Advancing the future of physical activity guidelines in Canada: an independent expert panel interpretation of the evidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kesäniemi, Antero; Riddoch, Chris J; Reeder, Bruce

2010-01-01

in 2002, 2002, 1998 and 1999 respectively. Several background papers from this project were published recently and provide foundation evidence upon which to base new guidelines. Furthermore, comprehensive systematic reviews were completed to ensure a rigorous evaluation of evidence informing the revision...... to review the background materials and systematic reviews; listen to the presentations and discussions at the expert meeting; ask for clarification; and produce the present paper representing their interpretation of the evidence including grading of the evidence and their identification of needs for future...

Identification and management of comorbidity in psoriatic arthritis: evidence- and expert-based recommendations from a multidisciplinary panel from Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Torre-Alonso, Juan Carlos; Carmona, Loreto; Moreno, Mireia; Galíndez, Eva; Babío, Jesús; Zarco, Pedro; Linares, Luis; Collantes-Estevez, Eduardo; Barrial, Manuel Fernández; Hermosa, Juan Carlos; Coto, Pablo; Suárez, Carmen; Almodóvar, Raquel; Luelmo, Jesús; Castañeda, Santos; Gratacós, Jordi

2017-08-01

The objective is to establish recommendations, based on evidence and expert opinion, for the identification and management of comorbidities in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The following techniques were applied: discussion group, systematic review, and Delphi survey for agreement. A panel of professionals from four specialties defined the users, the sections of the document, possible recommendations, and what systematic reviews should be performed. A second discussion was held with the results of the systematic reviews. Recommendations were formulated in the second meeting and voted online from 1 (total disagreement) to 10 (total agreement). Agreement was considered if at least 70% voted ≥7. The level of evidence and grade of recommendation were assigned using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine guidance. The full document was critically appraised by the experts, and the project was supervised at all times by a methodologist. In a final step, the document was reviewed and commented by a patient and a health management specialist. Fourteen recommendations were produced, together with a checklist to facilitate the implementation. The items with the largest support from evidence were those related to cardiovascular disease and risk factors. The panel recommends paying special attention to obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as they are all modifiable factors with an impact on treatment response or complications of PsA. Psychological and organizational aspects were also deemed important. We herein suggest practical recommendations for the management of comorbidities in PsA based on evidence and expert opinion.

Proof of causation through expert opinion evidence in low-level radiation cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heideck, R.E.

1985-01-01

Tort law requires that the injured person prove that the injury was caused by a particular exposure to radiation for which the defendant is responsible. Heideck shows how expert evidence helps the court or jury resolve this question. The author analyzes a recent effort to bridge the gap between the legal requirement of proof of causation in individual cases and the conclusions that derive from group statistics. Some scientists argue that this approach is more technically sound than traditional tort law because it attempts to develop a probability of causation in individual cases

Clinical Guidelines for Management of Bone Health in Rett Syndrome Based on Expert Consensus and Available Evidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jefferson, Amanda; Leonard, Helen; Siafarikas, Aris

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES: We developed clinical guidelines for the management of bone health in Rett syndrome through evidence review and the consensus of an expert panel of clinicians. METHODS: An initial guidelines draft was created which included statements based upon literature review and 11 open-ended que...

Expert Witness

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Adele

formal rules of evidence apply) to help it understand the issues of a case and ... statements on medical expert witness by professional representative bodies in .... determining the size of the financial settlement that may have to be made to the.

Educating Jurors about Forensic Evidence: Using an Expert Witness and Judicial Instructions to Mitigate the Impact of Invalid Forensic Science Testimony.

Science.gov (United States)

Eastwood, Joseph; Caldwell, Jiana

2015-11-01

Invalid expert witness testimony that overstated the precision and accuracy of forensic science procedures has been highlighted as a common factor in many wrongful conviction cases. This study assessed the ability of an opposing expert witness and judicial instructions to mitigate the impact of invalid forensic science testimony. Participants (N = 155) acted as mock jurors in a sexual assault trial that contained both invalid forensic testimony regarding hair comparison evidence, and countering testimony from either a defense expert witness or judicial instructions. Results showed that the defense expert witness was successful in educating jurors regarding limitations in the initial expert's conclusions, leading to a greater number of not-guilty verdicts. The judicial instructions were shown to have no impact on verdict decisions. These findings suggest that providing opposing expert witnesses may be an effective safeguard against invalid forensic testimony in criminal trials. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

20 CFR 405.10 - Medical and Vocational Expert System.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Medical and Vocational Expert System. 405.10... Vocational Expert System. (a) General. The Medical and Vocational Expert System is comprised of the Medical... Vocational Expert System. (3) Experts who provide evidence at your request. Experts whom you ask to provide...

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE? THE VALUE OF EXPERT ADVICE IN THE PRODUCTION OF EVIDENCE-BASED GUIDANCE: A MIXED METHODS STUDY OF THE NICE INTERVENTIONAL PROCEDURES PROGRAMME.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyebode, Oyinlola; Patrick, Hannah; Walker, Alexander; Campbell, Bruce; Powell, John

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the aspects of expert advice that decision makers find most useful in the development of evidence-based guidance and to identify the characteristics of experts providing the most useful advice. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen members of the Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee of the UK's National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. Interviews examined the usefulness of expert advice during guidance development. Transcripts were analyzed inductively to identify themes. Second, data were extracted from 211 experts' questionnaires for forty-one consecutive procedures. Usefulness of advice was scored using an index developed through the qualitative work. Associations between usefulness score and characteristics of the expert advisor were investigated using univariate and multivariate analyses. Expert opinion was seen as a valued complement to empirical evidence, providing context and tacit knowledge unavailable in published literature, but helpful for interpreting it. Interviewees also valued advice on the training and experience required to perform a procedure, on patient selection criteria and the place of a procedure within a clinical management pathway. Limitations of bias in expert opinion were widely acknowledged and skepticism expressed regarding the anecdotal nature of advice on safety or efficacy outcomes. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that the most useful advice was given by clinical experts with direct personal experience of the procedure, particularly research experience. Evidence-based guidance production is often characterized as a rational, pipeline process. This ignores the valuable role that expert opinion plays in guidance development, complementing and supporting the interpretation of empirical data.

Expert opinion on laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer parallels evidence from a cumulative meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillaume Martel

Full Text Available This study sought to synthesize survival outcomes from trials of laparoscopic and open colorectal cancer surgery, and to determine whether expert acceptance of this technology in the literature has parallel cumulative survival evidence.A systematic review of randomized trials was conducted. The primary outcome was survival, and meta-analysis of time-to-event data was conducted. Expert opinion in the literature (published reviews, guidelines, and textbook chapters on the acceptability of laparoscopic colorectal cancer was graded using a 7-point scale. Pooled survival data were correlated in time with accumulating expert opinion scores.A total of 5,800 citations were screened. Of these, 39 publications pertaining to 23 individual trials were retained. As well, 414 reviews were included (28 guidelines, 30 textbook chapters, 20 systematic reviews, 336 narrative reviews. In total, 5,782 patients were randomized to laparoscopic (n = 3,031 and open (n = 2,751 colorectal surgery. Survival data were presented in 16 publications. Laparoscopic surgery was not inferior to open surgery in terms of overall survival (HR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.80, 1.09. Expert opinion in the literature pertaining to the oncologic acceptability of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer correlated most closely with the publication of large RCTs in 2002-2004. Although increasingly accepted since 2006, laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer remained controversial.Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer is non-inferior to open surgery in terms of overall survival, and has been so since 2004. The majority expert opinion in the literature has considered these two techniques to be equivalent since 2002-2004. Laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer has been increasingly accepted since 2006, but remains controversial. Knowledge translation efforts in this field appear to have paralleled the accumulation of clinical trial evidence.

False confessions, expert testimony, and admissibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Clarence; Weiss, Kenneth J; Pouncey, Claire

2010-01-01

The confession of a criminal defendant serves as a prosecutor's most compelling piece of evidence during trial. Courts must preserve a defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial while upholding the judicial interests of presenting competent and reliable evidence to the jury. When a defendant seeks to challenge the validity of that confession through expert testimony, the prosecution often contests the admissibility of the expert's opinion. Depending on the content and methodology of the expert's opinion, testimony addressing the phenomenon of false confessions may or may not be admissible. This article outlines the scientific and epistemological bases of expert testimony on false confession, notes the obstacles facing its admissibility, and provides guidance to the expert in formulating opinions that will reach the judge or jury. We review the 2006 New Jersey Superior Court decision in State of New Jersey v. George King to illustrate what is involved in the admissibility of false-confession testimony and use the case as a starting point in developing a best-practice approach to working in this area.

Heterodoxy, iconoclasm and spuriousness: the limits of novel expert evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Freckelton, Ian

2007-12-01

A difficult issue arises for courts' decision-making at common law and under statutory evidentiary regimes when expert opinions are significantly unorthodox, iconoclastic or methodologically flawed. This editorial analyses the relevant evidentiary principles and the Australian jurisprudence on the subject, giving particular attention to the decisions of the South Australian Supreme Court in R v Parenzee [2007] SASC 143 and R v Parenzee [2007] SASC 316 in which expert opinions about the existence, identifiability and transmissibility of HIV and its relationship to AIDS adduced on behalf of the defence in a criminal trial were found to be seriously wanting. A variety of factors indicative of low probative value in expert opinions are distilled.

The influence of reading expertise in mirror-letter perception: Evidence from beginning and expert readers

Science.gov (United States)

Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni; Dimitropoulou, María; Estévez, Adelina; Carreiras, Manuel

2013-01-01

The visual word recognition system recruits neuronal systems originally developed for object perception which are characterized by orientation insensitivity to mirror reversals. It has been proposed that during reading acquisition beginning readers have to “unlearn” this natural tolerance to mirror reversals in order to efficiently discriminate letters and words. Therefore, it is supposed that this unlearning process takes place in a gradual way and that reading expertise modulates mirror-letter discrimination. However, to date no supporting evidence for this has been obtained. We present data from an eye-movement study that investigated the degree of sensitivity to mirror-letters in a group of beginning readers and a group of expert readers. Participants had to decide which of the two strings presented on a screen corresponded to an auditorily presented word. Visual displays always included the correct target word and one distractor word. Results showed that those distractors that were the same as the target word except for the mirror lateralization of two internal letters attracted participants’ attention more than distractors created by replacement of two internal letters. Interestingly, the time course of the effects was found to be different for the two groups, with beginning readers showing a greater tolerance (decreased sensitivity) to mirror-letters than expert readers. Implications of these findings are discussed within the framework of preceding evidence showing how reading expertise modulates letter identification. PMID:24273596

OARSI recommendations for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis, Part II: OARSI evidence-based, expert consensus guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, W; Moskowitz, R W; Nuki, G; Abramson, S; Altman, R D; Arden, N; Bierma-Zeinstra, S; Brandt, K D; Croft, P; Doherty, M; Dougados, M; Hochberg, M; Hunter, D J; Kwoh, K; Lohmander, L S; Tugwell, P

2008-02-01

To develop concise, patient-focussed, up to date, evidence-based, expert consensus recommendations for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA), which are adaptable and designed to assist physicians and allied health care professionals in general and specialist practise throughout the world. Sixteen experts from four medical disciplines (primary care, rheumatology, orthopaedics and evidence-based medicine), two continents and six countries (USA, UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden and Canada) formed the guidelines development team. A systematic review of existing guidelines for the management of hip and knee OA published between 1945 and January 2006 was undertaken using the validated appraisal of guidelines research and evaluation (AGREE) instrument. A core set of management modalities was generated based on the agreement between guidelines. Evidence before 2002 was based on a systematic review conducted by European League Against Rheumatism and evidence after 2002 was updated using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, the Cochrane Library and HTA reports. The quality of evidence was evaluated, and where possible, effect size (ES), number needed to treat, relative risk or odds ratio and cost per quality-adjusted life years gained were estimated. Consensus recommendations were produced following a Delphi exercise and the strength of recommendation (SOR) for propositions relating to each modality was determined using a visual analogue scale. Twenty-three treatment guidelines for the management of hip and knee OA were identified from the literature search, including six opinion-based, five evidence-based and 12 based on both expert opinion and research evidence. Twenty out of 51 treatment modalities addressed by these guidelines were universally recommended. ES for pain relief varied from treatment to treatment. Overall there was no statistically significant difference between non-pharmacological therapies [0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16, 0.34] and

Scientific evidence and the toxic tort. A socio-legal study of the issues, expert evidence and judgement in Reay and Hope v. British Nuclear Fuels plc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, R.J.

1999-01-01

Providing a socio-legal analysis of the issues, expert evidence and judgment in Reay and Hope v BNFL plc., the thesis offers an insight into the complexity of the toxic tort. Starting with an overview of the history of Sellafield, the thesis reflects on the scientific and epidemiological concerns surrounding the link between childhood cancer and nuclear installations. Drawing on scientific knowledge and epistemological considerations, the thesis moves on to the difficulties of verifying causation in science and the problems of establishing causation in law. Outlining the role of the expert witness and scientific expert evidence, the thesis proceeds with a case analysis, before broaching the thorny issue of judicial decision making and in particular, the difference between the 'discovery' and 'justification' process. Moving on to the Judgment in Reay and Hope, attention is given to the potential application of probability theory to the judicial decision making process. Lasting just short of one hundred days and including the testimony of numerous scientific experts, Reay and Hope marked new ground in a number of ways; it was the first personal injury claim to test the concept of genetic damage from radiation; the only time that a Queen's Bench Division Judge had been allocated a full-time judicial assistant, and one of the first trials to endorse a satellite video link for examination of international expert witnesses. As far as judicial management is concerned, the case was a forerunner in having Counsels' Opening Statements in writing in advance of the trial, as well as having written daily submissions of key issues from plaintiffs and defendants upon conclusion of oral evidence. The circumstances that led to the trial relate to events in excess of thirty to forty years ago when the fathers of Dorothy Reay and Vivien Hope were employed by the Defendants and their predecessors (the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority) as fitters for the Sellafield Plant

Scientific evidence and the toxic tort. A socio-legal study of the issues, expert evidence and judgement in Reay and Hope v. British Nuclear Fuels plc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrison, R.J

1999-07-01

Providing a socio-legal analysis of the issues, expert evidence and judgment in Reay and Hope v BNFL plc., the thesis offers an insight into the complexity of the toxic tort. Starting with an overview of the history of Sellafield, the thesis reflects on the scientific and epidemiological concerns surrounding the link between childhood cancer and nuclear installations. Drawing on scientific knowledge and epistemological considerations, the thesis moves on to the difficulties of verifying causation in science and the problems of establishing causation in law. Outlining the role of the expert witness and scientific expert evidence, the thesis proceeds with a case analysis, before broaching the thorny issue of judicial decision making and in particular, the difference between the 'discovery' and 'justification' process. Moving on to the Judgment in Reay and Hope, attention is given to the potential application of probability theory to the judicial decision making process. Lasting just short of one hundred days and including the testimony of numerous scientific experts, Reay and Hope marked new ground in a number of ways; it was the first personal injury claim to test the concept of genetic damage from radiation; the only time that a Queen's Bench Division Judge had been allocated a full-time judicial assistant, and one of the first trials to endorse a satellite video link for examination of international expert witnesses. As far as judicial management is concerned, the case was a forerunner in having Counsels' Opening Statements in writing in advance of the trial, as well as having written daily submissions of key issues from plaintiffs and defendants upon conclusion of oral evidence. The circumstances that led to the trial relate to events in excess of thirty to forty years ago when the fathers of Dorothy Reay and Vivien Hope were employed by the Defendants and their predecessors (the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority) as fitters for

USING EXPERT OPINION IN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: A GUIDELINE REVIEW.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunger, Theresa; Schnell-Inderst, Petra; Sahakyan, Narine; Siebert, Uwe

2016-01-01

External experts can be consulted at different stages of an HTA. When using vague information sources, it is particularly important to plan, analyze, and report the information processing in a standardized and transparent way. Our objective was to search and analyze recommendations regarding where and how to include expert data in HTA. We performed a systematic database search and screened the Internet pages of seventy-seven HTA organizations for guidelines, recommendations, and methods papers that address the inclusion of experts in HTA. Relevant documents were downloaded, and information was extracted in a standard form. Results were merged in tables and narrative evidence synthesis. From twenty-two HTA organizations, we included forty-two documents that consider the use of expert opinion in HTA. Nearly all documents mention experts in the step of preparation of the evidence report. Six documents address their role for priority setting of topics, fifteen for scoping, twelve for the appraisal of evidence and results, another twelve documents mention experts when considering the dissemination of HTA results. During the assessment step, experts are most often asked to amend the literature search or to provide expertise for special data analyses. Another issue for external experts is to appraise the HTA results and refer them back to a clinical and social context. Little is reported on methods of expert elicitation when their input substitutes study data. Despite existing recommendations on the use of expert opinion in HTA, common standards for elicitation are scarce in HTA guidelines.

LTDNA evidence on trial

OpenAIRE

Roberts, Paul

2016-01-01

Adopting the interpretative/hermeneutical method typical of much legal scholarship, this article considers two sets of issues pertaining to LTDNA profiles as evidence in criminal proceedings. The section titled Expert Evidence as Forensic Epistemic Warrant addresses some rather large questions about the epistemic status and probative value of expert testimony in general. It sketches a theoretical model of expert evidence, highlighting five essential criteria: (1) expert competence; (2) discip...

Holistic processing of fingerprints by expert forensic examiners.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogelsang, Macgregor D; Palmeri, Thomas J; Busey, Thomas A

2017-01-01

Holistic processing is often characterized as a process by which objects are perceived as a whole rather than a compilation of individual features. This mechanism may play an important role in the development of perceptual expertise because it allows for rapid integration across image regions. The present work explores whether holistic processing is present in latent fingerprint examiners, who compare fingerprints collected from crime scenes against a set of standards taken from a suspect. We adapted a composite task widely used in the face recognition and perceptual expertise literatures, in which participants were asked to match only a particular half of a fingerprint with a previous image while ignoring the other half. We tested both experts and novices, using both upright and inverted fingerprints. For upright fingerprints, we found weak evidence for holistic processing, but with no differences between experts and novices with respect to holistic processing. For inverted fingerprints, we found stronger evidence of holistic processing, with weak evidence for differences between experts and novices. These relatively weak holistic processing effects contrast with robust evidence for holistic processing with faces and with objects in other domains of perceptual expertise. The data constrain models of holistic processing by demonstrating that latent fingerprint experts and novices may not substantively differ in terms of the amount of holistic processing and that inverted stimuli actually produced more evidence for holistic processing than upright stimuli. Important differences between the present fingerprint stimuli and those in the literature include the lack of verbal labels for experts and the absence of strong vertical asymmetries, both of which might contribute to stronger holistic processing signatures in other stimulus domains.

The rational thinking of expert opinion and communicating in courtroom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing Li

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Since the past half century, expert testimony has played an increasingly important role in Chinese litigation. As the amount of expert testimony has grown, the issues about its admissibility and scientific foundation related to evidence are becoming to be questioned commonly. Since eighteenth central committee (China adopted the decision of the Central Committee of China on several important issues in promoting the legal system, the evidence was redefined to become the predominance in the whole proceeding. This article reviews the expert knowledge implicit in the opinions. It argues that the expert opinions ask judges to be aware of the role of communicationg between participants. Expert opinion is not only gained from laboratory, but also socially constructed in the rational expression and communication, which requir us think logically in terms of legal perceptions of science and expert knowledge in the empirical world.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and expert testimony.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulich, Ronald; Maciewicz, Raymond; Scrivani, Steven J

2009-03-01

Medical experts frequently use imaging studies to illustrate points in their court testimony. This article reviews how these studies impact the credibility of expert testimony with judges and juries. The apparent "objective" evidence provided by such imaging studies can lend strong credence to a judge's or jury's appraisal of medical expert's testimony. However, as the court usually has no specialized scientific expertise, the use of complex images as part of courtroom testimony also has the potential to mislead or at least inappropriately bias the weight given to expert evidence. Recent advances in brain imaging may profoundly impact forensic expert testimony. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and other physiologic imaging techniques currently allow visualization of the activation pattern of brain regions associated with a wide variety of cognitive and behavioral tasks, and more recently, pain. While functional imaging technology has a valuable role in brain research and clinical investigation, it is important to emphasize that the use of imaging studies in forensic matters requires a careful scientific foundation and a rigorous legal assessment.

Expert music performance: cognitive, neural, and developmental bases.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Rachel M; Zatorre, Robert J; Penhune, Virginia B

2015-01-01

In this chapter, we explore what happens in the brain of an expert musician during performance. Understanding expert music performance is interesting to cognitive neuroscientists not only because it tests the limits of human memory and movement, but also because studying expert musicianship can help us understand skilled human behavior in general. In this chapter, we outline important facets of our current understanding of the cognitive and neural basis for music performance, and developmental factors that may underlie musical ability. We address three main questions. (1) What is expert performance? (2) How do musicians achieve expert-level performance? (3) How does expert performance come about? We address the first question by describing musicians' ability to remember, plan, execute, and monitor their performances in order to perform music accurately and expressively. We address the second question by reviewing evidence for possible cognitive and neural mechanisms that may underlie or contribute to expert music performance, including the integration of sound and movement, feedforward and feedback motor control processes, expectancy, and imagery. We further discuss how neural circuits in auditory, motor, parietal, subcortical, and frontal cortex all contribute to different facets of musical expertise. Finally, we address the third question by reviewing evidence for the heritability of musical expertise and for how expertise develops through training and practice. We end by discussing outlooks for future work. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Robust Trust in Expert Testimony

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Dahlman

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The standard of proof in criminal trials should require that the evidence presented by the prosecution is robust. This requirement of robustness says that it must be unlikely that additional information would change the probability that the defendant is guilty. Robustness is difficult for a judge to estimate, as it requires the judge to assess the possible effect of information that the he or she does not have. This article is concerned with expert witnesses and proposes a method for reviewing the robustness of expert testimony. According to the proposed method, the robustness of expert testimony is estimated with regard to competence, motivation, external strength, internal strength and relevance. The danger of trusting non-robust expert testimony is illustrated with an analysis of the Thomas Quick Case, a Swedish legal scandal where a patient at a mental institution was wrongfully convicted for eight murders.

Expert consensus statement to guide the evidence-based classification of Paralympic athletes with vision impairment: a Delphi study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravensbergen, H J C Rianne; Mann, D L; Kamper, S J

2016-04-01

Paralympic sports are required to develop evidence-based systems that allocate athletes into 'classes' on the basis of the impact of their impairment on sport performance. However, sports for athletes with vision impairment (VI) classify athletes solely based on the WHO criteria for low vision and blindness. One key barrier to evidence-based classification is the absence of guidance on how to address classification issues unique to VI sport. The aim of this study was to reach expert consensus on how issues specific to VI sport should be addressed in evidence-based classification. A four-round Delphi study was conducted with 25 participants who had expertise as a coach, athlete, classifier and/or administrator in Paralympic sport for VI athletes. The experts agreed that the current method of classification does not fulfil the requirements of Paralympic classification, and that the system should be different for each sport to account for the sports' unique visual demands. Instead of relying only on tests of visual acuity and visual field, the panel agreed that additional tests are required to better account for the impact of impairment on sport performance. There was strong agreement that all athletes should not be required to wear a blindfold as a means of equalising the impairment during competition. There is strong support within the Paralympic movement to change the way that VI athletes are classified. This consensus statement provides clear guidance on how the most important issues specific to VI should be addressed, removing key barriers to the development of evidence-based classification. 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/

Modeling the Construct of an Expert Evidence-Adaptive Knowledge Base for a Pressure Injury Clinical Decision Support System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peck Chui Betty Khong

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The selection of appropriate wound products for the treatment of pressure injuries is paramount in promoting wound healing. However, nurses find it difficult to decide on the most optimal wound product(s due to limited live experiences in managing pressure injuries resulting from successfully implemented pressure injury prevention programs. The challenges of effective decision-making in wound treatments by nurses at the point of care are compounded by the yearly release of wide arrays of newly researched wound products into the consumer market. A clinical decision support system for pressure injury (PI-CDSS was built to facilitate effective decision-making and selection of optimal wound treatments. This paper describes the development of PI-CDSS with an expert knowledge base using an interactive development environment, Blaze Advisor. A conceptual framework using decision-making and decision theory, knowledge representation, and process modelling guided the construct of the PI-CDSS. This expert system has incorporated the practical and relevant decision knowledge of wound experts in assessment and wound treatments in its algorithm. The construct of the PI-CDSS is adaptive, with scalable capabilities for expansion to include other CDSSs and interoperability to interface with other existing clinical and administrative systems. The algorithm was formatively evaluated and tested for usability. The treatment modalities generated after using patient-specific assessment data were found to be consistent with the treatment plan(s proposed by the wound experts. The overall agreement exceeded 90% between the wound experts and the generated treatment modalities for the choice of wound products, instructions, and alerts. The PI-CDSS serves as a just-in-time wound treatment protocol with suggested clinical actions for nurses, based on the best evidence available.

Expert consensus on scientific evidence available on the use of botulinum toxin in overactive bladder.

Science.gov (United States)

Esteban, M; Salinas, J; Arlandis, S; Díez, J; Jiménez, M; Rebassa, M; Angulo, J C

2014-05-01

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a pathology impairing patients' quality of life and with a high percentage of patients who are refractory to medication. In this paper, technical opinion of an «expert panel» is assessed in order to gain the most reliable professional consensus on scientific evidence available on the criteria of use of Onabotulinumtoxin A (OnabotA) in OAB. according to DELPHI method, 42 panelists answered a survey of 93 items divided into four strategic areas including clinical criteria and recommendations in order to improve, at different levels, the current approach to patients with OAB. The recent advances in the field, areas of controversy and their real application possibilities in the different areas of our health care system were taken into consideration. Two rounds of the questionnaire were completed by all experts. In the first round, a criteria consensus was reached for 64 of 93 (68.8%) questions analyzed; in the second round the consensus reached was for 83 items evaluated (89.25%). An agreement among panelist was reached for: 1) definition, classification, detection and differential diagnosis; 2) medical treatment; 3) surgical treatment; 4) role of OnabotA in the treatment of OAB. the consensus is broadly in line with the latest scientific evidence on OAB. The panelists believe that it is necessary to propose a change in the current definition of OAB and that it seems necessary to improve the screening tools too. Medical treatment of OAB must be tailored to each patient, staged and progressive. The use of OnabotA (Botox(®)) could imply therapeutic advantages with respect to other treatments, and positions itself as a safe and effective alternative to treat drug refractory OAB. Copyright © 2013 AEU. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Expert Systems: What Is an Expert System?

Science.gov (United States)

Duval, Beverly K.; Main, Linda

1994-01-01

Describes expert systems and discusses their use in libraries. Highlights include parts of an expert system; expert system shells; an example of how to build an expert system; a bibliography of 34 sources of information on expert systems in libraries; and a list of 10 expert system shells used in libraries. (Contains five references.) (LRW)

The physician expert witness and the U.S. Supreme court--an epidemiologic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Martin L

2002-01-01

It is a fact of life that the physician is occasionally called upon to provide Expert Witness evidence. This is clearly distinct from evidence of a participatory nature where the physician is a party to the act by virtue of the doctor-patient relationship. The purpose of this presentation is to alert the physician to new criteria, imposed by the court, for acceptance of Expert Testimony. Prior to March 23, 1999, expert witness testimony fell into three categories, Scientific, technical, and other specialized knowledge. Scientific knowledge included the conclusions that could be subjected to analysis of a statistical nature, or could be validated by methodology such as epidemiologic criteria. Technical knowledge was based on factors such as mechanical or stress analysis utilized in engineering. Other "specialized knowledge" could be based on experiential data and information not necessarily subject to epidemiologic or other scientific analysis. Therefore, the physician presented his reasoning often based on years of professional practice and publication in journals of clinical practice. On March 23rd 1999, the Supreme Court of the United States changed the criteria for all categories stating that there is "no relevant distinction between 'scientific' knowledge' and 'technical' or 'other specialized knowledge' in Federal Rule of Evidence 702. This momentous decision [Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, (97-1709), 131 F.3d 1433) reversed.] referred back to a previous case [Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., 509 US. 579,589], which established four criteria based on methods of analysis for t he courts, and was now extended for all expert evidence. Thus the area of expert witness evidence was changed by this momentous act placing the judge as arbiter of all expert evidence, including that of the physician. This paper will offer a brief review and an analysis of the significance of this for the professional involved in the legal system as an expert witness.

Concepts of mental capacity for patients requesting assisted suicide: a qualitative analysis of expert evidence presented to the Commission on Assisted Dying.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Annabel; McCormack, Ruaidhri; Wiseman, Theresa; Hotopf, Matthew

2014-04-22

In May 2013 a new Assisted Dying Bill was tabled in the House of Lords and is currently scheduled for a second reading in May 2014. The Bill was informed by the report of the Commission on Assisted Dying which itself was informed by evidence presented by invited experts.This study aims to explore how the experts presenting evidence to the Commission on Assisted Dying conceptualised mental capacity for patients requesting assisted suicide and examine these concepts particularly in relation to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This study was a secondary qualitative analysis of 36 transcripts of oral evidence and 12 pieces of written evidence submitted by invited experts to the Commission on Assisted Dying using a framework approach. There was agreement on the importance of mental capacity as a central safeguard in proposed assisted dying legislation. Concepts of mental capacity, however, were inconsistent. There was a tendency towards a conceptual and clinical shift toward a presumption of incapacity. This appeared to be based on the belief that assisted suicide should only be open to those with a high degree of mental capacity to make the decision.The 'boundaries' around the definition of mental capacity appeared to be on a continuum between a circumscribed legal 'cognitive' definition of capacity (in which most applicants would be found to have capacity unless significantly cognitively impaired) and a more inclusive definition which would take into account wider concepts such as autonomy, rationality, voluntariness and decision specific factors such as motivation for decision making. Ideas presented to the Commission on Assisted Dying about mental capacity as it relates to assisted suicide were inconsistent and in a number of cases at variance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Further work needs to be done to establish a consensus as to what constitutes capacity for this decision and whether current legal frameworks are able to

A fuzzy expert system based on relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, L.O.; Kandel, A.

1986-01-01

The Fuzzy Expert System (FESS) is an expert system which makes use of the theory of fuzzy relations to perform inference. Relations are very general and can be used for any application, which only requires different types of relations be implemented and used. The incorporation of fuzzy reasoning techniques enables the expert system to deal with imprecision in a well-founded manner. The knowledge is represented in relational frames. FESS may operate in either a forward chaining or backward chaining manner. It uses primarily implication and factual relations. A unique methodology for combination of evidence has been developed. It makes uses of a blackboard for communication between the various knowledge sources which may operate in parallel. The expert system has been designed in such a manner that it may be used for diverse applications

Expert and Novice Approaches to Using Graphs: Evidence from Eye-Track Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Wirth, K. R.; Lindgren, J. M.

2015-12-01

Professionals and students in geology use an array of graphs to study the earth, but relatively little detail is known about how users interact with these graphs. Comprehension of graphical information in the earth sciences is further complicated by the common use of non-traditional formats (e.g., inverted axes, logarithmic scales, normalized plots, ternary diagrams). Many educators consider graph-reading skills an important outcome of general education science curricula, so it is critical that we understand both the development of graph-reading skills and the instructional practices that are most efficacious. Eye-tracking instruments provide quantitative information about eye movements and offer important insights into the development of expertise in graph use. We measured the graph reading skills and eye movements of novices (students with a variety of majors and educational attainment) and experts (faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines) while observing traditional and non-traditional graph formats. Individuals in the expert group consistently demonstrated significantly greater accuracy in responding to questions (e.g., retrieval, interpretation, prediction) about graphs. Among novices, only the number of college math and science courses correlated with response accuracy. Interestingly, novices and experts exhibited similar eye-tracks when they first encountered a new graph; they typically scanned through the title, x and y-axes, and data regions in the first 5-15 seconds. However, experts are readily distinguished from novices by a greater number of eye movements (20-35%) between the data and other graph elements (e.g., title, x-axis, y-axis) both during and after the initial orientation phase. We attribute the greater eye movements between the different graph elements an outcome of the generally better-developed self-regulation skills (goal-setting, monitoring, self-evaluation) that likely characterize individuals in our expert group.

Mind the Gaps: Expert and Non-Expert Differences in Conceptualising the Geological Subsurface.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, H.; Stewart, I. S.; Stokes, A.; Pahl, S.

2017-12-01

In communicating geoscience topics, emphasis is often given to approaches such as the use of narrative to make a message engaging and reducing the use of jargon to ensure that it is understood by as wide a group of people as possible. Whilst these are undeniably important techniques to promote effective communication, an aspect of geoscience communication that is often overlooked is the publics' conceptual frameworks about core geoscience concepts. The consideration of different conceptual frameworks fits with the need to ensure that the framing is appropriate for the message, but it extends beyond simple framing into more complicated issues of addressing and incorporating pre- and mis-conceptions in geoscience. In a study examining expert and non-expert cognitive (mental) models of the geological subsurface in south-west England, several gaps were found between the fundamental ways that experts and non-experts conceptualise this invisible realm. Of these, three gaps were considered to be particularly important and common to many participants: the use of spatial reasoning; the application of surface experiences to subsurface processes; and the connection between the surface and subsurface. This paper will examine the evidence for these three important conceptual gaps between specialists and non-specialists and will address how this type of cognitive study can help improve effective geoscience communication.

Including values in evidence-based policy making for breast screening: An empirically grounded tool to assist expert decision makers.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Lisa

2017-07-01

Values are an important part of evidence-based decision making for health policy: they guide the type of evidence that is collected, how it is interpreted, and how important the conclusions are considered to be. Experts in breast screening (including clinicians, researchers, consumer advocates and senior administrators) hold differing values in relation to what is important in breast screening policy and practice, and committees may find it difficult to incorporate the complexity and variety of values into policy decisions. The decision making tool provided here is intended to assist with this process. The tool is modified from more general frameworks that are intended to assist with ethical decision making in public health, and informed by data drawn from previous empirical studies on values amongst Australian breast screening experts. It provides a structured format for breast screening committees to consider and discuss the values of themselves and others, suggests relevant topics for further inquiry and highlights areas of need for future research into the values of the public. It enables committees to publicly explain and justify their decisions with reference to values, improving transparency and accountability. It is intended to act alongside practices that seek to accommodate the values of individual women in the informed decision making process for personal decision making about participation in breast screening. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How do experts define relevance criteria when initiating Health Impact Assessments of national policies?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraemer, Stella Rj; Gulis, Gabriel

2014-01-01

The aim of this article is to present how the Danish Disease Prevention Committee (DDPC) members and HIA-experts understand when HIA is "relevant", which in this context means when there is "presumed to be a direct and documented effect on the health and morbidity of citizens". Method: DDPC members...... were interviewed face-to-face; HIA experts participated in an e-survey. Results: Six DDPC members were interviewed and 100 HIA-experts participated in a survey. The DDPC members consider direct as the link between determinants and the related risk factors. The HIA experts consider direct as the link...... between policy and the related risk factors. Both groups favour the use of scientific evidence according to the traditional biomedical evidence hierarchy but HIA-experts also judge that there is value in using evidence that can be considered weak such as local community knowledge. Conclusions: It is clear...

Social workers as "experts" in the family court system: is evidence-based practice a missing link or host-created knowledge?

Science.gov (United States)

Prescott, Dana E

2013-10-01

The graduate school curriculum for social workers requires that students learn to critically distinguish between opinion-based knowledge and evidence-based practices, or empirically-supported interventions. Once graduated, licensed social workers are often called upon to offer diagnostic and predictive opinions as experts in a variety of macro-environments. When the family courts are that "host" environment, social workers proffer expert opinions that may categorize and label parents or children for purposes of a judge's allocation of physical or legal custody. In this article, it is suggested that the social work profession, within all three domains of education, practice, and research, should more precisely link the design and fidelity of an evidence-based practice (EBP) with its potential misapplication or warping when proffered as science in "host" environments like family courts. As Foucault and other scholars warn, the failure to verify that an intervention is applied correctly may actually enhance the risk of social injustice by interpreting and translating EBP knowledge in the non-empirical form of authority-by-license. This article, therefore, proposes that the social work profession, from the classroom to the field, has an obligation to thoroughly understand and engage interdisciplinary practices that assure respect for the strengths and limits of social work knowledge.

LTDNA Evidence on Trial

OpenAIRE

Paul Roberts; Paul Roberts; Paul Roberts

2016-01-01

Adopting the interpretative/hermeneutical method typical of much legal scholarship, this article considers two sets of issues pertaining to LTDNA profiles as evidence in criminal proceedings. Section 1 addresses some rather large questions about the epistemic status and probative value of expert testimony in general. It sketches a theoretical model of expert evidence, highlighting five essential criteria: (1) expert competence; (2) disciplinary domain; (3) methodological validity; (4) materia...

Evidence - based pharmacological treatment of atopic dermatitis: An expert opinion and new expectations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnold P Oranje

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Atopic dermatitis (AD is one of the most common skin diseases with a complex multifactorial background. The clinical presentation, the aggravating factors and the complications vary according to the age of the patients. Most cases, approximately 60-80%, present for the 1 st time before the age of 12 months. Adult-onset AD has been observed as a special variant. Pruritus is the worst sign of AD, which also often indicates an exacerbation and is considered to be the most annoying symptom of AD. Treatment is preferably started based on the severity of AD. In only 10% of the cases, AD is so severe that systemic treatment is necessary. Systemic treatment including topical wet-wrap treatment is indicated in the worst and recalcitrant cases of AD. Systemic treatment of AD is discussed with regards to the evidence-based efficacy and safety aspects. I prefer wet-wraps as a crisis intervention in severe childhood cases, whereas UV and systemic treatments are the choices in patients older than 10 years. Probiotics are not useful in the treatment. If they have any effect at all it may only be in food-allergic children with AD. Finally, anti-histamines are not effective against pruritus in AD. They are only effective against urticarial flares and in cases with food-allergy. This article consists of an expert opinion on evidence-based pharmacological treatment of AD, but it is not a systemic review.

Expert Opinion Is Necessary: Delphi Panel Methodology Facilitates a Scientific Approach to Consensus.

Science.gov (United States)

Hohmann, Erik; Brand, Jefferson C; Rossi, Michael J; Lubowitz, James H

2018-02-01

Our current trend and focus on evidence-based medicine is biased in favor of randomized controlled trials, which are ranked highest in the hierarchy of evidence while devaluing expert opinion, which is ranked lowest in the hierarchy. However, randomized controlled trials have weaknesses as well as strengths, and no research method is flawless. Moreover, stringent application of scientific research techniques, such as the Delphi Panel methodology, allows survey of experts in a high quality and scientific manner. Level V evidence (expert opinion) remains a necessary component in the armamentarium used to determine the answer to a clinical question. Copyright © 2017 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Values in breast cancer screening: an empirical study with Australian experts

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Lisa; Rychetnik, Lucie; Carter, Stacy

2015-01-01

Objective To explore what Australian experts value in breast screening, how these values are conceptualised and prioritised, and how they inform experts’ reasoning and judgement about the Australian breast-screening programme. Design Qualitative study based on interviews with experts. Participants 33 experts, including clinicians, programme managers, policymakers, advocates and researchers selected for their recognisable influence in the Australian breast-screening setting. Setting Australian breast-screening policy, practice and research settings. Results Experts expressed 2 types of values: ethical values (about what was good, important or right) and epistemological values (about how evidence should be created and used). Ethical values included delivering benefit, avoiding harm, promoting autonomy, fairness, cost effectiveness, accountability, professionalism and transparency. Epistemological values informed experts’ arguments about prioritising and evaluating evidence methodology, source population and professional interests. Some values were conceptualised differently by experts: for example, delivering benefit could mean reducing breast cancer mortality, reducing all-cause mortality, reducing mortality in younger women, reducing need for aggressive treatment, and/or reassuring women they were cancer free. When values came into conflict, experts prioritised them differently: for example, when experts perceived a conflict between delivering benefits and promoting autonomy, there were differences in which value was prioritised. We explain the complexity of the relationship between held values and experts’ overall views on breast cancer screening. Conclusions Experts’ positions in breast screening are influenced by evidence and a wide range of ethical and epistemological values. We conclude that discussions about values should be a regular part of breast-screening review in order to build understanding between those who hold different positions, and

The Roles of recognition processes and look-ahead search in time-constrained expert problem solving: Evidence from grandmaster level chess.

OpenAIRE

Gobet, F; Simon, H A

1996-01-01

Chess has long served as an important standard task environment for research on human memory and problem-solving abilities and processes. In this paper, we report evidence on the relative importance of recognition processes and planning (look-ahead) processes in very high level expert performance in chess. The data show that the rated skill of a top-level grandmaster is only slightly lower when he is playing simultaneously against a half dozen grandmaster opponents than under tournament con...

Integrating Evidence From Systematic Reviews, Qualitative Research, and Expert Knowledge Using Co-Design Techniques to Develop a Web-Based Intervention for People in the Retirement Transition.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Nicola; Heaven, Ben; Teal, Gemma; Evans, Elizabeth H; Cleland, Claire; Moffatt, Suzanne; Sniehotta, Falko F; White, Martin; Mathers, John C; Moynihan, Paula

2016-08-03

Integrating stakeholder involvement in complex health intervention design maximizes acceptability and potential effectiveness. However, there is little methodological guidance about how to integrate evidence systematically from various sources in this process. Scientific evidence derived from different approaches can be difficult to integrate and the problem is compounded when attempting to include diverse, subjective input from stakeholders. The intent of the study was to describe and appraise a systematic, sequential approach to integrate scientific evidence, expert knowledge and experience, and stakeholder involvement in the co-design and development of a complex health intervention. The development of a Web-based lifestyle intervention for people in retirement is used as an example. Evidence from three systematic reviews, qualitative research findings, and expert knowledge was compiled to produce evidence statements (stage 1). Face validity of these statements was assessed by key stakeholders in a co-design workshop resulting in a set of intervention principles (stage 2). These principles were assessed for face validity in a second workshop, resulting in core intervention concepts and hand-drawn prototypes (stage 3). The outputs from stages 1-3 were translated into a design brief and specification (stage 4), which guided the building of a functioning prototype, Web-based intervention (stage 5). This prototype was de-risked resulting in an optimized functioning prototype (stage 6), which was subject to iterative testing and optimization (stage 7), prior to formal pilot evaluation. The evidence statements (stage 1) highlighted the effectiveness of physical activity, dietary and social role interventions in retirement; the idiosyncratic nature of retirement and well-being; the value of using specific behavior change techniques including those derived from the Health Action Process Approach; and the need for signposting to local resources. The intervention

Price competition between an expert and a non-expert

OpenAIRE

Bouckaert, J.M.C.; Degryse, H.A.

1998-01-01

This paper characterizes price competition between an expert and a non-expert. In contrast with the expert, the non-expert’s repair technology is not always successful. Consumers visit the expert after experiencing an unsuccessful match at the non-expert. This re-entry affects the behaviour of both sellers. For low enough probability of successful repair at the non-expert, all consumers first visit the non-expert, and a ‘timid-pricing’ equilibrium results. If the non-expert’s repair technolog...

Do Foreign Experts Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Munch, Jakob Roland; Rose Skaksen, Jan

While most countries welcome (and some even subsidise) high-skilled immigrants, there is very limited evidence of their importance for domestic firms. To guide our empirical analysis, we first set up a simple theoretical model to show how foreign experts may impact on the productivity and wages o...... productive (pay higher wages) and increase their exports of goods and services.......While most countries welcome (and some even subsidise) high-skilled immigrants, there is very limited evidence of their importance for domestic firms. To guide our empirical analysis, we first set up a simple theoretical model to show how foreign experts may impact on the productivity and wages...... of domestic firms. Using matched worker-firm data from Denmark and a difference-indifferences matching approach, we then find that firms that hire foreign experts – defined as employees eligible for reduced taxation under the Danish "Tax scheme for foreign researchers and key employees" – both become more...

