Tracing Interacting Literacy Practices in Master's Dissertation Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaufhold, Kathrin

2017-01-01

Academic literacy practices are increasingly varied, influenced by the diverse education and language backgrounds of students and staff, interdisciplinary approaches, and collaborations with non-university groups such as business partners. Completing a master's dissertation thus requires students to negotiate literacy practices associated with…

Design Interactive: A Nonlinear, Multimedia Approach to Teaching Introduction to Visual Communication and Principles of Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palilonis, Jennifer; Butler, Darrell; Leidig-Farmen, Pamela

2013-01-01

As online teaching techniques continue to evolve, new opportunities surface for research and insight regarding best practices for the development and implementation of interactive, multimedia teaching and learning tools. These tools are particularly attractive for courses that lend themselves to a rich media approach. Such is the case for visual…

Strategic Interaction: A Pragmatic Approach to Business Negotiation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCreary, Don R.

This paper provides guidelines for writing and classifying scenarios for classroom practice of language skills through the strategic interaction method. The scripts, used for spontaneous or rehearsed role-playing or transactional games, are rated according to their information load (grammatical complexity), interactional value, and transactional…

Interactive Videoconferencing in Educational Settings: A Case in Primary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sáez-López, José-Manuel; Feliz-Murias, Tiberio; Holgueras-González, Ana-Isabel

2018-01-01

This research analyzes the use of Interactive Videoconferencing in classroom, analyzing practice and attitudes of 37 teachers and professors from several countries in the first dimension. The second dimension analyzes innovative approaches and Collaborative Learning through Interactive Videoconferencing using "Skype" in a particular…

Electronic Module Design with Scientifically Character-Charged Approach on Kinematics Material Learning to Improve Holistic Competence of High School Students in 10th Grade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anggraini, R.; Darvina, Y.; Amir, H.; Murtiani, M.; Yulkifli, Y.

2018-04-01

The availability of modules in schools is currently lacking. Learners have not used the module as a source in the learning process. In accordance with the demands of the 2013 curriculum, that learning should be conducted using a scientific approach and loaded with character values as well as learning using interactive learning resources. The solution of this problem is to create an interactive module with a scientifically charged character approach. This interactive module can be used by learners outside the classroom or in the classroom. This interactive module contains straight motion material, parabolic motion and circular motion of high school physics class X semester 1. The purpose of this research is to produce an interactive module with a scientific approach charged with character and determine the validity and practicality. The research is Research and Development. This study was conducted only until the validity test and practice test. The validity test was conducted by three lecturers of Physics of FMIPA UNP as experts. The instruments used in this research are validation sheet and worksheet sheet. Data analysis technique used is product validity analysis. The object of this research is electronic module, while the subject of this research is three validator.

Advanced Nonlinear Latent Variable Modeling: Distribution Analytic LMS and QML Estimators of Interaction and Quadratic Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelava, Augustin; Werner, Christina S.; Schermelleh-Engel, Karin; Moosbrugger, Helfried; Zapf, Dieter; Ma, Yue; Cham, Heining; Aiken, Leona S.; West, Stephen G.

2011-01-01

Interaction and quadratic effects in latent variable models have to date only rarely been tested in practice. Traditional product indicator approaches need to create product indicators (e.g., x[superscript 2] [subscript 1], x[subscript 1]x[subscript 4]) to serve as indicators of each nonlinear latent construct. These approaches require the use of…

Theorizing about Practice: Story Telling and Practical Knowledge in Cancer Diagnoses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zucchermaglio, Cristina; Alby, Francesca

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the organization of storytelling and its role in creating and sharing practical knowledge for cancer diagnosis in a medical community in Italy. Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative analysis draws upon different interactional data sets--naturally occurring diagnostic conversations among physicians in the…

Inter-ethics: towards an interactive and interdependent bioethics.

PubMed

Abma, Tineke A; Baur, Vivianne E; Molewijk, Bert; Widdershoven, Guy A M

2010-06-01

Since its origin bioethics has been a specialized, academic discipline, focussing on moral issues, using a vast set of globalized principles and rational techniques to evaluate and guide healthcare practices. With the emergence of a plural society, the loss of faith in experts and authorities and the decline of overarching grand narratives and shared moralities, a new approach to bioethics is needed. This approach implies a shift from an external critique of practices towards embedded ethics and interactive practice improvement, and from a legal defence of rights towards fostering interdependent practices of responsibility. This article describes these transitions within bioethics in relation to the broader societal and cultural dynamics within Western societies, and traces the implications for the methodologies and changing roles of the bioethicist. The bioethicist we foresee is not just a clever expert but also a relationally sensitive person who engages stakeholders in reciprocal dialogues about their practice of responsibility and helps to integrate various sorts of knowledge (embodied, experiential, visual, and cognitive-scientific). In order to illustrate this new approach, we present a case study. It concerns a project focusing on an innovation in elderly care, based on the participation of various stakeholders, especially older people themselves.

How improving practice relationships among clinicians and nonclinicians can improve quality in primary care.

PubMed

Lanham, Holly J; McDaniel, Reuben R; Crabtree, Benjamin F; Miller, William L; Stange, Kurt C; Tallia, Alfred F; Nutting, Paula

2009-09-01

Understanding the role of relationships health care organizations (HCOs) offers opportunities for shaping health care delivery. When quality is treated as a property arising from the relationships within HCOs, then different contributors of quality can be investigated and more effective strategies for improvement can be developed. Data were drawn from four large National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded studies, and an iterative analytic strategy and a grounded theory approach were used to understand the characteristics of relationships within primary care practices. This multimethod approach amassed rich and comparable data sets in all four studies, which were all aimed at primary care practice improvement. The broad range of data included direct observation of practices during work activities and of patient-clinician interactions, in-depth interviews with physicians and other key staff members, surveys, structured checklists of office environments, and chart reviews. Analyses focused on characteristics of relationships in practices that exhibited a range of success in achieving practice improvement. Complex adaptive systems theory informed these analyses. Trust, mindfulness, heedfulness, respectful interaction, diversity, social/task relatedness, and rich/lean communication were identified as important in practice improvement. A model of practice relationships was developed to describe how these characteristics work together and interact with reflection, sensemaking, and learning to influence practice-level quality outcomes. Although this model of practice relationships was developed from data collected in primary care practices, which differ from other HCOs in some important ways, the ideas that quality is emergent and that relationships influence quality of care are universally important for all HCOs and all medical specialties.

Elaborating on systems thinking in health promotion practice.

PubMed

Naaldenberg, Jenneken; Vaandrager, Lenneke; Koelen, Maria; Wagemakers, Anne-Marie; Saan, Hans; de Hoog, Kees

2009-03-01

Health and well-being are the result of a series of complex processes in which an individual interacts with other people and the environment. A systematic approach ensures incorporation of individual, ecological, social and political factors. However, interactions between these factors can be overlooked within a systematical approach. A systemic approach can provide additional information by incorporating interactions and communication. The opportunities of a systems thinking perspective for health promotion were investigated for this paper. Although others have also made attempts to explore systems thinking in the field of health promotion, the implications of systems thinking in practice need attention. Other fields such as agricultural extension studies, organizational studies and development studies provide useful experiences with the use of a systems thinking perspective in practice. Building on experiences from these fields, we give a theoretical background in which processes of social learning and innovation play an important role. From this background, we derive an overview of important concepts for the practical application of a systems thinking perspective. These concepts are the structure of the system, meanings attached to actions, and power relations between actors. To make these concepts more explicit and reduce the theoretical character of systems thinking, we use an illustration to elaborate on these concepts in practice. For this purpose, we describe a health promotion partnership in The Netherlands using the concepts structure, meaning and power relations. We show how a systems perspective increases insight in the functioning of a partnership and how this can facilitate processes of social learning and innovation. This article concludes by identifying future opportunities and challenges in adopting systems thinking for health promotion practice. A systems perspective towards health promotion can help projects reaching a more integral and sustainable approach in which the complex nature of health promotion processes is supported. Practical applications of systems thinking are necessary to adapt this perspective.

Working with culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families: perceptions and practices of school speech-language therapists in the United States.

PubMed

Maul, Christine A

2015-01-01

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) working in schools worldwide strive to deliver evidence-based services to diverse populations of students. Many suggestions have been made in the international professional literature regarding culturally competent delivery of speech and language services, but there has been limited qualitative investigation of practices school SLTs find to be most useful when modifying their approaches to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. To examine perceptions of nine school SLTs regarding modifications of usual practices when interacting with CLD students and their families; to compare reported practices with those suggested in professional literature; to draw clinical implications regarding the results; and to suggest future research to build a more extensive evidence base for culturally competent service delivery. For this qualitative research study, nine school SLTs in a diverse region of the USA were recruited to participate in a semi-structured interview designed to answer the question: What dominant themes, if any, can be found in SLTs' descriptions of how they modify their approaches, if at all, when interacting with CLD students and their family members? Analysis of data revealed the following themes: (1) language-a barrier and a bridge, (2) communicating through interpreters, (3) respect for cultural differences, and (4) positive experiences interacting with CLD family members. Participants reported making many modifications to their usual approaches that have been recommended as best practices in the international literature. However, some practices the SLTs reported to be effective were not emphasized or were not addressed at all in the literature. Practical implications of results are drawn and future research is suggested. © 2015 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Talking about taste: using a discursive psychological approach to examine challenges to food evaluations.

PubMed

Wiggins, Sally

2004-08-01

This study is concerned with developing the interdisciplinary nature of food research, and with examining eating practices as they occur in everyday situations. The aim is to demonstrate how discursive approaches may contribute to eating research using a specific analytical example. A discursive psychological approach is used to examine mealtime conversations from 10 families with the analysis focusing on how food evaluations are challenged in interaction-for example, asking someone to justify what they think is 'wrong' with the food. Data are presented with 7 examples of the 30 challenges that were found within the data corpus. The analysis demonstrates how people may be held accountable for their expressed taste preferences when being challenged, and how this contributes to our understanding of eating as primarily an individual and embodied experience. It is argued that a specific and detailed analysis of eating interactions provides an alternative way of conceptualising food evaluations as discursive rather than mentalistic concepts. A discursive approach also opens up practical ways in which the social and familial aspects of eating may be examined as they occur as part of food practices.

A Deliberate Practice Instructional Approach for Upper Division Physics Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, David

2015-05-01

In upper division physics courses, an overarching educational goal is to have students think about and use the material much as a practicing physicist in the field does. Specifically, this would include knowledge (such as concepts, formalism, and instruments), approaches, and metacognitive skills that physicists use in solving ``typical'' (research context) problems to both understand and predict physical observations and accompanying models. Using an interactive instructional approach known as deliberate practice (described earlier in this session) we will discuss our work on how to provide students with the necessary practice and feedback to achieve these skills in a core DAMOP course of modern optics. We present the results of a direct and explicit comparison between this approach and traditional lecture-based instruction revealing evidence that a significant improvement of the students' mastery of these skills occurs when deliberate practice is employed. Our work was supported by the University of British Columbia through the CWSEI.

A Comparison of Low and High Structure Practice for Learning Interactional Analysis Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Matthew James

2011-01-01

Innovative training approaches in work domains such as professional athletics, aviation, and the military have shown that specific types of practice can reliably lead to higher levels of performance for the average professional. This study describes the development of an initial effort toward creating a similar practice method for psychotherapy…

Inquiry Practices in Malaysian Secondary Classroom and Model of Inquiry Teaching Based on Verbal Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Winnie Sim Siew; Arshad, Mohammad Yusof

2015-01-01

Purpose: Inquiry teaching has been suggested as one of the important approaches in teaching chemistry. This study investigates the inquiry practices among chemistry teachers. Method: A combination of quantitative and qualitative study was applied in this study to provide detailed information about inquiry teaching practices. Questionnaires,…

Practical Theory in Correctional Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semmens, Robert A.

1989-01-01

Argues for learner motivation emphasis in teaching practice, application of school organization and classroom climate findings to prisoner education program development, and a cooperative administrative approach. Urges implementation of a social interaction learning model to achieve state educational aims for all students. (LAM)

Machiavellian Ways to Academic Cheating: A Mediational and Interactional Model

PubMed Central

Barbaranelli, Claudio; Farnese, Maria L.; Tramontano, Carlo; Fida, Roberta; Ghezzi, Valerio; Paciello, Marinella; Long, Philip

2018-01-01

Academic cheating has become a pervasive practice from primary schools to university. This study aims at investigating this phenomenon through a nomological network which integrates different theoretical frameworks and models, such as trait and social-cognitive theories and models regarding the approaches to learning and contextual/normative environment. Results on a sample of more than 200 Italian university students show that the Amoral Manipulation facet of Machiavellianism, Academic Moral Disengagement, Deep Approach to Learning, and Normative Academic Cheating are significantly associated with Individual Academic Cheating. Moreover, results show a significant latent interaction effect between Normative Academic Cheating and Amoral Manipulation Machiavellianism: “amoral Machiavellians” students are more prone to resort to Academic Cheating in contexts where Academic Cheating is adopted as a practice by their peers, while this effect is not significant in contexts where Academic Cheating is not normative. Results also show that Academic Moral Disengagement and Deep Approach to learning partially mediate the relationship between Amoral Manipulation and Academic Cheating. Practical implications of these results are discussed. PMID:29867663

Discourse as Social Interaction. Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction. Volume 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Dijk, Teun A., Ed.

The collection of essays on discourse as a form of social interaction includes: "Discourse as Interaction in Society" (Teun A. van Dijk); "Discourse Pragmatics" (Shoshana Blum-Kulka); "Conversation Analysis: An Approach to the Study of Social Action as Sense Making Practices" (Anita Pomerantz, B. J. Fehr); "Institutional Dialogue" (Paul Drew,…

Brief Interventions for Tobacco Users: Using the Internet to Train Healthcare Providers

PubMed Central

Carpenter, Kelly M.; Cohn, Leslie G.; Glynn, Lisa H.; Stoner, Susan A.

2011-01-01

One fifth of Americans smoke; many have no plans to quit. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an effective approach to intervention with precontemplative smokers, yet a substantial number of healthcare practitioners lack training in this approach. Two interactive online tutorials were developed to teach practitioners to deliver brief tobacco cessation interventions grounded in the MI approach. The tutorials emphasized the unique aspects of working with precontemplative smokers, incorporating audio and video examples of best practices, interactive exercises, targeted feedback, and practice opportunities. One hundred and fifty-two healthcare providers-in-training were randomly assigned to use the online tutorials or to read training material that was matched for content. A virtual standardized patient evaluation was given before and after the training. Both groups improved their scores from pre- to posttest; however, the tutorial group scored significantly better than the reading group at posttest. The results of this study demonstrate the promise of interactive online tutorials as an efficient and effective way to deliver clinical education. PMID:22096413

Using an in Silico Approach to Teach 3D Pharmacodynamics of the Drug-Target Interaction Process Focusing on Selective COX2 Inhibition by Celecoxib

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tavares, Maurício T.; Primi, Marina C.; Silva, Nuno A. T. F.; Carvalho, Camila F.; Cunha, Micael R.; Parise-Filho, Roberto

2017-01-01

Teaching the molecular aspects of drug-target interactions and selectivity is not always an easy task. In this context, the use of alternative and engaging approaches could help pharmacy and chemistry students better understand this important topic of medicinal chemistry. Herein a 4 h practical exercise that uses freely available software as a…

How Improving Practice Relationships Among Clinicians and Nonclinicians Can Improve Quality in Primary Care

PubMed Central

Lanham, Holly J.; McDaniel, Reuben R.; Crabtree, Benjamin F.; Miller, William L.; Stange, Kurt C.; Tallia, Alfred F.; Nutting, Paul A.

2010-01-01

Background Understanding the role of relationships in health care organizations (HCOs) offers opportunities for shaping health care delivery. When quality is treated as a property arising from the relationships within HCOs, then different contributors of quality can be investigated and more effective strategies for improvement can be developed. Methods Data were drawn from four large National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded studies, and an iterative analytic strategy and a grounded theory approach were used to understand the characteristics of relationships within primary care practices. This multimethod approach amassed rich and comparable data sets in all four studies, which were all aimed at primary care practice improvement. The broad range of data included direct observation of practices during work activities and of patient-clinician interactions, in-depth interviews with physicians and other key staff members, surveys, structured checklists of office environments, and chart reviews. Analyses focused on characteristics of relationships in practices that exhibited a range of success in achieving practice improvement. Complex adaptive systems theory informed these analyses. Findings Trust, mindfulness, heedfulness, respectful interaction, diversity, social/task relatedness, and rich/lean communication were identified as important in practice improvement. A model of practice relationships was developed to describe how these characteristics work together and interact with reflection, sensemaking, and learning to influence practice-level quality outcomes. Discussion Although this model of practice relationships was developed from data collected in primary care practices, which differ from other HCOs in some important ways, the ideas that quality is emergent and that relationships influence quality of care are universally important for all HCOs and all medical specialties. PMID:19769206

Practicing the practice: Learning to guide elementary science discussions in a practice-oriented science methods course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Ashima Mathur

University methods courses are often criticized for telling pre-service teachers, or interns, about the theories behind teaching instead of preparing them to actually enact teaching. Shifting teacher education to be more "practice-oriented," or to focus more explicitly on the work of teaching, is a current trend for re-designing the way we prepare teachers. This dissertation addresses the current need for research that unpacks the shift to more practice-oriented approaches by studying the content and pedagogical approaches in a practice-oriented, masters-level elementary science methods course (n=42 interns). The course focused on preparing interns to guide science classroom discussions. Qualitative data, such as video records of course activities and interns' written reflections, were collected across eight course sessions. Codes were applied at the sentence and paragraph level and then grouped into themes. Five content themes were identified: foregrounding student ideas and questions, steering discussion toward intended learning goals, supporting students to do the cognitive work, enacting teacher role of facilitator, and creating a classroom culture for science discussions. Three pedagogical approach themes were identified. First, the teacher educators created images of science discussions by modeling and showing videos of this practice. They also provided focused teaching experiences by helping interns practice the interactive aspects of teaching both in the methods classroom and with smaller groups of elementary students in schools. Finally, they structured the planning and debriefing phases of teaching so interns could learn from their teaching experiences and prepare well for future experiences. The findings were analyzed through the lens of Grossman and colleagues' framework for teaching practice (2009) to reveal how the pedagogical approaches decomposed, represented, and approximated practice throughout course activities. Also, the teacher educators' purposeful use of both pedagogies of investigation (to study teaching) and pedagogies of enactment (to practice enacting teaching) was uncovered. This work provides insights for the design of courses that prepare interns to translate theories about teaching into the interactive work teachers actually do. Also, it contributes to building a common language for talking about the content of practice-oriented courses and for comparing the affordances and limitations of pedagogical approaches across teacher education settings.

Enhancing Adhesion: Relative Merits of Different Approaches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Penn, L. S.; Pater, R.

1996-01-01

Adhesive performance is improved mainly by manipulation of the bimaterials interface zone, which is only a few molecules thick. There are three approaches to enhancement of interfacial adhesion at the molecular level. They are 1) changing the nonchemically bonded interactions across the interface from weak ones to strong ones, 2) making the true interfacial area much larger than the simple geometric area, and 3) inducing chemical bonding between the two materials forming the interface. Our goal this summer was to question some of the built-in assumptions contained within these approaches and to determine the most promising approach, both theoretically and practically, for enhancing adhesion in NASA structures. Our computations revealed that all three of these approaches have, in theory, the potential to enhance molecular adhesion approximately ten-fold. Experiments, however, revealed that this excellent level of enhancement is not likely to be reached in practice. Each approach was found to be severely limited by practical problems. In addition, some of the built-in assumptions associated with these approaches were found to be insufficient or inadequate. The first approach, changing the nonchemically bonded interactions from weak to strong, Is an example of one containing inadequate assumptions. The extensive literature on intermolecular interactions, based on solution studies, shows that certain functional group pairs interact much more strongly than others. It has always been assumed that these data can be reliably extended to systems where only one member of the pair is in solution and the other Is contained in a solid surface. Our experiments this summer demonstrated that solution data do not adequately predict the strength of functional group interaction at the solid-liquid interface. Furthermore, the strong solvents needed to dissolve the monomers or polymers to which the functional groups of interest are attached compete successfully with the solid surface for the functional group. As a result, functional groups in solution cannot pair with the complementary groups in the solid surface, and the expected enhancement of nonchemically bonded interactions is not realized. The second approach, increasing the true interfacial area, is an example of one containing inadequate assumptions and suffering from numerous practical problems. First, practitioners have assumed that material removal, such as bead blasting or etching, increases true surface area (and therefore interfacial area) in a meaningful way. Our geometric analysis demonstrated that removal methods increase area by a factor of two at most. To increase interfacial area by an order of magnitude or more. a thin layer of high porosity must be added to the substrate surface prior to application of the adhesive phase. Consistent with this finding, we attempted to create a thin layer of rigid, highly porous glass on the surface of our smooth glass substrate by means of sol-gel technology. We were unable to surmount a wide variety of practical problems and obtained only collapsed, nonporous layers. Thus this approach, appealing in principle, would require long term development and is not promising in the near term. The third approach, inducing chemical bonding at the interface, is an example of one having neither inadequate assumptions nor insurmountable practical problems. When silicate glass is the substrate, there are only a few chemical reactions that can be successfully conducted to create these chemical bonds, and these reactions usually involve silicon-containing reagents. We compared the silazane reagents to the silane reagents and found through experiment that the silazanes react with the glass surface much more readily, and under milder conditions, than the silanes. The functional groups attached to the glass surface by silazane reactions were not able to be removed by solvent extraction, elevated temperature exposure, or mechanical action. This clearly indicates that the formation of chemical bonds at the interface is the most effective approach for enhancing molecular adhesion.

The Theory of Practice and the Practice of Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIntyre, Michael L.; Murphy, Steven A.

2016-01-01

As academics who interact with senior and mid-level business managers on a regular basis, both informally and as consultants, the authors often note that ideas of theory and practice are not well developed among people outside of academia. It is posited that this deficit offers the prospect of less than optimal approaches to matters such as…

Exploring the classroom practices that may enable a compassionate approach to financial literacy education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blue, Levon Ellen; O'Brien, Mia; Makar, Katie

2017-08-01

From an early age, children are faced with financial dilemmas and are expected to make effective financial decisions about money. In this paper, we explore the classroom practices that may enable a compassionate approach to financial literacy education. We observed an inquiry-based mathematics lesson in a Year 4 primary school classroom. The financial maths task asked students to decide on the best fundraising option for the school. We used the theory of practice architectures to analyse the interactions in the classroom in order to understand what may have enabled and constrained classroom practices. We found that classroom practices such as engaging with peers through positive and collaborative learning opportunities, making ethical, social and mathematical connections of the task, and considering the impact of financial decisions on others may enable a compassionate approach to financial literacy education.

Exploring the classroom practices that may enable a compassionate approach to financial literacy education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blue, Levon Ellen; O'Brien, Mia; Makar, Katie

2018-06-01

From an early age, children are faced with financial dilemmas and are expected to make effective financial decisions about money. In this paper, we explore the classroom practices that may enable a compassionate approach to financial literacy education. We observed an inquiry-based mathematics lesson in a Year 4 primary school classroom. The financial maths task asked students to decide on the best fundraising option for the school. We used the theory of practice architectures to analyse the interactions in the classroom in order to understand what may have enabled and constrained classroom practices. We found that classroom practices such as engaging with peers through positive and collaborative learning opportunities, making ethical, social and mathematical connections of the task, and considering the impact of financial decisions on others may enable a compassionate approach to financial literacy education.

Cluster Approach to Network Interaction in Pedagogical University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chekaleva, Nadezhda V.; Makarova, Natalia S.; Drobotenko, Yulia B.

2016-01-01

The study presented in the article is devoted to the analysis of theory and practice of network interaction within the framework of education clusters. Education clusters are considered to be a novel form of network interaction in pedagogical education in Russia. The aim of the article is to show the advantages and disadvantages of the cluster…

The feminist/emotionally focused therapy practice model: an integrated approach for couple therapy.

PubMed

Vatcher, C A; Bogo, M

2001-01-01

Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a well-developed, empirically tested practice model for couple therapy that integrates systems, experiential, and attachment theories. Feminist family therapy theory has provided a critique of biased assumptions about gender at play in traditional family therapy practice and the historical absence of discussions of power in family therapy theory. This article presents an integrated feminist/EFT practice model for use in couple therapy, using a case from practice to illustrate key concepts. Broadly, the integrated model addresses gender roles and individual emotional experience using a systemic framework for understanding couple interaction. The model provides practitioners with a sophisticated, comprehensive, and relevant practice approach for working with the issues and challenges emerging for contemporary heterosexual couples.

New graduate transition to practice: how can the literature inform support strategies?

PubMed

Moores, Alis; Fitzgerald, Cate

2017-07-01

Objective The transition to practice for new graduate health professionals has been identified as challenging, with health services typically adopting a range of support and management strategies to assist safe professional practice. Queensland's state-wide Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Program supporting new graduates within public sector health facilities conducted a narrative literature review to identify evidence-based recommended actions that would assist new graduate occupational therapists' to transition from student to practitioner. Method Searches of Medline, CINAHL and PubMed databases were used to locate articles describing or evaluating occupational therapy new graduate support actions. Results The themes of supervision, support and education emerged from the literature. Additionally, four interactions were identified as factors potentially influencing and being influenced by the processes and outcomes of supervision, support and education actions. The interactions identified were professional reasoning, professional identity, an active approach to learning and reflective practice. Conclusions The interactions emerging from the literature will serve to inform the delivery and focus of supervision, support and education for new graduate occupational therapists as they transition to practice. The results may have application for other health professions. What is known about the topic? The transition to practice for new graduate occupational therapists has been reported as challenging with health services implementing various actions to support and assist this transition. A previous literature review of recommended support strategies could not be found providing an impetus for this enquiry. What does this paper add? This narrative literature review identified three themes of actions supporting the transition of new graduates from student to practitioner. In addition to these themes of supervision, support and education, also emerging from the literature were factors identified as important to facilitating the transition of new graduates to the workplace. These factors, or interactions, are identified in this paper as professional reasoning, professional identity, an active approach to learning, and reflective practice. It is proposed that these interactions have an effect on and can be effected by supervision, support and education actions. The articulation between the interactions and the themes was a notable outcome emerging from this literature review. What are the implications for practitioners? This literature review will assist those planning actions to guide new graduates' transition into practice. It is proposed that the methods of implementing supervision, support and education actions are optimised by the identified interactions.

Theory review and interaction design space of body image and body schema (BIBS) for embodied cognition in virtual reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, Xin; Gromala, Diane; Shaw, Chris D.; Williamson, Owen; Iscen, Ozgun E.

2015-03-01

Body image/body schema (BIBS) is within the larger realm of embodied cognition. Its interdisciplinary literature can inspire Virtual Reality (VR) researchers and designers to develop novel ideas and provide them with approaches to human perception and experience. In this paper, we introduced six fundamental ideas in designing interactions in VR, derived from BIBS literature that demonstrates how the mind is embodied. We discuss our own research, ranging from two mature works to a prototype, to support explorations VR interaction design from a BIBS approach. Based on our experiences, we argue that incorporating ideas of embodiment into design practices requires a shift in the perspective or understanding of the human body, perception and experiences, all of which affect interaction design in unique ways. The dynamic, interactive and distributed understanding of cognition guides our approach to interaction design, where the interrelatedness and plasticity of BIBS play a crucial role.

An Online Approach to Teaching International Outsourcing in Technical Communication Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

St. Amant, Kirk

2005-01-01

The growth of international online access has given rise to a new production method--international outsourcing--that has important implications for technical communication practices. Successful interactions within international outsourcing require individuals to understand how cultural factors could affect online interactions. Today's technical…

Instructional practices at Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK) safety day camps.

PubMed

Mazur, J M; Cole, H P; Reed, D; Claunch, D

2005-05-01

The instructional methods used with 1,347 youth in seven Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK) day camp sessions conducted in five states during the summer and fall of 2002 were videotaped. The videotapes, instructor questionnaires, and day camp materials were analyzed using an observation protocol that focused on instructional practices and an interaction analysis of instructor-student talk during the sessions. Results showed that instruction focused on hazard recognition, a high level of participant attention during all the sessions observed, and safety day camp content relevant to rural participants regardless of whether they live or work on a farm. Recommendations for improving instructional practice include better use of print materials, more interactive, participatory activities for students, and reduction of instructor-centered, didactic approaches. Given the high level of students' attention, increased involvement of students in active, participatory approaches might enhance the effectiveness of the instruction by: (1) further engaging students through personalizing hazard recognition, (2) contextualizing reports of injuries, (3) examining the complexities of choosing safe behaviors, and (4) paying more attention to the consequences of injury events. Role-playing, narrative simulations, and other types of interactive and collaborative exercises are instructional approaches that support the inclusion of the pre-event contingencies and post-event consequences that are part of all injury events.

Enculturating science: Community-centric design of behavior change interactions for accelerating health impact.

PubMed

Kumar, Vishwajeet; Kumar, Aarti; Ghosh, Amit Kumar; Samphel, Rigzin; Yadav, Ranjanaa; Yeung, Diana; Darmstadt, Gary L

2015-08-01

Despite significant advancements in the scientific evidence base of interventions to improve newborn survival, we have not yet been able to "bend the curve" to markedly accelerate global rates of reduction in newborn mortality. The ever-widening gap between discovery of scientific best practices and their mass adoption by families (the evidence-practice gap) is not just a matter of improving the coverage of health worker-community interactions. The design of the interactions themselves must be guided by sound behavioral science approaches such that they lead to mass adoption and impact at a large scale. The main barrier to the application of scientific approaches to behavior change is our inability to "unbox" the "black box" of family health behaviors in community settings. The authors argue that these are not black boxes, but in fact thoughtfully designed community systems that have been designed and upheld, and have evolved over many years keeping in mind a certain worldview and a common social purpose. An empathetic understanding of these community systems allows us to deconstruct the causal pathways of existing behaviors, and re-engineer them to achieve desired outcomes. One of the key reasons for the failure of interactions to translate into behavior change is our failure to recognize that the content, context, and process of interactions need to be designed keeping in mind an organized community system with a very different worldview and beliefs. In order to improve the adoption of scientific best practices by communities, we need to adapt them to their culture by leveraging existing beliefs, practices, people, context, and skills. The authors present a systems approach for community-centric design of interactions, highlighting key principles for achieving intrinsically motivated, sustained change in social norms and family health behaviors, elucidated with progressive theories from systems thinking, management sciences, cross-cultural psychology, learning and social cognition, and the behavioral sciences. These are illustrated through a case study of designing effective interactions in Shivgarh, India, that led to rapid and substantial changes in newborn health behaviors and reduction in NMR by half over a span of 16 months. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Therapy Talk: Analyzing Therapeutic Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leahy, Margaret M.

2004-01-01

Therapeutic discourse is the talk-in-interaction that represents the social practice between clinician and client. This article invites speech-language pathologists to apply their knowledge of language to analyzing therapy talk and to learn how talking practices shape clinical roles and identities. A range of qualitative research approaches,…

Communities of Practice as a Technical Assistance Strategy: A Single-Case Study of State Systems Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linehan, Patrice Cunniff

2010-01-01

This study examined how one state approached the integration of policy and practice by forming communities of practice (CoP), defined as groups of people who share a set of problems and interact regularly to solve them (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). Policymakers have created strategies known as technical assistance (TA) to bridge the…

The Effect of Stakeholders on the Reflective Practice of School Principals: Practices in Istanbul and Copenhagen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalgiç, Gülay; Bakioglu, Aysen

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine with whom Turkish and Danish school principals engage in reflective practice and how this interaction helps to develop them as reflective practitioners. A phenomenological approach was followed in the study. Data were collected from 37 school principals (24 from Istanbul and 13 from Copenhagen) who were…

Deliberate Learning in Health Care: The Effect of Importing Best Practices and Creative Problem Solving on Hospital Performance Improvement

PubMed Central

Nembhard, Ingrid M.; Cherian, Praseetha; Bradley, Elizabeth H.

2015-01-01

This article examines the effect on quality improvement of two common but distinct approaches to organizational learning: importing best practices (an externally oriented approach rooted in learning by imitating others’ best practices) and internal creative problem solving (an internally oriented approach rooted in learning by experimenting with self-generated solutions). We propose that independent and interaction effects of these approaches depend on where organizations are in their improvement journey – initial push or later phase. We examine this contingency in hospitals focused on improving treatment time for patients with heart attacks. Our results show that importing best practices helps hospitals achieve initial phase but not later phase improvement. Once hospitals enter the later phase of their efforts, however, significant improvement requires creative problem solving as well. Together, our results suggest that importing best practices delivers greater short-term improvement, but continued improvement depends on creative problem solving. PMID:24876100

Translating learning into practice

PubMed Central

Armson, Heather; Kinzie, Sarah; Hawes, Dawnelle; Roder, Stefanie; Wakefield, Jacqueline; Elmslie, Tom

2007-01-01

PROBLEM ADDRESSED The need for effective and accessible educational approaches by which family physicians can maintain practice competence in the face of an overwhelming amount of medical information. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM The practice-based small group (PBSG) learning program encourages practice changes through a process of small-group peer discussion—identifying practice gaps and reviewing clinical approaches in light of evidence. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The PBSG uses an interactive educational approach to continuing professional development. In small, self-formed groups within their local communities, family physicians discuss clinical topics using prepared modules that provide sample patient cases and accompanying information that distils the best evidence. Participants are guided by peer facilitators to reflect on the discussion and commit to appropriate practice changes. CONCLUSION The PBSG has evolved over the past 15 years in response to feedback from members and reflections of the developers. The success of the program is evidenced in effect on clinical practice, a large and increasing number of members, and the growth of interest internationally. PMID:17872876

Intertextuality and Dialogic Interaction in Students' Online Text Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ronan, Briana

2015-01-01

This study examines the online writing practices of adolescent emergent bilinguals through the mediating lenses of dialogic interaction and intertextuality. Using a multimodal discourse analysis approach, the study traces how three students develop online academic texts through intertextual moves that traverse modal boundaries. The analysis…

Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care: Consulting, Coordinating and Collaborating Among Professionals.

PubMed

Cohen, Deborah J; Davis, Melinda; Balasubramanian, Bijal A; Gunn, Rose; Hall, Jennifer; deGruy, Frank V; Peek, C J; Green, Larry A; Stange, Kurt C; Pallares, Carla; Levy, Sheldon; Pollack, David; Miller, Benjamin F

2015-01-01

This paper sought to describe how clinicians from different backgrounds interact to deliver integrated behavioral and primary health care, and the contextual factors that shape such interactions. This was a comparative case study in which a multidisciplinary team used an immersion-crystallization approach to analyze data from observations of practice operations, interviews with practice members, and implementation diaries. The observed practices were drawn from 2 studies: Advancing Care Together, a demonstration project of 11 practices located in Colorado; and the Integration Workforce Study, consisting of 8 practices located across the United States. Primary care and behavioral health clinicians used 3 interpersonal strategies to work together in integrated settings: consulting, coordinating, and collaborating (3Cs). Consulting occurred when clinicians sought advice, validated care plans, or corroborated perceptions of a patient's needs with another professional. Coordinating involved 2 professionals working in a parallel or in a back-and-forth fashion to achieve a common patient care goal, while delivering care separately. Collaborating involved 2 or more professionals interacting in real time to discuss a patient's presenting symptoms, describe their views on treatment, and jointly develop a care plan. Collaborative behavior emerged when a patient's care or situation was complex or novel. We identified contextual factors shaping use of the 3Cs, including: time to plan patient care, staffing, employing brief therapeutic approaches, proximity of clinical team members, and electronic health record documenting behavior. Primary care and behavioral health clinicians, through their interactions, consult, coordinate, and collaborate with each other to solve patients' problems. Organizations can create integrated care environments that support these collaborations and health professions training programs should equip clinicians to execute all 3Cs routinely in practice. © Copyright 2015 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Maternal controlling feeding practices and girls’ inhibitory control interact to predict changes in BMI and eating in the absence of hunger from 5 to 7 y1234

PubMed Central

Rollins, Brandi Y; Loken, Eric; Savage, Jennifer S; Birch, Leann L

2014-01-01

Background: Mothers use a range of feeding practices to limit children's intake of palatable snacks (eg, keeping snacks out of reach, not bringing snacks into the home), but less is known about the effects of these practices on children's eating and weight outcomes. Objective: The objective was to identify distinct feeding practice profiles and evaluate the interactive effects of these profiles and girls’ temperament (inhibitory control and approach) on girls’ eating behaviors and weight outcomes at 5 and 7 y. Design: Participants included 180 mother-daughter dyads; measures were mothers’ reports of controlling feeding practices and girls’ height and weight, eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) at 5 y, and inhibitory control (a measure of behavioral inhibition) and approach (a measure of appetitive motivation) at 7 y. Results: Latent profile analysis of maternal feeding practices showed 4 feeding profiles based on maternal use of limit-setting practices and keeping snacks out of girls’ physical reach, a restrictive practice: Unlimited Access to Snacks, Sets Limits+Does Not Restrict Snacks, Sets Limits+Restricts High Fat/Sugar Snacks, and Sets Limits+Restricts All Snacks. Girls whose mothers used Sets Limits+Restricts All Snacks had a higher approach and EAH at 5 y. Low inhibitory control girls whose mothers used Sets Limits+Restricts All Snacks or Unlimited Access to Snacks had greater increases in EAH and body mass index (BMI) from 5 to 7 y. Conclusions: Effects of maternal control on girls’ EAH and BMI may differ by the type of practice used (eg, limit-setting or restrictive practices). Girls with low inhibitory control were more susceptible to the negative effects of low and high control. PMID:24284443

Facilitating Engaged Learning in the Interaction Age Taking a Pedagogically-Disciplined Approach to Innovation with Emergent Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brill, Jennifer M.; Park, Yeonjeong

2008-01-01

The purposes of this paper are to explore emerging technologies, engaged learning, and features and students of the Interaction Age and to identify connections across these three realms for future research and practice. We begin by highlighting those elements of the Interaction Age that suggest a shift in the affordances and applications of…

Scratching beneath the Surface of Communities of (Mal)practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pemberton, Jon; Mavin, Sharon; Stalker, Brenda

2007-01-01

Purpose: This paper seeks to surface less positive aspects of communities of practice (CoPs), regardless of emergent or organisationally managed, grounded in political-power interactions. Examples are provided from the authors' experiences of a research-based CoP within UK higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is primarily…

Reinventing Learning: A Design-Research Odyssey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrahamson, Dor

2015-01-01

Design research is a broad, practice-based approach to investigating problems of education. This approach can catalyze the development of learning theory by fostering opportunities for transformational change in scholars' interpretation of instructional interactions. Surveying a succession of design-research projects, I explain how challenges in…

The Cool and Belkin Faceted Classification of Information Interactions Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huvila, Isto

2010-01-01

Introduction: The complexity of human information activity is a challenge for both practice and research in information sciences and information management. Literature presents a wealth of approaches to analytically structure and make sense of human information activity including a faceted classification model of information interactions published…

Generalized Structured Component Analysis with Latent Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Heungsun; Ho, Moon-Ho Ringo; Lee, Jonathan

2010-01-01

Generalized structured component analysis (GSCA) is a component-based approach to structural equation modeling. In practice, researchers may often be interested in examining the interaction effects of latent variables. However, GSCA has been geared only for the specification and testing of the main effects of variables. Thus, an extension of GSCA…

Predicting drug-target interactions using restricted Boltzmann machines.

PubMed

Wang, Yuhao; Zeng, Jianyang

2013-07-01

In silico prediction of drug-target interactions plays an important role toward identifying and developing new uses of existing or abandoned drugs. Network-based approaches have recently become a popular tool for discovering new drug-target interactions (DTIs). Unfortunately, most of these network-based approaches can only predict binary interactions between drugs and targets, and information about different types of interactions has not been well exploited for DTI prediction in previous studies. On the other hand, incorporating additional information about drug-target relationships or drug modes of action can improve prediction of DTIs. Furthermore, the predicted types of DTIs can broaden our understanding about the molecular basis of drug action. We propose a first machine learning approach to integrate multiple types of DTIs and predict unknown drug-target relationships or drug modes of action. We cast the new DTI prediction problem into a two-layer graphical model, called restricted Boltzmann machine, and apply a practical learning algorithm to train our model and make predictions. Tests on two public databases show that our restricted Boltzmann machine model can effectively capture the latent features of a DTI network and achieve excellent performance on predicting different types of DTIs, with the area under precision-recall curve up to 89.6. In addition, we demonstrate that integrating multiple types of DTIs can significantly outperform other predictions either by simply mixing multiple types of interactions without distinction or using only a single interaction type. Further tests show that our approach can infer a high fraction of novel DTIs that has been validated by known experiments in the literature or other databases. These results indicate that our approach can have highly practical relevance to DTI prediction and drug repositioning, and hence advance the drug discovery process. Software and datasets are available on request. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

An approach to evaluating drug-nutrient interactions.

PubMed

Santos, Cristina A; Boullata, Joseph I

2005-12-01

Although the significance of interactions between drugs is widely appreciated, little attention has been given to interactions between drugs and nutrients. Pharmacists are challenged to remember documented interactions involving available drugs, and they face the possibility that each newly approved therapeutic agent may be involved not only in unrecognized drug-drug interactions but in drug-nutrient interactions as well. A more consistent approach to evaluating drug-nutrient interactions is needed. The approach must be systematic in order to assess the influence of nutritional status, food, or specific nutrients on a drug's pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, as well as the influence of a drug on overall nutritional status or on the status of a specific nutrient. We provide such a process, using several recently approved drugs as working examples. Risk factors and clinical relevance are described, with distinctions made between documented and potential interactions. Application of this process by the pharmacist to any drug will help increase their expertise. Furthermore, full consideration by pharmacists of all possible interactions of the drug regimens used in practice can allow for improved patient care.

Interacting Successfully in Corporate Culture (Approaches and Practices).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southard, Sherry G.

1990-01-01

Argues that, to assume roles in corporate culture, business and technical communication students must understand corporate protocol discourse. Suggests that teachers can prepare students by providing exercises that increase student competence in navigating institutional politics. Concludes that such an approach will enable students to advance in…

Exploring the bases for a mixed reality stroke rehabilitation system, Part I: A unified approach for representing action, quantitative evaluation, and interactive feedback

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Although principles based in motor learning, rehabilitation, and human-computer interfaces can guide the design of effective interactive systems for rehabilitation, a unified approach that connects these key principles into an integrated design, and can form a methodology that can be generalized to interactive stroke rehabilitation, is presently unavailable. Results This paper integrates phenomenological approaches to interaction and embodied knowledge with rehabilitation practices and theories to achieve the basis for a methodology that can support effective adaptive, interactive rehabilitation. Our resulting methodology provides guidelines for the development of an action representation, quantification of action, and the design of interactive feedback. As Part I of a two-part series, this paper presents key principles of the unified approach. Part II then describes the application of this approach within the implementation of the Adaptive Mixed Reality Rehabilitation (AMRR) system for stroke rehabilitation. Conclusions The accompanying principles for composing novel mixed reality environments for stroke rehabilitation can advance the design and implementation of effective mixed reality systems for the clinical setting, and ultimately be adapted for home-based application. They furthermore can be applied to other rehabilitation needs beyond stroke. PMID:21875441

Beyond Prevention: Promoting Healthy Youth Development in Primary Care

PubMed Central

Borowsky, Iris W.

2012-01-01

Training primary care providers to incorporate a youth development approach during clinical encounters with young people represents an opportunity to integrate public health into primary care practice. We recommend that primary care providers shift their approach with adolescents from focusing on risks and problems to building strengths and assets. Focusing on strengths rather than problems can improve health by fostering resilience and enhancing protective factors among adolescents. A strength-based approach involves intentionally assessing and reinforcing adolescents' competencies, passions, and talents, as well as collaborating with others to strengthen protective networks of support for young people. Training programs should incorporate interactive strategies that allow clinicians to practice skills and provide tools clinicians can implement in their practice settings. PMID:22690965

Clinical decision-making and therapeutic approaches in osteopathy - a qualitative grounded theory study.

PubMed

Thomson, Oliver P; Petty, Nicola J; Moore, Ann P

2014-02-01

There is limited understanding of how osteopaths make decisions in relation to clinical practice. The aim of this research was to construct an explanatory theory of the clinical decision-making and therapeutic approaches of experienced osteopaths in the UK. Twelve UK registered osteopaths participated in this constructivist grounded theory qualitative study. Purposive and theoretical sampling was used to select participants. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews which were audio-recorded and transcribed. As the study approached theoretical sufficiency, participants were observed and video-recorded during a patient appointment, which was followed by a video-prompted interview. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyse and code data. Data analysis resulted in the construction of three qualitatively different therapeutic approaches which characterised participants and their clinical practice, termed; Treater, Communicator and Educator. Participants' therapeutic approach influenced their approach to clinical decision-making, the level of patient involvement, their interaction with patients, and therapeutic goals. Participants' overall conception of practice lay on a continuum ranging from technical rationality to professional artistry, and contributed to their therapeutic approach. A range of factors were identified which influenced participants' conception of practice. The findings indicate that there is variation in osteopaths' therapeutic approaches to practice and clinical decision-making, which are influenced by their overall conception of practice. This study provides the first explanatory theory of the clinical decision-making and therapeutic approaches of osteopaths. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching Replays, Teaching Rehearsals, and Re-Visions of Practice: Learning from Colleagues in a Mathematics Teacher Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horn, Ilana Seidel

2010-01-01

Background/Context: Research shows that teachers' understandings of students, subject, and teaching influence their classroom practice. Additionally, teachers' colleagues have a role in shaping individuals' approaches to teaching and their responses to reform. Focus of Study: To understand how interactions with colleagues support teachers'…

Enhancing the Student Experiment Experience: Visible Scientific Inquiry through a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donnelly, Dermot; O'Reilly, John; McGarr, Oliver

2013-01-01

Practical work is often noted as a core reason many students take on science in secondary schools (high schools). However, there are inherent difficulties associated with classroom practical work that militate against scientific inquiry, an approach espoused by many science educators. The use of interactive simulations to facilitate student…

Distributed Leadership: Developing a New Practice. An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chamberland, Lorie

2009-01-01

This action research study examines the development of distributed leadership practice among a new team of teacher leaders and their principal at an elementary school. Using a qualitative approach including a series of interviews, observations and journal entries, this study analyzes the interactions and changing roles of teacher leaders and their…

Management practices eelated to the Restoration of old dorest characteristics in coast redwood forests

Treesearch

Gregory A. Guisti

2012-01-01

A standardized, interactive, interview process was used with practicing Registered Professional Foresters asking a suite of questions to ascertain their management approaches to coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [D. Don] Endl.) stands that could best be transferred to other projects and lands interested in recruiting older forest...

Evaluation of Fourth-Year Veterinary Students' Client Communication Skills: Recommendations for Scaffolded Instruction and Practice.

PubMed

Stevens, Brenda J; Kedrowicz, April A

Effective client communication is important for success in veterinary practice. The purpose of this project was to describe one approach to communication training and explore fourth-year veterinary students' communication skills through an evaluation of their interactions with clients during a general practice rotation. Two raters coded 20 random videotaped interactions simultaneously to assess students' communication, including their ability to initiate the session, incorporate open-ended questions, listen reflectively, express empathy, incorporate appropriate nonverbal communication, and attend to organization and sequencing. We provide baseline data that will guide future instruction in client communication. Results showed that students' communication skills require development. Half of the students sampled excelled at open-ended inquiry (n=10), and 40% (n=8) excelled at nonverbal communication. Students needed improvement on greeting clients by name and introducing themselves and their role (n=15), reflective listening (n=18), empathy (n=17), and organization and sequencing (n=18). These findings suggest that more focused instruction and practice is necessary in maintaining an organized structure, reflective listening, and empathy to create a relationship-centered approach to care.

A Model-Driven Approach to Teaching Concurrency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carro, Manuel; Herranz, Angel; Marino, Julio

2013-01-01

We present an undergraduate course on concurrent programming where formal models are used in different stages of the learning process. The main practical difference with other approaches lies in the fact that the ability to develop correct concurrent software relies on a systematic transformation of formal models of inter-process interaction (so…

Parent Book Talk to Accelerate Spanish Content Vocabulary Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Satterfield, Teresa; Benki, José R.; Vaquero, Juana; Ungco, Camille

2017-01-01

This article bridges research to practice by summarizing an interactive content-enriched shared book reading approach that Spanish-speaking parents of preschool-age children can easily use in the home to accelerate content vocabulary knowledge in Spanish. The approach was implemented in preschool classrooms using a transitional bilingual education…

Simulating Phase Variation: A Practical Approach to Teaching Mutation and Diversity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wanford, Joe; Aidley, Jack; Bayliss, Chris; Ketley, Julian; Goodwin, Mark

2018-01-01

Mutation, diversity, natural selection and the biology of human pathogens (including antibiotic resistance) are key features of the biosciences curriculum at A Level and undergraduate study. Few resources exist to allow students to engage with these topics in an interactive manner. This paper describes an interactive, online simulation of mutation…

The Use of Interactive Learning Technology in Institutions of Higher Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abykanova, Bakytgul; Nugumanova, Samal; Yelezhanova, Shynar; Kabylkhamit, Zhanargul; Sabirova, Zhanylsyn

2016-01-01

This paper is linked to a study aiming to provide a theoretical rationale for the methodological foundations of the use of interactive learning technology in institutions of higher learning and undertakes to describe the process of practical implementation of this approach and analyze the outcomes. The authors examine the views expressed by…

Children’s Imaginaries of Human-Robot Interaction in Healthcare

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

This paper analyzes children’s imaginaries of Human-Robots Interaction (HRI) in the context of social robots in healthcare, and it explores ethical and social issues when designing a social robot for a children’s hospital. Based on approaches that emphasize the reciprocal relationship between society and technology, the analytical force of imaginaries lies in their capacity to be embedded in practices and interactions as well as to affect the construction and applications of surrounding technologies. The study is based on a participatory process carried out with six-year-old children for the design of a robot. Imaginaries of HRI are analyzed from a care-centered approach focusing on children’s values and practices as related to their representation of care. The conceptualization of HRI as an assemblage of interactions, the prospective bidirectional care relationships with robots, and the engagement with the robot as an entity of multiple potential robots are the major findings of this study. The study shows the potential of studying imaginaries of HRI, and it concludes that their integration in the final design of robots is a way of including ethical values in it. PMID:29757221

Children's Imaginaries of Human-Robot Interaction in Healthcare.

PubMed

Vallès-Peris, Núria; Angulo, Cecilio; Domènech, Miquel

2018-05-12

This paper analyzes children’s imaginaries of Human-Robots Interaction (HRI) in the context of social robots in healthcare, and it explores ethical and social issues when designing a social robot for a children’s hospital. Based on approaches that emphasize the reciprocal relationship between society and technology, the analytical force of imaginaries lies in their capacity to be embedded in practices and interactions as well as to affect the construction and applications of surrounding technologies. The study is based on a participatory process carried out with six-year-old children for the design of a robot. Imaginaries of HRI are analyzed from a care-centered approach focusing on children’s values and practices as related to their representation of care. The conceptualization of HRI as an assemblage of interactions, the prospective bidirectional care relationships with robots, and the engagement with the robot as an entity of multiple potential robots are the major findings of this study. The study shows the potential of studying imaginaries of HRI, and it concludes that their integration in the final design of robots is a way of including ethical values in it.

Characterizing the interaction between physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical representatives in a middle-income country: A qualitative study

PubMed Central

Naser El Dine, Rabie; Traboulsy, Sarah; Haddadin, Fadi; Honein-AbouHaidar, Gladys

2017-01-01

Background Studies around the world have shown that interactions between pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists and physicians have a great influence on prescribing and drug dispensing practices. In middle-income countries, the nature and extent of these interactions have not been well researched. Our objectives were to qualitatively explore the nature of the interactions between pharmaceutical companies, physicians and pharmacists, their impact on drug prescription and dispensing practices in Lebanon. Methods and findings We used grounded theory approach as well as the known sponsor, purposive, and snowballing sampling strategies to identify interviewees from the three respective groups: physicians, pharmacists, and pharmaceutical representatives. We conducted semi-structured and analyzed transcripts thematically. This study encompassed 6 pharmaceutical representatives, 13 physicians and 13 pharmacists. The following themes emerged: purpose and driver for the interactions, nature of the interactions, incentives, impact on prescription practices, ethical considerations, and suggestions for managing the interactions. The main purposes for the interaction were educational, promotional, and monitoring prescription practices and dispensing, while the main drivers for these interactions were market potential and neighborhood socio-economic status. Physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical representatives who engage in these interactions benefit from a variety of incentives, some of which were characterized as unethical. It appears that pharmaceutical companies give prominence to selected physicians within their communities. Although members of the three interviewed groups refer to some of the interactions as being problematic, they described a culture of acceptance of gift giving. We developed a framework that depicts the prevailing politico-cultural environment, the interactions between the three professional groups, and their impact on drug prescription. Underreporting is the main limitation of this study. Conclusion Interactions between physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical representatives are frequent. Although these interactions can be beneficial, they still have a substantial effect on drug prescription and dispensing practices. Hence, the need for new policies that regulate these interactions and penalize any misconduct. PMID:28898296

Characterizing the interaction between physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical representatives in a middle-income country: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Hajjar, Rima; Bassatne, Aya; Cheaito, Mohamad Ali; Naser El Dine, Rabie; Traboulsy, Sarah; Haddadin, Fadi; Honein-AbouHaidar, Gladys; Akl, Elie A

2017-01-01

Studies around the world have shown that interactions between pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists and physicians have a great influence on prescribing and drug dispensing practices. In middle-income countries, the nature and extent of these interactions have not been well researched. Our objectives were to qualitatively explore the nature of the interactions between pharmaceutical companies, physicians and pharmacists, their impact on drug prescription and dispensing practices in Lebanon. We used grounded theory approach as well as the known sponsor, purposive, and snowballing sampling strategies to identify interviewees from the three respective groups: physicians, pharmacists, and pharmaceutical representatives. We conducted semi-structured and analyzed transcripts thematically. This study encompassed 6 pharmaceutical representatives, 13 physicians and 13 pharmacists. The following themes emerged: purpose and driver for the interactions, nature of the interactions, incentives, impact on prescription practices, ethical considerations, and suggestions for managing the interactions. The main purposes for the interaction were educational, promotional, and monitoring prescription practices and dispensing, while the main drivers for these interactions were market potential and neighborhood socio-economic status. Physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical representatives who engage in these interactions benefit from a variety of incentives, some of which were characterized as unethical. It appears that pharmaceutical companies give prominence to selected physicians within their communities. Although members of the three interviewed groups refer to some of the interactions as being problematic, they described a culture of acceptance of gift giving. We developed a framework that depicts the prevailing politico-cultural environment, the interactions between the three professional groups, and their impact on drug prescription. Underreporting is the main limitation of this study. Interactions between physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical representatives are frequent. Although these interactions can be beneficial, they still have a substantial effect on drug prescription and dispensing practices. Hence, the need for new policies that regulate these interactions and penalize any misconduct.

Useful lower limits to polarization contributions to intermolecular interactions using a minimal basis of localized orthogonal orbitals: theory and analysis of the water dimer.

PubMed

Azar, R Julian; Horn, Paul Richard; Sundstrom, Eric Jon; Head-Gordon, Martin

2013-02-28

The problem of describing the energy-lowering associated with polarization of interacting molecules is considered in the overlapping regime for self-consistent field wavefunctions. The existing approach of solving for absolutely localized molecular orbital (ALMO) coefficients that are block-diagonal in the fragments is shown based on formal grounds and practical calculations to often overestimate the strength of polarization effects. A new approach using a minimal basis of polarized orthogonal local MOs (polMOs) is developed as an alternative. The polMO basis is minimal in the sense that one polarization function is provided for each unpolarized orbital that is occupied; such an approach is exact in second-order perturbation theory. Based on formal grounds and practical calculations, the polMO approach is shown to underestimate the strength of polarization effects. In contrast to the ALMO method, however, the polMO approach yields results that are very stable to improvements in the underlying AO basis expansion. Combining the ALMO and polMO approaches allows an estimate of the range of energy-lowering due to polarization. Extensive numerical calculations on the water dimer using a large range of basis sets with Hartree-Fock theory and a variety of different density functionals illustrate the key considerations. Results are also presented for the polarization-dominated Na(+)CH4 complex. Implications for energy decomposition analysis of intermolecular interactions are discussed.

