Debating Values: Key Issues in Formatting an Argumentative Case.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, David K.

This paper analyzes the components of an "ideal" debate using a non-policy proposition. It is argued that debates using non-policy propositions are currently plagued by a variety of problems. Value propositions on the college level are dissimilar to the value propositions used in high school Lincoln-Douglas debate. Many debaters are…

Debating Historical Propositions: Toward a Unique Genre of NEDA Debate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, David K.

The best way to develop a unique identity for the National Education Debate Association (NEDA) is to debate propositions distinct from National Debate Tournament (NDT) and the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA). A neglected area of debate includes propositions temporally framed in the past. Yet, the present propositional categories of…

Propositional density and cognitive function in later life: findings from the Precursors Study.

PubMed

Engelman, Michal; Agree, Emily M; Meoni, Lucy A; Klag, Michael J

2010-11-01

We used longitudinal data from the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study to test the hypothesis that written propositional density measured early in life is lower for people who develop dementia categorized as Alzheimer's disease (AD). This association was reported in 1996 for the Nun Study, and the Precursors Study offered an unprecedented chance to reexamine it among respondents with different gender, education, and occupation profiles. Eighteen individuals classified as AD patients (average age at diagnosis: 74) were assigned 2 sex-and-age matched controls, and propositional density in medical school admission essays (average age at writing: 22) was assessed via Computerized Propositional Idea Density Rater 3 linguistic analysis software. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for the matched case-control study were calculated using conditional (fixed-effects) logistic regression. Mean propositional density is lower for cases than for controls (4.70 vs. 4.99 propositions per 10 words, 1-sided p = .01). Higher propositional density substantially lowers the odds of AD (OR = 0.16, 95% confidence interval = 0.03-0.90, 1-sided p = .02). Propositional density scores in writing samples from early adulthood appear to predict AD in later life for men as well as women. Studies of cognition across the life course might beneficially incorporate propositional density as a potential marker of cognitive reserve.

Propositional Density and Cognitive Function in Later Life: Findings From the Precursors Study

PubMed Central

Agree, Emily M.; Meoni, Lucy A.; Klag, Michael J.

2010-01-01

Objectives. We used longitudinal data from the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study to test the hypothesis that written propositional density measured early in life is lower for people who develop dementia categorized as Alzheimer's disease (AD). This association was reported in 1996 for the Nun Study, and the Precursors Study offered an unprecedented chance to reexamine it among respondents with different gender, education, and occupation profiles. Methods. Eighteen individuals classified as AD patients (average age at diagnosis: 74) were assigned 2 sex-and-age matched controls, and propositional density in medical school admission essays (average age at writing: 22) was assessed via Computerized Propositional Idea Density Rater 3 linguistic analysis software. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for the matched case-control study were calculated using conditional (fixed-effects) logistic regression. Results. Mean propositional density is lower for cases than for controls (4.70 vs. 4.99 propositions per 10 words, 1-sided p = .01). Higher propositional density substantially lowers the odds of AD (OR = 0.16, 95% confidence interval = 0.03-0.90, 1-sided p = .02). Discussion. Propositional density scores in writing samples from early adulthood appear to predict AD in later life for men as well as women. Studies of cognition across the life course might beneficially incorporate propositional density as a potential marker of cognitive reserve. PMID:20837676

"Place" as an integrating concept in natural resource politics: propositions for a social science research agenda.

Treesearch

Antony S. Cheng; Linda E. Kruger; Steven E. Daniels

2003-01-01

This article lays out six propositions centering on a relationship between peopleplace connections and strategic behavior in natural resource politics. The first two propositions suggest a strong and direct connection between self-identity, place, and how individuals perceive and value the environment. The third, fourth, and fifth propositions tie together social group...

Memorisation methods in science education: tactics to improve the teaching and learning practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pals, Frits F. B.; Tolboom, Jos L. J.; Suhre, Cor J. M.; van Geert, Paul L. C.

2018-01-01

How can science teachers support students in developing an appropriate declarative knowledge base for solving problems? This article focuses on the question whether the development of students' memory of scientific propositions is better served by writing propositions down on paper or by making drawings of propositions either by silent or muttering rehearsal. By means of a memorisation experiment with eighth- and ninth-grade students, we answer this question. In this experiment, students received instruction to memorise nine science propositions and to reproduce them afterwards. To support memorisation students were randomly assigned either to a group that received instruction to write each proposition on paper or to a group that received instruction to make a drawing about the content of the proposition. In addition, half of the students in both groups received instruction to mutter and the other half of them received instruction to write or draw in silence. The main conclusion from the experiment is that after four weeks students who had made a drawing remembered significantly more propositions than those who had memorised the propositions by writing them down. Our research further revealed that it did not matter whether students muttered or memorised silently.

What is the Value Proposition of Persistent Identifiers?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klump, Jens; Huber, Robert

2017-04-01

Persistent identifiers (PID) are widely used today in scientific communication and documentation. Global unique identification plus persistent resolution of links to referenced digital research objects have been strong selling points for PID Systems as enabling technical infrastructures. Novel applications of PID Systems in research now go beyond the identification of file based objects such as literature or data sets and include the identification of dynamically changing datasets accessed through web services, physical objects, persons and organisations. But not only do we see more use cases but also a proliferation of identifier systems. An analysis of PID Systems used by 1381 repositories listed in the Registry of Research Data Repositories (re3data.org, status of 14 Dec 2015) showed that many disciplinary data repositories make use of PID that are not among the systems promoted by the libraries and publishers (DOI, PURL, ARK). This indicates that a number of communities have developed their own PID Systems. This begs the question, do we need more identifier systems? What makes their value proposition more appealing than those of already existing systems? On the other hand, some of these new use cases deal with entities outside the digital domain, the original scope of application for PIDs. It is therefore necessary to critically appraise the value propositions of available PID Systems and compare these against the requirements of new use cases for PID. Undoubtedly, DOI are the most used persistent identifier in scholarly communication. It was originally designed "to link customers with publishers, facilitate electronic commerce, and enable copyright management systems." Today, the DOI system is described as providing "a technical and social infrastructure for the registration and use of persistent interoperable identifiers for use on digital networks". This example shows how value propositions can change over time. Additional value can be gained by cross-linking between PID Systems, thus allowing new scholarly documentation and evaluation methods such as documenting the track record of researchers in publications and successful funding proposals, apply advanced bibliometric approaches, estimate the output and impact of funding, assess the reuse and subsequent impact of data publications, demonstrate the efficient use of research infrastructures, etc. This recombination of systems raise a series of new expectations and each stakeholder group may have its own vision of the benefits and value proposition of PIDs, which might be in conflict with others. New PID applications will arise with the application of PID Systems to semantic web technologies and to the Internet of Things, which extend PID applications to beyond digital objects to concepts and things, respectively, raising yet again their own expectations and value propositions. What are we trying to identify? What is the purpose served by identifying it? What are the implications for semantic web technologies? How certain can we be about the identity of an object and its state changes over time (Ship of Theseus Paradox)? In this presentation we will discuss a number of PID use cases and match these against the value propositions offered by a selection of PID Systems.

Interpreting Hypernymic Propositions in an Online Medical Encyclopedia

PubMed Central

Fiszman, Marcelo; Rindflesch, Thomas C.; Kilicoglu, Halil

2003-01-01

Interpretation of semantic propositions from biomedical texts documents would provide valuable support to natural language processing (NLP) applications. We are developing a methodology to interpret a kind of semantic proposition, the hypernymic proposition, in MEDLINE abstracts. In this paper, we expanded the system to identify these structures in a different discourse domain: the Medical Encyclopedia from the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINEplus® Website. PMID:14728345

Interpreting hypernymic propositions in an online medical encyclopedia.

PubMed

Fiszman, Marcelo; Rindflesch, Thomas C; Kilicoglu, Halil

2003-01-01

Interpretation of semantic propositions from bio-medical texts documents would provide valuable support to natural language processing (NLP) applications. We are developing a methodology to interpret a kind of semantic proposition, the hypernymic proposition, in MEDLINE abstracts. In this paper, we expanded the system to identify these structures in a different discourse domain: the Medical Encyclopedia from the National Library of Medi-cine's MEDLINEplus Website.

Some empirical evidence for ecological dissonance theory.

PubMed

Miller, D I; Verhoek-Miller, N; Giesen, J M; Wells-Parker, E

2000-04-01

Using Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory as a model, the extension to Barker's ecological theory, referred to as ecological dissonance theory, was developed. Designed to examine the motivational dynamics involved when environmental systems are in conflict with each other or with cognitive systems, ecological dissonance theory yielded five propositions which were tested in 10 studies. This summary of the studies suggests operationally defined measures of ecological dissonance may correlate with workers' satisfaction with their jobs, involvement with their jobs, alienation from their work, and to a lesser extent, workers' conflict resolution behavior and communication style.

A proposed adaptation of the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model to physical activity programmes for the elderly - development of a quality self-assessment tool using a modified Delphi process

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background There has been a growing concern in designing physical activity (PA) programmes for elderly people, since evidence suggests that such health promotion interventions may reduce the deleterious effects of the ageing process. Complete programme evaluations are a necessary prerequisite to continuous quality improvements. Being able to refine, adapt and create tools that are suited to the realities and contexts of PA programmes for the elderly in order to support its continuous improvement is, therefore, crucial. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a self-assessment tool for PA programmes for the elderly. Methods A 3-round Delphi process was conducted via the Internet with 43 national experts in PA for the elderly, management and delivery of PA programmes for the elderly, sports management, quality management and gerontology, asking experts to identify the propositions that they considered relevant for inclusion in the self-assessment tool. Experts reviewed a list of proposed statements, based on the criteria and sub-criteria from the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model (EFQM) and PA guidelines for older adults and rated each proposition from 1 to 8 (disagree to agree) and modified and/or added propositions. Propositions receiving either bottom or top scores of greater than 70% were considered to have achieved consensus to drop or retain, respectively. Results In round 1, of the 196 originally-proposed statements (best practice principles), the experts modified 41, added 1 and achieved consensus on 93. In round 2, a total of 104 propositions were presented, of which experts modified 39 and achieved consensus on 53. In the last round, of 51 proposed statements, the experts achieved consensus on 19. After 3 rounds of rating, experts had not achieved consensus on 32 propositions. The resulting tool consisted of 165 statements that assess nine management areas involved in the development of PA programmes for the elderly. Conclusion Based on experts' opinions, a self-assessment tool was found in order to access quality of PA programmes for the elderly. Information obtained with evaluations would be useful to organizations seeking to improve their services, customer satisfaction and, consequently, adherence to PA programmes, targeting the ageing population. PMID:21958203

A One-System Theory Which is Not Propositional.

PubMed

Witnauer, James E; Urcelay, Gonzalo P; Miller, Ralph R

2009-04-01

We argue that the propositional and link-based approaches to human contingency learning represent different levels of analysis because propositional reasoning requires a basis, which is plausibly provided by a link-based architecture. Moreover, in their attempt to compare two general classes of models (link-based and propositional), Mitchell et al. have referred to only two generic models and ignore the large variety of different models within each class.

Integrating a Hypernymic Proposition Interpreter into a Semantic Processor for Biomedical Texts

PubMed Central

Fiszman, Marcelo; Rindflesch, Thomas C.; Kilicoglu, Halil

2003-01-01

Semantic processing provides the potential for producing high quality results in natural language processing (NLP) applications in the biomedical domain. In this paper, we address a specific semantic phenomenon, the hypernymic proposition, and concentrate on integrating the interpretation of such predications into a more general semantic processor in order to improve overall accuracy. A preliminary evaluation assesses the contribution of hypernymic propositions in providing more specific semantic predications and thus improving effectiveness in retrieving treatment propositions in MEDLINE abstracts. Finally, we discuss the generalization of this methodology to additional semantic propositions as well as other types of biomedical texts. PMID:14728170

The Quality of Textbooks: A Basis for European Collaboration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hooghoff, Hans

The enhancement of the European dimension in the national curriculum is a large scale educational innovation that affects many European countries. This report puts forward the proposition that broad scale educational innovation has more success if the aims and objectives find their way into textbooks. The reasons why a European dimension in…

Children's understanding of first- and third-person perspectives in complement clauses and false-belief tasks.

PubMed

Brandt, Silke; Buttelmann, David; Lieven, Elena; Tomasello, Michael

2016-11-01

De Villiers (Lingua, 2007, Vol. 117, pp. 1858-1878) and others have claimed that children come to understand false belief as they acquire linguistic constructions for representing a proposition and the speaker's epistemic attitude toward that proposition. In the current study, English-speaking children of 3 and 4years of age (N=64) were asked to interpret propositional attitude constructions with a first- or third-person subject of the propositional attitude (e.g., "I think the sticker is in the red box" or "The cow thinks the sticker is in the red box", respectively). They were also assessed for an understanding of their own and others' false beliefs. We found that 4-year-olds showed a better understanding of both third-person propositional attitude constructions and false belief than their younger peers. No significant developmental differences were found for first-person propositional attitude constructions. The older children also showed a better understanding of their own false beliefs than of others' false beliefs. In addition, regression analyses suggest that the older children's comprehension of their own false beliefs was mainly related to their understanding of third-person propositional attitude constructions. These results indicate that we need to take a closer look at the propositional attitude constructions that are supposed to support children's false-belief reasoning. Children may come to understand their own and others' beliefs in different ways, and this may affect both their use and understanding of propositional attitude constructions and their performance in various types of false-belief tasks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk assessment for carcinogens under California's Proposition 65

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

Pease, W.S.; Zeise, L.; Kelter, A.

1990-06-01

Risk assessments for carcinogens are being developed through an accelerated process in California as a part of the state's implementation of Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. Estimates of carcinogenic potency made by the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) are generally similar to estimates made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The largest differences are due to EPA's use of the maximum likelihood estimate instead of CDHS' use of the upper 95% confidence bounds on potencies derived from human data and to procedures used to correct for studies of short duration or with earlymore » mortality. Numerical limits derived from these potency estimates constitute no significant risk levels, which govern exemption from Proposition 65's discharge prohibition and warning requirements. Under Proposition 65 regulations, lifetime cancer risks less than 10(-5) are not significant and cumulative intake is not considered. Following these regulations, numerical limits for a number of Proposition 65 carcinogens that are applicable to the control of toxic discharges are less stringent than limits under existing federal water pollution control laws. Thus, existing federal limits will become the Proposition 65 levels for discharge. Chemicals currently not covered by federal and state controls will eventually be subject to discharge limitations under Proposition 65. No significant risk levels (expressed in terms of daily intake of carcinogens) also trigger warning requirements under Proposition 65 that are more extensive than existing state or federal requirements. A variety of chemical exposures from multiple sources are identified that exceed Proposition 65's no significant risk levels.« less

Health care competition, strategic mission, and patient satisfaction: research model and propositions.

PubMed

Rivers, Patrick A; Glover, Saundra H

2008-01-01

In all industries, competition among businesses has long been encouraged as a mechanism to increase value for patients. In other words, competition ensures the provision of better products and services to satisfy the needs of customers This paper aims to develop a model that can be used to empirically investigate a number of complex issues and relationships associated with competition in the health care industry. A literature review was conducted. A total of 50 items of literature related to the subject were reviewed. Various perspectives of competition, the nature of service quality, health system costs, and patient satisfaction in health care are examined. A model of the relationship among these variables is developed. The model depicts patient satisfaction as an outcome measure directly dependent on competition. Quality of care and health care systems costs, while also directly dependent on the strategic mission and goals, are considered as determinants of customer satisfaction as well. The model is discussed in the light of propositions for empirical research. Empirical studies based on the model proposed in this paper should help identify areas with significant impact on patient satisfaction while maintaining high quality of service at lower costs in a competitive environment. The authors develop a research model which included propositions to examine the complex issues of competition in the health care industry.

What is the mechanism effect that links social support to coping and psychological outcome within individuals affected by prostate cancer? Real time data collection using mobile technology.

PubMed

Paterson, Catherine; Jones, Martyn; Rattray, Janice; Lauder, William; Nabi, Ghulam

2016-04-01

Unmet support needs are prevalent in men affected by prostate cancer. Moreover, little is known about the optimal type of social support, or its mechanism effect between coping and emotional outcome in men affected by this disease to identify areas for clinical intervention. This study aimed to empirically test the propositions of social support theory in "real time" within individual men living with and beyond prostate cancer. Purposeful sub-sample from a larger prospective longitudinal study of prostate cancer survivors, took part in real time data collection using mobile technology. Self-reports were collected for 31 days prompted by an audio alarm 3 times per day (a total of 93 data entries) for each of the 12 case studies. Electronic data were analysed using time series analysis. Majority of response rates were >90%. Men reported a lack of satisfaction with their support over time. Testing the propositions of social support theory "within individuals" over time demonstrated different results for main effect, moderation and mediation pathways that linked coping and social support to emotional outcome. For two men, negative effects of social support were identified. For six men the propositions of social support theory did not hold considering their within-person data. This innovative study is one of the first, to demonstrate the acceptability of e-health technology in an ageing population of men affected by prostate cancer. Collectively, the case series provided mixed support for the propositions of social support theory, and demonstrates that "one size does not fit all". Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information Sharing: An Exploration of the Literature and Some Propositions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, T. D.

2010-01-01

Purpose: Information sharing is a relatively unexplored part of the information behaviour. The aim of this paper is to examine the research on the concept, as it appears in other bodies of literature and to draw out the key variables that appear to influence information sharing in different contexts. Methods: A literature review was carried out…

The Configuration of Social Subjectivity in an Innovative Educational Institution in Brazil

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Oliveira Campolina, Luciana; Martínez, Albertina Mitjáns

2016-01-01

The aim of this article is to present a case study of an innovative school and illustrate how social aspects, in their subjective dimension, participate in educational innovation. According to the theoretical propositions from González Rey's cultural-historical theory of subjectivity, social aspects in the life of groups, institutions,…

Parents, peer groups, and other socializing influences.

PubMed

Vandell, D L

2000-11-01

Three propositions that are central to J. R. Harris's group socialization theory (1995, 1998) are considered in this review. These propositions are as follows: (a) Parental behaviors have no long-term effects on children's psychological characteristics, (b) peer groups are the primary environmental influence on psychological functioning, and (c) dyadic relationships are situation-specific and do not generalize. The evidence that J. R. Harris has outlined in support of each of these propositions is reviewed, as is additional empirical research not considered by J. R. Harris. Serious limitations to each proposition are identified. The available evidence is more consistent with a model of multiple socialization agents. An expanded research agenda that permits a more definitive test of J. R. Harris's propositions and social relationship theory is proposed.

Curriculum Design and Epistemic Ascent

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winch, Christopher

2013-01-01

Three kinds of knowledge usually recognised by epistemologists are identified and their relevance for curriculum design is discussed. These are: propositional knowledge, know-how and knowledge by acquaintance. The inferential nature of propositional knowledge is argued for and it is suggested that propositional knowledge in fact presupposes the…

Participatory Democracy and Budgeting: The Effects of Proposition 13.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCaffery, Jerry; Bowman, John H.

1978-01-01

The complexities associated with Proposition 13 provide a lesson in the hazards of fiscal policy-making through direct voter participation. While the full effects of Proposition 13 are not yet known, it is clear that it has reshaped California local government finance overnight. (Author)

Using technology to engage hospitalised patients in their care: a realist review.

PubMed

Roberts, Shelley; Chaboyer, Wendy; Gonzalez, Ruben; Marshall, Andrea

2017-06-06

Patient participation in health care is associated with improved outcomes for patients and hospitals. New technologies are creating vast potential for patients to participate in care at the bedside. Several studies have explored patient use, satisfaction and perceptions of health information technology (HIT) interventions in hospital. Understanding what works for whom, under what conditions, is important when considering interventions successfully engaging patients in care. This realist review aimed to determine key features of interventions using bedside technology to engage hospital patients in their care and analyse these in terms of context, mechanisms and outcomes. A realist review was chosen to explain how and why complex HIT interventions work or fail within certain contexts. The review was guided by Pawson's realist review methodology, involving: clarifying review scope; searching for evidence; data extraction and evidence appraisal; synthesising evidence and drawing conclusions. Author experience and an initial literature scope provided insight and review questions and theories (propositions) around why interventions worked were developed and iteratively refined. A purposive search was conducted to find evidence to support, refute or identify further propositions, which formed an explanatory model. Each study was 'mined' for evidence to further develop the propositions and model. Interactive learning was the overarching theme of studies using technology to engage patients in their care. Several propositions underpinned this, which were labelled: information sharing; self-assessment and feedback; tailored education; user-centred design; and support in use of HIT. As studies were mostly feasibility or usability studies, they reported patient-centred outcomes including patient acceptability, satisfaction and actual use of HIT interventions. For each proposition, outcomes were proposed to come about by mechanisms including improved communication, shared decision-making, empowerment and self-efficacy; which acted as facilitators to patient participation in care. Overall, there was a stronger representation of health than IT disciplines in studies reviewed, with a lack of IT input in terms of theoretical underpinning, methodological design and reporting of outcomes. HIT interventions have great potential for engaging hospitalised patients in their care. However, stronger interdisciplinary collaboration between health and IT researchers is needed for effective design and evaluation of HIT interventions.

L'appropriation du domaine scientifique chez l'eleve togolais

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lalancette, Lucie

1998-12-01

Science and technology are essential to sustainable development. They must be endogenous in nature to reduce the dependency and vulnerability of developing countries. Hence we seek to determine how Togolese students appropriate the field of science. Science education should answer fundamental educational needs by aiming for autonomy and individualization, that is, the skills and attitudes necessary to the resolution of, problems (and thus necessary to creativity), the concept of which includes the production of new ideas and adaptation to change. This basic scientific culture allows citizens to understand socioeconomic and environmental imperatives related to science and technology. This study answers the following questions: (1) How is the appropriation of knowledge by Togolese students favored? (2) What are the representations acquired by Togolese students in the science classroom regarding key research concepts, namely education, culture, science, knowledge and development? The objective of this research is to partially describe the context of science learning in the first cycle of the Second Degree in Togo, a French-language developing country of Africa, and particularly to understand the influence of the sociocultural setting on pedagogy and development. We first present our conception of science teaching, followed by the construction of knowledge in context. This research permits clearer propositions in terms of plausible explanations for the observed relationships among the categories of data. Indeed, the framework of the transmission of knowledge considerably influences the appropriation of the field of science by Togolese students. Science is a mythical and mystical field, still perceived as the "white mans's thing", in spite of favorable attitudes developed by students concerning the application of science and technology in their environment. By way of the favored learning methods (which also represent those of the traditional environment) and curricula (which are exogenous in nature), students formally appropriate scientific knowledge without actually transferring that knowledge outside the school setting. For this study, the validity of the propositions is dependent upon the perceptions of the key research concepts by the subjects. That is why the propositions are supported by the analysis of the Togolese student's answers during interviews, as well as by lectures given by African essayists. This is an a priori exploratory research, characterized by a qualitative methodology. The research concentrates on preliminary description and comprehension. Specifically, the method is based on an interpretive approach, while also being reflexive in nature. Observation data were gathered through documentation, field observations, a group discussion and a questionnaire. The pertinence of this study's results lies in a better understanding of the construction of knowledge in context.

The "Is-Ought-Is" Problem of the Objective in Adult Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattimore-Knudson, Russell S.

1982-01-01

Shows that adult education objectives must be evaluative propositions rather than descriptive propositions; as evaluative propositions they cannot be used as "evidence" to defend the cancellation or repetition of programs. Presents a possible solution to the "is-ought-is" dichotomy as it relates to the use of evaluative…

Some Propositions about Teaching and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Walter E., Comp.; And Others

Various propositions on college teaching and learning, established by the professor and graduate students in a course at the University of Florida, are presented. The importance of both the professional discipline and teaching components is stressed. The propositions are intended for graduate students to use as a resource of basic information…

Proposition 2 1/2: Explaining the Vote.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladd, Helen F.; Wilson, Julie Boatright

Researchers examined Massachusetts voters' reactions to Proposition 2 1/2--which severely restricts local governments' ability to raise money for local public services--through a statewide telephone survey of 1,561 household heads in 58 towns. Data were gathered on each respondent's vote on the proposition, sex, age, education, occupation, income,…

[NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 2:] External Information Sources and aerospace R&D: The use and importance of technical reports by US aerospace engineers and scientists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1990-01-01

This paper formulates and studies two propositions. Proposition 1 states that information that is external to the aerospace organization tends to be used less than internal sources of information; the more geographically removed the information is from the organization, the less likely it is to be used. Proposition 2 states that of the various sociometric variables assumed to influence the use of an information channel or source, perceived accessibility exerts the greatest influence. Preliminary analysis based on surveys supports Proposition 1. This analysis does not support Proposition 2, however. Evidence here indicates that reliability and relevance influence the use of an information source more than the idea of perceived accessibility.

Evidence for the Propositions of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide Among a Military Sample.

PubMed

Silva, Caroline; Hagan, Christopher R; Rogers, Megan L; Chiurliza, Bruno; Podlogar, Matthew C; Hom, Melanie A; Tzoneva, Mirela; Lim, Ingrid C; Joiner, Thomas E

2017-06-01

Although the interpersonal theory of suicide may explain the elevated suicide risk among military service members, past explorations have been equivocal. This study aimed to investigate the propositions of the interpersonal theory in a sample of U.S. Army recruiters. Participants (N = 3,428) completed self-report measures assessing the interpersonal theory's constructs (i.e., thwarted belongingness (TB), perceived burdensomeness (PB), acquired capability for suicide), current suicidal ideation, agitation, and insomnia. History of depression was obtained from medical records. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the interaction between TB and PB was associated with current suicidal ideation, controlling for depression, agitation, and insomnia. This effect was especially notable among those with high capability for suicide. Findings provide support for the interpersonal theory in a large, diverse military sample. It may be advantageous to assess and therapeutically address TB and PB among at-risk service members. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

California's tobacco tax initiative: the development and passage of Proposition 99.

PubMed

Traynor, M P; Glantz, S A

1996-01-01

In this case study, we describe and analyze the development and passage of California's tobacco tax initiative, Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act of 1988. We gathered information from published reports, public documents, personal correspondence, internal memorandums, polling data, and interviews with representatives from organizations that participated in the Proposition 99 campaign. Proposition 99 passed as a result of the efforts of a coalition of voluntary health agencies, medical organizations, and environmental groups. They organized a long-term effort by conducting essential polling, planning strategies, gaining media exposure, developing a coalition, and running a successful campaign to enact the tax by shifting the venue from legislative to initiative politics. To build the coalition that was needed to pass Proposition 99, public health proponents enlisted the help of medical organizations in exchange for additional revenue to be allocated to medical services. By shifting the venue from the legislature to the general public, advocates capitalized on public concern about tobacco and for youth and took advantage of the tobacco industry's low credibility. The passage of Proposition 99, despite a massive campaign against it by the tobacco industry, represents a milestone in the tobacco control and public health fields. From its passage in 1988 through 1993, tobacco use in California declined by 27 percent, which is three times faster than the United States average. As a result, Proposition 99 has served as a national model for other states and the federal government. Although allocation of tobacco tax revenues specifically to health education and prevention was a primary goal during the development and passage of Proposition 99, when the venue shifted back to the legislature for implementation, medical organizations successfully advocated illegal diversions of Proposition 99 tobacco control and research funds to medical services. Organizations seeking to enact Proposition 99-like tobacco tax increases must be prepared to mount aggressive campaigns to pass the initiative in the face of major tobacco industry opposition and then must continue to work to protect the program after passage by voters.

Deinstitutionalization and Quality of Life of Individuals with Intellectual Disability: A Review of the International Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chowdhury, Monali; Benson, Betsey A.

2011-01-01

The policy of deinstitutionalization was based on the proposition that quality of life (QoL) of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) will improve as a result of being moved from institutions to community-based care settings. The aim of this literature review was to evaluate whether this assumption has become a reality now that the…

In Defense of the Defense: The Continuing Political Value of Denial of Enemy Aims

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

Propositions, 8–19, 28–40. 4. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret ( Prince - ton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 81...From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986), 148, 154–55, 159, 161, 168–70, 174–75. 40. Clausewitz, On War

Balancing the Equation. Supply and Demand in Tomorrow's School Choice Marketplaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McShane, Michael Q.

2015-01-01

School choice is an education reform premised on a simple proposition: give families more choices, and they will find schools that best fit their children's needs. In short, school choice aims to create a marketplace of schooling options. School choice programs will succeed or fail based on how well they are able to create this marketplace and how…

Vanilla Teaching as a Rational Choice: The Impact of Research and Compliance on Teacher Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harland, Tony; Wald, Navé

2018-01-01

This paper examines the proposition that the quality of university teaching in the research-intensive university is affected by various compliance demands on academic work that are meant to either enhance or be complementary to teaching. These include holding academics to account for the quality of both research and teaching. Our research aims to…

The Contradictory Effect of the "Global" on the "Local": Japanese Behaviour and Attitudes towards English Use in Local Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terasawa, Takunori

2018-01-01

This paper aims to establish that globalised social and linguistic changes have a more complicated impact on local behaviours and attitudes than is believed. Based on statistical analysis of nationally representative surveys in Japan, the paper presents evidence against the following two propositions: (1) globalisation increases local demand for…

Proposition 187: An Effective Measure To Deter Undocumented Migration to California?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alarcon, Rafael

In 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187, which prohibits provision of publicly funded education and social services to undocumented immigrants, and which requires public schools to verify the legal status of students and their parents. This paper examines socioeconomic and immigration trends leading to the emergence of Proposition 187,…

Memorisation Methods in Science Education: Tactics to Improve the Teaching and Learning Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pals, Frits F. B.; Tolboom, Jos L. J.; Suhre, Cor J. M.; van Geert, Paul L. C.

2018-01-01

How can science teachers support students in developing an appropriate declarative knowledge base for solving problems? This article focuses on the question whether the development of students' memory of scientific propositions is better served by writing propositions down on paper or by making drawings of propositions either by silent or…

Associating versus Proposing or Associating What We Propose: Comment on Gawronski and Bodenhausen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albarracin, Dolores; Hart, William; McCulloch, Kathleen C.

2006-01-01

This commentary on the article by B. Gawronski and G. V. Bodenhausen (see record 2006-10465-003) highlights the strengths of the associative-propositional evaluation model. It then describes problems in proposing a qualitative separation between propositional and associative processes. Propositional processes are instead described as associative.…

Predictors of Short-Term Treatment Outcomes among California's Proposition 36 Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hser, Yih-Ing; Evans, Elizabeth; Teruya, Cheryl; Huang, David; Anglin, M. Douglas

2007-01-01

California's voter-initiated Proposition 36 offers non-violent drug offenders community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration or probation without treatment. This article reports short-term treatment outcomes subsequent to this major shift in drug policy. Data are from 1104 individuals randomly selected from all Proposition 36…

The Effects of Proposition 209 on California: Higher Education, Public Employment, and Contracting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geshekter, Charles L.

2008-01-01

In 1996, Californians overwhelmingly approved Proposition 209, which prohibited all state agencies from discriminating on the basis of race, ethnicity, or gender in university admissions, public employment, or competition for a state contract. Opponents of Proposition 209 predicted dire consequences for California's ethnic minorities and women if…

Has California's Passage of Proposition 227 Made a Difference in the Way We Teach?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arellano-Houchin, Anna; Flamenco, Claudia; Merlos, Moises M.; Segura, Lorena

2001-01-01

Examined how teachers were impacted by California's Proposition 227, highlighting changes in teaching styles and beliefs about the proposition and its effectiveness. Teachers had to change their teaching strategies to accommodate the new curriculum. They were not sufficiently trained for immediate implementation of English-only education. Teaching…

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle value proposition study. Phase 1, task 2, select value proposition/business model for further study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-04-01

The objective of Task 2 is to identify the combination of value propositions that is : believed to be achievable by 2030 and collectively hold promise for a sustainable : PHEV market by 2030. This deliverable outlines what the project team (with inpu...

Rethinking the Value Proposition to Improve Teaching Effectiveness. Rethinking Teacher Compensation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Lewis, Christopher

2012-01-01

All employers, including school districts, enter into a "Value Proposition" with their employees--the complete set of offerings and experiences provided by the employer, compared to other similar opportunities. A successful Value Proposition reflects the needs of both employer and employee, not only attracting and retaining employees with the…

How Proposition 227 Influences the Language Dynamics of a First- and Second-Grade Mathematics Lesson.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paredes, Sara Micaela

2000-01-01

Interviews and observations of a first-grade mathematics class to determine the influence of Proposition 227 on limited-English-speaking students found that many initial fears about Proposition 227 were unfounded; student ability to cope was underestimated; teacher knowledge of Spanish and Latino culture was critical; and students' limited English…

California's Proposition 227: Implications and Costs of the Unz Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council of the Great City Schools, Washington, DC.

Voters in California will vote June 2, 1998 to decide the fate of Proposition 227, a measure proposed by businessman Ron Unz that would substantially change the way that students who are not proficient in English are taught. If approved by the voters, Proposition 227, the Unz Initiative, would essentially eliminate bilingual education programs in…

If the Real World Were Irrelevant, so to Speak: The role of propositional truth-value in counterfactual sentence comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nieuwland, Mante S.; Martin, Andrea E.

2012-01-01

Propositional truth-value can be a defining feature of a sentence's relevance to the unfolding discourse, and establishing propositional truth-value in context can be key to successful interpretation. In the current study, we investigate its role in the comprehension of counterfactual conditionals, which describe imaginary consequences of…

Health care competition, strategic mission, and patient satisfaction: research model and propositions

PubMed Central

Rivers, Patrick A.; Glover, Saundra H.

2010-01-01

Purpose In all industries, competition among businesses has long been encouraged as a mechanism to increase value for patients. In other words, competition ensures the provision of better products and services to satisfy the needs of customers This paper aims to develop a model that can be used to empirically investigate a number of complex issues and relationships associated with competition in the health care industry. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted. A total of 50 items of literature related to the subject were reviewed.. Various perspectives of competition, the nature of service quality, health system costs, and patient satisfaction in health care are examined Findings A model of the relationship among these variables is developed. The model depicts patient satisfaction as an outcome measure directly dependent on competition. Quality of care and health care systems costs, while also directly dependent on the strategic mission and goals, are considered as determinants of customer satisfaction as well. The model is discussed in the light of propositions for empirical research. Practical implications Empirical studies based on the model proposed in this paper should help identify areas with significant impact on patient satisfaction while maintaining high quality of service at lower costs in a competitive environment. Originality/value The authors develop a research model which included propositions to examine the complex issues of competition in the health care industry. PMID:19579575

Gann Limit & Proposition 13: Negative Effects on Local Government Agencies, Inlcuding Schools & Community College Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodda, Albert S.

In fall 1978, Paul Gann, who worked with Howard Jarvis to pass California's Proposition 13 in June 1978, sought to qualify an intitiative placing a constitutional limit on state and local government expenditures. This initiative qualified and was approved by voters in November 1979 as Proposition 4. Gann's solicitation set the limitation's base…

Outdoors Environmental Education for the Service of Peace: Lessons from a 2-Year Youth Program for Reconciliation in Cyprus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadis, Costas; Avraamidou, Lucy

2008-01-01

This paper examines the merits of the proposition that outdoors environmental education can be used as a means to promote reconciliation, and in essence peace, among communities in Cyprus. It does so through an examination of an outdoors youth program called CAFE (Camping, Fitness, and Education) that aimed to promote the awareness of members of…

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Revisited in a French-Speaking Population: Proposition of a Reduced Version of the Parent SDQ

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chauvin, Bruno; Leonova, Tamara

2016-01-01

Key concerns about the psychometric properties of the 25-item version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) have consistently been raised in the literature. The present study aimed at examining the meaningfulness of an alternative model to the SDQ in which 7 problematic items are excluded. French-speaking parents of 262 boys and…

Varying Use of Conceptual Metaphors across Levels of Expertise in Thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeppsson, Fredrik; Haglund, Jesper; Amin, Tamer G.

2015-04-01

Many studies have previously focused on how people with different levels of expertise solve physics problems. In early work, focus was on characterising differences between experts and novices and a key finding was the central role that propositionally expressed principles and laws play in expert, but not novice, problem-solving. A more recent line of research has focused on characterising continuity between experts and novices at the level of non-propositional knowledge structures and processes such as image-schemas, imagistic simulation and analogical reasoning. This study contributes to an emerging literature addressing the coordination of both propositional and non-propositional knowledge structures and processes in the development of expertise. Specifically, in this paper, we compare problem-solving across two levels of expertise-undergraduate students of chemistry and Ph.D. students in physical chemistry-identifying differences in how conceptual metaphors (CMs) are used (or not) to coordinate propositional and non-propositional knowledge structures in the context of solving problems on entropy. It is hypothesised that the acquisition of expertise involves learning to coordinate the use of CMs to interpret propositional (linguistic and mathematical) knowledge and apply it to specific problem situations. Moreover, we suggest that with increasing expertise, the use of CMs involves a greater degree of subjective engagement with physical entities and processes. Implications for research on learning and instructional practice are discussed. Third contribution to special issue entitled: Conceptual metaphor and embodied cognition in science learning

Nursing intellectual capital theory: testing selected propositions.

PubMed

Covell, Christine L; Sidani, Souraya

2013-11-01

To test the selected propositions of the middle-range theory of nursing intellectual capital. The nursing intellectual capital theory conceptualizes nursing knowledge's influence on patient and organizational outcomes. The theory proposes nursing human capital, nurses' knowledge, skills and experience, is related to the quality of patient care and nurse recruitment and retention of an inpatient care unit. Two factors in the work environment, nurse staffing and employer support for nurse continuing professional development, are proposed to influence nursing human capital's association with patient and organizational outcomes. A cross-sectional survey design. The study took place in 2008 in six Canadian acute care hospitals. Financial, human resource and risk data were collected from hospital departments and unit managers. Clearly specified empirical indicators quantified the study variables. The propositions of the theory were tested with data from 91 inpatient care units using structural equation modelling. The propositions associated with the nursing human capital concept were supported. The propositions associated with the employer support for nurse continuing professional development concept were not. The proposition that nurse staffing's influences on patient outcomes was mediated by the nursing human capital of an inpatient unit, was partially supported. Some of the theory's propositions were empirically validated. Additional theoretical work is needed to refine the operationalization and measurement of some of the theory's concepts. Further research with larger samples of data from different geographical settings and types of hospitals is required to determine if the theory can withstand empirical scrutiny. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

An Alternative Proposition to Lewis' Views on the "Constructions of Professional Identity in a Dynamic Higher Education Sector"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feather, Denis

2015-01-01

This paper offers an alternative proposition to that of Lewis on identity and professional identity in higher education (HE). The proposition is provided from the narratives of 26 individual interviewees who deliver HE in college-based higher education, a viewpoint not considered by Lewis, who tends to adopt a more generalist view. Where Lewis…

Inferred Propositions and the Expression of the Evidence Relation in Natural Language Evidentiality in Central Alaskan Yup'ik Eskimo and English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krawczyk, Elizabeth A.

2012-01-01

Evidentiality has usually been defined as the grammaticalized expression of a speaker's evidence source for a proposition, where "evidence" is conceptualized as a speaker's source-type for a particular proposition (Aikhenvald 2004). How this evidence source-type and the evidential are related has yet to be formally modeled in…

Proposition 2 1/2: Variations in Individual Preferences and Expectations across Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladd, Helen F.; Wilson, Julie Boatright

This paper uses data from a large statewide survey of Massachusetts residents to measure support for Proposition 2 1/2. Proposition 2 1/2 required high tax rate communities to reduce property tax levies 15 percent per year until the tax rate is reduced to the maximum allowable rate of 2 1/2 percent of full and fair market value. Specifically, this…

A Hierarchical Multi-Model Approach for Uncertainty Segregation, Prioritization and Comparative Evaluation of Competing Modeling Propositions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, F. T.; Elshall, A. S.; Hanor, J. S.

2012-12-01

Subsurface modeling is challenging because of many possible competing propositions for each uncertain model component. How can we judge that we are selecting the correct proposition for an uncertain model component out of numerous competing propositions? How can we bridge the gap between synthetic mental principles such as mathematical expressions on one hand, and empirical observation such as observation data on the other hand when uncertainty exists on both sides? In this study, we introduce hierarchical Bayesian model averaging (HBMA) as a multi-model (multi-proposition) framework to represent our current state of knowledge and decision for hydrogeological structure modeling. The HBMA framework allows for segregating and prioritizing different sources of uncertainty, and for comparative evaluation of competing propositions for each source of uncertainty. We applied the HBMA to a study of hydrostratigraphy and uncertainty propagation of the Southern Hills aquifer system in the Baton Rouge area, Louisiana. We used geophysical data for hydrogeological structure construction through indictor hydrostratigraphy method and used lithologic data from drillers' logs for model structure calibration. However, due to uncertainty in model data, structure and parameters, multiple possible hydrostratigraphic models were produced and calibrated. The study considered four sources of uncertainties. To evaluate mathematical structure uncertainty, the study considered three different variogram models and two geological stationarity assumptions. With respect to geological structure uncertainty, the study considered two geological structures with respect to the Denham Springs-Scotlandville fault. With respect to data uncertainty, the study considered two calibration data sets. These four sources of uncertainty with their corresponding competing modeling propositions resulted in 24 calibrated models. The results showed that by segregating different sources of uncertainty, HBMA analysis provided insights on uncertainty priorities and propagation. In addition, it assisted in evaluating the relative importance of competing modeling propositions for each uncertain model component. By being able to dissect the uncertain model components and provide weighted representation of the competing propositions for each uncertain model component based on the background knowledge, the HBMA functions as an epistemic framework for advancing knowledge about the system under study.

Workforce Professionalism in Drug Treatment Services: Impact of California’s Proposition 36

PubMed Central

Wu, Fei; Hser, Yih-Ing

2011-01-01

This article investigates whether California’s Proposition 36 has promoted the workforce professionalism of drug treatment services during its first five years of implementation. Program surveys inquiring about organizational information, Proposition 36 implementation, and staffing were conducted in 2003 and 2005 among all treatment providers serving Proposition 36 clients in five selected California counties (San Diego, Riverside, Kern, Sacramento, and San Francisco). A one-hour self-administered questionnaire was completed by 118 treatment providers representing 102 programs. This article examines five topics that are relevant to drug treatment workforce professionalism: resources and capability, standardized intake assessment and outcome evaluation, staff qualification, program accreditation, and information technology. Results suggest that Proposition 36 had a positive influence on the drug treatment workforce’s professionalism. Improvements have been observed in program resources, client intake assessment and outcome evaluation databases, staff professionalization, program accreditation, and information technology system. However, some areas remain problematic, including, for example, the consistent lack of adequate resources serving women with children. PMID:21036513

Results Accountability for Proposition 10 Commissions: A Planning Guide for Improving the Well-Being of Young Children and Their Families. Building Community Systems for Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedman, Mark

As part of a series of reports designed to support the implementation of Proposition 10: The California Children and Families Act and to provide comprehensive and authoritative information on critical issues concerning young children and families in California, this report addresses how Proposition 10 Commissions can organize their work and their…

Recapitalization and Acquisition of Light Tactical Wheeled Vehicles (REDACTED)

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-29

representative from Red River Army Depot in Texarkana , Texas,18 stated that recapitalizing current HMMWVs to the XM1166 model was an excellent proposition...Red River Army Depot in Texarkana , Texas, stated that recapitalizing current HMMWVs to the XM1166 model was an excellent proposition. The Deputy...Army Depot in Texarkana , Texas, stated that recapitalizing current HMMWVs to the XM1166 model was an excellent proposition because the U.S

Proposal for a new content model for the Austrian Procedure Catalogue.

PubMed

Neururer, Sabrina B; Pfeiffer, Karl P

2013-01-01

The Austrian Procedure Catalogue is used for procedure coding in Austria. Its architecture and content has some major weaknesses. The aim of this study is the presentation of a new potential content model for this classification system consisting of main characteristics of health interventions. It is visualized using a UML class diagram. Based on this proposition, an implementation of an ontology for procedure coding is planned.

Diagnostic Reasoning across the Medical Education Continuum.

PubMed

Smith, C Scott; Hill, William; Francovich, Chris; Morris, Magdalena; Robbins, Bruce; Robins, Lynne; Turner, Andrew

2014-07-15

We aimed to study linguistic and non-linguistic elements of diagnostic reasoning across the continuum of medical education. We performed semi-structured interviews of premedical students, first year medical students, third year medical students, second year internal medicine residents, and experienced faculty (ten each) as they diagnosed three common causes of dyspnea. A second observer recorded emotional tone. All interviews were digitally recorded and blinded transcripts were created. Propositional analysis and concept mapping were performed. Grounded theory was used to identify salient categories and transcripts were scored with these categories. Transcripts were then unblinded. Systematic differences in propositional structure, number of concept connections, distribution of grounded theory categories, episodic and semantic memories, and emotional tone were identified. Summary concept maps were created and grounded theory concepts were explored for each learning level. We identified three major findings: (1) The "apprentice effect" in novices (high stress and low narrative competence); (2) logistic concept growth in intermediates; and (3) a cognitive state transition (between analytical and intuitive approaches) in experts. These findings warrant further study and comparison.

Galvanising the NHS to Adopt Innovation

PubMed Central

Parris, Stuart; Cochrane, Gavin; Marjanovic, Sonja; Ling, Tom; Chataway, Joanna

2016-01-01

Abstract The Department of Health and the Wellcome Trust, in co-operation with NHS England, asked RAND Europe to conduct a limited consultation with key stakeholders about the practicality of measures and incentives proposed as part of the NHS Accelerated Access Review (AAR), which aims to assess the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology. Through a focused engagement exercise with key healthcare stakeholders this project explored the implications of selected interim AAR propositions and feasibility of implementation for key actors, in primary and secondary care as well as commissioners and academia. Specifically, the project investigated the feasibility of implementation of three specific propositions including: a new earmarked fund to encourage AHSNs and other key innovation actors to re-design systems to embrace innovation; mobilising the influence of clinical system leaders to champion change; and encouraging secondary care organisations to take on “innovation champion” roles linked to financial incentives and a new emphasis on accountable care organisations. Data was collected on the feasibility of the three AAR propositions from a workshop with AHSN CEOs and Commercial Directors and interviews with senior NHS staff in three AHSN regions (South West, University College London Partners, and North East, North Cumbria). The study concludes with reflections on the feasibility of each recommendation and identifies factors expected to facilitate or challenge their implementation, as well as considering the wider cross cutting issues that may influence the adoption and diffusion of innovation in the NHS. PMID:28083436

Is a 4-bit synaptic weight resolution enough? - constraints on enabling spike-timing dependent plasticity in neuromorphic hardware.

