Dealing with Insecurity in Problem Oriented Learning Approaches--The Importance of Problem Formulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Annie Aarup; Lund, Birthe

2016-01-01

Introduction of a pedagogical concept, Kubus, in a problem oriented learning context--analysed within the framework of an activity system--indicates what might happen when offering tools tempting to influence and regulate students' learning approach and hereby neglecting the importance of existing habits and values. Introduction of this new…

Psychological Well-Being and Motivation in a Turkish Physical Education Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erturan-Ilker, Gökçe

2014-01-01

Using Self Determination as a framework, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between basic psychological needs, motivational regulations, self-esteem, subjective vitality, and social physique anxiety in physical education. One thousand and eighty two high school students aged between 14 and 19 [mean (M) = 15.89 ± 0.95 years]…

Viewing relational aggression through multiple lenses: temperament, personality, and personality pathology.

PubMed

Tackett, Jennifer L; Kushner, Shauna C; Herzhoff, Kathrin; Smack, Avante J; Reardon, Kathleen W

2014-08-01

Dispositional trait frameworks offer great potential to elucidate the nature and development of psychopathology, including the construct of relational aggression. The present study sought to explore the dispositional context of relational aggression across three dispositional frameworks: temperament, personality, and personality pathology. Participants comprised a large community sample of youth, aged 6 to 18 years (N = 1,188; 51.2% female). Ratings of children's relational aggression, temperament, personality, and personality pathology traits were obtained through parent report (86.3% mothers). Results showed convergence and divergence across these three dispositional frameworks. Like other antisocial behavior subtypes, relational aggression generally showed connections with traits reflecting negative emotionality and poor self-regulation. Relational aggression showed stronger connections with temperament traits than with personality traits, suggesting that temperament frameworks may capture more relationally aggressive content. Findings at the lower order trait level help differentiate relational aggression from other externalizing problems by providing a more nuanced perspective (e.g., both sociability and shyness positively predicted relational aggression). In addition, there was little evidence of moderation of these associations by gender, age, or age2, and findings remained robust even after controlling for physical aggression. Results are discussed in the broader context of conceptualizing relational aggression in an overarching personality-psychopathology framework.

Women's experiences of hormonal therapy for breast cancer: exploring influences on medication-taking behaviour.

PubMed

Cahir, Caitriona; Dombrowski, Stephan U; Kelly, Catherine M; Kennedy, M John; Bennett, Kathleen; Sharp, Linda

2015-11-01

Five to 10 years of adjuvant hormonal therapy is recommended to prevent breast cancer recurrence. This study investigated modifiable influences on adjuvant hormonal therapy medication-taking behaviour (MTB) in women with stage I-III breast cancer. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews among women with stage I-III breast cancer prescribed adjuvant hormonal therapy purposively sampled by their MTB at two cancer centres. Thematic analysis was conducted based on the Framework approach, with the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) informing the analysis framework; the TDF is an integrative framework consisting of 14 domains of behavioural change to inform intervention design. Thirty-one women participated in interviews (14 adherent/persistent; 7 non-adherent/persistent; 10 non-persistent). Three domains identified both barriers and enablers to hormonal therapy MTB across the three MTB strata: beliefs about consequences, intentions and goals and behaviour regulation, but their influence was different across the strata. Other domains influenced individual MTB strata. Key enablers for adherent/persistent women were identified within the domain beliefs about consequences (breast cancer recurrence), intentions and goals (high-priority), beliefs about capabilities (side effects) and behaviour regulation (managing medication). Barriers were identified within the domain behaviour regulation (no routine), memory, attention and decision processes (forgetting) and environmental context and resources (stressors) for non-adherent/persistent women and intentions and goals (quality of life), behaviour regulation (temporal self-regulation), reinforcement, beliefs about consequences (non-necessity) and social influences (clinical support) for non-persistent women. This study identified modifiable influences on hormonal therapy MTB. Targeting these influences in clinical practice may improve MTB and hence survival in this population.

Rationalizing context-dependent performance of dynamic RNA regulatory devices.

PubMed

Kent, Ross; Halliwell, Samantha; Young, Kate; Swainston, Neil; Dixon, Neil

2018-06-21

The ability of RNA to sense, regulate and store information is an attractive attribute for a variety of functional applications including the development of regulatory control devices for synthetic biology. RNA folding and function is known to be highly context sensitive, which limits the modularity and reuse of RNA regulatory devices to control different heterologous sequences and genes. We explored the cause and effect of sequence context sensitivity for translational ON riboswitches located in the 5' UTR, by constructing and screening a library of N-terminal synonymous codon variants. By altering the N-terminal codon usage we were able to obtain RNA devices with a broad range of functional performance properties (ON, OFF, fold-change). Linear regression and calculated metrics were used to rationalize the major determining features leading to optimal riboswitch performance, and to identify multiple interactions between the explanatory metrics. Finally, partial least squared (PLS) analysis was employed in order to understand the metrics and their respective effect on performance. This PLS model was shown to provide good explanation of our library. This study provides a novel multi-variant analysis framework by which to rationalize the codon context performance of allosteric RNA-devices. The framework will also serve as a platform for future riboswitch context engineering endeavors.

Risk and resilience in the shale gas context: a nexus perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosales, T. Y.; Notte, C. A.; Allen, D. M.; Kirste, D. M.

2014-12-01

The accelerated exploration for and development of unconventional gas plays around the world has raised public concern about potential risks to human health and the environment. In this study, a risk assessment framework specific to shale gas development is proposed. The framework aims to quantify and/or qualify both risk and resilience within a water-energy nexus context, using a comprehensive approach that considers environment, health and policy. The risk assessment framework is intended to be flexible so that it can be used in different regions, but will be tested in North East British Columbia, Canada where shale gas development is rapidly expanding. The main components of risk include hazards, susceptibility and potential consequences, which will be evaluated in space and time using ArcGIS software. The hazards are associated with all phases of shale gas development and include: water, air, and soil contamination; water use (surface and groundwater), and land use disturbance, and their assessment will take into account where they may occur, their frequency, duration and magnitude. Hazard-specific susceptibility maps will be generated based on the physical characteristics of the environment (e.g. soil, geology, hydrology, topography) as well as water source information (e.g. well locations), community footprints, etc. When combined with an evaluation of potential consequences, the resulting set of spatial risk maps can then be used for water resource management, land use planning, and industry permitting. Resilience, which buffers risk, here considers the existing regulatory framework and whether or not existing regulations can mitigate risk by reducing the hazard potential or consequences. The study considers how regulations may fully, partially, or inadequately mitigate the consequences of a given hazard. If development is to continue at its current pace in North East BC, it is imperative that decision-makers recognize the changing risk and resilience profiles and respond with appropriate policy. A critical component of the study comprises a gap analysis of current regulation and a possible path forward.

Reflections on US health care information technology policy from a global perspective.

PubMed

Huerta, Timothy R; Ford, Eric W

2012-01-01

Health information technology (HIT) has been lauded as a foundation upon which the development of an integral solution to cost and quality problems facing many nations is predicated. Countries throughout the world have taken differing approaches in their efforts to advance that foundation through policy, financial, and cultural systems that come to support or hinder adoption. As we explore potential opportunities to learn from the experience of others, we pause to consider the environmental, regulatory, financial, and social dynamics that define the US context. This chapter outlines the framework for a comparative approach through four dimensions--environmental, regulation, financial, and social--through which comparative HIT studies should be explored. With such markedly different contexts in which their HIT is embedded, it is important to not simply look at other countries as a yardstick upon which we compare our failures and successes. Rather, we must look critically at these examples understanding that the dynamics at play in each context have created opportunities and obligations that have come to define each country's implementation. The need for a common framework through which scholars can explore comparative HIT systems, while remaining grounded in the US context is an important aspect of effective knowledge translation in adoption.

Applying a Developmental Framework to the Self-Regulatory Difficulties of Young Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: A Review.

PubMed

Reid, Natasha; Petrenko, Christie L M

2018-06-01

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can be associated with significant difficulties in self-regulatory abilities. As such, interventions have been developed that focus on improving varying aspects of self-regulation for this population. The application of a multilevel theoretical framework that describes the development of self-regulation during early childhood could further advance the field. First, this framework could assist in elucidating mechanisms in the trajectories of early adjustment problems in this population and, second, informing the development of more precise assessment and interventions for those affected by PAE. The aims of the current review were to provide an overview of the self-regulatory framework proposed by Calkins and colleagues (e.g., Calkins, 2007; Calkins and Fox, 2002); examine the self-regulatory difficulties that are commonly experienced during infancy (i.e., 0 to 2 years) and early childhood (i.e., 3 to 8 years) in children with PAE in the context of the developmental framework; and describe how the framework can inform the development of future assessment and intervention provision for young children with PAE. The application of a developmental framework, such as proposed by Calkins and colleagues, allows for a systematic and theoretically driven approach to assessment and intervention programs for young children with PAE. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

The Use of a Cognitive Strategy to Support Argument-Based Writing in a Ninth Grade Social Studies Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washburn, Erin; Sielaff, Christopher; Golden, Karin

2016-01-01

This study examined the impact of teaching a planning strategy for planning argument-based written responses on the writing performance of ninth grade students in the context of social studies. The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model was used as an instructional framework to teach the planning strategy. Pre- and posttest writing…

Steering healthcare service delivery: a regulatory perspective.

PubMed

Prakash, Gyan

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore regulation in India's healthcare sector and makes recommendations needed for enhancing the healthcare service. The literature was reviewed to understand healthcare's regulatory context. To understand the current healthcare system, qualitative data were collected from state-level officials, public and private hospital staff. A patient survey was performed to assess service quality (QoS). Regulation plays a central role in driving healthcare QoS. India needs to strengthen market and institutional co-production based approaches for steering its healthcare in which delivery processes are complex and pose different challenges. This study assesses current healthcare regulation in an Indian state and presents a framework for studying and strengthening regulation. Agile regulation should be based on service delivery issues (pull approach) rather than monitoring and sanctions based regulatory environment (push approach). Healthcare pitfalls across the world seem to follow similar follies. India's complexity and experience is useful for emerging and developed economies. The author reviewed around 70 publications and synthesised them in healthcare regulatory contexts. Patient's perception of private providers could be a key input towards steering regulation. Identifying gaps across QoS dimensions would be useful in taking corrective measures.

Validation of the theoretical domains framework for use in behaviour change and implementation research.

PubMed

Cane, James; O'Connor, Denise; Michie, Susan

2012-04-24

An integrative theoretical framework, developed for cross-disciplinary implementation and other behaviour change research, has been applied across a wide range of clinical situations. This study tests the validity of this framework. Validity was investigated by behavioural experts sorting 112 unique theoretical constructs using closed and open sort tasks. The extent of replication was tested by Discriminant Content Validation and Fuzzy Cluster Analysis. There was good support for a refinement of the framework comprising 14 domains of theoretical constructs (average silhouette value 0.29): 'Knowledge', 'Skills', 'Social/Professional Role and Identity', 'Beliefs about Capabilities', 'Optimism', 'Beliefs about Consequences', 'Reinforcement', 'Intentions', 'Goals', 'Memory, Attention and Decision Processes', 'Environmental Context and Resources', 'Social Influences', 'Emotions', and 'Behavioural Regulation'. The refined Theoretical Domains Framework has a strengthened empirical base and provides a method for theoretically assessing implementation problems, as well as professional and other health-related behaviours as a basis for intervention development.

Quantifying and Generalizing Hydrologic Responses to Dam Regulation using a Statistical Modeling Approach

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

McManamay, Ryan A

2014-01-01

Despite the ubiquitous existence of dams within riverscapes, much of our knowledge about dams and their environmental effects remains context-specific. Hydrology, more than any other environmental variable, has been studied in great detail with regard to dam regulation. While much progress has been made in generalizing the hydrologic effects of regulation by large dams, many aspects of hydrology show site-specific fidelity to dam operations, small dams (including diversions), and regional hydrologic regimes. A statistical modeling framework is presented to quantify and generalize hydrologic responses to varying degrees of dam regulation. Specifically, the objectives were to 1) compare the effects ofmore » local versus cumulative dam regulation, 2) determine the importance of different regional hydrologic regimes in influencing hydrologic responses to dams, and 3) evaluate how different regulation contexts lead to error in predicting hydrologic responses to dams. Overall, model performance was poor in quantifying the magnitude of hydrologic responses, but performance was sufficient in classifying hydrologic responses as negative or positive. Responses of some hydrologic indices to dam regulation were highly dependent upon hydrologic class membership and the purpose of the dam. The opposing coefficients between local and cumulative-dam predictors suggested that hydrologic responses to cumulative dam regulation are complex, and predicting the hydrology downstream of individual dams, as opposed to multiple dams, may be more easy accomplished using statistical approaches. Results also suggested that particular contexts, including multipurpose dams, high cumulative regulation by multiple dams, diversions, close proximity to dams, and certain hydrologic classes are all sources of increased error when predicting hydrologic responses to dams. Statistical models, such as the ones presented herein, show promise in their ability to model the effects of dam regulation effects at large spatial scales as to generalize the directionality of hydrologic responses.« less

Mediation, moderation, and context: Understanding complex relations among cognition, affect, and health behaviour.

PubMed

Kiviniemi, Marc T; Ellis, Erin M; Hall, Marissa G; Moss, Jennifer L; Lillie, Sarah E; Brewer, Noel T; Klein, William M P

2018-01-01

Researchers have historically treated cognition and affect as separate constructs in motivating health behaviour. We present a framework and empirical evidence for complex relations between cognition and affect in predicting health behaviour. Main Outcome, Design and Results: First, affect and cognition can mediate each other's relation to health behaviour. Second, affect and cognition can moderate the other's impact. Third, context can change the interplay of affect and cognition. Fourth, affect and cognition may be indelibly fused in some psychological constructs (e.g. worry, anticipated regret and reactance). These four propositions in our framework are not mutually exclusive. Examination of the types of complex relations described here can benefit theory development, empirical testing of theories and intervention design. Doing so will advance the understanding of mechanisms involved in regulation of health behaviours and the effectiveness of interventions to change health behaviours.

Environmental statistics and optimal regulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivak, David; Thomson, Matt

2015-03-01

The precision with which an organism can detect its environment, and the timescale for and statistics of environmental change, will affect the suitability of different strategies for regulating protein levels in response to environmental inputs. We propose a general framework--here applied to the enzymatic regulation of metabolism in response to changing nutrient concentrations--to predict the optimal regulatory strategy given the statistics of fluctuations in the environment and measurement apparatus, and the costs associated with enzyme production. We find: (i) relative convexity of enzyme expression cost and benefit influences the fitness of thresholding or graded responses; (ii) intermediate levels of measurement uncertainty call for a sophisticated Bayesian decision rule; and (iii) in dynamic contexts, intermediate levels of uncertainty call for retaining memory of the past. Statistical properties of the environment, such as variability and correlation times, set optimal biochemical parameters, such as thresholds and decay rates in signaling pathways. Our framework provides a theoretical basis for interpreting molecular signal processing algorithms and a classification scheme that organizes known regulatory strategies and may help conceptualize heretofore unknown ones.

Ethical and Regulatory Challenges with Autologous Adult Stem Cells: A Comparative Review of International Regulations.

PubMed

Lysaght, Tamra; Kerridge, Ian H; Sipp, Douglas; Porter, Gerard; Capps, Benjamin J

2017-06-01

Cell and tissue-based products, such as autologous adult stem cells, are being prescribed by physicians across the world for diseases and illnesses that they have neither been approved for or been demonstrated as safe and effective in formal clinical trials. These doctors often form part of informal transnational networks that exploit differences and similarities in the regulatory systems across geographical contexts. In this paper, we examine the regulatory infrastructure of five geographically diverse but socio-economically comparable countries with the aim of identifying similarities and differences in how these products are regulated and governed within clinical contexts. We find that while there are many subtle technical differences in how these regulations are implemented, they are sufficiently similar that it is difficult to explain why these practices appear more prevalent in some countries and not in others. We conclude with suggestions for how international governance frameworks might be improved to discourage the exploitation of vulnerable patient populations while enabling innovation in the clinical application of cellular therapies.

[Health technology assessment and its impact on pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies].

PubMed

Castillo-Laborde, Carla; Silva-Illanes, Nicolás

2014-01-01

The article conceptualizes the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies related to financial coverage in the context of health systems. It introduces the pharmaceutical market as an imperfect one, in which appropriate regulation is required. Moreover, the basis that guide the pricing and reimbursement processes are defined and described in order to generate a categorization based on whether they are intended to assess the 'added value' and if the evaluation is based on cost-effectiveness criteria. This framework is used to review different types of these policies applied in the international context, discussing the role of the Health Technology Assessment in these processes. Finally, it briefly discusses the potential role of these types of policies in the Chilean context.

The role of emotion and emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Jazaieri, Hooria; Morrison, Amanda S; Goldin, Philippe R; Gross, James J

2015-01-01

Many psychiatric disorders involve problematic patterns of emotional reactivity and regulation. In this review, we consider recent findings regarding emotion and emotion regulation in the context of social anxiety disorder (SAD). We first describe key features of SAD which suggest altered emotional and self-related processing difficulties. Next, we lay the conceptual foundation for a discussion of emotion and emotion regulation and present a common framework for understanding emotion regulation, the process model of emotion regulation. Using the process model, we evaluate the recent empirical literature spanning self-report, observational, behavioral, and physiological methods across five specific families of emotion regulation processes-situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation. Next, we examine the empirical evidence behind two psychosocial interventions for SAD: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Throughout, we present suggestions for future directions in the continued examination of emotion and emotion regulation in SAD.

Mobile Purposive-Extensive-Podcast-Listening versus Mobile Self-Regulated-Podcast-Development: A Critical Framework for Designing Foreign Language Listening

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sendag, Serkan; Caner, Mustafa; Kafes, Hüseyin

2014-01-01

Nowadays mobile technologies are widely employed in almost all fields of education for varying reasons. The present study intends to explore the role of mobile technologies in the development of students' listening skills in a higher education context. The aim of the present study is twofold; while it seeks for the feasibility of mobile…

Making sense of complexity in context and implementation: the Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions (CICI) framework.

PubMed

Pfadenhauer, Lisa M; Gerhardus, Ansgar; Mozygemba, Kati; Lysdahl, Kristin Bakke; Booth, Andrew; Hofmann, Bjørn; Wahlster, Philip; Polus, Stephanie; Burns, Jacob; Brereton, Louise; Rehfuess, Eva

2017-02-15

The effectiveness of complex interventions, as well as their success in reaching relevant populations, is critically influenced by their implementation in a given context. Current conceptual frameworks often fail to address context and implementation in an integrated way and, where addressed, they tend to focus on organisational context and are mostly concerned with specific health fields. Our objective was to develop a framework to facilitate the structured and comprehensive conceptualisation and assessment of context and implementation of complex interventions. The Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions (CICI) framework was developed in an iterative manner and underwent extensive application. An initial framework based on a scoping review was tested in rapid assessments, revealing inconsistencies with respect to the underlying concepts. Thus, pragmatic utility concept analysis was undertaken to advance the concepts of context and implementation. Based on these findings, the framework was revised and applied in several systematic reviews, one health technology assessment (HTA) and one applicability assessment of very different complex interventions. Lessons learnt from these applications and from peer review were incorporated, resulting in the CICI framework. The CICI framework comprises three dimensions-context, implementation and setting-which interact with one another and with the intervention dimension. Context comprises seven domains (i.e., geographical, epidemiological, socio-cultural, socio-economic, ethical, legal, political); implementation consists of five domains (i.e., implementation theory, process, strategies, agents and outcomes); setting refers to the specific physical location, in which the intervention is put into practise. The intervention and the way it is implemented in a given setting and context can occur on a micro, meso and macro level. Tools to operationalise the framework comprise a checklist, data extraction tools for qualitative and quantitative reviews and a consultation guide for applicability assessments. The CICI framework addresses and graphically presents context, implementation and setting in an integrated way. It aims at simplifying and structuring complexity in order to advance our understanding of whether and how interventions work. The framework can be applied in systematic reviews and HTA as well as primary research and facilitate communication among teams of researchers and with various stakeholders.

Application of the ELOHA Framework to Regulated Rivers in the Upper Tennessee River Basin: A Case Study

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

McManamay, Ryan A; Orth, Dr. Donald J; Dolloff, Dr. Charles A

2013-01-01

In order for habitat restoration in regulated rivers to be effective at large scales, broadly applicable frameworks are needed that provide measurable objectives and contexts for management. The Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) framework was created as a template to assess hydrologic alterations, develop relationships between altered streamflow and ecology, and establish environmental flow standards. We tested the utility of ELOHA in informing flow restoration applications for fish and riparian communities in regulated rivers in the Upper Tennessee River Basin (UTRB). We followed the steps of ELOHA to generate flow alteration-ecological response relationships and then determined whether those relationshipsmore » could predict fish and riparian responses to flow restoration in the Cheoah River, a regulated system within the UTRB. Although ELOHA provided a robust template to construct hydrologic information and predict hydrology for ungaged locations, our results do not support the assertion that over-generalized univariate relationships between flow and ecology can produce results sufficient to guide management in regulated rivers. After constructing multivariate models, we successfully developed predictive relationships between flow alterations and fish/riparian responses. In accordance with model predictions, riparian encroachment displayed consistent decreases with increases in flow magnitude in the Cheoah River; however, fish richness did not increase as predicted four years post- restoration. Our results suggest that altered temperature and substrate and the current disturbance regime may have reduced opportunities for fish species colonization. Our case study highlights the need for interdisciplinary science in defining environmental flows for regulated rivers and the need for adaptive management approaches once flows are restored.« less

Optimizing participation of children with autism spectrum disorder experiencing sensory challenges: a clinical reasoning framework.

PubMed

Ashburner, Jill K; Rodger, Sylvia A; Ziviani, Jenny M; Hinder, Elizabeth A

2014-02-01

Remedial sensory interventions currently lack supportive evidence and can be challenging to implement for families and clinicians. It may be timely to shift the focus to optimizing participation of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) through accommodation and self-regulation of their sensory differences. A framework to guide practitioners in selecting strategies is proposed based on clinical reasoning considerations, including (a) research evidence, (b) client- and family-centredness, (c) practice contexts, (d) occupation-centredness, and (e) risks. Information-sharing with families and coaching constitute the basis for intervention. Specific strategies are identified where sensory aversions or seeking behaviours, challenges with modulation of arousal, or sensory-related behaviours interfere with participation. Self-regulatory strategies are advocated. The application of universal design principles to shared environments is also recommended. The implications of this framework for future research, education, and practice are discussed. The clinical utility of the framework now needs to be tested.

Open consent, biobanking and data protection law: can open consent be 'informed' under the forthcoming data protection regulation?

PubMed

Hallinan, Dara; Friedewald, Michael

2015-01-01

This article focuses on whether a certain form of consent used by biobanks--open consent--is compatible with the Proposed Data Protection Regulation. In an open consent procedure, the biobank requests consent once from the data subject for all future research uses of genetic material and data. However, as biobanks process personal data, they must comply with data protection law. Data protection law is currently undergoing reform. The Proposed Data Protection Regulation is the culmination of this reform and, if voted into law, will constitute a new legal framework for biobanking. The Regulation puts strict conditions on consent--in particular relating to information which must be given to the data subject. It seems clear that open consent cannot meet these requirements. 4 categories of information cannot be provided with adequate specificity: purpose, recipient, possible third country transfers, data collected. However, whilst open consent cannot meet the formal requirements laid out by the Regulation, this is not to say that these requirements are substantially undebateable. Two arguments could be put forward suggesting the applicable consent requirements should be rethought. First, from policy documents regarding the drafting process, it seems that the informational requirements in the Regulation are so strict in order to protect the data subject from risks inherent in the use of the consent mechanism in a certain context--exemplified by the online context. There are substantial differences between this context and the biobanking context. Arguably, a consent transaction in the biobanking does not present the same type of risk to the data subject. If the risks are different, then perhaps there are also grounds for a reconsideration of consent requirements? Second, an argument can be made that the legislator drafted the Regulation based on certain assumptions as to the nature of 'data'. The authors argue that these assumptions are difficult to apply to genetic data and accordingly a different approach to consent might be preferable. Such an approach might be more open consent friendly.

[Psychiatric medication as restraint: between autonomy and protection, is there place for a legal framework?].

PubMed

Bernheim, Emmanuelle

2010-01-01

The use of chemical restraint has been regulated for the past ten years in Quebec. However, clinical, ethical and legal issues, sometimes contradictory, have not really been considered during the legislative process leading to consolidation in its current form. The author supports that, because of the absence of consent and the effects of medication, a specific legal framework to the use of medication is necessary in a context of unplanned intervention to protect both patients and medical staff. This framework would prescribe good practice, take into account the non-medical aspects of consent to care and formalize the practice as an exception to the rule. In addition, the symbolism of law, through which social solidarity can be expressed, must not be underestimated.

A social-ecological framework: A model for addressing ethical practice in nursing.

PubMed

Davidson, Patricia; Rushton, Cynda Hylton; Kurtz, Melissa; Wise, Brian; Jackson, Debra; Beaman, Adam; Broome, Marion

2018-03-01

To develop a framework to enable discussion, debate and the formulation of interventions to address ethical issues in nursing practice. Social, cultural, political and economic drivers are rapidly changing the landscape of health care in our local environments but also in a global context. Increasingly, nurses are faced with a range of ethical dilemmas in their work. This requires investigation into the culture of healthcare systems and organisations to identify the root causes and address the barriers and enablers of ethical practice. The increased medicalisation of health care; pressures for systemisation; efficiency and cost reduction; and an ageing population contribute to this complexity. Often, ethical issues in nursing are considered within the abstract and philosophical realm until a dilemma is encountered. Such an approach limits the capacity to tangibly embrace ethical values and frameworks as pathways to equitable, accessible, safe and quality health care and as a foundation for strengthening a supportive and enabling workplace for nurses and other healthcare workers. Conceptual framework development. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken using the social-ecological framework as an organising construct. This framework views ethical practice as the outcome of interaction among a range of factors at eight levels: individual factors (patients and families); individual factors (nurses); relationships between healthcare professionals; relationships between patients and nurses; organisational healthcare context; professional and education regulation and standards; community; and social, political and economic. Considering these elements as discrete, yet interactive and intertwined forces can be useful in developing interventions to promote ethical practice. We consider this framework to have utility in policy, practice, education and research. Nurses face ethical challenges on a daily basis, considering these within a social-ecological framework can assist in developing strategies and resolutions. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Network analysis of transcriptomics expands regulatory landscapes in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002

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

McClure, Ryan S.; Overall, Christopher C.; McDermott, Jason E.

Cyanobacterial regulation of gene expression must contend with a genome organization that lacks apparent functional context, as the majority of cellular processes and metabolic pathways are encoded by genes found at disparate locations across the genome. In addition, the fact that coordinated regulation of cyanobacterial cellular machinery takes place with significantly fewer transcription factors, compared to other Eubacteria, suggests the involvement of post-transcriptional mechanisms and regulatory adaptations which are not fully understood. Global transcript abundance from model cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 grown under 42 different conditions was analyzed using context-likelihood of relatedness. The resulting 903-gene network, which was organizedmore » into 11 modules, not only allowed classification of cyanobacterial responses to specific environmental variables but provided insight into the transcriptional network topology and led to the expansion of predicted regulons. When used in conjunction with genome sequence, the global transcript abundance allowed identification of putative post-transcriptional changes in expression as well as novel potential targets of both DNA binding proteins and asRNA regulators. The results offer a new perspective into the multi-level regulation that governs cellular adaptations of fast-growing physiologically robust cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 to changing environmental variables. It also extends a methodological knowledge-based framework for studying multi-scale regulatory mechanisms that operate in cyanobacteria. Finally, it provides valuable context for integrating systems-level data to enhance evidence-driven genomic annotation, especially in organisms where traditional context analyses cannot be implemented due to lack of operon-based functional organization.« less

A First Step Forward: Context Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conner, Ross F.; Fitzpatrick, Jody L.; Rog, Debra J.

2012-01-01

In this chapter, we revisit and expand the context framework of Debra Rog, informed by three cases and by new aspects that we have identified. We then propose a way to move the framework into action, making context explicit. Based on the framework's components, we describe and illustrate a process we label context assessment (CA), which provides a…

Universal Design as a Booster for Housing Quality and Architectural Practice.

PubMed

Denizou, Karine

2016-01-01

Norwegian central government has for the last decade increasingly focused on universal design. Fundamental changes in the Norwegian building code and corresponding regulations in 2010 give an apparently clear framework for the implementation of accessibility and universal design. However, it seems that neither increased awareness of accessibility requirements and universal design, nor compliance with the building code guarantees improvement of housing quality and usability. The Norwegian regulations have gone further in the direction of performance requirements than most other countries. This applies to all types of requirements, including requirements for usability, functionality and accessibility. Hardly any specifications are to be found in the regulations. Ideally, this lack of specifications should give designers the opportunity to develop innovative answers and hence to respond to different contexts and needs. Still, many architects and builders ask for clear specifications, in order to simplify and speed up design processes and make control of solutions easier. Many architects understand guidelines as minimum requirements, and are thus reproducing the identical solutions without considering the context and the needs of the users. They see accessibility as another regulatory pressure and requirements as restrictions rather than positive incentives. However, there are examples of designers who have internalised the regulatory framework and thus are able to create and integrate inclusive design in their daily work. Based on recent research conducted by SINTEF Building and Infrastructure and financed by the Norwegian State Housing Bank, this paper presents examples of practice where dwellings have been developed within a framework of universal design. Focus of the research has been on the approach of the design team and their understanding and use of the regulatory framework in order to create better homes in dialogue with the building authorities. Main objectives are to: - Contribute to better understanding of universal design as a tool and a method to improve housing quality and usability - Investigate the conditions for developing dwellings with innovative and functional solutions in compliance with the building code - Discuss challenges in interpreting the requirements and in taking the needs of various resident groups into account.

Synthetic biology: navigating the challenges ahead.

PubMed

Bhutkar, Arjun

2005-01-01

The emerging field of synthetic biology is broadly defined as the area of intersection of biology and engineering that focuses on the modification or creation of novel biological systems that do not have a counterpart in nature. Potential applications of this technology range from creating systems for environmental cleanup tasks, for medical diagnosis and treatment, to economical generation of hydrogen fuel. This technology is in tis nascent state and there are a number of concerns surrounding its potential applications and the nature of research being performed. With the potential to create hitherto unknown "living organisms", it raises a number of challenges along different dimensions. This article reviews the current state of the technology and analyzes synthetic biology using different lenses: patentability, ethics, and regulation. It proposes a classification system for the products of synthetic biology and provides recommendations in each of the above areas (patentability, ethics, and regulation) in the context of this classification system. These recommendations include an improved framework for patentability testing, ethical principles to guide work in this area, a controlled approval process, and reference frameworks for regulation.

Predictors of dyadic planning: Perspectives of prostate cancer survivors and their partners.

PubMed

Keller, Jan; Wiedemann, Amelie U; Hohl, Diana Hilda; Scholz, Urte; Burkert, Silke; Schrader, Mark; Knoll, Nina

2017-02-01

Extending individual planning of health behaviour change to the level of the dyad, dyadic planning refers to a target person and a planning partner jointly planning the target person's health behaviour change. To date, predictors of dyadic planning have not been systematically investigated. Integrating cognitive predictors of individual planning with four established predictor domains of social support provision, we propose a framework of predictors of dyadic planning. Including target persons' and partners' perspectives, we examine these predictor domains in the context of prostate cancer patients' rehabilitative pelvic floor exercise (PFE) following radical prostatectomy. Longitudinal data from 175 patients and their partners were analysed in a study with four post-surgery assessments across 6 months. PFE-related dyadic planning was assessed from both partners together with indicators from four predictor domains: context, target person, partner, and relationship factors. Individual planning and social support served as covariates. Findings from two-level models nesting repeated assessments in individuals showed that context (patients' incontinence), target person (i.e., positive affect and self-efficacy), and relationship factors (i.e., relationship satisfaction) were uniquely associated with dyadic planning, whereas partner factors (i.e., positive and negative affects) were not. Factors predicting patients' and partners' accounts of dyadic planning differed. Resembling prior findings on antecedents of support provision in this context, partner factors did not prevail as unique predictors of dyadic planning, whereas indicators from all other predictor domains did. To establish predictive direction, future work should use lagged predictions with shorter intermeasurement intervals. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Dyadic planning has been shown to be linked to health behaviour change. However, its role in behaviour regulation frameworks is not well investigated, especially regarding factors that might be predictive of dyadic planning. What does this study add? A framework of predictors of dyadic planning in the health behaviour change process is presented. The framework is investigated accounting for both planning partners' perspectives. Context, target person, and relationship factors were related to dyadic planning. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Why is a computational framework for motivational and metacognitive control needed?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ron

2018-01-01

This paper discusses, in the context of computational modelling and simulation of cognition, the relevance of deeper structures in the control of behaviour. Such deeper structures include motivational control of behaviour, which provides underlying causes for actions, and also metacognitive control, which provides higher-order processes for monitoring and regulation. It is argued that such deeper structures are important and thus cannot be ignored in computational cognitive architectures. A general framework based on the Clarion cognitive architecture is outlined that emphasises the interaction amongst action selection, motivation, and metacognition. The upshot is that it is necessary to incorporate all essential processes; short of that, the understanding of cognition can only be incomplete.

An Overview of Value, Perspective, and Decision Context-A Health Economics Approach: An ISPOR Special Task Force Report [2].

PubMed

Garrison, Louis P; Pauly, Mark V; Willke, Richard J; Neumann, Peter J

2018-02-01

The second section of our Special Task Force builds on the discussion of value and perspective in the previous article of the report by 1) defining a health economics approach to the concept of value in health care systems; 2) discussing the relationship of value to perspective and decision context, that is, how recently proposed value frameworks vary by the types of decisions being made and by the stakeholders involved; 3) describing the patient perspective on value because the patient is a key stakeholder, but one also wearing the hat of a health insurance purchaser; and 4) discussing how value is relevant in the market-based US system of mixed private and public insurance, and differs from its use in single-payer systems. The five recent value frameworks that motivated this report vary in the types of decisions they intend to inform, ranging from coverage, access, and pricing decisions to those defining appropriate clinical pathways and to supporting provider-clinician shared decision making. Each of these value frameworks must be evaluated in its own decision context for its own objectives. Existing guidelines for cost-effectiveness analysis emphasize the importance of clearly specifying the perspective from which the analysis is undertaken. Relevant perspectives may include, among others, 1) the health plan enrollee, 2) the patient, 3) the health plan manager, 4) the provider, 5) the technology manufacturer, 6) the specialty society, 7) government regulators, or 8) society as a whole. A valid and informative cost-effectiveness analysis could be conducted from the perspective of any of these stakeholders, depending on the decision context. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning and Motivation in Multiple Contexts: The Development of a Heuristic Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wosnitza, Marold; Beltman, Susan

2012-01-01

This paper presents the development of a heuristic framework that integrates three aspects of context (perspective, content and level) from a number of established theoretical approaches. In this framework, context is viewed from different perspectives (subjective and objective), it comprises different contents (physical, social and formal) and it…

A Contextual Behavior Science Framework for Understanding How Behavioral Flexibility Relates to Anxiety.

PubMed

Palm Reed, Kathleen M; Cameron, Amy Y; Ameral, Victoria E

2017-09-01

There is a growing literature focusing on the emerging idea that behavioral flexibility, rather than particular emotion regulation strategies per se, provides greater promise in predicting and influencing anxiety-related psychopathology. Yet this line of research and theoretical analysis appear to be plagued by its own challenges. For example, middle-level constructs, such as behavioral flexibility, are difficult to define, difficult to measure, and difficult to interpret in relation to clinical interventions. A key point that some researchers have made is that previous studies examining flexible use of emotion regulation strategies (or, more broadly, coping) have failed due to a lack of focus on context. That is, examining strategies in isolation of the context in which they are used provides limited information on the suitability, rigid adherence, or effectiveness of a given strategy in that situation. Several of these researchers have proposed the development of new models to define and measure various types of behavioral flexibility. We would like to suggest that an explanation of the phenomenon already exists and that we can go back to our behavioral roots to understand this phenomenon rather than focusing on defining and capturing a new process. Indeed, thorough contextual behavioral analyses already yield a useful account of what has been observed. We will articulate a model explaining behavioral flexibility using a functional, contextual framework, with anxiety-related disorders as an example.

Evolution of the Radiological Protection System and its Implementation.

PubMed

Lazo, Edward

2016-02-01

The International System of Radiological Protection, developed, maintained, and elaborated by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has, for the past 50 y, provided a robust framework for developing radiological protection policy, regulation, and application. It has, however, been evolving as a result of experience with its implementation, modernization of social awareness of a shrinking world where the Internet links everyone instantly, and increasing public interest in safety-related decisions. These currents have gently pushed the ICRP in recent years to focus more sharply on particular aspects of its system: optimization, prevailing circumstances, the use of effective dose and aspects of an individual's risk, and consideration of the independent implementation of the international system's elements. This paper will present these issues and their relevance to the ICRP system of protection and its evolution. The broader framework of radiological protection (e.g., science, philosophy, policy, regulation, implementation), of which the ICRP is an important element, will provide a global, equally evolving context for this characterization of the changing ICRP system of radiological protection.

[Prediction of mathematics achievement: effect of personal, socioeducational and contextual variables].

PubMed

Rosário, Pedro; Lourenço, Abílio; Paiva, Olímpia; Rodrigues, Adriana; Valle, Antonio; Tuero-Herrero, Ellián

2012-05-01

Based upon the self-regulated learning theoretical framework this study examined to what extent students' Math school achievement (fifth to ninth graders from compulsory education) can be explained by different cognitive-motivational, social, educational, and contextual variables. A sample of 571 students (10 to 15 year old) enrolled in the study. Findings suggest that Math achievement can be predicted by self-efficacy in Math, school success and self-regulated learning and that these same variables can be explained by other motivational (ej., achievement goals) and contextual variables (school disruption) stressing this way the main importance of self-regulated learning processes and the role context can play in the promotion of school success. The educational implications of the results to the school levels taken are also discussed in the present paper.

Accelerating regenerative medicine: the Japanese experiment in ethics and regulation.

PubMed

Lysaght, Tamra

2017-09-01

In 2014, the Japanese National Diet introduced new laws aimed at promoting the clinical translation of stem cells and regenerative medicine. The basic action of these laws is to allow the early introduction of regenerative medicine products into the Japanese market through an accelerated approval process, while providing patients with access to certain types of stem cell and cell-based therapies in the context of private clinical practice. While this framework appears to offer enormous opportunities for the translation of stem cell science, it raises ethical challenges that have not yet been fully explored. This paper critically analyzes this framework with respect to the prioritization of safety over clinical benefit, distributive justice and public trust in science and medicine. It is argued that the framework unfairly burdens patients and strained healthcare systems without any clear benefits, and may undermine the credibility of the regenerative medicine field as it emerges.

Comparison of Optimal Design Methods in Inverse Problems

PubMed Central

Banks, H. T.; Holm, Kathleen; Kappel, Franz

2011-01-01

Typical optimal design methods for inverse or parameter estimation problems are designed to choose optimal sampling distributions through minimization of a specific cost function related to the resulting error in parameter estimates. It is hoped that the inverse problem will produce parameter estimates with increased accuracy using data collected according to the optimal sampling distribution. Here we formulate the classical optimal design problem in the context of general optimization problems over distributions of sampling times. We present a new Prohorov metric based theoretical framework that permits one to treat succinctly and rigorously any optimal design criteria based on the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM). A fundamental approximation theory is also included in this framework. A new optimal design, SE-optimal design (standard error optimal design), is then introduced in the context of this framework. We compare this new design criteria with the more traditional D-optimal and E-optimal designs. The optimal sampling distributions from each design are used to compute and compare standard errors; the standard errors for parameters are computed using asymptotic theory or bootstrapping and the optimal mesh. We use three examples to illustrate ideas: the Verhulst-Pearl logistic population model [13], the standard harmonic oscillator model [13] and a popular glucose regulation model [16, 19, 29]. PMID:21857762

Emotion regulation choice in an evaluative context: the moderating role of self-esteem.

PubMed

Shafir, Roni; Guarino, Tara; Lee, Ihno A; Sheppes, Gal

2017-12-01

Evaluative contexts can be stressful, but relatively little is known about how different individuals who vary in responses to self-evaluation make emotion regulatory choices to cope in these situations. To address this gap, participants who vary in self-esteem gave an impromptu speech, rated how they perceived they had performed on multiple evaluative dimensions, and subsequently chose between disengaging attention from emotional processing (distraction) and engaging with emotional processing via changing its meaning (reappraisal), while waiting to receive feedback regarding these evaluative dimensions. According to our framework, distraction can offer stronger short-term relief than reappraisal, but, distraction is costly in the long run relative to reappraisal because it does not allow learning from evaluative feedback. We predicted and found that participants with lower (but not higher) self-esteem react defensively to threat of failure by seeking short-term relief via distraction over the long-term benefit of reappraisal, as perceived failure increases. Implications for the understanding of emotion regulation and self-esteem are discussed.

A transactional framework for pediatric rehabilitation: shifting the focus to situated contexts, transactional processes, and adaptive developmental outcomes.

PubMed

King, Gillian; Imms, Christine; Stewart, Debra; Freeman, Matt; Nguyen, Tram

2018-07-01

A paradigm shift is taking place in pediatric rehabilitation research, practice, and policy - a shift towards the real-life contexts of clients rather than requiring clients to navigate the world of pediatric rehabilitation. This article proposes a conceptual framework to bring about a broader awareness of clients' lives and transactional processes of change over the life course. The framework draws attention to transactional processes by which individuals, situated in life contexts, change and adapt over the life course and, in turn, influence their contextual settings and broader environments. This framework is based on (a) basic tenets derived from foundational theories taking a life course perspective to change, and (b) transactional processes identified from relevant pediatric rehabilitation models that bring these foundational theories into the pediatric rehabilitation sphere. The framework identifies three types of transactional processes relevant to pediatric rehabilitation: facilitative, resiliency, and socialization processes. These processes describe how contexts and people mutually influence each other via opportunities and situated experiences, thus facilitating capacity, adaptation to adversity, and socialization to new roles and life transitions. The utility of the framework is considered for research, practice, service organizations, and policy. Implications for Rehabilitation The framework supports practitioners going beyond person and environment as separate entities, to provide services to the "situated person" in real-life contexts The framework shifts the focus from "body structures/functions" and "person in activity" to "person in changing and challenging life contexts" Working from a transactional perspective, practitioner-client conversations will change; practitioners will view client situations through a lens of opportunities and experiences, assess client experiences in real-life contexts, and strive to create context-based therapy opportunities The framework suggests the benefit of greater focus on resiliency processes to support client self-efficacy, self-determination, and autonomy, and socialization processes to enhance ability to enact new life roles at times of transition.

A Framework for a Decision Support System in a Hierarchical Extended Enterprise Decision Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boza, Andrés; Ortiz, Angel; Vicens, Eduardo; Poler, Raul

Decision Support System (DSS) tools provide useful information to decision makers. In an Extended Enterprise, a new goal, changes in the current objectives or small changes in the extended enterprise configuration produce a necessary adjustment in its decision system. A DSS in this context must be flexible and agile to make suitable an easy and quickly adaptation to this new context. This paper proposes to extend the Hierarchical Production Planning (HPP) structure to an Extended Enterprise decision making context. In this way, a framework for DSS in Extended Enterprise context is defined using components of HPP. Interoperability details have been reviewed to identify the impact in this framework. The proposed framework allows overcoming some interoperability barriers, identifying and organizing components for a DSS in Extended Enterprise context, and working in the definition of an architecture to be used in the design process of a flexible DSS in Extended Enterprise context which can reuse components for futures Extended Enterprise configurations.

Dynamic regulation of partner abundance mediates response of reef coral symbioses to environmental change.

PubMed

Cunning, R; Vaughan, N; Gillette, P; Capo, T R; Matté, J L; Baker, A C

2015-05-01

Regulating partner abunclance may allow symmotic organisms to mediate interaction outcomes, facilitating adaptive responses to environmental change. To explore the capacity for-adaptive regulation in an ecologically important endosymbiosis, we studied the population dynamics of symbiotic algae in reef-building corals under different abiotic contexts. We found high natural variability in symbiont abundance in corals across reefs, but this variability converged to different symbiont-specific abundances when colonies were maintained under constant conditions. When conditions changed seasonally, symbiont abundance readjusted to new equilibria. We explain these patterns using an a priori model of symbiotic costs and benefits to the coral host, which shows that the observed changes in symbiont abundance are consistent with the maximization of interaction benefit under different environmental conditions. These results indicate that, while regulating symbiont abundance helps hosts sustain maximum benefit in a dynamic environment, spatiotemporal variation in abiotic factors creates a broad range of symbiont abundances (and interaction outcomes) among corals that may account for observed natural variability in performance (e.g., growth rate) and stress tolerance (e.g., bleaching susceptibility). This cost or benefit framework provides a new perspective on the dynamic regulation of reef coral symbioses and illustrates that the dependence of interaction outcomes on biotic and abiotic contexts may be important in understanding how diverse mutualisms respond to environmental change.

Olive oil authentication: A comparative analysis of regulatory frameworks with especial emphasis on quality and authenticity indices, and recent analytical techniques developed for their assessment. A review.

PubMed

Bajoub, Aadil; Bendini, Alessandra; Fernández-Gutiérrez, Alberto; Carrasco-Pancorbo, Alegría

2018-03-24

Over the last decades, olive oil quality and authenticity control has become an issue of great importance to consumers, suppliers, retailers, and regulators in both traditional and emerging olive oil producing countries, mainly due to the increasing worldwide popularity and the trade globalization of this product. Thus, in order to ensure olive oil authentication, various national and international laws and regulations have been adopted, although some of them are actually causing an enormous debate about the risk that they can represent for the harmonization of international olive oil trade standards. Within this context, this review was designed to provide a critical overview and comparative analysis of selected regulatory frameworks for olive oil authentication, with special emphasis on the quality and purity criteria considered by these regulation systems, their thresholds and the analytical methods employed for monitoring them. To complete the general overview, recent analytical advances to overcome drawbacks and limitations of the official methods to evaluate olive oil quality and to determine possible adulterations were reviewed. Furthermore, the latest trends on analytical approaches to assess the olive oil geographical and varietal origin traceability were also examined.

Technology-based innovation for independent living: policy and innovation in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and the United States.

PubMed

Berridge, Clara; Furseth, Peder Inge; Cuthbertson, Richard; Demello, Steven

2014-01-01

Interest in utilizing technology to help older adults remain living at home is growing; however, uptake remains low. We present a conceptual framework for understanding independent living technology innovation within health and social services. Public policy and innovation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia are profiled as case studies. In all profiled countries, independent living technology is more rapidly advancing than associated state policy, regulation, and payment systems. The findings from this comparative analysis reveal areas for further exploration, including policy subsystem environments in which technologies and services are regulated, as well as trends and desires of older adults and their caregivers within particular cultural contexts.

Public administration and R&D localisation by pharmaceutical and biotech companies: a theoretical framework and the Italian case-study.

PubMed

Jommi, Claudio; Paruzzolo, Silvia

2007-04-01

This article has two objectives. It firstly provides a general framework for variables that influence R&D (Research and Development) localisation by pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The analysis of R&D localization includes both in-house R&D and contracted R&D. Following a systematic literature search, these variables were classified into four distinct categories: regulatory environment, institutional framework, national systems of innovation and local development and specialisation. The authors highlight that some of these factors directly depend on the action of public administrations (e.g., patent protection, price regulation, public investments in research, and incentives to private companies); others are indirectly influenced by public policies (e.g., GDP growth rate, infrastructures). This theoretical framework was used to analyse the Italian case-study. Pros and cons of the Italian context were investigated from the point of view of multinational pharmaceutical companies and the Italian Association of Biotech Companies. Interviews were chosen as the most appropriate data gathering technique given the exploratory nature of the study of the Italian context. The paper is divided into five parts. A brief introduction provides figures showing that Europe has been loosing positions compared with other Continents and the same has occurred in Italy compared with other EU countries. The second one illustrates the methodology. The third one is focused on variables affecting R&D localisation. In the fourth section the Italian case-study is discussed. Theoretical and empirical findings are summarised and discussed in the conclusions.

Reviewing the regulatory barriers for nanomedicine: global questions and challenges.

PubMed

Bowman, Diana M; Gatof, Jake

2015-01-01

Nanomedicine will play an increasing role in prevention and treatment across the entire healthcare spectrum. However, their precise market size, economic value and areas of application remain unclear. This opacity, including the question of what constitutes nanomedicine matters, especially when considered alongside the key regulatory questions and concerns. This article begins by placing these key questions into context in relation to the current scientific state of the art, focusing particular attention on the human health and safety context. In exploring these central questions surrounding the regulation of nanomedicine, this perspective also explores existing and suggested frameworks that aim to deal with emerging technologies more generally. It then outlines priority areas for action and general conclusions specific to nanomedicine.

Rational accountability and rational autonomy in academic practice: An extended case study of the communicative ethic of interdisciplinary science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, Susan Margaret

The dissertation investigates the interaction of rational accountability and rational autonomy in interdisciplinary science within the lifeworld of the university. It focuses on the cultural, social and motivational forces that university researchers draw on, and develop, to constitute and regulate interdisciplinary science. Findings are analyzed within an applied critical social theory framework that attends to the interaction of instrumental and communicative rational action within the public spaces that constitute the lifeworld of the university as a public sphere in society. The research raises questions of how academics practice interdisciplinary science and how these practices relate to the reproduction of the regulative ideal of the university as a community that practices public reason. The conceptual framework informing the research is Habermas' (1984) theory of communicative action. Using Burawoy's (1991) extended case study method as an operational strategy, two modes of constituting and regulating interdisciplinary science were found. Instrumental rational modes dominated in social contexts of interdisciplinary science where consensus on the normative goals and purposes of rational academic action were pre-existing and pre-supposed by participants. Communicative rational modes dominated in social contexts of interdisciplinary science where the normative goals and purposes of rational academic action entered a contested domain. Endorsements for interdisciplinary science policies are coinciding with demands for increased accountability and relevance of Canada's university system. At the same time that the university system must respond to external demands, it must reproduce itself as a public institution open to the discursive redemption of factual and normative validity claims. The study found that academics participate in, but also contest the instrumental regulation of academic inquiry and conduct by using their constitutional autonomy and freedom to hold others accountable and demonstrate a rational disposition to realize mutual understanding on factual and normative validity claims. By demonstrating a rational disposition to practice autonomy and freedom in realizing mutual understanding on contested validity claims within the lifeworld of the university, public intellectuals realize a capacity for extending the regulative ideal of practicing public reason within the university into the constitution and regulation of public spaces for practicing public reason in the lifeworld of society.

ContextProvider: Context awareness for medical monitoring applications.

PubMed

Mitchell, Michael; Meyers, Christopher; Wang, An-I Andy; Tyson, Gary

2011-01-01

Smartphones are sensor-rich and Internet-enabled. With their on-board sensors, web services, social media, and external biosensors, smartphones can provide contextual information about the device, user, and environment, thereby enabling the creation of rich, biologically driven applications. We introduce ContextProvider, a framework that offers a unified, query-able interface to contextual data on the device. Unlike other context-based frameworks, ContextProvider offers interactive user feedback, self-adaptive sensor polling, and minimal reliance on third-party infrastructure. ContextProvider also allows for rapid development of new context and bio-aware applications. Evaluation of ContextProvider shows the incorporation of an additional monitoring sensor into the framework with fewer than 100 lines of Java code. With adaptive sensor monitoring, power consumption per sensor can be reduced down to 1% overhead. Finally, through the use of context, accuracy of data interpretation can be improved by up to 80%.

Three Dialogs: A Framework for the Analysis and Assessment of Twenty-First-Century Literacy Practices, and Its Use in the Context of Game Design within "Gamestar Mechanic"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Games, Ivan Alex

2008-01-01

This article discusses a framework for the analysis and assessment of twenty-first-century language and literacy practices in game and design-based contexts. It presents the framework in the context of game design within "Gamestar Mechanic", an innovative game-based learning environment where children learn the Discourse of game design. It…

Emerging HRD Issues: A Conceptual Framework for Corporate University in the Context of Chinese Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Jie; Alagaraja, Meera

2007-01-01

The authors suggest a conceptual framework for developing CU's in the Chinese organizational context. We reviewed literature on existing conceptual frameworks and chose the CU wheel as proposed by Prince and Stewart. Four core processes identified in the CU wheel were realigned and readjusted in developing our framework of Corporate University in…

Environmental statistics and optimal regulation.

PubMed

Sivak, David A; Thomson, Matt

2014-09-01

Any organism is embedded in an environment that changes over time. The timescale for and statistics of environmental change, the precision with which the organism can detect its environment, and the costs and benefits of particular protein expression levels all will affect the suitability of different strategies--such as constitutive expression or graded response--for regulating protein levels in response to environmental inputs. We propose a general framework-here specifically applied to the enzymatic regulation of metabolism in response to changing concentrations of a basic nutrient-to predict the optimal regulatory strategy given the statistics of fluctuations in the environment and measurement apparatus, respectively, and the costs associated with enzyme production. We use this framework to address three fundamental questions: (i) when a cell should prefer thresholding to a graded response; (ii) when there is a fitness advantage to implementing a Bayesian decision rule; and (iii) when retaining memory of the past provides a selective advantage. We specifically find that: (i) relative convexity of enzyme expression cost and benefit influences the fitness of thresholding or graded responses; (ii) intermediate levels of measurement uncertainty call for a sophisticated Bayesian decision rule; and (iii) in dynamic contexts, intermediate levels of uncertainty call for retaining memory of the past. Statistical properties of the environment, such as variability and correlation times, set optimal biochemical parameters, such as thresholds and decay rates in signaling pathways. Our framework provides a theoretical basis for interpreting molecular signal processing algorithms and a classification scheme that organizes known regulatory strategies and may help conceptualize heretofore unknown ones.

Understanding practice: the factors that influence management of mild traumatic brain injury in the emergency department--a qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

PubMed

Tavender, Emma J; Bosch, Marije; Gruen, Russell L; Green, Sally E; Knott, Jonathan; Francis, Jill J; Michie, Susan; O'Connor, Denise A

2014-01-13

Mild traumatic brain injury is a frequent cause of presentation to emergency departments. Despite the availability of clinical practice guidelines in this area, there is variation in practice. One of the aims of the Neurotrauma Evidence Translation program is to develop and evaluate a targeted, theory- and evidence-informed intervention to improve the management of mild traumatic brain injury in Australian emergency departments. This study is the first step in the intervention development process and uses the Theoretical Domains Framework to explore the factors perceived to influence the uptake of four key evidence-based recommended practices for managing mild traumatic brain injury. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with emergency staff in the Australian state of Victoria. The interview guide was developed using the Theoretical Domains Framework to explore current practice and to identify the factors perceived to influence practice. Two researchers coded the interview transcripts using thematic content analysis. A total of 42 participants (9 Directors, 20 doctors and 13 nurses) were interviewed over a seven-month period. The results suggested that (i) the prospective assessment of post-traumatic amnesia was influenced by: knowledge; beliefs about consequences; environmental context and resources; skills; social/professional role and identity; and beliefs about capabilities; (ii) the use of guideline-developed criteria or decision rules to inform the appropriate use of a CT scan was influenced by: knowledge; beliefs about consequences; environmental context and resources; memory, attention and decision processes; beliefs about capabilities; social influences; skills and behavioral regulation; (iii) providing verbal and written patient information on discharge was influenced by: beliefs about consequences; environmental context and resources; memory, attention and decision processes; social/professional role and identity; and knowledge; (iv) the practice of providing brief, routine follow-up on discharge was influenced by: environmental context and resources; social/professional role and identity; knowledge; beliefs about consequences; and motivation and goals. Using the Theoretical Domains Framework, factors thought to influence the management of mild traumatic brain injury in the emergency department were identified. These factors present theoretically based targets for a future intervention.

Establishing Policy Foundations and Regulatory Systems to Enhance Nursing Practice in the United Arab Emirates.

PubMed

Brownie, Sharon M; Hunter, Lyndal H; Aqtash, Salah; Day, Gary E

2015-01-01

In 2009, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established a Nursing and Midwifery Council with a mandate to develop standards for the registration and regulation of nursing and midwifery and to strengthen the nursing and midwifery workforce. Priorities included workforce Emiratization and the development of regulatory standards to support advanced and speciality nursing practice and new models of care-particularly for the management of noncommunicable diseases. This article provides background, context for, and best practice inputs to the effort to provide one unified framework of nursing regulation and licensure across the whole of the UAE. This article is intended for nurse leaders, policy makers, and regulators who are reviewing or developing nursing regulatory processes and advancing nursing workforce capacity building activities; and nurse educators and nurses wishing to work in the UAE. © The Author(s) 2015.

Establishing Policy Foundations and Regulatory Systems to Enhance Nursing Practice in the United Arab Emirates

PubMed Central

Hunter, Lyndal H.; Aqtash, Salah; Day, Gary E.

2015-01-01

In 2009, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established a Nursing and Midwifery Council with a mandate to develop standards for the registration and regulation of nursing and midwifery and to strengthen the nursing and midwifery workforce. Priorities included workforce Emiratization and the development of regulatory standards to support advanced and speciality nursing practice and new models of care—particularly for the management of noncommunicable diseases. This article provides background, context for, and best practice inputs to the effort to provide one unified framework of nursing regulation and licensure across the whole of the UAE. This article is intended for nurse leaders, policy makers, and regulators who are reviewing or developing nursing regulatory processes and advancing nursing workforce capacity building activities; and nurse educators and nurses wishing to work in the UAE. PMID:25944674

Transnational Intersectionality in Family Therapy With Resettled Refugees.