Supporting shared decision making beyond consumer-prescriber interactions: Initial development of the CommonGround fidelity scale

PubMed Central

Fukui, Sadaaki; Salyers, Michelle P.; Rapp, Charlie; Goscha, Rick; Young, Leslie; Mabry, Ally

2015-01-01

Shared decision-making has become a central tenet of recovery-oriented, person-centered mental health care, yet the practice is not always transferred to the routine psychiatric visit. Supporting the practice at the system level, beyond the interactions of consumers and medication prescribers, is needed for successful adoption of shared decision-making. CommonGround is a systemic approach, intended to be part of a larger integration of shared decision-making tools and practices at the system level. We discuss the organizational components that CommonGround uses to facilitate shared decision-making, and we present a fidelity scale to assess how well the system is being implemented. PMID:28090194

Complex adaptive systems: A new approach for understanding health practices.

PubMed

Gomersall, Tim

2018-06-22

This article explores the potential of complex adaptive systems theory to inform behaviour change research. A complex adaptive system describes a collection of heterogeneous agents interacting within a particular context, adapting to each other's actions. In practical terms, this implies that behaviour change is 1) socially and culturally situated; 2) highly sensitive to small baseline differences in individuals, groups, and intervention components; and 3) determined by multiple components interacting "chaotically". Two approaches to studying complex adaptive systems are briefly reviewed. Agent-based modelling is a computer simulation technique that allows researchers to investigate "what if" questions in a virtual environment. Applied qualitative research techniques, on the other hand, offer a way to examine what happens when an intervention is pursued in real-time, and to identify the sorts of rules and assumptions governing social action. Although these represent very different approaches to complexity, there may be scope for mixing these methods - for example, by grounding models in insights derived from qualitative fieldwork. Finally, I will argue that the concept of complex adaptive systems offers one opportunity to gain a deepened understanding of health-related practices, and to examine the social psychological processes that produce health-promoting or damaging actions.

Competency Progression and Completion: How Is the Policy Being Enacted in Three Trades? Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clayton, Berwyn; Guthrie, Hugh; Every, Pam; Harding, Regan

2015-01-01

This paper examines how competency progression and completion is implemented in practice in three trades. In particular, it focuses on: interactions between teachers and/or assessors and workplace supervisors; the different approaches used to integrate on- and off-the job training; assessment and signoff practices; and the ways by which workplace…

Interactive Multimedia Instruction versus Traditional Training Programmes: Analysis of Their Effectiveness and Perception

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanthy, T. Rajula; Thiagarajan, R.

2011-01-01

In this article, the practicability of introduction of computer multimedia as an educational tool was compared with the traditional approach for training sugarcane growers in ratoon management practices in three villages of Tamil Nadu state, India using pre-test, post-test control group experimental design. A CD-ROM was developed as a multimedia…

Comparison of Triadic and Provider-Led Intervention Practices in Early Intervention Home Visits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salisbury, Christine L.; Cushing, Lisa S.

2013-01-01

Despite calls for adoption and use of triadic early intervention practices, remarkably little research has prospectively compared this approach with traditional, provider-led service delivery. The aim of this study was to compare the actions of providers and caregivers within triadic and provider-led interactions with regard to the following: (1)…

The Black Baby Doll Doesn't Fit the Disconnect between Early Childhood Diversity Policy, Early Childhood Educator Practice, and Children's Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacNevin, Maggie; Berman, Rachel

2017-01-01

This article explores how multicultural policy approaches, which mandate the inclusion of culturally and ethnically "diverse" play materials in early childhood classrooms influence the pedagogical practice of educators and, in turn, children's play and social interactions. Using data collected through participant observation of…

Research into Practice: The Influence of Discourse Studies on Language Descriptions and Task Design in Published ELT Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilmore, Alex

2015-01-01

Discourse studies is a vast, multidisciplinary, and rapidly expanding area of research, embracing a range of approaches including discourse analysis, corpus analysis, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, genre analysis and multimodal discourse analysis. Each approach offers its own unique perspective…

Communication Interventions for Families of Pre-School Deaf Children in the UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rees, Rachel; Mahon, Merle; Herman, Rosalind; Newton, Caroline; Craig, Gordon; Marriage, Josephine

2015-01-01

UK professionals use a range of intervention approaches to promote communication development in pre-school deaf children by influencing the familys' interaction style. This investigation surveyed the approaches used and explored how these translated into specific practices. An online questionnaire was developed and reviewed by a panel of experts.…

The Use of Interactive Computer Services to Enhance the Quality of Life for Long-Term Care Residents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McConatha, Douglas; And Others

1994-01-01

Examined and documented effects of interactive computer-based education and training on rehabilitation of long-term care residents (n=14). This approach was found to provide mental stimulation and challenge, as well as improving practical skills which directly impact upon competencies and feelings of autonomy of participants. (Author/NB)

The Rules Grid: Helping Children with Social Communication and Interaction Needs Manage Social Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Devlin, Niall

2009-01-01

This article introduces a new practical visual approach, the Rules Grid, to support children who have social communication and interaction needs. The Rules Grid involves a system whereby behaviours of concern can be broken down into smaller behavioural manifestations which in turn lead not only to problem identification and specification, but…

Assessment of an Internet-Delivered Interactive Approach to Introductory Astronomy for Non-Science Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slater, Timothy F.; Jones, Lauren V.

2004-01-01

This project explores the effectiveness of learner-centered education (LCE) principles and practices on student learning and attitudes in an online interactive introductory astronomy course for non-science majors by comparing a high-quality Internet-delivered course with a high-quality on-campus course, both of which are based on the principles of…

An Observational Approach to Testing Bi-Directional Parent-Child Interactions as Influential to Child Eating and Weight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demir, Defne; Skouteris, Helen; Dell'Aquila, Daniela; Aksan, Nazan; McCabe, Marita P.; Ricciardelli, Lina A.; Milgrom, Jeannette; Baur, Louise A.

2012-01-01

Obesity among children has been on the rise globally for the past few decades. Previous research has centred mainly on self/parent-reported measures examining only uni-directional parental feeding styles and practices. Recent discussions in the literature have raised the importance of bi-directional parent-child interactions in influencing…

If You Build It, Will They Come? Predictors of Teachers' Participation in and Satisfaction with the "Effective Classroom Interactions" Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LoCasale-Crouch, Jennifer; Hamre, Bridget; Roberts, Amy; Neesen, Kathy

2016-01-01

The "Effective Classroom Interactions" (ECI) online courses were designed to provide an engaging, effective and scalable approach to enhancing early childhood teachers' use of classroom practices that impact children's school readiness. The created courses included several versions aimed at testing whether or not certain design aspects…

The Practical Side of Working with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Preschool Children with Language Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klatte, Inge S.; Roulstone, Sue

2016-01-01

A common early intervention approach for preschool children with language problems is parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). PCIT has positive effects for children with expressive language problems. It appears that speech and language therapists (SLTs) conduct this therapy in many different ways. This might be because of the variety of…

Improving Diabetes Outcomes Using a Web-Based Registry and Interactive Education: A Multisite Collaborative Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrow, Robert W.; Fletcher, Jason; Kelly, Kim F.; Shea, Laura A.; Spence, Maureen M.; Sullivan, Janet N.; Cerniglia, Joan R.; Yang, YoonJung

2013-01-01

Introduction: To support the adoption of guideline concordant care by primary care practices, the New York Diabetes Coalition (NYDC) promoted use of an electronic diabetes registry and developed an interactive educational module on using the registry and improving patient communication. The NYDC hypothesized that use of a registry with immediate…

Teaching Intensive Interaction to Paid Carers: Using the "Communities of Practice" Model to Inform Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rayner, Kelly; Bradley, Samantha; Johnson, Gemma; Mrozik, Jennifer H.; Appiah, Afua; Nagra, Maninder K.

2016-01-01

The engagement of people with learning disabilities in social communication is crucial to the development of relationships with others, a sense of social inclusion and self-worth. Intensive Interaction is an approach that can help carers develop their skills to engage people with severe and profound learning disabilities in personally relevant…

Hazard Interactions and Interaction Networks (Cascades) within Multi-Hazard Methodologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gill, Joel; Malamud, Bruce D.

2016-04-01

Here we combine research and commentary to reinforce the importance of integrating hazard interactions and interaction networks (cascades) into multi-hazard methodologies. We present a synthesis of the differences between 'multi-layer single hazard' approaches and 'multi-hazard' approaches that integrate such interactions. This synthesis suggests that ignoring interactions could distort management priorities, increase vulnerability to other spatially relevant hazards or underestimate disaster risk. We proceed to present an enhanced multi-hazard framework, through the following steps: (i) describe and define three groups (natural hazards, anthropogenic processes and technological hazards/disasters) as relevant components of a multi-hazard environment; (ii) outline three types of interaction relationship (triggering, increased probability, and catalysis/impedance); and (iii) assess the importance of networks of interactions (cascades) through case-study examples (based on literature, field observations and semi-structured interviews). We further propose visualisation frameworks to represent these networks of interactions. Our approach reinforces the importance of integrating interactions between natural hazards, anthropogenic processes and technological hazards/disasters into enhanced multi-hazard methodologies. Multi-hazard approaches support the holistic assessment of hazard potential, and consequently disaster risk. We conclude by describing three ways by which understanding networks of interactions contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding of hazards, disaster risk reduction and Earth system management. Understanding interactions and interaction networks helps us to better (i) model the observed reality of disaster events, (ii) constrain potential changes in physical and social vulnerability between successive hazards, and (iii) prioritise resource allocation for mitigation and disaster risk reduction.

[Framework on drug interactions between herbal medicine and western medicine: building Ⅰ/Ⅱ/Ⅲ class pathways of interactions].

PubMed

Jin, Rui; Huang, Jian-Mei; Wang, Yu-Guang; Zhang, Bing

2016-02-01

Combined use of Chinese medicine and western medicine is one of the hot spots in the domestic medical and academic fields for many years. There are lots of involved reports and studies on interaction problems due to combined used of Chinese medicine and western medicine, however, framework understanding is still rarely seen, affecting the clinical rationality of drug combinations. Actually, the inference ideas of drug interactions in clinical practice are more extensive and practical, and the overall viewpoint and pragmatic idea are the important factors in evaluating the rationality of clinical drug combinations. Based on above points, this paper systemically analyzed the existing information and examples, deeply discuss the embryology background (environment and action mechanism of interactions), and principally divided the interactions into three important and independent categories. Among the three categories, the first category (Ⅰapproach) was defined as the physical/chemical reactions after direct contact in vivo or in vitro, such as the combination of Chinese medicine injections and western medicine injections (in vitro), combination of bromide and Chinese medicines containing cinnabar (in vivo). The evaluation method for such interactions may be generalized theory of Acid-Base reaction. The second category (Ⅱ approach) was defined as the interactions through the pharmacokinetic process including absorption (such as the combination of aspirin and Huowei capsule), distribution (such as the combination of artosin and medicinal herbs containing coumarin), metabolism (such as the combination of phenobarbital and glycyrrhiza) and excretion (such as the combination of furadantin and Crataegi Fructus). The existing pharmacokinetic theory can act as the evaluation method for this type of interaction. The third category (Ⅲ approach) was defined as the synergy/antagonism interactions by pharmacological effects or biological pathways. The combination of warfarin and Salvia miltiorrhiza is an example for synergy interaction, while the combination of guanethidine and ephedra is an example for anatagonism interaction. The repeated application of Chinese and western medicine compound preparations and same type of western medicine also belongs to this approach. The receptor competition theory under the view of the overall pathways might act as the evaluation method for this type of interactions. Above all, the research framework on interactions between Chinese medicine and western medicine was proposed, providing overall thinking and support for the essential study on combined application of Chinese medicine and western medicine. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

The approaches Hong Kong Chinese mothers adopt to teach their preschool children to prevent influenza: a multiple case study at household level.

PubMed

Lam, Winsome; Fowler, Cathrine; Dawson, Angela

2016-01-01

In Hong Kong, the population is at risk of seasonal influenza infection twice a year. Seasonal influenza is significantly associated with the increased hospitalization of children. Maintaining personal hygiene and vaccination are the most effective measures to prevent influenza infection. Research demonstrates a positive relationship between the health practices applied by parents and the behaviour of their children highlighting the importance of parental heath education. However, there is minimal research that provides an understanding of how Hong Kong Chinese parents teach their children to prevent seasonal influenza. Mixed methods research was undertaken that employed a multiple-case study approach to gain an understanding of parental teaching practices regarding seasonal influenza prevention. Purposive intensity sampling was adopted to recruit twenty parents and their healthy children. A thematic analysis was employed to examine the qualitative interview data and the quantitative survey data were examined descriptively. These data were then integrated to provide a more rigorous understanding of parental teaching strategies. Comparisons were made across cases to reveal commonalities and differences. Five major themes were identified: processes parents used to teach personal hygiene; parent-child interaction during teaching; approaches to managing children's health behaviours; enhancing children's healthy practices; and parents' perspective of the role of the nurse in health promotion. This study provided valuable insight into the approach of Hong Kong Chinese parents in teaching their children to prevent seasonal influenza. The results indicate that parents can be better supported to develop effective strategies to teach their preschool children hygiene practices for seasonal influenza prevention. Partnerships with community nurses can play a role in building effective parent-child interactions to enhance children's learning and adoption of healthy practices.

Perceiving the moral dimension of practice: insights from Murdoch, Vetlesen, and Aristotle.

PubMed

Scott, P Anne

2006-07-01

This paper situates the moral domain of practice within the context of a particular description of nursing practice - one that sees human interaction at the heart of that practice. Such a description fits not only with professional rhetoric but also with literature from patients and recent empirical work exploring the nature of nursing practice. Martha Levine in her 1977 description of ethics, within the context of nursing practice, indicated that what was important from an ethical perspective was how we interact with each other, with patients and colleagues, on a daily basis. What enables such interaction to display moral sensitivity, insight into patient need, and a focus on the good for the patient? Of relevance when answering this question is the empirical evidence indicating that professional socialization, as a nurse or a doctor, may dull the individual's moral sense. If this is the case, cognizance needs to be taken of such evidence when identifying theoretical approaches from mainstream ethics that may provide insight and value for nurse education. It is suggested that such insight and value can be gained from a consideration of the work of Aristotle, Murdoch, and Vetlesen.

Human-Interaction Challenges in UAV-Based Autonomous Surveillance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Michael; Harris, Robert; Shafto, Michael G.

2004-01-01

Autonomous UAVs provide a platform for intelligent surveillance in application domains ranging from security and military operations to scientific information gathering and land management. Surveillance tasks are often long duration, requiring that any approach be adaptive to changes in the environment or user needs. We describe a decision- theoretic model of surveillance, appropriate for use on our autonomous helicopter, that provides a basis for optimizing the value of information returned by the UAV. From this approach arise a range of challenges in making this framework practical for use by human operators lacking specialized knowledge of autonomy and mathematics. This paper describes our platform and approach, then describes human-interaction challenges arising from this approach that we have identified and begun to address.

Studying Behavioral Ecology on High School & College Campuses: A Practical Guide to Measuring Foraging Behavior Using Urban Wildlife

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Mohammad A. Abu; Emerson, Sara E.; Brown, Joel S.

2015-01-01

We present a practical field exercise for ecology and animal behavior classes that can be carried out on campus, using urban wildlife. Students document an animal's feeding behavior to study its interactions with the surrounding environment. In this approach, an animal's feeding behavior is quantified at experimental food patches placed within its…

Co-producing active lifestyles as whole-system-approach: theory, intervention and knowledge-to-action implications.

PubMed

Rütten, Alfred; Frahsa, Annika; Abel, Thomas; Bergmann, Matthias; de Leeuw, Evelyne; Hunter, David; Jansen, Maria; King, Abby; Potvin, Louise

2017-09-08

Population health interventions tend to lack links to the emerging discourse on interactive knowledge production and exchange. This situation may limit both a better understanding of mechanisms that impact health lifestyles and the development of strategies for population level change. This paper introduces an integrated approach based on structure-agency theory in the context of 'social practice'. It investigates the mechanisms of co-production of active lifestyles by population groups, professionals, policymakers and researchers. It combines a whole system approach with an interactive knowledge-to-action strategy for developing and implementing active lifestyle interventions. A system model is outlined to describe and explain how social practices of selected groups co-produce active lifestyles. Four intervention models for promoting the co-production of active lifestyles through an interactive-knowledge-to-action approach are discussed. Examples from case studies of the German research network Capital4Health are used to illustrate, how intervention models might be operationalized in a real-world intervention. Five subprojects develop, implement and evaluate interventions across the life-course. Although subprojects differ with regard to settings and population groups involved, they all focus on the four key components of the system model. The paper contributes new strategies to address the intervention research challenge of sustainable change of inactive lifestyles. The interactive approach presented allows consideration of the specificities of settings and scientific contexts for manifold purposes. Further research remains needed on what a co-produced knowledge-to-action agenda would look like and what impact it might have for whole system change. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Error Management Practices Interacting with National and Organizational Culture: The Case of Two State University Departments in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Göktürk, Söheyda; Bozoglu, Oguzhan; Günçavdi, Gizem

2017-01-01

Purpose: Elements of national and organizational cultures can contribute much to the success of error management in organizations. Accordingly, this study aims to consider how errors were approached in two state university departments in Turkey in relation to their specific organizational and national cultures. Design/methodology/approach: The…

A Developmental Approach to Parenting Education: Parenting as a Growth Process. Draft.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Lorraine Kvistberg; Thomas, Ruth G.

A study field tested and evaluated an instructional approach to parent education that tried, from a developmental perspective, to help parents become aware of their parenting practices. A program was developed to support parents in becoming aware of personal themes and actions that influenced the nature of parent-child interaction and in becoming…

Developing More Adaptive, Innovative, and Interactive Organizations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doerfel, Marya L.; Ruben, Brent D.

2002-01-01

Presents a comprehensive view of benchmarking, including best-practice approaches to organizational assessment and improvement in higher education (the Malcolm Baldrige and "balanced scorecard" frameworks) and lessons that can be gleaned from the benchmarking process. (EV)

Towards interactive narrative medicine.

PubMed

Cavazza, Marc; Charles, Fred

2013-01-01

Interactive Storytelling technologies have attracted significant interest in the field of simulation and serious gaming for their potential to provide a principled approach to improve user engagement in training scenarios. In this paper, we explore the use of Interactive Storytelling to support Narrative Medicine as a reflective practice. We describe a workflow for the generation of virtual narratives from high-level descriptions of patients' experiences as perceived by physicians, which can help to objectivize such perceptions and support various forms of analysis.

Operationalizing Dynamic Ocean Management (DOM): Understanding the Incentive Structure, Policy and Regulatory Context for DOM in Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewison, R. L.; Saumweber, W. J.; Erickson, A.; Martone, R. G.

2016-12-01

Dynamic ocean management, or management that uses near real-time data to guide the spatial distribution of commercial activities, is an emerging approach to balance ocean resource use and conservation. Employing a wide range of data types, dynamic ocean management in a fisheries context can be used to meet multiple objectives - managing target quota, bycatch reduction, and reducing interactions with species of conservation concern. There is a growing list of DOM applications currently in practice in fisheries around the world, yet the approach is new enough that both fishers and fisheries managers are unclear how DOM can be applied to their fishery. Here, we use the experience from dynamic ocean management applications that are currently in practice to address the commonly asked question "How can dynamic management approaches be implemented in a traditionally managed fishery?". Combining knowledge from the DOM participants with a review of regulatory frameworks and incentive structures, stakeholder participation, and technological requirements of DOM in practice, we identify ingredients that have supported successful implementation of this new management approach.

Teacher Roles of Questioning in Early Elementary Science Classrooms: A Framework Promoting Student Cognitive Complexities in Argumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ying-Chih; Hand, Brian; Norton-Meier, Lori

2017-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the various roles that early elementary teachers adopt when questioning, to scaffold dialogic interaction and students' cognitive responses for argumentative practices over time. Teacher questioning is a pivotal contributing factor that shapes the role teachers play in promoting dialogic interaction in argumentative practice and that different roles serve different functions for promoting students' conceptual understanding. The multiple-case study was designed as a follow-up study after a 4-year professional development program that emphasized an argument-based inquiry approach. Data sources included 30 lessons focusing on whole class discussion from three early elementary teachers' classes. Data were analyzed through two approaches: (1) constant comparative method and (2) enumerative approach. This study conceptualized four critical roles of teacher questioning—dispenser, moderator, coach, and participant—in light of the ownership of ideas and activities. The findings revealed two salient changes in teachers' use of questions and the relationships between teachers' question-asking and students' cognitive responses: (1) teachers increasingly used multiple roles in establishing argumentative discourse as they persistently implemented an argument-based inquiry approach, and (2) as teachers used multiple roles in establishing patterns of questioning and framing classroom interactions, higher levels of student cognitive responses were promoted. This study suggests that an essential component of teacher professional development should include the study of the various roles that teachers can play when questioning for establishing dialogic interaction in argumentation and that this development should consist of ongoing training with systematic support.

An investigation of assessment and feedback practices in fully asynchronous online undergraduate mathematics courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trenholm, Sven; Alcock, Lara; Robinson, Carol

2015-11-01

Research suggests it is difficult to learn mathematics in the fully asynchronous online (FAO) instructional modality, yet little is known about associated teaching and assessment practices. In this study, we investigate FAO mathematics assessment and feedback practices in particular consideration of both claims and findings that these practices have a powerful influence on learning. A survey questionnaire was constructed and completed by 70 FAO undergraduate mathematics instructors, mostly from the USA, who were each asked to detail their assessment and feedback practices in a single FAO mathematics course. Alongside these questions, participants also answered the 16-item version of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory. In addition, a novel feedback framework was also created and used to examine how feedback practices may be related to participants' approaches to teaching. Results show that assessment and feedback practices are varied and complex: in particular, we found there was not a simple emphasis on summative assessment instruments, nor a concomitant expectation these would always be invigilated. Though richer assessment feedback appears to be emphasized, evidence suggests this feedback may not be primarily directed at advancing student learning. Moreover, we found evidence of a reliance on computer--human interactions (e.g. via computer-assisted assessment systems) and further evidence of a decline in human interactions, suggesting a dynamic that is both consistent with current online learning theory and claims FAO mathematics courses are becoming commodified. Several avenues for further research are suggested.

Learning as discourse change: A sociocultural mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wickman, Per-Olof; Östman, Leif

2002-09-01

This paper deals with a theoretical mechanism for learning and a methodological approach for analyzing meaning making in classroom talk and action. It examines the potential of the approach for illuminating learning on a discursive level, i.e., how discourses change and how individuals become participants of new practices. Our approach involves a high-resolution analysis of how meaningful relations are built in encounters between individuals and between individuals and the world. The approach is based mainly on the work of the later Wittgenstein, but also on pragmatism and sociocultural research. To demonstrate how our approach can be used, we analyze what university students learn during a practical on insects. We specifically demonstrate how the encounters with physical pinned insects contribute to the meaning students make and how these encounters interact with other experiences during laboratory work.

An Innovative Multimedia Approach to Laboratory Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, M. B.; Constant, K. P.

1996-01-01

A new approach for teaching safe laboratory practices has been developed for materials science laboratories at Iowa State university. Students are required to complete a computerized safety tutorial and pass an exam before working in the laboratory. The safety tutorial includes sections on chemical, electrical, radiation, and high temperature safety. The tutorial makes use of a variety of interactions, including 'assembly' interactions where a student is asked to drag and drop items with the mouse (either labels or pictures) to an appropriate place on the screen (sometimes in a specific order). This is extremely useful for demonstrating safe lab practices and disaster scenarios. Built into the software is a record tracking scheme so that a professor can access a file that records which students have completed the tutorial and their scores on the exam. This paper will describe the development and assessment of the safety tutorials.

US-Cut: interactive algorithm for rapid detection and segmentation of liver tumors in ultrasound acquisitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Egger, Jan; Voglreiter, Philip; Dokter, Mark; Hofmann, Michael; Chen, Xiaojun; Zoller, Wolfram G.; Schmalstieg, Dieter; Hann, Alexander

2016-04-01

Ultrasound (US) is the most commonly used liver imaging modality worldwide. It plays an important role in follow-up of cancer patients with liver metastases. We present an interactive segmentation approach for liver tumors in US acquisitions. Due to the low image quality and the low contrast between the tumors and the surrounding tissue in US images, the segmentation is very challenging. Thus, the clinical practice still relies on manual measurement and outlining of the tumors in the US images. We target this problem by applying an interactive segmentation algorithm to the US data, allowing the user to get real-time feedback of the segmentation results. The algorithm has been developed and tested hand-in-hand by physicians and computer scientists to make sure a future practical usage in a clinical setting is feasible. To cover typical acquisitions from the clinical routine, the approach has been evaluated with dozens of datasets where the tumors are hyperechoic (brighter), hypoechoic (darker) or isoechoic (similar) in comparison to the surrounding liver tissue. Due to the interactive real-time behavior of the approach, it was possible even in difficult cases to find satisfying segmentations of the tumors within seconds and without parameter settings, and the average tumor deviation was only 1.4mm compared with manual measurements. However, the long term goal is to ease the volumetric acquisition of liver tumors in order to evaluate for treatment response. Additional aim is the registration of intraoperative US images via the interactive segmentations to the patient's pre-interventional CT acquisitions.

An Assessment of Need for Instructional Professional Development for Middle School Science Teachers Using Interactive Lessons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burton, Amanda

Numerous studies on the impact of interactive lessons on student learning have been conducted, but there has been a lack of professional development (PD) programs at a middle school focusing on ways to incorporate interactive lessons into the science classroom setting. The purpose of this case study was to examine the instructional practices of science teachers to determine whether the need for an interactive lessons approach to teaching students exists. This qualitative case study focused on teachers' perceptions and pedagogy to determine whether the need to use interactive lessons to meet the needs of all students is present. The research question focused on identifying current practices and determining whether a need for interactive lessons is present. Qualitative data were gathered from science teachers at the school through interviews, lesson plans, and observations, all of which were subsequently coded using an interpretative analysis. The results indicated the need for a professional development (PD) program centered on interactive science lessons. Upon completion of the qualitative study, a detailed PD program has been proposed to increase the instructional practices of science teachers to incorporate interactive lessons within the science classroom. Implications for positive social change include improved teaching strategies and lessons that are more student-centered resulting in better understanding and comprehension, as well as performance on state-mandated tests.

Securing recipiency in workplace meetings: Multimodal practices

PubMed Central

Ford, Cecilia E.; Stickle, Trini

2013-01-01

As multiparty interactions with single courses of coordinated action, workplace meetings place particular interactional demands on participants who are not primary speakers (e.g. not chairs) as they work to initiate turns and to interactively coordinate with displays of recipiency from co-participants. Drawing from a corpus of 26 hours of videotaped workplace meetings in a midsized US city, this article reports on multimodal practices – phonetic, prosodic, and bodily-visual – used for coordinating turn transition and for consolidating recipiency in these specialized speech exchange systems. Practices used by self-selecting non-primary speakers as they secure turns in meetings include displays of close monitoring of current speakers’ emerging turn structure, displays of heightened interest as current turns approach possible completion, and turn initiation practices designed to pursue and, in a fine-tuned manner, coordinate with displays of recipiency on the parts of other participants as well as from reflexively constructed ‘target’ recipients. By attending to bodily-visual action, as well as phonetics and prosody, this study contributes to expanding accounts for turn taking beyond traditional word-based grammar (i.e. lexicon and syntax). PMID:24976789

Examining Teachers' Struggles as They Attempt to Implement Dialogical Interaction as Part of Promoting Mathematical Reasoning within Their Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akkus, Recai; Hand, Brian

2011-01-01

This study examines the changes in teaching practices during the implementation of a pedagogical model called the mathematics reasoning approach (MRA), which was founded on 2 critical areas in mathematics, problem solving, and writing to learn. Three algebra teachers implemented the approach with their classes, which were divided into control…

Value of recruitment strategies used in a primary care practice-based trial.

PubMed

Ellis, Shellie D; Bertoni, Alain G; Bonds, Denise E; Clinch, C Randall; Balasubramanyam, Aarthi; Blackwell, Caroline; Chen, Haiying; Lischke, Michael; Goff, David C

2007-05-01

"Physicians-recruiting-physicians" is the preferred recruitment approach for practice-based research. However, yields are variable; and the approach can be costly and lead to biased, unrepresentative samples. We sought to explore the potential efficiency of alternative methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the yield and cost of 10 recruitment strategies used to recruit primary care practices to a randomized trial to improve cardiovascular disease risk factor management. We measured response and recruitment yields and the resources used to estimate the value of each strategy. Providers at recruited practices were surveyed about motivation for participation. Response to 6 opt-in marketing strategies was 0.40% (53/13290), ranging from 0% to 2.86% by strategy; 33.96% (18/53) of responders were recruited to the study. Of those recruited from opt-out strategies, 8.68% joined the study, ranging from 5.35% to 41.67% per strategy. A strategy that combined both opt-in and opt-out approaches resulted in a 51.14% (90/176) response and a 10.80% (19/90) recruitment rate. Cost of recruitment was $613 per recruited practice. Recruitment approaches based on in-person meetings (41.67%), previous relationships (33.33%), and borrowing an Area Health Education Center's established networks (10.80%), yielded the most recruited practices per effort and were most cost efficient. Individual providers who chose to participate were motivated by interest in improving their clinical practice (80.5%); contributing to CVD primary prevention (54.4%); and invigorating their practice with new ideas (42.1%). This analysis provides suggestions for future recruitment efforts and research. Translational studies with limited funds could consider multi-modal recruitment approaches including in-person presentations to practice groups and exploitation of previous relationships, which require the providers to opt-out, and interactive opt-in approaches which rely on borrowed networks. These approaches can be supplemented with non-relationship-based opt-out strategies such as cold calls strategically targeted to underrepresented provider groups.

Anti-Oppressive Practice and Reflexive Lifeworld-Led Approaches to Care: A Framework for Teaching Nurses about Social Justice

PubMed Central

Hutchison, Jacqueline Sarah

2015-01-01

This paper was initially written for a European Academy of Caring Science workshop and aimed to provide clarity and direction about Caring Science by offering some ideas emerging from the philosophy, themes, and projects of EACS. An underpinning concept for the work of the Academy is the lifeworld. The focus of the workshop was to explore the lifeworld of the patient, student, and carer. The intention was to promote discussion around the need to provide alternative ways to conceptualise caring relevant knowledge, naming phenomena and practices central to caring sciences, and the educational curriculum and its adequacy for caring science. This paper seeks to identify concepts and approaches to understanding oppression, power, and justice which enable nurses to challenge the structures in health care environments which discriminate or disempower clients. Anti-oppressive practice theory and reflexive lifeworld-led approaches to care enable nurses to be critical of their practice. A framework for teaching social justice in health care is offered to augment teaching students to challenge oppressive practice and to assist nurses to reflect and develop conceptual models to guide practices which are central to promoting caring interactions. PMID:25838944

Anti-Oppressive Practice and Reflexive Lifeworld-Led Approaches to Care: A Framework for Teaching Nurses about Social Justice.

PubMed

Hutchison, Jacqueline Sarah

2015-01-01

This paper was initially written for a European Academy of Caring Science workshop and aimed to provide clarity and direction about Caring Science by offering some ideas emerging from the philosophy, themes, and projects of EACS. An underpinning concept for the work of the Academy is the lifeworld. The focus of the workshop was to explore the lifeworld of the patient, student, and carer. The intention was to promote discussion around the need to provide alternative ways to conceptualise caring relevant knowledge, naming phenomena and practices central to caring sciences, and the educational curriculum and its adequacy for caring science. This paper seeks to identify concepts and approaches to understanding oppression, power, and justice which enable nurses to challenge the structures in health care environments which discriminate or disempower clients. Anti-oppressive practice theory and reflexive lifeworld-led approaches to care enable nurses to be critical of their practice. A framework for teaching social justice in health care is offered to augment teaching students to challenge oppressive practice and to assist nurses to reflect and develop conceptual models to guide practices which are central to promoting caring interactions.

[Contributions by Conversation Analysis to healthcare studies: reflections based on patients' attributions].

PubMed

Ostermann, Ana Cristina; de Souza, Joseane

2009-07-01

This study is part of a larger research project aimed at investigating physician-patient interactions in women's health. In this article, by looking at naturalistic data, which consists of 144 fully transcribed audio recordings of face-to-face interactions between gynecologists/obstetricians and female patients, we propose to: (1) present the theoretical and methodological approach of Conversation Analysis to health studies in Brazil; (2) discuss how Conversation Analysis can reveal how 'macro' questions (e.g. National Policy for the Humanization of Healthcare) are (or are not) translated into interactional practices at the 'micro' level and, thus, emphasize the issues of language and communication, only briefly discussed in the HumanizaSUS documents; and (3) analyze how a specific interactional phenomenon, 'attribution' (i.e. voluntary explanations about the possible causes of their problems), might describe ordinary and concrete humanization practices in healthcare services.

Hazard interactions and interaction networks (cascades) within multi-hazard methodologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gill, Joel C.; Malamud, Bruce D.

2016-08-01

This paper combines research and commentary to reinforce the importance of integrating hazard interactions and interaction networks (cascades) into multi-hazard methodologies. We present a synthesis of the differences between multi-layer single-hazard approaches and multi-hazard approaches that integrate such interactions. This synthesis suggests that ignoring interactions between important environmental and anthropogenic processes could distort management priorities, increase vulnerability to other spatially relevant hazards or underestimate disaster risk. In this paper we proceed to present an enhanced multi-hazard framework through the following steps: (i) description and definition of three groups (natural hazards, anthropogenic processes and technological hazards/disasters) as relevant components of a multi-hazard environment, (ii) outlining of three types of interaction relationship (triggering, increased probability, and catalysis/impedance), and (iii) assessment of the importance of networks of interactions (cascades) through case study examples (based on the literature, field observations and semi-structured interviews). We further propose two visualisation frameworks to represent these networks of interactions: hazard interaction matrices and hazard/process flow diagrams. Our approach reinforces the importance of integrating interactions between different aspects of the Earth system, together with human activity, into enhanced multi-hazard methodologies. Multi-hazard approaches support the holistic assessment of hazard potential and consequently disaster risk. We conclude by describing three ways by which understanding networks of interactions contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding of hazards, disaster risk reduction and Earth system management. Understanding interactions and interaction networks helps us to better (i) model the observed reality of disaster events, (ii) constrain potential changes in physical and social vulnerability between successive hazards, and (iii) prioritise resource allocation for mitigation and disaster risk reduction.

Sociology, environment and health: a materialist approach.

PubMed

Fox, N J; Alldred, P

2016-12-01

This paper reviews the sociology of environment and health and makes the case for a postanthropocentric approach based on new materialist theory. This perspective fully incorporates humans and their health into 'the environment', and in place of human-centred concerns considers the forces that constrain or enhance environmental capacities. This is not an empirical study. The paper uses a hypothetical vignette concerning child health and air pollution to explore the new materialist model advocated in the paper. This paper used sociological analysis. A new materialist and postanthropocentric sociology of environment and health are possible. This radically reconfigures both sociological theory and its application to research and associated policies on health and the environment. Theoretically, human health is rethought as one among a number of capacities emerging from humans interactions with the social and natural world. Practically, the focus of intervention and policy shifts towards fostering social and natural interactions that enhance environmental (and in the process, human) potentiality. This approach to research and policy development has relevance for public health practice and policy. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Representation of Motor (Inter)action, States of Action, and Learning: Three Perspectives on Motor Learning by Way of Imagery and Execution

PubMed Central

Frank, Cornelia; Schack, Thomas

2017-01-01

Learning in intelligent systems is a result of direct and indirect interaction with the environment. While humans can learn by way of different states of (inter)action such as the execution or the imagery of an action, their unique potential to induce brain- and mind-related changes in the motor action system is still being debated. The systematic repetition of different states of action (e.g., physical and/or mental practice) and their contribution to the learning of complex motor actions has traditionally been approached by way of performance improvements. More recently, approaches highlighting the role of action representation in the learning of complex motor actions have evolved and may provide additional insight into the learning process. In the present perspective paper, we build on brain-related findings and sketch recent research on learning by way of imagery and execution from a hierarchical, perceptual-cognitive approach to motor control and learning. These findings provide insights into the learning of intelligent systems from a perceptual-cognitive, representation-based perspective and as such add to our current understanding of action representation in memory and its changes with practice. Future research should build bridges between approaches in order to more thoroughly understand functional changes throughout the learning process and to facilitate motor learning, which may have particular importance for cognitive systems research in robotics, rehabilitation, and sports. PMID:28588510

Portfolio Management Best Practices: Observations from Industry

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-15

Andreas and Ortwin Renn , “A New Approach to Risk Evaluation and Management: Risk-Based, Precaution-Based, and Discourse-Based Strategies”, Risk...Research and Development, RAND Corporation (2004). Stummer, Christian , and Kurt Heidenberger, “Interactive R&D Portfolio Selection Considering Multiple

Understanding men's health and illness: a gender-relations approach to policy, research, and practice.

PubMed

Schofield, T; Connell, R W; Walker, L; Wood, J F; Butland, D L

2000-05-01

Men's health has emerged as an important public concern that may require new kinds of healthcare interventions and increased resources. Considerable uncertainty and confusion surround prevailing understandings of men's health, particularly those generated by media debate and public policy, and health research has often operated on oversimplified assumptions about men and masculinity. A more useful way of understanding men's health is to adopt a gender-relations approach. This means examining health concerns in the context of men's and women's interactions with each other, and their positions in the larger, multidimensional structure of gender relations. Such an approach raises the issue of differences among men, which is a key issue in recent research on masculinity and an important health issue. The gender-relations approach offers new ways of addressing practical issues of healthcare for men in college environments.

Secondary Science Teachers' and Students' Involvement in a Primary School Community of Science Practice: How It Changed Their Practices and Interest in Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forbes, Anne; Skamp, Keith

2016-02-01

MyScience is a primary science education initiative in which being in a community of practice is integral to the learning process. In this initiative, stakeholder groups—primary teachers, primary students and mentors—interact around the `domain' of `investigating scientifically'. This paper builds on three earlier publications and interprets the findings of the views of four secondary science teachers and five year 9 secondary science students who were first-timer participants—as mentors—in MyScience. Perceptions of these mentors' interactions with primary students were analysed using attributes associated with both `communities of practice' and the `nature of science'. Findings reveal that participation in MyScience changed secondary science teachers' views and practices about how to approach the teaching of science in secondary school and fostered primary-secondary links. Year 9 students positively changed their views about secondary school science and confidence in science through participation as mentors. Implications for secondary science teaching and learning through participation in primary school community of science practice settings are discussed.

Local practice and global data: loyalty cards, social practices, and consumer surveillance.

PubMed

Zurawski, Nils

2011-01-01

Monitoring of consumers has become the most widespread mode of surveillance today. Being a multi-billion dollar business, the collected data are traded globally without much concern by the consumers themselves. Loyalty cards are an element with which such data are collected. Analyzing the role of loyalty cards in everyday practices such as shopping, I discuss how new modes of surveillance evolve and work and why they eventually make communication about data protection a difficult matter. Further, I will propose an alternative approach to the study of surveillance. This approach is concerned with local practices, focusing on subjective narratives in order to view surveillance as an integral part of culturally or socially manifested contexts and actions and not to view surveillance as something alien to society and human interaction. This will open up other possibilities to study modes of subjectivity or how individuals situate themselves within society.

Three-dimensional visualization of nanostructured surfaces and bacterial attachment using Autodesk® Maya®.

PubMed

Boshkovikj, Veselin; Fluke, Christopher J; Crawford, Russell J; Ivanova, Elena P

2014-02-28

There has been a growing interest in understanding the ways in which bacteria interact with nano-structured surfaces. As a result, there is a need for innovative approaches to enable researchers to visualize the biological processes taking place, despite the fact that it is not possible to directly observe these processes. We present a novel approach for the three-dimensional visualization of bacterial interactions with nano-structured surfaces using the software package Autodesk Maya. Our approach comprises a semi-automated stage, where actual surface topographic parameters, obtained using an atomic force microscope, are imported into Maya via a custom Python script, followed by a 'creative stage', where the bacterial cells and their interactions with the surfaces are visualized using available experimental data. The 'Dynamics' and 'nDynamics' capabilities of the Maya software allowed the construction and visualization of plausible interaction scenarios. This capability provides a practical aid to knowledge discovery, assists in the dissemination of research results, and provides an opportunity for an improved public understanding. We validated our approach by graphically depicting the interactions between the two bacteria being used for modeling purposes, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with different titanium substrate surfaces that are routinely used in the production of biomedical devices.

Three-dimensional visualization of nanostructured surfaces and bacterial attachment using Autodesk® Maya®

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boshkovikj, Veselin; Fluke, Christopher J.; Crawford, Russell J.; Ivanova, Elena P.

2014-02-01

There has been a growing interest in understanding the ways in which bacteria interact with nano-structured surfaces. As a result, there is a need for innovative approaches to enable researchers to visualize the biological processes taking place, despite the fact that it is not possible to directly observe these processes. We present a novel approach for the three-dimensional visualization of bacterial interactions with nano-structured surfaces using the software package Autodesk Maya. Our approach comprises a semi-automated stage, where actual surface topographic parameters, obtained using an atomic force microscope, are imported into Maya via a custom Python script, followed by a `creative stage', where the bacterial cells and their interactions with the surfaces are visualized using available experimental data. The `Dynamics' and `nDynamics' capabilities of the Maya software allowed the construction and visualization of plausible interaction scenarios. This capability provides a practical aid to knowledge discovery, assists in the dissemination of research results, and provides an opportunity for an improved public understanding. We validated our approach by graphically depicting the interactions between the two bacteria being used for modeling purposes, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with different titanium substrate surfaces that are routinely used in the production of biomedical devices.

Interactive large-group teaching in a dermatology course.

PubMed

Ochsendorf, F R; Boehncke, W-H; Sommerlad, M; Kaufmann, R

2006-12-01

This is a prospective study to find out whether an interactive large-group case-based teaching approach combined with small-group bedside teaching improves student satisfaction and learning outcome in a practical dermatology course. During two consecutive terms a rotating system of large-group interactive case-study-method teaching with two tutors (one content expert, one process facilitator) and bedside teaching with randomly appointed tutors was evaluated with a nine-item questionnaire and multiple-choice test performed at the beginning and the end of the course (n = 204/231 students evaluable). The results of three different didactic approaches utilized over the prior year served as a control. The interactive course was rated significantly better (p < 0.0001) than the standard course with regard to all items. The aggregate mark given by the students for the whole course was 1.58-0.61 (mean +/- SD, range 1 (good)-5 (poor)). This was significantly better than the standard course (p < 0.0001) and not different from small-group teaching approaches. The mean test results in the final examination improved significantly (p < 0.01). The combination of large-group interactive teaching and small-group bedside teaching was well accepted, improved the learning outcome, was rated as good as a small-group didactic approach and needed fewer resources in terms of personnel.

Three-dimensional visualization of nanostructured surfaces and bacterial attachment using Autodesk® Maya®

PubMed Central

Boshkovikj, Veselin; Fluke, Christopher J.; Crawford, Russell J.; Ivanova, Elena P.

2014-01-01

There has been a growing interest in understanding the ways in which bacteria interact with nano-structured surfaces. As a result, there is a need for innovative approaches to enable researchers to visualize the biological processes taking place, despite the fact that it is not possible to directly observe these processes. We present a novel approach for the three-dimensional visualization of bacterial interactions with nano-structured surfaces using the software package Autodesk Maya. Our approach comprises a semi-automated stage, where actual surface topographic parameters, obtained using an atomic force microscope, are imported into Maya via a custom Python script, followed by a ‘creative stage', where the bacterial cells and their interactions with the surfaces are visualized using available experimental data. The ‘Dynamics' and ‘nDynamics' capabilities of the Maya software allowed the construction and visualization of plausible interaction scenarios. This capability provides a practical aid to knowledge discovery, assists in the dissemination of research results, and provides an opportunity for an improved public understanding. We validated our approach by graphically depicting the interactions between the two bacteria being used for modeling purposes, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with different titanium substrate surfaces that are routinely used in the production of biomedical devices. PMID:24577105

Single-particle dynamics of the Anderson model: a local moment approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glossop, Matthew T.; Logan, David E.

2002-07-01

A non-perturbative local moment approach to single-particle dynamics of the general asymmetric Anderson impurity model is developed. The approach encompasses all energy scales and interaction strengths. It captures thereby strong coupling Kondo behaviour, including the resultant universal scaling behaviour of the single-particle spectrum; as well as the mixed valence and essentially perturbative empty orbital regimes. The underlying approach is physically transparent and innately simple, and as such is capable of practical extension to lattice-based models within the framework of dynamical mean-field theory.

A peer learning intervention for nursing students in clinical practice education: A quasi-experimental study.

PubMed

Pålsson, Ylva; Mårtensson, Gunilla; Swenne, Christine Leo; Ädel, Eva; Engström, Maria

2017-04-01

Studies of peer learning indicate that the model enables students to practice skills useful in their future profession, such as communication, cooperation, reflection and independence. However, so far most studies have used a qualitative approach and none have used a quasi-experimental design to study effects of nursing students' peer learning in clinical practice. To investigate the effects of peer learning in clinical practice education on nursing students' self-rated performance. Quasi-experimental. The study was conducted during nursing students' clinical practice. All undergraduate nursing students (n=87) attending their first clinical practice were approached. Seventy students out of 87 answered the questionnaires at both baseline and follow-up (42 of 46 in the intervention group and 28 of 39 in the comparison group). During the first two weeks of the clinical practice period, all students were supervised traditionally. Thereafter, the intervention group received peer learning the last two weeks, and the comparison group received traditional supervision. Questionnaire data were collected on nursing students' self-rated performance during the second (baseline) and last (follow-up) week of their clinical practice. Self-efficacy was improved in the intervention group and a significant interaction effect was found for changes over time between the two groups. For the other self-rated variables/tests, there were no differences in changes over time between the groups. Studying each group separately, the intervention group significantly improved on thirteen of the twenty variables/tests over time and the comparison group improved on four. The results indicate that peer learning is a useful method which improves nursing students' self-efficacy to a greater degree than traditional supervision does. Regarding the other self-rated performance variables, no interaction effects were found. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Transcultural Responses to Aesthetic and Therapeutic Experience: An Ethological Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henley, David R.

1994-01-01

Focuses on group dynamics of multiethnic peoples interacting with installation sculpture by Jean Dubuffet. Identifies those dynamics that become activated when responding to an aesthetic stimulus. Considers resulting behaviors within ethological/phenomenological framework and applied to practice of art therapy. (NB)

An Interdisciplinary Practical for Multimedia Engineering Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcos-Jorquera, Diego; Pertegal-Felices, María Luisa; Jimeno-Morenilla, Antonio; Gilar-Corbí, Raquel

2017-01-01

Interdisciplinary projects in the industry typically require collaboration between professionals from various fields. However, this relationship is not generally addressed in the training offered by university programs, which often ignore this interdisciplinary approach. This paper offers an example of interdisciplinary interaction through joint…

A qualitative analysis of case managers' use of harm reduction in practice.

PubMed

Tiderington, Emmy; Stanhope, Victoria; Henwood, Benjamin F

2013-01-01

The harm reduction approach has become a viable framework within the field of addictions, yet there is limited understanding about how this approach is implemented in practice. For people who are homeless and have co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders, the Housing First model has shown promising results in employing such an approach. This qualitative study utilizes ethnographic methods to explore case managers' use of harm reduction within Housing First with a specific focus on the consumer-provider relationship. Analysis of observational data and in-depth interviews with providers and consumers revealed how communication between the two regarding the consumer's substance use interacted with the consumer-provider relationship. From these findings emerged a heuristic model of harm reduction practice that highlighted the profound influence of relationship quality on the paths of communication regarding substance use. This study provides valuable insight into how harm reduction is implemented in clinical practice that ultimately has public health implications in terms of more effectively addressing high rates of addiction that contribute to homelessness and health disparities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health Education a Conceptual Approach. Growing and Developing, Interacting, Decision Making. Concept 7: Personal Health Practices Are Affected by a Complexity of Forces, Often Conflicting. Teacher-Student Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creswell, William H., Jr.; And Others

The following resource guide is one in a series which presents extensive bibliographic material oriented around a specific concept, in this guide, forces affecting personal health practices. A section is devoted to selected materials related to the concept; grade levels for which each resource might be useful are indicated beside each citation. A…

Learning the Lessons of Leadership: Case Method Teaching with Interactive Computer-Based Tools and Film-Based Cases

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

report describes how the AXL system capitalizes on the best practices of traditional case method instruction and addresses some of the limitations of...system were addressed in the AXL system, producing an innovative technology solution for delivering case method instruction. Several case method best ...approaches for addressing such problems. The report also documents how case method best practices in traditional classroom environments can be translated into

Plant-microbe interactions as drivers of ecosystem functions relevant for the biodegradation of organic contaminants.

PubMed

Fester, Thomas; Giebler, Julia; Wick, Lukas Y; Schlosser, Dietmar; Kästner, Matthias

2014-06-01

The plant organism and associated microbial communities can be seen as a sunlight driven hotspot for the turnover of organic chemicals. In such environments the fate of a chemical will not only depend on its intrinsic structural stability toward (bio-)chemical reactions and its bioavailability but also on the functional effectiveness and stability of natural microbial communities as main drivers of natural attenuation of chemicals. Recent research demonstrates that interactions between plants and microorganisms are crucial for the biotransformation of organic chemicals, for various processes affecting the bioavailability of such compounds, and for the stability of the affected ecosystem. Practical bioremediation approaches, therefore, should encompass integrated measures targeting functional vegetation as well as functional microbial communities. Good examples for a successful practical approach are constructed wetlands, where an artificial, simplified ecosystem is used for the detoxification of organic contaminants. While such systems have considerable practical success, they are often treated as a black box and a sound mechanistic understanding of functional resilience and of the 'reactive power' of such plant-microbe ecosystems is poor. This situation has to change, if progress in the application of bioremediation is to be made. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Statistical interactions and Bayes estimation of log odds in case-control studies.

PubMed

Satagopan, Jaya M; Olson, Sara H; Elston, Robert C

2017-04-01

This paper is concerned with the estimation of the logarithm of disease odds (log odds) when evaluating two risk factors, whether or not interactions are present. Statisticians define interaction as a departure from an additive model on a certain scale of measurement of the outcome. Certain interactions, known as removable interactions, may be eliminated by fitting an additive model under an invertible transformation of the outcome. This can potentially provide more precise estimates of log odds than fitting a model with interaction terms. In practice, we may also encounter nonremovable interactions. The model must then include interaction terms, regardless of the choice of the scale of the outcome. However, in practical settings, we do not know at the outset whether an interaction exists, and if so whether it is removable or nonremovable. Rather than trying to decide on significance levels to test for the existence of removable and nonremovable interactions, we develop a Bayes estimator based on a squared error loss function. We demonstrate the favorable bias-variance trade-offs of our approach using simulations, and provide empirical illustrations using data from three published endometrial cancer case-control studies. The methods are implemented in an R program, and available freely at http://www.mskcc.org/biostatistics/~satagopj .

A pilot study evaluating alternative approaches of academic detailing in rural family practice clinics

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Academic detailing is an interactive, convenient, and user-friendly approach to delivering non-commercial education to healthcare clinicians. While evidence suggests academic detailing is associated with improvements in prescribing behavior, uncertainty exists about generalizability and scalability in diverse settings. Our study evaluates different models of delivering academic detailing in a rural family medicine setting. Methods We conducted a pilot project to assess the feasibility, effectiveness, and satisfaction with academic detailing delivered face-to-face as compared to a modified approach using distance-learning technology. The recipients were four family medicine clinics within the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN). Two clinics were allocated to receive face-to-face detailing and two received outreach through video conferencing or asynchronous web-based outreach. Surveys at midpoint and completion were used to assess effectiveness and satisfaction. Results Each clinic received four outreach visits over an eight month period. Topics included treatment-resistant depression, management of atypical antipsychotics, drugs for insomnia, and benzodiazepine tapering. Overall, 90% of participating clinicians were satisfied with the program. Respondents who received in person detailing reported a higher likelihood of changing their behavior compared to respondents in the distance detailing group for five of seven content areas. While 90%-100% of respondents indicated they would continue to participate if the program were continued, the likelihood of participation declined if only distance approaches were offered. Conclusions We found strong support and satisfaction for the program among participating clinicians. Participants favored in-person approaches to distance interactions. Future efforts will be directed at quantitative methods for evaluating the economic and clinical effectiveness of detailing in rural family practice settings. PMID:23276303

SAW based micro- and acousto-fluidics in biomedicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramasamy, Mouli; Varadan, Vijay K.

2017-04-01

Protein association starts with random collisions of individual proteins. Multiple collisions and rotational diffusion brings the molecules to a state of orientation. Majority of the protein associations are influenced by electrostatic interactions. To introduce: electrostatic rate enhancement, Brownian dynamics and transient complex theory has been traditionally used. Due to the recent advances in interdisciplinary sciences, an array of molecular assembly methods is being studied. Protein nanostructural assembly and macromolecular crowding are derived from the subsets of biochemistry to study protein-protein interactions and protein self-assembly. This paper tries to investigate the issue of enhancing the protein self-association rate, and bridging the gap between the simulations and experimental results. The methods proposed here include: electrostatic rate enhancement, macromolecular crowing, nanostructural protein assembly, microfluidics based approaches and magnetic force based approaches. Despite the suggestions of several methods, microfluidic and magnetic force based approaches seem to serve the need of protein assembly in a wider scale. Congruence of these approaches may also yield better results. Even though, these methods prove to be conceptually strong, to prevent the disagreement of theory and practice, a wide range of experiments is required. This proposal intends to study theoretical and experimental methods to successfully implement the aforementioned assembly strategies, and conclude with an extensive analysis of experimental data to address practical feasibility.

ICT in health care: sociotechnical approaches.

PubMed

Berg, M; Aarts, J; van der Lei, J

2003-01-01

The importance of the social sciences for medical informatics is increasingly recognized. As ICT requires inter-action with people and thereby inevitably affects them, understanding ICT requires a focus on the interrelation between technology and its social environment. Sociotechnical approaches increase our understanding of how ICT applications are developed, introduced and become a part of social practices. Socio-technical approaches share several starting points: 1) they see health care work as a social, 'real life' phenomenon, which may seem 'messy' at first, but which is guided by a practical rationality that can only be overlooked at a high price (i.e. failed systems). 2) They see technological innovation as a social process, in which organizations are deeply affected. 3) Through in-depth, formative evaluation, they can help improve system design and implementation.

Pursuing common agendas: a collaborative model for knowledge translation between research and practice in clinical settings.

PubMed

Baumbusch, Jennifer L; Kirkham, Sheryl Reimer; Khan, Koushambhi Basu; McDonald, Heather; Semeniuk, Pat; Tan, Elsie; Anderson, Joan M

2008-04-01

There is an emerging discourse of knowledge translation that advocates a shift away from unidirectional research utilization and evidence-based practice models toward more interactive models of knowledge transfer. In this paper, we describe how our participatory approach to knowledge translation developed during an ongoing program of research concerning equitable care for diverse populations. At the core of our approach is a collaborative relationship between researchers and practitioners, which underpins the knowledge translation cycle, and occurs simultaneously with data collection/analysis/synthesis. We discuss lessons learned including: the complexities of translating knowledge within the political landscape of healthcare delivery, the need to negotiate the agendas of researchers and practitioners in a collaborative approach, and the kinds of resources needed to support this process.

Systems engineering interfaces: A model based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fosse, E.; Delp, C. L.

The engineering of interfaces is a critical function of the discipline of Systems Engineering. Included in interface engineering are instances of interaction. Interfaces provide the specifications of the relevant properties of a system or component that can be connected to other systems or components while instances of interaction are identified in order to specify the actual integration to other systems or components. Current Systems Engineering practices rely on a variety of documents and diagrams to describe interface specifications and instances of interaction. The SysML[1] specification provides a precise model based representation for interfaces and interface instance integration. This paper will describe interface engineering as implemented by the Operations Revitalization Task using SysML, starting with a generic case and culminating with a focus on a Flight System to Ground Interaction. The reusability of the interface engineering approach presented as well as its extensibility to more complex interfaces and interactions will be shown. Model-derived tables will support the case studies shown and are examples of model-based documentation products.

Teaching Information Technology Law

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, M. J.; Jones, R. P.; Haggerty, J.; Gresty, D.

2009-01-01

In this paper we discuss an approach to the teaching of information technology law to higher education computing students that attempts to prepare them for professional computing practice. As information technology has become ubiquitous its interactions with the law have become more numerous. Information technology practitioners, and in particular…

Closer to Learning: Social Networks, Trust, and Professional Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liou, Yi-Hwa; Daly, Alan J.

