwined with other overarching issues. Because of the complex interactions of the human, ecological, political, and economic exigencies associated with this area, the status of the Borderlands has become an ever-present concern for most American citizens and for Mexican and United States Federal, State, and local governments. This circular is intended to provide you - citizen, local decisionmaker, government leader, or private entrepreneur—an overview of what the USGS considers the current and future challenges in the United States–Mexican border region and examples of how the USGS can make a difference in understanding and addressing these issues.

Challenges Faced by Maine School Districts in Providing High Quality Public Education. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silvernail, David L.; Linet, Sarah R.

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to: (1) identify challenges faced by Maine school districts in providing high quality public education; (2) describe the magnitude of the challenges; and (3) identify areas where school districts were experiencing some success in meeting these challenges. The School Districts Challenge Survey was distributed online to…

Semisolid forming of S48C steel grade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plata, Gorka; Lozares, Jokin; Azpilgain, Zigor; Hurtado, Iñaki; Loizaga, Iñigo; Idoyaga, Zuriñe

2017-10-01

Steel production and component manufacturing industries have to face the challenge of globalization, trying to overcome the economic pressure to remain competitive. Moreover, the lightweighting trend of the latter years implies an even higher challenge to maintain the steel use. Therefore, advanced manufacturing processes will be the cornerstone. In this field, Semisolid forming (SSF) has demonstrated the capability of obtaining complex geometries and saving raw material and energy. Despite it is complicated the SSF of sound components, in Mondragon Unibertsitatea it has been successfully demonstrated the capability of producing strong enough automotive components with 42CrMo4 steel grade. In this work, we demonstrate the capability of SSF S48C steel grade with great mechanical properties.

Physician leaders of medical groups face increasing challenges.

PubMed

Gerbarg, Zack

2002-10-01

Physician leadership has emerged as one of the biggest challenges and opportunities for medical group success. The environment for medical groups has become increasingly complex as the result of five major factors: 1) varying reimbursement methods, 2) growth in the size of groups, 3) technology investments, 4) sale and merger of groups, and 5) regulatory and legal issues. Striking the right balance between too little or too much physician involvement in leading medical groups is a key business decision. Most large, successful businesses view investment in their leaders as critical for success. Medical groups can learn from other businesses that investment in education, coaching, and succession planning for leaders is a key to long-term success.

[Face replantation using labial artery for revascularization. Case report].

PubMed

de la Parra-Márquez, Miguel; Mondragón-González, Sergio; López-Palazuelos, Jaime; Naal-Mendoza, Norberto; Rangel-Flores, Jesús María

2013-01-01

Restoration of the face function and cosmetic appearance after a traumatic complex wound is a challenge for the plastic surgeon. Worldwide, few cases have been reported about face replantation. To present the case of the first partial face replantation reported in the national bibliography, using the labial artery for revascularization. On June 19th 2011, a 7 years old male presented to the emergency room of the Mexican Institute of Social Security at Monterrey, Mexico, 4 hours after a partial face amputation secondary to a dog bite. The amputated segment was composed of 75% of the upper lip, 33% of the lower lip, oral commissure and 75% of the left cheek. The labial coronary artery and vein were anastomosed with 11-0 nylon sutures and the miorraphy of the orbicularis oris, the depressor anguli oris and the depressor labii inferioris with 4-0 vycril sutures. Six months after the surgery, the functional and aesthetic outcomes were excellent with reestablishment of total labial continence and total recovery of articulation of words. amputations of any facial component should be initially managed with replantation. The function and cosmetics are better than any other technique of reconstruction. The labial coronary artery is an excellent choice for revascularization up to 25% of the face (lips and cheek).

Improving the evidence base in palliative care to inform practice and policy: thinking outside the box.

PubMed

Aoun, Samar M; Nekolaichuk, Cheryl

2014-12-01

The adoption of evidence-based hierarchies and research methods from other disciplines may not completely translate to complex palliative care settings. The heterogeneity of the palliative care population, complexity of clinical presentations, and fluctuating health states present significant research challenges. The aim of this narrative review was to explore the debate about the use of current evidence-based approaches for conducting research, such as randomized controlled trials and other study designs, in palliative care, and more specifically to (1) describe key myths about palliative care research; (2) highlight substantive challenges of conducting palliative care research, using case illustrations; and (3) propose specific strategies to address some of these challenges. Myths about research in palliative care revolve around evidence hierarchies, sample heterogeneity, random assignment, participant burden, and measurement issues. Challenges arise because of the complex physical, psychological, existential, and spiritual problems faced by patients, families, and service providers. These challenges can be organized according to six general domains: patient, system/organization, context/setting, study design, research team, and ethics. A number of approaches for dealing with challenges in conducting research fall into five separate domains: study design, sampling, conceptual, statistical, and measures and outcomes. Although randomized controlled trials have their place whenever possible, alternative designs may offer more feasible research protocols that can be successfully implemented in palliative care. Therefore, this article highlights "outside the box" approaches that would benefit both clinicians and researchers in the palliative care field. Ultimately, the selection of research designs is dependent on a clearly articulated research question, which drives the research process. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Optimization of protocol design: a path to efficient, lower cost clinical trial execution

PubMed Central

Malikova, Marina A

2016-01-01

Managing clinical trials requires strategic planning and efficient execution. In order to achieve a timely delivery of important clinical trials’ outcomes, it is useful to establish standardized trial management guidelines and develop robust scoring methodology for evaluation of study protocol complexity. This review will explore the challenges clinical teams face in developing protocols to ensure that the right patients are enrolled and the right data are collected to demonstrate that a drug is safe and efficacious, while managing study costs and study complexity based on proposed comprehensive scoring model. Key factors to consider when developing protocols and techniques to minimize complexity will be discussed. A methodology to identify processes at planning phase, approaches to increase fiscal return and mitigate fiscal compliance risk for clinical trials will be addressed. PMID:28031939

Multifaceted Modelling of Complex Business Enterprises

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

We formalise and present a new generic multifaceted complex system approach for modelling complex business enterprises. Our method has a strong focus on integrating the various data types available in an enterprise which represent the diverse perspectives of various stakeholders. We explain the challenges faced and define a novel approach to converting diverse data types into usable Bayesian probability forms. The data types that can be integrated include historic data, survey data, and management planning data, expert knowledge and incomplete data. The structural complexities of the complex system modelling process, based on various decision contexts, are also explained along with a solution. This new application of complex system models as a management tool for decision making is demonstrated using a railway transport case study. The case study demonstrates how the new approach can be utilised to develop a customised decision support model for a specific enterprise. Various decision scenarios are also provided to illustrate the versatility of the decision model at different phases of enterprise operations such as planning and control. PMID:26247591

Multifaceted Modelling of Complex Business Enterprises.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Subrata; Mengersen, Kerrie; Fidge, Colin; Ma, Lin; Lassen, David

2015-01-01

We formalise and present a new generic multifaceted complex system approach for modelling complex business enterprises. Our method has a strong focus on integrating the various data types available in an enterprise which represent the diverse perspectives of various stakeholders. We explain the challenges faced and define a novel approach to converting diverse data types into usable Bayesian probability forms. The data types that can be integrated include historic data, survey data, and management planning data, expert knowledge and incomplete data. The structural complexities of the complex system modelling process, based on various decision contexts, are also explained along with a solution. This new application of complex system models as a management tool for decision making is demonstrated using a railway transport case study. The case study demonstrates how the new approach can be utilised to develop a customised decision support model for a specific enterprise. Various decision scenarios are also provided to illustrate the versatility of the decision model at different phases of enterprise operations such as planning and control.

Challenges Facing Teachers New to Working in Schools Overseas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halicioglu, Margaret L.

2015-01-01

This article considers the potential challenges facing teachers moving abroad for the first time, both professional challenges in their school and personal challenges in their private life. It suggests that such teachers embarking on a professional adventure overseas would benefit from careful consideration of the kind of school they will thrive…

An Exploration of Challenges Facing Division III Athletic Directors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engbers, Jeffrey L.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to establish a basic understanding of the challenges associated with directing athletic programs at NCAA Division III Institutions. Specifically, this study identified the frequency, intensity, and time allocated to common challenges facing the position of the NCAA Division III AD. The challenges were examined using…

The Challenges Facing School Governing Bodies in England: A "Perfect Storm"?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Chris; Brammer, Steve; Connolly, Michael; Spicer, David Eddy; James, Jane; Jones, Jeff

2013-01-01

The governing bodies of publicly funded schools in England are currently facing a number of substantive challenges of various kinds. Many of the challenges are long-standing, while others relate to the current context for governing wrought by recent education policy developments initiated by central government. A number of the challenges are…

Concepts. The Journal of Defense Systems Acquisition Management. Winter 1981. Volume 4. Number 1.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-01

Long, USAF A major challenge facing the program manager is to effectively obtain and manage program funds. It is the author’s view that too few...Henry H. Mendenhall As defense systems become more and more complex, an effective test and evaluation program becomes more and more necessary. This means...that lies ahead for the military acquisition manager. And let us not think for a moment that optimism alone will suffice. Good, effective , efficient

Aeronautical Situational Awareness - Airport Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linetsky, Vladimir M.; Ivancic, William D.; Vaden, Karl R.

2017-01-01

This paper advocates for a specific design approach, based on simple principals, yet addresses challenges faced by the system engineers when designing complex data and information infrastructure. The document provides guidance for breaking out various work elements in the overall network architecture design, so that communication systems are conceived and effectively realized regardless of their location, size and local specifics. Although targeted at the Global Airspace System (GAS) and National Airspace System (NAS), this framework can be applied to any network-centric architecture.

Serving two masters: quality teaching and learning versus economic rationalism.

PubMed

Kenny, A J; Kendall, S

2001-11-01

Nurse educators face the challenge of competing pressures. Programmes must be developed that more adequately prepare students to meet the demands of a changing and complex health care system. These programmes must reflect excellence in teaching and learning and this needs to be achieved within the constraints of economic rationalism. The design of a model based on principles of self directed learning assisted one university to deliver a high quality clinical skills programme. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

GLIMMPSE Lite: Calculating Power and Sample Size on Smartphone Devices

PubMed Central

Munjal, Aarti; Sakhadeo, Uttara R.; Muller, Keith E.; Glueck, Deborah H.; Kreidler, Sarah M.

2014-01-01

Researchers seeking to develop complex statistical applications for mobile devices face a common set of difficult implementation issues. In this work, we discuss general solutions to the design challenges. We demonstrate the utility of the solutions for a free mobile application designed to provide power and sample size calculations for univariate, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), GLIMMPSE Lite. Our design decisions provide a guide for other scientists seeking to produce statistical software for mobile platforms. PMID:25541688

State-of-the-art equipment for sterilization and biocontainment since 1925.