PubMed

Gangamma, Rashmi; Shipman, Daran

2018-04-01

In this article, we discuss incorporating the transnational intersectionality framework in family therapy with resettled refugees. Transnational intersectionality is an extension of the framework of intersectionality which helps to better understand complexities of power and oppression across national contexts and their influence on refugees' lives. Adopting this framework alerts family therapists to: (a) develop critical awareness of refugee's transnational contexts; (b) understand differences in experiences of social identities across contexts; (c) acknowledge postmigration factors of oppression affecting resettlement; and (d) critically reflect upon therapist-interpreter-client intersectionalities. This shifts our conceptualization of therapy with refugees to actively consider transnational contexts which refugees uniquely occupy. We describe the framework and provide two case illustrations to highlight its usefulness. © 2017 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Exploring a Framework for Professional Development in Curriculum Innovation: Empowering Teachers for Designing Context-Based Chemistry Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stolk, Machiel J.; de Jong, Onno; Bulte, Astrid M. W.; Pilot, Albert

2011-05-01

Involving teachers in early stages of context-based curriculum innovations requires a professional development programme that actively engages teachers in the design of new context-based units. This study considers the implementation of a teacher professional development framework aiming to investigate processes of professional development. The framework is based on Galperin's theory of the internalisation of actions and it is operationalised into a professional development programme to empower chemistry teachers for designing new context-based units. The programme consists of the teaching of an educative context-based unit, followed by the designing of an outline of a new context-based unit. Six experienced chemistry teachers participated in the instructional meetings and practical teaching in their respective classrooms. Data were obtained from meetings, classroom discussions, and observations. The findings indicated that teachers became only partially empowered for designing a new context-based chemistry unit. Moreover, the process of professional development leading to teachers' empowerment was not carried out as intended. It is concluded that the elaboration of the framework needs improvement. The implications for a new programme are discussed.

Education for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oni, Adesoji A.; Adetoro, J. A.

2012-01-01

This paper proposed a framework for conceptualizing, planning for and implementing an education agenda for sustainable development within the Nigerian context. The strategic questions informing this framework are: What is the context within which sustainable development is being proposed? What are the educational needs that arise within the given…

Family context variables and the development of self-regulation in college students.

PubMed

Strage, A A

1998-01-01

While researchers have begun to specify how features of students' immediate learning environments affect the development and use of self-regulation skills, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of the family context in fostering or impeding the development of these skills. This paper proposes a conceptual framework based on attachment theory (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Bowlby, 1982) and Baumrind's parenting styles typology (Baumrind, 1967, 1991) for examining the relationship between family context variables and the development of self-regulation skills. It also presents initial findings from a study of the parental practices and values associated with academic self-regulation in college students. A sample of 465 students completed the 104-item Student Attitudes and Perceptions Survey, which consists of 4 personal profile scales, 7 family background scales, 2 course characteristics scales, and 2 study habits scales. Perceptions of parents as authoritative and of family as emotionally close were found to be predictive of (1) general confidence and positive sense of self, (2) positive goal-orientation at school, (3) general concern about preparation for the future, and (4) positive adjustment to college. These family profiles were also predictive of (1) students' rating their introductory psychology course as interesting and supportive, (2) favorable ratings of their time and effort management and note-taking skills, and (3) strong agreement with a series of items reflecting components of self-regulated learning. Perceptions of parents as authoritarian and of family as nagging or enmeshed were also predictive of concern about preparation for the future. These family profiles were generally predictive of students' rating their introductory psychology course as difficult, and of time and effort management difficulties. The patterns linking family background profiles with course perceptions, study habits, and individual indices of self-regulated learning persisted even when students' sense of confidence was factored out, and were strong for students living with their parents as well as for those living on their own.

Injury-induced immune responses in Hydra.

PubMed

Wenger, Yvan; Buzgariu, Wanda; Reiter, Silke; Galliot, Brigitte

2014-08-01

The impact of injury-induced immune responses on animal regenerative processes is highly variable, positive or negative depending on the context. This likely reflects the complexity of the innate immune system that behaves as a sentinel in the transition from injury to regeneration. Early-branching invertebrates with high regenerative potential as Hydra provide a unique framework to dissect how injury-induced immune responses impact regeneration. A series of early cellular events likely require an efficient immune response after amputation, as antimicrobial defence, epithelial cell stretching for wound closure, migration of interstitial progenitors toward the wound, cell death, phagocytosis of cell debris, or reconstruction of the extracellular matrix. The analysis of the injury-induced transcriptomic modulations of 2636 genes annotated as immune genes in Hydra identified 43 genes showing an immediate/early pulse regulation in all regenerative contexts examined. These regulations point to an enhanced cytoprotection via ROS signaling (Nrf, C/EBP, p62/SQSMT1-l2), TNFR and TLR signaling (TNFR16-like, TRAF2l, TRAF5l, jun, fos-related, SIK2, ATF1/CREB, LRRC28, LRRC40, LRRK2), proteasomal activity (p62/SQSMT1-l1, Ced6/Gulf, NEDD8-conjugating enzyme Ubc12), stress proteins (CRYAB1, CRYAB2, HSP16.2, DnaJB9, HSP90a1), all potentially regulating NF-κB activity. Other genes encoding immune-annotated proteins such as NPYR4, GTPases, Swap70, the antiproliferative BTG1, enzymes involved in lipid metabolism (5-lipoxygenase, ACSF4), secreted clotting factors, secreted peptidases are also pulse regulated upon bisection. By contrast, metalloproteinases and antimicrobial peptide genes largely follow a context-dependent regulation, whereas the protease inhibitor α2macroglobulin gene exhibits a sustained up-regulation. Hence a complex immune response to injury is linked to wound healing and regeneration in Hydra. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Regulatory assessment of reproductive toxicology data.

PubMed

Davidson, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

This chapter outlines a regulator's personal approach to the assessment of reproductive toxicology data in the context of the assessment of the overall nonclinical data package for pharmaceutical agents. Using as a framework the International Conference on Harmonisation Common Technical Document headings, guidance is provided on the expectations of regulators for the presentation and discussion of the data by the applicant to facilitate the risk assessment process. Consideration is given to the use of reproductive toxicology data in the assessment process for both clinical trial applications (CTAs) and marketing authorization applications (MAAs). Suggestions for some guiding principles in drafting of the various product information documents (for example the Investigator's Brochure (IB) for CTAs and the Nonclinical Overview and Summary of Product Characteristics for MAAs) are included.

Applying an Equity Lens to the Child Care Setting.

PubMed

Scott, Krista; Looby, Anna Ayers; Hipp, Janie Simms; Frost, Natasha

2017-03-01

In the current landscape, child care is increasingly being seen as a place for early education, and systems are largely bundling child care in the Early Care and Education sphere through funding and quality measures. As states define school readiness and quality, they often miss critical elements, such as equitable access to quality and cultural traditions. This article provides a summary of the various definitions and structures of child care. It also discusses how the current child care policy conversation can and ought to be infused with a framework grounded in the context of institutional racism and trauma. Models and examples will explore the differences between state government regulations, and how those differ than the regulation and structure of child care in Indian Country.

[Limits of self regulation of the private food sector: the case of removing of vending machines from schools].

PubMed

Michaud, Claude; Baudier, François

2007-01-01

Conflicts of interest between the food industry and public decision makers have increasingly multiplied over the last few years, especially within the context of implementing the French National Nutrition Programme. This paper describes the rhetoric and the strategies developed by the private sector in order to counter the law's implementation and enforcement based on a concrete example, namely, the removal of vending machines from schools. After having evoked possibilities of developing new partnerships as suggested by national and international health authorities, it reaffirms the right and the duty of the State to regulate within the framework of a health promotion policy, an approach which integrates the necessary open democratic public debate between the different sectors.

Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression: Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Recent analyses have discovered broad alterations in the expression of human genes across different social environments. The emerging field of social genomics has begun to identify the types of genes sensitive to social regulation, the biological signaling pathways mediating these effects, and the genetic polymorphisms that modify their individual impact. The human genome appears to have evolved specific “social programs” to adapt molecular physiology to the changing patterns of threat and opportunity ancestrally associated with changing social conditions. In the context of the immune system, this programming now fosters many of the diseases that dominate public health. The embedding of individual genomes within a broader metagenomic network provides a framework for integrating molecular, physiologic, and social perspectives on human health. PMID:23927506

Identifying the domains of context important to implementation science: a study protocol.

PubMed

Squires, Janet E; Graham, Ian D; Hutchinson, Alison M; Michie, Susan; Francis, Jill J; Sales, Anne; Brehaut, Jamie; Curran, Janet; Ivers, Noah; Lavis, John; Linklater, Stefanie; Fenton, Shannon; Noseworthy, Thomas; Vine, Jocelyn; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2015-09-28

There is growing recognition that "context" can and does modify the effects of implementation interventions aimed at increasing healthcare professionals' use of research evidence in clinical practice. However, conceptual clarity about what exactly comprises "context" is lacking. The purpose of this research program is to develop, refine, and validate a framework that identifies the key domains of context (and their features) that can facilitate or hinder (1) healthcare professionals' use of evidence in clinical practice and (2) the effectiveness of implementation interventions. A multi-phased investigation of context using mixed methods will be conducted. The first phase is a concept analysis of context using the Walker and Avant method to distinguish between the defining and irrelevant attributes of context. This phase will result in a preliminary framework for context that identifies its important domains and their features according to the published literature. The second phase is a secondary analysis of qualitative data from 13 studies of interviews with 312 healthcare professionals on the perceived barriers and enablers to their application of research evidence in clinical practice. These data will be analyzed inductively using constant comparative analysis. For the third phase, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with key health system stakeholders and change agents to elicit their knowledge and beliefs about the contextual features that influence the effectiveness of implementation interventions and healthcare professionals' use of evidence in clinical practice. Results from all three phases will be synthesized using a triangulation protocol to refine the context framework drawn from the concept analysis. The framework will then be assessed for content validity using an iterative Delphi approach with international experts (researchers and health system stakeholders/change agents). This research program will result in a framework that identifies the domains of context and their features that can facilitate or hinder: (1) healthcare professionals' use of evidence in clinical practice and (2) the effectiveness of implementation interventions. The framework will increase the conceptual clarity of the term "context" for advancing implementation science, improving healthcare professionals' use of evidence in clinical practice, and providing greater understanding of what interventions are likely to be effective in which contexts.

The road against fatalities: infrastructure spending vs. regulation??

PubMed

Albalate, Daniel; Fernández, Laura; Yarygina, Anastasiya

2013-10-01

The road safety literature is typified by a high degree of compartmentalization between studies that focus on infrastructure and traffic conditions and those devoted to the evaluation of public policies and regulations. As a result, few studies adopt a unified empirical framework in their attempts at evaluating the road safety performance of public interventions, thus limiting our understanding of successful strategies in this regard. This paper considers both types of determinants in an analysis of a European country that has enjoyed considerable success in reducing road fatalities. After constructing a panel data set with road safety outcomes for all Spanish provinces between 1990 and 2009, we evaluate the role of the technical characteristics of infrastructure and recent infrastructure spending together with the main regulatory changes introduced. Our results show the importance of considering both types of determinants in a unified framework. Moreover, we highlight the importance of maintenance spending given its effectiveness in reducing fatalities and casualties in the current economic context of austerity that is having such a marked impact on investment efforts in Spain. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modelling nutrition across organizational levels: from individuals to superorganisms.

PubMed

Lihoreau, Mathieu; Buhl, Jerome; Charleston, Michael A; Sword, Gregory A; Raubenheimer, David; Simpson, Stephen J

2014-10-01

The Geometric Framework for nutrition has been increasingly used to describe how individual animals regulate their intake of multiple nutrients to maintain target physiological states maximizing growth and reproduction. However, only a few studies have considered the potential influences of the social context in which these nutritional decisions are made. Social insects, for instance, have evolved extreme levels of nutritional interdependence in which food collection, processing, storage and disposal are performed by different individuals with different nutritional needs. These social interactions considerably complicate nutrition and raise the question of how nutrient regulation is achieved at multiple organizational levels, by individuals and groups. Here, we explore the connections between individual- and collective-level nutrition by developing a modelling framework integrating concepts of nutritional geometry into individual-based models. Using this approach, we investigate how simple nutritional interactions between individuals can mediate a range of emergent collective-level phenomena in social arthropods (insects and spiders) and provide examples of novel and empirically testable predictions. We discuss how our approach could be expanded to a wider range of species and social systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating a Professional Development Framework to Empower Chemistry Teachers to Design Context-Based Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stolk, Machiel Johan; Bulte, Astrid; De Jong, Onno; Pilot, Albert

2012-01-01

Even experienced chemistry teachers require professional development when they are encouraged to become actively engaged in the design of new context-based education. This study briefly describes the development of a framework consisting of goals, learning phases, strategies and instructional functions, and how the framework was translated into a…

[Living donors for kidney transplantation: ethical and legal challenges].

PubMed

Mamzer-Bruneel, Marie-France; Fournier, Catherine; Legendre, Christophe

2010-05-01

Living donor kidney transplantation has developed very heterogeneously worldwide despite excellent results and without taking into account the context of global organ shortage. Such a heterogeneity highlights persistent ethical issues, whereas organ trafficking is emerging as an organized transplant tourism reinforcing the need for strong national legal frameworks. Despite its powerful regulation system, which ensures standardization, transparency and accountability of support for donation, France remains reluctant to enlarge the circle of legal donors, whereas it would be the first step to give a greater role to living organ donation.

Effects of food marketing to kids: I'm lovin' it?

PubMed

Salinsky, Eileen

2006-08-15

This issue brief reviews key findings and recommendations from the Institute of Medicine study on food marketing and its effects on childhood obesity. The brief describes the childhood obesity epidemic, discusses key trends associated with rising childhood obesity rates, and considers the relative role of marketing practices on diet and obesity within the broader context of complex contributory factors. The brief also summarizes the current legal framework for regulating marketing directed at children;discusses voluntary, self-regulatory mechanisms; and highlights proposals to re-orient marketing practices to combat childhood obesity.

Cell-based therapeutics: the next pillar of medicine.

PubMed

Fischbach, Michael A; Bluestone, Jeffrey A; Lim, Wendell A

2013-04-03

Two decades ago, the pharmaceutical industry-long dominated by small-molecule drugs-was revolutionized by the the advent of biologics. Today, biomedicine sits on the cusp of a new revolution: the use of microbial and human cells as versatile therapeutic engines. Here, we discuss the promise of this "third pillar" of therapeutics in the context of current scientific, regulatory, economic, and perceptual challenges. History suggests that the advent of cellular medicines will require the development of a foundational cellular engineering science that provides a systematic framework for safely and predictably altering and regulating cellular behaviors.

Unmanned aircraft systems integration into the national airspace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, H. G.

This paper examines the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Regulation Roadmap as set forth in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 as well as the evolutionary process of relative legal framework. The paper will also explore the role of industry stakeholders and semi-governmental, advisory groups such as the RTCA SC-203 to show the involvement of non-governmental organizations. Leveraging the author's involvement with RTCA on the Safety Work Group of Special Committee 203, two processes within the context of safety will be explained and problems identified.

Legal issues regarding gene editing at the beginning of life: an EU perspective.

PubMed

De Miguel Beriain, Iñigo

2017-09-01

The development of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas gene-modification technologies has opened impressive possibilities for the biomedical sciences. However, their application to human embryos and early fetuses has raised huge ethical and legal discussions because it affects the human germline. This paper provides a critical and in-depth analysis of the current legal framework on this topic in the EU context and at the national level in the member states. It also offers an alternative interpretation of the regulation, so as to help researchers, practitioners, policy makers and society as a whole to find efficient responses to challenges that cannot wait for a legally updated answer. As a final result, this paper will show that eugenic uses of CRISP-Cas and any kind of modification intended to alter the human germ line are generally banned in the EU context, while basic research on human embryos is mostly permitted. The legal status of therapeutic applications of CRISPR-Cas on early fetuses, however, has not been adequately addressed by the EU zone regulation.

Ontologies for Effective Use of Context in E-Learning Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jovanovic, Jelena; Gasevic, Dragan; Knight, Colin; Richards, Griff

2007-01-01

This paper presents an ontology-based framework aimed at explicit representation of context-specific metadata derived from the actual usage of learning objects and learning designs. The core part of the proposed framework is a learning object context ontology, that leverages a range of other kinds of learning ontologies (e.g., user modeling…

Cultural Affordances: Scaffolding Local Worlds Through Shared Intentionality and Regimes of Attention

PubMed Central

Ramstead, Maxwell J. D.; Veissière, Samuel P. L.; Kirmayer, Laurence J.

2016-01-01

In this paper we outline a framework for the study of the mechanisms involved in the engagement of human agents with cultural affordances. Our aim is to better understand how culture and context interact with human biology to shape human behavior, cognition, and experience. We attempt to integrate several related approaches in the study of the embodied, cognitive, and affective substrates of sociality and culture and the sociocultural scaffolding of experience. The integrative framework we propose bridges cognitive and social sciences to provide (i) an expanded concept of ‘affordance’ that extends to sociocultural forms of life, and (ii) a multilevel account of the socioculturally scaffolded forms of affordance learning and the transmission of affordances in patterned sociocultural practices and regimes of shared attention. This framework provides an account of how cultural content and normative practices are built on a foundation of contentless basic mental processes that acquire content through immersive participation of the agent in social practices that regulate joint attention and shared intentionality. PMID:27507953

Supplemental care from a bioethical perspective.

PubMed

Carvalho, Regina Ribeiro Parizi; Fortes, Paulo Antônio de Carvalho; Garrafa, Volnei

2013-01-01

To describe and analyze, from the perspective of Intervention Bioethics, the legal, institutional and ethical contexts, the conflicts and regulations of supplemental health care in Brazil, since the approval of the regulatory law in 1998 until 2010. Qualitative research, using Intervention Bioethics as the theoretical reference. Bibliographical and documental study of the legislation, regulations and assistential framework, as well as interviews with members of the Supplemental Health Board. There was improvement in the records and rules of action in private health companies, as well as flow of information, contractual and financial guarantees provided to consumers. Conflicts persist regarding access to services and procedures, price increases, policies on autonomy and medical fees. There is a dispute with the public sector regarding the network of health services, with rising costs and no improvement in quality of care. Private participation in health demands comparative assessments and improvement of public-private care regulation, as well as promoting greater balance in the funding and reevaluation of the health care model. It is necessary to review the regulatory framework considering the supplementary, complementary or duplicate characteristic of assistance, the social actors involved, bioethical and political issues regarding associations between Supplemental Health Care and the National Health System (SUS). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Participants' perspectives on making and maintaining behavioural changes in a lifestyle intervention for type 2 diabetes prevention: a qualitative study using the theory domain framework.

PubMed

Penn, Linda; Dombrowski, Stephan U; Sniehotta, Falko F; White, Martin

2013-06-28

In a qualitative substudy, we sought to elicit participants' perspectives of their behavioural change and maintenance of new behaviours towards intervention optimisation. The intervention was delivered in leisure and community settings in a local authority, which according to the UK government statistics ranks as 1 of the 10 most socioeconomically deprived areas in England. We recruited 218 adults aged 40-65 years at elevated risk of type 2 diabetes (Finnish Diabetes Risk Score≥11) to the intervention. Follow-up at 12 months was completed by 134 (62%). We recruited 15 participants, purposively sampled for physical activity increase, to the qualitative substudy. Lifestyle intervention can prevent type 2 diabetes, but translation to service provision remains challenging. The 'New life, New you' intervention aimed to promote physical activity, healthy eating and weight loss, and included supervised group physical activity sessions. Behavioural change and weight loss at 12-month follow-up were encouraging. We conducted 15 individual semistructured interviews. The Framework approach, with a comparison of emerging themes, was used in analysis of the transcribed data and complemented by the Theory Domains Framework. Themes emerging from the data were grouped as perceptions that promoted initiating, enacting and maintaining behavioural change. The data were then categorised in accordance with the Theory Domains Framework: intentions and goals; reinforcement; knowledge; social role and identity; social influences; skills and beliefs about capabilities; behavioural regulation, memory, emotion, attention and decision processes and environmental context and resources. Participant perceptions of intervention features that facilitated behavioural change processes were then similarly analysed. Social influences, reference to social role and identity (eg, peer support), and intentions and goals (eg, to lose weight) were dominant themes across the three phases of behavioural change. Reinforcement, regulation and decision processes were more evident in the maintenance phase. The socioeconomic status of participants was reflected in the environmental context and resource theme. Analysis of phases and theoretical domains of behavioural change added depth and utility to inform intervention optimisation. We will develop the intervention with improved peer support and explicit monitoring of the behavioural change techniques used, prior to a definitive trial.

Knowledge translation in Uganda: a qualitative study of Ugandan midwives' and managers' perceived relevance of the sub-elements of the context cornerstone in the PARIHS framework.

PubMed

Bergström, Anna; Peterson, Stefan; Namusoko, Sarah; Waiswa, Peter; Wallin, Lars

2012-12-03

A large proportion of the annual 3.3 million neonatal deaths could be averted if there was a high uptake of basic evidence-based practices. In order to overcome this 'know-do' gap, there is an urgent need for in-depth understanding of knowledge translation (KT). A major factor to consider in the successful translation of knowledge into practice is the influence of organizational context. A theoretical framework highlighting this process is Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS). However, research linked to this framework has almost exclusively been conducted in high-income countries. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the perceived relevance of the sub-elements of the organizational context cornerstone of the PARIHS framework, and also whether other factors in the organizational context were perceived to influence KT in a specific low-income setting. This qualitative study was conducted in a district of Uganda, where focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with midwives (n = 18) and managers (n = 5) within the catchment area of the general hospital. The interview guide was developed based on the context sub-elements in the PARIHS framework (receptive context, culture, leadership, and evaluation). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, followed by directed content analysis of the data. The sub-elements of organizational context in the PARIHS framework-i.e., receptive context, culture, leadership, and evaluation-also appear to be relevant in a low-income setting like Uganda, but there are additional factors to consider. Access to resources, commitment and informal payment, and community involvement were all perceived to play important roles for successful KT. In further development of the context assessment tool, assessing factors for successful implementation of evidence in low-income settings-resources, community involvement, and commitment and informal payment-should be considered for inclusion. For low-income settings, resources are of significant importance, and might be considered as a separate sub-element of the PARIHS framework as a whole.

A Review of Literature to Understand the Complexity of Equity, Ethics and Management for Achieving Public Health Goals in India

PubMed Central

Garg, Pankaj; Nagpal, Jitender

2014-01-01

In the context of inadequate public spending on health care in India (0.9% of the GDP); government liberalized its policies in the form of subsidized lands and tax incentives, resulting in the mushrooming of private hospitals and clinics in India. Paradoxically, a robust framework was not developed for the regulation of these health care providers, resulting in disorganized health sector, inadequate financing models, and lack of prioritization of services, as well as a sub-optimal achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). We systematically reviewed the evidence base regarding regulation of private hospitals, applicability of private-public mix, state of health insurance and effective policy development for India, while seeking lessons on regulation of private health systems, from South African (a developing country) and Australian (a developed country) health care systems. PMID:24701465

The ethics of commercial surrogate mothering: a response to Casey Humbyrd.

PubMed

Omonzejele, Peter F

2011-01-01

This article critically examines the argument advanced by Casey Humbyrd in support of international commercial surrogate mothering. It finds her arguments unconvincing especially at the point of implementation. This is because the author was unable to demonstrate how regulation and her notion offair compensation would not lead to undue inducement and exploitation in resource-poor settings where urgent needs often exist. In fact, the argument advanced in this article is that commercial surrogate mothering cannot but be exploitative in so far as urgent and compelling needs exist. To logically drive home this point, the elements of exploitation were discussed in order to show that regulation and fair compensation cannot prevent exploitative transaction in commercial surrogate mothering arrangements. This may happen in the same way as regulation and compensation framework have not been successful in preventing the allegations of exploitation in the research context especially where studies are conducted in resource-poor countries.

Climate Change Impacts on Stream Temperature in Regulated River Systems: A Case Study in the Southeastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Y.; Niemeyer, R. J.; Zhang, X.; Yearsley, J. R.; Voisin, N.; Nijssen, B.

2017-12-01

Climate change and associated changes in air temperature and precipitation are projected to impact natural water resources quantity, quality and timing. In the past century, over 280 major dams were built in the Southeastern United States (SEUS) (GRanD database). Regulation of the river system greatly alters natural streamflow as well as stream temperature. Understanding the impacts of climate change on regulated systems, particularly within the context of the Clean Water Act, can inform stakeholders how to maintain and adapt water operations (e.g. regulation, withdrawals). In this study, we use a new modeling framework to study climate change impacts on stream temperatures of a regulated river system. We simulate runoff with the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrological model, regulated streamflow and reservoir operations with a large-scale river routing-reservoir model (MOSART-WM), and stream temperature using the River Basin Model (RBM). We enhanced RBM with a two-layer thermal stratification reservoir module. This modeling framework captures both the impact of reservoir regulation on streamflow and the reservoir stratification effects on downstream temperatures. We evaluate changes in flow and stream temperatures based on climate projections from two representative concentration pathways (RCPs; RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). We simulate river temperature with meteorological forcings that have been downscaled with the Multivariate Constructed Analogs (MACA) method. We are specifically interested in analyzing extreme periods during which stream temperature exceeds water quality standards. In this study, we focus on identifying whether these extreme temperature periods coincide with low flows, and whether the frequency and duration of these operationally-relevant periods will increase under future climate change.

NMR Structural Profiling of Transcriptional Intermediates Reveals Riboswitch Regulation by Metastable RNA Conformations.

PubMed

Helmling, Christina; Wacker, Anna; Wolfinger, Michael T; Hofacker, Ivo L; Hengesbach, Martin; Fürtig, Boris; Schwalbe, Harald

2017-02-22

Gene repression induced by the formation of transcriptional terminators represents a prime example for the coupling of RNA synthesis, folding, and regulation. In this context, mapping the changes in available conformational space of transcription intermediates during RNA synthesis is important to understand riboswitch function. A majority of riboswitches, an important class of small metabolite-sensing regulatory RNAs, act as transcriptional regulators, but the dependence of ligand binding and the subsequent allosteric conformational switch on mRNA transcript length has not yet been investigated. We show a strict fine-tuning of binding and sequence-dependent alterations of conformational space by structural analysis of all relevant transcription intermediates at single-nucleotide resolution for the I-A type 2'dG-sensing riboswitch from Mesoplasma florum by NMR spectroscopy. Our results provide a general framework to dissect the coupling of synthesis and folding essential for riboswitch function, revealing the importance of metastable states for RNA-based gene regulation.

A Conceptual Framework and a Toolkit for Supporting the Rapid Prototyping of Context-Aware Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dey, Anind K.; Abowd, Gregory D.; Salber, Daniel

2001-01-01

Discusses the trend toward ubiquitous computing and the challenge to enhance the behavior of any application by informing it of the context of its use. Defines context related to the interaction between humans, applications, and the surrounding environment; and presents a conceptual framework and a toolkit for supporting the rapid prototyping of…

Technical Feasibility of a Mobile Context-Aware (Social) Learning Schedule Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yau, Jane Y. K.; Joy, Mike

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to show the technical feasibility of implementing their mobile context-aware learning schedule (mCALS) framework as a software application on a mobile device using current technologies, prior to its actual implementation. This process draws a set of compatible mobile and context-aware technologies at present and can be…

Demonstrating the CollaTrEx Framework for Collaborative Context-Aware Mobile Training and Exploration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Botev, Jean

2016-01-01

The CollaTrEx framework for collaborative context-aware mobile training and exploration is designed for the in-situ collaboration within groups of learners performing together diverse educational activities to explore their environment in a fun and intuitive way. It employs both absolute and relative spatio-temporal context for determining…

A Framework for Context Sensitive Risk-Based Access Control in Medical Information Systems

PubMed Central

Choi, Donghee; Kim, Dohoon; Park, Seog

2015-01-01

Since the access control environment has changed and the threat of insider information leakage has come to the fore, studies on risk-based access control models that decide access permissions dynamically have been conducted vigorously. Medical information systems should protect sensitive data such as medical information from insider threat and enable dynamic access control depending on the context such as life-threatening emergencies. In this paper, we suggest an approach and framework for context sensitive risk-based access control suitable for medical information systems. This approach categorizes context information, estimating and applying risk through context- and treatment-based permission profiling and specifications by expanding the eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) to apply risk. The proposed framework supports quick responses to medical situations and prevents unnecessary insider data access through dynamic access authorization decisions in accordance with the severity of the context and treatment. PMID:26075013

The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions

PubMed Central

Miyake, Akira; Friedman, Naomi P.

2012-01-01

Executive functions (EFs)—a set of general-purpose control processes that regulate one’s thoughts and behaviors—have become a popular research topic lately and have been studied in many subdisciplines of psychological science. This article summarizes the EF research that our group has conducted to understand the nature of individual differences in EFs and their cognitive and biological underpinnings. In the context of a new theoretical framework that we have been developing (the unity/diversity framework), we describe four general conclusions that have emerged from our research. Specifically, we argue that individual differences in EFs, as measured with simple laboratory tasks, (1) show both unity and diversity (different EFs are correlated yet separable); (2) reflect substantial genetic contributions; (3) are related to various clinically and societally important phenomena; and (4) show some developmental stability. PMID:22773897

Exploring morally relevant issues facing families in their decisions to monitor the health-related behaviours of loved ones.

PubMed

Gammon, D; Christiansen, E K; Wynn, R

2009-07-01

Patient self-management of disease is increasingly supported by technologies that can monitor a wide range of behavioural and biomedical parameters. Incorporated into everyday devices such as cell phones and clothes, these technologies become integral to the psychosocial aspects of everyday life. Many technologies are likely to be marketed directly to families with ill members, and families may enlist the support of clinicians in shaping use. Current ethical frameworks are mainly conceptualised from the perspective of caregivers, researchers, developers and regulators in order to ensure the ethics of their own practices. This paper focuses on families as autonomous decision-makers outside the regulated context of healthcare. We discuss some morally relevant issues facing families in their decisions to monitor the health-related behaviours of loved ones. An example - remote parental monitoring of adolescent blood glucose - is presented and discussed through the lens of two contrasting accounts of ethics; one reflecting the predominant focus on health outcomes within the health technology assessment (HTA) framework and the other that attends to the broader sociocultural contexts shaping technologies and their implications. Issues discussed include the focus of assessments, informed consent and child assent, and family co-creation of system characteristics and implications. The parents' decisions to remotely monitor their child has relational implications that are likely to influence conflict levels and thus also health outcomes. Current efforts to better integrate outcome assessments with social and ethical assessments are particularly relevant for informed decision-making about health monitoring technologies in families.

Using the ECD Framework to Support Evidentiary Reasoning in the Context of a Simulation Study for Detecting Learner Differences in Epistemic Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweet, Shauna J.; Rupp, Andre A.

2012-01-01

The "evidence-centered design" (ECD) framework is a powerful tool that supports careful and critical thinking about the identification and accumulation of evidence in assessment contexts. In this paper, we demonstrate how the ECD framework provides critical support for designing simulation studies to investigate statistical methods…

Ahr function in lymphocytes: emerging concepts

PubMed Central

Zhou, Liang

2015-01-01

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr) is an important regulator of the development and function of both innate and adaptive immune cells through roles associated with Ahr's ability to respond to cellular and dietary ligands. Recent findings have revealed tissue and context-specific functions for Ahr in both homeostasis and in during an immune response. I review these findings here, and integrate them into the current understanding of the mechanisms that regulate Ahr transcription and function. I propose a conceptual framework in which Ahr function is determined by three factors: the amount of Ahr in any given cell, the abundance and potency of Ahr ligands within certain tissues, and the tissue microenvironment wherein Ahr+ cells reside. This complexity emphasizes the necessity cell-type specific genetic approaches towards the study of Ahr function. PMID:26700314

Meta-Reasoning: Monitoring and Control of Thinking and Reasoning.

PubMed

Ackerman, Rakefet; Thompson, Valerie A

2017-08-01

Meta-Reasoning refers to the processes that monitor the progress of our reasoning and problem-solving activities and regulate the time and effort devoted to them. Monitoring processes are usually experienced as feelings of certainty or uncertainty about how well a process has, or will, unfold. These feelings are based on heuristic cues, which are not necessarily reliable. Nevertheless, we rely on these feelings of (un)certainty to regulate our mental effort. Most metacognitive research has focused on memorization and knowledge retrieval, with little attention paid to more complex processes, such as reasoning and problem solving. In that context, we recently developed a Meta-Reasoning framework, used here to review existing findings, consider their consequences, and frame questions for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysing task design and students' responses to context-based problems through different analytical frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broman, Karolina; Bernholt, Sascha; Parchmann, Ilka

2015-05-01

Background:Context-based learning approaches are used to enhance students' interest in, and knowledge about, science. According to different empirical studies, students' interest is improved by applying these more non-conventional approaches, while effects on learning outcomes are less coherent. Hence, further insights are needed into the structure of context-based problems in comparison to traditional problems, and into students' problem-solving strategies. Therefore, a suitable framework is necessary, both for the analysis of tasks and strategies. Purpose:The aim of this paper is to explore traditional and context-based tasks as well as students' responses to exemplary tasks to identify a suitable framework for future design and analyses of context-based problems. The paper discusses different established frameworks and applies the Higher-Order Cognitive Skills/Lower-Order Cognitive Skills (HOCS/LOCS) taxonomy and the Model of Hierarchical Complexity in Chemistry (MHC-C) to analyse traditional tasks and students' responses. Sample:Upper secondary students (n=236) at the Natural Science Programme, i.e. possible future scientists, are investigated to explore learning outcomes when they solve chemistry tasks, both more conventional as well as context-based chemistry problems. Design and methods:A typical chemistry examination test has been analysed, first the test items in themselves (n=36), and thereafter 236 students' responses to one representative context-based problem. Content analysis using HOCS/LOCS and MHC-C frameworks has been applied to analyse both quantitative and qualitative data, allowing us to describe different problem-solving strategies. Results:The empirical results show that both frameworks are suitable to identify students' strategies, mainly focusing on recall of memorized facts when solving chemistry test items. Almost all test items were also assessing lower order thinking. The combination of frameworks with the chemistry syllabus has been found successful to analyse both the test items as well as students' responses in a systematic way. The framework can therefore be applied in the design of new tasks, the analysis and assessment of students' responses, and as a tool for teachers to scaffold students in their problem-solving process. Conclusions:This paper gives implications for practice and for future research to both develop new context-based problems in a structured way, as well as providing analytical tools for investigating students' higher order thinking in their responses to these tasks.

Infant Expressions in an Approach/Withdrawal Framework

PubMed Central

Sullivan, Margaret Wolan

2014-01-01

Since the introduction of empirical methods for studying facial expression, the interpretation of infant facial expressions has generated much debate. The premise of this paper is that action tendencies of approach and withdrawal constitute a core organizational feature of emotion in humans, promoting coherence of behavior, facial signaling and physiological responses. The approach/withdrawal framework can provide a taxonomy of contexts and the neurobehavioral framework for the systematic, empirical study of individual differences in expression, physiology, and behavior within individuals as well as across contexts over time. By adopting this framework in developmental work on basic emotion processes, it may be possible to better understand the behavioral principles governing facial displays, and how individual differences in them are related to physiology and behavior, function in context. PMID:25412273

A framework to observe and evaluate the sustainability of human-natural systems in a complex dynamic context.

PubMed

Satanarachchi, Niranji; Mino, Takashi

2014-01-01

This paper aims to explore the prominent implications of the process of observing complex dynamics linked to sustainability in human-natural systems and to propose a framework for sustainability evaluation by introducing the concept of sustainability boundaries. Arguing that both observing and evaluating sustainability should engage awareness of complex dynamics from the outset, we try to embody this idea in the framework by two complementary methods, namely, the layer view- and dimensional view-based methods, which support the understanding of a reflexive and iterative sustainability process. The framework enables the observation of complex dynamic sustainability contexts, which we call observation metastructures, and enable us to map the contexts to sustainability boundaries.

Integrated health monitoring and controls for rocket engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merrill, W. C.; Musgrave, J. L.; Guo, T. H.

1992-01-01

Current research in intelligent control systems at the Lewis Research Center is described in the context of a functional framework. The framework is applicable to a variety of reusable space propulsion systems for existing and future launch vehicles. It provides a 'road map' technology development to enable enhanced engine performance with increased reliability, durability, and maintainability. The framework hierarchy consists of a mission coordination level, a propulsion system coordination level, and an engine control level. Each level is described in the context of the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The concept of integrating diagnostics with control is discussed within the context of the functional framework. A distributed real time simulation testbed is used to realize and evaluate the functionalities in closed loop.

How ecology shapes exploitation: a framework to predict the behavioural response of human and animal foragers along exploration-exploitation trade-offs.

PubMed

Monk, Christopher T; Barbier, Matthieu; Romanczuk, Pawel; Watson, James R; Alós, Josep; Nakayama, Shinnosuke; Rubenstein, Daniel I; Levin, Simon A; Arlinghaus, Robert

2018-06-01

Understanding how humans and other animals behave in response to changes in their environments is vital for predicting population dynamics and the trajectory of coupled social-ecological systems. Here, we present a novel framework for identifying emergent social behaviours in foragers (including humans engaged in fishing or hunting) in predator-prey contexts based on the exploration difficulty and exploitation potential of a renewable natural resource. A qualitative framework is introduced that predicts when foragers should behave territorially, search collectively, act independently or switch among these states. To validate it, we derived quantitative predictions from two models of different structure: a generic mathematical model, and a lattice-based evolutionary model emphasising exploitation and exclusion costs. These models independently identified that the exploration difficulty and exploitation potential of the natural resource controls the social behaviour of resource exploiters. Our theoretical predictions were finally compared to a diverse set of empirical cases focusing on fisheries and aquatic organisms across a range of taxa, substantiating the framework's predictions. Understanding social behaviour for given social-ecological characteristics has important implications, particularly for the design of governance structures and regulations to move exploited systems, such as fisheries, towards sustainability. Our framework provides concrete steps in this direction. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Validating Kohler's Taxonomy of Transition Programming for adolescents with intellectual disability in the Chinese context.

PubMed

Xu, Tianxi; Dempsey, Ian; Foreman, Phil

2016-01-01

School-to-work transition programmes play a crucial role in the achievement of post-secondary outcomes for young adults with intellectual disability (ID). Although special education in China has progressed in the last two decades, systematically planned transition education and services are not usually available for Chinese school leavers. The present study aimed to validate Kohler's Taxonomy of Transition Programming (KTTP) in the Chinese context for adolescents with ID. Five Chinese transition experts reviewed KTTP items, 14 Chinese transition teachers and 14 parents of adolescents with ID who would transition from school in the next 12 months were interviewed, and 329 transition teachers were surveyed. Most items in KTTP were found to be important and relevant to the Chinese context. Based on KTTP, a modified transition framework appropriate to the Chinese context was generated. The Chinese transition framework may assist parents and professionals to better support adolescents with ID in China. Future validation checks of the framework will add confidence that the framework captures the essential components of effective transition practices appropriate in the Chinese context. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[The 20th century legal framework regarding risk at work and occupational health in Colombia].

PubMed

Arango-Soler, Juan M; Luna-García, Jairo E; Correa-Moreno, Yerson A; Campos, Adriana C

2013-01-01

Analyzing the 20th century Colombian legal framework from the point of view of labor law, social security and public health for identifying concepts regarding occupational health and professional risk and trying to establish convergence and differences between such foci and whether they fulfilled a complementary view. This work involved documentary research by means of thematic categorical analysis of the laws and statutes promulgated in 20th century Colombia, considering the main element or entity which should have regulated that related to professional risk or occupational health. The development of the 20th century Colombian legal framework regarding health at work was periodized, revealing the predominance of a view of social law focused on protecting dependent workers' work-related risks, as part of a tendency extending to the Colombian Sistema General de Riesgos Laborales. The proposed stages used for organizing the legal framework concerning social security regarding professional risk and occupational health facilitated some important elements being recognized concerning the social, legal and institutional context from which workers' health laws emerged. Tension was noted concerning statutes orientated towards redress and compensation regarding accidents at work and legislation emphasizing prevention.

Knowledge translation in Uganda: a qualitative study of Ugandan midwives’ and managers’ perceived relevance of the sub-elements of the context cornerstone in the PARIHS framework

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background A large proportion of the annual 3.3 million neonatal deaths could be averted if there was a high uptake of basic evidence-based practices. In order to overcome this ‘know-do’ gap, there is an urgent need for in-depth understanding of knowledge translation (KT). A major factor to consider in the successful translation of knowledge into practice is the influence of organizational context. A theoretical framework highlighting this process is Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS). However, research linked to this framework has almost exclusively been conducted in high-income countries. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the perceived relevance of the sub-elements of the organizational context cornerstone of the PARIHS framework, and also whether other factors in the organizational context were perceived to influence KT in a specific low-income setting. Methods This qualitative study was conducted in a district of Uganda, where focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with midwives (n = 18) and managers (n = 5) within the catchment area of the general hospital. The interview guide was developed based on the context sub-elements in the PARIHS framework (receptive context, culture, leadership, and evaluation). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, followed by directed content analysis of the data. Results The sub-elements of organizational context in the PARIHS framework—i.e., receptive context, culture, leadership, and evaluation—also appear to be relevant in a low-income setting like Uganda, but there are additional factors to consider. Access to resources, commitment and informal payment, and community involvement were all perceived to play important roles for successful KT. Conclusions In further development of the context assessment tool, assessing factors for successful implementation of evidence in low-income settings—resources, community involvement, and commitment and informal payment—should be considered for inclusion. For low-income settings, resources are of significant importance, and might be considered as a separate sub-element of the PARIHS framework as a whole. PMID:23206670

Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory: The Convergence of Traditional Wisdom and Contemporary Neuroscience for Self-Regulation and Resilience

PubMed Central

Sullivan, Marlysa B.; Erb, Matt; Schmalzl, Laura; Moonaz, Steffany; Noggle Taylor, Jessica; Porges, Stephen W.

2018-01-01

Yoga therapy is a newly emerging, self-regulating complementary and integrative healthcare (CIH) practice. It is growing in its professionalization, recognition and utilization with a demonstrated commitment to setting practice standards, educational and accreditation standards, and promoting research to support its efficacy for various populations and conditions. However, heterogeneity of practice, poor reporting standards, and lack of a broadly accepted understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in yoga therapy limits the structuring of testable hypotheses and clinical applications. Current proposed frameworks of yoga-based practices focus on the integration of bottom-up neurophysiological and top-down neurocognitive mechanisms. In addition, it has been proposed that phenomenology and first person ethical inquiry can provide a lens through which yoga therapy is viewed as a process that contributes towards eudaimonic well-being in the experience of pain, illness or disability. In this article we build on these frameworks, and propose a model of yoga therapy that converges with Polyvagal Theory (PVT). PVT links the evolution of the autonomic nervous system to the emergence of prosocial behaviors and posits that the neural platforms supporting social behavior are involved in maintaining health, growth and restoration. This explanatory model which connects neurophysiological patterns of autonomic regulation and expression of emotional and social behavior, is increasingly utilized as a framework for understanding human behavior, stress and illness. Specifically, we describe how PVT can be conceptualized as a neurophysiological counterpart to the yogic concept of the gunas, or qualities of nature. Similar to the neural platforms described in PVT, the gunas provide the foundation from which behavioral, emotional and physical attributes emerge. We describe how these two different yet analogous frameworks—one based in neurophysiology and the other in an ancient wisdom tradition—highlight yoga therapy’s promotion of physical, mental and social wellbeing for self-regulation and resilience. This parallel between the neural platforms of PVT and the gunas of yoga is instrumental in creating a translational framework for yoga therapy to align with its philosophical foundations. Consequently, yoga therapy can operate as a distinct practice rather than fitting into an outside model for its utilization in research and clinical contexts. PMID:29535617

Evaluation of Brazil's public health surveillance system within the context of the International Health Regulations (2005).

PubMed

Teixeira, Maria Glória; Costa, Maria C N; Souza, Luís P F; Nascimento, Estela M R; Barreto, Maurício L; Barbosa, Neusa; Carmo, Eduardo Hage

2012-07-01

To evaluate Brazil's public health surveillance system (HSS), identifying its core capacities, shortcomings, and limitations in dealing with public health emergencies, within the context of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). In 2008-2009 an evaluative cross-sectional study was conducted using semistructured questionnaires administered to key informants (municipal, state, and national government officials) to assess Brazilian HSS structure (legal framework and resources) and surveillance and response procedures vis-à-vis compliance with the IHR (2005) requirements for management of public health emergencies of national and international concern. Evaluation criteria included the capacity to detect, assess, notify, investigate, intervene, and communicate. Responses were analyzed separately by level of government (municipal health departments, state health departments, and national Ministry of Health). Overall, at all three levels of government, Brazil's HSS has a well-established legal framework (including the essential technical regulations) and the infrastructure, supplies, materials, and mechanisms required for liaison and coordination. However, there are still some weaknesses at the state level, especially in land border areas and small towns. Professionals in the field need to be more familiar with the IHR 2005 Annex 2 decision tool (designed to increase sensitivity and consistency in the notification process). At the state and municipal level, the capacity to detect, assess, and notify is better than the capacity to investigate, intervene, and communicate. Surveillance activities are conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in 40.7% of states and 35.5% of municipalities. There are shortcomings in organizational activities and methods, and in the process of hiring and training personnel. In general, the core capacities of Brazil's HSS are well established and fulfill most of the requisites listed in the IHR 2005 with respect to both structure and surveillance and response procedures, particularly at the national and state levels.

The Role of the Self in Smoking Initiation and Smoking Cessation: A Review and Blueprint for Research at the Intersection of Social-Cognition and Health

PubMed Central

Shadel, William G.; Cervone, Daniel

2010-01-01

The self-concept is recognized as important to both smoking initiation and cessation. However, most of extant research has viewed the self-concept as a static, monolithic construct. It has not drawn on contemporary social-cognitive theories of the self-concept, which view the self-concept as a dynamic, multi-faceted cognitive structure that regulates behavior in context. This paper discusses a contemporary social cognitive framework that can be used to understand the role of the self-concept in smoking. PMID:21765799

Cell-Based Therapeutics: The Next Pillar of Medicine

PubMed Central

Fischbach, Michael A.; Bluestone, Jeffrey A.; Lim, Wendell A.

2013-01-01

Two decades ago, the pharmaceutical industry—long dominated by small-molecule drugs—was revolutionized by the the advent of biologics. Today, biomedicine sits on the cusp of a new revolution: the use of microbial and human cells as versatile therapeutic engines. Here, we discuss the promise of this “third pillar” of therapeutics in the context of current scientific, regulatory, economic, and perceptual challenges. History suggests that the advent of cellular medicines will require the development of a foundational cellular engineering science that provides a systematic framework for safely and predictably altering and regulating cellular behaviors. PMID:23552369

Nonlinear discrete-time multirate adaptive control of non-linear vibrations of smart beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiou, Georgios; Foutsitzi, Georgia A.; Stavroulakis, Georgios E.

2018-06-01

The nonlinear adaptive digital control of a smart piezoelectric beam is considered. It is shown that in the case of a sampled-data context, a multirate control strategy provides an appropriate framework in order to achieve vibration regulation, ensuring the stability of the whole control system. Under parametric uncertainties in the model parameters (damping ratios, frequencies, levels of non linearities and cross coupling, control input parameters), the scheme is completed with an adaptation law deduced from hyperstability concepts. This results in the asymptotic satisfaction of the control objectives at the sampling instants. Simulation results are presented.

Aid effectiveness and programmatic effectiveness: a proposed framework for comparative evaluation of different aid interventions in a particular health system.

PubMed

Haque, Hasibul; Hill, Philip C; Gauld, Robin

2017-01-01

Against a backdrop of changing concepts of aid effectiveness, development effectiveness, health systems strengthening, and increasing emphasis on impact evaluation, this article proposes a theory-driven impact evaluation framework to gauge the effect of aid effectiveness principles on programmatic outcomes of different aid funded programs in the health sector of a particular country. The foundation and step-by-step process of implementing the framework are described. With empirical evidence from the field, the steps involve analysis of context, program designs, implementation mechanisms, outcomes, synthesis, and interpretation of findings through the programs' underlying program theories and interactions with the state context and health system. The framework can be useful for comparatively evaluating different aid interventions both in fragile and non-fragile state contexts.

Culture and Literacy: Frameworks for Understanding.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westby, Carol E.

1995-01-01

This article presents a framework for understanding cultural variations in beliefs, values, and communication styles and considers the role of culture in relation to children's response to formal education and literacy. Major dimensions of cultural variability discussed include individualism/collectivism and high-context/low-context. (Author/DB)

Contextual Understandings in the TPACK Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swallow, Meredith J. C.; Olofson, Mark W.

2017-01-01

The technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework considers the role of technology in teaching. Although TPACK is grounded in context, one limitation is the lack of understanding about the interactions between particular contexts, knowledge development, and instruction. This qualitative multiple-case study was designed to…

Australia

PubMed Central

Belton, Suzanne

2017-01-01

Abstract This article adopts a human rights lens to consider Australian law and practice regarding elective abortion. As such, it considers Australian laws within the context of the right to equality, right to privacy, right to health, and right to life. After setting out the human rights framework and noting the connected nature of many of the rights (and their corresponding violations), the article shifts its focus to analyzing Australian law and practice within the framework of these rights. It considers the importance of decriminalizing abortion and regulating it as a standard medical procedure. It discusses the need to remove legal and practical restrictions on access to abortion, including financial obstacles and anti-abortion protestors. Further, it comments on the importance of facilitating access; for example, by keeping accurate health data, securing continuity of health care, increasing the availability of medical abortion, and ensuring appropriate care is provided to the most marginalized and vulnerable women. PMID:28630553

Ideologies of self, suffering, and gender nonconformity at work in a US gender identity clinic.

PubMed

van Eijk, Marieke

2014-01-01

Health care institutions are often severely criticized for regulating the lives of individuals who deviate from socially sanctioned norms. In teaching people where they fit in the conventional scheme of things, institutions often reproduce socially dominant ideologies of normality, health, and self. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a university-based gender identity clinic in the United States, I demonstrate that while some institutions adopt dominant cultural frameworks, others critically assess these. To understand the intricacies of the clinic's psychotherapeutic practices, I analyze the clinicians' constructions of health and suffering. Instead of viewing transgenderism as a psychiatric condition, these clinicians approach it as a normal human condition that is marginalized by society's heteronormative values. The analysis, attentive to the interaction among social context, institutional work, and psychotherapeutic ideologies, shows that while some institutions reproduce hegemonic cultural frameworks, others, in their attempts to alleviate people's suffering, do challenge dominant social norms.

A Legal Perspective on Business: Modeling the Impact of Law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghanavati, Sepideh; Siena, Alberto; Perini, Anna; Amyot, Daniel; Peyton, Liam; Susi, Angelo

Modern goal-oriented requirements engineering frameworks use modeling as a means of better understanding a domain, leading to an overall improvement in the quality of the requirements. Regulations and laws impose additional context and constraints on software goals and can limit the satisfaction of stakeholder needs. Organizations and software developers need modeling tools that can properly address the potential deep impact legal issues can have on the effectiveness of business strategies. In this paper, we perform a preliminary study into the development of a modeling framework able to support the analysis of legal prescriptions alongside business strategies. We demonstrate, via an example drawn from a case study of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), how models of this law can be built with the GRL modeling language and how they can be evaluated as part of the business goal models.

A mechanistic pan-cancer pathway model informed by multi-omics data interprets stochastic cell fate responses to drugs and mitogens

PubMed Central

Bouhaddou, Mehdi; Koch, Rick J.; DiStefano, Matthew S.; Tan, Annie L.; Mertz, Alex E.

2018-01-01

Most cancer cells harbor multiple drivers whose epistasis and interactions with expression context clouds drug and drug combination sensitivity prediction. We constructed a mechanistic computational model that is context-tailored by omics data to capture regulation of stochastic proliferation and death by pan-cancer driver pathways. Simulations and experiments explore how the coordinated dynamics of RAF/MEK/ERK and PI-3K/AKT kinase activities in response to synergistic mitogen or drug combinations control cell fate in a specific cellular context. In this MCF10A cell context, simulations suggest that synergistic ERK and AKT inhibitor-induced death is likely mediated by BIM rather than BAD, which is supported by prior experimental studies. AKT dynamics explain S-phase entry synergy between EGF and insulin, but simulations suggest that stochastic ERK, and not AKT, dynamics seem to drive cell-to-cell proliferation variability, which in simulations is predictable from pre-stimulus fluctuations in C-Raf/B-Raf levels. Simulations suggest MEK alteration negligibly influences transformation, consistent with clinical data. Tailoring the model to an alternate cell expression and mutation context, a glioma cell line, allows prediction of increased sensitivity of cell death to AKT inhibition. Our model mechanistically interprets context-specific landscapes between driver pathways and cell fates, providing a framework for designing more rational cancer combination therapy. PMID:29579036

Similar and Yet So Different: Cash-for-Care in Six European Countries’ Long-Term Care Policies

PubMed Central

Da Roit, Barbara; Le Bihan, Blanche

2010-01-01

Context: In response to increasing care needs, the reform or development of long-term care (LTC) systems has become a prominent policy issue in all European countries. Cash-for-care schemes—allowances instead of services provided to dependents—represent a key policy aimed at ensuring choice, fostering family care, developing care markets, and containing costs. Methods: A detailed analysis of policy documents and regulations, together with a systematic review of existing studies, was used to investigate the differences among six European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden). The rationale and evolution of their various cash-for-care schemes within the framework of their LTC systems also were explored. Findings: While most of the literature present cash-for-care schemes as a common trend in the reforms that began in the 1990s and often treat them separately from the overarching LTC policies, this article argues that the policy context, timing, and specific regulation of the new schemes have created different visions of care and care work that in turn have given rise to distinct LTC configurations. Conclusions: A new typology of long-term care configurations is proposed based on the inclusiveness of the system, the role of cash-for-care schemes and their specific regulations, as well as the views of informal care and the care work that they require. PMID:20860573

Toward a Regulatory Framework for the Waterpipe.

PubMed

Salloum, Ramzi G; Asfar, Taghrid; Maziak, Wasim

2016-10-01

Waterpipe smoking has been dramatically increasing among youth worldwide and in the United States. Despite its general association with misperceptions of reduced harm, evidence suggests this is a harmful and dependence-inducing tobacco use method that represents a threat to public health. Waterpipe products continue to be generally unregulated, which likely has contributed to their spread. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 granted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate waterpipe products, and the FDA finalized a rule extending its authority over waterpipe products in May 2016. This critical step in addressing the alarming increase in waterpipe smoking in the United States has created urgency for research to provide the evidence needed for effective regulatory initiatives for waterpipe products. We aim to stimulate such research by providing a framework that addresses the scope of waterpipe products and their unique context and use patterns. The proposed framework identifies regulatory targets for waterpipe product components (i.e., tobacco, charcoal, and device), the waterpipe café setting, and its marketing environment dominated by Internet promotion.

Toward a Regulatory Framework for the Waterpipe

PubMed Central

Salloum, Ramzi G.; Asfar, Taghrid

2016-01-01

Waterpipe smoking has been dramatically increasing among youth worldwide and in the United States. Despite its general association with misperceptions of reduced harm, evidence suggests this is a harmful and dependence-inducing tobacco use method that represents a threat to public health. Waterpipe products continue to be generally unregulated, which likely has contributed to their spread. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 granted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate waterpipe products, and the FDA finalized a rule extending its authority over waterpipe products in May 2016. This critical step in addressing the alarming increase in waterpipe smoking in the United States has created urgency for research to provide the evidence needed for effective regulatory initiatives for waterpipe products. We aim to stimulate such research by providing a framework that addresses the scope of waterpipe products and their unique context and use patterns. The proposed framework identifies regulatory targets for waterpipe product components (i.e., tobacco, charcoal, and device), the waterpipe café setting, and its marketing environment dominated by Internet promotion. PMID:27552262

Explicit and implicit emotion regulation: a multi-level framework

PubMed Central

Braunstein, Laura Martin; Gross, James J

2017-01-01

Abstract The ability to adaptively regulate emotion is essential for mental and physical well-being. How should we organize the myriad ways people attempt to regulate their emotions? We explore the utility of a framework that distinguishes among four fundamental classes of emotion regulation strategies. The framework describes each strategy class in terms their behavioral characteristics, underlying psychological processes and supporting neural systems. A key feature of this multi-level framework is its conceptualization of the psychological processes in terms of two orthogonal dimensions that describe (i) the nature of the emotion regulation goal (ranging from to implicit to explicit) and (ii) the nature of the emotion change process (ranging from more automatic to more controlled). After describing the core elements of the framework, we use it to review human and animal research on the neural bases of emotion regulation and to suggest key directions for future research on emotion regulation. PMID:28981910

Attribute Framing and Goal Framing Effects in Health Decisions.

PubMed

Krishnamurthy, Parthasarathy; Carter, Patrick; Blair, Edward

2001-07-01

Levin, Schneider, and Gaeth (LSG, 1998) have distinguished among three types of framing-risky choice, attribute, and goal framing-to reconcile conflicting findings in the literature. In the research reported here, we focus on attribute and goal framing. LSG propose that positive frames should be more effective than negative frames in the context of attribute framing, and negative frames should be more effective than positive frames in the context of goal framing. We test this framework by manipulating frame valence (positive vs negative) and frame type (attribute vs goal) in a unified context with common procedures. We also argue that the nature of effects in a goal-framing context may depend on the extent to which the research topic has "intrinsic self-relevance" to the population. In the context of medical decision making, we operationalize low intrinsic self-relevance by using student subjects and high intrinsic self-relevance by using patients. As expected, we find complete support for the LSG framework under low intrinsic self-relevance and modified support for the LSG framework under high intrinsic self-relevance. Overall, our research appears to confirm and extend the LSG framework. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

An evaluation paradigm for cumulative impact analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stakhiv, Eugene Z.