PubMed

Pfeil, Thomas; Potjans, Tobias C; Schrader, Sven; Potjans, Wiebke; Schemmel, Johannes; Diesmann, Markus; Meier, Karlheinz

2012-01-01

Large-scale neuromorphic hardware systems typically bear the trade-off between detail level and required chip resources. Especially when implementing spike-timing dependent plasticity, reduction in resources leads to limitations as compared to floating point precision. By design, a natural modification that saves resources would be reducing synaptic weight resolution. In this study, we give an estimate for the impact of synaptic weight discretization on different levels, ranging from random walks of individual weights to computer simulations of spiking neural networks. The FACETS wafer-scale hardware system offers a 4-bit resolution of synaptic weights, which is shown to be sufficient within the scope of our network benchmark. Our findings indicate that increasing the resolution may not even be useful in light of further restrictions of customized mixed-signal synapses. In addition, variations due to production imperfections are investigated and shown to be uncritical in the context of the presented study. Our results represent a general framework for setting up and configuring hardware-constrained synapses. We suggest how weight discretization could be considered for other backends dedicated to large-scale simulations. Thus, our proposition of a good hardware verification practice may rise synergy effects between hardware developers and neuroscientists.

Is a 4-Bit Synaptic Weight Resolution Enough? – Constraints on Enabling Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity in Neuromorphic Hardware

PubMed Central

Pfeil, Thomas; Potjans, Tobias C.; Schrader, Sven; Potjans, Wiebke; Schemmel, Johannes; Diesmann, Markus; Meier, Karlheinz

2012-01-01

Large-scale neuromorphic hardware systems typically bear the trade-off between detail level and required chip resources. Especially when implementing spike-timing dependent plasticity, reduction in resources leads to limitations as compared to floating point precision. By design, a natural modification that saves resources would be reducing synaptic weight resolution. In this study, we give an estimate for the impact of synaptic weight discretization on different levels, ranging from random walks of individual weights to computer simulations of spiking neural networks. The FACETS wafer-scale hardware system offers a 4-bit resolution of synaptic weights, which is shown to be sufficient within the scope of our network benchmark. Our findings indicate that increasing the resolution may not even be useful in light of further restrictions of customized mixed-signal synapses. In addition, variations due to production imperfections are investigated and shown to be uncritical in the context of the presented study. Our results represent a general framework for setting up and configuring hardware-constrained synapses. We suggest how weight discretization could be considered for other backends dedicated to large-scale simulations. Thus, our proposition of a good hardware verification practice may rise synergy effects between hardware developers and neuroscientists. PMID:22822388

Using Correlation to Compute Better Probability Estimates in Plan Graphs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryce, Daniel; Smith, David E.

2006-01-01

Plan graphs are commonly used in planning to help compute heuristic "distance" estimates between states and goals. A few authors have also attempted to use plan graphs in probabilistic planning to compute estimates of the probability that propositions can be achieved and actions can be performed. This is done by propagating probability information forward through the plan graph from the initial conditions through each possible action to the action effects, and hence to the propositions at the next layer of the plan graph. The problem with these calculations is that they make very strong independence assumptions - in particular, they usually assume that the preconditions for each action are independent of each other. This can lead to gross overestimates in probability when the plans for those preconditions interfere with each other. It can also lead to gross underestimates of probability when there is synergy between the plans for two or more preconditions. In this paper we introduce a notion of the binary correlation between two propositions and actions within a plan graph, show how to propagate this information within a plan graph, and show how this improves probability estimates for planning. This notion of correlation can be thought of as a continuous generalization of the notion of mutual exclusion (mutex) often used in plan graphs. At one extreme (correlation=0) two propositions or actions are completely mutex. With correlation = 1, two propositions or actions are independent, and with correlation > 1, two propositions or actions are synergistic. Intermediate values can and do occur indicating different degrees to which propositions and action interfere or are synergistic. We compare this approach with another recent approach by Bryce that computes probability estimates using Monte Carlo simulation of possible worlds in plan graphs.

Political and Legal Responses to Proposition 13 in California

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

govern- ments. iii SUMMARY The passage of Proposition 13, the Jarvis-Gann initiative, by a 2-to- l margin was heralded by some as the cutting...perience with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 and the Gann initiative in 1979, it is likely that this ballot measure will pass. l Then local...91 I. INTRODUCTION June 6, 1978, marked the start of what some saw as a national tax revolt. By a 2-to- l margin

Beginning Typewriting: A Fifty-Fifty Proposition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivarie, Ted

1976-01-01

Beginning typewriting should be a 50-50 proposition with equal time devoted to machine operation and skill development and to language arts instruction in elementary and secondary education. (Author/LH)

Outcomes in a Sample of Opiod-Dependent Clients Treated Under California's Proposition 36.

PubMed

Chun, Jongserl; Guydish, Joseph R; Sorensen, James L; Haug, Nancy A; Andrews, Siara; Nelson, Larry

2007-07-01

This study evaluated treatment outcomes for the reduction of criminal justice involvement and substance use among opioid dependent clients in a therapeutic community setting under California's Proposition 36. We compared treatment outcomes between those mandated to treatment under Proposition 36 (n = 24) and those on probation but not involved in Proposition 36 (n = 61) over 12 months. Over time, both groups showed significant improvement on drug use and employment measures, were more likely to be involved in job training and less likely to be engaged in work activity, and had similar retention in treatment. There was no evidence that treatment outcomes were different between the two groups. These findings may be helpful in guiding policy makers and clinicians in states where similar initiatives are under consideration.

Reasoning about logical propositions and success in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piburn, Michael D.

1990-12-01

Students display a number of misconceptions when asked to reason about logical propositions. Rather than being random, these misconceptions are stereotypic, and relate to age, ability, and success in science. The grades in science achieved by tenth-grade general science students from two parochial single-sex schools in Australia correlated with their scores on the Propositional Logic Test. The students' ability level was consistently related to the pattern of errors they committed on that measure. Mean scores were lowest on a subtest of ability to use the biconditional and implication, higher on the disjunction, and highest on the conjunction. Success in science was predicted most strongly by the disjunction and biconditional subtests. Knowledge of the way in which a person reasons about logical propositions provides additional insights into the transformations information is subjected to as it is integrated into mental schemata.

Structural, thermal, laser damage, photoconductivity, NLO and mechanical properties of modified vertical Bridgman method grown AgGa0.5In0.5Se2 single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vijayakumar, P.; Ramasamy, P.

2016-08-01

AgGa0.5In0.5Se2 single crystal was grown using modified vertical Bridgman method. The structural perfection of the AgGa0.5In0.5Se2 single crystal has been analyzed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction rocking curve measurements. The structural and compositional uniformities of AgGa0.5In0.5Se2 were studied using Raman scattering spectroscopy at room temperature. The FWHM of the Γ1 (W1) and Γ5L (Γ15) measured at different regions of the crystal confirms that the composition throughout its length is fairly uniform. Thermal properties of the as-grown crystal, including specific heat, thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity have been investigated. The multiple shot surface laser damage threshold value was measured using Nd:YAG laser. Photoconductivity measurements with different temperatures have confirmed the positive photoconducting behavior. Second harmonic generation (SHG) on powder samples has been measured using the Kurtz and Perry technique and the results display that AgGa0.5In0.5Se2 is a phase-matchable NLO material. The hardness behavior has been measured using Vickers micro hardness measurement and the indentation size effect has been observed. The classical Meyer's law, propositional resistance model and modified propositional resistance model have been used to analyse the micro hardness behavior.

When novel sentences spoken or heard for the first time in the history of the universe are not enough: toward a dual-process model of language.

PubMed

Van Lancker Sidtis, Diana

2004-01-01

Although interest in the language sciences was previously focused on newly created sentences, more recently much attention has turned to the importance of formulaic expressions in normal and disordered communication. Also referred to as formulaic expressions and made up of speech formulas, idioms, expletives, serial and memorized speech, slang, sayings, clichés, and conventional expressions, non-propositional language forms a large proportion of every speaker's competence, and may be differentially disturbed in neurological disorders. This review aims to examine non-propositional speech with respect to linguistic descriptions, psycholinguistic experiments, sociolinguistic studies, child language development, clinical language disorders, and neurological studies. Evidence from numerous sources reveals differentiated and specialized roles for novel and formulaic verbal functions, and suggests that generation of novel sentences and management of prefabricated expressions represent two legitimate and separable processes in language behaviour. A preliminary model of language behaviour that encompasses unitary and compositional properties and their integration in everyday language use is proposed. Integration and synchronizing of two disparate processes in language behaviour, formulaic and novel, characterizes normal communicative function and contributes to creativity in language. This dichotomy is supported by studies arising from other disciplines in neurology and psychology. Further studies are necessary to determine in what ways the various categories of formulaic expressions are related, and how these categories are processed by the brain. Better understanding of how non-propositional categories of speech are stored and processed in the brain can lead to better informed treatment strategies in language disorders.

Customer Discovery as the First Essential Step for Successful Health Information Technology System Development.

PubMed

Thamjamrassri, Punyotai; Song, YuJin; Tak, JaeHyun; Kang, HoYong; Kong, Hyoun-Joong; Hong, Jeeyoung

2018-01-01

Customer discovery (CD) is a method to determine if there are actual customers for a product/service and what they would want before actually developing the product/service. This concept, however, is rather new to health information technology (IT) systems. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to demonstrate how to use the CD method in developing a comprehensive health IT service for patients with knee/leg pain. We participated in a 6-week I-Corps program to perform CD, in which we interviewed 55 people in person, by phone, or by video conference within 6 weeks: 4 weeks in the United States and 2 weeks in Korea. The interviewees included orthopedic doctors, physical therapists, physical trainers, physicians, researchers, pharmacists, vendors, and patients. By analyzing the interview data, the aim was to revise our business model accordingly. Using the CD approach enabled us to understand the customer segments and identify value propositions. We concluded that a facilitating tele-rehabilitation system is needed the most and that the most suitable customer segment is early stage arthritis patients. We identified a new design concept for the customer segment. Furthermore, CD is required to identify value propositions in detail. CD is crucial to determine a more desirable direction in developing health IT systems, and it can be a powerful tool to increase the potential for successful commercialization in the health IT field.

Comparing Future Options for Human Space Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherwood, Brent

2010-01-01

The paper analyzes the "value proposition" for government-funded human space flight, a vexing question that persistently dogs efforts to justify its $10(exp 10)/year expense in the U.S. The original Mercury/Gemini/Apollo value proposition is not valid today. Neither was it the value proposition actually promoted by von Braun, which the post-Apollo 80% of human space flight history has persistently attempted to fulfill. Divergent potential objectives for human space flight are captured in four strategic options - Explore Mars; accelerate Space Passenger Travel; enable Space Power for Earth; and Settle the Moon - which are then analyzed for their Purpose, societal Myth, Legacy benefits, core Needs, and result as measured by the number and type of humans they would fly in space. This simple framework is proposed as a way to support productive dialogue with public and other stakeholders, to determine a sustainable value proposition for human space flight.

Changing your mind.

PubMed

Walsh, Clare R; Johnson-Laird, P N

2009-07-01

When individuals detect an inconsistency in a set of propositions, they tend to change their minds about at least one proposition to resolve the inconsistency. The orthodox view from William James (1907) onward has been that a rational change should be minimal. We propose an alternative hypothesis according to which individuals seek to resolve inconsistencies by explaining their origins. We report four experiments corroborating the explanatory hypothesis. Experiment 1 showed that participants' explanations revised general conditional claims rather than specific categorical propositions. Experiment 2 showed that, when explanations did revise the categorical proposition, participants also tended to deny the consequences of a second generalization. Experiment 3 showed that this tendency persists when participants previously affirmed these consequences explicitly. Experiment 4 showed that, when participants could easily explain an inconsistency by revising a generalization, they were more likely to accept the consequences of a second generalization. All four results contravene minimalism but support the explanatory hypothesis.

PROMISES THEY CAN KEEP: LOW-INCOME WOMEN’S ATTITUDES TOWARD MOTHERHOOD, MARRIAGE, AND DIVORCE

PubMed Central

Cherlin, Andrew; Cross-Barnet, Caitlin; Burton, Linda M.; Garrett-Peters, Raymond

2009-01-01

Using survey data on low-income mothers in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio (n = 1,722) supplemented with ethnographic data, we test 3 propositions regarding mothers’ attitudes toward childbearing, marriage, and divorce. These are drawn from Edin & Kefalas (2005) but have also arisen in other recent studies. We find strong support for the proposition that childbearing outside of marriage carries little stigma, limited support for the proposition that women prefer to have children well before marrying, and almost no support for the proposition that women hesitate to marry because they fear divorce. We suggest that mothers’ attitudes and preferences in these 3 domains do not support the long delay between childbearing and marriage that has been noted in the literature. Throughout, we are able to study attitudes among several Hispanic groups as well as among African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites. PMID:19885381

Comparing future options for human space flight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sherwood, Brent

2011-09-01

The paper analyzes the "value proposition" for government-funded human space flight, a vexing question that persistently dogs efforts to justify its $10 10/year expense in the US. The original Mercury/Gemini/Apollo value proposition is not valid today. Neither was it the value proposition actually promoted by von Braun, which the post-Apollo 80% of human space flight history has persistently attempted to fulfill. Divergent potential objectives for human space flight are captured in four strategic options— Explore Mars; accelerate Space Passenger Travel; enable Space Power for Earth; and Settle the Moon—which are then analyzed for their purpose, societal myth, legacy benefits, core needs, and result as measured by the number and type of humans they would fly in space. This simple framework is proposed as a way to support productive dialog with public and other stakeholders, to determine a sustainable value proposition for human space flight.

Consumer demand as a driver of improved working conditions: the 'Ergo-Brand' proposition.

PubMed

Neumann, W Patrick; Dixon, Shane M; Nordvall, Anna-Carin

2014-01-01

This article develops and explores the 'Ergo-Brand' proposition, which posits that consumers may prefer to buy goods that are made under good working conditions (GWCs). This preference would enhance a differentiation strategy for companies, thereby fostering the application of ergonomics in production. This proposition is developed in the context of a narrative review of the literature on 'ethical consumerism'. This is supplemented with a survey study, conducted in both Canada and Sweden (n = 141) to explore this proposition. Results indicate that consumers would prefer goods made under GWCs, but not unconditionally as quality and price concerns were ranked higher. Access to information on the working conditions in production was seen as a barrier. Nevertheless, the Ergo-Brand concept may be a viable avenue in promoting attention towards ergonomics in companies - particularly if consumer habits are subject to intervention by advertising. Further research on this strategy is warranted.

Dietary traces of neonicotinoid pesticides as a cause of population declines in honey bees: an evaluation by Hill's epidemiological criteria.

PubMed

Cresswell, James E; Desneux, Nicolas; vanEngelsdorp, Dennis

2012-06-01

Honey bees are important pollinators of both crops and wild plants. Pesticide regimes that threaten their sustainability should therefore be assessed. As an example, evidence that the agricultural use of neonicotinoid pesticides is a cause of the recently observed declines in honey bees is examined. The aim is to define exacting demographic conditions for a detrimental factor to precipitate a population decline, and Hill's epidemiological 'causality criteria' are employed as a structured process for making an expert judgement about the proposition that trace dietary neonicotinoids in nectar and pollen cause population declines in honey bees. In spite of the absence of decisive experimental results, the analysis shows that, while the proposition is a substantially justified conjecture in the context of current knowledge, it is also substantially contraindicated by a wide variety of circumstantial epidemiological evidence. It is concluded that dietary neonicotinoids cannot be implicated in honey bee declines, but this position is provisional because important gaps remain in current knowledge. Avenues for further investigations to resolve this longstanding uncertainty are therefore identified. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

Dynamic Order Algebras as an Axiomatization of Modal and Tense Logics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chajda, Ivan; Paseka, Jan

2015-12-01

The aim of the paper is to introduce and describe tense operators in every propositional logic which is axiomatized by means of an algebra whose underlying structure is a bounded poset or even a lattice. We introduce the operators G, H, P and F without regard what propositional connectives the logic includes. For this we use the axiomatization of universal quantifiers as a starting point and we modify these axioms for our reasons. At first, we show that the operators can be recognized as modal operators and we study the pairs ( P, G) as the so-called dynamic order pairs. Further, we get constructions of these operators in the corresponding algebra provided a time frame is given. Moreover, we solve the problem of finding a time frame in the case when the tense operators are given. In particular, any tense algebra is representable in its Dedekind-MacNeille completion. Our approach is fully general, we do not relay on the logic under consideration and hence it is applicable in all the up to now known cases.

Customer value propositions in business markets.

PubMed

Anderson, James C; Narus, James A; van Rossum, Wouter

2006-03-01

Examples of consumer value propositions that resonate with customers are exceptionally difficult to find. When properly constructed, value propositions force suppliers to focus on what their offerings are really worth. Once companies become disciplined about understanding their customers, they can make smarter choices about where to allocate scarce resources. The authors illuminate the pitfalls of current approaches, then present a systematic method for developing value propositions that are meaningful to target customers and that focus suppliers' efforts on creating superior value. When managers construct a customer value proposition, they often simply list all the benefits their offering might deliver. But the relative simplicity of this all-benefits approach may have a major drawback: benefit assertion. In other words, managers may claim advantages for features their customers don't care about in the least. Other suppliers try to answer the question, Why should our firm purchase your offering instead of your competitor's? But without a detailed understanding of the customer's requirements and preferences, suppliers can end up stressing points of difference that deliver relatively little value to the target customer. The pitfall with this approach is value presumption: assuming that any favorable points of difference must be valuable for the customer. Drawing on the best practices of a handful of suppliers in business markets, the authors advocate a resonating focus approach. Suppliers can provide simple, yet powerfully captivating, consumer value propositions by making their offerings superior on the few elements that matter most to target customers, demonstrating and documenting the value of this superior performance, and communicating it in a way that conveys a sophisticated understanding of the customer's business priorities.

Indoor Air Quality & Preventive Maintenance Value Proposition Worksheet

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Part of our outreach and education to our webinar registrants is providing them a copy of the Value Proposition Worksheet which accompanies the webinar topic. For this particular webinar the topic is focused on IAQ and Preventive Maintenance.

Logic integer programming models for signaling networks.

PubMed

Haus, Utz-Uwe; Niermann, Kathrin; Truemper, Klaus; Weismantel, Robert

2009-05-01

We propose a static and a dynamic approach to model biological signaling networks, and show how each can be used to answer relevant biological questions. For this, we use the two different mathematical tools of Propositional Logic and Integer Programming. The power of discrete mathematics for handling qualitative as well as quantitative data has so far not been exploited in molecular biology, which is mostly driven by experimental research, relying on first-order or statistical models. The arising logic statements and integer programs are analyzed and can be solved with standard software. For a restricted class of problems the logic models reduce to a polynomial-time solvable satisfiability algorithm. Additionally, a more dynamic model enables enumeration of possible time resolutions in poly-logarithmic time. Computational experiments are included.

Toward defining good writing: A rhetorical analysis of the words, sentences, and paragraphs in 16 industrial scripts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freisinger, R. R.; Petersen, B. T.

1981-01-01

The assumption that teachers of technical writing agree on a definition of good writing was found to be without basis. Resolution of disagreements arising from close reading and textual analysis is described. Writing samples from corporate sources including IBM, ALCOA, Exxon, Weyerhaeuser, Bell Labs, Underwriters Laboratories, Dow Chemical, and US Steel were requested. A mixture of informative and persuasive examples, and examples directed at lay and specialist audiences were received. Analyses of 16 writing samples are reported. Analysis of word level, sentence level, and paragraph level, was completed. Syllabism, verb selection, nominalizations, vocabulary choices, t-units, subordination, sentence and clause length, syntactic order, patterns, development, topic sentences, propositional order, and transitions were analyzed.

Love and the commitment problem in romantic relations and friendship.

PubMed

Gonzaga, G C; Keltner, D; Londahl, E A; Smith, M D

2001-08-01

On the basis of the proposition that love promotes commitment, the authors predicted that love would motivate approach, have a distinct signal, and correlate with commitment-enhancing processes when relationships are threatened. The authors studied romantic partners and adolescent opposite-sex friends during interactions that elicited love and threatened the bond. As expected, the experience of love correlated with approach-related states (desire, sympathy). Providing evidence for a nonverbal display of love, four affiliation cues (head nods, Duchenne smiles, gesticulation, forward leans) correlated with self-reports and partner estimates of love. Finally, the experience and display of love correlated with commitment-enhancing processes (e.g., constructive conflict resolution, perceived trust) when the relationship was threatened. Discussion focused on love, positive emotion, and relationships.

Structurally Integrated Versus Structurally Segregated Memory Representations: Implications for the Design of Instructional Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes-Roth, Barbara

Two kinds of memory organization are distinguished: segregrated versus integrated. In segregated memory organizations, related learned propositions have separate memory representations. In integrated memory organizations, memory representations of related propositions share common subrepresentations. Segregated memory organizations facilitate…

Comments on "The Acquisition of Propositional Logic and Formal Operational Schemata during the Secondary School Years."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Treagust, David F.

1979-01-01

Comments on the study reported by Lawson, Karplus, and Adi (1978) which indicated that formal schemata and propositional logic are not part of the same structured unity of mental operations proposed by Piaget. (HM)

Emotion regulation mediates age differences in emotions.

PubMed

Yeung, Dannii Y; Wong, Carmen K M; Lok, David P P

2011-04-01

This study aimed at testing the proposition of socioemotional selectivity theory whether older people would use more antecedent-focused emotion regulatory strategies like cognitive reappraisal but fewer response-focused strategies like suppression. It also aimed at investigating the mediating role of emotion regulation on the relationship between age and emotions. The sample consisted of 654 younger and older adults aged between 18 and 64. Results showed that age was significantly associated with positive emotions and cognitive reappraisal. No difference was found in negative emotions and suppression between younger and older adults. Cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the effect of age on positive emotions. Findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanism of age variations in emotional experiences.

Semantic Information and the Syntax of Propositional Attitude Verbs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Aaron S.; Hacquard, Valentine; Lidz, Jeffrey

2018-01-01

Propositional attitude verbs, such as "think" and "want," have long held interest for both theoretical linguists and language acquisitionists because their syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic properties display complex interactions that have proven difficult to fully capture from either perspective. This paper explores the…

Intra-Organizational Conflict in Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wynn, Richard

There is no abundance of research on intra-organizational conflict, and there are no simple answers to the tricky business of managing organizational conflicts. This paper states some propositions about conflict and suggests some management stratagems that can be used in sustaining constructive organizational characteristics. The propositions are…

Value and Performance in the IT Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryson, Jo

This paper discusses valuing information and its supporting technologies in the global environment. Different value propositions are explored from a financial, social, cultural, political, economic, corporate, and personal values perspective. Various means of measuring the relevancy of these value propositions to the individual, organization or…

Evaluation of Career Development Programs from an Action Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Richard A.; Valach, Ladislav

1994-01-01

Presents action-theoretical approach to evaluation of career development programs based on constructionist epistemology. Propositions from action-theoretical perspective center around career and action as related, interpretative constructs. Propositions give rise to implications for evaluation of career programs that address ongoing nature of…

Propositional Versus Dual-Process Accounts of Evaluative Conditioning: I. The Effects of Co-Occurrence and Relational Information on Implicit and Explicit Evaluations.

PubMed

Hu, Xiaoqing; Gawronski, Bertram; Balas, Robert

2017-01-01

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is defined as the change in the evaluation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) due to its pairing with a valenced unconditioned stimulus (US). According to propositional accounts, EC effects should be qualified by the relation between the CS and the US. Dual-process accounts suggest that relational information should qualify EC effects on explicit evaluations, whereas implicit evaluations should reflect the frequency of CS-US co-occurrences. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that, when relational information was provided before the encoding of CS-US pairings, it moderated EC effects on explicit, but not implicit, evaluations. In Experiment 3, relational information moderated EC effects on both explicit and implicit evaluations when it was provided simultaneously with CS-US pairings. Frequency of CS-US pairings had no effect on implicit evaluations. Although the results can be reconciled with both propositional and dual-process accounts, they are more parsimoniously explained by propositional accounts.

A Bayesian account of quantum histories

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

Marlow, Thomas

2006-05-15

We investigate whether quantum history theories can be consistent with Bayesian reasoning and whether such an analysis helps clarify the interpretation of such theories. First, we summarise and extend recent work categorising two different approaches to formalising multi-time measurements in quantum theory. The standard approach consists of describing an ordered series of measurements in terms of history propositions with non-additive 'probabilities.' The non-standard approach consists of defining multi-time measurements to consist of sets of exclusive and exhaustive history propositions and recovering the single-time exclusivity of results when discussing single-time history propositions. We analyse whether such history propositions can be consistentmore » with Bayes' rule. We show that certain class of histories are given a natural Bayesian interpretation, namely, the linearly positive histories originally introduced by Goldstein and Page. Thus, we argue that this gives a certain amount of interpretational clarity to the non-standard approach. We also attempt a justification of our analysis using Cox's axioms of probability theory.« less

Leveraging the real value of laboratory medicine with the value proposition.

PubMed

Price, Christopher P; John, Andrew St; Christenson, Robert; Scharnhorst, Volker; Oellerich, Michael; Jones, Patricia; Morris, Howard A

2016-11-01

Improving quality and patient safety, containing costs and delivering value-for-money are the key drivers of change in the delivery of healthcare and have stimulated a shift from an activity-based service to a service based on patient-outcomes. The delivery of an outcomes-based healthcare agenda requires that the real value of laboratory medicine to all stakeholders be understood, effectively defined and communicated. The value proposition of any product or service is the link between the provider and the needs of the customer describing the utility of the product or service in terms of benefit to the customer. The framework of a value proposition for laboratory medicine provides the core business case that drives key activities in the evolution and maintenance of high quality healthcare from research through to adoption and quality improvement in an established service. The framework of a value proposition for laboratory medicine is described. The content is endorsed by IFCC and WASPaLM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Maxwell and the normal distribution: A colored story of probability, independence, and tendency toward equilibrium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gyenis, Balázs

2017-02-01

We investigate Maxwell's attempt to justify the mathematical assumptions behind his 1860 Proposition IV according to which the velocity components of colliding particles follow the normal distribution. Contrary to the commonly held view we find that his molecular collision model plays a crucial role in reaching this conclusion, and that his model assumptions also permit inference to equalization of mean kinetic energies (temperatures), which is what he intended to prove in his discredited and widely ignored Proposition VI. If we take a charitable reading of his own proof of Proposition VI then it was Maxwell, and not Boltzmann, who gave the first proof of a tendency towards equilibrium, a sort of H-theorem. We also call attention to a potential conflation of notions of probabilistic and value independence in relevant prior works of his contemporaries and of his own, and argue that this conflation might have impacted his adoption of the suspect independence assumption of Proposition IV.

Customer Discovery as the First Essential Step for Successful Health Information Technology System Development

PubMed Central

Thamjamrassri, Punyotai; Song, YuJin; Tak, JaeHyun; Kang, HoYong; Hong, Jeeyoung

2018-01-01

Objectives Customer discovery (CD) is a method to determine if there are actual customers for a product/service and what they would want before actually developing the product/service. This concept, however, is rather new to health information technology (IT) systems. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to demonstrate how to use the CD method in developing a comprehensive health IT service for patients with knee/leg pain. Methods We participated in a 6-week I-Corps program to perform CD, in which we interviewed 55 people in person, by phone, or by video conference within 6 weeks: 4 weeks in the United States and 2 weeks in Korea. The interviewees included orthopedic doctors, physical therapists, physical trainers, physicians, researchers, pharmacists, vendors, and patients. By analyzing the interview data, the aim was to revise our business model accordingly. Results Using the CD approach enabled us to understand the customer segments and identify value propositions. We concluded that a facilitating tele-rehabilitation system is needed the most and that the most suitable customer segment is early stage arthritis patients. We identified a new design concept for the customer segment. Furthermore, CD is required to identify value propositions in detail. Conclusions CD is crucial to determine a more desirable direction in developing health IT systems, and it can be a powerful tool to increase the potential for successful commercialization in the health IT field. PMID:29503756

Beyond associations: Do implicit beliefs play a role in smoking addiction?

PubMed

Tibboel, Helen; De Houwer, Jan; Dirix, Nicolas; Spruyt, Adriaan

2017-01-01

Influential dual-system models of addiction suggest that an automatic system that is associative and habitual promotes drug use, whereas a controlled system that is propositional and rational inhibits drug use. It is assumed that effects on the Implicit Association Test (IAT) reflect the automatic processes that guide drug seeking. However, results have been inconsistent, challenging: (1) the validity of addiction IATs; and (2) the assumption that the automatic system contains only simple associative information. We aimed to further test the validity of IATs that are used within this field of research using an experimental design. Second, we introduced a new procedure aimed at examining the automatic activation of complex propositional knowledge, the Relational Responding Task (RRT) and examine the validity of RRT effects in the context of smoking. In two experiments, smokers performed two different tasks: an approach/avoid IAT and a liking IAT in Experiment 1, and a smoking urges RRT and a valence IAT in Experiment 2. Smokers were tested once immediately after smoking and once after 10 hours of nicotine-deprivation. None of the IAT scores were affected by the deprivation manipulation. RRT scores revealed a stronger implicit desire for smoking in the deprivation condition compared to the satiation condition. IATs that are currently used to assess automatic processes in addiction have serious drawbacks. Furthermore, the automatic system may contain not only associations but complex drug-related beliefs as well. The RRT may be a useful and valid tool to examine these beliefs.

The Political Spectacle of Arizona's Proposition 203

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Wayne E.

2005-01-01

Arizona's Proposition 203 places restrictions on bilingual and English-as-a-second-language programs and essentiality mandates English-only education for English language learners (ELLs). This article provides an analysis of this initiative and the wide variations in its interpretation and implementation. Data sources include official policy and…

An Empirical Derivation of Hierarchies of Propositions Related to Ten of Piaget's Sixteen Binary Operations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benefield, K. Elaine; Capie, William

1976-01-01

A group of students from grades four through twelve were tested on ten binary operations in four truth conditions. It was found that propositional operations which had greater inclusiveness or breadth of concepts were more difficult to comprehend. (MLH)

Some Propositions about the Role of the School in the Formation of Political Behavior and Political Attitudes of Students: Cross National Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massialas, Byron G.

1975-01-01

This paper identifies some important propositions, which issue from fourteen studies of political socialization, points to research gaps, and draws implications for the planning of political education programs in schools. (Author/RK)

MOOCs: Branding, Enrollment, and Multiple Measures of Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leeds, Elke M.; Cope, Jim

2015-01-01

KSU redefined the MOOC value proposition through collaboration of university leadership and faculty. The new proposition shifts measures of success beyond just course completion to include measures that benefit students, faculty, and the institution. Students benefitted through access to open educational resources, the acquisition of professional…

Sex Differences, Positive Feedback and Intrinsic Motivation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deci, Edward L.; And Others

The paper presents two experiments which test the "change in feelings of competence and self-determination" proposition of cognitive evaluation theory. This proposition states that when a person receives feedback about his performance on an intrinsically motivated activity this information will affect his sense of competence and…

Management Planning and Control: Supporting Knowledge-Intensive Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herremans, Irene M.; Isaac, Robert G.

2005-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop propositions for empirical validation regarding appropriate management planning and control systems (MPACS) in knowledge-intensive organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The propositions were developed from interviews with members of a knowledge-intensive virtual organization that is known for…

Constructing Matching Texts in Two Languages: The Application of Propositional Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valdes, Guadalupe; And Others

1984-01-01

Discusses how current procedures for selecting/constructing equivalent texts may lead to error because of their specific limitations; proposes the utilization of micro-propositional analysis coupled with word-frequency lists and readability formulas for constructing "matching" texts; presents some procedures which researchers working in…

The HPT Value Proposition in the Larger Improvement Arena.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Guy W.

2003-01-01

Discussion of human performance technology (HPT) emphasizes the key variable, which is the human variable. Highlights include the Ishikawa Diagram; human performance as one variable of process performance; collaborating with other improvement approaches; value propositions; and benefits to stakeholders, including real return on investments. (LRW)

Automated Proposition Density Analysis for Discourse in Aphasia.

PubMed

Fromm, Davida; Greenhouse, Joel; Hou, Kaiyue; Russell, G Austin; Cai, Xizhen; Forbes, Margaret; Holland, Audrey; MacWhinney, Brian

2016-10-01

This study evaluates how proposition density can differentiate between persons with aphasia (PWA) and individuals in a control group, as well as among subtypes of aphasia, on the basis of procedural discourse and personal narratives collected from large samples of participants. Participants were 195 PWA and 168 individuals in a control group from the AphasiaBank database. PWA represented 6 aphasia types on the basis of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (Kertesz, 2006). Narrative samples were stroke stories for PWA and illness or injury stories for individuals in the control group. Procedural samples were from the peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich task. Language samples were transcribed using Codes for the Human Analysis of Transcripts (MacWhinney, 2000) and analyzed using Computerized Language Analysis (MacWhinney, 2000), which automatically computes proposition density (PD) using rules developed for automatic PD measurement by the Computerized Propositional Idea Density Rater program (Brown, Snodgrass, & Covington, 2007; Covington, 2007). Participants in the control group scored significantly higher than PWA on both tasks. PD scores were significantly different among the aphasia types for both tasks. Pairwise comparisons for both discourse tasks revealed that PD scores for the Broca's group were significantly lower than those for all groups except Transcortical Motor. No significant quadratic or linear association between PD and severity was found. Proposition density is differentially sensitive to aphasia type and most clearly differentiates individuals with Broca's aphasia from the other groups.

Family Size, Interaction, Affect and Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nye, F. Ivan; And Others

1970-01-01

Synthesizes previous research on relationship of family size to attitudes. Reduces findings to four propositions and submits these propositions to additional tests utilizing secondary data from two large surveys. Substantively, families of three or four children rank lower in all of the analyses than do families with one or two children. Presented…

The Majority Rule Act. EdSource Election Brief: Proposition 26.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

EdSource, Inc., Palo Alto, CA.

This article summarizes "The Majority Rule Act for Smaller Classes, Safer Schools and Financial Accountability" (Proposition 26). The Majority Rule Act deals with the percentage vote that a school district, county office of education, or community college, needs in an election to authorize local general-obligation bonds for school…

Supporting Parents through Parent Education. Building Community Systems for Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zepeda, Marlene; Morales, Alex

California's Proposition 10, the "Children and Families Act," has targeted three general areas for improvement in support of families and young children: improved family functioning, improved child development, and improved child health. Proposition 10 views parents as critical to the development of young children. Noting that parent…

Where Does Good Evidence Come from?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorard, Stephen; Cook, Thomas

2007-01-01

This article started as a debate between the two authors. Both authors present a series of propositions about quality standards in education research. Cook's propositions, as might be expected, not only concern the importance of experimental trials for establishing the security of causal evidence, but also include some important practical and…

Dismantling Bilingual Education Implementing English Immersion: The California Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossell, Christine H.

This study explored bilingual education in California, analyzing California law on instruction for English Learners before and after Proposition 227. Proposition 227 required that all English Learners (EL) participate in a sheltered English immersion program in which most instruction was in English with curriculum and presentation designed for…

Vocational Preferences and College Expectations: An Extension of Holland's Principle of Self-Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pike, Gary R.

2006-01-01

Holland's theory of vocational preferences provides a powerful framework for studying students' college experiences. A basic proposition of Holland's theory is that individuals actively seek out and select environments that are congruent with their personality types. Although studies consistently support the self-selection proposition, they have…

Recent Social Movements and Theories of Power in America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFarland, Andrew S.

A number of propositions about power in America--taken from the work of Olson, Lowi, McConnell, Schattschneider, and Edelman--are presented and discussed. These propositions comprise an alternative theory to pluralism, which is termed "plural elitism." But neither pluralism nor plural elitism explains the emergence and effects of the…

The Relationship between Mathematical Induction, Proposition Functions, and Implication Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrew, Lane

2010-01-01

In this study, I explored the relationship between mathematical induction ability and proposition and implication functions through a mixed methods approach. Students from three universities (N = 78) and 6 classrooms completed a written assessment testing their conceptual and procedural capabilities with induction and functions. In addition, I…

Discriminantly Valid Personality Measures: Some Propositions. Research Bulletin No. 339.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Douglas N.

Starting with the premise that the construct-oriented approach is the only viable approach to personality assessment, this paper considers five propositions. First, a prerequisite to generalizable and valid psychometric measurement of personality rests on the choice of broad-based constructs with systematic univocal definitions. Next, measures…

Two Propositions on the Application of Point Elasticities to Finite Price Changes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daskin, Alan J.

1992-01-01

Considers counterintuitive propositions about using point elasticities to estimate quantity changes in response to price changes. Suggests that elasticity increases with price along a linear demand curve, but falling quantity demand offsets it. Argues that point elasticity with finite percentage change in price only approximates percentage change…

Complex Knowledge Mastery: Some Propositions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Joyce A.; Schallert, Diane L.

The proposition that the mastery of complex tasks embodies several components was studied for 236 students in an undergraduate introductory financial accounting course. A new curriculum was developed for the course that included in-depth exposure to the actual financial statements of a company and the understanding of the structural relationships…

Cognitive Integrity Predicts Transitive Inference Performance Bias and Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moses, Sandra N.; Villate, Christina; Binns, Malcolm A.; Davidson, Patrick S. R.; Ryan, Jennifer D.

2008-01-01

Transitive inference has traditionally been regarded as a relational proposition-based reasoning task, however, recent investigations question the validity of this assumption. Although some results support the use of a relational proposition-based approach, other studies find evidence for the use of associative learning. We examined whether…

Consensus among Economists--An Update

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuller, Dan; Geide-Stevenson, Doris

2014-01-01

In this article, the authors explore consensus among economists on specific propositions based on a fall 2011 survey of American Economic Association members. Results are based on 568 responses and provide evidence of changes in opinion over time by including propositions from earlier studies in 2000 (Fuller and Geide-Stevenson 2003) and 1992…

Exploring structure and function of sensory cortex with 7T MRI.

PubMed

Schluppeck, Denis; Sanchez-Panchuelo, Rosa-Maria; Francis, Susan T

2018-01-01

In this paper, we present an overview of 7T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the detailed function and anatomy of sensory areas of the human brain. We discuss the motivation for the studies, with particular emphasis on increasing the spatial resolution of functional MRI (fMRI) using reduced field-of-view (FOV) data acquisitions. MRI at ultra-high-field (UHF) - defined here as 7T and above - has several advantages over lower field strengths. The intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of images is higher at UHF, and coupled with the increased blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal change, this results in increased BOLD contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), which can be exploited to improve spatial resolution or detect weaker signals. Additionally, the BOLD signal from the intra-vascular (IV) compartment is relatively diminished compared to lower field strengths. Together, these properties make 7T functional MRI an attractive proposition for high spatial specificity measures. But with the advantages come some challenges. For example, increased vulnerability to susceptibility-induced geometric distortions and signal loss in EPI acquisitions tend to be much larger. Some of these technical issues can be addressed with currently available tools and will be discussed. We highlight the key methodological considerations for high resolution functional and structural imaging at 7 T. We then present recent data using the high spatial resolution available at UHF in studies of the visual and somatosensory cortex to highlight promising developments in this area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of radiology business models.

PubMed

Enzmann, Dieter R; Schomer, Donald F

2013-03-01

As health care moves to value orientation, radiology's traditional business model faces challenges to adapt. The authors describe a strategic value framework that radiology practices can use to best position themselves in their environments. This simplified construct encourages practices to define their dominant value propositions. There are 3 main value propositions that form a conceptual triangle, whose vertices represent the low-cost provider, the product leader, and the customer intimacy models. Each vertex has been a valid market position, but each demands specific capabilities and trade-offs. The underlying concepts help practices select value propositions they can successfully deliver in their competitive environments. Copyright © 2013 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Escaping gravity. Movie magic and dreams of flying.

PubMed

Katz, Howard M

2002-01-01

When movie-goers are thrilled by cinematic imagery portraying transcendent motor action, they are drawn into a world of imagination more often inhabited only in dreams of flying or of perfectly executed motion. The drive toward free and expansive movement which such dreams portray doesn't require explanation in terms of symbolic links to other aims, as has been common in the literature. The aim to achieve mastery in the locomotor sphere of action is a basic aim, in itself, integral to ego development. The developing child could not begin to organize perception, intention, and a coherent sense of self without this drive to move. This proposition is supported by emerging views of the ways the developing nervous system integrates systems mediating perception, action, and affect, which complement observations of the bodycentered development of mutual recognition in infants and their caregivers.

[Medicine in Brazil today: education and practice].

PubMed

Gonçalves, E L

1990-01-01

Present situation of medical education and medical practice in Brazil is analyzed, and the scientific-technological impact in medical practice is studied, in both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. The influence of scientific methods in medical education, specifically the Flexner's contribution, is evaluated. In the recent years, Flexner's propositions have been put in question, particularly because of important contributions of psychology, anthropology and sociology to a better knowledge of human nature. Therefore many curricular alternatives have been proposed, aiming at a medical education that would favor the formation of well poised personality and a critical intelligence.

From Tabletop RPG to Interactive Storytelling: Definition of a Story Manager for Videogames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delmas, Guylain; Champagnat, Ronan; Augeraud, Michel

Adding narrative in computer game is complicated because it may restrict player interactivity. Our aim is to design a controller that dynamically built a plot, through the game execution, centred on player's actions. Tabletop Role-playing games manage to deal with this goal. This paper presents a study of role-playing games, their organization, and the models commonly used for narrative generation. It then deduces a proposition of components and data structures for interactive storytelling in videogames. A prototype of a social game has been developed as example.

The Role of Identity in Acculturation among Immigrant People: Theoretical Propositions, Empirical Questions, and Applied Recommendations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Seth J.; Montgomery, Marilyn J.; Briones, Ervin

2006-01-01

The present paper advances theoretical propositions regarding the relationship between acculturation and identity. The most central thesis argued is that acculturation represents changes in cultural identity and that personal identity has the potential to "anchor" immigrant people during their transition to a new society. The article emphasizes…

Equal Opportunity in Higher Education: The Past and Future of California's Proposition 209

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grodsky, Eric, Ed.; Kurlaender, Michal, Ed.

2010-01-01

This timely book examines issues pertaining to equal opportunity--affirmative action, challenges to it, and alternatives for improving opportunities for underrepresented groups--in higher education today. Its starting point is California's Proposition 209, which ended race-based affirmative action in public education and the workplace in 1996. The…

Language and Ageing--Exploring Propositional Density in Written Language--Stability over Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Elizabeth; Craig, Hugh; Ferguson, Alison; Colyvas, Kim

2012-01-01

This study investigated the stability of propositional density (PD) in written texts, as this aspect of language shows promise as an indicator and as a predictor of language decline with ageing. This descriptive longitudinal study analysed written texts obtained from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health in which participants were…

California WIC and Proposition 10: Made for Each Other. Building Community Systems for Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whaley, Shannon; True, Laurie

The federal government's WIC program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, is designed to improve the health and development of low-income women and young children. California's passage of Proposition 10, the "Children and Families First Act," has created a climate that encourages collaborative…

Idiosyncratic Deals: Testing Propositions on Timing, Content, and the Employment Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rousseau, Denise M.; Hornung, Severin; Kim, Tai Gyu

2009-01-01

This study tests propositions regarding idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) in a sample of N = 265 hospital employees using structural equation modeling. Timing and content of idiosyncratic employment arrangements are postulated to have differential consequences for the nature of the employment relationship. Results confirm that i-deals made after hire…

A Test and Reformulation of Reference Group and Role Correlates of Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Libby, Roger W.; And Others

1978-01-01

Propositions concerned with reference group and role correlates of Ira Reiss' premarital sexual permissiveness theory were tested. Reiss' basic propositions are only partially supported. Closeness to mother's sexual standards is considerably more predictive of self-permissiveness than was obvious in Reiss' theory. Closeness to friends' and peers'…

Learning the Game of Formulating and Testing Hypotheses and Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maloney, David P.; Masters, Mark F.

2010-01-01

Physics is not immune to questioning by supporters of nonscientific propositions such as "intelligent design" and "creationism." The supporters of these propositions use phrases such as "it's just a theory" to influence those unfamiliar with or even fearful of science, making it increasingly important that all students and in particular science…

The Extended Parallel Process Model: Illuminating the Gaps in Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popova, Lucy

2012-01-01

This article examines constructs, propositions, and assumptions of the extended parallel process model (EPPM). Review of the EPPM literature reveals that its theoretical concepts are thoroughly developed, but the theory lacks consistency in operational definitions of some of its constructs. Out of the 12 propositions of the EPPM, a few have not…

The Political Discourse of the Campaign against Bilingual Education: From "Proposition 227" to "Horne v. Flores"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamagami, Mai

2012-01-01

Using the frameworks of critical discourse analysis, representation theory, and legitimization theory, this study examines the political discourse of the campaign for Proposition 227 in California--particularly, the key social representations of languages, their speakers, and the main political actors in the campaign. The analysis examines the…

Online Concept Maps: Enhancing Collaborative Learning by Using Technology with Concept Maps.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canas, Alberto J.; Ford, Kenneth M.; Novak, Joseph D.; Hayes, Patrick; Reichherzer, Thomas R.; Suri, Niranjan

2001-01-01

Describes a collaborative software system that allows students from distant schools to share claims derived from their concept maps. Sharing takes place by accessing The Knowledge Soup, a repository of propositions submitted by students and stored on a computer server. Students can use propositions from other students to enhance their concept…

Enhancing Retrieval with Hyperlinks: A General Model Based on Propositional Argumentation Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Picard, Justin; Savoy, Jacques

2003-01-01

Discusses the use of hyperlinks for improving information retrieval on the World Wide Web and proposes a general model for using hyperlinks based on Probabilistic Argumentation Systems. Topics include propositional logic, knowledge, and uncertainty; assumptions; using hyperlinks to modify document score and rank; and estimating the popularity of a…

Automated Proposition Density Analysis for Discourse in Aphasia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fromm, Davida; Greenhouse, Joel; Hou, Kaiyue; Russell, G. Austin; Cai, Xizhen; Forbes, Margaret; Holland, Audrey; MacWhinney, Brian

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study evaluates how proposition density can differentiate between persons with aphasia (PWA) and individuals in a control group, as well as among subtypes of aphasia, on the basis of procedural discourse and personal narratives collected from large samples of participants. Method: Participants were 195 PWA and 168 individuals in a…

Control of Prose Processing via Instructional and Typographical Cues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glynn, Shawn M.; Di Vesta, Francis J.

1979-01-01

College students studied text about an imaginary solar system. Two cuing systems were manipulated to induce a single or double set of cues consistent with one or two sets of text propositions, or no target propositions were specified. Cuing systems guided construction and implementation of prose-processing decision criteria. (Author/RD)

Dynamic geometry as a context for exploring conjectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wares, Arsalan

2018-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide examples of 'non-traditional' proof-related activities that can explored in a dynamic geometry environment by university and high school students of mathematics. These propositions were encountered in the dynamic geometry environment. The author believes that teachers can ask their students to construct proofs for these propositions.

