Knowledge and Utilization of Computers Among Health Professionals in a Developing Country: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Incorporation of information communication technology in health care has gained wide acceptance in the last two decades. Developing countries are also incorporating information communication technology into the health system including the implementation of electronic medical records in major hospitals and the use of mobile health in rural community-based health interventions. However, the literature on the level of knowledge and utilization of information communication technology by health professionals in those settings is scarce for proper implementation planning. Objective The objective of this study is to assess knowledge, computer utilization, and associated factors among health professionals in hospitals and health institutions in Ethiopia. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 554 health professionals working in 7 hospitals, 19 primary health centers, and 10 private clinics in the Harari region of Ethiopia. Data were collected using a semi-structured, self-administered, and pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive and logistic regression techniques using SPSS version 16.0 (IBM Corporation) were applied to determine the level of knowledge and identify determinants of utilization of information communication technology. Results Out of 554 participants, 482 (87.0%) of them responded to the questionnaire. Among them, 90 (18.7%) demonstrated good knowledge of computers while 142 (29.5%) demonstrated good utilization habits. Health professionals who work in the primary health centers were found to have lower knowledge (3.4%) and utilization (18.4%). Age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=3.06, 95% CI 0.57-5.37), field of study (AOR=3.08, 95% CI 1.65-5.73), level of education (AOR=2.78, 95% CI 1.43-5.40), and previous computer training participation (AOR=3.65, 95% CI 1.62-8.21) were found to be significantly associated with computer utilization habits of health professionals. Conclusions Computer knowledge and utilization habits of health professionals, especially those who work in primary health centers, were found to be low. Providing trainings and continuous follow-up are necessary measures to increase the likelihood of the success of implemented eHealth systems in those settings. PMID:27025996

Knowledge and Utilization of Computers Among Health Professionals in a Developing Country: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Alwan, Kalid; Awoke, Tadesse; Tilahun, Binyam

2015-03-26

Incorporation of information communication technology in health care has gained wide acceptance in the last two decades. Developing countries are also incorporating information communication technology into the health system including the implementation of electronic medical records in major hospitals and the use of mobile health in rural community-based health interventions. However, the literature on the level of knowledge and utilization of information communication technology by health professionals in those settings is scarce for proper implementation planning. The objective of this study is to assess knowledge, computer utilization, and associated factors among health professionals in hospitals and health institutions in Ethiopia. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 554 health professionals working in 7 hospitals, 19 primary health centers, and 10 private clinics in the Harari region of Ethiopia. Data were collected using a semi-structured, self-administered, and pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive and logistic regression techniques using SPSS version 16.0 (IBM Corporation) were applied to determine the level of knowledge and identify determinants of utilization of information communication technology. Out of 554 participants, 482 (87.0%) of them responded to the questionnaire. Among them, 90 (18.7%) demonstrated good knowledge of computers while 142 (29.5%) demonstrated good utilization habits. Health professionals who work in the primary health centers were found to have lower knowledge (3.4%) and utilization (18.4%). Age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=3.06, 95% CI 0.57-5.37), field of study (AOR=3.08, 95% CI 1.65-5.73), level of education (AOR=2.78, 95% CI 1.43-5.40), and previous computer training participation (AOR=3.65, 95% CI 1.62-8.21) were found to be significantly associated with computer utilization habits of health professionals. Computer knowledge and utilization habits of health professionals, especially those who work in primary health centers, were found to be low. Providing trainings and continuous follow-up are necessary measures to increase the likelihood of the success of implemented eHealth systems in those settings.

Recognizing and Utilizing Queer Pedagogy: A Call for Teacher Education to Reconsider the Knowledge Base on Sexual Orientation for Teacher Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zacko-Smith, Jeffrey D.; Smith, G. Pritchy

2010-01-01

In order to teach effectively in hyper-diverse contexts, if effective teaching is considered to be the creation of knowledge, the transmission of ideas, and the "growing" of human beings intellectually, morally and socially, educators at all levels, but particularly those who are new to the field, must be well-versed in multiculturalism and…

Opportunities to utilize traditional phenological knowledge to support adaptive management of social-ecological systems vulnerable to changes in climate and fire regimes

Treesearch

Christopher A. Armatas; Tyron J. Venn; Brooke B. McBride; Alan E. Watson; Steve J. Carver

2016-01-01

The field of adaptive management has been embraced by researchers and managers in the United States as an approach to improve natural resource stewardship in the face of uncertainty and complex environmental problems. Integrating multiple knowledge sources and feedback mechanisms is an important step in this approach. Our objective is to contribute to the...

Exploring the use of Virtual Field Trips with elementary school teachers: A collaborative action research approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, Jeffrey Lance

This research examines how elementary school teachers, when supported, use Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) to address the curricula in meaningful ways. I conducted a qualitative study with six teachers, in a collaborative action research context over a six month period. The teachers, five males and one female, all taught either grade five or six and utilized Virtual Field Trips within a variety of curricula areas including science, social studies, music and language arts. In addition, the thesis examines resulting integration of technology into the regular classroom program as a product of the utilization of Virtual Field Trips. The process of collaborative action research was applied as a means of personal and professional growth both for the participants and the researcher/facilitator. By the end of the research study, all participants had learned to integrate Virtual Field Trips into their classroom program, albeit with different levels of success and in different curricula areas. The development of attitudes, skills and knowledge for students and teachers alike was fostered through the participation in Virtual Field Trips. A common concern regarding the utilization of Virtual Field Trips was the time spent locating an appropriate site that met curricula expectations. Participation in the collaborative action research process allowed each teacher to grow professionally, personally and socially. Each participant strongly encouraged the utilization of a long term project with a common area of exploration as a means for positive professional development. Implications and recommendations for future research on the utilization of Virtual Field Trips, as well as the viability of collaborative action research to facilitate teacher development are presented.

Bridging the Field Trip Gap: Integrating Web-Based Video as a Teaching and Learning Partner in Interior Design Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roehl, Amy

2013-01-01

This study utilizes web-based video as a strategy to transfer knowledge about the interior design industry in a format that interests the current generation of students. The model of instruction developed is based upon online video as an engaging, economical, and time-saving alternative to a field trip, guest speaker, or video teleconference.…

Mobile, Collaborative Situated Knowledge Creation for Urban Planning

PubMed Central

Zurita, Gustavo; Baloian, Nelson

2012-01-01

Geo-collaboration is an emerging research area in computer sciences studying the way spatial, geographically referenced information and communication technologies can support collaborative activities. Scenarios in which information associated to its physical location are of paramount importance are often referred as Situated Knowledge Creation scenarios. To date there are few computer systems supporting knowledge creation that explicitly incorporate physical context as part of the knowledge being managed in mobile face-to-face scenarios. This work presents a collaborative software application supporting visually-geo-referenced knowledge creation in mobile working scenarios while the users are interacting face-to-face. The system allows to manage data information associated to specific physical locations for knowledge creation processes in the field, such as urban planning, identifying specific physical locations, territorial management, etc.; using Tablet-PCs and GPS in order to geo-reference data and information. It presents a model for developing mobile applications supporting situated knowledge creation in the field, introducing the requirements for such an application and the functionalities it should have in order to fulfill them. The paper also presents the results of utility and usability evaluations. PMID:22778639

Mobile, collaborative situated knowledge creation for urban planning.

PubMed

Zurita, Gustavo; Baloian, Nelson

2012-01-01

Geo-collaboration is an emerging research area in computer sciences studying the way spatial, geographically referenced information and communication technologies can support collaborative activities. Scenarios in which information associated to its physical location are of paramount importance are often referred as Situated Knowledge Creation scenarios. To date there are few computer systems supporting knowledge creation that explicitly incorporate physical context as part of the knowledge being managed in mobile face-to-face scenarios. This work presents a collaborative software application supporting visually-geo-referenced knowledge creation in mobile working scenarios while the users are interacting face-to-face. The system allows to manage data information associated to specific physical locations for knowledge creation processes in the field, such as urban planning, identifying specific physical locations, territorial management, etc.; using Tablet-PCs and GPS in order to geo-reference data and information. It presents a model for developing mobile applications supporting situated knowledge creation in the field, introducing the requirements for such an application and the functionalities it should have in order to fulfill them. The paper also presents the results of utility and usability evaluations.

Fertilizer applications for container-grown ornamental tree production

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Knowledge of better utilization of nutrients during the growing season is needed to produce marketable container-grown ornamental shade trees economically. Fertilizer practices to grow Acer rubrum ‘Red Sunset’ trees in two separate fields (each containing four plots) irrigated with either city or po...

Review: Public perspectives on the utilization of human placentas in scientific research and medicine.

PubMed

Yoshizawa, R S

2013-01-01

Placental tissues are frequently utilized by scientists studying pregnancy and reproduction and in diverse fields including immunology, stem cell research, genetics, cancer research, and tissue engineering, as well as by clinicians in many therapies. Though the utilization of the human placenta in science and medicine has benefitted many people, little is known about public perspectives of this phenomenon. This review addresses placental donation, collection, and utilization in science and medicine, focusing on public perspectives. Cultural values and traditions, ethical paradigms and concerns, public understandings of science and medicine, and political considerations may impact perceptions of the utilization of the placenta in science and medicine, but systematic study is lacking. It is argued that knowledge of public views gained from empirical investigation may underpin the development of collection protocols and research projects that are more responsive to public will, spur more extensive utilization in science and medicine of this unique organ, and/or aid in the realization of the mobilization of knowledge about the placenta for clinical and educational ends. New avenues for research on public perspectives of the placenta are proposed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Overview of Practice Facilitation Programs in Canada: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

PubMed Central

Liddy, Clare; Laferriere, Dianne; Baskerville, Bruce; Dahrouge, Simone; Knox, Lyndee; Hogg, William

2013-01-01

Practice facilitation has proven to be effective in improving the quality of primary care. A practice facilitator is a health professional, usually external to the practice, who regularly visits the practice to provide support in change management that targets improvements in the delivery of care. Our environmental scan shows that several initiatives across Canada utilize practice facilitation as a quality improvement method; however, many are conducted in isolation as there is a lack of coordinated effort, knowledge translation and dissemination in this field across the country. We recommend that investments be made in capacity building, knowledge exchange and facilitator training, and that partnership building be considered a priority in this field. PMID:23968627

Computerized Adaptive Testing: Some Issues in Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orcutt, Venetia L.

The emergence of enhanced capabilities in computer technology coupled with the growing body of knowledge regarding item response theory has resulted in the expansion of computerized adaptive test (CAT) utilization in a variety of venues. Newcomers to the field need a more thorough understanding of item response theory (IRT) principles, their…

A Guide for Conducting Outdoor Field Experiences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Bruce; And Others

Since research indicates teachers generally lack confidence in their ability to conduct lessons in the outdoors and feel inadequate regarding knowledge of the natural world, this guide has been developed to build teacher confidence in utilizing the outdoors. Designed to be used in conjunction with a practicum workshop, this guide presents…

SUMMARY OF TECHNIQUES AND UNIQUE USES FOR DIRECT PUSH METHODS IN SITE CHARACTERIZATION ON CONTAMINATED FIELD SITES

EPA Science Inventory

Site characterization of subsurface contaminant transport is often hampered by a lack of knowledge of site heterogeneity and temporal variations in hydrogeochemistry. Two case studies are reviewed to illustrate the utility of macro-scale mapping information along with spatially-...

A Thematic Analysis of Theoretical Models for Translational Science in Nursing: Mapping the Field

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Sandra A.; Fisher, Cheryl A.; Hastings, Clare E.; Silverman, Leanne B.; Wallen, Gwenyth R.

2010-01-01

Background The quantity and diversity of conceptual models in translational science may complicate rather than advance the use of theory. Purpose This paper offers a comparative thematic analysis of the models available to inform knowledge development, transfer, and utilization. Method Literature searches identified 47 models for knowledge translation. Four thematic areas emerged: (1) evidence-based practice and knowledge transformation processes; (2) strategic change to promote adoption of new knowledge; (3) knowledge exchange and synthesis for application and inquiry; (4) designing and interpreting dissemination research. Discussion This analysis distinguishes the contributions made by leaders and researchers at each phase in the process of discovery, development, and service delivery. It also informs the selection of models to guide activities in knowledge translation. Conclusions A flexible theoretical stance is essential to simultaneously develop new knowledge and accelerate the translation of that knowledge into practice behaviors and programs of care that support optimal patient outcomes. PMID:21074646

Profiles of Motivated Self-Regulation in College Computer Science Courses: Differences in Major versus Required Non-Major Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat

2013-12-01

The goal of the present study was to utilize a profiling approach to understand differences in motivation and strategic self-regulation among post-secondary STEM students in major versus required non-major computer science courses. Participants were 233 students from required introductory computer science courses (194 men; 35 women; 4 unknown) at a large Midwestern state university. Cluster analysis identified five profiles: (1) a strategic profile of a highly motivated by-any-means good strategy user; (2) a knowledge-building profile of an intrinsically motivated autonomous, mastery-oriented student; (3) a surface learning profile of a utility motivated minimally engaged student; (4) an apathetic profile of an amotivational disengaged student; and (5) a learned helpless profile of a motivated but unable to effectively self-regulate student. Among CS majors and students in courses in their major field, the strategic and knowledge-building profiles were the most prevalent. Among non-CS majors and students in required non-major courses, the learned helpless, surface learning, and apathetic profiles were the most prevalent. Students in the strategic and knowledge-building profiles had significantly higher retention of computational thinking knowledge than students in other profiles. Students in the apathetic and surface learning profiles saw little instrumentality of the course for their future academic and career objectives. Findings show that students in STEM fields taking required computer science courses exhibit the same constellation of motivated strategic self-regulation profiles found in other post-secondary and K-12 settings.

Improving Grievance Arbitration: The Practitioners Speak. Working Paper 1973-07.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davey, Harold W.

Grievance arbitration is utilized on a nearly universal basis, but the process is malfunctioning in several ways. The study was based on a review of the literature, in field interviews, and in-depth correspondence with knowledgeable management and union practitioners; findings are limited to the arbitration step in contract administration. Twenty…

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 12: The diffusion of federally funded aerospace Research and Development (R&D) and the information seeking behavior of US aerospace engineers and scientists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.; Kennedy, John M.; Barclay, Rebecca O.

1991-01-01

The present exploration of the diffusion of federally-funded R&D via the information-seeking behavior of scientists and engineers proceeds under three assumptions: (1) that knowledge transfer and utilization is as important as knowledge production; (2) that the diffusion of knowledge obtained through federally-funded R&D is necessary for the maintenance of U.S. preeminence in the aerospace field; and (3) that federally-funded NASA and DoD technical reports play an important, albeit as-yet undefined, role in aerospace R&D diffusion. A conceptual model is presented for the process of knowledge diffusion that stresses the role of U.S. government-funded technical reports.

Integrated Knowledge Translation: illustrated with outcome research in mental health.

PubMed

Preyde, Michele; Carter, Jeff; Penney, Randy; Lazure, Kelly; Vanderkooy, John; Chevalier, Pat

2015-01-01

Through this article the authors present a case summary of the early phases of research conducted with an Integrated Knowledge Translation (iKT) approach utilizing four factors: research question, research approach, feasibility, and outcome. iKT refers to an approach for conducting research in which community partners, referred to as knowledge users, are engaged in the entire research process. In this collaborative approach, knowledge users and researchers jointly devise the entire research agenda beginning with the development of the research question(s), determination of a feasible research design and feasible methods, interpretation of the results, dissemination of the findings, and the translation of knowledge into practice or policy decisions. Engaging clinical or community partners in the research enterprise can enhance the utility of the research results and facilitate its uptake. This collaboration can be a complex arrangement and flexibility may be required to accommodate the various configurations that the collaboration can take. For example, the research question can be jointly determined and refined; however, one person must take the responsibility for orchestrating the project, including preparing the proposal and application to the Research Ethics Board. This collaborative effort also requires the simultaneous navigation of barriers and facilitators to the research enterprise. Navigating these elements becomes part of the conduct of research with the potential for rewarding results, including an enriched work experience for clinical partners and investigators. One practice implication is that iKT may be considered of great utility to service providers due to its field friendly nature.

The Effects of In-Nature and Virtual-Nature Field Trip Experiences On Proenvironmental Attitudes and Behaviors, And Environmental Knowledge Of Middle School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferderbar, Catherine A.

To develop sustainable solutions to remediate the complex ecological problems of earth's soil, water, and air degradation requires the talents and skills of knowledgeable, motivated people (UNESCO, 1977; UNESCO, 2010). Researchers historically emphasized that time spent in outdoor, nature activities (Wells & Lekies, 2006), particularly with an adult mentor (Chawla & Cushing, 2007), promotes environmental knowledge and nature-relatedness, precursors to environmental literacy. Research has also demonstrated that technology is integral to the lives of youth, who spend 7:38 hours daily (Rideout, et al., 2010), engaged in electronics. Educators would benefit from knowing if in-nature and virtual-nature field trip experiences provide comparable levels of knowledge and connectedness, to nurture student proenvironmentalism. To investigate field trip phenomena, the researcher studied the impact of virtual-nature and in-nature experiences during which students analyzed water quality along Midwestern rivers. The quasi-experimental, mixed method convergent parallel design with a purposeful sample (n=131) of middle school students from two Midwestern K-8 schools, utilized scientist participant observer field records and narrative response, written assessment aligned to field trip content to evaluate knowledge acquisition. To gain insight into student environmental dispositions, participant observers recorded student comments and behaviors throughout field trips. A survey, administered Pre-Treatment, Post-Treatment 1 and Post-Treatment 2, focused on family water-related behaviors and student perceptions of the need for local government water protection. The findings demonstrated both field trips increased content knowledge significantly, with large effect size. Content knowledge gain from one experience transferred to and was augmented by the second experience. Skill gain (technical and observational) varied by type of field trip and did not transfer. Technical skill was often paired with critical thinking/reasoning. Survey results demonstrated that the virtual-nature, in-nature order evinced a greater proenvironmental attitude and behavioral change. The initial experience provided greater proenvironmental impact, regardless of order. Several students exhibited a Connection to Life Experience that reinforced their nature-relatedness during either field trip. These findings inform best practices associated with environmental education. The implications include teacher-practitioner collaboration with IT personnel, naturalists, hydrologists, zoological and botanical experts, to design local, site-based virtual-nature and in-nature (or hybrid) field trips to nurture environmental literacy goals.

The study of knowledge management capability and organizational effectiveness in Taiwanese public utility: the mediator role of organizational commitment.

PubMed

Chiu, Chia-Nan; Chen, Huei-Huang

2016-01-01

Many studies on the significance of knowledge management (KM) in the business world have been performed in recent years. Public sector KM is a research area of growing importance. Findings show that few authors specialize in the field and there are several obstacles to developing a cohesive body of literature. In order to examine their effect of the knowledge management capability [which consists of knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) and knowledge process capability (KPC)] and organizational effectiveness (OE), this study conducted structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses with 302 questionnaires of Taipei Water Department staffs in Taiwan. In exploring the model developed in this study, the findings show that there exists a significant relationship between KPC and OE, while KIC and OE are insignificant. These results are different from earlier findings in the literature. Furthermore, this research proposed organizational commitment (OC) as the mediator role. The findings suggest that only OC has significant mediating effects between KPC and OE, whereas this is not the case for KIC and OE. It is noteworthy that the above findings inspired managers, in addition to construct the knowledge infrastructure more than focus on social media tools on the Internet, which engage knowledge workers in "peer-to-peer" knowledge sharing across organizational and company boundaries. The results are likely to help organizations (particularly public utilities) sharpen their knowledge management strategies. Academic and practical implications were drawn based on the findings.

Unlearning and Relearning from Medical Education Research: Teacher Education Research in the Pursuit of Teacher Professionalism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purinton, Ted

2012-01-01

Educational researchers have increasingly paid attention to how practitioners can access and utilize research knowledge, but the field still has been unable to create a research tradition and corresponding diffusion model that directly and uniformly influences teachers' practice. One reason for this is the contested status of teaching as a…

Knowledge Modeling in Prior Art Search

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graf, Erik; Frommholz, Ingo; Lalmas, Mounia; van Rijsbergen, Keith

This study explores the benefits of integrating knowledge representations in prior art patent retrieval. Key to the introduced approach is the utilization of human judgment available in the form of classifications assigned to patent documents. The paper first outlines in detail how a methodology for the extraction of knowledge from such an hierarchical classification system can be established. Further potential ways of integrating this knowledge with existing Information Retrieval paradigms in a scalable and flexible manner are investigated. Finally based on these integration strategies the effectiveness in terms of recall and precision is evaluated in the context of a prior art search task for European patents. As a result of this evaluation it can be established that in general the proposed knowledge expansion techniques are particularly beneficial to recall and, with respect to optimizing field retrieval settings, further result in significant precision gains.

Teachers' Knowledge and Beliefs About Child Sexual Abuse.

PubMed

Márquez-Flores, María Mercedes; Márquez-Hernández, Verónica V; Granados-Gámez, Genoveva

2016-07-01

Child sexual abuse is one of the main types of abuse still to be addressed within the field of education, yet the education system itself can serve as a primary tool for its prevention. A better understanding of teachers' knowledge and beliefs about child sexual abuse will allow us to establish key starting points from which to utilize the system for prevention. Four hundred and fifty teachers participated in this study, completing a questionnaire regarding their knowledge and beliefs about child sexual abuse. The study revealed that over half the teachers, 65.3% (n = 294), had never received any type of training in child sexual abuse education and that the majority were not familiar with methods of identifying child sexual abuse, 90.7% (n = 279). Various mistaken beliefs were identified among the participating teachers, such as pathological profiles of abusers, that the vast majority of child sexual abuse implies violent behavior, and that there cannot be abusers the same age as the victim. These results indicate that knowledge deficiencies do exist about child sexual abuse among teachers and highlight the need for training in this field.

Impacting the Science Community through Teacher Development: Utilizing Virtual Learning.

PubMed

Boulay, Rachel; van Raalte, Lisa

2014-01-01

Commitment to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) pipeline is slowly declining despite the need for professionals in the medical field. Addressing this, the John A. Burns School of Medicine developed a summer teacher-training program with a supplemental technology-learning component to improve science teachers' knowledge and skills of Molecular Biology. Subsequently, students' skills, techniques, and application of molecular biology are impacted. Science teachers require training that will prepare them for educating future professionals and foster interest in the medical field. After participation in the program and full access to the virtual material, twelve high school science teachers completed a final written reflective statement to evaluate their experiences. Using thematic analysis, knowledge and classroom application were investigated in this study. Results were two-fold: teachers identified difference areas of gained knowledge from the teacher-training program and teachers' reporting various benefits in relation to curricula development after participating in the program. It is concluded that participation in the program and access to the virtual material will impact the science community by updating teacher knowledge and positively influencing students' experience with science.

Utilizing Field Experiences in an Early Childhood Center To Increase Competencies in Teacher Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Alfred L.

The director of career education and coordinator of the department of human growth and development at a private college implemented a practicum designed to expand the knowledge level of early childhood students in teacher training by requiring that they participate in the college's day care center. The primary purpose of the practicum was to…

Integrating Curriculum and Practice with Students and Their Field Supervisors: Reflections on Spirituality and The Aging (Rosa) Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birkenmaier, Julie; Behrman, Gary; Berg-Weger, Marla

2005-01-01

Knowledge and sensitivity about diverse aging populations is a rapidly emerging area of interest in higher education. The next decades will see dramatic increases in the number of older adults in the United States (Administration on Aging (AOA), 2000). Recognizing and utilizing spiritual and religious traditions holds special significance when…

Turkish Jewelry Technology Pre-Service Teachers' TPCK Integration through Ob-Video Materials: A Pedagogical Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akay, Cenk

2017-01-01

The utilization of educational technologies in class applications and their reflections on the education have not reached to desired levels today; in other words, there are problems in the integration of technology into teaching and using technology in conjunction with the knowledge of subject field and pedagogy. The aim of this research is to…

Fighting The Network: Manet Management In Support Of Littoral Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

Solomon , 2015). DL widens the scope of naval Surface Action Groups (SAG) operations, introducing the concept of Adaptive Force Package (AFP...be implemented in littoral tactical networks. CENETIX research utilizes three Wave Relay radio models for experimentation : the Man-Portable Unit...enable seamless continuity in the transfer of research knowledge to subsequent testing and CONOPS development. CENETIX field experimentation

DSM-5, ICD-10, ICD-11, the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, and Person-Centered Integrative Diagnosis: An Overview for College Mental Health Therapists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Stewart E.

2014-01-01

Therapists in the field of college mental health counseling commonly voice an ambivalent orientation towards the utilization of formal psychological diagnostic systems yet often use diagnostic terms. Knowledge of the current and emerging diagnostic systems may contribute to greater syntheses of these differing approaches. This article will first…

Hall Probe Calibration System Design for the Mu2e Solenoid Field Mapping System

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

Orozco, Charles; Elementi, Luciano; Feher, Sandor

The goal of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab is to search for charged-lepton flavor violation by looking for neutrino-less muon to electron conversion in the field of the nucleus. The Mu2e experimental apparatus utilizes a complex magnetic field in the muon generation and momentum and charge selection process. Precise knowledge of the magnetic field is crucial. It is planned to map the solenoid field with calibrated 3D Hall probes up to 10 -5 accuracy. Here, this article describes a new design of a Hall probe calibration system that will be used to calibrate 3D Hall probes to better than 10more » -5 accuracy for the Mu2e Solenoid Field Mapping System.« less

Hall Probe Calibration System Design for the Mu2e Solenoid Field Mapping System

DOE PAGES

Orozco, Charles; Elementi, Luciano; Feher, Sandor; ...

2018-02-22

The goal of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab is to search for charged-lepton flavor violation by looking for neutrino-less muon to electron conversion in the field of the nucleus. The Mu2e experimental apparatus utilizes a complex magnetic field in the muon generation and momentum and charge selection process. Precise knowledge of the magnetic field is crucial. It is planned to map the solenoid field with calibrated 3D Hall probes up to 10 -5 accuracy. Here, this article describes a new design of a Hall probe calibration system that will be used to calibrate 3D Hall probes to better than 10more » -5 accuracy for the Mu2e Solenoid Field Mapping System.« less

A Method of Sharing Tacit Knowledge by a Bulletin Board Link to Video Scene and an Evaluation in the Field of Nursing Skill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimada, Satoshi; Azuma, Shouzou; Teranaka, Sayaka; Kojima, Akira; Majima, Yukie; Maekawa, Yasuko

We developed the system that knowledge could be discovered and shared cooperatively in the organization based on the SECI model of knowledge management. This system realized three processes by the following method. (1)A video that expressed skill is segmented into a number of scenes according to its contents. Tacit knowledge is shared in each scene. (2)Tacit knowledge is extracted by bulletin board linked to each scene. (3)Knowledge is acquired by repeatedly viewing the video scene with the comment that shows the technical content to be practiced. We conducted experiments that the system was used by nurses working for general hospitals. Experimental results show that the nursing practical knack is able to be collected by utilizing bulletin board linked to video scene. Results of this study confirmed the possibility of expressing the tacit knowledge of nurses' empirical nursing skills sensitively with a clue of video images.

Application of communications satellites to educational development. [technology utilization/information systems - bibliographies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgan, R. P.

1975-01-01

A summary of research is presented. The broad objectives of this interdisciplinary research effort were: (1) to assess the role of satellite communications as a means of improving education in the United States, as well as in less-developed areas of the world; (2) to generate basic knowledge which will aid in making rational decisions about satellite application in the field of education in the years ahead; (3) to devise systems and strategies for improving education; and (4) to educate individuals who will be knowledgeable about aspects of satellite communications policy which transcend any single discipline.

Impact of the Arizona NExSS Winter School on Astrobiology Knowledge and Attitudes.

PubMed

Burnam-Fink, Michael; Desch, Steven J; Scalice, Daniella; Davis, Hilarie; Huff, Cierra J; Apai, Dániel

2018-03-01

Astrobiology is an inherently interdisciplinary area of study, demanding communication across multiple fields: astronomy, geochemistry, planetary science, and so on. Successful communication requires that researchers be aware of the basic findings, open questions, and tools and techniques of allied fields and possess an appreciation and respect for what these fields consider good science. To facilitate this communication between early-career researchers, the Arizona NExSS Winter School was hosted in February 2016, bringing together graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from backgrounds spanning the field of astrobiology. Students virtually attended a scientific Workshop Without Walls and participated in lectures, discussions, field trips, and hands-on activities, culminating in the writing and review of mock proposals by interdisciplinary teams. We assess the impact of the school on interdisciplinarity using a pre- and posttest survey of 24 students, informed by National Science Foundation impact categories (Friedman et al., 2008 ) within the Impact Analysis Method (IAM) described by Davis and Scalice ( 2015 ). We demonstrate that students gained knowledge, especially in fields outside their home discipline. Furthermore, an underlying disciplinary divide between geochemists and planetary scientists on the role of life in planetary evolution is observed and interpreted. These findings demonstrate that the Arizona NExSS Winter School had measurable impact on interdisciplinarity and that the IAM rubric has utility in measuring impact. We make recommendations for further research to understand the interdisciplinary gaps in astrobiology and how best to bridge them. Key Words: Interdisciplinarity-Attitudes-Knowledge-Scientific dialogue-Training. Astrobiology 18, 365-375.

Non-dairy Based Probiotics: A Healthy Treat for Intestine.

PubMed

Bansal, Sangita; Mangal, Manisha; Sharma, Satish K; Gupta, Ram K

2016-08-17

Dairy-based fermented products and yoghurts have been utilized as potential probiotic products since ancient times. However, recent upsurge in interest of consumers towards dairy alternatives has opened up new vistas for non-dairy probiotic research and development. Various matrices and substrates such as cereals, fruit juices, or mixture thereof are being utilized for delivering these beneficial microorganisms. Each matrix offers some advantages over the other. Vast knowledge available on a number of conventional fermented foods can also be utilized for future research in this area. The present review provides an insight on the recent research/developments in the field of non-dairy probiotic foods with particular reference to the foods consumed conventionally, in addition to their commercial availability and a way forward.

Adaptive livelihood strategies for coping with water scarcity in the drylands of central Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liwenga, Emma T.

In this paper, it is argued that local knowledge for adapting to water scarcity is important for integrated resource management by taking into consideration both the natural and social constraints in a particular setting based on accumulated experience. The paper examines the relevance of local knowledge in sustaining agricultural production in the semiarid areas of central Tanzania. The paper specifically focuses on how water scarcity, as the major limiting factor, is addressed in the study area using local knowledge to sustain livelihoods of its people. The study was conducted in four villages; Mzula, Ilolo, Chanhumba and Ngahelezi, situation in Mvumi Division in Dodoma Region. The study mainly employed qualitative data collection techniques. Participatory methods provided a means of exploring perceptions and gaining deeper insights regarding natural resource utilization in terms of problems and opportunities. The main data sources drawn upon in this study were documentation, group interviews and field observations. Group interviews involved discussions with a group of 6-12 people selected on the basis of gender, age and socio-economic groups. Data analysis entailed structural and content analysis within the adaptive livelihood framework in relation to management of water scarcity using local knowledge. The findings confirm that rainfall is the main limiting factor for agricultural activities in the drylands of Central Tanzania. As such, local communities have developed, through time, indigenous knowledge to cope with such environments utilizing seasonality and diversity of landscapes. Use of this local knowledge is therefore effective in managing water scarcity by ensuring a continuous production of crops throughout the year. This practice implies increased food availability and accessibility through sales of such agricultural products. Local innovations for water management, such as cultivation in sandy rivers, appear to be very important means of accessing water in these dryland areas. It can therefore be concluded that utilization of local knowledge has wide impact on integrated water resource management. These implications are important considerations for development of adaptive water system innovations at community level.

Risk management for drinking water safety in low and middle income countries - cultural influences on water safety plan (WSP) implementation in urban water utilities.

PubMed

Omar, Yahya Y; Parker, Alison; Smith, Jennifer A; Pollard, Simon J T

2017-01-15

We investigated cultural influences on the implementation of water safety plans (WSPs) using case studies from WSP pilots in India, Uganda and Jamaica. A comprehensive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (n=150 utility customers, n=32 WSP 'implementers' and n=9 WSP 'promoters'), field observations and related documents revealed 12 cultural themes, offered as 'enabling', 'limiting', or 'neutral', that influence WSP implementation in urban water utilities to varying extents. Aspects such as a 'deliver first, safety later' mind set; supply system knowledge management and storage practices; and non-compliance are deemed influential. Emergent themes of cultural influence (ET1 to ET12) are discussed by reference to the risk management, development studies and institutional culture literatures; by reference to their positive, negative or neutral influence on WSP implementation. The results have implications for the utility endorsement of WSPs, for the impact of organisational cultures on WSP implementation; for the scale-up of pilot studies; and they support repeated calls from practitioner communities for cultural attentiveness during WSP design. Findings on organisational cultures mirror those from utilities in higher income nations implementing WSPs - leadership, advocacy among promoters and customers (not just implementers) and purposeful knowledge management are critical to WSP success. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Knowledge of the Avalanche Victim Resuscitation Checklist and Utility of a Standardized Lecture in Italy.

PubMed

Strapazzon, Giacomo; Migliaccio, Daniel; Fontana, Diego; Stawinoga, Agnieszka Elzbieta; Milani, Mario; Brugger, Hermann

2018-03-01

To explore baseline knowledge about avalanche guidelines and the Avalanche Victim Resuscitation Checklist (AVReCh) in Italy and the knowledge acquisition from a standardized lecture. Standardized lecture material discussing AVReCh was presented during 8 mountain medicine courses from November 2014 to April 2016 in different regions of Italy. To determine the knowledge acquisition from the lecture, a pre- and postlecture survey was utilized. A total of 193 surveys were analyzed. More than 50% of the participants had never participated in lectures/courses on avalanche guidelines, and less than 50% of the participants knew about the AVReCh before the lecture. The correct temporal sequence of reportable information in the basic life support section of the AVReCh was selected by 40% of the participants before the lecture and by 75% after the lecture (P<0.001). Within subgroups analysis, most groups saw significant improvement in performance (P<0.05). The selection of the correct burial time increased from 36 to 84% (P<0.05). Health care providers and mountain rescue personnel are not widely aware of avalanche guidelines. The standardized lecture significantly improved knowledge of the principles of avalanche management related to core AVReCh elements. However, the effect that this knowledge acquisition has on avalanche victim survival or adherence to the AVReCh in the field is yet to be determined. Copyright © 2017 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using the Biodatamation(TM) strategy to learn introductory college biology: Value-added effects on selected students' conceptual understanding and conceptual integration of the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reuter, Jewel Jurovich

The purpose of this exploratory research was to study how students learn photosynthesis and cellular respiration and to determine the value added to the student's learning by each of the three technology-scaffolded learning strategy components (animated concept presentations and WebQuest-style activities, data collection, and student-constructed animations) of the BioDatamation(TM) (BDM) Program. BDM learning strategies utilized the Theory of Interacting Visual Fields(TM) (TIVF) (Reuter & Wandersee, 2002a, 2002b; 2003a, 2003b) which holds that meaningful knowledge is hierarchically constructed using the past, present, and future visual fields, with visual metacognitive components that are derived from the principles of Visual Behavior (Jones, 1995), Human Constructivist Theory (Mintzes & Wandersee, 1998a), and Visual Information Design Theory (Tufte, 1990, 1997, 2001). Student alternative conceptions of photosynthesis and cellular respiration were determined by the item analysis of 263,267 Biology Advanced Placement Examinations and were used to develop the BDM instructional strategy and interview questions. The subjects were 24 undergraduate students of high and low biology prior knowledge enrolled in an introductory-level General Biology course at a major research university in the Deep South. Fifteen participants received BDM instruction which included original and innovative learning materials and laboratories in 6 phases; 8 of the 15 participants were the subject of in depth, extended individual analysis. The other 9 participants received traditional, non-BDM instruction. Interviews which included participants' creation of concept maps and visual field diagrams were conducted after each phase. Various content analyses, including Chi's Verbal Analysis and quantitizing/qualitizing were used for data analysis. The total value added to integrative knowledge during BDM instruction with the three visual fields was an average increase of 56% for cellular respiration and 62% increase for photosynthesis knowledge, improved long-term memory of concepts, and enhanced biological literacy to the multidimensional level, as determined by the BSCS literacy model. WebQuest-style activities and data collection provided for animated prior knowledge in the past visual field, and detailed content knowledge construction in the present visual field. During student construction of animated presentations, layering required participants to think by rearranging words and images for improved hierarchical organization of knowledge with real-life applications.

EMR-based medical knowledge representation and inference via Markov random fields and distributed representation learning.

PubMed

Zhao, Chao; Jiang, Jingchi; Guan, Yi; Guo, Xitong; He, Bin

2018-05-01

Electronic medical records (EMRs) contain medical knowledge that can be used for clinical decision support (CDS). Our objective is to develop a general system that can extract and represent knowledge contained in EMRs to support three CDS tasks-test recommendation, initial diagnosis, and treatment plan recommendation-given the condition of a patient. We extracted four kinds of medical entities from records and constructed an EMR-based medical knowledge network (EMKN), in which nodes are entities and edges reflect their co-occurrence in a record. Three bipartite subgraphs (bigraphs) were extracted from the EMKN, one to support each task. One part of the bigraph was the given condition (e.g., symptoms), and the other was the condition to be inferred (e.g., diseases). Each bigraph was regarded as a Markov random field (MRF) to support the inference. We proposed three graph-based energy functions and three likelihood-based energy functions. Two of these functions are based on knowledge representation learning and can provide distributed representations of medical entities. Two EMR datasets and three metrics were utilized to evaluate the performance. As a whole, the evaluation results indicate that the proposed system outperformed the baseline methods. The distributed representation of medical entities does reflect similarity relationships with respect to knowledge level. Combining EMKN and MRF is an effective approach for general medical knowledge representation and inference. Different tasks, however, require individually designed energy functions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language of CTO interventions - Focus on hardware.

PubMed

Mishra, Sundeep

2016-01-01

The knowledge of variety of chronic total occlusion (CTO) hardware and the ability to use them represents the key to success of any CTO interventions. However, the multiplicity of CTO hardware and their physical character and the terminology used by experts create confusion in the mind of an average interventional cardiologist, particularly a beginner in this field. This knowledge is available but is scattered. We aim to classify and compare the currently used devices based on their properties focusing on how physical character of each device can be utilized in a specific situation, thus clarifying and simplifying the technical discourse. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) for periodontal pockets: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pribac, Valentin; Todea, Carmen; Duma, Virgil-Florin

2016-03-01

The applications of lasers in medicine, both in the field of diagnosis and treatment are gaining momentum. In dentistry in particular, numerous types of lasers with a wide range of characteristics are being utilized in all fields. In consequence, a lot of experience and knowledge has been gained in the last two decades in this domain; this resulted in the development of novel technologies and devices. A brief overview is made in the first part of this article on these topics. The treatment of periodontal disease with laser therapy is pointed out, as well as the photodynamic therapy which is using LLLT for the activation of the sensitizing gel that is introduced in the periodontal pockets. This paper reviews also the application of photodynamic therapy in clinical trials which have different results; a standardization of the protocol utilized for this procedure is concluded to be necessary.

Using Analog Field Tests To Link and Prepare Science and In-Situ Resource Utilization for Future Space Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.

2010-01-01

A major goal of NASA s human exploration program is to learn how to use the resources of space, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), to lower the cost and risk of human space exploration. Successful implementation of ISRU requires detailed knowledge of surface and subsurface materials, minerals, and volatiles that may be present. This same information is required to better understand the physical and geologic composition, structure, origin, and evolution of the Moon, Mars, and other extraterrestrial bodies of interest. It is also important to recognize that while ISRU and science objectives may be similar, the desired method or hardware to achieve the information desired may be drastically different. One method to promote understanding, coordination, and joint development of instruments and operations between Science and ISRU is the use of analog field demonstrations.

Translating Behavioral Science into Practice: A Framework to Determine Science Quality and Applicability for Police Organizations.

PubMed

McClure, Kimberley A; McGuire, Katherine L; Chapan, Denis M

2018-05-07

Policy on officer-involved shootings is critically reviewed and errors in applying scientific knowledge identified. Identifying and evaluating the most relevant science to a field-based problem is challenging. Law enforcement administrators with a clear understanding of valid science and application are in a better position to utilize scientific knowledge for the benefit of their organizations and officers. A recommended framework is proposed for considering the validity of science and its application. Valid science emerges via hypothesis testing, replication, extension and marked by peer review, known error rates, and general acceptance in its field of origin. Valid application of behavioral science requires an understanding of the methodology employed, measures used, and participants recruited to determine whether the science is ready for application. Fostering a science-practitioner partnership and an organizational culture that embraces quality, empirically based policy, and practices improves science-to-practice translation. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Health information technology knowledge and skills needed by HIT employers.

PubMed

Fenton, S H; Gongora-Ferraez, M J; Joost, E

2012-01-01

To evaluate the health information technology (HIT) workforce knowledge and skills needed by HIT employers. Statewide face-to-face and online focus groups of identified HIT employer groups in Austin, Brownsville, College Station, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and webinars for rural health and nursing informatics. HIT employers reported needing an HIT workforce with diverse knowledge and skills ranging from basic to advanced, while covering information technology, privacy and security, clinical practice, needs assessment, contract negotiation, and many other areas. Consistent themes were that employees needed to be able to learn on the job and must possess the ability to think critically and problem solve. Many employers wanted persons with technical skills, yet also the knowledge and understanding of healthcare operations. The HIT employer focus groups provided valuable insight into employee skills needed in this fast-growing field. Additionally, this information will be utilized to develop a statewide HIT workforce needs assessment survey.

New Method for Knowledge Management Focused on Communication Pattern in Product Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noguchi, Takashi; Shiba, Hajime

In the field of manufacturing, the importance of utilizing knowledge and know-how has been growing. To meet this background, there is a need for new methods to efficiently accumulate and extract effective knowledge and know-how. To facilitate the extraction of knowledge and know-how needed by engineers, we first defined business process information which includes schedule/progress information, document data, information about communication among parties concerned, and information which corresponds to these three types of information. Based on our definitions, we proposed an IT system (FlexPIM: Flexible and collaborative Process Information Management) to register and accumulate business process information with the least effort. In order to efficiently extract effective information from huge volumes of accumulated business process information, focusing attention on “actions” and communication patterns, we propose a new extraction method using communication patterns. And the validity of this method has been verified for some communication patterns.

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

Bullard, F.M.

Current knowledge of volcanoes and their effect on the environment and the people of the earth is presented. The book is based on actual field studies around the world. Discussion is presented in three sections entitled: facts and fiction about volcanoes; types of volcanic eruptions; and theory, cycles, utilization, and environmental effects of volcanoes. A chapter in the third section is devoted to man's use of geothermal energy. Two appendices, a glossary, bibliography, and index are included. (JGB)

The use of drug-coated balloons in the treatment of femoropopliteal and infrapopliteal disease.

PubMed

Li, Jun; Karim, Adham; Shishehbor, Mehdi

2018-05-25

While the field of endovascular interventions has evolved in the last decade, technological advancements have rendered drug-coated balloons (DCBs) to be the first line therapy for femoropopliteal artery disease. As the knowledge continues to advance, the application of DCB to the infrapopliteal segments and its role in the setting of plaque modification atherectomy to minimize stent utilization will be further elucidated.

Design of a Genomics Curriculum: Competencies for Practicing Pathologists.

PubMed

Laudadio, Jennifer; McNeal, Jeffrey L; Boyd, Scott D; Le, Long Phi; Lockwood, Christina; McCloskey, Cindy B; Sharma, Gaurav; Voelkerding, Karl V; Haspel, Richard L

2015-07-01

The field of genomics is rapidly impacting medical care across specialties. To help guide test utilization and interpretation, pathologists must be knowledgeable about genomic techniques and their clinical utility. The technology allowing timely generation of genomic data is relatively new to patient care and the clinical laboratory, and therefore, many currently practicing pathologists have been trained without any molecular or genomics exposure. Furthermore, the exposure that current and recent trainees receive in this field remains inconsistent. To assess pathologists' learning needs in genomics and to develop a curriculum to address these educational needs. A working group formed by the College of American Pathologists developed an initial list of genomics competencies (knowledge and skills statements) that a practicing pathologist needs to be successful. Experts in genomics were then surveyed to rate the importance of each competency. These data were used to create a final list of prioritized competencies. A subset of the working group defined subtopics and tasks for each competency. Appropriate delivery methods for the educational material were also proposed. A final list of 32 genomics competency statements was developed. A prioritized curriculum was created with designated subtopics and tasks associated with each competency. We present a genomics curriculum designed as a first step toward providing practicing pathologists with the competencies needed to practice successfully.

Patterns of mental health service utilization.

PubMed

Howard, K I; Cornille, T A; Lyons, J S; Vessey, J T; Lueger, R J; Saunders, S M

1996-08-01

How many and which individuals, with which psychiatric disorders, receive (and do not receive) mental health services from which professionals in what settings? This question falls within the purview of mental health services research, which is a multidisciplinary field that brings together the methodologies of epidemiology, econometrics, and clinical research. First, in this article, we present an explication of what is known about those individuals in need of psychotherapy and how they access services. Next, we describe the numbers, professional affiliations, and service sites of professionals who are engaged in the practice of psychotherapy. We summarize our current knowledge about the actual utilization of psychotherapy services relative to the needs of patients and the professional background of therapists. Finally, we identify aspects of psychotherapy service utilization that are, as yet, unaddressed.

Evidence Molded by Contact with Staff Culture and Patient Milieu: An Analysis of the Social Process of Knowledge Utilization in Nursing Homes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Øye, Christine; Mekki, Tone Elin; Skaar, Randi; Dahl, Hellen; Forland, Oddvar; Jacobsen, Frode F.

2015-01-01

Knowledge utilization is politically "hot" because it informs decisions on improving the quality of care in nursing homes (NHs). The difficulties encountered in implementing evidence-based knowledge into practice may be explained by contextual factors. Contextual factors are crucial to understanding the process of knowledge utilization;…

Information Alchemy: Transforming Information through Knowledge Utilization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Backer, Thomas E.

1993-01-01

Provides an overview of knowledge utilization, what it encompasses, and its three waves of activity in America. Basic principles and strategies to consider are listed, and an example of how knowledge utilization is applied by the Center for Mental Health Services is given. (17 references) (EA)

Development and Validation of a 3-Dimensional CFB Furnace Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vepsäläinen, Arl; Myöhänen, Karl; Hyppäneni, Timo; Leino, Timo; Tourunen, Antti

At Foster Wheeler, a three-dimensional CFB furnace model is essential part of knowledge development of CFB furnace process regarding solid mixing, combustion, emission formation and heat transfer. Results of laboratory and pilot scale phenomenon research are utilized in development of sub-models. Analyses of field-test results in industrial-scale CFB boilers including furnace profile measurements are simultaneously carried out with development of 3-dimensional process modeling, which provides a chain of knowledge that is utilized as feedback for phenomenon research. Knowledge gathered by model validation studies and up-to-date parameter databases are utilized in performance prediction and design development of CFB boiler furnaces. This paper reports recent development steps related to modeling of combustion and formation of char and volatiles of various fuel types in CFB conditions. Also a new model for predicting the formation of nitrogen oxides is presented. Validation of mixing and combustion parameters for solids and gases are based on test balances at several large-scale CFB boilers combusting coal, peat and bio-fuels. Field-tests including lateral and vertical furnace profile measurements and characterization of solid materials provides a window for characterization of fuel specific mixing and combustion behavior in CFB furnace at different loads and operation conditions. Measured horizontal gas profiles are projection of balance between fuel mixing and reactions at lower part of furnace and are used together with both lateral temperature profiles at bed and upper parts of furnace for determination of solid mixing and combustion model parameters. Modeling of char and volatile based formation of NO profiles is followed by analysis of oxidizing and reducing regions formed due lower furnace design and mixing characteristics of fuel and combustion airs effecting to formation ofNO furnace profile by reduction and volatile-nitrogen reactions. This paper presents CFB process analysis focused on combustion and NO profiles in pilot and industrial scale bituminous coal combustion.

An Exploration of the Utility of a Knowledge Utilization Framework to Study the Gap between Reading Disabilities Research and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidson, Katherine; Nowicki, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

This pre-pilot study explored the usefulness of a knowledge utilization framework comprised of Knott and Wildavsky's (1980) seven stages of knowledge use and Stone's (2002) three routes to knowledge use to investigate the gap between reading disabilities research and teachers' self-reported use of that research. Semi-structured interviews of ten…

INNOVATIVE MIOR PROCESS UTILIZING INDIGENOUS RESERVOIR CONSTITUENTS

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

D.O. Hitzman; A.K. Stepp; D.M. Dennis

This research program was directed at improving the knowledge of reservoir ecology and developing practical microbial solutions and technologies for improving oil production. The goal was to identify and utilize indigenous microbial populations which can produce beneficial metabolic products and develop a methodology to stimulate those select microbes with nutrient amendments to increase oil recovery. This microbial technology has the capability of producing multiple oil-releasing agents. Experimental laboratory work in model sandpack cores was conducted using microbial cultures isolated from produced water samples. Comparative laboratory studies demonstrating in situ production of microbial products as oil recovery agents were conducted inmore » sand packs with natural field waters using cultures and conditions representative of oil reservoirs. Increased oil recovery in multiple model sandpack systems was achieved and the technology and results were verified by successful field studies. Direct application of the research results has lead to the development of a feasible, practical, successful, and cost-effective technology which increases oil recovery. This technology is now being commercialized and applied in numerous field projects to increase oil recovery. Two field applications of the developed technology reported production increases of 21% and 24% in oil recovery.« less

Cancer risks associated with occupational exposure to magnetic fields among electric utility workers in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, and France: 1970-1989.

PubMed

Thériault, G; Goldberg, M; Miller, A B; Armstrong, B; Guénel, P; Deadman, J; Imbernon, E; To, T; Chevalier, A; Cyr, D

1994-03-15

To determine whether occupational exposure to magnetic fields of 50-60 Hz was associated with cancer among electric utility workers, the authors used a case-control design nested within three cohorts of workers at electric utilities: Electricité de France--Gaz de France, 170,000 men; Ontario Hydro, 31,543 men; and Hydro-Québec, 21,749 men. During the observation period, 1970-1989, 4,151 new cases of cancer occurred. Each participant's cumulative exposure to magnetic fields was estimated based on measurements of current exposure of 2,066 workers performing tasks similar to those in the cohorts using personal dosimetry. Estimates were also made of past exposure based on knowledge of current loading, work practices, and usage. Workers who had more than the median cumulative exposure to magnetic fields (3.1 microtesla (microT)-years) had a higher risk for acute nonlymphoid leukemia (odds ratio (OR) = 2.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-5.44). The same observation holds for acute myeloid leukemia (OR = 3.15, 95% CI 1.20-8.27). There was also an elevated risk for mean exposure above 0.2 microT (acute nonlymphoid leukemia, OR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.00-5.58; acute myeloid leukemia, OR = 2.25, 95% CI 0.79-6.46). However, there were no clear dose-response trends with increasing exposure and no consistency among the three utilities. Men whose cumulative exposure to magnetic fields was above the 90th percentile (15.7 microT-years) had an elevated risk for brain cancer (OR = 1.95, 95% CI 0.76-5.00) that was not statistically significant. No association with magnetic fields was observed for any of the other 29 types of cancer studied, including skin melanoma, male breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Controlling for potential confounding factors did not change the results.

Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and barriers related to research utilization: a survey among pharmacists in Malaysia.

PubMed

Tan, Sin Yee; Hatah, Ernieda

2017-04-01

Background Research utilization is part of evidence-based practice referring to the process of reviewing and critiquing scientific research and applying the findings to one's own clinical practice. Many studies on research utilization have been conducted with doctors and nurses, but to our knowledge, none have been investigated amongst pharmacists. Objective To assess research utilization and its barriers among pharmacists and identify potential influencing factors. Setting Malaysia. Methods This cross-sectional survey was administered online and by mail to a convenient sample of pharmacists working in hospitals, health clinics, and retail pharmacies in rural and urban areas. Main outcome measure Pharmacists' research utilization knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Results Six hundred surveys were mailed to potential respondents, and 466 were returned (77.7% response rate). Twenty-eight respondents completed the survey online. The respondents' research utilization knowledge, attitudes, and practices were found to be moderate. Research utilization was associated with respondents' knowledge and attitude scores (P < 0.001). When factors related to research utilization were modelled, higher educational level was associated with higher level of research utilization (P < 0.001) while less involvement in journal clubs, more years of service (3-7 years and more than 7 years) were associated with low and moderate research utilization, respectively. The main reported barrier to research utilization was lack of sufficient authority to change patient care procedures. Conclusion Pharmacists' research utilization knowledge, attitudes, and practices can be improved by encouraging pharmacists to pursue higher degrees, promoting active participation in institutions' journal clubs, and introducing senior clinical pharmacist specialization.

Multiscale Characterization of the Probability Density Functions of Velocity and Temperature Increment Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeMarco, Adam Ward

The turbulent motions with the atmospheric boundary layer exist over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales and are very difficult to characterize. Thus, to explore the behavior of such complex flow enviroments, it is customary to examine their properties from a statistical perspective. Utilizing the probability density functions of velocity and temperature increments, deltau and deltaT, respectively, this work investigates their multiscale behavior to uncover the unique traits that have yet to be thoroughly studied. Utilizing diverse datasets, including idealized, wind tunnel experiments, atmospheric turbulence field measurements, multi-year ABL tower observations, and mesoscale models simulations, this study reveals remarkable similiarities (and some differences) between the small and larger scale components of the probability density functions increments fields. This comprehensive analysis also utilizes a set of statistical distributions to showcase their ability to capture features of the velocity and temperature increments' probability density functions (pdfs) across multiscale atmospheric motions. An approach is proposed for estimating their pdfs utilizing the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) technique, which has never been conducted utilizing atmospheric data. Using this technique, we reveal the ability to estimate higher-order moments accurately with a limited sample size, which has been a persistent concern for atmospheric turbulence research. With the use robust Goodness of Fit (GoF) metrics, we quantitatively reveal the accuracy of the distributions to the diverse dataset. Through this analysis, it is shown that the normal inverse Gaussian (NIG) distribution is a prime candidate to be used as an estimate of the increment pdfs fields. Therefore, using the NIG model and its parameters, we display the variations in the increments over a range of scales revealing some unique scale-dependent qualities under various stability and ow conditions. This novel approach can provide a method of characterizing increment fields with the sole use of only four pdf parameters. Also, we investigate the capability of the current state-of-the-art mesoscale atmospheric models to predict the features and highlight the potential for use for future model development. With the knowledge gained in this study, a number of applications can benefit by using our methodology, including the wind energy and optical wave propagation fields.

Utilizing knowledge base of amino acids structural neighborhoods to predict protein-protein interaction sites.

PubMed

Jelínek, Jan; Škoda, Petr; Hoksza, David

2017-12-06

Protein-protein interactions (PPI) play a key role in an investigation of various biochemical processes, and their identification is thus of great importance. Although computational prediction of which amino acids take part in a PPI has been an active field of research for some time, the quality of in-silico methods is still far from perfect. We have developed a novel prediction method called INSPiRE which benefits from a knowledge base built from data available in Protein Data Bank. All proteins involved in PPIs were converted into labeled graphs with nodes corresponding to amino acids and edges to pairs of neighboring amino acids. A structural neighborhood of each node was then encoded into a bit string and stored in the knowledge base. When predicting PPIs, INSPiRE labels amino acids of unknown proteins as interface or non-interface based on how often their structural neighborhood appears as interface or non-interface in the knowledge base. We evaluated INSPiRE's behavior with respect to different types and sizes of the structural neighborhood. Furthermore, we examined the suitability of several different features for labeling the nodes. Our evaluations showed that INSPiRE clearly outperforms existing methods with respect to Matthews correlation coefficient. In this paper we introduce a new knowledge-based method for identification of protein-protein interaction sites called INSPiRE. Its knowledge base utilizes structural patterns of known interaction sites in the Protein Data Bank which are then used for PPI prediction. Extensive experiments on several well-established datasets show that INSPiRE significantly surpasses existing PPI approaches.

Theory and knowledge translation: setting some coordinates.

PubMed

Rycroft-Malone, Jo

2007-01-01

In a healthcare context in which research evidence is not used routinely in practice, there have been increasingly loud calls for the use of theory from investigators working in the field of knowledge translation. Implementation researchers argue that theory should be used to guide the design of testable and practical intervention strategies, and thus, contribute to generalizable knowledge about implementation interventions. The purpose of this commentary is to critique model papers writing by a team of scholars who aimed to disentangle some of the relationships determining research utilization, by scrutinizing an existing conceptual framework that acknowledges, along with other factors, the importance of contextual factors in knowledge translation. These papers are used as a vehicle to explore theory application in knowledge translation research. As theory use and development is in its infancy, some key issues, including different ideological perspectives, factors for and against theory use, ensuring conceptual clarity, selecting coherent overarching frameworks, and choosing appropriately among theories, are considered. Finally, an agenda for theory-informed research is outlined, which highlights the need for scholarly, pluralistic, and collaborative activity if the state of knowledge translation science is to advance.

Knowledge and utilization of computer-software for statistics among Nigerian dentists.

PubMed

Chukwuneke, F N; Anyanechi, C E; Obiakor, A O; Amobi, O; Onyejiaka, N; Alamba, I

2013-01-01

The use of computer soft ware for generation of statistic analysis has transformed health information and data to simplest form in the areas of access, storage, retrieval and analysis in the field of research. This survey therefore was carried out to assess the level of knowledge and utilization of computer software for statistical analysis among dental researchers in eastern Nigeria. Questionnaires on the use of computer software for statistical analysis were randomly distributed to 65 practicing dental surgeons of above 5 years experience in the tertiary academic hospitals in eastern Nigeria. The focus was on: years of clinical experience; research work experience; knowledge and application of computer generated software for data processing and stastistical analysis. Sixty-two (62/65; 95.4%) of these questionnaires were returned anonymously, which were used in our data analysis. Twenty-nine (29/62; 46.8%) respondents fall within those with 5-10 years of clinical experience out of which none has completed the specialist training programme. Practitioners with above 10 years clinical experiences were 33 (33/62; 53.2%) out of which 15 (15/33; 45.5%) are specialists representing 24.2% (15/62) of the total number of respondents. All the 15 specialists are actively involved in research activities and only five (5/15; 33.3%) can utilize software statistical analysis unaided. This study has i dentified poor utilization of computer software for statistic analysis among dental researchers in eastern Nigeria. This is strongly associated with lack of exposure on the use of these software early enough especially during the undergraduate training. This call for introduction of computer training programme in dental curriculum to enable practitioners develops the attitude of using computer software for their research.

Low power data acquisition unit for autonomous geophysical instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prystai, Andrii

2017-04-01

The development of an autonomous instrumentation for field research is always a challenge which needs knowledge and application of recent advances in technology and components production. Using this information a super-low power, low-cost, stand-alone GPS time synchronized data acquisition unit was created. It comprises an extended utilization of the microcontroller modules and peripherals and special firmware with flexible PLL parameters. The present report is devoted to a discussion of synchronization mode of data sampling in autonomous field instruments with possibility of GPS random breaks. In the result the achieved sampling timing accuracy is better than ± 60 ns without phase jumps and distortion plus fixed shift depending on the sample rate. The main application of the system is for simultaneous measurement of several channels from magnetic and electric sensors in field conditions for magneto-telluric instruments. First utilization of this system was in the new developed versions of LEMI-026 magnetometer and LEMI-423 field station, where it was applied for digitizing of up to 6 analogue channels with 32-bit resolution in the range ± 2.5V, digital filtration (LPF) and maximum sample rate 4kS/s. It is ready for record in 5 minutes after being turned on. Recently, this system was successfully utilized with the drone-portable magnetometers destined for the search of metallic objects, like UXO, in rural areas, research of engineering underground structure and for mapping ore bodies. The successful tests of drone-portable system were made and tests results are also discussed.

Using knowledge of agricultural practices to enhance through-the-season interpretation of Landsat data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malila, W. A.; Pestre, C. R.

1984-01-01

Landsat data contain features that can be interpreted to produce information about crops, in support of crop estimation procedures. This paper considers ways in which detailed knowledge of agricultural practices and events might increase and improve the utilization of Landsat data in both the predictive and observational or measurement components of such procedures. Landsat observables related to agricultural practices and events throughout the cropping season are listed. Agricultural fields are identified as the preferred observational units for incorporating refined agricultural understanding, such as crop rotation patterns, into machine procedures. Uses of Landsat data from both prior seasons and the current season are considered, as is use of predictive models of crop appearance. The investigation of knowledge engineering systems tailored to through-the-season estimation problems is recommended for long range development.

