"That is why I stopped the ART": Patients' & providers' perspectives on barriers to and enablers of HIV treatment adherence in a South African workplace programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kielmann Karina

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As ART programmes in African settings expand beyond the pilot stages, adherence to treatment may become an increasing challenge. This qualitative study examines potential barriers to, and facilitators of, adherence to ART in a workplace programme in South Africa. Methods We conducted key informant interviews with 12 participants: six ART patients, five health service providers (HSPs and one human resources manager. Results The main reported barriers were denial of existence of HIV or of one's own positive status, use of traditional medicines, speaking a different language from the HSP, alcohol use, being away from home, perceived severity of side-effects, feeling better on treatment and long waiting times at the clinic. The key facilitators were social support, belief in the value of treatment, belief in the importance of one's own life to the survival of one's family, and the ability to fit ART into daily life schedules. Conclusion Given the reported uncertainty about the existence of HIV disease and the use of traditional medicines while on ART, despite a programme emphasising ART counselling, there is a need to find effective ways to support adherence to ART even if the individual does not accept biomedical concepts of HIV disease or decides to use traditional medicines. Additionally, providers should identify ways to minimize barriers in communication with patients with whom they have no common language. Finally, dissatisfaction with clinical services, due to long waiting times, should be addressed.

Developing a nursing personnel policy to address body art using an evidence-based model.

Science.gov (United States)

Dorwart, Shawna D; Kuntz, Sandra W; Armstrong, Myrna L

2010-12-01

An increase in the prevalence of body art as a form of self-expression has motivated health care organizations to develop policies addressing nursing personnel's body art. A systematic review of literature on body art was completed and a telephone survey of 15 hospitals was conducted to query existing policy statements addressing nursing personnel's body art. The literature established no prevalence of body art among nurses or effect of nurses' body art. Of the 13 hospitals (86%) that shared their policy on body art, none provided a rationale or references to support their existing policies. A lack of published evidence identifying the effect of body art among nurses shifts the burden of determining care outcomes to the leadership of individual hospitals. Further research on patients' perception of nursing personnel with visible body art, using an evidence-based model, is recommended. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.

Museums and art galleries as partners for public health interventions.

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Camic, Paul M; Chatterjee, Helen J

2013-01-01

The majority of public health programmes are based in schools, places of employment and in community settings. Likewise, nearly all health-care interventions occur in clinics and hospitals. An underdeveloped area for public health-related planning that carries international implications is the cultural heritage sector, and specifically museums and art galleries. This paper presents a rationale for the use of museums and art galleries as sites for public health interventions and health promotion programmes through discussing the social role of these organisations in the health and well-being of the communities they serve. Recent research from several countries is reviewed and integrated into a proposed framework for future collaboration between cultural heritage, health-care and university sectors to further advance research, policy development and evidence-based practice.

'Getting back to normal': the added value of an art-based programme in promoting 'recovery' for common but chronic mental health problems.

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Makin, Sally; Gask, Linda

2012-03-01

OBJECTIVES. The aim of this project was to explore the added value of participation in an Arts on Prescription (AoP) programme to aid the process of recovery in people with common but chronic mental health problems that have already undergone a psychological 'talking'-based therapy. METHODS. The study utilized qualitative in-depth interviews with 15 clients with persistent anxiety and depression who had attended an 'AoP' service and had previously received psychological therapy. RESULTS and discussion. Attending AoP aided the process of recovery, which was perceived by participants as 'returning to normality' through enjoying life again, returning to previous activities, setting goals and stopping dwelling on the past. Most were positive about the benefits they had previously gained from talking therapies. However, these alone were not perceived as having been sufficient to achieve recovery. The AoP offered some specific opportunities in this regard, mediated by the therapeutic and effect of absorption in an activity, the specific creative potential of art, and the social aspects of attending the programme. CONCLUSIONS. For some people who experience persistent or relapsing common mental health problems, participation in an arts-based programme provides 'added value' in aiding recovery in ways not facilitated by talking therapies alone.

Artful Dodgers: An Arts Education Research Project in Early Education Settings

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Hayes, Nóirín; Maguire, Jackie; Corcoran, Lucie; O'Sullivan, Carmel

2017-01-01

Artful Dodgers is an arts education project developed by two artists and delivered in two early years settings located in two areas of urban disadvantage. It is a music and visual arts programme designed and implemented with early years teachers of children aged 3-5 years. It explored whether the provision of high-quality arts experiences could…

CREATIVE COLLISIONS: ARTS @CERN

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

In 2000, CERN hosted Signatures of the Invisible – one of the landmark initiatives in arts and science. In 2012, CERN is now initiating its own science/arts programme Collide@CERN in different arts disciplines. The first of these is in digital arts, and the international competition to find the winning artist is called the Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN. It was announced September 2011 at CERN’s first collaboration with an international arts festival – Ars Electronica in Linz. The competition attracted over 395 entries from 40 countries around the world. The winning artist, Julius Von Bismarck, will begin his two month residency here at CERN next month. Ariane Koek who leads on this initiative, discusses the residency programme, as well as the background about Art@CERN. History has shown that particle physics and the arts are great inspiration partners. The publication of the paper by Max Planck which gave birth to quantum mechanics as well as those by Einstein, heavily influenced some of the grea...

Unseen dimensions dialogues in art and science

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

The interface of art and science was explored by expert speakers and artists including Michael Hoch, founder of the CERN outreach programme, Art@CMS, in a week-long programme at the City of London Boys School in October

The intersection of antiretroviral therapy, peer support programmes, and economic empowerment with HIV stigma among HIV-positive women in West Nile Uganda.

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Kellett, Nicole Coffey; Gnauck, Katherine

2016-12-01

HIV stigma remains a major problem of the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Women fear impending social stigma including blame, isolation and abuse. HIV infection and HIV stigma interact cyclically, creating and reinforcing economic and social exclusion for individuals living with HIV. Evidence suggests that interventions for people living with HIV infection that include, in combination, antiretroviral therapy (ART), peer support and economic empowerment are likely to be more effective than if used alone. We report a qualitative study in West Nile Uganda that explored perceptions of HIV stigma among fifty-four HIV-positive women who had similar access to ART and HIV peer support programmes, but varying levels of participation (full-time, intermittent, none) in economic empowerment programmes. Our study found that access to ART, peer support groups, and economic empowerment programmes helped to curb perceptions of deep-seated HIV stigma for participants. More expressions of usefulness, hope and psychological well-being prevailed with participants who had increased participation in economic empowerment programmes. Our findings underscore the value of HIV outreach programmes which combine ART, peer support and economic empowerment to alleviate HIV stigma. Further research to quantify the interaction of these factors is warranted.

A systematic review of interventions to improve postpartum retention of women in PMTCT and ART care

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Geldsetzer, Pascal; Yapa, H Manisha N; Vaikath, Maria; Ogbuoji, Osondu; Fox, Matthew P; Essajee, Shaffiq M; Negussie, Eyerusalem K; Bärnighausen, Till

2016-01-01

Introduction The World Health Organization recommends lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV. Effective transitioning from maternal and child health to ART services, and long-term retention in ART care postpartum is crucial to the successful implementation of lifelong ART for pregnant women. This systematic review aims to determine which interventions improve (1) retention within prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programmes after birth, (2) transitioning from PMTCT to general ART programmes in the postpartum period, and (3) retention of postpartum women in general ART programmes. Methods We searched Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, the regional World Health Organization databases and conference abstracts for data published between 2002 and 2015. The quality of all included studies was assessed using the GRADE criteria. Results and Discussion After screening 8324 records, we identified ten studies for inclusion in this review, all of which were from sub-Saharan Africa except for one from the United Kingdom. Two randomized trials found that phone calls and/or text messages improved early (six to ten weeks) postpartum retention in PMTCT. One cluster-randomized trial and three cohort studies found an inconsistent impact of different levels of integration between antenatal care/PMTCT and ART care on postpartum retention. The inconsistent results of the four identified studies on care integration are likely due to low study quality, and heterogeneity in intervention design and outcome measures. Several randomized trials on postpartum retention in HIV care are currently under way. Conclusions Overall, the evidence base for interventions to improve postpartum retention in HIV care is weak. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that phone-based interventions can improve retention in PMTCT in the first one to three months postpartum. PMID:27118443

Visual art in hospitals: case studies and review of the evidence.

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Lankston, Louise; Cusack, Pearce; Fremantle, Chris; Isles, Chris

2010-12-01

In 2006 a Department of Health Working Group on Arts and Health reported that the arts have 'a clear contribution to make and offer major opportunities in the delivery of better health, wellbeing and improved experience for patients, service users and staff alike'. In this review we examine the evidence underpinning this statement and evaluate the visual art of three of Scotland's newest hospitals: the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the new Stobhill Hospital, and the new Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow. We conclude that art in hospitals is generally viewed positively by both patients and staff, but that the quality of the evidence is not uniformly high. Effects may be mediated by psychological responses to colour hue, brightness and saturation. Colours that elicit high levels of pleasure with low levels of arousal are most likely to induce a state of calm, while those causing displeasure and high levels of arousal may provoke anxiety. The fact that patients frequently express a preference for landscape and nature scenes is consistent with this observation and with evolutionary psychological theories which predict positive emotional responses to flourishing natural environments. Contrary to a view which may prevail among some contemporary artists, patients who are ill or stressed about their health may not always be comforted by abstract art, preferring the positive distraction and state of calm created by the blues and greens of landscape and nature scenes instead.

Visual art in hospitals: case studies and review of the evidence

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Lankston, Louise; Cusack, Pearce; Fremantle, Chris; Isles, Chris

2010-01-01

Summary In 2006 a Department of Health Working Group on Arts and Health reported that the arts have ‘a clear contribution to make and offer major opportunities in the delivery of better health, wellbeing and improved experience for patients, service users and staff alike’. In this review we examine the evidence underpinning this statement and evaluate the visual art of three of Scotland's newest hospitals: the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the new Stobhill Hospital, and the new Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow. We conclude that art in hospitals is generally viewed positively by both patients and staff, but that the quality of the evidence is not uniformly high. Effects may be mediated by psychological responses to colour hue, brightness and saturation. Colours that elicit high levels of pleasure with low levels of arousal are most likely to induce a state of calm, while those causing displeasure and high levels of arousal may provoke anxiety. The fact that patients frequently express a preference for landscape and nature scenes is consistent with this observation and with evolutionary psychological theories which predict positive emotional responses to flourishing natural environments. Contrary to a view which may prevail among some contemporary artists, patients who are ill or stressed about their health may not always be comforted by abstract art, preferring the positive distraction and state of calm created by the blues and greens of landscape and nature scenes instead. PMID:21127332

The fungal colonisation of rock-art caves: experimental evidence.

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Jurado, Valme; Fernandez-Cortes, Angel; Cuezva, Soledad; Laiz, Leonila; Cañaveras, Juan Carlos; Sanchez-Moral, Sergio; Saiz-Jimenez, Cesareo

2009-09-01

The conservation of rock-art paintings in European caves is a matter of increasing interest. This derives from the bacterial colonisation of Altamira Cave, Spain and the recent fungal outbreak of Lascaux Cave, France-both included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Here, we show direct evidence of a fungal colonisation of rock tablets in a testing system exposed in Altamira Cave. After 2 months, the tablets, previously sterilised, were heavily colonised by fungi and bacteria. Most fungi isolated were labelled as entomopathogens, while the bacteria were those regularly identified in the cave. Rock colonisation was probably promoted by the dissolved organic carbon supplied with the dripping and condensation waters and favoured by the displacement of aerosols towards the interior of the cave, which contributed to the dissemination of microorganisms. The role of arthropods in the dispersal of spores may also help in understanding fungal colonisation. This study evidences the fragility of rock-art caves and demonstrates that microorganisms can easily colonise bare rocks and materials introduced into the cavity.

Procedures and Claims among US Evidence-Producing Organisations: The Case of the Incredible Years Programme

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Karlsson, Patrik; Bergmark, Anders; Lundström, Tommy

2014-01-01

We explore how four evidence-producing organisations in the US go ahead when they rate the evidence base for psychosocial interventions, using the Incredible Years programme as our case study. The findings demonstrate variation in the procedures and resulting evidence claims across the organisations, with some organisations being strict and some…

Recurrent hamstring muscle injury: applying the limited evidence in the professional football setting with a seven-point programme.

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Brukner, Peter; Nealon, Andrew; Morgan, Christopher; Burgess, Darren; Dunn, Andrew

2014-06-01

Recurrent hamstring injuries are a major problem in sports such as football. The aim of this paper was to use a clinical example to describe a treatment strategy for the management of recurrent hamstring injuries and examine the evidence for each intervention. A professional footballer sustained five hamstring injuries in a relatively short period of time. The injury was managed successfully with a seven-point programme-biomechanical assessment and correction, neurodynamics, core stability, eccentric strengthening, an overload running programme, injection therapies and stretching/relaxation. The evidence for each of these treatment options is reviewed. It is impossible to be definite about which aspects of the programme contributed to a successful outcome. Only limited evidence is available in most cases; therefore, decisions regarding the use of different treatment modalities must be made by using a combination of clinical experience and research evidence.

Impact of community-based support services on antiretroviral treatment programme delivery and outcomes in resource-limited countries: a synthetic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wouters Edwin

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Task-shifting to lay community health providers is increasingly suggested as a potential strategy to overcome the barriers to sustainable antiretroviral treatment (ART scale-up in high-HIV-prevalence, resource-limited settings. The dearth of systematic scientific evidence on the contributory role and function of these forms of community mobilisation has rendered a formal evaluation of the published results of existing community support programmes a research priority. Methods We reviewed the relevant published work for the period from November 2003 to December 2011 in accordance with the guidelines for a synthetic review. ISI Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, BioMed Central, OVID Medline, PubMed, Social Services Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts and a number of relevant websites were searched. Results The reviewed literature reported an unambiguous positive impact of community support on a wide range of aspects, including access, coverage, adherence, virological and immunological outcomes, patient retention and survival. Looking at the mechanisms through which community support can impact ART programmes, the review indicates that community support initiatives are a promising strategy to address five often cited challenges to ART scale-up, namely (1 the lack of integration of ART services into the general health system; (2 the growing need for comprehensive care, (3 patient empowerment, (4 and defaulter tracing; and (5 the crippling shortage in human resources for health. The literature indicates that by linking HIV/AIDS-care to other primary health care programmes, by providing psychosocial care in addition to the technical-medical care from nurses and doctors, by empowering patients towards self-management and by tracing defaulters, well-organised community support initiatives are a vital part of any sustainable public-sector ART programme. Conclusions The review demonstrates that community support initiatives are a

Cognitive-behavioural therapies and exercise programmes for patients with fibromyalgia: state of the art and future directions.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koulil, S. van; Effting, M.; Kraaimaat, F.W.; Lankveld, W.G.J.M. van; Helmond, T. van; Cats, H.; Riel, P.L.C.M. van; Jong, A.J.L. de; Haverman, J.F.; Evers, A.W.M.

2007-01-01

This review provides an overview of the effects of non-pharmacological treatments for patients with fibromyalgia (FM), including cognitive-behavioural therapy, exercise training programmes, or a combination of the two. After summarising and discussing preliminary evidence of the rationale of

The Role of Arts-Related Information and Communication Technology Use in Problem Solving and Achievement: Findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment

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Liem, Gregory Arief D.; Martin, Andrew J.; Anderson, Michael; Gibson, Robyn; Sudmalis, David

2014-01-01

Drawing on the Programme for International Student Assessment 2003 data set comprising over 190,000 15-year-old students in 25 countries, the current study sought to examine the role of arts-related information and communication technology (ICT) use in students' problem-solving skill and science and mathematics achievement. Structural equation…

Are cardiovascular disease risk assessment and management programmes cost effective? A systematic review of the evidence.

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Lee, John Tayu; Lawson, Kenny D; Wan, Yizhou; Majeed, Azeem; Morris, Stephen; Soljak, Michael; Millett, Christopher

2017-06-01

The World Health Organization recommends that countries implement population-wide cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment and management programmes. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review to evaluate whether this recommendation is supported by cost-effectiveness evidence. Published economic evaluations were identified via electronic medical and social science databases (including Medline, Web of Science, and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database) from inception to March 2016. Study quality was evaluated using a modified version of the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards. Fourteen economic evaluations were included: five studies based on randomised controlled trials, seven studies based on observational studies and two studies using hypothetical modelling synthesizing secondary data. Trial based studies measured CVD risk factor changes over 1 to 3years, with modelled projections of longer term events. Programmes were either not, or only, cost-effective under non-verified assumptions such as sustained risk factor changes. Most observational and hypothetical studies suggested programmes were likely to be cost-effective; however, study deigns are subject to bias and subsequent empirical evidence has contradicted key assumptions. No studies assessed impacts on inequalities. In conclusion, recommendations for population-wide risk assessment and management programmes lack a robust, real world, evidence basis. Given implementation is resource intensive there is a need for robust economic evaluation, ideally conducted alongside trials, to assess cost effectiveness. Further, the efficiency and equity impact of different delivery models should be investigated, and also the combination of targeted screening with whole population interventions recognising that there multiple approaches to prevention. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The liberal arts and nursing programme at the University of Maine, 1939-1956. A study of leadership behaviours and organisational structure.

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Hart, V

2001-01-01

The trend for nursing programmes affiliated with universities in the US began in 1909 but did not gain momentum until the 1960s with the demise of hospital schools of nursing. During the period of time covered in this study, beginning in the 1930s, a hybrid of the present day university-based nursing programme began to appear. These 'cooperative' programmes often sandwiched traditional hospital experience between years of university course work and involved a five-year commitment on the part of students. In 1939 a liberal arts and nursing programme was established at the University of Maine. It continued to operate until 1956 and then ceased to exist. In this descriptive historical study the author investigates why this particular programme was initiated, of what it consisted, and why it had failed. Primary sources accessed included original correspondence, curriculum descriptions, faculty and students reports, and administrative policies. Leadership and organisational behaviour theory was utilised as well as identification of the historical nursing backdrop. Oral history was also utilised for the purpose of verification of written data. Analysis of the data suggests implications for nursing educators and administrators, as well as telling a story of the power of nursing when viewed in the context of constituency groups in a sociopolitical model of organisations. This paper was first presented at the History of Nursing Millennium Conference in Edinburgh in July 2000.

A 10-year cohort analysis of routine paediatric ART data in a rural South African setting.

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Lilian, R R; Mutasa, B; Railton, J; Mongwe, W; McINTYRE, J A; Struthers, H E; Peters, R P H

2017-01-01

South Africa's paediatric antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme is managed using a monitoring and evaluation tool known as TIER.Net. This electronic system has several advantages over paper-based systems, allowing profiling of the paediatric ART programme over time. We analysed anonymized TIER.Net data for HIV-infected children aged ART in a rural district of South Africa between 2005 and 2014. We performed Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to assess outcomes over time. Records of 5461 children were available for analysis; 3593 (66%) children were retained in care. Losses from the programme were higher in children initiated on treatment in more recent years (P ART programme and highlights interventions to improve programme performance.

The art of rationing - the need for a new approach to rationing health ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A key element in dealing with HIV/AIDS in South Africa depends on the resolution of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) paradox: while a universal First-World-style ART programme is unaffordable, a rationed treatment programme that includes ART is not only affordable but also vital for basic human rights reasons, to enhance ...

Teaching design engineering in an interdisciplinary programme

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wits, Wessel Willems; Homminga, Jasper Johan; Endedijk, Maaike Dorine; Visscher, Klaasjan; Krab-Hüsken, Leonie; van den Berg, Frank; Wilhelm, P.

2014-01-01

ATLAS, the Academy of Technology and Liberal Arts & Sciences, is an interdisciplinary three-year Bachelor of Science honours programme for talented students that opened its doors in September 2013. This international programme uses the concept of project-led education to teach students to integrate

Evolution of the the ART approach: highlights and achievements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jo E. Frencken

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART was initiated in the mid-eighties in Tanzania in response to an inappropriately functioning community oral health programme that was based on western health care models and western technology. The approach has evolved to its present standing as an effective minimal intervention approach mainly because the originators anticipated the great potential of ART to alleviate inequality in oral health care, and because they recognised the need to carry out research to investigate its effectiveness and applicability. Twenty-five years later, ART was accepted by the World Health Organisation (1994 and the FDI World Dental Federation (2002. It is included in textbooks on cariology, restorative dentistry and minimal intervention dentistry. It is being systematically introduced into public oral health service systems in a number of low- and middle income countries. Private practitioners use it. Many publications related to aspects of ART have been published and many more will follow. To achieve quality results with ART one has to attend well-conducted and sufficiently long training courses, preferably in combination with other caries preventive strategies. ART should, therefore, not be considered in isolation and must be part of an evidence-based approach to oral health with a strong foundation based on prevention.

[Sustainable Implementation of Evidence-Based Programmes in Health Promotion: A Theoretical Framework and Concept of Interactive Knowledge to Action].

Science.gov (United States)

Rütten, A; Wolff, A; Streber, A

2016-03-01

This article discusses 2 current issues in the field of public health research: (i) transfer of scientific knowledge into practice and (ii) sustainable implementation of good practice projects. It also supports integration of scientific and practice-based evidence production. Furthermore, it supports utilisation of interactive models that transcend deductive approaches to the process of knowledge transfer. Existing theoretical approaches, pilot studies and thoughtful conceptual considerations are incorporated into a framework showing the interplay of science, politics and prevention practice, which fosters a more sustainable implementation of health promotion programmes. The framework depicts 4 key processes of interaction between science and prevention practice: interactive knowledge to action, capacity building, programme adaptation and adaptation of the implementation context. Ensuring sustainability of health promotion programmes requires a concentrated process of integrating scientific and practice-based evidence production in the context of implementation. Central to the integration process is the approach of interactive knowledge to action, which especially benefits from capacity building processes that facilitate participation and systematic interaction between relevant stakeholders. Intense cooperation also induces a dynamic interaction between multiple actors and components such as health promotion programmes, target groups, relevant organisations and social, cultural and political contexts. The reciprocal adaptation of programmes and key components of the implementation context can foster effectiveness and sustainability of programmes. Sustainable implementation of evidence-based health promotion programmes requires alternatives to recent deductive models of knowledge transfer. Interactive approaches prove to be promising alternatives. Simultaneously, they change the responsibilities of science, policy and public health practice. Existing boundaries

Recurrent hamstring muscle injury: applying the limited evidence in the professional football setting with a seven-point programme

Science.gov (United States)

Brukner, Peter; Nealon, Andrew; Morgan, Christopher; Burgess, Darren; Dunn, Andrew

2014-01-01

Recurrent hamstring injuries are a major problem in sports such as football. The aim of this paper was to use a clinical example to describe a treatment strategy for the management of recurrent hamstring injuries and examine the evidence for each intervention. A professional footballer sustained five hamstring injuries in a relatively short period of time. The injury was managed successfully with a seven-point programme—biomechanical assessment and correction, neurodynamics, core stability, eccentric strengthening, an overload running programme, injection therapies and stretching/relaxation. The evidence for each of these treatment options is reviewed. It is impossible to be definite about which aspects of the programme contributed to a successful outcome. Only limited evidence is available in most cases; therefore, decisions regarding the use of different treatment modalities must be made by using a combination of clinical experience and research evidence. PMID:23322894

Unforgettable art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iván Moratilla Pérez

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Humanity and Art make an indissoluble marriage, it is impossible to comprehend one without the other. Even before producing the first musical instrument, humanity already sang; before using a canvas, humans painted on the walls of a cave. Creative manifestations invariably take place in “poverty and wealth”, but also in “sickness and health”. In this article we introduce the reader to the subject of art and dementia, highlighting the creative potential of patients, and including examples of educational programmes that some museums develop for people with this condition.

(ARV) treatment training programme

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Winnie

Keywords:ARV, training, evaluation, HIV, health care provider. RÉSUMÉ .... workers, adequate laboratory facilities for measuring viral load and .... questionnaire guide, the head of unit of the ART ...... begins its scale-up programme. Some of ...

Evaluation of the Start Programme: Case-Study Report

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, Shona; Sharp, Caroline; Weaving, Harriet; Smith, Robert; Wheater, Rebecca

2014-01-01

This report presents five case studies of long-term partnerships (over three years) between arts organisations and schools. The Start programme enables arts venues and schools to work together to offer disadvantaged young people opportunities to engage in creative activities that inspire them and enhance their experience of the arts. It is…

Art Studies in Ghana: Whose Responsibility? | Labi | Legon Journal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... trend by introducing art history departments focusing on degree programmes and graduate studies, and creating a local platform for indigenous voices and perspectives to cross-fertilize the knowledge in the discipline for the enrichment of the global discourse on Ghana's art. Keywords: art studies, scholarship, African art, ...

The state-of-the-art of ART restorations.

Science.gov (United States)

Frencken, Jo E

2014-04-01

ART is less anxiety- and pain-provoking than traditional restorative treatments; administration of local anaesthesia is rarely required. Systematic reviews have provided evidence of the high level of effectiveness of high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART restoration in restoring single-surface cavities, both in primary and permanent posterior teeth, but its survival rates in restoring multiple-surface cavities in primary posterior teeth needs to be improved. Insufficient information is available regarding the survival rates of multiple-surface ART restorations in permanent teeth. Evidence from these reviews indicates no difference in the survival rates of single-surface high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART restorations and amalgam restorations in primary and permanent posterior teeth. Where indicated, high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART restorations can be used alongside traditional restorations. ART provides a much more acceptable introduction to dental restorative care than the traditional 'injection, drill and fill'.

Unequal access to ART: exploratory results from rural and urban case studies of ART use.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, Susan May; Birch, Stephen; Moshabela, Mosa; Schneider, Helen

2012-03-01

South Africa has the world's largest antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme. While services in the public sector are free at the point of use, little is known about overall access barriers. This paper explores these barriers from the perspective of ART users enrolled in services in two rural and two urban settings. Using a comprehensive framework of access, interviews were conducted with over 1200 ART users to assess barriers along three dimensions: availability, affordability and acceptability. Summary statistics were computed and comparisons of access barriers between sites were explored using multivariate linear and logistic regressions. While availability access barriers in rural settings were found to be mitigated through a more decentralised model of service provision in one site, affordability barriers were considerably higher in rural versus urban settings. 50% of respondents incurred catastrophic healthcare expenditure and 36% borrowed money to cover these expenses in one rural site. On acceptability, rural users were less likely to report feeling respected by health workers. Stigma was reported to be lowest in the two sites with the most decentralised services and the highest coverage of those in need. While results suggest inequitable access to ART for rural relative to urban users, nurse-led services offered through primary healthcare facilities mitigated these barriers in one rural site. This is an important finding given current policy emphasis on decentralised and nurse-led ART in South Africa. This study is one of the first to present comprehensive evidence on access barriers to assist in the design of policy solutions.

Systematic review of the economic evidence on home visitation programmes for vulnerable pregnant women.

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Stamuli, Eugena; Richardson, Gerry; Duffy, Steven; Robling, Michael; Hood, Kerry

2015-09-01

A systematic review of the economic evidence on home visitation programmes for young or vulnerable pregnant women was undertaken to provide a summary of the existing literature of these interventions. Relevant studies were identified from a number of sources including large databases, free text search on Google Scholar as well as hand-searching of the obtained references. The search yielded a large number of papers, of which 12 were considered appropriate to be included in the review. These were either full or partial economic evaluations: four studies were cost-benefit analyses, three were cost-effectiveness analyses and the remaining were costing studies. The review highlighted the paucity of good quality economic evaluations in the area of home visiting programmes for young or vulnerable pregnant women. Methods varied substantially between the studies spanning from differing data sources (e.g. single randomized trials or meta-analyses) to different perspectives taken, cost items and outcomes included in the analysis. It is difficult to establish a coherent body of economic evidence for these interventions and draw a firm conclusion on their value for money. Home visiting programmes are complex interventions, with impact on the lives of mothers and their children. The funding of such interventions should be based on rigorous effectiveness and economic evidence. There is a need for well-designed economic evaluations which will follow the appropriate methodological guidelines and also take into account the complexity of such interventions. These analyses should preferably consider multiple perspectives and allow for the fact that the majority of the benefits accrue in the long-term future. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

"Trying to Get Our Message Across": Successes and Challenges in an Evidence-Based Professional Development Programme for Sport Coaches

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Griffiths, Mark A.; Armour, Kathleen M.; Cushion, Christopher J.

2018-01-01

This paper reports data from the evaluation of a coach education programme provided by a major national governing body of sport (NGB) in the UK. The programme was designed for youth sport coaches based on research evidence that suggests that CPD is most effective in supporting practitioner learning when it is interactive, collaborative and located…

Making Pictures as a Method of Teaching Art History

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Martikainen, Jari

2017-01-01

Inspired by the affective and sensory turns in the paradigm of art history, this article discusses making pictures as a method of teaching art history in Finnish Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training (Qualification in Visual Expression, Study Programmes in Visual and Media Arts and Photography). A total of 25 students majoring in…

There are calls for a national screening programme for prostate cancer: what is the evidence to justify such a national screening programme?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, A; Tait, C; Aboumarzouk, O; Somani, B K; Cohen, N P

2013-05-01

Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men and a major health issue worldwide. Screening for early disease has been available for many years, but there is still no national screening programme established in the United Kingdom. To assess the latest evidence regarding prostate cancer screening and whether it meets the necessary requirements to be established as a national programme for all men. Electronic databases and library catalogues were searched electronically and manual retrieval was performed. Only primary research results were used for the analysis. In recent years, several important randomised controlled trials have produced varied outcomes. In Europe the largest study thus far concluded that screening reduced prostate cancer mortality by 20%. On the contrary, a large American trial found no reduction in mortality after 7-10 years follow-up. Most studies comment on the adverse effects of screening - principally those of overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment. Further information about the natural history of prostate cancer and accuracy of screening is needed before a screening programme can be truly justified. In the interim, doctors and patients should discuss the risks, benefits and sequelae of taking part in voluntary screening for prostate cancer.

The Suffering of Arts Entrepreneurs: Will Fine Art Students Be Educated on How to Become Successfully Self-Employed?

Science.gov (United States)

Thom, Marco

2015-01-01

The aim of the study is to show whether, how and to what extent fine art students will be equipped with entrepreneurial skills and therefore be educated on how to make a living as a practicing artist. A comprehensive and comparative analysis of Fine Art degree programmes and extra-curricular training offerings at higher education institutions…

The Gold Standard Programme

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neumann, Tim; Rasmussen, Mette; Ghith, Nermin

2013-01-01

To evaluate the real-life effect of an evidence-based Gold Standard Programme (GSP) for smoking cessation interventions in disadvantaged patients and to identify modifiable factors that consistently produce the highest abstinence rates.......To evaluate the real-life effect of an evidence-based Gold Standard Programme (GSP) for smoking cessation interventions in disadvantaged patients and to identify modifiable factors that consistently produce the highest abstinence rates....

An implementation study of two evidence-based exercise and health education programmes for older adults with osteoarthritis of the knee and hip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, O.R.W de; Hopman-Rock, M.; Tak, E.C.M.P.; Klazinga, N.S.

2004-01-01

Implementation studies are recommended to assess the feasibility and effectiveness in real-life of programmes which have been tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We report on an implementation study of two evidence-based exercise and health education programmes for older adults with

ICT in the Arts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brooks, Anthony Lewis

2014-01-01

Increased use of ICT in art projects opens novel opportunities for contemporary artists seeking innovative means to create and express beyond the traditional in new ways and places. This can also be beyond what is conventionally considered art. Thus, wider and transdisciplinary philosophical...... perspectives become apparent. Specific examples are presented from the author’s portfolio with a focus on biofeedback and unencumbered gesture control of digital media. Parallel is increased attention to creativity seen from within academia and industry with specific education programmes reflecting how...... creative industries are important to economic well being in society. This contribution1 presents across these borders through introducing an international conference series titled ArtsIT within a special issue of the International Journal on Arts and Technology, which are vehicles for contemporary artists...

Hydrogeological investigation programmes: best practice. Proof of evidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reeves, G.M.

1996-01-01

Proof of Evidence by an expert witness is presented in support of the case by Friends of the Earth (FOE) against the proposed construction by UK Nirex Ltd of an underground Rock Characterisation Facility (RCF) at a site in the Sellafield area. The RCF is part of an investigation by Nirex into a suitable site for an underground repository for the disposal of radioactive waste. The objections were raised at a Planning Inquiry in 1995. Drawing on best practice in hydrogeological investigation from case studies of groundwater assessment in the UK and the Canadian nuclear waste disposal programme, the hydrogeological monitoring work undertaken to date at Sellafield is found to be inadequate in both scope and duration. The lack of adequate equilibrium hydrogeological data is significant in its implications for the RCF both in terms of the effects on local water resources and the proposed repository. It is concluded, therefore, that the construction of the RCF should be postponed pending the establishment of the equilibrium hydrogeological regime. (10 figures; 33 references). (UK)

The Origin and Development of Formal Art Schools in Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

FIRST LADY

Polytechnics and Colleges of Education that offer art in their programmes. Key Words: ... Nigerian elite politicians or traditional rulers on the location of the College. ... modern Nigerian art in various institutions of higher learning across the.

The importance of service-users' perspectives: A systematic review of qualitative evidence reveals overlooked critical features of weight management programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutcliffe, Katy; Melendez-Torres, G J; Burchett, Helen E D; Richardson, Michelle; Rees, Rebecca; Thomas, James

2018-03-14

Extensive research effort shows that weight management programmes (WMPs) targeting both diet and exercise are broadly effective. However, the critical features of WMPs remain unclear. To develop a deeper understanding of WMPs critical features, we undertook a systematic review of qualitative evidence. We sought to understand from a service-user perspective how programmes are experienced, and may be effective, on the ground. We identified qualitative studies from existing reviews and updated the searches of one review. We included UK studies capturing the views of adult WMP users. Thematic analysis was used inductively to code and synthesize the evidence. Service users were emphatic that supportive relationships, with service providers or WMP peers, are the most critical aspect of WMPs. Supportive relationships were described as providing an extrinsic motivator or "hook" which helped to overcome barriers such as scepticism about dietary advice or a lack confidence to engage in physical activity. The evidence revealed that service-users' understandings of the critical features of WMPs differ from the focus of health promotion guidance or descriptions of evaluated programmes which largely emphasize educational or goal setting aspects of WMPs. Existing programme guidance may not therefore fully address the needs of service users. The study illustrates that the perspectives of service users can reveal unanticipated intervention mechanisms or underemphasized critical features and underscores the value of a holistic understanding about "what happens" in complex psychosocial interventions such as WMPs. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Origins: science inspires art

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

From 8 December 2011 to 17 February 2012, Geneva University's physics faculty will be holding an exhibition called "L'Origine – un voyage entre la Science et l'Art". Thirty artists from Europe and Africa will be exhibiting their work.   The aim of the exhibition is to take the visitor on an imaginary journey to the origins of mankind and to show how science and art approach the same theme from different angles. The works on display will include pieces of Makonde art, a traditional art form native to Mozambique, created by artists of the Nairucu Arts centre. The cultural programme that will run alongside the exhibition will include lectures on contemporary scientific themes aimed at the general public. Visitors will also have the opportunity to discover "L’Origine", a book of poetry by Beatrice Bressan (Ed. Loreleo, Geneva, 2010), which was awarded the third prize in the “Poeti nella società&...

FORMATION OF SCIENCE-ORIENTED ART: CAUSES AND RESULTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Aleksandrovich Popov

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: identify the causes of the phenomenon of science-oriented art of the 19-20th century.Methodology: theoretical analysis of possibilities and ways of interaction between science and art in the analyzed period.Results The author defines science-oriented art as artistic trends that embodied concepts of a human formed by the humanities. The author identifies the following reasons for its emergence: the high status of science in the 19th century, the ability of art, as a special form of activity, to converge with other types of activity, identification of science and truth, and appropriation of reflective functions towards art by science.Art, which is not a rational activity, had to rely on the findings and conclusions, which science made about it. Even theorizing artists were forced to rely on ideas of scientists that were far from art.In the 19-20th century, socio-biological theories, Marxism, and psychoanalysis claimed the role of fundamental scientific research programmes that reveal the essence of man. Each of them found its artistic embodiment in the form of naturalism, socialist realism, surrealism, and psychological novel. This kind of art was used by scientists to prove the truth of their own concepts.The author comes to the conclusion that the rise or decline of a science-oriented art movement depended on credibility of the scientific research programme that was close to it. Success of a particular scientific movement resulted in the emergence of a corresponding art movement; disappointment in it became the reason behind its fading.

Konference Nineteenth-Century Programme Music, Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini, Lucca 25.-27. listopadu 2016

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Myslivcová, Eva; Zapletal, Miloš

2016-01-01

Roč. 53, č. 4 (2016), s. 419-420 ISSN 0018-7003. [Nineteenth-Century Programme Music . Lucca, 25.11.2016-27.11.2016] Institutional support: RVO:68378076 Keywords : Programme Music * Nineteenth-Century Music Subject RIV: AL - Art, Architecture, Cultural Heritage OBOR OECD: Performing arts studies ( Music ology, Theater science, Dramaturgy)

Art and Money

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goetzmann, W.; Renneboog, L.D.R.; Spaenjers, C.

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of equity markets and top incomes on art prices. Using a newly constructed art market index, we demonstrate that equity market returns have had a significant impact on the price level in the art market over the last two centuries. We also find empirical evidence

Art and money

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goetzmann, W.; Renneboog, L.D.R.; Spaenjers, C.

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of equity markets and top incomes on art prices. Using a newly constructed art market index, we demonstrate that equity market returns have had a significant impact on the price level in the art market over the last two centuries. We also find evidence that an

Neighbour Programme: The Mixture of Southeast Asian Visual Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanny Wijaya

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Neighbour Programme was initiated in 2010 by three institutions from Southeast Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand; then Indonesia joined them a year later in 2011. These institutions, which specialise in art and design, decided to develop a project about cultural exchange that aimed to reconnect art and design in the form of a dialogue and research as practice. This project also intended to include forming mutual networks to organise exchange programmes, creating cultural collisions within this mixture. Based on thought that Southeast Asia’s countries have the same root of art, culture and heritage, Neighbour focused on searching a different topic each year that could be explored and developed into knowledge and understanding for both students and lecturers, and hopefully to publics about their own visual culture. Neighbour has running since 2010 and still developing until present. This project has used different methods, such as Constructivist Learning that gave new perspective of gaining knowledge; and hopefully Neighbour will keep trying to find a new method to engage art, design, and culture with publics internationally. 

Recent state report: Groundwater programmes of variable density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fein, E.

1991-12-01

This report summarises basic facts and data that may be helpful in decisions about the development of a groundwater programme for the calculation of saline groundwater movements. Generally accepted requirements of a rapid groundwater programme for the assessment of flow mechanisms above salt domes are defined. It also describes the possibilities offered by similar programmes already in progress on a national and international basis and discusses state-of-the-art numerical methods and hardware in respect of speed and efficiency of the relevant computer programmes. The availability of a rapid groundwater programme would make it possible for model calculations in connection with long-term safety analyses to take account of the influence of salinity on groundwater movements in extended and complex model regions. (orig./DG) [de

Correcting Mortality for Loss to Follow-Up: A Nomogram Applied to Antiretroviral Treatment Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Egger, Matthias; Spycher, Ben D.; Sidle, John; Weigel, Ralf; Geng, Elvin H.; Fox, Matthew P.; MacPhail, Patrick; van Cutsem, Gilles; Messou, Eugène; Wood, Robin; Nash, Denis; Pascoe, Margaret; Dickinson, Diana; Etard, Jean-François; McIntyre, James A.; Brinkhof, Martin W. G.

2011-01-01

Background The World Health Organization estimates that in sub-Saharan Africa about 4 million HIV-infected patients had started antiretroviral therapy (ART) by the end of 2008. Loss of patients to follow-up and care is an important problem for treatment programmes in this region. As mortality is high in these patients compared to patients remaining in care, ART programmes with high rates of loss to follow-up may substantially underestimate mortality of all patients starting ART. Methods and Findings We developed a nomogram to correct mortality estimates for loss to follow-up, based on the fact that mortality of all patients starting ART in a treatment programme is a weighted average of mortality among patients lost to follow-up and patients remaining in care. The nomogram gives a correction factor based on the percentage of patients lost to follow-up at a given point in time, and the estimated ratio of mortality between patients lost and not lost to follow-up. The mortality observed among patients retained in care is then multiplied by the correction factor to obtain an estimate of programme-level mortality that takes all deaths into account. A web calculator directly calculates the corrected, programme-level mortality with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We applied the method to 11 ART programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. Patients retained in care had a mortality at 1 year of 1.4% to 12.0%; loss to follow-up ranged from 2.8% to 28.7%; and the correction factor from 1.2 to 8.0. The absolute difference between uncorrected and corrected mortality at 1 year ranged from 1.6% to 9.8%, and was above 5% in four programmes. The largest difference in mortality was in a programme with 28.7% of patients lost to follow-up at 1 year. Conclusions The amount of bias in mortality estimates can be large in ART programmes with substantial loss to follow-up. Programmes should routinely report mortality among patients retained in care and the proportion of patients lost. A simple

Fuel for ADS: State-of-the-art, requirements, current and future programmes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabrielli, F.

2015-01-01

Fuels are the cornerstone of research/development programs of accelerator-driven systems for transmuting minor actinides (MA). Compared with the fuels for critical reactors, fuels for ADS are generally U-free to improve the transmutation performance and contain high volumetric concentrations (about 50%) of MA and Pu compounds. Their specific fabrication, reprocessing, design and safety issues are being currently investigated. This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art of the assessment of these innovative fuels. Emphasis has been placed on the main outcomes of the work performed within the Sixth FP EU EUROTRANS Programme, which provided a decisive step forward in improving knowledge on fabrication, properties, and behaviour under irradiation of these challenging fuels. In EUROTRANS, for the ADS application, the focus was on Ceramic-Ceramic (Pu,MA)O 2 + MgO and Ceramic-Metallic (Pu,MA)O 2 + 92 Mo composite fuels, which were recommended for the European Facility for Industrial Transmutation (EFIT). The fuels consist of particles of (Pu,MA)O 2 phases dispersed in a magnesia or molybdenum matrix. Solid nitride (Pu,MA,Zr)O 2 fuels have also been considered as a back-up solution. This paper presents the main experimental results from out-of-pile and in-pile experiments of the Ceramic-Ceramic and Ceramic-Metallic composite fuels as well as related safety assessments. Further, the on-going research and development activities on fuels loaded with large amount of MA will be presented. (author)

Large-scale road safety programmes in low- and middle-income countries: an opportunity to generate evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyder, Adnan A; Allen, Katharine A; Peters, David H; Chandran, Aruna; Bishai, David

2013-01-01

The growing burden of road traffic injuries, which kill over 1.2 million people yearly, falls mostly on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite this, evidence generation on the effectiveness of road safety interventions in LMIC settings remains scarce. This paper explores a scientific approach for evaluating road safety programmes in LMICs and introduces such a road safety multi-country initiative, the Road Safety in 10 Countries Project (RS-10). By building on existing evaluation frameworks, we develop a scientific approach for evaluating large-scale road safety programmes in LMIC settings. This also draws on '13 lessons' of large-scale programme evaluation: defining the evaluation scope; selecting study sites; maintaining objectivity; developing an impact model; utilising multiple data sources; using multiple analytic techniques; maximising external validity; ensuring an appropriate time frame; the importance of flexibility and a stepwise approach; continuous monitoring; providing feedback to implementers, policy-makers; promoting the uptake of evaluation results; and understanding evaluation costs. The use of relatively new approaches for evaluation of real-world programmes allows for the production of relevant knowledge. The RS-10 project affords an important opportunity to scientifically test these approaches for a real-world, large-scale road safety evaluation and generate new knowledge for the field of road safety.

Arts-based palliative care training, education and staff development: A scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Turton, Benjamin Mark; Williams, Sion; Burton, Christopher R; Williams, Lynne

2018-02-01

The experience of art offers an emerging field in healthcare staff development, much of which is appropriate to the practice of palliative care. The workings of aesthetic learning interventions such as interactive theatre in relation to palliative and end-of-life care staff development programmes are widely uncharted. To investigate the use of aesthetic learning interventions used in palliative and end-of-life care staff development programmes. Scoping review. Published literature from 1997 to 2015, MEDLINE, CINAHL and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, key journals and citation tracking. The review included 138 studies containing 60 types of art. Studies explored palliative care scenarios from a safe distance. Learning from art as experience involved the amalgamation of action, emotion and meaning. Art forms were used to transport healthcare professionals into an aesthetic learning experience that could be reflected in the lived experience of healthcare practice. The proposed learning included the development of practical and technical skills; empathy and compassion; awareness of self; awareness of others and the wider narrative of illness; and personal development. Aesthetic learning interventions might be helpful in the delivery of palliative care staff development programmes by offering another dimension to the learning experience. As researchers continue to find solutions to understanding the efficacy of such interventions, we argue that evaluating the contextual factors, including the interplay between the experience of the programme and its impact on the healthcare professional, will help identify how the programmes work and thus how they can contribute to improvements in palliative care.