Expert systems development: some problems, motives and issues in an exploratory study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehdi Sagheb-Tehrani.

1993-10-01

Even though expert systems (ES) have been in use since the early eighties, there is a remarkable lack of a strong theoretical base for handling expert systems development problems. There is a requirement in the ES field for theories or explanatory models to formulate propositions, to conduct research and interpret findings in a coherent way. This work presents an exploratory investigation designed to identify some problems, motives and issues associated with developing expert systems. Totally, twenty-five expert systems were developed by various organizations which participated in the study. The study attempts to provide evidence that either supports or refutes the anecdotes, gossips and speculations currently being spread through the academic journals dealing with the expert systems development in organizations. This study provides evidence that knowledge acquisition is indeed the bottleneck of expert systems development. It also points out that most expert systems are still in the prototype stage, and that current expert systems are mostly used for aiding the decision making of less skilled domain personnel and to a lesser extent for advice to experts. The rationale behind these uses seems to be the search by organizations for better decision making in the hope of improving competitiveness. A conceptual model of expert systems development is introduced based upon theoretical studies and the findings of this study from which some hypotheses are drawn. The main objective of the model is to contribute to a larger theoretical framework. Another aim is to create a broader theoretical framework for expert systems development in order to implement such systems more successfully. The results of the study confirm that the linkages of various concepts involved in the expert systems development process are very important for the design of a successful expert system project

Expert Anticipatory Skill in Striking Sports: A Review and a Model

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Sean; Abernethy, Bruce

2012-01-01

Expert performers in striking sports can hit objects moving at high speed with incredible precision. Exceptionally well developed anticipation skills are necessary to cope with the severe constraints on interception. In this paper, we provide a review of the empirical evidence regarding expert interception in striking sports and propose a…

Integrating Evidence From Systematic Reviews, Qualitative Research, and Expert Knowledge Using Co-Design Techniques to Develop a Web-Based Intervention for People in the Retirement Transition

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Nicola; Heaven, Ben; Teal, Gemma; Evans, Elizabeth H; Cleland, Claire; Moffatt, Suzanne; Sniehotta, Falko F; White, Martin; Mathers, John C

2016-01-01

Background Integrating stakeholder involvement in complex health intervention design maximizes acceptability and potential effectiveness. However, there is little methodological guidance about how to integrate evidence systematically from various sources in this process. Scientific evidence derived from different approaches can be difficult to integrate and the problem is compounded when attempting to include diverse, subjective input from stakeholders. Objective The intent of the study was to describe and appraise a systematic, sequential approach to integrate scientific evidence, expert knowledge and experience, and stakeholder involvement in the co-design and development of a complex health intervention. The development of a Web-based lifestyle intervention for people in retirement is used as an example. Methods Evidence from three systematic reviews, qualitative research findings, and expert knowledge was compiled to produce evidence statements (stage 1). Face validity of these statements was assessed by key stakeholders in a co-design workshop resulting in a set of intervention principles (stage 2). These principles were assessed for face validity in a second workshop, resulting in core intervention concepts and hand-drawn prototypes (stage 3). The outputs from stages 1-3 were translated into a design brief and specification (stage 4), which guided the building of a functioning prototype, Web-based intervention (stage 5). This prototype was de-risked resulting in an optimized functioning prototype (stage 6), which was subject to iterative testing and optimization (stage 7), prior to formal pilot evaluation. Results The evidence statements (stage 1) highlighted the effectiveness of physical activity, dietary and social role interventions in retirement; the idiosyncratic nature of retirement and well-being; the value of using specific behavior change techniques including those derived from the Health Action Process Approach; and the need for signposting to local

Case histories as evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Herxheimer, Andrew; Healy, David; Menkes, David B

2012-01-01

In courts case histories play a central part when a crime may have resulted from an effect of a prescribed drug; in civil cases where a person may have suffered damage from a drug; and in coroners' enquiries into the cause of unexplained deaths. The court must decide two important questions: 1. Can the suspected medication(s) cause this kind of effect? 2. Did it (or they) do so in this particular case? Many judges and coroners have not addressed these questions clearly and have not used expert witnesses consistently, on occasion disregarding scientific evidence. Courts need to appoint experts to explain and interpret the scientific evidence. Few judges are equipped to resolve contradictions between different experts. Brief accounts of five cases from four countries illustrate these points. The reluctance of legal processes to implicate drugs as a possible cause of violent behaviour leads to injustice. Courts must be required to obtain appropriate expert evidence, and be given independent data on which drugs can cause such behaviour.

Expert Behavior in Children's Video Game Play.

Science.gov (United States)

VanDeventer, Stephanie S.; White, James A.

2002-01-01

Investigates the display of expert behavior by seven outstanding video game-playing children ages 10 and 11. Analyzes observation and debriefing transcripts for evidence of self-monitoring, pattern recognition, principled decision making, qualitative thinking, and superior memory, and discusses implications for educators regarding the development…

LTDNA Evidence on Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Paul

2016-01-01

Adopting the interpretative/hermeneutical method typical of much legal scholarship, this article considers two sets of issues pertaining to LTDNA profiles as evidence in criminal proceedings. The section titled Expert Evidence as Forensic Epistemic Warrant addresses some rather large questions about the epistemic status and probative value of expert testimony in general. It sketches a theoretical model of expert evidence, highlighting five essential criteria: (1) expert competence; (2) disciplinary domain; (3) methodological validity; (4) materiality; and (5) legal admissibility. This generic model of expert authority, highlighting law's fundamentally normative character, applies to all modern forms of criminal adjudication, across Europe and farther afield. The section titled LTDNA Evidence in UK Criminal Trials then examines English and Northern Irish courts' attempts to get to grips with LTDNA evidence in recent cases. Better appreciating the ways in which UK courts have addressed the challenges of LTDNA evidence may offer some insights into parallel developments in other legal systems. Appellate court rulings follow a predictable judicial logic, which might usefully be studied and reflected upon by any forensic scientist or statistician seeking to operate effectively in criminal proceedings. Whilst each legal jurisdiction has its own unique blend of jurisprudence, institutions, cultures and historical traditions, there is considerable scope for comparative analysis and cross-jurisdictional borrowing and instruction. In the spirit of promoting more nuanced and sophisticated international interdisciplinary dialogue, this article examines UK judicial approaches to LTDNA evidence and begins to elucidate their underlying institutional logic. Legal argument and broader policy debates are not confined to considerations of scientific validity, contamination risks and evidential integrity, or associated judgments of legal admissibility or exclusion. They also crucially

LTDNA Evidence on Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Paul

2016-01-01

Adopting the interpretative/hermeneutical method typical of much legal scholarship, this article considers two sets of issues pertaining to LTDNA profiles as evidence in criminal proceedings. The section titled Expert Evidence as Forensic Epistemic Warrant addresses some rather large questions about the epistemic status and probative value of expert testimony in general. It sketches a theoretical model of expert evidence, highlighting five essential criteria: (1) expert competence; (2) disciplinary domain; (3) methodological validity; (4) materiality; and (5) legal admissibility. This generic model of expert authority, highlighting law's fundamentally normative character, applies to all modern forms of criminal adjudication, across Europe and farther afield. The section titled LTDNA Evidence in UK Criminal Trials then examines English and Northern Irish courts' attempts to get to grips with LTDNA evidence in recent cases. Better appreciating the ways in which UK courts have addressed the challenges of LTDNA evidence may offer some insights into parallel developments in other legal systems. Appellate court rulings follow a predictable judicial logic, which might usefully be studied and reflected upon by any forensic scientist or statistician seeking to operate effectively in criminal proceedings. Whilst each legal jurisdiction has its own unique blend of jurisprudence, institutions, cultures and historical traditions, there is considerable scope for comparative analysis and cross-jurisdictional borrowing and instruction. In the spirit of promoting more nuanced and sophisticated international interdisciplinary dialogue, this article examines UK judicial approaches to LTDNA evidence and begins to elucidate their underlying institutional logic. Legal argument and broader policy debates are not confined to considerations of scientific validity, contamination risks and evidential integrity, or associated judgments of legal admissibility or exclusion. They also crucially

NESSUS/EXPERT - An expert system for probabilistic structural analysis methods

Science.gov (United States)

Millwater, H.; Palmer, K.; Fink, P.

1988-01-01

An expert system (NESSUS/EXPERT) is presented which provides assistance in using probabilistic structural analysis methods. NESSUS/EXPERT is an interactive menu-driven expert system that provides information to assist in the use of the probabilistic finite element code NESSUS/FEM and the fast probability integrator. NESSUS/EXPERT was developed with a combination of FORTRAN and CLIPS, a C language expert system tool, to exploit the strengths of each language.

A theory of expert leadership (TEL) in psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodall, Amanda H

2016-06-01

Leaders' technical competence - 'expert knowledge' - has been shown in many settings to be associated with better organizational performance. In universities, for example, there is longitudinal evidence that research-focused scholars make the best leaders; results from a hospital study show that doctors instead of professional managers are most closely associated with the best performing institutions. To explain these patterns, and raise hypotheses, a theory of expert leadership (TEL) has been developed that might explain these patterns. In this paper the framework for expert leadership is applied to psychiatry. The TEL proposes that psychiatric leaders, as opposed to non-expert managers, improve organizational performance through several channels. First, experts' knowledge influences organizational strategy. Second, having been 'one of them', a psychiatrist understands how to create the optimal work environment for psychiatric teams, through appropriate goal-setting, evaluation and support. These factors are positively associated with workers' wellbeing and performance. Third, exceptional psychiatrist-leaders are likely to set high standards for hiring. Fourth, leaders' credibility extends their influence among core workers, and also signals organizational priorities to stakeholders. Finally, a necessary prerequisite of TEL is that expert leaders have direct executive power inclusive of budgetary and strategic oversight. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haldy, P.A.

1988-01-01

The definitions of the terms 'artificial intelligence' and 'expert systems', the methodology, areas of employment and limits of expert systems are discussed. The operation of an expert system is described, especially the presentation and organization of knowledge as well as interference and control. Methods and tools for expert system development are presented and their application in nuclear energy are briefly addressed. 7 figs., 2 tabs., 6 refs

Expert Systems

OpenAIRE

Lucas, P.J.F.

2005-01-01

Expert systems mimic the problem-solving activity of human experts in specialized domains by capturing and representing expert knowledge. Expert systems include a knowledge base, an inference engine that derives conclusions from the knowledge, and a user interface. Knowledge may be stored as if-then rules, orusing other formalisms such as frames and predicate logic. Uncertain knowledge may be represented using certainty factors, Bayesian networks, Dempster-Shafer belief functions, or fuzzy se...

Literally experts: expertise and the processing of analogical metaphors in pharmaceutical advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

Delbaere, Marjorie; Smith, Malcolm C

2014-01-01

This research examined differences between novices and experts in processing analogical metaphors appearing in prescription drug advertisements. In contrast to previous studies on knowledge transfer, no evidence of the superiority of experts in processing metaphors was found. The results from an experiment suggest that expert consumers were more likely to process a metaphor in an ad literally than novices. Our findings point to a condition in which the expertise effect with processing analogies is not the linear relationship assumed in previous studies.

Expert - Non-expert differences in visual behaviour during alpine slalom skiing.

Science.gov (United States)

Decroix, Marjolein; Wazir, Mohd Rozilee Wazir Norjali; Zeuwts, Linus; Deconinck, Frederik F J A; Lenoir, Matthieu; Vansteenkiste, Pieter

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate visual behaviour of expert and non-expert ski athletes during an alpine slalom. Fourteen non-experts and five expert slalom skiers completed an alpine slalom course in an indoor ski slope while wearing a head-mounted eye tracking device. Experts completed the slalom clearly faster than non-experts, but no significant difference was found in timing and position of the turn initiation. Although both groups already looked at future obstacles approximately 0,5s before passing the upcoming pole, the higher speed of experts implied that they shifted gaze spatially earlier in the bend than non-experts. Furthermore, experts focussed more on the second next pole while non-expert slalom skiers looked more to the snow surface immediately in front of their body. No difference was found in the fixation frequency, average fixation duration, and quiet eye duration between both groups. These results suggest that experts focus on the timing of their actions while non-experts still need to pay attention to the execution of these actions. These results also might suggest that ski trainers should instruct non-experts and experts to focus on the next pole and, shift their gaze to the second next pole shortly before reaching it. Based on the current study it seems unadvisable to instruct slalom skiers to look several poles ahead during the actual slalom. However, future research should test if these results still hold on a real outdoor slope, including multiple vertical gates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experts' Views Regarding the Conceptualization of Narcissism.

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, Robert A; Hands, Aaron J; Donnellan, M Brent; Hopwood, Christopher J; Witt, Edward A

2017-06-01

There is debate over the definition of narcissism across social/personality and clinical psychology. The current article aims to quantify the level of disagreement by measuring experts' opinions concerning the attributes most central to narcissism. Accordingly, we developed a comprehensive list of attributes associated with narcissism and had 49 self-identified experts (among them 17 women, 23 psychologists from clinical psychology and 22 from social/personality psychology) rate these characteristics and provide their opinions on several issues related to the conceptualization of narcissism. Experts generally believe that the grandiose features of narcissism are more central than the vulnerable features. However, differences between clinical and social/personality psychologists were evident, especially regarding the relevance of self-esteem. Given the results, we suggest that researchers specify the kind of narcissism being assessed in a given study and consider using assessments of the full range of narcissistic features in future research to provide a more comprehensive perspective on the construct.

Assessment and management of agitation in psychiatry: Expert consensus.

Science.gov (United States)

Garriga, Marina; Pacchiarotti, Isabella; Kasper, Siegfried; Zeller, Scott L; Allen, Michael H; Vázquez, Gustavo; Baldaçara, Leonardo; San, Luis; McAllister-Williams, R Hamish; Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N; Courtet, Philippe; Naber, Dieter; Chan, Esther W; Fagiolini, Andrea; Möller, Hans Jürgen; Grunze, Heinz; Llorca, Pierre Michel; Jaffe, Richard L; Yatham, Lakshmi N; Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego; Passamar, Marc; Messer, Thomas; Bernardo, Miquel; Vieta, Eduard

2016-01-01

Psychomotor agitation is associated with different psychiatric conditions and represents an important issue in psychiatry. Current recommendations on agitation in psychiatry are not univocal. Actually, an improper assessment and management may result in unnecessary coercive or sedative treatments. A thorough and balanced review plus an expert consensus can guide assessment and treatment decisions. An expert task force iteratively developed consensus using the Delphi method. Initial survey items were based on systematic review of the literature. Subsequent surveys included new, re-worded or re-rated items. Out of 2175 papers assessing psychomotor agitation, 124 were included in the review. Each component was assigned a level of evidence. Integrating the evidence and the experience of the task force members, a consensus was reached on 22 statements on this topic. Recommendations on the assessment of agitation emphasise the importance of identifying any possible medical cause. For its management, experts agreed in considering verbal de-escalation and environmental modification techniques as first choice, considering physical restraint as a last resort strategy. Regarding pharmacological treatment, the "ideal" medication should calm without over-sedate. Generally, oral or inhaled formulations should be preferred over i.m. routes in mildly agitated patients. Intravenous treatments should be avoided.

Ask the experts how to treat individuals with spatial neglect: a survey study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Peii; Pitteri, Marco; Gillen, Glen; Ayyala, Harsha

2017-07-11

Spatial neglect (SN) impedes rehabilitation success and leaves long-term consequences. We asked experts to provide their opinions in addressing SN by scenario (ideal vs. reality) and by recovery phase (earliest, acute, subacute, and chronic). Experts were individuals who have assessed or treated patients with SN clinically. This study was conducted using an anonymous survey on the Internet with 189 responders over 3 months. Located in 23 different countries, 127 experts of seven disciplines were included (occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, speech and language pathology or therapy, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychology or neuropsychology). Comparing the two scenarios, more treatments were selected in the ideal than in the reality scenario for all recovery phases except for the chronic phase. In both scenarios, (1) more treatments were selected in acute and subacute phases than in earliest or chronic phases, (2) less experienced experts selected diverse treatment options more often, and (3) highly experienced experts were more likely to provide their reasons of treatment selection, suggestions of treatment delivery methods, and other insights. Finally, 83.7% reported obstacles in treating SN. Experts' treatment selections are consistent with current evidence and practice guidelines. Recognizing the limitation of evidence, their opinions may help generate ideas in various topics (e.g., dosing, integrative intervention, and treatment implementation) to be examined in future studies. Implications for Rehabilitation Clinicians with experience in treating people with spatial neglect (i.e., experts as defined in the present study) recognized the limitation of evidence but nonetheless suggested specific treatments by recovery phase. In both the reality and ideal scenarios, experts included visual scanning, active limb activation, and sustained attention training in the top-five selections. Prism adaptation was in the top

EDNA-An expert software system for comparison and evaluation of DNA profiles in forensic casework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haldemann, B.; Dornseifer, S.; Heylen, T.

2015-01-01

eDNA is an expert software system for DNA profile comparison, match interpretation and automated report generation in forensic DNA casework. Process automation and intelligent graphical representation maximise reliability of DNA evidence, while facilitating and accelerating the work of DNA experts....

Expert ease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1984-04-01

Expert-ease allows the most inexperienced of computer users to build an expert system in a matter of hours. It is nothing more or less than a computer based problem-solving system. It allows the expert to preserve his or her knowledge in the form of rules, which can be applied to problems put to the system by the non-expert. The crucial piece of software at the heart of Expert-Ease extracts rules from data, and is called the analogue concept learning system. It was developed by Intelligent Terminals Ltd. and supplied to Export Software International to be incorporated into a commercially attractive package for business users. The resulting product runs on the Act Sirius and the IBM PC and compatibles. It is a well conceived and polished product with a popular appeal that should ensure widespread acceptance even at a cost of >1500 plus vat.

Expert System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hildebrandt, Thomas Troels; Cattani, Gian Luca

2016-01-01

An expert system is a computer system for inferring knowledge from a knowledge base, typically by using a set of inference rules. When the concept of expert systems was introduced at Stanford University in the early 1970s, the knowledge base was an unstructured set of facts. Today the knowledge b...... for the application of expert systems, but also raises issues regarding privacy and legal liability....

Can journalistic "false balance" distort public perception of consensus in expert opinion?

Science.gov (United States)

Koehler, Derek J

2016-03-01

Media critics have expressed concern that journalistic "false balance" can distort the public's perceptions of what ought to be noncontroversial subjects (e.g., climate change). I report several experiments testing the influence of presenting conflicting comments from 2 experts who disagree on an issue (balance condition) in addition to a complete count of the number of experts on a panel who favor either side. Compared with a control condition, who received only the complete count, participants in the balance condition gave ratings of the perceived agreement among the experts that did not discriminate as clearly between issues with and without strong expert consensus. Participants in the balance condition also perceived less agreement among the experts in general, and were less likely to think that there was enough agreement among experts on the high-consensus issues to guide government policy. Evidently, "false balance" can distort perceptions of expert opinion even when participants would seem to have all the information needed to correct for its influence. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Was the Conconi test validated by sporting success, expert opinion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Was the Conconi test validated by sporting success, expert opinion or good science? ... Open Access DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ... Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, a popular incremental field test for endurance athletes (Conconi Test) ...

EXPERT SYSTEMS

OpenAIRE

Georgiana Marin; Mihai Catalin Andrei

2011-01-01

In recent decades IT and computer systems have evolved rapidly in economic informatics field. The goal is to create user friendly information systems that respond promptly and accurately to requests. Informatics systems evolved into decision assisted systems, and such systems are converted, based on gained experience, in expert systems for creative problem solving that an organization is facing. Expert systems are aimed at rebuilding human reasoning on the expertise obtained from experts, sto...

Expert Recommendations on Treating Psoriasis in Special Circumstances (Part II).

Science.gov (United States)

Carrascosa, J M; Galán, M; de Lucas, R; Pérez-Ferriols, A; Ribera, M; Yanguas, I

2016-11-01

There is insufficient information on how best to treat moderate to severe psoriasis in difficult clinical circumstances. We considered 5 areas where there is conflicting or insufficient evidence: pediatric psoriasis, risk of infection in patients being treated with biologics, psoriasis in difficult locations, biologic drug survival, and impact of disease on quality of life. Following discussion of the issues by an expert panel of dermatologists specialized in the management of psoriasis, participants answered a questionnaire survey according to the Delphi method. Consensus was reached on 66 (70.9%) of the 93 items analyzed; the experts agreed with 49 statements and disagreed with 17. It was agreed that body mass index, metabolic comorbidities, and quality of life should be monitored in children with psoriasis. The experts also agreed that the most appropriate systemic treatment for this age group was methotrexate, while the most appropriate biologic treatment was etanercept. Although it was recognized that the available evidence was inconsistent and difficult to extrapolate, the panel agreed that biologic drug survival could be increased by flexible, individualized dosing regimens, continuous treatment, and combination therapies. Finally, consensus was reached on using the Dermatology Quality of Life Index to assess treatment effectiveness and aid decision-making in clinical practice. The structured opinion of experts guides decision-making regarding aspects of clinical practice for which there is incomplete or conflicting information. Copyright © 2016 AEDV. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Evidence-based recommendations for the management of ankylosing spondylitis: systematic literature search of the 3E Initiative in Rheumatology involving a broad panel of experts and practising rheumatologists

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sidiropoulos, P.I.; Hatemi, G.; Song, I.H.

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Recommendations and/or guidelines represent a popular way of integrating evidence-based medicine into clinical practice. The 3E Initiatives is a multi-national effort to develop recommendations for the management of rheumatic diseases, which involves a large number of experts combined ...... of rheumatologists may improve their dissemination and implementation in daily clinical practice....

Expert vs. novice differences in the detection of relevant information during a chess game: evidence from eye movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheridan, Heather; Reingold, Eyal M

2014-01-01

The present study explored the ability of expert and novice chess players to rapidly distinguish between regions of a chessboard that were relevant to the best move on the board, and regions of the board that were irrelevant. Accordingly, we monitored the eye movements of expert and novice chess players, while they selected white's best move for a variety of chess problems. To manipulate relevancy, we constructed two different versions of each chess problem in the experiment, and we counterbalanced these versions across participants. These two versions of each problem were identical except that a single piece was changed from a bishop to a knight. This subtle change reversed the relevancy map of the board, such that regions that were relevant in one version of the board were now irrelevant (and vice versa). Using this paradigm, we demonstrated that both the experts and novices spent more time fixating the relevant relative to the irrelevant regions of the board. However, the experts were faster at detecting relevant information than the novices, as shown by the finding that experts (but not novices) were able to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information during the early part of the trial. These findings further demonstrate the domain-related perceptual processing advantage of chess experts, using an experimental paradigm that allowed us to manipulate relevancy under tightly controlled conditions.

Expert versus novice differences in the detection of relevant information during a chess game: Evidence from eye movements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heather eSheridan

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The present study explored the ability of expert and novice chess players to rapidly distinguish between regions of a chessboard that were relevant to the best move on the board, and regions of the board that were irrelevant. Accordingly, we monitored the eye movements of expert and novice chess players, while they selected white’s best move for a variety of chess problems. To manipulate relevancy, we constructed two different versions of each chess problem in the experiment, and we counterbalanced these versions across participants. These two versions of each problem were identical except that a single piece was changed from a bishop to a knight. This subtle change reversed the relevancy map of the board, such that regions that were relevant in one version of the board were now irrelevant (and vice versa. Using this paradigm, we demonstrated that both the experts and novices spent more time fixating the relevant relative to the irrelevant regions of the board. However, the experts were faster at detecting relevant information than the novices, as shown by the finding that experts (but not novices were able to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information during the early part of the trial. These findings further demonstrate the domain-related perceptual processing advantage of chess experts, using an experimental paradigm that allowed us to manipulate relevancy under tightly controlled conditions.

Objectification of injuries and consequences in expert medical opinions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miran Vrabl

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Only unequivocal evidence confirming the total extent of injury. Biomechanical analysis, objectifications of permanent consequences after injury and objectification, whether such injuries influence life activities of an injured person, should be the basics for preparation of expert medical opinion. To make a necessary distinction from the previous injuries or illnesses that might have influence on current health state of a patient and its treatment, analysis of all medical records of a certain injured person is needed. Therefore this are inevitable steps in preparation of an expert medical opinion. In cases when medical opinion should explain disability of a patient as a consequence of a certain contractual relationship, the contract should be taken into consideration when such opinions is prepared.Methods: 500 opinions have been retrospectively analysed, selected at random out of 3452 opinions, submitted in claims for damages at Zavarovalnica Maribor, d. d., in the period from January 2001 until January 2006. Thirteen typical data have been analysed and evaluated on the basis of objective evidences.Results: On the basis of analyses it has been established that there is a great difference between principles of objectification and the data in analysed opinions. It has been noticed the most obvious deviation in biomechanical analysis (95 %, in records of decreased life activities (90 %, in all medical records of an injured person (65 % and in objectification of permanent consequences after injuries (55 %.Conclusions: As results of analysis demonstrate, there are significant differences in preparations of expert and medical opinions in Slovenia, particularly when basic principles are analysed that need to be considered when writing such opinions. Irrational avoidance of basic principle of objectification, nomination of experts without licence in certain fields of medicine, avoidance of objectification of subjective statements of injured

How clear is transparent? Reporting expert reasoning in legal cases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sjerps, M.J.; Berger, C.E.H.

2012-01-01

Experts providing evidence in legal cases are universally recommended to be transparent, particularly in their reasoning, so that legal practitioners can critically check whether the conclusions are adequately supported by the results. However, when exploring the practical meaning of this

Plutonium - the ultrapoison? An expert's opinion about an expert opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoll, W.; Becker, K.

1989-01-01

In an expert opinion written by Professor H. Kuni, Marburg, for the North Rhine-Westphalian state government, plutonium is called by far the most dangerous element in the Periodic Table. The Marburg medical expert holds that even improved legal instruments are unable to warrant effective protection of the workers handling this material, in the light of the present standards of industrial safety, because of radiological conditions and measuring problems with plutonium isotopes. In this article by an internationally renowned expert in the field, the ideas expressed in the expert opinion about the toxicity of plutonium, the cause-and-effect relationship in radiation damage by plutonium, and recent findings about the toxicity are subjected to a critical review. On the basis of results of radiation protection and of case studies, the statements in the expert opinion are contrasted with facts which make them appear in a very different light. (orig./RB) [de

Expert status and performance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark A Burgman

Full Text Available Expert judgements are essential when time and resources are stretched or we face novel dilemmas requiring fast solutions. Good advice can save lives and large sums of money. Typically, experts are defined by their qualifications, track record and experience. The social expectation hypothesis argues that more highly regarded and more experienced experts will give better advice. We asked experts to predict how they will perform, and how their peers will perform, on sets of questions. The results indicate that the way experts regard each other is consistent, but unfortunately, ranks are a poor guide to actual performance. Expert advice will be more accurate if technical decisions routinely use broadly-defined expert groups, structured question protocols and feedback.

Expert Team Decision-Making and Problem Solving: Development and Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Tancig

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Traditional research of decision-making has not significantly contributed towards better understanding of professional judgment and decisions in practice. Researchers dealing with decision-making in various professions and natural settings initiated new perspectives called naturalistic, which put the expert in the focus of research and the expertise thus entered the core of decision-making research in natural situations.Expert team is more than a group of experts. It is defined as a group of interdependent team members with a high level of task related expertise and the mastering of team processes.There have been several advances in understanding of expertise and the team. By combining theories, models, and empirical evidence we are trying to explain effectiveness and adaptation of expert teams in problem-solving and decision-making in complex and dynamic situations.A considerable research has been devoted to finding out what are the characteristics of experts and expert teams during their optimal functioning. These characteristics are discussed as input, process and output factors. As input variables the cognitive, social-affective, and motivational characteristics are presented. Process variables encompass individual and team learning, problem solving and decision-making as presented in Kolb’s cycle of learning, in deeper structures of dialogue and discussion, and in phenomena of collaboration, alignment, and distributed cognition. Outcome variables deal with task performance – activities.

Medical Expert Systems Survey

OpenAIRE

Abu-Nasser, Bassem S.

2017-01-01

International audience; There is an increased interest in the area of Artificial Intelligence in general and expert systems in particular. Expert systems are rapidly growing technology. Expert systems are a branch of Artificial Intelligence which is having a great impact on many fields of human life. Expert systems use human expert knowledge to solve complex problems in many fields such as Health, science, engineering, business, and weather forecasting. Organizations employing the technology ...

The temporo-parietal junction contributes to global gestalt perception—evidence from studies in chess experts

Science.gov (United States)

Rennig, Johannes; Bilalić, Merim; Huberle, Elisabeth; Karnath, Hans-Otto; Himmelbach, Marc

2013-01-01

In a recent neuroimaging study the comparison of intact vs. disturbed perception of global gestalt indicated a significant role of the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) in the intact perception of global gestalt (Huberle and Karnath, 2012). This location corresponded well with the areas known to be damaged or impaired in patients with simultanagnosia after stroke or due to neurodegenerative diseases. It was concluded that the TPJ plays an important role in the integration of individual items to a holistic percept. Thus, increased BOLD signals should be found in this region whenever a task calls for the integration of multiple visual items. Behavioral experiments in chess experts suggested that their superior skills in comparison to chess novices are partly based on fast holistic processing of chess positions with multiple pieces. We thus analyzed BOLD data from four fMRI studies that compared chess experts with chess novices during the presentation of complex chess-related visual stimuli (Bilalić et al., 2010, 2011a,b, 2012). Three regions of interests were defined by significant TPJ clusters in the abovementioned study of global gestalt perception (Huberle and Karnath, 2012) and BOLD signal amplitudes in these regions were compared between chess experts and novices. These cross-paradigm ROI analyses revealed higher signals at the TPJ in chess experts in comparison to novices during presentations of complex chess positions. This difference was consistent across the different tasks in five independent experiments. Our results confirm the assumption that the TPJ region identified in previous work on global gestalt perception plays an important role in the processing of complex visual stimulus configurations. PMID:24009574

The temporo-parietal junction contributes to global gestalt perception-evidence from studies in chess experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Rennig, Johannes; Bilalić, Merim; Huberle, Elisabeth; Karnath, Hans-Otto; Himmelbach, Marc

2013-01-01

In a recent neuroimaging study the comparison of intact vs. disturbed perception of global gestalt indicated a significant role of the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) in the intact perception of global gestalt (Huberle and Karnath, 2012). This location corresponded well with the areas known to be damaged or impaired in patients with simultanagnosia after stroke or due to neurodegenerative diseases. It was concluded that the TPJ plays an important role in the integration of individual items to a holistic percept. Thus, increased BOLD signals should be found in this region whenever a task calls for the integration of multiple visual items. Behavioral experiments in chess experts suggested that their superior skills in comparison to chess novices are partly based on fast holistic processing of chess positions with multiple pieces. We thus analyzed BOLD data from four fMRI studies that compared chess experts with chess novices during the presentation of complex chess-related visual stimuli (Bilalić et al., 2010, 2011a,b, 2012). Three regions of interests were defined by significant TPJ clusters in the abovementioned study of global gestalt perception (Huberle and Karnath, 2012) and BOLD signal amplitudes in these regions were compared between chess experts and novices. These cross-paradigm ROI analyses revealed higher signals at the TPJ in chess experts in comparison to novices during presentations of complex chess positions. This difference was consistent across the different tasks in five independent experiments. Our results confirm the assumption that the TPJ region identified in previous work on global gestalt perception plays an important role in the processing of complex visual stimulus configurations.

Inter-expert and intra-expert reliability in sleep spindle scoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wendt, Sabrina Lyngbye; Welinder, Peter; Sørensen, Helge Bjarup Dissing

2015-01-01

Objectives To measure the inter-expert and intra-expert agreement in sleep spindle scoring, and to quantify how many experts are needed to build a reliable dataset of sleep spindle scorings. Methods The EEG dataset was comprised of 400 randomly selected 115 s segments of stage 2 sleep from 110...... with higher reliability than the estimation of spindle duration. Reliability of sleep spindle scoring can be improved by using qualitative confidence scores, rather than a dichotomous yes/no scoring system. Conclusions We estimate that 2–3 experts are needed to build a spindle scoring dataset...... with ‘substantial’ reliability (κ: 0.61–0.8), and 4 or more experts are needed to build a dataset with ‘almost perfect’ reliability (κ: 0.81–1). Significance Spindle scoring is a critical part of sleep staging, and spindles are believed to play an important role in development, aging, and diseases of the nervous...

LTDNA Evidence on Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Roberts

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Adopting the interpretative/hermeneutical method typical of much legal scholarship, this article considers two sets of issues pertaining to LTDNA profiles as evidence in criminal proceedings. Section 1 addresses some rather large questions about the epistemic status and probative value of expert testimony in general. It sketches a theoretical model of expert evidence, highlighting five essential criteria: (1 expert competence; (2 disciplinary domain; (3 methodological validity; (4 materiality; and (5 legal admissibility. This generic model of expert authority, highlighting law’s fundamentally normative character, applies to all modern forms of criminal adjudication, across Europe and farther afield. Section 2 then examines English and Northern Irish courts’ attempts to get to grips with LTDNA evidence in recent cases. Better appreciating the ways in which UK courts have addressed the challenges of LTDNA evidence may offer some insights into parallel developments in other legal systems. Appellate court rulings follow a predictable judicial logic, which might usefully be studied and reflected upon by any forensic scientist or statistician seeking to operate effectively in criminal proceedings. Whilst each legal jurisdiction has its own unique blend of jurisprudence, institutions, cultures and historical traditions, there is considerable scope for comparative analysis and cross-jurisdictional borrowing and instruction. In the spirit of promoting more nuanced and sophisticated international interdisciplinary dialogue, this article examines UK judicial approaches to LTDNA evidence and begins to elucidate their underlying institutional logic. Legal argument and broader policy debates are not confined to considerations of scientific validity, contamination risks and evidential integrity, or associated judgments of legal admissibility or exclusion. They also crucially concern the manner in which LTDNA profiling results are presented and explained to

Prosthetic prescription in the Netherlands: An interview with clinical experts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Der Linde, H.; Geertzen, J.H.B.; Hofstad, C.J.; Van Limbeek, Jacques; Postema, K.

2004-01-01

In the process of guideline development for prosthetic prescription in the Netherlands the authors made a study of the daily clinical practice of lower limb prosthetics. Besides the evidence-based knowledge from literature the more implicit knowledge from clinical experts is of importance for

[Essential aspects of ophthalmological expert assessment in private accident insurance].

Science.gov (United States)

Tost, F

2014-06-01

Commissions for an expert assessment place basically high demands on commissioned eye specialists because this activity differs from the normal routine field of work. In addition to assessing objective symptoms and subjective symptomatics in a special analytical manner, eye specialists are expected to have knowledge of basic legal terminology, such as proximate cause, evidence and evidential value. Only under these prerequisites can an ophthalmologist fulfill the function of an expert with a high level of quality and adequately adjust the special medical ophthalmological expertise to the requirements of the predominantly legally based clients commissioning the report and oriented to the appropriate valid legal norms. Particularly common difficulties associated with making an ophthalmological expert report for private accident insurance, e.g. determination of the reduction in functional quality, consideration of partial causality and assessment of diplopia are discussed.

Real time expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asami, Tohru; Hashimoto, Kazuo; Yamamoto, Seiichi

1992-01-01

Recently, aiming at the application to the plant control for nuclear reactors and traffic and communication control, the research and the practical use of the expert system suitable to real time processing have become conspicuous. In this report, the condition for the required function to control the object that dynamically changes within a limited time is presented, and the technical difference between the real time expert system developed so as to satisfy it and the expert system of conventional type is explained with the actual examples and from theoretical aspect. The expert system of conventional type has the technical base in the problem-solving equipment originating in STRIPS. The real time expert system is applied to the fields accompanied by surveillance and control, to which conventional expert system is hard to be applied. The requirement for the real time expert system, the example of the real time expert system, and as the techniques of realizing real time processing, the realization of interruption processing, dispersion processing, and the mechanism of maintaining the consistency of knowledge are explained. (K.I.)

Expert System Model for Educational Personnel Selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Héctor A. Tabares-Ospina

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The staff selection is a difficult task due to the subjectivity that the evaluation means. This process can be complemented using a system to support decision. This paper presents the implementation of an expert system to systematize the selection process of professors. The management of software development is divided into 4 parts: requirements, design, implementation and commissioning. The proposed system models a specific knowledge through relationships between variables evidence and objective.

Muscle Injuries in Sports: A New Evidence-Informed and Expert Consensus-Based Classification with Clinical Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Valle, Xavier; Alentorn-Geli, Eduard; Tol, Johannes L; Hamilton, Bruce; Garrett, William E; Pruna, Ricard; Til, Lluís; Gutierrez, Josep Antoni; Alomar, Xavier; Balius, Ramón; Malliaropoulos, Nikos; Monllau, Joan Carles; Whiteley, Rodney; Witvrouw, Erik; Samuelsson, Kristian; Rodas, Gil

2017-07-01

Muscle injuries are among the most common injuries in sport and continue to be a major concern because of training and competition time loss, challenging decision making regarding treatment and return to sport, and a relatively high recurrence rate. An adequate classification of muscle injury is essential for a full understanding of the injury and to optimize its management and return-to-play process. The ongoing failure to establish a classification system with broad acceptance has resulted from factors such as limited clinical applicability, and the inclusion of subjective findings and ambiguous terminology. The purpose of this article was to describe a classification system for muscle injuries with easy clinical application, adequate grouping of injuries with similar functional impairment, and potential prognostic value. This evidence-informed and expert consensus-based classification system for muscle injuries is based on a four-letter initialism system: MLG-R, respectively referring to the mechanism of injury (M), location of injury (L), grading of severity (G), and number of muscle re-injuries (R). The goal of the classification is to enhance communication between healthcare and sports-related professionals and facilitate rehabilitation and return-to-play decision making.

Experts as facilitators for the implementation of social media in the library?: a social network approach

OpenAIRE

Vanwynsberghe, Hadewijch; Boudry, Elke; Vanderlinde, Ruben; Verdegem, Pieter

2014-01-01

Purpose – Based on the social capital theory, we assume that personal and professional experts are both relevant to people’s competence development. However, to date, there is little empirical evidence of how professional experts can support, or impede, people in learning how to deal with social media. The goal of this study is to examine the role and position of social media experts in the distribution of information on social media within the library as organization. Design/ methodology/...

Online-Expert: An Expert System for Online Database Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahir, Sajjad; Chang, Chew Lik

1992-01-01

Describes the design and development of a prototype expert system called ONLINE-EXPERT that helps users select online databases and vendors that meet users' needs. Search strategies are discussed; knowledge acquisition and knowledge bases are described; and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a decision analysis technique that ranks databases,…

Being an expert

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brechet, Y.; Musseau, O.; Bruna, G.; Sperandio, M.; Roulleaux-Dugage, M.; Andrieux, S.; Metteau, L.

2014-01-01

This series of short articles are dedicated to the role of the expert in the enterprise. There is an important difference between a scientific counsellor and an expert, the expert, recognized by his peers, can speak publicly in his field of expertise but has a duty of transparency while the job of a scientific counsellor requires confidentiality. The making and the use of an expert in an enterprise requires a dedicated organization. The organization of the expertise in 5 enterprises in nuclear industry are considered: CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), IRSN (Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety), AREVA, ANDRA (National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) and EDF (Electricity of France)

Neural correlates related to action observation in expert archers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yang-Tae; Seo, Jee-Hye; Song, Hui-Jin; Yoo, Done-Sik; Lee, Hui Joong; Lee, Jongmin; Lee, Gunyoung; Kwon, Eunjin; Kim, Jin Goo; Chang, Yongmin

2011-10-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that activity of the mirror neuron system is dependent on the observer's motor experience of a given action. It remains unclear, however, whether activity of the mirror neuron system is also associated with the observer's motor experience in sports game. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate differences in activation of the mirror neuron system during action observation between experts and non-archer control subjects. We used video of Western-style archery in which participants were asked to watch the archery movements. Hyperactivation of the premotor and inferior parietal cortex in expert archers relative to non-archer control subjects suggests that the human mirror neuron system could contain and expand representations of the motor repertoire. The fact that dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was more active in expert archers than in non-archer control subjects indicates a spontaneous engagement of theory of mind in experts when watching video of Western-style archery. Compared with the non-archer control subjects, expert archers showed greater activation in the neural system in regions associated with episodic recall from familiar and meaningful information, including the cingulate cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and parahippocampal gyrus. The results demonstrate that expertise effects stimulate brain activity not only in the mirror neuron system but also in the neural networks related to theory of mind and episodic memory. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

System Experts and Decision Making Experts in Transdisciplinary Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Mieg, Harald A.

2006-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims at a better understanding of expert roles in transdisciplinary projects. Thus, the main purpose is the analysis of the roles of experts in transdisciplinary projects. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis of the ETH-UNS case studies from the point of view of the psychology of expertise and the sociology of professions…

Testing the Limits of Skill Transfer for Scrabble Experts in Behaviour and Brain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophia Van Hees

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We investigated transfer of the skills developed by competitive Scrabble players. Previous studies reported superior performance for Scrabble experts on the lexical decision task (LDT, suggesting near transfer of Scrabble skills. Here we investigated the potential for far transfer to a symbol decision task (SDT; in particular, transfer of enhanced long-term working memory for vertically presented stimuli. Our behavioural results showed no evidence for far transfer. Despite years of intensive practice, Scrabble experts were no faster and no more accurate than controls in the SDT. However, our fMRI and EEG data from the SDT suggest that the neural repertoire that Scrabble experts develop supports task performance even outside of the practised domain, in a non-linguistic context. The regions engaged during the SDT were different across groups: controls engaged temporal-frontal regions, whereas Scrabble experts engaged posterior visual and temporal-parietal regions. In Scrabble experts, activity related to Scrabble skill (anagramming scores included regions associated with visual-spatial processing and long-term working memory, and overlapped with regions previously shown to be associated with Scrabble expertise in the near transfer task (LDT. Analysis of source waveforms within these regions showed that participants with higher anagramming scores had larger P300 amplitudes, potentially reflecting greater working memory capacity, or less variability in the participants who perform the task more efficiently. Thus, the neuroimaging results provide evidence of brain transfer in the absence of behavioural transfer, providing new clues about the consequences of long-term training associated with competitive Scrabble expertise.

Expert auditors’ services classification

OpenAIRE

Jolanta Wisniewska

2013-01-01

The profession of an expert auditor is a public trust occupation with a distinctive feature of taking responsibility for actions in the public interest. The main responsibility of expert auditors is performing financial auditing; however, expert auditors are prepared to carry out different tasks which encompass a wide plethora of financial and auditing services for different kinds of institutions and companies. The aim of the article is first of all the description of expert auditors’ service...

The temporo-parietal junction contributes to global gestalt perception – evidence from studies in chess experts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes eRennig

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In a recent neuroimaging study the comparison of intact versus disturbed perception of global gestalt indicated a significant role of the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ in the intact perception of global gestalt (Huberle and Karnath, 2012. This location corresponded well with the areas known to be damaged or impaired in patients with simultanagnosia after stroke or due to neurodegenerative diseases. It was concluded that the TPJ plays an important role in the integration of individual items to a holistic percept. Thus, increased BOLD signals should be found in this region whenever a task calls for the integration of multiple visual items. Behavioral experiments in chess experts suggested that their superior skills in comparison to chess novices are partly based on fast holistic processing of chess positions with multiple pieces. We thus analyzed BOLD data from four fMRI studies that compared chess experts with chess novices during the presentation of complex chess-related visual stimuli (Bilalić et al., 2011a, 2010, 2011b, 2012. Three regions of interests were defined by significant TPJ clusters in the abovementioned study of global gestalt perception (Huberle and Karnath, 2012 and BOLD signal amplitudes in these regions were compared between chess experts and novices. These cross-paradigm ROI analyses revealed higher signals at the TPJ in chess experts in comparison to novices during presentations of complex chess positions. This difference was consistent across the different tasks in five independent experiments. Our results confirm the assumption that the TPJ region identified in previous work on global gestalt perception plays an important role in the processing of complex visual stimulus configurations.

