An Exploration of Employer Perceptions of Graduate Student Employability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chhinzer, Nita; Russo, Anna Maria

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore employer perceptions of graduate student employability. This study is novel since existing research focused on employability is largely theoretic, remains focused on defining employability of undergraduates and largely fails to determine employer perceptions of factors that increase or decrease…

Forgotten resources of older home care clients: focus group study in Finland.

PubMed

Turjamaa, Riitta; Hartikainen, Sirpa; Pietilä, Anna-Maija

2013-09-01

In this qualitative focus group study, the resources available to older home-dwelling people, particularly incoming and existing home care clients, are described from the viewpoint of home care professionals (n = 32). The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. There were three categories of older people requiring resources from the viewpoint of interviewers: home-dwelling people, incoming home care clients, and existing home care clients. Based on the analysis, the resources of older home-dwelling people were categorized in terms of support, meaningful life, everyday activities, and environment. Incoming home care client resources were support, out-of-home activities, in-home activities, and environment. Existing client resources were described in terms of support, everyday activities, and environment. Home care professionals described the resources of the older home-dwelling people in diverse ways, but those of the perspective of existing clients were reduced. The biggest difference was in everyday activities. Psychological and social resources, including meaningful life and social relationships, seemed to be forgotten. All available resources must be taken into account, especially in the everyday home care services for existing home care clients. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Interpretive focus groups: a participatory method for interpreting and extending secondary analysis of qualitative data.

PubMed

Redman-MacLaren, Michelle; Mills, Jane; Tommbe, Rachael

2014-01-01

Participatory approaches to qualitative research practice constantly change in response to evolving research environments. Researchers are increasingly encouraged to undertake secondary analysis of qualitative data, despite epistemological and ethical challenges. Interpretive focus groups can be described as a more participative method for groups to analyse qualitative data. To facilitate interpretive focus groups with women in Papua New Guinea to extend analysis of existing qualitative data and co-create new primary data. The purpose of this was to inform a transformational grounded theory and subsequent health promoting action. A two-step approach was used in a grounded theory study about how women experience male circumcision in Papua New Guinea. Participants analysed portions or 'chunks' of existing qualitative data in story circles and built upon this analysis by using the visual research method of storyboarding. New understandings of the data were evoked when women in interpretive focus groups analysed the data 'chunks'. Interpretive focus groups encouraged women to share their personal experiences about male circumcision. The visual method of storyboarding enabled women to draw pictures to represent their experiences. This provided an additional focus for whole-of-group discussions about the research topic. Interpretive focus groups offer opportunity to enhance trustworthiness of findings when researchers undertake secondary analysis of qualitative data. The co-analysis of existing data and co-generation of new data between research participants and researchers informed an emergent transformational grounded theory and subsequent health promoting action.

Interpretive focus groups: a participatory method for interpreting and extending secondary analysis of qualitative data

PubMed Central

Redman-MacLaren, Michelle; Mills, Jane; Tommbe, Rachael

2014-01-01

Background Participatory approaches to qualitative research practice constantly change in response to evolving research environments. Researchers are increasingly encouraged to undertake secondary analysis of qualitative data, despite epistemological and ethical challenges. Interpretive focus groups can be described as a more participative method for groups to analyse qualitative data. Objective To facilitate interpretive focus groups with women in Papua New Guinea to extend analysis of existing qualitative data and co-create new primary data. The purpose of this was to inform a transformational grounded theory and subsequent health promoting action. Design A two-step approach was used in a grounded theory study about how women experience male circumcision in Papua New Guinea. Participants analysed portions or ‘chunks’ of existing qualitative data in story circles and built upon this analysis by using the visual research method of storyboarding. Results New understandings of the data were evoked when women in interpretive focus groups analysed the data ‘chunks’. Interpretive focus groups encouraged women to share their personal experiences about male circumcision. The visual method of storyboarding enabled women to draw pictures to represent their experiences. This provided an additional focus for whole-of-group discussions about the research topic. Conclusions Interpretive focus groups offer opportunity to enhance trustworthiness of findings when researchers undertake secondary analysis of qualitative data. The co-analysis of existing data and co-generation of new data between research participants and researchers informed an emergent transformational grounded theory and subsequent health promoting action. PMID:25138532

Nonlinear focal shift beyond the geometrical focus in moderately focused acoustic beams.

PubMed

Camarena, Francisco; Adrián-Martínez, Silvia; Jiménez, Noé; Sánchez-Morcillo, Víctor

2013-08-01

The phenomenon of the displacement of the position along the axis of the pressure, intensity, and radiation force maxima of focused acoustic beams under increasing driving voltages (nonlinear focal shift) is studied for the case of a moderately focused beam. The theoretical and experimental results show the existence of this shift along the axis when the initial pressure in the transducer increases until the acoustic field reaches the fully developed nonlinear regime of propagation. Experimental data show that at high amplitudes and for moderate focusing, the position of the on-axis pressure maximum and radiation force maximum can surpass the geometrical focal length. On the contrary, the on-axis pressure minimum approaches the transducer under increasing driving voltages, increasing the distance between the positive and negative peak pressure in the beam. These results are in agreement with numerical KZK model predictions and the existed data of other authors and can be explained according to the effect of self-refraction characteristic of the nonlinear regime of propagation.

Intelligent Tutoring System Using Decision Based Learning for Thermodynamic Phase Diagrams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagge, Mathew; Amin-Naseri, Mostafa; Jackman, John; Guo, Enruo; Gilbert, Stephen B.; Starns, Gloria; Faidley, Leann

2017-01-01

Students learn when they connect new information to existing understanding or when they modify existing understanding to accept new information. Most current teaching methods focus on trying to get students to solve problems in a manner identical to that of an expert. This study investigates the effectiveness of assessing student understanding…

USAF Flight Test Investigation of Focused Sonic Booms: Project Have Bears

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Downing, Micah; Zamot, Noel; Moss, Chris; Morin, Daniel; Wolski, Ed; Chung, Sukhwan; Plotkin, Kenneth; Maglieri, Domenic

1996-01-01

Supersonic operations from military aircraft generate sonic booms that can affect people, animals and structures. A substantial experimental data base exists on sonic booms for aircraft in steady flight and confidence in the predictive techniques has been established. All the focus sonic boom data that are in existence today were collected during the 60's and 70's as part of the information base to the US Supersonic Transport program and the French Jericho studies for the Concorde. These experiments formed the data base to develop sonic boom propagation and prediction theories for focusing. There is a renewed interest in high-speed transports for civilian application. Moreover, today's fighter aircraft have better performance capabilities, and supersonic flights ars more common during air combat maneuvers. Most of the existing data on focus booms are related to high-speed civil operations such as transitional linear accelerations and mild turns. However, military aircraft operating in training areas perform more drastic maneuvers such as dives and high-g turns. An update and confirmation of USAF prediction capabilities is required to demonstrate the ability to predict and control sonic boom impacts, especially those produced by air combat maneuvers.

What Do We Learn from Docutainment? Processing Hybrid Television Documentaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glaser, Manuela; Garsoffky, Barbel; Schwan, Stephan

2012-01-01

This study examined how hybrid documentary formats, which embed educational contents into narratives, are cognitively processed. Based on existing research and theories, two reception modes were identified: processing with a focus on the narrative plotline and processing with a focus on the thematic structure. In two experiments, two markers of…

Integrating Computer Technology in Early Childhood Education Environments: Issues Raised by Early Childhood Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Eileen; Specht, Jacqueline; Willoughby, Teena; Mueller, Julie

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the educators' perspectives on the introduction of computer technology in the early childhood education environment. Fifty early childhood educators completed a survey and participated in focus groups. Parallels existed between the individually completed survey data and the focus group discussions. The…

Equity Audit: Focusing on Distance Education Students and Students with Individualized Educational Plans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dupree, Almecia

2016-01-01

Problem: Many inequities frequently have been found to exist in representations of students and access to school programs in public schools. Theory: The purpose of this equity audit is to utilize theoretical positioning and conduct an empirical study involving student representations and access to educational opportunities. The audit focuses on…

The Human Drones of Isis: How 21st Century Terrorism Uses Remote Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

aftermath of 9/11 is Lorenzo Vidino’s Al Qaeda in Europe. Focusing on Al Qaeda (AQ) attacks in Europe, Vidino uses case studies of the major...the main focuses of our theory-building case study . 62 “The European Union’s Policies on Counter...it will consider case studies , and conduct cross- case comparisons in order to identify gaps in existing remote warfare theory. It will further

Detailed study on the statistical properties of optimized phase distribution in focusing light through turbid media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xicheng; Fang, Longjie; Zuo, Haoyi; Du, Jinglei; Gao, Fuhua; Pang, Lin

2018-07-01

It is studied in detail that whether the optimized phase distributions obtained from different approaches have relations in focusing light through turbid media. A view is proposed that there exists a strong correlation among the optimized phase distributions from different approaches. The numeric simulations and experiments indicate that the larger the number of segments is, the greater the correlation coefficient of optimized phase distributions from different approaches will be. This study might give an important insight into the essence of focusing light through turbid media by phase modulation.

Nearly spherical constant power detonation waves driven by focused radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

George, Y. H.

1973-01-01

Shape and inner flow of a tridimensional spark are studied. The spark is created by focusing a laser beam in a gas. A second order fully non-linear equation is derived for the radial velocity on the axis of symmetry in the neighborhood of the origin. Solutions to that equation display the existence of a forbidden region near the focus, thus indicating the limits of applicability of a small perturbation solution.

Assessing Hopelessness in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients: Development of the Hopelessness Assessment in Illness Questionnaire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenfeld, Barry; Pessin, Hayley; Lewis, Charles; Abbey, Jennifer; Olden, Megan; Sachs, Emily; Amakawa, Lia; Kolva, Elissa; Brescia, Robert; Breitbart, William

2011-01-01

Hopelessness has become an increasingly important construct in palliative care research, yet concerns exist regarding the utility of existing measures when applied to patients with a terminal illness. This article describes a series of studies focused on the exploration, development, and analysis of a measure of hopelessness specifically intended…

Parent Training and Parent Support: The Efficacy of a Parent-Focused Parent Training Support Group for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Disruptive Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gattuso, Jonna L.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of parents' participation in a supplemental parent-focused parent education/support group following participation in a pre-existing parent training program. For the purpose of this study, the term "parent" will be used for the child's primary caregiver(s). Parents participated in a…

The Development of Environmental Awareness through School Science: Problems and Possibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadzigeorgiou, Yannis; Skoumios, Michael

2013-01-01

This paper focuses upon the problem of raising environmental awareness in the context of school science. By focusing, as it does, on the relationship between the self and the natural environment, the paper discusses the difficulties that exist, such as the students' involvement with the natural world, as their object of study, the empirical…

Assessing economic and demographic impacts of intermodal transportation systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-08-14

There exists a large literature of transportation impacts on economic and demographic change. Prior studies have focused on single modes of transportation individually rather than integrating these modes. Yet, little work has been undertaken to study...

Cancer Support Needs for African American Breast Cancer Survivors and Caregivers.

PubMed

Haynes-Maslow, Lindsey; Allicock, Marlyn; Johnson, La-Shell

2016-03-01

Improved cancer screening and treatment advances have led to higher cancer survival rates in the United States. However, racial disparities in breast cancer survival persist for African American women who experience lower survival rates than white women. These disparities suggest that unmet needs related to survivorship still exist. This study focuses on the challenges that both African American cancer survivors and caregivers face across the cancer continuum. Five African American focus groups examined cancer survivor and caregiver support needs. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and uploaded into Atlas.ti. Thematic content analysis was applied to the text during the coding process. Themes were identified and emphasized based on the research team's integrated and unified final codes. Forty-one African Americans participated in five focus groups: 22 cancer survivors and 19 caregivers. Participants discussed five themes: (1) a culture that discourages the discussion of cancer; (2) lack of support services for African American cancer survivors; (3) lack of support services for cancer caregivers; (4) need for culturally appropriate cancer resources, including resources targeted at African American women; and (5) aspects that were helpful to cancer survivors and caregivers, including connecting with other survivors and caregivers, and having strong social support networks. We gained new insight into the unmet support needs for survivors and caregivers, especially when coping with the cancer experience continuum. While some cancer and caregiver support services exist, our study reveals a great need for services that incorporate the cultural differences that exist across races.

Independent School Department Heads: The Influence of Role Ambiguity, Relationships, and Professional Development on Career Aspirations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinsella, Shane

2012-01-01

Little research exists on the career aspirations of department heads in independent schools. What does exist focuses on public school teachers in the United States and the United Kingdom. This study sought to determine the career aspirations, job satisfaction, and job efficacy of department heads. Using data from an original survey instrument…

Out-of-School-Time Academic Programs to Improve School Achievement: A Community Guide Health Equity Systematic Review.

PubMed

Knopf, John A; Hahn, Robert A; Proia, Krista K; Truman, Benedict I; Johnson, Robert L; Muntaner, Carles; Fielding, Jonathan E; Jones, Camara Phyllis; Fullilove, Mindy T; Hunt, Pete C; Qu, Shuli; Chattopadhyay, Sajal K; Milstein, Bobby

2015-01-01

Low-income and minority status in the United States are associated with poor educational outcomes, which, in turn, reduce the long-term health benefits of education. This systematic review assessed the extent to which out-of-school-time academic (OSTA) programs for at-risk students, most of whom are from low-income and racial/ethnic minority families, can improve academic achievement. Because most OSTA programs serve low-income and ethnic/racial minority students, programs may improve health equity. Methods of the Guide to Community Preventive Services were used. An existing systematic review assessing the effects of OSTA programs on academic outcomes (Lauer et al 2006; search period 1985-2003) was supplemented with a Community Guide update (search period 2003-2011). Standardized mean difference. Thirty-two studies from the existing review and 25 studies from the update were combined and stratified by program focus (ie, reading-focused, math-focused, general academic programs, and programs with minimal academic focus). Focused programs were more effective than general or minimal academic programs. Reading-focused programs were effective only for students in grades K-3. There was insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness on behavioral outcomes and longer-term academic outcomes. OSTA programs, particularly focused programs, are effective in increasing academic achievement for at-risk students. Ongoing school and social environments that support learning and development may be essential to ensure the longer-term benefits of OSTA programs.

Out-of-School-Time Academic Programs to Improve School Achievement: A Community Guide Health Equity Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Knopf, John A.; Hahn, Robert A.; Proia, Krista K.; Truman, Benedict I.; Johnson, Robert L.; Muntaner, Carles; Fielding, Jonathan E.; Jones, Camara Phyllis; Fullilove, Mindy T.; Hunt, Pete C.; Qu, Shuli; Chattopadhyay, Sajal K.; Milstein, Bobby

2015-01-01

Context Low-income and minority status in the United States are associated with poor educational outcomes, which, in turn, reduce the long-term health benefits of education. Objective This systematic review assessed the extent to which out-of-school-time academic (OSTA) programs for at-risk students, most of whom are from low-income and racial/ethnic minority families, can improve academic achievement. Because most OSTA programs serve low-income and ethnic/racial minority students, programs may improve health equity. Design Methods of the Guide to Community Preventive Services were used. An existing systematic review assessing the effects of OSTA programs on academic outcomes (Lauer et al 2006; search period 1985–2003) was supplemented with a Community Guide update (search period 2003–2011). Main Outcome Measure Standardized mean difference. Results Thirty-two studies from the existing review and 25 studies from the update were combined and stratified by program focus (ie, reading-focused, math-focused, general academic programs, and programs with minimal academic focus). Focused programs were more effective than general or minimal academic programs. Reading-focused programs were effective only for students in grades K-3. There was insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness on behavioral outcomes and longer-term academic outcomes. Conclusions OSTA programs, particularly focused programs, are effective in increasing academic achievement for at-risk students. Ongoing school and social environments that support learning and development may be essential to ensure the longer-term benefits of OSTA programs. PMID:26062096

Use of formative research and social network theory to develop a group walking intervention: Sumter County on the Move!

PubMed

Forthofer, Melinda; Burroughs-Girardi, Ericka; Stoisor-Olsson, Liliana; Wilcox, Sara; Sharpe, Patricia A; Pekuri, Linda M

2016-10-01

Although social support is a frequently cited enabler of physical activity, few studies have examined how to harness social support in interventions. This paper describes community-based formative research to design a walking program for mobilizing naturally occurring social networks to support increases in walking behavior. Focus group methods were used to engage community members in discussions about desired walking program features. The research was conducted with underserved communities in Sumter County, South Carolina. The majority of focus group participants were women (76%) and African American (92%). Several important themes emerged from the focus group results regarding attitudes toward walking, facilitators of and barriers to walking, ideal walking program characteristics, and strategies for encouraging community members to walk. Most noteably, the role of existing social networks as a supportive influence on physical activity was a recurring theme in our formative research and a gap in the existing evidence base. The resulting walking program focused on strategies for mobilizing, supporting and reinforcing existing social networks as mechanisms for increasing walking. Our approach to linking theory, empirical evidence and community-based formative research for the development of a walking intervention offers an example for practitioners developing intervention strategies for a wide range of behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Let's get the best quality research we can": public awareness and acceptance of consent to use existing data in health research: a systematic review and qualitative study.

PubMed

Hill, Elizabeth M; Turner, Emma L; Martin, Richard M; Donovan, Jenny L

2013-06-04

Opt-in consent is usually required for research, but is known to introduce selection bias. This is a particular problem for large scale epidemiological studies using only pre-collected health data. Most previous studies have shown that members of the public value opt-in consent and can perceive research without consent as an invasion of privacy. Past research has suggested that people are generally unaware of research processes and existing safeguards, and that education may increase the acceptability of research without prior informed consent, but this recommendation has not been formally evaluated. Our objectives were to determine the range of public opinion about the use of existing medical data for research and to explore views about consent to a secondary review of medical records for research. We also investigated the effect of the provision of detailed information about the potential effect of selection bias on public acceptability of the use of data for research. We carried out a systematic review of existing literature on public attitudes to secondary use of existing health records identified by searching PubMed (1966-present), Embase (1974-present) and reference lists of identified studies to provide a general overview, followed by a qualitative focus group study with 19 older men recruited from rural and suburban primary care practices in the UK to explore key issues in detail. The systematic review identified twenty-seven relevant papers and the findings suggested that males and older people were more likely to consent to a review of their medical data. Many studies noted participants' lack of knowledge about research processes and existing safeguards and this was reflected in the focus groups. Focus group participants became more accepting of the use of pre-collected medical data without consent after being given information about selection bias and research processes. All participants were keen to contribute to NHS-related research but some were concerned about data-sharing for commercial gain and the potential misuse of information. Increasing public education about research and specific targeted information provision could promote trust in research processes and safeguards, which in turn could increase the acceptability of research without specific consent where the need for consent would lead to biased findings and impede research necessary to improve public health.

Strategies for improving patient recruitment to focus groups in primary care: a case study reflective paper using an analytical framework.

PubMed

Dyas, Jane V; Apekey, Tanefa; Tilling, Michelle; Siriwardena, A Niroshan

2009-09-22

Recruiting to primary care studies is complex. With the current drive to increase numbers of patients involved in primary care studies, we need to know more about successful recruitment approaches. There is limited evidence on recruitment to focus group studies, particularly when no natural grouping exists and where participants do not regularly meet. The aim of this paper is to reflect on recruitment to a focus group study comparing the methods used with existing evidence using a resource for research recruitment, PROSPeR (Planning Recruitment Options: Strategies for Primary Care). The focus group formed part of modelling a complex intervention in primary care in the Resources for Effective Sleep Treatment (REST) study. Despite a considered approach at the design stage, there were a number of difficulties with recruitment. The recruitment strategy and subsequent revisions are detailed. The researchers' modifications to recruitment, justifications and evidence from the literature in support of them are presented. Contrary evidence is used to analyse why some aspects were unsuccessful and evidence is used to suggest improvements. Recruitment to focus group studies should be considered in two distinct phases; getting potential participants to contact the researcher, and converting those contacts into attendance. The difficulty of recruitment in primary care is underemphasised in the literature especially where people do not regularly come together, typified by this case study of patients with sleep problems. We recommend training GPs and nurses to recruit patients during consultations. Multiple recruitment methods should be employed from the outset and the need to build topic related non-financial incentives into the group meeting should be considered. Recruitment should be monitored regularly with barriers addressed iteratively as a study progresses.

A kinase-focused compound collection: compilation and screening strategy.

PubMed

Sun, Dongyu; Chuaqui, Claudio; Deng, Zhan; Bowes, Scott; Chin, Donovan; Singh, Juswinder; Cullen, Patrick; Hankins, Gretchen; Lee, Wen-Cherng; Donnelly, Jason; Friedman, Jessica; Josiah, Serene

2006-06-01

Lead identification by high-throughput screening of large compound libraries has been supplemented with virtual screening and focused compound libraries. To complement existing approaches for lead identification at Biogen Idec, a kinase-focused compound collection was designed, developed and validated. Two strategies were adopted to populate the compound collection: a ligand shape-based virtual screening and a receptor-based approach (structural interaction fingerprint). Compounds selected with the two approaches were cherry-picked from an existing high-throughput screening compound library, ordered from suppliers and supplemented with specific medicinal compounds from internal programs. Promising hits and leads have been generated from the kinase-focused compound collection against multiple kinase targets. The principle of the collection design and screening strategy was validated and the use of the kinase-focused compound collection for lead identification has been added to existing strategies.

Focus Groups of Alaska Native Adolescent Tobacco Users: Preferences for Tobacco Cessation Interventions and Barriers to Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patten, Christi A.; Enoch, Carrie; Renner, Caroline C.; Offord, Kenneth P.; Nevak, Caroline; Kelley, Stacy F.; Thomas, Janet; Decker, Paul A.; Hurt, Richard D.; Lanier, Anne; Kaur, Judith S.

2009-01-01

Tobacco cessation interventions developed for Alaska Native adolescents do not exist. This study employed focus group methodology to explore preferences for tobacco cessation interventions and barriers to participation among 49 Alaska Natives (61% female) with a mean age of 14.6 (SD = 1.6) who resided in western Alaska. Using content analysis,…

Focusing light through random scattering media by four-element division algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Longjie; Zhang, Xicheng; Zuo, Haoyi; Pang, Lin

2018-01-01

The focusing of light through random scattering materials using wavefront shaping is studied in detail. We propose a newfangled approach namely four-element division algorithm to improve the average convergence rate and signal-to-noise ratio of focusing. Using 4096 independently controlled segments of light, the intensity at the target is 72 times enhanced over the original intensity at the same position. The four-element division algorithm and existing phase control algorithms of focusing through scattering media are compared by both of the numerical simulation and the experiment. It is found that four-element division algorithm is particularly advantageous to improve the average convergence rate of focusing.

Rethinking our approach to gender and disasters: Needs, responsibilities, and solutions.

PubMed

Montano, Samantha; Savitt, Amanda

2016-01-01

To explore how the existing literature has discussed the vulnerability and needs of women in a disaster context. It will consider the literature's suggestions of how to minimize vulnerability and address the needs of women, including who involved in emergency management should be responsible for such efforts. Empirical journal articles and book chapters from disaster literature were collected that focused on "women" or "gender," and their results and recommendations were analyzed. This review found existing empirical research on women during disasters focuses on their vulnerabilities more than their needs. Second, when researchers do suggest solutions, they tend not to be comprehensive or supported by empirical evidence. Finally, it is not clear from existing research who is responsible for addressing these needs and implementing solutions. Future research should study the intersection of gender and disasters in terms of needs and solutions including who is responsible for implementing solutions.

Rural automated highway systems case study : greater Yellowstone rural ITS corridor : final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-01-01

In cooperation with the National Automated Highway System Consortium (NAHSC), case studies are being conducted on existing transportation corridors to determine the feasibility of AHS. Initial activities by the NAHSC have focused on urbanized areas. ...

Urban forest ecosystem services: A case study in Corvallis,Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

Background/Questions/Methods One EPA research focus is quantifying ecosystem services, benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, in order to promote informed natural resource management decisions and to assess the effectiveness of existing environmental policies. A case study...

An assessment of survey measures used across key epidemiologic studies of United States Gulf War I Era Veterans

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Over the past two decades, 12 large epidemiologic studies and 2 registries have focused on U.S. veterans of the 1990–1991 Gulf War Era. We conducted a review of these studies’ research tools to identify existing gaps and overlaps of efforts to date, and to advance development of the next generation of Gulf War Era survey tools. Overall, we found that many of the studies used similar instruments. Questions regarding exposures were more similar across studies than other domains, while neurocognitive and psychological tools were the most variable. Many studies focused on self-reported survey results, with a range of validation practices. However, physical exams, biomedical assessments, and specimen storage were not common. This review suggests that while research may be able to pool data from past surveys, future surveys need to consider how their design can yield data comparable with previous surveys. Additionally, data that incorporate recent technologies in specimen and genetic analyses would greatly enhance such survey data. When combined with existing data on deployment-related exposures and post-deployment health conditions, longitudinal follow-up of existing studies within this collaborative framework could represent an important step toward improving the health of veterans. PMID:23302181

Maglev-rail intermodal equipment and suspension study. Final report, July 1991-February 1993

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

Gilcrease, E.E.; Gillam, C.M.

1993-02-01

The physical and operational characteristics of four existing and planned maglev systems were surveyed pertinent to the intermodal interface for each system. The maglev systems investigated were: Grumman New York State' (Configuration 002) Maglev; Transrapid Intercity (Transrapid 07) Maglev; HSST Passive Intermediate Speed (HSST-300) Maglev; and Japan Railways Vertical Magnet (Configuration MLU 002) Maglev. The focus of the study was to investigate the feasibility of using existing railroad right-of-way to access center-city terminals in one of three possible methods: Maglev vehicles traveling over existing railroad tracks with the use of steel guide wheels and some means of exterior propulsion; maglevmore » vehicles transferred onto modified railroad flatcars and transported over existing railroad tracks with locomotive power; or new grade-separated maglev guideways on existing railroad rights-of-way.« less

Study on post occupancy evaluation after remodeling in accordance with the `green remodeling certification standards of existing non-residential buildings'- Focusing on the case of H building

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Kyungjoo; Cho, Dongwoo; Yoon, Yosun

2018-06-01

South Korea has adopted the Paris Convention and promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 37% from business-as-usual (BAU) levels in the `First Basic Plan to Respond to Climate Change'. The reduction goal of greenhouse gas cannot be achieved considering only new buildings; the analysis results shows that the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings is essential. `The Green Remodeling Certification Standards', established in South Korea in 2016, is in line with the above plan. The post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of remodeled buildings after applying the `Green Remodeling Certification Standards of Existing Buildings' must be studied for expansion of this scheme. The study results are expected to be used as foundational data for the promotion of remodeling existing buildings.

Differences between early and late involvement of palliative home care in oncology care: A focus group study with palliative home care teams.

PubMed

Dhollander, Naomi; Deliens, Luc; Van Belle, Simon; De Vleminck, Aline; Pardon, Koen

2018-05-01

To date, no randomised controlled trials on the integration of specialised palliative home care into oncology care have been identified. Information on whether existing models of integrated care are applicable to the home care system and how working procedures and skills of the palliative care teams might require adaptation is missing. To gain insight into differences between early and late involvement and the effect on existing working procedures and skills as perceived by palliative home care teams. Qualitative study - focus group interviews. Six palliative home care teams in Flanders, Belgium. Participants included physicians, nurses and psychologists. Differences were found concerning (1) reasons for initiation, (2) planning of care process, (3) focus on future goals versus problems, (4) opportunity to provide holistic care, (5) empowerment of patients and (6) empowerment of professional caregivers. A shift from a medical approach to a more holistic approach is the most noticeable. Being involved earlier also results in a more structured follow-up and in empowering the patient to be part of the decision-making process. Early involvement creates the need for transmural collaboration, which leads to the teams taking on more supporting and coordinating tasks. Being involved earlier leads to different tasks and working procedures and to the need for transmural collaboration. Future research might focus on the development of an intervention model for the early integration of palliative home care into oncology care. To develop this model, components of existing models might need to be adapted or extended.

Unstable slope management program.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-08-01

This Rapid Response Project gathered information on existing unstable slope management programs, with a : focus on asset management practices in the United States and overseas. On the basis of this study, the research : team summarized and recommende...

77 FR 23264 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-18

... the existing home health prospective payment system. The study team's analytic plan focuses on... populations that cannot be learned through analyses of administrative data. Form Number: CMS-10429 (OCN: 0938...

Noise-induced errors in geophysical parameter estimation from retarding potential analyzers in low Earth orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Debchoudhury, Shantanab; Earle, Gregory

2017-04-01

Retarding Potential Analyzers (RPA) have a rich flight heritage. Standard curve-fitting analysis techniques exist that can infer state variables in the ionospheric plasma environment from RPA data, but the estimation process is prone to errors arising from a number of sources. Previous work has focused on the effects of grid geometry on uncertainties in estimation; however, no prior study has quantified the estimation errors due to additive noise. In this study, we characterize the errors in estimation of thermal plasma parameters by adding noise to the simulated data derived from the existing ionospheric models. We concentrate on low-altitude, mid-inclination orbits since a number of nano-satellite missions are focused on this region of the ionosphere. The errors are quantified and cross-correlated for varying geomagnetic conditions.

Development and Validation of the Body-Focused Shame and Guilt Scale

PubMed Central

Weingarden, Hilary; Renshaw, Keith D.; Tangney, June P.; Wilhelm, Sabine

2015-01-01

Body shame is described as central in clinical literature on body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). However, empirical investigations of body shame within BDD are rare. One potential reason for the scarcity of such research may be that existing measures of body shame focus on eating and weight-based content. Within BDD, however, body shame likely focuses more broadly on shame felt in response to perceived appearance flaws in one’s body parts. We describe the development and validation of the Body-Focused Shame and Guilt Scale (BF-SGS), a measure of BDD-relevant body shame, across two studies: a two time-point study of undergraduates, and a follow-up study in two Internet-recruited clinical samples (BDD, obsessive compulsive disorder) and healthy controls. Across both studies, the BF-SGS shame subscale demonstrated strong reliability and construct validity, with Study 2 providing initial clinical norms. PMID:26640760

An Exploratory Study on International Students' Study Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khoshlessan, Rezvan; El-Houbi, Ashraf

2015-01-01

This study examines international students' study anxiety in a mid-sized university in Southeast Texas comparing their existing study anxiety along lines of nationality, gender, age, major, degree, and stage of education. It focuses on the students' perceptions and the dominant goal of this research was to investigate whether there is a…

Cognitive Synergy in Multimedia Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Daesang; Kim, Dong-Joong; Whang, Woo-Hyung

2013-01-01

The main focus of our study was to investigate multimedia effects that had different results from the findings of existing multimedia learning studies. First, we describe and summarize three experimental studies we conducted from 2006 to 2010. Then we analyze our findings to explore learner characteristics that may impact the cognitive processes…

Retraction in Cariocan Portuguese.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reis, Isaias

This study looks at the retraction phenomenon of the alveolar fricatives [s] and [z] in Cariocan Portuguese, the dialect used in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and its correlation with selected social characteristics of the study's informants. No prior study exists that focuses only on this phonological feature in this dialect. Before describing…

Students' Achievements in a Statistics Course in Relation to Motivational Aspects and Study Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bude, Luc; Van De Wiel, Margaretha W. J.; Imbos, Tjaart; Candel, Math J. J. M.; Broers, Nick J.; Berger, Martijn P. F.

2007-01-01

The present study focuses on motivational constructs and their effect on students' academic achievement within an existing statistics course. First-year Health Sciences students completed a questionnaire that measures several motivational constructs: dimensions of causal attributions, outcome expectancy, affect, and study behaviour, all with…

Disability Diversity Training in the Workplace: Systematic Review and Future Directions.

PubMed

Phillips, Brian N; Deiches, Jon; Morrison, Blaise; Chan, Fong; Bezyak, Jill L

2016-09-01

Purpose Misinformation and negative attitudes toward disability contribute to lower employment rates among people with disabilities. Diversity training is an intervention intended to improve intergroup relations and reduce prejudice. We conducted a systematic review to determine the use and effectiveness of disability diversity training aimed at improving employment outcomes for employees with disabilities. Methods Five databases were searched for peer-reviewed studies of disability diversity training interventions provided within the workplace. Studies identified for inclusion were assessed for quality of methodology. Results Of the total of 1322 articles identified by the search, three studies met the criteria for inclusion. Two of the three articles focused specifically on training to improve outcomes related to workplace injuries among existing employees. The other study provided an initial test of a more general disability diversity training program. Conclusions There is currently a lack of empirically validated diversity training programs that focus specifically on disability. A number of disability diversity trainings and resources exist, but none have been well researched. Related literature on diversity training and disability awareness suggests the possibility for enhancing diversity training practices through training design, content, participant, and outcomes considerations. By integrating best practices in workplace diversity training with existing disability training resources, practitioners and researchers may be able to design effective disability diversity training programs.

Truck trip data collection methods : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-02-01

A considerable body of research exists for addressing the data needs for passenger transportation models and statewide freight truck movements. The number of studies which focus on methods for capturing the necessary data on urban freight movements i...

Environmental correlates of physical activity and dietary behaviours among young people: a systematic review of reviews.

PubMed

de Vet, E; de Ridder, D T D; de Wit, J B F

2011-05-01

An extensive body of research exists on environmental influences on weight-related behaviours in young people. Existing reviews aimed to synthesize this body of work, but generally focused on specific samples, behaviours or environmental influences and integration of findings is lacking. Hereto, we reviewed 18 reviews representing 671 unique studies, aiming to identify what environmental factors do and do not affect physical activity and dietary behaviours in children and adolescents. Eleven reviews focused exclusively on physical activity, six on diet, and one review focused on both physical activity and dietary behaviours with only small overlap in included studies. Physical activity was more consistently related to school and neighbourhood characteristics than to interpersonal and societal environments. In contrast, interpersonal factors played a pronounced role in dietary behaviours; no school, neighbourhood or societal factors were consistently related to dietary behaviours. This review of reviews adds to the literature by providing a comprehensive synthesis of factors related to physical activity and dietary behaviours that could be targeted in interventions. Moreover, by identifying factors that are unrelated to physical activity and dietary behaviours, this review may help to narrow the scope of future studies and environmental interventions. © 2010 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2010 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Focusing on Global Poverty and Development. A Resource Book for Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millar, Jayne C.

This syllabus is designed to help educators present a more realistic global perspective in existing courses by focusing on global problems of poverty and development. The first of three sections, A Development Perspective for Existing Courses, contains nine essays suggesting means for integrating a development perspective into the following…

Innovative Pedagogy: What Are the Best Practices of Professors in STEM, Leadership, or Professional Programs Who Integrate Literature?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cal, Anita Marie

2017-01-01

This phenomenological study examines innovative pedagogy and the integration of literature by professors in STEM, leadership, and professional programs to foster leadership. The study probes university professors' personal experiences integrating literature, focusing on pedagogical strategies and practices. Many studies exist on the use of…

Report on Integration of Existing Grid Models for N-R HES Interaction Focused on Balancing Authorities for Sub-hour Penalties and Opportunities

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

McJunkin, Timothy; Epiney, Aaron; Rabiti, Cristian

2017-06-01

This report provides a summary of the effort in the Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy System (N-R HES) project on the level 4 milestone to consider integration of existing grid models into the factors for optimization on shorter time intervals than the existing electric grid models with the Risk Analysis Virtual Environment (RAVEN) and Modelica [1] optimizations and economic analysis that are the focus of the project to date.