Understanding Arts and Humanities Students' Experiences of Assessment and Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Joelle; McNab, Nicole

2013-01-01

This article examines how undergraduate students on arts and humanities courses experience assessment and feedback. The research uses a detailed audit, a specially devised questionnaire (the Assessment Experience Questionnaire), and student focus group data, and the article examines results from 19 programmes, comparing those from "arts and…

The effect of a multifaceted evidence-based practice programme for nurses on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and perceived barriers: A cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Goot, Wieke E; Keers, Joost C; Kuipers, Ruud; Nieweg, Roos M B; de Groot, Martijn

2018-04-01

The Dutch professional nursing standard of 2012 stipulates that Dutch nursing practices are to be evidence-based. Not all practicing nurses can satisfy these requirements, therefore, an educational programme about Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) was developed for a Dutch teaching hospital. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of a six month in-house EBP programme on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and perceived barriers of nurses (four European Credits equals two US Credit Hours). A multiple-cohort study was conducted with a pre-post-test design. In the period of 2011-2015, a total of 58 nurses (9 cohorts) followed the programme. Baseline and follow-up assessments consisted of three questionnaires each: the Dutch Modified Fresno, the two subscales of the McColl questionnaire, and the BARRIER scale to assess knowledge and skills, attitudes, and perceived barriers, respectively. Fifty nurses completed both assessments. The results demonstrated that actual knowledge and skills significantly increased by approximately 40%. Self-perceived knowledge increased significantly, while attitudes towards EBP remained (moderately) positive. Perceived barriers did not notably change except for the Research subscale which received many "no opinion" responses prior to the programme but fewer afterwards. Our multifaceted in-house EBP programme led to a significant improvement of approximately 40% in EBP knowledge and skills of participating nurses. Most nurses who followed the EBP programme are currently applying their knowledge and skills in practice. Managerial support and allocated time for EBP are important facilitators for its implementation. Furthermore, to maintain and expand nurses' EBP knowledge and skills and translate them into practice, follow-up interventions, such as journal clubs, may well be beneficial. Based on the positive results of our programme, we will implement it throughout the hospital with an emphasis on training more groups of nurses. Copyright �

Delivery of antiretroviral treatment services in India: Estimated costs incurred under the National AIDS Control Programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Reshu; Rewari, Bharat Bhushan; Shastri, Suresh; Nagaraja, Sharath Burugina; Rathore, Abhilakh Singh

2017-04-01

Competing domestic health priorities and shrinking financial support from external agencies necessitates that India's National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) brings in cost efficiencies to sustain the programme. In addition, current plans to expand the criteria for eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) in India will have significant financial implications in the near future. ART centres in India provide comprehensive services to people living with HIV (PLHIV): those fulfilling national eligibility criteria and receiving ART and those on pre-ART care, i.e. not on ART. ART centres are financially supported (i) directly by the NACP; and (ii) indirectly by general health systems. This study was conducted to determine (i) the cost incurred per patient per year of pre-ART and ART services at ART centres; and (ii) the proportion of this cost incurred by the NACP and by general health systems. The study used national data from April 2013 to March 2014, on ART costs and non-ART costs (human resources, laboratory tests, training, prophylaxis and management of opportunistic infections, hospitalization, operational, and programme management). Data were extracted from procurement records and reports, statements of expenditure at national and state level, records and reports from ART centres, databases of the National AIDS Control Organisation, and reports on use of antiretroviral drugs. The analysis estimates the cost for ART services as US$ 133.89 (?8032) per patient per year, of which 66% (US$ 88.66, ?5320) is for antiretroviral drugs and 34% (US$ 45.23, ?2712) is for non-ART recurrent expenditure, while the cost for pre-ART care is US$ 33.05 (?1983) per patient per year. The low costs incurred for patients in ART and pre-ART care services can be attributed mainly to the low costs of generic drugs. However, further integration with general health systems may facilitate additional cost saving, such as in human resources.

Reset, Hack and Own : Media Focus in Art and Design Education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. Nordeman

2014-01-01

Over the past fifteen years, the professional context of arts and design, in terms of production, distribution and consumption, has largely changed as a result of technological developments. However, art and design education programmes in the Netherlands have mostly failed to constructively

Self-transfer and mortality amongst adults lost to follow-up in ART programmes in low- and middle-income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Lynne S; Skordis-Worrall, Jolene; Ajose, Olawale; Ford, Nathan

2015-03-01

To ascertain estimates of adult patients, recorded as lost to follow-up (LTFU) within antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes, who have self-transferred care, died or truly stopped ART in low- and middle-income countries. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Science Direct, LILACS, IndMed and AIM databases (2003-2013) and IAS/AIDS conference abstracts (2011-2013) were searched for tracing studies reporting the proportion of traced patients found to have self-transferred, died or stopped ART. These estimates were then combined using random-effects meta-analysis. Risk of bias was assessed through subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Twenty eight studies were eligible for inclusion, reporting true outcomes for 10,806 traced patients attending approximately 258 ART facilities. None were from outside sub-Saharan Africa. Twenty three studies reported 4.5-54.4% traced LTFU patients self-transferring care, providing a pooled estimate of 18.6% (95% CI 15.8-22.0%). A significant positive association was found between rates of self-transfer and LTFU in the ART cohort. The pooled estimates for unreported deaths were 38.8% (95% CI 30.8-46.8%; 27 studies) and 28.6% (95% CI 21.9-36.0%; 20 studies) for patients stopping ART. A significant decrease in unreported deaths from 50.0% (95% CI 41.5-58.4%) to 30.0% (95% CI 21.1-38.9%) was found comparing study periods before and after 31 December 2007. Substantial unaccounted for transfers and deaths amongst patients LTFU confirms that retention and mortality is underestimated where the true outcomes of LTFU patients are not ascertained. © 2014 The Authors. Tropical Medicine & International Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

School-based vaccination programmes: a systematic review of the evidence on organisation and delivery in high income countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Perman

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many countries have recently expanded their childhood immunisation programmes. Schools are an increasingly attractive setting for delivery of these new immunisations because of their ability to reach large numbers of children in a short period of time. However, there are organisational challenges to delivery of large-scale vaccination programmes in schools. Understanding the facilitators and barriers is important for improving the delivery of future school-based vaccination programmes. Methods We undertook a systematic review of evidence on school-based vaccination programmes in order to understand the influence of organisational factors on the delivery of programmes. Our eligibility criteria were studies that (1 focused on childhood or adolescent vaccination programmes delivered in schools; (2 considered organisational factors that influenced the preparation or delivery of programmes; (3 were conducted in a developed or high-income country; and (4 had been peer reviewed. We searched for articles published in English between 2000 and 2015 using MEDLINE and HMIC electronic databases. Additional studies were identified by searching the Cochrane Library and bibliographies. We extracted data from the studies, assessed quality and the risk of bias, and categorised findings using a thematic framework of eight organisational factors. Results We found that most of the recent published literature is from the United States and is concerned with the delivery of pandemic or seasonal flu vaccination programmes at a regional (state or local level. We found that the literature is largely descriptive and not informed by the use of theory. Despite this, we identified common factors that influence the implementation of programmes. These factors included programme leadership and governance, organisational models and institutional relationships, workforce capacity and roles particularly concerning the school nurse, communication with parents and

Underreporting of side effects of standard first-line ART in the routine ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Malawi Medical Journal; 23(4): 116-118 December 2011. Side effects of standard first line in ART 116. Underreporting of side effects of standard first-line. ART in the routine setting in Blantyre, Malawi. Abstract. Introduction. In the Malawi ART programme, 92% of 250,000 patients are using the standard first-line regime of ...

The Origin and Development of Formal Art Schools in Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... in the institutions of higher learning in post independence Nigeria. It looks at the changes over time in the course content of these art departments which today are completely indigenous. Finally, it concludes with an update of Nigerian Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education that offer art in their programmes.

Barriers to ART adherence & follow ups among patients attending ART centres in Maharashtra, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Joglekar, N; Paranjape, R; Jain, R; Rahane, G; Potdar, R; Reddy, K S; Sahay, S

2011-12-01

Adherence to ART is a patient specific issue influenced by a variety of situations that a patient may encounter, especially in resource-limited settings. A study was conducted to understand factors and influencers of adherence to ART and their follow ups among patients attending ART centres in Maharashtra, India. Between January and March 2009, barriers to ART adherence among 32 patients at three selected ART centres functioning under national ART roll-out programme in Maharashtra, India, were studied using qualitative methods. Consenting patients were interviewed to assess barriers to ART adherence. Constant comparison method was used to identify grounded codes. Patients reported multiple barriers to ART adherence and follow up as (i) Financial barriers where the contributing factors were unemployment, economic dependency, and debt, (ii) social norm of attending family rituals, and fulfilling social obligations emerged as socio-cultural barriers, (iii) patients' belief, attitude and behaviour towards medication and self-perceived stigma were the reasons for sub-optimal adherence, and (iv) long waiting period, doctor-patient relationship and less time devoted in counselling at the center contributed to missed visits. Mainstreaming ART can facilitate access and address 'missed doses' due to travel and migration. A 'morning' and 'evening' ART centre/s hours may reduce work absenteeism and help in time management. Proactive 'adherence probing' and probing on internalized stigma might optimize adherence. Adherence probing to prevent transitioning to suboptimal adherence among patients stable on ART is recommended.

The beneficial attributes of visual art-making in cancer care: An integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ennis, G; Kirshbaum, M; Waheed, N

2018-01-01

We seek to understand what is known about the use of visual art-making for people who have a cancer diagnosis, and to explore how art-making may help address fatigue in the cancer care context. Art-making involves creating art or craft alone or in a group and does not require an art-therapist as the emphasis is on creativity rather than an overt therapeutic intention. An integrative review was undertaken of qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method studies on art-making for people who have cancer, at any stage of treatment or recovery. An adapted version of Kaplan's Attention Restoration Theory (ART) was used to interpret the themes found in the literature. Fifteen studies were reviewed. Nine concerned art-making programmes and six were focused on individual, non-facilitated art-making. Review results suggested that programme-based art-making may provide participants with opportunities for learning about self, support, enjoyment and distraction. Individual art-making can provides learning about self, diversion and pleasure, self-management of pain, a sense of control, and enhanced social relationships. When viewed through the lens of ART, art-making can be understood as an energy-restoring activity that has the potential to enhance the lives of people with a diagnosis of cancer. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Restoring State Control Over Forest Resources Through Administrative Procedures: Evidence From a Community Forestry Programme in Central Java, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Maryudi

2012-01-01

in diesem Artikel, dass die Implementierung von community forestry auch von den Interessen des Staates, Kontrolle über die Wälder zurückzugewinnen, vorangetrieben wird. Meine Forschung in acht Dörfern in der Provinz Zentral-Java zeigt, dass die community forestry-Programme sorgfältig nach zahlreichen administrativen Verfahren strukturiert sind und eine Art der Kontrolle durch bürokratisches Design etablieren.

From interventions to interactions: Science Museum Arts Projects’ history and the challenges of interpreting art in the Science Museum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannah Redler

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Hannah Redler’s paper examines the 13 year history of Science Museum, London’s contemporary art programme and explores how changing cultural conditions and the changing function of museums are making the questions raised by bringing art into the Science Museum context increasingly significant. It looks at how Science Museum Arts Projects started as a quirky, experimental sideline aimed at shaking up the Museum and its visitors’ assumptions, but has now become a fundamental means by which the Science Museum chooses to represent the impact of science, medicine, engineering and technology on peoples’ everyday lives.

Introducing new diagnostics into STI control programmes: the importance of programme science.

Science.gov (United States)

Peeling, Rosanna W; Mabey, David; Ballard, Ronald C

2013-03-01

Many innovative diagnostic technologies will become commercially available over the next 5-10 years. These tests can potentially transform the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections but their introduction into control programmes can be hampered by health system constraints, and political, cultural, socioeconomic and behavioural factors. We used the introduction of syphilis rapid tests to illustrate the importance of programme science to address the gap between accruing evidence of acceptable test performance and the complexity of programme design, implementation and evaluation of test deployment to address public health needs and improve patient-important outcomes.

Are persons living with HIV timely accessing ART services in India?

Science.gov (United States)

Sogarwal, Ruchi; Bachani, Damodar

2009-05-01

CD4+ T-cell level is one of the important criteria for categorising HIV-related clinical conditions to determine initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The present study is undertaken to analyse baseline CD4 count at which persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) were getting registered for ART in India. It also examines the profile of the PLHA with baseline CD4 count over a period of time. Data of 1,10,974 registered PLHAs at ART centres were analysed for the last three years (April 2005 to March 2008) in the computerised management information system. It was revealed that 85 per cent of PLHA were registered when their baseline CD4 count was less than 250 cells/mm3 and thus were eligible for initiation of ART. No significant change in the proportion of PLHA by CD4 categories was observed in the last three years. These findings suggest that registration for ART at early stages of infection is still uncommon. Significant decline in the proportion of PLHA in the age group of 21-30 years, literate and employed was noticed. The proportion of PLHA referred by counselling and testing centres has increased from 62.6% in 2005-06 to 71.3% in 2007-08. Sexual transmission, followed by mother to child transmission has been reported as two major modes of HIV transmission by PLHA registered at ART centres in the last three years. Though the number of ART centres has increased in India which in turn has increased the number of PLHAs registered and on ART, it is evident from this study that the programme is still far behind to achieve the goal of early detection for timely ART.

Social skills programmes for schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Almerie, Muhammad Qutayba; Okba Al Marhi, Muhammad; Jawoosh, Muhammad; Alsabbagh, Mohamad; Matar, Hosam E; Maayan, Nicola; Bergman, Hanna

2015-06-09

Social skills programmes (SSP) are treatment strategies aimed at enhancing the social performance and reducing the distress and difficulty experienced by people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and can be incorporated as part of the rehabilitation package for people with schizophrenia. The primary objective is to investigate the effects of social skills training programmes, compared to standard care, for people with schizophrenia. We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Trials Register (November 2006 and December 2011) which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, BIOSIS, AMED, EMBASE, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and registries of clinical trials. We inspected references of all identified studies for further trials.A further search for studies has been conducted by the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group in 2015, 37 citations have been found and are currently being assessed by review authors. We included all relevant randomised controlled trials for social skills programmes versus standard care involving people with serious mental illnesses. We extracted data independently. For dichotomous data we calculated risk ratios (RRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, we calculated mean differences (MD) and 95% CIs. We included 13 randomised trials (975 participants). These evaluated social skills programmes versus standard care, or discussion group. We found evidence in favour of social skills programmes compared to standard care on all measures of social functioning. We also found that rates of relapse and rehospitalisation were lower for social skills compared to standard care (relapse: 2 RCTs, n = 263, RR 0.52 CI 0.34 to 0.79, very low quality evidence), (rehospitalisation: 1 RCT, n = 143, RR 0.53 CI 0.30 to 0.93, very low quality evidence) and participants' mental state results (1 RCT, n = 91, MD -4.01 CI -7.52 to -0.50, very low quality evidence) were better in the group receiving social skill programmes

Genetics in the art and art in genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bukvic, Nenad; Elling, John W

2015-01-15

"Healing is best accomplished when art and science are conjoined, when body and spirit are probed together", says Bernard Lown, in his book "The Lost Art of Healing". Art has long been a witness to disease either through diseases which affected artists or diseases afflicting objects of their art. In particular, artists have often portrayed genetic disorders and malformations in their work. Sometimes genetic disorders have mystical significance; other times simply have intrinsic interest. Recognizing genetic disorders is also an art form. From the very beginning of my work as a Medical Geneticist I have composed personal "algorithms" to piece together evidence of genetics syndromes and diseases from the observable signs and symptoms. In this paper we apply some 'gestalt' Genetic Syndrome Diagnostic algorithms to virtual patients found in some art masterpieces. In some the diagnosis is clear and in others the artists' depiction only supports a speculative differential diagnosis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flexibility of approach in art practice as research: Hints in Omabe ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Recently, a number of art institutions (universities) in Europe, America, Asia, and Africa, introduced doctorate programme in studio areas, in which art practice is considered as research. As a new ... installation. The installations elicited public discourse on the tradition and a language of practice stood out from them.

HIV care continuum in Rwanda: a cross-sectional analysis of the national programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Nsanzimana, Sabin; Kanters, Steve; Remera, Eric; Forrest, Jamie I; Binagwaho, Agnes; Condo, Jeanine; Mills, Edward J

2015-05-01

Rwanda has made remarkable progress towards HIV care programme with strong national monitoring and surveillance. Knowledge about the HIV care continuum model can help to improve outcomes in patients. We aimed to quantify engagement, mortality, and loss to follow-up of patients along the HIV care continuum in Rwanda in 2013. We collated data for individuals with HIV who participated in the national HIV care programme in Rwanda and calculated the numbers of individuals or proportions of the population at each stage and the transition probabilities between stages of the continuum. We calculated factors associated with mortality and loss to follow-up by fitting Cox proportional hazards regression models, one for the stage of care before antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and another for stage of care during ART. An estimated 204,899 individuals were HIV-positive in Rwanda in 2013. Among these individuals, 176,174 (86%) were in pre-ART or in ART stages and 129,405 (63%) had initiated ART by the end of 2013. 82·1% (95% CI 80·7-83·4) of patients with viral load measurements (n=3066) were virally suppressed (translating to 106,371 individuals or 52% of HIV-positive individuals). Mortality was 0·6% (304 patients) in the pre-ART stage and 1·0% (1255 patients) in the ART stage; 2247 (3·9%) patients were lost to follow-up in pre-ART stage and 2847 (2·2%) lost in ART stage. Risk factors for mortality among patients in both pre-ART and ART stages included older age, CD4 cell count at initiation, and male sex. Risk factors for loss to follow-up among patients at both pre-ART and ART stages included younger age (age 10-29 year) and male sex. The HIV care continuum is a multitrajectory pathway in which patients have many opportunities to leave and re-engage in care. Knowledge about the points at which individuals are most likely to leave care could improve large-scale delivery of HIV programmes. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All

Arts on prescription: a qualitative outcomes study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stickley, T; Eades, M

2013-08-01

In recent years, participatory community-based arts activities have become a recognized and regarded method for promoting mental health. In the UK, Arts on Prescription services have emerged as a prominent form of such social prescribing. This follow-up study reports on the findings from interviews conducted with participants in an Arts on Prescription programme two years after previous interviews to assess levels of 'distance travelled'. This follow-up study used a qualitative interview method amongst participants of an Arts on Prescription programme of work. Ten qualitative one-to-one interviews were conducted in community-based arts venues. Each participant was currently using or had used mental health services, and had been interviewed two years earlier. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and analysed. For each of the 10 participants, a lengthy attendance of Arts on Prescription had acted as a catalyst for positive change. Participants reported increased self-confidence, improved social and communication skills, and increased motivation and aspiration. An analysis of each of the claims made by participants enabled them to be grouped according to emerging themes: education: practical and aspirational achievements; broadened horizons: accessing new worlds; assuming and sustaining new identities; and social and relational perceptions. Both hard and soft outcomes were identifiable, but most were soft outcomes. Follow-up data indicating progress varied between respondents. Whilst hard outcomes could be identified in individual cases, the unifying factors across the sample were found predominately in the realm of soft outcomes. These soft outcomes, such as raised confidence and self-esteem, facilitated the hard outcomes such as educational achievement and voluntary work. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Workplace ART programmes: Why do companies invest in them and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prevalence data indicates that certain sectors within the private sector are particularly affected by HIV/AIDS. Companies in southern Africa began implementing treatment programmes in early 2002 as the corporate sector came to realise the financial imperative of offsetting employee morbidity and mortality. This article sets ...

An Evaluation of Teaching-Learning of Drawing at School of Applied Arts, Takoradi Polytechnic

Science.gov (United States)

Ofori-Anyinam, Sampong; Andrews, Amoako-Temeng; Ankrah, Owusu-Ansah

2016-01-01

Drawing is described as the bases of all art work when an art idea is conceived. It can only materialize into concrete form when it has gone through a process of designing which basically involves drawing. The ability of an artist to draw is very paramount in the art profession. The bases for selecting students to pursue an art programme is their…

Sexual risk-reduction strategies among HIV-infected men receiving ART in Kibera, Nairobi.

Science.gov (United States)

Ragnarsson, Anders; Thorson, Anna; Dover, Paul; Carter, Jane; Ilako, Festus; Indalo, Dorcas; Ekstrom, Anna Mia

2011-03-01

This paper explores motivational factors and barriers to sexual behaviour change among men receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). Twenty in-depth interviews were undertaken with male patients enrolled at the African Medical and Research Foundation clinic in Africa's largest urban informal settlement, Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. All participants experienced prolonged and severe illness prior to the initiation of ART. Fear of symptom relapse was the main trigger for sexual behaviour change. Partner reduction was reported as a first option for behaviour change since this decision could be made by the individual. Condom use was perceived as more difficult as it had to be negotiated with female partners. Cultural norms regarding expectations for reproduction and marriage were not supportive of sexual risk-reduction strategies. Thus, local sociocultural contexts of HIV-infected people must be incorporated into the contextual adaptation and design of ART programmes and services as they have an over-riding influence on sexual behaviour and programme effectiveness. Also, HIV-prevention interventions need to address both personal, micro- and macro-level factors of behaviour to encourage individuals to take on sexual risk-reduction strategies. In order to achieve the anticipated preventive effect of ART, these issues are important for the donor community and policy-makers, who are the major providers of ART programme support within weak health systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

Learning to Be: The Modelling of Art and Design Practice in University Art and Design Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Budge, Kylie

2016-01-01

Learning to be an artist or designer is a complex process of becoming. Much of the early phase of "learning to be" occurs during the time emerging artists and designers are students in university art/design programmes, both undergraduate and postgraduate. Recent research reveals that a critical role in assisting students in their…

GeneXpert HIV-1 quant assay, a new tool for scale up of viral load monitoring in the success of ART programme in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulkarni, Smita; Jadhav, Sushama; Khopkar, Priyanka; Sane, Suvarna; Londhe, Rajkumar; Chimanpure, Vaishali; Dhilpe, Veronica; Ghate, Manisha; Yelagate, Rajendra; Panchal, Narayan; Rahane, Girish; Kadam, Dilip; Gaikwad, Nitin; Rewari, Bharat; Gangakhedkar, Raman

2017-07-21

Recent WHO guidelines identify virologic monitoring for diagnosing and confirming ART failure. In view of this, validation and scale up of point of care viral load technologies is essential in resource limited settings. A systematic validation of the GeneXpert® HIV-1 Quant assay (a point-of-care technology) in view of scaling up HIV-1 viral load in India to monitor the success of national ART programme was carried out. Two hundred nineteen plasma specimens falling in nine viral load ranges (5 L copies/ml) were tested by the Abbott m2000rt Real Time and GeneXpert HIV-1 Quant assays. Additionally, 20 seronegative; 16 stored specimens and 10 spiked controls were also tested. Statistical analysis was done using Stata/IC and sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and %misclassification rates were calculated as per DHSs/AISs, WHO, NACO cut-offs for virological failure. The GeneXpert assay compared well with the Abbott assay with a higher sensitivity (97%), specificity (97-100%) and concordance (91.32%). The correlation between two assays (r = 0.886) was statistically significant (p performance and rapidity will aid in timely diagnosis of ART failures, integrated HIV-TB management and will facilitate the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target.

School scoliosis screening programme-a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabirin, J; Bakri, R; Buang, S N; Abdullah, A T; Shapie, A

2010-12-01

A systematic review on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of school scoliosis screening programme was carried out. A total of 248 relevant titles were identified, 117 abstracts were screened and 28 articles were included in the results. There was fair level of evidence to suggest that school scoliosis screening programme is safe, contributed to early detection and reduction of surgery. There was also evidence to suggest that school-based scoliosis screening programme is cost-effective. Based on the above review, screening for scoliosis among school children is recommended only for high risk group such as girls at twelve years of age.

Evaluation of the national roll-out of parenting programmes across England: the parenting early intervention programme (PEIP).

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, Geoff; Strand, Steve

2013-10-19

Evidence based parenting programmes can improve parenting skills and the behaviour of children exhibiting, or at risk of developing, antisocial behaviour. In order to develop a public policy for delivering these programmes it is necessary not only to demonstrate their efficacy through rigorous trials but also to determine that they can be rolled out on a large scale. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the UK government funded national implementation of its Parenting Early Intervention Programme, a national roll-out of parenting programmes for parents of children 8-13 years in all 152 local authorities (LAs) across England. Building upon our study of the Pathfinder (2006-08) implemented in 18 LAs. To the best of our knowledge this is the first comparative study of a national roll-out of parenting programmes and the first study of parents of children 8-13 years. The UK government funded English LAs to implement one or more of five evidence based programmes (later increased to eight): Triple P, Incredible Years, Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities, Families and Schools Together (FAST), and the Strengthening Families Programme (10-14). Parents completed measures of parenting style (laxness and over-reactivity), and mental well-being, and also child behaviour at three time points: pre- and post-course and again one year later. 6143 parents from 43 LAs were included in the study of whom 3325 provided post-test data and 1035 parents provided data at one-year follow up. There were significant improvements for each programme, with effect sizes (Cohen's d) for the combined sample of 0.72 parenting laxness, 0.85 parenting over-reactivity, 0.79 parent mental well-being, and 0.45 for child conduct problems. These improvements were largely maintained one year later. All four programmes for which we had sufficient data for comparison were effective. There were generally larger effects on both parent and child measures for Triple P, but not all between

The place of finance in visual arts education in Nigeria | Odey ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper is of the opinion that inadequate finance is detrimental to the development of visual arts education in Nigeria. It opines that since it is a capital intensive programme, there is the need for concerted efforts to ensure that finance does not decimate the programme. The paper gave suggestions on how to reduce the ...

The state-of-the-art of ART sealants.

Science.gov (United States)

Frencken, Jo E

2014-03-01

Sealing caries-prone pits and fissure systems is an effective caries-preventive measure. There are basically two types of sealant materials: glass-ionomer and resin-based materials. Low- and medium-viscosity glass-ionomers were initially used and showed a low level of retention. With the advent of the ART approach in the mid-nineties, high-viscosity glass-ionomers were introduced as sealant material and the retention rate of ART sealants increased substantially. As the effectiveness of a sealant is measured by its capacity to prevent (dentine) carious lesion development, sealant retention is considered a surrogate endpoint. The ART sealant protocol is described. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis covering low- medium- and high-viscosity glass-ionomer (ART) sealants have concluded that there is no evidence that either glass-ionomer or resin-based sealants prevent dentine carious lesions better. The annual dentine carious lesion development in teeth with high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART sealants over the first three years is 1%. These ART sealants have a high capacity of preventing carious lesion development. Because no electricity and running water is required, ART sealants can be placed both inside and outside the dental surgery. High-viscosity glass-ionomer ART sealants can be used alongside resin-based sealants.41:119-124

Global encounters at a Dutch MFA : intercultural dialogue in higher art education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slomp, Margo

2016-01-01

Over the past fifteen to twenty years we have witnessed Dutch and European higher art education become increasingly more international, a development that is reflecting globalisation in the art world in general. The artists we work with in many of our institutes and (master) programmes come from a

"Nice to Think I'm Not on My Own": Lessons from an Arts-Based Workshop in an Urban Children's Centre

Science.gov (United States)

Trotman, Dave; Davies, Helen; Harris, Deborah

2014-01-01

This paper reports the evaluation of an arts-based programme designed to encourage parental participation in an urban Children's Centre. The programme was aimed to explore the possible beneficial effects of arts-based activity as a means of engaging "hard to reach" parents more fully in the services of the centre. Practical workshops…

Applying the Ottawa Charter to inform health promotion programme design.

Science.gov (United States)

Fry, Denise; Zask, Avigdor

2017-10-01

There is evidence of a correlation between adoption of the Ottawa Charter's framework of five action areas and health promotion programme effectiveness, but the Charter's framework has not been as fully implemented as hoped, nor is generally used by formal programme design models. In response, we aimed to translate the Charter's framework into a method to inform programme design. Our resulting design process uses detailed definitions of the Charter's action areas and evidence of predicted effectiveness to prompt greater consideration and use of the Charter's framework. We piloted the process by applying it to the design of four programmes of the Healthy Children's Initiative in New South Wales, Australia; refined the criteria via consensus; and made consensus decisions on the extent to which programme designs reflected the Charter's framework. The design process has broad potential applicability to health promotion programmes; facilitating greater use of the Ottawa Charter framework, which evidence indicates can increase programme effectiveness. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Stage Life: Promoting the Inclusion of Young People through Participatory Arts

Science.gov (United States)

Stickley, Theodore; Crosbie, Brian; Hui, Ada

2012-01-01

The Stage Life was a participatory arts programme for people attending a day services provision in Nottinghamshire. The uniqueness of this programme was that it was provided in a local disused cinema acquired by the local authority for community-based activities amongst disadvantaged groups. The Stage Life aimed to build the community arts…

Are routine tuberculosis programme data suitable to report on antiretroviral therapy use of HIV-infected tuberculosis patients?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, Miranda; Gudo, Paula Samo; Simbe, Chalice Mage; Perdigão, Paula; van Leth, Frank

2013-01-01

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is lifesaving for HIV-infected tuberculosis (TB) patients. ART-use by these patients lag behind compared to HIV-testing and co-trimoxazole preventive therapy. TB programmes provide the data on ART-use by HIV-infected TB patients, however often the HIV services provide

Who is accessing public-sector anti-retroviral treatment in the Free State, South Africa? An exploratory study of the first three years of programme implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Booysen Frederik

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although South Africa has the largest public-sector anti-retroviral treatment (ART programme in the world, anti-retroviral coverage in adults was only 40.2% in 2008. However, longitudinal studies of who is accessing the South African public-sector ART programme are scarce. This study therefore had one main research question: who is accessing public-sector ART in the Free State Province, South Africa? The study aimed to extend the current literature by investigating, in a quantitative manner and using a longitudinal study design, the participants enrolled in the public-sector ART programme in the period 2004-2006 in the Free State Province of South Africa. Methods Differences in the demographic (age, sex, population group and marital status socio-economic (education, income, neo-material indicators, geographic (travel costs, relocation for ART, and medical characteristics (CD4, viral load, time since first diagnosis, treatment status among 912 patients enrolled in the Free State public-sector ART programme between 2004 and 2006 were assessed with one-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni post-hoc analysis, and cross tabulations with the chi square test. Results The patients accessing treatment tended to be female (71.1% and unemployed (83.4%. However, although relatively poor, those most likely to access ART services were not the most impoverished patients. The proportion of female patients increased (P P P P P Conclusions Our analysis showed significant changes in the demographic, socio-economic, geographic, and medical characteristics of the patients during the first three years of the programme. Knowledge of the characteristics of these patients can assist policy makers in developing measures to retain them in care. The information reported here can also be usefully applied to target patient groups that are currently not reached in the implementation of the ART programme.

An evidence-based oral health promotion programme: Lessons from Leicester.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, J M; Burch, T E; Dickenson, A J; Wong, J; Moore, R

2018-03-01

To provide an overview and draw lessons from the establishment of a local oral health promotion programme for preschool children in Leicester, England (2013-2017). The article provides information on the strategic approach taken in Leicester, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in England, and also one of the most deprived. Over a third of children aged 3 years, and half of those aged 5 years, have experience of obvious dental decay. A description of the evolution and development of the programme is provided along with commentary by the authors. This includes the origins, design and evaluation of the programme. Progress so far has been promising. There has been a statistically significant 8% decrease in the proportion of 5-year-old children in Leicester with dental decay from 2011/2012 to 2014/2015. This will need to be sustained and further developed to deliver the 10% reduction required within the strategy. The successful implementation of a local oral health improvement programme in Leicester has required leadership to coordinate a multiagency partnership approach to embedding effective concepts and realising opportunities collaboratively. However, longer term sustainability remains a concern. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the impact of visual arts interventions for people living with dementia: a realist review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Windle, Gill; Gregory, Samantha; Newman, Andrew; Goulding, Anna; O'Brien, Dave; Parkinson, Clive

2014-08-15

Arts-based activities are being increasingly suggested as a valuable activity for people living with dementia in terms of countering the negative aspects of their condition. The potential for such programmes to improve a broad range of psychosocial outcomes is suggested in some studies. However, there is largely an absence of rigorous methodology to demonstrate the benefits, and research results are mixed. Practice variability in terms of the content, contexts and implementation of such interventions raises challenges in terms of identifying an optimal arts programme model that could be adopted by other service providers. Understanding how interventions may have the best chance at broad implementation success and uptake is limited. A realist review will be undertaken. This aims to understand how visual arts interventions influence outcomes in people living with dementia. The review will explore how the context, that is the circumstances which enable or constrain, affect outcomes through the activation of mechanisms. An early scoping search and a stakeholder survey formulated the preliminary programme theory. A systematic literature search across a broad range of disciplines (arts, humanities, social sciences, health) will be undertaken to identify journal articles and grey literature. Data will be extracted in relation to the programme theory, contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes and their configurations, background information about the study design and participant characteristics, detail about the quantity ('dose') of an intervention, theoretical perspectives proposed by the authors of the paper and further theorising by the reviewer. Thematic connections/patterns will be sought across the extracted data, identifying patterns amongst contextual factors, the mechanisms they trigger and the associated outcomes. Along with stakeholder engagement and validation, this review will help inform the development of an optimal, replicable arts intervention for people

The Impact of Part-Time Staff on Art & Design Students' Ratings of Their Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Yorke, Mantz

2014-01-01

Art & Design receives ratings on a number of scales of the UK's National Student Survey (NSS) that are less strong than those for some other subject areas. Art & Design, along with performing arts, is characterised by a relatively high level of part-time (PT) staffing. PT staffing data are set against NSS ratings for post-92 universities…

Mobile phones to support adherence to antiretroviral therapy: what would it cost the Indian National AIDS Control Programme?

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Rashmi; Bogg, Lennart; Shet, Anita; Kumar, Dodderi Sunil; De Costa, Ayesha

2014-01-01

Adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART) is critical to maintaining health and good clinical outcomes in people living with HIV/AIDS. To address poor treatment adherence, low-cost interventions using mobile communication technology are being studied. While there are some studies that show an effect of mobile phone reminders on adherence to ART, none has reported on the costs of such reminders for national AIDS programmes. This paper aims to study the costs of mobile phone reminder strategies (mHealth interventions) to support adherence in the context of India's National AIDS Control Program (NACP). The study was undertaken at two tertiary level teaching hospitals that implement the NACP in Karnataka state, South India. Costs for a mobile phone reminder application to support adherence, implemented at these sites (i.e. weekly calls, messages or both) were studied. Costs were collected based on the concept of avoidable costs specific to the application. The costs that were assessed were one-time costs and recurrent costs that included fixed and variable costs. A sequential procedure for costing was used. Costs were calculated at national-programme level, individual ART-centre level and individual patient level from the NACP's perspective. The assessed costs were pooled to obtain an annual cost per patient. The type of application, number of ART centres and number of patients on ART were varied in a sensitivity analysis of costs. The Indian NACP would incur a cost of between 79 and 110 INR (USD 1.27-1.77) per patient per year, based on the type of reminder, the number of patients on ART and the number of functioning ART centres. The total programme costs for a scale-up of the mHealth intervention to reach the one million patients expected to be on treatment by 2017 is estimated to be 0.36% of the total five-year national-programme budget. The cost of the mHealth intervention for ART-adherence support in the context of the Indian NACP is low and is facilitated by

Evidence of behaviour change following a hygiene promotion programme in Burkina Faso

OpenAIRE

Curtis, V; Kanki, B; Cousens, S; Diallo, I; Kpozehouen, A; Sangare, M; Nikiema, M

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a large, 3-year hygiene promotion programme in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, was effective in changing behaviours associated with the spread of diarrhoeal diseases. The programme was tailored to local customs, targeted specific types of behaviour, built on existing motivation for hygiene, and used locally appropriate channels of communication. METHODS: Two population surveys recorded the coverage of the programme among target audiences (mothers of children age...

A systematic review of education programmes to prevent concussion in rugby union.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraas, Michael R; Burchiel, Jessica

2016-11-01

There is a high incidence of concussion sustained by athletes participating in rugby union, many of which go unreported. A lack of sufficient knowledge about concussion injuries may explain athletes' failure to report. Several rugby union-playing countries have developed injury education and prevention programmes to address this issue. The aim of the current review was to systematically assess the content and level of evidence on concussion education/prevention programmes in rugby union and to make recommendations for the quality, strength, and consistency of this evidence. We searched PubMed, PsycInfo, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscuss, Webofscience, and conducted a manual search for articles. Ten articles were included for review. Of these, six focused on the BokSmart injury prevention programme in South Africa, two focused on the RugbySmart injury prevention programme in New Zealand, one was an analysis of prevention programmes, and one was a systematic review of rugby injury prevention strategies. Despite the initiative to develop concussion education and prevention programmes, there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of such programmes. There is evidence to support education of coaches and referees. In addition, there is scant evidence to suggest that education and rule changes may have the benefit of changing athlete behaviours resulting in a reduction in catastrophic injury.

Antiretroviral therapy programme on control of HIV transmission in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Antiretroviral therapy programme on control of HIV transmission in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania: A challenge for development. ... The government and partners should improve access to ART services to enable many PLHIV to access the services. Key words: Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment, ...

Evaluation of the national roll-out of parenting programmes across England: the parenting early intervention programme (PEIP)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Evidence based parenting programmes can improve parenting skills and the behaviour of children exhibiting, or at risk of developing, antisocial behaviour. In order to develop a public policy for delivering these programmes it is necessary not only to demonstrate their efficacy through rigorous trials but also to determine that they can be rolled out on a large scale. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the UK government funded national implementation of its Parenting Early Intervention Programme, a national roll-out of parenting programmes for parents of children 8–13 years in all 152 local authorities (LAs) across England. Building upon our study of the Pathfinder (2006–08) implemented in 18 LAs. To the best of our knowledge this is the first comparative study of a national roll-out of parenting programmes and the first study of parents of children 8–13 years. Methods The UK government funded English LAs to implement one or more of five evidence based programmes (later increased to eight): Triple P, Incredible Years, Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities, Families and Schools Together (FAST), and the Strengthening Families Programme (10–14). Parents completed measures of parenting style (laxness and over-reactivity), and mental well-being, and also child behaviour at three time points: pre- and post-course and again one year later. Results 6143 parents from 43 LAs were included in the study of whom 3325 provided post-test data and 1035 parents provided data at one-year follow up. There were significant improvements for each programme, with effect sizes (Cohen’s d) for the combined sample of 0.72 parenting laxness, 0.85 parenting over-reactivity, 0.79 parent mental well-being, and 0.45 for child conduct problems. These improvements were largely maintained one year later. All four programmes for which we had sufficient data for comparison were effective. There were generally larger effects on both parent and child measures

Finnish Research Programme on Nuclear Waste Management (KYT). Framework Programme for 2002-2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasilainen, K.

2002-12-01

The new Finnish research programme on nuclear waste management (KYT) will be conducted in 2002 - 2005. This framework programme describes the starting point, the basic aims and the organisation of the research programme. The starting point of the KYT programme is derived from the present state and future challenges of Finnish nuclear waste management. The research programme is funded mainly by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (KTM), the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Posiva Oy, Fortum Oyj, Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), and the National Technology Agency (Tekes). As both regulators and implementors are involved, the research programme concentrates on neutral research topics that must be studied in any case. Methods and tools for experimental and theoretical studies fall in this category. State of the art -reviews on relevant topics also create national know-how. Topics that directly belong to licensing activities of nuclear waste management are excluded from the research programme. KYT carries out technical studies that increase national know-how in the area of nuclear waste management. The aim is to maintain and develop basic expertise needed in the operations derived from the national nuclear waste management plan. The studies have been divided into strategic studies and studies enhancing the long-term safety of spent nuclear fuel disposal. Strategic studies support the overall feasibility of Finnish nuclear waste management. These studies include basic options and overall safety principles related to nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste management. In addition, general cost estimates as well as general safety considerations related to transportations, low- and medium level wastes, and decommissioning are included in strategic studies. Studies supporting the long-term safety of spent fuel disposal include issues related to performance assessment methodology, release of radionuclides from the repository, behaviour of bedrock and groundwater

Setting ART initiation targets in response to changing guidelines: The importance of addressing both steady-state and backlog.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Catherine; Naidoo, Nicolette P; Venter, W D Francois; Jaffer, Ambereen; Barker, Pierre M

2014-05-12

Target setting is useful in planning, assessing and improving antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes. In the past 4 years, the ART initiation environment has been transformed due to the change in eligibility criteria (starting ART at a CD4+ count ART. To describe and illustrate the use of a target-setting model for estimating district-based targets in the era of an expanding ART programme and changing CD4+ count thresholds for ART initiation. Using previously described models and data for annual new HIV infections, we estimated both steady-state need for ART initiation and backlog in a North West Province district, accounting for the shift in eligibility. Comparison of actual v. targeted ART initiations was undertaken. The change in CD4+ count threshold adds a once-off group of newly eligible patients to the pool requiring ART - the backlog. The steady-state remains unchanged as it is determined by the annual rate of new HIV infections in previous years. The steady-state need for the district was 639 initiations/month, and the backlog was ~15,388 patients. After the shift in eligibility in September 2011, the steady-state target was exceeded over several months with some backlog addressed. Of the total backlog for this district, 72% remains to be cleared. South Africa has two pools of patients who need ART: the steady-state of HIV-infected patients entering the programme each year, determined by historical infection rates; and the backlog created by the shift in eligibility. The healthcare system needs to build long- term capacity to meet the steady-state need for ART and additional capacity to address the backlog.

Evolutionists and Australian Aboriginal art: 1885-1915

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan Lowish

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines key examples of writing about Australian Aboriginal art in the decades around 1900 specifically in relation to the way in which it is used to provide evidence for theories concerning the evolution of art. Analysis of published works by late nineteenth-century men of science reveals the main influences shaping their perceptions of Aboriginal art during this time and provides an early working definition of this emerging category. This paper confirms that turn-of-the-century European understandings of Aboriginal art were based on limited evidence mediated through a specifically ethnographic notion of ‘decorative art’.

Retention and mortality on antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa: collaborative analyses of HIV treatment programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, Andreas D; Zaniewski, Elizabeth; Anderegg, Nanina; Ford, Nathan; Fox, Matthew P; Vinikoor, Michael; Dabis, François; Nash, Denis; Sinayobye, Jean d'Amour; Niyongabo, Thêodore; Tanon, Aristophane; Poda, Armel; Adedimeji, Adebola A; Edmonds, Andrew; Davies, Mary-Ann; Egger, Matthias

2018-02-01

By 2020, 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV should receive long-term combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). In sub-Saharan Africa, this target is threatened by loss to follow-up in ART programmes. The proportion of people retained on ART long-term cannot be easily determined, because individuals classified as lost to follow-up, may have self-transferred to another HIV treatment programme, or may have died. We describe retention on ART in sub-Saharan Africa, first based on observed data as recorded in the clinic databases, and second adjusted for undocumented deaths and self-transfers. We analysed data from HIV-infected adults and children initiating ART between 2009 and 2014 at a sub-Saharan African HIV treatment programme participating in the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA). We used the Kaplan-Meier method to calculate the cumulative incidence of retention on ART and the Aalen-Johansen method to calculate the cumulative incidences of death, loss to follow-up, and stopping ART. We used inverse probability weighting to adjust clinic data for undocumented mortality and self-transfer, based on estimates from a recent systematic review and meta-analysis. We included 505,634 patients: 12,848 (2.5%) from Central Africa, 109,233 (21.6%) from East Africa, 347,343 (68.7%) from Southern Africa and 36,210 (7.2%) from West Africa. In crude analyses of observed clinic data, 52.1% of patients were retained on ART, 41.8% were lost to follow-up and 6.0% had died 5 years after ART initiation. After accounting for undocumented deaths and self-transfers, we estimated that 66.6% of patients were retained on ART, 18.8% had stopped ART and 14.7% had died at 5 years. Improving long-term retention on ART will be crucial to attaining the 90% on ART target. Naïve analyses of HIV cohort studies, which do not account for undocumented mortality and self-transfer of patients, may severely underestimate both mortality and retention on ART. © 2018 The

An outcome evaluation of a perinatal education programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfeous Rundare

2012-07-01

Research purpose: The Perinatal Education Programme (PEP has been introduced in the Western Cape in South Africa, and the main aim of this evaluation was to provide information regarding the effectiveness of perinatal training in a single maternity hospital in this province. Motivation for the study: There are a few evaluation studies of the PEP in different South African contexts. These evaluations have shown that the programme was effective in improving the knowledge of midwives. The current evaluation was motivated by the need for more research on the programme’s effectiveness. Research design, approach and method: A quasi-experimental design was used to determine knowledge and skills acquisition of midwives. The sample consisted of 42 midwives. Programme records and questionnaire results were used as data. Main findings: This evaluation showed that the PEP is an effective programme endorsed by participants and supervisors alike. Practical/managerial implications: This specific hospital added group facilitation to the self-study mode of the programme. This mode of study produced additional increases in knowledge, skills and group work. Contributions/value-add: The evaluation has provided sound evidence for programme managers to increase programme coverage and continue the good work already evident from the results.

Humanities Research Methods in a Liberal Arts and Science Programme

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andeweg, A.; Slob, Daphne

2017-01-01

The humanities research methods course at University College Utrecht is one of the graduation requirements for students who major in a humanities discipline, in law, or in politics. There are several challenges to the design of such a course in a Liberal Arts and Sciences (LA&S) context. In our

BBC’s Wednesday magazine and arts television for women

OpenAIRE

Irwin, Mary

2015-01-01

Wednesday Magazine (1958- 63) was an innovative BBC television afternoon arts and culture strand produced by the specialist BBC women’s programme unit, which had been built up and nurtured by the first dedicated head of women’s programmes Doreen Stephens, who was appointed in 1953. Stephens was responsible for the development of a diverse and extensive range of women’s programming; highly ambitious in the offering that it presented to its female viewers. This article will examine the series W...

Core components for effective infection prevention and control programmes: new WHO evidence-based recommendations

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Julie Storr

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Health care-associated infections (HAI are a major public health problem with a significant impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life. They represent also an important economic burden to health systems worldwide. However, a large proportion of HAI are preventable through effective infection prevention and control (IPC measures. Improvements in IPC at the national and facility level are critical for the successful containment of antimicrobial resistance and the prevention of HAI, including outbreaks of highly transmissible diseases through high quality care within the context of universal health coverage. Given the limited availability of IPC evidence-based guidance and standards, the World Health Organization (WHO decided to prioritize the development of global recommendations on the core components of effective IPC programmes both at the national and acute health care facility level, based on systematic literature reviews and expert consensus. The aim of the guideline development process was to identify the evidence and evaluate its quality, consider patient values and preferences, resource implications, and the feasibility and acceptability of the recommendations. As a result, 11 recommendations and three good practice statements are presented here, including a summary of the supporting evidence, and form the substance of a new WHO IPC guideline.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) rationing and access mechanisms and their impact on youth ART utilization in Malawi.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Jimmy-Gama; Gibson, Sarah; McPake, Barbara; Maleta, Ken

2011-06-01

positive youth not on HAART in order for the system to be able to commence them on treatment on time. Additionally, ART programmes need to address individual, programme and structural/social factors that may affect t youth's access to HAART.