1988-09-01

Cumulative impact analysis is examined from a conceptual decision-making perspective, focusing on its implicit and explicit purposes as suggested within the policy and procedures for environmental impact analysis of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and its implementing regulations. In this article it is also linked to different evaluation and decision-making conventions, contrasting a regulatory context with a comprehensive planning framework. The specific problems that make the application of cumulative impact analysis a virtually intractable evaluation requirement are discussed in connection with the federal regulation of wetlands uses. The relatively familiar US Army Corps of Engineers' (the Corps) permit program, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) responsibilities in managing its share of the Section 404 regulatory program requirements, is used throughout as the realistic context for highlighting certain pragmatic evaluation aspects of cumulative impact assessment. To understand the purposes of cumulative impact analysis (CIA), a key distinction must be made between the implied comprehensive and multiobjective evaluation purposes of CIA, promoted through the principles and policies contained in NEPA, and the more commonly conducted and limited assessment of cumulative effects (ACE), which focuses largely on the ecological effects of human actions. Based on current evaluation practices within the Corps' and EPA's permit programs, it is shown that the commonly used screening approach to regulating wetlands uses is not compatible with the purposes of CIA, nor is the environmental impact statement (EIS) an appropriate vehicle for evaluating the variety of objectives and trade-offs needed as part of CIA. A heuristic model that incorporates the basic elements of CIA is developed, including the idea of trade-offs among social, economic, and environmental protection goals carried out within the context of environmental carrying capacity.

Multiple Levels of Family Factors and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms Among Chinese Children.

PubMed

Lin, Xiuyun; Li, Longfeng; Heath, Melissa A; Chi, Peilian; Xu, Shousen; Fang, Xiaoyi

2018-03-01

Family factors are closely associated with child developmental outcomes. This study examined the relationship of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms and factors at whole family, dyadic, and individual levels in Chinese children. Participants, who were recruited from 14 primary schools in north, east, and south-west China, included 80 father-child dyads and 169 mother-child dyads. Children in the participating dyads were previously diagnosed with ODD. Results revealed that family cohesion/adaptability was indirectly associated with ODD symptoms via parent-child relationship and child emotion regulation. Parent-child relationship affected ODD symptoms directly and indirectly through child emotion regulation. In addition, the effects of family cohesion/adaptability on parent emotion regulation and child emotion regulation were mediated by the parent-child relationship. The tested model provides a comprehensive framework of how family factors at multiple levels are related to child ODD symptoms and highlights the importance of understanding child emotional and behavioral problems within the family context, more specifically within the multiple levels of family relationships. © 2016 Family Process Institute.

The Interplay between Feedback and Buffering in Cellular Homeostasis.

PubMed

Hancock, Edward J; Ang, Jordan; Papachristodoulou, Antonis; Stan, Guy-Bart

2017-11-22

Buffering, the use of reservoirs of molecules to maintain concentrations of key molecular species, and negative feedback are the primary known mechanisms for robust homeostatic regulation. To our knowledge, however, the fundamental principles behind their combined effect have not been elucidated. Here, we study the interplay between buffering and negative feedback in the context of cellular homeostasis. We show that negative feedback counteracts slow-changing disturbances, whereas buffering counteracts fast-changing disturbances. Furthermore, feedback and buffering have limitations that create trade-offs for regulation: instability in the case of feedback and molecular noise in the case of buffering. However, because buffering stabilizes feedback and feedback attenuates noise from slower-acting buffering, their combined effect on homeostasis can be synergistic. These effects can be explained within a traditional control theory framework and are consistent with experimental observations of both ATP homeostasis and pH regulation in vivo. These principles are critical for studying robustness and homeostasis in biology and biotechnology. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

LIM Protein Ajuba associates with the RPA complex through direct cell cycle-dependent interaction with the RPA70 subunit.

PubMed

Fowler, Sandy; Maguin, Pascal; Kalan, Sampada; Loayza, Diego

2018-06-22

DNA damage response pathways are essential for genome stability and cell survival. Specifically, the ATR kinase is activated by DNA replication stress. An early event in this activation is the recruitment and phosphorylation of RPA, a single stranded DNA binding complex composed of three subunits, RPA70, RPA32 and RPA14. We have previously shown that the LIM protein Ajuba associates with RPA, and that depletion of Ajuba leads to potent activation of ATR. In this study, we provide evidence that the Ajuba-RPA interaction occurs through direct protein contact with RPA70, and that their association is cell cycle-regulated and is reduced upon DNA replication stress. We propose a model in which Ajuba negatively regulates the ATR pathway by directly interacting with RPA70, thereby preventing inappropriate ATR activation. Our results provide a framework to further our understanding of the mechanism of ATR regulation in human cells in the context of cellular transformation.

Community Social Context and Individualistic Attitudes toward Marriage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barber, Jennifer S.

2004-01-01

I develop a theoretical framework explaining how community social context affects attitude formation via nonfamily institutions and related behaviors. Empirical tests of the framework use data from a study of the Chitwan Valley in rural Nepal. The analyses focus on attitudes toward seven aspects of marriage: child marriage, arranged marriage,…

"Circumstance and Proper Timing": Context and the Construction of a Standards Framework for School Principals' Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louden, William; Wildy, Helen

1999-01-01

Professional standards for school principals typically describe an ideal performance in a generalized context. This article describes an alternative method of developing a standards framework, combining qualitative vignettes with probabilistic measurement techniques to provide essential or ideal performance qualities with contextually rich…

CAreDroid: Adaptation Framework for Android Context-Aware Applications

PubMed Central

Elmalaki, Salma; Wanner, Lucas; Srivastava, Mani

2015-01-01

Context-awareness is the ability of software systems to sense and adapt to their physical environment. Many contemporary mobile applications adapt to changing locations, connectivity states, available computational and energy resources, and proximity to other users and devices. Nevertheless, there is little systematic support for context-awareness in contemporary mobile operating systems. Because of this, application developers must build their own context-awareness adaptation engines, dealing directly with sensors and polluting application code with complex adaptation decisions. In this paper, we introduce CAreDroid, which is a framework that is designed to decouple the application logic from the complex adaptation decisions in Android context-aware applications. In this framework, developers are required— only—to focus on the application logic by providing a list of methods that are sensitive to certain contexts along with the permissible operating ranges under those contexts. At run time, CAreDroid monitors the context of the physical environment and intercepts calls to sensitive methods, activating only the blocks of code that best fit the current physical context. CAreDroid is implemented as part of the Android runtime system. By pushing context monitoring and adaptation into the runtime system, CAreDroid eases the development of context-aware applications and increases their efficiency. In particular, case study applications implemented using CAre-Droid are shown to have: (1) at least half lines of code fewer and (2) at least 10× more efficient in execution time compared to equivalent context-aware applications that use only standard Android APIs. PMID:26834512

CAreDroid: Adaptation Framework for Android Context-Aware Applications.

PubMed

Elmalaki, Salma; Wanner, Lucas; Srivastava, Mani

2015-09-01

Context-awareness is the ability of software systems to sense and adapt to their physical environment. Many contemporary mobile applications adapt to changing locations, connectivity states, available computational and energy resources, and proximity to other users and devices. Nevertheless, there is little systematic support for context-awareness in contemporary mobile operating systems. Because of this, application developers must build their own context-awareness adaptation engines, dealing directly with sensors and polluting application code with complex adaptation decisions. In this paper, we introduce CAreDroid, which is a framework that is designed to decouple the application logic from the complex adaptation decisions in Android context-aware applications. In this framework, developers are required- only-to focus on the application logic by providing a list of methods that are sensitive to certain contexts along with the permissible operating ranges under those contexts. At run time, CAreDroid monitors the context of the physical environment and intercepts calls to sensitive methods, activating only the blocks of code that best fit the current physical context. CAreDroid is implemented as part of the Android runtime system. By pushing context monitoring and adaptation into the runtime system, CAreDroid eases the development of context-aware applications and increases their efficiency. In particular, case study applications implemented using CAre-Droid are shown to have: (1) at least half lines of code fewer and (2) at least 10× more efficient in execution time compared to equivalent context-aware applications that use only standard Android APIs.

Resilience amongst Australian Aboriginal Youth: An Ecological Analysis of Factors Associated with Psychosocial Functioning in High and Low Family Risk Contexts

PubMed Central

Hopkins, Katrina D.; Zubrick, Stephen R.; Taylor, Catherine L.

2014-01-01

We investigate whether the profile of factors protecting psychosocial functioning of high risk exposed Australian Aboriginal youth are the same as those promoting psychosocial functioning in low risk exposed youth. Data on 1,021 youth aged 12–17 years were drawn from the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS 2000–2002), a population representative survey of the health and well-being of Aboriginal children, their families and community contexts. A person-centered approach was used to define four groups of youth cross-classified according to level of risk exposure (high/low) and psychosocial functioning (good/poor). Multivariate logistic regression was used to model the influence of individual, family, cultural and community factors on psychosocial outcomes separately for youth in high and low family-risk contexts. Results showed that in high family risk contexts, prosocial friendship and low area-level socioeconomic status uniquely protected psychosocial functioning. However, in low family risk contexts the perception of racism increased the likelihood of poor psychosocial functioning. For youth in both high and low risk contexts, higher self-esteem and self-regulation were associated with good psychosocial functioning although the relationship was non-linear. These findings demonstrate that an empirical resilience framework of analysis can identify potent protective processes operating uniquely in contexts of high risk and is the first to describe distinct profiles of risk, protective and promotive factors within high and low risk exposed Australian Aboriginal youth. PMID:25068434

Setting the Record Straight: Interest Group Influence on Climate Policy at the Environmental Protection Agency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Jeffrey J.

It is clear that interest groups are involved in the rulemaking process at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but it has been difficult to determine whether certain groups are more influential on outcomes. This debate persists because the literature illustrates that groups can be influential at discrete stages in the process, but the field rarely analyzes the entire rulemaking process. This uncertainty has spurred controversy regarding the EPA's recent climate change regulations. Therefore, this dissertation conducted three case studies of recent climate change regulations and addresses three questions. First, what, if any, strategies did interest groups use to influence the content of these climate change rules? Second, did these strategies translate into influence? Third, what can these climate change case studies tell us about the role of interest groups in other controversial rules at the EPA, and across the bureaucracy more broadly? Ultimately, I argue that interest group influence was generally balanced across each of the three case studies. These findings then serve as the basis to develop my Regulatory Spheres of Influence Framework. The framework illustrates that given the nature of EPA rulemakings, it is very difficult for one side either business or environmental to dominate the process in highly controversial rules. It is possible that these conclusions track to other controversial rules across the bureaucracy and I note that my framework could be applied in other contexts to test this assertion.

Regulating the for-profit private healthcare providers towards universal health coverage: A qualitative study of legal and organizational framework in Mongolia.

PubMed

Tsevelvaanchig, Uranchimeg; Narula, Indermohan S; Gouda, Hebe; Hill, Peter S

2018-01-01

Regulating the behavior of private providers in the context of mixed health systems has become increasingly important and challenging in many developing countries moving towards universal health coverage including Mongolia. This study examines the current regulatory architecture for private healthcare in Mongolia exploring its role for improving accessibility, affordability, and quality of private care and identifies gaps in policy design and implementation. Qualitative research methods were used including documentary review, analysis, and in-depth interviews with 45 representatives of key actors involved in and affected by regulations in Mongolia's mixed health system, along with long-term participant observation. There has been extensive legal documentation developed regulating private healthcare, with specific organizations assigned to conduct health regulations and inspections. However, the regulatory architecture for healthcare in Mongolia is not optimally designed to improve affordability and quality of private care. This is not limited only to private care: important regulatory functions targeted to quality of care do not exist at the national level. The imprecise content and details of regulations in laws inviting increased political interference, governance issues, unclear roles, and responsibilities of different government regulatory bodies have contributed to failures in implementation of existing regulations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Swedish duty hour enigma.

PubMed

Sundberg, Kristina; Frydén, Hanna; Kihlström, Lars; Nordquist, Jonas

2014-01-01

The Swedish resident duty hour limit is regulated by Swedish and European legal frameworks. With a maximum average of 40 working hours per week, the Swedish duty hour regulation is one of the most restrictive in the world. At the same time, the effects of resident duty hour limits have been neither debated nor researched in the Swedish context. As a result, little is known about the Swedish conceptual framework for resident duty hours, their restriction, or their outcomes: we call this "the Swedish duty hour enigma." This situation poses a further question: How do Swedish residents themselves construct a conceptual framework for duty hour restrictions? A case study was conducted at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm--an urban, research-intensive hospital setting. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 34 residents currently in training in 6 specialties. The empirical data analysis relied on theoretical propositions and was conducted thematically using a pattern-matching technique. The interview guide was based on four main topics: the perceived effect of duty hour restrictions on (1) patient care, (2) resident education, (3) resident well-being, and (4) research. The residents did not perceive the volume of duty hours to be the main determinant of success or failure in the four contextual domains of patient care, resident education, resident well-being, and research. Instead, they emphasized resident well-being and a desire for flexibility. According to Swedish residents' conceptual framework on duty hours, the amount of time spent on duty is not a proxy for the quality of resident training. Instead, flexibility, organization, and scheduling of duty hours are considered to be the factors that have the greatest influence on resident well-being, quality of learning, and opportunities to attain the competence needed for independent practice.

The Swedish duty hour enigma

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The Swedish resident duty hour limit is regulated by Swedish and European legal frameworks. With a maximum average of 40 working hours per week, the Swedish duty hour regulation is one of the most restrictive in the world. At the same time, the effects of resident duty hour limits have been neither debated nor researched in the Swedish context. As a result, little is known about the Swedish conceptual framework for resident duty hours, their restriction, or their outcomes: we call this “the Swedish duty hour enigma.” This situation poses a further question: How do Swedish residents themselves construct a conceptual framework for duty hour restrictions? Methods A case study was conducted at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm – an urban, research-intensive hospital setting. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 34 residents currently in training in 6 specialties. The empirical data analysis relied on theoretical propositions and was conducted thematically using a pattern-matching technique. The interview guide was based on four main topics: the perceived effect of duty hour restrictions on (1) patient care, (2) resident education, (3) resident well-being, and (4) research. Results The residents did not perceive the volume of duty hours to be the main determinant of success or failure in the four contextual domains of patient care, resident education, resident well-being, and research. Instead, they emphasized resident well-being and a desire for flexibility. Conclusions According to Swedish residents’ conceptual framework on duty hours, the amount of time spent on duty is not a proxy for the quality of resident training. Instead, flexibility, organization, and scheduling of duty hours are considered to be the factors that have the greatest influence on resident well-being, quality of learning, and opportunities to attain the competence needed for independent practice. PMID:25559074

Identity-specific motivation: How distinct identities direct self-regulation across distinct situations.

PubMed

Browman, Alexander S; Destin, Mesmin; Molden, Daniel C

2017-12-01

Research on self-regulation has traditionally emphasized that people's thoughts and actions are guided by either (a) domain-general motivations that emerge from a cumulative history of life experiences, or (b) situation-specific motivations that emerge in immediate response to the incentives present in a particular context. However, more recent studies have illustrated the importance of understanding the interplay between such domain-general and situation-specific motivations across the types of contexts people regularly encounter. The present research, therefore, expands existing perspectives on self-regulation by investigating how people's identities -the internalized roles, relationships, and social group memberships that define who they are-systemically guide when and how different domain-general motivations are activated within specific types of situations. Using the motivational framework described by regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997), Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that people indeed have distinct, identity-specific motivations that uniquely influence their current self-regulation when such identities are active. Studies 3-5 then begin to explore how identity-specific motivations are situated within people's larger self-concept. Studies 3a and 3b demonstrate that the less compatible people's specific identities, the more distinct are the motivations connected to those identities. Studies 4-5 then provide some initial, suggestive evidence that identity-specific motivations are not a separate, superordinate feature of people's identities that then alter how they pursue any subordinate, identity-relevant traits, but instead that such motivations emerge from the cumulative motivational significance of the subordinate traits to which the identities themselves become attached. Implications for understanding the role of the self-concept in self-regulation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Social energy exchange theory for postpartum depression.

PubMed

Posmontier, Bobbie; Waite, Roberta

2011-01-01

Postpartum depression (PPD), a significant health problem affecting about 19.4% of postpartum women worldwide, may result in long-term cognitive and behavior problems in children, spousal depression, widespread family dysfunction, and chronic and increasingly severe maternal depression. Although current theoretical frameworks provide a rich context for studying PPD,none provides a framework that specifically addresses the dynamic relationship of the inner personal experience with the social and cultural context of PPD. The authors propose the social energy exchange theory for postpartum depression to understand how PPD impedes this dynamic relationship and suggest it as a theoretical framework for the study of interventions that would target intra- and interpersonal disturbance within the social and cultural context.

Gamete and Embryo Donation and Surrogacy in Australia: The Social Context and Regulatory Framework

PubMed Central

Hammarberg, Karin; Johnson, Louise; Petrillo, Tracey

2011-01-01

The social and legal acceptability of third-party reproduction varies around the world. In Australia, gamete and embryo donation and surrogacy are permitted within the regulatory framework set out by federal and state governments. The aim of this paper is to describe the social context and regulatory framework for third-party reproduction in Australia. This is a review of current laws and regulations related to third-party reproduction in Australia. Although subtle between-state differences exist, third-party reproduction is by and large a socially acceptable and legally permissible way to form a family throughout Australia. The overarching principles that govern the practice of third-party reproduction are altruism; the right of donorconceived people to be informed of their biological origins; and the provision of comprehensive counselling about the social, psychological, physical, ethical, financial and legal implications of third-party reproduction to those considering donating or receiving gametes or embryos and entering surrogacy arrangements. These principles ensure that donors are not motivated by financial gain, donor offspring can identify and meet with the person or persons who donated gametes or embryos, and prospective donors and recipients are aware of and have carefully considered the potential consequences of third-party reproduction. Australian state laws and federal guidelines prohibit commercial and anonymous third-party reproduction; mandate counselling of all parties involved in gamete and embryo donation and surrogacy arrangements; and require clinics to keep records with identifying and non- identifying information about the donor/s to allow donor-conceived offspring to trace their biological origins. PMID:24851179

Gamete and embryo donation and surrogacy in australia: the social context and regulatory framework.

PubMed

Hammarberg, Karin; Johnson, Louise; Petrillo, Tracey

2011-01-01

The social and legal acceptability of third-party reproduction varies around the world. In Australia, gamete and embryo donation and surrogacy are permitted within the regulatory framework set out by federal and state governments. The aim of this paper is to describe the social context and regulatory framework for third-party reproduction in Australia. This is a review of current laws and regulations related to third-party reproduction in Australia. Although subtle between-state differences exist, third-party reproduction is by and large a socially acceptable and legally permissible way to form a family throughout Australia. The overarching principles that govern the practice of third-party reproduction are altruism; the right of donorconceived people to be informed of their biological origins; and the provision of comprehensive counselling about the social, psychological, physical, ethical, financial and legal implications of third-party reproduction to those considering donating or receiving gametes or embryos and entering surrogacy arrangements. These principles ensure that donors are not motivated by financial gain, donor offspring can identify and meet with the person or persons who donated gametes or embryos, and prospective donors and recipients are aware of and have carefully considered the potential consequences of third-party reproduction. Australian state laws and federal guidelines prohibit commercial and anonymous third-party reproduction; mandate counselling of all parties involved in gamete and embryo donation and surrogacy arrangements; and require clinics to keep records with identifying and non- identifying information about the donor/s to allow donor-conceived offspring to trace their biological origins.

A novel framework to alleviate the sparsity problem in context-aware recommender systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Penghua; Lin, Lanfen; Wang, Jing

2017-04-01

Recommender systems have become indispensable for services in the era of big data. To improve accuracy and satisfaction, context-aware recommender systems (CARSs) attempt to incorporate contextual information into recommendations. Typically, valid and influential contexts are determined in advance by domain experts or feature selection approaches. Most studies have focused on utilizing the unitary context due to the differences between various contexts. Meanwhile, multi-dimensional contexts will aggravate the sparsity problem, which means that the user preference matrix would become extremely sparse. Consequently, there are not enough or even no preferences in most multi-dimensional conditions. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to alleviate the sparsity issue for CARSs, especially when multi-dimensional contextual variables are adopted. Motivated by the intuition that the overall preferences tend to show similarities among specific groups of users and conditions, we first explore to construct one contextual profile for each contextual condition. In order to further identify those user and context subgroups automatically and simultaneously, we apply a co-clustering algorithm. Furthermore, we expand user preferences in a given contextual condition with the identified user and context clusters. Finally, we perform recommendations based on expanded preferences. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Cut! that’s a wrap: regulating negative emotion by ending emotion-eliciting situations

PubMed Central

Vujovic, Lara; Opitz, Philipp C.; Birk, Jeffrey L.; Urry, Heather L.

2014-01-01

Little is known about the potentially powerful set of emotion regulation (ER) processes that target emotion-eliciting situations. We thus studied the decision to end emotion-eliciting situations in the laboratory. We hypothesized that people would try to end negative situations more frequently than neutral situations to regulate distress. In addition, motivated by the selection, optimization, and compensation with ER framework, we hypothesized that failed attempts to end the situation would prompt either (a) greater negative emotion or (b) compensatory use of a different ER process, attentional deployment (AD). Fifty-eight participants (18–26 years old, 67% women) viewed negative and neutral pictures and pressed a key whenever they wished to stop viewing them. After key press, the picture disappeared (“success”) or stayed (“failure”) on screen. To index emotion, we measured corrugator and electrodermal activity, heart rate, and self-reported arousal. To index overt AD, we measured eye gaze. As their reason for ending the situation, participants more frequently reported being upset by high- than low-arousal negative pictures; they more frequently reported being bored by low- than high-arousal neutral pictures. Nevertheless, participants’ negative emotional responding did not increase in the context of ER failure nor did they use overt AD as a compensatory ER strategy. We conclude that situation-targeted ER processes are used to regulate emotional responses to high-arousal negative and low-arousal neutral situations; ER processes other than overt AD may be used to compensate for ER failure in this context. PMID:24592251

Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: Insights from Neurobiological, Psychological, and Clinical Studies

PubMed Central

Guendelman, Simón; Medeiros, Sebastián; Rampes, Hagen

2017-01-01

There is increasing interest in the beneficial clinical effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Research has demonstrated their efficacy in a wide range of psychological conditions characterized by emotion dysregulation. Neuroimaging studies have evidenced functional and structural changes in a myriad of brain regions mainly involved in attention systems, emotion regulation, and self-referential processing. In this article we review studies on psychological and neurobiological correlates across different empirically derived models of research, including dispositional mindfulness, mindfulness induction, MBIs, and expert meditators in relation to emotion regulation. From the perspective of recent findings in the neuroscience of emotion regulation, we discuss the interplay of top-down and bottom-up emotion regulation mechanisms associated with different mindfulness models. From a phenomenological and cognitive perspective, authors have argued that mindfulness elicits a “mindful emotion regulation” strategy; however, from a clinical perspective, this construct has not been properly differentiated from other strategies and interventions within MBIs. In this context we propose the distinction between top-down and bottom-up mindfulness based emotion regulation strategies. Furthermore, we propose an embodied emotion regulation framework as a multilevel approach for understanding psychobiological changes due to mindfulness meditation regarding its effect on emotion regulation. Finally, based on clinical neuroscientific evidence on mindfulness, we open perspectives and dialogues regarding commonalities and differences between MBIs and other psychotherapeutic strategies for emotion regulation. PMID:28321194

The Malaysian Qualifications Framework. An Institutional Response to Intrinsic Weaknesses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keating, Jack

2011-01-01

This article discusses the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF). An observation about the MQF is that in the particular context of developments in Malaysian education and training and its economic and social context, all roads have led to standards and quality assurance. This is the view expressed by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA)…

Analyzing Prospective Teachers' Images of Scientists Using Positive, Negative and Stereotypical Images of Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subramaniam, Karthigeyan; Harrell, Pamela Esprivalo; Wojnowski, David

2013-01-01

Background and purpose: This study details the use of a conceptual framework to analyze prospective teachers' images of scientists to reveal their context-specific conceptions of scientists. The conceptual framework consists of context-specific conceptions related to positive, stereotypical and negative images of scientists as detailed in the…

Applying the Grossman et al. Theoretical Framework: The Case of Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kucan, Linda; Palincsar, Annemarie Sullivan; Busse, Tracy; Heisey, Natalie; Klingelhofer, Rachel; Rimbey, Michelle; Schutz, Kristine

2011-01-01

Background/Context: This article describes the application of the theoretical framework proposed by Grossman and her colleagues to a research effort focusing on text-based discussion as a context for comprehension instruction. According to Grossman and her colleagues, a useful way to consider the teaching of complex practices to candidates is to…

Neuroimaging studies of aggressive and violent behavior: current findings and implications for criminology and criminal justice.

PubMed

Bufkin, Jana L; Luttrell, Vickie R

2005-04-01

With the availability of new functional and structural neuroimaging techniques, researchers have begun to localize brain areas that may be dysfunctional in offenders who are aggressive and violent. Our review of 17 neuroimaging studies reveals that the areas associated with aggressive and/or violent behavioral histories, particularly impulsive acts, are located in the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal regions. These findings are explained in the context of negative emotion regulation, and suggestions are provided concerning how such findings may affect future theoretical frameworks in criminology, crime prevention efforts, and the functioning of the criminal justice system.

Considering context in quality improvement interventions and implementation: concepts, frameworks, and application.

PubMed

McDonald, Kathryn M

2013-01-01

Growing consensus within the health care field suggests that context matters and needs more concerted study for helping those who implement and conduct research on quality improvement interventions. Health care delivery system decision makers require information about whether an intervention tested in one context will work in another with some differences from the original site. We aimed to define key terms, enumerate candidate domains for the study of context, provide examples from the pediatric quality improvement literature, and identify potential measures for selected contexts. Key sources include the organizational literature, broad evaluation frameworks, and a recent project in the patient safety area on context sensitivity. The article concludes with limitations and next steps for developments in this area. Copyright © 2013 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sociotechnical systems as a framework for regulatory system design and evaluation: Using Work Domain Analysis to examine a new regulatory system.

PubMed

Carden, Tony; Goode, Natassia; Read, Gemma J M; Salmon, Paul M

2017-03-15

Like most work systems, the domain of adventure activities has seen a series of serious incidents and subsequent calls to improve regulation. Safety regulation systems aim to promote safety and reduce accidents. However, there is scant evidence they have led to improved safety outcomes. In fact there is some evidence that the poor integration of regulatory system components has led to adverse safety outcomes in some contexts. Despite this, there is an absence of methods for evaluating regulatory and compliance systems. This article argues that sociotechnical systems theory and methods provide a suitable framework for evaluating regulatory systems. This is demonstrated through an analysis of a recently introduced set of adventure activity regulations. Work Domain Analysis (WDA) was used to describe the regulatory system in terms of its functional purposes, values and priority measures, purpose-related functions, object-related processes and cognitive objects. This allowed judgement to be made on the nature of the new regulatory system and on the constraints that may impact its efficacy following implementation. Importantly, the analysis suggests that the new system's functional purpose of ensuring safe activities is not fully supported in terms of the functions and objects available to fulfil them. Potential improvements to the design of the system are discussed along with the implications for regulatory system design and evaluation across the safety critical domains generally. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

'Do no harm'? Professional regulation of disabled nursing students and nurses in Great Britain.

PubMed

Sin, Chih Hoong; Fong, Janice

2008-06-01

This paper is a report of the findings of a General Formal Investigation launched by the Disability Rights Commission, Great Britain into the impact of regulatory fitness standards on disabled people, and on nursing students and nurses in particular. The potential for systemic discrimination against disabled nursing professionals lies in the existence and nature of regulatory fitness standards, as well as in how these are interpreted and implemented in practice. A review of relevant legislation, regulation and guidance was conducted to explore the interaction of the regulatory framework with the Disability Discrimination Act. A formal call to key national stakeholder organizations solicited information on perceptions of the regulatory framework and the adequacy of guidance issued. Independent research was commissioned on disabled people's disclosure of disability, informal and formal decision-making around fitness within the educational, and employment contexts. An Inquiry Panel examined all evidence sources, solicited further oral evidence from key organizations, and developed recommendations. No mention was found of the Disability Discrimination Act in any regulation and guidance governing nursing prior to 2006. There are particular requirements for 'good health and good character'. Respondents from key national stakeholder organizations, higher educational institutions and employers struggle to interpret the fitness requirements consistently. Implementation is variable, with reliance on ad hoc self-initiated strategies. The variability of interpretation and implementation can lead to discrimination against disabled people. The imprecision of fitness requirements and variability of implementation raise serious doubts about their utility in managing risk.

[Regulatory requirements regarding cell-based medicinal products for human and veterinary use - a comparison].

PubMed

Kuhlmann-Gottke, Johanna; Duchow, Karin

2015-11-01

At present, there is no separate regulatory framework for cell-based medicinal products (CBMP) for veterinary use at the European or German level. Current European and national regulations exclusively apply to the corresponding medicinal products for human use. An increasing number of requests for the regulatory classification of CBMP for veterinary use, such as allogeneic stem cell preparations and dendritic cell-based autologous tumour vaccines, and a rise in scientific advice for companies developing these products, illustrate the need for adequate legislation. Currently, advice is given and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis regarding the regulatory classification and authorisation requirements.Since some of the CBMP - in particular in the area of stem-cell products - are developed in parallel for human and veterinary use, there is an urgent need to create specific legal definitions, regulations, and guidelines for these complex innovative products in the veterinary sector as well. Otherwise, there is a risk that that the current legal grey area regarding veterinary medicinal products will impede therapeutic innovations in the long run. A harmonised EU-wide approach is desirable. Currently the European legislation on veterinary medicinal products is under revision. In this context, veterinary therapeutics based on allogeneic cells and tissues will be defined and regulated. Certainly, the legal framework does not have to be as comprehensive as for human CBMP; a leaner solution is conceivable, similar to the special provisions for advanced-therapy medicinal products laid down in the German Medicines Act.

Maximizing the Potential of Mentoring: A Framework for Pre-Service Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambrosetti, Angelina; Knight, Bruce Allen; Dekkers, John

2014-01-01

Within the professional placement component of pre-service teacher education, mentoring has become a strategy that is used during the practical application of learning to teach. In this paper, we examine mentoring in the pre-service teacher education context by proposing a theoretically based framework for mentoring in this context. Firstly, the…

Considering the Social Context of Schools: A Framework for Investigating New Teacher Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pogodzinski, Ben

2012-01-01

This work presents a conceptual framework rooted in social capital theory which can be utilized to guide future research of new teacher induction, as well as inform school and district leaders about important elements of a school's social context which may mediate the effects of new teacher induction. Specifically, this work elaborates on the…

Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language in Taiwan: A Socio-Cultural Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kung, Fan-Wei

2017-01-01

This article examines the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context in Taiwan based on Vygotsky's (1978) socio-cultural framework. The historical context is provided after some delineations of the educational system in Taiwan with regard to its foreign language instruction policy and development. Based upon the proposed socio-cultural framework,…

Claimed Effects, Outcome Variables and Methods of Measurement for Health Claims Proposed Under European Community Regulation 1924/2006 in the Framework of Maintenance of Skin Function

PubMed Central

Cortelazzi, Chiara; Zavaroni, Ivana; Bedogni, Giorgio; Musci, Marilena; Pruneti, Carlo; Passeri, Giovanni; Ventura, Marco; Galli, Daniela; Vitale, Marco; Bonadonna, Riccardo C.; Di Nuzzo, Sergio; De Felici, Maria Beatrice

2017-01-01

Evidence suggests a protective role for several nutrients and foods in the maintenance of skin function. Nevertheless, all the requests for authorization to use health claims under Article 13(5) in the framework of maintenance of skin function presented to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have received a negative opinion. Reasons for such failures are mainly due to an insufficient substantiation of the claimed effects, including the choice of inappropriate outcome variables (OVs) and methods of measurement (MMs). The present paper reports the results of an investigation aimed at collecting, collating and critically analyzing the information with relation to claimed effects (CEs), OVs and MMs related to skin health compliance with Regulation 1924/2006. CEs, OVs and MMs were collected from both the EFSA Guidance document and from the authorization requests of health claims under Article 13(5). The critical analysis of OVs and MMs was based on a literature review, and was aimed at defining their appropriateness (alone or in combination with others) in the context of a specific CE. The results highlight the importance of an adequate choice of OVs and MMs for an effective substantiation of the claims. PMID:29271939

Institutional change to support regime transformation: Lessons from Australia's water sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werbeloff, Lara; Brown, Rebekah; Cocklin, Chris

2017-07-01

Institutional change is fundamental to regime transformation, and a necessary part of moving toward integrated water management. However, insight into the role of institutional change processes in such transitions is currently limited. A more nuanced understanding of institutional frameworks is necessary, both to advance understanding of institutional change in the context of transitions toward improved water management and to inform strategies for guiding such processes. To this end, we examine two contemporary cases of transformative change in Australia's urban water sector, exploring the evolution of institutional change in each city. This paper offers insights into regime transformation, providing guidance on types of institutional structures and the ways structure-change initiatives can be sequenced to support a transition. The results reveal the importance of regulation in embedding regime change and suggest that engagement with structural frameworks should begin early in transition processes to ensure the timely introduction of supporting regulation. Our findings also highlight the inextricable link between culture-based and structure-based change initiatives, and the importance of using a diverse range of institutional change mechanisms in a mutually reinforcing way to provide a strong foundation for change. These findings provide a foundation for further scholarly examination of institutional change mechanisms, while also serving to inform the strategic activities of transition-oriented organizations and actors.

Claimed Effects, Outcome Variables and Methods of Measurement for Health Claims Proposed Under European Community Regulation 1924/2006 in the Framework of Maintenance of Skin Function.

PubMed

Martini, Daniela; Angelino, Donato; Cortelazzi, Chiara; Zavaroni, Ivana; Bedogni, Giorgio; Musci, Marilena; Pruneti, Carlo; Passeri, Giovanni; Ventura, Marco; Galli, Daniela; Mirandola, Prisco; Vitale, Marco; Dei Cas, Alessandra; Bonadonna, Riccardo C; Di Nuzzo, Sergio; De Felici, Maria Beatrice; Del Rio, Daniele

2017-12-22

Evidence suggests a protective role for several nutrients and foods in the maintenance of skin function. Nevertheless, all the requests for authorization to use health claims under Article 13(5) in the framework of maintenance of skin function presented to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have received a negative opinion. Reasons for such failures are mainly due to an insufficient substantiation of the claimed effects, including the choice of inappropriate outcome variables (OVs) and methods of measurement (MMs). The present paper reports the results of an investigation aimed at collecting, collating and critically analyzing the information with relation to claimed effects (CEs), OVs and MMs related to skin health compliance with Regulation 1924/2006. CEs, OVs and MMs were collected from both the EFSA Guidance document and from the authorization requests of health claims under Article 13(5). The critical analysis of OVs and MMs was based on a literature review, and was aimed at defining their appropriateness (alone or in combination with others) in the context of a specific CE. The results highlight the importance of an adequate choice of OVs and MMs for an effective substantiation of the claims.

Energy-Efficient Integration of Continuous Context Sensing and Prediction into Smartwatches.

PubMed

Rawassizadeh, Reza; Tomitsch, Martin; Nourizadeh, Manouchehr; Momeni, Elaheh; Peery, Aaron; Ulanova, Liudmila; Pazzani, Michael

2015-09-08

As the availability and use of wearables increases, they are becoming a promising platform for context sensing and context analysis. Smartwatches are a particularly interesting platform for this purpose, as they offer salient advantages, such as their proximity to the human body. However, they also have limitations associated with their small form factor, such as processing power and battery life, which makes it difficult to simply transfer smartphone-based context sensing and prediction models to smartwatches. In this paper, we introduce an energy-efficient, generic, integrated framework for continuous context sensing and prediction on smartwatches. Our work extends previous approaches for context sensing and prediction on wrist-mounted wearables that perform predictive analytics outside the device. We offer a generic sensing module and a novel energy-efficient, on-device prediction module that is based on a semantic abstraction approach to convert sensor data into meaningful information objects, similar to human perception of a behavior. Through six evaluations, we analyze the energy efficiency of our framework modules, identify the optimal file structure for data access and demonstrate an increase in accuracy of prediction through our semantic abstraction method. The proposed framework is hardware independent and can serve as a reference model for implementing context sensing and prediction on small wearable devices beyond smartwatches, such as body-mounted cameras.

Energy-Efficient Integration of Continuous Context Sensing and Prediction into Smartwatches

PubMed Central

Rawassizadeh, Reza; Tomitsch, Martin; Nourizadeh, Manouchehr; Momeni, Elaheh; Peery, Aaron; Ulanova, Liudmila; Pazzani, Michael

2015-01-01

As the availability and use of wearables increases, they are becoming a promising platform for context sensing and context analysis. Smartwatches are a particularly interesting platform for this purpose, as they offer salient advantages, such as their proximity to the human body. However, they also have limitations associated with their small form factor, such as processing power and battery life, which makes it difficult to simply transfer smartphone-based context sensing and prediction models to smartwatches. In this paper, we introduce an energy-efficient, generic, integrated framework for continuous context sensing and prediction on smartwatches. Our work extends previous approaches for context sensing and prediction on wrist-mounted wearables that perform predictive analytics outside the device. We offer a generic sensing module and a novel energy-efficient, on-device prediction module that is based on a semantic abstraction approach to convert sensor data into meaningful information objects, similar to human perception of a behavior. Through six evaluations, we analyze the energy efficiency of our framework modules, identify the optimal file structure for data access and demonstrate an increase in accuracy of prediction through our semantic abstraction method. The proposed framework is hardware independent and can serve as a reference model for implementing context sensing and prediction on small wearable devices beyond smartwatches, such as body-mounted cameras. PMID:26370997

Self-Regulated Learning: The Continuous-Change Conceptual Framework and a Vision of New Paradigm, Technology System, and Pedagogical Support

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huh, Yeol; Reigeluth, Charles M.

2017-01-01

A modified conceptual framework called the Continuous-Change Framework for self-regulated learning (SRL) is presented. Common elements and limitations among the past frameworks are discussed in relation to the modified conceptual framework. The iterative nature of the goal setting process and overarching presence of self-efficacy and motivational…

A Cross-disciplinary Framework for the Description of Contextually Mediated Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabora, Liane; Aerts, Diederik

We present a mathematical framework (referred to as Context-driven Actualization of Potential, or CAP) for describing how entities change over time under the influence of a context. The approach facilitates comparison of change of state of entities studied in different disciplines. Processes are seen to differ according to the degree of nondeterminism, and the degree to which they are sensitive to, internalize, and depend upon a particular context. Our analysis suggests that the dynamical evolution of a quantum entity described by the Schrödinger equation is not fundamentally different from change provoked by a measurement often referred to as collapse but a limiting case, with only one way to collapse. The biological transition to coded replication is seen as a means of preserving structure in the face of context, and sexual replication as a means of increasing potentiality thus enhancing diversity through interaction with context. The framework sheds light on concepts like selection and fitness, reveals how exceptional Darwinian evolution is as a means of 'change of state', and clarifies in what sense culture (and the creative process underlying it) are Darwinian.

Considering Context: Developing Students' Leadership Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osteen, Laura; Coburn, Mary B.

2012-01-01

The International Leadership Association's (ILA) Guiding Questions (2009) identify context as the foundational framework from which educators build successful leadership programs. Echoing sentiments from W. K. Kellogg's landmark study "Leadership in the Making" (Zimmerman-Oster and Burkhardt, 1999), context matters. Context includes tangible and…

A C-terminally truncated form of β-catenin acts as a novel regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in planarians

PubMed Central

Rabaneda-Lombarte, Neus; Gelabert, Maria; Xie, Jianlei; Wu, Wei

2017-01-01

β-Catenin, the core element of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, is a multifunctional and evolutionarily conserved protein which performs essential roles in a variety of developmental and homeostatic processes. Despite its crucial roles, the mechanisms that control its context-specific functions in time and space remain largely unknown. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway has been extensively studied in planarians, flatworms with the ability to regenerate and remodel the whole body, providing a ‘whole animal’ developmental framework to approach this question. Here we identify a C-terminally truncated β-catenin (β-catenin4), generated by gene duplication, that is required for planarian photoreceptor cell specification. Our results indicate that the role of β-catenin4 is to modulate the activity of β-catenin1, the planarian β-catenin involved in Wnt signal transduction in the nucleus, mediated by the transcription factor TCF-2. This inhibitory form of β-catenin, expressed in specific cell types, would provide a novel mechanism to modulate nuclear β-catenin signaling levels. Genomic searches and in vitro analysis suggest that the existence of a C-terminally truncated form of β-catenin could be an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to achieve a fine-tuned regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in specific cellular contexts. PMID:28976975

A C-terminally truncated form of β-catenin acts as a novel regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in planarians.

PubMed

Su, Hanxia; Sureda-Gomez, Miquel; Rabaneda-Lombarte, Neus; Gelabert, Maria; Xie, Jianlei; Wu, Wei; Adell, Teresa

2017-10-01

β-Catenin, the core element of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, is a multifunctional and evolutionarily conserved protein which performs essential roles in a variety of developmental and homeostatic processes. Despite its crucial roles, the mechanisms that control its context-specific functions in time and space remain largely unknown. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway has been extensively studied in planarians, flatworms with the ability to regenerate and remodel the whole body, providing a 'whole animal' developmental framework to approach this question. Here we identify a C-terminally truncated β-catenin (β-catenin4), generated by gene duplication, that is required for planarian photoreceptor cell specification. Our results indicate that the role of β-catenin4 is to modulate the activity of β-catenin1, the planarian β-catenin involved in Wnt signal transduction in the nucleus, mediated by the transcription factor TCF-2. This inhibitory form of β-catenin, expressed in specific cell types, would provide a novel mechanism to modulate nuclear β-catenin signaling levels. Genomic searches and in vitro analysis suggest that the existence of a C-terminally truncated form of β-catenin could be an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to achieve a fine-tuned regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in specific cellular contexts.

Does marital conflict predict infants' physiological regulation? A short-term prospective study.

PubMed

Porter, Christin L; Dyer, W Justin

2017-06-01

Prior research has linked marital conflict to children's internalizing/externalizing disorders, insecure attachment, and poor emotional regulation (e.g., Cummings & Davies, 2010; Cummings, Iannotti, & Zahn-Waxler, 1985). Although investigators have examined the impact of marital discord on older children (e.g., Crockenberg & Langrock, 2001), few have explored direct links in infancy (e.g., Cowan & Cowan, 1999). This study extends earlier work by examining linkages between marital functioning (conflict and harmony) and infants' cardiac vagal tone and developmental status across 2 time points using a cross-lag approach. Differential findings were found for boys and girls, with concurrent linkages between marital love and vagal tone at 6 months for boys and girls but only for boys at 12 months. In addition, marital conflict at 6 months predicted lower cardiac vagal tone in girls at 12 months but not boys. Finally, infants' developmental status at 6 months was found to predict marital conflict at 12 months. Higher scores on the Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) predicted greater marital conflict whereas higher scores on the Mental Development Index (MDI) predicted lower conflict. These findings are discussed in the context of the emotional security hypothesis and the spillover framework as well as differential susceptibilities to early developmental contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Sustainable harvest: managing plasticity for resilient crops

PubMed Central

Bloomfield, Justin A; Rose, Terry J; King, Graham J

2014-01-01

Maintaining crop production to feed a growing world population is a major challenge for this period of rapid global climate change. No consistent conceptual or experimental framework for crop plants integrates information at the levels of genome regulation, metabolism, physiology and response to growing environment. An important role for plasticity in plants is assisting in homeostasis in response to variable environmental conditions. Here, we outline how plant plasticity is facilitated by epigenetic processes that modulate chromatin through dynamic changes in DNA methylation, histone variants, small RNAs and transposable elements. We present examples of plant plasticity in the context of epigenetic regulation of developmental phases and transitions and map these onto the key stages of crop establishment, growth, floral initiation, pollination, seed set and maturation of harvestable product. In particular, we consider how feedback loops of environmental signals and plant nutrition affect plant ontogeny. Recent advances in understanding epigenetic processes enable us to take a fresh look at the crosstalk between regulatory systems that confer plasticity in the context of crop development. We propose that these insights into genotype × environment (G × E) interaction should underpin development of new crop management strategies, both in terms of information-led agronomy and in recognizing the role of epigenetic variation in crop breeding. PMID:24891039

Sources of interference in item and associative recognition memory.

PubMed

Osth, Adam F; Dennis, Simon

2015-04-01

A powerful theoretical framework for exploring recognition memory is the global matching framework, in which a cue's memory strength reflects the similarity of the retrieval cues being matched against the contents of memory simultaneously. Contributions at retrieval can be categorized as matches and mismatches to the item and context cues, including the self match (match on item and context), item noise (match on context, mismatch on item), context noise (match on item, mismatch on context), and background noise (mismatch on item and context). We present a model that directly parameterizes the matches and mismatches to the item and context cues, which enables estimation of the magnitude of each interference contribution (item noise, context noise, and background noise). The model was fit within a hierarchical Bayesian framework to 10 recognition memory datasets that use manipulations of strength, list length, list strength, word frequency, study-test delay, and stimulus class in item and associative recognition. Estimates of the model parameters revealed at most a small contribution of item noise that varies by stimulus class, with virtually no item noise for single words and scenes. Despite the unpopularity of background noise in recognition memory models, background noise estimates dominated at retrieval across nearly all stimulus classes with the exception of high frequency words, which exhibited equivalent levels of context noise and background noise. These parameter estimates suggest that the majority of interference in recognition memory stems from experiences acquired before the learning episode. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Validation of an ESL Writing Test in a Malaysian Secondary School Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zainal, Azlin

2012-01-01

The present study was conducted with a twofold purpose. First, I aim to apply the socio-cognitive framework by Shaw and Weir (2007) in order to validate a summative writing test used in a Malaysian ESL secondary school context. Secondly, by applying the framework I also aim to illustrate practical ways in which teachers can gather validity…

Organizing Project-Based Learning in Work Contexts: A Cross-Cultural Cross Analysis of Data from Two Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poell, Rob F.; Yorks, Lyle; Marsick, Victoria J.

2009-01-01

The authors describe research aimed at developing a more comprehensive framework for project-based learning in work contexts. This grows out of a cross-cultural reanalysis of data from two previous studies using two different frameworks: actor-centered learning network theory and a critical pragmatist lens on action reflection learning. Findings…

Can TTIP Improve Laboratory Animal Welfare in Safety Testing and 3Rs?

PubMed

Busquet, Francois; Zurlo, Joanne; Hartung, Thomas

2016-05-01

In the context of the current negotiations between the European Union (EU) and the United States under the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP), there is the opportunity to look at both legislative frameworks to better pinpoint convergences, synergies, and gaps when it comes to use of laboratory animals for scientific purposes and bring together the best of both worlds. The objectives in this article are to indicate what are the current EU pieces of legislation that are relevant under TTIP regarding the uses of laboratory animals for scientific purposes under the regulations about cosmetics and chemicals, among others. The same approach will be taken to look at the relevant American legal frameworks, that is, the Food and Cosmetics Act and the Toxic Safety Control Act as well as its most recent reauthorization. In conclusion, the authors will identify future frameworks that can contribute to the harmonization of regulatory standards and further steps where TTIP negotiators should strengthen regulatory cooperation. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A framework for extracting and representing project knowledge contexts using topic models and dynamic knowledge maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jin; Li, Zheng; Li, Shuliang; Zhang, Yanyan

2015-07-01

There is still a lack of effective paradigms and tools for analysing and discovering the contents and relationships of project knowledge contexts in the field of project management. In this paper, a new framework for extracting and representing project knowledge contexts using topic models and dynamic knowledge maps under big data environments is proposed and developed. The conceptual paradigm, theoretical underpinning, extended topic model, and illustration examples of the ontology model for project knowledge maps are presented, with further research work envisaged.

Advancing a Framework for Regulatory Use of Real-World Evidence: When Real Is Reliable.

PubMed

Dreyer, Nancy A

2018-05-01

There is growing interest in regulatory use of randomized pragmatic trials and noninterventional real-world (RW) studies of effectiveness and safety, but there is no agreed-on framework for assessing when this type of evidence is sufficiently reliable. Rather than impose a clinical trial-like paradigm on RW evidence, like blinded treatments or complete, source-verified data, the framework for assessing the utility of RW evidence should be grounded in the context of specific study objectives, clinical events that are likely to be detected in routine care, and the extent to which systematic error (bias) is likely to impact effect estimation. Whether treatment is blinded should depend on how well the outcome can be measured objectively. Qualification of a data source should be based on (1) numbers of patients of interest available for study; (2) if "must-have" data are likely to be recorded, and if so, how and where; (3) the accessibility of systematic follow-up data for the time period of interest; and (4) the potential for systematic errors (bias) in data collection and the likely magnitude of any such bias. Accessible data may not be representative of an entire population, but still may provide reliable evidence about the experience of typical patients treated under conditions of conventional care. Similarly, RW data that falls short of optimal length of follow-up or study size may still be useful in terms of its ability to provide evidence for regulators for subgroups of special interest. Developing a framework to qualify RW evidence in the context of a particular study purpose and data asset will enable broader regulatory use of RW data for approval of new molecular entities and label changes. Reliable information about diverse populations and settings should also help us move closer to more affordable, effective health care.

Mapping regulatory models for medicinal cannabis: a matrix of options.

PubMed

Belackova, Vendula; Shanahan, Marian; Ritter, Alison

2017-05-30

Objective The aim of the present study was to develop a framework for assessing regulatory options for medicinal cannabis in Australia. Methods International regulatory regimes for medicinal cannabis were reviewed with a qualitative policy analysis approach and key policy features were synthesised, leading to a conceptual framework that facilitates decision making across multiple dimensions. Results Two central organising dimensions of medicinal cannabis regulation were identified: cannabis supply and patient authorisation (including patient access). A number of the different supply options can be matched with a number of different patient authorisation options, leading to a matrix of possible regulatory regimes. Conclusions The regulatory options, as used internationally, involve different forms of cannabis (synthetic and plant-based pharmaceutical preparations or herbal cannabis) and the varying extent to which patient authorisation policies and procedures are stringently or more loosely defined. The optimal combination of supply and patient authorisation options in any jurisdiction that chooses to make medicinal cannabis accessible will depend on policy goals. What is known about the topic? Internationally, regulation of medicinal cannabis has developed idiosyncratically, depending on formulations that were made available and local context. There has been no attempt to date in the scientific literature to systematically document the variety of regulatory possibilities for medicinal cannabis. What does this paper add? This paper presents a new conceptual schema for considering options for the regulation of medicinal cannabis, across both supply and patient authorisation aspects. What are the implications for practitioners? The design of regulatory systems in Australia, whether for pharmaceutical or herbal products, is a vital issue for policy makers right now as federal and state and territory governments grapple with the complexities of medicinal cannabis regulation. The conceptual schema presented herein provides a tool for more systematic thinking about the options.

Understanding Children's Self-Regulation within Different Classroom Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timmons, Kristy; Pelletier, Janette; Corter, Carl

2016-01-01

In this study, children's self-regulation was observed, along with other social and academic activities in kindergarten classrooms during whole group, small group, transition and play contexts. We examined how children's self-regulation and engagement differed among classroom grouping, play and transition contexts. Results showed that students…

A game theory analysis of green infrastructure stormwater management policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

William, Reshmina; Garg, Jugal; Stillwell, Ashlynn S.

2017-09-01

Green stormwater infrastructure has been demonstrated as an innovative water resources management approach that addresses multiple challenges facing urban environments. However, there is little consensus on what policy strategies can be used to best incentivize green infrastructure adoption by private landowners. Game theory, an analysis framework that has historically been under-utilized within the context of stormwater management, is uniquely suited to address this policy question. We used a cooperative game theory framework to investigate the potential impacts of different policy strategies used to incentivize green infrastructure installation. The results indicate that municipal regulation leads to the greatest reduction in pollutant loading. However, the choice of the "best" regulatory approach will depend on a variety of different factors including politics and financial considerations. Large, downstream agents have a disproportionate share of bargaining power. Results also reveal that policy impacts are highly dependent on agents' spatial position within the stormwater network, leading to important questions of social equity and environmental justice.

Business model framework applications in health care: A systematic review.

PubMed

Fredriksson, Jens Jacob; Mazzocato, Pamela; Muhammed, Rafiq; Savage, Carl

2017-11-01

It has proven to be a challenge for health care organizations to achieve the Triple Aim. In the business literature, business model frameworks have been used to understand how organizations are aligned to achieve their goals. We conducted a systematic literature review with an explanatory synthesis approach to understand how business model frameworks have been applied in health care. We found a large increase in applications of business model frameworks during the last decade. E-health was the most common context of application. We identified six applications of business model frameworks: business model description, financial assessment, classification based on pre-defined typologies, business model analysis, development, and evaluation. Our synthesis suggests that the choice of business model framework and constituent elements should be informed by the intent and context of application. We see a need for harmonization in the choice of elements in order to increase generalizability, simplify application, and help organizations realize the Triple Aim.

Developing a Mobile Social Media Framework for Creative Pedagogies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cochrane, Thomas; Antonczak, Laurent; Guinibert, Matthew; Mulrennan, Danni

2014-01-01

This paper explores an overview of an evolving framework to enable creative pedagogies as applied to three different higher education contexts. Based upon our experiences, we propose a critical framework for supporting and implementing mobile social media for pedagogical change within higher education. Our framework maps the SAMR educational…

A Framework for the Study of Emotions in Organizational Contexts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fiebig, Greg V.; Kramer, Michael W.

1998-01-01

Approaches the study of emotions in organizations holistically, based on a proposed framework. Provides descriptive data that suggests the presence of the framework's major elements. States that future examination of emotions based on this framework should assist in understanding emotions, which are frequently ignored in a rational model. (PA)

Adapting Preclinical Benchmarks for First-in-Human Trials of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Therapies.

PubMed

Barazzetti, Gaia; Hurst, Samia A; Mauron, Alexandre

2016-08-01

: As research on human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapies is moving from the laboratory to the clinic, there is an urgent need to assess when it can be ethically justified to make the step from preclinical studies to the first protocols involving human subjects. We examined existing regulatory frameworks stating preclinical requirements relevant to the move to first-in-human (FIH) trials and assessed how they may be applied in the context of hESC-based interventions to best protect research participants. Our findings show that some preclinical benchmarks require rethinking (i.e., identity, purity), while others need to be specified (i.e., potency, viability), owing to the distinctive dynamic heterogeneity of hESC-based products, which increases uncertainty and persistence of safety risks and allows for limited predictions of effects in vivo. Rethinking or adaptation of how to apply preclinical benchmarks in specific cases will be required repeatedly for different hESC-based products. This process would benefit from mutual learning if researchers included these components in the description of their methods in publications. To design translational research with an eye to protecting human participants in early trials, researchers and regulators need to start their efforts at the preclinical stage. Existing regulatory frameworks for preclinical research, however, are not really adapted to this in the case of stem cell translational medicine. This article reviews existing regulatory frameworks for preclinical requirements and assesses how their underlying principles may best be applied in the context of human embryonic stem cell-based interventions for the therapy of Parkinson's disease. This research will help to address the question of when it is ethically justified to start first-in-human trials in stem cell translational medicine. ©AlphaMed Press.

Comparison of optimal design methods in inverse problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banks, H. T.; Holm, K.; Kappel, F.

2011-07-01

Typical optimal design methods for inverse or parameter estimation problems are designed to choose optimal sampling distributions through minimization of a specific cost function related to the resulting error in parameter estimates. It is hoped that the inverse problem will produce parameter estimates with increased accuracy using data collected according to the optimal sampling distribution. Here we formulate the classical optimal design problem in the context of general optimization problems over distributions of sampling times. We present a new Prohorov metric-based theoretical framework that permits one to treat succinctly and rigorously any optimal design criteria based on the Fisher information matrix. A fundamental approximation theory is also included in this framework. A new optimal design, SE-optimal design (standard error optimal design), is then introduced in the context of this framework. We compare this new design criterion with the more traditional D-optimal and E-optimal designs. The optimal sampling distributions from each design are used to compute and compare standard errors; the standard errors for parameters are computed using asymptotic theory or bootstrapping and the optimal mesh. We use three examples to illustrate ideas: the Verhulst-Pearl logistic population model (Banks H T and Tran H T 2009 Mathematical and Experimental Modeling of Physical and Biological Processes (Boca Raton, FL: Chapman and Hall/CRC)), the standard harmonic oscillator model (Banks H T and Tran H T 2009) and a popular glucose regulation model (Bergman R N, Ider Y Z, Bowden C R and Cobelli C 1979 Am. J. Physiol. 236 E667-77 De Gaetano A and Arino O 2000 J. Math. Biol. 40 136-68 Toffolo G, Bergman R N, Finegood D T, Bowden C R and Cobelli C 1980 Diabetes 29 979-90).

Development Context Driven Change Awareness and Analysis Framework

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarma, Anita; Branchaud, Josh; Dwyer, Matthew B.; Person, Suzette; Rungta, Neha

2014-01-01

Recent work on workspace monitoring allows conflict prediction early in the development process, however, these approaches mostly use syntactic differencing techniques to compare different program versions. In contrast, traditional change-impact analysis techniques analyze related versions of the program only after the code has been checked into the master repository. We propose a novel approach, De- CAF (Development Context Analysis Framework), that leverages the development context to scope a change impact analysis technique. The goal is to characterize the impact of each developer on other developers in the team. There are various client applications such as task prioritization, early conflict detection, and providing advice on testing that can benefit from such a characterization. The DeCAF framework leverages information from the development context to bound the iDiSE change impact analysis technique to analyze only the parts of the code base that are of interest. Bounding the analysis can enable DeCAF to efficiently compute the impact of changes using a combination of program dependence and symbolic execution based approaches.