Breast carcinoma during pregnancy. International recommendations from an expert meeting.

Science.gov (United States)

Loibl, Sibylle; von Minckwitz, Gunter; Gwyn, Karin; Ellis, Paul; Blohmer, Jens U; Schlegelberger, Brigitte; Keller, Monika; Harder, Sebastian; Theriault, Richard L; Crivellari, Diana; Klingebiel, Thomas; Louwen, Frank; Kaufmann, Manfred

2006-01-15

Breast carcinoma during pregnancy (BCP) is a difficult clinical situation, as it appears to put the health of the mother in conflict with that of the fetus. An international expert meeting was conducted to form guidelines on how to diagnose and treat women with BCP. The goal for treatment of the pregnant woman with breast carcinoma is the same as that of the nonpregnant breast carcinoma patient: local control of disease and prevention of systemic metastases. However, certain treatment modalities need to be modified because of the potential for adverse effects on the fetus. There is evidence to support the safety of anthracycline-based chemotherapy during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy (Oxford Level of Evidence [LOE] 2b). Because of the lack of evidence, the expert opinion was not to recommend the routine use of newer cytotoxic drugs like the taxanes during pregnancy (LOE 5). The recommendations provided should help to reach informed decision making by the patient. The ongoing prospective collection of data on BCP, such as that at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC) and that of the German Breast Group/Breast International Group (GBG/BIG), is necessary to further our knowledge regarding the treatment of this unique group of breast carcinoma patients.

Assessing Residents' Readiness for OR Autonomy: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Expert Surgical Teachers' Best Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaodong Phoenix; Sullivan, Amy M; Alseidi, Adnan; Kwakye, Gifty; Smink, Douglas S

Providing resident autonomy in the operating room (OR) is one of the major challenges for surgical educators today. The purpose of this study was to explore what approaches expert surgical teachers use to assess residents' readiness for autonomy in the OR. We particularly focused on the assessments that experts make prior to conducting the surgical time-out. We conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with expert surgical teachers from March 2016 to September 2016. Purposeful sampling and snowball sampling were applied to identify and recruit expert surgical teachers from general surgery residency programs across the United States to represent a range of clinical subspecialties. All interviews were audio-recorded, deidentified, and transcribed. We applied the Framework Method of content analysis, discussed and reached final consensus on the themes. We interviewed 15 expert teachers from 9 institutions. The majority (13/15) were Program or Associate Program Directors; 47% (7/15) primarily performed complex surgical operations (e.g., endocrine surgery). Five themes regarding how expert surgical teachers determine residents' readiness for OR autonomy before the surgical time-out emerged. These included 3 domains of evidence elicited about the resident (resident characteristics, medical knowledge, and beyond the current OR case), 1 variable relating to attending characteristics, and 1 variable composed of contextual factors. Experts obtained one or more examples of evidence, and adjusted residents' initial autonomy using factors from the attending variable and the context variable. Expert surgical teachers' assessments of residents' readiness for OR autonomy included 5 key components. Better understanding these inputs can contribute to both faculty and resident development, enabling increased resident autonomy and preparation for independent practice. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Group elicitations yield more consistent, yet more uncertain experts in understanding risks to ecosystem services in New Zealand bays

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gerald G.; Sinner, Jim; Ellis, Joanne; Kandlikar, Milind; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Satterfield, Terre; Chan, Kai

2017-01-01

The elicitation of expert judgment is an important tool for assessment of risks and impacts in environmental management contexts, and especially important as decision-makers face novel challenges where prior empirical research is lacking or insufficient. Evidence-driven elicitation approaches typically involve techniques to derive more accurate probability distributions under fairly specific contexts. Experts are, however, prone to overconfidence in their judgements. Group elicitations with diverse experts can reduce expert overconfidence by allowing cross-examination and reassessment of prior judgements, but groups are also prone to uncritical

Group elicitations yield more consistent, yet more uncertain experts in understanding risks to ecosystem services in New Zealand bays

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gerald G.

2017-08-02

The elicitation of expert judgment is an important tool for assessment of risks and impacts in environmental management contexts, and especially important as decision-makers face novel challenges where prior empirical research is lacking or insufficient. Evidence-driven elicitation approaches typically involve techniques to derive more accurate probability distributions under fairly specific contexts. Experts are, however, prone to overconfidence in their judgements. Group elicitations with diverse experts can reduce expert overconfidence by allowing cross-examination and reassessment of prior judgements, but groups are also prone to uncritical

In praise of conscious awareness: a new framework for the investigation of 'continuous improvement' in expert athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John eToner

2014-07-01

Full Text Available A key postulate of traditional theories of motor skill learning (e.g., Fitts and Posner, 1967; Shiffrin and Schneider, 1977 is that expert performance is largely automatic in nature and tends to deteriorate when the performer ‘reinvests’ in, or attempts to exert conscious control over, proceduralized movements (Masters and Maxwell, 2008. This postulate is challenged, however, by recent empirical evidence (e.g., Nyberg, in press; Geeves et al., in press which shows that conscious cognitive activity plays a key role in facilitating further improvement amongst expert sports performers and musicians – people who have already achieved elite status (Toner and Moran, in press. This evidence suggests that expert performers in motor domains (e.g., sport, music can strategically deploy conscious attention to alternate between different modes of bodily awareness (reflective and pre-reflective during performance. Extrapolating from this phenomenon, the current paper considers how a novel theoretical approach (adapted from Sutton, McIlwain, Christensen, and Geeves, 2011 could help researchers to elucidate some of the cognitive mechanisms mediating continuous improvement amongst expert performers.

In praise of conscious awareness: a new framework for the investigation of "continuous improvement" in expert athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Toner, John; Moran, Aidan

2014-01-01

A key postulate of traditional theories of motor skill-learning (e.g., Fitts and Posner, 1967; Shiffrin and Schneider, 1977) is that expert performance is largely automatic in nature and tends to deteriorate when the performer "reinvests" in, or attempts to exert conscious control over, proceduralized movements (Masters and Maxwell, 2008). This postulate is challenged, however, by recent empirical evidence (e.g., Nyberg, in press; Geeves et al., 2014) which shows that conscious cognitive activity plays a key role in facilitating further improvement amongst expert sports performers and musicians - people who have already achieved elite status (Toner and Moran, in press). This evidence suggests that expert performers in motor domains (e.g., sport, music) can strategically deploy conscious attention to alternate between different modes of bodily awareness (reflective and pre-reflective) during performance. Extrapolating from this phenomenon, the current paper considers how a novel theoretical approach (adapted from Sutton et al., 2011) could help researchers to elucidate some of the cognitive mechanisms mediating continuous improvement amongst expert performers.

Developing a physics expert identity in a biophysics research group

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Idaykis; Goertzen, Renee Michelle; Brewe, Eric; Kramer, Laird H.

2015-06-01

We investigate the development of expert identities through the use of the sociocultural perspective of learning as participating in a community of practice. An ethnographic case study of biophysics graduate students focuses on the experiences the students have in their research group meetings. The analysis illustrates how the communities of practice-based identity constructs of competencies characterize student expert membership. A microanalysis of speech, sound, tones, and gestures in video data characterize students' social competencies in the physics community of practice. Results provide evidence that students at different stages of their individual projects have opportunities to develop social competencies such as mutual engagement, negotiability of the repertoire, and accountability to the enterprises as they interact with group members. The biophysics research group purposefully designed a learning trajectory including conducting research and writing it for publication in the larger community of practice as a pathway to expertise. The students of the research group learn to become socially competent as specific experts of their project topic and methodology, ensuring acceptance, agency, and membership in their community of practice. This work expands research on physics expertise beyond the cognitive realm and has implications for how to design graduate learning experiences to promote expert identity development.

Expert surgical consensus for prenatal counseling using the Delphi method.

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Loren; Jackson, Jordan; Miller, Kristen; Kowalski, Rebecca; Kolm, Paul; Luks, Francois I

2017-11-28

Pediatric surgeons frequently offer prenatal consultation for congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) and congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH); however, there is no evidence-based consensus to guide prenatal decision making and counseling for these conditions. Eliciting feedback from experts is integral to defining best practice regarding prenatal counseling and intervention. A Delphi consensus process was undertaken using a panel of pediatric surgeons identified as experts in fetal therapy to address current limitations. Areas of discrepancy in the literature on CPAM and CDH were identified and used to generate a list of content and intervention questions. Experts were invited to participate in an online Delphi survey. Items that did not reach first-round consensus were broken down into additional questions, and consensus was achieved in the second round. Fifty-four surgeons (69%) responded to at least one of the two survey rounds. During round one, consensus was reached on 54 of 89 survey questions (61%), and 45 new questions were developed. During round two, consensus was reached on 53 of 60 survey questions (88%). We determined expert consensus to establish guidelines regarding perinatal management of CPAM and CDH. Our results can help educate pediatric surgeons participating in perinatal care of these patients. V. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Delegating Decisions to Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; Suen, Wing

2004-01-01

We present a model of delegation with self-interested and privately informed experts. A team of experts with extreme but opposite biases is acceptable to a wide range of decision makers with diverse preferences, but the value of expertise from such a team is low. A decision maker wants to appoint experts who are less partisan than he is in order…

Glyphosate rodent carcinogenicity bioassay expert panel review.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Gary M; Berry, Colin; Burns, Michele; de Camargo, Joao Lauro Viana; Greim, Helmut

2016-09-01

Glyphosate has been rigorously and extensively tested for carcinogenicity by administration to mice (five studies) and to rats (nine studies). Most authorities have concluded that the evidence does not indicate a cancer risk to humans. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), however, evaluated some of the available data and concluded that glyphosate probably is carcinogenic to humans. The expert panel convened by Intertek assessed the findings used by IARC, as well as the full body of evidence and found the following: (1) the renal neoplastic effects in males of one mouse study are not associated with glyphosate exposure, because they lack statistical significance, strength, consistency, specificity, lack a dose-response pattern, plausibility, and coherence; (2) the strength of association of liver hemangiosarcomas in a different mouse study is absent, lacking consistency, and a dose-response effect and having in high dose males only a significant incidence increase which is within the historical control range; (3) pancreatic islet-cell adenomas (non-significant incidence increase), in two studies of male SD rats did not progress to carcinomas and lacked a dose-response pattern (the highest incidence is in the low dose followed by the high dose); (4) in one of two studies, a non-significant positive trend in the incidence of hepatocellular adenomas in male rats did not lead to progression to carcinomas; (5) in one of two studies, the non-significant positive trend in the incidence of thyroid C-cell adenomas in female rats was not present and there was no progression of adenomas to carcinomas at the end of the study. Application of criteria for causality considerations to the above mentioned tumor types and given the overall weight-of-evidence (WoE), the expert panel concluded that glyphosate is not a carcinogen in laboratory animals.

IncobotulinumtoxinA in aesthetics: Russian multidisciplinary expert consensus recommendations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yutskovskaya Y

2015-06-01

. The expert group reviewed and analyzed the existing evidence, consensus recommendations, and Russian experts’ extensive practical experience of incobotulinumtoxinA in aesthetics to reach consensus on optimal doses, potential dose adjustments, and injection sites of incobotulinumtoxinA for facial aesthetics. Results: All experts developed guidance on the optimal doses for incobotulinumtoxinA treatment of different regions of the upper and lower face. The expert panel agreed that there are no differences in the efficacy and duration of the effect between the four BoNT/As that are commercially available for facial aesthetic indications in Russia and that, when administered correctly, all BoNT/As can achieve optimal results. Experts also agreed that nonresponse to BoNT/A can be caused by neutralizing antibodies. Conclusion: On the basis of the scientific and clinical evidence available for incobotulinumtoxinA, coupled with the extensive clinical experience of the consensus group, experts recommended the optimal doses of incobotulinumtoxinA effective for treatment of wrinkles of the upper and lower face to achieve the expected aesthetic outcome. These first Russian guidelines on the optimal use of incobotulinumtoxinA for augmentation of glabellar lines, periorbital wrinkles, forehead lines, bunny lines, perioral wrinkles, depressor anguli oris, mentalis, masseters and platysmal bands, and performing the Nefertiti lift, are presented here. Keywords: incobotulinumtoxinA, free from complexing proteins, consensus guidelines, facial lines, dosage, aesthetics, Russia

Application of expert systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basden, A

1983-11-01

This article seeks to bring together a number of issues relevant to the application of expert systems by discussing their advantages and limitations, their roles and benefits, and the influence that real-life applications might have on the design of expert systems software. Part of the expert systems strategy of one major chemical company is outlined. Because it was in constructing one particular expert system that many of these issues became important this system is described briefly at the start of the paper and used to illustrate much of the later discussion. It is of the plausible-inference type and has application in the field of materials engineering. 22 references.

Counselor Expert System | Debretsion | Zede Journal

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An expert system plays an important role on alleviating primarily shortage of experts in a specific area of interest. With the help of an expert system, personnel with little expertise can solve problems that require expert knowledge. In this paper all major aspects of an expert system development have been presented.

Expert Panel Elicitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, M. [Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Waste Management and Environmental Protection; Hora, S.C. [Univ. of Hawaii, Hilo, HI (United States)

2005-09-15

Scientists are now frequently in a situation where data cannot be easily assessed, since they may have conflicting or uncertain sources. While expert judgment reflects private choices, it is possible both reduce the personal aspect as well as in crease confidence in the judgments by using formal protocols for choice and elicitation of experts. A full-scale elicitation made on seismicity following glaciation, now in its late phase and presented here in a preliminary form, illustrates the value of the technique and some essential issues in connection with the decision to launch such a project. The results show an unusual low variation between the experts.

On the performance of social network and likelihood-based expert weighting schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooke, Roger M.; ElSaadany, Susie; Huang Xinzheng

2008-01-01

Using expert judgment data from the TU Delft's expert judgment database, we compare the performance of different weighting schemes, namely equal weighting, performance-based weighting from the classical model [Cooke RM. Experts in uncertainty. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1991.], social network (SN) weighting and likelihood weighting. The picture that emerges with regard to SN weights is rather mixed. SN theory does not provide an alternative to performance-based combination of expert judgments, since the statistical accuracy of the SN decision maker is sometimes unacceptably low. On the other hand, it does outperform equal weighting in the majority of cases. The results here, though not overwhelmingly positive, do nonetheless motivate further research into social interaction methods for nominating and weighting experts. Indeed, a full expert judgment study with performance measurement requires an investment in time and effort, with a view to securing external validation. If high confidence in a comparable level of validation can be obtained by less intensive methods, this would be very welcome, and would facilitate the application of structured expert judgment in situations where the resources for a full study are not available. Likelihood weights are just as resource intensive as performance-based weights, and the evidence presented here suggests that they are inferior to performance-based weights with regard to those scoring variables which are optimized in performance weights (calibration and information). Perhaps surprisingly, they are also inferior with regard to likelihood. Their use is further discouraged by the fact that they constitute a strongly improper scoring rule

Comprehensive review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community-based primary health care in improving maternal, neonatal and child health: 8. summary and recommendations of the Expert Panel.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Robert E; Taylor, Carl E; Arole, Shobha; Bang, Abhay; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Chowdhury, A Mushtaque R; Kirkwood, Betty R; Kureshy, Nazo; Lanata, Claudio F; Phillips, James F; Taylor, Mary; Victora, Cesar G; Zhu, Zonghan; Perry, Henry B

2017-06-01

The contributions that community-based primary health care (CBPHC) and engaging with communities as valued partners can make to the improvement of maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) is not widely appreciated. This unfortunate reality is one of the reasons why so few priority countries failed to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This article provides a summary of a series of articles about the effectiveness of CBPHC in improving MNCH and offers recommendations from an Expert Panel for strengthening CBPHC that were formulated in 2008 and have been updated on the basis of more recent evidence. An Expert Panel convened to guide the review of the effectiveness of community-based primary health care (CBPHC). The Expert Panel met in 2008 in New York City with senior UNICEF staff. In 2016, following the completion of the review, the Panel considered the review's findings and made recommendations. The review consisted of an analysis of 661 unique reports, including 583 peer-reviewed journal articles, 12 books/monographs, 4 book chapters, and 72 reports from the gray literature. The analysis consisted of 700 assessments since 39 were analyzed twice (once for an assessment of improvements in neonatal and/or child health and once for an assessment in maternal health). The Expert Panel recommends that CBPHC should be a priority for strengthening health systems, accelerating progress in achieving universal health coverage, and ending preventable child and maternal deaths. The Panel also recommends that expenditures for CBPHC be monitored against expenditures for primary health care facilities and hospitals and reflect the importance of CBPHC for averting mortality. Governments, government health programs, and NGOs should develop health systems that respect and value communities as full partners and work collaboratively with them in building and strengthening CBPHC programs - through engagement with planning, implementation (including the

Sleep-spindle detection: crowdsourcing and evaluating performance of experts, non-experts and automated methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warby, Simon C.; Wendt, Sabrina Lyngbye; Welinder, Peter

2014-01-01

to crowdsource spindle identification by human experts and non-experts, and we compared their performance with that of automated detection algorithms in data from middle- to older-aged subjects from the general population. We also refined methods for forming group consensus and evaluating the performance...... of event detectors in physiological data such as electroencephalographic recordings from polysomnography. Compared to the expert group consensus gold standard, the highest performance was by individual experts and the non-expert group consensus, followed by automated spindle detectors. This analysis showed...... that crowdsourcing the scoring of sleep data is an efficient method to collect large data sets, even for difficult tasks such as spindle identification. Further refinements to spindle detection algorithms are needed for middle- to older-aged subjects....

Surgical experts: born or made?

Science.gov (United States)

Sadideen, Hazim; Alvand, Abtin; Saadeddin, Munir; Kneebone, Roger

2013-01-01

The concept of surgical expertise and the processes involved in its development are topical, and there is a constant drive to identify reliable measures of expert performance in surgery. This review explores the notion of whether surgical experts are "born" or "made", with reference to educational theory and pertinent literature. Peer-reviewed publications, books, and online resources on surgical education, expertise and training were reviewed. Important themes and aspects of expertise acquisition were identified in order to better understand the concept of a surgical expert. The definition of surgical expertise and several important aspects of its development are highlighted. Innate talent plays an important role, but is insufficient on its own to produce a surgical expert. Multiple theories that explore motor skill acquisition and memory are relevant, and Ericsson's theory of the development of competence followed by deliberate self-practice has been especially influential. Psychomotor and non-technical skills are necessary for progression in the current climate in light of our training curricula; surgical experts are adaptive experts who excel in these. The literature suggests that surgical expertise is reached through practice; surgical experts are made, not born. A deeper understanding of the nature of expert performance and its development will ensure that surgical education training programmes are of the highest possible quality. Surgical educators should aim to develop an expertise-based approach, with expert performance as the benchmark. Copyright © 2013 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Law for nuclear experts only

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wagner, H [Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe G.m.b.H. (Germany, F.R.)

1980-02-01

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is preparing an ordinance on expert consultants under the Atomic Energy Act which, among other topics, is to include legal norms for the criteria to be met by experts in terms of non-partisanship, training, capabilities, technical equipment and cooperation in expert organizations of members of various scientific and technical disciplines. A summary of general criteria relating to the qualification, selection and status of experts called in by the legislative and executive branches and by courts of law, which could be organized as a series of guidelines without any original qualities of legal norms, could be recommended in view of the increasing quantitative and qualitative importance of experts. However, passing an ordinance merely fixing and putting into concrete terms the image of an 'expert under the Atomic Energy Act' is intolerable, because the status of scientific and technical experts by far extends beyond the field of nuclear law in our industrial society characterized by a far reaching division of labor. Weak points in the organization of expert services are not confined to technology or nuclear power. Separate rules establishing legal norms are not convincing also for reasons of technology policy and legal policy as well as for those of social psychology and practice.

The nature of expertise in fingerprint matching: experts can do a lot with a little.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew B Thompson

Full Text Available Expert decision making often seems impressive, even miraculous. People with genuine expertise in a particular domain can perform quickly and accurately, and with little information. In the series of experiments presented here, we manipulate the amount of "information" available to a group of experts whose job it is to identify the source of crime scene fingerprints. In Experiment 1, we reduced the amount of information available to experts by inverting fingerprint pairs and adding visual noise. There was no evidence for an inversion effect-experts were just as accurate for inverted prints as they were for upright prints-but expert performance with artificially noisy prints was impressive. In Experiment 2, we separated matching and nonmatching print pairs in time. Experts were conservative, but they were still able to discriminate pairs of fingerprints that were separated by five-seconds, even though the task was quite different from their everyday experience. In Experiment 3, we separated the print pairs further in time to test the long-term memory of experts compared to novices. Long-term recognition memory for experts and novices was the same, with both performing around chance. In Experiment 4, we presented pairs of fingerprints quickly to experts and novices in a matching task. Experts were more accurate than novices, particularly for similar nonmatching pairs, and experts were generally more accurate when they had more time. It is clear that experts can match prints accurately when there is reduced visual information, reduced opportunity for direct comparison, and reduced time to engage in deliberate reasoning. These findings suggest that non-analytic processing accounts for a substantial portion of the variance in expert fingerprint matching accuracy. Our conclusion is at odds with general wisdom in fingerprint identification practice and formal training, and at odds with the claims and explanations that are offered in court during expert

The nature of expertise in fingerprint matching: experts can do a lot with a little.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Matthew B; Tangen, Jason M

2014-01-01

Expert decision making often seems impressive, even miraculous. People with genuine expertise in a particular domain can perform quickly and accurately, and with little information. In the series of experiments presented here, we manipulate the amount of "information" available to a group of experts whose job it is to identify the source of crime scene fingerprints. In Experiment 1, we reduced the amount of information available to experts by inverting fingerprint pairs and adding visual noise. There was no evidence for an inversion effect-experts were just as accurate for inverted prints as they were for upright prints-but expert performance with artificially noisy prints was impressive. In Experiment 2, we separated matching and nonmatching print pairs in time. Experts were conservative, but they were still able to discriminate pairs of fingerprints that were separated by five-seconds, even though the task was quite different from their everyday experience. In Experiment 3, we separated the print pairs further in time to test the long-term memory of experts compared to novices. Long-term recognition memory for experts and novices was the same, with both performing around chance. In Experiment 4, we presented pairs of fingerprints quickly to experts and novices in a matching task. Experts were more accurate than novices, particularly for similar nonmatching pairs, and experts were generally more accurate when they had more time. It is clear that experts can match prints accurately when there is reduced visual information, reduced opportunity for direct comparison, and reduced time to engage in deliberate reasoning. These findings suggest that non-analytic processing accounts for a substantial portion of the variance in expert fingerprint matching accuracy. Our conclusion is at odds with general wisdom in fingerprint identification practice and formal training, and at odds with the claims and explanations that are offered in court during expert testimony.

Expert Systems for the Analytical Laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

de Monchy, Allan R.; And Others

1988-01-01

Discusses two computer problem solving programs: rule-based expert systems and decision analysis expert systems. Explores the application of expert systems to automated chemical analyses. Presents six factors to consider before using expert systems. (MVL)

Design Features in Games for Health: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Expert Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Christina; Wilcox, Lauren; Ng, Wendy; Schiffer, Jade; Hammer, Jessica

2017-06-01

Games for health (G4H) aim to improve health outcomes and encourage behavior change. While existing theoretical frameworks describe features of both games and health interventions, there has been limited systematic investigation into how disciplinary and interdisciplinary stakeholders understand design features in G4H. We recruited 18 experts from the fields of game design, behavioral health, and games for health, and prompted them with 16 sample games. Applying methods including open card sorting and triading, we elicited themes and features (e.g., real-world interaction, game mechanics) around G4H. We found evidence of conceptual differences suggesting that a G4H perspective is not simply the sum of game and health perspectives. At the same time, we found evidence of convergence in stakeholder views, including areas where game experts provided insights about health and vice versa. We discuss how this work can be applied to provide conceptual tools, improve the G4H design process, and guide approaches to encoding G4H-related data for large-scale empirical analysis.

Expert system application for prioritizing preventive actions for shift work: shift expert.

Science.gov (United States)

Esen, Hatice; Hatipoğlu, Tuğçen; Cihan, Ahmet; Fiğlali, Nilgün

2017-09-19

Shift patterns, work hours, work arrangements and worker motivations have increasingly become key factors for job performance. The main objective of this article is to design an expert system that identifies the negative effects of shift work and prioritizes mitigation efforts according to their importance in preventing these negative effects. The proposed expert system will be referred to as the shift expert. A thorough literature review is conducted to determine the effects of shift work on workers. Our work indicates that shift work is linked to demographic variables, sleepiness and fatigue, health and well-being, and social and domestic conditions. These parameters constitute the sections of a questionnaire designed to focus on 26 important issues related to shift work. The shift expert is then constructed to provide prevention advice at the individual and organizational levels, and it prioritizes this advice using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process model, which considers comparison matrices provided by users during the prioritization process. An empirical study of 61 workers working on three rotating shifts is performed. After administering the questionnaires, the collected data are analyzed statistically, and then the shift expert produces individual and organizational recommendations for these workers.

Rational consensus under uncertainty: Expert judgment in the EC-USNRC uncertainty study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooke, R.; Kraan, B.; Goossens, L.

1999-01-01

Governmental bodies are confronted with the problem of achieving rational consensus in the face of substantial uncertainties. The area of accident consequence management for nuclear power plants affords a good example. Decisions with regard to evacuation, decontamination, and food bans must be taken on the basis of predictions of environmental transport of radioactive material, contamination through the food chain, cancer induction, and the like. These predictions use mathematical models containing scores of uncertain parameters. Decision makers want to take, and want to be perceived to take, these decisions in a rational manner. The question is, how can this be accomplished in the face of large uncertainties? Indeed, the very presence of uncertainty poses a threat to rational consensus. Decision makers will necessarily base their actions on the judgments of experts. The experts, however, will not agree among themselves, as otherwise we would not speak of large uncertainties. Any given expert's viewpoint will be favorable to the interests of some stakeholders, and hostile to the interests of others. If a decision maker bases his/her actions on the views of one single expert, then (s)he is invariably open to charges of partiality toward the interests favored by this viewpoint. An appeal to 'impartial' or 'disinterested' experts will fail for two reasons. First, experts have interests; they have jobs, mortgages and professional reputations. Second, even if expert interests could somehow be quarantined, even then the experts would disagree. Expert disagreement is not explained by diverging interests, and consensus cannot be reached by shielding the decision process from expert interests. If rational consensus requires expert agreement, then rational consensus is simply not possible in the face of uncertainty. If rational consensus under uncertainty is to be achieved, then evidently the views of a diverse set of experts must be taken into account. The question is how

44 CFR 68.9 - Admissible evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Admissible evidence. 68.9 Section 68.9 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF... admissible. (b) Documentary and oral evidence shall be admissible. (c) Admissibility of non-expert testimony...

Adversarial Allegiance: The Devil is in the Evidence Details, Not Just on the Witness Stand

Science.gov (United States)

McAuliff, Bradley D.; Arter, Jeana L.

2016-01-01

This study examined the potential influence of adversarial allegiance on expert testimony in a simulated child sexual abuse case. A national sample of 100 witness suggestibility experts reviewed a police interview of an alleged 5 year-old female victim. Retaining party (prosecution, defense) and interview suggestibility (low, high) varied across experts. Experts were very willing to testify, but more so for the prosecution than the defense when interview suggestibility was low and vice versa when interview suggestibility was high. Experts' anticipated testimony focused more on pro-defense aspects of the police interview and child's memory overall (negativity bias), but favored retaining party only when interview suggestibility was low. Unlike prosecution-retained experts who shifted their focus from pro-defense aspects of the case in the high suggestibility interview to pro-prosecution aspects in the low suggestibility interview, defense experts did not. Blind raters' perceptions of expert focus mirrored those findings. Despite an initial bias toward retaining party, experts' evaluations of child victim accuracy and interview quality were lower in the high versus low interview suggestibility condition only. Our data suggest that adversarial allegiance exists, that it can (but not always) influence how experts process evidence, and that it may be more likely in cases involving evidence that is not blatantly flawed. Defense experts may evaluate this type of evidence more negatively than prosecution experts due to negativity bias and positive testing strategies associated with confirmation bias. PMID:27243362

Adversarial allegiance: The devil is in the evidence details, not just on the witness stand.

Science.gov (United States)

McAuliff, Bradley D; Arter, Jeana L

2016-10-01

This study examined the potential influence of adversarial allegiance on expert testimony in a simulated child sexual abuse case. A national sample of 100 witness suggestibility experts reviewed a police interview of an alleged 5-year-old female victim. Retaining party (prosecution, defense) and interview suggestibility (low, high) varied across experts. Experts were very willing to testify, but more so for the prosecution than the defense when interview suggestibility was low and vice versa when interview suggestibility was high. Experts' anticipated testimony focused more on prodefense aspects of the police interview and child's memory overall (negativity bias), but favored retaining party only when interview suggestibility was low. Prosecution-retained experts shifted their focus from prodefense aspects of the case in the high suggestibility interview to proprosecution aspects in the low suggestibility interview; defense experts did not. Blind raters' perceptions of expert focus mirrored those findings. Despite an initial bias toward retaining party, experts' evaluations of child victim accuracy and police interview quality were lower in the high versus low interview suggestibility condition only. Our data suggest that adversarial allegiance exists, that it can (but not always) influence how experts process evidence, and that it may be more likely in cases involving evidence that is not blatantly flawed. Defense experts may evaluate this type of evidence more negatively than prosecution experts because of negativity bias and positive testing strategies associated with confirmation bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

15 CFR 904.251 - Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... taken to establish matters of aggravation or mitigation. (b) Objections and offers of proof. (1) A party...) Whenever evidence is excluded from the record, the party offering such evidence may make an offer of proof... the agency as an expert body. Where a decision or part thereof rests on official notice of a material...

Experts in science and society

CERN Document Server

Gigerenzer, Gerd

2004-01-01

In today's complex world, we have come to rely increasingly on those who have expertise in specific areas and can bring their knowledge to bear on crucial social, political and scientific questions. Taking the viewpoint that experts are consulted when there is something important at stake for an individual, a group, or society at large, Experts in Science and Society explores expertise as a relational concept. How do experts balance their commitment to science with that to society? How does a society actually determine that a person has expertise? What personal traits are valued in an expert? From where does the expert derive authority? What makes new forms of expertise emerge? These and related questions are addressed from a wide range of areas in order to be inclusive, as well as to demonstrate similarities across areas. Likewise, in order to be culturally comparative, this volume includes examples and discussions of experts in different countries and even in different time periods. The topics include the r...

Expert system in PNC, 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tobita, Yoshimasa; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Matsumoto, Mitsuo; Ono, Kiyoshi.

1990-01-01

The computer code system which can evaluate the mass balance and cycle cost in nuclear fuel cycle has been developing a PNC using an artificial intelligence technique. This system is composed of the expert system, data base and analysis codes. The expert system is the most important one in the system and the content of the expert system is explained in this paper. The expert system has the three functions. The first is the function of understanding the meaning of user's questions by natural language, the second is the function of selecting the best way to solve the problem given by the user using the knowledge which is already installed in the system, and the last is the function of answering the questions. The knowledge of the experts installed in the expert system is represented by the frame-type rules. Therefore, the knowledge will be simply added to the system, and consequently the system will be easily extended. (author)

Experts on public trial

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blok, Anders

2007-01-01

a case study of the May 2003 Danish consensus conference on environmental economics as a policy tool, the article reflects on the politics of expert authority permeating practices of public participation. Adopting concepts from the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), the conference is seen......-than-successful defense in the citizen perspective. Further, consensus conferences are viewed alternatively as "expert dissent conferences," serving to disclose a multiplicity of expert commitments. From this perspective, some challenges for democratizing expertise through future exercises in public participation...

Reflection group on 'Expert Culture'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eggermont, G.

2000-01-01

As part of SCK-CEN's social sciences and humanities programme, a reflection group on 'Expert Culture' was established. The objectives of the reflection group are: (1) to clarify the role of SCK-CEN experts; (2) to clarify the new role of expertise in the evolving context of risk society; (3) to confront external views and internal SCK-CEN experiences on expert culture; (4) to improve trust building of experts and credibility of SCK-CEN as a nuclear actor in society; (5) to develop a draft for a deontological code; (6) to integrate the approach in training on assertivity and communication; (7) to create an output for a topical day on the subject of expert culture. The programme, achievements and perspectives of the refection group are summarised

PSG-EXPERT. An expert system for the diagnosis of sleep disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Fred, A; Filipe, J; Partinen, M; Paiva, T

2000-01-01

This paper describes PSG-EXPERT, an expert system in the domain of sleep disorders exploring polysomnographic data. The developed software tool is addressed from two points of view: (1)--as an integrated environment for the development of diagnosis-oriented expert systems; (2)--as an auxiliary diagnosis tool in the particular domain of sleep disorders. Developed over a Windows platform, this software tool extends one of the most popular shells--CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) with the following features: backward chaining engine; graph-based explanation facilities; knowledge editor including a fuzzy fact editor and a rules editor, with facts-rules integrity checking; belief revision mechanism; built-in case generator and validation module. It therefore provides graphical support for knowledge acquisition, edition, explanation and validation. From an application domain point of view, PSG-Expert is an auxiliary diagnosis system for sleep disorders based on polysomnographic data, that aims at assisting the medical expert in his diagnosis task by providing automatic analysis of polysomnographic data, summarising the results of this analysis in terms of a report of major findings and possible diagnosis consistent with the polysomnographic data. Sleep disorders classification follows the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. Major features of the system include: browsing on patients data records; structured navigation on Sleep Disorders descriptions according to ASDA definitions; internet links to related pages; diagnosis consistent with polysomnographic data; graphical user-interface including graph-based explanatory facilities; uncertainty modelling and belief revision; production of reports; connection to remote databases.

Expert Systems: An Overview for Teacher-Librarians.

Science.gov (United States)

Orwig, Gary; Barron, Ann

1992-01-01

Provides an overview of expert systems for teacher librarians. Highlights include artificial intelligence and expert systems; the development of the MYCIN medical expert system; rule-based expert systems; the use of expert system shells to develop a specific system; and how to select an appropriate application for an expert system. (11 references)…

Accuracy and interobserver agreement between MR-non-expert radiologists and MR-experts in reading MRI for suspected appendicitis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leeuwenburgh, Marjolein M.N., E-mail: m.m.leeuwenburgh@amc.uva.nl [Department of Surgery, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands); Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands); Wiarda, Bart M. [Department of Radiology, Alkmaar Medical Center, Alkmaar (Netherlands); Jensch, Sebastiaan [Department of Radiology, Sint Lucas Andreas Hospital, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Wouter van Es, H. [Department of Radiology, Sint Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Stockmann, Hein B.A.C. [Department of Surgery, Kennemer Gasthuis, Haarlem (Netherlands); Gratama, Jan Willem C. [Department of Radiology, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn (Netherlands); Cobben, Lodewijk P.J. [Department of Radiology, Haaglanden Medical Center, Leidschendam (Netherlands); Bossuyt, Patrick M.M. [Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands); Boermeester, Marja A. [Department of Surgery, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands); Stoker, Jaap [Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2014-01-15

Objective: To compare accuracy and interobserver agreement between radiologists with limited experience in the evaluation of abdominal MRI (non-experts), and radiologists with longer MR reading experience (experts), in reading MRI in patients with suspected appendicitis. Methods: MR imaging was performed in 223 adult patients with suspected appendicitis and read independently by two members of a team of eight MR-inexperienced radiologists, who were trained with 100 MR examinations previous to this study (non-expert reading). Expert reading was performed by two radiologists with a larger abdominal MR experience (>500 examinations) in consensus. A final diagnosis was assigned after three months based on all available information, except MRI findings. We estimated MRI sensitivity and specificity for appendicitis and for all urgent diagnoses separately. Interobserver agreement was evaluated using kappa statistics. Results: Urgent diagnoses were assigned to 147 of 223 patients; 117 had appendicitis. Sensitivity for appendicitis was 0.89 by MR-non-expert radiologists and 0.97 in MR-expert reading (p = 0.01). Specificity was 0.83 for MR-non-experts versus 0.93 for MR-expert reading (p = 0.002). MR-experts and MR-non-experts agreed on appendicitis in 89% of cases (kappa 0.78). Accuracy in detecting urgent diagnoses was significantly lower in MR-non-experts compared to MR-expert reading: sensitivity 0.84 versus 0.95 (p < 0.001) and specificity 0.71 versus 0.82 (p = 0.03), respectively. Agreement on urgent diagnoses was 83% (kappa 0.63). Conclusion: MR-non-experts have sufficient sensitivity in reading MRI in patients with suspected appendicitis, with good agreement with MR-expert reading, but accuracy of MR-expert reading was higher.

Accuracy and interobserver agreement between MR-non-expert radiologists and MR-experts in reading MRI for suspected appendicitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leeuwenburgh, Marjolein M.N.; Wiarda, Bart M.; Jensch, Sebastiaan; Wouter van Es, H.; Stockmann, Hein B.A.C.; Gratama, Jan Willem C.; Cobben, Lodewijk P.J.; Bossuyt, Patrick M.M.; Boermeester, Marja A.; Stoker, Jaap

2014-01-01

Objective: To compare accuracy and interobserver agreement between radiologists with limited experience in the evaluation of abdominal MRI (non-experts), and radiologists with longer MR reading experience (experts), in reading MRI in patients with suspected appendicitis. Methods: MR imaging was performed in 223 adult patients with suspected appendicitis and read independently by two members of a team of eight MR-inexperienced radiologists, who were trained with 100 MR examinations previous to this study (non-expert reading). Expert reading was performed by two radiologists with a larger abdominal MR experience (>500 examinations) in consensus. A final diagnosis was assigned after three months based on all available information, except MRI findings. We estimated MRI sensitivity and specificity for appendicitis and for all urgent diagnoses separately. Interobserver agreement was evaluated using kappa statistics. Results: Urgent diagnoses were assigned to 147 of 223 patients; 117 had appendicitis. Sensitivity for appendicitis was 0.89 by MR-non-expert radiologists and 0.97 in MR-expert reading (p = 0.01). Specificity was 0.83 for MR-non-experts versus 0.93 for MR-expert reading (p = 0.002). MR-experts and MR-non-experts agreed on appendicitis in 89% of cases (kappa 0.78). Accuracy in detecting urgent diagnoses was significantly lower in MR-non-experts compared to MR-expert reading: sensitivity 0.84 versus 0.95 (p < 0.001) and specificity 0.71 versus 0.82 (p = 0.03), respectively. Agreement on urgent diagnoses was 83% (kappa 0.63). Conclusion: MR-non-experts have sufficient sensitivity in reading MRI in patients with suspected appendicitis, with good agreement with MR-expert reading, but accuracy of MR-expert reading was higher

Key considerations for preventing suicide in older adults: consensus opinions of an expert panel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Erlangsen, Annette; Nordentoft, Merete; Conwell, Yeates

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND: The number of older adults is growing rapidly. This fact, combined with the high rates of suicide in later life, indicates that many more older adults will die by their own hands before rigorous trials can be conducted to fully understand the best approaches to prevent late life suicide....... AIMS: To disseminate key considerations for interventions addressing senior suicidal behavior. METHODS: An international expert panel has reviewed and discussed key considerations for interventions against suicide in older adults based on existing evidence, where available, and expert opinion. RESULTS...

Intelligent programs-expert systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gledhill, V X

1982-01-01

In recent years, computer scientists have developed what are called expert systems. These programs have three fundamental components: a knowledge base, which changes with experience; an inference engine which enables the program to make decisions; and an interface that allows the program to communicate with the person using the system. Expert systems have been developed successfully in areas such as medical diagnosis, geology, and computer maintenance. This paper describes the evolution and basic principles of expert systems and give some examples of their use.

Towards a Fuzzy Expert System on Toxicological Data Quality Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Longzhi; Neagu, Daniel; Cronin, Mark T D; Hewitt, Mark; Enoch, Steven J; Madden, Judith C; Przybylak, Katarzyna

2013-01-01

of Weight of Evidence approaches and in silico modelling proposed by REACH, there is a higher appeal of numerical quality values than nominal (categorical) ones, where the proposed fuzzy expert system could help. Most importantly, the deriving processes of quality values generated in this way are fully transparent, and thus comprehensible, for final users, which is another vital point for policy making specified in REACH. Case studies have been conducted and this report not only shows the promise of the approach, but also demonstrates the difficulties of the approach and thus indicates areas for future development. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A demonstration of expert systems applications in transportation engineering : volume I, transportation engineers and expert systems.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-01-01

Expert systems, a branch of artificial-intelligence studies, is introduced with a view to its relevance in transportation engineering. Knowledge engineering, the process of building expert systems or transferring knowledge from human experts to compu...

TU Delft expert judgment data base

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooke, Roger M.; Goossens, Louis L.H.J.

2008-01-01

We review the applications of structured expert judgment uncertainty quantification using the 'classical model' developed at the Delft University of Technology over the last 17 years [Cooke RM. Experts in uncertainty. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1991; Expert judgment study on atmospheric dispersion and deposition. Report Faculty of Technical Mathematics and Informatics No.01-81, Delft University of Technology; 1991]. These involve 45 expert panels, performed under contract with problem owners who reviewed and approved the results. With a few exceptions, all these applications involved the use of seed variables; that is, variables from the experts' area of expertise for which the true values are available post hoc. Seed variables are used to (1) measure expert performance, (2) enable performance-based weighted combination of experts' distributions, and (3) evaluate and hopefully validate the resulting combination or 'decision maker'. This article reviews the classical model for structured expert judgment and the performance measures, reviews applications, comparing performance-based decision makers with 'equal weight' decision makers, and collects some lessons learned

Expert system technology for the military

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklin, J.E.; Carmody, C.L.; Buteau, B.L.; Keller, K.; Levitt, T.S.

1988-01-01

This paper is concerned with the applications of expert systems to complex military problems. A brief description of needs for expert systems in the military arena is given. A short tutorial on some of the elements of an expert system is found in Appendix I. An important aspect of expert systems concerns using uncertain information and ill-defined procedures. Many of the general techniques of dealing with uncertainty are described in Appendix II. These techniques include Bayesian certainty factors, Dempster-Shafer theory of uncertainty, and Zadeh's fuzzy set theory. The major portion of the paper addresses specific expert system examples such as resource allocation, identification of radar images, maintenance and troubleshooting of electronic equipment, and the interpretation and understanding of radar images. Extensions of expert systems to incorporate learning are examined in the context of military intelligence to determine the disposition, location, and intention of the adversary. The final application involves the use of distributed communicating cooperating expert systems for battle management. Finally, the future of expert systems and their evolving capabilities are discussed

Expert systems: A 5-year perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacAllister, D.J.; Day, R.; McCormack, M.D.