Improvement of the course “Management of intellectual property” based on the mixed state contract in the field of scientific R&D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakovlev, D.; Ageev, A.; Yushkov, E.; Bogatyreova, M.

2017-01-01

Intellectual property (IP) is one of the forms of storing knowledge - intangible assets of knowledge economy. The translation of IP knowledge to the young generation is one of the challenges of nuclear knowledge management. At the NRNU MEPhI (National Research Nuclear University MEPhI), the subject is studied within the framework of the academic course “Management of intellectual property. The aim of the course is to train qualified specialists, ready to use modern methods of strategic management of IP in commercial firms. The article is devoted to the strengthening and transfer of IP rights for scientific output application in industry and commerce. The state remains the main source that finances all the significant developments in the field of science and technology. Therefore, the primary task is to effectively utilize the R&D output created at the expense of the Federal budget, both within the state order and the estimated budget financing. Currently, there exist contradictions in the area of strengthening and transfer of rights for R&D in the field of science. The newly borne concept dealing with the strengthening of IP rights for the scientific R&D output, centers on the theory of a mixed state contract and is conveniently integrated with the academic course mentioned. Knowledge itself takes the form of IP, as soon as it becomes formalized. The academic course when supplemented with various approaches to strengthening and transfer of IP rights for the scientific R&D output certainly gives a better understanding of the commercialization process of the intellectual capital and structures relevance to intellectual property. The research material is integrated with the educational process, and the academic course “Management of intellectual property” is designed both for economic and engineering specialties.

Improving the utilization of research knowledge in agri-food public health: a mixed-method review of knowledge translation and transfer.

PubMed

Rajić, Andrijana; Young, Ian; McEwen, Scott A

2013-05-01

Knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) aims to increase research utilization and ensure that the best available knowledge is used to inform policy and practice. Many frameworks, methods, and terms are used to describe KTT, and the field has largely developed in the health sector over the past decade. There is a need to review key KTT principles and methods in different sectors and evaluate their potential application in agri-food public health. We conducted a structured mixed-method review of the KTT literature. From 827 citations identified in a comprehensive search, we characterized 160 relevant review articles, case studies, and reports. A thematic analysis was conducted on a prioritized and representative subset of 33 articles to identify key principles and characteristics for ensuring effective KTT. The review steps were conducted by two or more independent reviewers using structured and pretested forms. We identified five key principles for effective KTT that were described within two contexts: to improve research utilization in general and to inform policy-making. To ensure general research uptake, there is a need for the following: (1) relevant and credible research; (2) ongoing interactions between researchers and end-users; (3) organizational support and culture; and (4) monitoring and evaluation. To inform policy-making, (5) researchers must also address the multiple and competing contextual factors of the policy-making process. We also describe 23 recommended and promising KTT methods, including six synthesis (e.g., systematic reviews, mixed-method reviews, and rapid reviews); nine dissemination (e.g., evidence summaries, social media, and policy briefs); and eight exchange methods (e.g., communities of practice, knowledge brokering, and policy dialogues). A brief description, contextual example, and key references are provided for each method. We recommend a wider endorsement of KTT principles and methods in agri-food public health, but there are also important gaps and challenges that should be addressed in the future.

Leadership skills for the California electric utility industry: A qualitative study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubbell, Michael

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the skills and knowledge necessary for leaders in the California electric utility industry in 2020. With rapid industry changes, skills to effectively lead and stay competitive are undetermined. Leaders must manage an increasingly hostile social and political environment, incorporate new technology, and deal with an aging workforce and infrastructure. Methodology. This study utilized a qualitative case study design to determine the factors that influence the skills leaders will require in 2020. It incorporated the perspectives of current electric utility leaders while looking with a future lens. Findings. Interviews were conducted with transmission and distribution (T&D) directors at 3 investor-owned public electric utilities headquartered in California. The questions followed an open-ended format to gather responses as perceived by electric utility leaders for each research question category: overall skills, aging workforce, regulation, technology, and leading younger generations. The research resulted in 18 major themes: 5 for overall skills, 3 for aging workforce, 4 for regulation, 3 for technology, and 3 for leading younger generations. Conclusions. The study identified leadership skills including the ability to embrace, leverage, and stay current with technology; understand and provide a clear vision for the future; increase creativity; manage the next set of workers; motivate during a time of great change; prepare for knowledge transfer and change in workforce culture; manage regulatory expectations; expand potential utility opportunities; leverage "big data"; allow worker collaboration; and understand what drives younger generations. Recommendations. California-based electric utility leaders can remain effective by implementing key strategies identified herein. Further research could examine perspectives of additional utility leaders who lead in organizational units outside of T&D, expand the research to include additional states, and/or demonstrate how to acquire the identified skills. It is also recommended that a replication of this study be undertaken to include a perspective and analysis of union or "field" workers.

Gravity as a factor in the animal environment.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, A. H.

1972-01-01

Review of current knowledge, research, and research planning on the influence of gravity upon living organisms. Discussed factors affecting the adaptability of animals to increased acceleration fields include age, sex, posture, and body size. Affected functions and aspects reviewed cover growth and mature body size, body composition, maintenance feed requirements, and feed utilization efficiency. It is expected that research involving the exposure of animals to altered gravity states will lead to new biological concepts of very broad importance.

Health Information Technology Knowledge and Skills Needed by HIT Employers

PubMed Central

Fenton, S.H.; Gongora-Ferraez, M.J.; Joost, E.

2012-01-01

Objective To evaluate the health information technology (HIT) workforce knowledge and skills needed by HIT employers. Methods Statewide face-to-face and online focus groups of identified HIT employer groups in Austin, Brownsville, College Station, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and webinars for rural health and nursing informatics. Results HIT employers reported needing an HIT workforce with diverse knowledge and skills ranging from basic to advanced, while covering information technology, privacy and security, clinical practice, needs assessment, contract negotiation, and many other areas. Consistent themes were that employees needed to be able to learn on the job and must possess the ability to think critically and problem solve. Many employers wanted persons with technical skills, yet also the knowledge and understanding of healthcare operations. Conclusion The HIT employer focus groups provided valuable insight into employee skills needed in this fast-growing field. Additionally, this information will be utilized to develop a statewide HIT workforce needs assessment survey. PMID:23646090

The Urban Ecology Institute's field studies program: utilizing urban areas for experiential learning and ecological research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starry, O.

2005-05-01

The Urban Ecology Institute (UEI) promotes the stewardship of healthy urban ecosystems by improving science and civic education for middle and high school youth and by working with urban communities to protect and transform natural resources. Established in 1999, UEI's field studies program engages over 1000 youth in the greater Boston area. A substantial component of this program involves water quality monitoring. We have recently adapted protocols from published leaf breakdown studies for incorporation into the UEI water quality curriculum. A 2004 pilot study of these leaf breakdown activities, conducted at four sites, compared rates of red maple breakdown to those of Norway maple, a potentially invasive urban street tree. Preliminary data from this successful pilot study suggest that leaf litter inputs from the two different tree species have varying effects on stream ecosystem function. We present this study as an example of how urban areas can be utilized for both ecological research and inclusive experiential learning through which science and mathematic knowledge can be effectively communicated.

New frontiers for intelligent content-based retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benitez, Ana B.; Smith, John R.

2001-01-01

In this paper, we examine emerging frontiers in the evolution of content-based retrieval systems that rely on an intelligent infrastructure. Here, we refer to intelligence as the capabilities of the systems to build and maintain situational or world models, utilize dynamic knowledge representation, exploit context, and leverage advanced reasoning and learning capabilities. We argue that these elements are essential to producing effective systems for retrieving audio-visual content at semantic levels matching those of human perception and cognition. In this paper, we review relevant research on the understanding of human intelligence and construction of intelligent system in the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, semiotics, and computer vision. We also discus how some of the principal ideas form these fields lead to new opportunities and capabilities for content-based retrieval systems. Finally, we describe some of our efforts in these directions. In particular, we present MediaNet, a multimedia knowledge presentation framework, and some MPEG-7 description tools that facilitate and enable intelligent content-based retrieval.

New frontiers for intelligent content-based retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benitez, Ana B.; Smith, John R.

2000-12-01

In this paper, we examine emerging frontiers in the evolution of content-based retrieval systems that rely on an intelligent infrastructure. Here, we refer to intelligence as the capabilities of the systems to build and maintain situational or world models, utilize dynamic knowledge representation, exploit context, and leverage advanced reasoning and learning capabilities. We argue that these elements are essential to producing effective systems for retrieving audio-visual content at semantic levels matching those of human perception and cognition. In this paper, we review relevant research on the understanding of human intelligence and construction of intelligent system in the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, semiotics, and computer vision. We also discus how some of the principal ideas form these fields lead to new opportunities and capabilities for content-based retrieval systems. Finally, we describe some of our efforts in these directions. In particular, we present MediaNet, a multimedia knowledge presentation framework, and some MPEG-7 description tools that facilitate and enable intelligent content-based retrieval.

Knowledge and Utilization of Information Technology Among Health Care Professionals and Students in Ile-Ife, Nigeria: A Case Study of a University Teaching Hospital

PubMed Central

Bello, Ibrahim S; Sanusi, Abubakr A; Ezeoma, Ikechi T; Abioye-Kuteyi, Emmanuel A; Akinsola, Adewale

2004-01-01

Background The computer revolution and Information Technology (IT) have transformed modern health care systems in the areas of communication, teaching, storage and retrieval of medical information. These developments have positively impacted patient management and the training and retraining of healthcare providers. Little information is available on the level of training and utilization of IT among health care professionals in developing countries. Objectives To assess the knowledge and utilization pattern of information technology among health care professionals and medical students in a university teaching hospital in Nigeria. Methods Self-structured pretested questionnaires that probe into the knowledge, attitudes and utilization of computers and IT were administered to a randomly selected group of 180 health care professionals and medical students. Descriptive statistics on their knowledge, attitude and utilization patterns were calculated. Results A total of 148 participants (82%) responded, which included 60 medical students, 41 medical doctors and 47 health records staff. Their ages ranged between 22 and 54 years. Eighty respondents (54%) reportedly had received some form of computer training while the remaining 68 (46%) had no training. Only 39 respondents (26%) owned a computer while the remaining 109 (74%) had no computer. In spite of this a total of 28 respondents (18.9%) demonstrated a good knowledge of computers while 87 (58.8%) had average knowledge. Only 33 (22.3%) showed poor knowledge. Fifty-nine respondents (39.9%) demonstrated a good attitude and good utilization habits, while in 50 respondents (33.8%) attitude and utilization habits were average and in 39 (26.4%) they were poor. While 25% of students and 27% of doctors had good computer knowledge (P=.006), only 4.3% of the records officers demonstrated a good knowledge. Forty percent of the medical students, 54% of the doctors and 27.7% of the health records officers showed good utilization habits and attitudes (P=.01) Conclusion Only 26% of the respondents possess a computer, and only a small percentage of the respondents demonstrated good knowledge of computers and IT, hence the suboptimal utilization pattern. The fact that the health records officers by virtue of their profession had better training opportunities did not translate into better knowledge and utilization habits, hence the need for a more structured training, one which would form part of the curriculum. This would likely have more impact on the target population than ad hoc arrangements. PMID:15631969

Principles of effective communication with patients who have intellectual disability among primary care physicians.

PubMed

Werner, S; Yalon-Chamovitz, S; Tenne Rinde, M; Heymann, A D

2017-07-01

Examine physicians' implementation of effective communication principles with patients with intellectual disabilities (ID) and its predictors. Focus groups helped construct a quantitative questionnaire. The questionnaire (completed by 440 physicians) examined utilization of effective communication principles, attitudes toward individuals with ID, subjective knowledge and number of patients with ID. Subjective knowledge of ID and more patients with ID increased utilization of effective communication principles. Provision of knowledge that allows patients to make their own medical decisions was predicted by more patients with ID, lower attitudes that treatment of this population group is not desirable, less negative affect and greater perception that treatment of this group is part of the physician's role. Effective preparation of patients with ID for treatment was predicted by higher perception of treatment of this group as part of the physician's role, lower perception of this field as undesirable and higher perception of these individuals as unable to make their own choice. Simplification of information was predicted by a greater perception of treatment of this group as part of the physician's role and more negative affect. Greater familiarity may enhance care for these patients. Increase exposure to patients with ID within training. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 9: Information intermediaries and the transfer of aerospace Scientific and Technical Information (STI): A report from the field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eveland, J. D.; Pinelli, Thomas E.

1991-01-01

From the NASA/DOD survey data, there can be no way of inferring what strategy for knowledge transfer is best; indeed, given the fact that the respondents were all presumably well qualified professionals, the data tend to call into serious question the idea that any one model might meet the needs of more than a distinct minority of possible users. The evidence to date appears to reinforce the concept that different information environments take many different shapes, and interact with each other and with formal data transmission sources in many different and equally valuable ways. Any overall strategy for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of scientific and technical information sharing must take this divergence into account, and work toward the creation of systems that reinforce true interactive knowledge utilization rather than simply disseminating data.

Empowerment evaluation: An approach that has literally altered the landscape of evaluation.

PubMed

Donaldson, Stewart I

2017-08-01

The quest for credible and actionable evidence to improve decision making, foster improvement, enhance self-determination, and promote social betterment is now a global phenomenon. Evaluation theorists and practitioners alike have responded to and overcome the challenges that limited the effectiveness and usefulness of traditional evaluation approaches primarily focused on seeking rigorous scientific knowledge about social programs and policies. No modern evaluation approach has received a more robust welcome from stakeholders across the globe than empowerment evaluation. Empowerment evaluation has been a leader in the development of stakeholder involvement approaches to evaluation, setting a high bar. In addition, empowerment evaluation's respect for community knowledge and commitment to the people's right to build their own evaluation capacity has influenced the evaluation mainstream, particularly concerning evaluation capacity building. Empowerment evaluation's most significant contributions to the field have been to improving evaluation use and knowledge utilization. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

XML-based data model and architecture for a knowledge-based grid-enabled problem-solving environment for high-throughput biological imaging.

PubMed

Ahmed, Wamiq M; Lenz, Dominik; Liu, Jia; Paul Robinson, J; Ghafoor, Arif

2008-03-01

High-throughput biological imaging uses automated imaging devices to collect a large number of microscopic images for analysis of biological systems and validation of scientific hypotheses. Efficient manipulation of these datasets for knowledge discovery requires high-performance computational resources, efficient storage, and automated tools for extracting and sharing such knowledge among different research sites. Newly emerging grid technologies provide powerful means for exploiting the full potential of these imaging techniques. Efficient utilization of grid resources requires the development of knowledge-based tools and services that combine domain knowledge with analysis algorithms. In this paper, we first investigate how grid infrastructure can facilitate high-throughput biological imaging research, and present an architecture for providing knowledge-based grid services for this field. We identify two levels of knowledge-based services. The first level provides tools for extracting spatiotemporal knowledge from image sets and the second level provides high-level knowledge management and reasoning services. We then present cellular imaging markup language, an extensible markup language-based language for modeling of biological images and representation of spatiotemporal knowledge. This scheme can be used for spatiotemporal event composition, matching, and automated knowledge extraction and representation for large biological imaging datasets. We demonstrate the expressive power of this formalism by means of different examples and extensive experimental results.

Remote measurement utilizing NASA's scanning laser Doppler systems. Volume 2: Laser Doppler dust devil velocity profile measurement program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howle, R. E.; Krause, M. C.; Craven, C. E.; Gorzynski, E. J.; Edwards, B. B.

1976-01-01

The first detailed velocity profile data on thermally induced dust vortices are presented. These dust devils will be analyzed and studied to determine their flow fields and origin in an effort to correlate this phenomena with the generation and characteristics of tornadoes. A continuing effort to increase mankind's knowledge of vortex and other meteorological phenomena will hopefully allow the prediction of tornado occurrence, their path, and perhaps eventually even lead to some technique for their destruction.

Ninth Conference on Space Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The papers presented in this conference provided an international dialogue and a meaningful exchange in the simulation of space environments as well as the evolution of these technological advances into other fields. The papers represent a significant contribution to the understanding of space simulation problems and the utilization of this knowledge. The topics of the papers include; spacecraft testing; facilities and test equipment; system and subsystem test; life sciences, medicine and space; physical environmental factors; chemical environmental factors; contamination; space physics; and thermal protection.

A multiple-objective optimal exploration strategy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christakos, G.; Olea, R.A.

1988-01-01

Exploration for natural resources is accomplished through partial sampling of extensive domains. Such imperfect knowledge is subject to sampling error. Complex systems of equations resulting from modelling based on the theory of correlated random fields are reduced to simple analytical expressions providing global indices of estimation variance. The indices are utilized by multiple objective decision criteria to find the best sampling strategies. The approach is not limited by geometric nature of the sampling, covers a wide range in spatial continuity and leads to a step-by-step procedure. ?? 1988.

The Nab Spectrometer, Precision Field Mapping, and Associated Systematic Effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fry, Jason; Nab Collaboration

2017-09-01

The Nab experiment will make precision measurements of a, the e- ν correlation parameter, and b, the Fierz interference term, in neutron beta decay, aiming to deliver an independent determination of the ratio λ =GA /GV to sensitively test CKM unitarity. Nab utilizes a novel, long asymmetric spectrometer to measure the proton TOF and electron energy. We extract a from the slope of the measured TOF distribution for different electron energies. A reliable relation of the measured proton TOF to a requires detailed knowledge of the effective proton pathlength, which in turn imposes further requirements on the precision of the magnetic fields in the Nab spectrometer. The Nab spectrometer, magnetometry, and associated systematics will be discussed.

Innovative MIOR Process Utilizing Indigenous Reservoir Constituents

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

D. O. Hitzman; A. K. Stepp; D. M. Dennis

This research program is directed at improving the knowledge of reservoir ecology and developing practical microbial solutions for improving oil production. The goal is to identify indigenous microbial populations which can produce beneficial metabolic products and develop a methodology to stimulate those select microbes with nutrient amendments to increase oil recovery. This microbial technology has the capability of producing multiple oil-releasing agents. Experimental laboratory work is underway. Microbial cultures have been isolated from produced water samples. Comparative laboratory studies demonstrating in situ production of microbial products as oil recovery agents were conducted in sand packs with natural field waters withmore » cultures and conditions representative of oil reservoirs. Field pilot studies are underway.« less

There is No Free Lunch: Tradeoffs in the Utility of Learned Knowledge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kedar, Smadar T.; McKusick, Kathleen B.

1992-01-01

With the recent introduction of learning in integrated systems, there is a need to measure the utility of learned knowledge for these more complex systems. A difficulty arrises when there are multiple, possibly conflicting, utility metrics to be measured. In this paper, we present schemes which trade off conflicting utility metrics in order to achieve some global performance objectives. In particular, we present a case study of a multi-strategy machine learning system, mutual theory refinement, which refines world models for an integrated reactive system, the Entropy Reduction Engine. We provide experimental results on the utility of learned knowledge in two conflicting metrics - improved accuracy and degraded efficiency. We then demonstrate two ways to trade off these metrics. In each, some learned knowledge is either approximated or dynamically 'forgotten' so as to improve efficiency while degrading accuracy only slightly.

Current Technologies Based on the Knowledge of the Stem Cells Microenvironments.

PubMed

Mawad, Damia; Figtree, Gemma; Gentile, Carmine

2017-01-01

The stem cell microenvironment or niche plays a critical role in the regulation of survival, differentiation and behavior of stem cells and their progenies. Recapitulating each aspect of the stem cell niche is therefore essential for their optimal use in in vitro studies and in vivo as future therapeutics in humans. Engineering of optimal conditions for three-dimensional stem cell culture includes multiple transient and dynamic physiological stimuli, such as blood flow and tissue stiffness. Bioprinting and microfluidics technologies, including organs-on-a-chip, are among the most recent approaches utilized to replicate the three-dimensional stem cell niche for human tissue fabrication that allow the integration of multiple levels of tissue complexity, including blood flow. This chapter focuses on the physico-chemical and genetic cues utilized to engineer the stem cell niche and provides an overview on how both bioprinting and microfluidics technologies are improving our knowledge in this field for both disease modeling and tissue regeneration, including drug discovery and toxicity high-throughput assays and stem cell-based therapies in humans.

Methodological Research on Knowledge Use and School Improvement. Volume III. Measuring Knowledge Use: A Procedural Inventory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, William N.; And Others

This volume presents in one collection a systematic inventory of research and analytic procedures appropriate for generating information on knowledge production, diffusion, and utilization, gathered by the University of Pittsburgh Program for the Study of Knowledge Use. The main concern is with those procedures that focus on the utilization of…

Individual nurse and organizational context considerations for better Knowledge Use in Pain Care.

PubMed

Latimer, Margot A; Ritchie, Judith A; Johnston, Celeste C

2010-08-01

Nurses are involved in many of the painful procedures performed on hospitalized children. In collaboration with physicians, nurses have an exceptional responsibility to have knowledge to manage the pain; however, the evidence indicates this is not being done. Issues may be twofold: (a) opportunities to improve knowledge of better pain care practices and/or (b) ability to use knowledge. Empirical evidence is available that if used by health care providers can reduce pain in hospitalized children. Theory-guided interventions are necessary to focus resources designated for learning and knowledge translation initiatives in the area of pain care. This article presents the Knowledge Use in Pain Care (KUPC) conceptual model that blends concepts from the fields of knowledge utilization and work life context, which are believed to influence the translation of knowledge to practice. The four main components in the KUPC model include those related to the organization, the individual nurse, the individual patient, and the sociopolitical context. The KUPC model was conceptualized to account for the complex circumstances surrounding nurse's knowledge uptake and use in the context of pain care. The model provides a framework for health care administrators, clinical leaders, and researchers to consider as they decide how to intervene to increase knowledge use to reduce painful experiences of children in the hospital. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diabetes knowledge and utilization of healthcare services among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

PubMed

Siddique, Md Kaoser Bin; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful; Banik, Palash Chandra; Rawal, Lal B

2017-08-22

Diabetes is a significant global public health concern. Poor knowledge of disease and healthcare utilization is associated with worse health outcomes, leading to increasing burden of diabetes in many developing countries. This study aimed to determine diabetes related knowledge and factors affecting utilization of healthcare services among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Bangladesh. This analytical study was conducted among 318 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) attending two large tertiary hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh between August 2014 and January 2015. Interviewer assisted semi-structured survey questionnaire was used to collect data on diabetes knowledge (measured by a validated Likert scale) and self-reported utilization of service for diabetes. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to determine the factors associated with diabetes knowledge and healthcare utilization. The mean (±SD) age of participants was 52 (±10) years. Majority of the participants were females (58%) and urban residents (74%). Almost two-third (66%) of the participants had an average level of knowledge of T2DM. One-fifth (21%) of the participants had poor knowledge which was significantly associated with gender (P < 0.002), education (P < 0 .001) and income (P < 0.001). The median travel and waiting time at the facility was 30 and 45 min respectively. More than one-third (37%) of the participants checked their blood glucose monthly. Most patients were satisfied regarding the family (55%) and hospital (67%) support. T2DM patients had average knowledge of diabetes which might affect the utilization of healthcare services for diabetes management. Innovations in increasing diabetes knowledge and health behavior change are recommended specially for females, those with lower education and less income.

A Cross-Sectional Analytic Study of Postpartum Health Care Service Utilization in the Philippines

PubMed Central

Yamashita, Tadashi; Suplido, Sherri Ann; Ladines-Llave, Cecilia; Tanaka, Yuko; Senba, Naomi; Matsuo, Hiroya

2014-01-01

Background The maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines remains high; thus, it will be difficult to achieve the Millennium Development Goals 5 by 2015. Approximately two-thirds of all maternal deaths occur during the postpartum period. Therefore, we conducted the present study to examine the current state of postpartum health care service utilization in the Philippines, and identify challenges to accessing postpartum care. Methods A questionnaire and knowledge test were distributed to postpartum women in the Philippines. The questionnaire collected demographical characteristics and information about their utilization of health care services during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The knowledge test consisted of 11 questions regarding 6 topics related to possible physical and mental symptoms after delivery. Sixty-four questionnaires and knowledge tests were analyzed. Results The mean time of first postpartum health care visit was 5.1±5.2 days after delivery. Postpartum utilization of health care services was significantly correlated with delivery location (P<0.01). Women who delivered at home had a lower rate of postpartum health care service utilization than women who delivered at medical facilities. The majority of participants scored low on the knowledge test. Conclusion We found inadequate postpartum health care service utilization, especially for women who delivered at home. Our results also suggest that postpartum women lack knowledge about postpartum health concerns. In the Philippines, Barangay health workers may play a role in educating postpartum women regarding health care service utilization to improve their knowledge of possible concerns and their overall utilization of health care services. PMID:24465626

Tacit Knowledge Capture and the Brain-Drain at Electrical Utilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perjanik, Nicholas Steven

As a consequence of an aging workforce, electric utilities are at risk of losing their most experienced and knowledgeable electrical engineers. In this research, the problem was a lack of understanding of what electric utilities were doing to capture the tacit knowledge or know-how of these engineers. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the tacit knowledge capture strategies currently used in the industry by conducting a case study of 7 U.S. electrical utilities that have demonstrated an industry commitment to improving operational standards. The research question addressed the implemented strategies to capture the tacit knowledge of retiring electrical engineers and technical personnel. The research methodology involved a qualitative embedded case study. The theories used in this study included knowledge creation theory, resource-based theory, and organizational learning theory. Data were collected through one time interviews of a senior electrical engineer or technician within each utility and a workforce planning or training professional within 2 of the 7 utilities. The analysis included the use of triangulation and content analysis strategies. Ten tacit knowledge capture strategies were identified: (a) formal and informal on-boarding mentorship and apprenticeship programs, (b) formal and informal off-boarding mentorship programs, (c) formal and informal training programs, (d) using lessons learned during training sessions, (e) communities of practice, (f) technology enabled tools, (g) storytelling, (h) exit interviews, (i) rehiring of retirees as consultants, and (j) knowledge risk assessments. This research contributes to social change by offering strategies to capture the know-how needed to ensure operational continuity in the delivery of safe, reliable, and sustainable power.

A Conceptual Framework for Studying Knowledge Utilization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paul, Douglas

This paper, written from an organizational perspective, begins with an examination of the deficiencies of knowledge utilization and educational change literature. It suggests the explication of descriptive and heuristic conceptual dimensions as one approach for facilitating a descriptive perspective of knowldge utilization. The efficacy of three…

An ethnobiological study in Kala Chitta hills of Pothwar region, Pakistan: multinomial logit specification

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background This paper constitutes an important ethnobiological survey in the context of utilizing biological resources by residents of Kala Chitta hills of Pothwar region, Pakistan. The fundamental aim of this research endeavour was to catalogue and analyse the indigenous knowledge of native community about plants and animals. The study is distinctive in the sense to explore both ethnobotanical and ethnozoological aspects of indigenous culture, and exhibits novelty, being based on empirical approach of Multinomial Logit Specifications (MLS) for examining ethnobotanical and ethnozoological uses of specific plants and animals. Methods To document the ethnobiological knowledge, the survey was conducted during 2011–12 by employing a semi-structured questionnaire and thus 54 informants were interviewed. Plant and animal specimens were collected, photographed and properly identified. Distribution of plants and animals were explored by descriptive and graphical examination. MLS were further incorporated to identify the probability of occurrence of diversified utilization of plants and animals in multipurpose domains. Results Traditional uses of 91 plant and 65 animal species were reported. Data analysis revealed more medicinal use of plants and animals than all other use categories. MLS findings are also in line with these proportional configurations. They reveal that medicinal and food consumption of underground and perennial plants was more as compared to aerial and annual categories of plants. Likewise, medicinal utilization of wild animals and domestic animals were more commonly observed as food items. However, invertebrates are more in the domain of medicinal and food utilization. Also carnivores are fairly common in the use of medicine while herbivores are in the category of food consumption. Conclusion This study empirically scans a good chunk of ethnobiological knowledge and depicts its strong connection with indigenous traditions. It is important to make local residents beware of conservation status of species and authentication of this knowledge needs to be done in near future. Moreover, Statistically significant findings impart novelty in the existing literature in the field of ethnobiology. Future conservation, phytochemical and pharmacological studies are recommended on these identified plants and animals in order to use them in a more sustainable and effective way. PMID:24467739

Evidence-based nursing practice: both state of the art in general and specific to pressure sores.

PubMed

Buss, I C; Halfens, R J; Abu-Saad, H H; Kok, G

1999-01-01

The importance of research-based practice in nursing has been frequently stressed, and a number of nursing studies have been conducted whose results enable nursing to improve knowledge and practice. This study reports a literature review in which the current status of knowledge and research utilization with regard to pressure sores is described. This review first gives an overview of studies on knowledge utilization in general and shows that the spontaneous diffusion of knowledge is inappropriate. Furthermore, an overview of planned research utilization activities focusing on pressure sore prevention and treatment in nursing is presented. The results of these studies show that planned research utilization activities performed in individual organizations lead to positive outcomes in almost all cases. Therefore, it could be concluded that implementing planned research utilization activities in individual health care institutions seems to be an effective strategy to decrease pressure sore incidence and prevalence rates.

A novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection for natural gas exploration using methane-oxidizing bacteria.

PubMed

Liang, Weiwei; Chen, Qiao; Peng, Fang; Shen, Aiguo; Hu, Jiming

2018-07-01

Methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB), a unique group of Gram-negative bacteria utilizing methane as a sole source of carbon and energy, have been proved to be a biological indicator for gas prospecting. Field and cultivation-free detection of MOB is important but still challenging in current microbial prospecting of oil and gas (MPOG) system. Herein, SERS was used for the first time to our knowledge to investigate two species of methanotrophs and four closely relevant bacteria that universally coexisted in the upper soil of natural gas. A special but very simple approach was utilized to make silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) sufficiently contact with every single bacterial cell, and highly strong and distinct Raman signals free from any native fluorescence have been obtained, and successfully utilized for distinguishing MOB from other species. A more convincing multi-Raman criterion based on single Raman bands, and further the entire Raman spectrum in combination with statistical analysis (e.g., principal component analysis (PCA)), which were found capable of classifying MOB related bacterial cells in soil with an accuracy of 100%. This study therefore demonstrated sensitive and rapid SERS measurement technique accompanied by complete Raman database of various gas reservoirs related bacteria could aid field exploration of natural gas reservoir. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visible Korean human images on MIOS system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Har, Donghwan; Son, Young-Ho; Lee, Sung-Won; Lee, Jung Beom

2004-05-01

Basically, photography has the attributes of reason, which encompasses the scientific knowledge of optics, physics and chemistry, and delicate sensibility of individuals. Ultimately, the photograph pursues "effective communication." Communication is "mental and psychosocial exchange mediated by material symbols, such as language, gesture and picture," and it has four compositions: "sender, receiver, message and channel." Recently, a change in the communication method is on the rise in the field of art and culture, including photography. Until now, communication was mainly achieved by the form of messages unilaterally transferred from senders to receivers. But, nowadays, an interactive method, in which the boundary of sender and receiver is obscure, is on the increase. Such new communication method may be said to have arrived from the desire of art and culture societies, pursuing something new and creative in the background of utilization of a variety of information media. The multi-view screen we developed is also a communication tool capable of effective interaction using photos or motion pictures. The viewer can see different images at different locations. It utilizes the basic lenticular characteristics, which have been used in printing. Each motion picture is displayed on the screen without crosstalk. The multi-view screen is different in many aspects from other display media, and is expected to be utilized in many fields, including advertisement, display and education.

State of the Art in HIV Drug Resistance: Science and Technology Knowledge Gap.

PubMed

Boucher, Charles A; Bobkova, Marina R; Geretti, Anna Maria; Hung, Chien-Ching; Kaiser, Rolf; Marcelin, Anne-Geneviève; Streinu-Cercel, Adrian; van Wyk, Jean; Dorr, Pat; Vandamme, Anne-Mieke

2018-01-01

Resistance to antiretroviral therapy (ART) threatens the efficacy of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) treatment. We present a review of knowledge gaps in the science and technologies of acquired HIV-1 drug resistance (HIVDR) in an effort to facilitate research, scientific exchange, and progress in clinical management. The expert authorship of this review convened to identify data gaps that exist in the field of HIVDR and discuss their clinical implications. A subsequent literature review of trials and current practices was carried out to provide supporting evidence. Several gaps were identified across HIVDR science and technology. A summary of the major gaps is presented, with an expert discussion of their implications within the context of the wider field. Crucial to optimizing the use of ART will be improved understanding of protease inhibitors and, in particular, integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI) in the context of HIVDR. Limited experience with INSTI represents an important knowledge gap in HIV resistance science. Utilizing such knowledge in a clinical setting relies on accurate testing and analysis of resistance-associated mutations. As next-generation sequencing becomes more widely available, a gap in the interpretation of data is the lack of a defined, clinically relevant threshold of minority variants. Further research will provide evidence on where such thresholds lie and how they can be most effectively applied. Expert discussion identified a series of gaps in our knowledge of HIVDR. Addressing prefsuch gaps through further research and characterization will facilitate the optimal use of ART therapies and technologies.

Technical communications in aerospace - An analysis of the practices reported by U.S. and European aerospace engineers and scientists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.; Barclay, Rebecca O.; Kennedy, John M.; Glassman, Myron

1990-01-01

The flow of scientific and technical information (STI) at the individual, organizational, national, and international levels is studied. The responses of U.S and European aerospace engineers and scientists to questionnaires concerning technical communications in aerospace are examined. Particular attention is given to the means used to communicate information and the social system of the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. Demographic data about the survey respondents are provided. The methods used to communicate technical data and the sources utilized to solve technical problems are described. The importance of technical writing skills and the use of computer technology in the aerospace field are discussed. The derived data are useful for R&D and information managers in order to improve access to and utilization of aerospace STI.

Directed evolution and synthetic biology applications to microbial systems.

PubMed

Bassalo, Marcelo C; Liu, Rongming; Gill, Ryan T

2016-06-01

Biotechnology applications require engineering complex multi-genic traits. The lack of knowledge on the genetic basis of complex phenotypes restricts our ability to rationally engineer them. However, complex phenotypes can be engineered at the systems level, utilizing directed evolution strategies that drive whole biological systems toward desired phenotypes without requiring prior knowledge of the genetic basis of the targeted trait. Recent developments in the synthetic biology field accelerates the directed evolution cycle, facilitating engineering of increasingly complex traits in biological systems. In this review, we summarize some of the most recent advances in directed evolution and synthetic biology that allows engineering of complex traits in microbial systems. Then, we discuss applications that can be achieved through engineering at the systems level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Illuminating the processes of knowledge transfer in nursing.

PubMed

Aita, Marilyn; Richer, Marie-Claire; Héon, Marjolaine

2007-01-01

Over the past 10 years, there has been a propensity to translate research findings and evidence into clinical practice, and concepts such as knowledge transfer, research dissemination, research utilization, and evidence-based practice have been described in the nursing literature. This manuscript shows a selective review of the definitions and utilization of these concepts and offers a perspective on their interrelationships by indicating how knowledge transfer processes are the basis of all the concepts under review. Definitions and utilization of knowledge transfer in the literature have been influenced by educational and social perspectives and indicate two important processes that are rooted in the mechanisms of research dissemination, research utilization, and evidence-based practice. These processes refer to a cognitive and an interpersonal dimension. Knowledge transfer underlies a process involving cognitive resources as well as an interpersonal process where the knowledge is transferred between individuals or groups of individuals. This manuscript can contribute to our understanding of the theoretical foundations linking these concepts and these processes by comparing and contrasting them. It also shows the value and empirical importance of the cognitive and interpersonal processes of knowledge transfer by which research findings and evidence can be successfully translated and implemented into the nursing clinical practice.

Student’s Entrepreneur Model Development in Creative Industry through Utilization of Web Development Software and Educational Game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, B.; Hasbullah, H.; Elvyanti, S.; Purnama, W.

2018-02-01

The creative industry is the utilization of creativity, skill and talent of individuals to create wealth and jobs by generating and exploiting creativity power of individual. In the field of design, utilization of information technology can spur creative industry, development of creative industry design will accommodate a lot of creative energy that can pour their ideas and creativity without limitations. Open Source software is a trend in the field of information technology has developed since the 1990s. Examples of applications developed by the Open Source approach is the Apache web services, Linux and Android Operating System, the MySQL database. This community service activities based entrepreneurship aims to: 1). give an idea about the profile of the UPI student’s knowledge of entrepreneurship about the business based creative industries in software by using web software development and educational game 2) create a model for fostering entrepreneurship based on the creative industries in software by leveraging web development and educational games, 3) conduct training and guidance on UPI students who want to develop business in the field of creative industries engaged in the software industry . PKM-based entrepreneurship activity was attended by about 35 students DPTE FPTK UPI had entrepreneurial high interest and competence in information technology. Outcome generated from PKM entrepreneurship is the emergence of entrepreneurs from the students who are interested in the creative industry in the field of software which is able to open up business opportunities for themselves and others. Another outcome of this entrepreneurship PKM activity is the publication of articles or scientific publications in journals of national/international indexed.

Knowledge and utilization of computer among health workers in Addis Ababa hospitals, Ethiopia: computer literacy in the health sector

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Incorporation of information technology advancements in healthcare has gained wide acceptance in the last two decades. Developed countries have successfully incorporated information technology advancements in their healthcare system thus, improving healthcare. However, only a limited application of information technology advancements is seen in developing countries in their healthcare system. Hence, this study was aimed at assessing knowledge and utilization of computer among health workers in Addis Ababa hospitals. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 304 health workers who were selected using stratified sampling technique from all governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa. Data was collected from April 15 to April 30, 2010 using a structured, self-administered, and pre-tested questionnaire from five government hospitals in Addis Ababa. The data was entered into Epi Info version 3.5.1 and exported to SPSS version 16. Analysis was done using multinomial logistic regression technique. Results A total of 270 participants, age ranging from 21 to 60 years responded to the survey (88.8% response rate). A total of 91 (33.7%) respondents had an adequate knowledge of computers while 108 (40.0%) had fair knowledge and 71(26.3%) of the respondents showed inadequate knowledge. A total of 38(14.1%) were adequately utilizing computers, 14(5.2%) demonstrated average or fair utilization and majority of the respondents 218(80.7%) inadequately utilized computers. Significant predictor variables were average monthly income, job satisfaction index and own computer possession. Conclusions Computer knowledge and utilization habit of health workers were found to be very low. Increasing accessibility to computers and delivering training on the use of computers for workers will increases the knowledge and utilization of computers. This will facilitate the rate of diffusion of the technology to the health sector. Hence, programs targeted at enhancing knowledge and skill of computer use and increasing access to computer should be designed. The association between computer knowledge/skill and health care delivery competence should be studied. PMID:23514191

Characteristics and determinants of knowledge transfer policies at universities and public institutions in medical research--protocol for a systematic review of the qualitative research literature.

PubMed

Jahn, Rosa; Müller, Olaf; Bozorgmehr, Kayvan

2015-08-19

Universities, public institutions, and the transfer of knowledge to the private sector play a major role in the development of medical technologies. The decisions of universities and public institutions regarding the transfer of knowledge impact the accessibility of the final product, making it easier or more difficult for consumers to access these products. In the case of medical research, these products are pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, or medical procedures. The ethical dimension of access to these potentially lifesaving products is apparent and distinguishes the transfer of medical knowledge from the transfer of knowledge in other areas. While the general field of technology transfer from academic and public to private actors is attracting an increasing amount of scholarly attention, the specifications of knowledge transfer in the medical field are not as well explored. This review seeks to provide a systematic overview and analysis of the qualitative literature on the characteristics and determinants of knowledge transfer in medical research and development. The review systematically searches the literature for qualitative studies that focus on knowledge transfer characteristics and determinants at medical academic and public research institutions. It aims at identifying and analyzing the literature on the content and context of knowledge transfer policies, decision-making processes, and actors at academic and public institutions. The search strategy includes the databases PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest, and DiVa. These databases will be searched based on pre-specified search terms. The studies selected for inclusion in the review will be critically assessed for their quality utilizing the Qualitative Research Checklist developed by the Clinical Appraisal Skills Programme. Data extraction and synthesis will be based on the meta-ethnographic approach. This review seeks to further the understanding of the kinds of transfer pathways that exist in medical knowledge transfer as well as what factors lead to the adoption of one pathway over another. The aim is to provide evidence for political and academic actors designing policies for the translation of medical knowledge and public-private cooperation. PROSPERO CRD42015014241 .

Static magnetic fields: A summary of biological interactions, potential health effects, and exposure guidelines

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

Tenforde, T.S.

1992-05-01

Interest in the mechanisms of interaction and the biological effects of static magnetic fields has increased significantly during the past two decades as a result of the growing number of applications of these fields in research, industry and medicine. A major stimulus for research on the bioeffects of static magnetic fields has been the effort to develop new technologies for energy production and storage that utilize intense magnetic fields (e.g., thermonuclear fusion reactors and superconducting magnet energy storage devices). Interest in the possible biological interactions and health effects of static magnetic fields has also been increased as a result ofmore » recent developments in magnetic levitation as a mode of public transportation. In addition, the rapid emergence of magnetic resonance imaging as a new clinical diagnostic procedure has, in recent years, provided a strong rationale for defining the possible biological effects of magnetic fields with high flux densities. In this review, the principal interaction mechanisms of static magnetic fields will be described, and a summary will be given of the present state of knowledge of the biological, environmental, and human health effects of these fields.« less

Collaboration Across Worldviews: Managers and Scientists on Hawai'i Island Utilize Knowledge Coproduction to Facilitate Climate Change Adaptation.

PubMed

Laursen, Scott; Puniwai, Noelani; Genz, Ayesha S; Nash, Sarah A B; Canale, Lisa K; Ziegler-Chong, Sharon

2018-05-30

Complex socio-ecological issues, such as climate change have historically been addressed through technical problem solving methods. Yet today, climate science approaches are increasingly accounting for the roles of diverse social perceptions, experiences, cultural norms, and worldviews. In support of this shift, we developed a research program on Hawai'i Island that utilizes knowledge coproduction to integrate the diverse worldviews of natural and cultural resource managers, policy professionals, and researchers within actionable science products. Through their work, local field managers regularly experience discrete land and waterscapes. Additionally, in highly interconnected rural communities, such as Hawai'i Island, managers often participate in the social norms and values of communities that utilize these ecosystems. Such local manager networks offer powerful frameworks within which to co-develop and implement actionable science. We interviewed a diverse set of local managers with the aim of incorporating their perspectives into the development of a collaborative climate change research agenda that builds upon existing professional networks utilized by managers and scientists while developing new research products. We report our manager needs assessment, the development process of our climate change program, our interactive forums, and our ongoing research products. Our needs assessment showed that the managers' primary source of information were other professional colleagues, and our in-person forums informed us that local managers are very interested in interacting with a wider range of networks to build upon their management capacities. Our initial programmatic progress suggests that co-created research products and in-person forums strengthen the capacities of local managers to adapt to change.

Utilizing Three-Dimensional Printing Technology to Assess the Feasibility of High-Fidelity Synthetic Ventricular Septal Defect Models for Simulation in Medical Education.

PubMed

Costello, John P; Olivieri, Laura J; Krieger, Axel; Thabit, Omar; Marshall, M Blair; Yoo, Shi-Joon; Kim, Peter C; Jonas, Richard A; Nath, Dilip S

2014-07-01

The current educational approach for teaching congenital heart disease (CHD) anatomy to students involves instructional tools and techniques that have significant limitations. This study sought to assess the feasibility of utilizing present-day three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to create high-fidelity synthetic heart models with ventricular septal defect (VSD) lesions and applying these models to a novel, simulation-based educational curriculum for premedical and medical students. Archived, de-identified magnetic resonance images of five common VSD subtypes were obtained. These cardiac images were then segmented and built into 3D computer-aided design models using Mimics Innovation Suite software. An Objet500 Connex 3D printer was subsequently utilized to print a high-fidelity heart model for each VSD subtype. Next, a simulation-based educational curriculum using these heart models was developed and implemented in the instruction of 29 premedical and medical students. Assessment of this curriculum was undertaken with Likert-type questionnaires. High-fidelity VSD models were successfully created utilizing magnetic resonance imaging data and 3D printing. Following instruction with these high-fidelity models, all students reported significant improvement in knowledge acquisition (P < .0001), knowledge reporting (P < .0001), and structural conceptualization (P < .0001) of VSDs. It is feasible to use present-day 3D printing technology to create high-fidelity heart models with complex intracardiac defects. Furthermore, this tool forms the foundation for an innovative, simulation-based educational approach to teach students about CHD and creates a novel opportunity to stimulate their interest in this field. © The Author(s) 2014.

Integrating Neuroscience Knowledge and Neuropsychiatric Skills Into Psychiatry: The Way Forward.

PubMed

Schildkrout, Barbara; Benjamin, Sheldon; Lauterbach, Margo D

2016-05-01

Increasing the integration of neuroscience knowledge and neuropsychiatric skills into general psychiatric practice would facilitate expanded approaches to diagnosis, formulation, and treatment while positioning practitioners to utilize findings from emerging brain research. There is growing consensus that the field of psychiatry would benefit from more familiarity with neuroscience and neuropsychiatry. Yet there remain numerous factors impeding the integration of these domains of knowledge into general psychiatry.The authors make recommendations to move the field forward, focusing on the need for advocacy by psychiatry and medical organizations and changes in psychiatry education at all levels. For individual psychiatrists, the recommendations target obstacles to attaining expanded neuroscience and neuropsychiatry education and barriers stemming from widely held, often unspoken beliefs. For the system of psychiatric care, recommendations address the conceptual and physical separation of psychiatry from medicine, overemphasis on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and on psychopharmacology, and different systems in medicine and psychiatry for handling reimbursement and patient records. For psychiatry residency training, recommendations focus on expanding neuroscience/neuropsychiatry faculty and integrating neuroscience education throughout the curriculum.Psychiatry traditionally concerns itself with helping individuals construct meaningful life narratives. Brain function is one of the fundamental determinants of individuality. It is now possible for psychiatrists to integrate knowledge of neuroscience into understanding the whole person by asking, What person has this brain? How does this brain make this person unique? How does this brain make this disorder unique? What treatment will help this disorder in this person with this brain?

Proposal for a university-community-hospice partnership to address organizational barriers to cultural competence.

PubMed

Reese, Dona J

2011-02-01

Models of culturally competent hospice services have been developed, but they are not generally being used. This article describes a participatory action research project which is addressing organizational barriers to cultural competence through a university-community-hospice partnership. The intervention plan is to develop a connection with the African American community, increasing community knowledge, and hospice staff cultural competence through a social work student field placement. It is hoped that, if successful, this model will be replicated to address the problem of African American utilization and access to hospice.

Evaluation of orbits with incomplete knowledge of the mathematical expectancy and the matrix of covariation of errors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bakhshiyan, B. T.; Nazirov, R. R.; Elyasberg, P. E.

1980-01-01

The problem of selecting the optimal algorithm of filtration and the optimal composition of the measurements is examined assuming that the precise values of the mathematical expectancy and the matrix of covariation of errors are unknown. It is demonstrated that the optimal algorithm of filtration may be utilized for making some parameters more precise (for example, the parameters of the gravitational fields) after preliminary determination of the elements of the orbit by a simpler method of processing (for example, the method of least squares).

Miniature near-infrared dual-axes confocal microscope utilizing a two-dimensional microelectromechanical systems scanner

PubMed Central

Liu, Jonathan T. C.; Mandella, Michael J.; Ra, Hyejun; Wong, Larry K.; Solgaard, Olav; Kino, Gordon S.; Piyawattanametha, Wibool; Contag, Christopher H.; Wang, Thomas D.

2007-01-01

The first, to our knowledge, miniature dual-axes confocal microscope has been developed, with an outer diameter of 10 mm, for subsurface imaging of biological tissues with 5–7 μm resolution. Depth-resolved en face images are obtained at 30 frames per second, with a field of view of 800 × 100 μm, by employing a two-dimensional scanning microelectromechanical systems mirror. Reflectance and fluorescence images are obtained with a laser source at 785 nm, demonstrating the ability to perform real-time optical biopsy. PMID:17215937

Using wind fields from a high resolution atmospheric model for simulating snow dynamics in mountainous terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernhardt, M.; Strasser, U.; Zängl, G.; Mauser, W.; Liston, G.; Pohl, S.

2008-12-01

Wind-induced snow transport processes lead to a significant variability of the snow cover. Knowledge about this variability is important for e.g. determining the temporal dynamics of the snowmelt runoff. For predicting the correct amount of transported snow knowledge of the local wind-field is an essential. In high-alpine rugged relief wind fields can hardly be provided by a simple interpolation of station recordings. In this work we use a modified version of the PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Model MM5 to derive wind fields for a 450 km² area at a target resolution of 200 m, accounting for topography and related dynamic effects. We have modelled 220 wind fields representing the most characteristic wind situations within the test-area. The criteria for the extraction of the wind field for the current snowmodel (SNOWTRAND-3D) time step are mean wind speeds and directions in the 700 hPa level derived from DWD (German Weather Service) Local Model reanalysis data with a temporal resolution of one hour. These data are then compared with the corresponding mean wind speeds and directions from the appropriate MM5 nesting area indicating which one of the library files represents the best fit. Verification is conducted by comparison of historical station measurements with corresponding downscaled simulation results. For this downscaling a semi-empirical approach is utilized which accounts for topographic effects. Results for the winter seasons 2003/04 and 2004/05 showing that the presented scheme is able to improve the quality of SNOWTRAN-3D runs with respect to the snow height.

E-Learning as a Knowledge Management Approach for Intellectual Capital Utilization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shehabat, Issa; Mahdi, Saad A.; Khoualdi, Kamel

2008-01-01

This paper addresses human resources utilization at the university environment. We address the design issues of e-learning courses that can capture the teacher knowledge. The underlying objective is that e-learning is a key knowledge and major resources for many universities. Therefore, the design of e-learning should be an important part of the…

Ecological principles, biodiversity, and the electric utility industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Temple, Stanley A.

1996-11-01

The synthetic field of conservation biology uses principles derived from many different disciplines to address biodiversity issues. Many of these principles have come from ecology, and two simple ones that seem to relate to many issues involving the utility industry are: (1) “Everything is interconnected” (and should usually stay that way), and (2) “We can never do merely one thing.” The first principle can be applied to both the biotic and physical environments that are impacted by industrial activities. Habitat fragmentation and the loss of physical and biotic connectedness that results are frequently associated with transmission rights-of-way. These problems can be reduced—or even turned into conservation benefits—by careful planning and creative management. The second principle applies to the utility industry's programs to deal with carbon released by burning fossil fuels. Ecological knowledge can allow these programs to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity in addition to addressing a pollution problem. Without careful ecological analyses, industry could easily create new problems while implementing solutions to old ones.

Dissemination: Bringing Translational Research to Completion

PubMed Central

Park, Daniel J.; Burke, Janice P.

2013-01-01

Despite the availability of innovative health care research, a gap exists between research-generated knowledge and the utilization of that knowledge in real-world practice settings. This article examines the transition from research to implementation in the context of the dissemination of A. Jean Ayres’ sensory integration procedures and of the challenges currently facing the University of Southern California Well Elderly Studies research team. Drawing from the emerging field of implementation science, this article discusses how researchers can develop an implementation plan to more easily translate evidence into practice. Such plans should address the intervention’s reach (i.e., its capacity to penetrate into the intended target population), the settings for which it is applicable, the leaders who will encourage practitioner uptake, stakeholder groups, and challenges to dissemination. By taking action to ensure the more effective dissemination of research-generated knowledge, researchers can increase the likelihood that their interventions will lead to improvements in practice and more effective care for consumers. PMID:23433273

Phased array-fed antenna configuration study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crosswell, W. F.; Ball, D. E.; Taylor, R. C.

1983-01-01

The scope of this contract entails a configuration study for a phased array fed transmit antenna operating in the frequency band of 17.7 to 20.2 GHz. This initial contract provides a basis for understanding the design limitations and advantages of advanced phased array and cluster feeds (both utilizing intergral MMIC modules) illuminating folded reflector optics (both near field and focused types). Design parametric analyses are performed utilizing as constraints the objective secondary performance requirements of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (Table 1.0). The output of the study provides design information which serves as a data base for future active phased array fed antenna studies such as detailed designs required to support the development of a ground tested breadboard. In general, this study is significant because it provides the antenna community with an understanding of the basic principles which govern near field phased scanned feed effects on secondary reflector system performance. Although several articles have been written on analysis procedures and results for these systems, the authors of this report have observed phenomenon of near field antenna systems not previously documented. Because the physical justification for the exhibited performance is provided herein, the findings of this study add a new dimension to the available knowledge of the subject matter.

Ethnopharmacological survey of Samburu district, Kenya

PubMed Central

Nanyingi, Mark O; Mbaria, James M; Lanyasunya, Adamson L; Wagate, Cyrus G; Koros, Kipsengeret B; Kaburia, Humphrey F; Munenge, Rahab W; Ogara, William O

2008-01-01

Background Ethnobotanical pharmacopoeia is confidently used in disease intervention and there is need for documentation and preservation of traditional medical knowledge to bolster the discovery of novel drugs. The objective of the present study was to document the indigenous medicinal plant utilization, management and their extinction threats in Samburu District, Kenya. Methods Field research was conducted in six divisions of Samburu District in Kenya. We randomly sampled 100 consented interviewees stratified by age, gender, occupation and level of education. We collected plant use data through semi-structured questionnaires; transect walks, oral interviews and focus groups discussions. Voucher specimens of all cited botanic species were collected and deposited at University of Nairobi's botany herbarium. Results Data on plant use from the informants yielded 990 citations on 56 medicinal plant species, which are used to treat 54 different animal and human diseases including; malaria, digestive disorders, respiratory syndromes and ectoparasites. Conclusion The ethnomedicinal use of plant species was documented in the study area for treatment of both human and veterinary diseases. The local population has high ethnobotanical knowledge and has adopted sound management conservation practices. The major threatening factors reported were anthropogenic and natural. Ethnomedical documentation and sustainable plant utilization can support drug discovery efforts in developing countries. PMID:18498665

Potential for Assessing Dynamic Problem-Solving at the Beginning of Higher Education Studies.

PubMed

Csapó, Benő; Molnár, Gyöngyvér

2017-01-01

There is a growing demand for assessment instruments which can be used in higher education, which cover a broader area of competencies than the traditional tests for disciplinary knowledge and domain-specific skills, and which measure students' most important general cognitive capabilities. Around the age of the transition from secondary to tertiary education, such assessments may serve several functions, including selecting the best-prepared candidates for certain fields of study. Dynamic problem-solving (DPS) is a good candidate for such a role, as tasks that assess it involve knowledge acquisition and knowledge utilization as well. The purpose of this study is to validate an online DPS test and to explore its potential for assessing students' DPS skills at the beginning of their higher education studies. Participants in the study were first-year students at a major Hungarian university ( n = 1468). They took five tests that measured knowledge from their previous studies: Hungarian language and literature, mathematics, history, science and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A further, sixth test based on the MicroDYN approach, assessed students' DPS skills. A brief questionnaire explored learning strategies and collected data on students' background. The testing took place at the beginning of the first semester in three 2-h sessions. Problem-solving showed relatively strong correlations with mathematics ( r = 0.492) and science ( r = 0.401), and moderate correlations with EFL ( r = 0.227), history ( r = 0.192), and Hungarian ( r = 0.125). Weak but still significant correlations were found with certain learning strategies, positive correlations with elaboration strategies, and a negative correlation with memorization strategies. Significant differences were observed between male and female students; men performed significantly better in DPS than women. Results indicated the dominant role of the first phase of solving dynamic problems, as knowledge acquisition correlated more strongly with any other variable than knowledge utilization.

Potential for Assessing Dynamic Problem-Solving at the Beginning of Higher Education Studies

PubMed Central

Csapó, Benő; Molnár, Gyöngyvér

2017-01-01

There is a growing demand for assessment instruments which can be used in higher education, which cover a broader area of competencies than the traditional tests for disciplinary knowledge and domain-specific skills, and which measure students' most important general cognitive capabilities. Around the age of the transition from secondary to tertiary education, such assessments may serve several functions, including selecting the best-prepared candidates for certain fields of study. Dynamic problem-solving (DPS) is a good candidate for such a role, as tasks that assess it involve knowledge acquisition and knowledge utilization as well. The purpose of this study is to validate an online DPS test and to explore its potential for assessing students' DPS skills at the beginning of their higher education studies. Participants in the study were first-year students at a major Hungarian university (n = 1468). They took five tests that measured knowledge from their previous studies: Hungarian language and literature, mathematics, history, science and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A further, sixth test based on the MicroDYN approach, assessed students' DPS skills. A brief questionnaire explored learning strategies and collected data on students' background. The testing took place at the beginning of the first semester in three 2-h sessions. Problem-solving showed relatively strong correlations with mathematics (r = 0.492) and science (r = 0.401), and moderate correlations with EFL (r = 0.227), history (r = 0.192), and Hungarian (r = 0.125). Weak but still significant correlations were found with certain learning strategies, positive correlations with elaboration strategies, and a negative correlation with memorization strategies. Significant differences were observed between male and female students; men performed significantly better in DPS than women. Results indicated the dominant role of the first phase of solving dynamic problems, as knowledge acquisition correlated more strongly with any other variable than knowledge utilization. PMID:29209255

Electromagnetic Field Redistribution in Metal Nanoparticle on Graphene.

PubMed

Li, Keke; Liu, Anping; Wei, Dapeng; Yu, Keke; Sun, Xiaonan; Yan, Sheng; Huang, Yingzhou

2018-04-25

Benefiting from the induced image charge on metal film, the light energy is confined on a film surface under metal nanoparticle dimer, which is called electromagnetic field redistribution. In this work, electromagnetic field distribution of metal nanoparticle monomer or dimer on graphene is investigated through finite-difference time-domain method. The results point out that the electromagnetic field (EM) redistribution occurs in this nanoparticle/graphene hybrid system at infrared region where light energy could also be confined on a monolayer graphene surface. Surface charge distribution was analyzed using finite element analysis, and surface-enhanced Raman spectrum (SERS) was utilized to verify this phenomenon. Furthermore, the data about dielectric nanoparticle on monolayer graphene demonstrate this EM redistribution is attributed to strong coupling between light-excited surface charge on monolayer graphene and graphene plasmon-induced image charge on dielectric nanoparticle surface. Our work extends the knowledge of monolayer graphene plasmon, which has a wide range of applications in monolayer graphene-related film.

From Disabled Students to Disabled Brains: The Medicalizing Power of Rhetorical Images in the Israeli Learning Disabilities Field.

PubMed

Katchergin, Ofer

2017-09-01

The neurocentric worldview that identifies the essence of the human being with the material brain has become a central paradigm in current academic discourse. Israeli researchers also seek to understand educational principles and processes via neuroscientific models. On this background, the article uncovers the central role that visual brain images play in the learning-disabilities field in Israel. It examines the place brain images have in the professional imagination of didactic-diagnosticians as well as their influence on the diagnosticians' clinical attitudes. It relies on two theoretical fields: sociology and anthropology of the body and sociology of neuromedical knowledge. The research consists of three methodologies: ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and rhetorical analysis of visual and verbal texts. It uncovers the various rhetorical and ideological functions of brain images in the field. It also charts the repertoire of rhetorical devices which are utilized to strengthen the neuroreducionist messages contained in the images.

Adolescents' Knowledge, Attitude and Utilization of Emergency Contraceptive Pills in Nigeria's Niger Delta Region.

PubMed

Onasoga, Olayinka A; Afolayan, Joel Adeleke; Asamabiriowei, Tariebi Florence; Jibril, Umar Nda; Imam, Abubakar Ayinla

2016-01-01

Risky sexual activity among adolescents is on the increase and contraceptive prevalence rate is low which is evidenced by high rate of teenage pregnancy in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. This study assesses the adolescents' knowledge, attitude and utilization of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) in Amassoma Community, Bayelsa State, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional research design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 220 respondents from the target population. Data were collected using a self-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data generated. Majority of the respondents had high level of knowledge and positive attitude towards emergency contraceptive pills but had low level of utilization. Concerns about what others may say, parental attitude, contraceptive availability, contraceptive accessibility, and peer influences were the major factors that influenced the utilization of contraceptive pills. There was no significant relationship between knowledge and utilization of emergency contraceptive pills, as well as level of knowledge and their utilization of emergency contraceptive pills. Adolescents in the study were more likely to use emergency contraceptive pills, if parents and others reaction to adolescents' contraceptive use were positive about those. Health care professionals, especially nurses, should organize enlightenment programs to educate adolescents, parents and the public on the benefits of adolescents' contraceptives use, especially ECP.