Assessment of ART centres in India: client perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Sogarwal, Ruchi; Bachani, Damodar

2009-05-01

Drug adherence and quality of antiretroviral therapy (ART) services are the keys for the successful ART programme. Hence, an attempt has been made to assess ART centres in India from client perspectives that are receiving services from the centres. Data were gathered through exit interviews with 1366 clients from 27 ART centres that were selected on the basis of drug adherence and client load. Analyses revealed that more than 80 per cent of the clients reported overall satisfaction with the services availed from the centre and 60 per cent reported that the quality of life has improved to a great extent after getting ART. Most of the clients strongly demanded to open ART centre in each district for better access as that will increase drug adherence and eventually control the HIV progression. It has been found that as many as 14% of respondents, ever been on ART, reported non-adherence and 70% of them cited distance and economic factors as the reasons for non-adherence. Study concludes that while majority of the clients were satisfied with ART services, shortage of staff, high level of non-drug adherence, long distances and poor referring system are the weak areas requiring attention.

Factors influencing retention in care after starting antiretroviral therapy in a rural South African programme.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom H Boyles

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The prognosis of patients with HIV in Africa has improved with the widespread use of antiretroviral therapy (ART but these successes are threatened by low rates of long-term retention in care. There are limited data on predictors of retention in care, particularly from rural sites.Prospective cohort analysis of outcome measures in adults from a rural HIV care programme in Madwaleni, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The ART programme operates from Madwaleni hospital and seven primary care feeder clinics with full integration between inpatient and outpatient services. Outreach workers conducted home visits for defaulters.1803 adults initiated ART from June 2005 to May 2009. At the end of the study period 82.4% were in active care or had transferred elsewhere, 11.1% had died and 6.5% were lost to follow-up (LTFU. Independent predictors associated with an increased risk of LTFU were CD4 nadir >200, initiating ART as an inpatient or while pregnant, and younger age, while being in care for >6 months before initiating ART was associated with a reduced risk. Independent factors associated with an increased risk of mortality were baseline CD4 count 6 months before initiating ART and initiating ART while pregnant were associated with a reduced risk.Serving a socioeconomically deprived rural population is not a barrier to successful ART delivery. Patients initiating ART while pregnant and inpatients may require additional counselling and support to reduce LTFU. Providing HIV care for patients not yet eligible for ART may be protective against being LTFU and dying after ART initiation.

Cash transfer programme, productive activities and labour supply: Evidence from randomized experiment in Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Asfaw, Solomon; Davis, Benjamin; Dewbre, Josh; Handa, Sudhanshu; Winters, Paul

2015-01-01

This paper reports analysis of the impact of Kenya’s Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme on the household decisions on productive activities using data from a randomized experimental design. Results show that the programme had a positive and significant impact on food consumption coming from home production, accumulation of productive assets, especially on the ownership of small livestock and on formation of nonfarm enterprise, especially for females. The programme has provided more flexibility to families in terms of labour allocation decisions, particularly for those who are geographically isolated. The programme was also found to have reduced child labour, an important objective of the programme. However we find very little impact of the programme on direct indicators of crop production. PMID:25663712

Art in the making. The evolutionary origins of visual art as a communication signal

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mendoza Straffon, Larissa

2014-01-01

The corpus of art from the Pleistocene has grown substantially in recent decades, and with it, the earliest evidence of visual art has become much older than previously anticipated, going back over 100,000 years. This new information has rendered some traditional ideas about the recent origins of

Psychological Models of Art Reception must be Empirically Grounded

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nadal, Marcos; Vartanian, Oshin; Skov, Martin

2017-01-01

We commend Menninghaus et al. for tackling the role of negative emotions in art reception. However, their model suffers from shortcomings that reduce its applicability to empirical studies of the arts: poor use of evidence, lack of integration with other models, and limited derivation of testable...... hypotheses. We argue that theories about art experiences should be based on empirical evidence....

Role of art centres for Aboriginal Australians living with dementia in remote communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindeman, Melissa; Mackell, Paulene; Lin, Xiaoping; Farthing, Annie; Jensen, Heather; Meredith, Maree; Haralambous, Betty

2017-06-01

To explore the role art centres in remote communities play for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians living with dementia. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken, with no restrictions on articles regarding year of publication. Art programmes have been found to be of benefit to both people living with dementia and their carers, particularly when programmes are administered in environments that are culturally revered. Findings indicate remote art centres play a key role in maintaining traditions, culture and practices unique to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, but there is a gap in knowledge regarding how they cater for the needs of people with dementia. Addressing this gap will be helpful in remote areas where prevalence of dementia is up to five times that of non-Aboriginal people, and there are limited health and support services. Further research is required to explore strengths and gaps of current practices. © 2017 AJA Inc.

Effectiveness of an NGO primary health care programme in rural Bangladesh: evidence from the management information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Alec; Khan, Mobarak Hossain; Daulatuzzaman, Muhammad; Reid, Joanna

2004-07-01

This paper considers evidence of the effectiveness of a non-governmental organization (NGO) primary health care programme in rural Bangladesh. It is based on data from the programme's management information system reported by 27 partner NGOs from 1996-2002. The data indicate relatively high coverage has been achieved for reproductive and child health services, as well as lower infant and child mortality. On the basis of a crude indicator of socio-economic status, the programme is poverty-focused. There is good service coverage among the poorest one-third and others, and the infant and child mortality differential has been eliminated over recent years. A rapid decline in infant mortality among the poorest from 1999-2002 reflects a reduction in neonatal mortality of about 50%. Allowing for some under-reporting and possible misclassification of deaths to the stillbirths category, neonatal mortality is relatively low in the NGO areas. The lower child and maternal mortality for the NGO areas combined, compared with estimates for Bangladesh in recent years, may at least in part be due to high coverage of reproductive and child health services. Other development programmes implemented by many of the NGOs could also have contributed. Despite the limited resources available, and the lower infant and child mortality already achieved, there appears to be scope for further prevention of deaths, particularly those due to birth asphyxia, acute respiratory infection, diarrhoeal disease and accidents. Maternal mortality in the NGO areas was lower in 2000-02 than the most recent estimate for Bangladesh. Further reduction is likely to depend on improved access to qualified community midwives and essential obstetric care at government referral facilities.

"Art, Its Creation and Leadership [Can Be] Revealing and Frightening": How School Leaders Learn to Frame and Solve Problems through the Arts

Science.gov (United States)

Katz-Buonincontro, Jen; Phillips, Joy C.

2011-01-01

Despite the current press to improve school leadership, little scholarly attention focuses on building problem-solving skills in university leadership preparation programmes. This paper reports on two qualitative case studies that examined educational leadership students' probing of school problems through the arts. Fieldwork was used to derive…

Working Through the Senses: Art Therapy for Autism Spectrum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... and successfully within their social context within which they belong. By using Art Therapy action programme ASD children are expected to develop social and communication skills through emotions and artistic creations as a way to train conversational abilities, anticipate situations and understand emotions and actions.

Training, supervision and quality of care in selected integrated community case management (iCCM) programmes: A scoping review of programmatic evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosch-Capblanch, Xavier; Marceau, Claudine

2014-12-01

To describe the training, supervision and quality of care components of integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) programmes and to draw lessons learned from existing evaluations of those programmes. Scoping review of reports from 29 selected iCCM programmes purposively provided by stakeholders containing any information relevant to understand quality of care issues. The number of people reached by iCCM programmes varied from the tens of thousands to more than a million. All programmes aimed at improving access of vulnerable populations to health care, focusing on the main childhood illnesses, managed by Community Health Workers (CHW), often selected bycommunities. Training and supervision were widely implemented, in different ways and intensities, and often complemented with tools (eg, guides, job aids), supplies, equipment and incentives. Quality of care was measured using many outcomes (eg, access or appropriate treatment). Overall, there seemed to be positive effects for those strategies that involved policy change, organisational change, standardisation of clinical practices and alignment with other programmes. Positive effects were mostly achieved in large multi-component programmes. Mild or no effects have been described on mortality reduction amongst the few programmes for which data on this outcome was available to us. Promising strategies included teaming-up of CHW, micro-franchising or social franchising. On-site training and supervision of CHW have been shown to improve clinical practices. Effects on caregivers seemed positive, with increases in knowledge, care seeking behaviour, or caregivers' basic disease management. Evidence on iCCM is often of low quality, cannot relate specific interventions or the ways they are implemented with outcomes and lacks standardisation; this limits the capacity to identify promising strategies to improve quality of care. Large, multi-faceted, iCCM programmes, with strong components of training, supervision, which

Training, supervision and quality of care in selected integrated community case management (iCCM) programmes: A scoping review of programmatic evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Bosch–Capblanch, Xavier; Marceau, Claudine

2014-01-01

Aim To describe the training, supervision and quality of care components of integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) programmes and to draw lessons learned from existing evaluations of those programmes. Methods Scoping review of reports from 29 selected iCCM programmes purposively provided by stakeholders containing any information relevant to understand quality of care issues. Results The number of people reached by iCCM programmes varied from the tens of thousands to more than a million. All programmes aimed at improving access of vulnerable populations to health care, focusing on the main childhood illnesses, managed by Community Health Workers (CHW), often selected bycommunities. Training and supervision were widely implemented, in different ways and intensities, and often complemented with tools (eg, guides, job aids), supplies, equipment and incentives. Quality of care was measured using many outcomes (eg, access or appropriate treatment). Overall, there seemed to be positive effects for those strategies that involved policy change, organisational change, standardisation of clinical practices and alignment with other programmes. Positive effects were mostly achieved in large multi–component programmes. Mild or no effects have been described on mortality reduction amongst the few programmes for which data on this outcome was available to us. Promising strategies included teaming–up of CHW, micro–franchising or social franchising. On–site training and supervision of CHW have been shown to improve clinical practices. Effects on caregivers seemed positive, with increases in knowledge, care seeking behaviour, or caregivers’ basic disease management. Evidence on iCCM is often of low quality, cannot relate specific interventions or the ways they are implemented with outcomes and lacks standardisation; this limits the capacity to identify promising strategies to improve quality of care. Conclusion Large, multi–faceted, iCCM programmes, with strong

Which adherence measure - self-report, clinician recorded or pharmacy refill - is best able to predict detectable viral load in a public ART programme without routine plasma viral load monitoring?

Science.gov (United States)

Mekuria, Legese A; Prins, Jan M; Yalew, Alemayehu W; Sprangers, Mirjam A G; Nieuwkerk, Pythia T

2016-07-01

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) suppresses viral replication to an undetectable level if a sufficiently high level of adherence is achieved. We investigated which adherence measurement best distinguishes between patients with and without detectable viral load in a public ART programme without routine plasma viral load monitoring. We randomly selected 870 patients who started cART between May 2009 and April 2012 in 10 healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Six hundred and sixty-four (76.3%) patients who were retained in HIV care and were receiving cART for at least 6 months were included and 642 had their plasma HIV-1 RNA concentration measured. Patients' adherence to cART was assessed according to self-report, clinician recorded and pharmacy refill measures. Multivariate logistic regression model was fitted to identify the predictors of detectable viremia. Model accuracy was evaluated by computing the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. A total of 9.2% and 5.5% of the 642 patients had a detectable viral load of ≥40 and ≥400 RNA copies/ml, respectively. In the multivariate analyses, younger age, lower CD4 cell count at cART initiation, being illiterate and widowed, and each of the adherence measures were significantly and independently predictive of having ≥400 RNA copies/ml. The ROC curve showed that these variables altogether had a likelihood of more than 80% to distinguish patients with a plasma viral load of ≥400 RNA copies/ml from those without. Adherence to cART was remarkably high. Self-report, clinician recorded and pharmacy refill non-adherence were all significantly predictive of detectable viremia. The choice for one of these methods to detect non-adherence and predict a detectable viral load can therefore be based on what is most practical in a particular setting. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Outsider Art and the autistic creator.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardinal, Roger

2009-05-27

Outsider Art (art brut) is defined as a mode of original artistic expression which thrives on its independence, shunning the public sphere and the art market. Such art can be highly idiosyncratic and secretive, and reflects the individual creator's attempt to construct a coherent, albeit strange, private world. Certain practitioners of what may be termed autistic art are examined in the light of this definition; their work is considered as evidence not of a medical condition but of an expressive intentionality entirely worthy of the interest of those drawn to the aesthetic experience.

Obstacles to prior art searching by the trilateral patent offices: empirical evidence from International Search Reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Tetsuo

Despite many empirical studies having been carried out on examiner patent citations, few have scrutinized the obstacles to prior art searching when adding patent citations during patent prosecution at patent offices. This analysis takes advantage of the longitudinal gap between an International Search Report (ISR) as required by the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and subsequent national examination procedures. We investigate whether several kinds of distance actually affect the probability that prior art is detected at the time of an ISR; this occurs much earlier than in national phase examinations. Based on triadic PCT applications between 2002 and 2005 for the trilateral patent offices (the European Patent Office, the US Patent and Trademark Office, and the Japan Patent Office) and their family-level citations made by the trilateral offices, we find evidence that geographical distance negatively affects the probability of capture of prior patents in an ISR. In addition, the technological complexity of an application negatively affects the probability of capture, whereas the volume of forward citations of prior art affects it positively. These results demonstrate the presence of obstacles to searching at patent offices, and suggest ways to design work sharing by patent offices, such that the duplication of search costs arises only when patent office search horizons overlap.

Arts-Infused Learning in Middle Level Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Lorimer, Maureen Reilly

2011-01-01

To address arts education disparities in middle level schools, this paper explores evidence that infusing the visual and performing arts into language arts, math, science, and history/social studies courses is a pedagogical approach that meets the developmental needs of early adolescents and fosters a relevant, challenging, integrative, and…

Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Prevention Programmes in Vietnam, 2006-2010: A Modelling Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quang Duy Pham

Full Text Available Vietnam has been largely reliant on international support in its HIV response. Over 2006-2010, a total of US$480 million was invested in its HIV programmes, more than 70% of which came from international sources. This study investigates the potential epidemiological impacts of these programmes and their cost-effectiveness.We conducted a data synthesis of HIV programming, spending, epidemiological, and clinical outcomes. Counterfactual scenarios were defined based on assumed programme coverage and behaviours had the programmes not been implemented. An epidemiological model, calibrated to reflect the actual epidemiological trends, was used to estimate plausible ranges of programme impacts. The model was then used to estimate the costs per averted infection, death, and disability adjusted life-year (DALY.Based on observed prevalence reductions amongst most population groups, and plausible counterfactuals, modelling suggested that antiretroviral therapy (ART and prevention programmes over 2006-2010 have averted an estimated 50,600 [95% uncertainty bound: 36,300-68,900] new infections and 42,600 [36,100-54,100] deaths, resulting in 401,600 [312,200-496,300] fewer DALYs across all population groups. HIV programmes in Vietnam have cost an estimated US$1,972 [1,447-2,747], US$2,344 [1,843-2,765], and US$248 [201-319] for each averted infection, death, and DALY, respectively.Our evaluation suggests that HIV programmes in Vietnam have most likely had benefits that are cost-effective. ART and direct HIV prevention were the most cost-effective interventions in reducing HIV disease burden.

Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Prevention Programmes in Vietnam, 2006-2010: A Modelling Study

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Quang Duy; Wilson, David P.; Kerr, Cliff C.; Shattock, Andrew J.; Do, Hoa Mai; Duong, Anh Thuy; Nguyen, Long Thanh; Zhang, Lei

2015-01-01

Introduction Vietnam has been largely reliant on international support in its HIV response. Over 2006-2010, a total of US$480 million was invested in its HIV programmes, more than 70% of which came from international sources. This study investigates the potential epidemiological impacts of these programmes and their cost-effectiveness. Methods We conducted a data synthesis of HIV programming, spending, epidemiological, and clinical outcomes. Counterfactual scenarios were defined based on assumed programme coverage and behaviours had the programmes not been implemented. An epidemiological model, calibrated to reflect the actual epidemiological trends, was used to estimate plausible ranges of programme impacts. The model was then used to estimate the costs per averted infection, death, and disability adjusted life-year (DALY). Results Based on observed prevalence reductions amongst most population groups, and plausible counterfactuals, modelling suggested that antiretroviral therapy (ART) and prevention programmes over 2006-2010 have averted an estimated 50,600 [95% uncertainty bound: 36,300–68,900] new infections and 42,600 [36,100–54,100] deaths, resulting in 401,600 [312,200–496,300] fewer DALYs across all population groups. HIV programmes in Vietnam have cost an estimated US$1,972 [1,447–2,747], US$2,344 [1,843–2,765], and US$248 [201–319] for each averted infection, death, and DALY, respectively. Conclusions Our evaluation suggests that HIV programmes in Vietnam have most likely had benefits that are cost-effective. ART and direct HIV prevention were the most cost-effective interventions in reducing HIV disease burden. PMID:26196290

Programme evaluation: Can it improve human resource management practice?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johann Louw

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Orientation: This is the final article in the special edition on human resource (HR programmes and evaluation. Its starting point is that programme evaluation is the application of a wide range of social science research methods that provide credible information about the need, use, planning, effectiveness and cost of a programme. Research purpose: The purpose of this article is to review the other articles in this volume, and to draw out general conclusions about their contributions to knowledge in the field. Motivation for the study: If evaluations are undertaken in the HR domain in South Africa, they remain mostly unpublished, and thus cannot contribute to a knowledge base for the field. Research design, approach and method: This article provides a theory-based approach to programme evaluation. The seven articles were analysed in terms of two major functions of programme evaluation, namely to ask ‘How does a programme work?’, and ‘Does it work?‘ Main findings: Eight overarching themes are identified in the articles included in this volume. Practical/managerial implications: The evidence discussed here can be used to make better decisions, promote organisational learning, improve practice, and enhance employee wellbeing. Contribution/value-add: The main contribution of this concluding article is its argument that research and theory in this field can enhance the work of HR professionals, by providing evidence about how ‘good’ a programme is, and why it is good. This adds substantial value in a world characterised by accountability and evidence-based practice.

Safety, feasibility and efficacy of a rapid ART initiation in pregnancy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Safety, feasibility and efficacy of a rapid ART initiation in pregnancy pilot programme in Cape Town, South Africa. S Black, R Zulliger, L Myer, R Marcus, S Jeneker, R Taliep, D Pienaar, R Wood, L-G Bekker ...

A Place for Beauty in Art Education

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Robert

2018-01-01

For the past 100 years beauty has been marginalised in Western art and regarded as a problematic notion in a range of cultural contexts. Art educators tend to associate experiences of beauty with passive appreciation rather than active engagement, while researchers of children's understanding of art characterise references to beauty as evidence of…

International Journal of Arts and Humanities(IJAH) Bahir Dar- Ethiopia

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DrNneka

International Journal of Arts and Humanities(IJAH). Bahir Dar- Ethiopia. Vol. 5(2), S/No 17, April, ... Commission's accreditation exercise on personnel in the business education programmes of the universities in the South-east .... education personnel in universities. Method. The study adopted descriptive survey design.

Martial arts injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Pieter, Willy

2005-01-01

To review the current evidence for the epidemiology of pediatric injuries in martial arts. The relevant literature was searched using SPORT DISCUS (keywords: martial arts injuries, judo injuries, karate injuries, and taekwondo injuries and ProQuest (keywords: martial arts, taekwondo, karate, and judo), as well as hand searches of the reference lists. In general, the absolute number of injuries in girls is lower than in boys. However, when expressed relative to exposure, the injury rates of girls are higher. Injuries by body region reflect the specific techniques and rules of the martial art. The upper extremities tend to get injured more often in judo, the head and face in karate and the lower extremities in taekwondo. Activities engaged in at the time of injury included performing a kick or being thrown in judo, while punching in karate, and performing a roundhouse kick in taekwondo. Injury type tends to be martial art specific with sprains reported in judo and taekwondo and epistaxis in karate. Injury risk factors in martial arts include age, body weight and exposure. Preventive measures should focus on education of coaches, referees, athletes, and tournament directors. Although descriptive research should continue, analytical studies are urgently needed.

Art and Plastic Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Julio Wilson; Metka, Susanne

2016-04-01

The roots of science and art of plastic surgery are very antique. Anatomy, drawing, painting, and sculpting have been very important to the surgery and medicine development over the centuries. Artistic skills besides shape, volume, and lines perception can be a practical aid to the plastic surgeons' daily work. An overview about the interactions between art and plastic surgery is presented, with a few applications to rhinoplasty, cleft lip, and other reconstructive plastic surgeries. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

A Framework for Treating Cumulative Trauma with Art Therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Naff, Kristina

2014-01-01

Cumulative trauma is relatively undocumented in art therapy practice, although there is growing evidence that art therapy provides distinct benefits for resolving various traumas. This qualitative study proposes an art therapy treatment framework for cumulative trauma derived from semi-structured interviews with three art therapists and artistic…

Round robin test programmes in the reliability of thick section ultrasonic inspections: state of the art report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watkins, B.

1987-03-01

Inspection reliability is firstly defined and it is shown how difficult it is to be assessed as the influence of such factors as human performance, equipment malfunction and intrinsic technique capability are difficult to quantify. The manufacture of round robin test specimens is then considered: types of flaw, fabrication of test samples. The results of various round robin test programmes that have been carried out to determine both the capability and reliability of NDE to detect and size flaws in steel section for thick sections directly relevant to the requirements of the nuclear industry, are then reviewed and discussed: US Pressure Vessel research committee programme, PISC I Programme, the defect detection trials, and PISC II Programme

Beyond Risk Compensation: Clusters of Antiretroviral Treatment (ART Users in Sexual Networks Can Modify the Impact of ART on HIV Incidence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wim Delva

Full Text Available Concerns about risk compensation-increased risk behaviours in response to a perception of reduced HIV transmission risk-after the initiation of ART have largely been dispelled in empirical studies, but other changes in sexual networking patterns may still modify the effects of ART on HIV incidence.We developed an exploratory mathematical model of HIV transmission that incorporates the possibility of ART clusters, i.e. subsets of the sexual network in which the density of ART patients is much higher than in the rest of the network. Such clusters may emerge as a result of ART homophily-a tendency for ART patients to preferentially form and maintain relationships with other ART patients. We assessed whether ART clusters may affect the impact of ART on HIV incidence, and how the influence of this effect-modifying variable depends on contextual variables such as HIV prevalence, HIV serosorting, coverage of HIV testing and ART, and adherence to ART.ART homophily can modify the impact of ART on HIV incidence in both directions. In concentrated epidemics and generalized epidemics with moderate HIV prevalence (≈ 10%, ART clusters can enhance the impact of ART on HIV incidence, especially when adherence to ART is poor. In hyperendemic settings (≈ 35% HIV prevalence, ART clusters can reduce the impact of ART on HIV incidence when adherence to ART is high but few people living with HIV (PLWH have been diagnosed. In all contexts, the effects of ART clusters on HIV epidemic dynamics are distinct from those of HIV serosorting.Depending on the programmatic and epidemiological context, ART clusters may enhance or reduce the impact of ART on HIV incidence, in contrast to serosorting, which always leads to a lower impact of ART on HIV incidence. ART homophily and the emergence of ART clusters should be measured empirically and incorporated into more refined models used to plan and evaluate ART programmes.

Beyond Risk Compensation: Clusters of Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Users in Sexual Networks Can Modify the Impact of ART on HIV Incidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Delva, Wim; Helleringer, Stéphane

Concerns about risk compensation-increased risk behaviours in response to a perception of reduced HIV transmission risk-after the initiation of ART have largely been dispelled in empirical studies, but other changes in sexual networking patterns may still modify the effects of ART on HIV incidence. We developed an exploratory mathematical model of HIV transmission that incorporates the possibility of ART clusters, i.e. subsets of the sexual network in which the density of ART patients is much higher than in the rest of the network. Such clusters may emerge as a result of ART homophily-a tendency for ART patients to preferentially form and maintain relationships with other ART patients. We assessed whether ART clusters may affect the impact of ART on HIV incidence, and how the influence of this effect-modifying variable depends on contextual variables such as HIV prevalence, HIV serosorting, coverage of HIV testing and ART, and adherence to ART. ART homophily can modify the impact of ART on HIV incidence in both directions. In concentrated epidemics and generalized epidemics with moderate HIV prevalence (≈ 10%), ART clusters can enhance the impact of ART on HIV incidence, especially when adherence to ART is poor. In hyperendemic settings (≈ 35% HIV prevalence), ART clusters can reduce the impact of ART on HIV incidence when adherence to ART is high but few people living with HIV (PLWH) have been diagnosed. In all contexts, the effects of ART clusters on HIV epidemic dynamics are distinct from those of HIV serosorting. Depending on the programmatic and epidemiological context, ART clusters may enhance or reduce the impact of ART on HIV incidence, in contrast to serosorting, which always leads to a lower impact of ART on HIV incidence. ART homophily and the emergence of ART clusters should be measured empirically and incorporated into more refined models used to plan and evaluate ART programmes.

Beyond Risk Compensation: Clusters of Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Users in Sexual Networks Can Modify the Impact of ART on HIV Incidence

Science.gov (United States)

Delva, Wim; Helleringer, Stéphane

2016-01-01

Introduction Concerns about risk compensation—increased risk behaviours in response to a perception of reduced HIV transmission risk—after the initiation of ART have largely been dispelled in empirical studies, but other changes in sexual networking patterns may still modify the effects of ART on HIV incidence. Methods We developed an exploratory mathematical model of HIV transmission that incorporates the possibility of ART clusters, i.e. subsets of the sexual network in which the density of ART patients is much higher than in the rest of the network. Such clusters may emerge as a result of ART homophily—a tendency for ART patients to preferentially form and maintain relationships with other ART patients. We assessed whether ART clusters may affect the impact of ART on HIV incidence, and how the influence of this effect-modifying variable depends on contextual variables such as HIV prevalence, HIV serosorting, coverage of HIV testing and ART, and adherence to ART. Results ART homophily can modify the impact of ART on HIV incidence in both directions. In concentrated epidemics and generalized epidemics with moderate HIV prevalence (≈ 10%), ART clusters can enhance the impact of ART on HIV incidence, especially when adherence to ART is poor. In hyperendemic settings (≈ 35% HIV prevalence), ART clusters can reduce the impact of ART on HIV incidence when adherence to ART is high but few people living with HIV (PLWH) have been diagnosed. In all contexts, the effects of ART clusters on HIV epidemic dynamics are distinct from those of HIV serosorting. Conclusions Depending on the programmatic and epidemiological context, ART clusters may enhance or reduce the impact of ART on HIV incidence, in contrast to serosorting, which always leads to a lower impact of ART on HIV incidence. ART homophily and the emergence of ART clusters should be measured empirically and incorporated into more refined models used to plan and evaluate ART programmes. PMID:27657492

Default from Anti-Retroviral Treatment Programme in Sagamu, Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

For those who were not met at home proxy interviewees such as a neighbour or a family member were asked if they were available. Of the 100 patients who had enrolled in the ART treatment programme during the study period, 36% of the study population defaulted treatment, 18% had died while 46% were alive and well.

The European programme on emissions, fuels and engine technologies (EPEFE); Das Europaeische Programm ueber Emissionen, Kraftstoffe und Motortechnologien (EPEFE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruner, I. [OEMV AG, Vienna (Austria); Lepeu, J.M. [ACEA, Brussels (Belgium)

1994-12-31

EPEFE stands for ``European Programme on Emissions, Fuels and Engine Technologies``. On 12th July 1993 the European Automobile Manufacturers` Association (ACEA) and the European Petroleum Industry Association (Europia) signed an agreement about a two-year programme to investigate the effects of the fuel specifications and the engine technologies on the exhaust emissions of motor vehicles. This programme is abbreviated as EPEFE. ACEA signed not only for its members but also for Peugeot S.A. The EPEFE agreement reflects the common interest of both industries to further improve the environmentally friendly behaviour of their products. Furthermore it shows their awareness that additional cost-effective improvements can only be achieved through co-operation. (orig./KOW) [Deutsch] EPEFE steht fuer `European Programme on Emissions, Fuels and Engine Technologies`. Am 12. Juli 1993 haben die European Automobile Manufacturers Association-ACEA und die European Petroleum Industry Association - Europia, ein Uebereinkommen unterschrieben, um ein 2 Jahresprogramm zur Untersuchung der Auswirkungen der Kraftstoffspezifikationen und der Motortechnologien auf die Abgasemissionen der KFZ zu untersuchen. Dieses Programm wird in der Kurzform EPEFE genannt. ACEA tritt sowohl fuehr ihre Mitglieder als auch fuer Peugeot S.A. auf. Das EPEFE Uebereinkommen spiegelt das gemeinsame Interesse beider Industrien, das umweltbezogene Verhalten ihrer Produkte weiter zu verbessern und deren Bewusstsein, dass weitere Verbesserungen in kosteneffizienter Art nur durch kooperatives Vorgehen zu erreichen sein werden, wider. (orig./KOW)

Mozart in Madrās: Global Learning and Western Art Music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Taylor

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in university internationalisation, including transnational partnerships between Western and Eastern institutions, raise challenging questions about the global mutability of arts and humanities degree programmes such as music. This article considers the international educational significance of western art music from the perspective of transnational undergraduate teaching, based on the author’s experience of working at KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India.  A summary of art music’s problematic role in contemporary Western society leads to consideration of the global expansion of Western art music as practice and academic discipline. The reflective discussion focuses on several core pedagogical issues associated with the teaching of Western classical music in a non-Western environment, particularly the relevance of the historical contexts of colonialism and post-colonialism in shaping the meanings of the art form in present-day India.

Liberal Arts Colleges and Good Practices in Undergraduate Education: Additional Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Seifert, Tricia A.; Pascarella, Ernest T.; Goodman, Kathleen M.; Salisbury, Mark H.; Blaich, Charles F.

2010-01-01

Liberal arts colleges have prided themselves on providing students with a quality undergraduate education among a scholarly community who are interested in their holistic development. Past research has found students who attended liberal arts colleges more frequently experienced Chickering and Gamson's (1987, 1991) good practices in undergraduate…

Advances in childhood immunisation in South Africa: where to now? Programme managers' views and evidence from systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiysonge, Charles Shey; Ngcobo, Nthombenhle J; Jeena, Prakash M; Madhi, Shabir A; Schoub, Barry D; Hawkridge, Anthony; Shey, Muki S; Hussey, Gregory D

2012-07-31

The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) is one of the most powerful and cost-effective public health programmes to improve child survival. We assessed challenges and enablers for the programme in South Africa, as we approach the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals. Between September 2009 and September 2010 we requested national and provincial EPI managers in South Africa to identify key challenges facing EPI, and to propose appropriate solutions. We collated their responses and searched for systematic reviews on the effectiveness of the proposed solutions; in the Health Systems Evidence, Cochrane Library, and PubMed electronic databases. We screened the search outputs, selected systematic reviews, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included reviews (using AMSTAR) and the quality of the evidence (using GRADE) in duplicate; resolving disagreements by discussion and consensus. Challenges identified by EPI managers were linked to healthcare workers (insufficient knowledge of vaccines and immunisation), the public (anti-immunisation rumours and reluctance from parents), and health system (insufficient financial and human resources). Strategies proposed by managers to overcome the challenges include training, supervision, and audit and feedback; strengthening advocacy and social mobilisation; and sustainable EPI funding schemes, respectively. The findings from reliable systematic reviews indicate that interactive educational meetings, audit and feedback, and supportive supervision improve healthcare worker performance. Structured and interactive communication tools probably increase parents' understanding of immunisation; and reminders and recall, use of community health workers, conditional cash transfers, and mass media interventions probably increase immunisation coverage. Finally, a national social health insurance scheme is a potential EPI financing mechanism; however, given the absence of high-quality evidence of effects, its

Advances in childhood immunisation in South Africa: where to now? Programme managers’ views and evidence from systematic reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiysonge Charles

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI is one of the most powerful and cost-effective public health programmes to improve child survival. We assessed challenges and enablers for the programme in South Africa, as we approach the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals. Methods Between September 2009 and September 2010 we requested national and provincial EPI managers in South Africa to identify key challenges facing EPI, and to propose appropriate solutions. We collated their responses and searched for systematic reviews on the effectiveness of the proposed solutions; in the Health Systems Evidence, Cochrane Library, and PubMed electronic databases. We screened the search outputs, selected systematic reviews, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included reviews (using AMSTAR and the quality of the evidence (using GRADE in duplicate; resolving disagreements by discussion and consensus. Results Challenges identified by EPI managers were linked to healthcare workers (insufficient knowledge of vaccines and immunisation, the public (anti-immunisation rumours and reluctance from parents, and health system (insufficient financial and human resources. Strategies proposed by managers to overcome the challenges include training, supervision, and audit and feedback; strengthening advocacy and social mobilisation; and sustainable EPI funding schemes, respectively. The findings from reliable systematic reviews indicate that interactive educational meetings, audit and feedback, and supportive supervision improve healthcare worker performance. Structured and interactive communication tools probably increase parents’ understanding of immunisation; and reminders and recall, use of community health workers, conditional cash transfers, and mass media interventions probably increase immunisation coverage. Finally, a national social health insurance scheme is a potential EPI financing mechanism; however, given the absence

Performing Arts in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Curriculum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Two major arguments are presented in this paper. The first one is that the Performing Arts courses constitute programmes that aid the reduction of unemployment in many nations. The second argument is that, based on that premise, the Open and Distance Learning institutions could include it in their curricula to boost the ...

Spinoffs from radiological emergency preparedness programmes to generic emergency management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanders, M.E.

1986-01-01

In the USA, the radiological emergency preparedness (REP) programme for nuclear power plants is being used to enhance emergency management programmes for other types of emergencies. The REP programme is particularly useful in developing plans and preparedness measures for chemical accidents. The Integrated Emergency Management System (IEMS) approach provides a means for maximizing relationships between the REP programme and other programmes. IEMS essentially involves applying common elements of planning and preparedness to all types of emergencies, while recognizing that unique characteristics of specific natural and man-made emergencies require special planning and preparedness considerations. Features of the REP programme that make it compatible with the IEMS approach and useful in coping with other types of emergencies are: (1) the close co-operation between the national nuclear regulatory and emergency management organizations; (2) the programme integration among all levels of government, the nuclear power industry, public interest groups and the general public and (3) the comprehensiveness and sophistication of the programme. The REP programme in the USA represents a state-of-the-art emergency management capability. Some of its elements are readily transferrable to most other types of emergency preparedness programmes, while other elements can be adapted more readily to other hazard-specific programmes. The Bhopal accident has been a catalyst for this adaptation to chemical accidents, in such areas as furnishing hazard-specific information to the public, alert and notification systems, definition of the hazards and risks involved, establishing planning zones and developing close working relationships among the industry, the public and government

2005-2010 Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning programme

OpenAIRE

Saunders, Murray; Trowler, Paul; Ashwin, Paul

2008-01-01

This Summary Report of the independent evaluation of the national CETL programme synthesises the evidence gathered during the period between March 2007 and January 2008. It provides a formative account of the CETL programme experience.

Arts-informed narrative inquiry as a practice development methodology in mental health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gail M. Lindsay

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Congruent with the practice development movement, arts-informed narrative inquiry addresses practitioner awareness of self and others within the social context of mental health care. Through our research programme, which explores experience using creative activities and dialogue, we invite nurses to reveal how they shape and are shaped by organisational change. The personhood of the nurse is implicated in the relationship with patients and others. Objectives: Participants and researchers renewed a commitment to enhance person-centred care through self-reflective practice, to make transparent the construction of knowledge and to transform the practice environment from the frontline perspective. Methods: We used arts-informed narrative inquiry processes with our participants in five sessions over eight weeks. Three group sessions were in person and two were completed independently with online resources for guidance. The creative activities preceding group dialogue included: writing stories, metaphor development, collage, walking meditation, mandalas and music-guided art. Findings/results: Arts-informed narrative inquiry illuminates the construction of practitioner knowledge and relationships within a mental health setting. Nurses articulated the autobiographical resonances they bring to relationships with patients and others, illuminating person-centred care. Heightened awareness of how nurses’ agency is connected to their values, other caregivers and organisational policies and practices was evident. The potential for transfer of the creative activities to patient care was discerned. How other disciplines, patients and the organisation could be involved in care delivery innovation was articulated. Implications for practice: • Practitioners demonstrate how arts-informed narrative inquiry can be used to construct knowledge and relationships to support practice development • Practitioners are guided to be more response-able, rather

Do Liberal Arts Colleges Make Students More Liberal? Some Initial Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Jana M.; Weeden, Dustin D.; Pascarella, Ernest T.; Blaich, Charles

2012-01-01

The effect of attending college on students' political ideology has been a controversial topic for many decades. In this study, we explored the relationship between attending a liberal arts college and students' political views. Compared to their counterparts at other 4-year institutions, liberal arts college students began postsecondary education…

Prevalence of malnutrition among HIV-infected children in Central and West-African HIV-care programmes supported by the Growing Up Programme in 2011: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jesson, Julie; Masson, David; Adonon, Arsène; Tran, Caroline; Habarugira, Capitoline; Zio, Réjane; Nicimpaye, Léoncie; Desmonde, Sophie; Serurakuba, Goreth; Kwayep, Rosine; Sare, Edith; Konate, Tiefing; Nimaga, Abdoulaye; Saina, Philemon; Kpade, Akossiwa; Bassuka, Andrée; Gougouyor, Gustave; Leroy, Valériane

2015-05-26

The burden of malnutrition among HIV-infected children is not well described in sub-Saharan Africa, even though it is an important problem to take into account to guarantee appropriate healthcare for these children. We assessed the prevalence of malnutrition and its associated factors among HIV-infected children in HIV care programmes in Central and West-Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2011 among the active files of HIV-infected children aged 2-19 years old, enrolled in HIV-care programmes supported by the Sidaction Growing Up Programme in Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Chad and Togo. Socio-demographics characteristics, anthropometric, clinical data, and nutritional support were collected. Anthropometric indicators, expressed in Z-scores, were used to define malnutrition: Height-for-age (HAZ), Weight-for-Height (WHZ) for children children ≥5 years. Three types of malnutrition were defined: acute malnutrition (WHZ/BAZ malnutrition (HAZ malnutrition (WHZ/BAZ malnutrition. Overall, 1350 HIV-infected children were included; their median age was 10 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 7-13 years), 49 % were girls. 80 % were on antiretroviral treatment (ART), for a median time of 36 months. The prevalence of malnutrition was 42 % (95 % confidence interval [95% CI]: 40-44 %) with acute, chronic and mixed malnutrition at 9 % (95% CI: 6-12 %), 26 % (95% CI: 23-28 %), and 7 % (95% CI: 5-10 %), respectively. Among those malnourished, more than half of children didn't receive any nutritional support at the time of the survey. Acute malnutrition was associated with male gender, severe immunodeficiency, and the absence of ART; chronic malnutrition with male gender and age (malnutrition with male gender, age (malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition in HIV-infected children even on ART remains high in HIV care programmes. Anthropometric measurements and appropriate nutritional care of malnourished HIV

SPACES OF WELLBEING : WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT SPECIAL NEEDS ART STUDIOS?

OpenAIRE

Radcliffe, David

2013-01-01

ABSTRACT Radcliffe, David. Spaces of Wellbeing, What is so special about special needs art studios? Autumn 2013, 73 p., 2 appendices. Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, Degree Programme in Social Services + option in Diaconal Social Work, Bachelor of Social Services (UAS) + Qualifi-cation for the office of diaconia worker in The Church of Finland. The aim of this thesis is to discover the common experiences of art studio par-ticipants in relation to wellbeing. This has become a...

The catcher in the why: developing an evidence-based approach to the organization, delivery and evaluation of pre-registration nurse educational programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Warne, T; Holland, K; McAndrew, S

2011-03-01

Changes to the pedagogy of pre-registration nurse education and training have become a global phenomenon. However, the evidence base to inform responses to these changes and the impact on nursing practice is limited. This paper explores the outcomes of an innovative approach aimed at ensuring responses to these drivers for change, particularly in curriculum development, the organisation, management and delivery of programmes and the enhancement of the student experience, are evidence based. This paper reports on an organisational change project undertaken in a School of Nursing in the North West of England, UK. The project involved 12 interrelated work streams used to explore aspects of the student journey from recruitment through progression to eventual employment. An evidence base was developed through a methodological bricolage that drew upon a robust and authentic mixture of systematic literature reviews, contemporaneous analysis of educational practice and evaluation of the student experience. This was used to underpin the decision making processes required to promote innovation in programme design, to increase the involvement of students in the facilitation and evaluation of their learning experiences, and helped shape the organisational changes required for embedding an evidenced-based culture in the School. Consistent and transformational leadership has been key to the project's success in communicating and managing the changes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The anatomy and relations of evidence-based medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, I G; Daly, J M

2000-06-01

Current tensions between evidence-based medicine (EBM) and some clinicians are counterproductive and unnecessary. The most contentious issues concern (a) the limitations of efficacy data from randomised trials as evidence; (b) differences in attitudes to medical diagnosis and clinical judgement; and (c) political concerns about the use of the concept of clinical evidence and guidelines to restrict physician autonomy. Health services research has evolved in response to a bureaucratic need to study health care, including clinical practice, in order to improve its effectiveness (defined mainly in terms of technological interventions), and to contain costs. Its perspective is from the top-down representing the interests of bureaucracy and managed care, and articulates with political demands for professional accountability and cost-containment. EBM has established its place as an important contributor to the methodological toolbox for health services research. There is a need for a corresponding coherent programme of clinical practice research which would locate EBM in the clinical environment beside quality assurance, the study of the appropriateness and effectiveness of interventions, and multidisciplinary research related to the art of medicine and supportive aspects of clinical care. EBM would then be seen as one organ in relation to many others making their contribution to the body of knowledge needed for clinical decisions and policy making. A 'centre for the study of clinical practice' would be an appropriate structure to support such a comprehensive programme of clinical practice research in a tertiary hospital. The bottom-up perspective of clinical practice research would complement the current top-down perspective of most health services research, providing information to doctors, patients and administrators concerning local quality of care and health outcomes, information which could also be aggregated for guidance of health policy makers. It would also

The effectiveness of universal parenting programmes: the CANparent trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, Geoff; Totsika, Vasiliki

2017-10-23

There is substantial evidence for the efficacy and effectiveness of targeted parenting programmes but much less evidence regarding universal parenting programmes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CANparent Trial of 12 universal parenting programmes, which were made available to parents of all children aged 0-6 years in three local authorities in England. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of universal parenting programmes on this scale. Parents accessed a voucher, value £100, to attend an accredited programme of parenting classes. Parents completed measures of their mental well-being, parenting efficacy, parenting satisfaction, and parenting stress, at pre- and post-course. Comparative data were derived from a sample of non-participant parents in 16 local authorities not providing CANparent programmes. A quasi-experimental design was adopted following estimation of propensity scores to balance the two groups on socio-demographic variables. Following their programme, changes in parenting stress were small and nonsignificant (Cohen's d frequency 0.07; intensity, 0.17). Participating parents showed significantly greater improvements than the comparison group for parenting efficacy (0.89) but not parenting satisfaction (-0.01). Mental well-being improved from 0.29 SD below the national norm to the national norm after the course. Parents were overwhelmingly positive about their course (88-94%) but this was lower for improvement in their relationship with their child (74%) and being a better parent (76%). The CANparent Trial demonstrated that universal parenting programmes can be effective in improving parents' sense of parenting efficacy and mental well-being when delivered to the full range of parents in community settings. However, there was no evidence of a reduction in levels of parenting stress; nor was there a significant improvement in satisfaction with being a parent. This is the first study of its kind

Art fighting its way back to aesthetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sejten, Anne Elisabeth

2016-01-01

. In this essay, ‘Aesthetics is not what you think it is’ is thus an invitation to break through at the very point in which contemporary art seems to state the opposite—that art no longer should be a concern of aesthetics. The iconic example of Marcel Duchamp’s readymade, Fountain, which writes art history......When Claire Farago and Donald Preziosi claim that ‘art is not what you think it is,’ aesthetics itself is implicitly challenged, especially aesthetics’ seemingly inherent correlation with art. However, aesthetics, as complex and ambiguous as the concept of art, calls for a similar suspicion...... at the threshold of contemporary art, is summoned, on the contrary, to give evidence of an intact, though profoundly transformed, aesthetic engagement by the artist....

Take One Boat: from offshore science to onshore art

Science.gov (United States)

Cotterill, C.

2017-12-01

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is a collaborative programme that works to explore the oceans and the rocks beneath them. Working from shallow to deep waters, and in ice covered to more tropical areas, scientists work together to sample ocean sediments and rocks, and install subsea observatories, in order to investigate our planets dynamic history. The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) are one arm of IODP, and the Education and Outreach Task Force are investigating ways of taking education and outreach further - how can we convey the excitement of this program to others and inspire careers in STEM subjects?Cape Farewell are a think / do tank who gather artists, designers, filmmakers and writers to interact with scientists and find ways to address climate change. From creation of internationally touring artworks to films and novels, Cape Farewell continues to educate engage and inspire. For 3 years the author was involved in Cape Farewell not only as a research scientist, but also as a mentor within the educational programme. Over the course of two expeditions, students were invited to design both a science research project and an accompanying arts project that investigated climate change in this fragile environment, replicating the model used for professional scientists and artists. The long term aim of the project was to support peer to peer learning, with students working as youth ambassadors within their schools and communities. With outputs from this style of engagement now including digital artwork exhibitions, a multi-disciplinary arts school, online resources and the initiation of the youth climate change summit, this talk investigates what lessons can be learnt from this dynamic combination of arts and science, to develop a programme that takes just one boat, and makes a big change in how we communicate science. "The art the students have been producing has been inspired by the science they have learnt, what they

Gardening with Huntington's disease clients--creating a programme of winter activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Spring, Josephine Anne; Baker, Mark; Dauya, Loreane; Ewemade, Ivie; Marsh, Nicola; Patel, Prina; Scott, Adrienne; Stoy, Nicholas; Turner, Hannah; Viera, Marc; Will, Diana

2011-01-01

A programme of garden-related indoor activities was developed to sustain a gardening group for people with mid to late stage Huntington's disease during the winter. The activities were devised by the horticulturist, working empirically, involving the services occupational therapist, physiotherapist, occupational therapy art technician, computer room, recreation and leisure staff. The programme was strongly supported by the nursing and care staff. Feedback on the effectiveness of the activities was sought from the clients, team members and unit staff. The clients' interest in gardening was sustained by a multidisciplinary programme of indoor growing and using plant products in creative activities, computing and group projects. The clients enjoyed all activities except one that they said lacked contact with plants. The inexpensive programme of activities enabled creativity and self-expression, stimulated social contact and helped with therapeutic goals of the clients. In addition, it engaged the multi-disciplinary team and the unit staff, was practical and enhanced the environment.

