Integrating Formal and Grounded Representations in Combinatorics Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braithwaite, David W.; Goldstone, Robert L.

2013-01-01

The terms "concreteness fading" and "progressive formalization" have been used to describe instructional approaches to science and mathematics that use grounded representations to introduce concepts and later transition to more formal representations of the same concepts. There are both theoretical and empirical reasons to…

Primate cognition and the bared-teeth display: a reevaluation of the concept of formal dominance.

PubMed

Maestripieri, D

1996-12-01

The cognitive implications of the phenomenon of dominance in nonhuman primates and other animals have been poorly addressed. This article shows that the concept of formal dominance currently used in the primatological literature is inherently dependent on the assumption that primates are capable of attribution of knowledge to other individuals. Although this assumption has never been made explicitly, without it the concept of formal dominance is virtually indistinguishable from other, more traditional views of dominance. Recent studies have failed to demonstrate attribution of knowledge in nonhuman primates, thus questioning the validity of formal dominance. The concept of formal dominance was originally proposed to account for a discrepancy between dominance hierarchies based on aggressive behavior and dominance hierarchies based on submissive signals. This article shows that such a discrepancy can be accounted for without invoking complex cognitive processes such as attribution of knowledge.

Enlisted Personnel Individualized Career System (EPICS) Test and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

The EPICS program, which was developed using an integrated personnel systems approach ( IPSA ), delays formal school training until after personnel have...received shipboard on-job training complemented by job performance aids (3PAs). Early phases of the program, which involved developing the IPSA EPICS...detailed description of the conception and development of the EPICS IPSA model, the execution of the front-end job design analyses, 3PA and instructional

Using text mining to link journal articles to neuroanatomical databases

PubMed Central

French, Leon; Pavlidis, Paul

2013-01-01

The electronic linking of neuroscience information, including data embedded in the primary literature, would permit powerful queries and analyses driven by structured databases. This task would be facilitated by automated procedures which can identify biological concepts in journals. Here we apply an approach for automatically mapping formal identifiers of neuroanatomical regions to text found in journal abstracts, and apply it to a large body of abstracts from the Journal of Comparative Neurology (JCN). The analyses yield over one hundred thousand brain region mentions which we map to 8,225 brain region concepts in multiple organisms. Based on the analysis of a manually annotated corpus, we estimate mentions are mapped at 95% precision and 63% recall. Our results provide insights into the patterns of publication on brain regions and species of study in the Journal, but also point to important challenges in the standardization of neuroanatomical nomenclatures. We find that many terms in the formal terminologies never appear in a JCN abstract, while conversely, many terms authors use are not reflected in the terminologies. To improve the terminologies we deposited 136 unrecognized brain regions into the Neuroscience Lexicon (NeuroLex). The training data, terminologies, normalizations, evaluations and annotated journal abstracts are freely available at http://www.chibi.ubc.ca/WhiteText/. PMID:22120205

A conceptual framework for quality assessment and management of biodiversity data.

PubMed

Veiga, Allan Koch; Saraiva, Antonio Mauro; Chapman, Arthur David; Morris, Paul John; Gendreau, Christian; Schigel, Dmitry; Robertson, Tim James

2017-01-01

The increasing availability of digitized biodiversity data worldwide, provided by an increasing number of institutions and researchers, and the growing use of those data for a variety of purposes have raised concerns related to the "fitness for use" of such data and the impact of data quality (DQ) on the outcomes of analyses, reports, and decisions. A consistent approach to assess and manage data quality is currently critical for biodiversity data users. However, achieving this goal has been particularly challenging because of idiosyncrasies inherent in the concept of quality. DQ assessment and management cannot be performed if we have not clearly established the quality needs from a data user's standpoint. This paper defines a formal conceptual framework to support the biodiversity informatics community allowing for the description of the meaning of "fitness for use" from a data user's perspective in a common and standardized manner. This proposed framework defines nine concepts organized into three classes: DQ Needs, DQ Solutions and DQ Report. The framework is intended to formalize human thinking into well-defined components to make it possible to share and reuse concepts of DQ needs, solutions and reports in a common way among user communities. With this framework, we establish a common ground for the collaborative development of solutions for DQ assessment and management based on data fitness for use principles. To validate the framework, we present a proof of concept based on a case study at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University. In future work, we will use the framework to engage the biodiversity informatics community to formalize and share DQ profiles related to DQ needs across the community.

A conceptual framework for quality assessment and management of biodiversity data

PubMed Central

Saraiva, Antonio Mauro; Chapman, Arthur David; Morris, Paul John; Gendreau, Christian; Schigel, Dmitry; Robertson, Tim James

2017-01-01

The increasing availability of digitized biodiversity data worldwide, provided by an increasing number of institutions and researchers, and the growing use of those data for a variety of purposes have raised concerns related to the "fitness for use" of such data and the impact of data quality (DQ) on the outcomes of analyses, reports, and decisions. A consistent approach to assess and manage data quality is currently critical for biodiversity data users. However, achieving this goal has been particularly challenging because of idiosyncrasies inherent in the concept of quality. DQ assessment and management cannot be performed if we have not clearly established the quality needs from a data user’s standpoint. This paper defines a formal conceptual framework to support the biodiversity informatics community allowing for the description of the meaning of "fitness for use" from a data user’s perspective in a common and standardized manner. This proposed framework defines nine concepts organized into three classes: DQ Needs, DQ Solutions and DQ Report. The framework is intended to formalize human thinking into well-defined components to make it possible to share and reuse concepts of DQ needs, solutions and reports in a common way among user communities. With this framework, we establish a common ground for the collaborative development of solutions for DQ assessment and management based on data fitness for use principles. To validate the framework, we present a proof of concept based on a case study at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University. In future work, we will use the framework to engage the biodiversity informatics community to formalize and share DQ profiles related to DQ needs across the community. PMID:28658288

Open Ends and Means: Inquiry as a Link between Formal Music Concepts and Informal Music Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt-Jones, Catherine Anne

2017-01-01

There is currently considerable interest in strengthening the connections between formal music education and informal, self-motivated music practices. Participants in this study were adults who were self-motivated to learn formal music concepts, but had encountered barriers to doing so independently. The study offered them individual online…

The Implications of Using Integrated Software Support Environment for Design of Guidance and Control Systems Software

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-01

inspections are performed before each formal review of each software life cycle phase. * Required software audits are performed . " The software is acceptable... Audits : Software audits are performed bySQA consistent with thegeneral audit rules and an auditreportis prepared. Software Quality Inspection (SQI...DSD Software Development Method 3-34 DEFINITION OF ACRONYMS Acronym Full Name or Description MACH Methode d’Analyse et de Conception Flierarchisee

A Single-Vector Force Calibration Method Featuring the Modern Design of Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, P. A.; Morton, M.; Draper, N.; Line, W.

2001-01-01

This paper proposes a new concept in force balance calibration. An overview of the state-of-the-art in force balance calibration is provided with emphasis on both the load application system and the experimental design philosophy. Limitations of current systems are detailed in the areas of data quality and productivity. A unique calibration loading system integrated with formal experimental design techniques has been developed and designated as the Single-Vector Balance Calibration System (SVS). This new concept addresses the limitations of current systems. The development of a quadratic and cubic calibration design is presented. Results from experimental testing are compared and contrasted with conventional calibration systems. Analyses of data are provided that demonstrate the feasibility of this concept and provide new insights into balance calibration.

Knowledge of and preferences for health insurance among formal sector employees in Addis Ababa: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Obse, Amarech; Hailemariam, Damen; Normand, Charles

2015-08-11

The Ethiopian health system has been undergoing through reforms. One of the reforms stipulated in policy documents is the introduction of health insurance at national level. Having the majority of the population without any experience of health insurance, investigating preferences and knowledge of the essence of health insurance among potential enrolees will provide vital information for policy makers. This formative study seeks to explore the knowledge and the preference for health insurance among formal sector employees in Addis Ababa. Six focus group discussions with formal sector employees and five key informant interviews were conducted in Addis Ababa. A thematic analysis is used to analyse the results. The findings suggest that there is little knowledge about the concept and elements of health insurance. Some concepts such as, risk pooling and sharing are not well understood. The participants of the study considered health insurance as only a prepayment mechanism without risk sharing among members of the scheme. Regarding preference for health insurance, they have revealed quality of care as the most important factor. Comprehensiveness of benefit packages and the amount of premium level are also found to be concerns related to health insurance. However, a trade-off is also observed among premium level, comprehensive benefit packages, and healthcare facilities. Improvements on availability and quality of services need to precede the introduction of social health insurance. There is also a need to work on awareness creation regarding concepts of health insurance. Further studies may explore if the knowledge gap is real or appeared due to reservations of the participants on the introduction of health insurance.

Utilisation d'analyse de concepts formels pour la gestion de variabilite d'un logiciel configure dynamiquement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menguy, Theotime

Because of its critical nature, avionic industry is bound with numerous constraints such as security standards and certifications while having to fulfill the clients' desires for personalization. In this context, variability management is a very important issue for re-engineering projects of avionic softwares. In this thesis, we propose a new approach, based on formal concept analysis and semantic web, to support variability management. The first goal of this research is to identify characteristic behaviors and interactions of configuration variables in a dynamically configured system. To identify such elements, we used formal concept analysis on different levels of abstractions in the system and defined new metrics. Then, we built a classification for the configuration variables and their relations in order to enable a quick identification of a variable's behavior in the system. This classification could help finding a systematic approach to process variables during a re-engineering operation, depending on their category. To have a better understanding of the system, we also studied the shared controls of code between configuration variables. A second objective of this research is to build a knowledge platform to gather the results of all the analysis performed, and to store any additional element relevant in the variability management context, for instance new results helping define re-engineering process for each of the categories. To address this goal, we built a solution based on a semantic web, defining a new ontology, very extensive and enabling to build inferences related to the evolution processes. The approach presented here is, to the best of our knowledge, the first classification of configuration variables of a dynamically configured software and an original use of documentation and variability management techniques using semantic web in the aeronautic field. The analysis performed and the final results show that formal concept analysis is a way to identify specific properties and behaviors and that semantic web is a good solution to store and explore the results. However, the use of formal concept analysis with new boolean relations, such as the link between configuration variables and files, and the definition of new inferences may be a way to draw better conclusions. The use of the same methodology with other systems would enable to validate the approach in other contexts.

Matching biomedical ontologies based on formal concept analysis.

PubMed

Zhao, Mengyi; Zhang, Songmao; Li, Weizhuo; Chen, Guowei

2018-03-19

The goal of ontology matching is to identify correspondences between entities from different yet overlapping ontologies so as to facilitate semantic integration, reuse and interoperability. As a well developed mathematical model for analyzing individuals and structuring concepts, Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) has been applied to ontology matching (OM) tasks since the beginning of OM research, whereas ontological knowledge exploited in FCA-based methods is limited. This motivates the study in this paper, i.e., to empower FCA with as much as ontological knowledge as possible for identifying mappings across ontologies. We propose a method based on Formal Concept Analysis to identify and validate mappings across ontologies, including one-to-one mappings, complex mappings and correspondences between object properties. Our method, called FCA-Map, incrementally generates a total of five types of formal contexts and extracts mappings from the lattices derived. First, the token-based formal context describes how class names, labels and synonyms share lexical tokens, leading to lexical mappings (anchors) across ontologies. Second, the relation-based formal context describes how classes are in taxonomic, partonomic and disjoint relationships with the anchors, leading to positive and negative structural evidence for validating the lexical matching. Third, the positive relation-based context can be used to discover structural mappings. Afterwards, the property-based formal context describes how object properties are used in axioms to connect anchor classes across ontologies, leading to property mappings. Last, the restriction-based formal context describes co-occurrence of classes across ontologies in anonymous ancestors of anchors, from which extended structural mappings and complex mappings can be identified. Evaluation on the Anatomy, the Large Biomedical Ontologies, and the Disease and Phenotype track of the 2016 Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative campaign demonstrates the effectiveness of FCA-Map and its competitiveness with the top-ranked systems. FCA-Map can achieve a better balance between precision and recall for large-scale domain ontologies through constructing multiple FCA structures, whereas it performs unsatisfactorily for smaller-sized ontologies with less lexical and semantic expressions. Compared with other FCA-based OM systems, the study in this paper is more comprehensive as an attempt to push the envelope of the Formal Concept Analysis formalism in ontology matching tasks. Five types of formal contexts are constructed incrementally, and their derived concept lattices are used to cluster the commonalities among classes at lexical and structural level, respectively. Experiments on large, real-world domain ontologies show promising results and reveal the power of FCA.

Exploring alternative conceptions of teachers and informal educators about selected astronomy concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rutherford, Lori B.

The purpose of this study was to (1) identify alternative conceptions concerning astronomy in groups of formal and informal educators, (2) discover the origins of some of these conceptions and (3) explore how practicing teachers planned to address the need for conceptual change in their students. In response to the first question, a number of alternative conceptions were identified in formal educators, with more for teachers of prekindergarten through third grade than fourth through twelfth grade teachers, and very few alternative conceptions in the informal educators group. In regards to the second research question, a number of origins were indicated: logic, books, elementary school, high school, astronomy classes, self-study and observation. In response to the third question, various practicing teachers used computer programs and modeling in order to address some of the alternative conceptions they noticed in their students. These findings were supported by the literature and theoretical frameworks on which the study was based. The study addressed gaps in the literature concerning alternative conceptions and how they related to Ohio's Academic Content Standards along with nineteen other states. This study also addressed the need for a closer examination of informal educators and how they compare to formal educators in terms of having alternative conceptions. And finally, implications and recommendations were made for practicing educators, materials for practicing educators, teacher education, informal and formal education partnerships, standards modification, research methodology and areas of future research.

Governance Change and Institutional Adaptation: A Case Study from Harenna Forest, Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakjira, Dereje T.; Fischer, Anke; Pinard, Michelle A.

2013-04-01

Many common pool resources have traditionally been managed through intricate local governance arrangements. Over time, such arrangements are confronted with manifold political, social, economic and ecological changes. However, the ways in which local governance arrangements react to such changes are poorly understood. Using the theoretical concept of institutional adaptation, we analyse the history of Harenna forest, Ethiopia, to examine processes of institutional change over the last 150 years. We find that the traditional institutions that governed Harenna's resources persisted, in essence, over time. However, these institutions were modified repeatedly to address changes caused by varying formal, supra-regional governance regimes, the development of markets for forest products, increasing population pressure and changes in formal property rights. A key mechanism for adaptation was combining elements from both informal and formal institutions, which allowed traditional rules to persist in the guise of more formal arrangements. Our findings also highlight several constraints of institutional adaptation. For example, by abolishing fora for collective decision-making, regime changes limited adaptive capacity. To conclude, we argue that such insights into traditional resource governance and its adaptability and dynamics over time are essential to develop sustainable approaches to participatory forest management for the future, both in Harenna and more generally.

Formalizing the concept of sound.

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

Kaper, H. G.; Tipei, S.

1999-08-03

The notion of formalized music implies that a musical composition can be described in mathematical terms. In this article we explore some formal aspects of music and propose a framework for an abstract approach.

Efficacy of changing physics misconceptions held by ninth grade students at varying developmental levels through teacher addition of a prediction phase to the learning cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oglesby, Michael L.

This study examines the efficacy in correcting student misconceptions about science concepts by using the pedagogical method of asking students to make a prediction in science laboratory lessons for students within pre-formal, transitional, or formal stages of cognitive development. The subjects were students (n = 235) enrolled in ninth grade physical science classes (n=15) in one high school of an urban profile school district. The four freshmen physical science teachers who were part of the study routinely taught the concepts in the study as a part of the normal curriculum during the time of the school year in which the research was conducted. Classrooms representing approximately half of the students were presented with a prediction phase at the start of each of ten learning cycle lesson. The other classrooms were not presented with a prediction phase. Students were pre and post tested using a 40 question instrument based on the Force Concept Inventory augmented with questions on the concepts taught during the period of the study. Students were also tested using the Test of Scientific Reasoning to determine their cognitive developmental level. Results showed 182 of the students to be cognitively pre-formal, 50 to be transitional, and only 3 to be cognitively formal. There were significantly higher gains (p < .05) for the formal group over the transitional group and for the transitional group over the Pre-formal group. However, there were not significantly higher gains (p > .05) for the total students having a prediction phase compared to those not having a prediction phase. Neither were there significant gains (p > .05) within the pre-formal group or within the transitional group. There were too few students within the formal group for meaningful results.

Transitioning from Introductory Calculus to Formal Limit Conceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagle, Courtney

2013-01-01

The limit concept is a fundamental mathematical notion both for its practical applications and its importance as a prerequisite for later calculus topics. Past research suggests that limit conceptualizations promoted in introductory calculus are far removed from the formal epsilon-delta definition of limit. In this article, I provide an overview…

An investigation of successful and unsuccessful students' problem solving in stoichiometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulacar, Ozcan

In this study, I investigated how successful and unsuccessful students solve stoichiometry problems. I focus on three research questions: (1) To what extent do the difficulties in solving stoichiometry problems stem from poor understanding of pieces (domain-specific knowledge) versus students' inability to link those pieces together (conceptual knowledge)? (2) What are the differences between successful and unsuccessful students in knowledge, ability, and practice? (3) Is there a connection between students' (a) cognitive development levels, (b) formal (proportional) reasoning abilities, (c) working memory capacities, (d) conceptual understanding of particle nature of matter, (e) understanding of the mole concept, and their problem-solving achievement in stoichiometry? In this study, nine successful students and eight unsuccessful students participated. Both successful and unsuccessful students were selected among the students taking a general chemistry course at a mid-western university. The students taking this class were all science, non-chemistry majors. Characteristics of successful and unsuccessful students were determined through tests, audio and videotapes analyses, and subjects' written works. The Berlin Particle Concept Inventory, the Mole Concept Achievement Test, the Test of Logical Thinking, the Digits Backward Test, and the Longeot Test were used to measure students' conceptual understanding of particle nature of matter and mole concept, formal (proportional) reasoning ability, working memory capacity, and cognitive development, respectively. Think-aloud problem-solving protocols were also used to better explore the differences between successful and unsuccessful students' knowledge structures and behaviors during problem solving. Although successful students did not show significantly better performance on doing pieces (domain-specific knowledge) and solving exercises than unsuccessful counterparts did, they appeared to be more successful in linking the pieces (conceptual knowledge) and solving complex problems than the unsuccessful student did. Successful students also appeared to be different in how they approach problems, what strategies they use, and in making fewer algorithmic mistakes when compared to unsuccessful students. Successful students, however, did not seem to be statistically significantly different from the unsuccessful students in terms of quantitatively tested cognitive abilities except formal (proportional) reasoning ability and in the understanding of mole concept.

Generalizing Prototype Theory: A Formal Quantum Framework

PubMed Central

Aerts, Diederik; Broekaert, Jan; Gabora, Liane; Sozzo, Sandro

2016-01-01

Theories of natural language and concepts have been unable to model the flexibility, creativity, context-dependence, and emergence, exhibited by words, concepts and their combinations. The mathematical formalism of quantum theory has instead been successful in capturing these phenomena such as graded membership, situational meaning, composition of categories, and also more complex decision making situations, which cannot be modeled in traditional probabilistic approaches. We show how a formal quantum approach to concepts and their combinations can provide a powerful extension of prototype theory. We explain how prototypes can interfere in conceptual combinations as a consequence of their contextual interactions, and provide an illustration of this using an intuitive wave-like diagram. This quantum-conceptual approach gives new life to original prototype theory, without however making it a privileged concept theory, as we explain at the end of our paper. PMID:27065436

Using river locks to teach hydrodynamic concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho-Santos, Vagson L.; Mendes, Thales C.; Silva, Enisvaldo C.; Rios, Márcio L.; Silva, Anderson A. P.

2013-11-01

In this work, the use of a river lock as a non-formal setting for teaching hydrodynamical concepts is proposed. In particular, we describe the operation of a river lock situated at the Sobradinho dam, on the São Francisco River (Brazil). A model to represent and to analyse the dynamics of river lock operation is presented and we derive the dynamical equations for the rising of the water column as an example to understand the Euler equation. Furthermore, with this activity, we enable the integration of content initially introduced in the classroom with practical applications, thereby allowing the association of physical themes to content relevant in disciplines such as history and geography. In addition, experiences of this kind enable teachers to talk about the environmental and social impacts caused by the construction of a dam and, consequently, a crossover of concepts has been made possible, leading to more meaningful learning for the students.

Towards a controlled vocabulary on software engineering education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pizard, Sebastián; Vallespir, Diego

2017-11-01

Software engineering is the discipline that develops all the aspects of the production of software. Although there are guidelines about what topics to include in a software engineering curricula, it is usually unclear which are the best methods to teach them. In any science discipline the construction of a classification schema is a common approach to understand a thematic area. This study examines previous publications in software engineering education to obtain a first controlled vocabulary (a more formal definition of a classification schema) in the field. Publications from 1988 to 2014 were collected and processed using automatic clustering techniques and the outcomes were analysed manually. The result is an initial controlled vocabulary with a taxonomy form with 43 concepts that were identified as the most used in the research publications. We present the classification of the concepts in three facets: 'what to teach', 'how to teach' and 'where to teach' and the evolution of concepts over time.

Independence and totalness of subspaces in phase space methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vourdas, A.

2018-04-01

The concepts of independence and totalness of subspaces are introduced in the context of quasi-probability distributions in phase space, for quantum systems with finite-dimensional Hilbert space. It is shown that due to the non-distributivity of the lattice of subspaces, there are various levels of independence, from pairwise independence up to (full) independence. Pairwise totalness, totalness and other intermediate concepts are also introduced, which roughly express that the subspaces overlap strongly among themselves, and they cover the full Hilbert space. A duality between independence and totalness, that involves orthocomplementation (logical NOT operation), is discussed. Another approach to independence is also studied, using Rota's formalism on independent partitions of the Hilbert space. This is used to define informational independence, which is proved to be equivalent to independence. As an application, the pentagram (used in discussions on contextuality) is analysed using these concepts.

Using Informal Inferential Reasoning to Develop Formal Concepts: Analyzing an Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinberg, Aaron; Wiesner, Emilie; Pfaff, Thomas J.

2010-01-01

Inferential reasoning is a central component of statistics. Researchers have suggested that students should develop an informal understanding of the ideas that underlie inference before learning the concepts formally. This paper presents a hands-on activity that is designed to help students in an introductory statistics course draw informal…

Abstract Model of the SATS Concept of Operations: Initial Results and Recommendations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dowek, Gilles; Munoz, Cesar; Carreno, Victor A.

2004-01-01

An abstract mathematical model of the concept of operations for the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) is presented. The Concept of Operations consist of several procedures that describe nominal operations for SATS, Several safety properties of the system are proven using formal techniques. The final goal of the verification effort is to show that under nominal operations, aircraft are safely separated. The abstract model was written and formally verified in the Prototype Verification System (PVS).

Formal Analysis of Extended Well-Clear Boundaries for Unmanned Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz, Cesar; Narkawicz, Anthony

2016-01-01

This paper concerns the application of formal methods to the definition of a detect and avoid concept for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). In particular, it illustrates how formal analysis was used to explain and correct unexpected behaviors of the logic that issues alerts when two aircraft are predicted not to be well clear from one another. As a result of this analysis, a recommendation was proposed to, and subsequently adopted by, the US standards organization that defines the minimum operational requirements for the UAS detect and avoid concept.

Digital Resource Developments for Mathematics Education Involving Homework across Formal, Non-Formal and Informal Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radovic, Slaviša; Passey, Don

2016-01-01

The aim of this paper is to explore further an under-developed area--how drivers of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment conceptions and practices shape the creation and uses of technologically based resources to support mathematics learning across informal, non-formal and formal learning environments. The paper considers: the importance of…

Analyses of mode filling factor of a laser end-pumped by a LD with high-order transverse modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Juhong; Wang, You; An, Guofei; Rong, Kepeng; Yu, Hang; Wang, Shunyan; Zhang, Wei; Cai, He; Xue, Liangping; Wang, Hongyuan; Zhou, Jie

2017-05-01

Although the concept of the mode filling factor (also named as "mode-matching efficiency") has been well discussed decades before, the concept of so-called overlap coefficient is often confused by the laser technicians because there are several different formulae for various engineering purposes. Furthermore, the LD-pumped configurations have become the mainstream of solid-state lasers since their compact size, high optical-to-optical efficiency, low heat generation, etc. As the beam quality of LDs are usually very unsatisfactory, it is necessary to investigate how the mode filling factor of a laser system is affected by a high-powered LD pump source. In this paper, theoretical analyses of an end-pumped laser are carried out based on the normalized overlap coefficient formalism. The study provides a convenient tool to describe the intrinsically complex issue of mode interaction corresponding to a laser and an end-pumped source. The mode filling factor has been studied for many cases in which the pump mode and the laser mode have been considered together in the calculation based on analyses of the rate equations. The results should be applied for analyses of any other types of lasers with the similar optical geometry.

On the Equivalence of Formal Grammars and Machines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lund, Bruce

1991-01-01

Explores concepts of formal language and automata theory underlying computational linguistics. A computational formalism is described known as a "logic grammar," with which computational systems process linguistic data, with examples in declarative and procedural semantics and definite clause grammars. (13 references) (CB)

High school students' physical education conceptual knowledge.

PubMed

Ayers, Suzan F

2004-09-01

The value of conceptual physical education knowledge has long been acknowledged (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 1969; Kneer, 1981; NASPE, 1995) yet has not been formally measured or assessed. Seven multiple choice tests with established validity and reliability (Ayers, 2001b) were used to assess the concepts identified in Mohnsen's text (1998). Tests were administered to 3,263 high school students at the schools of 17 NASPE Teachers of the Year in 16 states. On all tests, girls outscored boys, and Caucasians outscored all other racial groups. Examinees' average performance on each test was: motor development (65%), exercise physiology (62%), social psychology (60%), biomechanics (57%), aesthetic experiences (56%), motor learning (53%), and historical perspectives (49%). Analyses of each area determined concepts students knew and did not know.

Increasing patient safety and efficiency in transfusion therapy using formal process definitions.

PubMed

Henneman, Elizabeth A; Avrunin, George S; Clarke, Lori A; Osterweil, Leon J; Andrzejewski, Chester; Merrigan, Karen; Cobleigh, Rachel; Frederick, Kimberly; Katz-Bassett, Ethan; Henneman, Philip L

2007-01-01

The administration of blood products is a common, resource-intensive, and potentially problem-prone area that may place patients at elevated risk in the clinical setting. Much of the emphasis in transfusion safety has been targeted toward quality control measures in laboratory settings where blood products are prepared for administration as well as in automation of certain laboratory processes. In contrast, the process of transfusing blood in the clinical setting (ie, at the point of care) has essentially remained unchanged over the past several decades. Many of the currently available methods for improving the quality and safety of blood transfusions in the clinical setting rely on informal process descriptions, such as flow charts and medical algorithms, to describe medical processes. These informal descriptions, although useful in presenting an overview of standard processes, can be ambiguous or incomplete. For example, they often describe only the standard process and leave out how to handle possible failures or exceptions. One alternative to these informal descriptions is to use formal process definitions, which can serve as the basis for a variety of analyses because these formal definitions offer precision in the representation of all possible ways that a process can be carried out in both standard and exceptional situations. Formal process definitions have not previously been used to describe and improve medical processes. The use of such formal definitions to prospectively identify potential error and improve the transfusion process has not previously been reported. The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of formally defining processes and to describe how formal definitions of blood transfusion processes can be used to detect and correct transfusion process errors in ways not currently possible using existing quality improvement methods.

Adult Education as a Human Right: The Latin American Context and the Ecopedagogic Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gadotti, Moacir

2011-01-01

This article presents the concept and practice of adult education as a key issue for Brazil and other Latin American countries, both for formal and non-formal education in the public and private sectors. It includes citizen education focused on democratisation of society and sustainable development. The concept is pluralist and ideological as well…

Improving basic math skills through integrated dynamic representation strategies.

PubMed

González-Castro, Paloma; Cueli, Marisol; Cabeza, Lourdes; Álvarez-García, David; Rodríguez, Celestino

2014-01-01

In this paper, we analyze the effectiveness of the Integrated Dynamic Representation strategy (IDR) to develop basic math skills. The study involved 72 students, aged between 6 and 8 years. We compared the development of informal basic skills (numbers, comparison, informal calculation, and informal concepts) and formal (conventionalisms, number facts, formal calculus, and formal concepts) in an experimental group (n = 35) where we applied the IDR strategy and in a Control group (n = 37) in order to identify the impact of the procedure. The experimental group improved significantly in all variables except for number facts and formal calculus. It can therefore be concluded that IDR favors the development of the skills more closely related to applied mathematics than those related to automatic mathematics and mental arithmetic.

Rule acquisition in formal decision contexts based on formal, object-oriented and property-oriented concept lattices.

PubMed

Ren, Yue; Li, Jinhai; Aswani Kumar, Cherukuri; Liu, Wenqi

2014-01-01

Rule acquisition is one of the main purposes in the analysis of formal decision contexts. Up to now, there have been several types of rules in formal decision contexts such as decision rules, decision implications, and granular rules, which can be viewed as ∧-rules since all of them have the following form: "if conditions 1,2,…, and m hold, then decisions hold." In order to enrich the existing rule acquisition theory in formal decision contexts, this study puts forward two new types of rules which are called ∨-rules and ∨-∧ mixed rules based on formal, object-oriented, and property-oriented concept lattices. Moreover, a comparison of ∨-rules, ∨-∧ mixed rules, and ∧-rules is made from the perspectives of inclusion and inference relationships. Finally, some real examples and numerical experiments are conducted to compare the proposed rule acquisition algorithms with the existing one in terms of the running efficiency.

Rule Acquisition in Formal Decision Contexts Based on Formal, Object-Oriented and Property-Oriented Concept Lattices

PubMed Central

Ren, Yue; Aswani Kumar, Cherukuri; Liu, Wenqi

2014-01-01

Rule acquisition is one of the main purposes in the analysis of formal decision contexts. Up to now, there have been several types of rules in formal decision contexts such as decision rules, decision implications, and granular rules, which can be viewed as ∧-rules since all of them have the following form: “if conditions 1,2,…, and m hold, then decisions hold.” In order to enrich the existing rule acquisition theory in formal decision contexts, this study puts forward two new types of rules which are called ∨-rules and ∨-∧ mixed rules based on formal, object-oriented, and property-oriented concept lattices. Moreover, a comparison of ∨-rules, ∨-∧ mixed rules, and ∧-rules is made from the perspectives of inclusion and inference relationships. Finally, some real examples and numerical experiments are conducted to compare the proposed rule acquisition algorithms with the existing one in terms of the running efficiency. PMID:25165744

Adolescent thinking ála Piaget: The formal stage.

PubMed

Dulit, E

1972-12-01

Two of the formal-stage experiments of Piaget and Inhelder, selected largely for their closeness to the concepts defining the stage, were replicated with groups of average and gifted adolescents. This report describes the relevant Piagetian concepts (formal stage, concrete stage) in context, gives the methods and findings of this study, and concludes with a section discussing implications and making some reformulations which generally support but significantly qualify some of the central themes of the Piaget-Inhelder work. Fully developed formal-stage thinking emerges as far from commonplace among normal or average adolescents (by marked contrast with the impression created by the Piaget-Inhelder text, which chooses to report no middle or older adolescents who function at less than fully formal levels). In this respect, the formal stage differs appreciably from the earlier Piagetian stages, and early adolescence emerges as the age for which a "single path" model of cognitive development becomes seriously inadequate and a more complex model becomes essential. Formal-stage thinking seems best conceptualized, like most other aspects of psychological maturity, as a potentiality only partially attained by most and fully attained only by some.

Identification and description of the momentum effect in studies of learning: An abstract science concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Jae-Sool; Mayer, Victor J.

Several studies of the validity of the intensive time series design have revealed a post-intervention increase in the level of achievement data. This so called momentum effect has not been demonstrated through the application of an appropriate analysis technique. The purpose of this study was to identify and apply a technique that would adequately represent and describe such an effect if indeed it does occur, and to use that technique to study the momentum effect as it is observed in several data sets on the learning of the concept of plate tectonics. Subsequent to trials of several different analyses, a segmented straight line regression analysis was chosen and used on three different data sets. Each set revealed similar patterns of inflection points between lines with similar time intervals between inflections for those data from students with formal cognitive tendencies. These results seem to indicate that this method will indeed be useful in representing and identifying the presence and duration of the momentum effect in time series data on achievement. Since the momentum effect could be described in each of the data sets and since its presence seems a function of similar circumstances, support is given for its presence in the learning of abstract scientific concepts for formal cognitive tendency students. The results indicate that the duration of the momentum effect is related to the level of student understanding tested and the cognitive level of the learners.

The Mediation of Tools in the Development of Formal Mathematical Concepts: The Compass and the Circle as an Example.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chassapis, Dimitris

1999-01-01

Focuses on the process by which children develop a formal mathematical concept of the circle by using various instruments to draw circles within the context of a goal-directed drawing task. Concludes that the use of the compass in circle drawing structures the circle-drawing operation in a radically different fashion than circle tracers and…

Formal Modeling and Analysis of a Preliminary Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS)Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carrreno, Victor A.; Gottliebsen, Hanne; Butler, Ricky; Kalvala, Sara

2004-01-01

New concepts for automating air traffic management functions at small non-towered airports raise serious safety issues associated with the software implementations and their underlying key algorithms. The criticality of such software systems necessitates that strong guarantees of the safety be developed for them. In this paper we present a formal method for modeling and verifying such systems using the PVS theorem proving system. The method is demonstrated on a preliminary concept of operation for the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) project at NASA Langley.

Safety Verification of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Concept of Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carreno, Victor; Munoz, Cesar

2005-01-01

A critical factor in the adoption of any new aeronautical technology or concept of operation is safety. Traditionally, safety is accomplished through a rigorous process that involves human factors, low and high fidelity simulations, and flight experiments. As this process is usually performed on final products or functional prototypes, concept modifications resulting from this process are very expensive to implement. This paper describe an approach to system safety that can take place at early stages of a concept design. It is based on a set of mathematical techniques and tools known as formal methods. In contrast to testing and simulation, formal methods provide the capability of exhaustive state exploration analysis. We present the safety analysis and verification performed for the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) Concept of Operations (ConOps). The concept of operations is modeled using discrete and hybrid mathematical models. These models are then analyzed using formal methods. The objective of the analysis is to show, in a mathematical framework, that the concept of operation complies with a set of safety requirements. It is also shown that the ConOps has some desirable characteristic such as liveness and absence of dead-lock. The analysis and verification is performed in the Prototype Verification System (PVS), which is a computer based specification language and a theorem proving assistant.

On the Formal-Logical Analysis of the Foundations of Mathematics Applied to Problems in Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalanov, Temur Z.

2016-03-01

Analysis of the foundations of mathematics applied to problems in physics was proposed. The unity of formal logic and of rational dialectics is methodological basis of the analysis. It is shown that critical analysis of the concept of mathematical quantity - central concept of mathematics - leads to the following conclusion: (1) The concept of ``mathematical quantity'' is the result of the following mental operations: (a) abstraction of the ``quantitative determinacy of physical quantity'' from the ``physical quantity'' at that the ``quantitative determinacy of physical quantity'' is an independent object of thought; (b) abstraction of the ``amount (i.e., abstract number)'' from the ``quantitative determinacy of physical quantity'' at that the ``amount (i.e., abstract number)'' is an independent object of thought. In this case, unnamed, abstract numbers are the only sign of the ``mathematical quantity''. This sign is not an essential sign of the material objects. (2) The concept of mathematical quantity is meaningless, erroneous, and inadmissible concept in science because it represents the following formal-logical and dialectical-materialistic error: negation of the existence of the essential sign of the concept (i.e., negation of the existence of the essence of the concept) and negation of the existence of measure of material object.

Conceptual Questions and Lack of Formal Reasoning: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Igaz, Csaba; Proksa, Miroslav

2012-01-01

Using specially designed conceptual question pairs, 9th grade students were tested on tasks (presented as experimental situations in pictorial form) that involved controlling the variables' scheme of formal reasoning. The question topics focused on these three chemical contexts: chemistry in everyday life, chemistry without formal concepts, and…

Formalizing the Austrian Procedure Catalogue: A 4-step methodological analysis approach.

PubMed

Neururer, Sabrina Barbara; Lasierra, Nelia; Peiffer, Karl Peter; Fensel, Dieter

2016-04-01

Due to the lack of an internationally accepted and adopted standard for coding health interventions, Austria has established its own country-specific procedure classification system - the Austrian Procedure Catalogue (APC). Even though the APC is an elaborate coding standard for medical procedures, it has shortcomings that limit its usability. In order to enhance usability and usefulness, especially for research purposes and e-health applications, we developed an ontologized version of the APC. In this paper we present a novel four-step approach for the ontology engineering process, which enables accurate extraction of relevant concepts for medical ontologies from written text. The proposed approach for formalizing the APC consists of the following four steps: (1) comparative pre-analysis, (2) definition analysis, (3) typological analysis, and (4) ontology implementation. The first step contained a comparison of the APC to other well-established or elaborate health intervention coding systems in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the APC. In the second step, a list of definitions of medical terminology used in the APC was obtained. This list of definitions was used as input for Step 3, in which we identified the most important concepts to describe medical procedures using the qualitative typological analysis approach. The definition analysis as well as the typological analysis are well-known and effective methods used in social sciences, but not commonly employed in the computer science or ontology engineering domain. Finally, this list of concepts was used in Step 4 to formalize the APC. The pre-analysis highlighted the major shortcomings of the APC, such as the lack of formal definition, leading to implicitly available, but not directly accessible information (hidden data), or the poor procedural type classification. After performing the definition and subsequent typological analyses, we were able to identify the following main characteristics of health interventions: (1) Procedural type, (2) Anatomical site, (3) Medical device, (4) Pathology, (5) Access, (6) Body system, (7) Population, (8) Aim, (9) Discipline, (10) Technique, and (11) Body Function. These main characteristics were taken as input of classes for the formalization of the APC. We were also able to identify relevant relations between classes. The proposed four-step approach for formalizing the APC provides a novel, systematically developed, strong framework to semantically enrich procedure classifications. Although this methodology was designed to address the particularities of the APC, the included methods are based on generic analysis tasks, and therefore can be re-used to provide a systematic representation of other procedure catalogs or classification systems and hence contribute towards a universal alignment of such representations, if desired. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spot the difference: Operational event sequence diagrams as a formal method for work allocation in the development of single-pilot operations for commercial aircraft.

PubMed

Harris, Don; Stanton, Neville A; Starr, Alison

2015-01-01

Function Allocation methods are important for the appropriate allocation of tasks between humans and automated systems. It is proposed that Operational Event Sequence Diagrams (OESDs) provide a simple yet rigorous basis upon which allocation of work can be assessed. This is illustrated with respect to a design concept for a passenger aircraft flown by just a single pilot where the objective is to replace or supplement functions normally undertaken by the second pilot with advanced automation. A scenario-based analysis (take off) was used in which there would normally be considerable demands and interactions with the second pilot. The OESD analyses indicate those tasks that would be suitable for allocation to automated assistance on the flight deck and those tasks that are now redundant in this new configuration (something that other formal Function Allocation approaches cannot identify). Furthermore, OESDs are demonstrated to be an easy to apply and flexible approach to the allocation of function in prospective systems. OESDs provide a simple yet rigorous basis upon which allocation of work can be assessed. The technique can deal with the flexible, dynamic allocation of work and the deletion of functions no longer required. This is illustrated using a novel design concept for a single-crew commercial aircraft.

Formal Criteria for the Concept of Human Flourishing: The First Step in Defending Flourishing as an Ideal Aim of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolbert, Lynne S.; de Ruyter, Doret J.; Schinkel, Anders

2015-01-01

Human flourishing is the topic of an increasing number of books and articles in educational philosophy. Flourishing should be regarded as an ideal aim of education. If this is defended, the first step should be to elucidate what is meant by flourishing, and what exactly the concept entails. Listing formal criteria can facilitate reflection on the…

Small Science: Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Science in Everyday Family Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sikder, Shukla; Fleer, Marilyn

2015-06-01

Vygotsky (1987) stated that the restructured form of everyday concepts learned at home and in the community interact with scientific concepts introduced in formal school settings, leading to a higher level of scientific thinking for school-aged children. But, what does this mean for the scientific learning of infants and toddlers? What kinds of science learning are afforded at home during this early period of life? The study reported in this paper sought to investigate the scientific development of infants-toddlers (10 to 36 months) growing up in Bangladeshi families living in Australia and Singapore. Four families were studied over 2 years. Digital video observations were made of everyday family life and analysed using Vygotsky's theoretical framework of everyday concepts and scientific concepts (51 h of digital observations). While there are many possibilities for developing scientific concepts in infants-toddlers' everyday life, our study found four categories of what we have called small science: multiple possibilities for science; discrete science; embedded science and counter intuitive science. The findings of this study contribute to the almost non-existent literature into infants and toddlers' scientific development and advance new understandings of early childhood science education.

[The contribution of systems theory and "existential integrative psychotherapy" to the relationship of the concepts "endogenous", "exogenous", "psychogenic", and "sociogenic" in psychic disorders].

PubMed

Bühler, K E; Wyss, D

1980-01-01

Proof is given that the "atomistic" concepts of sickness lead to insolvable contradictions of methodic and logic origin. In this study these contradictions are exemplified and critically analysed, and historical aspects are included. We then propose the dimensions "Interior--Exterior" and "Psychogenous--Somatogeneous" as an heuristic model, dimensions on which any sickness is to be located according to its basic causes. The General System Theory had developed a new formal concept of sickness based on a relatively complete and integral vision of the human being. Nevertheless, the constructs of the General System Theory remain incomplete as they include only objects and their relations, never individual subjects. Wyss however has established explicitely an anthropology of the subject which he connects with his communication orientated concept of sickness. This concept does not judge sickness to be contradictory to health, but both, sickness and health together, form a functional whole on a higher level of abstraction. On this level the organism and its functions, the "interior", represent an inherent component of the "exterior". "Interior" and "exterior"--differentiated in various items--attempt to establish an equilibrium that is always in danger of being desquilibrized.

The Influence of Music Learning Cultures on the Construction of Teaching-Learning Conceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casas-Mas, Amalia; Pozo, Juan Ignacio; Montero, Ignacio

2014-01-01

Current research in music education tends to put the emphasis on learning processes outside formal academic contexts, both to rethink and to renew academic educational formats. Our aim is to observe and describe three music learning cultures simultaneously, including formal, non-formal and informal settings: Classical, Jazz and Flamenco,…

Critical Analysis on Open Source LMSs Using FCA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sumangali, K.; Kumar, Ch. Aswani

2013-01-01

The objective of this paper is to apply Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) to identify the best open source Learning Management System (LMS) for an E-learning environment. FCA is a mathematical framework that represents knowledge derived from a formal context. In constructing the formal context, LMSs are treated as objects and their features as…

Innatism, Concept Formation, Concept Mastery and Formal Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winch, Christopher

2015-01-01

This article will consider the claim that the possession of concepts is innate rather than learned. Innatism about concept learning is explained through consideration of the work of Fodor and Chomsky. First, an account of concept formation is developed. Second the argument against the claim that concepts are learned through the construction of a…

Development of social capital scale from a national longitudinal survey and examination of its validity and reliability.