Development Context Driven Change Awareness and Analysis Framework

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarma, Anita; Branchaud, Josh; Dwyer, Matthew B.; Person, Suzette; Rungta, Neha; Wang, Yurong; Elbaum, Sebastian

2014-01-01

Recent work on workspace monitoring allows conflict prediction early in the development process, however, these approaches mostly use syntactic differencing techniques to compare different program versions. In contrast, traditional change-impact analysis techniques analyze related versions of the program only after the code has been checked into the master repository. We propose a novel approach, DeCAF (Development Context Analysis Framework), that leverages the development context to scope a change impact analysis technique. The goal is to characterize the impact of each developer on other developers in the team. There are various client applications such as task prioritization, early conflict detection, and providing advice on testing that can benefit from such a characterization. The DeCAF framework leverages information from the development context to bound the iDiSE change impact analysis technique to analyze only the parts of the code base that are of interest. Bounding the analysis can enable DeCAF to efficiently compute the impact of changes using a combination of program dependence and symbolic execution based approaches.

A reflective framework to foster emotionally intelligent leadership in nursing.

PubMed

Heckemann, Birgit; Schols, Jos M G A; Halfens, Ruud J G

2015-09-01

To propose a reflective framework based on the perspective of emotional intelligence (EI) in nurse leadership literature. Emotional intelligence is a self-development construct aimed at enhancing the management of feelings and interpersonal relationships, which has become increasingly popular in nurse leadership. Reflection is an established means to foster learning. Integrating those aspects of emotional intelligence pertinent to nurse leadership into a reflective framework might support the development of nurse leadership in a practical context. A sample of 22 articles, retrieved via electronic databases (Ovid/Medline, BNI, psycArticles, Zetoc and CINAHL) and published between January 1996 and April 2009, was analysed in a qualitative descriptive content analysis. Three dimensions that characterise emotional intelligence leadership in the context of nursing - the nurse leader as a 'socio-cultural architect', as a 'responsive carer' and as a 'strategic visionary' - emerged from the analysis. To enable practical application, these dimensions were contextualised into a reflective framework. Emotional intelligence skills are regarded as essential for establishing empowering work environments in nursing. A reflective framework might aid the translation of emotional intelligence into a real-world context. The proposed framework may supplement learning about emotional intelligence skills and aid the integration of emotional intelligence in a clinical environment. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Excess capacity: markets regulation, and values.

PubMed Central

Madden, C W

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine the conceptual bases for the conflicting views of excess capacity in healthcare markets and their application in the context of today's turbulent environment. STUDY SETTING: The policy and research literature of the past three decades. STUDY DESIGN: The theoretical perspectives of alternative economic schools of thought are used to support different policy positions with regard to excess capacity. Changes in these policy positions over time are linked to changes in the economic and political environment of the period. The social values implied by this history are articulated. DATA COLLECTION: Standard library search procedures are used to identify relevant literature. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Alternative policy views of excess capacity in healthcare markets rely on differing theoretical foundations. Changes in the context in which policy decisions are made over time affect the dominant theoretical framework and, therefore, the dominant policy view of excess capacity. CONCLUSIONS: In the 1990s, multiple perspectives of optimal capacity still exist. However, our evolving history suggests a set of persistent values that should guide future policy in this area. PMID:10029502

A wireless trust model for healthcare.

PubMed

Wickramasinghe, Nilmini; Misra, Santosh K

2004-01-01

In today's context of escalating costs, managed care, regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and a technology savvy patient, the healthcare industry can no longer be complacent regarding embracing technologies to enable better, more effective and efficient practice management. In such an environment, many healthcare organisations are turning to m-commerce or wireless solutions. These solutions, in particular the mobile electronic patient record, have many advantages over their wired counterparts, including significant cost advantages, higher levels of physician acceptance, more functionalities as well as enabling easy accessibility to healthcare in remote geographic regions, however, they also bring with them challenges of their own. One such major challenge is security. To date, few models exist that help establish an appropriate framework, in the context of wireless in healthcare, in which to understand and evaluate all the security issues let alone facilitate the development of systematic and robust solutions. Our paper addresses this need by outlining an appropriate mobile trust model for such a scenario in healthcare organisations.

Biosafety evaluation of recombinant live oral bacterial vaccines in the context of European regulation.

PubMed

Favre, Didier; Viret, Jean-François

2006-05-01

Live bacterial vaccines represent a highly valid preventive strategy in the fight against infectious disease. However, the road from research to market is peppered with hurdles, one of which is the requirement for high biosafety characteristics, which the candidate vaccine has to display. In Europe, the European Agency for the evaluation of medicinal products (EMEA) is the relevant authority regulating the licensure of genetically engineered vaccines. For this purpose, the agency may rely on several directives and guidelines defined in the past 15 years. As for live vaccines containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) susceptible to be released into the environment, Directive 2001/18/EC determines the framework and principles of an environmental risk assessment (ERA) process, the results of which constitute an important section of the vaccine registration package submitted to registration authorities. In this article, we address the implications of current European regulations for the approval of live oral bacterial vaccines with emphasis on the assessment of potential risks associated with environmental release. Biosafety aspects of already registered and some promising live bacterial vaccine strains will be briefly discussed.

The Step approach to Message Design and Testing (SatMDT): A conceptual framework to guide the development and evaluation of persuasive health messages.

PubMed

Lewis, Ioni; Watson, Barry; White, Katherine M

2016-12-01

This paper provides an important and timely overview of a conceptual framework designed to assist with the development of message content, as well as the evaluation, of persuasive health messages. While an earlier version of this framework was presented in a prior publication by the authors in 2009, important refinements to the framework have seen it evolve in recent years, warranting the need for an updated review. This paper outlines the Step approach to Message Design and Testing (or SatMDT) in accordance with the theoretical evidence which underpins, as well as empirical evidence which demonstrates the relevance and feasibility of, each of the framework's steps. The development and testing of the framework have thus far been based exclusively within the road safety advertising context; however, the view expressed herein is that the framework may have broader appeal and application to the health persuasion context. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A methodological survey identified eight proposed frameworks for the adaptation of health related guidelines.

PubMed

Darzi, Andrea; Abou-Jaoude, Elias A; Agarwal, Arnav; Lakis, Chantal; Wiercioch, Wojtek; Santesso, Nancy; Brax, Hneine; El-Jardali, Fadi; Schünemann, Holger J; Akl, Elie A

2017-06-01

Our objective was to identify and describe published frameworks for adaptation of clinical, public health, and health services guidelines. We included reports describing methods of adaptation of guidelines in sufficient detail to allow its reproducibility. We searched Medline and EMBASE databases. We also searched personal files, as well manuals and handbooks of organizations and professional societies that proposed methods of adaptation and adoption of guidelines. We followed standard systematic review methodology. Our search captured 12,021 citations, out of which we identified eight proposed methods of guidelines adaptation: ADAPTE, Adapted ADAPTE, Alberta Ambassador Program adaptation phase, GRADE-ADOLOPMENT, MAGIC, RAPADAPTE, Royal College of Nursing (RCN), and Systematic Guideline Review (SGR). The ADAPTE framework consists of a 24-step process to adapt guidelines to a local context taking into consideration the needs, priorities, legislation, policies, and resources. The Alexandria Center for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines updated one of ADAPTE's tools, modified three tools, and added three new ones. In addition, they proposed optionally using three other tools. The Alberta Ambassador Program adaptation phase consists of 11 steps and focused on adapting good-quality guidelines for nonspecific low back pain into local context. GRADE-ADOLOPMENT is an eight-step process based on the GRADE Working Group's Evidence to Decision frameworks and applied in 22 guidelines in the context of national guideline development program. The MAGIC research program developed a five-step adaptation process, informed by ADAPTE and the GRADE approach in the context of adapting thrombosis guidelines. The RAPADAPTE framework consists of 12 steps based on ADAPTE and using synthesized evidence databases, retrospectively derived from the experience of producing a high-quality guideline for the treatment of breast cancer with limited resources in Costa Rica. The RCN outlines five key steps strategy for adaptation of guidelines to the local context. The SGR method consists of nine steps and takes into consideration both methodological gaps and context-specific normative issues in source guidelines. We identified through searching personal files two abandoned methods. We identified and described eight proposed frameworks for the adaptation of health-related guidelines. There is a need to evaluate these different frameworks to assess rigor, efficiency, and transparency of their proposed processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Decision framework for corridor planning within the roadside right-of-way.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-08-01

A decision framework was developed for context-sensitive planning within the roadside ROW in : Michigan. This framework provides a roadside suitability assessment model that may be used to : support integrated decision-making and policy level conside...

AQUATIC STRESSORS: FRAMEWORK AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR EFFECTS RESEARCH

EPA Science Inventory

This document describes the framework and research implementation plans for ecological effects research on aquatic stressors within the National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory. The context for the research identified within the framework is the common management goal...

Inferring Human Activity in Mobile Devices by Computing Multiple Contexts.

PubMed

Chen, Ruizhi; Chu, Tianxing; Liu, Keqiang; Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Yuwei

2015-08-28

This paper introduces a framework for inferring human activities in mobile devices by computing spatial contexts, temporal contexts, spatiotemporal contexts, and user contexts. A spatial context is a significant location that is defined as a geofence, which can be a node associated with a circle, or a polygon; a temporal context contains time-related information that can be e.g., a local time tag, a time difference between geographical locations, or a timespan; a spatiotemporal context is defined as a dwelling length at a particular spatial context; and a user context includes user-related information that can be the user's mobility contexts, environmental contexts, psychological contexts or social contexts. Using the measurements of the built-in sensors and radio signals in mobile devices, we can snapshot a contextual tuple for every second including aforementioned contexts. Giving a contextual tuple, the framework evaluates the posteriori probability of each candidate activity in real-time using a Naïve Bayes classifier. A large dataset containing 710,436 contextual tuples has been recorded for one week from an experiment carried out at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi with three participants. The test results demonstrate that the multi-context solution significantly outperforms the spatial-context-only solution. A classification accuracy of 61.7% is achieved for the spatial-context-only solution, while 88.8% is achieved for the multi-context solution.

Evaluating the implementation of health and safety innovations under a regulatory context: a collective case study of Ontario's safer needle regulation.

PubMed

Chambers, Andrea; Mustard, Cameron A; Breslin, Curtis; Holness, Linn; Nichol, Kathryn

2013-01-22

Implementation effectiveness models have identified important factors that can promote the successful implementation of an innovation; however, these models have been examined within contexts where innovations are adopted voluntarily and often ignore the socio-political and environmental context. In the field of occupational health and safety, there are circumstances where organizations must adopt innovations to comply with a regulatory standard. Examining how the external environment can facilitate or challenge an organization's change process may add to our understanding of implementation effectiveness. The objective of this study is to describe implementation facilitators and barriers in the context of a regulation designed to promote the uptake of safer engineered medical devices in healthcare. The proposed study will focus on Ontario's safer needle regulation (2007) which requires healthcare organizations to transition to the use of safer engineered medical devices for the prevention of needlestick injuries. A collective case study design will be used to learn from the experiences of three acute care hospitals in the province of Ontario, Canada. Interviews with management and front-line healthcare workers and analysis of supporting documents will be used to describe the implementation experience and examine issues associated with the integration of these devices. The data collection and analysis process will be influenced by a conceptual framework that draws from implementation science and the occupational health and safety literature. The focus of this study in addition to the methodology creates a unique opportunity to contribute to the field of implementation science. First, the study will explore implementation experiences under circumstances where regulatory pressures are influencing the organization's change process. Second, the timing of this study provides an opportunity to focus on issues that arise during later stages of implementation, a phase during the implementation cycle that has been understudied. This study also provides the opportunity to examine the relevance and utility of current implementation science models in the field of occupational health where the adoption of an innovation is meant to enhance the health and safety of workers. Previous work has tended to focus almost exclusively on innovations that are designed to enhance an organization's productivity or competitive advantage.

Framework for Designing Context-Aware Learning Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tortorella, Richard A. W.; Kinshuk; Chen, Nian-Shing

2018-01-01

Today people learn in many diverse locations and contexts, beyond the confines of classical brick and mortar classrooms. This trend is ever increasing, progressing hand-in-hand with the progress of technology. Context-aware learning systems are systems which adapt to the learner's context, providing tailored learning for a particular learning…

Building Assured Systems Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

of standards such as ISO 27001 as frameworks [NASCIO 2009]. In this context, a framework is a standard intended to assist in auditing and compliance...Information Security ISO /IEC 27004 Information technology – Security techniques - Information security management measurement ISO /IEC 15939, System and

The Adolescent Community of Engagement: A Framework for Research on Adolescent Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borup, Jered; West, Richard E.; Graham, Charles R.; Davies, Randall S.

2014-01-01

This paper describes the Adolescent Community of Engagement (ACE) framework as a lens to guide research and design in adolescent online learning environments. Several online learning frameworks have emerged from higher education contexts, but these frameworks do not explicitly address the unique student and environmental characteristics of the…

The RISE Framework: Using Learning Analytics to Automatically Identify Open Educational Resources for Continuous Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodily, Robert; Nyland, Rob; Wiley, David

2017-01-01

The RISE (Resource Inspection, Selection, and Enhancement) Framework is a framework supporting the continuous improvement of open educational resources (OER). The framework is an automated process that identifies learning resources that should be evaluated and either eliminated or improved. This is particularly useful in OER contexts where the…

Decision support frameworks and tools for conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schwartz, Mark W.; Cook, Carly N.; Pressey, Robert L.; Pullin, Andrew S.; Runge, Michael C.; Salafsky, Nick; Sutherland, William J.; Williamson, Matthew A.

2018-01-01

The practice of conservation occurs within complex socioecological systems fraught with challenges that require transparent, defensible, and often socially engaged project planning and management. Planning and decision support frameworks are designed to help conservation practitioners increase planning rigor, project accountability, stakeholder participation, transparency in decisions, and learning. We describe and contrast five common frameworks within the context of six fundamental questions (why, who, what, where, when, how) at each of three planning stages of adaptive management (project scoping, operational planning, learning). We demonstrate that decision support frameworks provide varied and extensive tools for conservation planning and management. However, using any framework in isolation risks diminishing potential benefits since no one framework covers the full spectrum of potential conservation planning and decision challenges. We describe two case studies that have effectively deployed tools from across conservation frameworks to improve conservation actions and outcomes. Attention to the critical questions for conservation project planning should allow practitioners to operate within any framework and adapt tools to suit their specific management context. We call on conservation researchers and practitioners to regularly use decision support tools as standard practice for framing both practice and research.

Knowledge brokering for healthy aging: a scoping review of potential approaches.

PubMed

Van Eerd, Dwayne; Newman, Kristine; DeForge, Ryan; Urquhart, Robin; Cornelissen, Evelyn; Dainty, Katie N

2016-10-19

Developing a healthcare delivery system that is more responsive to the future challenges of an aging population is a priority in Canada. The World Health Organization acknowledges the need for knowledge translation frameworks in aging and health. Knowledge brokering (KB) is a specific knowledge translation approach that includes making connections between people to facilitate the use of evidence. Knowledge gaps exist about KB roles, approaches, and guiding frameworks. The objective of the scoping review is to identify and describe KB approaches and the underlying conceptual frameworks (models, theories) used to guide the approaches that could support healthy aging. Literature searches were done in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, EBM reviews (Cochrane Database of systematic reviews), CINAHL, and SCOPUS, as well as Google and Google Scholar using terms related to knowledge brokering. Titles, abstracts, and full reports were reviewed independently by two reviewers who came to consensus on all screening criteria. Documents were included if they described a KB approach and details about the underlying conceptual basis. Data about KB approach, target stakeholders, KB outcomes, and context were extracted independently by two reviewers. Searches identified 248 unique references. Screening for inclusion revealed 19 documents that described 15 accounts of knowledge brokering and details about conceptual guidance and could be applied in healthy aging contexts. Eight KB elements were detected in the approaches though not all approaches incorporated all elements. The underlying conceptual guidance for KB approaches varied. Specific KB frameworks were referenced or developed for nine KB approaches while the remaining six cited more general KT frameworks (or multiple frameworks) as guidance. The KB approaches that we found varied greatly depending on the context and stakeholders involved. Three of the approaches were explicitly employed in the context of health aging. Common elements of KB approaches that could be conducted in healthy aging contexts focussed on acquiring, adapting, and disseminating knowledge and networking (linkage). The descriptions of the guiding conceptual frameworks (theories, models) focussed on linkage and exchange but varied across approaches. Future research should gather KB practitioner and stakeholder perspectives on effective practices to develop KB approaches for healthy aging.

A mandala of faculty development: using theory-based evaluation to explore contexts, mechanisms and outcomes.

PubMed

Onyura, Betty; Ng, Stella L; Baker, Lindsay R; Lieff, Susan; Millar, Barbara-Ann; Mori, Brenda

2017-03-01

Demonstrating the impact of faculty development, is an increasingly mandated and ever elusive goal. Questions have been raised about the adequacy of current approaches. Here, we integrate realist and theory-driven evaluation approaches, to evaluate an intensive longitudinal program. Our aim is to elucidate how faculty development can work to support a range of outcomes among individuals and sub-systems in the academic health sciences. We conducted retrospective framework analysis of qualitative focus group data gathered from 79 program participants (5 cohorts) over a 10-year period. Additionally, we conducted follow-up interviews with 15 alumni. We represent the interactive relationships among contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes as a "mandala" of faculty development. The mandala illustrates the relationship between the immediate program context, and the broader institutional context of academic health sciences, and identifies relevant change mechanisms. Four primary mechanisms were collaborative-reflection, self-reflection and self-regulation, relationship building, and pedagogical knowledge acquisition. Individual outcomes, including changed teaching practices, are described. Perhaps most interestingly, secondary mechanisms-psychological and structural empowerment-contributed to institutional outcomes through participants' engagement in change leadership in their local contexts. Our theoretically informed evaluation approach models how faculty development, situated in appropriate institutional contexts, can trigger mechanisms that yield a range of benefits for faculty and their institutions. The adopted methods hold potential as a way to demonstrate the often difficult-to-measure outcomes of educational programs, and allow for critical examination as to how and whether faculty development programs can accomplish their espoused goals.

IoT Contextual Factors on Healthcare.

PubMed

Michalakis, Konstantinos; Caridakis, George

2017-01-01

With the emergence of the Internet of Things, new services in healthcare will be available and existing systems will be integrated in the IoT framework, providing automated medical supervision and efficient medical treatment. Context awareness plays a critical role in realizing the vision of the IoT, providing rich contextual information that can help the system act more efficiently. Since context in healthcare has its unique characteristics, it is necessary to define an appropriate context aware framework for healthcare IoT applications. We identify this context as perceived in healthcare applications and describe the context aware procedures. We also present an architecture that connects the sensors that measure biometric data with the sensory networks of the environment and the various IoT middleware that reside in the geographical area. Finally, we discuss the challenges for the realization of this vision.

Historical Development of NATO Stanag 6001 Language Standards and Common European Framework (CEF) and the Comparison of Their Current Status

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solak, Ekrem

2011-01-01

The aim of the article is to shed light on the historical development of language studies in military and social context and to compare the current status of NATO Stanag (Standard Agreement) 6001 language scale with Common European Framework (CEF). Language studies in military context date back to World War II and the emergence of Army Specialized…

Interpersonal Stress Regulation and the Development of Anxiety Disorders: An Attachment-Based Developmental Framework

PubMed Central

Nolte, Tobias; Guiney, Jo; Fonagy, Peter; Mayes, Linda C.; Luyten, Patrick

2011-01-01

Anxiety disorders represent a common but often debilitating form of psychopathology in both children and adults. While there is a growing understanding of the etiology and maintenance of these disorders across various research domains, only recently have integrative accounts been proposed. While classical attachment history has been a traditional core construct in psychological models of anxiety, contemporary attachment theory has the potential to integrate neurobiological and behavioral findings within a multidisciplinary developmental framework. The current paper proposes a modern attachment theory-based developmental model grounded in relevant literature from multiple disciplines including social neuroscience, genetics, neuroendocrinology, and the study of family factors involved in the development of anxiety disorders. Recent accounts of stress regulation have highlighted the interplay between stress, anxiety, and activation of the attachment system. This interplay directly affects the development of social–cognitive and mentalizing capacities that are acquired in the interpersonal context of early attachment relationships. Early attachment experiences are conceptualized as the key organizer of a complex interplay between genetic, environmental, and epigenetic contributions to the development of anxiety disorders – a multifactorial etiology resulting from dysfunctional co-regulation of fear and stress states. These risk-conferring processes are characterized by hyperactivation strategies in the face of anxiety. The cumulative allostatic load and subsequent “wear and tear” effects associated with hyperactivation strategies converge on the neural pathways of anxiety and stress. Attachment experiences further influence the development of anxiety as potential moderators of risk factors, differentially impacting on genetic vulnerability and relevant neurobiological pathways. Implications for further research and potential treatments are outlined. PMID:21960962

Environmental Statistics and Optimal Regulation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Any organism is embedded in an environment that changes over time. The timescale for and statistics of environmental change, the precision with which the organism can detect its environment, and the costs and benefits of particular protein expression levels all will affect the suitability of different strategies–such as constitutive expression or graded response–for regulating protein levels in response to environmental inputs. We propose a general framework–here specifically applied to the enzymatic regulation of metabolism in response to changing concentrations of a basic nutrient–to predict the optimal regulatory strategy given the statistics of fluctuations in the environment and measurement apparatus, respectively, and the costs associated with enzyme production. We use this framework to address three fundamental questions: (i) when a cell should prefer thresholding to a graded response; (ii) when there is a fitness advantage to implementing a Bayesian decision rule; and (iii) when retaining memory of the past provides a selective advantage. We specifically find that: (i) relative convexity of enzyme expression cost and benefit influences the fitness of thresholding or graded responses; (ii) intermediate levels of measurement uncertainty call for a sophisticated Bayesian decision rule; and (iii) in dynamic contexts, intermediate levels of uncertainty call for retaining memory of the past. Statistical properties of the environment, such as variability and correlation times, set optimal biochemical parameters, such as thresholds and decay rates in signaling pathways. Our framework provides a theoretical basis for interpreting molecular signal processing algorithms and a classification scheme that organizes known regulatory strategies and may help conceptualize heretofore unknown ones. PMID:25254493

mlCAF: Multi-Level Cross-Domain Semantic Context Fusioning for Behavior Identification.

PubMed

Razzaq, Muhammad Asif; Villalonga, Claudia; Lee, Sungyoung; Akhtar, Usman; Ali, Maqbool; Kim, Eun-Soo; Khattak, Asad Masood; Seung, Hyonwoo; Hur, Taeho; Bang, Jaehun; Kim, Dohyeong; Ali Khan, Wajahat

2017-10-24

The emerging research on automatic identification of user's contexts from the cross-domain environment in ubiquitous and pervasive computing systems has proved to be successful. Monitoring the diversified user's contexts and behaviors can help in controlling lifestyle associated to chronic diseases using context-aware applications. However, availability of cross-domain heterogeneous contexts provides a challenging opportunity for their fusion to obtain abstract information for further analysis. This work demonstrates extension of our previous work from a single domain (i.e., physical activity) to multiple domains (physical activity, nutrition and clinical) for context-awareness. We propose multi-level Context-aware Framework (mlCAF), which fuses the multi-level cross-domain contexts in order to arbitrate richer behavioral contexts. This work explicitly focuses on key challenges linked to multi-level context modeling, reasoning and fusioning based on the mlCAF open-source ontology. More specifically, it addresses the interpretation of contexts from three different domains, their fusioning conforming to richer contextual information. This paper contributes in terms of ontology evolution with additional domains, context definitions, rules and inclusion of semantic queries. For the framework evaluation, multi-level cross-domain contexts collected from 20 users were used to ascertain abstract contexts, which served as basis for behavior modeling and lifestyle identification. The experimental results indicate a context recognition average accuracy of around 92.65% for the collected cross-domain contexts.

mlCAF: Multi-Level Cross-Domain Semantic Context Fusioning for Behavior Identification

PubMed Central

Villalonga, Claudia; Lee, Sungyoung; Akhtar, Usman; Ali, Maqbool; Kim, Eun-Soo; Khattak, Asad Masood; Seung, Hyonwoo; Hur, Taeho; Kim, Dohyeong; Ali Khan, Wajahat

2017-01-01

The emerging research on automatic identification of user’s contexts from the cross-domain environment in ubiquitous and pervasive computing systems has proved to be successful. Monitoring the diversified user’s contexts and behaviors can help in controlling lifestyle associated to chronic diseases using context-aware applications. However, availability of cross-domain heterogeneous contexts provides a challenging opportunity for their fusion to obtain abstract information for further analysis. This work demonstrates extension of our previous work from a single domain (i.e., physical activity) to multiple domains (physical activity, nutrition and clinical) for context-awareness. We propose multi-level Context-aware Framework (mlCAF), which fuses the multi-level cross-domain contexts in order to arbitrate richer behavioral contexts. This work explicitly focuses on key challenges linked to multi-level context modeling, reasoning and fusioning based on the mlCAF open-source ontology. More specifically, it addresses the interpretation of contexts from three different domains, their fusioning conforming to richer contextual information. This paper contributes in terms of ontology evolution with additional domains, context definitions, rules and inclusion of semantic queries. For the framework evaluation, multi-level cross-domain contexts collected from 20 users were used to ascertain abstract contexts, which served as basis for behavior modeling and lifestyle identification. The experimental results indicate a context recognition average accuracy of around 92.65% for the collected cross-domain contexts. PMID:29064459

Structural barriers in the context of opiate substitution treatment in Germany - a survey among physicians in primary care

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Opiate substitution treatment (OST) is the most widely used treatment for opioid dependence in Germany with substantial long-term benefits for the patient and for society. Due to lessened restrictive admission criteria, the number of registered OST patients in Germany has increased continuously in the recent years, whereas the number of physicians providing OST has remained constant. Previous data already indicated a deteriorating situation in the availability or quality of OST delivered and that structural barriers impede physicians in actively providing OST. The present survey among a sample of primary care physicians in Germany aimed to identify and assess potential structural barriers for the provision of health care in the context of OST. Methods An anonymous written questionnaire was sent out to a sample of 2,332 physicians across Germany providing OST. Physicians contacted were identified through databases of the Federal State Chambers of Physicians and/or of the Federal Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. Data obtained were analysed descriptively. Results The response rate was 25,5% and the majority of 596 physicians sampled viewed substantial problems in terms of the regulatory framework of OST care in the German context. Furthermore, financial remuneration, insufficient qualification, as well as inadequate interdisciplinary cooperation in the treatment of comorbidities of opiate substituted patients were regarded as problematic. The number of physicians providing OST in Germany is expected to substantially decrease in the near future. Conclusion Despite less restrictive admission criteria for OST in Germany, the legal regulation framework for OST is still a limiting factor through raising concerns on the provider and consumer side to be unable to adhere to the strict rules. To avoid future shortages in the provision of OST care on the system level in Germany, revisions to the legal framework seem to be necessary. In regards to adequate care for drug use-related infectious diseases and psychiatric comorbidities commonly found in opiate substituted patients, efforts are required to improve professional qualifications of physicians providing OST as well as respective interdisciplinary collaboration. PMID:23875627

Early vertebrate origin and diversification of small transmembrane regulators of cellular ion transport.

PubMed

Pirkmajer, Sergej; Kirchner, Henriette; Lundell, Leonidas S; Zelenin, Pavel V; Zierath, Juleen R; Makarova, Kira S; Wolf, Yuri I; Chibalin, Alexander V

2017-07-15

Small transmembrane proteins such as FXYDs, which interact with Na + ,K + -ATPase, and the micropeptides that interact with sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase play fundamental roles in regulation of ion transport in vertebrates. Uncertain evolutionary origins and phylogenetic relationships among these regulators of ion transport have led to inconsistencies in their classification across vertebrate species, thus hampering comparative studies of their functions. We discovered the first FXYD homologue in sea lamprey, a basal jawless vertebrate, which suggests small transmembrane regulators of ion transport emerged early in the vertebrate lineage. We also identified 13 gene subfamilies of FXYDs and propose a revised, phylogeny-based FXYD classification that is consistent across vertebrate species. These findings provide an improved framework for investigating physiological and pathophysiological functions of small transmembrane regulators of ion transport. Small transmembrane proteins are important for regulation of cellular ion transport. The most prominent among these are members of the FXYD family (FXYD1-12), which regulate Na + ,K + -ATPase, and phospholamban, sarcolipin, myoregulin and DWORF, which regulate the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase (SERCA). FXYDs and regulators of SERCA are present in fishes, as well as terrestrial vertebrates; however, their evolutionary origins and phylogenetic relationships are obscure, thus hampering comparative physiological studies. Here we discovered that sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a representative of extant jawless vertebrates (Cyclostomata), expresses an FXYD homologue, which strongly suggests that FXYDs predate the emergence of fishes and other jawed vertebrates (Gnathostomata). Using a combination of sequence-based phylogenetic analysis and conservation of local chromosome context, we determined that FXYDs markedly diversified in the lineages leading to cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) and bony vertebrates (Euteleostomi). Diversification of SERCA regulators was much less extensive, indicating they operate under different evolutionary constraints. Finally, we found that FXYDs in extant vertebrates can be classified into 13 gene subfamilies, which do not always correspond to the established FXYD classification. We therefore propose a revised classification that is based on evolutionary history of FXYDs and that is consistent across vertebrate species. Collectively, our findings provide an improved framework for investigating the function of ion transport in health and disease. © 2017 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2017 The Physiological Society.

A Framework for Learning Analytics Using Commodity Wearable Devices

PubMed Central

Lu, Yu; Zhang, Sen; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Xiao, Wendong; Yu, Shengquan

2017-01-01

We advocate for and introduce LEARNSense, a framework for learning analytics using commodity wearable devices to capture learner’s physical actions and accordingly infer learner context (e.g., student activities and engagement status in class). Our work is motivated by the observations that: (a) the fine-grained individual-specific learner actions are crucial to understand learners and their context information; (b) sensor data available on the latest wearable devices (e.g., wrist-worn and eye wear devices) can effectively recognize learner actions and help to infer learner context information; (c) the commodity wearable devices that are widely available on the market can provide a hassle-free and non-intrusive solution. Following the above observations and under the proposed framework, we design and implement a sensor-based learner context collector running on the wearable devices. The latest data mining and sensor data processing techniques are employed to detect different types of learner actions and context information. Furthermore, we detail all of the above efforts by offering a novel and exemplary use case: it successfully provides the accurate detection of student actions and infers the student engagement states in class. The specifically designed learner context collector has been implemented on the commodity wrist-worn device. Based on the collected and inferred learner information, the novel intervention and incentivizing feedback are introduced into the system service. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with the real-world experiments, surveys and interviews demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of the proposed framework and this use case. The F1 score for the student action classification tasks achieve 0.9, and the system can effectively differentiate the defined three learner states. Finally, the survey results show that the learners are satisfied with the use of our system (mean score of 3.7 with a standard deviation of 0.55). PMID:28613236

A Framework for Learning Analytics Using Commodity Wearable Devices.

PubMed

Lu, Yu; Zhang, Sen; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Xiao, Wendong; Yu, Shengquan

2017-06-14

We advocate for and introduce LEARNSense, a framework for learning analytics using commodity wearable devices to capture learner's physical actions and accordingly infer learner context (e.g., student activities and engagement status in class). Our work is motivated by the observations that: (a) the fine-grained individual-specific learner actions are crucial to understand learners and their context information; (b) sensor data available on the latest wearable devices (e.g., wrist-worn and eye wear devices) can effectively recognize learner actions and help to infer learner context information; (c) the commodity wearable devices that are widely available on the market can provide a hassle-free and non-intrusive solution. Following the above observations and under the proposed framework, we design and implement a sensor-based learner context collector running on the wearable devices. The latest data mining and sensor data processing techniques are employed to detect different types of learner actions and context information. Furthermore, we detail all of the above efforts by offering a novel and exemplary use case: it successfully provides the accurate detection of student actions and infers the student engagement states in class. The specifically designed learner context collector has been implemented on the commodity wrist-worn device. Based on the collected and inferred learner information, the novel intervention and incentivizing feedback are introduced into the system service. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with the real-world experiments, surveys and interviews demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of the proposed framework and this use case. The F1 score for the student action classification tasks achieve 0.9, and the system can effectively differentiate the defined three learner states. Finally, the survey results show that the learners are satisfied with the use of our system (mean score of 3.7 with a standard deviation of 0.55).

75 FR 52398 - Migratory Bird Hunting; Proposed Frameworks for Late-Season Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-25

... late-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds. We annually prescribe frameworks, or... migratory game birds under Sec. Sec. 20.101 through 20.107, 20.109, and 20.110 of subpart K. Major steps in... game birds and developed recommendations for the 2010-11 regulations for these species plus regulations...

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

Dale, Virginia H.; Efroymson, Rebecca Ann; Kline, Keith L.

A framework for selecting and evaluating indicators of bioenergy sustainability is presented. This framework is designed to facilitate decision-making about which indicators are useful for assessing sustainability of bioenergy systems and supporting their deployment. Efforts to develop sustainability indicators in the United States and Europe are reviewed. The first steps of the framework for indicator selection are defining the sustainability goals and other goals for a bioenergy project or program, gaining an understanding of the context, and identifying the values of stakeholders. From the goals, context, and stakeholders, the objectives for analysis and criteria for indicator selection can be developed.more » The user of the framework identifies and ranks indicators, applies them in an assessment, and then evaluates their effectiveness, while identifying gaps that prevent goals from being met, assessing lessons learned, and moving toward best practices. The framework approach emphasizes that the selection of appropriate criteria and indicators is driven by the specific purpose of an analysis. Realistic goals and measures of bioenergy sustainability can be developed systematically with the help of the framework presented here.« less

Genetic framework for GATA factor function in vascular biology.

PubMed

Linnemann, Amelia K; O'Geen, Henriette; Keles, Sunduz; Farnham, Peggy J; Bresnick, Emery H

2011-08-16

Vascular endothelial dysfunction underlies the genesis and progression of numerous diseases. Although the GATA transcription factor GATA-2 is expressed in endothelial cells and is implicated in coronary heart disease, it has been studied predominantly as a master regulator of hematopoiesis. Because many questions regarding GATA-2 function in the vascular biology realm remain unanswered, we used ChIP sequencing and loss-of-function strategies to define the GATA-2-instigated genetic network in human endothelial cells. In contrast to erythroid cells, GATA-2 occupied a unique target gene ensemble consisting of genes encoding key determinants of endothelial cell identity and inflammation. GATA-2-occupied sites characteristically contained motifs that bind activator protein-1 (AP-1), a pivotal regulator of inflammatory genes. GATA-2 frequently occupied the same chromatin sites as c-JUN and c-FOS, heterodimeric components of AP-1. Although all three components were required for maximal AP-1 target gene expression, GATA-2 was not required for AP-1 chromatin occupancy. GATA-2 conferred maximal phosphorylation of chromatin-bound c-JUN at Ser-73, which stimulates AP-1-dependent transactivation, in a chromosomal context-dependent manner. This work establishes a link between a GATA factor and inflammatory genes, mechanistic insights underlying GATA-2-AP-1 cooperativity and a rigorous genetic framework for understanding GATA-2 function in normal and pathophysiological vascular states.

Considerations of nano-QSAR/QSPR models for nanopesticide risk assessment within the European legislative framework.

PubMed

Villaverde, Juan José; Sevilla-Morán, Beatriz; López-Goti, Carmen; Alonso-Prados, José Luis; Sandín-España, Pilar

2018-09-01

The European market for pesticides is currently legislated through the well-developed Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009. This regulation promotes the competitiveness of European agriculture, recognizing the necessity of safe pesticides for human and animal health and the environment to protect crops against pests, diseases and weeds. In this sense, nanotechnology can provide a tremendous opportunity to achieve a more rational use of pesticides. However, the lack of information regarding nanopesticides and their fate and behavior in the environment and their effects on human and animal health is inhibiting rapid nanopesticide incorporation into European Union agriculture. This review analyzes the recent state of knowledge on nanopesticide risk assessment, highlighting the challenges that need to be overcame to accelerate the arrival of these new tools for plant protection to European agricultural professionals. Novel nano-Quantitative Structure-Activity/Structure-Property Relationship (nano-QSAR/QSPR) tools for risk assessment are analyzed, including modeling methods and validation procedures towards the potential of these computational instruments to meet the current requirements for authorization of nanoformulations. Future trends on these issues, of pressing importance within the context of the current European pesticide legislative framework, are also discussed. Standard protocols to make high-quality and well-described datasets for the series of related but differently sized nanoparticles/nanopesticides are required. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Accountability-Well-Being-Ethics framework: a new philosophical foundation for occupational therapy.

PubMed

Taff, Steven D; Bakhshi, Parul; Babulal, Ganesh M

2014-12-01

The context that supported occupational therapy's inception has been replaced with new challenges brought on by globalization and dramatic changes in health care. Thus, the profession's philosophical grounding needs to be reframed to (a) achieve balance between science-driven and holistic elements, (b) operate within larger contexts on problems brought on by sociopolitical and natural determinants of health, and (c) maintain an ethical identity across all arenas of practice. This paper presents a brief discussion of the philosophical underpinnings in occupational therapy's history, outlines new global challenges for the profession, and proposes a new framework to address these challenges through education, practice, and research. Occupational therapy finds itself practising in a growing number of middle- and low-income countries where its roles and values need to be context and culture specific. The Accountability-Well-Being-Ethics framework guides the three domains of education, research, and practice to be relevant in an increasingly complex world.

A framework for selecting indicators of bioenergy sustainability

DOE PAGES

Dale, Virginia H.; Efroymson, Rebecca Ann; Kline, Keith L.; ...

2015-05-11

A framework for selecting and evaluating indicators of bioenergy sustainability is presented. This framework is designed to facilitate decision-making about which indicators are useful for assessing sustainability of bioenergy systems and supporting their deployment. Efforts to develop sustainability indicators in the United States and Europe are reviewed. The first steps of the framework for indicator selection are defining the sustainability goals and other goals for a bioenergy project or program, gaining an understanding of the context, and identifying the values of stakeholders. From the goals, context, and stakeholders, the objectives for analysis and criteria for indicator selection can be developed.more » The user of the framework identifies and ranks indicators, applies them in an assessment, and then evaluates their effectiveness, while identifying gaps that prevent goals from being met, assessing lessons learned, and moving toward best practices. The framework approach emphasizes that the selection of appropriate criteria and indicators is driven by the specific purpose of an analysis. Realistic goals and measures of bioenergy sustainability can be developed systematically with the help of the framework presented here.« less

A Framework for Evaluating and Enhancing Alignment in Self-Regulated Learning Research

PubMed Central

Dent, Amy L.; Hoyle, Rick H.

2015-01-01

We discuss the articles of this special issue with reference to an important yet previously only implicit dimension of study quality: alignment across the theoretical and methodological decisions that collectively define an approach to self-regulated learning. Integrating and extending work by leaders in the field, we propose a framework for evaluating alignment in the way self-regulated learning research is both conducted and reported. Within this framework, the special issue articles provide a springboard for discussing methodological promises and pitfalls of increasingly sophisticated research on the dynamic, contingent, and contextualized features of self-regulated learning. PMID:25825589

Developing a Theoretical Framework for Classifying Levels of Context Use for Mathematical Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almuna Salgado, Felipe

2016-01-01

This paper aims to revisit and clarify the term problem context and to develop a theoretical classification of the construct of levels of context use (LCU) to analyse how the context of a problem is used to formulate a problem in mathematical terms and to interpret the answer in relation to the context of a given problem. Two criteria and six…

towards a theory-based multi-dimensional framework for assessment in mathematics: The "SEA" framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anku, Sitsofe E.

1997-09-01

Using the reform documents of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (NCTM, 1989, 1991, 1995), a theory-based multi-dimensional assessment framework (the "SEA" framework) which should help expand the scope of assessment in mathematics is proposed. This framework uses a context based on mathematical reasoning and has components that comprise mathematical concepts, mathematical procedures, mathematical communication, mathematical problem solving, and mathematical disposition.

A bayesian translational framework for knowledge propagation, discovery, and integration under specific contexts.

PubMed

Deng, Michelle; Zollanvari, Amin; Alterovitz, Gil

2012-01-01

The immense corpus of biomedical literature existing today poses challenges in information search and integration. Many links between pieces of knowledge occur or are significant only under certain contexts-rather than under the entire corpus. This study proposes using networks of ontology concepts, linked based on their co-occurrences in annotations of abstracts of biomedical literature and descriptions of experiments, to draw conclusions based on context-specific queries and to better integrate existing knowledge. In particular, a Bayesian network framework is constructed to allow for the linking of related terms from two biomedical ontologies under the queried context concept. Edges in such a Bayesian network allow associations between biomedical concepts to be quantified and inference to be made about the existence of some concepts given prior information about others. This approach could potentially be a powerful inferential tool for context-specific queries, applicable to ontologies in other fields as well.

Regulation and innovation dynamics for nanoresponsible development: The case of the French code de l'environnement L 523-1 to L 523-5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auplat, C.; Ben Slimane, S.

2015-05-01

This paper examines one aspect of innovation dynamics for nanoresponsible development: the links between regulation and innovation dynamics. It focuses on the case of the French Code de l'environnement, Articles L. 523-1 to L. 523-3. Articles L. 523-1 to L. 523-3 of the French environment code provide for the obligation to declare the quantities and uses of substances at nanoscale produced, distributed or imported in France. This procedure is intended to improve knowledge of these substances and their uses as well as of their markets and volumes sold, to ensure traceability and to collect available information on their toxicological and ecotoxicological properties. The paper builds on recent work on the emergence of a regulatory framework for nanotechnologies to take stock of the current situation in France, in the EU and globally and to explore how this specific law package may influence innovation and the shaping of new markets for nanobased materials. The study shows that nano-regulation does have an impact on innovation. However, the impact is not the same with EU regulation and with French regulation, and while EU regulation seems to create a favourable context for innovation, French regulation seems to do the opposite. With this study we hope to bring new perspectives to the field of the strategic management of innovation, and also to shed some light on the roles and challenges of institutions to facilitate nanoresponsible development.

Seeking Social Justice in the ACRL Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Battista, Andrew; Ellenwood, Dave; Gregory, Lua; Higgins, Shana; Lilburn, Jeff; Harker, Yasmin Sokkar; Sweet, Christopher

2015-01-01

The scope of this article is to address the possibilities and challenges librarians concerned with social justice may face when working with the ACRL "Framework." While the "Framework" recognizes that information emerges from varied contexts that reflect uneven distributions of power, privilege, and authority, it is missing a…

Medicalising disability? Regulation and practice around fitness assessment of disabled students and professionals in nursing, social work and teaching professions in Great Britain.

PubMed

Sin, Chih Hoong

2009-01-01

The reliance on medical information and on occupational health (OH) professionals in ascertaining fitness of applicants and registrants within the educational and employment contexts may lead to the medicalisation of disability. The Disability Rights Commission's Formal Investigation into the regulation of three public sector professions of nursing, social work and teaching in Britain sheds light on the nature of regulatory fitness requirements and how these are implemented in practice. The multi-pronged investigation included a review of relevant statutory and regulatory frameworks, formal written and oral evidence submitted by key stakeholder organisations and research into formal and informal fitness assessments within the education and employment contexts. There are varied and vague fitness requirements in all three professions. OH professionals figure prominently in formal and informal decision-making around fitness within education and employment settings, regardless of regulatory prescriptions. There is a multitude of approaches. There are, however, particular issues in the deployment of OH expertise within the employment setting. The determination of fitness should not rely solely on medical information. Blanket fitness requirements that are not contextualized against specific competencies for particular jobs are inappropriate. More collaborative and integrated working is necessary, particularly in exploring how reasonable adjustments may be provided to enable safe and effective practice. The positive spirit of the disability equality duty should be embraced.

Quackery or quality: the ethicolegal basis for a legislative framework for medical innovation.

PubMed

Samanta, Jo; Samanta, Ash

2015-06-01

Innovative therapy is a matter of recent public interest, particularly following Lord Saatchi's Medical Innovation Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to encourage responsible innovation in medical treatment. We argue for the need to achieve a balance between the risks of medical innovation and patient safety considerations. We make the case for statutory regulation of medical innovation on the basis of responsible innovation, choice and patient-centred care. At the heart of regulation of medical innovation is care delivered by a process which is accountable, transparent and allows full consideration of all relevant matters. This paper proposes a two-stage test (to assess applicability of medical innovation as well as suitability for the choice of intervention to be undertaken). It is suggested that this model would provide safeguards for patients as well as define limits for doctors in the context of innovative therapy. Implementation and application of such therapy must be underpinned by due process and governance oversight, which could be provided through context-specific professional peer review. A combination of these ethicolegal principles would permit responsible medical innovation and maximise benefit in terms of therapy and patient-centred care. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

What Educational Contexts Should Teachers Consider for Their Puberty Education Programmes?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collier-Harris, Christine A.; Goldman, Juliette D. G.

2017-01-01

This paper analyses some contemporary educational contexts that teachers should consider for their puberty education programmes and/or curricula, for primary and secondary school students. The educational contexts addressed here include significant international puberty education framework documents, socio-biological factors including earlier…

Genre and Literacy-Modeling Context in Educational Linguistics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, James R.

1992-01-01

Complements review in previous volume concerning Australian literacy (in first- and second-language) initiatives that drew on systemic functional linguistics, highlights ongoing research within the same theoretical framework, and focuses on the question of modeling context in educational linguistics. The discussion includes modeling context as…

Body-related envy: a social comparison perspective in sport and exercise.

PubMed

Pila, Eva; Stamiris, Angela; Castonguay, Andree; Sabiston, Catherine M

2014-02-01

These three studies sought to better understand experiences of body-related envy and to examine the association with motivation and exercise behavior in young adult males and females. In an interview study, participants (N = 11) discussed body-related envy within a framework of social comparison. In Study 2, a thematic content analysis was conducted on self-reported narratives of body-related envy experiences reported by 288 participants. Themes of body-related envy triggers, cognitions, and cognitive and behavioral outcomes were identified. Findings from Studies 1 and 2 highlighted the possible link between body-related envy and exercise motivation and behavior. Study 3 tested these associations with males and females (N = 595) who completed a self-report questionnaire. In the structural equation model, body-related envy was positively associated with external, introjected, and identified regulations, and identified regulation was positively associated with exercise behavior. Taken together, the importance of body-related envy in the experience of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes related to sport and exercise contexts is highlighted.

Safety Assessment of Food and Feed from GM Crops in Europe: Evaluating EFSA's Alternative Framework for the Rat 90-day Feeding Study.

PubMed

Hong, Bonnie; Du, Yingzhou; Mukerji, Pushkor; Roper, Jason M; Appenzeller, Laura M

2017-07-12

Regulatory-compliant rodent subchronic feeding studies are compulsory regardless of a hypothesis to test, according to recent EU legislation for the safety assessment of whole food/feed produced from genetically modified (GM) crops containing a single genetic transformation event (European Union Commission Implementing Regulation No. 503/2013). The Implementing Regulation refers to guidelines set forth by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for the design, conduct, and analysis of rodent subchronic feeding studies. The set of EFSA recommendations was rigorously applied to a 90-day feeding study in Sprague-Dawley rats. After study completion, the appropriateness and applicability of these recommendations were assessed using a battery of statistical analysis approaches including both retrospective and prospective statistical power analyses as well as variance-covariance decomposition. In the interest of animal welfare considerations, alternative experimental designs were investigated and evaluated in the context of informing the health risk assessment of food/feed from GM crops.

The Importance of Context in Task Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiland, Travis

2017-01-01

Context is at the core of any statistical investigation, yet many statistics tasks barely require students to go beyond superficial consideration of the contexts the tasks are situated in. In this article, I discuss a framework for evaluating the level of interaction with context a task requires of students and how to modify tasks to increase the…

Towards a Context-Aware Proactive Decision Support Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-15

initiative that has developed text analytic technology that crosses the semantic gap into the area of event recognition and representation. The...recognizing operational context, and techniques for recognizing context shift. Additional research areas include: • Adequately capturing users...Universal Interaction Context Ontology [12] might serve as a foundation • Instantiating formal models of decision making based on information seeking

The Role of Social Contexts in Adolescence: Context Protection and Context Risk in the United States and China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa, Frances M.; Jessor, Richard; Turbin, Mark S.; Dong, Qi; Zhang, Hongchuan; Wang, Changhai

2005-01-01

A theoretical framework about protective factors (models protection, controls protection, support protection) and risk factors (models risk, opportunity risk, vulnerability risk) was employed to articulate the content of 4 key contexts of adolescent life--family, peers, school, and neighborhood--in a cross-national study of problem behavior among…

Emotion regulation strategy selection in daily life: The role of social context and goals.

PubMed

English, Tammy; Lee, Ihno A; John, Oliver P; Gross, James J

2017-04-01

Recent studies have begun to document the diversity of ways people regulate their emotions. However, one unanswered question is why people regulate their emotions as they do in everyday life. In the present research, we examined how social context and goals influence strategy selection in daily high points and low points. As expected, suppression was particularly tied to social features of context: it was used more when others were present, especially non-close partners, and when people had instrumental goals, especially more interpersonal ones (e.g., avoid conflict). Distraction and reappraisal were used more when regulating for hedonic reasons (e.g., to feel better), but these strategies were also linked to certain instrumental goals (e.g., getting work done). When contra-hedonic regulation occurred, it primarily took the form of dampening positive emotion during high points. Suppression was more likely to be used for contra-hedonic regulation, whereas reappraisal and distraction were used more for pro-hedonic regulation. Overall, these findings highlight the social nature of emotion regulation and underscore the importance of examining regulation in both positive and negative contexts.

Emotion regulation strategy selection in daily life: The role of social context and goals

PubMed Central

Lee, Ihno A.; John, Oliver P.; Gross, James J.

2016-01-01

Recent studies have begun to document the diversity of ways people regulate their emotions. However, one unanswered question is why people regulate their emotions as they do in everyday life. In the present research, we examined how social context and goals influence strategy selection in daily high points and low points. As expected, suppression was particularly tied to social features of context: it was used more when others were present, especially non-close partners, and when people had instrumental goals, especially more interpersonal ones (e.g., avoid conflict). Distraction and reappraisal were used more when regulating for hedonic reasons (e.g., to feel better), but these strategies were also linked to certain instrumental goals (e.g., getting work done). When contra-hedonic regulation occurred, it primarily took the form of dampening positive emotion during high points. Suppression was more likely to be used for contra-hedonic regulation, whereas reappraisal and distraction were used more for pro-hedonic regulation. Overall, these findings highlight the social nature of emotion regulation and underscore the importance of examining regulation in both positive and negative contexts. PMID:28652647

78 FR 79241 - Assessment Framework and Organizational Restatement Regarding Preemption for Certain Regulations...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... Under the Authority of 46 U.S.C. Chapter 32 G. Regulations Issued Pursuant to 46 U.S.C. Chapter 32 H. Preemption Restatement and Assessment Framework for Regulations Issued Under the Authority of 46 U.S.C. Chapter 33 I. Regulations Issued Pursuant to 46 U.S.C. Chapter 33 J. Preemption Restatement and Assessment...

Robustness Metrics: How Are They Calculated, When Should They Be Used and Why Do They Give Different Results?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPhail, C.; Maier, H. R.; Kwakkel, J. H.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Westra, S.

2018-02-01

Robustness is being used increasingly for decision analysis in relation to deep uncertainty and many metrics have been proposed for its quantification. Recent studies have shown that the application of different robustness metrics can result in different rankings of decision alternatives, but there has been little discussion of what potential causes for this might be. To shed some light on this issue, we present a unifying framework for the calculation of robustness metrics, which assists with understanding how robustness metrics work, when they should be used, and why they sometimes disagree. The framework categorizes the suitability of metrics to a decision-maker based on (1) the decision-context (i.e., the suitability of using absolute performance or regret), (2) the decision-maker's preferred level of risk aversion, and (3) the decision-maker's preference toward maximizing performance, minimizing variance, or some higher-order moment. This article also introduces a conceptual framework describing when relative robustness values of decision alternatives obtained using different metrics are likely to agree and disagree. This is used as a measure of how "stable" the ranking of decision alternatives is when determined using different robustness metrics. The framework is tested on three case studies, including water supply augmentation in Adelaide, Australia, the operation of a multipurpose regulated lake in Italy, and flood protection for a hypothetical river based on a reach of the river Rhine in the Netherlands. The proposed conceptual framework is confirmed by the case study results, providing insight into the reasons for disagreements between rankings obtained using different robustness metrics.

The Legacy Ecosystem Management Framework: From Theory to Application in the Detention Pond Case Study

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

Coty, J; Stevenson, M; Vogt, K A

The Detention Pond is a constructed and lined storm water treatment basin at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that serves multiple stakeholder objectives and programmatic goals. This paper examines the process and outcome involved in the development of a new management plan for the Detention Pond. The plan was created using a new ecosystem management tool, the Legacy Framework. This stakeholder-driven conceptual framework provides an interdisciplinary methodology for determining ecosystem health, appropriate management strategies, and sensitive indicators. The conceptual framework, the Detention Ponds project, and the use of the framework in the context of the project, are described and evaluated, andmore » evaluative criteria for this and other ecosystem management frameworks are offered. The project benefited in several ways from use of the Legacy Framework, although refinements to the framework are suggested. The stakeholder process created a context and environment in which team members became receptive to using an ecosystem management approach to evaluate and support management alternatives previously not considered. This allowed for the unanimous agreement to pursue support from upper management and organizational funding to implement a progressive management strategy. The greatly improved stakeholder relations resulted in upper management support for the project.« less

Transformation of Adolescent Peer Relations in the Social Media Context: Part 1-A Theoretical Framework and Application to Dyadic Peer Relationships.

PubMed

Nesi, Jacqueline; Choukas-Bradley, Sophia; Prinstein, Mitchell J

2018-04-07

Investigators have long recognized that adolescents' peer experiences provide a crucial context for the acquisition of developmental competencies, as well as potential risks for a range of adjustment difficulties. However, recent years have seen an exponential increase in adolescents' adoption of social media tools, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of adolescent peer interactions. Although research has begun to examine social media use among adolescents, researchers have lacked a unifying framework for understanding the impact of social media on adolescents' peer experiences. This paper represents Part 1 of a two-part theoretical review, in which we offer a transformation framework to integrate interdisciplinary social media scholarship and guide future work on social media use and peer relations from a theory-driven perspective. We draw on prior conceptualizations of social media as a distinct interpersonal context and apply this understanding to adolescents' peer experiences, outlining features of social media with particular relevance to adolescent peer relations. We argue that social media transforms adolescent peer relationships in five key ways: by changing the frequency or immediacy of experiences, amplifying experiences and demands, altering the qualitative nature of interactions, facilitating new opportunities for compensatory behaviors, and creating entirely novel behaviors. We offer an illustration of the transformation framework applied to adolescents' dyadic friendship processes (i.e., experiences typically occurring between two individuals), reviewing existing evidence and offering theoretical implications. Overall, the transformation framework represents a departure from the prevailing approaches of prior peer relations work and a new model for understanding peer relations in the social media context.

A business rules design framework for a pharmaceutical validation and alert system.

PubMed

Boussadi, A; Bousquet, C; Sabatier, B; Caruba, T; Durieux, P; Degoulet, P

2011-01-01

Several alert systems have been developed to improve the patient safety aspects of clinical information systems (CIS). Most studies have focused on the evaluation of these systems, with little information provided about the methodology leading to system implementation. We propose here an 'agile' business rule design framework (BRDF) supporting both the design of alerts for the validation of drug prescriptions and the incorporation of the end user into the design process. We analyzed the unified process (UP) design life cycle and defined the activities, subactivities, actors and UML artifacts that could be used to enhance the agility of the proposed framework. We then applied the proposed framework to two different sets of data in the context of the Georges Pompidou University Hospital (HEGP) CIS. We introduced two new subactivities into UP: business rule specification and business rule instantiation activity. The pharmacist made an effective contribution to five of the eight BRDF design activities. Validation of the two new subactivities was effected in the context of drug dosage adaption to the patients' clinical and biological contexts. Pilot experiment shows that business rules modeled with BRDF and implemented as an alert system triggered an alert for 5824 of the 71,413 prescriptions considered (8.16%). A business rule design framework approach meets one of the strategic objectives for decision support design by taking into account three important criteria posing a particular challenge to system designers: 1) business processes, 2) knowledge modeling of the context of application, and 3) the agility of the various design steps.

Frameworks for organizing exposure and toxicity data - the Aggregate Exposure Pathway (AEP) and the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP)

EPA Science Inventory

The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework organizes existing knowledge regarding a series of biological events, starting with a molecular initiating event (MIE) and ending at an adverse outcome. The AOP framework provides a biological context to interpret in vitro toxicity dat...

Peer-Formativity: A Framework for Academic Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Rowena; Thow, Morag

2014-01-01

The system currently deployed to assess research outputs in higher education can influence what, how and for whom academics write; for some it may determine whether or not they write at all. This article offers a framework for negotiating this performative context--the writing meeting. This framework uses the established theoretical underpinning…

Entrepreneurship, Professionalism, Leadership: A Framework and Measure for Understanding Boundaryless Careers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Kim Yin; Ho, Moon-ho R.; Chernyshenko, Oleksandr S.; Bedford, Olwen; Uy, Marilyn A.; Gomulya, David; Sam, Y. L.; Phan, Wei Ming J.

2012-01-01

We propose a person-centered framework for conceptualizing subjective careers in an increasingly boundaryless work context. Specifically, we argue that entrepreneurship, professionalism, and leadership (EPL) can serve as three key dimensions of subjective career space. We relate this framework to earlier macro-level national and organizational…

Autophagy-related approaches for improving nutrient use efficiency and crop yield protection.