Artful terms: A study on aesthetic word usage for visual art versus film and music

Science.gov (United States)

Augustin, M Dorothee; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Wagemans, Johan

2012-01-01

Despite the importance of the arts in human life, psychologists still know relatively little about what characterises their experience for the recipient. The current research approaches this problem by studying people's word usage in aesthetics, with a focus on three important art forms: visual art, film, and music. The starting point was a list of 77 words known to be useful to describe aesthetic impressions of visual art (Augustin et al 2012, Acta Psychologica 139 187–201). Focusing on ratings of likelihood of use, we examined to what extent word usage in aesthetic descriptions of visual art can be generalised to film and music. The results support the claim of an interplay of generality and specificity in aesthetic word usage. Terms with equal likelihood of use for all art forms included beautiful, wonderful, and terms denoting originality. Importantly, emotion-related words received higher ratings for film and music than for visual art. To our knowledge this is direct evidence that aesthetic experiences of visual art may be less affectively loaded than, for example, experiences of music. The results render important information about aesthetic word usage in the realm of the arts and may serve as a starting point to develop tailored measurement instruments for different art forms. PMID:23145287

Artful terms: A study on aesthetic word usage for visual art versus film and music.

Science.gov (United States)

Augustin, M Dorothee; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Wagemans, Johan

2012-01-01

Despite the importance of the arts in human life, psychologists still know relatively little about what characterises their experience for the recipient. The current research approaches this problem by studying people's word usage in aesthetics, with a focus on three important art forms: visual art, film, and music. The starting point was a list of 77 words known to be useful to describe aesthetic impressions of visual art (Augustin et al 2012, Acta Psychologica139 187-201). Focusing on ratings of likelihood of use, we examined to what extent word usage in aesthetic descriptions of visual art can be generalised to film and music. The results support the claim of an interplay of generality and specificity in aesthetic word usage. Terms with equal likelihood of use for all art forms included beautiful, wonderful, and terms denoting originality. Importantly, emotion-related words received higher ratings for film and music than for visual art. To our knowledge this is direct evidence that aesthetic experiences of visual art may be less affectively loaded than, for example, experiences of music. The results render important information about aesthetic word usage in the realm of the arts and may serve as a starting point to develop tailored measurement instruments for different art forms.

Artful Terms: A Study on Aesthetic Word Usage for Visual Art versus Film and Music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Dorothee Augustin

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Despite the importance of the arts in human life, psychologists still know relatively little about what characterises their experience for the recipient. The current research approaches this problem by studying people's word usage in aesthetics, with a focus on three important art forms: visual art, film, and music. The starting point was a list of 77 words known to be useful to describe aesthetic impressions of visual art (Augustin et al 2012, Acta Psychologica 139 187–201. Focusing on ratings of likelihood of use, we examined to what extent word usage in aesthetic descriptions of visual art can be generalised to film and music. The results support the claim of an interplay of generality and specificity in aesthetic word usage. Terms with equal likelihood of use for all art forms included beautiful, wonderful, and terms denoting originality. Importantly, emotion-related words received higher ratings for film and music than for visual art. To our knowledge this is direct evidence that aesthetic experiences of visual art may be less affectively loaded than, for example, experiences of music. The results render important information about aesthetic word usage in the realm of the arts and may serve as a starting point to develop tailored measurement instruments for different art forms.

The effect of a 10-week Zulu stick fighting intervention programme ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The article is based on the study that investigated the influence that traditional martial arts of Zulu stick fighting has on body composition of prepubescent males. A sample of fortyfive children were divided into an experimental group (n=22) which underwent a ten week stick fighting intervention programme facilitated by two ...

THE LIBERAL ARTS--PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE.

Science.gov (United States)

RICE, JAMES G.

THE STERILITY OF THE LIBERAL ARTS IN MOST COLLEGES TODAY IS BECOMING MORE EVIDENT. STUDENTS ARE TURNING TO "POT," LSD, OR IMMERSIONS IN ANOTHER CULTURE IN THEIR QUESTS TO EXPAND THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS. THE STUDENT'S NEED FOR A HEIGHTENED AWARENESS AND LARGER FRAME OF REFERENCE CAN BE FULFILLED BY A STUDY OF THE LIBERAL ARTS ONLY IF THESE STUDIES ARE…

Network-Embedded Management and Applications Understanding Programmable Networking Infrastructure

CERN Document Server

Wolter, Ralf

2013-01-01

Despite the explosion of networking services and applications in the past decades, the basic technological underpinnings of the Internet have remained largely unchanged. At its heart are special-purpose appliances that connect us to the digital world, commonly known as switches and routers. Now, however, the traditional framework is being increasingly challenged by new methods that are jostling for a position in the next-generation Internet. The concept of a network that is becoming more programmable is one of the aspects that are taking center stage. This opens new possibilities to embed software applications inside the network itself and to manage networks and communications services with unprecedented ease and efficiency. In this edited volume, distinguished experts take the reader on a tour of different facets of programmable network infrastructure and application exploit it. Presenting the state of the art in network embedded management and applications and programmable network infrastructure, the book c...

Start making sense: Art informing health psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaptein, Ad A; Hughes, Brian M; Murray, Michael; Smyth, Joshua M

2018-01-01

Growing evidence suggests that the arts may be useful in health care and in the training of health care professionals. Four art genres - novels, films, paintings and music - are examined for their potential contribution to enhancing patient health and/or making better health care providers. Based on a narrative literature review, we examine the effects of passive (e.g. reading, watching, viewing and listening) and active (e.g. writing, producing, painting and performing) exposure to the four art genres, by both patients and health care providers. Overall, an emerging body of empirical evidence indicates positive effects on psychological and physiological outcome measures in patients and some benefits to medical training. Expressive writing/emotional disclosure, psychoneuroimmunology, Theory of Mind and the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation are considered as possible theoretical frameworks to help incorporate art genres as sources of inspiration for the further development of health psychology research and clinical applications.

Start making sense: Art informing health psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Brian M; Murray, Michael; Smyth, Joshua M

2018-01-01

Growing evidence suggests that the arts may be useful in health care and in the training of health care professionals. Four art genres – novels, films, paintings and music – are examined for their potential contribution to enhancing patient health and/or making better health care providers. Based on a narrative literature review, we examine the effects of passive (e.g. reading, watching, viewing and listening) and active (e.g. writing, producing, painting and performing) exposure to the four art genres, by both patients and health care providers. Overall, an emerging body of empirical evidence indicates positive effects on psychological and physiological outcome measures in patients and some benefits to medical training. Expressive writing/emotional disclosure, psychoneuroimmunology, Theory of Mind and the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation are considered as possible theoretical frameworks to help incorporate art genres as sources of inspiration for the further development of health psychology research and clinical applications. PMID:29552350

The arts in and out of school: Educational policy, provision and practice in Ireland today

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siobhán Dowling Long

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The debate relating to the place and value of the arts in Irish Education is one that has dominated educational policy, provision, and practice down through the history of Irish educational policy from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Indeed, interest in this topic has been re-ignited with the recent publication of two educational policy documents, one based on the arts-in-education in and out of school The Arts in Education Charter (2013, and the other on the development of children and young people’s literacy and numeracy Literacy and Numeracy For Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011––2020 (2011. Despite the Irish Government’s commitments to promote the arts in and out of school, this paper draws attention to the lack of any real investment in the Arts in Education Charter by the Irish Government, and the neglect of policymakers to include references to national and international educational research on the value of the arts for enhancing children’s life-long learning. Noting the pressures on primary teachers to allocate more time to the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, it highlights the potential threat of this initiative to the primary school arts education programme. Finally, it draws attention to the notable absence of an arts education programme for the majority of senior post-primary pupils who leave school without any in-depth knowledge and appreciation of their rich cultural heritage. This is an area of grave concern, and one that has received very little, if any, attention to date.

The Arts In and Out of School: Educational Policy, Provision and Practice in Ireland Today

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siobhán Dowling LONG

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The debate relating to the place and value of the arts in Irish Education is one that has dominated educational policy, provision, and practice down through the history of Irish educational policy from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Indeed, interest in this topic has been re-ignited with the recent publication of two educational policy documents, one based on the arts-in-education in and out of school The Arts in Education Charter (2013, and the other on the development of children and young people’s literacy and numeracy Literacy and Numeracy For Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011––2020 (2011. Despite the Irish Government’s commitments to promote the arts in and out of school, this paper draws attention to the lack of any real investment in the Arts in Education Charter by the Irish Government, and the neglect of policymakers to include references to national and international educational research on the value of the arts for enhancing children’s life-long learning. Noting the pressures on primary teachers to allocate more time to the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, it highlights the potential threat of this initiative to the primary school arts education programme. Finally, it draws attention to the notable absence of an arts education programme for the majority of senior post-primary pupils who leave school without any in-depth knowledge and appreciation of their rich cultural heritage. This is an area of grave concern, and one that has received very little, if any, attention to date.

A reappraisal of the virtues of private sector employment programmes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Peter; Graversen, Brian Krogh

In this paper, we evaluate the employment effects of Danish active labour market programmes aimed at welfare benefit recipients. We estimate an econometric model with treatment effects and discrete outcomes and we allow the responses to treatment to vary among observationally identical persons. T...... significant mean effects of participation in private sector employment programmes compared to participation in other programmes, but we find evidence of heterogeneity in the treatment effects....

Drawing as an instrument of professional excellence in visual arts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The drawing aspect of art programmes in many institutions of higher learning nationwide remains an area of academic phobia for some students. It seems to threaten students ... It also tries to provide a string of formulae possibilities which, hopefully, will lead the affected students into freedom. It is hoped that this paper will ...

Web-Based Parenting Support: Development of the COPING Confident Parenting Programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judith Hutchings

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Parents have the most significant impact on children’s development and the key parenting factors that promote child development and wellbeing are well known. Furthermore, many behavioural, social and emotional problems in children are associated with poor parenting practices. Parenting interventions that address parental skill deficits and teach positive parenting principles based on social learning theory are effective and are the recommended treatment for conduct disorder. Alongside the development of treatment programmes, universal parenting programmes have been developed; many present the same core parenting principles but their rationales vary from promoting children’s development to addressing common behavioural challenges and the evidence for these programmes is less well established. Most parents now have internet access and are making daily use of it, including seeking advice on parenting matters but that advice is often anecdotal and lacking evidence. In the meantime, a small number of web-based programmes, including parenting programmes have been developed and evaluated. This paper summarises the rationale for web-based universal programmes to support parents and briefly describes the history, content and a summary of the initial research on the COPING (confident parent internet guide programme developed by the authors. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research directions.

The CEA/DRN innovative R and D programme: significant studies on passive systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiorini, G.L.; Magistris, F. de; Dumaz, P.; Gautier, G.M.; Pignatel, J.F.; Richard, P.

1999-01-01

The work on passive systems is an essential item of the R and D programme for future reactors; it is structured following four main guidelines: Research, and validation of innovative solutions for the safety functions achievement; An enlarged assessment of the performances of passive systems; Extension of the data base and of the tools qualification range; Assessment of new plant operation modes. After a recalling on the general framework, the paper describes, following these guidelines, the status of the art of the main corresponding programmes within CEA/DRN. (author)

INPP safety upgrade programme. Accomplishments and progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaisnys, P.

1996-01-01

The safety upgrade programme consists of the following parts: Post Chernobyl immediate modifications undertaken to remove obvious deficiencies discovered in the course of analysis of the main causes of Chernobyl accident; Modifications to remove gaps in safety provision discovered as a result of safety assessment investigations; Modifications to remove evident discrepancies in respect to internationally accepted standard. As it follows from above the deep safety investigations were undertaken to put their findings into concrete improvement programme

Interdisciplinary Learning Through the Teaching of Science and Art

Science.gov (United States)

Illingworth, Samuel; Verran, Joanna; Griffiths, Dave; Carpenter, Annie

2017-04-01

Science and Art are two disciplines that are usually treated as mutually exclusive entities, and yet which have much to offer each other in terms of process, experimentation and analysis. The field of SciArt (or ArtSci) is a relatively new one, in which scientists and artists work together to create information and demonstrations that are neither the science of art nor the art of science but are instead interdisciplinary investigations that utilise the unique strengths and overlapping commonalities of both fields. As well as the products and processes that are created via such collaboration, the introduction of artists and scientists to one another is an exceptionally valuable prospect which can have a significant impact on the working practices of both sets of collaborators. To further develop this field and these opportunities for collaboration, it is necessary to introduce scientists and artists to the potential of working together at an early point in their careers, ideally when they are still in tertiary education. Manchester Metropolitan University has been involved in several art and science programmes that involve science and art undergraduate and postgraduate students working together to create performances, experiments and demonstrations. This includes the UK's first dedicated SciArt course, residential field trips, and exhibiting at an internationally- renowned gallery. Here we present the outcomes of this work, discussing the development of these schemes and presenting future opportunities for early career scientists and artists to collaborate further.

Test Driven Development: Performing Art

Science.gov (United States)

Bache, Emily

The art of Test Driven Development (TDD) is a skill that needs to be learnt, and which needs time and practice to master. In this workshop a select number of conference participants with considerable skill and experience are invited to perform code katas [1]. The aim is for them to demonstrate excellence and the use of Test Driven Development, and result in some high quality code. This would be for the benefit of the many programmers attending the conference, who could come along and witness high quality code being written using TDD, and get a chance to ask questions and provide feedback.

Martial arts as a mental health intervention for children? Evidence from the ECLS-K.

Science.gov (United States)

Strayhorn, Joseph M; Strayhorn, Jillian C

2009-10-14

Martial arts studios for children market their services as providing mental health outcomes such as self-esteem, self-confidence, concentration, and self-discipline. It appears that many parents enroll their children in martial arts in hopes of obtaining such outcomes. The current study used the data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten class of 1998-1999, to assess the effects of martial arts upon such outcomes as rated by classroom teachers. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study used a multistage probability sampling design to gather a sample representative of U.S. children attending kindergarten beginning 1998. We made use of data collected in the kindergarten, 3rd grade, and 5th grade years. Classroom behavior was measured by a rating scale completed by teachers; participation in martial arts was assessed as part of a parent interview. The four possible combinations of participation and nonparticipation in martial arts at time 1 and time 2 for each analysis were coded into three dichotomous variables; the set of three variables constituted the measure of participation studied through regression. Multiple regression was used to estimate the association between martial arts participation and change in classroom behavior from one measurement occasion to the next. The change from kindergarten to third grade was studied as a function of martial arts participation, and the analysis was replicated studying behavior change from third grade to fifth grade. Cohen's f2 effect sizes were derived from these regressions. The martial arts variable failed to show a statistically significant effect on behavior, in either of the regression analyses; in fact, the f2 effect size for martial arts was 0.000 for both analyses. The 95% confidence intervals for regression coefficients for martial arts variables have upper and lower bounds that are all close to zero. The analyses not only fail to reject the null hypothesis, but also render unlikely a population

Hopi and Anasazi Alignments and Rock Art

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Bryan C.

The interaction of light and shadow on ancestral Puebloan rock art, or rock art demarcating sunrise/set horizon points that align with culturally significant dates, has long been assumed to be evidence of "intentional construct" for marking time or event by the native creator. However, anthropological rock art research requires the scientific control of cultural time, element orientation and placement, structure, and association with other rock art elements. The evaluation of five exemplars challenges the oft-held assumption that "if the interaction occurs, it therefore supports intentional construct" and thereby conveys meaning to the native culture.

Improving ART programme retention and viral suppression are key to maximising impact of treatment as prevention - a modelling study.

Science.gov (United States)

McCreesh, Nicky; Andrianakis, Ioannis; Nsubuga, Rebecca N; Strong, Mark; Vernon, Ian; McKinley, Trevelyan J; Oakley, Jeremy E; Goldstein, Michael; Hayes, Richard; White, Richard G

2017-08-09

UNAIDS calls for fewer than 500,000 new HIV infections/year by 2020, with treatment-as-prevention being a key part of their strategy for achieving the target. A better understanding of the contribution to transmission of people at different stages of the care pathway can help focus intervention services at populations where they may have the greatest effect. We investigate this using Uganda as a case study. An individual-based HIV/ART model was fitted using history matching. 100 model fits were generated to account for uncertainties in sexual behaviour, HIV epidemiology, and ART coverage up to 2015 in Uganda. A number of different ART scale-up intervention scenarios were simulated between 2016 and 2030. The incidence and proportion of transmission over time from people with primary infection, post-primary ART-naïve infection, and people currently or previously on ART was calculated. In all scenarios, the proportion of transmission by ART-naïve people decreases, from 70% (61%-79%) in 2015 to between 23% (15%-40%) and 47% (35%-61%) in 2030. The proportion of transmission by people on ART increases from 7.8% (3.5%-13%) to between 14% (7.0%-24%) and 38% (21%-55%). The proportion of transmission by ART dropouts increases from 22% (15%-33%) to between 31% (23%-43%) and 56% (43%-70%). People who are currently or previously on ART are likely to play an increasingly large role in transmission as ART coverage increases in Uganda. Improving retention on ART, and ensuring that people on ART remain virally suppressed, will be key in reducing HIV incidence in Uganda.

A concept mapping approach to identifying the barriers to implementing an evidence-based sports injury prevention programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Donaldson, Alex; Callaghan, Aisling; Bizzini, Mario; Jowett, Andrew; Keyzer, Patrick; Nicholson, Matthew

2018-01-20

Understanding the barriers to programme use is important to facilitate implementation of injury prevention programmes in real-word settings. This study investigated the barriers to coaches of adolescent female soccer teams, in Victoria, Australia, implementing the evidence-based FIFA 11+ injury prevention programme. Concept mapping with data collected from 19 soccer coaches and administrators. Brainstorming generated 65 statements as barriers to 11+ implementation. After the statements were synthesised and edited, participants sorted 59 statements into groups (mean, 6.2 groups; range, 3-10 groups). Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis identified a six-cluster solution: Lack of 11+ knowledge among coaches (15 statements), Lack of player enjoyment and engagement (14), Lack of link to football-related goals (11), Lack of facilities and resources (8), Lack of leadership (6) and Lack of time at training (5). Statements in the 'Lack of 11+ knowledge among coaches' cluster received the highest mean importance (3.67 out of 5) and feasibility for the Football Federation to address (3.20) rating. Statements in the 'Lack of facilities and resources' cluster received the lowest mean importance rating (2.23), while statements in the 'Lack of time at training' cluster received the lowest mean feasibility rating (2.19). A multistrategy, ecological approach to implementing the 11+-with specific attention paid to improving coach knowledge about the 11+ and how to implement it, linking the 11+ to the primary goal of soccer training, and organisational leadership-is required to improve the uptake of the 11+ among the targeted coaches. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

ARTES: the future of satellite telecommunication

Science.gov (United States)

González-Blázquez, Angel; Detain, Dominique

2005-08-01

Throughout its 30-year existence, ESA has played a key role by providing telecommunications infrastructures that have allowed the in-orbit validation, qualification and demonstration of equipment, technology and services. In the past, this has been achieved through the provision of dedicated satellites like OTS, Marecs, Olympus and Artemis, as well as by the implementation of piggy-back payloads on other ESA or commercial satellites. Today, due to the importance of satellite telecommunications, ESA continues to support this sector mainly through its ARTES - Advanced Research in Telecommunications - Programme.

Creative Partnerships? Cultural Policy and Inclusive Arts Practice in One Primary School

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Christine; Thomson, Pat

2007-01-01

This article traces the "cultural turn" in UK educational policy through an analysis of the Creative Partnerships policy (New Labour's "flagship programme in the cultural education field") and a consideration of an arts project funded under this initiative in one primary school. It argues that current educational policy…

Implementation of programmable logic controller for proposed new instrumentation and control system of RTP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Khairulezwan Abdul Manan; Mohd Idris Taib; Mohd Dzul Aiman Aslan

2010-01-01

Reactor Monitoring System is one of very important part of Reactor Instrumentation and Control system. Current monitoring system is using analog system whereby all circuits are discrete circuit and all displays and indicators are not digitalized. The proposed new system will use using a Commercial Off-The-Shelf, state of the art, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system such as Programmable Logic Controller as well as Computer System. The implementations of Programmable Logic Controller are used for Data Acquisition System and as a sub-system for Computer System where all the activities involved are stored for operation record and report as well as use for research purposes. Programmable Logic Controller receives galvanised or optically isolated signal from Reactor Protection System. Programmable Logic Controller also receives signal from other parameters as a digital and analog input related to reactor system. (author)

Refuah Shlema: a cross-cultural programme for promoting communication and health among Ethiopian immigrants in the primary health care setting in Israel: evidence and lessons learned from over a decade of implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin-Zamir, Diane; Keret, Sandra; Yaakovson, Orit; Lev, Boaz; Kay, Calanit; Verber, Giora; Lieberman, Niki

2011-03-01

The Refuah Shlema programme was established to reduce health disparities, promote health literacy and health indicators of the Ethiopian immigrant community in Israel, and included: (i) integrating Ethiopian immigrant liaisons in primary care as inter-cultural mediators; (ii) in-service training of clinical staff to increase cultural awareness and sensitivity; and (iii) health education community activities. Qualitative and quantitative evidence showed improvements in: (i) clinic staff–patient relations; (ii) availability and accessibility of health services, and health system navigation without increasing service expenditure; (iii) perception of general well-being; and (iv) self-care practice with regards to chronic conditions. Evidence significantly contributed to sustaining the programme for over 13 years.

State-of-the-art in Heterogeneous Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andre R. Brodtkorb

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Node level heterogeneous architectures have become attractive during the last decade for several reasons: compared to traditional symmetric CPUs, they offer high peak performance and are energy and/or cost efficient. With the increase of fine-grained parallelism in high-performance computing, as well as the introduction of parallelism in workstations, there is an acute need for a good overview and understanding of these architectures. We give an overview of the state-of-the-art in heterogeneous computing, focusing on three commonly found architectures: the Cell Broadband Engine Architecture, graphics processing units (GPUs, and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs. We present a review of hardware, available software tools, and an overview of state-of-the-art techniques and algorithms. Furthermore, we present a qualitative and quantitative comparison of the architectures, and give our view on the future of heterogeneous computing.

Injuries Sustained by the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete

OpenAIRE

Jensen, Andrew R.; Maciel, Robert C.; Petrigliano, Frank A.; Rodriguez, John P.; Brooks, Adam G.

2016-01-01

Context: Mixed martial arts (MMA) is rapidly growing in popularity in the United States and abroad. This combat sport joins athletes from a wide variety of martial art disciplines, each with characteristic and distinguishing injury profiles, together in competition. Because of increasing participation by professionals and amateurs alike, injuries sustained by MMA athletes have been on the rise. Evidence Acquisition: A review of relevant publications using the search term mixed martial arts an...

Whose global art (history?: Ancient art as global art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cynthia Colburn

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Discourse on global art or art history arguably dominates the field of art history today in terms of curriculum and research. This discourse cuts across time and space, impacting all art historical specializations, from prehistoric to contemporary, and from Africa to the Americas. Yet, the mainstream theoretical discourse on global art or art history focuses almost explicitly on contemporary and, to a lesser extent, modern art, operating from the premise that only these arts were created in an age of globalization and, thus, emphasize hybridity. This essay seeks to expand the mainstream theoretical discourse regarding global art to pre-modern examples, given that artistic exchange and hybridity dates as early as the prehistoric era all over the world and is not dependent on newer technologies. Indeed, one might argue that the study of pre-modern examples of global art could provide a powerful historical lens through which to analyze contemporary global art.

The National Arts Education Archive: Ideas and Imaginings

OpenAIRE

Adams, Jeff; Bailey, Rowan; Walton, Neil

2017-01-01

The National Arts Education Archive (NAEA) is housed and maintained by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), and managed by YSP coordinators and educators with a well-established volunteer programme. This year, 2017, as part of the celebrations of the YSP’s 40th anniversary, the Archive will hold its own exhibition entitled Treasures Revealed: a collection of items selected by people who\\ud have been involved in the Archive, whether as donors, volunteers, researchers, artists, trustees or steer...

Programme Evaluation Toolbox: Effective Evaluation Principles and Considerations in Career Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Nassar-McMillan, Sylvia; Conley, Abigail Holland

2011-01-01

In our ever-present age of accountability, career development professionals are increasingly called upon to document evidence-based outcomes and other metrics of programme effectiveness. In this article, we will review the key components of effective programme evaluation, including purposes and types of evaluation. Our review will span empirical…

Teaching nanoscience across scientific and geographical borders - A European Master programme in nanoscience and nanotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chesneau, A; Schwille, P; Groeseneken, G; Heremans, P; Rep, D; Rudquist, P; Wendin, G; Sluijter, B

2008-01-01

Within the Erasmus Mundus Master (EMM) Programme, five European Universities (KU Leuven, Belgium, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, Delft University of Technology and Leiden University, the Netherlands, and the University of Dresden, Germany) have joined forces to offer a unique master programme in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 'EMM-nano', at the cutting edge of state-of-the-art research. The students design and build their individual area of specialisation within nanophysics, nanotechnology, biophysics, biotechnology through their choice of trajectory between the partners. We discuss some of the challenges related to the crossdisciplinary nature of the field, educational activities in cleanrooms, and issues related to the integration of teaching programmes across the borders within Europe

The 'Maternal' Feminist: Exploring The Primal in Women's Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pamela Turton-Turner

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explores women's art that interrogates the logic intrinsic to a powerful concept of maternal caring evident in Marian iconography. While conventional portrayals of women in the history of art connote maternity as divine and mystical, women's art with a feminist sensibility reconfigures the mother figure as monstrous and forbidding. Through the use of visual semiotics and Kristevan psychoanalytic theories, I analyse how feminist art reconciles sacred and sadistic states for a more aggressive mother to emerge.

Psychological vulnerability and resilience of Holocaust survivors engaged in creative art.

Science.gov (United States)

Diamond, Shira; Shrira, Amit

2018-06-01

Although evidence demonstrates that engagement in art promotes favorable coping with trauma, this subject is underexplored among Holocaust survivors. Thus, the present study explored whether Holocaust survivors engaged in art differed from survivors not engaged in art in various markers of psychological vulnerability and resilience. The study further included non-Holocaust survivor comparisons, some engaged in art and some not, in order to assess whether engagement in art among Holocaust survivors relates to a unique psychological profile beyond art engagement in general. A sample of 154 community-dwelling older adults (mean age = 81.67, SD = 5.33, range = 73-97) reported exposure to the Holocaust, current engagement in art, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, general psychological distress, resilience and subjective perceptions of age and aging. Holocaust survivors (regardless of whether they engaged in art or not) reported higher PTSD symptoms relative to comparisons. However, Holocaust survivors who engaged in art reported higher resilience than all other groups (survivors not engaged in art and comparisons engaged and not engaged in art). To the best of our knowledge, these findings are the first quantitative evidence pointing toward a link between engagement in art and positive coping with the Holocaust. These findings have important implications for clinicians working with Holocaust survivors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stirring images: fear, not happiness or arousal, makes art more sublime.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskine, Kendall J; Kacinik, Natalie A; Prinz, Jesse J

2012-10-01

Which emotions underlie our positive experiences of art? Although recent evidence from neuroscience suggests that emotions play a critical role in art perception, no research to date has explored the extent to which specific emotional states affect aesthetic experiences or whether general physiological arousal is sufficient. Participants were assigned to one of five conditions-sitting normally, engaging in 15 or 30 jumping jacks, or viewing a happy or scary video-prior to rating abstract works of art. Only the fear condition resulted in significantly more positive judgments about the art. These striking findings provide the first evidence that fear uniquely inspires positively valenced aesthetic judgments. The results are discussed in the context of embodied cognition.

The solid state physics programme at ISOLDE: recent developments and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Karl; Schell, Juliana; Correia, J. G.; Deicher, M.; Gunnlaugsson, H. P.; Fenta, A. S.; David-Bosne, E.; Costa, A. R. G.; Lupascu, Doru C.

2017-10-01

Solid state physics (SSP) research at ISOLDE has been running since the mid-1970s and accounts for about 10%-15% of the overall physics programme. ISOLDE is the world flagship for the on-line production of exotic radioactive isotopes, with high yields, high elemental selectivity and isotopic purity. Consequently, it hosts a panoply of state-of-the-art nuclear techniques which apply nuclear methods to research on life sciences, material science and bio-chemical physics. The ease of detecting radioactivity—scientists and specialists in nuclear solid state techniques. This article describes the current status of this programme along with recent illustrative results, predicting a bright future for these unique research methods and collaborations.

Support for All in the UK Work Programme? Differential Payments, Same Old Problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, James; Whitworth, Adam; Carter, Elle

2014-04-01

The UK has been a high profile policy innovator in welfare-to-work provision which has led in the Coalition government's Work Programme to a fully outsourced, 'black box' model with payments based overwhelmingly on job outcome results. A perennial fear in such programmes is providers' incentives to 'cream' and 'park' claimants, and the Department for Work and Pensions has sought to mitigate such provider behaviours through Work Programme design, particularly via the use of claimant groups and differential pricing. In this article, we draw on a qualitative study of providers in the programme alongside quantitative analysis of published performance data to explore evidence around creaming and parking. The combination of the quantitative and qualitative evidence suggest that creaming and parking are widespread, seem systematically embedded within the Work Programme, and are driven by a combination of intense cost-pressures and extremely ambitious performance targets alongside overly diverse claimant groups and inadequately calibrated differentiated payment levels.

Beneficial effects of a woman-focused development programme on child survival: evidence from rural Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhuiya, Abbas; Chowdhury, Mushtaque

2002-11-01

This paper reports results from a prospective study of the impact of a woman-focused development programme on child survival in Matlab, a rural area of Bangladesh. The programme was targeted to households owning less than 50 decimals of land and members selling more than 100 days of labour for living in a year. Programme components included formation of women's groups for saving and credit, training on skill development, functional literacy including legal and social awareness, and technical and marketing support to projects undertaken with the loan money from the organization. A total of 13,549 children born alive during 1988-97 in the study area were included in the study. Hazards of mortality during pre- and post-intervention periods were compared among the programme participants and non-participants controlling the effects of other relevant variables. There has been a substantial reduction in mortality during the post-intervention period; however, the reduction was much greater for infants whose mothers participated in the development programme compared to infants of non-participant mothers from similar socioeconomic background. In a relative sense, there has been a 52% reduction of the pre-intervention level hazard of death of children during infancy of participant mothers compared to 31% reduction for the infants of non-participant mothers from similar socioeconomic background. There had also been a substantial reduction in hazard of death during childhood (1-4 year age group), however, the reduction was statistically similar for all groups of children irrespective of their mothers' participation in the development programmes.

Scalable alcohol interventions - An online “Month off Booze” programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jussi Tolvi

2015-09-01

Club Soda has developed a scalable online intervention, supporting people who want to abstain from alcohol for a month, which will be piloted in October 2015. An evaluation of the programme is not possible at the time of writing this abstract, but will be completed in November 2015. Based on initial feedback and anecdotal evidence, however, the programme is expected to be a powerful tool helping people abstain for a set period of time, and in reducing their alcohol consumption after the programme as well.

Economic evaluation of occupational health and safety programmes in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Guzman, J; Tompa, E; Koehoorn, M; de Boer, H; Macdonald, S; Alamgir, H

2015-10-01

Evidence-based resource allocation in the public health care sector requires reliable economic evaluations that are different from those needed in the commercial sector. To describe a framework for conducting economic evaluations of occupational health and safety (OHS) programmes in health care developed with sector stakeholders. To define key resources and outcomes to be considered in economic evaluations of OHS programmes and to integrate these into a comprehensive framework. Participatory action research supported by mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including a multi-stakeholder working group, 25 key informant interviews, a 41-member Delphi panel and structured nominal group discussions. We found three resources had top priority: OHS staff time, training the workers and programme planning, promotion and evaluation. Similarly, five outcomes had top priority: number of injuries, safety climate, job satisfaction, quality of care and work days lost. The resulting framework was built around seven principles of good practice that stakeholders can use to assist them in conducting economic evaluations of OHS programmes. Use of a framework resulting from this participatory action research approach may increase the quality of economic evaluations of OHS programmes and facilitate programme comparisons for evidence-based resource allocation decisions. The principles may be applicable to other service sectors funded from general taxes and more broadly to economic evaluations of OHS programmes in general. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reverse Transcriptase drug resistance mutations in HIV-1 Subtype C infected patients on ART in Karonga District, Malawi

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Bansode, Vijay B

2011-10-13

Abstract Background Drug resistance testing before initiation of, or during, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is not routinely performed in resource-limited settings. High levels of viral resistance circulating within the population will have impact on treatment programs by increasing the chances of transmission of resistant strains and treatment failure. Here, we investigate Drug Resistance Mutations (DRMs) from blood samples obtained at regular intervals from patients on ART (Baseline-22 months) in Karonga District, Malawi. One hundred and forty nine reverse transcriptase (RT) consensus sequences were obtained via nested PCR and automated sequencing from blood samples collected at three-month intervals from 75 HIV-1 subtype C infected individuals in the ART programme. Results Fifteen individuals showed DRMs, and in ten individuals DRMs were seen from baseline samples (reported to be ART naïve). Three individuals in whom no DRMs were observed at baseline showed the emergence of DRMs during ART exposure. Four individuals who did show DRMs at baseline showed additional DRMs at subsequent time points, while two individuals showed evidence of DRMs at baseline and either no DRMs, or different DRMs, at later timepoints. Three individuals had immune failure but none appeared to be failing clinically. Conclusion Despite the presence of DRMs to drugs included in the current regimen in some individuals, and immune failure in three, no signs of clinical failure were seen during this study. This cohort will continue to be monitored as part of the Karonga Prevention Study so that the long-term impact of these mutations can be assessed. Documenting proviral population is also important in monitoring the emergence of drug resistance as selective pressure provided by ART compromises the current plasma population, archived viruses can re-emerge

Art Images in Holistic Nursing Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheryl V. Elhammoumi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Nursing research has concentrated on empirical knowing with little focus on aesthetic knowing. Evidence from the literature suggests that using visual art in nursing education enhances both clinical observation skills and interpersonal skills. The purpose of this review was to explore how visual art has been used in baccalaureate nursing education. Methods: Of 712 records, 13 studies met the criteria of art, nursing and education among baccalaureate nursing students published in English. Results: Three quantitative studies demonstrated statistical significance between nursing students who participated in arts-based learning compared to nursing students who received traditional learning. Findings included improved recall, increased critical thinking and enhanced emotional investment. Themes identified in 10 qualitative studies included spirituality as role enhancement, empathy, and creativity. Conclusion: Visual arts-based learning in pre-licensure curriculum complements traditional content. It supports spirituality as role enhancement in nurse training. Visual art has been successfully used to enhance both critical thinking and interpersonal relations. Nursing students may experience a greater intra-connectedness that results in better inter-connectedness with patients and colleagues. Incorporating visual arts into pre-licensure curriculums is necessary to nurture holistic nursing practice.

Budgeting as a strategic tool for development in the arts | Enamhe ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines budgeting as a strategic tool for development in the Arts. Budgeting as a fundamental requirement to good management is being overlooked in Arts organizations. The study stresses the relevance of budgeting to arts organisations that ought to achieve their goals and objectives. It evidences the ...

Individual-level outcomes from a national clinical leadership development programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Patton, Declan; Fealy, Gerard; McNamara, Martin; Casey, Mary; Connor, Tom O; Doyle, Louise; Quinlan, Christina

2013-08-01

A national clinical leadership development programme was instituted for Irish nurses and midwives in 2010. Incorporating a development framework and leadership pathway and a range of bespoke interventions for leadership development, including workshops, action-learning sets, mentoring and coaching, the programme was introduced at seven pilot sites in the second half of 2011. The programme pilot was evaluated with reference to structure, process and outcomes elements, including individual-level programme outcomes. Evaluation data were generated through focus groups and group interviews, individual interviews and written submissions. The data provided evidence of nurses' and midwives' clinical leadership development through self and observer-reported behaviours and dispositions including accounts of how the programme participants developed and displayed particular clinical leadership competencies. A key strength of the new programme was that it involved interventions that focussed on specific leadership competencies to be developed within the practice context.

Evaluation of European energy behavioural change programmes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gynther, L.; Mikkonen, I. [Motiva Oy, Urho Kekkosenkatu 4-6 A, 00100 Helsinki (Finland); Smits, A. [NL Agency, Swentiboldstraat 21, 6137 AE Sittard (Netherlands)

2012-01-15

This article is based on the findings of the BEHAVE Project (Evaluation of Energy Behavioural Change Programmes) which was supported by the European Commission under the EU Intelligent Energy-Europe (IEE) Programme. The project started with a review of behavioural theories and their applicability in the development and evaluation of energy-related behavioural change programmes, progressed to a case study analysis and finished with a publication of guidelines for programme developers and policy makers. This paper concentrates on the results of the case study analysis and the recommendations arising from it. In the case study analysis, information was collected on almost 100 cases aiming at behavioural change in energy use from 11 European countries. More detailed information was collected on 41 cases which were subject to meta-analysis to identify success factors and weak points and to gather information on the current evaluation practices in such programmes. The meta-analysis was carried out in five phases: context (pre-planning), planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Planning and evaluation were recognised as two of the most critical phases. Many of the programmes operated with quite formal plans but were typically not based on scientific theories or evidence. In many cases, there was lack of market segmentation; the goals were not targeted and the programmes tried to offer 'everything to everybody'. A multitude of ex-post evaluation methods for programme impacts were reported ranging from participant surveys, testing and comparison with control groups to top-down method evaluating the impact of several programmes focusing on the same target group. Process evaluation (25 cases) was slightly less common than impact evaluation (29 cases). Evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the programmes was a rarity, most likely due to difficulties in quantitative impact evaluation.

CERN Library and Art@CMS present Artist and Painter Xavier Cortada and CMS Physicist Pete Markowitz

CERN Document Server

CERN Library

2013-01-01

Xavier Cortada is an American artist and painter, and an artist in residence at Florida International University (FIU) College of Architecture and the Arts who also specializes in participatory art projects. His work includes art installations at the Earth’s poles to generate awareness about climate change, child welfare murals in Bolivia and peace murals in Cyprus. Xavier will be in conversation with CMS physicist Pete Markowitz, also from FIU, to discuss the participatory art piece which they developed together. The piece will be showcased in the CMS detector hall on Thursday 11 April during the experiment’s conference week. The piece promises to "engage 300 scientists from around the world in a performance art piece that transforms them into the very subatomic particles they research". It is the first piece by Art@CMS, a new project inspired by the Arts@CERN programme. Discover more about how this new piece was developed and more about Xavier’s ...

On the Esthetic Value of Works of Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blagomir Papazov

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The study of the processes involved in the creation of a work of art has been the focus of numerous complex theories which continue to find new interpretations in an attempt to reflect the emerging innovative forms of visual arts. Theory and history of art are an ever-changing field of ideas and interpretations of the processes of art creation and discussions about the definition of what constitutes a „work of art“. Works of art have a special social significance as they are an integral part of the culture of a society. They reflect the esthetic and artistic values of the time in which they were created, and the style and changes it undergoes in time. The interpretation of a work of art has always been a kind of improvisation, which however requires esthetic empirical evidence and professional expertise in the respective type of art.

An evaluation of a leadership development coaching and mentoring programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Comte, Lyndsay; McClelland, Beverley

2017-07-03

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to determine the value and impact of the Leadership Development - Coaching and Mentoring Programme at Counties Manukau Health and understand how the skills gained are applied. Design/methodology/approach Mixed-methods approach including surveys of programme participants and senior staff and semi-structured interviews with programme participants. Findings The survey response rate was 24.4 per cent for programme participants and 30 per cent for senior staff. Eight programme participants participated in semi-structured interviews. Of the 70 programme participants, 69 utilised their learning from the programme; 45 of 70 changed their approach to managing staff; and 40 of 68 programme participants reported that meeting with peers for triad group coaching was the most challenging aspect of the programme. Key themes identified through interviews included: working with others; not owning others' problems; professional support and development; coaching and mentoring; future participants. Practical implications The majority of participants changed their leadership behaviours as a result of the programme, which has resulted in improved communication, a more supportive culture and distributed leadership. These changes contribute to better patient care. Originality value There is a paucity of evidence in the literature about the impact of coaching and mentoring programme on leadership development and how the skills gained in such programmes are applied in practice in a healthcare context. This evaluation helps to address that gap.

Improving the participation in the Erasmus Programme

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vossensteyn, Johan J.; Beerkens-Soo, M.; Beerkens, Maarja; Cremonini, Leon; Besançon, Barbara; Focken, Noor; Leurs, Bart; McCoshan, Andrew; Huisman, Jeroen; Mozuraityte, Neringa; Souto-Otero, Manuel; de Wit, Hans

2010-01-01

This study explores the extent to which European students experience financial and other barriers to participation in the ERASMUS programme. The evidence indicates that the main barriers to participation vary significantly between countries, with the exception of financial issues, which are an

Art therapy for people with psychosis: a narrative review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Attard, Angelica; Larkin, Michael

2016-11-01

Art therapy enables individuals to use art to creatively express themselves and communicate differently with themselves, others, and their reality. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for psychosis and schizophrenia suggest that arts therapies, which include art therapy, are considered to improve negative symptoms of psychosis. We examined the effectiveness of art therapy for people with psychosis and explored whether art therapy is a meaningful and acceptable intervention in this Review. Seven electronic databases were searched for empirical papers that concerned the use of art therapy for adults with psychosis that were published from 2007 onwards. The search identified 18 papers. High-quality quantitative articles provided inconclusive evidence for the effectiveness of art therapy in adults with psychosis. However, high-quality qualitative articles indicated that therapists and clients considered art therapy to be a beneficial, meaningful, and acceptable intervention, although this conclusion was based on a small number of studies. In this Review, we discuss the theoretical, clinical, and methodological issues in light of the development of more robust research, which is needed to corroborate individuals' experiences and guide evidence-based practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global health training in US obstetrics and gynaecology residency programmes: perspectives of students, residents and programme directors.

Science.gov (United States)

Nathan, Lisa M; Banks, Erika H; Conroy, Erin M; McGinn, Aileen P; Ghartey, Jeny P; Wagner, Sarah A; Merkatz, Irwin R

2015-12-01

Benefits of exposure to global health training during medical education are well documented and residents' demand for this training is increasing. Despite this, it is offered by few US obstetrics and gynaecology (OBGYN) residency training programmes. To evaluate interest, perceived importance, predictors of global health interest and barriers to offering global health training among prospective OBGYN residents, current OBGYN residents and US OGBYN residency directors. We designed two questionnaires using Likert scale questions to assess perceived importance of global health training. The first was distributed to current and prospective OBGYN residents interviewing at a US residency programme during 2012-2013. The second questionnaire distributed to US OBGYN programme directors assessed for existing global health programmes and global health training barriers. A composite Global Health Interest/Importance score was tabulated from the Likert scores. Multivariable linear regression was performed to assess for predictors of Global Health Interest/Importance. A total of 159 trainees (77%; 129 prospective OBGYN residents and 30 residents) and 69 (28%) programme directors completed the questionnaires. Median Global Health Interest/Importance score was 7 (IQR 4-9). Prior volunteer experience was predictive of a 5-point increase in Global Health Interest/Importance score (95% CI -0.19 to 9.85; p=0.02). The most commonly cited barriers were cost and time. Interest and perceived importance of global health training in US OBGYN residency programmes is evident among trainees and programme directors; however, significant financial and time barriers prevent many programmes from offering opportunities to their trainees. Prior volunteer experience predicts global health interest. 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/

The Bachelor of Arts: Slipping into the Twilight or Facing a New Dawn?

Science.gov (United States)

Gannaway, Deanne

2015-01-01

Undergraduate students have historically engaged with the humanities and social sciences through the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree programme. Recent experiences suggest that the relevance and the value of the degree to the modern world is now being challenged: populist press questions the value of the humanities to the modern knowledge economy;…

Field-Programmable Logic Devices with Optical Input Output

Science.gov (United States)

Szymanski, Ted H.; Saint-Laurent, Martin; Tyan, Victor; Au, Albert; Supmonchai, Boonchuay

2000-02-01

A field-programmable logic device (FPLD) with optical I O is described. FPLD s with optical I O can have their functionality specified in the field by means of downloading a control-bit stream and can be used in a wide range of applications, such as optical signal processing, optical image processing, and optical interconnects. Our device implements six state-of-the-art dynamically programmable logic arrays (PLA s) on a 2 mm 2 mm die. The devices were fabricated through the Lucent Technologies Advanced Research Projects Agency Consortium for Optical and Optoelectronic Technologies in Computing (Lucent ARPA COOP) workshop by use of 0.5- m complementary metal-oxide semiconductor self-electro-optic device technology and were delivered in 1998. All devices are fully functional: The electronic data paths have been verified at 200 MHz, and optical tests are pending. The device has been programmed to implement a two-stage optical switching network with six 4 4 crossbar switches, which can realize more than 190 10 6 unique programmable input output permutations. The same device scaled to a 2 cm 2 cm substrate could support as many as 4000 optical I O and 1 Tbit s of optical I O bandwidth and offer fully programmable digital functionality with approximately 110,000 programmable logic gates. The proposed optoelectronic FPLD is also ideally suited to realizing dense, statically reconfigurable crossbar switches. We describe an attractive application area for such devices: a rearrangeable three-stage optical switch for a wide-area-network backbone, switching 1000 traffic streams at the OC-48 data rate and supporting several terabits of traffic.

Brief Report: An Evaluation of an Australian Autism-Specific, Early Intervention Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Paynter, Jessica M.; Riley, Emma P.; Beamish, Wendi; Scott, James G.; Heussler, Helen S.