PubMed

Morganstern, David; Miller, Jake

2015-11-01

Tuttnauer is a worldwide leader in the market for sterilization and infection control. An expansive global presence has aided Tuttnauer's growth over the past four decades. Tuttnauer's products are marketed through seven subsidiaries with local dealers in over 120 countries. The company also holds offices in the United States, Netherlands, India, China, and Vietnam. Facing the most challenging and complex projects worldwide, Tuttnauer has become a driving force in advancing technology in this market to a new standard.

Navigating sticky areas in transdermal product development.

PubMed

Strasinger, Caroline; Raney, Sam G; Tran, Doanh C; Ghosh, Priyanka; Newman, Bryan; Bashaw, Edward D; Ghosh, Tapash; Shukla, Chinmay G

2016-07-10

The benefits of transdermal delivery over the oral route to combat such issues of low bioavailability and limited controlled release opportunities are well known and have been previously discussed by many in the field (Prausnitz et al. (2004) [1]; Hadgraft and Lane (2006) [2]). However, significant challenges faced by developers as a product moves from the purely theoretical to commercial production have hampered full capitalization of the dosage forms vast benefits. While different technical aspects of transdermal system development have been discussed at various industry meetings and scientific workshops, uncertainties have persisted regarding the pharmaceutical industry's conventionally accepted approach for the development and manufacturing of transdermal systems. This review provides an overview of the challenges frequently faced and the industry's best practices for assuring the quality and performance of transdermal delivery systems and topical patches (collectively, TDS). The topics discussed are broadly divided into the evaluation of product quality and the evaluation of product performance; with the overall goal of the discussion to improve, advance and accelerate commercial development in the area of this complex controlled release dosage form. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Co-Simulation for Advanced Process Design and Optimization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stephen E. Zitney

2009-01-01

Meeting the increasing demand for clean, affordable, and secure energy is arguably the most important challenge facing the world today. Fossil fuels can play a central role in a portfolio of carbon-neutral energy options provided CO{sub 2} emissions can be dramatically reduced by capturing CO{sub 2} and storing it safely and effectively. Fossil energy industry faces the challenge of meeting aggressive design goals for next-generation power plants with CCS. Process designs will involve large, highly-integrated, and multipurpose systems with advanced equipment items with complex geometries and multiphysics. APECS is enabling software to facilitate effective integration, solution, and analysis of high-fidelitymore » process/equipment (CFD) co-simulations. APECS helps to optimize fluid flow and related phenomena that impact overall power plant performance. APECS offers many advanced capabilities including ROMs, design optimization, parallel execution, stochastic analysis, and virtual plant co-simulations. NETL and its collaborative R&D partners are using APECS to reduce the time, cost, and technical risk of developing high-efficiency, zero-emission power plants with CCS.« less

Social change or business as usual at city hall? Examining an urban municipal government's response to neighbourhood-level health inequities.

PubMed

Cahuas, Madelaine C; Wakefield, Sarah; Peng, Yun

2015-05-01

There is a renewed interest in the potential of municipal governments working collaboratively with local communities to address health inequities. A growing body of literature has also highlighted the benefits and limitations of participatory approaches in neighbourhood interventions initiated by municipal governments. However, few studies have investigated how neighbourhood interventions tackling health inequities work in real-time and in context, from the perspectives of Community Developers (CDs) who promote community participation. This study uses a process evaluation approach and semi-structured interviews with CDs to explore the challenges they face in implementing a community development, participatory process in the City of Hamilton's strategy to reduce health inequities - Neighbourhood Action. Findings demonstrate that municipal government can facilitate and suppress community participation in complex ways. CDs serve as significant but conflicted intermediaries as they negotiate and navigate power differentials between city and community actors, while also facing structural challenges. We conclude that community participation is important to bottom-up, resident-led social change, and that CDs are central to this work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Western United States Dams Challenges Faced, Options, and Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raff, D.

2017-12-01

Water management in the Western United States relies significantly upon a fleet of small to very large engineered dams to store water during times of runoff and distribute that water during times of need. Much of this infrastructure is Federally owned and/or operated, and was designed and funded during the first half of the twentieth century through a complex set of repayment contracts for Federally authorized purposes addressing water supply, recreation, and hydropower, and other water management objectives. With environmental laws, namely the Endangered Species Act, and other environmental concerns taking a more active role in water resources in the mid to latter half of the twentieth century, this infrastructure is being stressed even greater than anticipated to provide authorized purposes. Additionally, weather and climate norms being experienced are certainly near the edges, if not outside, of anticipated variability in the climate and hydrology scenarios for which the infrastructure was designed. And, finally, these dams, economically designed for a lifespan of 50 - 100 years, are experiencing maintenance challenges from routine to significant. This presentation will focus on identifying some of the history and challenges facing the water infrastructure in the Western United States. Additionally, some perspectives on future paths to meet the needs of western irrigation and hydropower production will be provided.

Good Neighbors: Shared Challenges and Solutions Toward Increasing Value at Academic Medical Centers and Universities.

PubMed

Clancy, Gerard P

2015-12-01

Academic medical centers (AMCs) and universities are experiencing increasing pressure to enhance the value they offer at the same time that they are facing challenges related to outcomes, controlling costs, new competition, and government mandates. Yet, rarely do the leaders of these academic neighbors work cooperatively to enhance value. In this Perspective the author, a former university regional campus president with duties in an AMC as an academic physician, shares his insights into the shared challenges these academic neighbors face in improving the value of their services in complex environments. He describes the successes some AMCs have had in generating revenues from new clinical programs that reduce the overall cost of care for larger populations. He also describes how several universities have taken a comprehensive approach to reduce overhead and administrative costs. The author identifies six themes related to successful value improvement efforts and provides examples of successful strategies used by AMCs and their university neighbors to improve the overall value of their programs. He concludes by encouraging leaders of AMCs and universities to share information about their successes in value improvements with each other, to seek additional joint value enhancement efforts, and to market their value improvements to the public.

Computational study of interfacial charge transfer complexes of 2-anthroic acid adsorbed on a titania nanocluster for direct injection solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manzhos, Sergei; Kotsis, Konstantinos

2016-09-01

Adsorption and light absorption properties of interfacial charge transfer complexes of 2-anthroic acid and titania, promising for direct-injection solar cells, are studied ab initio. The formation of interfacial charge transfer bands is observed. The intensity of visible absorption is relatively low, highlighting a key challenge facing direct injection cells. We show that the popular strategy of using a lower level of theory for geometry optimization followed by single point calculations of adsorption or optical properties introduces significant errors which have been underappreciated: by up to 3 eV in adsorption energies, by up to 5 times in light absorption intensity.

Challenges in Shifting Management Responsibility From Parents to Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease.

PubMed

Kayle, Mariam; Tanabe, Paula; Shah, Nirmish R; Baker-Ward, Lynne; Docherty, Sharron L

This study explored the challenges faced by adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) and their parents and the work they engage in to progressively shift from parent management to independent adolescent self-management. A qualitative descriptive focus-group design with semi-structured interviews was used with adolescents (11-18 years) with SCD (HbSS genotype) and their parents/primary caregivers. Interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Two adolescent focus groups, with a total of 14 adolescents, and two parent focus groups, with a total of 15 parents, described adaptive challenges. Adolescents' adaptive challenges included mastering complex symptom management, communicating about SCD and symptoms, and maintaining control. Parents' adaptive challenges included giving over the complex management, communicating the management with the adolescent, balancing protection against risk with fostering independence, changing a comfortable rhythm, and releasing the adolescent into an "SCD-naive" world. Adolescents' adaptive work included pushing back at parents, defaulting back to parental care, stepping up with time, learning how SCD affects them, and educating friends about SCD. Parents' adaptive work included engaging the adolescent in open dialogue and co-managing with the adolescent. Shifting management responsibility from parents to adolescents imposes adaptive challenges for both. Future research is needed to develop and test interventions that improve adaptive capacity in adolescents and parents. Health care providers need to assess the parent-child relationship and their progress in shifting the management responsibility, facilitate discussions to arrive at a shared understanding of the challenges, and collaborate on adaptive work to address these challenges. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Metrics and tools for consistent cohort discovery and financial analyses post-transition to ICD-10-CM

PubMed Central

Boyd, Andrew D; ‘John’ Li, Jianrong; Kenost, Colleen; Joese, Binoy; Min Yang, Young; Kalagidis, Olympia A; Zenku, Ilir; Saner, Donald; Bahroos, Neil; Lussier, Yves A

2015-01-01

In the United States, International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM, the ninth revision) diagnosis codes are commonly used to identify patient cohorts and to conduct financial analyses related to disease. In October 2015, the healthcare system of the United States will transition to ICD-10-CM (the tenth revision) diagnosis codes. One challenge posed to clinical researchers and other analysts is conducting diagnosis-related queries across datasets containing both coding schemes. Further, healthcare administrators will manage growth, trends, and strategic planning with these dually-coded datasets. The majority of the ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM translations are complex and nonreciprocal, creating convoluted representations and meanings. Similarly, mapping back from ICD-10-CM to ICD-9-CM is equally complex, yet different from mapping forward, as relationships are likewise nonreciprocal. Indeed, 10 of the 21 top clinical categories are complex as 78% of their diagnosis codes are labeled as “convoluted” by our analyses. Analysis and research related to external causes of morbidity, injury, and poisoning will face the greatest challenges due to 41 745 (90%) convolutions and a decrease in the number of codes. We created a web portal tool and translation tables to list all ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes related to the specific input of ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes and their level of complexity: “identity” (reciprocal), “class-to-subclass,” “subclass-to-class,” “convoluted,” or “no mapping.” These tools provide guidance on ambiguous and complex translations to reveal where reports or analyses may be challenging to impossible. Web portal: http://www.lussierlab.org/transition-to-ICD9CM/ Tables annotated with levels of translation complexity: http://www.lussierlab.org/publications/ICD10to9 PMID:25681260

Challenges of International Students in a Japanese University: Ethnographic Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Ju Seong

2017-01-01

The author investigates what challenges four international students (Vietnamese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Chinese) faced and how they coped with these dilemmas in a Japanese language program during the first semester in 2014. Multiple apparatuses (e.g., field notes, face-to-face oral interviews, focal group conversations, and semi-structured…

Challenging the 'view from nowhere': citizen reflections on specialist expertise in a deliberative process.

PubMed

Davies, Gail; Burgess, Jacquelin

2004-12-01

This paper presents analysis of citizen encounters with specialists in a deliberative process, called Deliberative Mapping, which explored options for addressing the shortage of organs for transplantation in the UK. There is a rich theoretical literature about the extent to which citizens are competent to question the knowledge claims of specialists in complex decision-making processes, suggesting the trustworthiness of scientific expertise will depend on the qualities of social interaction in face-to-face dialogue, but little empirical analysis of specific encounters. This paper presents evidence of how citizens located specialist expertise in making judgements about the legitimacy and credibility of specialist knowledge claims, in ways that reflect differences in epistemic procedures valued by the panels of men and women in this process.