PubMed

Aiba, Miyuki; Tachikawa, Hirokazu; Nakamine, Shin; Takahashi, Sho; Noguchi, Haruko; Takahashi, Hideto; Tamiya, Nanako

2017-01-01

Objectives　Social capital consists of two subordinate concepts; first one is structural formal, structural informal, or cognitive and second one is bonding or bridging. This study was designed to develop a social capital scale using samples from a national longitudinal survey and evaluate the validity and test-retest reliability of the scale.Methods　Data were collected from a nationwide panel survey, the "Longitudinal Survey of Middle-aged and Elderly Persons." Individuals aged 50-59 years living in Japan were selected by stratified random sampling in the first wave conducted in 2005. The first (n=34,240) and second (n=32,285) sets of data were used for Phase 1, and the sixth (n=26,220) and seventh (n=25,321) sets of data were used for Phase 2. In regard to first subordinate concept, the occurrence of six selected social activities with "neighborhood association" and "NPOs, or Public Interest Corporations" were calculated as the structural formal index, and the occurrence of six selected social activities with "families or friends" and "colleagues" were calculated as the structural informal index. Moreover, satisfaction with social activities (community activities, support for the elderly, and others) was used as the cognitive index. In regard to second subordinate concept, the bonding index was calculated using "families or friends," "colleagues," and "neighborhood association;" the bridging index was calculated using "NPOs or Public Interest Corporations." The diagnoses of heart disease, stroke, and cancer (yes=1, no=0) and self-rated health (1 item, 6-point scale) were used as variables for determining validity.Results　We categorized social capital indices into subordinate concepts based on the construct of social capital defined by professional agreement to assess content validity. The results showed that this survey questionnaire was constructed using items that assessed all the subordinate concepts. Hierarchical Linear Modeling examined the relationship between social capital and health as assessed by diagnoses of physical disease and self-rated health to examine convergent validity, which indicated that all social capital indices had significant positive effects on self-rated health at an individual or group level. However, the diagnosis of a stroke was negatively influenced by cognitive and formal social capital indices at a group level, whereas heart disease and cancer were not significantly affected.　Multilevel correlation analyses of Phase 1 (the first and second) and Phase 2 (sixth and seventh) were conducted to assess test-retest reliability, which indicated correlation coefficients of 0.392 to 0.999.Conclusion　The findings of this study indicated the content validity of the scale that was developed from the national longitudinal survey. Moreover, results of Hierarchical Linear Modeling confirmed the partial convergent validity of the scale. Furthermore, multilevel correlation analyses demonstrated the adequate test-retest reliability of the scale at the group level.

Concepts in Activities and Discourses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greeno, James G.

2012-01-01

The articles in this special issue make valuable contributions toward a scientific understanding of concepts that is broader than the traditional view that has focused on categorizing by individuals. I propose considering concepts for categorization as a special case of concepts. At their clearest, they can be referred to as "formal concepts," or…

Lacking a Formal Concept of Limit: Advanced Non-Mathematics Students' Personal Concept Definitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beynon, Kenneth A.; Zollman, Alan

2015-01-01

This mixed-methods study examines the conceptual understanding of limit among 22 undergraduate engineering students from two different sections of the same introductory differential equations course. The participants' concepts of limit (concept images and personal concept definitions) were examined using written tasks followed by one-on-one…

Empowering students with the hidden curriculum.

PubMed

Neve, Hilary; Collett, Tracey

2017-11-27

The hidden curriculum (HC) refers to unscripted, ad hoc learning that occurs outside the formal, taught curriculum and can have a powerful influence on the professional development of students. While this learning may be positive, it may conflict with that taught in the formal curriculum. Medical schools take a range of steps to address these negative effects; however, the existence and nature of the concept tends to be hidden from students. Since 2007, our medical school has incorporated into its small group programme an educational activity exploring the concept of the hidden curriculum. We undertook a qualitative evaluation of our intervention, conducting a thematic analysis of students' wiki reflections about the HC. We also analysed students' responses to a short questionnaire about the educational approach used. The majority of students felt that the HC session was important and relevant. Most appeared able to identify positive and negative HC experiences and consider how these might influence their learning and development, although a few students found the concept of the HC hard to grasp. Revealing and naming the hidden curriculum can make students aware of its existence and understand its potential impact. The hidden curriculum may also be a useful tool for triggering debate about issues such as power, patient centredness, personal resilience and career stereotypes in medicine. Supporting students to think critically about HC experiences may empower them to make active choices about which messages to take on board. The hidden curriculum can have a powerful influence on the professional development of students. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Experiencing Economic Concepts: Formal and Informal Concept Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armento, Beverly Jeanne

1980-01-01

This article discusses the feasibility of and the skills needed for teaching basic economic concepts such as supply and demand in an informal learning situation, in this case the simulation of an economic system based on barter. (CJ)

Abstract memory representations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus support concept generalization.

PubMed

Bowman, Caitlin R; Zeithamova, Dagmar

2018-02-07

Memory function involves both the ability to remember details of individual experiences and the ability to link information across events to create new knowledge. Prior research has identified the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and the hippocampus as important for integrating across events in service of generalization in episodic memory. The degree to which these memory integration mechanisms contribute to other forms of generalization, such as concept learning, is unclear. The present study used a concept-learning task in humans (both sexes) coupled with model-based fMRI to test whether VMPFC and hippocampus contribute to concept generalization, and whether they do so by maintaining specific category exemplars or abstract category representations. Two formal categorization models were fit to individual subject data: a prototype model that posits abstract category representations and an exemplar model that posits category representations based on individual category members. Latent variables from each of these models were entered into neuroimaging analyses to determine whether VMPFC and the hippocampus track prototype or exemplar information during concept generalization. Behavioral model fits indicated that almost three quarters of the subjects relied on prototype information when making judgments about new category members. Paralleling prototype dominance in behavior, correlates of the prototype model were identified in VMPFC and the anterior hippocampus with no significant exemplar correlates. These results indicate that the VMPFC and portions of the hippocampus play a broad role in memory generalization and that they do so by representing abstract information integrated from multiple events. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Whether people represent concepts as a set of individual category members or by deriving generalized concept representations abstracted across exemplars has been debated. In episodic memory, generalized memory representations have been shown to arise through integration across events supported by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and hippocampus. The current study combined formal categorization models with fMRI data analysis to show that the VMPFC and anterior hippocampus represent abstract prototype information during concept generalization, contributing novel evidence of generalized concept representations in the brain. Results indicate that VMPFC-hippocampal memory integration mechanisms contribute to knowledge generalization across multiple cognitive domains, with the degree of abstraction of memory representations varying along the long axis of the hippocampus. Copyright © 2018 the authors.

Standardized terminology for clinical trial protocols based on top-level ontological categories.

PubMed

Heller, B; Herre, H; Lippoldt, K; Loeffler, M

2004-01-01

This paper describes a new method for the ontologically based standardization of concepts with regard to the quality assurance of clinical trial protocols. We developed a data dictionary for medical and trial-specific terms in which concepts and relations are defined context-dependently. The data dictionary is provided to different medical research networks by means of the software tool Onto-Builder via the internet. The data dictionary is based on domain-specific ontologies and the top-level ontology of GOL. The concepts and relations described in the data dictionary are represented in natural language, semi-formally or formally according to their use.

The Lifelong Learning Iceberg of Information Systems Academics--A Study of On-Going Formal and Informal Learning by Academics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davey, Bill; Tatnall, Arthur

2007-01-01

This article describes a study that examined the lifelong learning of information systems academics in relation to their normal work. It begins by considering the concept of lifelong learning, its relationship to real-life learning and that lifelong learning should encompass the whole spectrum of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Most…

Toward a mathematical formalism of performance, task difficulty, and activation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Samaras, George M.

1988-01-01

The rudiments of a mathematical formalism for handling operational, physiological, and psychological concepts are developed for use by the man-machine system design engineer. The formalism provides a framework for developing a structured, systematic approach to the interface design problem, using existing mathematical tools, and simplifying the problem of telling a machine how to measure and use performance.

Three challenges to the complementarity of the logic and the pragmatics of science.

PubMed

Uebel, Thomas

2015-10-01

The bipartite metatheory thesis attributes to Rudolf Carnap, Philipp Frank and Otto Neurath a conception of the nature of post-metaphysical philosophy of science that sees the purely formal-logical analyses of the logic of science as complemented by empirical inquiries into the psychology, sociology and history of science. Three challenges to this thesis are considered in this paper: that Carnap did not share this conception of the nature of philosophy of science even on a programmatic level, that Carnap's detailed analysis of the language of science is incompatible with one developed by Neurath for the pursuit of empirical studies of science, and, finally, that Neurath himself was confused about the programme of which the bipartite metatheory thesis makes him a representative. I argue that all three challenges can be met and refuted. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What Influences Mental Illness? Discrepancies Between Medical Education and Conception.

PubMed

Einstein, Evan Hy; Klepacz, Lidia

2017-01-01

This preliminary study examined the differences between what was taught during a formal medical education and medical students' and psychiatry residents' conceptions of notions regarding the causes and determinants of mental illness. The authors surveyed 74 medical students and 11 residents via convenience sampling. The survey contained 18 statements which were rated twice based on truthfulness in terms of a participant's formal education and conception, respectively. Descriptive statistics and a Wilcoxon signed rank test determined differences between education and conception. Results showed that students were less likely to perceive a neurotransmitter imbalance to cause mental illness, as opposed to what was emphasized during a formal medical education. Students and residents also understood the importance of factors such as systemic racism and socioeconomic status in the development of mental illness, which were factors that did not receive heavy emphasis during medical education. Furthermore, students and residents believed that not only did mental illnesses have nonuniform pathologies, but that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders also had the propensity to sometimes arbitrarily categorize individuals with potentially negative consequences. If these notions are therefore part of students' and residents' conceptions, as well as documented in the literature, then it seems appropriate for medical education to be further developed to emphasize these ideas.

The interplay between QSAR/QSPR studies and partial order ranking and formal concept analyses.

PubMed

Carlsen, Lars

2009-04-17

The often observed scarcity of physical-chemical and well as toxicological data hampers the assessment of potentially hazardous chemicals released to the environment. In such cases Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships/Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSAR/QSPR) constitute an obvious alternative for rapidly, effectively and inexpensively generatng missing experimental values. However, typically further treatment of the data appears necessary, e.g., to elucidate the possible relations between the single compounds as well as implications and associations between the various parameters used for the combined characterization of the compounds under investigation. In the present paper the application of QSAR/QSPR in combination with Partial Order Ranking (POR) methodologies will be reviewed and new aspects using Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) will be introduced. Where POR constitutes an attractive method for, e.g., prioritizing a series of chemical substances based on a simultaneous inclusion of a range of parameters, FCA gives important information on the implications associations between the parameters. The combined approach thus constitutes an attractive method to a preliminary assessment of the impact on environmental and human health by primary pollutants or possibly by a primary pollutant well as a possible suite of transformation subsequent products that may be both persistent in and bioaccumulating and toxic. The present review focus on the environmental - and human health impact by residuals of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (heptyl) and its transformation products as an illustrative example.

The ADVANCE project : formal evaluation of the targeted deployment. Volume 2

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

This document reports on the formal evaluation of the targeted (limited but highly focused) deployment of the Advanced Driver and Vehicle Advisory Navigation ConcEpt (ADVANCE), an in-vehicle advanced traveler information system designed to provide sh...

Sector strength and efficiency on developed and emerging financial markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedor, Paweł

2014-11-01

In this paper we analyse the importance of sectors and market efficiency on developed and emerging financial markets. To perform this we analyse New York Stock Exchange between 2004 and 2013 and Warsaw Stock Exchange between 2000 and 2013. To find out the importance of sectors we construct minimal spanning trees for annual time series consisting of daily log returns and calculate centrality measures for all stocks, which we then aggregate by sectors. Such analysis is of interest to analysts for whom the knowledge of the influence of particular groups of stocks to the market behaviour is crucial. We also analyse the predictability of price changes on those two markets formally, using the information-theoretic concept of entropy rate, to find out the differences in market efficiency between a developed and an emerging market, and between sectors themselves. We postulate that such analysis is important to the study of financial markets as it can contribute to the profitability of investments, particularly in the case of algorithmic trading.

Pollution Abatement Management System--Concept Definition.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-05-01

and (3) identify priority ranking of environmental pollution problems within the Department of the Army. This report formalizes the overall concept development of PAMS and the system’s developmental strategy.

Do we face a fourth paradigm shift in medicine--algorithms in education?

PubMed

Eitel, F; Kanz, K G; Hortig, E; Tesche, A

2000-08-01

Medicine has evolved toward rationalization since the Enlightenment, favouring quantitative measures. Now, a paradigm shift toward control through formalization can be observed in health care whose structures and processes are subjected to increasing standardization. However, educational reforms and curricula do not yet adequately respond to this shift. The aim of this article is to describe innovative approaches in medical education for adapting to these changes. The study design is a descriptive case report relying on a literature review and on a reform project's evaluation. Concept mapping is used to graphically represent relationships among concepts, i.e. defined terms from educational literature. Definitions of 'concept map', 'guideline' and 'algorithm' are presented. A prototypical algorithm for organizational decision making in the project's instructional design is shown. Evaluation results of intrinsic learning motivation are demonstrated: intrinsic learning motivation depends upon students' perception of their competence exhibiting path coefficients varying from 0.42 to 0.51. Perception of competence varies with the type of learning environment. An innovative educational format, called 'evidence-based learning (EBL)' is deduced from these findings and described here. Effects of formalization consist of structuring decision making about implementation of different learning environments or about minimizing variance in teaching or learning. Unintended effects of formalization such as implementation problems and bureaucracy are discussed. Formalized tools for designing medical education are available. Specific instructional designs influence students' learning motivation. Concept maps are suitable for controlling educational quality, thus enabling the paradigm shift in medical education.

Contrasting lexical similarity and formal definitions in SNOMED CT: consistency and implications.

PubMed

Agrawal, Ankur; Elhanan, Gai

2014-02-01

To quantify the presence of and evaluate an approach for detection of inconsistencies in the formal definitions of SNOMED CT (SCT) concepts utilizing a lexical method. Utilizing SCT's Procedure hierarchy, we algorithmically formulated similarity sets: groups of concepts with similar lexical structure of their fully specified name. We formulated five random samples, each with 50 similarity sets, based on the same parameter: number of parents, attributes, groups, all the former as well as a randomly selected control sample. All samples' sets were reviewed for types of formal definition inconsistencies: hierarchical, attribute assignment, attribute target values, groups, and definitional. For the Procedure hierarchy, 2111 similarity sets were formulated, covering 18.1% of eligible concepts. The evaluation revealed that 38 (Control) to 70% (Different relationships) of similarity sets within the samples exhibited significant inconsistencies. The rate of inconsistencies for the sample with different relationships was highly significant compared to Control, as well as the number of attribute assignment and hierarchical inconsistencies within their respective samples. While, at this time of the HITECH initiative, the formal definitions of SCT are only a minor consideration, in the grand scheme of sophisticated, meaningful use of captured clinical data, they are essential. However, significant portion of the concepts in the most semantically complex hierarchy of SCT, the Procedure hierarchy, are modeled inconsistently in a manner that affects their computability. Lexical methods can efficiently identify such inconsistencies and possibly allow for their algorithmic resolution. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Formal Explication of the Concept of Family Homeostasis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ariel, Shlomo; And Others

1984-01-01

Presents three articles discussing the concept of family homeostasis and the related concepts of family rules and family feedback. Includes a reply by Paul Dell citing the need for family therapy to go beyond homeostasis and further comments by Ariel, Carel, and Tyano. (JAC)

A Non-reductionist Approach to Trust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castelfranchi, Cristiano; Falcone, Rino; Lorini, Emiliano

We develop in this chapter a conceptual and logical model of social trust. We first present a modal logic of mental attitudes and action in which the concepts of plausible belief, certain belief, and a possibility order over formulas can be characterized. Then, we apply the logic to the formalization of the truster's expectation about some fundamental properties of the trustee (trustee's opportunity to accomplish a given task, his skills, abilities, and willingness to perform a given action for the accomplishment of the task). A, part of this chapter is devoted to discuss and formalize some concepts related to trust such as distrust, mistrust, lack of trust, and delegation. Finally, a concept of comparative trust is presented.

Negotiating the Boundaries between the Formal and the Informal: An Experienced Teacher's Refective Adaptations of Informal Learning in a Keyboard Class for At-Risk Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costes-Onishi, Pamela

2016-01-01

The objective of this study is to address the important questions raised in literature on the intersections between formal and informal learning. Specifically, this will be discussed within the concept of "productive dissonance" and the pedagogical tensions that arise in the effort of experienced teachers to transition from the formal to…

Formal Assurance for Cognitive Architecture Based Autonomous Agent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhattacharyya, Siddhartha; Eskridge, Thomas; Neogi, Natasha; Carvalho, Marco

2017-01-01

Autonomous systems are designed and deployed in different modeling paradigms. These environments focus on specific concepts in designing the system. We focus our effort in the use of cognitive architectures to design autonomous agents to collaborate with humans to accomplish tasks in a mission. Our research focuses on introducing formal assurance methods to verify the behavior of agents designed in Soar, by translating the agent to the formal verification environment Uppaal.

Exploring the Impact of Prior Experiences in Non-Formal Education on My Pedagogy of Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bullock, Shawn Michael

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to use self-study methodology to analyze critically the impact of 30 years of non-formal education on my development as a teacher educator. I begin within a particular conception of self-study research and make a case for situating martial arts as non-formal education. The data for this article are presented as a…

Adolescent Learning in the Zoo: Embedding a Non-Formal Learning Environment to Teach Formal Aspects of Vertebrate Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randler, Christoph; Kummer, Barbara; Wilhelm, Christian

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of a zoo visit in terms of learning and retention of knowledge concerning the adaptations and behavior of vertebrate species. Basis of the work was the concept of implementing zoo visits as an out-of-school setting for formal, curriculum based learning. Our theoretical framework centers on the…

Oh, the Economics You'll Find in Dr. Seuss!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Ben; Watts, Michael

2011-01-01

The authors list economic concepts and issues covered in the children's books published by Theodor Geisel and discuss his treatment of concepts that appear most often and that are treated in greater depth. Some concepts are sophisticated and taught as formal concepts only in college-level economics courses. Others are basic and used in economics…

Experimental criteria for steering and the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavalcanti, E. G.; Jones, S. J.; Wiseman, H. M.; Reid, M. D.

2009-09-01

We formally link the concept of steering (a concept created by Schrödinger but only recently formalized by Wiseman, Jones, and Doherty [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 140402 (2007)]) and the criteria for demonstrations of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox introduced by Reid [Phys. Rev. A 40, 913 (1989)]. We develop a general theory of experimental EPR-steering criteria, derive a number of criteria applicable to discrete as well as continuous-variable observables, and study their efficacy in detecting that form of nonlocality in some classes of quantum states. We show that previous versions of EPR-type criteria can be rederived within this formalism, thus unifying these efforts from a modern quantum-information perspective and clarifying their conceptual and formal origin. The theory follows in close analogy with criteria for other forms of quantum nonlocality (Bell nonlocality and entanglement), and because it is a hybrid of those two, it may lead to insights into the relationship between the different forms of nonlocality and the criteria that are able to detect them.

Adiabatic invariance with first integrals of motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, Artur B.

2002-10-01

The construction of a microthermodynamic formalism for isolated systems based on the concept of adiabatic invariance is an old but seldom appreciated effort in the literature, dating back at least to P. Hertz [Ann. Phys. (Leipzig) 33, 225 (1910)]. An apparently independent extension of such formalism for systems bearing additional first integrals of motion was recently proposed by Hans H. Rugh [Phys. Rev. E 64, 055101 (2001)], establishing the concept of adiabatic invariance even in such singular cases. After some remarks in connection with the formalism pioneered by Hertz, it will be suggested that such an extension can incidentally explain the success of a dynamical method for computing the entropy of classical interacting fluids, at least in some potential applications where the presence of additional first integrals cannot be ignored.

Low-Skilled Adults in Formal Continuing Education: Does Their Motivation Differ from Other Learners?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daehlen, Marianne; Ure, Odd Bjorn

2009-01-01

This study aims to analyse low-skilled adults' motivation for formal adult education. The study examines how adults' motivation for formal education is affected by educational level, age, gender, employment status and citizenship. Survey data were collected from adults enrolled in formal educational programmes at different educational levels. Of…

Coffee as an Antidote to Knowledge Stickiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackman, Deborah; Phillips, Diane

2011-01-01

This paper considers the concept of space and its role in both knowledge creation and overcoming knowledge stickiness. Aristotelian concepts of "freedom to" and "freedom from" are used to reconceptualise space. Informal and formal spaces, concepts and places are discussed as both specific locations and as gaps providing space for knowledge…

Learning Physiotherapy: The Impact of Formal Education and Professional Experience. Linkoping Studies in Education and Psychology, No. 50.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrandt, Madeleine

This study investigated whether students of physiotherapy experienced the concepts "health,""movement,""function," and "interaction" differently during formal education and after some professional experience. Data were gathered by interviewing two groups of physiotherapy students at Linkoping University…

Mathematical, Logical, and Formal Methods in Information Retrieval: An Introduction to the Special Issue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crestani, Fabio; Dominich, Sandor; Lalmas, Mounia; van Rijsbergen, Cornelis Joost

2003-01-01

Discusses the importance of research on the use of mathematical, logical, and formal methods in information retrieval to help enhance retrieval effectiveness and clarify underlying concepts of information retrieval. Highlights include logic; probability; spaces; and future research needs. (Author/LRW)

NASA Langley's Formal Methods Research in Support of the Next Generation Air Transportation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.; Munoz, Cesar A.

2008-01-01

This talk will provide a brief introduction to the formal methods developed at NASA Langley and the National Institute for Aerospace (NIA) for air traffic management applications. NASA Langley's formal methods research supports the Interagency Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) effort to define and develop the 2025 Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS). The JPDO was created by the passage of the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act in Dec 2003. The NGATS vision calls for a major transformation of the nation s air transportation system that will enable growth to 3 times the traffic of the current system. The transformation will require an unprecedented level of safety-critical automation used in complex procedural operations based on 4-dimensional (4D) trajectories that enable dynamic reconfiguration of airspace scalable to geographic and temporal demand. The goal of our formal methods research is to provide verification methods that can be used to insure the safety of the NGATS system. Our work has focused on the safety assessment of concepts of operation and fundamental algorithms for conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) and self- spacing in the terminal area. Formal analysis of a concept of operations is a novel area of application of formal methods. Here one must establish that a system concept involving aircraft, pilots, and ground resources is safe. The formal analysis of algorithms is a more traditional endeavor. However, the formal analysis of ATM algorithms involves reasoning about the interaction of algorithmic logic and aircraft trajectories defined over an airspace. These trajectories are described using 2D and 3D vectors and are often constrained by trigonometric relations. Thus, in many cases it has been necessary to unload the full power of an advanced theorem prover. The verification challenge is to establish that the safety-critical algorithms produce valid solutions that are guaranteed to maintain separation under all possible scenarios. Current research has assumed perfect knowledge of the location of other aircraft in the vicinity so absolute guarantees are possible, but increasingly we are relaxing the assumptions to allow incomplete, inaccurate, and/or faulty information from communication sources.

A Study of the Development of Adolescent Judgement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, W. D.

1978-01-01

To measure the development of formal thought, as defined by Piaget and Peel, separate tests on judgment, creativity, concept formation and concept attainment were administered to 1,710 subjects, ages eight to adult. (CP)

How Have Concepts of Informal Learning Developed over Time?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carliner, Saul

2013-01-01

Although the current interest in informal learning seems recent, performance improvement professionals have long had an interest in informal learning-the ways that people learn outside of formal structures. The earliest forms of learning for work were informal, including de facto and formal apprenticeship programs and the "school of…

Widening Our Evaluative Lenses of Formal, Facilitated, and Spontaneous Academic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoessler, Carolyn; Godden, Lorraine; Hoessler, Brian

2015-01-01

As conceptions of academic development expand to encompass a more diverse and flexible set of supports, traditional approaches to evaluation, including impact studies of formal programming, become insufficient. A program may appear ineffective when evaluation ignores additional supports that interact to counteract implementation or alternatively…

A robot control formalism based on an information quality concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ekman, A.; Torne, A.; Stromberg, D.

1994-01-01

A relevance measure based on Jaynes maximum entropy principle is introduced. Information quality is the conjunction of accuracy and relevance. The formalism based on information quality is developed for one-agent applications. The robot requires a well defined working environment where properties of each object must be accurately specified.

Quasi-Communities: Rethinking Learning in Formal Adult and Vocational Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emad, Gholam Reza; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2016-01-01

Situated learning theories such as communities of practice provide a rich conceptual framework for analyzing the processes by which newcomers become full participants in the communities they enter. However, some research shows that these concepts have shortcomings for theorizing learning in formal educational settings especially when it comes to…

Teaching Basic Quantum Mechanics in Secondary School Using Concepts of Feynman Path Integrals Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fanaro, Maria de los Angeles; Otero, Maria Rita; Arlego, Marcelo

2012-01-01

This paper discusses the teaching of basic quantum mechanics in high school. Rather than following the usual formalism, our approach is based on Feynman's path integral method. Our presentation makes use of simulation software and avoids sophisticated mathematical formalism. (Contains 3 figures.)

Results of Two Tenth-Grade Biology Teaching Procedures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purser, Roger K.; Renner, John W.

1983-01-01

Examined influence of teaching methods on content achievement of concrete and formal concepts by students differing in level of operational thought and influence of concrete/formal teaching on the intellectural development of students (N=86 grade 9-10 biology students). Methodology, results, conclusions, and implications are discussed. (Author/JN)

Validity of Assessment and Recognition of Non-Formal and Informal Learning Achievements in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaminskiene, Lina; Stasiunaitiene, Egle

2013-01-01

The article identifies the validity of assessment of non-formal and informal learning achievements (NILA) as one of the key factors for encouraging further development of the process of assessing and recognising non-formal and informal learning achievements in higher education. The authors analyse why the recognition of non-formal and informal…

Hidden patterns of reciprocity.

PubMed

Syi

2014-03-21

Reciprocity can help the evolution of cooperation. To model both types of reciprocity, we need the concept of strategy. In the case of direct reciprocity there are four second-order action rules (Simple Tit-for-tat, Contrite Tit-for-tat, Pavlov, and Grim Trigger), which are able to promote cooperation. In the case of indirect reciprocity the key component of cooperation is the assessment rule. There are, again, four elementary second-order assessment rules (Image Scoring, Simple Standing, Stern Judging, and Shunning). The eight concepts can be formalized in an ontologically thin way we need only an action predicate and a value function, two agent concepts, and the constant of goodness. The formalism helps us to discover that the action and assessment rules can be paired, and that they show the same patterns. The logic of these patterns can be interpreted with the concept of punishment that has an inherent paradoxical nature. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children's Understanding of Addition and Subtraction Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Katherine M.; Dube, Adam K.

2009-01-01

After the onset of formal schooling, little is known about the development of children's understanding of the arithmetic concepts of inversion and associativity. On problems of the form a+b-b (e.g., 3+26-26), if children understand the inversion concept (i.e., that addition and subtraction are inverse operations), then no calculations are needed…

The Interplay between QSAR/QSPR Studies and Partial Order Ranking and Formal Concept Analyses

PubMed Central

Carlsen, Lars

2009-01-01

The often observed scarcity of physical-chemical and well as toxicological data hampers the assessment of potentially hazardous chemicals released to the environment. In such cases Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships/Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSAR/QSPR) constitute an obvious alternative for rapidly, effectively and inexpensively generatng missing experimental values. However, typically further treatment of the data appears necessary, e.g., to elucidate the possible relations between the single compounds as well as implications and associations between the various parameters used for the combined characterization of the compounds under investigation. In the present paper the application of QSAR/QSPR in combination with Partial Order Ranking (POR) methodologies will be reviewed and new aspects using Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) will be introduced. Where POR constitutes an attractive method for, e.g., prioritizing a series of chemical substances based on a simultaneous inclusion of a range of parameters, FCA gives important information on the implications associations between the parameters. The combined approach thus constitutes an attractive method to a preliminary assessment of the impact on environmental and human health by primary pollutants or possibly by a primary pollutant well as a possible suite of transformation subsequent products that may be both persistent in and bioaccumulating and toxic. The present review focus on the environmental – and human health impact by residuals of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (heptyl) and its transformation products as an illustrative example. PMID:19468330

Concept Mapping as an Approach to Facilitate Participatory Intervention Building.

PubMed

L Allen, Michele; Schaleben-Boateng, Dane; Davey, Cynthia S; Hang, Mikow; Pergament, Shannon

2015-01-01

A challenge to addressing community-defined need through community-based participatory intervention building is ensuring that all collaborators' opinions are represented. Concept mapping integrates perspectives of individuals with differing experiences, interests, or expertise into a common visually depicted framework, and ranks composite views on importance and feasibility. To describe the use of concept mapping to facilitate participatory intervention building for a school-based, teacher-focused, positive youth development (PYD) promotion program for Latino, Hmong, and Somali youth. Particiants were teachers, administrators, youth, parents, youth workers, and community and university researchers on the projects' community collaborative board. We incorporated previously collected qualitative data into the process. In a mixed-methods process we 1) generated statements based on key informant interview and focus group data from youth workers, teachers, parents, and youth in multiple languages regarding ways teachers promote PYD for Somali, Latino and Hmong youth; 2) guided participants to individually sort statements into meaningful groupings and rate them by importance and feasibility; 3) mapped the statements based on their relation to each other using multivariate statistical analyses to identify concepts, and as a group identified labels for each concept; and 4) used labels and statement ratings to identify feasible and important concepts as priorities for intervention development. We identified 12 concepts related to PYD promotion in schools and prioritized 8 for intervention development. Concept mapping facilitated participatory intervention building by formally representing all participants' opinions, generating visual representation of group thinking, and supporting priority setting. Use of prior qualitative work increased the diversity of viewpoints represented.

Relations of age with changes in self-efficacy and physical self-concept in preadolescents participating in a physical activity intervention during afterschool care.

PubMed

Annesi, James J

2007-08-01

An inference from Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that preadolescents of different ages who participate in a physical activity intervention may respond differently on measures of their physical self and self-efficacy, so a field investigation was conducted to assess effects. In a sample of 105 children ages 8 to 12 yr. (42% boys, overall M(age) = 10.1 yr., SD = 0.9), participation in a physical activity intervention during afterschool care, based on social cognitive theory and incorporating instruction in self-management and self-regulatory skills, was associated with significant improvements in measures of exercise-related self-efficacy, perceived physical appearance, and physical self-concept over 12 wk. Analyses suggested, however, no difference in changes on these factors was associated with participants' age or children being in either the concrete operations or formal operations stage of cognitive development. After replication, implications for design of physical activity interventions for preadolescents were suggested.

A logical foundation for representation of clinical data.

PubMed Central

Campbell, K E; Das, A K; Musen, M A

1994-01-01

OBJECTIVE: A general framework for representation of clinical data that provides a declarative semantics of terms and that allows developers to define explicitly the relationships among both terms and combinations of terms. DESIGN: Use of conceptual graphs as a standard representation of logic and of an existing standardized vocabulary, the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED International), for lexical elements. Concepts such as time, anatomy, and uncertainty must be modeled explicitly in a way that allows relation of these foundational concepts to surface-level clinical descriptions in a uniform manner. RESULTS: The proposed framework was used to model a simple radiology report, which included temporal references. CONCLUSION: Formal logic provides a framework for formalizing the representation of medical concepts. Actual implementations will be required to evaluate the practicality of this approach. PMID:7719805

Procedural Quantum Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ömer, Bernhard

2002-09-01

While classical computing science has developed a variety of methods and programming languages around the concept of the universal computer, the typical description of quantum algorithms still uses a purely mathematical, non-constructive formalism which makes no difference between a hydrogen atom and a quantum computer. This paper investigates, how the concept of procedural programming languages, the most widely used classical formalism for describing and implementing algorithms, can be adopted to the field of quantum computing, and how non-classical features like the reversibility of unitary transformations, the non-observability of quantum states or the lack of copy and erase operations can be reflected semantically. It introduces the key concepts of procedural quantum programming (hybrid target architecture, operator hierarchy, quantum data types, memory management, etc.) and presents the experimental language QCL, which implements these principles.

Support as a complement, intrusion and right--evidence from ageing and disability support service users in Sweden and Australia.

PubMed

Laragy, Carmel; Fisher, Karen R; Cedersund, Elisabet; Campbell-McLean, Carolyn

2011-12-01

How service users conceptualise their personal support services is under researched, even though this understanding is important for responsive policy development and service implementation. This paper tests the proposition that service users understand formal support in three ways: support is a complement to their other arrangements, an intrusion into their personal life and a right. These three concepts were identified using discourse analysis in a Swedish study of older people wanting in-home support services. To test generalisability of these concepts, they were applied to data from an Australian study of people using disability personal support. The analysis found that the three concepts were core to people's views of their support, although the construction of the concepts differed in the two countries. Service users in Sweden asserted their right to services more forcefully than those in Australia, and they had higher expectations that their support needs would be met. These differences reflect the impact of each country's social policy environment on service users' expectations. The analysis suggests that service users and their families want to control their formal support arrangements to complement their informal care and their life preferences and to minimise the intrusive aspects of formal support. The findings imply that the three concepts have utility for theorising service users' perspectives, informing policy and developing implementation strategies which enhance peoples' quality of life. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences © 2011 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Teacher Leaders' Work with Peers in a Quasi-Formal Teacher Leadership Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Supovitz, Jonathan A.

2018-01-01

Building on evolving conceptions of teacher leadership in the literature, this article argues that an integration of both positional and empowering elements of teacher leadership are the seeds of an evolved approach to teacher leadership for instructional improvement. Using data from a study of quasi-formal teacher leadership, the research…

Formal and Informal Registration as Marketing Tools: Do They Produce "Trapped" Executives?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apple, L. Eugene

1993-01-01

A marketing concept was applied to college registration procedures in an experiment, focusing on degree of "escalation" of effort of students who had failed twice to register in desired courses, type of registration used (formal or informal) on each of three tries, and student characteristics (time until graduation, major, gender). (MSE)

Teaching about Hazardous and Toxic Materials. Teaching Activities in Environmental Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Disinger, John F.; Lisowski, Marylin

Designed to assist practitioners of both formal and non-formal settings, this 18th volume of the ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education's Teaching Activities in Environmental Education series specifically focuses on the theme of hazardous and toxic materials. Initially, basic environmental concepts that deal with…

Brain Representations of Basic Physics Concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Just, Marcel Adam

2017-09-01

The findings concerning physics concepts build on the remarkable new ability to determine the neural signature (or activation pattern) corresponding to an individual concept using fMRI brain imaging. Moreover, the neural signatures can be decomposed into meaningful underlying dimensions, identifying the individual, interpretable components of the neural representation of a concept. The investigation of physics concepts representations reveals how relatively recent physics concepts (formalized only in the last few centuries) are stored in the millenia-old information system of the human brain.

Organic Chemistry Students' Fragmented Ideas about the Structure and Function of Nucleophiles and Electrophiles: A Concept Map Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anzovino, Mary E.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

2016-01-01

Organic chemistry students struggle with multiple aspects of reaction mechanisms and the curved arrow notation used by organic chemists. Many faculty believe that an understanding of nucleophiles and electrophiles, among other concepts, is required before students can develop fluency with the electronpushing formalism (EPF). An expert concept map…

Use of the Concept of "Bildung" in the International Science Education Literature, Its Potential, and Implications for Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sjöström, Jesper; Frerichs, Nadja; Zuin, Vânia G.; Eilks, Ingo

2017-01-01

"Bildung" is a complex educational concept that emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of "Bildung" became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. "Bildung" concerns the whole range of education from setting…

Analysis of Discourse Accent and Discursive Practices I&W

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

events in a cultural memory. Episodic discourse encompasses general principles, concepts , symbols and rituals used by actors to address problems in...COGNITIVE/INTEGRATIVE COMPLEXITY PROOF-OF- CONCEPT ............................ 51 5.1 Historical Background and Literature...formal training or expertise in critical discourse analysis. In addition, a proof-of- concept was conducted of an existing methodology for tracking

Assessing voids in SNOMED CT for pediatric concepts.

PubMed

Wade, Geraldine; Gotlieb, Edward M; Weigle, Carl; Warren, Robert

2008-11-06

Reference terminologies such as SNOMED CT may have voids in their representation of concepts important to the practice of pediatrics. In this project, relevant pediatric concepts were extracted from an American Academy of Pediatrics guideline and were mapped to SNOMED CT. Concepts were identified that should be included in the standard reference terminology. A process for formally evaluating voids in reference terminologies for concepts needed in pediatric clinical decision-making is planned as a next step.

Conversion of the TRACON operations concepts database into a formal sentence outline job task taxonomy.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-05-01

FAA Air Traffic Control Operations Concepts Volume VII.- TRACON Controllers (1989) developed by CTA, Inc., a technical description of the duties of a TRACON air traffic control specialist (ATCS), formatted in User Interface Language, was restructured...

Teaching Some Informatics Concepts Using Formal System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Sojung; Park, Seongbin

2014-01-01

There are many important issues in informatics and many agree that algorithms and programming are most important issues that need to be included in informatics education (Dagiene and Jevsikova, 2012). In this paper, we propose how some of these issues can be easily taught using the notion of a formal system which consists of axioms and inference…

Inferring Domain-Domain Interactions from Protein-Protein Interactions with Formal Concept Analysis

PubMed Central

Khor, Susan

2014-01-01

Identifying reliable domain-domain interactions will increase our ability to predict novel protein-protein interactions, to unravel interactions in protein complexes, and thus gain more information about the function and behavior of genes. One of the challenges of identifying reliable domain-domain interactions is domain promiscuity. Promiscuous domains are domains that can occur in many domain architectures and are therefore found in many proteins. This becomes a problem for a method where the score of a domain-pair is the ratio between observed and expected frequencies because the protein-protein interaction network is sparse. As such, many protein-pairs will be non-interacting and domain-pairs with promiscuous domains will be penalized. This domain promiscuity challenge to the problem of inferring reliable domain-domain interactions from protein-protein interactions has been recognized, and a number of work-arounds have been proposed. This paper reports on an application of Formal Concept Analysis to this problem. It is found that the relationship between formal concepts provides a natural way for rare domains to elevate the rank of promiscuous domain-pairs and enrich highly ranked domain-pairs with reliable domain-domain interactions. This piggybacking of promiscuous domain-pairs onto less promiscuous domain-pairs is possible only with concept lattices whose attribute-labels are not reduced and is enhanced by the presence of proteins that comprise both promiscuous and rare domains. PMID:24586450

Changing Notions of Lifelong Education and Lifelong Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuijnman, Albert; Boström, Ann-Kristin

2002-03-01

Drawing on material from IRE as well as other sources, this article describes how the notion of lifelong education came into prominence in the educational world in the late 1960s, how it related to the concepts of formal, non-formal and informal education, and how it contrasted with the idea of recurrent eduction, as promoted by the OECD. The author goes on to discuss the emergence of the broader and more holistic concept of lifelong learning and the various ways in which it is understood. The article shows how IRE and its host institute have played an important part in the debate on these issues.

Concept Systems and Ontologies: Recommendations for Basic Terminology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Gunnar O.; Smith, Barry

This essay concerns the problems surrounding the use of the term ``concept'' in current ontology and terminology research. It is based on the constructive dialogue between realist ontology on the one hand and the world of formal standardization of health informatics on the other, but its conclusions are not restricted to the domain of medicine. The term ``concept'' is one of the most misused even in literature and technical standards which attempt to bring clarity. In this paper we propose to use the term ``concept'' in the context of producing defined professional terminologies with one specific and consistent meaning which we propose for adoption as the agreed meaning of the term in future terminological research, and specifically in the development of formal terminologies to be used in computer systems. We also discuss and propose new definitions of a set of cognate terms. We describe the relations governing the realm of concepts, and compare these to the richer and more complex set of relations obtaining between entities in the real world. On this basis we also summarize an associated terminology for ontologies as representations of the real world and a partial mapping between the world of concepts and the world of reality.

Professional Development across the Teaching Career: Teachers' Uptake of Formal and Informal Learning Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richter, Dirk; Kunter, Mareike; Klusmann, Uta; Ludtke, Oliver; Baumert, Jurgen

2011-01-01

This study examined teachers' uptake of formal and informal learning opportunities across the career cycle. Analyses were based on data from 1939 German secondary teachers in 198 schools. Results showed that formal learning opportunities (in-service training) were used most frequently by mid-career teachers, whereas informal learning opportunities…

A theoretical framework for improving education in geriatric medicine.

PubMed

Boreham, N C

1983-01-01

Alternative concepts of learning include a formal system in which part of the medical curriculum is designated as that for geriatric medicine; a non-formal system including conferences, lectures, broadcasts, available to both medical students and physicians; and thirdly, an informal system in which doctors learn medicine through their experience practising the profession. While the most emphasis in medical schools would seem to be on the formal system it is essential that medical educators (if they wish their students in later life to maintain high levels of self-initiated learning) must use all three strategies. The structure of a system of formal teaching for geriatric medicine is examined. An important objective is attitude change and it is in achieving this that geriatricians must be particularly involved in non-formal and informal systems.

Categorization of alternative astronomical and scientifical conceptions of the teachers from the north coast of São Paulo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzaga, E. P.

2016-05-01

This work deals with the analysis of scientific and alternative astronomical concepts found in the responses of teachers who teach classes Science, Geography and Physic in Basic Education (BE) of the state of the North Coast of São Paulo and how to address the alternative astronomical concepts with students from students Fundamental Education (FE) and Medium Education (ME). Bringing the legal documents regarding the Astronomy in BE, within the national and the São Paulo regions curriculum level, also with rationed researches to the teacher's formation, conceptual errors in books, knowledge non-formal spaces, alternative concepts, Astronomical studies and content analysis for fundamental theoretical. The task executed with the teachers was done via Technical Orientations (TO), promoted by the Director of Education (DE) from Caraguatatuba and region, with the premise to threat the continuous formation giving moments of discussion, practical activities and using the Digital Mobile Planetarium (DMP) with non-formal spaces of knowledge to the Astronomical studies gathering data via questions. Within the analysis of the answers analysis by the teachers, tables were created with the categories that highlight actual situations on the astronomical studies in the North Coast of São Paulo, and demarked the possible paths where the continuous formation will be followed in the future. Aspects checked in the survey were highlighted; such as teachers understand that they need continuing education; teachers have scientific astronomical views on various aspects know to teach concepts of Astronomy at BE; TO is a viable option as continued training and the use of DMP as no formal teaching and learning.