Ruminative Self-Focus and Negative Affect

PubMed Central

Moberly, Nicholas J.; Watkins, Edward R.

2008-01-01

The authors conducted an experience sampling study to investigate the relationship between momentary ruminative self-focus and negative affect. Ninety-three adults recorded these variables at quasi-random intervals 8 times daily for 1 week. Scores on questionnaire measures of dispositional rumination were associated with mean levels of momentary ruminative self-focus over the experience sampling week. Concurrently, momentary ruminative self-focus was positively associated with negative affect. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that whereas ruminative self-focus predicted negative affect at a subsequent occasion, negative affect also predicted ruminative self-focus at a subsequent occasion. Decomposition of the dispositional rumination measure suggested that brooding, but not reflective pondering, was associated with higher mean levels of negative affect. Though broadly consistent with Nolen-Hoeksema's (1991) response styles theory, these results suggest that a reciprocal relationship exists between ruminative self-focus and negative affect. PMID:18489207

Cable-to-post attachments for use in non-proprietary high-tension cable median barrier - phase II.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-03-24

The objective of this study was to reevaluate and improve the existing cable-to-post attachment hardware that is utilized : in the non-proprietary cable barrier being developed at MwRSF. The study focused on redesigning the bolted, tabbed : bracket (...

Do Mothers' Educational Expectations Differ by Race and Ethnicity, or Socioeconomic Status?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Youngmi; Sherraden, Michael; Clancy, Margaret

2013-01-01

Research has linked parents' educational expectations to children's educational attainment, but findings are inconsistent regarding differences in educational expectations by race and ethnicity. In addition, existing studies have focused on school-age children and their parents. In this study, we use a state representative sample to examine…

Primary-Grade Students' Knowledge and Thinking about Communication as a Cultural Universal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brophy, Jere; Alleman, Janet

The traditional K-3 social studies curriculum has focused on food, clothing, shelter, communication, transportation, and other cultural universals. Little information exists about children's prior knowledge and thinking (including misconceptions) about these topics. This study was designed to provide such information with respect to the topic of…

GAPS AND OVERLAPS IN INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ROUECHE, JOHN E.

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH IN THE JUNIOR COLLEGES IS A RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND UNTIL THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ERIC CLEARINGHOUSE FOR JUNIOR COLLEGE INFORMATION, NO EFFECTIVE MEANS OF DISSEMINATING THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH HAS BEEN AVAILABLE. CERTAIN GAPS EXIST IN TYPES OF RESEARCH, PROBLEMS STUDIED, AND FOCUS--(1) STUDIES OF STUDENTS COMMONLY…

A Validation Study of the Existential Anxiety Scale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hullett, Michael A.

Logotherapy is a meaning-centered psychotherapy which focuses on both the meaning of human existence and the personal search for meaning. If the will to search for meaning is frustrated, "existential frustration" may result. This study validates the Existential Anxiety Scale (EAS) developed by Good and Good (1974). Basic principles of…

Suburban District Leaders' Perception of Their Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia France, Roxanne

2013-01-01

In the field of district leadership, most studies focus only on the context and conditions existing in large urban districts in need of reform. This study examined whether district leadership practices have applicability to district leaders working within the suburban context. In addition, it determined whether district conditions (i.e., district…

Curriculum Differential Enactment: The Interplay of Teacher, Class, and Curriculum Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenmann, Tammy

2011-01-01

Curriculum materials' developers typically assume the existence of certain general social-educational classroom practices and norms. Conversely, the current study addresses the effects of context on curriculum enactment, focusing on the interrelations between teacher, class and curriculum materials. Each of the two case studies presented herein…

Frontcountry encounter norms among three cultures

Treesearch

Jerry J. Vaske; Maureen P. Donnelly; Robert M. Doctor; James P. Petruzzi

1995-01-01

Existing normative studies have focused on backcountry encounter norms reported by North Americans. This study extends previous research by comparing encounter norms reported by three different cultures - North Americans, Europeans, and Japanese - in a frontcountry day use recreation area. Data were obtained from on-site surveys distributed at the Columbia Icefield in...

Examining Student Immobility: A Study of Irish Undergraduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finn, Mairéad; Darmody, Merike

2017-01-01

This paper explores student mobility among Irish higher education students. It specifically focuses on the profile of "stayers", that is, students who have no plans to study abroad, thus addressing an underexplored topic in existing literature on student mobility. The article aims to identify factors that impact on students' decisions…

SURFACTANTS AND SUBSURFACE REMEDIATION

EPA Science Inventory

Because of the limitations of pump-and-trat technology, attention is now focused on the feasibility of surfactant use to increase its efficiency. Surfactants have been studied for use in soil washing and enhanced oil recovery. Although similarities exist between the application...

An investigation into constraints to sustainable vehicle ownership : a focus group study.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-03-01

Though most Americans hold pro-environmental attitudes, an attitudes-behavior gap exists with respect to vehicle ownership. Significant constraints appear to prevent most people with environmental concerns from buying smaller, more fuel-efficient, le...

Gender studies and the role of women in physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horton, K. Renee; Holbrook, J. C.

2013-03-01

While many physicists care about improving the success of women in physics, research on effective intervention strategies has been meager. What research that does exist focuses largely on the dynamics of under-representation: the factors that discourage women from choosing and remaining committed to the physics community. Rather than focusing on these deficits, this workshop set out to provide tools physicists can use to produce, analyze, and apply evidence about what works for women.

Development of an integrative algorithm for the treatment of various stages of full-thickness burns of the first commissure of the hand.

PubMed

Yuste, Valentin; Delgado, Julio; Agullo, Alberto; Sampietro, Jose Mauel

2017-06-01

Burns of the first commissure of the hand can evolve into an adduction contracture of the thumb. We decided to conduct a review of the existing literature on the treatment of full-thickness burns of the first commissure in order to develop a treatment algorithm that integrates the various currently available procedures. A search of the existing literature was conducted, focusing on the treatment of a burn of the first commissure in its chronic and acute phases. A total of 29 relevant articles were selected; 24 focused exclusively on the chronic contracture stage, while 3 focused exclusively on the acute burn stage, and 2 articles studied both stages. A therapeutic algorithm for full-thickness burns of the first commissure of the hand was developed. With this algorithm we sought to relate each degree and stage of the burn with a treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Effect of Thyrotropin Suppression Therapy on Bone in Thyroid Cancer Patients

PubMed Central

Hawley, Sarah T.; Haymart, Megan R.

2016-01-01

Background. The thyroid cancer incidence is rising. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists regarding the degree and duration of thyrotropin suppression therapy. Also, its potential skeletal effects remain a concern to physicians caring for thyroid cancer patients. We conducted a review of published data to evaluate existing studies focusing on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy in thyroid cancer patients. Materials and Methods. A systematic search of the PubMed, Ovid/Medline, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases was conducted. The retained studies were evaluated for methodological quality, and the study populations were categorized into premenopausal women, postmenopausal women, and men. Results. Twenty-five pertinent studies were included. Seven studies were longitudinal and 18 were cross-sectional. Of the 25 included studies, 13 were assigned an excellent methodological quality score. Three of 5 longitudinal studies and 3 of 13 cross-sectional studies reported decreased bone mineral density (BMD) in premenopausal women; 2 of 4 longitudinal studies and 5 of 13 cross-sectional studies reported decreased BMD in postmenopausal women. The remaining studies showed no effect on BMD. The only longitudinal study of men showed bone mass loss; however, cross-sectional studies of men did not demonstrate a similar effect. Conclusion. Studies to date have yielded conflicting results on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy and a knowledge gap remains, especially for older adults and men. Existing data should be cautiously interpreted because of the variable quality and heterogeneity. Identifying groups at risk of adverse effects from thyrotropin suppression therapy will be instrumental to providing focused and tailored thyroid cancer treatment. Implications for Practice: The standard treatment for thyroid cancer includes total thyroidectomy with or without radioactive iodine ablation, often followed by thyrotropin suppression therapy. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists regarding the degree and duration of thyrotropin suppression therapy, and discordant results have been reported on its adverse effects on bone. The present review provides physicians with existing data on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy, highlighting the need for further research to identify the groups at risk of adverse skeletal effects. This knowledge will aid in developing tailored thyroid cancer treatment. PMID:26659220

Effect of Thyrotropin Suppression Therapy on Bone in Thyroid Cancer Patients.

PubMed

Papaleontiou, Maria; Hawley, Sarah T; Haymart, Megan R

2016-02-01

The thyroid cancer incidence is rising. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists regarding the degree and duration of thyrotropin suppression therapy. Also, its potential skeletal effects remain a concern to physicians caring for thyroid cancer patients. We conducted a review of published data to evaluate existing studies focusing on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy in thyroid cancer patients. A systematic search of the PubMed, Ovid/Medline, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases was conducted. The retained studies were evaluated for methodological quality, and the study populations were categorized into premenopausal women, postmenopausal women, and men. Twenty-five pertinent studies were included. Seven studies were longitudinal and 18 were cross-sectional. Of the 25 included studies, 13 were assigned an excellent methodological quality score. Three of 5 longitudinal studies and 3 of 13 cross-sectional studies reported decreased bone mineral density (BMD) in premenopausal women; 2 of 4 longitudinal studies and 5 of 13 cross-sectional studies reported decreased BMD in postmenopausal women. The remaining studies showed no effect on BMD. The only longitudinal study of men showed bone mass loss; however, cross-sectional studies of men did not demonstrate a similar effect. Studies to date have yielded conflicting results on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy and a knowledge gap remains, especially for older adults and men. Existing data should be cautiously interpreted because of the variable quality and heterogeneity. Identifying groups at risk of adverse effects from thyrotropin suppression therapy will be instrumental to providing focused and tailored thyroid cancer treatment. The standard treatment for thyroid cancer includes total thyroidectomy with or without radioactive iodine ablation, often followed by thyrotropin suppression therapy. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists regarding the degree and duration of thyrotropin suppression therapy, and discordant results have been reported on its adverse effects on bone. The present review provides physicians with existing data on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy, highlighting the need for further research to identify the groups at risk of adverse skeletal effects. This knowledge will aid in developing tailored thyroid cancer treatment. ©AlphaMed Press.

Evolution of a Gaussian laser beam in warm collisional magnetoplasma

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

Jafari, M. J.; Jafari Milani, M. R., E-mail: mrj.milani@gmail.com; Niknam, A. R.

2016-07-15

In this paper, the spatial evolution of an intense circularly polarized Gaussian laser beam propagated through a warm plasma is investigated, taking into account the ponderomotive force, Ohmic heating, external magnetic field, and collisional effects. Using the momentum transfer and energy equations, both modified electron temperature and electron density in plasma are obtained. By introducing the complex dielectric permittivity of warm magnetized plasma and using the complex eikonal function, coupled differential equations for beam width parameter are established and solved numerically. The effects of polarization state of laser and magnetic field on the laser spot size evolution are studied. Itmore » is observed that in case of the right-handed polarization, an increase in the value of external magnetic field causes an increase in the strength of the self-focusing, especially in the higher values, and consequently, the self-focusing occurs in shorter distance of propagation. Moreover, the results demonstrate the existence of laser intensity and electron temperature ranges where self-focusing can occur, while the beam diverges outside of these regions; meanwhile, in these intervals, there exists a turning point for each of intensity and temperature in which the self-focusing process has its strongest strength. Finally, it is found that the self-focusing effect can be enhanced by increasing the plasma frequency (plasma density).« less

Education for Sustainable Development and retention: unravelling a research agenda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lotz-Sisitka, Heila

2010-06-01

This paper considers the question of what education for sustainable development (ESD) research might signify when linked to the concept of "retention", and how this relation (ESD and retention) might be researched. It considers two different perspectives on retention, as revealed through educational research trajectories, drawing on existing research and case studies. Firstly, it discusses an ESD research agenda that documents retention by focusing on the issue of keeping children in schools. This research agenda is typical of the existing discourses surrounding Education for All (EFA). It then discusses a related ESD research agenda that focuses more on the pedagogical and curricular aspects of retention, as this provides for a deeper understanding of how ESD can contribute to improving the quality of teaching and learning within a wider EFA retention agenda.

Animal models of exercise and obesity.

PubMed

Kasper, Christine E

2013-01-01

Animal models have been invaluable in the conduct of nursing research for the past 40 years. This review will focus on specific animal models that can be used in nursing research to study the physiologic phenomena of exercise and obesity when the use of human subjects is either scientifically premature or inappropriate because of the need for sampling tissue or the conduct of longitudinal studies of aging. There exists an extensive body of literature reporting the experimental use of various animal models, in both exercise science and the study of the mechanisms of obesity. Many of these studies are focused on the molecular and genetic mechanisms of organ system adaptation and plasticity in response to exercise, obesity, or both. However, this review will narrowly focus on the models useful to nursing research in the study of exercise in the clinical context of increasing performance and mobility, atrophy and bedrest, fatigue, and aging. Animal models of obesity focus on those that best approximate clinical pathology.

Investigation of spatial resolution and temporal performance of SAPHIRE (scintillator avalanche photoconductor with high resolution emitter readout) with integrated electrostatic focusing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scaduto, David A.; Lubinsky, Anthony R.; Rowlands, John A.; Kenmotsu, Hidenori; Nishimoto, Norihito; Nishino, Takeshi; Tanioka, Kenkichi; Zhao, Wei

2014-03-01

We have previously proposed SAPHIRE (scintillator avalanche photoconductor with high resolution emitter readout), a novel detector concept with potentially superior spatial resolution and low-dose performance compared with existing flat-panel imagers. The detector comprises a scintillator that is optically coupled to an amorphous selenium photoconductor operated with avalanche gain, known as high-gain avalanche rushing photoconductor (HARP). High resolution electron beam readout is achieved using a field emitter array (FEA). This combination of avalanche gain, allowing for very low-dose imaging, and electron emitter readout, providing high spatial resolution, offers potentially superior image quality compared with existing flat-panel imagers, with specific applications to fluoroscopy and breast imaging. Through the present collaboration, a prototype HARP sensor with integrated electrostatic focusing and nano- Spindt FEA readout technology has been fabricated. The integrated electron-optic focusing approach is more suitable for fabricating large-area detectors. We investigate the dependence of spatial resolution on sensor structure and operating conditions, and compare the performance of electrostatic focusing with previous technologies. Our results show a clear dependence of spatial resolution on electrostatic focusing potential, with performance approaching that of the previous design with external mesh-electrode. Further, temporal performance (lag) of the detector is evaluated and the results show that the integrated electrostatic focusing design exhibits comparable or better performance compared with the mesh-electrode design. This study represents the first technical evaluation and characterization of the SAPHIRE concept with integrated electrostatic focusing.

A Research of the Effect of Attitude, Achievement, and Gender on Mathematic Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arslan, Hasan; Çanli, Murat; Sabo, Helena Maria

2012-01-01

Recent studies in math education focus on differences between behaviors and performances of male and female students. In this study, achievement and attitudes of middle school students to math were described in terms of gender and grade differences. The aim of this study is to determine whether any differences exist between female and male…

Methods for the Joint Meta-Analysis of Multiple Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trikalinos, Thomas A.; Hoaglin, David C.; Small, Kevin M.; Terrin, Norma; Schmid, Christopher H.

2014-01-01

Existing methods for meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy focus primarily on a single index test. We propose models for the joint meta-analysis of studies comparing multiple index tests on the same participants in paired designs. These models respect the grouping of data by studies, account for the within-study correlation between the tests'…

"All Abroad": Malaysians' Reasons for Seeking an Overseas-Based Doctorate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tagg, Brendon

2014-01-01

This article examines the process by which nine junior Malaysian academics came to complete doctoral degrees in non-Malaysian universities. It expands the scope and refines the focus of an existing study that considered international students' experiences in New Zealand. Part of the motivation for the current study was the researcher's recognition…

Global Cultural Capital and Global Positional Competition: International Graduate Students' Transnational Occupational Trajectories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jongyoung

2016-01-01

International graduate students' occupational trajectories have rarely been studied, although many studies exist on their learning experiences in foreign universities. Based on 80 qualitative interviews, this article aims to understand how, where, and why these students obtain jobs in academe and corporations. I focus particularly on Korean…

Doctoral Student Attrition in the STEM Fields: An Exploratory Event History Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lott, Joe L., II; Gardner, Susan; Powers, Daniel A.

2010-01-01

The STEM fields, otherwise known as the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics areas, have become the focus of multiple studies and funding initiatives in recent years. Despite these efforts, lingering concerns exist about who enters, who is retained, and who completes the doctorate in STEM fields. This study utilizes discrete-time…

A Study of the Relationship between Early Childhood Program Attributes and Early Childhood Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington, Novella M.

2012-01-01

This quantitative correlational study focuses on the relationship between early childhood program attributes and early childhood reading success. Data will be gathered from early childhood sites with grades prekindergarten through second grade in which early childhood program attributes exist and early childhood reading is measured by the…

A Three-Year Journey: Lessons Learned from Integrating Teacher Preparation and Urban Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yontz, Brian D.

2012-01-01

This narrative outlines the process of how an independent liberal arts college integrated coursework and learning experiences focused on urban school teacher preparation with an existing university program in Urban Studies. Programmatic changes and additions to teacher education programs at independent liberal arts colleges are often very…

The Financial Equity Debate. Pennsylvania Educational Policy Studies, Number 15.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooley, William W.; Pomponio, Debra

Discussion of inequity in funding of Pennsylvania schools has tended to focus on differences between wealthy and poor school districts. In Pennsylvania, 180 school districts have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the existing public school funding scheme. A study of the state's 500 school districts, grouped by market value of…

Developing Graduate Students' Knowledge of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium through Lesson Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dotger, Sharon; Barry, Deborah; Wiles, Jason; Benevento, Elizabeth; Brzozowski, Frances; Hurtado-Gonzales, Jorge; Jacobs, Nicole; Royse, Ellen; Sen, Debjeet; Snyder, Julia; Stokes, Robert; Wisner, Ellen

2012-01-01

Existing research on the development of graduate students' teaching competency focuses on the need for their learning opportunities to be contextualized to their specific content area and course structure. A group of graduate teaching assistants collaborated with a biology professor and a science educator in a Japanese Lesson Study to directly…

Local Knowledge Brokerage for Data-Driven Policy and Practice in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanhoof, Jan; Mahieu, Paul

2013-01-01

The concept of "knowledge brokerage" focuses on promoting the integration of the best available evidence into policy and practice-related decisions. In this study, emphasis is put on the knowledge brokerage role of cities. The study aims at finding similarities and differences in existing educational knowledge brokerage initiatives, at…

External Reporting Lines of Academic Special Libraries: A Health Sciences Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buhler, Amy G.; Ferree, Nita; Cataldo, Tara T.; Tennant, Michele R.

2010-01-01

Very little literature exists on the nature of external reporting lines and funding structures of academic special libraries. This study focuses on academic health sciences libraries. The authors analyze information gathered from statistics published by the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) from 1977 through 2007; an…

Successful Collaboration between General Education and Special Education Teachers: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simon, Barbara D.

2017-01-01

The study focused on the experiences of general and special education teachers on what constitutes successful collaboration since there is little evidence existing on the phenomenon. For collaboration to be successful, it must go beyond having two teachers in a classroom delivering instructions. It entails deliberate practices enabling teachers to…

Building Resiliency: Introducing the Pre-Service Special Educator Efficacy Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lombardo-Graves, Mary M.

2017-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine existing teaching self-efficacy instruments for an appropriate measure for pre-service special education candidates. As the review of literature for this study revealed, there were very few self-efficacy instruments specific to special education, and these focused on specific populations and settings. During…

Factors Associated with Engagement Levels among Entering and Returning Hispanic College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Napoles, Gerald F.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the engagement levels among entering and returning Hispanic community college students. This study provides needed data focused specifically on Hispanic student engagement. Limited data exist on the persistence of community college students in general, and Hispanic students in particular. The data were…

A Proposed Methodology for Contextualised Evaluation in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nygaard, Claus; Belluigi, Dina Zoe

2011-01-01

This paper aims to inspire stakeholders working with quality of higher education (such as members of study boards, study programme directors, curriculum developers and teachers) to critically consider their evaluation methods in relation to a focus on student learning. We argue that many of the existing methods of evaluation in higher education…

The Influence of School Leadership on Classroom Participation: Examining Configurations of Organizational Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sebastian, James; Allensworth, Elaine; Stevens, David

2014-01-01

Background: In this paper we call for studying school leadership and its relationship to instruction and learning through approaches that highlight the role of configurations of multiple organizational supports. A configuration-focused approach to studying leadership and other essential supports provides a valuable addition to existing tools in…

Continued Use of a Chinese Online Portal: An Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Hung-Pin

2008-01-01

The evolution of the internet has made online portals a popular means of surfing the internet. In internet commerce, understanding the post-adoption behaviour of users of online portals can help enterprises to attract new users and retain existing customers. For predicting continued use intentions, this empirical study focused on applying and…

Academic Performance of Students without Disabilities in the Inclusive Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fruth, Jason D.; Woods, Melanie N.

2015-01-01

This study examines the impact of inclusion on secondary students by focusing on the performance of students without disabilities in the inclusive environment compared to their performance in a segregated environment. Many studies exist demonstrating the positive impact of the inclusive environment on the performance of students with disabilities.…

The chicken frizzle feather is due to an a-keratin (KRT75) mutation that causes a defective rachis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Feathers have complex forms and are an excellent model to study the development and evolution of morphologies. Existing chicken feather mutants are especially useful for identifying genetic determinants of feather formation. The present study focused on the gene, F, underlying the frizzle feather tr...

Host Students' Perspectives of Intercultural Contact in an Irish University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunne, Ciaran

2009-01-01

Given the increasing numbers of international students in Ireland and the lack of attention afforded to host culture students in existing research on intercultural relations in higher education, a grounded theory study was conducted in an Irish university exploring host (Irish) students' perspectives on intercultural contact. The study focused on…

Economics in History and the Social Sciences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joint Council on Economic Education, New York, NY.

Papers presented by social scientists at a 1974 Joint Council seminar designed to assist authors and publishers in improving existing materials or developing new texts in social studies are reproduced in this volume. The seven papers focus on how to integrate economics into elementary and secondary social studies and history courses. The first…

Structure resonances due to space charge in periodic focusing channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chao; Jameson, R. A.

2018-02-01

The Vlasov-Poisson model is one of the most effective methods to study the space charge dominated beam evolution self-consistently in a periodic focusing channel. Since the approach to get the solution with this model is not trivial, previous studies are limited in degenerated conditions, either in smoothed channel (constant focusing) [I. Hofmann, Phys. Rev. E 57, 4713 (1998)] or in alternating gradient focusing channel with equal initial beam emittance condition in the degrees of freedom [I. Hofmann et al., Part. Accel. 13, 145 (1983); Chao Li et al., THOBA02, IPAC2016]. To establish a basis, we intentionally limit this article to the study of the pure transverse periodic focusing lattice with arbitrary initial beam condition, and the same lattice structure in both degrees of freedom, but with possibility of different focusing strengths. This will show the extension of the existing work. The full Hamiltonian is invoked for a pure transverse focusing lattice in various initial beam conditions, revealing different mode structure and additional modes beyond those of the degenerated cases. Application of the extended method to realistic lattices (including longitudinal accelerating elements) and further details will then reveal many new insights, and will be presented in later work.

Leading an Entrepreneurial Workforce: Development or Decline?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clargo, Paul; Tunstall, Richard

2011-01-01

Purpose: This paper analyses entrepreneurial activity within existing organisations. Research tends to limit entrepreneurial behaviour to owner-managers, corporate senior and middle managers and frequently presents intrapreneurship as a positive phenomenon. This paper seeks to broaden the focus of studies of intrapreneurship and corporate…

Statistical Learning and Dyslexia: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmalz, Xenia; Altoè, Gianmarco; Mulatti, Claudio

2017-01-01

The existing literature on developmental dyslexia (hereafter: dyslexia) often focuses on isolating cognitive skills which differ across dyslexic and control participants. Among potential correlates, previous research has studied group differences between dyslexic and control participants in performance on statistical learning tasks. A statistical…

Cost benefit analysis of including microsurfacing in pavement treatment strategies & cycle maintenance : executive summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

The overall value of using thin surfacing maintenance treatments to extend and preserve the : performance of existing pavements has been widely recognized. This study has focused on : evaluating the cost effectiveness of commonly used individual trea...

RISK PREFERENCES USING A LOTTERY REFERENCE METRIC

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of the study is to improve valuation estimates of the benefits of fatal cancer risk reductions. The existing literature on mortality risk values has focused almost exclusively on accidental and immediate deaths; however, it is unclear how applicable these values are ...

Stability and Existence Results for Quasimonotone Quasivariational Inequalities in Finite Dimensional Spaces

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

Castellani, Marco; Giuli, Massimiliano, E-mail: massimiliano.giuli@univaq.it

2016-02-15

We study pseudomonotone and quasimonotone quasivariational inequalities in a finite dimensional space. In particular we focus our attention on the closedness of some solution maps associated to a parametric quasivariational inequality. From this study we derive two results on the existence of solutions of the quasivariational inequality. On the one hand, assuming the pseudomonotonicity of the operator, we get the nonemptiness of the set of the classical solutions. On the other hand, we show that the quasimonoticity of the operator implies the nonemptiness of the set of nonzero solutions. An application to traffic network is also considered.

Degenerate Power in Multilevel Mediation: The Non-Monotonic Relationship between Power & Effect Size

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelcey, Ben

2015-01-01

Like studies focused on the detection of a main or total effect, a principal consideration in the design of studies examining mediation is the power with which mediation effects can be detected if they exist (e.g., Raudenbush, 1997). However, unlike studies concerning the detection of main effects, literature has not established power formulas for…

Beyond urban legends: an emerging framework of urban ecology, as illustrated by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study

Treesearch

Steward T.A. Pickett; Mary L. Cadenasso; J. Morgan Grove; Peter M. Groffman; Lawrence E. Band; Christopher G. Boone; William R., Jr. Burch; Susan B. Grimmond; John Hom; Jennifer C. Jenkins; Neely L. Law; Charles H. Nilon; Richard V. Pouyat; Katalin Szlavecz; Paige S. Warren; Matthew A. Wilson

2008-01-01

The emerging discipline of urban ecology is shifting focus from ecological processes embedded within cities to integrative studies of large urban areas as biophysical-social complexes. Yet this discipline lacks a theory. Results from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network, expose new assumptions and test existing assumptions...

Exploring New Conceptualisations of Old Problems: Researching and Reorienting Teaching in Indigenous Studies to Transform Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Susan

2014-01-01

Indigenous Studies can be both exciting and challenging for teachers and students. This article will examine how an existing learning theory can be harnessed to help teachers better understand these challenges and manage some frequently seen student behaviours. Much of the discussion in Indigenous Studies pedagogy to date has focused on the…

Where Does the Time Go? A Diary Approach to Business and Marketing Students' Time Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nonis, Sarath A.; Philhours, Melodie J.; Hudson, Gail I.

2006-01-01

What are students doing with their time? Existing research mostly has focused on time used for study and/or work in relation to academic outcomes. This study uses a diary approach to explore business and marketing students' time use encompassing all student activities, not just study or work. A clustering procedure resulted in two meaningful…

Interorgan Communication Pathways in Physiology: Focus on Drosophila

PubMed Central

Droujinine, Ilia A.; Perrimon, Norbert

2017-01-01

Studies in mammals and Drosophila have demonstrated the existence and significance of secreted factors involved in communication between distal organs. In this review, primarily focusing on Drosophila, we examine the known interorgan communication factors and their functions, physiological inducers, and integration in regulating physiology. Moreover, we describe how organ-sensing screens in Drosophila can systematically identify novel conserved interorgan communication factors. Finally, we discuss how interorgan communication enabled and evolved as a result of specialization of organs. Together, we anticipate that future studies will establish a model for metazoan interorgan communication network (ICN) and how it is deregulated in disease. PMID:27732790

Interorgan Communication Pathways in Physiology: Focus on Drosophila.

PubMed

Droujinine, Ilia A; Perrimon, Norbert

2016-11-23

Studies in mammals and Drosophila have demonstrated the existence and significance of secreted factors involved in communication between distal organs. In this review, primarily focusing on Drosophila, we examine the known interorgan communication factors and their functions, physiological inducers, and integration in regulating physiology. Moreover, we describe how organ-sensing screens in Drosophila can systematically identify novel conserved interorgan communication factors. Finally, we discuss how interorgan communication enabled and evolved as a result of specialization of organs. Together, we anticipate that future studies will establish a model for metazoan interorgan communication network (ICN) and how it is deregulated in disease.

Quality Dimensions of Internet Search Engines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xie, M.; Wang, H.; Goh, T. N.

1998-01-01

Reviews commonly used search engines (AltaVista, Excite, infoseek, Lycos, HotBot, WebCrawler), focusing on existing comparative studies; considers quality dimensions from the customer's point of view based on a SERVQUAL framework; and groups these quality expectations in five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and…

The Sign of Silence: Negotiating Musical Identities in an Improvising Ensemble

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Graeme B.; MacDonald, Raymond A. R.

2012-01-01

Group musical improvisation, as a spontaneous process of collaborative creativity effected through non-verbal social interaction, is a unique psychological phenomenon and universal capacity. Existing studies focus on improvisation among professional jazz musicians, often using qualitative methods. However, improvisation transcends genres and…

An Epidemiologic Perspective. Does Running Cause Osteoarthritis?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eichner, Edward R.

1989-01-01

A review of literature on exercise and arthritis considers relevant epidemiologic and experimental studies of animals and humans, focusing on the relationship between running and osteoarthritis. No conclusive evidence exists that running causes osteoarthritis; research trends suggest that running may slow the functional aspects of musculoskeletal…

Having to Fight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crowther, Simon; Goodson, Christina; McGuire, James; Dickson, Joanne M.

2013-01-01

Existing research that attempts to understand aggressive behavior often focuses on adults and/or individual traits. The present study used a Grounded Theory approach to develop a theoretical framework of how younger adolescents constructed an understanding of their own aggressive behavior within the social context of their lives. The participants…

Focus: knowing the ocean: a role for the history of science.

PubMed

Rozwadowski, Helen M

2014-06-01

While most historians have treated the sea as a surface or a void, the history of science is well positioned to draw the ocean itself into history. The contributors to this Focus section build on the modest existing tradition of history of oceanography and extend that tradition to demonstrate both the insights to be gained by studying oceans historically and the critical role that the history of science should play in future environmental history of the ocean.

Leishmania cell wall as a potent target for antiparasitic drugs. A focus on the glycoconjugates.

PubMed

Cabezas, Yari; Legentil, Laurent; Robert-Gangneux, Florence; Daligault, Franck; Belaz, Sorya; Nugier-Chauvin, Caroline; Tranchimand, Sylvain; Tellier, Charles; Gangneux, Jean-Pierre; Ferrières, Vincent

2015-08-21

Although leishmaniasis has been studied for over a century, the fight against cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral forms of the disease remains a hot topic. This review refers to the parasitic cell wall and more particularly to the constitutive glycoconjugates. The structures of the main glycolipids and glycoproteins, which are species-dependent, are described. The focus is on the disturbance of the lipid membrane by existing drugs and possible new ones, in order to develop future therapeutic agents.

Promoting physician referral services. Prospective users are not necessarily the best advertising target.

PubMed

Gelb, B D; Jones, M Y

1997-01-01

Providers of physician referral services (PRSs) often focus advertising toward consumers who are least aware that such services exist. However, focusing advertising toward a more aware audience might be more useful. A recent study found that consumers most familiar with health care services are most likely to remember the concept of a PRS. Since these consumers may discuss PRSs with others, there appears to be value in promoting PRSs to more aware consumers as intermediaries to diffuse information to less aware consumers.

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell plasma source ion implantation of a prolate spheroid target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Cheng-Sen; Han, Hong-Ying; Peng, Xiao-Qing; Chang, Ye; Wang, De-Zhen

2010-03-01

A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation is used to study the time-dependent evolution of the sheath surrounding a prolate spheroid target during a high voltage pulse in plasma source ion implantation. Our study shows that the potential contour lines pack more closely in the plasma sheath near the vertex of the major axis, i.e. where a thinner sheath is formed, and a non-uniform total ion dose distribution is incident along the surface of the prolate spheroid target due to the focusing of ions by the potential structure. Ion focusing takes place not only at the vertex of the major axis, where dense potential contour lines exist, but also at the vertex of the minor axis, where sparse contour lines exist. This results in two peaks of the received ion dose, locating at the vertices of the major and minor axes of the prolate spheroid target, and an ion dose valley, staying always between the vertices, rather than at the vertex of the minor axis.

Six Stories about Six States: Programs of Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shumer, Rob; Digby, Cynthia

2011-01-01

The purpose of this investigation is to tell the story of how six states are developing Programs of Study (POS) as mandated by the Perkins IV federal legislation. The authors' effort focuses on how states' technical assistance systems evolved and what successes and challenges existed for states developing POS. There was no intent to compare one…

A Systematic Review of Challenging Behaviors in Children Exposed Prenatally to Substances of Abuse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, Dennis R.; Kurtz, Patricia F.; Chin, Michelle D.

2008-01-01

A review of the existing literature on the occurrence of challenging behavior among children with prenatal drug exposure was conducted. While a large number of studies were identified that evaluated various outcomes of prenatal drug exposure, only 37 were found that directly evaluated challenging behaviors. Of the 37 studies, 23 focused on…

The Relationship between Traits of Creativity and Physical Activity in the Elderly.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Harry Nevin

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between traits of creativity in the elderly and their level of physical activity. Another purpose was to determine if there was a relationship between traits of creativity focusing on arousal, sensation-seeking, and playfulness and activity. The study used an ex post facto…

Project Ideals: Communication Skills, Part I: "Listening: Oral Language" and "Nonverbal Communication."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crews, Ruthellen; Ahrens, Maurice R.

Numerous studies have been devoted to determining the interrelationships of listening to other language arts. Most of these studies have been focused on the effects of listening on reading; most also assume that listening ability can be measured and that effective measurement instruments exist. Even though the listening component of the language…

African American Students in Private, Independent Schools: Parents and School Influences on Racial Identity Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeCuir-Gunby, Jessica T.; Martin, Pamela P.; Cooper, Shauna M.

2012-01-01

Although much research has focused on the public school experiences of African American students, few studies exist that explore their race-related experiences within an independent, private school context. Studies have suggested that, while private, independent schools may elevate the quality of African American students' education, many of these…

Source-Code Plagiarism in Universities: A Comparative Study of Student Perspectives in China and the UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Dongyang; Joy, Mike; Cosma, Georgina; Boyatt, Russell; Sinclair, Jane; Yau, Jane

2014-01-01

There has been much research and discussion relating to variations in plagiaristic activity observed in students from different demographic backgrounds. Differences in behaviour have been noted in many studies, although the underlying reasons are still a matter of debate. Existing work focuses mainly on textual plagiarism, and most often derives…

A Study of Attitudes Associated with Retraining. Part II. Work Resource and Retraining Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miskovic, Darlene

A study was conducted to gain insight into how to persuade those in fields where job opportunities are declining to take advantage of existing retraining programs in order to avoid future displacement. Research was conducted through a series of focus groups in Chicago, Louisville, and Davenport. Participants in these sessions included men and…

Parent Explanation and Preschoolers' Exploratory Behavior and Learning in a Shadow Exhibition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Schijndel, Tessa J. P.; Raijmakers, Maartje E. J.