1996-01-01

This paper gives an overview of a major integrated oil company's experience with artificial intelligence (AI) over the last 5 years, with an emphasis on expert systems. The authors chronicle the development of an AI group, including details on development tool selection, project selection strategies, potential pitfalls, and descriptions of several completed expert systems. Small expert systems produced by teams of petroleum technology experts and experienced expert system developers that are focused in well-defined technical areas have produced substantial benefits and accelerated petroleum technology transfer

Best practice strategies to safeguard drug prescribing and drug administration: an anthology of expert views and opinions.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidling, Hanna M; Stützle, Marion; Hoppe-Tichy, Torsten; Allenet, Benoît; Bedouch, Pierrick; Bonnabry, Pascal; Coleman, Jamie J; Fernandez-Llimos, Fernando; Lovis, Christian; Rei, Maria Jose; Störzinger, Dominic; Taylor, Lenka A; Pontefract, Sarah K; van den Bemt, Patricia M L A; van der Sijs, Heleen; Haefeli, Walter E

2016-04-01

While evidence on implementation of medication safety strategies is increasing, reasons for selecting and relinquishing distinct strategies and details on implementation are typically not shared in published literature. We aimed to collect and structure expert information resulting from implementing medication safety strategies to provide advice for decision-makers. Medication safety experts with clinical expertise from thirteen hospitals throughout twelve European and North American countries shared their experience in workshop meetings, on-site-visits and remote structured interviews. We performed an expert-based, in-depth assessment of implementation of best-practice strategies to improve drug prescribing and drug administration. Workflow, variability and recommended medication safety strategies in drug prescribing and drug administration processes. According to the experts, institutions chose strategies that targeted process steps known to be particularly error-prone in the respective setting. Often, the selection was channeled by local constraints such as the e-health equipment and critically modulated by national context factors. In our study, the experts favored electronic prescribing with clinical decision support and medication reconciliation as most promising interventions. They agreed that self-assessment and introduction of medication safety boards were crucial to satisfy the setting-specific differences and foster successful implementation. While general evidence for implementation of strategies to improve medication safety exists, successful selection and adaptation of a distinct strategy requires a thorough knowledge of the institute-specific constraints and an ongoing monitoring and adjustment of the implemented measures.

Computer Based Expert Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Parry, James D.; Ferrara, Joseph M.

1985-01-01

Claims knowledge-based expert computer systems can meet needs of rural schools for affordable expert advice and support and will play an important role in the future of rural education. Describes potential applications in prediction, interpretation, diagnosis, remediation, planning, monitoring, and instruction. (NEC)

Current level of training, experience and perceptions of emergency physicians as expert witnesses: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Nicola Y; Weiland, Tracey J

2009-12-01

The objective of the present study was to determine emergency physicians' training, experience and perceptions as expert witnesses. Emergency physicians of an adult tertiary referral and teaching hospital participated in a pilot survey regarding their experiences in report writing and in court as expert witnesses. The 28-item survey also examined the amount of formalized forensic medical teaching that emergency physicians had received during their training. Of the participants, 41% (95% CI 21.6-64.1; 7/17) had never received any undergraduate or postgraduate training in forensic medicine, 11/17 (65%, 95% CI 41.2-82.8) had provided a written expert opinion for court, and 12/17 (71%, 95% CI 46.6-87.0) had attended court as an expert witness. All participants considered themselves 'skilled in attending an emergency resuscitation', whereas 3/13 (23%, 95% CI 7.5-50.9) considered themselves 'skilled in attending a courtroom trial'. Nearly 90% (95% CI 64.7-98.0; 15/17) thought that medical evidence training should be a requirement of emergency speciality training. The most commonly preferred forms of medical evidence training were mock court sessions (76%, 95% CI 52.2-91.0; 13/17) and forensic workshops (76%, 95% CI 52.2-91.0; 13/17). From 10 non-technical skills required of an EP, 'appearing in court as an expert witness' was perceived to be the second most difficult skill by most respondents. Emergency physicians in this pilot study have limited training for the role of expert witness and see it as one of the most difficult non-technical skills they have to perform. Further research is required regarding the current and future scope of forensic training.

[Implementation of the National Expert Standard Prophylaxis of Pressure Ulcers in nurse practise - a cost-benefit analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Wolke, R; Hennings, D; Scheu, P

2007-06-01

By developing evidence-based, national Expert Standards, agreed-upon by an association of nursing professionals, the German Care Science participates in the international discussion. Up to now, five National Expert Standards on relevant care-related topics have been developed and have been widely implemented in Care Practice. However, sufficient evaluations of these Expert Standards are still required, especially from an economic perspective. The following paper addresses this topic by performing a cost-benefit analysis for the National Expert Standard Prophylaxis of Pressure Ulcers. The authors demonstrate which costs are caused by the implementation of this National Expert Standard for a residential care agency providing services. The benefit of the implementation of the Expert Standard is then being compared to its cost for a period of three years. The evaluation concludes that, in consideration of opportunity costs, the introduction of the National Expert Standard Prophylaxis of Pressure Ulcers appears economically viable for the residential care agency only if the rate of pressure ulcers in the reference agency can be lowered at least by 26.48%. In this case, when exclusively considering direct benefits and direct costs, a positive impact of the implementation will be achieved.

[Deontology of the medical expert].

Science.gov (United States)

Raszeja, S

1995-09-01

The authority of prosecuting organ to choose the expert, set his task and verify the following opinion is defined. The qualities of the medical expert and his duties are described, referring to: -his expertise; -his morality; -his ability to issue an independent (objective) opinion. Detailed rules, which can be ascribed to a specific medical expert's deontological code, are listed and explained.

The National Expert Standard Pressure Ulcer Prevention in Nursing and pressure ulcer prevalence in German health care facilities: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilborn, Doris; Grittner, Ulrike; Dassen, Theo; Kottner, Jan

2010-12-01

The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between the German National Expert Standard Pressure Ulcer Prevention and the pressure ulcer prevalence in German nursing homes and hospitals. The patient outcome pressure ulcer does not only depend on individual characteristics of patients, but also on institutional factors. In Germany, National Expert Standards are evidence-based instruments that build the basis of continuing improvement in health care quality. It is expected that after having implemented the National Expert Standard Pressure Ulcer Prevention, the number of pressure ulcers should decrease in health care institutions. The analysed data were obtained from two cross-sectional studies from 2004-2005. A multilevel analysis was performed to show the impact of the National Expert Standard Pressure Ulcer Prevention on pressure ulcer prevalence. A total of 41.5% of hospitals and 38.8% of the nursing homes claimed to use the National Expert Standard in the process of developing their local protocols. The overall pressure ulcer prevalence grade 2-4 was 4.7%. Adjusted for hospital departments, survey year and individual characteristics, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of pressure ulcers between institutions that refer to the National Expert Standard or those referring to other sources in developing their local protocols (OR=1.14, 95% CI=0.90-1.44). There was no empirical evidence demonstrating that local protocols of pressure ulcer prevention based on the National Expert Standard were superior to local protocols which refer other sources of knowledge with regard to the pressure ulcer prevalence. The use of the National Expert Standard Pressure Ulcer Prevention can neither be recommended nor be refused. The recent definition of implementation of Expert Standards should be mandatory for all health care institutions which introduce Expert Standards. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Expert systems: An overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verdejo, F.

1985-01-01

The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to the basic principles of rule-based expert systems. Four topics are discussed in subsequent sections: (1) Definition; (2) Structure of an expert system; (3) State of the art and (4) Impact and future research. (orig.)

Preserving experience through expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jelinek, J.B.; Weidman, S.H.

1989-01-01

Expert systems technology, one of the branches in the field of computerized artificial intelligence, has existed for >30 yr but only recently has been made available on commercially standard hardware and software platforms. An expert system can be defined as any method of encoding knowledge by representing that knowledge as a collection of facts or objects. Decisions are made by the expert program by obtaining data about the problem or situation and correlating encoded facts (knowledge) to the data until a conclusion can be reached. Such conclusions can be relayed to the end user as expert advice. Realizing the potential of this technology, General Electric (GE) Nuclear Energy (GENE) has initiated a development program in expert systems applications; this technology offers the potential for packaging, distributing, and preserving nuclear experience in a software form. The paper discusses application fields, effective applications, and knowledge acquisition and knowledge verification

Teaching statistics to nursing students: an expert panel consensus.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayat, Matthew J; Eckardt, Patricia; Higgins, Melinda; Kim, MyoungJin; Schmiege, Sarah J

2013-06-01

Statistics education is a necessary element of nursing education, and its inclusion is recommended in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing guidelines for nurse training at all levels. This article presents a cohesive summary of an expert panel discussion, "Teaching Statistics to Nursing Students," held at the 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings. All panelists were statistics experts, had extensive teaching and consulting experience, and held faculty appointments in a U.S.-based nursing college or school. The panel discussed degree-specific curriculum requirements, course content, how to ensure nursing students understand the relevance of statistics, approaches to integrating statistics consulting knowledge, experience with classroom instruction, use of knowledge from the statistics education research field to make improvements in statistics education for nursing students, and classroom pedagogy and instruction on the use of statistical software. Panelists also discussed the need for evidence to make data-informed decisions about statistics education and training for nurses. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Operational expert system applications in Canada

CERN Document Server

Suen, Ching Y

1992-01-01

This book is part of a new series on operational expert systems worldwide. Expert systems are now widely used in different parts of the world for various applications. The past four years have witnessed a steady growth in the development and deployment of expert systems in Canada. Research in this field has also gained considerable momentum during the past few years. However, the field of expert systems is still young in Canada. This book contains 13 chapters contributed by 31 experts from both universities and industries across Canada covering a wide range of applications related to electric

Expert Systems as Tools for Technical Communicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Grider, Daryl A.

1994-01-01

Discusses expertise, what an expert system is, what an expert system shell is, what expert systems can and cannot do, knowledge engineering and technical communicators, and planning and managing expert system projects. (SR)

Evidence-based care: an innovation to improve nursing practice ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evidence-based care: an innovation to improve nursing practice globally. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... best available evidence from research findings, expert ideas from specialists in the various health ... need to be addressed to enhance utilization of the best available evidence in nursing practice.

Evidence acquisition and evaluation for evidence summit on enhancing provision and use of maternal health services through financial incentives.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgs, Elizabeth S; Stammer, Emily; Roth, Rebecca; Balster, Robert L

2013-12-01

Recognizing the need for evidence to inform US Government and governments of the low- and middle-income countries on efficient, effective maternal health policies, strategies, and programmes, the US Government convened the Evidence Summit on Enhancing Provision and Use of Maternal Health Services through Financial Incentives in April 2012 in Washington, DC, USA. This paper summarizes the background and methods for the acquisition and evaluation of the evidence used for achieving the goals of the Summit. The goal of the Summit was to obtain multidisciplinary expert review of literature to inform both US Government and governments of the low- and middle-income countries on evidence-informed practice, policies, and strategies for financial incentives. Several steps were undertaken to define the tasks for the Summit and identify the appropriate evidence for review. The process began by identifying focal questions intended to inform governments of the low-and middle-income countries and the US Government about the efficacy of supply- and demand-side financial incentives for enhanced provision and use of quality maternal health services. Experts were selected representing the research and programme communities, academia, relevant non-governmental organizations, and government agencies and were assembled into Evidence Review Teams. This was followed by a systematic process to gather relevant peer-reviewed literature that would inform the focal questions. Members of the Evidence Review Teams were invited to add relevant papers not identified in the initial literature review to complete the bibliography. The Evidence Review Teams were asked to comply with a specific evaluation framework for recommendations on practice and policy based on both expert opinion and the quality of the data. Details of the search processes and methods used for screening and quality reviews are described.

Der Patient als Experte.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubs

1998-01-01

Patients as Experts: Determining Benefit by Using Assessments of Ability (ICIDH)When health economy and quality mangement are dealing with the cost-benefit relationship, to this day description, calculation, and assessment of the benefit are missing to a great extent. Deliberations in terms of cause and effect do not go beyond the model of pathogenesis (etiology - pathology - manifestation) and descriptions on the organ level (ICD). Only the international classification of impairments, disabilities, and handicaps (ICIDH) as a separate estimation of the resulting manifestations of illness on the levels of organ, individual, and society is capable to elucidate this benefit. It is the patient who is the expert to decide what he needs, what he wants, and what he can do, thus, evaluating on an individual level his loss of capability. The ICIDH is regarded as the key for the management of chronic diseases. The characteristics of being chronically ill require the integration of salutogenesis and the consideration of the hierarchy of needs. The specially developed MARA model serves as pragmatic basis for the description of the benefits of carried out and omitted interventions as changes of abilities by using the MARA curve (mean age-related ability) as ethical guideline. In quality circles the MARA model, which is based on ICIDH, hierarchy of needs and salutogenesis, can offer apatient-oriented basis of discussion for benefit assessments, and, in a pragmatical way, it can facilitate the introduction of evidence-based medicine. By the change of view from the organ level with multifactorial aspects to the individual level, in which the abilities can be understood as a monofactor, a high consensus potential between several participants of discussion in health service is possible.

An expert system for diagnostics and estimation of steam turbine components condition

Science.gov (United States)

Murmansky, B. E.; Aronson, K. E.; Brodov, Yu. M.

2017-11-01

The report describes an expert system of probability type for diagnostics and state estimation of steam turbine technological subsystems components. The expert system is based on Bayes’ theorem and permits to troubleshoot the equipment components, using expert experience, when there is a lack of baseline information on the indicators of turbine operation. Within a unified approach the expert system solves the problems of diagnosing the flow steam path of the turbine, bearings, thermal expansion system, regulatory system, condensing unit, the systems of regenerative feed-water and hot water heating. The knowledge base of the expert system for turbine unit rotors and bearings contains a description of 34 defects and of 104 related diagnostic features that cause a change in its vibration state. The knowledge base for the condensing unit contains 12 hypotheses and 15 evidence (indications); the procedures are also designated for 20 state parameters estimation. Similar knowledge base containing the diagnostic features and faults hypotheses are formulated for other technological subsystems of turbine unit. With the necessary initial information available a number of problems can be solved within the expert system for various technological subsystems of steam turbine unit: for steam flow path it is the correlation and regression analysis of multifactor relationship between the vibration parameters variations and the regime parameters; for system of thermal expansions it is the evaluation of force acting on the longitudinal keys depending on the temperature state of the turbine cylinder; for condensing unit it is the evaluation of separate effect of the heat exchange surface contamination and of the presence of air in condenser steam space on condenser thermal efficiency performance, as well as the evaluation of term for condenser cleaning and for tube system replacement and so forth. With a lack of initial information the expert system enables to formulate a diagnosis

An expert system for uranium exploration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chhipa, V.K.; Sengupta, M.

1989-01-01

Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology in the field of computer application. Expert systems have been developed to imitate human intelligence and reasoning process. Expert systems have much scope of application in the decision making process in mineral exploration as such decisions are highly subjective and expert opinions are very helpful. This paper presents a small expert system to analyze the reasoning process in exploring for uranium deposits in sandstone

Expert software for accident identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobnikar, M.; Nemec, T.; Muehleisen, A.

2003-01-01

Each type of an accident in a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) causes immediately after the start of the accident variations of physical parameters that are typical for that type of the accident thus enabling its identification. Examples of these parameter are: decrease of reactor coolant system pressure, increase of radiation level in the containment, increase of pressure in the containment. An expert software enabling a fast preliminary identification of the type of the accident in Krsko NPP has been developed. As input data selected typical parameters from Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) of the Krsko NPP are used. Based on these parameters the expert software identifies the type of the accident and also provides the user with appropriate references (past analyses and other documentation of such an accident). The expert software is to be used as a support tool by an expert team that forms in case of an emergency at Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) with the task to determine the cause of the accident, its most probable scenario and the source term. The expert software should provide initial identification of the event, while the final one is still to be made after appropriate assessment of the event by the expert group considering possibility of non-typical events, multiple causes, initial conditions, influences of operators' actions etc. The expert software can be also used as an educational/training tool and even as a simple database of available accident analyses. (author)

BWR recirculation pump diagnostic expert system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiang, S.C.; Morimoto, C.N.; Torres, M.R.

2004-01-01

At General Electric (GE), an on-line expert system to support maintenance decisions for BWR recirculation pumps for nuclear power plants has been developed. This diagnostic expert system is an interactive on-line system that furnishes diagnostic information concerning BWR recirculation pump operational problems. It effectively provides the recirculation pump diagnostic expertise in the plant control room continuously 24 hours a day. The expert system is interfaced to an on-line monitoring system, which uses existing plant sensors to acquire non-safety related data in real time. The expert system correlates and evaluates process data and vibration data by applying expert rules to determine the condition of a BWR recirculation pump system by applying knowledge based rules. Any diagnosis will be automatically displayed, indicating which pump may have a problem, the category of the problem, and the degree of concern expressed by the validity index and color hierarchy. The rules incorporate the expert knowledge from various technical sources such as plant experience, engineering principles, and published reports. These rules are installed in IF-THEN formats and the resulting truth values are also expressed in fuzzy terms and a certainty factor called a validity index. This GE Recirculation Pump Expert System uses industry-standard software, hardware, and network access to provide flexible interfaces with other possible data acquisition systems. Gensym G2 Real-Time Expert System is used for the expert shell and provides the graphical user interface, knowledge base, and inference engine capabilities. (author)

Consumers and experts. An econometric analysis of the demand for water heaters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Soest, A.; Bartels, R.; Fiebig, D.G.

2003-01-01

Consumers can accumulate product information on the basis of a combination of searching, product advertising and expert advice. Examples of experts who provide product information include doctors advising patients on treatments, motor mechanics diagnosing car problems and recommending repairs, accountants recommending investment strategies, and plumbers making recommendations on alternative water heaters. In each of these examples, the transactions involve the sale of goods and services where the seller is at the same time an expert providing advice on the amount and type of product or service to be purchased. In the case of water heaters, the plumber advising a consumer on their choice of water heater will most likely also install the appliance. Because of the information asymmetry there is potentially a strategic element in the transmission of information from expert to consumer. This paper reports on an econometric investigation of the factors that determine the choices made by consumers and the recommendations made by plumbers and the extent to which plumbers act in the best interests of their customers. The empirical work is made possible by the availability of stated preference data generated by designed experiments involving separate samples of Australian consumers and plumbers. We find some evidence that plumbers have higher preferences than consumers for heater characteristics that increase their profit margin

Evidence-based policy? The re-medicalization of cannabis and the role of expert committees in the UK, 1972-1982.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Suzanne L

2016-11-01

Cannabis was introduced to the UK as a medical product in the nineteenth century. However, with questions over its safety, efficacy, and possible harms its medical role diminished and by the 1950s it was viewed as a drug of misuse. Nonetheless, scientific and lay knowledge around cannabis expanded from the 1960s and cannabis re-appeared in different therapeutic forms. In re-medicalizing cannabis, science-policy transfer proved important and was enabled by the developing mechanism of expert committees, most notably the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). This article draws upon previously unknown archival material on the ACMD held at the National Archives and covers the period 1972-1982. It considers how expert groups were established, their membership, and the evolving discussion over therapeutic cannabis within the broader drug policy debate. Three distinct periods emerged: 1972-1976 with the creation of the Working Group on Cannabis; 1977-1979 when the Working Group focused on potential amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act and recommended downgrading cannabis from Class B to Class C; 1980-1982 when the Expert Group on the Effects of Cannabis recommended downgrading cannabis and encouraged research into cannabis as a medicine. Sources reveal that driven by drug control imperatives the ACMD stimulated research on cannabis leading to increased research on medical applications. Expert advice was critical in the process of re-medicalization. Initially, discourse occurred in the closed expert committees of the ACMD. The drug problem had been framed under the criminal justice system but as the limitations of this were revealed, and there was continuing uncertainty over cannabis' impact, new approaches to cannabis were sought. It was this combination of more relaxed attitudes towards cannabis, research incentives, as well as a developing desire to draw medical needs away from discussion of drug control that was to allow re-medicalization to develop

Trendwatch combining expert opinion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendrix, E.M.T.; Kornelis, M.; Pegge, S.M.; Galen, van M.A.

2006-01-01

In this study, focus is on a systematic way to detect future changes in trends that may effect the dynamics in the agro-food sector, and on the combination of opinions of experts. For the combination of expert opinions, the usefulness of multilevel models is investigated. Bayesian data analysis is

Mapping on complex neutrosophic soft expert sets

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Quran, Ashraf; Hassan, Nasruddin

2018-04-01

We introduce the mapping on complex neutrosophic soft expert sets. Further, we investigated the basic operations and other related properties of complex neutrosophic soft expert image and complex neutrosophic soft expert inverse image of complex neutrosophic soft expert sets.

Expert searching in health librarianship: a literature review to identify international issues and Australian concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Lasserre, Kaye

2012-03-01

The traditional role of health librarians as expert searchers is under challenge. The purpose of this review is to establish health librarians' views, practices and educational processes on expert searching. The search strategy was developed in LISTA and then customised for ten other databases: ALISA, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. The search terms were (expert search* OR expert retriev* OR mediated search* OR information retriev*) AND librar*. The searches, completed in December 2010 and repeated in May 2011, were limited to English language publications from 2000 to 2011 (unless seminal works). Expert searching remains a key role for health librarians, especially for those supporting systematic reviews or employed as clinical librarians answering clinical questions. Although clients tend to be satisfied with searches carried out for them, improvements are required to effectively position the profession. Evidence-based guidelines, adherence to transparent standards, review of entry-level education requirements and a commitment to accredited, rigorous, ongoing professional development will ensure best practice. © 2012 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2012 Health Libraries Group.

Classification of Listeria monocytogenes persistence in retail delicatessen environments using expert elicitation and machine learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Vangay, P; Steingrimsson, J; Wiedmann, M; Stasiewicz, M J

2014-10-01

Increasing evidence suggests that persistence of Listeria monocytogenes in food processing plants has been the underlying cause of a number of human listeriosis outbreaks. This study extracts criteria used by food safety experts in determining bacterial persistence in the environment, using retail delicatessen operations as a model. Using the Delphi method, we conducted an expert elicitation with 10 food safety experts from academia, industry, and government to classify L. monocytogenes persistence based on environmental sampling results collected over six months for 30 retail delicatessen stores. The results were modeled using variations of random forest, support vector machine, logistic regression, and linear regression; variable importance values of random forest and support vector machine models were consolidated to rank important variables in the experts' classifications. The duration of subtype isolation ranked most important across all expert categories. Sampling site category also ranked high in importance and validation errors doubled when this covariate was removed. Support vector machine and random forest models successfully classified the data with average validation errors of 3.1% and 2.2% (n = 144), respectively. Our findings indicate that (i) the frequency of isolations over time and sampling site information are critical factors for experts determining subtype persistence, (ii) food safety experts from different sectors may not use the same criteria in determining persistence, and (iii) machine learning models have potential for future use in environmental surveillance and risk management programs. Future work is necessary to validate the accuracy of expert and machine classification against biological measurement of L. monocytogenes persistence. © 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.

The development of an expert system for the characterization of waste assay data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bridges, S.; Hodges, J.; Sparrow, C. [Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS (United States)] [and others

1997-11-01

Containers of transuranic and low-level alpha contaminated waste generated as a byproduct of Department of Energy defense-related programs must be characterized before their proper disposition can be determined. Nondestructive assay methods are the most desirable means for assessing the mass and activity of the entrained transuranic radionuclides. However, there are other sources of information that may be useful in the characterization of the entrained waste (e.g., container manifests, information about the generation process, and destructive assay techniques performed on representative samples). This paper describes initial work on an expert system being developed to analyze and characterize containerized radiological waste. This system is being developed by scientists at the Mississippi State University Diagnostic and Instrumentation Laboratory (DIAL) in collaboration with scientists at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The DIAL scientists are responsible for (1) the development of techniques to represent and reason with evidence from a variety of sources, and (2) the development of appropriate method(s) to represent and reason with confidence levels associated with that evidence. This paper describes exploratory versions of the expert system developed to evaluate four techniques for representing and reasoning with the confidence in the evidence: MYCIN-style certainty factors, Dempster-Shafer Theory, Bayesian networks, and fuzzy logic. 16 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs.

The development of an expert system for the characterization of waste assay data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bridges, S.; Hodges, J.; Sparrow, C.

1997-01-01

Containers of transuranic and low-level alpha contaminated waste generated as a byproduct of Department of Energy defense-related programs must be characterized before their proper disposition can be determined. Nondestructive assay methods are the most desirable means for assessing the mass and activity of the entrained transuranic radionuclides. However, there are other sources of information that may be useful in the characterization of the entrained waste (e.g., container manifests, information about the generation process, and destructive assay techniques performed on representative samples). This paper describes initial work on an expert system being developed to analyze and characterize containerized radiological waste. This system is being developed by scientists at the Mississippi State University Diagnostic and Instrumentation Laboratory (DIAL) in collaboration with scientists at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The DIAL scientists are responsible for (1) the development of techniques to represent and reason with evidence from a variety of sources, and (2) the development of appropriate method(s) to represent and reason with confidence levels associated with that evidence. This paper describes exploratory versions of the expert system developed to evaluate four techniques for representing and reasoning with the confidence in the evidence: MYCIN-style certainty factors, Dempster-Shafer Theory, Bayesian networks, and fuzzy logic. 16 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs

Expert Judgement Assessment & SCENT Ontological Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NICHERSU Iulian

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims to provide insights in the starting point of the Horizon 2020 ECfunded project SCENT (Smart Toolbox for Εngaging Citizens into a People-Centric Observation Web Citizen Observatory (CO in terms of existing infrastructure, existing monitoring systems and some discussion on the existing legal and administrative framework that relate to flood monitoring and management in the area of Danube Delta. The methodology used in this approach is based on expert judgement and ontological analysis, using the information collected from the identified end-users of the SCENT toolbox. In this type of analysis the stages of flood monitoring and management that the experts are involved in are detailed. This is done through an Expert Judgement Assessment analysis. The latter is complemented by a set of Key Performance Indicators that the stakeholders have assessed and/or proposed for the evaluation of the SCENT demonstrations, for the impact of the project and finally for SCENT toolbox performance and usefulness. The second part of the study presents an analysis that attempts to map the interactions between different organizations and components of the existing monitoring systems in the Danube Delta case study. Expert Judgement (EJ allows to gain information from specialists in a specific field through a consultation process with one or more experts that have experience in similar and complementary topics. Expert judgment, expert estimates, or expert opinion are all terms that refer to the contents of the problem; estimates, outcomes, predictions, uncertainties, and their corresponding assumptions and conditions are all examples of expert judgment. Expert Judgement is affected by the process used to gather it. On the other hand, the ontological analysis comes to complete this study, by organizing and presenting the connections behind the flood management and land use systems in the three phases of the flood event.

A law for nuclear experts only

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, H.

1980-01-01

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is preparing an ordinance on expert consultants under the Atomic Energy Act which, among other topics, is to include legal norms for the criteria to be met by experts in terms of non-partisanship, training, capabilities, technical equipment and cooperation in expert organizations of members of various scientific and technical disciplines. A summary of general criteria relating to the qualification, selection and status of experts called in by the legislative and executive branches and by courts of law, which could be organized as a series of guidelines without any original qualities of legal norms, could be recommended in view of the increasing quantitative and qualitative importance of experts. However, passing an ordinance merely fixing and putting into concrete terms the image of an 'expert under the Atomic Energy Act' is intolerable, because the status of scientific and technical experts by far extends beyond the field of nuclear law in our industrial society characterized by a far reaching division of labor. Weak points in the organization of expert services are not confined to technology or nuclear power. Separate rules establishing legal norms are not convincing also for reasons of technology policy and legal policy as well as for those of social psychology and practice. (orig.) 891 HP/orig. 892 MKO [de

Operational expert system applications in Europe

CERN Document Server

Zarri, Gian Piero

1992-01-01

Operational Expert System Applications in Europe describes the representative case studies of the operational expert systems (ESs) that are used in Europe.This compilation provides examples of operational ES that are realized in 10 different European countries, including countries not usually examined in the standard reviews of the field.This book discusses the decision support system using several artificial intelligence tools; expert systems for fault diagnosis on computerized numerical control (CNC) machines; and expert consultation system for personal portfolio management. The failure prob

NTP-CERHR EXPERT PANEL REPORT ON THE REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY OF AMPHETAMINE AND METHAMPHETAMINE.

Science.gov (United States)

A manuscript describes the results of an expert panel meeting of the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR). The purpose CERHR is to provide timely, unbiased, scientifically sound evaluations of human and experimental evidence for adverse effects ...

An inter-observer agreement study of autofluorescence endoscopy in Barrett's esophagus among expert and non-expert endoscopists.

Science.gov (United States)

Mannath, J; Subramanian, V; Telakis, E; Lau, K; Ramappa, V; Wireko, M; Kaye, P V; Ragunath, K

2013-02-01

Autofluorescence imaging (AFI), which is a "red flag" technique during Barrett's surveillance, is associated with significant false positive results. The aim of this study was to assess the inter-observer agreement (IOA) in identifying AFI-positive lesions and to assess the overall accuracy of AFI. Anonymized AFI and high resolution white light (HRE) images were prospectively collected. The AFI images were presented in random order, followed by corresponding AFI + HRE images. Three AFI experts and 3 AFI non-experts scored images after a training presentation. The IOA was calculated using kappa and accuracy was calculated with histology as gold standard. Seventy-four sets of images were prospectively collected from 63 patients (48 males, mean age 69 years). The IOA for number of AF positive lesions was fair when AFI images were presented. This improved to moderate with corresponding AFI and HRE images [experts 0.57 (0.44-0.70), non-experts 0.47 (0.35-0.62)]. The IOA for the site of AF lesion was moderate for experts and fair for non-experts using AF images, which improved to substantial for experts [κ = 0.62 (0.50-0.72)] but remained at fair for non-experts [κ = 0.28 (0.18-0.37)] with AFI + HRE. Among experts, the accuracy of identifying dysplasia was 0.76 (0.7-0.81) using AFI images and 0.85 (0.79-0.89) using AFI + HRE images. The accuracy was 0.69 (0.62-0.74) with AFI images alone and 0.75 (0.70-0.80) using AFI + HRE among non-experts. The IOA for AF positive lesions is fair to moderate using AFI images which improved with addition of HRE. The overall accuracy of identifying dysplasia was modest, and was better when AFI and HRE images were combined.

Expert system application education project

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzelez, Avelino J.; Ragusa, James M.

1988-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and in particular expert systems, has shown potential applicability in many areas of operation at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In an era of limited resources, the early identification of good expert system applications, and their segregation from inappropriate ones can result in a more efficient use of available NASA resources. On the other hand, the education of students in a highly technical area such as AI requires an extensive hands-on effort. The nature of expert systems is such that proper sample applications for the educational process are difficult to find. A pilot project between NASA-KSC and the University of Central Florida which was designed to simultaneously address the needs of both institutions at a minimum cost. This project, referred to as Expert Systems Prototype Training Project (ESPTP), provided NASA with relatively inexpensive development of initial prototype versions of certain applications. University students likewise benefit by having expertise on a non-trivial problem accessible to them at no cost. Such expertise is indispensible in a hands-on training approach to developing expert systems.

Treatment of Soft Tissue Filler Complications: Expert Consensus Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Urdiales-Gálvez, Fernando; Delgado, Nuria Escoda; Figueiredo, Vitor; Lajo-Plaza, José V; Mira, Mar; Moreno, Antonio; Ortíz-Martí, Francisco; Del Rio-Reyes, Rosa; Romero-Álvarez, Nazaret; Del Cueto, Sofía Ruiz; Segurado, María A; Rebenaque, Cristina Villanueva

2018-04-01

Dermal fillers have been increasingly used in minimally invasive facial esthetic procedures. This widespread use has led to a rise in reports of associated complications. The aim of this expert consensus report is to describe potential adverse events associated with dermal fillers and to provide guidance on their treatment and avoidance. A multidisciplinary group of experts in esthetic treatments convened to discuss the management of the complications associated with dermal fillers use. A search was performed for English, French, and Spanish language articles in MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar using the search terms "complications" OR "soft filler complications" OR "injectable complications" AND "dermal fillers" AND "Therapy". An initial document was drafted by the Coordinating Committee, and it was reviewed and modified by the experts, until a final text was agreed upon and validated. The panel addressed consensus recommendations about the classification of filler complications according to the time of onset and about the clinical management of different complications including bruising, swelling, edema, infections, lumps and bumps, skin discoloration, and biofilm formation. Special attention was paid to vascular compromise and retinal artery occlusion. Clinicians should be fully aware of the signs and symptoms related to complications and be prepared to confidently treat them. Establishing action protocols for emergencies, with agents readily available in the office, would reduce the severity of adverse outcomes associated with injection of hyaluronic acid fillers in the cosmetic setting. This document seeks to lay down a set of recommendations and to identify key issues that may be useful for clinicians who are starting to use dermal fillers. Additionally, this document provides a better understanding about the diagnoses and management of complications if they do occur. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each

Personality Traits of Expert Teachers of Students with EBD: Clarifying a Teacher's X-Factor

Science.gov (United States)

Buttner, Svenja; Pijl, Sip Jan; Bijstra, Jan; Van den Bosch, Els

2016-01-01

Teaching students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) is a challenge for many teachers in inclusive education. Much research has been done to find out what differentiates expert teachers from their less skilled colleagues. Recent evidence points to personality as an underlying core factor influencing teacher performance. In this…

Needs for evidence-based road safety decision making in Europe.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dupont, E. Muhlrad, N. Buttler, I. Gitelman, V. Giustiniani, G. Jähi, H. Machata, K. Martensen, H. Papadimitriou, E. Persia, L. Talbot, R. Vallet, G. Wijnen, W. & Yannis, G.

2012-01-01

The objective of this research is the assessment of current needs for evidence-based road safety decision making in Europe, through the consultation of a panel of road safety experts. The members of this Experts Panel have extensive knowledge of road safety management processes and needs in their

The First Expert CAI System

Science.gov (United States)

Feurzeig, Wallace

1984-01-01

The first expert instructional system, the Socratic System, was developed in 1964. One of the earliest applications of this system was in the area of differential diagnosis in clinical medicine. The power of the underlying instructional paradigm was demonstrated and the potential of the approach for valuably supplementing medical instruction was recognized. Twenty years later, despite further educationally significant advances in expert systems technology and enormous reductions in the cost of computers, expert instructional methods have found very little application in medical schools.

Expert robots in nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byrd, J.S.; Fisher, J.J.; DeVries, K.R.; Martin, T.P.

1987-01-01

Expert robots enhance a safety and operations in nuclear plants. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Savannah River Laboratory, is developing expert mobile robots for deployment in nuclear applications at the Savannah River Plant. Knowledge-based expert systems are being evaluated to simplify operator control, to assist in navigation and manipulation functions, and to analyze sensory information. Development work using two research vehicles is underway to demonstrate semiautonomous, intelligence, expert robot system operation in process areas. A description of the mechanical equipment, control systems, and operating modes is presented, including the integration of onboard sensors. A control hierarchy that uses modest computational methods is being used to allow mobile robots to autonomously navigate and perform tasks in known environments without the need for large computer systems

Expert robots in nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byrd, J.S.; Fisher, J.J.; DeVries, K.R.; Martin, T.P.

1987-01-01

Expert robots will enhance safety and operations in nuclear plants. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Savannah River Laboratory, is developing expert mobile robots for deployment in nuclear applications at the Savannah River Plant. Knowledge-based expert systems are being evaluated to simplify operator control, to assist in navigation and manipulation functions, and to analyze sensory information. Development work using two research vehicles is underway to demonstrate semiautonomous, intelligent, expert robot system operation in process areas. A description of the mechanical equipment, control systems, and operating modes is presented, including the integration of onboard sensors. A control hierarchy that uses modest computational methods is being used to allow mobile robots to autonomously navigate and perform tasks in known environments without the need for large computer systems

Expert database system for quality control

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Anne J.; Li, Zhi-Cheng

1993-09-01

There are more competitors today. Markets are not homogeneous they are fragmented into increasingly focused niches requiring greater flexibility in the product mix shorter manufacturing production runs and above allhigher quality. In this paper the author identified a real-time expert system as a way to improve plantwide quality management. The quality control expert database system (QCEDS) by integrating knowledge of experts in operations quality management and computer systems use all information relevant to quality managementfacts as well as rulesto determine if a product meets quality standards. Keywords: expert system quality control data base

Expert systems in process control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wittig, T.

1987-01-01

To illustrate where the fundamental difference between expert systems in classical diagnosis and in industrial control lie, the work of process control instrumentation is used as an example for the job of expert systems. Starting from the general process of problem-solving, two classes of expert systems can be defined accordingly. (orig.) [de

Use of expert judgement in NUREG-1150

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortiz, N.R.; Wheeler, T.A.; Breeding, R.J.; Hora, S.; Meyer, M.A.; Kenney, R.L.

1991-01-01

The explicit expert judgment process used in NUREG-1150, 'Severe Accident Risks: An Assessment for Five US Nuclear Plants', is discussed in this paper. The main steps of the process are described, including selection of issues and experts, elicitation training, presentation of issues to the experts, preparation of issue analyses by the experts, discussion of issue analyses and elicitation, and recomposition and aggregation of results. To demonstrate the application of the expert judgment process to NUREG-1150, two issues are summarized: one from the accident frequency analysis, and one from the accident progression analysis. Recommendations and insights are provided to improve the use of explicit expert judgment in complex technical issues. (orig.)

Expert opinion on detecting and treating depression in palliative care: A Delphi study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hotopf Matthew

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is a dearth of data regarding the optimal method of detecting and treating depression in palliative care. This study applied the Delphi method to evaluate expert opinion on choice of screening tool, choice of antidepressant and choice of psychological therapy. The aim was to inform the development of best practice recommendations for the European Palliative Care Research Collaborative clinical practice guideline on managing depression in palliative care. Methods 18 members of an international, multi-professional expert group completed a structured questionnaire in two rounds, rating their agreement with proposed items on a scale from 0-10 and annotating with additional comments. The median and range were calculated to give a statistical average of the experts' ratings. Results There was contention regarding the benefits of screening, with 'routine informal asking' (median 8.5 (0-10 rated more highly than formal screening tools such as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (median 7.0 (1-10. Mirtazapine (median 9 (7-10 and citalopram (median 9 (5-10 were the considered the best choice of antidepressant and cognitive behavioural therapy (median 9.0 (3-10 the best choice of psychological therapy. Conclusions The range of expert ratings was broad, indicating discordance in the views of experts. Direct comparative data from randomised controlled trials are needed to strengthen the evidence-base and achieve clarity on how best to detect and treat depression in this setting.

Inductive acquisition of expert knowledge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muggleton, S.H.

1986-01-01

Expert systems divide neatly into two categories: those in which (1) the expert decisions result in changes to some external environment (control systems), and (2) the expert decisions merely seek to describe the environment (classification systems). Both the explanation of computer-based reasoning and the bottleneck (Feigenbaum, 1979) of knowledge acquisition are major issues in expert-systems research. The author contributed to these areas of research in two ways: 1. He implemented an expert-system shell, the Mugol environment, which facilitates knowledge acquisition by inductive inference and provides automatic explanation of run-time reasoning on demand. RuleMaster, a commercial version of this environment, was used to advantage industrially in the construction and testing of two large classification systems. 2. He investigated a new techniques called 'sequence induction' that can be used in construction of control systems. Sequence induction is based on theoretical work in grammatical learning. He improved existing grammatical learning algorithms as well as suggesting and theoretically characterizing new ones. These algorithms were successfully applied to acquisition of knowledge for a diverse set of control systems, including inductive construction of robot plans and chess end-gam strategies.

ALICE Expert System

CERN Document Server

Ionita, C

2014-01-01

The ALICE experiment at CERN employs a number of human operators (shifters), who have to make sure that the experiment is always in a state compatible with taking Physics data. Given the complexity of the system and the myriad of errors that can arise, this is not always a trivial task. The aim of this paper is to describe an expert system that is capable of assisting human shifters in the ALICE control room. The system diagnoses potential issues and attempts to make smart recommendations for troubleshooting. At its core, a Prolog engine infers whether a Physics or a technical run can be started based on the current state of the underlying sub-systems. A separate C++ component queries certain SMI objects and stores their state as facts in a Prolog knowledge base. By mining the data stored in dierent system logs, the expert system can also diagnose errors arising during a run. Currently the system is used by the on-call experts for faster response times, but we expect it to be adopted as a standard tool by reg...

Expert system in PNC, 6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsubota, Koji

1990-01-01

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool for mineral exploration started only a decade ago. The systems that have been reported are in the most cases the expert systems that can simulate the decision of the experts or help numerical calculation for more reasonable and/or fast decision making. PNC started the development of the expert system for uranium exploration in 1983. Since then, KOGITO, a expert system to find the favorability of the target area, has been developed. Two years ago, the second generation development, Intelligent Research Environment and Support System, IRESS was initiated aiming at the establishment of a total support system for a project evaluation. We will review our effort for development of our system and introduce the application of the Data directed Numerical method as a new tool to Ahnemland area in Australia. (author)

Partners for development: Expert assistant in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daud, A.H.

1996-01-01

This report reviews the expert assignments received by Malaysia under the TC programme over the 1980-95 time period. It provides data about the type of assignments and expert services, the institutions receiving the experts, and duration of the assignment. Also reviewed is the process of requesting and implementing an expert assignment in Malaysia, as well as the country's related objectives and plans

Expert system technology for nondestructive waste assay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, G.K.; Determan, J.C.

1998-01-01

Nondestructive assay waste characterization data generated for use in the National TRU Program must be of known and demonstrable quality. Each measurement is required to receive an independent technical review by a qualified expert. An expert system prototype has been developed to automate waste NDA data review of a passive/active neutron drum counter system. The expert system is designed to yield a confidence rating regarding measurement validity. Expert system rules are derived from data in a process involving data clustering, fuzzy logic, and genetic algorithms. Expert system performance is assessed against confidence assignments elicited from waste NDA domain experts. Performance levels varied for the active, passive shielded, and passive system assay modes of the drum counter system, ranging from 78% to 94% correct classifications

Contextual Factors for Finding Similar Experts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hofmann, Katja; Balog, Krisztian; Bogers, Toine

2010-01-01

-seeking models, are rarely taken into account. In this article, we extend content-based expert-finding approaches with contextual factors that have been found to influence human expert finding. We focus on a task of science communicators in a knowledge-intensive environment, the task of finding similar experts......, given an example expert. Our approach combines expertise-seeking and retrieval research. First, we conduct a user study to identify contextual factors that may play a role in the studied task and environment. Then, we design expert retrieval models to capture these factors. We combine these with content......-based retrieval models and evaluate them in a retrieval experiment. Our main finding is that while content-based features are the most important, human participants also take contextual factors into account, such as media experience and organizational structure. We develop two principled ways of modeling...

Expert system aids transport regulation users

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheshire, R.D.; Straw, R.J.

1990-01-01

During late 1984 the IAEA Regulations were identified as an area of application for an expert system adviser which could offer many advantages. Over the following year some simple tests were carried out to examine its feasibility, but TRANAID did not get underway until 1986 when British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) Corporate Management services were engaged on the product. By this time a greater choice of suitable software, in the form of expert system shells, had become available. After a number of trial systems the shell Leonardo was finally adopted for the final system. In order for TRANAID to emulate the expert it was necessary to spend time extracting and documenting the expert knowledge. This was a matter of investigating how the regulations are used and was achieved by a series of meetings including opportunity for the computer specialists to interview the regulations experts. There are several benefits in having an expert system advisor in this area. It is useful to both experienced and inexperienced users of regulations. For those who are learning to use the regulations it is an excellent training aid. For those who know the regulations but use them infrequently it can save time and provide a valuable reassurance. The adviser has enabled the expert user's know how to be captured and to be made widely available to those with less experience. (author)

Development of the Paris definition of early Crohn's disease for disease-modification trials: results of an international expert opinion process.

Science.gov (United States)

Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent; Billioud, Vincent; D'Haens, Geert; Panaccione, Remo; Feagan, Brian; Panés, Julian; Danese, Silvio; Schreiber, Stefan; Ogata, Haruhiko; Hibi, Toshifumi; Higgins, Peter D R; Beaugerie, Laurent; Chowers, Yehuda; Louis, Edouard; Steinwurz, Flávio; Reinisch, Walter; Rutgeerts, Paul; Colombel, Jean-Frédéric; Travis, Simon; Sandborn, William J

2012-12-01

We report the findings and outputs of an international expert opinion process to develop a definition of early Crohn's disease (CD) that could be used in future disease-modification trials. Nineteen experts on inflammatory bowel diseases held an international expert opinion meeting to discuss and agree on a definition for early CD to be used in disease-modification trials. The process included literature searches for the relevant basic-science and clinical evidence. A published preliminary definition of early CD was used as the basis for development of a proposed definition that was discussed at the expert opinion meeting. The participants then derived a final definition, based on best current knowledge, that it is hoped will be of practical use in disease-modification trials in CD.