2014-01-01

Researchers, educators, and policymakers suggest the use of professional learning communities as one important approach to the improvement of teaching and learning. However, relatively little research examines the interplay of professional interactions (structural social capital) around instructional practices and key elements of professional…

Exploring the Complexities of Children's Inquiries in Science: Knowledge Production Through Participatory Practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siry, Christina

2013-12-01

Beginning with the assumption that young children are capable of producing unprecedented knowledges about science phenomena, this paper explores the complexities of children's inquiries within open-ended investigations. I ask two central questions: (1) how can we (teachers, researchers, and children themselves) use and build upon children's explorations in science in practice? and (2) what pedagogical approaches can position children as experts on their experiences to facilitate children's sense of ownership in the process of learning science? Six vignettes from a Kindergarten classroom are analyzed to elaborate the central claim of this work, which is that when children are engaged in collaborative open-ended activities, science emerges from their interactions. Open-ended structures allowed for teachers and children to facilitate further investigations collaboratively, and participatory structures mediated children's representations and explanations of their investigations. Evidence of children's interactions is used to illustrate the complexities of children's explorations, and pedagogical approaches that create the spaces for children to create knowledge are highlighted.

The two-brain approach: how can mutually interacting brains teach us something about social interaction?

PubMed Central

Konvalinka, Ivana; Roepstorff, Andreas

2012-01-01

Measuring brain activity simultaneously from two people interacting is intuitively appealing if one is interested in putative neural markers of social interaction. However, given the complex nature of interactions, it has proven difficult to carry out two-person brain imaging experiments in a methodologically feasible and conceptually relevant way. Only a small number of recent studies have put this into practice, using fMRI, EEG, or NIRS. Here, we review two main two-brain methodological approaches, each with two conceptual strategies. The first group has employed two-brain fMRI recordings, studying (1) turn-based interactions on the order of seconds, or (2) pseudo-interactive scenarios, where only one person is scanned at a time, investigating the flow of information between brains. The second group of studies has recorded dual EEG/NIRS from two people interacting, in (1) face-to-face turn-based interactions, investigating functional connectivity between theory-of-mind regions of interacting partners, or in (2) continuous mutual interactions on millisecond timescales, to measure coupling between the activity in one person's brain and the activity in the other's brain. We discuss the questions these approaches have addressed, and consider scenarios when simultaneous two-brain recordings are needed. Furthermore, we suggest that (1) quantification of inter-personal neural effects via measures of emergence, and (2) multivariate decoding models that generalize source-specific features of interaction, may provide novel tools to study brains in interaction. This may allow for a better understanding of social cognition as both representation and participation. PMID:22837744

Use of video-feedback, reflection, and interactive analysis to improve nurse leadership practices.

PubMed

Crenshaw, Jeannette T

2012-01-01

The chronic shortage of registered nurses (RNs) affects patient safety and health care quality. Many factors affect the RN shortage in the workforce, including negative work environments, exacerbated by ineffective leadership approaches. Improvements in the use of relationship-based leadership approaches lead to healthier work environments that foster RN satisfaction and reduce RN turnover and vacancy rates in acute care settings. In this article, an innovative approach to reduce nurse turnover and decrease vacancy rates in acute care settings is described. Video feedback with reflection and interactive analysis is an untapped resource for nurse leaders and aspiring nurse leaders in their development of effective leadership skills. This unique method may be an effective leadership strategy for addressing recruitment and retention issues in a diverse workforce.

Using a Dialogical Approach to Examine Peer Feedback During Chemistry Investigative Task Discussion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan Joo Seng, Mark; Hill, Mary

2014-10-01

Peer feedback is an inherent feature of classroom collaborative learning. Students invariably turn to their peers for feedback when carrying out an investigative task, and this feedback is usually implicit, unstructured and may positively or negatively influence students' learning when they work on a task. This study explored the characteristics of verbal peer feedback during a collaborative investigative chemistry task involving New Zealand Year 13 students. During the planning stage of the students' investigation, the discussions of five pairs of students were recorded and then transcribed. Analysis of transcribed verbal data focused on interactions that involved peer feedback along two dimensions, interactive/non-interactive and dialogic/authoritative (Mortimer and Scott, 2003). The findings indicated that although students adopted a predominantly interactive/authoritative communicative approach, with peer feedback as confirmation or evaluation, they are also capable of a more interactive/dialogic exchange, characterised by elaborative peer feedback. We discuss how this dialogic perspective on peer feedback provides an alternative approach to the analysis and study of student-student interactions during science investigations. The findings should be interpreted in light of the limitations in terms of sample size, grouping and specificity of the coding scheme. Implications for teacher practice are discussed in relation to facilitating peer feedback discourse in the science classroom.

Compositional mining of multiple object API protocols through state abstraction.

PubMed

Dai, Ziying; Mao, Xiaoguang; Lei, Yan; Qi, Yuhua; Wang, Rui; Gu, Bin

2013-01-01

API protocols specify correct sequences of method invocations. Despite their usefulness, API protocols are often unavailable in practice because writing them is cumbersome and error prone. Multiple object API protocols are more expressive than single object API protocols. However, the huge number of objects of typical object-oriented programs poses a major challenge to the automatic mining of multiple object API protocols: besides maintaining scalability, it is important to capture various object interactions. Current approaches utilize various heuristics to focus on small sets of methods. In this paper, we present a general, scalable, multiple object API protocols mining approach that can capture all object interactions. Our approach uses abstract field values to label object states during the mining process. We first mine single object typestates as finite state automata whose transitions are annotated with states of interacting objects before and after the execution of the corresponding method and then construct multiple object API protocols by composing these annotated single object typestates. We implement our approach for Java and evaluate it through a series of experiments.

Compositional Mining of Multiple Object API Protocols through State Abstraction

PubMed Central

Mao, Xiaoguang; Qi, Yuhua; Wang, Rui; Gu, Bin

2013-01-01

API protocols specify correct sequences of method invocations. Despite their usefulness, API protocols are often unavailable in practice because writing them is cumbersome and error prone. Multiple object API protocols are more expressive than single object API protocols. However, the huge number of objects of typical object-oriented programs poses a major challenge to the automatic mining of multiple object API protocols: besides maintaining scalability, it is important to capture various object interactions. Current approaches utilize various heuristics to focus on small sets of methods. In this paper, we present a general, scalable, multiple object API protocols mining approach that can capture all object interactions. Our approach uses abstract field values to label object states during the mining process. We first mine single object typestates as finite state automata whose transitions are annotated with states of interacting objects before and after the execution of the corresponding method and then construct multiple object API protocols by composing these annotated single object typestates. We implement our approach for Java and evaluate it through a series of experiments. PMID:23844378

Understanding Care Integration from the Ground Up: Five Organizing Constructs that Shape Integrated Practices.

PubMed

Cohen, Deborah J; Balasubramanian, Bijal A; Davis, Melinda; Hall, Jennifer; Gunn, Rose; Stange, Kurt C; Green, Larry A; Miller, William L; Crabtree, Benjamin F; England, Mary Jane; Clark, Khaya; Miller, Benjamin F

2015-01-01

To provide empirical evidence on key organizing constructs shaping practical, real-world integration of behavior health and primary care to comprehensively address patients' medical, emotional, and behavioral health needs. In a comparative case study using an immersion-crystallization approach, a multidisciplinary team analyzed data from observations of practice operations, interviews, and surveys of practice members, and implementation diaries. Practices were drawn from 2 studies of practices attempting to integrate behavioral health and primary care: Advancing Care Together, a demonstration project of 11 practices located in Colorado, and the Integration Workforce Study, a study of 8 practices across the United States. We identified 5 key organizing constructs influencing integration of primary care and behavioral health: 1) Integration REACH (the extent to which the integration program was delivered to the identified target population), 2) establishment of continuum of care pathways addressing the location of care across the range of patient's severity of illness, 3) approach to patient transitions: referrals or warm handoffs, 4) location of the integration workforce, and 5) participants' mental model for integration. These constructs intertwine within an organization's historic and social context to produce locally adapted approaches to integrating care. Contextual factors, particularly practice type, influenced whether specialty mental health and substance use services were colocated within an organization. Interaction among 5 organizing constructs and practice context produces diverse expressions of integrated care. These constructs provide a framework for understanding how primary care and behavioral health services can be integrated in routine practice. © Copyright 2015 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Understanding infant feeding beliefs, practices and preferred nutrition education and health provider approaches: an exploratory study with Somali mothers in the USA

PubMed Central

Steinman, Lesley; Doescher, Mark; Keppel, Gina A.; Pak-Gorstein, Suzinne; Graham, Elinor; Haq, Aliya; Johnson, Donna B.; Spicer, Paul

2011-01-01

The objective of this study was to explore Somali mothers’ beliefs and practices around infant feeding and education, towards developing a culturally informed infant nutrition curriculum for health providers. Four focus groups were conducted to explore: (1) beliefs about infant feeding, hunger and ideal weight; (2) feeding practices; (3) nutrition education approaches; and (4) provider/mother interactions. Thirty-seven Somali mother participants identified the following themes within these topics: (1) strategies for assessing hunger, satiety and when to feed; shared beliefs that plump babies are healthy, leading to worry about infant weight; (2) context of breast milk adequacy, difficulties breastfeeding and environmental and cultural barriers to breastfeeding, leading to nearly universal early supplementation with formula; (3) preferred education approaches include provider visits with interpreters, Somali language educational materials and advice from older, experienced family members; and (4) desired health provider skills include: listening, explaining, empathy, addressing specific concerns, repeating important information, offering preventive advice and sufficient visit time. This study presents knowledge about Somali beliefs and practices that can directly guide discussions with these families. Given that these infants appear on a trajectory towards obesity, influencing infant feeding practices in the Somali community is a good upstream approach to preventing obesity. These findings will underpin a new infant nutrition curriculum for health providers. PMID:20055931

The brave new world of older patients: preparing general practice training for an ageing population.

PubMed

Bonney, Andrew; Phillipson, Lyn; Jones, Sandra C; Hall, Julie; Sharma, Rashmi

2015-11-01

Develop and pilot test evidence-based resources for general practice training practices to enhance older patients' (65+ years) interactions with General Practice Registrars (GPRs). In Australia, general practice trainees, referred to as GPRs, see fewer older patients and patients with chronic conditions than doctors who have completed their specialist GP training. This reduces learning opportunities for GPRs in the management of these important patient groups. Therefore, developing effective strategies to improve GPR-older patient interaction is critical to primary care training, to meet the current and future needs of an ageing population. Adopting a social marketing approach, GPR practice resources were developed to address knowledge and attitudinal barriers at the practice and patient level to improve older patient comfort, and willingness to engage, with GPR care. Two focus groups with older patients (n=18) and interviews with staff of training practices (n=12) were utilised to pre-test resources. Amended resources were pilot tested and evaluated in a naturalistic GPR training practice setting using a structured patient questionnaire (n=44). Pilot evaluation suggests improved comfort and willingness of older patients to interact with GPRs. In all, 54% of survey participants indicated they would be more likely to make an appointment with a Registrar in the future as a result of exposure to the resources. In all, 40% of patients would feel comfortable having a GPR manage a complex or chronic condition, which compares favourably with 28% of similarly aged patients in previous research. The use of tailored, engaging and informative GPR resources for older patients and practice staff may be an important contributor to addressing the growing problem of ensuring GPRs are adequately engaged in treating older patients. The adoption of a social marketing framework was instrumental in enhancing the acceptance and effectiveness of this intervention.

Principals' Opinions of Organisational Justice in Elementary Schools in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Inayet; Karaman-Kepenekci, Yasemin

2008-01-01

Purpose--This study aims to present the opinions of public elementary school principals in Turkey about the current organisational justice practices among teachers from the distributive, procedural, interactional, and rectificatory dimensions. Design/methodology/approach--The opinions of 11 public elementary school principals in Ankara about…

Experiencing Collaborative Knowledge Creation Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jakubik, Maria

2008-01-01

Purpose: How people learn and create knowledge together through interactions in communities of practice (CoPs) is not fully understood. The purpose of this paper is to create and apply a model that could increase participants' consciousness about knowledge creation processes. Design/methodology/approach: This four-month qualitative research was…

Contextual Learning in Adult Education. Practice Application Brief No. 12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Imel, Susan

Contextual learning is rooted in a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. According to constructivist theory, individuals learn by constructing meaning through interacting with and interpreting their environments. Current perspectives on what it means for learning to be contextualized include the following: situated cognition, social…

"Grey" Areas and "Organized Chaos" in Emergency Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taber, Nancy; Plumb, Donovan; Jolemore, Shawn

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the interaction between organizational policies and daily work practices of paramedics and firefighters within two emergency response organizations. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected in a case study consisting of interviews, focus groups, and observations. The theoretical grounding…

PubMed Central

Baril, J.; Théoret, J.

1997-01-01

PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED: Family medicine residents have difficulty developing the complex skills needed to work with families. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM: To develop an educational program to teach family medicine residents at Laval University a new type of family intervention technique, based on the systems approach, using a practical and interactive method. MAIN COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM: Using Brien's systematic planning model, the authors developed and tested a series of six interactive workshops on three themes. The first theme aims to motivate residents by showing them why it is important to use a systems approach with their patients. The second theme explores a family situation in an individual interview. The third enables residents to conduct a family interview. The whole program has been tested and evaluated. All of the materials needed to teach these skills are contained in a trainer's guide and a video cassette. CONCLUSION: This educational program's originality lies in its combination of the systems approach and interactive training for residents. The program could easily be presented as a continuing medical education activity. PMID:9333406

Community and inquiry: journey of a science teacher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, Jennifer; Welsh, Kate Muir

2009-09-01

In this case study, we examine a teacher's journey, including reflections on teaching science, everyday classroom interaction, and their intertwined relationship. The teacher's reflections include an awareness of being "a White middle-class born and raised teacher teaching other peoples' children." This awareness was enacted in the science classroom and emerges through approaches to inquiry . Our interest in Ms. Cook's journey grew out of discussions, including both informal and semi-structured interviews, in two research projects over a three-year period. Our interest was further piqued as we analyzed videotaped classroom interaction during science lessons and discovered connections between Ms. Cook's reflections and classroom interaction. In this article, we illustrate ways that her journey emerges as a conscientization. This, at least in part, shapes classroom interaction, which then again shapes her conscientization in a recursive, dynamic relationship. We examine her reflections on her "hegemonic (cultural and socio-economic) practices" and consider how these reflections help her reconsider such practices through analysis of classroom interaction. Analyses lead us to considering the importance of inquiry within this classroom community.

Microbial populations in contaminant plumes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haack, S.K.; Bekins, B.A.

2000-01-01

Efficient biodegradation of subsurface contaminants requires two elements: (1) microbial populations with the necessary degradative capabilities, and (2) favorable subsurface geochemical and hydrological conditions. Practical constraints on experimental design and interpretation in both the hydrogeological and microbiological sciences have resulted in limited knowledge of the interaction between hydrogeological and microbiological features of subsurface environments. These practical constraints include: (1) inconsistencies between the scales of investigation in the hydrogeological and microbiological sciences, and (2) practical limitations on the ability to accurately define microbial populations in environmental samples. However, advances in application of small-scale sampling methods and interdisciplinary approaches to site investigations are beginning to significantly improve understanding of hydrogeological and microbiological interactions. Likewise, culture-based and molecular analyses of microbial populations in subsurface contaminant plumes have revealed significant adaptation of microbial populations to plume environmental conditions. Results of recent studies suggest that variability in subsurface geochemical and hydrological conditions significantly influences subsurface microbial-community structure. Combined investigations of site conditions and microbial-community structure provide the knowledge needed to understand interactions between subsurface microbial populations, plume geochemistry, and contaminant biodegradation.

Toward a neural basis for peer-interaction: what makes peer-learning tick?

PubMed Central

Clark, Ian; Dumas, Guillaume

2015-01-01

Many of the instructional practices that have been advanced as intrinsically motivating are inherent in socio-constructivist learning environments. There is now emerging scientific evidence to explain why interactive learning environments promote the intrinsic motivation to learn. The “two-body” and “second person” approaches have begun to explore the “dark matter” of social neuroscience: the intra- and inter-individual brain dynamics during social interaction. Moreover, studies indicate that when young learners are given expanded opportunities to actively and equitably participate in collaborative learning activities they experienced feelings of well-being, contentment, or even excitement. Neuroscience starts demonstrating how this naturally rewarding aspect is strongly associated with the implication of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway during social interaction. The production of dopamine reinforces the desire to continue the interaction, and heightens feelings of anticipation for future peer-learning activities. Here we review how cooperative learning and problem-solving interactions can bring about the “intrinsic” motivation to learn. Overall, the reported theoretical arguments and neuroscientific results have clear implications for school and organization approaches and support social constructivist perspectives. PMID:25713542

Latent interaction effects in the theory of planned behaviour applied to quitting smoking.

PubMed

Hukkelberg, Silje Sommer; Hagtvet, Knut A; Kovac, Velibor Bobo

2014-02-01

This study applies three latent interaction models in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1988, Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press; Ajzen, 1991, Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process., 50, 179) to quitting smoking: (1) attitude × perceived behavioural control on intention; (2) subjective norms (SN) × attitude on intention; and (3) perceived behavioural control × intention on quitting behaviour. The data derive from a longitudinal Internet survey of 939 smokers aged 15-74 over a period of 4 months. Latent interaction effects were estimated using the double-mean-centred unconstrained approach (Lin et al., 2010, Struct. Equ. Modeling, 17, 374) in LISREL. Attitude × SN and attitude × perceived behavioural control both showed a significant interaction effect on intention. No significant interaction effect was found for perceived behavioural control × intention on quitting. The latent interaction approach is a useful method for investigating specific conditions between TPB components in the context of quitting behaviour. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

The Sociability of Mobile TV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geerts, David

Both mobile phones and television are known for the social practices they enable. Television has been a social medium since its introduction in households all over the world. Although its main aim is entertaining and informing its viewers, people often watch television together with close relatives or good friends, talk about what is going on while watching television or even structure their social activities around a television show (e.g., eating dinner while watching the news) (Lull 1980). But television programs are also part of social interactions away from the television set, when discussing favorite television programs around the water cooler at work, or recommending shows to watch to good friends. The main function of mobile phones on the other hand has always been social from the start: communicating with other people, when and wherever you want, first using voice communication and later also with text messages and video communication. So what happens when these two social media are combined? It is clear that mobile TV cannot be successful without taking social practices when watching TV on a mobile device into account. Although one approach could be to let the users appropriate the device in their social environment, as happened with text messaging, the risk that it does not match their current practices is too big. A better approach is to design mobile TV applications that take direct advantage of the social aspects of each medium, which means adding interactive features that will enable and support social interaction between users on different levels. In order to get an idea of the possibilities, it is interesting to look at recent research in the closely related domain of interactive television.

A novel approach to studying co-evolution of understanding and research: Family bereavement and the potential for organ donation as a case study

PubMed Central

Dicks, Sean G; Ranse, Kristen; Northam, Holly; van Haren, Frank MP; Boer, Douglas P

2018-01-01

A novel approach to data extraction and synthesis was used to explore the connections between research priorities, understanding and practice improvement associated with family bereavement in the context of the potential for organ donation. Conducting the review as a qualitative longitudinal study highlighted changes over time, and extraction of citation-related data facilitated an analysis of the interaction in this field. It was found that lack of ‘communication’ between researchers contributes to information being ‘lost’ and then later ‘rediscovered’. It is recommended that researchers should plan early for dissemination and practice improvement to ensure that research contributes to change. PMID:29399367

Physics-based scoring of protein-ligand interactions: explicit polarizability, quantum mechanics and free energies.

PubMed

Bryce, Richard A

2011-04-01

The ability to accurately predict the interaction of a ligand with its receptor is a key limitation in computer-aided drug design approaches such as virtual screening and de novo design. In this article, we examine current strategies for a physics-based approach to scoring of protein-ligand affinity, as well as outlining recent developments in force fields and quantum chemical techniques. We also consider advances in the development and application of simulation-based free energy methods to study protein-ligand interactions. Fuelled by recent advances in computational algorithms and hardware, there is the opportunity for increased integration of physics-based scoring approaches at earlier stages in computationally guided drug discovery. Specifically, we envisage increased use of implicit solvent models and simulation-based scoring methods as tools for computing the affinities of large virtual ligand libraries. Approaches based on end point simulations and reference potentials allow the application of more advanced potential energy functions to prediction of protein-ligand binding affinities. Comprehensive evaluation of polarizable force fields and quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical and QM methods in scoring of protein-ligand interactions is required, particularly in their ability to address challenging targets such as metalloproteins and other proteins that make highly polar interactions. Finally, we anticipate increasingly quantitative free energy perturbation and thermodynamic integration methods that are practical for optimization of hits obtained from screened ligand libraries.

An Augmented Reality Nanomanipulator for Learning Nanophysics: The "NanoLearner" Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchi, Florence; Marliere, Sylvain; Florens, Jean Loup; Luciani, Annie; Chevrier, Joel

The work focuses on the description and evaluation of an augmented reality nanomanipulator, called "NanoLearner" platform used as educational tool in practical works of nanophysics. Through virtual reality associated to multisensory renderings, students are immersed in the nanoworld where they can interact in real time with a sample surface or an object, using their senses as hearing, seeing and touching. The role of each sensorial rendering in the understanding and control of the "approach-retract" interaction has been determined thanks to statistical studies obtained during the practical works. Finally, we present two extensions of the use of this innovative tool for investigating nano effects in living organisms and for allowing grand public to have access to a natural understanding of nanophenomena.

A practitioner’s guide to interpersonal communication theory: An overview and exploration of selected theories

PubMed Central

Bylund, Carma L.; Peterson, Emily B.; Cameron, Kenzie A.

2011-01-01

Objective To provide a brief overview of selected interpersonal theories and models, and to present examples of their use in healthcare communication research. Results Nine interpersonal communication theories and their application to healthcare communication are discussed. Conclusion As healthcare communication interactions often occur at an interpersonal level, familiarity with theories of interpersonal communication may reinforce existing best practices and lead to the development of novel communication approaches with patients. Practice Implications This article serves as an introductory primer to theories of interpersonal communication that have been or could be applied to healthcare communication research. Understanding key constructs and general formulations of these theories may provide practitioners with additional theoretical frameworks to use when interacting with patients. PMID:22112396

Nature and Nurture Interact to Create Expert Performers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Joseph

2007-01-01

Ericsson and colleagues have provided an exhaustive review of research on the role of training in the acquisition of expert performance and their framework continues to be invaluable for examining issues in this area. However, several researchers have noted limitations with the theoretical foundations of the deliberate practice approach. In this…

Children's Spirit: Leadership Standards and Chief School Executives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boske, Christa

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase awareness of the interactions among school leadership standards, cultural competence, and decision-making practices for chief school executives. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this objective, 1,087 chief school executives, who were members of the American Association of School…

Reflection of Constructivist Theories in Current Educational Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juvova, Alena; Chudy, Stefan; Neumeister, Pavel; Plischke, Jitka; Kvintova, Jana

2015-01-01

In this overview study, we would like to present the basic constructivist approaches that have affected or influenced the current concept of education. The teacher-student interaction is reflected by personality, psychological traits, attitudes and cultural capital of the participants of the educational process as well as the teacher's effort to…

Transformative Science Education through Action Research and Self-Study Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calderon, Olga

2014-01-01

The research studies human emotions through diverse methods and theoretical lenses. My intention in using this approach is to provide alternative ways of perceiving and interpreting emotions being experienced in the moment of arousal. Emotions are fundamental in human interactions because they are essential in the development of effective…

Setting the Course: Strategies for Writing Digital and Social Guidelines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pasquini, Laura A.

2016-01-01

This chapter describes how to establish social media guidelines and policies for colleges and universities effectively, based upon a field study of postsecondary education institutions representing 10 different countries. To further community interactions and social media involvement, this chapter will outline effective practical approaches for…

Lessons from Abroad: Whatever Happened to Pedagogy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, Julian G.

2014-01-01

This paper considers attempts to import pedagogic practices from other educational systems. In so doing, it focuses upon policymakers' attempts to: (a) import interactive whole class teaching approaches to the UK (and, to a lesser extent, the US); and (b) export learner-centred pedagogies, largely derived from Anglo-American theorising and…

Autoethnographic Journeys in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trahar, Sheila

2013-01-01

In this article, the author describes how the methodological approach of autoethnography enabled her to interrogate the philosophical underpinnings of the learning and teaching practices that she espoused as a university academic. This critical questioning was provoked through her interactions with postgraduate students from a range of contexts…

Social Skills Training: A Three-Pronged Approach for Developmentally Disabled Adolescents and Young Adults.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coyne, Phyllis

The document is designed to provide practical information for teachers, parents, group home workers, work activity personnel, and others interested in developing social interaction skills and appropriate social behaviors in developmentally disabled adolescents and young adults. An introductory section discusses social problems of the…

THE FLINT COMMUNITY SCHOOL PROGRAM, AN OVERVIEW.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BATES, GUY J.; AND OTHERS

THE PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HAD BECOME THE IDEAL CENTER FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION IN FLINT. IT WAS THE PRACTICAL PLACE FOR CARRYING THE CONSTANTLY CHANGING ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS OF THE COMMUNITY. THE APPROACH USED TO FACILITATE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING AND INTERACTION INCLUDED, FIRST, GETTING THE PEOPLE INTO THE SCHOOLS, WHERE THEY BECAME INTERESTED.…

Four Approaches to New Media Art Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freire, Manuelle; McCarthy, Erin

2014-01-01

Educators are concerned about what their students are learning in their interaction and participation in the digital culture. For art educators specifically, the digital and new media practices youth engage in raise other important questions: When contributing to the digital culture, what are they creating? What are the aesthetic qualities of the…

Teaching To Give Students Voice in the College Classroom. Thematic Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koerner, Mari E.; Hulsebosch, Patricia

This study followed six "culturally aware" elementary school teachers through student teaching and their first two years of teaching to look at how their life experiences as minority people affected their classroom practices. The study was a qualitative inquiry based on reciprocal and interactive relationships. The approach was…

Understanding Decision Making in Teachers' Curriculum Design Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boschman, Ferry; McKenney, Susan; Voogt, Joke

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to reach a better understanding of the intuitive decisions teachers make when designing a technology-rich learning environment. A multiple case-study design was employed to examine what kinds of factors (external priorities, existing orientations or practical concerns) influence design interactions of teams of…

Mediated Development: A Vygotskian Approach to Transforming Second Language Learner Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poehner, Matthew E.; Infante, Paolo

2017-01-01

The authors point to systemic-theoretical instruction (STI), which underscores the importance of abstract conceptual knowledge in schooling, and dynamic assessment (DA), in which mediators and learners function cooperatively, as examples of the theory-practice relation envisioned by Vygotsky (1987). This article proposes an interactional framework…

An Interactive Diagnosis Approach for Supporting Clinical Nursing Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Chun-Wang; Lin, Yi-Chun; Lin, Yen-Ting

2016-01-01

Clinical resources in nursing schools are always insufficient for satisfying the practice requirements of each student at the same time during a formal course session. Although several studies have applied information and communication technology to develop computer-based learning tools for addressing this problem, most of these developments lack…

AI-Based Chatterbots and Spoken English Teaching: A Critical Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sha, Guoquan

2009-01-01

The aim of various approaches implemented, whether the classical "three Ps" (presentation, practice, and production) or communicative language teaching (CLT), is to achieve communicative competence. Although a lot of software developed for teaching spoken English is dressed up to raise interaction, its methodology is largely rooted in tradition.…

From Classroom to Boardroom and Ward: Developing Generic Intercultural Skills in Diverse Disciplines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Michelle C.; Mak, Anita S.

2013-01-01

A strategic approach to internationalize learning in higher education institutions is to use the curriculum and classroom cultural diversity to create opportunities to broaden students' intercultural perspectives, appreciate sociocultural variability in professional practice, and improve their intercultural interaction skills. There is no clear…

Cultural Proficiency: Tools for Secondary School Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuri-Robins, Kikanza; Lindsey, Delores B.; Terrell, Raymond D.; Lindsey, Randall B.

2007-01-01

Cultural proficiency is an inside-out approach that makes explicit the values and practices that enable both individuals and schools to interact effectively across cultures. Becoming culturally proficient means raising awareness of and closing the gap between a person's expressed values and how he or she is actually perceived and experienced by…

Student-Teacher Relationships Matter: Moderating Influences between Temperament and Preschool Social Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griggs, Marissa Swaim; Gagnon, Sandra Glover; Huelsman, Timothy J.; Kidder-Ashley, Pamela; Ballard, Mary

2009-01-01

Ecological approaches to preschool assessment, which consider both within-child and environmental variables, are considered best practice for school psychologists. This study employs such a model to investigate the interactive influence of child temperament and student-teacher relationship quality on peer play behaviors. Parents of 44 preschool…

A Canadian Approach to Training Technicians and Technologists In the Earth Sciences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Stephen H.

1983-01-01

Describes two- and three-year undergraduate curricula for training earth science technicians at Sir Sanford Fleming College (Canada), emphasizing practical aspects and close student-faculty interaction. List of employment opportunities for geology graduates based on past placement data and geology curriculum outline are provided in tables. (JN)

Numerical stabilization of entanglement computation in auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo simulations of interacting many-fermion systems.

PubMed

Broecker, Peter; Trebst, Simon

2016-12-01

In the absence of a fermion sign problem, auxiliary-field (or determinantal) quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) approaches have long been the numerical method of choice for unbiased, large-scale simulations of interacting many-fermion systems. More recently, the conceptual scope of this approach has been expanded by introducing ingenious schemes to compute entanglement entropies within its framework. On a practical level, these approaches, however, suffer from a variety of numerical instabilities that have largely impeded their applicability. Here we report on a number of algorithmic advances to overcome many of these numerical instabilities and significantly improve the calculation of entanglement measures in the zero-temperature projective DQMC approach, ultimately allowing us to reach similar system sizes as for the computation of conventional observables. We demonstrate the applicability of this improved DQMC approach by providing an entanglement perspective on the quantum phase transition from a magnetically ordered Mott insulator to a band insulator in the bilayer square lattice Hubbard model at half filling.

One Health for a changing world: new perspectives from Africa.

PubMed

Cunningham, Andrew A; Scoones, Ian; Wood, James L N

2017-07-19

The concept of One Health, which aims to drive improvements in human, animal and ecological health through an holistic approach, has been gaining increasing support and attention in recent years. While this concept has much appeal, there are few examples where it has been successfully put into practice. This Special Issue explores the challenges in African contexts, with papers looking at the complex interactions between ecosystems, diseases and poverty dynamics; at underlying social and political dimensions; at the potentials for integrative modelling; and at the changes in policy and practice required to realise a One Health approach. This introductory paper offers an overview of the 11 papers, coming from diverse disciplinary perspectives, that each explore how a One Health approach can work in a world of social, economic and environmental change. © 2017 The Author(s).

Education research: communication skills for neurology residents: structured teaching and reflective practice.

PubMed

Watling, Christopher J; Brown, Judith B

2007-11-27

Despite the importance of communication skills for neurologists, specific training in this area at the residency level is often lacking. This study aimed to enhance learning of these skills and to encourage reflective practice around communication skills. A group of 12 neurology residents participated in a series of six case-based communication skills workshops. Each workshop focused on a particular clinical scenario, including breaking bad news, discussing do-not-resuscitate orders, communicating with "difficult" patients, disclosing medical errors, obtaining informed consent for neurologic tests and procedures, and discussing life-and-death decisions with families of critically ill patients. Residents also kept reflective portfolios in which real examples of these interactions were recorded. The program was well accepted, and residents rated the workshops as effective and relevant to their practice. Analysis of residents' portfolios revealed three themes relevant to patient-physician communication: 1) communication is more successful when adequate time is allowed, 2) the ability to empathize with patients and their families is essential to successful interactions, and 3) the development of specific approaches to challenging scenarios can facilitate effective interactions. The portfolios also demonstrated that residents would engage in reflective practice. Targeting of communication skills training around specific clinical scenarios using neurologic cases was well accepted and was deemed relevant to practice. The use of portfolios may promote lifelong learning in this area.

E-assessment of prior learning: a pilot study of interactive assessment of staff with no formal education who are working in Swedish elderly care

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The current paper presents a pilot study of interactive assessment using information and communication technology (ICT) to evaluate the knowledge, skills and abilities of staff with no formal education who are working in Swedish elderly care. Methods Theoretical and practical assessment methods were developed and used with simulated patients and computer-based tests to identify strengths and areas for personal development among staff with no formal education. Results Of the 157 staff with no formal education, 87 began the practical and/or theoretical assessments, and 63 completed both assessments. Several of the staff passed the practical assessments, except the morning hygiene assessment, where several failed. Other areas for staff development, i.e. where several failed (>50%), were the theoretical assessment of the learning objectives: Health, Oral care, Ergonomics, hygiene, esthetic, environmental, Rehabilitation, Assistive technology, Basic healthcare and Laws and organization. None of the staff passed all assessments. Number of years working in elderly care and staff age were not statistically significantly related to the total score of grades on the various learning objectives. Conclusion The interactive assessments were useful in assessing staff members’ practical and theoretical knowledge, skills, and abilities and in identifying areas in need of development. It is important that personnel who lack formal qualifications be clearly identified and given a chance to develop their competence through training, both theoretical and practical. The interactive e-assessment approach analyzed in the present pilot study could serve as a starting point. PMID:24742168

First-order logic theory for manipulating clinical practice guidelines applied to comorbid patients: a case study.

PubMed

Michalowski, Martin; Wilk, Szymon; Tan, Xing; Michalowski, Wojtek

2014-01-01

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) implement evidence-based medicine designed to help generate a therapy for a patient suffering from a single disease. When applied to a comorbid patient, the concurrent combination of treatment steps from multiple CPGs is susceptible to adverse interactions in the resulting combined therapy (i.e., a therapy established according to all considered CPGs). This inability to concurrently apply CPGs has been shown to be one of the key shortcomings of CPG uptake in a clinical setting1. Several research efforts are underway to address this issue such as the K4CARE2 and GuideLine INteraction Detection Assistant (GLINDA)3 projects and our previous research on applying constraint logic programming to developing a consistent combined therapy for a comorbid patient4. However, there is no generalized framework for mitigation that effectively captures general characteristics of the problem while handling nuances such as time and ordering requirements imposed by specific CPGs. In this paper we propose a first-order logic-based (FOL) approach for developing a generalized framework of mitigation. This approach uses a meta-algorithm and entailment properties to mitigate (i.e., identify and address) adverse interactions introduced by concurrently applied CPGs. We use an illustrative case study of a patient suffering from type 2 diabetes being treated for an onset of severe rheumatoid arthritis to show the expressiveness and robustness of our proposed FOL-based approach, and we discuss its appropriateness as the basis for the generalized theory.

Medical home implementation: a sensemaking taxonomy of hard and soft best practices.

PubMed

Hoff, Timothy

2013-12-01

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of care is currently a central focus of U.S. health system reform, but less is known about the model's implementation in the practice of everyday primary care. Understanding its implementation is key to ensuring the approach's continued support and success nationally. This article addresses this gap through a qualitative examination of the best practices associated with PCMH implementation for older adult patients in primary care. I used a multicase, comparative study design that relied on a sensemaking approach and fifty-one in-depth interviews with physicians, nurses, and clinic support staff working in six accredited medical homes located in various geographic areas. My emphasis was on gaining descriptive insights into the staff's experiences delivering medical home care to older adult patients in particular and then analyzing how these experiences shaped the staff's thinking, learning, and future actions in implementing medical home care. I found two distinct taxonomies of implementation best practices, which I labeled "hard" and "soft" because of their differing emphasis and content. Hard implementation practices are normative activities and structural interventions that align well with existing national standards for medical home care. Soft best practices are more relational in nature and derive from the existing practice social structure and everyday interactions between staff and patients. Currently, external stakeholders are less apt to recognize, encourage, or incentivize soft best practices. The results suggest that there may be no standardized, one-size-fits-all approach to making medical home implementation work, particularly for special patient populations such as the elderly. My study also raises the issue of broadening current PCMH assessments and reward systems to include implementation practices that contain heavy social and relational components of care, in addition to the emphasis now placed on building structural supports for medical home work. Further study of these softer implementation practices and a continued call for qualitative methodological approaches that gain insight into everyday practice behavior are warranted. © 2013 Milbank Memorial Fund.

Vital signs monitoring and nurse-patient interaction: A qualitative observational study of hospital practice.

PubMed

Cardona-Morrell, M; Prgomet, M; Lake, R; Nicholson, M; Harrison, R; Long, J; Westbrook, J; Braithwaite, J; Hillman, K

2016-04-01

High profile safety failures have demonstrated that recognising early warning signs of clinical and physiological deterioration can prevent or reduce harm resulting from serious adverse events. Early warning scoring systems are now routinely used in many places to detect and escalate deteriorating patients. Timely and accurate vital signs monitoring are critical for ensuring patient safety through providing data for early warning scoring systems, but little is known about current monitoring practices. To establish a profile of nurses' vital signs monitoring practices, related dialogue, and adherence to health service protocol in New South Wales, Australia. Direct observations of nurses' working practices were conducted in two wards. The observations focused on times of the day when vital signs were generally measured. Patient interactions were recorded if occurring any time during the observation periods. Participants (n=42) included nursing staff on one chronic disease medical and one acute surgical ward in a large urban teaching hospital in New South Wales. We observed 441 patient interactions. Measurement of vital signs occurred in 52% of interactions. The minimum five vital signs measures required by New South Wales Health policy were taken in only 6-21% of instances of vital signs monitoring. Vital signs were documented immediately on 93% of vitals-taking occasions and documented according to the policy in the patient's chart on 89% of these occasions. Nurse-patient interactions were initiated for the purpose of taking vital signs in 49% of interactions, with nurse-patient discourse observed during 88% of all interactions. Nurse-patient dialogue led to additional care being provided to patients in 12% of interactions. The selection of appropriate vital signs measured and responses to these appears to rely on nurses' clinical judgement or time availability rather than on policy-mandated frequency. The prevalence of incomplete sets of vital signs may limit identification of deteriorating patients. The findings from this study present an important baseline profile against which to evaluate the impact of introducing continuous monitoring approaches on current hospital practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electro-Optical Sensing Apparatus and Method for Characterizing Free-Space Electromagnetic Radiation

DOEpatents

Zhang, Xi-Cheng; Libelo, Louis Francis; Wu, Qi

1999-09-14

Apparatus and methods for characterizing free-space electromagnetic energy, and in particular, apparatus/method suitable for real-time two-dimensional far-infrared imaging applications are presented. The sensing technique is based on a non-linear coupling between a low-frequency electric field and a laser beam in an electro-optic crystal. In addition to a practical counter-propagating sensing technique, a co-linear approach is described which provides longer radiated field--optical beam interaction length, thereby making imaging applications practical.

Computational-experimental approach to drug-target interaction mapping: A case study on kinase inhibitors

PubMed Central

Ravikumar, Balaguru; Parri, Elina; Timonen, Sanna; Airola, Antti; Wennerberg, Krister

2017-01-01

Due to relatively high costs and labor required for experimental profiling of the full target space of chemical compounds, various machine learning models have been proposed as cost-effective means to advance this process in terms of predicting the most potent compound-target interactions for subsequent verification. However, most of the model predictions lack direct experimental validation in the laboratory, making their practical benefits for drug discovery or repurposing applications largely unknown. Here, we therefore introduce and carefully test a systematic computational-experimental framework for the prediction and pre-clinical verification of drug-target interactions using a well-established kernel-based regression algorithm as the prediction model. To evaluate its performance, we first predicted unmeasured binding affinities in a large-scale kinase inhibitor profiling study, and then experimentally tested 100 compound-kinase pairs. The relatively high correlation of 0.77 (p < 0.0001) between the predicted and measured bioactivities supports the potential of the model for filling the experimental gaps in existing compound-target interaction maps. Further, we subjected the model to a more challenging task of predicting target interactions for such a new candidate drug compound that lacks prior binding profile information. As a specific case study, we used tivozanib, an investigational VEGF receptor inhibitor with currently unknown off-target profile. Among 7 kinases with high predicted affinity, we experimentally validated 4 new off-targets of tivozanib, namely the Src-family kinases FRK and FYN A, the non-receptor tyrosine kinase ABL1, and the serine/threonine kinase SLK. Our sub-sequent experimental validation protocol effectively avoids any possible information leakage between the training and validation data, and therefore enables rigorous model validation for practical applications. These results demonstrate that the kernel-based modeling approach offers practical benefits for probing novel insights into the mode of action of investigational compounds, and for the identification of new target selectivities for drug repurposing applications. PMID:28787438

Quantitative Investigation of Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions by Biosensor Surface Plasmon Resonance.

PubMed

Wang, Shuo; Poon, Gregory M K; Wilson, W David

2015-01-01

Biosensor-surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology has emerged as a powerful label-free approach for the study of nucleic acid interactions in real time. The method provides simultaneous equilibrium and kinetic characterization for biomolecular interactions with low sample requirements and without the need for external probes. A detailed and practical guide for protein-DNA interaction analyses using biosensor-SPR methods is presented. Details of SPR technology and basic fundamentals are described with recommendations on the preparation of the SPR instrument, sensor chips and samples, experimental design, quantitative and qualitative data analyses and presentation. A specific example of the interaction of a transcription factor with DNA is provided with results evaluated by both kinetic and steady-state SPR methods.

Primary Care Practice Transformation Is Hard Work

PubMed Central

Crabtree, Benjamin F.; Nutting, Paul A.; Miller, William L.; McDaniel, Reuben R.; Stange, Kurt C.; Jaén, Carlos Roberto; Stewart, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Background Serious shortcomings remain in clinical care in the United States despite widespread use of improvement strategies for enhancing clinical performance based on knowledge transfer approaches. Recent calls to transform primary care practice to a patient-centered medical home present even greater challenges and require more effective approaches. Methods Our research team conducted a series of National Institutes of Health funded descriptive and intervention projects to understand organizational change in primary care practice settings, emphasizing a complexity science perspective. The result was a developmental research effort that enabled the identification of critical lessons relevant to enabling practice change. Results A summary of findings from a 15-year program of research highlights the limitations of viewing primary care practices in the mechanistic terms that underlie current or traditional approaches to quality improvement. A theoretical perspective that views primary care practices as dynamic complex adaptive systems with “agents” who have the capacity to learn, and the freedom to act in unpredictable ways provides a better framework for grounding quality improvement strategies. This framework strongly emphasizes that quality improvement interventions should not only use a complexity systems perspective, but also there is a need for continual reflection, careful tailoring of interventions, and ongoing attention to the quality of interactions among agents in the practice. Conclusions It is unlikely that current strategies for quality improvement will be successful in transforming current primary care practice to a patient-centered medical home without a stronger guiding theoretical foundation. Our work suggests that a theoretical framework guided by complexity science can help in the development of quality improvement strategies that will more effectively facilitate practice change. PMID:20856145

A model of interaction between anticorruption authority and corruption groups

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

Neverova, Elena G.; Malafeyef, Oleg A.

The paper provides a model of interaction between anticorruption unit and corruption groups. The main policy functions of the anticorruption unit involve reducing corrupt practices in some entities through an optimal approach to resource allocation and effective anticorruption policy. We develop a model based on Markov decision-making process and use Howard’s policy-improvement algorithm for solving an optimal decision strategy. We examine the assumption that corruption groups retaliate against the anticorruption authority to protect themselves. This model was implemented through stochastic game.

Recommendation Techniques for Drug-Target Interaction Prediction and Drug Repositioning.

PubMed

Alaimo, Salvatore; Giugno, Rosalba; Pulvirenti, Alfredo

2016-01-01

The usage of computational methods in drug discovery is a common practice. More recently, by exploiting the wealth of biological knowledge bases, a novel approach called drug repositioning has raised. Several computational methods are available, and these try to make a high-level integration of all the knowledge in order to discover unknown mechanisms. In this chapter, we review drug-target interaction prediction methods based on a recommendation system. We also give some extensions which go beyond the bipartite network case.

Exploring the Meanings that Dietitians Associate with their Role of Mother and Dietitian and How They Translate into Child-feeding Practices.

PubMed

Coughlin, Rebecca; Lordly, Daphne

2015-03-01

To explore the meanings that dietitians associate with their role of mother and dietitian and how they translate into child-feeding practices. The ideological case-study approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a qualitative research design, was utilized. A convenience sample of 3 dietitians was recruited from the faculty of a university nutrition department. Dietitians participated in semi-structured interviews that were voice-recorded and transcribed. Data were thematically organized and interpreted using the theory of Symbolic Interactionism. Five themes were developed: the evolution of food-related practices, tensions between the role of dietitian and mother, mealtime interaction, integration of dietetic values in child-feeding practices, and the individuality of the mother. Dietitian mothers used various parenting styles when interacting with their children. Their beliefs about best practice in child-feeding correspond with the recommendations of their dietetic profession. Their perception of what it meant to be a good mother was influenced by their identity as a dietitian. Dietitian mothers need to be aware of the influence of professional discourse; professional thoughts can influence personal thoughts and actions related to child-feeding practices. Further exploration of the topic including maternal and child-feeding practices from the child's perspective is warranted.

Utilising database-driven interactive software to enhance independent home-study in a flipped classroom setting: going beyond visualising engineering concepts to ensuring formative assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comerford, Liam; Mannis, Adam; DeAngelis, Marco; Kougioumtzoglou, Ioannis A.; Beer, Michael

2018-07-01

The concept of formative assessment is considered by many to play an important role in enhancing teaching in higher engineering education. In this paper, the concept of the flipped classroom as part of a blended learning curriculum is highlighted as an ideal medium through which formative assessment practices arise. Whilst the advantages of greater interaction between students and lecturers in classes are numerous, there are often clear disadvantages associated with the independent home-study component that complements timetabled sessions in a flipped classroom setting, specifically, the popular method of replacing traditional classroom teaching with video lectures. This leads to a clear lack of assurances that the cited benefits of a flipped classroom approach are echoed in the home-study arena. Over the past three years, the authors have sought to address identified deficiencies in this area of blended learning through the development of database-driven e-learning software with the capability of introducing formative assessment practices to independent home-study. This paper maps out aspects of two specific evolving practices at separate institutions, from which guiding principles of incorporating formative assessment aspects into e-learning software are identified and highlighted in the context of independent home-study as part of a flipped classroom approach.

Geo-Sandbox: An Interactive Geoscience Training Tool with Analytics to Better Understand Student Problem Solving Approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butt, N.; Pidlisecky, A.; Ganshorn, H.; Cockett, R.

2015-12-01

The software company 3 Point Science has developed three interactive learning programs designed to teach, test and practice visualization skills and geoscience concepts. A study was conducted with 21 geoscience students at the University of Calgary who participated in 2 hour sessions of software interaction and written pre and post-tests. Computer and SMART touch table interfaces were used to analyze user interaction, problem solving methods and visualization skills. By understanding and pinpointing user problem solving methods it is possible to reconstruct viewpoints and thought processes. This could allow us to give personalized feedback in real time, informing the user of problem solving tips and possible misconceptions.

Checklist Model to Improve Work Practices in Small-Scale Demolition Operations with Silica Dust Exposures

PubMed Central

Muianga, Custodio; Rice, Carol; Lentz, Thomas; Lockey, James; Niemeier, Richard; Succop, Paul

2012-01-01

A systematic approach was developed to review, revise and adapt existing exposure control guidance used in developed countries for use in developing countries. One-page employee and multiple-page supervisor guidance sheets were adapted from existing documents using a logic framework and workers were trained to use the information to improve work practices. Interactive, hands-on training was delivered to 26 workers at five small-scale demolition projects in Maputo City, Mozambique, and evaluated. A pre-and-post walkthrough survey used by trained observers documented work practice changes. Worker feedback indicated that the training was effective and useful. Workers acquired knowledge (84% increase, p < 0.01) and applied the work practice guidance. The difference of proportions between use of work practice components before and after the intervention was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Changes in work practices following training included preplanning, use of wet methods and natural ventilation and end-of-task review. Respirable dust measurements indicated a reduction in exposure following training. Consistency in observer ratings and observations support the reliability and validity of the instruments. This approach demonstrated the short-term benefit of training in changing work practices; follow-up is required to determine the long-term impact on changes in work practices, and to evaluate the need for refresher training. PMID:22470296

Interdisciplinary Interactions During R&D and Early Design of Large Engineered Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McGowan, Anna-Maria Rivas

2014-01-01

Designing Large-Scale Complex Engineered Systems (LaCES) such as aircraft and submarines requires the input of thousands of engineers and scientists whose work is proximate in neither time nor space. Comprehensive knowledge of the system is dispersed among specialists whose expertise is in typically one system component or discipline. This study examined the interactive work practices among such specialists seeking to improve engineering practice through a rigorous and theoretical understanding of current practice. This research explored current interdisciplinary practices and perspectives during R&D and early LaCES design and identified why these practices and perspectives prevail and persist. The research design consisted of a three-fold, integrative approach that combined an open-ended survey, semi-structured interviews, and ethnography. Significant empirical data from experienced engineers and scientists in a large engineering organization were obtained and integrated with theories from organization science and engineering. Qualitative analysis was used to obtain a holistic, contextualized understanding. The over-arching finding is that issues related to cognition, organization, and social interrelations mostly dominate interactions across disciplines. Engineering issues, such as the integration of hardware or physics-based models, are not as significant. For example, organization culture is an important underlying factor that guided researchers more toward individual sovereignty over cross-disciplinarity. The organization structure and the engineered system architecture also serve as constraints to the engineering work. Many differences in work practices were observed, including frequency and depth of interactions, definition or co-construction of requirements, clarity or creation of the system architecture, work group proximity, and cognitive challenges. Practitioners are often unaware of these differences resulting in confusion and incorrect assumptions regarding work expectations. Cognitively, the enactment and coconstruction of knowledge are the fundamental tasks of the interdisciplinary interactions. Distributed and collective cognition represent most of the efforts. Argument, ignorance, learning, and creativity are interrelated aspects of the interactions that cause discomfort but yield benefits such as problem mitigation, broader understanding, and improved system design and performance. The quality and quantity of social interrelations are central to all work across disciplines with reciprocity, respectful engagement, and heedful interrelations being significant to the effectiveness of the engineering and scientific work.

Linear-algebraic bath transformation for simulating complex open quantum systems

DOE PAGES

Huh, Joonsuk; Mostame, Sarah; Fujita, Takatoshi; ...

2014-12-02

In studying open quantum systems, the environment is often approximated as a collection of non-interacting harmonic oscillators, a configuration also known as the star-bath model. It is also well known that the star-bath can be transformed into a nearest-neighbor interacting chain of oscillators. The chain-bath model has been widely used in renormalization group approaches. The transformation can be obtained by recursion relations or orthogonal polynomials. Based on a simple linear algebraic approach, we propose a bath partition strategy to reduce the system-bath coupling strength. As a result, the non-interacting star-bath is transformed into a set of weakly coupled multiple parallelmore » chains. Furthermore, the transformed bath model allows complex problems to be practically implemented on quantum simulators, and it can also be employed in various numerical simulations of open quantum dynamics.« less

Innovation in preregistration midwifery education: Web based interactive storytelling learning.

PubMed

Scamell, Mandie; Hanley, Thomas

2017-07-01

through a critical description of the implementation of a web based interactive storytelling learning activity introduced into an undergraduate, preregistration midwifery education programme, this paper will explore how low-cost, low-fidelity online storytelling, designed using Moodle, can be used to enhance students' understanding of compassion and empathy in practice. cross sectional sample of first year undergraduate Midwifery students (n111) METHOD: drawing from both research and audit data collected in an Higher Education Institution in London England, the paper presents the case for using web based technology to create a sustainable model for midwifery education. initial results indicate that it is both the low cost and positive student evaluations of web based interactive storytelling, which make this approach to preregistration midwifery education which suggests that this approach has significant potential for learning and teaching in midwifery education in diverse settings around the world. Or how about: global relevance? . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Video Analysis and Remote Digital Ethnography: Approaches to understanding user perspectives and processes involving healthcare information technology.

PubMed

Kushniruk, Andre W; Borycki, Elizabeth M

2015-01-01

Innovations in healthcare information systems promise to revolutionize and streamline healthcare processes worldwide. However, the complexity of these systems and the need to better understand issues related to human-computer interaction have slowed progress in this area. In this chapter the authors describe their work in using methods adapted from usability engineering, video ethnography and analysis of digital log files for improving our understanding of complex real-world healthcare interactions between humans and technology. The approaches taken are cost-effective and practical and can provide detailed ethnographic data on issues health professionals and consumers encounter while using systems as well as potential safety problems. The work is important in that it can be used in techno-anthropology to characterize complex user interactions with technologies and also to provide feedback into redesign and optimization of improved healthcare information systems.

Importance of direct patient care in advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

PubMed

Rathbun, R Chris; Hester, E Kelly; Arnold, Lindsay M; Chung, Allison M; Dunn, Steven P; Harinstein, Lisa M; Leber, Molly; Murphy, Julie A; Schonder, Kristine S; Wilhelm, Sheila M; Smilie, Kristine B

2012-04-01

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education issued revised standards (Standards 2007) for professional programs leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree in July 2007. The new standards require colleges and schools of pharmacy to provide pharmacy practice experiences that include direct interaction with diverse patient populations. These experiences are to take place in multiple practice environments (e.g., community, ambulatory care, acute care medicine, specialized practice areas) and must include face-to-face interactions between students and patients, and students and health care providers. In 2009, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) identified concerns among their members that training for some students during the fourth year of pharmacy curriculums are essentially observational experiences rather than encounters where students actively participate in direct patient care activities. These ACCP members also stated that there is a need to identify effective mechanisms for preceptors to balance patient care responsibilities with students' educational needs in order to fully prepare graduates for contemporary, patient-centered practice. The 2010 ACCP Educational Affairs Committee was charged to provide recommendations to more effectively foster the integration of pharmacy students into direct patient care activities during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). In this commentary, the benefits to key stakeholders (pharmacy students, APPE preceptors, clerkship sites, health care institutions, academic pharmacy programs) of this approach are reviewed. Recommendations for implementation of direct patient care experiences are also provided, together with discussion of the practical issues associated with delivery of effective APPE. Examples of ambulatory care and acute care APPE models that successfully integrate pharmacy students into the delivery of direct patient care are described. Enabling students to engage in high-quality patient care experiences and to assume responsibility for drug therapy outcomes is achievable in a variety of practice settings. In our opinion, such an approach is mandatory if contemporary pharmacy education is to be successful in producing a skilled workforce capable of affecting drug therapy outcomes. © 2012 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Exploring the contexts of urban science classrooms. Part 2: The emergence of rituals in the learning of science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emdin, Christopher

2007-04-01

In Part 1 of this paper, I described the corporate and communal nature of research, teaching, and learning in urban science classrooms as both a theoretical approach to understanding, and way of viewing practices within these fields. By providing a new approach to theorizing the cultural misalignments that are prevalent in urban schools, I look to provide an informative tool for investigating under-discussed dynamics that impact science teaching and learning. In this body of work, I further expose the nature of the corporate|communal by describing practices that define communal practice. I do so conversant of the fact that synthesizing my previous work on corporate and communal practices necessarily pushes science education researchers and teachers to look for somewhat tactile explications of communal practices. That is to say, if communal practices do exist within the corporate structures of science classrooms, how do they present themselves and how can they be targeted? This paper begins a journey into such a study and focuses on student transactions, fundamental interactions and rituals as a key to redefining and attaining success in urban science classrooms.

New Approach to a Practical Quartz Crystal Microbalance Sensor Utilizing an Inkjet Printing System

PubMed Central

Fuchiwaki, Yusuke; Tanaka, Masato; Makita, Yoji; Ooie, Toshihiko

2014-01-01

The present work demonstrates a valuable approach to developing quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor units inexpensively for reliable determination of analytes. This QCM sensor unit is constructed by inkjet printing equipment utilizing background noise removal techniques. Inkjet printing equipment was chosen as an alternative to an injection pump in conventional flow-mode systems to facilitate the commercial applicability of these practical devices. The results demonstrate minimization of fluctuations from external influences, determination of antigen-antibody interactions in an inkjet deposition, and quantification of C-reactive protein in the range of 50–1000 ng(x000B7)mL−1. We thus demonstrate a marketable application of an inexpensive and easily available QCM sensor system. PMID:25360577

Learning Entrepreneurship with Serious Games--A Classroom Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almeida, Fernando L. F.

2017-01-01

The use of educational games for pedagogical practice can provide new conceptions of teaching-learning in an interactive environment stimulating the acquisition of new knowledge. The so-called serious games are focused on the goal of transmitting educational content or training to the user. In the context of entrepreneurship, serious games appear…

Term Relevance Feedback and Mediated Database Searching: Implications for Information Retrieval Practice and Systems Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spink, Amanda

1995-01-01

This study uses the human approach to examine the sources and effectiveness of search terms selected during 40 mediated interactive database searches and focuses on determining the retrieval effectiveness of search terms identified by users and intermediaries from retrieved items during term relevance feedback. (Author/JKP)

Speaking Correctly: Error Correction as a Language Socialization Practice in a Ukrainian Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedman, Debra A.

2010-01-01

This study uses a language socialization approach to explore the role of Ukrainian language instruction in the revitalization of Ukrainian as the national language. Based on 10 months ethnographic observation and videotaping of classroom interaction in two fifth-grade Ukrainian language and literature classrooms, it focuses on corrective feedback…

The New School Management by Wandering around

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Streshly, William A.; Gray, Susan Penny; Frase, Larry E.