2016-01-01

The present study fills a gap in existing visitor research by focusing on the preschool age group. The study explores relationships between parent explanation, children's exploratory behavior, and their domain-specific learning in a shadow exhibition. In addition, the effect of a preceding theater show on child and parent behaviors is examined. In…

How the Doctorate Contributes to the Formation of Active Researchers: What the Research Tells Us

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinclair, Jennifer; Barnacle, Robyn; Cuthbert, Denise

2014-01-01

While much research focuses on factors contributing to doctoral completion, few studies explore the role of the doctorate in forming active researchers with the skills, know-how and appetite to pursue research post-completion. This article investigates 15 existing studies for evidence of what factors in the doctoral experience may contribute to…

An Exploratory Study of the Elements to Develop a Coaching Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Gwendolyn

2010-01-01

This exploratory study examined the elements of a coaching model based on the best practices that first focus on providing managers with the ability to develop workers and increase productivity, before using existing models that only support the process of managing workers, when it becomes apparent that the worker is not meeting expected…

Relating Change Patterns to Anthropogenic Processes to Assess Sustainability: A Case Study in Amazonia

Treesearch

Libia Patricia Peralta Agudelo

2006-01-01

This work focuses on identifying deforestation patterns and relating these to social processes in an extractive reserve of Acre (western Amazonia). Using multitemporal satellite imagery deforestation is observed as a series of distinctive patches against the background of forest cover. The study of patterns emphasizes the important relationships existing between...

Aging Widows and Widowers: Does the Impact of Bereavement Differ?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feinson, Marjorie Chary

Though many theories of the greater impact of a spouse's death on men than on women derive some support from role theory, little empirical data exist to support the hypotheses. Behavioral studies of widowhood have focused on social participation as a determinant in coping, without studying the survivor's degree of social involvement before the…

Overlooked and Understudied? A Survey of Current Trends in Research on Adult English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathews-Aydinli, Julie

2008-01-01

This article provides a synthesis and review of 41 recent research studies focusing on the population of adult English language learners (ELLs) studying in nonacademic contexts. It notes the unique qualities and importance of understanding the English-language needs of this population, provides a critical overview of the existing literature, and…

Analysis of a Knowledge-Management-Based Process of Transferring Project Management Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ioi, Toshihiro; Ono, Masakazu; Ishii, Kota; Kato, Kazuhiko

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for the transfer of knowledge and skills in project management (PM) based on techniques in knowledge management (KM). Design/methodology/approach: The literature contains studies on methods to extract experiential knowledge in PM, but few studies exist that focus on methods to convert…

A Decade of Literacy Research in the "Journal of Experimental Education."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knudson, Ruth E.; Theurer, Joan Leikam; Onofrey, Karen A.

This study examined various trends that exist among the 246 refereed articles published in the "Journal of Experimental Education" between 1990 and 1999. The study's results showed that 39 (16%) of the Journal articles published during this 9-year span focused on literacy. Information was categorized for each article with respect to authors'…

36th Annual Maintenance & Operations Cost Study: Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agron, Joe

2007-01-01

Colleges are focusing increased effort--and money--to improve the physical condition of existing facilities and address a huge backlog of deferred maintenance. According to "American School & University's" 36th annual Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Cost Study, the median college spends 16.4% of total college budget on M&O, up from 11% the year…

Identifying Knowledge Sharing Barriers in the Collaboration of Traditional and Western Medicine Professionals in Chinese Hospitals: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Lihong; Nunes, Miguel Baptista

2012-01-01

This paper reports on a research project that aims at identifying knowledge sharing (KS) barriers between traditional and western medicine practitioners co-existing and complementing each other in Chinese healthcare organisations. The study focuses on the tacit aspects of patient knowledge, rather than the traditional technical information shared…

Spanish Language Self-Efficacy Beliefs among Spanish-Speaking Social Workers: Implications for Social Work Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arriaza, Pablo

2015-01-01

Limited research exists about Spanish-speaking social workers that provide bilingual social work services. To date, studies have not exclusively focused on actual language competence of bilingual social workers or even their self-perceived language beliefs. This study reviews the results of a cross-sectional Internet-based survey exploring…

CIS Program Redesign Driven by IS2010 Model: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Surendran, Ken; Amer, Suhair; Schwieger, Dana

2012-01-01

The release of the IS2010 Model Curriculum has triggered review of existing Information Systems (IS) programs. It also provides an opportunity to replace low enrollment IS programs with flexible ones that focus on specific application domains. In this paper, the authors present a case study of their redesigned Computer Information Systems (CIS)…

Point specificity in acupuncture

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

The existence of point specificity in acupuncture is controversial, because many acupuncture studies using this principle to select control points have found that sham acupoints have similar effects to those of verum acupoints. Furthermore, the results of pain-related studies based on visual analogue scales have not supported the concept of point specificity. In contrast, hemodynamic, functional magnetic resonance imaging and neurophysiological studies evaluating the responses to stimulation of multiple points on the body surface have shown that point-specific actions are present. This review article focuses on clinical and laboratory studies supporting the existence of point specificity in acupuncture and also addresses studies that do not support this concept. Further research is needed to elucidate the point-specific actions of acupuncture. PMID:22373514

Validity of the Autism Spectrum Disorder-Comorbid for Children (ASD-CC)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matson, Johnny L.; LoVullo, Santino V.; Rivet, Tessa T.; Boisjoli, Jessica A.

2009-01-01

A limited number of studies currently exist focusing on comorbid psychopathology of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Due to the heterogeneity of ASD symptoms, communication deficits, and impairments in intellectual functioning, assessing symptoms of psychopathology is complicated. The "Autism Spectrum Disorders-Comorbidity for…

The Information-Seeking Habits of In-Service Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shipman, Todd; Bannon, Susan H.; Nunes-Bufford, Kimberly

2015-01-01

Research on information literacy and educators has focused on preservice educators and learning information literacy skills. Little research exists on in-service educators and their information literacy skills. Purposes of this study were to identify information sources that in-service educators used; to determine relationships between information…

Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Eating Problems and Eating Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keel, Pamela K.; Haedt, Alissa

2008-01-01

Eating disorders represent a significant source of psychological impairment among adolescents. However, most controlled treatment studies have focused on adult populations. This review provides a synthesis of existing data concerning the efficacy of various psychosocial interventions for eating disorders in adolescent samples. Modes of therapy…

Health of Aging Parents and Childless Individuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kendig, Hal; Dykstra, Pearl A.; van Gaalen, Ruben I.; Melkas, Tuula

2007-01-01

This article reviews and presents research findings on the relationships between parenthood and health over the life span. Existing research shows lacunae. The links between reproductive behavior and longevity generally focus on family size rather than contrasting parents and nonparents. Studies of marital status differentials in survival…

Examining Community College Leadership Dyads: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, David J.

2017-01-01

Information technology has the potential to change community college administration procedures; merging technological knowledge and business skill; creating a need for further definition and understanding of current Chief Information Officer (CIO) position. However, the existing research on this topic focuses on the merging leadership roles and…

Unveiling New Degradation Intermediates/Pathways from the Photocatalytic Degradation of Microcystin-LR

EPA Science Inventory

This study focuses on the identification of reaction intermediates formed during the photocatalytic degradation of the cyanotoxin microcystin-LR with immobilized TiO₂ Tphotocatalysts at neutral pH. To differentiate between impurities already existing in the MC-LR stand...

Impact of alcohol on lane placement and glance patterns when passing a parked active law enforcement vehicle.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-10-01

For this project, researchers used an existing dataset from a previous research effort to investigate the moth effect : theory, where it is believed that drivers drift toward bright lights. While the previous research study primarily : focused on sig...

Accurately modeling Gaussian beam propagation in the context of Monte Carlo techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hokr, Brett H.; Winblad, Aidan; Bixler, Joel N.; Elpers, Gabriel; Zollars, Byron; Scully, Marlan O.; Yakovlev, Vladislav V.; Thomas, Robert J.

2016-03-01

Monte Carlo simulations are widely considered to be the gold standard for studying the propagation of light in turbid media. However, traditional Monte Carlo methods fail to account for diffraction because they treat light as a particle. This results in converging beams focusing to a point instead of a diffraction limited spot, greatly effecting the accuracy of Monte Carlo simulations near the focal plane. Here, we present a technique capable of simulating a focusing beam in accordance to the rules of Gaussian optics, resulting in a diffraction limited focal spot. This technique can be easily implemented into any traditional Monte Carlo simulation allowing existing models to be converted to include accurate focusing geometries with minimal effort. We will present results for a focusing beam in a layered tissue model, demonstrating that for different scenarios the region of highest intensity, thus the greatest heating, can change from the surface to the focus. The ability to simulate accurate focusing geometries will greatly enhance the usefulness of Monte Carlo for countless applications, including studying laser tissue interactions in medical applications and light propagation through turbid media.

'Maybe they should regulate them quite strictly until they know the true dangers': a focus group study exploring UK adolescents' views on e-cigarette regulation.

PubMed

Weishaar, Heide; Trevisan, Filippo; Hilton, Shona

2016-09-01

Regulation of electronic cigarettes has moved to the top of the addiction policy agenda, as demonstrated by the recent focus across the United Kingdom on introducing age-of-sale restrictions. However, the views of those affected by such regulation remain largely unexplored. This paper presents the first detailed qualitative exploration of adolescents' perceptions of existing, and opinions about potential e-cigarette regulation. Sixteen focus groups, including a total of 83 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 years, were conducted in deprived, mixed and affluent urban areas in Scotland and England between November 2014 and February 2015. Transcripts were imported into Nivivo 10, coded thematically and analysed. Participants critically considered existing evidence and competing interests in regulatory debates and demonstrated sophisticated understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of regulation. They overwhelmingly supported strong e-cigarette regulation and endorsed restrictions on sales to minors, marketing and e-cigarette use in public places. Concern about potential health harms of e-cigarette use and marketing increasing the acceptability of vaping and smoking led these adolescents to support regulation. In focus group discussions, a sample of UK adolescents exposed to particular communications about e-cigarettes supported strict regulation of e-cigarettes, including banning sales to minors and use in indoor public areas. © 2016 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.

Interviewing in Virtual Worlds: A Phenomenological Study Exploring the Success Factors of Job Applicants Utilizing Second Life to Gain Employment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koufoudakis-Whittington, Stefania

2014-01-01

This study explored the phenomenon of success factors of job applicants utilizing Second Life to gain employment. The study focused on identifying the perception of what qualified as a successful interview through the lived common experiences of 16 employment recruiters. The research problem was that a gap existed in scholarly research on…

Effects of Single-Gender Mathematics Classrooms on Self-Perception of Mathematical Ability and Post Secondary Engineering Paths: An Australian Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tully, D.; Jacobs, B.

2010-01-01

This study focused on a population of female engineering students, probing the influences of their secondary school experience on their choice to pursue an engineering course of study at university. The motivating question is: Do unique opportunities exist in an all-female secondary school mathematics classroom, which impact a young woman's…

The Effects of Ability Grouping on Gifted & Talented Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Students in Selected South Carolina Public School Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Tammy Tara

2013-01-01

This is a quantitative research study using archival data to focus on the achievement of Gifted & Talented students in two South Carolina public school districts. The researcher used an open cohort comparative research design for this study. This study attempted to find if differences in student performance existed between students labeled as…

Dual Identities: Organizational Negotiation in STEM-Focused Catholic Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kloser, Matthew; Wilsey, Matthew; Hopkins, Dawn W.; Dallavis, Julie W.; Lavin, Erin; Comuniello, Michael

2018-01-01

In the last decade, STEM-focused schools have opened their doors nationally in the hope of meeting students' contemporary educational needs. Despite the growth of these STEM-focused institutions, minimal research exists that follows how schools make a transition toward a STEM focus and what organizational structures are most conducive to a…

Reexamining Ground SOF Command and Control: Does One Size Fit All

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

Case studies covering varying methods of employment of special operations forces in limited contingencies will be utilized. The case studies focus on ...operating environment, much like an open organization. This research examines three case studies including operation JUST CAUSE in Panama, RESTORE HOPE in... case studies , the HQ elements formed around existing homogenous commands and not a Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC) staff with limited

Economic Theory and Broadcasting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Benjamin J.

Focusing on access to audience through broadcast time, this paper examines the status of research into the economics of broadcasting. The paper first discusses the status of theory in the study of broadcast economics, both as described directly and as it exists in the statement of the basic assumptions generated by prior work and general…

Creating International Community Service Learning Experiences in a Capstone Marketing-Projects Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metcalf, Lynn E.

2010-01-01

This article outlines the development of a project-based capstone marketing course, specifically designed to provide marketing students with an international community service learning experience. It differs significantly from previous studies, which focus on integrating service learning into existing marketing courses and on helping local…

Investigating the determining factors for transit travel demand by bus mode in US metropolitan statistical areas.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-05-01

Proper understanding of the nature of the transit travel demand is at the heart of transportation policy making and the success of : transit systems. Unfortunately, most of the existing studies have focused on a single or few transit systems or metro...

Plants and Photosynthesis: Peer Assessment to Help Students Learn

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crane, Lucy; Winterbottom, Mark

2008-01-01

This study investigates how peer assessment can help students to learn about photosynthesis in a "high attaining," year nine class in a UK 11-18 comprehensive school. There is limited research on how peer assessment can influence the learning of "high attaining students"; most existing research focuses on how formative…

The Cybercitizen Dimension: A Quantitative Study Using a Threat Avoidance Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manzano, Debbie L.

2012-01-01

The importance of information security is understated and theory-based empirical research that explains computer users voluntary IT threat avoidance behavior is lacking. Most existing information security research on individual behaviors has been focused in organizational settings where the threat avoidance behavior is mandatory and dictated by…

An Examination of Parents' Preferred School Counselor Professional Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilder, Christopher R.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine parent preferences for school counselor professional activities. The primary focus of research was to determine if any relationship exists between (1) parents' demographic factors--gender, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity--and their preferences for school counselors' professional activities; (2)…

Equal Opportunities for Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (France). Directorate for Manpower and Social Affairs.

A study of the opportunities for women in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is reported along with suggested policy directions for government programs. Focus is on identifying the gaps that have appeared or grown wider in recent decades between, on one hand, existing laws, policies, and…

Transfer of Training: Adding Insight through Social Network Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van den Bossche, Piet; Segers, Mien

2013-01-01

This article reviews studies which apply a social network perspective to examine transfer of training. The theory behind social networks focuses on the interpersonal mechanisms and social structures that exist among interacting units such as people within an organization. A premise of this perspective is that individual's behaviors and outcomes…

Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kandalaft, Michelle R.; Didehbani, Nyaz; Krawczyk, Daniel C.; Allen, Tandra T.; Chapman, Sandra B.

2013-01-01

Few evidence-based social interventions exist for young adults with high-functioning autism, many of whom encounter significant challenges during the transition into adulthood. The current study investigated the feasibility of an engaging Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training intervention focused on enhancing social skills, social cognition,…

Composing Alternatives to a National Security Language Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wible, Scott

2009-01-01

President Bush's National Security Language Initiative focuses narrowly on gearing language education to security and military needs. English educators should work with their counterparts in foreign language departments to promote a broader view, one that encourages study of the multiple language groups that currently exist within the United…

32 CFR 651.14 - Integration with Army planning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... be controversial. In most cases, local citizens and/or existing advisory groups should assist in... reduce or eliminate discussion of minor issues to help focus analyses. Such an approach will minimize... recommendations presented in the CEQ publication entitled “The National Environmental Policy Act: A Study of Its...

32 CFR 651.14 - Integration with Army planning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... be controversial. In most cases, local citizens and/or existing advisory groups should assist in... reduce or eliminate discussion of minor issues to help focus analyses. Such an approach will minimize... recommendations presented in the CEQ publication entitled “The National Environmental Policy Act: A Study of Its...

32 CFR 651.14 - Integration with Army planning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... be controversial. In most cases, local citizens and/or existing advisory groups should assist in... reduce or eliminate discussion of minor issues to help focus analyses. Such an approach will minimize... recommendations presented in the CEQ publication entitled “The National Environmental Policy Act: A Study of Its...

32 CFR 651.14 - Integration with Army planning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... be controversial. In most cases, local citizens and/or existing advisory groups should assist in... reduce or eliminate discussion of minor issues to help focus analyses. Such an approach will minimize... recommendations presented in the CEQ publication entitled “The National Environmental Policy Act: A Study of Its...

32 CFR 651.14 - Integration with Army planning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... be controversial. In most cases, local citizens and/or existing advisory groups should assist in... reduce or eliminate discussion of minor issues to help focus analyses. Such an approach will minimize... recommendations presented in the CEQ publication entitled “The National Environmental Policy Act: A Study of Its...

Wildfires, weather, and productivity

Treesearch

Michel Louis Bernard; Noureddine Nimour

2007-01-01

The object of this paper is to show the intercorrelations existing between statistics of wildfires (occurrences: N; areas burned: A), climatic parameters (precipitation: P; temperature: T) and net primary productivity: NPP. To this purpose, statistics of wildfires have been studied in several regions of the world, focusing on temperature and precipitation. The present...

Effects of Diversity Experiences on Socially Responsible Leadership over Four Years of College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Eugene T., III; Pascarella, Ernest T.

2013-01-01

Regarding collegiate experiences, several studies have examined the effects of diversity experiences on educational, psychosocial, and other college outcomes (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). However, there exists a limited body of research, which has focused on the impact of those types of experiences on leadership development among students…

Habituation Is Not Enough: Novelty Preferences, Search, and Memory in Infancy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sophian, Catherine

1980-01-01

Critically evaluates habituation and related models for studying infant memory, focusing on methodological and substantive limitations which restrict the derivation of information from them. The essay considers existing research on the development of object permanence as an alternative source of information about infant memory. (Author/DB)

Vindicating Stalin: Responding to Lefebvre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malott, Curry

2017-01-01

No significant scholarship in educational studies has focused on Lefebvre's engagement with socialist state theory and his position against Stalin. As a result, when Lefebvre's thoughts on the state and on actually existing socialism are mentioned, they are engaged completely uncritically. This essay addresses this crucial gap. Toward these ends,…

Values in the Net Neutrality Debate: Applying Content Analysis to Testimonies from Public Hearings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, An-Shou

2012-01-01

The Net neutrality debate is an important telecommunications policy issue that closely tied to technological innovation, economic development, and information access. Existing studies on Net neutrality have focused primarily on technological requirements, economic analysis, and regulatory justifications. Since values, technology, and policy are…

Gorgias on Madison Avenue: Sophistry and the Rhetoric of Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matcuk, Matt

Using sophistic theory and focusing on intersections in the practice and reception of sophistry and advertising, a study analyzed a contemporary advertising campaign. A number of extrinsic similarities between sophistic and advertising rhetoric exist: their commercial basis, their popular reception as dishonest speech, and the reception of both as…

Symbolic Play in School-Aged Minimally Verbal Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Ya-Chih; Shih, Wendy; Landa, Rebecca; Kaiser, Ann; Kasari, Connie

2018-01-01

Few interventions exist for school-aged minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Even though play skills are associated with children's production of language, few studies have focused on play for minimally verbal children. Fifty-eight minimally verbal children with ASD received a naturalistic developmental behavioral…

The Relation among Temperament, Age, and Friendship in Preschool-Aged Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gower, Amy L.; Hohmann, Lisa M.; Gleason, Terry C.; Gleason, Tracy R.

Research on preschoolers' friendships has focused on superficial similarities but has not examined whether similarities exist between friends in personality characteristics such as temperament. This study examined the hypothesis that friends would have similar temperaments and that the relationship between temperament and friendship would be…

Collaborative Learning from Personal Cases in a Principal Preparation Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaked, Haim; Schechter, Chen; Michalsky, Tova

2018-01-01

Existing preparation programmes for school principals have been widely criticized for failing to prepare their students adequately for their future roles. This study investigated a workshop at a principal preparation programme which focused on collaborative learning from personal real-life cases, exploring its potential contribution to the…

Impact of Prematurity on Language Skills at School Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Jamie Mahurin; DeThorne, Laura Segebart; Logan, Jessica A. R.; Channell, Ron W.; Petrill, Stephen A.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The existing literature on language outcomes in children born prematurely focuses almost exclusively on standardized test scores rather than discourse-level abilities. The authors of this study looked longitudinally at school-age language outcomes and potential moderating variables for a group of twins born prematurely versus a control…

Efficacy of Coaching Preschool Teachers to Manage Challenging Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Matthew E.; Beaman-Diglia, Lauren E.

2018-01-01

Many early educators cite behavior management as a top professional development need. Evidence-based practices exist to address severe challenging behavior, but promoting implementation of these practices remains a challenge. In this single-case design study, two preschool teachers received coaching focused on implementing three evidence-based…

A Study of Flow Theory in the Foreign Language Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egbert, Joy

2003-01-01

Focuses on the relationship between flow experiences and language learning. Flow theory suggests that flow experiences can lead to optimal learning. Findings suggest flow does exist in the foreign language classroom and that flow theory offers an interesting and useful framework for conceptualizing and evaluating language learning activities.…

Excavation-caused extra deformation of existing masonry residence in soft soil region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Y.; Franceschelli, S.

2017-04-01

Growing need for construction of infrastructures and buildings in fast urbanization process creates challenges of interaction between buildings under construction and adjacent existing buildings. This paper presents the mitigation of contradiction between two parties who are involved the interaction using civil engineering techniques. Through the in-depth analysis of the results of monitoring surveys and enhanced accuracy and reliability of surveys, a better understanding of the behavior of deformable buildings is achieved. Combination with the original construction documents, the two parties agree that both of them are responsible for building damages and a better understanding for the rehabilitation of the existing buildings is focused on. Two cases studies are used to demonstrate and describe the importance of better understanding of the behavior of existing buildings and their rehabilitations. The objective of this study is to insight into mechanisms of soil-structure interaction for buildings adjacent to deep excavations, which can result in a damage in existing masonry residence, and to take the optimized measures to make deep excavations safety and economic and adjacent buildings keep good serviceability in urban areas with soft soil conditions.

Multimodal evaluation and management of children with concussion: using our heads and available evidence.

PubMed

Gioia, Gerard A

2015-01-01

Significant attention has been focused on concussions in children, but a dearth of research evidence exists supporting clinical evaluation and management. The primary objective of this review paper is to describe a multimodal, developmentally adapted, standardized concussion assessment and active rehabilitation approach for children as young as 5 years old. This study reviews the CDC-funded research programme, including the development of tools for post-concussion symptom assessment involving the child and parent, measurement of specific neurocognitive functions and assessment of dynamic cognitive exertional effects. A clinical approach to active, individualized, moderated concussion rehabilitation management is presented, including a 10-step guide to symptom management, with a specific focus on the school challenges faced by the recovering student. To better inform concussion practice across the developmental age spectrum, a significant need exists for further research evidence to refine clinical assessment methods and develop effective treatment approaches.

Understanding Unintended Consequences and Health Information Technology:. Contribution from the IMIA Organizational and Social Issues Working Group.

PubMed

Kuziemsky, C E; Randell, R; Borycki, E M

2016-11-10

No framework exists to identify and study unintended consequences (UICs) with a focus on organizational and social issues (OSIs). To address this shortcoming, we conducted a literature review to develop a framework for considering UICs and health information technology (HIT) from the perspective of OSIs. A literature review was conducted for the period 2000- 2015 using the search terms "unintended consequences" and "health information technology". 67 papers were screened, of which 18 met inclusion criteria. Data extraction was focused on the types of technologies studied, types of UICs identified, and methods of data collection and analysis used. A thematic analysis was used to identify themes related to UICs. We identified two overarching themes. One was the definition and terminology of how people classify and discuss UICs. Second was OSIs and UICs. For the OSI theme, we also identified four sub-themes: process change and evolution, individual-collaborative interchange, context of use, and approaches to model, study, and understand UICs. While there is a wide body of research on UICs, there is a lack of overall consensus on how they should be classified and reported, limiting our ability to understand the implications of UICs and how to manage them. More mixed-methods research and better proactive identification of UICs remain priorities. Our findings and framework of OSI considerations for studying UICs and HIT extend existing work on HIT and UICs by focusing on organizational and social issues.

Understanding Unintended Consequences and Health Information Technology:

PubMed Central

Randell, R.; Borycki, E. M.

2016-01-01

Summary Objective No framework exists to identify and study unintended consequences (UICs) with a focus on organizational and social issues (OSIs). To address this shortcoming, we conducted a literature review to develop a framework for considering UICs and health information technology (HIT) from the perspective of OSIs. Methods A literature review was conducted for the period 2000-2015 using the search terms “unintended consequences” and “health information technology”. 67 papers were screened, of which 18 met inclusion criteria. Data extraction was focused on the types of technologies studied, types of UICs identified, and methods of data collection and analysis used. A thematic analysis was used to identify themes related to UICs. Results We identified two overarching themes. One was the definition and terminology of how people classify and discuss UICs. Second was OSIs and UICs. For the OSI theme, we also identified four sub-themes: process change and evolution, individual-collaborative interchange, context of use, and approaches to model, study, and understand UICs. Conclusions While there is a wide body of research on UICs, there is a lack of overall consensus on how they should be classified and reported, limiting our ability to understand the implications of UICs and how to manage them. More mixed-methods research and better proactive identification of UICs remain priorities. Our findings and framework of OSI considerations for studying UICs and HIT extend existing work on HIT and UICs by focusing on organizational and social issues. PMID:27830231

Laser beam propagation in nematic liquid crystals at the temperature close to the nematicisotropic critical point.

PubMed

Chen, Yu-Jen; Lin, Yu-Sung; Jiang, I-Min; Tsai, Ming-Shan

2008-03-17

This study investigates the optical nonlinearity of beam propagation in homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cells at a temperature close to the nematic-isotropic temperature (TNI). The undulate propagation mode with convergent and divergent loops appearing alternately is reported and the thermally enhanced optical reorientation nonlinearity at the focus is described. The optically induced phase transition exists along the pump beam direction. With the application of the conscopic technique, the arrangements of LC at the focus are proposed in this study. Results of this study demonstrate that the evolution of the LC configuration was affected by the pump beam based on the analysis of conoscopic patterns.

An Asymmetrical Network Model of the Japanese EFL Learner's Mental Lexicon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aotani, Noriko; Sugino, Naoki; Fraser, Simon; Koga, Yuya; Shojima, Kojiro

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to construct a model of a simple lexical network showing the strength and asymmetry of the connections between vocabulary items in the L2 mental lexicon of Japanese learners. The study focuses on eight nouns and investigates how they are networked, and whether the existing network structure formed by these nouns would be…

A Qualitative Inquiry into the Experiences of High-Potential Hispanic English Language Learners in Midwestern Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pereira, Nielsen; Gentry, Marcia

2013-01-01

The underrepresentation of English language learners (ELLs) in gifted programs remains a severe and pervasive problem; however, few studies exist concerning the educational experiences of high-potential ELLs. This study focused on Hispanic ELLs in Grades 2 through 6 from four Midwestern schools. In all, 22 students, 20 parents, and 22 teachers…

Methodological Issues in Mobile Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (mCSCL): What Methods, What to Measure and When to Measure?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Yanjie

2014-01-01

This study aims to investigate (1) methods utilized in mobile computer-supported collaborative learning (mCSCL) research which focuses on studying, learning and collaboration mediated by mobile devices; (2) whether these methods have examined mCSCL effectively; (3) when the methods are administered; and (4) what methodological issues exist in…

Quality of Agricultural Products and Protection of the Environment: Training, Knowledge Dissemination and Certification. Synthesis Report of a Study in Five European Countries. CEDEFOP Reference Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papadaki-Klavdianou, A.; Menkisoglou-Spiroudi, O.; Tsakiridou, E.

This book examines existing European environmental education and agricultural practices friendly to the environment. Focus is on studies conducted in five countries Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain--that aimed to define new knowledge qualifications related to environmental issues in producing alternative agricultural products…

The Effects of Staff Training on the Types of Interactions Observed at Two Group Homes for Foster Care Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crosland, Kimberly A.; Dunlap, Glen; Sager, Wayne; Neff, Bryon; Wilcox, Catherine; Blanco, Alfredo; Giddings, Tamela

2008-01-01

Objectives: An extensive literature base exists for behavioral parent training; however, few studies have focused on training direct care staff at group home and residential facilities for children. This study was conducted to determine whether a behavioral staff training program consisting of classroom training and in-home feedback would improve…

Conceptualizing Human Nature and the Divine: Qualitative Interviews with Christians and Buddhists from a Mixed-Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crane, Lauren Shapiro; Burns, Emily M.; Johnson, Hannah E.; Brown, Betsy R.; Ufholz, Kelsey E.; Riehle, Jennifer L.

2009-01-01

This study investigated the possibility that a link exists between an individual's concept of Divinity and concept of self. Participants were 12 Christians (6 Catholic, 6 Methodist) and 8 Buddhists. They answered open-ended questions about sacredness, after-death experience, and humanity's relation to the natural world. Content analyses focused on…

Exploring Community College Students' Transfer Experiences and Perceptions and What They Believe Administration Can Do to Improve Their Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Kimberly Young; Okpala, Comfort

2017-01-01

This study explored the interconnectedness of the transfer student experience and used it as a foundational framework to inform the administrative leadership on a North Carolina, midsized, historically Black college of the existing transfer students' experiences. This study focused on (a) how transfer students at a midsized historically black…

Instructional Strategies and Best Practices for Improving the Achievement Gap in Mathematics: An Exploratory Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lord, Joey

2017-01-01

This qualitative exploratory case study focused on the achievement gap in mathematics that exists in one urban North Carolina middle school and the strategies used by school personnel to narrow this gap. The goal of this research was to determine effective instructional strategies and best practices used to engage students in learning that will…

Social and Emotional Dynamics of College Students with Musical Intelligence and Musical Training: A Multiple Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pelayo, Jose Maria G., III; Galang, Edgar

2013-01-01

Music has been in its formal existence for so many years now and it has also been utilized to enhance, relax and help man's meditation. This study focused on how music can or may influence an individual. The researchers investigated and described the influence of Howard Gardner's theory on Multiple Intelligence (specifically, musical…

The Effects of Gender on Group Work Process and Achievement: An Analysis through Self- and Peer-Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takeda, Sachiko; Homberg, Fabian

2014-01-01

The importance of teamwork skills as part of employability has been widely acknowledged and accompanied by active research on successful cooperative learning. However, relatively few studies have focused on the effects of gender on students' group work, and only a limited number of empirical studies exist that examine students' group work process…

How to Facilitate Transition to Adulthood? Innovative Solutions from Parents of Young Adults with Profound Intellectual Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gauthier-Boudreault, Camille; Couture, Mélanie; Gallagher, Frances

2018-01-01

Background: At age 21, access to specialised services for youth with profound intellectual disability is reduced. Few studies have focused on parents' views concerning potential solutions to ease the transition to adulthood, and most existing solutions target young adults with less severe intellectual disability. The aim of this study is to…

Role of Academic Managers in Workload and Performance Management of Academic Staff: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Andrew T.

2016-01-01

This small-scale case study focused on academic managers to explore the ways in which they control the workload of academic staff and the extent to which they use the workload model in performance management of academic staff. The links that exist between the workload and performance management were explored to confirm or refute the conceptual…

On Progress of Mass Tertiary Education: Case of Lebanon, Kenya and Oman

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Zhimin; Mutinda, Gladys

2016-01-01

Mass higher education is a huge force to be reckoned with and its existence, already in the expansion of tertiary institutions is undeniable. This study will focus on three countries: Lebanon, Kenya and Oman. The purpose of this study is to evaluate mass tertiary education progress in these countries. It will synthesize data results of gross…

Hydrologic influence on sediment transport of low-gradient, forested headwater streams in central Louisiana

Treesearch

Philip Saksa; Yi Jun Xu; Richard Stich

2013-01-01

Extensive research has been conducted on headwater streams in regions with high topographic variation. However, relatively few studies have examined low-gradient headwater stream systems, such as those existing in much of the southeastern Coastal Plain. The focus of this study is to investigate spatial and temporal variation of headwater stream hydrology in a low-...

A Decade of Literacy Research in the "Journal of Research and Development in Education."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knudson, Ruth E.; Onofrey, Karen A.

This paper discusses a study performed on the various trends that exist among the 260 articles published in the "Journal of Research and Development in Education" between 1990 and 1999. The study's results showed 36 (13.8%) of the Journal articles published within this 9-year span focused on literacy. Information was categorized for each article…

Spanish and English Word-Initial Voiceless Stop Production in Code-Switched vs. Monolingual Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez Lopez, Veronica

2012-01-01

The present study examines the production outcomes of late second language (L2) learners in order to determine if the mechanisms that allow the creation of phonetic categories remains available during the lifespan, as the Speech Language Model (SLM) claims. In addition, the study focuses on the type of interaction that exists between the first…

Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review of economic evaluations.

PubMed

Handels, Ron L H; Wolfs, Claire A G; Aalten, Pauline; Joore, Manuela A; Verhey, Frans R J; Severens, Johan L

2014-03-01

The objective of this study is to systematically review the literature on economic evaluations of interventions for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders and to describe their general and methodological characteristics. We focused on the diagnostic aspects of the decision models to assess the applicability of existing decision models for the evaluation of the recently revised diagnostic research criteria for AD. PubMed and the National Institute for Health Research Economic Evaluation database were searched for English-language publications related to economic evaluations on diagnostic technologies. Trial-based economic evaluations were assessed using the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria list. Modeling studies were assessed using the framework for quality assessment of decision-analytic models. The search retrieved 2109 items, from which eight decision-analytic modeling studies and one trial-based economic evaluation met all eligibility criteria. Diversity among the study objective and characteristics was considerable and, despite considerable methodological quality, several flaws were indicated. Recommendations were focused on diagnostic aspects and the applicability of existing models for the evaluation of recently revised diagnostic research criteria for AD. Copyright © 2014 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Sex survey research in Germany and Europe : Liebesleben (LoveLives): A pilot study into the sexual experiences, attitudes and relationships of adults in Germany].

PubMed

Matthiesen, Silja; Dekker, Arne; von Rueden, Ursula; Winkelmann, Christine; Wendt, Janine; Briken, Peer

2017-09-01

At the Hamburg Institute for Sex Research in Germany, a nationwide study is currently being carried out into the sexual experiences, attitudes and relationships of adults (18-75 years). The main focus of this pilot study is to test the comprehensibility and length of a data collecting instrument as well as the comparison of two data collecting methods with regard to reliability and representativeness of the results as well as of the refusal rate. To this end face-to-face interviews (n = 500) and questionnaires sent by post (n = 500) are to be compared with each other as methods. The data to be collected relates to sexuality, particularly the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The WHO definition of sexual health forms the basis for the study and thus connects up with the existing sex survey research in Europe and western industrial nations. Comparable surveys have been conducted over the past ten years in more than 30 European countries using a variety of methods. The focus of the study is placed upon the increase that has been observed for several years now in certain STIs. The article provides an overview of existing sex survey research in Europe. It becomes clear that the studies conducted so far are very heterogeneous with regard to chosen method, sampling techniques and the choice of content focus, so that no suitable data for cross-national comparability are currently available.