Primary-Grade Students' Knowledge and Thinking about the Supply of Utilities (Water, Heat, and Light) to Modern Homes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brophy, Jere; Alleman, Janet

2003-01-01

This interview study gathered information about the prior knowledge and thinking of kindergarten to third- graders regarding the supply of water, heat, and light to modern homes. Findings indicated that students possessed only limited and spotty knowledge about utilities in modern homes. Within general trends, there was evidence of growth in…

Using the core curriculum on childhood trauma to strengthen clinical knowledge in evidence-based practitioners.

PubMed

Layne, Christopher M; Strand, Virginia; Popescu, Marciana; Kaplow, Julie B; Abramovitz, Robert; Stuber, Margaret; Amaya-Jackson, Lisa; Ross, Leslie; Pynoos, Robert S

2014-01-01

The high prevalence of trauma exposure in mental health service-seeking populations, combined with advances in evidence-based practice, competency-based training, common-elements research, and adult learning make this an opportune time to train the mental health workforce in trauma competencies. The Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma (CCCT) utilizes a five-tiered conceptual framework (comprising Empirical Evidence, Core Trauma Concepts, Intervention Objectives, Practice Elements, and Skills), coupled with problem-based learning, to build foundational trauma knowledge and clinical reasoning skills. We present findings from three studies: Study 1 found that social work graduate students' participation in a CCCT course (N = 1,031) was linked to significant pre-post increases in self-reported confidence in applying core trauma concepts to their clinical work. Study 2 found significant pre-post increases in self-reported conceptual readiness (N = 576) and field readiness (N = 303) among social work graduate students participating in a "Gold Standard Plus" educational model that integrated classroom instruction in core trauma concepts, training in evidence-based trauma treatment (EBTT), and implementation of that EBTT in a supervised field placement. Students ranked the core concepts course as an equivalent or greater contributor to field readiness compared to standard EBTT training. Study 3 used qualitative methods to "distill" common elements (35 intervention objectives, 59 practice elements) from 26 manualized trauma interventions. The CCCT is a promising tool for educating "next-generation" evidence-based practitioners who possess competencies needed to implement modularized, individually tailored trauma interventions by strengthening clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning, and familiarity with common elements.

Evaluation of Facility Management by Multivariate Statistics - Factor Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singovszki, Miloš; Vranayová, Zuzana

2013-06-01

Facility management is evolving, there is no exact than other sciences, although its development is fast forward. The knowledge and practical skills in facility management is not replaced, on the contrary, they complement each other. The existing low utilization of science in the field of facility management is mainly caused by the management of support activities are many variables and prevailing immediate reaction to the extraordinary situation arising from motives of those who have substantial experience and years of proven experience. Facility management is looking for a system that uses organized knowledge and will form the basis, which grows from a wide range of disciplines. Significant influence on its formation as a scientific discipline is the "structure, which follows strategy". The paper deals evaluate technology building as part of an facility management by multivariate statistic - factor analysis.

Computer Aided Teaching in Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, and Geomatics - A Status Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vyas, A.; Koenig, G.

2014-04-01

Education and training play vital role in the utilization of the technology. Shared and coordinated knowledge that geospatial technology and GIS deliver provides a deeper understanding of our present and will also help to better understand our future development. But it is not enough to explain new technological developments during congresses or workshops; it is also necessary to promote these new ideas and to distribute the knowledge by applying new learning strategies. This paper will review the status of computer aided teaching advances during the last decade, with a particular emphasis on photogrammetry, remote sensing, and geomatics. Some best practise examples will be presented featuring prominently recent Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) related to our fields. The consideration of mainly free online learning resources will include a commentary on quality and perceived effectiveness.

More than words: Using visual graphics for community-based health research.

PubMed

Morton Ninomiya, Melody E

2017-04-20

With increased attention to knowledge translation and community engagement in the applied health research field, many researchers aim to find effective ways of engaging health policy and decision makers and community stakeholders. While visual graphics such as graphs, charts, figures and photographs are common in scientific research dissemination, they are less common as a communication tool in research. In this commentary, I illustrate how and why visual graphics were created and used to facilitate dialogue and communication throughout all phases of a community-based health research study with a rural Indigenous community, advancing community engagement and knowledge utilization of a research study. I suggest that it is essential that researchers consider the use of visual graphics to accurately communicate and translate important health research concepts and content in accessible forms for diverse research stakeholders and target audiences.

Developing, maintaining, and using a body of knowledge for the massage therapy profession.

PubMed

Sefton, Joellen M; Shea, Michael; Hines, Chip

2011-01-01

The diverse field of massage therapy has lacked a formal body of knowledge to serve as a practice and educational foundation and to guide future development. This deficit has hampered the growth of the profession and its acceptance and recognition by the medical and allied health care community. To provide massage therapists, bodyworkers, physicians, educators, and associated allied health care professionals in the United States with a description of the purpose and development of the massage therapy body of knowledge (MTBOK) and recommendations for its future development and utilization. Professional groups in the massage therapy community came together and established a task force to develop a body of knowledge for the profession. Five groups became the stewards for this effort. A nationwide search produced a task force of eight volunteers from diverse areas of the profession charged with the responsibility of researching and developing the MTBOK document. Review of documents, curricula, state laws and regulations, certification exam content, interviews, and public comment resulted in the development of the MTBOK. During development multiple opportunities for comment and discussion by stakeholders (public) were provided in an effort to create a professional consensus. The resulting MTBOK document establishes professional descriptions of the field; scope of practice; knowledge, skills, and abilities for entry-level massage therapists; and definitions for terminology to insure standardization, in order to provide a foundation for future discussion and growth. The MTBOK fulfills the goal for which it was developed, to serve as a foundation for the growth and development of the massage therapy profession as a whole. A living document, it should continue to evolve and grow with the profession. Maintenance and continued stewardship of this document by the massage therapy community is vital for continued professional progress.

Developing, Maintaining, and Using a Body of Knowledge for the Massage Therapy Profession

PubMed Central

Sefton, JoEllen M.; Shea, Michael; Hines, Chip

2011-01-01

Background: The diverse field of massage therapy has lacked a formal body of knowledge to serve as a practice and educational foundation and to guide future development. This deficit has hampered the growth of the profession and its acceptance and recognition by the medical and allied health care community. Purpose: To provide massage therapists, bodyworkers, physicians, educators, and associated allied health care professionals in the United States with a description of the purpose and development of the massage therapy body of knowledge (MTBOK) and recommendations for its future development and utilization. Methods: Professional groups in the massage therapy community came together and established a task force to develop a body of knowledge for the profession. Five groups became the stewards for this effort. A nationwide search produced a task force of eight volunteers from diverse areas of the profession charged with the responsibility of researching and developing the MTBOK document. Review of documents, curricula, state laws and regulations, certification exam content, interviews, and public comment resulted in the development of the MTBOK. During development multiple opportunities for comment and discussion by stakeholders (public) were provided in an effort to create a professional consensus. Results: The resulting MTBOK document establishes professional descriptions of the field; scope of practice; knowledge, skills, and abilities for entry-level massage therapists; and definitions for terminology to insure standardization, in order to provide a foundation for future discussion and growth. Conclusions: The MTBOK fulfills the goal for which it was developed, to serve as a foundation for the growth and development of the massage therapy profession as a whole. A living document, it should continue to evolve and grow with the profession. Maintenance and continued stewardship of this document by the massage therapy community is vital for continued professional progress. PMID:22016755

Educational Software: Evaluation? No! Utility? Yes!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hofmann, Rich

1985-01-01

The utility of educational software is associated with three components: (1) type of learning (cognitive development, individually facilitated acquisition of knowledge, teacher-facilitated acquisition of knowledge, memorization); (2) type of experience (self-directed or purposive environmental experience); and (3) user perception of software…

Early Childhood Development and Iranian Parents' Knowledge: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Habibi, Elham; Sajedi, Firouzeh; Afzali, Hosein Malek; Hatamizadeh, Nikta; Shahshahanipour, Soheila; Glascoe, Frances Page

2017-01-01

Early childhood is the most important step throughout the lifespan and it is a critical period continuing to the end of 8-year-old. Mothers' knowledge is one of the important aspects of child development. The goals of this study were to determine the situation of knowledge in Iranian parents about the concept and the importance of early childhood development (ECD) and determining the sources of parental knowledge about ECD from the perspective of parents and grandparents. This qualitative study was conducted based on the directional content analysis in 2016. The purposive sampling method is utilized to select 24 participants among parents and grandparents in Tehran. The inclusion criteria consisted of speaking in Persian and having a child or grandchild <3-year-old. Data were collected through four focus group discussions and four individual interviews. Iranian parental knowledge about integrative ECD is not enough, their knowledge about motor development and speech and language are relatively better, about cognitive development is little and socialemotional is very little. They said parents and other caregivers influence the process of children's development. Parents' knowledge resources about ECD included human resources, physical resources, virtual space, and the media. According to the majority of participants, "pediatricians are the most reliable source of parents' knowledge about ECD" even though the main focus of pediatricians is on treating diseases, physical health, and growth of children. According to the results, the knowledge of Iranian parent is not enough about ECD; therefore, actions must be taken to increase their knowledge in these domains. Parents look for reliable and valid sources to enhance their knowledge and they rely the most on pediatricians in this regard. Therefore, more studies on assessing parents' knowledge in community and the practical methods for knowledge promotion in this field is recommended.

Knowledge and utilization of information communication technology (ICT) among health science students at the University of Gondar, North Western Ethiopia.

PubMed

Woreta, Solomon Assefa; Kebede, Yigzaw; Zegeye, Desalegn Tegabu

2013-03-03

Despite the relatively huge ICT investment and policy deployment in higher institutions in Ethiopia, there is still scant information about the success of implementation of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the higher education. This study, therefore, was carried out with an aim to assess knowledge and utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) among medicine and health science students and its associated factors in Gondar College of Medicine and Health sciences, University of Gondar. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Ethiopia. Data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of the students, level of knowledge and utilization of ICT were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 13. A total of 1096 students responded giving a response rate of 97.8%. The mean age of the study participants was 20.3 (±1. 3) years. Females constitute only 26% of the respondents. The majority (79%) were fulltime students. Only half of the respondents (51%) had ICT knowledge and only 46% students utilized ICT while 47% of the respondents never used electronic communication (e.g. email or chat room) and 39% of the respondents never used Microsoft office (e.g. word (®) or WordPerfect (®)). ICT knowledge [AOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.7-3.5], family educational background [AOR = 4.36, 95% CI: 2.16-8.80], and perceived quality of training [AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3-2.8] showed strong and positive associations with ICT utilization. Students from urban areas were more likely to utilize ICT compared with those from rural areas [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 2.097, 3.497], and information technology training was found to be positively associated with ICT utilization [AOR = 2. 07, 95% CI: 1.18, 3.62]. The result showed that students' knowledge was inadequate and utilization of ICT was poor. Therefore, the university should sustain professional development to improve teaching, to raise student performance and equip the college with student centered ICT computer labs to increase students' ICT utilization.

SOCIAL MARKETING : A NEW APPROACH IN MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH

PubMed Central

Tiwari, S.C.

1998-01-01

Social marketing has a proven role in marketing and many manufacturing establishments/ organizations have been marketing their products incorporating social marketing research. Social marketing has its root in the ground fact that the perceptions and expectations of the consumers are important in influencing buying behaviour. The principles of social marketing, therefore, have been extensively utilized in the areas of consumer products. These are also used in several other fields for modifying behaviours such as civil administration, public establishments etc. In health sector social marketing has not found appropriate application whereas it could be utilized in an effective way for creating awareness, formulating health related policies, their implementation and for preventing a variety of illnesses/abnormal behaviours etc. With this background knowledge about social marketing, the author hypothesized that abnormal behaviours could be modified, health education packages could be developed to make more acceptable and effective and desired behaviours could be induced if perceptions and expectations of the community (consumers) are known a prioriori and their expectations are incorporated in programmes and policies. Thus, the author utilizing the concepts of social marketing for understanding community′s perceptions and expectations regarding issues of health, and for incorporating the same in health related programmes and policies, introduced this research concept in medical field in this country. The important findings of three research projects based on the concepts of social marketing research and their implications have been discussed. PMID:21494494

Social marketing : a new approach in mental health research.

PubMed

Tiwari, S C

1998-10-01

Social marketing has a proven role in marketing and many manufacturing establishments/ organizations have been marketing their products incorporating social marketing research. Social marketing has its root in the ground fact that the perceptions and expectations of the consumers are important in influencing buying behaviour. The principles of social marketing, therefore, have been extensively utilized in the areas of consumer products. These are also used in several other fields for modifying behaviours such as civil administration, public establishments etc. In health sector social marketing has not found appropriate application whereas it could be utilized in an effective way for creating awareness, formulating health related policies, their implementation and for preventing a variety of illnesses/abnormal behaviours etc.With this background knowledge about social marketing, the author hypothesized that abnormal behaviours could be modified, health education packages could be developed to make more acceptable and effective and desired behaviours could be induced if perceptions and expectations of the community (consumers) are known a prioriori and their expectations are incorporated in programmes and policies. Thus, the author utilizing the concepts of social marketing for understanding community's perceptions and expectations regarding issues of health, and for incorporating the same in health related programmes and policies, introduced this research concept in medical field in this country.The important findings of three research projects based on the concepts of social marketing research and their implications have been discussed.

Adolescents’ Knowledge, Attitude and Utilization of Emergency Contraceptive Pills in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region

PubMed Central

Onasoga, Olayinka A.; Afolayan, Joel Adeleke; Asamabiriowei, Tariebi Florence; Jibril, Umar Nda; Imam, Abubakar Ayinla

2016-01-01

Background and Objective: Risky sexual activity among adolescents is on the increase and contraceptive prevalence rate is low which is evidenced by high rate of teenage pregnancy in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. This study assesses the adolescents’ knowledge, attitude and utilization of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) in Amassoma Community, Bayelsa State, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional research design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 220 respondents from the target population. Data were collected using a self-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data generated. Results: Majority of the respondents had high level of knowledge and positive attitude towards emergency contraceptive pills but had low level of utilization. Concerns about what others may say, parental attitude, contraceptive availability, contraceptive accessibility, and peer influences were the major factors that influenced the utilization of contraceptive pills. There was no significant relationship between knowledge and utilization of emergency contraceptive pills, as well as level of knowledge and their utilization of emergency contraceptive pills. Conclusions and Global Health Implications: Adolescents in the study were more likely to use emergency contraceptive pills, if parents and others reaction to adolescents’ contraceptive use were positive about those. Health care professionals, especially nurses, should organize enlightenment programs to educate adolescents, parents and the public on the benefits of adolescents’ contraceptives use, especially ECP. PMID:28058193

Integrating knowledge generation with knowledge diffusion and utilization: a case study analysis of the Consortium for Applied Research and Evaluation in Mental Health.

PubMed

Vingilis, Evelyn; Hartford, Kathleen; Schrecker, Ted; Mitchell, Beth; Lent, Barbara; Bishop, Joan

2003-01-01

Knowledge diffusion and utilization (KDU) have become a key focus in the health research community because of the limited success to date of research findings to inform health policies, programs and services. Yet, evidence indicates that successful KDU is often predicated on the early involvement of potential knowledge users in the conceptualization and conduct of the research and on the development of a "partnership culture". This study describes the integration of KDU theory with practice via a case study analysis of the Consortium for Applied Research and Evaluation in Mental Health (CAREMH). This qualitative study, using a single-case design, included a number of data sources: proposals, meeting minutes, presentations, publications, reports and curricula vitae of CAREMH members. CAREMH has adopted the following operational strategies to increase KDU capacity: 1) viewing research as a means and not as an end; 2) bringing the university and researcher to the community; 3) using participatory research methods; 4) embracing transdisciplinary research and interactions; and 5) using connectors. Examples of the iterative process between researchers and potential knowledge users in their contribution to knowledge generation, diffusion and utilization are provided. This case study supports the importance of early and ongoing involvement of relevant potential knowledge users in research to enhance its utilization potential. It also highlights the need for re-thinking research funding approaches.

Bayesian methodology for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in critical care medicine: a primer for clinicians.

PubMed

Kalil, Andre C; Sun, Junfeng

2014-10-01

To review Bayesian methodology and its utility to clinical decision making and research in the critical care field. Clinical, epidemiological, and biostatistical studies on Bayesian methods in PubMed and Embase from their inception to December 2013. Bayesian methods have been extensively used by a wide range of scientific fields, including astronomy, engineering, chemistry, genetics, physics, geology, paleontology, climatology, cryptography, linguistics, ecology, and computational sciences. The application of medical knowledge in clinical research is analogous to the application of medical knowledge in clinical practice. Bedside physicians have to make most diagnostic and treatment decisions on critically ill patients every day without clear-cut evidence-based medicine (more subjective than objective evidence). Similarly, clinical researchers have to make most decisions about trial design with limited available data. Bayesian methodology allows both subjective and objective aspects of knowledge to be formally measured and transparently incorporated into the design, execution, and interpretation of clinical trials. In addition, various degrees of knowledge and several hypotheses can be tested at the same time in a single clinical trial without the risk of multiplicity. Notably, the Bayesian technology is naturally suited for the interpretation of clinical trial findings for the individualized care of critically ill patients and for the optimization of public health policies. We propose that the application of the versatile Bayesian methodology in conjunction with the conventional statistical methods is not only ripe for actual use in critical care clinical research but it is also a necessary step to maximize the performance of clinical trials and its translation to the practice of critical care medicine.

Knowledge-Production-and Utilization: A General Model. Third Approximation. Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station Project No. 2218. Sociology Report No. 138.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meehan, Peter M.; Beal, George M.

The objective of this monograph is to contribute to the further understanding of the knowledge-production-and-utilization process. Its primary focus is on a model both general and detailed enough to provide a comprehensive overview of the diverse functions, roles, and processes required to understand the flow of knowledge from its point of origin…

Isolation of rare circulating tumor cells in cancer patients: technical aspects and clinical implications.

PubMed

Danova, Marco; Torchio, Martina; Mazzini, Giuliano

2011-06-01

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may be detected in the blood of patients with epithelial tumors using different analytical approaches. The relative number of CTCs is low and they include a heterogeneous population of cells with diverse biological and molecular characteristics, often different from those of the respective primary tumor. Until recently, they have been difficult to detect and, even though discordant results have been reported when different methods of detection were used, they may provide prognostic and predictive information. Several antibody- or molecular-based CTC detection methods have been developed, offering hope for individualized risk assessment by utilizing CTCs as biomarkers of disease progression and drug response. Pilot studies have also shown that by utilizing methods that permit, besides enumeration, a molecular characterization of CTCs, one could better identify high-risk patients, predict response to targeted therapies, analyze gene expression profiles (in order to identify new potential drug targets) and increase our knowledge of the metastatic process. In this article we review the techniques currently utilized for isolation and characterization of CTCs and we discuss their potential utility in clinical oncology focusing on the future perspectives in this field.

Evaluation of pharmacy students' knowledge and perceptions of pharmacogenetics before and after a simulation activity.

PubMed

Patel, Radha V; Chudow, Melissa; Vo, Teresa T; Serag-Bolos, Erini S

The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' knowledge and perceptions of the clinical application of pharmacogenetics through a simulation activity and to assess communication of pharmacogenetic-guided treatment recommendations utilizing standardized patients. Third-year students in the four-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program at University of South Florida College of Pharmacy completed a pharmacogenetics simulation involving a patient case review, interpretation of pharmacogenetic test results, completion of a situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) note with drug therapy recommendations, and patient counseling. Voluntary assessments were completed before and after the simulation, which included demographics, knowledge, and perceptions of students' ability to interpret and communicate pharmacogenetic results. Response rates for the pre- and post-simulation assessments were 109 (98%) and 104 (94%), respectively. Correct responses in application-type questions improved after the simulation (74%) compared to before the simulation (44%, p < 0.01). Responses to perception questions shifted towards "strongly agree" or "agree" after the simulation (p < 0.01). The simulation gave students an opportunity to apply pharmacogenetics knowledge and allowed them to gain an appreciation of pharmacists' roles within the pharmacogenetics field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NASA's New Technology Reporting System: A Review and Future Prospects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chapman, Richard L.

1985-01-01

This report represents a systematic effort to describe how NASA's new technology reporting system operates today, and how that system might be enhanced. Although the system has run for more than two decades, it is not well documented in terms of organization, operational practices, or other program benchmarks. The study seeks to identify and assess incentives or disincentives to reporting, program management, program follow through, and the feasibility of various means for improving the general process. Initially, it was hoped that the study team might uncover the kind of information that would permit the determination of some 'average' sequence of events (or a time line) from the point of identifying a solution to technical 'need' to the point where its solution was actually reported to NASA. Information regarding this objective proved to be too elusive, primarily because early probes revealed that con- tractor awareness of the new technology requirements generally was too poor to provide useful information. The report that follows is based primarily upon documents furnished by NASA Headquarters, by Field Center technology utilization officers, and interviews with persons knowledgeable about the system. Visits were made to seven Field Centers: Ames Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center, Lewis Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center. Other documents were furnished by officials of major aerospace corporations. Detailed interviews were conducted with Field Center technology utilization officials, project engineers or scientists, patent counsels, and other Field Center officials who had knowledge about the new technology reporting system. Interviews also were conducted with knowledgeable officials from a number of the primary aerospace companies. Numeric data was obtained from regular NASA reports, from original sources such as, NASA Tech Briefs, or from contractor reports. I am indebted to dozens of persons in both NASA and industry who took time to assist in the data collection by being interviewed, and through answering follow up questions on the telephone. Individuals interviewed and their affiliations are shown in Appendix A. I am most grateful to them for their kind assistance. A note of thanks is due to the other members of the DRI study team: Jody Briles, Kathy Hirst, and Joel Johnson. The responsibility for this report, its accuracy, and the nature of the observations and conclusions rest solely with the author. Text or citations in the numbered footnotes are to be found at the end of each chapter.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION AS APPLIED TO EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

SCHMUCK, RICHARD

THREE PROBLEM AREAS ARE EXPLORED IN THIS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH UTILIZATION IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION--(1) INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTISTS AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, (2) PSYCHOLOGICAL LINKAGES BETWEEN THE ADMINISTRATOR'S SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND HIS ACTIONS, AND (3) THE LACK OF CONNECTION BETWEEN…

Scientific Literacy in Food Education: Gardening and Cooking in School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strohl, Carrie A.

Recent attention to socio-scientific issues such as sustainable agriculture, environmental responsibility and nutritional health has spurred a resurgence of public interest in gardening and cooking. Seen as contexts for fostering scientific literacy---the knowledge domains, methodological approaches, habits of mind and discourse practices that reflect one's understanding of the role of science in society, gardening and cooking are under-examined fields in science education, in part, because they are under-utilized pedagogies in school settings. Although learning gardens were used historically to foster many aspects of scientific literacy (e.g., cognitive knowledge, norms and methods of science, attitudes toward science and discourse of science), analysis of contemporary studies suggests that science learning in gardens focuses mainly on science knowledge alone. Using multiple conceptions of scientific literacy, I analyzed qualitative data to demonstrate how exploration, talk and text fostered scientific literacy in a school garden. Exploration prompted students to engage in scientific practices such as making observations and constructing explanations from evidence. Talk and text provided background knowledge and accurate information about agricultural, environmental and nutritional topics under study. Using a similar qualitative approach, I present a case study of a third grade teacher who explicitly taught food literacy through culinary arts instruction. Drawing on numerous contextual resources, this teacher created a classroom community of food practice through hands-on cooking lessons, guest chef demonstrations, and school-wide tasting events. As a result, she promoted six different types of knowledge (conceptual, procedural, dispositional, sensory, social, and communal) through leveraging contextual resources. This case study highlights how food literacy is largely contingent on often-overlooked mediators of food literacy: the relationships between participants, the activity, and the type of knowledge invoked. Scientific literacy in food education continues to be a topic of interest in the fields of public health and of sustainable agriculture, as well as to proponents of the local food movement. This dissertation begins to map a more cohesive and comprehensive approach to gardening and cooking implementation and research in school settings.

Health economics and cost-effectiveness research with special reference to hemato-oncology.

PubMed

Kumar, Rajat

2013-07-01

The cost of health care is increasing globally, especially in cancer. Health economics is an increasingly important field and medical professionals should have a working knowledge of the basis for health technology assessment such as cost-effectiveness analysis, cost utility analysis and cost benefit analysis. There are limited studies on health technology assessment regarding expensive therapies, primarily from high-income countries, but these cannot be applied to countries with different gross domestic product (GDP) and cost of health care delivery. There is a need to carry out health economics related research utilizing data from India. Whereas clinical trials establish the efficacy of new drugs in controlled environments, with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, their transferability to the "real-world" situation is not always true. With the shifting of the global cancer burden to middle-income and lower middle-income countries, this field is going to assume greater importance in the future. Health economics research conducted in India may be of benefit to other countries with similar economies. The Armed Forces Medical Services of India, with a well-established system of assessing health outcomes, and robust system of accounting for expenses, can provide the lead for these studies.

The emergence of molecular profiling and omics techniques in seagrass biology; furthering our understanding of seagrasses.

PubMed

Davey, Peter A; Pernice, Mathieu; Sablok, Gaurav; Larkum, Anthony; Lee, Huey Tyng; Golicz, Agnieszka; Edwards, David; Dolferus, Rudy; Ralph, Peter

2016-09-01

Seagrass meadows are disappearing at alarming rates as a result of increasing coastal development and climate change. The emergence of omics and molecular profiling techniques in seagrass research is timely, providing a new opportunity to address such global issues. Whilst these applications have transformed terrestrial plant research, they have only emerged in seagrass research within the past decade; In this time frame we have observed a significant increase in the number of publications in this nascent field, and as of this year the first genome of a seagrass species has been sequenced. In this review, we focus on the development of omics and molecular profiling and the utilization of molecular markers in the field of seagrass biology. We highlight the advances, merits and pitfalls associated with such technology, and importantly we identify and address the knowledge gaps, which to this day prevent us from understanding seagrasses in a holistic manner. By utilizing the powers of omics and molecular profiling technologies in integrated strategies, we will gain a better understanding of how these unique plants function at the molecular level and how they respond to on-going disturbance and climate change events.

Evolutionary medicine: update on the relevance to family practice.

PubMed

Naugler, Christopher T

2008-09-01

To review the relevance of evolutionary medicine to family practice and family physician training. Articles were located through a MEDLINE search, using the key words evolution, Darwin, and adaptation. Most references presented level III evidence (expert opinion), while a minority provided level II evidence (epidemiologic studies). Evolutionary medicine deals with the interplay of biology and the environment in the understanding of human disease. Yet medical schools have virtually ignored the need for family physicians to have more than a cursory knowledge of this topic. A review of the main trends in this field most relevant to family practice revealed that a basic knowledge of evolutionary medicine might help in explaining the causation of diseases to patients. Evolutionary medicine has also proven key to explaining the reasons for the development of antibiotic resistance and has the potential to explain cancer pathogenesis. As an organizing principle, this field also has potential in the teaching of family medicine. Evolutionary medicine should be studied further and incorporated into medical training and practice. Its practical utility will be proven through the generation of testable hypotheses and their application in relation to disease causation and possible prevention.

Endangered Mangroves in Segara Anakan, Indonesia: Effective and Failed Problem-Solving Policy Advice.

PubMed

Dharmawan, Budi; Böcher, Michael; Krott, Max

2017-09-01

The success of scientific knowledge transfer depends on if the decision maker can transform the scientific advice into a policy that can be accepted by all involved actors. We use a science-policy interactions model called research-integration-utilization to observe the process of scientific knowledge transfer in the case of endangered mangroves in Segara Anakan, Indonesia. Scientific knowledge is produced within the scientific system (research), science-based solutions to problems are practically utilized by political actors (utilization), and important links between research and utilization must be made (integration). We looked for empirical evidence to test hypotheses about the research-integration-utilization model based on document analysis and expert interviews. Our study finds that the failures in knowledge transfer are caused by the inappropriate use of scientific findings. The district government is expected by presidential decree to only used scientifically sound recommendations as a prerequisite for designing the regulation. However, the district government prefers to implement their own solutions because they believe that they understand the solutions better than the researcher. In the process of integration, the researcher cannot be involved, since the selection of scientific recommendations here fully depends on the interests of the district government as the powerful ally.

Endangered Mangroves in Segara Anakan, Indonesia: Effective and Failed Problem-Solving Policy Advice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dharmawan, Budi; Böcher, Michael; Krott, Max

2017-09-01

The success of scientific knowledge transfer depends on if the decision maker can transform the scientific advice into a policy that can be accepted by all involved actors. We use a science-policy interactions model called research-integration-utilization to observe the process of scientific knowledge transfer in the case of endangered mangroves in Segara Anakan, Indonesia. Scientific knowledge is produced within the scientific system (research), science-based solutions to problems are practically utilized by political actors (utilization), and important links between research and utilization must be made (integration). We looked for empirical evidence to test hypotheses about the research-integration-utilization model based on document analysis and expert interviews. Our study finds that the failures in knowledge transfer are caused by the inappropriate use of scientific findings. The district government is expected by presidential decree to only used scientifically sound recommendations as a prerequisite for designing the regulation. However, the district government prefers to implement their own solutions because they believe that they understand the solutions better than the researcher. In the process of integration, the researcher cannot be involved, since the selection of scientific recommendations here fully depends on the interests of the district government as the powerful ally.

Ethnomedicinal plants traditionally used in health care practices by inhabitants of Western Himalaya.

PubMed

Malik, Zubair A; Bhat, Jahangeer A; Ballabha, Radha; Bussmann, Rainer W; Bhatt, A B

2015-08-22

Inspite of tremendous advances made in allopathic medicine, herbal practice still plays an important role in management and curing various ailments in remote and rural areas of India. However, traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants is eroding day by day and there is a need to document such knowledge, before it is lost forever. The aim of the present study was to document the indigenous and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants used by local inhabitants in and around Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary of Indian Himalaya for the advancement of biomedical research and development. The intensive field survey was carried out at three different altitudes of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) and its adjoining areas. The inhabitants were interviewed about the local name of plants having ethno-medicinal values, plant parts used, mode of processing/application and preparation and dosage through discussions and semi structured questionnaires. A total of 97 medicinal plant species belonging to 52 families and 83 genera were reported for curing various ailments like fever, cough, cold, digestive disorders, constipation, menstrual disorders etc. Out of 97 plant species reported, 21 are rare or threatened. Literature review revealed that 11 out of the 97 plant species are reported with new therapeutic uses. The most frequently utilized plant part was the root/rhizome (33%) followed by leaf (27%). In some cases whole plant was utilized. A few medicinal plants had some veterinary uses also. The study provides comprehensive information about the eroding indigenous and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants used by local inhabitants in a part of Western Himalaya, India. The identification of the active ingredients of the plants used by the local people may provide some useful leads for the development of new drugs and such new approaches of traditional knowledge regarding medicinal plants and laboratory analysis might help pharmaceutical industry in new chapters for the wellbeing of mankind. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eating from the wild: diversity of wild edible plants used by Tibetans in Shangri-la region, Yunnan, China.

PubMed

Ju, Yan; Zhuo, Jingxian; Liu, Bo; Long, Chunlin

2013-04-19

Locally harvested wild edible plants (WEPs) provide food as well as cash income for indigenous people and are of great importance in ensuring global food security. Some also play a significant role in maintaining the productivity and stability of traditional agro-ecosystems. Shangri-la region of Yunnan Province, SW China, is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot. People living there have accumulated traditional knowledge about plants. However, with economic development, WEPs are threatened and the associated traditional knowledge is in danger of being lost. Therefore, ethnobotanical surveys were conducted throughout this area to investigate and document the wild edible plants traditionally used by local Tibetan people. Twenty-nine villages were selected to carry out the field investigations. Information was collected using direct observation, semi-structured interviews, individual discussions, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires and participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Information about 168 wild edible plant species in 116 genera of 62 families was recorded and specimens were collected. Most species were edible greens (80 species) or fruits (78). These WEPs are sources for local people, especially those living in remote rural areas, to obtain mineral elements and vitamins. More than half of the species (70%) have multiple use(s) besides food value. Some are crop wild relatives that could be used for crop improvement. Several also have potential values for further commercial exploitation. However, the utilization of WEPs and related knowledge are eroding rapidly, especially in the areas with convenient transportation and booming tourism. Wild food plants species are abundant and diverse in Shangri-la region. They provide food and nutrients to local people and could also be a source of cash income. However, both WEPs and their associated indigenous knowledge are facing various threats. Thus, conservation and sustainable utilization of these plants in this area are of the utmost importance. Documentation of these species may provide basic information for conservation, possibly further exploitation, and will preserve local traditional knowledge.

Linking Publications to Instruments, Field Campaigns, Sites and Working Groups: The ARM Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehnert, K.; Parsons, M. A.; Ramachandran, R.; Fils, D.; Narock, T.; Fox, P. A.; Troyan, D.; Cialella, A. T.; Gregory, L.; Lazar, K.; Liang, M.; Ma, L.; Tilp, A.; Wagener, R.

2017-12-01

For the past 25 years, the ARM Climate Research Facility - a US Department of Energy scientific user facility - has been collecting atmospheric data in different climatic regimes using both in situ and remote instrumentation. Configuration of the facility's components has been designed to improve the understanding and representation, in climate and earth system models, of clouds and aerosols. Placing a premium on long-term continuous data collection resulted in terabytes of data having been collected, stored, and made accessible to any interested person. All data is accessible via the ARM.gov website and the ARM Data Discovery Tool. A team of metadata professionals assign appropriate tags to help facilitate searching the databases for desired data. The knowledge organization tools and concepts are used to create connections between data, instruments, field campaigns, sites, and measurements are familiar to informatics professionals. Ontology, taxonomy, classification, and thesauri are among the customized concepts put into practice for ARM's purposes. In addition to the multitude of data available, there have been approximately 3,000 journal articles that utilize ARM data. These have been linked to specific ARM web pages. Searches of the complete ARM publication database can be done using a separate interface. This presentation describes how ARM data is linked to instruments, sites, field campaigns, and publications through the application of standard knowledge organization tools and concepts.

Object recognition for autonomous robot utilizing distributed knowledge database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takatori, Jiro; Suzuki, Kenji; Hartono, Pitoyo; Hashimoto, Shuji

2003-10-01

In this paper we present a novel method of object recognition utilizing a remote knowledge database for an autonomous robot. The developed robot has three robot arms with different sensors; two CCD cameras and haptic sensors. It can see, touch and move the target object from different directions. Referring to remote knowledge database of geometry and material, the robot observes and handles the objects to understand them including their physical characteristics.

Approaches for building community participation: A qualitative case study of Canadian food security programs.

PubMed

Hyett, Nerida; Kenny, Amanda; Dickson-Swift, Virginia

2017-10-01

There is increasing opportunity and support for occupational therapists to expand their scope of practice in community settings. However, evidence is needed to increase occupational therapists' knowledge, confidence, and capacity with building community participation and adopting community-centered practice roles. The purpose of this study is to improve occupational therapists' understanding of an approach to building community participation, through case study of a network of Canadian food security programs. Qualitative case study was utilized. Data were semistructured interviews, field observations, documents, and online social media. Thematic analysis was used to identify and describe four themes that relate to processes used to build community participation. The four themes were use of multiple methods, good leaders are fundamental, growing participation via social media, and leveraging outcomes. Occupational therapists can utilize an approach for building community participation that incorporates resource mobilization. Challenges of sustainability and social exclusion must be addressed.

Applied choline-omics: lessons from human metabolic studies for the integration of genomics research into nutrition practice.

PubMed

West, Allyson A; Caudill, Marie A

2014-08-01

Nutritional genomics, defined as the study of reciprocal interactions among nutrients, metabolic intermediates, and the genome, along with other closely related nutritional -omic fields (eg, epigenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics) have become vital areas of nutrition study and knowledge. Utilizing results from human metabolic research on the essential nutrient choline, this article illustrates how nutrigenetic, nutrigenomic, and inter-related -omic research has provided new insights into choline metabolism and its effect on physiologic processes. Findings from highlighted choline research are also discussed in the context of translation to clinical and public health nutrition applications. Overall, this article underscores the utility of -omic research methods in elucidating nutrient metabolism as well as the potential for nutritional -omic concepts and discoveries to be broadly applied in nutritional practice. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some comments on the nature and use of the concept of psyche in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

PubMed

Brookes, Crittenden E

2004-01-01

The term psyche is central to the field of mental health and dysfunction. And yet the term is seldom talked about directly, and is seldom elaborated by the professionals who function under its rubric. This article elaborates this term, and sets forth a definition for the purposes of psychology and psychodynamics as science in the sense of the establishment of psychological knowledge. Psyche is defined in this article as a hypothetical construct, as outlined in the classic article in the theory of psychological science by MacCorquodale and Meehl (1948). Psyche is to be distinguished from the concept of mind, which is identified here as a strictly phenomenological (subjective) concept. Use of psyche in this way allows it to be utilized in descriptions of its dynamics (psychodynamics), as a central concept in a science which utilizes phenomenological (subjective rather than objective) data.

Feasibility and Utility of Lexical Analysis for Occupational Health Text.

PubMed

Harber, Philip; Leroy, Gondy

2017-06-01

Assess feasibility and potential utility of natural language processing (NLP) for storing and analyzing occupational health data. Basic NLP lexical analysis methods were applied to 89,000 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) free text records. Steps included tokenization, term and co-occurrence counts, term annotation, and identifying exposure-health effect relationships. Presence of terms in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) was assessed. The methods efficiently demonstrated common exposures, health effects, and exposure-injury relationships. Many workplace terms are not present in UMLS or map inaccurately. Use of free text rather than narrowly defined numerically coded fields is feasible, flexible, and efficient. It has potential to encourage workers and clinicians to provide more data and to support automated knowledge creation. The lexical method used is easily generalizable to other areas. The UMLS vocabularies should be enhanced to be relevant to occupational health.

Ontology-based content analysis of US patent applications from 2001-2010.

PubMed

Weber, Lutz; Böhme, Timo; Irmer, Matthias

2013-01-01

Ontology-based semantic text analysis methods allow to automatically extract knowledge relationships and data from text documents. In this review, we have applied these technologies for the systematic analysis of pharmaceutical patents. Hierarchical concepts from the knowledge domains of chemical compounds, diseases and proteins were used to annotate full-text US patent applications that deal with pharmacological activities of chemical compounds and filed in the years 2001-2010. Compounds claimed in these applications have been classified into their respective compound classes to review the distribution of scaffold types or general compound classes such as natural products in a time-dependent manner. Similarly, the target proteins and claimed utility of the compounds have been classified and the most relevant were extracted. The method presented allows the discovery of the main areas of innovation as well as emerging fields of patenting activities - providing a broad statistical basis for competitor analysis and decision-making efforts.

Evolutionary engineering for industrial microbiology.

PubMed

Vanee, Niti; Fisher, Adam B; Fong, Stephen S

2012-01-01

Superficially, evolutionary engineering is a paradoxical field that balances competing interests. In natural settings, evolution iteratively selects and enriches subpopulations that are best adapted to a particular ecological niche using random processes such as genetic mutation. In engineering desired approaches utilize rational prospective design to address targeted problems. When considering details of evolutionary and engineering processes, more commonality can be found. Engineering relies on detailed knowledge of the problem parameters and design properties in order to predict design outcomes that would be an optimized solution. When detailed knowledge of a system is lacking, engineers often employ algorithmic search strategies to identify empirical solutions. Evolution epitomizes this iterative optimization by continuously diversifying design options from a parental design, and then selecting the progeny designs that represent satisfactory solutions. In this chapter, the technique of applying the natural principles of evolution to engineer microbes for industrial applications is discussed to highlight the challenges and principles of evolutionary engineering.

Developing Practical Knowledge of the Next Generation Science Standards in Elementary Science Teacher Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanuscin, Deborah L.; Zangori, Laura

2016-12-01

Just as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSSs) call for change in what students learn and how they are taught, teacher education programs must reconsider courses and curriculum in order to prepare teacher candidates to understand and implement new standards. In this study, we examine the development of prospective elementary teachers' practical knowledge of the NGSS in the context of a science methods course and innovative field experience. We present three themes related to how prospective teachers viewed and utilized the standards: (a) as a useful guide for planning and designing instruction, (b) as a benchmark for student and self-evaluation, and (c) as an achievable vision for teaching and learning. Our findings emphasize the importance of collaborative opportunities for repeated teaching of the same lessons, but question what is achievable in the context of a semester-long experience.

Integrated system for automated financial document processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanein, Khaled S.; Wesolkowski, Slawo; Higgins, Ray; Crabtree, Ralph; Peng, Antai

1997-02-01

A system was developed that integrates intelligent document analysis with multiple character/numeral recognition engines in order to achieve high accuracy automated financial document processing. In this system, images are accepted in both their grayscale and binary formats. A document analysis module starts by extracting essential features from the document to help identify its type (e.g. personal check, business check, etc.). These features are also utilized to conduct a full analysis of the image to determine the location of interesting zones such as the courtesy amount and the legal amount. These fields are then made available to several recognition knowledge sources such as courtesy amount recognition engines and legal amount recognition engines through a blackboard architecture. This architecture allows all the available knowledge sources to contribute incrementally and opportunistically to the solution of the given recognition query. Performance results on a test set of machine printed business checks using the integrated system are also reported.

Rainfall: State of the Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Testik, Firat Y.; Gebremichael, Mekonnen

Rainfall: State of the Science offers the most up-to-date knowledge on the fundamental and practical aspects of rainfall. Each chapter, self-contained and written by prominent scientists in their respective fields, provides three forms of information: fundamental principles, detailed overview of current knowledge and description of existing methods, and emerging techniques and future research directions. The book discusses • Rainfall microphysics: raindrop morphodynamics, interactions, size distribution, and evolution • Rainfall measurement and estimation: ground-based direct measurement (disdrometer and rain gauge), weather radar rainfall estimation, polarimetric radar rainfall estimation, and satellite rainfall estimation • Statistical analyses: intensity-duration-frequency curves, frequency analysis of extreme events, spatial analyses, simulation and disaggregation, ensemble approach for radar rainfall uncertainty, and uncertainty analysis of satellite rainfall products The book is tailored to be an indispensable reference for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students who study any aspect of rainfall or utilize rainfall information in various science and engineering disciplines.

The Two-Communities Theory and Knowledge Utilization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caplan, Nathan

1979-01-01

Discusses strategies to improve policy makers' utilization of research based on the "two-communities" theory that social scientists and policy makers live in two different worlds. Notes that for high level decision making, collaboration must involve more general problems and a decision to use either data-based or nonresearch knowledge for solving…

Using Knowledge Management to Revise Software-Testing Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nogeste, Kersti; Walker, Derek H. T.

2006-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to use a knowledge management (KM) approach to effectively revise a utility retailer's software testing process. This paper presents a case study of how the utility organisation's customer services IT production support group improved their test planning skills through applying the American Productivity and Quality Center…

Which information resources are used by general practitioners for updating knowledge regarding diabetes?

PubMed

Tabatabaei-Malazy, Ozra; Nedjat, Saharnaz; Majdzadeh, Reza

2012-04-01

Little is known about the degree of utilization of information resources on diabetes by general practitioners (GPs) and its impact on their clinical behavior in developing countries. Such information is vital if GPs' diabetes knowledge is to be improved. This cross-sectional study recruited 319 GPs in the summer of 2008. Questions were about the updates on diabetes knowledge in the previous two years, utilization of information resources (domestic and foreign journals, congresses, the Internet, reference books, mass media, and peers), attitude toward the importance of each resource, and impact of each resource on clinical behavior. A total of 62% of GPs had used information resources for improving their knowledge on diabetes in the previous two years. Domestic journals accounted for the highest utilization (30%) and the highest importance score (83 points from 100); with the importance score not being affected by sex, years elapsed after graduation, and numbers of diabetic visits. Clinical behavior was not influenced by the information resources listed; whereas knowledge upgrade, irrespective of the sources utilized, had a significantly positive correlation with clinical behavior. Domestic journals constituted the main information resource utilized by the GPs; this resource, however, in tandem with the other information resources on diabetes exerted no significant impact on the GPs' clinical behavior. In contrast to the developed countries, clinical guidelines do not have any place as a source of information and or practice. Indubitably, the improvement of diabetes knowledge transfer requires serious interventions to improve information resources as well as the structure of scientific gatherings and collaborations.

The Role of Epigenomics in Aquatic Toxicology.

PubMed

Brander, Susanne M; Biales, Adam D; Connon, Richard E

2017-10-01

Over the past decade, the field of molecular biology has rapidly incorporated epigenetic studies to evaluate organism-environment interactions that can result in chronic effects. Such responses arise from early life stage stress, the utilization of genetic information over an individual's life time, and transgenerational inheritance. Knowledge of epigenetic mechanisms provides the potential for a comprehensive evaluation of multigenerational and heritable effects from environmental stressors, such as contaminants. Focused studies have provided a greater understanding of how many responses to environmental stressors are driven by epigenetic modifiers. We discuss the promise of epigenetics and suggest future research directions within the field of aquatic toxicology, with a particular focus on the potential for identifying key heritable marks with consequential impacts at the organism and population levels. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2565-2573. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

Research-based care on an acute inpatient psychiatric unit.

PubMed

Bartholomew, David; Collier, Elizabeth

Many studies of research-based practice in nursing highlight factors that impede the development of practice. With the aim of adding to this body of knowledge, a modified grounded theory approach was used in order to understand more about these barriers and how individual nurses utilize research in their practice. A selective sample of five staff nurses from one acute inpatient psychiatric unit took part in semi-structured interviews. Three main themes were identified, each with two sub-themes. These were (a) activities to utilize research with (i) a 'systematic' model and (ii) a 'latent' model of research utilization (b) enhancing research utilization with (i) organizational culture and (ii) individual attitude and knowledge and (c) impeding research utilization with (i) resources (ii) resistance to change. It is suggested that for these nurses research utilization occurs through their individual knowledge, skill and motivation coupled with organizational commitment. Recommendation is made that further investigation of the 'systematic' and 'latent' models should be carried out. Additionally, it is suggested that these research findings might be used to inform future training, further research-based initiatives and to raise managerial awareness of the impeding factors of research utilization.

Knowledge and utilization of information communication technology (ICT) among health science students at the University of Gondar, North Western Ethiopia

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Despite the relatively huge ICT investment and policy deployment in higher institutions in Ethiopia, there is still scant information about the success of implementation of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the higher education. This study, therefore, was carried out with an aim to assess knowledge and utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) among medicine and health science students and its associated factors in Gondar College of Medicine and Health sciences, University of Gondar. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Ethiopia. Data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of the students, level of knowledge and utilization of ICT were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 13. Results A total of 1096 students responded giving a response rate of 97.8%. The mean age of the study participants was 20.3 (±1. 3) years. Females constitute only 26% of the respondents. The majority (79%) were fulltime students. Only half of the respondents (51%) had ICT knowledge and only 46% students utilized ICT while 47% of the respondents never used electronic communication (e.g. email or chat room) and 39% of the respondents never used Microsoft office (e.g. word ® or WordPerfect ®). ICT knowledge [AOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.7-3.5], family educational background [AOR = 4.36, 95% CI: 2.16-8.80], and perceived quality of training [AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3-2.8] showed strong and positive associations with ICT utilization. Students from urban areas were more likely to utilize ICT compared with those from rural areas [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 2.097, 3.497], and information technology training was found to be positively associated with ICT utilization [AOR = 2. 07, 95% CI: 1.18, 3.62]. Conclusions The result showed that students’ knowledge was inadequate and utilization of ICT was poor. Therefore, the university should sustain professional development to improve teaching, to raise student performance and equip the college with student centered ICT computer labs to increase students’ ICT utilization. PMID:23452346

On the angular error of intensity vector based direction of arrival estimation in reverberant sound fields.

PubMed

Levin, Dovid; Habets, Emanuël A P; Gannot, Sharon

2010-10-01

An acoustic vector sensor provides measurements of both the pressure and particle velocity of a sound field in which it is placed. These measurements are vectorial in nature and can be used for the purpose of source localization. A straightforward approach towards determining the direction of arrival (DOA) utilizes the acoustic intensity vector, which is the product of pressure and particle velocity. The accuracy of an intensity vector based DOA estimator in the presence of noise has been analyzed previously. In this paper, the effects of reverberation upon the accuracy of such a DOA estimator are examined. It is shown that particular realizations of reverberation differ from an ideal isotropically diffuse field, and induce an estimation bias which is dependent upon the room impulse responses (RIRs). The limited knowledge available pertaining the RIRs is expressed statistically by employing the diffuse qualities of reverberation to extend Polack's statistical RIR model. Expressions for evaluating the typical bias magnitude as well as its probability distribution are derived.

[Development and research advance of pharmacognosy field based on CNKI].

PubMed

Hu, Li; Xiao, Hong

2018-02-01

Based on the literature data in CNKI, data mining and analysis technologies were used in this paper to describe the scientific research and development direction of Pharmacognosy in the last decade from the perspective of bibliometrics. The analysis of measured data revealed the core research institutions, excellent research teams, leading scholars, major research aspects and research progress in the field. Results showed that most of the scholars in the field were from colleges and institutions, accounting for 74.6% of the total research findings and forming a group of core scholars. In terms of frequency and timeliness of citation, pharmacognosy is a discipline in sustained growth and development since it mainly cites the literature in the other disciplines, absorbs and utilizes knowledge of the other disciplines. Over the last few years, molecular identification and genetic diversity have become the research hotspots in pharmacognosy, and the techniques and methods such as ISSR, RAPD, DNA barcoding and DNA molecular marker have been widely used. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Characterization of bidisperse magnetorheological fluids utilizing maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles synthetized by flame spray pyrolysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jönkkäri, I.; Sorvali, M.; Huhtinen, H.; Sarlin, E.; Salminen, T.; Haapanen, J.; Mäkelä, J. M.; Vuorinen, J.

2017-09-01

In this study we have used liquid flame spray (LFS) process to synthetize γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles of two different average sizes. Different sized nanoparticles were generated with two different liquid precursor feed rates in the spray process, higher feed rate resulting in larger nanoparticles with higher saturation magnetization. The nanoparticles were used in bidisperse magnetorheological fluids to substitute 5% of the micron sized carbonyl iron particles. To our knowledge this is the first time particles synthetized by the LFS method have been used in magnetorheological fluids. The bidisperse fluids showed significantly improved sedimentation stability compared to a monodisperse suspension with the same solid concentration. The tradeoff was an increased viscosity without magnetic field. The effect of the nanoparticles on the rheological properties under external magnetic field was modest. Finally, the dynamic oscillatory testing was used to evaluate the structural changes in the fluids under magnetic field. The addition of nanoparticles decreased the elastic portion of the deformation and increased the viscous portion.

Formalization of the engineering science discipline - knowledge engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Xiao

Knowledge is the most precious ingredient facilitating aerospace engineering research and product development activities. Currently, the most common knowledge retention methods are paper-based documents, such as reports, books and journals. However, those media have innate weaknesses. For example, four generations of flying wing aircraft (Horten, Northrop XB-35/YB-49, Boeing BWB and many others) were mostly developed in isolation. The subsequent engineers were not aware of the previous developments, because these projects were documented such which prevented the next generation of engineers to benefit from the previous lessons learned. In this manner, inefficient knowledge retention methods have become a primary obstacle for knowledge transfer from the experienced to the next generation of engineers. In addition, the quality of knowledge itself is a vital criterion; thus, an accurate measure of the quality of 'knowledge' is required. Although qualitative knowledge evaluation criteria have been researched in other disciplines, such as the AAA criterion by Ernest Sosa stemming from the field of philosophy, a quantitative knowledge evaluation criterion needs to be developed which is capable to numerically determine the qualities of knowledge for aerospace engineering research and product development activities. To provide engineers with a high-quality knowledge management tool, the engineering science discipline Knowledge Engineering has been formalized to systematically address knowledge retention issues. This research undertaking formalizes Knowledge Engineering as follows: 1. Categorize knowledge according to its formats and representations for the first time, which serves as the foundation for the subsequent knowledge management function development. 2. Develop an efficiency evaluation criterion for knowledge management by analyzing the characteristics of both knowledge and the parties involved in the knowledge management processes. 3. Propose and develop an innovative Knowledge-Based System (KBS), AVD KBS, forming a systematic approach facilitating knowledge management. 4. Demonstrate the efficiency advantages of AVDKBS over traditional knowledge management methods via selected design case studies. This research formalizes, for the first time, Knowledge Engineering as a distinct discipline by delivering a robust and high-quality knowledge management and process tool, AVDKBS. Formalizing knowledge proves to significantly impact the effectiveness of aerospace knowledge retention and utilization.

Mean Field Games for Stochastic Growth with Relative Utility

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

Huang, Minyi, E-mail: mhuang@math.carleton.ca; Nguyen, Son Luu, E-mail: sonluu.nguyen@upr.edu

This paper considers continuous time stochastic growth-consumption optimization in a mean field game setting. The individual capital stock evolution is determined by a Cobb–Douglas production function, consumption and stochastic depreciation. The individual utility functional combines an own utility and a relative utility with respect to the population. The use of the relative utility reflects human psychology, leading to a natural pattern of mean field interaction. The fixed point equation of the mean field game is derived with the aid of some ordinary differential equations. Due to the relative utility interaction, our performance analysis depends on some ratio based approximation errormore » estimate.« less

Genetics educational needs in China: physicians' experience and knowledge of genetic testing.

PubMed

Li, Jing; Xu, Tengda; Yashar, Beverly M

2015-09-01

The aims of this study were to explore the relationship between physicians' knowledge and utilization of genetic testing and to explore genetics educational needs in China. An anonymous survey about experience, attitudes, and knowledge of genetic testing was conducted among physicians affiliated with Peking Union Medical College Hospital during their annual health evaluation. A personal genetics knowledge score was developed and predictors of personal genetics knowledge score were evaluated. Sixty-four physicians (33% male) completed the survey. Fifty-eight percent of them had used genetic testing in their clinical practice. Using a 4-point scale, mean knowledge scores of six common genetic testing techniques ranged from 1.7 ± 0.9 to 2.4 ± 1.0, and the average personal genetics knowledge score was 2.1 ± 0.8. In regression analysis, significant predictors of higher personal genetics knowledge score were ordering of genetic testing, utilization of pedigrees, higher medical degree, and recent genetics training (P < 0.05). Sixty-six percent of physicians indicated a desire for specialized genetic services, and 84% reported a desire for additional genetics education. This study demonstrated a sizable gap between Chinese physicians' knowledge and utilization of genetic testing. Participants had high self-perceived genetics educational needs. Development of genetics educational platforms is both warranted and desired in China.Genet Med 17 9, 757-760.

Recommended practices for computerized clinical decision support and knowledge management in community settings: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The purpose of this study was to identify recommended practices for computerized clinical decision support (CDS) development and implementation and for knowledge management (KM) processes in ambulatory clinics and community hospitals using commercial or locally developed systems in the U.S. Methods Guided by the Multiple Perspectives Framework, the authors conducted ethnographic field studies at two community hospitals and five ambulatory clinic organizations across the U.S. Using a Rapid Assessment Process, a multidisciplinary research team: gathered preliminary assessment data; conducted on-site interviews, observations, and field surveys; analyzed data using both template and grounded methods; and developed universal themes. A panel of experts produced recommended practices. Results The team identified ten themes related to CDS and KM. These include: 1) workflow; 2) knowledge management; 3) data as a foundation for CDS; 4) user computer interaction; 5) measurement and metrics; 6) governance; 7) translation for collaboration; 8) the meaning of CDS; 9) roles of special, essential people; and 10) communication, training, and support. Experts developed recommendations about each theme. The original Multiple Perspectives framework was modified to make explicit a new theoretical construct, that of Translational Interaction. Conclusions These ten themes represent areas that need attention if a clinic or community hospital plans to implement and successfully utilize CDS. In addition, they have implications for workforce education, research, and national-level policy development. The Translational Interaction construct could guide future applied informatics research endeavors. PMID:22333210

Setting the stage for master's level success

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, Donna

Comprehensive reading, writing, research, and study skills play a critical role in a graduate student's success and ability to contribute to a field of study effectively. The literature indicated a need to support graduate student success in the areas of mentoring, navigation, as well as research and writing. The purpose of this two-phased mixed methods explanatory study was to examine factors that characterize student success at the Master's level in the fields of education, sociology and social work. The study was grounded in a transformational learning framework which focused on three levels of learning: technical knowledge, practical or communicative knowledge, and emancipatory knowledge. The study included two data collection points. Phase one consisted of a Master's Level Success questionnaire that was sent via Qualtrics to graduate level students at three colleges and universities in the Central Valley of California: a California State University campus, a University of California campus, and a private college campus. The results of the chi-square indicated that seven questionnaire items were significant with p values less than .05. Phase two in the data collection included semi-structured interview questions that resulted in three themes emerged using Dedoose software: (1) the need for more language and writing support at the Master's level, (2) the need for mentoring, especially for second-language learners, and (3) utilizing the strong influence of faculty in student success. It is recommended that institutions continually assess and strengthen their programs to meet the full range of learners and to support students to degree completion.

STEM-related, Student-led Service Learning / Community Engagement Projects: Examples and Benefits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swap, R. J.; Wayland, K.

2015-12-01

Field-based, STEM-related service learning / community engagement projects present an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate proficiencies related to the process of inquiry. These proficiencies include: appreciation of the larger project context, articulation of an informed question/hypothesis, project proposal development, interdisciplinary collaboration, project management (including planning, implementation reconfiguration and synthesis) and lastly the generation and handing off of acquired knowledge. Calls for these types of proficiencies have been expressed by governmental, non-governmental as well as the private sector. Accordingly, institutions of higher learning have viewed such activities as opportunities for enriching the learning experience for undergraduate students and for making such students more marketable, especially those from STEM-related fields. This institutional interest has provided an opportunity to support and expand field-based learning. Here we present examples of student-led/faculty-mentored international service learning and community engagement projects along the arc of preparation, implementation and post-field process. Representative examples that draw upon environmental science and engineering knowledge have been selected from more than 20 international undergraduate student projects over past decade and include: slow-sand water filtration, rainwater harvesting, methane biodigesters, water reticulation schemes and development and implementation of rocket stoves for communal cooking. We discuss these efforts in terms of the development of the aforementioned proficiencies, the utility of such proficiencies to the larger enterprise of STEM and the potential for transformative student learning outcomes. We share these experiences and lessons learned with the hope that others may intelligently borrow from our approach in a manner appropriate for their particular context.

Multiple Intimate Partner Violence Experiences: Knowledge, Access, Utilization and Barriers to Utilization of Resources by Women of the African Diaspora.

PubMed

Sabri, Bushra; Huerta, Julia; Alexander, Kamila A; St Vil, Noelle M; Campbell, Jacquelyn C; Callwood, Gloria B

2015-11-01

This study examined knowledge, access, utilization, and barriers to use of resources among Black women exposed to multiple types of intimate partner violence in Baltimore, Maryland and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). We analyzed quantitative survey data collected by 163 women recruited from primary care, prenatal or family planning clinics in Baltimore and the USVI. In addition we analyzed qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 11 women. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. A substantial proportion of Black women with multiple types of violence experiences lacked knowledge of, did not have access to, and did not use resources. Barriers to resource use were identified at the individual, relationship, and community levels. There is need for programs to develop awareness, promote access and utilization of resources, and eliminate barriers to resource use among abused Black women.

Tsé na'alkaah: Weaving Native and Mainstream Earth and Environmental Science into Place-Based Teacher Professional Development on the Colorado Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semken, S. C.; Godsey, H. S.; Tsosie, W. B., Jr.

2017-12-01

Place-based, culturally-integrated approaches to teaching geoscience and environmental science are aligned with traditional indigenous education, and illustrate the premise that leveraging the cultural capital of Native Americans and other underrepresented groups renders more inclusive and relevant teaching. Situating learning within local landscapes, environments, and communities; and meaningfully connecting mainstream science with Native science and knowledge of place enables students to construct new knowledge that is scaffolded by their own worldview and experiences, and helps lessen any sense of discontinuity that may arise from apparently disparate interpretations of Earth processes. We drew on this philosophy in implementing a multi-year program of summer professional-development workshops for K-12 teachers in the Colorado Plateau and Intermountain regions, many of whom work in schools that serve majority Native American student populations. Through collaboration of geoscientists, Diné (Navajo) cultural experts, and master teachers, we developed and implemented inquiry-rich field excursions in which learning about Earth-system features and processes on the Plateau utilized factual and conceptual knowledge from mainstream geoscience and Diné geoscience (tsé na'alkaah) alike, as well as on other forms of local place knowledge such as Diné toponymy and history. Participants used concepts such as the dynamic interactions of Earth (Nahasdzaan) and Sky (Yádilhil) systems and the natural order (nitsahakees, nahat'a, iina, siihasin) to interpret natural landscape features (e.g., desert landforms, Plateau stratigraphy, Laramide structures) as well as anthropogenic impacts (e.g., uranium extraction and its environmental and health effects) in the field. We will share specific examples of place-based, culturally integrated curriculum and assessment from this program.