2012-01-01

The topic of management by wandering around is not new, but the authors' approach is fresh and timely. This current rendition based on the original work by Frase and Hetzel gives new and seasoned administrators smart, practical advice about how to "wander around" with purpose and develop a more interactive leadership style. This text cites more…

Accountability in Family Discourse: Socialization into Norms and Standards and Negotiation of Responsibility in Italian Dinner Conversations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sterponi, Laura

2009-01-01

This article explores morality as situated activity and approaches the discursive practice of accountability in Italian family dinner conversations as an avenue for understanding the construction of moral behaviour in everyday interpersonal interaction. The article focuses in particular on "vicarious" accounts, namely accounts, or…

Time Is Precious: Variable- and Event-Centred Approaches to Process Analysis in CSCL Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reimann, Peter

2009-01-01

Although temporality is a key characteristic of the core concepts of CSCL--interaction, communication, learning, knowledge building, technology use--and although CSCL researchers have privileged access to process data, the theoretical constructs and methods employed in research practice frequently neglect to make full use of information relating…

Development of Interactive and Reflective Learning among Malaysian Online Distant Learners: An ESL Instructor's Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murugaiah, Puvaneswary; Thang, Siew Ming

2010-01-01

Technology has brought tremendous advancements in online education, spurring transformations in online pedagogical practices. Online learning in the past was passive, using the traditional teacher-centred approach. However, with the tools available today, it can be active, collaborative, and meaningful. A well-developed task can impel learners to…

Grappling with Distributed Usability: A Cultural-Historical Examination of Documentation Genres Over Four Decades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spinuzzi, Clay

2001-01-01

Describes and illustrates a distributed approach to usability (envisioning usability across the genres, practices, uses, and goals of a given activity) using a four-decade examination of a traffic accident location and analysis system. Uses the theoretical framework of "genre ecologies" to show how communities of users interact with…

Strengthening Reflective Capacity in Skilled Home Visitors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilkerson, Linda; Imberger, Jaci

2016-01-01

This article describes the FAN (Facilitating Attuned Interactions) approach to attunement in relationships and how it serves as a framework for reflective practice in an exemplary home visiting program. The authors highlight the role of the FAN as a tool for "reflection-in-action" and as a guide for "reflection-on-action." The…

Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Diversity in Research and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stockwell, Glenn, Ed.

2012-01-01

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is an approach to teaching and learning languages that uses computers and other technologies to present, reinforce, and assess material to be learned, or to create environments where teachers and learners can interact with one another and the outside world. This book provides a much-needed overview of the…

Staying True to the Core: Designing the Future Academic Library Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Steven J.

2014-01-01

In 2014, the practice of user experience design in academic libraries continues to evolve. It is typically applied in the context of interactions with digital interfaces. Some academic librarians are applying user experience approaches more broadly to design both environments and services with human-centered strategies. As the competition for the…

Content and Language Integrated Learning by Interaction. Fremdsprachendidaktik inhalts-und lernerorientiert. Volume 26

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kupetz, Rita, Ed.; Becker, Carmen, Ed.

2014-01-01

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an established approach to support multilingualism in Europe by teaching various school subjects in an additional language. The practices used, however, vary considerably. Our book considers this diversity by looking at CLIL scenarios, defined as learning environments supporting content learning,…

A Constructivist Approach in a Blended E-Learning Environment for Statistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poelmans, Stephan; Wessa, Patrick

2015-01-01

In this study, we report on the students' evaluation of a self-constructed constructivist e-learning environment for statistics, the compendium platform (CP). The system was built to endorse deeper learning with the incorporation of statistical reproducibility and peer review practices. The deployment of the CP, with interactive workshops and…

Text-Based MOOing in Educational Practice: Experiences of Disinhibition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chester, Andrea

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe educational MOOs--MUD, object-oriented (text-based, network-accessible virtual environments) and explore how teaching and learning in such a context impacts on students' inhibitions. Design/methodology/approach: Students enrolled in a course on the psychology of cyberspace interacted for 12 weeks…

Development of Interactive Multimedia Courseware (e-CRAFT) for Craft Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osman, Salyani; Sahari, Noraidah; Zin, Nor Azan Mat

2012-01-01

The way of teaching and learning traditional crafts have always used traditional apprenticeship learning methods where the expert facilitates transfer of practice skill sets to novices. As a craft has been taught in conventional approach, the students and experts have been facing several problems especially when expert needs to teach a group of…

Affordances for Participation: Children's Appropriation of Rules in a Reggio Emilia School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Cathrin; Evaldsson, Ann-Carita

2012-01-01

This study explores how young children appropriate school rules and what opportunities for active participation are afforded in a Reggio Emilia elementary classroom with particular interest in the interactional and communicative competences children display in situated practice. An ethnographic and microanalytic approach is used to study how the…

The ethics of pharmaceutical research funding: a social organization approach.

PubMed

Gray, Garry C

2013-01-01

This paper advances a social organization approach to examining unethical behavior. While unethical behaviors may stem in part from failures in individual morality or psychological blind spots, they are both generated and performed through social interactions among individuals and groups. To illustrate the value of a social organization approach, a case study of a medical school professor's first experience with pharmaceutical-company-sponsored research is provided in order to examine how funding arrangements can constrain research integrity. The case illustrates three significant ways that institutional corruption can occur in the research process. First, conflicts of norms between pharmaceutical companies, universities, and affiliated teaching hospitals can result in compromises and self-censorship. Second, normal behavior is shaped through routine interactions. Unethical behaviors can be (or can become) normal behaviors when they are produced and reproduced through a network of social interactions. Third, funding arrangements can create networks of dependency that structurally distort the independence of the academic researcher in favor of the funder's interests. More broadly, the case study demonstrates how the social organization approach deepens our understanding of the practice of ethics. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Bridging theory and practice: Mixed methods approach to instruction of law and ethics within the pharmaceutical sciences.

PubMed

Wilby, Kyle John; Nasr, Ziad Ghantous

2016-11-01

Background: Professional responsibilities are guided by laws and ethics that must be introduced and mastered within pharmaceutical sciences training. Instructional design to teaching typically introduces concepts in a traditional didactic approach and requires student memorization prior to application within practice settings. Additionally, many centers rely on best practices from abroad, due to lack of locally published laws and guidance documents. Objectives: The aim of this paper was to summarize and critically evaluate a professional skills laboratory designed to enhance learning through diversity in instructional methods relating to pharmacy law and best practices regarding narcotics, controlled medications, and benzodiazepines. Setting: This study took place within the Professional Skills Laboratory at the College of Pharmacy at Qatar University. Method: A total of 25 students participated in a redesigned laboratory session administered by a faculty member, clinical lecturer, teaching assistant, and a professional skills laboratory technician. The laboratory consisted of eight independent stations that students rotated during the 3-h session. Stations were highly interactive in nature and were designed using non-traditional approaches such as charades, role-plays, and reflective drawings. All stations attempted to have students relate learned concepts to practice within Qatar. Main outcome measures: Student perceptions of the laboratory were measured on a post-questionnaire and were summarized descriptively. Using reflection and consensus techniques, two faculty members completed a SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges) analysis in preparation for future cycles. Results: 100% (25/25) of students somewhat or strongly agreed that their knowledge regarding laws and best practices increased and that their learning experience was enhanced by a mixed-methods approach. A total of 96% (24/25) of students stated that the mixed-methods instructional approach should be continued in the future. The SWOC analysis identified the mixed methods approach and student feedback as strengths and opportunities, while resource shortages and lack of impact assessment were identified as weaknesses and challenges. Conclusion: Creative redesign of instructional methods pertaining to law and best practices was effective to achieve positive student perceptions regarding instructional methods and learning. Future cycles should include rigorous assessment methods to evaluate impact on student learning and practice.

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING, CULTURAL SELF-UNDERSTANDING, AND COMMUNITY SELF-STRENGTHENING.

PubMed

Sparrow, Joshua

2016-11-01

The infant mental health field can amplify its effects when it extends its purview beyond the dyad to the larger contexts in which infants and adult caregivers interact and develop over time. Within health, mental health, education, and other human service organizations, the quality of relationships is a critical variable in the individual-level outcomes that such organizations seek. The goals of this work and the means for accomplishing them are highly dependent on human qualities and interactions that are shaped by organizational processes. In communities, too, processes that shape relationships also strongly influence child-, family-, and community-level outcomes. The Touchpoints approach to reflective practice can guide relational processes among professionals, parents, and infants in organizations and communities that influence these outcomes. © 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Physical activity promotion in general practice--patient attitudes.

PubMed

Elley, Carolyn Raina; Dean, Sarah; Kerse, Ngaire

2007-12-01

Long term adherence to primary care physical activity intervention is poor. This study explored attitudes and subjective experiences of those who received such an intervention. Nested qualitative study within mixed methods approach, involving 15 sedentary adults from urban and rural general practices in New Zealand. Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analysed using an inductive approach to identify themes. Four themes emerged including: tailoring of advice given; barriers to physical activity such as weather, physical environment, time, health and psychological limitations; internal motivators such as immediate or long term psychological, health or spiritual benefits, commitment, and guilt; and the role of significant others such as health and exercise professionals in initiating advice and continuing support, social interaction and commitment or contracts made to others. This study highlights the need for a personalised approach, continued structured external support and the need to focus on barriers and facilitators.

Nutritional strategies to support concurrent training.

PubMed

Perez-Schindler, Joaquin; Hamilton, D Lee; Moore, Daniel R; Baar, Keith; Philp, Andrew

2015-01-01

Concurrent training (the combination of endurance exercise to resistance training) is a common practice for athletes looking to maximise strength and endurance. Over 20 years ago, it was first observed that performing endurance exercise after resistance exercise could have detrimental effects on strength gains. At the cellular level, specific protein candidates have been suggested to mediate this training interference; however, at present, the physiological reason(s) behind the concurrent training effect remain largely unknown. Even less is known regarding the optimal nutritional strategies to support concurrent training and whether unique nutritional approaches are needed to support endurance and resistance exercise during concurrent training approaches. In this review, we will discuss the importance of protein supplementation for both endurance and resistance training adaptation and highlight additional nutritional strategies that may support concurrent training. Finally, we will attempt to synergise current understanding of the interaction between physiological responses and nutritional approaches into practical recommendations for concurrent training.

A practical approach to the assessment of psychosocial and psychiatric comorbidity in the dermatology patient.

PubMed

Gupta, Madhulika A; Gupta, Aditya K

2013-01-01

It is well recognized that the clinical course of many dermatologic disorders is the result of a complex and sometimes reciprocal interaction between biological, psychiatric/psychological, and social factors that can have a predisposing, precipitating, and/or perpetuating role for the dermatologic disorder. Assessment of psychiatric and psychosocial comorbidity, which can be present in up to 30% of dermatology patients, is an important component of the overall clinical evaluation of the patient. This paper discusses a practical approach to the assessment of psychosocial and psychiatric factors, including suicide risk and parasuicidal behaviors in the dermatology patient. The approach further classifies these factors as predisposing, precipitating, and/or perpetuating, in order to aid the clinician with the possible secondary and tertiary prevention of some dermatologic disorders by management of their psychosocial and psychiatric comorbidity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of informal dimensions of safety in high-volume organisational routines: an ethnographic study of test results handling in UK general practice.

PubMed

Grant, Suzanne; Checkland, Katherine; Bowie, Paul; Guthrie, Bruce

2017-04-27

The handling of laboratory, imaging and other test results in UK general practice is a high-volume organisational routine that is both complex and high risk. Previous research in this area has focused on errors and harm, but a complementary approach is to better understand how safety is achieved in everyday practice. This paper ethnographically examines the role of informal dimensions of test results handling routines in the achievement of safety in UK general practice and how these findings can best be developed for wider application by policymakers and practitioners. Non-participant observation was conducted of high-volume organisational routines across eight UK general practices with diverse organisational characteristics. Sixty-two semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the key practice staff alongside the analysis of relevant documents. While formal results handling routines were described similarly across the eight study practices, the everyday structure of how the routine should be enacted in practice was informally understood. Results handling safety took a range of local forms depending on how different aspects of safety were prioritised, with practices varying in terms of how they balanced thoroughness (i.e. ensuring the high-quality management of results by the most appropriate clinician) and efficiency (i.e. timely management of results) depending on a range of factors (e.g. practice history, team composition). Each approach adopted created its own potential risks, with demands for thoroughness reducing productivity and demands for efficiency reducing handling quality. Irrespective of the practice-level approach adopted, staff also regularly varied what they did for individual patients depending on the specific context (e.g. type of result, patient circumstances). General practices variably prioritised a legitimate range of results handling safety processes and outcomes, each with differing strengths and trade-offs. Future safety improvement interventions should focus on how to maximise practice-level knowledge and understanding of the range of context-specific approaches available and the safeties and risks inherent in each within the context of wider complex system conditions and interactions. This in turn has the potential to inform new kinds of proactive, contextually appropriate approaches to intervention development and implementation focusing on the enhanced deliberation of the safety of existing high-volume routines.

[The dialogues between anthropology and health: contributions to public policies].

PubMed

Langdon, Esther Jean

2014-04-01

In order to examine the development of anthropological paradigms and their dialogue with medicine, I divide the discussion into two general, but non-exclusive, approaches: one that focuses on health and disease as social and cultural experience and construction, and another that examines health from an interactional and political perspective. For the first approach, I focus on North American and French theories that find resonance in the anthropological dialogue in Brazil. For the second political approach, the discussion originates in the dialogue among anthropologists in Latin America who have been developing models to contribute to an interdisciplinary approach necessary for health policies and intervention in health. The concepts of practices in self-care and intermedicality, among others, are explored due to their contribution in anthropology to public policies in health. These anthropologists have argued that health practices should be understood through the notions of autonomy, collectivity, agency and praxis, as opposed to the notions of the biomedical perspective characterized as being universalist, biological, individualist and a-historical.

Reflections on using biographical approaches in end-of-life care: dignity therapy as example.

PubMed

Lindqvist, Olav; Threlkeld, Guinever; Street, Annette F; Tishelman, Carol

2015-01-01

The therapeutic potential of nonpharmacologic interventions using biographical approaches at the end of life (EoL) is being increasingly recognized, but less attention is paid to processes impeding realization of this potential. In this article, Swedish and Australian researchers reflect on and problematize experiences using one biographical approach, dignity therapy (DT), in EoL care in Sweden. We use this as an example, focusing on critical examination of the process of applying DT in practice, examining frictions experienced in recruiting participants, collecting the data, and creating a biography. We discuss issues regarding agency, which became evident in the recruitment process and choices made about participation, and the power differentials manifested in the interactive process of eliciting stories and crafting them into a final product. We also raise salient questions about how research and practice with biographical approaches in EoL care might better build on and further existing knowledge to better reflect the complexities of everyday life. © The Author(s) 2014.

Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics.

PubMed

Desjarlais-deKlerk, Kristen; Wallace, Jean E

2013-07-08

Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either instrumental or socioemotional. Instrumental communication refers to "cure-oriented interactions" and tends to be more task-oriented focusing on the patient's health concerns and reason for the appointment. In contrast, socioemotional communication refers to more "care-oriented interactions" that may make the patient feel comfortable, relieve patient anxiety and build a trusting relationship. The physicians in small, rural towns appear to know their patients and their families on a more personal level and outside of their office, and engage in more socioemotional communications compared to those practicing in suburban clinics in a large urban centre. Knowing patients outside the clinic seems to change the nature of the doctor-patient interaction, and, in turn, the doctor-patient relationship itself. Interactions between urban doctors and their patients had a mixture of instrumental and socioemotional communications, while interactions between rural doctors and their patients tended to be highly interpersonal, often involving considerable socioemotional communication and relationship-building. Despite the different ways that doctors and patients communicate with each other in the two settings, rural and urban doctors spend approximately the same amount of time with their patients. Thus, greater use of socioemotional communication by rural doctors, which may ease patient anxiety and increase patient trust, did not appear to add extra time to the patient visit. Research suggests that socioemotional communication may ultimately lead to better patient outcomes, which implies that health differences between rural and urban settings could be linked to differences in doctor-patient communication styles.

Single Event Effects (SEE) Testing: Practical Approach to Test Plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.; Pellish, Jonathan Allen; Berg, Melanie D.

2014-01-01

While standards and guidelines for performing SEE testing have existed for several decades, guidance for developing SEE test plans has not been as easy to find. In this presentation, the variety of areas that need to be considered ranging from resource issues (funds, personnel, schedule) to extremely technical challenges (particle interaction and circuit application), shall be discussed. Note: we consider the approach outlined here as a "living" document: Mission-specific constraints and new technology related issues always need to be taken into account.

Using Social Network Measures in Wildlife Disease Ecology, Epidemiology, and Management

PubMed Central

Silk, Matthew J.; Croft, Darren P.; Delahay, Richard J.; Hodgson, David J.; Boots, Mike; Weber, Nicola; McDonald, Robbie A.

2017-01-01

Abstract Contact networks, behavioral interactions, and shared use of space can all have important implications for the spread of disease in animals. Social networks enable the quantification of complex patterns of interactions; therefore, network analysis is becoming increasingly widespread in the study of infectious disease in animals, including wildlife. We present an introductory guide to using social-network-analytical approaches in wildlife disease ecology, epidemiology, and management. We focus on providing detailed practical guidance for the use of basic descriptive network measures by suggesting the research questions to which each technique is best suited and detailing the software available for each. We also discuss how using network approaches can be used beyond the study of social contacts and across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Finally, we integrate these approaches to examine how network analysis can be used to inform the implementation and monitoring of effective disease management strategies. PMID:28596616

Comparison of thyroid segmentation techniques for 3D ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunderling, T.; Golla, B.; Poudel, P.; Arens, C.; Friebe, M.; Hansen, C.

2017-02-01

The segmentation of the thyroid in ultrasound images is a field of active research. The thyroid is a gland of the endocrine system and regulates several body functions. Measuring the volume of the thyroid is regular practice of diagnosing pathological changes. In this work, we compare three approaches for semi-automatic thyroid segmentation in freehand-tracked three-dimensional ultrasound images. The approaches are based on level set, graph cut and feature classification. For validation, sixteen 3D ultrasound records were created with ground truth segmentations, which we make publicly available. The properties analyzed are the Dice coefficient when compared against the ground truth reference and the effort of required interaction. Our results show that in terms of Dice coefficient, all algorithms perform similarly. For interaction, however, each algorithm has advantages over the other. The graph cut-based approach gives the practitioner direct influence on the final segmentation. Level set and feature classifier require less interaction, but offer less control over the result. All three compared methods show promising results for future work and provide several possible extensions.

To fail is human: remediating remediation in medical education.

PubMed

Kalet, Adina; Chou, Calvin L; Ellaway, Rachel H

2017-12-01

Remediating failing medical learners has traditionally been a craft activity responding to individual learner and remediator circumstances. Although there have been moves towards more systematic approaches to remediation (at least at the institutional level), these changes have tended to focus on due process and defensibility rather than on educational principles. As remediation practice evolves, there is a growing need for common theoretical and systems-based perspectives to guide this work. This paper steps back from the practicalities of remediation practice to take a critical systems perspective on remediation in contemporary medical education. In doing so, the authors acknowledge the complex interactions between institutional, professional, and societal forces that are both facilitators of and barriers to effective remediation practices. The authors propose a model that situates remediation within the contexts of society as a whole, the medical profession, and medical education institutions. They also outline a number of recommendations to constructively align remediation principles and practices, support a continuum of remediation practices, destigmatize remediation, and develop institutional communities of practice in remediation. Medical educators must embrace a responsible and accountable systems-level approach to remediation if they are to meet their obligations to provide a safe and effective physician workforce.

Work-life balance culture, work-home interaction, and emotional exhaustion: a structural equation modeling approach.

PubMed

Nitzsche, Anika; Pfaff, Holger; Jung, Julia; Driller, Elke

2013-01-01

To examine the relationships among employees' emotional exhaustion, positive and negative work-home interaction, and perceived work-life balance culture in companies. Data for this study were collected through online surveys of employees from companies in the micro- and nanotechnology sectors (N = 509). A structural equation modeling analysis was performed. A company culture perceived by employees as supportive of their work-life balance was found to have both a direct negative effect on emotional exhaustion and an indirect negative effect meditated by negative work-home interaction. In addition, whereas negative work-home interaction associated positively with emotional exhaustion, positive work-home interaction had no significant effect. The direct and indirect relationship between work-life balance culture and emotional exhaustion has practical implications for health promotion in companies.

Teaching Through Interactions in Secondary School Classrooms: Revisiting the Factor Structure and Practical Application of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary

PubMed Central

Hafen, Christopher A.; Hamre, Bridget K.; Allen, Joseph P.; Bell, Courtney A.; Gitomer, Drew H.; Pianta, Robert C.

2017-01-01

Valid measurement of how students’ experiences in secondary school classrooms lead to gains in learning requires a developmental approach to conceptualizing classroom processes. This article presents a potentially useful theoretical model, the Teaching Through Interactions framework, which posits teacher-student interactions as a central driver for student learning and that teacher-student interactions can be organized into three major domains. Results from 1,482 classrooms provide evidence for distinct emotional, organizational, and instructional domains of teacher-student interaction. It also appears that a three-factor structure is a better fit to observational data than alternative one- and two-domain models of teacher-student classroom interactions, and that the three-domain structure is generalizable from 6th through 12th grade. Implications for practitioners, stakeholders, and researchers are discussed. PMID:28232770

Interactive Cumulative Burden Assessment: Engaging Stakeholders in an Adaptive, Participatory and Transdisciplinary Approach

PubMed Central

Shrestha, Rehana; van Maarseveen, Martin

2018-01-01

Cumulative burden assessment (CuBA) has the potential to inform planning and decision-making on health disparities related to multiple environmental burdens. However, scholars have raised concerns about the social complexity to be dealt with while conducting CuBA, suggesting that it should be addressed in an adaptive, participatory and transdisciplinary (APT) approach. APT calls for deliberation among stakeholders by engaging them in a process of social learning and knowledge co-production. We propose an interactive stakeholder-based approach that facilitates a science-based stakeholder dialogue as an interface for combining different knowledge domains and engendering social learning in CuBA processes. Our approach allows participants to interact with each other using a flexible and auditable CuBA model implemented within a shared workspace. In two workshops we explored the usefulness and practicality of the approach. Results show that stakeholders were enabled to deliberate on cumulative burdens collaboratively, to learn about the technical uncertainties and social challenges associated with CuBA, and to co-produce knowledge in a realm of both technical and societal challenges. The paper identifies potential benefits relevant for responding to social complexity in the CuBA and further recommends exploration of how our approach can enable or constraint social learning and knowledge co-production in CuBA processes under various institutional, social and political contexts. PMID:29401676

Teaching a Systematic Approach for Transitioning Patients to College: An Interactive Continuing Medical Education Program.

PubMed

Martel, Adele; Derenne, Jennifer; Chan, Vivien

2015-10-01

The purpose of this article is to determine the effectiveness of a hands-on continuing education program for practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAPs) with a focus on best practices in transitioning psychiatric patients to college. The plan was to build on the unique knowledge and skill set of CAPs, use audience and facilitator feedback from prior programs to inform program content, structure, and format, and incorporate findings from the evolving literature. A 3-h interactive workshop was designed with an emphasis on audience participation. The workshop was divided into three main segments: didactics, whole group discussion/brainstorming, and small group discussion of illustrative case vignettes. Improvements and changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to transition planning were identified by program participants. Quantitative feedback in the form of course evaluations, pre- and posttests, and a 6-month follow-up questionnaire indicate that the use of interactive teaching techniques is a productive learning experience for practicing CAPs. Qualitative feedback was that the discussion of the case vignettes was the most helpful. The use of a workshop format is an effective strategy to engage practicing CAPs in learning about and implementing best practices to support the transition of their patients to college and into young adulthood. Comprehensive and proactive transition planning, facilitated by clinicians, should promote the wellness of college-bound patients and help to reduce the potential risks in the setting of an upcoming transition.

Using smart mobile devices in social-network-based health education practice: a learning behavior analysis.

PubMed

Wu, Ting-Ting

2014-06-01

Virtual communities provide numerous resources, immediate feedback, and information sharing, enabling people to rapidly acquire information and knowledge and supporting diverse applications that facilitate interpersonal interactions, communication, and sharing. Moreover, incorporating highly mobile and convenient devices into practice-based courses can be advantageous in learning situations. Therefore, in this study, a tablet PC and Google+ were introduced to a health education practice course to elucidate satisfaction of learning module and conditions and analyze the sequence and frequency of learning behaviors during the social-network-based learning process. According to the analytical results, social networks can improve interaction among peers and between educators and students, particularly when these networks are used to search for data, post articles, engage in discussions, and communicate. In addition, most nursing students and nursing educators expressed a positive attitude and satisfaction toward these innovative teaching methods, and looked forward to continuing the use of this learning approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crafting interactivity for stakeholder engagement: transforming assumptions about communication in science and policy.

PubMed

Aakhus, Mark

2011-11-01

The International Radiation Protection Association's guiding principles for stakeholder engagement focus on fostering, facilitating, and enabling interaction among stakeholders that is inclusive and fosters competent decision making. Implicit in these standards is a call to cultivate knowledge and competence in designing communication for stakeholder engagement among radiation protection professionals. Communication as design is an approach to risk communication in science and policy that differs from, yet complements, the more well-known communication practices of informing and persuading. Design focuses on the recurring practical problem faced by professionals in making communication possible among stakeholders where it has otherwise been difficult, impossible, or even unimagined. The knowledge and competence associated with design involves principles for crafting interactivity across a variety of mediated and non-mediated encounters among stakeholders. Risk communication can be improved by cultivating expertise in scalable communication design that embraces the demands of involvement without abandoning the need for competence in science and policy communication.

Supporting secure programming in web applications through interactive static analysis.

PubMed

Zhu, Jun; Xie, Jing; Lipford, Heather Richter; Chu, Bill

2014-07-01

Many security incidents are caused by software developers' failure to adhere to secure programming practices. Static analysis tools have been used to detect software vulnerabilities. However, their wide usage by developers is limited by the special training required to write rules customized to application-specific logic. Our approach is interactive static analysis, to integrate static analysis into Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and provide in-situ secure programming support to help developers prevent vulnerabilities during code construction. No additional training is required nor are there any assumptions on ways programs are built. Our work is motivated in part by the observation that many vulnerabilities are introduced due to failure to practice secure programming by knowledgeable developers. We implemented a prototype interactive static analysis tool as a plug-in for Java in Eclipse. Our technical evaluation of our prototype detected multiple zero-day vulnerabilities in a large open source project. Our evaluations also suggest that false positives may be limited to a very small class of use cases.

Work and Inter-subjectivity: a theoretical reflection on its dialectics in the field of health and nursing.

PubMed

Carvalho, Brígida Gimenez; Peduzzi, Marina; Mandú, Edir Nei Teixeira; Ayres, José Ricardo de Carvalho Mesquita

2012-01-01

This theoretical reflection intends to show the inter-subjective relationship that takes place in health and nursing practices under the following theoretical perspectives: Institutional Analysis, Psychodynamics of Labor and the Theory of Communicative Action, with an emphasis on the latter. Linking these concepts to the Marxist approach to work in the field of health emerges from recognizing the need for its continuous reconstruction-in this case, with a view to understand the interaction and communication intrinsic to work in action. The theory of Communicative Action seeks to consider these two inextricable dimensions: work as productive action and as interaction. The first corresponds to instrumental action based on technical rules with a production-guided rationale. The second refers to the interaction that takes place as communicative action and seeks understanding among subjects. We assume that adopting this theoretical perspective in the analysis of health and nursing practices opens new possibilities for clarifying its social and historical process and inter-subjective connections.

Supporting secure programming in web applications through interactive static analysis

PubMed Central

Zhu, Jun; Xie, Jing; Lipford, Heather Richter; Chu, Bill

2013-01-01

Many security incidents are caused by software developers’ failure to adhere to secure programming practices. Static analysis tools have been used to detect software vulnerabilities. However, their wide usage by developers is limited by the special training required to write rules customized to application-specific logic. Our approach is interactive static analysis, to integrate static analysis into Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and provide in-situ secure programming support to help developers prevent vulnerabilities during code construction. No additional training is required nor are there any assumptions on ways programs are built. Our work is motivated in part by the observation that many vulnerabilities are introduced due to failure to practice secure programming by knowledgeable developers. We implemented a prototype interactive static analysis tool as a plug-in for Java in Eclipse. Our technical evaluation of our prototype detected multiple zero-day vulnerabilities in a large open source project. Our evaluations also suggest that false positives may be limited to a very small class of use cases. PMID:25685513

AIS and Collision Avoidance a Sense of Déjà Vu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stitt, I. P. A.

2004-05-01

Although AIS is already in use in a range of vessels, there has been little public discussion on how AIS should interact with the COLREGS in practice. The objective of this paper is to make a contribution to that debate, while recognising that “best practice” will evolve as more practical experience is obtained. The paper suggests the approach that should be adopted in several areas, but concludes that, overall, AIS is nothing more than one of several tools that should enable mariners to fulfil their existing obligations under the COLREGS.

Electro-optical and Magneto-optical Sensing Apparatus and Method for Characterizing Free-space Electromagnetic Radiation

DOEpatents

Zhang, Xi-Cheng; Riordan, Jenifer Ann; Sun, Feng-Guo

2000-08-29

Apparatus and methods for characterizing free-space electromagnetic energy, and in particular, apparatus/method suitable for real-time two-dimensional far-infrared imaging applications are presented. The sensing technique is based on a non-linear coupling between a low-frequency electric (or magnetic) field and a laser beam in an electro-optic (or magnetic-optic) crystal. In addition to a practical counter-propagating sensing technique, a co-linear approach is described which provides longer radiated field-optical beam interaction length, thereby making imaging applications practical.

Manufacture of electrical and magnetic graded and anisotropic materials for novel manipulations of microwaves.

PubMed

Grant, P S; Castles, F; Lei, Q; Wang, Y; Janurudin, J M; Isakov, D; Speller, S; Dancer, C; Grovenor, C R M

2015-08-28

Spatial transformations (ST) provide a design framework to generate a required spatial distribution of electrical and magnetic properties of materials to effect manipulations of electromagnetic waves. To obtain the electromagnetic properties required by these designs, the most common materials approach has involved periodic arrays of metal-containing subwavelength elements. While aspects of ST theory have been confirmed using these structures, they are often disadvantaged by narrowband operation, high losses and difficulties in implementation. An all-dielectric approach involves weaker interactions with applied fields, but may offer more flexibility for practical implementation. This paper investigates manufacturing approaches to produce composite materials that may be conveniently arranged spatially, according to ST-based designs. A key aim is to highlight the limitations and possibilities of various manufacturing approaches, to constrain designs to those that may be achievable. The article focuses on polymer-based nano- and microcomposites in which interactions with microwaves are achieved by loading the polymers with high-permittivity and high-permeability particles, and manufacturing approaches based on spray deposition, extrusion, casting and additive manufacture.

Manufacture of electrical and magnetic graded and anisotropic materials for novel manipulations of microwaves

PubMed Central

Grant, P. S.; Castles, F.; Lei, Q.; Wang, Y.; Janurudin, J. M.; Isakov, D.; Speller, S.; Dancer, C.; Grovenor, C. R. M.

2015-01-01

Spatial transformations (ST) provide a design framework to generate a required spatial distribution of electrical and magnetic properties of materials to effect manipulations of electromagnetic waves. To obtain the electromagnetic properties required by these designs, the most common materials approach has involved periodic arrays of metal-containing subwavelength elements. While aspects of ST theory have been confirmed using these structures, they are often disadvantaged by narrowband operation, high losses and difficulties in implementation. An all-dielectric approach involves weaker interactions with applied fields, but may offer more flexibility for practical implementation. This paper investigates manufacturing approaches to produce composite materials that may be conveniently arranged spatially, according to ST-based designs. A key aim is to highlight the limitations and possibilities of various manufacturing approaches, to constrain designs to those that may be achievable. The article focuses on polymer-based nano- and microcomposites in which interactions with microwaves are achieved by loading the polymers with high-permittivity and high-permeability particles, and manufacturing approaches based on spray deposition, extrusion, casting and additive manufacture. PMID:26217051

Quantifying the benefits of a building retrofit using an integrated system approach: A case study

DOE PAGES

Regnier, Cynthia; Sun, Kaiyu; Hong, Tianzhen; ...

2017-11-11

Building retrofits provide a large opportunity to significantly reduce energy consumption in the buildings sector. Traditional building retrofits focus on equipment upgrades, often at the end of equipment life or failure, and result in replacement with marginally improved similar technology and limited energy savings. The Integrated System (IS) retrofit approach enables much greater energy savings by leveraging interactive effects between end use systems, enabling downsized or lower energy technologies. This work presents a case study in Hawaii quantifying the benefits of an IS retrofit approach compared to two traditional retrofit approaches: a Standard Practice of upgrading equipment to meet minimummore » code requirements, and an Improved Practice of upgrading equipment to a higher efficiency. The IS approach showed an energy savings of 84% over existing building energy use, much higher than the traditional approaches of 13% and 33%. The IS retrofit also demonstrated the greatest energy cost savings potential. While the degree of savings realized from the IS approach will vary by building and climate, these findings indicate that savings on the order of 50% and greater are not possible without an IS approach. It is therefore recommended that the IS approach be universally adopted to achieve deep energy savings.« less

Quantifying the benefits of a building retrofit using an integrated system approach: A case study

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

Regnier, Cynthia; Sun, Kaiyu; Hong, Tianzhen

Building retrofits provide a large opportunity to significantly reduce energy consumption in the buildings sector. Traditional building retrofits focus on equipment upgrades, often at the end of equipment life or failure, and result in replacement with marginally improved similar technology and limited energy savings. The Integrated System (IS) retrofit approach enables much greater energy savings by leveraging interactive effects between end use systems, enabling downsized or lower energy technologies. This work presents a case study in Hawaii quantifying the benefits of an IS retrofit approach compared to two traditional retrofit approaches: a Standard Practice of upgrading equipment to meet minimummore » code requirements, and an Improved Practice of upgrading equipment to a higher efficiency. The IS approach showed an energy savings of 84% over existing building energy use, much higher than the traditional approaches of 13% and 33%. The IS retrofit also demonstrated the greatest energy cost savings potential. While the degree of savings realized from the IS approach will vary by building and climate, these findings indicate that savings on the order of 50% and greater are not possible without an IS approach. It is therefore recommended that the IS approach be universally adopted to achieve deep energy savings.« less

Frames of Interaction in Dynamic Assessment: Developmental Diagnoses of Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poehner, Matthew E.; van Compernolle, Remi A.

2011-01-01

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), first proposed by the Russian psychologist L.S. Vygotsky, is frequently cited as the theoretical basis behind Dynamic Assessment (DA). However, this concept has led to varied interpretations and practices in education. This paper outlines readings of the ZPD that motivate many current approaches to DA and…

Good Pharma? How Business Communication Research Can Help Bridge the Gap between Students and Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruyer, Tom; Jacobs, Geert; Vandendaele, Astrid

2016-01-01

This article presents a case-based exploration of the complex interactions between learning, research, and practice in the field of business and professional communication. It focuses on a student research project in the area of corporate social responsibility in the biopharmaceutical industry. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, we aim to…

Learning Through Survival: An Approach to Foreign Language Teaching. A Program Description and Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Travers, Claudia S.; Reilly, Joseph T. M.

A foreign travel program for eighth grade French language students from Shoreham, New York was developed to provide language speaking practice in Quebec, Canada. The program was designed to allow students to spend as much time as possible speaking the language and interacting with the people. The following "survival through speaking"…

Storytelling as Academic Discourse: Bridging the Cultural-Linguistic Divide in the Era of the Common Core

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Ching Ching

2014-01-01

Bakhtin's dialogism provides a sociocultural approach that views language as a social practice informed by the complex interaction between discourse and meaning. Drawing on this theoretical framework, I argue that a dialogized version of storytelling can be helpful in creating a reflective form of academic discourse that bridges the gap between…

Current Practice in Designing Training for Complex Skills: Implications for Design and Evaluation of ADAPT[IT].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eseryel, Deniz; Schuver-van Blanken, Marian J.; Spector, J. Michael

ADAPT[IT] (Advanced Design Approach for Personalized Training-Interactive Tools is a European project coordinated by the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory. The aim of ADAPT[IT] is to create and validate an effective training design methodology, based on cognitive science and leading to the integration of advanced technologies, so that the…

Mediated Learning--The Contributions of Vygotsky and Feuerstein in Theory and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Presseisen, Barbara Z.; Kozulin, Alex

The concept of mediated learning is examined, focusing on the work of L. Vygotsky (1896-1934) and R. Feuerstein (born 1921). Mediated learning is the subtle social interaction between teacher and learner in the enrichment of the student's learning experience. Both theorists take a strong sociological approach to the development of intelligence and…

The "Ethics Committee": A Practical Approach to Introducing Bioethics and Ethical Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodwin, Mark; Kramer, Cas; Cashmore, Annette

2012-01-01

Bioethics is an increasingly important part of the biosciences curriculum at school and in higher education, but few science teachers have much experience of teaching the subject in an engaging or interactive manner. This article sets out a session that allows students to practise the skills of ethical thinking and ethical debate in a relevant…

Technological and Traditional Drawing Approaches Encourage Active Engagement in Histology Classes for Science Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cogdell, Barbara; Torsney, Ben; Stewart, Katherine; Smith, Robert A.

2012-01-01

In order to promote more active engagement of science undergraduates in histology practical classes some technology-based innovations were introduced. First, an interactive pre-lab tutorial was set up using an electronic handset voting system, where guidance on tissue analysis was given. Second, a web-based resource where students could access…

Hearing out Children's Narrative Pathways to Adulthood: Young People as Interpreters of Their Own Childhoods in Diverging Working-Class Scottish Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cross, Beth

2009-01-01

Participatory research with children in the main focuses on short-term interactions. As this practice develops, questions about longer-term consequences for participants have arisen, examining the empowering claims for this research approach. This article reports the findings from continued contact with participants of an ethnographic…

A practical approach for comparing management strategies in complex forest ecosystems using meta-modelling toolkits

Treesearch

Andrew Fall; B. Sturtevant; M.-J. Fortin; M. Papaik; F. Doyon; D. Morgan; K. Berninger; C. Messier

2010-01-01

The complexity and multi-scaled nature of forests poses significant challenges to understanding and management. Models can provide useful insights into process and their interactions, and implications of alternative management options. Most models, particularly scientific models, focus on a relatively small set of processes and are designed to operate within a...

Transforming EFL Classroom Practices and Promoting Students' Empowerment: Collaborative Learning from a Dialogical Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Contreras León, Janeth Juliana; Chapetón Castro, Claudia Marcela

2017-01-01

This study investigates the impact of implementing collaborative learning from a social and dialogical perspective on seventh graders' interaction in an English as a foreign language classroom at a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. Thirty students participated in this action research where field notes, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews,…

On-the-Fly Customization of Automated Essay Scoring. Research Report. ETS RR-07-42

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Attali, Yigal

2007-01-01

Because there is no commonly accepted view of what makes for good writing, automated essay scoring (AES) ideally should be able to accommodate different theoretical positions, certainly at the level of state standards but also perhaps among teachers at the classroom level. This paper presents a practical approach and an interactive computer…

Social Ecological Approaches to Individuals and Their Contexts: Twenty Years of "Health Education & Behavior" Health Promotion Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golden, Shelley D.; Earp, Jo Anne L.

2012-01-01

Social ecological models that describe the interactive characteristics of individuals and environments that underlie health outcomes have long been recommended to guide public health practice. The extent to which such recommendations have been applied in health promotion interventions, however, is unclear. The authors developed a coding system to…

A Bermuda Triangle? A Case Study of the Disappearance of Competence-Based Vocational Training Policy in the Context of Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Inge; Dutson, Judith

1995-01-01

Observations of job training of special needs students were analyzed in terms of operational demands, staffing levels, resources, and trainee interaction. The competence approach often disappeared in the face of more pressing concerns; it serves to legitimate a political response rather than solve an educational problem. (SK)

Optimal Line Length in Reading--A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nanavati, Anuj A.; Bias, Randolph G.

2005-01-01

One of the most important, and most studied, aspects of human perception is the act of reading. Reading has received much attention from researchers, both from a human information processing (HIP) approach and as a common, practical act that needs to be optimized, especially in the realm of human-computer interaction (HCI). One of the text …

A Window into Bilingual Reading: The Bilingual Reading Practices of Fourth-Grade, Mexican American Children Who Are Emergent Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

García, Georgia Earnest; Godina, Heriberto

2017-01-01

A qualitative think-aloud study, informed by social literacies and holistic bilingual perspectives, was conducted to examine how six emergent bilingual, Mexican American, fourth graders approached, interacted with, and comprehended narrative and expository texts in Spanish and English. The children had strong Spanish reading test scores, but…

Linking Past to Present to Create an Image of the Child

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Eileen

2007-01-01

Principles of the Reggio Emilia approach are a catalyst for thinking about practices in early childhood education. Teachers in the child care system of Reggio Emilia encourage us to think about our image of childhood and the ways we interact with children, plan curriculum, and design environments. This article examines experiences in a rural…

Integration of evidence-based practice in bedside teaching paediatrics supported by e-learning.

PubMed

Potomkova, Jarmila; Mihal, Vladimir; Zapletalova, Jirina; Subova, Dana

2010-03-01

Bedside teaching with evidence-based practice elements, supported by e-learning activities, can play an important role in modern medical education. Teachers have to incorporate evidence from the medical literature to increase student motivation and interactivity. An integral part of the medical curricula at Palacky University Olomouc (Czech Republic) are real paediatric scenarios supplemented with a review of current literature to enhance evidence-based bedside teaching & learning. Searching for evidence is taught through librarian-guided interactive hands-on sessions and/or web-based tutorials followed by clinical case presentations and feedback. Innovated EBM paediatric clerkship demonstrated students' preferences towards web-based interactive bedside teaching & learning. In two academic years (2007/2008, 2008/2009), learning-focused feedback from 106 and 131 students, resp. was obtained about their attitudes towards evidence-based bedside teaching. The assessment included among others the overall level of instruction, quality of practical evidence-based training, teacher willingness and impact of instruction on increased interest in the specialty. There was some criticism about excessive workload. A parallel survey was carried out on the perceived values of different forms of information skills training (i.e. demonstration, online tutorials, and librarian-guided interactive search sessions) and post-training self-reported level of search skills. The new teaching/learning paediatric portfolio is a challenge for further activities, including effective knowledge translation, continuing medical & professional development of teachers, and didactic, clinically integrated teaching approaches.

The role of context in preschool learning: a multilevel examination of the contribution of context-specific problem behaviors and classroom process quality to low-income children's approaches to learning.

PubMed

Domínguez, Ximena; Vitiello, Virginia E; Fuccillo, Janna M; Greenfield, Daryl B; Bulotsky-Shearer, Rebecca J

2011-04-01

Research suggests that promoting adaptive approaches to learning early in childhood may help close the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children. Recent research has identified specific child-level and classroom-level variables that are significantly associated with preschoolers' approaches to learning. However, further research is needed to understand the interactive effects of these variables and determine whether classroom-level variables buffer the detrimental effects of child-level risk variables. Using a largely urban and minority sample (N=275) of preschool children, the present study examined the additive and interactive effects of children's context-specific problem behaviors and classroom process quality dimensions on children's approaches to learning. Teachers rated children's problem behavior and approaches to learning and independent assessors conducted classroom observations to assess process quality. Problem behaviors in structured learning situations and in peer and teacher interactions were found to negatively predict variance in approaches to learning. Classroom process quality domains did not independently predict variance in approaches to learning. Nonetheless, classroom process quality played an important role in these associations; high emotional support buffered the detrimental effects of problem behavior, whereas high instructional support exacerbated them. The findings of this study have important implications for classroom practices aimed at helping children who exhibit problem behaviors. Copyright © 2010 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A practical approach to evidence-based dentistry: VIII: How to appraise an article based on a qualitative study.

PubMed

Sale, Joanna E M; Amin, Maryam; Carrasco-Labra, Alonso; Brignardello-Petersen, Romina; Glick, Michael; Guyatt, Gordon H; Azarpazhooh, Amir

2015-08-01

Because of qualitative researchers' abilities to explore social problems and to understand the perspective of patients, qualitative research studies are useful to provide insight about patients' fears, worries, goals, and expectations related to dental care. To benefit fully from such studies, clinicians should be aware of some relevant principles of critical appraisal. In this article, the authors present one approach to critically appraise the evidence from a qualitative research study. Critical appraisal involves assessing whether the results are credible (the selection of participants, research ethics, data collection, data analysis), what are these results, and how they can be applied in clinical practice. The authors also examined how the results could be applied to patient care in terms of offering theory, understanding the context of clinical practice, and helping clinicians understand social interactions in clinical care. By applying these principles, clinicians can consider qualitative studies when trying to achieve the best possible results for their own practices. Copyright © 2015 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Collaborative Falls Prevention: Interprofessional Team Formation, Implementation, and Evaluation.

PubMed

Lasater, Kathie; Cotrell, Victoria; McKenzie, Glenise; Simonson, William; Morgove, Megan W; Long, Emily E; Eckstrom, Elizabeth

2016-12-01

As health care rapidly evolves to promote person-centered care, evidence-based practice, and team-structured environments, nurses must lead interprofessional (IP) teams to collaborate for optimal health of the populations and more cost-effective health care. Four professions-nursing, medicine, social work, and pharmacy-formed a teaching team to address fall prevention among older adults in Oregon using an IP approach. The teaching team developed training sessions that included interactive, evidence-based sessions, followed by individualized team coaching. This article describes how the IP teaching team came together to use a unique cross-training approach to teach each other. They then taught and coached IP teams from a variety of community practice settings to foster their integration of team-based falls-prevention strategies into practice. After coaching 25 teams for a year each, the authors present the lessons learned from the teaching team's formation and experiences, as well as feedback from practice team participants that can provide direction for other IP teams. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(12):545-550. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Environmental justice and health practices: understanding how health inequities arise at the local level.

PubMed

Frohlich, Katherine L; Abel, Thomas

2014-02-01

While empirical evidence continues to show that people living in low socio-economic status neighbourhoods are less likely to engage in health-enhancing behaviour, our understanding of why this is so remains less than clear. We suggest that two changes could take place to move from description to understanding in this field; (i) a move away from the established concept of individual health behaviour to a contextualised understanding of health practices; and (ii) a switch from focusing on health inequalities in outcomes to health inequities in conditions. We apply Pierre Bourdieu's theory on capital interaction but find it insufficient with regard to the role of agency for structural change. We therefore introduce Amartya Sen's capability approach as a useful link between capital interaction theory and action to reduce social inequities in health-related practices. Sen's capability theory also elucidates the importance of discussing unequal chances in terms of inequity, rather than inequality, in order to underscore the moral nature of inequalities. We draw on the discussion in social geography on environmental injustice, which also underscores the moral nature of the spatial distribution of opportunities. The article ends by applying this approach to the 'Interdisciplinary study of inequalities in smoking' framework. © 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Engineers' professional learning: a practice-theory perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2015-07-01

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

The practical epistemologies of the classroom: A study of laboratory work

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wickman, Per-Olof

2004-05-01

The practical epistemologies of university students during laboratory work in chemistry are analyzed to enhance understanding of how teaching practices interact with learners. The purpose is to develop a theoretical framework of learning as action that can be used by educational researchers to examine meaning-making, but also by teachers in close association with their daily work to understand the course learning takes in their own classrooms. Here this framework is adopted to demonstrate how the sequence of learning may affect the subject content learnt. It is also demonstrated how learning can be understood in terms of habits, and how observations of such habits could be used by a teacher to inform her/his teaching. The theory of practical epistemologies is based on the later Wittgenstein, pragmatics, and sociocultural approaches identifying learning with talk, action, and habits situated in practices.

Medical Home Implementation: A Sensemaking Taxonomy of Hard and Soft Best Practices

PubMed Central

Hoff, Timothy

2013-01-01

Context The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of care is currently a central focus of U.S. health system reform, but less is known about the model's implementation in the practice of everyday primary care. Understanding its implementation is key to ensuring the approach's continued support and success nationally. This article addresses this gap through a qualitative examination of the best practices associated with PCMH implementation for older adult patients in primary care. Methods I used a multicase, comparative study design that relied on a sensemaking approach and fifty-one in-depth interviews with physicians, nurses, and clinic support staff working in six accredited medical homes located in various geographic areas. My emphasis was on gaining descriptive insights into the staff's experiences delivering medical home care to older adult patients in particular and then analyzing how these experiences shaped the staff's thinking, learning, and future actions in implementing medical home care. Findings I found two distinct taxonomies of implementation best practices, which I labeled “hard” and “soft” because of their differing emphasis and content. Hard implementation practices are normative activities and structural interventions that align well with existing national standards for medical home care. Soft best practices are more relational in nature and derive from the existing practice social structure and everyday interactions between staff and patients. Currently, external stakeholders are less apt to recognize, encourage, or incentivize soft best practices. Conclusions The results suggest that there may be no standardized, one-size-fits-all approach to making medical home implementation work, particularly for special patient populations such as the elderly. My study also raises the issue of broadening current PCMH assessments and reward systems to include implementation practices that contain heavy social and relational components of care, in addition to the emphasis now placed on building structural supports for medical home work. Further study of these softer implementation practices and a continued call for qualitative methodological approaches that gain insight into everyday practice behavior are warranted. PMID:24320169

Working together. An interdisciplinary approach to dying patients in a palliative care unit.

PubMed

Minetti, Aurora

2011-12-01

Multiprofessional teams have become in recent years one of the distinguishing features of services, where professionals with different competences work together. The core of our interest is addressed to the équipe of a palliative care ward; in particular, to that series of working activities that consists of communicative acts, as équipe meetings, for instance. Our research focuses on the analysis of the process by which the development of knowledge in multiprofessional practice is built to establish more information on recurrent patterns in the interaction and connect them to the specific context that these are shaped by. In this sense we will underline how components of knowing are shared among team members in constructing medical prognosis and we will analyse the connection among language processes, cognitive activities and social structures. More specifically, we will study the role of language and the context in the definition of linguistic acts in cognitive activities and in hierarchies involved in decision-making processes by exploring and pointing out how it is organised and structured. In particular through the study of talk-in-interaction where interchange of information is realised, we will emphasise how, in the multiprofessional équipe meeting, the realisation of practices and the knowledge useful to collaborative management of ward working life are established. To reach this aim, we adopted an ethnographic approach connected to the analysis of the situated interaction.

Practical and generalizable architecture for an intelligent tutoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaplan, Randy M.; Trenholm, Harriet

1993-03-01

In this paper we describe an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) called HYDRIVE (hydraulics interactive video experience). This system is built using several novel approaches to intelligent tutoring. The underlying rationale for HYDRIVE is based on the results of a cognitive task analysis. The reasoning component of the system makes extensive use of a hierarchical knowledge representation. Reasoning within the system is accomplished using a logic-based approach and is linked to a highly interactive interface using multimedia. The knowledge representation contains information that drives the multimedia elements of the system, and the reasoning components select the appropriate information to assess student knowledge or guide the student at any particular moment. As this system will be deployed throughout the Air Force maintenance function, the implementation platform is the IBM PC.

Generic, Type-Safe and Object Oriented Computer Algebra Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kredel, Heinz; Jolly, Raphael

Advances in computer science, in particular object oriented programming, and software engineering have had little practical impact on computer algebra systems in the last 30 years. The software design of existing systems is still dominated by ad-hoc memory management, weakly typed algorithm libraries and proprietary domain specific interactive expression interpreters. We discuss a modular approach to computer algebra software: usage of state-of-the-art memory management and run-time systems (e.g. JVM) usage of strongly typed, generic, object oriented programming languages (e.g. Java) and usage of general purpose, dynamic interactive expression interpreters (e.g. Python) To illustrate the workability of this approach, we have implemented and studied computer algebra systems in Java and Scala. In this paper we report on the current state of this work by presenting new examples.

Characterization of solution-phase drug-protein interactions by ultrafast affinity extraction.

PubMed

Beeram, Sandya R; Zheng, Xiwei; Suh, Kyungah; Hage, David S

2018-03-03

A number of tools based on high-performance affinity separations have been developed for studying drug-protein interactions. An example of one recent approach is ultrafast affinity extraction. This method has been employed to examine the free (or non-bound) fractions of drugs and other solutes in simple or complex samples that contain soluble binding agents. These free fractions have also been used to determine the binding constants and rate constants for the interactions of drugs with these soluble agents. This report describes the general principles of ultrafast affinity extraction and the experimental conditions under which it can be used to characterize such interactions. This method will be illustrated by utilizing data that have been obtained when using this approach to measure the binding and dissociation of various drugs with the serum transport proteins human serum albumin and alpha 1 -acid glycoprotein. A number of practical factors will be discussed that should be considered in the design and optimization of this approach for use with single-column or multi-column systems. Techniques will also be described for analyzing the resulting data for the determination of free fractions, rate constants and binding constants. In addition, the extension of this method to complex samples, such as clinical specimens, will be considered. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Responsive Persistence Part II. Practices of Postmodern Therapists.

PubMed

Sutherland, Olga; Dienhart, Anna; Turner, Jean

2013-10-01

This article, a companion to Part I of this series of articles, discusses how therapists informed by social constructionist and postmodern ideas enact persistence in their work with families. Transcripts and video-recordings of therapy interaction facilitated by selected major champions for three postmodern (collaborative) therapies: Michael White (narrative therapy), Harlene Anderson (collaborative language systems approach), and Bill O'Hanlon (solution-oriented therapy) were examined for persistence practices. The article offers a range of possible ways in which postmodern therapists may enact their influence in facilitating generative and helpful conversations with families and remain responsive to clients' preferences and understandings. Implications for family therapy practice, training, and supervision are discussed. © 2013 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Reflections on an Innovative Approach to Studying Abroad in Nursing.

PubMed

Napolitano, Nancy; Duhamel, Karen V

2017-02-01

Nursing students are largely excluded from travel-abroad studies because of demanding curricula, lack of time, and cost. A poll was conducted and distributed to bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) and master of science in nursing (MSN) students who participated in 8-day observational trips. Questions were framed around the themes of cultural awareness, global health care perspective, translating theory into practice, and personal and professional growth. The results were compared with traditional long-term study-abroad outcomes. Participants reported increased cultural awareness through personal interactions and personal growth through continued reflection. Perceived impact on nursing practice was rated as neutral, but narrative comments implied actual influence on practice.

Systems Engineering and Integration for Technology Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Kruss J.

2006-01-01

The Architecture, Habitability & Integration group (AH&I) is a system engineering and integration test team within the NASA Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) at Johnson Space Center. AH&I identifies and resolves system-level integration issues within the research and technology development community. The timely resolution of these integration issues is fundamental to the development of human system requirements and exploration capability. The integration of the many individual components necessary to construct an artificial environment is difficult. The necessary interactions between individual components and systems must be approached in a piece-wise fashion to achieve repeatable results. A formal systems engineering (SE) approach to define, develop, and integrate quality systems within the life support community has been developed. This approach will allow a Research & Technology Program to systematically approach the development, management, and quality of technology deliverables to the various exploration missions. A tiered system engineering structure has been proposed to implement best systems engineering practices across all development levels from basic research to working assemblies. These practices will be implemented through a management plan across all applicable programs, projects, elements and teams. While many of the engineering practices are common to other industries, the implementation is specific to technology development. An accounting of the systems engineering management philosophy will be discussed and the associated programmatic processes will be presented.

Narrative in interprofessional education and practice: implications for professional identity, provider-patient communication and teamwork.

PubMed

Clark, Phillip G

2014-01-01

Health and social care professionals increasingly use narrative approaches to focus on the patient and to communicate with each other. Both effective interprofessional education (IPE) and practice (IPP) require recognizing the various values and voices of different professions, how they relate to the patient's life story, and how they interact with each other at the level of the healthcare team. This article analyzes and integrates the literature on narrative to explore: self-narrative as an expression of one's professional identity; the co-creation of the patient's narrative by the professional and the patient; and the interprofessional multi-vocal narrative discourse as co-constructed by members of the healthcare team. Using a narrative approach to thinking about professional identity, provider-patient communication, and interprofessional teamwork expands our thinking about both IPE and IPP by providing new insights into the nature of professional practice based on relationships to oneself, the patient, and others on the team. How professionals define themselves, gather and present information from the patient, and communicate as members of a clinical team all have important dimensions that can be revealed by a narrative approach. Implications and conclusions for the further development of the narrative approach in IPE and IPP are offered.

Approach for describing spatial dynamics of quantum light-matter interaction in dispersive dissipative media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zyablovsky, A. A.; Andrianov, E. S.; Nechepurenko, I. A.; Dorofeenko, A. V.; Pukhov, A. A.; Vinogradov, A. P.