Issues in national missile defense

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Canavan, G.H.

1998-12-01

Strategic missiles and weapons are proliferating rapidly; thus, the US and its Allies are likely to face both capable bilateral threats and multilateral configurations with complex coalitions for which defenses could be essential for stability. Current hit-to-kill interceptor and radar and infrared detection, track, and discrimination technology should suffice for limited threats, but it is necessary to meet those threats in time while maintaining growth potential for the more sophisticated threats likely to follow. National Missile Defense faces a confusing array of threats, programs, and alternatives, but the technologies in development are clearly an appropriate first step towards any ofmore » them. They are likely to succeed in the near term; the challenge is to retain flexibility to provide needed options in the mid and long terms.« less

Biologically Complex Planar Cell Plasma Membranes Supported on Polyelectrolyte Cushions Enhance Transmembrane Protein Mobility and Retain Native Orientation.

PubMed

Liu, Han-Yuan; Chen, Wei-Liang; Ober, Christopher K; Daniel, Susan

2018-01-23

Reconstituted supported lipid bilayers (SLB) are widely used as in vitro cell-surface models because they are compatible with a variety of surface-based analytical techniques. However, one of the challenges of using SLBs as a model of the cell surface is the limited complexity in membrane composition, including the incorporation of transmembrane proteins and lipid diversity that may impact the activity of those proteins. Additionally, it is challenging to preserve the transmembrane protein native orientation, function, and mobility in SLBs. Here, we leverage the interaction between cell plasma membrane vesicles and polyelectrolyte brushes to create planar bilayers from cell plasma membrane vesicles that have budded from the cell surface. This approach promotes the direct incorporation of membrane proteins and other species into the planar bilayer without using detergent or reconstitution and preserves membrane constituents. Furthermore, the structure of the polyelectrolyte brush serves as a cushion between the planar bilayer and rigid supporting surface, limiting the interaction of the cytosolic domains of membrane proteins with this surface. Single particle tracking was used to analyze the motion of GPI-linked yellow fluorescent proteins (GPI-YFP) and neon-green fused transmembrane P2X2 receptors (P2X2-neon) and shows that this platform retains over 75% mobility of multipass transmembrane proteins in its native membrane environment. An enzyme accessibility assay confirmed that the protein orientation is preserved and results in the extracellular domain facing toward the bulk phase and the cytosolic side facing the support. Because the platform presented here retains the complexity of the cell plasma membrane and preserves protein orientation and mobility, it is a better representative mimic of native cell surfaces, which may find many applications in biological assays aimed at understanding cell membrane phenomena.

Muslims in America: Identity, Diversity and the Challenge of Understanding. 2001 Carnegie Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Afridi, Sam

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities facing Muslims in the United States, where between 5 to 8 million Muslims live (the fastest growing religion in the country). American Muslims face many challenges, and the public has little understanding of the teachings and practice of Islam. Muslims are prone to negative stereotypes, ethnic…

Advanced physical assessment skills: implementation of a module.

PubMed

Aldridge-Bent, Sharon

2011-02-01

This article aims to explore and examine advanced physical assessment skills and the role of the district nurse. It will particularly highlight district nurses' perceptions of how they may implement skills learnt on a new module introduced into the Community Health Care Nursing degree at a university in London. Physical assessment skills have traditionally been viewed as part of a doctor's role; however, with the advancement of nursing roles, it is argued that it has become a key nursing skill. As Government policy continues to expect health professionals to keep patients in the community who have complex health and social care needs, the role of the district nurse presents as 'best placed' to take on this challenge (Department of Health (DH), 2005a; 2005b). Evaluation of the district nurses' perceptions of their practice is shared here, highlighting some of the challenges that they face. The article will address the complexity of developing a curriculum in response to the DH initiatives and the importance of listening to students on courses.

Adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in clinical practice for early-stage node-negative, estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer: challenges and considerations.

PubMed

Nagaraj, Gayathri; Ma, Cynthia X

2013-03-01

Decisions regarding adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative, lymph node-negative breast cancer have traditionally relied on clinical and pathologic parameters. However, the molecular heterogeneity and the complex tumor genome demand more sophisticated approaches to the problem. Several multigene-based assays have been developed to better prognosticate the risk of recurrence and death and predict benefit of therapy in this patient population. Oncologists are often faced with the challenge of incorporating these various complex genome-based biomarkers along with the traditional biomarkers in clinical decision-making. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Breast Cancer are helpful in providing a general recommendation. However, uncertainty remains in the absence of definitive data for various clinical scenarios. This case report describes a postmenopausal woman with stage I breast cancer that is low-grade and ER-rich, and has an intermediate Oncotype DX recurrence score of 28.

Army Communicator. Volume 32, Number 3, Summer 2007

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

goal of bringing people from across the Army together to talk about the issues and challenges they are experiencing in the field and try to work out...actually facing the challenges . Each work- shop had a mediator who collected information on issues being faced and suggested solutions to these problems...these possible items that Signal Center actions may be put forth to bring about resolutions to the challenges facing the warfighter in the field. “I

Exploring the challenges faced by polytechnic students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matore, Mohd Effendi @ Ewan Mohd; Khairani, Ahmad Zamri

2015-02-01

This study aims to identify other challenges besides those already faced by students, in seven polytechnics in Malaysia as a continuation to the previous research that had identified 52 main challenges faced by students using the Rasch Model. The explorative study focuses on the challenges that are not included in the Mooney Problem Checklist (MPCL). A total of 121 polytechnic students submitted 183 written responses through the open questions provided. Two hundred fifty two students had responded from a students' perspective on the dichotomous questions regarding their view on the challenges faced. The data was analysed qualitatively using the NVivo 8.0. The findings showed that students from Politeknik Seberang Perai (PSP) gave the highest response, which was 56 (30.6%) and Politeknik Metro Kuala Lumpur (PMKL) had the lowest response of 2 (1.09%). Five dominant challenges were identified, which were the English language (32, 17.5%), learning (14, 7.7%), vehicles (13, 7.1%), information technology and communication (ICT) (13, 7.1%), and peers (11, 6.0%). This article, however, focus on three apparent challenges, namely, English language, vehicles, as well as computer and ICT, as the challenges of learning and peers had been analysed in the previous MPCL. The challenge of English language that had been raised was regarding the weakness in commanding the aspects of speech and fluency. The computer and ICT challenge covered the weakness in mastering ICT and computers, as well as computer breakdowns and low-performance computers. The challenge of vehicles emphasized the unavailability of vehicles to attend lectures and go elsewhere, lack of transportation service in the polytechnic and not having a valid driving license. These challenges are very relevant and need to be discussed in an effort to prepare polytechnics in facing the transformational process of polytechnics.

Modernization of the Cassini Ground System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Razo, Gus; Fujii, Tammy J.

2014-01-01

The Cassini Spacecraft and its ground system have been operational for over 16 years. Modernization presents several challenges due to the personnel, processes, and tools already invested and embedded into the current ground system structure. Every mission's ground system has its own unique complexities and challenges, involving various organizational units. As any mission from its inception to its execution, schedules are always tight. This forces GDS engineers to implement a working ground system that is not necessarily fully optimized. Ground system challenges increase as technology evolves and cyber threats become more sophisticated. Cassini's main challenges were due to its ground system existing before many security requirements were levied on the multi-mission tools and networks. This caused a domino effect on Cassini GDS tools that relied on outdated technological features. In the aerospace industry reliable and established technology is preferred over innovative yet less proven technology. Loss of data for a spacecraft mission can be catastrophic; therefore, there is a reluctance to make changes and updates to the ground system. Nevertheless, all missions and associated teams face the need to modernize their processes and tools. Systems development methods from well-known system analysis and design principles can be applied to many missions' ground systems. Modernization should always be considered, but should be done in such a way that it does not affect flexibility nor interfere with established practices. Cassini has accomplished a secure and efficient ground data system through periodic updates. The obstacles faced while performing the modernization of the Cassini ground system will be outlined, as well as the advantages and challenges that were encountered.

A flipped mode teaching approach for large and advanced electrical engineering courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravishankar, Jayashri; Epps, Julien; Ambikairajah, Eliathamby

2018-05-01

A fully flipped mode teaching approach is challenging for students in advanced engineering courses, because of demanding pre-class preparation load, due to the complex and analytical nature of the topics. When this is applied to large classes, it brings an additional complexity in terms of promoting the intended active learning. This paper presents a novel selective flipped mode teaching approach designed for large and advanced courses that has two aspects: (i) it provides selective flipping of a few topics, while delivering others in traditional face-to-face teaching, to provide an effective trade-off between the two approaches according to the demands of individual topics and (ii) it introduces technology-enabled live in-class quizzes to obtain instant feedback and facilitate collaborative problem-solving exercises. The proposed approach was implemented for a large fourth year course in electrical power engineering over three successive years and the criteria for selecting between the flipped mode teaching and traditional teaching modes are outlined. Results confirmed that the proposed approach improved both students' academic achievements and their engagement in the course, without overloading them during the teaching period.

When Health Systems Are Barriers to Health Care: Challenges Faced by Uninsured Mexican Kidney Patients

PubMed Central

Kierans, Ciara; Padilla-Altamira, Cesar; Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo; Ibarra-Hernandez, Margarita; Mercado, Francisco J.

2013-01-01

Background Chronic Kidney Disease disproportionately affects the poor in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Mexico exemplifies the difficulties faced in supporting Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) and providing equitable patient care, despite recent attempts at health reform. The objective of this study is to document the challenges faced by uninsured, poor Mexican families when attempting to access RRT. Methods The article takes an ethnographic approach, using interviewing and observation to generate detailed accounts of the problems that accompany attempts to secure care. The study, based in the state of Jalisco, comprised interviews with patients, their caregivers, health and social care professionals, among others. Observations were carried out in both clinical and social settings. Results In the absence of organised health information and stable pathways to renal care, patients and their families work extraordinarily hard and at great expense to secure care in a mixed public-private healthcare system. As part of this work, they must navigate challenging health and social care environments, negotiate treatments and costs, resource and finance healthcare and manage a wide range of formal and informal health information. Conclusions Examining commonalities across pathways to adequate healthcare reveals major failings in the Mexican system. These systemic problems serve to reproduce and deepen health inequalities. A system, in which the costs of renal care are disproportionately borne by those who can least afford them, faces major difficulties around the sustainability and resourcing of RRTs. Attempts to increase access to renal therapies, therefore, need to take into account the complex social and economic demands this places on those who need access most. This paper further shows that ethnographic studies of the concrete ways in which healthcare is accessed in practice provide important insights into the plight of CKD patients and so constitute an important source of evidence in that effort. PMID:23349868

Challenges and Changes Faced by Rural Superintendents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamkin, Marcia L.