What Are Data? Museum Data Bank Research Report Number 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vance, David

This paper describes the process of automatic extraction of implicit--global--data from explicit information by file inversion and threading. Each datum is the symbolic representation of a proposition, and as such has a number of movable parts corresponding to the ideal elements of the proposition represented; e.g., subject, predicate. A third…

Benefit/cost framework for evaluating modular energy storage : a study for the DOE energy storage systems program.

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

Eyer, James M.; Schoenung, Susan M.

2008-02-01

The work documented in this report represents another step in the ongoing investigation of innovative and potentially attractive value propositions for electricity storage by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Energy Storage Systems (ESS) Program. This study uses updated cost and performance information for modular energy storage (MES) developed for this study to evaluate four prospective value propositions for MES. The four potentially attractive value propositions are defined by a combination of well-known benefits that are associated with electricity generation, delivery, and use. The value propositions evaluated are: (1) transportable MES for electric utilitymore » transmission and distribution (T&D) equipment upgrade deferral and for improving local power quality, each in alternating years, (2) improving local power quality only, in all years, (3) electric utility T&D deferral in year 1, followed by electricity price arbitrage in following years; plus a generation capacity credit in all years, and (4) electric utility end-user cost management during times when peak and critical peak pricing prevail.« less

Leadership for primary health care research.

PubMed

Pendleton, David

2012-10-01

Over the last decade, I have put together a new theory of leadership. This paper describes its four propositions, which are consistent with the research literature but which lead to conclusions that are not commonly held and seldom put into practice. The first proposition is a model describing the territory of leadership that is different from either the Leadership Qualities Framework, 2006 or the Medical Leadership Competency Framework, 2010, both of which have been devised specifically for the NHS (National Health Service). The second proposition concerns the ill-advised attempt of individuals to become expert in all aspects of leadership: complete in themselves. The third suggests how personality and capability are related. The fourth embraces and recommends the notion of complementary differences among leaders. As the NHS seeks increasing leadership effectiveness, these propositions may need to be considered and their implications woven into the fabric of NHS leader selection and development. Primary Health Care research, like all fields of collective human endeavour, is eminently in need of sound leadership and the same principles that facilitate sound leadership in other fields is likely to be relevant to research teams.

Preservation of propositional speech in a pure anomic: the importance of an abstract vocabulary.

PubMed

Crutch, Sebastian J; Warrington, Elizabeth K

2003-12-01

We describe a detailed quantitative analysis of the propositional speech of a patient, FAV, who became severely anomic following a left occipito-temporal infarction. FAV showed a selective noun retrieval deficit in naming to confrontation and from verbal description. Nonetheless, his propositional speech was fluent and content-rich. To quantify this observation, three picture description-based tasks were designed to elicit spontaneous speech. These were pictures of professional occupations, real world scenes and stylised object scenes. FAV's performance was compared and contrasted with that of 5 age- and sex-matched control subjects on a number of variables including speech production rate, volume of output, pause frequency and duration, word frequency, word concreteness and diversity of vocabulary used. FAV's propositional speech fell within the range of normal control performance on the majority of measurements of quality, quantity and fluency. Only in the narrative tasks which relied more heavily upon a concrete vocabulary, did FAV become less voluble and resort to summarising the scenes in an manner. This dissociation between virtually intact propositional speech and a severe naming deficit represents the purest case of anomia currently on record. We attribute this dissociation in part to the preservation of his ability to retrieve his abstract word vocabulary. Our account demonstrates that poor performance on standard naming tasks may be indicative of only a narrowly defined word retrieval deficit. However, we also propose the existence of a feedback circuit which guides sentence construction by providing information regarding lexical availability.

The importance of distinguishing information from evidence/observations when formulating propositions.

PubMed

Hicks, T; Biedermann, A; de Koeijer, J A; Taroni, F; Champod, C; Evett, I W

2015-12-01

The value of forensic results crucially depends on the propositions and the information under which they are evaluated. For example, if a full single DNA profile for a contemporary marker system matching the profile of Mr A is assessed, given the propositions that the DNA came from Mr A and given it came from an unknown person, the strength of evidence can be overwhelming (e.g., in the order of a billion). In contrast, if we assess the same result given that the DNA came from Mr A and given it came from his twin brother (i.e., a person with the same DNA profile), the strength of evidence will be 1, and therefore neutral, unhelpful and irrelevant(1) to the case at hand. While this understanding is probably uncontroversial and obvious to most, if not all practitioners dealing with DNA evidence, the practical precept of not specifying an alternative source with the same characteristics as the one considered under the first proposition may be much less clear in other circumstances. During discussions with colleagues and trainees, cases have come to our attention where forensic scientists have difficulty with the formulation of propositions. It is particularly common to observe that results (e.g., observations) are included in the propositions, whereas-as argued throughout this note-they should not be. A typical example could be a case where a shoe-mark with a logo and the general pattern characteristics of a Nike Air Jordan shoe is found at the scene of a crime. A Nike Air Jordan shoe is then seized at Mr A's house and control prints of this shoe compared to the mark. The results (e.g., a trace with this general pattern and acquired characteristics corresponding to the sole of Mr A's shoe) are then evaluated given the propositions 'The mark was left by Mr A's Nike Air Jordan shoe-sole' and 'The mark was left by an unknown Nike Air Jordan shoe'. As a consequence, the footwear examiner will not evaluate part of the observations (i.e., the mark presents the general pattern of a Nike Air Jordan) whereas they can be highly informative. Such examples can be found in all forensic disciplines. In this article, we present a few such examples and discuss aspects that will help forensic scientists with the formulation of propositions. In particular, we emphasise on the usefulness of notation to distinguish results that forensic scientists should evaluate from case information that the Court will evaluate. Copyright © 2015 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fuzzy associative memories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kosko, Bart

1991-01-01

Mappings between fuzzy cubes are discussed. This level of abstraction provides a surprising and fruitful alternative to the propositional and predicate-calculas reasoning techniques used in expert systems. It allows one to reason with sets instead of propositions. Discussed here are fuzzy and neural function estimators, neural vs. fuzzy representation of structured knowledge, fuzzy vector-matrix multiplication, and fuzzy associative memory (FAM) system architecture.

A Comparison of Voting Behavior on Tax Initiatives with Different Perceived Distribution Consequences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Mickey D.

1979-01-01

Reports on a socioeconomic analysis of voter behavior on California's Proposition 13 and compares those results with voting on Proposition 1, a 1973 initiative in which the voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have limited state taxes and expenditures to a percentage of California's net product. Available from NTA-TIA, 21 East…

Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Proposition 2½ Overrides on School Segregation in Massachusetts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zabel, Jeffrey

2014-01-01

I investigate a possible unintended consequence of Proposition 2½ override behavior--that it led to increased segregation in school districts in Massachusetts. This can occur because richer, low-minority towns tend to have more successful override votes that attract similar households with relatively high demands for public services who can afford…

The Pythagorean Proposition, Classics in Mathematics Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loomis, Elisha Scott

This book is a reissue of the second edition which appeared in 1940. It has the distinction of being the first vintage mathematical work published in the NCTM series "Classics in Mathematics Education." The text includes a biography of Pythagoras and an account of historical data pertaining to his proposition. The remainder of the book shows 370…

Convergence and divergence in leisure style among Whites and African Americans: toward an interracial contact hypothesis

Treesearch

Floyd F. Myron; Kimberly J. Shinew

1999-01-01

Drawing upon structural theory and social group perspectives, this study examined two propositions developed to explain the relationship between interracial contact and leisure preferences among African Americans and Whites. The first proposition stated that as interracial contact increases, the greater the probability of observing similarity in the leisure...

The Implementation of Proposition 227 in California Schools: A Critical Analysis of the Effect on Teacher Beliefs and Classroom Practices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Revilla, Anita Tijerina; Asato, Jolynn

2002-01-01

Explored the relationship between race and language as related to bilingual students' educational experiences. Used Latino/a critical theory, Asian American legal scholarship, and critical race theory as frameworks to examine the aftermath of California's Proposition 227. Data from teachers and administrators highlighted significant variance in…

Piaget's Logic of Meanings: Still Relevant Today

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wavering, Michael James

2011-01-01

In his last book, "Toward a Logic of Meanings" (Piaget & Garcia, 1991), Jean Piaget describes how thought can be categorized into a form of propositional logic, a logic of meanings. The intent of this article is to offer this analysis by Piaget as a means to understand the language and teaching of science. Using binary propositions, conjunctions,…

In Search of the Next Value Proposition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huwe, Terence K.

2012-01-01

Although it is pretty easy to find colleagues who will express fatigue or frustration about the constant need for libraries to prove their value proposition, there is also an upside to the exercise of crafting a message that justifies librarians' mission. The catch is that however good their crafted message may be, they must forget about ever…

The Evolution of Software Pricing: From Box Licenses to Application Service Provider Models.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bontis, Nick; Chung, Honsan

2000-01-01

Describes three different pricing models for software. Findings of this case study support the proposition that software pricing is a complex and subjective process. The key determinant of alignment between vendor and user is the nature of value in the software to the buyer. This value proposition may range from increased cost reduction to…

Teaching Semantic Tableaux Method for Propositional Classical Logic with a CAS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aguilera-Venegas, Gabriel; Galán-García, José Luis; Galán-García, María Ángeles; Rodríguez-Cielos, Pedro

2015-01-01

Automated theorem proving (ATP) for Propositional Classical Logic is an algorithm to check the validity of a formula. It is a very well-known problem which is decidable but co-NP-complete. There are many algorithms for this problem. In this paper, an educationally oriented implementation of Semantic Tableaux method is described. The program has…

The Future of Nuclear Archaeology: Reducing Legacy Risks of Weapons Fissile Material

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

Wood, Thomas W.; Reid, Bruce D.; Toomey, Christopher M.

2014-01-01

This report describes the value proposition for a "nuclear archeological" technical capability and applications program, targeted at resolving uncertainties regarding fissile materials production and use. At its heart, this proposition is that we can never be sure that all fissile material is adequately secure without a clear idea of what "all" means, and that uncertainty in this matter carries risk. We argue that this proposition is as valid today, under emerging state and possible non-state nuclear threats, as it was in an immediate post-Cold-War context, and describe how nuclear archeological methods can be used to verify fissile materials declarations, ormore » estimate and characterize historical fissile materials production independently of declarations.« less

The Quality Teacher and Education Act in San Francisco: Lessons Learned. Policy Brief 09-2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hough, Heather J.

2009-01-01

This policy brief reviews the recent experience of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) with the development and approval of Proposition A. Proposition A (also known as the Quality Teacher and Education Act, or QTEA) included a parcel tax mainly dedicated to increasing teachers' salaries, along with a variety of measures introducing…

Affirming Equal Opportunity and Access in the University of California so California Prospers. Higher Education Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valliani, Nadia

2015-01-01

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 209--a ban on the consideration of race in the college admissions process at public universities. This policy brief examines the effects of Proposition 209 at the University of California system by analyzing twenty years' of application, admission, and enrollment data. The brief concludes that in…

Why here and not there: The conditional nature of recreation choice

Treesearch

Roger N. Clark; Kent B. Downing

1985-01-01

This paper reports results of several studies to identify the state of the art and direction of research on how recreationists make choices. Findings from the studies have been combined into a list of propositions; the propositions can be considered hypotheses from which future studies can be developed or the effect of management activities on choices can be evaluated...

The Tantric Proposition in Leadership Education: You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wislocki-Goin, Marsha

This paper argues that leadership in higher education should be open to a female leadership model expressed in an Eastern "Tantric" model. Suggesting that a male leadership model that oppresses and excludes women has been in effect for the past millennium, the proposed Tantric proposition is a step toward a shared model of leadership which will be…

Local Semantic Trace: A Method to Analyze Very Small and Unstructured Texts for Propositional Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pirnay-Dummer, Pablo

2015-01-01

A local semantic trace is a certain quasi-propositional structure that can still be reconstructed from written content that is incomplete or does not follow a proper grammar. It can also retrace bits of knowledge from text containing only very few words, making the microstructure of these artifacts of knowledge externalization available for…

What Is yet to Come? Three Propositions on the Future of Educational Research as a Common Good

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Decuypere, Mathias

2015-01-01

This paper offers some explorative notes accompanying the issues I addressed in the journal's moot, which took place at the ECER 2014 conference (Porto, September 1-5). The notes that follow are explicitly written through the eyes of an emerging researcher, and offer three propositions regarding the future of educational research. These three…

Propositions Toward the Survival of a Self-Endangered Species: The Fundamental Question.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandwein, Paul F.

The author considers the search for a better, pollution-free environment and the political processes by which various groups attempt to influence or control the actions of others in the context. He defines the goal of conservation as a recognition of the interdependence of man and his environment and lists 13 propositions which indicate the urgent…

Predictors of short-term treatment outcomes among California's Proposition 36 participants.

PubMed

Hser, Yih-Ing; Evans, Elizabeth; Teruya, Cheryl; Huang, David; Anglin, M Douglas

2007-05-01

California's voter-initiated Proposition 36 offers non-violent drug offenders community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration or probation without treatment. This article reports short-term treatment outcomes subsequent to this major shift in drug policy. Data are from 1104 individuals randomly selected from all Proposition 36 participants assessed for treatment in five California counties during 2004. The overall study sample was 30% female, 51% white, 18% Black, 24% Hispanic, and 7% other racial/ethnic groups. The mean+/-SD age was 37+/-10 years. Counties varied considerably in participant characteristics, treatment service intensity, treatment duration, urine testing, and employment and recidivism outcomes, but not in drug use at 3-month follow-up. Controlling for county, logistic regression analysis showed that drug abstinence was predicted by gender (female), employment at baseline (full or part-time), residential (vs. outpatient) stay, low psychiatric severity, frequent urine testing by treatment facility, and more days in treatment. Recidivism was predicted only by shorter treatment duration. Employment predictors included age (younger), gender (male), baseline employment, and lower psychiatric severity. The study findings support drug testing to monitor abstinence and highlight the need to address employment and psychiatric problems among Proposition 36 participants.

Looking to the future of new media in health marketing: deriving propositions based on traditional theories.

PubMed

Della, Lindsay J; Eroglu, Dogan; Bernhardt, Jay M; Edgerton, Erin; Nall, Janice

2008-01-01

Market trend data show that the media marketplace continues to rapidly evolve. Recent research shows that substantial portions of the U.S. media population are "new media" users. Today, more than ever before, media consumers are exposed to multiple media at the same point in time, encouraged to participate in media content generation, and challenged to learn, access, and use the new media that are continually entering the market. These media trends have strong implications for how consumers of health information access, process, and retain health-related knowledge. In this article we review traditional information processing models and theories of interpersonal and mass media access and consumption. We make several theory-based propositions for how traditional information processing and media consumption concepts will function as new media usage continues to increase. These propositions are supported by new media usage data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's entry into the new media market (e.g., podcasting, virtual events, blogging, and webinars). Based on these propositions, we conclude by presenting both opportunities and challenges that public health communicators and marketers will face in the future.

Evaluating forensic biology results given source level propositions.

PubMed

Taylor, Duncan; Abarno, Damien; Hicks, Tacha; Champod, Christophe

2016-03-01

The evaluation of forensic evidence can occur at any level within the hierarchy of propositions depending on the question being asked and the amount and type of information that is taken into account within the evaluation. Commonly DNA evidence is reported given propositions that deal with the sub-source level in the hierarchy, which deals only with the possibility that a nominated individual is a source of DNA in a trace (or contributor to the DNA in the case of a mixed DNA trace). We explore the use of information obtained from examinations, presumptive and discriminating tests for body fluids, DNA concentrations and some case circumstances within a Bayesian network in order to provide assistance to the Courts that have to consider propositions at source level. We use a scenario in which the presence of blood is of interest as an exemplar and consider how DNA profiling results and the potential for laboratory error can be taken into account. We finish with examples of how the results of these reports could be presented in court using either numerical values or verbal descriptions of the results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Profile of High School Students’ Propositional Network Representation when Interpreting Convention Diagrams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fatiha, M.; Rahmat, A.; Solihat, R.

2017-09-01

The delivery of concepts in studying Biology often represented through a diagram to easily makes student understand about Biology material. One way to knowing the students’ understanding about diagram can be seen from causal relationship that is constructed by student in the propositional network representation form. This research reveal the trend of students’ propositional network representation patterns when confronted with convention diagram. This descriptive research involved 32 students at one of senior high school in Bandung. The research data was acquired by worksheet that was filled by diagram and it was developed according on information processing standards. The result of this research revealed three propositional network representation patterns are linear relationship, simple reciprocal relationship, and complex reciprocal relationship. The dominating pattern is linear form that is simply connect some information components in diagram by 59,4% students, the reciprocal relationship form with medium level by 28,1% students while the complex reciprocal relationship by only 3,1% and the rest was students who failed to connect information components by 9,4%. Based on results, most of student only able to connect information components on the picture in linear form and a few student constructing reciprocal relationship between information components on convention diagram.

Rule Extracting based on MCG with its Application in Helicopter Power Train Fault Diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, M.; Hu, N. Q.; Qin, G. J.

2011-07-01

In order to extract decision rules for fault diagnosis from incomplete historical test records for knowledge-based damage assessment of helicopter power train structure. A method that can directly extract the optimal generalized decision rules from incomplete information based on GrC was proposed. Based on semantic analysis of unknown attribute value, the granule was extended to handle incomplete information. Maximum characteristic granule (MCG) was defined based on characteristic relation, and MCG was used to construct the resolution function matrix. The optimal general decision rule was introduced, with the basic equivalent forms of propositional logic, the rules were extracted and reduction from incomplete information table. Combined with a fault diagnosis example of power train, the application approach of the method was present, and the validity of this method in knowledge acquisition was proved.

Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’

PubMed Central

Kapoor, Utkarsh

2017-01-01

The discovery of mechanisms that alter genetic information via RNA editing or introducing covalent RNA modifications points towards a complexity in gene expression that challenges long-standing concepts. Understanding the biology of RNA modifications represents one of the next frontiers in molecular biology. To this date, over 130 different RNA modifications have been identified, and improved mass spectrometry approaches are still adding to this list. However, only recently has it been possible to map selected RNA modifications at single-nucleotide resolution, which has created a number of exciting hypotheses about the biological function of RNA modifications, culminating in the proposition of the ‘epitranscriptome’. Here, we review some of the technological advances in this rapidly developing field, identify the conceptual challenges and discuss approaches that are needed to rigorously test the biological function of specific RNA modifications. PMID:28566301

Further results from PIXE analysis of inks in Galileo's notes on motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Carmine, P.; Giuntini, L.; Hooper, W.; Lucarelli, F.; Mandò, P. A.

1996-06-01

We have recently analysed the inks in some of the folios of Vol. 72 of Manoscritti galileiani, kept at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, which contains a collection of loose handwritten sheets containing undated notes, data from experiments and propositions on the problems of motion from different periods of Galileo's life. This paper reports specific results obtained from the analysis of some of these propositions, which allowed to make a contribution to their chronological attribution and therefore to the solution of some historical controversies. Even in the case where the "absolute" chronological attributions could not be made on the basis of comparison with dated documents, the PIXE results provided useful information to deny or confirm the hypothesis that different propositions were written in the same or in different periods.

Progressive transmission of secured images with authentication using decompositions into monovariate functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leni, Pierre-Emmanuel; Fougerolle, Yohan D.; Truchetet, Frédéric

2014-05-01

We propose a progressive transmission approach of an image authenticated using an overlapping subimage that can be removed to restore the original image. Our approach is different from most visible watermarking approaches that allow one to later remove the watermark, because the mark is not directly introduced in the two-dimensional image space. Instead, it is rather applied to an equivalent monovariate representation of the image. Precisely, the approach is based on our progressive transmission approach that relies on a modified Kolmogorov spline network, and therefore inherits its advantages: resilience to packet losses during transmission and support of heterogeneous display environments. The marked image can be accessed at any intermediate resolution, and a key is needed to remove the mark to fully recover the original image without loss. Moreover, the key can be different for every resolution, and the images can be globally restored in case of packet losses during the transmission. Our contributions lie in the proposition of decomposing a mark (an overlapping image) and an image into monovariate functions following the Kolmogorov superposition theorem; and in the combination of these monovariate functions to provide a removable visible "watermarking" of images with the ability to restore the original image using a key.

In Support of Civil Rights: Taking On the Initiative. LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc.) Special Report, Proposition 209, "The California Civil Rights Initiative."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) Asian Pacific American Policy Inst.

Proposition 209 is a statewide constitutional amendment initiative in California, which, if passed in November 1996, will eliminate all statewide affirmative action programs. It is argued that, contrary to its title, this amendment is an extreme and unnecessary measure that will actually undermine further advances in civil rights. There are…

Water quality improvement policies: lessons learned from the implementation of Proposition O in Los Angeles, California

Treesearch

Mi-Hyun Park; Michael Stenstrom; Stephanie Pincetl

2009-01-01

This article evaluates the implementation of Proposition O, a stormwater cleanup measure, in Los Angeles, California. The measure was intended to create new funding to help the city comply with the Total Maximum Daily Load requirements under the federal Clean Water Act. Funding water quality objectives through a bond measure was necessary because the city had...

The Linguistic Discourse Model: Towards a Formal Theory of Discourse Structure.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-11-01

storyteller should encode propositions with scope outside the storyworld before propositions with scope exclusively ’internal to the storyworld...recovered from storytelling disorder. -f It is imortant to point out, that as treating all disruptions uniformly as embedded relative to the narrative main...therefore, to a brief presentation of one reasonably pervasive storytelling deviation phenomenon. the True Start analyzed informally elsewhere. [48] [55] 84

Education and Tax Limitations: Evidence from Massachusetts' Proposition 2 1/2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladd, Helen F.; Wilson, Julie Boatright

This paper uses survey data collected during the 2 weeks following the November 4, 1980, election to answer questions concerning how local public education should be funded in the wake of the passing of Proposition 2 1/2, a measure that requires high tax rate cities and towns to reduce property tax levies by at least 15 percent per year until they…

Taming Data to Make Decisions: Using a Spatial Fuzzy Logic Decision Support Framework to Inform Conservation and Land Use Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheehan, T.; Baker, B.; Degagne, R. S.

2015-12-01

With the abundance of data sources, analytical methods, and computer models, land managers are faced with the overwhelming task of making sense of a profusion of data of wildly different types. Luckily, fuzzy logic provides a method to work with different types of data using language-based propositions such as "the landscape is undisturbed," and a simple set of logic constructs. Just as many surveys allow different levels of agreement with a proposition, fuzzy logic allows values reflecting different levels of truth for a proposition. Truth levels fall within a continuum ranging from Fully True to Fully False. Hence a fuzzy logic model produces continuous results. The Environmental Evaluation Modeling System (EEMS) is a platform-independent, tree-based, fuzzy logic modeling framework. An EEMS model provides a transparent definition of an evaluation model and is commonly developed as a collaborative effort among managers, scientists, and GIS experts. Managers specify a set of evaluative propositions used to characterize the landscape. Scientists, working with managers, formulate functions that convert raw data values into truth values for the propositions and produce a logic tree to combine results into a single metric used to guide decisions. Managers, scientists, and GIS experts then work together to implement and iteratively tune the logic model and produce final results. We present examples of two successful EEMS projects that provided managers with map-based results suitable for guiding decisions: sensitivity and climate change exposure in Utah and the Colorado Plateau modeled for the Bureau of Land Management; and terrestrial ecological intactness in the Mojave and Sonoran region of southern California modeled for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.

Perceived Quality of Private Education and Fears of Stratification: Investigating the Propositions of Human Capital Theory by Exploring the Case of Colombia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nel Páez, Pedro; Teelken, Christine

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent developments in the higher education system of Colombia in order to illustrate how these encourage stratification between (types of) universities and their students. We do so by discussing propositions generated by human capital theory and apply them to the experiences of students and graduates…

Entrepreneurial propensity in health care: models and propositions for empirical research.

PubMed

Asoh, Derek A; Rivers, Patrick A; McCleary, Karl J; Sarvela, Paul

2005-01-01

We maintain that entrepreneurial propensity is a focal construct in entrepreneurial research. We synthesize the literature to develop models depicting the antecedents and consequents of entrepreneurial propensity in a network of other constructs and variables of interest in the health care industry. We advance propositions for empirical investigation and validation of competing research models associated with entrepreneurial propensity. We conclude with a discussion of directions of future research.

Actes du colloque sur le bilinguisme, Universite de Neuchatel, 14/15 Septembre, 1981 (Proceedings of the Colloquium on Bilingualism, University of Neuchatel, September 14-15, 1981).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

TRANEL, 1982

1982-01-01

This issue contains proceedings of a colloquium on linguistics at the University of Neuchatel: (1) "Propositions epistemologiques pour une etude du bilinguisme (Epistemological Propositions for a Study of Bilingualism)," by B. Py; (2) "Comment on di ca? Prolegomenes a une etude de la composante semantique du langage des migrants (How Do You Say…

Keeping Up with California: The Impact of Massachusetts' Proposition 2-1/2 on Local Children's Services [Chapter Three].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Karl E.

This analysis is the third of a series of seven reports on the ways that the urban fiscal crisis has affected children. There has been little reorganization of government services on the state, regional, or local level to compensate for the benefits to children lost as a result of local property tax limitations enacted under Proposition 2-1/2 in…

The Cognitive Bases of Intelligence Analysis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

the truth of a single proposition or to discriminate among several propositions. Indicators represent the potentially observable events that form the ...serves as a checklist against which to evaluate an actual Intelligance product. * If the Ideal product Is specified In sufficient detail for a particular...34 Interf’arence In accessing memory occurs for both recognition and recall. Memory retrieval is most efficient when the memories are discriminable . Memories for

Anatomy of a value proposition for laboratory medicine.

PubMed

Price, Christopher P; St John, Andrew

2014-09-25

Value is now becoming a key driver in the ongoing development of healthcare delivery; key facets include the identification of what is valuable and how that value can be identified, leveraged, and delivered. The concept of a value proposition is widely used in business but can be used in healthcare as a statement of the benefits, costs and value that an organization can deliver to its customers. The foundation of this statement in laboratory medicine is evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness, not only for the patient, but also for other stakeholders involved in the delivery of healthcare, e.g., the carer, service provider, commissioner, purchaser, and the supplier of the test or device, as well as society as a whole. However the value of any laboratory medicine investigation is only achieved if the output (the test result(s)), is acted upon by the initiator of the investigation. Laboratory medicine is one part of a complex intervention, and so the value proposition should encompass the breadth of that intervention - from addressing the unmet need through the generation of clinical, operational and economic outcomes. A value proposition in laboratory medicine is central to successful innovation and quality improvement in healthcare. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topos quantum theory on quantization-induced sheaves

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

Nakayama, Kunji, E-mail: nakayama@law.ryukoku.ac.jp

2014-10-15

In this paper, we construct a sheaf-based topos quantum theory. It is well known that a topos quantum theory can be constructed on the topos of presheaves on the category of commutative von Neumann algebras of bounded operators on a Hilbert space. Also, it is already known that quantization naturally induces a Lawvere-Tierney topology on the presheaf topos. We show that a topos quantum theory akin to the presheaf-based one can be constructed on sheaves defined by the quantization-induced Lawvere-Tierney topology. That is, starting from the spectral sheaf as a state space of a given quantum system, we construct sheaf-basedmore » expressions of physical propositions and truth objects, and thereby give a method of truth-value assignment to the propositions. Furthermore, we clarify the relationship to the presheaf-based quantum theory. We give translation rules between the sheaf-based ingredients and the corresponding presheaf-based ones. The translation rules have “coarse-graining” effects on the spaces of the presheaf-based ingredients; a lot of different proposition presheaves, truth presheaves, and presheaf-based truth-values are translated to a proposition sheaf, a truth sheaf, and a sheaf-based truth-value, respectively. We examine the extent of the coarse-graining made by translation.« less

Mind as Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinstry, Chris

The present article describes a possible method for the automatic discovery of a universal human semantic-affective hyperspatial approximation of the human subcognitive substrate - the associative network which French (1990) asserts is the ultimate foundation of the human ability to pass the Turing Test - that does not require a machine to have direct human experience or a physical human body. This method involves automatic programming - such as Koza's genetic programming (1992) - guided in the discovery of the proposed universal hypergeometry by feedback from a Minimum Intelligent Signal Test or MIST (McKinstry, 1997) constructed from a very large number of human validated probabilistic propositions collected from a large population of Internet users. It will be argued that though a lifetime of human experience is required to pass a rigorous Turing Test, a probabilistic propositional approximation of this experience can be constructed via public participation on the Internet, and then used as a fitness function to direct the artificial evolution of a universal hypergeometry capable of classifying arbitrary propositions. A model of this hypergeometry will be presented; it predicts Miller's "Magical Number Seven" (1956) as the size of human short-term memory from fundamental hypergeometric properties. A system that can lead to the generation of novel propositions or "artificial thoughts" will also be described.

a New Architecture for Intelligent Systems with Logic Based Languages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, K. K.; Saini, Sanju

2008-10-01

People communicate with each other in sentences that incorporate two kinds of information: propositions about some subject, and metalevel speech acts that specify how the propositional information is used—as an assertion, a command, a question, or a promise. By means of speech acts, a group of people who have different areas of expertise can cooperate and dynamically reconfigure their social interactions to perform tasks and solve problems that would be difficult or impossible for any single individual. This paper proposes a framework for intelligent systems that consist of a variety of specialized components together with logic-based languages that can express propositions and speech acts about those propositions. The result is a system with a dynamically changing architecture that can be reconfigured in various ways: by a human knowledge engineer who specifies a script of speech acts that determine how the components interact; by a planning component that generates the speech acts to redirect the other components; or by a committee of components, which might include human assistants, whose speech acts serve to redirect one another. The components communicate by sending messages to a Linda-like blackboard, in which components accept messages that are either directed to them or that they consider themselves competent to handle.

Changes in Marital Conflict and Youths’ Responses Across Childhood and Adolescence: A Test of Sensitization

PubMed Central

Goeke-Morey, Marcie C.; Papp, Lauren M.; Cummings, E. Mark

2013-01-01

Although the sensitization hypothesis is fundamental to process-oriented explanations of the effects of marital conflict on children, few longitudinal tests of the theory’s propositions have been conducted. This prospective, longitudinal study (n = 297 families) used HLM to assess changes in dimensions of responding to conflict (i.e., emotional, cognitive, behavioral) for three consecutive years in youth between the ages of 8 and 19 years. Moreover, to test the notion of sensitization, analyses examined whether change in marital conflict predicted change in children’s responding across middle childhood and adolescence. Supporting the sensitization hypothesis, increases in exposure to hostile marital conflict were associated with increases in children’s negative emotionality, threat, self blame, and skepticism about resolution. With a few exceptions, effects were largely consistent for boys and girls, and for younger and older children. PMID:23398762

Leading Others Toward Excellence.

PubMed

Hupp, James R

2015-12-01

This essay puts forth the proposition that academic program excellence does not arise by accident. Effective leadership is required. To support this proposition, the essay discusses the characteristics common to effective leaders. It then proceeds to use the example of a successful academic oral-maxillofacial surgery department and characteristics of its leader to provide evidence that excellence derives from effective leadership. Copyright © 2015 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Syllogistic Reasoning Tasks, A Methodological Review.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-01

and that Figure 1 syllogisms were easier than the Figure 4, con- firmed the results reported by Frase (1968). Syllogism figure also had an effect on...241 In other words, both premises must assert class inclusion to entail an af- firmative conclusion. But class inclusion can be expressed only by...34There are no unicorns " does not. * The particular propositions (I, 0) have existential import, while the two * universal propositions (A, E) do not

A Current Logical Framework: The Propositional Fragment

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-01-01

Under the Curry- Howard isomorphism, M can also be read as a proof term, and A as a proposition of intuitionistic linear logic in its formulation as DILL...the obliga- tion to ensure that the underlying logic (via the Curry- Howard isomorphism, if you like) is sensible. In particular, the principles of...Proceedings of the International Logic Programming Symposium (ILPS󈨣), pages 51-65, Portland, Oregon, December 1995. MIT Press. 6. G. Bellin and P. J

Impaired Relational Organization of Propositions, but Intact Transitive Inference, in Aging: Implications for Understanding Underlying Neural Integrity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Jennifer D.; Moses, Sandra N.; Villate, Christina

2009-01-01

The ability to perform relational proposition-based reasoning was assessed in younger and older adults using the transitive inference task in which subjects learned a series of premise pairs (A greater than B, B greater than C, C greater than D, D greater than E, E greater than F) and were asked to make inference judgments (B?D, B?E, C?E).…

The value proposition of structured reporting in interventional radiology.

PubMed

Durack, Jeremy C

2014-10-01

The purposes of this article are to provide a brief overview of structured radiology reporting and to emphasize the anticipated benefits from a new generation of standardized interventional radiology procedure reports. Radiology reporting standards and tools have evolved to enable automated data integration from multiple institutions using structured templates. In interventional radiology, data aggregated into clinical, research and quality registries from enriched structured reports could firmly establish the interventional radiology value proposition.

A Sociotechnical Framework for Governing Climate Engineering

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Proposed ways of governing climate engineering have most often been supported by narrowly framed and unreflexive appraisals and processes. This article explores the governance implications of a Deliberative Mapping project that, unlike other governance principles, have emerged from an extensive process of reflection and reflexivity. In turn, the project has made significant advances in addressing the current deficit of responsibly defined criteria for shaping governance propositions. Three such propositions argue that (1) reflexive foresight of the imagined futures in which climate engineering proposals might reside is required; (2) the performance and acceptance of climate engineering proposals should be decided in terms of robustness, not optimality; and (3) climate engineering proposals should be satisfactorily opened up before they can be considered legitimate objects of governance. Taken together, these propositions offer a sociotechnical framework not simply for governing climate engineering but for governing responses to climate change at large. PMID:26973363

In the trenches: lessons for scientists from California's Proposition 71 campaign

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Lawrence S. B.

2011-01-01

I describe a number of valuable lessons I learned from participating in California's Proposition 71 effort about the role that scientists and rigorous scientific advice can play in a public political process. I describe how scientists can provide valuable information and advice and how they can also gain a great deal from the experience that is valuable to a practicing research scientist. Finally, I argue that in the future, building similar broad coalitions to support biomedical and other areas of scientific research will be essential to protect publicly funded science. Thus, a key lesson from the Proposition 71 experience is that engagement of scientists with diverse nonscientific groups can make a big difference and that scientists must actively engage with the public in the future if we are to contribute robustly to the medical and economic health of our communities. PMID:22039069

Ignorance is a bliss: Mathematical structure of many-box models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tylec, Tomasz I.; Kuś, Marek

2018-03-01

We show that the propositional system of a many-box model is always a set-representable effect algebra. In particular cases of 2-box and 1-box models, it is an orthomodular poset and an orthomodular lattice, respectively. We discuss the relation of the obtained results with the so-called Local Orthogonality principle. We argue that non-classical properties of box models are the result of a dual enrichment of the set of states caused by the impoverishment of the set of propositions. On the other hand, quantum mechanical models always have more propositions as well as more states than the classical ones. Consequently, we show that the box models cannot be considered as generalizations of quantum mechanical models and seeking additional principles that could allow us to "recover quantum correlations" in box models are, at least from the fundamental point of view, pointless.

From computing with numbers to computing with words. From manipulation of measurements to manipulation of perceptions.

PubMed

Zadeh, L A

2001-04-01

Interest in issues relating to consciousness has grown markedly during the last several years. And yet, nobody can claim that consciousness is a well-understood concept that lends itself to precise analysis. It may be argued that, as a concept, consciousness is much too complex to fit into the conceptual structure of existing theories based on Aristotelian logic and probability theory. An approach suggested in this paper links consciousness to perceptions and perceptions to their descriptors in a natural language. In this way, those aspects of consciousness which relate to reasoning and concept formation are linked to what is referred to as the methodology of computing with words (CW). Computing, in its usual sense, is centered on manipulation of numbers and symbols. In contrast, computing with words, or CW for short, is a methodology in which the objects of computation are words and propositions drawn from a natural language (e.g., small, large, far, heavy, not very likely, the price of gas is low and declining, Berkeley is near San Francisco, it is very unlikely that there will be a significant increase in the price of oil in the near future, etc.). Computing with words is inspired by the remarkable human capability to perform a wide variety of physical and mental tasks without any measurements and any computations. Familiar examples of such tasks are parking a car, driving in heavy traffic, playing golf, riding a bicycle, understanding speech, and summarizing a story. Underlying this remarkable capability is the brain's crucial ability to manipulate perceptions--perceptions of distance, size, weight, color, speed, time, direction, force, number, truth, likelihood, and other characteristics of physical and mental objects. Manipulation of perceptions plays a key role in human recognition, decision and execution processes. As a methodology, computing with words provides a foundation for a computational theory of perceptions: a theory which may have an important bearing on how humans make--and machines might make--perception-based rational decisions in an environment of imprecision, uncertainty, and partial truth. A basic difference between perceptions and measurements is that, in general, measurements are crisp, whereas perceptions are fuzzy. One of the fundamental aims of science has been and continues to be that of progressing from perceptions to measurements. Pursuit of this aim has led to brilliant successes. We have sent men to the moon; we can build computers that are capable of performing billions of computations per second; we have constructed telescopes that can explore the far reaches of the universe; and we can date the age of rocks that are millions of years old. But alongside the brilliant successes stand conspicuous underachievements and outright failures. We cannot build robots that can move with the agility of animals or humans; we cannot automate driving in heavy traffic; we cannot translate from one language to another at the level of a human interpreter; we cannot create programs that can summarize non-trivial stories; our ability to model the behavior of economic systems leaves much to be desired; and we cannot build machines that can compete with children in the performance of a wide variety of physical and cognitive tasks. It may be argued that underlying the underachievements and failures is the unavailability of a methodology for reasoning and computing with perceptions rather than measurements. An outline of such a methodology--referred to as a computational theory of perceptions--is presented in this paper. The computational theory of perceptions (CTP) is based on the methodology of CW. In CTP, words play the role of labels of perceptions, and, more generally, perceptions are expressed as propositions in a natural language. CW-based techniques are employed to translate propositions expressed in a natural language into what is called the Generalized Constraint Language (GCL). In this language, the meaning of a proposition is expressed as a generalized constraint, X isr R, where X is the constrained variable, R is the constraining relation, and isr is a variable copula in which r is an indexing variable whose value defines the way in which R constrains X. Among the basic types of constraints are possibilistic, veristic, probabilistic, random set, Pawlak set, fuzzy graph, and usuality. The wide variety of constraints in GCL makes GCL a much more expressive language than the language of predicate logic. In CW, the initial and terminal data sets, IDS and TDS, are assumed to consist of propositions expressed in a natural language. These propositions are translated, respectively, into antecedent and consequent constraints. Consequent constraints are derived from antecedent constraints through the use of rules of constraint propagation. The principal constraint propagation rule is the generalized extension principle. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Are Competitive Materialism and Female Employment Related to International Homicide Rate?

PubMed

Chon, Don Soo

2017-04-01

The institutional anomie theory is a proposal that states competitive materialism, an intense cultural pressure for economic success at any costs, and increased female employment may be related to a high homicide rate. The current work tested this proposition by utilizing homicide data collected from 45 developed and developing countries. Regression results did not support the proposition. Competitive materialism and female employment were not significantly related to the cross-national variation of homicide rates.

Interventions en groupe et interactions. Actes du 3eme colloque d'orthophonie/logopedie (Neuchatel, 29-30 septembre, 1994) (Group Interventions and Interactions. Proceedings of the Colloquium on Speech Therapy (3rd, Neuchatel, Switzerland, September 29-30, 1994).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Py, Bernard, Ed.

1995-01-01

Conference papers on group methods of speech therapy include: "Donnees nouvelles sur les competences du jeune enfant. Proposition de nouveaux concepts" (New Data on the Competences of the Young Child. Proposition of New Concepts) (Hubert Montagner); "Interactions sociales et apprentissages: quels savoirs en jeu" (Social Interactions and Teaching:…

An Examination of Change Resulting from a Public Policy Shift from "Falls the Shadow: Changes in Funding Massachusetts K12 Public Education in the First Decade of Proposition 2 1/2, 1982-91."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greyser, Linda L.

In November 1980, Massachusetts citizens voted to limit the allowable increase in local property tax revenue by supporting a state-ballot referendum named Proposition 2 1/2. This paper presents findings of a study that examined changes in both the sources and extent of funding for public education in Massachusetts communities during the first…

Corrigendum to ;Lotka-Volterra systems satisfying a strong Painlevé property; [Phys. Lett. A 380 (47) (2016) 3977-3982

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bountis, Tassos; Vanhaecke, Pol

2017-12-01

The comment made after the proof of Proposition 3.3, in our paper [T. Bountis, P. Vanhaecke, Lotka-Volterra systems satisfying a strong Pailevé property, Phys. Lett. A 380 (47) (2016) 3977-3982], saying that the proposition can be generalized when linear terms are added to the Lotka-Volterra systems considered in the paper, is wrong. In general such deformed systems are not even Hamiltonian.

CRESST Human Performance Knowledge Mapping System

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-12-01

link subcategories. Semantica Evaluation copy unavailable Visual Mind M H No Cannot add relation labels. Smart Ideas H H No Easy to use. Linking in...Screen Users can access all top-level functions from the main screen shown in Figure 4. The design of the Web favored breadth over depth, which allows...based on whether their propositions match propositions in the expert map. LifeMap PC on the Web /Mac 0 http:/ /www2.ucsc.edu/-mlrg/mlrgtools.html This

People Like Logical Truth: Testing the Intuitive Detection of Logical Value in Basic Propositions.

PubMed

Nakamura, Hiroko; Kawaguchi, Jun

2016-01-01

Recent studies on logical reasoning have suggested that people are intuitively aware of the logical validity of syllogisms or that they intuitively detect conflict between heuristic responses and logical norms via slight changes in their feelings. According to logical intuition studies, logically valid or heuristic logic no-conflict reasoning is fluently processed and induces positive feelings without conscious awareness. One criticism states that such effects of logicality disappear when confounding factors such as the content of syllogisms are controlled. The present study used abstract propositions and tested whether people intuitively detect logical value. Experiment 1 presented four logical propositions (conjunctive, biconditional, conditional, and material implications) regarding a target case and asked the participants to rate the extent to which they liked the statement. Experiment 2 tested the effects of matching bias, as well as intuitive logic, on the reasoners' feelings by manipulating whether the antecedent or consequent (or both) of the conditional was affirmed or negated. The results showed that both logicality and matching bias affected the reasoners' feelings, and people preferred logically true targets over logically false ones for all forms of propositions. These results suggest that people intuitively detect what is true from what is false during abstract reasoning. Additionally, a Bayesian mixed model meta-analysis of conditionals indicated that people's intuitive interpretation of the conditional "if p then q" fits better with the conditional probability, q given p.

Toward a deeper understanding of the willingness to seek help: the case of teleworkers.

PubMed

Golden, Timothy D; Schoenleber, Alisa H W

2014-01-01

Employees frequently do not engage in help-seeking due to the associated social costs. Despite the importance of help-seeking, little research has been done to explore factors affecting whether individuals will or will not engage in help-seeking at work, and existing research has thus far not addressed help seeking in the telework context. This paper expands the current literature on help-seeking by exploring this behavior in the context of teleworkers and develops propositions regarding how aspects of virtual work environments will help determine teleworkers' willingness to engage in help-seeking behavior. This article presents a review with critical analysis and integration of selected telework and help-seeking literatures. Grounded in the literature on inequity/indebtedness and the literature on threats to self-esteem, theoretically-derived research propositions are developed that help shed insights into help seeking behaviors in the telework context. These research propositions encompass media presence and the teleworker's perceived opportunity for reciprocation, and their associated impacts on the perceived cost of seeking help. The proposed research propositions provide practitioners and researchers a means to be better able to assess telework applications and prevent unintended effects. Through such systematic understanding of how telework alters the perceived cost of seeking help and the teleworker's willingness to seek help, telework may be further improved to contribute to more effective and productive individuals and organizations.

Quantum morphogenesis: A variation on Thom's catastrophe theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aerts, Dirk; Czachor, Marek; Gabora, Liane; Kuna, Maciej; Posiewnik, Andrzej; Pykacz, Jarosław; Syty, Monika

2003-05-01

Noncommutative propositions are characteristic of both quantum and nonquantum (sociological, biological, and psychological) situations. In a Hilbert space model, states, understood as correlations between all the possible propositions, are represented by density matrices. If systems in question interact via feedback with environment, their dynamics is nonlinear. Nonlinear evolutions of density matrices lead to the phenomenon of morphogenesis that may occur in noncommutative systems. Several explicit exactly solvable models are presented, including “birth and death of an organism” and “development of complementary properties.”

Statistical Relational Learning to Predict Primary Myocardial Infarction from Electronic Health Records

PubMed Central

Weiss, Jeremy C; Page, David; Peissig, Peggy L; Natarajan, Sriraam; McCarty, Catherine

2013-01-01

Electronic health records (EHRs) are an emerging relational domain with large potential to improve clinical outcomes. We apply two statistical relational learning (SRL) algorithms to the task of predicting primary myocardial infarction. We show that one SRL algorithm, relational functional gradient boosting, outperforms propositional learners particularly in the medically-relevant high recall region. We observe that both SRL algorithms predict outcomes better than their propositional analogs and suggest how our methods can augment current epidemiological practices. PMID:25360347

[Democratization of homes for the aged].

PubMed

Turksma, L

1981-11-01

The Dutch Central Advisory Committee on Homes for the Aged has now published a commentary on government propositions regarding democratization in these homes. The Committee, while in general agreeing with those propositions, regrets the delay since 1976, and pleads for a more gradual perspective for the influence of the inmates. The independence of inmates' boards should be better implemented. The progress of democratization should be closely followed by evaluative research and experimented with. The present writer indicates a lack of socio-psychological approaches in the commentary.

Business cycles, migration and health.

PubMed

Halliday, Timothy J

2007-04-01

We investigate the proposition that illness poses as an obstacle to one's ability to use migration to hedge the business cycle. We employ data on migration, regional unemployment rates and health status from 10 years (1984-1993) of the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Our results provide considerable for support this proposition. The evidence is the strongest for men, but we also find weaker evidence for married women. These results suggest that--ceterus paribus--aggregate health outcomes in an area should improve when the regional economy expands.

Value propositions of mHealth projects.

PubMed

Gorski, Irena; Bram, Joshua T; Sutermaster, Staci; Eckman, Molly; Mehta, Khanjan

While mHealth holds great potential for addressing global health disparities, a majority of the initiatives never proceed beyond the pilot stage. One fundamental concern is that mHealth projects are seldom designed from the customer's perspective to address their specific problems and/or create appreciable value. A customer-centric view, where direct tangible benefits of interventions are identified and communicated effectively, can drive customer engagement and advance projects toward self-sustaining business models. This article reviews the business models of 234 mHealth projects to identify nine distinct value propositions that solve specific problems for customers. Each of these value propositions is discussed with real-world examples, analyses of their design approaches and business strategies, and common enablers as well as hurdles to surviving past the pilot stage. Furthermore, a deeper analysis of 42 mHealth ventures that have achieved self-sustainability through project revenue provides a host of practical and poignant insights into the design of systems that can fulfil mHealth's promise to address healthcare challenges in the long term.