2017-05-01

Solving the challenging problem of the amplification and generation of an electromagnetic field in nanostructures enables us to implement many properties of the electromagnetic field at the nanoscale in practical applications. A first-principles quantum-mechanical consideration of such a problem is sufficiently restricted by the exponentially large number of degrees of freedom and does not allow the electromagnetic-field dynamics to be described if it involves a high number of interacting atoms and modes of the electromagnetic field. Conversely, the classical description of electromagnetic fields is incorrect at the nanoscale due to the high level of quantum fluctuations connected to high dissipation and noise levels. In this paper, we develop a framework with a significantly reduced number of degrees of freedom, which describes the quantum spatial dynamics of electromagnetic fields interacting with atoms. As an example, we consider the interaction between atoms placed in a metallic subwavelength groove and demonstrate that a spontaneously excited electromagnetic pulse propagates with the group velocity. The developed approach may be exploited to describe nonuniform amplification and propagation of electromagnetic fields in arbitrary dispersive dissipative systems.

A tutorial platform suitable for surgical simulator training (SimMentor).

PubMed

Røtnes, Jan Sigurd; Kaasa, Johannes; Westgaard, Geir; Eriksen, Eivind Myrold; Hvidsten, Per Oyvind; Strøm, Kyrre; Sørhus, Vidar; Halbwachs, Yvon; Haug, Einar; Grimnes, Morten; Fontenelle, Hugues; Ekeberg, Tom; Thomassen, Jan B; Elle, Ole Jakob; Fosse, Erik

2002-01-01

The introduction of simulators in surgical training entails the need to develop pedagogic platforms adapted to the potentials and limitations provided by the information technology. As a solution to the technical challenges in treating all possible interaction events and to obtain a suitable pedagogic approach, we have developed a pedagogic platform for surgical training, SimMentor. In SimMentor the procedure to be practiced is divided into a number of natural phases. The trainee will practice on one phase at a time, however he can select the sequence of phases arbitrarily. A phase is taught by letting the trainee alternate freely between 2 modes: 1: A 3-dimensional animated guidance designed for learning the objectives and challenges in a procedure. 2: An interactive training session through the instrument manipulator device designed for training motoric responses based on visual and tactile responses produced by the simulator. The two modes are interfaced with the same virtual reality platform, thus SimMentor allows a seamless transition between the modes. We have developed a prototype simulator for robotic assisted endoscopic CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting) procedure by first focusing on the anastomosis part of the operation. Tissue, suture and instrument models have been developed and integrated with a simulated model of a beating heart comprises the elements in the simulator engine that is used in construction a training platform for learning different methods for performing a coronary anastomosis procedure. The platform is designed for integrating the following features: 1) practical approach to handle interactivity events with flexible-objects 3D simulators, 2) methods for quantitative evaluations of performance, 3) didactic presentations, 4) effective ways of producing diversity of clinical and pathological training scenarios.

To belong or not to belong: nursing students' interactions with clinical learning environments - an observational study.

PubMed

Liljedahl, Matilda; Björck, Erik; Kalén, Susanne; Ponzer, Sari; Bolander Laksov, Klara

2016-08-05

Belongingness has been argued to be a prerequisite for students' learning in the clinical setting but making students feel like they belong to the workplace is a challenge. From a sociocultural perspective, workplace participatory practices is a framework that views clinical learning environments to be created in interaction between students and the workplace and hence, are dependent on them both. The aim of this study was to explore the interdependence between affordances and engagement in clinical learning environments. The research question was: How are nursing students influenced in their interactions with clinical learning environments? An observational study with field observations and follow-up interviews was performed. The study setting comprised three academic teaching hospitals. Field observations included shadowing undergraduate nursing students during entire shifts. Fifty-five hours of field observations and ten follow-up interviews with students, supervisors and clinical managers formed the study data. A thematic approach to the analysis was taken and performed iteratively with the data collection. The results revealed that students strived to fill out the role they were offered in an aspirational way but that they became overwhelmed when given the responsibility of care. When students' basic values did not align with those enacted by the workplace, they were not willing to compromise their own values. Workplaces succeeded in inviting students into the community of nurses and the practice of care. Students demonstrated hesitance regarding their desire to belong to the workplace community. The results imply that the challenge for clinical education is not to increase the experience of belongingness but to maintain students' critical and reflective approach to health care practice. Additionally, results suggest students to be included as an important stakeholder in creating clinical learning environments rather than being viewed as consumer of clinical education.

Inferring genetic interactions from comparative fitness data

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Darwinian fitness is a central concept in evolutionary biology. In practice, however, it is hardly possible to measure fitness for all genotypes in a natural population. Here, we present quantitative tools to make inferences about epistatic gene interactions when the fitness landscape is only incompletely determined due to imprecise measurements or missing observations. We demonstrate that genetic interactions can often be inferred from fitness rank orders, where all genotypes are ordered according to fitness, and even from partial fitness orders. We provide a complete characterization of rank orders that imply higher order epistasis. Our theory applies to all common types of gene interactions and facilitates comprehensive investigations of diverse genetic interactions. We analyzed various genetic systems comprising HIV-1, the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium vivax, the fungus Aspergillus niger, and the TEM-family of β-lactamase associated with antibiotic resistance. For all systems, our approach revealed higher order interactions among mutations. PMID:29260711

Inferring genetic interactions from comparative fitness data.

PubMed

Crona, Kristina; Gavryushkin, Alex; Greene, Devin; Beerenwinkel, Niko

2017-12-20

Darwinian fitness is a central concept in evolutionary biology. In practice, however, it is hardly possible to measure fitness for all genotypes in a natural population. Here, we present quantitative tools to make inferences about epistatic gene interactions when the fitness landscape is only incompletely determined due to imprecise measurements or missing observations. We demonstrate that genetic interactions can often be inferred from fitness rank orders, where all genotypes are ordered according to fitness, and even from partial fitness orders. We provide a complete characterization of rank orders that imply higher order epistasis. Our theory applies to all common types of gene interactions and facilitates comprehensive investigations of diverse genetic interactions. We analyzed various genetic systems comprising HIV-1, the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium vivax , the fungus Aspergillus niger , and the TEM-family of β-lactamase associated with antibiotic resistance. For all systems, our approach revealed higher order interactions among mutations.

Object extraction in photogrammetric computer vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayer, Helmut

This paper discusses state and promising directions of automated object extraction in photogrammetric computer vision considering also practical aspects arising for digital photogrammetric workstations (DPW). A review of the state of the art shows that there are only few practically successful systems on the market. Therefore, important issues for a practical success of automated object extraction are identified. A sound and most important powerful theoretical background is the basis. Here, we particularly point to statistical modeling. Testing makes clear which of the approaches are suited best and how useful they are for praxis. A key for commercial success of a practical system is efficient user interaction. As the means for data acquisition are changing, new promising application areas such as extremely detailed three-dimensional (3D) urban models for virtual television or mission rehearsal evolve.

Science education in an urban elementary school: Case studies of teacher beliefs and classroom practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Ken; Shumow, Lee; Lietz, Stephanie

2001-03-01

Through a case study approach, the state of science education in an urban elementary school was examined in detail. Observations made from the perspective of a science education specialist, an educational psychologist, and an expert elementary teacher were triangulated to provide a set of perspectives from which elementary science instruction could be examined. Findings revealed that teachers were more poorly prepared than had been anticipated, both in terms of science content knowledge and instructional skills, but also with respect to the quality of classroom pedagogical and management skills. Particularly significant, from a science education perspective, was the inconsistency between how they perceived their teaching practice (a hands-on, inquiry-based approach) and the investigator-observed expository nature of the lessons. Lessons were typically expository in nature, with little higher-level interaction of significance. Implications for practice and the associated needs for staff development among urban elementary teachers is discussed within the context of these findings.

Interactive Concept of Operations Narrative Simulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denham, Andre R.

2017-01-01

This paper reports on an exploratory design and development project. Specifically this paper discusses the design and development of Interactive Concept of Operations Narrative Simulators (ICONS) as a means of enhancing the functionality of traditional Concept of Operations documents by leveraging the affordances provided by applications commonly used within the Interactive Fiction literary genre. Recommendations for an ICONS design and development methodology, along a detailed description of a practical proof-of-concept ICONS created using this approach are discussed. The report concludes with a discussion of how ICONS can be extended to the K-12 mathematics education domain and conclude with a discussion of how ICONS can be used to assist those involved with strategic planning at Marshall Space Flight Center.

A contemporary examination of workplace learning culture: an ethnomethodology study.

PubMed

Newton, Jennifer M; Henderson, Amanda; Jolly, Brian; Greaves, Judith

2015-01-01

Creating and maintaining a sustainable workforce is currently an international concern. Extensive literature suggest that students and staff need to be 'engaged', that is they need to interact with the health team if they are to maximise learning opportunities. Despite many studies since the 1970s into what creates a 'good' learning environment, ongoing issues continue to challenge healthcare organisations and educators. A 'good' learning environment has been an intangible element for many professions as learning is hindered by the complexity of practice and by limitations on practitioners' time available to assist and guide novices. This study sought to explore the nature of the learning interactions and experiences in clinical nursing practice that enhance a 'good' workplace learning culture for both nursing students and qualified nurses. An ethnomethodology study. A range of clinical settings in Victoria and Queensland, Australia. Students and registered nurses (n=95). Fieldwork observations were carried out on student nurses and registered nurses, followed by an individual interview with each participant. An iterative approach to analysis was undertaken; field notes of observations were reviewed, interviews transcribed verbatim and entered into NVivo10. Major themes were then extracted. Three central themes: learning by doing, navigating through communication, and 'entrustability', emerged providing insights into common practices potentially enhancing or detracting from learning in the workplace. Students' and registered nurses' learning is constrained by a myriad of interactions and embedded workplace practices, which can either enhance the individual's opportunities for learning or detract from the richness of affordances that healthcare workplace settings have to offer. Until the culture/or routine practices of the healthcare workplace are challenged, the trust and meaningful communication essential to learning in practice, will be achievable only serendipitously. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An optimized web-based approach for collaborative stereoscopic medical visualization

PubMed Central

Kaspar, Mathias; Parsad, Nigel M; Silverstein, Jonathan C

2013-01-01

Objective Medical visualization tools have traditionally been constrained to tethered imaging workstations or proprietary client viewers, typically part of hospital radiology systems. To improve accessibility to real-time, remote, interactive, stereoscopic visualization and to enable collaboration among multiple viewing locations, we developed an open source approach requiring only a standard web browser with no added client-side software. Materials and Methods Our collaborative, web-based, stereoscopic, visualization system, CoWebViz, has been used successfully for the past 2 years at the University of Chicago to teach immersive virtual anatomy classes. It is a server application that streams server-side visualization applications to client front-ends, comprised solely of a standard web browser with no added software. Results We describe optimization considerations, usability, and performance results, which make CoWebViz practical for broad clinical use. We clarify technical advances including: enhanced threaded architecture, optimized visualization distribution algorithms, a wide range of supported stereoscopic presentation technologies, and the salient theoretical and empirical network parameters that affect our web-based visualization approach. Discussion The implementations demonstrate usability and performance benefits of a simple web-based approach for complex clinical visualization scenarios. Using this approach overcomes technical challenges that require third-party web browser plug-ins, resulting in the most lightweight client. Conclusions Compared to special software and hardware deployments, unmodified web browsers enhance remote user accessibility to interactive medical visualization. Whereas local hardware and software deployments may provide better interactivity than remote applications, our implementation demonstrates that a simplified, stable, client approach using standard web browsers is sufficient for high quality three-dimensional, stereoscopic, collaborative and interactive visualization. PMID:23048008

Simplifying the interaction between cognitive models and task environments with the JSON Network Interface.

PubMed

Hope, Ryan M; Schoelles, Michael J; Gray, Wayne D

2014-12-01

Process models of cognition, written in architectures such as ACT-R and EPIC, should be able to interact with the same software with which human subjects interact. By eliminating the need to simulate the experiment, this approach would simplify the modeler's effort, while ensuring that all steps required of the human are also required by the model. In practice, the difficulties of allowing one software system to interact with another present a significant barrier to any modeler who is not also skilled at this type of programming. The barrier increases if the programming language used by the modeling software differs from that used by the experimental software. The JSON Network Interface simplifies this problem for ACT-R modelers, and potentially, modelers using other systems.

Understanding Providers' Interaction with Graphical User Interface Pertaining to Clinical Document Usage in an Electronic Health Record System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rizvi, Rubina Fatima

2017-01-01

Despite high Electronic Health Record (EHR) system adoption rates by hospital and office-based practices, many users remain highly dissatisfied with the current state of EHRs. Sub-optimal EHR usability as a result of insufficient incorporation of User-Centered Design (UCD) approach during System Development Life Cycle process (SDLC) is considered…

The Inclusion of Children with Special Educational Needs in an Intensive French as a Second-Language Program: From Theory to Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joy, Rhonda; Murphy, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

This paper portrays the activity system of eight classes of Grade 6 children with special educational needs in an Intensive French as a second-language education program. Classroom norms and tools reflected a social-interactionist and social-constructivist approach with scaffolding, social interaction, multiple modes of representing, holistic,…

Constructive Readings of Interactive Episodes: Examining Ethics in Physical Education from a Social Constructionist Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Dean M.; Barker-Ruchti, Natalie; Puhse, Uwe

2013-01-01

In this paper we illustrate how ways of thinking about ethics are tied up with sport and physical education practice and introduce an alternative approach that can help to develop ethical pedagogies. We begin by locating socio-moral education in physical education within historical and contemporary pedagogical scholarship. Our argument is that the…

Experience, Trajectories, and Reifications: An Emerging Framework of Practice-Based Learning in Healthcare Workplaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teunissen, Pim W.

2015-01-01

Learning by working is omnipresent in healthcare education. It enables people to learn how to perform, think, and interact in ways that work for their specific context. In this paper, I review my approach to studying this process. It centers on the question why healthcare professionals do what they do and how their actions and learning are…

A Comparative Study of the Attitude, Concern, and Interaction Levels of Elementary School Teachers and Teacher Candidates towards Inclusive Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gokdere, Murat

2012-01-01

Inclusion is an educational approach providing students with special needs with education in normal classrooms, which is the least restrictive educational environment for them by offering the necessary services for full time or part time. Although the necessary laws and regulations appear to execute this inclusive practice properly in Turkey,…

Mixing Face-to-Face and Online Interactions in a Leadership Development Programme: A Blended Action Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thornton, Kate; Yoong, Pak

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research was to explore the use of ICT to support leadership learning within an education context. Leadership development opportunities that encourage reflection, the development of self-awareness, the sharing of practice, and that support the transfer of learning back to the workplace are challenging to fit into the life of…

Questioning the answer: questioning style, choice and self-determination in interactions with young people with intellectual disabilities*

PubMed Central

Pilnick, Alison; Clegg, Jennifer; Murphy, Elizabeth; Almack, Kathryn

2010-01-01

For young people with intellectual disabilities (ID), the transition from children's to adult services has long been recognised as a challenging move. One of the aims of the White Paper Valuing People (2001) was to address some of the problems associated with this transition. This paper reports on data from a project which examines the impact of these service changes, and the ways in which transition is negotiated by carers, professionals and users. It presents a conversation analysis of eight tape-recorded formal review meetings at which transition to adult services is discussed. It takes as its starting point the existing interactional work on ID and the way in which this demonstrates the effects of the local and contextual specifics of particular kinds of interaction on the eventual outcomes (e.g. Rapley 2004, Antaki 2001, Maynard and Marlaire 1992). We show that an attempt to allow self-determination in the context of transitions can paradoxically result in undermining user choice and control. We also argue that, while a rule-based approach to practice may offer moral clarity for professionals, it can result in interactional and practical difficulties which cannot be easily reconciled. PMID:20415789

Interdisciplinary Concepts for Design and Implementation of Mixed Reality Interactive Neurorehabilitation Systems for Stroke

PubMed Central

Lehrer, Nicole; Duff, Margaret; Venkataraman, Vinay; Turaga, Pavan; Ingalls, Todd; Rymer, W. Zev; Wolf, Steven L.; Rikakis, Thanassis

2015-01-01

Interactive neurorehabilitation (INR) systems provide therapy that can evaluate and deliver feedback on a patient's movement computationally. There are currently many approaches to INR design and implementation, without a clear indication of which methods to utilize best. This article presents key interactive computing, motor learning, and media arts concepts utilized by an interdisciplinary group to develop adaptive, mixed reality INR systems for upper extremity therapy of patients with stroke. Two INR systems are used as examples to show how the concepts can be applied within: (1) a small-scale INR clinical study that achieved integrated improvement of movement quality and functionality through continuously supervised therapy and (2) a pilot study that achieved improvement of clinical scores with minimal supervision. The notion is proposed that some of the successful approaches developed and tested within these systems can form the basis of a scalable design methodology for other INR systems. A coherent approach to INR design is needed to facilitate the use of the systems by physical therapists, increase the number of successful INR studies, and generate rich clinical data that can inform the development of best practices for use of INR in physical therapy. PMID:25425694

Interdisciplinary concepts for design and implementation of mixed reality interactive neurorehabilitation systems for stroke.

PubMed

Baran, Michael; Lehrer, Nicole; Duff, Margaret; Venkataraman, Vinay; Turaga, Pavan; Ingalls, Todd; Rymer, W Zev; Wolf, Steven L; Rikakis, Thanassis

2015-03-01

Interactive neurorehabilitation (INR) systems provide therapy that can evaluate and deliver feedback on a patient's movement computationally. There are currently many approaches to INR design and implementation, without a clear indication of which methods to utilize best. This article presents key interactive computing, motor learning, and media arts concepts utilized by an interdisciplinary group to develop adaptive, mixed reality INR systems for upper extremity therapy of patients with stroke. Two INR systems are used as examples to show how the concepts can be applied within: (1) a small-scale INR clinical study that achieved integrated improvement of movement quality and functionality through continuously supervised therapy and (2) a pilot study that achieved improvement of clinical scores with minimal supervision. The notion is proposed that some of the successful approaches developed and tested within these systems can form the basis of a scalable design methodology for other INR systems. A coherent approach to INR design is needed to facilitate the use of the systems by physical therapists, increase the number of successful INR studies, and generate rich clinical data that can inform the development of best practices for use of INR in physical therapy. © 2015 American Physical Therapy Association.

A relational approach to health practices: towards transcending the agency-structure divide.

PubMed

Veenstra, Gerry; Burnett, Patrick John

2014-02-01

Many health scholars find that Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice leaves too little room for individual agency. We contend that, by virtue of its relational, field-theoretic underpinnings, the idea of leaving room for agency in Bourdieu's theory of practice is misguided. With agency manifested in interactions and social structures consisting of relations built upon relations, the stark distinction between agency and structure inherent to substantialist thinking is undermined, even dissolved, in a relational field-theoretic context. We also contend that, when treated as relationally bound phenomena, Bourdieu's notions of habitus, doxa, capital and field illuminate creative, adaptive and future-looking practices. We conclude by discussing difficulties inherent to implementing a relational theory of practice in health promotion and public health. © 2014 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2014 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Virtual reality and robotics for stroke rehabilitation: where do we go from here?

PubMed

Wade, Eric; Winstein, Carolee J

2011-01-01

Promoting functional recovery after stroke requires collaborative and innovative approaches to neurorehabilitation research. Task-oriented training (TOT) approaches that include challenging, adaptable, and meaningful activities have led to successful outcomes in several large-scale multisite definitive trials. This, along with recent technological advances of virtual reality and robotics, provides a fertile environment for furthering clinical research in neurorehabilitation. Both virtual reality and robotics make use of multimodal sensory interfaces to affect human behavior. In the therapeutic setting, these systems can be used to quantitatively monitor, manipulate, and augment the users' interaction with their environment, with the goal of promoting functional recovery. This article describes recent advances in virtual reality and robotics and the synergy with best clinical practice. Additionally, we describe the promise shown for automated assessments and in-home activity-based interventions. Finally, we propose a broader approach to ensuring that technology-based assessment and intervention complement evidence-based practice and maintain a patient-centered perspective.

Gaussian Processes for Data-Efficient Learning in Robotics and Control.

PubMed

Deisenroth, Marc Peter; Fox, Dieter; Rasmussen, Carl Edward

2015-02-01

Autonomous learning has been a promising direction in control and robotics for more than a decade since data-driven learning allows to reduce the amount of engineering knowledge, which is otherwise required. However, autonomous reinforcement learning (RL) approaches typically require many interactions with the system to learn controllers, which is a practical limitation in real systems, such as robots, where many interactions can be impractical and time consuming. To address this problem, current learning approaches typically require task-specific knowledge in form of expert demonstrations, realistic simulators, pre-shaped policies, or specific knowledge about the underlying dynamics. In this paper, we follow a different approach and speed up learning by extracting more information from data. In particular, we learn a probabilistic, non-parametric Gaussian process transition model of the system. By explicitly incorporating model uncertainty into long-term planning and controller learning our approach reduces the effects of model errors, a key problem in model-based learning. Compared to state-of-the art RL our model-based policy search method achieves an unprecedented speed of learning. We demonstrate its applicability to autonomous learning in real robot and control tasks.

Understanding the value of mixed methods research: the Children’s Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services

PubMed Central

Hansen, Matthew; O’Brien, Kerth; Meckler, Garth; Chang, Anna Marie; Guise, Jeanne-Marie

2016-01-01

Mixed methods research has significant potential to broaden the scope of emergency care and specifically emergency medical services investigation. Mixed methods studies involve the coordinated use of qualitative and quantitative research approaches to gain a fuller understanding of practice. By combining what is learnt from multiple methods, these approaches can help to characterise complex healthcare systems, identify the mechanisms of complex problems such as medical errors and understand aspects of human interaction such as communication, behaviour and team performance. Mixed methods approaches may be particularly useful for out-of-hospital care researchers because care is provided in complex systems where equipment, interpersonal interactions, societal norms, environment and other factors influence patient outcomes. The overall objectives of this paper are to (1) introduce the fundamental concepts and approaches of mixed methods research and (2) describe the interrelation and complementary features of the quantitative and qualitative components of mixed methods studies using specific examples from the Children’s Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services (CSI-EMS), a large National Institutes of Health-funded research project conducted in the USA. PMID:26949970

New User-Friendly Approach to Obtain an Eisenberg Plot and Its Use as a Practical Tool in Protein Sequence Analysis

PubMed Central

Keller, Rob C.A.

2011-01-01

The Eisenberg plot or hydrophobic moment plot methodology is one of the most frequently used methods of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is more and more recognized as a helpful tool in Life Sciences in general, and recent developments in approaches recognizing lipid binding regions in proteins are promising in this respect. In this study a bioinformatics approach specialized in identifying lipid binding helical regions in proteins was used to obtain an Eisenberg plot. The validity of the Heliquest generated hydrophobic moment plot was checked and exemplified. This study indicates that the Eisenberg plot methodology can be transferred to another hydrophobicity scale and renders a user-friendly approach which can be utilized in routine checks in protein–lipid interaction and in protein and peptide lipid binding characterization studies. A combined approach seems to be advantageous and results in a powerful tool in the search of helical lipid-binding regions in proteins and peptides. The strength and limitations of the Eisenberg plot approach itself are discussed as well. The presented approach not only leads to a better understanding of the nature of the protein–lipid interactions but also provides a user-friendly tool for the search of lipid-binding regions in proteins and peptides. PMID:22016610

New user-friendly approach to obtain an Eisenberg plot and its use as a practical tool in protein sequence analysis.

PubMed

Keller, Rob C A

2011-01-01

The Eisenberg plot or hydrophobic moment plot methodology is one of the most frequently used methods of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is more and more recognized as a helpful tool in Life Sciences in general, and recent developments in approaches recognizing lipid binding regions in proteins are promising in this respect. In this study a bioinformatics approach specialized in identifying lipid binding helical regions in proteins was used to obtain an Eisenberg plot. The validity of the Heliquest generated hydrophobic moment plot was checked and exemplified. This study indicates that the Eisenberg plot methodology can be transferred to another hydrophobicity scale and renders a user-friendly approach which can be utilized in routine checks in protein-lipid interaction and in protein and peptide lipid binding characterization studies. A combined approach seems to be advantageous and results in a powerful tool in the search of helical lipid-binding regions in proteins and peptides. The strength and limitations of the Eisenberg plot approach itself are discussed as well. The presented approach not only leads to a better understanding of the nature of the protein-lipid interactions but also provides a user-friendly tool for the search of lipid-binding regions in proteins and peptides.

The Interactive Approach in the Teaching of Mathematical Methods in Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vassileva, Radost I.

2007-04-01

Traditional pedagogical practice is mainly directed towards the implementation of obligatory syllabuses, transfer of knowledge, formation of skills and habits in students. It is authoritative and imperative in its essence. Modern educational tendencies impose the promotion of a pedagogical process which is oriented towards the individual. The young person should enjoy a new atmosphere - creative, interesting, meaningful, and it should be based on self-cognition and the life-long emotional and intellectual development of the individual. The article discusses certain opportunities for the realization of interactive pedagogical communication within the framework of a specific university subject studied by physics majors.

Human-computer interaction in multitask situations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rouse, W. B.

1977-01-01

Human-computer interaction in multitask decisionmaking situations is considered, and it is proposed that humans and computers have overlapping responsibilities. Queueing theory is employed to model this dynamic approach to the allocation of responsibility between human and computer. Results of simulation experiments are used to illustrate the effects of several system variables including number of tasks, mean time between arrivals of action-evoking events, human-computer speed mismatch, probability of computer error, probability of human error, and the level of feedback between human and computer. Current experimental efforts are discussed and the practical issues involved in designing human-computer systems for multitask situations are considered.

Social interaction in management group meetings: a case study of Finnish hospital.

PubMed

Laapotti, Tomi; Mikkola, Leena

2016-06-20

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of management group meetings (MGMs) in hospital organization by examining the social interaction in these meetings. Design/methodology/approach - This case study approaches social interaction from a structuration point of view. Social network analysis and qualitative content analysis are applied. Findings - The findings show that MGMs are mainly forums for information sharing. Meetings are not held for problem solving or decision making, and operational coordinating is limited. Meeting interaction is very much focused on the chair, and most of the discussion takes place between the chair and one other member, not between members. The organizational structures are maintained and reproduced in the meeting interaction, and they appear to limit discussion. Meetings appear to fulfil their goals as a part of the organization's information structure and to some extent as an instrument for management. The significance of the relational side of MGMs was recognized. Research limitations/implications - The results of this study provide a basis for future research on hospital MGMs with wider datasets and other methodologies. Especially the relational role of MGMs needs more attention. Practical implications - The goals of MGMs should be reviewed and MG members should be made aware of meeting interaction structures. Originality/value - The paper provides new knowledge about interaction networks in hospital MGMs, and describes the complexity of the importance of MGMs for hospitals.

Marketing and the Most Trusted Profession: The Invisible Interactions Between Registered Nurses and Industry.

PubMed

Grundy, Quinn; Bero, Lisa A; Malone, Ruth E

2016-06-07

The mainstay for addressing conflicts of interest in health care is disclosure of personal financial ties to industry. However, this approach fails to capture the complexity of industry interactions that are built into clinical practice. Further, the policy climate focuses on physicians and traditional pharmaceutical marketing. To describe industry activities targeted at registered nurses. Qualitative, ethnographic study conducted from January 2012 to October 2014. Four acute care hospitals in a western U.S. city. A purposive sample of 72 participants with direct experience with industry, including staff nurses, administrators, and industry and supply chain professionals. Fieldwork, including observations (102 hours), semistructured in-depth interviews (n = 51), focus groups (n = 4), and documents analysis. Nurses' reported financial relationships with industry were similar to those reported by prescribers. However, nurses reported that their most significant interactions with industry occurred in daily practice. The current policy environment rendered these interactions invisible, leaving nurses with little guidance to ensure that the boundary between service and sales remained intact. This study could not determine the frequency or prevalence of nurse-industry interactions. The sample is not representative. Nurse-industry interactions may be common and influential, but they remain invisible in the current policy climate. Although some aspects of these interactions may be beneficial, others may pose financial risks to hospitals or safety risks to patients. Disclosure strategies alone do not provide health professionals with adequate support to manage day-to-day interactions. Management of industry interactions must include guidance for nurses. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Canadian Institutes of Health Research; and University of California, San Francisco.

Systems medicine: a new approach to clinical practice.

PubMed

Cardinal-Fernández, Pablo; Nin, Nicolás; Ruíz-Cabello, Jesús; Lorente, José A

2014-10-01

Most respiratory diseases are considered complex diseases as their susceptibility and outcomes are determined by the interaction between host-dependent factors (genetic factors, comorbidities, etc.) and environmental factors (exposure to microorganisms or allergens, treatments received, etc.) The reductionist approach in the study of diseases has been of fundamental importance for the understanding of the different components of a system. Systems biology or systems medicine is a complementary approach aimed at analyzing the interactions between the different components within one organizational level (genome, transcriptome, proteome), and then between the different levels. Systems medicine is currently used for the interpretation and understanding of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of different diseases, biomarker discovery, design of innovative therapeutic targets, and the drawing up of computational models for different biological processes. In this review we discuss the most relevant concepts of the theory underlying systems medicine, as well as its applications in the various biological processes in humans. Copyright © 2013 SEPAR. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Building the U.S. First Offshore Wind Farm-Applying EBM Approaches to Successfully Address Offshore Energy, Commercial Fisheries, and Recreational Boating interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipsky, A.

2016-12-01

In August 2015 construction commenced on the Block Island Wind Farm, the first offshore wind energy project in the U.S. This pilot-scale offshore energy project, located 18 miles offshore of the Rhode Island mainland, was sited through a comprehensive ocean planning process. As the project progressed into design and construction, our team utilized potent ecosystem based management approaches to great advantage to address the human and resource interactions that existed in the project area. These practices have included designing and executing collaborative long-term monitoring ventures to fill key science gaps and reconcile fisheries concerns, establishing effective industry to industry engagement, and developing durable multi-sector agreements. This presentation will describe the specific EBM approaches used after the planning process was completed to bring the project to construction; highlighting where key aspects of the National Ocean Policy goals and principles have been successfully applied.

Building the U.S. First Offshore Wind Farm-Applying EBM Approaches to Successfully Address Offshore Energy, Commercial Fisheries, and Recreational Boating interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipsky, A.

2016-02-01

In August 2015 construction commenced on the Block Island Wind Farm, the first offshore wind energy project in the U.S. This pilot-scale offshore energy project, located 18 miles offshore of the Rhode Island mainland, was sited through a comprehensive ocean planning process. As the project progressed into design and construction, our team utilized potent ecosystem based management approaches to great advantage to address the human and resource interactions that existed in the project area. These practices have included designing and executing collaborative long-term monitoring ventures to fill key science gaps and reconcile fisheries concerns, establishing effective industry to industry engagement, and developing durable multi-sector agreements. This presentation will describe the specific EBM approaches used after the planning process was completed to bring the project to construction; highlighting where key aspects of the National Ocean Policy goals and principles have been successfully applied.

The interactive use of networking multimedia--innovative education resource for professionals and patients.

PubMed

Matthies, H K; Walter, G F; Brandis, A; Stan, A C; Ammann, A; von Jan, U; Porth, A J

1999-01-01

The combination of new and rapidly developing interactive multimedia computers and applications with electronic networks will require a restructuring of our traditional approach to strategic planning and organizational structure. Worldwide telecommunication networks (using satellites, cable) are now facilitating the global pooling of healthcare information and medical knowledge independent of location. The development of multimedia information and communication systems demands cooperative working teams of authors, who are able to master several areas of medical knowledge as well as the presentation of these in different multimedia forms. The assemblage of telematics and services offers a base for multimedia applications, for example teleteaching, telelearning, telepublishing, teleconsulting, teleconferencing, telemedicine etc. The expansion of the internet will also lead to the formation of interdisciplinary "Global Education Networks". The theory and practice of education are undergoing dramatic changes. Lifelong learning and adaptation of medical practice to new knowledge and new techniques will be even more important in the future.

Traditional Knowledge of Western Herbal Medicine and Complex Systems Science

PubMed Central

Niemeyer, Kathryn; Bell, Iris R.; Koithan, Mary

2013-01-01

Traditional knowledge of Western herbal medicine (WHM) supports experiential approaches to healing that have evolved over time. This is evident in the use of polyherb formulations comprised of crude plant parts, individually tailored to treat the cause of dysfunction and imbalance by addressing the whole person holistically. The challenge for WHM is to integrate science with traditional knowledge that is a foundation of the practice of WHM. The purpose of this paper is to provide a plausible theoretical hypothesis by applying complex systems science to WHM, illustrating how medicinal plants are complex, adaptive, environmentally interactive systems exhibiting synergy and nonlinear healing causality. This paper explores the conceptual congruence between medicinal plants and humans as complex systems coherently coupled through recurrent interaction. Complex systems science provides the theoretical tenets that explain traditional knowledge of medicinal plants while supporting clinical practice and expanding research and documentation of WHM. PMID:24058898

Traditional Knowledge of Western Herbal Medicine and Complex Systems Science.

PubMed

Niemeyer, Kathryn; Bell, Iris R; Koithan, Mary

2013-09-01

Traditional knowledge of Western herbal medicine (WHM) supports experiential approaches to healing that have evolved over time. This is evident in the use of polyherb formulations comprised of crude plant parts, individually tailored to treat the cause of dysfunction and imbalance by addressing the whole person holistically. The challenge for WHM is to integrate science with traditional knowledge that is a foundation of the practice of WHM. The purpose of this paper is to provide a plausible theoretical hypothesis by applying complex systems science to WHM, illustrating how medicinal plants are complex, adaptive, environmentally interactive systems exhibiting synergy and nonlinear healing causality. This paper explores the conceptual congruence between medicinal plants and humans as complex systems coherently coupled through recurrent interaction. Complex systems science provides the theoretical tenets that explain traditional knowledge of medicinal plants while supporting clinical practice and expanding research and documentation of WHM.

Science diplomacy: Investigating the perspective of scholars on politics-science collaboration in international affairs.

PubMed

Fähnrich, Birte

2017-08-01

Science diplomacy is a widely practiced area of international affairs, but academic research is rather sparse. The role of academia within this field of politics-science interaction has hardly been considered. This article analyzes this scholarly perspective: Based on a literature review, a case study of a German science diplomacy program is used to explore objectives, benefits, and constraints of science diplomacy for participating scholars. While political approaches suggest an ideal world where both sides profit from the collaboration, the findings of the case study point to another conclusion which shows that the interaction of scholars and officials in science diplomacy is far more complex. Thus, the contribution is regarded as both a useful starting point for further research and for a critical reflection of academics and politicians in science diplomacy practice to gauge what can be expected from the collaboration and what cannot.

Dramatic action: A theater-based paradigm for analyzing human interactions

PubMed Central

Raindel, Noa; Alon, Uri

2018-01-01

Existing approaches to describe social interactions consider emotional states or use ad-hoc descriptors for microanalysis of interactions. Such descriptors are different in each context thereby limiting comparisons, and can also mix facets of meaning such as emotional states, short term tactics and long-term goals. To develop a systematic set of concepts for second-by-second social interactions, we suggest a complementary approach based on practices employed in theater. Theater uses the concept of dramatic action, the effort that one makes to change the psychological state of another. Unlike states (e.g. emotions), dramatic actions aim to change states; unlike long-term goals or motivations, dramatic actions can last seconds. We defined a set of 22 basic dramatic action verbs using a lexical approach, such as ‘to threaten’–the effort to incite fear, and ‘to encourage’–the effort to inspire hope or confidence. We developed a set of visual cartoon stimuli for these basic dramatic actions, and find that people can reliably and reproducibly assign dramatic action verbs to these stimuli. We show that each dramatic action can be carried out with different emotions, indicating that the two constructs are distinct. We characterized a principal valence axis of dramatic actions. Finally, we re-analyzed three widely-used interaction coding systems in terms of dramatic actions, to suggest that dramatic actions might serve as a common vocabulary across research contexts. This study thus operationalizes and tests dramatic action as a potentially useful concept for research on social interaction, and in particular on influence tactics. PMID:29518101

Controlled, Constrained, or Flexible? How Self-Management Goals Are Shaped By Patient-Provider Interactions.

PubMed

Franklin, Marika; Lewis, Sophie; Willis, Karen; Rogers, Anne; Venville, Annie; Smith, Lorraine

2018-06-01

A person-centered approach to goal-setting, involving collaboration between patients and health professionals, is advocated in policy to support self-management. However, this is difficult to achieve in practice, reducing the potential effectiveness of self-management support. Drawing on observations of consultations between patients and health professionals, we examined how goal-setting is shaped in patient-provider interactions. Analysis revealed three distinct interactional styles. In controlled interactions, health professionals determine patients' goals based on biomedical reference points and present these goals as something patients should do. In constrained interactions, patients are invited to present goals, yet health professionals' language and questions orientate goals toward biomedical issues. In flexible interactions, patients and professionals both contribute to goal-setting, as health professionals use less directive language, create openings, and allow patients to decide on their goals. Findings suggest that interactional style of health professionals could be the focus of interventions when aiming to increase the effectiveness of goal-setting.

Professional judgement and decision-making in adventure sports coaching: the role of interaction.

PubMed

Collins, Loel; Collins, Dave

2016-01-01

This qualitative study presents the view that coaching practice places demands on the coach's adaptability and flexibility. These requirements for being adaptive and flexible are met through a careful process of professional judgement and decision-making based on context-appropriate bodies of knowledge. Adventure sports coaches were selected for study on the basis that adventure sports create a hyper-dynamic environment in which these features can be examined. Thematic analysis revealed that coaches were generally well informed and practised with respect to the technical aspects of their sporting disciplines. Less positively, however, they often relied on ad hoc contextualisation of generalised theories of coaching practice to respond to the hyper-dynamic environments encountered in adventure sports. We propose that coaching practice reflects the demands of the environment, individual learning needs of the students and the task at hand. Together, these factors outwardly resemble a constraints-led approach but, we suggest, actually reflect manipulation of these parameters from a cognitive rather than an ecological perspective. This process is facilitated by a refined judgement and decision-making process, sophisticated epistemology and an explicit interaction of coaching components.

Analyzing Carbohydrate-Protein Interaction Based on Single Plasmonic Nanoparticle by Conventional Dark Field Microscopy.

PubMed

Jin, Hong-Ying; Li, Da-Wei; Zhang, Na; Gu, Zhen; Long, Yi-Tao

2015-06-10

We demonstrated a practical method to analyze carbohydrate-protein interaction based on single plasmonic nanoparticles by conventional dark field microscopy (DFM). Protein concanavalin A (ConA) was modified on large sized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and dextran was conjugated on small sized AuNPs. As the interaction between ConA and dextran resulted in two kinds of gold nanoparticles coupled together, which caused coupling of plasmonic oscillations, apparent color changes (from green to yellow) of the single AuNPs were observed through DFM. Then, the color information was instantly transformed into a statistic peak wavelength distribution in less than 1 min by a self-developed statistical program (nanoparticleAnalysis). In addition, the interaction between ConA and dextran was proved with biospecific recognition. This approach is high-throughput and real-time, and is a convenient method to analyze carbohydrate-protein interaction at the single nanoparticle level efficiently.

Soft-rigid interaction mechanism towards a lobster-inspired hybrid actuator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yaohui; Wan, Fang; Wu, Tong; Song, Chaoyang

2018-01-01

Soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) are intrinsically light-weight, compliant and therefore ideal to directly interact with humans and be implemented into wearable robotic devices. However, they also pose new challenges in describing and sensing their continuous deformation. In this paper, we propose a hybrid actuator design with bio-inspirations from the lobsters, which can generate reconfigurable bending movements through the internal soft chamber interacting with the external rigid shells. This design with joint and link structures enables us to exactly track its bending configurations that previously posed a significant challenge to soft robots. Analytic models are developed to illustrate the soft-rigid interaction mechanism with experimental validation. A robotic glove using hybrid actuators to assist grasping is assembled to illustrate their potentials in safe human-robot interactions. Considering all the design merits, our work presents a practical approach to the design of next-generation robots capable of achieving both good accuracy and compliance.

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

Rebolini, Elisa, E-mail: rebolini@lct.jussieu.fr; Toulouse, Julien, E-mail: julien.toulouse@upmc.fr; Savin, Andreas, E-mail: savin@lct.jussieu.fr

We present a study of the variation of total energies and excitation energies along a range-separated adiabatic connection. This connection links the non-interacting Kohn–Sham electronic system to the physical interacting system by progressively switching on the electron–electron interactions whilst simultaneously adjusting a one-electron effective potential so as to keep the ground-state density constant. The interactions are introduced in a range-dependent manner, first introducing predominantly long-range, and then all-range, interactions as the physical system is approached, as opposed to the conventional adiabatic connection where the interactions are introduced by globally scaling the standard Coulomb interaction. Reference data are reported for themore » He and Be atoms and the H{sub 2} molecule, obtained by calculating the short-range effective potential at the full configuration-interaction level using Lieb's Legendre-transform approach. As the strength of the electron–electron interactions increases, the excitation energies, calculated for the partially interacting systems along the adiabatic connection, offer increasingly accurate approximations to the exact excitation energies. Importantly, the excitation energies calculated at an intermediate point of the adiabatic connection are much better approximations to the exact excitation energies than are the corresponding Kohn–Sham excitation energies. This is particularly evident in situations involving strong static correlation effects and states with multiple excitation character, such as the dissociating H{sub 2} molecule. These results highlight the utility of long-range interacting reference systems as a starting point for the calculation of excitation energies and are of interest for developing and analyzing practical approximate range-separated density-functional methodologies.« less

Study design options in evaluating gene-environment interactions: practical considerations for a planned case-control study of pediatric leukemia.

PubMed

Goodman, Michael; Dana Flanders, W

2007-04-01

We compare methodological approaches for evaluating gene-environment interaction using a planned study of pediatric leukemia as a practical example. We considered three design options: a full case-control study (Option I), a case-only study (Option II), and a partial case-control study (Option III), in which information on controls is limited to environmental exposure only. For each design option we determined its ability to measure the main effects of environmental factor E and genetic factor G, and the interaction between E and G. Using the leukemia study example, we calculated sample sizes required to detect and odds ratio (OR) of 2.0 for E alone, an OR of 10 for G alone and an interaction G x E of 3. Option I allows measuring both main effects and interaction, but requires a total sample size of 1,500 cases and 1,500 controls. Option II allows measuring only interaction, but requires just 121 cases. Option III allows calculating the main effect of E, and interaction, but not the main effect of G, and requires a total of 156 cases and 133 controls. In this case, the partial case-control study (Option III) appears to be more efficient with respect to its ability to answer the research questions for the amount of resources required. The design options considered in this example are not limited to observational epidemiology and may be applicable in studies of pharmacogenomics, survivorship, and other areas of pediatric ALL research.

What counts as effective communication in nursing? Evidence from nurse educators' and clinicians' feedback on nurse interactions with simulated patients.

PubMed

O'Hagan, Sally; Manias, Elizabeth; Elder, Catherine; Pill, John; Woodward-Kron, Robyn; McNamara, Tim; Webb, Gillian; McColl, Geoff

2014-06-01

To examine the feedback given by nurse educators and clinicians on the quality of communication skills of nurses in interactions with simulated patients. The quality of communication in interactions between nurses and patients has a major influence on patient outcomes. To support the development of effective nursing communication in clinical practice, a good understanding of what constitutes effective communication is helpful. An exploratory design was used involving individual interviews, focus groups and written notes from participants and field notes from researchers to investigate perspectives on nurse-patient communication. Focus groups and individual interviews were held between August 2010-September 2011 with a purposive sample of 15 nurse educators and clinicians who observed videos of interactions between nurses and simulated patients. These participants were asked to give oral feedback on the quality and content of these interactions. Verbatim transcriptions were undertaken of all data collected. All written notes and field notes were also transcribed. Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. Four major themes related to nurse-patient communication were derived from the educators' and clinicians' feedback: approach to patients and patient care, manner towards patients, techniques used for interacting with patients and generic aspects of communication. This study has added to previous research by contributing grounded evidence from a group of nurse educators and clinicians on the aspects of communication that are relevant for effective nurse-patient interactions in clinical practice. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analysing the implemented curriculum of mathematics in preschool education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zacharos, Konstantinos; Koustourakis, Gerasimos; Papadimitriou, Konstantina

2014-06-01

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to development of research tools for observation and analysis of educational practices used by teachers in preschool classrooms. More specifically, we approached the implemented curriculum of mathematics in Greek preschool education. We analysed the recorded data from a week of teaching practices in eight classrooms of Greek public kindergartens, based on Bernstein's theoretical framework on pedagogic discourse. The results showed that the actual educational practices in the observed classrooms deviated from the objectives of the official new cross-thematic curriculum for teaching mathematics in Greek kindergarten in terms of the form of transmitted mathematical knowledge, the instructional rules and strategies that teachers adopted for teaching mathematics, and the teaching-interactive relationships between preschool teachers and students.

Rivaroxaban in the treatment of venous thromboembolism and the prevention of recurrences: a practical approach.

PubMed

Arcelus, Juan I; Domènech, Pere; Fernández-Capitan, Ma Del Carmen; Guijarro, Ricardo; Jiménez, David; Jiménez, Sonia; Lozano, Francisco S; Monreal, Manel; Nieto, José A; Páramo, José A

2015-05-01

Anticoagulation therapy is the standard treatment of patients with symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Until recently, treatment of VTE was based on parenteral or low-molecular-weight heparin for initial therapy (5-10 days) and oral vitamin K antagonists for long-term therapy. Those treatments have some limitations, including parenteral administration (heparins), the need for frequent monitoring and dose adjustments, interactions with several medications, and dietary restrictions (vitamin K antagonists). Rivaroxaban is a new oral direct factor Xa inhibitor with a wide therapeutic window, predictable anticoagulant effect, no food interactions, and few drug interactions. Consequently, no periodic monitoring of anticoagulation is needed, and fixed doses can be prescribed. EINSTEIN program demonstrated that rivaroxaban was as effective as and significantly safer than standard therapy for treatment of VTE. Rivaroxaban was recently authorized so doubts exist about how to use it in daily clinical practice. This document aims to clarify common questions formulated by clinicians regarding the use of this new drug. © The Author(s) 2014.

Towards an integrated flood management approach to address trade-offs between ecosystem services: Insights from the Dutch and German Rhine, Hungarian Tisza, and Chinese Yangtze basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halbe, Johannes; Knüppe, Kathrin; Knieper, Christian; Pahl-Wostl, Claudia

2018-04-01

The utilization of ecosystem services in flood management is challenged by the complexity of human-nature interactions and practical implementation barriers towards more ecosystem-based solutions, such as riverine urban areas or technical infrastructure. This paper analyses how flood management has dealt with trade-offs between ecosystem services and practical constrains towards more ecosystem-based solutions. To this end, we study the evolution of flood management in four case studies in the Dutch and German Rhine, the Hungarian Tisza, and the Chinese Yangtze basins during the last decades, focusing on the development and implementation of institutions and their link to ecosystem services. The complexity of human-nature interactions is addressed by exploring the impacts on ecosystem services through the lens of three management paradigms: (1) the control paradigm, (2) the ecosystem-based paradigm, and (3) the stakeholder involvement paradigm. Case study data from expert interviews and a literature search were structured using a database approach prior to qualitative interpretation. Results show the growing importance of the ecosystem-based and stakeholder involvement paradigms which has led to the consideration of a range of regulating and cultural ecosystem services that had previously been neglected. We detected a trend in flood management practice towards the combination of the different paradigms under the umbrella of integrated flood management, which aims at finding the most suitable solution depending on the respective regional conditions.

Nematode Community Response to Green Infrastructure Design in a Semiarid City.

PubMed

Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell A; Sookhdeo, Christine

2017-05-01

Urbanization affects ecosystem function and environmental quality through shifts in ecosystem fluxes that are brought on by features of the built environment. Green infrastructure (GI) has been suggested as a best management practice (BMP) to address urban hydrologic and ecological impacts of the built environment, but GI practice has only been studied from a limited set of climatic conditions and disciplinary approaches. Here, we evaluate GI features in a semiarid city from the perspective of soil ecology through the application of soil nematode community analysis. This study was conducted to investigate soil ecological interactions in small-scale GI as a means of assessing curb-cut rain garden basin design in a semiarid city. We looked at the choice of mulching approaches (organic vs. rock) and how this design choice affects the soil ecology of rain basins in Tucson, AZ. We sampled soils during the monsoon rain season and assessed the soil nematode community as a bioindicator of soil quality and biogeochemical processes. We found that the use of organic mulch in GI basins promotes enhanced soil organic matter contents and larger nematode populations. Nematode community indices point to enhanced food web structure in streetscape rain garden basins that are mulched with organic material. Results from this study suggest that soil management practices for GI can help promote ecological interactions and ecosystem services in urban ecosystems. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

The uses and implications of standards in general practice consultations.

PubMed

Lippert, Maria Laura; Reventlow, Susanne; Kousgaard, Marius Brostrøm

2017-01-01

Quality standards play an increasingly important role in primary care through their inscription in various technologies for improving professional practice. While 'hard' biomedical standards have been the most common and debated, current quality development initiatives increasingly seek to include standards for the 'softer' aspects of care. This article explores the consequences of both kinds of quality standards for chronic care consultations. The article presents findings from an explorative qualitative field study in Danish general practice where a standardized technology for quality development has been introduced. Data from semi-structured interviews and observations among 17 general practitioners were analysed using an iterative analytical approach, which served to identify important variations in the uses and impacts of the technology. The most pronounced impact of the technology was observed among general practitioners who strictly adhered to the procedural standards on the interactional aspects of care. Thus, when allowed to function as an overall frame for consultations, those standards supported adherence to general recommendations regarding which elements to be included in chronic disease consultations. However, at the same time, adherence to those standards was observed to narrow the focus of doctor-patient dialogues and to divert general practitioners' attention from patients' personal concerns. Similar consequences of quality standards have previously been framed as manifestations of an inherent conflict between principles of patient-centredness and formal biomedical quality standards. However, this study suggests that standards on the 'softer' aspects of care may just as well interfere with a clinical approach relying on situated and attentive interactions with patients.

Early Childhood Education and Beyond: Can We Adapt the Practices and Philosophies from the Preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy into Our Elementary Schools in America?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firlik, Russell

The model presented by the preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is one of cooperation and collaborations among teachers, parents, and children; curriculum based on the "project approach," and constructivist learning philosophy, which states that children construct their knowledge and values as a result of interactions with and action on…

Modeling the dynamic responses of riparian vegetation and salmon habitat in the Oregon Coast Range with state-and-transition models

Treesearch

Steven M. Wondzell; Agnieszka Przeszlowska; Dirk Pflugmacher; Miles A. Hemstrom; Peter A. Bisson

2012-01-01

Interactions between landuse and ecosystem change are complex, especially in riparian zones. To date, few models are available to project the influence of alternative landuse practices, natural disturbance and plant succession on the likely future conditions of riparian zones and aquatic habitats across large spatial extents. A state and transition approach was used to...

Feedback in action within bedside teaching encounters: a video ethnographic study.

PubMed

Rizan, Chantelle; Elsey, Christopher; Lemon, Thomas; Grant, Andrew; Monrouxe, Lynn V

2014-09-01

Feedback associated with teaching activities is often synonymous with reflection on action, which comprises the evaluative assessment of performance out of its original context. Feedback in action (as correction during clinical encounters) is an underexplored, complementary resource facilitating students' understanding and learning. The purpose of this study was to explore the interactional patterns and correction modalities utilised in feedback sequences between doctors and students within general practice-based bedside teaching encounters (BTEs). A qualitative video ethnographic approach was used. Participants were recorded in their natural settings to allow interactional practices to be contextually explored. We examined 12 BTEs recorded across four general practices and involving 12 patients, four general practitioners and four medical students (209 minutes and 20 seconds of data) taken from a larger corpus. Data analysis was facilitated by Transana video analysis software and informed by previous conversation analysis research in ordinary conversation, classrooms and health care settings. A range of correction strategies across a spectrum of underlying explicitness were identified. Correction strategies classified at extreme poles of this scale (high or low explicitness) were believed to be less interactionally effective. For example, those using abrupt closing of topics (high explicitness) or interactional ambiguity (low explicitness) were thought to be less effective than embedded correction strategies that enabled the student to reach the correct answer with support. We believe that educators who are explicitly taught linguistic strategies for how to manage feedback in BTEs might manage learning more effectively. For example, clinicians might maximise learning moments during BTEs by avoiding abrupt or ambiguous feedback practices. Embedded correction strategies can enhance student participation by guiding students towards the correct answer. Clinician corrections can sensitively manage student face-saving by minimising the exposure of student error to patients. Furthermore, we believe that the effective practices highlighted by our analysis might facilitate successful transformation of feedback in action into feedback for action. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Communication: Density functional theory overcomes the failure of predicting intermolecular interaction energies

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

Podeszwa, Rafal; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716; Szalewicz, Krzysztof

2012-04-28

Density-functional theory (DFT) revolutionized the ability of computational quantum mechanics to describe properties of matter and is by far the most often used method. However, all the standard variants of DFT fail to predict intermolecular interaction energies. In recent years, a number of ways to go around this problem has been proposed. We show that some of these approaches can reproduce interaction energies with median errors of only about 5% in the complete range of intermolecular configurations. Such errors are comparable to typical uncertainties of wave-function-based methods in practical applications. Thus, these DFT methods are expected to find broad applicationsmore » in modelling of condensed phases and of biomolecules.« less

Development of innovative problem based learning model with PMRI-scientific approach using ICT to increase mathematics literacy and independence-character of junior high school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wardono; Waluya, B.; Kartono; Mulyono; Mariani, S.

2018-03-01

This research is very urgent in relation to the national issue of human development and the nation's competitiveness because of the ability of Indonesian Junior High School students' mathematics literacy results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by OECD field of Mathematics is still very low compared to other countries. Curriculum 2013 launched one of them reflect the results of PISA which is still far from the expectations of the Indonesian nation and to produce a better quality of education, PISA ratings that reflect the nation's better competitiveness need to be developed innovative, interactive learning models such as innovative interactive learning Problem Based Learning (PBL) based on the approach of Indonesian Realistic Mathematics Education (PMRI) and the Scientific approach using Information and Communication Technology (ICT).The research was designed using Research and Development (R&D), research that followed up the development and dissemination of a product/model. The result of the research shows the innovative interactive learning PBL model based on PMRI-Scientific using ICT that developed valid, practical and effective and can improve the ability of mathematics literacy and independence-character of junior high school students. While the quality of innovative interactive learning PBL model based on PMRI-Scientific using ICT meet the good category.

Socio-phenomenology and conversation analysis: interpreting video lifeworld healthcare interactions.

PubMed

Bickerton, Jane; Procter, Sue; Johnson, Barbara; Medina, Angel

2011-10-01

This article uses a socio-phenomenological methodology to develop knowledge and understanding of the healthcare consultation based on the concept of the lifeworld. It concentrates its attention on social action rather than strategic action and a systems approach. This article argues that patient-centred care is more effective when it is informed through a lifeworld conception of human mutual shared interaction. Videos offer an opportunity for a wide audience to experience the many kinds of conversations and dynamics that take place in consultations. Visual sociology used in this article provides a method to organize video emotional, knowledge and action conversations as well as dynamic typical consultation situations. These interactions are experienced through the video materials themselves unlike conversation analysis where video materials are first transcribed and then analysed. Both approaches have the potential to support intersubjective learning but this article argues that a video lifeworld schema is more accessible to health professionals and the general public. The typical interaction situations are constructed through the analysis of video materials of consultations in a London walk-in centre. Further studies are planned in the future to extend and replicate results in other healthcare services. This method of analysis focuses on the ways in which the everyday lifeworld informs face-to-face person-centred health care and supports social action as a significant factor underpinning strategic action and a systems approach to consultation practice. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. Methods We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either instrumental or socioemotional. Instrumental communication refers to “cure-oriented interactions” and tends to be more task-oriented focusing on the patient’s health concerns and reason for the appointment. In contrast, socioemotional communication refers to more “care-oriented interactions” that may make the patient feel comfortable, relieve patient anxiety and build a trusting relationship. Results The physicians in small, rural towns appear to know their patients and their families on a more personal level and outside of their office, and engage in more socioemotional communications compared to those practicing in suburban clinics in a large urban centre. Knowing patients outside the clinic seems to change the nature of the doctor-patient interaction, and, in turn, the doctor-patient relationship itself. Interactions between urban doctors and their patients had a mixture of instrumental and socioemotional communications, while interactions between rural doctors and their patients tended to be highly interpersonal, often involving considerable socioemotional communication and relationship-building. Conclusions Despite the different ways that doctors and patients communicate with each other in the two settings, rural and urban doctors spend approximately the same amount of time with their patients. Thus, greater use of socioemotional communication by rural doctors, which may ease patient anxiety and increase patient trust, did not appear to add extra time to the patient visit. Research suggests that socioemotional communication may ultimately lead to better patient outcomes, which implies that health differences between rural and urban settings could be linked to differences in doctor-patient communication styles. PMID:23835062

Do emotional support and classroom organization earlier in the year set the stage for higher quality instruction?