2015-01-01

There is a relative paucity of evidence examining the effectiveness of early intervention for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, in particular those delivered through educationally-based programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the real world effectiveness of a community-based autism-specific early learning and intervention programme in…

A Knowledge Translation Programme to Increase the Utilization of Thoracic Spine Mobilization and Manipulation for Patients with Neck Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Karas, Steve; Westerheide, Angela; Daniel, Laura

2016-06-01

There is extensive evidence that mobilization and manipulation of the thoracic spine is associated with improved outcomes in patients with neck pain. However, these evidence-based techniques are not always utilized. Successful knowledge translation programmes are needed to move the best available evidence to clinical practice. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the effects of a structured knowledge translation programme on the frequency of manual therapy techniques performed by physical therapists on patients with neck pain. Prior to our intervention, we assessed physical therapists' use of thoracic spine intervention for the treatment of neck pain and their knowledge of the evidence. We delivered a multimodal knowledge translation programme and then reassessed their use and knowledge of the interventions. The majority of our physical therapists increased the use of thoracic spine techniques for their patients with neck pain. The increase was greater in those who used the techniques infrequently. Overall knowledge of the evidence appeared unchanged. Knowledge translation programmes are essential in ensuring clinical use of evidence-based practice. Our programme results, although on a small scale and not statistically significant, showed a positive trend toward increased thoracic spine manual therapy use for neck pain. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How effective are exercise-based injury prevention programmes for soccer players?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beijsterveldt, A.M.C. van; Horst, N. van der; Port, I.G.L. van de; Backx, F.J.G.

2013-01-01

The incidence of soccer (football) injuries is among the highest in sports. Despite this high rate, insufficient evidence is available on the efficacy of preventive training programmes on injury incidence. Objective To systematically study the evidence on preventive exercise-based training

The impact of a national mental health arts and film festival on stigma and recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, N; Shulman, A; Knifton, L; Byrne, P

2011-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the impact of a national mental health arts festival for the general public, encompassing a wide variety of art forms and themes. An evaluation was undertaken with 415 attendees from 20 different events, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. The findings demonstrate positive impact on the relationship between arts and mental health. Events increased positive attitudes, including positive representations of people's contributions, capabilities and potential to recover. They did not decrease negative attitudes. Intended behaviour change was modest and one film event increased audience perceptions of dangerousness. The paper argues that the arts can change stigma by constructing shared meanings and engaging audiences on an emotional level. Carefully programmed, collaborative, community-based arts festivals should form an integral part of national programmes to address stigma and to promote mental health and wellbeing, alongside traditional social marketing and public education approaches. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Scoping the evidence for EarlyBird and EarlyBird Plus, two United Kingdom-developed parent education training programmes for autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson-Squibb, John-Joe; Davids, Eugene Lee; de Vries, Petrus J

2018-03-01

EarlyBird and EarlyBird Plus are parent education and training programmes designed by the UK National Autistic Society in 1997 and 2003, having been delivered to more than 27,000 families in 14 countries. These group-based programmes aim to (1) support parents immediately after diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, (2) empower parents, encouraging a positive perception of their child's autism spectrum disorder and (3) help parents establish good practice. In the absence of any previous comprehensive review, we performed a scoping review of all peer-reviewed publications on EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus. A search was conducted between February and June 2016 using EbscoHost, Sabinet, SAGE Journals, Directory of Open Access Journals, BioMed Central, Scopus, ScienceDirect and grey literature. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts for inclusion. In total, 18 articles were identified: 16 from the United Kingdom and 2 from New Zealand. We reviewed the context, study populations, design, outcome measures, whether focus was on parental perception, parental change or child changes and programme feasibility. Strong parental support for the acceptability but lower level evidence of efficacy of EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus was found. Future research should consider randomised controlled trials. There is no research on EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus in low-resource settings; therefore, we recommend broader feasibility evaluation of EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus including accessibility, cultural appropriateness and scalability.

NDA National Graduate Programme 'nucleargraduates'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dawson, Carl

2010-01-01

The aim of this paper is to outline the NDA National Graduate Programme (nuclear graduates). The NDA has a remit under the Energy Act (2004) 'to maintain and develop the skills for decommissioning and nuclear clean-up'. Although current research is now being reviewed, there is significant evidence to suggest that the age profile in the Site Licence Companies is skewed towards older workers and there is likely to be a skill shortage in 3-5 years. As nuclear clean-up is a national issue; skill shortages also become a national issue in a very real sense. In addition, evidence suggests that the industry needs to be constantly challenged in order to achieve its targets for decommissioning. The NDA has a unique position under the Act. It is both a strategic overseer and direct employer. To this end the 'National Graduate Programme' is aligned to both the NDA's previous succession plans and the needs of the industry. Industry needs leadership that challenges the status quo and moves the UK nuclear industry to become best in class; Industry needs a dedicated to programme to address skills shortages and difficult to recruit areas such as, but not exclusively, estimators, schedulers, contract managers, site engineers, decommissioning technicians, safety monitors; The NDA has indicated a 'commercial and politically savvy' cohort is required to meet its own internal challenges and to ensure sustainability in its own workforce, and to be sensitive to the needs of customers and suppliers alike; Need to create a more diversified workforce in the nuclear industry and also plan for new skills evolving from research and development breakthroughs; Need to ensure that Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 contractors invest in the leadership and skills for the future. World Class - delivery will be benchmarked against UK based multinational companies who operate in a global graduate attraction and development marketplace. The graduates targeted will be from leading institutions and will have a blend of

A Taxonomy and Results from a Comprehensive Review of 28 Maternal Health Voucher Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Conlon, Claudia M.; Higgs, Elizabeth S.; Townsend, John W.; Nahed, Matta G.; Cavanaugh, Karen; Grainger, Corinne G.; Okal, Jerry; Gorter, Anna C.

2013-01-01

It is increasingly clear that Millennium Development Goal 4 and 5 will not be achieved in many low- and middle-income countries with the weakest gains among the poor. Recognizing that there are large inequalities in reproductive health outcomes, the post-2015 agenda on universal health coverage will likely generate strategies that target resources where maternal and newborn deaths are the highest. In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development convened an Evidence Summit to review the knowledge and gaps on the utilization of financial incentives to enhance the quality and uptake of maternal healthcare. The goal was to provide donors and governments of the low- and middle-income countries with evidence-informed recommendations on practice, policy, and strategies regarding the use of financial incentives, including vouchers, to enhance the demand and supply of maternal health services. The findings in this paper are intended to guide governments interested in maternal health voucher programmes with recommendations for sustainable implementation and impact. The Evidence Summit undertook a systematic review of five financing strategies. This paper presents the methods and findings for vouchers, building on a taxonomy to catalogue knowledge about voucher programme design and functionality. More than 120 characteristics under five major categories were identified: programme principles (objectives and financing); governance and management; benefits package and beneficiary targeting; providers (contracting and service pricing); and implementation arrangements (marketing, claims processing, and monitoring and evaluation). Among the 28 identified maternal health voucher programmes, common characteristics included: a stated objective to increase the use of services among the means-tested poor; contracted-out programme management; contracting either exclusively private facilities or a mix of public and private providers; prioritizing community

A taxonomy and results from a comprehensive review of 28 maternal health voucher programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellows, Ben W; Conlon, Claudia M; Higgs, Elizabeth S; Townsend, John W; Nahed, Matta G; Cavanaugh, Karen; Grainger, Corinne G; Okal, Jerry; Gorter, Anna C

2013-12-01

It is increasingly clear that Millennium Development Goal 4 and 5 will not be achieved in many low- and middle-income countries with the weakest gains among the poor. Recognizing that there are large inequalities in reproductive health outcomes, the post-2015 agenda on universal health coverage will likely generate strategies that target resources where maternal and newborn deaths are the highest. In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development convened an Evidence Summit to review the knowledge and gaps on the utilization of financial incentives to enhance the quality and uptake of maternal healthcare. The goal was to provide donors and governments of the low- and middle-income countries with evidence-informed recommendations on practice, policy, and strategies regarding the use of financial incentives, including vouchers, to enhance the demand and supply of maternal health services. The findings in this paper are intended to guide governments interested in maternal health voucher programmes with recommendations for sustainable implementation and impact. The Evidence Summit undertook a systematic review of five financing strategies. This paper presents the methods and findings for vouchers, building on a taxonomy to catalogue knowledge about voucher programme design and functionality. More than 120 characteristics under five major categories were identified: programme principles (objectives and financing); governance and management; benefits package and beneficiary targeting; providers (contracting and service pricing); and implementation arrangements (marketing, claims processing, and monitoring and evaluation). Among the 28 identified maternal health voucher programmes, common characteristics included: a stated objective to increase the use of services among the means-tested poor; contracted-out programme management; contracting either exclusively private facilities or a mix of public and private providers; prioritizing community

State of the art magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weissman, J.D.

1987-01-01

In less than a decade Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has evolved from a laboratory demonstration to a safe and effective technique for clinical diagnosis. This evolutionary process continues. At this time 2-D and 3-D imaging of the head and body is firmly established in clinical use. Surface coil imaging, two-component chemical shift imaging, in-vivo spectroscopy and flow imaging are currently in various stages of development. The present state of the art of MRI is a function of an array of technologies: magnet, Rf coil, Rf pulse amplifier, gradient coil and driver, pulse programmer, A/D converter, computer system architecture, array processors and mass storage (both magnetic and optical). The overall product design is the result of a complex process which balances the advantages and disadvantages of each component for optimal system performance and flexibility. The author discusses the organization of a state-of-the-art MRI system. Several examples of the kinds of system interactions affecting design choices are given. (Auth.)

Embedding operational research into national disease control programme: lessons from 10 years of experience in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yodi Mahendradhata

2014-10-01

Full Text Available There is growing recognition that operational research (OR should be embedded into national disease control programmes. However, much of the current OR capacity building schemes are still predominantly driven by international agencies with limited integration into national disease control programmes. We demonstrated that it is possible to achieve a more sustainable capacity building effort across the country by establishing an OR group within the national tuberculosis (TB control programme in Indonesia. Key challenges identified include long-term financial support, limited number of scientific publications, and difficulties in documenting impact on programmatic performance. External evaluation has expressed concerns in regard to utilisation of OR in policy making. Efforts to address this concern have been introduced recently and led to indications of increased utilisation of research evidence in policy making by the national TB control programme. Embedding OR in national disease control programmes is key in establishing an evidence-based disease control programme.

Faces across the North Sea: Viking art in Norway and England, AD 700-1300

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeremy Tanner

1998-11-01

Full Text Available The Institute of Archaeology has begun a programme of academic collaboration with the Institutt for Arkeologi og Kulturhistorie in Trondheim, Norway. One of the first initiatives to be taken is a comparative study of facial representation in Viking art. A member of the research team outlines the project.

Toward Trust: Recalibrating Accreditation Practices for Postsecondary Arts Education

Science.gov (United States)

Warburton, Edward C.

2018-01-01

This article charts the influence of American accreditation policies on postsecondary arts education practices. Some commentators suggest that accreditation is a standards- and evidence-based process. I argue that trust is at the center of concerns about assessment in higher education, especially in the arts. The purpose of this article is to…

Art Engineering and Kinetic Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barış Yılmaz

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Performing an art, either by painting or by sculpturing, requires to be interdisciplinary. When an artist creates his/her work of art, the process he/she realizes is supported by different engineering disciplines. Therefore, especially modern artists need to understand engineering science and this results in transforming artists into engineers. Opportunities provided by technology and science enable artists to expand his/her vision and to improve his/her works. Especially kinetic art has become an approach that combines art with engineering. Kinetic art, which is nourished with varied disciplines, is an excellent example to prove that art is interdisciplinary and to show the relationship between artist/art and engineering.

Educational role of art history as a school subject area in programmes of formal education in Slovenia: the aspect of vzgoja, according to general European guidelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjana Dolšina

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Programmes of formal education establish a systematic transfer of knowledge as well as universal values from one generation to another. By that, they ensure the survival of social structures, prevent radical disruptions in their continuity, and serve as basis for general development of a society. Their content and didactic arrangements include interweaving of two basic aspects: the cognitive one and the one related to vzgoja (i.e. upbringing, moral/value education etc.. The latter aims to achieve the ideals of a tolerant, just and lifelong learning society, but seems to be facing increasing challenges, mainly emerging from neoliberal capitalist mentality. Art history as a school subject area in elementary and secondary education may provide an insight beneath the surface of historical events. Thus, it helps develop a critical view towards them and consequently towards the present real-life situations, which contributes to ascending the taxonomic scale of conative educational goals.

Proceedings of the Specialist Meeting on Severe Accident Management Programme Development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-04-01

Effective Accident Management planning can produce both a reduction in the frequency of severe accidents at nuclear power plants as well as the ability to mitigate a severe accident. The purpose of an accident management programme is to provide to the responsible plant staff the capability to cope with the complete range of credible severe accidents. This requires that appropriate instrumentation and equipment are available within the plant to enable plant staff to diagnose the faults and to implement appropriate strategies. The programme must also provide the necessary guidance, procedures, and training to assure that appropriate corrective actions will be implemented. One of the key issues to be discussed is the transition from control room operations and the associated emergency operating procedures to a technical support team approach (and the associated severe accident management strategies). Following a proposal made by the Senior Group of Experts on Severe Accident Management (SESAM), the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations decided to sponsor a Specialist Meeting on Severe Accident Management Programme Development. The general objectives of the Specialist Meeting were to exchange experience, views, and information among the participants and to discuss the status of severe accident management programmes. The meeting brought together utilities, accident management programme developers, personnel training programme developers, regulators, and researchers. In general, the tone of the Specialist Meeting - designed to promote progress, as contrasted with conferences or symposia where the state-of-the-art is presented - was to be rather practical, and focus on accident management programme development, applications, results, difficulties and improvements. As shown by the conclusions of the meeting, there is no doubt that this objective was widely attained

Proceedings of the Specialist Meeting on Severe Accident Management Programme Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1992-04-15

Effective Accident Management planning can produce both a reduction in the frequency of severe accidents at nuclear power plants as well as the ability to mitigate a severe accident. The purpose of an accident management programme is to provide to the responsible plant staff the capability to cope with the complete range of credible severe accidents. This requires that appropriate instrumentation and equipment are available within the plant to enable plant staff to diagnose the faults and to implement appropriate strategies. The programme must also provide the necessary guidance, procedures, and training to assure that appropriate corrective actions will be implemented. One of the key issues to be discussed is the transition from control room operations and the associated emergency operating procedures to a technical support team approach (and the associated severe accident management strategies). Following a proposal made by the Senior Group of Experts on Severe Accident Management (SESAM), the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations decided to sponsor a Specialist Meeting on Severe Accident Management Programme Development. The general objectives of the Specialist Meeting were to exchange experience, views, and information among the participants and to discuss the status of severe accident management programmes. The meeting brought together utilities, accident management programme developers, personnel training programme developers, regulators, and researchers. In general, the tone of the Specialist Meeting - designed to promote progress, as contrasted with conferences or symposia where the state-of-the-art is presented - was to be rather practical, and focus on accident management programme development, applications, results, difficulties and improvements. As shown by the conclusions of the meeting, there is no doubt that this objective was widely attained.

The NEA co-operative programme on decommissioning decontamination and demolition of concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berton, Marie-Anne; Estivie, David; Cantrel, Eric; Moeller, Joerg; Ondaro, Manuel; Ooms, Bart; Wittenauer, Stefan; Burton, Bob

2011-01-01

In response to growing interest in the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency set up the Co-operative Programme on Decommissioning in 1985. Its basic scope is to facilitate the exchange of scientific and technical information between major decommissioning projects. Participation in the Programme has expanded significantly over the years to include organisations from 13 countries. Currently, about 60 projects participate in the Programme. The Programme is executed under an agreement between the participating organisations and companies. A progress report is issued every five years on the CPD and includes a brief description of each project. The most recent report is entitled A Decade of Progress. The projects are divided into two groups: reactor projects (60%) and fuel facility projects (40%). A complete list of the different projects and their country of residence can be found in Annex 1. Many of the early projects in the Programme focused on experimental or prototype plants, however, a number of projects for the decommissioning of commercial facilities (power generation, fuel and reprocessing plants) have recently joined the Programme. Limited feedback on concrete clean-up operations has been available until now due to the lengthy time frame of decommissioning projects and the fact that building demolition occurs in the very late stages of the project. Some of the early projects in the Programme are now complete or nearing completion, making available significant data and experience. This experience and lessons learnt can be applied to the further development of decommissioning and dismantling (D and D) clean-up processes. This report aims to supplement the previous NEA report dedicated to decontamination techniques and to provide project engineers and/or project leaders involved in concrete infrastructure clean-up with: - Guidelines for setting up appropriate and adequate strategies, taking into consideration the international

ARCAT: un programa informático para el análisis del arte románico catalán

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matas i Blanxart, M. Teresa

1996-06-01

Full Text Available [fr] ARCAT est un programme informatique consacré à l'étude de l'art roman de la Catalogne. Cette Base de Données a une méthodologie que analyse et classe toutes les catégories stylistiques, ornamentales, picturales et des arts somptuaires présentes dans les édifices religieux. Actuellement l'inventaire dépasse le chiffre de 2730 monuments. Le programme dispose de 6500 variants qui donnent les diverses caractéristiques architecturales de la definition du bâtiment. En outre, cette information est enrichie par 39 grupes de documentation qui couvrent l'analyse artistique de chaque monument avec una base historique, documentaire et bibliographique. Le programme offre la possibilité de consulter chaque édifice particulièrement. Il permet également la selection conjointe des lieux géographiques, des époques de construction, des groupes de documentation et des variants. On peut aussi, continuer la selection d'un groupe de variants depuis la première recherche jusqu'à l'analyse de chaque élément d'étude proposé.The ARCAT programme with the application of an advenced methodology, especially created for the study of Romanic Art, analyses, clasifies and studies the different stylistic, ornamental, pictoric, sumptuary and minor art categories of religious building which now exceed 2730 in number, checked in the data bank. The Program has available 6500 variables wich take into account the defining architectural characteristics of a building. This information also includes 39 groups of documentation which completes the artistic analysis of each monument with an historical, documental and bibliographical base. The Program lest anything about a concrete building to be consulted. In the same way, it allows the whole selection of geographical places, construction periods, units of documentation and variables. It is also possible to select a group of variables from a first choice to reach the concrete analysis of an element.

Emergency Diesel: Safety-related instrumentation and control with programmable logic controllers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breidenich, G.; Luedtke, M.

2004-01-01

This report presents a new concept for the design of emergency diesel equipment protection circuits as a part of the safety related instrumentation in the nuclear power plant Biblis, units A and B. The concept was implemented with state of the art SIMATIC S7/316 programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and can be adapted to any system with high availability requirements (e.g. power plant turbines, aircraft engines, mining pumps etc). (orig.)

Implications of the cognitive dimension of art in artistic scenic education. Some contributions for the teacher in scenic arts at the high school level.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolina Merchan Price

2010-11-01

Full Text Available In this work we explore the contributions proposed by Arthur Efland (especially those of his book Art and Cognition, with the aim of broadening the statements of the academic programmes in performing arts as a curriculum area in the scholar plan, and also within the frame of teacher training. In this perspective, we consider the concept of cognition towards those experiences and subsequent learning in which the body plays a central role as mediator in the process of understanding of the world itself. We also discuss during the analysis the role of the emotions in thought processes. In this sense, we propose to use this new perspective of complementary interaction between the emotional and intellectual dimensions to discuss the concepts of creation, appreciation and understanding, typical of artistic fields and their teaching. We propose this complementary interaction as a fundamental process of the encounter of arts, in the dynamics of development in the school. In the conclusions, we open the possibility of a need to redefine the conceptual axes to train teachers in performing arts, articulating specific disciplinary knowledge of performing arts with the needs of the scholar project itself, particularly those linked to the social and individual development of the person in the frame of basic and intermediate school.

Art and Finance: Fine Art Derivatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Strati

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This work is intended to introduce a new kind of asset, the so called art asset. This financial tool is an asset whose value is related to an art-work, and in particular to the artist reputation. It will be shown the evaluation of an art asset by using a particular kind of volatility, the α-hedging. This tool normalizes the prices volatility of the art-works of an artist (or an art-movement by a sentiment index referred to the Art Market. At last I shall show how the art assets’ values are related to an art-call option.

Health for all children: a programme for health promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Elliman, D A

'The health of its children is the wealth of a nation.' For this reason a lot of time and energy is expended on preventive child health services, but with little evidence of effectiveness and great variation in programmes. Recently much has been done to rectify this. At the forefront of this work has been the multidisciplinary committee chaired by Professor Hall. Its third report, with its concentration on health promotion rather than 'defect detection', will form the basis for all future programmes.

Cultivating Demand for the Arts: Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy. Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Zakaras, Laura; Lowell, Julia F.

2008-01-01

The findings summarized in this report are intended to shed light on what it means to cultivate demand for the arts, why it is necessary and important to cultivate this demand, and what state arts agencies (SAAs) and other arts and education policymakers can do to help. The research considered only the benchmark arts central to public policy:…

Fraud Risk Factors and Audit Programme Modifications: Evidence from Jordan

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Modar Abdullatif

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This study explores how audit firms in Jordan deal with the presence of fraud risk factors in audit clients. In doing so, the study seeks to explore which fraud risk factors are more important to Jordanianauditors, and how Jordanian auditors consider modifying their audit programmes when fraud risk factors are present in clients. The study uses a structured questionnaire that was administered to seniorlevel auditors in the largest Jordanian audit firms. The findings show that almost all of the 20 fraud risk factors included in the questionnaire were only slightly important (if not unimportant, a finding that is arguably alarming. The perceived importance of modifying the audit programme in the presence of each fraud risk factor was related to the perceived importance of the fraud risk factor itself. However, changes in the nature and extent of audit procedures were more important than changes in the timing of the procedures or the members of the audit team. The most important fraud risk factors were related to the characteristics of management and its attitude towards the audit, while the least important fraud risk factors were related to the difficulties in the client’s financial performance. Factor analysis found that the fraud risk factors could be classified into four separate groups. Possible interpretations of the findings were discussed, such as considering the Jordanian business environment characteristics, and the findings were compared to those of extant international studies.

The implementation of the functional task exercise programme for elderly people living at home

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fleuren, M.A.H.; Vrijkotte, S.; Jans, M.P.; Pin, R.; Hespen, A. van; Meeteren, N.L.U. van; Siemonsma, P.C.

2012-01-01

Background: The Functional Task Exercise programme is an evidence-based exercise programme for elderly people living at home. It enhances physical capacity with sustainable effects. FTE is provided by physiotherapists and remedial therapists. Although the intervention was found to be effective in a

Ethnic roots of cultural tradition illustrated in Kaimur rock art

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Sachin Tiwary

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Ethno archaeological evidences and studies very often facilitate the interpretation of significance of rock art. But sometimes there are problems in explaining the things if there is discrepancy between local ethnic activities and the rock art of by-gone days which may be due to either a remarkable shift in social behaviors during long period span or to the relative seclusion of the developing society from art traditions manifested in local rock art. The present paper is based on the ethno rock art investigation made in the Kaimur region of Bihar. In this paper the author has attempted to link between ancient rock art living pattern and the art and culture of modern local group especially the tribe and semi tribes residing in the hill, foot hill and the plain.

Determinants of successful implementation of population-based cancer screening programmes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lynge, Elsebeth; Törnberg, Sven; von Karsa, Lawrence

2012-01-01

consider when planning, implementing and running population based cancer screening programmes. The list is general and is applicable to breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening. It is based on evidence presented in the three European Union guidelines on quality assurance in cancer screening...... and diagnosis, supplemented with other literature and expert experience presented at a European Science Advisory Network for Health workshop. The implementation of a cancer screening programme should be divided into the following seven phases: (1) before planning, (2) planning, (3) feasibility testing, (4......) piloting or trial implementation, (5) scaling up from pilot to service, (6) running of full-scale programme, and (7) sustainability. For each phase, a substantial number of specified conditions have to be met. Successful implementation of a cancer screening programme requires societal acceptance and local...

An Evaluation of Talent 4 . . . : A Programme to Identify Talent and Skills for Prisoners, Disadvantaged, Unemployed, and Vulnerable Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

McGuire-Snieckus, Rebecca; Caulfield, Laura

2017-11-01

Previous research suggests that the relationship between employment and recidivism is complex, with more support needed to facilitate employability motivation for sustained change. An arts-based programme designed to facilitate vocational self-determinism among prisoners with evidence of impact across three prisons in the United Kingdom was replicated and delivered to 234 prisoners and long-term unemployed participants from six European countries, to explore whether the findings from the previous evaluation would be replicated on a much larger scale. The research presented in this article found that supporting prisoners and the long-term unemployed to articulate employability goals had a positive effect on personal growth as well as understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses with respect to work, employment, problem solving, and thinking styles. Future research might explore the longer term impact on employment and recidivism.

Health in arts: are arts settings better than sports settings for promoting anti-smoking messages?

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Christina; Knuiman, Matthew; Pikora, Terri; Rosenberg, Michael

2015-05-01

Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity. Since 1991, the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway) has sponsored the arts and sport in exchange for cigarette smoke-free events, smoke-free policies and the promotion of anti-smoking messages (e.g. Quit, Smoke Free or Smarter than Smoking). As health promoters often look for innovative and effective settings to advocate health, and as the approach of sponsoring the arts to promote health to the general population is uncommon, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 'health in arts' by measuring the cognitive impact (message awareness, comprehension, acceptance and intention) of promoting anti-smoking messages at arts events, and comparing findings to sports events, a more traditional health promotion setting. A secondary analysis of the 2004-2009 Healthway Sponsorship Monitor data was conducted. A total of 12 arts events (n = 592 respondents) and 9 sports events (n = 420 respondents) sponsored by Healthway to promote an anti-smoking message were evaluated. The study was cross-sectional in design. Participants were residents of Western Australia aged 15 years or above and attended events as part of an audience or as a spectator. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted. After adjustment for demographic variables, smoking status and clustering, arts events were found to be as effective in promoting anti-smoking message awareness, comprehension and acceptance and twice as effective on intention to act (p = .03) compared with sports events. This study provides evidence of the effectiveness of arts sponsorship to promote health to the general population, that is, health in arts. Promoting an anti-smoking message in arts settings was as, or more, effective than in sports settings. Results suggest that the arts should be utilised to communicate and reinforce anti-smoking messages to the general population. The suitability of the arts to

Excellent outcomes among HIV+ children on ART, but unacceptably high pre-ART mortality and losses to follow-up: a cohort study from Cambodia

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Soeung Seithabot

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although HIV program evaluations focusing on mortality on ART provide important evidence on treatment effectiveness, they do not asses overall HIV program performance because they exclude patients who are eligible but not started on ART for whatever reason. The objective of this study was to measure mortality that occurs both pre-ART and during ART among HIV-positive children enrolled in two HIV-programs in Cambodia. Methods Retrospective cohort study on 1168 HIV-positive children Results Over half (53% of children were 5 years or above and only 69(6% were Conclusion HIV-positive children experienced a high mortality and loss-to-follow-up rates before starting ART. These program outcomes may be improved by a more timely ART initiation. Measuring overall in-program mortality as opposed to only mortality on ART is recommended in order to more accurately evaluate pediatric HIV-programs performance.

Art and Finance: Fine Art Derivatives

OpenAIRE

Francesco Strati; Laura Quattrocchi

2014-01-01

This work is intended to introduce a new kind of asset, the so called art asset. This financial tool is an asset whose value is related to an art-work, and in particular to the artist reputation. It will be shown the evaluation of an art asset by using a particular kind of volatility, the α-hedging. This tool normalizes the prices volatility of the art-works of an artist (or an art-movement) by a sentiment index referred to the Art Market. At last we shall show how the art assets' values are ...

High-levels of acquired drug resistance in adult patients failing first-line antiretroviral therapy in a rural HIV treatment programme in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

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Justen Manasa

Full Text Available To determine the frequency and patterns of acquired antiretroviral drug resistance in a rural primary health care programme in South Africa.Cross-sectional study nested within HIV treatment programme.Adult (≥ 18 years HIV-infected individuals initially treated with a first-line stavudine- or zidovudine-based antiretroviral therapy (ART regimen and with evidence of virological failure (one viral load >1000 copies/ml were enrolled from 17 rural primary health care clinics. Genotypic resistance testing was performed using the in-house SATuRN/Life Technologies system. Sequences were analysed and genotypic susceptibility scores (GSS for standard second-line regimens were calculated using the Stanford HIVDB 6.0.5 algorithms.A total of 222 adults were successfully genotyped for HIV drug resistance between December 2010 and March 2012. The most common regimens at time of genotype were stavudine, lamivudine and efavirenz (51%; and stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine (24%. Median duration of ART was 42 months (interquartile range (IQR 32-53 and median duration of antiretroviral failure was 27 months (IQR 17-40. One hundred and ninety one (86% had at least one drug resistance mutation. For 34 individuals (15%, the GSS for the standard second-line regimen was <2, suggesting a significantly compromised regimen. In univariate analysis, individuals with a prior nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI substitution were more likely to have a GSS <2 than those on the same NRTIs throughout (odds ratio (OR 5.70, 95% confidence interval (CI 2.60-12.49.There are high levels of drug resistance in adults with failure of first-line antiretroviral therapy in this rural primary health care programme. Standard second-line regimens could potentially have had reduced efficacy in about one in seven adults involved.

Screening for cancer-related distress: Summary of evidence from tools to programmes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bidstrup, P. E.; Johansen, C.; Mitchell, A. J.

2011-01-01

and critically discuss the findings of randomized trials of the effect of screening and to identify components necessary for future studies of the effectiveness of screening programmes. Methods. A search was made of the Embase/Medline and Web of Knowledge abstract databases from inception to September 2010. Our...

Arte, só na aula de arte? = Art, only in the art class?

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Martins, Mirian Celeste

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A pergunta que dá título ao artigo é o mote da conversa que o texto deseja compartilhar. O convite é para percorrer trajetos em encontros com a arte, com a palavra “estética”, com a potencialidade da arte contemporânea, com o “olhar de missão francesa” que teima em considerar a arte como expressão da beleza. No percurso, a proposição da leitura de uma imagem incompleta, tenta provocar idas e voltas conceituais na percepção do próprio ato de leitura oferecida como curadoria educativa na processualidade da mediação cultural. Declanchar, tirar a tranca. Não será esta a tarefa maior da mediação cultural: abrir o que estava travado, libertar o olhar amarrado ao já conhecido para ver além? Não será este o sentido da educação estética? Os territórios de arte de arte & cultura, instigando o pensamento rizomático, não seriam nutrição estética para ir além das obras de arte conhecidas e das biografias dos artistas? Na ampliação de horizontes, cabe ao leitor a resposta: Afinal, arte, só na aula de arte?

The central role of national programme management for the achievement of malaria elimination: a cross case-study analysis of nine malaria programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith Gueye, Cara; Newby, Gretchen; Tulloch, Jim; Slutsker, Laurence; Tanner, Marcel; Gosling, Roland D

2016-09-22

implementation quality and coverage; however analysis and feedback to those implementing malaria elimination in the periphery was not well described. Political commitment and sustained financing contributed to malaria programme success. Consistency of malaria programmes depends on political commitment, human and financial resources, and leadership. Operational capacity of the programme and the overall health system structure and strength are also important aspects. Malaria eradication will require adaptive, well-managed malaria programmes that are able to tailor implementation of evidence-based strategies, founded upon strong sub-national surveillance and response, with adequate funding and human resources.

CPSP/HSE Postgraduate Overseas Rotational Programme: Residents' Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Gondal, Khalid Masood; Iqbal, Uzma; Arif, Seema; Ahmed, Arslan; Khan, Umair Ahmed

2016-04-01

To get direct upward feedback from the residents of first batch of CPSP/HSE Postgraduate Scholarship Programme. Mixed methods qualitative research study. CPSP, Regional Office, Lahore, in June 2015. It is a mixed-method study that was conducted in June, 2015. Data was collected through an email survey with 33 medical residents doing their rotation in Ireland; and focus group discussions were carried out with 8 residents, who had successfully completed their rotation. Data were collected through pre-designed questionnaires comprising of open- and close-ended questions. The data were entered into SPSS version 21 and analyzed. The mean age of residents was 29.9 ±1.1 years, 7 (21.2%) were females and 24 (72.7%) respondents were males. Residents agreed that HSE programme has improved their evidence-based decision making (mean score of 3.3 ±1.2) and enhanced professionalism (mean score of 3.6 ±1.1). They disagreed that training has polished their procedural skills (mean score 2.4 ±1.2). The identified strengths of the programme are: adopting a systematic approach towards patients, evidence-based decision making, better exposure and opportunities, financial stability and development of communication skills. The weaknesses are: less exposure to procedural skills, difficulty in synopsis and dissertation writing and difficulty in adjustment with rotational schedules. Residents of CPSP/HSE Programme believed that CPSP/HSE has improved their professionalism, communication skills and increased their future opportunities for career growth. Better communication between CPSP focal person and residents will help sort out many minor but important issues.

A Model for Developing and Assessing Youth-Based Environmental Engagement Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Riemer, Manuel; Lynes, Jennifer; Hickman, Gina

2014-01-01

In this paper, we argue that a fundamental cultural shift is needed to effectively address anthropogenic causes of climate change. Evidence suggests that youth are well positioned to create such transformation. While various studies have contributed empirical evidence to numerous youth-based non-formal environmental engagement programmes, what is…

Serious Non-AIDS Conditions in HIV: Benefit of Early ART.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundgren, Jens D; Borges, Alvaro H; Neaton, James D

2018-04-01

Optimal control of HIV can be achieved by early diagnosis followed by the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Two large randomised trials (TEMPRANO and START) have recently been published documenting the clinical benefits to HIV-positive adults of early ART initiation. Main findings are reviewed with a focus on serious non-AIDS (SNA) conditions. Data from the two trials demonstrated that initiating ART early in the course of HIV infection resulted in marked reductions in the risk of opportunistic diseases and invasive bacterial infections. This indicates that HIV causes immune impairment in early infection that is remedied by controlling viral replication. Intriguingly, in START, a marked reduction in risk of cancers, both infection-related and unrelated types of cancers, was observed. Like the findings for opportunistic infections, this anti-cancer effect of early ART shows how the immune system influences important pro-oncogenic processes. In START, there was also some evidence suggesting that early ART initiation preserved kidney function, although the clinical consequence of this remains unclear. Conversely, while no adverse effects were evident, the trials did not demonstrate a clear effect on metabolic-related disease outcomes, pulmonary disease, or neurocognitive function. HIV causes immune impairment soon after acquisition of infection. ART reverses this harm at least partially. The biological nature of the immune impairment needs further elucidation, as well as mechanisms and clinical impact of innate immune activation. Based on the findings from TEMPRANO and START, and because ART lowers the risk of onward transmission, ART initiation should be offered to all persons following their diagnosis of HIV.

Abstinence And Faithfulness Programmes For Prevention Of Hiv ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Questions have been raised on whether abstinence and faithfulness programs work, particularly for young people. Research is needed for evidence-based documentation of the effectiveness or otherwise of abstinence and faithfulness programmes in young people. This review was conducted in three stages: identification ...

IAEA occupational radiation protection programme: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deboodt, P.; Mrabit, K.

2006-01-01

As stated in Art.III.A.6 of its Statute, the International Atomic Energy Agency (commonly referred to as the Agency) is authorized to establish or adopt, in consultation and, where appropriate, in collaboration with the competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies concerned, standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property (including such standards for labour conditions), and to provide for the application of these standards to its own operation as well as to the operations making use of materials, services, equipment, facilities, and information made available by the Agency or at its request or under its control or supervision. The Agency s Occupational Radiation Protection Programme aims at harmonizing infrastructures for the control of radiation exposure of workers and for optimizing radiation protection in situation s of exposures due to external radiation and intakes of radionuclides from both artificial and natural sources of radiation. Under its regular and technical cooperation programmes, the Agency has been assigning high priority to both the establishment of safety standards for labour conditions and for the application of these standards through, Interalia, direct assistance under its technical cooperation (TC) programme, the rendering of services, the promotion of education and training, the fostering of information exchange and the coordination of research and development. The purpose of this paper is to present the current status and future IAEA activities in support of occupational radiation protection. (authors)

Gamma irradiation effects in programmable read only memories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vujisic, M; Osmokrovic, P; Loncar, B

2007-01-01

This paper examines the reliability of commercial off the shelf (COTS) erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) and electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) components exposed to gamma radiation. Results obtained for 64 KB EPROM (NM27C512) and 16 KB EEPROM (M24128) components provide evidence that EPROMs have greater radiation hardness than EEPROMs. Moreover, the changes in EPROMs are reversible, and after erasure and reprogramming all EPROM components restore their functionality. On the other hand, changes in EEPROMs are irreversible. The obtained results are analysed and interpreted on the basis of gamma ray interaction with the oxide layer

deal Rehabilitation Programme after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: Review of Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adeel Nazir AHMAD

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Knee injuries are the second most common musculoskeletal injuries in primary care, with anterior cruciate the most commonly injured ligament. It is caused by contact / non - contact and accelerating/decelerating twisting injury of the knee. Typical presentation includes trauma with pain and swellin g, with laxity of the knee joint. Management includes rehabilitation alone or surgery combined with rehabilitation. Pre - surgery rehabilitation with graded physiotherapy programme results in improved postoperative recovery, reduced pain, swelling, better s tability and improved range of movement. No consensus exists on an ideal rehabilitation programme, as various factors, including injury to other knee structures, choice of graft, type of surgery performed and patient preference exist. Rehabilitation includ es accelerated vs. conservative, closed vs. open kinetic chain and techniques involving bracing, neuromuscular training and cryotherapy. Ideal personalised rehabilitation plan should include educating athletes to improve adherence, providing realistic stra tegies and approximate time frame for a return to sport. Studies support accelerated rehabilitation before and after surgery, in a clinic and home setting, with combined kinetic exercises. Accelerated rehabilitation protocol involving exercises to increas e muscle strength, knee ROM and proprioception along with reducing pain, inflammation and swelling can lead to better knee stability and a less complicated rehabilitation course.

Introducing innovation in a management development programme for a UK primary care organisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Paul; Hampson, Libby; Scott, Jonathan; Bower, Karen

2011-01-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the introduction of innovation as part of a management development programme at a primary care organisation, a legal form known as a Primary Care Trust (PCT), in the UK. The paper draws on experience of managing a successful management development programme for a PCT. The report of the case study analyses the key events that took place between 2008 and 2010, from direct observation, surveys, discussion and documentary evidence. The Northern PCT has partnerships with a number of educational providers to deliver their leadership and management development programmes. A close working relationship had developed and the programme is bespoke - hence it is current and of practical use to the UK's National Health Service (NHS). In addition, there are regular meetings, with module leaders gaining a firsthand understanding of the organisation's needs and aspirations. This has resulted in a very focused and personalised offering and a genuine involvement in the programme and individuals concerned. The research was conducted among a relatively small sample, and there is a lack of previous literature evidence to make significant comparisons. The paper identifies key implications for practitioners and educators in this area. This paper is one of few to investigate innovation and improvement in the NHS, and is unique in that it uses the lenses of a management development programme to explore this important, and under-researched, topic.

Optimal screening mammography reading volumes; evidence from real life in the East Midlands region of the NHS Breast Screening Programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornford, E.; Reed, J.; Murphy, A.; Bennett, R.; Evans, A.

2011-01-01

Aim: To assess real-life reader performance as a function of both volume of mammograms read and reading experience in a multicentre cohort. Materials and methods: Thirty-seven film readers from the East Midlands Breast Screening Programme had 3 years of consecutive screen reading results available for comparison. Markers of screening performance as the first film reader [cancer detection rates, small cancer detection rates, recall rates, positive predictive value of recall (PPV), and missed cancers] were compared with both volume of films read and years of film reading experience. For reading volume, readers were categorized according to film reading volume over the 3 year period: <15,000 (i.e., on average less than the recommended 5000/year); 15-<20,000; 20-<25,000; and ≥25,000. For years of experience, readers were categorized into the following groups: <5 years, 5-<10 years, 10-<15 years, and 15-<20 years. Results: There was no evidence to suggest a relationship between years of film reading experience and film-reading performance. For reading volume, there was a significant difference in the distribution of cancer-detection rate between the four groups (p = 0.01); however, there was no difference in small cancer-detection rates, missed cancers or PPV. The median cancer detection rate in the high-volume group (≥25,000 mammograms/3 years) was significantly lower than the other groups combined (6.9 per 1000 women screened versus 7.9 per 1000 women screened). The lowest median recall rate was also in the high-volume group, whilst those readers not meeting the NHSBSP minimum requirement had the highest median recall rate; however, there was borderline evidence to suggest a difference in the distribution of recall rates between the four groups. Conclusion: The data from the East Midlands do not provide any evidence for reducing the threshold volume of 5000 cases /year. However, there appears to be an upper limit above which reader performance deteriorates in

Competing Values in the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Industry: Leadership Roles and Managerial Competencies

Science.gov (United States)

Riggs, Michael W.; Hughey, Aaron W.

2011-01-01

It is important that education and training programmes align with the needs of the professions they are designed to support. The culinary arts and hospitality industry is a vocational area that needs to be examined more closely to ensure that the skills and competencies taught are those that will actually be needed when students matriculate from…

The breast screening programme and misinforming the public

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gøtzsche, Peter C; Jørgensen, Karsten Juhl

2011-01-01

The information provided to the public by the NHS Breast Screening Programme has been criticized for lack of balance, omission of information on harms and substantially exaggerated estimates of benefit. These shortcomings have been particularly evident in the various invitation leaflets for breast...... screening and in the Programme's own 2008 Annual Review, which celebrated 20 years of screening. The debate on screening has been heated after new data published in the last two years questioned the benefit and documented substantial harm. We therefore analysed whether the recent debate and new pivotal data...... about breast screening has had any impact on the contents of the new 2010 leaflet and on the 2010 Annual Review. We conclude that spokespeople for the Programme have stuck to the beliefs about benefit that prevailed 25 years ago. Concerns about over-diagnosis have not been addressed either and official...

The Challenges of Incorporating ePortfolio into an Undergraduate Nursing Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Haggerty, Carmel; Thompson, Trish

2017-01-01

Registered nurses today are required to maintain a portfolio of evidence of their competence to practice. This evidence collection commences at undergraduate level with nursing programmes requiring portfolio's as assessments, which are often submitted in hard copy. This paper describes the outcome when a small group of tutorial staff introduced…

Art participation for psychosocial wellbeing during stroke rehabilitation: a feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Jacqui H; Kelly, Chris; Joice, Sara; Kroll, Thilo; Mead, Gillian; Donnan, Peter; Toma, Madalina; Williams, Brian

2017-08-30

To examine the feasibility of undertaking a pragmatic single-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a visual arts participation programme to evaluate effects on survivor wellbeing within stroke rehabilitation. Stroke survivors receiving in-patient rehabilitation were randomised to receive eight art participation sessions (n = 41) or usual care (n = 40). Recruitment, retention, preference for art participation and change in selected outcomes were evaluated at end of intervention outcome assessment and three-month follow-up. Of 315 potentially eligible participants 81 (29%) were recruited. 88% (n = 71) completed outcome and 77% (n = 62) follow-up assessments. Of eight intervention group non-completers, six had no preference for art participation. Outcome completion varied between 97% and 77%. Running groups was difficult because of randomisation timing. Effectiveness cannot be determined from this feasibility study but effects sizes suggested art participation may benefit emotional wellbeing, measured on the positive and negative affect schedule, and self-efficacy for Art (d = 0.24-0.42). Undertaking a RCT of art participation within stroke rehabilitation was feasible. Art participation may enhance self-efficacy and positively influence emotional wellbeing. These should be outcomes in a future definitive trial. A cluster RCT would ensure art groups could be reliably convened. Fewer measures, and better retention strategies are required. Implications for Rehabilitation This feasibility randomised controlled trial (RCT) showed that recruiting and retaining stroke survivors in an RCT of a visual arts participation intervention within stroke rehabilitation was feasible. Preference to participate in art activities may influence recruitment and drop-out rates, and should be addressed and evaluated fully. Art participation as part of rehabilitation may improve some aspects of post-stroke wellbeing, including positive affect and self-efficacy for art

InSPAL: A Novel Immersive Virtual Learning Programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, Julia; Ip, Horace H S; Shuk-Ying Lau, Kate; Chen Li, Richard; Tso, Amy; Choi, Catherine

2015-01-01

In this paper we introduce The Interactive Sensory Program for Affective Learning (InSPAL) a pioneering virtual learning programme designed for the severely intellectually disabled (SID) students, who are having cognitive deficiencies and other sensory-motor handicaps, and thus need more help and attention in overcoming their learning difficulties. Through combining and integrating interactive media and virtual reality technology with the principles of art therapy and relevant pedagogical techniques, InSPAL aims to strengthen SID students' pre-learning abilities, promote their self-awareness, decrease behavioral interferences with learning as well as social interaction, enhance their communication and thus promote their quality of life. Results of our study show that students who went through our programme were more focused, and the ability to do things more independently increased by 15%. Moreover, 50% of the students showed a marked improvement in the ability to raise their hands in response, thus increasing their communication skills. The use of therapeutic interventions enabled a better control to the body, mind and emotions, resulting a greater performance and better participation.