The Nature of Science and the Role of Knowledge and Belief

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cobern, William W.

In everyday language we tend to think of knowledge as reasoned belief that a proposition is true and the natural sciences provide the archetypal example of what it means to know. Religious and ideological propositions are the typical examples of believed propositions. Moreover, the radical empiricist worldview so often associated with modern science has eroded society's meaningful sense of life. Western history, however, shows that knowledge and belief have not always been constructed separately. In addition, modern developments in the philosophy and history of science have seriously undermined the radical empiricist's excessive confidence in scientific methods. Acknowledging in the science classroom the parallel structure of knowledge and belief, and recognizing that science requires a presuppositional foundation that is itself not empirically verifiable would re introduce a valuable discussion on the meaning of science and its impact on life. Science would less likely be taught as a `rhetoric of conclusions'. The discussion would also help students to gain a firmer integration of science with other important knowledge and beliefs that they hold.

Propositional idea density in older men's written language: findings from the HIMS study using computerised analysis.

PubMed

Spencer, Elizabeth; Ferguson, Alison; Craig, Hugh; Colyvas, Kim; Hankey, Graeme J; Flicker, Leon

2015-02-01

Decline in linguistic function has been associated with decline in cognitive function in previous research. This research investigated the informativeness of written language samples of Australian men from the Health in Men's Study (HIMS) aged from 76 to 93 years using the Computerised Propositional Idea Density Rater (CPIDR 5.1). In total, 60,255 words in 1147 comments were analysed using a linear-mixed model for statistical analysis. Results indicated no relationship with education level (p = 0.79). Participants for whom English was not their first learnt language showed Propositional Idea Density (PD) scores slightly lower (0.018 per 1 word). Mean PD per 1 word for those for whom English was their first language for comments below 60 words was 0.494 and above 60 words 0.526. Text length was found to have an effect (p = <0.0001). The mean PD was higher than previously reported for men and lower than previously reported for a similar cohort for Australian women.

Yes: The Symptoms of OCD and Depression Are Discrete and Not Exclusively Negative Affectivity

PubMed Central

Moore, Kathleen A.; Howell, Jacqui

2017-01-01

Although Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Depression are classified as separate disorders, the high incidence of co-morbidity and the strong correlations between measures of each has led to debate about the nature of their relationship. Some authors have proposed that OCD is in fact a mood disorder while others have suggested that the two disorders are grounded in negative affectivity. A third proposition is that depression is an essential part of OCD but that OCD is a separate disorder from depression. The aim in this study was to investigate these diverse propositions in a non-clinical sample and also to determine whether factors implicated in each, that is anxious and depressive cognitions, hopelessness, and self-criticism, would demonstrate commonality as predictors of the symptoms of OCD and of depression. Two hundred participants (59% female) (M age = 34 years, SD = 16) completed the Padua Inventory, Carroll Rating Scale, Cognitions Checklist, Self-Criticism Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory-Revised and a Negative Affectivity Schedule. Results indicated a strong correlation between OCD and depression, depression, and negative affectivity but a weaker relationship between OCD and negative affectivity. Path analyses revealed that both anxious and depressive cognitions, as well as hostility predicted both disorders but the Beta-weights were stronger on OCD. Self-criticism predicted only depression while hopelessness failed to predict either disorder but was itself predicted by depressive cognitions. Depression was a stronger indicator of negative affect than OCD and while OCD positively predicted depression, depression was a negative indicator of OCD. These results support the hypothesis that OCD and depression are discrete disorders and indicate that while depression is implicated in OCD, the reverse does not hold. While both disorders are related to negative affectivity, this relationship is much stronger for depression thus failing to confirm that both are subsumed by a common factor, in this case, negative affectivity. The proposition that depression is part of OCD but that OCD is not necessarily implicated in depression and is, in fact, a separate disorder, is supported by the current model. Further research is required to support the utility of the model in clinical samples. PMID:28553250

People Like Logical Truth: Testing the Intuitive Detection of Logical Value in Basic Propositions

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Recent studies on logical reasoning have suggested that people are intuitively aware of the logical validity of syllogisms or that they intuitively detect conflict between heuristic responses and logical norms via slight changes in their feelings. According to logical intuition studies, logically valid or heuristic logic no-conflict reasoning is fluently processed and induces positive feelings without conscious awareness. One criticism states that such effects of logicality disappear when confounding factors such as the content of syllogisms are controlled. The present study used abstract propositions and tested whether people intuitively detect logical value. Experiment 1 presented four logical propositions (conjunctive, biconditional, conditional, and material implications) regarding a target case and asked the participants to rate the extent to which they liked the statement. Experiment 2 tested the effects of matching bias, as well as intuitive logic, on the reasoners’ feelings by manipulating whether the antecedent or consequent (or both) of the conditional was affirmed or negated. The results showed that both logicality and matching bias affected the reasoners’ feelings, and people preferred logically true targets over logically false ones for all forms of propositions. These results suggest that people intuitively detect what is true from what is false during abstract reasoning. Additionally, a Bayesian mixed model meta-analysis of conditionals indicated that people’s intuitive interpretation of the conditional “if p then q” fits better with the conditional probability, q given p. PMID:28036402

Definition of osteoarthritis on MRI: results of a Delphi exercise.

PubMed

Hunter, D J; Arden, N; Conaghan, P G; Eckstein, F; Gold, G; Grainger, A; Guermazi, A; Harvey, W; Jones, G; Hellio Le Graverand, M P; Laredo, J D; Lo, G; Losina, E; Mosher, T J; Roemer, F; Zhang, W

2011-08-01

Despite a growing body of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) literature in osteoarthritis (OA), there is little uniformity in its diagnostic application. We envisage in the first instance the definition requiring further validation and testing in the research setting before considering implementation/feasibility testing in the clinical setting. The objective of our research was to develop an MRI definition of structural OA. We undertook a multistage process consisting of a number of different steps. The intent was to develop testable definitions of OA (knee, hip and/or hand) on MRI. This was an evidence driven approach with results of a systematic review provided to the group prior to a Delphi exercise. Each participant of the steering group was allowed to submit independently up to five propositions related to key aspects in MRI diagnosis of knee OA. The steering group then participated in a Delphi exercise to reach consensus on which propositions we would recommend for a definition of structural OA on MRI. For each round of voting, ≥60% votes led to include and ≤20% votes led to exclude a proposition. After developing the proposition one of the definitions developed was tested for its validity against radiographic OA in an extant database. For the systematic review we identified 25 studies which met all of our inclusion criteria and contained relevant diagnostic measure and performance data. At the completion of the Delphi voting exercise 11 propositions were accepted for definition of structural OA on MRI. We assessed the diagnostic performance of the tibiofemoral MRI definition against a radiographic reference standard. The diagnostic performance for individual features was: osteophyte C statistic=0.61, for cartilage loss C statistic=0.73, for bone marrow lesions C statistic=0.72 and for meniscus tear in any region C statistic=0.78. The overall composite model for these four features was a C statistic=0.59. We detected good specificity (1) but less optimal sensitivity (0.46) likely due to detection of disease earlier on MRI. We have developed MRI definition of knee OA that requires further formal testing with regards their diagnostic performance (especially in datasets of persons with early disease), before they are more widely used. Our current analysis suggests that further testing should focus on comparisons other than the radiograph, that may capture later stage disease and thus nullify the potential for detecting early disease that MRI may afford. The propositions are not to detract from, nor to discourage the use of traditional means of diagnosing OA. Copyright © 2011 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. All rights reserved.

Ergonomic sustainability based on the ergonomic maturity level measurement.

PubMed

Vidal, Mario Cesar; Guizze, Carmen Lucia Campos; Bonfatti, Renato José; Silva e Santos, Marcello

2012-01-01

This paper aims at the application of an ergonomic maturity model (EMM), in order to assess the ergonomic sustainability outreach of ergonomic actions. This proposition was motivated by the widespread sensation that the development of the discipline, its educational devices and related practices depends on the attitude of ergonomics practitioners rather than environmental macroergonomic conditions. Maturity modeling in this paper is undertaken as a tool for ergonomic practitioners. Thus, its foundations were uprooted from diverse fields: Clinic Psychology, Quality Management and Project Management. The paper brings about a detailled explanation of this ergonomic maturity tool. The empirical part is fulfilled by the examination - using the EMM - of four emblematic cases excerpted from our research lab ergonomic portfolio.

The Proposal Concept of Development and Implementation in Strategy of Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility in the Context of the HCS Model 3E

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakál, Peter; Hrdinová, Gabriela

2016-06-01

This article is the result of a conceptual design methodology for the development of a sustainable strategy of sustainable corporate social responsibility (SCSR) in the context of the HCS model 3E formed, as a co-author within the stated grants and dissertation. On the basis of the use of propositional logic, the SCSR procedure is proposed for incorporation into the corporate strategy of sustainable development and the integrated management system (IMS) of the industrial enterprise. The aim of this article is the proposal of the concept of development and implementation strategy of SCSR in the context of the HCS model 3E.

Quantum theory and chemistry: Two propositions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aronowitz, S.

1980-01-01

Two propositions concerning quantum chemistry are proposed. First, it is proposed that the nonrelativistic Schroedinger equation, where the Hamiltonian operator is associated with an assemblage of nuclei and electrons, can never be arranged to yield specific molecules in the chemists' sense. It is argued that this result is a necessary condition if the Schroedinger has relevancy to chemistry. Second, once a system is in a particular state with regard to interactions among its components (the assemblage of nuclei and electrons), it cannot spontaneously eliminate any of those interactions. This leads to a subtle form of irreversibility.

[Professional's expectations to improve quality of care and social services utilization in geriatric oncology].

PubMed

Antoine, Valéry; de Wazières, Benoît; Houédé, Nadine

2015-02-01

Coordination of a multidisciplinary and multi-professional intervention is a key issue in the management of elderly cancer patients to improve health status and quality of life. Optimizing the links between professionals is needed to improve care planning, health and social services utilization. Descriptive study in a French University Hospital. A 6-item structured questionnaire was addressed to professionals involved in global and supportive cares of elderly cancer patients (name, location, effective health care and services offered, needs to improve the quality of their intervention). After the analysis of answers, definition of propositions to improve cares and services utilization. The 37 respondents identified a total of 166 needs to improve quality of care in geriatric oncology. Major expectations were concerning improvement of global/supportive cares and health care services utilization, a better coordination between geriatric teams and oncologists. Ten propositions, including a model of in-hospital health care planning, were defined to answer to professional's needs with the aim of optimizing cancer treatment and global cares. Identification of effective services and needs can represent a first step in a continuous program to improve quality of cares, according to the French national cancer plan 2014-2019. It allows federating professionals for a coordination effort, a better organization of the clinical activity in geriatric oncology, to optimize clinical practice and global cares. Copyright © 2014 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Reusable Boosters in a European-Russian Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deneu, François; Ramiandrasoa, Fabienne

2002-01-01

In 2001, EADS and Khrunichev SRPSC have initiated and carried out a working group devoted to the analysis of potential common studies and developments in the field of space activities. This working group came up with several propositions of interest, among which, the use of reusable boosters issued from Khrunichev previous design appeared to be promising when applied to heavy type launchers. Although the results required to be confirmed by detailed studies prior to final conclusions, preliminary studies have shown the interest of Ariane 5 configurations using such reusable booster in view of reducing the specific and launch cost as well as potentially increasing the performance. In November 2001, EADS and KHRUNICHEV SRPSC have started a study on an Ariane 5 plus reusable boosters configuration. This study aims at obtaining a better understanding of the advantages and drawbacks attached to such a use. Technical feasibility is more in depth analysed, with all recurring and not recurring aspects (including launch infrastructure modifications). Programmatic aspects are also addressed in order to better assess potential economic advantages and unavoidable drawbacks. Beyond that the identification of what could be, for western Europe and Russian players, an efficient and pay- off industrial organisation, is also a study theme of importance. This papers intends to present the main results achieved within this study and the propositions for the future which are likely to provide western Europe and Russia with stronger positions in the competitive field of launch business.

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

Melaina, Marc W; Wood, Eric W

The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market is experiencing rapid growth with dozens of battery electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) models already available and billions of dollars being invested by automotive manufacturers in the PEV space. Electric range is increasing thanks to larger and more advanced batteries and significant infrastructure investments are being made to enable higher power fast charging. Costs are falling and PEVs are becoming more competitive with conventional vehicles. Moreover, new technologies such as connectivity and automation hold the promise of enhancing the value proposition of PEVs. This presentation outlines a suite of projects funded bymore » the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technology Office to conduct assessments of the economic value and charging infrastructure requirements of the evolving PEV market. Individual assessments include national evaluations of PEV economic value (assuming 73M PEVs on the road in 2035), national analysis of charging infrastructure requirements (with community and corridor level resolution), and case studies of PEV ownership in Columbus, OH and Massachusetts.« less

Conjunction of color and form without attention: evidence from an orientation-contingent color aftereffect.

PubMed

Houck, M R; Hoffman, J E

1986-05-01

According to feature-integration theory (Treisman & Gelade, 1980), separable features such as color and shape exist in separate maps in preattentive vision and can be integrated only through the use of spatial attention. Many perceptual aftereffects, however, which are also assumed to reflect the features available in preattentive vision, are sensitive to conjunctions of features. One possible resolution of these views holds that adaptation to conjunctions depends on spatial attention. We tested this proposition by presenting observers with gratings varying in color and orientation. The resulting McCollough aftereffects were independent of whether the adaptation stimuli were presented inside or outside of the focus of spatial attention. Therefore, color and shape appear to be conjoined preattentively, when perceptual aftereffects are used as the measure. These same stimuli, however, appeared to be separable in two additional experiments that required observers to search for gratings of a specified color and orientation. These results show that different experimental procedures may be tapping into different stages of preattentive vision.

Analysis of prototypical narratives produced by aphasic individuals and cognitively healthy subjects

PubMed Central

Silveira, Gabriela; Mansur, Letícia Lessa

2015-01-01

Aphasia can globally or selectively affect comprehension and production of verbal and written language. Discourse analysis can aid language assessment and diagnosis. Objective [1] To explore narratives that produce a number of valid indicators for diagnosing aphasia in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. [2] To analyze the macrostructural aspects of the discourse of normal individuals. [3] To analyze the macrostructural aspects of the discourse of aphasic individuals. Methods The macrostructural aspects of three narratives produced by aphasic individuals and cognitively healthy subjects were analyzed. Results A total of 30 volunteers were examined comprising 10 aphasic individuals (AG) and 20 healthy controls (CG). The CG included 5 males. The CG had a mean age of 38.9 years (SD=15.61) and mean schooling of 13 years (SD=2.67) whereas the AG had a mean age of 51.7 years (SD=17.3) and mean schooling of 9.1 years (SD=3.69). Participants were asked to narrate three fairy tales as a basis for analyzing the macrostructure of discourse. Comparison of the three narratives revealed no statistically significant difference in number of propositions produced by the groups. A significant negative correlation was found between age and number of propositions produced. Also, statistically significant differences were observed in the number of propositions produced by the individuals in the CG and the AG for the three tales. Conclusion It was concluded that the three tales are applicable for discourse assessment, containing a similar number of propositions and differentiating aphasic individuals and cognitively healthy subjects based on analysis of the macrostructure of discourse. PMID:29213973

The difference in spatiotemporal dynamics between modus ponens and modus tollens in the Wason selection task: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Li, Bingbing; Zhang, Meng; Luo, Junlong; Qiu, Jiang; Liu, Yijun

2014-06-13

High-density, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded to explore differences in spatiotemporal dynamics between modus ponens (MP) and modus tollens (MT) in the Wason selection task. Results showed that MP elicits a more positive P3b-like component than MT from 400 to 800 ms. MP appeared to occur earlier than MT in various stages of proposition testing, such as stimulus processing and response selection. ERP results showed that MT has a longer duration and more negative later negative component (LNC) than MP at 2,000 ms. This result suggests that MT occupies more cognitive resources than MP in the final stages of proposition testing. The short and small left frontal LNC obtained by MP implies examination of the expectable conclusion, whereas the long and large left frontal LNC elicited by MT may be involved in the retention operation of the card in working memory from the monitoring and inspecting putative conclusion in the later stages of proposition testing. Copyright © 2014 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large-scale immigration and political response: popular reaction in California.

PubMed

Clark, W A

1998-03-01

Over the past 3 years, the level of political debate has grown over the nature and extent of the recent large-scale immigration to the US in general, and to California in particular. California's Proposition 187 to deny welfare benefits to illegal immigrants brought national attention to the immigration debate, and no doubt influenced recent decisions to significantly change the US's welfare program. The author studied the vote on Proposition 187 in the November 1994 California election to better understand the nature of reaction to large-scale immigration and recent arguments about anti-immigrant sentiment and nativism. The only counties which voted against the proposition were Sonoma, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Yolo, Alameda, and Santa Clara, as well as the population of San Francisco. The vote generated political responses from across the border as well as within California. Statements from Mexican and other Central American governments reflected their concern over the possibility of returning populations, for whom there are neither jobs nor public services in their countries of origin. Findings are presented from a spatial analysis of the vote by census tracts in Los Angeles County.

The defeat of Philip Morris' 'California Uniform Tobacco Control Act'.

PubMed Central

Macdonald, H; Aguinaga, S; Glantz, S A

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVES: This paper describes the strategies used by Philip Morris and other tobacco companies to promote a California initiative (Proposition 188) preempting local control of tobacco and those used by public health groups to defeat the initiative. METHODS: Interviews with key informants were conducted, and the written record was reviewed. RESULTS: Tobacco companies nearly succeeded in passing Proposition 188 by presenting it as a pro-health measure that would prevent children from obtaining cigarettes and provide protection against secondhand smoke. Public health groups defeated it by highlighting tobacco industry backing. A private charitable foundation also played an innovative role by financing a non-partisan public education campaign. CONCLUSIONS: Public health forces must be alert to sophisticated efforts by the tobacco industry to enact preemptive state legislation by making it look like tobacco control legislation. The coalition structure that emerged in the "No on 188" campaign represents an effective model for future tobacco control activities. The new role of charitable foundations defined in the Proposition 188 campaign can be used in other public health issues. Images FIGURE 1 PMID:9431289

Individual versus Household Migration Decision Rules: Gender and Marital Status Differences in Intentions to Migrate in South Africa.

PubMed

Gubhaju, Bina; De Jong, Gordon F

2009-03-01

This research tests the thesis that the neoclassical micro-economic and the new household economic theoretical assumptions on migration decision-making rules are segmented by gender, marital status, and time frame of intention to migrate. Comparative tests of both theories within the same study design are relatively rare. Utilizing data from the Causes of Migration in South Africa national migration survey, we analyze how individually held "own-future" versus alternative "household well-being" migration decision rules effect the intentions to migrate of male and female adults in South Africa. Results from the gender and marital status specific logistic regressions models show consistent support for the different gender-marital status decision rule thesis. Specifically, the "maximizing one's own future" neoclassical microeconomic theory proposition is more applicable for never married men and women, the "maximizing household income" proposition for married men with short-term migration intentions, and the "reduce household risk" proposition for longer time horizon migration intentions of married men and women. Results provide new evidence on the way household strategies and individual goals jointly affect intentions to move or stay.

Orienting task effects on text recall in adulthood.

PubMed

Simon, E W; Dixon, R A; Nowak, C A; Hultsch, D F

1982-09-01

This investigation examined the effects of orienting task-controlled processing on the text recall of younger (18 to 32 years), middle-aged (39 to 51 years), and older (59 to 76 years) adults. The participants were presented with a 500-word narrative text. Three groups performed orienting tasks (syntactic, stylistic, advice) within an incidental memory paradigm. A fourth group was asked for intentional recall. Analysis indicated a significant age by orienting task interaction. Younger adults recalled more propositions when recall was intentional or when it was preceded by a deep-orienting task than when it was preceded by a shallow-orienting task. Middle-aged and older adults recalled more propositions when recall was intentional than when it was incidental, regardless of the depth of the orienting task. There were no significant differences in intentional recall. In addition, a significant age x orienting task x propositional level interaction indicated that younger adults recalled more of the main ideas of the text following deep processing, whereas the middle-aged and older adults recalled more of these ideas following intentional processing.

A template for constructing Bayesian networks in forensic biology cases when considering activity level propositions.

PubMed

Taylor, Duncan; Biedermann, Alex; Hicks, Tacha; Champod, Christophe

2018-03-01

The hierarchy of propositions has been accepted amongst the forensic science community for some time. It is also accepted that the higher up the hierarchy the propositions are, against which the scientist are competent to evaluate their results, the more directly useful the testimony will be to the court. Because each case represents a unique set of circumstances and findings, it is difficult to come up with a standard structure for evaluation. One common tool that assists in this task is Bayesian networks (BNs). There is much diversity in the way that BN can be constructed. In this work, we develop a template for BN construction that allows sufficient flexibility to address most cases, but enough commonality and structure that the flow of information in the BN is readily recognised at a glance. We provide seven steps that can be used to construct BNs within this structure and demonstrate how they can be applied, using a case example. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evidence Combination From an Evolutionary Game Theory Perspective.

PubMed

Deng, Xinyang; Han, Deqiang; Dezert, Jean; Deng, Yong; Shyr, Yu

2016-09-01

Dempster-Shafer evidence theory is a primary methodology for multisource information fusion because it is good at dealing with uncertain information. This theory provides a Dempster's rule of combination to synthesize multiple evidences from various information sources. However, in some cases, counter-intuitive results may be obtained based on that combination rule. Numerous new or improved methods have been proposed to suppress these counter-intuitive results based on perspectives, such as minimizing the information loss or deviation. Inspired by evolutionary game theory, this paper considers a biological and evolutionary perspective to study the combination of evidences. An evolutionary combination rule (ECR) is proposed to help find the most biologically supported proposition in a multievidence system. Within the proposed ECR, we develop a Jaccard matrix game to formalize the interaction between propositions in evidences, and utilize the replicator dynamics to mimick the evolution of propositions. Experimental results show that the proposed ECR can effectively suppress the counter-intuitive behaviors appeared in typical paradoxes of evidence theory, compared with many existing methods. Properties of the ECR, such as solution's stability and convergence, have been mathematically proved as well.

Competitive advantage in the ERP system's value-chain and its influence on future development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johansson, Björn; Newman, Mike

2010-02-01

Using the resource-based view, we present a set of propositions related to enterprise resource planning (ERP) development, reflections on competitive advantage and the different roles that stakeholders play in the value-chain. This has the goal of building a foundation for future research on ERPs and how stakeholders' desire to achieve competitive advantage influence ERP development, especially when it comes to development of a more standardised or pre-customised ERP system. The propositions also act as a foundation for increasing our knowledge concerning the difficulty in developing improved ERP systems.

Machine Learning-based Intelligent Formal Reasoning and Proving System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shengqing; Huang, Xiaojian; Fang, Jiaze; Liang, Jia

2018-03-01

The reasoning system can be used in many fields. How to improve reasoning efficiency is the core of the design of system. Through the formal description of formal proof and the regular matching algorithm, after introducing the machine learning algorithm, the system of intelligent formal reasoning and verification has high efficiency. The experimental results show that the system can verify the correctness of propositional logic reasoning and reuse the propositional logical reasoning results, so as to obtain the implicit knowledge in the knowledge base and provide the basic reasoning model for the construction of intelligent system.

A strategic approach to employee retention.

PubMed

Gering, John; Conner, John

2002-11-01

A sound retention strategy should incorporate a business plan, a value proposition, progress measures, and management influences. The business plan will indicate whether a healthcare organization will achieve a return on investment for its effort. A value proposition will showcase an organization's strengths and differentiate it from its competitors. Measuring progress toward meeting retention goals at regular intervals will help keep an organization on track. The best managers require accountability, rewarding employees for their successes and taking corrective action as necessary. Retention rate targets must be at a level that will achieve a competitive advantage in the served market.

Astéroides et satellites de Saturne: quelques résultats récents et contribution éventuelle des données Hipparcos.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viateau, B.; Rapaport, M.

48 astéroides et 2 satellites de Saturne étaient au programme de la mission Hipparcos, et diverses propositions ont été faites pour l'utilisation de ces données. Les auteurs présentent quelques résultats récents concernant ces objets, et susceptibles de 1) donner un supplément d'intére^t aux données astrométriques fournies par Hipparcos, 2) permettre de préciser les objectifs contenus dans diverses propositions.

Simulating coastal to offshore interactions around the South Florida coastal seas and implications on management issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, H.; Kourafalou, V. H.; Hogan, P. J.; Smedstad, O.

2008-12-01

The South Florida coastal seas include shelf areas and shallow water bodies around ecologically fragile environments and Marine Protected Areas, such as Florida Bay, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (around the largest coral reef system of the continental U.S.) and the Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserve. Man- made changes in the hydrology of the Everglades have caused dramatic degradation of the coastal ecosystem through discharge in Florida Bay. New management scenarios are under way to restore historical flows. The environmental impacts of the management propositions are examined with an inter-disciplinary, multi-nested modeling system. The HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) has been employed for the Regional Model for South Florida Coastal Seas (SoFLA-HYCOM, 1/25 degree resolution) and for the embedded, high resolution coastal Florida Keys model (FKEYS- HYCOM, 1/100 degree). Boundary conditions are extracted from GODAE products: the large scale North Atlantic model (ATL-HYCOM, 1/12 degree) and the intermediate scale Gulf of Mexico model (GOM-HYCOM, 1/25 degree). The study targets the impacts of large scale oceanic features on the coastal dynamics. Eddies that travel along the Loop Current/Florida Current front are known to be an important mechanism for the interaction of nearshore and offshore flows. The high resolution FKEYS simulations reveal both mescoscale and sub- mesoscale eddy passages during a targeted 2-year simulation period (2004-2005), forced with high resolution/high frequency atmospheric forcing. Eddies influence sea level changes in the vicinity of Florida Bay with possible implications on current and future flushing patterns. They also enable upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich waters in the vicinity of the Reef Tract and they influence transport and recruitment pathways for coral fish larvae, as they carry waters of different properties (such as river-borne low-salinity/nutrient-rich waters from as far as the Mississippi River) and waters containing larvae from upstream sources (such as from the Dry Tortugas spawning grounds).

Information Leakage Analysis by Abstract Interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanioli, Matteo; Cortesi, Agostino

Protecting the confidentiality of information stored in a computer system or transmitted over a public network is a relevant problem in computer security. The approach of information flow analysis involves performing a static analysis of the program with the aim of proving that there will not be leaks of sensitive information. In this paper we propose a new domain that combines variable dependency analysis, based on propositional formulas, and variables' value analysis, based on polyhedra. The resulting analysis is strictly more accurate than the state of the art abstract interpretation based analyses for information leakage detection. Its modular construction allows to deal with the tradeoff between efficiency and accuracy by tuning the granularity of the abstraction and the complexity of the abstract operators.

Probing structural features of Alzheimer's amyloid-β pores in bilayers using site-specific amino acid substitutions.

PubMed

Capone, Ricardo; Jang, Hyunbum; Kotler, Samuel A; Kagan, Bruce L; Nussinov, Ruth; Lal, Ratnesh

2012-01-24

A current hypothesis for the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) proposes that amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides induce uncontrolled, neurotoxic ion flux across cellular membranes. The mechanism of ion flux is not fully understood because no experiment-based Aβ channel structures at atomic resolution are currently available (only a few polymorphic states have been predicted by computational models). Structural models and experimental evidence lend support to the view that the Aβ channel is an assembly of loosely associated mobile β-sheet subunits. Here, using planar lipid bilayers and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we show that amino acid substitutions can be used to infer which residues are essential for channel structure. We created two Aβ(1-42) peptides with point mutations: F19P and F20C. The substitution of Phe19 with Pro inhibited channel conductance. MD simulation suggests a collapsed pore of F19P channels at the lower bilayer leaflet. The kinks at the Pro residues in the pore-lining β-strands induce blockage of the solvated pore by the N-termini of the chains. The cysteine mutant is capable of forming channels, and the conductance behavior of F20C channels is similar to that of the wild type. Overall, the mutational analysis of the channel activity performed in this work tests the proposition that the channels consist of a β-sheet rich organization, with the charged/polar central strand containing the mutation sites lining the pore, and the C-terminal strands facing the hydrophobic lipid tails. A detailed understanding of channel formation and its structure should aid studies of drug design aiming to control unregulated Aβ-dependent ion fluxes.

Probing Structural Features of Alzheimer’s Amyloid-β Pores in Bilayers Using Site-Specific Amino Acid Substitutions

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

A current hypothesis for the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) proposes that amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides induce uncontrolled, neurotoxic ion flux across cellular membranes. The mechanism of ion flux is not fully understood because no experiment-based Aβ channel structures at atomic resolution are currently available (only a few polymorphic states have been predicted by computational models). Structural models and experimental evidence lend support to the view that the Aβ channel is an assembly of loosely associated mobile β-sheet subunits. Here, using planar lipid bilayers and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we show that amino acid substitutions can be used to infer which residues are essential for channel structure. We created two Aβ1–42 peptides with point mutations: F19P and F20C. The substitution of Phe19 with Pro inhibited channel conductance. MD simulation suggests a collapsed pore of F19P channels at the lower bilayer leaflet. The kinks at the Pro residues in the pore-lining β-strands induce blockage of the solvated pore by the N-termini of the chains. The cysteine mutant is capable of forming channels, and the conductance behavior of F20C channels is similar to that of the wild type. Overall, the mutational analysis of the channel activity performed in this work tests the proposition that the channels consist of a β-sheet rich organization, with the charged/polar central strand containing the mutation sites lining the pore, and the C-terminal strands facing the hydrophobic lipid tails. A detailed understanding of channel formation and its structure should aid studies of drug design aiming to control unregulated Aβ-dependent ion fluxes. PMID:22242635

Machine Learning Technologies Translates Vigilant Surveillance Satellite Big Data into Predictive Alerts for Environmental Stressors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, S. P.; Rohrer, M. E.

2017-12-01

The application of scientific research pertaining to satellite imaging and data processing has facilitated the development of dynamic methodologies and tools that utilize nanosatellites and analytical platforms to address the increasing scope, scale, and intensity of emerging environmental threats to national security. While the use of remotely sensed data to monitor the environment at local and global scales is not a novel proposition, the application of advances in nanosatellites and analytical platforms are capable of overcoming the data availability and accessibility barriers that have historically impeded the timely detection, identification, and monitoring of these stressors. Commercial and university-based applications of these technologies were used to identify and evaluate their capacity as security-motivated environmental monitoring tools. Presently, nanosatellites can provide consumers with 1-meter resolution imaging, frequent revisits, and customizable tasking, allowing users to define an appropriate temporal scale for high resolution data collection that meets their operational needs. Analytical platforms are capable of ingesting increasingly large and diverse volumes of data, delivering complex analyses in the form of interpretation-ready data products and solutions. The synchronous advancement of these technologies creates the capability of analytical platforms to deliver interpretable products from persistently collected high-resolution data that meet varying temporal and geographic scale requirements. In terms of emerging environmental threats, these advances translate into customizable and flexible tools that can respond to and accommodate the evolving nature of environmental stressors. This presentation will demonstrate the capability of nanosatellites and analytical platforms to provide timely, relevant, and actionable information that enables environmental analysts and stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding the prevention, intervention, and prediction of emerging environmental threats.

Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science Into Action.

PubMed

Brewer, Noel T; Chapman, Gretchen B; Rothman, Alexander J; Leask, Julie; Kempe, Allison

2017-12-01

Vaccination is one of the great achievements of the 20th century, yet persistent public-health problems include inadequate, delayed, and unstable vaccination uptake. Psychology offers three general propositions for understanding and intervening to increase uptake where vaccines are available and affordable. The first proposition is that thoughts and feelings can motivate getting vaccinated. Hundreds of studies have shown that risk beliefs and anticipated regret about infectious disease correlate reliably with getting vaccinated; low confidence in vaccine effectiveness and concern about safety correlate reliably with not getting vaccinated. We were surprised to find that few randomized trials have successfully changed what people think and feel about vaccines, and those few that succeeded were minimally effective in increasing uptake. The second proposition is that social processes can motivate getting vaccinated. Substantial research has shown that social norms are associated with vaccination, but few interventions examined whether normative messages increase vaccination uptake. Many experimental studies have relied on hypothetical scenarios to demonstrate that altruism and free riding (i.e., taking advantage of the protection provided by others) can affect intended behavior, but few randomized trials have tested strategies to change social processes to increase vaccination uptake. The third proposition is that interventions can facilitate vaccination directly by leveraging, but not trying to change, what people think and feel. These interventions are by far the most plentiful and effective in the literature. To increase vaccine uptake, these interventions build on existing favorable intentions by facilitating action (through reminders, prompts, and primes) and reducing barriers (through logistics and healthy defaults); these interventions also shape behavior (through incentives, sanctions, and requirements). Although identification of principles for changing thoughts and feelings to motivate vaccination is a work in progress, psychological principles can now inform the design of systems and policies to directly facilitate action.

Promoting patient-centred fundamental care in acute healthcare systems.

PubMed

Feo, Rebecca; Kitson, Alison

2016-05-01

Meeting patients' fundamental care needs is essential for optimal safety and recovery and positive experiences within any healthcare setting. There is growing international evidence, however, that these fundamentals are often poorly executed in acute care settings, resulting in patient safety threats, poorer and costly care outcomes, and dehumanising experiences for patients and families. Whilst care standards and policy initiatives are attempting to address these issues, their impact has been limited. This discussion paper explores, through a series of propositions, why fundamental care can be overlooked in sophisticated, high technology acute care settings. We argue that the central problem lies in the invisibility and subsequent devaluing of fundamental care. Such care is perceived to involve simple tasks that require little skill to execute and have minimal impact on patient outcomes. The propositions explore the potential origins of this prevailing perception, focusing upon the impact of the biomedical model, the consequences of managerial approaches that drive healthcare cultures, and the devaluing of fundamental care by nurses themselves. These multiple sources of invisibility and devaluing surrounding fundamental care have rendered the concept underdeveloped and misunderstood both conceptually and theoretically. Likewise, there remains minimal role clarification around who should be responsible for and deliver such care, and a dearth of empirical evidence and evidence-based metrics. In explicating these propositions, we argue that key to transforming the delivery of acute healthcare is a substantial shift in the conceptualisation of fundamental care. The propositions present a cogent argument that counters the prevailing perception that fundamental care is basic and does not require systematic investigation. We conclude by calling for the explicit valuing and embedding of fundamental care in healthcare education, research, practice and policy. Without this re-conceptualisation and subsequent action, poor quality, depersonalised fundamental care will prevail. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The construct of state-level suspicion: a model and research agenda for automated and information technology (IT) contexts.

PubMed

Bobko, Philip; Barelka, Alex J; Hirshfield, Leanne M

2014-05-01

The objective was to review and integrate available research about the construct of state-level suspicion as it appears in social science literatures and apply the resulting findings to information technology (IT) contexts. Although the human factors literature is replete with articles about trust (and distrust) in automation, there is little on the related, but distinct, construct of "suspicion" (in either automated or IT contexts). The construct of suspicion--its precise definition, theoretical correlates, and role in such applications--deserves further study. Literatures that consider suspicion are reviewed and integrated. Literatures include communication, psychology, human factors, management, marketing, information technology, and brain/neurology. We first develop a generic model of state-level suspicion. Research propositions are then derived within IT contexts. Fundamental components of suspicion include (a) uncertainty, (b) increased cognitive processing (e.g., generation of alternative explanations for perceived discrepancies), and (c) perceptions of (mal)intent. State suspicion is defined as the simultaneous occurrence of these three components. Our analysis also suggests that trust inhibits suspicion, whereas distrust can be a catalyst of state-level suspicion. Based on a three-stage model of state-level suspicion, associated research propositions and questions are developed. These propositions and questions are intended to help guide future work on the measurement of suspicion (self-report and neurological), as well as the role of the construct of suspicion in models of decision making and detection of deception. The study of suspicion, including its correlates, antecedents, and consequences, is important. We hope that the social sciences will benefit from our integrated definition and model of state suspicion. The research propositions regarding suspicion in IT contexts should motivate substantial research in human factors and related fields.

Training the approximate number system improves math proficiency.

PubMed

Park, Joonkoo; Brannon, Elizabeth M

2013-10-01

Humans and nonhuman animals share an approximate number system (ANS) that permits estimation and rough calculation of quantities without symbols. Recent studies show a correlation between the acuity of the ANS and performance in symbolic math throughout development and into adulthood, which suggests that the ANS may serve as a cognitive foundation for the uniquely human capacity for symbolic math. Such a proposition leads to the untested prediction that training aimed at improving ANS performance will transfer to improvement in symbolic-math ability. In the two experiments reported here, we showed that ANS training on approximate addition and subtraction of arrays of dots selectively improved symbolic addition and subtraction. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that complex math skills are fundamentally linked to rudimentary preverbal quantitative abilities and provides the first direct evidence that the ANS and symbolic math may be causally related. It also raises the possibility that interventions aimed at the ANS could benefit children and adults who struggle with math.

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

Miyadera, Takayuki; Imai, Hideki; Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8551

This paper discusses the no-cloning theorem in a logicoalgebraic approach. In this approach, an orthoalgebra is considered as a general structure for propositions in a physical theory. We proved that an orthoalgebra admits cloning operation if and only if it is a Boolean algebra. That is, only classical theory admits the cloning of states. If unsharp propositions are to be included in the theory, then a notion of effect algebra is considered. We proved that an atomic Archimedean effect algebra admitting cloning operation is a Boolean algebra. This paper also presents a partial result, indicating a relation between the cloningmore » on effect algebras and hidden variables.« less

Inviting the breach: confronting homophobia in the name of social justice.

PubMed

Robinson, Subrina J; Johnson, Julia R; Rich, Marc D

2015-01-01

In 2008 California was divided over Proposition 8, a measure designed to prohibit same-sex marriage. In this article, we focus on a university classroom setting to explore how discussions about Proposition 8 and homophobia led to what Turner (1986) termed a social drama. Drawing on student personal narratives as they moved through the stages of social drama, we provide a poignant example of the conflict that may erupt when homophobia and heteronormativity are part of the curriculum. After documenting the social drama, we offer pedagogical strategies and note the strategic ways Christian, hegemonic discourse is utilized during discussions about homophobia.

What properties of talk are associated with the generation of spontaneous iconic hand gestures?

PubMed

Beattie, Geoffrey; Shovelton, Heather

2002-09-01

When people talk, they frequently make movements of their arms and hands, some of which appear connected with the content of the speech and are termed iconic gestures. Critical to our understanding of the relationship between speech and iconic gesture is an analysis of what properties of talk might give rise to these gestures. This paper focuses on two such properties, namely the familiarity and the imageability of the core propositional units that the gestures accompany. The study revealed that imageability had a significant effect overall on the probability of the core propositional unit being accompanied by a gesture, but that familiarity did not. Familiarity did, however, have a significant effect on the probability of a gesture in the case of high imageability units and in the case of units associated with frequent gesture use. Those iconic gestures accompanying core propositional units variously defined by the properties of imageability and familiarity were found to differ in their level of idiosyncrasy, the viewpoint from which they were generated and their overall communicative effect. This research thus uncovered a number of quite distinct relationships between gestures and speech in everyday talk, with important implications for future theories in this area.

Individual versus Household Migration Decision Rules: Gender and Marital Status Differences in Intentions to Migrate in South Africa

PubMed Central

Gubhaju, Bina; De Jong, Gordon F.

2009-01-01

This research tests the thesis that the neoclassical micro-economic and the new household economic theoretical assumptions on migration decision-making rules are segmented by gender, marital status, and time frame of intention to migrate. Comparative tests of both theories within the same study design are relatively rare. Utilizing data from the Causes of Migration in South Africa national migration survey, we analyze how individually held “own-future” versus alternative “household well-being” migration decision rules effect the intentions to migrate of male and female adults in South Africa. Results from the gender and marital status specific logistic regressions models show consistent support for the different gender-marital status decision rule thesis. Specifically, the “maximizing one’s own future” neoclassical microeconomic theory proposition is more applicable for never married men and women, the “maximizing household income” proposition for married men with short-term migration intentions, and the “reduce household risk” proposition for longer time horizon migration intentions of married men and women. Results provide new evidence on the way household strategies and individual goals jointly affect intentions to move or stay. PMID:20161187

Alignment between chain quality management and chain governance in EU pork supply chains: a Transaction-Cost-Economics perspective.

PubMed

Wever, Mark; Wognum, Nel; Trienekens, Jacques; Omta, Onno

2010-02-01

Although inter-firm coordination of quality management is increasingly important for meeting end-customer demand in agri-food chains, few researchers focus on the relation between inter-firm quality management systems (QMS) and inter-firm governance structures (GS). However, failure to align QMSs and GSs may lead to inefficiencies in quality management because of high transaction-costs. In addition, misalignment is likely to reduce the quality of end-customer products. This paper addresses this gap in research by empirically examining the relation between QMSs and GSs in pork meat supply chains. Transaction-Cost-Economic theory is used to develop propositions about the relation between three aspects of QMSs--ownership, vertical scope and scale of adoption--and the use of different types of GSs in pork meat supply chains. To validate the propositions, seven cases are examined from four different countries. The results show that the different aspects of QMSs largely relate to specific GSs used in chains in the manner predicted by the propositions. This supports the view that alignment between QMSs and GSs is important for the efficient coordination of quality management in (pork meat) supply chains.

Evidence Combination From an Evolutionary Game Theory Perspective

PubMed Central

Deng, Xinyang; Han, Deqiang; Dezert, Jean; Deng, Yong; Shyr, Yu

2017-01-01

Dempster-Shafer evidence theory is a primary methodology for multi-source information fusion because it is good at dealing with uncertain information. This theory provides a Dempster’s rule of combination to synthesize multiple evidences from various information sources. However, in some cases, counter-intuitive results may be obtained based on that combination rule. Numerous new or improved methods have been proposed to suppress these counter-intuitive results based on perspectives, such as minimizing the information loss or deviation. Inspired by evolutionary game theory, this paper considers a biological and evolutionary perspective to study the combination of evidences. An evolutionary combination rule (ECR) is proposed to help find the most biologically supported proposition in a multi-evidence system. Within the proposed ECR, we develop a Jaccard matrix game (JMG) to formalize the interaction between propositions in evidences, and utilize the replicator dynamics to mimick the evolution of propositions. Experimental results show that the proposed ECR can effectively suppress the counter-intuitive behaviors appeared in typical paradoxes of evidence theory, compared with many existing methods. Properties of the ECR, such as solution’s stability and convergence, have been mathematically proved as well. PMID:26285231

A Content Analysis of Unique Selling Propositions of Tobacco Print Ads.

PubMed

Johnson Shen, Megan; Banerjee, Smita C; Greene, Kathryn; Carpenter, Amanda; Ostroff, Jamie S

2017-03-01

We describe the unique selling propositions (USPs) (propositions used to convince customers to use a particular brand/product by focusing on the unique benefit) of print tobacco ads. A qualitative content analysis was conducted of print tobacco ads (N = 171) selected from August 2012 to August 2013 for cigarettes, moist snuff, e-cigarettes, cigars, and snus to determine the content and themes of USPs for tobacco ads. Cigarette ad USP themes focused on portraying the product as attractive; moist snuff ads focused on portraying product as masculine; cigar ads focused on selling a "high end product;" and new and emerging tobacco products (e-cigarette, snus) focused on directly comparing these products to cigarettes. Whereas traditional tobacco product ads used USPs focused on themes of enjoyment and pleasure (eg, attractive for cigarettes, "high end product" for cigars), new and emerging tobacco product ads offered the unique benefit (USP) of their product being a better and "safer" alternative to traditional tobacco products. Snuff's USPs focused nearly exclusively on the masculinity of their products. Our results provide targets for potential tobacco regulatory actions that could be implemented to reduce demand for tobacco products by reducing their perceived unique benefits.

Evaluation of Forensic DNA Traces When Propositions of Interest Relate to Activities: Analysis and Discussion of Recurrent Concerns

PubMed Central

Biedermann, Alex; Champod, Christophe; Jackson, Graham; Gill, Peter; Taylor, Duncan; Butler, John; Morling, Niels; Hicks, Tacha; Vuille, Joelle; Taroni, Franco

2016-01-01

When forensic scientists evaluate and report on the probative strength of single DNA traces, they commonly rely on only one number, expressing the rarity of the DNA profile in the population of interest. This is so because the focus is on propositions regarding the source of the recovered trace material, such as “the person of interest is the source of the crime stain.” In particular, when the alternative proposition is “an unknown person is the source of the crime stain,” one is directed to think about the rarity of the profile. However, in the era of DNA profiling technology capable of producing results from small quantities of trace material (i.e., non-visible staining) that is subject to easy and ubiquitous modes of transfer, the issue of source is becoming less central, to the point that it is often not contested. There is now a shift from the question “whose DNA is this?” to the question “how did it get there?” As a consequence, recipients of expert information are now very much in need of assistance with the evaluation of the meaning and probative strength of DNA profiling results when the competing propositions of interest refer to different activities. This need is widely demonstrated in day-to-day forensic practice and is also voiced in specialized literature. Yet many forensic scientists remain reluctant to assess their results given propositions that relate to different activities. Some scientists consider evaluations beyond the issue of source as being overly speculative, because of the lack of relevant data and knowledge regarding phenomena and mechanisms of transfer, persistence and background of DNA. Similarly, encouragements to deal with these activity issues, expressed in a recently released European guideline on evaluative reporting (Willis et al., 2015), which highlights the need for rethinking current practice, are sometimes viewed skeptically or are not considered feasible. In this discussion paper, we select and discuss recurrent skeptical views brought to our attention, as well as some of the alternative solutions that have been suggested. We will argue that the way forward is to address now, rather than later, the challenges associated with the evaluation of DNA results (from small quantities of trace material) in light of different activities to prevent them being misrepresented in court. PMID:28018424

Evaluation of Forensic DNA Traces When Propositions of Interest Relate to Activities: Analysis and Discussion of Recurrent Concerns.