PubMed

Curby, Timothy W; Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E; Abry, Tashia

2013-10-01

Many teachers believe that providing greater emotional and organizational supports in the beginning of the year strengthens their ability to teach effectively as the year progresses. Some interventions, such as the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, explicitly embed this sequence into professional development efforts. We tested the hypothesis that earlier emotional and organizational supports set the stage for improved instruction later in the year in a sample of third- and fourth-grade teachers enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the RC approach. Further, we examined the extent to which the model generalized for teachers using varying levels of RC practices as well as whether or not teachers were in the intervention or control groups. Teachers' emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions were observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) on five occasions throughout the year. Results indicated a reciprocal relation between emotional and instructional supports. Specifically, higher levels of emotional support earlier in the year predicted higher instructional support later in the year. Also, higher levels of instructional support earlier in the year predicted higher emotional support later in the year. Classroom organization was not found to have longitudinal associations with the other domains across a year. This pattern was robust when controlling for the use of RC practices as well as across intervention and control groups. Further, teachers' use of RC practices predicted higher emotional support and classroom organization throughout the year, suggesting the malleability of this teacher characteristic. Discussion highlights the connection between teachers' emotional and instructional supports and how the use of RC practices improves teachers' emotionally supportive interactions with students. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Appreciative Inquiry for quality improvement in primary care practices.

PubMed

Ruhe, Mary C; Bobiak, Sarah N; Litaker, David; Carter, Caroline A; Wu, Laura; Schroeder, Casey; Zyzanski, Stephen J; Weyer, Sharon M; Werner, James J; Fry, Ronald E; Stange, Kurt C

2011-01-01

To test the effect of an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) quality improvement strategy on clinical quality management and practice development outcomes. Appreciative inquiry enables the discovery of shared motivations, envisioning a transformed future, and learning around the implementation of a change process. Thirty diverse primary care practices were randomly assigned to receive an AI-based intervention focused on a practice-chosen topic and on improving preventive service delivery (PSD) rates. Medical-record review assessed change in PSD rates. Ethnographic field notes and observational checklist analysis used editing and immersion/crystallization methods to identify factors affecting intervention implementation and practice development outcomes. The PSD rates did not change. Field note analysis suggested that the intervention elicited core motivations, facilitated development of a shared vision, defined change objectives, and fostered respectful interactions. Practices most likely to implement the intervention or develop new practice capacities exhibited 1 or more of the following: support from key leader(s), a sense of urgency for change, a mission focused on serving patients, health care system and practice flexibility, and a history of constructive practice change. An AI approach and enabling practice conditions can lead to intervention implementation and practice development by connecting individual and practice strengths and motivations to the change objective.

Appreciative Inquiry for Quality Improvement in Primary Care Practices

PubMed Central

Ruhe, Mary C.; Bobiak, Sarah N.; Litaker, David; Carter, Caroline A.; Wu, Laura; Schroeder, Casey; Zyzanski, Stephen; Weyer, Sharon M.; Werner, James J.; Fry, Ronald E.; Stange, Kurt C.

2014-01-01

Purpose To test the effect of an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) quality improvement strategy, on clinical quality management and practice development outcomes. AI enables discovery of shared motivations, envisioning a transformed future, and learning around implementation of a change process. Methods Thirty diverse primary care practices were randomly assigned to receive an AI-based intervention focused on a practice-chosen topic and on improving preventive service delivery (PSD) rates. Medical record review assessed change in PSD rates. Ethnographic fieldnotes and observational checklist analysis used editing and immersion/crystallization methods to identify factors affecting intervention implementation and practice development outcomes. Results PSD rates did not change. Field note analysis suggested that the intervention elicited core motivations, facilitated development of a shared vision, defined change objectives and fostered respectful interactions. Practices most likely to implement the intervention or develop new practice capacities exhibited one or more of the following: support from key leader(s), a sense of urgency for change, a mission focused on serving patients, health care system and practice flexibility, and a history of constructive practice change. Conclusions An AI approach and enabling practice conditions can lead to intervention implementation and practice development by connecting individual and practice strengths and motivations to the change objective. PMID:21192206

Applying a family systems lens to proxy decision making in clinical practice and research.

PubMed

Rolland, John S; Emanuel, Linda L; Torke, Alexia M

2017-03-01

When patients are incapacitated and face serious illness, family members must make medical decisions for the patient. Medical decision sciences give only modest attention to the relationships among patients and their family members, including impact that these relationships have on the decision-making process. A review of the literature reveals little effort to systematically apply a theoretical framework to the role of family interactions in proxy decision making. A family systems perspective can provide a useful lens through which to understand the dynamics of proxy decision making. This article considers the mutual impact of family systems on the processes and outcomes of proxy decision making. The article first reviews medical decision science's evolution and focus on proxy decision making and then reviews a family systems approach, giving particular attention to Rolland's Family Systems Illness Model. A case illustrates how clinical practice and how research would benefit from bringing family systems thinking to proxy decisions. We recommend including a family systems approach in medical decision science research and clinical practices around proxy decisions making. We propose that clinical decisions could be less conflicted and less emotionally troubling for families and clinicians if family systems approaches were included. This perspective opens new directions for research and novel approaches to clinical care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

MIMO model of an interacting series process for Robust MPC via System Identification.

PubMed

Wibowo, Tri Chandra S; Saad, Nordin

2010-07-01

This paper discusses the empirical modeling using system identification technique with a focus on an interacting series process. The study is carried out experimentally using a gaseous pilot plant as the process, in which the dynamic of such a plant exhibits the typical dynamic of an interacting series process. Three practical approaches are investigated and their performances are evaluated. The models developed are also examined in real-time implementation of a linear model predictive control. The selected model is able to reproduce the main dynamic characteristics of the plant in open-loop and produces zero steady-state errors in closed-loop control system. Several issues concerning the identification process and the construction of a MIMO state space model for a series interacting process are deliberated. 2010 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing a Community of Practice for HIV Care: Supporting Knowledge Translation in a Regional Training Initiative.

PubMed

Gallagher, Donna M; Hirschhorn, Lisa R; Lorenz, Laura S; Piya, Priyatam

2017-01-01

Ensuring knowledgeable, skilled HIV providers is challenged by rapid advances in the field, diversity of patients and providers, and the need to retain experienced providers while training new providers. These challenges highlight the need for education strategies, including training and clinical consultation to support translation of new knowledge to practice. New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC) provides a range of educational modalities including academic peer detailing and distance support to HIV providers in six states. We describe the interprofessional perspectives of HIV providers who participated in this regional program to understand success and areas for strengthening pedagogical modality, content, and impact on clinical practice. This 2013 to 2014 mixed-methods study analyzed quantitative programmatic data to understand changes in training participants and modalities and used semistructured interviews with 30 HIV providers and coded for preidentified and emerging themes. Since 2010, NEAETC evolved modalities to a greater focus on active learning (case discussion, clinical consultation), decreasing didactic training by half (18-9%). This shift was designed to move from knowledge transfer to translation, and qualitative findings supported the value of active learning approaches. Providers valued interactive trainings and presentation of cases supporting knowledge translation. On-site training encouraged peer networking and sharing of lessons learned. Diversity in learning priorities across providers and sites validated NEAETC's approach of tailoring topics to local needs and encouraging regional networking. Tailored approaches resulted in improved provider-reported capacity, peer learning, and support. Future evaluations should explore the impact of this multipronged approach on supporting a community of practice and empowerment of provider teams.

[Guideline implementation study on asthma: Results of a pragmatic implementation approach].

PubMed

Redaèlli, Marcus; Vollmar, Horst Christian; Simic, Dusan; Maly-Schürer, Cornelia; Löscher, Susanne; Koneczny, Nikolaus

2015-01-01

Knowledge transfer from theory to practice in healthcare systems poses a challenge worldwide. Typical examples include national disease management guidelines. The present study contributes towards improving implementation strategies for an asthma guideline. A guideline implementation strategy was examined in a four-armed, non-randomised, controlled intervention study with an additional control group. The study participants were general practitioners and paediatricians recruited from primary care quality circles. All study participants attended an interactive seminar on the evidence-based recommendations for patients with asthma. In addition, the participants were asked to choose among the following options: no further intervention, additional e-learning, training of their practice nurses, or e-learning and training of their practice nurses. The success of the intervention was measured by questionnaire (and the success rate expressed as a percentage). About one third of all participants (n=313) opted for the combination of an interactive seminar and a training of practice nurses; two third preferred the classic way of continuing medical education with an interactive seminar without a further intervention. Just 10 % of the physicians participated in e-learning. Independently of their choice for continuing medical education, all participants demonstrated an increase in knowledge about asthma and an improvement in the management of asthma. The physicians exhibited an average increase in both categories of about 10 % of the percentage values, compared to an increase of about 28 % among the practice nurses without continuing medical education. The physicians' free choice of the educative modules might be an integral part of successful implementation strategies. However, this will require a change of focus from general continuing medical education packages to a more individualised culture of continuing professional development in Germany. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Digitized adiabatic quantum computing with a superconducting circuit.

PubMed

Barends, R; Shabani, A; Lamata, L; Kelly, J; Mezzacapo, A; Las Heras, U; Babbush, R; Fowler, A G; Campbell, B; Chen, Yu; Chen, Z; Chiaro, B; Dunsworth, A; Jeffrey, E; Lucero, E; Megrant, A; Mutus, J Y; Neeley, M; Neill, C; O'Malley, P J J; Quintana, C; Roushan, P; Sank, D; Vainsencher, A; Wenner, J; White, T C; Solano, E; Neven, H; Martinis, John M

2016-06-09

Quantum mechanics can help to solve complex problems in physics and chemistry, provided they can be programmed in a physical device. In adiabatic quantum computing, a system is slowly evolved from the ground state of a simple initial Hamiltonian to a final Hamiltonian that encodes a computational problem. The appeal of this approach lies in the combination of simplicity and generality; in principle, any problem can be encoded. In practice, applications are restricted by limited connectivity, available interactions and noise. A complementary approach is digital quantum computing, which enables the construction of arbitrary interactions and is compatible with error correction, but uses quantum circuit algorithms that are problem-specific. Here we combine the advantages of both approaches by implementing digitized adiabatic quantum computing in a superconducting system. We tomographically probe the system during the digitized evolution and explore the scaling of errors with system size. We then let the full system find the solution to random instances of the one-dimensional Ising problem as well as problem Hamiltonians that involve more complex interactions. This digital quantum simulation of the adiabatic algorithm consists of up to nine qubits and up to 1,000 quantum logic gates. The demonstration of digitized adiabatic quantum computing in the solid state opens a path to synthesizing long-range correlations and solving complex computational problems. When combined with fault-tolerance, our approach becomes a general-purpose algorithm that is scalable.

Expert consensus regarding drivers of antimicrobial stewardship in companion animal veterinary practice: a Delphi study.

PubMed

Currie, Kay; King, Caroline; Nuttall, Tim; Smith, Matt; Flowers, Paul

2018-03-23

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global challenge facing both human and animal healthcare professionals; an effective response to this threat requires a 'One-Health' approach to antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) to preserve important antibiotics for urgent clinical need. However, understanding of barriers and enablers to effective AMS behaviour in companion animal veterinary practice is currently limited. We conducted a Delphi study of 16 nationally recognised experts from UK-based veterinary policymakers, university academics and leaders of professional bodies. This Delphi study sought to identify veterinary behaviours which experts believe contribute to AMR and form vital aspects of AMS. Analysis of Delphi findings indicated a perceived hierarchy of behaviours, the most influential being antibiotic prescribing behaviours and interactions with clients. Other veterinary behaviours perceived as being important related to interactions with veterinary colleagues; infection control practices; and the use of diagnostic tests to confirm infection. Key barriers and enablers to AMS within each of these behavioural domains were identified. Specific interventions to address important barriers and enablers are recommended. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to establish expert consensus at a national level about which 'behaviours' (aspects of veterinarian practice) should be targeted in relation to AMR and AMS in companion animal veterinary practice. © British Veterinary Association (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

A multimedia case based approach to the study of office ergonomics.

PubMed

August-Dalfen, Sharon; Snider, Laurie

2003-01-01

Multimedia technology has the capacity to provide students with an interactive approach to problem based learning and to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and clinical practice. The present paper describes the design and development of the program ErgoROM, a CD which presents a case study to assist occupational therapy students in their studies of office ergonomics. A pilot study showed that overall, 91% of respondents rated the ErgoROM as either "Excellent" or "Very Good". Additionally they reported that ErgoROM had a positive impact on active learning and critical thinking.

Is Europe putting theory into practice? A qualitative study of the level of self-management support in chronic care management approaches

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Self-management support is a key component of effective chronic care management, yet in practice appears to be the least implemented and most challenging. This study explores whether and how self-management support is integrated into chronic care approaches in 13 European countries. In addition, it investigates the level of and barriers to implementation of support strategies in health care practice. Methods We conducted a review among the 13 participating countries, based on a common data template informed by the Chronic Care Model. Key informants presented a sample of representative chronic care approaches and related self-management support strategies. The cross-country review was complemented by a Dutch case study of health professionals’ views on the implementation of self-management support in practice. Results Self-management support for chronically ill patients remains relatively underdeveloped in Europe. Similarities between countries exist mostly in involved providers (nurses) and settings (primary care). Differences prevail in mode and format of support, and materials used. Support activities focus primarily on patients’ medical and behavioral management, and less on emotional management. According to Dutch providers, self-management support is not (yet) an integral part of daily practice; implementation is hampered by barriers related to, among others, funding, IT and medical culture. Conclusions Although collaborative care for chronic conditions is becoming more important in European health systems, adequate self-management support for patients with chronic disease is far from accomplished in most countries. There is a need for better understanding of how we can encourage both patients and health care providers to engage in productive interactions in daily chronic care practice, which can improve health and social outcomes. PMID:23530744

Food and dietary pattern-based recommendations: an emerging approach to clinical practice guidelines for nutrition therapy in diabetes.

PubMed

Sievenpiper, John L; Dworatzek, Paula D N

2013-02-01

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the nutritional management of diabetes mellitus have evolved considerably over the last 25 years. As major diabetes associations have focussed on the individualization of nutrition therapy, there has been a move toward a broader more flexible macronutrient distribution that emphasizes macronutrient quality over quantity. There is now a call for the integration of food- and dietary pattern-based approaches into diabetes association CPGs. The main argument has been that an approach that focuses on nutrients alone misses important nutrient interactions oversimplifying the complexity of foods and dietary patterns, both of which have been shown to have a stronger influence on disease risk than nutrients alone. Although cancer and heart associations have begun to integrate this approach into their dietary guidelines, diabetes associations have not yet adopted this approach. We provide a rationale for the adoption of this approach for The Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) 2013 CPGs for nutrition therapy. The systematic review for the development of these guidelines revealed emerging evidence to support the use of vegetarian, Mediterranean, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary patterns as well as specific foods such as dietary pulses and nuts in people with diabetes. Popular and conventional weight loss diets were also found to have similar advantages in people with diabetes, although poor dietary adherence remains an issue with these diets. The CDA 2013 CPGs will support an even greater individualization of nutrition therapy for people with diabetes and appeal to a broader range of practice styles of health professionals. Copyright © 2013 Canadian Diabetes Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teaching and learning in the science classroom: The interplay between teachers' epistemological moves and students' practical epistemology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lidar, Malena; Lundqvist, Eva; Östman, Leif

2006-01-01

The practical epistemology used by students and the epistemological moves delivered by teachers in conversations with students are analyzed in order to understand how teaching activities interplay with the how and the what of students' learning. The purpose is to develop an approach for analyzing the process of privileging in students' meaning making and how individual and situational aspects of classroom discourse interact in this process. Here we especially focus on the experiences of students and the encounter with the teacher. The analyses also demonstrate that a study of teaching and learning activities can shed light on which role epistemology has for students' meaning making, for teaching and for the interplay between these activities. The methodological approach used is an elaboration a sociocultural perspective on learning, pragmatism, and the work of Wittgenstein. The empirical material consists of recordings made in science classes in two Swedish compulsory schools.

The Problem of Dualism in Modern Western Medicine

PubMed Central

Gendle, Mathew H.

2016-01-01

Dualism is historically important in that it allowed the medical practice to be divorced from church oversight. The reductionist approaches of modern Western medicine facilitate a dispassionate and mechanistic approach to patient care, and dualist views promoted by complementary and alternative medicine are also problematic. Behavioural disorders are multifactorally realizable and emerge apparently chaotically from interactions between internal physiological systems and the patient's environment and experiential history. Conceptualizations of behavioural disorders that are based on dualism deny the primacy of individual physiology in the generation of pathology and distract from therapies that are most likely to produce positive outcomes. Behavioural health professionals should adopt holistic models of patient care, but these models must be based on methodologies that emphasize radical emergence over the artificial separation of the “physical” and “mental.” This will allow for the humanistic practice of medicine while simultaneously maximizing the likelihood of treatment success. PMID:28031628

Asking the Stakeholders: Perspectives of Individuals With Aphasia, Their Family Members, and Physicians Regarding Communication in Medical Interactions.

PubMed

Burns, Michael; Baylor, Carolyn; Dudgeon, Brian J; Starks, Helene; Yorkston, Kathryn

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of patients with aphasia, their family members, and physicians related to communication during medical interactions. Face-to-face, semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 participants—6 patients with aphasia, 6 family members involved in patient care, and 6 practicing physicians. A qualitative description approach was used to collect and summarize narratives from participants' perspectives and experiences. Participants were asked about experiences with communication during medical interactions in which the family member accompanied the patient. Interviews were audio- and/or video-recorded, transcribed, and then coded to identify main themes. Patients and family members generally described their communication experiences as positive, yet all participants discussed challenges and frustrations. Three themes emerged: (a) patients and family members work as a team, (b) patients and family members want physicians to "just try" to communicate with the patient, and (c) physicians want to interact with patients but may not know how. Participants discussed the need for successful accommodation, or changing how one communicates, to help facilitate the patients' increased understanding and ability to express themselves. Over- and underaccommodation with communication were commonly reported as problems. Speech-language pathologists have a role to play in helping to improve communication during medical interactions. Implications for current speech-language pathologist practice and future directions of research are discussed.

Technology and education: First approach for measuring temperature with Arduino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrillo, Alejandro

2017-04-01

This poster session presents some ideas and approaches to understand concepts of thermal equilibrium, temperature and heat in order to bulid a man-nature relationship in a harmonious and responsible manner, emphasizing the interaction between science and technology, without neglecting the relationship of the environment and society, an approach to sustainability. It is proposed the development of practices that involve the use of modern technology, of easy access and low cost to measure temperature. We believe that the Arduino microcontroller and some temperature sensors can open the doors of innovation to carry out such practices. In this work we present some results of simple practices presented to a population of students between the ages of 16 and 17 years old. The practices in this proposal are: Zero law of thermodynamics and the concept of temperature, calibration of thermometers and measurement of temperature for heating and cooling of three different substances under the same physical conditions. Finally the student is asked to make an application that involves measuring of temperature and other physical parameters. Some suggestions are: to determine the temperature at which we take some food, measure the temperature difference at different rooms of a house, housing constructions that favour optimal condition, measure the temperature of different regions, measure of temperature trough different colour filters, solar activity and UV, propose applications to understand current problems such as global warming, etc. It is concluded that the Arduino practices and electrical sensors increase the cultural horizon of the students while awaking their interest to understand their operation, basic physics and its application from a modern perspective.

Building an evidence-base for the training of evidence-based treatments in community settings: Use of an expert-informed approach.

PubMed

Scudder, Ashley; Herschell, Amy D

2015-08-01

In order to make EBTs available to a large number of children and families, developers and expert therapists have used their experience and expertise to train community-based therapists in EBTs. Understanding current training practices of treatment experts may be one method for establishing best practices for training community-based therapists prior to comprehensive empirical examinations of training practices. A qualitative study was conducted using surveys and phone interviews to identify the specific procedures used by treatment experts to train and implement an evidence-based treatment in community settings. Twenty-three doctoral-level, clinical psychologists were identified to participate because of their expertise in conducting and training Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were completed by phone, later transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic coding. The de-identified data were coded by two independent qualitative data researchers and then compared for consistency of interpretation. The themes that emerged following the final coding were used to construct a training protocol to be empirically tested. The goal of this paper is to not only understand the current state of training practices for training therapists in a particular EBT, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, but to illustrate the use of expert opinion as the best available evidence in preparation for empirical evaluation.

Exploring staff perceptions and experiences of volunteers and visitors on the hospital ward at mealtimes using an ethnographic approach.

PubMed

Ottrey, Ella; Palermo, Claire; Huggins, Catherine E; Porter, Judi

2018-04-01

To explore multiple perspectives and experiences of volunteer and visitor involvement and interactions at hospital mealtimes. In addition, to understand how the volunteer and visitor role at mealtimes is perceived within the hospital system. Mealtime assistance can improve patients' food intake and mealtime experience. Barriers to providing mealtime assistance include time pressures, staff availability and inadequate communication. Volunteers and visitors can encourage and assist patients at mealtimes. There is a lack of evidence on the relationship between hospital staff, volunteers and visitors. A qualitative, ethnographic approach. Sixty-seven hours of fieldwork were conducted on two subacute wards within an Australian healthcare network in 2015. Mealtime practices and interactions of hospital staff, volunteers and visitors were observed. Sixty-one staff, volunteers and visitors were interviewed in 75 ethnographic and semi-structured interviews. Data were inductively and thematically analysed. Three key themes emerged as follows: "help"-volunteers and visitors were considered helpful when they assisted patients at mealtimes, supported well-being and aided staff-patient communication; "hindrance"-staff perceived visitors as negative presences when they inhibited patient progress and impacted staff work practices; and "reality of practice"-visiting hours, visitor engagement in patient therapy and communication between staff, volunteers and visitors were important practical considerations of mealtime involvement. The findings show how and why volunteers and visitors can be helpful and unhelpful at hospital mealtimes on subacute wards. More research on the role and contribution of volunteers and visitors on hospital wards will inform future practice in healthcare settings. This healthcare organisation should continue to encourage volunteer and visitor involvement at hospital mealtimes. More effort is needed to educate visitors about patients' therapeutic goals and the importance of nutrition. The working relationship between hospital staff, volunteers and visitors should be strengthened to improve nutritional care. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Developing interpersonal relationships with adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

Micevski, Valentina; McCann, Terence V

2005-09-01

Anorexia nervosa is a complex eating disorder that usually develops during adolescence. This paper reports how paediatric nurses develop professional interpersonal relationships with adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa. The study used a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis. Data were collected using in-depth interviews from ten registered nurses who worked on a paediatric ward. The findings revealed two foci of care: 'interacting with nurses', and 'interacting with patients', with interrelated categories and strategies. A core category highlighted the importance of instigating an individual focus when developing professional interpersonal relationships with patients with anorexia. Contextual factors emphasise the broader influences that modified the way nurses developed relationships with these patients. The findings have implications for clinical practice, education, unit administration, and further research, and these are examined. Nurses who use this approach are better positioned to gain understanding of individuals experiencing the disorder and to develop professional interpersonal relationships.

A PVS Prover Strategy Package for Common Manipulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiVito, Ben L.

2002-01-01

Sequent manipulations for an interactive prover such as PVS can often be labor intensive. We describe an approach to tactic-based proving for improved interactive deduction in specialized domains. An experimental package of strategies (tactics) and support functions has been developed for PVS to reduce the tedium of arithmetic manipulation. Included are strategies aimed at algebraic simplification of real-valued expressions as well as term-access techniques applicable in arbitrary settings. The approach is general enough to serve in other mathematical domains and for provers other than PVS. This report presents the full set of arithmetic strategies and discusses how they are invoked within the prover. Included is a description of the extended expression notation for accessing terms as well as a substitution technique provided for higher-order strategies. Several sample proofs are displayed in full to show how the strategies might be used in practice.

Thai visitors' expectations and experiences of explainer interaction within a science museum context.

PubMed

Kamolpattana, Supara; Chen, Ganigar; Sonchaeng, Pichai; Wilkinson, Clare; Willey, Neil; Bultitude, Karen

2015-01-01

In Western literature, there is evidence that museum explainers offer significant potential for enhancing visitors' learning through influencing their knowledge, content, action, behaviour and attitudes. However, little research has focused on the role of explainers in other cultural contexts. This study explored interactions between visitors and museum explainers within the setting of Thailand. Two questionnaires were distributed to 600 visitors and 41 museum explainers. The results demonstrated both potential similarities and differences with Western contexts. Explainers appeared to prefer didactic approaches, focussing on factual knowledge rather than encouraging deep learning. Two-way communication, however, appeared to be enhanced by the use of a 'pseudo-sibling relationship' by explainers. Traditional Thai social reserve was reduced through such approaches, with visitors taking on active learning roles. These findings have implications for training museum explainers in non-Western cultures, as well as museum communication practice more generally. © The Author(s) 2014.

Thai visitors’ expectations and experiences of explainer interaction within a science museum context

PubMed Central

Chen, Ganigar; Sonchaeng, Pichai; Wilkinson, Clare; Willey, Neil; Bultitude, Karen

2015-01-01

In Western literature, there is evidence that museum explainers offer significant potential for enhancing visitors’ learning through influencing their knowledge, content, action, behaviour and attitudes. However, little research has focused on the role of explainers in other cultural contexts. This study explored interactions between visitors and museum explainers within the setting of Thailand. Two questionnaires were distributed to 600 visitors and 41 museum explainers. The results demonstrated both potential similarities and differences with Western contexts. Explainers appeared to prefer didactic approaches, focussing on factual knowledge rather than encouraging deep learning. Two-way communication, however, appeared to be enhanced by the use of a ‘pseudo-sibling relationship’ by explainers. Traditional Thai social reserve was reduced through such approaches, with visitors taking on active learning roles. These findings have implications for training museum explainers in non-Western cultures, as well as museum communication practice more generally. PMID:24751689

The Ties That Bind

PubMed Central

Gloyn, Liz; Crewe, Vicky; King, Laura; Woodham, Anna

2018-01-01

Using an interdisciplinary research methodology across three archaeological and historical case studies, this article explores “family archives.” Four themes illustrate how objects held in family archives, curation practices, and intergenerational narratives reinforce a family’s sense of itself: people–object interactions, gender, socialization and identity formation, and the “life course.” These themes provide a framework for professional archivists to assist communities and individuals working with their own family archives. We argue that the family archive, broadly defined, encourages a more egalitarian approach to history. We suggest a multiperiod analysis draws attention to historical forms of knowledge and meaning-making practices over time. PMID:29593371

The Ties That Bind: Materiality, Identity, and the Life Course in the "Things" Families Keep.

PubMed

Gloyn, Liz; Crewe, Vicky; King, Laura; Woodham, Anna

2018-04-01

Using an interdisciplinary research methodology across three archaeological and historical case studies, this article explores "family archives." Four themes illustrate how objects held in family archives, curation practices, and intergenerational narratives reinforce a family's sense of itself: people-object interactions, gender, socialization and identity formation, and the "life course." These themes provide a framework for professional archivists to assist communities and individuals working with their own family archives. We argue that the family archive, broadly defined, encourages a more egalitarian approach to history. We suggest a multiperiod analysis draws attention to historical forms of knowledge and meaning-making practices over time.

Enacting Firm, Fair and Friendly Practice: A Model for Strengths-Based Child Protection Relationships?

PubMed

Oliver, Carolyn; Charles, Grant

2016-06-01

Strengths-based solution-focused approaches are gaining ground in statutory child protection work, but few studies have asked front line practitioners how they navigate the complex worker-client relationships such approaches require. This paper describes one component of a mixed-methods study in a large Canadian statutory child protection agency in which 225 workers described how they applied the ideas of strengths-based practice in their daily work. Interviews with twenty-four practitioners were analysed using an interpretive description approach. Only four interviewees appeared to successfully enact a version of strengths-based practice that closely mirrored those described by key strengths-based child protection theorists and was fully congruent with their mandated role. They described navigating a shifting balance of collaboration and authority in worker-client relationships based on transparency, impartial judgement, attentiveness to the worker-client interaction and the value that clients were fellow human beings. Their accounts extend current conceptualisations of the worker-client relationship in strengths-based child protection work and are congruent with current understandings of effective mandated relationships. They provide what may be a useful model to help workers understand and navigate relationships in which they must reconcile their own authority and expertise with genuine support for the authority and expertise of their clients.

GPs' considerations in multimorbidity management: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Luijks, Hilde D; Loeffen, Maartje J W; Lagro-Janssen, Antoine L; van Weel, Chris; Lucassen, Peter L; Schermer, Tjard R

2012-07-01

Scientific evidence on how to manage multimorbidity is limited, but GPs have extensive practical experience with multimorbidity management. To explore GPs' considerations and main objectives in the management of multimorbidity and to explore factors influencing their management of multimorbidity. Focus group study of Dutch GPs; with heterogeneity in characteristics such as sex, age and urbanisation. The moderator used an interview guide in conducting the interviews. Two researchers performed the analysis as an iterative process, based on verbatim transcripts and by applying the technique of constant comparative analysis. Data collection proceeded until saturation was reached. Five focus groups were conducted with 25 participating GPs. The main themes concerning multimorbidity management were individualisation, applying an integrated approach, medical considerations placed in perspective, and sharing decision making and responsibility. A personal patient-doctor relationship was considered a major factor positively influencing the management of multimorbidity. Mental-health problems and interacting conditions were regarded as major barriers in this respect and participants experienced several practical problems. The concept of patient-centredness overarches the participants' main objectives. GPs' main objective in multimorbidity management is applying a patient-centred approach. This approach is welcomed since it counteracts some potential pitfalls of multimorbidity. Further research should include a similar design in a different setting and should aim at developing best practice in multimorbidity management.

Using machine learning tools to model complex toxic interactions with limited sampling regimes.

PubMed

Bertin, Matthew J; Moeller, Peter; Guillette, Louis J; Chapman, Robert W

2013-03-19

A major impediment to understanding the impact of environmental stress, including toxins and other pollutants, on organisms, is that organisms are rarely challenged by one or a few stressors in natural systems. Thus, linking laboratory experiments that are limited by practical considerations to a few stressors and a few levels of these stressors to real world conditions is constrained. In addition, while the existence of complex interactions among stressors can be identified by current statistical methods, these methods do not provide a means to construct mathematical models of these interactions. In this paper, we offer a two-step process by which complex interactions of stressors on biological systems can be modeled in an experimental design that is within the limits of practicality. We begin with the notion that environment conditions circumscribe an n-dimensional hyperspace within which biological processes or end points are embedded. We then randomly sample this hyperspace to establish experimental conditions that span the range of the relevant parameters and conduct the experiment(s) based upon these selected conditions. Models of the complex interactions of the parameters are then extracted using machine learning tools, specifically artificial neural networks. This approach can rapidly generate highly accurate models of biological responses to complex interactions among environmentally relevant toxins, identify critical subspaces where nonlinear responses exist, and provide an expedient means of designing traditional experiments to test the impact of complex mixtures on biological responses. Further, this can be accomplished with an astonishingly small sample size.

A perspectivist approach to theory construction.

PubMed

McGuire, William J

2004-01-01

A perspectivist approach is taken to the theory-construction process in psychological research. This approach assumes that all hypotheses and theories are true, as all are false, depending on the perspective from which they are viewed, and that the purpose of research is to discover which are the crucial perspectives. Perspectivism assumes also that both the a priori conceptual phase of research and the a posteriori empirical phase have both discovery and testing functions. Topics discussed include how the perspectivist approach can improve methodology training and practice (particularly as regards theory construction); what researchers accept as theoretical explanations; the nature of mediational theories; how theories can be formalized, expressed in multiple modalities and for various scaling cases; and how experimental designs can be enriched by theory-guided mediational and interactional variables.

Rootstock scion somatogenetic interactions in perennial composite plants

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The ancient plant production practice of grafting which instantly imparts new physiological properties to the desirable scion still remains shrouded in mystery. Yet, grafting remains a widely used technique in the production of several horticultural species. In a composite grafted plant, rootstocks control many aspects of scion growth and physiology including yield and quality attributes as well as biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Broadly, physical, physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms have been reviewed to develop an integrated understanding of this enigmatic process that challenges existing genetic paradigms. This review summarizes the reported mechanisms underlying some of the economically important traits and identifies several key points to consider when conducting rootstock scion interaction experiments. Study of the somatogenetic interactions between rootstock and scion is a field that is ripe for discovery and vast improvements in the coming decade. Further, utilization of rootstocks based on a better understanding of the somatogenetic interactions is highly relevant in the current agricultural environment where there is a need for sustainable production practices. Rootstocks may offer a non-transgenic approach to rapidly respond to the changing environment and expand agricultural production of annual and perennial crops where grafting is feasible in order to meet the global food, fiber and fuel demands of the future. PMID:23793453

Selling Innovations Like Soap: The Interactive Systems Framework and Social Marketing.

PubMed

McAlindon, Kathryn

2017-09-01

Despite the popularity and noted utility of Wandersman and colleagues' (2008) Interactive Systems Framework, the literature currently provides a primary focus on delivery organizations' and supportive stakeholders' capacities and strategies to implement innovations, presenting a critical gap in understanding. Unfortunately, reflective of a larger void in community dissemination and implementation efforts, there is a more limited focus on the dissemination of innovations. This paper presents the social marketing literature as a supplement to the Prevention Synthesis and Translation System (PSTS), the system responsible for dissemination. The study and practice of innovation synthesis and translation is examined in the literature; and based on the conclusions drawn, social marketing theory is used to provide a systematic approach to improving dissemination within the Interactive Systems Framework. Specifically, three gaps related to the PSTS are identified in the literature that align with and can be filled using social marketing. Social marketing is defined and presented as a supplement by providing theory and practices, within a systems context, for effectively communicating and influencing change. By blending social marketing with the Interactive Systems Framework, the aim is to improve the understanding of strategic communication and its role in the effective dissemination, and subsequent implementation, of innovations. © Society for Community Research and Action 2017.

The Power of Implicit Teaching Practices: Continuities and Discontinuities in Pedagogical Approaches of Deaf and Hearing Preschools in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayashi, Akiko; Tobin, Joseph

2014-01-01

Meisei Gakuen, a private school for the deaf in Tokyo, is the only school for the deaf in Japan that uses Japanese Sign Language (JSL) as the primary language of instruction and social interaction. We see Meisei as a useful case for bringing out core issues in Japanese deaf and early childhood education, as well as for making larger arguments…

A School Growing Roots: The Bank Street Developmental-Interaction Approach at Community Roots Charter School. Teaching for a Changing World: The Graduates of Bank Street College of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lit, Ira; Intrator, Sam

2015-01-01

This case study is one of five publications from the larger study, "Teaching for a Changing World: The Graduates of Bank Street College of Education," that examines the preparation, practices, and effectiveness of graduates of Bank Street College of Education teacher certification programs over the last decade. This case study examines…

Review of Test Theory and Methods.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-01

literature, although some books , technical reports, and unpub- lished literature have been included where relevant. The focus of the review is on practical...1977) and Abu-Sayf (1977) developed new versions of formula scores, and Molenaar (1977) took a Bayesian approach to correcting for random guessing. The...Snow’s (1977) book on aptitude and instructional methods is a landmark review of the research on the interaction between instructional methods and

Antihydrogen Formation via Antiproton Scattering with Excited Positronium.

PubMed

Kadyrov, A S; Rawlins, C M; Stelbovics, A T; Bray, I; Charlton, M

2015-05-08

Utilizing the two-center convergent close-coupling method, we find a several order of magnitude enhancement in the formation of antihydrogen via antiproton scattering with positronium in an excited state over the ground state. The effect is greatest at the lowest energies considered, which encompass those achievable in experiment. This suggests a practical approach to creating neutral antimatter for testing its interaction with gravity and for spectroscopic measurements.

Methods and means of diagnostics of oncological diseases on the basis of pattern recognition: intelligent morphological systems - problems and solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikitaev, V. G.

2017-01-01

The development of methods of pattern recognition in modern intelligent systems of clinical cancer diagnosis are discussed. The histological (morphological) diagnosis - primary diagnosis for medical setting with cancer are investigated. There are proposed: interactive methods of recognition and structure of intellectual morphological complexes based on expert training-diagnostic and telemedicine systems. The proposed approach successfully implemented in clinical practice.

Access and Engagement: Program Design and Instructional Approaches for Immigrant Students in Secondary School. Topics in Immigrant Education 4. Language in Education: Theory and Practice 94.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walqui, Aida

This book describes the characteristics of secondary schools in the United States that make it difficult for immigrant students to succeed. These include the following: fragmented school days and instructional programs in which English-as-a-Second-Language and content area teachers work in separate departments and rarely interact; the complex…

Language used in interaction during developmental science instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avenia-Tapper, Brianna

The coordination of theory and evidence is an important part of scientific practice. Developmental approaches to instruction, which make the relationship between the abstract and the concrete a central focus of students' learning activity, provide educators with a unique opportunity to strengthen students' coordination of theory and evidence. Therefore, developmental approaches may be a useful instructional response to documented science achievement gaps for linguistically diverse students. However, if we are to leverage the potential of developmental instruction to improve the science achievement of linguistically diverse students, we need more information on the intersection of developmental science instruction and linguistically diverse learning contexts. This manuscript style dissertation uses discourse analysis to investigate the language used in interaction during developmental teaching-learning in three linguistically diverse third grade classrooms. The first manuscript asks how language was used to construct ascension from the abstract to the concrete. The second manuscript asks how students' non-English home languages were useful (or not) for meeting the learning goals of the developmental instructional program. The third manuscript asks how students' interlocutors may influence student choice to use an important discourse practice--justification--during the developmental teaching-learning activity. All three manuscripts report findings relevant to the instructional decisions that teachers need to make when implementing developmental instruction in linguistically diverse contexts.

A Cognitive Approach to e-Learning

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

Greitzer, Frank L.; Rice, Douglas M.; Eaton, Sharon L.

2003-12-01

Like traditional classroom instruction, distributed learning derives from passive training paradigms. Just as student-centered classroom teaching methods have been applied over several decades of classroom instruction, interactive approaches have been encouraged for distributed learning. While implementation of multimedia-based training features may appear to produce active learning, sophisticated use of multimedia features alone does not necessarily enhance learning. This paper describes the results of applying cognitive science principles to enhance learning in a student-centered, distributed learning environment, and lessons learned in developing and delivering this training. Our interactive, scenario-based approach exploits multimedia technology within a systematic, cognitive framework for learning. Themore » basis of the application of cognitive principles is the innovative use of multimedia technology to implement interaction elements. These simple multimedia interactions, which are used to support new concepts, are later combined with other interaction elements to create more complex, integrated practical exercises. This technology-based approach may be applied in a variety of training and education contexts, but is especially well suited for training of equipment operators and maintainers. For example, it has been used in a sustainment training application for the United States Army's Combat Support System Automated Information System Interface (CAISI). The CAISI provides a wireless communications capability that allows various logistics systems to communicate across the battlefield. Based on classroom training material developed by the CAISI Project Office, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory designed and developed an interactive, student-centered distributed-learning application for CAISI operators and maintainers. This web-based CAISI training system is also distributed on CD media for use on individual computers, and material developed for the computer-based course can be used in the classroom. In addition to its primary role in sustainment training, this distributed learning course can complement or replace portions of the classroom instruction, thus supporting a blended learning solution.« less

Enhancing the Student Experiment Experience: Visible Scientific Inquiry Through a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donnelly, Dermot; O'Reilly, John; McGarr, Oliver

2013-08-01

Practical work is often noted as a core reason many students take on science in secondary schools (high schools). However, there are inherent difficulties associated with classroom practical work that militate against scientific inquiry, an approach espoused by many science educators. The use of interactive simulations to facilitate student inquiry has emerged as a complement to practical work. This study presents case studies of four science teachers using a virtual chemistry laboratory (VCL) with their students in an explicitly guided inquiry manner. Research tools included the use of the Inquiry Science Implementation Scale in a `talk-aloud' manner, Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol for video observations, and teacher interviews. The findings suggest key aspects of practical work that hinder teachers in adequately supporting inquiry and highlight where a VCL can overcome many of these difficulties. The findings also indicate considerations in using the VCL in its own right.

Barriers and enablers of kangaroo mother care practice: a systematic review.

PubMed

Seidman, Gabriel; Unnikrishnan, Shalini; Kenny, Emma; Myslinski, Scott; Cairns-Smith, Sarah; Mulligan, Brian; Engmann, Cyril

2015-01-01

Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is an evidence-based approach to reducing mortality and morbidity in preterm infants. Although KMC is a key intervention package in newborn health initiatives, there is limited systematic information available on the barriers to KMC practice that mothers and other stakeholders face while practicing KMC. This systematic review sought to identify the most frequently reported barriers to KMC practice for mothers, fathers, and health practitioners, as well as the most frequently reported enablers to practice for mothers. We searched nine electronic databases and relevant reference lists for publications reporting barriers or enablers to KMC practice. We identified 1,264 unique publications, of which 103 were included based on pre-specified criteria. Publications were scanned for all barriers / enablers. Each publication was also categorized based on its approach to identification of barriers / enablers, and more weight was assigned to publications which had systematically sought to understand factors influencing KMC practice. Four of the top five ranked barriers to KMC practice for mothers were resource-related: "Issues with the facility environment / resources," "negative impressions of staff attitudes or interactions with staff," "lack of help with KMC practice or other obligations," and "low awareness of KMC / infant health." Considering only publications from low- and middle-income countries, "pain / fatigue" was ranked higher than when considering all publications. Top enablers to practice were included "mother-infant attachment" and "support from family, friends, and other mentors." Our findings suggest that mother can understand and enjoy KMC, and it has benefits for mothers, infants, and families. However, continuous KMC may be physically and emotionally difficult, and often requires support from family members, health practitioners, or other mothers. These findings can serve as a starting point for researchers and program implementers looking to improve KMC programs.

Overcoming the Law of the Hidden in Cyberinfrastructures.

PubMed

Bucksch, Alexander; Das, Abhiram; Schneider, Hannah; Merchant, Nirav; Weitz, Joshua S

2017-02-01

Cyberinfrastructure projects (CIPs) are complex, integrated systems that require interaction and organization amongst user, developer, hardware, technical infrastructure, and funding resources. Nevertheless, CIP usability, functionality, and growth do not scale with the sum of these resources. Instead, growth and efficient usage of CIPs require access to 'hidden' resources. These include technical resources within CIPs as well as social and functional interactions among stakeholders. We identify approaches to overcome resource limitations following the conceptual basis of Liebig's Law of the Minimum. In so doing, we recommend practical steps towards efficient and scaleable resource use, taking the iPlant/CyVerse CIP as an example. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Utilizing media arts principles for developing effective interactive neurorehabilitation systems.

PubMed

Rikakis, Thanassis

2011-01-01

This paper discusses how interactive neurorehabilitation systems can increase their effectiveness through systematic integration of media arts principles and practice. Media arts expertise can foster the development of complex yet intuitive extrinsic feedback displays that match the inherent complexity and intuitive nature of motor learning. Abstract, arts-based feedback displays can be powerful metaphors that provide re-contextualization, engagement and appropriate reward mechanisms for mature adults. Such virtual feedback displays must be seamlessly integrated with physical components to produce mixed reality training environments that promote active, generalizable learning. The proposed approaches are illustrated through examples from mixed reality rehabilitation systems developed by our team.

Hyperedge bundling: A practical solution to spurious interactions in MEG/EEG source connectivity analyses.

PubMed

Wang, Sheng H; Lobier, Muriel; Siebenhühner, Felix; Puoliväli, Tuomas; Palva, Satu; Palva, J Matias

2018-06-01

Inter-areal functional connectivity (FC), neuronal synchronization in particular, is thought to constitute a key systems-level mechanism for coordination of neuronal processing and communication between brain regions. Evidence to support this hypothesis has been gained largely using invasive electrophysiological approaches. In humans, neuronal activity can be non-invasively recorded only with magneto- and electroencephalography (MEG/EEG), which have been used to assess FC networks with high temporal resolution and whole-scalp coverage. However, even in source-reconstructed MEG/EEG data, signal mixing, or "source leakage", is a significant confounder for FC analyses and network localization. Signal mixing leads to two distinct kinds of false-positive observations: artificial interactions (AI) caused directly by mixing and spurious interactions (SI) arising indirectly from the spread of signals from true interacting sources to nearby false loci. To date, several interaction metrics have been developed to solve the AI problem, but the SI problem has remained largely intractable in MEG/EEG all-to-all source connectivity studies. Here, we advance a novel approach for correcting SIs in FC analyses using source-reconstructed MEG/EEG data. Our approach is to bundle observed FC connections into hyperedges by their adjacency in signal mixing. Using realistic simulations, we show here that bundling yields hyperedges with good separability of true positives and little loss in the true positive rate. Hyperedge bundling thus significantly decreases graph noise by minimizing the false-positive to true-positive ratio. Finally, we demonstrate the advantage of edge bundling in the visualization of large-scale cortical networks with real MEG data. We propose that hypergraphs yielded by bundling represent well the set of true cortical interactions that are detectable and dissociable in MEG/EEG connectivity analysis. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design for Usability; practice-oriented research for user-centered product design.

PubMed

van Eijk, Daan; van Kuijk, Jasper; Hoolhorst, Frederik; Kim, Chajoong; Harkema, Christelle; Dorrestijn, Steven

2012-01-01

The Design for Usability project aims at improving the usability of electronic professional and consumer products by creating new methodology and methods for user-centred product development, which are feasible to apply in practice. The project was focused on 5 key areas: (i) design methodology, expanding the existing approach of scenario-based design to incorporate the interaction between product design, user characteristics, and user behaviour; (ii) company processes, barriers and enablers for usability in practice; (iii) user characteristics in relation to types of products and use-situations; (iv) usability decision-making; and (v) product impact on user behaviour. The project team developed methods and techniques in each of these areas to support the design of products with a high level of usability. This paper brings together and summarizes the findings.

Informal Peer Interaction and Practice Type as Predictors of Physician Performance on Maintenance of Certification Examinations.

PubMed

Valentine, Melissa A; Barsade, Sigal; Edmondson, Amy C; Gal, Amit; Rhodes, Robert

2014-06-01

Physicians can demonstrate mastery of the knowledge that supports continued clinical competence by passing a maintenance of certification examination (MOCEX). Performance depends on professional learning and development, which may be enhanced by informal routine interactions with colleagues. Some physicians, such as those in solo practice, may have less opportunity for peer interaction, thus negatively influencing their examination performance. To determine the relationship among level of peer interaction, group and solo practice, and MOCEX performance. Longitudinal cohort study of 568 surgeons taking the 2008 MOCEX. Survey responses reporting the level of physicians' peer interactions and their practice type were related to MOCEX scores, controlling for initial qualifying examination scores, practice type, and personal characteristics. Solo practice and amount of peer interaction. Scores on the MOCEX and pass-fail status. Of the 568 surgeons in the study sample, 557 (98.1%) passed the examination. Higher levels of peer interaction were associated with a higher score (β = 0.91 [95% CI, 0.31-1.52]) and higher likelihood of passing the examination (odds ratio, 2.58 [1.08-6.16]). Physicians in solo (vs group) practice had fewer peer interactions (β = -0.49 [95% CI, -0.64 to -0.33), received lower scores (β = -1.82 [-2.94 to -0.82]), and were less likely to pass the examination (odds ratio, 0.22 [0.06-0.77]). Level of peer interaction moderated the relationship between solo practice and MOCEX score; solo practitioners with high levels of peer interaction achieved an MOCEX performance on a par with that of group practitioners. Physicians in solo practice had poorer MOCEX performance. However, solo practitioners who reported high levels of peer interaction performed as well as those in group practice. Peer interaction is important for professional learning and quality of care.

The Methodology of Interactive Parametric Modelling of Construction Site Facilities in BIM Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozlovská, Mária; Čabala, Jozef; Struková, Zuzana

2014-11-01

Information technology is becoming a strong tool in different industries, including construction. The recent trend of buildings designing is leading up to creation of the most comprehensive virtual building model (Building Information Model) in order to solve all the problems relating to the project as early as in the designing phase. Building information modelling is a new way of approaching to the design of building projects documentation. Currently, the building site layout as a part of the building design documents has a very little support in the BIM environment. Recently, the research of designing the construction process conditions has centred on improvement of general practice in planning and on new approaches to construction site layout planning. The state of art in field of designing the construction process conditions indicated an unexplored problem related to connection of knowledge system with construction site facilities (CSF) layout through interactive modelling. The goal of the paper is to present the methodology for execution of 3D construction site facility allocation model (3D CSF-IAM), based on principles of parametric and interactive modelling.

Interdisciplinary periodontics: the multidisciplinary approach to the planning and treatment of complex cases.

PubMed

Lyons, Karl M; Darby, Ivan

2017-06-01

Periodontics cannot be practiced in isolation as frequently many patients have multiple dental needs or medical health issues requiring management. In addition, pathology may manifest in the periodontal tissues, and the onset and progression of periodontitis can be affected by systemic conditions, such as diabetes, and vice versa. The focus of this volume of Periodontology 2000 is interdisciplinary periodontics, and the articles included discuss the interactions and the interrelationshipbetween periodontal tissues/periodontal diseases and endodontics, fixed prosthodontics, implant dentistry, esthetics, gerodontology, radiology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, special needs dentistry and general medicine. Previous volumes of Periodontology 2000 have covered some of the interactions between periodontal diseases and other dental disciplines, especially implant dentistry, 'and the interaction between periodontal disease and systemic disease', but there has not been a volume on interdisciplinary periodontics. The intention therefore is to show how and why periodontics should be interdisciplinary, as well as the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach; in addition, the potential consequences of using a discipline in isolation are discussed. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Interactive Didactic Lecture Versus Online Simulation-Based CME Programs Directed at Improving the Diagnostic Capabilities of Primary Care Practitioners.

PubMed

McFadden, Pam; Crim, Andrew

2016-01-01

Diagnostic errors in primary care contribute to increased morbidity and mortality, and billions in costs each year. Improvements in the way practicing physicians are taught so as to optimally perform differential diagnosis can increase patient safety and lower the costs of care. This study represents a comparison of the effectiveness of two approaches to CME training directed at improving the primary care practitioner's diagnostic capabilities against seven common and important causes of joint pain. Using a convenience sampling methodology, one group of primary care practitioners was trained by a traditional live, expert-led, multimedia-based training activity supplemented with interactive practice opportunities and feedback (control group). The second group was trained online with a multimedia-based training activity supplemented with interactive practice opportunities and feedback delivered by an artificial intelligence-driven simulation/tutor (treatment group). Before their respective instructional intervention, there were no significant differences in the diagnostic performance of the two groups against a battery of case vignettes presenting with joint pain. Using the same battery of case vignettes to assess postintervention diagnostic performance, there was a slight but not statistically significant improvement in the control group's diagnostic accuracy (P = .13). The treatment group, however, demonstrated a significant improvement in accuracy (P < .02; Cohen d, effect size = 0.79). These data indicate that within the context of a CME activity, a significant improvement in diagnostic accuracy can be achieved by the use of a web-delivered, multimedia-based instructional activity supplemented by practice opportunities and feedback delivered by an artificial intelligence-driven simulation/tutor.

Professional identity formation in medical education for humanistic, resilient physicians: pedagogic strategies for bridging theory to practice.

PubMed

Wald, Hedy S; Anthony, David; Hutchinson, Tom A; Liben, Stephen; Smilovitch, Mark; Donato, Anthony A

2015-06-01

Recent calls for an expanded perspective on medical education and training include focusing on complexities of professional identity formation (PIF). Medical educators are challenged to facilitate the active constructive, integrative developmental process of PIF within standardized and personalized and/or formal and informal curricular approaches. How can we best support the complex iterative PIF process for a humanistic, resilient health care professional? How can we effectively scaffold the necessary critical reflective learning and practice skill set for our learners to support the shaping of a professional identity?The authors present three pedagogic innovations contributing to the PIF process within undergraduate and graduate medical education (GME) at their institutions. These are (1) interactive reflective writing fostering reflective capacity, emotional awareness, and resiliency (as complexities within physician-patient interactions are explored) for personal and professional development; (2) synergistic teaching modules about mindful clinical practice and resilient responses to difficult interactions, to foster clinician resilience and enhanced well-being for effective professional functioning; and (3) strategies for effective use of a professional development e-portfolio and faculty development of reflective coaching skills in GME.These strategies as "bridges from theory to practice" embody and integrate key elements of promoting and enriching PIF, including guided reflection, the significant role of relationships (faculty and peers), mindfulness, adequate feedback, and creating collaborative learning environments. Ideally, such pedagogic innovations can make a significant contribution toward enhancing quality of care and caring with resilience for the being, relating, and doing of a humanistic health care professional.

Vertical Dynamic Interaction Between Train and Track Influence of Wheel and Track Imperfections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, J. C. O.; Igeland, A.

1995-11-01

The vertical dynamic behaviour is investigated for a railway bogie moving on a rail which is discretely supported, via railpads, by sleepers resting on an elastic foundation. The transient interaction problem is numerically solved by use of an extended state-spacer vector approach in conjunction with a complex modal superposition for the track. Application examples are given in which the influences of three types of practically important imperfections in the compound vehicle/track system are investigated. The first is a sinusoidal corrugation of the railhead and the second a skid flat on the wheel tread (a wheelflat). The third imperfection is a case where a single sleeper has lost its support due to erosion of the ballast. Physical explanations of the calculated interaction behaviour are given.

Using theories of practice to understand HIV-positive persons varied engagement with HIV services: a qualitative study in six Sub-Saharan African countries

PubMed Central

Wringe, Alison; Seeley, Janet; Renju, Jenny; Paparini, Sara; Wamoyi, Joyce; Moshabela, Mosa; Ddaaki, William; Nyamukapa, Constance; Ondenge, Kenneth; Bernays, Sarah; Bonnington, Oliver

2017-01-01

Objectives This article considers the potential of ‘theories of practice’ for studying and understanding varied (dis)engagement with HIV care and treatment services and begins to unpack the assemblage of elements and practices that shape the nature and duration of individuals’ interactions with HIV services. Methods We obtained data from a multicountry qualitative study that explores the use of HIV care and treatment services, with a focus on examining the social organisation of engagement with care as a practice and as manifested in the lives of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. The dataset comprised of 356 interviews with participants from six countries. Results We noted fluctuating interactions with HIV services in all countries. In line with theories of practice, we found that such varied engagement can be explained by (1) the availability, absence and connections between requisite ‘materialities’ (eg, health infrastructure, medicines), ‘competencies’ (eg, knowing how to live with HIV) and ‘meanings’ (eg, trust in HIV services, stigma, normalisation of HIV) and (2) a host of other life practices, such as working or parenting. These dynamics either facilitated or inhibited engagement with HIV services and were intrinsically linked to the discursive, cultural, political and economic fabric of the participating countries. Conclusion Practice theory provides HIV researchers and practitioners with a useful vocabulary and analytical tools to understand and steer people’s differentiated HIV service (dis)engagement. Our application of practice theory to engagement in HIV care, as experienced by HIV service users and providers in six sub-Saharan African countries, highlights the need for a practice-based approach in the delivery of differentiated and patient-centred HIV services. PMID:28736396

Relevance of the nature vs nurture debate to clinical nursing.

PubMed

McVicar, A; Clancy, J

The philosophy of holistic care underpins nurse education, and the 'nature-nurture debate' is frequently used to facilitate discussion regarding the influence of interactions with the environment in 'shaping' the individual. A limitation to this approach is that much of the work cited in the literature relates primarily to psychosocial interactions. This conveys a narrow perspective on holism, and creates an impression that the debate cannot be applied to other aspects of health and wellbeing, yet models of nursing care emphasize the need for nurses to appreciate the interactional basis of health. This article uses examples from mental health, physical health and the influence of ageing, to argue that interactions must be viewed from a much wider perspective. Only in doing so can the principles and application of holistic care, and an understanding of the bases of health education practices, be appreciated.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation: systematic analysis of communication from the biopsychosocial perspective.