Learning from Experts: Fostering Extended Thinking in the Early Phases of the Design Process

Science.gov (United States)

Haupt, Grietjie

2015-01-01

Empirical evidence on the way in which expert designers from different domains cognitively connect their internal processes with external resources is presented in the context of an extended cognition model. The article focuses briefly on the main trends in the extended design cognition theory and in particular on recent trends in information…

Eminence-based medicine versus evidence-based medicine: level V evidence in sports medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Tjoumakaris, Fotios P; Ganley, Theodore J; Kapur, Rahul; Kelly, John; Sennett, Brian J; Bernstein, Joseph

2011-11-01

cannot replace individual judgment and certainly does not trump the primary medical literature. Yet when better evidence is lacking, expert opinion is valuable for even the staunchest practitioner of evidence-based medicine.

Climate Change and Infectious Disease Risk in Western Europe: A Survey of Dutch Expert Opinion on Adaptation Responses and Actors.

Science.gov (United States)

Akin, Su-Mia; Martens, Pim; Huynen, Maud M T E

2015-08-18

There is growing evidence of climate change affecting infectious disease risk in Western Europe. The call for effective adaptation to this challenge becomes increasingly stronger. This paper presents the results of a survey exploring Dutch expert perspectives on adaptation responses to climate change impacts on infectious disease risk in Western Europe. Additionally, the survey explores the expert sample's prioritization of mitigation and adaptation, and expert views on the willingness and capacity of relevant actors to respond to climate change. An integrated view on the causation of infectious disease risk is employed, including multiple (climatic and non-climatic) factors. The results show that the experts consider some adaptation responses as relatively more cost-effective, like fostering interagency and community partnerships, or beneficial to health, such as outbreak investigation and response. Expert opinions converge and diverge for different adaptation responses. Regarding the prioritization of mitigation and adaptation responses expert perspectives converge towards a 50/50 budgetary allocation. The experts consider the national government/health authority as the most capable actor to respond to climate change-induced infectious disease risk. Divergence and consensus among expert opinions can influence adaptation policy processes. Further research is necessary to uncover prevailing expert perspectives and their roots, and compare these.

Cooperative expert system reasoning for waste remediations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohn, S.J.; Pennock, K.A.; Franklin, A.L.

1991-12-01

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is facing a large task in completing Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies (RI/FS) for hazardous waste sites across the nation. One of the primary objectives of an RI/FS is the specification of viable sequences of technology treatment trains which can provide implementable site solutions. We present a methodology which integrates expert system technology within an object-oriented framework to create a cooperative reasoning system designed to provide a comprehensive list of these implementable solutions. The system accomplishes its goal of specifying technology trains by utilizing a ''team'' of expert system objects. The system distributes the problem solving among the individual expert objects, and then coordinates the combination of individual decisions into a joint solution. Each expert object possesses the knowledge of an expert in a particular technology. An expert object can examine the parameters and characteristics of the waste site, seek information and support from other expert objects, and then make decisions concerning its own applicability. This methodology has at least two primary benefits. First, the creation of multiple expert objects provides a more direct mapping from the actual process to a software system, making the system easier to build. Second, the distribution of the inferencing among a number of loosely connected expert objects allows for a more robust and maintainable final product

Fire Effects, Education, and Expert Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Robert E. Martin

1987-01-01

Predicting the effects of fires in the year 2000 and beyond will be enhanced by the use of expert systems. Although our predictions may have broad confidence limits, expert systems should help us to improve the predictions and to focus on the areas where improved knowledge is most needed. The knowledge of experts can be incorporated into previously existing knowledge...

Hierarchical Model of Assessing and Selecting Experts

OpenAIRE

Chernysheva, Tatiana Yurievna; Korchuganova, Mariya Anatolievna; Borisov, V. V.; Minkov, S. L.

2016-01-01

Revealing experts' competences is a multi-objective issue. Authors of the paper deal with competence assessing methods of experts seen as objects, and criteria of qualities. An analytic hierarchy process of assessing and ranking experts is offered, which is based on paired comparison matrices and scores, quality parameters are taken into account as well. Calculation and assessment of experts is given as an example.

Ask-the-expert: Active Learning Based Knowledge Discovery Using the Expert

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Kamalika; Avrekh, Ilya; Matthews, Bryan; Sharma, Manali; Oza, Nikunj

2017-01-01

Often the manual review of large data sets, either for purposes of labeling unlabeled instances or for classifying meaningful results from uninteresting (but statistically significant) ones is extremely resource intensive, especially in terms of subject matter expert (SME) time. Use of active learning has been shown to diminish this review time significantly. However, since active learning is an iterative process of learning a classifier based on a small number of SME-provided labels at each iteration, the lack of an enabling tool can hinder the process of adoption of these technologies in real-life, in spite of their labor-saving potential. In this demo we present ASK-the-Expert, an interactive tool that allows SMEs to review instances from a data set and provide labels within a single framework. ASK-the-Expert is powered by an active learning algorithm for training a classifier in the backend. We demonstrate this system in the context of an aviation safety application, but the tool can be adopted to work as a simple review and labeling tool as well, without the use of active learning.

Experts' perceptions on the entrepreneurial framework conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Correia, Aldina; e Silva, Eliana Costa; Lopes, I. Cristina; Braga, Alexandra; Braga, Vitor

2017-11-01

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is a large scale database for internationally comparative entrepreneurship. This database includes information of more than 100 countries concerning several aspects of entrepreneurship activities, perceptions, conditions, national and regional policy, among others, in two main sources of primary data: the Adult Population Survey and the National Expert Survey. In the present work the National Expert Survey datasets for 2011, 2012 and 2013 are analyzed with the purpose of studying the effects of different type of entrepreneurship expert specialization on the perceptions about the Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions (EFCs). The results of the multivariate analysis of variance for the 2013 data show significant differences of the entrepreneurship experts when compared the 2011 and 2012 surveys. For the 2013 data entrepreneur experts are less favorable then most of the other experts to the EFCs.

Expert systems in clinical microbiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Winstanley, Trevor; Courvalin, Patrice

2011-07-01

This review aims to discuss expert systems in general and how they may be used in medicine as a whole and clinical microbiology in particular (with the aid of interpretive reading). It considers rule-based systems, pattern-based systems, and data mining and introduces neural nets. A variety of noncommercial systems is described, and the central role played by the EUCAST is stressed. The need for expert rules in the environment of reset EUCAST breakpoints is also questioned. Commercial automated systems with on-board expert systems are considered, with emphasis being placed on the "big three": Vitek 2, BD Phoenix, and MicroScan. By necessity and in places, the review becomes a general review of automated system performances for the detection of specific resistance mechanisms rather than focusing solely on expert systems. Published performance evaluations of each system are drawn together and commented on critically.

Universal Health Coverage in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessment of Global Health Experts' Confidence in Policy Options.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Elisabeth; Fecher, Fabienne; Meloni, Remo; van Lerberghe, Wim

2018-05-29

Many countries rely on standard recipes for accelerating progress toward universal health coverage (UHC). With limited generalizable empirical evidence, expert confidence and consensus plays a major role in shaping country policy choices. This article presents an exploratory attempt conducted between April and September 2016 to measure confidence and consensus among a panel of global health experts in terms of the effectiveness and feasibility of a number of policy options commonly proposed for achieving UHC in low- and middle-income countries, such as fee exemptions for certain groups of people, ring-fenced domestic health budgets, and public-private partnerships. To ensure a relative homogeneity of contexts, we focused on French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. We initially used the Delphi method to arrive at expert consensus, but since no consensus emerged after 2 rounds, we adjusted our approach to a statistical analysis of the results from our questionnaire by measuring the degree of consensus on each policy option through 100 (signifying total consensus) minus the size of the interquartile range of the individual scores. Seventeen global health experts from various backgrounds, but with at least 20 years' experience in the broad region, participated in the 2 rounds of the study. The results provide an initial "mapping" of the opinions of a group of experts and suggest interesting lessons. For the 18 policy options proposed, consensus emerged only on strengthening the supply of quality primary health care services (judged as being effective with a confidence score of 79 and consensus score of 90), and on fee exemptions for the poorest (judged as being fairly easy to implement with a confidence score of 66 and consensus score of 85). For none of the 18 common policy options was there consensus on both potential effectiveness and feasibility, with very diverging opinions concerning 5 policy options. The lack of confidence and consensus within the panel seems to

Expert systems in clinical practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renaud-Salis, J.L.

1987-01-01

The first expert systems prototypes intended for advising physicians on diagnosis or therapy selection have been designed more than ten years ago. However, a few of them are already in use in clinical practice after years of research and development efforts. The capabilities of these systems to reason symbolically and to mimic the hypothetico-deductive processes used by physicians distinguishes them from conventional computer programs. Their power comes from their knowledge-base which embeds a large quantity of high-level, specialized knowledge captured from medical experts. Common methods for knowledge representation include production rules and frames. These methods also provide a mean for organizing and structuring the knowledge according to hierarchical or causal links. The best expert-systems perform at the level of the experts. They are easy to learn and use, and can communicate with the user in pseudo-natural language. Moreover they are able to explain their line of reasoning. These capabilities make them potentially useful, usable and acceptable by physicians. However if the problems related to difficulties and costs in building expert-systems are on the way to be solved within the next few years, forensic and ethical issues should have to be addressed before one can envisage their routine use in clinical practice [fr

Expert Statement on the Single-Agent Use of Inhaled Bronchodilator in the Treatment of Stable Mild-Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Riesco Miranda, Juan Antonio; Alcázar, Bernardino; Alfageme, Inmaculada; Casanova, Ciro; Celli, Bartolomé; de-Torres, Juan P; Jiménez Ruiz, Carlos A

2017-10-01

To describe the evidence- and experience-based expert consensus on the use of single-agent bronchodilators in patients with stable mild-moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Using Delphi methodology, a panel of 7 respiratory medicine experts was established, who, in the first nominal group meeting defined the scope, users, and document sections. The panel drew up 14 questions on the use of single-agent bronchodilators in patients with mild-moderate stable COPD to be answered with a systematic review of the literature. The results of the review were discussed in a second nominal group meeting and 17 statements were generated. Agreement/disagreement with the statements was tested among16 different experts including respiratory medicine experts and primary care physicians. Statements were scored from1 (total disagreement) to10 (total agreement). Agreement was considered if at least 70% voted ≥7. The level of evidence and grade of recommendation of the systematic literature review was assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine levels. A total of 12 of the 17 statements were selected. Specific statements were generated on different profiles of patients with stable mild-moderate COPD in whom single-agent bronchodilators could be prescribed. These statements on the use of single-agent bronchodilators might improve the outcomes and prognosis of patients with stable mild-moderate COPD. Copyright © 2017 SEPAR. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Expert system for estimating LWR plutonium production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandquist, G.M.

1988-01-01

An Artificial Intelligence-Expert System called APES (Analysis of Proliferation by Expert System) has been developed and tested to permit a non proliferation expert to evaluate the capability and capacity of a specified LWR reactor and PUREX reprocessing system for producing and separating plutonium even when system information may be limited and uncertain. APES employs an expert system coded in LISP and based upon an HP-RL (Hewlett Packard-Representational Language) Expert System Shell. The user I/O interface communicates with a blackboard and the knowledge base which contains the quantitative models required to describe the reactor, selected fission product production and radioactive decay processes, Purex reprocessing and ancillary knowledge

Expert Systems in Reference Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Roysdon, Christine, Ed.; White, Howard D., Ed.

1989-01-01

Eleven articles introduce expert systems applications in library and information science, and present design and implementation issues of system development for reference services. Topics covered include knowledge based systems, prototype development, the use of artificial intelligence to remedy current system inadequacies, and an expert system to…

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the expert and non-expert opinion in fire risk in buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanea, D.M.; Jagtman, H.M.; Alphen, L.L.M.M. van; Ale, B.J.M.

2010-01-01

Expert judgment procedure is a method very often used in the area of risk assessments of complex systems or processes to fill in quantitative data. Although it has been proved to be a very reliable source of information when no other data are available, the choice of experts is always questioned. When the available data are limited, the seed questions cover only partially the domains of expertise, which may cause problems. Expertise is assessed not covering the full object of study but only those topics for which seed questions can be formulated. The commonly used quantitative analysis of an expert judgment exercise is combined with a qualitative analysis. The latter adds more insights to the relation between the assessor's field and statistical knowledge and their performance in an expert judgment. In addition the qualitative analysis identifies different types of seed questions. Three groups of assessors with different levels of statistical and domain knowledge are studied. The quantitative analysis shows no differences between field experts and non-experts and no differences between having advanced statistical knowledge or not. The qualitative analysis supports these findings. In addition it is found that especially technical questions are answered with larger intervals. Precaution is required when using seed questions for which the real value can be calculated, which was the case for one of the seed questions.

ALICE Expert System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionita, C; Carena, F

2014-01-01

The ALICE experiment at CERN employs a number of human operators (shifters), who have to make sure that the experiment is always in a state compatible with taking Physics data. Given the complexity of the system and the myriad of errors that can arise, this is not always a trivial task. The aim of this paper is to describe an expert system that is capable of assisting human shifters in the ALICE control room. The system diagnoses potential issues and attempts to make smart recommendations for troubleshooting. At its core, a Prolog engine infers whether a Physics or a technical run can be started based on the current state of the underlying sub-systems. A separate C++ component queries certain SMI objects and stores their state as facts in a Prolog knowledge base. By mining the data stored in different system logs, the expert system can also diagnose errors arising during a run. Currently the system is used by the on-call experts for faster response times, but we expect it to be adopted as a standard tool by regular shifters during the next data taking period

Poor Agreement Among Expert Witnesses in Bile Duct Injury Malpractice Litigation An Expert Panel Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Reuver, Philip R.; Dijkgraaf, Marcel G. W.; Gevers, Sjef K. M.; Gouma, Dirk J.

2008-01-01

Objective: To determine the inter-rater agreement of expert witness testimonies in bile duct injury malpractice litigation. Background Data: Malpractice litigation is an increasing concern in modem surgical practice. As most of the lawyers are not educated in medicine, expert witnesses are asked to

Poor agreement among expert witnesses in bile duct injury malpractice litigation: an expert panel survey.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reuver, P.R. de; Dijkgraaf, M.G.; Gevers, S.K.; Gouma, D.J.; Bleichrodt, R.P.; Cuesta, M.A.; Erp, W.F. van; Gerritsen, J.; Hesselink, E.J.; Laarhoven, C.J.H.M. van; Lange, J. de; Obertop, H.; Stassen, L.P.; Terpstra, O.T.; Tilanus, H.W.; Vroonhoven, T.J.; Wit, L. de

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine the inter-rater agreement of expert witness testimonies in bile duct injury malpractice litigation. BACKGROUND DATA: Malpractice litigation is an increasing concern in modern surgical practice. As most of the lawyers are not educated in medicine, expert witnesses are asked to

An expert system for turbogenerator diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bessenyei, Z.; Tomcsanyi, T.; Toth, Z.; Laczay, I.

1992-01-01

In 1990, an expert system for turbo-generator diagnostics (EST-D) was installed at the 3rd and 4th units of the Paks NPP (Hungary). The expert system is strongly integrated to the ARGUS II vibration monitoring and diagnostics system. The system works on IBM PC AT. The VEIKI's and the NPP's human experts were interviewed to fill up the knowledgebase. The system is able to identify 13 different faults of the parts of a turbogenerator. The knowledgebase consists of ca 200 rules. The rules were built in and the system was verified and validated using a model of the turbines and using the experiences gathered with ARGUS II during the last 3 years. The maintenance personnel is authorized to modify and/or extend the knowledgebase. The input data for evaluation come from measured vibration patterns produced by the ARGUS II system, database of events, and maintenance data input by the maintenance personnel. The expert system is based on the modified GENESYS 2.1 shell (developed by SZAMALK, Hungary). Some limitations from PC application were eliminated, and a new, independent explanation module and man-machine interface were developed. Using this man-machine interface, one of the basic goals of the expert system developments was achieved: the human experts contribution is not necessary for diagnoses. The operator of the diagnostics system is able to produce the reports of diagnoses. Of course the interface allows the human experts to see the diagnoses through. It should be mentioned, at the beginning of 1991, we installed a similar expert system at the 1st 1000 MW WWER type unit of the Kalinin NPP (Soviet Union). In this paper, the operation of the EST-D, the man-machine interface and the operational experiences of the first 4 months work are explained. 2 refs., 14 figs

Reconstituting factor concentrates: Defining Evidence of Coaching Non-Experts (DEVICE) in haemophilia--a prospective randomized feasibility study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bidlingmaier, C; Kurnik, K; Hölscher, G; Kappler, M

2007-09-01

The introduction of new needleless devices as demanded by the US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has caused problems with the reconstitution of antihaemophilic factor in emergency situations. Our aim therefore was to evaluate the feasibility of a needleless device for reconstitution of antihaemophilic factor for non-haemophilia experts and to define evidence of the need for coaching these physicians via providing two additional photographs illustrating the two key points of the factor reconstitution process. Twenty-eight physicians of a tertiary care university children's hospital were randomized into two groups, either with no further explanation of the reconstitution device or with two additional photographs, showing the two key steps of the procedure. Reconstitution of dummy-factor concentrate was video-taped and evaluated by a blinded helper. Main outcome measure was the successful reconstitution of dummy-factor concentrate and procedure failure respectively. Of the group without explanation of the reconstitution device, only two of 14 physicians were able to reconstitute the dummy-factor concentrate. Of the group receiving two photographs, nine of 14 completed the task successfully (P = 0.0068). The needleless device is not self explaining to non-haemophilia physicians involved in emergency services. Coaching via short to the point instructions as provided by simple visual educational material therefore is crucial to enable these physicians to resolve the expensive emergency drug quickly and correctly. Companies concerned with the production of any devices to dissolve drugs, especially for treatment of rare diseases as haemophilia, therefore should take measures to simplify therapy.

Artificial Intelligence: The Expert Way.

Science.gov (United States)

Bitter, Gary G.

1989-01-01

Discussion of artificial intelligence (AI) and expert systems focuses on their use in education. Characteristics of good expert systems are explained; computer software programs that contain applications of AI are described, highlighting one used to help educators identify learning-disabled students; and the future of AI is discussed. (LRW)

Clinical practice guidelines as learned treatises: understanding their use as evidence in the courtroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Recupero, Patricia R

2008-01-01

It is important for forensic experts to understand how clinical practice guidelines may enter the courtroom, what role they may play in a trial, and how they relate to expert testimony. Guidelines enter the record in several different ways and in several types of cases, typically with the assistance of an expert witness. A common vehicle for their introduction is the learned-treatise exception to the hearsay rule. Case law before and after Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. helps to elucidate the scrutiny that courts may direct toward medical texts proffered as evidence. This article discusses the implications of different rules and relevant case law for the forensic psychiatrist. The discussion notes important considerations for the expert witness, such as how guidelines may affect the expert's role, concerns about the reliability and relevance of scientific evidence, and questions about whether guidelines will be used for inculpatory or exculpatory purposes in medical malpractice trials.

Key attributes of expert NRL referees.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Gavin; O'Connor, Donna

2017-05-01

Experiential knowledge of elite National Rugby League (NRL) referees was investigated to determine the key attributes contributing to expert officiating performance. Fourteen current first-grade NRL referees were asked to identify the key attributes they believed contributed to their expert refereeing performance. The modified Delphi method involved a 3-round process of an initial semi-structured interview followed by 2 questionnaires to reach consensus of opinion. The data revealed 25 attributes that were rated as most important that underpin expert NRL refereeing performance. Results illustrate the significance of the cognitive category, with the top 6 ranked attributes all cognitive skills. Of these, the referees ranked decision-making accuracy as the most important attribute, followed by reading the game, communication, game understanding, game management and knowledge of the rules. Player rapport, positioning and teamwork were the top ranked game skill attributes underpinning performance excellence. Expert referees also highlighted a number of psychological attributes (e.g., concentration, composure and mental toughness) that were significant to performance. There were only 2 physiological attributes (fitness, aerobic endurance) that were identified as significant to elite officiating performance. In summary, expert consensus was attained which successfully provided a hierarchy of the most significant attributes of expert NRL refereeing performance.

Using Pathfinder networks to discover alignment between expert and consumer conceptual knowledge from online vaccine content.

Science.gov (United States)

Amith, Muhammad; Cunningham, Rachel; Savas, Lara S; Boom, Julie; Schvaneveldt, Roger; Tao, Cui; Cohen, Trevor

2017-10-01

This study demonstrates the use of distributed vector representations and Pathfinder Network Scaling (PFNETS) to represent online vaccine content created by health experts and by laypeople. By analyzing a target audience's conceptualization of a topic, domain experts can develop targeted interventions to improve the basic health knowledge of consumers. The underlying assumption is that the content created by different groups reflects the mental organization of their knowledge. Applying automated text analysis to this content may elucidate differences between the knowledge structures of laypeople (heath consumers) and professionals (health experts). This paper utilizes vaccine information generated by laypeople and health experts to investigate the utility of this approach. We used an established technique from cognitive psychology, Pathfinder Network Scaling to infer the structure of the associational networks between concepts learned from online content using methods of distributional semantics. In doing so, we extend the original application of PFNETS to infer knowledge structures from individual participants, to infer the prevailing knowledge structures within communities of content authors. The resulting graphs reveal opportunities for public health and vaccination education experts to improve communication and intervention efforts directed towards health consumers. Our efforts demonstrate the feasibility of using an automated procedure to examine the manifestation of conceptual models within large bodies of free text, revealing evidence of conflicting understanding of vaccine concepts among health consumers as compared with health experts. Additionally, this study provides insight into the differences between consumer and expert abstraction of domain knowledge, revealing vaccine-related knowledge gaps that suggest opportunities to improve provider-patient communication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expert judgement models in quantitative risk assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosqvist, T. [VTT Automation, Helsinki (Finland); Tuominen, R. [VTT Automation, Tampere (Finland)

1999-12-01

Expert judgement is a valuable source of information in risk management. Especially, risk-based decision making relies significantly on quantitative risk assessment, which requires numerical data describing the initiator event frequencies and conditional probabilities in the risk model. This data is seldom found in databases and has to be elicited from qualified experts. In this report, we discuss some modelling approaches to expert judgement in risk modelling. A classical and a Bayesian expert model is presented and applied to real case expert judgement data. The cornerstone in the models is the log-normal distribution, which is argued to be a satisfactory choice for modelling degree-of-belief type probability distributions with respect to the unknown parameters in a risk model. Expert judgements are qualified according to bias, dispersion, and dependency, which are treated differently in the classical and Bayesian approaches. The differences are pointed out and related to the application task. Differences in the results obtained from the different approaches, as applied to real case expert judgement data, are discussed. Also, the role of a degree-of-belief type probability in risk decision making is discussed.

Expert judgement models in quantitative risk assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosqvist, T.; Tuominen, R.

1999-01-01

Expert judgement is a valuable source of information in risk management. Especially, risk-based decision making relies significantly on quantitative risk assessment, which requires numerical data describing the initiator event frequencies and conditional probabilities in the risk model. This data is seldom found in databases and has to be elicited from qualified experts. In this report, we discuss some modelling approaches to expert judgement in risk modelling. A classical and a Bayesian expert model is presented and applied to real case expert judgement data. The cornerstone in the models is the log-normal distribution, which is argued to be a satisfactory choice for modelling degree-of-belief type probability distributions with respect to the unknown parameters in a risk model. Expert judgements are qualified according to bias, dispersion, and dependency, which are treated differently in the classical and Bayesian approaches. The differences are pointed out and related to the application task. Differences in the results obtained from the different approaches, as applied to real case expert judgement data, are discussed. Also, the role of a degree-of-belief type probability in risk decision making is discussed

Expert systems and nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beltracchi, L.

1990-01-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Electric Power Research Institute have initiated a broad-based exploration of means to evaluate the potential applications of expert systems in the nuclear industry. This exploratory effort will assess the use of expert systems to augment the diagnostic and decision-making capabilities of personnel with the goal of enhancing productivity, reliability, and performance. The initial research effort is the development and documentation of guidelines for verifying and validating (V and V) expert systems. An initial application of expert systems in the nuclear industry is to aid operations and maintenance personnel in decision-making tasks. The scope of the decision aiding covers all types of cognitive behavior consisting of skill, rule, and knowledge-based behavior. For example, procedure trackers were designed and tested to support rule-based behavior. Further, these systems automate many of the tedious, error-prone human monitoring tasks, thereby reducing the potential for human error. The paper version of the procedure contains the knowledge base and the rules and thus serves as the basis of the design verification of the procedure tracker. Person-in-the-loop tests serve as the basis for the validation of a procedure tracker. When conducting validation tests, it is important to ascertain that the human retains the locus of control in the use of the expert system

Expert systems: an alternative paradigm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coombs, M.; Alty, J.

1984-01-01

There has recently been a significant effort by the AI community to interest industry in the potential of expert systems. However, this has resulted in far fewer substantial applications projects than might be expected. This article argues that this is because human experts are rarely required to perform the role that computer-based experts are programmed to adopt. Instead of being called in to answer well-defined problems, they are more often asked to assist other experts to extend and refine their understanding of a problem area at the junction of their two domains of knowledge. This more properly involves educational rather than problem-solving skills. An alternative approach to expert system design is proposed based upon guided discovery learning. The user is provided with a supportive environment for a particular class of problem, the system predominantly acting as an adviser rather than directing the interaction. The environment includes a database of domain knowledge, a set of procedures for its application to a concrete problem, and an intelligent machine-based adviser to judge the user's effectiveness and advise on strategy. The procedures focus upon the use of user generated explanations both to promote the application of domain knowledge and to expose understanding difficulties. Simple database PROLOG is being used as the subject material for the prototype system which is known as MINDPAD. 30 references.

Paradigms and building tools for real-time expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behrens, U.; Flasinski, M.; Hagge, L.; Ohrenberg, K.

1994-01-01

An expert system is a software which can simulate the problem solving behavior of a human expert. The rule-based paradigm is chosen to describe the different aspects involved in expert system development. Differences between expert systems and common procedural or object-oriented programs are investigated. Expert system shells are introduced as a building tool for expert systems, together with some guidelines on the evaluation of such shells. A discussion of special needs for real-time expert system development concludes the paper

Deep Time Iterations: Familiarity, Horizons, and Pattern among Finland's Nuclear Waste Safety Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Ialenti, Vincent Francis

This ethnography reconsiders nuclear waste risk's deep time horizons' often-sensationalized aesthetics of horror, sublimity, and awe. It does so by tracking how Finland's nuclear energy and waste experts made visions of distant future Finlands appear more intelligible through mundane corporate, regulatory, financial, and technoscientific practices. Each chapter unpacks how informants iterated and reiterated traces of the very familiar to establish shared grounds of continuity for moving forward in time. Chapter 1 explores how Finland's energy sector's "mankala" cooperative corporate form was iterated and reiterated to give shape to political and financial time horizons. Chapter 2 explores how workplace role distinctions between recruit/retiree and junior/senior were iterated and reiterated to reckon nuclear personnel successions' intergenerational horizons. Chapter 3 explores how input/output and part/whole distinctions were iterated and reiterated to help model distant future worlds in a portfolio of "Safety Case" evidence made to demonstrate the Olkiluoto repository's safety to Finnish nuclear regulator STUK. Chapter 4 explores how Safety Case experts iterated and reiterated memories of a deceased predecessor figure in everyday engagements with deep time. What emerges are three insights about how futures attain discernible features--insights about the "continuity," "thinkability," and "extensibility" of expert thought--that, I argue, can help twenty-first century experts better navigate not only deep time, but also unknown futures of nuclear technologies, planetary environment, and expertise itself.

The objective assessment of experts' and novices' suturing skills using an image analysis program.

Science.gov (United States)

Frischknecht, Adam C; Kasten, Steven J; Hamstra, Stanley J; Perkins, Noel C; Gillespie, R Brent; Armstrong, Thomas J; Minter, Rebecca M

2013-02-01

To objectively assess suturing performance using an image analysis program and to provide validity evidence for this assessment method by comparing experts' and novices' performance. In 2009, the authors used an image analysis program to extract objective variables from digital images of suturing end products obtained during a previous study involving third-year medical students (novices) and surgical faculty and residents (experts). Variables included number of stitches, stitch length, total bite size, travel, stitch orientation, total bite-size-to-travel ratio, and symmetry across the incision ratio. The authors compared all variables between groups to detect significant differences and two variables (total bite-size-to-travel ratio and symmetry across the incision ratio) to ideal values. Five experts and 15 novices participated. Experts' and novices' performances differed significantly (P 0.8) for total bite size (P = .009, d = 1.5), travel (P = .045, d = 1.1), total bite-size-to-travel ratio (P algorithm can extract variables from digital images of a running suture and rapidly provide quantitative summative assessment feedback. The significant differences found between groups confirm that this system can discriminate between skill levels. This image analysis program represents a viable training tool for objectively assessing trainees' suturing, a foundational skill for many medical specialties.

Methodology for developing evidence-based clinical imaging guidelines: Joint recommendations by Korea society of radiology and national evidence-based healthcare collaborating agency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Sol Ji; Jo, Ae Jeong; Choi, Jin A [Div. for Healthcare Technology Assessment Research, National Evidence-Based Healthcare Collaborating Agency, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); and others

2017-01-15

This paper is a summary of the methodology including protocol used to develop evidence-based clinical imaging guidelines (CIGs) in Korea, led by the Korean Society of Radiology and the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency. This is the first protocol to reflect the process of developing diagnostic guidelines in Korea. The development protocol is largely divided into the following sections: set-up, process of adaptation, and finalization. The working group is composed of clinical imaging experts, and the developmental committee is composed of multidisciplinary experts to validate the methodology. The Korean CIGs will continue to develop based on this protocol, and these guidelines will act for decision supporting tools for clinicians as well as reduce medical radiation exposure.

Methodology for developing evidence-based clinical imaging guidelines: Joint recommendations by Korea society of radiology and national evidence-based healthcare collaborating agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sol Ji; Jo, Ae Jeong; Choi, Jin A

2017-01-01

This paper is a summary of the methodology including protocol used to develop evidence-based clinical imaging guidelines (CIGs) in Korea, led by the Korean Society of Radiology and the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency. This is the first protocol to reflect the process of developing diagnostic guidelines in Korea. The development protocol is largely divided into the following sections: set-up, process of adaptation, and finalization. The working group is composed of clinical imaging experts, and the developmental committee is composed of multidisciplinary experts to validate the methodology. The Korean CIGs will continue to develop based on this protocol, and these guidelines will act for decision supporting tools for clinicians as well as reduce medical radiation exposure

ART-Ada: An Ada-based expert system tool

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S. Daniel; Allen, Bradley P.

1991-01-01

The Department of Defense mandate to standardize on Ada as the language for software systems development has resulted in increased interest in making expert systems technology readily available in Ada environments. NASA's Space Station Freedom is an example of the large Ada software development projects that will require expert systems in the 1990's. Another large scale application that can benefit from Ada based expert system tool technology is the Pilot's Associate (PA) expert system project for military combat aircraft. Automated Reasoning Tool (ART) Ada, an Ada Expert system tool is described. ART-Ada allow applications of a C-based expert system tool called ART-IM to be deployed in various Ada environments. ART-Ada is being used to implement several prototype expert systems for NASA's Space Station Freedom Program and the U.S. Air Force.

Publication Voting Power (PVP): method of finding Evidence-Support

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Extracting the best evidence that support a procedure is a difficult, time consuming task that needs expert statistical knowledge. A way to make weighting evidence more simple and straight for busy clinicians is needed. Methods: The publications about the procedure under question are lined in an ascending ...

Methodology toward second generation expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dormoy, J.L.

1989-01-01

So-called First Generation Expert Systems were aimed at capturing the expert's know-how. Though providing remarkable achievements, this first wave did not give the expected outcome. A new generation is getting out from the laboratories. Instead of remaining at a shallow level of knowledge - that is the unmotivated reasoning processes expressed by an expert when he is forced to tell them - one attempts to re-build this level of knowledge from the first principles which constitute the basis of an expert's knowledge. These systems are called deep knowledge-based, or second generation expert systems. Discussion in the three first parts rests on two examples: A first generation and a half system for process control in nuclear powers plants, than the system EXTRA for alarm processing in nuclear plants, wherein fonctional knowledge is explicitely represented. We show how deep knowledge can be implemented, and the advantages that can be expected from this methodology. Qualitative Physics is discussed in the next part. Future research developments as well as potential payoffs are mentioned [fr

Expert PLSQL Practices

CERN Document Server

Beresniewicz, John

2011-01-01

Expert PL/SQL Practices is a book of collected wisdom on PL/SQL programming from some of the best and the brightest in the field. Each chapter is a deep-dive into a specific problem, technology, or feature set that you'll face as a PL/SQL programmer. Each author has chosen their topic out of the strong belief that what they share can make a positive difference in the quality and scalability of code that you write. The path to mastery begins with syntax and the mechanics of writing statements to make things happen. If you've reached that point with PL/SQL, then let the authors of Expert PL/SQL

Expert systems for superalloy studies

Science.gov (United States)

Workman, Gary L.; Kaukler, William F.

1990-01-01

There are many areas in science and engineering which require knowledge of an extremely complex foundation of experimental results in order to design methodologies for developing new materials or products. Superalloys are an area which fit well into this discussion in the sense that they are complex combinations of elements which exhibit certain characteristics. Obviously the use of superalloys in high performance, high temperature systems such as the Space Shuttle Main Engine is of interest to NASA. The superalloy manufacturing process is complex and the implementation of an expert system within the design process requires some thought as to how and where it should be implemented. A major motivation is to develop a methodology to assist metallurgists in the design of superalloy materials using current expert systems technology. Hydrogen embrittlement is disasterous to rocket engines and the heuristics can be very complex. Attacking this problem as one module in the overall design process represents a significant step forward. In order to describe the objectives of the first phase implementation, the expert system was designated Hydrogen Environment Embrittlement Expert System (HEEES).

Expert systems as decision tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, C.K.

1989-01-01

The feasibility of using expert systems as an aid in regulatory compliance functions has been investigated. A literature review was carried out to identify applications of expert systems to regulatory affairs. A bibliography of the small literature on such applications was prepared. A prototype system, ARIES, was developed to demonstrate the use of an expert system as an aid to a Project Officer in assuring compliance with licence requirements. The system runs on a personal computer with a graphical interface. Extensive use is made of hypertext to link interrelated rules and requirements as well as to provide an explanation facility. Based on the performance of ARIES the development of a field version is recommended

From expert witness to defendant: abolition of expert witness protection and its implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendelson, Danuta

2012-12-01

In Jones v Kaney [2011] 2 AC 398, the United Kingdom Supreme Court held that in England and Wales (but not in Scotland), clients can sue expert witnesses in negligence and/or contract for work performed under their retainer, whether in civil or criminal trials. The duties of expert witnesses in England are regulated by the Civil Procedure Rules and Protocols; the former also regulate the conduct of cases involving expert opinions. The legal context that led to the litigation is examined in the light of these rules, in particular, the nature of the allegations against Dr Kaney, a psychologist retained to provide psychiatric opinion. Jones v Kaney, as a decision of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, is not a binding precedent in Australia. However, unlike statutory enactments, common law judgments are retrospective in their operation, which means that health care practitioners who follow a generally accepted practice today may still be sued for damages by their patients or clients in the future. By definition, the future, including the refusal by the Australian High Court to follow Kaney's abolition of expert witnesses' immunity from suit for breach of duty to their clients, cannot be predicted with certainty. Consequently, health care practitioners in Australia and other countries should be aware of the case, its jurisprudential and practical ramifications.

Expert system for fast reactor diagnostic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parcy, J.P.

1982-09-01

A general description of expert systems is given. The operation of a fast reactor is reviewed. The expert system to the diagnosis of breakdowns limited to the reactor core. The structure of the system is described: specification of the diagnostics; structure of the data bank and evaluation of the rules; specification of the prediagnostics and evaluation; explanation of the diagnostics; time evolution of the system; comparison with other expert systems. Applications to some cases of faults are finally presented [fr

Bayesian experts in exploring reaction kinetics of transcription circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Ryo; Saito, Masaya M; Nagao, Hiromichi; Higuchi, Tomoyuki

2010-09-15

Biochemical reactions in cells are made of several types of biological circuits. In current systems biology, making differential equation (DE) models simulatable in silico has been an appealing, general approach to uncover a complex world of biochemical reaction dynamics. Despite of a need for simulation-aided studies, our research field has yet provided no clear answers: how to specify kinetic values in models that are difficult to measure from experimental/theoretical analyses on biochemical kinetics. We present a novel non-parametric Bayesian approach to this problem. The key idea lies in the development of a Dirichlet process (DP) prior distribution, called Bayesian experts, which reflects substantive knowledge on reaction mechanisms inherent in given models and experimentally observable kinetic evidences to the subsequent parameter search. The DP prior identifies significant local regions of unknown parameter space before proceeding to the posterior analyses. This article reports that a Bayesian expert-inducing stochastic search can effectively explore unknown parameters of in silico transcription circuits such that solutions of DEs reproduce transcriptomic time course profiles. A sample source code is available at the URL http://daweb.ism.ac.jp/~yoshidar/lisdas/.

Sherlock Holmes: an expert's view of expertise.

Science.gov (United States)

André, Didierjean; Fernand, Gobet

2008-02-01

In recent years, there has been an intense research effort to understand the cognitive processes and structures underlying expert behaviour. Work in different fields, including scientific domains, sports, games and mnemonics, has shown that there are vast differences in perceptual abilities between experts and novices, and that these differences may underpin other cognitive differences in learning, memory and problem solving. In this article, we evaluate the progress made in the last years through the eyes of an outstanding, albeit fictional, expert: Sherlock Holmes. We first use the Sherlock Holmes character to illustrate expert processes as described by current research and theories. In particular, the role of perception, as well as the nature and influence of expert knowledge, are all present in the description of Conan Doyle's hero. In the second part of the article, we discuss a number of issues that current research on expertise has barely addressed. These gaps include, for example, several forms of reasoning, the influence of emotions on cognition, and the effect of age on experts' knowledge and cognitive processes. Thus, although nearly 120-year-old, Conan Doyle's books show remarkable illustrations of expert behaviour, including the coverage of themes that have mostly been overlooked by current research.

21 CFR 516.141 - Qualified expert panels.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... choose members for the qualified expert panel in accordance with selection criteria listed in paragraph... whether the proposed qualified expert panel meets the selection criteria prior to the panel beginning its... Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. (b) Criteria for the selection of a qualified expert panel. (1) A...

Differentiating Experts' Anticipatory Skills in Beach Volleyball

Science.gov (United States)

Canal-Bruland, Rouwen; Mooren, Merel; Savelsbergh, Geert J. P.

2011-01-01

In this study, we examined how perceptual-motor expertise and watching experience contribute to anticipating the outcome of opponents' attacking actions in beach volleyball. To this end, we invited 8 expert beach volleyball players, 8 expert coaches, 8 expert referees, and 8 control participants with no beach volleyball experience to watch videos…

Report of the Independent Expert Group on the Future of European Public Health Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Jørn

2013-01-01

Directorate General has set up an independent expert group. Its task was to take stock of the impacts, challenges and limitations of EU-funded public health research under the current and previous research framework programmes, and to identify priorities for future research. The experts, who worked in two...... agendas and national policy agendas? How to improve the uptake of evidence generated from public health research in the development of public health policy? This report summarises the recommendations from Subgroup 2.......The next EU research and innovation framework programme 'Horizon 2020' will address a number of important societal challenges including health, demographic changes and well-being. To prepare the work in these areas, the Health Directorate of the European Commission's Research & Innovation...

Measuring the Effectiveness of Gamesourcing Expert Oil Painting Annotations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.C. Traub (Myriam); J.R. van Ossenbruggen (Jacco); J. He (Jiyin); L. Hardman (Lynda); M. de Rijke (Maarten); T Kentner; A.P. de Vries (Arjen); F.M.G. de Jong (Franciska); C. Zhai (ChengXiang ); K. Hofmann (Katja); K. Radinsky

2014-01-01

htmlabstractTasks that require users to have expert knowledge are diffi- cult to crowdsource. They are mostly too complex to be carried out by non-experts and the available experts in the crowd are difficult to target. Adapting an expert task into a non-expert user task, thereby enabling the

[Telemedicine correlation in retinopathy of prematurity between experts and non-expert observers].

Science.gov (United States)

Ossandón, D; Zanolli, M; López, J P; Stevenson, R; Agurto, R; Cartes, C

2015-01-01

To study the correlation between expert and non-expert observers in the reporting images for the diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a telemedicine setting. A cross-sectional, multicenter study, consisting of 25 sets of images of patients screened for ROP. They were evaluated by two experts in ROP and 1 non-expert and classified according to telemedicine classification, zone, stage, plus disease and Ells referral criteria. The telemedicine classification was: no ROP, mild ROP, type 2 ROP, or ROP that requires treatment. Ells referral criteria is defined as the presence at least one of the following: ROP in zone I, Stage 3 in zone I or II, or plus+ For statistical analysis, SPSS 16.0 was used. For correlation, Kappa value was performed. There was a high correlation between observers for the assessment of ROP stage (0.75; 0.54-0.88) plus disease (0.85; 0.71-0.92), and Ells criteria (0.89; 0.83-1.0). However, inter-observer values were low for zone (0.41; 0.27-0.54) and telemedicine classification (0.43; 0.33-0.6). When evaluating telemedicine images by examiners with different levels of expertise in ROP, the Ells criteria gave the best correlation. In addition, stage of disease and plus disease have good correlation among observers. In contrast, the correlation between observers was low for zone and telemedicine classification. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Oftalmología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Expert system for liquid low-level waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrada, J.J.

1992-01-01

An expert system prototype has been developed to support system analysis activities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for waste management tasks. This expert system will aid in prioritizing radioactive waste streams for treatment and disposal by evaluating the severity and treatability of the problem as well as the final waste form. The objectives of the expert system development included: (1) collecting information on process treatment technologies for liquid low-level waste (LLLW) that can be incorporated in the knowledge base of the expert system, and (2) producing a prototype that suggests processes and disposal technologies for the ORNL LLLW system. The concept under which the expert system has been designed is integration of knowledge. There are many sources of knowledge (data bases, text files, simulation programs, etc.) that an expert would regularly consult in order to solve a problem of liquid waste management. The expert would normally know how to extract the information from these different sources of knowledge. The general scope of this project would be to include as much pertinent information as possible within the boundaries of the expert system. As a result, the user, who may not be an expert in every aspect of liquid waste management, may be able to apply the content of the information to a specific waste problem. This paper gives the methodological steps to develop the expert system under this general framework

Reflection group on 'Expert Culture'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eggermont, G

2000-07-01

As part of SCK-CEN's social sciences and humanities programme, a reflection group on 'Expert Culture' was established. The objectives of the reflection group are: (1) to clarify the role of SCK-CEN experts; (2) to clarify the new role of expertise in the evolving context of risk society; (3) to confront external views and internal SCK-CEN experiences on expert culture; (4) to improve trust building of experts and credibility of SCK-CEN as a nuclear actor in society; (5) to develop a draft for a deontological code; (6) to integrate the approach in training on assertivity and communication; (7) to create an output for a topical day on the subject of expert culture. The programme, achievements and perspectives of the refection group are summarised.

Expert Systems for auditing management information systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheroghe Popescu

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Expert systems are built with the help of: specialised programming languages or expert system generators (shell. But this structure was reached after tens of years of work and research, because expert systems are nothing but pragmatic capitalisation of the results of research carried out in artificial intelligence and theory of knowledge.