PubMed

Biedermann, Alex; Champod, Christophe; Jackson, Graham; Gill, Peter; Taylor, Duncan; Butler, John; Morling, Niels; Hicks, Tacha; Vuille, Joelle; Taroni, Franco

2016-01-01

When forensic scientists evaluate and report on the probative strength of single DNA traces, they commonly rely on only one number, expressing the rarity of the DNA profile in the population of interest. This is so because the focus is on propositions regarding the source of the recovered trace material, such as "the person of interest is the source of the crime stain." In particular, when the alternative proposition is "an unknown person is the source of the crime stain," one is directed to think about the rarity of the profile. However, in the era of DNA profiling technology capable of producing results from small quantities of trace material (i.e., non-visible staining) that is subject to easy and ubiquitous modes of transfer, the issue of source is becoming less central, to the point that it is often not contested. There is now a shift from the question "whose DNA is this?" to the question "how did it get there?" As a consequence, recipients of expert information are now very much in need of assistance with the evaluation of the meaning and probative strength of DNA profiling results when the competing propositions of interest refer to different activities. This need is widely demonstrated in day-to-day forensic practice and is also voiced in specialized literature. Yet many forensic scientists remain reluctant to assess their results given propositions that relate to different activities. Some scientists consider evaluations beyond the issue of source as being overly speculative, because of the lack of relevant data and knowledge regarding phenomena and mechanisms of transfer, persistence and background of DNA. Similarly, encouragements to deal with these activity issues, expressed in a recently released European guideline on evaluative reporting (Willis et al., 2015), which highlights the need for rethinking current practice, are sometimes viewed skeptically or are not considered feasible. In this discussion paper, we select and discuss recurrent skeptical views brought to our attention, as well as some of the alternative solutions that have been suggested. We will argue that the way forward is to address now, rather than later, the challenges associated with the evaluation of DNA results (from small quantities of trace material) in light of different activities to prevent them being misrepresented in court.

Filopodia: A Rapid Structural Plasticity Substrate for Fast Learning

PubMed Central

Ozcan, Ahmet S.

2017-01-01

Formation of new synapses between neurons is an essential mechanism for learning and encoding memories. The vast majority of excitatory synapses occur on dendritic spines, therefore, the growth dynamics of spines is strongly related to the plasticity timescales. Especially in the early stages of the developing brain, there is an abundant number of long, thin and motile protrusions (i.e., filopodia), which develop in timescales of seconds and minutes. Because of their unique morphology and motility, it has been suggested that filopodia can have a dual role in both spinogenesis and environmental sampling of potential axonal partners. I propose that filopodia can lower the threshold and reduce the time to form new dendritic spines and synapses, providing a substrate for fast learning. Based on this proposition, the functional role of filopodia during brain development is discussed in relation to learning and memory. Specifically, it is hypothesized that the postnatal brain starts with a single-stage memory system with filopodia playing a significant role in rapid structural plasticity along with the stability provided by the mushroom-shaped spines. Following the maturation of the hippocampus, this highly-plastic unitary system transitions to a two-stage memory system, which consists of a plastic temporary store and a long-term stable store. In alignment with these architectural changes, it is posited that after brain maturation, filopodia-based structural plasticity will be preserved in specific areas, which are involved in fast learning (e.g., hippocampus in relation to episodic memory). These propositions aim to introduce a unifying framework for a diversity of phenomena in the brain such as synaptogenesis, pruning and memory consolidation. PMID:28676753

Rational Choice theory and prison chaplaincy: the chaplain's dilemma.

PubMed

Beckford, J A

1999-12-01

Critical responses to the application of Rational Choice theories to the study of religious phenomena tend to be polarized between outright denial that the theories have any relevance to religion and equally outspoken claims that the theories are the only hope for progress in the sociology of religion. This article aims to avoid both of these extreme positions by raising a question, instead, about one of Rational Choice's central propositions about religion. This proposition holds that levels of religious vitality vary positively with the degree to which agencies of the state are prevented from regulating religious activity. The findings of recent research into prison chaplaincy in the UK and the USA will be used to test this claim. The main argument will be that the existence of an established church has facilitated a higher level of religious activity, especially for minority faiths, in prisons in England and Wales than is possible in American prisons. This difference in religious vitality is explained in terms of the Church of England's privileged position as a 'broker' between the state and minority faith communities. There is greater equality of opportunity for religious activity in American prisons, but the level of the activity is necessarily lower. In neither country is there anything truly resembling a 'free' market for religion in prisons, but the established Church of England is able to use its quasi-monopoly powers to broker advantageous conditions for minority faith communities. This brokerage function may be advantageous to all religious organizations in the highly regulated 'economy' of prisons.

A protocol proposition of cell therapy for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

PubMed

Ribeiro-Paes, J T; Stessuk, T; Marcelino, M; Faria, C; Marinelli, T; Ribeiro-Paes, M J

2014-01-01

The main feature of pulmonary emphysema is airflow obstruction resulting from the destruction of the alveolar walls distal to the terminal bronchioles. Existing clinical approaches have improved and extended the quality of life of emphysema patients. However, no treatment currently exists that can change the disease course and cure the patient. The different therapeutic approaches that are available aim to increase survival and/or enhance the quality of life of emphysema patients. In this context, cell therapy is a promising therapeutic approach with great potential for degenerative pulmonary diseases. In this protocol proposition, all patients will be submitted to laboratory tests, such as evaluation of heart and lung function and routine examinations. Stem cells will be harvested by means of 10 punctures on each anterior iliac crest, collecting a total volume of 200mL bone marrow. After preparation, separation, counting and labeling (optional) of the mononuclear cells, the patients will receive an intravenous infusion from the pool of Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells (BMMC). This article proposes a rational and safe clinical cellular therapy protocol which has the potential for developing new projects and can serve as a methodological reference for formulating clinical application protocols related to the use of cellular therapy in COPD. This study protocol was submitted and approved by the Brazilian National Committee of Ethics in Research (CONEP - Brazil) registration number 14764. It is also registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01110252). Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the concept of informed consent concerning the use of genetic material according to the European Convention on Bioethics and in other solutionsm - Propositions for broad consent for future genetic research from the point of view of the activity of the Biobank.

PubMed

Patryn, Rafał; Sak, Jarosław

2017-09-21

The aim of the article is a critical presentation of the typology of consents included in the European Convention on Bioethics and in other formal solutions concerning the gathering of genetic material in institutions called Biobanks. Existing types of Acts of Consent are inaccurate in their scope and possess insufficient information regarding the gathering of genetic material (application, usage, processing) and their final (future and diverse) use. Lack of precise legal regulations on the broad future use of genetic material may result in various formal problems relating both to research participants as well as those commissioning the research. Ultimately, it may lead to various complications with the appropriate legal interpretation of consent and possible claims on behalf of the donors. The presented proposition of consent with a terminal premise is to be applied eventually to legal and formal aspects of the collecting of genetic material. It is a possible solution which would clarify the issue of informed consent, and may be implemented in the regulations of the Convention as well as constitute a self-contained legislative solution to this matter. For example, Polish law in its current form, without the ratification of the Bioethical Convention, allows the collecting of material for genetic testing for determination of the risk of genetic defects in common genetic material from people who are planning to have a child.

Cohesive and coherent connected speech deficits in mild stroke.

PubMed

Barker, Megan S; Young, Breanne; Robinson, Gail A

2017-05-01

Spoken language production theories and lesion studies highlight several important prelinguistic conceptual preparation processes involved in the production of cohesive and coherent connected speech. Cohesion and coherence broadly connect sentences with preceding ideas and the overall topic. Broader cognitive mechanisms may mediate these processes. This study aims to investigate (1) whether stroke patients without aphasia exhibit impairments in cohesion and coherence in connected speech, and (2) the role of attention and executive functions in the production of connected speech. Eighteen stroke patients (8 right hemisphere stroke [RHS]; 6 left [LHS]) and 21 healthy controls completed two self-generated narrative tasks to elicit connected speech. A multi-level analysis of within and between-sentence processing ability was conducted. Cohesion and coherence impairments were found in the stroke group, particularly RHS patients, relative to controls. In the whole stroke group, better performance on the Hayling Test of executive function, which taps verbal initiation/suppression, was related to fewer propositional repetitions and global coherence errors. Better performance on attention tasks was related to fewer propositional repetitions, and decreased global coherence errors. In the RHS group, aspects of cohesive and coherent speech were associated with better performance on attention tasks. Better Hayling Test scores were related to more cohesive and coherent speech in RHS patients, and more coherent speech in LHS patients. Thus, we documented connected speech deficits in a heterogeneous stroke group without prominent aphasia. Our results suggest that broader cognitive processes may play a role in producing connected speech at the early conceptual preparation stage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A pound of prevention: Air pollution and the fuel cell

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

Johnson, B.L.; Rose, R.

1996-12-31

The expanded use of fuel cells in transportation and power generation is an exciting proposition for public health officials because of the potential of this technology to help reduce air pollution levels around the globe. Such work is about prevention -- prevention of air emissions of hazardous substances. Prevention is a key concept in public health. An example is quarantine, which aims to prevent the spread of a disease-causing organism. In the environmental arena, prevention includes cessation of pollution. Air pollution prevention policies also have a practical impact. Sooner or later ideas on technology, especially new technology, must be soldmore » to policy makers, legislators, and eventually the public. Advocating technologies that will improve human health and welfare can be an effective marketing strategy.« less

[Theoretical and conceptual contribution to evaluative research in health surveillance context].

PubMed

Arreaza, Antônio Luis Vicente; de Moraes, José Cássio

2010-08-01

Initially this article revises some of the conceptual and operational elements on evaluative research by gathering knowledge and action fields on public health practices. Such concepts are taken according to a wider conception of quality. Then, the article intends to arrange a theoretical model design considering the proposition for implementation of health surveillance actionsAn image-objective definition of organization and integration of health polices and practices based on hierarchic and local logic also take place. Finally, becomings and challenges around the theory in the health evaluation field turn to be the aim of our reflection in order to enable the production of knowledge and approaches to construct logic models which reveals the complexity of interventionist objects as well as its transforming nature of social practices.

Mutual information-based facial expression recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hazar, Mliki; Hammami, Mohamed; Hanêne, Ben-Abdallah

2013-12-01

This paper introduces a novel low-computation discriminative regions representation for expression analysis task. The proposed approach relies on interesting studies in psychology which show that most of the descriptive and responsible regions for facial expression are located around some face parts. The contributions of this work lie in the proposition of new approach which supports automatic facial expression recognition based on automatic regions selection. The regions selection step aims to select the descriptive regions responsible or facial expression and was performed using Mutual Information (MI) technique. For facial feature extraction, we have applied Local Binary Patterns Pattern (LBP) on Gradient image to encode salient micro-patterns of facial expressions. Experimental studies have shown that using discriminative regions provide better results than using the whole face regions whilst reducing features vector dimension.

Developing performance excellence guidance for rural tourism (case study: wangun lestari village, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yopy, Maulana; Sitinjak, M. F.

2018-03-01

In response to Indonesian Ministry of Tourism objective to develop and improve the performance of tourism destination, specifically on rural tourism, Where there is no well-prepared implementation yet by the local government due to constrained human resources and lack of management knowledge and stakeholders. This research aims to develop an integrated rural tourism concept at Wangun Lestari Tourism Village. The Guideline of Rural Tourism Development of Ministry of Tourism, Malcolm Baldrige’s Performance Excellence, SWOT Analysis, and Value Proposition Analysis will be used to help to design the Rural Tourism program. The result of this research is a comprehensive concept of Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer Management System, Knowledge Management, Workforce Engagement, Operation Focus and also Evaluation Metric for Wangun Lestari Tourism Village.

Science Discoveries Enabled by Hosting Optical Imagers on Commercial Satellite Constellations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erlandson, R. E.; Kelly, M. A.; Hibbitts, C.; Kumar, C.; Dyrud, L. P.

2012-12-01

The advent of commercial space activities that utilize large space-based constellations provide a new and cost effective opportunity to acquire multi-point observations. Previously, a custom designed space-based constellation, while technically feasible, would require a substantial monetary investment. However, commercial industry has now been entertaining the concept of hosting payloads on their space-based constellations resulting in low-cost access to space. Examples, include the low Earth orbit Iridium Next constellation as well as communication satellites in geostationary. In some of these constellations data distribution can be provided in real time, a feature relevant to applications in the areas of space weather and disaster monitoring. From the perspective of new scientific discoveries enabled by low cost access to space, the cost and thus value proposition is dramatically changed. For example, a constellation of sixty-six satellites (Iridium Next), hosting a single band or multi-spectral imager can now provide observations of the aurora with a spatial resolution of a few hundred meters at all local times and in both hemispheres simultaneously. Remote sensing of clouds is another example where it is now possible to acquire global imagery at resolutions between 100-1000m. Finally, land use imagery is another example where one can use either imaging or spectrographic imagers to solve a multitude of problems. In this work, we will discuss measurement architectures and the multi-disciplinary scientific discoveries that are enable by large space based constellations.

On the Performance Evaluation of Query-Based Wireless Sensor Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

is ∆ ≡ P(T > X) = π0 ∫ ∞ 0 [1−B(x)] dH(x). (2) Proposition 1 can be proved using a simple conditioning argument . The expression for the proportion of...node by α ≡ α1. Assuming the event lifetime distribution function G has an increasing failure rate ( IFR ), then 0 < α ≤ α2 ≤ α3 ≤ · · · . Proposition 3...Suppose G is an IFR distribution function so that 0 < α ≤ α2 ≤ α3 ≤ · · · . Then for a fixed time-to-live counter ℓ, λe ≤ λ [ 1− (1− α)ℓ α ] ≤ λℓ

Are written and spoken recall of text equivalent?

PubMed

Kellogg, Ronald T

2007-01-01

Writing is less practiced than speaking, graphemic codes are activated only in writing, and the retrieved representations of the text must be maintained in working memory longer because handwritten output is slower than speech. These extra demands on working memory could result in less effort being given to retrieval during written compared with spoken text recall. To test this hypothesis, college students read or heard Bartlett's "War of the Ghosts" and then recalled the text in writing or speech. Spoken recall produced more accurately recalled propositions and more major distortions (e.g., inferences) than written recall. The results suggest that writing reduces the retrieval effort given to reconstructing the propositions of a text.

Training propositional reasoning.

PubMed

Klauer, K C; Meiser, T; Naumer, B

2000-08-01

Two experiments compared the effects of four training conditions on propositional reasoning. A syntactic training demonstrated formal derivations, in an abstract semantic training the standard truth-table definitions of logical connectives were explained, and a domain-specific semantic training provided thematic contexts for the premises of the reasoning task. In a control training, an inductive reasoning task was practised. In line with the account by mental models, both kinds of semantic training were significantly more effective than the control and the syntactic training, whereas there were no significant differences between the control and the syntactic training, nor between the two kinds of semantic training. Experiment 2 replicated this pattern of effects using a different set of syntactic and domain-specific training conditions.

Support groups for children and adolescents bereaved by suicide: Lots of interventions, little evidence.

PubMed

Journot-Reverbel, Katia; Raynaud, Jean-Philippe; Bui, Eric; Revet, Alexis

2017-04-01

Though many different interventions are proposed for suicide-bereaved children and adolescents, few data exist concerning their efficiency. This literature review focused on psychosocial interventions specifically targeting children and adolescents bereaved by suicide to try to provide some validate therapeutic guidelines propositions for clinicians. We only found two articles specifically targeting children or adolescents: both of them seemed to show some efficacy in reducing some psychosocial variables (anxiety, depression…) in suicide-bereaved children but results were limited by methodological problems. This review failed to provide evidence-based guidelines propositions for suicide-bereaved children and underline the crucial need for research in this field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Daring to Marry: Marriage Equality Activism After Proposition 8 as Challenge to the Assimilationist/Radical Binary in Queer Studies.

PubMed

Weber, Shannon

2015-01-01

I analyze three case studies of marriage equality activism and marriage equality-based groups after the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Evaluating the JoinTheImpact protests of 2008, the LGBTQ rights group GetEQUAL, and the group One Struggle One Fight, I argue that these groups revise queer theoretical arguments about marriage equality activism as by definition assimilationist, homonormative, and single-issue. In contrast to such claims, the cases studied here provide a snapshot of heterogeneous, intersectional, and coalition-based social justice work in which creative methods of protest, including direct action and flash mobs, are deployed in militant ways for marriage rights and beyond.

A probability space for quantum models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemmens, L. F.

2017-06-01

A probability space contains a set of outcomes, a collection of events formed by subsets of the set of outcomes and probabilities defined for all events. A reformulation in terms of propositions allows to use the maximum entropy method to assign the probabilities taking some constraints into account. The construction of a probability space for quantum models is determined by the choice of propositions, choosing the constraints and making the probability assignment by the maximum entropy method. This approach shows, how typical quantum distributions such as Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein are partly related with well-known classical distributions. The relation between the conditional probability density, given some averages as constraints and the appropriate ensemble is elucidated.

Relevance, Derogation and Permission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stolpe, Audun

We show that a recently developed theory of positive permission based on the notion of derogation is hampered by a triviality result that indicates a problem with the underlying full-meet contraction operation. We suggest a solution that presupposes a particular normal form for codes of norms, adapted from the theory of relevance through propositional letter sharing. We then establish a correspondence between contractions on sets of norms in input/output logic (derogations), and AGM-style contractions on sets of formulae, and use it as a bridge to migrate results on propositional relevance from the latter to the former idiom. Changing the concept accordingly we show that positive permission now incorporates a relevance requirement that wards off triviality.

Towards An Engineering Discipline of Computational Security

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

Mili, Ali; Sheldon, Frederick T; Jilani, Lamia Labed

2007-01-01

George Boole ushered the era of modern logic by arguing that logical reasoning does not fall in the realm of philosophy, as it was considered up to his time, but in the realm of mathematics. As such, logical propositions and logical arguments are modeled using algebraic structures. Likewise, we submit that security attributes must be modeled as formal mathematical propositions that are subject to mathematical analysis. In this paper, we approach this problem by attempting to model security attributes in a refinement-like framework that has traditionally been used to represent reliability and safety claims. Keywords: Computable security attributes, survivability, integrity,more » dependability, reliability, safety, security, verification, testing, fault tolerance.« less

Improvement of the technique of calculating the energy-force parameters of pinch-pass mills for increasing the efficiency of producing cold-rolled strips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garber, E. A.; Timofeeva, M. A.

2016-11-01

New propositions are introduced into the technique of energy-force calculation of pinch-pass mills in order to determine the energy-force and technological parameters of skin rolling of cold-rolled steel strips at the minimum errors. The application of these propositions decreases the errors of calculating the forces and torques in a working stand by a factor of 3-5 as compared to the calculation according to the well-known technique, saves the electric power in the existing mills, and demonstrates the possibility of decreasing the dimensions of working stands and the power of the rolling mill engine.

Grief and its Complications in Individuals with Intellectual Disability

PubMed Central

Brickell, Claire; Munir, Kerim

2011-01-01

Bereavement and loss have significant impact on the lives of individuals with intellectual disability (ID). Although there is a growing impetus to define the symptoms of grief that predict long-term functional impairment, little is known about maladaptive grieving among individuals with ID. We examine the literature concerning the phenomenology of traumatic grief (TG) in the general population, along with what is known about the manifestations of grief in individuals with ID. We then apply modern theories of grief and grief resolution to individuals with ID in order to highlight potential areas of vulnerability in this population and to lay the groundwork for interventions that will facilitate their adaptation to loss. We provide a theoretical framework for the proposition that individuals (including children and adults) with ID are more susceptible to TG, based on an increased risk of secondary loss, barriers to communicating about the loss, and difficulty finding meaning in the loss. We conclude that individuals with ID should be considered as potential candidates for targeted bereavement interventions. Further research is required, however, in order to develop population-appropriate measurement scales for testing these hypotheses. PMID:18306095

Rethinking intractable conflict: the perspective of dynamical systems.

PubMed

Vallacher, Robin R; Coleman, Peter T; Nowak, Andrzej; Bui-Wrzosinska, Lan

2010-01-01

Intractable conflicts are demoralizing. Beyond destabilizing the families, communities, or international regions in which they occur, they tend to perpetuate the very conditions of misery and hate that contributed to them in the first place. Although the common factors and processes associated with intractable conflicts have been identified through research, they represent an embarrassment of riches for theory construction. Thus, the current task in this area is integrating these diverse factors into an account that provides a coherent perspective yet allows for prediction and a basis for conflict resolution in specific conflict settings. We suggest that the perspective of dynamical systems provides such an account. This article outlines the key concepts and hypotheses associated with this approach. It is organized around a set of basic questions concerning intractable conflict for which the dynamical perspective offers fresh insight and testable propositions. The questions and answers are intended to provide readers with basic concepts and principles of complexity and dynamical systems that are useful for rethinking the nature of intractable conflict and the means by which such conflict can be transformed. Copyright 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Revenge versus rapport: Interrogation, terrorism, and torture.

PubMed

Alison, Laurence; Alison, Emily

2017-04-01

This review begins with the historical context of harsh interrogation methods that have been used repeatedly since the Second World War. This is despite the legal, ethical and moral sanctions against them and the lack of evidence for their efficacy. Revenge-motivated interrogations (Carlsmith & Sood, 2009) regularly occur in high conflict, high uncertainty situations and where there is dehumanization of the enemy. These methods are diametrically opposed to the humanization process required for adopting rapport-based methods-for which there is an increasing corpus of studies evidencing their efficacy. We review this emerging field of study and show how rapport-based methods rely on building alliances and involve a specific set of interpersonal skills on the part of the interrogator. We conclude with 2 key propositions: (a) for psychologists to firmly maintain the Hippocratic Oath of "first do no harm," irrespective of perceived threat and uncertainty, and (b) for wider recognition of the empirical evidence that rapport-based approaches work and revenge tactics do not. Proposition (a) is directly in line with fundamental ethical principles of practice for anyone in a caring profession. Proposition (b) is based on the requirement for psychology to protect and promote human welfare and to base conclusions on objective evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

When pitch Accents Encode Speaker Commitment: Evidence from French Intonation.

PubMed

Michelas, Amandine; Portes, Cristel; Champagne-Lavau, Maud

2016-06-01

Recent studies on a variety of languages have shown that a speaker's commitment to the propositional content of his or her utterance can be encoded, among other strategies, by pitch accent types. Since prior research mainly relied on lexical-stress languages, our understanding of how speakers of a non-lexical-stress language encode speaker commitment is limited. This paper explores the contribution of the last pitch accent of an intonation phrase to convey speaker commitment in French, a language that has stress at the phrasal level as well as a restricted set of pitch accents. In a production experiment, participants had to produce sentences in two pragmatic contexts: unbiased questions (the speaker had no particular belief with respect to the expected answer) and negatively biased questions (the speaker believed the proposition to be false). Results revealed that negatively biased questions consistently exhibited an additional unaccented F0 peak in the preaccentual syllable (an H+!H* pitch accent) while unbiased questions were often realized with a rising pattern across the accented syllable (an H* pitch accent). These results provide evidence that pitch accent types in French can signal the speaker's belief about the certainty of the proposition expressed in French. It also has implications for the phonological model of French intonation.

A Content Analysis of Unique Selling Propositions of Tobacco Print Ads

PubMed Central

Shen, Megan Johnson; Banerjee, Smita C.; Greene, Kathryn; Carpenter, Amanda; Ostroff, Jamie S.

2017-01-01

Objectives The present study described the unique selling propositions (USPs) (propositions used to convince customers to use a particular brand/product by focusing on the unique benefit) of print tobacco ads. Methods A qualitative content analysis was conducted of print tobacco ads (N = 171) selected from August 2012-August 2013 for cigarettes, moist snuff, e-cigarettes, cigars, and snus to determine the content and themes of USPs for tobacco ads. Results Cigarette ad USP themes focused on portraying the product as attractive; moist snuff ads focused on portraying product as masculine; cigar ads focused on selling a “high end product;” and new and emerging tobacco products (e-cigarette, snus) focused on directly comparing these products to cigarettes. Conclusions Whereas traditional tobacco product ads used USPs focused on themes of enjoyment and pleasure (eg, attractive for cigarettes, “high end product” for cigars), new and emerging tobacco product ads offered the unique benefit (USP) of their product being a better and “safer” alternative to traditional tobacco products. Snuff’s USPs focused nearly exclusively on the masculinity of their products. Results of this study provide targets for potential tobacco regulatory actions that could be implemented to reduce demand for tobacco products by reducing their perceived unique benefits. PMID:28452697

Computational Pathology: A Path Ahead.

PubMed

Louis, David N; Feldman, Michael; Carter, Alexis B; Dighe, Anand S; Pfeifer, John D; Bry, Lynn; Almeida, Jonas S; Saltz, Joel; Braun, Jonathan; Tomaszewski, John E; Gilbertson, John R; Sinard, John H; Gerber, Georg K; Galli, Stephen J; Golden, Jeffrey A; Becich, Michael J

2016-01-01

We define the scope and needs within the new discipline of computational pathology, a discipline critical to the future of both the practice of pathology and, more broadly, medical practice in general. To define the scope and needs of computational pathology. A meeting was convened in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2014 prior to the annual Association of Pathology Chairs meeting, and it was attended by a variety of pathologists, including individuals highly invested in pathology informatics as well as chairs of pathology departments. The meeting made recommendations to promote computational pathology, including clearly defining the field and articulating its value propositions; asserting that the value propositions for health care systems must include means to incorporate robust computational approaches to implement data-driven methods that aid in guiding individual and population health care; leveraging computational pathology as a center for data interpretation in modern health care systems; stating that realizing the value proposition will require working with institutional administrations, other departments, and pathology colleagues; declaring that a robust pipeline should be fostered that trains and develops future computational pathologists, for those with both pathology and nonpathology backgrounds; and deciding that computational pathology should serve as a hub for data-related research in health care systems. The dissemination of these recommendations to pathology and bioinformatics departments should help facilitate the development of computational pathology.

Contexts as Shared Commitments

PubMed Central

García-Carpintero, Manuel

2015-01-01

Contemporary semantics assumes two influential notions of context: one coming from Kaplan (1989), on which contexts are sets of predetermined parameters, and another originating in Stalnaker (1978), on which contexts are sets of propositions that are “common ground.” The latter is deservedly more popular, given its flexibility in accounting for context-dependent aspects of language beyond manifest indexicals, such as epistemic modals, predicates of taste, and so on and so forth; in fact, properly dealing with demonstratives (perhaps ultimately all indexicals) requires that further flexibility. Even if we acknowledge Lewis (1980)'s point that, in a sense, Kaplanian contexts already include common ground contexts, it is better to be clear and explicit about what contexts constitutively are. Now, Stalnaker (1978, 2002, 2014) defines context-as-common-ground as a set of propositions, but recent work shows that this is not an accurate conception. The paper explains why, and provides an alternative. The main reason is that several phenomena (presuppositional treatments of pejoratives and predicates of taste, forces other than assertion) require that the common ground includes non-doxastic attitudes such as appraisals, emotions, etc. Hence the common ground should not be taken to include merely contents (propositions), but those together with attitudes concerning them: shared commitments, as I will defend. PMID:26733087

Improving care coordination using organisational routines.

PubMed

Prætorius, Thim

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to systematically apply theory of organisational routines to standardised care pathways. The explanatory power of routines is used to address open questions in the care pathway literature about their coordinating and organising role, the way they change and can be replicated, the way they are influenced by the organisation and the way they influence health care professionals. Theory of routines is systematically applied to care pathways in order to develop theoretically derived propositions. Care pathways mirror routines by being recurrent, collective and embedded and specific to an organisation. In particular, care pathways resemble standard operating procedures that can give rise to recurrent collective action patterns. In all, 11 propositions related to five categories are proposed by building on these insights: care pathways and coordination, change, replication, the organisation and health care professionals. Research limitations/implications - The paper is conceptual and uses care pathways as illustrative instances of hospital routines. The propositions provide a starting point for empirical research. The analysis highlights implications that health care professionals and managers have to consider in relation to coordination, change, replication, the way the organisation influences care pathways and the way care pathways influence health care professionals. Originality/value - Theory on organisational routines offers fundamental, yet unexplored, insights into hospital processes, including in particular care coordination.

Actinic cheilitis: proposition and reproducibility of a clinical criterion

PubMed Central

Poitevin, Nádia Antunes; Rodrigues, Mariana Sudati; Weigert, Karen Loureiro; Macedo, Carmen Lúcia Rodrigues; dos Santos, Rubem Beraldo

2017-01-01

Objectives/Aims: The actinic cheilitis (AC) is a precancerous lip lesion seen as a consequence of chronic sun exposure. Clinically, the border between the lip’s skin and the semimucosa could be blurred; in the more aggressive cases, leucoplakia and ulcers also represent its clinical feature. It seems that no clinical criterion is universally accepted for this disease yet. Therefore, this study was carried out to make a proposition of a clinical score to actinic cheilitis (Grade I starting from dryness of vermilion to endured ulcers representing Grade IV) and to assess its reproducibility. Materials and Methods: Fifty subjects were assessed, most of whom were male, Caucasian farmers, with an average age of 46.12 (18–74) years. The obtained data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics and by Kappa test to assess the inter-examiners and the clinical Golden-Pattern concordance (95% CI). Results: During calibration, 15 patients were examined three times a week by each examiner (4) until Kappa test observed k=0.8 or more. In the main experiment, the inter-examiner concordance was classified between good (k=0.779; P<0.05) and very good (k=0.925; P<0.05) from the 35 examined subjects. With the Golden-Pattern, it was considered very good (k=0.812; P<0.05 to k=0.925; P<0.05). Discussion: Four examiners with different experiences could strongly suggest that after adequate calibration, it could be well applied by examiners with as much experience as a dental student. Conclusions: The authors concluded that the proposed classification was easily applied and had a very good reproducibility. PMID:29607086

It is not just memory: propositional thinking influences performance on the autobiographical IAT.

PubMed

Vargo, Elisabeth Julie; Petróczi, Andrea; Shah, Iltaf; Naughton, Declan P

2014-12-01

The autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT) is a variant of the Implicit Association Test reportedly capable of detecting an individual's concealed autobiographical event with very high accuracy. A previous attempt to utilize this measurement technique for the identification of cocaine users rendered an alarming rate of false positives. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential reasons behind the measurement's inaccuracy. Two versions of the cocaine aIAT were devised with different category labels (descriptive 'guilty/innocent' and self-referenced 'as if you were/were not'). Forty-one cocaine abstinent participants (43.9% male; mean age = 28.17 ± 7.36) were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Self-declared cocaine abstinence was confirmed for the 12-month period preceding data collection through hair analysis. Participants were also administered bespoke implicit and explicit cocaine user attitude measures, the self-esteem IAT and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. The category labels which elicited self-referenced knowledge showed low accuracy (19%) compared to the 65% of the 'guilty/innocent' labels proposed by original authors. The self-referenced aIAT version significantly correlated with the self-concept measures. The aIAT outcomes were independent from attitudes toward cocaine users. Category labels play an influential role in determining the test's accuracy, demonstrating that participants' propositional knowledge and self-concept are involved during test performance. The aIAT does not appear to tap directly into an individual's implicit memory when relevant memory is not available. Although the test cannot be recommended for detecting drug use, further research should investigate underlying mechanisms and other potentials of the technique. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Another Scale for the Assessment of Facial Paralysis? ADS Scale: Our Proposition, How to Use It.

PubMed

Di Stadio, Arianna

2015-12-01

Several authors in the years propose different methods to evaluate areas and specific movement's disease in patient affected by facial palsy. Despite these efforts the House Brackmann is anyway the most used assessment in medical community. The aims of our study is the proposition and assessing a new rating Arianna Disease Scale (ADS) for the clinical evaluation of facial paralysis. Sixty patients affected by unilateral facial Bell paralysis were enrolled in a prospective study from 2012 to 2014. Their facial nerve function was evaluated with our assessment analysing facial district divided in upper, middle and lower third. We analysed different facial expressions. Each movement corresponded to the action of different muscles. The action of each muscle was scored from 0 to 1, with 0 corresponding from complete flaccid paralysis to muscle's normal function ending with a score of 1. Synkinesis was considered and evaluated also in the scale with a fixed 0.5 score. Our results considered ease and speed of evaluation of the assessment, the accuracy of muscle deficit and the ability to calculate synkinesis using a score. All the three observers agreed 100% in the highest degree of deficit. We found some discrepancies in intermediate score with 92% agreement in upper face, 87% in middle and 80% in lower face, where there were more muscles involved in movements. Our scale had some limitations linked to the small group of patients evaluated and we had a little difficulty understanding the intermediate score of 0.3 and 0.7. However, this was an accurate tool to quickly evaluate facial nerve function. This has potential as an alternative scale to and to diagnose facial nerve disorders.

Can interfaith research partnerships develop new paradigms for condom use and HIV prevention? The implementation of conceptual events in Malawi results in a ‘spiritualised condom’

PubMed Central

Arratia, Maria-Ines; Makondesa, Patrick

2011-01-01

Objectives The aim of this intervention research study was to engage senior leaders of faith-based organisations (FBOs) in Malawi in a participatory process to construct an interfaith theology of HIV/AIDS. This process was designed to enhance the capacity of faith leaders to respond more effectively to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Methods An evidence-driven combination of ethnographic and participatory action research methodologies was utilised. Conceptual events—innovative participatory action research processes—were held over the 4-year project and brought together health service providers, policy makers and a non-governmental organisation in partnership with FBOs and grassroots faith-based communities. Results Through facilitated dialogue, an interfaith theology of HIV/AIDS emerged, resulting in the proposition that a ‘spiritualised condom’ endorses a ‘theology of protecting life’. This proposition was based on the following convictions: (1) life is sacred and to be protected, (2) to kill or murder is a ‘greater sin’ than the ‘lesser sin of infidelity’, (3) protection of the innocent is a moral and religious requirement, (4) condoms have the potential to prevent the death of an innocent person and (5) condoms need to be encouraged, even in the context of marriage. Conclusions Clinicians, non-governmental organisations, health service providers and policy makers, assisted by health social scientists, can successfully partner with FBOs and their leaders to (1) modify and transform faith-based understandings of HIV risk and (2) bring about attitudinal and behaviour changes that help to address the challenges associated with HIV/AIDS. PMID:21983882

The heterogeneity of mental representation: Ending the imagery debate.

PubMed

Pearson, Joel; Kosslyn, Stephen M

2015-08-18

The possible ways that information can be represented mentally have been discussed often over the past thousand years. However, this issue could not be addressed rigorously until late in the 20th century. Initial empirical findings spurred a debate about the heterogeneity of mental representation: Is all information stored in propositional, language-like, symbolic internal representations, or can humans use at least two different types of representations (and possibly many more)? Here, in historical context, we describe recent evidence that humans do not always rely on propositional internal representations but, instead, can also rely on at least one other format: depictive representation. We propose that the debate should now move on to characterizing all of the different forms of human mental representation.

Final Technical Report for EE0006091: H2Pump Hydrogen Recycling System Demonstration

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

Staudt, Rhonda

The objective of this project is to demonstrate the product readiness and to quantify the benefits and customer value proposition of H2Pump’s Hydrogen Recycling System (HRS-100™) by installing and analyzing the operation of multiple prototype 100-kg per day systems in real world customer locations. The data gathered will be used to measure reliability, demonstrate the value proposition to customers, and validate our business model. H2Pump will install, track and report multiple field demonstration systems in industrial heat treating and semi-conductor applications. The customer demonstrations will be used to develop case studies and showcase the benefits of the technology to drivemore » market adoption.« less

Prognostics of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells stack using an ensemble of constraints based connectionist networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javed, Kamran; Gouriveau, Rafael; Zerhouni, Noureddine; Hissel, Daniel

2016-08-01

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is considered the most versatile among available fuel cell technologies, which qualify for diverse applications. However, the large-scale industrial deployment of PEMFCs is limited due to their short life span and high exploitation costs. Therefore, ensuring fuel cell service for a long duration is of vital importance, which has led to Prognostics and Health Management of fuel cells. More precisely, prognostics of PEMFC is major area of focus nowadays, which aims at identifying degradation of PEMFC stack at early stages and estimating its Remaining Useful Life (RUL) for life cycle management. This paper presents a data-driven approach for prognostics of PEMFC stack using an ensemble of constraint based Summation Wavelet- Extreme Learning Machine (SW-ELM) models. This development aim at improving the robustness and applicability of prognostics of PEMFC for an online application, with limited learning data. The proposed approach is applied to real data from two different PEMFC stacks and compared with ensembles of well known connectionist algorithms. The results comparison on long-term prognostics of both PEMFC stacks validates our proposition.

Sectoral networks and macroeconomic tail risks in an emerging economy.

PubMed

Romero, Pedro P; López, Ricardo; Jiménez, Carlos

2018-01-01

This paper aims to explain the macroeconomic volatility due to microeconomic shocks to one or several sectors, recognizing the non-symmetrical relation in the interaction among the Ecuadorian economic sectors. To grasp the economic structure of this emerging economy, a statistical analysis of network data is applied to the respective input-output matrix of Ecuador from 1975 until 2012. We find periods wherein the production of domestic inputs is concentrated in a few suppliers; for example, in 2010, the concentration significantly affects sectors and their downstream providers, thus influencing aggregate volatility. Compared to the US productive structure, this emerging economy presents fewer sectors and degree distributions with less extreme fat-tail behavior. In this simpler economy, we continue to find a link between microeconomic shocks and aggregate volatility. Two new theoretical propositions are introduced to formalize our results.

Sectoral networks and macroeconomic tail risks in an emerging economy

PubMed Central

López, Ricardo; Jiménez, Carlos

2018-01-01

This paper aims to explain the macroeconomic volatility due to microeconomic shocks to one or several sectors, recognizing the non-symmetrical relation in the interaction among the Ecuadorian economic sectors. To grasp the economic structure of this emerging economy, a statistical analysis of network data is applied to the respective input-output matrix of Ecuador from 1975 until 2012. We find periods wherein the production of domestic inputs is concentrated in a few suppliers; for example, in 2010, the concentration significantly affects sectors and their downstream providers, thus influencing aggregate volatility. Compared to the US productive structure, this emerging economy presents fewer sectors and degree distributions with less extreme fat-tail behavior. In this simpler economy, we continue to find a link between microeconomic shocks and aggregate volatility. Two new theoretical propositions are introduced to formalize our results. PMID:29293567

From data to the decision: A software architecture to integrate predictive modelling in clinical settings.

PubMed

Martinez-Millana, A; Fernandez-Llatas, C; Sacchi, L; Segagni, D; Guillen, S; Bellazzi, R; Traver, V

2015-08-01

The application of statistics and mathematics over large amounts of data is providing healthcare systems with new tools for screening and managing multiple diseases. Nonetheless, these tools have many technical and clinical limitations as they are based on datasets with concrete characteristics. This proposition paper describes a novel architecture focused on providing a validation framework for discrimination and prediction models in the screening of Type 2 diabetes. For that, the architecture has been designed to gather different data sources under a common data structure and, furthermore, to be controlled by a centralized component (Orchestrator) in charge of directing the interaction flows among data sources, models and graphical user interfaces. This innovative approach aims to overcome the data-dependency of the models by providing a validation framework for the models as they are used within clinical settings.

Preclinical Determinants of Drug Choice under Concurrent Schedules of Drug Self-Administration

PubMed Central

Banks, Matthew L.; Negus, S. Stevens

2012-01-01

Drug self-administration procedures have played a critical role in the experimental analysis of psychoactive compounds, such as cocaine, for over 50 years. While there are numerous permutations of this procedure, this paper will specifically focus on choice procedures using concurrent schedules of intravenous drug self-administration. The aims of this paper are to first highlight the evolution of drug choice procedures and then review the subsequent preclinical body of literature utilizing these choice procedures to understand the environmental, pharmacological, and biological determinants of the reinforcing stimulus effects of drugs. A main rationale for this paper is our proposition that choice schedules are underutilized in investigating the reinforcing effects of drugs in assays of drug self-administration. Moreover, we will conclude with potential future directions and unexplored scientific space for the use of drug choice procedures. PMID:23243420

Meal Microstructure Characterization from Sensor-Based Food Intake Detection.

PubMed

Doulah, Abul; Farooq, Muhammad; Yang, Xin; Parton, Jason; McCrory, Megan A; Higgins, Janine A; Sazonov, Edward

2017-01-01

To avoid the pitfalls of self-reported dietary intake, wearable sensors can be used. Many food ingestion sensors offer the ability to automatically detect food intake using time resolutions that range from 23 ms to 8 min. There is no defined standard time resolution to accurately measure ingestive behavior or a meal microstructure. This paper aims to estimate the time resolution needed to accurately represent the microstructure of meals such as duration of eating episode, the duration of actual ingestion, and number of eating events. Twelve participants wore the automatic ingestion monitor (AIM) and kept a standard diet diary to report their food intake in free-living conditions for 24 h. As a reference, participants were also asked to mark food intake with a push button sampled every 0.1 s. The duration of eating episodes, duration of ingestion, and number of eating events were computed from the food diary, AIM, and the push button resampled at different time resolutions (0.1-30s). ANOVA and multiple comparison tests showed that the duration of eating episodes estimated from the diary differed significantly from that estimated by the AIM and the push button ( p -value <0.001). There were no significant differences in the number of eating events for push button resolutions of 0.1, 1, and 5 s, but there were significant differences in resolutions of 10-30s ( p -value <0.05). The results suggest that the desired time resolution of sensor-based food intake detection should be ≤5 s to accurately detect meal microstructure. Furthermore, the AIM provides more accurate measurement of the eating episode duration than the diet diary.

Meal Microstructure Characterization from Sensor-Based Food Intake Detection

PubMed Central

Doulah, Abul; Farooq, Muhammad; Yang, Xin; Parton, Jason; McCrory, Megan A.; Higgins, Janine A.; Sazonov, Edward

2017-01-01

To avoid the pitfalls of self-reported dietary intake, wearable sensors can be used. Many food ingestion sensors offer the ability to automatically detect food intake using time resolutions that range from 23 ms to 8 min. There is no defined standard time resolution to accurately measure ingestive behavior or a meal microstructure. This paper aims to estimate the time resolution needed to accurately represent the microstructure of meals such as duration of eating episode, the duration of actual ingestion, and number of eating events. Twelve participants wore the automatic ingestion monitor (AIM) and kept a standard diet diary to report their food intake in free-living conditions for 24 h. As a reference, participants were also asked to mark food intake with a push button sampled every 0.1 s. The duration of eating episodes, duration of ingestion, and number of eating events were computed from the food diary, AIM, and the push button resampled at different time resolutions (0.1–30s). ANOVA and multiple comparison tests showed that the duration of eating episodes estimated from the diary differed significantly from that estimated by the AIM and the push button (p-value <0.001). There were no significant differences in the number of eating events for push button resolutions of 0.1, 1, and 5 s, but there were significant differences in resolutions of 10–30s (p-value <0.05). The results suggest that the desired time resolution of sensor-based food intake detection should be ≤5 s to accurately detect meal microstructure. Furthermore, the AIM provides more accurate measurement of the eating episode duration than the diet diary. PMID:28770206

Evaluation Method for Service Branding Using Word-of-Mouth Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirahada, Kunio; Kosaka, Michitaka

Development and spread of internet technology contributes service firms to obtaining the high capability of brand information transmission as well as relative customer feedback data collection. In this paper, we propose a new evaluation method for service branding using firms and consumers data on the internet. Based on service marketing 7Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Physical evidence, Process) which are the key viewpoints for branding, we develop a brand evaluation system including coding methods for Word-of-Mouth (WoM) and corporate introductory information on the internet to identify both customer's service value recognition vector and firm's service value proposition vector. Our system quantitatively clarify both customer's service value recognition of the firm and firm's strength in service value proposition, thereby analyzing service brand communication gaps between firm and consumers. We applied this system to Japanese Ryokan hotel industry. Using six ryokan-hotels' data on Jyaran-net and Rakuten travel, we made totally 983 codes from WoM information and analyzed their service brand value according to three price based categories. As a result, we found that the characteristics of customers' service value recognition vector differ according to the price categories. In addition, the system clarified that there is a firm that has a different service value proposition vector from customers' recognition vector. This helps to analyze corporate service brand strategy and has a significance as a system technology supporting service management.

The implementation of California's tobacco tax initiative: the critical role of outsider strategies in protecting Proposition 99.

PubMed

Balbach, E D; Traynor, M P; Glantz, S A

2000-08-01

Enacted in 1988, Proposition 99 increased California's cigarette tax by 25 cents per pack and allocated a minimum of 20 percent of the revenues to fund antitobacco education. Tobacco control advocates had used an initiative to secure the tax increase because the legislature had not increased the tobacco tax since 1967, even though public opinion polls showed that the tax was politically popular. Advocates, however, then had to return to the legislature to negotiate implementing legislation. Between 1989 and 1996, the legislature underfunded the Proposition 99 Health Education programs by over $273 million. This underfunding occurred because the public health groups failed to exercise power, ideas, and the leadership needed for legislative success. Even successful litigation against the governor failed to restore the programs. In July 1996, however, the underexpenditures stopped because the issue of the diversions received significant media and public attention. The tobacco control groups used a variety of outsider strategies, including paid advertising, free media, and a grassroots campaign, and the leadership of these groups, in addition to the lobbyists, got involved in the campaign to secure implementing legislation. Without ongoing public pressure, it is likely that policy changes created by tobacco tax initiatives will dissipate into something acceptable to powerful insider interests, such as the tobacco and medical service provider industries.

Compensating for Language Deficits in Amnesia I: H.M.'s Spared Retrieval Categories.

PubMed

MacKay, Donald G; Johnson, Laura W; Fazel, Vedad; James, Lori E

2013-03-14

Three studies examined amnesic H.M.'s use of words, phrases, and propositions on the Test of Language Competence (TLC). In Study 1, H.M. used 19 lexical categories (e.g., common nouns, verbs) and one syntactic category (noun phrases) with the same relative frequency as memory-normal controls, he used no lexical or syntactic category with less-than-normal frequency, and he used proper names (e.g., Melanie) and coordinative conjunctions (e.g., and) with reliably greater-than-normal frequency. In Study 2, H.M. overused proper names relative to controls when answering episodic memory questions about childhood experiences in speech and writing, replicating and extending Study 1 results for proper names. Based on detailed analyses of the use (and misuse) of coordinating conjunctions on the TLC, Study 3 developed a syntax-level "compensation hypothesis" for explaining why H.M. overused coordinating conjunctions relative to controls in Study 1. Present results suggested that (a) frontal mechanisms for retrieving word-, phrase-, and propositional-categories are intact in H.M., unlike in category-specific aphasia, (b) using his intact retrieval mechanisms, H.M. has developed a never-previously-observed proposition-level free association strategy to compensate for the hippocampal region damage that has impaired his mechanisms for encoding novel linguistic structures, and (c) H.M.'s overuse of proper names warrants further research.

Compensating for Language Deficits in Amnesia I: H.M.’s Spared Retrieval Categories

PubMed Central

MacKay, Donald G.; Johnson, Laura W.; Fazel, Vedad; James, Lori E.