Modeling of InGaAsSb-Based Avalanche Photodetectors for 2-Micron Wavelengths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joshi, Ravindra P.; Abedin, M. Nurul (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The main focus of this research is to study and evaluate the potential of InGaAsSb-AlGaAsSb based 2 micron avalanche photo-detectors. The photodetector contains a separate absorption and multiplication region (SAM) structure. The analysis has mainly been done to understand the electrical response characteristics of the devices existing at NASA, and to evaluate alternate structures proposed. Calculating the current flow for the existing detector structure, on the basis of its energy band diagram, is important. This analysis also helps to find shortcomings in the existing detector structure. It is shown that, unfortunately, the existing structure cannot lead to strong multiplication or voltage dependent gain. Two alternate structures are suggested, that could overcome the inherent flaws, and help achieve improved performance. These devices are obtained through modifications of the original structure, which include varying the doping levels, and changing the thicknesses of detector sub-regions. The results of our study are presented and discussed.

Uruguayan secondary school students speak up about tobacco: results from focus group discussions in and around Montevideo.

PubMed

Peterson, Erin; Harrell, Melissa; Springer, Andrew; Medina, José; Martinez, Lucía; Perry, Cheryl; Estol, Diego

2017-07-01

This qualitative research study investigated intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors that shape young adolescent tobacco use behaviors in Uruguay. Focus groups were conducted in the summer of 2012 and fall of 2013 in four secondary schools in Montevideo, Uruguay, including two private schools and two public schools. A total of four focus groups were led in each school, composed of 4-6 students each, 16 focus groups in total. Data analysis utilized NVivo software and included deductive and inductive content analysis. Overwhelmingly, students reported that the onset of smoking occurred in the second year of secondary school. The primary intrapersonal factors that were found to be universal among respondents identified that smoking was a performance in groups, to garner attention from their peers. Students interviewed most often stated that the greatest interpersonal factors for smoking were to look older, as a rite of passage, and for group membership. Environmental factors cited most often indicate that they smoked during unsupervised time, either at night or around the short Uruguayan school day. Focus group interviews revealed that adolescents had easy access to cigarettes for purchase through small family owned grocery stores, even though laws exist preventing the sale of cigarettes to minors. Few differences were cited between strata related to cigarette use in adolescents. The differences that do exist are most apparent across gender, though there were a few observed differences when stratified by public and private school. Findings from this study indicate that key factors across ecological levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental) should be taken into consideration when designing tobacco prevention programs for youth in Uruguay. A multiple-component approach which addresses risk factors at all of these levels, implemented in schools, may be particularly well-suited to this setting.

Assessment and improvement of sound quality in cochlear implant users

PubMed Central

Caldwell, Meredith T.; Jiam, Nicole T.

2017-01-01

Objectives Cochlear implants (CIs) have successfully provided speech perception to individuals with sensorineural hearing loss. Recent research has focused on more challenging acoustic stimuli such as music and voice emotion. The purpose of this review is to evaluate and describe sound quality in CI users with the purposes of summarizing novel findings and crucial information about how CI users experience complex sounds. Data Sources Here we review the existing literature on PubMed and Scopus to present what is known about perceptual sound quality in CI users, discuss existing measures of sound quality, explore how sound quality may be effectively studied, and examine potential strategies of improving sound quality in the CI population. Results Sound quality, defined here as the perceived richness of an auditory stimulus, is an attribute of implant‐mediated listening that remains poorly studied. Sound quality is distinct from appraisal, which is generally defined as the subjective likability or pleasantness of a sound. Existing studies suggest that sound quality perception in the CI population is limited by a range of factors, most notably pitch distortion and dynamic range compression. Although there are currently very few objective measures of sound quality, the CI‐MUSHRA has been used as a means of evaluating sound quality. There exist a number of promising strategies to improve sound quality perception in the CI population including apical cochlear stimulation, pitch tuning, and noise reduction processing strategies. Conclusions In the published literature, sound quality perception is severely limited among CI users. Future research should focus on developing systematic, objective, and quantitative sound quality metrics and designing therapies to mitigate poor sound quality perception in CI users. Level of Evidence NA PMID:28894831

Openness to Experience as a Moderator of the Relationship between Intelligence and Creative Thinking: A Study of Chinese Children in Urban and Rural Areas.

PubMed

Shi, Baoguo; Dai, David Y; Lu, Yongli

2016-01-01

Using testing and questionnaire methods, this study investigated the relationships among openness to experience, intelligence and creative thinking. This study focused on the moderating effects of openness to experience on the relationship between intelligence and creative thinking in a sample of 831 primary school students in China. The findings showed significant positive relationships among openness to experience, intelligence and creative thinking. In relation to the focus of this study, openness to experience moderated the relationship between intelligence and creative thinking. However, the correlation between openness to experience and creative thinking was stronger for urban children than for rural children, and the moderating effect existed only in urban settings.

Openness to Experience as a Moderator of the Relationship between Intelligence and Creative Thinking: A Study of Chinese Children in Urban and Rural Areas

PubMed Central

Shi, Baoguo; Dai, David Y.; Lu, Yongli

2016-01-01

Using testing and questionnaire methods, this study investigated the relationships among openness to experience, intelligence and creative thinking. This study focused on the moderating effects of openness to experience on the relationship between intelligence and creative thinking in a sample of 831 primary school students in China. The findings showed significant positive relationships among openness to experience, intelligence and creative thinking. In relation to the focus of this study, openness to experience moderated the relationship between intelligence and creative thinking. However, the correlation between openness to experience and creative thinking was stronger for urban children than for rural children, and the moderating effect existed only in urban settings. PMID:27199866

Developing a Process for Sustained Climate Assessment in the US Southwest Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duncan, B.; Rick, U. K.; McNie, E. C.

2017-12-01

Climate information needs often vary across states, regions, and sectors. While a national assessment provides foundational guidance about the science and impacts of climate change, there is also value in an ongoing climate assessment process with a more targeted regional geographic scale and sectoral focus. Such a process could provide timely and relevant climate information that is sometimes more detailed than what can be included in a national assessment, while also providing a foundation of knowledge and relationships that can be drawn on in larger-scale assessment processes. In the Sustained Climate Assessment in the Southwest project, researchers are investigating opportunities for sustained assessment in the US Southwest National Climate Assessment (NCA) region - an area that consists of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This work is focused on identifying key elements of an ongoing climate assessment process for the region in collaboration with climate service providers and users, with the goal of connecting providers and users to increase access to information and understanding of climate impacts in decision-making contexts. It is focused on four key sectors that represent a range of existing capacity in the region: water, oceans and coasts, agriculture, and transportation. Recommendations for an ongoing assessment process may vary by sector - a reflection of the capacity and opportunity associated with each. In this presentation, we will share case studies of particularly useful or successful existing assessment activities and identify common characteristics across the case studies. We will also share preliminary recommendations for a regional sustained climate assessment process that draws on the broad existing capacity for climate assessment in the region and complements national-scale assessment processes.

Sliding down the U-shape? A dynamic panel investigation of the age-well-being relationship, focusing on young adults.

PubMed

Piper, Alan T

2015-10-01

Much of the work within economics attempting to understand the relationship between age and well-being has focused on the U-shape, whether it exists and, more recently, potential reasons for its existence. This paper focuses on one part of the lifecycle rather than the whole: young people. This focus offers a better understanding of the age-well-being relationship for young people, and helps with increasing general understanding regarding the U-shape itself. The empirical estimations employ both static and dynamic panel estimations, with the latter preferred for several reasons. The empirical results are in line with the U-shape, and the results from the dynamic analysis indicate that this result is a lifecycle effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Energy Conservation Retrofit Process for Existing Public and Institutional Facilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tiedeman, Thomas V.

This manual was developed to provide assistance to public officials first considering energy conservation in existing public buildings. The manual focuses on management decisions which must be made in implementing energy conservation programs for existing buildings. It provides assistance in developing a plan of attack, establishing schedules,…

IEA Wind TCP Task 26: Impacts of Wind Turbine Technology on the System Value of Wind in Europe

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

Lantz, Eric J.; Riva, Alberto D.; Hethey, Janos

This report analyzes the impact of different land-based wind turbine designs on grid integration and related system value and cost. This topic has been studied in a number of previous publications, showing the potential benefits of wind turbine technologies that feature higher capacity factors. Building on the existing literature, this study aims to quantify the effects of different land-based wind turbine designs in the context of a projection of the European power system to 2030. This study contributes with insights on the quantitative effects in a likely European market setup, taking into account the effect of existing infrastructure on bothmore » existing conventional and renewable generation capacities. Furthermore, the market effects are put into perspective by comparing cost estimates for deploying different types of turbine design. Although the study focuses on Europe, similar considerations and results can be applied to other power systems with high wind penetration.« less

Battlefield Visualization

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-12-15

A study analyzing battlefield visualization (BV) as a component of information dominance and superiority. This study outlines basic requirements for effective BV in terms of terrain data, information systems (synthetic environment; COA development and analysis tools) and BV development management, with a focus on technology insertion strategies. This study also reports on existing BV systems and provides 16 recommendations for Army BV support efforts, including interested organization, funding levels and duration of effort for each recommended action.

Bridging the gap between interviewer and interviewee: developing an interview guide for individual interviews by means of a focus group.

PubMed

Pedersen, Birgith; Delmar, Charlotte; Falkmer, Ursula; Grønkjaer, Mette

2016-09-01

In developing an interview guide, pre-existing knowledge about the research topic is essential. In a recent study, we were interested in exploring the experiences of weight changes among women treated for breast cancer using individual interviews. However, to develop an interview guide for the individual interviews that covered relevant thematic and dynamic dimensions, we found existing literature insufficient. Thus, we turned our attention to the benefit of the focus group method. This study aims to discuss how a focus group prior to individual interviews may contribute in developing the thematic dimension and translating the dynamic dimension of an interview guide into everyday language. We conducted one focus group interview of five women treated for breast cancer with experiences in weight changes. Data were analysed using content and conversation analysis and discussed with relevant literature on interview guide development. The study is approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency (2008-58-0028) and follows the ethical guidelines for qualitative research. Data generation and analysis resulted in themes for the thematic dimension, as well as three dynamic areas to consider in the individual interviews to bridge the gap between the interviewer and the interviewee. The dynamic areas are as follows: The use of words, images and metaphors - a shield and self-protection, Multiple meanings to explore and Staying close to the everyday language. The analysis made us more familiar with the content and meaning of weight changes among breast cancer survivors. Furthermore, it provided images and metaphors, multiple meanings and a sense of the women's everyday language that calls for an open interview frame to be used in subsequent individual interviews. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

What constitutes patient safety culture in Chinese hospitals?

PubMed

Zhu, Junya; Li, Liping; Li, Yuxia; Shi, Meiyu; Lu, Haiying; Garnick, Deborah W; Weingart, Saul N

2012-06-01

To develop a patient safety culture instrument for use in Chinese hospitals, we assessed the appropriateness of existing safety culture questionnaires used in the USA and Japan for Chinese respondents and identified new items and domains suitable to Chinese hospitals. Focus group study. Twenty-four physicians, nurses and other health-care workers from 11 hospitals in three Chinese cities. Three focus groups were conducted in 2010 to elicit information from hospital workers about their perceptions of the appropriateness and importance of each of 97 questionnaire items, derived from a literature review and an expert panel, characterizing hospital safety culture. understood the concepts of patient safety and safety culture and identified features associated with safe care. They judged that numerous questions from existing surveys were inappropriate, including 39 items that were dropped because they were judged unimportant, semantically redundant, confusing, ambiguous or inapplicable in Chinese settings. Participants endorsed eight new items and three additional dimensions addressing staff training, mentoring of new hires, compliance with rules and procedures, equipment availability and leadership walk-rounds they judged appropriate to assessing safety culture in Chinese hospitals. This process resulted in a 66-item instrument for testing in cognitive interviews, the next stage of survey development. Focus group participants provided important insights into the refinement of existing items and the construction of new items for measuring patient safety culture in Chinese hospitals. This is a necessary first step in producing a culturally appropriate instrument applicable to specific local contexts.

Incidental Learning of Gender Agreement in L2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denhovska, Nadiia; Serratrice, Ludovica

2017-01-01

Incidental learning of grammar has been an area of interest for many decades; nevertheless, existing research has primarily focused on artificial or semi-artificial languages. The present study examines the incidental acquisition of the grammar of a natural language by exposing adult speakers of an ungendered L1 (English) to the gender agreement…

How Do Parents and Teachers of Gifted Students Perceive Group Work in Classrooms?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders-Stewart, Katie S.; Walker, Cheryl L.; Shore, Bruce M.

2013-01-01

Although an abundance of information exists concerning advantages and disadvantages of certain grouping arrangements with highly able students in classroom settings, little research has focused on gifted children's parents' and teachers' opinions of group work. The present study explored potential differences between these opinions. Parents (n=…

Attitudes toward Rape.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen, Knud S.; Long, Ed

While the perception of rape has been studied intensely in recent years, most scales focus on rape myths as the content domain. The need exists for a more general instrument which would include items from a variety of sources, e.g., attitudes toward rape awareness, sexual history, age, virginity, community support, etc., in addition to the myth of…

Privacy in Social Networks: A Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheleva, Elena; Getoor, Lise

In this chapter, we survey the literature on privacy in social networks. We focus both on online social networks and online affiliation networks. We formally define the possible privacy breaches and describe the privacy attacks that have been studied. We present definitions of privacy in the context of anonymization together with existing anonymization techniques.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Personality Profiling and General Weighted Average (GWA) of Nursing Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mallari, Shedy Dee C.; Pelayo, Jose Maria G., III

2017-01-01

The study focused on the investigation of the existing dynamics between the Myers Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling (MBTI), and General Weighted Average (GWA) of nursing students. The participants were 48 college students in Angeles City, Philippines. All the students were administered with the MBTI instrument. Descriptive…

Learning Design--Creative Design to Visualise Learning Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toetenel, Lisette; Rienties, Bart

2016-01-01

The focus on quality improvements by institutions for better online and blended teaching can be delivered in different ways. This article reports on the implementation of this process and the approaches taken first, in terms of the design of new learning materials, and second, when reviewing the existing curriculum. The study aims to ascertain…

77 FR 2297 - Agency Information Collection Request. 30-Day Public Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-17

... answer the first question, a pretest-posttest control group experimental design is used to assess the... from the students who participate in the first part of the study. The focus group will last one hour... integrity or research ethics course for the treatment group. The control group will use the existing...

Teaching through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbis and Teaching Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tauber, Sarah M.

2013-01-01

As educators, synagogue rabbis frequently devote a great deal of time to teaching adults. Yet little empirical research exists about what they do. This study describes and analyzes the teaching of three congregational rabbis who have excellent reputations as teachers of adults. In particular, it focuses on how these rabbis incorporate personal…

Cost-Effectiveness of Evaluating the New Technologies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kastner, Theodore A.

1997-01-01

This commentary on a study comparing use of the brand name drug Depakene with generic valproic acid to control seizures in people with mental retardation focuses on issues of cost-effectiveness. It notes existing guidelines for pharmacoeconomic evaluation and suggests a possible model to include a threshold price (per quality-adjusted life year)…

Experiences of Latino Couples in Relationship Education: A Critical Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perez, Carlos; Brown, Matthew D.; Whiting, Jason B.; Harris, Steven M.

2013-01-01

There exists a need to better understand the applicability of Marriage and Relationship Education (MRE) initiatives with diverse populations. This study presents findings from focus groups with Latino men and women (N = 16) who participated in MRE classes. A critical theory approach guided the researchers who used grounded theory methodology to…

Collaborative Care in Schools: Enhancing Integration and Impact in Youth Mental Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyon, Aaron R.; Whitaker, Kelly; French, William P.; Richardson, Laura P.; Wasse, Jessica Knaster; McCauley, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

Collaborative care (CC) is an innovative approach to integrated mental health service delivery that focuses on reducing access barriers, improving service quality and lowering health care expenditures. A large body of evidence supports the effectiveness of CC models with adults and, increasingly, for youth. Although existing studies examining…

Identifying the Potential Organizational Impact of an Educational Peer Review Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toth, Kate E.; McKey, Colleen A.

2010-01-01

The literature on educational peer review (EPR) has focused on evaluating EPR's impact on faculty and/or student learning outcomes; no literature exists on the potential organizational impact. A qualitative (case study) research design explored perceptions of 17 faculty and 10 administrators within a school of nursing in an Ontario university…

Game Literacy, Gaming Cultures and Media Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Partington, Anthony

2010-01-01

This article presents an overview of how the popular "3-Cs" model (creative, critical and cultural) for literacy and media literacy can be applied to the study of computer games in the English and Media classroom. Focusing on the development of an existing computer games course that encompasses many opportunities for critical activity…

Creating Significant Learning Experiences: A Case Study in the College Religion Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Jennifer L.; St. Hilaire, Robert

2012-01-01

In a domain historically dominated by student passivity, instruction that entices students to integrate and assimilate new content into their pre-existing cognitive schema is a new but necessary shift from the traditional teaching paradigm. No longer is college teaching primarily focused on quantity of information, but rather the quality of…

Exploring the Experiences of Female Emerging Adult Mentors: Building a Conceptual Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGill, Julianne; Adler-Baeder, Francesca; Sollie, Donna L.; Kerpelman, Jennifer L.

2015-01-01

While mentoring programs are prevalent, limited research focused on the mentors' experiences exist, particularly during critical periods of development. Using a qualitative, grounded theory approach, this study explores the elements of the mentoring experience for a cohort of late adolescent/emerging adult women in a long-term program. Outcomes…

Experiential Learning and Workforce Preparedness of Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meehan-Klaus, Jenna M.

2016-01-01

A vast body of research exists on experiential learning and workforce preparedness of students at the high school level; however, there is a limited focus on the community college sector. Administrators, who recognize the need for studies that address the potential benefit experiential learning can provide students at two-year institutions, will…

Assessment of ecosystem services provided by urban forests: public lands withinthe Urban Growth Boundary of Corvallis, Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

One recent research focus of EPA is quantifying a range of ecosystem services, the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, in order to promote informed natural resource management decisions and to assess the effectiveness of existing environmental policies. A case study is u...

The Association of Physical Activity and Academic Behavior: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Rachel A.; Kuzel, AnnMarie H.; Vaandering, Michael E.; Chen, Weiyun

2017-01-01

Background: In this systematic review, we assessed the existing research describing the effects of physical activity (PA) on academic behavior, with a special focus on the effectiveness of the treatments applied, study designs, outcome measures, and results. Methods: We obtained data from various journal search engines and 218 journal articles…

Natural Gas Energy Educational Kit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Gas Association, Arlington, VA. Educational Services.

Prepared by energy experts and educators to introduce middle school and high school students to natural gas and its role in our society, this kit is designed to be incorporated into existing science and social studies curricula. The materials and activities focus on the origin, discovery, production, delivery, and use of natural gas. The role of…

Appreciative Evaluation of Restorative Approaches in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bevington, Terence J.

2015-01-01

A restorative approach to conflict is being increasingly applied in schools around the world. Existing evaluation evidence has tended to focus on the impact on quantifiable outcomes such as number of behaviour incidents and rates of attendance and exclusion. This case study aimed to broaden the evidence base to capture a richer picture of the…

Evidence of Metacognitive Control by Humans and Monkeys in a Perceptual Categorization Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redford, Joshua S.

2010-01-01

Metacognition research has focused on the degree to which nonhuman primates share humans' capacity to monitor their cognitive processes. Convincing evidence now exists that monkeys can engage in metacognitive monitoring. By contrast, few studies have explored metacognitive control in monkeys, and the available evidence of metacognitive control…

Symbolic Resources and Marketing Strategies in Ontario Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pizarro Milian, Roger; Davidson, Cliff

2018-01-01

Existing research on marketing within PSE tends to focus on homogeneous groups of high-status organisations. This study ameliorates this gap in the literature, conducting a comparative analysis of promotional materials produced by public universities and community colleges in Ontario, Canada. We find that these two groups draw on unique strategies…

Modeling Successful STEM High Schools in the United States: An Ecology Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erdogan, Niyazi; Stuessy, Carol L.

2015-01-01

This study aims to generate a conceptual framework for specialized Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) schools. To do so, we focused on literature and found specialized STEM schools have existed for over 100 years and recently expanded nationwide. The current perception for these schools can be described as unique environments…

Impact of Engaging Teaching Model (ETM) on Students' Attendance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bukoye, Oyegoke Teslim; Shegunshi, Anjali

2016-01-01

Non-attendance in Higher Education is not a new concept. In recent years with the exponential growth in digital learning, physical attendance has become a more complex issue. Educators are continually advocating an engaging teaching approach for students as a means of enhancing learning. This on-going study focuses on exploring the existing issues…

Maladministration in Education: Towards a Typology Based on Public Records in Canada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milley, Peter

2017-01-01

Educational administration is a rich domain of scholarship and practice, but one subject rarely discussed is its dark side. This study explored the question: What types of maladministration occur in schooling systems? The goal was to develop findings to inform existing prevention strategies. Focused on the Canadian context, data sources included…

"Being Asian American Is a Lot Different Here": Influences of Geography on Racial Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Jason

2017-01-01

Studies on college students' racial identities seldom focus on geographic context, despite existing research documenting its role in how racial groups construct and express racial identities. Drawing on theories of ecological systems and racial formation, I explored experiences of race and racial identity among 10 Asian American students who…

The Collaboration Model and Reading Improvement of High School Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sacchetto, Jorge A.

2014-01-01

In the field of reading research, studies that focus on improving the reading achievement of high school students with learning disabilities are lacking. Although collaborative interventions for elementary age students have been shown to be effective, a gap exists in the current research regarding effective collaborative reading interventions for…

Mashups by Orchestration and Widget-Based Personal Environments: Key Challenges, Solution Strategies, and an Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soylu, Ahmet; Modritscher, Felix; Wild, Fridolin; De Causmaecker, Patrick; Desmet, Piet

2012-01-01

Purpose: Mashups have been studied extensively in the literature; nevertheless, the large body of work in this area focuses on service/data level integration and leaves UI level integration, hence UI mashups, almost unexplored. The latter generates digital environments in which participating sources exist as individual entities; member…

Multiple Codes, Multiple Impressions: An Analysis of Doctor-Client Encounters in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odebunmi, Akin

2013-01-01

Existing studies on doctor-client interactions have largely focused on monolingual encounters and the interactional effects and functions of the languages used in the communication between doctors and their clients. They have neither, to a large extent, examined the several codes employed in single encounters and their pragmatic roles nor given…

Competency Commonalities and Accompanying Job Titles Derived from the Six Montana Agricultural Manpower Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amberson, Max L.; And Others

The report provides essential information for curriculum development relevant to manpower demands for agricultural production and agribusiness in Montana. It focuses on an analysis of 3,500 competency statements to determine the existence of duplication, commonalities, and uniqueness among 76 identified job titles derived from six Agricultural…

An Investigation of Sample Size Splitting on ATFIND and DIMTEST

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Socha, Alan; DeMars, Christine E.

2013-01-01

Modeling multidimensional test data with a unidimensional model can result in serious statistical errors, such as bias in item parameter estimates. Many methods exist for assessing the dimensionality of a test. The current study focused on DIMTEST. Using simulated data, the effects of sample size splitting for use with the ATFIND procedure for…

Our Great Lakes Connection. A Curriculum Guide for Grades Kindergarten through Eight.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Entine, Lynn; Fisher, Ellen, Ed.

Presented are 24 activities which focus on various topics related to the Great Lakes. These activities, suitable for students in kindergarten through grade 8, are designed to fit into existing geography, science, language arts, drama, history, social studies, and economics curricula. In addition to providing information about the Great Lakes, the…

On the Influence of Grouping Practices on Classroom Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Emin; Tugal, Ilker

2005-01-01

The article starts with a historical overview, discusses the arguments for and against ability grouping. It surveys the literature on different practices of grouping that exist in the American and British literature. The study mainly focuses on instructional grouping practices based on ability and on cooperation. It discusses arguments for and…

Protective Factors as Barriers to Depression in Gifted and Nongifted Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mueller, Christian E.

2009-01-01

Despite continued efforts by researchers, a gap still exists in our understanding of the psychological, social, and emotional adjustment of gifted students. Historically, research and education of the gifted has focused on cognitive variables, with less attention given to the social and emotional needs of these students. The current study used…

Observation of "YouTube" Language Learning Videos ("YouTube" LLVS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhamami, Munassir

2013-01-01

This paper navigates into the "YouTube" website as one of the most usable online tools to learn languages these days. The paper focuses on two issues in creating "YouTube" language learning videos: pedagogy and technology. After observing the existing "YouTube" LLVs, the study presents a novel rubric that is directed…

Unifying the Algebra for All Movement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eddy, Colleen M.; Quebec Fuentes, Sarah; Ward, Elizabeth K.; Parker, Yolanda A.; Cooper, Sandi; Jasper, William A.; Mallam, Winifred A.; Sorto, M. Alejandra; Wilkerson, Trena L.

2015-01-01

There exists an increased focus on school mathematics, especially first-year algebra, due to recent efforts for all students to be college and career ready. In addition, there are calls, policies, and legislation advocating for all students to study algebra epitomized by four rationales of the "Algebra for All" movement. In light of this…

The Development of the Learning Object Standard Using a Pedagogic Approach: A Comparative Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yahya, Yazrina; Jenkins, John; Yusoff, Mohammed

Education is moving towards revenue generation from such channels as electronic learning, distance learning and virtual education. Hence learning technology standards are critical to the sector's success. Existing learning technology standards have focused on various topics such as metadata, question and test interoperability and others. However,…

A Disaggregate Study of the Effect of Unemployment Rates on Labor Supply.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleisher, Belton M.; Parsons, Donald O.

The project focuses on two loosely-related hypotheses regarding a contradiction existing in the results of previous research on the relationship between labor force participation and unemployment. This contradiction is the persistent tendency of the estimated effect of unemployment on labor force participation--and hence estimates of "hidden…

Comparative Biological Effects and Potency of 17a- and 17ß-Estradiol In Fathead Minnows

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

17ß-estradiol is the most potent natural estrogen commonly found in anthropogenically altered environments and has been the focus of many toxicological laboratory studies. However, fewer aquatic toxicological data on the effects of 17a-estradiol, a diastereoisomer of 17ß-estradiol, exists in the li...

The Role of Personal Choice in Individual Language Shift

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morse, Kira Gulko

2012-01-01

The existing literature views the phenomenon of language shift mostly on the societal, or macro, level, which takes the focus away from individual cases. This investigation provides an alternative perspective to the currently prevalent view. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to develop an understanding of the role of personal choice in…

A Strengths-Based Group Program on Self-Harm: A Feasibility Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAllister, Margaret; Hasking, Penelope; Estefan, Andrew; McClenaghan, Kerry; Lowe, John

2010-01-01

Every day in Queensland, Australia, student services within schools are responding to children who have deliberately self-injured. Although school nurses are in a prime position to effectively intervene, mitigate risk, and promote healthy self-caring behaviors, no programs that focus specifically on self-harm currently exist. This feasibility…

Corpus-Based Research and Pedagogy in EAP: From Lexis to Genre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flowerdew, Lynne

2015-01-01

This plenary paper showcases current corpus-based research on written academic English, illustrating the tight links that exist between corpus research and pedagogic applications. I first explicate Sinclair's concept of the "lexical approach", which underpins much corpus research and pedagogy. I then discuss studies which focus on…

Doing the Scut Work of Infant Care: Does Religiousness Encourage Father Involvement?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMaris, Alfred; Mahoney, Annette; Pargament, Kenneth I.

2011-01-01

Considerable debate exists regarding whether religiousness promotes or impedes greater father involvement in parenting. Our study addresses this issue using a Midwestern longitudinal data set that tracks the transition to first parenthood for 169 married couples. We focus on performance of the "messier" tasks of infant care. We find little…

Assessment of ecosystem services provided by urban forests: Public lands within the Urban growth Boundary of Corvallis, oregon

EPA Science Inventory

One recent research focus of EPA is quantifying a range of ecosystem services, the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, in order to promote informed natural resource management decisions and to assess the effectiveness of existing environmental policies. A case study is u...

Perceived Sociability and Social Presence in a Collaborative Serious Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oksanen, Kimmo; Hämäläinen, Raija

2013-01-01

Collaborative serious games have proven to have the potential to support joint knowledge construction, and there is a growing interest in applying such games to promote high-level learning. However, most of the existing studies have focused on the effects of functional, task-specific support while ignoring the social aspects of collaborative…

A Small Dose of HIV? HIV Vaccine Mental Models and Risk Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Peter A.; Seiden, Danielle S.; Roberts, Kathleen J.; Kakinami, Lisa; Duan, Naihua

2009-01-01

Existing knowledge and beliefs related to HIV vaccines provide an important basis for the development of risk communication messages to support future HIV vaccine dissemination. This study explored HIV vaccine mental models among adults from segments of the population disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Nine focus groups were conducted with…

Human Resource Development to Facilitate Experiential Learning: The Case of Yahoo Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matsuo, Makoto

2015-01-01

Although work experiences are recognized as important mechanisms for developing leaders in organizations, existing research has focused primarily on work assignments rather than on human resource development (HRD) systems that promote experiential learning of managers. The primary goal of this study was to develop an HRD model for facilitating…

Innovation Policies from the European Union: Methods for Classification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Victor; Montalvo, Carlos

2007-01-01

This study focuses on taxonomic and typological methods of innovation policies in the European institutional context. Although many types of policies affect innovation, no universally accepted criteria exist to classify them. As innovation policy in a myriad of thematic areas--systemic model--has become pluralized, this article offers a method for…

Women Entrepreneurs Reflect on Informal/Self-Directed Learning in Business and Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Yvonne Biedron

2010-01-01

Research studies about women business owners or women entrepreneurs are few, and previous research has focused on gender differences of business owners, traits of entrepreneurs, and reasons for and success of entrepreneurship. Very little research exists on female business owners/entrepreneurs discussing their informal learning and experiences'…

The Idea of National HRD: An Analysis Based on Economics and Theory Development Methodology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Greg G.; Swanson, Richard A.

2008-01-01

Recent human resource development (HRD) literature focuses attention on national HRD (NHRD) research and represents problems in both HRD identity and research methodology. Based on a review of development economics and international development literature, this study analyzes the existing NHRD literature with respect to the theory development…

A Question of Trust: Predictive Conditions for Adaptive and Technical Leadership in Educational Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daly, Alan J.; Chrispeels, Janet

2008-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that educational leaders enacting a balance of technical and adaptive leadership have an effect on increasing student achievement. Technical leadership focuses on problem-solving or first-order changes within existing structures and paradigms. Adaptive leadership involves deep or second-order changes that alter…

Visioning as an Integral Element to Understanding Indigenous Learners' Transition to University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parent, Amy

2017-01-01

This article focuses on high school to university transitions for Indigenous youth at universities in British Columbia, Canada. The study is premised on an Indigenous research design, which utilizes the concept of visioning and a storywork methodology (Archibald, 2008). The results challenge existing institutional and psychological approaches to…

The Practice of Quality in Assuring Learning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

French, Erica; Summers, Jane; Kinash, Shelley; Lawson, Romy; Taylor, Tracy; Herbert, James; Fallshaw, Eveline; Hall, Cathy

2014-01-01

There remains a lack of published empirical data on the substantive outcomes of higher learning and the establishment of quality processes for determining them. Studies that do exist are nationally focused with available rankings of institutions reflecting neither the quality of teaching and learning nor the diversity of institutions. This article…

Minority Students' Responses to Racism: The Case of Cyprus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Peter A. J.; Charalambous, Panayiota; Mesaritou, Evgenia; Spyrou, Spyros; Van Praag, Lore; D'hondt, Fanny; Vervaet, Roselien; Van Houtte, Mieke

2016-01-01

While research has focused on the role of racism in (re)producing ethnic/racial inequalities in education, there is very little research that investigates how variability in minority students' responses to racism can be explained. By using an ecological approach to integrate existing research on actors' responses to racism, this study finds that…

Black Undergraduate Women and Their Sense of Belonging in STEM at Predominantly White Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dortch, Deniece; Patel, Chirag

2017-01-01

Because little work exists on the sense of belonging focusing on just Black undergraduate women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), especially at highly selective predominantly white institutions (PWIs), this study takes a phenomenological approach to understand the lived experiences of Black undergraduate women in STEM by…

Teachers' Views of the Common Core State Standards and Its Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matlock, Ki L.; Goering, Christian Zachary; Endacott, Jason; Collet, Vicki Stewart; Denny, George S.; Jennings-Davis, Jennifer; Wright, Ginney Patricia

2016-01-01

Common Core State Standards are embroiled in controversy and politics. The need to continue to study the many facets of educational changes remains critical, especially from the perspective of the teachers experiencing such changes firsthand. Existing surveys of teacher perceptions regarding the Common Core State Standards have focused primarily…

Toward a New Motivation to Learn Framework for Older Adult Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Yi-Yin; Sandmann, Lorilee R.

2012-01-01

Although existing literature addresses adults' motivation to learn, and some specifically focuses on older adults, it is now recognized that older adults are more heterogeneous and complex than other age groups. Therefore, this study seeks to provide an alternative theoretical framework to investigate motivation to learn for older adult learners…

Experiences of Instructors in Online Learning Environments: Identifying and Regulating Emotions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regan, Kelley; Evmenova, Anna; Baker, Pam; Jerome, Marci Kinas; Spencer, Vicky; Lawson, Holly; Werner, Terry

2012-01-01

In an effort to expand existing research on the barriers of instructors experience in online learning environments (OLEs), a qualitative study was conducted at a large mid-Atlantic university. Six instructors teaching in different OLE formats (e.g., asynchronous, hybrid, and synchronous via videoconferencing) participated in two focus groups in…

Task Types and Discursive Features: Mediating Role of Meta-Talk in Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohamadi, Zohre; Rahimpour, Massoud

2018-01-01

Exploring opportunities by which learners can internalize new knowledge and consolidate existing knowledge has long been a point of interest in English as a foreign language research. This study investigated how meta-talk opportunities on discourse markers created by four task types including text reconstruction, dictogloss, translation and jigsaw…

The Forgotten Children--Siblings of the Handicapped: A Family Systems Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanold, Eleanor Johnson

This study examined dynamics of families with handicapped children by focusing on the emotional, intellectual, and behavioral manner in which the undiagnosed siblings experience the diagnosis and existence of a brother's or sister's handicap within the context of their families. Subjects were 8 socioeconomically middle class families consisting of…

Departmentalized, Self-Contained, or Somewhere in Between: Understanding Elementary Grade-Level Organizational Decision-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Audra; Rakes, Lori; Arndt, Katie

2017-01-01

Recent trends indicate a move away from self-contained classrooms and toward content-focused departmentalization in elementary schools. This study takes a snapshot of the existing organizational structures used in elementary schools in one district and explores administrators' beliefs and practices regarding this phenomenon. Our findings suggest…

Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Mu

2014-01-01

Research has shown a wide range of learning benefits accruing from extensive reading. Not only is there improvement in reading, but also in a wide range of language uses and areas of language knowledge. However, few research studies have examined reading speed. The existing literature on reading speed focused on students' reading speed without…

Improving Prospective Teachers' Counseling Competence in Parent-Teacher Talks: Effects of Training and Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerich, Mara; Trittel, Monika; Schmitz, Bernhard

2017-01-01

Counseling parents concerning students' learning processes is considered to be an increasingly important competence area of teachers. However, few educational programs exist specifically focusing on improving this essential teacher competence, particularly in early teacher education. The current study, which took place at a German university,…

Embodying "Britishness": The (Re)Making of the Contemporary Nigerian Elite Child

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayling, Pere

2015-01-01

Existing studies on the role of schooling in the formation and (re)production of elite identity have focused almost entirely on the reproduction strategies of Western elites. Consequently, the distinction strategies employed by non-western elite parents to maintain and/or advance their class positioning--via their children--have remained largely…

A Rotational Blended Learning Model: Enhancement and Quality Assurance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghoul, Said

2013-01-01

Research on blended learning theory and practice is growing nowadays with a focus on the development, evaluation, and quality assurance of case studies. However, the enhancement of blended learning existing models, the specification of their online parts, and the quality assurance related specifically to them have not received enough attention.…

Arab Students in a Hebrew University--Existing but Unnoticed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halabi, Rabah

2016-01-01

This article focuses on ways in which Arab students cope with challenges of integrating into the academic life of a Hebrew university in Israel. From this research we can learn that the students face considerable hardships during their university studies. Some of these hardships derive from language barriers. In addition, findings show that the…

Transmission Electron Microscopy of an In Situ Presolar Silicon Carbide Grain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stroud, Rhonda M.; OGrady, Megan; Nittler, Larry R.; Alexander, Conel M. OD.