2006-01-01

This research study was designed to build grounded theory about the challenges faced by rural superintendents. Participating rural superintendents identified five areas that presented a challenge but that also applied to superintendents in other settings: school law, finance, personnel, government mandates, and district or board policies. Further,…

Finding a Trans-Affirmative Provider: Challenges Faced by Trans and Gender Diverse Psychologists and Psychology Trainees.

PubMed

Dickey, Lore M; Singh, Anneliese A

2017-08-01

This article explores some of the challenges faced by trans and gender diverse (TGD) individuals who not only are attempting to access trans-affirmative care, but who are also members of the very profession from which they are seeking services. The authors explore challenges related to finding supervision, accessing care for assessment services, and finding a provider for personal counseling. With each example, the authors unpack the challenges and also address the implications for training for all involved. Based on these challenges that TGD psychologists and trainees face in attempting to access care, the authors provide recommendations related to trans-affirmative training for psychologists. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Invisible Army

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The “invisible army” of clinical microbiologists is facing major changes and challenges. The rate of change in both the science and technology is accelerating with no end in sight, putting pressure on our army to learn and adapt as never before. Health care funding in the United States is undergoing dramatic change which will require a new set of assumptions about how clinical microbiology is practiced here. A major challenge facing the discipline is the replacement of a generation of clinical microbiologists. In my opinion, it is incumbent on us in the invisible army to continue to work with the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in meeting the future challenges faced by our discipline. In this commentary, I will first discuss some recent history of clinical microbiology within ASM and then some current challenges we face. PMID:28659316

Children at Risk: Global Views on Challenges Facing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neugebauer, Roger

2011-01-01

Members of the World Forum community were invited to respond to the question: "What is the most urgent challenge facing young children in your country?" Here are some of their responses. Jamils Richard Achunji Anguaseh mentions that in Cameroon, young children face lots of insecurity, both from health hazards and poor parenting practices. There…

Challenges in the management of community pharmacies in Malaysia

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background: The provision of professional pharmacy services by community pharmacists continues to be limited, particularly in low and middle income countries. It was postulated that multiple management challenges faced by community pharmacists contribute to this situation. Objective: The primary aim of the research was to determine the challenges faced in the management of community pharmacies in Sarawak (the largest state in Malaysia), and practical strategies to cope and overcome the challenges. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with community pharmacists practising in Sarawak. Purposive and snowball sampling were employed to ensure a diverse group of informants. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with the resultant data analysed using thematic analysis. Data collection, coding, interpretation were carried out iteratively until theoretical saturation. Results: Twenty respondents from different demographic characteristics were recruited. Six major themes were identified. Management challenges faced by community pharmacists traverse five major domains: market competition, legislative issues, customers’ knowledge and expectations, macroeconomic impacts and operational challenges. Most of these challenges require government intervention to be resolved. In the meantime, improving customer service and expanding the range of professional services were seen as the most viable strategies to cope with existing challenges. The main concern is that current legislative and economic landscape may hinder these strategies. Enactment of dispensing separation and more protective measures against market competition were suggested to alleviate the challenges faced. Conclusion: Numerous management challenges faced by community pharmacists that distract them from delivering professional pharmacy services have been highlighted. Urgent affirmative actions by the government are warranted in supporting community pharmacists to realise and maximise their potentials. PMID:28690697

The video watermarking container: efficient real-time transaction watermarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Patrick; Hauer, Enrico; Steinebach, Martin

2008-02-01

When transaction watermarking is used to secure sales in online shops by embedding transaction specific watermarks, the major challenge is embedding efficiency: Maximum speed by minimal workload. This is true for all types of media. Video transaction watermarking presents a double challenge. Video files not only are larger than for example music files of the same playback time. In addition, video watermarking algorithms have a higher complexity than algorithms for other types of media. Therefore online shops that want to protect their videos by transaction watermarking are faced with the problem that their servers need to work harder and longer for every sold medium in comparison to audio sales. In the past, many algorithms responded to this challenge by reducing their complexity. But this usually results in a loss of either robustness or transparency. This paper presents a different approach. The container technology separates watermark embedding into two stages: A preparation stage and the finalization stage. In the preparation stage, the video is divided into embedding segments. For each segment one copy marked with "0" and anther one marked with "1" is created. This stage is computationally expensive but only needs to be done once. In the finalization stage, the watermarked video is assembled from the embedding segments according to the watermark message. This stage is very fast and involves no complex computations. It thus allows efficient creation of individually watermarked video files.

Representing complexity well: a story about teamwork, with implications for how we teach collaboration.

PubMed

Lingard, Lorelei; McDougall, Allan; Levstik, Mark; Chandok, Natasha; Spafford, Marlee M; Schryer, Catherine

2012-09-01

In order to be relevant and impactful, our research into health care teamwork needs to better reflect the complexity inherent to this area. This study explored the complexity of collaborative practice on a distributed transplant team. We employed the theoretical lenses of activity theory to better understand the nature of collaborative complexity and its implications for current approaches to interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and interprofessional education (IPE). Over 4 months, two trained observers conducted 162 hours of observation, 30 field interviews and 17 formal interviews with 39 members of a solid organ transplant team in a Canadian teaching hospital. Participants included consultant medical and surgical staff and postgraduate trainees, the team nurse practitioner, social worker, dietician, pharmacist, physical therapist, bedside nurses, organ donor coordinators and organ recipient coordinators. Data collection and inductive analysis for emergent themes proceeded iteratively. Daily collaborative practice involves improvisation in the face of recurring challenges on a distributed team. This paper focuses on the theme of 'interservice' challenges, which represent instances in which the 'core' transplant team (those providing daily care for transplant patients) work to engage the expertise and resources of other services in the hospital, such as those of radiology and pathology departments. We examine a single story of the core team's collaboration with cardiology, anaesthesiology and radiology services to decide whether a patient is appropriate for transplantation and use this story to consider the team's strategies in the face of conflicting expectations and preferences among these services. This story of collaboration in a distributed team calls into question two premises underpinning current models of IPC and IPE: the notion that stable professional roles exist, and the ideal of a unifying objective of 'caring for the patient'. We suggest important elaborations to these premises as they are used to conceptualise and teach IPC in order to better represent the intricacy of everyday collaborative work in health care. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Addressing current challenges in cancer immunotherapy with mathematical and computational modelling.

PubMed

Konstorum, Anna; Vella, Anthony T; Adler, Adam J; Laubenbacher, Reinhard C

2017-06-01

The goal of cancer immunotherapy is to boost a patient's immune response to a tumour. Yet, the design of an effective immunotherapy is complicated by various factors, including a potentially immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, immune-modulating effects of conventional treatments and therapy-related toxicities. These complexities can be incorporated into mathematical and computational models of cancer immunotherapy that can then be used to aid in rational therapy design. In this review, we survey modelling approaches under the umbrella of the major challenges facing immunotherapy development, which encompass tumour classification, optimal treatment scheduling and combination therapy design. Although overlapping, each challenge has presented unique opportunities for modellers to make contributions using analytical and numerical analysis of model outcomes, as well as optimization algorithms. We discuss several examples of models that have grown in complexity as more biological information has become available, showcasing how model development is a dynamic process interlinked with the rapid advances in tumour-immune biology. We conclude the review with recommendations for modellers both with respect to methodology and biological direction that might help keep modellers at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy development. © 2017 The Author(s).

Operational research as implementation science: definitions, challenges and research priorities.

PubMed

Monks, Thomas

2016-06-06

Operational research (OR) is the discipline of using models, either quantitative or qualitative, to aid decision-making in complex implementation problems. The methods of OR have been used in healthcare since the 1950s in diverse areas such as emergency medicine and the interface between acute and community care; hospital performance; scheduling and management of patient home visits; scheduling of patient appointments; and many other complex implementation problems of an operational or logistical nature. To date, there has been limited debate about the role that operational research should take within implementation science. I detail three such roles for OR all grounded in upfront system thinking: structuring implementation problems, prospective evaluation of improvement interventions, and strategic reconfiguration. Case studies from mental health, emergency medicine, and stroke care are used to illustrate each role. I then describe the challenges for applied OR within implementation science at the organisational, interventional, and disciplinary levels. Two key challenges include the difficulty faced in achieving a position of mutual understanding between implementation scientists and research users and a stark lack of evaluation of OR interventions. To address these challenges, I propose a research agenda to evaluate applied OR through the lens of implementation science, the liberation of OR from the specialist research and consultancy environment, and co-design of models with service users. Operational research is a mature discipline that has developed a significant volume of methodology to improve health services. OR offers implementation scientists the opportunity to do more upfront system thinking before committing resources or taking risks. OR has three roles within implementation science: structuring an implementation problem, prospective evaluation of implementation problems, and a tool for strategic reconfiguration of health services. Challenges facing OR as implementation science include limited evidence and evaluation of impact, limited service user involvement, a lack of managerial awareness, effective communication between research users and OR modellers, and availability of healthcare data. To progress the science, a focus is needed in three key areas: evaluation of OR interventions, embedding the knowledge of OR in health services, and educating OR modellers about the aims and benefits of service user involvement.

Achievements and challenges of Space Station Freedom's safety review process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, David W.

1993-01-01

The most complex space vehicle in history, Space Station Freedom, is well underway to completion, and System Safety is a vital part of the program. The purpose is to summarize and illustrate the progress that over one-hundred System Safety engineers have made in identifying, documenting, and controlling the hazards inherent in the space station. To date, Space Station Freedom has been reviewed by NASA's safety panels through the first six assembly flights, when Freedom achieves a configuration known as Man Tended Capability. During the eight weeks of safety reviews spread out over a year and a half, over 200 preliminary hazard reports were presented. Along the way NASA and its contractors faced many challenges, made much progress, and even learned a few lessons.

Achievements and challenges of Space Station Freedom's safety review process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, David W.

1993-07-01

The most complex space vehicle in history, Space Station Freedom, is well underway to completion, and System Safety is a vital part of the program. The purpose is to summarize and illustrate the progress that over one-hundred System Safety engineers have made in identifying, documenting, and controlling the hazards inherent in the space station. To date, Space Station Freedom has been reviewed by NASA's safety panels through the first six assembly flights, when Freedom achieves a configuration known as Man Tended Capability. During the eight weeks of safety reviews spread out over a year and a half, over 200 preliminary hazard reports were presented. Along the way NASA and its contractors faced many challenges, made much progress, and even learned a few lessons.

Business of biosimilars - 14th annual conference (October 15-17, 2013 - Boston, Massachusetts, USA).

PubMed

Bourgoin, A

2013-12-01

Competition in the biological market offers a new set of opportunities and challenges within the healthcare industry. Biosimilars, like generic small-molecule drugs, can provide cost savings and increase patient access, while also promoting innovation. While large molecule manufacturers face many challenges unique to complex therapeutics, it is becoming clear that the commercialization of biosimilars shares many of the same hurdles as the generics market. The 14th Annual Business of Biosimilars Conference provided quality presentations from industry leaders regarding many commercial considerations for stakeholders interested in entering the biosimilars market. Opportunities to network with industry experts were offered, with over 120 attendees. Copyright 2013 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved.