Homeless adults engagement in art: first steps towards identity, recovery and social inclusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Yvonne; Gray, Marion; McGinty, Sue; Ebringer, Sally

2011-12-01

The Australian policy on homelessness identifies participation in structured activities as the first step towards social inclusion and increasing the likelihood of permanently leaving a homeless lifestyle. Art interventions increase interpersonal function and social participation and provide a means of expression and transformation with people who are homeless. This study explores the value of an art programme provided by a non-government agency for homeless adults. Qualitative methods including participant observation and purposive interviews were analysed inductively and thematically to gain an understanding of the participants' experience of art and its value. Interviews with stakeholders provided additional information and triangulation of the data. The study demonstrates that art occupations provide a starting point for participation in community and a positive experience that encourages the construction of new identities, routines and roles. Furthermore, art provides an alternative from the problems associated with homelessness, mental health and substance abuse and allows for public recognition and social inclusion. Health professionals should work towards the social inclusion of homeless people through providing occupational opportunities for participation in safe settings as a first step to community engagement. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2011 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Return-to-work coordination programmes for improving return to work in workers on sick leave.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Nicole; Schandelmaier, Stefan; Zumbrunn, Thomas; Ebrahim, Shanil; de Boer, Wout El; Busse, Jason W; Kunz, Regina

2017-03-30

To limit long-term sick leave and associated consequences, insurers, healthcare providers and employers provide programmes to facilitate disabled people's return to work. These programmes include a variety of coordinated and individualised interventions. Despite the increasing popularity of such programmes, their benefits remain uncertain. We conducted a systematic review to determine the long-term effectiveness of return-to-work coordination programmes compared to usual practice in workers at risk for long-term disability. To assess the effects of return-to-work coordination programmes versus usual practice for workers on sick leave or disability. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 11), MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO up to 1 November 2016. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that enrolled workers absent from work for at least four weeks and randomly assigned them to return-to-work coordination programmes or usual practice. Two review authors independently screened titles, abstracts and full-text articles for study eligibility; extracted data; and assessed risk of bias from eligible trials. We contacted authors for additional data where required. We conducted random-effects meta-analyses and used the GRADE approach to rate the quality of the evidence. We identified 14 studies from nine countries that enrolled 12,568 workers. Eleven studies focused on musculoskeletal problems, two on mental health and one on both. Most studies (11 of 14) followed workers 12 months or longer. Risk of bias was low in 10 and high in 4 studies, but findings were not sensitive to their exclusion.We found no benefits for return-to-work coordination programmes on return-to-work outcomes.For short-term follow-up of six months, we found no effect on time to return to work (hazard ratio (HR) 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93 to 1.88, low-quality evidence), cumulative sickness absence (mean difference (MD) -16.18 work

The impact of ART initiation on household food security over time.

Science.gov (United States)

Patenaude, Bryan N; Chimbindi, Natsayi; Pillay, Deenan; Bärnighausen, Till

2018-02-01

While evidence suggests that adequate nutrition contributes to the efficacy of ART, the potential causal impact of ART initiation on household food security has not been thoroughly examined. In this study, we present some of the first causal evidence of the impact of ART initiation on household food security. We employ a quasi-experimental design, regression discontinuity, over 5540 individuals from an ongoing population cohort study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, by utilizing the CD4 count-based ART eligibility threshold to examine the impact of ART initiation on household food security. We find that ART initiation causes a significant increase in the probability of food insecurity in the first year, which diminishes to zero within three years of initiation. Within the first year, ART initiation was found to significantly increase the probabilities that (1) the surveyed adult had missed any food in the past month by 10.2 percentage points (coefficient = 0.102, 95%CI = [0.039, 0.166]); (2) any adult in the household had missed a meal in the past month by 15.2 percentage points (coefficient = 0.152, 95%CI = [0.073, 0.231]); and (3) any child in the household had missed a meal in the past month by 8.9 percentage points (coefficient = 0.0898, 95%CI = [0.0317, 0.148]). While we cannot definitively isolate the mechanistic pathways from ART to household food security, our results are consistent with ART affecting food security through household resource strain and patient appetite recovery. Several policies could mitigate the negative impact of ART on food security, in particular food parcels or food vouchers for ART patients in the first two years after treatment initiation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of martial arts practice on global self-esteem in people with visual impairment and the associated mechanisms and strategies

OpenAIRE

Qasim, Samir H.

2015-01-01

The effect of exercise programmes on psychosocial characteristics, namely self-esteem, of people with visual impairment (VI) is limited. Martial arts practice has been found to improve global self-esteem among different age groups and among people with different abilities, but not for people with VI. This presents a notable gap in the research literature on people with VI. This thesis conducted three studies with the aim of investigating whether martial arts practice improves s...

Two case study evaluations of an arts-based social skills intervention for adolescents with childhood brain disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Agnihotri, Sabrina; Gray, Julia; Colantonio, Angela; Polatajko, Helene; Cameron, Debra; Wiseman-Hakes, Catherine; Rumney, Peter; Keightley, Michelle

2012-01-01

Arts-based programmes have been shown to be useful for individuals with disturbances in cognitive and behavioural functioning. The current case studies examined the feasibility and effectiveness of a theatre skills training programme to facilitate social skills and participation for adolescents with childhood brain disorder. A case study approach was used with two adolescent participants. Focus groups were conducted immediately post-intervention, while a battery of quantitative measures were administered pre- and post-treatment, as well as 8 months post-treatment. Perceived and documented improvements in social skills and participation were observed from pre- to post-intervention and at follow-up. Results support the use of an arts-based intervention for youth with brain injuries to facilitate social skills and participation. Findings also highlight the need for more sensitive measures of these skills for youth with childhood brain disorder, who may have impaired awareness of their abilities and/or impairments in memory and language comprehension.

Psychosocial and behavioural correlates of attitudes towards antiretroviral therapy (ART) in a sample of South African mineworkers.

Science.gov (United States)

Govender, Kaymarlin; Akintola, Olagoke; George, Gavin; Petersen, Inge; Bhagwanjee, Anil; Reardon, Candice

2011-01-01

Despite being one of the worst affected sectors in South Africa, the mining sector has proven to be one of the most active in intervention efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS (Ellis, 2007). Owing to low uptake rates of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in mining companies in recent years (Connelly & Rosen, 2006) and the positive relationship between attitudes towards ART and ART uptake (Cooper et al., 2002; Horne, Cooper, Gellaitry, Leake, & Fisher, 2007), this study sought to describe and investigate the psychosocial and behavioural correlates of attitudes towards ART in a sample of South African mineworkers. A total of 806 mineworkers from a large South African mine participated in this quantitative study. Despite a high rate of HIV testing behaviour (83.0%) as well as favourable attitudes towards ART, analysis indicated that temporary employees and contractors were more vulnerable in terms of HIV risk, HIV testing behaviours and ART knowledge and attitudes. Employees who had more positive attitudes towards ART were more knowledgeable of ART and, importantly, had a more favourable attitude towards the mine's HIV/AIDS treatment programme. These findings are discussed in relation to the low ART uptake rates in this context and recommendations for the improvement of ART uptake amongst employees at this mining site.

Reliability evaluation programmable logic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srivani, L.; Murali, N.; Thirugnana Murthy, D.; Satya Murty, S.A.V.

2014-01-01

Programmable Logic Devices (PLD) are widely used as basic building modules in high integrity systems, considering their robust features such as gate density, performance, speed etc. PLDs are used to implement digital design such as bus interface logic, control logic, sequencing logic, glue logic etc. Due to semiconductor evolution, new PLDs with state-of-the-art features are arriving to the market. Since these devices are reliable as per the manufacturer's specification, they were used in the design of safety systems. But due to their reduced market life, the availability of performance data is limited. So evaluating the PLD before deploying in a safety system is very important. This paper presents a survey on the use of PLDs in the nuclear domain and the steps involved in the evaluation of PLD using Quantitative Accelerated Life Testing. (author)

Effects of martial arts on health status: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bu, Bin; Haijun, Han; Yong, Liu; Chaohui, Zhang; Xiaoyuan, Yang; Singh, Maria Fiatarone

2010-11-01

To systematically summarize the evidence for the effects of martial arts on health and fitness, to show the strengths of different types of martial arts, and to get a more complete picture of the impacts of martial arts on health, and also to provide a basis for future research on martial arts as an exercise prescription in exercise therapy. We searched for "martial arts"health" and "random" in eight databases (n= 5432). Randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials on the health effects of martial arts were included in the study. The final analysis included 28 papers (one general martial arts, one kung fu, sixteen tai chi, six judo, three karate, and one taekwondo). Among the disciplines of martial arts, tai chi was the most well-studied, followed by judo, karate, and taekwondo. Research topics varied widely, and included health, injuries, competition, morals and psychology, and herbal medicine. Most found positive effects on health. Tai chi is no-contact, low-impact, soft body and mindfulness exercise, which has been widely adopted by elderly people and proven to be a beneficial health promotion exercise. Research on judo, karate, and taekwondo mainly focused on improvements to athletes' competitive abilities, rather than on health effects. We did not find any published randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials on aikido, kendo, sumo, kyudo, qi gong, or other disciplines. Since martial arts are widely practiced, their effects on physiology, morphology, immunology, and neurology should be further studied in order to help people to select the best discipline or style to accomplish their purposes. This necessitates categorizing and classifying the disciplines and styles according to their effects on different body systems and levels of contact, as well as standardizing evaluation criteria for martial arts. Martial arts as an exercise prescription can then move from an experience-based to an evidence-based treatment. © 2010 Blackwell

Pass the Crayons: Leadership, Art Production, and Communities of Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zach Kelehear

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The results of an arts-based leadership (Kelehear, 2006, 2008 practice at a rural middle school in South Carolina are examined. The school principal and art teacher led a day-long staff development and followed up individually to assist teachers to create art as metaphor for individual growth plans as well as school improvement plans. Specifically, the arts-based initiative sought to invite professional conversations that focused on: 1 personal reflections, 2 multiple perspectives, and 3 art making. Findings suggest that when the art teacher and principal work in collaboration, there is real value in an arts-based leadership practice. Also, when led by the art teacher, teacher reflections suggested that as the principal worked alongside the teachers, they felt valued and supported and viewed the principal as authentic and trusting. Additionally, out of the engendered trust, the teachers were emboldened to consider innovative, arts-based approaches to their teaching. Finally, there was evidence that the art teacher was highly effective in introducing innovative leadership practices as teachers. This study is one of several implementation studies emerging from earlier research on arts-based leadership.

Nature and impact of European anti-stigma depression programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, Neil; Knifton, Lee; Goldie, Isabella; van Bortel, Tine; Dowds, Julie; Lasalvia, Antonio; Scheerder, Gert; Boumans, Jenny; Svab, Vesna; Lanfredi, Mariangela; Wahlbeck, Kristian; Thornicroft, Graham

2014-09-01

Stigma associated with depression is a major public health issue in the EU, with over 20 million people experiencing depression and its associated personal distress each year. While most programmes against stigma related to mental health problems are of a general nature, the knowledge about programmes tackling stigma against people with depression is limited. This study therefore aims to assess the nature and impact of depression-specific programmes in EU countries. Using a web-based tool, 26 programmes were identified across the 18 EU countries taking part in the study. Most were universal and targeted the whole population, while many also targeted specific population groups or settings, such as young people or health professionals. The most common programme aim was improving literacy, although reducing stigmatizing attitudes and discriminatory behaviour and promoting help-seeking were also common. Most programmes originated from professional bodies, or as grassroots initiatives from service user groups/NGOs, rather than as part of national and local policy. The approaches used were primarily different forms of education/information, with some, but very limited, use of positive personal contact. Overall, the quality and extent of impact of the programmes was limited, with few leading to peer-reviewed publications. Specific programmes were identified with evidence of positive impact, and we drew on these examples to develop a framework to be used for future programmes against stigma and discrimination associated with depression. These findings are provided in full in the Anti-Stigma Partnership European Network Toolkit available at www.antistigma.eu. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Artful creation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Darsø, Lotte

2013-01-01

An introduction to the field of Arts-in-Business outlining 4 different approaches: 1) Art as decoration, 2) Art as intertainment, 3) Arts as instrumental, 4) Art as strategic......An introduction to the field of Arts-in-Business outlining 4 different approaches: 1) Art as decoration, 2) Art as intertainment, 3) Arts as instrumental, 4) Art as strategic...

Beyond the dichotomy of figurative and abstract art in hospitals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Stine Maria Louring; Mullins, Michael Finbarr

2017-01-01

from two experimental case studies on 98 patients’ well-being in relation to their experience and use of visual art during hospitalization. The case studies employed a mixed-method approach, including interviews and observations informed by thermal video recording, surveys and psychophysiological......Within the evidence-based design discourse, and deriving particularly from the theory of emotional congruence, abstract art has been indicated as unsuitable for hospitals. As patients may often experience unfamiliarity, vulnerability, stress, unpredictability and uneasiness in hospitals......, these negative factors in terms of patients’ well-being are predicted to be detrimentally reinforced by abstract art, but alleviated by particular forms of figurative art. The present paper focuses particularly on this question of the suitability of abstract art in Danish hospital settings and presents findings...

What is the evidence that poster presentations are effective in promoting knowledge transfer? A state of the art review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ilic, Dragan; Rowe, Nicholas

2013-03-01

Poster presentations are a common form of presenting health information at conferences and in the community. Anecdotal evidence within the discipline indicates that health information framed in a poster presentation may be an effective method of knowledge transfer. A state of the art review of the literature was performed to determine the effectiveness of poster presentations on knowledge transfer. Electronic searches of various electronic databases were performed for studies published until 2012. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they provided empirical data on the effectiveness of poster presentations on changes in participant knowledge, attitude or behaviour. A total of 51 studies were identified through the database searches, of which 15 met the inclusion criteria. No study evaluated the effectiveness of posters in comparison with other educational interventions. Most studies utilised a before/after methodology, with the common conclusion that posters elicit greatest effectiveness in knowledge transfer when integrated with other educational modalities. The poster presentation is a commonly used format for communicating information within the academic and public health fields. Evidence from well-designed studies comparing posters to other educational modalities is required to establish an evidence base on the effectiveness of utilising posters in achieving knowledge transfer. © 2013 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2013 Health Libraries Group.

FPGAs for software programmers

CERN Document Server

Hannig, Frank; Ziener, Daniel

2016-01-01

This book makes powerful Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and reconfigurable technology accessible to software engineers by covering different state-of-the-art high-level synthesis approaches (e.g., OpenCL and several C-to-gates compilers). It introduces FPGA technology, its programming model, and how various applications can be implemented on FPGAs without going through low-level hardware design phases. Readers will get a realistic sense for problems that are suited for FPGAs and how to implement them from a software designer’s point of view. The authors demonstrate that FPGAs and their programming model reflect the needs of stream processing problems much better than traditional CPU or GPU architectures, making them well-suited for a wide variety of systems, from embedded systems performing sensor processing to large setups for Big Data number crunching. This book serves as an invaluable tool for software designers and FPGA design engineers who are interested in high design productivity through behavi...

The Slovenian Art History Textbook in Comparison to Polish Textbooks: Authorship and Content, Didactic Structure and Publishing Circumstances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjana Dolšina

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses two concepts of art history textbooks for secondary schools. It discusses their role in the learning and teaching process of art history and related school subjects within the formal educational programmes in Slovenia and their didactic structure. The comparison between one Slovenian and two Polish textbooks might contribute to better understanding of the present situation regarding art history textbook production in Slovenia, which is a result of several factors: the historical continuity of textbook writing and research in textbook didactics, the current school policy and financial competition on the textbook market. Its intention is also to clarify the idea of didactic transformation of the art history contents from the challenging scientific texts to a form suitable for secondary school students who are textbooks' main target audience.

A community continuity programme: volunteer faculty mentors and continuity learning.

Science.gov (United States)

McGeehan, John; English, Richard; Shenberger, Keith; Tracy, Gerald; Smego, Raymond

2013-02-01

Longitudinal generalist preceptorship experiences early in medical education can have beneficial effects on how students practise the art and science of medicine, regardless of their eventual career choices. We evaluated the first 2 years of implementation of an integrated, regional campus-based, early clinical experience programme, the Community Continuity Program, at our new community-based medical school that is under the supervision of volunteer primary care faculty members acting as continuity mentors (CMs). Curricular components for years 1 and 2 consisted of three annual 1-week community-based experiences with CMs, extensive physical diagnosis practice, interprofessional learning activities, a multigenerational family care experience, a mandatory Community Health Research Project (CHRP) in year 1 and a mandatory Quality Improvement Project in year 2. Outcome measures included student, faculty member and programme evaluations, student reflective narratives in portal-based e-journals, a Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) self-study student survey and serial level-of-empathy surveys.   Students found all elements of this integrated community experience programme beneficial and worthwhile, especially the CMs and the use of standardised and real-life patients. CMs noted effective and professional student-patient interactions. The number of reflective e-journal postings per student during year1 ranged from 14 to 81 (mean, 47). Serial empathy questionnaires administered over 2 years demonstrated preservation of student empathy, and students believed that the programme had a positive effect on their personal level of empathy.   An integrative, longitudinal, community-based, early clinical experience programme driven by volunteer CMs provides patient-centered instruction for preclinical students in the clinical, social, behavioural, ethical and research foundations of medicine. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.

The health outcomes of human offspring conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, M; Heilbronn, L K

2017-08-01

Concerns have been raised about the health and development of children conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART) since 1978. Controversially, ART has been linked with adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes, an increased risk of birth defects, cancers, and growth and development disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that ART treatment may also predispose individuals to an increased risk of chronic ageing related diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This review will summarize the available evidence on the short-term and long-term health outcomes of ART singletons, as multiple pregnancies after multiple embryos transfer, are associated with low birth weight and preterm delivery, which can separately increase risk of adverse postnatal outcomes, and impact long-term health. We will also examine the potential factors that may contribute to these health risks, and discuss underlying mechanisms, including epigenetic changes that may occur during the preimplantation period and reprogram development in utero, and adult health, later in life. Lastly, this review will consider the future directions with the view to optimize the long-term health of ART children.

Art Therapy Teaching as Performance Art

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Bruce L.

2012-01-01

This viewpoint asserts that art therapy education is a form of performance art. By designing class sessions as performance artworks, art therapy educators can help their students become more fully immersed in their studies. This view also can be extended to conceptualizing each semester--and the entire art therapy curriculum--as a complex and…

Leadership as a Health Research Policy Intervention: An Evaluation of the NIHR Leadership Programme (Phase 2).

Science.gov (United States)

Marjanovic, Sonja; Cochrane, Gavin; Manville, Catriona; Harte, Emma; Chataway, Joanna; Jones, Molly Morgan

2016-01-29

In early 2012, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) leadership programme was re-commissioned for a further three years following an evaluation by RAND Europe. During this new phase of the programme, we conducted a real-time evaluation, the aim of which was to allow for reflection on and adjustment of the programme on an on-going basis as events unfold. This approach also allowed for participants on the programme to contribute to and positively engage in the evaluation. The study aimed to understand the outputs and impacts from the programme, and to test the underlying assumptions behind the NIHR Leadership Programme as a science policy intervention. Evidence on outputs and impacts of the programme were collected around the motivations and expectations of participants, programme design and individual-, institutional- and system-level impacts.

A plea for quality in internship programmes – evidence from the business and administration students’ experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goia Simona

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The career of business students is nowadays definitely influenced by their involvement in different internships and volunteering activities. The internship programmes help them understand the context of business organisations and decide what field of activity is most suitable for their professional life. However, sometimes internship programmes are not very well organised and influence in a negative manner students′ final perception of a certain domain. Our research identified and analysed the main factors that might influence the quality of an internship programme from students′ perspective. The quantitative analysis relies on a questionnaire based survey among over 450 students from one of the most prestigious universities in Romania in the field of economics and business administration. By running factor analysis, we identified five factors which mainly determine the quality of internships: Job arrangements, Mentorship and employability benefits, Learning content, Academic supervision, Bureaucracy and accessibility. Subsequently we measured through multiple regression the way the identified factors influence the quality of the internships. We consider that the results of the study are relevant not only for academics but also for students and business organisations that have the power and instruments to improve internship programmes and the entire experience for all stakeholders involved.

Feasibility of the Participatory Experience Survey and the Setting Affordances Survey for use in evaluation of programmes serving youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Liljenquist, K; Coster, W; Kramer, J; Rossetti, Z

2017-07-01

Participation by youth with disabilities in recreational activities has been shown to promote the development of important skills needed for transition to adulthood. The Participatory Experience Survey (PES) and the Setting Affordances Survey (SAS) were developed for use by recreational programmes serving youth with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities (SIDD) to assess participant experiences and ensure that participants are afforded optimal opportunities to develop these skills. This paper presents a feasibility evaluation to determine the appropriateness of the PES and the SAS for use in a programme evaluation context. The PES and the SAS were used to evaluate a programme serving youth with SIDD in the greater northwest region of the United States. Three recreational activities were evaluated: an art project, trip to a zoo and a track practice. Programme volunteers used the SAS to assess opportunities and affordances offered within each activity. The PES was then given to 10 young people in each activity to capture their experiences. It was hypothesized that each setting would afford different experiences and developmental opportunities because of the differing nature of the activities. The PES and SAS were found to be feasible for conducting a programme evaluation. All three settings offered varying types of experiences and affordances. Notably, as measured by the SAS, opportunity for skill development was greater in more structured activities; the zoo had the fewest opportunities for skill development and the art project had the most skill development opportunities. Youth answered 'no' most often to 'asking for help' and 'helping a kid', suggesting changes to offer more opportunities to develop these skills would be beneficial in all three activities. These new instruments offer programmes a means to more fully include young people with disabilities during programme evaluations, leading to better-structured, more supportive programmes. �

Programme

OpenAIRE

Hobday, E, fl. 1905, artist

2003-01-01

A photograph of an illustrated programme listing dances. The illustration shows a snake charmer playing to a snake while another man watches. Buildings and trees can be seen behind a wall in the distance. In the lower right-hand corner of the programme is the signature 'E. Hobday'. The programme is almost certainly related to the Punjab Ball, Lahore. It is placed next to the Punjab Ball Menu in the album and the Menu is also illustrated by 'E. Hobday'.

Programas de investigación en el Museo Nacional de Arte Romano: proyectos Foros de Augusta Emerita y Lusitania Romana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nogales Basarrate, Trinidad

2006-02-01

Full Text Available This paper, taking as its starting point deficient position Museums find themselves in the course of their research activity, analyses two projects developed by the National Museum of Roman Art (MNAR. Both of these reflect two of the priority research avenues. First, the Foros de Augusta Emerita project is based on one of the Museum´s most important archaeological excavation and the corresponding exhibition discourse, and the results have aroused the interest of the international research community due to the evident link with Rome. Secondly, the Roman Lusitania programme aims to enlarge the scope from Augusta Emerita out in the colony´s sphere of influence.Este artículo, partiendo de la situación deficiente en que los Museos ejercitan su labor investigadora, analiza dos proyectos desarrollados desde el Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (MNAR. Ambos son reflejo de dos de sus líneas prioritarias de investigación. Por un lado, el proyecto Foros de Augusta Emerita se sustenta en uno de los trabajos de intervención arqueológica y discurso expositivo más importantes del MNAR, cuyos resultados han movido el interés de la comunidad científica internacional por sus evidentes conexiones con Roma. Por otra parte, el programa Lusitania Romana pretende ampliar las líneas científicas desde Augusta Emerita en relación con su territorio de influencia.

Statistical Image Properties in Large Subsets of Traditional Art, Bad Art, and Abstract Art.

Science.gov (United States)

Redies, Christoph; Brachmann, Anselm

2017-01-01

Several statistical image properties have been associated with large subsets of traditional visual artworks. Here, we investigate some of these properties in three categories of art that differ in artistic claim and prestige: (1) Traditional art of different cultural origin from established museums and art collections (oil paintings and graphic art of Western provenance, Islamic book illustration and Chinese paintings), (2) Bad Art from two museums that collect contemporary artworks of lesser importance (© Museum Of Bad Art [MOBA], Somerville, and Official Bad Art Museum of Art [OBAMA], Seattle), and (3) twentieth century abstract art of Western provenance from two prestigious museums (Tate Gallery and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen). We measured the following four statistical image properties: the fractal dimension (a measure relating to subjective complexity); self-similarity (a measure of how much the sections of an image resemble the image as a whole), 1st-order entropy of edge orientations (a measure of how uniformly different orientations are represented in an image); and 2nd-order entropy of edge orientations (a measure of how independent edge orientations are across an image). As shown previously, traditional artworks of different styles share similar values for these measures. The values for Bad Art and twentieth century abstract art show a considerable overlap with those of traditional art, but we also identified numerous examples of Bad Art and abstract art that deviate from traditional art. By measuring statistical image properties, we quantify such differences in image composition for the first time.

Effectiveness of a universal school-based programme for preventing depression in Chinese adolescents: a quasi-experimental pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Paul W C; Fu, King-Wa; Chan, Kim Y K; Chan, Wincy S C; Liu, Patricia M Y; Law, Yik-Wa; Yip, Paul S F

2012-12-15

Evidence of the effectiveness, rather than efficacy, of universal school-based programmes for preventing depression among adolescents is limited. This study examined the effectiveness of a universal depression prevention programme, "The Little Prince is Depressed" (LPD), which adopted the cognitive-behavioural model and aimed to reduce depressive symptoms and enhance protective factors of depression among secondary school students in Hong Kong. A quasi-experimental design was adopted for this pilot study. Thirteen classes were assigned to the intervention or control conditions according to the deliberation of the programme administrator of the four participating schools. Implementation was carried out in two phases, with a professional-led first phase and teacher-led programme second phase. LPD consisted of a 12-week school-based face-to-face programme with psycho-educational lessons and homework assignments. Students completed the programme generally showed positive development in help-seeking attitudes and self-esteem. For students who had more depressive symptoms at pre-assessment, the programme was found to be significant in enhancing cognitive-restructuring skills and support-seeking behaviours. The programme was not, however, found to be statistically significant in reducing depressive symptoms of the participants over the study period. A small sample size, a high attrition rate, and a short follow-up time frame. The LPD programme was successful in building resilience of the students in general and enhancing the cognitive-behavioural skills of students with depressive symptoms. While we did not find sufficient evidence for concluding that the LPD was effective in reducing depressive symptoms, we believe that these results highlight the challenges of implementing evidence-based practices generated from highly controlled environments in real-life settings. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Crispv programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinkovicj, N.

CRISPV (Criticality and Spectrum code) is a multigroup neutron spectrum code for homogeneous reactor cores and is actually a somewhat modified version of the original CRISP programme. It is a combination of DATAPREP-II and BIGG-II programmes. It is assumed that the reactor cell is a cylindrical fuel rod in the light or heavy water moderator. DATEPREP-II CODE forms the multigroup data for homogeneous reactor and prepares the input parameters for the BIGG-II code. It has its own nuclear data library on a separate tape in binary mode. BIGG-II code is a multigroup neutron spectrum and criticality code for a homogenized medium. It has as well its own separate data library. In the CRISPV programme the overlay structure enables automatic handling of data calculated in the DATAPREP-II programme and needed in the BIGG-II core. Both programmes are written in FORTRAN for CDC 3600. Using the programme is very efficient and simple

The Incredible Years Parent-Toddler Programme and parental language: a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Gridley, N; Hutchings, J; Baker-Henningham, H

2015-01-01

Parental language is associated with children's later language development. Parenting programmes, based on social learning theory, enhance a range of parenting behaviours, yet there is limited evidence for their effect on parental language. To assess the benefits of a behavioural-based parenting programme, which features components of language and communication, to enhance parental language. Parents of toddlers, aged 12 to 36 months, were recruited from eight Flying Start early intervention centres across Wales. Participants were randomised 2:1 either to a parenting programme (n = 60) or to a wait-list control group (n = 29). Researchers were blind to participant allocation throughout the trial. Fifteen-minute video-recorded observations of parents and children interacting during free-play, both at a pre-intervention and at 6-month follow-up, provided the data for the study. Five observed measures of parental language were assessed; quantity and variety, encouraging, critical, child-led and parent led interactions. The Incredible Years Parent-Toddler Programme (IYPTP) is a 12-week group-based behavioural intervention that teaches effective relationship and behavioural management skills including social, emotional and persistence coaching to enable parents to better support their children's development. Of 89 dyads that completed pre-intervention assessments 81 (54 intervention and 27 control) met the criteria for the current study. Intention to treat analysis indicated that child-led language interactions significantly benefited from the intervention [regression coefficient (B) = -1.44, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = -2.59 to -0.29, P = 0.015, effect size (ES) = 0.47] and a positive trend for encouraging language in favour of the intervention sample was evident. Per-protocol sample analysis replicated these findings with encouraging language reaching statistical significance (B = 1.07, 95% CI = 0.11 to 2.03, P = 0.03, ES = 0.52). No further benefits were evident

National programme: Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsten, J.

1986-01-01

Finland's programmes in the field of reactor pressure components are presented in this paper. The following information on each of these programmes is given: the brief description of the programme; the programme's schedule and duration; the name of the project manager

Effectiveness of the Language Intervention Programme for Preschool Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lousada, Marisa; Ramalho, Margarida; Marques, Carolina

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the Language Intervention Programme for the treatment of 14 preschool-aged children with primary language impairment. We used a waiting list control design, in which half the sample (7 children) received immediate intervention with the Language Intervention Programme, whereas the remaining children received treatment after a 4-week delay. The intervention consisted of 8 individual biweekly sessions. Outcome measures of language ability (receptive semantic and morphosyntactic, expressive semantic and morphosyntactic, and metalinguistic) were taken before and after intervention. After 4 weeks of intervention, the experimental group showed significant improvements in language (receptive, expressive and metalinguistic skills), but no differences were found for those in the waiting control group. After 4 weeks of intervention for the control group, significant progress in language was also observed. The Language Intervention Programme was found to be effective in treating language skills of children with language impairment, providing clinical evidence for speech and language therapists to employ this programme for the treatment of preschool children with language disorders. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The effectiveness of exercise programmes in patients with multiple myeloma: A literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gan, J H; Sim, C Y L; Santorelli, L A

2016-02-01

A limited number of clinical studies have investigated the effectiveness of participation in exercise training programmes for patients with multiple myeloma (MM), exploring the different biomedical, physical, psychological and quality of life. The aim of this literature review is to evaluate current quantitative and qualitative evidence concerning the effectiveness of participation in exercise programmes for patients with MM in improving physiological and/or psychological status. A literature search encompassing studies published between January 1998 and July 2013 was conducted through ten electronic databases. This search was further expanded through citation chaining, manual grey literature searches, and peer review consultation. In total, seven interventional studies were identified and appraised using Critical Appraisal Skill Programme (CASP) or Centre for Evidence-Based Management of Amsterdam (CEBMa). Though the majority of the studies presented encouraging data, however, three studies that implemented individualized exercise interventions for patients at different stages of MM and myeloablative treatment showed mixed results. In conclusion, the effectiveness of participation in exercise programmes remains unclear for patients with MM, as the studies reviewed were flawed by relatively weak methodological approaches. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary evaluation of STRIDE programme in primary schools of Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanjeet, K; Wan Rozita, W M; How, T B; Santhana Raj, L; Baharudin, Omar

2007-12-01

The Students' Resilience and Interpersonal Skills Development Education (STRIDE) is a preventive drug education programme. The rational of this programme is that preventive drug education has to begin early in age, before the development of social attitudes and behaviour of students. A pre and a post intervention surveys were performed to evaluate the impact of this programme. Nine schools from three states were identified to participate in the intervention. These schools were selected based on their locations in high-drug-use areas (where the prevalence of drug use exceeds 0.5% of the student population). The new intervention curriculum was put into practice for three months in the nine schools. The overall scores obtained by each respondent to assess their knowledge on drugs and its implications were analysed. The results showed that the programme made a positive impact from the pre to post intervention programme by using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test (p < 0.05). A high percentage of the questions showed significant evidence through the McNemar matched pair Chi-Squared test with Bonferonni correction that there were positive shifts in the answers by comparing the pre and post intervention results (p < 0.05). Recommendations have been discussed with the Ministry of Education to integrate this programme into the national primary school curriculum.

[Art-chance and art-experience in classical Greece].

Science.gov (United States)

Ban, Deokjin

2011-06-30

In Classical Greece, works defining the nature of art appeared in the various disciplines like medicine, rhetoric, dietetics, architecture and painting. Hippocratic authors tried to show that an art of medicine existed indeed. They contrasted the concept of art with that of chance, not experience that Plato and Aristotle distinguished from art. In fact there are similarities and discrepancies between Hippocratic epistemology and Platoic epistemology. Hippocratic authors maintained that the products of chance were not captured by art. They distinguished the domain of art charactered by explanatory knowledge and prediction from the domain of chance ruled by the unexplained and the unforeseeable. They minimized the role of luck and believed the role of art. Hippocratic authors thought that professional ability contained both knowledge and experience. In Hippocratic corpus, experience is a synonym of competence and usually has a positive meaning. But Plato gave empirical knowledge the disdainful sense and decided a ranking between two types of knowledge. Both Hippocratic authors and Plato held that a genuine art had connection with explanatory knowledge of the nature of its subject matter. A common theme that goes through arguments about art-chance and art-chance is the connection between art and nature. Hippocratic authors and Plato regarded art as a highly systematic process. Art provides us with general and explanatory knowledge of human nature. Art and nature is a mutual relationship. The systematic understanding of nature helps us gain the exactness of art and an exact art helps us understand nature well.

Teaching Kindergarten Students about the Water Cycle through Arts and Invention

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Latisha L.; Samarakoon, Deepanee

2016-01-01

Research evidence for the benefits of arts integration is mounting. The purpose of this study was to determine if integration of the arts was an effective strategy for teaching the water cycle to kindergarten students. The study included lessons that supported both a science and an engineering standard of the Next Generation Science Standards and…

Misdiagnosed HIV infection in pregnant women initiating universal ART in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsiao, Nei-Yuan; Zerbe, Allison; Phillips, Tamsin K; Myer, Landon; Abrams, Elaine J

2017-08-29

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are the primary diagnostic tools for HIV used in resource-constrained settings. Without a proper confirmation algorithm, there is concern that false-positive (FP) RDTs could result in misdiagnosis of HIV infection and inappropriate antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation, but programmatic data on FP are few. We examined the accuracy of RDT diagnosis among HIV-infected pregnant women attending public sector antenatal services in Cape Town, South Africa. We describe the proportion of women found to have started on ART erroneously due to FP RDT results based on pre-ART viral load (VL) testing and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We analysed 952 consecutively enrolled pregnant women diagnosed as HIV infected based on two RDTs per local guideline and found 4.5% (43/952) of pre-ART VL results to be HIV RDT diagnoses were found to be FP. We estimate that using ELISA to confirm all positive RDTs would cost $1110 (uncertainty interval $381-$5382) to identify one patient erroneously initiated on ART, while it costs $3912 for a lifetime of antiretrovirals with VL monitoring for one person. Compared to the cost of confirming the RDT-based diagnoses, the cost of HIV misdiagnosis is high. While testing programmes based on RDT should strive for constant quality improvement, where resources permit, laboratory confirmation algorithms can play an important role in strengthening the quality of HIV diagnosis in the era of universal ART.

Precisionism: Art in the Industrial Age

Science.gov (United States)

McMullen, Brianna

2006-01-01

A result of the industrial age was a short-lived but powerful new American art movement called Precisionism, most evident in painting, but visible also in drawing, photography, and print-making, focusing on industrial and mechanical subjects. Precisionism originated in the 1920s, allied with European Cubism's fascination with shape and geometric…

State of the art on hydrogen passive auto-catalytic recombiner (european union Parsoar project)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnould, F.; Bachellerie, E.; Auglaire, M.; Boeck, B. de; Braillard, O.; Eckardt, B.; Ferroni, F.; Moffett, R.; Van Goethem, G.

2001-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the European Union PARSOAR project, which consists in carrying out a state of the art on hydrogen passive auto-catalytic recombiner (PAR) and a handbook guide for implementing these devices in nuclear power plants. This work is performed in the area ''Operational Safety of Existing Installations'' of the key action ''Nuclear Fission'' of the fifth Euratom Framework Programme (1998-2002). (author)

Effects of Soft Loans and Credit Guarantees on Performance of Supported Firms: Evidence from the Czech Public Programme START

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ondřej Dvouletý

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article was to conduct an empirical evaluation of the Czech public programme START, which was funded from the European Regional Development Fund. The programme lasted from 2007–2011, and supported new entrepreneurs through the zero interest soft loans and credit guarantees. The counterfactual analysis (using three matching techniques: propensity score, nearest neighbour, and kernel was conducted on the firm level and investigated the changes in financial performance (net profits, return on assets (ROA, return on equity (ROE, sales, assets turnover, and debt ratio of the supported firms four years after the end of intervention. The obtained findings could not support the hypothesis assuming a positive impact of the programme on the firm’s performance. On the contrary, supported companies reported on average lower sales and lower return on assets, when compared to the control group. The remaining variables could not prove any statistically significant impact of the programme. Indicators measuring firm’s profitability (net profit, return on assets, and return on equity suggested a negative influence of the programme and the variable representing debt ratio further indicated that firms that were supported by the programme reported on average higher debt ratio in comparison with the control group. Several policy implications are discussed in the study.

The Science of Optics; The History of Art

Science.gov (United States)

Falco, Charles

Recently, renowned artist David Hockney observed that certain drawings and paintings from as early as the Renaissance seemed almost ''photographic'' in detail. Following an extensive visual investigation of western art of the past 1000 years, he made the revolutionary claim that artists even of the prominence of van Eyck and Bellini must have used optical aids. However, many art historians insisted there was no supporting evidence for such a remarkable assertion. In this talk I will show a wealth of optical evidence for his claim that Hockney and I subsequently discovered during an unusual, and remarkably productive, collaboration between an artist and a scientist. I also discuss the imaging properties of the concave mirror and some of the implications this work has for the history of science as well as the history of art (and the modern fields of machine vision and computerized image analysis). These discoveries convincingly demonstrate optical instruments were in use - by artists, not scientists - nearly 200 years earlier than commonly thought possible, and account for the remarkable transformation in the reality of portraits that occurred early in the 15th century. Acknowledgment: This work was done in collaboration with David Hockney.

Art Rocks with Rock Art!

Science.gov (United States)

Bickett, Marianne

2011-01-01

This article discusses rock art which was the very first "art." Rock art, such as the images created on the stone surfaces of the caves of Lascaux and Altimira, is the true origin of the canvas, paintbrush, and painting media. For there, within caverns deep in the earth, the first artists mixed animal fat, urine, and saliva with powdered minerals…

Health service delivery models for the provision of antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarus, Jeffrey V; Safreed-Harmon, Kelly; Nicholson, Joey; Jaffar, Shabbar

2014-10-01

In response to the lack of evidence-based guidance for how to continue scaling up antiretroviral therapy (ART) in ways that make optimal use of limited resources, to assess comparative studies of ART service delivery models implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. A systematic literature search and analysis of studies that compared two or more methods of ART service delivery using either CD4 count or viral load as a primary outcome. Most studies identified in this review were small and non-randomised, with low statistical power. Four of the 30 articles identified by this review conclude that nurse management of ART compares favourably to physician management. Seven provide evidence of the viability of managing ART at lower levels within the health system, and one indicates that vertical and integrated ART programmes can achieve similar outcomes. Five articles show that community/home-based ART management can be as effective as facility-based ART management. Five of seven articles investigating community support link it to better clinical outcomes. The results of four studies suggest that directly observed therapy may not be an important component of ART programmes. Given that the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy represents the most sweeping change in healthcare delivery in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, it is surprising to not find more evidence from comparative studies to inform implementation strategies. The studies reported on a wide range of service delivery models, making it difficult to draw conclusions about some models. The strongest evidence was related to the feasibility of decentralisation and task-shifting, both of which appear to be effective strategies. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Development of an evidence-based self-management programme for patients in the first year after renal transplantation with a focus on prevention of weight gain, physical exercise and drug adherence].

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid-Mohler, Gabriela; Fehr, Thomas; Witschi, Patrick; Albiez, Thomas; Biotti, Beatrice; Spirig, Rebecca

2013-06-01

In the first year after kidney transplantation patients are challenged with incorporating new behaviour patterns into their daily lives. Due to the higher risk of cardiovascular disease amongst kidney transplant recipients, behaviours such as preventing undesired weight gain, exercising, avoiding smoking, and managing medications take on crucial importance. The aim of the project was to develop a programme based on prevailing evidence to promote self-management skills in this patient population. To this end a participatory action research approach was chosen. The programme was developed with inter-professional collaboration under the direction of an advanced practice nurse. As theoretical framework for the development of the intervention models of behaviour change and self-management were chosen. The content is based on current literature and includes the viewpoints of both patients and nursing experts. The programme consists of three elements: 1) Educational brochures developed through inter-professional collaboration and evaluated in a pilot survey. These brochures provide a framework for appointments with nursing professionals. 2) The appointments are a forum in which the patient can gain access to relevant information and can be supported in putting sustainable health-related behaviours into practice in daily life. 3) A peer programme that uses treatment plans to encourage patients deviating from preferred health-related behaviours to make changes in their behaviour. The programme evaluation started in May of 2012. Results of the pilot study are expected in 2014.

Inositol Treatment and ART Outcomes in Women with PCOS.

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, Deepika; Tal, Reshef

2016-01-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 5-10% of women in reproductive age and is characterized by oligo/amenorrhea, androgen excess, insulin resistance, and typical polycystic ovarian morphology. It is the most common cause of infertility secondary to ovulatory dysfunction. The underlying etiology is still unknown but is believed to be multifactorial. Insulin-sensitizing compounds such as inositol, a B-complex vitamin, and its stereoisomers (myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol) have been studied as an effective treatment of PCOS. Administration of inositol in PCOS has been shown to improve not only the metabolic and hormonal parameters but also ovarian function and the response to assisted-reproductive technology (ART). Accumulating evidence suggests that it is also capable of improving folliculogenesis and embryo quality and increasing the mature oocyte yield following ovarian stimulation for ART in women with PCOS. In the current review, we collate the evidence and summarize our current knowledge on ovarian stimulation and ART outcomes following inositol treatment in women with PCOS undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Inositol Treatment and ART Outcomes in Women with PCOS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deepika Garg

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS affects 5–10% of women in reproductive age and is characterized by oligo/amenorrhea, androgen excess, insulin resistance, and typical polycystic ovarian morphology. It is the most common cause of infertility secondary to ovulatory dysfunction. The underlying etiology is still unknown but is believed to be multifactorial. Insulin-sensitizing compounds such as inositol, a B-complex vitamin, and its stereoisomers (myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol have been studied as an effective treatment of PCOS. Administration of inositol in PCOS has been shown to improve not only the metabolic and hormonal parameters but also ovarian function and the response to assisted-reproductive technology (ART. Accumulating evidence suggests that it is also capable of improving folliculogenesis and embryo quality and increasing the mature oocyte yield following ovarian stimulation for ART in women with PCOS. In the current review, we collate the evidence and summarize our current knowledge on ovarian stimulation and ART outcomes following inositol treatment in women with PCOS undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI.

NDA National Graduate Programme 'nucleargraduates'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dawson, Carl

2010-07-01

The aim of this paper is to outline the NDA National Graduate Programme (nuclear graduates). The NDA has a remit under the Energy Act (2004) 'to maintain and develop the skills for decommissioning and nuclear clean-up'. Although current research is now being reviewed, there is significant evidence to suggest that the age profile in the Site Licence Companies is skewed towards older workers and there is likely to be a skill shortage in 3-5 years. As nuclear clean-up is a national issue; skill shortages also become a national issue in a very real sense. In addition, evidence suggests that the industry needs to be constantly challenged in order to achieve its targets for decommissioning. The NDA has a unique position under the Act. It is both a strategic overseer and direct employer. To this end the 'National Graduate Programme' is aligned to both the NDA's previous succession plans and the needs of the industry. Industry needs leadership that challenges the status quo and moves the UK nuclear industry to become best in class; Industry needs a dedicated to programme to address skills shortages and difficult to recruit areas such as, but not exclusively, estimators, schedulers, contract managers, site engineers, decommissioning technicians, safety monitors; The NDA has indicated a 'commercial and politically savvy' cohort is required to meet its own internal challenges and to ensure sustainability in its own workforce, and to be sensitive to the needs of customers and suppliers alike; Need to create a more diversified workforce in the nuclear industry and also plan for new skills evolving from research and development breakthroughs; Need to ensure that Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 contractors invest in the leadership and skills for the future. World Class - delivery will be benchmarked against UK based multinational companies who operate in a global graduate attraction and development marketplace. The graduates targeted will be from leading

Observation and image-making in Gothic art

Science.gov (United States)

Givens

1999-01-01

Since the 16th century, art historians have debated the methods of medieval artists. A frequent topic of discussion and one that has been invoked at times to distinguish the medieval artist from his early modern successor is the extent to which medieval art is based on the observation of nature. In this vein, much recent commentary has focused on selected works whose descriptiveness challenges the schematism of most medieval imagery. As argued here, assessing these images and the visual evidence they present of the artist's working method requires a methodology that is sensitive to the syntax of visual communication.

Global Reduction in HIV-related Maternal Mortality: ART as a Key Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamisu M. Salihu, MD, PhD

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Dr. Holtz and colleagues present a synthesis of evidence from published studies over the previous decade on the collective impact of HIV-targeted interventions on maternal mortality. Amongst an assortment of interventions [that include antiretroviral therapy (ART, micronutrients (multivitamins, vitamin A and selenium, and antibiotics], only ART reduced maternal mortality among HIV-infected pregnant and post-partum mothers. These findings have fundamental and global strategic implications. They are also timely since they provide the evidence that ART reduces HIV-related maternal mortality, and by further enhancing access to ART in HIV-challenged and poor regions of the world, significant improvement in maternal morbidity and mortality indices could be attained. The paper bears good tidings and sound scientific proof that the financial investment made globally by government and non-governmental organizations and agencies to reduce the global burden of HIV/AIDS primarily by making ART more accessible to regions of the world most affected by the epidemic is beginning to show beneficial effects not only in terms of numerical reductions in the rates of new cases of HIV/AIDS among women, but also in maternal mortality levels.

Programme of basic nuclear research and associated fields 1977-1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

Nuclear research and development have been intensively pursued in West Germany by the Government and the Laender since 1955. In this period, the aims and official measures for fostering the research and use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes were laid down in four nuclear programmes. The 4th Nuclear Programme covers the period 1973 to 1976. From 1977, nuclear development became part of the energy research programme which was published by the West German Government in the spring of 1977. The basic nuclear research, however, was regarded as part of a total concept for fostering basic research (to be developed). While all the activities of research in the natural sciences and arts fostered by the West German Ministry of Research and Technology were to be co-ordinated in a more schematic form in the plan for 'Basic Research', it is the aim of the present statement to take stock of the present situation in 'Basic Nuclear Research' including the associated fields of 'Nuclear Solid Research' and 'Synchrotron Radiation', to analyse their structure, to describe the scientific aims for the next five years and to determine the total financial requirements. The basis for determining the financial programme worked out by the expert committee on 'Physical Research in the Nuclear Field' and the other committees in this field. The plans are in agreement with the medium term plan of the West German Ministry of Research and Technology (at 27.10.1977) and their contents correspond to the state of affairs at the end of 1977. (orig./UA) [de

Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Aubert, M; Brumm, A; Ramli, M; Sutikna, T; Saptomo, E W; Hakim, B; Morwood, M J; van den Bergh, G D; Kinsley, L; Dosseto, A

2014-10-09

Archaeologists have long been puzzled by the appearance in Europe ∼40-35 thousand years (kyr) ago of a rich corpus of sophisticated artworks, including parietal art (that is, paintings, drawings and engravings on immobile rock surfaces) and portable art (for example, carved figurines), and the absence or scarcity of equivalent, well-dated evidence elsewhere, especially along early human migration routes in South Asia and the Far East, including Wallacea and Australia, where modern humans (Homo sapiens) were established by 50 kyr ago. Here, using uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, we show that rock art traditions on this Indonesian island are at least compatible in age with the oldest European art. The earliest dated image from Maros, with a minimum age of 39.9 kyr, is now the oldest known hand stencil in the world. In addition, a painting of a babirusa ('pig-deer') made at least 35.4 kyr ago is among the earliest dated figurative depictions worldwide, if not the earliest one. Among the implications, it can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art by ∼40 kyr ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world.