The role of entomology in environmental and science education: Comparing outreach methods for their impact on student and teacher content knowledge and motivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weeks, Faith J.

Outreach programming can be an important way for local students and teachers to be exposed to new fields while enhancing classroom learning. University-based outreach programs are offered throughout the country, including most entomology departments as few individuals learn about insects in school and these programs can be excellent sources of entomological education, as well as models to teach environmental and science education. Each department utilizes different instructional delivery methods for teaching about insects, which may impact the way in which students and teachers understand the insect concepts presented. To determine the impact of using entomology to enhance science and environmental education, this study used a series of university-based entomology outreach programs to compare three of the most common delivery methods for their effect on teacher and student content knowledge and motivation, specifically student interest in entomology and teacher self-efficacy. Twenty fifth grade classrooms were assessed over the course of one school year. The results show that teacher knowledge significantly increased when teachers were unfamiliar with the content and when trained by an expert, and teacher self-efficacy did not decrease when asked about teaching with insects. For students, content knowledge increased for each lesson regardless of treatment, suggesting that outreach program providers should focus on working with local schools to integrate their field into the classroom through the delivery methods best suited to the needs of the university, teachers, and students. The lessons also had an impact on student interest in science and environmental education, with an overall finding that student interest increases when using insects in the classroom.

Lost in Knowledge Translation: Time for a Map?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Ian D.; Logan, Jo; Harrison, Margaret B.; Straus, Sharon E.; Tetroe, Jacqueline; Caswell, Wenda; Robinson, Nicole

2006-01-01

There is confusion and misunderstanding about the concepts of knowledge translation, knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange, research utilization, implementation, diffusion, and dissemination. We review the terms and definitions used to describe the concept of moving knowledge into action. We also offer a conceptual framework for thinking about…

Third United States Microgravity Payload: One Year Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Currieri, P. A. (Compiler); McCauley, D. (Compiler); Walker, C. (Compiler)

1998-01-01

This document reports the one year science results for the Third United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-3). The USMP-3 major experiments were on a support structure in the Space Shuttle's payload bay and operated almost completely by the Principal Investigators through telescience. The mission included a Glovebox where the crew performed additional experiments for the investigators. Together about seven major scientific experiments were performed, advancing the state of knowledge in fields such as low temperature physics, solidification, and combustion. The results demonstrate the range of quality science that can be conducted utilizing orbital laboratories in microgravity and provide a look forward to a highly productive space station era.

William Watson Cheyne (1852-1932): a life in medicine and his innovative surgical treatment of congenital hydrocephalus.

PubMed

Watson, Caroline C; Griessenauer, Christoph J; Loukas, Marios; Blount, Jeffrey P; Tubbs, R Shane

2013-11-01

William Watson Cheyne lived and trained during a period of great advances in medical knowledge and surgical techniques. Despite his various contributions to the fields of bacteriology and surgery, little is known about his career or his life apart from his affiliations with Joseph Lister. This article aims to identify Cheyne as a pioneer in the treatment of congenital hydrocephalus and sheds light on the man who existed in Lister's shadow for most of his life. Cheyne's technique for surgical intervention of hydrocephalus was a great turning point and contributes to the current treatment strategy utilized today for hydrocephalus.

Fourth United States Microgravity Payload: One Year Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ethridge, Edwin C. (Compiler); Curreri, Peter A. (Compiler); McCauley, D. E. (Compiler)

1999-01-01

This document reports the one year science results for the Fourth United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4). The USMP-4 major experiments were on a support structure in the Space Shuttle's payload bay and operated almost completely by the Principal Investigators through telescience. The mission included a Glovebox where the crew performed additional experiments for the investigators. Together about eight major scientific experiments were performed, advancing the state of knowledge in fields such as low temperature physics, solidification, and combustion. The results demonstrate the range of quality science that can be conducted utilizing orbital laboratories in microgravity and provide a look forward to a highly productive Space Station era.

Enhancing US competitiveness through Federal scientific and technical information: Issues and opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.

1990-01-01

The possibility of using Federally funded scientific and technical information (STI) to increase U.S. industrial innovation and productivity is discussed. The history of Federally funded research and development in the fields of agriculture and aviation is reviewed as an example of successful government-sponsored research. Issues related to the production and utilization of information are considered and Federal STI policy is outlined. Issues related to the transfer of knowledge between government agencies and industry are examined and a model depicting the transfer of STI in aerospace research and development is presented. Also, consideration is given to the problem of open communication versus restricted access to STI.

Flow Cytometry and Solid Organ Transplantation: A Perfect Match

PubMed Central

Maguire, Orla; Tario, Joseph D.; Shanahan, Thomas C.; Wallace, Paul K.; Minderman, Hans

2015-01-01

In the field of transplantation, flow cytometry serves a well-established role in pre-transplant crossmatching and monitoring immune reconstitution following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The capabilities of flow cytometers have continuously expanded and this combined with more detailed knowledge of the constituents of the immune system, their function and interaction and newly developed reagents to study these parameters have led to additional utility of flow cytometry-based analyses, particularly in the post-transplant setting. This review discusses the impact of flow cytometry on managing alloantigen reactions, monitoring opportunistic infections and graft rejection and gauging immunosuppression in the context of solid organ transplantation. PMID:25296232

A Woman in Transition: can drama deliver a cancer awareness message?

PubMed

Cheney, Lydia C; Kohler, Connie; Legge Muilenburg, Jessica

2006-01-01

Entertainment education is a field of health communication that utilizes a variety of entertainment to change health behaviors. In this article, we describe a pilot project in which we measured the effectiveness of drama as a health communication tool. Attendees completed a pretest and posttest measuring knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to breast cancer screening. At posttest, more women indicated breast self-exam rather than mammogram to be the "best method of early detection." Researchers who use drama as a communication tool cannot be assured of the final health message delivered. Careful evaluation to monitor the effectiveness of drama as a cancer awareness tool is vital.

When legal rights are not a reality: do individuals know their rights and how can we tell?

PubMed Central

Denvir, Catrina; Balmer, Nigel J.; Pleasence, Pascoe

2013-01-01

Public knowledge of rights has been the subject of a number of empirical enquiries over the last decade. In England and Wales, knowledge of rights and its relationship with an individual's capacity to ‘self-help’ and ‘self-represent’ when faced with a civil justice problem has become the subject of renewed attention following changes to legal aid which, from March 2013, will see the availability of legal advice and representation dramatically reduced. Previous studies focusing on public knowledge of rights in this (and other) jurisdictions have illustrated a lack of knowledge amongst the general population and more specifically, a widespread tendency of individuals to assume that the law aligns with their own moral, ethical or social attitudes. However, many of these studies have also suffered from methodological shortcomings. In attempting to address some of these shortcomings this study uses an open-ended format to ask individuals with one or one or more civil or social justice problems to describe their rights/legal position. We find that whilst an open-ended question approach to exploring knowledge of rights yields insight not acquired by other formats, its utility is constrained by difficulty reconciling articulation and actual knowledge of rights. We discuss the implications of these findings as they relate to the development of future research in the field of family and social welfare law, Public Legal Education (PLE) and access to justice post-March 2013. PMID:25045215

Examining the Relationship between Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and Student Achievement Utilizing the Florida Value-Added Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Ivan K.; Hamed, Kastro M.

2017-01-01

Utilizing a correlational research design, we sought to examine the relationship between the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of in-service teachers and student achievement measured with each individual teacher's Value-Added Model (VAM) score. The TPACK survey results and a teacher's VAM score were also examined, separately,…

Academic Staff Utilization of Information and Communication Technology and Knowledge Creation in Cross River State Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekpoh, Uduak Imo; Etor, Comfort Robert

2012-01-01

This study examined academic staff utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in knowledge creation in universities in Cross River State. The study was guided by two research questions and one hypothesis. A questionnaire was developed, validated and used for data collection from a sample of 300 academic staff. Descriptive…

COMPOSER: A Probabilistic Solution to the Utility Problem in Speed-up Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gratch, Jonathan; DeJong, Gerald

In machine learning there is considerable interest in techniques which improve planning ability. Initial investigations have identified a wide variety of techniques to address this issue. Progress has been hampered by the utility problem, a basic tradeoff between the benefit of learned knowledge and the cost to locate and apply relevant knowledge.…

Collaborative Learning Utilizing a Domain-Based Shared Data Repository to Enhance Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lubliner, David; Widmeyer, George; Deek, Fadi P.

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine whether there was a quantifiable improvement in learning outcomes by integrating course materials in a 4-year baccalaureate program, utilizing a knowledge repository with a conceptual map that spans a discipline. Two new models were developed to provide the framework for this knowledge repository. A…

Informed Dialogue: Using Research to Shape Education Policy Around the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reimers, Fernando; McGinn, Noel

This book is about how the process of deciding about education, or education policymaking, can be informed by research-based knowledge. Part 1 offers three chapters that attempt to clarify the central issues caught up in the problem of knowledge utilization--why there is so little utilization of research in educational policymaking, how research…

Probing wind-turbine/atmosphere interactions at utility scale: Novel insights from the EOLOS wind energy research station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, J.; Guala, M.; Chamorro, L. P.; Sotiropoulos, F.

2014-06-01

Despite major research efforts, the interaction of the atmospheric boundary layer with turbines and multi-turbine arrays at utility scale remains poorly understood today. This lack of knowledge stems from the limited number of utility-scale research facilities and a number of technical challenges associated with obtaining high-resolution measurements at field scale. We review recent results obtained at the University of Minnesota utility-scale wind energy research station (the EOLOS facility), which is comprised of a 130 m tall meteorological tower and a fully instrumented 2.5MW Clipper Liberty C96 wind turbine. The results address three major areas: 1) The detailed characterization of the wake structures at a scale of 36×36 m2 using a novel super-large-scale particle image velocimetry based on natural snowflakes, including the rich tip vortex dynamics and their correlation with turbine operations, control, and performance; 2) The use of a WindCube Lidar profiler to investigate how wind at various elevations influences turbine power fluctuation and elucidate the role of wind gusts on individual blade loading; and 3) The systematic quantification of the interaction between the turbine instantaneous power output and tower foundation strain with the incoming flow turbulence, which is measured from the meteorological tower.

Asset Analysis and Operational Concepts for Separation Assurance Flight Testing at Dryden Flight Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Costa, Guillermo J.; Arteaga, Ricardo A.

2011-01-01

A preliminary survey of existing separation assurance and collision avoidance advancements, technologies, and efforts has been conducted in order to develop a concept of operations for flight testing autonomous separation assurance at Dryden Flight Research Center. This effort was part of the Unmanned Aerial Systems in the National Airspace System project. The survey focused primarily on separation assurance projects validated through flight testing (including lessons learned), however current forays into the field were also examined. Comparisons between current Dryden flight and range assets were conducted using House of Quality matrices in order to allow project management to make determinations regarding asset utilization for future flight tests. This was conducted in order to establish a body of knowledge of the current collision avoidance landscape, and thus focus Dryden s efforts more effectively towards the providing of assets and test ranges for future flight testing within this research field.

Cardiac biomarkers: new tools for heart failure management

PubMed Central

Wentworth, Bailey; Choudhary, Rajiv; Landa, Alejandro De La Parra; Kipper, Benjamin; Fard, Arrash; Maisel, Alan S.

2012-01-01

The last decade has seen exciting advances in the field of biomarkers used in managing patients with heart failure (HF). Biomarker research has broadened our knowledge base, shedding more light on the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms occurring in patients with both acute and chronic HF. The criterion required by an ideal cardiovascular biomarker has been progressively changing to an era of sensitive assays that can be used to guide treatment. Recent technological advances have made it possible to rapidly measure even minute amounts of these proteins by means of higher sensitivity assays. With a high prevalence of comorbidities associated with HF, an integrated approach utilizing multiple biomarkers have shown promise in predicting mortality, better risk stratification and reducing re-hospitalizations, thus lowering health-care costs. This review provides a brief insight into recent advances in the field of biomarkers currently used in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with acute and chronic HF. PMID:24282708

New frontiers for zebrafish management.

PubMed

Lawrence, C

2016-01-01

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a preeminent model organism with a wide and expanding utility for numerous scientific disciplines. The same features that once endeared this small freshwater minnow to developmental biologists combined with its relatively high genetic similarity to mammals and the advent of new, more efficient methods for genome editing are now helping to spur expanded growth in its usage in various fields, including toxicology, drug discovery, transplant biology, disease modeling, and even aquaculture. Continued maturation and adoption of the zebrafish model system in these and other fields of science will require that methods and approaches for husbandry and management of these fish in controlled settings be refined and improved to the extent that, ultimately, zebrafish research becomes more reproducible, defined, cost-effective, and accessible to the masses. Knowledge and technology transfer from laboratory animal science and commercial aquaculture will be a necessary part of this development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

University-Community-Hospice Partnership to Address Organizational Barriers to Cultural Competence.

PubMed

Reese, Dona J; Buila, Sarah; Cox, Sarah; Davis, Jessica; Olsen, Meaghan; Jurkowski, Elaine

2017-02-01

Research documents a lack of access to, utilization of, and satisfaction with hospice care for African Americans. Models for culturally competent hospice services have been developed but are not in general use. Major organizational barriers include (1) lack of funding/budgeting for additional staff for community outreach, (2) lack of applications from culturally diverse professionals, (3) lack of funding/budgeting for additional staff for development of culturally competent services, (4) lack of knowledge about diverse cultures, and (5) lack of awareness of which cultural groups are not being served. A participatory action research project addressed these organizational barriers through a multicultural social work student field placement in 1 rural hospice. The effectiveness of the student interventions was evaluated, including addressing organizational barriers, cultural competence training of staff, and community outreach. Results indicated that students can provide a valuable service in addressing organizational barriers through a hospice field placement.

Credibility judgments in web page design - a brief review.

PubMed

Selejan, O; Muresanu, D F; Popa, L; Muresanu-Oloeriu, I; Iudean, D; Buzoianu, A; Suciu, S

2016-01-01

Today, more than ever, knowledge that interfaces appearance analysis is a crucial point in human-computer interaction field has been accepted. As nowadays virtually anyone can publish information on the web, the credibility role has grown increasingly important in relation to the web-based content. Areas like trust, credibility, and behavior, doubled by overall impression and user expectation are today in the spotlight of research compared to the last period, when other pragmatic areas such as usability and utility were considered. Credibility has been discussed as a theoretical construct in the field of communication in the past decades and revealed that people tend to evaluate the credibility of communication primarily by the communicator's expertise. Other factors involved in the content communication process are trustworthiness and dynamism as well as various other criteria but to a lower extent. In this brief review, factors like web page aesthetics, browsing experiences and user experience are considered.

Credibility judgments in web page design – a brief review

PubMed Central

Selejan, O; Muresanu, DF; Popa, L; Muresanu-Oloeriu, I; Iudean, D; Buzoianu, A; Suciu, S

2016-01-01

Today, more than ever, knowledge that interfaces appearance analysis is a crucial point in human-computer interaction field has been accepted. As nowadays virtually anyone can publish information on the web, the credibility role has grown increasingly important in relation to the web-based content. Areas like trust, credibility, and behavior, doubled by overall impression and user expectation are today in the spotlight of research compared to the last period, when other pragmatic areas such as usability and utility were considered. Credibility has been discussed as a theoretical construct in the field of communication in the past decades and revealed that people tend to evaluate the credibility of communication primarily by the communicator’s expertise. Other factors involved in the content communication process are trustworthiness and dynamism as well as various other criteria but to a lower extent. In this brief review, factors like web page aesthetics, browsing experiences and user experience are considered. PMID:27453738

Requirement of scientific documentation for the development of Naturopathy.

PubMed

Rastogi, Rajiv

2006-01-01

Past few decades have witnessed explosion of knowledge in almost every field. This has resulted not only in the advancement of the subjects in particular but also have influenced the growth of various allied subjects. The present paper explains about the advancement of science through efforts made in specific areas and also through discoveries in different allied fields having an indirect influence upon the subject in proper. In Naturopathy this seems that though nothing particular is added to the basic thoughts or fundamental principles of the subject yet the entire treatment understanding is revolutionised under the influence of scientific discoveries of past few decades. Advent of information technology has further added to the boom of knowledge and many times this seems impossible to utilize these informations for the good of human being because these are not logically arranged in our minds. In the above background, the author tries to define documentation stating that we have today ocean of information and knowledge about various things- living or dead, plants, animals or human beings; the geographical conditions or changing weather and environment. What required to be done is to extract the relevant knowledge and information required to enrich the subject. The author compares documentation with churning of milk to extract butter. Documentation, in fact, is churning of ocean of information to extract the specific, most appropriate, relevant and defined information and knowledge related to the particular subject . The paper besides discussing the definition of documentation, highlights the areas of Naturopathy requiring an urgent necessity to make proper documentations. Paper also discusses the present status of Naturopathy in India, proposes short-term and long-term goals to be achieved and plans the strategies for achieving them. The most important aspect of the paper is due understanding of the limitations of Naturopathy but a constant effort to improve the same with the growth made in various discipline of science so far.

Automatic two- and three-dimensional mesh generation based on fuzzy knowledge processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yagawa, G.; Yoshimura, S.; Soneda, N.; Nakao, K.

1992-09-01

This paper describes the development of a novel automatic FEM mesh generation algorithm based on the fuzzy knowledge processing technique. A number of local nodal patterns are stored in a nodal pattern database of the mesh generation system. These nodal patterns are determined a priori based on certain theories or past experience of experts of FEM analyses. For example, such human experts can determine certain nodal patterns suitable for stress concentration analyses of cracks, corners, holes and so on. Each nodal pattern possesses a membership function and a procedure of node placement according to this function. In the cases of the nodal patterns for stress concentration regions, the membership function which is utilized in the fuzzy knowledge processing has two meanings, i.e. the “closeness” of nodal location to each stress concentration field as well as “nodal density”. This is attributed to the fact that a denser nodal pattern is required near a stress concentration field. What a user has to do in a practical mesh generation process are to choose several local nodal patterns properly and to designate the maximum nodal density of each pattern. After those simple operations by the user, the system places the chosen nodal patterns automatically in an analysis domain and on its boundary, and connects them smoothly by the fuzzy knowledge processing technique. Then triangular or tetrahedral elements are generated by means of the advancing front method. The key issue of the present algorithm is an easy control of complex two- or three-dimensional nodal density distribution by means of the fuzzy knowledge processing technique. To demonstrate fundamental performances of the present algorithm, a prototype system was constructed with one of object-oriented languages, Smalltalk-80 on a 32-bit microcomputer, Macintosh II. The mesh generation of several two- and three-dimensional domains with cracks, holes and junctions was presented as examples.

The Joint Venture Model of Knowledge Utilization: a guide for change in nursing.

PubMed

Edgar, Linda; Herbert, Rosemary; Lambert, Sylvie; MacDonald, Jo-Ann; Dubois, Sylvie; Latimer, Margot

2006-05-01

Knowledge utilization (KU) is an essential component of today's nursing practice and healthcare system. Despite advances in knowledge generation, the gap in knowledge transfer from research to practice continues. KU models have moved beyond factors affecting the individual nurse to a broader perspective that includes the practice environment and the socio-political context. This paper proposes one such theoretical model the Joint Venture Model of Knowledge Utilization (JVMKU). Key components of the JVMKU that emerged from an extensive multidisciplinary review of the literature include leadership, emotional intelligence, person, message, empowered workplace and the socio-political environment. The model has a broad and practical application and is not specific to one type of KU or one population. This paper provides a description of the JVMKU, its development and suggested uses at both local and organizational levels. Nurses in both leadership and point-of-care positions will recognize the concepts identified and will be able to apply this model for KU in their own workplace for assessment of areas requiring strengthening and support.

Leveling the field: The role of training, safety programs, and knowledge management systems in fostering inclusive field settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starkweather, S.; Crain, R.; Derry, K. R.

2016-12-01

Knowledge is empowering in all settings, but plays an elevated role in empowering under-represented groups in field research. Field research, particularly polar field research, has deep roots in masculinized and colonial traditions, which can lead to high barriers for women and minorities (e.g. Carey et al., 2016). While recruitment of underrepresented groups into polar field research has improved through the efforts of organizations like the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), the experiences and successes of these participants is often contingent on the availability of specialized training opportunities or the quality of explicitly documented information about how to survive Arctic conditions or how to establish successful measurement protocols in harsh environments. In Arctic field research, knowledge is often not explicitly documented or conveyed, but learned through "experience" or informally through ad hoc advice. The advancement of field training programs and knowledge management systems suggest two means for unleashing more explicit forms of knowledge about field work. Examples will be presented along with a case for how they level the playing field and improve the experience of field work for all participants.

Leveling the field: The role of training, safety programs, and knowledge management systems in fostering inclusive field settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starkweather, S.; Crain, R.; Derry, K. R.

2017-12-01

Knowledge is empowering in all settings, but plays an elevated role in empowering under-represented groups in field research. Field research, particularly polar field research, has deep roots in masculinized and colonial traditions, which can lead to high barriers for women and minorities (e.g. Carey et al., 2016). While recruitment of underrepresented groups into polar field research has improved through the efforts of organizations like the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), the experiences and successes of these participants is often contingent on the availability of specialized training opportunities or the quality of explicitly documented information about how to survive Arctic conditions or how to establish successful measurement protocols in harsh environments. In Arctic field research, knowledge is often not explicitly documented or conveyed, but learned through "experience" or informally through ad hoc advice. The advancement of field training programs and knowledge management systems suggest two means for unleashing more explicit forms of knowledge about field work. Examples will be presented along with a case for how they level the playing field and improve the experience of field work for all participants.

The Normative Structure of Knowledge Production and Utilization in Education: A Report on Work in Progress.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markley, O. W.

The primary objective of this study is to develop a systems-oriented analytical framework with which to better understand how formal policies serve as regulatory influences on knowledge production and utilization (KPU) in education. When completed, the framework being developed should be able to organize information about the KPU system and its…

Identifying the characteristic of SundaParahiyangan landscape for a model of sustainable agricultural landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahlan, M. Z.; Nurhayati, H. S. A.; Mugnisjah, W. Q.

2017-10-01

This study was an explorative study of the various forms of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Sundanese people in the context of sustainable agriculture. The qualitative method was used to identify SundaParahiyangan landscape by using Rapid Participatory Rural Appraisal throughsemi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and field survey. The Landscape Characteristic Assessment and Community Sustainability Assessment were used to analyze the characteristic of landscape to achieve the sustainable agricultural landscape criteria proposed by US Department of Agriculture. The results revealed that the SundaParahiyangan agricultural landscape has a unique characteristic as a result of the long-term adaptation of agricultural society to theirlandscape through a learning process for generations. In general, this character was reflected in the typical of Sundanese’s agroecosystems such as forest garden, mixed garden, paddy field, and home garden. In addition, concept of kabuyutan is one of the TEKs related to understanding and utilization of landscape has been adapted on revitalizing the role of landscape surrounding the agroecosystem as the buffer zone by calculating and designating protected areas. To support the sustainability of production area, integrated practices of agroforestry with low-external-input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) system can be applied in utilizing and managing agricultural resources.

Perspectives of family members participating in cultural assessment of psychiatric disorders: Findings from the DSM-5 International Field Trial

PubMed Central

Hinton, Ladson; Aggarwal, Neil; Iosif, Ana-Maria; Weiss, Mitchell; Paralikar, Vasudeo; Deshpande, Smita; Jadhav, Sushrut; Ndetei, David; Nicasio, Andel; Boiler, Marit; Lam, Peter; Avelar, Yesi; Lewis-Fernández, Roberto

2015-01-01

Despite the important roles families play in the lives of many persons with mental illness across cultures, there is a dearth of data worldwide on how family members perceive the process of cultural assessment as well as to how to best include them. This study addresses this gap in our knowledge through analysis of data collected across six countries as part of a DSM-5 Field Trial of the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI). At clinician discretion, individuals who accompanied patients to the clinic visit (i.e. patient companions) at the time the CFI was conducted were invited to participate in the cultural assessment and answer questions about their experience. The specific aims of this paper are (1) to describe patterns of participation of patient companions in the CFI across the six countries, and (2) to examine the comparative feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of the CFI from companion perspectives through analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Among the 321 patient interviews, only 86 (at 4 of 12 sites) included companions, all of whom were family members or other relatives. The utility, feasibility and acceptability of the CFI were rated favorably by relatives, supported by qualitative analyses of debriefing interviews. Cross-site differences in frequency of accompaniment merit further study. PMID:25738941

Perspectives of family members participating in cultural assessment of psychiatric disorders: findings from the DSM-5 International Field Trial.

PubMed

Hinton, Ladson; Aggarwal, Neil; Iosif, Ana-Maria; Weiss, Mitchell; Paralikar, Vasudeo; Deshpande, Smita; Jadhav, Sushrut; Ndetei, David; Nicasio, Andel; Boiler, Marit; Lam, Peter; Avelar, Yesi; Lewis-Fernández, Roberto

2015-02-01

Despite the important roles families play in the lives of many individuals with mental illness across cultures, there is a dearth of data worldwide on how family members perceive the process of cultural assessment as well as to how to best include them. This study addresses this gap in our knowledge through analysis of data collected across six countries as part of a DSM-5 Field Trial of the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI). At clinician discretion, individuals who accompanied patients to the clinic visit (i.e. patient companions) at the time the CFI was conducted were invited to participate in the cultural assessment and answer questions about their experience. The specific aims of this paper are (1) to describe patterns of participation of patient companions in the CFI across the six countries, and (2) to examine the comparative feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of the CFI from companion perspectives through analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Among the 321 patient interviews, only 86 (at four of 12 sites) included companions, all of whom were family members or other relatives. The utility, feasibility and acceptability of the CFI were rated favourably by relatives, supported by qualitative analyses of debriefing interviews. Cross-site differences in frequency of accompaniment merit further study.

The Internet Alert Project: spreading the word about high-risk sexual activities advertised on the Internet.

PubMed

Kachur, R E

2004-11-01

The Internet is an emerging venue for facilitating high-risk sexual behavior; in particular, use of the Internet to seek out sex partners has been shown to be associated with high-risk sexual behaviors, such as an increase in number of sexual partners and an increase in anal sex, which can increase the risk of contracting and transmitting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV. In an effort to assist health departments around the country, the Internet Alert Project was developed to provide Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) project officers and field staff with information about Internet-advertised, high-risk sexual activities in areas that do not have access to sexually explicit material on the Internet. An evaluation was conducted to determine the utility of the Internet Alert Project, its effect on knowledge and awareness of recipients and on public health efforts. Results of the evaluation show the alerts are a useful and valuable tool. The alerts have helped to increase knowledge about sexually-related uses of the Internet and have also driven public health efforts in the field. The results also indicate the need for project areas to access information found on the Internet in order to keep up with the ever-changing behaviors of at-risk populations.

Spatial Distribution of an Uranium-Respiring Betaproteobacterium at the Rifle, CO Field Research Site

PubMed Central

Koribanics, Nicole M.; Tuorto, Steven J.; Lopez-Chiaffarelli, Nora; McGuinness, Lora R.; Häggblom, Max M.; Williams, Kenneth H.; Long, Philip E.; Kerkhof, Lee J.

2015-01-01

The Department of Energy’s Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge Site (IFRC) at Rifle, Colorado was created to address the gaps in knowledge on the mechanisms and rates of U(VI) bioreduction in alluvial sediments. Previous studies at the Rifle IFRC have linked microbial processes to uranium immobilization during acetate amendment. Several key bacteria believed to be involved in radionuclide containment have been described; however, most of the evidence implicating uranium reduction with specific microbiota has been indirect. Here, we report on the cultivation of a microorganism from the Rifle IFRC that reduces uranium and appears to utilize it as a terminal electron acceptor for respiration with acetate as electron donor. Furthermore, this bacterium constitutes a significant proportion of the subsurface sediment community prior to biostimulation based on TRFLP profiling of 16S rRNA genes. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicates that the microorganism is a betaproteobacterium with a high similarity to Burkholderia fungorum. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a betaproteobacterium capable of uranium respiration. Our results indicate that this microorganism occurs commonly in alluvial sediments located between 3-6 m below ground surface at Rifle and may play a role in the initial reduction of uranium at the site. PMID:25874721

Toward a Blended Ontology: Applying Knowledge Systems to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Bionanomedicine and environmental research share need common terms and ontologies. This study applied knowledge systems, data mining, and bibliometrics used in nano-scale ADME research from 1991 to 2011. The prominence of nano-ADME in environmental research began to exceed the publication rate in medical research in 2006. That trend appears to continue as a result of the growing products in commerce using nanotechnology, that is, 5-fold growth in number of countries with nanomaterials research centers. Funding for this research virtually did not exist prior to 2002, whereas today both medical and environmental research is funded globally. Key nanoparticle research began with pharmacology and therapeutic drug-delivery and contrasting agents, but the advances have found utility in the environmental research community. As evidence ultrafine aerosols and aquatic colloids research increased 6-fold, indicating a new emphasis on environmental nanotoxicology. User-directed expert elicitation from the engineering and chemical/ADME domains can be combined with appropriate Boolean logic and queries to define the corpus of nanoparticle interest. The study combined pharmacological expertise and informatics to identify the corpus by building logical conclusions and observations. Publication records informatics can lead to an enhanced understanding the connectivity between fields, as well as overcoming the differences in ontology between the fields. The National Exposure Resea

Measurements and usage of cross sections of various (n,xn) threshold reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chudoba, P.; Vrzalová, J.; Svoboda, O.; Krása, A.; Kugler, A.; Majerle, M.; Suchopár, M.; Wagner, V.

2017-03-01

Current trend in nuclear reactor physics is a transition from technologies using thermal neutrons to technologies utilizing fast neutrons. Unfortunately focus was put mainly on the thermal neutrons for a long time and lead to very good knowledge about this low energy region, but very scarce coverage of the high energy region. This means that there is a gap in the knowledge of excitation functions for higher energies. This gap spreads from 20 MeV up to 1 GeV and higher. This is exactly the energy region needed for description of advanced nuclear systems such as accelerator driven systems (ADS). Our group from Nuclear Physics Institute (NPI) of the CAS is a member of an international collaboration Energy & Transmutation of Radioactive Waste (E&T RAW). This collaboration focuses on ADS for many years. In order to measure neutron field within ADS models it is necessary to know excitation functions of reactions used to monitor the neutron field. In many cases there are almost no experimental data for suitable reactions. Worse and quite common case is that there are no data at all. Therefore we are also focusing on measurements of these data in order to fill the databases as well as to allow further improvements of codes for nuclear data calculations.

Spatial distribution of an uranium-respiring betaproteobacterium at the Rifle, CO field research site

DOE PAGES

Koribanics, Nicole M.; Tuorto, Steven J.; Lopez-Chiaffarelli, Nora; ...

2015-04-13

The Department of Energy’s Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge Site (IFRC) at Rifle, Colorado was created to address the gaps in knowledge on the mechanisms and rates of U(VI) bioreduction in alluvial sediments. Previous studies at the Rifle IFRC have linked microbial processes to uranium immobilization during acetate amendment. Several key bacteria believed to be involved in radionuclide containment have been described; however, most of the evidence implicating uranium reduction with specific microbiota has been indirect. Here, we report on the cultivation of a microorganism from the Rifle IFRC that reduces uranium and appears to utilize it as a terminalmore » electron acceptor for respiration with acetate as electron donor. Furthermore, this bacterium constitutes a significant proportion of the subsurface sediment community prior to biostimulation based on TRFLP profiling of 16S rRNA genes. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicates that the microorganism is a betaproteobacterium with a high similarity to Burkholderia fungorum. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a betaproteobacterium capable of uranium respiration. Our results indicate that this microorganism occurs commonly in alluvial sediments located between 3-6 m below ground surface at Rifle and may play a role in the initial reduction of uranium at the site.« less

'Getting to Know Me': The second phase roll-out of a staff training programme for supporting people with dementia in general hospitals.

PubMed

Elvish, Ruth; Burrow, Simon; Cawley, Rosanne; Harney, Kathryn; Pilling, Mark; Gregory, Julie; Keady, John

2018-01-01

Objectives The aims were to evaluate a second phase roll-out of a dementia care training programme for general hospital staff and to further develop two outcome scales: the Confidence in Dementia scale for measuring confidence in working with people with dementia and the Knowledge in Dementia scale for measuring knowledge in dementia. Method Following a 'training the trainers' phase, the study involved the delivery of the 'Getting to Know Me' training programme to a large number of staff (n = 517) across three National Health Service (NHS) Trusts situated in North-West England. The impact of the programme was evaluated using a pre-post design which explored: (i) changes in confidence in dementia, (ii) changes in knowledge in dementia, and (iii) changes in beliefs about behaviours that challenge. Results Statistically significant change was identified between pre-post training on all outcome measures (Confidence in Dementia: eight point increase, p < 0.001; Knowledge in Dementia: two point increase p < 0.001; controllability beliefs scale: four point decrease, p < 0.001). Medium to large effect sizes were demonstrated on all outcome measures. The psychometric properties of the Confidence in Dementia and Knowledge in Dementia scales are reported. Conclusion Staff knowledge in dementia and confidence in working with people with dementia significantly increased following attendance at the training sessions. The findings are consistent with preliminary findings and strengthen current knowledge about the impact of dementia care training in general hospitals. The Confidence in Dementia and Knowledge in Dementia scales continue to demonstrate psychometrically sound properties and demonstrate utility in the field of dementia research.

Utilizing an Artificial Outcrop to Scaffold Learning Between Laboratory and Field Experiences in a College-Level Introductory Geology Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Meredith

Geologic field trips are among the most beneficial learning experiences for students as they engage the topic of geology, but they are also difficult environments to maximize learning. This action research study explored one facet of the problems associated with teaching geology in the field by attempting to improve the transition of undergraduate students from a traditional laboratory setting to an authentic field environment. Utilizing an artificial outcrop, called the GeoScene, during an introductory college-level non-majors geology course, the transition was studied. The GeoScene was utilized in this study as an intermediary between laboratory and authentic field based experiences, allowing students to apply traditional laboratory learning in an outdoor environment. The GeoScene represented a faux field environment; outside, more complex and tangible than a laboratory, but also simplified geologically and located safely within the confines of an educational setting. This exploratory study employed a mixed-methods action research design. The action research design allowed for systematic inquiry by the teacher/researcher into how the students learned. The mixed-methods approach garnered several types of qualitative and quantitative data to explore phenomena and support conclusions. Several types of data were collected and analyzed, including: visual recordings of the intervention, interviews, analytic memos, student reflections, field practical exams, and a pre/post knowledge and skills survey, to determine whether the intervention affected student comprehension and interpretation of geologic phenomena in an authentic field environment, and if so, how. Students enrolled in two different sections of the same laboratory course, sharing a common lecture, participated in laboratory exercises implementing experiential learning and constructivist pedagogies that focused on learning the basic geological skills necessary for work in a field environment. These laboratory activities were followed by an approximate 15 minute intervention at the GeoScene for a treatment group of students (n=13) to attempt to mitigate potential barriers, such as: self-efficacy, novelty space, and spatial skills, which hinder student performance in an authentic field environment. Comparisons were made to a control group (n=12), who did not participate in GeoScene activities, but completed additional exercises and applications in the laboratory setting. Qualitative data sources suggested that the GeoScene treatment was a positive addition to the laboratory studies and improved the student transition to the field environment by: (1) reducing anxiety and decreasing heightened stimulus associated with the novelty of the authentic field environment, (2) allowing a physical transition between the laboratory and field that shifted concepts learned in the lab to the field environment, and (3) improving critical analysis of geologic phenomena. This was corroborated by the quantitative data that suggested the treatment group may have outperformed the control group in geology content related skills taught in the laboratory, and supported by the GeoScene, while in an authentic field environment (p≤0.01, delta=0.507).

Impact of a personal CYP2D6 testing workshop on physician assistant student attitudes toward pharmacogenetics.

PubMed

O'Brien, Travis J; LeLacheur, Susan; Ward, Caitlin; Lee, Norman H; Callier, Shawneequa; Harralson, Arthur F

2016-03-01

We assessed the impact of personal CYP2D6 testing on physician assistant student competency in, and attitudes toward, pharmacogenetics (PGx). Buccal samples were genotyped for CYP2D6 polymorphisms. Results were discussed during a 3-h PGx workshop. PGx knowledge was assessed by pre- and post-tests. Focus groups assessed the impact of the workshop on attitudes toward the clinical utility of PGx. Both student knowledge of PGx, and its perceived clinical utility, increased immediately following the workshop. However, exposure to PGx on clinical rotations following the workshop seemed to influence student attitudes toward PGx utility. Personal CYP2D6 testing improves both knowledge and comfort with PGx. Continued exposure to PGx concepts is important for transfer of learning.

Knowledge Theories Can Inform Evaluation Practice: What Can a Complexity Lens Add?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawe, Penelope; Bond, Lyndal; Butler, Helen

2009-01-01

Programs and policies invariably contain new knowledge. Theories about knowledge utilization, diffusion, implementation, transfer, and knowledge translation theories illuminate some mechanisms of change processes. But more often than not, when it comes to understanding patterns about change processes, "the foreground" is privileged more…

A review on alum sludge reuse with special reference to agricultural applications and future challenges.

PubMed

Dassanayake, K B; Jayasinghe, G Y; Surapaneni, A; Hetherington, C

2015-04-01

Alum salts are commonly used in the water industry to promote coagulation in the production of clean drinking water, which results in the generation and accumulation of 'waste' by-product 'alum sludge' in large volumes. Effective and efficient management of alum sludge in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner remains a significant social and environmental concern with ever increasing demand for potable water as a result of rapidly escalating world population and urban expansion. Various intensive practices have been employed to reuse the alum sludge in an attempt to figure out how to fill the gap between successful drinking water treatment process and environmentally friendly alum sludge management for over the years. This paper primarily aimed at comprehensive review of the existing literature on alum sludge characteristics, its environmental concerns and their potential utilization, especially in agricultural and horticultural sectors leading to update our recent state of knowledge and formulate a compendium of present and past developments. Different types of alum sludge utilizations in various fields were recognized and examined. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential risks of alum sludge reuse options with particular reference to agriculture were highlighted and knowledge gaps were identified. Research priorities and future challenges that will support in the development of effective alumsludgemanagement practices in agriculture with multi-prong strategies were discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing the state of knowledge of utility-scale wind energy development and operation on non-volant terrestrial and marine wildlife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Ennen, Joshua R.

2013-01-01

A great deal has been published in the scientific literature regarding the effects of wind energy development and operation on volant (flying) wildlife including birds and bats, although knowledge of how to mitigate negative impacts is still imperfect. We reviewed the peer-reviewed scientific literature for information on the known and potential effects of utility-scale wind energy development and operation (USWEDO) on terrestrial and marine non-volant wildlife and found that very little has been published on the topic. Following a similar review for solar energy we identified known and potential effects due to construction and eventual decommissioning of wind energy facilities. Many of the effects are similar and include direct mortality, environmental impacts of destruction and modification of habitat including impacts of roads, and offsite impacts related to construction material acquisition, processing and transportation. Known and potential effects due to operation and maintenance of facilities include habitat fragmentation and barriers to gene flow, as well as effects due to noise, vibration and shadow flicker, electromagnetic field generation, macro- and micro-climate change, predator attraction, and increased fire risk. The scarcity of before-after-control-impact studies hinders the ability to rigorously quantify the effects of USWEDO on non-volant wildlife. We conclude that more empirical data are currently needed to fully assess the impact of USWEDO on non-volant wildlife.

Multiple Intimate Partner Violence Experiences: Knowledge, Access, Utilization and Barriers to Utilization of Resources by Women of the African Diaspora

PubMed Central

Sabri, Bushra; Huerta, Julia; Alexander, Kamila A.; St.Vil, Noelle M.; Campbell, Jacquelyn C.; Callwood, Gloria B.

2016-01-01

Objective This study examined knowledge, access, utilization, and barriers to use of resources among Black women exposed to multiple types of intimate partner violence in Baltimore, Maryland and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Methods We analyzed quantitative survey data collected by 163 women recruited from primary care, prenatal or family planning clinics in Baltimore and the USVI. In addition we analyzed qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 11 women. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results A substantial proportion of Black women with multiple types of violence experiences lacked knowledge of, did not have access to, and did not use resources. Barriers to resource use were identified at the individual, relationship, and community levels. Conclusion There is need for programs to develop awareness, promote access and utilization of resources, and eliminate barriers to resource use among abused Black women. PMID:26548679

The Development of Instruments to Measure Attitudes toward Abortion and Knowledge of Abortion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snegroff, Stanley

1976-01-01

This study developed an abortion attitude scale and abortion knowledge inventory that may be utilized by health educators, counselors, and researchers for assessing attitudes toward abortion and knowledge about it. (SK)

Educational Development as a Field: Are We There yet?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shay, Suellen

2012-01-01

This paper contributes to the critical engagement about educational development and its status as a field. The critique focuses in particular on our knowledge and the nature of our knowledge-building. The paper argues that unless we strengthen our knowledge base we will not emerge as a professional field able to engage rigorously and…

Nurses' knowledge and perception of delirium screening and assessment in the intensive care unit: Long-term effectiveness of an education-based knowledge translation intervention.

PubMed

Hickin, Sharon L; White, Sandra; Knopp-Sihota, Jennifer

2017-08-01

To determine the impact of education on nurses' knowledge of delirium, knowledge and perception of a validated screening tool, and delirium screening in the ICU. A quasi-experimental single group pretest-post-test design. A 16 bed ICU in a Canadian urban tertiary care centre. Nursing knowledge and perception were measured at baseline, 3-month and 18-month periods. Delirium screening was then assessed over 24-months. During the study period, 197 surveys were returned; 84 at baseline, 53 at 3-months post education, and 60 at the final assessment period 18-months post intervention. The significant improvements in mean knowledge scores at 3-months post intervention (7.2, SD 1.3) were not maintained at 18-months (5.3, SD 1.1). Screening tool perception scores remained unchanged. Improvements in the perception of utility were significant at both time periods (p=0.03, 0.02 respectively). Physician value significantly improved at 18-months (p=0.01). Delirium screening frequency improved after education (p<0.001) demonstrating a positive correlation over time (p<0.01). Multifaceted education is effective in improving delirium knowledge and screening; however, without sustained effort, progress is transient. Education improved perceived tool utility and over time utility perception and physician value improved. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Agriculture Knowledge Bases for Teaching and Sources of Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Amber H.; Kitchel, Tracy

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the agriculture knowledge bases for teaching of agriculture teachers and to see if a relationship existed between years of teaching experience, sources of knowledge, and development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), using quantitative methods. A model of PCK from mathematics was utilized as a…

Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Sea Turtles in Elementary Students on Zakynthos, Greece.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dimopoulos, Dimitrios I.; Pantis, John D.

2003-01-01

Utilizes a 32-item survey instrument to measure knowledge and attitudes of 5th and 6th grade students regarding sea turtle conservation on Zakynthos, Greece. Results indicate low knowledge scores and high scores for attitudes, but an overall positive correlation between knowledge and attitudes. Knowledge, understanding and/or concern, and locus of…

Graduate student involvement with designing inquiry-based Earth science field projects for the secondary-level classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDermott, J. M.; Scherf, L.; Ward, S.; Cady, P.; Bromley, J.; Varner, R. K.; Froburg, E.

2008-12-01

In a secondary-level Earth System Science (ESS) curriculum, the most authentic learning is achieved through the inquiry-based application of real-world research methods in the context of modern understanding of the interconnected components of the Earth System (e.g. lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere). Following the intensive ESST-1 summer institute at UNH, during which teachers enhance their ESS content knowledge via interactions with UNH faculty, staff, and graduate students, each participating teacher is paired with one graduate student fellow for the duration of the school year. This graduate fellow provides a continuing link between the secondary-level school teaching environment and university resources, facilitating the implementation of new content knowledge and current scientific research methodology into the classroom setting. According to the National Science Education Standards (1), scientific inquiry is the central strategy for teaching science. "In successful science classrooms, teachers and students collaborate in the pursuit of ideas... Students formulate questions and devise ways to answer them, they collect data and decide how to represent it, they organize data to generate knowledge, and they test the reliability of the knowledge they have generated. As they proceed, students explain and justify their work to themselves and to one another, learn to cope with problems such as the limitations of equipment, and react to challenges posed by the teacher and by classmates." To speak to these goals, an ongoing local wetland field study has been conceptualized and implemented in three example classrooms (seventh grade general science, ninth grade physical science and tenth grade biology) in two school systems (Oyster River Middle School in Durham, NH and Berlin High School in Berlin, NH). These field studies were conducted using authentic scientific equipment to collect data, including a Li-Cor 840 infrared CO2 analyzer and handmade sediment coring devices. Students utilized GPS and Google Earth technology both to facilitate the generation of research questions and for accurate geographic location during their field studies. An emphasis was placed on maintaining organized records of observations and data using field notebooks. Every site visit was followed by teacher-guided data analyses, and students communicated their results through a variety of formats, including posters, written reports, and oral presentations. These authentic research experiences create an initial data set which may be referenced in future classroom studies, while effectively engaging students in ESS topics that meet national and state educational standards. (1) National Research Council, 1996.

Research and knowledge in Ontario tobacco control networks.

PubMed

Bickford, Julia J; Kothari, Anita R

2008-01-01

This study sought to better understand the role of research knowledge in Ontario tobacco control networks by asking: 1) How is research managed; 2) How is research evaluated; and 3) How is research utilized? This is a secondary analysis of a qualitative study based on individual semistructured interviews with 29 participants between January and May 2006. These participants were purposefully sampled from across four Ministries in the provincial government (n = 7), non-government (n = 15), and public health organizations (n = 7). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded and analyzed using QSR N7 qualitative software. This study received ethics approval from The University of Western Ontario Health Research Ethics Board. There exists a dissonance between the preference for peer-reviewed, unbiased, non-partisan knowledge to support claims and the need for fast, "real-time" information on which to base tobacco-related policy decisions. Second, there is a great deal of tacit knowledge held by experts within the Ontario tobacco control community. The networks among government, non-government, and public health organizations are the structures through which tacit knowledge is exchanged. These networks are dynamic, fluid and shifting. There exists a gap in the production and utilization of research knowledge for tobacco control policy. Tacit knowledge held by experts in Ontario tobacco control networks is an integral means of managing and evaluating research knowledge. Finally, this study builds on Weiss's concept of tactical model of evidence use by highlighting the utilization of research to enhance one's credibility.

ESIP's Earth Science Knowledge Graph (ESKG) Testbed Project: An Automatic Approach to Building Interdisciplinary Earth Science Knowledge Graphs to Improve Data Discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGibbney, L. J.; Jiang, Y.; Burgess, A. B.

2017-12-01

Big Earth observation data have been produced, archived and made available online, but discovering the right data in a manner that precisely and efficiently satisfies user needs presents a significant challenge to the Earth Science (ES) community. An emerging trend in information retrieval community is to utilize knowledge graphs to assist users in quickly finding desired information from across knowledge sources. This is particularly prevalent within the fields of social media and complex multimodal information processing to name but a few, however building a domain-specific knowledge graph is labour-intensive and hard to keep up-to-date. In this work, we update our progress on the Earth Science Knowledge Graph (ESKG) project; an ESIP-funded testbed project which provides an automatic approach to building a dynamic knowledge graph for ES to improve interdisciplinary data discovery by leveraging implicit, latent existing knowledge present within across several U.S Federal Agencies e.g. NASA, NOAA and USGS. ESKG strengthens ties between observations and user communities by: 1) developing a knowledge graph derived from various sources e.g. Web pages, Web Services, etc. via natural language processing and knowledge extraction techniques; 2) allowing users to traverse, explore, query, reason and navigate ES data via knowledge graph interaction. ESKG has the potential to revolutionize the way in which ES communities interact with ES data in the open world through the entity, spatial and temporal linkages and characteristics that make it up. This project enables the advancement of ESIP collaboration areas including both Discovery and Semantic Technologies by putting graph information right at our fingertips in an interactive, modern manner and reducing the efforts to constructing ontology. To demonstrate the ESKG concept, we will demonstrate use of our framework across NASA JPL's PO.DAAC, NOAA's Earth Observation Requirements Evaluation System (EORES) and various USGS systems.

Genomics and Evolution in Traditional Medicinal Plants: Road to a Healthier Life

PubMed Central

Hao, Da-Cheng; Xiao, Pei-Gen

2015-01-01

Medicinal plants have long been utilized in traditional medicine and ethnomedicine worldwide. This review presents a glimpse of the current status of and future trends in medicinal plant genomics, evolution, and phylogeny. These dynamic fields are at the intersection of phytochemistry and plant biology and are concerned with the evolution mechanisms and systematics of medicinal plant genomes, origin and evolution of the plant genotype and metabolic phenotype, interaction between medicinal plant genomes and their environment, the correlation between genomic diversity and metabolite diversity, and so on. Use of the emerging high-end genomic technologies can be expanded from crop plants to traditional medicinal plants, in order to expedite medicinal plant breeding and transform them into living factories of medicinal compounds. The utility of molecular phylogeny and phylogenomics in predicting chemodiversity and bioprospecting is also highlighted within the context of natural-product-based drug discovery and development. Representative case studies of medicinal plant genome, phylogeny, and evolution are summarized to exemplify the expansion of knowledge pedigree and the paradigm shift to the omics-based approaches, which update our awareness about plant genome evolution and enable the molecular breeding of medicinal plants and the sustainable utilization of plant pharmaceutical resources. PMID:26461812

Kansas State University DOE/KEURP Site Operator Program. Year 3, Third quarter report, January 1, 1994--March 31, 1994

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

Hague, J.R.

Formed on July 15, 1981, the goal of this program is to undertake applied research and development projects that may enhance reliability and minimize the cost of electric service in Kansas. The Kansas Electric Utilities Research Program (KEURP) is a contractual joint venture between six major electric utilities that serve the residents of the State of Kansas. The establishment of KEURP was made possible by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). The KCC allowed Kansas electric utilities to include research and development (R & D) costs in their operating expenses, including dues to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Kansas universitiesmore » play a unique role in KEURP with representation on the executive, technical and advisory committees of the program. The universities receive significant direct and indirect support from KEURP through direct funded projects as well as KEURP/EPRI co-funded projects. KEURP is working with EPRI researchers on projects to develop or expand Kansans knowledge and expertise in the fields of high technology and economic development. KEURP is a major source of funding in the electric/hybrid vehicle demonstration program.« less

Genomics and Evolution in Traditional Medicinal Plants: Road to a Healthier Life.

PubMed

Hao, Da-Cheng; Xiao, Pei-Gen

2015-01-01

Medicinal plants have long been utilized in traditional medicine and ethnomedicine worldwide. This review presents a glimpse of the current status of and future trends in medicinal plant genomics, evolution, and phylogeny. These dynamic fields are at the intersection of phytochemistry and plant biology and are concerned with the evolution mechanisms and systematics of medicinal plant genomes, origin and evolution of the plant genotype and metabolic phenotype, interaction between medicinal plant genomes and their environment, the correlation between genomic diversity and metabolite diversity, and so on. Use of the emerging high-end genomic technologies can be expanded from crop plants to traditional medicinal plants, in order to expedite medicinal plant breeding and transform them into living factories of medicinal compounds. The utility of molecular phylogeny and phylogenomics in predicting chemodiversity and bioprospecting is also highlighted within the context of natural-product-based drug discovery and development. Representative case studies of medicinal plant genome, phylogeny, and evolution are summarized to exemplify the expansion of knowledge pedigree and the paradigm shift to the omics-based approaches, which update our awareness about plant genome evolution and enable the molecular breeding of medicinal plants and the sustainable utilization of plant pharmaceutical resources.

Switch on or switch off: an optical DNA sensor based on poly(p-phenylenevinylene) grafted magnetic beads.

PubMed

Srinivas, Anupama R Gulur; Peng, Hui; Barker, David; Travas-Sejdic, Jadranka

2012-05-15

There has been an enormous demand for commercial label-free DNA sensors in a diverse range of fields including pre-emptive medicine, diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and food industry. Addressing the need for sensitive, selective and facile DNA sensors, we demonstrate a novel switch on/off sensor design that utilizes sandwich hybridization between photoluminescent anionic conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE) bound captureprobe coated onto magnetic beads, target and the signaling probe. The hybridization-readout in our sensor was monitored by either fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET, switch-on) or superquenching (switch-off) depending on the type of signaling probe used. Moreover recent designs that utilize beads for sensing DNA have been limited towards using electrostatic interactions or intercalation of dyes to observe FRET. To our knowledge this is the first report of a switch on/off sensor utilizing either FRET or superquenching thus providing flexibility for future development of such rapid, facile and sensitive DNA sensors. The FRET-based sensor was investigated by optimizing the reaction parameters and selectivity. A low detection limit of 240 fmol in 2 mL of SSC buffer was achieved. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Estimating fisheries-induced selection: traditional gear selectivity research meets fisheries-induced evolution.

PubMed

Kuparinen, Anna; Kuikka, Sakari; Merilä, Juha

2009-05-01

The study of fisheries-induced evolution is a research field which is becoming recognized both as an important and interesting problem in applied evolution, as well as a practical management problem in fisheries. Much of the research in fisheries-induced evolution has focussed on quantifying and proving that an evolutionary response has taken place, but less effort has been invested on the actual processes and traits underlying capture of a fish by a fishing gear. This knowledge is not only needed to understand possible phenotypic selection associated to fishing but also to help to device sustainable fisheries and management strategies. Here, we draw attention to the existing knowledge about selectivity of fishing gears and outline the ways in which this information could be utilized in the context of fisheries-induced evolution. To these ends, we will introduce a mathematical framework commonly applied to quantify fishing gear selectivity, illustrate the link between gear selectivity and the change in the distribution of phenotypes induced by fishing, review what is known about selectivity of commonly used fishing gears, and discuss how this knowledge could be applied to improve attempts to predict evolutionary impacts of fishing.

[Essentials of pharmacophylogeny: knowledge pedigree, epistemology and paradigm shift].

PubMed

Hao, Da-cheng; Xiao, Pei-gen; Liu, Li-wei; Peng, Yong; He, Chun-nian

2015-09-01

Chinese materia medica resource (CMM resource) is the foundation of the development of traditional Chinese medicine. In the study of sustainable utilization of CMM resource, adopting innovative theory and method to find new CMM resource is one of hotspots and always highlighted. Pharmacophylogeny interrogates the phylogenetic relationship of medicinal organisms (especially medicinal plants), as well as the intrinsic correlation of morphological taxonomy, molecular phylogeny, chemical constituents, and therapeutic efficacy (ethnopharmacology and pharmacological activity). This new discipline may have the power to change the way we utilize medicinal plant resources and develop plant-based drugs. Phylogenomics is the crossing of evolutionary biology and genomics, in which genome data are utilized for evolutionary reconstructions. Phylogenomics can be integrated into the flow chart of drug discovery and development, and extends the field of pharmacophylogeny at the omic level, thus the concept of pharmacophylogenomics could be redefined in the context of plant pharmaceutical resources. This contribution gives a brief discourse of knowledge pedigree of pharmacophylogeny, epistemology and paradigm shift, highlighting the theoretical and practical values of pharmacophylogenomics. Many medicinally important tribes and genera, such as Clematis, Pulsatilla, Anemone, Cimicifugeae, Nigella, Delphinieae, Adonideae, Aquilegia, Thalictrum, and Coptis, belong to Ranunculaceae family. Compared to other plant families, Ranunculaceae has the most species that are recorded in China Pharmacopoeia (CP) 2010. However, many Ranunculaceae species, e. g., those that are closely related to CP species, as well as those endemic to China, have not been investigated in depth, and their phylogenetic relationship and potential in medicinal use remain elusive. As such, it is proposed to select Ranunculaceae to exemplify the utility of pharmacophylogenomics and to elaborate the new concept empirically. It is argued that phylogenetic and evolutionary relationship of medicinally important tribes and genera within Ranunculaceae could be elucidated at the genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic levels, from which the intrinsic correlation between medicinal plant genotype and metabolic phenotype, and between genetic diversity and chemodivesity of closely related taxa, could be revealed. This proof-of-concept study regards pharmacophylogenomics as the updated version of pharmacophylogeny and would enrich the intension and spread the extension of pharmacophylogeny. The interdisciplinary knowledge and techniques will be integrated in the proposed study to promote development of CMM resource discipline and to boost sustainable development of Chinese medicinal plant resources.

Introducing Agronomy Students to the Concepts of Indigenous and Cultural Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schafer, John

1993-01-01

Presents a role for indigenous knowledge in extension education and research programs. Defines indigenous knowledge and then predicts efforts to utilize indigenous knowledge to facilitate the development of agriculture systems that will be agronomically, environmentally, and economically sound and enhance acceptance by practitioners because of the…

Knowledge Inertia and Organizational Learning as the Explanation of Organizational Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aküzüm, Cemal

2014-01-01

Knowledge is an important concept for individuals and organizations both as a power and source. Thus, knowledge management has become important subject for researchers. However, when people encounter problems, they usually try to produce solutions by utilizing their previous knowledge and experience. Such problem solving strategies are called…

Utilization of an Educational Web-Based Mobile App for Acquisition and Transfer of Critical Anatomical Knowledge, Thereby Increasing Classroom and Laboratory Preparedness in Veterinary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannon, Kevin

2017-01-01

Contact time with students is becoming more valuable and must be utilized efficiently. Unfortunately, many students attend anatomy lectures and labs ill-prepared, and this limits efficiency. To address this issue we have created an interactive mobile app designed to facilitate the acquisition and transfer of critical anatomical knowledge in…

Federal Funding for Education Knowledge Production and Utilization: KPU Function, by Agency. R&D Systems Studies. Technical Report No. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Ward S.; And Others

This report examines support for education Knowledge Production and Utilization (KPU) using data provided by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Study Project on Social Research and Development. The scope of education KPU is discussed in terms of social policy areas relevant to education and activities relevant to KPU. The conceptual framework…

Case-based reasoning for space applications: Utilization of prior experience in knowledge-based systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, James A.

1987-01-01

The goal is to explain Case-Based Reasoning as a vehicle to establish knowledge-based systems based on experimental reasoning for possible space applications. This goal will be accomplished through an examination of reasoning based on prior experience in a sample domain, and also through a presentation of proposed space applications which could utilize Case-Based Reasoning techniques.

The Normative Structure of Knowledge Production and Utilization in Education. Volume 2. Case Studies of the Infrastructure of Educational R and D.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markley, O. W.

This is the second volume of a report on a study that (1) investigated the "normative structure" (the governance system) of knowledge production and utilization (KPU) activities in education, (2) developed an analytical framework through which to understand how formal policy acts as a "regulator" of activities in KPU, (3) described the major…

Children with paralytic poliomyelitis: utilization of physiotherapy services in Zamfara State, Nigeria.

PubMed

Ogwumike, Omoyemi O; Kaka, Bashir; Adeniyi, Ade F

2013-02-01

Physiotherapy is usually indicated for health promotion and the rehabilitation of individuals with paralytic poliomyelitis. The endemic nature of this condition in children in Zamfara State, Nigeria necessitated investigation into the utilization of physiotherapy services by parents or primary caregivers of children affected with polio in this sub-region. Parents and primary caregivers of children with paralytic poliomyelitis were recruited using a purposive multi-stage sampling procedure in a cross-sectional survey. Factors associated with the utilization of physiotherapy services were assessed based on questions extracted from a 4-part, 52-item structured questionnaire originally designed for a study which investigated knowledge, attitude, and beliefs of parents of children with paralytic poliomyelitis. A total of 217 participants were included in this study. The mean age was 32.29 ± 9.89 years and the mean knowledge of polio score was 62.0 ± 17.3%. The mean age of the children with paralytic poliomyelitis was 6.41 ± 2.50 years. Only 27.2% of the parents or primary caregivers had utilized physiotherapy service for their children at some point. No association existed between utilization of physiotherapy service and 'knowledge of paralytic poliomyelitis', 'employment status', and 'family income' of respondents. Explanations for low utilization of physiotherapy services for children with paralytic poliomyelitis by parents or primary caregivers are discussed.