Eating disorders and the oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

PubMed

Blitz, Meredith; Rosen, David S

2010-11-01

Perhaps the most challenging of all patients seeking treatment with the oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS) are those with eating disorders (EDs). Complex psychiatric illnesses, with their associated and significant medical sequelae, make a thorough knowledge of these disorders critical in the approach, evaluation, treatment planning, and surgical outcome in this expanding population of patients. Whether surgery for patients with EDs is elective in nature or unplanned, challenges are faced in all aspects of their care, from diagnosis to preoperative preparation, surgery, and treatment. This article identifies and outlines issues of importance for the OMS when encountering patients with known or suspected EDs and provides guidance in the management of their outpatient or inpatient treatment. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Myostatin and sarcopenia: opportunities and challenges - a mini-review.

PubMed

White, Thomas A; LeBrasseur, Nathan K

2014-01-01

The progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and/or function with advancing age, termed sarcopenia, poses a major threat to independence and quality of life. Therefore, there is significant merit in better understanding the biology of sarcopenia and developing therapeutic interventions to prevent, slow or reverse its progression. Since the discovery of myostatin, a potent negative regulator of growth that is highly enriched in skeletal muscle, there has been great interest in it as a potential mediator of sarcopenia as well as a therapeutic target. The complex biology of myostatin, the promise of myostatin inhibition as an effective means to counter sarcopenia, and the challenges facing its clinical translation are reviewed herein. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The politicization of abortion and the evolution of abortion counseling.

PubMed

Joffe, Carole

2013-01-01

The field of abortion counseling originated in the abortion rights movement of the 1970s. During its evolution to the present day, it has faced significant challenges, primarily arising from the increasing politicization and stigmatization of abortion since legalization. Abortion counseling has been affected not only by the imposition of antiabortion statutes, but also by the changing needs of patients who have come of age in a very different era than when this occupation was first developed. One major innovation--head and heart counseling--departs in significant ways from previous conventions of the field and illustrates the complex and changing political meanings of abortion and therefore the challenges to abortion providers in the years following Roe v Wade.

The challenges and effects of globalisation on forensic dentistry.

PubMed

Bernitz, Herman

2009-08-01

This paper deals with the challenges faced by forensic dentists in a world in which globalisation has become a reality. People travelling across the globe on a daily basis become victims of violent crime, terrorist attacks, human displacement, natural and man made disasters. This has forced colleagues in the profession to participate in joint operations exposing inadequacies which need urgent attention. Forensic dentists practise in isolation creating their own rules and regulations oblivious to the greater global community. No international protocols exist for the many procedures practised by the profession. Possible solutions to the complex problems are offered. These include co-operation with colleagues around the globe while striving for the highest levels of quality control, standardisation, reliability, impartiality, reproducibility and ethical accountability.

Environmental Microbial Community Proteomics: Status, Challenges and Perspectives.

PubMed

Wang, Da-Zhi; Kong, Ling-Fen; Li, Yuan-Yuan; Xie, Zhang-Xian

2016-08-05

Microbial community proteomics, also termed metaproteomics, is an emerging field within the area of microbiology, which studies the entire protein complement recovered directly from a complex environmental microbial community at a given point in time. Although it is still in its infancy, microbial community proteomics has shown its powerful potential in exploring microbial diversity, metabolic potential, ecological function and microbe-environment interactions. In this paper, we review recent advances achieved in microbial community proteomics conducted in diverse environments, such as marine and freshwater, sediment and soil, activated sludge, acid mine drainage biofilms and symbiotic communities. The challenges facing microbial community proteomics are also discussed, and we believe that microbial community proteomics will greatly enhance our understanding of the microbial world and its interactions with the environment.

The Concept of Biosimilars: From Characterization to Evolution-A Narrative Review.

PubMed

Farhat, Fadi; Torres, Alfredo; Park, Wungki; de Lima Lopes, Gilberto; Mudad, Raja; Ikpeazu, Chukwuemeka; Abi Aad, Simon

2018-03-01

Biologic agents are currently the fastest emerging segment of drug expenditure. Unlike chemically synthesized small-molecule drugs, biologics are more complex, medicinal products produced by a living organism. They have become part of the standard of care in the treatment of a large variety of diseases, such as growth disorders, autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular illnesses, hemophilia, and rare genetic conditions, to name a few. Biosimilars, which are copies of biologics that are highly similar, were introduced in the market with an aim to offer efficacy that is not clinically different from the originator or reference product, at lower prices. We aim to clarify the concept of biosimilar, from definitions, history, market entry, challenges faced, and future evolution. For that purpose, we performed a literature search on the sites of the medicines regulatory agencies and PubMed from 1990 to 2014 with the keywords "biosimilars," "market," and "regulatory." In 2006, the first biosimilar, somatropin [rDNA origin], was marketed and led the way for biosimilar drug manufacturing. As a result, manufacturers have entered a diversified competition, facing challenges in manufacturing these complex agents, such as immunogenicity and efficiency. Biosimilars are set to evolve differently in various markets, namely the U.S., Japan, the European Union, and the "pharmerging" economies. This article highlights the importance of biosimilars, as a cost-cutting strategy, in the delivery of state-of-the-art health care in developing countries, at a fraction of what a reference biological agent would cost. © AlphaMed Press 2017.

The IDEA model: A single equation approach to the Ebola forecasting challenge.

PubMed

Tuite, Ashleigh R; Fisman, David N

2018-03-01

Mathematical modeling is increasingly accepted as a tool that can inform disease control policy in the face of emerging infectious diseases, such as the 2014-2015 West African Ebola epidemic, but little is known about the relative performance of alternate forecasting approaches. The RAPIDD Ebola Forecasting Challenge (REFC) tested the ability of eight mathematical models to generate useful forecasts in the face of simulated Ebola outbreaks. We used a simple, phenomenological single-equation model (the "IDEA" model), which relies only on case counts, in the REFC. Model fits were performed using a maximum likelihood approach. We found that the model performed reasonably well relative to other more complex approaches, with performance metrics ranked on average 4th or 5th among participating models. IDEA appeared better suited to long- than short-term forecasts, and could be fit using nothing but reported case counts. Several limitations were identified, including difficulty in identifying epidemic peak (even retrospectively), unrealistically precise confidence intervals, and difficulty interpolating daily case counts when using a model scaled to epidemic generation time. More realistic confidence intervals were generated when case counts were assumed to follow a negative binomial, rather than Poisson, distribution. Nonetheless, IDEA represents a simple phenomenological model, easily implemented in widely available software packages that could be used by frontline public health personnel to generate forecasts with accuracy that approximates that which is achieved using more complex methodologies. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of Gold Nanoparticle towards Radioenhancement Therapy, Renal Clearance, siRNA Delivery and Light-Controlled Gene Silencing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianxin

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been widely studied and used in research for diagnostic, prophylactic or therapeutic purposes. However, they still face many technical challenges before they can be used to effectively address unmet biomedical needs. The theme of this dissertation is focused on addressing challenges of GNPs in clinical translation, and to improve their potential for application in radioenhancement therapy and siRNA delivery. We demonstrate the facile self-assembly of micellar gold nanocapsules using zwitterionic surfactants, with hydrodynamic diameters below 10 nm, which holds promise for good renal clearance to promote the excretion of GNPs in human body. We also prepared PEI- and PEG-coated GNPs and demonstrated their uptake into HeLa cells with exposure to soft X-rays (120 kVp), based on the consideration that the proximity of GNPs to nuclear DNA may be beneficial for enhancing low-energy ionizing radiotherapy. GNP-mediated siRNA delivery may be challenged by nonspecific siRNA desorption during circulation, which can cause off-target effects and immunogenicity. The use of gold nanorods (GNRs) for siRNA delivery also faces challenges like reduced dispersion stability during siRNA functionalization. We developed an effective way to load siRNA onto GNRs at high density, using oleylsulfobetaine (OSB) as an intermediate surfactant and dithiocarbamates (DTCs) as desorption-resistant anchors for siRNA. The GNR?siRNA complexes provided excellent control for laser-triggered gene silencing.

An opportunity and an imperative: Chapter 11 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Updike, Randall G.; Page, William R.

2013-01-01

Along the nearly 3,200 kilometers (almost 2,000 miles) of the United States–Mexican border, we are witnessing the expression of the challenges of the 21st century. The Borderlands have become a microcosm for the entire United States and Mexico; the issues faced in that region are felt throughout both nations—water availability and quality, ecosystem health, natural resource needs, safety from natural hazards, and human socioeconomic well-being. If these issues were not challenging enough, we now recognize that the difficulties of addressing them are exacerbated by the onset of climate change, and as we come to better understand the complexities of the components of these challenge themes, we discover that each part is inextricably intertwined with other overarching issues. Further, because we are a creative and progressive society, we all seek to understand and appreciate the natural environments associated with the Borderlands while at the same time benefitting from the region’s many social and economic values. It is little wonder that we as a society find it increasingly difficult to ask the right questions, much less find suitable answers to the questions we do ask. For the many scientists who have worked in the Borderlands and contributed to the preceding chapters, this circular is a way to describe to the two nations of the region the capabilities the U.S. Geological Survey can provide to assist in that quest for knowledge and understanding in preparation for the future.

Deep brain stimulation and ethics: perspectives from a multisite qualitative study of Canadian neurosurgical centers.

PubMed

Bell, Emily; Maxwell, Bruce; McAndrews, Mary Pat; Sadikot, Abbas; Racine, Eric

2011-12-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an approved neurosurgical intervention for motor disorders such as Parkinson disease. The emergence of psychiatric uses for DBS combined with the fact that it is an invasive and expensive procedure creates important ethical and social challenges in the delivery of care that need further examination. We endeavored to examine health care provider perspectives on ethical and social challenges encountered in DBS. Health care providers working in Canadian DBS surgery programs participated in a semistructured interview to identify and characterize ethical and social challenges of DBS. A content analysis of the interviews was conducted. Several key ethical issues, such as patient screening and resource allocation, were identified by members of neurosurgical teams. Providers described challenges in selecting patients for DBS on the basis of unclear evidence-based guidance regarding behavioral issues or cognitive criteria. Varied contexts of resource allocation, including some very challenging schemas, were also reported. In addition, the management of patients in the community was highlighted as a source of ethical and clinical complexity, given the need for coordinated long-term care. This study provides insights into the complexity of ethical challenges that providers face in the use of DBS across different neurosurgical centers. We propose actions for health care providers for the long-term care and postoperative monitoring of patients with DBS. More data on patient perspectives in DBS would complement the understanding of key challenges, as well as contribute to best practices, for patient selection, management, and resource allocation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Computational complexity of algorithms for sequence comparison, short-read assembly and genome alignment.