PubMed

Hartley, Naomi A

2015-07-02

Communication is powerful predictor of health-related quality of life and overall well-being, yet its role in promoting rehabilitation outcomes in spinal cord injury (SCI) is rarely mentioned. This article systematically analyzes and synthesizes literature from multiple disciplines according to a biopsychosocial perspective, providing an evidence base for clinical practice and clear direction for future research. Systematic literature review and analysis, incorporating mapping to International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) codes. In total 4338 entries were retrieved from CINAHL, PsychInfo, Medline, PubMed and SpeechBite databases for the period 1990-2014. A total of 115 treatment and observational studies (quantitative and qualitative) detailed aspects of communication according to structure, function, activity, participation and environmental factors; evident of the complex interactions between communicative function with daily living after SCI. Communication is a relative strength in SCI, key to empowerment, independence, social interaction, and well-being, yet its potential to enhance SCI rehabilitation outcomes remains largely underexplored and untapped. Through elucidating interactions between communication and functioning, the adapted ICF framework affords clinicians and researchers insight into areas of intervention most likely to result in widespread gains. Conscious consideration should be given to the role of communication, within an integrative, strengths-based, multidisciplinary approach to clinical practice and future research. Implications for Rehabilitation Communication fosters empowerment, independence and greater participation in life roles; recognized as a powerful predictor of health-related quality of life and overall well-being. The ICF framework elucidates influences to communicative function, and components which are influenced by communication, providing valuable insight for clinicians and researchers. Therapeutic and research endeavors guided by existing ICF core sets are at risk of failing to consider communication, thereby limiting rehabilitation outcomes. Tapping the potential of communication as a relative strength within SCI rehabilitation holds considerable promise, within integrative, strengths-based, multidisciplinary approaches to clinical practice and future research.

Systemic accident analysis: examining the gap between research and practice.

PubMed

Underwood, Peter; Waterson, Patrick

2013-06-01

The systems approach is arguably the dominant concept within accident analysis research. Viewing accidents as a result of uncontrolled system interactions, it forms the theoretical basis of various systemic accident analysis (SAA) models and methods. Despite the proposed benefits of SAA, such as an improved description of accident causation, evidence within the scientific literature suggests that these techniques are not being used in practice and that a research-practice gap exists. The aim of this study was to explore the issues stemming from research and practice which could hinder the awareness, adoption and usage of SAA. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 safety experts from ten countries and a variety of industries, including rail, aviation and maritime. This study suggests that the research-practice gap should be closed and efforts to bridge the gap should focus on ensuring that systemic methods meet the needs of practitioners and improving the communication of SAA research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Science ELF: Assessing the enquiry levels framework as a heuristic for professional development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wheeler, Lindsay B.; Bell, Randy L.; Whitworth, Brooke A.; Maeng, Jennifer L.

2015-01-01

This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to explore randomly assigned treatment and control participants' frequency of inquiry instruction in secondary science classrooms. Eleven treatment participants received professional development (PD) that emphasized a structured approach to inquiry instruction, while 10 control participants received no PD. Two representative treatment participants were interviewed and observed to provide an in-depth understanding of inquiry instruction and factors affecting implementation. Paired t-tests were used to analyze quantitative data from observation forms, and a constant comparative approach was used to analyze qualitative data from surveys, interviews, purposeful observations and artifacts. Results indicated that treatment participants implemented inquiry significantly more frequently than control participants (p < .01). Two treatment participants' instruction revealed that both used a similar structure of inquiry but employed different types of interactions and emphasized different scientific practices. These differences may be explained by the participants' understandings of and beliefs about inquiry and structuring inquiry. The present study has the potential to inform how methods of structuring inquiry instruction and teaching scientific practices are addressed in teacher preparation.

A tough-love pedagogy in rehabilitation: integration of rehabilitation ideology with local cultures.

PubMed

Chang, Ling-Hui; Wang, Jye

2009-09-01

This study problematizes a unique therapeutic relationship in rehabilitation and how the interaction reflects the integration of rehabilitation ideology with local cultures. The data drew from a larger ethnographic study of a rehabilitation unit in Taiwan. Participants included 21 patient-caregiver pairs and their rehabilitation professionals. They participated in in-depth interviews and participant observation. A tough-love pedagogy emerged as a unique therapeutic relationship in the unit. Patients were asked to interpret the stress with therapy as an inevitable, beneficial experience toward recovery. A prevalent supposition that equated poor physical performance with weak morale legitimized the approach. Cultural metaphors used to describe and define rehabilitation transformed the stress that patients experienced with strenuous exercises into a beneficial substance that aids recovery. The transformation of the therapeutic relationship into a pedagogical one helped connect rehabilitation to shared educational experiences. In the unit, the complicit practice of therapists, caregivers, and patients established and perpetuated the practice of a tough-love pedagogy. The congruence between this tough-love approach and traditional Chinese pedagogical principles made the approach legitimate and desired.

Speech and language therapists' approaches to communication intervention with children and adults with profound and multiple learning disability.

PubMed

Goldbart, Juliet; Chadwick, Darren; Buell, Susan

2014-11-01

People with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PMLD) have communication impairments as one defining characteristic. To explore speech and language therapists' (SLTs) decision making in communication interventions for people with PMLD, in terms of the intervention approaches used, the factors informing the decisions to use specific interventions and the extent to which the rationales underpinning these decisions related to the components of evidence based practice (EBP), namely empirical evidence, clinical experience and client/carer views and values. A questionnaire on communication assessment and intervention for people with PMLD was sent to SLTs in the UK to elicit information on: the communication intervention approaches they used; their rationales for their intervention choices; their use of published evidence to inform decision making. Intensive interaction and objects of reference were the communication interventions most often used with people with PMLD, with some differences between children and adults evident. Rationales provided conformed somewhat to the EBP framework though extension of the existing framework and addition of practical and organizational considerations led to a revised typology of rationale for decision making. Rationales most frequently related to the empowerment, development and behavioural preferences of the person with PMLD. Empirical research evidence was seldom mentioned by SLTs as informing intervention decision making leading to very diverse practice. There is a need for further research on the effectiveness of commonly used but under-evaluated interventions. There is also a need to alert SLTs to the evidence base supporting other approaches, particularly switch-based, cause and effect approaches. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

From flamingo dance to (desirable) drug discovery: a nature-inspired approach.

PubMed

Sánchez-Rodríguez, Aminael; Pérez-Castillo, Yunierkis; Schürer, Stephan C; Nicolotti, Orazio; Mangiatordi, Giuseppe Felice; Borges, Fernanda; Cordeiro, M Natalia D S; Tejera, Eduardo; Medina-Franco, José L; Cruz-Monteagudo, Maykel

2017-10-01

The therapeutic effects of drugs are well known to result from their interaction with multiple intracellular targets. Accordingly, the pharma industry is currently moving from a reductionist approach based on a 'one-target fixation' to a holistic multitarget approach. However, many drug discovery practices are still procedural abstractions resulting from the attempt to understand and address the action of biologically active compounds while preventing adverse effects. Here, we discuss how drug discovery can benefit from the principles of evolutionary biology and report two real-life case studies. We do so by focusing on the desirability principle, and its many features and applications, such as machine learning-based multicriteria virtual screening. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association between physicians’ interaction with pharmaceutical companies and their clinical practices: A systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Al-Khaled, Lina; Kahale, Lara A.; Nas, Hala; El-Jardali, Fadi

2017-01-01

Background Pharmaceutical company representatives likely influence the prescribing habits and professional behaviors of physicians. The objective of this study was to systematically review the association between physicians’ interactions with pharmaceutical companies and their clinical practices. Methods We used the standard systematic review methodology. Observational and experimental study designs examining any type of targeted interaction between practicing physicians and pharmaceutical companies were eligible. The search strategy included a search of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases up to July 2016. Two reviewers selected studies, abstracted data, and assessed risk of bias in duplicate and independently. We assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. Results Twenty articles reporting on 19 studies met our inclusion criteria. All of these studies were conducted in high-income countries and examined different types of interactions, including detailing, industry-funded continuing medical education, and receiving free gifts. While all included studies assessed prescribing behaviors, four studies also assessed financial outcomes, one assessed physicians’ knowledge, and one assessed their beliefs. None of the studies assessed clinical outcomes. Out of the 19 studies, 15 found a consistent association between interactions promoting a medication, and inappropriately increased prescribing rates, lower prescribing quality, and/or increased prescribing costs. The remaining four studies found both associations and lack of significant associations for the different types of exposures and drugs examined in the studies. A meta-analysis of six of these studies found a statistically significant association between exposure and physicians’ prescribing behaviors (OR = 2.52; 95% CI 1.82–3.50). The quality of evidence was downgraded to moderate for risk of bias and inconsistency. Sensitivity analysis excluding studies at high risk of bias did not substantially change these results. A subgroup analysis did not find a difference by type of exposure. Conclusion There is moderate quality evidence that physicians’ interactions with pharmaceutical companies are associated with their prescribing patterns and quality. PMID:28406971

Predictive performance of three practical approaches for grapefruit juice-induced 2-fold or greater increases in AUC of concomitantly administered drugs.

PubMed

Takahashi, M; Onozawa, S; Ogawa, R; Uesawa, Y; Echizen, H

2015-02-01

Clinical pharmacists have a challenging task when answering patients' question about whether they can take specific drugs with grapefruit juice (GFJ) without risk of drug interaction. To identify the most practicable method for predicting clinically relevant changes in plasma concentrations of orally administered drugs caused by the ingestion of GFJ, we compared the predictive performance of three methods using data obtained from the literature. We undertook a systematic search of drug interactions associated with GFJ using MEDLINE and the Metabolism & Transport Drug Interaction Database (DIDB version 4.0). We considered an elevation of the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of 2 or greater relative to the control value [AUC ratio (AUCR) ≥ 2.0] as a clinically significant interaction. The data from 74 drugs (194 data sets) were analysed. When the reported information of CYP3A involvement in the metabolism of a drug of interest was adopted as a predictive criterion for GFJ-drug interaction, the performance assessed by positive predictive value (PPV) was low (0.26), but that assessed by negative predictive value (NPV) and sensitivity was high (1.00 for both). When the reported oral bioavailability of ≤ 0.1 was used as a criterion, the PPV improved to 0.50 with an acceptable NPV of 0.81, but sensitivity was reduced to 0.21. When the reported AUCR was ≥ 10 after co-administration of a typical CYP3A inhibitor, the corresponding values were 0.64, 0.79 and 0.19, respectively. We consider that an oral bioavailability of ≤ 0.1 or an AUCR of ≥ 10 caused by a CYP3A inhibitor of a drug of interest may be a practical prediction criterion for avoiding significant interactions with GFJ. Information about the involvement of CYP3A in their metabolism should also be taken into account for drugs with narrow therapeutic ranges. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Changing policy and practice: making sense of national guidelines for osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Ong, Bie Nio; Morden, Andrew; Brooks, Lauren; Porcheret, Mark; Edwards, John J; Sanders, Tom; Jinks, Clare; Dziedzic, Krysia

2014-04-01

Understanding uptake of complex interventions is an increasingly prominent area of research. The interplay of macro (such as changing health policy), meso (re-organisation of professional work) and micro (rationalisation of clinical care) factors upon uptake of complex interventions has rarely been explored. This study focuses on how English General Practitioners and practice nurses make sense of a complex intervention for the management of osteoarthritis, using the macro-meso-micro contextual approach and Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), specifically the construct of coherence. It is embedded in a cluster RCT comprising four control practices and four intervention practices. In order to study sense-making by professionals introduction and planning meetings (N = 14) between researchers and the practices were observed. Three group interviews were carried out with 10 GPs and 5 practice nurses after they had received training in the intervention. Transcripts were thematically analysed before comparison with NPT constructs. We found that: first, most GPs and all nurses distinguished the intervention from current ways of working. Second, from the introduction meeting to the completion of the training the purpose of the intervention increased in clarity. Third, GPs varied in their understanding of their remit, while the practice nurses felt that the intervention builds on their holistic care approach. Fourth, the intervention was valued by practice nurses as it strengthened their expert status. GPs saw its value as work substitution, but felt that a positive conceptualisation of OA enhanced the consultation. When introducing new interventions in healthcare settings the interaction between macro, meso and micro factors, as well as the means of engaging new clinical practices and their sense-making by clinicians needs to be considered. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Interactions of urea with native and unfolded proteins: a volumetric study.

PubMed

Son, Ikbae; Shek, Yuen Lai; Tikhomirova, Anna; Baltasar, Eduardo Hidalgo; Chalikian, Tigran V

2014-11-26

We describe a statistical thermodynamic approach to analyzing urea-dependent volumetric properties of proteins. We use this approach to analyze our urea-dependent data on the partial molar volume and adiabatic compressibility of lysozyme, apocytochrome c, ribonuclease A, and α-chymotrypsinogen A. The analysis produces the thermodynamic properties of elementary urea-protein association reactions while also yielding estimates of the effective solvent-accessible surface areas of the native and unfolded protein states. Lysozyme and apocytochrome c do not undergo urea-induced transitions. The former remains folded, while the latter is unfolded between 0 and 8 M urea. In contrast, ribonuclease A and α-chymotrypsinogen A exhibit urea-induced unfolding transitions. Thus, our data permit us to characterize urea-protein interactions in both the native and unfolded states. We interpreted the urea-dependent volumetric properties of the proteins in terms of the equilibrium constant, k, and changes in volume, ΔV0, and compressibility, ΔKT0, for a reaction in which urea binds to a protein with a concomitant release of two waters of hydration to the bulk. Comparison of the values of k, ΔV0, and ΔKT0 with the similar data obtained on small molecules mimicking protein groups reveals lack of cooperative effects involved in urea-protein interactions. In general, the volumetric approach, while providing a unique characterization of cosolvent-protein interactions, offers a practical way for evaluating the effective solvent accessible surface area of biologically significant fully or partially unfolded polypeptides.

Increasing confidence and changing behaviors in primary care providers engaged in genetic counselling.

PubMed

Wilkes, Michael S; Day, Frank C; Fancher, Tonya L; McDermott, Haley; Lehman, Erik; Bell, Robert A; Green, Michael J

2017-09-13

Screening and counseling for genetic conditions is an increasingly important part of primary care practice, particularly given the paucity of genetic counselors in the United States. However, primary care physicians (PCPs) often have an inadequate understanding of evidence-based screening; communication approaches that encourage shared decision-making; ethical, legal, and social implication (ELSI) issues related to screening for genetic mutations; and the basics of clinical genetics. This study explored whether an interactive, web-based genetics curriculum directed at PCPs in non-academic primary care settings was superior at changing practice knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors when compared to a traditional educational approach, particularly when discussing common genetic conditions. One hundred twenty one PCPs in California and Pennsylvania physician practices were randomized to either an Intervention Group (IG) or Control Group (CG). IG physicians completed a 6 h interactive web-based curriculum covering communication skills, basics of genetic testing, risk assessment, ELSI issues and practice behaviors. CG physicians were provided with a traditional approach to Continuing Medical Education (CME) (clinical review articles) offering equivalent information. PCPs in the Intervention Group showed greater increases in knowledge compared to the Control Group. Intervention PCPs were also more satisfied with the educational materials, and more confident in their genetics knowledge and skills compared to those receiving traditional CME materials. Intervention PCPs felt that the web-based curriculum covered medical management, genetics, and ELSI issues significantly better than did the Control Group, and in comparison with traditional curricula. The Intervention Group felt the online tools offered several advantages, and engaged in better shared decision making with standardized patients, however, there was no difference in behavior change between groups with regard to increases in ELSI discussions between PCPs and patients. While our intervention was deemed more enjoyable, demonstrated significant factual learning and retention, and increased shared decision making practices, there were few differences in behavior changes around ELSI discussions. Unfortunately, barriers to implementing behavior change in clinical genetics is not unique to our intervention. Perhaps the missing element is that busy physicians need systems-level support to engage in meaningful discussions around genetics issues. The next step in promoting active engagement between doctors and patients may be to put into place the tools needed for PCPs to easily access the materials they need at the point-of-care to engage in joint discussions around clinical genetics.

Field Scale Optimization for Long-Term Sustainability of Best Management Practices in Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuels, A.; Babbar-Sebens, M.

2012-12-01

Agricultural and urban land use changes have led to disruption of natural hydrologic processes and impairment of streams and rivers. Multiple previous studies have evaluated Best Management Practices (BMPs) as means for restoring existing hydrologic conditions and reducing impairment of water resources. However, planning of these practices have relied on watershed scale hydrologic models for identifying locations and types of practices at scales much coarser than the actual field scale, where landowners have to plan, design and implement the practices. Field scale hydrologic modeling provides means for identifying relationships between BMP type, spatial location, and the interaction between BMPs at a finer farm/field scale that is usually more relevant to the decision maker (i.e. the landowner). This study focuses on development of a simulation-optimization approach for field-scale planning of BMPs in the School Branch stream system of Eagle Creek Watershed, Indiana, USA. The Agricultural Policy Environmental Extender (APEX) tool is used as the field scale hydrologic model, and a multi-objective optimization algorithm is used to search for optimal alternatives. Multiple climate scenarios downscaled to the watershed-scale are used to test the long term performance of these alternatives and under extreme weather conditions. The effectiveness of these BMPs under multiple weather conditions are included within the simulation-optimization approach as a criteria/goal to assist landowners in identifying sustainable design of practices. The results from these scenarios will further enable efficient BMP planning for current and future usage.

Inclusive intake screening: shaping medical problems into specialist-appropriate cases.

PubMed

Jean, Yvette A

2004-05-01

This paper examines medical intake screening through the process of making appointments with medical specialists. By employing a multi-method, qualitative approach, it shows how decisions to schedule doctors' appointments are based on medical knowledge about physicians' specialties and specific organisational practices. It draws on insights from first-contact interactions between clients and institutional gatekeepers to enrich our understanding of intake screening. In relation to gatekeeping, rationing commonly gets framed as restrictive screening practices, with a preference for denying or limiting access to treatment. Restrictive screening practices are typically organised to elicit a narrow range of information ('facts') relevant to specific eligibility criteria; whereas inclusive intake screening tends to involve less scripted, more complex and open-ended interactional exchanges between workers and clients, wherein workers help clients frame their claims in ways that will increase their chances of getting accepted. Front-office workers hold a preference for inclusive intake screening, a preference that is undergirded by the referral-driven nature of this stage of patient processing, and by a work environment that favours inclusive screening. This finding builds on the literature within medical sociology, but also extends our understanding of frontline decision-making and the distribution of resources within a variety of people-processing institutions.

Pedagogy with babies: perspectives of eight nursery managers.

PubMed

Elfer, Peter; Page, Jools

2015-12-02

The last 30 years have seen a significant increase in babies attending nursery, with corresponding questions about the aims and organisation of practice. Research broadly agrees on the importance of emotionally consistent, sensitive and responsive interactions between staff and babies. Policy objectives for nursery and expectations of parents and staff give rise to different and sometimes conflicting aims for such interactions; for example attachments to staff, peer interactions or early learning. Research shows marked variations of pedagogy aims and organisation with babies in nurseries in different national and cultural contexts. It also demonstrates variation between nurseries in similar contexts and between staff in their beliefs and values about work with babies. This paper reports on an exploratory study of the beliefs, aspirations and approaches of eight managers concerning pedagogy with babies in two similar English local authorities. These managers spoke of the importance of being responsive to the concerns and priorities of parents, whilst being sensitive to the demands of the work on their staff. The main finding was of the contradictions and confusions managers felt were inherent in the work, arising from both conflicting policy objectives and personal beliefs and aspirations; sometimes their own and sometimes those of individual staff and parents. Urban, Vandenbroeck, Van Laere, Lazzari, and Peeters' [(2012). Towards competent systems in early childhood education and care. Implications for policy and practice. European Journal of Education , 47 (4), 508-526.] concept of the 'competent system' is used to recommend a grounded approach to the development of a more culturally, socially and individually responsive pedagogy with babies than appears to exist at present.

Pedagogy with babies: perspectives of eight nursery managers

PubMed Central

Elfer, Peter; Page, Jools

2015-01-01

The last 30 years have seen a significant increase in babies attending nursery, with corresponding questions about the aims and organisation of practice. Research broadly agrees on the importance of emotionally consistent, sensitive and responsive interactions between staff and babies. Policy objectives for nursery and expectations of parents and staff give rise to different and sometimes conflicting aims for such interactions; for example attachments to staff, peer interactions or early learning. Research shows marked variations of pedagogy aims and organisation with babies in nurseries in different national and cultural contexts. It also demonstrates variation between nurseries in similar contexts and between staff in their beliefs and values about work with babies. This paper reports on an exploratory study of the beliefs, aspirations and approaches of eight managers concerning pedagogy with babies in two similar English local authorities. These managers spoke of the importance of being responsive to the concerns and priorities of parents, whilst being sensitive to the demands of the work on their staff. The main finding was of the contradictions and confusions managers felt were inherent in the work, arising from both conflicting policy objectives and personal beliefs and aspirations; sometimes their own and sometimes those of individual staff and parents. Urban, Vandenbroeck, Van Laere, Lazzari, and Peeters' [(2012). Towards competent systems in early childhood education and care. Implications for policy and practice. European Journal of Education, 47(4), 508–526.] concept of the ‘competent system’ is used to recommend a grounded approach to the development of a more culturally, socially and individually responsive pedagogy with babies than appears to exist at present. PMID:26692633

Teacher-student interaction: The overlooked dimension of inquiry-based professional development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Oliveira, Alandeom Wanderlei

This study explores the teacher-student interactional dimension of inquiry-based science instruction. In it, microethnographic and grounded theory analyses are conducted in order to assess the impact of a professional development program designed to enhance in-service elementary teachers' interactional views (i.e., their understandings of inquiry-based social roles and relationships) and discursive practices (i.e., teachers' abilities to interact with student engaged in classroom inquiries) through a combination of expert instruction, immersion in scientific inquiry, and collaborative analysis of video-recorded classroom discourse. A sociolinguistic theoretical perspective on language use is adopted, viewing classroom discourse as comprising multiple linguistic signs (questions, responses, personal pronouns, hedges, backchannels, reactive tokens, directives, figures of speech, parallel repetitions) that convey not only semantic meanings (the literal information being exchanged) but also pragmatic meanings (information about teachers and students' social roles and relationships). A grounded theory analysis of the professional development activities uncovered a gradual shift in teachers' interactional views from a cognitive, monofunctional and decontextualized perspective to a social, multifunctional and contextualized conception of inquiry-based discourse. Furthermore, teachers developed increased levels of pragmatic awareness, being able to recognize the authoritative interactional functions served by discursive moves such as display questions, cued elicitation, convergent questioning, verbal cloze, affirmation, explicit evaluations of students' responses, verbatim repetitions, IRE triplets, IR couplets, second-person pronouns, "I/you" contrastive pairs, and direct or impolite directives. A comparative microethnographic analysis of teachers' classroom practices revealed that after participating in the program teachers demonstrated an improved ability to share authority and to transfer expert interactional rights to students by strategically adopting (1) questioning behaviors that were relatively more student-centered, divergent, reflective, and sincere; (2) reactive behaviors that were more neutral and informative; (3) directive behaviors that were more polite, indirect and inclusive; and, (4) poetic behaviors that fostered more involvement. Such ability allowed teachers to establish more symmetric and involved social relationships with students engaged in classroom inquiries. The above changes in teachers' interactional views and discursive practices are taken as evidence of the effectiveness of an explicit, reflective, authentic and contextualized approach to inquiry-based professional development.

Clinical rotation in pathology: description of a case based approach.

PubMed

Bezuidenhout, J; Wasserman, E; Mansvelt, E; Meyer, C; van Zyl, G; Orth, H; Els, A

2006-04-01

The implementation of a system based, integrated curriculum at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa, resulted in less contact time for the pathology disciplines during theoretical modules, while a weekly rotation in pathology was introduced during clinical training in the fourth and fifth years. To describe a problem based approach for this rotation. Students are presented with a clinical "paper" case daily, integrating as many of the pathology disciplines as possible to demonstrate the interdependence of the various disciplines. They receive chemical pathology tutorials, visit the various laboratories, and receive practical training in fine needle aspiration biopsy. On the final day, the case studies are assessed and discussed. Most students appreciated all activities. This rotation enhanced student interactivity and autonomy and guaranteed immediate feedback. On evaluation of the rotation it was found that the students enjoyed the rotation, learnt something new, and realised the value of group work. This innovation integrates pathology with clinical practice and illustrates the use of laboratory medicine in the management of common diseases seen in this country. Students appreciate learning practical skills and having to request special investigations under a pathologist's supervision changes their approach to pathology requests. Familiarity with the pathology environment empowers the student to use pathology with greater ease. A bank of case studies that can be expanded to include all medical disciplines will facilitate the application of a problem based approach and enhance communication between the basic science disciplines and the clinical and pathology disciplines.

Unpacking Docent Practice in Free Choice Science Learning Settings: A Qualitative Study Documenting the What and Whys of Docent Interpretive Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Good, Laura H.

Museum settings including aquariums, zoos and science centers rely heavily on their volunteer docent populations to interact with and communicate science and conservation concepts to the visiting public. The interactions docents have with museum visitors are important to meeting the educational expectations of museums and improving public science literacy as a whole, yet research to date is limited around docent practice, docents' reflections on that practice nor the sources for docents to learn that practice. Thus, we have little understanding of the interpretive practice docents actually undertake whilst interacting with visitors, why they choose to enact particular strategies, and how they came to learn those practices. Using a grounded qualitative approach within a framework of mediated action and cultural historical activity theory, this case study utilized video observations of docent practice at a science center, pre and post observation interviews, and focus groups to 1) document docent practices for engaging visitors, 2) explain those practices from the docents' own perspectives, and 3) examine those practices from the point of view of how they align with teaching and learning theories and interpretive practice. Thematic analysis using constant comparative methods demonstrate four claims about docent practice: 1) docents view teaching in the museum as opportunities to spark interest with these new experiences. Practices are chosen to engage visitors in these experiences. Docents choose to highlight these experiences as they believe they are reasons to be engaged; 2) docents as teachers are perceptive about their audience. They pay attention to patterns and provide information in response to those patterns. Docents utilize a shared repertoire of practice and information in their community developed from understanding visitor patterns of interest; 3) docents care about their setting and the exhibits within it. They also care about the visitor experience as a whole, and have to be flexible when working with different types of learners. They believe that being a docent means balancing potentially conflicting roles; and 4) docents use interpretation as a pedagogy to engage visitors with science and create personally meaningful experiences. Analysis of significant interactions between docents and visitors shows that such practices are mediated through a variety of discursive and physical tools and implemented by docents as a means of engaging visitors with science and conservation. Moreover, most of these skills appear to be learned on-the-job within their communities of practice, and while specific docent actions and skills may be different across contexts, member checks with docents working in other museum settings demonstrate the resonance of the findings across contexts. The findings of the study are placed in the context of interpretation theories of communication as well as research on docents as lifelong, free-choice learners both facilitating and participating in societal STEM learning activity. Findings and methods of research from this study are valuable to the greater understanding of how docents learn and enact interpretive practice and the development of more effective professional development for docents in museum settings.

Early childhood numeracy in a multiage setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, Karen; Frid, Sandra

2005-10-01

This research is a case study examining numeracy teaching and learning practices in an early childhood multiage setting with Pre-Primary to Year 2 children. Data were collected via running records, researcher reflection notes, and video and audio recordings. Video and audio transcripts were analysed using a mathematical discourse and social interactions coding system designed by MacMillan (1998), while the running records and reflection notes contributed to descriptions of the children's interactions with each other and with the teachers. Teachers used an `assisted performance' approach to instruction that supported problem solving and inquiry processes in mathematics activities, and this, combined with a child-centred pedagogy and specific values about community learning, created a learning environment designed to stimulate and foster learning. The mathematics discourse analysis showed a use of explanatory language in mathematics discourse, and this language supported scaffolding among children for new mathematics concepts. These and other interactions related to peer sharing, tutoring and regulation also emerged as key aspects of students' learning practices. However, the findings indicated that multiage grouping alone did not support learning. Rather, effective learning was dependent upon the teacher's capacities to develop productive discussion among children, as well as implement developmentally appropriate curricula that addressed the needs of the different children.

In silico polypharmacology of natural products.

PubMed

Fang, Jiansong; Liu, Chuang; Wang, Qi; Lin, Ping; Cheng, Feixiong

2017-04-27

Natural products with polypharmacological profiles have demonstrated promise as novel therapeutics for various complex diseases, including cancer. Currently, many gaps exist in our knowledge of which compounds interact with which targets, and experimentally testing all possible interactions is infeasible. Recent advances and developments of systems pharmacology and computational (in silico) approaches provide powerful tools for exploring the polypharmacological profiles of natural products. In this review, we introduce recent progresses and advances of computational tools and systems pharmacology approaches for identifying drug targets of natural products by focusing on the development of targeted cancer therapy. We survey the polypharmacological and systems immunology profiles of five representative natural products that are being considered as cancer therapies. We summarize various chemoinformatics, bioinformatics and systems biology resources for reconstructing drug-target networks of natural products. We then review currently available computational approaches and tools for prediction of drug-target interactions by focusing on five domains: target-based, ligand-based, chemogenomics-based, network-based and omics-based systems biology approaches. In addition, we describe a practical example of the application of systems pharmacology approaches by integrating the polypharmacology of natural products and large-scale cancer genomics data for the development of precision oncology under the systems biology framework. Finally, we highlight the promise of cancer immunotherapies and combination therapies that target tumor ecosystems (e.g. clones or 'selfish' sub-clones) via exploiting the immunological and inflammatory 'side' effects of natural products in the cancer post-genomics era. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An Integrative Perspective on Interpersonal Coordination in Interactive Team Sports

PubMed Central

Steiner, Silvan; Macquet, Anne-Claire; Seiler, Roland

2017-01-01

Interpersonal coordination is a key factor in team performance. In interactive team sports, the limited predictability of a constantly changing context makes coordination challenging. Approaches that highlight the support provided by environmental information and theories of shared mental models provide potential explanations of how interpersonal coordination can nonetheless be established. In this article, we first outline the main assumptions of these approaches and consider criticisms that have been raised with regard to each. The aim of this article is to define a theoretical perspective that integrates the coordination mechanisms of the two approaches. In doing so, we borrow from a theoretical outline of group action. According to this outline, group action based on a priori shared mental models is an example of how interpersonal coordination is established from the top down. Interpersonal coordination in reaction to the perception of affordances represents the bottom-up component of group action. Both components are inextricably involved in the coordination of interactive sports teams. We further elaborate on the theoretical outline to integrate a third, constructivist approach. Integrating this third approach helps to explain interpersonal coordination in game situations for which no shared mental models are established and game situations that remain ambiguous in terms of perceived affordances. The article describes how hierarchical, sequential, and complex dimensions of action organization are important aspects of this constructivist perspective and how mental models may be involved. A basketball example is used to illustrate how top-down, bottom-up and constructivist processes may be simultaneously involved in enabling interpersonal coordination. Finally, we present the implications for research and practice. PMID:28894428

Biophysical interactions between plant and soil: theory and practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Ploeg, Martine

2016-04-01

Vegetation plays an essential role in the hydrological cycle, as it regulates the water flux to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, while it is dependent on adequate water supply. Vegetation shapes the land surface by changing infiltration characteristics as a result of root growth, and controls soil moisture storage, which in turn affect runoff characteristics and groundwater recharge. Vegetation and the underlying geology are in constant interaction, wherein water plays a key role. The resilience of the coupled vegetation-soil system critically depends on its sensitivity to environmental changes. Models are a useful tool to explore interaction and feedbacks between vegetation, soil and landscape. Plants respond biochemically to their environment, while the models used for hydrology are often based on physical interactions. Gene-expression and genotype adaptation may complicate our modelling efforts in for example climate change impacts. Combination of new techniques to assess soil and plant properties facilitates assessment of biophysical interactions. This poster will review these techniques and compare the obtained insights of soil-plant relationships with the current modeling approaches.

A Poisson approach to the validation of failure time surrogate endpoints in individual patient data meta-analyses.

PubMed

Rotolo, Federico; Paoletti, Xavier; Burzykowski, Tomasz; Buyse, Marc; Michiels, Stefan

2017-01-01

Surrogate endpoints are often used in clinical trials instead of well-established hard endpoints for practical convenience. The meta-analytic approach relies on two measures of surrogacy: one at the individual level and one at the trial level. In the survival data setting, a two-step model based on copulas is commonly used. We present a new approach which employs a bivariate survival model with an individual random effect shared between the two endpoints and correlated treatment-by-trial interactions. We fit this model using auxiliary mixed Poisson models. We study via simulations the operating characteristics of this mixed Poisson approach as compared to the two-step copula approach. We illustrate the application of the methods on two individual patient data meta-analyses in gastric cancer, in the advanced setting (4069 patients from 20 randomized trials) and in the adjuvant setting (3288 patients from 14 randomized trials).

Empowering school personnel for positive youth development: the case of Hong Kong school social workers.

PubMed

To, Siu-ming

2009-01-01

While empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents, few attempts have been made to explore the possibilities for empowering school personnel to create an environment in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. Based on the field experiences of 15 Hong Kong school social workers, this article examines how practitioners use various strategies to interact with school personnel to generate empowering practices in the school setting: namely, (1) exerting influence on school personnel in daily conversations and interactions; (2) creating an environment conducive to the teacher-student relationship; (3) achieving consensus with school personnel through lobbying and negotiation; and (4) collaborating with school personnel to organize life education and positive youth development programs. The findings provide valuable reference materials to guide other practitioners in applying the empowerment approach in actual practice. It also helps fill the gap in existing literature on empowerment and school social work.

Precision Approach Radar Training System (PARTS) Training Effectiveness Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-01

as complex as PARTS, the many interactions between hardware and software could lead to such intermittent problems. Finding the sources of these...provided with the opportunity to excercise some training options such as selecting practice or review when they feel it necessary. This is not to suggest...Replay had a fast -forward". Because "Replay with Errors" is important for learning, students should not be discouraged from selecting it by the

War and Man: Finding Practical Value in Psychological Theories for the Military Professional

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-25

important tasks with an all-or-nothing mindset and abhor half- hearted approaches.131 They channel anger in healthy ways as an energizer to overcome...especially thrive when preparing for well-structured problems such as gunneries or tasks with detailed training and evaluation outlines (T&EOs...country or human terrain team frequently interacting with host nation personnel. They will likely serve well designing and executing Train , Advise

The role of ethics in science and engineering.

PubMed

Johnson, Deborah G

2010-12-01

It is generally thought that science and engineering should never cross certain ethical lines. The idea connects ethics to science and engineering, but it frames the relationship in a misleading way. Moral notions and practices inevitably influence and are influenced by science and engineering. The important question is how such interactions should take place. Anticipatory ethics is a new approach that integrates ethics into technological development. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SHERLOCK: A Coached Practice Environment for an Electronics Troubleshooting Job

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

context. At the most abstract level, it Is the cognitive version of earlier approaches to errorless learning (Terrace, 1964). With support from a...not yet learned and Is the basis for Interactions with the student . Sherlock does not use simulation techniques to model student pedormnce. Its...annotation of how well the student is expected to do at each point of the abstracted problem space. The object (microprogram) corresponding to each node

A collaborative approach to facilitate professionals to support the breathless patient.

PubMed

Shaw, Vanessa; Davies, Alison; Ong, Bie Nio

2017-07-22

Breathlessness is a major problem for people in their last weeks of life. Breathlessness is considered to be multidimensional with physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual factors all playing a part. It has been recognised that specific training to health professionals is beneficial in order to improve the care for patients with breathlessness.Breathlessness courses have tended to focus on senior nurses. A new flexible and collaborative training course was designed to include a wider range of nurses and other health professionals in hospital, hospice, primary care and community settings. The aim of the 'Practical Skills to Support the Breathless Patient' programme was to make patients and carers feel better supported in their breathlessness, for health professionals to develop confidence and skills in using proven interventions, and to adopt a flexible educational design that could be adapted to different contexts. The course is learner-centred and teaching methods encourage interaction and participation via a mix of lectures and discussions with practical skills-focused, experiential workshops in smaller groups. Case study work was included to integrate learning with participants' practice environment. Evaluation is built in during the course, so adaptations can be made throughout to respond to changing learner needs. Participants reported increased confidence in terms of knowledge and applying this within everyday practice. The theory-practice dynamic worked well within each participant' specific work context in particular through the case study approach. The course developed a number of innovative approaches, such as multi-disciplinary learning groups, regular feedback loops, reflexive learning about putting theory into practice and long-term follow-up. Combining these elements increases professionals' confidence and sustains new clinical practice. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

A dynamic approach to communication in health literacy education.

PubMed

Veenker, Herman; Paans, Wolter

2016-10-21

Research within the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) indicates that patients' autonomy is to be considered a critical health care outcome in its own right since it promotes improved mental and physical health. This paper presents an analysis of studies addressing communication and interaction interventions in health literacy curricula for medical and health care practitioners, focusing on patient-oriented skills in "making sense" and "to adapt and self-manage". For evaluating interventions, underlying communication models were traced. The criteria for good practice are "making sense" and "supporting autonomy in making choices". For the search of interventions, keywords from both the framework of the EU-project, Intervention Research on Health Literacy among Ageing population (IROHLA (The IROHLA project received financial support from the European Union through FP7 Grant 305831)), as well as the SDT (Self Determination Theory) were applied. The research question of this paper is to what degree is autonomy supporting communication skills part of the curricula of health literacy (HL) for medical and health care practitioners and providers? A Pubmed search revealed: a) that "making sense" is clearly represented in HL interventions in curricula; however, b) very few interventions teach medical and health care practitioners how to give autonomy support in the interaction with their (future) patients. Four promising, beneficial practices were identified. Several recommendations were presented encouraging curriculum developers to adapt skills of supporting autonomy into their programs. A qualitative content analysis of interventions in the curricula of communication and interaction skills for medical students and practitioners. A review of literature indicates: a) most interventions in curricula for medical students and practitioners are focusing on skills in adequately providing information to patients by using an underlying (advanced) Sender-Message-Receiver Model; and b) only a few interventions in curricula are available for providing the acquisition of interaction skills in supporting autonomy. The proposal of Huber and others to change the emphasis in the definition of the WHO definition on health towards "to adapt and self manage" has impact on the training of medical students and practioners in dealing with patients with low levels of health literacy. From the present study it can be concluded that a dynamic approach to communication can be linked to theoretical constructs on self-management. In such an approach interaction techniques like scaffolding can increase the level of HL of the patient.

Social-Ecological Soundscapes: Examining Aircraft-Harvester-Caribou Conflict in Arctic Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stinchcomb, Taylor R.

As human development expands across the Arctic, it is crucial to carefully assess the impacts to remote natural ecosystems and to indigenous communities that rely on wild resources for nutritional and cultural wellbeing. Because indigenous communities and wildlife populations are interdependent, assessing how human activities impact traditional harvest practices can advance our understanding of the human dimensions of wildlife management. Indigenous communities across Arctic Alaska have expressed concern over the last four decades that low-flying aircraft interfere with their traditional harvest practices. For example, communities often have testified that aircraft disturb caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and thereby reduce harvest opportunities. Despite this longstanding concern, little research exists on the extent of aircraft activity in Arctic Alaska and on how aircraft affect the behavior and perceptions of harvesters. Therefore, the overarching goal of my research was to highlight the importance of aircraft-harvester conflict in Arctic Alaska and begin to address the issue using a scientific and community-driven approach. In Chapter 1, I demonstrated that conflict between aircraft and indigenous harvesters in Arctic Alaska is a widespread, understudied, and complex issue. By conducting a meta-analysis of the available literature, I quantified the deficiency of scientific knowledge about the impacts of aircraft on rural communities and traditional harvest practices in the Arctic. My results indicated that no peer-reviewed literature has addressed the conflict between low-flying aircraft and traditional harvesters in Arctic Alaska. I speculated that the scale over which aircraft, rural communities, and wildlife interact limits scientists' ability to determine causal relationships and therefore detracts from their interest in researching the human dimension of this social-ecological system. Innovative research approaches like soundscape ecology could begin to quantify interactions and provide baseline data that may foster mitigation discourses among stakeholders. In Chapter 2, I employed a soundscape-ecology approach to address concerns about aircraft activity expressed by the Alaska Native community of Nuiqsut. Nuiqsut faces the greatest volume of aircraft activity of any community in Arctic Alaska because of its proximity to intensive oil and gas activity. However, information on when and where these aircraft are flying is unavailable to residents, managers, and researchers. I worked closely with Nuiqsut residents to deploy acoustic monitoring systems along important caribou harvest corridors during the peak of caribou harvest, from early June through late August 2016. This method successfully captured aircraft sound and the community embraced my science for addressing local priorities. I found aircraft activity levels near Nuiqsut and surrounding oil developments (12 daily events) to be approximately six times greater than in areas over 30 km from the village (two daily events). Aircraft sound disturbance was 26 times lower in undeveloped areas (Noise Free Interval =13 hrs) than near human development (NFI = 0.5 hrs). My study provided baseline data on aircraft activity and noise levels. My research could be used by stakeholders and managers to develop conflict avoidance agreements and minimize interference with traditional harvest practices. Soundscape methods could be adapted to rural regions across Alaska that may be experiencing conflict with aircraft or other sources of noise that disrupt human-wildlife interactions. By quantifying aircraft activity using a soundscape approach, I demonstrated a novel application of an emerging field in ecology and provided the first scientific data on one dimension of a larger social-ecological system. Future soundscape studies should be integrated with research on both harvester and caribou behaviors to understand how the components within this system are interacting over space and time. Understanding the long-term impacts to traditional harvest practices will require integrated, cross-disciplinary efforts that collaborate with communities and other relevant stakeholders. Finally, my research will likely spark efforts to monitor and mitigate aircraft impacts to wildlife populations and traditional harvest practices across Alaska, helping to inform a decision-making process currently hindered by an absence of objective data.

On problems of analyzing aerodynamic properties of blunted rotary bodies with small random surface distortions under supersonic and hypersonic flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Degtyar, V. G.; Kalashnikov, S. T.; Mokin, Yu. A.

2017-10-01

The paper considers problems of analyzing aerodynamic properties (ADP) of reenetry vehicles (RV) as blunted rotary bodies with small random surface distortions. The interactions of math simulation of surface distortions, selection of tools for predicting ADPs of shaped bodies, evaluation of different-type ADP variations and their adaptation for dynamic problems are analyzed. The possibilities of deterministic and probabilistic approaches to evaluation of ADP variations are considered. The practical value of the probabilistic approach is demonstrated. The examples of extremal deterministic evaluations of ADP variations for a sphere and a sharp cone are given.

Analysis and Model Based Assessment of Water Quality in European Mesoscale Forest Catchments with Different Management Strategies (a Climatic Gradient Approach)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavares, Filipa; Schwaerzel, Kai; Nunes, João. Pedro; Feger, Karl-Heinz

2010-05-01

Forestry activities affect the environmental conditions of river basins by modifying soil properties and vegetation cover, leading to changes in e.g. runoff generation and routing, water yield or the trophic status of water bodies. Climate change is directly linked to forestry, since site-adapted sustainable forest management can buffer negative climate change impacts in river basins, while practices leading to over-harvesting or increasing wildfires can exacerbate these impacts. While studies relating hydrological processes with forestry practices or climate change have already been conducted, the combined impacts of both are rarely discussed. The main objective of the proposed work is to study the interactions between forest management and climate change and the effects of these upon water fluxes and water quality at the catchment scale, over medium to long-term periods and following an East-West climate gradient. Additional objectives are to increase knowledge about the relations between forest, water quality and soil conservation/degradation; and to improve the modelling of hydrological and matter transport processes in managed forests. The present poster shows a conceptual approach to understand this combined interaction by analysing an East-West climatic gradient (Ukraine-Germany-Portugal), with contrasting forestry practices and climate vulnerabilities. The activities within this workplan, to take place during the period 2010 - 2014, will be developed in close collaboration with several ongoing research projects in the host institution at the Dresden University of Technology (TUD) and in the University of Aveiro (UA). The Institute of Soil Science and Site-Ecology (ISSE) at TUD has an internationally renowned research tradition in forest hydrological topics using methods and findings from various (sub)disciplines in a multidisplinary approach. The measurement and simulation of forest catchments has also been a point of research at the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) at UA. This work will profit greatly from the experience in both institutions, therefore enhancing knowledge exchange and collaboration between both parties.

Interactive modeling-synthesis-characterization approach towards controllable in situ self-assembly of artificial pinning centers in RE-123 films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Judy; Shi, Jack

2017-10-01

Raising critical current density J c in high temperature superconductors (HTSs) is an important strategy towards performance-cost balanced HTS technology for commercialization. The development of strong nanoscale artificial pinning centers (APCs) in HTS, such as YBa2Cu3O7 or RE-123 in general, represents one of the most exciting progressions in HTS material research in the last decade. Significantly raised J c has been demonstrated in APC/RE-123 nanocomposites by enhanced pinning on magnetic vortices in magnetic fields towards that demanded in practical applications. Among other processes, strain-mediated self-organization has been explored extensively for in situ formation of the APCs based on fundamental physics design rules. The desire in controlling the morphology, dimension, orientation, and concentration of APCs has led to a fundamental question on how strains interact in determining APCs at a macroscopic scale. Answering this question demands an interactive modeling-synthesis-characterization approach towards a thorough understanding of fundamental physics governing the strain-mediated self-organization of the APCs in the APC/RE-123 nanocomposites. Such an understanding is the key for a leap forward from the traditionally empirical method to materials-by-design to enable an optimal APC landscape to be achieved in epitaxial films of APC/YBCO nanocomposites under a precise guidance of fundamental physics. The paper intends to provide a review of recent progress made in the controllable generation of APCs using the interactive modeling-synthesis-characterization approach. The emphasis will be given to the understanding so far achieved using such an approach on the collective effect of the strain field on the morphology, dimension, and orientation of APCs in epitaxial APC/RE-123 nanocomposite films.

Justifying quasiparticle self-consistent schemes via gradient optimization in Baym-Kadanoff theory.

PubMed

Ismail-Beigi, Sohrab

2017-09-27

The question of which non-interacting Green's function 'best' describes an interacting many-body electronic system is both of fundamental interest as well as of practical importance in describing electronic properties of materials in a realistic manner. Here, we study this question within the framework of Baym-Kadanoff theory, an approach where one locates the stationary point of a total energy functional of the one-particle Green's function in order to find the total ground-state energy as well as all one-particle properties such as the density matrix, chemical potential, or the quasiparticle energy spectrum and quasiparticle wave functions. For the case of the Klein functional, our basic finding is that minimizing the length of the gradient of the total energy functional over non-interacting Green's functions yields a set of self-consistent equations for quasiparticles that is identical to those of the quasiparticle self-consistent GW (QSGW) (van Schilfgaarde et al 2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 226402-4) approach, thereby providing an a priori justification for such an approach to electronic structure calculations. In fact, this result is general, applies to any self-energy operator, and is not restricted to any particular approximation, e.g., the GW approximation for the self-energy. The approach also shows that, when working in the basis of quasiparticle states, solving the diagonal part of the self-consistent Dyson equation is of primary importance while the off-diagonals are of secondary importance, a common observation in the electronic structure literature of self-energy calculations. Finally, numerical tests and analytical arguments show that when the Dyson equation produces multiple quasiparticle solutions corresponding to a single non-interacting state, minimizing the length of the gradient translates into choosing the solution with largest quasiparticle weight.

Learning beyond graduation: exploring newly qualified specialists' entrance into daily practice from a learning perspective.

PubMed

Cuyvers, Katrien; Donche, Vincent; Van den Bossche, Piet

2016-05-01

The entrance of newly qualified medical specialists into daily practice is considered to be a stressful period in which curriculum support is absent. Although engaging in both personal and professional learning and development activities is recognized fundamental for lifelong professional competence, research on medical professionals' entrance into practice is scarce. This research aims to contribute to the framework of medical professionals' informal learning and outlines the results of an exploratory study on the nature of learning in daily practice beyond postgraduate training. Eleven newly qualified physicians from different specialized backgrounds participated in a phenomenographic study, using a critical incident method and a grounded theory approach. Results demonstrated that learning in the workplace is, to a large extent, informal and associated with a variety of learning experiences. Analysis shows that experiences related to diagnostics and treatments are important sources for learning. Furthermore, incidents related to communication, changing roles, policy and organization offer learning opportunities, and therefore categorized as learning experiences. A broad range of learning activities are identified in dealing with these learning experiences. More specifically, actively engaging in actions and interactions, especially with colleagues of the same specialty, are the most mentioned. Observing others, consulting written sources, and recognizing uncertainties, are also referred to as learning activities. In the study, interaction, solely or combined with other learning activities, are deemed as very important by specialists in the initial entrance into practice. These insights can be used to develop workplace structures to support the entrance into practice following postgraduate training.

Activity Structures and the Unfolding of Problem-Solving Actions in High-School Chemistry Classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Criswell, Brett A.; Rushton, Greg T.

2014-02-01

In this paper, we argue for a more systematic approach for studying the relationship between classroom practices and scientific practices—an approach that will likely better support the systemic reforms being promoted in the Next Generation Science Standards in the USA and similar efforts in other countries. One component of that approach is looking at how the nature of the activity structure may influence the relative alignment between classroom and scientific practices. To that end, we build on previously published research related to the practices utilized by five high-school chemistry teachers as they enacted problem-solving activities in which students were likely to generate proposals that were not aligned with normative scientific understandings. In that prior work, our analysis had emphasized micro-level features of the talk interactions and how they related to the way students' ideas were explored; in the current paper, the analysis zooms out to consider the macro-level nature of the enactments associated with the activity structure of each lesson examined. Our data show that there were two general patterns to the activity structure across the 14 lessons scrutinized, and that each pattern had associated with it a constellation of features that impinged on the way the problem space was navigated. A key finding is that both activity structures (the expansive and the open) had features that aligned with scientific practices espoused in the Next Generation Science Standards—and both had features that were not aligned with those practices. We discuss the nature of these two structures, evidence of the relationship of each structure to key features of how the lessons unfolded, and the implications of these findings for both future research and the training of teachers.

Senior physiotherapy students as standardised patients for junior students enhances self-efficacy and satisfaction in both junior and senior students.

PubMed

Mandrusiak, Allison M; Isles, Rosemary; Chang, Angela T; Choy, Nancy L Low; Toppenberg, Rowena; McCook, Donna; Smith, Michelle D; O'Leary, Karina; Brauer, Sandra G

2014-05-23

Standardised patients are used in medical education to expose students to clinical contexts and facilitate transition to clinical practice, and this approach is gaining momentum in physiotherapy programs. Expense and availability of trained standardised patients are factors limiting widespread adoption, and accessing clinical visits with real patients can be challenging. This study addressed these issues by engaging senior students as standardised patients for junior students. It evaluated how this approach impacted self-reported constructs of both the junior and senior students. Learning activities for undergraduate physiotherapy students were developed in five courses (Neurology, Cardiorespiratory and three Musculoskeletal courses) so that junior students (Year 2 and 3) could develop skills and confidence in patient interview, physical examination and patient management through their interaction with standardised patients played by senior students (Year 4). Surveys were administered before and after the interactions to record junior students' self-reported confidence, communication, preparedness for clinic, and insight into their abilities; and senior students' confidence and insight into what it is like to be a patient. Satisfaction regarding this learning approach was surveyed in both the junior and senior students. A total of 253 students completed the surveys (mean 92.5% response rate). Across all courses, junior students reported a significant (all P < 0.037) improvement following the standardised patient interaction in their: preparedness for clinic, communication with clients, confidence with practical skills, and understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the learning activities. Senior students demonstrated a significant improvement in their confidence in providing feedback and insight into their own learning (P < 0.001). All students reported high satisfaction with this learning experience (mean score 8.5/10). This new approach to peer-assisted learning using senior students as standardised patients resulted in positive experiences for both junior and senior students across a variety of physiotherapy areas, activities, and stages within a physiotherapy program. These findings support the engagement of senior students as standardised patients to enhance learning within physiotherapy programs, and may have application across other disciplines to address challenges associated with accessing real patients via clinical visits or utilising actors as standardised patients.

Virtual rehabilitation: What are the practical barriers for home-based research?

PubMed Central

Threapleton, Kate; Drummond, Avril; Standen, Penny

2016-01-01

Virtual reality technologies are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable to deliver, and consequently the interest in applying virtual reality within rehabilitation is growing. This has resulted in the emergence of research exploring the utility of virtual reality and interactive video gaming interventions for home use by patients. The aim of this paper is to highlight the practical factors and difficulties that may be encountered in research in this area, and to make recommendations for addressing these. Whilst this paper focuses on examples drawn mainly from stroke rehabilitation research, many of the issues raised are relevant to other conditions where virtual reality approaches have the potential to be applied to home-based rehabilitation. PMID:29942551

From continuing education to personal digital assistants: what do physical therapists need to support evidence-based practice in stroke management?

PubMed

Salbach, Nancy M; Veinot, Paula; Jaglal, Susan B; Bayley, Mark; Rolfe, Danielle

2011-08-01

Understanding how to structure educational interventions and resources to facilitate physical therapists' application of the research literature is required. The objective of this study was to explore physical therapists' preferences for strategies to facilitate their access to, evaluation and implementation of the stroke research literature in clinical practice. In-depth, qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 23 physical therapists who treat people with stroke in Ontario, Canada and who had participated in a previous survey on evidence-based practice. Data were analysed using a constant comparative approach to identify emergent themes. Participants preferred online access to research summaries or systematic reviews to save time to filter and critique research articles. To enable access in the workplace, an acceptable computer-to-staff ratio, permission to access web sites and protected work time were suggested. Participants considered personal digital assistants as excellent tools for quick access to online resources but were unsure of their advantage over a desktop computer. Therapists favoured use of non-technical language, glossaries of research terms and quality ratings of studies to ease understanding and appraisal. Teleconferencing or videoconferencing overcame geographical but not scheduling barriers to accessing education. To achieve behaviour change in clinical practice, therapists preferred multiple interactive, face-to-face education sessions in a group format, with opportunities for case-based learning and practice of new skills. Physical therapists prefer technology-assisted access to resources and education and favour attending multiple interactive, expert-facilitated education sessions incorporating opportunities for case-based learning and practice of new skills to change behaviour related to evidence-based practice. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

New Student-Centered and Data-Based Approaches to Hydrology Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bloeschl, G.; Troch, P. A. A.; Sivapalan, M.

2014-12-01

Hydrology as a science has evolved over the last century. The knowledge base has significantly expanded, and there are requirements to meet with the new expectations of a science where the connections between the parts are just as important as the parts themselves. In this new environment, what should we teach, and how should we teach it? Given the limited time we have in an undergraduate (and even graduate) curriculum, what should we include, and what should we leave out? What new material and new methods are essential, as compared to textbooks? Past practices have assumed certain basics as being essential to undergraduate teaching. Depending on the professor's background, these include basic process descriptions (infiltration, runoff generation, evaporation etc.) and basic techniques (unit hydrographs, flood frequency analysis, pumping tests). These are taught using idealized (textbook) examples and examined to test this basic competence. The main idea behind this "reductionist" approach to teaching is that the students will do the rest of the learning during practice and apprenticeship in their workplaces. Much of current hydrology teaching follows this paradigm, and the books provide the backdrop to this approach. Our view is that this approach is less than optimum, as it does not prepare the students to face up to the new challenges of the changing world. It is our view that the basics of hydrologic science are not just a collection of individual processes and techniques, but process interactions and underlying concepts or principles, and a collection of techniques that highlights these, combined with student-driven and data-based learning that enables the students to see the manifestations of these process interactions and principles in action in real world situations. While the actual number of items that can be taught in the classroom by this approach in a limited period of time may be lower than in the traditional approach, it will help the students make connections between the understanding gained in this way in solving real world problems. We will illustrate the feasibility of the approach through key examples from our own teaching.

3D Viscous Free-Surface Flow around a Combatant Ship Hull

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacuraru, Florin; Lungu, Adrian; Maria, Viorel

2009-09-01

The prediction of the total drag experienced by an advancing ship is a complicated problem which requires a thorough understanding of the hydrodynamic forces acting on the hull, the physical processes from which these forces arise and their mutual interaction. A general numerical method to predict the hydrodynamic performance of a twin-propeller combatant ship hull is presented in the paper. For practical reasons, the technique couples a body forces method and a RANS-based finite volume solver to account for the interactions between the hull and the appendages mounted on it: propellers, rudders, shaft lines, bossings and brackets. The chimera approach has been found the most versatile way for grid generation of hull and appendages.

Innovation in ambulatory care: a collaborative approach to redesigning the health care workplace.

PubMed

Johnson, Paula A; Bookman, Ann; Bailyn, Lotte; Harrington, Mona; Orton, Piper

2011-02-01

To improve the quality of patient care and work satisfaction of the physicians and staff at an ambulatory practice that had recently started an innovative model of clinical care for women. The authors used an inclusive process, collaborative interactive action research, to engage all physicians and staff members in assessing and redesigning their work environment. Based on key barriers to working effectively and integrating work and family identified in that process, a pilot project with new work practices and structures was developed, implemented, and evaluated. The work redesign process established cross-occupational care teams in specific clinical areas. Members of the teams built skills in assessing clinical operations in their practice areas, developed new levels of collaboration, and constructed new models of distributed leadership. The majority of participants reported an improvement in how their area functioned. Integrating work and family/personal life-particularly practices around flexible work arrangements-became an issue for team discussion and solutions, not a matter of individual accommodation by managers. By engaging the workforce, collaborative interactive action research can help achieve lasting change in the health care workplace and increase physicians' and staff members' work satisfaction. This "dual agenda" may be best achieved through a collaborative process where cross-occupational teams are responsible for workflow and outcomes and where the needs of patients and providers are integrated.