Postnatal care utilization among urban women in northern Ethiopia: cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Gebrehiwot, Genet; Medhanyie, Araya Abrha; Gidey, Gebreamlak; Abrha, Kidan

2018-05-30

Postnatal care service enables health professionals to identify post-delivery problems including potential complications for the mother with her baby and to provide treatments promptly. In Ethiopia, postnatal care service is made accessible to all women for free however the utilization of the service is very low. This study assessed the utilization of postnatal care services of urban women and the factors associated in public health facilities in Mekelle city, Tigrai Region, Northern Ethiopia. A facility based cross sectional study design was used to assess post natal service utilization. Using simple random sampling 367 women who visited maternal and child health clinics in Mekelle city for postnatal care services during January 27 to April 2014 were selected. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0 software. A binary and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with the outcome variables. P-value less than 0.05 is used to declare statistical significance. The prevalence of women who utilized postnatal care service was low (32.2%). Women who were private employees and business women were more likely to utilize postnatal care services (AOR = 6.46, 95% CI: 1.91-21.86) and (3.35, 95% CI: 1.10-10.19) respectively compared to house wives., Women who had history of one pregnancy were more likely to utilize the service (AOR = 3.19, 95% CI: 1.06-9.57) compared to women who had history of four and above pregnancies. Women who had knowledge of postnatal care service were also more likely to utilize postnatal care service (AOR = 14.46, 95% CI: 7.55-27.75) than women who lacked knowledge about the services. Postnatal care utilization in the study area is low. Knowledge on postnatal care services and occupation of women had positive impact on postnatal care service utilization. The Mekelle city administration health office and other stakeholders should support and encourage urban health extension workers and health facilities to strengthen providing health education to improve the knowledge of the women about the importance of postnatal care services.

Cellular automata and its applications in protein bioinformatics.

PubMed

Xiao, Xuan; Wang, Pu; Chou, Kuo-Chen

2011-09-01

With the explosion of protein sequences generated in the postgenomic era, it is highly desirable to develop high-throughput tools for rapidly and reliably identifying various attributes of uncharacterized proteins based on their sequence information alone. The knowledge thus obtained can help us timely utilize these newly found protein sequences for both basic research and drug discovery. Many bioinformatics tools have been developed by means of machine learning methods. This review is focused on the applications of a new kind of science (cellular automata) in protein bioinformatics. A cellular automaton (CA) is an open, flexible and discrete dynamic model that holds enormous potentials in modeling complex systems, in spite of the simplicity of the model itself. Researchers, scientists and practitioners from different fields have utilized cellular automata for visualizing protein sequences, investigating their evolution processes, and predicting their various attributes. Owing to its impressive power, intuitiveness and relative simplicity, the CA approach has great potential for use as a tool for bioinformatics.

Task automation in a successful industrial telerobot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spelt, Philip F.; Jones, Sammy L.

1994-01-01

In this paper, we discuss cooperative work by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Remotec, Inc., to automate components of the operator's workload using Remotec's Andros telerobot, thereby providing an enhanced user interface which can be retrofit to existing fielded units as well as being incorporated into new production units. Remotec's Andros robots are presently used by numerous electric utilities to perform tasks in reactors where substantial exposure to radiation exists, as well as by the armed forces and numerous law enforcement agencies. The automation of task components, as well as the video graphics display of the robot's position in the environment, will enhance all tasks performed by these users, as well as enabling performance in terrain where the robots cannot presently perform due to lack of knowledge about, for instance, the degree of tilt of the robot. Enhanced performance of a successful industrial mobile robot leads to increased safety and efficiency of performance in hazardous environments. The addition of these capabilities will greatly enhance the utility of the robot, as well as its marketability.

Development of an expert system for power quality advisement using CLIPS 6.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chandrasekaran, A.; Sarma, P. R. R.; Sundaram, Ashok

1994-01-01

Proliferation of power electronic devices has brought in its wake both deterioration in and demand for quality power supply from the utilities. The power quality problems become apparent when the user's equipment or systems maloperate or fail. Since power quality concerns arise from a wide variety of sources and the problem fixes are better achieved from the expertise of field engineers, development of an expert system for power quality advisement seems to be a very attractive and cost-effective solution for utility applications. An expert system thus developed gives an understanding of the adverse effects of power quality related problems on the system and could help in finding remedial solutions. The paper reports the design of a power quality advisement expert system being developed using CLIPS 6.0. A brief outline of the power quality concerns is first presented. A description of the knowledge base is next given and details of actual implementation include screen output from the program.

Challenges in analysis of high-molar mass dextrans: comparison of HPSEC, AsFlFFF and DOSY NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Maina, Ndegwa Henry; Pitkänen, Leena; Heikkinen, Sami; Tuomainen, Päivi; Virkki, Liisa; Tenkanen, Maija

2014-01-01

Dilute solutions of various dextran standards, a high-molar mass (HMM) commercial dextran from Leuconostoc spp., and HMM dextrans isolated from Weissella confusa and Leuconostoc citreum were analyzed with high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AsFlFFF), and diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY). HPSEC analyses were performed in aqueous and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solutions, while only aqueous solutions were utilized in AsFlFFF and DOSY. The study showed that all methods were applicable to dextran analysis, but differences between the aqueous and DMSO-based solutions were obtained for HMM samples. These differences were attributed to the presence of aggregates in aqueous solution that were less prevalent in DMSO. The study showed that DOSY provides an estimate of the size of HMM dextrans, though calibration standards may be required for each experimental set-up. To our knowledge, this is the first study utilizing these three methods in analyzing HMM dextrans. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of indirect evidence and traditional ecological knowledge in the discovery and description of new ape and monkey species since 1980.

PubMed

Rossi, Lorenzo; Gippoliti, Spartaco; Angelici, Francesco Maria

2018-06-04

Although empirical data are necessary to describe new species, their discoveries can be guided from the survey of the so-called circumstantial evidence (that indirectly determines the existence or nonexistence of a fact). Yet this type of evidence, generally linked to traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), is often disputed by field biologists due to its uncertain nature and, on account of that, generally untapped by them. To verify this behavior and the utility of circumstantial evidence, we reviewed the existing literature about the species of apes and monkeys described or rediscovered since January 1, 1980 and submitted a poll to the authors. The results show that circumstantial evidence has proved to be useful in 40.5% of the examined cases and point to the possibility that its use could speed up the process at the heart of the discovery and description of new species, an essential step for conservation purposes.

E-learning implementation in superior technical educational system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musca, Gavril; Mihalache, Andrei; Musca, Elena

2016-11-01

E-learning methods apply to most modern and various domains but also represent a great tool for the mechanical educational system where there are a lot of sustained efforts for its implementation. Using, administrating and maintaining an e-learning system for a certain field of study requires knowledge related to computation system's utilization but also the understanding the working mechanisms behind it that allows the system to be fully customized in order to be perfect fitted to the user's needs and requirements. A Moodle based test is evaluated from several points of views such as coherence clarity, concise content, information synthesis capacity and the presentation mode which makes the difference between clear or fuzzy graphical representations or terms. The authors appreciate that the ability of managing information in real time by the professor is a decisive decision in order to successfully implement an e-learning web platform. Updating information and structuring trainee's activities from thoroughgoing study up to their individual proposals for conceived applications leads to a better understanding and practical knowledge of theory.

Development of description framework of pharmacodynamics ontology and its application to possible drug-drug interaction reasoning.

PubMed

Imai, Takeshi; Hayakawa, Masayo; Ohe, Kazuhiko

2013-01-01

Prediction of synergistic or antagonistic effects of drug-drug interaction (DDI) in vivo has been of considerable interest over the years. Formal representation of pharmacological knowledge such as ontology is indispensable for machine reasoning of possible DDIs. However, current pharmacology knowledge bases are not sufficient to provide formal representation of DDI information. With this background, this paper presents: (1) a description framework of pharmacodynamics ontology; and (2) a methodology to utilize pharmacodynamics ontology to detect different types of possible DDI pairs with supporting information such as underlying pharmacodynamics mechanisms. We also evaluated our methodology in the field of drugs related to noradrenaline signal transduction process and 11 different types of possible DDI pairs were detected. The main features of our methodology are the explanation capability of the reason for possible DDIs and the distinguishability of different types of DDIs. These features will not only be useful for providing supporting information to prescribers, but also for large-scale monitoring of drug safety.

Pregnancy and Infants' Outcome: Nutritional and Metabolic Implications.

PubMed

Berti, C; Cetin, I; Agostoni, C; Desoye, G; Devlieger, R; Emmett, P M; Ensenauer, R; Hauner, H; Herrera, E; Hoesli, I; Krauss-Etschmann, S; Olsen, S F; Schaefer-Graf, U; Schiessl, B; Symonds, M E; Koletzko, B

2016-01-01

Pregnancy is a complex period of human growth, development, and imprinting. Nutrition and metabolism play a crucial role for the health and well-being of both mother and fetus, as well as for the long-term health of the offspring. Nevertheless, several biological and physiological mechanisms related to nutritive requirements together with their transfer and utilization across the placenta are still poorly understood. In February 2009, the Child Health Foundation invited leading experts of this field to a workshop to critically review and discuss current knowledge, with the aim to highlight priorities for future research. This paper summarizes our main conclusions with regards to maternal preconceptional body mass index, gestational weight gain, placental and fetal requirements in relation to adverse pregnancy and long-term outcomes of the fetus (nutritional programming). We conclude that there is an urgent need to develop further human investigations aimed at better understanding of the basis of biochemical mechanisms and pathophysiological events related to maternal-fetal nutrition and offspring health. An improved knowledge would help to optimize nutritional recommendations for pregnancy.

[Health system sustainability from a network perspective: a proposal to optimize healthy habits and social support].

PubMed

Marqués Sánchez, Pilar; Fernández Peña, Rosario; Cabrera León, Andrés; Muñoz Doyague, María F; Llopis Cañameras, Jaime; Arias Ramos, Natalia

2013-01-01

The search of new health management formulas focused to give wide services is one of the priorities of our present health policies. Those formulas examine the optimization of the links between the main actors involved in public health, ie, users, professionals, local socio-political and corporate agents. This paper is aimed to introduce the Social Network Analysis as a method for analyzing, measuring and interpreting those connections. The knowledge of people's relationships (what is called social networks) in the field of public health is becoming increasingly important at an international level. In fact, countries such as UK, Netherlands, Italy, Australia and U.S. are looking formulas to apply this knowledge to their health departments. With this work we show the utility of the ARS on topics related to sustainability of the health system, particularly those related with health habits and social support, topics included in the 2020 health strategies that underline the importance of the collaborative aspects in networks.

Field Test of the World Health Organization Multi-Professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide

PubMed Central

Farley, Donna; Zheng, Hao; Rousi, Eirini; Leotsakos, Agnès

2015-01-01

Introduction Although the importance of training in patient safety has been acknowledged for over a decade, it remains under-utilized and under-valued in most countries. WHO developed the Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide to provide schools with the requirements and tools for incorporating patient safety in education. It was field tested with 12 participating schools across the six WHO regions, to assess its effectiveness for teaching patient safety to undergraduate and graduate students in a global variety of settings. Methods The evaluation used a combined prospective/retrospective design to generate formative information on the experiences of working with the Guide and summative information on the impacts of the Guide. Using stakeholder interviews and student surveys, data were gathered from each participating school at three times: the start of the field test (baseline), soon after each school started teaching, and soon after each school finished teaching. Results Stakeholders interviewed were strongly positive about the Guide, noting that it emphasized universally important patient safety topics, was culturally appropriate for their countries, and gave credibility and created a focus on patient safety at their schools. Student perceptions and attitudes regarding patient safety improved substantially during the field test, and their knowledge of the topics they were taught doubled, from 10.7% to 20.8% of correct answers on the student survey. Discussion This evaluation documented the effectiveness of the Curriculum Guide, for both ease of use by schools and its impacts on improving the patient safety knowledge of healthcare students. WHO should be well positioned to refine the contents of the Guide and move forward in encouraging broader use of the Guide globally for teaching patient safety. PMID:26406893

Field Test of the World Health Organization Multi-Professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide.

PubMed

Farley, Donna; Zheng, Hao; Rousi, Eirini; Leotsakos, Agnès

2015-01-01

Although the importance of training in patient safety has been acknowledged for over a decade, it remains under-utilized and under-valued in most countries. WHO developed the Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide to provide schools with the requirements and tools for incorporating patient safety in education. It was field tested with 12 participating schools across the six WHO regions, to assess its effectiveness for teaching patient safety to undergraduate and graduate students in a global variety of settings. The evaluation used a combined prospective/retrospective design to generate formative information on the experiences of working with the Guide and summative information on the impacts of the Guide. Using stakeholder interviews and student surveys, data were gathered from each participating school at three times: the start of the field test (baseline), soon after each school started teaching, and soon after each school finished teaching. Stakeholders interviewed were strongly positive about the Guide, noting that it emphasized universally important patient safety topics, was culturally appropriate for their countries, and gave credibility and created a focus on patient safety at their schools. Student perceptions and attitudes regarding patient safety improved substantially during the field test, and their knowledge of the topics they were taught doubled, from 10.7% to 20.8% of correct answers on the student survey. This evaluation documented the effectiveness of the Curriculum Guide, for both ease of use by schools and its impacts on improving the patient safety knowledge of healthcare students. WHO should be well positioned to refine the contents of the Guide and move forward in encouraging broader use of the Guide globally for teaching patient safety.

Stochastic and Deterministic Approaches to Gas-grain Modeling of Interstellar Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasyunin, Anton; Herbst, Eric; Caselli, Paola

During the last decade, our understanding of the chemistry on surfaces of interstellar grains has been significantly enchanced. Extensive laboratory studies have revealed complex structure and dynamics in interstellar ice analogues, thus making our knowledge much more detailed. In addition, the first qualitative investigations of new processes were made, such as non-thermal chemical desorption of species from dust grains into the gas. Not surprisingly, the rapid growth of knowledge about the physics and chemistry of interstellar ices led to the development of a new generation of astrochemical models. The models are typically characterized by more detailed treatments of the ice physics and chemistry than previously. The utilized numerical approaches vary greatly from microscopic models, in which every single molecule is traced, to ``mean field'' macroscopic models, which simulate the evolution of averaged characteristics of interstellar ices, such as overall bulk composition. While microscopic models based on a stochastic Monte Carlo approach are potentially able to simulate the evolution of interstellar ices with an account of most subtle effects found in a laboratory, their use is often impractical due to limited knowledge about star-forming regions and huge computational demands. On the other hand, deterministic macroscopic models that often utilize kinetic rate equations are computationally efficient but experience difficulties in incorporation of such potentially important effects as ice segregation or discreteness of surface chemical reactions. In my talk, I will review the state of the art in the development of gas-grain astrochemical models. I will discuss how to incorporate key features of ice chemistry and dynamics in the gas-grain astrochemical models, and how the incorporation of recent laboratory findings into gas-grain models helps to better match observations.

The role of community mental health nurses caring for people with schizophrenia in Taiwan: a substantive grounded theory.

PubMed

Huang, Xuan-Yi; Yen, Wen-Jiuan; Liu, Shwu-Jiuan; Lin, Chouh-Jiuan

2008-03-01

The aim was to develop a practice theory that can be used to guide the direction of community nursing practice to help clients with schizophrenia and those who care for them. Substantive grounded theory was developed through use of grounded theory method of Strauss and Corbin. Two groups of participants in Taiwan were selected using theoretical sampling: one group consisted of community mental health nurses and the other group was clients with schizophrenia and those who cared for them. The number of participants in each group was determined by theoretical saturation. Semi-structured one-to-one in-depth interviews and unstructured non-participant observation were utilized for data collection. Data analysis involved three stages: open, axial and selective coding. During the process of coding and analysis, both inductive and deductive thinking were utilized and the constant comparative analysis process continued until data saturation occurred. To establish trustworthiness, the four criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability were followed along with field trial, audit trial, member check and peer debriefing for reliability and validity. A substantive grounded theory, the role of community mental health nurses caring for people with schizophrenia in Taiwan, was developed through utilization of grounded theory method of Strauss and Corbin. In this paper, results and discussion focus on causal conditions, context, intervening conditions, consequences and phenomenon. The theory is the first to contribute knowledge about the field of mental health home visiting services in Taiwan to provide guidance for the delivery of quality care to assist people in the community with schizophrenia and their carers.

Eating from the wild: diversity of wild edible plants used by Tibetans in Shangri-la region, Yunnan, China

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Locally harvested wild edible plants (WEPs) provide food as well as cash income for indigenous people and are of great importance in ensuring global food security. Some also play a significant role in maintaining the productivity and stability of traditional agro-ecosystems. Shangri-la region of Yunnan Province, SW China, is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot. People living there have accumulated traditional knowledge about plants. However, with economic development, WEPs are threatened and the associated traditional knowledge is in danger of being lost. Therefore, ethnobotanical surveys were conducted throughout this area to investigate and document the wild edible plants traditionally used by local Tibetan people. Methods Twenty-nine villages were selected to carry out the field investigations. Information was collected using direct observation, semi-structured interviews, individual discussions, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires and participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Results Information about 168 wild edible plant species in 116 genera of 62 families was recorded and specimens were collected. Most species were edible greens (80 species) or fruits (78). These WEPs are sources for local people, especially those living in remote rural areas, to obtain mineral elements and vitamins. More than half of the species (70%) have multiple use(s) besides food value. Some are crop wild relatives that could be used for crop improvement. Several also have potential values for further commercial exploitation. However, the utilization of WEPs and related knowledge are eroding rapidly, especially in the areas with convenient transportation and booming tourism. Conclusion Wild food plants species are abundant and diverse in Shangri-la region. They provide food and nutrients to local people and could also be a source of cash income. However, both WEPs and their associated indigenous knowledge are facing various threats. Thus, conservation and sustainable utilization of these plants in this area are of the utmost importance. Documentation of these species may provide basic information for conservation, possibly further exploitation, and will preserve local traditional knowledge. PMID:23597086

Knowledge Management Implementation and the Tools Utilized in Healthcare for Evidence-Based Decision Making: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Shahmoradi, Leila; Safadari, Reza; Jimma, Worku

2017-09-01

Healthcare is a knowledge driven process and thus knowledge management and the tools to manage knowledge in healthcare sector are gaining attention. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate knowledge management implementation and knowledge management tools used in healthcare for informed decision making. Three databases, two journals websites and Google Scholar were used as sources for the review. The key terms used to search relevant articles include: "Healthcare and Knowledge Management"; "Knowledge Management Tools in Healthcare" and "Community of Practices in healthcare". It was found that utilization of knowledge management in healthcare is encouraging. There exist numbers of opportunities for knowledge management implementation, though there are some barriers as well. Some of the opportunities that can transform healthcare are advances in health information and communication technology, clinical decision support systems, electronic health record systems, communities of practice and advanced care planning. Providing the right knowledge at the right time, i.e., at the point of decision making by implementing knowledge management in healthcare is paramount. To do so, it is very important to use appropriate tools for knowledge management and user-friendly system because it can significantly improve the quality and safety of care provided for patients both at hospital and home settings.

Local Knowledge and Conservation of Seagrasses in the Tamil Nadu State of India

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Local knowledge systems are not considered in the conservation of fragile seagrass marine ecosystems. In fact, little is known about the utility of seagrasses in local coastal communities. This is intriguing given that some local communities rely on seagrasses to sustain their livelihoods and have relocated their villages to areas with a rich diversity and abundance of seagrasses. The purpose of this study is to assist in conservation efforts regarding seagrasses through identifying Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from local knowledge systems of seagrasses from 40 coastal communities along the eastern coast of India. We explore the assemblage of scientific and local traditional knowledge concerning the 1. classification of seagrasses (comparing scientific and traditional classification systems), 2. utility of seagrasses, 3. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of seagrasses, and 4. current conservation efforts for seagrass ecosystems. Our results indicate that local knowledge systems consist of a complex classification of seagrass diversity that considers the role of seagrasses in the marine ecosystem. This fine-scaled ethno-classification gives rise to five times the number of taxa (10 species = 50 local ethnotaxa), each with a unique role in the ecosystem and utility within coastal communities, including the use of seagrasses for medicine (e.g., treatment of heart conditions, seasickness, etc.), food (nutritious seeds), fertilizer (nutrient rich biomass) and livestock feed (goats and sheep). Local communities are concerned about the loss of seagrass diversity and have considerable local knowledge that is valuable for conservation and restoration plans. This study serves as a case study example of the depth and breadth of local knowledge systems for a particular ecosystem that is in peril. Key words: local health and nutrition, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), conservation and natural resources management, consensus, ethnomedicine, ethnotaxa, cultural heritage PMID:22112297

Where is The Dark Matter: The Flow-field From 2MASS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crook, Aidan; Huchra, J.; Macri, L.; Masters, K.; Jarrett, T.

2009-01-01

We present a map of the flow-field constructed from groups of galaxies in the 2MASS Redshift Survey. Previous efforts have suffered because the underlying surveys either did not penetrate to low galactic latitudes or were not sensitive to elliptical galaxies, thereby missing a significant fraction of the mass. The 2MASS Redshift Survey provides a uniform all-sky magnitude-limited sample in the J, H and Ks bands, 97% complete to Ks<11.75 and |b|>10°, sensitive to both ellipticals and spirals. We demonstrate how utilizing the properties of galaxy groups leads to improved predictions of peculiar velocities in the nearby Universe, and use dynamical mass estimates to construct a reliable flow-field to 12,000 km/s. We demonstrate its effectiveness in providing distance estimates, and discuss the advantages of this model over earlier work. With independent knowledge of the peculiar velocity of the Local Group, we discuss the implications for the matter density parameter and bias. This work is supported by a Whiteman Fellowship and NSF grant AST-0406906.

Bayesian superresolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isakson, Steve Wesley

2001-12-01

Well-known principles of physics explain why resolution restrictions occur in images produced by optical diffraction-limited systems. The limitations involved are present in all diffraction-limited imaging systems, including acoustical and microwave. In most circumstances, however, prior knowledge about the object and the imaging system can lead to resolution improvements. In this dissertation I outline a method to incorporate prior information into the process of reconstructing images to superresolve the object beyond the above limitations. This dissertation research develops the details of this methodology. The approach can provide the most-probable global solution employing a finite number of steps in both far-field and near-field images. In addition, in order to overcome the effects of noise present in any imaging system, this technique provides a weighted image that quantifies the likelihood of various imaging solutions. By utilizing Bayesian probability, the procedure is capable of incorporating prior information about both the object and the noise to overcome the resolution limitation present in many imaging systems. Finally I will present an imaging system capable of detecting the evanescent waves missing from far-field systems, thus improving the resolution further.

Application of historical mobility testing to sensor-based robotic performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willoughby, William E.; Jones, Randolph A.; Mason, George L.; Shoop, Sally A.; Lever, James H.

2006-05-01

The USA Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has conducted on-/off-road experimental field testing with full-sized and scale-model military vehicles for more than fifty years. Some 4000 acres of local terrain are available for tailored field evaluations or verification/validation of future robotic designs in a variety of climatic regimes. Field testing and data collection procedures, as well as techniques for quantifying terrain in engineering terms, have been developed and refined into algorithms and models for predicting vehicle-terrain interactions and resulting forces or speeds of military-sized vehicles. Based on recent experiments with Matilda, Talon, and Pacbot, these predictive capabilities appear to be relevant to most robotic systems currently in development. Utilization of current testing capabilities with sensor-based vehicle drivers, or use of the procedures for terrain quantification from sensor data, would immediately apply some fifty years of historical knowledge to the development, refinement, and implementation of future robotic systems. Additionally, translation of sensor-collected terrain data into engineering terms would allow assessment of robotic performance a priori deployment of the actual system and ensure maximum system performance in the theater of operation.

Field-based generation and social validation managers and staff competencies for small community residences.

PubMed

Thousand, J S; Burchard, S N; Hasazi, J E

1986-01-01

Characteristics and competencies for four staff positions in community residences for individuals with mental retardation were identified utilizing multiple empirical and deductive methods with field-based practitioners and field-based experts. The more commonly used competency generation methods of expert opinion and job performance analysis generated a high degree of knowledge and skill-based competencies similar to course curricula. Competencies generated by incumbent practitioners through open-ended methods of personal structured interview and critical incident analysis were ones which related to personal style, interpersonal interaction, and humanistic orientation. Although seldom included in staff, paraprofessional, or professional training curricula, these latter competencies include those identified by Carl Rogers as essential for developing an effective helping relationship in a therapeutic situation (i.e., showing liking, interest, and respect for the clients; being able to communicate positive regard to the client). Of 21 core competency statements selected as prerequisites to employment for all four staff positions, the majority (17 of 21) represented interpersonal skills important to working with others, including responsiveness to resident needs, personal valuation of persons with mental retardation, and normalization principles.

Hot topics: Signal processing in acoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaumond, Charles F.

2005-09-01

Signal processing in acoustics is a multidisciplinary group of people that work in many areas of acoustics. We have chosen two areas that have shown exciting new applications of signal processing to acoustics or have shown exciting and important results from the use of signal processing. In this session, two hot topics are shown: the use of noiselike acoustic fields to determine sound propagation structure and the use of localization to determine animal behaviors. The first topic shows the application of correlation on geo-acoustic fields to determine the Greens function for propagation through the Earth. These results can then be further used to solve geo-acoustic inverse problems. The first topic also shows the application of correlation using oceanic noise fields to determine the Greens function through the ocean. These results also have utility for oceanic inverse problems. The second topic shows exciting results from the detection, localization, and tracking of marine mammals by two different groups. Results from detection and localization of bullfrogs are shown, too. Each of these studies contributed to the knowledge of animal behavior. [Work supported by ONR.

Knowledge-based nonuniform sampling in multidimensional NMR.

PubMed

Schuyler, Adam D; Maciejewski, Mark W; Arthanari, Haribabu; Hoch, Jeffrey C

2011-07-01

The full resolution afforded by high-field magnets is rarely realized in the indirect dimensions of multidimensional NMR experiments because of the time cost of uniformly sampling to long evolution times. Emerging methods utilizing nonuniform sampling (NUS) enable high resolution along indirect dimensions by sampling long evolution times without sampling at every multiple of the Nyquist sampling interval. While the earliest NUS approaches matched the decay of sampling density to the decay of the signal envelope, recent approaches based on coupled evolution times attempt to optimize sampling by choosing projection angles that increase the likelihood of resolving closely-spaced resonances. These approaches employ knowledge about chemical shifts to predict optimal projection angles, whereas prior applications of tailored sampling employed only knowledge of the decay rate. In this work we adapt the matched filter approach as a general strategy for knowledge-based nonuniform sampling that can exploit prior knowledge about chemical shifts and is not restricted to sampling projections. Based on several measures of performance, we find that exponentially weighted random sampling (envelope matched sampling) performs better than shift-based sampling (beat matched sampling). While shift-based sampling can yield small advantages in sensitivity, the gains are generally outweighed by diminished robustness. Our observation that more robust sampling schemes are only slightly less sensitive than schemes highly optimized using prior knowledge about chemical shifts has broad implications for any multidimensional NMR study employing NUS. The results derived from simulated data are demonstrated with a sample application to PfPMT, the phosphoethanolamine methyltransferase of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Basket Studies: Redefining Clinical Trials in the Era of Genome-Driven Oncology.

PubMed

Tao, Jessica J; Schram, Alison M; Hyman, David M

2018-01-29

Understanding a tumor's detailed molecular profile has become increasingly necessary to deliver the standard of care for patients with advanced cancer. Innovations in both tumor genomic sequencing technology and the development of drugs that target molecular alterations have fueled recent gains in genome-driven oncology care. "Basket studies," or histology-agnostic clinical trials in genomically selected patients, represent one important research tool to continue making progress in this field. We review key aspects of genome-driven oncology care, including the purpose and utility of basket studies, biostatistical considerations in trial design, genomic knowledgebase development, and patient matching and enrollment models, which are critical for translating our genomic knowledge into clinically meaningful outcomes.

Enhancing U.S. competitiveness through federal scientific and technical information - Issues and opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.

1990-01-01

The possibility of using federally funded scientific and technical information (STI) to increase U.S. industrial innovation and productivity is discussed. The history of federally funded research and development in the fields of agriculture and aviation is reviewed as an example of successful government-sponsored research. Issues related to the production and utilization of information are considered and federal STI policy is outlined. Issues related to the transfer of knowledge between government agencies and industry are examined and a model depicting the transfer of STI in aerospace research and development is presented. Also, consideration is given to the problem of open communication versus restricted access to STI.

CI Controls for Energy and Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biondo, Samuel J.

1996-01-01

Computational intelligence (CI) is a rapidly evolving field that utilizes life imitating metaphors for guiding model building including, but not limited to neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, artificial life, and hybrid CI paradigms. Although the boundaries between artificial intelligence (AI) and CI are not distinct, their research communities are separate and distinct. CI researchers tend to focus on processing numerical data from sensors, while the AI community generally relies on symbolic computing to capture human knowledge. In both areas, there is a great deal of interest and activity in hybrid systems that can offset the limitations of individual methods, extend their capabilities, and create new capabilities. Examples of the benefits that can accrue from hybrid systems are contained.

Second United States Microgravity Laboratory: One Year Report. Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vlasse, M (Editor); McCauley, D. (Editor); Walker, C. (Editor)

1998-01-01

This document reports the one year science results for the important and highly successful Second United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2). The USML-2 mission consisted of a pressurized Spacelab module where the crew performed experiments. The mission also included a Glovebox where the crew performed additional experiments for the investigators. Together, about 36 major scientific experiments were performed, advancing the state of knowledge in fields such as fluid physics, solidification of metals, alloys, and semiconductors, combustion, and the growth of protein crystals. The results demonstrate the range of quality science that can be conducted utilizing orbital laboratories in microgravity and provide a look forward to a highly productive Space Station era.

Second United States Microgravity Laboratory: One Year Report. Volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vlasse, M. (Editor); McCauley, D. (Editor); Walker, C. (Editor)

1998-01-01

This document reports the one year science results for the important and highly successful Second United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2). The USML-2 mission consisted of a pressurized Spacelab module where the crew performed experiments. The mission also included a Glovebox where the crew performed additional experiments for the investigators. Together, about 36 major scientific experiments were performed, advancing the state of knowledge in fields such as fluid physics, solidification of metals, alloys, and semiconductors, combustion, and the growth of protein crystals. The results demonstrate the range of quality science that can be conducted utilizing orbital laboratories in microgravity and provide a look forward to a highly productive Space Station era.

An application of artificial intelligence theory to reconfigurable flight control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handelman, David A.

1987-01-01

Artificial intelligence techniques were used along with statistical hpyothesis testing and modern control theory, to help the pilot cope with the issues of information, knowledge, and capability in the event of a failure. An intelligent flight control system is being developed which utilizes knowledge of cause and effect relationships between all aircraft components. It will screen the information available to the pilots, supplement his knowledge, and most importantly, utilize the remaining flight capability of the aircraft following a failure. The list of failure types the control system will accommodate includes sensor failures, actuator failures, and structural failures.

Contemplating the fit and utility of nursing theory and nursing scholarship informed by the social sciences and humanities.

PubMed

McIntyre, Marjorie; McDonald, Carol

2013-01-01

In this article, authors contend that a lack of familiarity with philosophical thinking undermines the ability of students and subsequently practicing nurses to theorize for themselves. Engagement with philosophical ideas propels nurses well beyond the unthinking "application" of extant theory, to theorizing, that is, using theoretical formulations to engage with the significant phenomena we encounter in the world of human health. The authors present a framework to guide philosophical interrogation of knowledge, with a focus on the utility of both disciplinary knowledge and knowledge from the social sciences and humanities.

Exceptional know how? Possible pitfalls of routinising genetic services.

PubMed

Schmitz, Dagmar

2010-09-01

Genetic testing practices are increasingly advancing clinical medicine. This process of 'routinisation of genetics' has been conceived as a medical and ethical problem mainly because of the assumption that non-geneticists might lack the necessary skills to provide these services. In particular, the relevant theoretical knowledge in clinical genetics is viewed as insufficient in general practitioners and physicians from other specialities. Empirical findings seem to indicate significant variations not only in theoretical but also in practical knowledge between geneticists and non-geneticists. Several fields of practical knowledge-regarding for example the focus of clinical action, the relevance of therapeutic action or the normative framework-can be identified that are or could be areas of conflict when the routinisation of genetic services proceeds. From an ethical point of view, these variations in know how and background are especially relevant whenever the respective genetic service is concerned with medical information of exceptional normative quality, such as, for example, in prenatal genetic screening and diagnosis of untreatable conditions. Here, the clinically acquired practical knowledge of the non-geneticist could be particularly misleading insofar as there is no relation to therapy and-in a narrow sense-no clinical utility to be assessed. Non-geneticists need a chance to acquire the relevant theoretical and practical knowledge in order to understand and fulfil their own duties in the respective situations in a way that secures the important rights at stake of their patients and clients.

Self-Taught Learning Based on Sparse Autoencoder for E-Nose in Wound Infection Detection

PubMed Central

He, Peilin; Jia, Pengfei; Qiao, Siqi; Duan, Shukai

2017-01-01

For an electronic nose (E-nose) in wound infection distinguishing, traditional learning methods have always needed large quantities of labeled wound infection samples, which are both limited and expensive; thus, we introduce self-taught learning combined with sparse autoencoder and radial basis function (RBF) into the field. Self-taught learning is a kind of transfer learning that can transfer knowledge from other fields to target fields, can solve such problems that labeled data (target fields) and unlabeled data (other fields) do not share the same class labels, even if they are from entirely different distribution. In our paper, we obtain numerous cheap unlabeled pollutant gas samples (benzene, formaldehyde, acetone and ethylalcohol); however, labeled wound infection samples are hard to gain. Thus, we pose self-taught learning to utilize these gas samples, obtaining a basis vector θ. Then, using the basis vector θ, we reconstruct the new representation of wound infection samples under sparsity constraint, which is the input of classifiers. We compare RBF with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), and reach a conclusion that the performance of RBF is superior to others. We also change the dimension of our data set and the quantity of unlabeled data to search the input matrix that produces the highest accuracy. PMID:28991154

Knowledge outcomes within rotational models of social work field education.

PubMed

Birkenmaier, Julie; Curley, Jami; Rowan, Noell L

2012-01-01

This study assessed knowledge outcomes among concurrent, concurrent/sequential, and sequential rotation models of field instruction. Posttest knowledge scores of students ( n = 231) in aging-related field education were higher for students who participated in the concurrent rotation model, and for those who completed field education at a long-term care facility. Scores were also higher for students in programs that infused a higher number of geriatric competencies in their curriculum. Recommendations are provided to programs considering rotation models of field education related to older adults.

The applicability of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework to the practitioner workforce: lessons for competency framework development.

PubMed

Shickle, Darren; Stroud, Laura; Day, Matthew; Smith, Kevin

2018-06-05

Many countries have developed competency frameworks for public health practice. While the number of competencies vary, frameworks cover similar knowledge and skills although they are not explicitly based on competency theory. A total of 15 qualitative group interviews (of up to six people), were conducted with 51 public health practitioners in 8 local authorities to assess the extent to which practitioners utilize competencies defined within the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF). Framework analysis was applied to the transcribed interviews. The overall framework was seen positively although no participants had previously read or utilized the PHSKF. Most could provide evidence, although some PHSKF competencies required creative thinking to fit expectations of practitioners and to reflect variation across the domains of practice which are impacted by job role and level of seniority. Evidence from previous NHS jobs or education may be needed as some competencies were not regularly utilized within their current local authority role. Further development of the PHSKF is required to provide guidance on how it should be used for practitioners and other members of the public health workforce. Empirical research can help benchmark knowledge/skills for workforce levels so improving the utility of competency frameworks.

Children's traditional ecological knowledge of wild food resources: a case study in a rural village in Northeast Thailand

PubMed Central

Setalaphruk, Chantita; Price, Lisa Leimar

2007-01-01

Consuming wild foods is part of the food ways of people in many societies, including farming populations throughout the world. Knowledge of non-domesticated food resources is part of traditional and tacit ecological knowledge, and is largely transmitted through socialization within cultural and household contexts. The context of this study, a small village in Northeast Thailand, is one where the community has experienced changes due to the migration of the parental generation, with the children being left behind in the village to be raised by their grandparents. A case study approach was used in order to gain holistic in-depth insight into children's traditional ecological knowledge as well as patterns of how children acquire their knowledge regarding wild food resources. Techniques used during field data collection are free-listing conducted with 30 village children and the use of a sub-sample of children for more in-depth research. For the sub-sample part of the study, wild food items consisted of a selection of 20 wild food species consisting of 10 species of plants and 10 species of animals. Semi-structured interviews with photo identification, informal interviews and participatory observation were utilized, and both theoretical and practical knowledge scored. The sub-sample covers eight households with boys and girls aged between 10–12 years old from both migrant families and non-migrant families. The knowledge of children was compared and the transmission process was observed. The result of our study shows that there is no observable difference among children who are being raised by grandparents and those being raised by their parents, as there are different channels of knowledge transmission to be taken into consideration, particularly grandparents and peers. The basic ability (knowledge) for naming wild food species remains among village children. However, the practical in-depth knowledge, especially about wild food plants, shows some potential eroding. PMID:17937791

Deepening Understanding of Prior Knowledge: What Diverse First-Generation College Students in the U.S. Can Teach Us

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castillo-Montoya, Milagros

2017-01-01

Educational research indicates that teachers revealing and utilizing students' prior knowledge supports students' academic learning. Yet, the variation in students' prior knowledge is not fully known. To better understand students' prior knowledge, I drew on sociocultural learning theories to examine racially and ethnically diverse college…

Internet Utilization among B.Ed. Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thangarajathi, S.

2011-01-01

Social, Economic and technological changes of the fast decades are making teaching more crucial than ever. The information and knowledge society needs a continuous change in the role and working of teachers. Being a teacher in the Knowledge society, one has to deal with i) new knowledge and new ways for accessing knowledge; ii) a networked world…

The Effects of IT, Task, Workgroup, and Knowledge Factors on Workgroup Outcomes: A Longitudinal Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mudigonda, Srikanth

2010-01-01

Organizations work towards achieving their goals by integrating and utilizing the knowledge available within their boundaries. In order to successfully manage the knowledge-related processes occurring in their workgroups, organizations need to understand how different contingency factors affect the knowledge-related processes of a workgroup,…

The Genome-based Knowledge Management in Cycles model: a complex adaptive systems framework for implementation of genomic applications.

PubMed

Arar, Nedal; Knight, Sara J; Modell, Stephen M; Issa, Amalia M

2011-03-01

The main mission of the Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention Network™ is to advance collaborative efforts involving partners from across the public health sector to realize the promise of genomics in healthcare and disease prevention. We introduce a new framework that supports the Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention Network mission and leverages the characteristics of the complex adaptive systems approach. We call this framework the Genome-based Knowledge Management in Cycles model (G-KNOMIC). G-KNOMIC proposes that the collaborative work of multidisciplinary teams utilizing genome-based applications will enhance translating evidence-based genomic findings by creating ongoing knowledge management cycles. Each cycle consists of knowledge synthesis, knowledge evaluation, knowledge implementation and knowledge utilization. Our framework acknowledges that all the elements in the knowledge translation process are interconnected and continuously changing. It also recognizes the importance of feedback loops, and the ability of teams to self-organize within a dynamic system. We demonstrate how this framework can be used to improve the adoption of genomic technologies into practice using two case studies of genomic uptake.

Induction as Knowledge Integration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Benjamin D.; Rosenbloom, Paul S.

1996-01-01

Two key issues for induction algorithms are the accuracy of the learned hypothesis and the computational resources consumed in inducing that hypothesis. One of the most promising ways to improve performance along both dimensions is to make use of additional knowledge. Multi-strategy learning algorithms tackle this problem by employing several strategies for handling different kinds of knowledge in different ways. However, integrating knowledge into an induction algorithm can be difficult when the new knowledge differs significantly from the knowledge the algorithm already uses. In many cases the algorithm must be rewritten. This paper presents Knowledge Integration framework for Induction (KII), a KII, that provides a uniform mechanism for integrating knowledge into induction. In theory, arbitrary knowledge can be integrated with this mechanism, but in practice the knowledge representation language determines both the knowledge that can be integrated, and the costs of integration and induction. By instantiating KII with various set representations, algorithms can be generated at different trade-off points along these dimensions. One instantiation of KII, called RS-KII, is presented that can implement hybrid induction algorithms, depending on which knowledge it utilizes. RS-KII is demonstrated to implement AQ-11, as well as a hybrid algorithm that utilizes a domain theory and noisy examples. Other algorithms are also possible.

In Situ Resource Utilization Technology Research and Facilities Supporting the NASA's Human Systems Research and Technology Life Support Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schlagheck, Ronald A.; Sibille, Laurent; Sacksteder, Kurt; Owens, Chuck

2005-01-01

The NASA Microgravity Science program has transitioned research required in support of NASA s Vision for Space Exploration. Research disciplines including the Materials Science, Fluid Physics and Combustion Science are now being applied toward projects with application in the planetary utilization and transformation of space resources. The scientific and engineering competencies and infrastructure in these traditional fields developed at multiple NASA Centers and by external research partners provide essential capabilities to support the agency s new exploration thrusts including In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Among the technologies essential to human space exploration, the production of life support consumables, especially oxygen and; radiation shielding; and the harvesting of potentially available water are realistically achieved for long-duration crewed missions only through the use of ISRU. Ongoing research in the physical sciences have produced a body of knowledge relevant to the extraction of oxygen from lunar and planetary regolith and associated reduction of metals and silicon for use meeting manufacturing and repair requirements. Activities being conducted and facilities used in support of various ISRU projects at the Glenn Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center will be described. The presentation will inform the community of these new research capabilities, opportunities, and challenges to utilize their materials, fluids and combustion science expertise and capabilities to support the vision for space exploration.

Knowledge Resources - A Knowledge Management Approach for Digital Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurz, Thomas; Eder, Raimund; Heistracher, Thomas

The paper at hand presents an innovative approach for the conception and implementation of knowledge management in Digital Ecosystems. Based on a reflection of Digital Ecosystem research of the past years, an architecture is outlined which utilizes Knowledge Resources as the central and simplest entities of knowledge transfer. After the discussion of the related conception, the result of a first prototypical implementation is described that helps the transformation of implicit knowledge to explicit knowledge for wide use.

New knowledge-based genetic algorithm for excavator boom structural optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, Haiyan; Lin, Shuwen

2014-03-01

Due to the insufficiency of utilizing knowledge to guide the complex optimal searching, existing genetic algorithms fail to effectively solve excavator boom structural optimization problem. To improve the optimization efficiency and quality, a new knowledge-based real-coded genetic algorithm is proposed. A dual evolution mechanism combining knowledge evolution with genetic algorithm is established to extract, handle and utilize the shallow and deep implicit constraint knowledge to guide the optimal searching of genetic algorithm circularly. Based on this dual evolution mechanism, knowledge evolution and population evolution can be connected by knowledge influence operators to improve the configurability of knowledge and genetic operators. Then, the new knowledge-based selection operator, crossover operator and mutation operator are proposed to integrate the optimal process knowledge and domain culture to guide the excavator boom structural optimization. Eight kinds of testing algorithms, which include different genetic operators, are taken as examples to solve the structural optimization of a medium-sized excavator boom. By comparing the results of optimization, it is shown that the algorithm including all the new knowledge-based genetic operators can more remarkably improve the evolutionary rate and searching ability than other testing algorithms, which demonstrates the effectiveness of knowledge for guiding optimal searching. The proposed knowledge-based genetic algorithm by combining multi-level knowledge evolution with numerical optimization provides a new effective method for solving the complex engineering optimization problem.

Theory of aberration fields for general optical systems with freeform surfaces.

PubMed

Fuerschbach, Kyle; Rolland, Jannick P; Thompson, Kevin P

2014-11-03

This paper utilizes the framework of nodal aberration theory to describe the aberration field behavior that emerges in optical systems with freeform optical surfaces, particularly φ-polynomial surfaces, including Zernike polynomial surfaces, that lie anywhere in the optical system. If the freeform surface is located at the stop or pupil, the net aberration contribution of the freeform surface is field constant. As the freeform optical surface is displaced longitudinally away from the stop or pupil of the optical system, the net aberration contribution becomes field dependent. It is demonstrated that there are no new aberration types when describing the aberration fields that arise with the introduction of freeform optical surfaces. Significantly it is shown that the aberration fields that emerge with the inclusion of freeform surfaces in an optical system are exactly those that have been described by nodal aberration theory for tilted and decentered optical systems. The key contribution here lies in establishing the field dependence and nodal behavior of each freeform term that is essential knowledge for effective application to optical system design. With this development, the nodes that are distributed throughout the field of view for each aberration type can be anticipated and targeted during optimization for the correction or control of the aberrations in an optical system with freeform surfaces. This work does not place any symmetry constraints on the optical system, which could be packaged in a fully three dimensional geometry, without fold mirrors.

People-centred science: strengthening the practice of health policy and systems research

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a transdisciplinary field of global importance, with its own emerging standards for creating, evaluating, and utilizing knowledge, and distinguished by a particular orientation towards influencing policy and wider action to strengthen health systems. In this commentary, we argue that the ability of the HPSR field to influence real world change hinges on its becoming more people-centred. We see people-centredness as recognizing the field of enquiry as one of social construction, requiring those conducting HPSR to locate their own position in the system, and conduct and publish research in a manner that foregrounds human agency attributes and values, and is acutely attentive to policy context. Change occurs at many layers of a health system, shaped by social, political, and economic forces, and brought about by different groups of people who make up the system, including service users and communities. The seeds of transformative practice in HPSR lie in amplifying the breadth and depth of dialogue across health system actors in the conduct of research – recognizing that these actors are all generators, sources, and users of knowledge about the system. While building such a dialogic practice, those conducting HPSR must strive to protect the autonomy and integrity of their ideas and actions, and also clearly explain their own positions and the value-basis of their work. We conclude with a set of questions that health policy and systems researchers may wish to consider in making their practice more people-centred, and hence more oriented toward real-world change. PMID:24739525

People-centred science: strengthening the practice of health policy and systems research.

PubMed

Sheikh, Kabir; George, Asha; Gilson, Lucy

2014-04-17

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a transdisciplinary field of global importance, with its own emerging standards for creating, evaluating, and utilizing knowledge, and distinguished by a particular orientation towards influencing policy and wider action to strengthen health systems. In this commentary, we argue that the ability of the HPSR field to influence real world change hinges on its becoming more people-centred. We see people-centredness as recognizing the field of enquiry as one of social construction, requiring those conducting HPSR to locate their own position in the system, and conduct and publish research in a manner that foregrounds human agency attributes and values, and is acutely attentive to policy context. Change occurs at many layers of a health system, shaped by social, political, and economic forces, and brought about by different groups of people who make up the system, including service users and communities. The seeds of transformative practice in HPSR lie in amplifying the breadth and depth of dialogue across health system actors in the conduct of research - recognizing that these actors are all generators, sources, and users of knowledge about the system. While building such a dialogic practice, those conducting HPSR must strive to protect the autonomy and integrity of their ideas and actions, and also clearly explain their own positions and the value-basis of their work. We conclude with a set of questions that health policy and systems researchers may wish to consider in making their practice more people-centred, and hence more oriented toward real-world change.

Reusable rocket engine turbopump health monitoring system, part 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perry, John G.

1989-01-01

Degradation mechanisms and sensor identification/selection resulted in a list of degradation modes and a list of sensors that are utilized in the diagnosis of these degradation modes. The sensor list is divided into primary and secondary indicators of the corresponding degradation modes. The signal conditioning requirements are discussed, describing the methods of producing the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) post-hot-fire test data to be utilized by the Health Monitoring System. Development of the diagnostic logic and algorithms is also presented. The knowledge engineering approach, as utilized, includes the knowledge acquisition effort, characterization of the expert's problem solving strategy, conceptually defining the form of the applicable knowledge base, and rule base, and identifying an appropriate inferencing mechanism for the problem domain. The resulting logic flow graphs detail the diagnosis/prognosis procedure as followed by the experts. The nature and content of required support data and databases is also presented. The distinction between deep and shallow types of knowledge is identified. Computer coding of the Health Monitoring System is shown to follow the logical inferencing of the logic flow graphs/algorithms.

Reflections on the Field of Higher Education: Time, Space and Sub-Fields

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yokoyama, Keiko

2016-01-01

The objective of this study is to define the field of higher education and clarify its identity. It examines three analytical dimensions which, it proposes, shape the field: knowledge, approach and community. It argues that contextual knowledge around the issue of higher education has defined the field but has not determined techniques that are…

Relating indices of knowledge structure coherence and accuracy to skill-based performance: Is there utility in using a combination of indices?

PubMed

Schuelke, Matthew J; Day, Eric Anthony; McEntire, Lauren E; Boatman, Jazmine Espejo; Wang, Xiaoqian; Kowollik, Vanessa; Boatman, Paul R

2009-07-01

The authors examined the relative criterion-related validity of knowledge structure coherence and two accuracy-based indices (closeness and correlation) as well as the utility of using a combination of knowledge structure indices in the prediction of skill acquisition and transfer. Findings from an aggregation of 5 independent samples (N = 958) whose participants underwent training on a complex computer simulation indicated that coherence and the accuracy-based indices yielded comparable zero-order predictive validities. Support for the incremental validity of using a combination of indices was mixed; the most, albeit small, gain came in pairing coherence and closeness when predicting transfer. After controlling for baseline skill, general mental ability, and declarative knowledge, only coherence explained a statistically significant amount of unique variance in transfer. Overall, the results suggested that the different indices largely overlap in their representation of knowledge organization, but that coherence better reflects adaptable aspects of knowledge organization important to skill transfer.

FIELD EVALUATION OF LOW-EMISSION COAL BURNER TECHNOLOGY ON UTILITY BOILERS VOLUME III. FIELD EVALUATIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of field tests conducted to determine the emission characteristics of a Babcock and Wilcox Circular burner and Dual Register burner (DRB). The field tests were performed at two utility boilers, generally comparable in design and size except for the burner...

An authoring system for creating a practice environment in the network service field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kiyama, Minoru; Fukuhara, Yoshimi

1993-01-01

This paper describes an authoring system whose main purpose is to reduce the cost of developing and maintaining courseware which contains procedural knowledge used in the network service field. This aim can be achieved by considering the characteristics of this field. Material knowledge is divided into two parts, behavioral knowledge and procedural knowledge. We show that both of these parts are constructed by an easy authoring methods and efficient modification algorithms. This authoring system has been used to build several types of courseware, and the development costs have been reduced.

Knowledge evolution in physics research: An analysis of bibliographic coupling networks.

PubMed

Liu, Wenyuan; Nanetti, Andrea; Cheong, Siew Ann

2017-01-01

Even as we advance the frontiers of physics knowledge, our understanding of how this knowledge evolves remains at the descriptive levels of Popper and Kuhn. Using the American Physical Society (APS) publications data sets, we ask in this paper how new knowledge is built upon old knowledge. We do so by constructing year-to-year bibliographic coupling networks, and identify in them validated communities that represent different research fields. We then visualize their evolutionary relationships in the form of alluvial diagrams, and show how they remain intact through APS journal splits. Quantitatively, we see that most fields undergo weak Popperian mixing, and it is rare for a field to remain isolated/undergo strong mixing. The sizes of fields obey a simple linear growth with recombination. We can also reliably predict the merging between two fields, but not for the considerably more complex splitting. Finally, we report a case study of two fields that underwent repeated merging and splitting around 1995, and how these Kuhnian events are correlated with breakthroughs on Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), quantum teleportation, and slow light. This impact showed up quantitatively in the citations of the BEC field as a larger proportion of references from during and shortly after these events.

Benchmark Modeling of the Near-Field and Far-Field Wave Effects of Wave Energy Arrays

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

Rhinefrank, Kenneth E; Haller, Merrick C; Ozkan-Haller, H Tuba

2013-01-26

This project is an industry-led partnership between Columbia Power Technologies and Oregon State University that will perform benchmark laboratory experiments and numerical modeling of the near-field and far-field impacts of wave scattering from an array of wave energy devices. These benchmark experimental observations will help to fill a gaping hole in our present knowledge of the near-field effects of multiple, floating wave energy converters and are a critical requirement for estimating the potential far-field environmental effects of wave energy arrays. The experiments will be performed at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (Oregon State University) and will utilize an array ofmore » newly developed Buoys' that are realistic, lab-scale floating power converters. The array of Buoys will be subjected to realistic, directional wave forcing (1:33 scale) that will approximate the expected conditions (waves and water depths) to be found off the Central Oregon Coast. Experimental observations will include comprehensive in-situ wave and current measurements as well as a suite of novel optical measurements. These new optical capabilities will include imaging of the 3D wave scattering using a binocular stereo camera system, as well as 3D device motion tracking using a newly acquired LED system. These observing systems will capture the 3D motion history of individual Buoys as well as resolve the 3D scattered wave field; thus resolving the constructive and destructive wave interference patterns produced by the array at high resolution. These data combined with the device motion tracking will provide necessary information for array design in order to balance array performance with the mitigation of far-field impacts. As a benchmark data set, these data will be an important resource for testing of models for wave/buoy interactions, buoy performance, and far-field effects on wave and current patterns due to the presence of arrays. Under the proposed project we will initiate high-resolution (fine scale, very near-field) fluid/structure interaction simulations of buoy motions, as well as array-scale, phase-resolving wave scattering simulations. These modeling efforts will utilize state-of-the-art research quality models, which have not yet been brought to bear on this complex problem of large array wave/structure interaction problem.« less

Comparison of anthropometry of U.S. electric utility field-workers with North American general populations.

PubMed

Marklin, Richard W; Saginus, Kyle A; Seeley, Patricia; Freier, Stephen H

2010-12-01

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether conventional anthropometric databases of the U.S. general population are applicable to the population of U.S. electric utility field-workers. On the basis of anecdotal observations, field-workers for electric power utilities were thought to be generally taller and larger than the general population. However, there were no anthropometric data available on this population, and it was not known whether the conventional anthropometric databases could be used to design for this population. For this study, 3 standing and II sitting anthropometric measurements were taken from 187 male field-workers from three electric power utilities located in the upper Midwest of the United States and Southern California. The mean and percentile anthropometric data from field-workers were compared with seven well-known conventional anthropometric databases for North American males (United States, Canada, and Mexico). In general, the male field-workers were taller and heavier than the people in the reference databases for U.S. males. The field-workers were up to 2.3 cm taller and 10 kg to 18 kg heavier than the averages of the reference databases. This study was justified, as it showed that the conventional anthropometric databases of the general population underestimated the size of electric utility field-workers, particularly with respect to weight. When designing vehicles and tools for electric utility field-workers, designers and ergonomists should consider the population being designed for and the data from this study to maximize safety, minimize risk of injuries, and optimize performance.

Anthelmintic Resistance in Haemonchus contortus: History, Mechanisms and Diagnosis.

PubMed

Kotze, A C; Prichard, R K

2016-01-01

Haemonchus contortus has shown a great ability to develop resistance to anthelmintic drugs. In many instances, resistance has appeared less than 10years after the introduction of a new drug class. Field populations of this species now show resistance to all major anthelmintic drug classes, including benzimidazoles (BZs), imidazothiazoles and macrocyclic lactones. In addition, resistance to the recently introduced amino-acetonitrile derivative class (monepantel) has already been reported. The existence of field populations showing resistance to all three major drug classes, and the early appearance of resistance to monepantel, threatens the sustainability of sheep and goat production systems worldwide. This chapter reviews the history of the development of resistance to the various anthelmintics in H. contortus and examines the mechanisms utilized by this species to resist the effects of these drugs. Some of these mechanisms are well understood, particularly for BZ drugs, while our knowledge and understanding of others are increasing. Finally, we summarize methods available for the diagnosis of resistance. While such diagnosis currently relies largely on the faecal egg count reduction test, which suffers from issues of expense and sensitivity, we describe past and current efforts to utilize cheaper and less laborious phenotypic assays with free-living life stages, and then describe progress on the development of molecular assays to provide sensitive resistance-detection tests. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Approaches to a cortical vision prosthesis: implications of electrode size and placement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christie, Breanne P.; Ashmont, Kari R.; House, Paul A.; Greger, Bradley

2016-04-01

Objective. In order to move forward with the development of a cortical vision prosthesis, the critical issues in the field must be identified. Approach. To begin this process, we performed a brief review of several different cortical and retinal stimulation techniques that can be used to restore vision. Main results. Intracortical microelectrodes and epicortical macroelectrodes have been evaluated as the basis of a vision prosthesis. We concluded that an important knowledge gap necessitates an experimental in vivo performance evaluation of microelectrodes placed on the surface of the visual cortex. A comparison of the level of vision restored by intracortical versus epicortical microstimulation is necessary. Because foveal representation in the primary visual cortex involves more cortical columns per degree of visual field than does peripheral vision, restoration of foveal vision may require a large number of closely spaced microelectrodes. Based on previous studies of epicortical macrostimulation, it is possible that stimulation via surface microelectrodes could produce a lower spatial resolution, making them better suited for restoring peripheral vision. Significance. The validation of epicortical microstimulation in addition to the comparison of epicortical and intracortical approaches for vision restoration will fill an important knowledge gap and may have important implications for surgical strategies and device longevity. It is possible that the best approach to vision restoration will utilize both epicortical and intracortical microstimulation approaches, applying them appropriately to different visual representations in the primary visual cortex.

An initial ULF wave index derived from 2 years of Swarm observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papadimitriou, Constantinos; Balasis, Georgios; Daglis, Ioannis A.; Giannakis, Omiros

2018-03-01

The ongoing Swarm satellite mission provides an opportunity for better knowledge of the near-Earth electromagnetic environment. Herein, we use a new methodological approach for the detection and classification of ultra low-frequency (ULF) wave events observed by Swarm based on an existing time-frequency analysis (TFA) tool and utilizing a state-of-the-art high-resolution magnetic field model and Swarm Level 2 products (i.e., field-aligned currents - FACs - and the Ionospheric Bubble Index - IBI). We present maps of the dependence of ULF wave power with magnetic latitude and magnetic local time (MLT) as well as geographic latitude and longitude from the three satellites at their different locations in low-Earth orbit (LEO) for a period spanning 2 years after the constellation's final configuration. We show that the inclusion of the Swarm single-spacecraft FAC product in our analysis eliminates all the wave activity at high altitudes, which is physically unrealistic. Moreover, we derive a Swarm orbit-by-orbit Pc3 wave (20-100 MHz) index for the topside ionosphere and compare its values with the corresponding variations of solar wind variables and geomagnetic activity indices. This is the first attempt, to our knowledge, to derive a ULF wave index from LEO satellite data. The technique can be potentially used to define a new Level 2 product from the mission, the Swarm ULF wave index, which would be suitable for space weather applications.

Knowledge Acquisition and Readiness Assurance Testing: The Connected Notes Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Mark R.

2016-01-01

The responsibility for knowledge acquisition is increasingly being shifted to students though the utilization of experiential learning, teamwork, online, and flipped classroom pedagogies. Students are expected to enter the classroom prepared to engage in thoughtful knowledge application activities; however, many students have not adequately…

Utilizing Data from Cancer Patient & Survivor Studies

Cancer.gov

Utilizing Data from Cancer Patient & Survivor Studies and Understanding the Current State of Knowledge and Developing Future Research Priorities, a 2011 workshop sponsored by the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program.

Stakeholder analysis of the Programme for Improving Mental health carE (PRIME): baseline findings.

PubMed

Makan, Amit; Fekadu, Abebaw; Murhar, Vaibhav; Luitel, Nagendra; Kathree, Tasneem; Ssebunya, Joshua; Lund, Crick

2015-01-01

The knowledge generated from evidence-based interventions in mental health systems research is seldom translated into policy and practice in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Stakeholder analysis is a potentially useful tool in health policy and systems research to improve understanding of policy stakeholders and increase the likelihood of knowledge translation into policy and practice. The aim of this study was to conduct stakeholder analyses in the five countries participating in the Programme for Improving Mental health carE (PRIME); evaluate a template used for cross-country comparison of stakeholder analyses; and assess the utility of stakeholder analysis for future use in mental health policy and systems research in LMIC. Using an adapted stakeholder analysis instrument, PRIME country teams in Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Africa and Uganda identified and characterised stakeholders in relation to the proposed action: scaling-up mental health services. Qualitative content analysis was conducted for stakeholder groups across countries, and a force field analysis was applied to the data. Stakeholder analysis of PRIME has identified policy makers (WHO, Ministries of Health, non-health sector Ministries and Parliament), donors (DFID UK, DFID country offices and other donor agencies), mental health specialists, the media (national and district) and universities as the most powerful, and most supportive actors for scaling up mental health care in the respective PRIME countries. Force field analysis provided a means of evaluating cross-country stakeholder power and positions, particularly for prioritising potential stakeholder engagement in the programme. Stakeholder analysis has been helpful as a research uptake management tool to identify targeted and acceptable strategies for stimulating the demand for research amongst knowledge users, including policymakers and practitioners. Implementing these strategies amongst stakeholders at a country level will hopefully reduce the knowledge gap between research and policy, and improve health system outcomes for the programme.

The prevalence of, and factors related to, compliance with glove utilization among nurses in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.