PubMed

Baichoo, Shakuntala; Ouzounis, Christos A

A multitude of algorithms for sequence comparison, short-read assembly and whole-genome alignment have been developed in the general context of molecular biology, to support technology development for high-throughput sequencing, numerous applications in genome biology and fundamental research on comparative genomics. The computational complexity of these algorithms has been previously reported in original research papers, yet this often neglected property has not been reviewed previously in a systematic manner and for a wider audience. We provide a review of space and time complexity of key sequence analysis algorithms and highlight their properties in a comprehensive manner, in order to identify potential opportunities for further research in algorithm or data structure optimization. The complexity aspect is poised to become pivotal as we will be facing challenges related to the continuous increase of genomic data on unprecedented scales and complexity in the foreseeable future, when robust biological simulation at the cell level and above becomes a reality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"I don't want them to look at me and think of my illness, I just want them to look at me and see me": Child perspectives on the challenges associated with disclosing an epilepsy diagnosis to others.

PubMed

Benson, Ailbhe; Lambert, Veronica; Gallagher, Pamela; Shahwan, Amre; Austin, Joan K

2015-12-01

Disclosure of a concealable stigmatized identity, such as epilepsy, to those external to the nuclear family can be complex. Among children living with epilepsy (CWE), diagnosis disclosure has been identified as a quality-of-life issue and a source of psychosocial distress. Despite this, limited empirical evidence exists regarding the disclosure experiences of CWE. This study aimed to identify the contextual factors that act as challenges for CWE when disclosing their epilepsy diagnosis to others external to the nuclear family. This qualitative exploratory study consisted of individual interviews with 29 CWE (aged 6-16 years; mean age=11.17 years; S.D.=2.85). Participants were recruited from a tertiary referral unit in the neurology department of a pediatric hospital and through a national epilepsy association. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data were thematically analyzed. The five main challenges to epilepsy diagnosis disclosure for children were: 1) CWE's desire for normalcy, 2) out of sight but in the mind, 3) contending with negative responses to disclosure, 4) the complexity of epilepsy, and 5) self and others' perceptions of epilepsy. These findings provide valuable insight into the factors that present difficulties and impede epilepsy diagnosis disclosure among CWE. Such knowledge is important in informing engagements between health-care professionals (HCPs) and CWE. In particular, HCPs should remain cognisant of the challenges CWE face as they: (i) strive for normalcy and (ii) grapple with comprehending their complex neurological condition. Tackling such disclosure challenges could serve to enhance life quality, improve CWE's openness with others about epilepsy, and consequently work toward reducing epilepsy-related misconceptions and stigma. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges When Introducing Electronic Exam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuikka, Matti; Kitola, Markus; Laakso, Mikko-Jussi

2014-01-01

Time pressures often necessitate the use of more efficient exam tools, such as electronic exams (e-exams), instead of traditional paper exams. However, teachers may face challenges when introducing e-exams in a higher education context. This paper describes what kinds of challenges teachers may face when introducing e-exams, based on experiences…

Bridging the Gap: The Challenges of Employing Entrepreneurial Processes within University Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wardale, Dorothy; Lord, Linley

2016-01-01

In Australia and elsewhere, universities face increasing pressure to improve research output and quality, particularly through partnerships with industry. This raises interesting challenges for academic staff with considerable industry experience who are "new" to academe. Some of these challenges were faced by the authors who have been…

Challenges Faced by Project Competition Participants and Recommended Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demirel, Turgay; Baydas, Ozlem; Yilmaz, Rabia M.; Goktas, Yuksel

2013-01-01

The numbers of project competitions and interest in this kind of competition have been steadily increasing in Turkey. Accordingly, it is important to determine what challenges teachers and students may face while preparing themselves for project competitions, so that recommendations may be made to overcome these challenges. This study investigated…

The Complexity of Multiple Contraceptive Method Use and the Anxiety That Informs It: Implications for Theory and Practice.

PubMed

Frohwirth, Lori; Blades, Nakeisha; Moore, Ann M; Wurtz, Heather

2016-11-01

Despite clinical guidelines and national data describing the use of one contraceptive method as the best and most common way to prevent unintended pregnancy, limited evidence indicates a more complex picture of actual contraceptive practice. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in November of 2013 with a sample of women from two cities in the United States (n = 52). The interviews explored the ways participants used contraception to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy over the past 12 months. Most respondents reported using multiple methods, many of which are considered to be less-effective, within this timeframe. The practice of combining methods in order to increase one's level of protection from pregnancy was prevalent, and was mainly enacted in two ways: by backing up inconsistent method use with other methods and by "buttressing" methods. These practices were found to be more common, and more complex, than previously described in the literature. These behaviors were mainly informed by a deep anxiety about both the efficacy of contraceptive methods, and about respondents' own perceived ability to prevent pregnancy. These findings challenge prevailing assumptions about women's contraceptive method use and have implications for clinical contraceptive counseling practice.

A proposed reductionist solution to address the methodological challenges of inconsistent reflexology maps and poor experimental controls in reflexology research: a discussion paper.

PubMed

Jones, Jenny; Thomson, Patricia; Lauder, William; Leslie, Stephen J

2013-03-01

Reflexology is a complex massage intervention, based on the concept that specific areas of the feet (reflex points) correspond to individual internal organs within the body. Reflexologists trained in the popular Ingham reflexology method claim that massage to these points, using massage techniques unique to reflexology, stimulates an increase in blood supply to the corresponding organ. Reflexology researchers face two key methodological challenges that need to be addressed if a specific treatment-related hemodynamic effect is to be scientifically demonstrated. The first is the problem of inconsistent reflexology foot maps; the second is the issue of poor experimental controls. This article proposes a potential experimental solution that we believe can address both methodological challenges and in doing so, allow any specific hemodynamic treatment effect unique to reflexology to experimentally reveal itself.

The fundamental managerial challenges in the role of a contemporary district nurse: A discussion.

PubMed

McComiskey, Florence

2017-10-02

This article examines some of the fundamental challenges facing the district nurse in delivery of the managerial aspects of her role in contemporary practice. It discusses the personal attributes that are essential for this role to ensure safe, effective and compassionate leadership and management. The communication skills and ethos underpinning collaborative multidiscilplinary team work and person-centred care are discussed. Issues that compromise positive and productive team working are identified, and strategies dealing with conflict and also change management are debated. These factors are interrelated with the everyday demands of caseload management, the development of educational needs to meet the demands of increased complexity in care needs, and the place of technology in modern health care. It is evidenced that sustained organisational support for this role is more important than ever, due to increasing demand and decreasing capacity. Potential solutions to these challenges are offered to assist the contemporary district nurse.

Are deaf students' reading challenges really about reading?

PubMed

Marschark, Marc; Sapere, Patricia; Convertino, Carol M; Mayer, Connie; Wauters, Loes; Sarchet, Thomastine

2009-01-01

Reading achievement among deaf students typically lags significantly behind hearing peers, a situation that has changed little despite decades of research. This lack of progress and recent findings indicating that deaf students face many of the same challenges in comprehending sign language as they do in comprehending text suggest that difficulties frequently observed in their learning from text may involve more than just reading. Two experiments examined college students' learning of material from science texts. Passages were presented to deaf (signing) students in print or American Sign Language and to hearing students in print or auditorially. Several measures of learning indicated that the deaf students learned as much or more from print as they did from sign language, but less than hearing students in both cases. These and other results suggest that challenges to deaf students' reading comprehension may be more complex than is generally assumed.

Virtual optical network mapping and core allocation in elastic optical networks using multi-core fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Hejun; Wang, Yuping; Xu, Zhanqi; Hao, Shanshan; Wang, Xiaoli

2017-11-01

Virtualization technology can greatly improve the efficiency of the networks by allowing the virtual optical networks to share the resources of the physical networks. However, it will face some challenges, such as finding the efficient strategies for virtual nodes mapping, virtual links mapping and spectrum assignment. It is even more complex and challenging when the physical elastic optical networks using multi-core fibers. To tackle these challenges, we establish a constrained optimization model to determine the optimal schemes of optical network mapping, core allocation and spectrum assignment. To solve the model efficiently, tailor-made encoding scheme, crossover and mutation operators are designed. Based on these, an efficient genetic algorithm is proposed to obtain the optimal schemes of the virtual nodes mapping, virtual links mapping, core allocation. The simulation experiments are conducted on three widely used networks, and the experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm.

Lorcaserin: drug profile and illustrative model of the regulatory challenges of weight-loss drug development.

PubMed

Bays, Harold E

2011-03-01

Lorcaserin is a selective 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2c agonist developed as a weight-loss drug. Phase II and III clinical trials support lorcaserin as not only reducing adiposity (i.e., fat mass), but also as improving the metabolic diseases commonly associated with adiposopathy (i.e., fat dysfunction). At the time of this writing, regulatory processes continue towards evaluating lorcaserin as a potentially marketed weight-loss and weight-maintenance agent. Some of the challenges facing lorcaserin are similar to the difficulties encountered by all investigational weight-loss therapeutic agents, which include evolving paths towards approval. While important for clinicians to understand approval hurdles for all therapeutics, it is especially critical for researchers and developers to grasp the unique regulatory complexities of anti-obesity agents. This article profiles lorcaserin as an illustrative example of general drug development regulatory processes, and specifically details the unique challenge of weight-loss drug development.

Hybrid generative-discriminative approach to age-invariant face recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sajid, Muhammad; Shafique, Tamoor

2018-03-01

Age-invariant face recognition is still a challenging research problem due to the complex aging process involving types of facial tissues, skin, fat, muscles, and bones. Most of the related studies that have addressed the aging problem are focused on generative representation (aging simulation) or discriminative representation (feature-based approaches). Designing an appropriate hybrid approach taking into account both the generative and discriminative representations for age-invariant face recognition remains an open problem. We perform a hybrid matching to achieve robustness to aging variations. This approach automatically segments the eyes, nose-bridge, and mouth regions, which are relatively less sensitive to aging variations compared with the rest of the facial regions that are age-sensitive. The aging variations of age-sensitive facial parts are compensated using a demographic-aware generative model based on a bridged denoising autoencoder. The age-insensitive facial parts are represented by pixel average vector-based local binary patterns. Deep convolutional neural networks are used to extract relative features of age-sensitive and age-insensitive facial parts. Finally, the feature vectors of age-sensitive and age-insensitive facial parts are fused to achieve the recognition results. Extensive experimental results on morphological face database II (MORPH II), face and gesture recognition network (FG-NET), and Verification Subset of cross-age celebrity dataset (CACD-VS) demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for age-invariant face recognition well.