Measuring cognitive task demands using dual task methodology, subjective self-ratings, and expert judgments : A Validation Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Révész, Andrea; Michel, Marije; Gilabert, Roger

2016-01-01

This study explored the usefulness of dual-task methodology, self-ratings, and expert judgements in assessing task-generated cognitive demands as a way to provide validity evidence for manipulations of task complexity. The participants were 96 students and 61 ESL teachers. The students, 48 English

Expert Cold Structure Development

Science.gov (United States)

Atkins, T.; Demuysere, P.

2011-05-01

The EXPERT Program is funded by ESA. The objective of the EXPERT mission is to perform a sub-orbital flight during which measurements of critical aero- thermodynamic phenomena will be obtained by using state-of-the-art instrumentation. As part of the EXPERT Flight Segment, the responsibility of the Cold Structure Development Design, Manufacturing and Validation was committed to the Belgian industrial team SONACA/SABCA. The EXPERT Cold Structure includes the Launcher Adapter, the Bottom Panel, the Upper Panel, two Cross Panels and the Parachute Bay. An additional Launcher Adapter was manufactured for the separation tests. The selected assembly definition and manufacturing technologies ( machined parts and sandwich panels) were dictated classically by the mass and stiffness, but also by the CoG location and the sensitive separation interface. Used as support for the various on-board equipment, the Cold Structure is fixed to but thermally uncoupled from the PM 1000 thermal shield. It is protect on its bottom panel by a thermal blanket. As it is a protoflight, analysis was the main tool for the verification. Low level stiffness and modal analysis tests have also been performed on the Cold Structure equipped with its ballast. It allowed to complete its qualification and to prepare SONACA/SABCA support for the system dynamic tests foreseen in 2011. The structure was finally coated with a thermal control black painting and delivered on time to Thales Alenia Space-Italy end of March 201.

Expert judgment for nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Young Sung; Lee, Sun Ho; Lee, Byong Whi

2000-01-01

Public perception on nuclear energy is much influenced by subjective impressions mostly formed through sensational and dramatic news of mass media or anti-nuclear groups. However, nuclear experts, those who have more relevant knowledge and information about nuclear energy, may have reasonable opinion based on scientific facts or inferences. Thus their opinion and consensus should be examined and taken into account during the process of nuclear energy policy formulation. For the purpose of eliciting experts' opinion, the web-based on-line survey system (eBOSS) was developed. Using the survey system, experts' views on nuclear energy were tallied, analyzed and compared with the public's. Based on the survey results, the paper suggests some recommendations about the future direction of the public information program in Korea

Waste disposal experts meet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1959-01-15

Problems connected with the disposal into the sea of radioactive wastes from peaceful uses of atomic energy are being examined by a panel of experts, convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency. These experts from eight different countries held a first meeting at IAEA headquarters in Vienna from 4-9 December 1958, under the chairmanship of Dr. Harry Brynielsson, Director General of the Swedish Atomic Energy Company. The countries represented are: Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States. The group will meet again in 1959. (author)

Technical Aspects of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration: CHEST Guideline and Expert Panel Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Wahidi, Momen M; Herth, Felix; Yasufuku, Kazuhiro; Shepherd, Ray Wesley; Yarmus, Lonny; Chawla, Mohit; Lamb, Carla; Casey, Kenneth R; Patel, Sheena; Silvestri, Gerard A; Feller-Kopman, David J

2016-03-01

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) was introduced in the last decade, enabling real-time guidance of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) of mediastinal and hilar structures and parabronchial lung masses. The many publications produced about EBUS-TBNA have led to a better understanding of the performance characteristics of this procedure. The goal of this document was to examine the current literature on the technical aspects of EBUS-TBNA as they relate to patient, technology, and proceduralist factors to provide evidence-based and expert guidance to clinicians. Rigorous methodology has been applied to provide a trustworthy evidence-based guideline and expert panel report. A group of approved panelists developed key clinical questions by using the PICO (population, intervention, comparator, and outcome) format that addressed specific topics on the technical aspects of EBUS-TBNA. MEDLINE (via PubMed) and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for relevant literature, which was supplemented by manual searches. References were screened for inclusion, and well-recognized document evaluation tools were used to assess the quality of included studies, to extract meaningful data, and to grade the level of evidence to support each recommendation or suggestion. Our systematic review and critical analysis of the literature on 15 PICO questions related to the technical aspects of EBUS-TBNA resulted in 12 statements: 7 evidence-based graded recommendations and 5 ungraded consensus-based statements. Three questions did not have sufficient evidence to generate a statement. Evidence on the technical aspects of EBUS-TBNA varies in strength but is satisfactory in certain areas to guide clinicians on the best conditions to perform EBUS-guided tissue sampling. Additional research is needed to enhance our knowledge regarding the optimal performance of this effective procedure. Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights

Enhancing Transparency in Multidisciplinary Expert Communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hukki, Kristiina; Pulkkinen, Urho

2003-01-01

Faced with problems of public acceptance most nuclear waste management organisations now acknowledge the importance of transparency in their pursuit of solutions for high-level nuclear waste disposal. To make progress the implementing organizations need the trust of other stakeholders in the decision-making process. For such trust these outside stakeholders need knowledge on the grounds for the judgments and decisions made in different scientific and technical disciplines. Transparency is, however, at least as important for the multidisciplinary expert communication itself. As a matter of fact, the transparency of the internal expert interaction processes is a prerequisite for the true transparency of the communication between the implementer and the external stakeholder groups. The introduced conceptual framework has been developed for the identification of the requirements of safety-informed communication in multidisciplinary expert work in nuclear waste management. The framework offers a common thinking model and common concepts which can be utilized in the development of the communication practices. The basis of the framework is on the possibility to understand the safety-critical significance of one's work. The transparency of communication is, for its part, based on making explicit the relevant knowledge necessary for gaining the understanding. This supplementary knowledge, which is related to the substance issues but is not scientific-technical by nature, enhances the experts' awareness of the context of their own contribution and of the background of the other experts' contributions. The common conceptualization and modelling of the knowledge-related dependencies between the tasks make it possible to realize the significance of the supplementary knowledge for transparent communication in actual situations. They also facilitate the recognition of the need for different types of supplementary knowledge in the interfaces between the tasks. By enhancing mutual

Classification of health webpages as expert and non expert with a reduced set of cross-language features.

Science.gov (United States)

Grabar, Natalia; Krivine, Sonia; Jaulent, Marie-Christine

2007-10-11

Making the distinction between expert and non expert health documents can help users to select the information which is more suitable for them, according to whether they are familiar or not with medical terminology. This issue is particularly important for the information retrieval area. In our work we address this purpose through stylistic corpus analysis and the application of machine learning algorithms. Our hypothesis is that this distinction can be performed on the basis of a small number of features and that such features can be language and domain independent. The used features were acquired in source corpus (Russian language, diabetes topic) and then tested on target (French language, pneumology topic) and source corpora. These cross-language features show 90% precision and 93% recall with non expert documents in source language; and 85% precision and 74% recall with expert documents in target language.

Weighing evidence: quantitative measures of the importance of bitemark evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Kittelson, J M; Kieser, J A; Buckingham, D M; Herbison, G P

2002-12-01

Quantitative measures of the importance of evidence such as the "likelihood ratio" have become increasingly popular in the courtroom. These measures have been used by expert witnesses formally to describe their certainty about a piece of evidence. These measures are commonly interpreted as the amount by which the evidence should revise the opinion of guilt, and thereby summarize the importance of a particular piece of evidence. Unlike DNA evidence, quantitative measures have not been widely used by forensic dentists to describe their certainty when testifying about bitemark evidence. There is, however, no inherent reason why they should not be used to evaluate bitemarks. The purpose of this paper is to describe the likelihood ratio as it might be applied to bitemark evidence. We use a simple bitemark example to define the likelihood ratio, its application, and interpretation. In particular we describe how the jury interprets the likelihood ratio from a Bayesian perspective when evaluating the impact of the evidence on the odds that the accused is guilty. We describe how the dentist would calculate the likelihood ratio based on frequentist interpretations. We also illustrate some of the limitations of the likelihood ratio, and show how those limitations apply to bitemark evidence. We conclude that the quality of bitemark evidence cannot be adequately summarized by the likelihood ratio, and argue that its application in this setting may be more misleading than helpful.

Earthquakes and Tectonics Expert Judgment Elicitation Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppersmith, K.J.; Perman, R.C.; Youngs, R.R.

1993-02-01

This report summarizes the results of the Earthquakes and Tectonics Expert Judgement Excitation Project sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to demonstrate methods for the excitation of expert judgement, and (2) to quantify the uncertainties associated with earthquake and tectonics issues for use in the EPRI-HLW performance assessment. Specifically, the technical issue considered is the probability of differential fault displacement through the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. For this study, a strategy for quantifying uncertainties was developed that relies on the judgements of multiple experts. A panel of seven geologists and seismologists was assembled to quantify the uncertainties associated with earthquake and tectonics issues for the performance assessment model. A series of technical workshops focusing on these issues were conducted. Finally, each expert was individually interviewed in order to elicit his judgement regarding the technical issues and to provide the technical basis for his assessment. This report summarizes the methodologies used to elicit the judgements of the earthquakes and tectonics experts (termed ''specialists''), and summarizes the technical assessments made by the expert panel

Expert judgement in performance assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilmot, R.D.; Galson, D.A.

2000-01-01

This report is a pilot study that systematically describes the various types of expert judgement that are made throughout the development of a PA, and summarizes existing tools and practices for dealing with expert judgements. The report also includes recommendations for further work in the area of expert judgement. Expert judgements can be classified in a number of ways, including classification according to why the judgements are made and according to how the judgements are made. In terms of why judgements are made, there is a broad distinction between: Judgements concerning data that are made because alternatives are not feasible; and Judgements about the conduct of a PA that are made because there are no alternative approaches for making the decision. In the case of how judgements are made, the report distinguishes between non-elicited judgements made by individuals, non-elicited judgements made by groups, and elicited judgements made by individuals or groups. These types of judgement can generally be distinguished by the extent of the associated documentation, and hence their traceability. Tools for assessing judgements vary depending on the type of judgements being examined. Key tools are peer review, an appropriate QA regime, documentation, and elicitation. Dialogue with stake holders is also identified as important in establishing whether judgements are justified in the context in which they are used. The PA process comprises a number of stages, from establishing the assessment context, through site selection and repository design, to scenario and model development and parametrisation. The report discusses how judgements are used in each of these stages, and identifies which of the tools and procedures for assessing judgements are most appropriate at each stage. Recommendations for further work include the conduct of a trial expert elicitation to gain experience in the advantages and disadvantages of this technique, the development of guidance for peer

Expert judgement in performance assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilmot, R.D.; Galson, D.A. [Galson Sciences Ltd, Oakham (United Kingdom)

2000-01-01

This report is a pilot study that systematically describes the various types of expert judgement that are made throughout the development of a PA, and summarizes existing tools and practices for dealing with expert judgements. The report also includes recommendations for further work in the area of expert judgement. Expert judgements can be classified in a number of ways, including classification according to why the judgements are made and according to how the judgements are made. In terms of why judgements are made, there is a broad distinction between: Judgements concerning data that are made because alternatives are not feasible; and Judgements about the conduct of a PA that are made because there are no alternative approaches for making the decision. In the case of how judgements are made, the report distinguishes between non-elicited judgements made by individuals, non-elicited judgements made by groups, and elicited judgements made by individuals or groups. These types of judgement can generally be distinguished by the extent of the associated documentation, and hence their traceability. Tools for assessing judgements vary depending on the type of judgements being examined. Key tools are peer review, an appropriate QA regime, documentation, and elicitation. Dialogue with stake holders is also identified as important in establishing whether judgements are justified in the context in which they are used. The PA process comprises a number of stages, from establishing the assessment context, through site selection and repository design, to scenario and model development and parametrisation. The report discusses how judgements are used in each of these stages, and identifies which of the tools and procedures for assessing judgements are most appropriate at each stage. Recommendations for further work include the conduct of a trial expert elicitation to gain experience in the advantages and disadvantages of this technique, the development of guidance for peer

Indonesian dengue burden estimates: review of evidence by an expert panel.

Science.gov (United States)

Wahyono, T Y M; Nealon, J; Beucher, S; Prayitno, A; Moureau, A; Nawawi, S; Thabrany, H; Nadjib, M

2017-08-01

Routine, passive surveillance systems tend to underestimate the burden of communicable diseases such as dengue. When empirical methods are unavailable, complimentary opinion-based or extrapolative methods have been employed. Here, an expert Delphi panel estimated the proportion of dengue captured by the Indonesian surveillance system, and associated health system parameters. Following presentation of medical and epidemiological data and subsequent discussions, the panel made iterative estimates from which expansion factors (EF), the ratio of total:reported cases, were calculated. Panelists estimated that of all symptomatic Indonesian dengue episodes, 57·8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 46·6-59·8) enter healthcare facilities to seek treatment; 39·3% (95% CI 32·8-42·0) are diagnosed as dengue; and 20·3% (95% CI 16·1-24·3) are subsequently reported in the surveillance system. They estimated most hospitalizations occur in the public sector, while ~55% of ambulatory episodes are seen privately. These estimates gave an overall EF of 5·00; hospitalized EF of 1·66; and ambulatory EF of 34·01 which, when combined with passive surveillance data, equates to an annual average (2006-2015) of 612 005 dengue cases, and 183 297 hospitalizations. These estimates are lower than those published elsewhere, perhaps due to case definitions, local clinical perceptions and treatment-seeking behavior. These findings complement global burden estimates, support health economic analyses, and can be used to inform decision-making.

Liquid low level waste management expert system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrada, J.J.; Abraham, T.J.; Jackson, J.R.

1991-01-01

An expert system has been developed as part of a new initiative for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) systems analysis program. This expert system will aid in prioritizing radioactive waste streams for treatment and disposal by evaluating the severity and treatability of the problem, as well as the final waste form. The objectives of the expert system development included: (1) collecting information on process treatment technologies for liquid low-level waste (LLLW) that can be incorporated in the knowledge base of the expert system, and (2) producing a prototype that suggests processes and disposal technologies for the ORNL LLLW system. 4 refs., 9 figs

40 CFR 194.26 - Expert judgment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... CFR PART 191 DISPOSAL REGULATIONS Compliance Certification and Re-certification General Requirements... experts (by name and employer) involved in any expert judgment elicitation processes used to support the... judgment elicitation processes and the reasoning behind those results. Documentation of interviews used to...

A method for using expert judgement in PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pulkkinen, U.; Holmberg, J.

1997-03-01

The report discusses an expert judgement methodology development for applications at all levels of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). The main applications are expected to be at PSA-levels 1 and 2. The method consists of several phases, including the selection and training of the experts, elicitation of experts' judgements, probabilistic modeling and combination of experts' judgements and documentation of the judgement process. The expert training and elicitation process is rather similar to that applied in the NUREG-1150 study. The combination of experts judgements is based on a Bayesian framework utilizing hierarchic models. The posterior distributions of the variables under analysis can be interpreted as a Bayesian counterpart of the combined or aggregated (consensus) distributions, and they are determined by applying Markov chain Monte-Carlo methods. The properties of the method are illustrated by some simple examples. The method is tested in a case study belonging to the benchmark exercise on the use of expert judgement in level 2 PSA, organized as a concerted action of European Commission Fourth Framework Programme on Nuclear Fission Safety. (14 refs.)

The recourse to experts. Political reasons and uses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumoulin, L.; La Branche, St.; Robert, C.; Warin, Ph.

2005-01-01

The need of reliable knowledge is necessary to draw adequate public policies. The role of experts is more and more important in any field, the expert brings his own specialized knowledge to the political world, he can define looming threads, can predict catastrophes, can highlight the long-term responsibility of particular choices but he can also contribute to the drawing of adequate solutions. The limit of expert's power lays in his ability to make a synthesis of plural knowledge. This book presents the role and weight of experts in our society from justice to economics via natural risks. A lot of examples of public policies based on expert valuation is given, in particular the recourse to experts of the European Union when it was to deal with the upgrading of nuclear safety standard in eastern countries. (A.C.)

Expert system characteristics and potential applications in safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, L.D.

1986-01-01

The general growth of expert, knowledge-based (KB) or rule based systems will significantly increase in the next three to five years. Improvements in computer hardware (speed, reduced size, power) and software (rule based, data based, user interfaces) in recent years are providing the foundations for the growth of expert systems. A byproduct of this growth will undoubtedly be the application of expert systems to various safeguards problems. Characteristics of these expert systems will involve 1) multiple rules governing an outcome, 2) confidence factors on individual variables and rule sets, 3) priority, cost, and risk based rule sets, and 4) the reasoning behind the advice or decision given by the expert system. This paper presents characteristics, structures, and examples of simple rule based systems. Potential application areas for these expert systems may include training, operations, management, designs, evaluations, and specific hardware operation

A Phenomenology of Expert Musicianship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høffding, Simon

This dissertation develops a phenomenology of expert musicianship through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates qualitative interviews with the Danish String Quartet with philosophical analyses drawing on ideas and theses found in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, cognitive science...... and psychology of music. The dissertation is structured through the asking, analyzing and answering of three primary questions, namely: 1) What is it like to be an expert? 2) What is the general phenomenology of expert musicianship? 3) What happens to the self in deep musical absorption? The first question...... targets a central debate in philosophy and psychology on whether reflection is conducive for, or detrimental to, skillful performance. My analyses show that the concepts assumed in the literature on this question are poorly defined and gloss over more important features of expertise. The second question...

EPRI expert system activities for nuclear utility industry application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naser, J.A.

1990-01-01

This paper reports on expert systems which have reached a level of maturity where they offer considerable benefits for the nuclear utility industry. The ability of expert systems to enhance expertise makes them an important tool for the nuclear utility industry in the areas of engineering, operations and maintenance. Benefits of expert system applications include comprehensive and consistent reasoning, reduction of time required for activities, retention of human expertise and ability to utilize multiple experts knowledge for an activity. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has been performing four basic activities to help the nuclear industry take advantage of this expert system technology. The first is the development of expert system building tools which are tailored to nuclear utility industry applications. The second is the development of expert system applications. The third is work in developing a methodology for verification and validation of expert systems. The last is technology transfer activities to help the nuclear utility industry benefit from expert systems. The purpose of this paper is to describe the EPRI activities

Hierarchical Model of Assessing and Selecting Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Chernysheva, T. Y.; Korchuganova, M. A.; Borisov, V. V.; Min'kov, S. L.

2016-04-01

Revealing experts’ competences is a multi-objective issue. Authors of the paper deal with competence assessing methods of experts seen as objects, and criteria of qualities. An analytic hierarchy process of assessing and ranking experts is offered, which is based on paired comparison matrices and scores, quality parameters are taken into account as well. Calculation and assessment of experts is given as an example.

42 CFR 426.517 - CMS' statement regarding new evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false CMS' statement regarding new evidence. 426.517... DETERMINATIONS Review of an NCD § 426.517 CMS' statement regarding new evidence. (a) CMS may review any new... experts; and (5) Presented during any hearing. (b) CMS may submit a statement regarding whether the new...

A methodology for uncertainty quantification in quantitative technology valuation based on expert elicitation

Science.gov (United States)

Akram, Muhammad Farooq Bin

The management of technology portfolios is an important element of aerospace system design. New technologies are often applied to new product designs to ensure their competitiveness at the time they are introduced to market. The future performance of yet-to- be designed components is inherently uncertain, necessitating subject matter expert knowledge, statistical methods and financial forecasting. Estimates of the appropriate parameter settings often come from disciplinary experts, who may disagree with each other because of varying experience and background. Due to inherent uncertain nature of expert elicitation in technology valuation process, appropriate uncertainty quantification and propagation is very critical. The uncertainty in defining the impact of an input on performance parameters of a system makes it difficult to use traditional probability theory. Often the available information is not enough to assign the appropriate probability distributions to uncertain inputs. Another problem faced during technology elicitation pertains to technology interactions in a portfolio. When multiple technologies are applied simultaneously on a system, often their cumulative impact is non-linear. Current methods assume that technologies are either incompatible or linearly independent. It is observed that in case of lack of knowledge about the problem, epistemic uncertainty is the most suitable representation of the process. It reduces the number of assumptions during the elicitation process, when experts are forced to assign probability distributions to their opinions without sufficient knowledge. Epistemic uncertainty can be quantified by many techniques. In present research it is proposed that interval analysis and Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence are better suited for quantification of epistemic uncertainty in technology valuation process. Proposed technique seeks to offset some of the problems faced by using deterministic or traditional probabilistic approaches for

Counseling, Artificial Intelligence, and Expert Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Illovsky, Michael E.

1994-01-01

Considers the use of artificial intelligence and expert systems in counseling. Limitations are explored; candidates for counseling versus those for expert systems are discussed; programming considerations are reviewed; and techniques for dealing with rational, nonrational, and irrational thoughts and feelings are described. (Contains 46…

Methods for the elicitation and use of expert opinion in risk assessment: Phase 1, A critical evaluation and directions for future research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosleh, A.; Bier, V.M.; Apostolakis, G.

1987-08-01

The purpose of this work is to critically review and evaluate the elicitation and use of expert opinion in probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) in light of the available empirical and theoretical results on expert opinion use. PRA practice is represented by five case studies selected to represent a variety of aspects of the problem: assessments of component failure rates and maintenance data; recent assessments of seismic hazard rates; assessments of containment phenomenology; assessments of human error rates; and accident precursor studies. The review has yielded mixed results. On the negative side, there appears to be little reliance on normative expertise in structuring the process of expert opinion elicitation and use; most applications instead rely primarily on the common sense of the experts involved in the analysis, which is not always an adequate guide. On the positive side, however, there is evidence that expert opinions can in fact be used well in practical settings. Suggestions are given for Phase II work to enhance the applicability and use of appropriate expert opinion methods

Medical Physics expert and competence in radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vano, E.; Lamn, I. N.; Guerra, A. del; Van Kleffens, H. J.

2003-01-01

The Council Directive 97/43/EURATOM on health protection of individuals against the dangers of ionizing radiation in relation to medical exposure, defines the Medical Physical Expert as an expert in radiation physics or radiation technology applied to exposure, within the scope of the Directive, whose training and competence to act is recognized by the competent authorities; and who, as appropriate, acts or gives advice on patient dosimetry, on the development and use of complex techniques and equipment, on optimization, on quality assurance, including quality control, and on other matters relating to radiation protection, concerning exposure within the scope of this Directive. As a consequence, it might be implied that his competence in radiation protection should also cover the staff and the public. In fact, the training programmes of medical physics experts include all the aspects concerning these topics. Some confusion could arise in the medical area when the Qualified Expert defined in the Council Directive 96/29/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiation is considered. The Qualified Expert is defined as a person having the knowledge and training needed to carry out physical, technical or radiochemical tests enabling doses to be assessed, and to give advice in order to ensure effective protection of individuals and the correct operation of protective equipment, whose capacity to act a qualified expert is recognized by the competent authorities. A qualified expert may be assigned the technical responsibility for the tasks of radiation protection of workers and members of the public. In Europe, the Qualified Expert is acting at present in the Medical Area in countries where there are not enough Medical Physics Experts or in countries where this role was established before the publication of the Council Directive 97/43/EURATOM. Now, the coherent

Nickel Hydrogen Battery Expert System

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Yvette B.; Mccall, Kurt E.

1992-01-01

The Nickel Cadmium Battery Expert System-2, or 'NICBES-2', which was used by the NASA HST six-battery testbed, was subsequently converted into the Nickel Hydrogen Battery Expert System, or 'NICHES'. Accounts are presently given of this conversion process and future uses being contemplated for NICHES. NICHES will calculate orbital summary data at the end of each orbit, and store these files for trend analyses and rules-generation.

Treatment Guidelines for Preoperative Radiation Therapy for Retroperitoneal Sarcoma: Preliminary Consensus of an International Expert Panel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldini, Elizabeth H., E-mail: ebaldini@partners.org [Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women' s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Wang, Dian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (United States); Haas, Rick L.M. [Department of Radiotherapy, The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Catton, Charles N. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Indelicato, Daniel J. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida Medical Center, Jacksonville, Florida (United States); Kirsch, David G. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Roberge, David [Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre Hospitalier de l' Université de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Salerno, Kilian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York (United States); Deville, Curtiland [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Washington, DC (United States); Guadagnolo, B. Ashleigh [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); O' Sullivan, Brian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Petersen, Ivy A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (United States); Le Pechoux, Cecile [Department of Radiotherapy, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif (France); Abrams, Ross A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (United States); DeLaney, Thomas F. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)

2015-07-01

Purpose: Evidence for external beam radiation therapy (RT) as part of treatment for retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) is limited. Preoperative RT is the subject of a current randomized trial, but the results will not be available for many years. In the meantime, many practitioners use preoperative RT for RPS, and although this approach is used in practice, there are no radiation treatment guidelines. An international expert panel was convened to develop consensus treatment guidelines for preoperative RT for RPS. Methods and Materials: An expert panel of 15 academic radiation oncologists who specialize in the treatment of sarcoma was assembled. A systematic review of reports related to RT for RPS, RT for extremity sarcoma, and RT-related toxicities for organs at risk was performed. Due to the paucity of high-quality published data on the subject of RT for RPS, consensus recommendations were based largely on expert opinion derived from clinical experience and extrapolation of relevant published reports. It is intended that these clinical practice guidelines be updated as pertinent data become available. Results: Treatment guidelines for preoperative RT for RPS are presented. Conclusions: An international panel of radiation oncologists who specialize in sarcoma reached consensus guidelines for preoperative RT for RPS. Many of the recommendations are based on expert opinion because of the absence of higher level evidence and, thus, are best regarded as preliminary. We emphasize that the role of preoperative RT for RPS has not been proven, and we await data from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) study of preoperative radiotherapy plus surgery versus surgery alone for patients with RPS. Further data are also anticipated pertaining to normal tissue dose constraints, particularly for bowel tolerance. Nonetheless, as we await these data, the guidelines herein can be used to establish treatment uniformity to aid future assessments of efficacy

Safety Tips from the Expert Witness.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Gary R.

1995-01-01

Many physical educators and coaches use the potential for liability to guide their decisions about conducting activities. By understanding expert witnesses' roles in negligence actions, surer planning, teaching, and coaching are possible. The paper describes issues that expert witnesses examine in negligence actions against physical educators,…

Board composition and firm reputation: The role of business experts, support specialists and community influentials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma García-Meca

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of board resource diversity on firm reputation. We classify board members as business experts, support specialists, political directors and other community influentials, in an effort to address whether business, technical expertise or political ties in the boardroom affect stakeholders’ opinion and, therefore, firm reputation.This study confirms that not all outside directors are equally effective in improving firm reputation, and that certain kinds of outside directors, especially business experts, help increase it. However, the findings note an inverted U-shaped non-linear relationship with these directors, which means that the effect of business experts on reputation is positive up to a point, after which the relationship becomes negative. The findings also evidence that, contrary to popular beliefs, directors with previous experience as politicians are not negatively viewed by stakeholders. Moreover, this type of community influential directors has positive effects on firm reputation in regulated firms as well as in those of the public work sector. JEL classification: G30, Keywords: Reputation, Board, Expertise, Corporate governance, Directors

Expert elicitation on ultrafine particles: likelihood of health effects and causal pathways

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brunekreef Bert

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exposure to fine ambient particulate matter (PM has consistently been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The relationship between exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP and health effects is less firmly established. If UFP cause health effects independently from coarser fractions, this could affect health impact assessment of air pollution, which would possibly lead to alternative policy options to be considered to reduce the disease burden of PM. Therefore, we organized an expert elicitation workshop to assess the evidence for a causal relationship between exposure to UFP and health endpoints. Methods An expert elicitation on the health effects of ambient ultrafine particle exposure was carried out, focusing on: 1 the likelihood of causal relationships with key health endpoints, and 2 the likelihood of potential causal pathways for cardiac events. Based on a systematic peer-nomination procedure, fourteen European experts (epidemiologists, toxicologists and clinicians were selected, of whom twelve attended. They were provided with a briefing book containing key literature. After a group discussion, individual expert judgments in the form of ratings of the likelihood of causal relationships and pathways were obtained using a confidence scheme adapted from the one used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Results The likelihood of an independent causal relationship between increased short-term UFP exposure and increased all-cause mortality, hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, aggravation of asthma symptoms and lung function decrements was rated medium to high by most experts. The likelihood for long-term UFP exposure to be causally related to all cause mortality, cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and lung cancer was rated slightly lower, mostly medium. The experts rated the likelihood of each of the six identified possible causal pathways separately. Out of these

Using the Delphi expert consensus method in mental health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorm, Anthony F

2015-10-01

The article gives an introductory overview of the use of the Delphi expert consensus method in mental health research. It explains the rationale for using the method, examines the range of uses to which it has been put in mental health research, and describes the stages of carrying out a Delphi study using examples from the literature. To ascertain the range of uses, a systematic search was carried out in PubMed. The article also examines the implications of 'wisdom of crowds' research for how to conduct Delphi studies. The Delphi method is a systematic way of determining expert consensus that is useful for answering questions that are not amenable to experimental and epidemiological methods. The validity of the approach is supported by 'wisdom of crowds' research showing that groups can make good judgements under certain conditions. In mental health research, the Delphi method has been used for making estimations where there is incomplete evidence (e.g. What is the global prevalence of dementia?), making predictions (e.g. What types of interactions with a person who is suicidal will reduce their chance of suicide?), determining collective values (e.g. What areas of research should be given greatest priority?) and defining foundational concepts (e.g. How should we define 'relapse'?). A range of experts have been used in Delphi research, including clinicians, researchers, consumers and caregivers. The Delphi method has a wide range of potential uses in mental health research. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Investigation of Perceptual-Motor Behavior Across the Expert Athlete to Disabled Patient Skill Continuum can Advance Theory and Practical Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Sean; Vallence, Ann-Maree; Winstein, Carolee

2017-12-14

A framework is presented of how theoretical predictions can be tested across the expert athlete to disabled patient skill continuum. Common-coding theory is used as the exemplar to discuss sensory and motor system contributions to perceptual-motor behavior. Behavioral and neural studies investigating expert athletes and patients recovering from cerebral stroke are reviewed. They provide evidence of bi-directional contributions of visual and motor systems to perceptual-motor behavior. Majority of this research is focused on perceptual-motor performance or learning, with less on transfer. The field is ripe for research designed to test theoretical predictions across the expert athlete to disabled patient skill continuum. Our view has implications for theory and practice in sports science, physical education, and rehabilitation.

Influence of Professional Affiliation on Expert's View on Welfare Measures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam Otten, Nina; Rousing, Tine; Forkman, Björn

2017-01-01

are not balanced in numbers of experts. At two time points (2012 and 2016), dairy cattle and swine experts from four different stakeholder groups, namely researchers (RES), production advisors (CONS), practicing veterinarians (VET) and animal welfare control officers (AWC) were asked to weigh eight different...... between expert groups among swine experts. Inter-expert differences were more pronounced for both species. The results highlight the challenges of using expert weightings in aggregated welfare assessment models, as the choice of expert affiliation may play a confounding role in the final aggregation due...

Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Andrew J; Patston, Lucy L M; Westermann, Christine; Kirk, Ian J; Tippett, Lynette J

2013-01-01

Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs) show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG) recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years). Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented). IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction.

Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J Latham

Full Text Available Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years. Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented. IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction.

Expert tool use

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorndahl, Kathrine Liedtke; Ravn, Susanne

2017-01-01

on a case study of elite rope skipping, we argue that the phenomenological concept of incorporation does not suffice to adequately describe how expert tool users feel when interacting with their tools. By analyzing a combination of insights gained from participant observation of 11 elite rope skippers......According to some phenomenologists, a tool can be experienced as incorporated when, as a result of habitual use or deliberate practice, someone is able to manipulate it without conscious effort. In this article, we specifically focus on the experience of expertise tool use in elite sport. Based...... and autoethnographic material from one former elite skipper, we take some initial steps toward the development of a more nuanced understanding of the concept of incorporation; one that is able to accommodate the experiences of expert tool users. In sum, our analyses indicate that the possibility for experiencing...

Exploring the brains of Baduk (Go experts: gray matter morphometry, resting-state functional connectivity, and graph theoretical analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wi Hoon eJung

2013-10-01

Full Text Available One major characteristic of experts is intuitive judgment, which is an automatic process whereby patterns stored in memory through long-term training are recognized. Indeed, long-term training may influence brain structure and function. A recent study revealed that chess experts at rest showed differences in structure and functional connectivity (FC in the head of caudate, which is associated with rapid best next-move generation. However, less is known about the structure and function of the brains of Baduk experts compared with those of experts in other strategy games. Therefore, we performed voxel-based morphometry and FC analyses in Baduk experts to investigate structural brain differences and to clarify the influence of these differences on functional interactions. We also conducted graph theoretical analysis to explore the topological organization of whole-brain functional networks. Compared to novices, Baduk experts exhibited decreased and increased gray matter volume in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, respectively. We also found increased FC between the amygdala and medial orbitofrontal cortex and decreased FC between the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex. Further graph theoretical analysis revealed differences in measures of the integration of the network and in the regional nodal characteristics of various brain regions activated during Baduk. This study provides evidence for structural and functional differences as well as altered topological organization of the whole-brain functional networks in Baduk experts. Our findings also offer novel suggestions about the cognitive mechanisms behind Baduk expertise, which involves intuitive decision-making mediated by somatic marker circuitry and visuospatial processing.

Information Retrieval Diary of an Expert Technical Translator.

Science.gov (United States)

Cremmins, Edward T.

1984-01-01

Recommends use of entries from the information retrieval diary of Ted Crump, expert technical translator at the National Institute of Health, in the construction of computer models showing how expert translators solve problems of ambiguity in language. Expert and inexpert translation systems, eponyms, abbreviations, and alphabetic solutions are…

Forensic medicine experts' opinion on medico-legal autopsies in hospital deaths: a questionnaire survey.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Deepak Herald; Pant, Sadip; Menezes, Ritesh George

2013-10-01

Medico-legal autopsy is conducted routinely in some countries and selectively in others in hospital deaths. This study was conducted to evaluate the views of the forensic medicine experts regarding this matter. A questionnaire pro forma was sent to sixty-five forensic medicine experts practicing in different medical institutions all around India. Designations and experiences of the participants were noted by requests in the same questionnaire. Their specific experience in conducting medico-legal autopsy in hospital deaths was also requested for. Responses were charted in frequency distribution tables and analyzed using SPSS, version 17.0. One-third of the participants felt that a medico-legal autopsy was necessary in all the hospital death cases as defined in the present study. Ten percent of the participants opined that a medico-legal autopsy was unnecessary in hospital deaths. The majority of the experts mentioned finding the cause of death, followed by finding the manner of death and collecting the evidentiary materials, as the reasons for medico-legal autopsy in hospital deaths. Twenty percent of the participants felt that internal findings at autopsy poorly matched with the case records. All the experts agreed that external autopsy findings matched with the hospital case records. Nearly two-third of the participants felt that it was difficult in some cases to interpret the autopsy findings without case records from the hospital where the deceased was treated. Our findings suggest that the exercise of carrying out medico-legal autopsy routinely in every hospital death as evident in the Indian framework is often unnecessary as per the experts' opinion. Autopsy findings in hospital deaths often correlate with hospital case records.

Tracheotomy in the intensive care unit: guidelines from a French expert panel.

Science.gov (United States)

Trouillet, Jean Louis; Collange, Olivier; Belafia, Fouad; Blot, François; Capellier, Gilles; Cesareo, Eric; Constantin, Jean-Michel; Demoule, Alexandre; Diehl, Jean-Luc; Guinot, Pierre-Grégoire; Jegoux, Franck; L'Her, Erwan; Luyt, Charles-Edouard; Mahjoub, Yazine; Mayaux, Julien; Quintard, Hervé; Ravat, François; Vergez, Sebastien; Amour, Julien; Guillot, Max

2018-03-15

Tracheotomy is widely used in intensive care units, albeit with great disparities between medical teams in terms of frequency and modality. Indications and techniques are, however, associated with variable levels of evidence based on inhomogeneous or even contradictory literature. Our aim was to conduct a systematic analysis of the published data in order to provide guidelines. We present herein recommendations for the use of tracheotomy in adult critically ill patients developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method. These guidelines were conducted by a group of experts from the French Intensive Care Society (Société de Réanimation de Langue Française) and the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine (Société Francaise d'Anesthésie Réanimation) with the participation of the French Emergency Medicine Association (Société Française de Médecine d'Urgence), the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology. Sixteen experts and two coordinators agreed to consider questions concerning tracheotomy and its practical implementation. Five topics were defined: indications and contraindications for tracheotomy in intensive care, tracheotomy techniques in intensive care, modalities of tracheotomy in intensive care, management of patients undergoing tracheotomy in intensive care, and decannulation in intensive care. The summary made by the experts and the application of GRADE methodology led to the drawing up of 8 formal guidelines, 10 recommendations, and 3 treatment protocols. Among the 8 formal guidelines, 2 have a high level of proof (Grade 1+/-) and 6 a low level of proof (Grade 2+/-). For the 10 recommendations, GRADE methodology was not applicable and instead 10 expert opinions were produced.

A demonstration of expert systems applications in transportation engineering : volume III, evaluation of the prototype expert system TRANZ.

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

The validation and evaluation of an expert system for traffic control in highway work zones (TRANZ) is described. The stages in the evaluation process consisted of the following: revisit the experts, selectively distribute copies of TRANZ with docume...

Treating an Established Episode of Delirium in Palliative Care: Expert Opinion and Review of the Current Evidence Base With Recommendations for Future Development

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, José L.; Davis, Daniel H.J.; Currow, David C.; Meagher, David; Rabheru, Kiran; Wright, David; Bruera, Eduardo; Hartwick, Michael; Gagnon, Pierre R.; Gagnon, Bruno; Breitbart, William; Regnier, Laura; Lawlor, Peter G.

2014-01-01

Context Delirium is a highly prevalent complication in patients in palliative care settings, especially in the end-of-life context. Objectives To review the current evidence base for treating episodes of delirium in palliative care settings and propose a framework for future development. Methods We combined multidisciplinary input from delirium researchers and other purposely selected stakeholders at an international delirium study planning meeting. This was supplemented by a literature search of multiple databases and relevant reference lists to identify studies regarding therapeutic interventions for delirium. Results The context of delirium management in palliative care is highly variable. The standard management of a delirium episode includes the investigation of precipitating and aggravating factors followed by symptomatic treatment with drug therapy. However, the intensity of this management depends on illness trajectory and goals of care in addition to the local availability of both investigative modalities and therapeutic interventions. Pharmacologically, haloperidol remains the practice standard by consensus for symptomatic control. Dosing schedules are derived from expert opinion and various clinical practice guidelines as evidence-based data from palliative care settings are limited. The commonly used pharmacologic interventions for delirium in this population warrant evaluation in clinical trials to examine dosing and titration regimens, different routes of administration, and safety and efficacy compared with placebo. Conclusion Delirium treatment is multidimensional and includes the identification of precipitating and aggravating factors. For symptomatic management, haloperidol remains the practice standard. Further high-quality collaborative research investigating the appropriate treatment of this complex syndrome is needed. PMID:24480529

A brief history and technical review of the expert system research

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Haocheng

2017-09-01

The expert system is a computer system that emulates the decision-making ability of a human expert, which aims to solve complex problems by reasoning knowledge. It is an important branch of artificial intelligence. In this paper, firstly, we briefly introduce the development and basic structure of the expert system. Then, from the perspective of the enabling technology, we classify the current expert systems and elaborate four expert systems: The Rule-Based Expert System, the Framework-Based Expert System, the Fuzzy Logic-Based Expert System and the Expert System Based on Neural Network.

System and method for creating expert systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Peter M. (Inventor); Luczak, Edward C. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

A system and method provides for the creation of a highly graphical expert system without the need for programming in code. An expert system is created by initially building a data interface, defining appropriate Mission, User-Defined, Inferred, and externally-generated GenSAA (EGG) data variables whose data values will be updated and input into the expert system. Next, rules of the expert system are created by building appropriate conditions of the rules which must be satisfied and then by building appropriate actions of rules which are to be executed upon corresponding conditions being satisfied. Finally, an appropriate user interface is built which can be highly graphical in nature and which can include appropriate message display and/or modification of display characteristics of a graphical display object, to visually alert a user of the expert system of varying data values, upon conditions of a created rule being satisfied. The data interface building, rule building, and user interface building are done in an efficient manner and can be created without the need for programming in code.

Expert systems for plant operations training and assistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pack, R.W.; Lazar, P.M.; Schmidt, R.V.; Gaddy, C.D.

1988-01-01

The project described in this paper explored the use of expert systems for plant operations training and assistance. Three computer technologies were reviewed: computer-aided instruction, expert systems, and expert training systems (ETS). The technology of CAI has been developed since the early 1960s, and a wide range of applications are available commercially today. Expert systems have been developed primarily as job performance aids, and the number of commercial applications is increasing. A fully developed ETS has models of the trainer and trainee, in addition to a knowledge base

Handbook of VLSI chip design and expert systems

CERN Document Server

Schwarz, A F

1993-01-01

Handbook of VLSI Chip Design and Expert Systems provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of expert systems, which provides a knowledge-based approach to problem solving. This book discusses the use of expert systems in every possible subtask of VLSI chip design as well as in the interrelations between the subtasks.Organized into nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of design automation, which can be identified as Computer-Aided Design of Circuits and Systems (CADCAS). This text then presents the progress in artificial intelligence, with emphasis on expert systems.

Lay Evaluation of Financial Experts: The Action Advice Effect and Confirmation Bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaleskiewicz, Tomasz; Gasiorowska, Agata; Stasiuk, Katarzyna; Maksymiuk, Renata; Bar-Tal, Yoram

2016-01-01

The goal of this experimental project was to investigate lay peoples' perceptions of epistemic authority (EA) in the field of finance. EA is defined as the extent to which a source of information is treated as evidence for judgments independently of its objective expertise and based on subjective beliefs. Previous research suggested that EA evaluations are biased and that lay people tend to ascribe higher EA to experts who advise action (in the case of medical experts) or confirm clients' expectations (in the case of politicians). However, there has been no research into biases in lay evaluations of financial experts and this project is aimed to fill this gap. Experiment 1 showed that lay people tended to ascribe greater authority to financial consultants who gave more active advice to clients considering taking out a mortgage. Experiment 2 confirmed the action advice effect found in Experiment 1. However, the outcomes of Experiments 2 and - particularly - 3 suggested that this bias might also be due to clients' desire to confirm their own opinions. Experiment 2 showed that the action advice effect was moderated by clients' own opinions on taking loans. Lay people ascribed the greatest EA to the advisor in the scenario in which he advised taking action and where this coincided with the client's positive opinion on the advisability of taking out a loan. In Experiment 3 only participants with a positive opinion on the financial product ascribed greater authority to experts who recommended it; participants whose opinion was negative tended to rate consultants who advised rejecting the product more highly. To conclude, these three experiments revealed that lay people ascribe higher EA to financial consultants who advise action rather than maintenance of the status quo , but this effect is limited by confirmation bias: when the client's a priori opinion is salient, greater authority is ascribed to experts whose advice confirms it. In this sense, results presented in the

Personality Traits of Expert Teachers of Students with Behavioural Problems: A Review and Classification of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Buttner, Svenja; Pijl, Sip Jan; Bijstra, Jan; van den Bosch, Els

2015-01-01

Teaching students with behavioural problems is a challenge for many teachers but other teachers are able to bring out the best in these students. Much research has been done to find out what differentiates expert teachers from their less skilled colleagues. Recent evidence points to personality as an underlying core factor influencing teacher…

Measuring Cognitive Task Demands Using Dual-Task Methodology, Subjective Self-Ratings, and Expert Judgments: A Validation Study

Science.gov (United States)

Revesz, Andrea; Michel, Marije; Gilabert, Roger

2016-01-01

This study explored the usefulness of dual-task methodology, self-ratings, and expert judgments in assessing task-generated cognitive demands as a way to provide validity evidence for manipulations of task complexity. The participants were 96 students and 61 English as a second language (ESL) teachers. The students, 48 English native speakers and…

Use of expert systems in nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-02-01

One dominant aspect of improvement in safe nuclear power plant operation is the very high speed in the development and introduction of computer technologies. This development commenced recently when advanced control technology was incorporated into the nuclear industry. This led to an increasing implementation of information displays, annunciator windows and other devices inside the control room, eventually overburdening the control room operator with detailed information. Expert systems are a further step in this direction being designed to apply large knowledge bases to solve practical problems. These ''intelligent'' systems have to incorporate enough knowledge to reach expert levels of importance and represent a very advanced man-machine interface. The aims of the Technical Committee were addressed by the three Working Groups and summarized in Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this report. Section 2 summarizes the results and discussions on the current capabilities of expert systems and identifies features for the future development and use of Expert Systems in Nuclear Power Plants. Section 3 provides an overview of the discussions and investigations into the current status of Expert Systems in NPPs. This section develops a method for assessing the overall benefit of different applications and recommends a broad strategy for priority developments of Expert Systems in NPPs. Section 4 assesses the overall use of PSA type studies in Expert Systems in NPPs and identifies specific features to be adopted in the design of these systems in future applications. The conclusions of the three Working Groups are presented in Section 5. The 15 papers presented at the meeting formed the Annex of this document. A separate abstract was prepared for each of these papers. Refs, figs, tabs and pictures

Forensic Linguistics: The Linguistic Analyst and Expert Witness of Language Evidence in Criminal Trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Sherilynn Nidever

Forensic linguistics (FL) provides consultation to lawyers through the analysis of language evidence during the pre-trial investigation. Evidence commonly analyzed by linguists in criminal cases includes transcripts of police interviews and language crimes (such as bribery) and anonymous or questioned texts. Forensic linguistic testimony is rarely…

WINE ADVISOR EXPERT SYSTEM USING DECISION RULES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dinuca Elena Claudia

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this article I focus on developing an expert system for advising the choice of wine that best matches a specific occasion. An expert system is a computer application that performs a task that would be performed by a human expert. The implementation is done using Delphi programming language. I used to represent the knowledge bases a set of rules. The rules are of type IF THEN ELSE rules, decision rules based on different important wine features.