Getting through Closed Doors? Labour Market Entry among Ethnic Minority and Majority Youth with Low Levels of Formal Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Storen, Liv Anne; Opheim, Vibeke; Helland, Havard

2009-01-01

The paper analyses the labour market situation among youth with low or medium levels of formal education. The analyses focus on studying the effects of level of competence, grades and immigrant background. Which factors contribute to labour market success among this group of youth? And which factors may increase the risk of not getting into the…

Monitoring the Performance of Groups of Formal and Concrete Cognitive Tendency Students Using an Intensive Time-Series Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monk, John S.; And Others

A multiple-group, single-intervention intensive time-series design was used to examine the achievement of an abstract concept, plate tectonics, of students grouped on the basis of cognitive tendency. Two questions were addressed: (1) How do daily achievement patterns differ between formal and concrete cognitive tendency groups when learning an…

Teaching Early Knowledge of Whole Number Concepts through Technology: Findings from a Feasibility Study of an iPad Delivered Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanley, Lina; Cary, Mari Strand; Clarke, Ben; Jungjohann, Kathy

2013-01-01

Children enter kindergarten with variable levels of mathematics skill and knowledge gained from informal learning opportunities at home, preschool, and daycare. Many perform well once they receive formal mathematics instruction. However, if students do not develop an initial understanding of the most basic aspects of formal mathematics, they are…

A Social Partnership Model to Promote Educators' Development in Mauritius through Formal and Informal Capacity-Building Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santally, Mohammad Issack; Cooshna-Naik, Dorothy; Conruyt, Noel; Wing, Caroline Koa

2015-01-01

This paper describes a social partnership model based on the living lab concept to promote the professional development of educators through formal and informal capacity-building initiatives. The aim is to have a broader impact on society through community outreach educational initiatives. A Living Lab is an environment for user-centered…

Developing an Interactive Non-Formal Chemistry Setting and Investigating Its Effectiveness on High School Students' Attitudes towards Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demircioglu, Gökhan

2016-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to design an interactive non-formal chemistry environment and investigate its effectiveness on high school students' attitudes towards chemistry. Besides that, it is tried to determine to what extent students correlate these concepts with daily life. 14 voluntary students (5 female, 9 male) from different levels…

The Development of a Model of Creative Space and Its Potential for Transfer from Non-Formal to Formal Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Irene; Lorenzi, Francesca

2016-01-01

Creativity has been emerging as a key concept in educational policies since the mid-1990s, with many Western countries restructuring their education systems to embrace innovative approaches likely to stimulate creative and critical thinking. But despite current intentions of putting more emphasis on creativity in education policies worldwide,…

Tacit Knowledge and General Qualification: Concepts of Learning in Everyday Life and Formal Education When Work Changes with Examples from Office Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olesen, Henning Salling

An analysis of office work (OW) highlights the relationship between formal vocational qualifications and tacit knowledge gained through experience. In OW, "abstracted" skills (typewriting, correspondence) and theory are taught in schools out of their practical context and can become obsolete because of technological change. Some types of…

Thermodynamically Feasible Kinetic Models of Reaction Networks

PubMed Central

Ederer, Michael; Gilles, Ernst Dieter

2007-01-01

The dynamics of biological reaction networks are strongly constrained by thermodynamics. An holistic understanding of their behavior and regulation requires mathematical models that observe these constraints. However, kinetic models may easily violate the constraints imposed by the principle of detailed balance, if no special care is taken. Detailed balance demands that in thermodynamic equilibrium all fluxes vanish. We introduce a thermodynamic-kinetic modeling (TKM) formalism that adapts the concepts of potentials and forces from irreversible thermodynamics to kinetic modeling. In the proposed formalism, the thermokinetic potential of a compound is proportional to its concentration. The proportionality factor is a compound-specific parameter called capacity. The thermokinetic force of a reaction is a function of the potentials. Every reaction has a resistance that is the ratio of thermokinetic force and reaction rate. For mass-action type kinetics, the resistances are constant. Since it relies on the thermodynamic concept of potentials and forces, the TKM formalism structurally observes detailed balance for all values of capacities and resistances. Thus, it provides an easy way to formulate physically feasible, kinetic models of biological reaction networks. The TKM formalism is useful for modeling large biological networks that are subject to many detailed balance relations. PMID:17208985

Analysing and exemplifying forensic conclusion criteria in terms of Bayesian decision theory.

PubMed

Biedermann, A; Bozza, S; Taroni, F

2018-03-01

There is ongoing discussion in forensic science and the law about the nature of the conclusions reached based on scientific evidence, and on how such conclusions - and conclusion criteria - may be justified by rational argument. Examples, among others, are encountered in fields such as fingermarks (e.g., 'this fingermark comes from Mr. A's left thumb'), handwriting examinations (e.g., 'the questioned signature is that of Mr. A'), kinship analyses (e.g., 'Mr. A is the father of child C') or anthropology (e.g., 'these are human remains'). Considerable developments using formal methods of reasoning based on, for example (Bayesian) decision theory, are available in literature, but currently such reference principles are not explicitly used in operational forensic reporting and ensuing decision-making. Moreover, applied examples, illustrating the principles, are scarce. A potential consequence of this in practical proceedings, and hence a cause of concern, is that underlying ingredients of decision criteria (such as losses quantifying the undesirability of adverse decision consequences), are not properly dealt with. There is merit, thus, in pursuing the study and discussion of practical examples, demonstrating that formal decision-theoretic principles are not merely conceptual considerations. Actually, these principles can be shown to underpin practical decision-making procedures and existing legal decision criteria, though often not explicitly apparent as such. In this paper, we will present such examples and discuss their properties from a Bayesian decision-theoretic perspective. We will argue that these are essential concepts for an informed discourse on decision-making across forensic disciplines and the development of a coherent view on this topic. We will also emphasize that these principles are of normative nature in the sense that they provide standards against which actual judgment and decision-making may be compared. Most importantly, these standards are justified independently of peoples' observable decision behaviour, and of whether or not one endorses these formal methods of reasoning. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Literacy in the 21st century: Towards a dynamic nexus of social relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benavot, Aaron

2015-06-01

Literacy is an essential means of communication. It enables individuals, communities and institutions to interact, over time and across space, as they develop a web of social relations via language. Effective literacy policies, programmes and practices expand the scale of social communication and interaction. Thus, literacy thrives when a state of connectedness - or social nexus of relations - is forged and sustained among individuals, households, communities and social institutions. This paper provides an overview of recent literacy trends and challenges as well as core aspects of the policy strategies which seek to address them. It reviews the main barriers or complicating factors which limit the effective implementation of literacy policies. The paper describes how the notion of non-formal education, which frames many scholarly and policy accounts of adult literacy work today, is under-conceptualised. One result of this is a relatively undifferentiated view of literacy programmes and their specific non-formal components. The author argues that the concept of the social nexus of literacy is implicit in many analyses of literacy policies and strategies. Thus, well-defined, context-specific and sharply conceived literacy policies, which enhance the social nexus of literacy, are crucial for improving the effectiveness of literacy work.

Some Issues about the Introduction of First Concepts in Linear Algebra during Tutorial Sessions at the Beginning of University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grenier-Boley, Nicolas

2014-01-01

Certain mathematical concepts were not introduced to solve a specific open problem but rather to solve different problems with the same tools in an economic formal way or to unify several approaches: such concepts, as some of those of linear algebra, are presumably difficult to introduce to students as they are potentially interwoven with many…

Can Non-Formal Education Keep Working Children in School? A Case Study from Punjab, India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sud, Pamela

2010-01-01

This paper analyses the effectiveness of non-formal schools for working children in Jalandhar, Punjab, India, in mainstreaming child labourers into the formal education system through incentivised, informal schooling. Using a family fixed effects model and sibling data as an equivalent population comparison group, I find that the non-formal…

Theoretical Branches in Teaching Computer Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Habiballa, Hashim; Kmet, Tibor

2004-01-01

The present paper describes an educational experiment dealing with teaching the theory of formal languages and automata as well as their application concepts. It presents a practical application of an educational experiment and initial results based on comparative instruction of two samples of students (n = 56). The application concept should…

Conversion of the CTA, Inc., en route operations concepts database into a formal sentence outline job task taxonomy.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1993-01-01

FAA Air Traffic Control Operations Concepts Volume VI: ARTCC-Host En Route Controllers (1990) developed by CTA, Inc., a technical description of the duties of an En Route air traffic control specialist (ATCS), formatted in User Interface Language, wa...

The Lay Concept of Childhood Mental Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giummarra, Melita J.; Haslam, Nick

2005-01-01

The structure of lay people's concepts of childhood mental disorder was investigated in a questionnaire study and examined for convergence with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). Eighty-four undergraduates who had no formal education in abnormal psychology rated 54 conditions--36 DSM-IV childhood disorders and 18 non-disorders--on…

Fuzzy and rough formal concept analysis: a survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poelmans, Jonas; Ignatov, Dmitry I.; Kuznetsov, Sergei O.; Dedene, Guido

2014-02-01

Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is a mathematical technique that has been extensively applied to Boolean data in knowledge discovery, information retrieval, web mining, etc. applications. During the past years, the research on extending FCA theory to cope with imprecise and incomplete information made significant progress. In this paper, we give a systematic overview of the more than 120 papers published between 2003 and 2011 on FCA with fuzzy attributes and rough FCA. We applied traditional FCA as a text-mining instrument to 1072 papers mentioning FCA in the abstract. These papers were formatted in pdf files and using a thesaurus with terms referring to research topics, we transformed them into concept lattices. These lattices were used to analyze and explore the most prominent research topics within the FCA with fuzzy attributes and rough FCA research communities. FCA turned out to be an ideal metatechnique for representing large volumes of unstructured texts.

The transition to formal thinking in mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tall, David

2008-09-01

This paper focuses on the changes in thinking involved in the transition from school mathematics to formal proof in pure mathematics at university. School mathematics is seen as a combination of visual representations, including geometry and graphs, together with symbolic calculations and manipulations. Pure mathematics in university shifts towards a formal framework of axiomatic systems and mathematical proof. In this paper, the transition in thinking is formulated within a framework of `three worlds of mathematics'- the `conceptual-embodied' world based on perception, action and thought experiment, the `proceptual-symbolic' world of calculation and algebraic manipulation compressing processes such as counting into concepts such as number, and the `axiomatic-formal' world of set-theoretic concept definitions and mathematical proof. Each `world' has its own sequence of development and its own forms of proof that may be blended together to give a rich variety of ways of thinking mathematically. This reveals mathematical thinking as a blend of differing knowledge structures; for instance, the real numbers blend together the embodied number line, symbolic decimal arithmetic and the formal theory of a complete ordered field. Theoretical constructs are introduced to describe how genetic structures set before birth enable the development of mathematical thinking, and how experiences that the individual has met before affect their personal growth. These constructs are used to consider how students negotiate the transition from school to university mathematics as embodiment and symbolism are blended with formalism. At a higher level, structure theorems proved in axiomatic theories link back to more sophisticated forms of embodiment and symbolism, revealing the intimate relationship between the three worlds.

Formal concept analysis with background knowledge: a case study in paleobiological taxonomy of belemnites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belohlavek, Radim; Kostak, Martin; Osicka, Petr

2013-05-01

We present a case study in identification of taxa in paleobiological data. Our approach utilizes formal concept analysis and is based on conceiving a taxon as a group of individuals sharing a collection of attributes. In addition to the incidence relation between individuals and their attributes, the method uses expert background knowledge regarding importance of attributes which helps to filter out correctly formed but paleobiologically irrelevant taxa. We present results of experiments carried out with belemnites-a group of extinct cephalopods which seems particularly suitable for such a purpose. We demonstrate that the methods are capable of revealing taxa and relationships among them that are relevant from a paleobiological point of view.

Adjusting game difficulty level through Formal Concept Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gómez-Martín, Marco A.; Gómez-Martín, Pedro P.; Gonzâlez-Calero, Pedro A.; Díaz-Agudo, Belén

In order to reach as many players as possible, videogames usually allow the user to choose the difficulty level. To do it, game designers have to decide the values that some game parameters will have depending on that decision. In simple videogames this is almost trivial: minesweeper is harder with longer board sizes and number of mines. In more complex games, game designers may take advantage of data mining to establish which of all the possible parameters will affect positively to the player experience. This paper describes the use of Formal Concept Analysis to help to balance the game using the logs obtained in the tests made prior the release of the game.

Representation in incremental learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Work focused on two areas in machine learning: representation for inductive learning and how to apply concept learning techniques to learning state preferences, which can represent search control knowledge for problem solving. Specifically, in the first area the issues of the effect of representation on learning, on how learning formalisms are biased, and how concept learning can benefit from the use of a hybrid formalism are addressed. In the second area, the issues of developing an agent to learn search control knowledge from the relative values of states, of the source of that qualitative information, and of the ability to use both quantitative and qualitative information in order to develop an effective problem-solving policy are examined.

Utilization of Adult and Non-Formal Education Programs in Combating Rural Poverty in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ihejirika, John Chinedu

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to examine the concept of poverty and its causes in Nigeria and to analyze how adult and non-formal education programs can be utilized to reduce rural poverty in Nigeria. In spite of Nigeria's affluence in human and material resources, it is classified among countries with high level of poverty. Incidentally, the…

Pathways to Formal and Informal Student Leadership: The Influence of Peer and Teacher-Student Relationships and Level of School Identification on Students' Motivations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lizzio, Alf; Dempster, Neil; Neumann, Regan

2011-01-01

Leadership capacity-building is a key factor in sustainable school improvement, and the leadership contribution of students is an integral part of an authentic distributed conception of school leadership. Thus it is important to understand the factors which influence high school students' motivations to engage in formal and informal leadership in…

Cognitive mapping tools: review and risk management needs.

PubMed

Wood, Matthew D; Bostrom, Ann; Bridges, Todd; Linkov, Igor

2012-08-01

Risk managers are increasingly interested in incorporating stakeholder beliefs and other human factors into the planning process. Effective risk assessment and management requires understanding perceptions and beliefs of involved stakeholders, and how these beliefs give rise to actions that influence risk management decisions. Formal analyses of risk manager and stakeholder cognitions represent an important first step. Techniques for diagramming stakeholder mental models provide one tool for risk managers to better understand stakeholder beliefs and perceptions concerning risk, and to leverage this new understanding in developing risk management strategies. This article reviews three methodologies for assessing and diagramming stakeholder mental models--decision-analysis-based mental modeling, concept mapping, and semantic web analysis--and assesses them with regard to their ability to address risk manager needs. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Symmetry Breaking in Space-Time Hierarchies Shapes Brain Dynamics and Behavior.

PubMed

Pillai, Ajay S; Jirsa, Viktor K

2017-06-07

In order to maintain brain function, neural activity needs to be tightly coordinated within the brain network. How this coordination is achieved and related to behavior is largely unknown. It has been previously argued that the study of the link between brain and behavior is impossible without a guiding vision. Here we propose behavioral-level concepts and mechanisms embodied as structured flows on manifold (SFM) that provide a formal description of behavior as a low-dimensional process emerging from a network's dynamics dependent on the symmetry and invariance properties of the network connectivity. Specifically, we demonstrate that the symmetry breaking of network connectivity constitutes a timescale hierarchy resulting in the emergence of an attractive functional subspace. We show that behavior emerges when appropriate conditions imposed upon the couplings are satisfied, justifying the conductance-based nature of synaptic couplings. Our concepts propose design principles for networks predicting how behavior and task rules are represented in real neural circuits and open new avenues for the analyses of neural data. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How Syntactic Reasoners Can Develop Understanding, Evaluate Conjectures, and Generate Counterexamples in Advanced Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Keith

2009-01-01

This paper presents a case study of a highly successful student whose exploration of an advanced mathematical concept relies predominantly on syntactic reasoning, such as developing formal representations of mathematical ideas and making logical deductions. This student is observed as he learns a new mathematical concept and then completes…

An Investigation of Singapore Preschool Children's Emerging Concepts of Floating and Sinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teo, Tang Wee; Yan, Yaw Kai; Ong, Woei Ling Monica

2017-01-01

Despite Singapore's excellent science achievements in international benchmark tests such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), little is known about Singaporean children's (aged 4-8) emerging science conceptions as formal science schooling begins at Grade 3…

The Value of the Operational Principle in Instructional Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Andrew S.

2009-01-01

Formal design studies are increasing our insight into design processes, including those of instructional design. Lessons are being learned from other design fields, and new techniques and concepts can be imported as they are demonstrated effective. The purpose of this article is to introduce a design concept--the "operational principle"--for…

Non-Determinism: An Abstract Concept in Computer Science Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armoni, Michal; Gal-Ezer, Judith

2007-01-01

Non-determinism is one of the most important, yet abstract, recurring concepts of Computer Science. It plays an important role in Computer Science areas such as formal language theory, computability theory, distributed computing, and operating systems. We conducted a series of studies on the perception of non-determinism. In the current research,…

Collective Impact versus Collaboration: Sides of the Same Coin OR Different Phenomenon?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prange, Kelly; Allen, Joseph A.; Reiter-Palmon, Roni

2016-01-01

Collective impact is a recently developed concept and approach to solving social problems that rectifies many of the issues associated with isolated impact. We compared collective impact and the formal definition of collaboration and made integrations between the two concepts. Specifically, we explored effective assessment and facilitation methods…

Dental Therapy Assistant: Quality of Restorations Placed and Finished.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heid, Theodore H.; Bair, Jeffrey H.

The U.S. Army Dental Corps has implemented a new concept of dental care delivery, formally identified as the Improved Dental Care Delivery System. The concept is based on the conservation of professional manpower resources through the use of dental treatment teams employing expanded duty dental assistants. Dental Therapy Assistant (DTA) is the…

Bootstrapping in a Language of Thought: A Formal Model of Numerical Concept Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piantadosi, Steven T.; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.; Goodman, Noah D.

2012-01-01

In acquiring number words, children exhibit a qualitative leap in which they transition from understanding a few number words, to possessing a rich system of interrelated numerical concepts. We present a computational framework for understanding this inductive leap as the consequence of statistical inference over a sufficiently powerful…

Students' Understanding of Genetics Concepts: The Effect of Reasoning Ability and Learning Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiliç, Didem; Saglam, Necdet

2014-01-01

Students tend to learn genetics by rote and may not realise the interrelationships in daily life. Because reasoning abilities are necessary to construct relationships between concepts and rote learning impedes the students' sound understanding, it was predicted that having high level of formal reasoning and adopting meaningful learning orientation…

Glucose Transport in Cultured Animal Cells: An Exercise for the Undergraduate Cell Biology Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ledbetter, Mary Lee S.; Lippert, Malcolm J.

2002-01-01

Membrane transport is a fundamental concept that undergraduate students of cell biology understand better with laboratory experience. Formal teaching exercises commonly used to illustrate this concept are unbiological, qualitative, or intricate and time consuming to prepare. We have developed an exercise that uses uptake of radiolabeled nutrient…

Experiences applying Formal Approaches in the Development of Swarm-Based Space Exploration Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rouff, Christopher A.; Hinchey, Michael G.; Truszkowski, Walter F.; Rash, James L.

2006-01-01

NASA is researching advanced technologies for future exploration missions using intelligent swarms of robotic vehicles. One of these missions is the Autonomous Nan0 Technology Swarm (ANTS) mission that will explore the asteroid belt using 1,000 cooperative autonomous spacecraft. The emergent properties of intelligent swarms make it a potentially powerful concept, but at the same time more difficult to design and ensure that the proper behaviors will emerge. NASA is investigating formal methods and techniques for verification of such missions. The advantage of using formal methods is the ability to mathematically verify the behavior of a swarm, emergent or otherwise. Using the ANTS mission as a case study, we have evaluated multiple formal methods to determine their effectiveness in modeling and ensuring desired swarm behavior. This paper discusses the results of this evaluation and proposes an integrated formal method for ensuring correct behavior of future NASA intelligent swarms.

Antisymplectic gauge theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batalin, Igor; Marnelius, Robert

1998-02-01

A general field-antifield BV formalism for antisymplectic first class constraints is proposed. It is as general as the corresponding symplectic BFV-BRST formulation and it is demonstrated to be consistent with a previously proposed formalism for antisymplectic second class constraints through a generalized conversion to corresponding first class constraints. Thereby the basic concept of gauge symmetry is extended to apply to quite a new class of gauge theories potentially possible to exist.

Death and dignity in Catholic Christian thought.

PubMed

Sulmasy, Daniel P

2017-12-01

This article traces the history of the concept of dignity in Western thought, arguing that it became a formal Catholic theological concept only in the late nineteenth century. Three uses of the word are distinguished: intrinsic, attributed, and inflorescent dignity, of which, it is argued, the intrinsic conception is foundational. The moral norms associated with respect for intrinsic dignity are discussed briefly. The scriptural and theological bases for adopting the concept of dignity as a Christian idea are elucidated. The article concludes by discussing the relevance of this concept of dignity to the spiritual and ethical care of the dying.

Designing field-controllable graphene-dot-graphene single molecule switches: A quantum-theoretical proof-of-concept under realistic operating conditions

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

Pejov, Ljupčo, E-mail: ljupcop@pmf.ukim.mk; Petreska, Irina; Kocarev, Ljupčo

2015-12-28

A theoretical proof of the concept that a particularly designed graphene-based moletronics device, constituted by two semi-infinite graphene subunits, acting as source and drain electrodes, and a central benzenoid ring rotator (a “quantum dot”), could act as a field-controllable molecular switch is outlined and analyzed with the density functional theory approach. Besides the ideal (0 K) case, we also consider the operation of such a device under realistic operating (i.e., finite-temperature) conditions. An in-depth insight into the physics behind device controllability by an external field was gained by thorough analyses of the torsional potential of the dot under various conditionsmore » (absence or presence of an external gating field with varying strength), computing the torsional correlation time and transition probabilities within the Bloembergen-Purcell-Pound formalism. Both classical and quantum mechanical tunneling contributions to the intramolecular rotation were considered in the model. The main idea that we put forward in the present study is that intramolecular rotors can be controlled by the gating field even in cases when these groups do not possess a permanent dipole moment (as in cases considered previously by us [I. Petreska et al., J. Chem. Phys. 134, 014708-1–014708-12 (2011)] and also by other groups [P. E. Kornilovitch et al., Phys. Rev. B 66, 245413-1–245413-7 (2002)]). Consequently, one can control the molecular switching properties by an external electrostatic field utilizing even nonpolar intramolecular rotors (i.e., in a more general case than those considered so far). Molecular admittance of the currently considered graphene-based molecular switch under various conditions is analyzed employing non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism, as well as by analysis of frontier molecular orbitals’ behavior.« less

Critical Analysis of the Mathematical Formalism of Theoretical Physics. II. Foundations of Vector Calculus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalanov, Temur Z.

2014-03-01

A critical analysis of the foundations of standard vector calculus is proposed. The methodological basis of the analysis is the unity of formal logic and of rational dialectics. It is proved that the vector calculus is incorrect theory because: (a) it is not based on a correct methodological basis - the unity of formal logic and of rational dialectics; (b) it does not contain the correct definitions of ``movement,'' ``direction'' and ``vector'' (c) it does not take into consideration the dimensions of physical quantities (i.e., number names, denominate numbers, concrete numbers), characterizing the concept of ''physical vector,'' and, therefore, it has no natural-scientific meaning; (d) operations on ``physical vectors'' and the vector calculus propositions relating to the ''physical vectors'' are contrary to formal logic.

An Approach to Formalizing Ontology Driven Semantic Integration: Concepts, Dimensions and Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, Wenlong

2012-01-01

The ontology approach has been accepted as a very promising approach to semantic integration today. However, because of the diversity of focuses and its various connections to other research domains, the core concepts, theoretical and technical approaches, and research areas of this domain still remain unclear. Such ambiguity makes it difficult to…

Scientific Skills and Concept Learning by Rural Women for Personal and National Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agbo, Felicia Onyemowo; Isa, Ali A. Muluku

2017-01-01

This paper examined scientific skills and concept learning by rural women for personal and national development. The research design employed was a quasi-experimental, one-group pre-test and post-test design. A non-formal science program package to enhance and empower the rural women's knowledge and skills in their daily activities (nutrition,…

Governmental Immunity: Legal Basis and Implications for Public Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connors, Eugene T.

The concept of sovereign immunity in English law originated in both early canon law and the feudal system, became formalized in case law under King Henry II, and as the royal prerogative, became established into statutory law under King Henry VIII. This concept of governmental immunity was adopted by the states when the union was founded. The case…

Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Understanding of Quadrilaterals and the Internal Relationships between Quadrilaterals: The Case of Parallelograms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozakli Ulger, Tugce; Tapan Broutin, Menekse Seden

2017-01-01

This study attempts to reveal pre-service teachers' conceptions, definitions, and understanding of quadrilaterals and their internal relationships in terms of personal and formal figural concepts via case of the parallelograms. To collect data, an open-ended question was addressed to 27 pre-service mathematics teachers, and clinical interviews…

Assessment of Integrated Learning: Suggested Application of Concept Mapping to Prior Learning Assessment Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popova-Gonci, Viktoria; Lamb, Monica C.

2012-01-01

Prior learning assessment (PLA) students enter academia with different types of concepts--some of them have been formally accepted and labeled by academia and others are informally formulated by students via independent and/or experiential learning. The critical goal of PLA practices is to assess an intricate combination of prior learning…

Color, Temperature and Heat: Exploring University Students Mental Thoughts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canlas, Ian Phil

2016-01-01

Color, temperature and heat are among the concepts in science that are interconnected. These concepts are introduced to learners even before they enter the basic education. On the other hand, in school, it is formally introduced to them not only in science but also in the humanities. The foregoing study attempted to explore the mental thoughts of…

Learning in the Learner's Perspective. I. Some Common-Sense Conceptions. No. 76.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saljo, Roger

Ninety Swedish teenagers and adults with varying levels of formal education were interviewed about their own learning experiences and techniques. Subjects were then asked what they actually meant by learning. The concept was variously defined as: (1) an increase in knowledge (merely a synonym for the word learning); (2) memorizing; (3) an…

"Small Science": Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Science in Everyday Family Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sikder, Shukla; Fleer, Marilyn

2015-01-01

Vygotsky (1987) stated that the restructured form of everyday concepts learned at home and in the community interact with scientific concepts introduced in formal school settings, leading to a higher level of scientific thinking for school-aged children. But, what does this mean for the scientific learning of infants and toddlers? What kinds of…

Beginning School Math Competence: Minority and Majority Comparisons. Report No. 34.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Entwisle, Doris R.; Alexander, Karl L.

This paper uses a structural model with a large random sample of urban children to explain children's competence in math concepts and computation at the time they begin first grade. These two aspects of math ability respond differently to environmental resources, with math concepts much more responsive to family factors before formal schooling…

A general U-block model-based design procedure for nonlinear polynomial control systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Q. M.; Zhao, D. Y.; Zhang, Jianhua

2016-10-01

The proposition of U-model concept (in terms of 'providing concise and applicable solutions for complex problems') and a corresponding basic U-control design algorithm was originated in the first author's PhD thesis. The term of U-model appeared (not rigorously defined) for the first time in the first author's other journal paper, which established a framework for using linear polynomial control system design approaches to design nonlinear polynomial control systems (in brief, linear polynomial approaches → nonlinear polynomial plants). This paper represents the next milestone work - using linear state-space approaches to design nonlinear polynomial control systems (in brief, linear state-space approaches → nonlinear polynomial plants). The overall aim of the study is to establish a framework, defined as the U-block model, which provides a generic prototype for using linear state-space-based approaches to design the control systems with smooth nonlinear plants/processes described by polynomial models. For analysing the feasibility and effectiveness, sliding mode control design approach is selected as an exemplary case study. Numerical simulation studies provide a user-friendly step-by-step procedure for the readers/users with interest in their ad hoc applications. In formality, this is the first paper to present the U-model-oriented control system design in a formal way and to study the associated properties and theorems. The previous publications, in the main, have been algorithm-based studies and simulation demonstrations. In some sense, this paper can be treated as a landmark for the U-model-based research from intuitive/heuristic stage to rigour/formal/comprehensive studies.

Does CRM training work?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Helmreich, R. L.

1991-01-01

Formal cockpit resource management training in crew coordination concepts increases the percentage of crews rated as above average in performance and decreases the percentage of crews rated as below average.

Methods for Specifying Scientific Data Standards and Modeling Relationships with Applications to Neuroscience

PubMed Central

Rübel, Oliver; Dougherty, Max; Prabhat; Denes, Peter; Conant, David; Chang, Edward F.; Bouchard, Kristofer

2016-01-01

Neuroscience continues to experience a tremendous growth in data; in terms of the volume and variety of data, the velocity at which data is acquired, and in turn the veracity of data. These challenges are a serious impediment to sharing of data, analyses, and tools within and across labs. Here, we introduce BRAINformat, a novel data standardization framework for the design and management of scientific data formats. The BRAINformat library defines application-independent design concepts and modules that together create a general framework for standardization of scientific data. We describe the formal specification of scientific data standards, which facilitates sharing and verification of data and formats. We introduce the concept of Managed Objects, enabling semantic components of data formats to be specified as self-contained units, supporting modular and reusable design of data format components and file storage. We also introduce the novel concept of Relationship Attributes for modeling and use of semantic relationships between data objects. Based on these concepts we demonstrate the application of our framework to design and implement a standard format for electrophysiology data and show how data standardization and relationship-modeling facilitate data analysis and sharing. The format uses HDF5, enabling portable, scalable, and self-describing data storage and integration with modern high-performance computing for data-driven discovery. The BRAINformat library is open source, easy-to-use, and provides detailed user and developer documentation and is freely available at: https://bitbucket.org/oruebel/brainformat. PMID:27867355

The Issue of the Arrangement of New Environments for Science Education through Collaborative Actions between Schools, Museums and Science Centres in the Brazilian Context of Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monteiro, Bruno Andrade Pinto; Martins, Isabel; de Souza Janerine, Aline; de Carvalho, Fabiana Cristina

2016-01-01

We present, in this article, an investigation about the potential of the relationship between formal and non-formal educational environments. Therefore it is not an empirical research, but an essay on the topic. This paper demonstrates the concept that science education and science outreach can be privileged by actions that are developed by closer…

Work reservoirs in thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anacleto, Joaquim

2010-05-01

We stress the usefulness of the work reservoir in the formalism of thermodynamics, in particular in the context of the first law. To elucidate its usefulness, the formalism is then applied to the Joule expansion and other peculiar and instructive experimental situations, clarifying the concepts of configuration and dissipative work. The ideas and discussions presented in this study are primarily intended for undergraduate students, but they might also be useful to graduate students, researchers and teachers.

Does more education mean less disability in people with dementia? A large cross-sectional study in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Huang, Shih-Wei; Chi, Wen-Chou; Yen, Chia-Feng; Chang, Kwang-Hwa; Liao, Hua-Fang; Escorpizo, Reuben; Chang, Feng-Hang; Liou, Tsan-Hon

2017-01-01

Background WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a feasible tool for assessing functional disability and analysing the risk of institutionalisation among elderly patients with dementia. However, the data for the effect of education on disability status in patients with dementia is lacking. The aim of this large-scale, population-based study was to analyse the effect of education on the disability status of elderly Taiwanese patients with dementia by using WHODAS 2.0. Methods From the Taiwan Data Bank of Persons with Disability, we enrolled 7698 disabled elderly (older than 65 years) patients diagnosed with dementia between July 2012 and January 2014. According to their education status, we categorised these patients with and without formal education (3849 patients each). We controlled for the demographic variables through propensity score matching. The standardised scores of these patients in the six domains of WHODAS 2.0 were evaluated by certified interviewers. Student’s t-test was used for comparing the WHODAS 2.0 scores of patients with dementia in the two aforementioned groups. Poisson regression was applied for analysing the association among all the investigated variables. Results Patients with formal education had low disability status in the domains of getting along and social participation than did patients without formal education. Poisson regression revealed that standardised scores in all domains of WHODAS 2.0—except self-care—were associated with education status. Conclusions This study revealed lower disability status in the WHODAS 2.0 domains of getting along and social participation for patients with dementia with formal education compared with those without formal education. For patients with disability and dementia without formal education, community intervention of social participation should be implemented to maintain better social interaction ability. PMID:28473510

Extraction of phenotypic traits from taxonomic descriptions for the tree of life using natural language processing.

PubMed

Endara, Lorena; Cui, Hong; Burleigh, J Gordon

2018-03-01

Phenotypic data sets are necessary to elucidate the genealogy of life, but assembling phenotypic data for taxa across the tree of life can be technically challenging and prohibitively time consuming. We describe a semi-automated protocol to facilitate and expedite the assembly of phenotypic character matrices of plants from formal taxonomic descriptions. This pipeline uses new natural language processing (NLP) techniques and a glossary of over 9000 botanical terms. Our protocol includes the Explorer of Taxon Concepts (ETC), an online application that assembles taxon-by-character matrices from taxonomic descriptions, and MatrixConverter, a Java application that enables users to evaluate and discretize the characters extracted by ETC. We demonstrate this protocol using descriptions from Araucariaceae. The NLP pipeline unlocks the phenotypic data found in taxonomic descriptions and makes them usable for evolutionary analyses.

Crawling Creating Creatures On Beckett's liminal minds.

PubMed

Bernini, Marco

2015-01-01

The continuity and contiguity between animal and human beings in Beckett's work has been the subject of sustained critical attention. The recurring dehumanisation or degeneration of his characters' mental faculties and behaviours has largely been analysed as an 'ostensible animalization' of human nature - following a reading of the 'creaturely' spectrum as a regression from the human to the animal. In contrast, this article considers the creaturely level in Beckett's narrative as occupied by undeveloped human cognisers as opposed to (and sometimes rancorously opposing) fully fledged Humans. If Beckett's formal minimalism has been extensively foregrounded, this essay draws on contemporary cognitive science and phenomenology in order to define and examine what the author calls Beckett's cognitive liminalism - his literary exploration of liminal states of cognition and experience, of which the concept of the 'creature' constitutes a foundational element.

Elimination of interference from water in KBr disk FT-IR spectra of solid biomaterials by chemometrics solved with kinetic modeling.

PubMed

Gordon, Sherald H; Harry-O'kuru, Rogers E; Mohamed, Abdellatif A

2017-11-01

Infrared analysis of proteins and polysaccharides by the well known KBr disk technique is notoriously frustrated and defeated by absorbed water interference in the important amide and hydroxyl regions of spectra. This interference has too often been overlooked or ignored even when the resulting distortion is critical or even fatal, as in quantitative analyses of protein secondary structure, because the water has been impossible to measure or eliminate. Therefore, a new chemometric method was devised that corrects spectra of materials in KBr disks by mathematically eliminating the water interference. A new concept termed the Beer-Lambert law absorbance ratio (R-matrix) model was augmented with water concentration ratios computed via an exponential decay kinetic model of the water absorption process in KBr, which rendered the otherwise indeterminate system of linear equations determinate and thus possible to solve in a formal analytic manner. Consequently, the heretofore baffling KBr water elimination problem is now solved once and for all. Using the new formal solution, efforts to eliminate water interference from KBr disks in research will be defeated no longer. Resulting spectra of protein were much more accurate than attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectra corrected using the well-accepted Advanced ATR Correction Algorithm. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Comparison of rule induction, decision trees and formal concept analysis approaches for classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotelnikov, E. V.; Milov, V. R.

2018-05-01

Rule-based learning algorithms have higher transparency and easiness to interpret in comparison with neural networks and deep learning algorithms. These properties make it possible to effectively use such algorithms to solve descriptive tasks of data mining. The choice of an algorithm depends also on its ability to solve predictive tasks. The article compares the quality of the solution of the problems with binary and multiclass classification based on the experiments with six datasets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository. The authors investigate three algorithms: Ripper (rule induction), C4.5 (decision trees), In-Close (formal concept analysis). The results of the experiments show that In-Close demonstrates the best quality of classification in comparison with Ripper and C4.5, however the latter two generate more compact rule sets.

Why Data Citation Currently Misses the Point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, M. A.; Fox, P. A.

2014-12-01

The concept of data citation is as old as the concept of citation itself. Yet with the birth of digital data, researchers largely stopped formally citing specific data sets. Over the last couple of decades, the data management community has worked to codify data citation practices and associated technologies such as persistent identifiers and automated indices. Nonetheless, digital data sets are rarely cited formally. There are myriad reasons for this, but we believe one problem is that data managers expect too much from data citation and assume false parallels to literature citation. We believe there needs to be a close examination of the purpose as well as practice of data citation, and a careful separation of concerns. We will present some initial ideas and then engage the audience in an open conversation on the topic.

On Discerning Critical Elements, Relationships and Shifts in Attaining Scientific Terms: The Challenge of Polysemy/Homonymy and Reference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strömdahl, Helge R.

2012-01-01

Words with well-known meaning in colloquial language often make up an educational challenge when introduced as terms with formal scientific meaning. New connections must be established between the word, already constrained by existing meaning and reference, and the intended formal scientific meaning and reference. A two-dimensional semantic/semiotic analysing schema (acronym 2-D SAS) has been developed to clarify a given word/term in a structured mode both according to non-formal senses and referents and formal scientific meaning and referents. The schema is constructed on ideas from semantics, semiotics and history and philosophy of science. The approach is supposed to be a contribution to make a fine-gained analysis of the structure and dynamics of conceptual change. The role of referents and referent change in conceptual change is highlighted by analysing the character of the recurrent mix-up of the terms heat and temperature among students at different educational levels.

A New Replicator: A theoretical framework for analysing replication

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Replicators are the crucial entities in evolution. The notion of a replicator, however, is far less exact than the weight of its importance. Without identifying and classifying multiplying entities exactly, their dynamics cannot be determined appropriately. Therefore, it is importance to decide the nature and characteristics of any multiplying entity, in a detailed and formal way. Results Replication is basically an autocatalytic process which enables us to rest on the notions of formal chemistry. This statement has major implications. Simple autocatalytic cycle intermediates are considered as non-informational replicators. A consequence of which is that any autocatalytically multiplying entity is a replicator, be it simple or overly complex (even nests). A stricter definition refers to entities which can inherit acquired changes (informational replicators). Simple autocatalytic molecules (and nests) are excluded from this group. However, in turn, any entity possessing copiable information is to be named a replicator, even multicellular organisms. In order to deal with the situation, an abstract, formal framework is presented, which allows the proper identification of various types of replicators. This sheds light on the old problem of the units and levels of selection and evolution. A hierarchical classification for the partition of the replicator-continuum is provided where specific replicators are nested within more general ones. The classification should be able to be successfully applied to known replicators and also to future candidates. Conclusion This paper redefines the concept of the replicator from a bottom-up theoretical approach. The formal definition and the abstract models presented can distinguish between among all possible replicator types, based on their quantity of variable and heritable information. This allows for the exact identification of various replicator types and their underlying dynamics. The most important claim is that replication, in general, is basically autocatalysis, with a specific defined environment and selective force. A replicator is not valid unless its working environment, and the selective force to which it is subject, is specified. PMID:20219099

First steps in designing an all-in-one ICT-based device for persons with cognitive impairment: evaluation of the first mock-up.

PubMed

Boman, Inga-Lill; Persson, Ann-Christine; Bartfai, Aniko

2016-03-07

This project Smart Assisted Living involving Informal careGivers++ (SALIG) intends to develop an ICT-based device for persons with cognitive impairment combined with remote support possibilities for significant others and formal caregivers. This paper presents the identification of the target groups' needs and requirements of such device and the evaluation of the first mock-up, demonstrated in a tablet. The inclusive design method that includes end-users in the design process was chosen. First, a scoping review was conducted in order to examine the target group's need of an ICT-based device, and to gather recommendations regarding its design and functionalities. In order to capture the users' requirements of the design and functionalities of the device three targeted focus groups were conducted. Based on the findings from the publications and the focus groups a user requirement specification was developed. After that a design concept and a first mock-up was developed in an iterative process. The mock-up was evaluated through interviews with persons with cognitive impairment, health care professionals and significant others. Data were analysed using content analysis. Several useful recommendations of the design and functionalities of the SALIG device for persons with cognitive impairment were identified. The main benefit of the mock-up was that it was a single device with a set of functionalities installed on a tablet and designed for persons with cognitive impairment. An additional benefit was that it could be used remotely by significant others and formal caregivers. The SALIG device has the potentials to facilitate everyday life for persons with cognitive impairment, their significant others and the work situation for formal caregivers. The results may provide guidance in the development of different types of technologies for the target population and for people with diverse disabilities. Further work will focus on developing a prototype to be empirically tested by persons with cognitive impairment, their significant others and formal caregivers.

Instructional Strategies to Promote Conceptual Change about Force and Motion: A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomaraa, Marina; Tselfes, Vassilis; Goucos, Dimitris

2017-01-01

During the last four decades, the results of a great deal of research have indicated that, prior to any formal instruction in physics, students hold scientifically incorrect ideas about physics concepts in general, and about the force and motion concepts in particular, the latter being considered central in science teaching. To these days,…

Mental Disabilities in Western Civilization from Ancient Rome to the Prerogativa Regis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berkson, Gershon

2006-01-01

A preliminary survey of formal concepts of "disability" from the Twelve Tables of Rome of the 5th century BCE to the Prerogativa Regis in English law of the late 13th century CE is presented. Firm conclusions are restricted by problems in translation and other limitations in available data. However, it appears that the concept of…

Children's Conceptions about the Origin of Species: A Study of Italian Children's Conceptions with and without Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berti, Anna Emilia; Toneatti, Laura; Rosati, Veronica

2010-01-01

Investigations of people's understanding of the evolution of species have focused mainly on secondary school and university students. Very few investigations have taken into consideration younger students, and none have related children's ideas about the origin of species to formal instruction on this topic. To help fill this gap, the present…

A Study on the Views of Preschool Teachers and Teacher Candidates about the Concepts of Learning and Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erkan, Semra; Akyol, Tugçe

2017-01-01

This study was conducted in order to examine the views of preschool teachers and teacher candidates about the concepts of learning and participation, and to explore how they perceive the relationship between the two. The study group comprised of 10 preschool teachers working at formal preschools located in Afyonkarahisar and affiliated with the…

Climate Change Science: The Literacy of Geography Teachers in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anyanwu, Raymond; Le Grange, Lesley; Beets, Peter

2015-01-01

One of the universal responses to tackling global climate change is teaching climate change concepts at all levels of formal education. This response requires, among other things, teachers who are fully literate about climate change science, so that they can explain the concepts underlying the causes, impacts and solutions of climate change as…

Third-Graders' Conceptions about the Origin of Species before and after Instruction: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berti, Anna Emilia; Barbetta, Valentina; Toneatti, Laura

2017-01-01

This study examines how third-graders' conceptions about the origin of species are affected by formal instruction and whether children can learn not only about evolution but also about natural selection. We interviewed the same group of third-grade children (8-9 years old) twice, before and after following a curriculum about these topics.…

Quality of haemophilia care in The Netherlands: new standards for optimal care.

PubMed

Leebeek, Frank W G; Fischer, Kathelijn

2014-04-01

In the Netherlands, the first formal haemophilia comprehensive care centre was established in 1964, and Dutch haemophilia doctors have been organised since 1972. Although several steps were taken to centralise haemophilia care and maintain quality of care, treatment was still delivered in many hospitals, and formal criteria for haemophilia treatment centres as well as a national haemophilia registry were lacking. In collaboration with patients and other stakeholders, Dutch haemophilia doctors have undertaken a formal process to draft new quality standards for the haemophilia treatment centres. First a project group including doctors, nurses, patients and the institute for harmonisation of quality standards undertook a literature study on quality standards and performed explorative visits to several haemophilia treatment centres in the Netherlands. Afterwards concept standards were defined and validated in two treatment centres. Next, the concept standards were evaluated by haemophilia doctors, patients, health insurance representatives and regulators. Finally, the final version of the standards of care was approved by Central body of Experts on quality standards in clinical care and the Dutch Ministry of Health. A team of expert auditors have been trained and, together with an independent auditor, will perform audits in haemophilia centres applying for formal certification. Concomitantly, a national registry for haemophilia and allied disorders is being set up. It is expected that these processes will lead to further concentration and improved quality of haemophilia care in the Netherlands.