Constraint-based stoichiometric modelling from single organisms to microbial communities

PubMed Central

Olivier, Brett G.; Bruggeman, Frank J.; Teusink, Bas

2016-01-01

Microbial communities are ubiquitously found in Nature and have direct implications for the environment, human health and biotechnology. The species composition and overall function of microbial communities are largely shaped by metabolic interactions such as competition for resources and cross-feeding. Although considerable scientific progress has been made towards mapping and modelling species-level metabolism, elucidating the metabolic exchanges between microorganisms and steering the community dynamics remain an enormous scientific challenge. In view of the complexity, computational models of microbial communities are essential to obtain systems-level understanding of ecosystem functioning. This review discusses the applications and limitations of constraint-based stoichiometric modelling tools, and in particular flux balance analysis (FBA). We explain this approach from first principles and identify the challenges one faces when extending it to communities, and discuss the approaches used in the field in view of these challenges. We distinguish between steady-state and dynamic FBA approaches extended to communities. We conclude that much progress has been made, but many of the challenges are still open. PMID:28334697

Virtual Academic Community: Online Education Instructors' Social Presence in Association with Freshman Composition Students' Critical Thinking and Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paquette, Paige Fuller

2009-01-01

There is much literature addressing challenges face-to-face freshman composition instructors encounter in developing college courses that foster critical thinking skills crucial to developing written argument. Composition instructors may face challenges in teaching students that writing is a means of making meaning, there are many different…

The Challenges of Adopting the Learning Organisation Philosophy in a Singapore School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Retna, Kala S.; Tee, Ng Pak

2006-01-01

Purpose: To report on a case study that examines how the Learning Organisation (LO) concept can be applied in a Singapore school and the challenges that the school faces in the process. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research inquiry was adopted using ethnographic methods. Data includes in-depth face-to-face interviews, observation of…

Challenges Faced by Undergraduate Military Students at American Public University System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Machuca, Ana; Torres, Karin; Morris, Pamela; Whitley, William

2014-01-01

This paper will summarize some of challenges faced by military students enrolled in an associate and bachelors online program at American Public University System (APUS). The survey results on which the study is based exposed the following problems faced by military personnel: 48.7% had difficulties working around military obligations, 33.3%…

Ethical challenges for using human cells in clinical cell therapy.

PubMed

Hermerén, Göran

2012-01-01

In this chapter, different challenges for using human cells in clinical cell therapy are identified and discussed. Several types of challenges are defined and described, with particular attention to the relation between ethical and scientific challenges. Some challenges are cell and disease specific: they are raised by research on special types of cells with certain methods in order to pave the way for cell therapies of particular diseases. But since scientific work is carried out in a societal and value-loaded context, the relations between scientific, ethical, and regulatory challenges are complex. Three theses are first discussed: there is not one fixed list of ethical challenges, some challenges are disease and cell type specific; there are challenges at all stages of the translation from bench to bedside, and the challenges are related to the various stages of translation. Moreover, experimental and ethical research needs to be integrated. Finally, a fourth thesis is suggested: if a constructive and well-argued position is desired, it is necessary to be specific not only about the scientific details but also about the value premises. Everybody is for justice, integrity, and respect for persons. But what precisely does this mean when it is applied to the choices scientists and regulators have to face in their daily work? Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Applying the Rasch Model to Measure Acculturation Challenges Faced by Saudi Female Students in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hakami, Samah Mohammed

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the major acculturation challenges faced by Saudi female students who study in the U.S. and to develop a scale to measure potential acculturation challenges. The construction of the scale was based on a table of specification that included nine domains of possible acculturation challenges: (a)…

Blend Shape Interpolation and FACS for Realistic Avatar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alkawaz, Mohammed Hazim; Mohamad, Dzulkifli; Basori, Ahmad Hoirul; Saba, Tanzila

2015-03-01

The quest of developing realistic facial animation is ever-growing. The emergence of sophisticated algorithms, new graphical user interfaces, laser scans and advanced 3D tools imparted further impetus towards the rapid advancement of complex virtual human facial model. Face-to-face communication being the most natural way of human interaction, the facial animation systems became more attractive in the information technology era for sundry applications. The production of computer-animated movies using synthetic actors are still challenging issues. Proposed facial expression carries the signature of happiness, sadness, angry or cheerful, etc. The mood of a particular person in the midst of a large group can immediately be identified via very subtle changes in facial expressions. Facial expressions being very complex as well as important nonverbal communication channel are tricky to synthesize realistically using computer graphics. Computer synthesis of practical facial expressions must deal with the geometric representation of the human face and the control of the facial animation. We developed a new approach by integrating blend shape interpolation (BSI) and facial action coding system (FACS) to create a realistic and expressive computer facial animation design. The BSI is used to generate the natural face while the FACS is employed to reflect the exact facial muscle movements for four basic natural emotional expressions such as angry, happy, sad and fear with high fidelity. The results in perceiving the realistic facial expression for virtual human emotions based on facial skin color and texture may contribute towards the development of virtual reality and game environment of computer aided graphics animation systems.

Control of Future Air Traffic Systems via Complexity Bound Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexandrov, Natalia

2013-01-01

The complexity of the present system for managing air traffic has led to "discreteness" in approaches to creating new concepts: new concepts are created as point designs, based on experience, expertise, and creativity of the proposer. Discrete point designs may be highly successful but they are difficult to substantiate in the face of equally strong substantiation of competing concepts, as well as the state of the art in concept evaluation via simulations. Hybrid concepts may present a compromise - the golden middle. Yet a hybrid of sometimes in principle incompatible concepts forms another point design that faces the challenge of substantiation and validation. We are faced with the need to re-design the air transportation system ab initio. This is a daunting task, especially considering the problem of transitioning from the present system to any fundamentally new system. However, design from scratch is also an opportunity to reconsider approaches to new concept development. In this position paper we propose an approach, Optimized Parametric Functional Design, for systematic development of concepts for management and control of airspace systems, based on optimization formulations in terms of required system functions and states. This reasoning framework, realizable in the context of ab initio system design, offers an approach to deriving substantiated airspace management and control concepts. With growing computational power, we hope that the approach will also yield a methodology for actual dynamic control of airspace

Challenges of a community based pragmatic, randomised controlled trial of weight loss maintenance.

PubMed

Randell, Elizabeth; McNamara, Rachel; Shaw, Christine; Espinasse, Aude; Simpson, Sharon Anne

2015-12-18

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have a reputation for being inherently difficult to deliver as planned and often face unforeseen challenges and delays, particularly in relation to organisational and governance difficulties, participant interest, constraints due to allocation of costs, local investigator interest and lengthy bureaucracy. Recruitment is often difficult and the challenges faced often impact on the cost and delivery of a successful trial within the funded period. This paper reflects upon the challenges faced in delivering a pragmatic RCT of weight loss maintenance in a community setting and suggests some potential solutions. The weight loss maintenance in adults trial aimed to evaluate the impact of a 12 month, individually tailored weight maintenance intervention on BMI 3 years from randomisation. Participants were recruited primarily from participant identification centres (PICs)-GP surgeries, exercise on referral schemes and slimming world. The intervention was delivered in community settings. A recruitment strategy implementation plan was drafted to address and monitor poor recruitment. Delays in opening and recruitment were experienced early on. Some were beyond the control of the study team such as; disagreement over allocation of national health service costs and PIC classification as well as difficulties in securing support from research networks. That the intervention was delivered in community settings was often at the root of these issues. Key items to address at the design stage of future trials include feasibility of eligibility criteria. The most effective element of the recruitment implementation plan was to refocus sources of recruitment and target only those who could fulfil the eligibility criteria immediately. Learnings from this trial should be kept in mind by those designing similar studies in the future. Considering potential governance, cost and research network support implications at the design stage of pragmatic trials of any community-based complex intervention is paramount. The appropriateness and viability of inclusion criteria also require careful consideration as does use of a targeted advertising strategy. ISRCTN35774128, 12/01/2010.

Challenges for Novice School Leaders: Facing Today's Issues in School Administration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beam, Andrea P.; Claxton, Russell L.; Smith, Samuel J.

2016-01-01

Challenges for novice school leaders evolve as information is managed differently and as societal and regulatory expectations change. This study addresses unique challenges faced by practicing school administrators (n = 159) during their first three years in a school leadership position. It focuses on their perceptions, how perceptions of present…

Leading Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: Some Insights from Western Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillett, Jonathan; Clarke, Simon; O'Donoghue, Tom

2016-01-01

This paper examines leadership strategies that are most likely to engender success in schools that may be defined as facing challenging circumstances. First, it presents an overview of the relevant literature in order to illustrate distinctive challenges that tend to be encountered in these environments, as well as strategies that are adopted for…

CAEP Challenges for a Mid-South U.S. College Teacher Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moffett, David W.

2016-01-01

What are the challenges faced by a mid-south liberal arts college teacher education program, in its attempt to successfully meet the new Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accreditation requirements? The Investigator studied the Educator Program Provider (EPP) during academic year 2015-2016. The challenges faced by the…

Challenges of Attending E-Learning Studies in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bugi, Stephan Z.

2012-01-01

This study set out to find out what challenges the E-leaner faces in the Nigerian environment. Survey research design was used to obtain the opinion of 200 randomly selected E-learners in Kaduna metropolis. Their responses revealed that the most prominent challenges they face are, Inadequate Power supply, Internet connectivity problems, Efficacy…

Challenges and Instructional Approaches Impacting the Literacy Performance of English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markham, Paul L.; Gordon, Karen E.

2007-01-01

For English Language Learners (ELLs), the process of becoming literate in English is daunting. Not only are these students faced with the same literacy challenges faced by native English-speaking students, but they are also challenged with extensive diversity issues relating to substantial differences in linguistic, cultural, and academic…

Collaborative Systems Thinking: A Response to the Problems Faced by Systems Engineering's 'Middle Tier'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phfarr, Barbara B.; So, Maria M.; Lamb, Caroline Twomey; Rhodes, Donna H.

2009-01-01

Experienced systems engineers are adept at more than implementing systems engineering processes: they utilize systems thinking to solve complex engineering problems. Within the space industry demographics and economic pressures are reducing the number of experienced systems engineers that will be available in the future. Collaborative systems thinking within systems engineering teams is proposed as a way to integrate systems engineers of various experience levels to handle complex systems engineering challenges. This paper uses the GOES-R Program Systems Engineering team to illustrate the enablers and barriers to team level systems thinking and to identify ways in which performance could be improved. Ways NASA could expand its engineering training to promote team-level systems thinking are proposed.

Mass Spectrometry: A Technique of Many Faces

PubMed Central

Olshina, Maya A.; Sharon, Michal

2016-01-01

Protein complexes form the critical foundation for a wide range of biological process, however understanding the intricate details of their activities is often challenging. In this review we describe how mass spectrometry plays a key role in the analysis of protein assemblies and the cellular pathways which they are involved in. Specifically, we discuss how the versatility of mass spectrometric approaches provides unprecedented information on multiple levels. We demonstrate this on the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway, a process that is responsible for protein turnover. We follow the various steps of this degradation route and illustrate the different mass spectrometry workflows that were applied for elucidating molecular information. Overall, this review aims to stimulate the integrated use of multiple mass spectrometry approaches for analyzing complex biological systems. PMID:28100928

Interdisciplinary challenges in the study of power grid resilience and stability and their relation to extreme weather events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heitzig, J.; Fujiwara, N.; Aihara, K.; Kurths, J.