Best Practice for Developmental Stuttering: Balancing Evidence and Expertise

Science.gov (United States)

Byrd, Courtney T.; Donaher, Joseph

2018-01-01

Purpose: Best practice for developmental stuttering remains a topic of debate. In the clinical forum following the introduction, four fluency experts balance the evidence and expertise to describe their approach to assessment and treatment.

Industrial disasters - the expert systems solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sachs, P.

1986-01-01

Six mistakes by the operators led to the accident at the Cherobyl nuclear reactor. These have been studied. It is suggested that an expert systems approach could prevent similar accidents. The expert system is a new approach to software programming where programs are required to perform intelligent analyses of complex situations. It separates the knowledge of a problem from the procedural code that performs the decision. An expert system will evaluate data and indicate a priority on alarms in real time. Now software systems can detect the cause of a problem in a process plant and present their findings to the operators in the control room. This should enable operators to make the correct decisions as they will know which underlying process faults are causing the alarms to operate. The Chernobyl post-mortem meeting made 13 proposals for improving safety. Two in particular are noted as relevant to expert advice systems; international collaboration on man-reactor relationships and a conference to explore the balance of automation and human action to minimise operating errors. (U.K.)

Collaboration Expertise in Medicine - No Evidence for Cross-Domain Application from a Memory Retrieval Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Kiesewetter

Full Text Available Is there evidence for expertise on collaboration and, if so, is there evidence for cross-domain application? Recall of stimuli was used to measure so-called internal collaboration scripts of novices and experts in two studies. Internal collaboration scripts refer to an individual's knowledge about how to interact with others in a social situation. METHOD—Ten collaboration experts and ten novices of the content domain social science were presented with four pictures of people involved in collaborative activities. The recall texts were coded, distinguishing between superficial and collaboration script information. RESULTS—Experts recalled significantly more collaboration script information (M = 25.20; SD = 5.88 than did novices (M = 13.80; SD = 4.47. Differences in superficial information were not found.Study 2 tested whether the differences found in Study 1 could be replicated. Furthermore, the cross-domain application of internal collaboration scripts was explored. METHOD—Twenty collaboration experts and 20 novices of the content domain medicine were presented with four pictures and four videos of their content domain and a video and picture of another content domain. All stimuli showed collaborative activities typical for the respective content domains. RESULTS—As in Study 1, experts recalled significantly more collaboration script information of their content domain (M = 71.65; SD = 33.23 than did novices (M = 54.25; SD = 15.01. For the novices, no differences were found for the superficial information nor for the retrieval of collaboration script information recalled after the other content domain stimuli.There is evidence for expertise on collaboration in memory tasks. The results show that experts hold substantially more collaboration script information than did novices. Furthermore, the differences between collaboration novices and collaboration experts occurred only in their own content domain, indicating that internal

Collaboration Expertise in Medicine - No Evidence for Cross-Domain Application from a Memory Retrieval Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiesewetter, Jan; Fischer, Frank; Fischer, Martin R

2016-01-01

Is there evidence for expertise on collaboration and, if so, is there evidence for cross-domain application? Recall of stimuli was used to measure so-called internal collaboration scripts of novices and experts in two studies. Internal collaboration scripts refer to an individual's knowledge about how to interact with others in a social situation. METHOD— Ten collaboration experts and ten novices of the content domain social science were presented with four pictures of people involved in collaborative activities. The recall texts were coded, distinguishing between superficial and collaboration script information. RESULTS— Experts recalled significantly more collaboration script information (M = 25.20; SD = 5.88) than did novices (M = 13.80; SD = 4.47). Differences in superficial information were not found. Study 2 tested whether the differences found in Study 1 could be replicated. Furthermore, the cross-domain application of internal collaboration scripts was explored. METHOD— Twenty collaboration experts and 20 novices of the content domain medicine were presented with four pictures and four videos of their content domain and a video and picture of another content domain. All stimuli showed collaborative activities typical for the respective content domains. RESULTS— As in Study 1, experts recalled significantly more collaboration script information of their content domain (M = 71.65; SD = 33.23) than did novices (M = 54.25; SD = 15.01). For the novices, no differences were found for the superficial information nor for the retrieval of collaboration script information recalled after the other content domain stimuli. There is evidence for expertise on collaboration in memory tasks. The results show that experts hold substantially more collaboration script information than did novices. Furthermore, the differences between collaboration novices and collaboration experts occurred only in their own content domain, indicating that internal collaboration scripts

Expert Systems: A Challenge for the Reading Profession.

Science.gov (United States)

Balajthy, Ernest

The expert systems are designed to imitate the reasoning of a human expert in a content area field. Designed to be advisors, these software systems combine the content area knowledge and decision-making ability of an expert with the user's understanding and knowledge of particular circumstances. The reading diagnosis system, the RD2P System…

Innovation on Energy Power Technology (22)Challenge to Development of Expert System stored Knowledge of Expert Power Network Operators

Science.gov (United States)

Sakaguchi, Hideharu

Do you remember an expert system? I think there are various impressions about the system. For example, some might say “It reminds me of old days”. On the other hand, some might say “It was really troublesome”. About 25 years ago, from late 1980s to the middle of 1990s, when the Showa era was about to change into the Heisei Era, artificial intelligence boomed. Research and development for an expert system which was equipped with expertise and worked as smart as expert, was advanced in various fields. Our company also picked up the system as the new system which covered weak point of conventional computer technology. We started research and development in 1984, and installed an expert system in a SCADA system, which started operating in March 1990 in the Fukuoka Integrated Control Center. In this essay, as an electric power engineer who involved in development at that time, I introduce the situation and travail story about developing an expert system which support restorative actions from the outage and overload condition of power networks.

Expert Systems Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, Richard O.; Shortliffe, Edward H.

1983-01-01

Discusses a class of artificial intelligence computer programs (often called "expert systems" because they address problems normally thought to require human specialists for their solution) intended to serve as consultants for decision making. Also discusses accomplishments (including information systematization in medical diagnosis and…

Cataloging Expert Systems: Optimism and Frustrated Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Olmstadt, William J.

2000-01-01

Discusses artificial intelligence and attempts to catalog expert systems. Topics include the nature of expertise; examples of cataloging expert systems; barriers to implementation; and problems, including total automation, cataloging expertise, priorities, and system design. (LRW)

Is the secure base phenomenon evident here, there, and anywhere? A cross-cultural study of child behavior and experts' definitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Posada, German; Lu, Ting; Trumbell, Jill; Kaloustian, Garene; Trudel, Marcel; Plata, Sandra J; Peña, Paola P; Perez, Jennifer; Tereno, Susana; Dugravier, Romain; Coppola, Gabrielle; Constantini, Alessandro; Cassibba, Rosalinda; Kondo-Ikemura, Kiyomi; Nóblega, Magaly; Haya, Ines M; Pedraglio, Claudia; Verissimo, Manuela; Santos, Antonio J; Monteiro, Ligia; Lay, Keng-Ling

2013-01-01

The evolutionary rationale offered by Bowlby implies that secure base relationships are common in child-caregiver dyads and thus, child secure behavior observable across diverse social contexts and cultures. This study offers a test of the universality hypothesis. Trained observers in nine countries used the Attachment Q-set to describe the organization of children's behavior in naturalistic settings. Children (N = 547) were 10-72 months old. Child development experts (N = 81) from all countries provided definitions of optimal child secure base use. Findings indicate that children from all countries use their mother as a secure base. Children's organization of secure base behavior was modestly related to each other both within and across countries. Experts' descriptions of the optimally attached child were highly similar across cultures. © 2013 The Authors. Child Development © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

New Therapies, Evidence, and Guidance in Hepatitis C Management: Expert Practices and Insights from an Educational Symposium at the AMCP 27th Annual Meeting Expo.

Science.gov (United States)

Terrault, Norah; Monto, Alex; Stinchon, Michael R; Rusie, Erica; Moreo, Kathleen

2015-09-01

The 2013-2014 approvals of new direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have engendered a paradigm shift in HCV treatment and management, offering the potential for a cure at a population level. The availability of the highly effective and relatively safe DAAs prompted revisions to guidance recommendations based on new clinical trial evidence. In the context of this paradigm shift and considerations of the costs associated with the new DAAs, managed care professionals face new questions and challenges regarding HCV treatment and management approaches. To address the continuing education needs of this group, PRIME Education, Inc. (PRIME) conducted a symposium on HCV at the 27th Annual Meeting Expo of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. Moderated by Michael R. Stinchon, Jr., RPh, the program panel featured 2 internationally recognized leaders in hepatitis C treatment and research: Norah Terrault, MD, MPH, and Alex Monto, MD.  To summarize the educational symposium presentations and discussions. This article is organized by key questions that the panelists and attendees raised for discussion during the 2-hour symposium. The questions addressed methods for assessing liver fibrosis; comprehensive patient assessment to inform treatment decisions; the influence of viral load on decisions about treatment duration; the role of ribavirin in optimizing treatment efficacy; unmet treatment needs for patients with HCV genotype 3 or advanced liver disease; and managed care strategies for patient education, adherence promotion, and care coordination. In answering attendee questions on these issues, the expert panelists presented established evidence, and recognizing limitations to current evidence and guidance recommendations, they discussed applications of clinical judgment and offered their views and practices regarding individualized care for patients with HCV.  In response to questions about the utility of noninvasive methods for

Documenting the use of expert scientific reasoning processes by high school physics students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Lynn Stephens

2010-11-01

Full Text Available We describe a methodology for identifying evidence for the use of three types of scientific reasoning. In two case studies of high school physics classes, we used this methodology to identify multiple instances of students using analogies, extreme cases, and Gedanken experiments. Previous case studies of expert scientists have indicated that these processes can be central during scientific model construction; here we code for their spontaneous use by students. We document evidence for numerous instances of these forms of reasoning in these classes. Most of these instances were associated with motion- and force-indicating depictive gestures, which we take as one kind of evidence for the use of animated mental imagery. Altogether, this methodology shows promise for use in highlighting the role of nonformal reasoning in student learning and for investigating the possible association of animated mental imagery with scientific reasoning processes.

Expert witness and Jungian archetypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lallave, Juan Antonio; Gutheil, Thomas Gordon

2012-01-01

Jung's theories of archetype, shadow, and the personal and collective unconscious provide a postmodern framework in which to consider the role of the expert witness in judicial proceedings. Archetypal themes, motifs, and influences help to illuminate the shadow of the judicial system and projections and behaviors among the cast of the court in pursuing justice. This article speaks to archetypal influences and dialectical tensions encountered by the expert witness in this judicial drama. The archetype of Justice is born from the human need for order and relational fairness in a world of chaos. The persona of justice is the promise of truth in the drama. The shadow of justice is untruth, the need to win by any means. The dynamics of the trickster archetype serve and promote injustice. These influences are examined by means of a case example. This approach will deepen understanding of court proceedings and the role of the expert witness in the heroic quest for justice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert opinions and scientific evidence for colonoscopy key performance indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, Colin J; Bevan, Roisin; Zimmermann-Fraedrich, Katharina; Rutter, Matthew D; Rex, Douglas; Dekker, Evelien; Ponchon, Thierry; Bretthauer, Michael; Regula, Jaroslaw; Saunders, Brian; Hassan, Cesare; Bourke, Michael J; Rösch, Thomas

2016-12-01

Colonoscopy is a widely performed procedure with procedural volumes increasing annually throughout the world. Many procedures are now performed as part of colorectal cancer screening programmes. Colonoscopy should be of high quality and measures of this quality should be evidence based. New UK key performance indicators and quality assurance standards have been developed by a working group with consensus agreement on each standard reached. This paper reviews the scientific basis for each of the quality measures published in the UK standards. 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/.

Report of the Nuclear Energy Agency expert group on gut transfer factors: implications for dose per unit intake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

This note describes the gut transfer factors recommended by an Expert Group of the Nuclear Energy Agency for intakes of certain important elements in food and drinking water. The evidence behind the recommendations is discussed and their implications for dose per unit intake is investigated. It is found that in many cases the dose per unit intake calculated using the gut uptake factor recommended by the Expert Group is similar to that calculated using the recommendations of ICRP Publication 30. However, in some cases there are substantial increases in dose per unit intake. The largest increases are by a factor of fifty for intakes of certain thorium isotopes by infants. (author)

Expert system for accelerator single-freedom nonlinear components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Sheng; Xie Xi; Liu Chunliang

1995-01-01

An expert system by Arity Prolog is developed for accelerator single-freedom nonlinear components. It automatically yields any order approximate analytical solutions for various accelerator single-freedom nonlinear components. As an example, the eighth order approximate analytical solution is derived by this expert system for a general accelerator single-freedom nonlinear component, showing that the design of the expert system is successful

Management of Clostridium difficile Infection in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Expert Review from the Clinical Practice Updates Committee of the AGA Institute.

Science.gov (United States)

Khanna, Sahil; Shin, Andrea; Kelly, Ciarán P

2017-02-01

The purpose of this expert review is to synthesize the existing evidence on the management of Clostridium difficile infection in patients with underlying inflammatory bowel disease. The evidence reviewed in this article is a summation of relevant scientific publications, expert opinion statements, and current practice guidelines. This review is a summary of expert opinion in the field without a formal systematic review of evidence. Best Practice Advice 1: Clinicians should test patients who present with a flare of underlying inflammatory bowel disease for Clostridium difficile infection. Best Practice Advice 2: Clinicians should screen for recurrent C difficile infection if diarrhea or other symptoms of colitis persist or return after antibiotic treatment for C difficile infection. Best Practice Advice 3: Clinicians should consider treating C difficile infection in inflammatory bowel disease patients with vancomycin instead of metronidazole. Best Practice Advice 4: Clinicians strongly should consider hospitalization for close monitoring and aggressive management for inflammatory bowel disease patients with C difficile infection who have profuse diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, a markedly increased peripheral blood leukocyte count, or other evidence of sepsis. Best Practice Advice 5: Clinicians may postpone escalation of steroids and other immunosuppression agents during acute C difficile infection until therapy for C difficile infection has been initiated. However, the decision to withhold or continue immunosuppression in inflammatory bowel disease patients with C difficile infection should be individualized because there is insufficient existing robust literature on which to develop firm recommendations. Best Practice Advice 6: Clinicians should offer a referral for fecal microbiota transplantation to inflammatory bowel disease patients with recurrent C difficile infection. Copyright © 2017 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expert systems for assisting in design reviews

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brtis, J.S.; Johnson, W.J.; Weber, N.; Naser, J.

1990-01-01

This paper discusses Sargent and Lundy's (S and L's) use of expert system technologies to computerize the procedures used for engineering design reviews. This paper discusses expert systems and the advantages that result from using them to computerize the decision-making process. This paper also discusses the design review expert systems that S and L has developed to perform fire protection and ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) design reviews, and is currently developing for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to perform 10 CFR 50.59 safety reviews

Expert systems and computer based industrial systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunand, R.

1989-01-01

Framentec is the artificial intelligence subsidiary of FRAMATOME. It is involved in expert-system activities of Shells, developments, methodology and software for maintenance (Maintex) and consulting and methodology. Specific applications in the nuclear field are presented. The first is an expert system to assist in the piping support design prototype, the second is an expert system that assists an ultrasonic testing operator in determining the nature of a welding defect and the third is a welding machine diagnosis advisor. Maintex is a software tool to provide assistance in the repair of complex industrial equipment. (author)

An expert system for dispersion model interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skyllingstad, E.D.; Ramsdell, J.V.

1988-10-01

A prototype expert system designed to diagnose dispersion model uncertainty is described in this paper with application to a puff transport model. The system obtains qualitative information from the model user and through an expert-derived knowledge base, performs a rating of the current simulation. These results can then be used in combination with dispersion model output for deciding appropriate evacuation measures. Ultimately, the goal of this work is to develop an expert system that may be operated accurately by an individual uneducated in meteorology or dispersion modeling. 5 refs., 3 figs

MARBLE: A system for executing expert systems in parallel

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Leonard; Johnson, Coe; Johnson, Dean

1990-01-01

This paper details the MARBLE 2.0 system which provides a parallel environment for cooperating expert systems. The work has been done in conjunction with the development of an intelligent computer-aided design system, ICADS, by the CAD Research Unit of the Design Institute at California Polytechnic State University. MARBLE (Multiple Accessed Rete Blackboard Linked Experts) is a system of C Language Production Systems (CLIPS) expert system tool. A copied blackboard is used for communication between the shells to establish an architecture which supports cooperating expert systems that execute in parallel. The design of MARBLE is simple, but it provides support for a rich variety of configurations, while making it relatively easy to demonstrate the correctness of its parallel execution features. In its most elementary configuration, individual CLIPS expert systems execute on their own processors and communicate with each other through a modified blackboard. Control of the system as a whole, and specifically of writing to the blackboard is provided by one of the CLIPS expert systems, an expert control system.

GOTRES: an expert system for fault detection and analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, D.T.; Modarres, M.

1989-01-01

This paper describes a deep-knowledge expert system shell for diagnosing faults in process operations. The expert program shell is called GOTRES (GOal TRee Expert System) and uses a goal tree-success tree deep-knowledge structure to model its knowledge-base. To demonstrate GOTRES, we have built an on-line fault diagnosis expert system for an experimental nuclear reactor facility using this shell. The expert system is capable of diagnosing fault conditions using system goal tree as well as utilizing accumulated operating knowledge to predict plant causal and temporal behaviours. The GOTRES shell has also been used for root-cause detection and analysis in a nuclear plant. (author)

Adaptability of expert visual anticipation in baseball batting.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Sean; Fadde, Peter J; Harbaugh, Allen G

2017-09-01

By manipulating stimulus variation in terms of opponent pitcher actions, this study investigated the capability of expert (n = 30) and near-expert (n = 95) professional baseball batters to adapt anticipation skill when using the video simulation temporal occlusion paradigm. Participants watched in-game footage of two pitchers, one after the other, that was temporally occluded at ball release and various points during ball flight. They were required to make a written prediction of pitch types and locations. Per cent accuracy was calculated for pitch type, for pitch location, and for type and location combined. Results indicated that experts and near-experts could adapt their anticipation to predict above guessing level across both pitchers, but adaptation to the left-handed pitcher was poorer than the right-handed pitcher. Small-to-moderate effect sizes were found in terms of superior adaptation by experts over near-experts at the ball release and early ball flight occlusion conditions. The findings of this study extend theoretical and applied knowledge of expertise in striking sports. Practical application of the instruments and findings are discussed in terms of applied researchers, practitioners and high-performance staff in professional sporting organisations.

Comprehensive review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community–based primary health care in improving maternal, neonatal and child health: 8. summary and recommendations of the Expert Panel

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Robert E; Taylor, Carl E; Arole, Shobha; Bang, Abhay; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Chowdhury, A Mushtaque R; Kirkwood, Betty R; Kureshy, Nazo; Lanata, Claudio F; Phillips, James F; Taylor, Mary; Victora, Cesar G; Zhu, Zonghan; Perry, Henry B

2017-01-01

Background The contributions that community–based primary health care (CBPHC) and engaging with communities as valued partners can make to the improvement of maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) is not widely appreciated. This unfortunate reality is one of the reasons why so few priority countries failed to achieve the health–related Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This article provides a summary of a series of articles about the effectiveness of CBPHC in improving MNCH and offers recommendations from an Expert Panel for strengthening CBPHC that were formulated in 2008 and have been updated on the basis of more recent evidence. Methods An Expert Panel convened to guide the review of the effectiveness of community–based primary health care (CBPHC). The Expert Panel met in 2008 in New York City with senior UNICEF staff. In 2016, following the completion of the review, the Panel considered the review’s findings and made recommendations. The review consisted of an analysis of 661 unique reports, including 583 peer–reviewed journal articles, 12 books/monographs, 4 book chapters, and 72 reports from the gray literature. The analysis consisted of 700 assessments since 39 were analyzed twice (once for an assessment of improvements in neonatal and/or child health and once for an assessment in maternal health). Results The Expert Panel recommends that CBPHC should be a priority for strengthening health systems, accelerating progress in achieving universal health coverage, and ending preventable child and maternal deaths. The Panel also recommends that expenditures for CBPHC be monitored against expenditures for primary health care facilities and hospitals and reflect the importance of CBPHC for averting mortality. Governments, government health programs, and NGOs should develop health systems that respect and value communities as full partners and work collaboratively with them in building and strengthening CBPHC programs – through engagement with

Treatment of severe psoriasis in children: recommendations of an Italian expert group.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortina, Anna Belloni; Bardazzi, Federico; Berti, Samantha; Carnevale, Claudia; Di Lernia, Vito; El Hachem, Maya; Neri, Iria; Gelmetti, Carlo Mario; Lora, Viviana; Mazzatenta, Carlo; Milioto, Mirella; Moretta, Gaia; Patrizi, Annalisa; Peris, Ketty; Villani, Alberto

2017-10-01

This article provides comprehensive recommendations for the systemic treatment of severe pediatric psoriasis based on evidence obtained from a systematic review of the literature and the consensus opinion of expert dermatologists and pediatricians. For each systemic treatment, the grade of recommendation (A, B, C) based on the treatment's approval by the European Medicines Agency for childhood psoriasis and the experts' opinions is discussed. The grade of recommendation for narrow-band-ultraviolet B phototherapy, cyclosporine, and retinoids is C, while that for methotrexate is C/B. The use of adalimumab, etanercept, and ustekinumab has a grade A recommendation. No conventional systemic treatments are approved for pediatric psoriasis. Adalimumab is approved by the European Medicines Agency as a first-line treatment for severe chronic plaque psoriasis in children (≥ 4 years old) and adolescents. Etanercept and ustekinumab are approved as second-line therapy in children ≥ 6 and ≥ 12 years, respectively. A treatment algorithm as well as practical tools (i.e., tabular summaries of differential diagnoses, treatment mechanism of actions, dosing regimens, control parameters) are provided to assist in therapeutic reasoning and decision-making for individual patients. These treatment recommendations are endorsed by major Italian Pediatric and Dermatology Societies. What is Known: • Guidelines for the treatment of severe pediatric psoriasis are lacking and most traditional systemic treatments are not approved for use in young patients. Although there has been decades of experience with some of the traditional agents such as phototherapy, acitretin, and cyclosporine in children, there are no RCTs on their pediatric use while RCTs investigating new biologic agents have been performed. What is New: • In this manuscript, an Italian multidisciplinary team of experts focused on treatment recommendations for severe forms of psoriasis in children based on an up

Prediction of response to antiretroviral therapy by human experts and by the EuResist data-driven expert system (the EVE study).

Science.gov (United States)

Zazzi, M; Kaiser, R; Sönnerborg, A; Struck, D; Altmann, A; Prosperi, M; Rosen-Zvi, M; Petroczi, A; Peres, Y; Schülter, E; Boucher, C A; Brun-Vezinet, F; Harrigan, P R; Morris, L; Obermeier, M; Perno, C-F; Phanuphak, P; Pillay, D; Shafer, R W; Vandamme, A-M; van Laethem, K; Wensing, A M J; Lengauer, T; Incardona, F

2011-04-01

The EuResist expert system is a novel data-driven online system for computing the probability of 8-week success for any given pair of HIV-1 genotype and combination antiretroviral therapy regimen plus optional patient information. The objective of this study was to compare the EuResist system vs. human experts (EVE) for the ability to predict response to treatment. The EuResist system was compared with 10 HIV-1 drug resistance experts for the ability to predict 8-week response to 25 treatment cases derived from the EuResist database validation data set. All current and past patient data were made available to simulate clinical practice. The experts were asked to provide a qualitative and quantitative estimate of the probability of treatment success. There were 15 treatment successes and 10 treatment failures. In the classification task, the number of mislabelled cases was six for EuResist and 6-13 for the human experts [mean±standard deviation (SD) 9.1±1.9]. The accuracy of EuResist was higher than the average for the experts (0.76 vs. 0.64, respectively). The quantitative estimates computed by EuResist were significantly correlated (Pearson r=0.695, Pexperts. However, the agreement among experts was only moderate (for the classification task, inter-rater κ=0.355; for the quantitative estimation, mean±SD coefficient of variation=55.9±22.4%). With this limited data set, the EuResist engine performed comparably to or better than human experts. The system warrants further investigation as a treatment-decision support tool in clinical practice. © 2010 British HIV Association.

Expert Systems as a Mindtool To Facilitate Mental Model Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Mason-Mason, Susan Dale; Tessmer, Martin A.

2000-01-01

This exploratory study investigated whether the process of constructing an expert system model promotes the formation of expert-like mental models. Discusses expert systems as mindtools, expert systems as learning tools, the assessment of mental models, results of pretests and posttests, and future research. (Contains 56 references.) (Author/LRW)

[Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the elderly(2017)].

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-01

China has stepped into an aging society. Hypertension is an independent risk factor of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and related to mortality and disability of the elderly. Compared to middle-aged and young patients with similar blood pressure elevation, the risks of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events significantly increase in the elderly. Since the Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the elderly(2008, 2011 version) were published, many guidelines have been accordingly updated, which further improved the prevention and control strategy of hypertension. In this article, Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the elderly(2017) is revised as to facilitate the prevention and treatment of hypertension in Chinese elderly. The consensus is composed of eight parts, including definition, epidemiology, characteristics, evidence, treatment objectives and measurements of elderly hypertension. The purpose of the consensus is to provide guidance for management of elderly hypertensive patients.

Expert risk perceptions and the social amplification of risk: A case study in invasive tree pests and diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Urquhart, Julie; Potter, Clive; Barnett, Julie; Fellenor, John; Mumford, John; Quine, Christopher P

2017-11-01

The Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) is often used as a conceptual tool for studying diverse risk perceptions associated with environmental hazards. While widely applied, it has been criticised for implying that it is possible to define a benchmark 'real' risk that is determined by experts and around which public risk perceptions can subsequently become amplified. It has been argued that this objectification of risk is particularly problematic when there are high levels of scientific uncertainty and a lack of expert consensus about the nature of a risk and its impacts. In order to explore this further, this paper examines how 'experts' - defined in this case as scientists, policy makers, outbreak managers and key stakeholders - construct and assemble their understanding of the risks associated with two invasive tree pest and disease outbreaks in the UK, ash dieback and oak processionary moth. Through semi-structured interviews with experts in each of the case study outbreaks, the paper aims to better understand the nature of information sources drawn on to construct perceptions of tree health risks, especially when uncertainty is prevalent. A key conclusion is that risk assessment is a socially-mediated, relational and incremental process with experts drawing on a range of official, anecdotal and experiential sources of information, as well as reference to past events in order to assemble the risk case. Aligned with this, experts make attributions about public concern, especially when the evidence base is incomplete and there is a need to justify policy and management actions and safeguard reputation.

Risks, doubt, scientific and technical expert appraisement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Decrop, G.

1993-01-01

In complex systems which compose modern societies, expert report is going to take an increasing place. In its usual definition, expert is justified by a superior authority, his knowledge comes from experience, he is present as a third party where he has to work. It is often forgotten two other important points, connected with the situation: it is a tangling of technical or natural systems with a social system and above all there is a risk of uncertainty. Then, the job of expert is different from scientific work done in laboratories and different from operational work done by engineers

Computers start to think with expert systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1983-03-21

A growing number of professionals-notably in oil and mineral exploration, plasma research, medicine, VLSI circuit design, drug design and robotics-are beginning to use computerised expert systems. A computer program uses knowledge and inference procedures to solve problems which are sufficiently difficult to require significant human expertise for their solution. The facts constitute a body of information that is widely shared, publicly available and generally agreed upon by experts in the field. The heuristics are mostly private, and little discussed, rules of good judgement (rules of plausible reasoning, rules of good guessing, etc.) that characterise expert-level decision making in the field.

CHOOZ-A expert assessment program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouat, M.; Godin, R.

1993-01-01

CHOOZ-A Nuclear Power Plant, the first French-Belgian PWR unit (300 MWe) was definitively shut down at the end of October 1991, after 24 years in operation. Since summer 1991, the steering committee of the French (EDF) Lifetime Project has initiated a large inquiry to the different technical specialists of EDF and external organizations, trying to define a wide expert assessment program on this plant. The aim is to improve the knowledge of aging mechanisms such as those observed on the 52 PWR French nuclear power plants (900 and 1,300 MWe), and contribute to the validation of non-destructive in-service testing methods. This paper presents the retained CHOOZ-A expert assessment program and technical lines followed during its set up. First major project stages are described, then technical choices are explained, and at last the final program is presented with the specific content of each expert assessment. The definitive program is scheduled for a three year period starting at the moment of final shutdown license acquisition, with a provisional total budget of more than US $10 million

Developing the experts we need: Fostering adaptive expertise through education.

Science.gov (United States)

Mylopoulos, Maria; Kulasegaram, Kulamakan; Woods, Nicole N

2018-03-08

In this era of increasing complexity, there is a growing gap between what we need our medical experts to do and the training we provide them. While medical education has a long history of being guided by theories of expertise to inform curriculum design and implementation, the theories that currently underpin our educational programs do not account for the expertise necessary for excellence in the changing health care context. The more comprehensive view of expertise gained by research on both clinical reasoning and adaptive expertise provides a useful framing for re-shaping physician education, placing emphasis on the training of clinicians who will be adaptive experts. That is, have both the ability to apply their extensive knowledge base as well as create new knowledge as dictated by patient needs and context. Three key educational approaches have been shown to foster the development of adaptive expertise: learning that emphasizes understanding, providing students with opportunities to embrace struggle and discovery in their learning, and maximizing variation in the teaching of clinical concepts. There is solid evidence that a commitment to these educational approaches can help medical educators to set trainees on the path towards adaptive expertise. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The use of expert judgement in decision making

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

variety of techniques to elicit expert knowledge (use or not of training, individuals versus groups, different kinds of aggregation as linear pools, log linear pools, Bayesian methods, different kind of group opinion, etc.). Analysts and attendants in general considered traceability as a main issue. Any EJ methodology should consider this as a main point to have. Several papers focused on EJ applied within the Bayesian paradigm, which shows the strength of this approach and its acceptance not only in academic and research environments but also in the industrial field. Since some time ago several alternatives to the purely Bayesian approach have appeared, not only in scientific literature, but also in some not very large scope industrial activities. Evidence theory and fuzzy set theory are getting more strength over the last years as alternatives to dealing with different types of uncertainty and some efforts have been done to put EJ in those frameworks to deal with uncertainty. These proceedings gather the transparencies and articles of this workshop.

The use of expert judgement in decision making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

to elicit expert knowledge (use or not of training, individuals versus groups, different kinds of aggregation as linear pools, log linear pools, Bayesian methods, different kind of group opinion, etc.). Analysts and attendants in general considered traceability as a main issue. Any EJ methodology should consider this as a main point to have. Several papers focused on EJ applied within the Bayesian paradigm, which shows the strength of this approach and its acceptance not only in academic and research environments but also in the industrial field. Since some time ago several alternatives to the purely Bayesian approach have appeared, not only in scientific literature, but also in some not very large scope industrial activities. Evidence theory and fuzzy set theory are getting more strength over the last years as alternatives to dealing with different types of uncertainty and some efforts have been done to put EJ in those frameworks to deal with uncertainty. These proceedings gather the transparencies and articles of this workshop

The use of expert judgement in decision making

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

to elicit expert knowledge (use or not of training, individuals versus groups, different kinds of aggregation as linear pools, log linear pools, Bayesian methods, different kind of group opinion, etc.). Analysts and attendants in general considered traceability as a main issue. Any EJ methodology should consider this as a main point to have. Several papers focused on EJ applied within the Bayesian paradigm, which shows the strength of this approach and its acceptance not only in academic and research environments but also in the industrial field. Since some time ago several alternatives to the purely Bayesian approach have appeared, not only in scientific literature, but also in some not very large scope industrial activities. Evidence theory and fuzzy set theory are getting more strength over the last years as alternatives to dealing with different types of uncertainty and some efforts have been done to put EJ in those frameworks to deal with uncertainty. These proceedings gather the transparencies and articles of this workshop.

Model of critical diagnostic reasoning: achieving expert clinician performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Harjai, Prashant Kumar; Tiwari, Ruby

2009-01-01

Diagnostic reasoning refers to the analytical processes used to determine patient health problems. While the education curriculum and health care system focus on training nurse clinicians to accurately recognize and rescue clinical situations, assessments of non-expert nurses have yielded less than satisfactory data on diagnostic competency. The contrast between the expert and non-expert nurse clinician raises the important question of how differences in thinking may contribute to a large divergence in accurate diagnostic reasoning. This article recognizes superior organization of one's knowledge base, using prototypes, and quick retrieval of pertinent information, using similarity recognition as two reasons for the expert's superior diagnostic performance. A model of critical diagnostic reasoning, using prototypes and similarity recognition, is proposed and elucidated using case studies. This model serves as a starting point toward bridging the gap between clinical data and accurate problem identification, verification, and management while providing a structure for a knowledge exchange between expert and non-expert clinicians.

Tropospheric ozone. Formation, properties, effects. Expert opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elstner, E.F.

1996-01-01

The formation and dispersion of tropospheric ozone are discussed only marginally in this expert opinion; the key interest is in the effects of ground level ozone on plants, animals, and humans. The expert opinion is based on an analysis of the available scientific publications. (orig./MG) [de

The assessment of argumentation from expert opinion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagemans, J.H.M.

2011-01-01

In this contribution, I will develop a comprehensive tool for the reconstruction and evaluation of argumentation from expert opinion. This is done by analyzing and then combining two dialectical accounts of this type of argumentation. Walton’s account of the ‘appeal to expert opinion’ provides a

Jess, the Java expert system shell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Friedman-Hill, E.J.

1997-11-01

This report describes Jess, a clone of the popular CLIPS expert system shell written entirely in Java. Jess supports the development of rule-based expert systems which can be tightly coupled to code written in the powerful, portable Java language. The syntax of the Jess language is discussed, and a comprehensive list of supported functions is presented. A guide to extending Jess by writing Java code is also included.

A new Expert Finding model based on Term Correlation Matrix

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ehsan Pornour

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Due to the enormous volume of unstructured information available on the Web and inside organization, finding an answer to the knowledge need in a short time is difficult. For this reason, beside Search Engines which don’t consider users individual characteristics, Recommender systems were created which use user’s previous activities and other individual characteristics to help users find needed knowledge. Recommender systems usage is increasing every day. Expert finder systems also by introducing expert people instead of recommending information to users have provided this facility for users to ask their questions form experts. Having relation with experts not only causes information transition, but also with transferring experiences and inception causes knowledge transition. In this paper we used university professors academic resume as expert people profile and then proposed a new expert finding model that recommends experts to users query. We used Term Correlation Matrix, Vector Space Model and PageRank algorithm and proposed a new hybrid model which outperforms conventional methods. This model can be used in internet environment, organizations and universities that experts have resume dataset.

Sources of correlation between experts: Empirical results from two extremes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, M.A.; Booker, J.M.

1987-04-01

Through two studies, this report seeks to identify the sources of correlation, or dependence, between experts' estimates. Expert estimates are relied upon as sources of data whenever experimental data is lacking, such as in risk analyses and reliability assessments. Correlation between experts is a problem in the elicitation and subsequent use of subjective estimates. Until now, there have been no data confirming sources of correlation, although the experts' background is commonly speculated to be one. Two different populations of experts were administered questions in their areas of expertise. Data on their professional backgrounds and means of solving the questions were elicited using techniques from educational psychology and ethnography. The results from both studies indicate that the way in which an expert solves the problem is the major source of correlation. The experts' background can not be shown to be an important source of correlation nor to influence his choice of method for problem solution. From these results, some recommendations are given for the elicitation and use of expert opinion

Ustekinumab in the management of Crohn's disease: Expert opinion.

Science.gov (United States)

Armuzzi, Alessandro; Ardizzone, Sandro; Biancone, Livia; Castiglione, Fabiana; Danese, Silvio; Gionchetti, Paolo; Orlando, Ambrogio; Rizzello, Fernando; Scribano, Maria Lia; Vecchi, Maurizio; Daperno, Marco

2018-03-11

This expert-opinion paper reviews available evidence for the use of ustekinumab, a human interleukin 12/23 monoclonal antibody, in the treatment of Crohn's disease and discusses its potential role in the current treatment scenario for the condition. Ustekinumab appears to be associated with rapid and sustained clinical effect, as reported from the clinical research program, with additional support for potential mucosal healing. These characteristics are paralleled by a favorable safety profile, lack of immunogenicity and the presence of systemic anti-inflammatory activity. Importantly, ustekinumab requires only one single intravenous administration, while subsequent dosing is administered subcutaneously, with potential advantages for home-based therapy. Lastly, the dosage of ustekinumab is flexible. On the basis of the evidence, ustekinumab has a role in patients with primary failure or secondary loss of response to anti-tumor necrosis factor agents, as well as in those who have adverse events on front-line biologics or are reinitiating therapy after a treatment holiday. Current evidence suggests that ustekinumab may be particularly suitable in patients who present extra-intestinal manifestations of the disease or are at risk of infections. Ustekinumab may also be considered in the first-line setting, especially in frail patients, in young subjects or in those who have concomitant immune-mediated diseases. Copyright © 2018 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Survey of Opinions on the Primacy of "g" and Social Consequences of Ability Testing: A Comparison of Expert and Non-Expert Views

Science.gov (United States)

Reeve, Charlie L.; Charles, Jennifer E.

2008-01-01

The current study examines the views of experts in the science of mental abilities about the primacy and uniqueness of "g" and the social implications of ability testing, and compares their responses to the views of a group of non-expert psychologists. Results indicate expert consensus that "g" is an important, non-trivial determinant (or at least…

Expert system to control a fusion energy experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, R.R.; Canales, T.; Lager, D.

1986-01-01

This paper describes a system that automates neutral beam source conditioning. The system achieves this with artificial intelligence techniques by encoding the behavior of several experts as a set of if-then rules in an expert system. One of the functions of the expert system is to control an adaptive controller that, in turn, controls the neutral beam source. The architecture of the system is presented followed by a description of its performance.

Expert system to control a fusion energy experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, R.R.; Canales, T.; Lager, D.

1986-01-01

This paper describes a system that automates neutral beam source conditioning. The system achieves this with artificial intelligence techniques by encoding the behavior of several experts as a set of if-then rules in an expert system. One of the functions of the expert system is to control an adaptive controller that, in turn, controls the neutral beam source. The architecture of the system is presented followed by a description of its performance

Validity Evidence for the Neuro-Endoscopic Ventriculostomy Assessment Tool (NEVAT).

Science.gov (United States)

Breimer, Gerben E; Haji, Faizal A; Cinalli, Giuseppe; Hoving, Eelco W; Drake, James M

2017-02-01

Growing demand for transparent and standardized methods for evaluating surgical competence prompted the construction of the Neuro-Endoscopic Ventriculostomy Assessment Tool (NEVAT). To provide validity evidence of the NEVAT by reporting on the tool's internal structure and its relationship with surgical expertise during simulation-based training. The NEVAT was used to assess performance of trainees and faculty at an international neuroendoscopy workshop. All participants performed an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) on a synthetic simulator. Participants were simultaneously scored by 2 raters using the NEVAT procedural checklist and global rating scale (GRS). Evidence of internal structure was collected by calculating interrater reliability and internal consistency of raters' scores. Evidence of relationships with other variables was collected by comparing the ETV performance of experts, experienced trainees, and novices using Jonckheere's test (evidence of construct validity). Thirteen experts, 11 experienced trainees, and 10 novices participated. The interrater reliability by the intraclass correlation coefficient for the checklist and GRS was 0.82 and 0.94, respectively. Internal consistency (Cronbach's α) for the checklist and the GRS was 0.74 and 0.97, respectively. Median scores with interquartile range on the checklist and GRS for novices, experienced trainees, and experts were 0.69 (0.58-0.86), 0.85 (0.63-0.89), and 0.85 (0.81-0.91) and 3.1 (2.5-3.8), 3.7 (2.2-4.3) and 4.6 (4.4-4.9), respectively. Jonckheere's test showed that the median checklist and GRS score increased with performer expertise ( P = .04 and .002, respectively). This study provides validity evidence for the NEVAT to support its use as a standardized method of evaluating neuroendoscopic competence during simulation-based training. Copyright © 2016 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons

Expert views on societal responses to different applications of nanotechnology: a comparative analysis of experts in countries with different economic and regulatory environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Nidhi, E-mail: guptanidhi12@gmail.com; Fischer, Arnout R. H., E-mail: arnout.fischer@wur.nl [Wageningen University, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group (Netherlands); George, Saji, E-mail: saji_george@nyp.gov.sg [Nanyang Polytechnic, Centre for Sustainable Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Life Sciences (Singapore); Frewer, Lynn J., E-mail: lynn.frewer@newcastle.ac.uk [Newcastle University, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (United Kingdom)

2013-08-15

The introduction of different applications of nanotechnology will be informed by expert views regarding which (types of) application will be most societally acceptable. Previous research in Northern Europe has indicated that experts believe that various factors will be influential, predominant among these being public perceptions of benefit, need and consumer concern about contact with nanomaterials. These factors are thought by experts to differentiate societal acceptance and rejection of nanotechnology applications. This research utilises a larger sample of experts (N = 67) drawn from Northern America, Europe, Australasia, India and Singapore to examine differences in expert opinion regarding societal acceptance of different applications of nanotechnology within different technological environments, consumer cultures and regulatory regimes. Perceived risk and consumer concerns regarding contact with nano-particles are thought by all experts to drive rejection, and perceived benefits to influence acceptance, independent of country. Encapsulation and delivery of nutrients in food was thought to be the most likely to raise societal concerns, while targeted drug delivery was thought most likely to be accepted. Lack of differentiation between countries suggests that expert views regarding social acceptance may be homogenous, independent of local contextual factors.