Technology transfer trends in Indian space programme

Science.gov (United States)

Sridhara Murthi, K. R.; Shoba, T. S.

2010-10-01

Indian space programme, whose objectives involve acceleration of economic and social development through applications of space technology, has been engaged in the development of state-of-the-art satellite systems, launch vehicles and equipment necessary for applications. Even during the early phase of evolution of this Programme, deliberate policies have been adopted by the national space agency, namely, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to promote spin-off benefit from the technologies developed for the use of space projects. Consistently adhering to this policy, ISRO has transferred over 280 technologies till date, spanning a wide spectrum of disciplines. This has resulted in a fruitful two-way cooperation between a number of SMEs and the ISRO. In order to make the technology transfer process effective, ISRO has adopted a variety of functional and organizational policies that included awareness building measures, licensee selection methods, innovative contract systems, diverse transfer processes, post licencing services and feedback mechanisms. Besides analyzing these policies and their evolution, the paper discusses various models adopted for technology transfer and their impact on assessment. It also touches upon relevant issues relating to creating interface between public funded R&D and the private commercial enterprises. It suggests few models in which international cooperation could be pursued in this field.

Managing Evaluation: A Community Arts Organisation Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Swan, Peter; Atkinson, Sarah

2012-09-01

Arts and health organisations must increasingly provide measurable evidence of impact to stakeholders, which can pose both logistical and ideological challenges. This paper examines the relationship between the ethos of an arts and health organisation with external demands for evaluation. Research involved an ethnographic engagement where the first author worked closely with the organisation for a year. In addition to informal discussions, twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with core staff and participants. Transcribed interviews were coded and emerging themes were identified. Staff considered evaluation to be necessary and useful, yet also to be time consuming and a potential threat to their ethos. Nevertheless, they were able to negotiate the terms of evaluation to enable them to meet their own needs as well as those of funders and other stakeholders. While not completely resisting outside demands for evaluation, the organisation was seen to intentionally rework demands for evidence into processes they felt they could work with, thus enabling their ethos to be maintained.

The development of an evidence-based physical self-management rehabilitation programme for cancer survivors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Weert, Ellen; Hoekstra-Weebers, Josette E H M; May, Anne M; Korstjens, Irene; Ros, Wynand J G; van der Schans, Cees

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the development of a physical training programme for cancer patients. Four related but conceptually and empirically distinct physical problems are described: decreased aerobic capacity, decreased muscle strength, fatigue and impaired role physical functioning. The

The development of an evidence-based physical self-management rehabilitation programme for cancer survivors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Weert, Ellen; Hoekstra-Weebers, Josette E. H. M.; May, Anne M.; Korstjens, Irene; Ros, Wynand J. G.; van der Schans, Cees P.

Objective: This paper describes the development of a physical training programme for cancer patients. Four related but conceptually and empirically distinct physical problems are described: decreased aerobic capacity, decreased muscle strength, fatigue and impaired role physical functioning. The

Old Friends, Bookends: Art Educators and Art Therapists

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, Amanda

2013-01-01

This viewpoint presents a reflection on a meaningful relationship that developed between a university art education department and a local art therapy studio. Such partnerships are desirable and mutually beneficial because of the significant interest many art educators have in the field of art therapy. The author, an art educator, describes the…

Parent-training programmes for improving maternal psychosocial health.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlow, J; Coren, E

2004-01-01

Mental health problems are common and there is evidence to suggest that the origins of such problems lie in infancy and childhood. In particular, there is evidence from a range of studies to suggest that maternal psychosocial health can have a significant effect on the mother-infant relationship, and that this in turn can have consequences for both the short and long-term psychological health of the child. The use of parenting programmes is increasing in the UK and elsewhere and evidence of their effectiveness in improving outcomes for children has been provided. Evidence is now required of their effectiveness in improving outcomes for mothers. The objective of this review is to address whether group-based parenting programmes are effective in improving maternal psychosocial health including anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. A range of biomedical, social science, educational and general reference electronic databases were searched including MEDLINE, EMBASE CINAHL, PsychLIT, ERIC, ASSIA, Sociofile and the Social Science Citation Index. Other sources of information included the Cochrane Library (SPECTR, CENTRAL), and the National Research Register (NRR). Only randomised controlled trials were included in which participants had been randomly allocated to an experimental and a control group, the latter being a waiting-list, no-treatment or a placebo control group. Studies had to include at least one group-based parenting programme, and one standardised instrument measuring maternal psychosocial health. A systematic critical appraisal of all included studies was undertaken using a modified version of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published criteria. The treatment effect for each outcome in each study was standardised by dividing the mean difference in post-intervention scores for the intervention and treatment group, by the pooled standard deviation, to produce an effect size. Where appropriate the results were then combined in a meta

Cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention for high-risk groups at scale: an economic evaluation of the Avahan programme in south India.

Science.gov (United States)

Vassall, Anna; Pickles, Michael; Chandrashekar, Sudhashree; Boily, Marie-Claude; Shetty, Govindraj; Guinness, Lorna; Lowndes, Catherine M; Bradley, Janet; Moses, Stephen; Alary, Michel; Vickerman, Peter

2014-09-01

Avahan is a large-scale, HIV preventive intervention, targeting high-risk populations in south India. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of Avahan to inform global and national funding institutions who are considering investing in worldwide HIV prevention in concentrated epidemics. We estimated cost effectiveness from a programme perspective in 22 districts in four high-prevalence states. We used the UNAIDS Costing Guidelines for HIV Prevention Strategies as the basis for our costing method, and calculated effect estimates using a dynamic transmission model of HIV and sexually transmitted disease transmission that was parameterised and fitted to locally observed behavioural and prevalence trends. We calculated incremental cost-effective ratios (ICERs), comparing the incremental cost of Avahan per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted versus a no-Avahan counterfactual scenario. We also estimated incremental cost per HIV infection averted and incremental cost per person reached. Avahan reached roughly 150 000 high-risk individuals between 2004 and 2008 in the 22 districts studied, at a mean cost per person reached of US$327 during the 4 years. This reach resulted in an estimated 61 000 HIV infections averted, with roughly 11 000 HIV infections averted in the general population, at a mean incremental cost per HIV infection averted of $785 (SD 166). We estimate that roughly 1 million DALYs were averted across the 22 districts, at a mean incremental cost per DALY averted of $46 (SD 10). Future antiretroviral treatment (ART) cost savings during the lifetime of the cohort exposed to HIV prevention were estimated to be more than $77 million (compared with the slightly more than $50 million spent on Avahan in the 22 districts during the 4 years of the study). This study provides evidence that the investment in targeted HIV prevention programmes in south India has been cost effective, and is likely to be cost saving if a commitment is made to provide ART to all

Vision, eye disease, and art: 2015 Keeler Lecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Marmor, M F

2016-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine normal vision and eye disease in relation to art. Ophthalmology cannot explain art, but vision is a tool for artists and its normal and abnormal characteristics may influence what an artist can do. The retina codes for contrast, and the impact of this is evident throughout art history from Asian brush painting, to Renaissance chiaroscuro, to Op Art. Art exists, and can portray day or night, only because of the way retina adjusts to light. Color processing is complex, but artists have exploited it to create shimmer (Seurat, Op Art), or to disconnect color from form (fauvists, expressionists, Andy Warhol). It is hazardous to diagnose eye disease from an artist's work, because artists have license to create as they wish. El Greco was not astigmatic; Monet was not myopic; Turner did not have cataracts. But when eye disease is documented, the effects can be analyzed. Color-blind artists limit their palette to ambers and blues, and avoid greens. Dense brown cataracts destroy color distinctions, and Monet's late canvases (before surgery) showed strange and intense uses of color. Degas had failing vision for 40 years, and his pastels grew coarser and coarser. He may have continued working because his blurred vision smoothed over the rough work. This paper can barely touch upon the complexity of either vision or art. However, it demonstrates some ways in which understanding vision and eye disease give insight into art, and thereby an appreciation of both art and ophthalmology.

Communicating Ecology Through Art: What Scientists Think

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J. Curtis

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Many environmental issues facing society demand considerable public investment to reverse. However, this investment will only arise if the general community is supportive, and community support is only likely if the issues are widely understood. Scientists often find it difficult to communicate with the general public. The role of the visual and performing arts is often overlooked in this regard, yet the arts have long communicated issues, influenced and educated people, and challenged dominant paradigms. To assess the response of professional ecologists to the role of the arts in communicating science, a series of constructed performances and exhibitions was integrated into the program of a national ecological conference over five days. At the conclusion of the conference, responses were sought from the assembled scientists and research students toward using the arts for expanding audiences to ecological science. Over half the delegates said that elements of the arts program provided a conducive atmosphere for receiving information, encouraged them to reflect on alternative ways to communicate science, and persuaded them that the arts have a role in helping people understand complex scientific concepts. A sizeable minority of delegates (24% said they would consider incorporating the arts in their extension or outreach efforts. Incorporating music, theatre, and dance into a scientific conference can have many effects on participants and audiences. The arts can synthesize and convey complex scientific information, promote new ways of looking at issues, touch people's emotions, and create a celebratory atmosphere, as was evident in this case study. In like manner, the visual and performing arts should be harnessed to help extend the increasingly unpalatable and urgent messages of global climate change science to a lay audience worldwide.

"Making it personal": ideology, the arts, and shifting registers in health promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruthven, Jessica S

2016-01-01

In South Africa, health promotion related to HIV/AIDS has been characterised as a component of public health prevention. It has heavily utilised global health ideology to construct promotional messages that rely on neoliberal models of individual, responsible health citizenship. However, after nearly 30 years of public health messaging, there have been only minor shifts in the country's HIV prevalence rates; it has become apparent that there is disconnect between policy, programmes, and target audiences. Debates about where this disconnect occurs tend to focus on the role of problems in biomedical knowledge translation or with structural inequalities that lead to health inequity. As debates increase, artists involved in health have emerged to address an additional reason: audience interpellation. In this article, I interrogate relationships between health promotion ideology and processes of interpellation. I suggest that disconnect between the two has roots in the tone of programming, the ways sociality is constructed within health promotion, and the kind of subject which global prevention programmes seek to constitute. Using a case study, I illustrate how public health ideology is made actionable through arts practice. While conventional health promotion programmes address populations in a way that allows individuals to distance themselves, members of South Africa's arts sector have worked to integrate prevention and care in a way that bolsters interpellation through making messages personal. The case study presents one performance but is informed by my broader research with over 20 theatrical groups conducted during 18 months of fieldwork. Analysis of the production reveals that artists act as mediators between population-level public health messages and individuals through the embodied technologies of applied theatre. However, I argue that artists also create space for participants to reimagine configurations of care, responsibility, and intimacy within health

Costs and longer-term savings of parenting programmes for the prevention of persistent conduct disorder: a modelling study

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Beecham Jennifer

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Conduct disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders in children and may persist into adulthood in about 50% of cases. The costs to society are high and impact many public sector agencies. Parenting programmes have been shown to positively affect child behaviour, but little is known about their potential long-term cost-effectiveness. We therefore estimate the costs of and longer-term savings from evidence-based parenting programmes for the prevention of persistent conduct disorder. Methods A decision-analytic Markov model compares two scenarios: 1 a 5-year old with clinical conduct disorder receives an evidence-based parenting programme; 2 the same 5-year old does not receive the programme. Cost-savings analysis is performed by comparing the probability that conduct disorder persists over time in each scenario, adopting both a public sector and a societal perspective. If the intervention is successful in reducing persistent conduct disorder, cost savings may arise from reduced use of health services, education support, social care, voluntary agencies and from crimes averted. Results Results strongly suggest that parenting programmes reduce the chance that conduct disorder persists into adulthood and are cost-saving to the public sector within 5-8 years under base case conditions. Total savings to society over 25 years are estimated at £16,435 per family, which compares with an intervention cost in the range of £952-£2,078 (2008/09 prices. Conclusions Effective implementation of evidence-based parenting programmes is likely to yield cost savings to the public sector and society. More research is needed to address evidence gaps regarding the current level of provision, longer-term effectiveness and questions of implementation, engagement and equity.

The connection between art, healing, and public health: a review of current literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuckey, Heather L; Nobel, Jeremy

2010-02-01

This review explores the relationship between engagement with the creative arts and health outcomes, specifically the health effects of music engagement, visual arts therapy, movement-based creative expression, and expressive writing. Although there is evidence that art-based interventions are effective in reducing adverse physiological and psychological outcomes, the extent to which these interventions enhance health status is largely unknown. Our hope is to establish a foundation for continued investigation into this subject and to generate further interest in researching the complexities of engagement with the arts and health.

The development of a classification schema for arts-based approaches to knowledge translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Archibald, Mandy M; Caine, Vera; Scott, Shannon D

2014-10-01

Arts-based approaches to knowledge translation are emerging as powerful interprofessional strategies with potential to facilitate evidence uptake, communication, knowledge, attitude, and behavior change across healthcare provider and consumer groups. These strategies are in the early stages of development. To date, no classification system for arts-based knowledge translation exists, which limits development and understandings of effectiveness in evidence syntheses. We developed a classification schema of arts-based knowledge translation strategies based on two mechanisms by which these approaches function: (a) the degree of precision in key message delivery, and (b) the degree of end-user participation. We demonstrate how this classification is necessary to explore how context, time, and location shape arts-based knowledge translation strategies. Classifying arts-based knowledge translation strategies according to their core attributes extends understandings of the appropriateness of these approaches for various healthcare settings and provider groups. The classification schema developed may enhance understanding of how, where, and for whom arts-based knowledge translation approaches are effective, and enable theorizing of essential knowledge translation constructs, such as the influence of context, time, and location on utilization strategies. The classification schema developed may encourage systematic inquiry into the effectiveness of these approaches in diverse interprofessional contexts. © 2014 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Individual, household, programme and community effects on childhood malnutrition in rural India.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaram, S; Zottarelli, Lisa K; Sunil, T S

2007-04-01

The children living in rural areas of India disproportionately suffer from malnutrition compared with their urban counterparts. The present article analyses the individual, household, community and programme factors on nutritional status of children in rural India. Additionally, we consider the random variances at village and state levels after introducing various observed individual-, household- and programme-level characteristics in the model. A multilevel model is conducted using data from the National Family and Health Survey 2. The results show that maternal characteristics, such as socio-economic and behavioural factors, are more influential in determining childhood nutritional status than the prevalence of programme factors. Also, it was found that individual factors show evidence of state- and village-level clustering of malnutrition.

The economic impact of workplace wellness programmes in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, J C; Yaquian, E; Burke, S M; Rouse, M; Zaric, G

2017-08-01

The economic benefits of workplace wellness programmes (WWPs) are commonly cited as a reason for employers to implement such programmes; however, there is limited evidence outside of the US context exploring their economic impact. US evidence is less relevant in countries such as Canada with universal publicly funded health systems because of the lower potential employer savings from WWPs. To conduct a systematic review of the Canadian literature investigating the economic impact of WWPs from an employer perspective. The quality of that evidence was also assessed. We reviewed literature which included analyses of four economic outcomes: return on investment calculations; cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analyses; valuations of productivity, turnover, absenteeism and/or presenteeism costs; and valuations of health care utilization costs. We applied the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Economic Evaluation Working Party Checklist to evaluate the quality of this evidence. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Although the studies showed that WWPs generated economic benefits from an employer perspective (largely from productivity changes), none of the reviewed studies were in the high-quality category (i.e. fulfilled at least 75% of the checklist criteria) and most had severe methodological issues. Though the Canadian literature pertaining to the economic impact of WWPs spans over three decades, robust evidence on this topic remains sparse. Future research should include a comparable control group, a time horizon of over a year, both direct and indirect costs, and researchers should apply analytical techniques that account for potential selection bias. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society of Occupational Medicine 2017.

The Appreciative Pedagogy of Palliative Care: Arts-Based or Evidence-Based?

OpenAIRE

Lander, Dorothy A.; Graham-Pole, John R

2006-01-01

The authors integrate poetry and narrative into their self-study application of the research methodology known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) focused on: (a) their personal and professional practice and development; (b) their teaching practice in universities and informal/popular education settings; and, (c) their educational research in the area of hospice and palliative care giving. AI is both an arts-based participatory philosophy of practice and a qualitative research methodology.

The intersection of antiretroviral therapy, peer support programmes ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evidence suggests that interventions for people living with HIV infection that include, in combination, antiretroviral therapy (ART), peer support and economic empowerment are likely to be more effective than if used alone. We report a qualitative study in West Nile Uganda that explored perceptions of HIV stigma among ...

Improving body composition and strength in athletes through a 4-month combined martial arts and strength training program

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Aleksandra Stachoń

2016-06-01

2Zakład Sportów Indywidualnych, Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego, ul. Paderewskiego 35, Wrocław       Corresponding author: Dr Aleksandra Jadwiga Stachoń, e-mail: aleksandra.stachon@awf.wroc.pl Departament of Physical Anthropology, University School of Physical Education in Wrocław, al. I.J. Paderewskiego 35, bud. P2, 51-612 Wrocław; Poland Phone: 71 347 33 44         Key words: resistance training, body build, body composition, combat sport.   Abstract Background and aim. Body composition is one of key components of health in both general and athletic populations. In martial arts great significance is attached to the development of mesomorphy and strength, which are crucial for performing offensive and defensive actions during fights. The study proposes to introduce progressive strength training programme - arranged primarily for beginners – in order to improve body composition of non-elite male martial arts competitors. The present study aims to evaluate the changes in body massiveness, body composition and strength in 31 martial arts practitioners from academic sports clubs after a combined martial arts and strength training programme. Material and methods. The 16-week intervention was based on a targeted progressive resistance training protocol developed by Stefaniak [1995]. The anthropometric, physical and motoric measurements were performed twice at four months interval. This programme includes training three times weekly with increased number of repetitions (19-24, number of sets (1-3 and increased loads (5%. Results. After the completion of the training program, significant increase for about 1.8 kgin body mass was observed. Body massiveness (BMI increased from 23.2 ± 1.8 kg/m2 to 23.9 ± 1.8 kg/m2. The analysis using Sheldon’s somatotypes revealed an increase of mesomorphy (from 5.5 to 5.7 and decrease of ectomorphy (from 2.5 to 2.4. The level of endomorphy became stable (2.1. The maximal circumferences of flexed arm, forearm, calf and

Disease management programmes in Germany: a fundamental fault.

Science.gov (United States)

Felder, Stefan

2006-12-01

In 2001 Germany introduced disease management programmes (DMPs) in order to give sick funds an incentive to improve the treatment of the chronically ill. By 1 March 2005, a total of 3275 programmes had been approved, 2760 for diabetes, 390 for breast cancer and 125 for coronary heart disease, covering roughly 1 million patients. German DMPs show a major fault regarding financial incentives. Sick funds increase their transfers from the risk adjustment scheme when their clients enroll in DMPs. Since this money is a lump sum, sick funds do not necessarily foster treatment of the chronically ill. Similarly, reimbursement of physicians is also not well targeted to the needs of DMPs. Preliminary evidence points to poor performance of German DMPs.

An evaluation of the UK programme for CO{sub 2} reduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buchdahl, J.M.; Longhurst, J.W.S.; Rowe, E.J. [Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester (United Kingdom). Atmospheric Research and Information Centre, Dept. of Environmental and Geographic Sciences

1995-12-31

This paper is concerned with an evaluation of the UK national programme for carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emission reduction, in the context of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. It assesses whether the precautionary approach, as it stands, fully meets the objective of the FCCC (Articla 2), in the light of current scientific evidence. It examines the approach of one developed economy, the UK, in developing its national programme and also the major issues which may affect the attainment of emissions abatement targets. 13 refs., 3 tabs.

Arts Impact: Lessons from ArtsBridge

Science.gov (United States)

Shimshon-Santo, Amy R.

2010-01-01

Arts Impact summarizes lessons learned at the ArtsBridge Program. It is informed by in-depth participant observation, logic modeling, and quantitative evaluation of program impact on K-12 students in inner city schools and arts students at the University of California Los Angeles over a two year period. The case study frames its analysis through a…

Knowledge Translation Capacity of Arts-informed Dissemination: A Narrative Study

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Jennifer L Lapum

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Arts-informed dissemination is an expanding approach to enhancing knowledge translation in the health sciences. Problematic is the minimal evaluation studies and the rare reporting of the influencing factors of knowledge translation. “The 7,024th Patient” is a research-derived art installation created to disseminate findings about patients’ experiences of heart surgery and the importance of humanistic patient-centred care approaches. The current study’s purpose was to explore how arts-informed dissemination (i.e., “The 7,024th Patient” influenced healthcare practitioners’ delivery of care. Methods: An arts-informed narrative study was guided by the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework. The sample included a multi-disciplinary group of 19 individuals who worked with patients undergoing and recovering from heart surgery. Two interviews were conducted with each participant at the time of viewing the installation and 6 months later. A narrative analysis was conducted using Pictorial Narrative Mapping techniques. Results: Study findings indicated that the arts as a form of evidence provide an experiential and aesthetic encounter, which stimulated reflective practice. Participants’ accounts reflected cognitive and behavioral modifications related to empathy, holistic approaches and relational care. However, the complexities associated with the interpretive process and the influencing knowledge translation elements indicated a need to dialogue about the translation process, including deconstructing the evidence within the context of one’s own practice. Conclusions: Art is not just works of beauty or eccentric paintings. There is an imaginative and aesthetic capacity that can be cultivated with diligence, creativity, and rigour in the world of healthcare research and knowledge translation. Next steps require the examination of the knowledge translation capacity of different art forms with

Targeting married women in microfinance programmes: transforming or reinforcing gender inequalities? : evidence from Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekele, H.

2010-01-01

With the expansion of microfinance programmes in the low-income countries, millions of
poor women in these countries have been able to access microfinancial services,
particularly microcredit and savings. The provision of microfinance services to women has
been largely premised on

What did all the money do? On the general ineffectiveness of recent West German labour market programmes

OpenAIRE

Wunsch, Conny; Lechner, Michael

2007-01-01

We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of West German labour market programmes by evaluating training and employment programmes that have been conducted 2000-2002 after the first large reform of German labour market policy in 1998. We employ exceptionally rich administrative data that allow us to use microeconometric matching methods and to estimate interesting effects for different types of programmes and participants at a rather disaggregated level. We find that, on average, all progr...

Recognizing and Imitating Programmer Style: Adversaries in Program Authorship Attribution

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Simko Lucy

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Source code attribution classifiers have recently become powerful. We consider the possibility that an adversary could craft code with the intention of causing a misclassification, i.e., creating a forgery of another author’s programming style in order to hide the forger’s own identity or blame the other author. We find that it is possible for a non-expert adversary to defeat such a system. In order to inform the design of adversarially resistant source code attribution classifiers, we conduct two studies with C/C++ programmers to explore the potential tactics and capabilities both of such adversaries and, conversely, of human analysts doing source code authorship attribution. Through the quantitative and qualitative analysis of these studies, we (1 evaluate a state-of-the-art machine classifier against forgeries, (2 evaluate programmers as human analysts/forgery detectors, and (3 compile a set of modifications made to create forgeries. Based on our analyses, we then suggest features that future source code attribution systems might incorporate in order to be adversarially resistant.

Attend the lecture of the first artist-scientist inspiration partners of the Collide@CERN programme

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

Julius Von Bismarck, the first winner of the Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN residency award for the digital arts and his science inspiration partner, Dr. James Wells, will present their individual work in art and science at the beginning of the residency on Wednesday 21 March at 18:45 at the Globe of Science and Innovation.   Hands up, this is a photo shoot! Julius Von Bismarck in action. All are welcome! The event will be in English, the common language between the artist and the scientist. To make a reservation for you and any guests, please send an e-mail to merce.monje.cano@cern.ch or call +41 22 76 75 246. For the complete programme of the event, see the official invitation.

The need for theory evaluation in global citizenship programmes: The case of the GCSA programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodier, Sarah; Field, Carren; Goodman, Suki

2018-02-01

Many education programmes lack a documented programme theory. This is a problem for programme planners and evaluators as the ability to measure programme success is grounded in the plausibility of the programme's underlying causal logic. Where the programme theory has not been documented, conducting a theory evaluation offers a foundational evaluation step as it gives an indication of whether the theory behind a programme is sound. This paper presents a case of a theory evaluation of a Global Citizenship programme at a top-ranking university in South Africa, subsequently called the GCSA Programme. This evaluation highlights the need for documented programme theory in global citizenship-type programmes for future programme development. An articulated programme theory produced for the GCSA Programme, analysed against the available social science literature, indicated it is comparable to other such programmes in terms of its overarching framework. What the research found is that most other global citizenship programmes do not have an articulated programme theory. These programmes also do not explicitly link their specific activities to their intended outcomes, making demonstrating impact impossible. In conclusion, we argue that taking a theory-based approach can strengthen and enable outcome evaluations in global citizenship programmes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Male genital representation in paleolithic art: erection and circumcision before history.

Science.gov (United States)

Angulo, Javier C; García-Díez, Marcos

2009-07-01

To report on the likely existing evidence about the practice of circumcision in prehistory, or at least a culture of foreskin retraction, and also the meaning of erection in Paleolithic minds. The origin of the ritual of circumcision has been lost in time. Similarly, the primitive anthropologic meaning of erection is undefined. We studied the archeologic and artistic evidence regarding human representations performed during the Upper Paleolithic period, 38,000 to 11,000 years BCE, in Europe, with a focus on genital male representations in portable and rock art. Drawings, engravings, and sculptures displaying humans are relatively scarce, and death. Therefore, erection could be understood as a phenomenon related to the shamanic transit between life and death. The erection in Paleolithic art is explicitly represented in almost all the figures defined as unequivocally male that have survived to the present and in many objects of portable art. Circumcision and/or foreskin retraction of the penis are present in most of the works.

Implications of differentiated care for successful ART scale-up in a concentrated HIV epidemic in Yangon, Myanmar.

Science.gov (United States)

Mesic, Anita; Fontaine, Julie; Aye, Theingy; Greig, Jane; Thwe, Thin Thin; Moretó-Planas, Laura; Kliesckova, Jarmila; Khin, Khin; Zarkua, Nana; Gonzalez, Lucia; Guillergan, Erwin Lloyd; O'Brien, Daniel P

2017-07-21

National AIDS Programme in Myanmar has made significant progress in scaling up antiretroviral treatment (ART) services and recognizes the importance of differentiated care for people living with HIV. Indeed, long centred around the hospital and reliant on physicians, the country's HIV response is undergoing a process of successful decentralization with HIV care increasingly being integrated into other health services as part of a systematic effort to expand access to HIV treatment. This study describes implementation of differentiated care in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported programmes and reports its outcomes. A descriptive cohort analysis of adult patients on antiretroviral treatment was performed. We assessed stability of patients as of 31 December 2014 and introduced an intervention of reduced frequency of physicians' consultations for stable patients, and fast tract ART refills. We measured a number of saved physician's visits as the result of this intervention. Main outcomes, remained under care, death, lost to follow up, treatment failure, were assessed on 31 December 2015 and reported as rates for different stable groups. On 31 December 2014, our programme counted 16, 272 adult patients enrolled in HIV care, of whom 80.34% were stable. The model allowed for an increase in the average number of patients one medical team could care for - from 745 patients in 2011 to 1, 627 in 2014 - and, thus, a reduction in the number of teams needed. An assessment of stable patients enrolled on ART one year after the implementation of the new model revealed excellent outcomes, aggregated for stable patients as 98.7% remaining in care, 0.4% dead, 0.8% lost to follow-up, 0.8% clinical treatment failure and 5.8% with immunological treatment failure. Implementation of a differentiated model reduced the number of visits between stable clients and physicians, reduced the medical resources required for treatment and enabled integrated treatment of the main co

Programme documentation to control programme for Solar-tracker; Programdokumentation til styringsprogram til Solar-tracker

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rudbeck, C.

1995-07-01

The report contains the programme documentation partly for a programme to control of a tracking system and partly a programme, which uses this programme to make measurements of transmittance for covering layer. Both the transmittance measurement programme and the programme is built in Borland Pascal v7.0, and is compiled in Real mode for the use on a processor of the 80X86-family. The source code for the programme for transmittance measurements and the programmes (the positioning routines) are described in Appendix B. (EHS)

The art of being mentally healthy: a study to quantify the relationship between recreational arts engagement and mental well-being in the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Christina; Knuiman, Matthew; Rosenberg, Michael

2016-01-05

/year, WEMWBS score = 52) and medium (23-99.9 hours/year, WEMWBS score = 53) levels of engagement (p = 0.003). Respondents with none, low and medium arts engagement had similar WEMWBS scores (p = 0.358). The relationship between arts engagement and WEMWBS was nonlinear with evidence of a minimum threshold at 100 or more hours/year (p = 0.0006). Evidence of an arts-mental health relationship was found in this study. Those who engaged in 100 or more hours/year of arts engagement (i.e. two or more hours/week) reported significantly better mental well-being than other levels of engagement. The suitability of the arts as a population based strategy to influence the mental well-being of the general population should be investigated further.

Students’ perception of the learning environment in a distributed medical programme

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Kiran Veerapen

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Background : The learning environment of a medical school has a significant impact on students’ achievements and learning outcomes. The importance of equitable learning environments across programme sites is implicit in distributed undergraduate medical programmes being developed and implemented. Purpose : To study the learning environment and its equity across two classes and three geographically separate sites of a distributed medical programme at the University of British Columbia Medical School that commenced in 2004. Method : The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey was sent to all students in their 2nd and 3rd year (classes graduating in 2009 and 2008 of the programme. The domains of the learning environment surveyed were: students’ perceptions of learning, students’ perceptions of teachers, students’ academic self-perceptions, students’ perceptions of the atmosphere, and students’ social self-perceptions. Mean scores, frequency distribution of responses, and inter- and intrasite differences were calculated. Results : The perception of the global learning environment at all sites was more positive than negative. It was characterised by a strongly positive perception of teachers. The work load and emphasis on factual learning were perceived negatively. Intersite differences within domains of the learning environment were more evident in the pioneer class (2008 of the programme. Intersite differences consistent across classes were largely related to on-site support for students. Conclusions : Shared strengths and weaknesses in the learning environment at UBC sites were evident in areas that were managed by the parent institution, such as the attributes of shared faculty and curriculum. A greater divergence in the perception of the learning environment was found in domains dependent on local arrangements and social factors that are less amenable to central regulation. This study underlines the need for ongoing

Students' perception of the learning environment in a distributed medical programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Veerapen, Kiran; McAleer, Sean

2010-09-24

The learning environment of a medical school has a significant impact on students' achievements and learning outcomes. The importance of equitable learning environments across programme sites is implicit in distributed undergraduate medical programmes being developed and implemented. To study the learning environment and its equity across two classes and three geographically separate sites of a distributed medical programme at the University of British Columbia Medical School that commenced in 2004. The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey was sent to all students in their 2nd and 3rd year (classes graduating in 2009 and 2008) of the programme. The domains of the learning environment surveyed were: students' perceptions of learning, students' perceptions of teachers, students' academic self-perceptions, students' perceptions of the atmosphere, and students' social self-perceptions. Mean scores, frequency distribution of responses, and inter- and intrasite differences were calculated. The perception of the global learning environment at all sites was more positive than negative. It was characterised by a strongly positive perception of teachers. The work load and emphasis on factual learning were perceived negatively. Intersite differences within domains of the learning environment were more evident in the pioneer class (2008) of the programme. Intersite differences consistent across classes were largely related to on-site support for students. Shared strengths and weaknesses in the learning environment at UBC sites were evident in areas that were managed by the parent institution, such as the attributes of shared faculty and curriculum. A greater divergence in the perception of the learning environment was found in domains dependent on local arrangements and social factors that are less amenable to central regulation. This study underlines the need for ongoing comparative evaluation of the learning environment at the distributed sites and

Stories of change: The case of a foundation phase teacher professional development programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruce Brown

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The study reported in this article responds to the need for empirical studies that provide evidence of positive change in education at the micro-level of the classroom – an important component of the complex education environment in South Africa. This article describes teachers’ and principals’ reports of micro-level changes that occurred during a professional development programme for foundation phase teachers at a South African university. An overview of the principles underpinning the programme design and implementation is given, followed by a description of the qualitative research design and grounded theory methodology used to research changes in the practices of teachers participating in the programme. The study provides evidence of changes in the classroom and professional practice of the teachers, aligned with changes in academic practice and children’s learning in the classroom. We argue that the programme’s strong orientation to practice, its focus on teachers’ understanding of children, and the model of teacher professional development that is located in reflexive practice together may have facilitated positive changes in the teachers’ practices.

Integrated planning of laboratory, in-situ, modelling and natural analogue studies in the Swiss radioactive waste management programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKinley, I.G.; Zuidema, P.

2001-01-01

After more than 25 years of development, the Swiss radioactive waste management programme has a well established disposal strategy supported by an integrated R and D infrastructure. The process of implementation of repository projects is constrained by political factors, but a dynamic R and D programme is strongly guided by periodic integrated performance assessments and includes: Experimental studies in conventional and ''hot'' laboratories; Projects in underground test facilities and field test sites; Model development verification and validation; Natural and archaeological analogue projects. R and D in the Swiss national programme focuses on filling remaining gaps in system understanding, enhancing confidence via validation and demonstration projects, system optimisation and maintaining state of the art technical capacity in key areas. Increasingly, such work is carried out in collaboration with partner national waste management organisations. In addition, The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) provides support services to developing programmes - which allows Nagra to widen its range of experience while providing attractive access to a knowledge base accumulated at a cost of over 750 M CHF. (author)

Views of commissioners, managers and healthcare professionals on the NHS Health Check programme: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Katie; Harte, Emma; Martin, Adam; MacLure, Calum; Griffin, Simon J; Mant, Jonathan; Meads, Catherine; Saunders, Catherine L; Walter, Fiona M; Usher-Smith, Juliet A

2017-11-15

To synthesise data concerning the views of commissioners, managers and healthcare professionals towards the National Health Service (NHS) Health Check programme in general and the challenges faced when implementing it in practice. A systematic review of surveys and interview studies with a descriptive analysis of quantitative data and thematic synthesis of qualitative data. An electronic literature search of MEDLINE, Embase, Health Management Information Consortium, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Global Health, PsycInfo, Web of Science, OpenGrey, the Cochrane Library, NHS Evidence, Google Scholar, Google, ClinicalTrials.gov and the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry from 1 January 1996 to 9 November 2016 with no language restriction and manual screening of reference lists of all included papers. Primary research reporting views of commissioners, managers or healthcare professionals on the NHS Health Check programme and its implementation in practice. Of 18 524 citations, 15 articles met the inclusion criteria. There was evidence from both quantitative and qualitative studies that some commissioners and general practice (GP) healthcare professionals were enthusiastic about the programme, whereas others raised concerns around inequality of uptake, the evidence base and cost-effectiveness. In contrast, those working in pharmacies were all positive about programme benefits, citing opportunities for their business and staff. The main challenges to implementation were: difficulties with information technology and computer software, resistance to the programme from some GPs, the impact on workload and staffing, funding and training needs. Inadequate privacy was also a challenge in pharmacy and community settings, along with difficulty recruiting people eligible for Health Checks and poor public access to some venues. The success of the NHS Health Check Programme relies on engagement by those responsible for its

Contemplative Education: A Systematic, Evidence-Based Review of the Effect of Meditation Interventions in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Waters, Lea; Barsky, Adam; Ridd, Amanda; Allen, Kelly

2015-01-01

Schools need reliable evidence about the outcomes of meditation programs before they consider if and how such programmes can influence learning agendas, curriculum and timetables. This paper reviewed evidence from 15 peer-reviewed studies of school meditation programmes with respect to three student outcomes: well-being, social competence and…

Group-based parent training programmes for improving emotional and behavioural adjustment in young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlow, Jane; Bergman, Hanna; Kornør, Hege; Wei, Yinghui; Bennett, Cathy

2016-08-01

Emotional and behavioural problems in children are common. Research suggests that parenting has an important role to play in helping children to become well-adjusted, and that the first few months and years are especially important. Parenting programmes may have a role to play in improving the emotional and behavioural adjustment of infants and toddlers, and this review examined their effectiveness with parents and carers of young children. 1. To establish whether group-based parenting programmes are effective in improving the emotional and behavioural adjustment of young children (maximum mean age of three years and 11 months); and2. To assess whether parenting programmes are effective in the primary prevention of emotional and behavioural problems. In July 2015 we searched CENTRAL (the Cochrane Library), Ovid MEDLINE, Embase (Ovid), and 10 other databases. We also searched two trial registers and handsearched reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews. Two reviewers independently assessed the records retrieved by the search. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs of group-based parenting programmes that had used at least one standardised instrument to measure emotional and behavioural adjustment in children. One reviewer extracted data and a second reviewer checked the extracted data. We presented the results for each outcome in each study as standardised mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Where appropriate, we combined the results in a meta-analysis using a random-effects model. We used the GRADE (Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach to assess the overall quality of the body of evidence for each outcome. We identified 22 RCTs and two quasi-RCTs evaluating the effectiveness of group-based parenting programmes in improving the emotional and behavioural adjustment of children aged up to three years and 11 months (maximum mean age three years 11 months

State of the art on hydrogen passive auto-catalytic recombiner (european union Parsoar project)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arnould, F.; Bachellerie, E. [Technicatome, 13 - Aix en Provence (France); Auglaire, M. [Tractebel Energy Engineering, Brussels (Belgium); Boeck, B. de [Association Vincotte Nuclear, Brussels (Belgium); Braillard, O. [CEA Cadarache, 13 - Saint Paul lez Durance (France); Eckardt, B. [Siemens AG, Offenbach am Main (Germany); Ferroni, F. [Electrowatt Engineering Limited, Zurich (Switzerland); Moffett, R. [Atomic Energy Canada Limited, Pinawa (Canada); Van Goethem, G. [European Commission, Brussels (Belgium)

2001-07-01

This paper presents an overview of the European Union PARSOAR project, which consists in carrying out a state of the art on hydrogen passive auto-catalytic recombiner (PAR) and a handbook guide for implementing these devices in nuclear power plants. This work is performed in the area ''Operational Safety of Existing Installations'' of the key action ''Nuclear Fission'' of the fifth Euratom Framework Programme (1998-2002). (author)

Organisational Art

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ferro-Thomsen, Martin

creation of a practical utopia (?heterotopia?) in the organisational context. The case study makes use of both art- and organisational theory. The thesis concludes with an outline of a framework for OA that is derived from contemporary theory of mainly Relational Aesthetics (Bourriaud), Conceptual Art......University of Copenhagen / Learning Lab Denmark. 2005 Kort beskrivelse: Organisational Art is a tentative title for an art form that works together with organisations to produce art. This is most often done together with non-artist members of the organisation and on-site in their social context. OA...... is characterised as socially engaged, conceptual, discursive, site-specific and contextual. Abstract: This investigation is about Organisational Art (OA), which is a tentative title for an art form that works together with organisations (companies, institutions, communities, governments and NGOs) to produce art...

Support for Arts Education. State Arts Agency Fact Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 2011

2011-01-01

Supporting lifelong learning in the arts is a top priority for state arts agencies. By supporting arts education in the schools, state arts agencies foster young imaginations, address core academic standards, and promote the critical thinking and creativity skills essential to a 21st century work force. State arts agencies also support…

Community Environmental Education as a Model for Effective Environmental Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Morag

2008-01-01

The benefits of community environmental education outlined in environmental education literature are supported by the findings and implications of a research study undertaken in New Zealand. Evidence from a two-case case study suggests that environmental programmes guided by the key principles and practices of community environmental education,…

An Inquiry of How Art Education Policies Are Reflected in Art Teacher Preparation: Examining the Standards for Visual Arts and Art Teacher Certification

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Kyungeun

2017-01-01

Policy changes influence various aspects of art education such as K-12 art education curricula, state licensure systems, and contexts of art teacher preparation. Despite strong relationships between art education policy and practical fields, few studies have attempted to understand art education from the perspective of policy analysis. This study…

Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of lay health worker programmes to improve access to maternal and child health: qualitative evidence synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Carlsen, Benedicte; Swartz, Alison; Lewin, Simon; Noyes, Jane; Rashidian, Arash

2013-10-08

Lay health workers (LHWs) perform functions related to healthcare delivery, receive some level of training, but have no formal professional or paraprofessional certificate or tertiary education degree. They provide care for a range of issues, including maternal and child health. For LHW programmes to be effective, we need a better understanding of the factors that influence their success and sustainability. This review addresses these issues through a synthesis of qualitative evidence and was carried out alongside the Cochrane review of the effectiveness of LHWs for maternal and child health. The overall aim of the review is to explore factors affecting the implementation of LHW programmes for maternal and child health. We searched MEDLINE, OvidSP (searched 21 December 2011); MEDLINE Ovid In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, OvidSP (searched 21 December 2011); CINAHL, EBSCO (searched 21 December 2011); British Nursing Index and Archive, OvidSP (searched 13 May 2011). We searched reference lists of included studies, contacted experts in the field, and included studies that were carried out alongside the trials from the LHW effectiveness review. Studies that used qualitative methods for data collection and analysis and that focused on the experiences and attitudes of stakeholders regarding LHW programmes for maternal or child health in a primary or community healthcare setting. We identified barriers and facilitators to LHW programme implementation using the framework thematic synthesis approach. Two review authors independently assessed study quality using a standard tool. We assessed the certainty of the review findings using the CerQual approach, an approach that we developed alongside this and related qualitative syntheses. We integrated our findings with the outcome measures included in the review of LHW programme effectiveness in a logic model. Finally, we identified hypotheses for subgroup analyses in future updates of the review of effectiveness. We

Engaging Secondary School Students in Food-Related Citizenship: Achievements and Challenges of A Multi-Component Programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mat Jones

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Global food security and sustainability, animal welfare, dietary health, and socially just relations of food production have become prominent societal issues. They are of particular concern for young people as their lives progress towards becoming independent consumers and citizens with the capacity to shape food systems of the future. This paper examined the role of the Food for Life Partnership programme in promoting young people’s engagement with food-related citizenship education in secondary schools. The research consisted of a two stage study of 24 English schools. We surveyed experiences and attitudes of students and staff, and recorded programme activities. The results presented a mixed picture. Staff reports and monitoring evidence showed much successful implementation of programme activities across the whole school. However, there was less evidence of positive student behavioral change. Amongst a range of possibilities to account for the findings, one explanation is the organizational challenges of delivering a complex and ambitious programme in the secondary school setting. This suggests the need to develop food citizenship programmes that combine long term institutional reforms alongside focused interventions with specific groups of students. It also highlights the case for ensuring a place for food related citizenship on the educational policy agenda.

Questioning gender norms with men to improve health outcomes: evidence of impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, G; Ricardo, C; Nascimento, M; Olukoya, A; Santos, C

2010-01-01

This article describes a review of 58 evaluation studies of programmes with men and boys in sexual and reproductive health (including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support); father involvement; gender-based violence; maternal, newborn and child health; and gender socialisation more broadly. While few of the programmes go beyond the pilot stage, or a relatively short-term timeframe, they offer compelling evidence that well-designed programmes with men and boys can lead to positive changes in their behaviours and attitudes related to sexual and reproductive health; maternal, newborn and child health; their interaction with their children; their use of violence against women; their questioning of violence with other men; and their health-seeking behaviour. The evidence indicates that programmes that incorporate a gender-transformative approach and promote gender-equitable relationships between men and women are more effective in producing behaviour change than narrowly focused interventions, as are programmes which reach beyond the individual level to the social context.

VISUAL ART APPRECIATION IN NIGERIA: THE ZARIA ART ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ndubuisi

2017-02-02

Feb 2, 2017 ... award a Diploma certificate in art, Nigerian College of Arts, Science and ... the activities of NCAST which was the first institution of higher learning in Nigeria to award .... The Zaria Art Society was a product of an informal discussion between .... of young men from the Zaria art school who were inspired and ...

The Liberal Arts and the Martial Arts.

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Donald N.