Understanding visualization: a formal approach using category theory and semiotics.

PubMed

Vickers, Paul; Faith, Joe; Rossiter, Nick

2013-06-01

This paper combines the vocabulary of semiotics and category theory to provide a formal analysis of visualization. It shows how familiar processes of visualization fit the semiotic frameworks of both Saussure and Peirce, and extends these structures using the tools of category theory to provide a general framework for understanding visualization in practice, including: Relationships between systems, data collected from those systems, renderings of those data in the form of representations, the reading of those representations to create visualizations, and the use of those visualizations to create knowledge and understanding of the system under inspection. The resulting framework is validated by demonstrating how familiar information visualization concepts (such as literalness, sensitivity, redundancy, ambiguity, generalizability, and chart junk) arise naturally from it and can be defined formally and precisely. This paper generalizes previous work on the formal characterization of visualization by, inter alia, Ziemkiewicz and Kosara and allows us to formally distinguish properties of the visualization process that previous work does not.

Limits via Graphing Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gass, Frederick

1992-01-01

Discusses the rationale and a method for the instructional use of graphing calculators as an intermediary step between the intuitive notion of the concept of a limit and its formal epsilon-delta definition. (JJK)

International Workshop on Principles of Program Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-01

with respect to a semantics of the programming language. It is a sad fact that new program analyses often contain subtle bugs, and a formal ... It defines a higher-order function f with formal parameter x and body x 1; then it defines two functions g and h that are given as actual parameters...begin by presenting a formal semantics for WHILE. The material of this section may be skimmed through on a first reading; however, it is frequently

Transportation systems health : concepts, applications & significance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-12-01

This report offers conceptual and analytical frameworks and application examples to address the question: how can broader statewide (or national) objectives be achieved while formally taking into consideration different regional priorities and constr...

The mathematics textbook at tertiary level as curriculum material - exploring the teacher's decision-making process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Randahl, Mira

2016-08-01

This paper reports on a study about how the mathematics textbook was perceived and used by the teacher in the context of a calculus part of a basic mathematics course for first-year engineering students. The focus was on the teacher's choices and the use of definitions, examples and exercises in a sequence of lectures introducing the derivative concept. Data were collected during observations of lectures and an interview, and informal talks with the teacher. The introduction and the treatment of the derivative as proposed by the teacher during the lectures were analysed in relation to the results of the content text analysis of the textbook. The teacher's decisions were explored through the lens of intended learning goals for engineering students taking the mathematics course. The results showed that the sequence of concepts and the formal introduction of the derivative as proposed by the textbook were closely followed during the lectures. The examples and tasks offered to the students focused strongly on procedural knowledge. Although the textbook proposes both examples and exercises that promote conceptual knowledge, these opportunities were not fully utilized during the observed lectures. Possible reasons for the teacher's choices and decisions are discussed.

Towards sustainable structures for neighbourhood development? Healthy city research in four Swedish municipalities 2003-2009.

PubMed

Fröding, Karin; Geidne, Jonny; Elander, Ingemar; Eriksson, Charli

2013-01-01

A vehicle to reduce health inequalities and improve public health has been provided by programmes at a neighbourhood level. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development processes in four municipalities for achieving sustainable structures in area-based development programmes during and after a formal partnership period. A case-study database was compiled based on the strategic and local work of four municipalities and four municipal housing companies who cooperated in the Partnership for Sustainable Welfare Development 2003-2009. The case-study database includes nine in-depth studies with interviews (n = 68), participant observations (n = 125), a survey (n = 1,160), and documents. The data are analysed using three theoretical concepts: political support, alliances, and citizen participation. Political support, alliances, and citizen participation are important building blocks in neighbourhood development work. However, when the partnership ended there was little left that could function as a sustainable structure. Political support seems to be a means to reach the target, including ensuring a consistent approach and allocation of resources. However, the support must continue also after the intervention period, when the formal partnership collaboration ends, otherwise the established structure will soon decompose. Citizen participation is another precondition for a sustainable structure able to continue despite reduced municipal support. Alliances have the best chance of forming sustainable structures when they involve both the strategic and the operational level. Even though many evaluations have been conducted to capture the process of interventions, little attention has been given to the challenges facing the outcomes of the intervention when it comes to making permanent the activities for reducing health inequalities. This paper is an attempt to deal with these challenges.

The inner formal structure of the H-T-P drawings: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Vass, Z

1998-08-01

The study describes some interrelated patterns of traits of the House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) drawings with the instruments of hierarchical cluster analysis. First, according to the literature 1 7 formal or structural aspects of the projective drawings were collected, after which a detailed manual for coding was compiled. Second, the interrater reliability and the consistency of this manual was tested. Third, the hierarchical cluster structure of the reliable and consistent formal aspects was analysed. Results are: (a) a psychometrically tested coding manual of the investigated formal-structural aspects, each of them illustrated with drawings that showed the highest interrater agreement; and (b) the hierarchic cluster structure of the formal aspects of the H-T-P drawings of "normal" adults.

The Concept of Practice, Enlightenment Rationality and Education: A Speculative Reading of Michel de Certeau's "The Writing of History"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giles, Graham

2014-01-01

This article proposes a reading of Michel de Certeau's "The Writing of History" which derives an understanding of the concept of practice as authoritative to the establishment and development of Enlightenment rationality. It is seen as a new form of legitimation established in the redeployment of religious "formalities" in…

Human Resource Accounting.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

costs . The goal of this thesis is to help the Portuguese Navy in formulating a formal and coherent approach to its human resource accounting , and in so...ABSTRACT Human Resource Accounting means accounting for people as an organizational asset. It is the measurement of the cost and value of people to the...29 II.HUMAN RESOURCE COSTS . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A. CONCEPTS OF COST AND MEASUREMENT METHODS . . . 30 1. Accounting Concepts of Costs

Scaling-up Sustainable Land Management Practices through the Concept of the Rural Resource Centre: Reconciling Farmers' Interests with Research Agendas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takoutsing, Bertin; Tchoundjeu, Zacharie; Degrande, Ann; Asaah, Ebenezar; Tsobeng, Alain

2014-01-01

Purpose: Formal agricultural research has generated vast amount of knowledge and fundamental insights on land management, but their low adoption has been attributed to the use of public extension approach. This research aims to address whether and how full participation of farmers through the concept of Rural Resource Centre (RRC) provides new…

Engagement, Passivity and Detachment: 16-Year-Old Students' Conceptions of Politics and the Relationship between People and Politics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathé, Nora Elise Hesby

2018-01-01

While there is a wealth of literature on young people and politics, most studies have examined their interest, trust and participation in politics as well as their attitudes toward and knowledge about formal politics. Little is known, however, about young people and the concept of politics. This article investigates 16-year-old students'…

A Didactic Proposed for Teaching the Concepts of Electrons and Light in Secondary School Using Feynman's Path Sum Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fanaro, Maria de los Angeles; Arlego, Marcelo; Otero, Maria Rita

2012-01-01

This work comprises an investigation about basic Quantum Mechanics (QM) teaching in the high school. The organization of the concepts does not follow a historical line. The Path Integrals method of Feynman has been adopted as a Reference Conceptual Structure that is an alternative to the canonical formalism. We have designed a didactic sequence…

Preliminary definition and evaluation of advanced space concepts. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bekey, I.

1978-01-01

A study was made to develop the characteristics, cost, and performance of a few of the more attractive application concepts, and to compare them against leading terrestrial alternatives, in order to determine their potential, identify those deserving further NASA attention and possible inclusion into the formal development planning sequence, and serve to initiate a dialogue with the using community and agencies.

Individual Differences in Attention.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

allocatable mental resouce has received con- siderable attention in experimental psychology, but little effort has been made to formally apply the concept...presentation will be In four sections. The first contains a dis- cussion of the concept of attentional resources as it has been developed by experimental ...reports experimental results which pertain to this model. A closing Attention 3 section deals with further implications of the basic ideas. THE RESOURCE

On introduction of artificial intelligence elements to heat power engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dregalin, A. F.; Nazyrova, R. R.

1993-10-01

The basic problems of 'the thermodynamic intelligence' of personal computers have been outlined. The thermodynamic intellect of personal computers as a concept has been introduced to heat processes occurring in engines of flying vehicles. In particular, the thermodynamic intellect of computers is determined by the possibility of deriving formal relationships between thermodynamic functions. In chemical thermodynamics, a concept of a characteristic function has been introduced.

Rule-following as an Anticipatory Act: Interaction in Second Person and an Internal Measurement Model of Dialogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Tatsuji; Gunji, Yukio-Pegio

2008-10-01

We pursue anticipation in second person or normative anticipation. As the first step, we make the three concepts second person, internal measurement and asynchroneity clearer by introducing the velocity of logic νl and the velocity of communication νc, in the context of social communication. After proving anticipatory nature of rule-following or language use in general via Kripke's "rule-following paradox," we present a mathematical model expressing the internality essential to second person, taking advantage of equivalences and differences in the formal language theory. As a consequence, we show some advantages of negatively considered concepts and arguments by concretizing them into an elementary and explicit formal model. The time development of the model shows a self-organizing property which never results if we adopt a third person stance.

Conceptualizing the Structure of Coupled Estuary, Coast and Inner Shelf Sediment Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, J.; Burningham, H.

2013-12-01

The concept of the coastal cell has endured for 50 years as a geomorphological framework for coastal engineering and management. Cells are readily defined for coasts dominated by alongshore transport of beach-grade material, but the concept struggles to accommodate long range cohesive sediment fluxes. Moreover, the challenges of predicting, understanding and mitigating climate change impacts at the coast demand a richer conceptualization that embraces the connectedness of open coasts with estuaries and the inner shelf at broader scales and that also acknowledges the extent of anthropogenic control. Accordingly, this paper presents a new approach that re-engages with formal systems analysis and restores a geomorphological focus to coastal management problems that have latterly been tackled primarily by engineers. At the heart of this approach is an ontology of landforms and interventions (both structural and non-structural) that is partly inspired by the coastal tract concept and its temporal hierarchy of sediment sharing systems, but which also emphasizes a spatial hierarchy in scale, from coastal regions, through landform complexes, to landforms and human interventions. The complex web of interactions is represented through an influence network in which a sub-set of mass transfer pathways define the sediment system. Guided by a machine-readable ontology and produced within a geospatial framework, such system ';maps' can be utilized in several ways. First, their generation constitutes a form of knowledge formalization in which disparate sources of information (published research, data etc) are generalized into usable knowledge. Second, system maps also provide a repository for more quantitative analyses and system-level modelling at the scales that really matter. Third, they can also be analyzed using methods derived from graph theory to yield potentially valuable insights into the scale linkages that govern the mutual adjustment of estuary, coast and inner shelf morphology and their implications for the development of quantitative models able to capture such behaviour. Illustrative results, produced as a contribution to the NERC Integrated Coastal Sediment Systems (iCOASST) project, are presented for demonstration regions in Liverpool Bay and Suffolk, UK.

The collaboration of general practitioners and nurses in primary care: a comparative analysis of concepts and practices in Slovenia and Spain.

PubMed

Hämel, Kerstin; Vössing, Carina

2017-09-01

Aim A comparative analysis of concepts and practices of GP-nurse collaborations in primary health centres in Slovenia and Spain. Cross-professional collaboration is considered a key element for providing high-quality comprehensive care by combining the expertise of various professions. In many countries, nurses are also being given new and more extensive responsibilities. Implemented concepts of collaborative care need to be analysed within the context of care concepts, organisational structures, and effective collaboration. Background review of primary care concepts (literature analysis, expert interviews), and evaluation of collaboration in 'best practice' health centres in certain regions of Slovenia and Spain. Qualitative content analysis of expert interviews, presentations, observations, and group discussions with professionals and health centre managers. Findings In Slovenian health centres, the collaboration between GPs and nurses has been strongly shaped by their organisation in separate care units and predominantly case-oriented functions. Conventional power structures between professions hinder effective collaboration. The introduction of a new cross-professional primary care concept has integrated advanced practice nurses into general practice. Conventional hierarchies still exist, but a shared vision of preventive care is gradually strengthening attitudes towards team-oriented care. Formal regulations or incentives for teamwork have yet to be implemented. In Spain, health centres were established along with a team-based care concept that encompasses close physician-nurse collaboration and an autonomous role for nurses in the care process. Nurses collaborate with GPs on more equal terms with conflicts centring on professional disagreements. Team development structures and financial incentives for team achievements have been implemented, encouraging teams to generate their own strategies to improve teamwork. Clearly defined structures, shared visions of care and team development are important for implementing and maintaining a good collaboration. Central prerequisites are advanced nursing education and greater acceptance of advanced nursing practice.

Development of structured ICD-10 and its application to computer-assisted ICD coding.

PubMed

Imai, Takeshi; Kajino, Masayuki; Sato, Megumi; Ohe, Kazuhiko

2010-01-01

This paper presents: (1) a framework of formal representation of ICD10, which functions as a bridge between ontological information and natural language expressions; and (2) a methodology to use formally described ICD10 for computer-assisted ICD coding. First, we analyzed and structurized the meanings of categories in 15 chapters of ICD10. Then we expanded the structured ICD10 (S-ICD10) by adding subordinate concepts and labels derived from Japanese Standard Disease Names. The information model to describe formal representation was refined repeatedly. The resultant model includes 74 types of semantic links. We also developed an ICD coding module based on S-ICD10 and a 'Coding Principle,' which achieved high accuracy (>70%) for four chapters. These results not only demonstrate the basic feasibility of our coding framework but might also inform the development of the information model for formal description framework in the ICD11 revision.

Patient safety in nursing education: contexts, tensions and feeling safe to learn.

PubMed

Steven, Alison; Magnusson, Carin; Smith, Pam; Pearson, Pauline H

2014-02-01

Education is crucial to how nurses practice, talk and write about keeping patients safe. The aim of this multisite study was to explore the formal and informal ways the pre-registration medical, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy students learn about patient safety. This paper focuses on findings from nursing. A multi-method design underpinned by the concept of knowledge contexts and illuminative evaluation was employed. Scoping of nursing curricula from four UK university programmes was followed by in-depth case studies of two programmes. Scoping involved analysing curriculum documents and interviews with 8 programme leaders. Case-study data collection included focus groups (24 students, 12 qualified nurses, 6 service users); practice placement observation (4 episodes=19 hrs) and interviews (4 Health Service managers). Within academic contexts patient safety was not visible as a curricular theme: programme leaders struggled to define it and some felt labelling to be problematic. Litigation and the risk of losing authorisation to practise were drivers to update safety in the programmes. Students reported being taught idealised skills in university with an emphasis on 'what not to do'. In organisational contexts patient safety was conceptualised as a complicated problem, addressed via strategies, systems and procedures. A tension emerged between creating a 'no blame' culture and performance management. Few formal mechanisms appeared to exist for students to learn about organisational systems and procedures. In practice, students learnt by observing staff who acted as variable role models; challenging practice was problematic, since they needed to 'fit in' and mentors were viewed as deciding whether they passed or failed their placements. The study highlights tensions both between and across contexts, which link to formal and informal patient safety education and impact negatively on students' feelings of emotional safety in their learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Summary of Results from the Risk Management Program for the Mars Microrover Flight Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shishko, Robert; Matijevic, Jacob R.

2000-01-01

On 4 July 1997, the Mars Pathfinder landed on the surface of Mars carrying the first planetary rover, known as the Sojourner. Formally known as the Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX), the Sojourner was a low cost, high-risk technology demonstration, in which new risk management techniques were tried. This paper summarizes the activities and results of the effort to conduct a low-cost, yet meaningful risk management program for the MFEX. The specific activities focused on cost, performance, schedule, and operations risks. Just as the systems engineering process was iterative and produced successive refinements of requirements, designs, etc., so was the risk management process. Qualitative risk assessments were performed first to gain some insights for refining the microrover design and operations concept. These then evolved into more quantitative analyses. Risk management lessons from the manager's perspective is presented for other low-cost, high-risk space missions.

Crawling Creating Creatures On Beckett’s liminal minds

PubMed Central

Bernini, Marco

2018-01-01

The continuity and contiguity between animal and human beings in Beckett’s work has been the subject of sustained critical attention. The recurring dehumanisation or degeneration of his characters’ mental faculties and behaviours has largely been analysed as an ‘ostensible animalization’ of human nature – following a reading of the ‘creaturely’ spectrum as a regression from the human to the animal. In contrast, this article considers the creaturely level in Beckett’s narrative as occupied by undeveloped human cognisers as opposed to (and sometimes rancorously opposing) fully fledged Humans. If Beckett’s formal minimalism has been extensively foregrounded, this essay draws on contemporary cognitive science and phenomenology in order to define and examine what the author calls Beckett’s cognitive liminalism – his literary exploration of liminal states of cognition and experience, of which the concept of the ‘creature’ constitutes a foundational element. PMID:29670458

Testing For Measurement Invariance of Attachment Across Chinese and American Adolescent Samples.

PubMed

Ren, Ling; Zhao, Jihong Solomon; He, Ni Phil; Marshall, Ineke Haen; Zhang, Hongwei; Zhao, Ruohui; Jin, Cheng

2016-06-01

Adolescent attachment to formal and informal institutions has emerged as a major focus of criminological theories since the publication of Hirschi's work in 1969. This study attempts to examine the psychometric equivalence of the factorial structure of attachment measures across nations reflecting Western and Eastern cultures. Twelve manifest variables are used tapping the concepts of adolescent attachment to parents, school, and neighborhood. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to conduct invariance test across approximately 3,000 Chinese and U.S. adolescents. Results provide strong support for a three-factor model; the multigroup invariance tests reveal mixed results. While the family attachment measure appears invariant between the two samples, significant differences in the coefficients of the factor loadings are detected in the school attachment and neighborhood attachment measures. The results of regression analyses lend support to the predictive validity of three types of attachment. Finally, the limitations of the study are discussed. © The Author(s) 2015.

A Spatial Dashboard for Alzheimer's Disease in New South Wales.

PubMed

Robertson, Hamish; Nicholas, Nick; Dhagat, Amit; Travaglia, Joanne

2017-01-01

This paper illustrates a proof of concept scenario for the application of comprehensive data visualisation methods in the rapidly changing aged care sector. The scenario we explored is population ageing and the dementias with an emphasis on the spatial effects of change over time at the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) level for the state of New South Wales. We did this using a combination of methods, culminating in the use of the Tableau software environment to explore the intersections of demography, epidemiology and their formal cost of care implications. In addition, we briefly illustrate how key infrastructure data can be included in the same data management context by showing how service providers can be integrated and mapped in conjunction with other analyses. This is an innovative and practical approach to some of the complex issues already faced in the health and aged care sectors which can only become more pronounced as population ageing progresses.

Kron-Branin modelling of ultra-short pulsed signal microelectrode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Zhifei; Ravelo, Blaise; Liu, Yang; Zhao, Lu; Delaroche, Fabien; Vurpillot, Francois

2018-06-01

An uncommon circuit modelling of microelectrode for ultra-short signal propagation is developed. The proposed model is based on the Tensorial Analysis of Network (TAN) using the Kron-Branin (KB) formalism. The systemic graph topology equivalent to the considered structure problem is established by assuming as unknown variables the branch currents. The TAN mathematical solution is determined after the KB characteristic matrix identification. The TAN can integrate various structure physical parameters. As proof of concept, via hole ended microelectrodes implemented on Kapton substrate were designed, fabricated and tested. The 0.1-MHz-to-6-GHz S-parameter KB model, simulation and measurement are in good agreement. In addition, time-domain analyses with nanosecond duration pulse signals were carried out to predict the microelectrode signal integrity. The modelled microstrip electrode is usually integrated in the atom probe tomography. The proposed unfamiliar KB method is particularly beneficial with respect to the computation speed and adaptability to various structures.

Virtues and humanitarian ethics.

PubMed

Löfquist, Lars

2017-01-01

This paper analyses the contribution of virtue ethics, the study of good character traits, to the humanitarian context. It argues that a virtue ethics perspective paints a realistic picture of the use of ethical standards in morally complex circumstances. Virtuous relief workers can employ standards in their thinking, but they are also committed to professional excellence that goes beyond any formal code. The concept of virtue ethics places a stress on moral development, which can be facilitated by role models that impart modest and feasible ideals. However, virtue ethics cannot provide simple guidelines on how to resolve difficult situations. It is possible that two virtuous persons can disagree on what should be done in a particular instance. In addition, a virtue ethics perspective emphasises the need for both individuals and organisations to discuss the actual purpose of relief work in order to pinpoint the virtues of a good relief professional. © 2017 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2017.

Team X Report #1401: Exoplanet Coronagraph STDT Study 2013-06

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warfield, Keith

2013-01-01

This document is intended to stimulate discussion of the topic described. All technical and cost analyses are preliminary. This document is not a commitment to work, but is a precursor to a formal proposal if it generates sufficient mutual interest. The data contained in this document may not be modified in any way. Cost estimates described or summarized in this document were generated as part of a preliminary, first-order cost class identification as part of an early trade space study, are based on JPL-internal parametric cost modeling, assume a JPL in-house build, and do not constitute a commitment on the part of JPL or Caltech. JPL and Team X add cost reserves for development and operations. Unadjusted estimate totals and cost reserve allocations would be revised as needed in future more-detailed studies as appropriate for the specific cost-risks for a given mission concept.

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

Unalan, Dilek, E-mail: unaland@cf.ac.u; Cowell, Richard

This paper analyses the adoption of the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (2001/42/EC) in Turkey as part of a programme of environmental policy harmonisation for EU accession, to explore the extent to which this is driving wider shifts in modes of environmental governance. To do this, rather than simply assess compliance with Directive in narrow, formal, statutory terms, we use Jaenicke and Weidner's concept of capacity building, which focuses on the constraints facing societal action to promote sustainable development. Despite the resources invested in pre-accession training and pilot SEA projects, Turkey's adoption of the Directive is still likely to bemore » affected by the centralised nature of the bureaucracy (affecting the scope for sectoral integration), its politicised nature (interrupting the accumulation of policy learning), the limited capacity of civil society and environmental organisations to engage with the process, and the political dominance of economic development objectives.« less

Non-Formal Education Implementations in Turkey: Issues and Latest Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bilir, Mehmet

2007-01-01

The aim of this article is to analyse the latest implementations and issues raised in Turkish non-formal education from a historical perspective in Turkey. The high population rate and lack of adequate educational opportunities for adults and migration from rural areas to urban areas caused many educational, social and cultural problems in…

Epiphany? A Case Study of Learner-Centredness in Educational Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talbot, Martin

2009-01-01

Graduate medical trainees in the UK appreciate mentors who demonstrate learner-centredness as modelled by Rogers. This case study was undertaken to examine how, in one instance, learner-centred may be supervision within the tight confines of a formal, competency-based programme of training. Four formal interviews (in 18 months), were analysed to…

Formative Assessment Probes: Is It Erosion or Weathering?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keeley, Page

2016-01-01

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. The formative assessment probe in this month's issue can be used as an initial elicitation before students are introduced to the formal concepts of weathering and erosion.

Weyl gravitoelectromagnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramos, J.; de Montigny, M.; Khanna, F. C.

2018-07-01

We study the gauge transformation in the context of gravitoelectromagnetism and introduce a new expression for the phase factor. Using these concepts and with the principle of local gauge invariance applied to physical theories, a formal derivation of gravitoelectromagnetism is obtained.

A Natural Language Interface Concordant with a Knowledge Base.

PubMed

Han, Yong-Jin; Park, Seong-Bae; Park, Se-Young

2016-01-01

The discordance between expressions interpretable by a natural language interface (NLI) system and those answerable by a knowledge base is a critical problem in the field of NLIs. In order to solve this discordance problem, this paper proposes a method to translate natural language questions into formal queries that can be generated from a graph-based knowledge base. The proposed method considers a subgraph of a knowledge base as a formal query. Thus, all formal queries corresponding to a concept or a predicate in the knowledge base can be generated prior to query time and all possible natural language expressions corresponding to each formal query can also be collected in advance. A natural language expression has a one-to-one mapping with a formal query. Hence, a natural language question is translated into a formal query by matching the question with the most appropriate natural language expression. If the confidence of this matching is not sufficiently high the proposed method rejects the question and does not answer it. Multipredicate queries are processed by regarding them as a set of collected expressions. The experimental results show that the proposed method thoroughly handles answerable questions from the knowledge base and rejects unanswerable ones effectively.

Developing conceptions of food and nutrition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Francis, Rod; Hill, Doug

1993-12-01

This paper describes an investigation of concepts that various groups hold about food and nutrition. Groups investigated were students in Years 4 and 8, university students in a BEd (primary) program and parents of the Year 4 students. It was found that for many important concepts relating to food selection, the basic ideas of each group were surprisingly consistent, despite the influence of formal education. In particular, misconception about energy and its role in nutrition and particular food groups was an important finding. Implications for school and community education are drawn from the results.

A Formal Investigation of Human Spatial Control Skills: Mathematical Formalization, Skill Development, and Skill Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bin

Spatial control behaviors account for a large proportion of human everyday activities from normal daily tasks, such as reaching for objects, to specialized tasks, such as driving, surgery, or operating equipment. These behaviors involve intensive interactions within internal processes (i.e. cognitive, perceptual, and motor control) and with the physical world. This dissertation builds on a concept of interaction pattern and a hierarchical functional model. Interaction pattern represents a type of behavior synergy that humans coordinates cognitive, perceptual, and motor control processes. It contributes to the construction of the hierarchical functional model that delineates humans spatial control behaviors as the coordination of three functional subsystems: planning, guidance, and tracking/pursuit. This dissertation formalizes and validates these two theories and extends them for the investigation of human spatial control skills encompassing development and assessment. Specifically, this dissertation first presents an overview of studies in human spatial control skills encompassing definition, characteristic, development, and assessment, to provide theoretical evidence for the concept of interaction pattern and the hierarchical functional model. The following, the human experiments for collecting motion and gaze data and techniques to register and classify gaze data, are described. This dissertation then elaborates and mathematically formalizes the hierarchical functional model and the concept of interaction pattern. These theories then enables the construction of a succinct simulation model that can reproduce a variety of human performance with a minimal set of hypotheses. This validates the hierarchical functional model as a normative framework for interpreting human spatial control behaviors. The dissertation then investigates human skill development and captures the emergence of interaction pattern. The final part of the dissertation applies the hierarchical functional model for skill assessment and introduces techniques to capture interaction patterns both from the top down using their geometric features and from the bottom up using their dynamical characteristics. The validity and generality of the skill assessment is illustrated using two the remote-control flight and laparoscopic surgical training experiments.

On the Formal Verification of Conflict Detection Algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz, Cesar; Butler, Ricky W.; Carreno, Victor A.; Dowek, Gilles

2001-01-01

Safety assessment of new air traffic management systems is a main issue for civil aviation authorities. Standard techniques such as testing and simulation have serious limitations in new systems that are significantly more autonomous than the older ones. In this paper, we present an innovative approach, based on formal verification, for establishing the correctness of conflict detection systems. Fundamental to our approach is the concept of trajectory, which is a continuous path in the x-y plane constrained by physical laws and operational requirements. From the Model of trajectories, we extract, and formally prove, high level properties that can serve as a framework to analyze conflict scenarios. We use the Airborne Information for Lateral Spacing (AILS) alerting algorithm as a case study of our approach.

Does Attainment of Piaget's Formal Operational Level of Cognitive Development Predict Student Understanding of Scientific Models?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lahti, Richard Dennis, II.

2012-01-01

Knowledge of scientific models and their uses is a concept that has become a key benchmark in many of the science standards of the past 30 years, including the proposed Next Generation Science Standards. Knowledge of models is linked to other important nature of science concepts such as theory change which are also rising in prominence in newer…

Some Trends and Reforms in the Educational Policy of Norway in the Light of the Concept of Life-Long Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Udjus, Ingelise

An emphasis on planned and completed educational reforms in Norway which reflect the attitude that education is a lifelong process is presented in this document. A study is made of some of the trends in the development of the formal school system which have been influenced by the concept of life-long education. This study includes primary,…

Does more education mean less disability in people with dementia? A large cross-sectional study in Taiwan.

PubMed

Huang, Shih-Wei; Chi, Wen-Chou; Yen, Chia-Feng; Chang, Kwang-Hwa; Liao, Hua-Fang; Escorpizo, Reuben; Chang, Feng-Hang; Liou, Tsan-Hon

2017-05-04

WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a feasible tool for assessing functional disability and analysing the risk of institutionalisation among elderly patients with dementia. However, the data for the effect of education on disability status in patients with dementia is lacking. The aim of this large-scale, population-based study was to analyse the effect of education on the disability status of elderly Taiwanese patients with dementia by using WHODAS 2.0. From the Taiwan Data Bank of Persons with Disability, we enrolled 7698 disabled elderly (older than 65 years) patients diagnosed with dementia between July 2012 and January 2014. According to their education status, we categorised these patients with and without formal education (3849 patients each). We controlled for the demographic variables through propensity score matching. The standardised scores of these patients in the six domains of WHODAS 2.0 were evaluated by certified interviewers. Student's t - test was used for comparing the WHODAS 2.0 scores of patients with dementia in the two aforementioned groups. Poisson regression was applied for analysing the association among all the investigated variables. Patients with formal education had low disability status in the domains of getting along and social participation than did patients without formal education. Poisson regression revealed that standardised scores in all domains of WHODAS 2.0-except self-care-were associated with education status. This study revealed lower disability status in the WHODAS 2.0 domains of getting along and social participation for patients with dementia with formal education compared with those without formal education. For patients with disability and dementia without formal education, community intervention of social participation should be implemented to maintain better social interaction ability. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

A Bayesian Interpretation of First-Order Phase Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Sergio; Peralta, Joaquín; Navarrete, Yasmín; González, Diego; Gutiérrez, Gonzalo

2016-03-01

In this work we review the formalism used in describing the thermodynamics of first-order phase transitions from the point of view of maximum entropy inference. We present the concepts of transition temperature, latent heat and entropy difference between phases as emergent from the more fundamental concept of internal energy, after a statistical inference analysis. We explicitly demonstrate this point of view by making inferences on a simple game, resulting in the same formalism as in thermodynamical phase transitions. We show that analogous quantities will inevitably arise in any problem of inferring the result of a yes/no question, given two different states of knowledge and information in the form of expectation values. This exposition may help to clarify the role of these thermodynamical quantities in the context of different first-order phase transitions such as the case of magnetic Hamiltonians (e.g. the Potts model).

Information Superiority via Formal Concept Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koester, Bjoern; Schmidt, Stefan E.

This chapter will show how to get more mileage out of information. To achieve that, we first start with an introduction to the fundamentals of Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). FCA is a highly versatile field of applied lattice theory, which allows hidden relationships to be uncovered in relational data. Moreover, FCA provides a distinguished supporting framework to subsequently find and fill information gaps in a systematic and rigorous way. In addition, we would like to build bridges via a universal approach to other communities which can be related to FCA in order for other research areas to benefit from a theory that has been elaborated for more than twenty years. Last but not least, the essential benefits of FCA will be presented algorithmically as well as theoretically by investigating a real data set from the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base and also by demonstrating an application in the field of Web Information Retrieval and Web Intelligence.

Language disorders as a window on universal grammar: an abstract theory of agreement for IP, DP, and V-PP.

PubMed

Roeper, T; Ramos, E; Seymour, H; Abdul-Karim, L

2001-06-01

A new concept of Agreement (AGR) has been represented as a Formal Feature that can appear in a wide range of different configurations (Chomsky, 1998). A case study from language disorders supports and extends this abstract concept. The child shows no agreement in Inflectional Phrase me can and Determiner Phrase them eyes. We then extend the notion of AGR to include verb-Prepositional Phrase relations, where the child also systematically avoids certain prepositions (go beach). The analysis is supported by intuitional data from compounds (sweep with broom --> broom-swept). We also define a systematic notion of Possible deficit as a premature fixation of functional items which normally require additional Phi-features. The notion of Maximization of Formal Features then emerges as a significant feature of learnability from both a normal and disordered perspective. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

An Ontology for Modeling Complex Inter-relational Organizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wautelet, Yves; Neysen, Nicolas; Kolp, Manuel

This paper presents an ontology for organizational modeling through multiple complementary aspects. The primary goal of the ontology is to dispose of an adequate set of related concepts for studying complex organizations involved in a lot of relationships at the same time. In this paper, we define complex organizations as networked organizations involved in a market eco-system that are playing several roles simultaneously. In such a context, traditional approaches focus on the macro analytic level of transactions; this is supplemented here with a micro analytic study of the actors' rationale. At first, the paper overviews enterprise ontologies literature to position our proposal and exposes its contributions and limitations. The ontology is then brought to an advanced level of formalization: a meta-model in the form of a UML class diagram allows to overview the ontology concepts and their relationships which are formally defined. Finally, the paper presents the case study on which the ontology has been validated.

Formal Representations of Eligibility Criteria: A Literature Review

PubMed Central

Weng, Chunhua; Tu, Samson W.; Sim, Ida; Richesson, Rachel

2010-01-01

Standards-based, computable knowledge representations for eligibility criteria are increasingly needed to provide computer-based decision support for automated research participant screening, clinical evidence application, and clinical research knowledge management. We surveyed the literature and identified five aspects of eligibility criteria knowledge representations that contribute to the various research and clinical applications: the intended use of computable eligibility criteria, the classification of eligibility criteria, the expression language for representing eligibility rules, the encoding of eligibility concepts, and the modeling of patient data. We consider three of them (expression language, codification of eligibility concepts, and patient data modeling), to be essential constructs of a formal knowledge representation for eligibility criteria. The requirements for each of the three knowledge constructs vary for different use cases, which therefore should inform the development and choice of the constructs toward cost-effective knowledge representation efforts. We discuss the implications of our findings for standardization efforts toward sharable knowledge representation of eligibility criteria. PMID:20034594

A Method for Capturing and Reconciling Stakeholder Intentions Based on the Formal Concept Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoyama, Mikio

Information systems are ubiquitous in our daily life. Thus, information systems need to work appropriately anywhere at any time for everybody. Conventional information systems engineering tends to engineer systems from the viewpoint of systems functionality. However, the diversity of the usage context requires fundamental change compared to our current thinking on information systems; from the functionality the systems provide to the goals the systems should achieve. The intentional approach embraces the goals and related aspects of the information systems. This chapter presents a method for capturing, structuring and reconciling diverse goals of multiple stakeholders. The heart of the method lies in the hierarchical structuring of goals by goal lattice based on the formal concept analysis, a semantic extension of the lattice theory. We illustrate the effectiveness of the presented method through application to the self-checkout systems for large-scale supermarkets.

How linear response shaped models of neural circuits and the quest for alternatives.

PubMed

Herfurth, Tim; Tchumatchenko, Tatjana

2017-10-01

In the past decades, many mathematical approaches to solve complex nonlinear systems in physics have been successfully applied to neuroscience. One of these tools is the concept of linear response functions. However, phenomena observed in the brain emerge from fundamentally nonlinear interactions and feedback loops rather than from a composition of linear filters. Here, we review the successes achieved by applying the linear response formalism to topics, such as rhythm generation and synchrony and by incorporating it into models that combine linear and nonlinear transformations. We also discuss the challenges encountered in the linear response applications and argue that new theoretical concepts are needed to tackle feedback loops and non-equilibrium dynamics which are experimentally observed in neural networks but are outside of the validity regime of the linear response formalism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast Formal Analysis of Requirements via "Topoi Diagrams"

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menzies, Tim; Powell, John; Houle, Michael E.; Kelly, John C. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Early testing of requirements can decrease the cost of removing errors in software projects. However, unless done carefully, that testing process can significantly add to the cost of requirements analysis. We show here that requirements expressed as topoi diagrams can be built and tested cheaply using our SP2 algorithm, the formal temporal properties of a large class of topoi can be proven very quickly, in time nearly linear in the number of nodes and edges in the diagram. There are two limitations to our approach. Firstly, topoi diagrams cannot express certain complex concepts such as iteration and sub-routine calls. Hence, our approach is more useful for requirements engineering than for traditional model checking domains. Secondly, out approach is better for exploring the temporal occurrence of properties than the temporal ordering of properties. Within these restrictions, we can express a useful range of concepts currently seen in requirements engineering, and a wide range of interesting temporal properties.

Just-in-time classifiers for recurrent concepts.

PubMed

Alippi, Cesare; Boracchi, Giacomo; Roveri, Manuel

2013-04-01

Just-in-time (JIT) classifiers operate in evolving environments by classifying instances and reacting to concept drift. In stationary conditions, a JIT classifier improves its accuracy over time by exploiting additional supervised information coming from the field. In nonstationary conditions, however, the classifier reacts as soon as concept drift is detected; the current classification setup is discarded and a suitable one activated to keep the accuracy high. We present a novel generation of JIT classifiers able to deal with recurrent concept drift by means of a practical formalization of the concept representation and the definition of a set of operators working on such representations. The concept-drift detection activity, which is crucial in promptly reacting to changes exactly when needed, is advanced by considering change-detection tests monitoring both inputs and classes distributions.

Formal Solutions for Polarized Radiative Transfer. III. Stiffness and Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janett, Gioele; Paganini, Alberto

2018-04-01

Efficient numerical approximation of the polarized radiative transfer equation is challenging because this system of ordinary differential equations exhibits stiff behavior, which potentially results in numerical instability. This negatively impacts the accuracy of formal solvers, and small step-sizes are often necessary to retrieve physical solutions. This work presents stability analyses of formal solvers for the radiative transfer equation of polarized light, identifies instability issues, and suggests practical remedies. In particular, the assumptions and the limitations of the stability analysis of Runge–Kutta methods play a crucial role. On this basis, a suitable and pragmatic formal solver is outlined and tested. An insightful comparison to the scalar radiative transfer equation is also presented.

An ontology-based exploration of the concepts and relationships in the activities and participation component of the international classification of functioning, disability and health.

PubMed

Della Mea, Vincenzo; Simoncello, Andrea

2012-02-28

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a classification of health and health-related issues, aimed at describing and measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels. Here we discuss a preliminary qualitative and quantitative analysis of the relationships used in the Activities and Participation component of ICF, and a preliminary mapping to SUMO (Suggested Upper Merged Ontology) concepts. The aim of the analysis is to identify potential logical problems within this component of ICF, and to understand whether activities and participation might be defined more formally than in the current version of ICF. In the relationship analysis, we used four predicates among those available in SUMO for processes (Patient, Instrument, Agent, and subProcess). While at the top level subsumption was used in most cases (90%), at the lower levels the percentage of other relationships rose to 41%. Chapters were heterogeneous in the relationships used and some of the leaves of the tree seemed to represent properties or parts of the parent concept rather than subclasses. Mapping of ICF to SUMO proved partially feasible, with the activity concepts being mapped mostly (but not totally) under the IntentionalProcess concept in SUMO. On the other hand, the participation concept has not been mapped to any upper level concept. Our analysis of the relationships within ICF revealed issues related to confusion between classes and their properties, incorrect classifications, and overemphasis on subsumption, confirming what already observed by other researchers. However, it also suggested some properties for Activities that could be included in a more formal model: number of agents involved, the instrument used to carry out the activity, the object of the activity, complexity of the task, and an enumeration of relevant subtasks.

An Undergraduate Exercise in the First Law of Relativistic Thermodynamics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guemez, J.

2010-01-01

The isothermal compression of an ideal gas is analysed using a relativistic thermodynamics formalism based on the principle of inertia of energy (Einstein's equation) and the asynchronous formulation (Cavalleri and Salgarelli 1969 "Nuovo Cimento" 42 722-54), which is similar to the formalism developed by van Kampen (1968 "Phys. Rev." 173 295-301)…

Formal and Informal Early Education of Turkish-Origin Children in Germany

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Birgit; Boldin, Elena; Klein, Oliver

2016-01-01

A lack of adequate German language skills is often discussed as a major reason for the disadvantage of children of immigrants in the German educational system. This article analyses the access to formal and informal early education of Turkish-origin children in Germany and the influence of these early education contexts on the children's German…

The Interaction between Intuitive and Formal Mathematical Thinking: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farmaki, V.; Paschos, T.

2007-01-01

This paper reports studies of the interaction between the intuitive, the formal and the procedural aspects in the processes of mathematical understanding of Peter, a first-year undergraduate of Mathematics. Using an activity and an interview, an attempt is made to analyse his mental operations. The way in which he handles visual-graphic…

AdvoCATE - User Guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denney, Ewen W.

2015-01-01

The basic vision of AdvoCATE is to automate the creation, manipulation, and management of large-scale assurance cases based on a formal theory of argument structures. Its main purposes are for creating and manipulating argument structures for safety assurance cases using the Goal Structuring Notation (GSN), and as a test bed and proof-of-concept for the formal theory of argument structures. AdvoCATE is available for Windows 7, Macintosh OSX, and Linux. Eventually, AdvoCATE will serve as a dashboard for safety related information and provide an infrastructure for safety decisions and management.

Automated Verification of Specifications with Typestates and Access Permissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siminiceanu, Radu I.; Catano, Nestor

2011-01-01

We propose an approach to formally verify Plural specifications based on access permissions and typestates, by model-checking automatically generated abstract state-machines. Our exhaustive approach captures all the possible behaviors of abstract concurrent programs implementing the specification. We describe the formal methodology employed by our technique and provide an example as proof of concept for the state-machine construction rules. The implementation of a fully automated algorithm to generate and verify models, currently underway, provides model checking support for the Plural tool, which currently supports only program verification via data flow analysis (DFA).

THE CONCEPT OF CONTINUATION EDUCATION IN MEDICINE

PubMed Central

Murphy, Franklin D.

1951-01-01

The rapid increase in quantity and complexity of medical knowledge requires a redefinition of the educational aims of schools of medicine. The four formal years in medical school must be regarded as only the first four years of a “forty-year medical educational experience” and these four years must be devoted in the main to teaching principles of health and disease. There, then, must follow well-planned, realistic programs of continuation education, not in lieu of, but in addition to already established formal programs of postgraduate education. PMID:14801718

Big and disparate data: considerations for pediatric consortia.

PubMed

Stingone, Jeanette A; Mervish, Nancy; Kovatch, Patricia; McGuinness, Deborah L; Gennings, Chris; Teitelbaum, Susan L

2017-04-01

Increasingly, there is a need for examining exposure disease associations in large, diverse datasets to understand the complex determinants of pediatric disease and disability. Recognizing that children's health research consortia will be important sources of big data, it is crucial for the pediatric research community to be knowledgeable about the challenges and opportunities that they will face. The present review will provide examples of existing children's health consortia, highlight recent pooled analyses conducted by children's health research consortia, address common challenges of pooled analyses, and provide recommendations to advance collective research efforts in pediatric research. Formal consortia and other collective-science initiatives are increasingly being created to share individual data from a set of relevant epidemiological studies to address a common research topic under the concept that the joint effort of many individual groups can accomplish far more than working alone. There are practical challenges to the participation of investigators within consortia that need to be addressed in order for them to work. Researchers who access consortia with data centers will be able to go far beyond their initial hypotheses and potentially accomplish research that was previously thought infeasible or too costly.