PubMed

Avin-Wittenberg, Tamar; Baluška, Frantisek; Bozhkov, Peter V; Elander, Pernilla H; Fernie, Alisdair R; Galili, Gad; Hassan, Ammar; Hofius, Daniel; Isono, Erika; Le Bars, Romain; Masclaux-Daubresse, Céline; Minina, Elena A; Peled-Zehavi, Hadas; Coll, Núria S; Sandalio, Luisa M; Satiat-Jeunemaitre, Béatrice; Sirko, Agnieszka; Testillano, Pilar S; Batoko, Henri

2018-03-14

Autophagy is a eukaryotic catabolic pathway essential for growth and development. In plants, it is activated in response to environmental cues or developmental stimuli. However, in contrast to other eukaryotic systems, we know relatively little regarding the molecular players involved in autophagy and the regulation of this complex pathway. In the framework of the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) action TRANSAUTOPHAGY (2016-2020), we decided to review our current knowledge of autophagy responses in higher plants, with emphasis on knowledge gaps. We also assess here the potential of translating the acquired knowledge to improve crop plant growth and development in a context of growing social and environmental challenges for agriculture in the near future.

Mathematical modeling of human cardiovascular system for simulation of orthostatic response

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melchior, F. M.; Srinivasan, R. S.; Charles, J. B.

1992-01-01

This paper deals with the short-term response of the human cardiovascular system to orthostatic stresses in the context of developing a mathematical model of the overall system. It discusses the physiological issues involved and how these issues have been handled in published cardiovascular models for simulation of orthostatic response. Most of the models are stimulus specific with no demonstrated capability for simulating the responses to orthostatic stimuli of different types. A comprehensive model incorporating all known phenomena related to cardiovascular regulation would greatly help to interpret the various orthostatic responses of the system in a consistent manner and to understand the interactions among its elements. This paper provides a framework for future efforts in mathematical modeling of the entire cardiovascular system.

Children’s Self-Regulation in Cultural Contexts: The Role of Parental Socialization Theories, Goals, and Practices

PubMed Central

Jaramillo, Jorge M.; Rendón, María I.; Muñoz, Lorena; Weis, Mirjam; Trommsdorff, Gisela

2017-01-01

Self-regulation is a complex multidimensional construct which has been approached mainly in Western cultural contexts. The present contribution examines the importance of considering the culture-sensitive nature of self-regulation by reviewing theory and research on the development of children’s self-regulation in different cultural contexts. This review of theory and research allows to suggest that widely shared values in a cultural group influence parental socialization theories, goals, and practices, which in turn have an impact on how children learn to self-regulate, the forms of self-regulation they develop, and the goals associated with self-regulation. Thus, this article concludes that more specific research is required to relate both the developmental and the cultural aspects of children’s self-regulation. PMID:28634460

The advantages and limitations of guideline adaptation frameworks.

PubMed

Wang, Zhicheng; Norris, Susan L; Bero, Lisa

2018-05-29

The implementation of evidence-based guidelines can improve clinical and public health outcomes by helping health professionals practice in the most effective manner, as well as assisting policy-makers in designing optimal programs. Adaptation of a guideline to suit the context in which it is intended to be applied can be a key step in the implementation process. Without taking the local context into account, certain interventions recommended in evidence-based guidelines may be infeasible under local conditions. Guideline adaptation frameworks provide a systematic way of approaching adaptation, and their use may increase transparency, methodological rigor, and the quality of the adapted guideline. This paper presents a number of adaptation frameworks that are currently available. We aim to compare the advantages and limitations of their processes, methods, and resource implications. These insights into adaptation frameworks can inform the future development of guidelines and systematic methods to optimize their adaptation. Recent adaptation frameworks show an evolution from adapting entire existing guidelines, to adapting specific recommendations extracted from an existing guideline, to constructing evidence tables for each recommendation that needs to be adapted. This is a move towards more recommendation-focused, context-specific processes and considerations. There are still many gaps in knowledge about guideline adaptation. Most of the frameworks reviewed lack any evaluation of the adaptation process and outcomes, including user satisfaction and resources expended. The validity, usability, and health impact of guidelines developed via an adaptation process have not been studied. Lastly, adaptation frameworks have not been evaluated for use in low-income countries. Despite the limitations in frameworks, a more systematic approach to adaptation based on a framework is valuable, as it helps to ensure that the recommendations stay true to the evidence while taking local needs into account. The utilization of frameworks in the guideline implementation process can be optimized by increasing the understanding and upfront estimation of resource and time needed, capacity building in adaptation methods, and increasing the adaptability of the source recommendation document.

Health information systems evaluation frameworks: A systematic review.

PubMed

Eslami Andargoli, Amirhossein; Scheepers, Helana; Rajendran, Diana; Sohal, Amrik

2017-01-01

Evaluation of health information systems (HISs) is complicated because of the complex nature of the health care domain. Various studies have proposed different frameworks to reduce the complexity in the assessment of these systems. The aim of these frameworks is to provide a set of guidelines for the evaluation of the adequacy of health care information systems. This paper aims to analyse studies on the evaluation of HISs by applying a content, context and process (CCP) framework to address the 'who', 'what', 'how', 'when', and 'why' of the evaluation processes used. This will allow for a better understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of various HISs evaluation frameworks, and will pave the way for developing a more complete framework for HISs. A systematic literature review on HIS evaluation studies was undertaken to identify the currently available HIS evaluation frameworks. Five academic databases were selected to conduct this systematic literature review. Most of the studies only address some, but not all, of the five main questions, i.e. the who, what, how, when, why, and that there was a lack of consensus in the way these questions were addressed. The critical role of context was also largely neglected in these studies. Evaluation of HISs is complex. The health care domain is highly context sensitive and in order to have a complete assessment of HISs, consideration of contextual factors is necessary. Specifically, to have the right set of criteria to measure the 'what', the answer to the 'who' of the evaluation is necessary. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modular modelling with Physiome standards

PubMed Central

Nickerson, David P.; Nielsen, Poul M. F.; Hunter, Peter J.

2016-01-01

Key points The complexity of computational models is increasing, supported by research in modelling tools and frameworks. But relatively little thought has gone into design principles for complex models.We propose a set of design principles for complex model construction with the Physiome standard modelling protocol CellML.By following the principles, models are generated that are extensible and are themselves suitable for reuse in larger models of increasing complexity.We illustrate these principles with examples including an architectural prototype linking, for the first time, electrophysiology, thermodynamically compliant metabolism, signal transduction, gene regulation and synthetic biology.The design principles complement other Physiome research projects, facilitating the application of virtual experiment protocols and model analysis techniques to assist the modelling community in creating libraries of composable, characterised and simulatable quantitative descriptions of physiology. Abstract The ability to produce and customise complex computational models has great potential to have a positive impact on human health. As the field develops towards whole‐cell models and linking such models in multi‐scale frameworks to encompass tissue, organ, or organism levels, reuse of previous modelling efforts will become increasingly necessary. Any modelling group wishing to reuse existing computational models as modules for their own work faces many challenges in the context of construction, storage, retrieval, documentation and analysis of such modules. Physiome standards, frameworks and tools seek to address several of these challenges, especially for models expressed in the modular protocol CellML. Aside from providing a general ability to produce modules, there has been relatively little research work on architectural principles of CellML models that will enable reuse at larger scales. To complement and support the existing tools and frameworks, we develop a set of principles to address this consideration. The principles are illustrated with examples that couple electrophysiology, signalling, metabolism, gene regulation and synthetic biology, together forming an architectural prototype for whole‐cell modelling (including human intervention) in CellML. Such models illustrate how testable units of quantitative biophysical simulation can be constructed. Finally, future relationships between modular models so constructed and Physiome frameworks and tools are discussed, with particular reference to how such frameworks and tools can in turn be extended to complement and gain more benefit from the results of applying the principles. PMID:27353233

Human Behavior Analysis by Means of Multimodal Context Mining

PubMed Central

Banos, Oresti; Villalonga, Claudia; Bang, Jaehun; Hur, Taeho; Kang, Donguk; Park, Sangbeom; Huynh-The, Thien; Le-Ba, Vui; Amin, Muhammad Bilal; Razzaq, Muhammad Asif; Khan, Wahajat Ali; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungyoung

2016-01-01

There is sufficient evidence proving the impact that negative lifestyle choices have on people’s health and wellness. Changing unhealthy behaviours requires raising people’s self-awareness and also providing healthcare experts with a thorough and continuous description of the user’s conduct. Several monitoring techniques have been proposed in the past to track users’ behaviour; however, these approaches are either subjective and prone to misreporting, such as questionnaires, or only focus on a specific component of context, such as activity counters. This work presents an innovative multimodal context mining framework to inspect and infer human behaviour in a more holistic fashion. The proposed approach extends beyond the state-of-the-art, since it not only explores a sole type of context, but also combines diverse levels of context in an integral manner. Namely, low-level contexts, including activities, emotions and locations, are identified from heterogeneous sensory data through machine learning techniques. Low-level contexts are combined using ontological mechanisms to derive a more abstract representation of the user’s context, here referred to as high-level context. An initial implementation of the proposed framework supporting real-time context identification is also presented. The developed system is evaluated for various realistic scenarios making use of a novel multimodal context open dataset and data on-the-go, demonstrating prominent context-aware capabilities at both low and high levels. PMID:27517928

Human Behavior Analysis by Means of Multimodal Context Mining.

PubMed

Banos, Oresti; Villalonga, Claudia; Bang, Jaehun; Hur, Taeho; Kang, Donguk; Park, Sangbeom; Huynh-The, Thien; Le-Ba, Vui; Amin, Muhammad Bilal; Razzaq, Muhammad Asif; Khan, Wahajat Ali; Hong, Choong Seon; Lee, Sungyoung

2016-08-10

There is sufficient evidence proving the impact that negative lifestyle choices have on people's health and wellness. Changing unhealthy behaviours requires raising people's self-awareness and also providing healthcare experts with a thorough and continuous description of the user's conduct. Several monitoring techniques have been proposed in the past to track users' behaviour; however, these approaches are either subjective and prone to misreporting, such as questionnaires, or only focus on a specific component of context, such as activity counters. This work presents an innovative multimodal context mining framework to inspect and infer human behaviour in a more holistic fashion. The proposed approach extends beyond the state-of-the-art, since it not only explores a sole type of context, but also combines diverse levels of context in an integral manner. Namely, low-level contexts, including activities, emotions and locations, are identified from heterogeneous sensory data through machine learning techniques. Low-level contexts are combined using ontological mechanisms to derive a more abstract representation of the user's context, here referred to as high-level context. An initial implementation of the proposed framework supporting real-time context identification is also presented. The developed system is evaluated for various realistic scenarios making use of a novel multimodal context open dataset and data on-the-go, demonstrating prominent context-aware capabilities at both low and high levels.

'It was like I had to fit into a category': Care-seekers' experiences of gender regulation in the Swedish trans-specific healthcare.

PubMed

Linander, Ida; Alm, Erika; Goicolea, Isabel; Harryson, Lisa

2017-05-01

The few previous studies investigating regulation of gender in trans-specific healthcare are mainly based on text material and interviews with care-providers or consist solely of theoretical analyses. There is a lack of studies analysing how the regulation of gender is expressed in the care-seeker's own experiences, especially in a Nordic context. The aim of this study is to analyse narratives of individuals with trans experiences (sometimes called transgender people) to examine how gender performances can be regulated in trans-specific care in Sweden. The conceptual framework is inspired by trans studies, a Foucauldian analysis of power, queer phenomenology and the concept of cisnormativity. Fourteen interviews with people with trans experiences are analysed with constructivist grounded theory. The participants' experiences indicate that gender is constructed as norm-conforming, binary and stable in trans-specific healthcare. This gendered position is resisted, negotiated and embraced by the care-seekers. Norms and discourses both inside and outside trans-specific care contribute to the regulation and limit the room for action for care-users. We conclude that a trans-specific care that has a confirming approach to its care-users, instead of the current focus on gender norm conformity, has the potential to increase the self-determination of gender performance and increase the quality of care.

Practices and ethical concerns regarding preimplantation diagnosis. Who regulates preimplantation genetic diagnosis in Brazil?

PubMed Central

Damian, B.B.; Bonetti, T.C.S.; Horovitz, D.D.G.

2014-01-01

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was originally developed to diagnose embryo-related genetic abnormalities for couples who present a high risk of a specific inherited disorder. Because this technology involves embryo selection, the medical, bioethical, and legal implications of the technique have been debated, particularly when it is used to select features that are not related to serious diseases. Although several initiatives have attempted to achieve regulatory harmonization, the diversity of healthcare services available and the presence of cultural differences have hampered attempts to achieve this goal. Thus, in different countries, the provision of PGD and regulatory frameworks reflect the perceptions of scientific groups, legislators, and society regarding this technology. In Brazil, several texts have been analyzed by the National Congress to regulate the use of assisted reproduction technologies. Legislative debates, however, are not conclusive, and limited information has been published on how PGD is specifically regulated. The country requires the development of new regulatory standards to ensure adequate access to this technology and to guarantee its safe practice. This study examined official documents published on PGD regulation in Brazil and demonstrated how little direct oversight of PGD currently exists. It provides relevant information to encourage reflection on a particular regulation model in a Brazilian context, and should serve as part of the basis to enable further reform of the clinical practice of PGD in the country. PMID:25493379

Self- and Social Regulation in Learning Contexts: An Integrative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Volet, Simone; Vauras, Marja; Salonen, Pekka

2009-01-01

This article outlines the rationale for an integrative perspective of self- and social regulation in learning contexts. The role of regulatory mechanisms in self- and social regulation models is examined, leading to the view that in real time collaborative learning, individuals and social entities should be conceptualized as self-regulating and…

Socialization of Self-Regulation: Continuity and Discontinuity Over Age and Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brownell, Celia A.; Etheridge, Wendy; Hungerford, Anne; Kelley, Sue

Self-regulation is a major developmental accomplishment that begins in infancy and continues throughout childhood. This study focused on early socialization of self-regulation, and examined whether there was a common core of self-regulation in young children cutting across contexts and age, and whether the same maternal behaviors operate similarly…

Understanding Career Context as a Key to Best Serving Adult Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bohonos, Jeremy

2014-01-01

Professional development plays a key role in motivating many adult learners. Understanding these students' career contexts allows for more effective program development and better student services. This article presents five broad categories of career context and provides a brief framework which educators can use to more effectively…

Culture Writes the Script: On the Centrality of Context in Indigenous Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaFrance, Joan; Nichols, Richard; Kirkhart, Karen E.

2012-01-01

Context grounds all aspects of indigenous evaluation. From an indigenous evaluation framework (IEF), programs are understood within their relationship to place, setting, and community, and evaluations are planned, undertaken, and validated in relation to cultural context. This chapter describes and explains fundamental elements of IEF epistemology…

Refining the Enrolment Process in Emergency Medicine Research.

PubMed

Sahan, Kate M; Channon, Keith M; Choudhury, Robin P; Kharbanda, Rajesh K; Lee, Regent; Sheehan, Mark

2016-04-01

Research in the emergency setting involving patients with acute clinical conditions is needed if there are to be advances in diagnosis and treatment. But research in these areas poses ethical and practical challenges. One of these is the general inability to obtain informed consent due to the patient's lack of mental capacity and insufficient time to contact legal representatives. Regulatory frameworks which allow this research to proceed with a consent 'waiver', provided patients lack mental capacity, miss important ethical subtleties. One of these is the varying nature of mental capacity among emergency medicine patients. Not only is their capacity variable and often unclear, but some patients are also likely to be able to engage with the researcher and the context to varying degrees. In this paper we describe the key elements of a novel enrolment process for emergency medicine research that refines the consent waiver and fully engages with the ethical rationale for consent and, in this context, its waiver. The process is verbal but independently documented during the 'emergent' stages of the research. It provides appropriate engagement with the patient, is context-sensitive and better addresses ethical subtleties. In line with regulation, full written consent for on-going participation in the research is obtained once the emergency is passed.

A domain-knowledge-inspired mathematical framework for the description and classification of H&E stained histopathology images.

PubMed

Massar, Melody L; Bhagavatula, Ramamurthy; Ozolek, John A; Castro, Carlos A; Fickus, Matthew; Kovačević, Jelena

2011-10-19

We present the current state of our work on a mathematical framework for identification and delineation of histopathology images-local histograms and occlusion models. Local histograms are histograms computed over defined spatial neighborhoods whose purpose is to characterize an image locally. This unit of description is augmented by our occlusion models that describe a methodology for image formation. In the context of this image formation model, the power of local histograms with respect to appropriate families of images will be shown through various proved statements about expected performance. We conclude by presenting a preliminary study to demonstrate the power of the framework in the context of histopathology image classification tasks that, while differing greatly in application, both originate from what is considered an appropriate class of images for this framework.

Regulating Cannabis Social Clubs: A comparative analysis of legal and self-regulatory practices in Spain, Belgium and Uruguay.

PubMed

Decorte, Tom; Pardal, Mafalda; Queirolo, Rosario; Boidi, Maria Fernanda; Sánchez Avilés, Constanza; Parés Franquero, Òscar

2017-05-01

Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) are a model of non-profit production and distribution of cannabis among a closed circuit of adult cannabis users. CSCs are now operating in several countries around the world, albeit under very different legal regimes and in different socio-political contexts. In this paper we describe and compare the legal framework and the self-regulatory practices of Cannabis Social Clubs in three countries (Spain, Belgium, and Uruguay). The objective of our comparative analysis is to investigate how CSCs operate in each of these countries. To foster discussions about how one might regulate CSCs to promote public health objectives, we conclude this paper with a discussion on the balance between adequate governmental control and self-regulatory competences of CSCs. The data used for this analysis stem from independently conducted local studies by the authors in their countries. Although the particular designs of the studies differ, the data in all three countries was collected through similar data collection methods: analysis of (legal and other documents), field visits to the clubs, interviews with staff members, media content analysis. We identified a number of similarities and differences among the CSCs' practices in the three countries. Formal registration as non-profit association seems to be a common standard among CSCs. We found nevertheless great variation in terms of the size of these organisations. Generally, only adult nationals and/or residents are able to join the CSCs, upon the payment of a membership fee. While production seems to be guided by consumption estimates of the members (Spain and Belgium) or by the legal framework (Uruguay), the thresholds applied by the clubs vary significantly across countries. Quality control practices remain an issue in the three settings studied here. The CSCs have developed different arrangements with regards to the distribution of cannabis to their members. By uncovering the current practices of CSCs in three key settings, this paper contributes to the understanding of the model, which has to some extent been shaped by the self-regulatory efforts of those involved on the ground. We suggest that some of these self-regulatory practices could be accommodated in future regulation in this area, while other aspects of the functioning of the CSCs may require more formal regulation and monitoring. Decisions on this model should also take into account the local context where the clubs have emerged. Finally, the integration of medical supply within this model warrants further attention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental Stewardship: A Conceptual Review and Analytical Framework.

PubMed

Bennett, Nathan J; Whitty, Tara S; Finkbeiner, Elena; Pittman, Jeremy; Bassett, Hannah; Gelcich, Stefan; Allison, Edward H

2018-04-01

There has been increasing attention to and investment in local environmental stewardship in conservation and environmental management policies and programs globally. Yet environmental stewardship has not received adequate conceptual attention. Establishing a clear definition and comprehensive analytical framework could strengthen our ability to understand the factors that lead to the success or failure of environmental stewardship in different contexts and how to most effectively support and enable local efforts. Here we propose such a definition and framework. First, we define local environmental stewardship as the actions taken by individuals, groups or networks of actors, with various motivations and levels of capacity, to protect, care for or responsibly use the environment in pursuit of environmental and/or social outcomes in diverse social-ecological contexts. Next, drawing from a review of the environmental stewardship, management and governance literatures, we unpack the elements of this definition to develop an analytical framework that can facilitate research on local environmental stewardship. Finally, we discuss potential interventions and leverage points for promoting or supporting local stewardship and future applications of the framework to guide descriptive, evaluative, prescriptive or systematic analysis of environmental stewardship. Further application of this framework in diverse environmental and social contexts is recommended to refine the elements and develop insights that will guide and improve the outcomes of environmental stewardship initiatives and investments. Ultimately, our aim is to raise the profile of environmental stewardship as a valuable and holistic concept for guiding productive and sustained relationships with the environment.

Environmental Stewardship: A Conceptual Review and Analytical Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, Nathan J.; Whitty, Tara S.; Finkbeiner, Elena; Pittman, Jeremy; Bassett, Hannah; Gelcich, Stefan; Allison, Edward H.

2018-04-01

There has been increasing attention to and investment in local environmental stewardship in conservation and environmental management policies and programs globally. Yet environmental stewardship has not received adequate conceptual attention. Establishing a clear definition and comprehensive analytical framework could strengthen our ability to understand the factors that lead to the success or failure of environmental stewardship in different contexts and how to most effectively support and enable local efforts. Here we propose such a definition and framework. First, we define local environmental stewardship as the actions taken by individuals, groups or networks of actors, with various motivations and levels of capacity, to protect, care for or responsibly use the environment in pursuit of environmental and/or social outcomes in diverse social-ecological contexts. Next, drawing from a review of the environmental stewardship, management and governance literatures, we unpack the elements of this definition to develop an analytical framework that can facilitate research on local environmental stewardship. Finally, we discuss potential interventions and leverage points for promoting or supporting local stewardship and future applications of the framework to guide descriptive, evaluative, prescriptive or systematic analysis of environmental stewardship. Further application of this framework in diverse environmental and social contexts is recommended to refine the elements and develop insights that will guide and improve the outcomes of environmental stewardship initiatives and investments. Ultimately, our aim is to raise the profile of environmental stewardship as a valuable and holistic concept for guiding productive and sustained relationships with the environment.

Challenging Operations: An Ethical Framework to Assist Humanitarian Aid Workers in their Decision-making Processes.

PubMed

Clarinval, Caroline; Biller-Andorno, Nikola

2014-06-23

This paper aims to raise awareness regarding ethical issues in the context of humanitarian action, and to offer a framework for systematically and effectively addressing such issues. Several cases highlight ethical issues that humanitarian aid workers are confronted with at different levels over the course of their deployments. The first case discusses a situation at a macro-level concerning decisions being made at the headquarters of a humanitarian organization. The second case looks at meso-level issues that need to be solved at a country or regional level. The third case proposes an ethical dilemma at the micro-level of the individual patient-provider relationship. These real-life cases have been selected to illustrate the ethical dimension of conflicts within the context of humanitarian action that might remain unrecognized in everyday practice. In addition, we propose an ethical framework to assist humanitarian aid workers in their decision-making process. The framework draws on the principles and values that guide humanitarian action and public health ethics more generally. Beyond identifying substantive core values, the framework also includes a ten-step process modelled on tools used in the clinical setting that promotes a transparent and clear decision-making process and improves the monitoring and evaluation of aid interventions. Finally, we recommend organizational measures to implement the framework effectively. This paper uses a combination of public health/clinical ethics concepts and practices and applies them to the decision-making challenges encountered in relief operations in the humanitarian aid context.

Organizational Context and Capabilities for Integrating Care: A Framework for Improvement.

PubMed

Evans, Jenna M; Grudniewicz, Agnes; Baker, G Ross; Wodchis, Walter P

2016-08-31

Interventions aimed at integrating care have become widespread in healthcare; however, there is significant variability in their success. Differences in organizational contexts and associated capabilities may be responsible for some of this variability. This study develops and validates a conceptual framework of organizational capabilities for integrating care, identifies which of these capabilities may be most important, and explores the mechanisms by which they influence integrated care efforts. The Context and Capabilities for Integrating Care (CCIC) Framework was developed through a literature review, and revised and validated through interviews with leaders and care providers engaged in integrated care networks in Ontario, Canada. Interviews involved open-ended questions and graphic elicitation. Quantitative content analysis was used to summarize the data. The CCIC Framework consists of eighteen organizational factors in three categories: Basic Structures, People and Values, and Key Processes. The three most important capabilities shaping the capacity of organizations to implement integrated care interventions include Leadership Approach, Clinician Engagement and Leadership, and Readiness for Change. The majority of hypothesized relationships among organizational capabilities involved Readiness for Change and Partnering, emphasizing the complexity, interrelatedness and importance of these two factors to integrated care efforts. Organizational leaders can use the framework to determine readiness to integrate care, develop targeted change management strategies, and select appropriate partners with overlapping or complementary profiles on key capabilities. Researchers may use the results to test and refine the proposed framework, with a focus on the hypothesized relationships among organizational capabilities and between organizational capabilities and performance outcomes.

Examining kinesin processivity within a general gating framework

PubMed Central

Andreasson, Johan OL; Milic, Bojan; Chen, Geng-Yuan; Guydosh, Nicholas R; Hancock, William O; Block, Steven M

2015-01-01

Kinesin-1 is a dimeric motor that transports cargo along microtubules, taking 8.2-nm steps in a hand-over-hand fashion. The ATP hydrolysis cycles of its two heads are maintained out of phase by a series of gating mechanisms, which lead to processive runs averaging ∼1 μm. A key structural element for inter-head coordination is the neck linker (NL), which connects the heads to the stalk. To examine the role of the NL in regulating stepping, we investigated NL mutants of various lengths using single-molecule optical trapping and bulk fluorescence approaches in the context of a general framework for gating. Our results show that, although inter-head tension enhances motor velocity, it is crucial neither for inter-head coordination nor for rapid rear-head release. Furthermore, cysteine-light mutants do not produce wild-type motility under load. We conclude that kinesin-1 is primarily front-head gated, and that NL length is tuned to enhance unidirectional processivity and velocity. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07403.001 PMID:25902401

Functional Genomics Assistant (FUGA): a toolbox for the analysis of complex biological networks

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Cellular constituents such as proteins, DNA, and RNA form a complex web of interactions that regulate biochemical homeostasis and determine the dynamic cellular response to external stimuli. It follows that detailed understanding of these patterns is critical for the assessment of fundamental processes in cell biology and pathology. Representation and analysis of cellular constituents through network principles is a promising and popular analytical avenue towards a deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms in a system-wide context. Findings We present Functional Genomics Assistant (FUGA) - an extensible and portable MATLAB toolbox for the inference of biological relationships, graph topology analysis, random network simulation, network clustering, and functional enrichment statistics. In contrast to conventional differential expression analysis of individual genes, FUGA offers a framework for the study of system-wide properties of biological networks and highlights putative molecular targets using concepts of systems biology. Conclusion FUGA offers a simple and customizable framework for network analysis in a variety of systems biology applications. It is freely available for individual or academic use at http://code.google.com/p/fuga. PMID:22035155

Implementing the water framework directive: contract design and the cost of measures to reduce nitrogen pollution from agriculture.

PubMed

Bartolini, Fabio; Gallerani, Vittorio; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide

2007-10-01

The performance of different policy design strategies is a key issue in evaluating programmes for water quality improvement under the Water Framework Directive (60/2000). This issue is emphasised by information asymmetries between regulator and agents. Using an economic model under asymmetric information, the aim of this paper is to compare the cost-effectiveness of selected methods of designing payments to farmers in order to reduce nitrogen pollution in agriculture. A principal-agent model is used, based on profit functions generated through farm-level linear programming. This allows a comparison of flat rate payments and a menu of contracts developed through mechanism design. The model is tested in an area of Emilia Romagna (Italy) in two policy contexts: Agenda 2000 and the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The results show that different policy design options lead to differences in policy costs as great as 200-400%, with clear advantages for the menu of contracts. However, different policy scenarios may strongly affect such differences. Hence, the paper calls for greater attention to the interplay between CAP scenarios and water quality measures.

Implementing the Water Framework Directive: Contract Design and the Cost of Measures to Reduce Nitrogen Pollution from Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartolini, Fabio; Gallerani, Vittorio; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide

2007-10-01

The performance of different policy design strategies is a key issue in evaluating programmes for water quality improvement under the Water Framework Directive (60/2000). This issue is emphasised by information asymmetries between regulator and agents. Using an economic model under asymmetric information, the aim of this paper is to compare the cost-effectiveness of selected methods of designing payments to farmers in order to reduce nitrogen pollution in agriculture. A principal-agent model is used, based on profit functions generated through farm-level linear programming. This allows a comparison of flat rate payments and a menu of contracts developed through mechanism design. The model is tested in an area of Emilia Romagna (Italy) in two policy contexts: Agenda 2000 and the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The results show that different policy design options lead to differences in policy costs as great as 200-400%, with clear advantages for the menu of contracts. However, different policy scenarios may strongly affect such differences. Hence, the paper calls for greater attention to the interplay between CAP scenarios and water quality measures.

Mind-Sets Matter: A Meta-Analytic Review of Implicit Theories and Self-Regulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burnette, Jeni L.; O'Boyle, Ernest H.; VanEpps, Eric M.; Pollack, Jeffrey M.; Finkel, Eli J.

2013-01-01

This review builds on self-control theory (Carver & Scheier, 1998) to develop a theoretical framework for investigating associations of implicit theories with self-regulation. This framework conceptualizes self-regulation in terms of 3 crucial processes: goal setting, goal operating, and goal monitoring. In this meta-analysis, we included…

Many-objective reservoir policy identification and refinement to reduce policy inertia and myopia in water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giuliani, M.; Herman, J. D.; Castelletti, A.; Reed, P.

2014-04-01

This study contributes a decision analytic framework to overcome policy inertia and myopia in complex river basin management contexts. The framework combines reservoir policy identification, many-objective optimization under uncertainty, and visual analytics to characterize current operations and discover key trade-offs between alternative policies for balancing competing demands and system uncertainties. The approach is demonstrated on the Conowingo Dam, located within the Lower Susquehanna River, USA. The Lower Susquehanna River is an interstate water body that has been subject to intensive water management efforts due to competing demands from urban water supply, atomic power plant cooling, hydropower production, and federally regulated environmental flows. We have identified a baseline operating policy for the Conowingo Dam that closely reproduces the dynamics of current releases and flows for the Lower Susquehanna and thus can be used to represent the preferences structure guiding current operations. Starting from this baseline policy, our proposed decision analytic framework then combines evolutionary many-objective optimization with visual analytics to discover new operating policies that better balance the trade-offs within the Lower Susquehanna. Our results confirm that the baseline operating policy, which only considers deterministic historical inflows, significantly overestimates the system's reliability in meeting the reservoir's competing demands. Our proposed framework removes this bias by successfully identifying alternative reservoir policies that are more robust to hydroclimatic uncertainties while also better addressing the trade-offs across the Conowingo Dam's multisector services.

Explaining the absence of surgical procedure regulation.

PubMed

Darrow, Jonathan J

Each year in the United States, surgeons perform approximately 64 million surgical procedures, ranging from tooth extraction to open heart surgery. Yet, notwithstanding the frequency of surgical procedures and their often critical importance to patient health, no state or federal agency either approves the use of new surgical procedures or directly regulates existing procedures. The absence of surgical procedure regulation differs from the regulation of new pharmaceutical products, which can be introduced into interstate commerce only after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed "adequate and well-controlled [clinical] investigations" and concluded the data from those studies sufficiently establish the drug's safety and efficacy. Surgical procedures, by contrast, are more often conveyed from professor to student, the result being that surgical approaches may vary considerably from one geographic region to another. Whether different techniques produce different outcomes is not always clear, in part because the absence of regulation means that evidence often has not been systematically generated or may be in a form not suitable for comparison. Commentators have noted the differing treatment that persists between surgery and pharmaceuticals and have offered a number of justifications. For example, they have suggested that the surgical profession should self-regulate, that excessive regulation could deter surgeries of unproven benefit even when the surgery may be in the best interest of the patient, and that surgical trials could disrupt the doctor-patient relationship, such as by emphasizing uncertainty in a context where patient trust is important. In the context of innovative (as opposed to established) surgical procedures, controlled trials might be disfavored due to concern that desperate patients might unwisely submit themselves to risky experimental treatments undertaken by overzealous researchers. When commentators advocate for increased surgical regulation, they generally limit their calls for reform to innovative surgical procedures. The absence of direct regulation, however, has implications for the quality of evidence available to support an optimal choice from among all of the alternatives in the surgeon's armamentarium, whether innovative or standard, and whether surgical or non-surgical. This Article first examines the current framework of indirect regulation surrounding surgical procedures and then offers potential explanations as to why surgical procedures themselves are not already subject to direct federal regulation. Finally, it considers possible contributions of increased surgical regulation, including the identification of evidence gaps, the generation or collection of evidence to fill those gaps, and the impact on surgeon decision-making and patient consent.

Cycle time reduction using lean six sigma in make-to-order (MTO) environment: Conceptual framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Man, Siti Mariam; Zain, Zakiyah; Nawawi, Mohd Kamal Mohd

2015-12-01

This paper outlines the framework for application of lean six sigma (LSS) methodology to improve semiconductor assembly cycle time in a make-to-order (MTO) business environment. The cycle time reduction is the prime objective in the context of an overall productivity improvement particularly in the MTO environment. The interaction of the production rate and cycle time is described, while the emphasis is on Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) activities. A framework for the conceptual understanding is provided along with practical implementation issues. A relevant measure for the degree of flexibility (DOF) in the context of quick setup is also discussed.

A leader's framework for decision making. A leader's framework for decision making.

PubMed

Snowden, David J; Boone, Mary E

2007-11-01

Many executives are surprised when previously successful leadership approaches fail in new situations, but different contexts call for different kinds of responses. Before addressing a situation, leaders need to recognize which context governs it -and tailor their actions accordingly. Snowden and Boone have formed a new perspective on leadership and decision making that's based on complexity science. The result is the Cynefin framework, which helps executives sort issues into five contexts: Simple contexts are characterized by stability and cause-and-effect relationships that are clear to everyone. Often, the right answer is self-evident. In this realm of "known knowns," leaders must first assess the facts of a situation -that is, "sense" it -then categorize and respond to it. Complicated contexts may contain multiple right answers, and though there is a clear relationship between cause and effect, not everyone can see it. This is the realm of "known unknowns." Here, leaders must sense, analyze, and respond. In a complex context, right answers can't be ferreted out at all; rather, instructive patterns emerge if the leader conducts experiments that can safely fail. This is the realm of "unknown unknowns," where much of contemporary business operates. Leaders in this context need to probe first, then sense, and then respond. In a chaotic context, searching for right answers is pointless. The relationships between cause and effect are impossible to determine because they shift constantly and no manageable patterns exist. This is the realm of unknowables (the events of September 11, 2001, fall into this category). In this domain, a leader must first act to establish order, sense where stability is present, and then work to transform the situation from chaos to complexity. The fifth context, disorder, applies when it is unclear which of the other four contexts is predominant. The way out is to break the situation into its constituent parts and assign each to one of the other four realms. Leaders can then make decisions and intervene in contextually appropriate ways.

Giving in when feeling less good: Procrastination, action control, and social temptations.

PubMed

Sirois, Fuschia M; Giguère, Benjamin

2018-04-01

Emotion-regulation perspectives on procrastination highlighting the primacy of short-term mood regulation focus mainly on negative affect. Positive affect, however, has received much less attention and has not been considered with respect to social temptations. To address this issue, we examined how trait procrastination was linked to positive and negative affect in the context of social temptations across two prospective studies. Action Control Theory, Personality Systems Interactions Theory, and a mood regulation theory of procrastination served as guiding conceptual frameworks. In Study 1, moderated mediation analyses revealed that low positive affect explained the link between trait procrastination and time spent procrastinating on academic tasks over a 48-hr period in a student sample (N = 142), and this effect was moderated by the presence of social temptations. Parallel results for goal enjoyment assessed at Time 2 were found in Study 2 with a community sample (N = 94) attempting to make intended health behaviour changes over a 6-month period. Our findings indicate that procrastinators are at risk for disengaging from intended tasks when social temptations are present and positive task-related affect is low. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Dimensions of Emotion Dysregulation in Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa: A Conceptual Review of the Empirical Literature

PubMed Central

Lavender, Jason M.; Wonderlich, Stephen A.; Engel, Scott G.; Gordon, Kathryn H.; Kaye, Walter H.; Mitchell, James E.

2015-01-01

Several existing conceptual models and psychological interventions address or emphasize the role of emotion dysregulation in eating disorders. The current article uses Gratz and Roemer’s (2004) multidimensional model of emotion regulation and dysregulation as a clinically relevant framework to review the extant literature on emotion dysregulation in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Specifically, the dimensions reviewed include: (1) the flexible use of adaptive and situationally appropriate strategies to modulate the duration and/or intensity of emotional responses, (2) the ability to successfully inhibit impulsive behavior and maintain goal-directed behavior in the context of emotional distress, (3) awareness, clarity, and acceptance of emotional states, and (4) the willingness to experience emotional distress in the pursuit of meaningful activities. The current review suggests that both AN and BN are characterized by broad emotion regulation deficits, with difficulties in emotion regulation across the four dimensions found to characterize both AN and BN, although a small number of more specific difficulties may distinguish the two disorders. The review concludes with a discussion of the clinical implications of the findings, as well as a summary of limitations of the existing empirical literature and suggestions for future research. PMID:26112760

A Framework for Identifying and Classifying Undergraduate Student Proof Errors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strickland, S.; Rand, B.

2016-01-01

This paper describes a framework for identifying, classifying, and coding student proofs, modified from existing proof-grading rubrics. The framework includes 20 common errors, as well as categories for interpreting the severity of the error. The coding scheme is intended for use in a classroom context, for providing effective student feedback. In…

The Macro- and Micropolitics of Personnel Evaluation: A Framework.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bridges, Edwin M.; Groves, Barry R.

1999-01-01

Explicates a conceptual framework for analyzing the politics of personnel evaluation in an educational context. Using several elements of the framework, discusses the politics of teacher evaluation in California in relation to the types of personnel evaluation decisions, the actors, their access to these decisions, sources and levels of power, and…

Towards a Framework for Financial Literacy in the Context of Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Peter

2015-01-01

This paper contrasts the prevailing individualistic approach of financial literacy measurement and financial education with an educational framework that seeks to equip young people to play an active democratic role and to develop a broader understanding of the financial world. In particular, the framework suggests how important dimensions of…

Sequential Schooling or Lifelong Learning? International Frameworks through the Lens of English Higher Professional and Vocational Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lester, Stan

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review three international frameworks, including the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), in relation to one country's higher professional and vocational education system. Design/methodology/approach: The frameworks were examined in the context of English higher work-related…

"EU-on-Demand": Developing National Qualifications Frameworks in a Multi-Level Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elken, Mari

2016-01-01

The development of comprehensive national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) across Europe has been sparked by the introduction of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in 2008. Taking an institutional perspective, this article examines the development of NQFs in three countries, in light of developments that have taken place at the European…

Developing an Analytical Framework for Argumentation on Energy Consumption Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Hui; Mehl, Cathy E.; Lan, Deborah H.

2015-01-01

In this study, we aimed to develop a framework for analyzing the argumentation practice of high school students and high school graduates. We developed the framework in a specific context--how energy consumption activities such as changing diet, converting forests into farmlands, and choosing transportation modes affect the carbon cycle. The…

Safe, Positive and Queering Moments in Teaching Education and Schooling: A Conceptual Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstein, Tara; Russell, Vanessa; Daley, Andrea

2007-01-01

This article introduces a conceptual framework for thinking about the development of anti-homophobia education in teacher education and schooling contexts. We bring the safe, positive, and queering moments framework to bear on three distinct anti-homophobia education practices: coming out stories, homophobic name-calling analysis, and Pride Week…

The impact and effectiveness of health impact assessment: A conceptual framework

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

Harris-Roxas, Ben, E-mail: ben@harrisroxashealth.com; Harris, Elizabeth, E-mail: e.harris@unsw.edu.au

2013-09-15

The use of health impact assessment (HIA) has expanded rapidly and there are increasing demands for it to demonstrate its effectiveness. This paper presents a conceptual framework for evaluating HIA and describes its development through (i) a review of the literature, (ii) a review of work undertaken as part of a major HIA capacity building project and (iii) an in-depth study of seven completed HIAs. The framework emphasises context, process and impacts as key domains in understanding and evaluating the effectiveness of an HIA. This new framework builds upon the existing approaches to evaluating HIA and extends them to reflectmore » the broad range of factors that comprise and influence the effectiveness of HIAs. It may be of use in evaluating completed HIAs and in planning HIAs that are yet to be undertaken. -- Highlights: ► The first empirically-derived conceptual framework for evaluating HIA ► It may also be useful for planning and reporting on HIAs. ► The framework emphasises context, process and impacts as key domains. ► A broad range of factors influence the effectiveness of HIAs.« less

Developing a cultural context for conducting a neuropsychological evaluation with a culturally diverse client: the ECLECTIC framework.

PubMed

Fujii, Daryl E M

2018-02-20

With the increasing diversification of the American population, the discipline of neuropsychology is challenged to develop appropriate tools and conceptual models to meet its evolving client base. Thus far, the focus has been on developing appropriate tests and norms to obtain accurate testing data. By contrast, far less attention has been paid to the contextual impact of culture on an evaluation. This paper attempts to address this shortcoming. This manuscript introduces the ECLECTIC framework for conceptualizing different facets of culture pertinent for understanding a culturally diverse client when conducting a neuropsychological evaluation. Individual components of the framework (E: education and literacy; C: culture and acculturation; L: language; E: economics; C: communication; T: testing situation: comfort and motivation; I: intelligence conceptualization; and C: context of immigration) are introduced and potential biases to fairness in testing are described. In this manner, the framework specifies how individual facets of culture can impact neuropsychological test performance. Clinical implementation of the framework will be illustrated with a case sample. Strengths and weaknesses of the framework are discussed as well as recommendations for implementation.

A reflective analysis of medical education research on self-regulation in learning and practice.

PubMed

Brydges, Ryan; Butler, Deborah

2012-01-01

In the health professions we expect practitioners and trainees to engage in self-regulation of their learning and practice. For example, doctors are responsible for diagnosing their own learning needs and pursuing professional development opportunities; medical residents are expected to identify what they do not know when caring for patients and to seek help from supervisors when they need it, and medical school curricula are increasingly called upon to support self-regulation as a central learning outcome. Given the importance of self-regulation in both health professions education and ongoing professional practice, our aim was to generate a snapshot of the state of the science in medical education research in this area. To achieve this goal, we gathered literature focused on self-regulation or self-directed learning undertaken from multiple perspectives. Then, with support from a multi-component theoretical framework, we created an overarching map of the themes addressed thus far and emerging findings. We built from that integrative overview to consider contributions, connections and gaps in research on self-regulation to date. Based on this reflective analysis, we conclude that the medical education community's understanding about self-regulation will continue to advance as we: (i) consider how learning is undertaken within the complex social contexts of clinical training and practice; (ii) think of self-regulation within an integrative perspective that allows us to combine disparate strands of research and to consider self-regulation across the training continuum in medicine, from learning to practice; (iii) attend to the grain size of analysis both thoughtfully and intentionally, and (iv) most essentially, extend our efforts to understand the need for and best practices in support of self-regulation. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

A regulation probability model-based meta-analysis of multiple transcriptomics data sets for cancer biomarker identification.

PubMed

Xie, Xin-Ping; Xie, Yu-Feng; Wang, Hong-Qiang

2017-08-23

Large-scale accumulation of omics data poses a pressing challenge of integrative analysis of multiple data sets in bioinformatics. An open question of such integrative analysis is how to pinpoint consistent but subtle gene activity patterns across studies. Study heterogeneity needs to be addressed carefully for this goal. This paper proposes a regulation probability model-based meta-analysis, jGRP, for identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The method integrates multiple transcriptomics data sets in a gene regulatory space instead of in a gene expression space, which makes it easy to capture and manage data heterogeneity across studies from different laboratories or platforms. Specifically, we transform gene expression profiles into a united gene regulation profile across studies by mathematically defining two gene regulation events between two conditions and estimating their occurring probabilities in a sample. Finally, a novel differential expression statistic is established based on the gene regulation profiles, realizing accurate and flexible identification of DEGs in gene regulation space. We evaluated the proposed method on simulation data and real-world cancer datasets and showed the effectiveness and efficiency of jGRP in identifying DEGs identification in the context of meta-analysis. Data heterogeneity largely influences the performance of meta-analysis of DEGs identification. Existing different meta-analysis methods were revealed to exhibit very different degrees of sensitivity to study heterogeneity. The proposed method, jGRP, can be a standalone tool due to its united framework and controllable way to deal with study heterogeneity.

Patient-by-treatment context interaction in chronic disease: a conceptual framework for the study of patient adherence.

PubMed

Christensen, A J

2000-01-01

Previous reviews have concluded that there is little or no evidence supporting a predictable association between patient characteristics and regimen adherence in chronic illness. The primary objective of this article is to propose an alternative conceptual framework for the interpretation and design of adherence research. The author's research involving adherence among patients with end-stage renal disease is reviewed and used to illustrate the patient-by-context interactive framework. Adherence is most favorable when the patient's characteristic or preferred style of coping with illness and treatment-related experiences is congruent with the contextual features or demands of the particular type of medical intervention the patient is undergoing. Among patients with end-stage renal disease, a more vigilant or active style of coping is associated with more favorable adherence only for patients undergoing home-based dialysis treatment modalities that are highly patient directed. Among patients receiving hospital-based, provider-controlled treatment, a less vigilant or more passive coping style is associated with more favorable dialysis regimen adherence. The patient-by-context interactive perspective can provide a useful framework for the interpretation and design of adherence research.

Many-Objective Reservoir Policy Identification and Refinement to Reduce Institutional Myopia in Water Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giuliani, M.; Herman, J. D.; Castelletti, A.; Reed, P. M.

2013-12-01

Institutional inertia strongly limits our ability to adapt water reservoir operations to better manage growing water demands as well as their associated uncertainties in a changing climate. Although it has long been recognized that these systems are generally framed in heterogeneous socio-economic contexts involving a myriad of conflicting, non-commensurable operating objectives, our broader understanding of the multiobjective consequences of current operating rules as well as their vulnerability to hydroclimatic uncertainties is severely limited. This study proposes a decision analytic framework to overcome policy inertia and myopia in complex river basin management contexts. The framework combines reservoir policy identification and many-objective optimization under uncertainty to characterize current operations and discover key tradeoffs between alternative policies for balancing evolving demands and system uncertainties. The approach is demonstrated on the Conowingo Dam, located within the Lower Susquehanna River, USA. The Lower Susquehanna River is an interstate water body that has been subject to intensive water management efforts due to the system's competing demands from urban water supply, atomic power plant cooling, hydropower production, and federally regulated environmental flows. Initially our proposed framework uses available streamflow observations to implicitly identify the Conowingo Dam's current but unknown operating policy. This baseline policy is identified by fitting radial basis functions to existing system dynamics. Our assumption in the baseline policy is that the dam operator is represented as a rational agent seeking to maximize primary operational objectives (i.e., guaranteeing the public water supply and maximizing the hydropower revenue). The quality of the identified baseline policy is evaluated by its ability to replicate historical release dynamics. Once identified, the historical baseline policy then provides a means of representing the decision preferences guiding current operations. Our results show that the estimated policy closely captures the dynamics of current releases and flows for the Lower Susquehanna. After identifying the historical baseline policy, our proposed decision analytic framework then combines evolutionary many-objective optimization with visual analytics to discover improved operating policies. Our Lower Susquehanna results confirm that the system's current history-based operations are negatively biased to overestimate the reliability of the reservoir's multi-sector services. Moreover, our proposed framework has successfully identified alternative reservoir policies that are more robust to hydroclimatic uncertainties while being capable of better addressing the tradeoffs across the Conowingo Dam's multi-sector services.

The Invisible Hand: Governmental Influences on the Field of Play During the Production and Diffusion of Mobile TV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Su-Yi; Chiasson, Mike W.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how government agencies alter the context around the production and diffusion of technologies, and how this strengthens or weakens particular ICT trajectories. An embedded case is conducted to address this question in Taiwan, as governmental actions affected the early production and diffusion of DVB-H technology and WiMAX technology, both of which enable mobile TV services. The context around and across these two technologies are analyzed from an institutional perspective, including the framework proposed by King et al (1994). The key lesson of this paper is that government agencies are capable of influencing the diffusion of nomadic technologies through their legitimating powers, specific national policies, the allocation of radio frequency spectrum, the implementation of regulations, and the allocation of financial resources. However, the ultimate effects are determined by mixed institutional factors and sometimes contradictory governmental interventions, stemming from historical differences and conflicts across the various government agencies involved. The implications for ICT diffusion research and governmental policy makers are discussed.

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadwin, Allyson; Oshige, Mika

2011-01-01

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

Best practices for assessing ocean health in multiple contexts using tailorable frameworks

PubMed Central

Pacheco, Erich J.; Best, Benjamin D.; Scarborough, Courtney; Longo, Catherine; Katona, Steven K.; Halpern, Benjamin S.

2015-01-01

Marine policy is increasingly calling for maintaining or restoring healthy oceans while human activities continue to intensify. Thus, successful prioritization and management of competing objectives requires a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the ocean. Unfortunately, assessment frameworks to define and quantify current ocean state are often site-specific, limited to a few ocean components, and difficult to reproduce in different geographies or even through time, limiting spatial or temporal comparisons as well as the potential for shared learning. Ideally, frameworks should be tailorable to accommodate use in disparate locations and contexts, removing the need to develop frameworks de novo and allowing efforts to focus on the assessments themselves to advise action. Here, we present some of our experiences using the Ocean Health Index (OHI) framework, a tailorable and repeatable approach that measures health of coupled human-ocean ecosystems in different contexts by accommodating differences in local environmental characteristics, cultural priorities, and information availability and quality. Since its development in 2012, eleven assessments using the OHI framework have been completed at global, national, and regional scales, four of which have been led by independent academic or government groups. We have found the following to be best practices for conducting assessments: Incorporate key characteristics and priorities into the assessment framework design before gathering information; Strategically define spatial boundaries to balance information availability and decision-making scales; Maintain the key characteristics and priorities of the assessment framework regardless of information limitations; and Document and share the assessment process, methods, and tools. These best practices are relevant to most ecosystem assessment processes, but also provide tangible guidance for assessments using the OHI framework. These recommendations also promote transparency around which decisions were made and why, reproducibility through access to detailed methods and computational code, repeatability via the ability to modify methods and computational code, and ease of communication to wide audiences, all of which are critical for any robust assessment process. PMID:26713251

Best practices for assessing ocean health in multiple contexts using tailorable frameworks.

PubMed

Lowndes, Julia S Stewart; Pacheco, Erich J; Best, Benjamin D; Scarborough, Courtney; Longo, Catherine; Katona, Steven K; Halpern, Benjamin S

2015-01-01

Marine policy is increasingly calling for maintaining or restoring healthy oceans while human activities continue to intensify. Thus, successful prioritization and management of competing objectives requires a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the ocean. Unfortunately, assessment frameworks to define and quantify current ocean state are often site-specific, limited to a few ocean components, and difficult to reproduce in different geographies or even through time, limiting spatial or temporal comparisons as well as the potential for shared learning. Ideally, frameworks should be tailorable to accommodate use in disparate locations and contexts, removing the need to develop frameworks de novo and allowing efforts to focus on the assessments themselves to advise action. Here, we present some of our experiences using the Ocean Health Index (OHI) framework, a tailorable and repeatable approach that measures health of coupled human-ocean ecosystems in different contexts by accommodating differences in local environmental characteristics, cultural priorities, and information availability and quality. Since its development in 2012, eleven assessments using the OHI framework have been completed at global, national, and regional scales, four of which have been led by independent academic or government groups. We have found the following to be best practices for conducting assessments: Incorporate key characteristics and priorities into the assessment framework design before gathering information; Strategically define spatial boundaries to balance information availability and decision-making scales; Maintain the key characteristics and priorities of the assessment framework regardless of information limitations; and Document and share the assessment process, methods, and tools. These best practices are relevant to most ecosystem assessment processes, but also provide tangible guidance for assessments using the OHI framework. These recommendations also promote transparency around which decisions were made and why, reproducibility through access to detailed methods and computational code, repeatability via the ability to modify methods and computational code, and ease of communication to wide audiences, all of which are critical for any robust assessment process.

Using Self-Regulation as a Framework for Implementing Strategy Instruction to Foster Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Souvignier, Elmar; Mokhlesgerami, Judith

2006-01-01

Research on the implementation of reading strategies suggests that self-regulated learning might be a powerful framework to optimize effects on reading comprehension. Models of self-regulation emphasize that the teaching of strategy knowledge (Strat) has to be complemented by offering skills of cognitive (CSR) and motivational (MSR) aspects of…

Evaluating health inequity interventions: applying a contextual (external) validity framework to programs funded by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.

PubMed

Phillips, Kaye; Müller-Clemm, Werner; Ysselstein, Margaretha; Sachs, Jonathan

2013-02-01

Including context in the measurement and evaluation of health in equity interventions is critical to understanding how events that occur in an intervention's environment might contribute to or impede its success. This study adapted and piloted a contextual validity assessment framework on a selection of health inequity-related programs funded by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) between 1998 and 2006. The two overarching objectives of this study were (1) to determine the relative amount and quality of attention given to conceptualizing, measuring and validating context within CHSRF funded research final reports related to health-inequity; and (2) to contribute evaluative evidence towards the incorporation of context into the assessment and measurement of health inequity interventions. The study found that of the 42/146 CHSRF programs and projects, judged to be related to health inequity 20 adequately reported on the conceptualization, measurement and validation of context. Amongst these health-inequity related project reports, greatest emphasis was placed on describing the socio-political and economical context over actually measuring and validating contextual evidence. Applying a contextual validity assessment framework was useful for distinguishing between the descriptive (conceptual) versus empirical (measurement and validation) inclusion of documented contextual evidence. Although contextual validity measurement frameworks needs further development, this study contributes insight into identifying funded research related to health inequities and preliminary criteria for assessing interventions targeted at specific populations and jurisdictions. This study also feeds a larger critical dialogue (albeit beyond the scope of this study) regarding the relevance and utility of using evaluative techniques for understanding how specific external conditions support or impede the successful implementation of health inequity interventions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical, Legal and Social Issues related to the health data-warehouses: re-using health data in the research and public health research.

PubMed

Lamas, Eugenia; Barh, Anne; Brown, Dario; Jaulent, Marie-Christine

2015-01-01

Research derived from the application of information and communication technologies in medicine operates in a context involving the globalization of collecting, sharing, storage, transfer and re-use of personal health data. Health data computerization within Clinical Information Systems (as Electronic Healthcare Records) should allow the re-use of health data for clinical research and public health purposes. One of the objects allowing the integration of healthcare and research information systems is the health data-warehouse (DWH). However, ethical-legal frameworks in force are not adapted to these DWHs because they were not conceived for re-using data in a different context than the one of their acquisition. For that matter, access modalities to data-warehouses must ensure the respect of patients' rights: information to the patient, as well as confidentiality and security. Through a bibliography research, some Ethical, legal and Social Issues (ELSI) have been identified: Patients' rights Modalities of implementation of the DWs; Solidarity and common good; Transparency and Trust. Comparative analysis between the Directive 95/46/CE and the "Proposal for regulation on protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data" shows that this regulation pretends allowing the re-use of key-coded data when aimed at a scientific purpose. However, since this new regulation does not align with the ethical and legal requirements at an operational level, a Code of practice on secondary use of Medical Data in scientific Research Projects has been developed at the European Level. This Code provides guidance for Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) and will help to propose practical solutions to overcome the issue of the re-use of data for research purposes.

Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental management of deep-seabed mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Jennifer T.; Levin, Lisa A.; Carson, Richard T.

2017-03-01

Accelerated exploration of minerals in the deep sea over the past decade has raised the likelihood that commercial mining of the deep seabed will commence in the near future. Environmental concerns create a growing urgency for development of environmental regulations under commercial exploitation. Here, we consider an ecosystem services approach to the environmental policy and management of deep-sea mineral resources. Ecosystem services link the environment and human well-being, and can help improve sustainability and stewardship of the deep sea by providing a quantitative basis for decision-making. This paper briefly reviews ecosystem services provided by habitats targeted for deep-seabed mining (hydrothermal vents, seamounts, nodule provinces, and phosphate-rich margins), and presents practical steps to incorporate ecosystem services into deep-seabed mining regulation. The linkages and translation between ecosystem structure, ecological function (including supporting services), and ecosystem services are highlighted as generating human benefits. We consider criteria for identifying which ecosystem services are vulnerable to potential mining impacts, the role of ecological functions in providing ecosystem services, development of ecosystem service indicators, valuation of ecosystem services, and implementation of ecosystem services concepts. The first three steps put ecosystem services into a deep-seabed mining context; the last two steps help to incorporate ecosystem services into a management and decision-making framework. Phases of environmental planning discussed in the context of ecosystem services include conducting strategic environmental assessments, collecting baseline data, monitoring, establishing marine protected areas, assessing cumulative impacts, identifying thresholds and triggers, and creating an environmental damage compensation regime. We also identify knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in order to operationalize ecosystem services concepts in deep-seabed mining regulation and propose potential tools to fill them.

A global picture of pharmacy technician and other pharmacy support workforce cadres.