2013-01-01

Three studies examined amnesic H.M.’s use of words, phrases, and propositions on the Test of Language Competence (TLC). In Study 1, H.M. used 19 lexical categories (e.g., common nouns, verbs) and one syntactic category (noun phrases) with the same relative frequency as memory-normal controls, he used no lexical or syntactic category with less-than-normal frequency, and he used proper names (e.g., Melanie) and coordinative conjunctions (e.g., and) with reliably greater-than-normal frequency. In Study 2, H.M. overused proper names relative to controls when answering episodic memory questions about childhood experiences in speech and writing, replicating and extending Study 1 results for proper names. Based on detailed analyses of the use (and misuse) of coordinating conjunctions on the TLC, Study 3 developed a syntax-level “compensation hypothesis” for explaining why H.M. overused coordinating conjunctions relative to controls in Study 1. Present results suggested that (a) frontal mechanisms for retrieving word-, phrase-, and propositional-categories are intact in H.M., unlike in category-specific aphasia, (b) using his intact retrieval mechanisms, H.M. has developed a never-previously-observed proposition-level free association strategy to compensate for the hippocampal region damage that has impaired his mechanisms for encoding novel linguistic structures, and (c) H.M.’s overuse of proper names warrants further research. PMID:24961315

Employment services utilization and outcomes among substance abusing offenders participating in California's proposition 36 drug treatment initiative.

PubMed

Evans, Elizabeth; Hser, Yih-Ing; Huang, David

2010-10-01

California drug treatment programs may use funds to address barriers to work faced by Proposition 36 offenders, most of whom are not working at treatment entry, but employment services utilization and related behavioral outcomes have never been studied. This study examined primary data collected on 1,453 offenders by 30 programs during 2004 to explore the characteristics, employment services utilization, and outcomes of those who did and did not receive employment services while in drug treatment. One-year outcomes were mostly similar across groups, however, increases in the proportion of offenders employed, receiving income from employment and family or friends, and being paid for work were significantly greater among the received-employment-services group, and a greater proportion of this group also completed drug treatment. Employment services utilization was less likely for persons recruited from outpatient settings and more likely with greater severity of family/social problems and desire for services. Odds of employment one-year post-treatment entry were higher for those of Hispanic race/ethnicity (vs. White) and for those with treatment completion/longer retention but lower for those who were older, lived in specific counties, had greater employment problem severity at intake, and received other income-related services. Strategies for improving employment services utilization and outcomes among Proposition 36 offenders are discussed.

Computational Pathology

PubMed Central

Louis, David N.; Feldman, Michael; Carter, Alexis B.; Dighe, Anand S.; Pfeifer, John D.; Bry, Lynn; Almeida, Jonas S.; Saltz, Joel; Braun, Jonathan; Tomaszewski, John E.; Gilbertson, John R.; Sinard, John H.; Gerber, Georg K.; Galli, Stephen J.; Golden, Jeffrey A.; Becich, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Context We define the scope and needs within the new discipline of computational pathology, a discipline critical to the future of both the practice of pathology and, more broadly, medical practice in general. Objective To define the scope and needs of computational pathology. Data Sources A meeting was convened in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2014 prior to the annual Association of Pathology Chairs meeting, and it was attended by a variety of pathologists, including individuals highly invested in pathology informatics as well as chairs of pathology departments. Conclusions The meeting made recommendations to promote computational pathology, including clearly defining the field and articulating its value propositions; asserting that the value propositions for health care systems must include means to incorporate robust computational approaches to implement data-driven methods that aid in guiding individual and population health care; leveraging computational pathology as a center for data interpretation in modern health care systems; stating that realizing the value proposition will require working with institutional administrations, other departments, and pathology colleagues; declaring that a robust pipeline should be fostered that trains and develops future computational pathologists, for those with both pathology and non-pathology backgrounds; and deciding that computational pathology should serve as a hub for data-related research in health care systems. The dissemination of these recommendations to pathology and bioinformatics departments should help facilitate the development of computational pathology. PMID:26098131

EULAR evidence‐based recommendations on the management of systemic glucocorticoid therapy in rheumatic diseases

PubMed Central

Hoes, J N; Jacobs, J W G; Boers, M; Boumpas, D; Buttgereit, F; Caeyers, N; Choy, E H; Cutolo, M; Da Silva, J A P; Esselens, G; Guillevin, L; Hafstrom, I; Kirwan, J R; Rovensky, J; Russell, A; Saag, K G; Svensson, B; Westhovens, R; Zeidler, H; Bijlsma, J W J

2007-01-01

Objective To develop evidence‐based recommendations for the management of systemic glucocorticoid (GC) therapy in rheumatic diseases. Methods The multidisciplinary guideline development group from 11 European countries, Canada and the USA consisted of 15 rheumatologists, 1 internist, 1 rheumatologist–epidemiologist, 1 health professional, 1 patient and 1 research fellow. The Delphi method was used to agree on 10 key propositions related to the safe use of GCs. A systematic literature search of PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library was then used to identify the best available research evidence to support each of the 10 propositions. The strength of recommendation was given according to research evidence, clinical expertise and perceived patient preference. Results The 10 propositions were generated through three Delphi rounds and included patient education, risk factors, adverse effects, concomitant therapy (ie, non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, gastroprotection and cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 selective inhibitors, calcium and vitamin D, bisphosphonates) and special safety advice (ie, adrenal insufficiency, pregnancy, growth impairment). Conclusion Ten key recommendations for the management of systemic GC‐therapy were formulated using a combination of systematically retrieved research evidence and expert consensus. There are areas of importance that have little evidence (ie, dosing and tapering strategies, timing, risk factors and monitoring for adverse effects, perioperative GC‐replacement) and need further research; therefore also a research agenda was composed. PMID:17660219

The control processes and subjective well-being of Chinese teachers: evidence of convergence with and divergence from the key propositions of the motivational theory of life-span development

PubMed Central

Wong, Wan-chi; Li, Yin; Sun, Xiaoyan; Xu, Huanu

2014-01-01

An analytical review of the motivational theory of life-span development reveals that this theory has undergone a series of elegant theoretical integrations. Its claim to universality nonetheless brings forth unresolved controversies. With the purpose of scrutinizing the key propositions of this theory, an empirical study was designed to examine the control processes and subjective well-being of Chinese teachers (N = 637). The OPS-Scales (Optimization in Primary and Secondary Control Scales) for the Domain of Teaching were constructed to assess patterns of control processes. Three facets of subjective well-being were investigated with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Subjective Vitality Scale. The results revealed certain aspects of alignment with and certain divergences from the key propositions of the motivational theory of life-span development. Neither “primacy of primary control” nor “primacy of secondary control” was clearly supported. Notably, using different criteria for subjective well-being yielded different subtypes of primary and secondary control as predictors. The hypothesized life-span trajectories of primary and secondary control received limited support. To advance the theory in this area, we recommend incorporating Lakatos' ideas about sophisticated falsification by specifying the hard core of the motivational theory of life-span development and articulating new auxiliary hypotheses. PMID:24904483

A Sharing Proposition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sturgeon, Julie

2002-01-01

Describes how the University of Vermont and St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vermont cooperated to share a single card access system. Discusses the planning, financial, and marketplace advantages of the cooperation. (EV)

Marketing the Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dragon, Andrea C.

1979-01-01

Describes the positive action using marketing strategies that libraries must take to capture their share of the post-Proposition 13 tax dollar. Strategies discussed relate to price, product, promotion, and place. (JD)

A development perspective on adolescent drug abuse.

PubMed

Baumrind, D; Moselle, K A

1985-01-01

Adolescent drug use is placed in an historical and developmental perspective. Existing evidence concerning causes and consequences of adolescent drug use is inconclusive. In the absence of conclusive empirical evidence and cogent theories, we present a prima facie case against early adolescent drug use by defending six propositions which posit specific cognitive, conative, and affective negative consequences including impairment of attention and memory; developmental lag imposing categorical limitations on the level of maximum functioning available to the user in cognitive, moral and psychosocial domains; amotivational syndrome; consolidation of diffuse or negative identity; and social alienation and estrangement. We call for a program of research which could provide credible evidence to support or rebut these propositions, and thus address the factual claims underlying the sociomoral concerns of social policy planners.

Problems with Rhubarb: Accommodating Experience in Aristotelian Theories of Science.

PubMed

Hessbrüggen-Walter, Stefan

2014-01-01

The paper examines controversies over the role of experience in the constitution of scientific knowledge in early modern Aristotelianism. While for Jacopo Zabarella, experience helps to confirm the results of demonstrative science, the Bologna Dominican Chrysostomo Javelli assumes that it also contributes to the discovery of new truths in what he calls 'beginning science'. Both thinkers use medical plants as a philosophical example. Javelli analyses the proposition 'rhubarb purges bile' as the conclusion of a yet unknown scientific proof. Zabarella uses instead hellebore, a plant that is found all over Europe, and defends the view that propositions about purgative powers of plants are based on their 'identity of substance', an identity that had become questionable with regard to rhubarb due to new empirical findings in the sixteenth century.

Are patient decision aids the best way to improve clinical decision making? Report of the IPDAS Symposium.

PubMed

Holmes-Rovner, Margaret; Nelson, Wendy L; Pignone, Michael; Elwyn, Glyn; Rovner, David R; O'Connor, Annette M; Coulter, Angela; Correa-de-Araujo, Rosaly

2007-01-01

This article reports on the International Patient Decision Aid Standards Symposium held in 2006 at the annual meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The symposium featured a debate regarding the proposition that "decision aids are the best way to improve clinical decision making.'' The formal debate addressed the theoretical problem of the appropriate gold standard for an improved decision, efficacy of decision aids, and prospects for implementation. Audience comments and questions focused on both theory and practice: the often unacknowledged roots of decision aids in expected utility theory and the practical problems of limited patient decision aid implementation in health care. The participants' vote on the proposition was approximately half for and half against.

Health information exchange implementation: lessons learned and critical success factors from a case study.

PubMed

Feldman, Sue S; Schooley, Benjamin L; Bhavsar, Grishma P

2014-08-15

Much attention has been given to the proposition that the exchange of health information as an act, and health information exchange (HIE), as an entity, are critical components of a framework for health care change, yet little has been studied to understand the value proposition of implementing HIE with a statewide HIE. Such an organization facilitates the exchange of health information across disparate systems, thus following patients as they move across different care settings and encounters, whether or not they share an organizational affiliation. A sociotechnical systems approach and an interorganizational systems framework were used to examine implementation of a health system electronic medical record (EMR) system onto a statewide HIE, under a cooperative agreement with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and its collaborating organizations. The objective of the study was to focus on the implementation of a health system onto a statewide HIE; provide insight into the technical, organizational, and governance aspects of a large private health system and the Virginia statewide HIE (organizations with the shared goal of exchanging health information); and to understand the organizational motivations and value propositions apparent during HIE implementation. We used a formative evaluation methodology to investigate the first implementation of a health system onto the statewide HIE. Qualitative methods (direct observation, 36 hours), informal information gathering, semistructured interviews (N=12), and document analysis were used to gather data between August 12, 2012 and June 24, 2013. Derived from sociotechnical concepts, a Blended Value Collaboration Enactment Framework guided the data gathering and analysis to understand organizational stakeholders' perspectives across technical, organizational, and governance dimensions. Several challenges, successes, and lessons learned during the implementation of a health system to the statewide HIE were found. The most significant perceived success was accomplishing the implementation, although many interviewees also underscored the value of a project champion with decision-making power. In terms of lessons learned, social reasons were found to be very significant motivators for early implementation, frequently outweighing economic motivations. It was clear that understanding the guides early in the project would have mitigated some of the challenges that emerged, and early communication with the electronic health record vendor so that they have a solid understanding of the undertaking was critical. An HIE implementations evaluation framework was found to be useful for assessing challenges, motivations, value propositions for participating, and success factors to consider for future implementations. This case study illuminates five critical success factors for implementation of a health system onto a statewide HIE. This study also reveals that organizations have varied motivations and value proposition perceptions for engaging in the exchange of health information, few of which, at the early stages, are economically driven.

Health Information Exchange Implementation: Lessons Learned and Critical Success Factors From a Case Study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Much attention has been given to the proposition that the exchange of health information as an act, and health information exchange (HIE), as an entity, are critical components of a framework for health care change, yet little has been studied to understand the value proposition of implementing HIE with a statewide HIE. Such an organization facilitates the exchange of health information across disparate systems, thus following patients as they move across different care settings and encounters, whether or not they share an organizational affiliation. A sociotechnical systems approach and an interorganizational systems framework were used to examine implementation of a health system electronic medical record (EMR) system onto a statewide HIE, under a cooperative agreement with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and its collaborating organizations. Objective The objective of the study was to focus on the implementation of a health system onto a statewide HIE; provide insight into the technical, organizational, and governance aspects of a large private health system and the Virginia statewide HIE (organizations with the shared goal of exchanging health information); and to understand the organizational motivations and value propositions apparent during HIE implementation. Methods We used a formative evaluation methodology to investigate the first implementation of a health system onto the statewide HIE. Qualitative methods (direct observation, 36 hours), informal information gathering, semistructured interviews (N=12), and document analysis were used to gather data between August 12, 2012 and June 24, 2013. Derived from sociotechnical concepts, a Blended Value Collaboration Enactment Framework guided the data gathering and analysis to understand organizational stakeholders’ perspectives across technical, organizational, and governance dimensions. Results Several challenges, successes, and lessons learned during the implementation of a health system to the statewide HIE were found. The most significant perceived success was accomplishing the implementation, although many interviewees also underscored the value of a project champion with decision-making power. In terms of lessons learned, social reasons were found to be very significant motivators for early implementation, frequently outweighing economic motivations. It was clear that understanding the guides early in the project would have mitigated some of the challenges that emerged, and early communication with the electronic health record vendor so that they have a solid understanding of the undertaking was critical. An HIE implementations evaluation framework was found to be useful for assessing challenges, motivations, value propositions for participating, and success factors to consider for future implementations. Conclusions This case study illuminates five critical success factors for implementation of a health system onto a statewide HIE. This study also reveals that organizations have varied motivations and value proposition perceptions for engaging in the exchange of health information, few of which, at the early stages, are economically driven. PMID:25599991

Recognizing Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Hadyn D.

1975-01-01

The proposition that the mechanisms underlying facial recognition are different from those involved in recognizing other classes of pictorial material was assessed following a general review of the literature concerned with recognizing faces. (Author/RK)

Evaluating the use of citizens' juries in food policy: a case study of food regulation.

PubMed

Henderson, Julie; House, Elizabeth; Coveney, John; Meyer, Samantha; Ankeny, Rachel; Ward, Paul; Calnan, Michael

2013-06-19

Deliberative engagement techniques and citizens' juries are touted as means of incorporating the public into policy decision-making, managing community expectations and increasing commitment to public health policy. This paper reports a study to examine the feasibility of citizens' juries as a means of collecting data to inform public health policy related to food regulation through evaluation of the conduct of a citizens' jury. A citizens' jury was conducted with a representative sample of 17 South Australians to explore their willingness to consider the proposition that food and drink advertising and/or sponsorship should be banned at children's sporting events. The results showed that, in relation to the central proposition and evaluation data from the jury, opinion on the proposition remained comparatively stable. Most jurors indicated that they thought that food and drink sponsorship and/or advertising at children's sporting events would have little or no effect on altering children's diet and eating habits, with the proportion increasing during the jury process. Jurors were given evaluation sheets about the content of the jury and the process of the citizens' jury to complete at the end of the session. The evaluation of the citizens' jury process revealed positive perceptions. The majority of jurors agreed that their knowledge of the issues of food and drink sponsorship in children's sport had increased as a result of participation in the citizens' jury. The majority also viewed the decision-making process as fair and felt that their views were listened to. One important response in the evaluation was that all jurors indicated that, if given the opportunity, they would participate in another citizens' jury. The findings suggest that the citizens' jury increased participant knowledge of the issue and facilitated reflective discussion of the proposition. Citizens' juries are an effective means of gaining insight into public views of policy and the circumstances under which the public will consider food regulation; however a number of issues need to be considered to ensure the successful conduct of a citizens' jury.

Evaluating the use of citizens’ juries in food policy: a case study of food regulation

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Deliberative engagement techniques and citizens’ juries are touted as means of incorporating the public into policy decision-making, managing community expectations and increasing commitment to public health policy. This paper reports a study to examine the feasibility of citizens’ juries as a means of collecting data to inform public health policy related to food regulation through evaluation of the conduct of a citizens’ jury. Methods A citizens’ jury was conducted with a representative sample of 17 South Australians to explore their willingness to consider the proposition that food and drink advertising and/or sponsorship should be banned at children’s sporting events. Results The results showed that, in relation to the central proposition and evaluation data from the jury, opinion on the proposition remained comparatively stable. Most jurors indicated that they thought that food and drink sponsorship and/or advertising at children’s sporting events would have little or no effect on altering children’s diet and eating habits, with the proportion increasing during the jury process. Jurors were given evaluation sheets about the content of the jury and the process of the citizens’ jury to complete at the end of the session. The evaluation of the citizens’ jury process revealed positive perceptions. The majority of jurors agreed that their knowledge of the issues of food and drink sponsorship in children’s sport had increased as a result of participation in the citizens’ jury. The majority also viewed the decision-making process as fair and felt that their views were listened to. One important response in the evaluation was that all jurors indicated that, if given the opportunity, they would participate in another citizens’ jury. Conclusions The findings suggest that the citizens’ jury increased participant knowledge of the issue and facilitated reflective discussion of the proposition. Citizens’ juries are an effective means of gaining insight into public views of policy and the circumstances under which the public will consider food regulation; however a number of issues need to be considered to ensure the successful conduct of a citizens’ jury. PMID:23782688

Managing expectations: cognitive authority and experienced control in complex healthcare processes.

PubMed

Hunt, Katherine J; May, Carl R

2017-07-05

Balancing the normative expectations of others (accountabilities) against the personal and distributed resources available to meet them (capacity) is a ubiquitous feature of social relations in many settings. This is an important problem in the management of long-term conditions, because of widespread problems of non-adherence to treatment regimens. Using long-term conditions as an example, we set out middle range theory of this balancing work. A middle-range theory was constructed four stages. First, a qualitative elicitation study of men with heart failure was used to develop general propositions about patient and care giver experience, and about the ways that the organisation and delivery of care affected this. Second, these propositions were developed and confirmed through a systematic review of qualitative research literature. Third, theoretical propositions and constructs were built, refined and presented as a logic model associated with two main theoretical propositions. Finally, a construct validation exercise was undertaken, in which construct definitions informed reanalysis of a set of systematic reviews of studies of patient and caregiver experiences of heart failure that had been included in an earlier meta-review. Cognitive Authority Theory identifies, characterises and explains negotiation processes in in which people manage their relations with the expectations of normative systems - like those encountered in the management of long-term conditions. Here, their cognitive authority is the product of an assessment of competence, trustworthiness and credibility made about a person by other participants in a healthcare process; and their experienced control is a function of the degree to which they successfully manage the external process-specific limiting factors that make it difficult to otherwise perform in their role. Cognitive Authority Theory assists in explaining how participants in complex social processes manage important relational aspects of inequalities in power and expertise. It can play an important part in understanding the dynamics of participation in healthcare processes. It suggests ways in which these burdens may lead to relationally induced non-adherence to treatment regimens and self-care programmes, and points to targets where intervention may reduce these adverse outcomes.

Realist explanatory theory building method for social epidemiology: a protocol for a mixed method multilevel study of neighbourhood context and postnatal depression.

PubMed

Eastwood, John G; Jalaludin, Bin B; Kemp, Lynn A

2014-01-01

A recent criticism of social epidemiological studies, and multi-level studies in particular has been a paucity of theory. We will present here the protocol for a study that aims to build a theory of the social epidemiology of maternal depression. We use a critical realist approach which is trans-disciplinary, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative traditions, and that assumes both ontological and hierarchical stratification of reality. We describe a critical realist Explanatory Theory Building Method comprising of an: 1) emergent phase, 2) construction phase, and 3) confirmatory phase. A concurrent triangulated mixed method multilevel cross-sectional study design is described. The Emergent Phase uses: interviews, focus groups, exploratory data analysis, exploratory factor analysis, regression, and multilevel Bayesian spatial data analysis to detect and describe phenomena. Abductive and retroductive reasoning will be applied to: categorical principal component analysis, exploratory factor analysis, regression, coding of concepts and categories, constant comparative analysis, drawing of conceptual networks, and situational analysis to generate theoretical concepts. The Theory Construction Phase will include: 1) defining stratified levels; 2) analytic resolution; 3) abductive reasoning; 4) comparative analysis (triangulation); 5) retroduction; 6) postulate and proposition development; 7) comparison and assessment of theories; and 8) conceptual frameworks and model development. The strength of the critical realist methodology described is the extent to which this paradigm is able to support the epistemological, ontological, axiological, methodological and rhetorical positions of both quantitative and qualitative research in the field of social epidemiology. The extensive multilevel Bayesian studies, intensive qualitative studies, latent variable theory, abductive triangulation, and Inference to Best Explanation provide a strong foundation for Theory Construction. The study will contribute to defining the role that realism and mixed methods can play in explaining the social determinants and developmental origins of health and disease.

Bedtime Soliloquies and Linguistic Competence in Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baltaxe, Christiane A. M.; Simmons, James Q.

1977-01-01

Three bedtime soliloquies of an eight-year-old echolalic autistic child were analyzed along the dimensions of echolia versus propositional speech, types of ungrammaticality produced, and analysis of connected discourse. (Author/SBH)

Cognitive Continuum Theory in nursing decision-making.

PubMed

Cader, Raffik; Campbell, Steve; Watson, Don

2005-02-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate Cognitive Continuum Theory and to provide evidence for its relevance to nurses' decision-making. It is critical that theories used in nursing are evaluated to provide an understanding of their aims, concepts and usefulness. With the advent of evidence-based care, theories on decision-making have acquired increased significance. The criteria identified by Fawcett's framework has been used to analyse and evaluate Hammond's Cognitive Continuum Theory. Findings. There is empirical evidence to support many of the concepts and propositions of Cognitive Continuum Theory. The theory has been applied to the decision-making process of many professionals, including medical practitioners and nurses. Existing evidence suggests that Cognitive Continuum Theory can provide the framework to explain decision-making in nursing. Cognitive Continuum Theory has the potential to make major contributions towards understanding the decision-making process of nurses in the clinical environment. Knowledge of the theory in nursing practice has become crucial.

Sustaining Tunisian SMEs' Competitiveness in the Knowledge Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Vecchio, Pasquale; Elia, Gianluca; Secundo, Giustina

The paper aims to contribute to the debate about knowledge and digital divide affecting countries' competitiveness in the knowledge society. A survey based on qualitative and quantitative data collection has been performed to analyze the level of ICTs and e-Business adoption of the Tunisian SMEs. The results shows that to increase the SMEs competitiveness is necessary to invest in all the components of Intellectual capital: human capital (knowledge, skills, and the abilities of people for using the ICTs), structural capital (supportive infrastructure such as buildings, software, processes, patents, and trademarks, proprietary databases) and social capital (relations and collaboration inside and outside the company). At this purpose, the LINCET "Laboratoire d'Innovation Numerique pour la Competitivité de l'Entreprise Tunisienne" project is finally proposed as a coherent proposition to foster the growth of all the components of the Intellectual Capital for the benefits of competitiveness of Tunisian SMEs.

The Psychology of Working Theory.

PubMed

Duffy, Ryan D; Blustein, David L; Diemer, Matthew A; Autin, Kelsey L

2016-03-01

In the current article, we build on research from vocational psychology, multicultural psychology, intersectionality, and the sociology of work to construct an empirically testable Psychology of Working Theory (PWT). Our central aim is to explain the work experiences of all individuals, but particularly people near or in poverty, people who face discrimination and marginalization in their lives, and people facing challenging work-based transitions for which contextual factors are often the primary drivers of the ability to secure decent work. The concept of decent work is defined and positioned as the central variable within the theory. A series of propositions is offered concerning (a) contextual predictors of securing decent work, (b) psychological and economic mediators and moderators of these relations, and (c) outcomes of securing decent work. Recommendations are suggested for researchers seeking to use the theory and practical implications are offered concerning counseling, advocacy, and public policy. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The manipulation of vision during the powerlift squat: exploring the boundaries of the specificity of learning hypothesis.

PubMed

Bennett, S; Davids, K

1995-09-01

The available information for controlling a multidegree-of-freedom sport action was manipulated in 2 experiments. In the first, 10 intermediate lifters were participants; for the second, 8 skilled and 8 less skilled lifters were observed. Three single repetitions of a powerlift squat were performed under 3 vision conditions (i.e., full, ambient, no vision). The less skilled and intermediate lifters' technical performance decreased significantly with the removal of visual information. There was no detrimental effect in the skilled group. Despite the differing information constraints, skilled lifters exhibited a high level of positioning accuracy and timing consistency across conditions. These data fail to support the theoretical predictions of the specificity of learning hypothesis. The differences between the task constraints in this study and those in manual aiming investigations may represent a boundary to the current propositions of the specificity of learning hypothesis.

Discriminative facility and its role in the perceived quality of interactional experiences.

PubMed

Cheng, C; Chiu, C Y; Hong, Y Y; Cheung, J S

2001-10-01

Discriminative facility refers to an individual's sensitivity to subtle cues about the psychological meaning of a situation. This research aimed at examining (a) the conceptual distinctiveness of discriminative facility, (b) the situation-appropriate aspect of this construct, and (c) the relationship between discriminative facility and interpersonal experiences. Discriminative facility was assessed by a new measure of situation-appropriate behaviors across a variety of novel stressful situations. Results from study 1 showed that discriminative facility had weak positive relationships with cognitive complexity and nonsignificant relationships with self-monitoring and social desirability, indicating that discriminative facility is a unique construct. Results from Study 2 revealed that higher levels of discriminative facility were associated with higher levels of perceived social support and a greater number of pleasant interpersonal events experienced, thus providing support for the theoretical proposition that discriminative facility is an aspect of social intelligence.

Security of attachment and quality of mother-toddler social interaction in a high-risk sample.

PubMed

Haltigan, John D; Lambert, Brittany L; Seifer, Ronald; Ekas, Naomi V; Bauer, Charles R; Messinger, Daniel S

2012-02-01

The quality of children's social interactions and their attachment security with a primary caregiver are two widely studied indices of socioemotional functioning in early childhood. Although both Bowlby and Ainsworth suggested that the parent-child interactions underlying the development of attachment security could be distinguished from other aspects of parent-child interaction (e.g., play), relatively little empirical research has examined this proposition. The aim of the current study was to explore this issue by examining concurrent relations between toddler's attachment security in the Strange Situation Procedure and quality of mother-child social interaction in a high-risk sample of toddlers characterized by prenatal cocaine exposure and low levels of maternal education. Analyses of variance suggested limited relations between attachment security and quality of social interaction. Further research examining the interrelations among various components of the parent-child relationship is needed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Palliative sedation: not just normal medical practice. Ethical reflections on the Royal Dutch Medical Association's guideline on palliative sedation.

PubMed

Janssens, Rien; van Delden, Johannes J M; Widdershoven, Guy A M

2012-11-01

The main premise of the Royal Dutch Medical Association's (RDMA) guideline on palliative sedation is that palliative sedation, contrary to euthanasia, is normal medical practice. Although we do not deny the ethical distinctions between euthanasia and palliative sedation, we will critically analyse the guideline's argumentation strategy with which euthanasia is demarcated from palliative sedation. First, we will analyse the guideline's main premise, which entails that palliative sedation is normal medical treatment. After this, we will critically discuss three crucial propositions of the guideline that are used to support this premise: (1) the patient's life expectancy should not exceed 2 weeks; (2) the aim of the physician should be to relieve suffering and (3) expert consultation is optional. We will conclude that, if inherent problematic aspects of palliative sedation are taken seriously, palliative sedation is less normal than it is now depicted in the guideline.

An Extended Role-Based Access Control Model for Delegating Obligations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben-Ghorbel-Talbi, Meriam; Cuppens, Frédéric; Cuppens-Boulahia, Nora; Bouhoula, Adel

The main aim of access control models is to provide means to simplify the management of the security policy, which is a fastidious and error-prone task. Supporting delegation is considered as an important mean to decentralize the administration and therefore to allow security policy to be more flexible and easier to manipulate. Our main contribution is the proposition of a unified model to the administration and delegation of obligations. Managing such delegations implies more requirements than managing traditional privileges delegation. In fact, delegating obligations may include two interpretations: the delegation of the obligation and the delegation of the responsibility related to this obligation. Therefore, it is important to deal with these two notions separately. Moreover, since delegating an obligation involves the delegation of sanctions, then the consent of the user who receives this delegation may be required in some cases. We address in this paper these requirements and we propose a formalism to deal with them.

Attentional blink in young people with high-functioning autism and Asperger's disorder.

PubMed

Rinehart, Nicole; Tonge, Bruce; Brereton, Avril; Bradshaw, John

2010-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine the temporal characteristics of information processing in individuals with high-functioning autism and Asperger's disorder using a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. The results clearly showed that such people demonstrate an attentional blink of similar magnitude to comparison groups. This supports the proposition that the social processing difficulties experienced by these individuals are not underpinned by a basic temporal-cognitive processing deficit, which is consistent with Minshew's complex information processing theory. This is the second study to show that automatic inhibitory processes are intact in both autism and Asperger's disorder, which appears to distinguish these disorders from some other frontostriatal disorders. The finding that individuals with autism were generally poorer than the comparison group at detecting black Xs, while being as good in responding to white letters, was accounted for in the context of a potential dual-task processing difficulty or visual search superiority.

So what exactly is nursing knowledge?

PubMed

Clarke, L

2011-06-01

This paper aims to present a discussion about intrinsic nursing knowledge. The paper stems from the author's study of knowledge claims enshrined in nursing journal articles, books and conference speeches. It is argued that claims by academic nurses have largely depended on principles drawn from continental and not Analytic (British-American) philosophy. Thus, claims are credible only insofar as they defer propositional logic. This is problematic inasmuch as nursing is a practice-based activity usually carried out in medical settings. Transpersonal nursing models are particularly criticizable in respect of their unworldly character as are also concepts based on shallow usages of physics or mathematics. I argue that sensible measurements of the 'real world' are possible--without endorsing positivism--and that nursing requires little recourse to logically unsustainable claims. The paper concludes with an analysis of a recent review of nursing knowledge, which analysis indicates the circularity that attends many discussions on the topic. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing.

A study on the development of public campaign messages for organ donation promotion in Korea.

PubMed

Sun, Hye-Jin

2015-12-01

This study aims to find an effective method of expressing a message in public service ads by investigating whether or not a message framing type affects the outcome. Specifically, the study looks into the effects of messaging on organ donation by identifying how the type of message framing (positive vs. negative) and appeal type (rational vs. emotional) affect the attitude and behavioural intention of the consumer. The individual characteristics of each subject such as altruistic mind, level of self-monitoring and issue involvement were selected as intermediate variables that may affect the impact of a message. The study therefore tries to establish a proposition that can be used to generate an effective promotional message on organ donation in a systematic way. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Scaffolding the Communication of People With Congenital Deafblindness: An Analysis of Sequential Interaction Patterns.

PubMed

Damen, Saskia; Janssen, Marleen J; Ruijssenaars, Wied A; Schuengel, Carlo

2017-01-01

The High Quality Communication intervention aims to stimulate interpersonal communication between individuals with congenital deaf-blindness (CDB) and their social partners. Found effective in multiple-case experiments, the intervention is based on Trevarthen's theory of inter-subjective development (Bråten & Trevarthen, 2007), which describes children's innate and developing ability to share subjective states in interpersonal communication and social partners' mediating role in this development. One implication of this theory is that social partners can support the emergence of higher-complexity communication behaviors in individuals who are still developing these behaviors. To test this proposition, communication patterns between individuals with CDB and their parents, teachers, and professional caregivers were analyzed. Analysis of two-event sequences of communicative behaviors showed a highly significant correspondence between the behavior of the social partner and the subsequent behavior of the individual with CDB, confirming that social partners can scaffold higher-complexity communication within interpersonal communication.

[The diversity of science in Carnap's, Lewin's and Fleck's philosophy. The development of a pluralistic scientific concept].

PubMed

Köchy, Kristian

2010-03-01

In the 1920s and 1930s three different but simultaneous approaches of philosophy of science can be distinguished: the logical approach of the physicist Rudolf Carnap, the logico-historical approach of the psychologist Kurt Lewin and the socio-historical approach of the medical scientist Ludwik Fleck. While the philosophies of Lewin and Fleck can be characterized as contextual appraisals which account for the interactions between particular sciences and their historical, socio-cultural or intellectual environments, Carnap's philosohy is narrowed to an internal methodology centered on scientific propositions and ogical structures in general. In addition to these differences in aim and practice of methodological analysis the estimation of the real disunity and diversity of the special branches of science differs. Instead of Carnap's ideal of a unified science from the new pluralistic point of view the evaluation of the empirical multiplicity of particular sciences obtains philosophical acceptance.

Medical marijuana: legal issues for physicians, others.

PubMed

Mirken, B

1996-12-20

California's and Arizona's pro marijuana for medical use initiatives possess practical problems, particularly those regarding possible dangers to physicians who recommend use of cannabis. Doctors, regardless of safeguards placed in the State initiatives, may still face Federal charges and criminal liability according to the California Medical Association (CMA). The CMA believes the safest course for doctors to take is to not recommend marijuana at all, and health care providers are being cautious. No one knows whether Federal authorities will aggressively enforce the law against doctors or others, however, the government appears to be proceeding from the notion that such initiatives are a national strategy to legalize drugs. It appears that, for public relations reasons, prosecution efforts may be limited to distributors that may include buyers' clubs. Congress may also draft a Federal bill aimed at effectively nullifying the two initiatives. Californians for Medical Rights, the organization that sponsored Proposition 215, is working on strategies to protect doctors.

Semantics and pragmatics.

PubMed

McNally, Louise

2013-05-01

The fields of semantics and pragmatics are devoted to the study of conventionalized and context- or use-dependent aspects of natural language meaning, respectively. The complexity of human language as a semiotic system has led to considerable debate about how the semantics/pragmatics distinction should be drawn, if at all. This debate largely reflects contrasting views of meaning as a property of linguistic expressions versus something that speakers do. The fact that both views of meaning are essential to a complete understanding of language has led to a variety of efforts over the last 40 years to develop better integrated and more comprehensive theories of language use and interpretation. The most important advances have included the adaptation of propositional analyses of declarative sentences to interrogative, imperative and exclamative forms; the emergence of dynamic, game theoretic, and multi-dimensional theories of meaning; and the development of various techniques for incorporating context-dependent aspects of content into representations of context-invariant content with the goal of handling phenomena such as vagueness resolution, metaphor, and metonymy. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:285-297. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1227 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pardes and PaRDeS: towards a psychotherapeutic theory.

PubMed

Rotenberg, M

1994-01-01

The Hebrew term Pardes has two meanings in Jewish study: the Paradise entered by four eminent Rabbis in search of mystical truth, and PaRDeS, four levels of interpreting Biblical texts. By combining the legend of Pardes with the hermeneutic system of PaRDeS, a psychological theory is presented as a set of propositions which endeavor to demonstrate the following: 1) The combination of Pardes and PaRDeS may be used as a bridge between the rational and mystic approaches to life and death. 2) The rational and the mystic stages each contain two phases: the negative break and the positive possibility of the symbolic "forty years old" more mature active remedy. 3) The "Acher-Akiva" and the "Ben Zoma-Ben Azai" dimensions do not necessarily represent four psychological personality types, but rather inner psychological struggles which may be experienced by one person in part or in full during different phases of his or her life cycle. The successful resolution of these inner psychological struggles may be facilitated by people's ability and motivation to find their one or more personally suitable "faces" from the "seventy" that are available for them. Thus, the road to "Pardes-paradise" is paved by people's own intentions.

The Domain of Developmental Psychopathology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sroufe, L. Alan; Rutter, Michael

1984-01-01

Describes how developmental psychopathology differs from related disciplines, including abnormal psychology, psychiatry, clinical child psychology, and developmental psychology. Points out propositions underlying a developmental perspective and discusses implications for research in developmental psychopathology. (Author/RH)

An auditory attention task: a note on the processing of verbal information.

PubMed

Linde, L

1994-04-01

On an auditory attention task subjects were required to reproduce spatial relationships between letters from auditorily presented verbal information containing the prepositions "before" or "after." It was assumed that propositions containing "after" induce a conflict between temporal, and semantically implied, spatial order between letters. Data from 36 subjects showing that propositions with "after" are more difficult to process are presented. A significant, general training effect appeared. 200 mg caffeine had a certain beneficial effect on performance of 18 subjects who had been awake for about 22 hours and were tested at 6 a.m.; however, the beneficial effect was not related to amount of conflict but concerned items without and with conflict. On the other hand, the effect of caffeine for 18 subjects tested at 4 p.m. after normal sleep was slightly negative.

Believe it or not: on the possibility of suspending belief.

PubMed

Hasson, Uri; Simmons, Joseph P; Todorov, Alexander

2005-07-01

We present two experiments that cast doubt on existing evidence suggesting that it is impossible to suspend belief in a comprehended proposition. In Experiment 1, we found that interrupting the encoding of a statement's veracity decreased memory for the statement's falsity when the false version of the statement was uninformative, but not when the false version was informative. This suggests that statements that are informative when false are not represented as if they were true. In Experiment 2, participants made faster lexical decisions to words implied by preceding statements when they were told that the statements were true than when the veracity of the statements was unknown or when the statements were false. The findings suggest that comprehending a statement may not require believing it, and that it may be possible to suspend belief in comprehended propositions.

Energy availability from livestock and agricultural productivity in Europe, 1815–1913: a new comparison.

PubMed

Kander, Astrid; Warde, Paul

2011-01-01

This article explores the proposition that a reason for high agricultural productivity in the early nineteenth century was relatively high energy availability from draught animals. The article is based on the collection of extensive new data indicating different trends in draught power availability and the efficiency of its use in different countries of Europe. This article shows that the proposition does not hold, and demonstrates that, although towards the end of the nineteenth century England had relatively high numbers of draught animals per agricultural worker, it also had low number of workers and animals per hectare, indicating the high efficiency of muscle power, rather than an abundance of such power. The higher efficiency was related to a specialization on less labour-intensive farming and a preference for horses over oxen.

A discussion on the origin of quantum probabilities

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

Holik, Federico, E-mail: olentiev2@gmail.com; Departamento de Matemática - Ciclo Básico Común, Universidad de Buenos Aires - Pabellón III, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires; Sáenz, Manuel

We study the origin of quantum probabilities as arising from non-Boolean propositional-operational structures. We apply the method developed by Cox to non distributive lattices and develop an alternative formulation of non-Kolmogorovian probability measures for quantum mechanics. By generalizing the method presented in previous works, we outline a general framework for the deduction of probabilities in general propositional structures represented by lattices (including the non-distributive case). -- Highlights: •Several recent works use a derivation similar to that of R.T. Cox to obtain quantum probabilities. •We apply Cox’s method to the lattice of subspaces of the Hilbert space. •We obtain a derivationmore » of quantum probabilities which includes mixed states. •The method presented in this work is susceptible to generalization. •It includes quantum mechanics and classical mechanics as particular cases.« less

[Difference analysis among majors in medical parasitology exam papers by test item bank proposition].

PubMed

Jia, Lin-Zhi; Ya-Jun, Ma; Cao, Yi; Qian, Fen; Li, Xiang-Yu

2012-04-30

The quality index among "Medical Parasitology" exam papers and measured data for students in three majors from the university in 2010 were compared and analyzed. The exam papers were formed from the test item bank. The alpha reliability coefficients of the three exam papers were above 0.70. The knowledge structure and capacity structure of the exam papers were basically balanced. But the alpha reliability coefficients of the second major was the lowest, mainly due to quality of test items in the exam paper and the failure of revising the index of test item bank in time. This observation demonstrated that revising the test items and their index in the item bank according to the measured data can improve the quality of test item bank proposition and reduce the difference among exam papers.

Water quality improvement policies: lessons learned from the implementation of Proposition O in Los Angeles, California.

PubMed

Park, Mi-Hyun; Stenstrom, Michael; Pincetl, Stephanie

2009-03-01

This article evaluates the implementation of Proposition O, a stormwater cleanup measure, in Los Angeles, California. The measure was intended to create new funding to help the city comply with the Total Maximum Daily Load requirements under the federal Clean Water Act. Funding water quality objectives through a bond measure was necessary because the city had insufficient revenues to deploy new projects in its budget. The bond initiative required a supermajority vote (two-thirds of the voters), hence the public had to be convinced that such funding both was necessary and would be effective. The bond act language included project solicitation from the public, as well as multiple benefit objectives. Accordingly, nonprofit organizations mobilized to present projects that included creating new parks, using schoolyards for flood control and groundwater recharge, and replacing parking lots with permeable surfaces, among others. Yet few, if any, of these projects were retained for funding, as the city itself also had a list of priorities and higher technical expertise in justifying them as delivering water quality improvements. Our case study of the implementation of Proposition O points to the potentially different priorities for the renovation of urban infrastructure that are held by nonprofit organizations and city agencies and the importance of structuring public processes clearly so that there are no misimpressions about funding and implementation responsibilities that can lead to disillusionment with government, especially under conditions of fiscal constraints.

Functional neuroimaging of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty.

PubMed

Harris, Sam; Sheth, Sameer A; Cohen, Mark S

2008-02-01

The difference between believing and disbelieving a proposition is one of the most potent regulators of human behavior and emotion. When one accepts a statement as true, it becomes the basis for further thought and action; rejected as false, it remains a string of words. The purpose of this study was to differentiate belief, disbelief, and uncertainty at the level of the brain. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the brains of 14 adults while they judged written statements to be "true" (belief), "false" (disbelief), or "undecidable" (uncertainty). To characterize belief, disbelief, and uncertainty in a content-independent manner, we included statements from a wide range of categories: autobiographical, mathematical, geographical, religious, ethical, semantic, and factual. The states of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty differentially activated distinct regions of the prefrontal and parietal cortices, as well as the basal ganglia. Belief and disbelief differ from uncertainty in that both provide information that can subsequently inform behavior and emotion. The mechanism underlying this difference appears to involve the anterior cingulate cortex and the caudate. Although many areas of higher cognition are likely involved in assessing the truth-value of linguistic propositions, the final acceptance of a statement as "true" or its rejection as "false" appears to rely on more primitive, hedonic processing in the medial prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula. Truth may be beauty, and beauty truth, in more than a metaphorical sense, and false propositions may actually disgust us.

Health information technology and dynamic capabilities.

PubMed

Leung, Ricky C

2012-01-01

Health information technology (HIT) purports to increase quality and efficiency in health care organizations. However, health care organizations are situated in constantly changing environments. They need dynamic capabilities to implement HIT effectively. This article builds on the dynamic capabilities perspective and generates propositions about implementing HIT in dynamic environments. Specifically, I identify the (1) the necessary resources and capabilities for organizations to implement HIT; (2) the organizational capabilities and benefits that can be enhanced by HIT; and (3) the similarities and differences between three distinct forms of HIT. I synthesized the literature on dynamic capabilities and HIT to identify dynamic capabilities that are associated with (1) electronic medical records, (2) telemedicine, and (3) social media. In addition, I discuss the benefits of these HITs for improving the dynamic capabilities of health care organizations. PROPOSITIONS/FINDINGS: This article generates three sets of propositions that can be tested empirically. First, I am concerned with how organizational size and human resources affect successful implementation of HIT. In addition, I argue that three technology-specific factors--hospital type, medical specialty, and socially desirable technical features--may affect the implementation of HIT. To cope with constantly changing environmental pressures, health administrators need to deploy, modify, and/or acquire organizational resources skillfully. Practitioners need to identify dynamic capabilities to support specific forms of HIT and understand how HIT enables health care organizations in turn. The concept of evolutionary fitness in the dynamic capabilities perspective may be developed to measure HIT implementation.

Economics of Direct Hydrogen Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Systems

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

Mahadevan, Kathyayani

Battelle's Economic Analysis of PEM Fuel Cell Systems project was initiated in 2003 to evaluate the technology and markets that are near-term and potentially could support the transition to fuel cells in automotive markets. The objective of Battelle?s project was to assist the DOE in developing fuel cell systems for pre-automotive applications by analyzing the technical, economic, and market drivers of direct hydrogen PEM fuel cell adoption. The project was executed over a 6-year period (2003 to 2010) and a variety of analyses were completed in that period. The analyses presented in the final report include: Commercialization scenarios for stationarymore » generation through 2015 (2004); Stakeholder feedback on technology status and performance status of fuel cell systems (2004); Development of manufacturing costs of stationary PEM fuel cell systems for backup power markets (2004); Identification of near-term and mid-term markets for PEM fuel cells (2006); Development of the value proposition and market opportunity of PEM fuel cells in near-term markets by assessing the lifecycle cost of PEM fuel cells as compared to conventional alternatives used in the marketplace and modeling market penetration (2006); Development of the value proposition of PEM fuel cells in government markets (2007); Development of the value proposition and opportunity for large fuel cell system application at data centers and wastewater treatment plants (2008); Update of the manufacturing costs of PEM fuel cells for backup power applications (2009).« less

The Conceptualization of Value in the Value Proposition of New Health Technologies Comment on "Providing Value to New Health Technology: The Early Contribution of Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Regulatory Agencies".

PubMed

Buttigieg, Sandra C; Hoof, Joost van

2017-07-03

Lehoux et al provide a highly valid contribution in conceptualizing value in value propositions for new health technologies and developing an analytic framework that illustrates the interplay between health innovation supply-side logic (the logic of emergence) and demand-side logic (embedding in the healthcare system). This commentary brings forth several considerations on this article. First, a detailed stakeholder analysis provides the necessary premonition of potential hurdles in the development, implementation and dissemination of a new technology. This can be achieved by categorizing potential stakeholder groups on the basis of the potential impact of future technology. Secondly, the conceptualization of value in value propositions of new technologies should not only embrace business/economic and clinical values but also ethical, professional and cultural values, as well as factoring in the notion of usability and acceptance of new technology. As a final note, the commentary emphasises the point that technology should facilitate delivery of care without negatively affecting doctor-patient communications, physical examination skills, and development of clinical knowledge. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Water Quality Improvement Policies: Lessons Learned from the Implementation of Proposition O in Los Angeles, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Mi-Hyun; Stenstrom, Michael; Pincetl, Stephanie

2009-03-01

This article evaluates the implementation of Proposition O, a stormwater cleanup measure, in Los Angeles, California. The measure was intended to create new funding to help the city comply with the Total Maximum Daily Load requirements under the federal Clean Water Act. Funding water quality objectives through a bond measure was necessary because the city had insufficient revenues to deploy new projects in its budget. The bond initiative required a supermajority vote (two-thirds of the voters), hence the public had to be convinced that such funding both was necessary and would be effective. The bond act language included project solicitation from the public, as well as multiple benefit objectives. Accordingly, nonprofit organizations mobilized to present projects that included creating new parks, using schoolyards for flood control and groundwater recharge, and replacing parking lots with permeable surfaces, among others. Yet few, if any, of these projects were retained for funding, as the city itself also had a list of priorities and higher technical expertise in justifying them as delivering water quality improvements. Our case study of the implementation of Proposition O points to the potentially different priorities for the renovation of urban infrastructure that are held by nonprofit organizations and city agencies and the importance of structuring public processes clearly so that there are no misimpressions about funding and implementation responsibilities that can lead to disillusionment with government, especially under conditions of fiscal constraints.