Hydroclimatological data and analyses from a headwaters region of Mongolia as boundary objects in interdisciplinary climate change research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venable, N. B. H.

2017-09-01

Collaborative work on increasingly complex hydroclimatic investigations often crosses disciplinary boundaries. Elements of scientific inquiry, such as data or the results of analyses can become objectified, or capable of being adopted and/or adapted by users from multiple disciplinary realms. These objects often provide a bridge for collaborative endeavors, or are used as tools by individuals pursuing multi-disciplinary work. Boundary object terminology was first formalized and applied by social scientists. However, few examples of the application of this useful framework are found in the hydrologic literature. The construct is applied here to identify and discuss how common research products and processes are used both internally and externally through providing examples from a project examining the historical and paleo proxy-based hydroclimatology of a headwaters region of Mongolia. The boundary object concept is valuable to consider when conducting and critiquing basic research, collaborating across multiple disciplinary teams as when studying climate change issues, as an individual researcher working in a cross boundary sense using methods from differing disciplines to answer questions, and/or when one group adapts the work of another to their own research problems or interpretive needs, as occurred with selected products of this project.

Simulating Technology Processes to Foster Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krumholtz, Nira

1998-01-01

Based on a spiral model of technology evolution, elementary students used LOGO computer software to become both developers and users of technology. The computerized environment enabled 87% to reach intuitive understanding of physical concepts; 24% expressed more formal scientific understanding. (SK)

Technical Manual for MCestimate

EPA Science Inventory

The analysis of competing risks has a long history in human health research, but has received limited formal attention in wildlife ecology and ecotoxicology (Heisey and Patterson 2006). Informally, however, the concept of competing risks has arisen many times in these disciplines...

User's Guide for MCestimate

EPA Science Inventory

The analysis of competing risks has a long history in human health research, but has received limited formal attention in wildlife ecology and ecotoxicology (Heisey and Patterson 2006). Informally, however, the concept of competing risks has arisen many times in these disciplines...

Using Inequality Measures to Incorporate Environmental Justice into Regulatory Analyses

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract: Formally evaluating how specific policy measures influence environmental justice is challenging, especially in the context of regulatory analyses in which quantitative comparisons are the norm. However, there is a large literature on developing and applying quantitative...

An elementary tutorial on formal specification and verification using PVS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.

1993-01-01

A tutorial on the development of a formal specification and its verification using the Prototype Verification System (PVS) is presented. The tutorial presents the formal specification and verification techniques by way of specific example - an airline reservation system. The airline reservation system is modeled as a simple state machine with two basic operations. These operations are shown to preserve a state invariant using the theorem proving capabilities of PVS. The technique of validating a specification via 'putative theorem proving' is also discussed and illustrated in detail. This paper is intended for the novice and assumes only some of the basic concepts of logic. A complete description of user inputs and the PVS output is provided and thus it can be effectively used while one is sitting at a computer terminal.

Breaking the theoretical scaling limit for predicting quasiparticle energies: the stochastic GW approach.

PubMed

Neuhauser, Daniel; Gao, Yi; Arntsen, Christopher; Karshenas, Cyrus; Rabani, Eran; Baer, Roi

2014-08-15

We develop a formalism to calculate the quasiparticle energy within the GW many-body perturbation correction to the density functional theory. The occupied and virtual orbitals of the Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian are replaced by stochastic orbitals used to evaluate the Green function G, the polarization potential W, and, thereby, the GW self-energy. The stochastic GW (sGW) formalism relies on novel theoretical concepts such as stochastic time-dependent Hartree propagation, stochastic matrix compression, and spatial or temporal stochastic decoupling techniques. Beyond the theoretical interest, the formalism enables linear scaling GW calculations breaking the theoretical scaling limit for GW as well as circumventing the need for energy cutoff approximations. We illustrate the method for silicon nanocrystals of varying sizes with N_{e}>3000 electrons.

Introduction: Bridging Concepts.

PubMed

Davids, Karel

2015-12-01

How can those in the history of science, history of technology, and economics communicate more with each other than they are accustomed? How can they become more globally oriented? While these three disciplines today have more convergent interests than in the past, there is still a large potential for further exchange and involvement to explore and exploit. The contributors to this Focus section discuss a number of concepts that may serve as tools to bring these three disciplines more closely together and ease their evolution in a less Eurocentric direction. These concepts include trading zones, interaction and formalization, production, and machines and self-organization.

Implementing reusable software components for SNOMED CT diagram and expression concept representations.

PubMed

Bánfai, Balázs; Porció, Roland; Kovács, Tibor

2014-01-01

SNOMED CT is a vital component in the future of semantic interoperability in healthcare as it provides the meaning to EHRs via its semantically rich, controlled terminology. Communicating the concepts of this terminology to both humans and machines is crucial therefore formal guidelines for diagram and expression representations have been developed by the curators of SNOMED CT. This paper presents a novel, model-based approach to implementing these guidelines that allows simultaneous editing of a concept via both diagram and expression editors. The implemented extensible software component can be embedded both both desktop and web applications.

X-Phi and Carnapian Explication.

PubMed

Shepherd, Joshua; Justus, James

2015-04-01

The rise of experimental philosophy (x-phi) has placed metaphilosophical questions, particularly those concerning concepts, at the center of philosophical attention. X-phi offers empirically rigorous methods for identifying conceptual content, but what exactly it contributes towards evaluating conceptual content remains unclear. We show how x-phi complements Rudolf Carnap's underappreciated methodology for concept determination, explication. This clarifies and extends x-phi's positive philosophical import, and also exhibits explication's broad appeal. But there is a potential problem: Carnap's account of explication was limited to empirical and logical concepts, but many concepts of interest to philosophers (experimental and otherwise) are essentially normative. With formal epistemology as a case study, we show how x-phi assisted explication can apply to normative domains.

State Event Models for the Formal Analysis of Human-Machine Interactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Combefis, Sebastien; Giannakopoulou, Dimitra; Pecheur, Charles

2014-01-01

The work described in this paper was motivated by our experience with applying a framework for formal analysis of human-machine interactions (HMI) to a realistic model of an autopilot. The framework is built around a formally defined conformance relation called "fullcontrol" between an actual system and the mental model according to which the system is operated. Systems are well-designed if they can be described by relatively simple, full-control, mental models for their human operators. For this reason, our framework supports automated generation of minimal full-control mental models for HMI systems, where both the system and the mental models are described as labelled transition systems (LTS). The autopilot that we analysed has been developed in the NASA Ames HMI prototyping tool ADEPT. In this paper, we describe how we extended the models that our HMI analysis framework handles to allow adequate representation of ADEPT models. We then provide a property-preserving reduction from these extended models to LTSs, to enable application of our LTS-based formal analysis algorithms. Finally, we briefly discuss the analyses we were able to perform on the autopilot model with our extended framework.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the National Airspace System: A Formal Methods Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz, Cesar A.; Dutle, Aaron; Narkawicz, Anthony; Upchurch, Jason

2016-01-01

As the technological and operational capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have grown, so too have international efforts to integrate UAS into civil airspace. However, one of the major concerns that must be addressed in realizing this integration is that of safety. For example, UAS lack an on-board pilot to comply with the legal requirement that pilots see and avoid other aircraft. This requirement has motivated the development of a detect and avoid (DAA) capability for UAS that provides situational awareness and maneuver guidance to UAS operators to aid them in avoiding and remaining well clear of other aircraft in the airspace. The NASA Langley Research Center Formal Methods group has played a fundamental role in the development of this capability. This article gives a selected survey of the formal methods work conducted in support of the development of a DAA concept for UAS. This work includes specification of low-level and high-level functional requirements, formal verification of algorithms, and rigorous validation of software implementations.

Development of a Software Safety Process and a Case Study of Its Use

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, J. C.

1997-01-01

Research in the year covered by this reporting period has been primarily directed toward the following areas: (1) Formal specification of user interfaces; (2) Fault-tree analysis including software; (3) Evaluation of formal specification notations; (4) Evaluation of formal verification techniques; (5) Expanded analysis of the shell architecture concept; (6) Development of techniques to address the problem of information survivability; and (7) Development of a sophisticated tool for the manipulation of formal specifications written in Z. This report summarizes activities under the grant. The technical results relating to this grant and the remainder of the principal investigator's research program are contained in various reports and papers. The remainder of this report is organized as follows. In the next section, an overview of the project is given. This is followed by a summary of accomplishments during the reporting period and details of students funded. Seminars presented describing work under this grant are listed in the following section, and the final section lists publications resulting from this grant.

[Discussion between informal and formal caregivers of community-dwelling older adults].

PubMed

Jacobs, M T; Broese van Groenou, M I; Deeg, D J H

2014-04-01

Current Dutch policy on long-term care is aimed at a stronger connection between formal home care and informal care. We examined if formal and informal caregivers of community-dwelling older adults discuss the care and whether this is related to characteristics of the older adult, the care network and the individual caregivers. Data are derived from 63 community-dwelling older adults, including their health, their perceived control of the care and their care network. In addition, 79 informal and 90 formal caregivers are interviewed on their motives and vision on caregiving. The 112 dyads between those formal and informal caregivers are the units of analysis in the current study. Bivariate analyses reveal that informal caregivers are more likely to discuss the care with formal caregivers when they are residing with the older adult, when they provide a lot of care and/or when they are strongly motivated to keep the older adult at home. This is particularly the case when the care demands are high. Characteristics of the formal caregivers were not important. In conclusion, discussion of care between non-resident informal caregivers and formal caregivers is not self-evident and requires more effort to be established.

Formalization of treatment guidelines using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and semantic web tools.

PubMed

Papageorgiou, Elpiniki I; Roo, Jos De; Huszka, Csaba; Colaert, Dirk

2012-02-01

Therapy decision making and support in medicine deals with uncertainty and needs to take into account the patient's clinical parameters, the context of illness and the medical knowledge of the physician and guidelines to recommend a treatment therapy. This research study is focused on the formalization of medical knowledge using a cognitive process, called Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) and semantic web approach. The FCM technique is capable of dealing with situations including uncertain descriptions using similar procedure such as human reasoning does. Thus, it was selected for the case of modeling and knowledge integration of clinical practice guidelines. The semantic web tools were established to implement the FCM approach. The knowledge base was constructed from the clinical guidelines as the form of if-then fuzzy rules. These fuzzy rules were transferred to FCM modeling technique and, through the semantic web tools, the whole formalization was accomplished. The problem of urinary tract infection (UTI) in adult community was examined for the proposed approach. Forty-seven clinical concepts and eight therapy concepts were identified for the antibiotic treatment therapy problem of UTIs. A preliminary pilot-evaluation study with 55 patient cases showed interesting findings; 91% of the antibiotic treatments proposed by the implemented approach were in fully agreement with the guidelines and physicians' opinions. The results have shown that the suggested approach formalizes medical knowledge efficiently and gives a front-end decision on antibiotics' suggestion for cystitis. Concluding, modeling medical knowledge/therapeutic guidelines using cognitive methods and web semantic tools is both reliable and useful. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The ADVANCE project : formal evaluation of the targeted deployment. Volume 1

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

The Advanced Driver and Vehicle Advisory Navigation ConcEpt (ADVANCE) was an in-vehicle advanced traveler information system (ATIS) that operated in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. It was designed to provide origin-destination shortest-ti...

Perception, Cognition, and Visualization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnheim, Rudolf

1991-01-01

Described are how pictures can combine aspects of naturalistic representation with more formal shapes to enhance cognitive understanding. These "diagrammatic" shapes derive from geometrical elementary and thereby bestow visual concreteness to concepts conveyed by the pictures. Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings are used as examples…

Management of Instructional Development: A Matter of Principles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Amos C.; Gilger, Rebecca L.

1979-01-01

Examines how instructional development processes can be successfully managed. Principles of management are offered for setting precise goals; acceptance of these goals; and maximizing self-concept through formal rewards that are goal oriented, through performance evaluation, and through change analysis. (RAO)

Transitions of Care in Medical Education: A Compilation of Effective Teaching Methods.

PubMed

McBryde, Meagan; Vandiver, Jeremy W; Onysko, Mary

2016-04-01

Transitioning patients safely from the inpatient environment back to an outpatient environment is an important component of health care, and multidisciplinary cooperation and formal processes are necessary to accomplish this task. This Transitions of Care (TOC) process is constantly being shaped in health care systems to improve patient safety, outcomes, and satisfaction. While there are many models that have been published on methods to improve the TOC process systematically, there is no clear roadmap for educators to teach TOC concepts to providers in training. This article reviews published data to highlight specific methods shown to effectively instill these concepts and values into medical students and residents. Formal, evidence-based, TOC curriculum should be developed within medical schools and residency programs. TOC education should ideally begin early in the education process, and its importance should be reiterated throughout the curriculum longitudinally. Curriculum should have a specific focus on recognition of common causes of hospital readmissions, such as medication errors, lack of adequate follow-up visits, and social/economic barriers. Use of didactic lectures, case-based workshops, role-playing activities, home visits, interprofessional activities, and resident-led quality improvement projects have all be shown to be effective ways to teach TOC concepts.

Adult education as a human right: The Latin American context and the ecopedagogic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gadotti, Moacir

2011-08-01

This article presents the concept and practice of adult education as a key issue for Brazil and other Latin American countries, both for formal and non-formal education in the public and private sectors. It includes citizen education focused on democratisation of society and sustainable development. The concept is pluralist and ideological as well as technical. All along the history of contemporary education it is essential to highlight the importance of the CONFINTEA conferences for the construction of an expanded vision of this concept. Adult education is understood as a human right. The right to education does not end when a person has reached the so-called "proper" age; it continues to be a right for the duration of everyone's entire life. This article explores Paulo Freire's contribution, particularly the methodology of MOVA (Youth and Adult Literacy Movement). It also presents the ecopedagogic perspective, which was inspired by Paulo Freire's legacy. Finally, this article stresses the need to support a long-term policy for adult education, following the recommendations of the Civil Society International Forum (FISC) and CONFINTEA VI, both held in Belém, Brazil, in 2009.

Urban fifth graders' connections-making between formal earth science content and their lived experiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brkich, Katie Lynn

2014-03-01

Earth science education, as it is traditionally taught, involves presenting concepts such as weathering, erosion, and deposition using relatively well-known examples—the Grand Canyon, beach erosion, and others. However, these examples—which resonate well with middle- and upper-class students—ill-serve students of poverty attending urban schools who may have never traveled farther from home than the corner store. In this paper, I explore the use of a place-based educational framework in teaching earth science concepts to urban fifth graders and explore the connections they make between formal earth science content and their lived experiences using participant-driven photo elicitation techniques. I argue that students are able to gain a sounder understanding of earth science concepts when they are able to make direct observations between the content and their lived experiences and that when such direct observations are impossible they make analogies of appearance, structure, and response to make sense of the content. I discuss additionally the importance of expanding earth science instruction to include man-made materials, as these materials are excluded traditionally from the curriculum yet are most immediately available to urban students for examination.

Robustness of movement models: can models bridge the gap between temporal scales of data sets and behavioural processes?

PubMed

Schlägel, Ulrike E; Lewis, Mark A

2016-12-01

Discrete-time random walks and their extensions are common tools for analyzing animal movement data. In these analyses, resolution of temporal discretization is a critical feature. Ideally, a model both mirrors the relevant temporal scale of the biological process of interest and matches the data sampling rate. Challenges arise when resolution of data is too coarse due to technological constraints, or when we wish to extrapolate results or compare results obtained from data with different resolutions. Drawing loosely on the concept of robustness in statistics, we propose a rigorous mathematical framework for studying movement models' robustness against changes in temporal resolution. In this framework, we define varying levels of robustness as formal model properties, focusing on random walk models with spatially-explicit component. With the new framework, we can investigate whether models can validly be applied to data across varying temporal resolutions and how we can account for these different resolutions in statistical inference results. We apply the new framework to movement-based resource selection models, demonstrating both analytical and numerical calculations, as well as a Monte Carlo simulation approach. While exact robustness is rare, the concept of approximate robustness provides a promising new direction for analyzing movement models.

Linking descriptive geology and quantitative machine learning through an ontology of lithological concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klump, J. F.; Huber, R.; Robertson, J.; Cox, S. J. D.; Woodcock, R.

2014-12-01

Despite the recent explosion of quantitative geological data, geology remains a fundamentally qualitative science. Numerical data only constitute a certain part of data collection in the geosciences. In many cases, geological observations are compiled as text into reports and annotations on drill cores, thin sections or drawings of outcrops. The observations are classified into concepts such as lithology, stratigraphy, geological structure, etc. These descriptions are semantically rich and are generally supported by more quantitative observations using geochemical analyses, XRD, hyperspectral scanning, etc, but the goal is geological semantics. In practice it has been difficult to bring the different observations together due to differing perception or granularity of classification in human observation, or the partial observation of only some characteristics using quantitative sensors. In the past years many geological classification schemas have been transferred into ontologies and vocabularies, formalized using RDF and OWL, and published through SPARQL endpoints. Several lithological ontologies were compiled by stratigraphy.net and published through a SPARQL endpoint. This work is complemented by the development of a Python API to integrate this vocabulary into Python-based text mining applications. The applications for the lithological vocabulary and Python API are automated semantic tagging of geochemical data and descriptions of drill cores, machine learning of geochemical compositions that are diagnostic for lithological classifications, and text mining for lithological concepts in reports and geological literature. This combination of applications can be used to identify anomalies in databases, where composition and lithological classification do not match. It can also be used to identify lithological concepts in the literature and infer quantitative values. The resulting semantic tagging opens new possibilities for linking these diverse sources of data.

Characterization and Detection of ϵ-Berge-Zhukovskii Equilibria

PubMed Central

Lung, Rodica Ioana; Suciu, Mihai; Gaskó, Noémi; Dumitrescu, D.

2015-01-01

The Berge-Zhukovskii equilibrium is an alternate solution concept in non-cooperative game theory that formalizes cooperation in a noncooperative setting. In this paper, the ϵ-Berge-Zhukovskii equilibrium is introduced and characterized by using a generative relation. The generative relation also provides a solution to the problem of computing the ϵ-Berge-Zhukovskii equilibrium for large games, by using evolutionary algorithms. Numerical examples illustrate the approach and provide a possible application for this equilibrium concept. PMID:26177217

Working with Data: Discovering Knowledge through Mining and Analysis; Systematic Knowledge Management and Knowledge Discovery; Text Mining; Methodological Approach in Discovering User Search Patterns through Web Log Analysis; Knowledge Discovery in Databases Using Formal Concept Analysis; Knowledge Discovery with a Little Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qin, Jian; Jurisica, Igor; Liddy, Elizabeth D.; Jansen, Bernard J; Spink, Amanda; Priss, Uta; Norton, Melanie J.

2000-01-01

These six articles discuss knowledge discovery in databases (KDD). Topics include data mining; knowledge management systems; applications of knowledge discovery; text and Web mining; text mining and information retrieval; user search patterns through Web log analysis; concept analysis; data collection; and data structure inconsistency. (LRW)

[Implementation of ontology-based clinical decision support system for management of interactions between antihypertensive drugs and diet].

PubMed

Park, Jeong Eun; Kim, Hwa Sun; Chang, Min Jung; Hong, Hae Sook

2014-06-01

The influence of dietary composition on blood pressure is an important subject in healthcare. Interactions between antihypertensive drugs and diet (IBADD) is the most important factor in the management of hypertension. It is therefore essential to support healthcare providers' decision making role in active and continuous interaction control in hypertension management. The aim of this study was to implement an ontology-based clinical decision support system (CDSS) for IBADD management (IBADDM). We considered the concepts of antihypertensive drugs and foods, and focused on the interchangeability between the database and the CDSS when providing tailored information. An ontology-based CDSS for IBADDM was implemented in eight phases: (1) determining the domain and scope of ontology, (2) reviewing existing ontology, (3) extracting and defining the concepts, (4) assigning relationships between concepts, (5) creating a conceptual map with CmapTools, (6) selecting upper ontology, (7) formally representing the ontology with Protégé (ver.4.3), (8) implementing an ontology-based CDSS as a JAVA prototype application. We extracted 5,926 concepts, 15 properties, and formally represented them using Protégé. An ontology-based CDSS for IBADDM was implemented and the evaluation score was 4.60 out of 5. We endeavored to map functions of a CDSS and implement an ontology-based CDSS for IBADDM.

Proceedings of the IDA (Institute for Defense Analyses) Workshop on Formal Specification and Verification of Ada (Trade Name) (2nd) Held in Alexandria, Virginia on July 23-25, 1985.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-11-01

2% -N X Mailing Directory U Bernard Abrams ABRAMS@USC-ECLB Grumman Aerospace Corporation Mail Station 001-31T Bethpage, NY 11714 (516) 575-9487 Omar...Aerospace & Comm. Corp. 10440 State Highway 83 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80908 Mark R. Cornwell CORNWELL @NRL-CSS Code 7590 Naval Research Lab Washington...5) Role of the Formal Definition of Ada Bernard Lang, INRIA, no date, 10 pages [6) The Users of a Formal Definition for Ada Bernd Krieg-Brdckner 2

Combining Volcano Monitoring Timeseries Analyses with Bayesian Belief Networks to Update Hazard Forecast Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Odbert, Henry; Hincks, Thea; Aspinall, Willy

2015-04-01

Volcanic hazard assessments must combine information about the physical processes of hazardous phenomena with observations that indicate the current state of a volcano. Incorporating both these lines of evidence can inform our belief about the likelihood (probability) and consequences (impact) of possible hazardous scenarios, forming a basis for formal quantitative hazard assessment. However, such evidence is often uncertain, indirect or incomplete. Approaches to volcano monitoring have advanced substantially in recent decades, increasing the variety and resolution of multi-parameter timeseries data recorded at volcanoes. Interpreting these multiple strands of parallel, partial evidence thus becomes increasingly complex. In practice, interpreting many timeseries requires an individual to be familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the volcano, monitoring techniques, configuration of recording instruments, observations from other datasets, and so on. In making such interpretations, an individual must consider how different volcanic processes may manifest as measureable observations, and then infer from the available data what can or cannot be deduced about those processes. We examine how parts of this process may be synthesised algorithmically using Bayesian inference. Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) use probability theory to treat and evaluate uncertainties in a rational and auditable scientific manner, but only to the extent warranted by the strength of the available evidence. The concept is a suitable framework for marshalling multiple strands of evidence (e.g. observations, model results and interpretations) and their associated uncertainties in a methodical manner. BBNs are usually implemented in graphical form and could be developed as a tool for near real-time, ongoing use in a volcano observatory, for example. We explore the application of BBNs in analysing volcanic data from the long-lived eruption at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat. We show how our method provides a route to formal propagation of uncertainties in hazard models. Such approaches provide an attractive route to developing an interface between volcano monitoring analyses and probabilistic hazard scenario analysis. We discuss the use of BBNs in hazard analysis as a tractable and traceable tool for fast, rational assimilation of complex, multi-parameter data sets in the context of timely volcanic crisis decision support.

Mapping the work-based learning of novice teachers: charting some rich terrain.

PubMed

Cook, Vivien

2009-12-01

Work-based non-formal learning plays a key role in faculty development yet these processes are yet to be described in detail in medical education. This study sets out to illuminate these processes so that potential benefits for new and inexperienced medical educators and their mentors can be realised. The non-formal learning processes of 12 novice teachers were investigated across hospital, general practice and medical school settings. The research sought to describe 'what' and 'how' non-formal learning takes place, and whether these processes differ across teaching sites. Both clinical and non-clinical teachers of medical undergraduates from one inner city medical school were recruited for the study. Through semi-structured interviews and a 'concept map', participants were asked to identify the people and tasks which they considered central to helping them become more expert as educators. Results identified non-formal learning across a number of key dimensions, including personal development, task and role performance, and optimising clinical teaching. This learning takes place as an outcome of experience, observation, reflection and student feedback. Non-formal learning is a significant aspect of the development of novice teachers and as such it needs to be placed more firmly upon the agenda of faculty development.

Cryptic Species in Tropic Sands - Interactive 3D Anatomy, Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Meiofaunal Pseudunelidae (Gastropoda, Acochlidia)

PubMed Central

Neusser, Timea P.; Jörger, Katharina M.; Schrödl, Michael

2011-01-01

Background Towards realistic estimations of the diversity of marine animals, tiny meiofaunal species usually are underrepresented. Since the biological species concept is hardly applicable on exotic and elusive animals, it is even more important to apply a morphospecies concept on the best level of information possible, using accurate and efficient methodology such as 3D modelling from histological sections. Molecular approaches such as sequence analyses may reveal further, cryptic species. This is the first case study on meiofaunal gastropods to test diversity estimations from traditional taxonomy against results from modern microanatomical methodology and molecular systematics. Results The examined meiofaunal Pseudunela specimens from several Indo-Pacific islands cannot be distinguished by external features. Their 3D microanatomy shows differences in the organ systems and allows for taxonomic separation in some cases. Additional molecular analyses based on partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA markers revealed considerable genetic structure that is largely congruent with anatomical or geographical patterns. Two new species (Pseudunela viatoris and P. marteli spp. nov.) are formally described integrating morphological and genetic analyses. Phylogenetic analysis using partial 16S rRNA, COI and the nuclear 18S rRNA markers shows a clade of Pseudunelidae species as the sister group to limnic Acochlidiidae. Within Pseudunela, two subtypes of complex excretory systems occur. A complex kidney already evolved in the ancestor of Hedylopsacea. Several habitat shifts occurred during hedylopsacean evolution. Conclusions Cryptic species occur in tropical meiofaunal Pseudunela gastropods, and likely in other meiofaunal groups with poor dispersal abilities, boosting current diversity estimations. Only a combined 3D microanatomical and molecular approach revealed actual species diversity within Pseudunela reliably. Such integrative methods are recommended for all taxonomic approaches and biodiversity surveys on soft-bodied and small-sized invertebrates. With increasing taxon sampling and details studied, the evolution of acochlidian panpulmonates is even more complex than expected. PMID:21912592

Fundamental concepts, current regulatory design and interpretation

EPA Science Inventory

Developmental toxicology became a formalized field about 50 years ago. Over this time, it has evolved from a largely observational science to one that is highly mechanistic in nature. Our increasing knowledge of mechanism of action, coupled with techniques that facilitate the gen...

DOORS English--The Cognitive Basis of Rhetorical Models.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Karl K.

1979-01-01

The Development of Operational Reasoning Skills (DOORS) program at Illinois Central College is an interdisciplinary experiment that guides students from concrete to formal operational levels of thought to ensure that they understand the concepts and cognitive skills undergirding the rhetorical modes. (RL)

Policies of Adult Education in Portugal and France: The European Agenda of Validation of Non-Formal and Informal Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavaco, C.; Lafont, P.; Pariat, M.

2014-01-01

This article analyses the influence of the European Union's educational policies on the implementation of devices for the recognition and the validation of informal and non-formal learning within public policies on education and training for adults in European Union Member States. Portugal and France are taken as examples. The European Union's…

Formal and Informal Measures of Reading and Math Achievement as a Function of Early Childhood Program Participation among Kindergarten through Eighth Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haas, Lory E.

2011-01-01

Three main purposes provided the foundation for this study. The first purpose was to investigate academic achievement through analyses of data obtained through formal and informal assessments among kindergarten through eighth grade students who participated in a Head Start program, center-based care program, or home-based care prior to school…

Documenting and Analyzing the Results of Non-Formal Adult Education: The Hungarian Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toth, Janos Szigeti

2007-01-01

Many valuable activities and local innovations go on in the field of non-formal adult learning. With the pressures of day-today work it is impossible to have a systematic overview of these, so that they are forgotten and are not continued, developed or passed on to others. More generally, these activities fail to be documented and analysed, even…

Modular space station phase B extension preliminary systems design report. Volume 6: Trades and analyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, A. L.

1972-01-01

Requirements and concepts and the tradeoff analysis leading to the preferred concept are presented. Integrated analyses are given for subsystems and thermal control. Specific tradeoffs and analyses are also given for water management, atmosphere control, energy storage, radiators, navigation, control moment gyros, and system maintenance. The analyses of manipulator concepts and requirements, and supplemental analyses of information management issues are summarized. Subsystem reliability analyses include a detailed discussion of the critical failure analysis.

Design of high reliability organizations in health care.

PubMed

Carroll, J S; Rudolph, J W

2006-12-01

To improve safety performance, many healthcare organizations have sought to emulate high reliability organizations from industries such as nuclear power, chemical processing, and military operations. We outline high reliability design principles for healthcare organizations including both the formal structures and the informal practices that complement those structures. A stage model of organizational structures and practices, moving from local autonomy to formal controls to open inquiry to deep self-understanding, is used to illustrate typical challenges and design possibilities at each stage. We suggest how organizations can use the concepts and examples presented to increase their capacity to self-design for safety and reliability.

Formal Solutions for Polarized Radiative Transfer. I. The DELO Family

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

Janett, Gioele; Carlin, Edgar S.; Steiner, Oskar

The discussion regarding the numerical integration of the polarized radiative transfer equation is still open and the comparison between the different numerical schemes proposed by different authors in the past is not fully clear. Aiming at facilitating the comprehension of the advantages and drawbacks of the different formal solvers, this work presents a reference paradigm for their characterization based on the concepts of order of accuracy , stability , and computational cost . Special attention is paid to understand the numerical methods belonging to the Diagonal Element Lambda Operator family, in an attempt to highlight their specificities.

The smooth entropy formalism for von Neumann algebras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berta, Mario; Furrer, Fabian; Scholz, Volkher B.

2016-01-01

We discuss information-theoretic concepts on infinite-dimensional quantum systems. In particular, we lift the smooth entropy formalism as introduced by Renner and collaborators for finite-dimensional systems to von Neumann algebras. For the smooth conditional min- and max-entropy, we recover similar characterizing properties and information-theoretic operational interpretations as in the finite-dimensional case. We generalize the entropic uncertainty relation with quantum side information of Tomamichel and Renner and discuss applications to quantum cryptography. In particular, we prove the possibility to perform privacy amplification and classical data compression with quantum side information modeled by a von Neumann algebra.

The smooth entropy formalism for von Neumann algebras

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

Berta, Mario, E-mail: berta@caltech.edu; Furrer, Fabian, E-mail: furrer@eve.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Scholz, Volkher B., E-mail: scholz@phys.ethz.ch

2016-01-15

We discuss information-theoretic concepts on infinite-dimensional quantum systems. In particular, we lift the smooth entropy formalism as introduced by Renner and collaborators for finite-dimensional systems to von Neumann algebras. For the smooth conditional min- and max-entropy, we recover similar characterizing properties and information-theoretic operational interpretations as in the finite-dimensional case. We generalize the entropic uncertainty relation with quantum side information of Tomamichel and Renner and discuss applications to quantum cryptography. In particular, we prove the possibility to perform privacy amplification and classical data compression with quantum side information modeled by a von Neumann algebra.

Formalized description and construction of semantic dictionary of graphic-text spatial relationship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yizhong; Xue, Xiaolei; Zhao, Xiaoqin

2008-10-01

Graphic and text are two major elements in exhibiting of the results of urban planning and land administration. In combination, they convey the complex relationship resulting from spatial analysis and decision-making. Accurately interpreting and representing these relationships are important steps towards an intelligent GIS for urban planning. This paper employs concept-hierarchy-tree to formalize graphic-text relationships through a framework of spatial object lexicon, spatial relationship lexicon, restriction lexicon, applied pattern base, and word segmentation rule base. The methodology is further verified and shown effective on several urban planning archives.

Superstatistics of the Klein-Gordon equation in deformed formalism for modified Dirac delta distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargolzaeipor, S.; Hassanabadi, H.; Chung, W. S.

2018-04-01

The Klein-Gordon equation is extended in the presence of an Aharonov-Bohm magnetic field for the Cornell potential and the corresponding wave functions as well as the spectra are obtained. After introducing the superstatistics in the statistical mechanics, we first derived the effective Boltzmann factor in the deformed formalism with modified Dirac delta distribution. We then use the concepts of the superstatistics to calculate the thermodynamics properties of the system. The well-known results are recovered by the vanishing of deformation parameter and some graphs are plotted for the clarity of our results.

Explicating formal epistemology: Carnap's legacy as Jeffrey's radical probabilism.

PubMed

French, Christopher F

2015-10-01

Quine's "naturalized epistemology" presents a challenge to Carnapian explication: why try to rationally reconstruct probabilistic concepts instead of just doing psychology? This paper tracks the historical development of Richard C. Jeffrey who, on the one hand, voiced worries similar to Quine's about Carnapian explication but, on the other hand, claims that his own work in formal epistemology—what he calls "radical probabilism"—is somehow continuous with both Carnap's method of explication and logical empiricism. By examining how Jeffrey's claim could possibly be accurate, the paper suggests that Jeffrey's radical probabilism can be seen as a sort of alternative explication project to Carnap's own inductive logic. In so doing, it deflates both Quine's worries about Carnapian explication and so also, by extension, similar worries about formal epistemology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Professionalism and ethics: A proposed curriculum for undergraduates.

PubMed

Mahajan, Rajiv; Aruldhas, Blessed Winston; Sharma, Monika; Badyal, Dinesh K; Singh, Tejinder

2016-01-01

Professionalism is the attributes, behaviors, commitments, values, and goals that characterize a profession. In medical professional, it encompasses strong societal role and involves emotional component too. On the other hand, ethics is the study of morality - careful and systematic analysis of moral decisions and behaviors and practicing those decisions. Medical ethics focuses primarily on issues arising out of the practice of medicine. It is generally believed that professionalism and ethics are caught by watching your teachers and seniors and not taught formally. Professionalism and ethics are previously diffused passively to the students through "the hidden curriculum," leaving a lot to chance. However, over the time, it has been advocated that graduates need to be formally trained in the concepts of professionalism and ethics. In this paper, we propose a formal curriculum on professionalism and ethics, tailor-made for Indian medical graduates.

An analytical formalism accounting for clouds and other `surfaces' for exoplanet transmission spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bétrémieux, Yan; Swain, Mark R.

2017-05-01

Although the formalism of Lecavelier des Etangs et al. is extremely useful to understand what shapes transmission spectra of exoplanets, it does not include the effects of a sharp change in flux with altitude generally associated with surfaces and optically thick clouds. Recent advances in understanding the effects of refraction in exoplanet transmission spectra have, however, demonstrated that even clear thick atmospheres have such a sharp change in flux due to a refractive boundary. We derive a more widely applicable analytical formalism by including first-order effects from all these 'surfaces' to compute an exoplanet's effective radius, effective atmospheric thickness and spectral modulation for an atmosphere with a constant scaleheight. We show that the effective radius cannot be located below these 'surfaces' and that our formalism matches the formalism of Lecavelier des Etangs et al. in the case of a clear atmosphere. Our formalism explains why clouds and refraction reduce the contrast of spectral features, and why refraction decreases the Rayleigh scattering slope as wavelength increases, but also shows that these are common effects of all 'surfaces'. We introduce the concept of a 'surface' cross-section, the minimum mean cross-section that can be observed, as an index to characterize the location of 'surfaces' and provide a simple method to estimate their effects on the spectral modulation of homogeneous atmospheres. We finally devise a numerical recipe that extends our formalism to atmospheres with a non-constant scaleheight and arbitrary sources of opacity, a potentially necessary step to interpret observations.

A method of constructing geo-object ontology in disaster system for prevention and decrease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bin; Liu, Jiping; Shi, Lihong; Wang, Zhenfeng

2009-10-01

A kind of formal system, which can express clearly a certain entity or information, is needed to express geographical concept. Besides, some rules explaining the interrelationship and action between different components are also required. Therefore, the conception of geo-object ontology is introduced. It is a shared formalization and display specification of conceptual knowledge system in the field of concrete application of spatial information science. It can constitute hierarchy structure, which derives from the concept classification system in the geographical area. Its concepts can be described by the property. Property sets can form a vector space with multi-dimensional characteristics. Geographic space is composed of different types of geographic entities. And its concept is formed by a series of geographic entities with the same properties and actions. Moreover, each of the geographic entities can be mapped to an object, and each object has its spatial property, time information and topology, semantic relationships associated with other objects. The biggest difference between ecumenical information ontology and geo-ontology is that the latter has the spatial characteristics. During the construction process of geo-object ontology, some important components, such as geographic type, spatial relation, spatial entity type and coordinates, time, should be included to make further research. Here, taking disaster as an example, by using Protégé and OWL, combined methods used by constructing the geo-object ontology in the form of being manual made by domanial experts and semi-automatic are investigated oriented to disaster to serve ultimately geographic information retrieval service driven by ontology.

A formal approach to the analysis of clinical computer-interpretable guideline modeling languages.

PubMed

Grando, M Adela; Glasspool, David; Fox, John

2012-01-01

To develop proof strategies to formally study the expressiveness of workflow-based languages, and to investigate their applicability to clinical computer-interpretable guideline (CIG) modeling languages. We propose two strategies for studying the expressiveness of workflow-based languages based on a standard set of workflow patterns expressed as Petri nets (PNs) and notions of congruence and bisimilarity from process calculus. Proof that a PN-based pattern P can be expressed in a language L can be carried out semi-automatically. Proof that a language L cannot provide the behavior specified by a PNP requires proof by exhaustion based on analysis of cases and cannot be performed automatically. The proof strategies are generic but we exemplify their use with a particular CIG modeling language, PROforma. To illustrate the method we evaluate the expressiveness of PROforma against three standard workflow patterns and compare our results with a previous similar but informal comparison. We show that the two proof strategies are effective in evaluating a CIG modeling language against standard workflow patterns. We find that using the proposed formal techniques we obtain different results to a comparable previously published but less formal study. We discuss the utility of these analyses as the basis for principled extensions to CIG modeling languages. Additionally we explain how the same proof strategies can be reused to prove the satisfaction of patterns expressed in the declarative language CIGDec. The proof strategies we propose are useful tools for analysing the expressiveness of CIG modeling languages. This study provides good evidence of the benefits of applying formal methods of proof over semi-formal ones. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formalized landscape models for surveying and modelling tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löwner, Marc-Oliver

2010-05-01

We present a formalization of main geomorphic landscape models, mainly the concept of slopes, to clarify the needs and potentials of surveying technologies and modelling approaches. Using the Unified Modelling Language (UML) it is implemented as a exchangeable Geography Markup Language (GML3) -based application schema and therefore supports shared measurement campaigns. Today, knowledge in Geomorphology is given synoptically in textbooks in a more or less lyrical way. This knowledge is hard to implement for the use of modelling algorithms or data storage and sharing questions. On the other hand physical based numerical modelling and high resolution surveying technologies enable us to investigate case scenarios within small scales. Bringing together such approaches and organizing our data in an appropriate way will need the formalization of the concepts and knowledge that is archived in the science of geomorphology. The main problem of comparing research results in geomorphology but is that the objects under investigation are composed of 3-dimensional geometries that change in time due to processes of material fluxes, e. g. soil erosion or mass movements. They have internal properties, e. g. soil texture or bulk density, that determine the effectiveness of these processes but are under change as well. The presented application schema is available on the Internet and therefore a first step to enable researchers to share information using an OGC's Web feature service. In this vein comparing modelling results of landscape evolution with results of other scientist's observations is possible. Compared to prevalent data concepts the model presented makes it possible to store information about landforms, their geometry and the characteristics in more detail. It allows to represent the 3D-geometry, the set of material properties and the genesis of a landform by associating processes to a geoobject. Thus, time slices of a geomorphic system can be represented as well as scenarios of landscape modelling. Commercial GI-software is not adapted to the needs of the science of geomorphology. Therefore the development of an application model i. e. a formal description of semantics is imperative to partake in technologies like Web Feature Services supporting interoperable data transfer.

Advanced Concepts in Quantum Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esposito, Giampiero; Marmo, Giuseppe; Miele, Gennaro; Sudarshan, George

2014-11-01

Preface; 1. Introduction: the need for a quantum theory; 2. Experimental foundations of quantum theory; 3. Waves and particles; 4. Schrödinger picture, Heisenberg picture and probabilistic aspects; 5. Integrating the equations of motion; 6. Elementary applications: 1-dimensional problems; 7. Elementary applications: multidimensional problems; 8. Coherent states and related formalism; 9. Introduction to spin; 10. Symmetries in quantum mechanics; 11. Approximation methods; 12. Modern pictures of quantum mechanics; 13. Formulations of quantum mechanics and their physical implications; 14. Exam problems; Glossary of geometric concepts; References; Index.

On parts and holes: the spatial structure of the human body.

PubMed

Donnelly, Maureen

2004-01-01

Spatial representation and reasoning is a central component of medical informatics. The spatial concepts most often used in medicine are not the quantitative, point-based concepts of classical geometry, but rather qualitative relations among extended objects such as body parts. A mereotopology is a formal theory of qualitative spatial relations, such as parthood and connection. This paper considers how an extension of mereotopology which includes also location relations can be used to represent and reason about the spatial structure of the human body.

Review of Sowa’s Conceptual Structures.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-08-01

formal concepts of science, law, or accounting. Schemata are necessary for the loosely structured concepts of everyday life ." (135). Sowa goes on to...BuchananErooA~a~7~35Saii Diego, CA 92152 Computer Science Department iee ct, Mr. J. Barber Stanford University, " Life Sc nces Directorate t e~t~n fth ry...Federico Oe fNvl’,inAssociate Director for Life Sciences , Chief of Naval Education HICode 511i and Training Bolling AFB PD Liaison Office Washinon, DC

X-Phi and Carnapian Explication

PubMed Central

Shepherd, Joshua; Justus, James

2015-01-01

The rise of experimental philosophy (x-phi) has placed metaphilosophical questions, particularly those concerning concepts, at the center of philosophical attention. X-phi offers empirically rigorous methods for identifying conceptual content, but what exactly it contributes towards evaluating conceptual content remains unclear. We show how x-phi complements Rudolf Carnap’s underappreciated methodology for concept determination, explication. This clarifies and extends x-phi’s positive philosophical import, and also exhibits explication’s broad appeal. But there is a potential problem: Carnap’s account of explication was limited to empirical and logical concepts, but many concepts of interest to philosophers (experimental and otherwise) are essentially normative. With formal epistemology as a case study, we show how x-phi assisted explication can apply to normative domains. PMID:26345713

The development of structural complexity in the child's concept of family: the effect of cognitive stage, sex, and intactness of family.

PubMed

Wedemeyer, N V; Bickhard, M H; Cooper, R G

1989-12-01

Twenty-eight boys and 28 girls at each of the Piagetian preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational cognitive stages were given an interview focusing on their concepts of family. Half of each group were from intact families, and half were from divorced families. Interviews were scored for two structural aspects of the concept of family: conceptual level, and use of dimensions that structure the concept. The complexity of children's concepts was strongly related to cognitive stage and, to a lesser degree, to sex. Frequency of use of concept dimensions was strongly affected by general developmental level, though not specifically cognitive stage, and by intactness of family, but to a lesser degree by sex. Specific information is provided on the effect of these factors on perceptions of family composition, parental roles, and breadth of family activities.

Beyond Formalism and Altruism: The Prospects for Moral Personality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Robert C.; Christopher, John Chambers

1996-01-01

Claims that even if objections to eudaimonism are completely correct, critics still have not explained how anyone might develop a eudaimonistic moral conception. Concludes that moral personality is a legitimate object of study and discusses the challenges posed by taking moral personality seriously. (MOK)

Piaget, Inhelder and "Minecraft"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schifter, Catherine C.; Cipollone, Maria; Moffat, Frederick

2013-01-01

This paper describes an exploratory study observing the use of "Minecraft" (a popular sandbox style online video game environment) in a high school English literature classroom. We use Piaget and Inhelder's (1969) constructivist theories about the formal operational stage of development to interpret the concepts of plot and…

School-to-Work Programs: Opportunities and Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finch, Curtis R.