PubMed

Koehler, Tamara; Brown, Andrew

Understanding how pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy support workforce cadres assist pharmacists in the healthcare system will facilitate developing health systems with the ability to achieve universal health coverage as it is defined in different country contexts. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the present global variety in the technician and other pharmacy support workforce cadres considering; their scope, roles, supervision, education and legal framework. A structured online survey instrument was administered globally using the Survey Monkey platform, designed to address the following topic areas: roles, responsibilities, supervision, education and legislation. The survey was circulated to International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) member organisations and a variety of global list serves where pharmaceutical services are discussed. 193 entries from 67 countries and territories were included in the final analysis revealing a vast global variety with respect to the pharmacy support workforce. From no pharmacy technicians or other pharmacy support workforce cadres in Japan, through a variety of cadre interactions with pharmacists, to the autonomous practice of pharmacy support workforce cadres in Malawi. From strictly supervised practice with a focus on supply, through autonomous practice for a variety of responsibilities, to independent practice. From complete supervision for all tasks, through geographical varied supervision, to independent practice. From on the job training, through certificate level vocational courses, to 3-4 year diploma programs. From well-regulated and registered, through part regulation with weak implementation, to completely non-regulated contexts. This paper documents wide differences in supervision requirements, education systems and supportive legislation for pharmacy support workforce cadres globally. A more detailed understanding of specific country practice settings is required if the use of pharmacy support workforce cadres is to be optimized. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) Program for Supporting children's early self-regulation development: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Howard, Steven J; Vasseleu, Elena; Neilsen-Hewett, Cathrine; Cliff, Ken

2018-01-24

For children with low self-regulation in the preschool years, the likelihood of poorer intellectual, health, wealth and anti-social outcomes in adulthood is overwhelming. Yet this knowledge has not yielded a framework for understanding self-regulatory change, nor generated particularly successful methods for enacting this change. Reconciling insights from cross-disciplinary theory, research and practice, this study seeks to implement a newly developed program of low-cost and routine practices and activities for supporting early self-regulatory development within preschool contexts and to evaluate its effect on children's self-regulation, executive function and school readiness; and educator perceived knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy related to self-regulation. The Early Start to Self-Regulation study is a cluster randomized, controlled trial for evaluating benefits of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) program, when implemented by early childhood educators, compared with routine practice. The PRSIST program combines professional learning, adult practices, child activities and connections to the home to support children's self-regulation development. Fifty preschool centers in New South Wales, Australia, will be selected to ensure a range of characteristics, namely: National Quality Standards (NQS) ratings, geographic location and socioeconomic status. After collection of baseline child and educator data, participating centers will then be randomly allocated to one of two groups, stratified by NQS rating: (1) an intervention group (25 centers) that will implement the PRSIST program; or (2) a control group (25 centers) that will continue to engage in practice as usual. Primary outcomes at the child level will be two measures of self-regulation: Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task and the PRSIST observational assessment. Secondary outcomes at the child level will be adult-reported measures of child self-regulation, executive function and school readiness. Outcomes at the educator level will involve a survey of their perceived knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy for supporting children's self-regulatory development. In all cases, data collectors will be blinded to group allocation. This is the first randomized controlled trial of a new program to foster early self-regulation, using low-cost practices and activities that are aligned with early-years contexts, routines and practices. Results will provide important information about the efficacy of this approach and evaluate its underlying model of self-regulatory change. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12617001568303 . Registered on 21 November 2017.

The Rural Context and Post-Secondary School Enrollment: An Ecological Systems Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demi, Mary Ann; Coleman-Jensen, Alisha; Snyder, Anastasia R.

2010-01-01

This study uses an ecological systems framework to examine how indicators of individual, family, and school contexts are associated with post-secondary educational enrollment among a sample of rural youth. Structural equation modeling allows us to examine both direct and indirect effects of these contexts on school enrollment. Unique elements of…

The Development of Scientific Knowledge in Elementary School Children: A Context of Meaning Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bloom, J. W.

1992-01-01

Children in grade one (n=8) and grade five (n=9) were interviewed to determine the influence of contexts of meaning on their knowledge of earthworms. Four components of contexts of meaning were identified and discussed: episodic knowledge, metaphors, interpretive frameworks, and emotions-values-aesthetics. (Contains 20 references.) (MDH)

Community Social Organization: A Conceptual Linchpin in Examining Families in the Context of Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mancini, Jay A.; Bowen, Gary L.; Martin, James A.

2005-01-01

The concept of social organization provides an important framework for understanding families in the context of communities and focuses our attention on norms, networks, and associated processes that typify community life. We discuss the significance of community for understanding family outcomes, discuss challenges in defining community context,…

Pathways of Transformational Service Learning: Exploring the Relationships between Context, Disorienting Dilemmas, and Student Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shor, Rachel; Cattaneo, Lauren; Calton, Jenna

2017-01-01

This study extended research on transformational service learning by examining the impact that a community placement context can have on college students' transformational processes. Kiely's "Transformational Service-Learning Process Model" was used as a framework to better understand how context, dissonance, and student reactions are…

Analyzing prospective teachers' images of scientists using positive, negative and stereotypical images of scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramaniam, Karthigeyan; Esprívalo Harrell, Pamela; Wojnowski, David

2013-04-01

Background and purpose : This study details the use of a conceptual framework to analyze prospective teachers' images of scientists to reveal their context-specific conceptions of scientists. The conceptual framework consists of context-specific conceptions related to positive, stereotypical and negative images of scientists as detailed in the literature on the images, role and work of scientists. Sample, design and method : One hundred and ninety-six drawings of scientists, generated by prospective teachers, were analyzed using the Draw-A-Scientist-Test Checklist (DAST-C), a binary linear regression and the conceptual framework. Results : The results of the binary linear regression analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for two DAST-C elements: ethnicity differences with regard to drawing a scientist who was Caucasian and gender differences for indications of danger. Analysis using the conceptual framework helped to categorize the same drawings into positive, stereotypical, negative and composite images of a scientist. Conclusions : The conceptual framework revealed that drawings were focused on the physical appearance of the scientist, and to a lesser extent on the equipment, location and science-related practices that provided the context of a scientist's role and work. Implications for teacher educators include the need to understand that there is a need to provide tools, like the conceptual framework used in this study, to help prospective teachers to confront and engage with their multidimensional perspectives of scientists in light of the current trends on perceiving and valuing scientists. In addition, teacher educators need to use the conceptual framework, which yields qualitative perspectives about drawings, together with the DAST-C, which yields quantitative measure for drawings, to help prospective teachers to gain a holistic outlook on their drawings of scientists.

A Function-Based Framework for Stream Assessment & Restoration Projects

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This report lays out a framework for approaching stream assessment and restoration projects that focuses on understanding the suite of stream functions at a site in the context of what is happening in the watershed.

Taiwan Regulation of Biobanks.

PubMed

Fan, Chien-Te; Hung, Tzu-Hsun; Yeh, Chan-Kun

2015-01-01

This paper introduces legal framework and governance structure in relation to the management and development of biobanks in Taiwan. At first, we briefly describe Taiwan's population, political system and health care system. Secondly, this research introduces biobanking framework of Taiwan including 25 biobanks established with the approval of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. In those biobanks, "Taiwan Biobank" is the first and the largest government-supported biobank which comprises population-based cohort study and disease- oriented study. Since the collection of information, data, and biological specimen of biobanks often involve highly sensitive personal information, in the legal framework of Taiwan, there is a specific regulation, "Human Biobank Management Act" (HBMA), which plays an important role in regulating biobanks in Taiwan. HBMA, the Personal Information Act and other regulations constitute a comprehensive legal and regulatory privacy framework of biobanks. Through the introduction and analysis of the current legal framework applicable to biobanks, we found that there are several challenges that need to be solved appropriately that involve duplicate review systems, the obstacles in the international collaboration, and data sharing between biobanks in Taiwan. © 2015 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Information Needs in a Community of Reading Specialists: What Information Needs Say about Contextual Frameworks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Normore, Lorraine

2011-01-01

Introduction: The perceived information needs of teachers who specialize in reading instruction for at-risk first graders were studied and related to frameworks for the role of social context in information needs, seeking and use. The frameworks considered were: disciplinarity, role theory in work settings, small worlds and information grounds and…

A Framework for Providing Culturally Responsive Early Intervention Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradshaw, Wendy

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide a framework that offers a way for early intervention (EI) service providers to better meet the needs of the culturally diverse children and families they serve. This framework was created to organize existing research and literature on cultural responsiveness in a way that fit the unique context of EI. The…

Mapping Practices of Christian Education: Toward a Framework of Contextual Differences around the Globe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Muynck, Bram; Reijnoudt-Klein, Willemieke; Spruyt-de Kloe, Marike

2017-01-01

This article reports the development of a framework that structures differences in Christian educational practices worldwide. One of its purposes is to simplify the complexity of the contexts in which global partners cooperate. The framework also offers the theoretical basis for an instrument that nongovernmental organizations can use to determine…

The Influence of Social Background on Participation in Adult Education:Applying the Cultural Capital Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cincinnato, Sebastiano; De Wever, Bram; Van Keer, Hilde; Valcke, Martin

2016-01-01

In this article, we address the issue of participation in adult education building on the cultural capital framework. This theoretical framework suggests that (educational) practices are affected by one's social background and, more precisely, by the cultural resources handed down in the family context. To examine the validity of this theoretical…

Climate change adaptation in regulated water utilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vicuna, S.; Melo, O.; Harou, J. J.; Characklis, G. W.; Ricalde, I.

2017-12-01

Concern about climate change impacts on water supply systems has grown in recent years. However, there are still few examples of pro-active interventions (e.g. infrastructure investment or policy changes) meant to address plausible future changes. Deep uncertainty associated with climate impacts, future demands, and regulatory constraints might explain why utility planning in a range of contexts doesn't explicitly consider climate change scenarios and potential adaptive responses. Given the importance of water supplies for economic development and the cost and longevity of many water infrastructure investments, large urban water supply systems could suffer from lack of pro-active climate change adaptation. Water utilities need to balance the potential for high regret stranded assets on the one side, with insufficient supplies leading to potentially severe socio-economic, political and environmental failures on the other, and need to deal with a range of interests and constraints. This work presents initial findings from a project looking at how cities in Chile, the US and the UK are developing regulatory frameworks that incorporate utility planning under uncertainty. Considering for example the city of Santiago, Chile, recent studies have shown that although high scarcity cost scenarios are plausible, pre-emptive investment to guard from possible water supply failures is still remote and not accommodated by current planning practice. A first goal of the project is to compare and contrast regulatory approaches to utility risks considering climate change adaptation measures. Subsequently we plan to develop and propose a custom approach for the city of Santiago based on lessons learned from other contexts. The methodological approach combines institutional assessment of water supply regulatory frameworks with simulation-based decision-making under uncertainty approaches. Here we present initial work comparing the regulatory frameworks in Chile, UK and USA evaluating their ability to incorporate uncertain climate and other changes into long-term infrastructure investment planning. The potential for regulatory and financial adaptive measures is explored in addition to a discussion on evaluating their appropriateness via various modelling-based intervention decision-making approaches.

Architecture of a framework for providing information services for public transport.

PubMed

García, Carmelo R; Pérez, Ricardo; Lorenzo, Alvaro; Quesada-Arencibia, Alexis; Alayón, Francisco; Padrón, Gabino

2012-01-01

This paper presents OnRoute, a framework for developing and running ubiquitous software that provides information services to passengers of public transportation, including payment systems and on-route guidance services. To achieve a high level of interoperability, accessibility and context awareness, OnRoute uses the ubiquitous computing paradigm. To guarantee the quality of the software produced, the reliable software principles used in critical contexts, such as automotive systems, are also considered by the framework. The main components of its architecture (run-time, system services, software components and development discipline) and how they are deployed in the transportation network (stations and vehicles) are described in this paper. Finally, to illustrate the use of OnRoute, the development of a guidance service for travellers is explained.

A Community Assessmet of Biosignatures and their Frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domagal-Goldman, Shawn David; Nexus for Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS)

2018-01-01

The Nexus for Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS) organized a workshop to assess the current state of exoplanet biosignature research. Here, we review the products from that workshop. This includes: 1) a review of previously-proposed biosignatures in both the atmosphere and on the sruface of an exoplanet; 2) the need for context in assessing those biosignatures; 3) the potential for a Bayesian framework to formalize and quantify the need for context; 4) the interdisciplinary research required to advance that Bayesian framework; and 5) the missions that would search for biosignatures, including required contextual observations. Here we will revie those findings, the future path for research they suggest, and the implications they have for future missions, including both ground- and space-based missions.

State Public Health Enabling Authorities: Results of a Fundamental Activities Assessment Examining Core and Essential Services

PubMed Central

Hoss, Aila; Menon, Akshara; Corso, Liza

2016-01-01

Context Public health enabling authorities establish the legal foundation for financing, organizing, and delivering public health services. State laws vary in terms of the content, depth, and breadth of these fundamental public health activities. Given this variance, the Institute of Medicine has identified state public health laws as an area that requires further examination. To respond to this call for further examination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Law Program conducted a fundamental activities legal assessment on state public health laws. Objective The goal of the legal assessment was to examine state laws referencing frameworks representing public health department fundamental activities (ie, core and essential services) in an effort to identify, catalog, and describe enabling authorities of state governmental public health systems. Design In 2013, Public Health Law Program staff compiled a list of state statutes and regulations referencing different commonly-recognized public health frameworks of fundamental activities. The legal assessment included state fundamental activities laws available on WestlawNext as of July 2013. The results related to the 10 essential public health services and the 3 core public health functions were confirmed and updated in June 2016. Results Eighteen states reference commonly-recognized frameworks of fundamental activities in their laws. Thirteen states have listed the 10 essential public health services in their laws. Eight of these states have also referenced the 3 core public health functions in their laws. Five states reference only the core public health functions. Conclusions Several states reference fundamental activities in their state laws, particularly through use of the essential services framework. Further work is needed to capture the public health laws and practices of states that may be performing fundamental activities but without reference to a common framework. PMID:27682724

'Healthy Eating and Lifestyle in Pregnancy (HELP)' trial: Process evaluation framework.

PubMed

Simpson, Sharon A; Cassidy, Dunla; John, Elinor

2014-07-01

We developed and tested in a cluster RCT a theory-driven group-based intervention for obese pregnant women. It was designed to support women to moderate weight gain during pregnancy and reduce BMI one year after birth, in addition to targeting secondary health and wellbeing outcomes. In line with MRC guidance on developing and evaluating complex interventions in health, we conducted a process evaluation alongside the trial. This paper describes the development of the process evaluation framework. This cluster RCT recruited 598 pregnant women. Women in the intervention group were invited to attend a weekly weight-management group. Following a review of relevant literature, we developed a process evaluation framework which outlined key process indicators that we wanted to address and how we would measure these. Central to the process evaluation was to understand the mechanism of effect of the intervention. We utilised a logic-modelling approach to describe the intervention which helped us focus on what potential mediators of intervention effect to measure, and how. The resulting process evaluation framework was designed to address 9 core elements; context, reach, exposure, recruitment, fidelity, recruitment, retention, contamination and theory-testing. These were assessed using a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The logic model explained the processes by which intervention components bring about change in target outcomes through various mediators and theoretical pathways including self-efficacy, social support, self-regulation and motivation. Process evaluation is a key element in assessing the effect of any RCT. We developed a process evaluation framework and logic model, and the results of analyses using these will offer insights into why the intervention is or is not effective. Copyright © 2014.

Differences in Kindergartners' Participation and Regulation Strategies across Time and Instructional Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neitzel, Carin; Connor, Lisa

2017-01-01

This study addressed questions about the function of children's various participation and regulation strategies in different instructional contexts and at different points in time in school. The developmental trajectories of kindergartners' academic participation and regulation strategy selection and use across the school year in teacher-directed…

Self-Regulation across Different Contexts: Findings in Young Albanian Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Suchodoletz, Antje; Uka, Fitim; Larsen, Ross A. A. A.

2015-01-01

Research Findings: The importance of self-regulation for children's successful academic performance has led to greatly increased interest in this topic in recent years. However, less is known about the interrelations among self-regulatory processes across different contexts. The present study investigated the structure of self-regulation in young…

A wearable context aware system for ubiquitous healthcare.

PubMed

Kang, Dong-Oh; Lee, Hyung-Jik; Ko, Eun-Jung; Kang, Kyuchang; Lee, Jeunwoo

2006-01-01

Recent developments of information technologies are leading the advent of the era of ubiquitous healthcare, which means healthcare services at any time and at any places. The ubiquitous healthcare service needs a wearable system for more continual measurement of biological signals of a user, which gives information of the user from wearable sensors. In this paper, we propose a wearable context aware system for ubiquitous healthcare, and its systematic design process of a ubiquitous healthcare service. Some wearable sensor systems are introduced with Zigbee communication. We develop a context aware framework to send information from wearable sensors to healthcare service entities as a middleware to solve the interoperability problem between sensor makers and healthcare service providers. And, we propose a systematic process of design of ubiquitous healthcare services with the context aware framework. In order to show the feasibility of the proposed system, some application examples are given, which are applied to remote monitoring, and a self check service.

A Bayesian Translational Framework for Knowledge Propagation, Discovery, and Integration Under Specific Contexts

PubMed Central

Deng, Michelle; Zollanvari, Amin; Alterovitz, Gil

2012-01-01

The immense corpus of biomedical literature existing today poses challenges in information search and integration. Many links between pieces of knowledge occur or are significant only under certain contexts—rather than under the entire corpus. This study proposes using networks of ontology concepts, linked based on their co-occurrences in annotations of abstracts of biomedical literature and descriptions of experiments, to draw conclusions based on context-specific queries and to better integrate existing knowledge. In particular, a Bayesian network framework is constructed to allow for the linking of related terms from two biomedical ontologies under the queried context concept. Edges in such a Bayesian network allow associations between biomedical concepts to be quantified and inference to be made about the existence of some concepts given prior information about others. This approach could potentially be a powerful inferential tool for context-specific queries, applicable to ontologies in other fields as well. PMID:22779044

Challenging Operations: An Ethical Framework to Assist Humanitarian Aid Workers in their Decision-making Processes

PubMed Central

Clarinval, Caroline; Biller-Andorno, Nikola

2014-01-01

Introduction: This paper aims to raise awareness regarding ethical issues in the context of humanitarian action, and to offer a framework for systematically and effectively addressing such issues. Methods: Several cases highlight ethical issues that humanitarian aid workers are confronted with at different levels over the course of their deployments. The first case discusses a situation at a macro-level concerning decisions being made at the headquarters of a humanitarian organization. The second case looks at meso-level issues that need to be solved at a country or regional level. The third case proposes an ethical dilemma at the micro-level of the individual patient-provider relationship. Discussion: These real-life cases have been selected to illustrate the ethical dimension of conflicts within the context of humanitarian action that might remain unrecognized in everyday practice. In addition, we propose an ethical framework to assist humanitarian aid workers in their decision-making process. The framework draws on the principles and values that guide humanitarian action and public health ethics more generally. Beyond identifying substantive core values, the framework also includes a ten-step process modelled on tools used in the clinical setting that promotes a transparent and clear decision-making process and improves the monitoring and evaluation of aid interventions. Finally, we recommend organizational measures to implement the framework effectively. Conclusion: This paper uses a combination of public health/clinical ethics concepts and practices and applies them to the decision-making challenges encountered in relief operations in the humanitarian aid context. PMID:24987575

Organizational Context and Capabilities for Integrating Care: A Framework for Improvement

PubMed Central

Grudniewicz, Agnes; Baker, G. Ross; Wodchis, Walter P.

2016-01-01

Background: Interventions aimed at integrating care have become widespread in healthcare; however, there is significant variability in their success. Differences in organizational contexts and associated capabilities may be responsible for some of this variability. Purpose: This study develops and validates a conceptual framework of organizational capabilities for integrating care, identifies which of these capabilities may be most important, and explores the mechanisms by which they influence integrated care efforts. Methods: The Context and Capabilities for Integrating Care (CCIC) Framework was developed through a literature review, and revised and validated through interviews with leaders and care providers engaged in integrated care networks in Ontario, Canada. Interviews involved open-ended questions and graphic elicitation. Quantitative content analysis was used to summarize the data. Results: The CCIC Framework consists of eighteen organizational factors in three categories: Basic Structures, People and Values, and Key Processes. The three most important capabilities shaping the capacity of organizations to implement integrated care interventions include Leadership Approach, Clinician Engagement and Leadership, and Readiness for Change. The majority of hypothesized relationships among organizational capabilities involved Readiness for Change and Partnering, emphasizing the complexity, interrelatedness and importance of these two factors to integrated care efforts. Conclusions: Organizational leaders can use the framework to determine readiness to integrate care, develop targeted change management strategies, and select appropriate partners with overlapping or complementary profiles on key capabilities. Researchers may use the results to test and refine the proposed framework, with a focus on the hypothesized relationships among organizational capabilities and between organizational capabilities and performance outcomes. PMID:28413366

Contextual Refinement of Regulatory Targets Reveals Effects on Breast Cancer Prognosis of the Regulome

PubMed Central

Andrews, Erik; Wang, Yue; Xia, Tian; Cheng, Wenqing; Cheng, Chao

2017-01-01

Gene expression regulators, such as transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), have varying regulatory targets based on the tissue and physiological state (context) within which they are expressed. While the emergence of regulator-characterizing experiments has inferred the target genes of many regulators across many contexts, methods for transferring regulator target genes across contexts are lacking. Further, regulator target gene lists frequently are not curated or have permissive inclusion criteria, impairing their use. Here, we present a method called iterative Contextual Transcriptional Activity Inference of Regulators (icTAIR) to resolve these issues. icTAIR takes a regulator’s previously-identified target gene list and combines it with gene expression data from a context, quantifying that regulator’s activity for that context. It then calculates the correlation between each listed target gene’s expression and the quantitative score of regulatory activity, removes the uncorrelated genes from the list, and iterates the process until it derives a stable list of refined target genes. To validate and demonstrate icTAIR’s power, we use it to refine the MSigDB c3 database of TF, miRNA and unclassified motif target gene lists for breast cancer. We then use its output for survival analysis with clinicopathological multivariable adjustment in 7 independent breast cancer datasets covering 3,430 patients. We uncover many novel prognostic regulators that were obscured prior to refinement, in particular NFY, and offer a detailed look at the composition and relationships among the breast cancer prognostic regulome. We anticipate icTAIR will be of general use in contextually refining regulator target genes for discoveries across many contexts. The icTAIR algorithm can be downloaded from https://github.com/icTAIR. PMID:28103241

Interpersonal emotion regulation.

PubMed

Zaki, Jamil; Williams, W Craig

2013-10-01

Contemporary emotion regulation research emphasizes intrapersonal processes such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, but people experiencing affect commonly choose not to go it alone. Instead, individuals often turn to others for help in shaping their affective lives. How and under what circumstances does such interpersonal regulation modulate emotional experience? Although scientists have examined allied phenomena such as social sharing, empathy, social support, and prosocial behavior for decades, there have been surprisingly few attempts to integrate these data into a single conceptual framework of interpersonal regulation. Here we propose such a framework. We first map a "space" differentiating classes of interpersonal regulation according to whether an individual uses an interpersonal regulatory episode to alter their own or another person's emotion. We then identify 2 types of processes--response-dependent and response-independent--that could support interpersonal regulation. This framework classifies an array of processes through which interpersonal contact fulfills regulatory goals. More broadly, it organizes diffuse, heretofore independent data on "pieces" of interpersonal regulation, and identifies growth points for this young and exciting research domain.

Personality Assessment: A Competency-Capability Perspective.

PubMed

Kaslow, Nadine J; Finklea, J Tyler; Chan, Ginny

2018-01-01

This article begins by reviewing the proficiency of personality assessment in the context of the competencies movement, which has dominated health service psychology in recent years. It examines the value of including a capability framework for advancing this proficiency and enhancing the quality of personality assessments, including Therapeutic Assessment (Finn & Tonsager, 1997 ), that include a personality assessment component. This hybrid competency-capability framework is used to set the stage for the conduct of personality assessments in a variety of contexts and for the optimal training of personality assessment. Future directions are offered in terms of ways psychologists can strengthen their social contract with the public and offer a broader array of personality assessments in more diverse contexts and by individuals who are both competent and capable.

Data and information integration framework for highway project decision making.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-08-01

This report presents a three-tiered framework to integrate data, information, and decision-making in highway projects. The study uses the Jurans Triple Role concept and context graph to illustrate the relationship between data, information, and de...

Worksite Stress Management Interventions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivancevich, John M.; And Others

1990-01-01

Presents a framework used for viewing stress and organizational stress interventions. Reviews the stress management intervention literature in the context of this framework. Provides examples of corporations committed to stress management programs. Identifies future needs appropriate for organizational psychologists to address. (Author/JS)

Reconstructing Population Exposures to Environmental Chemicals from Biomarkers: Challenges and Opportunities

EPA Science Inventory

A conceptual/computational framework for exposure reconstruction from biomarker data combined with auxiliary exposure-related data is presented, evaluated with example applications, and examined in the context of future needs and opportunities. This framework employs Physiologica...

Ethical international research on human subjects research in the absence of local institutional review boards.

PubMed

Bhat, S B; Hegde, T T

2006-09-01

International health-related research on human subjects entails unique ethical responsibilities and difficulties. Often, these difficulties are augmented by the lack of a local ethical review infrastructure. In a recent cross-national study conducted by us, three critical components of ethical regulation were identified--external oversight, local oversight and subject involvement--and integrated into the study design. These three concepts are outlined and established as an important aspect of ensuring ethical coherence in the local context, particularly when reviews by the local institutional review boards cannot practically be obtained. The three levels of ethical oversight identified are suggested to be the framework within which future field studies on human subjects are developed and a standard for maintaining ethical rigorousness in research on humans.

Web-Based Learning - Yes We Can!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, Ulrik

Web-based Learning has become a matter of fact at universities. We are now at the edge of new developments with Web 2.0 applications and social software is radically changing the way of how we communicate and share in social networks. Can we expect an analogous revolution for university education 2.0? I will give some arguments that I rather expect an incremental evolution than a radical change. First, I take a look at current eLearning implementations and organizational frameworks and give an example from RWTH Aachen University. Against the background of cognitive theories the utilization of Web 2.0 applications are promising to strengthen 21st century learning. But methods and tools must be adapted to the context of institutional learning as well as the formal regulations must be adjusted vice versa.

[RADIATION SAFETY DURING REMEDIATION OF THE "SEVRAO" FACILITIES].

PubMed

Shandala, N K; Kiselev, S M; Titov, A V; Simakov, A V; Seregin, V A; Kryuchkov, V P; Bogdanova, L S; Grachev, M I

2015-01-01

Within a framework of national program on elimination of nuclear legacy, State Corporation "Rosatom" is working on rehabilitation at the temporary waste storage facility at Andreeva Bay (Northwest Center for radioactive waste "SEVRAO"--the branch of "RosRAO"), located in the North-West of Russia. In the article there is presented an analysis of the current state of supervision for radiation safety of personnel and population in the context of readiness of the regulator to the implementation of an effective oversight of radiation safety in the process of radiation-hazardous work. Presented in the article results of radiation-hygienic monitoring are an informative indicator of the effectiveness of realized rehabilitation measures and characterize the radiation environment in the surveillance zone as a normal, without the tendency to its deterioration.

State of the art in biobehavioral approaches to the management of chronic pain in childhood

PubMed Central

Simons, Laura E; Basch, Molly C

2016-01-01

Chronic pain in childhood is prevalent, persistent and significantly impactful on most domains of life. The chronic pain experience occurs within a complex biopsychosocial framework, with particular emphasis on the social context. Currently, psychological treatments involve a cognitive–behavioral therapy treatment plan, providing some combination of psychoeducation, self-regulation training, maladaptive cognition identification, behavioral exposure and parent involvement. New treatment areas are emerging, such as group- and internet-based cognitive–behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, comorbid obesity intervention and intensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Preliminary studies of emerging treatments demonstrate encouraging results; however, treatment effectiveness hinges on accurate matching of patient to treatment modality. Overall, the current direction of the field promises many innovative breakthroughs to ameliorate suffering in youth with chronic pain. PMID:26678858

A Context-Aware Self-Adaptive Fractal Based Generalized Pedagogical Agent Framework for Mobile Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boulehouache, Soufiane; Maamri, Ramdane; Sahnoun, Zaidi

2015-01-01

The Pedagogical Agents (PAs) for Mobile Learning (m-learning) must be able not only to adapt the teaching to the learner knowledge level and profile but also to ensure the pedagogical efficiency within unpredictable changing runtime contexts. Therefore, to deal with this issue, this paper proposes a Context-aware Self-Adaptive Fractal Component…

Literacy and Cultural Thoughtfulness: The Power and Helplessness within and beyond Cultural Boundaries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fagan, William T.

The work of Gee and Purves helps provide a framework for understanding cultural contexts and contextual boundaries of literacy. Gee (1991) uses the term "discourse"--a socially accepted association among ways of using language that can identify one as a member of a social context--synonymously with cultural context. Purves' (1991) work…

Design in Context: A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Computer Software in Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozma, Robert B.; Bangert-Drowns, Robert L.

The conceptual groundwork needed to examine the impact of technology, primarily microcomputers, on student learning is presented. Medium, method, and context are tied with a science of design. In section I, research on technology in higher education is reviewed, medium and method are defined, and interaction with context is discussed. Taxonomies…

Psychoactive substances and the political ecology of mental distress

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

The goal of this paper is to both understand and depathologize clinically significant mental distress related to criminalized contact with psychoactive biotic substances by employing a framework known as critical political ecology of health and disease from the subdiscipline of medical geography. The political ecology of disease framework joins disease ecology with the power-calculus of political economy and calls for situating health-related phenomena in their broad social and economic context, demonstrating how large-scale global processes are at work at the local level, and giving due attention to historical analysis in understanding the relevant human-environment relations. Critical approaches to the political ecology of health and disease have the potential to incorporate ever-broadening social, political, economic, and cultural factors to challenge traditional causes, definitions, and sociomedical understandings of disease. Inspired by the patient-centered medical diagnosis critiques in medical geography, this paper will use a critical political ecology of disease approach to challenge certain prevailing sociomedical interpretations of disease, or more specifically, mental disorder, found in the field of substance abuse diagnostics and the related American punitive public policy regimes of substance abuse prevention and control, with regards to the use of biotic substances. It will do this by first critically interrogating the concept of "substances" and grounding them in an ecological context, reviewing the history of both the development of modern substance control laws and modern substance abuse diagnostics, and understanding the biogeographic dimensions of such approaches. It closes with proposing a non-criminalizing public health approach for regulating human close contact with psychoactive substances using the example of cannabis use. PMID:22257499

A flexible object-oriented software framework for developing complex multimedia simulations.

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

Sydelko, P. J.; Dolph, J. E.; Christiansen, J. H.

Decision makers involved in brownfields redevelopment and long-term stewardship must consider environmental conditions, future-use potential, site ownership, area infrastructure, funding resources, cost recovery, regulations, risk and liability management, community relations, and expected return on investment in a comprehensive and integrated fashion to achieve desired results. Successful brownfields redevelopment requires the ability to assess the impacts of redevelopment options on multiple interrelated aspects of the ecosystem, both natural and societal. Computer-based tools, such as simulation models, databases, and geographical information systems (GISs) can be used to address brownfields planning and project execution. The transparent integration of these tools into a comprehensivemore » and dynamic decision support system would greatly enhance the brownfields assessment process. Such a system needs to be able to adapt to shifting and expanding analytical requirements and contexts. The Dynamic Information Architecture System (DIAS) is a flexible, extensible, object-oriented framework for developing and maintaining complex multidisciplinary simulations of a wide variety of application domains. The modeling domain of a specific DIAS-based simulation is determined by (1) software objects that represent the real-world entities that comprise the problem space (atmosphere, watershed, human), and (2) simulation models and other data processing applications that express the dynamic behaviors of the domain entities. Models and applications used to express dynamic behaviors can be either internal or external to DIAS, including existing legacy models written in various languages (FORTRAN, C, etc.). The flexible design framework of DIAS makes the objects adjustable to the context of the problem without a great deal of recoding. The DIAS Spatial Data Set facility allows parameters to vary spatially depending on the simulation context according to any of a number of 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D topologies. DIAS is also capable of interacting with other GIS packages and can import many standard spatial data formats. DIAS simulation capabilities can also be extended by including societal process models. Models that implement societal behaviors of individuals and organizations within larger DIAS-based natural systems simulations allow for interaction and feedback among natural and societal processes. The ability to simulate the complex interplay of multimedia processes makes DIAS a promising tool for constructing applications for comprehensive community planning, including the assessment of multiple development and redevelopment scenarios.« less

What are the constraints and opportunities for HIVST scale-up in Africa? Evidence from Kenya, Malawi and South Africa.

PubMed

van Rooyen, Heidi; Tulloch, Olivia; Mukoma, Wanjiru; Makusha, Tawanda; Chepuka, Lignet; Knight, Lucia C; Peck, Roger B; Lim, Jeanette M; Muturi, Nelly; Chirwa, Ellen; Taegtmeyer, Miriam

2015-01-01

HIV self-testing (HIVST) has the potential to increase uptake of HIV testing among untested populations in sub-Saharan Africa and is on the brink of scale-up. However, it is unclear to what extent HIVST would be supported by stakeholders, what policy frameworks are in place and how variations between contexts might influence country-preparedness for scale-up. This qualitative study assessed the perceptions of HIVST among stakeholders in three sub-Saharan countries. Fifty-four key informant interviews were conducted in Kenya (n=16), Malawi (n=26) and South Africa (n=12) with government policy makers, academics, activists, donors, procurement specialists, laboratory practitioners and health providers. A thematic analysis was conducted in each country and a common coding framework allowed for inter-country analysis to identify common and divergent themes across contexts. Respondents welcomed the idea of an accurate, easy-to-use, rapid HIV self-test which could increase testing across all populations. High-risk groups, such as men, Men who have sex with men (MSM), couples and young people in particular, could be targeted through a range of health facility and community-based distribution points. HIVST is already endorsed in Kenya, and political support for scale-up exists in South Africa and Malawi. However, several caveats remain. Further research, policy and ensuing guidelines should consider how to regulate, market and distribute HIVST, ensure quality assurance of tests and human rights, and critically, link testing to appropriate support and treatment services. Low literacy levels in some target groups would also need context-specific consideration before scale up. World Health Organization (WHO) policy and regulatory frameworks are needed to guide the process in those areas which are new or specific to self-testing. Stakeholders in three HIV endemic sub-Saharan countries felt that HIVST will be an important complement to existing community and facility-based testing approaches if accompanied by the same essential components of any HIV testing service, including access to accurate information and linkages to care. While there is an increasingly positive global policy environment regarding HIVST, several implementation and social challenges limit scale-up. There is a need for further research to provide contextual and operational evidence that addresses concerns and contributes to normative WHO guidance.

50 CFR 660.517 - Framework for revising regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Framework for revising regulations. 660.517 Section 660.517 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES Coastal...

Analysis of public policies in favor of the elderly people in Senegal: state of legal protection.

PubMed

Ka, Ousseynou; Seck, Ibrahima; Coumé, Mamadou; Thiongane, Bassirou; Mbaye, El Hadji; Dia, Anta Tal

2018-03-01

Senegal will be spared by phenomenon of population ageing, which will surely have socioeconomic and cultural consequences that will not be easy to tackle, as all sectors will be affected. In regard to legal protection, there are not any special legal acts for the elderly as is the case for children and women. They are treated just as responsible adults whose legal status is the same as everyone else. As far as the framework of legal protection of elderly people is concerned, Senegal has ratified all international and regional means and mecanisms for the protection of the rights of the elderly. In addition, the authorities have adopted policies and programs that favor taking charge of old people's interests. At the present, Senegal possesses a legal framework for the protection of its elderly people. So the matter is about creating new rights, because even the existing rights are not known to their beneficiaries. What is important is to ensure that the elderly fully enjoy their rights in the same way as the other members of society. It is wise, therefore, to put in place plan for information, public awareness and communication concerning the legal regulating framework. Thus, Senegal could be regarded as a pioneer in terms of the protection the elderly, and these leading programs can represent models for the countries of the region, whose social, sanitary and economic contexts are similar.

Defining ecological and economical hydropoweroperations: a framework for managing dam releasesto meet multiple conflicting objectives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Irwin, Elise R.

2014-01-01

Hydroelectric dams are a flexible source of power, provide flood control, and contribute to the economic growth of local communities through real-estate and recreation. Yet the impoundment of rivers can alter and fragment miles of critical riverine habitat needed for other competing needs such as downstream consumptive water use, fish and wildlife population viability, or other forms of recreation. Multiple conflicting interests can compromise progressive management especially with recognized uncertainties related to whether management actions will fulfill the objectives of policy makers, resource managers and/or facility owners. Decision analytic tools were used in a stakeholder-driven process to develop and implement a template for evaluation and prediction of the effects of water resource management of multiple-use systems under the context provided by R.L. Harris Dam on the Tallapoosa River, Alabama, USA. The approach provided a transparent and structured framework for decision-making and incorporated both existing and new data to meet multiple management objectives. Success of the template has been evaluated by the stakeholder governing body in an adaptive resource management framework since 2005 and is ongoing. Consequences of management of discharge at the dam were evaluated annually relative to stakeholder satisfaction to allow for adjustment of both management scenarios and objectives. This template can be applied to attempt to resolve conflict inherent in many dam-regulated systems where management decisions impact diverse values of stakeholders.

Envision and Observe: Using the Studio Thinking Framework for Learning and Teaching in Digital Arts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheridan, Kimberly M.

2011-01-01

The Studio Thinking Framework (STF) focuses on habits of mind taught through studio arts rather than disciplinary content or media-specific techniques. It is well suited to integrate studies of arts learning and teaching in a range of contexts, and it provides a framework for understanding how visual arts participation is dramatically changing…

A Framework for Designing Cluster Randomized Trials with Binary Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spybrook, Jessaca; Martinez, Andres

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide a frame work for approaching a power analysis for a CRT (cluster randomized trial) with a binary outcome. The authors suggest a framework in the context of a simple CRT and then extend it to a blocked design, or a multi-site cluster randomized trial (MSCRT). The framework is based on proportions, an…

An Alienation-Based Framework for Student Experience in Higher Education: New Interpretations of Past Observations in Student Learning Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnhardt, Bradford; Ginns, Paul

2014-01-01

This article orients a recently proposed alienation-based framework for student learning theory (SLT) to the empirical basis of the approaches to learning perspective. The proposed framework makes new macro-level interpretations of an established micro-level theory, across three levels of interpretation: (1) a context-free psychological state…

An Assessment of Agency Theory as a Framework for the Government-University Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kivisto, Jussi

2008-01-01

The aim of this paper is to use agency theory as the theoretical framework for an examination of the government-university relationship and to assess the main strengths and weaknesses of the theory in this context. Because of its logically consistent framework, agency theory is able to manifest many of the complexities and difficulties that…

The Relationship between Self-Regulation and Online Learning in a Blended Learning Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Richard; Dembo, Myron

2004-01-01

This study reviewed the distance education and self-regulation literatures to identify learner self-regulation skills predictive of academic success in a blended education context. Five self-regulatory attributes were judged likely to be predictive of academic performance: intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance,…

A methodological framework to support the initiation, design and institutionalization of participatory modeling processes in water resources management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halbe, Johannes; Pahl-Wostl, Claudia; Adamowski, Jan

2018-01-01

Multiple barriers constrain the widespread application of participatory methods in water management, including the more technical focus of most water agencies, additional cost and time requirements for stakeholder involvement, as well as institutional structures that impede collaborative management. This paper presents a stepwise methodological framework that addresses the challenges of context-sensitive initiation, design and institutionalization of participatory modeling processes. The methodological framework consists of five successive stages: (1) problem framing and stakeholder analysis, (2) process design, (3) individual modeling, (4) group model building, and (5) institutionalized participatory modeling. The Management and Transition Framework is used for problem diagnosis (Stage One), context-sensitive process design (Stage Two) and analysis of requirements for the institutionalization of participatory water management (Stage Five). Conceptual modeling is used to initiate participatory modeling processes (Stage Three) and ensure a high compatibility with quantitative modeling approaches (Stage Four). This paper describes the proposed participatory model building (PMB) framework and provides a case study of its application in Québec, Canada. The results of the Québec study demonstrate the applicability of the PMB framework for initiating and designing participatory model building processes and analyzing barriers towards institutionalization.

The relationship between epistemological beliefs, implicit theories of intelligence, and self-regulated learning among Norwegian postsecondary students.

PubMed

Bråten, Ivar; Strømsø, Helge I

2005-12-01

More empirical work is needed to examine the dimensionality of personal epistemology and relations between those dimensions and motivational and strategic components of self-regulated learning. In particular, there is great need to investigate personal epistemology and its relation to self-regulated learning across cultures and academic contexts. Because the demarcation between personal epistemology and implicit theories of intelligence has been questioned, dimensions of personal epistemology should also be studied in relation to implicit theories of intelligence. The primary aim was to examine the dimensionality of personal epistemology and the relation between those dimensions and implicit theories of intelligence in the cultural context of Norwegian postsecondary education. A secondary aim was to examine the relative contribution of epistemological beliefs and theories of intelligence to motivational and strategic components of self-regulated learning in different academic contexts within that culture. The first sample included 178 business administration students in a traditional transmission-oriented instructional context; the second, 108 student teachers in an innovative pedagogical context. The dimensionality of the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire was examined through factor analyses, and the resulting dimensions were examined in relation to implicit theories of intelligence. We performed multiple regression analyses, separately for the two academic contexts, to try to predict motivational (i.e. self-efficacy beliefs, mastery goal orientation, and interest) and strategic (i.e. self-regulatory strategy use) components of self-regulated learning with epistemological beliefs and implicit theories of intelligence. Considerable cross-cultural generalizability was found for the dimensionality of personal epistemology. Moreover, the dimensions of personal epistemology seemed to represent constructs separate from the construct of implicit theories of intelligence. Differences in the predictability of the epistemological dimensions were found for the two samples. For the student teachers, belief about knowledge construction and modification was a better predictor of self-regulated learning. For the business administration students, belief about the certainty of knowledge played a more important role in self-regulated learning. Epistemological beliefs predict self-regulated learning among Norwegian postsecondary students and play more important roles than implicit theories of intelligence. Relations between epistemological beliefs and self-regulated learning may vary with academic context.

Two theories/a sharper lens: the staff nurse voice in the workplace.

PubMed

DeMarco, Rosanna

2002-06-01

This paper (1) introduces the two theoretical frameworks, Silencing the Self and the Framework of Systemic Organization (2) describes the design and findings briefly of a study exploring spillover in nurses utilizing the frameworks, and (3) discusses the process and value of theory triangulation when conducting research in the context of complex nursing systems phenomena where gender, professional work, and gender identity merge. A research study was designed to analyse the actual workplace behaviours of nurses in the context of their lives at work and outside work. An exploration of theoretical frameworks that could direct the measurement of the phenomena in question led to the use of two frameworks, the Framework of Systemic Organization (Friedemann 1995) and the Silencing the Self Theory (Jack 1991), and the creation of a valid and reliable summative rating instrument (the Staff Nurse Workplace Behaviours Scale, SNWBS). A descriptive correlational design was used to measure behaviours between work and home. There were statistically significant relationships found between workplace behaviours, family behaviours, and silencing behaviours as measured by the two separate scales measuring framework concepts. Although both theories had different origins and philosophical tenets, the findings of a research study created an opportunity to integrate the concepts of each and unexpectedly increase and broaden the understanding of spillover for women who are often nurses.

Exploring Nurse Leaders' Policy Participation Within the Context of a Nursing Conceptual Framework.

PubMed

Waddell, Ashley; Adams, Jeffrey M; Fawcett, Jacqueline

2017-11-01

This study was designed to describe and quantify the experiences of nurse leaders working to influence policy and to build consensus for priority skills and knowledge useful in policy efforts within the context of a nursing conceptual framework. The conceptual model for nursing and health policy and the Adams influence model were combined into a conceptual framework used to guide this two-round modified Delphi study. Twenty-two nurse leaders who were members of a state action coalition participated in the Round 1 focus group; 15 of these leaders completed the Round 2 electronic survey. Round 1 themes indicated the value of a passion for policy, the importance of clear communication, and an understanding the who and when of policy work. Round 2 data reinforced the importance of clear communication regarding policy engagement; knowing the who and when of policy closely followed, and having a passion for policy work was identified as least important. These themes inform learning objectives for nursing education and preparation for interactions with public officials because influencing policy requires knowledge, skills, and persistence. Study findings begin to describe how nurse leaders influence policy within the context of a nursing conceptual framework and generate implications for research, education, and professional practice.

A theoretical framework for holistic hospital management in the Japanese healthcare context.

PubMed

Liu, Hu-Chen

2013-11-01

This paper develops a conceptual framework for performance measurement as a pilot study on holistic hospital management in the Japanese healthcare context. We primarily used two data sources as well as expert statements obtained through interviews: a systematic review of literature and a questionnaire survey to healthcare experts. The systematic survey searched PubMed and PubMed Central, and 24 relevant papers were elicited. The expert questionnaire asked respondents to rate the degree of "usefulness" for each of 66 indicators on a three-point scale. Applying the theoretical framework, a minimum set of performance indicators was selected for holistic hospital management, which well fit the healthcare context in Japan. This indicator set comprised 35 individual indicators and several factors measured through questionnaire surveys. The indicators were confirmed by expert judgments from viewpoints of face, content and construct validities as well as their usefulness. A theoretical framework of performance measurement was established from primary healthcare stakeholders' perspectives. Performance indicators were largely divided into healthcare outcomes and performance shaping factors. Indicators in the former category may be applied for the detection of operational problems, while their latent causes can be effectively addressed by the latter category in terms of process, structure and culture/climate within the organization. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

CAN A MODEL TRANSFERABILITY FRAMEWORK IMPROVE ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Budget constraints and policies that limit primary data collection have fueled a practice of transferring estimates (or models to generate estimates) of ecological endpoints from sites where primary data exists to sites where little to no primary data were collected. Whereas benefit transfer has been well studied; there is no comparable framework for evaluating whether model transfer between sites is justifiable. We developed and applied a transferability assessment framework to a case study involving forest carbon sequestration for soils in Tillamook Bay, Oregon. The carbon sequestration capacity of forested watersheds is an important ecosystem service in the effort to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. We used our framework, incorporating three basic steps (model selection, defining context variables, assessing logistical constraints) for evaluating model transferability, to compare estimates of carbon storage capacity derived from two models, COMET-Farm and Yasso. We applied each model to Tillamook Bay and compared results to data extracted from the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) using ArcGIS. Context variables considered were: geographic proximity to Tillamook, dominant tree species, climate and soil type. Preliminary analyses showed that estimates from COMET-Farm were more similar to SSURGO data, likely because model context variables (e.g. proximity to Tillamook and dominant tree species) were identical to those in Tillamook. In contras

Toward a multi-objective decision support framework to support regulations of unconventional oil and gas development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alongi, M.; Howard, C.; Kasprzyk, J. R.; Ryan, J. N.

2015-12-01

Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has recently fostered an unprecedented acceleration in energy development. Regulations seek to protect environmental quality of areas surrounding UOGD, while maintaining economic benefits. One such regulation is a setback distance, which dictates the minimum proximity between an oil and gas well and an object such as a residential or commercial building, property line, or water source. In general, most setback regulations have been strongly politically motivated without a clear scientific basis for understanding the relationship between the setback distance and various performance outcomes. This presentation discusses a new decision support framework for setback regulations, as part of a large NSF-funded sustainability research network (SRN) on UOGD. The goal of the decision support framework is to integrate a wide array of scientific information from the SRN into a coherent framework that can help inform policy regarding UOGD. The decision support framework employs multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) optimization coupled with simulation models of air quality and other performance-based outcomes on UOGD. The result of the MOEA optimization runs are quantitative tradeoff curves among different objectives. For example, one such curve could demonstrate air pollution concentrations versus estimates of energy development profits, for different levels of setback distance. Our results will also inform policy-relevant discussions surrounding UOGD such as comparing single- and multi-well pads, as well as regulations on the density of well development over a spatial area.

Mapping Social Ecological Systems Archetypes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rocha, J. C.; Malmborg, K.; Gordon, L.

2016-12-01

Achieving sustainable development goals requires targeting and monitoring sustainable solutions tailored to different social and ecological contexts. Elinor Ostrom stressed that there is no panaceas or universal solutions to environmental problems, and developed a social-ecological systems' (SES) framework -a nested multi tier set of variables- to help diagnose problems, identify complex interactions, and solutions tailored to each SES arena. However, to our knowledge, the SES framework has only been applied to over a hundred cases, and typically reflect the analysis of local case studies with relatively small coverage in space and time. While case studies are context rich and necessary, their conclusions might not reach policy making instances. Here we develop a data driven method for upscaling Ostrom's SES framework and applied to a context where we expect data is scarce, incomplete, but also where sustainable solutions are badly needed. The purpose of upscaling the framework is to create a tool that facilitates decision making on data scarce environments such as developing countries. We mapped SES by applying the SES framework to poverty alleviation and food security issues in the Volta River basin in Ghana and Burkina Faso. We found archetypical configurations of SES in space given data availability, we study their change over time, and discuss where agricultural innovations such as water reservoirs might have a stronger impact at increasing food security and therefore alleviating poverty and hunger. We conclude outlining how the method can be used in other SES comparative studies.

Health for All? Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Implementation of the Right to Access to Health Care in South Africa.

PubMed

Müller, Alexandra

2016-12-01

The framework of health and human rights provides for a comprehensive theoretical and practical application of general human rights principles in health care contexts that include the well-being of patients, providers, and other individuals within health care. This is particularly important for sexual and gender minority individuals, who experience historical and contemporary systematical marginalization, exclusion, and discrimination in health care contexts. In this paper, I present two case studies from South Africa to (1) highlight the conflicts that arise when sexual and gender minority individuals seek access to a heteronormative health system; (2) discuss the international, regional, and national human rights legal framework as it pertains to sexual orientation, gender identity, and health; and (3) analyze the gap between legislative frameworks that offer protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and their actual implementation in health service provision. These case studies highlight the complex and intersecting discrimination and marginalization that sexual and gender minority individuals face in health care in this particular context. The issues raised in the case studies are not unique to South Africa, however; and the human rights concerns illustrated therein, particularly around the right to health, have wide resonance in other geographical and social contexts.

Health for All? Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Implementation of the Right to Access to Health Care in South Africa

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Abstract The framework of health and human rights provides for a comprehensive theoretical and practical application of general human rights principles in health care contexts that include the well-being of patients, providers, and other individuals within health care. This is particularly important for sexual and gender minority individuals, who experience historical and contemporary systematical marginalization, exclusion, and discrimination in health care contexts. In this paper, I present two case studies from South Africa to (1) highlight the conflicts that arise when sexual and gender minority individuals seek access to a heteronormative health system; (2) discuss the international, regional, and national human rights legal framework as it pertains to sexual orientation, gender identity, and health; and (3) analyze the gap between legislative frameworks that offer protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and their actual implementation in health service provision. These case studies highlight the complex and intersecting discrimination and marginalization that sexual and gender minority individuals face in health care in this particular context. The issues raised in the case studies are not unique to South Africa, however; and the human rights concerns illustrated therein, particularly around the right to health, have wide resonance in other geographical and social contexts. PMID:28559686

Social media: A contextual framework to guide research and practice.

PubMed

McFarland, Lynn A; Ployhart, Robert E

2015-11-01

Social media are a broad collection of digital platforms that have radically changed the way people interact and communicate. However, we argue that social media are not simply a technology but actually represent a context that differs in important ways from traditional (e.g., face-to-face) and other digital (e.g., email) ways of interacting and communicating. As a result, social media is a relatively unexamined type of context that may affect the cognition, affect, and behavior of individuals within organizations. We propose a contextual framework that identifies the discrete and ambient stimuli that distinguish social media contexts from digital communication media (e.g., email) and physical (e.g., face-to-face) contexts. We then use this contextual framework to demonstrate how it changes more person-centered theories of organizational behavior (e.g., social exchange, social contagion, and social network theories). These theoretical insights are also used to identify a number of practical implications for individuals and organizations. This study's major contribution is creating a theoretical understanding of social media features so that future research may proceed in a theory-based, rather than platform-based, manner. Overall, we intend for this article to stimulate and broadly shape the direction of research on this ubiquitous, but poorly understood, phenomenon. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Quantifying biopsychosocial aspects in everyday contexts: an integrative methodological approach from the behavioral sciences

PubMed Central

Portell, Mariona; Anguera, M Teresa; Hernández-Mendo, Antonio; Jonsson, Gudberg K

2015-01-01

Contextual factors are crucial for evaluative research in psychology, as they provide insights into what works, for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects, and why. Studying behavior in context, however, poses numerous methodological challenges. Although a comprehensive framework for classifying methods seeking to quantify biopsychosocial aspects in everyday contexts was recently proposed, this framework does not contemplate contributions from observational methodology. The aim of this paper is to justify and propose a more general framework that includes observational methodology approaches. Our analysis is rooted in two general concepts: ecological validity and methodological complementarity. We performed a narrative review of the literature on research methods and techniques for studying daily life and describe their shared properties and requirements (collection of data in real time, on repeated occasions, and in natural settings) and classification criteria (eg, variables of interest and level of participant involvement in the data collection process). We provide several examples that illustrate why, despite their higher costs, studies of behavior and experience in everyday contexts offer insights that complement findings provided by other methodological approaches. We urge that observational methodology be included in classifications of research methods and techniques for studying everyday behavior and advocate a renewed commitment to prioritizing ecological validity in behavioral research seeking to quantify biopsychosocial aspects. PMID:26089708

Within Your Control? When Problem Solving May Be Most Helpful.

PubMed

Sarfan, Laurel D; Gooch, Peter; Clerkin, Elise M

2017-08-01

Emotion regulation strategies have been conceptualized as adaptive or maladaptive, but recent evidence suggests emotion regulation outcomes may be context-dependent. The present study tested whether the adaptiveness of a putatively adaptive emotion regulation strategy-problem solving-varied across contexts of high and low controllability. The present study also tested rumination, suggested to be one of the most putatively maladaptive strategies, which was expected to be associated with negative outcomes regardless of context. Participants completed an in vivo speech task, in which they were randomly assigned to a controllable ( n = 65) or an uncontrollable ( n = 63) condition. Using moderation analyses, we tested whether controllability interacted with emotion regulation use to predict negative affect, avoidance, and perception of performance. Partially consistent with hypotheses, problem solving was associated with certain positive outcomes (i.e., reduced behavioral avoidance) in the controllable (vs. uncontrollable) condition. Consistent with predictions, rumination was associated with negative outcomes (i.e., desired avoidance, negative affect, negative perception of performance) in both conditions. Overall, findings partially support contextual models of emotion regulation, insofar as the data suggest that the effects of problem solving may be more adaptive in controllable contexts for certain outcomes, whereas rumination may be maladaptive regardless of context.

The Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD): Facilitating the use of epidemiological models for infectious disease surveillance

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

Margevicius, Kristen J.; Generous, Nicholas; Abeyta, Esteban

Epidemiological modeling for infectious disease is important for disease management and its routine implementation needs to be facilitated through better description of models in an operational context. A standardized model characterization process that allows selection or making manual comparisons of available models and their results is currently lacking. A key need is a universal framework to facilitate model description and understanding of its features. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has developed a comprehensive framework that can be used to characterize an infectious disease model in an operational context. The framework was developed through a consensus among a panel of subjectmore » matter experts. In this paper, we describe the framework, its application to model characterization, and the development of the Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD; http://brd.bsvgateway.org/brd/), to facilitate the rapid selection of operational models for specific infectious/communicable diseases. We offer this framework and associated database to stakeholders of the infectious disease modeling field as a tool for standardizing model description and facilitating the use of epidemiological models.« less

The Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD): Facilitating the Use of Epidemiological Models for Infectious Disease Surveillance

PubMed Central

Margevicius, Kristen J; Generous, Nicholas; Abeyta, Esteban; Althouse, Ben; Burkom, Howard; Castro, Lauren; Daughton, Ashlynn; Del Valle, Sara Y.; Fairchild, Geoffrey; Hyman, James M.; Kiang, Richard; Morse, Andrew P.; Pancerella, Carmen M.; Pullum, Laura; Ramanathan, Arvind; Schlegelmilch, Jeffrey; Scott, Aaron; Taylor-McCabe, Kirsten J; Vespignani, Alessandro; Deshpande, Alina

2016-01-01

Epidemiological modeling for infectious disease is important for disease management and its routine implementation needs to be facilitated through better description of models in an operational context. A standardized model characterization process that allows selection or making manual comparisons of available models and their results is currently lacking. A key need is a universal framework to facilitate model description and understanding of its features. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has developed a comprehensive framework that can be used to characterize an infectious disease model in an operational context. The framework was developed through a consensus among a panel of subject matter experts. In this paper, we describe the framework, its application to model characterization, and the development of the Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD; http://brd.bsvgateway.org/brd/), to facilitate the rapid selection of operational models for specific infectious/communicable diseases. We offer this framework and associated database to stakeholders of the infectious disease modeling field as a tool for standardizing model description and facilitating the use of epidemiological models. PMID:26820405

The Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD): Facilitating the Use of Epidemiological Models for Infectious Disease Surveillance.

PubMed

Margevicius, Kristen J; Generous, Nicholas; Abeyta, Esteban; Althouse, Ben; Burkom, Howard; Castro, Lauren; Daughton, Ashlynn; Del Valle, Sara Y; Fairchild, Geoffrey; Hyman, James M; Kiang, Richard; Morse, Andrew P; Pancerella, Carmen M; Pullum, Laura; Ramanathan, Arvind; Schlegelmilch, Jeffrey; Scott, Aaron; Taylor-McCabe, Kirsten J; Vespignani, Alessandro; Deshpande, Alina

2016-01-01

Epidemiological modeling for infectious disease is important for disease management and its routine implementation needs to be facilitated through better description of models in an operational context. A standardized model characterization process that allows selection or making manual comparisons of available models and their results is currently lacking. A key need is a universal framework to facilitate model description and understanding of its features. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has developed a comprehensive framework that can be used to characterize an infectious disease model in an operational context. The framework was developed through a consensus among a panel of subject matter experts. In this paper, we describe the framework, its application to model characterization, and the development of the Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD; http://brd.bsvgateway.org/brd/), to facilitate the rapid selection of operational models for specific infectious/communicable diseases. We offer this framework and associated database to stakeholders of the infectious disease modeling field as a tool for standardizing model description and facilitating the use of epidemiological models.

The Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD): Facilitating the use of epidemiological models for infectious disease surveillance

DOE PAGES

Margevicius, Kristen J.; Generous, Nicholas; Abeyta, Esteban; ...

2016-01-28

Epidemiological modeling for infectious disease is important for disease management and its routine implementation needs to be facilitated through better description of models in an operational context. A standardized model characterization process that allows selection or making manual comparisons of available models and their results is currently lacking. A key need is a universal framework to facilitate model description and understanding of its features. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has developed a comprehensive framework that can be used to characterize an infectious disease model in an operational context. The framework was developed through a consensus among a panel of subjectmore » matter experts. In this paper, we describe the framework, its application to model characterization, and the development of the Biosurveillance Analytics Resource Directory (BARD; http://brd.bsvgateway.org/brd/), to facilitate the rapid selection of operational models for specific infectious/communicable diseases. We offer this framework and associated database to stakeholders of the infectious disease modeling field as a tool for standardizing model description and facilitating the use of epidemiological models.« less

The paradox of uranium development: A Polanyian analysis of social movements surrounding the Pinon Ridge Uranium Mill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malin, Stephanie A.