2002-01-01

We used a focused ion beam workstation to prepare ultra-thin sections of a presolar SiC grain. Our TEM studies indicate that the SiC formed by rapid vapor-phase condensation, trapping pre-existing graphite grains in random orientations. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Collaborative Care in Schools: Enhancing Integration and Impact in Youth Mental Health

PubMed Central

Lyon, Aaron R.; Whitaker, Kelly; French, William P.; Richardson, Laura P.; Wasse, Jessica Knaster; McCauley, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

Collaborative Care is an innovative approach to integrated mental health service delivery that focuses on reducing access barriers, improving service quality, and lowering healthcare expenditures. A large body of evidence supports the effectiveness of Collaborative Care models with adults and, increasingly, for youth. Although existing studies examining these models for youth have focused exclusively on primary care, the education sector is also an appropriate analog for the accessibility that primary care offers to adults. Collaborative Care aligns closely with the practical realities of the education sector and may represent a strategy to achieve some of the objectives of increasingly popular multi-tiered systems of supports frameworks. Unfortunately, no resources exist to guide the application of Collaborative Care models in schools. Based on the existing evidence for Collaborative Care models, the current paper (1) provides a rationale for the adaptation of Collaborative Care models to improve mental health service accessibility and effectiveness in the education sector; (2) presents a preliminary Collaborative Care model for use in schools; and (3) describes avenues for research surrounding school-based Collaborative Care, including the currently funded Accessible, Collaborative Care for Effective School-based Services (ACCESS) project. PMID:28392832

Porous elastic system with nonlinear damping and sources terms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freitas, Mirelson M.; Santos, M. L.; Langa, José A.

2018-02-01

We study the long-time behavior of porous-elastic system, focusing on the interplay between nonlinear damping and source terms. The sources may represent restoring forces, but may also be focusing thus potentially amplifying the total energy which is the primary scenario of interest. By employing nonlinear semigroups and the theory of monotone operators, we obtain several results on the existence of local and global weak solutions, and uniqueness of weak solutions. Moreover, we prove that such unique solutions depend continuously on the initial data. Under some restrictions on the parameters, we also prove that every weak solution to our system blows up in finite time, provided the initial energy is negative and the sources are more dominant than the damping in the system. Additional results are obtained via careful analysis involving the Nehari Manifold. Specifically, we prove the existence of a unique global weak solution with initial data coming from the "good" part of the potential well. For such a global solution, we prove that the total energy of the system decays exponentially or algebraically, depending on the behavior of the dissipation in the system near the origin. We also prove the existence of a global attractor.

Barriers to asymptomatic screening and other STD services for adolescents and young adults: focus group discussions

PubMed Central

Tilson, Elizabeth C; Sanchez, Victoria; Ford, Chandra L; Smurzynski, Marlene; Leone, Peter A; Fox, Kimberley K; Irwin, Kathleen; Miller, William C

2004-01-01

Background Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a major public health problem among young people and can lead to the spread of HIV. Previous studies have primarily addressed barriers to STD care for symptomatic patients. The purpose of our study was to identify perceptions about existing barriers to and ideal services for STDs, especially asymptomatic screening, among young people in a southeastern community. Methods Eight focus group discussions including 53 White, African American, and Latino youth (age 14–24) were conducted. Results Perceived barriers to care included lack of knowledge of STDs and available services, cost, shame associated with seeking services, long clinic waiting times, discrimination, and urethral specimen collection methods. Perceived features of ideal STD services included locations close to familiar places, extended hours, and urine-based screening. Television was perceived as the most effective route of disseminating STD information. Conclusions Further research is warranted to evaluate improving convenience, efficiency, and privacy of existing services; adding urine-based screening and new services closer to neighborhoods; and using mass media to disseminate STD information as strategies to increase STD screening. PMID:15189565

Turkish EFL Learners' Perceptions of Native English-Speaking Teachers and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karakas, Ali; Uysal, Hüseyin; Bilgin, Selçuk; Bulut, Talat

2016-01-01

The question of what makes a good teacher of English has aroused researchers' interest for many years, and the existing studies comparing NESTs (native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (non-native English-speaking teachers) have focused mostly on students' perceptions of these teachers. The current study aims to explore in the first phase if…

Turkish EFL Learners' Perceptions of Native English-Speaking Teachers and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karakas, Ali; Uysal, Hüseyin; Bilgin, Selçuk; Bulut, Talat

2016-01-01

The question of what makes a good teacher of English has aroused researchers' interest for many years, and the existing studies comparing NESTs (native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (non-native English-speaking teachers) have focused mostly on students' perceptions of these teachers. The current study aims to explore in the first phase if…

Chapter 6: The Effects of Professional Development on Technological Competency and the Attitudes Urban Physical Education Teachers Have toward Using Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ince, M. Levent; Goodway, Jacqueline D.; Ward, Phillip; Lee, Myung-Ah

2006-01-01

Teachers' attitudes toward the use of technology vary greatly. Studies show that many teachers have negative attitudes toward the use of technology and that gender differences exist, with females using technology less than their male counterparts. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a technology-focused professional development…

The Effect of the Student Success Skills Small Group Counseling Intervention on Factors Associated with Dropout Potential in High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinstein, Jodie

2013-01-01

The focus of this study is to add to the outcome research on effective school counseling interventions and to specifically evaluate the effectiveness of the Student Success Skills (SSS) small group intervention with students identified as having drop out potential in the 9th grade. This study analyzed two years of pre-existing, non-identifiable…

A Survey of Homework Use, Experience of Barriers to Homework, and Attitudes about the Barriers to Homework among Couples and Family Therapists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dattilio, Frank M.; Kazantzis, Nikolaos; Shinkfield, Gregg; Carr, Amanda G.

2011-01-01

Homework is a therapeutic process that has strong theoretical and empirical basis, but existing research has focused on "compliance" rather than considering the broader and more clinically meaningful construct of "engagement." Absent in the literature is empirical study of the barriers to engagement or study of homework use among couple and family…

Adapting a Cancer Literacy Measure for Use Among Navajo Women.

PubMed

Yost, Kathleen J; Bauer, Mark C; Buki, Lydia P; Austin-Garrison, Martha; Garcia, Linda V; Hughes, Christine A; Patten, Christi A

2017-05-01

The authors designed a community-based participatory research study to develop and test a family-based behavioral intervention to improve cancer literacy and promote mammography among Navajo women. Using data from focus groups and discussions with a community advisory committee, they adapted an existing questionnaire to assess cancer knowledge, barriers to mammography, and cancer beliefs for use among Navajo women. Questions measuring health literacy, numeracy, self-efficacy, cancer communication, and family support were also adapted. The resulting questionnaire was found to have good content validity, and to be culturally and linguistically appropriate for use among Navajo women. It is important to consider culture and not just language when adapting existing measures for use with AI/AN (American Indian/Alaskan Native) populations. English-language versions of existing literacy measures may not be culturally appropriate for AI/AN populations, which could lead to a lack of semantic, technical, idiomatic, and conceptual equivalence, resulting in misinterpretation of study outcomes.

DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND THEIR SOCIAL CONTEXTS: A QUALITATIVE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW OF CONTEXTUAL INTERVENTIONS

PubMed Central

GOTTLIEB, LAURA; WAITZKIN, HOWARD; MIRANDA, JEANNE

2010-01-01

Background Numerous observational studies demonstrate associations between social context and depressive symptoms, yet few intervention trials exist in this arena. Aims This review examines intervention trials that explore the impact of contextual change on depressive symptoms. Methods Electronic literature databases of PubMed and PsycINFO, bibliographies of retrieved articles and the publicly available internet were searched for English-language articles published between 1997 and 2008. Peer-reviewed studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported contextual interventions and depressive symptoms measures in adult populations without other significant underlying medical or psychological illness. In total, 2,128 studies met search term criteria. Of these, 13 studies meeting inclusion criteria were classified by type of intervention. Qualitative synthesis was used to interpret the mental health impact of contextual interventions. Results The interventions focused on employment, housing, poverty, parenting and violence. Eight of these studies reported a decrease in depressive symptoms and/or psychological distress in intervention groups. Interventions varied in focus, length of follow-up and measures of depressive symptoms. Conclusions Contextual interventions for the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms and psychological distress can be effective, though very limited data exist in this field. Policy implications include a greater emphasis on improving context to decrease depression and other mental disorders. PMID:20354067

Psychotherapies for adult depression: recent developments.

PubMed

Cuijpers, Pim

2015-01-01

Much has been learned from the 400 randomized trials on psychotherapies for adult depression that have been conducted, but much is also still unknown. In this study some recent attempts to further reduce the disease burden of depression through psychotherapies are reviewed. In the past, many new psychotherapies have promised to be more effective than existing treatments, usually without success. We describe recent research on two new therapies, acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive bias modification, and conclude that both have also not shown to be more effective than existing therapies. A growing number of studies have also focused on therapies that may be successful in further reducing the disease burden, such as treatments for chronic depression and relapse prevention. Other studies are aimed at scaling up psychological services, such as the training of lay health counselors in low-income and middle-income countries, telephone-based, and internet-based therapies. Psychotherapies are essential tools in the treatment of adult depression. Randomized trials have shown that these treatments are effective, and by focusing on key issues, such as chronic depression, relapse, and scaling them up, psychotherapies contribute more and more to the reduction of the disease burden of depression.

Promoting volunteer capacity in hospice palliative care: a narrative review.

PubMed

Pesut, Barbara; Hooper, Brenda; Lehbauer, Suzanne; Dalhuisen, Miranda

2014-02-01

Hospice volunteers play an essential role in the primary care network for end of life. The purpose of this review was to examine the evidence on hospice volunteers published between 2002 and July 2012. An electronic search of PubMed, CINAHL and PsychINFO using controlled vocabulary, and a reference scan, yielded 54 studies focusing on hospice volunteers. Studies were primarily descriptive using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. Findings from studies were grouped thematically into descriptions of the work of hospice volunteers; recruitment, preparation and retention of hospice volunteers; and perspectives and outcomes of the volunteer role. A substantial body of evidence exists describing the roles, stresses and rewards of hospice volunteering. Less is known about how to adequately recruit, prepare and retain volunteers. A small but intriguing body of evidence exists around volunteers' contributions to family satisfaction and patient longevity. Although the evidence around hospice volunteers continues to grow, there is an urgent need for further research. Findings indicate that volunteers make important contributions to high quality end of life care. However, more focused research attention is required to better understand how to maximize this contribution while providing better support for volunteers.

Point Source X-Ray Lithography System for Sub-0.15 Micron Design Rules

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-05-22

consist of a SAL developed stepper, an SRL developed Dense Plasma Focus , (DPF), X-Ray source, and a CXrL developed beam line. The system will be...existing machine that used spark gap switching, SRL has developed an all solid state driver and improved head electrode assembly for their dense plasma ... focus X-Ray source. Likewise, SAL has used their existing Model 4 stepper installed at CXrL as a design starting point, and has developed an advanced

Approximations to the distribution of a test statistic in covariance structure analysis: A comprehensive study.

PubMed

Wu, Hao

2018-05-01

In structural equation modelling (SEM), a robust adjustment to the test statistic or to its reference distribution is needed when its null distribution deviates from a χ 2 distribution, which usually arises when data do not follow a multivariate normal distribution. Unfortunately, existing studies on this issue typically focus on only a few methods and neglect the majority of alternative methods in statistics. Existing simulation studies typically consider only non-normal distributions of data that either satisfy asymptotic robustness or lead to an asymptotic scaled χ 2 distribution. In this work we conduct a comprehensive study that involves both typical methods in SEM and less well-known methods from the statistics literature. We also propose the use of several novel non-normal data distributions that are qualitatively different from the non-normal distributions widely used in existing studies. We found that several under-studied methods give the best performance under specific conditions, but the Satorra-Bentler method remains the most viable method for most situations. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Evaluating Gene Set Enrichment Analysis Via a Hybrid Data Model

PubMed Central

Hua, Jianping; Bittner, Michael L.; Dougherty, Edward R.

2014-01-01

Gene set enrichment analysis (GSA) methods have been widely adopted by biological labs to analyze data and generate hypotheses for validation. Most of the existing comparison studies focus on whether the existing GSA methods can produce accurate P-values; however, practitioners are often more concerned with the correct gene-set ranking generated by the methods. The ranking performance is closely related to two critical goals associated with GSA methods: the ability to reveal biological themes and ensuring reproducibility, especially for small-sample studies. We have conducted a comprehensive simulation study focusing on the ranking performance of seven representative GSA methods. We overcome the limitation on the availability of real data sets by creating hybrid data models from existing large data sets. To build the data model, we pick a master gene from the data set to form the ground truth and artificially generate the phenotype labels. Multiple hybrid data models can be constructed from one data set and multiple data sets of smaller sizes can be generated by resampling the original data set. This approach enables us to generate a large batch of data sets to check the ranking performance of GSA methods. Our simulation study reveals that for the proposed data model, the Q2 type GSA methods have in general better performance than other GSA methods and the global test has the most robust results. The properties of a data set play a critical role in the performance. For the data sets with highly connected genes, all GSA methods suffer significantly in performance. PMID:24558298

The Supportive Care Needs of Parents With a Child With a Rare Disease: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

PubMed

Pelentsov, Lemuel J; Fielder, Andrea L; Esterman, Adrian J

2016-01-01

There are few studies that exist which focus specifically on parents with a child with a rare disease. The purpose of this study was to better understand the lived experiences and supportive care needs (SCN) of parents caring for a child across a spectrum of rare diseases. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to guide the research, and four semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with 23 parents (17 mothers and 6 fathers). Participants described 'feeling boxed-in outside the box' due to a number of limitations unique to their child's disease, daily practical challenges in providing care and the various relational impacts of caring for a child with a rare disease were discussed. The results from this study help to give clearer direction for health professionals on where to focus future efforts in better meeting the supportive care needs of parents and their child with a rare disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An In-Depth Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis to Determine the Factors That Affect the Existence of African American Women Superintendents in the North Carolina K-12 Public School System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osler, James E.; Webb, Renita L.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to study how race, gender, values, attitudes and power perceptions of leaders contribute to the recruitment, retention, and training of African American female superintendents. This study is focused on African American female superintendents and their experiences that led to the acquisition of the position. The…

The Taba Curriculum Development Project in Social Studies; Development of a Comprehensive Curriculum Model for Social Studies for Grades One Through Eight Inclusive of Procedures for Implementation and Dissemination. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallen, Norman E.; And Others

One of the major focuses of this project was the revision of existing curriculum guides for grades one through six (the Contra Costa Social Studies Guides) and the development of guides for grades seven and eight. The emphases were: organization of learning activities under significant generalizations of main concepts; sequential treatment;…

‘Maybe they should regulate them quite strictly until they know the true dangers’: a focus group study exploring UK adolescents’ views on e‐cigarette regulation

PubMed Central

Trevisan, Filippo; Hilton, Shona

2016-01-01

Abstract Background and aims Regulation of electronic cigarettes has moved to the top of the addiction policy agenda, as demonstrated by the recent focus across the United Kingdom on introducing age‐of‐sale restrictions. However, the views of those affected by such regulation remain largely unexplored. This paper presents the first detailed qualitative exploration of adolescents’ perceptions of existing, and opinions about potential e‐cigarette regulation. Methods Sixteen focus groups, including a total of 83 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 years, were conducted in deprived, mixed and affluent urban areas in Scotland and England between November 2014 and February 2015. Transcripts were imported into Nivivo 10, coded thematically and analysed. Results Participants critically considered existing evidence and competing interests in regulatory debates and demonstrated sophisticated understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of regulation. They overwhelmingly supported strong e‐cigarette regulation and endorsed restrictions on sales to minors, marketing and e‐cigarette use in public places. Concern about potential health harms of e‐cigarette use and marketing increasing the acceptability of vaping and smoking led these adolescents to support regulation. Conclusions In focus group discussions, a sample of UK adolescents exposed to particular communications about e‐cigarettes supported strict regulation of e‐cigarettes, including banning sales to minors and use in indoor public areas. PMID:26948979

Clean Energy-Related Economic Development Policy across the States: Establishing a 2016 Baseline

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

Cook, Jeffrey J.

States implement clean energy-related economic development policy to spur innovation, manufacturing, and to address other priorities. This report focuses on those policies most directly related to expanding new and existing manufacturing. The extent to which states invest in this policymaking depends on political drivers and jurisdictional economic development priorities. To date, no one source has collected all of the clean energy-related economic development policies available across the 50 states. Thus, it is unclear how many policies exist within each state and how these policies, when implemented, can drive economic development. Establishing the baseline of existing policy is a critical firstmore » step in determining the potential holistic impact of these policies on driving economic growth in a state. The goal of this report is to document the clean energy-related economic development policy landscape across the 50 states with a focus on policy that seeks to expand new or existing manufacturing within a state. States interested in promoting clean energy manufacturing in their jurisdictions may be interested in reviewing this landscape to determine how they compare to peers and to adjust their policies as necessary. This report documents over 900 existing clean energy-related economic development laws, financial incentives (technology-agnostic and clean energy focused), and other policies such as agency-directed programs and initiatives across the states.« less

Integration of existing systematic reviews into new reviews: identification of guidance needs

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background An exponential increase in the number of systematic reviews published, and constrained resources for new reviews, means that there is an urgent need for guidance on explicitly and transparently integrating existing reviews into new systematic reviews. The objectives of this paper are: 1) to identify areas where existing guidance may be adopted or adapted, and 2) to suggest areas for future guidance development. Methods We searched documents and websites from healthcare focused systematic review organizations to identify and, where available, to summarize relevant guidance on the use of existing systematic reviews. We conducted informational interviews with members of Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) to gather experiences in integrating existing systematic reviews, including common issues and challenges, as well as potential solutions. Results There was consensus among systematic review organizations and the EPCs about some aspects of incorporating existing systematic reviews into new reviews. Current guidance may be used in assessing the relevance of prior reviews and in scanning references of prior reviews to identify studies for a new review. However, areas of challenge remain. Areas in need of guidance include how to synthesize, grade the strength of, and present bodies of evidence composed of primary studies and existing systematic reviews. For instance, empiric evidence is needed regarding how to quality check data abstraction and when and how to use study-level risk of bias assessments from prior reviews. Conclusions There remain areas of uncertainty for how to integrate existing systematic reviews into new reviews. Methods research and consensus processes among systematic review organizations are needed to develop guidance to address these challenges. PMID:24956937

Foot osteoarthritis: latest evidence and developments

PubMed Central

Roddy, Edward; Menz, Hylton B.

2018-01-01

Foot osteoarthritis (OA) is a common problem in older adults yet is under-researched compared to knee or hand OA. Most existing studies focus on the first metatarsophalangeal joint, with evidence relating to midfoot OA being particularly sparse. Symptomatic radiographic foot OA affects 17% of adults aged 50 years and over. The first metatarsophalangeal joint is most commonly affected, followed by the second cuneometatarsal and talonavicular joints. Epidemiological studies suggest the existence of distinct first metatarsophalangeal joint and polyarticular phenotypes, which have differing clinical and risk factor profiles. There are few randomized controlled trials in foot OA. Existing trials provide some evidence of the effectiveness for pain relief of physical therapy, rocker-sole shoes, foot orthoses and surgical interventions in first metatarsophalangeal joint OA and prefabricated orthoses in midfoot OA. Prospective epidemiological studies and randomized trials are needed to establish the incidence, progression and prognosis of foot OA and determine the effectiveness of both commonly used and more novel interventions. PMID:29619094

Teaching in hunter–gatherer infancy

PubMed Central

Hewlett, Barry S.; Roulette, Casey J.

2016-01-01

A debate exists as to whether teaching is part of human nature and central to understanding culture or whether it is a recent invention of Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democratic cultures. Some social–cultural anthropologists and cultural psychologists indicate teaching is rare in small-scale cultures while cognitive psychologists and evolutionary biologists indicate it is universal and key to understanding human culture. This study addresses the following questions: Does teaching of infants exist in hunter–gatherers? If teaching occurs in infancy, what skills or knowledge is transmitted by this process, how often does it occur and who is teaching? The study focuses on late infancy because cognitive psychologists indicate that one form of teaching, called natural pedagogy, emerges at this age. Videotapes of Aka hunter–gatherer infants were used to evaluate whether or not teaching exists among Aka hunter–gatherers of central Africa. The study finds evidence of multiple forms of teaching, including natural pedagogy, that are used to enhance learning of a variety of skills and knowledge. PMID:26909166

VII. The history of physical activity and academic performance research: informing the future.

PubMed

Castelli, Darla M; Centeio, Erin E; Hwang, Jungyun; Barcelona, Jeanne M; Glowacki, Elizabeth M; Calvert, Hannah G; Nicksic, Hildi M

2014-12-01

The study of physical activity, physical fitness, and academic performance research are reviewed from a historical perspective, by providing an overview of existing publications focused on children and adolescents. Using rigorous inclusion criteria, the studies were quantified and qualified using both meta-analytic and descriptive evaluations analyses, first by time-period and then as an overall summary, particularly focusing on secular trends and future directions. This review is timely because the body of literature is growing exponentially, resulting in the emergence of new terminology, methodologies, and identification of mediating and moderating factors. Implications and recommendations for future research are summarized. © 2014 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Waveguides with Absorbing Boundaries: Nonlinearity Controlled by an Exceptional Point and Solitons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Midya, Bikashkali; Konotop, Vladimir V.

2017-07-01

We reveal the existence of continuous families of guided single-mode solitons in planar waveguides with weakly nonlinear active core and absorbing boundaries. Stable propagation of TE and TM-polarized solitons is accompanied by attenuation of all other modes, i.e., the waveguide features properties of conservative and dissipative systems. If the linear spectrum of the waveguide possesses exceptional points, which occurs in the case of TM polarization, an originally focusing (defocusing) material nonlinearity may become effectively defocusing (focusing). This occurs due to the geometric phase of the carried eigenmode when the surface impedance encircles the exceptional point. In its turn, the change of the effective nonlinearity ensures the existence of dark (bright) solitons in spite of focusing (defocusing) Kerr nonlinearity of the core. The existence of an exceptional point can also result in anomalous enhancement of the effective nonlinearity. In terms of practical applications, the nonlinearity of the reported waveguide can be manipulated by controlling the properties of the absorbing cladding.

IMPROVING BIOGENIC EMISSION ESTIMATES WITH SATELLITE IMAGERY

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation will review how existing and future applications of satellite imagery can improve the accuracy of biogenic emission estimates. Existing applications of satellite imagery to biogenic emission estimates have focused on characterizing land cover. Vegetation dat...

Analysis of MoDOT communication and outreach effectiveness

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-07-01

Personal interviews were held with MoDOT personnel to assess MoDOTs current communication practices and existing customer segmentation practices. Focus groups were then held to help gauge the effectiveness of existing communication practices and t...

A Donor-Focused Fundraising Model: An Essential Tool in Community College Foundations' Toolkit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Linnie S.

2011-01-01

The increased focus on private fundraising poses challenges for community colleges (Jackson & Glass, 2000). A challenge is a lack of fundraising experience within community colleges and their foundations. There now exists a donor-focused fundraising model for community colleges to use to enhance their fundraising initiatives and increase the…

Teaching Focus Group Interviewing: Benefits and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Molly

2013-01-01

Focus group interviewing is widely used by academic and applied researchers. Given the popularity and strengths of this method, it is surprising how rarely focus group interviewing is taught in the undergraduate classroom and how few resources exist to support instructors who wish to train students to use this technique. This article fills the gap…

Investigating the Reading-to-Write Processes and Source Use of L2 Postgraduate Students in Real-Life Academic Tasks: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCulloch, Sharon

2013-01-01

Existing studies of source use in academic student writing tend to i), focus more on the writing than the reading end of the reading-to-write continuum and ii), involve the use of insufficiently "naturalistic" writing tasks. Thus, in order to explore the potential of an alternative approach, this paper describes an exploratory case study…

Factors Predicting READ 180 18-Week Grades among Middle School Students: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Ethnicity, Reading and Language Skills and Socioeconomic Indicators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Rhonda M.

2014-01-01

Middle school students who struggle in reading are likely to also experience difficulty in their other subjects in school. A variety of reading intervention programs exist for schools to utilize to increase reading comprehension. The Scholastic READ 180 program is used as part of this study. This small, focused study of 160 students examined the…

Exposure to particulate matter in India: A synthesis of findings and future directions.

PubMed

Pant, Pallavi; Guttikunda, Sarath K; Peltier, Richard E

2016-05-01

Air pollution poses a critical threat to human health with ambient and household air pollution identified as key health risks in India. While there are many studies investigating concentration, composition, and health effects of air pollution, investigators are only beginning to focus on estimating or measuring personal exposure. Further, the relevance of exposures studies from the developed countries in developing countries is uncertain. This review summarizes existing research on exposure to particulate matter (PM) in India, identifies gaps and offers recommendations for future research. There are a limited number of studies focused on exposure to PM and/or associated health effects in India, but it is evident that levels of exposure are much higher than those reported in developed countries. Most studies have focused on coarse aerosols, with a few studies on fine aerosols. Additionally, most studies have focused on a handful of cities, and there are many unknowns in terms of ambient levels of PM as well as personal exposure. Given the high mortality burden associated with air pollution exposure in India, a deeper understanding of ambient pollutant levels as well as source strengths is crucial, both in urban and rural areas. Further, the attention needs to expand beyond the handful large cities that have been studied in detail. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Turning the UNCRC Upside Down: A Bottom-Up Perspective on Children's Rights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harcourt, Deborah; Hägglund, Solveig

2013-01-01

Children's rights have been studied from several perspectives. The implementation of children's rights has been argued in a corpus of seminal works seeking to problematise ways in which rights may be integrated and visible, with a particular focus on children's participation. Research also exists in the areas of policy, democratic practice and…

Effectiveness of 1:1 Speech and Language Therapy for Older Children with (Developmental) Language Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ebbels, Susan H.; Wright, Lisa; Brockbank, Sally; Godfrey, Caroline; Harris, Catherine; Leniston, Hannah; Neary, Kate; Nicoll, Hilary; Nicoll, Lucy; Scott, Jackie; Maric, Nataša

2017-01-01

Background: Evidence of the effectiveness of therapy for older children with (developmental) language disorder (DLD), and particularly those with receptive language impairments, is very limited. The few existing studies have focused on particular target areas, but none has looked at a whole area of a service. Aims: To establish whether for…

The Two Voices of Alzheimer's: Attitudes toward Brain Health by Diagnosed Individuals and Support Persons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beard, Renee L.; Fetterman, David J.; Wu, Bei; Bryant, Lucinda

2009-01-01

Purpose: Most individuals with Alzheimer's are cared for in their homes by unpaid family members. Research on caregiving focuses disproportionally on costs of care, service utilization, and negative psychosocial outcomes. Few narrative accounts of Alzheimer's exist; those that do suffer similar pejorative framings and narrow foci. No studies that…

Training Social Studies Teachers in Global Education: Strategies To Affect Instruction and Learning in the Kindergarten through Grade Twelve Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Richard

A constant interaction and interdependence exists between ecological and social systems. This paper recommends that teachers: (1) first focus students' attention on their cultural, natural, and social surroundings; (2) teach students the relationship between the school's and the community's social environments; (3) utilize community resources…

Predictors of Situational Disengagement in the Academic Setting: The Contribution of Grades, Perceived Competence, and Academic Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephan, Yannick; Caudroit, Johan; Boiche, Julie; Sarrazin, Philippe

2011-01-01

Background: Although psychological disengagement is a well-documented phenomenon in the academic setting, the attempts to identify its predictors are scarce. In addition, existing research has mainly focused on chronic disengagement and less is known on the determinants of situational disengagement. Aims: The purpose of the present study was to…

Developmental Trajectories in Syndromes with Intellectual Disability, with a Focus on Wolf-Hirschhorn and Its Cognitive-Behavioral Profile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisch, Gene S.; Carpenter, Nancy; Howard-Peebles, Patricia N.; Holden, Jeanette J. A.; Tarleton, Jack; Simensen, Richard; Battaglia, Agatino

2012-01-01

Few studies exist of developmental trajectories in children with intellectual disability, and none for those with subtelomeric deletions. We compared developmental trajectories of children with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome to other genetic disorders. We recruited 106 children diagnosed with fragile X, Williams-Beuren syndrome, or Wolf-Hirschhorn…

Some Aspects of the Implementation of the Principle of Transparency in Russian Universities: Research, Experience, Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egorov, Evgeny Evgenievich; Lebedev?, Tatiana Evgenievna; Bulganina, Svetlana Viktorovna; Vasilyeva, Lyudmila Ivanovna

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to identify achieved successes, existing gaps and possible prospects of implementing the principle of transparency by Russian universities. It was focused upon the information transparency of educational activities from the perspective of legal requirements and interests of applicants and university students. The analysis…

The Way We Ask for Money… The Emergence and Institutionalization of Grant Writing Practices in Academia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serrano Velarde, Kathia

2018-01-01

Although existing scholarship offers critical insights into the working mechanisms of project-based research funding, little is known about the actual practice of writing grant proposals. Our study seeks to add a longitudinal dimension to the ongoing debate on the implications of competitive research funding by focusing on the incremental…

Systematic Review of Service-Learning in Youth Physical Activity Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carson, Russell L.; Raguse, Allison L.

2014-01-01

The extent to which service-learning exists in the field of kinesiology broadly, and more specifically related to the physical activity of youth, remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the service-learning literature in kinesiology, with a specific focus on youth physical activity settings.…

Associations between Personality and Physical Aggression in Chinese and U.S. Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Temper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Jennifer M.; Hartl, Amy C.; Laursen, Brett; Booth-LaForce, Cathryn; Rubin, Kenneth H.

2016-01-01

Youth aggression is a serious global issue, but research identifying personality traits associated with aggression has focused on adults. Little is known about whether similar associations exist during adolescence; even less is known about these associations across cultures. This study examined links between personality and physical aggression in…

Chinese and Singaporean Sixth-Grade Students' Strategies for Solving Problems about Speed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiang, Chunlian; Hwang, Stephen; Cai, Jinfa

2014-01-01

This study examined 361 Chinese and 345 Singaporean sixth-grade students' performance and problem-solving strategies for solving 14 problems about speed. By focusing on students from two distinct high-performing countries in East Asia, we provide a useful perspective on the differences that exist in the preparation and problem-solving strategies…

Getting an Early Start: Communication about Sexuality among Mothers and Children 6-10 Years Old

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pluhar, Erika; Jennings, Tanya; DiIorio, Colleen

2006-01-01

Little information exists on communication about sexuality between parents and preadolescent children. This study collected qualitative data on family sexuality communication from 3 focus groups conducted with African American mothers of 6-10 year old children. Two broad themes emerged from the data: "Beyond the Birds and the Bees" and "Let's Talk…

Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council for Environmental Education, 2011

2011-01-01

The "Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide" focuses on wildlife and habitat. It is organized in topic units and is based on the Project WILD conceptual framework. Because these activities are designed for integration into existing courses of study, instructors may use one or many Project WILD activities or the entire set of activities…

Software for Studying and Enhancing Educational Uses of Geospatial Semantics and Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nodenot, Thierry; Sallaberry, Christian; Gaio, Mauro

2010-01-01

Geographically related queries form nearly one-fifth of all queries submitted to the Excite search engine and the most frequently occurring terms are names of places. This paper focuses on digital libraries and extends the basic services of existing library management systems to include new ones that are dedicated to geographic information…

The effects of water and lipids on NIR optical breast measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerussi, Albert E.; Bevilacqua, Frederic; Shah, Natasha; Jakubowski, Dorota B.; Berger, Andrew J.; Lanning, Ryan M.; Tromberg, Bruce J.

2001-06-01

Near infrared diffuse optical spectroscopy and imaging may enhance existing technologies for breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. NIR spectroscopy yields quantitative functional information that cannot be obtained with other non-invasive radiological techniques. In this study we focused upon the origins of this contrast in healthy breast, especially from water and lipids.

Fear of Death, Mortality Communication, and Psychological Distress among Secular and Religiously Observant Family Caregivers of Terminal Cancer Patients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bachner, Yaacov G.; O'Rourke, Norm; Carmel, Sara

2011-01-01

Previous research suggests that caregivers and terminally ill patients face substantial difficulties discussing illness and death. Existing research, however, has focused primarily on the experience of patients. The current study compared responses as well as the relative strength of association between mortality communication, fear of death, and…

Analysis of Semiotic Principles in a Constructivist Learning Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Paul

To advance nuclear plant simulator training, the industry must focus on a more detailed and theoretical approach to conduct of this training. The use of semiotics is one method of refining the existing training and examining ways to diversify and blend it with new theoretical methods. Semiotics is the study of signs and how humans interpret them.…

An Examination of the Reciprocal Relationship of Loneliness and Facebook Use among First-Year College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lou, Lai Lei; Yan, Zheng; Nickerson, Amanda; McMorris, Robert

2012-01-01

College students are using social network sites such as Facebook to communicate with their families and friends. However, empirical evidence is needed to examine whether there exists a reciprocal relationship between students' use of social network sites and their psychological well-being. The present study focused on two reciprocally-related…

Listening to Our Students: Understanding How They Learn Research Methods in Geography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keenan, Kevin; Fontaine, Danielle

2012-01-01

How undergraduate students learn research methods in geography has been understudied. Existing work has focused on course description from the instructor's perspective. This study, however, uses a grounded theory approach to allow students' voices to shape a new theory of how they themselves say that they learn research methods. Data from two…

Negotiating Ojibwe Treaty Rights: Toward a Critical Geopolitics of State-Tribal Relations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silvern, Steven E.