Challenges of International Programs in Commercial Wireless Power Trasmission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickinson, Richard M.

1993-01-01

The proposition is offered that only by forming international alliances will econmically viable commercial wireless poer transmission (WPT) result. Radio emissions from commercial WPT will likely extend beyond the borders of a single nation.

Organizational change : an assessment of trust and cynicism : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-05-01

In the organizational science literature, organizational cynicism is generally considered to be conceptually distinct from organizational trust. This proposition, however, has not been adequately assessed. The present study attempts to distinguish th...

Towards a global quantum network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simon, Christoph

2017-11-01

The creation of a global quantum network is now a realistic proposition thanks to developments in satellite and fibre links and quantum memory. Applications will range from secure communication and fundamental physics experiments to a future quantum internet.

Movement as a Musical Response among Preschool Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metz, Elayne

1989-01-01

Explores preschool children's movement responses to music. Using naturalistic procedures Metz generates three substantive core categories regarding the nature of movement response: conditions, interactions, and outcomes. Provides seven propositions for early childhood music education. (LS)

7 CFR 985.29 - Procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MARKETING ORDER REGULATING THE... means of communication: Provided, That each proposition is explained accurately, fully, and identically...

7 CFR 985.29 - Procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MARKETING ORDER REGULATING THE... means of communication: Provided, That each proposition is explained accurately, fully, and identically...

Prosocial And Antisocial Boys Together

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, Ronald A.; And Others

1973-01-01

It may not help antisocial boys to segregate them, but wouldn't it harm prosocial boys to be integrated with antisocial boys? This study examines both propositions in the light of investigation at a summer camp. (Author)

Research and Development in a Department of Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawley, Willis D.; Sheekey, Arthur

1979-01-01

This outline of the organizational structure for the new department of education lists propositions to guide the reorganization of educational research and innovation activities and discusses the potential functions of several new department offices. (RLV)

Sense of community responsibility in community collaboratives: advancing a theory of community as resource and responsibility.

PubMed

Nowell, Branda; Boyd, Neil M

2014-12-01

This paper contributes to the growing body of scholarship aimed at advancing our understanding of the experience of community by empirically investigating sense of community responsibility (SOC-R) in relation to traditional measures of sense of community (SOC) and indices of satisfaction, engagement, and leadership in interorganizational collaborative settings. Findings support the proposition that, although both are related to the experience of community, SOC and SOC-R emphasize different aspects of that experience and operate under different theoretical mechanisms of influence. SOC emphasizes community as a resource which was found to be a more salient aspect in differentiating those who will be more or less satisfied with their experience. In addition, SOC was found to predict general participation in a community collaborative. SOC-R emphasizes the experience of community as a responsibility which appears to be a stronger predictor in explaining higher order engagement requiring greater investment of time and resources. Even more importantly, this study indicates that SOC-R is uniquely equipped to help us advance models of community leadership. As such, it represents an important contribution to expanding our understanding of the factors that drive members' willingness to give of themselves toward collective aims.

Intersection of Social Institutions with Civic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Youniss, James; Hart, Daniel

2005-01-01

We propose that institutions can serve as a resource to promote civic identity in youth from low-wealth and other settings. We show how recent studies support this proposition and can constructively reorient developmental research and theory.

How to Talk to the Supernatural in Shakespeare.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yonglin, Yang

1991-01-01

Examines Shakespeare's use of thou forms to individual ghosts, witches, and spirits. The proposition is advanced that there is a role-governed rule in the use of this pronoun to individual supernatural beings. (31 references) (GLR)

The History of Mathematics and Mathematical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grattan-Guinness, I.

1977-01-01

Answers to questions which were asked after the author's various lectures in Australia are gathered here. Topics touched upon include "new" mathematics, unknown constants and free variables, propositional functions, linear algebra, arithmetic and geometry, and student assessment. (MN)

Traditional fire-use, landscape transition, and the legacies of social theory past.

PubMed

Coughlan, Michael R

2015-12-01

Fire-use and the scale and character of its effects on landscapes remain hotly debated in the paleo- and historical-fire literature. Since the second half of the nineteenth century, anthropology and geography have played important roles in providing theoretical propositions and testable hypotheses for advancing understandings of the ecological role of human-fire-use in landscape histories. This article reviews some of the most salient and persistent theoretical propositions and hypotheses concerning the role of humans in historical fire ecology. The review discusses this history in light of current research agendas, such as those offered by pyrogeography. The review suggests that a more theoretically cognizant historical fire ecology should strive to operationalize transdisciplinary theory capable of addressing the role of human variability in the evolutionary history of landscapes. To facilitate this process, researchers should focus attention on integrating more current human ecology theory into transdisciplinary research agendas.

The Emerging Business Models and Value Proposition of Mobile Health Clinics

PubMed Central

AUNG, KHIN-KYEMON; HILL, CATERINA; BENNET, JENNIFER; SONG, ZIRUI; ORIOL, NANCY E.

2018-01-01

Mobile health clinics are increasingly used to deliver healthcare to urban and rural populations. An estimated 2000 vehicles in the United States are now delivering between 5 and 6 million visits annually; however, despite this growth, mobile health clinics represent an underutilized resource that could transform the way healthcare is delivered, especially in underserved areas. Preliminary research has shown that mobile health clinics have the potential to reduce costs and improve health outcomes. Their value lies primarily in their mobility, their ability to be flexibly deployed and customized to fit the evolving needs of populations and health systems, and their ability to link clinical and community settings. Few studies have identified how mobile health clinics can be sustainably utilized. We discuss the value proposition of mobile health clinics and propose 3 potential business models for them—adoption by accountable care organizations, payers, and employers. PMID:29516055

Syllogistic reasoning in fuzzy logic and its application to usuality and reasoning with dispositions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zadeh, L. A.

1985-01-01

A fuzzy syllogism in fuzzy logic is defined to be an inference schema in which the major premise, the minor premise and the conclusion are propositions containing fuzzy quantifiers. A basic fuzzy syllogism in fuzzy logic is the intersection/product syllogism. Several other basic syllogisms are developed that may be employed as rules of combination of evidence in expert systems. Among these is the consequent conjunction syllogism. Furthermore, it is shown that syllogistic reasoning in fuzzy logic provides a basis for reasoning with dispositions; that is, with propositions that are preponderantly but not necessarily always true. It is also shown that the concept of dispositionality is closely related to the notion of usuality and serves as a basis for what might be called a theory of usuality - a theory which may eventually provide a computational framework for commonsense reasoning.

The Emerging Business Models and Value Proposition of Mobile Health Clinics.

PubMed

Aung, Khin-Kyemon; Hill, Caterina; Bennet, Jennifer; Song, Zirui; Oriol, Nancy E

2015-12-01

Mobile health clinics are increasingly used to deliver healthcare to urban and rural populations. An estimated 2000 vehicles in the United States are now delivering between 5 and 6 million visits annually; however, despite this growth, mobile health clinics represent an underutilized resource that could transform the way healthcare is delivered, especially in underserved areas. Preliminary research has shown that mobile health clinics have the potential to reduce costs and improve health outcomes. Their value lies primarily in their mobility, their ability to be flexibly deployed and customized to fit the evolving needs of populations and health systems, and their ability to link clinical and community settings. Few studies have identified how mobile health clinics can be sustainably utilized. We discuss the value proposition of mobile health clinics and propose 3 potential business models for them-adoption by accountable care organizations, payers, and employers.

Sensation seeking and alcohol use by college students: examining multiple pathways of effects.

PubMed

Yanovitzky, Itzhak

2006-01-01

This study tests the proposition that peer influence mediates the effect of sensation seeking, a personality trait, on alcohol use among college students. Cross-sectional data to test this proposition were collected from a representative sample of college students at a large public northeastern university (N = 427). Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that, as hypothesized, sensation seeking influenced personal alcohol use both directly and indirectly, through its impact on students' frequency of association with alcohol-using peers and the size of their drinking norm misperception. The findings suggest that interventions that seek to limit the frequency in which high sensation seekers associate with peers whose alcohol use is extreme or, alternatively, seek to facilitate social interactions of high sensation seekers with normative peers, may supplement efforts to influence sensation seekers' alcohol and other drug use through tailored mass media advertisements.

Maximizing the value of a breast center.

PubMed

Goldman, Mickey; Chang, Dan

2010-08-01

This article focuses on the value and benefit of a Breast Center to an organization by identifying the best ways to maximize their contribution in order to create and sustain a financially viable, clinically respected and community-oriented Breast Center. The goal of the Breast Center is to ultimately benefit the community and the hospital's Comprehensive Cancer Program as a whole. The value propositions are divided into three areas that have positive impacts to the program and hospital, collectively. These value propositions are: 1. Financial Value e identified values of the Breast Center that contribute to the bottom line - or Return on Investment (ROI) - of the Cancer Program. 2. Clinical Quality Values - identified values of the Breast Center that improve the quality of care and outcomes of the patients. 3. Intangibles Values - identified values of the Breast Center that connect to the community and women that is invaluable to the Cancer Program. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What can we learn from corporate sustainability reporting? Deriving propositions for research and practice from over 9,500 corporate sustainability reports published between 1999 and 2015 using topic modelling technique

PubMed Central

vom Brocke, Jan

2017-01-01

Organizations are increasingly using sustainability reports to inform their stakeholders and the public about their sustainability practices. We apply topic modelling to 9,514 sustainability reports published between 1999 and 2015 in order to identify common topics and, thus, the most common practices described in these reports. In particular, we identify forty-two topics that reflect sustainability and focus on the coverage and trends of economic, environmental, and social sustainability topics. Among the first to analyse such a large amount of data on organizations’ sustainability reporting, the paper serves as an example of how to apply natural language processing as a strategy of inquiry in sustainability research. The paper also derives from the data analysis ten propositions for future research and practice that are of immediate value for organizations and researchers. PMID:28403158

Strain, negative emotions, and juvenile delinquency: the United States versus taiwan.

PubMed

Lin, Wen-Hsu; Dembo, Richard; Sellers, Christine S; Cochran, John; Mieczkowski, Thomas

2014-04-01

General strain theory (GST) is an established criminological theory. Although the theory has been examined by many and enjoys empirical support, some limitations of previous studies need to be addressed. Many previous studies rely heavily on samples from Western countries, mostly the United States; thus, possible cultural influences are ignored. Although a few studies have moved forward by using subjects from Asia (e.g., China, Korea), these studies only provide empirical results regarding whether GST is applicable in other cultures. However, these studies do not directly compare Western and Eastern countries. The present study used two samples from the United States and Taiwan to directly compare and contrast central GST propositions. Although most of the GST propositions are found to be similar between the U.S. and Taiwanese juveniles, some differences were also discovered. Explanation of these similarities and differences from their cultural perspectives are offered in this study.

Identifying thematic roles from neural representations measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Wang, Jing; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Yang, Ying; Chang, Kai-Min Kevin; Vargas, Robert; Diana, Nicholas; Just, Marcel Adam

2016-01-01

The generativity and complexity of human thought stem in large part from the ability to represent relations among concepts and form propositions. The current study reveals how a given object such as rabbit is neurally encoded differently and identifiably depending on whether it is an agent ("the rabbit punches the monkey") or a patient ("the monkey punches the rabbit"). Machine-learning classifiers were trained on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data evoked by a set of short videos that conveyed agent-verb-patient propositions. When tested on a held-out video, the classifiers were able to reliably identify the thematic role of an object from its associated fMRI activation pattern. Moreover, when trained on one subset of the study participants, classifiers reliably identified the thematic roles in the data of a left-out participant (mean accuracy = .66), indicating that the neural representations of thematic roles were common across individuals.

California's Proposition 186: lessons from a single-payer health care reform ballot initiative campaign.

PubMed

Farey, K; Lingappa, V R

1996-01-01

Proposition 186 was an initiative on the November 1994 California ballot which proposed to establish a state single-payer health care program. Although Prop 186 was overwhelmingly defeated in the November 1994 election (73% No, 27% Yes), it accomplished many things. Model legislation was developed showing the feasibility of a specific single-payer program for California. It was placed on the ballot by an unprecedented volunteer signature-gathering effort and was the largest grassroots political campaign fund-raising effort in California history. A novel strategy for the discussion of complex issues through 1500 house parties was launched. Prop 186 was defeated by an insurance industry-led coalition with an anti-government message. Lessons for future efforts include increasing the size and duration of the grassroots organizing and educational effort, and decreasing reliance on conventional political campaign tactics and the mainstream media.

What can we learn from corporate sustainability reporting? Deriving propositions for research and practice from over 9,500 corporate sustainability reports published between 1999 and 2015 using topic modelling technique.

PubMed

Székely, Nadine; Vom Brocke, Jan

2017-01-01

Organizations are increasingly using sustainability reports to inform their stakeholders and the public about their sustainability practices. We apply topic modelling to 9,514 sustainability reports published between 1999 and 2015 in order to identify common topics and, thus, the most common practices described in these reports. In particular, we identify forty-two topics that reflect sustainability and focus on the coverage and trends of economic, environmental, and social sustainability topics. Among the first to analyse such a large amount of data on organizations' sustainability reporting, the paper serves as an example of how to apply natural language processing as a strategy of inquiry in sustainability research. The paper also derives from the data analysis ten propositions for future research and practice that are of immediate value for organizations and researchers.

How did Archimedes discover the law of buoyancy by experiment?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuroki, Hidetaka

2016-03-01

After Archimedes and Vitruvius era, for more than 2000 years, it has been believed that the displaced water measurement of golden crown is impossible, and at his Eureka moment, Archimedes discovered the law of buoyancy (Proposition 7 of his principles) and proved the theft of a goldsmith by weighing the golden crown in water. A previous study showed that a small amount of displaced water was able to be measured with enough accuracy by the introduced method. Archimedes measured the weight of displaced water. He did not find the law of buoyancy but rather specific gravity of things at the moment. After which, Archimedes continued to measure the specific gravity of various solids and fluids. Through these measurements, he reached the discovery of the law of buoyancy directly by experiment. In this paper, the process to the discovery of Archimedes' principle (Proposition 5) is presented.

Answer Sets in a Fuzzy Equilibrium Logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schockaert, Steven; Janssen, Jeroen; Vermeir, Dirk; de Cock, Martine

Since its introduction, answer set programming has been generalized in many directions, to cater to the needs of real-world applications. As one of the most general “classical” approaches, answer sets of arbitrary propositional theories can be defined as models in the equilibrium logic of Pearce. Fuzzy answer set programming, on the other hand, extends answer set programming with the capability of modeling continuous systems. In this paper, we combine the expressiveness of both approaches, and define answer sets of arbitrary fuzzy propositional theories as models in a fuzzification of equilibrium logic. We show that the resulting notion of answer set is compatible with existing definitions, when the syntactic restrictions of the corresponding approaches are met. We furthermore locate the complexity of the main reasoning tasks at the second level of the polynomial hierarchy. Finally, as an illustration of its modeling power, we show how fuzzy equilibrium logic can be used to find strong Nash equilibria.

The Temporal Structure of Scientific Consensus Formation

PubMed Central

Shwed, Uri; Bearman, Peter S.

2011-01-01

This article engages with problems that are usually opaque: What trajectories do scientific debates assume, when does a scientific community consider a proposition to be a fact, and how can we know that? We develop a strategy for evaluating the state of scientific contestation on issues. The analysis builds from Latour’s black box imagery, which we observe in scientific citation networks. We show that as consensus forms, the importance of internal divisions to the overall network structure declines. We consider substantive cases that are now considered facts, such as the carcinogenicity of smoking and the non-carcinogenicity of coffee. We then employ the same analysis to currently contested cases: the suspected carcinogenicity of cellular phones, and the relationship between vaccines and autism. Extracting meaning from the internal structure of scientific knowledge carves a niche for renewed sociological commentary on science, revealing a typology of trajectories that scientific propositions may experience en route to consensus. PMID:21886269

Experiments to Distribute Map Generalization Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berli, Justin; Touya, Guillaume; Lokhat, Imran; Regnauld, Nicolas

2018-05-01

Automatic map generalization requires the use of computationally intensive processes often unable to deal with large datasets. Distributing the generalization process is the only way to make them scalable and usable in practice. But map generalization is a highly contextual process, and the surroundings of a generalized map feature needs to be known to generalize the feature, which is a problem as distribution might partition the dataset and parallelize the processing of each part. This paper proposes experiments to evaluate the past propositions to distribute map generalization, and to identify the main remaining issues. The past propositions to distribute map generalization are first discussed, and then the experiment hypotheses and apparatus are described. The experiments confirmed that regular partitioning was the quickest strategy, but also the less effective in taking context into account. The geographical partitioning, though less effective for now, is quite promising regarding the quality of the results as it better integrates the geographical context.

Language decline across the life span: findings from the Nun Study.

PubMed

Kemper, S; Greiner, L H; Marquis, J G; Prenovost, K; Mitzner, T L

2001-06-01

The present study examines language samples from the Nun Study. Measures of grammatical complexity and idea density were obtained from autobiographies written over a 60-year span. Participants who had met criteria for dementia were contrasted with those who did not. Grammatical complexity initially averaged 4.78 (on a 0-to-7-point scale) for participants who did not meet criteria for dementia and declined .04 units per year; grammatical complexity for participants who met criteria for dementia initially averaged 3.86 and declined .03 units per year. Idea density averaged 5.35 propositions per 10 words initially for participants who did not meet criteria for dementia and declined an average of .03 units per year, whereas idea density averaged 4.34 propositions per 10 words initially for participants who met criteria for dementia and declined .02 units per year. Adult experiences, in general, did not moderate these declines.

Euclidization in the Almagestum parvum.

PubMed

Zepeda, Henry

2015-01-01

The Almagestum parvum, a summary of Ptolemy's Almagest written around the year 1200, provided a new stylistic framework for the content of theAlmagest's first six books. The author of the Almagestum parvum used a narrower range of types of mathematical writing and supplied his work with principles, which were listed at the beginning of each book and which were followed by propositions and demonstrations. Specific values were to a large extent replaced by general quantities, which would stand for a class of particulars. These and similar changes in the Almagestum parvum reveal the author's concern with reshaping astronomy into a discipline in the mold of Euclid's Elements, which emphasized the generality of propositions and proofs and connected Ptolemaic astronomy to the "mathematical toolbox" available in the Middle Ages. The Almagestum parvum was an influential part of a larger trend of understanding Ptolemaic astronomy in a non-Ptolemaic style.

Age-related differences in idea generation and selection for propositional language.

PubMed

Madden, Daniel L; Sale, Martin V; Robinson, Gail A

2018-05-21

Conceptual preparation mechanisms such as novel idea generation and selection from amongst competing alternatives are critical for language production and may contribute to age-related language deficits. This study investigated whether older adults show diminished idea generation and selection abilities, compared to younger adults. Twenty younger (18-35 years) and 20 older (60-80 years) adults completed two novel experimental tasks, an idea generation task and a selection task. Older participants were slower than younger participants overall on both tasks. Importantly, this difference was more pronounced for task conditions with greater demands on generation and selection. Older adults were also significantly reduced on a semantic, but not phonemic, word fluency task. Overall, the older group showed evidence of age-related decline specific to idea generation and selection ability. This has implications for the message formulation stage of propositional language decline in normal aging.

Racism and the older voter? Arizona's rejection of a paid holiday to honor Martin Luther King.

PubMed

Kastenbaum, R

1991-01-01

Two propositions that would have established a paid Martin Luther King holiday were defeated in Arizona's statewide elections of November 6, 1990. Communities and counties with high proportions of senior adult voters cast proportionately more votes against these propositions. Was this an example of racism among the primarily anglo senior adult voters of Arizona? Three models were proposed to account for the general pattern of election-related behavior as well as the vote itself: 1) proactive racist, 2) pragmatic self-interest, and 3) fortress mentality. It was suggested that proactive racism and pragmatic self-interest accounted for less of the opposition to a paid holiday honoring Martin Luther King than did a fortress mentality that has developed through a combination of circumstances. Attention is also given to the larger question of senior adults as perpetrators as well as victims of bigotry.

Working Safely at Some Times and Unsafely at Others: A Typology and Within-Person Process Model of Safety-Related Work Behaviors.

PubMed

Beus, Jeremy M; Taylor, William D

2017-06-22

Why do individuals choose to work safely in some instances and unsafely in others? Though this inherently within-person question is straightforward, the preponderance of between-person theory and research in the workplace safety literature is not equipped to answer it. Additionally, the limited way in which safety-related behaviors tend to be conceptualized further restricts understanding of why individuals vary in their safety-related actions. We use a goal-focused approach to conceptually address this question of behavioral variability and contribute to workplace safety research in 2 key ways. First, we establish an updated typology of safety-related behaviors that differentiates behaviors based on goal choice (i.e., safe vs. unsafe behaviors), goal-directedness (i.e., intentional vs. unintentional behaviors), and the means of goal pursuit (i.e., commission vs. omission and promotion vs. prevention-focused behaviors). Second, using an expectancy-value theoretical framework to explain variance in goal choice, we establish within-person propositions stating that safety-related goal choice and subsequent behaviors are a function of the target of safety-related behaviors, the instrumentality and resource requirement of behaviors, and the perceived severity, likelihood, and immediacy of the threats associated with behaviors. Taken together, we define what safety-related behaviors are, explain how they differ, and offer propositions concerning when and why they may vary within-persons. We explore potential between-person moderators of our theoretical propositions and discuss the practical implications of our typology and process model of safety-related behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Culture and alcohol use: historical and sociocultural themes from 75 years of alcohol research.

PubMed

Castro, Felipe Gonzalez; Barrera, Manuel; Mena, Laura A; Aguirre, Katherine M

2014-01-01

For the period of almost 75 years, we examined the literature for studies regarding the influences of culture on alcohol use and misuse. This review is a chronology of research articles published from 1940 to 2013. From a structured literature search with select criteria, 38 articles were identified and 34 reviewed. This analysis revealed a progression across this period of research from studies that began as descriptive ethnographic evaluations of one or more indigenous societies or cultural groups, evolving to studies using complex multivariate models to test cross-cultural effects in two or more cultural groups. Major findings across this period include the assertions that (a) a function of alcohol use may be to reduce anxiety, (b) certain cultural groups possess features of alcohol use that are not associated with negative consequences, (c) the disruptive effects of acculturative change and the stressors of new demands are associated with an increase in alcohol consumption, (d) cultural groups shape expectations about the effects of alcohol use and their definition of drunkenness, and (e) the hypothesized relationships of culture with alcohol use and misuse have been demonstrated in multivariate model analyses. Across this 75-year period, the early proposition that culture is an important and prominent correlate of alcohol use and misuse has persisted. Within the current era of alcohol studies, this proposition has been supported by multivariate model analyses. Thus, the proposition that culture might affect alcohol use remains prominent and is as relevant today as it was when it was first proposed nearly 75 years ago.

An updated and conservative systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence on psychotic experiences in children and adults: on the pathway from proneness to persistence to dimensional expression across mental disorders.

PubMed

Linscott, R J; van Os, J

2013-06-01

The psychosis-proneness-persistence-impairment model of psychotic disorder incorporates notions of both phenomenological and temporal continuity (persistence) of psychotic experiences (PE), but not structural continuity. Specific testable propositions of phenomenological continuity and persistence are identified. Method Propositions are tested by systematic reviews of the epidemiology of PE, persistence of PE and disorder outcomes, and meta-analyses (including Monte Carlo permutation sampling, MCPS) of reported rates and odds ratios (ORs). Estimates of the incidence and prevalence of PE obtained from 61 cohorts revealed a median annual incidence of 2.5% and a prevalence of 7.2%. Meta-analysis of risk factors identified age, minority or migrant status, income, education, employment, marital status, alcohol use, cannabis use, stress, urbanicity and family history of mental illness as important predictors of PE. The mode of assessment accounted for significant variance in the observed rates. Across cohorts, the probability of persistence was very strongly related to the rate of PE at baseline. Of those who report PE, ∼20% go on to experience persistent PE whereas for ∼80%, PE remit over time. Of those with baseline PE, 7.4% develop a psychotic disorder outcome. Compelling support is found for the phenomenological and temporal continuity between PE and psychotic disorder and for the fundamental proposition that this relationship is probabilistic. However, imprecision in epidemiological research design, measurement limitations and the epiphenomenological nature of PE invite further robust scrutiny of the continuity theory.

Information infrastructure for consumer health: a health information exchange stakeholder study.

PubMed

Thornewill, Judah; Dowling, Alan F; Cox, Barbara A; Esterhay, Robert J

2011-05-01

An enabling infrastructure for population-wide health information capture and transfer is beginning to emerge in the U.S. However, the essential infrastructure component that is still missing is effective health information exchange (HIE). Health record banks (HRBs) are one of several possible approaches to achieving HIE. Is the approach viable? If so, what requirements must be satisfied in order for it to succeed? The research, conducted in 2007-2008, explored HRB-related interests, concerns, benefits, payment preferences, design requirements, value propositions, and challenges for 12 healthcare stakeholder groups and the consumers they serve in a U.S. metropolitan area of 1.3 million people. A mixed-methods design was developed in a community action research context. Data were gathered and analyzed through 23 focus groups, 13 web surveys, a consumer phone survey (nonstratified random sample) and follow-up meetings. Recruiting goals for leaders representing targeted groups were achieved using a multi-channel communications strategy. Key themes were identified through data triangulation. Then, requirements, value propositions and challenges were developed through iterative processes of interaction with community members. Results include key themes, design requirements, value propositions, and challenges for 12 stakeholder groups and consumers. The research provides a framework for developing a consumer permission-driven, financially sustainable, community HRB model. However, for such a model to flourish, it will need to be part of a nationwide network of HIEs with compatible HRB approaches able to overcome a number of challenges. Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Twitter analysis of California’s failed campaign to raise the state’s tobacco tax by popular vote in 2012

PubMed Central

Feng, Miao; Pierce, John P; Szczypka, Glen; Vera, Lisa; Emery, Sherry

2017-01-01

Background The rapid diffusion of social media in the past decade has allowed community members to sway the discourse on elections. We use analyses of social media to provide insight into why the strong public support 1 year prior to the election did not result in an increased tobacco tax from the 2012 California Proposition 29 vote. Methods Using the Twitter historical Firehose, we chose all tweets on Proposition 29 posted between 1 January and 5 June 2012 differentiating between early and late campaign periods. Tweets were coded for valence, theme and source. We analysed metadata to characterise accounts. Television ratings data in 9 major California media markets were used to show the strength of the 2 campaigns. Results ‘No on 29’ launched television advertising earlier and with much higher household gross rating points (GRPs) than the ‘Yes on 29’ campaign. Among 17 099 relevant tweets from 8769 unique accounts, 53% supported Proposition 29, 27% opposed and 20% were neutral. Just under half (43%) were from accounts affiliated with the campaigns. Two-thirds of campaign messages originated outside California. The ‘Yes’ campaign focused on simple health messages, which were equally represented in both campaign periods. However, anti-tax tweets increased at relative to pro-tax tweets in the second period. Conclusions Although the Prop 29 campaigns did not effectively engage the Californian twitter communities, analysis of tweets provided an earlier indication than public polls of the loss of public supporting this election. Prospective Twitter analysis should be added to campaign evaluation strategies. PMID:27601452

Negation, questions, and structure building in a homesign system

PubMed Central

Franklin, Amy; Giannakidou, Anastasia; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2013-01-01

Deaf children whose hearing losses are so severe that they cannot acquire spoken language, and whose hearing parents have not exposed them to sign language, use gestures called homesigns to communicate. Homesigns have been shown to contain many of the properties of natural languages. Here we ask whether homesign has structure building devices for negation and questions. We identify two meanings (negation, question) that correspond semantically to propositional functions, that is, to functions that apply to a sentence (whose semantic value is a proposition, φ) and yield another proposition that is more complex (¬φ for negation; ?φ for question). Combining φ with¬ or ? thus involves sentence modification. We propose that these negative and question functions are structure building operators, and we support this claim with data from an American homesigner. We show that: (a) each meaning is marked by a particular form in the child’s gesture system (side-to-side headshake for negation, manual flip for question); (b) the two markers occupy systematic, and different, positions at the periphery of the gesture sentences (headshake at the beginning, flip at the end); and (c) the flip is extended from questions to other uses associated with the wh-form (exclamatives, referential expressions of location) and thus functions like a category in natural languages. If what we see in homesign is a language creation process (Goldin-Meadow, 2003), and if negation and question formation involve sentential modification, then our analysis implies that homesign has at least this minimal sentential syntax. Our findings thus contribute to ongoing debates about properties that are fundamental to language and language learning. PMID:23630971

Organizational intellectual capital and the role of the nurse manager: A proposed conceptual model.

PubMed

Gilbert, Jason H; Von Ah, Diane; Broome, Marion E

Nurse managers must leverage both the human capital and social capital of the teams they lead in order to produce quality outcomes. Little is known about the relationship between human capital and social capital and how these concepts may work together to produce organizational outcomes through leadership of nurses. The purpose of this article was to explore the concepts of human capital and social capital as they relate to nursing leadership in health care organizations. Specific aims included (a) to synthesize the literature related to human capital and social capital in leadership, (b) to refine the conceptual definitions of human capital and social capital with associated conceptual antecedents and consequences, and (c) to propose a synthesized conceptual model guiding further empirical research of social capital and human capital in nursing leadership. A systematic integrative review of leadership literature using criteria informed by Whittemore and Knafl (2005) was completed. CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, Health Business FullTEXT, MEDLINE, and PsychINFO databases were searched for the years 1995 to 2016 using terms "human capital," "social capital," and "management." Analysis of conceptual definitions, theoretical and conceptual models, antecedents and consequences, propositions or hypotheses, and empirical support for 37 articles fitting review criteria resulted in the synthesis of the proposed Gilbert Conceptual Model of Organizational Intellectual Capital. The Gilbert Conceptual Model of Organizational Intellectual Capital advances the propositions of human capital theory and social capital theory and is the first model to conceptualize the direct and moderating effects that nurse leaders have on the human capital and social capital of the teams they lead. This model provides a framework for further empirical study and may have implications for practice, organizational policy, and education related to nursing leadership. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Equal Plate Charges on Series Capacitors?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illman, B. L.; Carlson, G. T.

1994-01-01

Provides a line of reasoning in support of the contention that the equal charge proposition is at best an approximation. Shows how the assumption of equal plate charge on capacitors in series contradicts the conservative nature of the electric field. (ZWH)

A Reconceptualization of Continuity Theory: Some Preliminary Thoughts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Covey, Herbert C.

1981-01-01

Describes continuity theory, as emphasizing the interaction between individual characteristics and the social structure. Presents three propositions concerning social role restrictivness and maintenance in older adults. Considers psychological, sociological, physiological, and educational influences on elder's social behavior. (JAC)

Representation in Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rumelhart, David E.; Norman, Donald A.

This paper reviews work on the representation of knowledge from within psychology and artificial intelligence. The work covers the nature of representation, the distinction between the represented world and the representing world, and significant issues concerned with propositional, analogical, and superpositional representations. Specific topics…

The Scientific Response to Creationism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cracraft, Joel

1982-01-01

Examines proposition that creationism is legitimate science, including philosophical basis of that claim and methods used to discredit contemporary scientific thought. Discusses creationist's arguments against scientific findings related to second law of thermodynamics, improbability of evolution, earth's age, geological record, fossil transitions…

Social Media in Emergency Management: Capability Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-01

blank. iv DRDC-RDDC-2014-R16 Table of contents Abstract...iii Table of contents ...innovation. 2. The decision makers being generally unaware of the value of SMEM – the value proposition of SMEM needs to be clearly communicated including

Stimulus control in a two-choice discrimination procedure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galloway, W. D.

1973-01-01

Experimental investigation upon pigeons of the relation between performance during discriminative training and subsequently obtained stimulus control test results. The results obtained support the proposition that bias generated by training dependencies is a major determiner of stimulus control.

[Retention and biomechanics of retentive complexes. 3. The Kratochvil school and current retentive complexes].

PubMed

Enrique Fernández, M; Jacques Grimonster, L

1989-04-01

The authors analyse the biomechanical bases of the Kratochvil "retentive complex" and show how they have induced the nowadays north-american propositions (RPI & RPA). They compare them to the european ones (Nally-Martinet).

Associations and propositions: the case for a dual-process account of learning in humans.

PubMed

McLaren, I P L; Forrest, C L D; McLaren, R P; Jones, F W; Aitken, M R F; Mackintosh, N J

2014-02-01

We review evidence that supports the conclusion that people can and do learn in two distinct ways - one associative, the other propositional. No one disputes that we solve problems by testing hypotheses and inducing underlying rules, so the issue amounts to deciding whether there is evidence that we (and other animals) also rely on a simpler, associative system, that detects the frequency of occurrence of different events in our environment and the contingencies between them. There is neuroscientific evidence that associative learning occurs in at least some animals (e.g., Aplysia californica), so it must be the case that associative learning has evolved. Since both associative and propositional theories can in principle account for many instances of successful learning, the problem is then to show that there are at least some cases where the two classes of theory predict different outcomes. We offer a demonstration of cue competition effects in humans under incidental conditions as evidence against the argument that all such effects are based on cognitive inference. The latter supposition would imply that if the necessary information is unavailable to inference then no cue competition should occur. We then discuss the case of unblocking by reinforcer omission, where associative theory predicts an irrational solution to the problem, and consider the phenomenon of the Perruchet effect, in which conscious expectancy and conditioned response dissociate. Further discussion makes use of evidence that people will sometimes provide one solution to a problem when it is presented to them in summary form, and another when they are presented in rapid succession with trial-by trial information. We also demonstrate that people trained on a discrimination may show a peak shift (predicted by associative theory), but given the time and opportunity to detect the relationships between S+ and S-, show rule-based behavior instead. Finally, we conclude by presenting evidence that research on individual differences suggests that variation in intelligence and explicit problem solving ability are quite unrelated to variation in implicit (associative) learning, and briefly consider the computational implications of our argument, by asking how both associative and propositional processes can be accommodated within a single framework for cognition. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Active x-ray optics for high resolution space telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doel, Peter; Atkins, Carolyn; Brooks, D.; Feldman, Charlotte; Willingale, Richard; Button, Tim; Rodriguez Sanmartin, Daniel; Meggs, Carl; James, Ady; Willis, Graham; Smith, Andy

2017-11-01

The Smart X-ray Optics (SXO) Basic Technology project started in April 2006 and will end in October 2010. The aim is to develop new technologies in the field of X-ray focusing, in particular the application of active and adaptive optics. While very major advances have been made in active/adaptive astronomical optics for visible light, little was previously achieved for X-ray optics where the technological challenges differ because of the much shorter wavelengths involved. The field of X-ray astronomy has been characterized by the development and launch of ever larger observatories with the culmination in the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra missions which are currently operational. XMM-Newton uses a multi-nested structure to provide modest angular resolution ( 10 arcsec) but large effective area, while Chandra sacrifices effective area to achieve the optical stability necessary to provide sub-arc second resolution. Currently the European Space Agency (ESA) is engaged in studies of the next generation of X-ray space observatories, with the aim of producing telescopes with increased sensitivity and resolution. To achieve these aims several telescopes have been proposed, for example ESA and NASA's combined International X-ray Observatory (IXO), aimed at spectroscopy, and NASA's Generation-X. In the field of X-ray astronomy sub 0.2 arcsecond resolution with high efficiency would be very exciting. Such resolution is unlikely to be achieved by anything other than an active system. The benefits of a such a high resolution would be important for a range of astrophysics subjects, for example the potential angular resolution offered by active X-ray optics could provide unprecedented structural imaging detail of the Solar Wind bowshock interaction of comets, planets and similar objects and auroral phenomena throughout the Solar system using an observing platform in low Earth orbit. A major aim of the SXO project was to investigate the production of thin actively controlled grazing incident optics for the next generation of X-ray space telescopes. Currently telescope systems are limited in the resolution and sensitivity by the optical quality of the thin shell optics used. As part of its research programme an actively controlled prototype X-ray thin shell telescope optic of dimensions 30x10cm has been developed to bench test the technology. The design is based on thin nickel shells bonded to shaped piezo-electric unimorph actuators made from lead zirconate titanate (PZT).

Dissecting Practical Intelligence Theory: Its Claims and Evidence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottfredson, Linda S.

2003-01-01

The two key theoretical propositions of "Practical Intelligence in Everyday Life" are made plausible only if one ignores considerable evidence contradicting them. The six key empirical claims rest primarily on the illusion of evidence enhanced by selective reporting of results. (SLD)

Appeals That Pack a Punch.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friesen, Patricia

1993-01-01

College alumni association mailings can be made more successful by targeting the audiences, delivering a strong proposition to readers, choosing a forceful format, and creating impressive copy. Efforts of the University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, and Southern Methodist University illustrate these principles. (MSE)

Semantique et psychologie (Semantics and Psychology)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Le Ny, Jean-Francois

1975-01-01

Semantic activities constitute a sub-class of psychological activities; from this point of departure the article discusses such topics as: idiosyncrasies, meaning and causality, internal determinants, neo-associationism, componential theories, noun- and verb-formation, sentences and propositions, semantics and cognition, mnemesic compontents, and…

Towards the Professionalization of Teaching in Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obidi, Sam S.

1975-01-01

An argument is made for the professionalization of teachers in Africa, based on the proposition that the student-teacher relationship is similar to the doctor-patient relationship. Teachers' associations must work to professionalize teaching in order to promote societal development. (LBH)

ISPI's Value Proposition: Two Examples.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swinney, John

2003-01-01

Describes two experiences that illustrate the value of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Highlights include measuring organizational results; identifying opportunities to improve performance; training as part of the solution; the role of ISD (instructional systems design); HPT (human performance technology) issues; and…

Structural Constraints On The Spatial Distribution of Aftershocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCloskey, J.; Nalbant, S. S.; Steacy, S.; Nostro, C.; Scotti, O.; Baumont, D.

Real-time, forward modelling of spatial distributions of potentially damaging after- shocks by calculating stress perturbations due to large earthquakes may produce so- cially useful, time- dependent hazard estimates in the foreseeable future. Such calcula- tions, however, rely on the resolution of a stress perturbation tensor (SPT) onto planes whose geometry is unknown and decisions as to the orientations of these planes have a first order effect on the geometry of the resulting hazard distributions. Commonly, these decisions are based on the assumption that structures optimally oriented for fail- ure in the regional stress field, exist everywhere and stress maps are produced by resolving onto these orientations. Here we investigate this proposition using a 3D cal- culation for the optimally oriented planes (OOPs) for the 1992 Landers earthquake (M = 7.3). We examine the encouraged mechanisms as a function of location and show that enhancement for failure exists over a much wider area than in the equivalent, and more usual, 2.5D calculations. Mechanisms predicted in these areas are not consistent with the local structural geology, however, and corresponding aftershocks are gener- ally not observed. We argue that best hazard estimates will result from geometrically restricted versions of the OOP concept in which observed structure constrains possible orientations for failure.

A Current Review of the Meniscus Imaging: Proposition of a Useful Tool for Its Radiologic Analysis

PubMed Central

Lefevre, Nicolas; Naouri, Jean Francois; Herman, Serge; Gerometta, Antoine; Klouche, Shahnaz; Bohu, Yoann

2016-01-01

The main objective of this review was to present a synthesis of the current literature in order to provide a useful tool to clinician in radiologic analysis of the meniscus. All anatomical descriptions were clearly illustrated by MRI, arthroscopy, and/or drawings. The value of standard radiography is extremely limited for the assessment of meniscal injuries but may be indicated to obtain a differential diagnosis such as osteoarthritis. Ultrasound is rarely used as a diagnostic tool for meniscal pathologies and its accuracy is operator-dependent. CT arthrography with multiplanar reconstructions can detect meniscus tears that are not visible on MRI. This technique is also useful in case of MRI contraindications, in postoperative assessment of meniscal sutures and the condition of cartilage covering the articular surfaces. MRI is the most accurate and less invasive method for diagnosing meniscal lesions. MRI allows confirming and characterizing the meniscal lesion, the type, the extension, its association with a cyst, the meniscal extrusion, and assessing cartilage and subchondral bone. New 3D-MRI in three dimensions with isotropic resolution allows the creation of multiplanar reformatted images to obtain from an acquisition in one sectional plane reconstructions in other spatial planes. 3D MRI should further improve the diagnosis of meniscal tears. PMID:27057352

Global economic potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from mangrove loss.

PubMed

Siikamäki, Juha; Sanchirico, James N; Jardine, Sunny L

2012-09-04

Mangroves are among the most threatened and rapidly disappearing natural environments worldwide. In addition to supporting a wide range of other ecological and economic functions, mangroves store considerable carbon. Here, we consider the global economic potential for protecting mangroves based exclusively on their carbon. We develop unique high-resolution global estimates (5' grid, about 9 × 9 km) of the projected carbon emissions from mangrove loss and the cost of avoiding the emissions. Using these spatial estimates, we derive global and regional supply curves (marginal cost curves) for avoided emissions. Under a broad range of assumptions, we find that the majority of potential emissions from mangroves could be avoided at less than $10 per ton of CO(2). Given the recent range of market price for carbon offsets and the cost of reducing emissions from other sources, this finding suggests that protecting mangroves for their carbon is an economically viable proposition. Political-economy considerations related to the ability of doing business in developing countries, however, can severely limit the supply of offsets and increases their price per ton. We also find that although a carbon-focused conservation strategy does not automatically target areas most valuable for biodiversity, implementing a biodiversity-focused strategy would only slightly increase the costs.

Final Report: Closeout of the Award NO. DE-FG02-98ER62618 (M.S. Fox-Rabinovitz, P.I.)

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

Fox-Rabinovitz, M. S.

The final report describes the study aimed at exploring the variable-resolution stretched-grid (SG) approach to decadal regional climate modeling using advanced numerical techniques. The obtained results have shown that variable-resolution SG-GCMs using stretched grids with fine resolution over the area(s) of interest, is a viable established approach to regional climate modeling. The developed SG-GCMs have been extensively used for regional climate experimentation. The SG-GCM simulations are aimed at studying the U.S. regional climate variability with an emphasis on studying anomalous summer climate events, the U.S. droughts and floods.

Critical Thinking and Constructivism: Mambo Dog Fish to the Banana Patch

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boghossian, Peter

2012-01-01

Constructivist pedagogies cannot achieve their critical thinking ambitions. Constructivism, and constructivist epistemological presuppositions, actively thwarts the critical thinking process. Using Wittgenstein's private language argument, this paper argues that corrective mechanisms--the ability to correct a student's propositions and cognitions…

Evaluating Educative Temporary Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickinson, Gary; Lamoureux, Marvin E.

1975-01-01

The framework of temporary systems theory was the basis for forming theoretical units and propositions pertaining to the outcomes of intensive adult education programs. Empirical indicators and research hypotheses were then developed and applied in the 1972 residential program of the Labour College of Canada. (Author)

Paradox and Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Covaleskie, John

2017-01-01

In this article, John Covaleskie briefly sketches a set of interlocking propositions about democratic education. First, he argues that "democratic life places moral demands on those who hold the office of citizen": democratic citizenship requires a certain degree of particular virtues, where virtue requires the development of both…

Bonds Boom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Cathryn

1989-01-01

The combined effect of the "Serrano" decision and Proposition 13 left California school districts with aging, overcrowded facilities. Chico schools won a $18.5 million general obligation bond election for facilities construction. With $11 billion needed for new school construction, California will need to tap local sources. A sidebar…

Constraining Assertion: An Account of Context-Sensitivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villanueva Chigne, Eduardo

2012-01-01

Many philosophers believe that if "S" is an unambiguous, context-sensitive, declarative sentence and "p" is a proposition asserted (without conversational implicatures) by a literal utterance of "S" in a context "c," then "p" is fully determined by the linguistic meaning of "S" in…

Pronominal Outlaws.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Julie

While rhetoric is conventionally associated with argumentation and discussions of discrete language forms (such as pronouns) which are usually housed in lingustics, clearly there are forms of rhetoric that are not obviously propositional. Moreover, sometimes very small language units can be deployed to great persuasive effect. Muriel Rukeyser's…

Reciprocity of Interpersonal Attraction: A Confirmed Hypothesis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Voie, Lawrence; Kenny, David A.

An increase in reciprocity of interpersonal attraction during the early acquaintance period followed by continuing social reciprocity are propositions that are central principles of several social psychological viewpoints. However, there is little empirical evidence of increasing reciprocity of interpersonal attraction over time. Two potential…

TOWARDS AN AUTOMATED TOOL FOR CHANNEL-NETWORK CHARACTERIZATIONS, MODELING, AND ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Detailed characterization of channel networks for hydrologic and geomorphic models has traditionally been a difficult and expensive proposition, and lack of information has thus been a common limitation of modeling efforts. With the advent of datasets derived from high-resolutio...

Story Retelling Used with Average and Learning Disabled Readers as a Measure of Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Cheryl L.

1978-01-01

A method for quantifying story retells, called proposition analysis, was used to study the reading comprehension performances of 34 learning disabled and normal fifth and sixth graders. Journal availability: see EC 112 927. (DLS) 927

Planning for Public Schools--Infrastructure Fee and Developer Responsibilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirschenstein, Joel

1980-01-01

Proposition 13 and other legislation have adversely affected finances available for school planning. Suggested solutions included early involvement of development teams with community and district planning staffs and the use of advisory committees and professional private-sector research consulting firms. (MLF)

Femme Fatale 2010

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

opposition to the issue of women in combat. The Way Backward Although the US military currently uti - lizes female Soldiers in Iraq and Afghani- stan to...57 At the heart of the debate over women in combat remain three basic propositions. First, female physical capabilities, including pregnancy issues

Use of off-the-shelf PC-based flight simulators for aviation human factors research.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-04-01

Flight simulation has historically been an expensive proposition, particularly if out-the-window views were desired. Advances in computer technology have allowed a modular, off-the-shelf flight simulation (based on 80486 processors or Pentiums) to be...

Metaphor and Knowing: Analysis, Synthesis, Rationale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rico, Gabriele Lusser

Evidence is presented to indicate that human knowing involves both a propositional mode stressing discourse, sequence, and logic and an appositional mode characterized by metaphoric constructs, holistic relationships, and the capacity to process many variables simultaneously. Separate sections discuss our culture's heavy emphasis on propositional…

Manage customer-centric innovation--systematically.