Renewal of nuclear energy development has been proposed as one viable solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and impacts of climate change. This discussion became concrete as the first uranium mill proposed since the end of the Cold War, the Pinon Ridge Uranium Mill, received state permits in January 2011 to process uranium in southwest Colorado's Paradox Valley. Though environmental contamination from previous uranium activity caused one local community to be bulldozed to the ground, local support for renewed uranium activity emerges among local residents in communities like Nucla, Naturita, and Bedrock, Colorado. Regionally, however, a coalition of organized, oppositionbased grassroots groups fights the decision to permit the mill. Combined, these events allow social scientists a natural laboratory through which to view social repercussions of nuclear energy development. In this dissertation, I use a Polanyian theoretical framework to analyze social, political-economic, and environmental contexts of social movements surrounding PR Mill. My overarching research problem is: How might Polanyian double movement theory be applied to and made empirically testable within the social and environmental context of uranium development? I intended this analysis to inform energy policy debates regarding renewable energy. In Chapter 1, I found various forms of social dislocation lead to two divergent social movement outcomes. Economic social dislocation led to strong mill support among most local residents, according to archival, in-depth interview, and survey data. On the other hand, residents in regional communities experienced two other types of social dislocation -- another kind of economic dislocation, related to concern over boom-bust economies, and environmental health dislocations related to uranium exposure, creating conditions for a regional movement in opposition to PR Mill. In Chapter 2, I focus on regulations and find that two divergent social movements -- a support movement locally and a countermovement against the mill regionally -- emerge also as a result of strong faith in regulations, regulators, and Energy Fuels countered by marked distrust in regulations, regulators, and Energy Fuels, respectively. In Chapter 3, I advance Polanyi's double movement theory by comparing different emergent social movements surrounding uranium, showing that historically different circumstances surrounding uranium can help create conditions for divergent social movements.

The Natural Hospital Environment: a Socio-Technical-Material perspective.

PubMed

Fernando, Juanita; Dawson, Linda

2014-02-01

This paper introduces two concepts into analyses of information security and hospital-based information systems-- a Socio-Technical-Material theoretical framework and the Natural Hospital Environment. The research is grounded in a review of pertinent literature with previously published Australian (Victoria) case study data to analyse the way clinicians work with privacy and security in their work. The analysis was sorted into thematic categories, providing the basis for the Natural Hospital Environment and Socio-Technical-Material framework theories discussed here. Natural Hospital Environments feature inadequate yet pervasive computer use, aural privacy shortcomings, shared workspace, meagre budgets, complex regulation that hinders training outcomes and out-dated infrastructure and are highly interruptive. Working collaboratively in many cases, participants found ways to avoid or misuse security tools, such as passwords or screensavers for patient care. Workgroup infrastructure was old, architecturally limited, haphazard in some instances, and was less useful than paper handover sheets to ensure the quality of patient care outcomes. Despite valiant efforts by some participants, they were unable to control factors influencing the privacy of patient health information in public hospital settings. Future improvements to hospital-based organisational frameworks for e-health can only be made when there is an improved understanding of the Socio-Technical-Material theoretical framework and Natural Hospital Environment contexts. Aspects within control of clinicians and administrators can be addressed directly although some others are beyond their control. An understanding and acknowledgement of these issues will benefit the management and planning of improved and secure hospital settings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The development of adolescent self-regulation: reviewing the role of parent, peer, friend, and romantic relationships.

PubMed

Farley, Julee P; Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen

2014-06-01

Self-regulation plays an important role in adolescent development, predicting success in multiple domains including school and social relationships. While researchers have paid increasing attention to the influence of parents on the development of adolescent self-regulation, we know little about the influence of peers and friends and even less about the influence of romantic partners on adolescent development of self-regulation. Extant studies examined a unidirectional model of self-regulation development rather than a bidirectional model of self-regulation development. Given that relationships and self-regulation develop in tandem, a model of bidirectional development between relationship context and adolescent self-regulation may be relevant. This review summarizes extant literature and proposes that in order to understand how adolescent behavioral and emotional self-regulation develops in the context of social relationships one must consider that each relationship builds upon previous relationships and that self-regulation and relationship context develop bidirectionally. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Representing Plant Hydraulics in a Global Model: Updates to the Community Land Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, D.; Swenson, S. C.; Oleson, K. W.; Lawrence, D. M.; Fisher, R.; Gentine, P.

2017-12-01

In previous versions, the Community Land Model has used soil moisture to stand in for plant water status, with transpiration and photosynthesis driven directly by soil water potential. This eschews significant literature demonstrating the importance of plant hydraulic traits in the dynamics of water flow through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and in the regulation of stomatal aperture. In this study we install a simplified hydraulic framework to represent vegetation water potential and to regulate root water uptake and turbulent fluxes. Plant hydraulics allow for a more explicit representation of plant water status, which improves the physical basis for many processes represented in CLM. This includes root water uptake and the attenuation of photosynthesis and transpiration with drought. Model description is accompanied by results from a point simulation based at the Caxiuanã flux tower site in Eastern Amazonia, covering a throughfall exclusion experiment from 2001-2003. Including plant hydraulics improves the response to drought forcing compared to previous versions of CLM. Parameter sensitivity is examined at the same site and presented in the context of estimating hydraulic parameters in a global model.

Expert assessments of war casualties.

PubMed

Lalić, Hrvoje

2017-01-01

By describing three different war casualty cases, this paper highlights the harshness of current legal regulations in Croatia, and the possible consequences of their strict implementation. In two of the three cases the second instance expert witness has ultimately found that, due to legal procedures being followed too strictly, the expert witness initially assessing the cases had exceeded the legal framework and actually assessed patients, that is, individuals claiming disability benefits, inadequately. However, in the third case the expert witnesses employed by the Disability Pension Insurance Institute were right in deciding that the claimant was not entitled to a higher category of disability. Assessment of ability to work thus continues to be a subject of disagreement between experts of various profiles in legal and medical circles. Similar assessment issues appear not to be uncommon in other countries also. Therefore, the time has perhaps come for the existing rules and regulations to be re-evaluated. In fact, this may apply not only to those countries that share the same values and interests, such as EU member states, but also further abroad, particularly within a wider context of international recognition of basic human rights.

Placing Health Trajectories in Family and Historical Context: A Proposed Enrichment of the Life Course Health and Development Model.

PubMed

Jones, Marian Moser; Roy, Kevin

2017-10-01

Purpose This article offers constructive commentary on The Life Course Health and Development Model (LCHD) as an organizing framework for MCH research. Description The LCHD has recently been proposed as an organizing framework for MCH research. This model integrates biomedical, biopsychosocial, and life course frameworks, to explain how "individual health trajectories" develop over time. In this article, we propose that the LCHD can improve its relevance to MCH policy and practice by: (1) placing individual health trajectories within the context of family health trajectories, which unfold within communities and societies, over historical and generational time; and (2) placing greater weight on the social determinants that shape health development trajectories of individuals and families to produce greater or lesser health equity. Assessment We argue that emphasizing these nested, historically specific social contexts in life course models will enrich study design and data analysis for future developmental science research, will make the LCHD model more relevant in shaping MCH policy and interventions, and will guard against its application as a deterministic framework. Specific ways to measure these and examples of how they can be integrated into the LCHD model are articulated. Conclusion Research applying the LCHD should incorporate the specific family and socio-historical contexts in which development occurs to serve as a useful basis for policy and interventions. Future longitudinal studies of maternal and child health should include collection of time-dependent data related to family environment and other social determinants of health, and analyze the impact of historical events and trends on specific cohorts.

Architecture of a Framework for Providing Information Services for Public Transport

PubMed Central

García, Carmelo R.; Pérez, Ricardo; Lorenzo, Álvaro; Quesada-Arencibia, Alexis; Alayón, Francisco; Padrón, Gabino

2012-01-01

This paper presents OnRoute, a framework for developing and running ubiquitous software that provides information services to passengers of public transportation, including payment systems and on-route guidance services. To achieve a high level of interoperability, accessibility and context awareness, OnRoute uses the ubiquitous computing paradigm. To guarantee the quality of the software produced, the reliable software principles used in critical contexts, such as automotive systems, are also considered by the framework. The main components of its architecture (run-time, system services, software components and development discipline) and how they are deployed in the transportation network (stations and vehicles) are described in this paper. Finally, to illustrate the use of OnRoute, the development of a guidance service for travellers is explained. PMID:22778585

Opportunities for animal alternatives implementation in the evolving OECD fish testing framework

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation reviews opportunities for animal alternative approaches in the FTF. These will be placed in the context of in vivo tests required in many regulatory situations for the registration of industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals. The Framework inte...

A Mobile Context-Aware Framework for Managing Learning Schedules--Data Analysis from a Diary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yau, Jane Y.-K.; Joy, Mike; Dickert, Stephan

2010-01-01

We report the results of a diary study to determine whether a diary approach could be used as a successful way of retrieving a) the user's learning contexts, b) which learning contexts are significant for consideration within an m-learning application, and c) which learning materials are appropriate for which learning situation. Analyses of data…

An Investigation of the Stability and Variability in Young Children's Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors in Kindergarten

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neitzel, Carin; Connor, Lisa

2018-01-01

The authors examined the relative stability and variability of self-regulated learning (SRL) in kindergartners across various contexts (teacher-directed activities, small-group work, and independent work). They assessed the role of temperament and context on children's use of SRL while seeking to identify if there are optimal contexts for…

Testing the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research on health care innovations from South Yorkshire.

PubMed

Ilott, Irene; Gerrish, Kate; Booth, Andrew; Field, Becky

2013-10-01

There is an international imperative to implement research into clinical practice to improve health care. Understanding the dynamics of change requires knowledge from theoretical and empirical studies. This paper presents a novel approach to testing a new meta theoretical framework: the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. The utility of the Framework was evaluated using a post hoc, deductive analysis of 11 narrative accounts of innovation in health care services and practice from England, collected in 2010. A matrix, comprising the five domains and 39 constructs of the Framework was developed to examine the coherence of the terminology, to compare results across contexts and to identify new theoretical developments. The Framework captured the complexity of implementation across 11 diverse examples, offering theoretically informed, comprehensive coverage. The Framework drew attention to relevant points in individual cases together with patterns across cases; for example, all were internally developed innovations that brought direct or indirect patient advantage. In 10 cases, the change was led by clinicians. Most initiatives had been maintained for several years and there was evidence of spread in six examples. Areas for further development within the Framework include sustainability and patient/public engagement in implementation. Our analysis suggests that this conceptual framework has the potential to offer useful insights, whether as part of a situational analysis or by developing context-specific propositions for hypothesis testing. Such studies are vital now that innovation is being promoted as core business for health care. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Describing complex cells in primary visual cortex: a comparison of context and multi-filter LN models.

PubMed

Westö, Johan; May, Patrick J C

2018-05-02

Receptive field (RF) models are an important tool for deciphering neural responses to sensory stimuli. The two currently popular RF models are multi-filter linear-nonlinear (LN) models and context models. Models are, however, never correct and they rely on assumptions to keep them simple enough to be interpretable. As a consequence, different models describe different stimulus-response mappings, which may or may not be good approximations of real neural behavior. In the current study, we take up two tasks: First, we introduce new ways to estimate context models with realistic nonlinearities, that is, with logistic and exponential functions. Second, we evaluate context models and multi-filter LN models in terms of how well they describe recorded data from complex cells in cat primary visual cortex. Our results, based on single-spike information and correlation coefficients, indicate that context models outperform corresponding multi-filter LN models of equal complexity (measured in terms of number of parameters), with the best increase in performance being achieved by the novel context models. Consequently, our results suggest that the multi-filter LN-model framework is suboptimal for describing the behavior of complex cells: the context-model framework is clearly superior while still providing interpretable quantizations of neural behavior.

The Development of a Self-Regulation in a Collaborative Context Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Law, Victor; Ge, Xun; Eseryel, Deniz

2016-01-01

Self-regulation has been shown as a critical factor in learning in a regular classroom environment (e.g. Wolters and Pintrich in "Instr Sci" 26(1):27-47, 1998. doi: 10.1023/A:1003035929216). However, little research has been conducted to understand self-regulation in the context of collaboration (Dinsmore et al. in "Educ Psychol…

Performance measurement for people with multiple chronic conditions: conceptual model.

PubMed

Giovannetti, Erin R; Dy, Sydney; Leff, Bruce; Weston, Christine; Adams, Karen; Valuck, Tom B; Pittman, Aisha T; Blaum, Caroline S; McCann, Barbara A; Boyd, Cynthia M

2013-10-01

Improving quality of care for people with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) requires performance measures reflecting the heterogeneity and scope of their care. Since most existing measures are disease specific, performance measures must be refined and new measures must be developed to address the complexity of care for those with MCCs. To describe development of the Performance Measurement for People with Multiple Chronic Conditions (PM-MCC) conceptual model. Framework development and a national stakeholder panel. We used reviews of existing conceptual frameworks of performance measurement, review of the literature on MCCs, input from experts in the multistakeholder Steering Committee, and public comment. The resulting model centers on the patient and family goals and preferences for care in the context of multiple care sites and providers, the type of care they are receiving, and the national priority domains for healthcare quality measurement. This model organizes measures into a comprehensive framework and identifies areas where measures are lacking. In this context, performance measures can be prioritized and implemented at different levels, in the context of patients' overall healthcare needs.

Health-and-environment indicators in the context of sustainable development.

PubMed

von Schirnding, Yasmin E

2002-01-01

This paper gives a broad overview of issues relevant to the development and use of health-and-environment indicators in the broader context of sustainable development. Criteria for the construction of indicators are given, and their key characteristics are highlighted. Selected international indicator initiatives are discussed, as well as the concept and use of core indicators in policy and planning. Finally, an organizational framework for the consideration of health-environment-development linkages is presented, which can be used in the development of health-and-environment indicators in various contexts. This framework is the Driving forces-Pressures-State-Exposures-Health Effects-Actions framework (DPSEEA) of the World Health Organization (WHO). It is a descriptive representation of the way in which various driving forces generate pressures which affect the state of the environment, and ultimately human health through the various exposure pathways by which people come into contact with the environment. Throughout the paper, emphasis is placed on work done within the UN system, in particular that of the WHO, and examples of suites of indicators developed and in use are provided.

Household Energy Consumption: Community Context and the Fuelwood Transition*

PubMed Central

Link, Cynthia F.; Axinn, William G.; Ghimire, Dirgha J.

2012-01-01

We examine the influence of community context on change over time in households’ use of non-wood fuels. Our theoretical framework builds on sociological concepts in order to study energy consumption at the micro-level. The framework emphasizes the importance of nonfamily organizations and services in the local community as determinants of the transition from use of fuelwood to use of alternative fuels. We use multilevel longitudinal data on household fuel choice and community context from rural Nepal to provide empirical tests of our theoretical model. Results reveal that increased exposure to nonfamily organizations in the local community increases the use of alternative fuels. The findings illustrate key features of human impacts on the local environment and motivate greater incorporation of social organization into research on environmental change. PMID:23017795

Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework applied to TeamSTEPPS implementation in small rural hospitals.

PubMed

Ward, Marcia M; Baloh, Jure; Zhu, Xi; Stewart, Greg L

A particularly useful model for examining implementation of quality improvement interventions in health care settings is the PARIHS (Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services) framework developed by Kitson and colleagues. The PARIHS framework proposes three elements (evidence, context, and facilitation) that are related to successful implementation. An evidence-based program focused on quality enhancement in health care, termed TeamSTEPPS (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety), has been widely promoted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, but research is needed to better understand its implementation. We apply the PARIHS framework in studying TeamSTEPPS implementation to identify elements that are most closely related to successful implementation. Quarterly interviews were conducted over a 9-month period in 13 small rural hospitals that implemented TeamSTEPPS. Interview quotes that were related to each of the PARIHS elements were identified using directed content analysis. Transcripts were also scored quantitatively, and bivariate regression analysis was employed to explore relationships between PARIHS elements and successful implementation related to planning activities. The current findings provide support for the PARIHS framework and identified two of the three PARIHS elements (context and facilitation) as important contributors to successful implementation. This study applies the PARIHS framework to TeamSTEPPS, a widely used quality initiative focused on improving health care quality and patient safety. By focusing on small rural hospitals that undertook this quality improvement activity of their own accord, our findings represent effectiveness research in an understudied segment of the health care delivery system. By identifying context and facilitation as the most important contributors to successful implementation, these analyses provide a focus for efficient and effective sustainment of TeamSTEPPS efforts.

Lean thinking in hospitals: is there a cure for the absence of evidence? A systematic review of reviews

PubMed Central

Andersen, Hege; Røvik, Kjell Arne; Ingebrigtsen, Tor

2014-01-01

Objective Lean interventions aim to improve quality of healthcare by reducing waste and facilitate flow in work processes. There is conflicting evidence on the outcomes of lean thinking, with quantitative and qualitative studies often contradicting each other. We suggest that reviewing the literature within the approach of a new contextual framework can deepen our understanding of lean as a quality-improvement method. This article theorises the concept of context by establishing a two-dimensional conceptual framework acknowledging lean as complex social interventions, deployed in different organisational dimensions and domains. The specific aim of the study was to identify factors facilitating intended outcomes from lean interventions, and to understand when and how different facilitators contribute. Design A two-dimensional conceptual framework was developed by combining Shortell's Dimensions of capability with Walshes’ Domains of an intervention. We then conducted a systematic review of lean review articles concerning hospitals, published in the period 2000–2012. The identified lean facilitators were categorised according to the intervention domains and dimensions of capability provided by the framework. Results We provide a framework emphasising context by relating facilitators to domains and dimensions of capability. 23 factors enabling a successful lean intervention in hospitals were identified in the systematic review, where management and a supportive culture, training, accurate data, physicians and team involvement were most frequent. Conclusions In the absence of evidence, the two-dimensional framework, incorporating the context, may prove useful for future research on variation in outcomes from lean interventions. Findings from the review suggest that characteristics and local application of lean, in addition to strategic and cultural capability, should be given further attention in healthcare quality improvement. PMID:24435890

A Methodology and a Web Platform for the Collaborative Development of Context-Aware Systems

PubMed Central

Martín, David; López-de-Ipiña, Diego; Alzua-Sorzabal, Aurkene; Lamsfus, Carlos; Torres-Manzanera, Emilio

2013-01-01

Information and services personalization is essential for an optimal user experience. Systems have to be able to acquire data about the user's context, process them in order to identify the user's situation and finally, adapt the functionality of the system to that situation, but the development of context-aware systems is complex. Data coming from distributed and heterogeneous sources have to be acquired, processed and managed. Several programming frameworks have been proposed in order to simplify the development of context-aware systems. These frameworks offer high-level application programming interfaces for programmers that complicate the involvement of domain experts in the development life-cycle. The participation of users that do not have programming skills but are experts in the application domain can speed up and improve the development process of these kinds of systems. Apart from that, there is a lack of methodologies to guide the development process. This article presents as main contributions, the implementation and evaluation of a web platform and a methodology to collaboratively develop context-aware systems by programmers and domain experts. PMID:23666131

ITIL{sup ®} and information security

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

Jašek, Roman; Králík, Lukáš; Popelka, Miroslav

2015-03-10

This paper discusses the context of ITIL framework and management of information security. It is therefore a summary study, where the first part is focused on the safety objectives in connection with the ITIL framework. First of all, there is a focus on ITIL process ISM (Information Security Management), its principle and system management. The conclusion is about link between standards, which are related to security, and ITIL framework.

Science-based Framework for Environmental Benefits Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

ER D C/ EL T R -1 3 -4 Environmental Benefits Analysis Program Science-based Framework for Environmental Benefits Assessment E nv ir...acwc.sdp.sirsi.net/client/default. Environmental Benefits Analysis Program ERDC/EL TR-13-4 March 2013 Science-based Framework for Environmental Benefits ...evaluating ecosystem restoration benefits within the context of USACE Civil Works planning process. An emphasis is placed on knowledge gained from

How evidence from observing attending physicians links to a competency-based framework.

PubMed

Bacchus, Maria; Ward, David R; de Grood, Jill; Lemaire, Jane B

2017-06-01

Competency-based medical education frameworks are often founded on a combination of existing research, educational principles and expert consensus. Our objective was to examine how components of the attending physician role, as determined by observing preceptors during their real-world work, link to the CanMEDS Physician Competency Framework. This is a sub-study of a broader study exploring the role of the attending physician by observing these doctors during their working day. The parent study revealed three overarching elements of the role that emerged from 14 themes and 123 sub-themes: (i) Competence, defined as the execution of traditional physician competencies; (ii) Context, defined as the environment in which the role is carried out, and (iii) Conduct, defined as the manner of acting, or behaviours and attitudes in the role that helped to negotiate the complex environment. In this sub-study, each sub-theme, or 'role-related component', was mapped to the competencies described in the CanMEDS 2005 and 2015 frameworks. Many role-related components from the Competence element were represented in the 2015 CanMEDS framework. No role-related components from the Context element were represented. Some role-related components from the Conduct element were represented. These Conduct role-related components were better represented in the 2015 CanMEDS framework than in the 2005 framework. This study shows how the real-world work of attending physicians links to the CanMEDS framework and provides empirical data identifying disconnects between espoused and observed behaviours. There is a conceptual gap where the contextual influences of physicians' work and the competencies required to adjust to these influences are missing from the framework. These concepts should be incorporated into learning both broadly, such as through an emphasis on context within curriculum development for the workplace (e.g. entrustable professional activities), and explicitly, through the introduction of novel competencies (e.g. the Conduct role-related components described in this study). © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Organizational Context Matters: A Research Toolkit for Conducting Standardized Case Studies of Integrated Care Initiatives

PubMed Central

Grudniewicz, Agnes; Gray, Carolyn Steele; Wodchis, Walter P.; Carswell, Peter; Baker, G. Ross

2017-01-01

Introduction: The variable success of integrated care initiatives has led experts to recommend tailoring design and implementation to the organizational context. Yet, organizational contexts are rarely described, understood, or measured with sufficient depth and breadth in empirical studies or in practice. We thus lack knowledge of when and specifically how organizational contexts matter. To facilitate the accumulation of evidence, we developed a research toolkit for conducting case studies using standardized measures of the (inter-)organizational context for integrating care. Theory and Methods: We used a multi-method approach to develop the research toolkit: (1) development and validation of the Context and Capabilities for Integrating Care (CCIC) Framework, (2) identification, assessment, and selection of survey instruments, (3) development of document review methods, (4) development of interview guide resources, and (5) pilot testing of the document review guidelines, consolidated survey, and interview guide. Results: The toolkit provides a framework and measurement tools that examine 18 organizational and inter-organizational factors that affect the implementation and success of integrated care initiatives. Discussion and Conclusion: The toolkit can be used to characterize and compare organizational contexts across cases and enable comparison of results across studies. This information can enhance our understanding of the influence of organizational contexts, support the transfer of best practices, and help explain why some integrated care initiatives succeed and some fail. PMID:28970750

Framework for assessing key variable dependencies in loose-abrasive grinding and polishing

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

Taylor, J.S.; Aikens, D.M.; Brown, N.J.

1995-12-01

This memo describes a framework for identifying all key variables that determine the figuring performance of loose-abrasive lapping and polishing machines. This framework is intended as a tool for prioritizing R&D issues, assessing the completeness of process models and experimental data, and for providing a mechanism to identify any assumptions in analytical models or experimental procedures. Future plans for preparing analytical models or performing experiments can refer to this framework in establishing the context of the work.

Effect of Autonomy Support on Self-Determined Motivation in Elementary Physical Education

PubMed Central

Chang, Yu-Kai; Chen, Senlin; Tu, Kun-Wei; Chi, Li-Kang

2016-01-01

Using the quasi-experimental design, this study examined the effect of autonomy support on self-determined motivation in elementary school physical education (PE) students. One hundred and twenty six participants were assigned to either the autonomy support group (n = 61) or the control group (n = 65) for a six-week intervention period. Perceived teacher autonomy, perceived autonomy in PE, and self-determined motivation in PE were pre- and post-tested using validated questionnaires. Significant increases in perceived teacher autonomy and perceived autonomy in PE were observed in the autonomy support group, but not in the control group. Intrinsic motivation was higher in the autonomy support group than that in the control group. From an experimental perspective, these findings suggest that the autonomy support was successfully manipulated in the PE classes, which in turn increased the students’ perceived autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Key points The SDT is a relevant theoretical framework for elementary school physical education. Using the quasi-experimental research design, this study is one of the earlies studies supporting that elementary school PE teachers can manipulate the instructional context using the SDT to increase students’ perceived autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Increasing students’ perceived autonomy may not lead to significant changes in other SDT constructs (i.e., amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, and identified regulation). PMID:27803624

Honoring Family and Culture: Learning from New Zealand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagel, Nancy G.

2009-01-01

The New Zealand Ministry of Education's early childhood curriculum policy is built on a framework called "Te Whariki." This framework provides a sociocultural context for children's early learning and emphasizes a learning partnership between teachers, parents, families, and community. Besides interpersonal relationships, Te Whariki…

National Ecosystem Services Classification System (NESCS): Framework Design and Policy Application

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding the ways in which ecosystems provide flows of “services” to humans is critical for decision making in many contexts; however, relationships between natural and human systems are complex. A well-defined framework for classifying ecosystem services is essential for sy...

The role of evidence, context, and facilitation in an implementation trial: implications for the development of the PARIHS framework.

PubMed

Rycroft-Malone, Jo; Seers, Kate; Chandler, Jackie; Hawkes, Claire A; Crichton, Nicola; Allen, Claire; Bullock, Ian; Strunin, Leo

2013-03-09

The case has been made for more and better theory-informed process evaluations within trials in an effort to facilitate insightful understandings of how interventions work. In this paper, we provide an explanation of implementation processes from one of the first national implementation research randomized controlled trials with embedded process evaluation conducted within acute care, and a proposed extension to the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework. The PARIHS framework was prospectively applied to guide decisions about intervention design, data collection, and analysis processes in a trial focussed on reducing peri-operative fasting times. In order to capture a holistic picture of implementation processes, the same data were collected across 19 participating hospitals irrespective of allocation to intervention. This paper reports on findings from data collected from a purposive sample of 151 staff and patients pre- and post-intervention. Data were analysed using content analysis within, and then across data sets. A robust and uncontested evidence base was a necessary, but not sufficient condition for practice change, in that individual staff and patient responses such as caution influenced decision making. The implementation context was challenging, in which individuals and teams were bounded by professional issues, communication challenges, power and a lack of clarity for the authority and responsibility for practice change. Progress was made in sites where processes were aligned with existing initiatives. Additionally, facilitators reported engaging in many intervention implementation activities, some of which result in practice changes, but not significant improvements to outcomes. This study provided an opportunity for reflection on the comprehensiveness of the PARIHS framework. Consistent with the underlying tenant of PARIHS, a multi-faceted and dynamic story of implementation was evident. However, the prominent role that individuals played as part of the interaction between evidence and context is not currently explicit within the framework. We propose that successful implementation of evidence into practice is a planned facilitated process involving an interplay between individuals, evidence, and context to promote evidence-informed practice. This proposal will enhance the potential of the PARIHS framework for explanation, and ensure theoretical development both informs and responds to the evidence base for implementation.

Consensus Statement on Electronic Health Predictive Analytics: A Guiding Framework to Address Challenges.

PubMed

Amarasingham, Ruben; Audet, Anne-Marie J; Bates, David W; Glenn Cohen, I; Entwistle, Martin; Escobar, G J; Liu, Vincent; Etheredge, Lynn; Lo, Bernard; Ohno-Machado, Lucila; Ram, Sudha; Saria, Suchi; Schilling, Lisa M; Shahi, Anand; Stewart, Walter F; Steyerberg, Ewout W; Xie, Bin

2016-01-01

The recent explosion in available electronic health record (EHR) data is motivating a rapid expansion of electronic health care predictive analytic (e-HPA) applications, defined as the use of electronic algorithms that forecast clinical events in real time with the intent to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. There is an urgent need for a systematic framework to guide the development and application of e-HPA to ensure that the field develops in a scientifically sound, ethical, and efficient manner. Building upon earlier frameworks of model development and utilization, we identify the emerging opportunities and challenges of e-HPA, propose a framework that enables us to realize these opportunities, address these challenges, and motivate e-HPA stakeholders to both adopt and continuously refine the framework as the applications of e-HPA emerge. To achieve these objectives, 17 experts with diverse expertise including methodology, ethics, legal, regulation, and health care delivery systems were assembled to identify emerging opportunities and challenges of e-HPA and to propose a framework to guide the development and application of e-HPA. The framework proposed by the panel includes three key domains where e-HPA differs qualitatively from earlier generations of models and algorithms (Data Barriers, Transparency, and ETHICS) and areas where current frameworks are insufficient to address the emerging opportunities and challenges of e-HPA (Regulation and Certification; and Education and Training). The following list of recommendations summarizes the key points of the framework: Data Barriers: Establish mechanisms within the scientific community to support data sharing for predictive model development and testing.Transparency: Set standards around e-HPA validation based on principles of scientific transparency and reproducibility. Develop both individual-centered and society-centered risk-benefit approaches to evaluate e-HPA.Regulation and Certification: Construct a self-regulation and certification framework within e-HPA.Education and Training: Make significant changes to medical, nursing, and paraprofessional curricula by including training for understanding, evaluating, and utilizing predictive models.

Loading-related regulation of gene expression in bone in the contexts of estrogen deficiency, lack of estrogen receptor α and disuse

PubMed Central

Zaman, Gul; Saxon, Leanne K.; Sunters, Andrew; Hilton, Helen; Underhill, Peter; Williams, Debbie; Price, Joanna S.; Lanyon, Lance E.

2010-01-01

Loading-related changes in gene expression in resident cells in the tibia of female mice in the contexts of normality (WT), estrogen deficiency (WT-OVX), absence of estrogen receptor α (ERα−/−) and disuse due to sciatic neurectomy (WT-SN) were established by microarray. Total RNA was extracted from loaded and contra-lateral non-loaded tibiae at selected time points after a single, short period of dynamic loading sufficient to engender an osteogenic response. There were marked changes in the expression of many genes according to context as well as in response to loading within those contexts. In WT mice at 3, 8, 12 and 24 h after loading the expression of 642, 341, 171 and 24 genes, respectively, were differentially regulated compared with contra-lateral bones which were not loaded. Only a few of the genes differentially regulated by loading in the tibiae of WT mice have recognized roles in bone metabolism or have been linked previously to osteogenesis (Opn, Sost, Esr1, Tgfb1, Lrp1, Ostn, Timp, Mmp, Ctgf, Postn and Irs1, BMP and DLX5). The canonical pathways showing the greatest loading-related regulation were those involving pyruvate metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, calcium-induced apoptosis, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, aryl hydrocarbon receptor and oxidative phosphorylation. In the tibiae from WT-OVX, ERα−/− and WT-SN mice, 440, 439 and 987 genes respectively were differentially regulated by context alone compared to WT. The early response to loading in tibiae of WT-OVX mice involved differential regulation compared to their contra-lateral non-loaded pair of fewer genes than in WT, more down-regulation than up-regulation and a later response. This was shared by WT-SN. In tibiae of ERα−/− mice, the number of genes differentially regulated by loading was markedly reduced at all time points. These data indicate that in resident bone cells, both basal and loading-related gene expression is substantially modified by context. Many of the genes differentially regulated by the earliest loading-related response were primarily involved in energy metabolism and were not specific to bone. PMID:19857613

Supporting productive thinking: The semiotic context for Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE).

PubMed

Flach, John

2017-03-01

The central thesis of this paper is that Rasmussen framed his approach to Cognitive Systems Engineering from the perspective of a Triadic Semiotic Model. This frame became the context for integrating multiple intellectual threads including Control Theory, Information Theory, Ecological Psychology, and Gestalt Psychology into a coherent theoretical framework. The case is made that the triadic semiotic framework is essential for a complete appreciation of the constructs that were central to Rasmussen's approach: Abstraction Hierarchy, Skill-Rules-Knowledge Model, Ecological Interface Design, and Proactive Risk Management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An ethical framework for assessments of criminal responsibility: applying Susan Wolf's account of sanity to forensic psychiatry.

PubMed

Meynen, Gerben

2012-01-01

Within the context of an ethical theory of responsibility, Susan Wolf has argued that people can only be considered fully responsible for their actions when they are sane. In this paper I explore the possibility of applying her ethical account of sanity and responsibility to forensic assessments of criminal responsibility. I argue that after some substantial revisions her account can be helpful in order to arrive at an ethics-based conceptual framework for forensic psychiatric assessments within the context of an insanity defense. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An ontological knowledge framework for adaptive medical workflow.

PubMed

Dang, Jiangbo; Hedayati, Amir; Hampel, Ken; Toklu, Candemir

2008-10-01

As emerging technologies, semantic Web and SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) allow BPMS (Business Process Management System) to automate business processes that can be described as services, which in turn can be used to wrap existing enterprise applications. BPMS provides tools and methodologies to compose Web services that can be executed as business processes and monitored by BPM (Business Process Management) consoles. Ontologies are a formal declarative knowledge representation model. It provides a foundation upon which machine understandable knowledge can be obtained, and as a result, it makes machine intelligence possible. Healthcare systems can adopt these technologies to make them ubiquitous, adaptive, and intelligent, and then serve patients better. This paper presents an ontological knowledge framework that covers healthcare domains that a hospital encompasses-from the medical or administrative tasks, to hospital assets, medical insurances, patient records, drugs, and regulations. Therefore, our ontology makes our vision of personalized healthcare possible by capturing all necessary knowledge for a complex personalized healthcare scenario involving patient care, insurance policies, and drug prescriptions, and compliances. For example, our ontology facilitates a workflow management system to allow users, from physicians to administrative assistants, to manage, even create context-aware new medical workflows and execute them on-the-fly.

Factors related to reducing free sugar intake among white ethnic adults in the UK: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Rawahi, Said Harith Al; Asimakopoulou, Koula; Newton, Jonathon Timothy

2018-01-01

To determine the barriers and enablers to behavioural change to reduce free sugar intake related to dental caries in a sample of UK adults who identify their ethnicity as White. Qualitative study comprising semi-structured interviews of 27 participants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis methods. The Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour model (COM-B) and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) were used to guide the derivation of themes. Data saturation occurred at 27 interviews. The COM-B Model and TDF domains captured various factors that may influence the consumption of free sugar. TDF elements which are reflected in the study are: Knowledge; Psychological skills; Memory, attention, and decision processes; Behavioural regulation; Physical skills; Social influence; Environmental context and resources; Social and professional role and identity; Beliefs about capabilities; Beliefs about consequence; Intentions and goals reinforcement; and Emotions. COM-B Model elements which are reflected in the study are: psychological capabilities, physical capabilities, social opportunities, physical opportunities, reflective motivation, and automatic motivation. The COM-B model and TDF framework provided a comprehensive account of the barriers and facilitators of reducing sugar intake among white ethnic groups.

Decoding ecosystem services using a DSRP approach ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization (R2R2R) is a place-based practice that requires ongoing communication amongst agencies, local governments, and citizens. One of the challenges is that each of these entities have different relationships with and responsibilities to sites where R2R2R unfolds. Sediment remediation and habitat restoration project goals, community planning, and lived experiences diverge in scale, focus, and interaction depending on the agency or individual. A DSRP approach can be useful to identify and explain how different individuals and organizations value a space. We applied some Distinctions-Systems-Relationships-Perspectives (DSRP) approach (Cabrera et al., 2015) to develop a framework to sort and classify data and identify ecosystem services collected through inductive methods like participant observation and document analysis. The framework that emerged from the analysis includes neighborhood components that individuals, organizations, and local governments may discuss in the context of their community. The characteristics are a mix of built environment types, structural dimensions, personal experiences, and human-environment relationships and include: parks/open spaces, trails or connections, housing, schools, infrastructure, local businesses, macro-economy, natural features, governmental rules or regulations, demographics/crime statistics/health care facilities, safety, self-determination or participation, identity, social coh

The moral economy of ready-made food.

PubMed

Wheeler, Kathryn

2017-11-22

The aim of this paper is to develop and apply a framework to explore how moralities of consumption are constituted in and through markets. Using the case of ready-made foods, this paper argues moral economies are comprised through interactions between micro-, meso- and macro-level processes in the form of instituted systems of provision, state regulation, collective food customs promoted though media, NGOs and lifestyle practitioners, and the everyday reflections of consumers. Building on a theoretical framework developed to understand the moral economy of work and employment (Bolton and Laaser 2013), this paper explores how markets for ready-made food are incessantly negotiated in the context of moral ideas about cooking, femininity and individual responsibility. It focuses on 'new' market innovations of fresh ready-to-cook meal solutions and explores how these products are both a response to moralizing discourses about cooking 'properly', as well as an intervention into the market that offers opportunities for new moral identities to be performed. Using data gathered from interviews with food manufacturers and consumers, I advocate for a multi-layered perspective that captures the dynamic interplay between consumers, markets and moralities of consumption. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Framework for industry engagement and quality principles for industry-provided medical education in Europe.

PubMed

Allen, Tamara; Donde, Nina; Hofstädter-Thalmann, Eva; Keijser, Sandra; Moy, Veronique; Murama, Jean-Jacques; Kellner, Thomas

2017-01-01

Lifelong learning through continuing professional development (CPD) and medical education is critical for healthcare professionals to stay abreast of knowledge and skills and provide an optimal standard of care to patients. In Europe, CPD and medical education are fragmented as there are numerous models, providers and national regulations and a lack of harmonisation of qualitative criteria. There is continued debate on the appropriate role of pharmaceutical companies in the context of medical education. Accrediting bodies such as European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education do not permit active involvement of the pharmaceutical industry due to concerns around conflicts of interest and potential for bias. However, many examples of active collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and medical societies and scientific experts exist, demonstrating high integrity, clear roles and responsibilities, and fair and balanced content. Medical education experts from 16 pharmaceutical companies met to develop a set of quality principles similar to standards that have been established for clinical trials and in alignment with existing principles of accrediting bodies. This paper outlines their proposal for a framework to improve and harmonise medical education quality standards in Europe, and is also an invitation for all stakeholders to join a discussion on this integrative model.

Regulating biobanking with children's tissue: a legal analysis and the experts' view.

PubMed

Kranendonk, Elcke J; Ploem, M Corrette; Hennekam, Raoul C M

2016-01-01

Many current paediatric studies concern relationships between genes and environment and discuss aetiology, treatment and prevention of Mendelian and multifactorial diseases. Many of these studies depend on collection and long-term storage of data and biological material from affected children in biobanks. Stored material is a source of personal information of the donor and his family and could be used in an undesirable context, potentially leading to discrimination and interfering with a child's right to an open future. Here, we address the normative framework regarding biobanking with residual tissue of children, protecting the privacy interests of young biobank donors (0-12 years). We analyse relevant legal documents concerning storage and use of children's material for research purposes. We explore the views of 17 Dutch experts involved in paediatric biobank research and focus on informed consent for donation of leftover tissue as well as disclosure of individual research findings resulting from biobank research. The results of this analysis show that experts have no clear consensus about the appropriate rules for storage of and research with children's material in biobanks. Development of a framework that provides a fair balance between fundamental paediatric research and privacy protection is necessary.

Regulating the risk of tuberculosis transmission among health care workers.

PubMed

Nicas, M

2000-01-01

The 1994 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on preventing tuberculosis (TB) transmission among health care workers (HCWs), and the 1997 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed TB standard, do not address the issue of acceptable risk. Further, many infection control personnel oppose OSHA's promulgating a standard because they believe most TB infections among HCWs are nonoccupational in origin. This article examines the relationship between TB infection and disease rates, and introduces a probability framework to apportion infection risk between occupational and nonoccupational exposure. It is argued that most TB infections among HCWs are work-related. A 0.2% overall annual risk of TB infection (accounting for both workplace and community exposure) is proposed as acceptable, because in the context of an infection surveillance program it limits an HCW's cumulative disease risk close to the value for the general United States population. Based on the probability framework, an estimate of the background community infection rate, and the traditional Wells-Riley risk model, it is shown that a target workplace infection risk value can be derived and expressed in terms of an expected pulmonary dose. The latter target dose informs risk management decision-making.

Monitoring Agricultural Production in Primary Export Countries within the framework of the GEOGLAM Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker-Reshef, I.; Justice, C. O.; Vermote, E.

2012-12-01

Up to date, reliable, global, information on crop production prospects is indispensible for informing and regulating grain markets and for instituting effective agricultural policies. The recent price surges in the global grain markets were in large part triggered by extreme weather events in primary grain export countries. These events raise important questions about the accuracy of current production forecasts and their role in market fluctuations, and highlight the deficiencies in the state of global agricultural monitoring. Satellite-based earth observations are increasingly utilized as a tool for monitoring agricultural production as they offer cost-effective, daily, global information on crop growth and extent and their utility for crop production forecasting has long been demonstrated. Within this context, the Group on Earth Observations developed the Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) initiative which was adopted by the G20 as part of the action plan on food price volatility and agriculture. The goal of GEOGLAM is to enhance agricultural production estimates through the use of Earth observations. This talk will explore the potential contribution of EO-based methods for improving the accuracy of early production estimates of main export countries within the framework of GEOGLAM.

Perspectives from practice: complexities of personal care workers.

PubMed

Martyn, Julie-Anne; Zanella, Sally; Wilkinson, Adele

2017-11-14

Personal care workers (PCWs) make up the bulk of the workforce in residential and community care services. The knowledge and skill set needed for safe and effective practice in care settings is extensive. A diverse range of registered training organisations (RTOs) offering Certificate III and IV in Individual Support (aging, home and community) are tasked with producing job-ready PCWs. However, the curricula of these programs vary. Additionally, a national code of conduct for healthcare workers became effective in October 2015 as a governance framework for PCWs. The language of the code statements is ambiguous making it unclear how this framework should be translated by RTOs and applied in the preservice practice preparation of PCWs. Employers of PCWs need to feel confident that the content of the preservice education of PCWs satisfactorily prepares them for the diverse contexts of their practice. Likewise, the health professionals who supervise PCWs must be assured about the knowledge and skills of the PCW if they are to safely delegate care activities. The perspectives presented in this discussion make it clear that investigation into the nebulous nature of PCW education, regulation and practice is needed to identify the shortcomings and enable improved practice.

UAV Deployment Exercise for Mapping Purposes: Evaluation of Emergency Response Applications.

PubMed

Boccardo, Piero; Chiabrando, Filiberto; Dutto, Furio; Tonolo, Fabio Giulio; Lingua, Andrea

2015-07-02

Exploiting the decrease of costs related to UAV technology, the humanitarian community started piloting the use of similar systems in humanitarian crises several years ago in different application fields, i.e., disaster mapping and information gathering, community capacity building, logistics and even transportation of goods. Part of the author's group, composed of researchers in the field of applied geomatics, has been piloting the use of UAVs since 2006, with a specific focus on disaster management application. In the framework of such activities, a UAV deployment exercise was jointly organized with the Regional Civil Protection authority, mainly aimed at assessing the operational procedures to deploy UAVs for mapping purposes and the usability of the acquired data in an emergency response context. In the paper the technical features of the UAV platforms will be described, comparing the main advantages/disadvantages of fixed-wing versus rotor platforms. The main phases of the adopted operational procedure will be discussed and assessed especially in terms of time required to carry out each step, highlighting potential bottlenecks and in view of the national regulation framework, which is rapidly evolving. Different methodologies for the processing of the acquired data will be described and discussed, evaluating the fitness for emergency response applications.

Organizational readiness to change assessment (ORCA): Development of an instrument based on the Promoting Action on Research in Health Services (PARIHS) framework

PubMed Central

Helfrich, Christian D; Li, Yu-Fang; Sharp, Nancy D; Sales, Anne E

2009-01-01

Background The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services, or PARIHS, framework is a theoretical framework widely promoted as a guide to implement evidence-based clinical practices. However, it has as yet no pool of validated measurement instruments that operationalize the constructs defined in the framework. The present article introduces an Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment instrument (ORCA), organized according to the core elements and sub-elements of the PARIHS framework, and reports on initial validation. Methods We conducted scale reliability and factor analyses on cross-sectional, secondary data from three quality improvement projects (n = 80) conducted in the Veterans Health Administration. In each project, identical 77-item ORCA instruments were administered to one or more staff from each facility involved in quality improvement projects. Items were organized into 19 subscales and three primary scales corresponding to the core elements of the PARIHS framework: (1) Strength and extent of evidence for the clinical practice changes represented by the QI program, assessed with four subscales, (2) Quality of the organizational context for the QI program, assessed with six subscales, and (3) Capacity for internal facilitation of the QI program, assessed with nine subscales. Results Cronbach's alpha for scale reliability were 0.74, 0.85 and 0.95 for the evidence, context and facilitation scales, respectively. The evidence scale and its three constituent subscales failed to meet the conventional threshold of 0.80 for reliability, and three individual items were eliminated from evidence subscales following reliability testing. In exploratory factor analysis, three factors were retained. Seven of the nine facilitation subscales loaded onto the first factor; five of the six context subscales loaded onto the second factor; and the three evidence subscales loaded on the third factor. Two subscales failed to load significantly on any factor. One measured resources in general (from the context scale), and one clinical champion role (from the facilitation scale). Conclusion We find general support for the reliability and factor structure of the ORCA. However, there was poor reliability among measures of evidence, and factor analysis results for measures of general resources and clinical champion role did not conform to the PARIHS framework. Additional validation is needed, including criterion validation. PMID:19594942

Organizational readiness to change assessment (ORCA): development of an instrument based on the Promoting Action on Research in Health Services (PARIHS) framework.

PubMed

Helfrich, Christian D; Li, Yu-Fang; Sharp, Nancy D; Sales, Anne E

2009-07-14

The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services, or PARIHS, framework is a theoretical framework widely promoted as a guide to implement evidence-based clinical practices. However, it has as yet no pool of validated measurement instruments that operationalize the constructs defined in the framework. The present article introduces an Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment instrument (ORCA), organized according to the core elements and sub-elements of the PARIHS framework, and reports on initial validation. We conducted scale reliability and factor analyses on cross-sectional, secondary data from three quality improvement projects (n = 80) conducted in the Veterans Health Administration. In each project, identical 77-item ORCA instruments were administered to one or more staff from each facility involved in quality improvement projects. Items were organized into 19 subscales and three primary scales corresponding to the core elements of the PARIHS framework: (1) Strength and extent of evidence for the clinical practice changes represented by the QI program, assessed with four subscales, (2) Quality of the organizational context for the QI program, assessed with six subscales, and (3) Capacity for internal facilitation of the QI program, assessed with nine subscales. Cronbach's alpha for scale reliability were 0.74, 0.85 and 0.95 for the evidence, context and facilitation scales, respectively. The evidence scale and its three constituent subscales failed to meet the conventional threshold of 0.80 for reliability, and three individual items were eliminated from evidence subscales following reliability testing. In exploratory factor analysis, three factors were retained. Seven of the nine facilitation subscales loaded onto the first factor; five of the six context subscales loaded onto the second factor; and the three evidence subscales loaded on the third factor. Two subscales failed to load significantly on any factor. One measured resources in general (from the context scale), and one clinical champion role (from the facilitation scale). We find general support for the reliability and factor structure of the ORCA. However, there was poor reliability among measures of evidence, and factor analysis results for measures of general resources and clinical champion role did not conform to the PARIHS framework. Additional validation is needed, including criterion validation.

Redesigning the Regulatory Framework for Ambulatory Care Services in New York

PubMed Central

Chokshi, Dave A; Rugge, John; Shah, Nirav R

2014-01-01

Context While hospitals remain important centers of gravity in the health system, services are increasingly being delivered through ambulatory care. This shift to ambulatory care is giving rise to new delivery structures, such as retail clinics and urgent care centers, as well as reinventing existing ambulatory care capacity, as seen with the patient-centered medical home model and the movement toward team-based care. To protect the public's interests, oversight of ambulatory care services must keep pace with these rapid changes. With this purpose, in January 2013 the New York Public Health and Health Planning Council undertook a redesign of the regulatory framework for the state's ambulatory care services. This article describes the principles undergirding the framework as well as the regulatory recommendations themselves. Methods We explored and analyzed the regulation of ambulatory care services in New York in accordance with the available gray and peer-reviewed literature and legislative documents. The deliberations of the Public Health and Health Planning Council informed our review. Findings The vision of high-performing ambulatory care should be rooted in the Triple Aim (better health, higher-quality care, lower costs), with a particular emphasis on continuity of care for patients. There is a pressing need to better define the taxonomy of ambulatory care services. From the state government's perspective, this clarification requires better reporting from new health care entities (eg, retail clinics), connections with regional and state health information technology hubs, and coordination among state agencies. A uniform nomenclature also would improve consumers’ understanding of rights and responsibilities. Finally, the regulatory mechanisms employed—from mandatory reporting to licensure to regional planning to the certificate of need—should remain flexible and match the degree of consensus regarding the appropriate regulatory path. Conclusions Few other states have embarked on a wide-ranging assessment of their regulation of ambulatory care services. By moving toward adopting the regulatory approach described here, New York aims to balance sound oversight with pluralism and innovation in health care delivery. PMID:25492604

An Annotated Bibliography: Using Theories of Self-Regulation to Understand How Adults Learn in Various Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Artino, Anthony R., Jr.

2007-01-01

The present report presents an annotated bibliography of peer-reviewed articles that employed theories of self-regulation to understand how adults learn in various contexts. Seven scholarly articles, published between 2000 and 2006, were reviewed and summarized. Articles reviewed include (1) Self-regulation in a Web-based Course: A Case Study (J.…

Facilitative Leadership: A Framework for the Creative Arts Therapies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaimal, Girija; Metzl, Einat; Millrod, Eri

2017-01-01

We propose a leadership framework for the creative art therapies (CATs) as a means to affect the sociopolitical contexts of our clinical and scholarly practices. The new model of facilitative leadership includes 3 aspects: developing the self, developing others, and envisioning a creative and just future.

Evolution or Revolution: Mobility Requirements for the AirLand Battle Future Concept

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-02-20

analysis and the model a theoretical framework for tactical mobility is established. The considerations for tactical mobility on the future battlefield are...examined in the context of the theoretical framework . Finally, using the criteria of sufficiency, feasibility, and the time/space continuum, the

Managing to Lead: Reframing School Leadership and Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spillane, James P.

2009-01-01

By concentrating on the formal school organization, researchers can miss the informal relationships that are fundamental to leadership. Distributed Leadership Studies (DLS) provides a framework for examining school leadership and management that considers the interactions of leaders, followers, and aspects of the context. The framework involves…

A Conceptual Framework Curriculum Evaluation Electrical Engineering Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Imansari, Nurulita; Sutadji, Eddy

2017-01-01

This evaluation is a conceptual framework that has been analyzed in the hope that can help research related an evaluation of the curriculum. The Model of evaluation used was CIPPO model. CIPPO Model consists of "context," "input," "process," "product," and "outcomes." On the dimension of the…

Vision: A Conceptual Framework for School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watkinson, Jennifer Scaturo

2013-01-01

Vision is essential to the implementation of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model. Drawing from research in organizational leadership, this article provides a conceptual framework for how school counselors can incorporate vision as a strategy for implementing school counseling programs within the context of practice.…

A proposed framework for consistent regulation of public exposures to radionuclides and other carcinogens

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

Kocher, D.C.; Hoffman, F.O.

1991-12-31

This paper discusses a proposed framework for consistent regulation of carcinogenic risks to the public based on establishing de manifestis (i.e., unacceptable) and de minimis (i.e., trivial) lifetime risks from exposure to any carcinogens at levels of about 10{sup {minus}1}--10{sup {minus}3} and 10{sup {minus}4}--10{sup {minus}6}, respectively, and reduction of risks above de minimis levels as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). We then discuss certain differences in the way risks from exposure to radionuclides and other carcinogens currently are regulated or assessed which would need to be considered in implementing the proposed regulatory framework for all carcinogens.

A proposed framework for consistent regulation of public exposures to radionuclides and other carcinogens

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

Kocher, D.C.; Hoffman, F.O.

1991-01-01

This paper discusses a proposed framework for consistent regulation of carcinogenic risks to the public based on establishing de manifestis (i.e., unacceptable) and de minimis (i.e., trivial) lifetime risks from exposure to any carcinogens at levels of about 10{sup {minus}1}--10{sup {minus}3} and 10{sup {minus}4}--10{sup {minus}6}, respectively, and reduction of risks above de minimis levels as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). We then discuss certain differences in the way risks from exposure to radionuclides and other carcinogens currently are regulated or assessed which would need to be considered in implementing the proposed regulatory framework for all carcinogens.

A Framework for Assessing Collaborative Capacity in Community-Based Public Forest Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Antony S.; Sturtevant, Victoria E.

2012-03-01

Community-based collaborative groups involved in public natural resource management are assuming greater roles in planning, project implementation, and monitoring. This entails the capacity of collaborative groups to develop and sustain new organizational structures, processes, and strategies, yet there is a lack of understanding what constitutes collaborative capacity. In this paper, we present a framework for assessing collaborative capacities associated with community-based public forest management in the US. The framework is inductively derived from case study research and observations of 30 federal forest-related collaborative efforts. Categories were cross-referenced with literature on collaboration across a variety of contexts. The framework focuses on six arenas of collaborative action: (1) organizing, (2) learning, (3) deciding, (4) acting, (5) evaluating, and (6) legitimizing. Within each arena are capacities expressed through three levels of social agency: individuals, the collaborative group itself, and participating or external organizations. The framework provides a language and set of organizing principles for understanding and assessing collaborative capacity in the context of community-based public forest management. The framework allows groups to assess what capacities they already have and what more is needed. It also provides a way for organizations supporting collaboratives to target investments in building and sustaining their collaborative capacities. The framework can be used by researchers as a set of independent variables against which to measure collaborative outcomes across a large population of collaborative efforts.

Culturally Competent Informed-Consent Process to Evaluate a Social Policy for Older Persons With Low Literacy: The Mexican Case

PubMed Central

Aguila, Emma; Weidmer, Beverly A.; Illingworth, Alfonso Rivera; Martinez, Homero

2017-01-01

The informed-consent process seeks to provide complete information to participants about a research project and to protect personal information they may disclose. In this article, we present an informed-consent process that we piloted and improved to obtain consent from older adults in Yucatan, Mexico. Respondents had limited fluency in Spanish, spoke the local Mayan language, and had some physical limitations due to their age. We describe how we adapted the informed-consent process to comply with U.S. and Mexican regulations, while simplifying the forms and providing them in Spanish and Mayan. We present the challenges and lessons learned when dealing with low-literacy older populations, some with diminished autonomy, in a bilingual context and a binational approach to the legal framework. PMID:28824826

Spontaneous curvature as a regulator of the size of virus capsids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šiber, Antonio; Majdandžić, Antonio

2009-08-01

We investigate the physical reasons underlying the high monodispersity of empty virus capsids assembled in thermodynamical equilibrium in conditions of favorable pH and ionic strength. We propose that the high fidelity of the assembly results from the effective spontaneous curvature of the viral protein assemblies and the corresponding bending rigidity that penalizes curvatures which are larger and smaller from the spontaneous one. On the example of hepatitis B virus, which has been thoroughly studied experimentally in the context of interest to us, we estimate the magnitude of bending rigidity that is needed to suppress the appearance of aberrant capsid structures (˜60kBT) . Our approach also demonstrates that the aberrant capsids that can be classified within the Caspar-Klug framework are in most circumstances likely to be smaller from the regular ones, in agreement with the experimental findings.

SWOT analysis of the renewable energy sources in Romania - case study: solar energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupu, A. G.; Dumencu, A.; Atanasiu, M. V.; Panaite, C. E.; Dumitrașcu, Gh; Popescu, A.

2016-08-01

The evolution of energy sector worldwide triggered intense preoccupation on both finding alternative renewable energy sources and environmental issues. Romania is considered to have technological potential and geographical location suitable to renewable energy usage for electricity generation. But this high potential is not fully exploited in the context of policies and regulations adopted globally, and more specific, European Union (EU) environmental and energy strategies and legislation related to renewable energy sources. This SWOT analysis of solar energy source presents the state of the art, potential and future prospects for development of renewable energy in Romania. The analysis concluded that the development of solar energy sector in Romania depends largely on: viability of legislative framework on renewable energy sources, increased subsidies for solar R&D, simplified methodology of green certificates, and educating the public, investors, developers and decision-makers.

Learning situation models in a smart home.

PubMed

Brdiczka, Oliver; Crowley, James L; Reignier, Patrick

2009-02-01

This paper addresses the problem of learning situation models for providing context-aware services. Context for modeling human behavior in a smart environment is represented by a situation model describing environment, users, and their activities. A framework for acquiring and evolving different layers of a situation model in a smart environment is proposed. Different learning methods are presented as part of this framework: role detection per entity, unsupervised extraction of situations from multimodal data, supervised learning of situation representations, and evolution of a predefined situation model with feedback. The situation model serves as frame and support for the different methods, permitting to stay in an intuitive declarative framework. The proposed methods have been integrated into a whole system for smart home environment. The implementation is detailed, and two evaluations are conducted in the smart home environment. The obtained results validate the proposed approach.

On the nature of cross-disciplinary integration: A philosophical framework.