2008-01-01

In this article the author provides a case study of how differing geographical imaginations are at the center of state-tribal relations in the United States. Specifically, he focuses on the political conflict between the state of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Ojibwe over the continuing existence and exercise of Ojibwe off-reservation hunting,…

A Multidimensional Model for Child Maltreatment Prevention Readiness in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mikton, Christopher; Mehra, Radhika; Butchart, Alexander; Addiss, David; Almuneef, Maha; Cardia, Nancy; Cheah, Irene; Chen, JingQi; Makoae, Mokhantso; Raleva, Marija

2011-01-01

The study's aim was to develop a multidimensional model for the assessment of child maltreatment prevention readiness in low- and middle-income countries. The model was developed based on a conceptual review of relevant existing models and approaches, an international expert consultation, and focus groups in six countries. The final model…

Northern goshawk ecology: An assessment of current knowledge and information needs for conservation and management

Treesearch

John R. Squires; Patricia L. Kennedy

2006-01-01

The contentious and litigious history associated with managing Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) has focused much research attention toward understanding this species’ life history. Results from these studies address many key information needs that are useful to managers and decision makers, but many pressing information needs exist to address key...

The Professional Learning Community in Special Education Schools: The Principal's Role

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schechter, Chen; Feldman, Niv

2013-01-01

The concept of a professional learning community is characterized by the networks of learning processes which exist among its members, where teachers continuously deliberate with one another on how to solve problems that relate to teaching and learning. Interestingly, whereas a growing number of studies have focused on how to promote collective…

Gender Differences between Graphical User Interfaces and Command Line Interfaces in Computer Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Dan L.

This study focused primarily on two types of computer interfaces and the differences in academic performance that resulted from their use; it was secondarily designed to examine gender differences that may have existed before and after any change in interface. Much of the basic research in computer use was conducted with command line interface…

An Autoethnographical Analysis of a School Leader: Informing Strategies to Improve Educational Outcomes for Children of Promise Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lincoln, Carleton

2013-01-01

Recent research suggests a major crisis exists affecting urban children's educational opportunities. This study focuses on the use of research-based strategies to determine whether, and to what extent, transformative leadership influences the development of quality education that overcomes educational inequity in the lives of students who attend…

"Freedom Can Only Exist in an Ordered State": Harmony and Civic Education in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Li-Ching

2017-01-01

This paper uses the concept of stories of peoplehood to examine how the Singapore government has constructed a story of harmony and to consider how this story has influenced two important school subjects focused on civic education: Social Studies and Character and Citizenship Education. Stories of peoplehood, including constitutive, economic and…

Self-Regulation, Coregulation, and Socially Shared Regulation: Exploring Perspectives of Social in Self-Regulated Learning Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadwin, Allyson; Oshige, Mika

2011-01-01

Background/Context: Models of self-regulated learning (SRL) have increasingly acknowledged aspects of social context influence in its process; however, great diversity exists in the theoretical positioning of "social" in these models. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this review article is to introduce and…

Bringing the World to the Classroom through Videoconferencing and Project-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopper, Susan B.

2014-01-01

The focus of this paper is a case study of a Texas-based school that implemented global projects to connect their students with many states and countries as a platform for integrating collaboration and communication skills, technology tools, and cultural diversity into an existing curriculum. The school introduced videoconferencing at every grade…

The Role of Timing in Assessing Oral Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piper, Benjamin; Zuilkowski, Stephanie Simmons

2016-01-01

Despite rapid growth in literacy-related programmes and evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa, little critical attention has been paid to the relevance of assumptions that underlie existing assessment methods. This study focuses on the issue of timing in the assessment of oral reading fluency, a critical component of successful reading (Chard, Vaughn,…

A Review of Qualitative Data Gathering Methods and Their Applications To Support Organizational Strategic Planning Processes. Study Number Six.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Phillip C.; Geroy, Gary D.

Exploring existing methodologies to determine whether they can be adapted or adopted to support strategic goal setting, this paper focuses on information gathering techniques as they relate to the human resource development professional's input into strategic planning processes. The information gathering techniques are all qualitative methods and…

A Full-Time Dilemma: Examining the Experiences of Part-Time Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmel, Krista M.; Fairchild, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

Part-time faculty now account for more than half of all faculty in American colleges and universities. Existing scholarship primarily has focused on the teaching effectiveness of part-time faculty. In this exploratory study, the authors employ a qualitative approach to examine the perspectives of part-time faculty members at a public, regional…

Linking Science and Statistics: Curriculum Expectations in Three Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Jane M.

2017-01-01

This paper focuses on the curriculum links between statistics and science that teachers need to understand and apply in order to be effective teachers of the two fields of study. Meaningful statistics does not exist without context and science is the context for this paper. Although curriculum documents differ from country to country, this paper…

Film Choices for Screening Literacy: The "Pygmalion Template" in the Curriculum as Contact Zone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verdoodt, Ive; Rutten, Kris; Soetaert, Ronald; Mottart, Andre

2010-01-01

This study discusses the representation of (the) literacy (myth) in popular movies and a teaching and research project on cinematic literacy narratives. It attempts to reveal the existence of a powerful 'Pygmalion template' in contemporary movie culture. Focusing on a discourse or culture clash 'Pygmalion movies' simultaneously contribute to the…

Adolescents' School-Related Self-Concept Mediates Motor Skills and Psychosocial Well-Being

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viholainen, Helena; Aro, Tuija; Purtsi, Jarno; Tolvanen, Asko; Cantell, Marja

2014-01-01

Background: The health benefits of exercise participation and physical activity for mental health and psychosocial well-being (PSWB) have been shown in several studies. However, one important background factor, that is, motor skills (MSs), has largely been ignored. In addition, most of the existing research focuses on poor MSs, that is, poor MSs…

Naturalness as a Paradigm for Environmental Services Assessment

Treesearch

Martín Alfonso B. Mendoza; Ana Lid P. del Angel; Gabriel Díaz

2006-01-01

The municipality of Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico, has been the first in Mexico to set up a purse and a payment scheme to pay for environmental services. The scheme at Coatepec focuses on water resources, though many other similar programs exist throughout the world. Here a theoretical analysis permits to study and understand the dominant effect that position and...

An Integrative Approach to Archival Outreach: A Case Study of Becoming Part of the Constituents' Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rettig, Patricia J.

2007-01-01

Archival outreach, an essential activity for any repository, should focus on what constituents are already doing and capitalize on existing venues related to the repository's subject area. The Water Resources Archive at Colorado State University successfully undertook this integrative approach to outreach. Detailed in the article are outreach…

Enhancing the Empowerment of Youth in Foster Care: Supportive Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Sandra J.; Skolnik, Louise; Turnbull, Ayme

2009-01-01

This paper reviews the research on youth empowerment in seven child welfare programmatic areas. A lack of studies specifically focused on the empowerment of youth in foster care was found. Conceptual perspectives and existing data, however, suggest that the empowerment of youth in and transitioning out of care is essential and should be overtly…

Examining Interactions between Problem Posing and Problem Solving with Prospective Primary Teachers: A Case of Using Fractions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xie, Jinxia; Masingila, Joanna O.

2017-01-01

Existing studies have quantitatively evidenced the relatedness between problem posing and problem solving, as well as the magnitude of this relationship. However, the nature and features of this relationship need further qualitative exploration. This paper focuses on exploring the interactions, i.e., mutual effects and supports, between problem…

Impacting Student Access through Federal Policy Changes: How College Presidents Interpret "The College Scorecard"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Posillico, Joseph J.

2017-01-01

There has been significant growth in the number of regulations placed on colleges and universities in recent years. This type of growth contributes to the complex environment that exists for colleges and universities. The study focuses on the federal government's consumer information mandate and the release of "The College Scorecard."…

Trends of Mobile Learning in Computing Education from 2006 to 2014: A Systematic Review of Research Publications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anohah, Ebenezer; Oyelere, Solomon Sunday; Suhonen, Jarkko

2017-01-01

The majority of the existing research regarding mobile learning in computing education has primarily focused on studying the effectiveness of, and in some cases reporting about, implemented mobile learning solutions. However, it is equally important to explore development and application perspectives on the integration of mobile learning into…

Using Demographic Variables and In-College Attributes to Predict Course-Level Retention for Community College Spanish Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerin, Aimee

2016-01-01

Student retention rates in higher education have been a focus of study for decades, yet the problem of low student retention still exists, particularly among community college students. While student retention has not been empirically investigated among community college students in language courses, the specific problem of low course-level…

A School Curriculum for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Advice from a Young Adult with FASD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brenna, Beverley; Burles, Meridith; Holtslander, Lorraine; Bocking, Sarah

2017-01-01

While a significant number of individuals in Canada and globally are affected by prenatal fetal alcohol exposure, scant research exists that focuses specifically on the subjective experiences of this population. Based on a single case study exploring through Photovoice methodology the life experiences of a young adult with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum…

University Educators' Instructional Choices and Their Learning Styles within a Lesson Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazo, Lucille B.

2017-01-01

Research on learning styles often focuses on the learning style of the student; however, the learning style of the educator may affect instructional choices and student learning. Few studies have addressed the lack of knowledge that exists in universities with respect to educators' learning styles and a lesson framework (development, delivery, and…

The Study on the Psychological Problems and Countermeasures of the Full-Time Professional Masters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hui, Tang; Liang, Ma

2012-01-01

Mental health education is one of the most important tasks in postgraduate education. Professional master, as a graduate of an emerging group, its mental health education cannot be ignored. This paper focuses on the existence of some mental health problems of Chinese full-time professional master, explores and analyzes their causes and finally…

Investigating the Development of Foreign Language Anxiety: An Autobiographical Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trang, Tran Thi Thu; Baldauf, Richard B., Jr.; Moni, Karen

2013-01-01

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been found to exist in tertiary students learning foreign languages in many countries; however, limited research has explored how it develops. This study investigated how anxiety developed in students of English as a foreign language (EFL), focusing on changes in their feelings about EFL learning as they learned,…

Segregation in the Classroom: What Does It Take to Be Accepted as a Friend?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pijl, Sip Jan; Frostad, Per; Mjaavatn, Per-Egil

2011-01-01

Research on students' social relationships shows their preference to associate with similar peers. This study focused on the similarity in selection criteria used by students to form groups and similarity of characteristics of existing groups in schools. It compared these criteria to those of isolated students. The sample consisted of 124 students…

The Social Organization of School Counseling in the Era of Standards-Based Accountability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorsey, Alexander C.

2011-01-01

The reform policies of standards-based accountability, as outlined in NCLB, impede the functioning of school counseling programs and the delivery of services to students. Although recent studies have focused on the transformation of the school counseling profession, a gap exists in the literature with regard to how the experiences of school…

Happiness in the Classroom: Strategies for Teacher Retention and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Stercke, Joachim; Goyette, Nancy; Robertson, Jean E.

2015-01-01

This Viewpoint proposes a new perspective on why so many teachers leave the profession after only a very short time. While existing studies have largely focused on employment and working conditions, this essay argues that happiness is key to keeping new teachers in the workplace. Juxtaposing two fields that have heretofore been oblivious of one…

Spanish Only for Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES): Competing Discourses in Local Language Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kubota, Ryuko; Catlett, Shawna

2008-01-01

Teaching Spanish has become increasingly popular in the United States due to demographic shifts. This study focuses on a Spanish-only initiative for an existing Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program proposed by a southeastern public school district's school board. It analyzes discourses underlying the policymakers' rationales…

The Universality of Syntactic Constraints on Spanish-English Codeswitching in the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moro, Mónica

2015-01-01

This study focuses on the syntactic properties of codeswitching within sentences uttered by bilingual speakers of Spanish and English in the USA or the so-called "Spanglish," by analysing data based on examples cited in the existing literature. To that end, I will examine the definitions of this cultural and linguistic phenomenon, make a…

International Service-Learning: Rethinking the Role of Emotions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen, Marianne A.

2017-01-01

Existing research on international service-learning (ISL) only implicitly alludes to emotions or considers emotions as a limited vehicle through which the more important work of learning occurs. This study set out to shift this focus on emotions to show how emotions are an integral part of the overall ISL experience. The aim was to understand how…

Enhancing the Undergraduate Experience: The Role of a Student Organization for Preservice Agricultural Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, T. Grady; Harlin, Julie F.; Murphrey, Theresa P.; Dooley, Kim E.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if a need exists to establish an organization specifically for preservice agricultural science teachers and if so, the attributes of such an organization. Selected peer preservice agricultural education programs were examined and focus groups were conducted with preservice and inservice teachers. Results…

Helping Students Understand Media: Examining the Efficacy of Interdisciplinary Media Training at the University Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Hans C.

2015-01-01

Crowded curriculums and restrictive program requirements often mean that comprehensive media literacy education is impractical at the university level, and that media literacy competencies can be addressed only in the form of narrowly focused lessons integrated into existing classes. This study considers the extent to which such limited lessons…

Semantic Comprehension of the Action-Role Relationship in Early-Linguistic Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritz, Janet J.; Suci, George J.

This study attempted to determine: (1) whether lower-order units (agent or agent-action) within the agent-action-recipient relationship exist in any functional way in the 1-word infant's comprehension of speech; and (2) whether the use of repetition and/or reduced length (common modifications in adult-to-infant speech) used to focus on these…

Neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia: an overview of research from Asia.

PubMed

Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; Gangadhar, Bangalore N

2012-10-01

Neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia help clarify the neural substrates underlying the pathogenesis of this neuropsychiatric disorder. Contemporary brain imaging in schizophrenia is predominated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based research approaches. This review focuses on the various imaging studies from India and their relevance to the understanding of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia. The existing studies are predominantly comprised of structural MRI reports involving region-of-interest and voxel-based morphometry approaches, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and single-photon emission computed tomography/positron emission tomography (SPECT/PET) studies. Most of these studies are significant in that they have evaluated antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients--a relatively difficult population to obtain in contemporary research. Findings of these studies offer robust support to the existence of significant brain abnormalities at very early stages of the disorder. In addition, theoretically relevant relationships between these brain abnormalities and developmental aberrations suggest possible neurodevelopmental basis for these brain deficits.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF THYROID CANCER

PubMed Central

Schneider, David F.; Chen, Herbert

2013-01-01

Thyroid cancer exists in several forms. Differentiated thyroid cancers include papillary and follicular histologies. These tumors exist along a spectrum of differentiation, and their incidence continues to climb. A number of advances in the diagnosis and treatment of differentiated thyroid cancers now exist. These include molecular diagnostics and more advanced strategies for risk stratification. Medullary cancer arises from the parafollicular cells and not the follicular cells. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment differs from differentiated thyroid tumors. Genetic testing and newer adjuvant therapies has changed the diagnosis and treatment of medullary thyroid cancer. This review will focus on the epidemiology, diagnosis, work-up, and treatment of both differentiated and medullary thyroid cancers, focusing specifically on newer developments in the field. PMID:23797834

Retrofit of existing reinforced concrete bridges with fiber reinforced polymer composites

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-12-01

A two-part research was focused on examining various issues related to the use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for strengthening of existing reinforced concrete bridges. A summary of each phase is presented separately.

Students’ conceptions of radiation and what to do about them

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plotz, Thomas

2017-01-01

For good science teaching, it is necessary to have knowledge of your students’ preconceptions. Numerous studies have been conducted about typical ideas that students bring to the science classroom in science education research. Unfortunately the domains of which we know preconceptions are not distributed evenly and there is a lack of studies about students’ conceptions of electromagnetic radiation. This literature review focuses on the existing body of studies around those conceptions. All studies focusing on conceptions of radiation, including nuclear radiation, have been considered if they were published in international peer reviewed journals in English and German between 1980 and the present day. Some interesting conceptions mentioned in different studies are pointed out, as well as gaps in the literature that need to be filled. At the end, some ideas to conquer misconceptions are presented.

Barriers to delivering mental health services in Georgia with an economic and financial focus: informing policy and acting on evidence.

PubMed

Sulaberidze, Lela; Green, Stuart; Chikovani, Ivdity; Uchaneishvili, Maia; Gotsadze, George

2018-02-13

Whilst there is recognition that the global burden of disease associated with mental health disorders is significant, the economic resources available, especially in Low and Middle Income Countries, are particularly scarce. Identifying the economic (system) and financial (individual) barriers to delivering mental health services and assessing the opportunities for reform can support the development of strategies for change. A mixed methods study was developed, which engaged with a range of stakeholders from mental health services, including key informants, service managers, healthcare professional and patients and their care-takers. Data generated from interviews and focus groups were analysed using an existing framework that outlines a range of economic and financial barriers to improving mental health practice. In addition, the study utilised health financing and programmatic data. The analysis identified a variety of local economic barriers, including: the inhibition of the diversification of the mental health workforce and services due to inflexible resources; the variable and limited provision of services across the country; and the absence of mechanisms to assess the delivery and quality of existing services. The main financial barriers identified were related to out-of pocket payments for purchasing high quality medications and transportation to access mental health services. Whilst scarcity of financial resources exists in Georgia, as in many other countries, there are clear opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the current mental health programme. Addressing system-wide barriers could enable the delivery of services that aim to meet the needs of patients. The use of existing data to assess the implementation of the mental health programme offers opportunities to benchmark and improve services and to support the appropriate commissioning and reconfiguration of services.

An Investigation of Teaching and Learning Programs in Pharmacy Education

PubMed Central

Baia, Patricia

2016-01-01

Objective. To investigate published, peer-reviewed literature on pharmacy teaching and learning development programs and to synthesize existing data, examine reported efficacy and identify future areas for research. Methods. Medline and ERIC databases were searched for studies on teaching development programs published between 2001 and 2015. Results. Nineteen publications were included, representing 21 programs. Twenty programs were resident teaching programs, one program described faculty development. The majority of programs spanned one year and delivered instruction on teaching methodologies and assessment measures. All except one program included experiential components. Thirteen publications presented outcomes data; most measured satisfaction and self-perceived improvement. Conclusion. Published literature on teacher development in pharmacy is focused more on training residents than on developing faculty members. Although programs are considered important and highly valued by program directors and participants, little data substantiates that these programs improve teaching. Future research could focus on measurement of program outcomes and documentation of teaching development for existing faculty members. PMID:27293226

An Investigation of Teaching and Learning Programs in Pharmacy Education.

PubMed

Strang, Aimee F; Baia, Patricia

2016-05-25

Objective. To investigate published, peer-reviewed literature on pharmacy teaching and learning development programs and to synthesize existing data, examine reported efficacy and identify future areas for research. Methods. Medline and ERIC databases were searched for studies on teaching development programs published between 2001 and 2015. Results. Nineteen publications were included, representing 21 programs. Twenty programs were resident teaching programs, one program described faculty development. The majority of programs spanned one year and delivered instruction on teaching methodologies and assessment measures. All except one program included experiential components. Thirteen publications presented outcomes data; most measured satisfaction and self-perceived improvement. Conclusion. Published literature on teacher development in pharmacy is focused more on training residents than on developing faculty members. Although programs are considered important and highly valued by program directors and participants, little data substantiates that these programs improve teaching. Future research could focus on measurement of program outcomes and documentation of teaching development for existing faculty members.

Flexural stiffness of the composite steel and fibre-reinforced concrete circular hollow section column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tretyakov, A.; Tkalenko, I.; Wald, F.; Novak, J.; Stefan, R.; Kohoutková, A.

2017-09-01

The recent development in technology of production and transportation of steel fibre-reinforced concrete enables its utilization in composite steel-concrete structures. This work is a part of a project which focuses on development of mechanical behaviour of circular hollow section (CHS) composite steel and fibre-concrete (SFRC) columns at elevate temperature. Research includes two levels of accuracy/complexity, allowing simplified or advanced approach for design that follows upcoming changes in European standard for composite member design in fire EN1994-1-2 [1]. One part is dedicated to determination and description of flexural stiffness of the SFRC CHS columns. To determinate flexural stiffness were prepared series of pure bending tests at elevated and ambient temperature. Presented paper focuses on the results of the tests and determination of flexural stiffness at ambient temperature. Obtained outputs were compared to data of existing studies about concrete-filled tube members with plain concrete and values analytically calculated according to the existing European standard EN1994-1-1 [2].

Revisiting the impact of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on nurse turnover intention: an individual differences analysis.

PubMed

De Gieter, Sara; Hofmans, Joeri; Pepermans, Roland

2011-12-01

Nurse turnover is an important contributing factor to the worldwide nursing shortage. Many studies have examined the antecedents of nurse turnover to gain a better understanding of the problem and help hospitals reduce their turnover rates. However, an important shortcoming of this research stream is its exclusive focus on explaining turnover behavior of the "average nurse", thereby disregarding individual differences between nurses and groups of nurses. To examine individual differences in the relationships between two crucial turnover antecedents - job satisfaction and organizational commitment - and nurse turnover intention. A sample of 287 nurses working for a variety of Belgian hospitals participated in the study. A survey method was used to collect quantitative data, which were analyzed through standard multiple linear regression, mixture regression models and t-tests. In the total sample of hospital nurses, both job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly predicted nurse turnover intention. However, subsequent individual differences analyses revealed the existence of two subgroups of nurses. In the satisfaction focused group, only job satisfaction was found to predict nurse turnover intention, whereas in the satisfaction and commitment focused group both job satisfaction and organizational commitment were related to turnover intention. Furthermore, nurses in the latter group displayed stronger turnover intention, were significantly younger and had less job tenure and organizational tenure than nurses in the satisfaction focused group. The debate on the antecedents of nurse turnover still continues, as the existing models fail to fully grasp nurse turnover. The present study identifies individual differences in nurse turnover antecedents among groups of nurses as a possible reason for the absence of one comprehensive turnover model that holds for the general nursing population. Further studies are needed in order to capture the total impact of the underlying individual differences in nurse turnover antecedents. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shape-from-focus by tensor voting.

PubMed

Hariharan, R; Rajagopalan, A N

2012-07-01

In this correspondence, we address the task of recovering shape-from-focus (SFF) as a perceptual organization problem in 3-D. Using tensor voting, depth hypotheses from different focus operators are validated based on their likelihood to be part of a coherent 3-D surface, thereby exploiting scene geometry and focus information to generate reliable depth estimates. The proposed method is fast and yields significantly better results compared with existing SFF methods.

Outcomes of online support and resources for cancer survivors: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Hong, Yan; Peña-Purcell, Ninfa C; Ory, Marcia G

2012-03-01

This study aims to review systematically the available literature on health outcomes of online cancer support and resources. We searched major databases with the following selection criteria: (1) empirical study on use of online support or resources by cancer survivors, (2) reporting effects or outcomes of online support or resources, (3) focusing on adult cancer survivors, and (4) peer-reviewed articles published by 2010. A total of 24 studies (37 articles) were included in the review. Most studies were focused on breast cancer survivors and had small sample sizes. Fifteen studies employed a cross-sectional design including eight qualitative studies. Only five studies used pre-post design, and four employed RCT design. The outcome measures have focused on psychosocial effects; most studies reported positive effects, although none of the RCT studies reported significant outcomes. Existing studies of online cancer support and resources have demonstrated preliminary but inconclusive evidence for positive outcomes. We call for additional studies with rigorous study designs and the inclusion of more diverse participants and cancer conditions. Connecting diverse cancer survivors to culturally appropriate, evidence-based online support and resources is a strategy to enhance health outcomes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conduct disorder in adolescent females: current state of research and study design of the FemNAT-CD consortium.

PubMed

Freitag, Christine M; Konrad, Kerstin; Stadler, Christina; De Brito, Stephane A; Popma, Arne; Herpertz, Sabine C; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Neumann, Inga; Kieser, Meinhard; Chiocchetti, Andreas G; Schwenck, Christina; Fairchild, Graeme

2018-06-09

Conduct disorder (CD) is a common and highly impairing psychiatric disorder of childhood and adolescence that frequently leads to poor physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. The prevalence of CD is substantially higher in males than females, and partly due to this, most research on this condition has used all-male or predominantly male samples. Although the number of females exhibiting CD has increased in recent decades, the majority of studies on neurobiological measures, neurocognitive phenotypes, and treatments for CD have focused on male subjects only, despite strong evidence for sex differences in the aetiology and neurobiology of CD. Here, we selectively review the existing literature on CD and related phenotypes in females, focusing in particular on sex differences in CD symptoms, patterns of psychiatric comorbidity, and callous-unemotional personality traits. We also consider studies investigating the neurobiology of CD in females, with a focus on studies using genetic, structural and functional neuroimaging, psychophysiological, and neuroendocrinological methods. We end the article by providing an overview of the study design of the FemNAT-CD consortium, an interdisciplinary, multi-level and multi-site study that explicitly focuses on CD in females, but which is also investigating sex differences in the causes, developmental course, and neurobiological correlates of CD.

Violence and school shootings.

PubMed

Flannery, Daniel J; Modzeleski, William; Kretschmar, Jeff M

2013-01-01

Multiple-homicide school shootings are rare events, but when they happen they significantly impact individuals, the school and the community. We focus on multiple-homicide incidents and identified mental health issues of shooters. To date, studies of school shootings have concluded that no reliable profile of a shooter exists, so risk should be assessed using comprehensive threat assessment protocols. Existing studies primarily utilize retrospective case histories or media accounts. The field requires more empirical and systematic research on all types of school shootings including single victim incidents, those that result in injury but not death and those that are successfully averted. We discuss current policies and practices related to school shootings and the role of mental health professionals in assessing risk and supporting surviving victims.

How Youth Picture Gender Injustice: Building Skills for HIV Prevention through a Participatory, Arts-Based Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Lesley

2012-01-01

Based on the existing literature on the positive relationship that exists between high instances of HIV infections and a high degree of gender injustices in southern Africa, there is clearly a need for HIV-prevention interventions, to focus on the need for changing the existing gender norms. Social change begins with change at the individual…

Focusing educational initiatives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parks, George K.

1990-01-01

The United States will soon be facing a critical shortage of aerospace scientists and engineers. To address this problem, Space Grant Colleges can assist in focusing interest in existing educational initiatives and in creating new educational opportunities, particularly for women and underrepresented minorities.

A brief history of tuberculosis in the Czech Lands.

PubMed

Vargová, Lenka; Vymazalová, Kateřina; Horáčková, Ladislava

2017-07-01

Tuberculosis currently remains a serious medical problem, therefore increased attention is being paid to this disease. Paleopathological studies focused on the monitoring of morbid changes in skeletal remains of historical populations facilitate a detailed study of the development of this disease. They provide direct evidence of the existence of tuberculosis and its past forms. In addition to literary and iconographic sources, the present study is focused on recording the findings of bone tuberculosis in historical osteological sets from the Czech Lands and is the starting point for their detailed review. Approximately 76 cases of bone tuberculosis from the Czech Lands have been published and more or less reliably documented from 20 archeological sites dated back from the Eneolithic to the modern period. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Milan Army Ammunition Plant focused feasibility study for the northern industrial area soil. Final report

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

Locandro, R.R.; Okusu, N.M.; Case, J.

1995-04-01

ICF Kaiser Engineers (ICF) and Environmental Resources Management (ERM) have been contracted by the US Army Environmental Center (USAEC) to perform a Focused Feasibility Study (FS) for contaminated soil within the northern industrial areas of Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP), Tennessee. The purpose of the Focused FS is to develop and evaluate remedial alternatives such that an appropriate remedy can be selected for the site. The MAAP Remedial Investigation (RI) performed in 1989--1991 confirmed that the O-Line Ponds area, facility drainage ditches that received industrial wastewater, and manufacturing and disposal areas have been sources of groundwater contamination. One finding ofmore » the RI Report was that sufficient information was available concerning the O-Line Ponds area to proceed with a Focused FS. The O-Line Ponds area was further divided into two operable units (OUs): OU1 is the groundwater immediately downgradient of the O-Line Ponds area, and OU2 is the soil, surface water, and sediment at the O-Line Ponds area. A Proposed Plan and Record of Decision (ROD) for OU1 were finalized in 1992, which called for groundwater extraction, treatment, and reinjection of the treated water upgradient of the O-Line Ponds. The design of this system was completed in 1993, and construction of the system is currently underway. For OU2, the Proposed Plan and ROD (finalized in 1993) called for the extension of the existing multi-layered cap to cover the contaminated soil around the perimeter of the existing cap. The design of the cap extension was completed in 1994, and construction will begin in late 1994.« less

Migration-related detention centers: the challenges of an ecological perspective with a focus on justice.

PubMed

Esposito, Francesca; Ornelas, José; Arcidiacono, Caterina

2015-06-06

In recent years, border control and migration-related detention have become increasingly widespread practices affecting the lives of undocumented migrants, their families, and communities at large. In spite of the concern within academia, few studies have directly witnessed the life and experiences of people confined to migration-related detention centers. In the medical and psychological fields, a considerable body of research has demonstrated the pathogenic nature of detention in terms of mental health, showing an association between length of detention and severity of distress. Nevertheless, it was limited to the assessment of individuals' clinical consequences, mainly focusing on asylum seekers. There currently exists a need to adopt an ecological perspective from which to study detained migrants' experiences as context-dependent, and influenced by power inequalities. This paper addresses this gap. Drawing upon advances in community psychology, we illustrate an ecological framework for the study of migration-related detention contexts, and their effects on the lives of detained migrants and all people exposed to them. Making use of existing literature, Kelly's four principles (interdependence, cycling of resources, adaptation, succession) are analyzed at multiple ecological levels (personal, interpersonal, organizational, communal), highlighting implications for future research in this field. A focus on justice, as a key-dimension of analysis, is also discussed. Wellbeing is acknowledged as a multilevel, dynamic, and value-dependent phenomenon. In presenting this alternative framework, the potential for studying migration-related detention through an ecological lens is highlighted, pointing the way for future fields of study. We argue that ecological multilevel analyses, conceptualized in terms of interdependent systems and with a focus on justice, can enhance the comprehension of the dynamics at play in migration-related detention centers, providing an effective tool to address the multi-level challenges of doing research within them. Furthermore, they can contribute to the development of policies and practices concerned with health, equality, and human rights of all people exposed to migration-related detention. Consistent with these assumptions, empirical studies adopting such a framework are strongly encouraged. These studies should use mixed and multi-method culturally situated designs, based on the development of collaborative and empowering relationships with participants. Ethnographic approaches are recommended.

FOCuS: a metaheuristic algorithm for computing knockouts from genome-scale models for strain optimization.

PubMed

Mutturi, Sarma

2017-06-27

Although handful tools are available for constraint-based flux analysis to generate knockout strains, most of these are either based on bilevel-MIP or its modifications. However, metaheuristic approaches that are known for their flexibility and scalability have been less studied. Moreover, in the existing tools, sectioning of search space to find optimal knocks has not been considered. Herein, a novel computational procedure, termed as FOCuS (Flower-pOllination coupled Clonal Selection algorithm), was developed to find the optimal reaction knockouts from a metabolic network to maximize the production of specific metabolites. FOCuS derives its benefits from nature-inspired flower pollination algorithm and artificial immune system-inspired clonal selection algorithm to converge to an optimal solution. To evaluate the performance of FOCuS, reported results obtained from both MIP and other metaheuristic-based tools were compared in selected case studies. The results demonstrated the robustness of FOCuS irrespective of the size of metabolic network and number of knockouts. Moreover, sectioning of search space coupled with pooling of priority reactions based on their contribution to objective function for generating smaller search space significantly reduced the computational time.

Extending the enterprise evolution contextualisation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vries, Marné; van der Merwe, Alta; Gerber, Aurona

2017-07-01

Enterprise engineering (EE) emerged as a new discipline to encourage comprehensive and consistent enterprise design. Since EE is multidisciplinary, various researchers study enterprises from different perspectives, which resulted in a plethora of applicable literature and terminology, but without shared meaning. Previous research specifically focused on the fragmentation of knowledge for designing and aligning the information and communication technology (ICT) subsystem of the enterprise in order to support the business organisation subsystem of the enterprise. As a solution for this fragmented landscape, a business-IT alignment model (BIAM) was developed inductively from existing business-IT alignment approaches. Since most of the existing alignment frameworks addressed the alignment between the ICT subsystem and the business organisation subsystem, BIAM also focused on the alignment between these two subsystems. Yet, the emerging EE discipline intends to address a broader scope of design, evident in the existing approaches that incorporate a broader scope of design/alignment/governance. A need was identified to address the knowledge fragmentation of the EE knowledge base by adapting BIAM to an enterprise evolution contextualisation model (EECM), to contextualise a broader set of approaches, as identified by Lapalme. The main contribution of this article is the incremental development and evaluation of EECM. We also present guiding indicators/prerequisites for applying EECM as a contextualisation tool.

Improving Existing EPO Efforts with Data Access through the National Virtual Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raddick, M. J.; Christian, C. A.; O'Mullane, W. J.

2005-05-01

The National Virtual Observatory (NVO) is developing tools to enable astronomy data to be shared seamlessly across the Internet. The goal of the NVO is to allow anyone on the Internet to access all astronomy data ever measured, with any instrument, in any wavelength. The NVO's research efforts focus on allowing scientists to access existing online data, adding value to each dataset by virtue of its connection to others. Similarly, the NVO's Education and Public Outreach (EPO) efforts focus on connecting existing projects with the our seamless access to real, modern astronomy data from thousands of research projects. We hope that this connection will provide countless opportunities to expand and enhance existing EPO projects. Some of the projects currently working with NVO are the CLEA labs at Gettysburg College, Project LITE at Boston University, and Adler Planetarium. In this poster, I will describe the current EPO efforts that incorporate the NVO's data access tools. I will also provide a tutorial for EPO developers, with practical suggestions on how to incorporate NVO tools into existing projects. I will also give contact information for further help.

Making the message meaningful: a qualitative assessment of media promoting all-terrain vehicle safety.

PubMed

Brann, Maria; Mullins, Samantha Hope; Miller, Beverly K; Eoff, Shane; Graham, James; Aitken, Mary E

2012-08-01

Millions of all-terrain vehicles (ATV) are used around the world for recreation by both adults and youth. This increase in use has led to a substantial increase in the number of injuries and fatalities each year. Effective strategies for reducing this incidence are clearly needed; however, minimal research exists regarding effective educational interventions. This study was designed to assess rural ATV riders' preferences for and assessment of safety messages. 13 focus group discussions with youth and adult ATV riders were conducted. 88 formative research participants provided feedback on existing ATV safety materials, which was used to develop more useful ATV safety messages. 60 evaluative focus group participants critiqued the materials developed for this project. Existing ATV safety materials have limited effectiveness, in part because they may not address the content or design needs of the target population. ATV riders want educational and action-oriented safety messages that inform youth and adult riders about their responsibilities to learn, educate and implement safety behaviours (eg, appropriate-sized ATV, safety gear, solo riding, speed limits, riding locations). In addition, messages should be clear, realistic, visually appealing and easily accessible. Newly designed ATV safety materials using the acronym TRIPSS (training, ride off-road, impairment, plan ahead, safety gear, single rider) meet ATV riders' safety messaging needs. To reach a target population, it is crucial to include them in the development and assessment of safety messages. Germane to this particular study, ATV riders provided essential information for creating useful ATV safety materials.