PubMed

Naing, L; Nordin, R; Musa, R

2001-09-01

Increasing risk of HIV infections among health care workers has been a continuing concern. The study was designed to identify the compliance of glove utilization, and factors related to non-compliance. A sample of 150 staff nurses were recruited from the study population of 550 nurses in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Data were collected by using a structured self-administered questionnaires. The response rate was 98.4%. The study revealed a low compliance (13.5%) of glove utilization (for all 9 procedures), which varied among different procedures (27-97%). Younger nurses and those with shorter duration of working experience had better knowledge of Universal Precautions. Nurses in intensive care unit and operation theatre were better in both knowledge and compliance of glove utilization. The three commonest misconceptions were identified as "selective use of gloves for high risk groups and suspected cases", and "tendency to depend on HIV prevalence". Nurses reported practical problems including administrative and personal related such as "stock irregularity" (46%), "glove not available at the emergency sites" (44%), and "reduction of tactile sensation" (39%). It was concluded that poor knowledge and practical problems were possible responsible factors for the low compliance. A good training for nurses comprising principle and practice of Universal Precautions, updated knowledge of blood and body fluid borne infections and risk and its management, will probably improve the compliance.

Developing and Testing a New Measurement Instrument for Documenting Instrumental Knowledge Utilisation: The Degrees of Knowledge Utilization (DoKU) Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bøllingtoft Knudsen, Søren

2018-01-01

Focus on evidence-based policymaking is greater than ever, and public spending on evaluations is rising. A primary merit of these expenditures is that politicians actually use new knowledge instrumentally--to influence and inform decision making. Nevertheless, we know surprisingly little about whether and how research-based knowledge is utilised.…

Employee Knowledge Sharing in Work Teams: Effects of Team Diversity, Emergent States, and Team Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noh, Jae Hang

2013-01-01

Knowledge sharing in work teams is one of the critical team processes. Without sharing of knowledge, work teams and organizations may not be able to fully utilize the diverse knowledge brought into work teams by their members. The purpose of this study was to investigate antecedents and underlying mechanisms influencing the extent to which team…

Advances in low-level jet research and future prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hongbo; He, Mingyang; Wang, Bin; Zhang, Qinghong

2014-02-01

The low-level jet (LLJ) is closely related to severe rainfall events, air pollution, wind energy utilization, aviation safety, sandstorms, forest fire, and other weather and climate phenomena. Therefore, it has attracted considerable attention since its discovery. Scientists have carried out many studies on LLJs and made significant achievements during the past five or six decades. This article summarizes and assesses the current knowledge on this subject, and focuses in particular on three aspects: 1) LLJ classification, definition, distribution, and structure; 2) LLJ formation and evolutionary mechanisms; and 3) relationships between LLJ and rainfall, as well as other interdisciplinary fields. After comparing the status of LLJ research at home (China) and abroad, we then discuss the shortcomings of LLJ research in China. We suggest that this includes: coarse definitions of the LLJ, lack of observations and inadequate quality control, few thorough explorations of LLJ characteristics and formation mechanisms, and limited studies in interdisciplinary fields. The future prospects for several LLJ research avenues are also speculated.

Reconstructive Surgery of Auricular Defects: An Overview.

PubMed

Ebrahimi, Ali; Kazemi, Alireza; Rasouli, Hamid Reza; Kazemi, Maryam; Kalantar Motamedi, Mohammad Hosein

2015-11-01

Despite the ongoing advances in surgical procedures and promising progress in bioengineering techniques, auricular reconstruction remains a significant challenge in plastic surgery. There are different causes for acquired auricular defects, including trauma, tumor ablation and burns. The management options for upper, middle and lower third auricular defects are briefly reviewed in the current paper. Original research papers investigating the plastic surgeons, otolaryngologists and maxillofacial surgeons in approaching the complicated issue of auricular reconstruction published from January 1995 to December 2014 were aggregated and used in the current study. Utilizing autologous stem cell populations to treat craniofacial defects is a promising field of ongoing investigations. Studies show that cartilage stem/progenitor cells (CSPCs) are highly chondrogenic and can produce elastic reconstructive material with long-term tissue restoration. Auricular reconstruction surgery is a challenging plastic procedure that requires great expertise and expert knowledge of the various techniques available. Novel techniques in the fields of reconstructive bioengineering and regenerative medicine are promising but further research is required before widespread clinical application.

Impact of electrical conductivity on acid hydrolysis of guar gum under induced electric field.

PubMed

Li, Dandan; Zhang, Yao; Yang, Na; Jin, Zhengyu; Xu, Xueming

2018-09-01

This study aimed to improve induced electric field (IEF)-assisted hydrolysis of polysaccharide by controlling electrical conductivity. As the conductivity of reaction medium was increased, the energy efficiency of IEF was increased because of deceased impedance, as well as enhanced output voltage and temperature, thus the hydrolysis of guar gum (GG) was accelerated under IEF. Changes in weight-average molecular weight (Mw) suggested that IEF-assisted hydrolysis of GG could be described by the first-order kinetics 1/Mw ∝ kt, with the rate constant (k), varying directly with the medium conductivity. Although IEF-assisted hydrolysis largely disrupted the morphological structure of GG, it had no impact on the chemical structure. In comparison to native GG, the steady shear viscosity of hydrolyzed GG dramatically declined while the thermal stability slightly decreased. This study extended the knowledge of electrical conductivity upon IEF-assisted acid hydrolysis of GG and might contribute to a better utilization of IEF for polysaccharide modification. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity vector fields in time-delay coordinate embeddings: theory and experiment.

PubMed

Sloboda, A R; Epureanu, B I

2013-02-01

Identifying changes in the parameters of a dynamical system can be vital in many diagnostic and sensing applications. Sensitivity vector fields (SVFs) are one way of identifying such parametric variations by quantifying their effects on the morphology of a dynamical system's attractor. In many cases, SVFs are a more effective means of identification than commonly employed modal methods. Previously, it has only been possible to construct SVFs for a given dynamical system when a full set of state variables is available. This severely restricts SVF applicability because it may be cost prohibitive, or even impossible, to measure the entire state in high-dimensional systems. Thus, the focus of this paper is constructing SVFs with only partial knowledge of the state by using time-delay coordinate embeddings. Local models are employed in which the embedded states of a neighborhood are weighted in a way referred to as embedded point cloud averaging. Application of the presented methodology to both simulated and experimental time series demonstrates its utility and reliability.

Medical Information & Technology: Rapidly Expanding Vast Horizons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahni, Anil K.

2012-12-01

During ÑMedical Council Of India?, Platinum Jubilee Year (1933-2008) Celebrations, In Year 2008, Several Scientific Meeting/Seminar/Symposium, On Various Topics Of Contemporary Importance And Relevance In The Field Of ÑMedical Education And Ethics?, Were Organized, By Different Medical Colleges At Various Local, State, National Levels. The Present Discussion, Is An Comprehensive Summary Of Various Different Aspects of ìMedical Information Communication Technologyî, Especially UseFul For The Audience Stratum Group Of Those Amateur Medical & Paramedical Staff, With No Previous Work Experience Knowledge Of Computronics Applications. Outlining The, i.Administration Applications: Medical Records Etc, ii. Clinical Applications: Pros pective Scope Of TeleMedicine Applicabilities Etc iii. Other Applications: Efforts To Augment Improvement Of Medical Education, Medical Presentations, Medical Education And Research Etc. ÑMedical Trancription? & Related Recent Study Fields e.g ÑModern Pharmaceuticals?,ÑBio-Engineering?, ÑBio-Mechanics?, ÑBio-Technology? Etc., Along With Important Aspects Of Computers-General Considerations, Computer Ergonomics Assembled To Summarize, The AwareNess Regarding Basic Fundamentals Of Medical Computronics & Its Practically SuccessFul Utilities.

Pulsed Magnetic Resonance to Signal-Enhance Metabolites within Seconds by utilizing para-Hydrogen.

PubMed

Korchak, Sergey; Yang, Shengjun; Mamone, Salvatore; Glöggler, Stefan

2018-05-01

Diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer have been linked to metabolic dysfunctions, and further understanding of metabolic pathways raises hope to develop cures for such diseases. To broaden the knowledge of metabolisms in vitro and in vivo, methods are desirable for direct probing of metabolic function. Here, we are introducing a pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) approach to generate hyperpolarized metabolites within seconds, which act as metabolism probes. Hyperpolarization represents a magnetic resonance technique to enhance signals by over 10 000-fold. We accomplished an efficient metabolite hyperpolarization by developing an isotopic labeling strategy for generating precursors containing a favorable nuclear spin system to add para -hydrogen and convert its two-spin longitudinal order into enhanced metabolite signals. The transfer is performed by an invented NMR experiment and 20 000-fold signal enhancements are achieved. Our technique provides a fast way of generating hyperpolarized metabolites by using para -hydrogen directly in a high magnetic field without the need for field cycling.

(Non-)utilization of pre-hospital emergency care by migrants and non-migrants in Germany.

PubMed

Kietzmann, Diana; Knuth, Daniela; Schmidt, Silke

2017-01-01

This study was designed to explore the utilization and non-utilization of pre-hospital emergency care by migrants and non-migrants, and the factors that influence this behaviour. A cross-sectional representative German survey was conducted in a sample of 2.175 people, 295 of whom had a migration background. An additional sample of 50 people with Turkish migration background was conducted, partially in the Turkish language. Apart from socio-demographics, the utilization of emergency services and the reasons for non-utilization were assessed. Migrants had a higher utilization rate of pre-hospital emergency care (RR = 1.492) than non-migrants. Furthermore, migrants who were not born in Germany had a lower utilization rate (RR = 0.793) than migrants who were born in Germany. Regarding non-utilization, the most frequently stated reasons belonged to the categories initial misjudgment of the emergency situation and acting on one's own behalf, with the latter stated more frequently by migrants than by non-migrants. To prevent over-, under-, and lack of supply, it is necessary to transfer knowledge about the functioning of the medical emergency services, including first aid knowledge.

Avian use of introduced plants: ornithologist records illuminate interspecific associations and research needs.

PubMed

Aslan, Clare E; Rejmánek, Marcel

2010-06-01

Introduced species have the potential to impact processes central to the organization of ecological communities. Although hundreds of nonnative plant species have naturalized in the United States, only a small percentage of these have been studied in their new biotic communities. Their interactions with resident (native and introduced) bird species remain largely unexplored. As a group, citizen scientists such as ornithologists possess a wide range of experiences. They may offer insights into the prevalence and form of bird interactions with nonnative plants on a broad geographic scale. We surveyed 173 ornithologists from four U.S. states, asking them to report observations of bird interactions with nonnative plants. The primary goal of the survey was to obtain information useful in guiding future empirical research. In all, 1143 unique bird-plant interactions were reported, involving 99 plant taxa and 168 bird species. Forty-seven percent of reported interactions concerned potential dispersal (feeding on seeds or fruits). Remaining "habitat interactions" involved bird use of plants for nesting, perching, woodpecking, gleaning, and other activities. We utilized detrended correspondence analysis to ordinate birds with respect to the plants they reportedly utilize. Results illuminate the new guilds formed by these interactions. We assessed the existing level of knowledge about invasiveness of those plants reported most often in feeding interactions, identifying information gaps for biological invasions research priority. To exemplify the usefulness of citizen science data, we utilized survey results to guide field research on invasiveness in some of these plant species and observed both qualitatively and quantitatively strong agreement between survey reports and our empirical data. Questionnaire reports are therefore heuristically informative for the fields of both avian ecology and invasion biology.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN TRIBES OF TRIPURA IN NORTHEAST, INDIA

PubMed Central

Debbarma, Maria; Pala, Nazir A.; Kumar, Munesh; Bussmann, Rainer W.

2017-01-01

Background: The present study was carried out in Mandwi area and its outskirts of Tripura district of tribal areas Autonomous district council to document the available ethno-medicinal plants and their traditional application among Mandwi tribes. Methodology: Field explorations were carried out during the months of March-June 2013. The ethno-medicinal survey was conducted particularly with Tripuri tribe in Mandai area, with the help of local medicine men, locally known as bhoidho (Tripuri). Data were collected through structure questionnaires and observations during the field visits. Results: In the present study the local population used a total of 51 plant species belonging to 32 families to cure a variety of diseases. Of the 51 plants, 21 were herbs, followed by trees (17) and shrubs (8). Climbers and ferns had reported 2 species for each one grass species was found. Fabaceae was the dominant family with the highest number of species (6) followed by Asteracae (4 species) and Lamiaceae (5 species). Seven other families had 2 species each and 22 families were represented by a single species. In case single diseases, the highest number of plants (7 species) was used for dysentery, followed by body pain (6 species), cough (6 species) and toothache (6 species). Conclusion: The present study concluded that, the Tripuri tribes of the study area possess rich knowledge on the medicinal plants and their utilization. Thus the present study focuses on the documentation of the traditional knowledge of these valuable plants, which could enhance the potential of these medicinal plants to other communities as well and by understanding the importance, other communities can also be helpful for conservation of these resources for further use. PMID:28638879

Mental Models: Knowledge in the Head and Knowledge in the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jonassen, David H.; Henning, Philip

1999-01-01

Explores the utility of mental models as learning outcomes in using complex and situated learning environments. Describes two studies: one aimed at eliciting mental models in the heads of novice refrigeration technicians, and the other an ethnographic study eliciting knowledge and models within the community of experienced refrigeration…

How Knowledge Management Is Affected by Organizational Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahmoudsalehi, Mehdi; Moradkhannejad, Roya; Safari, Khalil

2012-01-01

Purpose: Identifying the impact of organizational structure on knowledge management (KM) is the aim of this study, as well as recognizing the importance of each variable indicator in creating, sharing and utility of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: For understanding relationships between the main variables (organizational structure-KM), the…

Knowledge Management ERP Curriculum Design/Mapping (Theory and Development Tools)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swanson, Zane; Hepner, Michelle

2011-01-01

This study proposes a knowledge management framework for developing and managing enterprise resource planning (ERP) curriculum within business schools. Both theory and a practical implementation are addressed. The knowledge management (KM) framework has two components which utilize ERP from a big picture curriculum overview and a ground level…

PERKAM: Personalized Knowledge Awareness Map for Computer Supported Ubiquitous Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Bishouty, Moushir M.; Ogata, Hiroaki; Yano, Yoneo

2007-01-01

This paper introduces a ubiquitous computing environment in order to support the learners while doing tasks; this environment is called PERKAM (PERsonalized Knowledge Awareness Map). PERKAM allows the learners to share knowledge, interact, collaborate, and exchange individual experiences. It utilizes the RFID ubiquities technology to detect the…

Perceived Utility of the RE-AIM Framework for Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Initiatives for Older Adults: A Case Study from the U.S. Evidence-Based Disease Prevention Initiative.

PubMed

Ory, Marcia G; Altpeter, Mary; Belza, Basia; Helduser, Janet; Zhang, Chen; Smith, Matthew Lee

2014-01-01

Dissemination and implementation (D&I) frameworks are increasingly being promoted in public health research. However, less is known about their uptake in the field, especially for diverse sets of programs. Limited questionnaires exist to assess the ways that frameworks can be utilized in program planning and evaluation. We present a case study from the United States that describes the implementation of the RE-AIM framework by state aging services providers and public health partners and a questionnaire that can be used to assess the utility of such frameworks in practice. An online questionnaire was developed to capture community perspectives about the utility of the RE-AIM framework. Distributed to project leads in 27 funded states in an evidence-based disease prevention initiative for older adults, 40 key stakeholders responded representing a 100% state-participation rate among the 27 funded states. Findings suggest that there is perceived utility in using the RE-AIM framework when evaluating grand-scale initiatives for older adults. The RE-AIM framework was seen as useful for planning, implementation, and evaluation with relevance for evaluators, providers, community leaders, and policy makers. Yet, the uptake was not universal, and some respondents reported difficulties in use, especially adopting the framework as a whole. This questionnaire can serve as the basis to assess ways the RE-AIM framework can be utilized by practitioners in state-wide D&I efforts. Maximal benefit can be derived from examining the assessment of RE-AIM-related knowledge and confidence as part of a continual quality assurance process. We recommend such an assessment be performed before the implementation of new funding initiatives and throughout their course to assess RE-AIM uptake and to identify areas for technical assistance.

Wind/tornado design criteria, development to achieve required probabilistic performance goals

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

Ng, D.S.

1991-06-01

This paper describes the strategy for developing new design criteria for a critical facility to withstand loading induced by the wind/tornado hazard. The proposed design requirements for resisting wind/tornado loads are based on probabilistic performance goals. The proposed design criteria were prepared by a Working Group consisting of six experts in wind/tornado engineering and meteorology. Utilizing their best technical knowledge and judgment in the wind/tornado field, they met and discussed the methodologies and reviewed available data. A review of the available wind/tornado hazard model for the site, structural response evaluation methods, and conservative acceptance criteria lead to proposed design criteriamore » that has a high probability of achieving the required performance goals.« less

Wind/tornado design criteria, development to achieve required probabilistic performance goals

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

Ng, D.S.

This paper describes the strategy for developing new design criteria for a critical facility to withstand loading induced by the wind/tornado hazard. The proposed design requirements for resisting wind/tornado loads are based on probabilistic performance goals. The proposed design criteria were prepared by a Working Group consisting of six experts in wind/tornado engineering and meteorology. Utilizing their best technical knowledge and judgment in the wind/tornado field, they met and discussed the methodologies and reviewed available data. A review of the available wind/tornado hazard model for the site, structural response evaluation methods, and conservative acceptance criteria lead to proposed design criteriamore » that has a high probability of achieving the required performance goals.« less

The autonomic laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Low, P. A.; Opfer-Gehrking, T. L.

1999-01-01

The autonomic nervous system can now be studied quantitatively, noninvasively, and reproducibly in a clinical autonomic laboratory. The approach at the Mayo Clinic is to study the postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers of peripheral nerve (using the quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test [QSART]), the parasympathetic nerves to the heart (cardiovagal tests), and the regulation of blood pressure by the baroreflexes (adrenergic tests). Patient preparation is extremely important, since the state of the patient influences the results of autonomic function tests. The autonomic technologist in this evolving field needs to have a solid core of knowledge of autonomic physiology and autonomic function tests, followed by training in the performance of these tests in a standardized fashion. The range and utilization of tests of autonomic function will likely continue to evolve.

Exploring improvisation in nursing.

PubMed

Hanley, Mary Anne; Fenton, Mary V

2007-06-01

Improvisation has long been considered a function of music, dance, and the theatre arts. An exploration of the definitions and characteristics of this concept in relation to the art and practice of nursing provide an opportunity to illuminate related qualities within the field of nursing. Nursing has always demonstrated improvisation because it is often required to meet the needs of patients in a rapidly changing environment. However, little has been done to identify improvisation in the practice of nursing or to teach improvisation as a nursing knowledge-based skill. This article strives to explore the concept of improvisation in nursing, to describe the characteristics of improvisation as applied to nursing, and to utilize case studies to illustrate various manifestations of improvisation in nursing practice.

Chansporter complexes in cell signaling.

PubMed

Abbott, Geoffrey W

2017-09-01

Ion channels facilitate diffusion of ions across cell membranes for such diverse purposes as neuronal signaling, muscular contraction, and fluid homeostasis. Solute transporters often utilize ionic gradients to move aqueous solutes up their concentration gradient, also fulfilling a wide variety of tasks. Recently, an increasing number of ion channel-transporter ('chansporter') complexes have been discovered. Chansporter complex formation may overcome what could otherwise be considerable spatial barriers to rapid signal integration and feedback between channels and transporters, the ions and other substrates they transport, and environmental factors to which they must respond. Here, current knowledge in this field is summarized, covering both heterologous expression structure/function findings and potential mechanisms by which chansporter complexes fulfill contrasting roles in cell signaling in vivo. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Stochastic formulation of patient positioning using linac-mounted cone beam imaging with prior knowledge

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

Hoegele, W.; Loeschel, R.; Dobler, B.

2011-02-15

Purpose: In this work, a novel stochastic framework for patient positioning based on linac-mounted CB projections is introduced. Based on this formulation, the most probable shifts and rotations of the patient are estimated, incorporating interfractional deformations of patient anatomy and other uncertainties associated with patient setup. Methods: The target position is assumed to be defined by and is stochastically determined from positions of various features such as anatomical landmarks or markers in CB projections, i.e., radiographs acquired with a CB-CT system. The patient positioning problem of finding the target location from CB projections is posed as an inverse problem withmore » prior knowledge and is solved using a Bayesian maximum a posteriori (MAP) approach. The prior knowledge is three-fold and includes the accuracy of an initial patient setup (such as in-room laser and skin marks), the plasticity of the body (relative shifts between target and features), and the feature detection error in CB projections (which may vary depending on specific detection algorithm and feature type). For this purpose, MAP estimators are derived and a procedure of using them in clinical practice is outlined. Furthermore, a rule of thumb is theoretically derived, relating basic parameters of the prior knowledge (initial setup accuracy, plasticity of the body, and number of features) and the parameters of CB data acquisition (number of projections and accuracy of feature detection) to the expected estimation accuracy. Results: MAP estimation can be applied to arbitrary features and detection algorithms. However, to experimentally demonstrate its applicability and to perform the validation of the algorithm, a water-equivalent, deformable phantom with features represented by six 1 mm chrome balls were utilized. These features were detected in the cone beam projections (XVI, Elekta Synergy) by a local threshold method for demonstration purposes only. The accuracy of estimation (strongly varying for different plasticity parameters of the body) agreed with the rule of thumb formula. Moreover, based on this rule of thumb formula, about 20 projections for 6 detectable features seem to be sufficient for a target estimation accuracy of 0.2 cm, even for relatively large feature detection errors with standard deviation of 0.5 cm and spatial displacements of the features with standard deviation of 0.5 cm. Conclusions: The authors have introduced a general MAP-based patient setup algorithm accounting for different sources of uncertainties, which are utilized as the prior knowledge in a transparent way. This new framework can be further utilized for different clinical sites, as well as theoretical developments in the field of patient positioning for radiotherapy.« less

The Field of Knowledge and the Policy Field in Education: PISA and the Production of Knowledge for Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mangez, Eric; Hilgers, Mathieu

2012-01-01

This article is about the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and its actors. It analyses the development and role of PISA as a "cultural product" from the perspective of Bourdieu's field theory. The authors attempt to answer the following questions: Of which field is PISA the product? In which field and by whom is PISA…

InCoB2012 Conference: from biological data to knowledge to technological breakthroughs

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Ten years ago when Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network held the first International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB) in Bangkok its theme was North-South Networking. At that time InCoB aimed to provide biologists and bioinformatics researchers in the Asia-Pacific region a forum to meet, interact with, and disseminate knowledge about the burgeoning field of bioinformatics. Meanwhile InCoB has evolved into a major regional bioinformatics conference that attracts not only talented and established scientists from the region but increasingly also from East Asia, North America and Europe. Since 2006 InCoB yielded 114 articles in BMC Bioinformatics supplement issues that have been cited nearly 1,000 times to date. In part, these developments reflect the success of bioinformatics education and continuous efforts to integrate and utilize bioinformatics in biotechnology and biosciences in the Asia-Pacific region. A cross-section of research leading from biological data to knowledge and to technological applications, the InCoB2012 theme, is introduced in this editorial. Other highlights included sessions organized by the Pan-Asian Pacific Genome Initiative and a Machine Learning in Immunology competition. InCoB2013 is scheduled for September 18-21, 2013 at Suzhou, China. PMID:23281929

Disparities in mobile phone access and maternal health service utilization in Nigeria: a population-based survey.

PubMed

Jennings, Larissa; Omoni, Adetayo; Akerele, Akunle; Ibrahim, Yisa; Ekanem, Ekpenyong

2015-05-01

Mobile communication technologies may reduce maternal health disparities related to cost, distance, and infrastructure. However, the ability of mHealth initiatives to accelerate maternal health goals requires in part that women with the greatest health needs have access to mobile phones. This study examined if women with limited mobile phone access have differential odds of maternal knowledge and health service utilization as compared to female mobile phone users who are currently eligible to participate in maternal mHealth programs. Using household survey data from Nigeria, multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine the odds of maternal knowledge and service utilization by mobile phone strata. Findings showed that in settings with unequal access to mobile phones, mHealth interventions may not reach women who have the poorest maternal knowledge and care-seeking as these women often lacked mobile connectivity. As compared to mobile users, women without mobile phone access had significantly lower odds of antenatal care utilization (OR=0.48, 95%CI: 0.36-0.64), skilled delivery (OR=0.56, 95%CI: 0.45-0.70), and modern contraceptive use (OR=0.50, 95%CI: 0.33-0.76) after adjusting for demographic characteristics. They also had significantly lower knowledge of maternal danger signs (OR=0.69, 95%CI: 0.53-0.90) and knowledge of antenatal (OR=0.46, 95%CI: 0.36-0.59) and skilled delivery care benefits (OR=0.62, 95%CI: 0.47-0.82). No differences were observed by mobile phone strata in uptake of emergency obstetric care, postnatal services, or breastfeeding. As maternal mHealth strategies are increasingly utilized, more efforts are needed to improve women's access to mobile phones and minimize potential health inequities brought on by health systems and technological barriers in access to care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

43 CFR 3270.10 - What types of geothermal operations are governed by these utilization regulations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... of geothermal resources. This includes: (1) Electrical generation facilities; (2) Direct use facilities; (3) Related utilization facility operations; (4) Actual and allocated well field production and injection; and (5) Related well field operations. (b) The utilization regulations in subparts 3270 through...

Epistemology in Education: Epistemological Development Trajectory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Labbas, Rachida

2013-01-01

Learning is a continuous process, and through the process of learning, people acquire or construct new knowledge; this knowledge is evaluated implicitly or explicitly (Hofer, 2000). Research on beliefs about knowledge has become an important field of inquiry in educational research (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997). This field of research has emerged…

Collaborative Knowledge Production Model in the Field of Organizational Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramstad, Elise

2008-01-01

The paper proposes a framework for collaborative knowledge production in order to enhance the amount and quality of knowledge in the field of organizational development (OD). We distinguish three types of actors that offer development services for work organizations: academic R&D units, training and educational institutes and management…

The Naïve Utility Calculus: Computational Principles Underlying Commonsense Psychology.

PubMed

Jara-Ettinger, Julian; Gweon, Hyowon; Schulz, Laura E; Tenenbaum, Joshua B

2016-08-01

We propose that human social cognition is structured around a basic understanding of ourselves and others as intuitive utility maximizers: from a young age, humans implicitly assume that agents choose goals and actions to maximize the rewards they expect to obtain relative to the costs they expect to incur. This 'naïve utility calculus' allows both children and adults observe the behavior of others and infer their beliefs and desires, their longer-term knowledge and preferences, and even their character: who is knowledgeable or competent, who is praiseworthy or blameworthy, who is friendly, indifferent, or an enemy. We review studies providing support for the naïve utility calculus, and we show how it captures much of the rich social reasoning humans engage in from infancy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Knowledge evolution in physics research: An analysis of bibliographic coupling networks

PubMed Central

Nanetti, Andrea; Cheong, Siew Ann

2017-01-01

Even as we advance the frontiers of physics knowledge, our understanding of how this knowledge evolves remains at the descriptive levels of Popper and Kuhn. Using the American Physical Society (APS) publications data sets, we ask in this paper how new knowledge is built upon old knowledge. We do so by constructing year-to-year bibliographic coupling networks, and identify in them validated communities that represent different research fields. We then visualize their evolutionary relationships in the form of alluvial diagrams, and show how they remain intact through APS journal splits. Quantitatively, we see that most fields undergo weak Popperian mixing, and it is rare for a field to remain isolated/undergo strong mixing. The sizes of fields obey a simple linear growth with recombination. We can also reliably predict the merging between two fields, but not for the considerably more complex splitting. Finally, we report a case study of two fields that underwent repeated merging and splitting around 1995, and how these Kuhnian events are correlated with breakthroughs on Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), quantum teleportation, and slow light. This impact showed up quantitatively in the citations of the BEC field as a larger proportion of references from during and shortly after these events. PMID:28922427

Assessing the influence of field- and GIS-based inquiry on student attitude and conceptual knowledge in an undergraduate ecology lab.

PubMed

Simmons, M E; Wu, X B; Knight, S L; Lopez, R R

2008-01-01

Combining field experience with use of information technology has the potential to create a problem-based learning environment that engages learners in authentic scientific inquiry. This study, conducted over a 2-yr period, determined differences in attitudes and conceptual knowledge between students in a field lab and students with combined field and geographic information systems (GIS) experience. All students used radio-telemetry equipment to locate fox squirrels, while one group of students was provided an additional data set in a GIS to visualize and quantify squirrel locations. Pre/postsurveys and tests revealed that attitudes improved in year 1 for both groups of students, but differences were minimal between groups. Attitudes generally declined in year 2 due to a change in the authenticity of the field experience; however, attitudes for students that used GIS declined less than those with field experience only. Conceptual knowledge also increased for both groups in both years. The field-based nature of this lab likely had a greater influence on student attitude and conceptual knowledge than did the use of GIS. Although significant differences were limited, GIS did not negatively impact student attitude or conceptual knowledge but potentially provided other benefits to learners.

A knowledge-based approach to automated flow-field zoning for computational fluid dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vogel, Alison Andrews

1989-01-01

An automated three-dimensional zonal grid generation capability for computational fluid dynamics is shown through the development of a demonstration computer program capable of automatically zoning the flow field of representative two-dimensional (2-D) aerodynamic configurations. The applicability of a knowledge-based programming approach to the domain of flow-field zoning is examined. Several aspects of flow-field zoning make the application of knowledge-based techniques challenging: the need for perceptual information, the role of individual bias in the design and evaluation of zonings, and the fact that the zoning process is modeled as a constructive, design-type task (for which there are relatively few examples of successful knowledge-based systems in any domain). Engineering solutions to the problems arising from these aspects are developed, and a demonstration system is implemented which can design, generate, and output flow-field zonings for representative 2-D aerodynamic configurations.

The MIKS (Member Integrated Knowledge System) Model: A Visualization of the Individual Organizational Member's Role When a Knowledge Management System Is Utilized in the Learning Organization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grobmeier, Cynthia

2007-01-01

Relating knowledge management (KM) case studies in various organizational contexts to existing theoretical constructs of learning organizations, a new model, the MIKS (Member Integrated Knowledge System) Model is proposed to include the role of the individual in the process. Their degree of motivation as well as communication and learning…

A New Approach for Resolving Conflicts in Actionable Behavioral Rules

PubMed Central

Zhu, Dan; Zeng, Daniel

2014-01-01

Knowledge is considered actionable if users can take direct actions based on such knowledge to their advantage. Among the most important and distinctive actionable knowledge are actionable behavioral rules that can directly and explicitly suggest specific actions to take to influence (restrain or encourage) the behavior in the users' best interest. However, in mining such rules, it often occurs that different rules may suggest the same actions with different expected utilities, which we call conflicting rules. To resolve the conflicts, a previous valid method was proposed. However, inconsistency of the measure for rule evaluating may hinder its performance. To overcome this problem, we develop a new method that utilizes rule ranking procedure as the basis for selecting the rule with the highest utility prediction accuracy. More specifically, we propose an integrative measure, which combines the measures of the support and antecedent length, to evaluate the utility prediction accuracies of conflicting rules. We also introduce a tunable weight parameter to allow the flexibility of integration. We conduct several experiments to test our proposed approach and evaluate the sensitivity of the weight parameter. Empirical results indicate that our approach outperforms those from previous research. PMID:25162054

Snapshots of Student Thinking: An Exploration of Video Cases for Extending Prospective Teachers' Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts Bannister, Vanessa R.; Mariano, Gina J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationships between prospective teachers' content knowledge, student understanding, and pedagogy using video cases. The emphasis was on the extent to which the participants utilized constructs of Technology Pedagogy And Content Knowledge. Ten prospective teachers viewed video cases of students…

Knowledge Management in Preserving Ecosystems: The Case of Seoul

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Jeongseok

2009-01-01

This study explores the utility of employing knowledge management as a framework for understanding how public managers perform ecosystem management. It applies the grounded theory method to build a model. The model is generated by applying the concept of knowledge process to an investigation of how the urban ecosystem is publicly managed by civil…

Knowledge Value Added (KVA) Methodology as a Tool for Measuring the Utilization of Knowledge Assets Aboard Marine Corps Installations

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

make better technology investment decisions. C. FOLLOW-ON RESEARCH POTENTIAL Like most assets, knowledge is only valuable if it can be transmuted ...CID Agent Sexual Assault Investigations Training E5 5 Conduct preliminary investigation on referable cases 5811 Basic Military Police Intelligence In

Metalinguistic Knowledge of Salient vs. Unsalient Features: Evidence from the Arabic Construct State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azaz, Mahmoud

2017-01-01

This study examined to what extent English-speaking learners of Arabic demonstrated varied metalinguistic knowledge of a salient feature (head-direction) vs. an unsalient feature (definiteness) in the Arabic construct state. In addition, it examined whether this knowledge was utilized in form-focused task performance. In the target construction,…

Leading to Learn: Knowledge Management Enables Administrators to Excel as Instructional Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weischadle, David E.

2005-01-01

The article discusses knowledge management as a means of changing the way administrators carry out their role as instructional leaders. Knowledge management utilizes many concepts from learning organizations, encourages the formation of communities of practice, and employs best practices as a means of leading others to improve learning. Instead of…

Knowledge of Normal versus Pathological Memory Aging among Police Officers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawley, Karri S.; Garrity, April W.; Cherry, Katie E.

2005-01-01

The authors examined police officers' knowledge of memory changes in adulthood utilizing the Knowledge of Memory Aging Questionnaire (KMAQ). The KMAQ is a 28-item true/false questionnaire that covers a broad range of topics related to normal memory aging due to maturational processes and pathological memory aging, such as adult dementia. Results…

A Collaborative Problem-solving Process Through Environmental Field Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Mijung; Teck Tan, Hoe

2013-02-01

This study explored and documented students' responses to opportunities for collective knowledge building and collaboration in a problem-solving process within complex environmental challenges and pressing issues with various dimensions of knowledge and skills. Middle-school students (n = 16; age 14) and high-school students (n = 16; age 17) from two Singapore public institutions participated in an environmental science field study to experience knowledge integration and a decision-making process. Students worked on six research topics to understand the characteristics of an organic farm and plan for building an ecological village. Students collected and analysed data from the field and shared their findings. Their field work and discussions were video-recorded, and their reflective notes and final reports were collected for data coding and interpretation. The results revealed that throughout the study, students experienced the needs and development of integrated knowledge, encountered the challenges of knowledge sharing and communication during their collaboration, and learned how to cope with the difficulties. Based on research findings, this study further discusses students' learning through a collaborative problem-solving process, including the interdependence of knowledge and the development of mutual relationships such as respect and care for others' knowledge and learning.

PTBS segmentation scheme for synthetic aperture radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedland, Noah S.; Rothwell, Brian J.

1995-07-01

The Image Understanding Group at Martin Marietta Technologies in Denver, Colorado has developed a model-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) automatic target recognition (ATR) system using an integrated resource architecture (IRA). IRA, an adaptive Markov random field (MRF) environment, utilizes information from image, model, and neighborhood resources to create a discrete, 2D feature-based world description (FBWD). The IRA FBWD features are peak, target, background and shadow (PTBS). These features have been shown to be very useful for target discrimination. The FBWD is used to accrue evidence over a model hypothesis set. This paper presents the PTBS segmentation process utilizing two IRA resources. The image resource (IR) provides generic (the physics of image formation) and specific (the given image input) information. The neighborhood resource (NR) provides domain knowledge of localized FBWD site behaviors. A simulated annealing optimization algorithm is used to construct a `most likely' PTBS state. Results on simulated imagery illustrate the power of this technique to correctly segment PTBS features, even when vehicle signatures are immersed in heavy background clutter. These segmentations also suppress sidelobe effects and delineate shadows.

A cluster-randomised controlled trial of values-based training to promote autonomously held recovery values in mental health workers.

PubMed

Williams, Virginia; Deane, Frank P; Oades, Lindsay G; Crowe, Trevor P; Ciarrochi, Joseph; Andresen, Retta

2016-02-02

The implementation and use of evidence-based practices is a key priority for recovery-oriented mental health service provision. Training and development programmes for employees continue to be a key method of knowledge and skill development, despite acknowledged difficulties with uptake and maintenance of behaviour change. Self-determination theory suggests that autonomy, or a sense that behaviour is self-generated, is a key motivator to sustained behaviour change, in this case practices in mental health services. This study examined the utility of values-focused staff intervention as a specific, reproducible method of autonomy support. Mental health workers (n = 146) were assigned via cluster randomisation to either a values clarification condition or an active problem-solving control condition. Results demonstrated that a structured values clarification exercise was useful in promoting integrated motivation for the changed practice and resulted in increased implementation planning. Structured values clarification intervention demonstrates utility as a reproducible means of autonomy support within the workplace. We discuss future directions for the study of autonomous motivation in the field of implementation science. ACTRN12613000353796.

Kinetic energy offsets for multicharged ions from an electron beam ion source.

PubMed

Kulkarni, D D; Ahl, C D; Shore, A M; Miller, A J; Harriss, J E; Sosolik, C E; Marler, J P

2017-08-01

Using a retarding field analyzer, we have measured offsets between the nominal and measured kinetic energy of multicharged ions extracted from an electron beam ion source (EBIS). By varying source parameters, a shift in ion kinetic energy was attributed to the trapping potential produced by the space charge of the electron beam within the EBIS. The space charge of the electron beam depends on its charge density, which in turn depends on the amount of negative charge (electron beam current) and its velocity (electron beam energy). The electron beam current and electron beam energy were both varied to obtain electron beams of varying space charge and these were related to the observed kinetic energy offsets for Ar 4+ and Ar 8+ ion beams. Knowledge of these offsets is important for studies that seek to utilize slow, i.e., low kinetic energy, multicharged ions to exploit their high potential energies for processes such as surface modification. In addition, we show that these offsets can be utilized to estimate the effective radius of the electron beam inside the trap.

mHealth to revolutionize information retrieval in low and middle income countries: introduction and proposed solutions using Botswana as reference point.

PubMed

Littman-Quinn, Ryan; Luberti, Anthony A; Kovarik, Carrie

2013-01-01

Information retrieval (IR) practice is invaluable in health care, where the growth of medical knowledge has long surpassed human memory capabilities, and health care workers often have unmet information needs. While the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution is improving, IR in the Western world, the global digital divide has never been wider. Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) have the least advanced ICT infrastructure and service provision, and are also burdened with the majority of the world's health issues and severe shortages of health care workers. Initiatives utilizing mobile technology in healthcare and public health (mHealth) have shown potential at addressing these inequalities and challenges. Using Botswana as a reference point, this paper aims to broadly describe the healthcare and ICT challenges facing LMICs, the promise of mHealth as a field in health informatics, and then propose health informatics solutions that specifically address IR content and needs. One solution proposes utilizing Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for accessing treatment guidelines, and the other solution outlines applications of smart devices for IR.

Smallpox Eradication in Bangladesh, 1972–19761

PubMed Central

Foster, Stanley O.; Hughes, Kenneth; Tarantola, Daniel; Glasser, John W.

2017-01-01

Rahima Bano, the world’s last endemic case of severe smallpox, Variola Major, developed rash on October 16, 1975 on Bhola Island, Bangladesh. Achieving eradication in a country destroyed by war challenged the achievement of smallpox eradication. Between January 1, 1972 and December 31, 1975, 225,000 smallpox cases and 45,000 smallpox deaths occurred. Adapting the global smallpox eradication strategies of surveillance, the detection of smallpox cases, and containment, the interruption of smallpox transmission, utilized progress toward three objectives to monitor performance: 1) Surveillance – the percent smallpox infected villages detected within 14 days of the first case of rash, 2) Knowledge of the Reward – public knowledge of the current amount of the reward for reporting smallpox, and 3) Containment – the percent of infected villages interrupting smallpox transmission within 14 days of detection. Failures to achieve these objectives led to identification and implementation of improved strategies that eventually achieved eradication. Essential to this success was a tripartite partnership of the citizens of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and its field staff, and personnel and resources mobilized by the World Health Organization. PMID:22188934

Intrusion Detection in Control Systems using Sequence Characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiuchi, Mai; Onoda, Takashi

Intrusion detection is considered effective in control systems. Sequences of the control application behavior observed in the communication, such as the order of the control device to be controlled, are important in control systems. However, most intrusion detection systems do not effectively reflect sequences in the application layer into the detection rules. In our previous work, we considered utilizing sequences for intrusion detection in control systems, and demonstrated the usefulness of sequences for intrusion detection. However, manually writing the detection rules for a large system can be difficult, so using machine learning methods becomes feasible. Also, in the case of control systems, there have been very few observed cyber attacks, so we have very little knowledge of the attack data that should be used to train the intrusion detection system. In this paper, we use an approach that combines CRF (Conditional Random Field) considering the sequence of the system, thus able to reflect the characteristics of control system sequences into the intrusion detection system, and also does not need the knowledge of attack data to construct the detection rules.

Smallpox eradication in Bangladesh, 1972-1976.

PubMed

Foster, Stanley O; Hughes, Kenneth; Tarantola, Daniel; Glasser, John W

2011-12-30

Rahima Banu, the world's last endemic case of severe smallpox, Variola Major, developed rash on October 16, 1975 on Bhola Island, Bangladesh. Achieving eradication in a country destroyed by war challenged the achievement of smallpox eradication. Between January 1, 1972 and December 31, 1975, 225,000 smallpox cases and 45,000 smallpox deaths occurred. Adapting the global smallpox eradication strategies of surveillance, the detection of smallpox cases, and containment, the interruption of smallpox transmission, utilized progress toward three objectives to monitor performance: (1) surveillance - the percent of smallpox infected villages detected within 14 days of the first case of rash, (2) knowledge of the reward - public knowledge of the current amount of the reward for reporting smallpox, and (3) containment - the percent of infected villages interrupting smallpox transmission within 14 days of detection. Failures to achieve these objectives led to the identification and implementation of improved strategies that eventually achieved eradication. Essential to this success was a tripartite partnership of the citizens of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Ministry of Health, its field staff, and staff and resources mobilized by the World Health Organization. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

[The organo-clinical hiatus today. Some thoughts about Neurosciences, Psychopathology and Clinical Psychiatry in the early twenty-first century].

PubMed

Motuca, Mariano

2016-01-01

The concept of "organo clinical-hiatus" prepared by Henri Ey the mid-twentieth century has transcended the boundaries of time and has an amazing utility if it is considered from the point of view of both epistemological and clinical. Current developments in the field of neuroscience on the one hand and effective in clinical practice of psychopathological concepts born in the nineteenth century on the other, pose a challenge for psychiatrists today. It is important not to take a naive position on the new neuroscientific knowledge adopting a dogmatic stance that keeps us patient and while maintaining a clear position that avoids specialty contempt by those who argue that mental illness is a mere construct sustained by the medical hegemonic power. We believe the best way to protect our psychiatric practice of involuntary biases and attacks blinded by reductionist ideas is having a historical knowledge of our discipline and a solid epistemological basis. That way we will have the largest options to help our patients.

Knowledge management: implications for human service organizations.

PubMed

Austin, Michael J; Claassen, Jennette; Vu, Catherine M; Mizrahi, Paola

2008-01-01

Knowledge management has recently taken a more prominent role in the management of organizations as worker knowledge and intellectual capital are recognized as critical to organizational success. This analysis explores the literature of knowledge management including the individual level of tacit and explicit knowledge, the networks and social interactions utilized by workers to create and share new knowledge, and the multiple organizational and managerial factors associated with effective knowledge management systems. Based on the role of organizational culture, structure, leadership, and reward systems, six strategies are identified to assist human service organizations with implementing new knowledge management systems.

Knowledge for better health: a conceptual framework and foundation for health research systems.

PubMed Central

Pang, Tikki; Sadana, Ritu; Hanney, Steve; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.; Hyder, Adnan A.; Simon, Jonathon

2003-01-01

Health research generates knowledge that can be utilized to improve health system performance and, ultimately, health and health equity. We propose a conceptual framework for health research systems (HRSs) that defines their boundaries, components, goals, and functions. The framework adopts a systems perspective towards HRSs and serves as a foundation for constructing a practical approach to describe and analyse HRSs. The analysis of HRSs should, in turn, provide a better understanding of how research contributes to gains in health and health equity. In this framework, the intrinsic goals of the HRS are the advancement of scientific knowledge and the utilization of knowledge to improve health and health equity. Its four principal functions are stewardship, financing, creating and sustaining resources, and producing and using research. The framework, as it is applied in consultation with countries, will provide countries and donor agencies with relevant inputs to policies and strategies for strengthening HRSs and using knowledge for better health. PMID:14758408

Knowledge for better health: a conceptual framework and foundation for health research systems.

PubMed

Pang, Tikki; Sadana, Ritu; Hanney, Steve; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Hyder, Adnan A; Simon, Jonathon

2003-01-01

Health research generates knowledge that can be utilized to improve health system performance and, ultimately, health and health equity. We propose a conceptual framework for health research systems (HRSs) that defines their boundaries, components, goals, and functions. The framework adopts a systems perspective towards HRSs and serves as a foundation for constructing a practical approach to describe and analyse HRSs. The analysis of HRSs should, in turn, provide a better understanding of how research contributes to gains in health and health equity. In this framework, the intrinsic goals of the HRS are the advancement of scientific knowledge and the utilization of knowledge to improve health and health equity. Its four principal functions are stewardship, financing, creating and sustaining resources, and producing and using research. The framework, as it is applied in consultation with countries, will provide countries and donor agencies with relevant inputs to policies and strategies for strengthening HRSs and using knowledge for better health.

Decomposition of Economic Inequality in Needle and Syringe Programs Utilization to its Determinants among Men Who Inject Drugs in Tehran using Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Method.

PubMed

Noroozi, Mehdi; Rahimi, Ebrahim; Ghisvand, Hessam; Qorbani, Mostafa; Sharifi, Hamid; Noroozi, Alireza; Farhoudian, Ali; Marshall, Brandon D L; Jorjoran Shoshtari, Zahra; Karimi, Salah Eddin; Rezaei, Omid; Armoon, Bahram

2018-06-07

According to latest available data there are more of 300,000 people injects drug users (PWID) in Iran. In this study, we used a Blinder-Oaxaca (BO) decomposition to explore the relative contributions of inequality in utilization of NSPs and to decompose it to its determinants in Teheran. We used data from a cross-sectional survey using snowball sampling to recruit 500 PWID from June to July 2016 in Tehran. Participants were reported injecting drug use in the past month, were able to speak and comprehend Farsi enough to respond to survey questions, and were able to provide informed consent to complete the interview. We used a BO method to decompose the role of economic inequality on utilization of needle and syringe programs. A total 520 of clients participated in the study of which data was fully complete for 500. The selected predictor variables (age, education level, marital status, homelessness, HIV risk perception, and HIV knowledge) together explain 54% (8.5% out of 16%) of total inequality in utilization of needle and syringe programs and the remaining 46% constitute the unexplained residual. HIV risk perception status contributed about 38% (3.3% out of 8.5%) to the total health inequality, followed by HIV knowledge (26%) and education level were contributed 20% each, respectively. The results showed that contribution of economic inequalities in utilization of NSPs was primarily explained by the differential effects of HIV risk perception and HIV knowledge among PWID. Reducing HIV risk perception and increasing HIV knowledge might be essential to efforts to eliminate inequalities in access to NSPs among PWID.

Design optimization of the sensor spatial arrangement in a direct magnetic field-based localization system for medical applications.

PubMed

Marechal, Luc; Shaohui Foong; Zhenglong Sun; Wood, Kristin L

2015-08-01

Motivated by the need for developing a neuronavigation system to improve efficacy of intracranial surgical procedures, a localization system using passive magnetic fields for real-time monitoring of the insertion process of an external ventricular drain (EVD) catheter is conceived and developed. This system operates on the principle of measuring the static magnetic field of a magnetic marker using an array of magnetic sensors. An artificial neural network (ANN) is directly used for solving the inverse problem of magnetic dipole localization for improved efficiency and precision. As the accuracy of localization system is highly dependent on the sensor spatial location, an optimization framework, based on understanding and classification of experimental sensor characteristics as well as prior knowledge of the general trajectory of the localization pathway, for design of such sensing assemblies is described and investigated in this paper. Both optimized and non-optimized sensor configurations were experimentally evaluated and results show superior performance from the optimized configuration. While the approach presented here utilizes ventriculostomy as an illustrative platform, it can be extended to other medical applications that require localization inside the body.

Cognition in multiple sclerosis

PubMed Central

Benedict, Ralph; Enzinger, Christian; Filippi, Massimo; Geurts, Jeroen J.; Hamalainen, Paivi; Hulst, Hanneke; Inglese, Matilde; Leavitt, Victoria M.; Rocca, Maria A.; Rosti-Otajarvi, Eija M.; Rao, Stephen

2018-01-01

Cognitive decline is recognized as a prevalent and debilitating symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS), especially deficits in episodic memory and processing speed. The field aims to (1) incorporate cognitive assessment into standard clinical care and clinical trials, (2) utilize state-of-the-art neuroimaging to more thoroughly understand neural bases of cognitive deficits, and (3) develop effective, evidence-based, clinically feasible interventions to prevent or treat cognitive dysfunction, which are lacking. There are obstacles to these goals. Our group of MS researchers and clinicians with varied expertise took stock of the current state of the field, and we identify several important practical and theoretical challenges, including key knowledge gaps and methodologic limitations related to (1) understanding and measurement of cognitive deficits, (2) neuroimaging of neural bases and correlates of deficits, and (3) development of effective treatments. This is not a comprehensive review of the extensive literature, but instead a statement of guidelines and priorities for the field. For instance, we provide recommendations for improving the scientific basis and methodologic rigor for cognitive rehabilitation research. Toward this end, we call for multidisciplinary collaborations toward development of biologically based theoretical models of cognition capable of empirical validation and evidence-based refinement, providing the scientific context for effective treatment discovery. PMID:29343470

The performance of matched-field track-before-detect methods using shallow-water Pacific data.

PubMed

Tantum, Stacy L; Nolte, Loren W; Krolik, Jeffrey L; Harmanci, Kerem

2002-07-01

Matched-field track-before-detect processing, which extends the concept of matched-field processing to include modeling of the source dynamics, has recently emerged as a promising approach for maintaining the track of a moving source. In this paper, optimal Bayesian and minimum variance beamforming track-before-detect algorithms which incorporate a priori knowledge of the source dynamics in addition to the underlying uncertainties in the ocean environment are presented. A Markov model is utilized for the source motion as a means of capturing the stochastic nature of the source dynamics without assuming uniform motion. In addition, the relationship between optimal Bayesian track-before-detect processing and minimum variance track-before-detect beamforming is examined, revealing how an optimal tracking philosophy may be used to guide the modification of existing beamforming techniques to incorporate track-before-detect capabilities. Further, the benefits of implementing an optimal approach over conventional methods are illustrated through application of these methods to shallow-water Pacific data collected as part of the SWellEX-1 experiment. The results show that incorporating Markovian dynamics for the source motion provides marked improvement in the ability to maintain target track without the use of a uniform velocity hypothesis.

Advances in the genetic dissection of plant cell walls: tools and resources available in Miscanthus

PubMed Central

Slavov, Gancho; Allison, Gordon; Bosch, Maurice

2013-01-01

Tropical C4 grasses from the genus Miscanthus are believed to have great potential as biomass crops. However, Miscanthus species are essentially undomesticated, and genetic, molecular and bioinformatics tools are in very early stages of development. Furthermore, similar to other crops targeted as lignocellulosic feedstocks, the efficient utilization of biomass is hampered by our limited knowledge of the structural organization of the plant cell wall and the underlying genetic components that control this organization. The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) has assembled an extensive collection of germplasm for several species of Miscanthus. In addition, an integrated, multidisciplinary research programme at IBERS aims to inform accelerated breeding for biomass productivity and composition, while also generating fundamental knowledge. Here we review recent advances with respect to the genetic characterization of the cell wall in Miscanthus. First, we present a summary of recent and on-going biochemical studies, including prospects and limitations for the development of powerful phenotyping approaches. Second, we review current knowledge about genetic variation for cell wall characteristics of Miscanthus and illustrate how phenotypic data, combined with high-density arrays of single-nucleotide polymorphisms, are being used in genome-wide association studies to generate testable hypotheses and guide biological discovery. Finally, we provide an overview of the current knowledge about the molecular biology of cell wall biosynthesis in Miscanthus and closely related grasses, discuss the key conceptual and technological bottlenecks, and outline the short-term prospects for progress in this field. PMID:23847628

Attitudes of Israeli Rheumatologists to the Use of Medical Cannabis as Therapy for Rheumatic Disorders.

PubMed

Ablin, Jacob N; Elkayam, Ori; Fitzcharles, Mary-Ann

2016-04-19

While medical cannabis has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of pain and other symptoms, evidence-based use is limited and practitioners face multiple areas of uncertainty regarding the rational use of these compounds. Nonetheless, an increasing public interest and advocacy in favor of medical cannabis is causing the issue to be encountered ever more frequently by physicians in different fields of medicine and particularly in rheumatology. In view of this situation, we have surveyed the attitudes of Israeli rheumatologists to the use of medical cannabis. As rheumatologists are specialized in caring for patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints, the confidence of rheumatologists' knowledge of cannabinoids was surveyed. All members of the Israeli Society of Rheumatology were surveyed by e-mail for their confidence and knowledge of cannabinoids and their perceived competence to prescribe herbal cannabis. A total of 23 out of 119 (19.3%) Israeli rheumatologists approached returned the questionnaire. Three-quarters of responders were not confident about their knowledge of cannabinoid molecules or ability to write a prescription for herbal cannabis, and 78% were not confident to write a prescription for herbal cannabis; 74% of responders held the opinion that there was some role for cannabinoids in the management of rheumatic disease. Israeli rheumatologists lack confidence in their knowledge of cannabinoids in general, yet are open to the possibility of introducing this treatment. Additional data and guidance are necessary in order to allow rational utilization of cannabinoids for management of rheumatic pain.

Learning a New Curricular Approach: Mechanisms of Knowledge Acquisition in Preservice Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rovegno, Inez

1992-01-01

Reports a study of preservice physical educators' acquisition of knowledge of a nontraditional movement approach to physical education. Interviews and field observations indicated that before student teaching their knowledge of deeper content objectives was weak. In early field experiences, students attended to aspects of the approach relevant to…

Knowledge Management: A Conceptual Platform for the Sharing of Ideas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahdjoubi, Darius; Harmon, Glynn

2001-01-01

The concept of the learning organization and intellectual capital were instrumental in the beginning stage of knowledge management, about 1995. From the spontaneous combination of these two fields, the modern concept of knowledge management as a conceptual platform emerged. The seven main fields that are so far most intimately connected to…

Patent citation network in nanotechnology (1976-2004)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Chen, Hsinchun; Huang, Zan; Roco, Mihail C.

2007-06-01

The patent citation networks are described using critical node, core network, and network topological analysis. The main objective is understanding of the knowledge transfer processes between technical fields, institutions and countries. This includes identifying key influential players and subfields, the knowledge transfer patterns among them, and the overall knowledge transfer efficiency. The proposed framework is applied to the field of nanoscale science and engineering (NSE), including the citation networks of patent documents, submitting institutions, technology fields, and countries. The NSE patents were identified by keywords "full-text" searching of patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The analysis shows that the United States is the most important citation center in NSE research. The institution citation network illustrates a more efficient knowledge transfer between institutions than a random network. The country citation network displays a knowledge transfer capability as efficient as a random network. The technology field citation network and the patent document citation network exhibit a␣less efficient knowledge diffusion capability than a random network. All four citation networks show a tendency to form local citation clusters.

Building a knowledge translation platform in Malawi to support evidence-informed health policy.

PubMed

Berman, Joshua; Mitambo, Collins; Matanje-Mwagomba, Beatrice; Khan, Shiraz; Kachimanga, Chiyembekezo; Wroe, Emily; Mwape, Lonia; van Oosterhout, Joep J; Chindebvu, Getrude; van Schoor, Vanessa; Puchalski Ritchie, Lisa M; Panisset, Ulysses; Kathyola, Damson

2015-12-08

With the support of the World Health Organization's Evidence-Informed Policy Network, knowledge translation platforms have been developed throughout Africa, the Americas, Eastern Europe, and Asia to further evidence-informed national health policy. In this commentary, we discuss the approaches, activities and early lessons learned from the development of a Knowledge Translation Platform in Malawi (KTPMalawi). Through ongoing leadership, as well as financial and administrative support, the Malawi Ministry of Health has strongly signalled its intention to utilize a knowledge translation platform methodology to support evidence-informed national health policy. A unique partnership between Dignitas International, a medical and research non-governmental organization, and the Malawi Ministry of Health, has established KTPMalawi to engage national-level policymakers, researchers and implementers in a coordinated approach to the generation and utilization of health-sector research. Utilizing a methodology developed and tested by knowledge translation platforms across Africa, a stakeholder mapping exercise and initial capacity building workshops were undertaken and a multidisciplinary Steering Committee was formed. This Steering Committee prioritized the development of two initial Communities of Practice to (1) improve data utilization in the pharmaceutical supply chain and (2) improve the screening and treatment of hypertension within HIV-infected populations. Each Community of Practice's mandate is to gather and synthesize the best available global and local evidence and produce evidence briefs for policy that have been used as the primary input into structured deliberative dialogues. While a lack of sustained initial funding slowed its early development, KTPMalawi has greatly benefited from extensive technical support and mentorship by an existing network of global knowledge translation platforms. With the continued support of the Malawi Ministry of Health and the Evidence-Informed Policy Network, KTPMalawi can continue to build on its role in facilitating the use of evidence in the development and refinement of health policy in Malawi.

Exploring arts-based knowledge translation: sharing research findings through performing the patterns, rehearsing the results, staging the synthesis.

PubMed

Rieger, Kendra; Schultz, Annette S H

2014-04-01

Cultivation of knowledge translation (KT) strategies that actively engage health professionals in critical reflection of their practice and research-based evidence are imperative to address the research-practice gap. While research-based evidence is exponentially growing, our ability to facilitate uptake by nurses and other health professionals has not kept pace. Innovative approaches that extend epistemological bias beyond a singular standpoint of postpositivism, such as the utilization of arts-based methods, expand the possibility to address the complexities of context, engage audience members, promote dissemination within communities of practice, and foster new audiences interested in research findings. In this paper, we address the importance of adopting a social constructivist epistemological stance to facilitate knowledge translation to diverse audiences, explore various arts-based knowledge translation (ABKT) strategies, and open a dialogue concerning evaluative tenets of ABKT. ABKT utilizes various art forms to disseminate research knowledge to diverse audiences and promote evidence-informed practice. ABKT initiatives translate knowledge not based upon a linear model, which views knowledge as an objective entity, but rather operate from the premise that knowledge is socially situated, which demands acknowledging and engaging the learner within their context. Theatre, dance, photography, and poetry are art forms that are commonly used to communicate research findings to diverse audiences. Given the emerging interest and importance of utilizing this KT strategy situated within a social constructivist epistemology, potential challenges and plausible evaluative criteria specific to ABKT are presented. ABKT is an emerging KT strategy that is grounded in social constructivist epistemological tenets, and holds potential for meaningfully sharing new research knowledge with diverse audiences. ABKT is an innovative and synergistic approach to traditional dissemination strategies. This creative KT approach is emerging as potent transformational learning tools that are congruent with the relational nature of nursing practice. ABKT facilitates learning about new research findings in an engaging and critical reflective manner that promotes learning within communities of practice. © 2014 Sigma Theta Tau International.

The Strategic Environment Assessment bibliographic network: A quantitative literature review analysis

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

Caschili, Simone, E-mail: s.caschili@ucl.ac.uk; De Montis, Andrea; Ganciu, Amedeo

2014-07-01

Academic literature has been continuously growing at such a pace that it can be difficult to follow the progression of scientific achievements; hence, the need to dispose of quantitative knowledge support systems to analyze the literature of a subject. In this article we utilize network analysis tools to build a literature review of scientific documents published in the multidisciplinary field of Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA). The proposed approach helps researchers to build unbiased and comprehensive literature reviews. We collect information on 7662 SEA publications and build the SEA Bibliographic Network (SEABN) employing the basic idea that two publications are interconnectedmore » if one cites the other. We apply network analysis at macroscopic (network architecture), mesoscopic (sub graph) and microscopic levels (node) in order to i) verify what network structure characterizes the SEA literature, ii) identify the authors, disciplines and journals that are contributing to the international discussion on SEA, and iii) scrutinize the most cited and important publications in the field. Results show that the SEA is a multidisciplinary subject; the SEABN belongs to the class of real small world networks with a dominance of publications in Environmental studies over a total of 12 scientific sectors. Christopher Wood, Olivia Bina, Matthew Cashmore, and Andrew Jordan are found to be the leading authors while Environmental Impact Assessment Review is by far the scientific journal with the highest number of publications in SEA studies. - Highlights: • We utilize network analysis to analyze scientific documents in the SEA field. • We build the SEA Bibliographic Network (SEABN) of 7662 publications. • We apply network analysis at macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic network levels. • We identify SEABN architecture, relevant publications, authors, subjects and journals.« less

Medical Students' Knowledge of Fertility Awareness-Based Methods of Family Planning.