PubMed

O'Rourke, Michael; Crowley, Stephen; Gonnerman, Chad

2016-04-01

Meeting grand challenges requires responses that constructively combine multiple forms of expertise, both academic and non-academic; that is, it requires cross-disciplinary integration. But just what is cross-disciplinary integration? In this paper, we supply a preliminary answer by reviewing prominent accounts of cross-disciplinary integration from two literatures that are rarely brought together: cross-disciplinarity and philosophy of biology. Reflecting on similarities and differences in these accounts, we develop a framework that integrates their insights-integration as a generic combination process the details of which are determined by the specific contexts in which particular integrations occur. One such context is cross-disciplinary research, which yields cross-disciplinary integration. We close by reflecting on the potential applicability of this framework to research efforts aimed at meeting grand challenges. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Space-Time Processing for Tactical Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

rates in mobile ad hoc networks. In addition, he has considered the design of a cross-layer multi-user resource allocation framework using a... framework for many-to-one communication. In this context, multiple nodes cooperate to transmit their packets simultaneously to a single node using multi...spatially multiplexed signals transmitted from multiple nodes. Our goal is to form a framework that activates different sets of communication links

Developing a framework of gastronomic systems research to unravel drivers of food choice.

PubMed

Cuevas, Rosa Paula; de Guia, Annalyn; Demont, Matty

2017-10-01

Nutritional and dietary interventions and the introduction of novel food products and ingredients require a thorough understanding of the drivers of food choice, which are embedded in local context and culture. We developed a framework of "gastronomic systems research" (GSR) to understand culture-specific consumer food choice, and contextualise it to a target population of urban, middle- to high-income Filipino consumers to assess the domestic niche market potential of traditional rice varieties in the Philippines. The GSR framework was contextualised through expert elicitation involving chefs and nutritionists, and validated through a consumer survey conducted during a food exposition. Using the GSR framework, we determined indicative rice consumption patterns of the target population and the specific rice quality attributes they require for specific rice-based dishes and rice consumption occasions. The GSR framework also reveals possible entry points for nutritional and dietary interventions and the introduction of novel food products and ingredients. The GSR framework, therefore, has the potential to aid policymakers and food value chain stakeholders in designing culture-sensitive and context-appropriate interventions not only to help consumers improve their diets, but also to help farmers access niche markets for novel food products and ingredients and thereby improve their livelihoods and preserve cultural heritage.

Adapting the coping in deliberation (CODE) framework: a multi-method approach in the context of familial ovarian cancer risk management.

PubMed

Witt, Jana; Elwyn, Glyn; Wood, Fiona; Rogers, Mark T; Menon, Usha; Brain, Kate

2014-11-01

To test whether the coping in deliberation (CODE) framework can be adapted to a specific preference-sensitive medical decision: risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in women at increased risk of ovarian cancer. We performed a systematic literature search to identify issues important to women during deliberations about RRSO. Three focus groups with patients (most were pre-menopausal and untested for genetic mutations) and 11 interviews with health professionals were conducted to determine which issues mattered in the UK context. Data were used to adapt the generic CODE framework. The literature search yielded 49 relevant studies, which highlighted various issues and coping options important during deliberations, including mutation status, risks of surgery, family obligations, physician recommendation, peer support and reliable information sources. Consultations with UK stakeholders confirmed most of these factors as pertinent influences on deliberations. Questions in the generic framework were adapted to reflect the issues and coping options identified. The generic CODE framework was readily adapted to a specific preference-sensitive medical decision, showing that deliberations and coping are linked during deliberations about RRSO. Adapted versions of the CODE framework may be used to develop tailored decision support methods and materials in order to improve patient-centred care. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of the instructional congruence framework: Developing supplemental materials for English language learners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drews, Tina Skjerping

2009-12-01

This dissertation is a study of the instructional congruence framework as it was used to develop and pilot a supplemental science unit on energy and the environment for sixth grade students in Arizona. With the growing linguistic and cultural diversity of children in American schools, congruent materials are more important now than ever before. The supplemental materials were designed by the researcher and underwent a six person, three educator and three engineer, panel review. The revised materials were then piloted in two sixth grade classrooms in the Southwest with high numbers of English language learners. Classroom observation, teacher interviews, and the classroom observation protocol were utilized to understand the fidelity to the instructional congruence framework. The fidelity of implementation of materials was subject to the realities of varied educational contexts. Piloting materials in urban contexts with diverse students involved additional challenges. The results of the study explore the challenges in creating instructionally congruent materials for diverse students in urban contexts. Recommendations are provided for curriculum developers that undertake the task of creating instructionally congruent materials and emphasize the need to devise innovative methods of creation, while understanding that there is no perfect solution. The education community as a whole could benefit from incorporating and synthesizing the instructional congruence framework in order to provide maximum opportunities in science for all students.

A Framework for Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Studies: A Case Study of Pesticide Usage in Eastern Uganda

PubMed Central

Muleme, James; Kankya, Clovice; Ssempebwa, John C.; Mazeri, Stella; Muwonge, Adrian

2017-01-01

Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) studies guide the implementation of public health interventions (PHIs), and they are important tools for political persuasion. The design and implementation of PHIs assumes a linear KAP relationship, i.e., an awareness campaign results in the desirable societal behavioral change. However, there is no robust framework for testing this relationship before and after PHIs. Here, we use qualitative and quantitative data on pesticide usage to test this linear relationship, identify associated context specific factors as well as assemble a framework that could be used to guide and evaluate PHIs. We used data from a cross-sectional mixed methods study on pesticide usage. Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 167 households representing 1,002 individuals. Qualitative data were collected from key informants and focus group discussions. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis was done in R 3.2.0 as well as qualitative thematic analysis, respectively. Our framework shows that a KAP linear relationship only existed for households with a low knowledge score, suggesting that an awareness campaign would only be effective for ~37% of the households. Context specific socioeconomic factors explain why this relationship does not hold for households with high knowledge scores. These findings are essential for developing targeted cost-effective and sustainable interventions on pesticide usage and other PHIs with context specific modifications. PMID:29276703

Application of a QMRA Framework to Inform Selection of Drinking Water Interventions in the Developing Context.

PubMed

Petterson, S R

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to develop a modified quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) framework that could be applied as a decision support tool to choose between alternative drinking water interventions in the developing context. The impact of different household water treatment (HWT) interventions on the overall incidence of diarrheal disease and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) was estimated, without relying on source water pathogen concentration as the starting point for the analysis. A framework was developed and a software tool constructed and then implemented for an illustrative case study for Nepal based on published scientific data. Coagulation combined with free chlorine disinfection provided the greatest estimated health gains in the short term; however, when long-term compliance was incorporated into the calculations, the preferred intervention was porous ceramic filtration. The model demonstrates how the QMRA framework can be used to integrate evidence from different studies to inform management decisions, and in particular to prioritize the next best intervention with respect to estimated reduction in diarrheal incidence. This study only considered HWT interventions; it is recognized that a systematic consideration of sanitation, recreation, and drinking water pathways is important for effective management of waterborne transmission of pathogens, and the approach could be expanded to consider the broader water-related context. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

A Framework for Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Studies: A Case Study of Pesticide Usage in Eastern Uganda.

PubMed

Muleme, James; Kankya, Clovice; Ssempebwa, John C; Mazeri, Stella; Muwonge, Adrian

2017-01-01

Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) studies guide the implementation of public health interventions (PHIs), and they are important tools for political persuasion. The design and implementation of PHIs assumes a linear KAP relationship, i.e., an awareness campaign results in the desirable societal behavioral change. However, there is no robust framework for testing this relationship before and after PHIs. Here, we use qualitative and quantitative data on pesticide usage to test this linear relationship, identify associated context specific factors as well as assemble a framework that could be used to guide and evaluate PHIs. We used data from a cross-sectional mixed methods study on pesticide usage. Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 167 households representing 1,002 individuals. Qualitative data were collected from key informants and focus group discussions. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis was done in R 3.2.0 as well as qualitative thematic analysis, respectively. Our framework shows that a KAP linear relationship only existed for households with a low knowledge score, suggesting that an awareness campaign would only be effective for ~37% of the households. Context specific socioeconomic factors explain why this relationship does not hold for households with high knowledge scores. These findings are essential for developing targeted cost-effective and sustainable interventions on pesticide usage and other PHIs with context specific modifications.

[Advanced therapy: from European regulatory framework to national regulatory framework].

PubMed

Lucas-Samuel, S

2013-05-01

The European regulation n(o) 1394/2007/CE published on the 13th of November 2007 defined and harmonized the European regulatory framework for advanced therapy medicinal products. It creates a specialized committee located at the European Medicine Agency, in charge of the assessment of these medicinal products. The consequences of this regulation are introduced in the French regulation by the law n(o) 2011-302 published on the 22nd of March 2011. It detailed notably the possibility for public establishments (except health establishments) and nonprofit organisms to create pharmaceutical establishments. This law defined also a specific category of advanced therapy medicinal products, which fall under the "hospital exemption" framework. The rules regarding the authorizations of the establishments able to prepare these types of medicinal products and the authorization of the products are defined by the n(o) 2012-1236 decree published on the 6th of November 2012. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier SAS.

Osteoimmunology: The Conceptual Framework Unifying the Immune and Skeletal Systems.

PubMed

Okamoto, Kazuo; Nakashima, Tomoki; Shinohara, Masahiro; Negishi-Koga, Takako; Komatsu, Noriko; Terashima, Asuka; Sawa, Shinichiro; Nitta, Takeshi; Takayanagi, Hiroshi

2017-10-01

The immune and skeletal systems share a variety of molecules, including cytokines, chemokines, hormones, receptors, and transcription factors. Bone cells interact with immune cells under physiological and pathological conditions. Osteoimmunology was created as a new interdisciplinary field in large part to highlight the shared molecules and reciprocal interactions between the two systems in both heath and disease. Receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) plays an essential role not only in the development of immune organs and bones, but also in autoimmune diseases affecting bone, thus effectively comprising the molecule that links the two systems. Here we review the function, gene regulation, and signal transduction of osteoimmune molecules, including RANKL, in the context of osteoclastogenesis as well as multiple other regulatory functions. Osteoimmunology has become indispensable for understanding the pathogenesis of a number of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We review the various osteoimmune pathologies, including the bone destruction in RA, in which pathogenic helper T cell subsets [such as IL-17-expressing helper T (Th17) cells] induce bone erosion through aberrant RANKL expression. We also focus on cellular interactions and the identification of the communication factors in the bone marrow, discussing the contribution of bone cells to the maintenance and regulation of hematopoietic stem and progenitors cells. Thus the time has come for a basic reappraisal of the framework for understanding both the immune and bone systems. The concept of a unified osteoimmune system will be absolutely indispensable for basic and translational approaches to diseases related to bone and/or the immune system. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Emotion regulation choice: the role of environmental affordances.

PubMed

Suri, Gaurav; Sheppes, Gal; Young, Gerald; Abraham, Damon; McRae, Kateri; Gross, James J

2017-09-01

Which emotion regulation strategy one uses in a given context can have profound affective, cognitive, and social consequences. It is therefore important to understand the determinants of emotion regulation choice. Many prior studies have examined person-specific, internal determinants of emotion regulation choice. Recently, it has become clear that external variables that are properties of the stimulus can also influence emotion regulation choice. In the present research, we consider whether reappraisal affordances, defined as the opportunities for re-interpretation of a stimulus that are inherent in that stimulus, can shape individuals' emotion regulation choices. We show that reappraisal affordances have stability across people and across time (Study 1), and are confounded with emotional intensity for a standardised set of picture stimuli (Study 2). Since emotional intensity has been shown to drive emotion regulation choice, we construct a context in which emotional intensity is separable from reappraisal affordances (Study 3) and use this context to show that reappraisal affordances powerfully influence emotion regulation choice even when emotional intensity and discrete emotions are taken into account (Study 4).

A Framework for Evaluating and Enhancing Alignment in Self-Regulated Learning Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dent, Amy L.; Hoyle, Rick H.

2015-01-01

We discuss the articles of this special issue with reference to an important yet previously only implicit dimension of study quality: alignment across the theoretical and methodological decisions that collectively define an approach to self-regulated learning. Integrating and extending work by leaders in the field, we propose a framework for…

Decision Regulation Impact Statement for Changes to the National Quality Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education Council, 2017

2017-01-01

The purpose of this Decision Regulation Impact Statement (Decision RIS) is to recommend preferred options for improving the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care. The Decision RIS follows the public release of the Consultation RIS and incorporates stakeholders' views and comments received during the ten week stakeholder…

Controlling Methane Emissions in the Natural Gas Sector. A Review of Federal and State Regulatory Frameworks Governing Production, Gathering, Processing, Transmission, and Distribution

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

Paranhos, Elizabeth; Kozak, Tracy G.; Boyd, William

This report provides an overview of the regulatory frameworks governing natural gas supply chain infrastructure siting, construction, operation, and maintenance. Information was drawn from a number of sources, including published analyses, government reports, in addition to relevant statutes, court decisions and regulatory language, as needed. The scope includes all onshore facilities that contribute to methane emissions from the natural gas sector, focusing on three areas of state and federal regulations: (1) natural gas pipeline infrastructure siting and transportation service (including gathering, transmission, and distribution pipelines), (2) natural gas pipeline safety, and (3) air emissions associated with the natural gas supplymore » chain. In addition, the report identifies the incentives under current regulatory frameworks to invest in measures to reduce leakage, as well as the barriers facing investment in infrastructure improvement to reduce leakage. Policy recommendations regarding how federal or state authorities could regulate methane emissions are not provided; rather, existing frameworks are identified and some of the options for modifying existing regulations or adopting new regulations to reduce methane leakage are discussed.« less

Which lessons can we learn from the European Union legal framework of medicines for the regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests?

PubMed

van Hellemondt, Rachèl; Hendriks, Aart; Breuning, Martijn

2012-01-01

The legal framework of the European Union (EU) for regulating access to and supply of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests is very liberal compared to the legal and regulatory framework for (internet) medicines. Nevertheless, both health related products can cause equally serious damage to the well being of individuals. In this contribution we examine whether the legal framework of the EU for the safety and responsible use of (internet) medicines could be an example for regulating access to and supply of DTC genetic tests. The EU laws governing medicines can, notwithstanding their shortcomings, serve as an example for (central) authorising the marketing of DTC genetic tests on the internal market in accordance with strict criteria regarding predictive value and clinical usefulness. Furthermore, a legal framework controlling DTC genetic tests also should introduce system supervision as well as quality criteria with respect to the information to be provided to consumers in order to enhance health protection. However, DTC genetic tests purchased through online ordering are difficult to supervise by any agency. Adequately protecting individuals against questionable testing kits calls for international vigilance and comprehensive measures by the international community. For Europe, it is important to rank the regulation of DTC genetic tests on the European regulatory agenda.

A conceptual framework for negotiating public involvement in municipal waste management decision-making in the UK.

PubMed

Garnett, Kenisha; Cooper, Tim; Longhurst, Philip; Jude, Simon; Tyrrel, Sean

2017-08-01

The technical expertise that politicians relied on in the past to produce cost-effective and environmentally sound solutions no longer provides sufficient justification to approve waste facilities. Local authorities need to find more effective ways to involve stakeholders and communities in decision-making since public acceptance of municipal waste facilities is integral to delivering effective waste strategies. This paper presents findings from a research project that explored attitudes towards greater levels of public involvement in UK waste management decision-making. The study addressed questions of perception, interests, the decision context, the means of engagement and the necessary resources and capacity for adopting a participatory decision process. Adopting a mixed methods approach, the research produced an empirical framework for negotiating the mode and level of public involvement in waste management decision-making. The framework captures and builds on theories of public involvement and the experiences of practitioners, and offers guidance for integrating analysis and deliberation with public groups in different waste management decision contexts. Principles in the framework operate on the premise that the decision about 'more' and 'better' forms of public involvement can be negotiated, based on the nature of the waste problem and wider social context of decision-making. The collection of opinions from the wide range of stakeholders involved in the study has produced new insights for the design of public engagement processes that are context-dependent and 'fit-for-purpose'; these suggest a need for greater inclusivity in the case of contentious technologies and high levels of uncertainty regarding decision outcomes. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Suitability assessment of the urban water management transition in the Indonesian context - A case study of Surabaya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sholihah, Mar'atus; Anityasari, Maria; Maftuhah, Diesta Iva

2017-06-01

The rapidly growing urban population, the increasing impact of climate change, and the constantly decreasing availability of the good quality water become the major triggers that force urban water professionals to continuously focus on sustainable urban water management (SUWM). The city as a focal point of population growth in the world has become a critical object for its resiliency, not only in terms of the environmental deterioration but also of the water supplies security. As a response to the current condition, the framework of urban water management transition has been introduced as a sort of transformation for a city to achieve SUWM. Water Sensitive City (WSC) is the ultimate goal of this framework which integrates water access and supply security, public health protection, flood prevention, environmental protection and livability, and economic sustainability. Recently, the urban water management transition and WSC concept are going to be implemented in some cities in Indonesia, including Surabaya. However, in addition to provide a wide range of benefits, the implementation of WSC also brings challenges. In terms of geographical and social aspect, public policy, and the citizen behavior, the cities in Indonesia are undoubtedly different with those in Australian where the concept was developed. Hence, assessing the suitability of urban water management transition in the Indonesian context can be perceived as the most important phase in this whole plan. A case study of Surabaya would be identified as a baseline to measure whether the proposed sequence of urban water management transition is suitable for Indonesian local context. The research aimed to assess the suitability of the framework to be implemented in Indonesia and to propose the modified framework which is more suitable for local context in Indonesia.

Understanding Resilience Dimensions and Adaptive Strategies to the Impact of Recurrent Droughts in Borana Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia: A Grounded Theory Approach

PubMed Central

Birhanu, Zewdie; Ambelu, Argaw; Berhanu, Negalign; Tesfaye, Abraraw; Woldemichael, Kifle

2017-01-01

Recurrent shocks and stresses are increasingly deteriorating pastoralist communities’ resilience capacities in many aspects. A context specific resilience framework is essential to strengthen pastoralist community’s resilience capacity towards the impact of recurrent drought. Hence, the present study was aimed to develop a context specific and data driven resilience building framework towards impacts of recurrent droughts in the case of Borana pastoralists in Ethiopia. Qualitative grounded theory approach was employed to guide the study process. The data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews in two drought affected districts of Borana Zone during October 2013. The analysis was assisted by ATLAS. ti 7.1.4. The analysis provided a context specific resilience building conceptual tool, which consists of, closely interconnected, eight dimensions operating at multiple capacities and levels: environment (underlying vulnerability factor); livestock, infrastructures/social services, and wealth (immediate causes and effects); community network/social capital, as well as governance, peace and security (support and enabling factors oriented), psychosocial, and human capital (as eventual outcomes and impacts). The resilience capacities of these pastoralist communities have been eroded, leaving them without sufficient and effective adaptive strategies. The emergent resilience framework can serve as a useful guidance to design context-specific interventions that makes the people and the system resilient to the impacts of recurrent droughts. PMID:28134771

Understanding Resilience Dimensions and Adaptive Strategies to the Impact of Recurrent Droughts in Borana Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia: A Grounded Theory Approach.

PubMed

Birhanu, Zewdie; Ambelu, Argaw; Berhanu, Negalign; Tesfaye, Abraraw; Woldemichael, Kifle

2017-01-26

Recurrent shocks and stresses are increasingly deteriorating pastoralist communities' resilience capacities in many aspects. A context specific resilience framework is essential to strengthen pastoralist community's resilience capacity towards the impact of recurrent drought. Hence, the present study was aimed to develop a context specific and data driven resilience building framework towards impacts of recurrent droughts in the case of Borana pastoralists in Ethiopia. Qualitative grounded theory approach was employed to guide the study process. The data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews in two drought affected districts of Borana Zone during October 2013. The analysis was assisted by ATLAS. ti 7.1.4. The analysis provided a context specific resilience building conceptual tool, which consists of, closely interconnected, eight dimensions operating at multiple capacities and levels: environment (underlying vulnerability factor); livestock, infrastructures/social services, and wealth (immediate causes and effects); community network/social capital, as well as governance, peace and security (support and enabling factors oriented), psychosocial, and human capital (as eventual outcomes and impacts). The resilience capacities of these pastoralist communities have been eroded, leaving them without sufficient and effective adaptive strategies. The emergent resilience framework can serve as a useful guidance to design context-specific interventions that makes the people and the system resilient to the impacts of recurrent droughts.

Making Sense of Data: Context Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovett, Jennifer N.; Lee, Hollylynne S.

2016-01-01

To draw conclusions from data, we need to understand the context of the data and the measurement units. In 2007, Franklin and colleagues presented the "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report" to provide teachers with a framework to assist in developing students' investigation of statistical…

Lexical interference effects in sentence processing: Evidence from the visual world paradigm and self-organizing models

PubMed Central

Kukona, Anuenue; Cho, Pyeong Whan; Magnuson, James S.; Tabor, Whitney

2014-01-01

Psycholinguistic research spanning a number of decades has produced diverging results with regard to the nature of constraint integration in online sentence processing. For example, evidence that language users anticipatorily fixate likely upcoming referents in advance of evidence in the speech signal supports rapid context integration. By contrast, evidence that language users activate representations that conflict with contextual constraints, or only indirectly satisfy them, supports non-integration or late integration. Here, we report on a self-organizing neural network framework that addresses one aspect of constraint integration: the integration of incoming lexical information (i.e., an incoming word) with sentence context information (i.e., from preceding words in an unfolding utterance). In two simulations, we show that the framework predicts both classic results concerned with lexical ambiguity resolution (Swinney, 1979; Tanenhaus, Leiman, & Seidenberg, 1979), which suggest late context integration, and results demonstrating anticipatory eye movements (e.g., Altmann & Kamide, 1999), which support rapid context integration. We also report two experiments using the visual world paradigm that confirm a new prediction of the framework. Listeners heard sentences like “The boy will eat the white…,” while viewing visual displays with objects like a white cake (i.e., a predictable direct object of “eat”), white car (i.e., an object not predicted by “eat,” but consistent with “white”), and distractors. Consistent with our simulation predictions, we found that while listeners fixated white cake most, they also fixated white car more than unrelated distractors in this highly constraining sentence (and visual) context. PMID:24245535

Extinction in multiple contexts: Effects on the rate of extinction and the strength of response recovery.

PubMed

Bustamante, Javier; Uengoer, Metin; Thorwart, Anna; Lachnit, Harald

2016-09-01

In two human predictive-learning experiments, we investigated the effects of extinction in multiple contexts on the rate of extinction and the strength of response recovery. In each experiment, participants initially received acquisition training with a target cue in one context, followed by extinction either in a different context (extinction in a single context) or in three different contexts (extinction in multiple contexts). The results of both experiments showed that conducting extinction in multiple contexts led to higher levels of responding during extinction than did extinction in a single context. Additionally, Experiment 2 showed that extinction in multiple contexts prevented ABC renewal but had no detectable impact on ABA renewal. Our results are discussed within the framework of contemporary learning theories of contextual control and extinction.

Employing Multilevel Intersectionality in Educational Research: Latino Identities, Contexts, and College Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Núñez, Anne-Marie

2014-01-01

The theoretical framework of intersectionality shows much promise in exploring how multiple social identities and their relationships with interlocking systems of power influence educational equity, particularly for historically underserved groups in education. Yet, social scientists have critiqued this framework for not adequately specifying how…

Beyond Normativity in Sociocultural Reproduction and Sociocultural Transformation: Curriculum Work--Leadership within an Evolving Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ylimaki, Rose M.; Fetman, Lisa J.; Matyjasik, Erin; Brunderman, Lynnette; Uljens, Michael

2017-01-01

Background: The purpose of this article is to examine the contributions, gaps, and normativity problems in mainstream sociocultural theories, curriculum theory, and educational leadership studies, considering reflective education theories that provide a less normative alternative. Framework: Our framework introduces reflective education for social…

A Systematic Framework for Entrepreneurship Education within a University Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghina, Astri; Simatupang, Togar M.; Gustomo, Aurik

2014-01-01

The importance of entrepreneurship education that positively impact on the creation of new ventures has been widely recognized. Although numerous studies of entrepreneurship education have been conducted within a university setting, the results are mostly fragmented. Therefore, by using a systematic framework, this research is focused on examining…

Collaborative Rhetorical Structure: A Discourse Analysis Method for Analyzing Student Collaborative Inquiry via Computer Conferencing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kou, Xiaojing

2011-01-01

Various formats of online discussion have proven valuable for enhancing learning and collaboration in distance and blended learning contexts. However, despite their capacity to reveal essential processes in collaborative inquiry, current mainstream analytical frameworks, such as the cognitive presence framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer,…

A Contextual Factors Framework to Inform Implementation and Evaluation of Public Health Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanderkruik, Rachel; McPherson, Marianne E.

2017-01-01

Evaluating initiatives implemented across multiple settings can elucidate how various contextual factors may influence both implementation and outcomes. Understanding context is especially critical when the same program has varying levels of success across settings. We present a framework for evaluating contextual factors affecting an initiative…

Fourth Way in Action? The Evolution of Singapore's Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gopinathan, Saravanan

2012-01-01

Hargreaves and Shirley's "The Fourth Way" offers a valuable framework for considering the challenges and dilemmas that confront education change practitioners. In this article, I consider how well their framework fits the evolution and more recent changes in Singapore education. History, context culture and aspirations are seen as…

Distributed Scaffolding: Synergy in Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ustunel, Hale H.; Tokel, Saniye Tugba

2018-01-01

When technology is employed challenges increase in learning environments. Kim et al. ("Sci Educ" 91(6):1010-1030, 2007) presented a pedagogical framework that provides a valid technology-enhanced learning environment. The purpose of the present design-based study was to investigate the micro context dimension of this framework and to…

A Framework for Evaluation and Use of Automated Scoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, David M.; Xi, Xiaoming; Breyer, F. Jay

2012-01-01

A framework for evaluation and use of automated scoring of constructed-response tasks is provided that entails both evaluation of automated scoring as well as guidelines for implementation and maintenance in the context of constantly evolving technologies. Consideration of validity issues and challenges associated with automated scoring are…

Grassland Assessment Categories and Extent

Treesearch

Wayne A. Robbie

2004-01-01

This chapter establishes a general framework for describing the various kinds of grasslands outlined in subsequent chapters. This framework outlines the major categories or classes of grasslands that occur as part of Southwestern terrestrial ecosystems within National Forest System lands and provides an ecological and environmental context in regards to how they differ...

PACs: A Framework for Determining Appropriate Service Delivery Options.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blosser, Jean L.; Kratcoski, Annette

1997-01-01

Offers speech-language clinicians a framework for team decision making and service delivery by encouraging speech-language pathologists and their colleagues to consider the unique combination of providers, activities, and contexts (PACs) necessary to meet the specific needs of each individual with a communication disorder. Sample cases involving…

Towards Evolutional Authoring Support Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aroyo, Lora; Mizoguchi, Riichiro

2004-01-01

The ultimate aim of this research is to specify and implement a general authoring framework for content and knowledge engineering for Intelligent Educational Systems (IES). In this context we attempt to develop an authoring tool supporting this framework that is powerful in its functionality, generic in its support of instructional strategies and…

Preparing Teachers for Technology Based Teaching-Learning Using TPACK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padmavathi, M.

2017-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a conceptual framework for teachers to teach effectively using technology. This framework originates from the opinion that use of technology in educational context would be effective only if content, pedagogy and technology are aligned carefully. It implies that for teachers to use technology…

Understanding and Advancing Campus Sustainability Using a Systems Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Posner, Stephen M.; Stuart, Ralph

2013-01-01

Purpose: University campuses behave as complex systems, and sustainability in higher education is best seen as an emergent quality that arises from interactions both within an institution and between the institution and the environmental and social contexts in which it operates. A framework for strategically prioritizing campus sustainability work…

Cultural Interface Theory in the Kenya Context and Beyond

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maakrun, Julie; Maher, Marguerite

2016-01-01

Yunkaporta's (2009) pedagogical "eight ways" conceptual framework, inspired by Nakata's (2007) cultural interface theory, provided the platform for interpretation of the data in the current study. Here we considered the transferability of the framework to a current initiative in Kenya and its usefulness in preparation for an expansion of…

A Contextual-Functional Meta-Framework for Counselling Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Jeff

2013-01-01

In this paper, an approach to clinical supervision, entitled the Contextual-Functional Meta-Framework (CFM), is developed and articulated, based on a consideration of current literature and the author's extensive practice experience. First, the context for the development of the CFM, and its formative influences, are examined, followed by a review…

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge -- A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voogt, J.; Fisser, P.; Roblin, N. Pareja; Tondeur, J.; van Braak, J.

2013-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) has been introduced as a conceptual framework for the knowledge base teachers need to effectively teach with technology. The framework stems from the notion that technology integration in a specific educational context benefits from a careful alignment of content, pedagogy and the potential of…

Student Errors in Dynamic Mathematical Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Molly; Bossé, Michael J.; Chandler, Kayla

2016-01-01

This study investigates the nature of student errors in the context of problem solving and Dynamic Math Environments. This led to the development of the Problem Solving Action Identification Framework; this framework captures and defines all activities and errors associated with problem solving in a dynamic math environment. Found are three…

Integrating Technology in Education: Moving the TPCK Framework towards Practical Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hechter, Richard P.; Phyfe, Lynette D.; Vermette, Laurie A.

2012-01-01

This theoretical paper offers a conceptual interpretation of the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPCK) framework to include the role of context within practical classroom applications. Our interpretation suggests that the importance of these three knowledge bases fluctuate within each stage of teachers' planning and instruction,…

Many-objective reservoir policy identification and refinement to reduce institutional myopia in water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giuliani, Matteo; Herman, Jonathan D.; Castelletti, Andrea; Reed, Patrick M.

2014-05-01

Current water reservoir operating policies are facing growing water demands as well as increasing uncertainties associated with a changing climate. However, policy inertia and myopia strongly limit the possibility of adapting current water reservoir operations to the undergoing change. Historical agreements and regulatory constraints limit the rate that reservoir operations are innovated and creates policy inertia, where water institutions are unlikely to change their current practices in absence of dramatic failures. Yet, no guarantee exists that historical management policies will not fail in coming years. In reference to policy myopia, although it has long been recognized that water reservoir systems are generally framed in heterogeneous socio-economic contexts involving a myriad of conflicting, non-commensurable operating objectives, the broader understanding of the multi-objective consequences of current operating rules as well as their vulnerability to hydroclimatic uncertainties is severely limited. This study proposes a decision analytic framework to overcome both policy inertia and myopia in complex river basin management contexts. The framework combines reservoir policy identification, many-objective optimization under uncertainty, and visual analytics to characterize current operations and discover key tradeoffs between alternative policies for balancing evolving demands and system uncertainties. The approach is demonstrated on the Conowingo Dam, located within the Lower Susquehanna River, USA. The Lower Susquehanna River is an interstate water body that has been subject to intensive water management efforts due to the system's competing demands from urban water supply, atomic power plant cooling, hydropower production, and federally regulated environmental flows. The proposed framework initially uses available streamflow observations to implicitly identify the current but unknown operating policy of Conowingo Dam. The quality of the identified baseline policy was validated by its ability to replicate historical release dynamics. Starting from this baseline policy, we then combine evolutionary many-objective optimization with visual analytics to discover new operating policies that better balance the tradeoffs within the Lower Susquehanna. Results confirm that the baseline operating policy, which only considers deterministic historical inflows, significantly overestimates the reliability of the reservoir's competing demands. The proposed framework removes this bias by successfully identifying alternative reservoir policies that are more robust to hydroclimatic uncertainties, while also better addressing the tradeoffs across the Conowingo Dam's multi-sector services.

Pesticide management approach towards protecting the safety and health of farmers in Southeast Asia.

PubMed

Mohammad, Norsyazwani; Abidin, Emilia Zainal; How, Vivien; Praveena, Sarva Mangala; Hashim, Zailina

2018-06-27

It is estimated that pesticide production and use have increased continuously in the countries of Southeast Asia in recent years. Within the context of protecting the safety and health of workers in the agricultural sector, there is an existing gap in the implementation of the pesticide management framework because safety and health effects arising from occupational exposures continue to be reported. This study aims to provide narrative similarities, differences and weaknesses of the existing pesticide management system in Southeast Asian countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) within the context of occupational safety and health. This is preliminary traditional review study. Pesticide regulation and management at the country level were identified using web-based search engines such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed and Google. Book, reports, legislation document and other documents retrieved were also gathered from international organizations and specific websites of governmental agency in Southeast Asian countries. The scope of this review is only limited to literature written in English. In total, 44 review articles, reports and documents were gathered for this study. The approach of pesticide management in protecting safety and health in the agricultural setting were benchmarked according to the elements introduced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, namely, (1) the protection of workers and (2) the practice of safety. All countries have assigned a local authority and government organization to manage and control pesticide use in the agricultural sector. The countries with the highest usage of pesticide are Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. Most Southeast Asian countries have emphasized safety practice in the management of pesticide usage, but there were less emphasis on the element of protection of workers within the framework in Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The governing bodies in the countries of Southeast Asia have placed significant effort to develop framework related to pesticide management at the country level. The implementation of pesticide management based on the existing framework is evident in most of the countries but needs to be improved. It is suggested that emphasis be given to the implementation of diagnosis, health surveillance and reporting system as well as following or adopting standard guidelines for the protection of workers in terms of safety and health in the agricultural sector.

Trajectories of women's abortion-related care: A conceptual framework.

PubMed

Coast, Ernestina; Norris, Alison H; Moore, Ann M; Freeman, Emily

2018-03-01

We present a new conceptual framework for studying trajectories to obtaining abortion-related care. It assembles for the first time all of the known factors influencing a trajectory and encourages readers to consider the ways these macro- and micro-level factors operate in multiple and sometimes conflicting ways. Based on presentation to and feedback from abortion experts (researchers, providers, funders, policymakers and advisors, advocates) (n = 325) between 03/06/2014 and 22/08/2015, and a systematic mapping of peer-reviewed literature (n = 424) published between 01/01/2011 and 30/10/2017, our framework synthesises the factors shaping abortion trajectories, grouped into three domains: abortion-specific experiences, individual contexts, and (inter)national and sub-national contexts. Our framework includes time-dependent processes involved in an individual trajectory, starting with timing of pregnancy awareness. This framework can be used to guide testable hypotheses about enabling and inhibiting influences on care-seeking behaviour and consideration about how abortion trajectories might be influenced by policy or practice. Research based on understanding of trajectories has the potential to improve women's experiences and outcomes of abortion-related care. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Training in virtual environments: putting theory into practice.

PubMed

Moskaliuk, Johannes; Bertram, Johanna; Cress, Ulrike

2013-01-01

Virtual training environments are used when training in reality is challenging because of the high costs, danger, time or effort involved. In this paper we argue for a theory-driven development of such environments, with the aim of connecting theory to practice and ensuring that the training provided fits the needs of the trained persons and their organisations. As an example, we describe the development of VirtualPolice (ViPOL), a training environment for police officers in a federal state of Germany. We provided the theoretical foundation for ViPOL concerning the feeling of being present, social context, learning motivation and perspective-taking. We developed a framework to put theory into practice. To evaluate our framework we interviewed the stakeholders of ViPOL and surveyed current challenges and limitations of virtual training. The results led to a review of a theory-into-practice framework which is presented in the conclusion. Feeling of presence, social context, learning motivation and perspective-taking are relevant for training in virtual environments. The theory-into-practice framework presented here supports developers and trainers in implementing virtual training tools. The framework was validated with an interview study of stakeholders of a virtual training project. We identified limitations, opportunities and challenges.

Developing a competency framework for academic physicians.

PubMed

Daouk-Öyry, Lina; Zaatari, Ghazi; Sahakian, Tina; Rahal Alameh, Boushra; Mansour, Nabil

2017-03-01

There is a mismatch between the requirements of the multifaceted role of academic physicians and their education. Medical institutions use faculty development initiatives to support their junior academic physicians, however, these rarely revolve around academic physician competencies. The aim of this study was to identify these academic physician competencies and develop a competency framework customized to an organizational context. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews and Critical Incident Technique with 25 academic physicians at a teaching medical center in the Middle East region inquiring about the behaviors of academic physicians in teaching, clinical, research, and administrative roles. Using content analysis, the authors identified 16 competencies: five "Supporting Competencies", common to all four roles of academic physicians, and 11 "Function-Specific Competencies", specific to the role being fulfilled. The developed framework shared similarities with frameworks reported in the literature but also had some distinctions. The framework developed represents a step towards closing the gap between the skills medical students are taught and the skills required of academic physicians. The model was customized to the context of the current organization and included a future orientation and addressed the literature calling for increasing focus on the administrative skills of academic physicians.

How is genetic testing evaluated? A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Pitini, Erica; De Vito, Corrado; Marzuillo, Carolina; D'Andrea, Elvira; Rosso, Annalisa; Federici, Antonio; Di Maria, Emilio; Villari, Paolo

2018-05-01

Given the rapid development of genetic tests, an assessment of their benefits, risks, and limitations is crucial for public health practice. We performed a systematic review aimed at identifying and comparing the existing evaluation frameworks for genetic tests. We searched PUBMED, SCOPUS, ISI Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, Google, and gray literature sources for any documents describing such frameworks. We identified 29 evaluation frameworks published between 2000 and 2017, mostly based on the ACCE Framework (n = 13 models), or on the HTA process (n = 6), or both (n = 2). Others refer to the Wilson and Jungner screening criteria (n = 3) or to a mixture of different criteria (n = 5). Due to the widespread use of the ACCE Framework, the most frequently used evaluation criteria are analytic and clinical validity, clinical utility and ethical, legal and social implications. Less attention is given to the context of implementation. An economic dimension is always considered, but not in great detail. Consideration of delivery models, organizational aspects, and consumer viewpoint is often lacking. A deeper analysis of such context-related evaluation dimensions may strengthen a comprehensive evaluation of genetic tests and support the decision-making process.

Re-Framing Biotechnology Regulation.

PubMed

Peck, Alison

Biotechnology is about to spill the banks of federal regulation. New genetic engineering techniques like CRISPR-Cas9 promise revolutionary breakthroughs in medicine, agriculture, and public health—but those techniques would not be regulated under the terms of the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology. This revolutionary moment in biotechnology offers an opportunity to correct the flaws in the framework, which was hastily patched together at the advent of the technology. The framework has never captured all relevant technologies, has never satisfied the public that risk is being effectively managed, and has never been accessible to small companies and publicly-funded labs that increasingly are positioned to make radical, life-saving innovations. This Article offers a proposal for new legislation that would reshape biotechnology regulation to better meet these goals. Key reforms include tying regulation to risk rather than technology category; consolidating agency review; capturing distinct regulatory expertise through inter-agency consultations; creating a clearinghouse to help guide applicants and disseminate information; setting up more comprehensive monitoring of environmental effects; and providing federal leadership to fill key data gaps and address socio-economic impacts.

Integration and visualization of systems biology data in context of the genome

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background High-density tiling arrays and new sequencing technologies are generating rapidly increasing volumes of transcriptome and protein-DNA interaction data. Visualization and exploration of this data is critical to understanding the regulatory logic encoded in the genome by which the cell dynamically affects its physiology and interacts with its environment. Results The Gaggle Genome Browser is a cross-platform desktop program for interactively visualizing high-throughput data in the context of the genome. Important features include dynamic panning and zooming, keyword search and open interoperability through the Gaggle framework. Users may bookmark locations on the genome with descriptive annotations and share these bookmarks with other users. The program handles large sets of user-generated data using an in-process database and leverages the facilities of SQL and the R environment for importing and manipulating data. A key aspect of the Gaggle Genome Browser is interoperability. By connecting to the Gaggle framework, the genome browser joins a suite of interconnected bioinformatics tools for analysis and visualization with connectivity to major public repositories of sequences, interactions and pathways. To this flexible environment for exploring and combining data, the Gaggle Genome Browser adds the ability to visualize diverse types of data in relation to its coordinates on the genome. Conclusions Genomic coordinates function as a common key by which disparate biological data types can be related to one another. In the Gaggle Genome Browser, heterogeneous data are joined by their location on the genome to create information-rich visualizations yielding insight into genome organization, transcription and its regulation and, ultimately, a better understanding of the mechanisms that enable the cell to dynamically respond to its environment. PMID:20642854

Conventional and New Ways of Governing Forest Threats: A Study of Stakeholder Coherence in Sweden.

PubMed

Eriksson, Louise

2018-01-01

Based on a framework for analyzing stakeholder coherence horizontally and vertically, the present study examined the governance of forest threats in Sweden. Opinions of forest risk governance in stakeholder groups with and without a connection to private forestry were compared (n = 2496) and the opinions were analyzed in relation to current governance practices. More specifically, forest threat appraisals, trust in the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA), and the acceptability of forest risk policy measures directed at private forest owners were assessed. Results revealed an overall coherence between different stakeholders in this context. However, the groups differed in, for example, the acceptability of the hypothetical regulative measure aiming to reduce damages threatening the forest long-term (e.g., climate change). Furthermore, an extensive use of advice for a fee may challenge particularly the internal, but also the external, legitimacy of forest risk governance. The forest owner stakeholder group showed lower threat appraisals when evaluating threat to one's own forest rather than to the Swedish forest, except regarding browsing by animals. Regulations were not disapproved of in any of the stakeholder groups, although the forest owner group generally displayed higher acceptability of encouraging measures compared to the general public. Trust in the SFA was furthermore confirmed as an important driver of policy acceptability, and higher threat appraisals of novel threats, such as climate change and fire, resulted in a higher acceptability of measures less central or new in this context. The value of analyzing stakeholder coherence for natural resource management and governance is discussed.

Conventional and New Ways of Governing Forest Threats: A Study of Stakeholder Coherence in Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eriksson, Louise

2018-01-01

Based on a framework for analyzing stakeholder coherence horizontally and vertically, the present study examined the governance of forest threats in Sweden. Opinions of forest risk governance in stakeholder groups with and without a connection to private forestry were compared ( n = 2496) and the opinions were analyzed in relation to current governance practices. More specifically, forest threat appraisals, trust in the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA), and the acceptability of forest risk policy measures directed at private forest owners were assessed. Results revealed an overall coherence between different stakeholders in this context. However, the groups differed in, for example, the acceptability of the hypothetical regulative measure aiming to reduce damages threatening the forest long-term (e.g., climate change). Furthermore, an extensive use of advice for a fee may challenge particularly the internal, but also the external, legitimacy of forest risk governance. The forest owner stakeholder group showed lower threat appraisals when evaluating threat to one's own forest rather than to the Swedish forest, except regarding browsing by animals. Regulations were not disapproved of in any of the stakeholder groups, although the forest owner group generally displayed higher acceptability of encouraging measures compared to the general public. Trust in the SFA was furthermore confirmed as an important driver of policy acceptability, and higher threat appraisals of novel threats, such as climate change and fire, resulted in a higher acceptability of measures less central or new in this context. The value of analyzing stakeholder coherence for natural resource management and governance is discussed.

Measuring social accountability in health professional education: development and international pilot testing of an evaluation framework.

PubMed

Larkins, Sarah L; Preston, Robyn; Matte, Marie C; Lindemann, Iris C; Samson, Rex; Tandinco, Filedito D; Buso, David; Ross, Simone J; Pálsdóttir, Björg; Neusy, André-Jacques

2013-01-01

Health professional schools are responsible for producing graduates with competencies and attitudes to address health inequities and respond to priority health needs. Health professional schools striving towards social accountability founded the Training for Health Equity Network (THEnet). This article describes the development of THEnet evaluation framework for socially accountable health professional education, presents the framework to be used as a tool by other schools and discusses the findings of pilot implementation at five schools. The framework was designed collaboratively and built on Boelen and Woollard's conceptualization, production and usability model. It includes key components, linked to aspirational statements, indicators and suggested measurement tools. Five schools completed pilot implementation, involving workshops, document/data review and focus group discussions with faculty, students and community members. Three sections of the framework consider: How does our school work?; What do we do? and What difference do we make? Pilot testing proved that the evaluation framework was acceptable and feasible across contexts and produced findings useful at school level and to compare schools. The framework is designed as a formative exercise to help schools take a critical look at their performance and progress towards social accountability. Initiatives to implement the framework more widely are underway. The framework effectively aids in identifying strengths, weaknesses and gaps, with a view to schools striving for continuous self-improvement. THEnet evaluation framework is applicable and useful across contexts. It is possible and desirable to assess progress towards social accountability in health professional schools and this is an important step in producing health professionals with knowledge, attitudes, and skills to meet the challenges of priority health needs of underserved populations.

Biology in Context: Teachers' Professional Development in Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elster, Doris

2009-01-01

Biology in Context ("bik") is a project that aims to improve biology teaching in lower secondary schools in Germany. Based on a theoretical framework derived from the National Educational Standards, four competence areas should be fostered in biology education: subject knowledge; inquiry acquisition; subject-related communication; and…

R-NEST: Design-Based Research for Technology-Enhanced Reflective Practice in Initial Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson Long, Bonnie; Hall, Tony

2015-01-01

This paper reports research into developing digital storytelling (DST) to enhance reflection within a specific professional learning context--that of a programme of teacher education--while concomitantly producing a transferrable design framework for adaption into other, similar post-secondary educational contexts. There has been limited…

Exploring Situational Interest Sources in the French Physical Education Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roure, Cédric; Pasco, Denis

2018-01-01

Based on the framework of interest, studies have shown that situational interest possesses strong motivation potential for students in physical education. Understanding how teachers can use situational interest in a classroom context is critical to motivate students. However, such investigations have been exclusively conducted in the United States…

Adaptation by Design: A Context-Sensitive, Dialogic Approach to Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirshner, Ben; Polman, Joseph L.

2013-01-01

Applied researchers, whether working with the framework of design-based research or intervention science, face a similar implementation challenge: practitioners who enact their programs typically do so in varied, context-specific ways. Although this variability is often seen as a problem for those who privilege fidelity and standardization, we…

Navigating the Complexity of Qualitative Research in Postmodern Contexts: Assemblage, Critical Reflexivity, and Communion as Guides

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bettez, Silvia Cristina

2015-01-01

For graduate students and other emerging qualitative researchers, the ever-evolving and sometimes conflicting perspectives, methodologies, and practices within various post-positivist frameworks (e.g. feminist, critical, Indigenous, participatory) can be overwhelming. Qualitative researchers working within postmodern contexts of multiplicity and…

Community Context, Land Use, and First Birth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghimire, Dirgha J.; Axinn, William G.

2010-01-01

This article examines the influence of community context and land use on the monthly odds of first birth in a society in the midst of dramatic fertility transition. The theoretical framework guiding our work predicts that proximity to nonfamily services should delay first births by creating opportunities for competing nonfamily activities and…

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Instant Messaging in Two Educational Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doering, Aaron; Lewis, Cynthia; Veletsianos, George; Nichols-Besel, Kristen

2008-01-01

Using an activity theory framework, we investigate how preservice teachers and middle school students utilized instant messaging in educational contexts and the impact of instant messaging on the development of community among preservice teachers. Qualitative results from six focus groups and two personal interviews indicate that instant messaging…

Teaching Engineering Ethics with Sustainability as Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrne, Edmond P.

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the engagement and response of students to the teaching of engineering ethics incorporating a macro ethical framework whereby sustainability is viewed as context to professional practice. This involves incorporating a broader conception of engineering than is typically applied in conventional…

Managing Student Affairs Programs: Methods, Models, Muddles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deegan, William L.

Management processes and problems are examined in a variety of student affairs contexts. This book (1) proposes a theoretical framework for the analysis of management functions in colleges and universities, (2) studies the practice of management in several different student affairs contexts to uncover current practices, issues, problems, and…

Creative Thinking for Individuals and Teams. An Essay on Creative Thinking for Military Professionals

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

to creativity that are posited by Teresa Amabile in Creativity in Context. 11 The Amabile model of creativity presents a framework composed of...Associates, 2003), 396–429. 11 Teresa M. Amabile , Creativity in Context: Update to the Social Psychology of Creativity (Boulder, CO: Westview

Hybrid Filtering in Semantic Query Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeong, Hanjo

2011-01-01

This dissertation presents a hybrid filtering method and a case-based reasoning framework for enhancing the effectiveness of Web search. Web search may not reflect user needs, intent, context, and preferences, because today's keyword-based search is lacking semantic information to capture the user's context and intent in posing the search query.…

Testing for Factorial Invariance in the Context of Construct Validation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dimitrov, Dimiter M.

2010-01-01

This article describes the logic and procedures behind testing for factorial invariance across groups in the context of construct validation. The procedures include testing for configural, measurement, and structural invariance in the framework of multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The "forward" (sequential constraint imposition)…

A Conceptual Framework for Intercultural/International Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Tim

The ambiguities of intercultural communication are examined in this paper. The concept posed is that although every culture sees the world according to that culture's heritage and history, immediate contexts also shape meanings. In multicultural contexts, those meanings must be constructed partly anew each time by speakers, writers, listeners, and…

EFL Professional Development: Discussion of Effective Models in Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almuhammadi, Anas

2017-01-01

This paper explores the professional development literature in the educational setting. The different literature pieces are aligned to a framework that requires effective professional development to focus on three concepts: content, context, and process. The content focuses on the "what" question in the programs while the context aims to…

Examining the Link between Organizational Democracy and Employees' Moral Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pircher Verdorfer, Armin; Weber, Wolfgang G.

2016-01-01

While much is understood about the role of the family context and educational experiences for moral development, less attention has been devoted to the occupational context. In this research, we used Kohlberg's approach of moral education as a framework and investigated the relationship between structurally anchored organizational democracy and…

Second Language Use Facilitates Implicit Emotion Regulation via Content Labeling

PubMed Central

Morawetz, Carmen; Oganian, Yulia; Schlickeiser, Ulrike; Jacobs, Arthur M.; Heekeren, Hauke R.

2017-01-01

Previous studies reported that negative stimuli induced less affect in bilinguals when stimuli were presented in bilinguals’ second, weaker language (L2) than when they were presented in their native language (L1). This effect of L2 use was attributed to increased emotional distance as well as to increased levels of cognitive control during L2 use. Here we investigated how explicit (cognitive reappraisal, i.e., reinterpreting the meaning of the emotional stimulus to alter its emotional impact) and implicit (content labeling, i.e., categorizing the content of the image; and emotion labeling, i.e., naming the emotion induced by the emotional stimulus) emotion regulation strategies are altered in an L2 (English) context in German native speakers with medium to high proficiency in their L2. While previous studies used linguistic stimuli, such as words, to induce affect, here we used images to test whether reduced affect could also be observed for non-linguistic stimuli when presented in an L2 context. We hypothesized that the previously implicated increase in emotional distance and cognitive control in an L2 would result in an L2 advantage in emotion regulation (i.e., leading to less negative emotions compared to an L1 context), by strengthening the effect of linguistic re-evaluation on the evoked emotions. Using a classic emotion regulation paradigm, we examined changes in subjective emotional state ratings during reappraisal, emotion labeling and content labeling in a L1 and L2 context. We found that the strength of evoked affective responses did not depend on the language context in which an image was presented. Crucially, content labeling in L2 was more effective than in L1, whereas emotion labeling did not differ between languages. Overall, evoked responses were regulated most effectively through explicit emotion regulation (reappraisal) in L1 and L2 context. These results demonstrate an L2 advantage effect for emotion regulation through content labeling and suggest that L2 context alters sub-processes implicated in content labeling but not emotion labeling. PMID:28360873

From syncitium to regulated pump: a cardiac muscle cellular update

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The primary purpose of this article is to present a basic overview of some key teaching concepts that should be considered for inclusion in an six- to eight-lecture introductory block on the regulation of cardiac performance for graduate students. Within the context of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, this review incorporates information on Ca2+ microdomains and local control theory, with particular emphasis on the role of Ca2+ sparks as a key regulatory component of ventricular myocyte contraction dynamics. Recent information pertaining to local Ca2+ cycling in sinoatrial nodal cells (SANCs) as a mechanism underlying cardiac automaticity is also presented as part of the recently described coupled-clock pacemaker system. The details of this regulation are emerging; however, the notion that the sequestration and release of Ca2+ from internal stores in SANCs (similar to that observed in ventricular myocytes) regulates the rhythmic excitation of the heart (i.e., membrane ion channels) is an important advancement in this area. The regulatory role of cardiac adrenergic receptors on cardiac rate and function is also included, and fundamental concepts related to intracellular signaling are discussed. An important point of emphasis is that whole organ cardiac dynamics can be traced back to cellular events regulating intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and, as such, provides an important conceptual framework from which students can begin to think about whole organ physiology in health and disease. Greater synchrony of Ca2+-regulatory mechanisms between ventricular and pacemaker cells should enhance student comprehension of complex regulatory phenomenon in cardiac muscle. PMID:21385997

Procedure versus process: ethical paradigms and the conduct of qualitative research.

PubMed

Pollock, Kristian

2012-09-27

Research is fundamental to improving the quality of health care. The need for regulation of research is clear. However, the bureaucratic complexity of research governance has raised concerns that the regulatory mechanisms intended to protect participants now threaten to undermine or stifle the research enterprise, especially as this relates to sensitive topics and hard to reach groups. Much criticism of research governance has focused on long delays in obtaining ethical approvals, restrictions imposed on study conduct, and the inappropriateness of evaluating qualitative studies within the methodological and risk assessment frameworks applied to biomedical and clinical research. Less attention has been given to the different epistemologies underlying biomedical and qualitative investigation. The bioethical framework underpinning current regulatory structures is fundamentally at odds with the practice of emergent, negotiated micro-ethics required in qualitative research. The complex and shifting nature of real world settings delivers unanticipated ethical issues and (occasionally) genuine dilemmas which go beyond easy or formulaic 'procedural' resolution. This is not to say that qualitative studies are 'unethical' but that their ethical nature can only be safeguarded through the practice of 'micro-ethics' based on the judgement and integrity of researchers in the field. This paper considers the implications of contrasting ethical paradigms for the conduct of qualitative research and the value of 'empirical ethics' as a means of liberating qualitative (and other) research from an outmoded and unduly restrictive research governance framework based on abstract prinicipalism, divorced from real world contexts and values.

Integrating gene and protein expression data with genome-scale metabolic networks to infer functional pathways.

PubMed

Pey, Jon; Valgepea, Kaspar; Rubio, Angel; Beasley, John E; Planes, Francisco J

2013-12-08

The study of cellular metabolism in the context of high-throughput -omics data has allowed us to decipher novel mechanisms of importance in biotechnology and health. To continue with this progress, it is essential to efficiently integrate experimental data into metabolic modeling. We present here an in-silico framework to infer relevant metabolic pathways for a particular phenotype under study based on its gene/protein expression data. This framework is based on the Carbon Flux Path (CFP) approach, a mixed-integer linear program that expands classical path finding techniques by considering additional biophysical constraints. In particular, the objective function of the CFP approach is amended to account for gene/protein expression data and influence obtained paths. This approach is termed integrative Carbon Flux Path (iCFP). We show that gene/protein expression data also influences the stoichiometric balancing of CFPs, which provides a more accurate picture of active metabolic pathways. This is illustrated in both a theoretical and real scenario. Finally, we apply this approach to find novel pathways relevant in the regulation of acetate overflow metabolism in Escherichia coli. As a result, several targets which could be relevant for better understanding of the phenomenon leading to impaired acetate overflow are proposed. A novel mathematical framework that determines functional pathways based on gene/protein expression data is presented and validated. We show that our approach is able to provide new insights into complex biological scenarios such as acetate overflow in Escherichia coli.

A biocultural framework for examining maternal cravings and aversions among pastoral women in east Africa.

PubMed

Young, Alyson G; Pike, Ivy L

2012-01-01

Food preferences during pregnancy result from a complex set of biocultural interactions with important implications for maternal and child health. This article explores the social context of maternal food choice in marginal environments of East Africa. Biocultural data collected among Turkana and Datoga women living in Kenya and Tanzania indicate there is a significant social context to food choice that influences the types of food that women report craving and the food that is consumed. Our framework argues for a deeper understanding of how culture shapes food preferences and how marginalization can constrain access to favored and healthy foods.

Automatic segmentation of fibroglandular tissue in breast MRI using anatomy-driven three-dimensional spatial context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Dong; Weinstein, Susan; Hsieh, Meng-Kang; Pantalone, Lauren; Kontos, Despina

2018-03-01

The relative amount of fibroglandular tissue (FGT) in the breast has been shown to be a risk factor for breast cancer. However, automatic segmentation of FGT in breast MRI is challenging due mainly to its wide variation in anatomy (e.g., amount, location and pattern, etc.), and various imaging artifacts especially the prevalent bias-field artifact. Motivated by a previous work demonstrating improved FGT segmentation with 2-D a priori likelihood atlas, we propose a machine learning-based framework using 3-D FGT context. The framework uses features specifically defined with respect to the breast anatomy to capture spatially varying likelihood of FGT, and allows (a) intuitive standardization across breasts of different sizes and shapes, and (b) easy incorporation of additional information helpful to the segmentation (e.g., texture). Extended from the concept of 2-D atlas, our framework not only captures spatial likelihood of FGT in 3-D context, but also broadens its applicability to both sagittal and axial breast MRI rather than being limited to the plane in which the 2-D atlas is constructed. Experimental results showed improved segmentation accuracy over the 2-D atlas method, and demonstrated further improvement by incorporating well-established texture descriptors.

Optimizing Negotiation Conflict in the Cloud Service Negotiation Framework Using Probabilistic Decision Making Model

PubMed Central

Rajavel, Rajkumar; Thangarathinam, Mala

2015-01-01

Optimization of negotiation conflict in the cloud service negotiation framework is identified as one of the major challenging issues. This negotiation conflict occurs during the bilateral negotiation process between the participants due to the misperception, aggressive behavior, and uncertain preferences and goals about their opponents. Existing research work focuses on the prerequest context of negotiation conflict optimization by grouping similar negotiation pairs using distance, binary, context-dependent, and fuzzy similarity approaches. For some extent, these approaches can maximize the success rate and minimize the communication overhead among the participants. To further optimize the success rate and communication overhead, the proposed research work introduces a novel probabilistic decision making model for optimizing the negotiation conflict in the long-term negotiation context. This decision model formulates the problem of managing different types of negotiation conflict that occurs during negotiation process as a multistage Markov decision problem. At each stage of negotiation process, the proposed decision model generates the heuristic decision based on the past negotiation state information without causing any break-off among the participants. In addition, this heuristic decision using the stochastic decision tree scenario can maximize the revenue among the participants available in the cloud service negotiation framework. PMID:26543899