Development and Evaluation of a Manual for Extended Brief Intervention for Alcohol Misuse for Adults with Mild to Moderate Intellectual Disabilities Living in the Community: The EBI-LD Study Manual

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kouimtsidis, Christos; Scior, Katrina; Baio, Gianluca; Hunter, Rachael; Pezzoni, Vittoria; Hassiotis, Angela

2017-01-01

Background: Extended brief interventions for alcohol misuse are effective in the general population. The process of manualising the first ever such intervention for people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in the UK is the focus of this study. Methods: The manual was an adaptation of existing manuals based on Motivational Enhancement…

A Case Study Examining the Influence of Black Greek Letter Fraternal Presence, Policies, and Practices on African American Male Student Success at a Predominantly White Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singleton, Stanley Duane

2010-01-01

This qualitative case study was conducted at a mid-sized university in the southeastern United States to determine if a nexus existed among BGLF presence, policies, and practices at a PWI that influences the student success of African American males. This research focused on the analysis of two direct associations--the association between the BGLF…

Woodbridge Research Facility Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study; Focused Feasibility Study for Operable Unit One

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-11-01

by minimizing leachate . Alternatives 1 and 2 affect no changes in toxicity, mobility, or volume. Short-Term Effectiveness Short-term effectiveness...result of contaminant interactions with other in situ chemicals. • Phytoremediation uses existing plants and trees to incorporate contaminants into... leachate is minimized. Alternatives 1 and 2 effect no changes in toxicity, mobility, or volume. 8.3.6 Short-Term Effectiveness Short-term effectiveness is

Dynamics of laser-driven proton beam focusing and transport into solid density matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J.; McGuffey, C.; Beg, F.; Wei, M.; Mariscal, D.; Chen, S.; Fuchs, J.

2016-10-01

Isochoric heating and local energy deposition capabilities make intense proton beams appealing for studying high energy density physics and the Fast Ignition of inertial confinement fusion. To study proton beam focusing that results in high beam density, experiments have been conducted using different target geometries irradiated by a kilojoule, 10 ps pulse of the OMEGA EP laser. The beam focus was measured by imaging beam-induced Cu K-alpha emission on a Cu foil that was positioned at a fixed distance. Compared to a free target, structured targets having shapes of wedge and cone show a brighter and narrower K-alpha radiation emission spot on a Cu foil indicating higher beam focusability. Experimentally observed images with proton radiography demonstrate the existence of transverse fields on the structures. Full-scale simulations including the contribution of a long pulse duration of the laser confirm that such fields can be caused by hot electrons moving through the structures. The simulated fields are strong enough to reflect the diverging main proton beam and pinch a transverse probe beam. Detailed simulation results including the beam focusing and transport of the focused intense proton beam in Cu foil will be presented. This work was supported by the National Laser User Facility Program through Award DE-NA0002034.

Analysis and model on space-time characteristics of wind power output based on the measured wind speed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Wenhui; Feng, Changyou; Qu, Jixian; Zha, Hao; Ke, Dan

2018-02-01

Most of the existing studies on wind power output focus on the fluctuation of wind farms and the spatial self-complementary of wind power output time series was ignored. Therefore the existing probability models can’t reflect the features of power system incorporating wind farms. This paper analyzed the spatial self-complementary of wind power and proposed a probability model which can reflect temporal characteristics of wind power on seasonal and diurnal timescales based on sufficient measured data and improved clustering method. This model could provide important reference for power system simulation incorporating wind farms.

Ion-acoustic supersolitons and double layers in plasmas with nonthermal electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, D.-N.; Zhang, J.; Yang, Y.; Duan, W.-S.

2017-08-01

Supersoliton (SS) can be mainly featured in two ways, namely, by focusing on subsidiary maxima on its electric field or by meeting the requirement that the appropriate Sagdeev pseudopotential (SP) has three local extrema between the equilibrium conditions and its amplitude. In this paper, by using the SP method, double layers and ion-acoustic SSs are studied in a plasma with Maxwellian cold electrons, nonthermal hot electrons, and fluid ions. The existence of the SS regime in parameter space is obtained in a methodical fashion. The existence domains for positive solitary waves are also presented. It is found that there is no SSs at the acoustic speed.

The need to support students with autism at university.

PubMed

Mulder, Ann M; Cashin, Andrew

2014-09-01

Publicity surrounds the increased prevalence of autism. However, in contrast to support in primary and secondary schools, there exists little focus on supporting students with autism at university. Mental health nurses are well placed to facilitate support programmes for students with autism who have the capacity for higher education. This article examines the international literature around the support needs for these students and discusses opportunities that exist to support these students, their families, and higher education staff. Research is urgently needed to evaluate the success of such interventions, particularly in light of the low participation rates in study and work for people with autism.

The Austin High School Girls' Band of Chicago, Illinois: 1925-1956

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hash, Phillip M.

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the history of the Austin High School (AHS) Girls' Band (AHSGB) of Chicago, Illinois, which existed from 1925 to 1956. This research focused on the band's (a) organization and leadership, (b) activities within the school and community, (c) relationship to the AHS Boys Band, and (d) efforts to challenge and…

The Predictive Ability of IQ and Working Memory Scores in Literacy in an Adult Population

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alloway, Tracy Packiam; Gregory, David

2013-01-01

Literacy problems are highly prevalent and can persist into adulthood. Yet, the majority of research on the predictive nature of cognitive skills to literacy has primarily focused on development and adolescent populations. The aim of the present study was to extend existing research to investigate the roles of IQ scores and Working Memory…

Preventive Care for the Elderly

PubMed Central

Mallery, Laurie; Rockwood, Kenneth

1992-01-01

The practice of preventive medicine in the elderly population needs to be revitalized. A review of the existing literature of preventive medicine for recommendations for the elderly uncovers two problems: most screening studies have had few elderly subjects, and the focus has been mainly on early disease detection and prevention of mortality. Prevention of morbidity and of functional impairment should receive more emphasis. PMID:21221297

The Outcome of Behavioral Intervention with a Person Living with Schizophrenia Who Exhibited Medication Noncompliance: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanahara, Shunsuke

2009-01-01

The behavioral counseling of a withdrawn and noncompliant schizophrenic South American person, who is an immigrant, by an Asian counselor taking place in the United States is introduced. Although some difficulties, such as a language barrier, exist in the clinical setting, a behavioral assessment to analyze the client's issues through focusing on…

The Widening Gap: A New Book on the Struggle To Balance Work and Caregiving. Research-in-Brief.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahmanou, Hedieh

This research brief presents some main findings from a study of employer-based support systems in the United States to help families meet their caregiving responsibilities, and focuses on the failure of existing policies to support caregiving responsibilities of low-income parents and women. The brief also presents policy alternatives to help…

Factors Related to Special Education Teacher Job Commitment: A Study of One Large Metropolitan School District in Southern California

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Joseph David

2011-01-01

Researchers have focused their attention on the subject of special education teacher attrition for many years. While these researchers have made valuable findings, the need to abate the staggering numbers of special education teachers who leave the field still exists. Districts desiring to retain their teachers must place greater emphasis on the…

An Epistemological and Didactic Study of a Specific Calculus Reasoning Rule

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durand-Guerrier, Viviane; Arsac, Gilbert

2004-01-01

It is widely attested that university students face considerable difficulties with reasoning in analysis, especially when dealing with statements involving two different quantifiers. We focus in this paper on a specific mistake which appears in proofs where one applies twice or more a statement of the kind "for all X, there exists Y such that R(X,…

The Intention and Reflection Model of Self-Disclosure: Social Work Education for Student Identity Management in Gay Men

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Satterly, Brent A.

2007-01-01

Little research exists on how self-disclosure is taught in social work education (Pianko, 2001). Few social work education programs include precontemplative components of exploring identity for gay male students. In this study, the data from 4 focus groups of gay male therapists, who discussed their self-disclosure, decision-making processes, were…

The American and His Environment--A Social Sciences Course. Project Reports, Volume 2, The Rachel Carson Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanner, R. Thomas

This document is the second of seven volumes included in the Rachel Carson Project. The project attempts to introduce environmental lessons and units into existing courses of study within a high school rather than to implement environmental education through the introduction of new courses. This volume focuses on the social science area by…

Specifying Type and Location of Peer Victimization in a National Sample of Children and Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Heather A.; Finkelhor, David; Hamby, Sherry L.; Shattuck, Anne; Ormrod, Richard K.

2011-01-01

Much of the existing research on the prevalence and consequences of peer victimization focuses on "bullying" at school, often omitting from consideration non-bullying types of peer victimization as well as events that occur outside of school. The purpose of this study was to examine past-year exposure to peer-perpetrated victimization,…

Carolina bays of the Savannah River Plant

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

Schalles, J.F.; Sharitz, R.R.; Gibbons, J.W.

1989-01-01

Much of the research to date on the Carolina bays of the Savannah River Plant and elsewhere has focused on certain species or on environmental features. Different levels of detail exist for different groups of organisms and reflect the diverse interests of previous investigators. This report summarizes aspects of research to date and presents data from numerous studies. 70 refs., 14 figs., 12 tabs.

Instructional Design and Facilitation Approaches That Promote Critical Thinking in Asynchronous Online Discussions: A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schindler, Laura A.; Burkholder, Gary J.

2014-01-01

Asynchronous online discussions (AODs) are often used to promote critical thinking in online courses; however, recent research suggests that levels of critical thinking in discussions remain low. Furthermore, there is a lack of consensus in the literature about the definition of critical thinking and many of the existing studies focus on one…

Exploring Personal Attitudes towards Parent Involvement as It Relates to Relational Aggression Acted out through Social Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Karla M.

2015-01-01

Relational aggression acted out through social media or cyber bullying is an ever-growing limitedly researched issue that is impacting students and parents alike. A mixed-method study was conducted using existing older and aspiring younger social workers and counselors to investigate attitudes (focus groups and text box comments) and relationships…

A New Look at Some Pieces of Old Puzzles. Learnings from Schools and Teachers. Report No. 9016.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lieberman, Ann; Miller, Lynne

An overview is presented of research studies that reflect the realities that exist in elementary and secondary public education. Explorations of school culture cite behavioral and programmatic regularities that make up the school culture and the importance of school principals' roles. Focusing on the teachers and the ways things actually get done…

Design of a Rich-Prospect Browsing Interface for Seniors: A Qualitative Study of Image Similarity Clustering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruecker, Stan; Given, Lisa M.; Sadler, Elizabeth; Ruskin, Andrea; Simpson, Heather

2007-01-01

This paper examines inclusive design delivery through interface design, with a particular focus on access to healthcare resources for seniors. The goal of the project was to examine how seniors are able to access drug information using two different online systems. In the existing retrieval system, pills are identified using a standard search…

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Study Abroad Students' Experiences in/of Place in Morocco

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pipitone, Jennifer M.; Raghavan, Chitra

2017-01-01

This article builds upon existing place-based research through the application of a socio-spatial perspective to make sense of how students' experiences in/of place shape, and are shaped by, the production of experiential learning space. Rather than focusing on the individual as the unit of analysis, this article is concerned with understanding…

Narrowing the Achievement Gap: Factors That Support English Learner and Hispanic Student Academic Achievement in an Urban Intermediate School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Patricia Arleen

2010-01-01

A persistent and pervasive disparity in academic achievement exists between ethnic minority and English Learner students and their White and Asian peers. This qualitative single-case study of a high-poverty, high-performing middle school focused on the cultural norms, practices, and programs that were perceived to be contributing to narrowing the…

Instructional Strategies and Best Practices to Narrow the Mathematics Achievement Gaps between African American, Hispanic, and European American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bolden, Felicia Mickles

2012-01-01

A persistent mathematics achievement gap between African American, Hispanic, and European American students at one elementary school was the focus of this investigation. The research questions of this single site case study involved understanding why an achievement gap exists, and to identify the instructional strategies and best practices used to…

The VIRI (Virtual, Interactive, Real-Time, Instructor-Led) Classroom: The Impact of Blended Synchronous Online Courses on Student Performance, Engagement, and Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Francescucci, Anthony; Foster, Mary

2013-01-01

Previous research on blended course offerings focuses on the addition of asynchronous online content to an existing course. While some explore synchronous communication, few control for differences between treatment groups. This study investigates the impact of teaching a blended course, using a virtual, interactive, real-time, instructor-led…

Thinking Globally, Planning Nationally and Acting Locally: Nested Organizational Fields and the Adoption of Environmental Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasi, Ion Bogdan

2007-01-01

The study of the adoption of activities to protect the natural environment has tended to focus on the role of organizational fields. This article advances existing research by simultaneously examining conflicting processes that operate in nested organizational fields at local, national and supra-national levels. It examines the recent spread of an…

Elder Abuse by Adult Children: An Applied Ecological Framework for Understanding Contextual Risk Factors and the Intergenerational Character of Quality of Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiamberg, Lawrence B.; Gans, Daphna

2000-01-01

Using an applied ecological model, this study focuses on contextual risk factors of elder abuse. Five levels of environment were used to interpret existing research on risk factors. Configuration of risk factors provides a framework for understanding the intergenerational character of quality of life for older adults, developing recommendations…

The Sioux and Other Native American Cultures of the Dakotas: An Annotated Bibliography. Bibliographies and Indexes in Anthropology, Number 8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoover, Herbert T., Comp.; Zimmerman, Karen P., Comp.

This annotated bibliography contains 1,504 entries focusing on Native American cultures that existed across North and South Dakota in relative isolation from non-Indian influences before and immediately after contact with Whites. The book is aimed particularly at scholars and teachers of Native American studies. Entries include books, journal…

Do We Need Multiple Informants When Assessing Autistic Traits? The Degree of Report Bias on Offspring, Self, and Spouse Ratings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Möricke, Esmé; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Rommelse, Nanda N. J.

2016-01-01

This study focused on the degree of report bias in assessing autistic traits. Both parents of 124 preschoolers completed the Social Communication Questionnaire and the Autism-spectrum Quotient. Acceptable agreement existed between mother and father reports of children's mean scores of autistic traits, but interrater reliability for rank-order…

Does Training Toddlers in Emotion Knowledge Lead to Changes in Their Prosocial and Aggressive Behavior toward Peers at Nursery?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ornaghi, Veronica; Brazzelli, Elisa; Grazzani, Ilaria; Agliati, Alessia; Lucarelli, Maria

2017-01-01

Research Findings: Within the flourishing area of research demonstrating the efficacy of emotion-based interventions carried out by trained teachers in educational contexts in increasing children's emotional skills, this study makes an original contribution to the existing literature by focusing on the effects of this kind of intervention on…

Trends in Education Excellence Gaps: A 12-Year International Perspective via the Multilevel Model for Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rutkowski, David; Rutkowski, Leslie; Plucker, Jonathan A.

2012-01-01

A recent study in the USA documented the existence and growth of "excellence gaps" among students. These gaps are similar to the minimum competency achievement gaps that proliferate in policy discussions in many Western countries, but excellence gaps focus on the highest level of achievement rather than minimum competency. We extend this…

Literacy as Value: Cultural Capital in Barbara Bush's Foundation for Family Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westmoreland, Brandi Davis

2010-01-01

Many different views of literacy exist. In my study, I make use of Brian V. Street's two major models of literacy--the autonomous and the ideological. These models show contrasting views of literacy and are based on very different assumptions. I examine the views of literacy prevalent in family literacy campaigns, with special focus on Barbara…

"Fahrenheit 9-11," Need for Closure and the Priming of Affective Ambivalence: An Assessment of Intra-Affective Structures by Party Identification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holbert, R. Lance; Hansen, Glenn J.

2006-01-01

This study extends priming research in political communication by focusing on an alternative political information source (i.e., Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11), affect rather than cognitions, and the existence of intra-affective ambivalence. In addition, two moderator variables are analyzed: political party identification and need for closure.…

Beer consumers' perceptions of the health aspects of alcoholic beverages.

PubMed

Wright, C A; Bruhn, C M; Heymann, H; Bamforth, C W

2008-01-01

Consumers' perceptions about alcohol are shaped by numerous factors. This environment includes advertisements, public service announcements, product labels, various health claims, and warnings about the dangers of alcohol consumption. This study used focus groups and questionnaires to examine consumers' perceptions of alcoholic beverages based on their nutritional value and health benefits. The overall purpose of this study was to examine beer consumers' perceptions of the health attributes and content of alcoholic beverages. Volunteers were surveyed at large commercial breweries in California, Missouri, and New Hampshire. The anonymous, written survey was presented in a self-explanatory format and was completed in 5 to 10 min. The content and style of the survey were derived from focus groups conducted in California. The data are separated by location, gender, and over or under the age of 30. Parametric data on beverage rating were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) while the nonparametric data from True/False or Yes/No questions were analyzed using chi-square. Although statistically significant variances did exist between survey location, gender, and age, general trends emerged in areas of inquiry. The findings indicate that a great opportunity exists to inform consumers about the health benefits derived from the moderate consumption of all alcoholic beverages.

New derivation of soliton solutions to the AKNS2 system via dressing transformation methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assunção, A. de O.; Blas, H.; da Silva, M. J. B. F.

2012-03-01

We consider certain boundary conditions supporting soliton solutions in the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation (AKNSr) (r = 1, 2). Using the dressing transformation (DT) method and the related tau functions, we study the AKNSr system for the vanishing, (constant) non-vanishing and the mixed boundary conditions, and their associated bright, dark and bright-dark N-soliton solutions, respectively. Moreover, we introduce a modified DT related to the dressing group in order to consider the free-field boundary condition and derive generalized N dark-dark solitons. As a reduced submodel of the AKNSr system, we study the properties of the focusing, defocusing and mixed focusing-defocusing versions of the so-called coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation (r-CNLS), which has recently been considered in many physical applications. We have shown that two-dark-dark-soliton bound states exist in the AKNS2 system, and three- and higher-dark-dark-soliton bound states cannot exist. The AKNSr (r ⩾ 3) extension is briefly discussed in this approach. The properties and calculations of some matrix elements using level-one vertex operators are outlined. Dedicated to the memory of S S Costa

The Race for Space: Tracking Land-Cover Transformation in a Socio-ecological Landscape, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coetzer, Kaera L.; Erasmus, Barend F. N.; Witkowski, Edward T. F.; Reyers, Belinda

2013-09-01

Biosphere Reserves attempt to align existing biodiversity conservation with sustainable resource use, specifically for improving socio-economic circumstances of resident communities. Typically, the Biosphere Reserve model is applied to an established landscape mosaic of existing land uses; these are often socio-ecological systems where strict environmental protection and community livelihoods are in conflict, and environmental degradation frequently accompanies "use". This raises challenges for successful implementation of the model, as the reality of the existing land-use mosaic undermines the theoretical aspirations of the Biosphere concept. This study focuses on the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve (K2C), South Africa; a socio-ecological landscape where formal conservation is juxtaposed against extensive impoverished rural communities. We focus on land-cover changes of the existing land-use mosaic (1993-2006), specifically selected land-cover classes identified as important for biodiversity conservation and local-level resource utilization. We discuss the implications of transformation for conservation, sustainable resource-use, and K2C's functioning as a "Biosphere Reserve". Spatially, changes radiated outward from the settlement expanse, with little regard for the theoretical land-use zonation of the Biosphere Reserve. Settlement growth tracked transport routes, transforming cohesive areas of communal-use rangelands. Given the interdependencies between the settlement population and local environmental resources, the Impacted Vegetation class expanded accordingly, fragmenting the Intact Vegetation class, and merging rangelands. This has serious implications for sustainability of communal harvesting areas, and further transformation of intact habitat. The distribution and magnitude of Intact Vegetation losses raise concerns around connectivity and edge effects, with long-term consequences for ecological integrity of remnant habitat, and K2C's existing network of protected areas.

Focus Groups on Traffic Safety Issues: Public Response to NCAP

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1993-08-23

The objectives of this project are to: (1) assess, through the use of focus groups, vehicle-buyer perceptions, needs, and desires concerning the delivery and presentation of motor vehicle safety-performance data. This includes the existing frontal-ma...

Factors that facilitate or constrain the use of continuous sedation at the end of life by physicians and nurses in Belgium: results from a focus group study.

PubMed

Raus, Kasper; Anquinet, Livia; Rietjens, Judith; Deliens, Luc; Mortier, Freddy; Sterckx, Sigrid

2014-04-01

Continuous sedation at the end of life (CS) is the practice whereby a physician uses sedatives to reduce or take away a patient's consciousness until death. Although the incidence of CS is rising, as of yet little research has been conducted on how the administration of CS is experienced by medical practitioners. Existing research shows that many differences exist between medical practitioners regarding how and how often they perform CS. We conducted a focus group study to find out which factors may facilitate or constrain the use of continuous sedation by physicians and nurses. The participants often had clear ideas on what could affect the likelihood that sedation would be used. The physicians and nurses in the focus groups testified that the use of continuous sedation was facilitated in cases where a patient has a very limited life expectancy, suffers intensely, makes an explicit request and has family members who can cope with the stress that accompanies sedation. However, this 'paradigm case' was considered to occur only rarely. Furthermore, deviations from the paradigm case were said to be sometimes due to physicians initiating the discussion on CS too late or not initiating it at all for fear of inducing the patient. Deviations from the paradigm case may also occur when sedation proves to be too difficult for family members who are said to sometimes pressure the medical practitioners to increase dosages and speed up the sedation.

Endometrial 'scratching': what the data show.

PubMed

Santamaria, Xavier; Katzorke, Nora; Simón, Carlos

2016-08-01

Since its first description in 2003, the endometrial scratching procedure has been the topic of over 1000 studies. This procedure, used to improve endometrial receptivity for assisted reproduction, is accessible - any gynecologist can easily perform it - and has been adapted into clinical routine by some reproductive units. However, the available data are controversial, and no biological plausibility exists to support the use of this intervention. This study aims to critically review the existing data, focusing on the last 2 years, regarding the efficiency of endometrial scratching. A total of five randomized controlled studies, one meta-analysis, and a systematic review related to endometrial scratching/injury were published in 2014 and 2015. Considerable heterogeneity exists among these studies regarding the selected population, type of treatment, and even timing and devices used to perform the endometrial injury. Importantly, none of these studies reported improved reproductive outcomes in terms of live birth rates following endometrial scratching. Overall, data from properly designed and powered randomized controlled studies demonstrate no beneficial effect of this intervention that is based on unknown biological effects. Endometrial scratching produces pain, costs money, and the side-effects of systematic scratching in the production of Asherman syndrome remain to be seen. Think before scratching.

Plagioclase-Rich Itokawa Grains: Space Weathering, Exposure Ages, and Comparison to Lunar Soil Grains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, L. P.; Berge, E.

2017-01-01

Regolith grains returned by the Hayabusa mission to asteroid 25143 Itokawa provide the only samples currently available to study the interaction of chondritic asteroidal material with the space weathering environment. Several studies have documented the surface alterations observed on the regolith grains, but most of these studies involved olivine because of its abundance. Here we focus on the rarer Itokawa plagioclase grains, in order to allow comparisons between Itokawa and lunar soil plagioclase grains for which an extensive data set exists.

The effect of work-focused rehabilitation among patients with neck and back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Myhre, Kjersti; Marchand, Gunn Hege; Leivseth, Gunnar; Keller, Anne; Bautz-Holter, Erik; Sandvik, Leiv; Lau, Bjørn; Røe, Cecilie

2014-11-15

Multicenter randomized trial with patients listed as sick for 1 to 12 months due to neck or back pain and referred to secondary care. To compare the return-to-work (RTW) rate among patients offered work-focused rehabilitation or multidisciplinary rehabilitation. A growing number of studies have focused on the RTW processes associated with patients with back pain. Many studies have combined a workplace focus with multidisciplinary treatments; however, this focus has not been evaluated in Norway among patients with neck and back pain thus far. A total of 405 patients who were referred to the spine clinics at 2 university hospitals in Norway were randomly assigned into work-focused and control intervention groups. The existing treatments at each hospital were used as the control interventions, which entailed either a comprehensive multidisciplinary intervention or a brief multidisciplinary intervention. The RTW rates and proportions were compared at 12 months. During the first 12 months after inclusion, 142 (70%) participants in the work-focused rehabilitation group and 152 (75%) participants in the control group returned to work. The median time to RTW was 161 days in the work-focused group and 158 days in the control group. A comparison of the work-focused and control interventions revealed a relative RTW probability (hazard ratio) of 0.94 (95% confidence interval = 0.75-1.17) after adjusting for age, sex, and education. The results suggest that a focus on the workplace in specialist care does not substantially alter the RTW rate compared with standard multidisciplinary treatments.

Time-reversed ultrasonically encoded (TRUE) focusing for deep-tissue optogenetic modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brake, Joshua; Ruan, Haowen; Robinson, J. Elliott; Liu, Yan; Gradinaru, Viviana; Yang, Changhuei

2018-02-01

The problem of optical scattering was long thought to fundamentally limit the depth at which light could be focused through turbid media such as fog or biological tissue. However, recent work in the field of wavefront shaping has demonstrated that by properly shaping the input light field, light can be noninvasively focused to desired locations deep inside scattering media. This has led to the development of several new techniques which have the potential to enhance the capabilities of existing optical tools in biomedicine. Unfortunately, extending these methods to living tissue has a number of challenges related to the requirements for noninvasive guidestar operation, speed, and focusing fidelity. Of existing wavefront shaping methods, time-reversed ultrasonically encoded (TRUE) focusing is well suited for applications in living tissue since it uses ultrasound as a guidestar which enables noninvasive operation and provides compatibility with optical phase conjugation for high-speed operation. In this paper, we will discuss the results of our recent work to apply TRUE focusing for optogenetic modulation, which enables enhanced optogenetic stimulation deep in tissue with a 4-fold spatial resolution improvement in 800-micron thick acute brain slices compared to conventional focusing, and summarize future directions to further extend the impact of wavefront shaping technologies in biomedicine.

Cost-effectiveness of focused ultrasound, radiosurgery, and DBS for essential tremor.

PubMed

Ravikumar, Vinod K; Parker, Jonathon J; Hornbeck, Traci S; Santini, Veronica E; Pauly, Kim Butts; Wintermark, Max; Ghanouni, Pejman; Stein, Sherman C; Halpern, Casey H

2017-08-01

Essential tremor remains a very common yet medically refractory condition. A recent phase 3 study demonstrated that magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy significantly improved upper limb tremor. The objectives of this study were to assess this novel therapy's cost-effectiveness compared with existing procedural options. Literature searches of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy, DBS, and stereotactic radiosurgery for essential tremor were performed. Pre- and postoperative tremor-related disability scores were collected from 32 studies involving 83 magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomies, 615 DBSs, and 260 stereotactic radiosurgery cases. Utility, defined as quality of life and derived from percent change in functional disability, was calculated; Medicare reimbursement was employed as a proxy for societal cost. Medicare reimbursement rates are not established for magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for essential tremor; therefore, reimbursements were estimated to be approximately equivalent to stereotactic radiosurgery to assess a cost threshold. A decision analysis model was constructed to examine the most cost-effective option for essential tremor, implementing meta-analytic techniques. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy resulted in significantly higher utility scores compared with DBS (P < 0.001) or stereotactic radiosurgery (P < 0.001). Projected costs of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy were significantly less than DBS (P < 0.001), but not significantly different from radiosurgery. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy is cost-effective for tremor compared with DBS and stereotactic radiosurgery and more effective than both. Even if longer follow-up finds changes in effectiveness or costs, focused ultrasound thalamotomy will likely remain competitive with both alternatives. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Worker, workplace or families: What influences family focused practices in adult mental health?

PubMed

Maybery, D; Goodyear, M; Reupert, A E; Grant, A

2016-04-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Family focused practice leads to positive outcomes for parents and children. There are barriers and enablers for practitioners being family focused. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Worker skill, knowledge and confidence about family work are the most important factors associated with family focused practices. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Mental health nurses require specific skill training in family focused practices, time to engage with clients on parenting issues and that there are adequate services to refer family members to. Introduction Family focused practice is thought to lead to positive outcomes for all family members. However, there are multiple barriers and enablers in adult mental health services to practitioners undertaking these actions. Aim The aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of worker, workforce and family factors to predict family focused practices (FFPs) in adult mental health services. Method Three hundred and seven adult mental health workers completed a 45 items family focused practice measure of 16 family focused practices. Thesis It was found that worker skill and knowledge about family work and an ability to assess the degree of parental insight into the child's connections to other family members and the community were important predictors of FFP, along with the closely related-worker confidence. While aspects of the worker, workplace and family each contribute to FFPs, this study highlighted the importance of worker skill, knowledge and confidence as central issues for adult mental health workers. Implications for practice Study implications include the need for training in specific FFPs, the provision of time to engage with clients on parenting issues and the need 5 to ensure that there are adequate services for workers to refer family members to. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Adapting a Cancer Literacy Measure for Use among Navajo Women

PubMed Central

Yost, Kathleen J.; Bauer, Mark C.; Buki, Lydia P.; Austin-Garrison, Martha; Garcia, Linda V.; Hughes, Christine A.; Patten, Christi A.

2016-01-01

Purpose The authors designed a community-based participatory research study to develop and test a family-based behavioral intervention to improve cancer literacy and promote mammography among Navajo women. Methods Using data from focus groups and discussions with a community advisory committee, they adapted an existing questionnaire to assess cancer knowledge, barriers to mammography, and cancer beliefs for use among Navajo women. Questions measuring health literacy, numeracy, self-efficacy, cancer communication, and family support were also adapted. Results The resulting questionnaire was found to have good content validity, and to be culturally and linguistically appropriate for use among Navajo women. Conclusions It is important to consider culture and not just language when adapting existing measures for use with AI/AN populations. English-language versions of existing literacy measures may not be culturally appropriate for AI/AN populations, which could lead to a lack of semantic, technical, idiomatic, and conceptual equivalence, resulting in misinterpretation of study outcomes. PMID:26879319

Instability of a cantilevered flexible plate in viscous channel flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balint, T. S.; Lucey, A. D.

2005-10-01

The stability of a flexible cantilevered plate in viscous channel flow is studied as a representation of the dynamics of the human upper airway. The focus is on instability mechanisms of the soft palate (flexible plate) that cause airway blockage during sleep. We solve the Navier Stokes equations for flow with Reynolds numbers up to 1500 fully coupled with the dynamics of the plate motion solved using finite-differences. The study is 2-D and based upon linearized plate mechanics. When both upper and lower airways are open, the plate is found to lose its stability through a flutter mechanism and a critical Reynolds number exists. When one airway is closed, the plate principally loses its stability through a divergence mechanism and a critical flow speed exists. However, below the divergence-onset flow speed, flutter can exist for low levels of structural damping in the flexible plate. Our results serve to extend understanding of flow-induced instability of cantilevered flexible plates and will ultimately improve the diagnosis and treatment of upper-airway disorders.

Existing Whole-House Solutions Case Study: Retrofitting a 1960s Split-Level Cold-Climate Home

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

Puttagunta, S.

2015-08-01

National programs such as Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® and numerous other utility air sealing programs have brought awareness to homeowners of the benefits of energy efficiency retrofits. Yet, these programs tend to focus on the low-hanging fruit: air-sealing the thermal envelope and ductwork where accessible, switch to efficient lighting, and low-flow fixtures. At the other end of the spectrum, deep-energy retrofit programs are also being encouraged by various utilities across the country. While deep energy retrofits typically seek 50% energy savings, they are often quite costly and most applicable to gut-rehab projects. A significant potential for lowering energy usagemore » in existing homes lies between the low hanging fruit and deep energy retrofit approaches - retrofits that save approximately 30% in energy over the existing conditions.« less

"What's in a structure?" The story of biguanides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kathuria, Deepika; Bankar, Apoorva A.; Bharatam, Prasad V.

2018-01-01

Biguanides are a very interesting class of molecules which have been extensively studied for their medicinal applications. The structural and electronic structural aspects of biguanides have been explored in detail; however, even today, scientific literature continues to represent biguanides incorrectly as 1a. The X-ray crystal structure analysis and various spectroscopic studies such as UV, 1H and 15N NMR have confirmed that biguanide exists as tautomer 1b. Electronic structure analysis also supports the existence of 1b. This review focuses on the structure and electronic structure of biguanides and aims to emphasize the importance of the correct representation of a structure. There is a need to commence the use of 1b for the general representation of biguanides in textbooks and research articles which will ensure a correct perspective for further studies on these molecules.

Facilitating the inclusion of nonmarket values in Bureau of Land Management planning and project assessments—Final report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Huber, Chris; Richardson, Leslie

2016-11-23

Executive SummaryThis report summarizes the results of a series of field-based case studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to (1) evaluate the use of nonmarket values in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) planning and project assessments, (2) update existing technical resources for measuring those values, and (3) provide guidance to field staff on the use of nonmarket values. Four BLM pilot sites participated in this effort: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado, Red Cliffs and Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Areas in Utah, BLM’s Taos Field Office in New Mexico, and BLM's Tuscarora Field Office in Nevada. The focus of the case studies was on practical applications of nonmarket valuation. USGS worked directly with BLM field staff at the pilot sites to demonstrate the process of considering nonmarket values in BLM decisionmaking and document the questions, challenges, and opportunities that arise when tying economic language to projects.As part of this effort, a Web-based toolkit, available at https://my.usgs.gov/benefit-transfer/, was updated and expanded to help facilitate benefit transfers (that is, the use of existing economic data to quantify nonmarket values) and qualitative discussions of nonmarket values. A total of 53 new or overlooked nonmarket valuation studies comprising 494 nonmarket value estimates for various recreational activities and the preservation of threatened, endangered, and rare species were added to existing databases within this Benefit Transfer Toolkit. In addition, four meta-regression functions focused on hunting, wildlife viewing, fishing, and trail use recreation were developed and added to the Benefit Transfer Toolkit.Results of this effort demonstrate that there are two main roles for nonmarket valuation in BLM planning. The first is to improve the decisionmaking process by contributing to a more comprehensive comparison of economic benefits and cost when evaluating resource tradeoffs for National Environmental Policy Act analyses. The second is to use economic language and information on economic values, either qualitative or quantitative, to improve the ability to communicate the economic significance of the resources provided by BLM-managed lands. Findings also indicate that the use of existing economic data to quantify nonmarket values (that is, benefit transfer) poses unique challenges because of the scarcity of both resource data and existing valuation studies focused on resources and sites managed by BLM. This highlights the need for improvements in the collection of resource data at BLM sites, especially visitor use data, as well as an opportunity for BLM’s Socioeconomics Program to strategically identify priority areas, in terms of both resources and geographic locations, where primary valuation studies could be conducted and the results used for future benefit transfers. Finally, whereas qualitative discussions of nonmarket values do not facilitate the comparison of monetized values, they can provide a manageable next step forward in providing more comprehensive information on nonmarket values for BLM plans and project assessments. 

Managing Conflict.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindelow, John; Scott, James J.

Chapter 15 of a revised volume on school leadership, this chapter defines and categorizes conflict and outlines techniques for its management in schools. Conflict, endemic to human existence, exists on many levels and assumes various forms. This chapter focuses on social conflict, or antagonistic interaction between individuals or groups common to…

Focus on Quantum Memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennen, Gavin; Giacobino, Elisabeth; Simon, Christoph

2015-05-01

Quantum memories are essential for quantum information processing and long-distance quantum communication. The field has recently seen a lot of progress, and the present focus issue offers a glimpse of these developments, showing both experimental and theoretical results from many of the leading groups around the world. On the experimental side, it shows work on cold gases, warm vapors, rare-earth ion doped crystals and single atoms. On the theoretical side there are in-depth studies of existing memory protocols, proposals for new protocols including approaches based on quantum error correction, and proposals for new applications of quantum storage. Looking forward, we anticipate many more exciting results in this area.