1999-01-01

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III), with increased emphasis on curriculum flexibility and academic/vocational collaboration, has formalized commitment to the school-to-work concept. However, STW implementation issues (whole-school reform, logistics, cost effectiveness, liability, and…

State-and-transition model archetypes: a global taxonomy of rangeland change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

State and transition models (STMs) synthesize science-based and local knowledge to formally represent the dynamics of rangeland and other ecosystems. Mental models or concepts of ecosystem dynamics implicitly underlie all management decisions in rangelands and thus how people influence rangeland sus...

Postliberal Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Robert A.

2015-01-01

The 2014 INPE McLaughlin Lecture explores the emergent concept of the "postliberal" and the increasing frequency of its formal and informal uses in the languages of educational theory and practice. It traces the origins of the term "postliberal" to certain strains of modern Christian theology, maps its migration into liberal…

Modeling Violent Non-State Actors: A Summary of Concepts and Methods

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

charts, leadership, rules, formal communications and process efficiency to name a few. While a useful aspect of organizational diagnosis , this...and Arie Shirom, Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment: Bridging Theory and Practice (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999), 44. 9 Katz and

Los Angeles congestion reduction demonstration (Metro ExpressLanes) program. National evaluation : traffic system data test plan.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

This document reports on the formal evaluation of the targeted (limited but highly focused) deployment of the Advanced Driver and Vehicle Advisory Navigation ConcEpt (ADVANCE), an in-vehicle advanced traveler information system designed to provide sh...

Black Boxes in Analytical Chemistry: University Students' Misconceptions of Instrumental Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carbo, Antonio Domenech; Adelantado, Jose Vicente Gimeno; Reig, Francisco Bosch

2010-01-01

Misconceptions of chemistry and chemical engineering university students concerning instrumental analysis have been established from coordinated tests, tutorial interviews and laboratory lessons. Misconceptions can be divided into: (1) formal, involving specific concepts and formulations within the general frame of chemistry; (2)…

Classification-based reasoning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gomez, Fernando; Segami, Carlos

1991-01-01

A representation formalism for N-ary relations, quantification, and definition of concepts is described. Three types of conditions are associated with the concepts: (1) necessary and sufficient properties, (2) contingent properties, and (3) necessary properties. Also explained is how complex chains of inferences can be accomplished by representing existentially quantified sentences, and concepts denoted by restrictive relative clauses as classification hierarchies. The representation structures that make possible the inferences are explained first, followed by the reasoning algorithms that draw the inferences from the knowledge structures. All the ideas explained have been implemented and are part of the information retrieval component of a program called Snowy. An appendix contains a brief session with the program.

Raman scattering in crystals

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

Edwards, D.F.

1988-09-30

A tutorial presentation is given of Raman scattering in crystals. The physical concepts are emphasized rather than the detailed mathematical formalism. Starting with an introduction to the concepts of phonons and conservation laws, the effects of photon-phonon interactions are presented. This interaction concept is shown for a simple cubic crystal and is extended to a uniaxial crystal. The correlation table method is used for determining the number and symmetry of the Raman active modes. Finally, examples are given to illustrate the relative ease of using this group theoretical method and the predictions are compared with measured Raman spectra. 37 refs.,more » 17 figs., 6 tabs.« less

Developing an approach for teaching and learning about Lewis structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaufmann, Ilana; Hamza, Karim M.; Rundgren, Carl-Johan; Eriksson, Lars

2017-08-01

This study explores first-year university students' reasoning as they learn to draw Lewis structures. We also present a theoretical account of the formal procedure commonly taught for drawing these structures. Students' discussions during problem-solving activities were video recorded and detailed analyses of the discussions were made through the use of practical epistemology analysis (PEA). Our results show that the formal procedure was central for drawing Lewis structures, but its use varied depending on situational aspects. Commonly, the use of individual steps of the formal procedure was contingent on experiences of chemical structures, and other information such as the characteristics of the problem given. The analysis revealed a number of patterns in how students constructed, checked and modified the structure in relation to the formal procedure and the situational aspects. We suggest that explicitly teaching the formal procedure as a process of constructing, checking and modifying might be helpful for students learning to draw Lewis structures. By doing so, the students may learn to check the accuracy of the generated structure not only in relation to the octet rule and formal charge, but also to other experiences that are not explicitly included in the formal procedure.

Engaging a middle school teacher and students in formal-informal science education: Contexts of science standards-based curriculum and an urban science center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grace, Shamarion Gladys

This is a three-article five chapter doctoral dissertation. The overall purpose of this three-pronged study is to engage a middle school science teacher and students in formal-informal science education within the context of a science standards-based curriculum and Urban Science Center. The goals of the study were: (1) to characterize the conversations of formal and informal science educators as they attempted to implement a standards-based curriculum augmented with science center exhibits; (2) to study the classroom discourse between the teacher and students that foster the development of common knowledge in science and student understanding of the concept of energy before observing science center exhibits on energy; (3) to investigate whether or not a standards-driven, project-based Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology (IQWST) curriculum unit on forms and transformation of energy augmented with science center exhibits had a significant effect on urban African-American seventh grade students' achievement and learning. Overall, the study consisted of a mixed-method approach. Article one consists of a case study featuring semi-structured interviews and field notes. Article two consists of documenting and interpreting teacher-students' classroom discourse. Article three consists of qualitative methods (classroom discussion, focus group interviews, student video creation) and quantitative methods (multiple choice and open-ended questions). Oral discourses in all three studies were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. In article one, the community of educators' conversations were critically analyzed to discern the challenges educators encountered when they attempted to connect school curriculum to energy exhibits at the Urban Science Center. The five challenges that characterize the emergence of a third space were as follows: (a) science terminology for lesson focus, (b) "dumb-down" of science exhibits, (c) exploration distracts lesson structure, (d) meaning of model/modeling, and (e) Which comes first?--science content learning or science exhibit exploration. These challenges were considered and discussed as opportunities for personal growth. The third space allowed for participant reflection and transformation in formal-informal collaboration and communication. In article two, teacher-students' classroom discourse transcripts corresponding to the workbook lessons from the IQWST Physics Unit were analyzed. Four instructional events were selected for discourse analysis: focusing on the inquiry process; understanding about kinetic energy; formulating scientific explanations; and translating energy transformation. The discourse-excerpts representing the aforementioned instructional events revealed four teacher behaviors: teacher-posed questions, teacher-explanations, teacher responses, and teacher reference to past learning. Of these teacher behaviors, teacher-posed questions dominated and these consist of fill-in-the-blank, affirmation, second-order, descriptive, and explanatory. Article three represented the results of the IQWST Unit Achievement Test (IUAT) and students' understanding of the concepts of energy and energy transformation. The IUAT indicated that students (N=37) in the experimental group taught with the science center exhibits augmented IQWST curriculum unit achieved scores (p<0.001) about the same as students in the control group (N=31) taught only with the IQWST curriculum unit. However, the experimental (Deltapost-pre = 4.78) and control (Deltapost-pre = 4.04) groups revealed significant gains (p<0.001) from pre-test scores to post-test scores. These findings confirm that underserved urban students' learning can be enhanced with an augmented standards-based curriculum unit. The students also can realize significant achievement gains when professionally developed and administration supported teachers use standards-driven science curriculum whether or not augmented with science exhibits. The three qualitative analyses of data in article three indicated that students had reasonable understandings of the forms and transformation of energy. They were also able to explain the working of science exhibits using their understandings of the energy concepts developed in class. The first study (article 1) implies that a third space allows for participant reflection and transformation in formal-informal collaboration and communication. The second study (article 1) implies the following: (a) the teacher's struggle with dialogic discourse, a communicative approach that fosters common knowledge through a social process; and (b) the need for professional development that fosters dialogic discourse. The third study (article three) implies an integrated curriculum with both formal and informal components can be successfully enacted to achieve content mastery when teachers are given professional development on how to develop students' knowledge using science exhibits, time to develop concepts with students using exhibits, and support from administration to modify the time required to cover certain topics in the curriculum with more time spent on those topics such as energy that require creative teaching methods to assist students' science learning. Overall, the study implies that the science center exhibits can provide a context to observe whether students are able to translate classroom constructed knowledge at the intersection of formal-informal instruction.

Les structures de l'apprentissage en Roumanie: unite et diversite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Văideanu, George

1982-06-01

This analysis concerns structures of learning at the pre-university level. The concept of `learning' is used in a wide sense, including the assimilation not only of knowledge but also of know-how and attitudes. That is to say, learning has been analysed as intellectual — but also as moral, aesthetic and physical or sports — education. The author comments on the philosophy underlying the Report to the Club of Rome, No Limits to Learning. Three categories of learning structure are examined: formal, nonformal and informal. Other possibilities of grouping the structures are also indicated, including learning for society and learning for oneself. Various modalities of their articulation are presented, a distinction being made between those appropriate to school-level and those for scholarly research. Among the final conclusions and suggestions are two addressed to Unesco: a. an international round-table conference on the desirable evolution of learning; and b. the organisation of a network of experimental schools to present the desirable learning structures to educators, researchers and decision-makers.

The Value of Information for Populations in Varying Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivoire, Olivier; Leibler, Stanislas

2011-04-01

The notion of information pervades informal descriptions of biological systems, but formal treatments face the problem of defining a quantitative measure of information rooted in a concept of fitness, which is itself an elusive notion. Here, we present a model of population dynamics where this problem is amenable to a mathematical analysis. In the limit where any information about future environmental variations is common to the members of the population, our model is equivalent to known models of financial investment. In this case, the population can be interpreted as a portfolio of financial assets and previous analyses have shown that a key quantity of Shannon's communication theory, the mutual information, sets a fundamental limit on the value of information. We show that this bound can be violated when accounting for features that are irrelevant in finance but inherent to biological systems, such as the stochasticity present at the individual level. This leads us to generalize the measures of uncertainty and information usually encountered in information theory.

Understanding healthcare practices in superdiverse neighbourhoods and developing the concept of welfare bricolage: Protocol of a cross-national mixed-methods study.

PubMed

Phillimore, Jenny; Bradby, Hannah; Knecht, Michi; Padilla, Beatriz; Brand, Tilman; Cheung, Sin Yi; Pemberton, Simon; Zeeb, Hajo

2015-06-28

Diversity in Europe has both increased and become more complex posing challenges to both national and local welfare state regimes. Evidence indicates specific barriers for migrant, faith and minority ethnic groups when accessing healthcare. However, previous studies of health in diverse cities in European countries have mainly adopted an ethno-national focus. Taking into account the new complexity of diversity within cities, a deeper and multi-faceted understanding of everyday health practices in superdiverse contexts is needed to support appropriate healthcare provision. This protocol describes a mixed method study investigating how residents in superdiverse neighbourhoods access healthcare. The study will include participant observation and qualitative interviewing as well as a standardised health survey and will be carried out in eight superdiverse neighbourhoods - with varying deprivations levels and trajectories of change - in four European countries (Germany, Portugal, Sweden and UK). In each neighbourhood, trained polylingual community researchers together with university researchers will map formal and informal provision and infrastructures supportive to health and healthcare. In-depth interviews with residents and healthcare providers in each country will investigate local health-supportive practices. Thematic analysis will be used to identify different types of help-seeking behaviours and support structures across neighbourhoods and countries. Using categories identified from analyses of interview material, a health survey will be set up investigating determinants of access to healthcare. Complex models, such as structural equation modelling, will be applied to analyse commonalities and differences between population groups, neighbourhoods and countries. This study offers the potential to contribute to a deeper understanding of how residents in superdiverse neighbourhoods deal with health and healthcare in everyday practices. The findings will inform governmental authorities, formal and informal healthcare providers how to further refine health services and how to achieve equitable access in diverse population groups.

Exploring Korean young children's ideas about living things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Young Re

This qualitative study explored concepts of living things that five- and six-year-old Korean children held prior to formal instructional interventions and how their concepts were changed and developed over one semester in a kindergarten classroom. Six focal children in a class of 30 were interviewed in two phases and their hands-on classroom activities and teacher-children interactions were observed. The teacher's journal was also used to gather data. As the study was conducted, a number of alternative concepts related to the children's perceptions of living things were identified and described. The researcher interviewed the children to determine their initial ideas, using an informal interview guide; they responded whether certain objects were living or not, and how they told if the particular objects were living or not. The classroom activities were also observed in large/small groups and individually. An assisting observer viewed the classroom activities and simultaneously recorded science-related teacher-children interactions and the children's hands-on activities. Later the researcher made a transcription of the observer's notes. The data were also collected from the teacher's journal, in which she recorded everyday classroom activities and reflected on teaching and learning. Finally, after 8 weeks of the 16-week instructional intervention, the researcher interviewed the children, using a formal interview guide, as to how their concepts of living things had changed and developed. The researcher interviewed the children as to whether particular objects were plants or animals, neither or both, and the criteria they used to decide. The study showed that the kindergarten children had solid and unique ideas based on their everyday experience with living and non-living things prior to the formal instructional inventions. In the classroom activities, the children showed that they rejected or changed several of their own concepts of living things. The instructional interventions facilitated the children in developing scientific ideas about certain living things. Several of the children's ideas and concepts changed and corresponded to scientific viewpoints. However, others maintained their existing ideas, which were not scientifically based. The study revealed the complexity of teaching kindergarten children a scientific understanding of living things and that teaching the interconnectedness among objects was essential to elaborate concepts. The results of the research suggested improvements for the conceptual change teaching methodology used in the classroom. The study provided insight into the effects of teacher-children interactions and teaching interventions. The study also indicated that the interview and observation research methodology used in this study was a useful vehicle to explore the children's initial ideas and conceptual development in teaching and learning science. The findings of the study suggest that teacher education for teachers of young children should include a complex of instructions because teaching and learning concepts of living things and other related science concepts are complex processes.

Timeline and the Timeline Exchange Infrastructure: a Framework for Exchanging Temporal Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donahue, Kenneth; Chung, Seung H,

2013-01-01

The concept of a timeline is used ubiquitously during space mission design and development to specify elements of flight and ground system designs. In this paper we introduce our Timeline Ontology. The Timeline Ontology is grounded in mathematical formalism, thus proving concrete semantics.

Teaching Linear Measurement Concepts. . .K to 6

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norrie, A. L.

1974-01-01

Three distinct, but overlapping, stages in measurement are identified as intuitive thinking, logical thinking, and formal operations. Three types of representation are body units, non-standard, and standard units. Instructional sequences and activities are suggested for grades 1-3 and grades 4-6 based on these considerations. (LS)

Encouraging Balanced Scientific Research through Formal Debate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yurgelun, Nancy

2007-01-01

The new Connecticut science standards include a "Science, Technology, and Society" (STS) standard for each grade level. This standard encourages students to explore how scientific knowledge affects the quality of their lives. By relating science concepts to real-world decision making, STS investigations give students a framework through…

Nonformal Education: Problems and Prospects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Manzoor

The confluence of three major forces has given a new significance to nonformal education for the developing countries--denied educational opportunities and resource constraints, questions about the relevance of formal education, and growing awareness of the importance of lifelong education. The absence of inadequacies of concepts and priorities of…

Tacit Models, Treasured Intuitions and the Discrete--Continuous Interplay

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidron, Ivy

2011-01-01

We explore conditions for productive synthesis between formal reasoning and intuitive representations through analysis of college students' understanding of the limit concept in the definition of the derivative. In particular, we compare and contrast cognitive processes that accompany different manifestations of persistence of intuitions and tacit…

Non-Lipschitz Approach to Quantum Mechnics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zak, Michail

1997-01-01

An attempt to reconcile quantum mechanics with Newton's laws represented by the non-Lipschitz formalism has been made. As a Proof-of-concept, a line of equally spaced atoms was studied. It appeared that enforcement of atom incompressibility required relaxation of the lipschitz condition at the points of contact.

Factors Influencing Learning of Classical Mechanics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Champagne, Audrey B.; And Others

Beginning college physics students' misconceptions about moving objects, their mathematics skills, and formal reasoning ability, are all believed to be related to their achievement in physics. It is hypothesized that students whose knowledge structures include misconceptions that are in conflict with concepts in the lectures and text will have…

Teleological Talk in Parent-Child Conversations in Quechua

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelman, Susan A.; Mannheim, Bruce; Escalante, Carmen; Tapia, Ingrid Sanchez

2015-01-01

Southern Peruvian Quechua is an indigenous language spoken primarily in rural communities in the Peruvian Andes. The language includes a syntactic construction, "-paq", that expresses purpose or function, thus providing an opportunity to trace how parents and children with little formal education express teleological concepts. The…

RAFCON: A Graphical Tool for Engineering Complex, Robotic Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-09

Robotic tasks are becoming increasingly complex, and with this also the robotic systems. This requires new tools to manage this complexity and to...execution of robotic tasks, called RAFCON. These tasks are described in hierarchical state machines supporting concurrency. A formal notation of this concept

Can We Teach Digital Natives Digital Literacy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Wan

2012-01-01

In recent years, there has been much debate about the concept of digital natives, in particular the differences between the digital natives' knowledge and adoption of digital technologies in informal versus formal educational contexts. This paper investigates the knowledge about educational technologies of a group of undergraduate students…

Towards a common formalization of resilience and vulnerability to natural hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rougé, Charles; Mathias, Jean-Denis; Deffuant, Guillaume

2015-04-01

Resilience and vulnerability are two widely-used concepts when it comes to describe the potential impacts of natural hazards on a social and ecological system. They are an attractive way to communicate both with stakeholders and between the different disciplinary fields that use them in that context. Therefore, a formal definition of the concepts is warranted so as to provide a non-ambiguous reference for discussion and avoid misunderstandings. Besides, such a formalization should strive to formalize both concepts together so as to use their complimentarity. This abstract uses a stochastic controlled dynamical system formulation to propose a common framework for the definition of both resilience and vulnerability. Stochasticity represents all sources of uncertainty post-hazard, and the hazard is assumed to be an exogenous input. This mathematical representation highlights how the interplay between a natural hazard, the system's dynamic and the possible action policies influence the final outcome after the hazard hits. It also clarifies the role of normative choices in defining indicators that may inform or guide the system's management. More importantly, we demonstrate how the proposed framework may serve as a basis to generate indicators that are representative of general definitions of the concepts, yet flexible enough to be easily adapted to very diverse situations. Resilience is the ability for the system to keep or recover its properties of interest after a perturbation, while vulnerability is defined in a most general way as a measure of future harm. The definition of vulnerability leads to a variety of possible indicators, and ultimately to the identification of safe configurations of the system. Being resilient is then the fact of returning to a safe configuration, and the probability of resilience is that of doing so within a pre-defined time frame. Then, indicators may be designed around the probability distribution of return times. We show how viability, a control theory that aims at keeping a system in a desirable state, is relevant to the definition of safe configurations in a system, no matter how complex. A simple lake eutrophication model illustrates how resilience and vulnerability can be made complimentary through the proposed framework. It also highlights potential trade-offs between some resilience and vulnerability indicators, and showcases the relationship between indicators, management objectives and recovery trajectories after a hazard hits a system. We insist that the framework provides a meaningful basis to think about resilience to natural hazards, no matter the existence of a dynamical system representation for a given system.

Switching Between Everyday and Scientific Language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blown, Eric J.; Bryce, Tom G. K.

2017-06-01

The research reported here investigated the everyday and scientific repertoires of children involved in semi-structured, Piagetian interviews carried out to check their understanding of dynamic astronomical concepts like daytime and night-time. It focused on the switching taking place between embedded and disembedded thinking; on the imagery which subjects referred to in their verbal dialogue and their descriptions of drawings and play-dough models of the Earth, Sun and Moon; and it examined the prevalence and character of animism and figurative speech in children's thinking. Five hundred and thirty-nine children (aged 3-18) from Wairarapa in New Zealand (171 boys and 185 girls) and Changchun in China (99 boys and 84 girls) took part in the study. Modified ordinal scales for the relevant concept categories were used to classify children's responses and data from each age group (with numbers balanced as closely as practicable by culture and gender) analysed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample tests (at an alpha level of 0.05). Although, in general, there was consistency of dynamic concepts within and across media and their associated modalities in keeping with the theory of conceptual coherence (see Blown and Bryce 2010; Bryce and Blown 2016), there were several cases of inter-modal and intra-modal switching in both cultures. Qualitative data from the interview protocols revealed how children switch between everyday and scientific language (in both directions) and use imagery in response to questioning. The research indicates that children's grasp of scientific ideas in this field may ordinarily be under-estimated if one only goes by formal scientific expression and vocabulary.

Unity and diversity in human language

PubMed Central

Fitch, W. Tecumseh

2011-01-01

Human language is both highly diverse—different languages have different ways of achieving the same functional goals—and easily learnable. Any language allows its users to express virtually any thought they can conceptualize. These traits render human language unique in the biological world. Understanding the biological basis of language is thus both extremely challenging and fundamentally interesting. I review the literature on linguistic diversity and language universals, suggesting that an adequate notion of ‘formal universals’ provides a promising way to understand the facts of language acquisition, offering order in the face of the diversity of human languages. Formal universals are cross-linguistic generalizations, often of an abstract or implicational nature. They derive from cognitive capacities to perceive and process particular types of structures and biological constraints upon integration of the multiple systems involved in language. Such formal universals can be understood on the model of a general solution to a set of differential equations; each language is one particular solution. An explicit formal conception of human language that embraces both considerable diversity and underlying biological unity is possible, and fully compatible with modern evolutionary theory. PMID:21199842

Adolescent Learning in the Zoo: Embedding a Non-Formal Learning Environment to Teach Formal Aspects of Vertebrate Biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Randler, Christoph; Kummer, Barbara; Wilhelm, Christian

2012-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of a zoo visit in terms of learning and retention of knowledge concerning the adaptations and behavior of vertebrate species. Basis of the work was the concept of implementing zoo visits as an out-of-school setting for formal, curriculum based learning. Our theoretical framework centers on the self-determination theory, therefore, we used a group-based, hands-on learning environment. To address this questions, we used a treatment—control design (BACI) with different treatments and a control group. Pre-, post- and retention tests were applied. All treatments led to a substantial increase of learning and retention knowledge compared to the control group. Immediately after the zoo visit, the zoo-guide tour provided the highest scores, while after a delay of 6 weeks, the learner-centered environment combined with a teacher-guided summarizing scored best. We suggest incorporating the zoo as an out-of-school environment into formal school learning, and we propose different methods to improve learning in zoo settings.

Concrete and formal operational thought processes in young adulthood and old age.

PubMed

Clayton, V; Overton, W F

1976-01-01

A study was conducted to examine the role of concrete and formal operations in a young and old population. In addition, the present study explored the relation between operational thought and Cattell's concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence, as well as the role of differential living arrangements in maintaining operational thought. Eighty females from three age groups (18-20 years, 60-70 years and 70-80 years of age) were tested on a series of Piagetian tasks and indices of fluid and crystallized intelligence. The findings supported the notion that age-related performance differences occur in the area of formal operational thought prior to the time they occur in concrete operational thought. Except for the young sample, the operational tasks were found to be unrelated to fluid intelligence at the age levels represented in this study. Living independently as opposed to living in an old age home did not appear to be a significant factor in maintaining operational thought. Discussion focused on the necessity of identifying those factors which influence the developmental course of formal operational thought across the life span.

The social biography of antibiotic use in smallholder dairy farms in India.

PubMed

Chauhan, Abhimanyu Singh; George, Mathew Sunil; Chatterjee, Pranab; Lindahl, Johanna; Grace, Delia; Kakkar, Manish

2018-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified as one of the major threats to global health, food security and development today. While there has been considerable attention about the use and misuse of antibiotics amongst human populations in both research and policy environments, there is no definitive estimate of the extent of misuse of antibiotics in the veterinary sector and its contribution to AMR in humans. In this study, we explored the drivers ofirrational usage of verterinary antibiotics in the dairy farming sector in peri-urban India. The study was conducted in the peri-urban belts of Ludhiana, Guwahati and Bangalore. A total of 54 interviews (formal and non-formal) were carried out across these three sites. Theme guides were developed to explore different drivers of veterinary antimicrobial use. Data was audio recorded and transcribed. Analysis of the coded data set was carried out using AtlasTi. Version 7. Themes emerged inductively from the set of codes. Findings were presented based on concept of 'levels of analyses'. Emergent themes were categorised as individual, health systems, and policy level drivers. Low level of knowledge related to antibiotics among farmers, active informal service providers, direct marketing of drugs to the farmers and easily available antibiotics, dispensed without appropriate prescriptions contributed to easy access to antibiotics, and were identified to be the possible drivers contributing to the non-prescribed and self-administered use of antibiotics in the dairy farms. Smallholding dairy farmers operated within very small margins of profits. The paucity of formal veterinary services at the community level, coupled with easy availability of antibiotics and the need to ensure profits and minimise losses, promoted non-prescribed antibiotic consumption. It is essential that these local drivers of irrational antibiotic use are understood in order to develop interventions and policies that seek to reduce antibiotic misuse.

Lifelong learning: Established concepts and evolving values.

PubMed

Talati, Jamsheer Jehangir

2014-03-01

To summarise the concepts critical for understanding the content and value of lifelong learning (LL). Ideas generated by personal experience were combined with those of philosophers, social scientists, educational institutions, governments and UNESCO, to facilitate an understanding of the importance of the basic concepts of LL. Autopoietic, continuous, self-determined, informal, vicarious, biographical, lifelong reflexive learning, from and for society, when supported by self-chosen formal courses, can build capacities and portable skills that allow useful responses to challenges and society's new structures of governance. The need for LL is driven by challenges. LL flows continuously in pursuit of one agenda, which could either be citizenship, as is conventional, or as this article proposes, health. LL cannot be wholly centred on vocation. Continuous medical education and continuous professional development, important in their own right, cannot supply all that is needed. LL aids society with its learning, and it requires an awareness of the environment and structures of society. It is heavily vicarious, draws on formal learning and relies for effectiveness on reflection, self-assessment and personal shaping of views of the world from different perspectives. Health is critical to rational thought and peace, and determines society's capacity to govern itself, and improve its health. LL should be reshaped to focus on health not citizenship. Therefore, embedding learning in society and environment is critical. Each urologist must develop an understanding of the numerous concepts in LL, of which 'biographicisation' is the seed that will promote innovative strategies.

Lifelong learning: Established concepts and evolving values

PubMed Central

Talati, Jamsheer Jehangir

2014-01-01

Objective To summarise the concepts critical for understanding the content and value of lifelong learning (LL). Methods Ideas generated by personal experience were combined with those of philosophers, social scientists, educational institutions, governments and UNESCO, to facilitate an understanding of the importance of the basic concepts of LL. Results Autopoietic, continuous, self-determined, informal, vicarious, biographical, lifelong reflexive learning, from and for society, when supported by self-chosen formal courses, can build capacities and portable skills that allow useful responses to challenges and society’s new structures of governance. The need for LL is driven by challenges. LL flows continuously in pursuit of one agenda, which could either be citizenship, as is conventional, or as this article proposes, health. LL cannot be wholly centred on vocation. Continuous medical education and continuous professional development, important in their own right, cannot supply all that is needed. LL aids society with its learning, and it requires an awareness of the environment and structures of society. It is heavily vicarious, draws on formal learning and relies for effectiveness on reflection, self-assessment and personal shaping of views of the world from different perspectives. Conclusion Health is critical to rational thought and peace, and determines society’s capacity to govern itself, and improve its health. LL should be reshaped to focus on health not citizenship. Therefore, embedding learning in society and environment is critical. Each urologist must develop an understanding of the numerous concepts in LL, of which ‘biographicisation’ is the seed that will promote innovative strategies. PMID:26019932

The quantitation of buffering action II. Applications of the formal & general approach.

PubMed

Schmitt, Bernhard M

2005-03-16

The paradigm of "buffering" originated in acid-base physiology, but was subsequently extended to other fields and is now used for a wide and diverse set of phenomena. In the preceding article, we have presented a formal and general approach to the quantitation of buffering action. Here, we use that buffering concept for a systematic treatment of selected classical and other buffering phenomena. H+ buffering by weak acids and "self-buffering" in pure water represent "conservative buffered systems" whose analysis reveals buffering properties that contrast in important aspects from classical textbook descriptions. The buffering of organ perfusion in the face of variable perfusion pressure (also termed "autoregulation") can be treated in terms of "non-conservative buffered systems", the general form of the concept. For the analysis of cytoplasmic Ca++ concentration transients (also termed "muffling"), we develop a related unit that is able to faithfully reflect the time-dependent quantitative aspect of buffering during the pre-steady state period. Steady-state buffering is shown to represent the limiting case of time-dependent muffling, namely for infinitely long time intervals and infinitely small perturbations. Finally, our buffering concept provides a stringent definition of "buffering" on the level of systems and control theory, resulting in four absolute ratio scales for control performance that are suited to measure disturbance rejection and setpoint tracking, and both their static and dynamic aspects. Our concept of buffering provides a powerful mathematical tool for the quantitation of buffering action in all its appearances.

Mixing Languages during Learning? Testing the One Subject-One Language Rule.

PubMed

Antón, Eneko; Thierry, Guillaume; Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni

2015-01-01

In bilingual communities, mixing languages is avoided in formal schooling: even if two languages are used on a daily basis for teaching, only one language is used to teach each given academic subject. This tenet known as the one subject-one language rule avoids mixing languages in formal schooling because it may hinder learning. The aim of this study was to test the scientific ground of this assumption by investigating the consequences of acquiring new concepts using a method in which two languages are mixed as compared to a purely monolingual method. Native balanced bilingual speakers of Basque and Spanish-adults (Experiment 1) and children (Experiment 2)-learnt new concepts by associating two different features to novel objects. Half of the participants completed the learning process in a multilingual context (one feature was described in Basque and the other one in Spanish); while the other half completed the learning phase in a purely monolingual context (both features were described in Spanish). Different measures of learning were taken, as well as direct and indirect indicators of concept consolidation. We found no evidence in favor of the non-mixing method when comparing the results of two groups in either experiment, and thus failed to give scientific support for the educational premise of the one subject-one language rule.

Mixing Languages during Learning? Testing the One Subject—One Language Rule

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

In bilingual communities, mixing languages is avoided in formal schooling: even if two languages are used on a daily basis for teaching, only one language is used to teach each given academic subject. This tenet known as the one subject-one language rule avoids mixing languages in formal schooling because it may hinder learning. The aim of this study was to test the scientific ground of this assumption by investigating the consequences of acquiring new concepts using a method in which two languages are mixed as compared to a purely monolingual method. Native balanced bilingual speakers of Basque and Spanish—adults (Experiment 1) and children (Experiment 2)—learnt new concepts by associating two different features to novel objects. Half of the participants completed the learning process in a multilingual context (one feature was described in Basque and the other one in Spanish); while the other half completed the learning phase in a purely monolingual context (both features were described in Spanish). Different measures of learning were taken, as well as direct and indirect indicators of concept consolidation. We found no evidence in favor of the non-mixing method when comparing the results of two groups in either experiment, and thus failed to give scientific support for the educational premise of the one subject—one language rule. PMID:26107624

MEDICAL DEVICE PRICES IN ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS.

PubMed

Akpinar, Ilke; Jacobs, Philip; Husereau, Don

2015-01-01

Economic evaluations, although not formally used in purchasing decisions for medical devices in Canada, are still being conducted and published. The aim of this study was to examine the way that prices have been included in Canadian economic evaluations of medical devices. We conducted a review of the economic concepts and implications of methods used for economic evaluations of the eleven most implanted medical devices from the Canadian perspective. We found Canadian economic studies for five of the eleven medical devices and identified nineteen Canadian studies. Overall, the device costs were important components of total procedure cost, with an average ratio of 44.1 %. Observational estimates of the device costs were obtained from buyers or sellers in 13 of the 19 studies. Although most of the devices last more than 1 year, standard costing methods for capital equipment was never used. In addition, only eight studies included a sensitivity analysis for the device cost. None of the sensitivity analyses were based on actual price distributions. Economic evaluations are potentially important for policy making, but although they are being conducted, there is no standardized approach for incorporating medical device prices in economic analyses. Our review provides suggestions for improvements in how the prices are incorporated for economic evaluations of medical devices.

Configuration Management of an Optimization Application in a Research Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, James C.; Salas, Andrea O.; Schuler, M. Patricia

1999-01-01

Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) research aims to increase interdisciplinary communication and reduce design cycle time by combining system analyses (simulations) with design space search and decision making. The High Performance Computing and Communication Program's current High Speed Civil Transport application, HSCT4.0, at NASA Langley Research Center involves a highly complex analysis process with high-fidelity analyses that are more realistic than previous efforts at the Center. The multidisciplinary processes have been integrated to form a distributed application by using the Java language and Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) software techniques. HSCT4.0 is a research project in which both the application problem and the implementation strategy have evolved as the MDO and integration issues became better understood. Whereas earlier versions of the application and integrated system were developed with a simple, manual software configuration management (SCM) process, it was evident that this larger project required a more formal SCM procedure. This report briefly describes the HSCT4.0 analysis and its CORBA implementation and then discusses some SCM concepts and their application to this project. In anticipation that SCM will prove beneficial for other large research projects, the report concludes with some lessons learned in overcoming SCM implementation problems for HSCT4.0.

TOWARD A MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY FOR PEROMYSCUS: EVIDENCE FROM MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME-b SEQUENCES

PubMed Central

Bradley, Robert D.; Durish, Nevin D.; Rogers, Duke S.; Miller, Jacqueline R.; Engstrom, Mark D.; Kilpatrick, C. William

2009-01-01

One hundred DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene of 44 species of deer mice (Peromyscus (sensu stricto), 1 of Habromys, 1 of Isthmomys, 2 of Megadontomys, and the monotypic genera Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys were used to develop a molecular phylogeny for Peromyscus. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference) were conducted to evaluate alternative hypotheses concerning taxonomic arrangements (sensu stricto versus sensu lato) of the genus. In all analyses, monophyletic clades were obtained that corresponded to species groups proposed by previous authors; however, relationships among species groups generally were poorly resolved. The concept of the genus Peromyscus based on molecular data differed significantly from the most current taxonomic arrangement. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian trees depicted strong support for a clade placing Habromys, Megadontomys, Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys within Peromyscus. If Habromys, Megadontomys, Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys are regarded as genera, then several species groups within Peromyscus (sensu stricto) should be elevated to generic rank. Isthmomys was associated with the genus Reithrodontomys; in turn this clade was sister to Baiomys, indicating a distant relationship of Isthmomys to Peromyscus. A formal taxonomic revision awaits synthesis of additional sequence data from nuclear markers together with inclusion of available allozymic and karyotypic data. PMID:19924266

Semantic and syntactic interoperability in online processing of big Earth observation data.

PubMed

Sudmanns, Martin; Tiede, Dirk; Lang, Stefan; Baraldi, Andrea

2018-01-01

The challenge of enabling syntactic and semantic interoperability for comprehensive and reproducible online processing of big Earth observation (EO) data is still unsolved. Supporting both types of interoperability is one of the requirements to efficiently extract valuable information from the large amount of available multi-temporal gridded data sets. The proposed system wraps world models, (semantic interoperability) into OGC Web Processing Services (syntactic interoperability) for semantic online analyses. World models describe spatio-temporal entities and their relationships in a formal way. The proposed system serves as enabler for (1) technical interoperability using a standardised interface to be used by all types of clients and (2) allowing experts from different domains to develop complex analyses together as collaborative effort. Users are connecting the world models online to the data, which are maintained in a centralised storage as 3D spatio-temporal data cubes. It allows also non-experts to extract valuable information from EO data because data management, low-level interactions or specific software issues can be ignored. We discuss the concept of the proposed system, provide a technical implementation example and describe three use cases for extracting changes from EO images and demonstrate the usability also for non-EO, gridded, multi-temporal data sets (CORINE land cover).

Semantic and syntactic interoperability in online processing of big Earth observation data

PubMed Central

Sudmanns, Martin; Tiede, Dirk; Lang, Stefan; Baraldi, Andrea

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT The challenge of enabling syntactic and semantic interoperability for comprehensive and reproducible online processing of big Earth observation (EO) data is still unsolved. Supporting both types of interoperability is one of the requirements to efficiently extract valuable information from the large amount of available multi-temporal gridded data sets. The proposed system wraps world models, (semantic interoperability) into OGC Web Processing Services (syntactic interoperability) for semantic online analyses. World models describe spatio-temporal entities and their relationships in a formal way. The proposed system serves as enabler for (1) technical interoperability using a standardised interface to be used by all types of clients and (2) allowing experts from different domains to develop complex analyses together as collaborative effort. Users are connecting the world models online to the data, which are maintained in a centralised storage as 3D spatio-temporal data cubes. It allows also non-experts to extract valuable information from EO data because data management, low-level interactions or specific software issues can be ignored. We discuss the concept of the proposed system, provide a technical implementation example and describe three use cases for extracting changes from EO images and demonstrate the usability also for non-EO, gridded, multi-temporal data sets (CORINE land cover). PMID:29387171

The quality management journey: the progress of health facilities in Australia.

PubMed

Carr, B J

1994-12-01

Many facilities in Australia have taken the Total Quality Management (TQM) step. The objective of this study was to examine progress of adopted formal quality systems in health. Sixty per cent of organizations surveyed have adopted formal systems. Of these, Deming adherents are the most common, followed by eclectic choices. Only 35% considered the quality transition as reasonably easy. There was no relationship between accreditation and formal quality systems identified. The most common improvement techniques were: flow charts, histograms, and cause and effect diagrams. Quality practitioners are happy to use several tools exceptionally well rather than have many tools at their disposal. The greatest impediment to the adoption of quality was the lack of top management support. This study did not support the view that clinicians are not readily actively supporting quality initiatives. Total Quality Management is not a mature concept; however, Chief Executive Officers are assured that rewards will be realized over time.

On Abstractions and Simplifications in the Design of Human-Automation Interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heymann, Michael; Degani, Asaf; Shafto, Michael; Meyer, George; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This report addresses the design of human-automation interaction from a formal perspective that focuses on the information content of the interface, rather than the design of the graphical user interface. It also addresses the, issue of the information provided to the user (e.g., user-manuals, training material, and all other resources). In this report, we propose a formal procedure for generating interfaces and user-manuals. The procedure is guided by two criteria: First, the interface must be correct, i.e., that with the given interface the user will be able to perform the specified tasks correctly. Second, the interface should be as succinct as possible. The report discusses the underlying concepts and the formal methods for this approach. Several examples are used to illustrate the procedure. The algorithm for constructing interfaces can be automated, and a preliminary software system for its implementation has been developed.

On Abstractions and Simplifications in the Design of Human-Automation Interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heymann, Michael; Degani, Asaf; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This report addresses the design of human-automation interaction from a formal perspective that focuses on the information content of the interface, rather than the design of the graphical user interface. It also addresses the issue of the information provided to the user (e.g., user-manuals, training material, and all other resources). In this report, we propose a formal procedure for generating interfaces and user-manuals. The procedure is guided by two criteria: First, the interface must be correct, that is, with the given interface the user will be able to perform the specified tasks correctly. Second, the interface should be succinct. The report discusses the underlying concepts and the formal methods for this approach. Two examples are used to illustrate the procedure. The algorithm for constructing interfaces can be automated, and a preliminary software system for its implementation has been developed.

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

Liakh, Dmitry I

While the formalism of multiresolution analysis (MRA), based on wavelets and adaptive integral representations of operators, is actively progressing in electronic structure theory (mostly on the independent-particle level and, recently, second-order perturbation theory), the concepts of multiresolution and adaptivity can also be utilized within the traditional formulation of correlated (many-particle) theory which is based on second quantization and the corresponding (generally nonorthogonal) tensor algebra. In this paper, we present a formalism called scale-adaptive tensor algebra (SATA) which exploits an adaptive representation of tensors of many-body operators via the local adjustment of the basis set quality. Given a series of locallymore » supported fragment bases of a progressively lower quality, we formulate the explicit rules for tensor algebra operations dealing with adaptively resolved tensor operands. The formalism suggested is expected to enhance the applicability and reliability of local correlated many-body methods of electronic structure theory, especially those directly based on atomic orbitals (or any other localized basis functions).« less

The Dynamics of Paid and Unpaid Activities Among People Aged 50–69 in Denmark, France, Italy, and England

PubMed Central

Grundy, Emily

2016-01-01

In the context of the current policy emphasis on extending working lives, we investigate whether the relationship between participation in paid work, other formal, and informal activities among people aged 50–69 is complementary or competitive. We also investigate differences in associations between countries using comparable longitudinal data from Denmark, France, Italy, and England. We find positive associations between informal and formal engagement in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Paid work was negatively associated with formal and informal engagement, and respondents who stopped working were more likely to be engaged in formal (Denmark and France) and informal activities (England and Italy) at follow-up than respondents who continued working. However, the strongest predictor of formal and informal engagement at follow-up was baseline engagement. In the context of policy aims to extend working lives and broaden older people’s participation in other productive activities, new balances between work and other forms of engagement are still to be found. PMID:27302075

School policies and practices that improve indoor air quality.

PubMed

Everett Jones, Sherry; Smith, Alisa M; Wheeler, Lani S; McManus, Tim

2010-06-01

To determine whether schools with a formal indoor air quality management program were more likely than schools without a formal program to have policies and practices that promote superior indoor air quality. This study analyzed school-level data from the 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study, a national study of school health programs and policies at the state, district, and school levels. Using chi-square analyses, the rates of policies and practices that promote indoor air quality were compared between schools with and schools without a formal indoor air quality program. The findings of this study show that 51.4% of schools had a formal indoor air quality management program, and that those schools were significantly more likely than were schools without a program to have policies and use strategies to promote superior indoor air quality. These findings suggest that schools with a formal indoor air quality program are more likely support policies and engage in practices that promote superior indoor air quality.

Removing interference-based effects from the infrared transflectance spectra of thin films on metallic substrates: a fast and wave optics conform solution.

PubMed

Mayerhöfer, Thomas G; Pahlow, Susanne; Hübner, Uwe; Popp, Jürgen

2018-06-25

A hybrid formalism combining elements from Kramers-Kronig based analyses and dispersion analysis was developed, which allows removing interference-based effects in the infrared spectra of layers on highly reflecting substrates. In order to enable a highly convenient application, the correction procedure is fully automatized and usually requires less than a minute with non-optimized software on a typical office PC. The formalism was tested with both synthetic and experimental spectra of poly(methyl methacrylate) on gold. The results confirmed the usefulness of the formalism: apparent peak ratios as well as the interference fringes in the original spectra were successfully corrected. Accordingly, the introduced formalism makes it possible to use inexpensive and robust highly reflecting substrates for routine infrared spectroscopic investigations of layers or films the thickness of which is limited by the imperative that reflectance absorbance must be smaller than about 1. For thicker films the formalism is still useful, but requires estimates for the optical constants.