PubMed

Danis, Peter G; Kurz, Sally A; Covert, Laura M

2017-01-01

Traditional medical school curricula have not addressed fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) of family planning. The objective of this study was to assess (1) 3-year medical students' knowledge of FABMs of family planning, (2) their confidence in utilizing that knowledge in patient care, and (3) to implement focused education on FABMs to improve knowledge and confidence. Third-year medical students at one institution in the United States were given a 10-question assessment at the beginning of their OB-GYN rotation. Two lectures about FABMs and their clinical applications were given during the rotation. Students were given the same questions at the end of the rotation. Each questionnaire consisted of eight questions to assess a student's knowledge of FABMs and two questions to assess the student's confidence in sharing and utilizing that information in a clinical setting. McNemar's test was used to analyze the data. Two hundred seventy-seven students completed a pretest questionnaire and 196 students completed the posttest questionnaire. Medical knowledge improved from an initial test score of 38.99% to final test score of 53.57% ( p  < 0.05). Confidence in sharing FABM information with patients (0 = very uncomfortable; 5 = very comfortable) improved from 1.51 to 3.00 ( p  < 0.05). Confidence in utilizing FABM to diagnose and treat gynecologic/reproductive problems (0 = not very confident and 5 = very confident) improved from 1.01 to 3.15 ( p  < 0.05). Medical schools may not include FABMs in OB-GYN curriculum; however, to patients, these methods remain a sought after and valid form of family planning. This study shows that brief, focused education can increase medical students' knowledge of and confidence with FABMs of family planning.

A Knowledge Translation Programme to Increase the Utilization of Thoracic Spine Mobilization and Manipulation for Patients with Neck Pain.

PubMed

Karas, Steve; Westerheide, Angela; Daniel, Laura

2016-06-01

There is extensive evidence that mobilization and manipulation of the thoracic spine is associated with improved outcomes in patients with neck pain. However, these evidence-based techniques are not always utilized. Successful knowledge translation programmes are needed to move the best available evidence to clinical practice. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the effects of a structured knowledge translation programme on the frequency of manual therapy techniques performed by physical therapists on patients with neck pain. Prior to our intervention, we assessed physical therapists' use of thoracic spine intervention for the treatment of neck pain and their knowledge of the evidence. We delivered a multimodal knowledge translation programme and then reassessed their use and knowledge of the interventions. The majority of our physical therapists increased the use of thoracic spine techniques for their patients with neck pain. The increase was greater in those who used the techniques infrequently. Overall knowledge of the evidence appeared unchanged. Knowledge translation programmes are essential in ensuring clinical use of evidence-based practice. Our programme results, although on a small scale and not statistically significant, showed a positive trend toward increased thoracic spine manual therapy use for neck pain. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A New Perspective on Modeling Groundwater-Driven Health Risk With Subjective Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozbek, M. M.

2003-12-01

Fuzzy rule-based systems provide an efficient environment for the modeling of expert information in the context of risk management for groundwater contamination problems. In general, their use in the form of conditional pieces of knowledge, has been either as a tool for synthesizing control laws from data (i.e., conjunction-based models), or in a knowledge representation and reasoning perspective in Artificial Intelligence (i.e., implication-based models), where only the latter may lead to coherence problems (e.g., input data that leads to logical inconsistency when added to the knowledge base). We implement a two-fold extension to an implication-based groundwater risk model (Ozbek and Pinder, 2002) including: 1) the implementation of sufficient conditions for a coherent knowledge base, and 2) the interpolation of expert statements to supplement gaps in knowledge. The original model assumes statements of public health professionals for the characterization of the exposed individual and the relation of dose and pattern of exposure to its carcinogenic effects. We demonstrate the utility of the extended model in that it: 1)identifies inconsistent statements and establishes coherence in the knowledge base, and 2) minimizes the burden of knowledge elicitation from the experts for utilizing existing knowledge in an optimal fashion.ÿÿ

Integrating child health services into malaria control services of village malaria workers in remote Cambodia: service utilization and knowledge of malaria management of caregivers.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Aya; Yasuoka, Junko; Ly, Po; Nguon, Chea; Jimba, Masamine

2013-08-23

Malaria and other communicable diseases remain major threats in developing countries. In Cambodia, village malaria workers (VMWs) have been providing malaria control services in remote villages to cope with the disease threats. In 2009, the VMW project integrated child health services into the original malaria control services. However, little has been studied about the utilization of VMWs' child health services. This study aimed to identify determinants of caregivers' VMW service utilization for childhood illness and caregivers' knowledge of malaria management. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 36 VMW villages of Kampot and Kampong Thom provinces in July-September 2012. An equal number of VMW villages with malaria control services only (M) and those with malaria control plus child health services (M+C) were selected from each province. Using structured questionnaires, 800 caregivers of children under five and 36 VMWs, one of the two VMWs who was providing VMW services in each study village were interviewed. Among the caregivers, 23% in M villages and 52% in M+C villages utilized VMW services for childhood illnesses. Determinants of caregivers' utilization of VMWs in M villages included their VMWs' length of experience (AOR = 11.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.46-31.19) and VMWs' service quality (AOR = 2.04, CI = 1.01-4.11). In M+C villages, VMWs' length of experience (AOR = 2.44, CI = 1.52-3.94) and caregivers' wealth index (AOR = 0.35, CI = 0.18-0.68) were associated with VMW service utilization. Meanwhile, better service quality of VMWs (AOR = 3.21, CI = 1.34-7.66) and caregivers' literacy (AOR = 9.91, CI = 4.66-21.05) were positively associated with caregivers' knowledge of malaria management. VMWs' service quality and length of experience are important determinants of caregivers' utilization of VMWs' child health services and their knowledge of malaria management. Caregivers are seeking VMWs' support for childhood illnesses even if they are providing only malaria control services. This underlines the importance of scaling-up VMWs' capacity by adding child health services of good quality, which will result in improving child health status in remote Cambodia.

The usefulness of science knowledge for parents of hearing-impaired children.

PubMed

Shauli, Sophie; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2018-04-01

Hearing-impaired children's chances of integrating into hearing society largely depend on their parents, who need to learn vast amounts of science knowledge in the field of hearing. This study characterized the role played by science knowledge in the lives of nonscientists faced with science-related decisions by examining the interactions between general science knowledge, contextual science knowledge in the field of hearing, and parents' advocacy knowledge and attitudes. Based on six semi-structured interviews and 115 questionnaires completed by parents of hearing-impaired children, contextual science knowledge emerged as the only predictor for having slightly better advocacy attitudes and knowledge (5.5% explained variance). Although general science knowledge was the best predictor of contextual knowledge (14% of explained variance), it was not a direct predictor of advocacy knowledge and attitudes. Science knowledge plays some role in the lives of hearing-impaired families, even if they do not list it as a resource for successful rehabilitation.

Enhancing innovation between scientific and indigenous knowledge: pioneer NGOs in India.

PubMed

Torri, Maria-Costanza; Laplante, Julie

2009-10-22

Until recently, little attention has been paid to local innovation capacity as well as management practices and institutions developed by communities and other local actors based on their traditional knowledge. This paper doesn't focus on the results of scientific research into innovation systems, but rather on how local communities, in a network of supportive partnerships, draw knowledge for others, combine it with their own knowledge and then innovate in their local practices. Innovation, as discussed in this article, is the capacity of local stakeholders to play an active role in innovative knowledge creation in order to enhance local health practices and further environmental conservation. In this article, the innovative processes through which this capacity is created and reinforced will be defined as a process of "ethnomedicine capacity". The field study undertaken by the first author took place in India, in the State of Tamil Nadu, over a period of four months in 2007. The data was collected through individual interviews and focus groups and was complemented by participant observations. The research highlights the innovation capacity related to ethnomedical knowledge. As seen, the integration of local and scientific knowledge is crucial to ensure the practices anchor themselves in daily practices. The networks created are clearly instrumental to enhancing the innovation capacity that allows the creation, dissemination and utilization of 'traditional' knowledge. However, these networks have evolved in very different forms and have become entities that can fit into global networks. The ways in which the social capital is enhanced at the village and network levels are thus important to understand how traditional knowledge can be used as an instrument for development and innovation. The case study analyzed highlights examples of innovation systems in a developmental context. They demonstrate that networks comprised of several actors from different levels can synergistically forge linkages between local knowledge and formal sciences and generate positive and negative impacts. The positive impact is the revitalization of perceived traditions while the negative impacts pertain to the transformation of these traditions into health commodities controlled by new elites, due to unequal power relations.

Enhancing innovation between scientific and indigenous knowledge: pioneer NGOs in India

PubMed Central

Torri, Maria-Costanza; Laplante, Julie

2009-01-01

Background Until recently, little attention has been paid to local innovation capacity as well as management practices and institutions developed by communities and other local actors based on their traditional knowledge. This paper doesn't focus on the results of scientific research into innovation systems, but rather on how local communities, in a network of supportive partnerships, draw knowledge for others, combine it with their own knowledge and then innovate in their local practices. Innovation, as discussed in this article, is the capacity of local stakeholders to play an active role in innovative knowledge creation in order to enhance local health practices and further environmental conservation. In this article, the innovative processes through which this capacity is created and reinforced will be defined as a process of "ethnomedicine capacity". Methods The field study undertaken by the first author took place in India, in the State of Tamil Nadu, over a period of four months in 2007. The data was collected through individual interviews and focus groups and was complemented by participant observations. Results The research highlights the innovation capacity related to ethnomedical knowledge. As seen, the integration of local and scientific knowledge is crucial to ensure the practices anchor themselves in daily practices. The networks created are clearly instrumental to enhancing the innovation capacity that allows the creation, dissemination and utilization of 'traditional' knowledge. However, these networks have evolved in very different forms and have become entities that can fit into global networks. The ways in which the social capital is enhanced at the village and network levels are thus important to understand how traditional knowledge can be used as an instrument for development and innovation. Conclusion The case study analyzed highlights examples of innovation systems in a developmental context. They demonstrate that networks comprised of several actors from different levels can synergistically forge linkages between local knowledge and formal sciences and generate positive and negative impacts. The positive impact is the revitalization of perceived traditions while the negative impacts pertain to the transformation of these traditions into health commodities controlled by new elites, due to unequal power relations. PMID:19849851

[A survey on knowledge of acupuncture disease spectrum and expectation of acupuncture treatment in Chengdu residents].

PubMed

Xu, Tao; Ye, Shaoqing; Shi, Yu; Xu, Tongtong; Wang, Qi; Li, Si; Zhang, Youruo; Lan, Yi; Zhao, Ling

2017-08-12

To understand the knowledge of acupuncture disease spectrum, expectation of acupuncture treatment in Chengdu residents. A questionnaire regarding the knowledge of acupuncture disease spectrum and expectation of acupuncture treatment in Chengdu residents was established. By field sampling and internet survey, related data were collected and analyzed. Totally 1 548 valid questionnaires were collected, including 1 041 from field survey and 507 from internet survey. The results indicated the knowledge of acupuncture and its disease spectrum were moderate in Chengdu residents; among the disease spectrum of acupuncture, the disease with the highest cognition was insomnia, accounting for 45.0% in field survey and 75.4% in internet survey; while the disease with the lowest cognition was infertility, accounting for 8.3% in field survey and 34.3% in internet survey. The knowledge of acupuncture in Chengdu residents could be further improved, and the promotion of popular science of acupuncture should be strengthened in future.

A community of practice for knowledge translation trainees: an innovative approach for learning and collaboration.

PubMed

Urquhart, Robin; Cornelissen, Evelyn; Lal, Shalini; Colquhoun, Heather; Klein, Gail; Richmond, Sarah; Witteman, Holly O

2013-01-01

A growing number of researchers and trainees identify knowledge translation (KT) as their field of study or practice. Yet, KT educational and professional development opportunities and established KT networks remain relatively uncommon, making it challenging for trainees to develop the necessary skills, networks, and collaborations to optimally work in this area. The Knowledge Translation Trainee Collaborative is a trainee-initiated and trainee-led community of practice established by junior knowledge translation researchers and practitioners to: examine the diversity of knowledge translation research and practice, build networks with other knowledge translation trainees, and advance the field through knowledge generation activities. In this article, we describe how the collaborative serves as an innovative community of practice for continuing education and professional development in knowledge translation and present a logic model that provides a framework for designing an evaluation of its impact as a community of practice. The expectation is that formal and informal networking will lead to knowledge sharing and knowledge generation opportunities that improve individual members' competencies (eg, combination of skills, abilities, and knowledge) in knowledge translation research and practice and contribute to the development and advancement of the knowledge translation field. Copyright © 2013 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Evaluating alcoholics anonymous sponsor attributes using conjoint analysis.

PubMed

Stevens, Edward B; Jason, Leonard A

2015-12-01

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) considers sponsorship an important element of the AA program, especially in early recovery. 225 adult individuals who had experience as either a sponsor, sponsee, or both, participated in a hypothetical sponsor ranking exercise where five attributes were varied across three levels. Conjoint analysis was used to compute part-worth utility of the attributes and their levels for experience, knowledge, availability, confidentiality, and goal-setting. Differences in utilities by attribute were found where confidentiality had the greatest overall possible impact on utility and sponsor knowledge had the least. These findings suggest qualitative differences in sponsors may impact their effectiveness. Future research on AA should continue to investigate sponsor influence on an individual's overall recovery trajectory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Influencing Service Utilization and Mood Symptom Severity in Children with Mood Disorders: Effects of Multifamily Psychoeducation Groups (MFPGs)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendenhall, Amy N.; Fristad, Mary A.; Early, Theresa J.

2009-01-01

This study investigated the impact of psychoeducation on service utilization and mood symptom severity in children with mood disorders. Parents' knowledge of mood disorders, beliefs about treatment, and perceptions of children's need for treatment were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between psychoeducation and service utilization and…

Finding the Sweet Spot: Network Structures and Processes for Increased Knowledge Mobilization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briscoe, Patricia; Pollock, Katina; Campbell, Carol; Carr-Harris, Shasta

2015-01-01

The use of networks in public education is one of many knowledge mobilization (KMb) strategies utilized to promote evidence-based research into practice. However, challenges exist in the ability to mobilize knowledge through networks. The purpose of this paper is to explore how networks work. Data were collected from virtual discussions for an…

Image Understanding Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-09-01

architecture to support real-time, knowledge -based image understanding , and develop the software support environment that will be needed to utilize...NUMBER OF PAGES Image Understanding Architecture, Knowledge -Based Vision, AI Real-Time Computer Vision, Software Simulator, Parallel Processor IL PRICE... information . In addition to sensory and knowledge -based processing it is useful to introduce a level of symbolic processing. Thus, vision researchers

Coming Home after Studying Abroad: How Saudi Female Scholars Readapt, Re-Adjust, and Transfer Their Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alandejani, Jehan

2013-01-01

Studying in another country offers scholars exposure to new cultures and opportunities to learn ways to reform systems and increase knowledge in their countries. Upon returning home, repatriate scholars are expected to utilize what they have learned, which involves implementing or transferring their newly acquired knowledge to their employer…

Student Perceived and Determined Knowledge of Biology Concepts in an Upper-Level Biology Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegler, Brittany; Montplaisir, Lisa

2014-01-01

Students who lack metacognitive skills can struggle with the learning process. To be effective learners, students should recognize what they know and what they do not know. This study examines the relationship between students' perception of their knowledge and determined knowledge in an upper-level biology course utilizing a pre/posttest…

Social Work Knowledge of Facts on Aging: Influence of Field and Classroom Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birkenmaier, Julie; Rowan, Noell L.; Damron-Rodriguez, JoAnn; Lawrance, Frances P.; Volland, Patricia J.

2009-01-01

Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ) was used to measure aging knowledge outcomes of 323 practicum students engaged in aging-focused practica at pre- and posttest across 11 universities. Significant improvement in knowledge scores (p = 0.0001) was found for graduates of the enhanced field education programs. Taking aging course work was a…

Forecasting Doctoral-Level Content in Agricultural Education: Viewpoints of Engaged Scholars in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shinn, Glen C.; Briers, Gary; Baker, Matt

2008-01-01

In this study, the researchers used a classical Delphi method to re-examine the conceptual framework, definition, and knowledge base of the field. Seventeen engaged scholars, each representing the expert agricultural education community, reached consensus on defining the field of study, 10 knowledge domains, and 67 knowledge objects. The Delphi…

The Impact of Incorrect Examples on Learning Fractions: A Field Experiment with 6th Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heemsoth, Tim; Heinze, Aiso

2014-01-01

Educational research indicates that error reflection, especially reflection on incorrect examples, has a positive effect on knowledge acquisition. The benefit of error reflections might be explained by the extended knowledge of incorrect strategies and concepts (negative knowledge) which fosters the learning of new content. In a field experiment…

An exploratory mixed-methods crossover study comparing DVD- vs. Web-based patient decision support in three conditions: The importance of patient perspectives.

PubMed

Halley, Meghan C; Rendle, Katharine A S; Gillespie, Katherine A; Stanley, Katherine M; Frosch, Dominick L

2015-12-01

The last 15 years have witnessed considerable progress in the development of decision support interventions (DESIs). However, fundamental questions about design and format of delivery remain. An exploratory, randomized mixed-method crossover study was conducted to compare a DVD- and Web-based DESI. Randomized participants used either the Web or the DVD first, followed by the alternative format. Participants completed a questionnaire to assess decision-specific knowledge at baseline and a questionnaire and structured qualitative interview after viewing each format. Tracking software was used to capture Web utilization. Transcripts were analyzed using integrated inductive and deductive approaches. Quantitative data were analyzed using exploratory bivariate and multivariate analyses. Exploratory knowledge analyses suggest that both formats increased knowledge, with limited evidence that the DVD increased knowledge more than the Web. Format preference varied across participants: 44% preferred the Web, 32% preferred the DVD and 24% preferred 'both'. Patient discussions of preferences for DESI information structure and the importance of a patients' stage of a given decision suggest these characteristics may be important factors underlying variation in utilization, format preferences and knowledge outcomes. Our results suggest that both DESI formats effectively increase knowledge. Patients' perceptions of these two formats further suggest that there may be no single 'best' format for all patients. These results have important implications for understanding why different DESI formats might be preferable to and more effective for different patients. Further research is needed to explore the relationship between these factors and DESI utilization outcomes across diverse patient populations. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

To the Extremes! A Teacher Research Experience Program in the Polar Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warburton, J.; Bartholow, S.

2014-12-01

PolarTREC-Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating, a teacher professional development program, began with the International Polar Year in 2004 and continues today in the United States. In 2007, the National Science Foundation designated PolarTREC as potentially transformative, meaning that the "research results often do not fit within established models or theories and may initially be unexpected or difficult to interpret; their transformative nature and utility might not be recognized until years later." PolarTREC brings U.S. K-12 educators and polar researchers together through an innovative teacher research experience model. Teachers spend three to six weeks in remote arctic and Antarctic field camps. Since 2007, over 100 teachers have been placed in field experiences throughout the Arctic and Antarctic and with half of them participating in field experiences in Antarctica. During their experience, teachers become research team members filling a variety of roles on the team. They also fulfil a unique role of public outreach officer, conducting live presentations about their field site and research as well as journaling, answering questions, and posting photos. Evaluation data collected over the past eight years on program participants shows that PolarTREC has clearly achieved it goals and strongly suggests programs that link teachers and researchers can have the potential to transform the nature of science education. By giving teachers the content knowledge, pedagogical tools, confidence, understanding of science in the broader society, and experiences with scientific inquiry, participating teachers are using authentic scientific research in their classrooms. Not surprisingly this has also led to increases in student interest and knowledge about the Polar Regions. In this presentation, we will highlight the best practices of teacher research experiences as well as discuss why it is vital to have teachers and researchers work together to communicate science to the broader public.

Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production

Treesearch

J. Cure

2013-01-01

Developing a method of agricultural field reclamation to native grasses in the Lower San Pedro Watershed could prove to be a valuable tool for educational and practical purposes. Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production will address water table depletion, soil degradation and the economic viability of the communities within the watershed....

The Field of Educational Administration in England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunter, Helen M.

2012-01-01

Based on over twenty years of empirical and intellectual work about knowledge production in the field of educational administration, I examine the origins and development of the canon, methodologies and knowledge workers in England. I focus on the field as being primarily concerned with professional activity and how and why this was established…

The Ciência & Saúde Coletiva journal and the process of institutionalization of a field of knowledge and practices.

PubMed

Nunes, Everardo Duarte

2015-07-01

This paper takes as its starting point the concepts that make up the process of institutionalization of a field of knowledge in the following phases: 1. Differentiation of subjects, methods and techniques of knowledge or existing disciplines, 2. The subject previously considered as peripheral is now seem as part of a particular field of knowledge, 3. The new field becomes significant in the set of an area and starts the standardization of recruitment of human resources, selection of experts and financial resources, and 4. Consolidation of the new field, building its culture within the scientific community, with its social networks of communication, scientific associations and its own publications. Our central objective is to analyze the role of the Ciência e Saúde Coletiva Journal in the process of institutionalization of the Collective Health; we situate the Collective Health and its stages, make a brief report on the history of scientific publications by emphasizing the Brazilian studies on the public health field, and work the early stages of the Journal.

Guidelines for integrating population education into primary education and literacy programmes.

PubMed

1989-01-01

In recent seminars and workshops in the Asia and Pacific region the integration of population education into primary schools and literacy programs were the main topics. In most of the countries in this area separate courses in population education appear to be unfeasible for primary and secondary schools. In the nonformal area experience has indicated that population education acquires more meaning and relevance if it is integrated into an ongoing development program. The integration approach requires knowledge of the contents of the accommodating subjects or programs and knowledge of the contents of the accommodating subjects or programs and knowledge of the contents of population education. Guidelines suggested include the following steps in developing an integrated curriculum and instructional materials. First determine the needs, characteristics and other background information needed on the target group. Next prioritize the problems and needs of the target group, and formulate educational objectives from the identified needs and problems. Next determine and sequence the curriculum contents and then determine specific population education objectives and contents for integration, and what specific materials have to be developed. Then identify the specific type of format of materials to be developed, and write the first draft of the material. Also prepare illustrations and other art and graphic materials. Then the draft material should be reviewed and translated into the language of the target audience if needed. The materials should then be pretested, or field tested, using a sample of the intended users. To make sure the materials are reaching the target groups and being used effectively, a user's guide should be prepared and teachers and facilitators, as well as supervisors, should be prepared on the use of the material. In addition, a distribution and utilization plan should be prepared. Nonformal education materials can be distributed through libraries, reading center, residences of village leaders, neighborhood stores, and direct mail. The material distribution and utilization should be monitored and evaluated.

Integrating local pastoral knowledge, participatory mapping, and species distribution modeling for risk assessment of invasive rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) in Ethiopia’s Afar region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luizza, Matthew; Wakie, Tewodros; Evangelista, Paul; Jarnevich, Catherine S.

2016-01-01

The threats posed by invasive plants span ecosystems and economies worldwide. Local knowledge of biological invasions has proven beneficial for invasive species research, but to date no work has integrated this knowledge with species distribution modeling for invasion risk assessments. In this study, we integrated pastoral knowledge with Maxent modeling to assess the suitable habitat and potential impacts of invasive Cryptostegia grandiflora Robx. Ex R.Br. (rubber vine) in Ethiopia’s Afar region. We conducted focus groups with seven villages across the Amibara and Awash-Fentale districts. Pastoral knowledge revealed the growing threat of rubber vine, which to date has received limited attention in Ethiopia, and whose presence in Afar was previously unknown to our team. Rubber vine occurrence points were collected in the field with pastoralists and processed in Maxent with MODIS-derived vegetation indices, topographic data, and anthropogenic variables. We tested model fit using a jackknife procedure and validated the final model with an independent occurrence data set collected through participatory mapping activities with pastoralists. A Multivariate Environmental Similarity Surface analysis revealed areas with novel environmental conditions for future targeted surveys. Model performance was evaluated using area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) and showed good fit across the jackknife models (average AUC = 0.80) and the final model (test AUC = 0.96). Our results reveal the growing threat rubber vine poses to Afar, with suitable habitat extending downstream of its current known location in the middle Awash River basin. Local pastoral knowledge provided important context for its rapid expansion due to acute changes in seasonality and habitat alteration, in addition to threats posed to numerous endemic tree species that provide critical provisioning ecosystem services. This work demonstrates the utility of integrating local ecological knowledge with species distribution modeling for early detection and targeted surveying of recently established invasive species.

Estimating Wood Volume for Pinus Brutia Trees in Forest Stands from QUICKBIRD-2 Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patias, Petros; Stournara, Panagiota

2016-06-01

Knowledge of forest parameters, such as wood volume, is required for a sustainable forest management. Collecting such information in the field is laborious and even not feasible in inaccessible areas. In this study, tree wood volume is estimated utilizing remote sensing techniques, which can facilitate the extraction of relevant information. The study area is the University Forest of Taxiarchis, which is located in central Chalkidiki, Northern Greece and covers an area of 58km2. The tree species under study is the conifer evergreen species P. brutia (Calabrian pine). Three plot surfaces of 10m radius were used. VHR Quickbird-2 images are used in combination with an allometric relationship connecting the Tree Crown with the Diameter at breast height (Dbh), and a volume table developed for Greece. The overall methodology is based on individual tree crown delineation, based on (a) the marker-controlled watershed segmentation approach and (b) the GEographic Object-Based Image Analysis approach. The aim of the first approach is to extract separate segments each of them including a single tree and eventual lower vegetation, shadows, etc. The aim of the second approach is to detect and remove the "noisy" background. In the application of the first approach, the Blue, Green, Red, Infrared and PCA-1 bands are tested separately. In the application of the second approach, NDVI and image brightness thresholds are utilized. The achieved results are evaluated against field plot data. Their observed difference are between -5% to +10%.

Electric Utility Transmission and Distribution Line Engineering Program

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

Peter McKenny

2010-08-31

Economic development in the United States depends on a reliable and affordable power supply. The nation will need well educated engineers to design a modern, safe, secure, and reliable power grid for our future needs. An anticipated shortage of qualified engineers has caused considerable concern in many professional circles, and various steps are being taken nationwide to alleviate the potential shortage and ensure the North American power system's reliability, and our world-wide economic competitiveness. To help provide a well-educated and trained workforce which can sustain and modernize the nation's power grid, Gonzaga University's School of Engineering and Applied Science hasmore » established a five-course (15-credit hour) Certificate Program in Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Engineering. The program has been specifically designed to provide working utility engineering professionals with on-line access to advanced engineering courses which cover modern design practice with an industry-focused theoretical foundation. A total of twelve courses have been developed to-date and students may select any five in their area of interest for the T&D Certificate. As each course is developed and taught by a team of experienced engineers (from public and private utilities, consultants, and industry suppliers), students are provided a unique opportunity to interact directly with different industry experts over the eight weeks of each course. Course material incorporates advanced aspects of civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering disciplines that apply to power system design and are appropriate for graduate engineers. As such, target students for the certificate program include: (1) recent graduates with a Bachelor of Science Degree in an engineering field (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.); (2) senior engineers moving from other fields to the utility industry (i.e. paper industry to utility engineering or project management positions); and (3) regular working professionals wishing to update their skills or increase their knowledge of utility engineering design practices and procedures. By providing graduate educational opportunities for the above groups, the T&D Program will help serve a strong industry need for training the next generation of engineers in the cost-effective design, construction, operation, and maintenance of modern electrical transmission and distribution systems. In addition to developing the on-line engineering courses described above, the T&D Program also focused significant efforts towards enhancing the training opportunities available to power system operators in the northwest. These efforts have included working with outside vendors to provide NERC-approved training courses in Gonzaga University's (GU) system operator training facility, support for an accurate system model which can be used in regional blackstart exercises, and the identification of a retired system operator who could provide actual regional training courses. The GU system operator training facility is also being used to recruit young workers, veterans, and various under-represented groups to the utility industry. Over the past three years students from Columbia Gorge Community College, Spokane Falls Community College, Walla Walla Community College, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, and various local high schools have attended short (one-day) system operator training courses free of charge. These collaboration efforts has been extremely well received by both students and industry, and meet T&D Program objectives of strengthening the power industry workforce while bridging the knowledge base across power worker categories, and recruiting new workers to replace a predominantly retirement age workforce. In the past three years the T&D Program has provided over 170 utility engineers with access to advanced engineering courses, been involved in training more than 300 power system operators, and provided well over 500 college and high school students with an experience in running a power system simulator and an exposure to various utility-related professions and craft trades.« less

Applying health education theory to patient safety programs: three case studies.

PubMed

Gilkey, Melissa B; Earp, Jo Anne L; French, Elizabeth A

2008-04-01

Program planning for patient safety is challenging because intervention-oriented surveillance data are not yet widely available to those working in this nascent field. Even so, health educators are uniquely positioned to contribute to patient safety intervention efforts because their theoretical training provides them with a guide for designing and implementing prevention programs. This article demonstrates the utility of applying health education concepts from three prominent patient safety campaigns, including the concepts of risk perception, community participation, and social marketing. The application of these theoretical concepts to patient safety programs suggests that health educators possess a knowledge base and skill set highly relevant to patient safety and that their perspective should be increasingly brought to bear on the design and evaluation of interventions that aim to protect patients from preventable medical error.

[Administration: practices, myths and ideologies].

PubMed

Spinelli, Hugo

2017-01-01

Administration in the social field is examined based on an analysis of its practices, the rationalist myth and its ideological dimensions. In this way, the article discusses the most frequently utilized concepts (administration, management, gerencia, gestión) and their etymologies; the limitations of teaching administration; the complexity of a practice marked by the dimensions of science, art and the social game; and the ideological question underlying the great thought factory that the general theory of administration has been since the start of the 19th century. The article reflects upon the need to construct a theory based in practice contextualized in the global south that goes beyond the classic frames of reference and, above all, to transform administration into a problem to be discussed outside of the knowledge that recognizes it as a technical practice.

An inter-professional approach to personalized medicine education: one institution's experience.

PubMed

Formea, Christine M; Nicholson, Wayne T; Vitek, Carolyn Rohrer

2015-03-01

Personalized medicine offers the promise of better diagnoses, targeted therapies and individualized treatment plans. Pharmacogenomics is an integral component of personalized medicine; it aids in the prediction of an individual's response to medications. Despite growing public acceptance and emerging clinical evidence, this rapidly expanding field of medicine is slow to be adopted and utilized by healthcare providers, although many believe that they should be knowledgeable and able to apply pharmacogenomics in clinical practice. Institutional infrastructure must be built to support pharmacogenomic implementation. Multidisciplinary education for healthcare providers is a critical component for pharmacogenomics to achieve its full potential to optimize patient care. We describe our recent experience at the Mayo Clinic implementing pharmacogenomics education in a large, academic healthcare system facilitated by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine.

Solutions in radiology services management: a literature review.

PubMed

Pereira, Aline Garcia; Vergara, Lizandra Garcia Lupi; Merino, Eugenio Andrés Díaz; Wagner, Adriano

2015-01-01

The present study was aimed at reviewing the literature to identify solutions for problems observed in radiology services. Basic, qualitative, exploratory literature review at Scopus and SciELO databases, utilizing the Mendeley and Illustrator CC Adobe softwares. In the databases, 565 papers - 120 out of them, pdf free - were identified. Problems observed in the radiology sector are related to procedures scheduling, humanization, lack of training, poor knowledge and use of management techniques, and interaction with users. The design management provides the services with interesting solutions such as Benchmarking, CRM, Lean Approach, ServiceBlueprinting, continued education, among others. Literature review is an important tool to identify problems and respective solutions. However, considering the small number of studies approaching management of radiology services, this is a great field of research for the development of deeper studies.

Modeling of vegetation canopy reflectance: Status, issues and recommended future strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goel, N. S. (Editor)

1982-01-01

Various technical issues related to mapping of vegetative type, condition and stage of maturity, utilizing remotely sensed spectral data are reviewed. The existing knowledge base of models, especially of radiative properties of the vegetation canopy and atmosphere, is reviewed to establish the state of the art for addressing the problem of vegetation mapping. Activities to advance the state of the art are recommended. They include working on canopy reflectance and atmospheric scattering models, and field measurements of canopy reflectance as well as of canopy components. Leaf area index (LAI) and solar radiation interception (SRI) are identified as the two most important vegetation variables requiring further investigation. It is recommended that activities related to sensing them or understanding their relationships with measurable variables, should be encouraged and supported.

The role of depression pharmacogenetic decision support tools in shared decision making.

PubMed

Arandjelovic, Katarina; Eyre, Harris A; Lenze, Eric; Singh, Ajeet B; Berk, Michael; Bousman, Chad

2017-10-29

Patients discontinue antidepressant medications due to lack of knowledge, unrealistic expectations, and/or unacceptable side effects. Shared decision making (SDM) invites patients to play an active role in their treatment and may indirectly improve outcomes through enhanced engagement in care, adherence to treatment, and positive expectancy of medication outcomes. We believe decisional aids, such as pharmacogenetic decision support tools (PDSTs), facilitate SDM in the clinical setting. PDSTs may likewise predict drug tolerance and efficacy, and therefore adherence and effectiveness on an individual-patient level. There are several important ethical considerations to be navigated when integrating PDSTs into clinical practice. The field requires greater empirical research to demonstrate clinical utility, and the mechanisms thereof, as well as exploration of the ethical use of these technologies.

Natural Language Processing Methods and Systems for Biomedical Ontology Learning

PubMed Central

Liu, Kaihong; Hogan, William R.; Crowley, Rebecca S.

2010-01-01

While the biomedical informatics community widely acknowledges the utility of domain ontologies, there remain many barriers to their effective use. One important requirement of domain ontologies is that they must achieve a high degree of coverage of the domain concepts and concept relationships. However, the development of these ontologies is typically a manual, time-consuming, and often error-prone process. Limited resources result in missing concepts and relationships as well as difficulty in updating the ontology as knowledge changes. Methodologies developed in the fields of natural language processing, information extraction, information retrieval and machine learning provide techniques for automating the enrichment of an ontology from free-text documents. In this article, we review existing methodologies and developed systems, and discuss how existing methods can benefit the development of biomedical ontologies. PMID:20647054

a Fully Automated Pipeline for Classification Tasks with AN Application to Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, K.; Claesen, M.; Takeda, H.; De Moor, B.

2016-06-01

Nowadays deep learning has been intensively in spotlight owing to its great victories at major competitions, which undeservedly pushed `shallow' machine learning methods, relatively naive/handy algorithms commonly used by industrial engineers, to the background in spite of their facilities such as small requisite amount of time/dataset for training. We, with a practical point of view, utilized shallow learning algorithms to construct a learning pipeline such that operators can utilize machine learning without any special knowledge, expensive computation environment, and a large amount of labelled data. The proposed pipeline automates a whole classification process, namely feature-selection, weighting features and the selection of the most suitable classifier with optimized hyperparameters. The configuration facilitates particle swarm optimization, one of well-known metaheuristic algorithms for the sake of generally fast and fine optimization, which enables us not only to optimize (hyper)parameters but also to determine appropriate features/classifier to the problem, which has conventionally been a priori based on domain knowledge and remained untouched or dealt with naïve algorithms such as grid search. Through experiments with the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets, common datasets in computer vision field for character recognition and object recognition problems respectively, our automated learning approach provides high performance considering its simple setting (i.e. non-specialized setting depending on dataset), small amount of training data, and practical learning time. Moreover, compared to deep learning the performance stays robust without almost any modification even with a remote sensing object recognition problem, which in turn indicates that there is a high possibility that our approach contributes to general classification problems.

Preparing medical students for obstetrics and gynecology milestone level one: a description of a pilot curriculum

PubMed Central

Morgan, Helen; Marzano, David; Lanham, Michael; Stein, Tamara; Curran, Diana; Hammoud, Maya

2014-01-01

Background The implementation of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones in the field of obstetrics and gynecology has arrived with Milestones Level One defined as the level expected of an incoming first-year resident. Purpose We designed, implemented, and evaluated a 4-week elective for fourth-year medical school students, which utilized a multimodal approach to teaching and assessing the Milestones Level One competencies. Methods The 78-hour curriculum utilized traditional didactic lectures, flipped classroom active learning sessions, a simulated paging curriculum, simulation training, embalmed cadaver anatomical dissections, and fresh-frozen cadaver operative procedures. We performed an assessment of student knowledge and surgical skills before and after completion of the course. Students also received feedback on their assessment and management of eight simulated paging scenarios. Students completed course content satisfaction surveys at the completion of each of the 4 weeks. Results Students demonstrated improvement in knowledge and surgical skills at the completion of the course. Paging confidence trended toward improvement at the completion of the course. Student satisfaction was high for all of the course content, and the active learning components of the curriculum (flipped classroom, simulation, and anatomy sessions) had higher scores than the traditional didactics in all six categories of our student satisfaction survey. Conclusions This pilot study demonstrates a practical approach for preparing fourth-year medical students for the expectations of Milestones Level One in obstetrics and gynecology. This curriculum can serve as a framework as medical schools and specific specialties work to meet the first steps of the ACGME's Next Accreditation System. PMID:25430640

Plant utilization against digestive system disorder in Southern Assam, India.

PubMed

Choudhury, Prakash Roy; Choudhury, Manabendra Dutta; Ningthoujam, Sanjoy Singh; Mitra, Abhijit; Nath, Deepa; Talukdar, Anupam Das

2015-12-04

Being one of the most common types of life threatening diseases in Southern Assam, India, the digestive system disorders (DSD) have gained much attention in recent decades. Traditional beliefs and inadequate income of mass population result in the use of alternative phytotherapies to treat the diseases. The present paper documents the medicinal knowledge and utilization of plants for treatment of digestive system disorders in Southern Assam, India by Disease Consensus Index (DCI). It also determines the most suitable plant species used to treat digestive system disorders in the study area. The study was based on ethnomedicinal field survey covering a period of 1 year from 2014-2015. The ethnomedicinal information was collected by using semi-structured questionnaires from different traditional Bengali people having knowledge on medicinal plants. Collected data were analyzed by calculating DCI. During the survey, 29 informants were interviewed and a total of 49 plants under 46 genera belonging to 33 families were listed. Data analysis revealed that Litsea glutinosa, Momordica charantia, Andrographis paniculata, Lawsonia inermis, Cleome viscosa, Psidium guajava, Ageratum conyzoides, Cuscuta reflexa, Cynodon dactylon and Carica papaya are the most prominent plants among the people of Southern Assam for treating DSD. This explorative survey emphasizes the need to preserve and document the traditional healing practices for managing DSD inviting for more imminent scientific research on the plants to determine their efficacy as well as safety. With the help of statistical analysis (DCI), we propose 10 priority plants for DSD in present work. Systematic pharmacological study with these plants may contribute significant result. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Field Trial Results of a 14-channel GPR Integrated with a U.S. Program for 3-D Utility Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anspach, James H.

2013-04-01

Existing underground utilities continue to be a leading cause of highway construction delay claims in the United States. Although 80-90% of existing utilities can typically be discovered and mapped using a wide range of geophysical tools, there is a recognizable need to improve the process. Existing shortcomings to the utility mapping process include a lack of viable depth attributes, long field occupation times, low experience level of the field technicians, and separate survey / geophysics functions. The U.S. National Academies and its Transportation Research Board recently concluded a project on alleviating the existing utility mapping shortcomings through the development of enhanced GPR. An existing commercial 400MHz 14-channel towed array was enhanced with positioning and interpretation hardware and software over a 3-year US 2M program. Field trials for effectiveness were conducted in a city suburb commercialized environment where the relative permittivity values averaged 9.4. The effectiveness of enhanced GPR was compared to traditional utility mapping techniques (Single Channel GPR, FDEM, Acoustic, Sondes, Gradiometric Magnetometers) during the project. The project area utilities included natural gas, water, electric, telephone, cable, storm, sanitary, traffic control, and several unknown function lines. Depths for these utilities were mostly unknown. 81% of known (from records and field appurtenance visual observation) utilities were detected via traditional geophysical means. These traditional geophysical means also detected 14% additional and previously "unknown" utilities. The enhanced GPR detected approximately 40% of the known and unknown utilities, and found an additional 6% of utilities that were previously undetected. These additional utilities were subsequently determined to be small diameter abandoned water and gas systems in very poor and broken condition. Although it did well with metallic water and gas lines, communication and electric utilities were mostly undetectable. Through a ground-truthing program of test holes to expose utilities, the depth values derived from the enhanced GPR were fairly consistent and within 15 cm of actual depth. The incomplete underground picture determined by the enhanced GPR reinforces previous studies that show that the mapping of existing underground utilities is a multi-tool effort that takes highly trained and skilled field technicians and data interpreters. The addition of a new GPR tool is valuable in determining continuous depth profiles of imaged utilities. A second and significant benefit is the interpretation of other geotechnical data that benefit project designers. This might include showing geometry, location, intensity, and depths of either areas of anomalies, or of known structures, such as paving thickness, substrate thickness, voids, water table, soil lenses, boulders, bedrock, and so forth. The Florida Department of Transportation has decided to take advantage of this new technology and has entered into an experimental contract with Cardno TBE to incorporate several enhanced GPR arrays with traditional utility detection tools. The goal of this contract will be to provide a 3-D model of existing underground utilities for use in automated construction. The GPR 3-D data model will be melded with conventional subsurface utility engineering and mapping practices and will be required to follow the ASCE 38 standard for utility data reliability.

An ethnopharmacological survey of the traditional medicine utilized in the community of Porvenir, Bajo Paraguá Indian Reservation, Bolivia.

PubMed

Hajdu, Zsanett; Hohmann, Judit

2012-02-15

Porvenir is a semi-isolated Indian community in the Bajo Paraguá Indian Reservation in Bolivian Amazon, one of the two communities of people from the Guarasug'we indigenous nation now close to extinction. The aim of our study was the collection of data on the traditional medicine utilized in the community, and to identify new subjects for further investigation by comparison of the folk-medicinal use with the available scientific literature data. Field work was conducted for 5 months, which included participant observation, semi-structured interviews with 16 individuals, and the collection of voucher specimens for botanical identification. The knowledge of the inhabitants relating to medicinal plants was analysed by means of the modified method of Gentry and Phillips (1993a,b), which assesses the frequency and the variety of use of plants. Scientific data were gathered on selected species, and the correlations of the traditional uses of the herbs with scientific evidence were assessed. The lifestyle and beliefs in Porvenir, botanical data on the plants used, the frequency and variety of medicinal use, diseases that occur and their possible treatment, and methods of plant application are discussed in detail. 145 plant species were registered with 451 recorded uses. The majority of the plants were utilized to treat gastrointestinal complaints (60 species), followed by diseases of the central nervous system, pain and fever (37 species), diseases of the genitourinary tract (35 species), dermatological disorders (34 species) and diseases of the respiratory system (32 species). One fifth of the species are also applied in traditional medicine in other areas of Bolivia or in other countries. The majority of the 145 species used in the community have not been extensively investigated from phytochemical and pharmacological aspects. There are no data in the scientific literature on one fifth of the species. The medicine applied in Porvenir and the contemporary knowledge of the people interviewed concerning plants reflect the local traditions and their changes very well, clearly demonstrating the influence exerted by conventional medicine, and how the ancestral knowledge is progressively being forgotten. The present ethnopharmacological survey indicates that 24 species that are frequently and consistently used in the community of Porvenir are perspective for further research, as their chemistry and pharmacology have not been published to date. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Observer Role and Field Study Knowledge--An Essay Review of Usable Knowledge and SAFARI I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Louis M.; And Others

1981-01-01

A synthesis is presented of the work of Lindblom and Cohen, MacDonald and Walker, and the current authors. The synthesis considers issues in the usefulness of social science theory and research, and how observer roles in qualitative field studies yield multiple kinds of usable knowledge to a variety of audiences. (Author/BW)

Decision-Making, Tacit Knowledge, and Motivation in Semi-Professional Practice: Humanizing the Environment through Anthropomorphism in Clinical Laboratory Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mortier, Teresa

2017-01-01

The clinical laboratory science field requires an abundance of technical knowledge; however, the importance of implicit or tacit knowledge gained through observation and practice is often discounted in this field, even though it is a critical part of reflective thinking, critical thinking, and reflective practice. The "de-skilling" of…

Qualitative research in rehabilitation science: opportunities, challenges, and future directions.

PubMed

VanderKaay, Sandra; Moll, Sandra E; Gewurtz, Rebecca E; Jindal, Pranay; Loyola-Sanchez, Adalberto; Packham, Tara L; Lim, Chun Y

2018-03-01

Qualitative research has had a significant impact within rehabilitation science over time. During the past 20 years the number of qualitative studies published per year in Disability and Rehabilitation has markedly increased (from 1 to 54). In addition, during this period there have been significant changes in how qualitative research is conceptualized, conducted, and utilized to advance the field of rehabilitation. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the progress of qualitative research within rehabilitation to date, to explicate current opportunities and challenges, and to suggest future directions to continue to strengthen the contribution of qualitative research in this field. Relevant literature searches were conducted in electronic data bases and reference lists. Pertinent literature was examined to identify current opportunities and challenges for qualitative research use in rehabilitation and to identify future directions. Six key areas of opportunity and challenge were identified: (a) paradigm shifts, (b) advancements in methodology, (c) emerging technology, (d) advances in quality evaluation, (e) increasing popularity of mixed methods approaches, and (f) evolving approaches to knowledge translation. Two important future directions for rehabilitation are posited: (1) advanced training in qualitative methods and (2) engaging qualitative communities of research. Qualitative research is well established in rehabilitation and has an important place in the continued growth of this field. Ongoing development of qualitative researchers and methods are essential. Implications for Rehabilitation Qualitative research has the potential to improve rehabilitation practice by addressing some of the most pervasive concerns in the field such as practitioner-client interaction, the subjective and lived experience of disability, and clinical reasoning and decision making. This will serve to better inform those providing rehabilitation services thereby benefiting patients that are utilizing these services. Changes over time in how qualitative research is conceptualized, conducted, and utilized to advance rehabilitation science have resulted in a number of unique opportunities and challenges in using qualitative research that must be considered within this field. Advances in methodology and increased expectations for evaluation must be considered to ensure quality and credibility of qualitative rehabilitation research within rehabilitation. Improved quality and credibility may increase likelihood of research dissemination and use by clinicians intervening within the rehabilitation process in order to improve clinical practice. In order to maximize opportunities and mitigate challenges there are two principal future directions for rehabilitation scientists to consider: (1) advancing training in qualitative methods to adequately prepare future rehabilitation scientists and (2) engaging qualitative communities of research.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leon-Beck, Mika; Dodick, Jeff

2012-11-01

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

Barriers to and Facilitators of Research Utilization: A Survey of Registered Nurses in China

PubMed Central

Wang, Li-Ping; Jiang, Xiao-Lian; Wang, Lei; Wang, Guo-Rong; Bai, Yang-Jing

2013-01-01

Aims This survey aims to describe the perception of barriers to and facilitators of research utilization by registered nurses in Sichuan province, China, and to explore the factors influencing the perceptions of the barriers to and facilitators of research utilization. Methods A cross sectional survey design and a double cluster sampling method were adopted. A total of 590 registered nurses from 3 tertiary level hospitals in Sichuan province, China, were recruited in a period from September 2006 to January 2007. A modified BARRUERS Scale and a Facilitators Scale were used. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, rank transformation test, and multiple linear regression. Results Barriers related to the setting subscale were more influential than barriers related to other subscales. The lack of authority was ranked as the top greatest barrier (15.7%), followed by the lack of time (13.4%) and language barrier (15.0%). Additional barriers identified were the reluctance of patients to research utilization, the lack of funding, and the lack of legal protection. The top three greatest facilitators were enhancing managerial support (36.9%), advancing education to increase knowledge base (21.1%), and increasing time for reviewing and implementing (17.5%), while cooperation of patients to research utilization, establishing a panel to evaluate researches, and funding were listed as additional facilitators. Hospital, educational background, research experience, and knowledge on evidence-based nursing were the factors influencing perceptions of the barriers and facilitators. Conclusions Nurses in China are facing a number of significant barriers in research utilization. Enhancing managerial support might be the most promising facilitator, given Chinese traditional culture and existing health care system. Hospital, educational background, research experience and knowledge on evidence-based nursing should be taken into account to promote research utilization. The BARRIERS Scale should consider funding and involvement of patients in research utilization. PMID:24312380

Evidence, explanations, and recommendations for teachers' field trip strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebar, Bryan

Field trips are well recognized by researchers as an educational approach with the potential to complement and enhance classroom science teaching by exposing students to unique activities, resources, and content in informal settings. The following investigation addresses teachers' field trip practices in three related manuscripts: (1) A study examining the details of teachers' pedagogical strategies intended to facilitate connections between students' experiences and the school curricula while visiting an aquarium; (2) A study documenting and describing sources of knowledge that teachers draw from when leading field trips to an aquarium; (3) A position paper that reviews and summarizes research on effective pedagogical strategies for field trips. Together these three pieces address key questions regarding teachers' practices on field trips: (1) What strategies are teachers employing (and not employing) during self-guided field trips to facilitate learning tied to the class curriculum? (2) What sources of knowledge do teachers utilize when leading field trips? (3) How can teachers be better prepared to lead trips that promote learning? The Oregon Coast Aquarium served as the field trip site for teachers included in this study. The setting suited these questions because the aquarium serves tens of thousands of students on field trips each year but provides no targeted programming for these students as they explore the exhibits. In other words, the teachers who lead field trips assume much of the responsibility for facilitating students' experience. In order to describe and characterize teachers' strategies to link students' experiences to the curriculum, a number of teachers (26) were observed as they led their students' visit to the public spaces of the aquarium. Artifacts, such as worksheets, used during the visit were collected for analysis as well. Subsequently, all teachers were surveyed regarding their use of the field trip and their sources of knowledge for their practices. A subset of eight teachers were interviewed using guided conversations in order to shed further light on their use of the aquarium field trip and their pedagogical preparation. Data from all sources were organized by repeating ideas relevant to the questions of interest. The resulting evidence was interpreted to support distinct categories of teacher strategies and experience and related claims about these strategies and experiences. Thus, findings reveal that teachers attempt to link the curriculum to the activities, resources, and content encountered on the trip using a variety of connections. However, these curriculum connections are characterized as products of opportunistic situations and reveal limited depth. Evidence further indicates that teachers treat the aquarium visit as a background experience for their students rather than as an opportunity to introduce new concepts or do an activity that is integrated into the curriculum. Nevertheless, teachers included in this study were leading field trips that created countless learning opportunities for their students. Because training specific to field trips is rarely included in preservice programs, teachers were asked about influences on their field trip practice with specific focus on observed strategies. Findings suggest four categories of training experiences that teachers apply to their practice: (1) informal mentoring; (2) past experience trip leading; (3) outdoor education training; (4) traditional education training. Overall findings along with a review of previous research are suggestive of many ways in which efforts to enhance students' learning opportunities may be developed by means of support for teachers. Foremost among recommendations is the idea that field trip pedagogy be integrated into science methods courses required for preservice teachers (the premise for the final manuscript). Furthermore, the findings of this study may serve as a starting point for museums interested in the development of specific support and teacher professional development activities intended to enhance teachers' use of their resources as learning opportunities for their students. Among the implications is the idea that museums and other institutions developing teacher professional development activities might capitalize on teachers' existing sources of knowledge, for example by providing structured support for peer-mentoring and guided reflections related to field trip preparations and skills.

The utilization of knowledge of and interest in research and development among primary care staff by means of strategic communication - a staff cohort study.

PubMed

Morténius, Helena; Marklund, Bertil; Palm, Lars; Fridlund, Bengt; Baigi, Amir

2012-08-01

The obvious gap between evidence and practice in health care is unfavourable for patient care and requires the promotion of a scientific attitude among health care professionals. The aim of the present study was to determine the utilization of knowledge of and interest in research and development among primary care staff by means of a strategic communication process. A cohort consisting of primary care staff (n = 1276) was designed and strategic communication was utilized as a platform over a 7-year period. Quantitative and qualitative methods were taken in account. We found that 97% of the staff had gained knowledge of research and development, 60% of whom remained interested in the subject. The oral communication channel was the most powerful for creating research interest. Organizational culture was a barrier to interest in science. The study demonstrates a significant increase in knowledge and interest among primary care staff as a result of a strategic communication process. Strategic communication should lead to a more evenly distributed research commitment among all health care professionals, thus facilitating communication between them and patients in order to clarify, for example, the causes of disease. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A randomised controlled trial evaluating the utility of a patient Decision Aid to improve clinical trial (RAVES 08.03) related decision-making.

PubMed

Sundaresan, Puma; Ager, Brittany; Turner, Sandra; Costa, Dan; Kneebone, Andrew; Pearse, Maria; Woo, Henry; Tesson, Stephanie; Juraskova, Ilona; Butow, Phyllis

2017-10-01

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the 'gold-standard' for evaluating medical treatments. However, patients and clinicians report difficulties with informed consent and recruitment. We evaluated the utility of a Decision Aid (DA) in reducing RCT-related decisional conflict, and improving RCT knowledge and recruitment. Potential participants for a radiotherapy RCT were invited to participate in the current study. Participants were randomised to receive the RCT's participant information sheet with or without a DA. Questionnaires were administered at baseline, one and six months. The primary outcome measure was decisional conflict. Secondary outcome measures included knowledge regarding and recruitment to the RCT. 129 men were randomised to the DA (63) and control (66) arms. Decisional conflict was significantly lower over 6-months (p=0.048) in the DA arm. Knowledge regarding the RCT was significantly higher at 6months (p=0.033) in the DA arm. 20.6% of the DA arm (13 of 63) and 9% of the control arm (6 of 66) entered the RCT. This study demonstrates the utility of a DA in reducing decisional conflict and improving trial knowledge in men with cancer who are making decisions regarding RCT participation. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Technological, Pedagogical, Arts Knowledge Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Amy Petersen

2016-01-01

This article invites media arts and technology educators to find synergies in their classroom curriculum and practice. Encouraging the use of the National Media Arts Standards it summons teachers to develop a useful framework for technological practice that utilizes arts knowledge and pedagogies.

Is Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Necessary for Reformed Science Teaching?: Evidence from an Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Soonhye; Jang, Jeong-Yoon; Chen, Ying-Chih; Jung, Jinhong

2011-01-01

This study tested a hypothesis that focused on whether or not teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a necessary body of knowledge for reformed science teaching. This study utilized a quantitative research method to investigate the correlation between a teacher's PCK level as measured by the PCK rubric (Park et al. 2008) and the degree…

Alignment of Assessment Objectives with Instructional Objectives Using Revised Bloom's Taxonomy--The Case for Food Science and Technology Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jideani, V. A.; Jideani, I. A.

2012-01-01

Nine food science and technology (FST) subjects were assessed for alignment between the learning outcomes and assessment using revised Bloom's taxonomy (RBT) of cognitive knowledge. Conjoint analysis was used to estimate the utilities of the levels of cognitive, knowledge, and the attribute importance (cognitive process and knowledge dimension)…

A Dyadic Approach to Understanding the Relationship of Maternal Knowledge of Youths' Activities to Youths' Problem Behavior among Rural Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lippold, Melissa A.; Greenberg, Mark T.; Feinberg, Mark E.

2011-01-01

Most studies that explore parental knowledge of youths' activities utilize parents' and youths' reports separately. Using a sample of 938 rural early adolescents (53% female; 84% White), we explore congruence between mothers' and youths' perceptions of maternal knowledge and its association with youth problem behaviors (delinquency, substance use,…

Knowledge sharing within organizations: linking art, theory, scenarios and professional experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burton, Y. C.; Bailey, T.

2000-01-01

In this presentation, Burton and Bailey, discuss the challenges and opportunities in developing knowledge sharing systems in organizations. Bailey provides a tool using imagery and collage for identifying and utilizing the diverse values and beliefs of individuals and groups. Burton reveals findings from a business research study that examines how social construction influences knowledge sharing among task oriented groups.

The Place of Practical Wisdom in Science Education: What Can Be Learned from Aristotelian Ethics and a Virtue-Based Theory of Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salloum, Sara

2017-01-01

This conceptual paper aims to characterize science teachers' practical knowledge utilizing a virtue-based theory of knowledge and the Aristotelian notion of phronesis/practical wisdom. The article argues that a greater understanding of the concept of phronesis and its relevance to science education would enrich our understandings of teacher…

Possibilities-within-Constraints: Implementing the Funds of Knowledge Concept in the People's Republic of China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poole, Adam

2016-01-01

This article is designed as the starting point for future research into the implementation of the funds of knowledge concept in the People's Republic of China. Utilizing an exploratory research design, I sketch how the funds of knowledge concept could be used by teachers to empower ethnic minority and city-born migrant children disadvantaged by…

Pressure ulcer prevention and treatment knowledge of Jordanian nurses.

PubMed

Saleh, Mohammad Y N; Al-Hussami, Mahmoud; Anthony, Denis

2013-02-01

The aims of the study were to determine: (1) Jordanian nurses' level of knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment of hospitalized patients based on guidelines for pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. (2) Frequency of utilization of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment interventions in clinical practice. (3) Variables that are associated with nurses' utilization of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment interventions. Pressure ulcers are common and previous studies have shown education, knowledge and attitude affect implementation of interventions. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from 460 nurses between June 2010 and November 2010. We used a questionnaire, which was informed by earlier work and guidelines, to collect data about nurses' knowledge and practice of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. Knowledge and education show an association with implementation of prevention, and demographic variables do not. Similarly knowledge and type of hospital showed an association with implementing treatment. Of concern the use of "donuts" and massage are reported in use. Although pressure ulcer care is well known by nurses, inappropriate pressure ulcer interventions were reported in use. Copyright © 2013 Tissue Viability Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Caregiver Asthma Knowledge, Aptitude, and Practice in High Healthcare Utilizing Children: Effect of an Educational Intervention

PubMed Central

Madhok, Neha; Kipperman, Stacy

2013-01-01

Factors underlying high healthcare utilization among Hispanic and African American (AA) children with asthma are not well known. We hypothesized that low parental knowledge and suboptimal practices are associated with high healthcare utlization and sought to elucidate these factors and identify ethnicity-specific differences. We also hypothesized that a targeted educational intervention will decrease emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. A 57-item questionnaire investigating asthma knowledge, aptitude, and practice was administered during a hospitalization to 268 caregivers (158 Hispanic and 110 AA) of high healthcare utilizer children. Responses were compared between ethnicities. Participants were randomized into an education group and a control group to investigate the impact of an in-hospital educational intervention on future ED visits and hospitalizations. More than 80% of caregivers knew that asthma is associated with muscle constriction and mucus production. Overall, 66.7%–86.9% of caregivers found preventive steps including allergen avoidance, regular primary care physician (PCP) follow–up, and medication adherence helpful, but only 45.2% reported adherence to controller medications. Similarly, caregivers found management steps, including albuterol use, avoidance of ineffective medications, and need to contact PCP helpful but 33% Hispanic caregivers contacted their child's PCP at the time of the exacerbation leading the current hospitalization, compared with 17% AA caregivers (P=0.006). Moreover, 40% and 30% Hispanic and 27% and 18% AA caregivers felt stressed and helpless, respectively, about their child's asthma. Despite high baseline levels of knowledge, there were fewer ED visits in the education group (1.56±1.94) compared with the control group (2.05±2.32) (P=0.02) 2 years after the intervention. Although Hispanic and AA caregivers of children with high healthcare utilization were knowledgeable of asthma pathophysiology, and preventive and management steps, they reported being stressed and helpless and were unable to implement the steps at the time of an exacerbation, seeking care at the ED rather than contacting their PCP. The high health utilizers who underwent a targeted educational intervention had fewer ED visits 2 years following the intervention. PMID:24066262

History of Education in Brazil: The Construction of a Knowledge Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gondra, José Gonçalves; Vieira, Carlos Eduardo; Simões, Regina Helena Silva; Cury, Claudia Engler

2014-01-01

This article analyses the general characteristics of the construction of the field of history of education in Brazil. To do so, it highlights the existing historiography and aims to describe the process of institutionalisation of this knowledge field, which, in general terms, has been focused on the area of teacher training. Since the nineteenth…

Defining personal utility in genomics: A Delphi study.