1984-01-01

Liberal arts and the martial arts are compared from the perspective that courses of training in the martial arts often constitute exemplary educational programs and are worth examining closely. Program characteristics, individual characteristics fostered by them, the relationship between liberal and utilitarian learning, and the moral…

The Return of the Body: Performance Art and Art Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Gaye Leigh

1999-01-01

Explains that performance art incorporates different artistic forms, emphasizes the process of art over the product, and blurs the line between life and art. Discusses the history of performance art, highlights the Performance Art, Culture, and Pedagogy Symposium, and provides examples of how to use performance art in the classroom. (CMK)

Newborn hearing screening programme in Belgium: a consensus recommendation on risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Vos, Bénédicte; Senterre, Christelle; Lagasse, Raphaël; Levêque, Alain

2015-10-16

Understanding the risk factors for hearing loss is essential for designing the Belgian newborn hearing screening programme. Accordingly, they needed to be updated in accordance with current scientific knowledge. This study aimed to update the recommendations for the clinical management and follow-up of newborns with neonatal risk factors of hearing loss for the newborn screening programme in Belgium. A literature review was performed, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system assessment method was used to determine the level of evidence quality and strength of the recommendation for each risk factor. The state of scientific knowledge, levels of evidence quality, and graded recommendations were subsequently assessed using a three-round Delphi consensus process (two online questionnaires and one face-to-face meeting). Congenital infections (i.e., cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis, and syphilis), a family history of hearing loss, consanguinity in (grand)parents, malformation syndromes, and foetal alcohol syndrome presented a 'high' level of evidence quality as neonatal risk factors for hearing loss. Because of the sensitivity of auditory function to bilirubin toxicity, hyperbilirubinaemia was assessed at a 'moderate' level of evidence quality. In contrast, a very low birth weight, low Apgar score, and hospitalisation in the neonatal intensive care unit ranged from 'very low' to 'low' levels, and ototoxic drugs were evidenced as 'very low'. Possible explanations for these 'very low' and 'low' levels include the improved management of these health conditions or treatments, and methodological weaknesses such as confounding effects, which make it difficult to conclude on individual risk factors. In the recommendation statements, the experts emphasised avoiding unidentified neonatal hearing loss and opted to include risk factors for hearing loss even in cases with weak evidence. The panel also highlighted the cumulative effect

Outcomes and Impact of HIV Prevention, ART and TB Programs in Swaziland – Early Evidence from Public Health Triangulation

Science.gov (United States)

van Schalkwyk, Cari; Mndzebele, Sibongile; Hlophe, Thabo; Garcia Calleja, Jesus Maria; Korenromp, Eline L.; Stoneburner, Rand; Pervilhac, Cyril

2013-01-01

Introduction Swaziland’s severe HIV epidemic inspired an early national response since the late 1980s, and regular reporting of program outcomes since the onset of a national antiretroviral treatment (ART) program in 2004. We assessed effectiveness outcomes and mortality trends in relation to ART, HIV testing and counseling (HTC), tuberculosis (TB) and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). Methods Data triangulated include intervention coverage and outcomes according to program registries (2001-2010), hospital admissions and deaths disaggregated by age and sex (2001-2010) and population mortality estimates from the 1997 and 2007 censuses and the 2007 demographic and health survey. Results By 2010, ART reached 70% of the estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS with CD4<350/mm3, with progressively improving patient retention and survival. As of 2010, 88% of health facilities providing antenatal care offered comprehensive PMTCT services. The HTC program recorded a halving in the proportion of adults tested who were HIV-infected; similarly HIV infection rates among HIV-exposed babies halved from 2007 to 2010. Case fatality rates among hospital patients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS started to decrease from 2005–6 in adults and especially in children, contrasting with stable case fatality for other causes including TB. All-cause child in-patient case fatality rates started to decrease from 2005–6. TB case notifications as well as rates of HIV/TB co-infection among notified TB patients continued a steady increase through 2010, while coverage of HIV testing and CPT for co-infected patients increased to above 80%. Conclusion Against a background of high, but stable HIV prevalence and decreasing HIV incidence, we documented early evidence of a mortality decline associated with the expanded national HIV response since 2004. Attribution of impact to specific interventions (versus natural epidemic dynamics) will require additional data from future

Food and beverage cues in children's television programmes: the influence of programme genre.

Science.gov (United States)

Scully, Paul; Reid, Orlaith; Macken, Alan; Healy, Mark; Saunders, Jean; Leddin, Des; Cullen, Walter; Dunne, Colum; O'Gorman, Clodagh S

2016-03-01

The link between childhood obesity and both television viewing and television advertising have previously been examined. We sought to investigate the frequency and type of food and beverage placements in children-specific television broadcasts and, in particular, differences between programme genres. Content of five weekdays of children-specific television broadcasting on both UK (BBC) and Irish (RTE) television channels was summarized. Food and beverage placements were coded based on type of product, product placement, product use and characters involved. A comparison was made between different programme genres: animated, cartoon, child-specific, film, quiz, tween and young persons' programming. A total of 1155 (BBC=450; RTE=705) cues were recorded giving a cue every 4·2 min, an average of 12·3 s/cue. The genre with most cues recorded was cartoon programming (30·8%). For the majority of genres, cues related to sweet snacks (range 1·8-23·3%) and sweets/candy (range 3·6-25·8%) featured highly. Fast-food (18·0%) and sugar-sweetened beverage (42·3%) cues were observed in a high proportion of tween programming. Celebratory/social motivation factors (range 10-40 %) were most common across all genres while there were low proportions of cues based on reward, punishment or health-related motivating factors. The study provides evidence for the prominence of energy-dense/nutrient-poor foods and beverages in children's programming. Of particular interest is the high prevalence of fast-food and sugar-sweetened beverage cues associated with tween programming. These results further emphasize the need for programme makers to provide a healthier image of foods and beverages in children's television.

Mortality and loss to programme before antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected children eligible for treatment in The Gambia, West Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Okomo Uduak

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background HIV infection among children, particularly those under 24 months of age, is often rapidly progressive; as a result guidelines recommend earlier access to combination antiretroviral therapy (cART for HIV infected children. Losses to follow-up (LTFU and death in the interval between diagnosis and initiation of ART profoundly limit this strategy. This study explores correlates of LTFU and death prior to ART initiation among children. Methods The study is based on 337 HIV-infected children enrolled into care at an urban centre in The Gambia, including those alive and in care when antiretroviral therapy became available and those who enrolled later. Children were followed until they started ART, died, transferred to another facility, or were LTFU. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to determine the hazard of death or LTFU according to the baseline characteristics of the children. Results Overall, 223 children were assessed as eligible for ART based on their clinical and/or immunological status among whom 73 (32.7% started treatment, 15 (6.7% requested transfer to another health facility, 105 (47.1% and 30 (13.5% were lost to follow-up and died respectively without starting ART. The median survival following eligibility for children who died without starting treatment was 2.8 months (IQR: 0.9 - 5.8 with over half (60% of all deaths occurring at home. ART-eligible children less than 2 years of age and those in WHO stage 3 or 4 were significantly more likely to be LTFU when compared with their respective comparison groups. The overall pre-treatment mortality rate was 25.7 per 100 child-years of follow-up (95% CI 19.9 - 36.8 and the loss to programme rate was 115.7 per 100 child-years of follow-up (95% CI 98.8 - 137. In the multivariable Cox proportional hazard model, significant independent predictors of loss to programme were being less than 2 years of age and WHO stage 3 or 4. The Adjusted Hazard Ratio

South African CSP projects under the REIPPP programme - Requirements, challenges and opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Relancio, Javier; Cuellar, Alberto; Walker, Gregg; Ettmayr, Chris

2016-05-01

Thus far seven Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects have been awarded under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), totalling 600MW: one project is in operation, four under construction and two on their way to financial close. This provides an excellent opportunity for analysis of key features of the projects that have contributed to or detracted from the programme's success. The paper draws from Mott MacDonald's involvement as Technical Advisor on the seven CSP projects that have been successful under the REIPPPP to date as well as other global CSP developments. It presents how various programme requirements have affected the implementation of projects, such as the technical requirements, time of day tariff structure, economic development requirements and the renewable energy grid code. The increasingly competitive tariffs offered have encouraged developers to investigate efficiency maximising project configurations and cost saving mechanisms, as well as featuring state of the art technology in their proposals. The paper assesses the role of the project participants (developers, lenders and government) with regards to these innovative technologies and solutions. In our paper we discuss the status of projects and the SA market, analysing the main challenges and opportunities that in turn have influenced various aspects such as technology choice, operational regimes and supply chain arrangements.

Into the Past: A Step Towards a Robust Kimberley Rock Art Chronology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, June; Westaway, Kira; Travers, Meg; Morwood, Michael J; Hayward, John

2016-01-01

The recent establishment of a minimum age estimate of 39.9 ka for the origin of rock art in Sulawesi has challenged claims that Western Europe was the locus for the production of the world's earliest art assemblages. Tantalising excavated evidence found across northern Australian suggests that Australia too contains a wealth of ancient art. However, the dating of rock art itself remains the greatest obstacle to be addressed if the significance of Australian assemblages are to be recognised on the world stage. A recent archaeological project in the northwest Kimberley trialled three dating techniques in order to establish chronological markers for the proposed, regional, relative stylistic sequence. Applications using optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) provided nine minimum age estimates for fossilised mudwasp nests overlying a range of rock art styles, while Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) results provided an additional four. Results confirm that at least one phase of the northwest Kimberley rock art assemblage is Pleistocene in origin. A complete motif located on the ceiling of a rockshelter returned a minimum age estimate of 16 ± 1 ka. Further, our results demonstrate the inherent problems in relying solely on stylistic classifications to order rock art assemblages into temporal sequences. An earlier than expected minimum age estimate for one style and a maximum age estimate for another together illustrate that the Holocene Kimberley rock art sequence is likely to be far more complex than generally accepted with different styles produced contemporaneously well into the last few millennia. It is evident that reliance on techniques that produce minimum age estimates means that many more dating programs will need to be undertaken before the stylistic sequence can be securely dated.

Into the Past: A Step Towards a Robust Kimberley Rock Art Chronology.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

June Ross

Full Text Available The recent establishment of a minimum age estimate of 39.9 ka for the origin of rock art in Sulawesi has challenged claims that Western Europe was the locus for the production of the world's earliest art assemblages. Tantalising excavated evidence found across northern Australian suggests that Australia too contains a wealth of ancient art. However, the dating of rock art itself remains the greatest obstacle to be addressed if the significance of Australian assemblages are to be recognised on the world stage. A recent archaeological project in the northwest Kimberley trialled three dating techniques in order to establish chronological markers for the proposed, regional, relative stylistic sequence. Applications using optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL provided nine minimum age estimates for fossilised mudwasp nests overlying a range of rock art styles, while Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C results provided an additional four. Results confirm that at least one phase of the northwest Kimberley rock art assemblage is Pleistocene in origin. A complete motif located on the ceiling of a rockshelter returned a minimum age estimate of 16 ± 1 ka. Further, our results demonstrate the inherent problems in relying solely on stylistic classifications to order rock art assemblages into temporal sequences. An earlier than expected minimum age estimate for one style and a maximum age estimate for another together illustrate that the Holocene Kimberley rock art sequence is likely to be far more complex than generally accepted with different styles produced contemporaneously well into the last few millennia. It is evident that reliance on techniques that produce minimum age estimates means that many more dating programs will need to be undertaken before the stylistic sequence can be securely dated.

The changing impact of the AIDS epidemic on older-age parents in the era of ART: evidence from Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Knodel, John

2012-03-01

Previous research makes clear that before antiretroviral therapy (ART), when HIV led to disabling illness and certain death, many older persons as parents of infected adults experienced adverse emotional, material and social consequences. The present study examines how widespread access to ART is transforming the situation in Thailand. Interviews with parents of adult ART recipients reveal that major improvements in the health of their adult children under treatment is associated with major reductions in parental caregiving and expenses associated with their HIV-infected child although parents continue to provide psychological support. Parents own worry about their child's health also declines. Most adult children on ART are able to continue or resume economic activity and many contribute to support of the parental household. ART appears to reduce negative community reaction. Nevertheless, given uncertainty surrounding how long ART can protect against fatal illnesses, whether the adverse impacts of the AIDS epidemic on parents are being eliminated or only postponed remains an open question.

Art for reward's sake: visual art recruits the ventral striatum.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacey, Simon; Hagtvedt, Henrik; Patrick, Vanessa M; Anderson, Amy; Stilla, Randall; Deshpande, Gopikrishna; Hu, Xiaoping; Sato, João R; Reddy, Srinivas; Sathian, K

2011-03-01

A recent study showed that people evaluate products more positively when they are physically associated with art images than similar non-art images. Neuroimaging studies of visual art have investigated artistic style and esthetic preference but not brain responses attributable specifically to the artistic status of images. Here we tested the hypothesis that the artistic status of images engages reward circuitry, using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during viewing of art and non-art images matched for content. Subjects made animacy judgments in response to each image. Relative to non-art images, art images activated, on both subject- and item-wise analyses, reward-related regions: the ventral striatum, hypothalamus and orbitofrontal cortex. Neither response times nor ratings of familiarity or esthetic preference for art images correlated significantly with activity that was selective for art images, suggesting that these variables were not responsible for the art-selective activations. Investigation of effective connectivity, using time-varying, wavelet-based, correlation-purged Granger causality analyses, further showed that the ventral striatum was driven by visual cortical regions when viewing art images but not non-art images, and was not driven by regions that correlated with esthetic preference for either art or non-art images. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis, leading us to propose that the appeal of visual art involves activation of reward circuitry based on artistic status alone and independently of its hedonic value. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A neuromuscular exercise programme versus standard care for patients with traumatic anterior shoulder instability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eshoj, Henrik; Rasmussen, Sten; Frich, Lars Henrik

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Anterior shoulder dislocation is a common injury and may have considerable impact on shoulder-related quality of life (QoL). If not warranted for initial stabilising surgery, patients are mostly left with little to no post-traumatic rehabilitation. This may be due to lack of evidence......-based exercise programmes. In similar, high-impact injuries (e.g. anterior cruciate ligament tears in the knee) neuromuscular exercise has shown large success in improving physical function and QoL. Thus, the objective of this trial is to compare a nonoperative neuromuscular exercise shoulder programme...... dislocations due to at least one traumatic event will be randomised to 12 weeks of either a standardised, individualised or physiotherapist-supervised neuromuscular shoulder exercise programme or standard care (self-managed shoulder exercise programme). Patients will be stratified according to injury status...

HIV prevention policy and programme planning: What can mathematical modelling contribute?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hankins, C.A.

2014-01-01

This thesis explores the potential contribution of mathematical modelling to informed decision-making on policy and programme planning for novel HIV prevention tools. Its hypothesis is that, under certain conditions, modelling results can be a useful addition to the evidence and other factors that

Long-Term Outcome of an HIV-Treatment Programme in Rural Africa: Viral Suppression despite Early Mortality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roos E. Barth

2011-01-01

Results. 63% of patients (466/735 have a fully suppressed HIV-RNA, a median of three years after treatment initiation. Early mortality was high: 14% died within 3 months after treatment start. 16% of patients experienced virological failure, but only 4% was switched to second-line ART. Male gender and a low performance score were associated with treatment failure; immunological failure was a poor predictor of virological failure. Conclusions. An “all or nothing” phenomenon was observed in this rural South African ART programme: high early attrition, but good virological control in those remaining in care. Continued efforts are needed to enrol patients earlier. Furthermore, the observed viro-immunological dissociation emphasises the need to make HIV-RNA testing more widely available.

Quantifying the link between art and property prices in urban neighbourhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Seresinhe, Chanuki Illushka; Preis, Tobias; Moat, Helen Susannah

2016-04-01

Is there an association between art and changes in the economic conditions of urban neighbourhoods? While the popular media and policymakers commonly believe this to be the case, quantitative evidence remains lacking. Here, we use metadata of geotagged photographs uploaded to the popular image-sharing platform Flickr to quantify the presence of art in London neighbourhoods. We estimate the presence of art in neighbourhoods by determining the proportion of Flickr photographs which have the word 'art' attached. We compare this with the relative gain in residential property prices for each Inner London neighbourhood. We find that neighbourhoods which have a higher proportion of 'art' photographs also have greater relative gains in property prices. Our findings demonstrate how online data can be used to quantify aspects of the visual environment at scale and reveal new connections between the visual environment and crucial socio-economic measurements.

ArtsIN: Arts Integration and Infusion Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Hartle, Lynn C.; Pinciotti, Patricia; Gorton, Rebecca L.

2015-01-01

Teaching to meet the diverse learning needs of twenty-first century, global learners can be challenging, yet a growing body of research points to the proved successes of arts-infused and integrated curricula, especially for building capacity for learning and motivation. This article presents the ArtsIN: Arts Integration and Infusion framework, a…

Health benefits of hard martial arts in adults: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Origua Rios, Sandra; Marks, Jennifer; Estevan, Isaac; Barnett, Lisa M

2018-07-01

Participation in organized sports is promoted as a means of increasing physical activity levels and reducing chronic disease risk in adults. Hard martial arts practice (i.e. using body contact techniques), has gained in popularity over time. This review explores the evidence for health benefits of "hard" martial arts practice within the adult population. A systematic electronic database search was conducted, and quality assessments applied the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria, examining balance, cognitive function, muscular skeletal status, psychological, cardiovascular fitness, and metabolic effects. The majority of studies reported positive effects resulting from hard martial arts practice, showing some improvement and maintenance of balance, cognitive function and psychological health. Benefits may be obtained regardless of the age of practice commencement. However, quality of the evidence is affected by methodological weaknesses across the studies. "Hard" martial arts seem to have potential to improve balance and cognitive functions that decline with age, which can lead to poorer health outcomes among the elderly (e.g. cognitive decline, falls and fractures). Benefits should be further investigated with improved intervention studies, representative samples and longer follow-up periods in order to establish associations with morbidity and mortality in the long term.

Cultivating Demand for the Arts: Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Zakaras, Laura; Lowell, Julia F.

2008-01-01

To shed light on the decline in demand for the nonprofit arts, the authors describe what it means to cultivate demand for the arts, examine how well U.S. institutions are serving this function, and discuss whether it is in the public interest to make such cultivation a higher priority than it has been in the past. The authors propose that a strong…

Round Robin/collaborative programme [cyclic crack growth in low alloy steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, R.L.; Hurst, P.; Scott, P.M.

1989-01-01

During the 10 years of its existence International Cooperative Group on Cyclic Crack Growth the (ICCGR) has undertaken five collaborative efforts related to cyclic crack growth and stress corrosion susceptibility in reactor pressure vessel steels. The initial collaborative effort, a data reduction exercise, identified and reconciled several important procedural differences and led to confidence that, given the same crack length versus cycles data, the Group members could all derive similar plots of da/dN versus δK. Subsequently, a low-R testing round robin highlighted the importance of a number of comparatively subtle aspects of the methods used for cyclic crack growth testing in water environments and led to confidence that the various laboratories could generate similar test data, given the same test material and a sufficiently precise and detailed test specification. The results of a high-R test programme support the conclusion that the state of the art of cyclic crack growth testing has now advanced to a point at which coordinated, multilaboratory test programmes are feasible and indeed, such a programme covering the influence of temperature is currently under way. The slow strain rate round robin has highlighted important test variables, notably the electrochemical potential, which must be carefully controlled in assessing the conditions under which pressure vessel steels may suffer from stress corrosion cracking. (author)

Arte Brasileno Erudito y Arte Brasileno Popular. (Brazilian Fine Art and Brazilian Popular Art)

Science.gov (United States)

Valladares, Clarival Do Prado

1969-01-01

Class differences in Brazil explain the inequality between the art produced in the high strata of society and that originating in the economically inferior communities. Genuine expression of art degenerates for two reasons: the influence of modern industrial civilization and the tendency to satisfy the taste of the acquisitive group. (Author/MF)

Ranking of healthcare programmes based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care in hospital pharmacy practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Brisseau, Lionel; Bussières, Jean-François; Bois, Denis; Vallée, Marc; Racine, Marie-Claude; Bonnici, André

2013-02-01

To establish a consensual and coherent ranking of healthcare programmes that involve the presence of ward-based and clinic-based clinical pharmacists, based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. This descriptive study was derived from a structured dialogue (Delphi technique) among directors of pharmacy department. We established a quantitative profile of healthcare programmes at five sites that involved the provision of ward-based and clinic-based pharmaceutical care. A summary table of evidence established a unique quality rating per inpatient (clinic-based) or outpatient (ward-based) healthcare programme. Each director rated the perceived impact of pharmaceutical care per inpatient or outpatient healthcare programme on three fields: health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. They agreed by consensus on the final ranking of healthcare programmes. A ranking was assigned for each of the 18 healthcare programmes for outpatient care and the 17 healthcare programmes for inpatient care involving the presence of pharmacists, based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. There was a good correlation between ranking based on data from a 2007-2008 Canadian report on hospital pharmacy practice and the ranking proposed by directors of pharmacy department. Given the often limited human and financial resources, managers should consider the best evidence available on a profession's impact to plan healthcare services within an organization. Data are few on ranking healthcare programmes in order to prioritize which healthcare programme would mostly benefit from the delivery of pharmaceutical care by ward-based and clinic-based pharmacists. © 2012 The Authors. IJPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Performative, Arts-Based, or Arts-Informed? Reflections on the Development of Arts-Based Research in Music Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ledger, Alison; McCaffrey, Tríona

2015-01-01

Arts-based research (ABR) has emerged in music therapy in diverse ways, employing a range of interpretive paradigms and artistic media. It is notable that no consensus exists as to when and where the arts are included in the research process, or which music therapy topics are most suited to arts-based study. This diversity may pose challenges for music therapists who are developing, reading, and evaluating arts-based research. This paper provides an updated review of arts-based research literature in music therapy, along with four questions for researchers who are developing arts-based research. These questions are 1) When should the arts be introduced? 2) Which artistic medium is appropriate? 3) How should the art be understood? and 4) What is the role of the audience? We argue that these questions are key to understanding arts-based research, justifying methods, and evaluating claims arising from arts-based research. Rather than defining arts-based research in music therapy, we suggest that arts-based research should be understood as a flexible research strategy appropriate for exploring the complexities of music therapy practice. © the American Music Therapy Association 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Auditing emergency management programmes: Measuring leading indicators of programme performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomsic, Heather

Emergency Management Programmes benefit from review and measurement against established criteria. By measuring current vs required programme elements for their actual currency, completeness and effectiveness, the resulting timely reports of achievements and documentation of identified gaps can effectively be used to rationally support prioritised improvement. Audits, with their detailed, triangulated and objectively weighted processes, are the ultimate approach in terms of programme content measurement. Although Emergency Management is often presented as a wholly separate operational mechanism, distinct and functionally different from the organisation's usual management structure, this characterisation is only completely accurate while managing an emergency itself. Otherwise, an organisation's Emergency Management Programme is embedded within that organisation and dependent upon it. Therefore, the organisation's culture and structure of management, accountability and measurement must be engaged for the programme to exist, much less improve. A wise and successful Emergency Management Coordinator does not let the separate and distinct nature of managing an emergency obscure their realisation of the need for an organisation to understand and manage all of the other programme components as part of its regular business practices. This includes its measurement. Not all organisations are sufficiently large or capable of supporting the use of an audit. This paper proposes that alternate, less formal, yet effective mechanisms can be explored, as long as they reflect and support organisational management norms, including a process of relatively informal measurement focused on the organisation's own perception of key Emergency Management Programme performance indicators.

Art Therapy: What Is Art Therapy?

Science.gov (United States)

... individual, couples, family, and group therapy formats. Art therapy is an effective treatment for people experiencing developmental, medical, educational, and social or psychological impairment. Individuals who benefit from art therapy include ...

Mandatory quality assurance programmes for diagnostic radiology facilities in Ontario, Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rainbow, A.J.

1989-01-01

Regulations made under the Healing Arts Radiation Protection (HARP) Act, Government of Ontario, Canada, were promulgated in the form of a safety Code in November, 1985. These regulations require a minimum technical quality assurance (QA) programme for all diagnostic radiology facilities in the Province. The mandatory QA programme requires certain tests and procedures to be carried out at specified intervals. The tests include photographic quality control, patient entrance exposure measurement, collimation, half-value layer, phototiming parameters, fluoroscopic parameters including maximum patient entrance exposure rate, resolution, limit timer and automatic brightness control, and tomographic parameters including fulcrum accuracy, thickness of cut and mechanical stability. Records of the results of these tests must be kept for at least 6 years. A set of HARP guidelines published in June 1987 includes a description of appropriate measuring methods for each test together with a set of forms for recording the results of such tests. The regulations specify limiting values for a number of equipment performance parameters, including the maximum allowable patient skin entrance exposure values for common radiographic projections. (author)

Street-art

OpenAIRE

Rybnikářová, Klára

2009-01-01

This thesis is concerned with the street-art and graffiti phenomenon. The theoretical research is focused on presenting the essence and character of this art style, while also watching it from socio-cultural point of view and observing it in context of art history. The theoretical study is followed by the didactical part of thesis, where I present possibilities of using the street-art theme in art education programs in the school setting. My thesis is concluded with a discussion of a practica...

The Effect of a School-Based Outdoor Education Program on Visual Arts Teachers' Success and Self-Efficacy Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Hursen, Cigdem; Islek, Didem

2017-01-01

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of an education programme developed based on the school-based outdoor education approach on the academic achievement of visual arts teachers, as well as their self-efficacy beliefs for using museums and the natural environment. The aim is likewise to explore the views of the teachers on the…

Patterns of disclosure and antiretroviral treatment adherence in a South African mining workplace programme and implications for HIV prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhagwanjee, Anil; Govender, Kaymarlin; Akintola, Olagoke; Petersen, Inge; George, Gavin; Johnstone, Leigh; Naidoo, Kerisha

2011-01-01

Social and psychological barriers to the disclosure of one's seropositive HIV status to significant others and poor adherence to taking medications pose significant challenges to the scaling-up of access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the workplace. Such barriers are predictive of sub-optimal treatment outcomes and bedevil HIV-prevention interventions at a societal level. Against this background, this article explores the lived experiences of 19 HIV-positive male participants, between the ages of 33 and 57 years, who were enrolled in an ART programme managed at an occupational health clinic at a mining company in South Africa. The majority of these mineworkers had been aware of their HIV status for between 5 and 7 years. The study explored psychological and relational factors, as aspects of these participants lived experiences, which had a bearing on their adherence to their ART regimen and the disclosure choices that they made regarding their HIV status. In our sample, those participants who were adherent demonstrated higher levels of control and acceptance of their HIV infection and were more confident in their ability to manage their treatment, while the group who were non-adherent presented with lower levels of adherence motivation and self-efficacy, difficulties in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and significant challenges in maintaining control over their lives. While most of the men favoured disclosing their HIV status to their partners for the sake of treatment support, they were less sure about disclosing to family members and non-family members, respectively, because of their need to protect these persons and due to their fear of being stigmatised. It was evident that treatment adherence choices and behaviours were impacted by psychological and relational factors, including disclosure decisions. We conclude with a bivariate model for understanding the adherence behaviours that influenced different patterns of ART adherence among the sample, and

Impact of ART on the fertility of HIV-positive women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeatman, Sara; Eaton, Jeffrey W; Beckles, Zosia; Benton, Lorna; Gregson, Simon; Zaba, Basia

2016-09-01

Understanding the fertility of HIV-positive women is critical to estimating HIV epidemic trends from surveillance data and to planning resource needs and coverage of prevention of mother-to-child transmission services in sub-Saharan Africa. In the light of the considerable scale-up in antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage over the last decade, we conducted a systematic review of the impact of ART on the fertility outcomes of HIV-positive women. We searched Medline, Embase, Popline, PubMed and African Index Medicus. Studies were included if they were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and provided estimates of fertility outcomes (live births or pregnancies) among women on ART relative to a comparison group. Of 2070 unique references, 18 published papers met all eligibility criteria. Comparisons fell into four categories: fertility of HIV-positive women relative to HIV-negative women; fertility of HIV-positive women on ART compared to those not yet on ART; fertility differences by duration on ART; and temporal trends in fertility among HIV-positive women. Evidence indicates that fertility increases after approximately the first year on ART and that while the fertility deficit of HIV-positive women is shrinking, their fertility remains below that of HIV-negative women. These findings, however, were based on limited data mostly during the period 2005-2010 when ART scaled up. Existing data are insufficient to characterise how ART has affected the fertility of HIV-positive women in sub-Saharan Africa. Improving evidence about fertility among women on ART is an urgent priority for planning HIV resource needs and understanding HIV epidemic trends. Alternative data sources such as antenatal clinic data, general population cohorts and population-based surveys can be harnessed to understand the issue. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effectiveness of comprehensive tobacco control programmes in reducing teenage smoking in the USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Wakefield, M; Chaloupka, F

2000-06-01

which this is undermined by the tobacco industry and other competitors for funding. Despite the different strengths and combinations of programme messages and strategies used in these comprehensive programmes, there is evidence that they lead to change in factors that influence teenage smoking, and to reductions in teenage smoking.

Arts Education Beyond Art : Teaching Art in Times of Change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Heusden, Bernard; Gielen, Pascal

2015-01-01

People and societies thrive on a versatile and imaginative awareness. Yet the critical debate on arts education is still too often about the qualities of artefacts and technical skills, and tends to neglect issues such as the critical function of the arts in society, artistic cognition and cognitive

'Communicate to vaccinate' (COMMVAC. building evidence for improving communication about childhood vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for a programme of research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lewin Simon

2011-12-01

, evidence, and resources to aid the development of communication strategies for effective vaccination programmes in LMICs.

Art or Science? An Evidence-Based Approach to Human Facial Beauty a Quantitative Analysis Towards an Informed Clinical Aesthetic Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrar, Harpal; Myers, Simon; Ghanem, Ali M

2018-02-01

Patients often seek guidance from the aesthetic practitioners regarding treatments to enhance their 'beauty'. Is there a science behind the art of assessment and if so is it measurable? Through the centuries, this question has challenged scholars, artists and surgeons. This study aims to undertake a review of the evidence behind quantitative facial measurements in assessing beauty to help the practitioner in everyday aesthetic practice. A Medline, Embase search for beauty, facial features and quantitative analysis was undertaken. Inclusion criteria were studies on adults, and exclusions included studies undertaken for dental, cleft lip, oncology, burns or reconstructive surgeries. The abstracts and papers were appraised, and further studies excluded that were considered inappropriate. The data were extracted using a standardised table. The final dataset was appraised in accordance with the PRISMA checklist and Holland and Rees' critique tools. Of the 1253 studies screened, 1139 were excluded from abstracts and a further 70 excluded from full text articles. The remaining 44 were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. It became evident that the datasets were not comparable. Nevertheless, common themes were obvious, and these were summarised. Despite measures of the beauty of individual components to the sum of all the parts, such as symmetry and the golden ratio, we are yet far from establishing what truly constitutes quantitative beauty. Perhaps beauty is truly in the 'eyes of the beholder' (and perhaps in the eyes of the subject too). This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Writing the history of Australian art: its past, present and possible future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Terry Smith

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In the years around 1980 the history of Australian art was reconceived in a bewildering variety of ways. A historiographical revolution was underway. This was largely the result of plethora of new approaches to art history that emerged worldwide during the 1970s: contextual, feminist, populist, Marxist. Aboriginal art awaited detailed art historical consideration. This article places these changes in the context of previous efforts to chart the history of Australian art, which the author argues occurred in six phases: colonial, bourgeois nationalist, realist versus aestheticist, modernist, culturalist, and the approaches noted above. Most of these approaches developed in Australia and were applied by local authors. In recent decades, however, ‘external’ approaches are more evident, and are deeply preoccupied with the question of defining modernism in Australia, which they largely fail to do. The author surveys a number of such attempts, taking this question as the paradoxical key to unraveling the overall structure of the history of Australian art.

State Arts Agency Fact Sheet: Support for Arts Education

Science.gov (United States)

Online Submission, 2015

2015-01-01

This national overview of state arts agency grants and services for arts education includes summary statistics and geographic distribution. The fact sheet uses data from Final Descriptive Reports of state arts agency grant-making activities submitted annually to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) and the National Endowment for…

Parallel Worlds of Education and Medicine: Art, Science, and Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Eileen

2008-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Act is comprised of four pillars, one of which is "proven education methods." This paper attempts to provide a historical context for the development of evidence-based education by examining its foundation in medical practice. Next, the rationale for evidence of educational effectiveness based on a scientific…

Meeting the physics design challenges of modern LWRs being inducted into the Indian nuclear power programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagannathan, V.; Pal, Usha; Karthikeyan, R.; Raj, Devesh; Srivastava, Argala; Khan, Suhail Ahmad

2007-01-01

Indian nuclear power programme started with the two Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) of 210 MWe capacity at Tarapur. Two VVER-1000 MWe reactors which are Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) of Russian design are being constructed at Kudankulam, Tamilnadu and are expected to be commissioned by end 2008. There may be also a possibility of inducting some western PWRs in future. These reactors belong to the category of light water reactors (LWR). The LWRs are compact and have complex physical characteristics distinctly different from those of the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) which, currently form the mainstay of our indigenous nuclear power programme. The physics design and analysis capability for the modern LWRs (BWR, PWR and VVER) has been developed at Light Water Reactors Physics Section, BARC. This paper presents the current state of art in this key technology area to meet the physics design and operation challenges when LWRs would be inducted in a major way into the Indian nuclear power programme and commence operating in the coming decades. (author)

Performing Art-Based Research: Innovation in Graduate Art Therapy Education

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Bruce L.; Hoffman, Nadia

2014-01-01

This article presents an innovation in art therapy research and education in which art-based performance is used to generate, embody, and creatively synthesize knowledge. An art therapy graduate student's art-based process of inquiry serves to demonstrate how art and performance may be used to identify the research question, to conduct a process…

WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide: a systematic review of evidence from low and middle-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Keynejad, Roxanne C; Dua, Tarun; Barbui, Corrado; Thornicroft, Graham

2018-02-01

Despite mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders being highly prevalent, there is a worldwide gap between service need and provision. WHO launched its Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) in 2008, and the Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) in 2010. mhGAP-IG provides evidence-based guidance and tools for assessment and integrated management of priority MNS disorders in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), using clinical decision-making protocols. It targets a non-specialised primary healthcare audience, but has also been used by ministries, non-governmental organisations and academics, for mental health service scale-up in 90 countries. This review aimed to identify evidence to date for mhGAP-IG implementation in LMICs. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge/Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, LILACS, SciELO/Web of Science, Cochrane, Pubmed databases and Google Scholar for studies reporting evidence, experience or evaluation of mhGAP-IG in LMICs, in any language. Data were extracted from included papers, but heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis. We conducted a systematic review of evidence to date, of mhGAP-IG implementation and evaluation in LMICs. Thirty-three included studies reported 15 training courses, 9 clinical implementations, 3 country contextualisations, 3 economic models, 2 uses as control interventions and 1 use to develop a rating scale. Our review identified the importance of detailed reports of contextual challenges in the field, alongside detailed protocols, qualitative studies and randomised controlled trials. The mhGAP-IG literature is substantial, relative to other published evaluations of clinical practice guidelines: an important contribution to a neglected field. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Cost-effectiveness of tobacco control policies and programmes targeting adolescents: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Leão, Teresa; Kunst, Anton E; Perelman, Julian

2018-02-01

Consistent evidence shows the importance of preventing smoking at young ages, when health behaviours are formed, with long-term consequences on health and survival. Although tobacco control policies and programmes targeting adolescents are widely promoted, the cost-effectiveness of such interventions has not been systematically documented. We performed a systematic review on the cost-effectiveness of policies and programmes preventing tobacco consumption targeting adolescents. We systematically reviewed literature on the (i) cost and effectiveness of (ii) prevention policies targeting (iii) smoking by (iv) adolescents. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, CEA-TUFTS, Health Economic Evaluations, Wiley Online Library, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Database, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and Google Scholar databases were used, and Google search engine was used for other grey literature review. We obtained 793 full-text papers and 19 grey literature documents, from which 16 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, only one was published in the last 5 years, and 15 were performed in high-income countries. Eight analyzed the cost-effectiveness of school-based programmes, five focused on media campaigns and three on legal bans. Policies and programmes were found to be cost-effective in all studies, and both effective and cost-saving in about half of the studies. Evidence is scarce and relatively obsolete, and rarely focused on the evaluation of legal bans. Moreover, no comparisons have been made between different interventions or across different contexts and implementation levels. However, all studies conclude that smoking prevention policies and programmes amongst adolescents are greatly worth their costs. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

76 FR 16842 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-25

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that one meeting of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... (ending time is approximate): Arts Education (application review): April 14, 2011, by teleconference. This...

76 FR 70510 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-14

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that ten meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... (ending times are approximate): Arts Education (application review): November 29-December 2, 2011 in Room...

76 FR 20719 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-13

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that nine meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts..., evaluation, and recommendations on financial assistance under the National Foundation on the Arts and the...

Bridging the education-action gap: a near-peer case-based undergraduate ethics teaching programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Wing May; Knight, Selena

2017-10-01

Undergraduate ethics teaching has made significant progress in the past decade, with evidence showing that students and trainee doctors feel more confident in identifying and analysing ethical issues. There is general consensus that ethics education should enable students and doctors to take ethically appropriate actions, and nurture moral integrity. However, the literature reports that doctors continue to find it difficult to take action when faced with perceived unethical behaviour. This has been evident in recent healthcare scandals, in which care has fallen below acceptable ethical standards, despite the presence of professional ethical guidelines and competencies. The National Foundation Training Programme forms the first 2 years of training for new UK doctors. We designed a Foundation Doctor (FD)-led teaching programme in which medical students were invited to bring cases and experiences from clinical placements for small group discussion facilitated by FDs. The aim was to enable students to act ethically in practice through developing moral sensitivity and moral identity, together with skills in ethical reasoning and tools to address barriers to taking ethical action. FDs were chosen as facilitators, based on the evidence that near-peer is an effective form of teaching in medicine and may provide positive role models for students. This article reviews the background rationale for the programme and its design. Important themes emerging from the case discussions are explored. Student and FD facilitator feedbacks are evaluated, and practical challenges to the implementation of this type of programme are discussed. 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/.

Perceptions of an educational programme for registered nurses who work at non-major trauma services in Victoria, Australia: The Nursing Emergency eXternal Trauma Programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Ireland, Sharyn; Cross, Rachel; Decker, Kelly; Mitra, Biswadev

2017-08-01

Emergency nurses working in non-Major Trauma Service (non-MTS) facilities face the challenge of providing immediate care to seriously injured patients, despite infrequent presentations at their workplace. A one-day education programme endorsed by the Australian College of Nursing was developed to provide contemporary trauma education for nurses. The aim of this study was to report participants' perceptions of their experience of this programme. Peer reviewed lesson plans were developed to guide educational activities. Of 32 participants, 24 consented to and completed pre and post-programme surveys. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to report study findings. Most participants were nurses with greater than two years' experience in Emergency Nursing (92%). Trauma patient transfers each year from a non-MTS to a Major Trauma Service occurred infrequently; eight nurses (33.3%) reported greater than10 trauma transfers per year. Participant expectations of the programme included personal growth, knowledge acquisition, increased confidence and a focus on technical skills. Participants reported the day to be worthwhile and valuable; improved confidence, increased knowledge, and the opportunity to discuss current evidence based practice were highly regarded. Recommendations for future programmes included extending to two days and include burns and more complex pathophysiology. With centralisation of trauma care to major trauma services, frequent and continuing education of nurses is essential. Nurses from non-Major Trauma Service facilities in Victoria found this programme worthwhile as they gained knowledge and skills and increased confidence to care for trauma patients. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

75 FR 19664 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-15

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that four meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... recommendations on financial assistance under the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965...

75 FR 35845 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-23

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that three meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, including information...

76 FR 41308 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-13

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that two meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... recommendations on financial assistance under the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965...

75 FR 41902 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-19

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that three meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... financial assistance under the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended...

75 FR 44815 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-29

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that one meeting of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, including information given in...

76 FR 28244 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-16

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that one meeting of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, including information given in confidence...

76 FR 81542 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-28

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that a meeting of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts will... (ending times are approximate): Media Arts (application review): January 24-26, 2012 in Room 716. A...

Time Trend of the People lost follow up on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART Services in Nepal: A Epidemiological Modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brijesh Sathian

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Background: The real state about the spread of the HIV epidemic in Nepal is not clear since the details available are on the basis of repeated integrated biological and behavioral surveillance. Objective To study the trends of People lost follow up on ART in future. Material and methods: A retrospective study was carried out on the data collected from the Health ministry records of Nepal, between 2006 and 2012. Descriptive statistics and statistical modelling were used for the analysis and forecasting of data. Results: Including the constant term from the equation, the quadratic model was the best fit, for the forecasting of People lost follow up on ART. Using quadratic equation, it is estimated that 4331 reported number of People lost follow up on ART will be there in Nepal by the year 2020. Conclusion: The People lost follow up on ART in Nepal are having an increasing trend. Estimates of the total number of People lost follow up on ART attributable to the major routes of infection make an important contribution to public health policy. They can be used for the planning of healthcare services and for contributing to estimates of the future numbers with People lost follow up on ART used for planning health promotion programmes.

Development of a brief multidisciplinary education programme for patients with osteoarthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moe Rikke H

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Osteoarthritis (OA is a prevalent progressive musculoskeletal disorder, leading to pain and disability. Patient information and education are considered core elements in treatment guidelines for OA; however, there is to our knowledge no evidence-based recommendation on the best approach, content or length on educational programmes in OA. Objective: to develop a brief, patient oriented disease specific multidisciplinary education programme (MEP to enhance self-management in patients with OA. Method Twelve persons (80% female mean age 59 years diagnosed with hand, hip or knee OA participated in focus group interviews. In the first focus group, six participants were interviewed about their educational needs, attitudes and expectations for the MEP. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thereafter condensed. Based on results from focus group interviews, current research evidence, clinical knowledge and patients' experience, a multidisciplinary OA team (dietist, nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, physical therapist and rheumatologist and a patient representative developed a pilot-MEP after having attended a work-shop in health pedagogics. Finally, the pilot-MEP was evaluated by a second focus group consisting of four members from the first focus group and six other experienced patients, before final adjustments were made. Results The focus group interviews revealed four important themes: what is OA, treatment options, barriers and coping strategies in performing daily activities, and how to live with osteoarthritis. Identified gaps between patient expectations and experience with the pilot-programme were discussed and adapted into a final MEP. The final MEP was developed as a 3.5 hour educational programme provided in groups of 6-9 patients. All members from the multidisciplinary team are involved in the education programme, including a facilitator who during the provision of the programme ensures that the individual

drawing as an instrument of professional excellence in visual arts

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DJFLEX

... GPA build-up. Several rounds of conversational engagements with some students leave a palpable evidence ... The overall parental attitude to art in Nigeria raises a barrier ..... or indirectly are subjectively assessed to pay them 'in their own ...

Programmable electronics for low-cost small animal PET/SPECT imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerra, Pedro; Rubio, Jose L.; Kontaxakis, Georgios; Ortuno, Juan E.; Ledesma, Maria J.; Santos, Andres

2006-01-01

This work describes and characterizes the detector module of a novel positron/single photon emission (PET/SPECT) scanner for small animals. This detector consists of a YAP/LSO phoswich, a photomultiplier and acquisition front-end, and will be used as building block of a low-cost hybrid tomograph. The front-end processes data sampled at a fixed frequency, where a state-of-the-art programmable device estimates scintillation pulse parameters by means of digital algorithms. Finally, the estimated properties of the proposed detector module are used to model a rotating four-head scanner. The performance of the proposed PET/SPECT scanner is estimated and first results are promising in both modalities, deserving further research and optimization

University Programme Preferences of High School Science Students in Singapore and Reasons that Matter in their Preferences: A Rasch analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Oon, Pey-Tee; Subramaniam, R.

2015-01-01

This study explored an under-researched area in science education-the university programmes preferred by high school students who take physical science subjects and the reasons that matter in their preferences. A total of 1,071 upper secondary and pre-university students in Singapore, who take physical science subjects among their range of subjects, participated in this study. A survey method was adopted and the Rasch model was used to analyse the data. Overall, Business Studies was ranked as the predominant choice; nonetheless, scientific programmes such as Science, Engineering, and Mathematics are generally still well liked by the students. When gender differences were examined, we found that students largely followed gender-typical programme preferences, in which males tend to incline towards Engineering while females tend to incline towards Arts and Social Sciences. Students prefer a university programme based on their individual interest and ability, with career aspiration and remuneration coming next. Interestingly, females place greater emphasis on career aspiration than males. Some implications of the study are discussed.

Metamorfoze, the National Preservation Programme for Libraries in the Netherlands: Results and Pespectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Schouten

2001-07-01

Full Text Available Metamorphosis: a word that means change but it also means keeping something from the original. Maybe even keeping the essence of that original. You can find metamorphosis in the classics, in literature, in art and, of course, in life itself: the changing of a caterpillar into a butterfly. In the Dutch language the word is spelled „Metamorfose”. The most famous late-nineteenth century author of the Netherlands, Louis Couperus, used an onorthodox way of spelling. His semi-autobiographical novel „Metamorfoze” with a „Z” which deals with the changes in an artist’s life was published in 1897. br> Exactly one hundred years later the Dutch National Preservation Programme was launched. And we decided to name it after this novel. The programme is all about change: from acid paper to microfilm or digital image, but it is also about keeping things from the past, preserving them. So the title of this nineteenth century novel seemed appropriate. And the Z could serve as an eyecatcher. This paper presents an overview of the programme, focusing on the following issues: • selection and setting priorities • method • approach • accomplishments (and setbacks 1997-2000 • the second phase 2001-2004

75 FR 26284 - National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory Panel

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-11

... NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Advisory..., notice is hereby given that nine meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel to the National Council on the Arts... meeting, from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT, will be closed. Folk and Traditional Arts (application review...

Art and soul: powerful and powerless art in Singapore

OpenAIRE

T C Chang

2008-01-01

Public art in urban areas offers a window on a city’s soul. Art in the form of sculptures, monuments, and other creative expressions can inform us of the ways artists think of the urban environment, the goals of policy makers in art installations, and the way members of the public interact with art and with each other in the city. Taking Singapore as a case study, I argue that contemporary public art has the power to inform place identity and inspire community aspirations. Unlike the hard pow...

Prevention of violence against women and girls: what does the evidence say?

Science.gov (United States)

Ellsberg, Mary; Arango, Diana J; Morton, Matthew; Gennari, Floriza; Kiplesund, Sveinung; Contreras, Manuel; Watts, Charlotte

2015-04-18

In this Series paper, we review evidence for interventions to reduce the prevalence and incidence of violence against women and girls. Our reviewed studies cover a broad range of intervention models, and many forms of violence--ie, intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual assault, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. Evidence is highly skewed towards that from studies from high-income countries, with these evaluations mainly focusing on responses to violence. This evidence suggests that women-centred, advocacy, and home-visitation programmes can reduce a woman's risk of further victimisation, with less conclusive evidence for the preventive effect of programmes for perpetrators. In low-income and middle-income countries, there is a greater research focus on violence prevention, with promising evidence on the effect of group training for women and men, community mobilisation interventions, and combined livelihood and training interventions for women. Despite shortcomings in the evidence base, several studies show large effects in programmatic timeframes. Across different forms of violence, effective programmes are commonly participatory, engage multiple stakeholders, support critical discussion about gender relationships and the acceptability of violence, and support greater communication and shared decision making among family members, as well as non-violent behaviour. Further investment in intervention design and assessment is needed to address evidence gaps. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Art and brain: the relationship of biology and evolution to art.

Science.gov (United States)