Physiotherapists’ behaviour, attitudes, awareness, knowledge and barriers in relation to evidence-based practice implementation in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Alshehri, Mansour A.; Alalawi, Ahmed; Alhasan, Hammad; Stokes, Emma

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Aim: The implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) is extremely important and plays a vital role in healthcare practice. There have been few studies concerning the level of healthcare provided to patients in Saudi Arabia, using EBP as an indicator. This study is aimed at investigating physiotherapists’ behaviour, attitudes, awareness and knowledge about EBP, along with barriers that curb the implementation of EBP. Methods: A sample of convenience was used and an online survey consisting of 14 closed-ended questions was given to both clinical and academic physiotherapists in Saudi Arabia from May to October 2016. Data regarding demographics, behaviour, attitudes, awareness, knowledge, previous formal training and barriers to implementation of EBP were recorded. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 19. Results: A total of 604 physiotherapists participated in the survey, out of which 385 respondents provided complete data. Nine participants were undergraduate physiotherapy students or not physiotherapists and their responses were excluded. The final number of participants included in data analysis was 376. The majority of the participants were men (60.4%) and most of them had completed their bachelor degree (66.2%). Although most physiotherapists reported a positive attitude towards the use of research in practice, there were many who were unfamiliar with the terms and implementation of EBP. The majority of physiotherapists had no formal EBP training (70.2%) in universities or any authorized training centres. According to the responses collected, the most important barrier to the implementation of EBP was insufficient teaching in previous education (43.1%), followed by lack of research knowledge and skills (36.4%). The study revealed that there was a significant association between physiotherapists’ attitude and their education level, while no significant associations were identified based on other demographic data. In addition, there were significant associations between physiotherapists’ awareness and knowledge and demographics such as education level, work setting, job title and previous training in EBP. Conclusion: There is a prominent gap in terms of understanding and applying the concept of EBP among physiotherapists in Saudi Arabia. Given that the majority of practicing physiotherapists reported no formal training in EBP, there is a need to integrate concepts related to EBP into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. In addition, strategies must be developed and implemented to encourage practicing physiotherapists for gaining knowledge and proficiency in EBP. PMID:28399014

Formal and Informal Learning and First-Year Psychology Students’ Development of Scientific Thinking: A Two-Wave Panel Study

PubMed Central

Soyyılmaz, Demet; Griffin, Laura M.; Martín, Miguel H.; Kucharský, Šimon; Peycheva, Ekaterina D.; Vaupotič, Nina; Edelsbrunner, Peter A.

2017-01-01

Scientific thinking is a predicate for scientific inquiry, and thus important to develop early in psychology students as potential future researchers. The present research is aimed at fathoming the contributions of formal and informal learning experiences to psychology students’ development of scientific thinking during their 1st-year of study. We hypothesize that informal experiences are relevant beyond formal experiences. First-year psychology student cohorts from various European countries will be assessed at the beginning and again at the end of the second semester. Assessments of scientific thinking will include scientific reasoning skills, the understanding of basic statistics concepts, and epistemic cognition. Formal learning experiences will include engagement in academic activities which are guided by university authorities. Informal learning experiences will include non-compulsory, self-guided learning experiences. Formal and informal experiences will be assessed with a newly developed survey. As dispositional predictors, students’ need for cognition and self-efficacy in psychological science will be assessed. In a structural equation model, students’ learning experiences and personal dispositions will be examined as predictors of their development of scientific thinking. Commonalities and differences in predictive weights across universities will be tested. The project is aimed at contributing information for designing university environments to optimize the development of students’ scientific thinking. PMID:28239363

Formal Methods in Air Traffic Management: The Case of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz, Cesar A.

2015-01-01

As the technological and operational capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) continue to grow, so too does the need to introduce these systems into civil airspace. Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System is a NASA research project that addresses the integration of civil UAS into non-segregated airspace operations. One of the major challenges of this integration is the lack of an onboard pilot to comply with the legal requirement that pilots see and avoid other aircraft. The need to provide an equivalent to this requirement for UAS has motivated the development of a detect and avoid (DAA) capability to provide the appropriate situational awareness and maneuver guidance in avoiding and remaining well clear of traffic aircraft. Formal methods has played a fundamental role in the development of this capability. This talk reports on the formal methods work conducted under NASA's Safe Autonomous System Operations project in support of the development of DAA for UAS. This work includes specification of low-level and high-level functional requirements, formal verification of algorithms, and rigorous validation of software implementations. The talk also discusses technical challenges in formal methods research in the context of the development and safety analysis of advanced air traffic management concepts.

Formal and Informal Learning and First-Year Psychology Students' Development of Scientific Thinking: A Two-Wave Panel Study.

PubMed

Soyyılmaz, Demet; Griffin, Laura M; Martín, Miguel H; Kucharský, Šimon; Peycheva, Ekaterina D; Vaupotič, Nina; Edelsbrunner, Peter A

2017-01-01

Scientific thinking is a predicate for scientific inquiry, and thus important to develop early in psychology students as potential future researchers. The present research is aimed at fathoming the contributions of formal and informal learning experiences to psychology students' development of scientific thinking during their 1st-year of study. We hypothesize that informal experiences are relevant beyond formal experiences. First-year psychology student cohorts from various European countries will be assessed at the beginning and again at the end of the second semester. Assessments of scientific thinking will include scientific reasoning skills, the understanding of basic statistics concepts, and epistemic cognition. Formal learning experiences will include engagement in academic activities which are guided by university authorities. Informal learning experiences will include non-compulsory, self-guided learning experiences. Formal and informal experiences will be assessed with a newly developed survey. As dispositional predictors, students' need for cognition and self-efficacy in psychological science will be assessed. In a structural equation model, students' learning experiences and personal dispositions will be examined as predictors of their development of scientific thinking. Commonalities and differences in predictive weights across universities will be tested. The project is aimed at contributing information for designing university environments to optimize the development of students' scientific thinking.

An Ontology for State Analysis: Formalizing the Mapping to SysML

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, David A.; Bennett, Matthew B.; Karban, Robert; Rouquette, Nicolas; Jenkins, Steven; Ingham, Michel

2012-01-01

State Analysis is a methodology developed over the last decade for architecting, designing and documenting complex control systems. Although it was originally conceived for designing robotic spacecraft, recent applications include the design of control systems for large ground-based telescopes. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) began a project to design the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), which will require coordinated control of over a thousand articulated mirror segments. The designers are using State Analysis as a methodology and the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) as a modeling and documentation language in this task. To effectively apply the State Analysis methodology in this context it became necessary to provide ontological definitions of the concepts and relations in State Analysis and greater flexibility through a mapping of State Analysis into a practical extension of SysML. The ontology provides the formal basis for verifying compliance with State Analysis semantics including architectural constraints. The SysML extension provides the practical basis for applying the State Analysis methodology with SysML tools. This paper will discuss the method used to develop these formalisms (the ontology), the formalisms themselves, the mapping to SysML and approach to using these formalisms to specify a control system and enforce architectural constraints in a SysML model.

Phasic dopamine signals: from subjective reward value to formal economic utility

PubMed Central

Schultz, Wolfram; Carelli, Regina M; Wightman, R Mark

2015-01-01

Although rewards are physical stimuli and objects, their value for survival and reproduction is subjective. The phasic, neurophysiological and voltammetric dopamine reward prediction error response signals subjective reward value. The signal incorporates crucial reward aspects such as amount, probability, type, risk, delay and effort. Differences of dopamine release dynamics with temporal delay and effort in rodents may derive from methodological issues and require further study. Recent designs using concepts and behavioral tools from experimental economics allow to formally characterize the subjective value signal as economic utility and thus to establish a neuronal value function. With these properties, the dopamine response constitutes a utility prediction error signal. PMID:26719853

A guide and glossary on post-positivist theory building for population health.

PubMed

Carpiano, R M; Daley, Dorothy M

2006-07-01

This guide and glossary focuses on the role of theory and conceptual models within population health research. Upon discussing the critical need for theory in conducting interdisciplinary research, it provides strategies for crafting theories that can be empirically tested and a glossary of theory building terms that are useful for guiding research. In addition to general concepts, the glossary includes some terminology commonly found in the social sciences, whose well established traditions and practices of formal theory building may be particularly informative for epidemiologists and other population health researchers who have minimal formal social science training, but study social factors in their research.

A guide and glossary on postpositivist theory building for population health

PubMed Central

Carpiano, Richard M; Daley, Dorothy M

2006-01-01

This guide and glossary focuses on the role of theory and conceptual models within population health research. Upon discussing the critical need for theory in conducting interdisciplinary research, it provides strategies for crafting theories that can be empirically tested and a glossary of theory building terms that are useful for guiding research. In addition to general concepts, the glossary includes some terminology commonly found in the social sciences, whose well established traditions and practices of formal theory building may be particularly informative for epidemiologists and other population health researchers who have minimal formal social science training, but study social factors in their research. PMID:16790824

Tree-oriented interactive processing with an application to theorem-proving, appendix E

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammerslag, David; Kamin, Samuel N.; Campbell, Roy H.

1985-01-01

The concept of unstructured structure editing and ted, an editor for unstructured trees, is described. Ted is used to manipulate hierarchies of information in an unrestricted manner. The tool was implemented and applied to the problem of organizing formal proofs. As a proof management tool, it maintains the validity of a proof and its constituent lemmas independently from the methods used to validate the proof. It includes an adaptable interface which may be used to invoke theorem provers and other aids to proof construction. Using ted, a user may construct, maintain, and verify formal proofs using a variety of theorem provers, proof checkers, and formatters.

Design of high reliability organizations in health care

PubMed Central

Carroll, J S; Rudolph, J W

2006-01-01

To improve safety performance, many healthcare organizations have sought to emulate high reliability organizations from industries such as nuclear power, chemical processing, and military operations. We outline high reliability design principles for healthcare organizations including both the formal structures and the informal practices that complement those structures. A stage model of organizational structures and practices, moving from local autonomy to formal controls to open inquiry to deep self‐understanding, is used to illustrate typical challenges and design possibilities at each stage. We suggest how organizations can use the concepts and examples presented to increase their capacity to self‐design for safety and reliability. PMID:17142607

From the voices of women: facilitating survivor access to IPV services.

PubMed

Simmons, Catherine A; Farrar, Melissa; Frazer, Kitty; Thompson, Mary Jane

2011-10-01

This mixed-method study investigated perceptions women domestic violence survivors/victims have about why women do not seek help from formal support structures and actions domestic helping agencies can take to facilitate survivor access to services. Congruent with previous research, quantitative analysis identified 17 reasons women do not seek help from formal support structures. Expanding current knowledge, concept mapping revealed six ways family violence programs can better reach women in abusive relationships, including (1) remove barriers to services, (2) improve comfort with services, (3) "talk about it," (4) improve community awareness, (5) victim-targeted marketing, and (6) "I honestly don't know."

Formalization and Interaction: Toward a Comprehensive History of Technology-Related Knowledge in Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Popplow, Marcus

2015-12-01

Recent critical approaches to what has conventionally been described as "scientific" and "technical" knowledge in early modern Europe have provided a wealth of new insights. So far, the various analytical concepts suggested by these studies have not yet been comprehensively discussed. The present essay argues that such comprehensive approaches might prove of special value for long-term and cross-cultural reflections on technology-related knowledge. As heuristic tools, the notions of "formalization" and "interaction" are proposed as part of alternative narratives to those highlighting the emergence of "science" as the most relevant development for technology-related knowledge in early modern Europe.

Distributed Leadership Includes Staff: One Rural Custodian as a Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Gerri; Scheurich, Jim; Skrla, Linda

2009-01-01

Distribution of leadership tasks, often described as distributed leadership, has emerged as an innovative concept for describing the deployment of leadership within schools. A distributed leadership perspective suggests that successful school leadership is not simply the charge of the formal leaders (e.g., Gronn, 2000; Ogawa & Bossert, 1995;…

Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors: Embodied, Symbolic and Formal Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Michael O. J.; Stewart, Sepideh

2011-01-01

Many beginning university students struggle with the new approaches to mathematics that they find in their courses due to a shift in presentation of mathematical ideas, from a procedural approach to concept definitions and deductive derivations, and ideas building upon each other in quick succession. This paper highlights this struggle by…

"Give Courage to the Ladies:" Expansive Apprenticeship for Women in Rural Malawi

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safford, Kimberly; Cooper, Deborah; Wolfenden, Freda; Chitsulo, Joyce

2013-01-01

Apprenticeship in developed and industrialised nations is increasingly understood and practised as learning which connects workplace activity and formal study. The concept of "expansive apprenticeship" defines frameworks for workforce development where participants acquire knowledge and skills which will help them in the future as well…

Japanese Moral Education Past and Present.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khan, Yoshimitsu

For generations, moral development has been both a conscious aim and a formal process in Japanese education. This book investigates the history and development of Japanese moral education and analyzes and compares current moral education with the concepts of the Imperial Rescript on Education (1890) and the "shushin" moral education of…

Micmac Literacy and Cognitive Assimilation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Battiste, Marie

Literacy is a social concept more reflective of culture and context than of formal instruction and can be used for cultural transmission within a society or for cultural imperialism when imposed from outside. The Algonquian-speaking Micmac Indians used pictographs, petroglyphs, notched sticks, and wampum as written communication to serve early…

From Least Action in Electrodynamics to Magnetomechanical Energy--A Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essen, Hanno

2009-01-01

The equations of motion for electromechanical systems are traced back to the fundamental Lagrangian of particles and electromagnetic fields, via the Darwin Lagrangian. When dissipative forces can be neglected the systems are conservative and one can study them in a Hamiltonian formalism. The central concepts of generalized capacitance and…

Delimiting Coefficient a from Internal Consistency and Unidimensionality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sijtsma, Klaas

2015-01-01

I discuss the contribution by Davenport, Davison, Liou, & Love (2015) in which they relate reliability represented by coefficient a to formal definitions of internal consistency and unidimensionality, both proposed by Cronbach (1951). I argue that coefficient a is a lower bound to reliability and that concepts of internal consistency and…

Critical Caring for People and Place

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schindel, Alexandra; Tolbert, Sara

2017-01-01

What role does caring play in environmental education? The development of caring relationships in formal school settings remains a foundational yet underexamined concept in environmental education research. This study examines the role of caring relationships between people and place in an urban high school in the United States. We draw upon…

Empathy and Social-Emotional Learning: Pitfalls and Touchstones for School-Based Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Bruce; DesRoches, Sarah

2010-01-01

This chapter identifies three common pitfalls in the use of the concept of empathy in formal social-emotional learning interventions: (1) not distinguishing between affective and cognitive empathy ("equivocation"); (2) overestimating the role of the imagination in empathizing ("Piaget's fallacy"); and (3) not accommodating the developmental and…

Relationship with English: Language Use, Attitudes, and Investment in Learning among Low-Income Latino Immigrant Entrepreneurs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonder, Linda E.

2017-01-01

Many researchers have explored language learning investment since Norton Peirce (1995) introduced the concept. However, most investment studies have recruited participants through language classes, which presupposes participant investment in formal learning. The current study went outside the classroom context by conducting ethnographic interviews…

Personal Learning Environments: Concept or Technology?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fiedler, Sebastian H. D.; Väljataga, Terje

2011-01-01

This paper reviews and critiques how the notion of PLEs has been conceptualised and discussed in literature so far. It interprets the variability of its interpretations and conceptualisations as the expression of a fundamental contradiction between patterns of activity and digital instrumentation in formal education on one hand, and individual…

A Transactions Cost Economics Approach to Defense Acquisition Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-30

A path-breaking econometric study (Masten et al., 1991) based on the procurement of components and services by a large naval shipbuilder indicates...philosophy with four formal levels of hierarchical IPTs—from project-level working groups to over- arching OSD-level “teams.” Key in the IPT concept is

Interactions between Defining, Explaining and Classifying: The Case of Increasing and Decreasing Sequences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alcock, Lara; Simpson, Adrian

2017-01-01

This paper describes a study in which we investigated relationships between defining mathematical concepts--increasing and decreasing infinite sequences--explaining their meanings and classifying consistently with formal definitions. We explored the effect of defining, explaining or studying a definition on subsequent classification, and the…

The Public Kindergarten Concept as a Factor in Racial Attitudes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Edward L.

The question of whether the public kindergarten neighborhood can effectively assume a meaningful role in the development of children's racial attitudes is investigated in this study. Focus centers on the public kindergarten since, in the absence of racially mixed neighborhoods, it constitutes the first formal interracial experience for most…

Mathematical Literacy--It's Become Fundamental

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCrone, Sharon Soucy; Dossey, John A.

2007-01-01

The rising tide of numbers and statistics in daily life signals a need for a fundamental broadening of the concept of literacy: mathematical literacy assuming a coequal role in the curriculum alongside language-based literacy. Mathematical literacy is not about studying higher levels of formal mathematics, but about making math relevant and…

Polynomial Approximation of Functions: Historical Perspective and New Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidron, Ivy

2003-01-01

This paper examines the effect of applying symbolic computation and graphics to enhance students' ability to move from a visual interpretation of mathematical concepts to formal reasoning. The mathematics topics involved, Approximation and Interpolation, were taught according to their historical development, and the students tried to follow the…

Responsibility and School Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Ann; Mintrom, Michael

2010-01-01

The concept of responsibility is highly relevant to the organization of public schooling. Through public schools, adult citizens allow for the formal nurture and training of children to become full citizens, able to participate in our shared social, economic, and political life. With growing awareness of the importance of effective schooling to…

Conference of Remote Sensing Educators (CORSE-78)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

Ways of improving the teaching of remote sensing students at colleges and universities are discussed. Formal papers and workshops on various Earth resources disciplines, image interpretation, and data processing concepts are presented. An inventory of existing remote sensing and related subject courses being given in western regional universities is included.

Dialogue as a Tool for Meaning Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruni, Angela Suzanne Dudley

2013-01-01

In order to empower citizens to analyze the effects, risk, and value of science, a knowledge of scientific concepts is necessary (Mejlgaard, 2009). The formal educational system plays a role in this endeavor (Gil-Perez & Vilches, 2005). One proposed constructivist practice is the use of social learning activities using verbalized, shared…

"Why" and "How" We Can Teach Social Entrepreneurship in a Capstone Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton, Mark

2012-01-01

Social entrepreneurship, while not a new term, does not have a universal definition. Teaching entrepreneurship in a comprehensive university capstone course often includes a formal business plan project. By incorporating concepts of social entrepreneurship, students develop an awareness of entrepreneurship beyond a more traditional approach. This…

The Semantics and Pragmatics of Japanese Focus Particles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasegawa, Akio

2011-01-01

Japanese has a rich set of focus particles, several exclusive and additive particles, and, in addition, contrastive particles. This thesis provides a formal description of the meanings of Japanese focus particles and addresses two general questions: "What kinds concepts do Japanese focus particles express?" and "Why does Japanese have a larger…

Exploring Literacy Practices in a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parlindungan, Firman

2017-01-01

There has been a consensus in research and practices that social and cultural aspects of lives contribute to literacy development, particularly in second language learning. The conception of literacy has been shifting from the lens of formal literacy learning in school settings into broader opportunities in sociocultural contexts, and some may…

Introduction to the theory of machines and languages

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

Weidhaas, P. P.

1976-04-01

This text is intended to be an elementary ''guided tour'' through some basic concepts of modern computer science. Various models of computing machines and formal languages are studied in detail. Discussions center around questions such as, ''What is the scope of problems that can or cannot be solved by computers.''

Nurturing Early Childhood Teachers as Leaders: Long-Term Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Patricia A.; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth; Hickmann, Rosemary

2010-01-01

"Teacher leadership" is often described as a murky concept that refers not to a particular position, but rather to varied formal and informal leadership roles that teachers play within school communities. Teacher leadership may involve shaping curricula, choosing instructional materials, leading professional book clubs, planning staff…

Civic Writing in Education for Democratic Citizenship. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stotsky, Sandra

Civic writing is an intellectual skill that is needed for effective and responsible participation in civil society and government. This Digest examines the concept of civic writing, identifies its purposes in democratic citizenship, and discusses how to teach it. Civic writing includes formal legal writing (speeches, petitions, resolutions),…

Pilot interaction with automated airborne decision making systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rouse, W. B.

1981-01-01

The role of the pilot and crew for future aircraft is discussed. Fifteen formal experimental studies and the development of a variety of models of human behavior based on queueing history, pattern recognition methods, control theory, fuzzy set theory, and artificial intelligence concepts are presented. L.F.M.

Components of Understanding in Proportional Reasoning: A Fuzzy Set Representation of Developmental Progressions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Colleen F.; And Others

1991-01-01

Examined the development of proportional reasoning by means of a temperature mixture task. Results show the importance of distinguishing between intuitive knowledge and formal computational knowledge of proportional concepts. Provides a new perspective on the relation of intuitive and computational knowledge during development. (GLR)

Complementary Huygens Principle for Geometrical and Nongeometrical Optics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luis, Alfredo

2007-01-01

We develop a fundamental principle depicting the generalized ray formulation of optics provided by the Wigner function. This principle is formally identical to the Huygens-Fresnel principle but in terms of opposite concepts, rays instead of waves, and incoherent superpositions instead of coherent ones. This ray picture naturally includes…

Phonological Learning with Output-Driven Maps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tesar, Bruce

2017-01-01

The concept of an output-driven map formally characterizes an intuitive notion about phonology: that disparities between the input and the output are introduced only to the extent necessary to satisfy restrictions on outputs. When all of the grammars definable in a phonological system are output-driven, the implied structure provides significant…

Magical Thinking in Formal Operational Adults.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lesser, R.; Paisner, M.

1985-01-01

Female adult members of a spiritual community denying the existence of chance were matched by age and educational level with adult female nonmembers. Level of development of logical operations and causal belief systems were assessed. Findings indicate that personally charged, magical concepts of causality can develop into maturity and exist…

Mathematical Building-Blocks in Engineering Mechanics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyajian, David M.

2007-01-01

A gamut of mathematical subjects and concepts are taught within a handful of courses formally required of the typical engineering student who so often questions the relevancy of being bound to certain lower-division prerequisites. Basic classes at the undergraduate level, in this context, include: Integral and Differential Calculus, Differential…

The Role of Museum Exhibits in Teaching Textile Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diddi, Sonali; Marcketti, Sara B.

2014-01-01

The concept of learning outside of the traditional, formal classroom setting is an important component of family and consumer sciences (FCS) educational pedagogy. Methods of learning beyond the FCS classroom include visiting museums, accessing archives--both in person and virtually--and participating in field studies (Roehl, 2013). Although many…

The Hybridization of Social Science Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dogan, Mattei

1996-01-01

Describes the growth of science as a twofold process: (1) the fragmentation of formal disciplines; and (2) a recombination of the specialties resulting from this fragmentation. Discusses the division of disciplines into specialized subfields that has led to the development of hybrid specialties, and maintains that the concept of hybridization is…

Cognitive Development, Genetics Problem Solving, and Genetics Instruction: A Critical Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Mike U.; Sims, O. Suthern, Jr.

1992-01-01

Review of literature concerning problem solving in genetics and Piagetian stage theory. Authors conclude the research suggests that formal-operational thought is not strictly required for the solution of the majority of classical genetics problems; however, some genetic concepts are difficult for concrete operational students to understand.…

The Law of Teacher Evaluation. NOLPE Monograph/Book Series, No. 42.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossow, Lawrence F.; Parkinson, Jerry

Litigation in the area of teacher evaluation has developed around issues concerning the processes and criteria used by school districts in conducting evaluations. Following an introduction explaining basic concepts, chapter 2 discusses the appropriate content of teacher evaluation, examining formal adoption of evaluation policies, compliance with…

Formal and informal home learning activities in relation to children's early numeracy and literacy skills: the development of a home numeracy model.

PubMed

Skwarchuk, Sheri-Lynn; Sowinski, Carla; LeFevre, Jo-Anne

2014-05-01

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of children's home numeracy experience based on Sénéchal and LeFevre's home literacy model (Child Development, 73 (2002) 445-460). Parents of 183 children starting kindergarten in the fall (median child age=58 months) completed an early home learning experiences questionnaire. Most of the children whose parents completed the questionnaire were recruited for numeracy and literacy testing 1 year later (along with 32 children from the inner city). Confirmatory factor analyses were used to reduce survey items, and hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict the relation among parents' attitudes, academic expectations for their children, reports of formal and informal numeracy, and literacy home practices on children's test scores. Parental reports of formal home numeracy practices (e.g., practicing simple sums) predicted children's symbolic number system knowledge, whereas reports of informal exposure to games with numerical content (measured indirectly through parents' knowledge of children's games) predicted children's non-symbolic arithmetic, as did numeracy attitudes (e.g., parents' enjoyment of numeracy). The home literacy results replicated past findings; parental reports of formal literacy practices (e.g., helping their children to read words) predicted children's word reading, whereas reports of informal experiences (i.e., frequency of shared reading measured indirectly through parents' storybook knowledge) predicted children's vocabulary. These findings support a multifaceted model of children's early numeracy environment, with different types of early home experiences (formal and informal) predicting different numeracy outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An exploration of student midwives' language to describe non-formal learning in professional practice.

PubMed

Finnerty, Gina; Pope, Rosemary

2005-05-01

The essence of non-formal learning in midwifery practice has not been previously explored. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the language of a sample of student midwives' descriptions of their practice learning in a range of clinical settings. The students submitted audio-diaries as part of a national study (Pope, R., Graham. L., Finnerty. G., Magnusson, C. 2003. An investigation of the preparation and assessment for midwifery practice within a range of settings. Project Report. University of Surrey). Participants detailed their learning activities and support obtained whilst working with their named mentors for approximately 10 days or shifts. The rich audio-diary data have been analysed using Discourse Analysis. A typology of non-formal learning (Eraut, M. 2000. Non-formal learning and implicit knowledge in professional work. British Journal of Educational Psychology 70, 113-136) has been used to provide a framework for the analysis. Non-formal learning is defined as any learning which does not take place within a formally organised learning programme (Eraut, M. 2000. Non-formal learning and implicit knowledge in professional work. British Journal of Educational Psychology 70, 113-136). Findings indicate that fear and ambiguity hindered students' learning. Recommendations include the protection of time by mentors within the clinical curriculum to guide and supervise students in both formal and non-formal elements of midwifery practice. This paper will explore the implications of the findings for practice-based education.

Toward Semantic Interoperability in Home Health Care: Formally Representing OASIS Items for Integration into a Concept-oriented Terminology

PubMed Central

Choi, Jeungok; Jenkins, Melinda L.; Cimino, James J.; White, Thomas M.; Bakken, Suzanne

2005-01-01

Objective: The authors aimed to (1) formally represent OASIS-B1 concepts using the Logical Observation Identifiers, Names, and Codes (LOINC) semantic structure; (2) demonstrate integration of OASIS-B1 concepts into a concept-oriented terminology, the Medical Entities Dictionary (MED); (3) examine potential hierarchical structures within LOINC among OASIS-B1 and other nursing terms; and (4) illustrate a Web-based implementation for OASIS-B1 data entry using Dialogix, a software tool with a set of functions that supports complex data entry. Design and Measurements: Two hundred nine OASIS-B1 items were dissected into the six elements of the LOINC semantic structure and then integrated into the MED hierarchy. Each OASIS-B1 term was matched to LOINC-coded nursing terms, Home Health Care Classification, the Omaha System, and the Sign and Symptom Check-List for Persons with HIV, and the extent of the match was judged based on a scale of 0 (no match) to 4 (exact match). OASIS-B1 terms were implemented as a Web-based survey using Dialogix. Results: Of 209 terms, 204 were successfully dissected into the elements of the LOINC semantics structure and integrated into the MED with minor revisions of MED semantics. One hundred fifty-one OASIS-B1 terms were mapped to one or more of the LOINC-coded nursing terms. Conclusion: The LOINC semantic structure offers a standard way to add home health care data to a comprehensive patient record to facilitate data sharing for monitoring outcomes across sites and to further terminology management, decision support, and accurate information retrieval for evidence-based practice. The cross-mapping results support the possibility of a hierarchical structure of the OASIS-B1 concepts within nursing terminologies in the LOINC database. PMID:15802480

Toward semantic interoperability in home health care: formally representing OASIS items for integration into a concept-oriented terminology.

PubMed

Choi, Jeungok; Jenkins, Melinda L; Cimino, James J; White, Thomas M; Bakken, Suzanne

2005-01-01

The authors aimed to (1) formally represent OASIS-B1 concepts using the Logical Observation Identifiers, Names, and Codes (LOINC) semantic structure; (2) demonstrate integration of OASIS-B1 concepts into a concept-oriented terminology, the Medical Entities Dictionary (MED); (3) examine potential hierarchical structures within LOINC among OASIS-B1 and other nursing terms; and (4) illustrate a Web-based implementation for OASIS-B1 data entry using Dialogix, a software tool with a set of functions that supports complex data entry. Two hundred nine OASIS-B1 items were dissected into the six elements of the LOINC semantic structure and then integrated into the MED hierarchy. Each OASIS-B1 term was matched to LOINC-coded nursing terms, Home Health Care Classification, the Omaha System, and the Sign and Symptom Check-List for Persons with HIV, and the extent of the match was judged based on a scale of 0 (no match) to 4 (exact match). OASIS-B1 terms were implemented as a Web-based survey using Dialogix. Of 209 terms, 204 were successfully dissected into the elements of the LOINC semantics structure and integrated into the MED with minor revisions of MED semantics. One hundred fifty-one OASIS-B1 terms were mapped to one or more of the LOINC-coded nursing terms. The LOINC semantic structure offers a standard way to add home health care data to a comprehensive patient record to facilitate data sharing for monitoring outcomes across sites and to further terminology management, decision support, and accurate information retrieval for evidence-based practice. The cross-mapping results support the possibility of a hierarchical structure of the OASIS-B1 concepts within nursing terminologies in the LOINC database.

Associating Human-Centered Concepts with Social Networks Using Fuzzy Sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yager, Ronald R.

The rapidly growing global interconnectivity, brought about to a large extent by the Internet, has dramatically increased the importance and diversity of social networks. Modern social networks cut across a spectrum from benign recreational focused websites such as Facebook to occupationally oriented websites such as LinkedIn to criminally focused groups such as drug cartels to devastation and terror focused groups such as Al-Qaeda. Many organizations are interested in analyzing and extracting information related to these social networks. Among these are governmental police and security agencies as well marketing and sales organizations. To aid these organizations there is a need for technologies to model social networks and intelligently extract information from these models. While established technologies exist for the modeling of relational networks [1-7] few technologies exist to extract information from these, compatible with human perception and understanding. Data bases is an example of a technology in which we have tools for representing our information as well as tools for querying and extracting the information contained. Our goal is in some sense analogous. We want to use the relational network model to represent information, in this case about relationships and interconnections, and then be able to query the social network using intelligent human-centered concepts. To extend our capabilities to interact with social relational networks we need to associate with these network human concepts and ideas. Since human beings predominantly use linguistic terms in which to reason and understand we need to build bridges between human conceptualization and the formal mathematical representation of the social network. Consider for example a concept such as "leader". An analyst may be able to express, in linguistic terms, using a network relevant vocabulary, properties of a leader. Our task is to translate this linguistic description into a mathematical formalism that allows us to determine how true it is that a particular node is a leader. In this work we look at the use of fuzzy set methodologies [8-10] to provide a bridge between the human analyst and the formal model of the network.

PEM Fuel Cells Redesign Using Biomimetic and TRIZ Design Methodologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fung, Keith Kin Kei

Two formal design methodologies, biomimetic design and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, TRIZ, were applied to the redesign of a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Proof of concept prototyping was performed on two of the concepts for water management. The liquid water collection with strategically placed wicks concept demonstrated the potential benefits for a fuel cell. Conversely, the periodic flow direction reversal concepts might cause a potential reduction water removal from a fuel cell. The causes of this water removal reduction remain unclear. In additional, three of the concepts generated with biomimetic design were further studied and demonstrated to stimulate more creative ideas in the thermal and water management of fuel cells. The biomimetic design and the TRIZ methodologies were successfully applied to fuel cells and provided different perspectives to the redesign of fuel cells. The methodologies should continue to be used to improve fuel cells.

Formal reasoning about systems biology using theorem proving

PubMed Central

Hasan, Osman; Siddique, Umair; Tahar, Sofiène

2017-01-01

System biology provides the basis to understand the behavioral properties of complex biological organisms at different levels of abstraction. Traditionally, analysing systems biology based models of various diseases have been carried out by paper-and-pencil based proofs and simulations. However, these methods cannot provide an accurate analysis, which is a serious drawback for the safety-critical domain of human medicine. In order to overcome these limitations, we propose a framework to formally analyze biological networks and pathways. In particular, we formalize the notion of reaction kinetics in higher-order logic and formally verify some of the commonly used reaction based models of biological networks using the HOL Light theorem prover. Furthermore, we have ported our earlier formalization of Zsyntax, i.e., a deductive language for reasoning about biological networks and pathways, from HOL4 to the HOL Light theorem prover to make it compatible with the above-mentioned formalization of reaction kinetics. To illustrate the usefulness of the proposed framework, we present the formal analysis of three case studies, i.e., the pathway leading to TP53 Phosphorylation, the pathway leading to the death of cancer stem cells and the tumor growth based on cancer stem cells, which is used for the prognosis and future drug designs to treat cancer patients. PMID:28671950

Online support groups for young women with breast cancer: a proof-of-concept study.

PubMed

Stephen, Joanne; Rojubally, Adina; Linden, Wolfgang; Zhong, Lihong; Mackenzie, Gina; Mahmoud, Sahar; Giese-Davis, Janine

2017-07-01

This initial study examined a therapist-led, synchronous, online support group (OSG) with psycho-education (OSG + E) compared to self-help psycho-education (E). The study aims were to examine proof of concept-feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness-and to hone methods for a formal RCT. One hundred five young breast cancer survivors (<50 years) post-treatment were randomized either to OSG + E or E. OSG + E received a therapist-led 10-week synchronous online intervention. E received a self-help workbook. Assessments were at baseline, 10 weeks, and 3 months, with willing OSG + E members completing post-study interviews. Researchers used inductive analysis, generating qualitative themes for feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness. We examined trajectories for one primary and two secondary quantitative outcomes and a combined moderator to discover who preferentially benefitted from the intervention. Qualitative analyses revealed that synchronous chat was at times challenging, but minimal technical coaching, structure, set topics, and professional facilitation enabled conversations that were focused and meaningful. A combined moderator indicated that generally more women benefitted from OSG + E relative to E and particularly those women in semi-rural and rural areas. This study suggests that therapist-led synchronous OSGs are feasible, acceptable, and useful for young breast cancer survivors and that a future RCT with a larger sample size, perhaps more focused on non-urban areas, is needed to establish its effectiveness.

Integrating reasoning and clinical archetypes using OWL ontologies and SWRL rules.

PubMed

Lezcano, Leonardo; Sicilia, Miguel-Angel; Rodríguez-Solano, Carlos

2011-04-01

Semantic interoperability is essential to facilitate the computerized support for alerts, workflow management and evidence-based healthcare across heterogeneous electronic health record (EHR) systems. Clinical archetypes, which are formal definitions of specific clinical concepts defined as specializations of a generic reference (information) model, provide a mechanism to express data structures in a shared and interoperable way. However, currently available archetype languages do not provide direct support for mapping to formal ontologies and then exploiting reasoning on clinical knowledge, which are key ingredients of full semantic interoperability, as stated in the SemanticHEALTH report [1]. This paper reports on an approach to translate definitions expressed in the openEHR Archetype Definition Language (ADL) to a formal representation expressed using the Ontology Web Language (OWL). The formal representations are then integrated with rules expressed with Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) expressions, providing an approach to apply the SWRL rules to concrete instances of clinical data. Sharing the knowledge expressed in the form of rules is consistent with the philosophy of open sharing, encouraged by archetypes. Our approach also allows the reuse of formal knowledge, expressed through ontologies, and extends reuse to propositions of declarative knowledge, such as those encoded in clinical guidelines. This paper describes the ADL-to-OWL translation approach, describes the techniques to map archetypes to formal ontologies, and demonstrates how rules can be applied to the resulting representation. We provide examples taken from a patient safety alerting system to illustrate our approach. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Formal Verification at System Level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzini, S.; Puri, S.; Mari, F.; Melatti, I.; Tronci, E.

2009-05-01

System Level Analysis calls for a language comprehensible to experts with different background and yet precise enough to support meaningful analyses. SysML is emerging as an effective balance between such conflicting goals. In this paper we outline some the results obtained as for SysML based system level functional formal verification by an ESA/ESTEC study, with a collaboration among INTECS and La Sapienza University of Roma. The study focuses on SysML based system level functional requirements techniques.

The role of family and partnership in recovery from alcohol dependence: comparison of individuals remitting with and without formal help.

PubMed

Rumpf, Hans-Jürgen; Bischof, Gallus; Hapke, Ulfert; Meyer, Christian; John, Ulrich

2002-06-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the role of family and partnership in remission from alcohol dependence in treated (n = 50) and untreated (n = 115) individuals. Standardised questionnaires to assess social support, social pressure, coping behaviour, and self-efficacy to stay remitted were used. In both media-solicited samples, social support increased from the pre- to the post-resolution period and was stated as an important resolution maintenance factor. Remitters with formal help experienced more partnership conflicts prior to remission and tended to experience more social pressure from their partner. Social support and social pressure from the family and partner were related to an increase in cognitive coping, as hypothesised, however, only in remitters without formal help, whereas an inverse relationship was found in formal help seekers. Implications for alcohol-related interventions are discussed. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

In search of patient characteristics that may guide empirically based treatment selection for personality disorder patients-a concept map approach.

PubMed

van Manen, J G; Kamphuis, J H; Goossensen, A; Timman, R; Busschbach, J J V; Verheul, R

2012-08-01

Using the concept map method, this study aimed to summarize and describe patient characteristics pertinent to treatment selection for patients with personality disorders (PDs). Initial patient characteristics were derived from the research literature and a survey among Dutch expert clinicians. Concept mapping is a formalized conceptualization procedure that describes the underlying cognitive structures people use in complex tasks, such as treatment allocation. Based on expert opinions of 29 Dutch clinicians, a concept map was generated that yielded eight domains of patient characteristics, i.e., Severity of symptoms, Severity of personality pathology, Ego-adaptive capacities, Motivation and working alliance, Social context, Social demographic characteristics, Trauma, and Treatment history and medical condition. These domains can be ordered along two bipolar axes, running from internal to external concepts and from vulnerability to strength concepts, respectively. Our findings may serve as input for the delineation of algorithms for patient-treatment matching research in PD.

Development and Evaluation of a Low Fertility Ontology for Analyzing Social Data in Korea.

PubMed

Lee, Ji-Hyun; Park, Hyeoun-Ae; Song, Tae-Min

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a low fertility ontology for collecting and analyzing social data. A low fertility ontology was developed according to Ontology Development 101 and formally represented using Protégé. The content coverage of the ontology was evaluated using 1,387 narratives posted by the public and 63 narratives posted by public servants. Six super-classes of the ontology were developed based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory with an individual in the center and environmental systems impacting their as surroundings. In total, 568 unique concepts were extracted from the narratives. Out of these concepts, 424(74.6%) concepts were lexically or semantically mapped, 67(11.8%) were either broadly or narrowly mapped to the ontology concepts. Remaining 77(13.6%) concepts were not mapped to any of the ontology concepts. This ontology can be used as a framework to understand low fertility problems using social data in Korea.

Children as scientists: Adding, connecting and elaborating ideas on the way to conceptual development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmundson, Ellen

In this study, I explored how children develop and construct their ideas and alternative frameworks in science. Prior work in this area suggested that changes from alternative conceptions to understandings that more closely resemble scientists' models do not occur in a sequential, linear fashion, nor are they easily accomplished. By employing a constructivist framework grounded in dynamic systems to look at learning, alternative conceptions were viewed not as ideas that need to be "confronted and replaced" but rather as pieces of an intricate puzzle of understanding that when combined create a more complete, functional, continuous understanding of science. Specifically, the study examined students' understandings and conceptualizations of light as they studied it formally for eight weeks. Understandings were measured through interviews, student-generated concept maps, classroom interactions and by examining student work samples. The central questions guiding the investigation were: What were children's (ages 9 and 10) conceptions of light? Did children's ideas about light develop during their eight week study of it? If so, what was the nature of these changes? Results from the study indicated that children had numerous ideas about light before their formal study of it based on their experiences with the world. As children studied light, they learned about it in the dynamic, synergistic and interactive processes of adding new ideas, connecting ideas to one another and elaborating understandings to arrive at progressively more complex and scientific understandings of light. Alternative conceptions, served as both productive and non-productive resources for learning. Further, alternative conceptions and prior understandings did not disappear as children developed their ideas about light. Rather "old" ideas were used and reused to provide support the gradual process of cognitive development of children's ideas about light. Findings from this study can be used to provide science instruction that is both rich in content and rich in opportunities to experience the recursive and dynamic nature of science learning.

Coordinating Formal and Informal Aspects of Mathematics in a Computer Based Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skouras, A. S.

2006-01-01

The introduction of educational technology to school classes promises--through the students' active engagement with mathematical concepts--the creation of teaching and learning opportunities in mathematics. However, the way technological tools are used in the teaching practice as a means of human thought and action remains an unsettled matter as…

Going Back and Beyond: Children's Learning through Places

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Díaz-Díaz, Claudia

2017-01-01

In 1919, the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) established the Elementary Correspondence (EC) School to provide formal education for children living in rural areas with difficult access to a school. Through children's letters, this paper interrogates the concept of place, a key one for placed-based approaches to environmental education.…

That Figures. A Mathematics Resource Package for Intermediate Grades. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hintz, Marilyn; Ziegler, Jerry

This resource package deals with elementary level mathematics in daily living, substituting newspapers as a refreshing change from mathematics texts. A total of 40 exercises are intended to provide review and reinforcement for skills previously taught in formal lessons. Skill or concept areas included are: reading large numbers; basic operations;…

Trigonometry from a Different Angle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavanagh, Michael

2008-01-01

The mathematics methodology subjects the author undertook in the early 1980s encouraged him to adopt a very expository style of teaching in which each new concept is introduced by its formal definition. The teacher should then explain a few carefully chosen examples for students to copy into their books, and then provide plenty of graded practice…

Needs Analysis of Responsibility Curriculum for Primary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Güven, Semra; Öztürk, Aysun; Duman, Serap Nur

2016-01-01

Responsibility is among the most basic concepts that are expected to be taught at early ages and directly affect our personal and social life. Although, it is regarded as a value with its affective dimension; responsibility, a fundamental skill that we should learn formally or informally, starts with the children's introduction to their immediate…

Investigating Knowledge Acquisition and Developing Misconceptions of High School Students Enrolled in an Invasion Games Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare, Molly K.; Graber, Kim C.