PubMed

Selden, Larry; MacMillan, Ian C

2006-04-01

No matter how hard companies try, their approaches to innovation often don't grow the top line in the sustained, profitable way investors expect. For many companies, there's a huge difference between what's in their business plans and the market's expectations for growth (as reflected in firms' share prices, market capitalizations, and P/E ratios). This growth gap springs from the fact that companies are pouring money into their insular R&D labs instead of working to understand what the customer wants and using that understanding to drive innovation. As a result, even companies that spend the most on R&D remain starved for both customer innovation and market-capitalization growth. In this article, the authors spell out a systematic approach to innovation that continuously fuels sustained, profitable growth. They call this approach customer-centric innovation, or CCI. At the heart of CCI is a rigorous customer R&D process that helps companies to continually improve their understanding of who their customers are and what they need. By so doing, they consistently create or improve their customer value proposition. Customer R&D also focuses on better ways of communicating value propositions and delivering the complete experience to real customers. Since so much of the learning about customers and so much of the experimentation with different segmentations, value propositions, and delivery mechanisms involve the people who regularly deal with customers, it is absolutely essential for frontline employees to be at the center of the CCI process. Simply put, customer R&D propels the innovation effort away from headquarters and the traditional R&D lab out to those closest to the customer. Using the example of the luggage manufacturer Tumi, the authors provide a step-by-step approach for achieving true customer-centric innovation.

Health system strengthening: prospects and threats for its sustainability on the global health policy agenda.

PubMed

Naimoli, Joseph F; Saxena, Sweta; Hatt, Laurel E; Yarrow, Kristina M; White, Trenton M; Ifafore-Calfee, Temitayo

2018-01-01

In 2013, Hafner and Shiffman applied Kingdon's public policy process model to explain the emergence of global attention to health system strengthening (HSS). They questioned, however, HSS's sustainability on the global health policy agenda, citing various concerns. Guided by the Grindle and Thomas interactive model of policy implementation, we advance and elaborate a proposition: a confluence of developments will contribute to maintaining HSS's prominent place on the agenda until at least 2030. Those developments include (1) technical, managerial, financial, and political responses to unpredictable public health crises that imperil the routine functioning of health systems, such as the 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease (Ebola) epidemic in West Africa; (2) similar responses to non-crisis situations requiring fully engaged, robust health systems, such as the pursuit of the new Sustainable Development Goal for health (SDG3); and (3) increased availability of new knowledge about system change at macro, meso, and micro levels and its effects on people's health and well-being. To gauge the accuracy of our proposition, we carried out a speculative assessment of credible threats to our premise by discussing all of the Hafner-Shiffman concerns. We conclude that (1) the components of our proposition and other forces that have the potential to promote continuing attention to HSS are of sufficient strength to counteract these concerns, and (2) prospective monitoring of HSS agenda status and further research on agenda sustainability can increase confidence in our threat assessment. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Twitter analysis of California's failed campaign to raise the state's tobacco tax by popular vote in 2012.

PubMed

Feng, Miao; Pierce, John P; Szczypka, Glen; Vera, Lisa; Emery, Sherry

2017-07-01

The rapid diffusion of social media in the past decade has allowed community members to sway the discourse on elections. We use analyses of social media to provide insight into why the strong public support 1 year prior to the election did not result in an increased tobacco tax from the 2012 California Proposition 29 vote. Using the Twitter historical Firehose, we chose all tweets on Proposition 29 posted between 1 January and 5 June 2012 differentiating between early and late campaign periods. Tweets were coded for valence, theme and source. We analysed metadata to characterise accounts. Television ratings data in 9 major California media markets were used to show the strength of the 2 campaigns. 'No on 29' launched television advertising earlier and with much higher household gross rating points (GRPs) than the 'Yes on 29' campaign. Among 17 099 relevant tweets from 8769 unique accounts, 53% supported Proposition 29, 27% opposed and 20% were neutral. Just under half (43%) were from accounts affiliated with the campaigns. Two-thirds of campaign messages originated outside California. The 'Yes' campaign focused on simple health messages, which were equally represented in both campaign periods. However, anti-tax tweets increased at relative to pro-tax tweets in the second period. Although the Prop 29 campaigns did not effectively engage the Californian twitter communities, analysis of tweets provided an earlier indication than public polls of the loss of public supporting this election. Prospective Twitter analysis should be added to campaign evaluation strategies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Reduction of Nicardipine-Related Phlebitis in Patients with Acute Stroke by Diluting Its Concentration.

PubMed

Kawada, Kei; Ohta, Tsuyoshi; Tanaka, Koudai; Miyamoto, Norifumi

2018-03-05

Nicardipine is frequently used in the treatment of hypertension for patients with acute stroke; however, its dosing is complicated by a high risk of phlebitis. In the present study, we examined whether restricting nicardipine concentration under a specific value could reduce the incidence of nicardipine-related phlebitis in patients with acute stroke. Intravenous nicardipine-related phlebitis was retrospectively analyzed. From July 2015, a simple proposition was made to dilute maximum intravenous nicardipine concentration to lower than 130 µg/mL. The maximum intravenous nicardipine concentration and the incidence of phlebitis were compared between patients treated from July 2014 to June 2015 (preproposition group) and patients treated from July 2015 to June 2016 (postproposition group). A total of 300 patients (preproposition group, 138; postproposition group, 162) were included. The postproposition group demonstrated significantly lower maximum intravenous nicardipine concentration (in µg/mL, 76.9, 47.6-104.5 versus 130.4, 69.8-230.8; P < .001) and incidence of phlebitis (9.9%, 16/162 vs. 30%, 42/138; P < .001) than the preproposition group. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the maximum intravenous nicardipine concentration lower than 130 µg/mL (odds ratio [OR] .15; 95% confidence interval [CI] .06-.35; P < .001) and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale on admission (OR .95; 95% CI .91-.99; P = .007) were the statistically significant independent factors for phlebitis, which indicated the usefulness of the proposition to dilute maximum intravenous nicardipine concentration to lower than 130 µg/mL. The simple and appropriate proposition about nicardipine administration lowered maximum nicardipine concentration and reduced the incidence of nicardipine-related phlebitis in patients with acute stroke. Copyright © 2018 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seven propositions of the science of improvement: exploring foundations.

PubMed

Perla, Rocco J; Provost, Lloyd P; Parry, Gareth J

2013-01-01

The phrase "Science of Improvement" or "Improvement Science" is commonly used today by a range of people and professions to mean different things, creating confusion to those trying to learn about improvement. In this article, we briefly define the concepts of improvement and science, and review the history of the consideration of "improvement" as a science. We trace key concepts and ideas in improvement to their philosophical and theoretical foundation with a focus on Deming's System of Profound Knowledge. We suggest that Deming's system has a firm association with many contemporary and historic philosophic and scientific debates and concepts. With reference to these debates and concepts, we identify 7 propositions that provide the scientific and philosophical foundation for the science of improvement. A standard view of the science of improvement does not presently exist that is grounded in the philosophical and theoretical basis of the field. The 7 propositions outlined here demonstrate the value of examining the underpinnings of improvement. This is needed to both advance the field and minimize confusion about what the phrase "science of improvement" represents. We argue that advanced scientists of improvement are those who like Deming and Shewhart can integrate ideas, concepts, and models between scientific disciplines for the purpose of developing more robust improvement models, tools, and techniques with a focus on application and problem solving in real world contexts. The epistemological foundations and theoretical basis of the science of improvement and its reasoning methods need to be critically examined to ensure its continued development and relevance. If improvement efforts and projects in health care are to be characterized under the canon of science, then health care professionals engaged in quality improvement work would benefit from a standard set of core principles, a standard lexicon, and an understanding of the evolution of the science of improvement.

Consciousness and Quantum Physics: Empirical Research on the Subjective Reduction of the Statevector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bierman, Dick J.; Whitmarsh, Stephen

There are two major theoretical perspectives on the relation between quantum physics and consciousness. The first one is the proposal by Hameroff and Penrose CHEXX[16] that consciousness arises from the collapse of the statevector describing nonconscious brainstates. The second perspective is the proposition that consciousness acts as the ultimate measurement device, i. e. a measurement is defined as the collapse of the statevector describing the external physical system, due to interaction with a conscious observer. The latter (dualistic) proposition has resulted in the thought experiment with Schrodinger's cat and is generally considered as extremely unlikely. However, that proposition is, under certain assumptions, open to empirical verification. This was originally done by Hall et al. CHEXX[15]. A refined experiment to test the "subjective" reduction' interpretation of the measurement problem in quantum physics was reported by Bierman CHEXX[3]. In the latter experiment, auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) of subjects observing (previously unobserved) radioactive decay were recorded. These were compared with AEPs from events that were already observed and thus supposedly already collapsed into a singular state. Significant differences in brain signals of the observer were found. In this chapter we report a further replication that is improved upon the previous experiments by adding a nonquantum event as control. Differential effects of preobservation were expected not to appear in this classical condition since the quantum character of the event is presumed crucial. No differential effects were found in either condition, however. Marginal differences were found between the quantum and classical conditions. Possible explanations for the inability to replicate the previous findings are given as well as suggestions for further research.

Methodological exemplar of integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence - supportive care for men with prostate cancer: what are the most important components?

PubMed

Huntley, Alyson L; King, Anna J L; Moore, Theresa H M; Paterson, Charlotte; Persad, Raj; Sharp, Debbie; Evans, Maggie

2017-01-01

To present a methodological exemplar of integrating findings from a quantitative and qualitative review on the same topic to provide insight into components of care that contribute to supportive care that is acceptable to men with prostate cancer. Men with prostate cancer are likely to live a long time with the disease, experience side effects from treatment and therefore have ongoing supportive care needs. Quantitative and qualitative reviews have been published but the findings have yet to be integrated. Integration of quantitative and qualitative synthesized evidence. Two previously published systematic reviews. Synthesized evidence on supportive care for men with prostate cancer was integrated from two previously published systematic reviews: a narrative quantitative review and a qualitative review with thematic synthesis. These two streams of synthesized evidence were synthesized using concurrent narrative summary. Data from both reviews were used to develop a set of propositions from which a summary of components of care that likely to contribute to supportive care acceptable to men with prostate cancer were identified. Nine propositions were developed which covered men's supportive care focusing on the role of health professionals. These propositions were used to compose nine components of care likely to lead to supportive care that is acceptable to men with prostate cancer. Some of these components are no/low cost such as developing a more empathic personalized approach, but more specific approaches need further investigation in randomized controlled trials, for example, online support. This methodological exemplar demonstrates the integration of quantitative and qualitative synthesized data to determine components of care likely to lead to provision of supportive care acceptable to men with prostate cancer. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Switching From Age-Based Stimulus Dosing to Dose Titration Protocols in Electroconvulsive Therapy: Empirical Evidence for Better Patient Outcomes With Lower Peak and Cumulative Energy Doses.

PubMed

O'Neill-Kerr, Alex; Yassin, Anhar; Rogers, Stephen; Cornish, Janie

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to test the proposition that adoption of a dose titration protocol may be associated with better patient outcomes, at lower treatment dose, and with comparable cumulative dose to that in patients treated using an age-based stimulus dosing protocol. This was an analysis of data assembled from archived records and based on cohorts of patients treated respectively on an age-based stimulus dosing protocol and on a dose titration protocol in the National Health Service in England. We demonstrated a significantly better response in the patient cohort treated with dose titration than with age-based stimulus dosing. Peak doses were less and the total cumulative dose was less in the dose titration group than in the age-based stimulus dosing group. Our findings are consistent with superior outcomes in patients treated using a dose titration protocol when compared with age-based stimulus dosing in a similar cohort of patients.

Epistemological Development in First-Year Nursing Students Undertaking Cultural Safety Education.

PubMed

Greenwood, Sallie; Fyers, Katrina

2018-04-01

The process of teaching cultural safety is emancipatory, focused on wider social relations and the context in which they arise. As teachers of cultural safety, we are interested in the way that ideas are formed, held, and changed. The aim of this research was to examine whether epistemological shifts were demonstrated by nursing students over one semester of cultural safety teaching-learning. NVivo software was used to analyze 34 nursing students' reflective journals, applying a cognitive-developmental framework. The framework comprised three epistemological positions-dualism, relativism, and propositional-and two in-between locations, referred to as stretching. The results showed student movement between early epistemological positions and students' efforts to stretch to new, yet untried, ways of thinking. In the classroom, these shifts may be subtle; thus, paying careful attention to evidence that students are trying out new ways of thinking is essential. Appreciating that these small but significant shifts are perhaps more important than 'aha' moments is crucial. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(4):229-232.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Marriage equality is a mental health issue.

PubMed

Kealy-Bateman, Warren; Pryor, Lisa

2015-10-01

We aim to review marriage equality in New Zealand and Australia and critically evaluate the health impact of such a legal change. We undertook a review of the literature using the search terms "marriage equality", "same sex marriage" and "gay marriage" in combination with "health", "wellbeing", "psych*", "mental illness" and "distress". This search included medical literature, legal literature and mass media. This review indicates that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people disproportionately face negative health stressors and negative health events compared with the general population and this is related to the stress of being a stigmatised minority group. The evidence strongly supports the proposition that marriage equality is related to improved health outcomes. A diverse range of professional health groups advocate for the legislative progression to marriage equality. The authors found no evidence that marriage equality harms opposite-sex marriage. Marriage equality is still lacking in Australia and as a positive correlate of health should be strongly supported. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Couples' cultural values, shared parenting, and family emotional climate within Mexican American families.

PubMed

Sotomayor-Peterson, Marcela; Figueredo, Aurelio J; Christensen, Donna H; Taylor, Angela R

2012-06-01

This study tested a model of shared parenting as its centerpiece that incorporates cultural values as predictors and family emotional climate as the outcome variable of interest. We aimed to assess the predictive power of the Mexican cultural values of familismo and simpatia over couples' shared parenting practices. We anticipated that higher levels of shared parenting would predict family emotional climate. The participants were 61 Mexican American, low income couples, with at least one child between 3 and 4 years of age, recruited from a home-based Head Start program. The predictive model demonstrated excellent goodness of fit, supporting the hypothesis that a positive emotional climate within the family is fostered when Mexican American couples practice a sufficient level of shared parenting. Empirical evidence was previously scarce on this proposition. The findings also provide evidence for the role of cultural values, highlighting the importance of family solidarity and avoidance of confrontation as a pathway to shared parenting within Mexican American couples. © FPI, Inc.

Sacral stress fracture after lumbar and lumbosacral fusion. How to manage it? A proposition based on three cases and literature review.

PubMed

Scemama, C; D'astorg, H; Guigui, P

2016-04-01

Sacral fracture after lumbosacral instrumentation could be a source of prolonged pain and a late autonomy recovery in old patients. Diagnosis remains difficult and usually delayed. No clear consensus for efficient treatment of this complication has been defined. Aim of this study was to determine how to manage them. Three patients who sustained sacral fracture after instrumented lumbosacral fusion performed for degenerative disease of the spine are discussed. History, physical examinations' findings and radiographic features are presented. Pertinent literature was analyzed. All patients complained of unspecific low back and buttock pain a few weeks after index surgery. Diagnosis was done on CT-scan. We always choose revision surgery with good functional results. Sacral stress fracture has to be reminded behind unspecific buttock or low back pain. CT-scan seems to be the best radiological test to do the diagnosis. Surgical treatment is recommended when lumbar lordosis and pelvic incidence mismatched. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Does achievement motivation mediate the semantic achievement priming effect?

PubMed

Engeser, Stefan; Baumann, Nicola

2014-10-01

The aim of our research was to understand the processes of the prime-to-behavior effects with semantic achievement primes. We extended existing models with a perspective from achievement motivation theory and additionally used achievement primes embedded in the running text of excerpts of school textbooks to simulate a more natural priming condition. Specifically, we proposed that achievement primes affect implicit achievement motivation and conducted pilot experiments and 3 main experiments to explore this proposition. We found no reliable positive effect of achievement primes on implicit achievement motivation. In light of these findings, we tested whether explicit (instead of implicit) achievement motivation is affected by achievement primes and found this to be the case. In the final experiment, we found support for the assumption that higher explicit achievement motivation implies that achievement priming affects the outcome expectations. The implications of the results are discussed, and we conclude that primes affect achievement behavior by heightening explicit achievement motivation and outcome expectancies.

Expanding and Adapting the Protean Career Management Scale for University Students (PCMS-U).

PubMed

Liberato Borges, Ludmila F; De Andrade, Alexsandro L; Ziebell de Oliveira, Manoela; Guerra, Valeschka Martins

2015-12-28

Many changes in the socioeconomic scenario led to the emergence of different models of career guidance, among which the protean career stands out. This model works with the prospect of a career that is self-directed and aligned with personal values, with important propositions for both professionals and students entering the work market. In the Brazilian scenario, however, there is a lack of appropriate measures to evaluate protean aspects among college students without work experience. Thus, the present study aimed at adapting and validating the attitudes towards the Protean Career Scale to this population. The sample consisted of 902 students aging from 18 to 30 years old (M = 22.52; SD = 6.53) attending 34 different undergraduate courses. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis attested the two-dimensional nature of the scale structure. The reliability indexes were satisfactory: over .65. The correlation between the protean models and factors such as personality, values, and locus of control provided adequate evidence of the measure's predictive validity (p < .05).

Manual for monitoring the quality of nursing home care records.

PubMed

Barbosa, Silvia Freitas; Tronchin, Daisy Maria Rizatto

2015-01-01

to build and validate an instrument aimed at monitoring the quality of nursing records in the Home Care Program (HCP) of a university hospital. methodological study involving the elaboration of a manual, whose content was later submitted to six experts for validation, reaching a ≥ 80% consensus. The data collection process was carried out in 2012 by means of a questionnaire comprised of the following issues: nursing evolution, nursing diagnosis, and nursing prescription, and standards for the nursing team recommended by the Regional Nursing Council of São Paulo and by the assessed institution. Manual items were judged according to the following variables: relevance, pertinence, clarity and simplicity. of the 39 propositions, 100% achieved ≥ 80% agreement in the relevance, pertinence and clarity variables; 92.3% in the simplicity variable. Sleep/rest, Mobility and Check-out variables did not reach a favorable minimum consensus in the prescribed activities and were improved following suggestions from the experts. we believe that the instrument will enable the improvement of the HCP's work process.

Situating the Debate on "Geometrical Algebra" within the Framework of Premodern Algebra.

PubMed

Sialaros, Michalis; Christianidis, Jean

2016-06-01

Argument The aim of this paper is to employ the newly contextualized historiographical category of "premodern algebra" in order to revisit the arguably most controversial topic of the last decades in the field of Greek mathematics, namely the debate on "geometrical algebra." Within this framework, we shift focus from the discrepancy among the views expressed in the debate to some of the historiographical assumptions and methodological approaches that the opposing sides shared. Moreover, by using a series of propositions related to Elem. II.5 as a case study, we discuss Euclid's geometrical proofs, the so-called "semi-algebraic" alternative demonstrations attributed to Heron of Alexandria, as well as the solutions given by Diophantus, al-Sulamī, and al-Khwārizmī to the corresponding numerical problem. This comparative analysis offers a new reading of Heron's practice, highlights the significance of contextualizing "premodern algebra," and indicates that the origins of algebraic reasoning should be sought in the problem-solving practice, rather than in the theorem-proving tradition.

Associations of variable coloration with niche breadth and conservation status among Australian reptiles.

PubMed

Forsman, Anders; Aberg, Viktor

2008-05-01

We evaluate predictions concerning the evolutionary and ecological consequences of color polymorphisms. Previous endeavors have aimed at identifying conditions that promote the evolution and maintenance within populations of alternative variants. But the polymorphic condition may also influence important population processes. We consider the prediction that populations that consist of alternative "ecomorphs" with coadapted gene complexes will utilize more diverse resources and display higher rates of colonization success, population persistence, and range expansions, while being less vulnerable to range contractions and extinctions, compared with monomorphic populations. We perform pairwise comparative analyses based on information for 323 species of Australian lizards and snakes. We find that species with variable color patterns have larger ranges, utilize a greater diversity of habitat types, and are underrepresented among species currently listed as threatened. These results are consistent with the proposition that the co-occurrence of multiple color variants may promote the ecological success of populations and species, but there are also alternative interpretations.

Culture and Change Blindness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masuda, Takahiko; Nisbett, Richard E.

2006-01-01

Research on perception and cognition suggests that whereas East Asians view the world holistically, attending to the entire field and relations among objects, Westerners view the world analytically, focusing on the attributes of salient objects. These propositions were examined in the change-blindness paradigm. Research in that paradigm finds…

Toward a Contingency Theory of Decision Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarter, C. John; Hoy, Wayne K.

1998-01-01

There is no single best decision-making approach. This article reviews and compares six contemporary models (classical, administrative, incremental, mixed-scanning, garbage-can, and political) and develops a framework and 10 propositions to match strategies with circumstances. A contingency approach suggests that administrators use satisficing (a…

Normalized Legal Drafting and the Query Method.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Layman E.; Engholm, C. Rudy

1978-01-01

Normalized legal drafting, a mode of expressing ideas in legal documents so that the syntax that relates the constituent propositions is simplified and standardized, and the query method, a question-asking activity that teaches normalized drafting and provides practice, are examined. Some examples are presented. (JMD)

The Future of Pooling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Peter C.; Fone, Martin

1997-01-01

Discusses seven propositions underlying the strategies that insurance pools can, will, and must pursue: (1) risk management versus risk financing; (2) elimination of windfall advantages; (3) the maintenance of market-dominant status; (4) cost leadership; (5) client focus; (6) innovation and diversification; and (7) leadership challenges. A sidebar…

Dramatism and Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Kennth

This book contains two lectures delivered in the Heinz Weiner Lecture Series: "Biology, Psychology, Words" and "Archetype and Entelechy." The first lecture summarizes some of the central concepts of the author's thought, beginning with the proposition that "dramatistic terms" can be directly applied to the study of behavior because people…

Value and Pricing of MOOCs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Rose M.; Passmore, David L.

2016-01-01

Reviewed in this article is the potential for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to transform higher education delivery, accessibility, and costs. Next, five major value propositions for MOOCs are considered (headhunting, certification, face-to-face learning, personalized learning, integration with services external to the MOOC, marketing). Then,…

Responsiveness to child feeding cues: an observational scale

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Mismatched caregiver responsiveness to child hunger and satiety cues, is thought to contribute to obesity in infancy and beyond. Assessment of this proposition, however, has been limited by a lack of reliable and valid measures. This research evaluated the interrater reliability of a new observation...

A Ranking-Theoretic Approach to Conditionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spohn, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Conditionals somehow express conditional beliefs. However, conditional belief is a bi-propositional attitude that is generally not truth-evaluable, in contrast to unconditional belief. Therefore, this article opts for an expressivistic semantics for conditionals, grounds this semantics in the arguably most adequate account of conditional belief,…

The Motive--Strategy Congruence Model Revisited.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watkins, David; Hattie, John

1992-01-01

Research with 1,266 Australian secondary school students supports 2 propositions critical to the motive-strategy congruence model of J. B. Biggs (1985). Students tend to use learning strategies congruent with motivation for learning, and congruent motive-strategy combinations are associated with higher average school grades. (SLD)

An Approach to Goal-Statement Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reiner, John R.; Robinson, Donald W.

1969-01-01

"The results of this study support the proposition that the application of environmental assessment techniques based on CUES items provides information which can help evaluate the formal goals of an institution in terms of the degree to which the institutional environment is facilitative of those goals. (Author)

Parents, Peer Groups, and Other Socializing Influences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2000-01-01

Critically examines three propositions of Harris' group socialization theory (1995, 1998) related to parents' long-term effects on children's psychological characteristics, peer groups' influences, and the nature of dyadic relationships. Maintains that available evidence is more consistent with a model of multiple socialization agents. Proposes a…

Empirical Study: Mentorship as a Value Proposition (MVP)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sams, Doreen; Richards, Rosalie; Lewis, Robin; McMullen, Rebecca; Hammack, Jennifer; Bacnik, Larry; Powell, Caitlin

2016-01-01

Greater access to college education, owed in part to technology and globalization, increases opportunities for students to prepare and thrive professionally. Undergraduate education must offer pedagogies of engagement to meet needs of the competitive global workforce and post-baccalaureate programs requiring advanced research and analytical…

The Sustainability Challenge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merkel, James; Litten, Larry H.

2007-01-01

In this article, the authors explore the following propositions: (1) Human behavior, individually and through institutions, is seriously threatening the earth and humankind; (2) A sustainable, equitable, harmonious future is desirable and possible; (3) Colleges and universities, as social institutions, have a general role to play in this scenario,…

Political Implications of Heavy Television Viewing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson-Beeck, Marilyn

This paper empirically evaluates the proposition that political conformism, specifically structural, passive, psychological, and defensive conformism, is a function of exposure to mass media. Secondary analysis of data from the National Opinion Research Center's 1975 General Social Survey revealed a significant relationship between TV viewing and…

Curiosity and Self-Directed Learning: The Role of Motivation in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deci, Edward L.; Ryan, Richard M.

Theoretical propositions and research findings concerning children's motivation to learn are discussed and implications for early childhood education are indicated. The discussion begins by defining and illustrating the motivational states of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation. Problems of structuring interaction between…

Applicant Appearance and Selection Decision Making: Revitalizing Employment Interview Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ilkka, Richard J.

1995-01-01

Presents five instructional propositions based on employment interview research on the relationship between applicant appearance and interviewer selection decisions. Argues that educators should examine the process of appearance attribution, explore appearance and position expectations, invite dialog of alleged effects, and assess related…

Research | Energy Systems Integration Facility | NREL

Science.gov Websites

levels of variable supply and demand? How do we keep the lights on and the fuel flowing in a world of , regulatory frameworks, and value propositions for consumers in this changing world? NREL's crosscutting Partner with our world-class researchers Work

Integrating Curriculum in a Total Quality School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, Kenneth D.; Jenkins, Doris M.

1998-01-01

Examined the changes implemented by teachers at Brown Barge Middle School, in Pensacola, Florida, to improve curriculum. Notes the teachers' use of total quality education principles and describes six propositions of change: achieving constancy of purpose, building quality, continuous improvement, student-centered approach, using data, and…

Kickoff to Conflict: A Sequence Analysis of Intra-State Conflict-Preceding Event Structures

PubMed Central

D'Orazio, Vito; Yonamine, James E.

2015-01-01

While many studies have suggested or assumed that the periods preceding the onset of intra-state conflict are similar across time and space, few have empirically tested this proposition. Using the Integrated Crisis Early Warning System's domestic event data in Asia from 1998–2010, we subject this proposition to empirical analysis. We code the similarity of government-rebel interactions in sequences preceding the onset of intra-state conflict to those preceding further periods of peace using three different metrics: Euclidean, Levenshtein, and mutual information. These scores are then used as predictors in a bivariate logistic regression to forecast whether we are likely to observe conflict in neither, one, or both of the states. We find that our model accurately classifies cases where both sequences precede peace, but struggles to distinguish between cases in which one sequence escalates to conflict and where both sequences escalate to conflict. These findings empirically suggest that generalizable patterns exist between event sequences that precede peace. PMID:25951105

To Be or Want to Be: Disentangling the Role of Actual versus Ideal Self in Implicit Self-Esteem

PubMed Central

De Houwer, Jan; De Raedt, Rudi

2014-01-01

A growing body of work suggests that both depressed and non-depressed individuals display implicit positivity towards the self. In the current study, we examined whether this positivity can be underpinned by two qualitatively distinct propositions related to actual (‘I am good’) or ideal (‘I want to be good’) self-esteem. Dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants completed a self-esteem Implicit Association Test (IAT) as well an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) targeting their actual self-esteem and an IRAP targeting ideal self-esteem. Both groups demonstrated similar and positive IAT effects. A more complex picture emerged with regard to the IRAP effects. Whereas non-dysphorics did not differ in their actual and ideal self-esteem, their dysphoric counterparts demonstrated lower actual than ideal self-esteem. Our results suggest that closer attention to the role of propositional processes in implicit measures may unlock novel insight into the relationship between implicit self-esteem and depression. PMID:25268889

The Design and Analysis of Helium Turbine Expander Impeller with a Given All-Over-Controlled Vortex Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiaodong; Fu, Bao; Zhuang, Ming

2014-03-01

To make the large-scale helium cryogenic system of fusion device EAST (experimental advanced super-conducting tokamak) run stably, as the core part, the helium turbine expander must meet the requirement of refrigeration capacity. However, previous designs were based on one dimension flow to determine the average fluid parameters and geometric parameters of impeller cross-sections, so that it could not describe real physical processes in the internal flow of the turbine expander. Therefore, based on the inverse proposition of streamline curvature method in the context of quasi-three-dimensional flows, the all-over-controlled vortex concept was adopted to design the impeller under specified condition. The wrap angle of the impeller blade and the whole flow distribution on the meridian plane were obtained; meanwhile the performance of the designed impeller was analyzed. Thus a new design method is proposed here for the inverse proposition of the helium turbine expander impeller.

Social welfare matters: a realist review of when, how, and why unemployment insurance impacts poverty and health.

PubMed

O'Campo, Patricia; Molnar, Agnes; Ng, Edwin; Renahy, Emilie; Mitchell, Christiane; Shankardass, Ketan; St John, Alexander; Bambra, Clare; Muntaner, Carles

2015-05-01

The recent global recession and concurrent rise in job loss makes unemployment insurance (UI) increasingly important to smooth patterns of consumption and keep households from experiencing extreme material poverty. In this paper, we undertake a realist review to produce a critical understanding of how and why UI policies impact on poverty and health in different welfare state contexts between 2000 and 2013. We relied on literature and expert interviews to generate an initial theory and set of propositions about how UI might alleviate poverty and mental distress. We then systematically located and synthesized peer-review studies to glean supportive or contradictory evidence for our initial propositions. Poverty and psychological distress, among unemployed and even the employed, are impacted by generosity of UI in terms of eligibility, duration and wage replacement levels. Though unemployment benefits are not intended to compensate fully for a loss of earnings, generous UI programs can moderate harmful consequences of unemployment. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The joint use of resilience engineering and lean production for work system design: A study in healthcare.

PubMed

Rosso, Caroline Brum; Saurin, Tarcisio Abreu

2018-09-01

Although lean production (LP) has been increasingly adopted in healthcare systems, its benefits often fall short of expectations. This might be partially due to the failure of lean to account for the complexity of healthcare. This paper discusses the joint use of principles of LP and resilience engineering (RE), which is an approach for system design inspired by complexity science. Thus, a framework for supporting the design of socio-technical systems, which combines insights from LP and RE, was developed and tested in a system involving a patient flow from an emergency department to an intensive care unit. Based on this empirical study, as well as on extant theory, eight design propositions that support the framework application were developed. Both the framework and its corresponding propositions can contribute to the design of socio-technical systems that are at the same time safe and efficient. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relational trustworthiness: how status affects intra-organizational inequality in job autonomy.

PubMed

Campos-Castillo, Celeste; Ewoodzie, Kwesi

2014-03-01

Recent accounts of trustworthiness have moved away from treating it as a stable, individual-level attribute toward viewing it as a variable situated in a relational context, but have not been formalized or supported empirically. We extend status characteristics theory (SCT) to develop formal propositions about relational trustworthiness. We posit that members of task- and collectively oriented groups (non-consciously) infer three qualities from their relative status that are commonly used to determine an individual's trustworthiness: ability, benevolence, and integrity. We apply our formalization to clarify ambiguities regarding intra-organizational job autonomy inequality, thereby linking SCT to broader disparities rooted in job autonomy. We analyze data from a vignette experiment and the General Social Survey to test incrementally how well our propositions generalize across different settings and populations. Results generally support our proposed links between status and intra-organizational job autonomy. We discuss implications for SCT in understanding broader patterns of inequalities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relevance and Reason Relations.

PubMed

Skovgaard-Olsen, Niels; Singmann, Henrik; Klauer, Karl Christoph

2017-05-01

This paper examines precursors and consequents of perceived relevance of a proposition A for a proposition C. In Experiment 1, we test Spohn's (2012) assumption that ∆P = P(C|A) - P(C|~A) is a good predictor of ratings of perceived relevance and reason relations, and we examine whether it is a better predictor than the difference measure (P(C|A) - P(C)). In Experiment 2, we examine the effects of relevance on probabilistic coherence in Cruz, Baratgin, Oaksford, and Over's (2015) uncertain "and-to-if" inferences. The results suggest that ∆P predicts perceived relevance and reason relations better than the difference measure and that participants are either less probabilistically coherent in "and-to-if" inferences than initially assumed or that they do not follow P(if A, then C) = P(C|A) ("the Equation"). Results are discussed in light of recent results suggesting that the Equation may not hold under conditions of irrelevance or negative relevance. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Quality-based financial incentives in health care: can we improve quality by paying for it?

PubMed

Conrad, Douglas A; Perry, Lisa

2009-01-01

This article asks whether financial incentives can improve the quality of health care. A conceptual framework drawn from microeconomics, agency theory, behavioral economics, and cognitive psychology motivates a set of propositions about incentive effects on clinical quality. These propositions are evaluated through a synthesis of extant peer-reviewed empirical evidence. Comprehensive financial incentives--balancing rewards and penalties; blending structure, process, and outcome measures; emphasizing continuous, absolute performance standards; tailoring the size of incremental rewards to increasing marginal costs of quality improvement; and assuring certainty, frequency, and sustainability of incentive payoffs--offer the prospect of significantly enhancing quality beyond the modest impacts of prevailing pay-for-performance (P4P) programs. Such organizational innovations as the primary care medical home and accountable health care organizations are expected to catalyze more powerful quality incentive models: risk- and quality-adjusted capitation, episode of care payments, and enhanced fee-for-service payments for quality dimensions (e.g., prevention) most amenable to piece-rate delivery.

The Role of Individual and Collective Mindfulness in Promoting Occupational Safety in Health Care.

PubMed

Dierynck, Bart; Leroy, Hannes; Savage, Grant T; Choi, Ellen

2017-02-01

Although the importance of safety regulations is highly emphasized in hospitals, nurses frequently work around, or intentionally bypass, safety regulations. We argue that work-arounds occur because adhering to safety regulations usually requires more time and work process design often lacks complementarity with safety regulations. Our main proposition is that mindfulness is associated with a decrease in occupational safety failures through a decrease in work-arounds. First, we propose that individual mindfulness may prevent the depletion of motivational resources caused by worrying about the consequences of time lost when adhering to safety regulations. Second, we argue that collective mindfulness may provide nursing teams with a cognitive infrastructure that facilitates the detection and adaptation of work processes. The results of a multilevel analysis of 580 survey responses from nurses are consistent with our propositions. Our multilevel analytic approach enables us to account for the unique variance in work-arounds that individual and collective mindfulness explain.

Narrative communication in cancer prevention and control: a framework to guide research and application.

PubMed

Kreuter, Matthew W; Green, Melanie C; Cappella, Joseph N; Slater, Michael D; Wise, Meg E; Storey, Doug; Clark, Eddie M; O'Keefe, Daniel J; Erwin, Deborah O; Holmes, Kathleen; Hinyard, Leslie J; Houston, Thomas; Woolley, Sabra

2007-06-01

Narrative forms of communication-including entertainment education, journalism, literature, testimonials, and storytelling-are emerging as important tools for cancer prevention and control. To stimulate critical thinking about the role of narrative in cancer communication and promote a more focused and systematic program of research to understand its effects, we propose a typology of narrative application in cancer control. We assert that narrative has four distinctive capabilities: overcoming resistance, facilitating information processing, providing surrogate social connections, and addressing emotional and existential issues. We further assert that different capabilities are applicable to different outcomes across the cancer control continuum (e.g., prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship). This article describes the empirical evidence and theoretical rationale supporting propositions in the typology, identifies variables likely to moderate narrative effects, raises ethical issues to be addressed when using narrative communication in cancer prevention and control efforts, and discusses potential limitations of using narrative in this way. Future research needs based on these propositions are outlined and encouraged.

Adaptive capacity of geographical clusters: Complexity science and network theory approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albino, Vito; Carbonara, Nunzia; Giannoccaro, Ilaria

This paper deals with the adaptive capacity of geographical clusters (GCs), that is a relevant topic in the literature. To address this topic, GC is considered as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Three theoretical propositions concerning the GC adaptive capacity are formulated by using complexity theory. First, we identify three main properties of CAS s that affect the adaptive capacity, namely the interconnectivity, the heterogeneity, and the level of control, and define how the value of these properties influence the adaptive capacity. Then, we associate these properties with specific GC characteristics so obtaining the key conditions of GCs that give them the adaptive capacity so assuring their competitive advantage. To test these theoretical propositions, a case study on two real GCs is carried out. The considered GCs are modeled as networks where firms are nodes and inter-firms relationships are links. Heterogeneity, interconnectivity, and level of control are considered as network properties and thus measured by using the methods of the network theory.

Dynamical Characteristics Common to Neuronal Competition Models

PubMed Central

Shpiro, Asya; Curtu, Rodica; Rinzel, John; Rubin, Nava

2009-01-01

Models implementing neuronal competition by reciprocally inhibitory populations are widely used to characterize bistable phenomena such as binocular rivalry. We find common dynamical behavior in several models of this general type, which differ in their architecture in the form of their gain functions, and in how they implement the slow process that underlies alternating dominance. We focus on examining the effect of the input strength on the rate (and existence) of oscillations. In spite of their differences, all considered models possess similar qualitative features, some of which we report here for the first time. Experimentally, dominance durations have been reported to decrease monotonically with increasing stimulus strength (such as Levelt's “Proposition IV”). The models predict this behavior; however, they also predict that at a lower range of input strength dominance durations increase with increasing stimulus strength. The nonmonotonic dependency of duration on stimulus strength is common to both deterministic and stochastic models. We conclude that additional experimental tests of Levelt's Proposition IV are needed to reconcile models and perception. PMID:17065254

High time-resolution photodetectors for PET applications

DOE PAGES

Ronzhin, Anatoly

2016-02-01

This paper describes recent developments aiming at the improvement of the time resolution of photodetectors used in positron emission tomography (PET). Promising photodetector candidates for future PET-time-of-flight (TOF) applications are also discussed.

Use of "Google Scholar" in Corpus-Driven EAP Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brezina, Vaclav

2012-01-01

This primarily methodological article makes a proposition for linguistic exploration of textual resources available through the "Google Scholar" search engine. These resources ("Google Scholar virtual corpus") are significantly larger than any existing corpus of academic writing. "Google Scholar", however, was not designed for linguistic searches…

Using Cultural Diversity in Teaching Economics: Global Business Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitry, Darryl J.

2008-01-01

Globalization and increasing cross-cultural interactivity have implications for education in general and may also present valuable pedagogical opportunities in the practice of teaching economics for business students. Therefore, the author investigated this proposition and offers some empirical observations from research and teaching experiments.…

Commentary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Eleanor J.

1993-01-01

Comments on the article by von Hofsten in this issue by examining four of von Hofsten's propositions: (1) physical actions are expressions of self-organizing systems composed of bodily, task-related, motivational, and environmental factors; (2) the ability to perform actions develops with age; (3) action is situated in a total postural background;…

Ortega Revisited.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asheim, Lester

1982-01-01

Reexamines Ortega y Gasset's proposition that the professional role of the librarian is to act as a selective "filter between man and the torrent of books." Responsibilities of the librarian in light of the increasing volume of information, increases in speed of access to information, and information overload, are discussed. (Author/JL)

The Visual Syntax of Algebra.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirshner, David

1989-01-01

A structured system of visual features is seen to parallel the propositional hierarchy of operations usually associated with the parsing of algebraic expressions. Women more than men were found to depend on these visual cues. Possible causes and consequences are discussed. Subjects were secondary and college students. (Author/DC)

The Guided Autobiography Method: A Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thornton, James E.

2008-01-01

This article discusses the proposition that learning is an unexplored feature of the guided autobiography method and its developmental exchange. Learning, conceptualized and explored as the embedded and embodied processes, is essential in narrative activities of the guided autobiography method leading to psychosocial development and growth in…

Peerlingual Education: A Socioeducational Reaction to Structured English Immersion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Eric J.

2011-01-01

This discussion emphasizes the importance of collaborative learning methods to compensate for the legal restrictions placed on school districts by Arizona's anti-bilingual education law, Proposition 203. Grounded in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning, peerlingual education is described as an invaluable resource based on the linguistic…

Social Workers in Politics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Beatrice N., Ed.

1981-01-01

Describes in four articles the political role of the social workers both nationally and at the state and local levels, including advice on how to give effective legislative testimony. Experience with California's Proposition 13 illustrates the impact of taxes on human service programs and the need for legislative advocacy. (JAC)

A temps nouveaux, solutions nouvelles: quelques propositions (New Times, New Solutions: Some Proposals).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capelle, Guy

1983-01-01

Serious problems in education in Latin America arising from political, economic, and social change periodically put in question the status, objectives, and manner of French second-language instruction. A number of solutions to general and specific pedagogical problems are proposed. (MSE)

Developing Emotionally Intelligent Leadership in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parrish, Dominique

2011-01-01

It is widely accepted that the success of higher education institutions is dependent on effective competent leaders and leadership. There is also growing evidence to support the proposition that emotional intelligence is strongly linked to effective leadership in the higher education setting. Additionally, the premise that emotional intelligence…

Critical Thinking Concept Reconstructed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minter, Mary Kennedy

2010-01-01

This paper explores the proposition that teaching of critical thinking (CT) should include: (1) identifying and addressing the many environmental variables acting as barriers to our human thinking, i.e., an open system approach, and (2) utilizing the interrelatedness of the CT building blocks, i.e., creative thinking techniques, levels of…

Toward a Distinctive Christian Undergraduate Management Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Thomas M.; VanderVeen, Steve

2008-01-01

We motivate and develop a theoretical framework for creating a distinctive Christian undergraduate management program that is directed toward providing (a) the necessary intellectual characteristics to do "well" and (b) the necessary emotional characteristics to do "good." This framework consists of seven propositions that connect the learning…

Coherence, Cohesion and Comments on Students' Academic Essays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Todd, Richard Watson; Khongput, Somreudee; Darasawang, Pornapit

2007-01-01

This study investigates the relationships between connectedness in discourse and the in-text comments that tutors write on postgraduate essays at a Thai university. Connectedness was divided into cohesion, propositional coherence and interactional coherence which were analysed using Hoey's lexical analysis [Hoey, M. (1991). "Patterns of lexis…

The Place of "Mysticism" and "Occultism" in the Scientific Orientation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Read, Allen Walker

1983-01-01

Twelve propositions to help deal scientifically with cults and the unexplained are presented and discussed. The guru relationship is unhealthy. Sound teaching should foster an independence and freedom of the individual to think for him or herself and to question teachings of the teacher. (RM)

A Bibliography of Empirical Studies of School Boards, 1952-1968.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charters, W. W., Jr.

This bibliography lists 223 journal articles, unpublished master's and doctoral dissertations, bulletins, books, and monographs on the behavior, attributes, attitudes, or interaction of school board members. Included are reports of investigations that offer bases for generalizable propositions regarding the local school board's part in district…

Continuous Progress Education: An Ideal that Works.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, John M.

1982-01-01

Continuous progress education (CP) provides for the individualization of all significant aspects of learning, including materials, content, objectives, methods, pacing, and student-teacher relationships. It is based on the proposition that no general prescriptions are equally appropriate for all students. A brief description of Hood River Valley…

Is Being Popular a Risky Proposition?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayeux, Lara; Sandstrom, Marlene J.; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.

2008-01-01

Longitudinal associations between social preference, perceived popularity, and risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, and sexual activity) were examined in a sample of high school students. Social preference did not predict any of the risk behaviors assessed, although the interaction between gender and social preference was predictive of sexual…

Chaos and Crisis: Propositions for a General Theory of Crisis Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seeger, Matthew W.

2002-01-01

Presents key concepts of chaos theory (CT) as a general framework for describing organizational crisis and crisis communication. Discusses principles of predictability, sensitive dependence on initial conditions, bifurcation as system breakdown, emergent self-organization, and fractals and strange attractors as principles of organization. Explores…

Collaborative Service Learning: A Winning Proposition for Industry and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crutsinger, Christy A.; Pookulangara, Sanjukta; Tran, Gina; Duncan, Kim

2004-01-01

Collaboration between industry and academia creates a win-win situation for individuals and communities. Through innovative partnering, students apply knowledge to real-world situations, institutions increase program visibility, and businesses receive innovative solutions to complex problems. This article provides a roadmap for implementing a…

The Temporal Logic of the Tower Chief System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hazelton, Lyman R., Jr.

1990-01-01

The purpose is to describe the logic used in the reasoning scheme employed in the Tower Chief system, a runway configuration management system. First, a review of classical logic is given. Defensible logics, truth maintenance, default logic, temporally dependent propositions, and resource allocation and planning are discussed.

A Developmental Investigation of Processing Costs in Implicature Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pouscoulous, Nausicaa; Noveck, Ira A.; Politzer, Guy; Bastide, Anne

2007-01-01

Much developmental work has been devoted to "scalar implicatures." These are implicitly communicated propositions linked to relatively weak terms (consider how "Some" pragmatically implies "Not all") that are more likely to be carried out by adults than by children. Children tend to retain the linguistically encoded…

Confirmatory and Competitive Evaluation of Alternative Gene-Environment Interaction Hypotheses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belsky, Jay; Pluess, Michael; Widaman, Keith F.

2013-01-01

Background: Most gene-environment interaction (GXE) research, though based on clear, vulnerability-oriented hypotheses, is carried out using exploratory rather than hypothesis-informed statistical tests, limiting power and making formal evaluation of competing GXE propositions difficult. Method: We present and illustrate a new regression technique…

Managing Distributed Systems with Smart Subscriptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Filman, Robert E.; Lee, Diana D.; Swanson, Keith (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

We describe an event-based, publish-and-subscribe mechanism based on using 'smart subscriptions' to recognize weakly-structured events. We present a hierarchy of subscription languages (propositional, predicate, temporal and agent) and algorithms for efficiently recognizing event matches. This mechanism has been applied to the management of distributed applications.

Rationalizing Management Information System Costs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parden, Robert J.

This paper examines the proposition that management information systems (MIS) for colleges and universities are not achieving their original objectives of supporting better management decisions by providing more and better information in a more timely manner. As a consequence, the MIS activity should be reduced in scope, and standardized to…

Shedding Light, Reducing the Heat

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Mary

2006-01-01

Underlying the very heated debate over California's education budget for 2005-2006--and the battle over Proposition 76 on the November ballot--were two very different perspectives on school funding. These fundamental differences in perspective can stymie efforts to effect meaningful change. However, the Governor's Advisory Committee on Education…

Pictures as Prose-Learning Devices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Joel R.

Most popular strategies, including illustrations, for improving prose processing consist of procedures that force attention either to the text's macrostructure or to the organization and interconnections of its propositions. These strategies are assumed to enhance students' comprehension of the text as encoded, as well as to afford students an…