Use of existing systematic reviews for evidence assessments in infectious disease prevention: a comparative case study.

PubMed

Harder, Thomas; Remschmidt, Cornelius; Haller, Sebastian; Eckmanns, Tim; Wichmann, Ole

2016-10-11

Given limited resources and time constraints, the use of existing systematic reviews (SR) for the development of evidence-based public health recommendations has become increasingly important. Recently, a five-step approach for identifying, analyzing, appraising and using existing SRs based on recent guidance by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was proposed within the Project on a Framework for Rating Evidence in Public Health (PRECEPT). However, case studies are needed to test whether this approach is useful, what challenges arise and how problems can be solved. In two case studies, the five-step approach was applied to integrate existing SRs in the development of evidence-based public health recommendations. Case study A focused on the role of neonatal sepsis as a risk factor for adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Case study B examined the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy. For each step, we report the approach of the review team, discuss challenges and describe solutions. For case study A, one existing SR was identified, while in case study B four SRs were eligible for analysis. We found that comparison of inclusion criteria alone was sufficient to judge on relevance of SRs in case study A, but not B. Although methodological quality of all identified SRs was acceptable, risk of bias assessments of individual studies included in the SRs had to be repeated in both case studies. Particular challenges appeared in case study B where multiple SRs addressed the same research question. With the help of spreadsheets comparing the characteristics of the existing SR we decided to use the most comprehensive one for our evidence synthesis and supplemented the results with those from the other SRs. In both case studies using the complete SR was not possible. The five-step approach provided useful and structured guidance and should be routinely applied when using existing SRs as a basis for evidence-based recommendations in public health. In situations where more than one SR has to be considered, the development of spreadsheets comparing characteristics, inclusion criteria, risk of bias, included studies and outcomes seems useful.

Nanoparticle interactions with co-existing contaminants: joint toxicity, bioaccumulation and risk.

PubMed

Deng, Rui; Lin, Daohui; Zhu, Lizhong; Majumdar, Sanghamitra; White, Jason C; Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge L; Xing, Baoshan

2017-06-01

With their growing production and application, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly discharged into the environment. The released NPs can potentially interact with pre-existing contaminants, leading to biological effects (bioaccumulation and/or toxicity) that are poorly understood. Most studies on NPs focus on single analyte exposure; the existing literature on joint toxicity of NPs and co-existing contaminants is rather limited but beginning to develop rapidly. This is the first review paper evaluating the current state of knowledge regarding the joint effects of NPs and co-contaminants. Here, we review: (1) methods for investigating and evaluating joint effects of NPs and co-contaminants; (2) simultaneous toxicities from NPs co-exposed with organic contaminants, metal/metalloid ions, dissolved organic matter (DOM), inorganic ligands and additional NPs; and (3) the influence of NPs co-exposure on the bioaccumulation of organic contaminants and heavy metal ions, as well as the influence of contaminants on NPs bioaccumulation. In addition, future research needs are discussed so as to better understand risk associated with NPs-contaminant co-exposure.

The cultural construction of interdisciplinarity: Doctoral student socialization in an interdisciplinary neuroscience program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holley, Karri A.

Using the methodologies of individual and group interviews, observation, and document analysis, this dissertation examines the experiences of doctoral students enrolled in an interdisciplinary neuroscience program. A framework drawn from theories of organizational socialization is employed to understand the influence of an interdisciplinary program on doctoral student socialization. While abundant previous literature exists in regards to the socialization of doctoral students, such literature largely concentrates the disciplinary experience. The escalating import of globalization and shifting fiscal realities place new demands on Ph.D. programs and doctoral students to work as part of collaborative research teams, produce interdisciplinary knowledge, and integrate theory and practice. The increasing influence of such factors requires a new focus on interdisciplinarity and the changing Ph.D. The goal of this dissertation is to expand the existing framework of socialization by documenting the influence of such obstacles on knowledge acquisition, identity development, and professional investment. This study focuses on how interdisciplinary identities are constructed by doctoral students through individual interaction with the social environment and cultural context. Particular attention is given to the structural and cultural obstacles that doctoral students must negotiate as they navigate an interdisciplinary program. The study expands on the previous literature regarding doctoral student socialization by focusing on identity development, specifically a student's symbolic identity as a neuroscientist, a student's disciplinary identity (related to her professional background and undergraduate experiences), and a multi-disciplinary identity that allows for connections across disciplinary boundaries. In contrast to the traditional concepts of identity which focus on boundaries and differences as an inherent part of self-definition, the structure of identity advanced here instead explores what factors connect individuals who are working in different areas of study. Faculty and peers perform important roles in this process, by modeling the relevance of collaborative research and engaging students in multi-disciplinary conversation.

Language Teaching in the Indian Ocean: Policy and Pedagogy in Three Developing Nations. A Study of the Formation of National Language Policies and Related Educational Programs in the Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richmond, Edmun B.

The findings of a study of language and language education policy in each of the three independent nations of Comoros, Mauritius, and the Seychelles are reported in this book. Each country is discussed separately, focusing on the linguistic and educational history, the existing educational system, and current language policies and programs.…

Enroute flight planning: The design of cooperative planning systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Philip J.; Layton, Chuck; Mccoy, Elaine

1990-01-01

Design concepts and principles to guide in the building of cooperative problem solving systems are being developed and evaluated. In particular, the design of cooperative systems for enroute flight planning is being studied. The investigation involves a three stage process, modeling human performance in existing environments, building cognitive artifacts, and studying the performance of people working in collaboration with these artifacts. The most significant design concepts and principles identified thus far are the principle focus.

Exploring the Neither in João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra Da Mata's "A ultima vez que vi Macau"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ten Haaf, Rachel

2017-01-01

Torn between two colonial powers, Macau has long existed as a peripheral region in Lusophone studies. This current study explores João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata's 2012 film "A ultima vez que vi Macau". With a focus on a contemporary Macau that seeks to resolve its fundamental duality through investigation of gender,…

Sustainable Environmental Education: Conditions and Characteristics Needed for a Successfully Integrated Program in Public Elementary Schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieckenberg, Cara Rae

This case study investigated what conditions and characteristics contributed to a successful environmental education program within elementary schools of a school district where environmental education was the mandate. While research does exist on practical application of environmental education within schools, little if any literature has been written or research conducted on schools actually implementing environmental education to study what contributes to the successful implementation of the program. To study this issue, 24 participants from a Midwestern school district were interviewed, six of whom were principals of each of the six elementary schools included in the study. All participants were identified as champions of environmental education integration within their buildings due to leadership positions held focused on environmental education. Analysis of the data collected via interviews revealed findings that hindered the implementation of environmental education, findings that facilitated the implementation of environmental education, and findings that indicated an environmental education-focused culture existed within the schools. Conditions and characteristics found to contribute to the success of these school's environmental education programs include: professional development opportunities, administrative support, peer leadership opportunities and guidance, passion with the content and for the environment, comfort and confidence with the content, ease of activities and events that contribute to the culture and student success. Keywords: environmental education, integration, leadership, teachers as leaders.

Date rape among Cypriot female college students: an explorative study.

PubMed

Kouta, Christiana; Tolma, Eleni L; Pavlou, Susana Elisa

2013-09-01

This study examined the prevalence and reporting of date rape among female college students (aged 18-24) in Cyprus and assessed the students' attitudes and awareness regarding date rape. In addition, the study examined how date rape is perceived among representatives of related private and governmental organizations in Cyprus. This is part of a larger multi-country study. This paper will focus only on the results pertaining to Cyprus. The study was coordinated by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies. This study used quantitative and qualitative methods. In total, 476 female college students responded to an anonymous questionnaire, two focus group discussions were carried out, and five key-informant interviews with relevant institutional representatives were conducted. The results of the study indicated that unwanted sexual experiences and sexual violence, including date rape, do exist among young Cypriot women. Specifically, 1.3% of the research participants reported experiencing an attempted rape by their date, and 1.9 % of the study participants reported being raped on a date. Often this was caused by their boyfriend, friend or sexual partner (54.2%). The results of the qualitative study showed that young female Cypriots agreed that many women give in to psychological pressure because they feel guilty about letting the other person down or because they 'didn't satisfy him' or fear they might lose him. Despite the explorative nature of the study, it is significant as research on date rape in Cyprus is almost non-existent. The authors anticipate that the results of the study will be useful to other researchers and policy-makers involved in this area of research.

The Crisis of Distance Learning--A Dangerous Opportunity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Abigail L.

Focusing on interactive television systems that provide both audio and visual online communication between and among all sites, this paper begins by describing and analyzing a sampling of data on existing programs. The characteristics of existing interactive television instructional programs are described, including course offerings (primarily…

A Prospective Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards

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

Mai, Trieu; Wiser, Ryan; Barbose, Galen

As states have gained experience with renewable portfolio standards (RPS) policies, many have made significant revisions to existing programs. In 2015 and 2016, seven states raised and extended their final RPS targets, while another state enacted a new RPS policy (Barbose 2016b). Interest in expanding and strengthening state RPS programs may continue, while efforts like recent proposals in many states to repeal or freeze existing RPS policies may also persist. In either context, questions about the potential costs, benefits, and other impacts of RPS programs are usually central to the decision-making process. This report follows on previous analyses that havemore » focused on the historical costs, benefits, and other impacts of existing state RPS programs (Heeter et al. 2014; Wiser et al. 2016a). This report examines RPS outcomes prospectively, considering both current RPS policies as well as a potential expansion of those policies. The goal of this work is to provide a consistent and independent analytical methodology for that examination. This analysis relies on National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model to estimate changes to the U.S. electric power sector across a number of scenarios and sensitivity cases, focusing on the 2015–2050 timeframe. Based on those modeled results, we evaluate the costs, benefits, and other impacts of renewable energy contributing to RPS compliance using the suite of methods employed in a number of recent studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): a report examining retrospective benefits and impacts of RPS programs (Wiser et al. 2016a), the Wind Vision report (DOE 2015), the On the Path to SunShot report focusing on environmental benefits (Wiser et al. 2016b), and the Hydropower Vision report (DOE 2016).« less

Apatite/Melt Partitioning Experiments Reveal Redox Sensitivity to Cr, V, Mn, Ni, Eu, W, Th, and U

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Righter, K.; Yang, S.; Humayun, M.

2016-01-01

Apatite is a common mineral in terrestrial, planetary, and asteroidal materials. It is commonly used for geochronology (U-Pb), sensing volatiles (H, F, Cl, S), and can concentrate rare earth elements (REE) during magmatic fractionation and in general. Some recent studies have shown that some kinds of phosphate may fractionate Hf and W and that Mn may be redox sensitive. Experimental studies have focused on REE and other lithophile elements and at simplified or not specified oxygen fugacities. There is a dearth of partitioning data for chalcophile, siderophile and other elements between apatite and melt. Here we carry out several experiments at variable fO2 to study the partitioning of a broad range of trace elements. We compare to existing data and then focus on several elements that exhibit redox dependent partitioning behavior.

Electromagnetic Effects in the Near Field Plume Exhaust of a Micro-Pulsed Plasma Thruster

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-06-12

plasma focus is developed at a few millimeters from the thruster exit plane at the axis. This plasma focus exists during the entire pulse, but the plasma density in the focus decreases from about 2x10(exp 22)/cu m at the beginning of the pulse down to 0.3x10(exp 22)/cu m at 5 microsec.

The Discontinuity of Human Existence, Part I. The Fundamental Concepts of Human Existence and the Relation between the Singular and the Super Singular. No. 50.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rasmussen, Ole Elstrup

The first in a series of three reports on philosophy of human existence focuses on human activity in the economic context, or more specifically, the role of the entrepreneur. A variety of treatments of entrepreneurship in the literature of economics and cognitive psychology are examined, and it is found that analyses of entrepreneurship are…

Economies of Scale: 9-1-1 Center Consolidation as a Means to Strengthen the Homeland Security Enterprise

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed , and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send...facility, personnel, and technology needs exist.  Consolidation leads to more focused, institutionalized quality control and service improvement...and the numerous variables that exist between 9-1-1 center budgets. Further research is needed to accurately quantify these pre- and post

An Exploratory Study of the Drivers of Student Satisfaction and Learning Experience in Hybrid-Online and Purely Online Marketing Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estelami, Hooman

2012-01-01

Much of the existing research in distance education has focused on contrasting the outcomes between traditional face-to-face teaching and purely online courses, in which the entire course content is delivered online. However, research has not examined the effectiveness of hybrid-online courses, in which a combination of online delivery and…

Conceptual Design Model of Instructional Interfaces: Courseware for Inclusive Education System (IID4C) Distance Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tosho, Abdulrauf; Mutalib, Ariffin Abdul; Abdul-Salam, Sobihatun Nur

2016-01-01

This paper describes an ongoing study related to a conceptual design model, which is specific to instructional interface design to enhance courseware usage. It was found that most of the existing courseware applications focus on the needs of certain target with most of the courseware offer too little to inclusive learners. In addition, the use of…

Health Disparities and Relational Well-Being between Multi- and Mono-Ethnic Asian Americans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Wei

2013-01-01

Focusing on Hawaii, a state with 21.3% of the population being multi-racial according to the 2010 U.S. Census, this study aims to examine the existence and nature of health disparities between mono- and multi-ethnic Asian Americans and the importance of Relational Well-Being in affecting the health of Asian Americans. A series of ordinary least…

Determining the Science, Agriculture and Natural Resource, and Youth Leadership Outcomes for Students Participating in an Innovative Middle School Agriscience Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skelton, Peter; Stair, Kristin S.; Dormody, Tom; Vanleeuwen, Dawn

2014-01-01

The Memorial Middle School Agricultural Extension and Education Center (MMSAEEC) located in Las Vegas, New Mexico is a youth science center focusing on agriculture and natural resources. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study of the MMSAEEC teaching and learning model was to determine if differences exist in science achievement, agriculture…

Exploring the Impact of Identity on the Experiences of Entry-Level Men in Student Affairs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calhoun, Daniel W.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of men at the entry-level of the student affairs profession. Using the concepts found in the existing literature related to gender identity as a framework, the research was focused upon the meanings constructed by entry-level men within the field of student affairs and how those meanings…

How Do Students Measure Service Quality in e-Learning? A Case Study regarding an Internet-Based University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez-Arguelles, Maria; Castan, Jose; Juan, Angel

2010-01-01

This article discusses the importance of measuring how students perceive quality of service in online higher education. The article also reviews the existing literature on measuring users' perceptions about quality in e-services. Even when there are a lot of articles on this matter, none of them focuses on e-learning services, so this paper tries…

Profitability: comparing hospital results with other industries.

PubMed

Cleverley, W O; Harvey, R K

1990-03-01

Changes in healthcare economics now permit more meaningful financial comparisons between hospitals and other industries. A study focusing on return on equity and other financial ratios highlighted critical changes needed to improve the fiscal health of hospitals. These suggestions include increasing net prices on existing product lines, entering new markets, using short-term debt to relieve long-term debt burdens, and expanding uses of operating leases.

Public Policy on the Status of Women: Agenda and Strategy for the 70s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Irene L.

The book, using analytical methods of political science, provides an initial overall study of the formation of national policy on the status of women. It also focuses on factors most likely to influence the future course of the women's rights movement. Concentration is on existing policy from the end of the Johnson presidency on into the women's…

Navigating the Problem Space of Academia: Exploring Processes of Course Design and Classroom Teaching in Postsecondary Settings. WCER Working Paper No. 2014-1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hora, Matthew T.

2014-01-01

Policymakers and educators alike increasing focus on faculty adoption of interactive teaching techniques as a way to improve undergraduate education. Yet, little empirical research exists that examines the processes whereby faculty make decisions about curriculum design and classroom teaching in real-world situations. In this study, I use the idea…

What, Why, and How They Read: Reading Preferences and Patterns of Rural Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becnel, Kim; Moeller, Robin A.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to better understand the reading patterns and preferences of rural teen readers and the cultures of reading that do or do not exist in the rural communities in which the teens reside. In addition, the researchers sought to discover, by conducting a series of focus groups, whether rural teen readers felt connected to…

Six-Year-Olds' Perception of Home Literacy Environment and Its Influence on Children's Literacy Enjoyment, Frequency, and Early Literacy Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiescholek, Sabrina; Hilkenmeier, Johanna; Greiner, Christian; Buhl, Heike M.

2018-01-01

Home literacy environment (HLE) makes an important contribution to children's reading acquisition in early years. Even though some research on children's perception exists, children's reports about HLE have been neglected. The present study focuses on N = 281 six-year-old's reports about HLE and its influences on literacy enjoyment, frequency, and…

An Exploratory Study of GP Perceptions of the Impact of a Primary Care Counselling Service on Their Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schafer, Tim; Amoateng, Geoffrey; Wrycraft, Nick

2009-01-01

This paper presents the results of research into GP perceptions of the impact of on-site counselling on general practice. The research is part of a larger evaluation of a local enhanced primary care mental service. The initial survey and in-depth interviews with GPs reported here focused on the pre-existing counselling service. The results suggest…

Validity of Alternative Cut-Off Scores for the Back-Saver Sit and Reach Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Looney, Marilyn A.; Gilbert, Jennie

2012-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine if currently used FITNESSGRAM[R] cut-off scores for the Back Saver Sit and Reach Test had the best criterion-referenced validity evidence for 6-12 year old children. Secondary analyses of an existing data set focused on the passive straight leg raise and Back Saver Sit and Reach Test flexibility scores of…

The Role of Enrollment Choice in Online Education: Course Selection Rationale and Course Difficulty as Factors Affecting Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wladis, Claire; Wladis, Katherine; Hachey, Alyse C.

2014-01-01

There is well-documented evidence that online retention rates are lower than face-to-face retention rates. However, most past research on online retention focuses on student characteristics, with little knowledge existing on the impact of course type. This study uses a matched sample of 2,330 students at a large urban community college to analyze…

Child-and School-Level Predictors of Children's Bullying Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis in 648 Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fink, Elian; Patalay, Praveetha; Sharpe, Helen; Wolpert, Miranda

2018-01-01

A great deal of bullying behavior takes place at school, however, existing literature has predominantly focused on individual characteristics of children associated with bullying with less attention on school-level factors. The current study, comprising 23,215 children (51% boys) recruited from Year 4 or Year 5 (M = 9.06 years, SD = 0.56 years)…

Cost-of-illness studies of atrial fibrillation: methodological considerations.

PubMed

Becker, Christian

2014-10-01

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm arrhythmia, which has considerable economic consequences. This study aims to identify the current cost-of-illness estimates of AF; a focus was put on describing the studies' methodology. A literature review was conducted. Twenty-eight cost-of-illness studies were identified. Cost-of-illness estimates exist for health insurance members, hospital and primary care populations. In addition, the cost of stroke in AF patients and the costs of post-operative AF were calculated. The methods used were heterogeneous, mostly studies calculated excess costs. The identified annual excess costs varied, even among studies from the USA (∼US$1900 to ∼US$19,000). While pointing toward considerable costs, the cost-of-illness studies' relevance could be improved by focusing on subpopulations and treatment mixes. As possible starting points for subsequent economic studies, the methodology of cost-of-illness studies should be taken into account using methods, allowing stakeholders to find suitable studies and validate estimates.

Role of Gabapentin in Managing Mucositis Pain in Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy to the Head and Neck.

PubMed

Milazzo-Kiedaisch, Carol Ann; Itano, Joanne; Dutta, Pinaki R

2016-12-01

Oral mucositis (OM) is a painful and debilitating side effect that affects 80%-100% of patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. This dose-limiting side effect may potentially lead to pain, dehydration, malnutrition, infection, and treatment breaks. Treatment breaks can lead to decreased disease control and suboptimal patient outcomes. No primary prevention exists for OM, and management is focused on pain control. Compelling evidence exists that OM pain has somatic and neuropathic components. This article reviews the existing literature on the use of gabapentin (Neurontin®) as a co-analgesic in treating the neuropathic pain in OM. A literature search was performed using CINAHL® and PubMed with the search terms gabapentin and oral mucositis. The selected articles were briefly screened for relevance, and three were included in this review. No systematic reviews exist on the role of gabapentin for neuropathic pain in radiation-induced OM. Two retrospective studies concluded that gabapentin reduced escalation of opioid doses and unplanned treatment breaks. One retrospective study demonstrated favorable swallowing outcomes. Pain and OM are nursing-sensitive outcomes that can be significantly affected by evidence-based nursing interventions.

An eHealth Capabilities Framework for Graduates and Health Professionals: Mixed-Methods Study

PubMed Central

McGregor, Deborah; Keep, Melanie; Janssen, Anna; Spallek, Heiko; Quinn, Deleana; Jones, Aaron; Tseris, Emma; Yeung, Wilson; Togher, Leanne; Solman, Annette; Shaw, Tim

2018-01-01

Background The demand for an eHealth-ready and adaptable workforce is placing increasing pressure on universities to deliver eHealth education. At present, eHealth education is largely focused on components of eHealth rather than considering a curriculum-wide approach. Objective This study aimed to develop a framework that could be used to guide health curriculum design based on current evidence, and stakeholder perceptions of eHealth capabilities expected of tertiary health graduates. Methods A 3-phase, mixed-methods approach incorporated the results of a literature review, focus groups, and a Delphi process to develop a framework of eHealth capability statements. Results Participants (N=39) with expertise or experience in eHealth education, practice, or policy provided feedback on the proposed framework, and following the fourth iteration of this process, consensus was achieved. The final framework consisted of 4 higher-level capability statements that describe the learning outcomes expected of university graduates across the domains of (1) digital health technologies, systems, and policies; (2) clinical practice; (3) data analysis and knowledge creation; and (4) technology implementation and codesign. Across the capability statements are 40 performance cues that provide examples of how these capabilities might be demonstrated. Conclusions The results of this study inform a cross-faculty eHealth curriculum that aligns with workforce expectations. There is a need for educational curriculum to reinforce existing eHealth capabilities, adapt existing capabilities to make them transferable to novel eHealth contexts, and introduce new learning opportunities for interactions with technologies within education and practice encounters. As such, the capability framework developed may assist in the application of eHealth by emerging and existing health care professionals. Future research needs to explore the potential for integration of findings into workforce development programs. PMID:29764794

Diagnosing and managing anorexia nervosa in UK primary care: a focus group study.

PubMed

Hunt, D; Churchill, R

2013-08-01

Anorexia is a leading cause of adolescent hospital admission and death from psychiatric disorder. Despite the potential role of general practitioners in diagnosis, appropriate referral and coordinating treatment, few existing studies provide fine-grained accounts of GPs' beliefs about anorexia. To identify GPs' understandings and experiences of diagnosing and managing patients with anorexia in primary care. Case-based focus groups with co-working general practitioners in the East Midlands region of England were used to explore attitudes towards issues common to patients with eating disorders. Group discussions were transcribed and analysed using corpus linguistic and discourse analytic approaches. Participants' discussion focused on related issues of making hesitant diagnoses, the utility of the body mass index, making referrals and overcoming patient resistance. Therapeutic relationships with patients with anorexia are considered highly complex, with participants using diagnostic tests as rhetorical strategies to help manage communicative obstacles. Overcoming patient repudiation and securing referrals are particular challenges with this patient group. Successfully negotiating these problems appears to require advanced communication skills.

Staying safe while consuming alcohol: a qualitative study of the protective strategies and informational needs of college freshmen.

PubMed

Howard, Donna Elise; Griffin, Melinda; Boekeloo, Bradley; Lake, Kristin; Bellows, Denise

2007-01-01

In this qualitative study, the authors examined how students attempt to minimize harm to themselves and others when drinking. The authors recruited freshmen at a large, mid-Atlantic US public university during the fall semester of 2005 to participate in 8 focus groups. The moderator's guide was developed through an iterative process that included input from experts and pilot testing. The researchers audiotaped focus group conversations, transcribed them, and subjected them to an interrater reliability check. Analysis was based on the framework of Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model and a phenomenological approach. College students have a repertoire of coping strategies they use in an attempt to safeguard themselves and their friends from harm when drinking. Strategies encompass planning a safe context for drinking, using safety measures to minimize harm when drinking, and taking care of someone who has consumed too much alcohol. A harm-reduction focus that acknowledges and builds on existing protective strategies may be a promising avenue for alcohol interventions.

Nursing Classification Systems

PubMed Central

Henry, Suzanne Bakken; Mead, Charles N.

1997-01-01

Abstract Our premise is that from the perspective of maximum flexibility of data usage by computer-based record (CPR) systems, existing nursing classification systems are necessary, but not sufficient, for representing important aspects of “what nurses do.” In particular, we have focused our attention on those classification systems that represent nurses' clinical activities through the abstraction of activities into categories of nursing interventions. In this theoretical paper, we argue that taxonomic, combinatorial vocabularies capable of coding atomic-level nursing activities are required to effectively capture in a reproducible and reversible manner the clinical decisions and actions of nurses, and that, without such vocabularies and associated grammars, potentially important clinical process data is lost during the encoding process. Existing nursing intervention classification systems do not fulfill these criteria. As background to our argument, we first present an overview of the content, methods, and evaluation criteria used in previous studies whose focus has been to evaluate the effectiveness of existing coding and classification systems. Next, using the Ingenerf typology of taxonomic vocabularies, we categorize the formal type and structure of three existing nursing intervention classification systems—Nursing Interventions Classification, Omaha System, and Home Health Care Classification. Third, we use records from home care patients to show examples of lossy data transformation, the loss of potentially significant atomic data, resulting from encoding using each of the three systems. Last, we provide an example of the application of a formal representation methodology (conceptual graphs) which we believe could be used as a model to build the required combinatorial, taxonomic vocabulary for representing nursing interventions. PMID:9147341

StakeMeter: value-based stakeholder identification and quantification framework for value-based software systems.

PubMed

Babar, Muhammad Imran; Ghazali, Masitah; Jawawi, Dayang N A; Bin Zaheer, Kashif

2015-01-01

Value-based requirements engineering plays a vital role in the development of value-based software (VBS). Stakeholders are the key players in the requirements engineering process, and the selection of critical stakeholders for the VBS systems is highly desirable. Based on the stakeholder requirements, the innovative or value-based idea is realized. The quality of the VBS system is associated with the concrete set of valuable requirements, and the valuable requirements can only be obtained if all the relevant valuable stakeholders participate in the requirements elicitation phase. The existing value-based approaches focus on the design of the VBS systems. However, the focus on the valuable stakeholders and requirements is inadequate. The current stakeholder identification and quantification (SIQ) approaches are neither state-of-the-art nor systematic for the VBS systems. The existing approaches are time-consuming, complex and inconsistent which makes the initiation process difficult. Moreover, the main motivation of this research is that the existing SIQ approaches do not provide the low level implementation details for SIQ initiation and stakeholder metrics for quantification. Hence, keeping in view the existing SIQ problems, this research contributes in the form of a new SIQ framework called 'StakeMeter'. The StakeMeter framework is verified and validated through case studies. The proposed framework provides low-level implementation guidelines, attributes, metrics, quantification criteria and application procedure as compared to the other methods. The proposed framework solves the issues of stakeholder quantification or prioritization, higher time consumption, complexity, and process initiation. The framework helps in the selection of highly critical stakeholders for the VBS systems with less judgmental error.

Search Path Mapping: A Versatile Approach for Visualizing Problem-Solving Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Ronald H.

1991-01-01

Computer-based problem-solving examinations in immunology generate graphic representations of students' search paths, allowing evaluation of how organized and focused their knowledge is, how well their organization relates to critical concepts in immunology, where major misconceptions exist, and whether proper knowledge links exist between content…

Turning Crisis into Opportunity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calvo, Naomi; Miles, Karen Hawley

2012-01-01

When schools face budget cuts, they too often cut seemingly nonessential services in an effort to keep existing structures intact. Calvo and Miles suggest that it might be better to rethink the existing structures and find ways to reallocate staff and instructional time. They examine two school that have taken this approach, focusing their efforts…

INTEGRATION OF SPATIAL DATA: EVALUATION OF METHODS BASED ON DATA ISSUES AND ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

EPA Science Inventory

EPA's Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) Program has focused initially on the synthesis of existing data. We have used the same set of spatial data and synthesized these data using a total of 11 existing and newly developed integration methods. These methods were evaluated ...

The Perspectives of Former Recipients and Experts on Stigmatization Related to Electroconvulsive Therapy in Denmark. A Focus Group Study.

PubMed

Kring, Iben Sylvia; Bergholt, Maria Daniella; Midtgaard, Julie

2018-05-14

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has existed worldwide for nearly 80 years. Although fast working and potentially life-saving, ECT is regarded as a strongly controversial treatment and stigmatization is frequently mentioned in relation to it. However, no systematic research in this area has taken place so far. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences and attitudes of former recipients of ECT and of experts professionally involved with ECT in order to identify potential stigmatization. Two focus groups, one comprising four recipients of ECT and the other seven professional experts, were conducted. Data from each focus group was analyzed separately using a framework-analysis. The analysis yielded three major themes for the first focus group interview: 'ambivalent attitudes', 'discrediting and exclusion' and 'survival strategies' and three major themes for the second focus group interview: 'dramatic depictions of ECT', 'an overlooked and rare treatment' and 'anti-stigmatization strategies'. Stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors in relation to ECT are closely related to one's personal and factual knowledge, and there is a great need for multi-facetted approaches if social acceptance and recognition are to be achieved. This study provides new knowledge on a scarcely examined area while also introducing suitable methods for anti-stigmatization and empowerment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Information Structure, Grammar and Strategy in Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Jon

2013-01-01

This dissertation examines two information-structural phenomena, Givenness and Focus, from the perspective of both syntax and pragmatics. Evidence from English, German and other languages suggests a "split" analysis of information structure--the notions of Focus and Givenness, often thought to be closely related, exist independently at…

Effective Internships: Building Bridges between Theory and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, William G.; Sherman, Whitney H.

2008-01-01

Growing criticism of existing educational leadership preparation programs seems to focus on a lack of contextual relevancy and instructional leadership. Universities and school districts need to develop more formal, collaborative, long-term relationships focused on the nature of principal preparation, moving beyond acculturation to district norms…

Indigenous Health and Climate Change

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Indigenous populations have been identified as vulnerable to climate change. This framing, however, is detached from the diverse geographies of how people experience, understand, and respond to climate-related health outcomes, and overlooks nonclimatic determinants. I reviewed research on indigenous health and climate change to capture place-based dimensions of vulnerability and broader determining factors. Studies focused primarily on Australia and the Arctic, and indicated significant adaptive capacity, with active responses to climate-related health risks. However, nonclimatic stresses including poverty, land dispossession, globalization, and associated sociocultural transitions challenge this adaptability. Addressing geographic gaps in existing studies alongside greater focus on indigenous conceptualizations on and approaches to health, examination of global–local interactions shaping local vulnerability, enhanced surveillance, and an evaluation of policy support opportunities are key foci for future research. PMID:22594718

SUBTASK 6.1 – STRATEGIC STUDIES

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

Erickson, Thomas; Harju, John; Steadman, Edward

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has recently completed 7 years of research through the Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) focused on fossil energy technology development and demonstration. To support a significant number of the different activities being considered within all of our research contracts with NETL, a subtask (6.1 – Strategic Studies) was created to focus on small research efforts that came up throughout the year that would support an existing EERC–NETL project or would help to develop a new concept for inclusion in future efforts. This subtask wasmore » funded through the EERC–DOE Joint Program on Research and Development for Fossil Energy-Related Resources Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26- 08NT43291« less

Socioeconomic Disparities and Air Pollution Exposure: A Global Review

PubMed Central

Hsia, Charlene; O’Neill, Marie S.

2015-01-01

The existing reviews and meta-analyses addressing unequal exposure of environmental hazards on certain populations have focused on several environmental pollutants or on the siting of hazardous facilities. This review updates and contributes to the environmental inequality literature by focusing on ambient criteria air pollutants (including NOx), by evaluating studies related to inequality by socioeconomic status (as opposed to race/ethnicity) and by providing a more global perspective. Overall, most North American studies have shown that areas where low socioeconomic status (SES) communities dwell experience higher concentrations of criteria air pollutants, while European research has been mixed. Research from Asia, Africa and other parts of the world has shown a general trend similar to that of North America, but research in these parts of the world is limited. PMID:26381684

Socioeconomic Disparities and Air Pollution Exposure: a Global Review.

PubMed

Hajat, Anjum; Hsia, Charlene; O'Neill, Marie S

2015-12-01

The existing reviews and meta-analyses addressing unequal exposure of environmental hazards on certain populations have focused on several environmental pollutants or on the siting of hazardous facilities. This review updates and contributes to the environmental inequality literature by focusing on ambient criteria air pollutants (including NOx), by evaluating studies related to inequality by socioeconomic status (as opposed to race/ethnicity) and by providing a more global perspective. Overall, most North American studies have shown that areas where low-socioeconomic-status (SES) communities dwell experience higher concentrations of criteria air pollutants, while European research has been mixed. Research from Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world has shown a general trend similar to that of North America, but research in these parts of the world is limited.

Polyploidy: adaptation to the genomic environment.

PubMed

Hollister, Jesse D

2015-02-01

Genomic evidence of ancestral whole genome duplication (WGD) and polyploidy is widespread among eukaryotic species, and especially among plants. WGD is thought to provide the raw material for adaptation in the form of duplicated genes, and polyploids are thought to benefit from both physiological and genetic buffering. Comparatively little attention has focused on the genomic challenge of polyploidy, however, although much evidence exists that polyploidy severely perturbs important cellular functions. Here, I review recent progress in the study of the re-establishment of stable meiosis in recently evolved polyploids, focusing on four plant species. This work has yielded an insight into the mechanisms underlying stabilization of genome transmission in polyploids, and is revealing remarkable parallels among diverse taxa. Importantly, these studies also provide a road map for investigating how polyploids respond to the challenge of WGD.

Focus control enhancement and on-product focus response analysis methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Young Ki; Chen, Yen-Jen; Hao, Xueli; Samudrala, Pavan; Gomez, Juan-Manuel; Mahoney, Mark O.; Kamalizadeh, Ferhad; Hanson, Justin K.; Lee, Shawn; Tian, Ye

2016-03-01

With decreasing CDOF (Critical Depth Of Focus) for 20/14nm technology and beyond, focus errors are becoming increasingly critical for on-product performance. Current on product focus control techniques in high volume manufacturing are limited; It is difficult to define measurable focus error and optimize focus response on product with existing methods due to lack of credible focus measurement methodologies. Next to developments in imaging and focus control capability of scanners and general tool stability maintenance, on-product focus control improvements are also required to meet on-product imaging specifications. In this paper, we discuss focus monitoring, wafer (edge) fingerprint correction and on-product focus budget analysis through diffraction based focus (DBF) measurement methodology. Several examples will be presented showing better focus response and control on product wafers. Also, a method will be discussed for a focus interlock automation system on product for a high volume manufacturing (HVM) environment.