2014-10-01

This topical issue collects contributions to the interdisciplinary study of power grid stability in face of increasing volatility of energy production and consumption due to increasing renewable energy infeed and changing climatic conditions. The individual papers focus on different aspects of this field and bring together modern achievements from various disciplines, in particular complex systems science, nonlinear data analysis, control theory, electrical engineering, and climatology. Main topics considered here are prediction and volatility of renewable infeed, modelling and theoretical analysis of power grid topology, dynamics and stability, relationships between stability and complex network topology, and improvements via topological changes or control. Impacts for the design of smart power grids are discussed in detail.

Connective complexity: African American adolescents and the relational context of kinship foster care.

PubMed

Schwartz, Ann

2008-01-01

Attempts to address racial disproportionality in child welfare must include a focus on the benefits and challenges facing children in kinship care. African American children not only are overrepresented in the child welfare system, but also are placed disproportionately in kinship foster care. Using a sample of 18 African American adolescents ages 11 to 14, this article explores how the relational context of care experienced by adolescents in kinship foster care differs from that of adolescents in nonkinship foster family placements. Findings are presented regarding the stability of relationships as well as complex role dilemmas experienced by kinship youth as they relate to caregivers and birthparents in the child welfare context. Implications are given for practice with kinship families.

Young persons with visual impairment: challenges of participation.

PubMed

Salminen, Anna-Liisa; Karhula, Maarit E

2014-07-01

To describe the challenges to activity and participation faced by young people with visual impairment within the framework of the International Classification of Functioning (ICF). 14 young persons (aged 16-22 years) with visual impairment and their parents (n = 22) participated in the study. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to describe challenges of participation as perceived by the young persons themselves. Individual interviews with the young persons and their parents were used to investigate in more depth the challenges the young persons face with regard to participation. Young persons with visual impairment face challenges to participation most frequently with regard to mobility, domestic life, interpersonal interaction and relationships, major life areas, and leisure activities. The environment in which they live has a central role as a barrier or facilitator of participation. The challenges related to activities and participation that young persons with visual impairment face are diverse. It is important that these challenges are assessed individually and with the help of subjective measures. Serving as a broad framework for classifying the data, the ICF proved to be a useful tool, but used strictly at category level it may limit the coding of data and narrow interpretation.

Becoming a nurse faculty leader: facing challenges through reflecting, persevering and relating in new ways.

PubMed

Horton-Deutsch, Sara; Young, Patricia K; Nelson, Kristine A

2010-05-01

The aim of the present study was to explore the experience of becoming a nurse faculty leader. In a recent interpretation of 23 interviews conducted with nurse faculty leaders from across the United States about their experiences of becoming a leader three themes were identified: being thrust into leadership, taking risks and facing challenges. This interpretive phenomenological study further explicates three aspects of how nurse educators faced challenges in becoming and serving as a leader. Facing challenges meant reflecting, persevering through difficulties and learning to relate to others in new ways. Exemplars of participant experiences are provided for concreteness, to assist readers in determining how findings resonate with their own experience and how they can actualize this resonance in their own leadership practice. In the present study, reflecting, persevering through difficulties and learning to relate with others in a new way was how leaders faced challenges. Leadership development opportunities that facilitate self-exploration, caring and thoughtful interactions with others and values clarification serve as the foundation for becoming a nurse faculty leader who is, in turn, able to build leadership capacity in other individuals and organizations.

Leveraging Trauma Lessons from War to Win in a Complex Global Environment.

PubMed

Remick, Kyle N

2016-01-01

The US military has made great strides in combat casualty care since 2001. As the Army concludes combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, it faces new operational challenges in trauma care. The military medical community must stay ahead of the curve through sustaining current investments in combat casualty care research. This article describes lessons learned at war from a Joint Trauma System perspective in order to place in context how we should proceed in order to provide optimal care for our Warfighters in the future.

Bioreactor Engineering of Stem Cell Environments

PubMed Central

Tandon, Nina; Marolt, Darja; Cimetta, Elisa; Vunjak-Novakovic, Gordana

2013-01-01

Stem cells hold promise to revolutionize modern medicine by development of new therapies, disease models and drug screening systems. Standard cell culture systems have limited biological relevance because they do not recapitulate the complex 3-dimensional interactions and biophysical cues that characterize the in vivo environment. In this review, we discuss the current advances in engineering stem cell environments using novel biomaterials and bioreactor technologies. We also reflect on the challenges the field is currently facing with regard to translation of stem cell based therapies into the clinic. PMID:23531529

Evaluation of Story Maps to Enhance Public Engagement and Communication at Legacy Management Sites – 17334

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Castillo, Darina; Carpenter, Cliff; Linard, Joshua

Story Maps are being used in both public and private sectors to convey information to stakeholders, create enterprise platforms, and assist in decision making. Story Maps are web applications that combine maps, narrative text, images, and multimedia content to provide information. These applications provide a user-friendly platform to share the remarkable history of our sites, the complexity of their contamination and remediation, successes we achieve in our LTS&M activities, and even the challenges we face as we aim to fulfill our mission.

Nerve Transfers to Restore Shoulder Function.

PubMed

Leechavengvongs, Somsak; Malungpaishorpe, Kanchai; Uerpairojkit, Chairoj; Ng, Chye Yew; Witoonchart, Kiat

2016-05-01

The restoration of shoulder function after brachial plexus injury represents a significant challenge facing the peripheral nerve surgeons. This is owing to a combination of the complex biomechanics of the shoulder girdle, the multitude of muscles and nerves that could be potentially injured, and a limited number of donor options. In general, nerve transfer is favored over tendon transfer, because the biomechanics of the musculotendinous units are not altered. This article summarizes the surgical techniques and clinical results of nerve transfers for restoration of shoulder function. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Contemporary Significance of the Holocaust for Australian Psychiatry.

PubMed

Robertson, Michael; Light, Edwina; Lipworth, Wendy; Walter, Garry

2016-01-01

In this paper we survey briefly the components of the Holocaust directly relevant to the psychiatric profession and identify the main themes of relevance to contemporary psychiatry. The ‘euthanasia’ program; the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) citizens; and the complex relationship between the psychiatric profession and Nazi state are the main themes to emerge from this survey. We then compare this period with key themes in the history of Australian psychiatry and link these themes to some of the contemporary ethical challenges the profession faces.

Therapeutic Issues with Transgender Elders.

PubMed

Carroll, Lynne

2017-03-01

Research demonstrates that transgender and nonconforming (TGNC) elders face social isolation and discrimination in policies and practices in mental and health care settings. The purpose of this article is to provide clinicians with practical input about therapeutic issues and interventions for use with TGNC elders. A case vignette describes the challenges and rewards of therapy with an elder trans woman. Her story illustrates the complex interplay between age, life phase, and sociocultural and historical contexts. Recommendations regarding research, practice, and advocacy are offered. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Let's talk conflict: using mediation in healthcare security disputes.

PubMed

Armstrong, Brad

2013-01-01

Healthcare security administrators face weekly, if not daily challenges and conflict. This article considers that security leaders must anticipate disputes in highly complex healthcare systems. When disputes cannot be resolved by organizational efforts, security administrators may be in a position to recommend or participate in mediation. Here the concept of mediation is introduced to healthcare security leaders as a viable means to resolve disputes with patients, visitors, and the community. This includes a description of the facilitative versus evaluative mediation processes, as well as pragmatic guidance when preparing for mediation.

Focusing a Transition: Challenges Facing the New Administration

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

FOCUSING A TRANSITION Challenges Facing the New Administration A Report by the Defense Business Board 2016 This report, DBB Report FY16-5, is a ...Facing the New Administration A Report by the Defense Business Board 5 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...While reviewing the budget, the team should develop a list of items to propose for immediate termination. The Board offers the following

The direction of cloud computing for Malaysian education sector in 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaafar, Jazurainifariza; Rahman, M. Nordin A.; Kadir, M. Fadzil A.; Shamsudin, Syadiah Nor; Saany, Syarilla Iryani A.

2017-08-01

In 21st century, technology has turned learning environment into a new way of education to make learning systems more effective and systematic. Nowadays, education institutions are faced many challenges to ensure the teaching and learning process is running smoothly and manageable. Some of challenges in the current education management are lack of integrated systems, high cost of maintenance, difficulty of configuration and deployment as well as complexity of storage provision. Digital learning is an instructional practice that use technology to make learning experience more effective, provides education process more systematic and attractive. Digital learning can be considered as one of the prominent application that implemented under cloud computing environment. Cloud computing is a type of network resources that provides on-demands services where the users can access applications inside it at any location and no time border. It also promises for minimizing the cost of maintenance and provides a flexible of data storage capacity. The aim of this article is to review the definition and types of cloud computing for improving digital learning management as required in the 21st century education. The analysis of digital learning context focused on primary school in Malaysia. Types of cloud applications and services in education sector are also discussed in the article. Finally, gap analysis and direction of cloud computing in education sector for facing the 21st century challenges are suggested.

A qualitative exploration of the major challenges facing pharmacovigilance in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Aljadhey, Hisham; Mahmoud, Mansour A; Alshammari, Thamir M; Al-Dhaeefi, Mohammed; Le Louet, Herve; Perez-Gutthann, Susana; Pitts, Peter J

2015-09-01

To explore the challenges facing pharmacovigilance in Saudi Arabia and formulate recommendations to improve it from the perspective of healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia. This was a qualitative study of 4 focus group discussions with pharmacists, physicians, and academicians held under the auspices of the King Saud University School of Pharmacy and the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 29 eligible healthcare professionals were invited to participate in the discussion. The predefined themes of the study were the current practice and major challenges facing pharmacovigilance in regulatory bodies, hospitals, the community, and academia, as well as recommendations to improve pharmacovigilance practice.  Of the 29 participants invited, 27 attended the discussion. Challenges facing regulatory bodies included complicated adverse drug reactions (ADR) reporting forms, lack of feedback on ADRs submitted to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, lack of decisions from the local authority to withdraw medications, and lack of data on pharmacovigilance. The challenges to pharmacovigilance in hospitals included the lack of knowledge of the significance of ADR reporting, workload, blaming culture, and lack of collaboration between regulatory bodies and hospitals. However, challenges facing pharmaceutical industries included the lack of drug manufacturers in Saudi Arabia and lack of interest in pharmacovigilance. Recommendations to improve pharmacovigilance included the need for communication, stronger regulatory requirements, the need for research, the need for unified ADRs reporting, and continuous education and training.  The study has identified the challenges facing pharmacovigilance in Saudi Arabia and made certain recommendations to overcome them. These recommendations might be helpful for regulatory bodies to enhance spontaneous reporting and promote pharmacovigilance.