Medication practice and feminist thought: a theoretical and ethical response to adherence in HIV/AIDS.

PubMed

Broyles, Lauren M; Colbert, Alison M; Erlen, Judith A

2005-08-01

Accurate self-administration of antiretroviral medication therapy for HIV/AIDS is a significant clinical and ethical concern because of its implications for individual morbidity and mortality, the health of the public, and escalating healthcare costs. However, the traditional construction of patient medication adherence is oversimplified, myopic, and ethically problematic. Adherence relies on existing social power structures and western normative assumptions about the proper roles of patients and providers, and principally focuses on patient variables, obscuring the powerful socioeconomic and institutional influences on behaviour. Some professionals advocate for alternate approaches to adherence, but many of the available alternatives remain conceptually underdeveloped. Using HIV/AIDS as an exemplar, this paper presents medication practice as a theoretical reconstruction and explicates its conceptual and ethical evolution. We first propose that one of these alternatives, medication practice, broadens the understanding of individuals' medication-taking behaviour, speaks to the inherent power inequities in the patient-provider interaction, and addresses the ethical shortcomings in the traditional construal. We then integrate medication practice with feminist thought, further validating individuals' situated knowledge, choices, and multiple roles; more fully recognizing the individual as a multidiminsional, autonomous human being; and reducing notions of obedience and deference to authority. Blame is thus extricated from the healthcare relationship, reshaping the traditionally adversarial components of the interaction, and eliminating the view of adherence as a patient problem in need of patient-centred interventions.

Health communication in primary health care -a case study of ICT development for health promotion.

PubMed

Mahmud, Amina Jama; Olander, Ewy; Eriksén, Sara; Haglund, Bo Ja

2013-01-30

Developing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supported health communication in PHC could contribute to increased health literacy and empowerment, which are foundations for enabling people to increase control over their health, as a way to reduce increasing lifestyle related ill health. However, to increase the likelihood of success of implementing ICT supported health communication, it is essential to conduct a detailed analysis of the setting and context prior to the intervention. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of health communication for health promotion in PHC with emphasis on the implications for a planned ICT supported interactive health channel. A qualitative case study, with a multi-methods approach was applied. Field notes, document study and focus groups were used for data collection. Data was then analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Health communication is an integral part of health promotion practice in PHC in this case study. However, there was a lack of consensus among health professionals on what a health promotion approach was, causing discrepancy in approaches and practices of health communication. Two themes emerged from the data analysis: Communicating health and environment for health communication. The themes represented individual and organizational factors that affected health communication practice in PHC and thus need to be taken into consideration in the development of the planned health channel. Health communication practiced in PHC is individual based, preventive and reactive in nature, as opposed to population based, promotive and proactive in line with a health promotion approach. The most significant challenge in developing an ICT supported health communication channel for health promotion identified in this study, is profiling a health promotion approach in PHC. Addressing health promotion values and principles in the design of ICT supported health communication channel could facilitate health communication for promoting health, i.e. 'health promoting communication'.

Health communication in primary health care -A case study of ICT development for health promotion

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Developing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supported health communication in PHC could contribute to increased health literacy and empowerment, which are foundations for enabling people to increase control over their health, as a way to reduce increasing lifestyle related ill health. However, to increase the likelihood of success of implementing ICT supported health communication, it is essential to conduct a detailed analysis of the setting and context prior to the intervention. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of health communication for health promotion in PHC with emphasis on the implications for a planned ICT supported interactive health channel. Methods A qualitative case study, with a multi-methods approach was applied. Field notes, document study and focus groups were used for data collection. Data was then analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Health communication is an integral part of health promotion practice in PHC in this case study. However, there was a lack of consensus among health professionals on what a health promotion approach was, causing discrepancy in approaches and practices of health communication. Two themes emerged from the data analysis: Communicating health and environment for health communication. The themes represented individual and organizational factors that affected health communication practice in PHC and thus need to be taken into consideration in the development of the planned health channel. Conclusions Health communication practiced in PHC is individual based, preventive and reactive in nature, as opposed to population based, promotive and proactive in line with a health promotion approach. The most significant challenge in developing an ICT supported health communication channel for health promotion identified in this study, is profiling a health promotion approach in PHC. Addressing health promotion values and principles in the design of ICT supported health communication channel could facilitate health communication for promoting health, i.e. ‘health promoting communication’. PMID:23363566

Collective inquiry in the context of school-wide reform: Exploring science curriculum and instruction through team-based professional development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eddy Spicer, David Henning

Teacher collaboration and joint reflective inquiry have been viewed as central elements of progressive educational reform for more than two decades. More recently, researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners have heralded "blended" or "hybrid" approaches that combine online and on-site environments for collaborative learning as especially promising for "scaling up" instructional improvement. Yet, relatively little is known about how teachers working together navigate organizational and interpersonal constraints to develop and sustain conditions essential to collective inquiry. This in-depth study of meaning making about curriculum and instruction among a group of 11 physics teachers in a public, urban secondary school in the U.S. is an effort to explore collective inquiry as a resource for teacher learning and innovations in teaching practice. Through extended observations, multiple interviews, and close analyses of interaction, the study followed teachers for 7 months as they worked together across 3 settings organized in fundamentally different ways to promote joint inquiry into teaching practice. The explanatory framework of the study rests on the mutually-reinforcing conceptual underpinnings of sociocultural theory and systemic functional linguistics to establish connections between micro-social interactions and macro-social processes. Drawing on systemic functional linguistics, the study explores interpersonal meaning making through close analyses of speech function and speech role in 6 extended sequences of generative interaction. Concepts from activity theory elucidate those features of settings and school that directly impinged on or advanced teachers' collaborative work. Findings run counter to prevailing congenial views of teacher collegiality by identifying ways in which collective inquiry is inherently unstable. That instability makes itself apparent at two levels: (a) the dynamics of authority within the group, and (b) middle-level features of setting and school that favored preserving solidarity above developing a critical stance towards practice. The study offers a theoretically-informed description of collective inquiry and an analytic framework to trace its development in naturally-occurring interaction. The analytic framework extends the tools of functional analysis into a new realm, that of teachers' collaborative work, and offers means to understand better the complex array of forces shaping and shaped by teachers' everyday interactions around their practice.

Molecular biomimetics: utilizing nature's molecular ways in practical engineering.

PubMed

Tamerler, Candan; Sarikaya, Mehmet

2007-05-01

In nature, proteins are the machinery that accomplish many functions through their specific recognition and interactions in biological systems from single-celled to multicellular organisms. Biomolecule-material interaction is accomplished via molecular specificity, leading to the formation of controlled structures and functions at all scales of dimensional hierarchy. Through evolution, molecular recognition and, consequently, functions developed through successive cycles of mutation and selection. Using biology as a guide, we can now understand, engineer and control peptide-material interactions and exploit these to tailor novel materials and systems for practical applications. We adapted combinatorial biology protocols to display peptide libraries, either on the cell surface or on phages, to select short peptides specific to a variety of practical materials systems. Following the selection step, we determined the kinetics and stability of peptide binding experimentally to understand the bound peptide structure via modeling and its assembly via atomic force microscopy. The peptides were further engineered to have multiple repeats or their amino acid sequences varied to tailor their function. Both nanoparticles and flat inorganic substrates containing multimaterials patterned at the nano- and microscales were used for self-directed immobilization of molecular constructs. The molecular biomimetic approach opens up new avenues for the design and utilization of multifunctional molecular systems with wide ranging applications, from tissue engineering, drug delivery and biosensors, to nanotechnology and bioremediation. Here we give examples of protein-mediated functional materials in biology, peptide selection and engineering with affinity to inorganics, demonstrate potential utilizations in materials science, engineering and medicine, and describe future prospects.

Learning how we learn: an ethnographic study in a neonatal intensive care unit.

PubMed

Hunter, Cynthia Louise; Spence, Kaye; McKenna, Kate; Iedema, Rick

2008-06-01

This paper is a report of a study to identify how nurse clinicians learn with and from each other in the workplace. Clinicians' everyday practices and interactions with each other have recently been targeted as areas of research, because it is there that quality of care and patient safety are achieved. Orientation of new nurses and doctors into a specialty unit often results in stress. An ethnographic approach was used, including a 12-month period of fieldwork observations involving participation and in-depth interviews with nurse, doctor and allied health clinicians in their workplace. The data were collected in 2005-2006 in a paediatric teaching hospital in Australia. The findings were grouped into four dimensions: orientation of nurses, orientation of medical registrars, preceptoring and decision-making. The orientation of new staff (nursing and medical) is a complex and multi-layered process which accommodates multiple kinds of learning, in addition to formal learning. Workplace learning also can be informal, incidental, interpersonal and interactive. Interactive and interpersonal learning and the transfer of knowledge include codified and tacit knowledge as well as intuitive understandings of 'how we do things here'. Research into how nurses learn is crucial for illuminating learning that is non-formal and less recognized than more formal kinds. To provide a safe practice environment built on a foundation of knowledge and best practice, there needs to be an allocation of time in the busy workday for learning and reflection.

Provider-parent Communication When Discussing Vaccines: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Connors, John T; Slotwinski, Kate L; Hodges, Eric A

Expert literature on communication practices with vaccine hesitant parents posits that a non-confrontational/participatory discussion with the parent would be the best approach to improve compliance. A prior literature review found limited evidence to recommend any particular face to face intervention other than to incorporate communication about vaccination effectiveness during an encounter. Hence, a systematic review was performed in an attempt to determine the most efficacious communication practices to use with parents with vaccination concerns. Quantitative and qualitative studies written in English that assessed the communication framework/style of the provider-parent interaction and studies where provider communication was listed as an intervention were reviewed. Nine articles were included in the sample. The majority of the studies were descriptive and qualitative in nature with only one randomized controlled trial. Five of the 9 studies utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design. Two main themes included message types recommended or given by the provider and message types that were requested by the parent. Overall, findings showed that there is currently not enough information to definitively state the type of provider-parent communication style that should be employed to affect the parents' vaccination viewpoint. However, recurring themes of trust in the provider and a personalized provider-parent interaction were evident, which promotes a participatory type of interaction. The literature indirectly supports providers engaging with vaccine hesitant parents in a more individualized, participatory format, though higher quality and more rigorous studies that focus specifically on provider-parent communication practices are needed. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A qualitative inquiry into the development and facilitation of a science education learning community through participation in an online graduate program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Callihan, Laurie Ann Perryman

This study is a qualitative inquiry considering the development and facilitation of a science education community of practice according to the definition of Wenger (1998, 1999) through participation in the graduate online science education program (GOSEP) Master's Degree track. Three research questions were considered: (1) In what ways do interactions within the GOSEP community of practice impact development of the teacher/student from outsider to novice to apprentice to master (Wenger, 1999)? (2) In what ways does personal development impact the community of practice? (3) In what ways do the interactions of professors with students impact the development of a community of practice in the GOSEP? The qualitative research frame was Integral Methodological Pluralism along with a hermeneutical approach to textual analysis and an autoethnographic viewpoint. The participants included seven students and two professors from the GOSEP. Data analyzed was in situ Blackboard(TM) and other online venues from classes dating Fall 2007 through Summer 2009 as well as semi-structured interviews, follow-ups, and member-check surveys. Results supported the assertions that (1) a community of practice (CoP) existed in the GOSEP, (2) the CoP assisted individual learning and growth from apprentice to novice to master, (3) that the CoP was most healthy and supported apprentice to master growth when a diversity of adult developmental levels existed in the group, and (4) the interactions of the professors in allowing the students to take on master roles and limiting their own control within the CoP contributed to the healthy development of students from apprentice to novice to master. Implications of this research suggest that the CoP model of online learning is effective and productive in allowing students to gain experience and knowledge in the skills, background knowledge, theory, and practice of becoming masters in the practice for which the community is designed to study. Future research engaging online CoPs with greater numbers, longer periods of study, and comparative studies with other types of online programs is suggested.

Manipulating semiconductor colloidal stability through doping.

PubMed

Fleharty, Mark E; van Swol, Frank; Petsev, Dimiter N

2014-10-10

The interface between a doped semiconductor material and electrolyte solution is of considerable fundamental interest, and is relevant to systems of practical importance. Both adjacent domains contain mobile charges, which respond to potential variations. This is exploited to design electronic and optoelectronic sensors, and other enabling semiconductor colloidal materials. We show that the charge mobility in both phases leads to a new type of interaction between semiconductor colloids suspended in aqueous electrolyte solutions. This interaction is due to the electrostatic response of the semiconductor interior to disturbances in the external field upon the approach of two particles. The electrostatic repulsion between two charged colloids is reduced from the one governed by the charged groups present at the particles surfaces. This type of interaction is unique to semiconductor particles and may have a substantial effect on the suspension dynamics and stability.

Method and apparatus for modeling interactions

DOEpatents

Xavier, Patrick G.

2000-08-08

A method and apparatus for modeling interactions between bodies. The method comprises representing two bodies undergoing translations and rotations by two hierarchical swept volume representations. Interactions such as nearest approach and collision can be modeled based on the swept body representations. The present invention can serve as a practical tool in motion planning, CAD systems, simulation systems, safety analysis, and applications that require modeling time-based interactions. A body can be represented in the present invention by a union of convex polygons and convex polyhedra. As used generally herein, polyhedron includes polygon, and polyhedra includes polygons. The body undergoing translation can be represented by a swept body representation, where the swept body representation comprises a hierarchical bounding volume representation whose leaves each contain a representation of the region swept by a section of the body during the translation, and where the union of the regions is a superset of the region swept by the surface of the body during translation. Interactions between two bodies thus represented can be modeled by modeling interactions between the convex hulls of the finite sets of discrete points in the swept body representations.

The walkshop approach to science and technology ethics.

PubMed

Wickson, Fern; Strand, Roger; Kjølberg, Kamilla Lein

2015-02-01

In research and teaching on ethical aspects of emerging sciences and technologies, the structure of working environments, spaces and relationships play a significant role. Many of the routines and standard practices of academic life, however, do little to actively explore and experiment with these elements. They do even less to address the importance of contextual and embodied dimensions of thinking. To engage these dimensions, we have benefitted significantly from practices that take us out of seminar rooms, offices and laboratories as well as beyond traditional ways of working and interacting. We have called one such practice the 'walkshop'. Through walkshops, we have spent several days walking together with our colleagues and students in open outdoor spaces, keeping a sustained intellectual discussion on ethical aspects of science, technology and innovation while moving through these landscapes. For us, this has generated useful opportunities to escape established hierarchies, roles and patterns of thought and to rethink conceptual and philosophical issues from new perspectives, under new attitudes and with renewed energy. In this paper we wish to highlight the potential benefits of the walkshop approach by sharing some of our experiences and describing how we have prepared for and carried out these events. We share this information in the hope that we may encourage others to both experiment with the walkshop approach and exchange information on their own innovative processes for research and teaching in science and engineering ethics.

[Applying Game-Based Learning in Nursing Education: Empathy Board Game Learning].

PubMed

Lu, Chueh-Fen; Wu, Shu-Mei; Shu, Ying-Mei; Yeh, Mei-Yu

2018-02-01

Attending lectures and reading are two common approaches to acquiring knowledge, while repetitive practice is a common approach to acquiring skills. Nurturing proper attitudes in students is one of the greatest challenges for educators. Health professionals must incorporate empathy into their practice. Creative teaching strategies may offer a feasible approach to enhancing empathy-related competence. The present article focuses on analyzing current, empathy-related curriculums in nursing education in Taiwan, exploring the concepts of empathy and game-based learning, presenting the development of an empathy board game as a teaching aid, and, finally, evaluating the developed education application. Based on the learner-centered principle, this aid was designed with peer learning, allowing learners to influence the learning process, to simulate the various roles of clients, and to develop diverse interpersonal dialogues. The continuous learning loops were formed using the gamification mechanism and transformation, enabling students to connect and practice the three elements of empathy ability: emotion, cognition and expression. Via the game elements of competition, interaction, storytelling, real-time responses, concretizing feedback, integrated peer learning, and equality between teachers and students, students who play patient roles are able to perceive different levels of comfort, which encourages the development of insight into the meaning of empathy. Thereby, the goals of the empathy lesson is achievable within a creative game-based learning environment.

Sharing the responsibility for driver distraction across road transport systems: a systems approach to the management of distracted driving.

PubMed

Young, Kristie L; Salmon, Paul M

2015-01-01

Distracted driving is acknowledged universally as a large and growing road safety problem. Compounding the problem is that distracted driving is a complex, multifaceted issue influenced by a multitude of factors, organisations and individuals. As such, management of the problem is not straightforward. Numerous countermeasures have been developed and implemented across the globe. The vast majority of these measures have derived from the traditional reductionist, driver-centric approach to distraction and have failed to fully reflect the complex mix of actors and components that give rise to drivers becoming distracted. An alternative approach that is gaining momentum in road safety is the systems approach, which considers all components of the system and their interactions as an integrated whole. In this paper, we review the current knowledge base on driver distraction and argue that the systems approach is not currently being realised in practice. Adopting a more holistic, systems approach to distracted driving will not only improve existing knowledge and interventions from the traditional approach, but will enhance our understanding and management of distraction by considering the complex relationships and interactions of the multiple actors and the myriad sources, enablers and interventions that make up the distracted driving system. It is only by recognising and understanding how all of the system components work together to enable distraction to occur, that we can start to work on solutions to help mitigate the occurrence and consequences of distracted driving. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strengthening health services to deliver nutrition education to promote complementary feeding and healthy growth of infants and young children: formative research for a successful intervention in peri-urban Trujillo, Peru.

PubMed

Robert, Rebecca C; Creed-Kanashiro, Hilary M; Villasante, Ruben; Narro, M Rocio; Penny, Mary E

2017-04-01

Formative research is critical for developing effective nutrition-specific interventions to improve infant and young child (IYC) feeding practices and promote healthy growth. Health workers interact with caregivers during health facility visits, yet there is limited research about how to optimize delivery of such interventions during these visits. The extensive reach of IYC health services globally calls for research to address this gap. In Trujillo, Peru, formative research was conducted to explore complementary feeding practices with caregivers as well as health worker routines and interactions with caregivers related to feeding and healthy growth; results informed the development and delivery of an educational intervention. Multiple qualitative methods were used to collect data on a purposive sample of health workers and caregivers from three health facilities and communities: household trials followed. Complementary feeding messages with doable behaviours were developed, and three were selected as key to promote based on their nutritional impact and cultural acceptability. In the health facilities, medical consultation, well-child visits and nutrition consultation all dealt with aspects of IYC nutrition/growth during their interactions with caregivers but were independent and inconsistent in approach. A nutrition education strategy was developed based on consistency, quality and coverage in the IYC health services. We conclude that formative research undertaken in the community and IYC health services was critical to developing a successful and culturally relevant intervention to promote optimal complementary feeding practices and healthy growth during interactions between health workers and caregivers at routine health facility visits. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Feedback-giving behaviour in performance evaluations during clinical clerkships.

PubMed

Bok, Harold G J; Jaarsma, Debbie A D C; Spruijt, Annemarie; Van Beukelen, Peter; Van Der Vleuten, Cees P M; Teunissen, Pim W

2016-01-01

Narrative feedback documented in performance evaluations by the teacher, i.e. the clinical supervisor, is generally accepted to be essential for workplace learning. Many studies have examined factors of influence on the usage of mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) instruments and provision of feedback, but little is known about how these factors influence teachers' feedback-giving behaviour. In this study, we investigated teachers' use of mini-CEX in performance evaluations to provide narrative feedback in undergraduate clinical training. We designed an exploratory qualitative study using an interpretive approach. Focusing on the usage of mini-CEX instruments in clinical training, we conducted semi-structured interviews to explore teachers' perceptions. Between February and June 2013, we conducted interviews with 14 clinicians participated as teachers during undergraduate clinical clerkships. Informed by concepts from the literature, we coded interview transcripts and iteratively reduced and displayed data using template analysis. We identified three main themes of interrelated factors that influenced teachers' practice with regard to mini-CEX instruments: teacher-related factors; teacher-student interaction-related factors, and teacher-context interaction-related factors. Four issues (direct observation, relationship between teacher and student, verbal versus written feedback, formative versus summative purposes) that are pertinent to workplace-based performance evaluations were presented to clarify how different factors interact with each other and influence teachers' feedback-giving behaviour. Embedding performance observation in clinical practice and establishing trustworthy teacher-student relationships in more longitudinal clinical clerkships were considered important in creating a learning environment that supports and facilitates the feedback exchange. Teachers' feedback-giving behaviour within the clinical context results from the interaction between personal, interpersonal and contextual factors. Increasing insight into how teachers use mini-CEX instruments in daily practice may offer strategies for creating a professional learning culture in which feedback giving and seeking would be enhanced.

[Quantitative Prediction of Drug-Drug Interaction Caused by CYP Inhibition and Induction from In Vivo Data and Its Application in Daily Clinical Practices-Proposal for the Pharmacokinetic Interaction Significance Classification System (PISCS)].

PubMed

Ohno, Yoshiyuki

2018-01-01

　Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) can affect the clearance of various drugs from the body; however, these effects are difficult to sufficiently evaluate in clinical studies. This article outlines our approach to improving methods for evaluating and providing drug information relative to the effects of DDIs. In a previous study, total exposure changes to many substrate drugs of CYP caused by the co-administration of inhibitor or inducer drugs were successfully predicted using in vivo data. There are two parameters for the prediction: the contribution ratio of the enzyme to oral clearance for substrates (CR), and either the inhibition ratio for inhibitors (IR) or the increase in clearance of substrates produced by induction (IC). To apply these predictions in daily pharmacotherapy, the clinical significance of any pharmacokinetic changes must be carefully evaluated. We constructed a pharmacokinetic interaction significance classification system (PISCS) in which the clinical significance of DDIs was considered in a systematic manner, according to pharmacokinetic changes. The PISCS suggests that many current 'alert' classifications are potentially inappropriate, especially for drug combinations in which pharmacokinetics have not yet been evaluated. It is expected that PISCS would contribute to constructing a reliable system to alert pharmacists, physicians and consumers of a broad range of pharmacokinetic DDIs in order to more safely manage daily clinical practices.

How are evidence and knowledge used in orthopaedic decision-making? Three comparative case studies of different approaches to implementation of clinical guidance in practice.

PubMed

Grove, Amy; Clarke, Aileen; Currie, Graeme

2018-05-31

The uptake and use of clinical guidelines is often insufficient to change clinical behaviour and reduce variation in practice. As a consequence of diverse organisational contexts, the simple provision of guidelines cannot ensure fidelity or guarantee their use when making decisions. Implementation research in surgery has focused on understanding what evidence exists for clinical practice decisions but limits understanding to the technical, educational and accessibility issues. This research aims to identify where, when and how evidence and knowledge are used in orthopaedic decision-making and how variation in these factors contributes to different approaches to implementation of clinical guidance in practice. We used in-depth case studies to examine guideline implementation in real-life surgical practice. We conducted comparative case studies in three English National Health Service hospitals over a 12-month period. Each in-depth case study consisted of a mix of qualitative methods including interviews, observations and document analysis. Data included field notes from observations of day-to-day practice, 64 interviews with NHS surgeons and staff and the collection of 121 supplementary documents. Case studies identified 17 sources of knowledge and evidence which influenced clinical decisions in elective orthopaedic surgery. A comparative analysis across cases revealed that each hospital had distinct approaches to decision-making. Decision-making is described as occurring as a result of how 17 types of knowledge and evidence were privileged and of how they interacted and changed in context. Guideline implementation was contingent and mediated through four distinct contextual levels. Implementation could be assessed for individual surgeons, groups of surgeons or the organisation as a whole, but it could also differ between these levels. Differences in how evidence and knowledge were used contributed to variations in practice from guidelines. A range of complex and competing sources of evidence and knowledge exists which influence the working practices of healthcare professionals. The dynamic selection, combination and use of each type of knowledge and evidence influence the implementation and use of clinical guidance in practice. Clinical guidelines are a fundamental part of practice, but represent only one type of evidence influencing clinical decisions. In the orthopaedic speciality, other distinct sources of evidence and knowledge are selected and used which impact on how guidelines are implemented. New approaches to guideline implementation need to appreciate and incorporate this diverse range of knowledge and evidence which influences clinical decisions and to take account of the changing contexts in which decisions are made.

Enhancing practice improvement by facilitating practitioner interactivity: new roles for providers of continuing medical education.

PubMed

Parboosingh, I John; Reed, Virginia A; Caldwell Palmer, James; Bernstein, Henry H

2011-01-01

Research into networking and interactivity among practitioners is providing new information that has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of practice improvement initiatives. This commentary reviews the evidence that practitioner interactivity can facilitate emergent learning and behavior change that lead to practice improvements. Insights from learning theories provide a framework for understanding emergent learning as the product of interactions between individuals in trusted relationships, such as occurs in communities of practice. This framework helps explain why some groups respond more favorably to improvement initiatives than others. Failure to take advantage of practitioner interactivity may explain in part the disappointingly low mean rates of practice improvement reported in studies of the effectiveness of practice improvement projects. Examples of improvement models in primary care settings that explicitly use relationship building and facilitation techniques to enhance practitioner interactivity are provided. Ingredients of a curriculum to teach relationship building in communities of practice and facilitation skills to enhance learning in small group education sessions are explored. Sufficient evidence exists to support the roles of relationships and interactivity in practice improvement initiatives such that we recommend the development of training programs to teach these skills to CME providers. Copyright © 2011 The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Hello, stranger: building a healing narrative that includes everyone.

PubMed

Inui, Thomas S; Frankel, Richard M

2006-05-01

The authors use the concept of "samaritan medicine" to tie together papers by Klitzman, by Wear and colleagues, and by Branch appearing in this issue of Academic Medicine on the physician-patient relationship. Practicing physicians and trainees alike must confront the challenge of acknowledging and connecting to otherness or difference in patients and in themselves, and practice based in "samaritan medicine" can help to bridge the gaps between self and other. The authors present three vignettes that highlight physicians' and patients' differing perspectives on the stories in which they are mutually involved. The authors then suggest three approaches that operate at the organization as well as the individual level and that speak to establishing and sustaining health-supporting relationships between patients and doctors: video review and replay, Appreciative Inquiry, and self-disclosure. The aim of such approaches is that physicians and physician-trainees be able to ask-and answer-questions about the "narratives" they are enacting, such as "In this story, where am I? Where is the other? Where is the common good? What, then, should I do?" in order that they may develop a robust appreciation of patient interactions and understanding of self that fosters the practice of "samaritan medicine."

Microbial water quality communication: public and practitioner insights from British Columbia, Canada.

PubMed

Dunn, G; Henrich, N; Holmes, B; Harris, L; Prystajecky, N

2014-09-01

This work examines the communication interactions of water suppliers and health authorities with the general public regarding microbial source water quality for recreational and drinking water. We compare current approaches to risk communication observable in British Columbia (BC), Canada, with best practices derived from the communications literature, finding significant gaps between theory and practice. By considering public views and government practices together, we identify key disconnects, leading to the conclusion that at present, neither the public's needs nor public health officials' goals are being met. We find: (1) there is a general lack of awareness and poor understanding by the public of microbial threats to water and the associated health implications; (2) the public often does not know where to find water quality information; (3) public information needs are not identified or met; (4) information sharing by authorities is predominantly one-way and reactive (crisis-oriented); and (5) the effectiveness of communications is not evaluated. There is a need for both improved public understanding of water quality-related risks, and new approaches to ensure information related to water quality reaches audiences. Overall, greater attention should be given to planning and goal setting related to microbial water risk communication.

[Cancer screening in clinical practice: the value of shared decision-making].

PubMed

Cornuz, Jacques; Junod, Noëlle; Pasche, Olivier; Guessous, Idris

2010-07-14

Shared decision-making approach to uncertain clinical situations such as cancer screening seems more appropriate than ever. Shared decision making can be defined as an interactive process where physician and patient share all the stages of the decision making process. For patients who wish to be implicated in the management of their health conditions, physicians might express difficulty to do so. Use of patient decision aids appears to improve such process of shared decision making.

Design Guidelines and Criteria for User/Operator Transactions with Battlefield Automated Systems. Volume 5. Background Literature

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-02-01

the machine . ARI’s efforts in this area focus on human perfor- mance problems related to interactions with command and control centers, and on issues...improvement of the user- machine interface. Lacking consistent design principles, current practice results in a fragmented and unsystematic approach to system...complexity in the user- machine interface of BAS, ARI supported this effort for develop- me:nt of an online language for Army tactical intelligence

Low Temperature Reactivities of Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics (Hf-X System)

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

as interacting fillers with the preceramic polymer formulations. In situ formation of the SiC phase was also evaluated as a practical approach in...silicon (reaction-bonded SiC ), which was introduced either as a powder mixed in the original composite formulation or as a subsequent infiltrant that...and their aerospace and turbine applications has led to a renewal of activities to fabricate MB 2/ SiC composites as the materials of choice, because

Aircraft optimization by a system approach: Achievements and trends

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw

1992-01-01

Recently emerging methodology for optimal design of aircraft treated as a system of interacting physical phenomena and parts is examined. The methodology is found to coalesce into methods for hierarchic, non-hierarchic, and hybrid systems all dependent on sensitivity analysis. A separate category of methods has also evolved independent of sensitivity analysis, hence suitable for discrete problems. References and numerical applications are cited. Massively parallel computer processing is seen as enabling technology for practical implementation of the methodology.

Comparison of an Agent-based Model of Disease Propagation with the Generalised SIR Epidemic Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

has become a practical method for conducting Epidemiological Modelling. In the agent- based approach the whole township can be modelled as a system of...SIR system was initially developed based on a very simplified model of social interaction. For instance an assumption of uniform population mixing was...simulating the progress of a disease within a host and of transmission between hosts is based upon Transportation Analysis and Simulation System

Understanding the nature of errors in nursing: using a model to analyse critical incident reports of errors which had resulted in an adverse or potentially adverse event.

PubMed

Meurier, C E

2000-07-01

Human errors are common in clinical practice, but they are under-reported. As a result, very little is known of the types, antecedents and consequences of errors in nursing practice. This limits the potential to learn from errors and to make improvement in the quality and safety of nursing care. The aim of this study was to use an Organizational Accident Model to analyse critical incidents of errors in nursing. Twenty registered nurses were invited to produce a critical incident report of an error (which had led to an adverse event or potentially could have led to an adverse event) they had made in their professional practice and to write down their responses to the error using a structured format. Using Reason's Organizational Accident Model, supplemental information was then collected from five of the participants by means of an individual in-depth interview to explore further issues relating to the incidents they had reported. The detailed analysis of one of the incidents is discussed in this paper, demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach in providing insight into the chain of events which may lead to an adverse event. The case study approach using critical incidents of clinical errors was shown to provide relevant information regarding the interaction of organizational factors, local circumstances and active failures (errors) in producing an adverse or potentially adverse event. It is suggested that more use should be made of this approach to understand how errors are made in practice and to take appropriate preventative measures.

'System-Risk' Flood Task Force

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schröter, Kai; Ridder, Nina; Tavares da Costa, Ricardo; Diederen, Dirk; Viglione, Alberto

2017-04-01

Current scientific methods and engineering practice in flood risk assessment do not consider the full complexity of flood risk systems. Fundamental spatio-temporal dependencies, interactions and feedbacks need to be addressed to comprehensively quantify the effects of measures at various levels, ranging from local technical to high-level policy options. As each flood is unique, each event offers an unparalleled opportunity to collect data and to gain insights into system's behavior under extreme conditions potentially revealing exceptional circumstances, unexpected failures and cascading effects, and thus a chance to learn and to improve methods and models. To make use of this the Marie-Skłodowska-Curie European Training Network 'System-Risk' (www.system-risk.eu) establishes a Flood Task Force (FTF) that aims to learn about successful practical approaches, but also potential pitfalls and failures in the management of real flood events. The FTF consists of an interdisciplinary group of researchers who will apply in situ their latest methods and knowledge of e.g. how the event developed, how the risk management responded, and what the consequences were. This multi-layered perspective is intended to deepen the understanding of the complexity of flood risk systems as for instance in terms of interactions between hazard, the natural and the built environment, societal institutions and coping capacities. This contribution gives an overview of the conceptual approach to the System-Risk FTF.

Interaction between Philosophy of Education and Teaching Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bim-Bad, Boris Michailovich; Egorova, Lioudmila Ivanovna

2016-01-01

The article attempts to analyse the interaction between philosophy of education and teaching practice. Such area of learning as "philosophy of education" is defined, genesis and dynamics of practice as universals of human existence are traced; such concepts as "practice," "teaching practice" are analysed in view of…

Social Network Analysis and Nutritional Behavior: An Integrated Modeling Approach

PubMed Central

Senior, Alistair M.; Lihoreau, Mathieu; Buhl, Jerome; Raubenheimer, David; Simpson, Stephen J.

2016-01-01

Animals have evolved complex foraging strategies to obtain a nutritionally balanced diet and associated fitness benefits. Recent research combining state-space models of nutritional geometry with agent-based models (ABMs), show how nutrient targeted foraging behavior can also influence animal social interactions, ultimately affecting collective dynamics and group structures. Here we demonstrate how social network analyses can be integrated into such a modeling framework and provide a practical analytical tool to compare experimental results with theory. We illustrate our approach by examining the case of nutritionally mediated dominance hierarchies. First we show how nutritionally explicit ABMs that simulate the emergence of dominance hierarchies can be used to generate social networks. Importantly the structural properties of our simulated networks bear similarities to dominance networks of real animals (where conflicts are not always directly related to nutrition). Finally, we demonstrate how metrics from social network analyses can be used to predict the fitness of agents in these simulated competitive environments. Our results highlight the potential importance of nutritional mechanisms in shaping dominance interactions in a wide range of social and ecological contexts. Nutrition likely influences social interactions in many species, and yet a theoretical framework for exploring these effects is currently lacking. Combining social network analyses with computational models from nutritional ecology may bridge this divide, representing a pragmatic approach for generating theoretical predictions for nutritional experiments. PMID:26858671

A judicious multiple hypothesis tracker with interacting feature extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McAnanama, James G.; Kirubarajan, T.

2009-05-01

The multiple hypotheses tracker (mht) is recognized as an optimal tracking method due to the enumeration of all possible measurement-to-track associations, which does not involve any approximation in its original formulation. However, its practical implementation is limited by the NP-hard nature of this enumeration. As a result, a number of maintenance techniques such as pruning and merging have been proposed to bound the computational complexity. It is possible to improve the performance of a tracker, mht or not, using feature information (e.g., signal strength, size, type) in addition to kinematic data. However, in most tracking systems, the extraction of features from the raw sensor data is typically independent of the subsequent association and filtering stages. In this paper, a new approach, called the Judicious Multi Hypotheses Tracker (jmht), whereby there is an interaction between feature extraction and the mht, is presented. The measure of the quality of feature extraction is input into measurement-to-track association while the prediction step feeds back the parameters to be used in the next round of feature extraction. The motivation for this forward and backward interaction between feature extraction and tracking is to improve the performance in both steps. This approach allows for a more rational partitioning of the feature space and removes unlikely features from the assignment problem. Simulation results demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach.

Engineering the electronic health record for safety: a multi-level video-based approach to diagnosing and preventing technology-induced error arising from usability problems.

PubMed

Borycki, Elizabeth M; Kushniruk, Andre W; Kuwata, Shigeki; Kannry, Joseph

2011-01-01

Electronic health records (EHRs) promise to improve and streamline healthcare through electronic entry and retrieval of patient data. Furthermore, based on a number of studies showing their positive benefits, they promise to reduce medical error and make healthcare safer. However, a growing body of literature has clearly documented that if EHRS are not designed properly and with usability as an important goal in their design, rather than reducing error, EHR deployment has the potential to actually increase medical error. In this paper we describe our approach to engineering (and reengineering) EHRs in order to increase their beneficial potential while at the same time improving their safety. The approach described in this paper involves an integration of the methods of usability analysis with video analysis of end users interacting with EHR systems and extends the evaluation of the usability of EHRs to include the assessment of the impact of these systems on work practices. Using clinical simulations, we analyze human-computer interaction in real healthcare settings (in a portable, low-cost and high fidelity manner) and include both artificial and naturalistic data collection to identify potential usability problems and sources of technology-induced error prior to widespread system release. Two case studies where the methods we have developed and refined have been applied at different levels of user-computer interaction are described.

77 FR 31041 - Draft Standards and Best Practices for Interaction Between Medical Examiner/Coroner and Organ and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-24

... Best Practices for Interaction Between Medical Examiner/Coroner and Organ and Tissue Procurement... titled ``Organ and Tissue Procurement Committee Standards and Best Practices for Interaction Between Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices and Organ Tissue Procurement Organizations'' from May 12, 2012, to June...

77 FR 24537 - Draft Standards and Best Practices for Interaction Between Medical Examiner/Coroner and Organ and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-24

... Best Practices for Interaction Between Medical Examiner/Coroner and Organ and Tissue Procurement... Committee Standards and Best Practices for Interaction Between Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices and Organ... coroner/medical examiner office representatives, law enforcement agencies, organizations, and all other...

Enhancing Practice Improvement by Facilitating Practitioner Interactivity: New Roles for Providers of Continuing Medical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parboosingh, I. John; Reed, Virginia A.; Palmer, James Caldwell; Bernstein, Henry H.

2011-01-01

Research into networking and interactivity among practitioners is providing new information that has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of practice improvement initiatives. This commentary reviews the evidence that practitioner interactivity can facilitate emergent learning and behavior change that lead to practice improvements. Insights…

What works in genomics education: outcomes of an evidenced-based instructional model for community-based physicians.

PubMed

Reed, E Kate; Johansen Taber, Katherine A; Ingram Nissen, Therese; Schott, Suzanna; Dowling, Lynn O; O'Leary, James C; Scott, Joan A

2016-07-01

Education of practicing health professionals is likely to be one factor that will speed appropriate integration of genomics into routine clinical practice. Yet many health professionals, including physicians, find it difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of clinical genomic advances and are often uncomfortable using genomic information in practice. Having identified the genomics educational needs of physicians in a Silicon Valley-area community hospital, we developed, implemented, and evaluated an educational course entitled Medicine's Future: Genomics for Practicing Doctors. The course structure and approach were based on best practices in adult learning, including interactivity, case-based learning, skill-focused objectives, and sequential monthly modules. Approximately 20-30 physicians attended each module. They demonstrated significant gains in genomics knowledge and confidence in practice skills that were sustained throughout and following the course. Six months following the course, the majority of participants reported that they had changed their practice to incorporate skills learned during the course. We believe the adult-learning principles underlying the development and delivery of Medicine's Future were responsible for participants' outcomes. These principles form a model for the development and delivery of other genomics educational programs for health professionals.Genet Med 18 7, 737-745.

Ethical considerations in aesthetic rhinoplasty: a survey, critical analysis, and review.

PubMed

Karimi, Kian; McKneally, Martin F; Adamson, Peter A

2012-11-01

Although the practice of medicine is built on a foundation of ethics, science, and common sense, the increasing complexity of medical interventions, social interactions, and societal norms of behavior challenges the ethical practice of aesthetic surgeons. We report a survey of the opinions, practices, and attitudes of experienced and novice facial plastic surgeons. The survey consisted of 15 clinical vignettes addressing ethical quandaries in aesthetic rhinoplasty. The vignettes are based on the experience and observations of the senior author (P.A.A.) over nearly 30 years of practice and teaching. Fellowship directors and facial plastic surgery fellows of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery were surveyed anonymously. Five of the 15 vignettes demonstrated significant differences between the responses of the fellowship directors and the fellows. No single vignette had a unanimous consensus in either group. Aesthetic rhinoplasty surgeons encounter ethical issues that should be reflected on by both experienced and inexperienced facial plastic surgeons, preferably before being faced with them in practice. We present a practical approach to ethical issues in clinical practice. Our survey can also be used as a stimulus for further discussion and teaching.

System Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morecroft, John

System dynamics is an approach for thinking about and simulating situations and organisations of all kinds and sizes by visualising how the elements fit together, interact and change over time. This chapter, written by John Morecroft, describes modern system dynamics which retains the fundamentals developed in the 1950s by Jay W. Forrester of the MIT Sloan School of Management. It looks at feedback loops and time delays that affect system behaviour in a non-linear way, and illustrates how dynamic behaviour depends upon feedback loop structures. It also recognises improvements as part of the ongoing process of managing a situation in order to achieve goals. Significantly it recognises the importance of context, and practitioner skills. Feedback systems thinking views problems and solutions as being intertwined. The main concepts and tools: feedback structure and behaviour, causal loop diagrams, dynamics, are practically illustrated in a wide variety of contexts from a hot water shower through to a symphony orchestra and the practical application of the approach is described through several real examples of its use for strategic planning and evaluation.

Coarse-grained simulation of polymer-filler blends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legters, Gregg; Kuppa, Vikram; Beaucage, Gregory; Univ of Dayton Collaboration; Univ of Cincinnati Collaboration

The practical use of polymers often relies on additives that improve the property of the mixture. Examples of such complex blends include tires, pigments, blowing agents and other reactive additives in thermoplastics, and recycled polymers. Such systems usually exhibit a complex partitioning of the components. Most prior work has either focused on fine-grained details such as molecular modeling of chains at interfaces, or on coarse, heuristic, trial-and-error approaches to compounding (eg: tire industry). Thus, there is a significant gap in our understanding of how complex hierarchical structure (across several decades in length) develops in these multicomponent systems. This research employs dissipative particle thermodynamics in conjunction with a pseudo-thermodynamic parameter derived from scattering experiments to represent polymer-filler interactions. DPD simulations will probe how filler dispersion and hierarchical morphology develops in these complex blends, and are validated against experimental (scattering) data. The outcome of our approach is a practical solution to compounding issues, based on a mutually validating experimental and simulation methodology. Support from the NSF (CMMI-1636036/1635865) is gratefully acknowledged.

[Psychotherapeutically-Systemic Acting in the Integrated Family Counseling Presented by the Example of Child-Centered Educational Counseling].

PubMed

Herrmann, Ines

2015-01-01

The article gives an insight into the practice of Integrated Family Counseling and identifies their interfaces with psychotherapeutic approaches. The example of the child-centered educational counseling shows how consultancy, systemic and psychotherapeutic interventions interact in order to meet the parents educational needs defined by the parents. The first part of the article explains the term of Integrated Family Counseling, differentiates the various substantive areas of work and outlines the systematic attitude. The second part describes the psychotherapy-systemic action in the child-centered educational counseling from the perspective of the practice. Main priorities in the course of counseling, including cause-related behavioral and developmental diagnostics, play therapy intervention and parental involvement are presented. Here the systemic approach, major methodological elements as well as their effects are pointed up. The third part is devoted to the reflection of the relationship between counseling and psychotherapy. It becomes clear that in particular the intended effectiveness of an intervention determines their methodological design to a large extent.

[Problem-posing as a nutritional education strategy with obese teenagers].

PubMed

Rodrigues, Erika Marafon; Boog, Maria Cristina Faber

2006-05-01

Obesity is a public health issue with relevant social determinants in its etiology and where interventions with teenagers encounter complex biopsychological conditions. This study evaluated intervention in nutritional education through a problem-posing approach with 22 obese teenagers, treated collectively and individually for eight months. Speech acts were collected through the use of word cards, observer recording, and tape-recording. The study adopted a qualitative methodology, and the approach involved content analysis. Problem-posing facilitated changes in eating behavior, triggering reflections on nutritional practices, family circumstances, social stigma, interaction with health professionals, and religion. Teenagers under individual care posed problems more effectively in relation to eating, while those under collective care posed problems in relation to family and psychological issues, with effective qualitative eating changes in both groups. The intervention helped teenagers understand their life history and determinants of eating behaviors, spontaneously implementing eating changes and making them aware of possibilities for maintaining the new practices and autonomously exercising their role as protagonists in their own health care.

A systematic review of best practices in teaching ophthalmology to medical students.

PubMed

Succar, Tony; Grigg, John; Beaver, Hilary A; Lee, Andrew G

2016-01-01

Ophthalmic medical student education is a cornerstone to improving eye health care globally. We review the current state of the literature, listing barriers to potential best practices for undergraduate ophthalmology teaching and learning within medical curricula. We describe recent advances and pedagogical approaches in ophthalmic education and propose specific recommendations for further improvements and research. Future research should concentrate on developing teaching and learning innovations that may result in a more time- and resource-effective models for interactive and integrated learning. As well as demonstrating that a competency-based approach results not just in better eye health, but also improvements in patient care, education, and medical care in general. By optimizing teaching available through improved evidence-based education, the ultimate goal is to increase medical students' knowledge and produce graduates who are highly trained in eye examination skills, resulting in improved patient eye care through timely diagnosis, referrals, and treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential effects of approach bias and eating style on unhealthy food consumption in overweight and normal weight women.

PubMed

Kakoschke, Naomi; Kemps, Eva; Tiggemann, Marika

2017-11-01

The current study aimed to examine the effects of approach bias for unhealthy food and trait eating style on consumption of unhealthy food in overweight and normal weight individuals. Participants were 245 undergraduate women aged 17 - 26 years. They completed an Approach-Avoidance Task, the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (to assess restrained, emotional, and external eating), and a taste test to measure consumption of unhealthy food. An external eating style predicted increased consumption of unhealthy food. Among overweight participants, external and emotional eating style individually moderated the relationship between approach bias for unhealthy food and subsequent consumption. Specifically, approach bias was positively related to consumption in high external and emotional eaters, but negatively related to consumption in low emotional eaters. These interactions were not observed among normal weight participants. Practically, the results suggest that overweight individuals who are external or emotional eaters may benefit from interventions that aim to modify approach bias towards unhealthy food cues to reduce problematic eating behaviour.

Quantum Fragment Based ab Initio Molecular Dynamics for Proteins.

PubMed

Liu, Jinfeng; Zhu, Tong; Wang, Xianwei; He, Xiao; Zhang, John Z H

2015-12-08

Developing ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) methods for practical application in protein dynamics is of significant interest. Due to the large size of biomolecules, applying standard quantum chemical methods to compute energies for dynamic simulation is computationally prohibitive. In this work, a fragment based ab initio molecular dynamics approach is presented for practical application in protein dynamics study. In this approach, the energy and forces of the protein are calculated by a recently developed electrostatically embedded generalized molecular fractionation with conjugate caps (EE-GMFCC) method. For simulation in explicit solvent, mechanical embedding is introduced to treat protein interaction with explicit water molecules. This AIMD approach has been applied to MD simulations of a small benchmark protein Trpcage (with 20 residues and 304 atoms) in both the gas phase and in solution. Comparison to the simulation result using the AMBER force field shows that the AIMD gives a more stable protein structure in the simulation, indicating that quantum chemical energy is more reliable. Importantly, the present fragment-based AIMD simulation captures quantum effects including electrostatic polarization and charge transfer that are missing in standard classical MD simulations. The current approach is linear-scaling, trivially parallel, and applicable to performing the AIMD simulation of proteins with a large size.

Using theories of practice to understand HIV-positive persons varied engagement with HIV services: a qualitative study in six Sub-Saharan African countries.

PubMed

Skovdal, Morten; Wringe, Alison; Seeley, Janet; Renju, Jenny; Paparini, Sara; Wamoyi, Joyce; Moshabela, Mosa; Ddaaki, William; Nyamukapa, Constance; Ondenge, Kenneth; Bernays, Sarah; Bonnington, Oliver

2017-07-01

This article considers the potential of 'theories of practice' for studying and understanding varied (dis)engagement with HIV care and treatment services and begins to unpack the assemblage of elements and practices that shape the nature and duration of individuals' interactions with HIV services. We obtained data from a multicountry qualitative study that explores the use of HIV care and treatment services, with a focus on examining the social organisation of engagement with care as a practice and as manifested in the lives of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. The dataset comprised of 356 interviews with participants from six countries. We noted fluctuating interactions with HIV services in all countries. In line with theories of practice, we found that such varied engagement can be explained by (1) the availability, absence and connections between requisite 'materialities' (eg, health infrastructure, medicines), 'competencies' (eg, knowing how to live with HIV) and 'meanings' (eg, trust in HIV services, stigma, normalisation of HIV) and (2) a host of other life practices, such as working or parenting. These dynamics either facilitated or inhibited engagement with HIV services and were intrinsically linked to the discursive, cultural, political and economic fabric of the participating countries. Practice theory provides HIV researchers and practitioners with a useful vocabulary and analytical tools to understand and steer people's differentiated HIV service (dis)engagement. Our application of practice theory to engagement in HIV care, as experienced by HIV service users and providers in six sub-Saharan African countries, highlights the need for a practice-based approach in the delivery of differentiated and patient-centred HIV services. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Managing endangered species within the use-preservation paradox: the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) as a tourism attraction.

PubMed

Sorice, Michael G; Shafer, C Scott; Ditton, Robert B

2006-01-01

A significant challenge to wildlife managers in tourism settings is to provide visitors with opportunities to observe rare and endangered wildlife while simultaneously protecting the target species from deleterious impacts. Nearly 100,000 people annually visit Crystal River, Florida, USA to observe and swim with the Florida manatee, an endangered species. This research aimed to investigate and describe human-manatee interactions in a tourism context, to understand the salient issues related to such interactions as identified by stakeholders, and to recommend a course of action to address multiple interests in the planning and management of human-manatee interactions. Five issues were identified by all stakeholder groups: water quality, harassment, density and crowding, education, and enforcement. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for manatee management, does not have mechanisms in place to manage the tourism component of the manatee encounter. Although a regulatory approach can be taken, a better approach would be to create an organization of tour operators to establish "best practices" that reflect the goal of the managing agency to enhance manatee protection (and thus ensure their livelihood) and to enhance the visitor experience.

Ultrafast dynamics induced by the interaction of molecules with electromagnetic fields: Several quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches.

PubMed

Antipov, Sergey V; Bhattacharyya, Swarnendu; El Hage, Krystel; Xu, Zhen-Hao; Meuwly, Markus; Rothlisberger, Ursula; Vaníček, Jiří

2017-11-01

Several strategies for simulating the ultrafast dynamics of molecules induced by interactions with electromagnetic fields are presented. After a brief overview of the theory of molecule-field interaction, we present several representative examples of quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches to describe the ultrafast molecular dynamics, including the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method, Bohmian dynamics, local control theory, semiclassical thawed Gaussian approximation, phase averaging, dephasing representation, molecular mechanics with proton transfer, and multipolar force fields. In addition to the general overview, some focus is given to the description of nuclear quantum effects and to the direct dynamics, in which the ab initio energies and forces acting on the nuclei are evaluated on the fly. Several practical applications, performed within the framework of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research "Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology," are presented: These include Bohmian dynamics description of the collision of H with H 2 , local control theory applied to the photoinduced ultrafast intramolecular proton transfer, semiclassical evaluation of vibrationally resolved electronic absorption, emission, photoelectron, and time-resolved stimulated emission spectra, infrared spectroscopy of H-bonding systems, and multipolar force fields applications in the condensed phase.

Ultrafast dynamics induced by the interaction of molecules with electromagnetic fields: Several quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches

PubMed Central

Antipov, Sergey V.; Bhattacharyya, Swarnendu; El Hage, Krystel; Xu, Zhen-Hao; Meuwly, Markus; Rothlisberger, Ursula; Vaníček, Jiří

2018-01-01

Several strategies for simulating the ultrafast dynamics of molecules induced by interactions with electromagnetic fields are presented. After a brief overview of the theory of molecule-field interaction, we present several representative examples of quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches to describe the ultrafast molecular dynamics, including the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method, Bohmian dynamics, local control theory, semiclassical thawed Gaussian approximation, phase averaging, dephasing representation, molecular mechanics with proton transfer, and multipolar force fields. In addition to the general overview, some focus is given to the description of nuclear quantum effects and to the direct dynamics, in which the ab initio energies and forces acting on the nuclei are evaluated on the fly. Several practical applications, performed within the framework of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research “Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology,” are presented: These include Bohmian dynamics description of the collision of H with H2, local control theory applied to the photoinduced ultrafast intramolecular proton transfer, semiclassical evaluation of vibrationally resolved electronic absorption, emission, photoelectron, and time-resolved stimulated emission spectra, infrared spectroscopy of H-bonding systems, and multipolar force fields applications in the condensed phase. PMID:29376107

Social learning in a longitudinal integrated clinical placement.

PubMed

Roberts, Chris; Daly, Michele; Held, Fabian; Lyle, David

2017-10-01

Recent research has demonstrated that longitudinal integrated placements (LICs) are an alternative mode of clinical education to traditional placements. Extended student engagement in community settings provide the advantages of educational continuity as well as increased service provision in underserved areas. Developing and maintaining LICs require a differing approach to student learning than that for traditional placements. There has been little theoretically informed empirical research that has offered explanations of which are the important factors that promote student learning in LICs and the relationships between those factors. We explored the relationship between student learning, student perceptions of preparedness for practice and student engagement, in the context of a rural LIC. We used a sequential qualitative design employing thematic, comparative and relational analysis of data from student interviews (n = 18) to understand possible processes and mechanisms of student learning in the LIC. Through the theoretical lens of social learning systems, we identified two major themes; connectivity and preparedness for practice. Connectivity described engagement and relationship building by students, across formal and informal learning experiences, interprofessional interactions, social interactions with colleagues, interaction with patients outside of the clinical setting, and the extent of integration in the wider community. Preparedness for practice, reflected students' perceptions of having sufficient depth in clinical skills, personal and professional development, cultural awareness and understanding of the health system, to work in that system. A comparative analysis compared the nature and variation of learning across students. In a relational analysis, there was a positive association between connectivity and preparedness for practice. Connectivity is a powerful enabler of students' agentic engagement, collaboration, and learning within an LIC. It is related to student perceptions of preparedness for practice. These findings provide insight for institutions wishing to develop similar programmes, by encouraging health professional educators to consider all of the potential elements of the placements, which most promote connectivity.

Untangling complex networks: risk minimization in financial markets through accessible spin glass ground states

PubMed Central

Lisewski, Andreas Martin; Lichtarge, Olivier

2010-01-01

Recurrent international financial crises inflict significant damage to societies and stress the need for mechanisms or strategies to control risk and tamper market uncertainties. Unfortunately, the complex network of market interactions often confounds rational approaches to optimize financial risks. Here we show that investors can overcome this complexity and globally minimize risk in portfolio models for any given expected return, provided the relative margin requirement remains below a critical, empirically measurable value. In practice, for markets with centrally regulated margin requirements, a rational stabilization strategy would be keeping margins small enough. This result follows from ground states of the random field spin glass Ising model that can be calculated exactly through convex optimization when relative spin coupling is limited by the norm of the network's Laplacian matrix. In that regime, this novel approach is robust to noise in empirical data and may be also broadly relevant to complex networks with frustrated interactions that are studied throughout scientific fields. PMID:20625477

An Innovative Teaching Method To Promote Active Learning: Team-Based Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balasubramanian, R.

2007-12-01

Traditional teaching practice based on the textbook-whiteboard- lecture-homework-test paradigm is not very effective in helping students with diverse academic backgrounds achieve higher-order critical thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Consequently, there is a critical need for developing a new pedagogical approach to create a collaborative and interactive learning environment in which students with complementary academic backgrounds and learning skills can work together to enhance their learning outcomes. In this presentation, I will discuss an innovative teaching method ('Team-Based Learning (TBL)") which I recently developed at National University of Singapore to promote active learning among students in the environmental engineering program with learning abilities. I implemented this new educational activity in a graduate course. Student feedback indicates that this pedagogical approach is appealing to most students, and promotes active & interactive learning in class. Data will be presented to show that the innovative teaching method has contributed to improved student learning and achievement.

Untangling complex networks: Risk minimization in financial markets through accessible spin glass ground states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lisewski, Andreas Martin; Lichtarge, Olivier

2010-08-01

Recurrent international financial crises inflict significant damage to societies and stress the need for mechanisms or strategies to control risk and tamper market uncertainties. Unfortunately, the complex network of market interactions often confounds rational approaches to optimize financial risks. Here we show that investors can overcome this complexity and globally minimize risk in portfolio models for any given expected return, provided the margin requirement remains below a critical, empirically measurable value. In practice, for markets with centrally regulated margin requirements, a rational stabilization strategy would be keeping margins small enough. This result follows from ground states of the random field spin glass Ising model that can be calculated exactly through convex optimization when relative spin coupling is limited by the norm of the network’s Laplacian matrix. In that regime, this novel approach is robust to noise in empirical data and may be also broadly relevant to complex networks with frustrated interactions that are studied throughout scientific fields.