2007-01-01

Grounded within constructivist theory, the purpose of this investigation was to investigate knowledge acquisition and developing conceptions of high school-aged students during a unit of instruction in badminton. Six different qualitative methods were utilized: (a) observations, (b) formal interviews, (c) informal interviews, (d) think aloud…

The Allusion of the Gene: Misunderstandings of the Concepts Heredity and Gene

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Raphael

2014-01-01

Life sciences became Biology, a formal scientific discipline, at the turn of the nineteenth century, when it adopted the methods of reductive physics and chemistry. Mendel's hypothesis of inheritance of discrete factors further introduced a quantitative reductionist dimension into biology. In 1910 Johannsen differentiated between the…

Derivative, Maxima and Minima in a Graphical Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera-Figueroa, Antonio; Ponce-Campuzano, Juan Carlos

2013-01-01

A deeper learning of the properties and applications of the derivative for the study of functions may be achieved when teachers present lessons within a highly graphic context, linking the geometric illustrations to formal proofs. Each concept is better understood and more easily retained when it is presented and explained visually using graphs.…

Integrating "Writing To Learn" and Foreign Language Proficiency Concepts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andra-Miller, Jean

This report describes an approach to third-year college-level French literature instruction that used a more informal approach to student writing than that traditionally used in such a course. The approach evolved from a comparison of students' formal writing skills with the skills defined in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign…

Swahili Learners' Reference Grammar. African Language Learners' Reference Grammar Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Katrina Daly; Schleicher, Antonia Folarin

This reference grammar is written for speakers of English who are learning Swahili. Because many language learners are not familiar with the grammatical terminology, this book explains the basic terminology and concepts of English grammar that are necessary for understanding the grammar of Swahili. It assumes no formal knowledge of English grammar…

Social Justice Policymaking in Teacher Education from Conception to Application: Realizing Standard VI

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Leslie David; Miller, sj

2016-01-01

Background/Context: This article describes the fundamental role of social justice in public education and professional teacher education. Purpose: The purpose of this policy analysis is to explicate the theorizing, conceptualization, formalization, and implementation of the first standard for social justice teaching and teacher education in U.S.…

S.C.I.S. - Sciencing Considered from an Invitational Stance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheeler, Alan E.

This paper focuses on the refinement and articulation of the invitational education concept to science teaching in the classroom, an approach consistent with the underlying philosophy of SCIS. The first section of the paper outlines the nature of invitations and disinvitations and describes the ability of teachers to send formal or informal…

Competency-Based Education. Innovations in Teaching and Learning. Research Brief 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katz, Philip M.

2015-01-01

Competency-based education (CBE) is an approach to pedagogy that emphasizes the mastery of skills and concepts rather than credit hours or seat time. The assessment of mastery can take several forms, including formal assessments of prior learning (such as portfolio reviews or examinations) and automated evaluations of online coursework. Advocates…

Stakeholder Partnerships as Collaborative Policymaking: Evaluation Criteria Applied to Watershed Management in California and Washington

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leach, William D.; Pelkey, Neil W.; Sabatier, Paul A.

2002-01-01

Public policymaking and implementation in the United States are increasingly handled through local, consensus-seeking partnerships involving most affected stakeholders. This paper formalizes the concept of a stakeholder partnership, and proposes techniques for using interviews, surveys, and documents to measure each of six evaluation criteria.…

The Problem Method in Teaching Philosophy: A Praxiologic Educology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morkuniene, Jurate

2005-01-01

This is an attempt to clarify principally some fundamental ideas clustered around the concept of the formal conditions which would constitute a fruitful studying of philosophy. First, an ideal study situation would require the student to participate in the object-subject dialogue; philosophical studies are an active dialogue between the text and…

Conditions for Self-Confidence among Boys and Girls Achieving Highly in Chemistry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegler, Albert; Heller, Kurt A.

2000-01-01

Students (N=379) in the 8th grade of German college preparatory schools, prior to formal chemistry instruction, were evaluated for prior knowledge of chemistry, their self-concept regarding chemistry, their gender-bound attitudes toward chemistry, and their fear of chemistry. Findings indicated that girls already expressed significantly lower…

Maximal Preference Utilitarianism as an Educational Aspiration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stables, Andrew

2016-01-01

This paper attempts to square libertarian principles with the reality of formal education by asking how far we should and can allow people to do as they wish in educational settings. The major focus is on children in schools, as the concept "childhood" "ipso facto" implies restrictions on doing as one wishes, and schools as…

When Physical and Digital Worlds Collide: A Tool for Early Childhood Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parton, Becky Sue; Hancock, Robert

2008-01-01

Very young children learn by exploring their surroundings, mostly by playing, during which they construct mental representations of the world. In fact, prior to Piaget's formal operational stage, children need concrete, hands-on experiences rather than abstract concepts to support more natural learning, developing, and thinking. In terms of…

"Debate" Learning Method and Its Implications for the Formal Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Najafi, Mohammad; Motaghi, Zohre; Nasrabadi, Hassanali Bakhtiyar; Heshi, Kamal Nosrati

2016-01-01

Regarding the importance of enhancement in learner's social skills, especially in learning process, this study tries to introduce one of the group learning programs entitled "debate" as a teaching method in Iran religious universities. It also considers the concept and the history of this method by qualitative and descriptive-analytical…

Science and Creation: Geological, Theological & Educational Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Robert W., Ed.

This book provides working examples of how different teachers, scientists, and theologians have dealt with problems of "creation science" versus evolutionary concepts. A 1982 symposia on the topic of science and creation was so well received that the participants were asked to submit formal presentations; this book is a collection of these papers.…

Active Learning Methods and Technology: Strategies for Design Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coorey, Jillian

2016-01-01

The demands in higher education are on the rise. Charged with teaching more content, increased class sizes and engaging students, educators face numerous challenges. In design education, educators are often torn between the teaching of technology and the teaching of theory. Learning the formal concepts of hierarchy, contrast and space provide the…

Topics in Computational Learning Theory and Graph Algorithms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Board, Raymond Acton

This thesis addresses problems from two areas of theoretical computer science. The first area is that of computational learning theory, which is the study of the phenomenon of concept learning using formal mathematical models. The goal of computational learning theory is to investigate learning in a rigorous manner through the use of techniques…

Toward a Learner-Centered System for Adult Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hermans, Henry; Kalz, Marco; Koper, Rob

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an e-learning system that integrates the use of concepts of virtual learning environments, personal learning environments, and social network sites. The system is based on a learning model which comprises and integrates three learning contexts for the adult learner: the formal, instructional…

A Partial Theory of Executive Succession.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thiemann, Francis C.

This study has two purposes: (1) To construct a partial theory of succession, and (2) to utilize a method of theory construction which combines some of the concepts of Hans Zetterberg with the principles of formal symbolic logic. A bibliography on succession in complex organizations with entries on descriptive and empirical studies from various…

A Method of Synthesizing Large Bodies of Knowledge in the Social Sciences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thiemann, Francis C.

Employing concepts of formal symbolic logic, the philosophy of science, computer technology, and the work of Hans Zetterberg, a format is suggested for synthesizing and increasing use of the rapidly expanding knowledge of the social sciences. Steps in the process include formulating basic propositions, utilizing computers to establish sets, and…

Visual Criterion for Understanding the Notion of Convergence if Integrals in One Parameter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alves, Francisco Regis Vieira

2014-01-01

Admittedly, the notion of generalized integrals in one parameter has a fundamental role. En virtue that, in this paper, we discuss and characterize an approach for to promote the visualization of this scientific mathematical concept. We still indicate the possibilities of graphical interpretation of formal properties related to notion of…

Implications of Informal Education Experiences for Mathematics Teachers' Ability to Make Connections beyond Formal Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popovic, Gorjana; Lederman, Judith S.

2015-01-01

The Common Core Standard for Mathematical Practice 4: Model with Mathematics specifies that mathematically proficient students are able to make connections between school mathematics and its applications to solving real-world problems. Hence, mathematics teachers are expected to incorporate connections between mathematical concepts they teach and…

Educational principles and techniques for interpreters.

Treesearch

F. David Boulanger; John P. Smith

1973-01-01

Interpretation is in large part education, since it attempts to convey information, concepts, and principles while creating attitude changes and such emotional states as wonder, delight, and appreciation. Although interpreters might profit greatly by formal training in the principles and techniques of teaching, many have not had such training. Some means of making the...

From Teacher to Teacher Leader: A Conceptual Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunzicker, Jana

2017-01-01

Conceptions of teacher leadership are trending away from formal titles and positions to embrace a more informal, integrated approach. Moreover, there is growing agreement among scholars that teacher leadership is a stance, or way of thinking and being, rather than a set of behaviors. As a result, understanding how teachers progress from teacher to…

Self-actualization: Its Use and Misuse in Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivie, Stanley D.

1982-01-01

The writings of Abraham Maslow are analyzed to determine the meaning of the psychological term "self-actualization." After pointing out that self-actualization is a rare quality and that it has little to do with formal education, the author concludes that the concept has little practical relevance for teacher education. (PP)

International Law and the Detention of Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodwin-Gill, Guy S.

1986-01-01

Examines national concepts, powers and practices of detention; contrasts these with the individual rights of refugees and asylum-seekers under international law. Holds that although not formally obliged to grant permanent asylum, states must treat refugees and asylum seekers according to certain standards and must seek to alleviate their plight.…

Shoving Our Way into Young People's Lives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGraw, Amanda

2011-01-01

This paper uses Sizer and Sizer's concept of "shoving" to examine the school experiences of a group of young people who left mainstream school early and some time later enrolled in an alternative educational setting designed to reengage early school leavers in formal learning. "Shoving" is a way to explain why so many young…

A Path Analysis of Educator Perceptions of Open Educational Resources Using the Technology Acceptance Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Hope

2014-01-01

Open educational resources (OER) are making their way into a variety of educational contexts from formal lesson planning to just in time learning. Educators and training professionals have been recognized as an important audience for these materials. The concepts of "self-efficacy" and "outcome judgment" from social cognitive…

Techniques for Promoting Intellectual Self Confidence among At-Risk Science Students in Rural and Small Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prather, J. Preston

Most students enter their first formal science courses with intelligently conceived and sophisticated concepts of science. Some of these may be compatible with the principles of modern science, but others may be incorrect, inadequate, outdated, or otherwise unacceptable. Conceptual frameworks based on intuitive misperceptions, naive inferences,…

Grammar and Good Taste: Reforming the American Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baron, Dennis E.

Tracing both current concern for correctness in speech and writing and continued suspicion of formal language regulation, this book explores the history of American language reform and failure. The first three chapters examine early attitudes toward the English language in the New World, and the development of the concept of Federal English in…

Planned Organizational Change; A Study in Change Dynamics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Garth N.

This study attempts to develop a broad model or concept, based largely on empirical evidence, which applies social science knowledge and methodology to the planning of change in corporations, armies, schools, hospitals, government, community groups, and other formal and informal organizations. Chapters 2,3, and 4 define and discuss the roles of…

Survey of Basic Education in Eastern Africa. UNESCO/UNICEF Co-Operation Programme.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Nairobi (Kenya). Regional Office of Science and Technology for Africa.

A survey of basic education in 13 Eastern African countries (Madagascar, Burundi, Comores, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and Somalia) covers basic education programs and UNICEF's supporting role. Basic education is seen as a concept evolved in the region, involving formal school systems and…

The Play as a Dramatic Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Roger

That a play has one central action which is its formal cause is the most influential interpretative idea to emerge among theatre writers since the old model of situation/incident/complication/climax/denouement. Unfortunately, the action concept has been insufficiently developed, excessive hopes have been pinned on it, and it has become a reductive…

Pre-School Students' Informal Acquisitions Regarding the Concepts of Point and Straight Line

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orbay, Keziban; Develi, Mehmet Hikmet

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the informal cognitive structures regarding "point" and "straight line"--two basic and undefined terms of geometry--in children registered in preschool--the previous step before in-class formal education process. The study was conducted with the participation of 50 children enrolled in nursery,…

Generalizing Is Necessary or Even Unavoidable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otte, Michael F.; Mendonça, Tânia M.; de Barros, Luiz

2015-01-01

The problems of geometry and mechanics have driven forward the generalization of the concepts of number and function. This shows how application and generalization together prevent that mathematics becomes a mere formalism. Thoughts are signs and signs have meaning within a certain context. Meaning is a function of a term: This function produces a…

"Practical Action": Its Centrality in Producing and Reproducing the Formal Structure of School Organization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabraal, Liyana M. C.

The behaviorist world view, influential in many social-science disciplines, is challenged by theories of action. With steady developments in nonbehaviorist thinking and related social-action conceptions, the study of school organizational structure can be transformed into a field centered about the dynamics of individuals' practical actions. This…

Developing Visualization Tools for Geographic Literacy in a Museum Exhibit: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bloodworth, Gina; Petersen, Naomi Jeffery

2011-01-01

As a result of reduced formal instruction and reduced direct experience in the natural environment, students suffer from a deficiency in geographic literacy. Informal learning environments, such as a model railroad exhibit at a history museum, can be exploited to introduce key geographic concepts (e.g., scalar compression, landscape…

Organizational Diagnosis: Six Places To Look for Trouble With or Without a Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weisbord, Marvin R.

1976-01-01

This article presents a practice theory for diagnosing organizations--that is, a combination of many ideas in a relatively simple framework that can be applied in various settings. It brings together organization/environment, sociotechnical, and formal/informal systems concepts, and proposes six broad categories for looking at an organization.…

Subspace in Linear Algebra: Investigating Students' Concept Images and Interactions with the Formal Definition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wawro, Megan; Sweeney, George F.; Rabin, Jeffrey M.

2011-01-01

This paper reports on a study investigating students' ways of conceptualizing key ideas in linear algebra, with the particular results presented here focusing on student interactions with the notion of subspace. In interviews conducted with eight undergraduates, we found students' initial descriptions of subspace often varied substantially from…

The Teacher as Researcher. Working Papers No. 17.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holmes, John

Ways in which language teachers can formally investigate the teaching and learning processes occurring in their classrooms are discussed in four sections. The topics covered include: the concept of research , its variety of meanings, and the prestige associated with it; the classroom teacher's traditional role with regard to research and how that…

Where Science Intersects Pop Culture: An Informal Science Education Outreach Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burks, R.; Deards, K. D.; DeFrain, E.

2017-01-01

Attracting a general audience to STEM topics can be a challenge, and developing engaging and interactive instruction is important for educators in all fields. While many chemical educators have successfully used pop-culture themes to introduce their students to scientific concepts, these encounters are largely limited to formal classroom…

Reimagining Non-Formal Science Education: A Case of Ecojustice-Oriented Citizenship Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sperling, Erin; Bencze, J. Lawrence

2015-01-01

This article presents a study of youth participating in a program that engages in a form of ecojustice education, addressing social inequities, along with science-linked concepts, through a localized and culturally oriented food-based curriculum. A community-based food justice organization provides a rich space for encountering and examining the…

A Politically Liberal Conception of Formal Education in a Developing Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çelik, Rasit

2016-01-01

As discussed by John Rawls, in a well-ordered society, a public political culture's wide educational role bears the primary responsibility for developing reasonable individuals for the stability of a politically liberal society. Rawlsian scholars have also focused on the stability and enhancement of developed liberal democratic societies by means…

The Graduate School and Its Organizational Structure: A Contingency Theory Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanford, Judith Babcock

Contingency theory, the formal structure of graduate schools, and the applicability of contingency variables to graduate schools as organizations are examined. Contingency theory is based on an open systems concept that views an organization as composed of many interdependent parts that are interacting with one another. It also holds that under…

Developing and Piloting the Planning for Facilitating Mathematical Processes and Strategies for Preschool Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Botha, M.; Maree, J. G.; de Witt, M. W.

2005-01-01

From an early age young children actively engage informally in acquiring fundamental concepts and process skills that form a basis for mathematical understanding. Quite logically, questions will arise during planning when young children first encounter a more formal learning environment: what strategy should one use to develop mathematical …

Using Game Theory and the Bible to Build Critical Thinking Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCannon, Bryan C.

2007-01-01

The author describes a course designed to build the critical thinking skills of undergraduate economics students. The course introduces and uses game theory to study the Bible. Students gain experience using game theory to formalize events and, by drawing parallels between the Bible and common economic concepts, illustrate the pervasiveness of…

Filling in the Blanks: They Say, I Say, and the Persistence of Formalism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch-Biniek, Amy

2009-01-01

Amy Lynch-Biniek begins by introducing popular yet controversial concepts presented in the Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein's "They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing" (NY: Norton & Company, 2006). As stated in the book's introduction, the goal of Graff and Birkenstein's text is "to demystify academic…

A Computer-Supported Method to Reveal and Assess Personal Professional Theories in Vocational Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van den Bogaart, Antoine C. M.; Bilderbeek, Richel J. C.; Schaap, Harmen; Hummel, Hans G. K.; Kirschner, Paul A.

2016-01-01

This article introduces a dedicated, computer-supported method to construct and formatively assess open, annotated concept maps of Personal Professional Theories (PPTs). These theories are internalised, personal bodies of formal and practical knowledge, values, norms and convictions that professionals use as a reference to interpret and acquire…

Decision-support systems for forest management

Treesearch

H. Michael Rauscher

2005-01-01

The basic concept of sustainable development, formulated in the Brundtland report and applied to forest management by the Montreal Process, has focused attention on the need for formal decision processes (Brundtland. 1987). The application of decision theory is essential because meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to...

Two Project-Based Strategies in an Interdisciplinary Mathematical Modeling in Biology Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ludwig, Patrice; Tongen, Anthony; Walton, Brian

2018-01-01

James Madison University faculty team-teach an interdisciplinary mathematical modeling course for mathematics and biology students. We have used two different project-based approaches to emphasize the mathematical concepts taught in class, while also exposing students to new areas of mathematics not formally covered in class. The first method…

Busy yet Passive: (Non-)Decision-Making in School Governing Bodies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Helen

2017-01-01

School governing bodies in England have considerable powers and duties, and their formal role positions them as decision-makers. This article draws on qualitative research in the governing bodies of four maintained schools. Using deliberative democracy as a sensitising concept, the article considers some processes by which decisions are made (or…

Classroom Assessment: Concepts and Applications. Fourth Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Airasian, Peter W.

This book is designed for students taking a first course in classroom assessment and measurement. It shows how assessment principles apply to the full range of teacher decision making and not just the formal evaluation of student learning. The book is organized in a way that follows the natural progression of teachers' decision making, from…

A Neo-Piagetian Approach to Development During the Formal Operational Period.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biemiller, Andrew

Cognitive development during each of the major stages identified by Piaget is characterized by abilities to solve progressively more complex tasks (e.g., changes in the object concept during the sensori-motor stage, and in conservation of amount, weight, and volume during the concrete operational stage). Several theorists have suggested that these…

The Nigeria Teachers Social Studies Training Curriculum and Sustainable Development Goals: A Content Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ifegbesan, Ayodeji P.; Lawal, M. B.; Rampedi, Isaac T.

2017-01-01

The concept of sustainable development has become a widely used construct that is incorporated into virtually all disciplines and discourses. The implementation and achievement of sustainable development goals in the management of our environmental resources cannot be realized without education, especially at a formal level. Teacher training…

Applicability domain: towards a more formal definition.

PubMed

Hanser, T; Barber, C; Marchaland, J F; Werner, S

2016-11-01

In recent years the applicability domain (AD) of a prediction system has become an important concern in (Q)SAR modelling, especially in the context of human safety assessment. Today AD is an active research topic, and many methods have been designed to estimate the adequacy of a model and the confidence in its outcome for a given prediction task. Unfortunately, the wide spectrum of techniques developed for this purpose is based on various definitions of the concept of AD, often taking into account different types of information. This variety of methodologies confuses the end users and makes the comparison of the AD for different models almost impossible. In this article, we demonstrate that AD is not a monolithic concept and can be broken down into three well-defined sub-domains assessing confidence at the model, prediction and decision levels, respectively. By leveraging this separation of concerns we have an opportunity to clarify, formalize and extend the definition of AD. We propose a framework that captures this new vision with the aim to initiate a global effort to converge towards a common AD definition within the (Q)SAR community.

Quantum-like dynamics of decision-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asano, Masanari; Basieva, Irina; Khrennikov, Andrei; Ohya, Masanori; Tanaka, Yoshiharu

2012-03-01

In cognitive psychology, some experiments for games were reported, and they demonstrated that real players did not use the “rational strategy” provided by classical game theory and based on the notion of the Nasch equilibrium. This psychological phenomenon was called the disjunction effect. Recently, we proposed a model of decision making which can explain this effect (“irrationality” of players) Asano et al. (2010, 2011) [23,24]. Our model is based on the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics, because psychological fluctuations inducing the irrationality are formally represented as quantum fluctuations Asano et al. (2011) [55]. In this paper, we reconsider the process of quantum-like decision-making more closely and redefine it as a well-defined quantum dynamics by using the concept of lifting channel, which is an important concept in quantum information theory. We also present numerical simulation for this quantum-like mental dynamics. It is non-Markovian by its nature. Stabilization to the steady state solution (determining subjective probabilities for decision making) is based on the collective effect of mental fluctuations collected in the working memory of a decision maker.

The utilization of formal and informal home care by older patients with cancer: a Belgian cohort study with two control groups.

PubMed

Baitar, Abdelbari; Buntinx, Frank; De Burghgraeve, Tine; Deckx, Laura; Bulens, Paul; Wildiers, Hans; van den Akker, Marjan

2017-09-12

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the utilization of formal and informal home care among older patients with cancer (OCP) and to compare this with middle-aged patients with cancer (MCP) and older patients without cancer (ONC). Additionally, we examined predictors of transitions towards formal care one year after a cancer diagnosis. OCP and MCP had to be recruited within three months after a cancer diagnosis and have an estimated life expectancy over six months. ONC consisted of patients without known cancer, seen by the general practitioner. Formal and informal care were compared between the patient groups at baseline, i.e. shortly after a cancer diagnosis and changes in care were studied after one year. A total of 844 patients were evaluable for formal care at baseline and 469 patients (56%) at follow-up. At baseline, about half of older adults and 18% of MCP used formal care, while about 85% of cancer patients and 57% ONC used informal care. Formal care increased for all groups after one year though not significantly in OCP. The amount of informal care only changed in MCP which decreased after one year. Cancer-related factors and changes in need factors predict a transition towards formal care after a cancer diagnosis. A cancer diagnosis has a different impact on the use of formal and informal care than ageing as such. The first year after a cancer diagnosis is an important time to follow-up on the patients' needs for home care.

Where High-Tech Meets High-Touch: an example of effective cross-disciplinary collaboration in education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holzhauer, B.; Mooney, M. E.

2012-12-01

How can non-formal education programs effectively blend hands-on, place-based field science lessons with technology and digital media to teach abstract global concepts in a local setting? Using climate change as an overarching concept, the Aldo Leopold Nature Center (ALNC) in Madison, WI, is developing exhibits and digital curricula, strengthened through partnerships with local and national experts from scientific and education fields, to effectively increase the public's interest in and understanding of science and technology, how the world works, and what we can do to adapt, mitigate, and innovate sustainable solutions. The exhibits and multimedia content, centered on topics such as climate, energy, weather, and phenology, have been developed in consultation with partners like the National Academy of Sciences and various departments at the University of Wisconsin (UW). Outdoor "high-touch" programs are complemented with "high-tech" exhibits and media, including touchscreen kiosks and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Science On a Sphere® global display system, tying together multimedia experiences with peer-reviewed cutting-edge science to ensure maximum comprehension by appealing and connecting to learners of all ages and learning modalities. The curriculum is being developed in alignment with local and national education standards and science and climate literacy frameworks (such as "The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences," U.S. Global Change Research Program / U.S. Climate Change Science Program). Its digital format allows it to be easily adapted to visitors' learning styles and cognitive levels and updated with relevant new content such as real-time climate data or current visualizations from the UW Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies. Drawing upon ALNC's award-winning environmental education experiences, professional development networks such as NOAA's Climate Stewards Education Program, and existing resources for teaching through formal STEM education, ALNC has combined the unique benefits of place-based outdoor citizen-science in the community setting with digital, multimedia, and interactive components to address local, regional, and global scientific concepts with all audiences of all ages. This innovative, replicable and broadly accessible approach, geared towards formal school groups and the general public in a non-formal educational setting, is being piloted, evaluated, and disseminated through a variety of networks and professional development in order to serve as a model of continued collaborative education.;

Elucidating elementary science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science: A view to beliefs about both science and teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keske, Kristina Palmer

The purpose of this interpretive case study was to elucidate the conceptions of the nature of science held by seven elementary science teachers. The constructivist paradigm provided the philosophical and methodological foundation for the study. Interviews were employed to collect data from the participants about their formal and informal experiences with science. In addition, the participants contributed their perspectives on four aspects of the nature of science: what is science; who is a scientist; what are the methods of science; and how is scientific knowledge constructed. Data analysis not only revealed these teachers' views of science, but also provided insights into how they viewed science teaching. Four themes emerged from the data. The first theme developed around the participants' portrayals of the content of science, with participant views falling on a continuum of limited to universal application of science as procedure. The second theme dealt with the participants' views of the absolute nature of scientific knowledge. Participants' perceptions of the tentative nature of science teaching provided the basis for the third theme concerning the need for absolutes in practice. The fourth theme drew parallels between participants' views of science and science teaching, with two participants demonstrating a consistency in beliefs about knowledge construction across contexts. This study revealed both personal and contextual factors which impacted how the participants saw science and science teaching. Many of the participants' memories of formal science revolved around the memorization of content and were viewed negatively. All the participants had limited formal training in science. Of the seven participants, only two had chosen to be science teachers at the beginning of their careers. The participants' limited formal experiences with science provided little time for exploration into historical, philosophical, and sociological studies of science, a necessary requirement for understanding the scientific enterprise. This study also offered support for the elucidation of teachers' conceptions of the nature of science through in-depth conversations rather than convergent types of assessment. Data analysis of participant responses to isolated aspects of the nature of science yielded incomplete or inconsistent pictures of how the participants saw science. A more consistent picture of science emerged as the participants' beliefs about science and knowledge construction merged. This study proposed that all science teachers need to address their beliefs about knowledge construction across contexts.

Part-whole reasoning in medical ontologies revisited--introducing SEP triplets into classification-based description logics.

PubMed

Schulz, S; Romacker, M; Hahn, U

1998-01-01

The development of powerful and comprehensive medical ontologies that support formal reasoning on a large scale is one of the key requirements for clinical computing in the next millennium. Taxonomic medical knowledge, a major portion of these ontologies, is mainly characterized by generalization and part-whole relations between concepts. While reasoning in generalization hierarchies is quite well understood, no fully conclusive mechanism as yet exists for part-whole reasoning. The approach we take emulates part-whole reasoning via classification-based reasoning using SEP triplets, a special data structure for encoding part-whole relations that is fully embedded in the formal framework of standard description logics.

Impulse position control algorithms for nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sesekin, A. N.; Nepp, A. N.

2015-11-01

The article is devoted to the formalization and description of impulse-sliding regime in nonlinear dynamical systems that arise in the application of impulse position controls of a special kind. The concept of trajectory impulse-sliding regime formalized as some limiting network element Euler polygons generated by a discrete approximation of the impulse position control This paper differs from the previously published papers in that it uses a definition of solutions of systems with impulse controls, it based on the closure of the set of smooth solutions in the space of functions of bounded variation. The need for the study of such regimes is the fact that they often arise when parry disturbances acting on technical or economic control system.

An object-oriented approach for harmonization of multimedia markup languages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yih-Feng; Kuo, May-Chen; Sun, Xiaoming; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

2003-12-01

An object-oriented methodology is proposed to harmonize several different markup languages in this research. First, we adopt the Unified Modelling Language (UML) as the data model to formalize the concept and the process of the harmonization process between the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) applications. Then, we design the Harmonization eXtensible Markup Language (HXML) based on the data model and formalize the transformation between the Document Type Definitions (DTDs) of the original XML applications and HXML. The transformation between instances is also discussed. We use the harmonization of SMIL and X3D as an example to demonstrate the proposed methodology. This methodology can be generalized to various application domains.

Quantum field theory and the linguistic Minimalist Program: a remarkable isomorphism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piattelli-Palmarini, M.; Vitiello, G.

2017-08-01

By resorting to recent results, we show that an isomorphism exist between linguistic features of the Minimalist Program and the quantum field theory formalism of condensed matter physics. Specific linguistic features which admit a representation in terms of the many-body algebraic formalism are the unconstrained nature of recursive Merge, the operation of the Labeling Algorithm, the difference between pronounced and un-pronounced copies of elements in a sentence and the build-up of the Fibonacci sequence in the syntactic derivation of sentence structures. The collective dynamical nature of the formation process of Logical Forms leading to the individuation of the manifold of concepts and the computational self-consistency of languages are also discussed.

Part-whole reasoning in medical ontologies revisited--introducing SEP triplets into classification-based description logics.

PubMed Central

Schulz, S.; Romacker, M.; Hahn, U.

1998-01-01

The development of powerful and comprehensive medical ontologies that support formal reasoning on a large scale is one of the key requirements for clinical computing in the next millennium. Taxonomic medical knowledge, a major portion of these ontologies, is mainly characterized by generalization and part-whole relations between concepts. While reasoning in generalization hierarchies is quite well understood, no fully conclusive mechanism as yet exists for part-whole reasoning. The approach we take emulates part-whole reasoning via classification-based reasoning using SEP triplets, a special data structure for encoding part-whole relations that is fully embedded in the formal framework of standard description logics. Images Figure 3 PMID:9929335

A formal concept analysis approach to consensus clustering of multi-experiment expression data

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Presently, with the increasing number and complexity of available gene expression datasets, the combination of data from multiple microarray studies addressing a similar biological question is gaining importance. The analysis and integration of multiple datasets are expected to yield more reliable and robust results since they are based on a larger number of samples and the effects of the individual study-specific biases are diminished. This is supported by recent studies suggesting that important biological signals are often preserved or enhanced by multiple experiments. An approach to combining data from different experiments is the aggregation of their clusterings into a consensus or representative clustering solution which increases the confidence in the common features of all the datasets and reveals the important differences among them. Results We propose a novel generic consensus clustering technique that applies Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) approach for the consolidation and analysis of clustering solutions derived from several microarray datasets. These datasets are initially divided into groups of related experiments with respect to a predefined criterion. Subsequently, a consensus clustering algorithm is applied to each group resulting in a clustering solution per group. These solutions are pooled together and further analysed by employing FCA which allows extracting valuable insights from the data and generating a gene partition over all the experiments. In order to validate the FCA-enhanced approach two consensus clustering algorithms are adapted to incorporate the FCA analysis. Their performance is evaluated on gene expression data from multi-experiment study examining the global cell-cycle control of fission yeast. The FCA results derived from both methods demonstrate that, although both algorithms optimize different clustering characteristics, FCA is able to overcome and diminish these differences and preserve some relevant biological signals. Conclusions The proposed FCA-enhanced consensus clustering technique is a general approach to the combination of clustering algorithms with FCA for deriving clustering solutions from multiple gene expression matrices. The experimental results presented herein demonstrate that it is a robust data integration technique able to produce good quality clustering solution that is representative for the whole set of expression matrices. PMID:24885407

Critical Analysis of the Mathematical Formalism of Theoretical Physics. I. Foundations of Differential and Integral Calculus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalanov, Temur Z.

2013-04-01

Critical analysis of the standard foundations of differential and integral calculus -- as mathematical formalism of theoretical physics -- is proposed. Methodological basis of the analysis is the unity of formal logic and rational dialectics. It is shown that: (a) the foundations (i.e. d 1ptyd,;=;δ,;->;0,;δ,δ,, δ,;->;0;δ,δ,;=;δ,;->;0;f,( x;+;δ, );-;f,( x )δ,;, d,;=;δ,, d,;=;δ, where y;=;f,( x ) is a continuous function of one argument x; δ, and δ, are increments; d, and d, are differentials) not satisfy formal logic law -- the law of identity; (b) the infinitesimal quantities d,, d, are fictitious quantities. They have neither algebraic meaning, nor geometrical meaning because these quantities do not take numerical values and, therefore, have no a quantitative measure; (c) expressions of the kind x;+;d, are erroneous because x (i.e. finite quantity) and d, (i.e. infinitely diminished quantity) have different sense, different qualitative determinacy; since x;,;,,,,onst under δ,;,;,, a derivative does not contain variable quantity x and depends only on constant c. Consequently, the standard concepts ``infinitesimal quantity (uninterruptedly diminishing quantity)'', ``derivative'', ``derivative as function of variable quantity'' represent incorrect basis of mathematics and theoretical physics.

Expansive learning in the university setting: the case for simulated clinical experience.

PubMed

Haigh, Jacquelyn

2007-03-01

This paper argues that simulated practice in the university setting is not just a second best to learning in the clinical area but one which offers the potential for deliberation and deep learning [Eraut, M., 2000. Non-formal learning, implicit learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 113-136]. The context of student learning in an undergraduate midwifery programme is analysed using human activity theory [Engeström, Y., 2001. Expansive learning at work: toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14, 133-156]. The advantages of this approach to student learning as opposed to situated learning theory and the concept of legitimate peripheral participation [Lave, J., Wenger, E., 1991. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, New York] are discussed. An activity system changes as a result of contradictions and tensions between what it purports to produce and the views of stakeholders (multi-voicedness) as well as its historical context (Historicity of activity). A focus group with students highlights their expressed need for more simulated practice experience. The views of midwifery lecturers are sought as an alternative voice on this tension in the current programme. Qualitative differences in types of simulated experience are explored and concerns about resources are raised in the analysis. Discussion considers the value of well planned simulations in encouraging the expression of tacit understanding through a group deliberative learning process [Eraut, M., 2000. Non-formal learning, implicit learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 113-136].

The Relationship between Cognitive Reserve and Math Abilities.

PubMed

Arcara, Giorgio; Mondini, Sara; Bisso, Alice; Palmer, Katie; Meneghello, Francesca; Semenza, Carlo

2017-01-01

Cognitive Reserve is the capital of knowledge and experiences that an individual acquires over their life-span. Cognitive Reserve is strictly related to Brain Reserve, which is the ability of the brain to cope with damage. These two concepts could explain many phenomena such as the modality of onset in dementia or the different degree of impairment in cognitive abilities in aging. The aim of this study is to verify the effect of Cognitive Reserve, as measured by a questionnaire, on a variety of numerical abilities (number comprehension, reading and writing numbers, rules and principles, mental calculations and written calculations), in a group of healthy older people (aged 65-98 years). Sixty older individuals were interviewed with the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq), and assessed with the Numerical Activities of Daily Living battery (NADL), which included formal tasks on math abilities, an informal test on math, one interview with the participant, and one interview with a relative on the perceived math abilities. We also took into account the years of education, as another proxy for Cognitive Reserve. In the multiple regression analyses on all formal tests, CRIq scores did not significantly predict math performance. Other variables, i.e., years of education and Mini-Mental State Examination score, accounted better for math performance on NADL. Only a subsection of CRIq, CRIq-Working-activity, was found to predict performance on a NADL subtest assessing informal use of math in daily life. These results show that education might better explain abstract math functions in late life than other aspects related to Cognitive Reserve, such as lifestyle or occupational attainment.

The Relationship between Cognitive Reserve and Math Abilities

PubMed Central

Arcara, Giorgio; Mondini, Sara; Bisso, Alice; Palmer, Katie; Meneghello, Francesca; Semenza, Carlo

2017-01-01

Cognitive Reserve is the capital of knowledge and experiences that an individual acquires over their life-span. Cognitive Reserve is strictly related to Brain Reserve, which is the ability of the brain to cope with damage. These two concepts could explain many phenomena such as the modality of onset in dementia or the different degree of impairment in cognitive abilities in aging. The aim of this study is to verify the effect of Cognitive Reserve, as measured by a questionnaire, on a variety of numerical abilities (number comprehension, reading and writing numbers, rules and principles, mental calculations and written calculations), in a group of healthy older people (aged 65–98 years). Sixty older individuals were interviewed with the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq), and assessed with the Numerical Activities of Daily Living battery (NADL), which included formal tasks on math abilities, an informal test on math, one interview with the participant, and one interview with a relative on the perceived math abilities. We also took into account the years of education, as another proxy for Cognitive Reserve. In the multiple regression analyses on all formal tests, CRIq scores did not significantly predict math performance. Other variables, i.e., years of education and Mini-Mental State Examination score, accounted better for math performance on NADL. Only a subsection of CRIq, CRIq-Working-activity, was found to predict performance on a NADL subtest assessing informal use of math in daily life. These results show that education might better explain abstract math functions in late life than other aspects related to Cognitive Reserve, such as lifestyle or occupational attainment. PMID:29311910

Recommendations for Conduct, Methodological Practices, and Reporting of Cost-effectiveness Analyses: Second Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine.

PubMed

Sanders, Gillian D; Neumann, Peter J; Basu, Anirban; Brock, Dan W; Feeny, David; Krahn, Murray; Kuntz, Karen M; Meltzer, David O; Owens, Douglas K; Prosser, Lisa A; Salomon, Joshua A; Sculpher, Mark J; Trikalinos, Thomas A; Russell, Louise B; Siegel, Joanna E; Ganiats, Theodore G

2016-09-13

Since publication of the report by the Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine in 1996, researchers have advanced the methods of cost-effectiveness analysis, and policy makers have experimented with its application. The need to deliver health care efficiently and the importance of using analytic techniques to understand the clinical and economic consequences of strategies to improve health have increased in recent years. To review the state of the field and provide recommendations to improve the quality of cost-effectiveness analyses. The intended audiences include researchers, government policy makers, public health officials, health care administrators, payers, businesses, clinicians, patients, and consumers. In 2012, the Second Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine was formed and included 2 co-chairs, 13 members, and 3 additional members of a leadership group. These members were selected on the basis of their experience in the field to provide broad expertise in the design, conduct, and use of cost-effectiveness analyses. Over the next 3.5 years, the panel developed recommendations by consensus. These recommendations were then reviewed by invited external reviewers and through a public posting process. The concept of a "reference case" and a set of standard methodological practices that all cost-effectiveness analyses should follow to improve quality and comparability are recommended. All cost-effectiveness analyses should report 2 reference case analyses: one based on a health care sector perspective and another based on a societal perspective. The use of an "impact inventory," which is a structured table that contains consequences (both inside and outside the formal health care sector), intended to clarify the scope and boundaries of the 2 reference case analyses is also recommended. This special communication reviews these recommendations and others concerning the estimation of the consequences of interventions, the valuation of health outcomes, and the reporting of cost-effectiveness analyses. The Second Panel reviewed the current status of the field of cost-effectiveness analysis and developed a new set of recommendations. Major changes include the recommendation to perform analyses from 2 reference case perspectives and to provide an impact inventory to clarify included consequences.

Annotating spatio-temporal datasets for meaningful analysis in the Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stasch, Christoph; Pebesma, Edzer; Scheider, Simon

2014-05-01

More and more environmental datasets that vary in space and time are available in the Web. This comes along with an advantage of using the data for other purposes than originally foreseen, but also with the danger that users may apply inappropriate analysis procedures due to lack of important assumptions made during the data collection process. In order to guide towards a meaningful (statistical) analysis of spatio-temporal datasets available in the Web, we have developed a Higher-Order-Logic formalism that captures some relevant assumptions in our previous work [1]. It allows to proof on meaningful spatial prediction and aggregation in a semi-automated fashion. In this poster presentation, we will present a concept for annotating spatio-temporal datasets available in the Web with concepts defined in our formalism. Therefore, we have defined a subset of the formalism as a Web Ontology Language (OWL) pattern. It allows capturing the distinction between the different spatio-temporal variable types, i.e. point patterns, fields, lattices and trajectories, that in turn determine whether a particular dataset can be interpolated or aggregated in a meaningful way using a certain procedure. The actual annotations that link spatio-temporal datasets with the concepts in the ontology pattern are provided as Linked Data. In order to allow data producers to add the annotations to their datasets, we have implemented a Web portal that uses a triple store at the backend to store the annotations and to make them available in the Linked Data cloud. Furthermore, we have implemented functions in the statistical environment R to retrieve the RDF annotations and, based on these annotations, to support a stronger typing of spatio-temporal datatypes guiding towards a meaningful analysis in R. [1] Stasch, C., Scheider, S., Pebesma, E., Kuhn, W. (2014): "Meaningful spatial prediction and aggregation", Environmental Modelling & Software, 51, 149-165.

The social licence for research: why care.data ran into trouble

PubMed Central

Carter, Pam; Laurie, Graeme T; Dixon-Woods, Mary

2015-01-01

In this article we draw on the concept of a social licence to explain public concern at the introduction of care.data, a recent English initiative designed to extract data from primary care medical records for commissioning and other purposes, including research. The concept of a social licence describes how the expectations of society regarding some activities may go beyond compliance with the requirements of formal regulation; those who do not fulfil the conditions for the social licence (even if formally compliant) may experience ongoing challenge and contestation. Previous work suggests that people's cooperation with specific research studies depends on their perceptions that their participation is voluntary and is governed by values of reciprocity, non-exploitation and service of the public good. When these conditions are not seen to obtain, threats to the social licence for research may emerge. We propose that care.data failed to adequately secure a social licence because of: (i) defects in the warrants of trust provided for care.data, (ii) the implied rupture in the traditional role, expectations and duties of general practitioners, and (iii) uncertainty about the status of care.data as a public good. The concept of a social licence may be useful in explaining the specifics of care.data, and also in reinforcing the more general lesson for policy-makers that legal authority does not necessarily command social legitimacy. PMID:25617016

Implementing Elementary School Next Generation Science Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, Katheryn B.

Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards requires developing elementary teacher content and pedagogical content knowledge of science and engineering concepts. Teacher preparation for this undertaking appears inadequate with little known about how in-service Mid-Atlantic urban elementary science teachers approach this task. The purpose of this basic qualitative interview study was to explore the research questions related to perceived learning needs of 8 elementary science teachers and 5 of their administrators serving as instructional leaders. Strategies needed for professional growth to support learning and barriers that hamper it at both building and district levels were included. These questions were considered through the lens of Schon's reflective learning and Weick's sensemaking theories. Analysis with provisional and open coding strategies identified informal and formal supports and barriers to teachers' learning. Results indicated that informal supports, primarily internet usage, emerged as most valuable to the teachers' learning. Formal structures, including professional learning communities and grade level meetings, arose as both supportive and restrictive at the building and district levels. Existing formal supports emerged as the least useful because of the dominance of other priorities competing for time and resources. Addressing weaknesses within formal supports through more effective planning in professional development can promote positive change. Improvement to professional development approaches using the internet and increased hands on activities can be integrated into formal supports. Explicit attention to these strategies can strengthen teacher effectiveness bringing positive social change.

Grant Izmirlian, PhD | Division of Cancer Prevention

Cancer.gov

Dr. Grant Izmirian has worked on methodology for monitoring clinical trials, conducting formal interim analyses for the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) cancer screening trial and the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). These analyses were nonstandard in nature and required a subject matter expert because of the presumed delay in the effect of screening. He also

EFFICIENTLY ESTABLISHING CONCEPTS OF INFERENTIAL STATISTICS AND HYPOTHESIS DECISION MAKING THROUGH CONTEXTUALLY CONTROLLED EQUIVALENCE CLASSES

PubMed Central

Fienup, Daniel M; Critchfield, Thomas S

2010-01-01

Computerized lessons that reflect stimulus equivalence principles were used to teach college students concepts related to inferential statistics and hypothesis decision making. Lesson 1 taught participants concepts related to inferential statistics, and Lesson 2 taught them to base hypothesis decisions on a scientific hypothesis and the direction of an effect. Lesson 3 taught the conditional influence of inferential statistics over decisions regarding the scientific and null hypotheses. Participants entered the study with low scores on the targeted skills and left the study demonstrating a high level of accuracy on these skills, which involved mastering more relations than were taught formally. This study illustrates the efficiency of equivalence-based instruction in establishing academic skills in sophisticated learners. PMID:21358904