PubMed

Kohler, J N; Turbitt, E; Lewis, K L; Wilfond, B S; Jamal, L; Peay, H L; Biesecker, L G; Biesecker, B B

2017-09-01

Individual genome sequencing results are valued by patients in ways distinct from clinical utility. Such outcomes have been described as components of "personal utility," a concept that broadly encompasses patient-endorsed benefits, that is operationally defined as non-clinical outcomes. No empirical delineation of these outcomes has been reported. To address this gap, we administered a Delphi survey to adult participants in a National Institute of Health (NIH) clinical exome study to extract the most highly endorsed outcomes constituting personal utility. Forty research participants responded to a Delphi survey to rate 35 items identified by a systematic literature review of personal utility. Two rounds of ranking resulted in 24 items that represented 14 distinct elements of personal utility. Elements most highly endorsed by participants were: increased self-knowledge, knowledge of "the condition," altruism, and anticipated coping. Our findings represent the first systematic effort to delineate elements of personal utility that may be used to anticipate participant expectation and inform genetic counseling prior to sequencing. The 24 items reported need to be studied further in additional clinical genome sequencing studies to assess generalizability in other populations. Further research will help to understand motivations and to predict the meaning and use of results. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Flood AI: An Intelligent Systems for Discovery and Communication of Disaster Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.; Sermet, M. Y.

2017-12-01

Communities are not immune from extreme events or natural disasters that can lead to large-scale consequences for the nation and public. Improving resilience to better prepare, plan, recover, and adapt to disasters is critical to reduce the impacts of extreme events. The National Research Council (NRC) report discusses the topic of how to increase resilience to extreme events through a vision of resilient nation in the year 2030. The report highlights the importance of data, information, gaps and knowledge challenges that needs to be addressed, and suggests every individual to access the risk and vulnerability information to make their communities more resilient. This project presents an intelligent system, Flood AI, for flooding to improve societal preparedness by providing a knowledge engine using voice recognition, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing based on a generalized ontology for disasters with a primary focus on flooding. The knowledge engine utilizes the flood ontology and concepts to connect user input to relevant knowledge discovery channels on flooding by developing a data acquisition and processing framework utilizing environmental observations, forecast models, and knowledge bases. Communication channels of the framework includes web-based systems, agent-based chat bots, smartphone applications, automated web workflows, and smart home devices, opening the knowledge discovery for flooding to many unique use cases.

Writing a bachelor thesis generates transferable knowledge and skills useable in nursing practice.

PubMed

Lundgren, Solveig M; Robertsson, Barbro

2013-11-01

Generic skills or transferable skills have been discussed in terms of whether or not skills learned in one context can be transferred into another context. The current study was aimed to explore nurses' self-perceptions of the knowledge and skills they had obtained while writing a Bachelor's thesis in nursing education, their experience of the extent of transfer and utilization in their current work. Responding nurses (N=42) had all worked from 1 to 1.5 years after their final examination and had completed a questionnaire that was structured with open-ended questions. Only five nurses reported that they were unable to use any of the knowledge and skills they had obtained from writing a thesis. A majority of the nurses (37/42) could give many examples of the practical application of the skills and knowledge they had obtained. Our findings indicate that writing a thesis as part of an undergraduate degree program plays a major role in the acquisition and development of knowledge and skills which can subsequently be transferred into and utilized in nursing practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Knowledge Engineering and Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Antonio M., Jr.; Donlon, James

2001-01-01

Discusses knowledge engineering, computer software, and possible applications in the field of education. Highlights include the distinctions between data, information, and knowledge; knowledge engineering as a subfield of artificial intelligence; knowledge acquisition; data mining; ontology development for subject terms; cognitive apprentices; and…

Effective, Active Learning Strategies for the Oceanography Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dmochowski, J. E.; Marinov, I.

2014-12-01

A decline in enrollment in STEM fields at the university level has prompted extensive research on alternative ways of teaching and learning science. Inquiry-based learning as well as the related "flipped" or "active" lectures, and similar teaching methods and philosophies have been proposed as more effective ways to disseminate knowledge in science classes than the traditional lecture. We will provide a synopsis of our experiences in implementing some of these practices into our Introductory Oceanography, Global Climate Change, and Ocean Atmosphere Dynamics undergraduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania, with both smaller and larger enrollments. By implementing tools such as at-home modules; computer labs; incorporation of current research; pre- and post-lecture quizzes; reflective, qualitative writing assignments; peer review; and a variety of in-class learning strategies, we aim to increase the science literacy of the student population and help students gain a more comprehensive knowledge of the topic, enhance their critical thinking skills, and correct misconceptions. While implementing these teaching techniques with college students is not without complications, we argue that a blended class that flexibly and creatively accounts for class size and science level improves the learning experience and the acquired knowledge. We will present examples of student assignments and activities as well as describe the lessons we have learned, and propose ideas for moving forward to best utilize innovative teaching tools in order to increase science literacy in oceanography and other climate-related courses.

Effects of a Research-Infused Botanical Curriculum on Undergraduates’ Content Knowledge, STEM Competencies, and Attitudes toward Plant Sciences

PubMed Central

Clarke, H. David; Horton, Jonathan L.

2014-01-01

In response to the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education initiative, we infused authentic, plant-based research into majors’ courses at a public liberal arts university. Faculty members designed a financially sustainable pedagogical approach, utilizing vertically integrated curricular modules based on undergraduate researchers’ field and laboratory projects. Our goals were to 1) teach botanical concepts, from cells to ecosystems; 2) strengthen competencies in statistical analysis and scientific writing; 3) pique plant science interest; and 4) allow all undergraduates to contribute to genuine research. Our series of inquiry-centered exercises mitigated potential faculty barriers to adopting research-rich curricula, facilitating teaching/research balance by gathering publishable scholarly data during laboratory class periods. Student competencies were assessed with pre- and postcourse quizzes and rubric-graded papers, and attitudes were evaluated with pre- and postcourse surveys. Our revised curriculum increased students’ knowledge and awareness of plant science topics, improved scientific writing, enhanced statistical knowledge, and boosted interest in conducting research. More than 300 classroom students have participated in our program, and data generated from these modules’ assessment allowed faculty and students to present 28 contributed talks or posters and publish three papers in 4 yr. Future steps include analyzing the effects of repeated module exposure on student learning and creating a regional consortium to increase our project's pedagogical impact. PMID:25185223

Development of a Knowledge Base for Enduser Consultation of AAL-Systems.

PubMed

Röll, Natalie; Stork, Wilhelm; Rosales, Bruno; Stephan, René; Knaup, Petra

2016-01-01

Manufacturer information, user experiences and product availability of assistive living technologies are usually not known to citizens or consultation centers. The different knowledge levels concerning the availability of technology shows the need for building up a knowledge base. The aim of this contribution is the definition of requirements in the development of knowledge bases for AAL consultations. The major requirements, such as a maintainable and easy to use structure were implemented into a web based knowledge base, which went productive in ~3700 consulting interviews of municipal technology information centers. Within this field phase the implementation of the requirements for a knowledge base in the field of AAL consulting was evaluated and further developed.

Bringing Grand Canyon to the College Campus: Assessment of Student Learning in the Geosciences Through Virtual Field Trip Games for Mobile Smart-Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bursztyn, N.; Walker, A.; Shelton, B.; Pederson, J. L.

2015-12-01

Geoscience educators have long considered field trips to be the most effective way of attracting students into the discipline. A solution for bringing student-driven, engaging, kinesthetic field experiences to a broader audience lies in ongoing advances in mobile-communication technology. This NSF-TUES funded project developed three virtual field trip experiences for smartphones and tablets (on geologic time, geologic structures, and hydrologic processes), and then tested their performance in terms of student interest in geoscience as well as gains in learning. The virtual field trips utilize the GPS capabilities of smartphones and tablets, requiring the students to navigate outdoors in the real world while following a map on their smart device. This research, involving 873 students at five different college campuses, used analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and multiple regression for statistical methods. Gains in learning across all participants are minor, and not statistically different between intervention and control groups. Predictors of gains in content comprehension for all three modules are the students' initial interest in the subject and their base level knowledge. For the Geologic Time and Structures modules, being a STEM major is an important predictor of student success. Most pertinent for this research, for Geologic Time and Hydrologic Processes, gains in student learning can be predicted by having completed those particular virtual field trips. Gender and race had no statistical impact, indicating that the virtual field trip modules have broad reach across student demographics. In related research, these modules have been shown to increase student interest in the geosciences more definitively than the learning gains here. Thus, future work should focus on improving the educational impact of mobile-device field trips, as their eventual incorporation into curricula is inevitable.

42 CFR 456.236 - Continued stay review process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

....236 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS UTILIZATION CONTROL Utilization Control: Mental Hospitals Ur Plan... physician members of the committee, one of whom is knowledgeable in the treatment of mental diseases, review...

42 CFR 456.236 - Continued stay review process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

....236 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS UTILIZATION CONTROL Utilization Control: Mental Hospitals Ur Plan... physician members of the committee, one of whom is knowledgeable in the treatment of mental diseases, review...

Utilization of inoculum of AM fungi produced on-farm for the production of Capsicum annuum: a summary of 7 years of field trials on a conventional vegetable farm

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Utilization of arbuscular mycorrhizal [AM] fungus inoculum has been encouraged as a way for vegetable farmers to better utilize the AM symbiosis. On-farm systems can economically produce inoculum that has been shown to increase the yield of specific crops. We conducted seven years of field studies...

29 CFR 1915.93 - Utilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... shall ascertain from responsible vessel's representatives, having knowledge of the condition of the... power. (1) When the vessel is supplied with electric power from a source outside the vessel, the... representatives, having knowledge of the condition of the vessel's electrical system, that all circuits to be...

Magnitude of cyantraniliprole residues in tomato following open field application: pre-harvest interval determination and risk assessment.

PubMed

Malhat, Farag; Kasiotis, Konstantinos M; Shalaby, Shehata

2018-02-05

Cyantraniliprole is an anthranilic diamide insecticide, belonging to the ryanoid class, with a broad range of applications against several pests. In the presented work, a reliable analytical technique employing high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector (HPLC-DAD) for analyzing cyantraniliprole residues in tomato was developed. The method was then applied to field-incurred tomato samples collected after applications under open field conditions. The latter aimed to ensure the safe application of cyantraniliprole to tomato and contribute the derived residue data to the risk assessment under field conditions. Sample preparation involved a single step extraction with acetonitrile and sodium chloride for partitioning. The extract was purified utilizing florisil as cleanup reagent. The developed method was further evaluated by comparing the analytical results with those obtained using the QuEChERS technique. The novel method outbalanced QuEChERS regarding matrix interferences in the analysis, while it met all guideline criteria. Hence, it showed excellent linearity over the assayed concentration and yielded satisfactory recovery rate in the range of 88.9 to 96.5%. The half-life of degradation of cyantraniliprole was determined at 2.6 days. Based on the Codex MRL, the pre-harvest interval (PHI) for cyantraniliprole on tomato was 3 days, after treatment at the recommended dose. To our knowledge, the present work provides the first record on PHI determination of cyantraniliprole in tomato under open field conditions in Egypt and the broad Mediterranean region.

A novel pain interprofessional education strategy for trainees: Assessing impact on interprofessional competencies and pediatric pain knowledge

PubMed Central

Hunter, Judith P; Stinson, Jennifer; Campbell, Fiona; Stevens, Bonnie; Wagner, Susan J; Simmons, Brian; White, Meghan; van Wyk, Margaret

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Health care trainees/students lack knowledge and skills for the comprehensive clinical assessment and management of pain. Moreover, most teaching has been limited to classroom settings within each profession. OBJECTIVES: To develop and evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of the ‘Pain-Interprofessional Education (IPE) Placement’, a five-week pain IPE implemented in the clinical setting. The utility (content validity, readability, internal consistency and practical considerations) of the outcome measures was also evaluated. METHODS: A convenience sample of 21 trainees from eight professions was recruited over three Pain-IPE Placement cycles. Pre- and postcurriculum assessment included: pain knowledge (Pediatric Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Survey), IPE attitudes (Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale [IEPS]) and IPE competencies (Interprofessional Care Core Competencies Global Rating Scales [IPC-GRS]), and qualitative feedback on process/acceptability. RESULTS: Recruitment and retention met expectations. Qualitative feedback was excellent. IPE measures (IEPS and IPC-GRS) exhibited satisfactory utility. Postcurriculum scores improved significantly: IEPS, P<0.05; IPC-GRS constructs, P<0.01; and competencies, P<0.001. However, the Pediatric Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Survey exhibited poor utility in professions without formal pharmacology training. Scores improved in the remaining professions (n=14; P<0.01). DISCUSSION: There was significant improvement in educational outcomes. The IEPS and IPC-GRS are useful measures of IPE-related learning. At more advanced training levels, a single pain-knowledge questionnaire may not accurately reflect learning across diverse professions. CONCLUSION: The Pain-IPE Placement is a successful collaborative learning model within a clinical context that successfully changed interprofessional competencies. The present study represents a first step at defining and assessing change in interprofessional competencies gained from Pain-IPE. PMID:25144859

A creative approach to the development of an agenda for knowledge utilization: outputs from the 11th international knowledge utilization colloquium (KU 11).

PubMed

Wilkinson, Joyce E; Rycroft-Malone, Jo; Davies, Huw T O; McCormack, Brendan

2012-12-01

A group of researchers and practitioners interested in advancing knowledge utilization met as a colloquium in Belfast (KU 11) and used a "world café" approach to exploit the social capital and shared understanding built up over previous events to consider the research and practice agenda. We considered three key areas of relevance to knowledge use: (1) understanding the nature of research use, influence and impact; (2) blended and collaborative approaches to knowledge production and use; and (3) supporting sustainability and spread of evidence-informed innovations. The approach enabled the development of artifacts that reflected the three areas and these were analyzed using a creative hermeneutic approach. The themes that emerged and which are outlined in this commentary are not mutually exclusive. There was much overlap in the discussions and therefore of the themes, reflecting the complex nature of knowledge translation work. The agenda that has emerged from KU 11 also reflects the participatory and creative approach in which the meeting was structured and focused, and therefore emphasizes the processual, relational and contingent nature of some of the challenges we face. The past 20 years has seen an explosion in activity around understanding KU, and we have learned much about the difficulties. Whilst the agenda for the next decade may be becoming clearer, colloquia such as KU 11, using creative and engaging approaches, have a key role to play in dissecting, articulating and sharing that agenda. In this way, we also build an ever-expanding international community that is dedicated to working towards increasing the chances of success for better patient care. © 2012 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Aeromagnetic map compilation: Procedures for merging and an example from Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Finn, C.

1999-01-01

Rocks in Antarctica and offshore have widely diverse magnetic properties. Consequently, aeromagnetic data collected there can improve knowledge of the geologic, tectonic and geothermal characteristics of the region. Aeromagnetic data can map concealed structures such as faults, folds and dikes, ascertain basin thickness and locate buried volcanic, as well as some intrusive and metamorphic rocks. Gridded, composite data sets allow a view of continental-scale trends that individual data sets do not provide and link widely-separated areas of outcrop and disparate geologic studies. Individual magnetic surveys must be processed so that they match adjacent surveys prior to merging. A consistent representation of the Earth's magnetic field (International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF)) must be removed from each data set. All data sets need to be analytically continued to the same flight elevation with their datums shifted to match adjacent data. I advocate minimal processing to best represent the individual surveys in the merged compilation. An example of a compilation of aeromagnetic surveys from Washington illustrates the utility of aeromagnetic maps for providing synoptic views of regional tectonic features.

Perspectives on the Transition From Bacterial Phytopathogen Genomics Studies to Applications Enhancing Disease Management: From Promise to Practice.

PubMed

Sundin, George W; Wang, Nian; Charkowski, Amy O; Castiblanco, Luisa F; Jia, Hongge; Zhao, Youfu

2016-10-01

The advent of genomics has advanced science into a new era, providing a plethora of "toys" for researchers in many related and disparate fields. Genomics has also spawned many new fields, including proteomics and metabolomics, furthering our ability to gain a more comprehensive view of individual organisms and of interacting organisms. Genomic information of both bacterial pathogens and their hosts has provided the critical starting point in understanding the molecular bases of how pathogens disrupt host cells to cause disease. In addition, knowledge of the complete genome sequence of the pathogen provides a potentially broad slate of targets for the development of novel virulence inhibitors that are desperately needed for disease management. Regarding plant bacterial pathogens and disease management, the potential for utilizing genomics resources in the development of durable resistance is enhanced because of developing technologies that enable targeted modification of the host. Here, we summarize the role of genomics studies in furthering efforts to manage bacterial plant diseases and highlight novel genomics-enabled strategies heading down this path.

Developing a Comprehensive Cardio-Oncology Program at a Cancer Institute: The Moffitt Cancer Center Experience

PubMed Central

Fradley, Michael G.; Brown, Allen C.; Shields, Bernadette; Viganego, Federico; Damrongwatanasuk, Rongras; Patel, Aarti A.; Hartlage, Gregory; Roper, Natalee; Jaunese, Julie; Roy, Larry; Ismail-Khan, Roohi

2017-01-01

Cardio-oncology is a multidisciplinary field focusing on the management and prevention of cardiovascular complications in cancer patients and survivors. While the initial focus of this specialty was on heart failure associated with anthracycline use, novel anticancer agents are increasingly utilized and are associated with many other cardiotoxicities including hypertension, arrhythmias and vascular disease. Since its inception, the field has developed at a rapid pace with the establishment of programs at many major academic institutions and community practices. Given the complexities of this patient population, it is important for providers to possess knowledge of not only cardiovascular disease but also cancer subtypes and their specific therapeutics. Developing a cardio-oncology program at a stand-alone cancer center can present unique opportunities and challenges when compared to those affiliated with other institutions including resource allocation, cardiovascular testing availability and provider education. In this review, we present our experiences establishing the cardio-oncology program at Moffitt Cancer Center and provide guidance to those individuals interested in developing a program at a similar independent cancer institution. PMID:28781723

Review: Serial Femtosecond Crystallography: A Revolution in Structural Biology

PubMed Central

Martin-Garcia, Jose M.; Conrad, Chelsie E.; Coe, Jesse; Roy-Chowdhury, Shatabdi; Fromme, Petra

2016-01-01

Macromolecular crystallography at synchrotron sources has proven to be the most influential method within structural biology, producing thousands of structures since its inception. While its utility has been instrumental in progressing our knowledge of structures of molecules, it suffers from limitations such as the need for large, well-diffracting crystals, and radiation damage that can hamper native structural determination. The recent advent of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) and their implementation in the emerging field of serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) has given rise to a remarkable expansion upon existing crystallographic constraints, allowing structural biologists access to previously restricted scientific territory. SFX relies on exceptionally brilliant, micro-focused X-ray pulses, which are femtoseconds in duration, to probe nano/micrometer sized crystals in a serial fashion. This results in data sets comprised of individual snapshots, each capturing Bragg diffraction of single crystals in random orientations prior to their subsequent destruction. Thus structural elucidation while avoiding radiation damage, even at room temperature, can now be achieved. This emerging field has cultivated new methods for nanocrystallogenesis, sample delivery, and data processing. Opportunities and challenges within SFX are reviewed herein. PMID:27143509

Serial femtosecond crystallography: A revolution in structural biology.

PubMed

Martin-Garcia, Jose M; Conrad, Chelsie E; Coe, Jesse; Roy-Chowdhury, Shatabdi; Fromme, Petra

2016-07-15

Macromolecular crystallography at synchrotron sources has proven to be the most influential method within structural biology, producing thousands of structures since its inception. While its utility has been instrumental in progressing our knowledge of structures of molecules, it suffers from limitations such as the need for large, well-diffracting crystals, and radiation damage that can hamper native structural determination. The recent advent of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) and their implementation in the emerging field of serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) has given rise to a remarkable expansion upon existing crystallographic constraints, allowing structural biologists access to previously restricted scientific territory. SFX relies on exceptionally brilliant, micro-focused X-ray pulses, which are femtoseconds in duration, to probe nano/micrometer sized crystals in a serial fashion. This results in data sets comprised of individual snapshots, each capturing Bragg diffraction of single crystals in random orientations prior to their subsequent destruction. Thus structural elucidation while avoiding radiation damage, even at room temperature, can now be achieved. This emerging field has cultivated new methods for nanocrystallogenesis, sample delivery, and data processing. Opportunities and challenges within SFX are reviewed herein. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Experimental Characterization of Guided Waves by Their Surface Displacement Vector Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barth, M.; Köhler, B.; Schubert, L.

2009-03-01

The development new nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) methods utilizing guided elastic waves needs a good understanding of wave propagation properties and the interaction of the waves with structures and defects. If the geometrical and stiffness properties of the components are well known, these effects can be studied very efficiently by numerical modeling. But very often there is a lack of precise knowledge of all necessary elastic properties; accurate and non-disturbing measurements are without alternative in these cases. The mapping of wave fields can be done by scanning laser vibrometers as demonstrated in a number of cases. Originally, a laser vibrometer provides only information from one displacement component. To get all three displacement components, the simultaneous measurement with three vibrometers is offered commercially. This is a very expensive approach. The paper describes a method which uses only one vibrometer sequentially for getting all three vector components. It allows determining additional parameters for characterizing wave modes as e.g. the ellipticity. The capability of this approach is demonstrated for the characterization of Lamb waves.

A multiple criteria analysis for household solid waste management in the urban community of Dakar.

PubMed

Kapepula, Ka-Mbayu; Colson, Gerard; Sabri, Karim; Thonart, Philippe

2007-01-01

Household solid waste management is a severe problem in big cities of developing countries. Mismanaged solid waste dumpsites produce bad sanitary, ecological and economic consequences for the whole population, especially for the poorest urban inhabitants. Dealing with this problem, this paper utilizes field data collected in the urban community of Dakar, in view of ranking nine areas of the city with respect to multiple criteria of nuisance. Nine criteria are built and organized in three families that represent three classical viewpoints: the production of wastes, their collection and their treatment. Thanks to the method PROMETHEE and the software ARGOS, we do a pair-wise comparison of the nine areas, which allows their multiple criteria rankings according to each viewpoint and then globally. Finding the worst and best areas in terms of nuisance for a better waste management in the city is our final purpose, fitting as well as possible the needs of the urban community. Based on field knowledge and on the literature, we suggest applying general and area-specific remedies to the household solid waste problems.

Communication and implementation of change in crop protection.

PubMed

Escalada, M M; Heong, K L

1993-01-01

The slow adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) has been attributed to the widespread gaps in farmers' knowledge of rational pest management. Other factors such as farmers' perception of high input use and promotion of pesticides also influence decisions to practise rational pest management. To bridge these gaps and improve farmers' pest management practices, most IPM implementation programmes rely on communication strategies. These communication approaches utilize either mass media or interpersonal channels or a combination. The choice of which communication approach to employ depends on project objectives and resources. Among extension and communication approaches used in crop protection, strategic extension campaigns, farmer field schools and farmer participatory research stand out in their ability to bring about significant changes in farmers' pest management practices. While extension campaigns have greater reach, farmer participation and experiential learning achieve more impact because learning effects are sustained. Communication media are important in raising awareness and creating a demand for IPM information but interpersonal channels and group methods such as the farmer field school and farmer participatory research are essential to accomplish the tasks of discovery and experiential learning of IPM skills.

Translating three states of knowledge--discovery, invention, and innovation

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Knowledge Translation (KT) has historically focused on the proper use of knowledge in healthcare delivery. A knowledge base has been created through empirical research and resides in scholarly literature. Some knowledge is amenable to direct application by stakeholders who are engaged during or after the research process, as shown by the Knowledge to Action (KTA) model. Other knowledge requires multiple transformations before achieving utility for end users. For example, conceptual knowledge generated through science or engineering may become embodied as a technology-based invention through development methods. The invention may then be integrated within an innovative device or service through production methods. To what extent is KT relevant to these transformations? How might the KTA model accommodate these additional development and production activities while preserving the KT concepts? Discussion Stakeholders adopt and use knowledge that has perceived utility, such as a solution to a problem. Achieving a technology-based solution involves three methods that generate knowledge in three states, analogous to the three classic states of matter. Research activity generates discoveries that are intangible and highly malleable like a gas; development activity transforms discoveries into inventions that are moderately tangible yet still malleable like a liquid; and production activity transforms inventions into innovations that are tangible and immutable like a solid. The paper demonstrates how the KTA model can accommodate all three types of activity and address all three states of knowledge. Linking the three activities in one model also illustrates the importance of engaging the relevant stakeholders prior to initiating any knowledge-related activities. Summary Science and engineering focused on technology-based devices or services change the state of knowledge through three successive activities. Achieving knowledge implementation requires methods that accommodate these three activities and knowledge states. Accomplishing beneficial societal impacts from technology-based knowledge involves the successful progression through all three activities, and the effective communication of each successive knowledge state to the relevant stakeholders. The KTA model appears suitable for structuring and linking these processes. PMID:20205873

Towards Shaping the Field: Theorising the Knowledge in a Formal Course for Academic Developers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vorster, Jo-Anne; Quinn, Lynn

2015-01-01

In recent years there have been calls both for building the knowledge base of academic development (AD) and for systematic induction of newcomers to the field if AD is to advance as a professional and an academic field. Despite the importance and complexity of AD, induction of novice academic developers remains mostly informal and predominantly…

[Productivity and academic assessment in the Brazilian public health field: challenges for Human and Social Sciences research].

PubMed

Bosi, Maria Lúcia Magalhães

2012-12-01

This article analyzes some challenges for knowledge output in the human and social sciences in the public health field, under the current academic assessment model in Brazil. The article focuses on the qualitative research approach in human and social sciences, analyzing its status in comparison to the other traditions vying for hegemony in the public health field, conjugating the dialogue with the literature, especially the propositions pertaining to the social fields present in the work of Pierre Bourdieu, with elements concerning the field's dynamics, including some empirical data. Challenges identified in the article include hurdles to interdisciplinary dialogue and equity in the production of knowledge, based on recognition of the founding place of human and social sciences in the public health field. The article discusses strategies to reshape the current correlation of forces among centers of knowledge in public health, especially those capable of impacting the committees and agendas that define the accumulation of symbolic and economic capital in the field.

Chiropractic Attitudes and Utilization of Evidence-Based Practice: The Use of the EBASE Questionnaire.

PubMed

Alcantara, Joel; Leach, Matthew J

2015-01-01

To examine the attitudes and utilization of evidence-based practice by chiropractors. Utilizing a descriptive survey implemented as an online questionnaire, we examined chiropractors׳ perception, skills, and level of training, their engagement in, the barriers and facilitators to, and possible interventions to evidence-based practice. A total of 162 of 500 chiropractors completed the survey, providing a response rate of 32.4%. The majority of respondents were 30-39 years old, female, and worked in solo practice. A high proportion agreed/strongly agreed that evidence-based practice was necessary in the practice of chiropractic. Most respondents considered themselves to have above-average skills in locating professional literature, identifying answerable clinical questions, and identifying knowledge gaps in practice. However, many indicated receiving either no training or minimal education for conducting clinical research and systematic reviews and meta-analyses Most respondents had read or reviewed one to five professional articles and/or clinical research reports pertinent to their practice in the preceding month. Identified minor to moderate barriers to evidence-based practice were lack of time and lack of clinical evidence. Activities "very useful" in participating in evidence-based practice were access to free online databases and the ability to download full-text journal articles. The responders of our survey embraced and considered themselves skillful in evidence-based practice. They utilized a number of resources to practice in such a manner and were not deterred by identified barriers. We support continued research in this field. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attitudes of Israeli Rheumatologists to the Use of Medical Cannabis as Therapy for Rheumatic Disorders

PubMed Central

Ablin, Jacob N.; Elkayam, Ori; Fitzcharles, Mary-Ann

2016-01-01

Background While medical cannabis has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of pain and other symptoms, evidence-based use is limited and practitioners face multiple areas of uncertainty regarding the rational use of these compounds. Nonetheless, an increasing public interest and advocacy in favor of medical cannabis is causing the issue to be encountered ever more frequently by physicians in different fields of medicine and particularly in rheumatology. In view of this situation, we have surveyed the attitudes of Israeli rheumatologists to the use of medical cannabis. Objectives As rheumatologists are specialized in caring for patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints, the confidence of rheumatologists’ knowledge of cannabinoids was surveyed. Methods All members of the Israeli Society of Rheumatology were surveyed by e-mail for their confidence and knowledge of cannabinoids and their perceived competence to prescribe herbal cannabis. Results A total of 23 out of 119 (19.3%) Israeli rheumatologists approached returned the questionnaire. Three-quarters of responders were not confident about their knowledge of cannabinoid molecules or ability to write a prescription for herbal cannabis, and 78% were not confident to write a prescription for herbal cannabis; 74% of responders held the opinion that there was some role for cannabinoids in the management of rheumatic disease. Conclusion Israeli rheumatologists lack confidence in their knowledge of cannabinoids in general, yet are open to the possibility of introducing this treatment. Additional data and guidance are necessary in order to allow rational utilization of cannabinoids for management of rheumatic pain. PMID:27101219

WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ANALYSIS: FIELD STUDIES, MODELING AND MANAGEMENT

EPA Science Inventory

The user‘s guide entitled “Water Distribution System Analysis: Field Studies, Modeling and Management” is a reference guide for water utilities and an extensive summarization of information designed to provide drinking water utility personnel (and related consultants and research...

Electromagnetic field interactions with the human body: Observed effects and theories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raines, J. K.

1981-01-01

The effects of nonionizing electromagnetic (EM) field interactions with the human body were reported and human related studies were collected. Nonionizing EM fields are linked to cancer in humans in three different ways: cause, means of detection, and effective treatment. Bad and benign effects are expected from nonionizing EM fields and much more knowledge is necessary to properly categorize and qualify EM field characteristics. It is concluded that knowledge of the boundary between categories, largely dependent on field intensity, is vital to proper future use of EM radiation for any purpose and the protection of the individual from hazard.

Innovations in Measuring Peer Conflict Resolution Knowledge in Children with LI: Exploring the Accessibility of a Visual Analogue Rating Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Wenonah N.; Skarakis-Doyle, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

This preliminary study explored peer conflict resolution knowledge in children with and without language impairment (LI). Specifically, it evaluated the utility of a visual analogue scale (VAS) for measuring nuances in such knowledge. Children aged 9-12 years, 26 with typically developing language (TLD) and 6 with LI, completed a training protocol…

Enhanced Bioreclamation of Jet Fuels: A Full-Scale Test at Eglin AFB, Florida

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-01

accelerated fuel degradation. To the authors’ knowledge , in the United States only one relatively undocumented attempt at nitrate utilization has...site demonstrations. To the authors’ knowledge . only the nitrate demonstrations previously discussed have been attempted to clean tip fuel...authors* knowledge -, enhanced bioreclamation is the only demonstrated technology for in situ treatment of hydrocarbons in deeper groundwaters. 5

Evaluation of the Processes and Outcomes of Implementing a Competency Model to Foster Research Knowledge Utilization in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briand-Lamarche, Mélodie; Pinard, Renée; Thériault, Pascale; Dagenais, Christian

2016-01-01

To encourage the use of research-based information (RBI) in education in Quebec, the "Centre de transfert pour la réussite educative du Québec" CTREQ and the RENARD team, a knowledge transfer research team, developed the Competency Model for Knowledge Translation to Support Educational Achievement among Quebec Youth. They then developed…

Examining TPACK's Theoretical Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmons, Royce

2015-01-01

TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) has quickly become popular amongst researchers and practitioners as a framework for understanding necessary teacher knowledge for supporting effective technology integration. Utilization of TPACK, however, has generally been approached in a manner that is non-critical and that does not inform…

44 CFR 6.87 - Specific exemptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... inquiries of suspected violators of civil and criminal laws and regulations under its jurisdiction. In many... surveillance being utilized, and they would be able to transmit this knowledge to co-conspirators. Finally... significant information concerning the nature of the civil or criminal investigation or inquiry. Knowledge of...

Global Leadership Education: Upping the Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goryunova, Elizabeth; Jenkins, Daniel M.

2017-01-01

While scholars recognize that digital technology is a major tool employed by contemporary learners to access knowledge, its full capacity is yet to be utilized. This paper investigates opportunities to increase individual learning engagement and knowledge retention in higher education and corporate environments through integrating educational…

Energy and water quality management systems for water utility's operations: a review.

PubMed

Cherchi, Carla; Badruzzaman, Mohammad; Oppenheimer, Joan; Bros, Christopher M; Jacangelo, Joseph G

2015-04-15

Holistic management of water and energy resources is critical for water utilities facing increasing energy prices, water supply shortage and stringent regulatory requirements. In the early 1990s, the concept of an integrated Energy and Water Quality Management System (EWQMS) was developed as an operational optimization framework for solving water quality, water supply and energy management problems simultaneously. Approximately twenty water utilities have implemented an EWQMS by interfacing commercial or in-house software optimization programs with existing control systems. For utilities with an installed EWQMS, operating cost savings of 8-15% have been reported due to higher use of cheaper tariff periods and better operating efficiencies, resulting in the reduction in energy consumption of ∼6-9%. This review provides the current state-of-knowledge on EWQMS typical structural features and operational strategies and benefits and drawbacks are analyzed. The review also highlights the challenges encountered during installation and implementation of EWQMS and identifies the knowledge gaps that should motivate new research efforts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Multidisciplinary Are the Multidisciplinary Journals Science and Nature?

PubMed Central

Solomon, Gregg E. A.; Carley, Stephen; Porter, Alan L.

2016-01-01

Interest in cross-disciplinary research knowledge interchange runs high. Review processes at funding agencies, such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, consider plans to disseminate research across disciplinary bounds. Publication in the leading multidisciplinary journals, Nature and Science, may signify the epitome of successful interdisciplinary integration of research knowledge and cross-disciplinary dissemination of findings. But how interdisciplinary are they? The journals are multidisciplinary, but do the individual articles themselves draw upon multiple fields of knowledge and does their influence span disciplines? This research compares articles in three fields (Cell Biology, Physical Chemistry, and Cognitive Science) published in a leading disciplinary journal in each field to those published in Nature and Science. We find comparable degrees of interdisciplinary integration and only modest differences in cross-disciplinary diffusion. That said, though the rate of out-of-field diffusion might be comparable, the sheer reach of Nature and Science, indicated by their potent Journal Impact Factors, means that the diffusion of knowledge therein can far exceed that of leading disciplinary journals in some fields (such as Physical Chemistry and Cognitive Science in our samples). PMID:27043924

How Multidisciplinary Are the Multidisciplinary Journals Science and Nature?

PubMed

Solomon, Gregg E A; Carley, Stephen; Porter, Alan L

2016-01-01

Interest in cross-disciplinary research knowledge interchange runs high. Review processes at funding agencies, such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, consider plans to disseminate research across disciplinary bounds. Publication in the leading multidisciplinary journals, Nature and Science, may signify the epitome of successful interdisciplinary integration of research knowledge and cross-disciplinary dissemination of findings. But how interdisciplinary are they? The journals are multidisciplinary, but do the individual articles themselves draw upon multiple fields of knowledge and does their influence span disciplines? This research compares articles in three fields (Cell Biology, Physical Chemistry, and Cognitive Science) published in a leading disciplinary journal in each field to those published in Nature and Science. We find comparable degrees of interdisciplinary integration and only modest differences in cross-disciplinary diffusion. That said, though the rate of out-of-field diffusion might be comparable, the sheer reach of Nature and Science, indicated by their potent Journal Impact Factors, means that the diffusion of knowledge therein can far exceed that of leading disciplinary journals in some fields (such as Physical Chemistry and Cognitive Science in our samples).

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used against human ailments in Gubalafto District, Northern Ethiopia.

PubMed

Chekole, Getnet

2017-10-04

Traditional medicinal plant species documentation is very crucial in Ethiopia for biodiversity conservation, bioactive chemical extractions and indigenous knowledge retention. Having first observed the inhabitants of Gubalafto District (Northern Ethiopia), the author gathered, recorded, and documented the human traditional medicinal plant species and the associated indigenous knowledge. The study was conducted from February 2013 to January 2015 and used descriptive field survey design. Eighty-four informants were selected from seven study kebeles (sub-districts) in the District through purposive, snowball, and random sampling techniques. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, guided field walks, demonstrations, and focus group discussions with the help of guided questions. Data were organized and analyzed by descriptive statistics with SPSS version 20 and Microsoft Office Excel 2007. A total of 135 medicinal plant species within 120 genera and 64 families were documented. Among the species, Ocimum lamiifolium and Rhamnus prinoides scored the highest informant citations and fidelity level value, respectively. In the study area, Asteraceae with 8.1% and herbs with 50.4% plant species were the most used sources for their medicinal uses. A total of 65 ailments were identified as being treated by traditional medicinal plants, among which stomachache (abdominal health problems) was frequently reported. Solanum incanum was reported for the treatment of many of the reported diseases. The leaf, fresh parts, and crushed forms of the medicinal plants were the most preferred in remedy preparations. Oral application was the highest reported administration for 110 preparations. A majority of medicinal plant species existed in the wild without any particular conservation effort. Few informants (about 5%) had only brief notes about the traditional medicinal plants. Ninety percent of the respondents have learned indigenous medicinal plants knowledge from their family members and friends secretly. Orthodox Church schools were found the main place for 65% of healer's indigenous knowledge origin and experiences. Elders, aged between 40 and 84 years, gave detailed descriptions about traditional medicinal plants. Traditional medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge are the main systems to maintain human health in Gubalafto District. But minimal conservation measures were recorded in the community. Thus, in-situ and ex-situ conservation practices and sustainable utilization are required in the District.

RH knowledge and service utilization among unmarried rural-to-urban migrants in three major cities, China

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Large numbers of unmarried migrants are on the continuous move from rural-to-urban areas within China mainland, meanwhile their Reproductive Health (RH) is underserved when it is compared with the present urban RH policies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the RH knowledge and the utilization of RH services among unmarried migrants. Methods A cross-section survey was performed in three cities in China-Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan. A total of 3,450 rural-to-urban unmarried migrants were chosen according to a purposive sampling method. Around 3,412 (male: 1,680, female: 1,732) were qualified for this study. A face-to-face structured questionnaire survey was used, which focused on the knowledge concerning "fertility, contraception and STD/AIDS," as well as RH service utilization. Results Among unmarried migrants the RH knowledge about pregnancy-fertilization (29.4%) and contraception (9.1%) was at its lowest level. Around 21% of unmarried migrants had pre-marital sexual experience and almost half (47.4%) never used condoms during sexual intercourse. The most obtained RH services was about STD/AIDS health education (female: 49.6%, male: 50.2%) and free prophylactic use of contraceptives and/or condoms (female: 42.5%, male: 48.3%). As for accessing RH checkup services it was at its lowest level among females (16.1%). Those who migrated to Shenzhen (OR = 0.64) and Guangzhou (OR = 0.53) obtained few RH consultations compared to those in Wuhan. The white collar workers received more RH consultations and checkup services than the blue collar workers (all group P < 0.01). Conclusion RH knowledge and the utilization of RH services amongst unmarried migrants remain insufficient in the three studied major cities. This study reveals the important gaps in the RH services' delivery, and highlights the requirements for tailored interventions, including further research, to address more effectively the demands and the needs of the unmarried migrant populations. PMID:21284893

A framework to explore the knowledge structure of multidisciplinary research fields.

PubMed

Uddin, Shahadat; Khan, Arif; Baur, Louise A

2015-01-01

Understanding emerging areas of a multidisciplinary research field is crucial for researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders. For them a knowledge structure based on longitudinal bibliographic data can be an effective instrument. But with the vast amount of available online information it is often hard to understand the knowledge structure for data. In this paper, we present a novel approach for retrieving online bibliographic data and propose a framework for exploring knowledge structure. We also present several longitudinal analyses to interpret and visualize the last 20 years of published obesity research data.

Apparatus and method for materials processing utilizing a rotating magnetic field

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

Muralidharan, Govindarajan; Angelini, Joseph A.; Murphy, Bart L.

An apparatus for materials processing utilizing a rotating magnetic field comprises a platform for supporting a specimen, and a plurality of magnets underlying the platform. The plurality of magnets are configured for rotation about an axis of rotation intersecting the platform. A heat source is disposed above the platform for heating the specimen during the rotation of the plurality of magnets. A method for materials processing utilizing a rotating magnetic field comprises providing a specimen on a platform overlying a plurality of magnets; rotating the plurality of magnets about an axis of rotation intersecting the platform, thereby applying a rotatingmore » magnetic field to the specimen; and, while rotating the plurality of magnets, heating the specimen to a desired temperature.« less

Report of the Field and Laboratory Utilization Study Group. Appendix

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

None

1975-12-01

These appendices (ERDA organization and management, summary of other resources, and FLU study considerations/inputs) provide detailed and quantitative information in support of the findings and recommendations presented in the report of the field and laboratory utilization study group. (RWR)

Near-field nano-Raman imaging of Si device structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atesang, Jacob; Geer, Robert

2005-05-01

Apertureless-based, near-field Raman imaging holds the potential for nanoscale stress metrology in emerging Si devices. Preliminary application of near-field Raman imaging on Si device structures has demonstrated the potential for stress measurements. However, detailed investigations have not been published regarding the effect of tip radius on observed near-field enhancement. Such investigations are important to understand the fundamental limits regarding the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement and the spatial resolution that can potentially be achieved before wide application to semiconductor metrology can be considered. Investigations are presented into near-field enhancement of Raman scattering from Si device structures using a modified near-field optical microscope (NSOM). The nano-Raman system utilizes an off-axis (45°) backscattering NSOM geometry with free-space collection optics. The spectroscopic configuration utilizes a single-bounce spectrometer incorporating a holographic notch filter assembly utilized as a secondary beam-splitter for an apertureless backscattering collection geometry. Near-field enhancement is observed for both Al- and Ag-coated probes. An inverse square power-law relationship is observed between near-field enhancement factor and tip radius.

The Influence of an Extensive Inquiry-Based Field Experience on Pre-Service Elementary Student Teachers' Science Teaching Beliefs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharyya, Sumita; Volk, Trudi; Lumpe, Andrew

2009-06-01

This study examined the effects of an extensive inquiry-based field experience on pre service elementary teachers’ personal agency beliefs, a composite measure of context beliefs and capability beliefs related to teaching science. The research combined quantitative and qualitative approaches and included an experimental group that utilized the inquiry method and a control group that used traditional teaching methods. Pre- and post-test scores for the experimental and control groups were compared. The context beliefs of both groups showed no significant change as a result of the experience. However, the control group’s capability belief scores, lower than those of the experimental group to start with, declined significantly; the experimental group’s scores remained unchanged. Thus, the inquiry-based field experience led to an increase in personal agency beliefs. The qualitative data suggested a new hypothesis that there is a spiral relationship among teachers’ ability to establish communicative relationships with students, desire for personal growth and improvement, ability to implement multiple instructional strategies, and possession of substantive content knowledge. The study concludes that inquiry-based student teaching should be encouraged in the training of elementary school science teachers. However, the meaning and practice of the inquiry method should be clearly delineated to ensure its correct implementation in the classroom.

The Use of a Fresh-Tissue Cadaver Model for the Instruction of Dermatological Procedures: A Laboratory Study for Training Medical Students.

PubMed

Cervantes, Jose A; Costello, Collin M; Maarouf, Melody; McCrary, Hilary C; Zeitouni, Nathalie C

2017-09-01

A realistic model for the instruction of basic dermatologic procedural skills was developed, while simultaneously increasing medical student exposure to the field of dermatology. The primary purpose of the authors' study was to evaluate the utilization of a fresh-tissue cadaver model (FTCM) as a method for the instruction of common dermatologic procedures. The authors' secondary aim was to assess students' perceived clinical skills and overall perception of the field of dermatology after the lab. Nineteen first- and second-year medical students were pre- and post-tested on their ability to perform punch and excisional biopsies on a fresh-tissue cadaver. Students were then surveyed on their experience. Assessment of the cognitive knowledge gain and technical skills revealed a statistically significant improvement in all categories (p < .001). An analysis of the survey demonstrated that 78.9% were more interested in selecting dermatology as a career and 63.2% of participants were more likely to refer their future patients to a Mohs surgeon. An FTCM is a viable method for the instruction and training of dermatologic procedures. In addition, the authors conclude that an FTCM provides realistic instruction for common dermatologic procedures and enhances medical students' early exposure and interest in the field of dermatology.

Knowledge and utilization of the partograph: A cross-sectional survey among obstetric care providers in urban referral public health institutions in northwest and southwest Cameroon.

PubMed

Sama, Carlson-Babila; Takah, Noah F; Danwe, Valery K; Melo, Uzeru Forchu; Dingana, Therence Nwana; Angwafo, Fru F

2017-01-01

The enormous challenge to maternal well-being with associated maternal wastages during labour has remained an unsurmountable problem in Cameroon which reflects the current high maternal mortality rate. Evidence abounds that cost-effective and affordable health interventions like the use of the partograph will contribute to curb the alarming number of intrapartum maternal deaths. However, little is known about the level of knowledge and utilization of this simple life-saving tool in the North-and South-West Regions, Cameroon. Using a self-administered structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional study was conducted from January 4th-March 25th 2016 among non-physician obstetric care providers (OCPs) across urban public health institutions in these regions. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with good knowledge and routine utilization of the partograph. Of the 79 eligible participants, 71 (89.9%) took part in the study. The mean age of the respondents was 37.9±10.0 years with majority being female (85.9%). Less than one-third (29.6%) of the respondents had good knowledge on the partograph and only 23 (32.4%) routinely used it in monitoring labour. OCPs working in Maternal and Infant Welfare Clinics were about 4 times more likely than those working in Regional/District Hospitals to have good knowledge on the partograph [AOR = 3.88 (95% CI:1.07-14.04)], p = 0.04. Little or no knowledge of the partograph and poor staff strength in the study centres were factors militating against its routine use. The knowledge and use of the partograph in this study is sub-optimal. Regular in-service training of OCPs superimposed with periodic workshops and seminars, provision of reasonable staff numbers, and mandatory institutional policies on routine use of the partograph are recommended as vital first steps towards ensuring the safety of women in labour in the North-and South-West Regions of Cameroon.

The use of the partograph in labor monitoring: a cross-sectional study among obstetric caregivers in General Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

PubMed

Asibong, Udeme; Okokon, Ita B; Agan, Thomas U; Oku, Affiong; Opiah, Margaret; Essien, E James; Monjok, Emmanuel

2014-01-01

Prolonged and obstructed labor is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, one of the six countries contributing significantly to the global maternal mortality crisis. The use of the partograph would engender a remarkable reduction in the number of these deaths since abnormal markers in the progress of labor would be identified early on. This study aimed to evaluate the non-physician obstetric caregivers' (OCGs) knowledge of partograph use, assess the extent of its use, determine the factors that impede its usage, and unravel the relationship between years of experience and partograph use among the respondents (OCGs) in General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. Using a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 130 purposely selected and consenting OCGs working in the General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. The majority of the respondents (70.8%) had good general knowledge of the partograph but lacked detailed and in-depth knowledge of the component parts of the partograph. Knowledge of partograph (χ(2) =12.05, P=0.0001) and partograph availability (χ(2) =56.5, P=0.0001) had a significant relationship with its utilization. Previous training (χ(2) =9.43, P=0.002) was significantly related to knowledge of partograph. Factors affecting utilization were: little or no knowledge of the partograph (85.4%), nonavailability (70%), shortage of staff (61.5%), and the fact that it is time-consuming to use (30%). Lack of detailed knowledge of the partograph, nonavailability of the partograph, poor staff numbers, and inadequate training are factors that work against the effective utilization of the partograph in the study facility. Usage of this tool for labor monitoring can be enhanced by periodic training, making partographs available in labor wards, provision of reasonable staff numbers, and mandatory institutional policy.

The use of the partograph in labor monitoring: a cross-sectional study among obstetric caregivers in General Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

PubMed Central

Asibong, Udeme; Okokon, Ita B; Agan, Thomas U; Oku, Affiong; Opiah, Margaret; Essien, E James; Monjok, Emmanuel

2014-01-01

Background Prolonged and obstructed labor is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, one of the six countries contributing significantly to the global maternal mortality crisis. The use of the partograph would engender a remarkable reduction in the number of these deaths since abnormal markers in the progress of labor would be identified early on. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the non-physician obstetric caregivers’ (OCGs) knowledge of partograph use, assess the extent of its use, determine the factors that impede its usage, and unravel the relationship between years of experience and partograph use among the respondents (OCGs) in General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. Methodology Using a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 130 purposely selected and consenting OCGs working in the General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. Results The majority of the respondents (70.8%) had good general knowledge of the partograph but lacked detailed and in-depth knowledge of the component parts of the partograph. Knowledge of partograph (χ2=12.05, P=0.0001) and partograph availability (χ2=56.5, P=0.0001) had a significant relationship with its utilization. Previous training (χ2=9.43, P=0.002) was significantly related to knowledge of partograph. Factors affecting utilization were: little or no knowledge of the partograph (85.4%), nonavailability (70%), shortage of staff (61.5%), and the fact that it is time-consuming to use (30%). Conclusion Lack of detailed knowledge of the partograph, nonavailability of the partograph, poor staff numbers, and inadequate training are factors that work against the effective utilization of the partograph in the study facility. Usage of this tool for labor monitoring can be enhanced by periodic training, making partographs available in labor wards, provision of reasonable staff numbers, and mandatory institutional policy. PMID:25342920

Perceived Utility of the RE-AIM Framework for Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Initiatives for Older Adults: A Case Study from the U.S. Evidence-Based Disease Prevention Initiative

PubMed Central

Ory, Marcia G.; Altpeter, Mary; Belza, Basia; Helduser, Janet; Zhang, Chen; Smith, Matthew Lee

2015-01-01

Dissemination and implementation (D&I) frameworks are increasingly being promoted in public health research. However, less is known about their uptake in the field, especially for diverse sets of programs. Limited questionnaires exist to assess the ways that frameworks can be utilized in program planning and evaluation. We present a case study from the United States that describes the implementation of the RE-AIM framework by state aging services providers and public health partners and a questionnaire that can be used to assess the utility of such frameworks in practice. An online questionnaire was developed to capture community perspectives about the utility of the RE-AIM framework. Distributed to project leads in 27 funded states in an evidence-based disease prevention initiative for older adults, 40 key stakeholders responded representing a 100% state-participation rate among the 27 funded states. Findings suggest that there is perceived utility in using the RE-AIM framework when evaluating grand-scale initiatives for older adults. The RE-AIM framework was seen as useful for planning, implementation, and evaluation with relevance for evaluators, providers, community leaders, and policy makers. Yet, the uptake was not universal, and some respondents reported difficulties in use, especially adopting the framework as a whole. This questionnaire can serve as the basis to assess ways the RE-AIM framework can be utilized by practitioners in state-wide D&I efforts. Maximal benefit can be derived from examining the assessment of RE-AIM-related knowledge and confidence as part of a continual quality assurance process. We recommend such an assessment be performed before the implementation of new funding initiatives and throughout their course to assess RE-AIM uptake and to identify areas for technical assistance. PMID:25964897

Developing a science of clinical utility in diagnostic classification systems field study strategies for ICD-11 mental and behavioral disorders.

PubMed

Keeley, Jared W; Reed, Geoffrey M; Roberts, Michael C; Evans, Spencer C; Medina-Mora, María Elena; Robles, Rebeca; Rebello, Tahilia; Sharan, Pratap; Gureje, Oye; First, Michael B; Andrews, Howard F; Ayuso-Mateos, José Luís; Gaebel, Wolfgang; Zielasek, Juergen; Saxena, Shekhar

2016-01-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse has developed a systematic program of field studies to evaluate and improve the clinical utility of the proposed diagnostic guidelines for mental and behavioral disorders in the Eleventh Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11). The clinical utility of a diagnostic classification is critical to its function as the interface between health encounters and health information, and to making the ICD-11 be a more effective tool for helping the WHO's 194 member countries, including the United States, reduce the global disease burden of mental disorders. This article describes the WHO's efforts to develop a science of clinical utility in regard to one of the two major classification systems for mental disorders. We present the rationale and methodologies for an integrated and complementary set of field study strategies, including large international surveys, formative field studies of the structure of clinicians' conceptualization of mental disorders, case-controlled field studies using experimental methodologies to evaluate the impact of proposed changes to the diagnostic guidelines on clinicians' diagnostic decision making, and ecological implementation field studies of clinical utility in the global settings in which the guidelines will ultimately be implemented. The results of these studies have already been used in making decisions about the structure and content of ICD-11. If clinical utility is indeed among the highest aims of diagnostic systems for mental disorders, as their developers routinely claim, future revision efforts should continue to build on these efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of an online medical internet site on knowledge and practice of health care providers: a mixed methods study of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence project.

PubMed

Eng, Janice J; Noonan, Vanessa K; Townson, Andrea F; Higgins, Caroline E; Rogers, Jess; Wolfe, Dalton L

2014-12-23

It is not known whether ongoing access to a broad-based Internet knowledge resource can influence the practice of health care providers. We undertook a study to evaluate the impact of a Web-based knowledge resource on increasing access to evidence and facilitating best practice of health care providers. The objective of this study was to evaluate (1) the impact of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) project on access to information for health care providers and researchers and (2) how SCIRE influenced health care providers' management of clients. A 4-part mixed methods evaluation was undertaken: (1) monitoring website traffic and utilization using Google Analytics, (2) online survey of users who accessed the SCIRE website, (3) online survey of targeted end-users, that is, rehabilitation health care providers known to work with spinal cord injury (SCI) clients, as well as researchers, and (4) focus groups with health care providers who had previously accessed SCIRE. The online format allowed the content for a relatively specialized field to have far reach (eg, 26 countries and over 6500 users per month). The website survey and targeted end-user survey confirmed that health care providers, as well as researchers perceived that the website increased their access to SCI evidence. Access to SCIRE not only improved knowledge of SCI evidence but helped inform changes to the health providers' clinical practice and improved their confidence in treating SCI clients. The SCIRE information directly influenced the health providers' clinical decision making, in terms of choice of intervention, equipment needs, or assessment tool. A Web-based knowledge resource may be a relatively inexpensive method to increase access to evidence-based information, increase knowledge of the evidence, inform changes to the health providers' practice, and influence their clinical decision making.

Impact of an Online Medical Internet Site on Knowledge and Practice of Health Care Providers: A Mixed Methods Study of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence Project

PubMed Central

Noonan, Vanessa K; Townson, Andrea F; Higgins, Caroline E; Rogers, Jess; Wolfe, Dalton L

2014-01-01

Background It is not known whether ongoing access to a broad-based Internet knowledge resource can influence the practice of health care providers. We undertook a study to evaluate the impact of a Web-based knowledge resource on increasing access to evidence and facilitating best practice of health care providers. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate (1) the impact of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) project on access to information for health care providers and researchers and (2) how SCIRE influenced health care providers' management of clients. Methods A 4-part mixed methods evaluation was undertaken: (1) monitoring website traffic and utilization using Google Analytics, (2) online survey of users who accessed the SCIRE website, (3) online survey of targeted end-users, that is, rehabilitation health care providers known to work with spinal cord injury (SCI) clients, as well as researchers, and (4) focus groups with health care providers who had previously accessed SCIRE. Results The online format allowed the content for a relatively specialized field to have far reach (eg, 26 countries and over 6500 users per month). The website survey and targeted end-user survey confirmed that health care providers, as well as researchers perceived that the website increased their access to SCI evidence. Access to SCIRE not only improved knowledge of SCI evidence but helped inform changes to the health providers’ clinical practice and improved their confidence in treating SCI clients. The SCIRE information directly influenced the health providers’ clinical decision making, in terms of choice of intervention, equipment needs, or assessment tool. Conclusions A Web-based knowledge resource may be a relatively inexpensive method to increase access to evidence-based information, increase knowledge of the evidence, inform changes to the health providers’ practice, and influence their clinical decision making. PMID:25537167

Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants used by Maonan people in China.

PubMed

Hong, Liya; Guo, Zhiyong; Huang, Kunhui; Wei, Shanjun; Liu, Bo; Meng, Shaowu; Long, Chunlin

2015-04-30

This paper is based on an ethnobotanical investigation that focused on the traditional medicinal plants used by local Maonan people to treat human diseases in Maonan concentration regions. The Maonan people have relied on traditional medicine since ancient times, especially medicinal plants. The aim of this study is to document medicinal plants used by the Maonans and to report the status of medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Ethnobotanical data were collected from June 2012 to September 2014 in Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, northern Guangxi, southwest China. In total, 118 knowledgeable informants were interviewed. Following statistically sampling method, eighteen villages from 5 townships were selected to conduct field investigations. Information was collected through the approache of participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, ranking exercises, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory rural appraisals. A total of 368 medicinal plant species were investigated and documented together with their medicinal uses by the Maonans, most of which were obtained from the wild ecosystems. The plants were used to treat 95 human diseases. Grinding was a widely used method to prepare traditional herbal medicines. There were significant relationships between gender and age, and between gender and informants' knowledge of medicinal plant use. Deforestation for agricultural purposes was identified as the most destructive factor of medicinal plants, followed by drought and over-harvest. The species diversity of medicinal plants used by the Maonans in the study area was very rich. Medicinal plants played a significant role in healing various human disorders in the Maonan communities. However, the conflicts between traditional inheriting system and recent socio-economic changes (and other factors) resulted in the reduction or loss of both medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Thus, conservation efforts and policies, and innovation of inheriting system are necessary for protecting the medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Awareness is also needed to be raised among local Maonans focusing on sustainable utilization and management of both medicinal plants and traditional knowledge.

Knowledge Sourcing in IT Support Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Workman, Sue B.

2011-01-01

Indiana University (IU) provides great support for the technology the community needs to teach, learn, and conduct research. Rather than limiting support by defining a rigid support matrix, IU has chosen instead to utilize knowledge management technology to provide self-service for repetitive information technology (IT) questions, and focus…

Performing Interpretation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kothe, Elsa Lenz; Berard, Marie-France

2013-01-01

Utilizing a/r/tographic methodology to interrogate interpretive acts in museums, multiple areas of inquiry are raised in this paper, including: which knowledge is assigned the greatest value when preparing a gallery talk; what lies outside of disciplinary knowledge; how invitations to participate invite and disinvite in the same gesture; and what…

Classification of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer by weighing gene expression profiles with connectivity information.

PubMed

Zhang, Ao; Tian, Suyan

2018-05-01

Pathway-based feature selection algorithms, which utilize biological information contained in pathways to guide which features/genes should be selected, have evolved quickly and become widespread in the field of bioinformatics. Based on how the pathway information is incorporated, we classify pathway-based feature selection algorithms into three major categories-penalty, stepwise forward, and weighting. Compared to the first two categories, the weighting methods have been underutilized even though they are usually the simplest ones. In this article, we constructed three different genes' connectivity information-based weights for each gene and then conducted feature selection upon the resulting weighted gene expression profiles. Using both simulations and a real-world application, we have demonstrated that when the data-driven connectivity information constructed from the data of specific disease under study is considered, the resulting weighted gene expression profiles slightly outperform the original expression profiles. In summary, a big challenge faced by the weighting method is how to estimate pathway knowledge-based weights more accurately and precisely. Only until the issue is conquered successfully will wide utilization of the weighting methods be impossible. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Improving salinity tolerance of plants through conventional breeding and genetic engineering: An analytical comparison.

PubMed

Ashraf, Muhammad; Akram, Nudrat Aisha

2009-01-01

The last century has witnessed a substantial improvement in yield potential, quality and disease resistance in crops. This was indeed the outcome of conventional breeding, which was achieved with little or no knowledge of underlying physiological and biochemical phenomena related to a trait. Also the resources utilized on programs involving conventional breeding were not of great magnitude. Plant breeders have also been successful during the last century in producing a few salt-tolerant cultivars/lines of some potential crops through conventional breeding, but this again has utilized modest resources. However, this approach seems now inefficient due to a number of reasons, and alternatively, genetic engineering for improving crop salt tolerance is being actively followed these days by the plant scientists, world-over. A large number of transgenic lines with enhanced salt tolerance of different crops can be deciphered from the literature but up to now only a very few field-tested cultivars/lines are known despite the fact that considerable resources have been expended on the sophisticated protocols employed for generating such transgenics. This review analytically compares the achievements made so far in terms of producing salt-tolerant lines/cultivars through conventional breeding or genetic engineering.

Bio-analytical applications of microbial fuel cell-based biosensors for onsite water quality monitoring.

PubMed

ElMekawy, A; Hegab, H M; Pant, D; Saint, C P

2018-01-01

Globally, sustainable provision of high-quality safe water is a major challenge of the 21st century. Various chemical and biological monitoring analytics are presently utilized to guarantee the availability of high-quality water. However, these techniques still face some challenges including high costs, complex design and onsite and online limitations. The recent technology of using microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensors holds outstanding potential for the rapid and real-time monitoring of water source quality. MFCs have the advantages of simplicity in design and efficiency for onsite sensing. Even though some sensing applications of MFCs were previously studied, e.g. biochemical oxygen demand sensor, recently numerous research groups around the world have presented new practical applications of this technique, which combine multidisciplinary scientific knowledge in materials science, microbiology and electrochemistry fields. This review presents the most updated research on the utilization of MFCs as potential biosensors for monitoring water quality and considers the range of potentially toxic analytes that have so far been detected using this methodology. The advantages of MFCs over established technology are also considered as well as future work required to establish their routine use. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.