Expert views on societal responses to different applications of nanotechnology: a comparative analysis of experts in countries with different economic and regulatory environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Nidhi; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; George, Saji; Frewer, Lynn J.

2013-01-01

The introduction of different applications of nanotechnology will be informed by expert views regarding which (types of) application will be most societally acceptable. Previous research in Northern Europe has indicated that experts believe that various factors will be influential, predominant among these being public perceptions of benefit, need and consumer concern about contact with nanomaterials. These factors are thought by experts to differentiate societal acceptance and rejection of nanotechnology applications. This research utilises a larger sample of experts (N = 67) drawn from Northern America, Europe, Australasia, India and Singapore to examine differences in expert opinion regarding societal acceptance of different applications of nanotechnology within different technological environments, consumer cultures and regulatory regimes. Perceived risk and consumer concerns regarding contact with nano-particles are thought by all experts to drive rejection, and perceived benefits to influence acceptance, independent of country. Encapsulation and delivery of nutrients in food was thought to be the most likely to raise societal concerns, while targeted drug delivery was thought most likely to be accepted. Lack of differentiation between countries suggests that expert views regarding social acceptance may be homogenous, independent of local contextual factors

The microcomputer-based expert system in CAD-PV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Y.; Qin, S.

1987-01-01

As a branch of artificial intelligence, expert system has been revealed day after day in more and more engineering scopes since the successful applications of MYCIN in diagnosis and DENDRAL in the molecular structure of organic compounds etc.. But in the design scope of pressure vessel, as we know, only a few papers have so far been published with respect to the expert system. The necessity and feasibility of accompanying CAD-PV with expert system attracted more scholars to engage in. Although many countries, including China, have regularized the design standards or codes for pressure vessel, but of which no one can solve all of the problems concerning the various practical occasions and experiences. In general, the more domain knowledges a design engineer possesses of, the better decision will be made by him. By virtue of the expert system any less experienced engineer could make the optimum decision in design as well as a skilled senior engineer in addition to the application of design code. It is the due significance for developing high level expert system as an intelligence assistant in the plan option of CAD-PV. In this paper we attempt to introduce a specified software JACKPV used in the design procedure of jacketed pressure vessel as an intelligence front in CAD-PV. JACKPV consists of the function of expert system based on the personal computer IBM-PC/XT with the language PASCAL in its program. It was proved that an ordinary CAD software could be effectively improved while equipped with expert system. (orig.)

Expert systems for real-time monitoring and fault diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, S. J.; Caglayan, A. K.

1989-01-01

Methods for building real-time onboard expert systems were investigated, and the use of expert systems technology was demonstrated in improving the performance of current real-time onboard monitoring and fault diagnosis applications. The potential applications of the proposed research include an expert system environment allowing the integration of expert systems into conventional time-critical application solutions, a grammar for describing the discrete event behavior of monitoring and fault diagnosis systems, and their applications to new real-time hardware fault diagnosis and monitoring systems for aircraft.

An examination of expert systems activities within the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, J.A.; Washio, Takashi.

1988-01-01

This paper provides an overview of a detailed evaluation that the authors recently completed on expert systems applications within the nuclear industry. That evaluation examined the motivation for utilizing expert systems, identified the areas to which they were being applied, and provided an assessment of their utility. Listed here are some of the salient findings of that report. (1) Utilities are developing their own artificial intelligence tools rather than using commercial products. (2) Few expert systems are being developed for the express purpose of capturing human expertise. (3) A number of successful expert systems have been developed to assist in plant design, management, and maintenance scheduling. (4) Interactive diagnostic systems are being developed for the analysis of physical processes that vary slowly. (5) Real-time diagnostic expert systems are currently at the cutting edge of the technology. (6) Operator adviser and emergency response expert systems constitute ∼25% of the total. (7) Research on the use of expert systems for reactor control is quite active. (8) Too few quantitative evaluations of the benefits of expert systems to reactor operators have been performed. The operator's need is for timely, factual information on plant status. Hence, the true challenge to expert systems is real-time diagnostics

An Outsourcing Expert System for Governing Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meisam Shahbazi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Making the right decision about doing activities in-house vs. outsourcing is one of the important management decisions. The considerable effect of this decision on organizational performance and responsiveness is supported by theoretical and empirical evidence. In this study, using the experts’ knowledge extraction and modeling, we have designed a logical framework for deciding about outsourcing in governing organizations and accordingly an expert system has been developed. As an applied research a descriptive approach and case study method have been used. Objectives, inevitable circumstances, requirements, background conditions and facilitators have been identified as the underlying components of the system. The system provides a recommendation for each activity and prioritizes them based on readiness for outsourcing. An implementation in IT department of a sample organization is provided and the results are analyzed.  In the end, the proposed system for activities of IT Management was carried out in one of the organizations and consequently the obtained outputs and results were analyzed.

Somatotopic mapping of piano fingering errors in sensorimotor experts: TMS studies in pianists and visually trained musically naives.

Science.gov (United States)

Candidi, Matteo; Sacheli, Lucia Maria; Mega, Ilaria; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

2014-02-01

Virtuosic musical performance requires fine sensorimotor skills and high predictive control of the fast finger movements that produce the intended sounds, and cannot be corrected once the notes have been played. The anticipatory nature of motor control in experts explains why musical performance is barely affected by auditory feedback. Using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation, we provide evidence that, in expert pianists (Experiment 1), the observation of a mute piano fingering error induces 1) a time-locked facilitation of hand corticospinal representation which occurred 300 and 700 ms but not 100 ms after error onset, and 2) a somatotopic corticospinal facilitation of the very same finger that commits the error. In a second experiment, we show that no corticospinal modulation is found in non-pianist naïve individuals who were experimentally trained to visually detect the observed fingering errors (Experiment 2). This is the first evidence showing that the refined somatosensory and motor skills of musicians exceed the domain of individual motor control and may provide the brain with fine anticipatory, simulative error monitoring systems for the evaluation of others' movements.

Concept of expert system for modal split in transportation planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Popović Maja M.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to develop a concept of expert system based on the survey of experts' opinions and their experience concerning relations in modal split, on the basis of parameters of transport system demand and transport supply, defined through PT travel time and city size, i.e. mean trip length. This expert system could be of use both to experts and less experienced planners who could apply the knowledge contained in this expert system for further improvement, on operational as well as on strategic level.

An hierarchical approach to performance evaluation of expert systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Kavi, Srinu

1985-01-01

The number and size of expert systems is growing rapidly. Formal evaluation of these systems - which is not performed for many systems - increases the acceptability by the user community and hence their success. Hierarchical evaluation that had been conducted for computer systems is applied for expert system performance evaluation. Expert systems are also evaluated by treating them as software systems (or programs). This paper reports many of the basic concepts and ideas in the Performance Evaluation of Expert Systems Study being conducted at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.

Expert system aided operator's mental activities training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gieci, A.; Macko, J.; Mosny, J.; Gese, A.

1994-01-01

The operator's mental activity is the most important part of his work. A processing of a large amount of the information by the operator is possible only if he/she possesses appropriate cognitive skills. To facilitate the novice's acquisition of the experienced operator's cognitive skills of the decision-making process a special type of the expert system was developed. The cognitive engineering's models and problem-solving methodology constitutes the basis of this expert system. The article gives an account of the prototype of the mentioned expert system developed to aid the whole mental activity of the nuclear power plant operator during his decision-making process. (author). 6 refs, 6 figs

EXPERT SYSTEMS - DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE TOOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NAN Anca-Petruţa

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Because of the fact that specialty agricultural assistance is not always available when the farmers need it, we identified expert systems as a strong instrument with an extended potential in agriculture. This started to grow in scale recently, including all socially-economic activity fields, having the role of collecting data regarding different aspects from human experts with the purpose of assisting the user in the necessary steps for solving problems, at the performance level of the expert, making his acquired knowledge and experience available. We opted for a general presentation of the expert systems as well as their necessity, because, the solution to develop the agricultural system can come from artificial intelligence by implementing the expert systems in the field of agricultural insurance, promoting existing insurance products, farmers finding options in depending on their necessities and possibilities. The objective of this article consists of collecting data about different aspects about specific areas of interest of agricultural insurance, preparing the database, a conceptual presentation of a pilot version which will become constantly richer depending on the answers received from agricultural producers, with the clearest exposure of knowledgebase possible. We can justify picking this theme with the fact that even while agricultural insurance plays a very important role in agricultural development, the registered result got from them are modest, reason why solutions need to be found in the scope of developing the agricultural sector. The importance of this consists in the proposal of an immediate viable solution to correspond with the current necessities of agricultural producers and in the proposal of an innovative solution, namely the implementation of expert system in agricultural insurance as a way of promoting insurance products. Our research, even though it treats the subject at an conceptual level, it wants to undertake an

Lay Evaluation of Financial Experts: The Action Advice Effect and Confirmation Bias

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Zaleskiewicz

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The goal of this experimental project was to investigate lay peoples’ perceptions of epistemic authority (EA in the field of finance. EA is defined as the extent to which a source of information is treated as evidence for judgments independently of its objective expertise and based on subjective beliefs. Previous research suggested that EA evaluations are biased and that lay people tend to ascribe higher EA to experts who advise action (in the case of medical experts or confirm clients’ expectations (in the case of politicians. However, there has been no research into biases in lay evaluations of financial experts and this project is aimed to fill this gap. Experiment 1 showed that lay people tended to ascribe greater authority to financial consultants who gave more active advice to clients considering taking out a mortgage. Experiment 2 confirmed the action advice effect found in Experiment 1. However, the outcomes of Experiments 2 and – particularly – 3 suggested that this bias might also be due to clients’ desire to confirm their own opinions. Experiment 2 showed that the action advice effect was moderated by clients’ own opinions on taking loans. Lay people ascribed the greatest EA to the advisor in the scenario in which he advised taking action and where this coincided with the client’s positive opinion on the advisability of taking out a loan. In Experiment 3 only participants with a positive opinion on the financial product ascribed greater authority to experts who recommended it; participants whose opinion was negative tended to rate consultants who advised rejecting the product more highly. To conclude, these three experiments revealed that lay people ascribe higher EA to financial consultants who advise action rather than maintenance of the status quo, but this effect is limited by confirmation bias: when the client’s a priori opinion is salient, greater authority is ascribed to experts whose advice confirms it. In this

Toward the Development of Expert Assessment Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasselbring, Ted S.

1986-01-01

The potential application of "expert systems" to the diagnosis and assessment of special-needs children is examined and existing prototype systems are reviewed. The future of this artificial intelligence technology is discussed in relation to emerging development tools designed for the creation of expert systems by the lay public. (Author)

Expert group formation using facility location analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neshati, M.; Beigy, H.; Hiemstra, Djoerd

In this paper, we propose an optimization framework to retrieve an optimal group of experts to perform a multi-aspect task. While a diverse set of skills are needed to perform a multi-aspect task, the group of assigned experts should be able to collectively cover all these required skills. We

Expert group formation using facility location analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neshati, Mahmood; Beigy, Hamid; Hiemstra, Djoerd

2014-01-01

In this paper, we propose an optimization framework to retrieve an optimal group of experts to perform a multi-aspect task. While a diverse set of skills are needed to perform a multi-aspect task, the group of assigned experts should be able to collectively cover all these required skills. We

Experts' meeting: Maintenance '83

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

The brochure presents, in full wording, 20 papers read at the experts' meeting ''Maintenance '83'' in Wiesbaden. Most of the papers discuss reliability data (acquisition, evaluation, processing) of nearly all fields of industry. (RW) [de

Criteria for the CAREM reactor's expert system design conduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furman, A.; Delgado, R.

1990-01-01

The present work describes the analysis made to start with the development of an Expert System for the CAREM (SE) reactor's conduction. The following tasks are presented: a) purpose of the Expert System; b) Decision Making structure; c) Architecture of the Expert System; d) Description of Subsystems and e) Licensing. (Author) [es

Contemporary Expert Debates on the SCO-Related Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Evgen'evich Denisov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Since its establishment the SCO has always attracted a lot of expert attention. The SCO Forum was founded in 2006 to bring together for annual debates experts from all member-states. Within this format in-depth discussions took place in April 2016 in Dushanbe, which hosted this year conference of the SCO Forum. Participating experts and officials reviewed problems of security, economic cooperation (including transport and water-energy issues and SCO enlargement, the latter being one of the most debatable. Experts presented some new thesis on all these problems, in particular on the enlargement issue. These new thesis are summed up in this article. Besides, the SCO Forum this year had many statements on the organization approaching a sort of new phase in its development. This line of discussions may lead in the future to even more active debates on SCO's role in the world. This article puts emphasis on the new elements of these debates and reviews major experts' attitudes within this line of discussion on the SCO being in front of a new stage of development.

Caution required when relying on a colleague's advice; a comparison between professional advice and evidence from the literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hulshof Carel

2005-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Occupational Physicians rely especially on advice from colleagues when answering their information demands. On the other hand, Evidence-based Medicine (EBM promotes the use of up-to-date research literature instead of experts. To find out if there was a difference between expert-based practice and EBM we compared professional advice on occupational health topics with best evidence from the literature. Methods We asked 14 occupational physicians to consult their usual information sources on 12 pre-conceived occupational health problems. The problems were presented in the form of case vignettes which contained sufficient clinical information to be used by the occupational physicians for the consultation of their experts. We had searched the literature for the best available evidence on the 12 problems, which made it possible to answer the clinical questions with a clear yes or no. Results The cases could be used by the occupational physicians as arising from their own practice. All together the occupational physicians consulted 75 different experts. Almost half of the consulted experts were near colleagues, 10% were industrial hygienists, 8% medical specialists and the rest had a varied background. Fifty three percent (95% confidence interval 42% to 65% of all professional advice was not in line with the research literature. In 18 cases (24% professional advice explicitly referred to up-to-date research literature as their used source. These cases were substantially less incorrect (17% than advice that had not mentioned the literature as a source (65% (difference 48%, 95% Confidence Interval from 27% to 69%. Conclusion Advice that occupational physicians routinely get in their daily practice differs substantially from best evidence from the literature. Occupational physicians who ask professional advice should always ask about the evidence of this advice.

Caution required when relying on a colleague's advice; a comparison between professional advice and evidence from the literature

Science.gov (United States)

Schaafsma, Frederieke; Verbeek, Jos; Hulshof, Carel; van Dijk, Frank

2005-01-01

Background Occupational Physicians rely especially on advice from colleagues when answering their information demands. On the other hand, Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) promotes the use of up-to-date research literature instead of experts. To find out if there was a difference between expert-based practice and EBM we compared professional advice on occupational health topics with best evidence from the literature. Methods We asked 14 occupational physicians to consult their usual information sources on 12 pre-conceived occupational health problems. The problems were presented in the form of case vignettes which contained sufficient clinical information to be used by the occupational physicians for the consultation of their experts. We had searched the literature for the best available evidence on the 12 problems, which made it possible to answer the clinical questions with a clear yes or no. Results The cases could be used by the occupational physicians as arising from their own practice. All together the occupational physicians consulted 75 different experts. Almost half of the consulted experts were near colleagues, 10% were industrial hygienists, 8% medical specialists and the rest had a varied background. Fifty three percent (95% confidence interval 42% to 65%) of all professional advice was not in line with the research literature. In 18 cases (24%) professional advice explicitly referred to up-to-date research literature as their used source. These cases were substantially less incorrect (17%) than advice that had not mentioned the literature as a source (65%) (difference 48%, 95% Confidence Interval from 27% to 69%). Conclusion Advice that occupational physicians routinely get in their daily practice differs substantially from best evidence from the literature. Occupational physicians who ask professional advice should always ask about the evidence of this advice. PMID:16131405

Group prioritisation with unknown expert weights in incomplete linguistic context

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Dong; Cheng, Faxin; Zhou, Zhili; Wang, Juan

2017-09-01

In this paper, we study a group prioritisation problem in situations when the expert weights are completely unknown and their judgement preferences are linguistic and incomplete. Starting from the theory of relative entropy (RE) and multiplicative consistency, an optimisation model is provided for deriving an individual priority vector without estimating the missing value(s) of an incomplete linguistic preference relation. In order to address the unknown expert weights in the group aggregating process, we define two new kinds of expert weight indicators based on RE: proximity entropy weight and similarity entropy weight. Furthermore, a dynamic-adjusting algorithm (DAA) is proposed to obtain an objective expert weight vector and capture the dynamic properties involved in it. Unlike the extant literature of group prioritisation, the proposed RE approach does not require pre-allocation of expert weights and can solve incomplete preference relations. An interesting finding is that once all the experts express their preference relations, the final expert weight vector derived from the DAA is fixed irrespective of the initial settings of expert weights. Finally, an application example is conducted to validate the effectiveness and robustness of the RE approach.

The broader economic impact of vaccination: reviewing and appraising the strength of evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Jit, Mark; Hutubessy, Raymond; Png, May Ee; Sundaram, Neisha; Audimulam, Jananie; Salim, Safiyah; Yoong, Joanne

2015-09-03

Microeconomic evaluations of public health programmes such as immunisation typically only consider direct health benefits and medical cost savings. Broader economic benefits around childhood development, household behaviour, and macro-economic indicators are increasingly important, but the evidence linking immunization to such benefits is unclear. A conceptual framework of pathways between immunisation and its proposed broader economic benefits was developed through expert consultation. Relevant articles were obtained from previous reviews, snowballing, and expert consultation. Articles were associated with one of the pathways and quality assessed using modified Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. We found 20 studies directly relevant to one or more pathways. Evidence of moderate quality from experimental and observational studies was found for benefits due to immunisation in improved childhood physical development, educational outcomes, and equity in distribution of health gains. Only modelling evidence or evidence outside the immunization field supports extrapolating these benefits to household economic behaviour and macro-economic indicators. Innovative use of experimental and observational study designs is needed to fill evidence gaps around key pathways between immunisation and many of its proposed economic benefits.

Expert Review of Pedagogical Activities at Therapeutic Recreation Camps

Science.gov (United States)

Kiselev, N. N.; Kiseleva, E. V.

2015-01-01

An analysis of pedagogical expert reviews at children's therapeutic recreation camps in Novosibirsk Region shows that it is necessary to implement an expert review system that plays a supporting and developmental role. Such a system should allow teams of teachers to submit their work to expert review and to move forward by reflecting on their…

Cooperating expert systems for space station power distribution management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, T.A.; Chiou, W.C.

1986-01-01

In a complex system such as the manned Space Station, it is deemed necessary that many expert systems must perform tasks in a concurrent and cooperative manner. An important question to arise is: what cooperative-task-performing models are appropriate for multiple expert systems to jointly perform tasks. The solution to this question will provide a crucial automation design criteria for the Space Station complex systems architecture. Based on a client/server model for performing tasks, the authors have developed a system that acts as a front-end to support loosely-coupled communications between expert systems running on multiple Symbolics machines. As an example, they use the two ART*-based expert systems to demonstrate the concept of parallel symbolic manipulation for power distribution management and dynamic load planner/scheduler in the simulated Space Station environment. This on-going work will also explore other cooperative-task-performing models as alternatives which can evaluate inter and intra expert system communication mechanisms. It will serve as a testbed and a bench-marking tool for other Space Station expert subsystem communication and information exchange

Cooperating Expert Systems For Space Station Power Distribution Management

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, T. A.; Chiou, W. C.

1987-02-01

In a complex system such as the manned Space Station, it is deem necessary that many expert systems must perform tasks in a concurrent and cooperative manner. An important question arise is: what cooperative-task-performing models are appropriate for multiple expert systems to jointly perform tasks. The solution to this question will provide a crucial automation design criteria for the Space Station complex systems architecture. Based on a client/server model for performing tasks, we have developed a system that acts as a front-end to support loosely-coupled communications between expert systems running on multiple Symbolics machines. As an example, we use two ART*-based expert systems to demonstrate the concept of parallel symbolic manipulation for power distribution management and dynamic load planner/scheduler in the simulated Space Station environment. This on-going work will also explore other cooperative-task-performing models as alternatives which can evaluate inter and intra expert system communication mechanisms. It will be served as a testbed and a bench-marking tool for other Space Station expert subsystem communication and information exchange.

The consensus recommendations of a group of international experts on the fundamental concepts related to the issues of testosterone deficiency and its treatment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abraham Morgentaler

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Conference on the development of the international expert consensus to address frequently asked questions related to a medical condition of testosterone deficiency (TD, male hypogonadism and testosterone therapy was held in Prague (Czech Republic on October 1, 2015. The included experts were representatives from a variety of medical specialties, including urology, endocrinology, diabetology, internal medicine, as well as representatives of basic medical sciences. An international team of experts came to the following conclusions: TD - an important medical condition that affects the health and well-being of men; TD symptoms is a consequence of low testosterone levels, regardless of whether background etiology installed; TD consequences are global; care must be taken in an attempt to use any uniform threshold levels of testosterone for a decision on the appointment of testosterone therapy; a person does not have any reason to refrain from appointing testosterone therapy only on the basis of age; the existing evidence does not suggest increasing the prostate cancer or cardiovascular disease risk during testosterone therapy; there is evidence conserning the feasibility of a major research initiative to explore possible cardioprotective beneficial effects of testosterone therapy in men with metabolic disorders, including diabetes.

Guideline for the proof of expert knowledge of nuclear power station personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

The guideline allows the examination of particulars on the state of knowledge and instruction of persons responsible for the erection, management and monitoring of a plant which applicants in accordance with section 7, sub-section (2) No. 1 AtG are required to provide. They apply uniformly to all of the Federal Republic of Germany. They comprise principles, evidence of expert knowledge, rules for the conduct of examinations and instructions for updating knowledge. This guideline supersedes the version of April 4, 1984 (GMBl. A (May 25, 1984) v. 35(12) p. 192-197). (orig./HP) [de

Comparison of manual and automatic segmentation methods for brain structures in the presence of space-occupying lesions: a multi-expert study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deeley, M A; Cmelak, A J; Malcolm, A W; Moretti, L; Jaboin, J; Niermann, K; Yang, Eddy S; Yu, David S; Ding, G X; Chen, A; Datteri, R; Noble, J H; Dawant, B M; Donnelly, E F; Yei, F; Koyama, T

2011-01-01

The purpose of this work was to characterize expert variation in segmentation of intracranial structures pertinent to radiation therapy, and to assess a registration-driven atlas-based segmentation algorithm in that context. Eight experts were recruited to segment the brainstem, optic chiasm, optic nerves, and eyes, of 20 patients who underwent therapy for large space-occupying tumors. Performance variability was assessed through three geometric measures: volume, Dice similarity coefficient, and Euclidean distance. In addition, two simulated ground truth segmentations were calculated via the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation algorithm and a novel application of probability maps. The experts and automatic system were found to generate structures of similar volume, though the experts exhibited higher variation with respect to tubular structures. No difference was found between the mean Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of the automatic and expert delineations as a group at a 5% significance level over all cases and organs. The larger structures of the brainstem and eyes exhibited mean DSC of approximately 0.8-0.9, whereas the tubular chiasm and nerves were lower, approximately 0.4-0.5. Similarly low DSCs have been reported previously without the context of several experts and patient volumes. This study, however, provides evidence that experts are similarly challenged. The average maximum distances (maximum inside, maximum outside) from a simulated ground truth ranged from (-4.3, +5.4) mm for the automatic system to (-3.9, +7.5) mm for the experts considered as a group. Over all the structures in a rank of true positive rates at a 2 mm threshold from the simulated ground truth, the automatic system ranked second of the nine raters. This work underscores the need for large scale studies utilizing statistically robust numbers of patients and experts in evaluating quality of automatic algorithms.

In the teeth of the evidence: the curious case of evidence-based medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidoff, F

1999-03-01

For a very long time, evidence from research has contributed to clinical decision making. Over the past 50 years, however, the nature of clinical research evidence has drastically changed compared with previous eras: its standards are higher, the tools for assembling and analyzing it are more powerful, and the context in which it is used is less authoritarian. The consequence has been a shift in both the concept and the practice of clinical decision making known as evidence-based medicine. Evidence-based decisions, by definition, use the strongest available evidence, are often more quantitatively informed than decisions made in the traditional fashion; and sometimes run counter to expert opinion. The techniques of evidence-based medicine are also helpful in resolving conflicting opinions. Evidence-based medicine did not simply appear in vacuo; its roots extend back at least as far as the great French Encyclopedia of the 18th century, and the subsequent work of Pierre Louis in Paris in the early 19th century. The power of the evidence-based approach has been enhanced in recent years by the development of the techniques of systematic review and meta-analysis. While this approach has its critics, we would all want the best available evidence used in making decisions about our care if we got sick. It is only fair that the patients under our care receive nothing less.

Expert systems to assist plant operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Yoshihiro; Mori, Nobuyuki; Wada, Norio

1985-01-01

Large-scale real-time process control systems, such as those for electric power dispatching, large thermal and nuclear power stations, steel mill plants and manufacturing automation systems, need expert systems to assist operator's decision. The expert systems newly developed to fulfill the requirement are founded on OKBS (object oriented knowledge based system). OKBS provides various object types: fuzzy logic type, production rule type, frame type, state transition type, abstract data type and input/output transformation type. (author)

Recruiting experts for technical assistance rogramme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1974-01-01

One of the objectives of the IAEA is the provision of technical assistance to its Member States to carry out their peaceful nuclear activities more efficiently and safely. This involves looking for and supplying experts, equipment and fellowships. Since 1958 the Agency has provided the services of more than 1800 experts valued at $11.5 million, 4300 fellowships valued at $14.3 million, and equipment worth $10.8 million. The efficiency of the programme can only be increased by a more prompt consideration of proposals forwarded by the Agency, and the continuing co-operation from national Governments and private institutions. The IAEA recruits an average of 200 experts a year to implement its Regular Technical Assistance Programme. These projects are financed by voluntary contributions from Member States, and by the United Nations Development Programme for those projects for which the IAEA is the executing agency

An Expert System for Designing Fire Prescriptions

Science.gov (United States)

Elizabeth Reinhardt

1987-01-01

Managers use prescribed fire to accomplish a variety of resource objectives. The knowledge needed to design successful prescriptions is both quantitative and qualitative. Some of it is available through publications and computer programs, but much of the knowledge of expert practitioners has never been collected or published. An expert system being developed at the,...

The vulcain N expert fire system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roche, A.

1989-03-01

The Institute for Nuclear Safety and Protection (IPSN) has begun work on an expert system to aid in the diagnosis of fire hazards in nuclear installations. This system is called Vulcain N and is designed as a support tool for the analyses carried out by the IPSN. Vulcain N, is based on the Vulcain expert system already developed by Bertin for its own needs and incorporates the specific rules and know-how of the IPSN experts. The development of Vulcain N began in October 1986 with the drawing up of the technical specifications, and should be completed by the end of 1988. Vulcain N brings together knowledge from a number of different domains: the locations of the combustible materials, the thermal characteristics of the combustible materials and of the walls of the room, the ventilation conditions and, finally, knowledge of fire experts concerning the development of fire. The latter covers four levels of expert knowledge: standards and their associated calculations, the simplified physics of the fire enabling more precise values to be obtained for the figures given by the standards, the rules and knowledge which enables a certain number of deductions to be made concerning the development of the fire, and a numerical simulation code which can be used to monitor the variation of certain characteristic parameters with time. For a given fire out-break scenario, Vulcain N performs diagnosis of different aspects: development of fire, effect of ventilation, emergency action possibilities, propagation hazards, etc. Owing to its flexibility, it can be used in the analysis of fire hazards to simulate a number of possible scenarios and to very rapidly deduce the essential, predominant factors. It will also be used to assist in drafting emergency procedures for application in facilities with nuclear hazards

Expert knowledge as defined by the X-Ray Ordinance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

The radiation protection officer or any person responsible for radiation safety have to give proof of their expert knowledge in accordance with sections 3, 4 of the X-Ray Ordinance. Proof of expert knowledge has to be furnished within the procedure of appointment (sec. 13, sub-sec. (3) X-Ray Ordinance). The directive defines the scope of the expert knowledge required, and the scope of expert knowledge persons must have, or acquire, who are responsible for radiation protection within the preview of sec. 23, no. 2, 4 and sec. 29, sub-sec. 1, no. 3 of the X-Ray Ordinance. (orig./HP) [de

Expert Panel Elicitation of Seismicity Following Glaciation in Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hora, Stephen; Jensen, Mikael

2005-12-01

The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate and the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company have jointly carried out a project on expert panel elicitation on the issue of glacial induced Swedish earthquakes. Following a broad nomination procedure, 5 experts were chosen by a selection committee of 4 professors within Earth sciences disciplines. The 5 experts presented judgments about the frequency of earthquakes greater the magnitude 6 within 10 km for two Swedish sites, Oskarshamn and Forsmark, in connection with a glaciation cycle. The experts' median value vas 0,1 earthquakes for one glaciation cycle

Expert Panel Elicitation of Seismicity Following Glaciation in Sweden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hora, Stephen; Jensen, Mikael (eds.)

2005-12-15

The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate and the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company have jointly carried out a project on expert panel elicitation on the issue of glacial induced Swedish earthquakes. Following a broad nomination procedure, 5 experts were chosen by a selection committee of 4 professors within Earth sciences disciplines. The 5 experts presented judgments about the frequency of earthquakes greater the magnitude 6 within 10 km for two Swedish sites, Oskarshamn and Forsmark, in connection with a glaciation cycle. The experts' median value vas 0,1 earthquakes for one glaciation cycle.

Estimating Production Potentials: Expert Bias in Applied Decision Making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, L.J.; Burggraf, L.K.; Reece, W.J.

1998-01-01

A study was conducted to evaluate how workers predict manufacturing production potentials given positively and negatively framed information. Findings indicate the existence of a bias toward positive information and suggest that this bias may be reduced with experience but is never the less maintained. Experts err in the same way non experts do in differentially processing negative and positive information. Additionally, both experts and non experts tend to overestimate production potentials in a positive direction. The authors propose that these biases should be addressed with further research including cross domain analyses and consideration in training, workplace design, and human performance modeling

Propulsive efficiency and non- expert swimmers performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiago Barbosa

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Propulsive efficiency is one of the most interesting issues for competitive swimming researchers, has it presents significant relationships with the swimmer’s biophysical behavior and his/her performance. Although propulsive efficiency is a variable that has been quite studied in elite swimmers, there is no research on this issue in young and non-expert swimmers. Thus, the aim of this study was to: (i estimate the propulsive efficiency on non-expert swimmers; (ii identify biomechanical and anthropometrical parameters that are associated with propulsive efficiency; (iii identify the association between the propulsive efficiency and swim performance. Twenty-eight non-expert swimmers participated on this study. It was assessed the propulsive efficiency, biomechanical and anthropometrical parameters, as well as, the swim performance. The propulsive efficiency of non-expert swimmers is lower than data reported in the literature to higher competitive levels swimmers and there are no significant differences between boys and girls. It was also noted that several biomechanical and anthropometrical parameters, as well as, the swim performance are associated with the propulsive efficiency.

The Study of Expert System Utilization for the Accelerator Operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budi-Santosa; Slamet-Santosa; Subari-Santosa

2000-01-01

The utilization of expert system in the accelerator laboratory has been studied. The study covers the utilization of expert system in the setting up experiment (tuning parameter), controlling system, safety or warning system. The results study shows, that using the expert system in the accelerator would be easy to operate the accelerator for user and operator. Increasing the skill of expert system could be updated without logical mechanism modification. (author)

Caution required when relying on a colleague's advice; a comparison between professional advice and evidence from the literature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaafsma, Frederieke; Verbeek, Jos; Hulshof, Carel; van Dijk, Frank

2005-01-01

Background: Occupational Physicians rely especially on advice from colleagues when answering their information demands. On the other hand, Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) promotes the use of up-to-date research literature instead of experts. To find out if there was a difference between expert-based

Requirements to obtain the recognition of radiological protection experts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arguelles, R.; Villarroel, R.; Senderos, V.; Campos, R.; Pinos, M.; Ponjuan, G.; Franco, P.; Rueda, D.

2003-01-01

The scope of this paper is to summarize the general requirements related to education, training and skill of the individual to obtain the recognition of radiological protection experts on ionizing radiation (experts on radiological protection- RP). There has been established two levels according to the grade of responsibility: Qualified expert provided with a diploma given by de Nuclear Safety Council. Technician expert on radiological protection whose certification is made by the Qualified expert that supervise their work. To obtain the diploma of qualified expert is required an official degree, a title of Architecture, Engineering or equivalent in case of no national degrees; specific training on radiological protection (300 hours) and the knowledge on safety and radiological protection of the facilities to be supervised. Three years of experience on radiological protection must be proved. To get the recognition of technician expert on radiological protection is required Formacion Profesional de Grado Superior or equivalent and specific training on safety and radiological protection. Knowledge on basis and principles of radiological protection are required. According to the type of the facilities to be supervised there are two models: A model: to deal with facilities included in RD 1836/1999 (nuclear and radioactive facilities). B model: to deal with medical X rays facilities approved under RD 1891/1991 three months of experience on the selected model must be proved. (Author)

USING OF SOFTWARE FOR ESTIMATION OF EXPERT COMPETENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg N. Velichko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The features of estimation of expert’s competence in the field of higher education are considered, got with a help, both universal statistical software and special software. The comparative analysis of quantitative estimation of expert’s competence is conducted, that showed possibility of forming of the most competent group of experts for realization of necessary group expert estimation in the field of higher education. An analysis showed the high degree of coincidence of results that allow declining less competent experts. 

Use of expert systems in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uhrig, R.E.

1989-01-01

The application of technologies, particularly expert systems, to the control room activities in a nuclear power plant has the potential to reduce operator error and increase plant safety, reliability, and efficiency. Furthermore, there are a large number of nonoperating activities (testing, routine maintenance, outage planning, equipment diagnostics, and fuel management) in which expert systems can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of overall plant and corporate operations. This document presents a number of potential applications of expert systems in the nuclear power field. 36 refs., 2 tabs

Expert system for transuranic waste assay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zoolalian, M.L.; Gibbs, A.; Kuhns, J.D.

1989-01-01

Transuranic wastes are generated at the Savannah River Site (SRS) as a result of routine production of nuclear materials. These wastes contain Pu-238 and Pu-239 and are placed into lined 55-gallon waste drums. The drums are placed on monitored storage pads pending shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. A passive-active neutron (PAN) assay system is used to determine the mass of the radioactive material within the waste drums. Assay results are used to classify the wastes as either low-level or transuranic (TRU). During assays, the PAN assay system communicates with an IBM-AT computer. A Fortran computer program, called NEUT, controls and performs all data analyses. Unassisted, the NEUT program cannot adequately interpret assay results. To eliminate this limitation, an expert system shell was used to write a new algorithm, called the Transuranic Expert System (TRUX), to drive the NEUT program and add decision making capabilities for analysis of the assay results. The TRUX knowledge base was formulated by consulting with human experts in the field of neutron assay, by direct experimentation on the PAN assay system, and by observing operations on a daily basis. TRUX, with its improved ability to interpret assay results, has eliminated the need for close supervision by a human expert, allowing skilled technicians to operate the PAN assay system. 4 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.

Expert system for transuranic waste assay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zoolalian, M.L.; Gibbs, A.; Kuhns, J.D.

1989-01-01

Transuranic wastes are generated at the Savannah River Site (SRS) as a result of routine production of nuclear materials. These wastes contain Pu-238 and Pu-239 and are placed into lined 55-gallon waste drums. The drums are placed on monitored storage pads pending shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. A passive-active neutron (PAN) assay system is used to determine the mass of the radioactive material within the waste drums. Assay results are used to classify the wastes as either low-level or transuranic (TRU). During assays, the PAN assay system communicates with an IBM-AT computer. A Fortran computer program, called NEUT, controls and performs all data analyses. Unassisted, the NEUT program cannot adequately interpret assay results. To eliminate this limitation, an expert system shell was used to write a new algorithm, called the Transuranic Expert System (TRUX), to drive the NEUT program and add decision making capabilities for analysis of the assay results. The TRUX knowledge base was formulated by consulting with human experts in the field of neutron assay, by direct experimentation on the PAN assay system, and by observing operations on a daily basis. TRUX, with its improved ability to interpret assay results, has eliminated the need for close supervision by a human expert, allowing skilled technicians to operate the PAN assay system. 4 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs

Diagnosis - Using automatic test equipment and artificial intelligence expert systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsey, J. E., Jr.

Three expert systems (ATEOPS, ATEFEXPERS, and ATEFATLAS), which were created to direct automatic test equipment (ATE), are reviewed. The purpose of the project was to develop an expert system to troubleshoot the converter-programmer power supply card for the F-15 aircraft and have that expert system direct the automatic test equipment. Each expert system uses a different knowledge base or inference engine, basing the testing on the circuit schematic, test requirements document, or ATLAS code. Implementing generalized modules allows the expert systems to be used for any different unit under test. Using converted ATLAS to LISP code allows the expert system to direct any ATE using ATLAS. The constraint propagated frame system allows for the expansion of control by creating the ATLAS code, checking the code for good software engineering techniques, directing the ATE, and changing the test sequence as needed (planning).

Expert systems - basic principles and possible applications in nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cain, D.G.; Schmidt, F.

1987-01-01

One of the primary goals of the application of mathematical methods and computational techniques in reactor physics is the effective and accurate solution of the neutron diffusion equation under various conditions. To reach this goal still requires much skill, experience, knowledge and imagination as can be seen from various contributions at this and other conferences. Experts are necessary. Will expert systems replace them. We shall discuss this question by describing the basic principles of problem solving by expert systems as compared to problem solving by mathematical and computational methods. From this we shall identify areas of possible applications of the new techniques in nuclear energy and develop some thoughts on present limitations. As a result we conclude that expert systems will not be able to replace experts as long as the experts use the systems to improve their own expertise

THE ARCHITECTURE OF MULTI-COMPONENT DISTRIBUTED HYBRID EXPERT TRAINING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Оleh Shevchuk

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The paper reports on the design of a multi-component architecture of distributed hybrid expert training system that can be used for the study of knowledge base of both internal and external expert systems and artificial intelligence systems that are distributed on Internet servers and other computer networks. Expert training system is based on three groups of basic principles: cybernetic, reflecting experience of previous research of systems of artificial intelligence, expert training systems; pedagogical, determining the principles, on which pedagogical design and use of expert training systems are based; psychological, determining preconditious and understanding of pupils psychics, on which the processes of design and use of expert training systems in professional training of future specialists are based.It accounts for the efficient training through the distributed knowledge via the Internet, which greatly increases the didactic capabilities of the system.

A study on expert system applications for nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huh, Young Hwan; Kim, Yeong Jin; Park, Nam Seog; Dong, In Sook; Choi, In Seon

1987-12-01

The application of artificial intelligence techniques to nuclear power plants such as expert systems is rapidly emerging. expert systems can contribute significantly to the availability and the improved operation and safety of nuclear power plants. The objective of the project is to develop an expert system in a selected application area in the nuclear power plants. This project will last for 3 years. The first year's tasks are: - Information collection and literature survey on expert systems. - Analysis of several applicable areas for applying AI technologies to the nuclear power plants. - Conceptual design of a few selected domains. - Selection of hardware and software tools for the development of the expert system

Environmental policy. 2000 environmental expert opinion of the Council of Experimental Experts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-05-01

The reorientation of energy policy is a key issue. The Council of Environmental Experts considers the further use of atomic energy to be irresponsible and recommends a new orientation. Recommendations are made on ecology-centered taxation. Critical comments are made in the context of conservation of nature, where many species of plants and animals still continue to be endangered. The conservation programme of the Federal government, which also comprises a system of large, interconnected biotopes on 10% of Germany's total surface, is approved, and the potential contribution of sustainable agricultural and forestry policy is discussed in a separate chapter. Further subjects discussed are recycling and waste management, protection of water and soil, air pollution abatement, health protection and genetic engineering. The environmental aspects of Eastern European states becoming EC members are gone into in particular. The network of Europen Environmental Councils, for which the German Council of Environmental Experts currently acts as a coordinator, makes intensive efforts to improve environmental counselling in these states [de

Influences of credibility of testimony and strength of statistical evidence on children’s and adolescents’ reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Kail, Robert V.

2013-01-01

According to dual-process models that include analytic and heuristic modes of processing, analytic processing is often expected to become more common with development. Consistent with this view, on reasoning problems, adolescents are more likely than children to select alternatives that are backed by statistical evidence. It is shown here that this pattern depends on the quality of the statistical evidence and the quality of the testimonial that is the typical alternative to statistical evidence. In Experiment 1, 9- and 13-year-olds (N = 64) were presented with scenarios in which solid statistical evidence was contrasted with casual or expert testimonial evidence. When testimony was casual, children relied on it but adolescents did not; when testimony was expert, both children and adolescents relied on it. In Experiment 2, 9- and 13-year-olds (N = 83) were presented with scenarios in which casual testimonial evidence was contrasted with weak or strong statistical evidence. When statistical evidence was weak, children and adolescents relied on both testimonial and statistical evidence; when statistical evidence was strong, most children and adolescents relied on it. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for dual-process accounts of cognitive development. PMID:23735681

Auditory memory function in expert chess players.

Science.gov (United States)

Fattahi, Fariba; Geshani, Ahmad; Jafari, Zahra; Jalaie, Shohreh; Salman Mahini, Mona

2015-01-01

Chess is a game that involves many aspects of high level cognition such as memory, attention, focus and problem solving. Long term practice of chess can improve cognition performances and behavioral skills. Auditory memory, as a kind of memory, can be influenced by strengthening processes following long term chess playing like other behavioral skills because of common processing pathways in the brain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the auditory memory function of expert chess players using the Persian version of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test. The Persian version of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test was performed for 30 expert chess players aged 20-35 years and 30 non chess players who were matched by different conditions; the participants in both groups were randomly selected. The performance of the two groups was compared by independent samples t-test using SPSS version 21. The mean score of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test between the two groups, expert chess players and non-chess players, revealed a significant difference (p≤ 0.001). The difference between the ears scores for expert chess players (p= 0.023) and non-chess players (p= 0.013) was significant. Gender had no effect on the test results. Auditory memory function in expert chess players was significantly better compared to non-chess players. It seems that increased auditory memory function is related to strengthening cognitive performances due to playing chess for a long time.

Chinese expert consensus on cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal malignancies

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yan; Zhou, Yun-Feng; Liang, Han; Wang, Hua-Qing; Hao, Ji-Hui; Zhu, Zheng-Gang; Wan, De-Seng; Qin, Lun-Xiu; Cui, Shu-Zhong; Ji, Jia-Fu; Xu, Hui-Mian; Wei, Shao-Zhong; Xu, Hong-Bin; Suo, Tao; Yang, Shu-Jun; Xie, Cong-Hua; Yang, Xiao-Jun; Yang, Guo-Liang

2016-01-01

Locoregional spread of abdominopelvic malignant tumors frequently results in peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). The prognosis of PC patients treated by conventional systemic chemotherapy is poor, with a median survival of < 6 mo. However, over the past three decades, an integrated treatment strategy of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) + hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been developed by the pioneering oncologists, with proved efficacy and safety in selected patients. Supported by several lines of clinical evidence from phases I, II and III clinical trials, CRS + HIPEC has been regarded as the standard treatment for selected patients with PC in many established cancer centers worldwide. In China, an expert consensus on CRS + HIPEC has been reached by the leading surgical and medical oncologists, under the framework of the China Anti-Cancer Association. This expert consensus has summarized the progress in PC clinical studies and systematically evaluated the CRS + HIPEC procedures in China as well as across the world, so as to lay the foundation for formulating PC treatment guidelines specific to the national conditions of China. PMID:27570426

The neural organization of perception in chess experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Krawczyk, Daniel C; Boggan, Amy L; McClelland, M Michelle; Bartlett, James C

2011-07-20

The human visual system responds to expertise, and it has been suggested that regions that process faces also process other objects of expertise including chess boards by experts. We tested whether chess and face processing overlap in brain activity using fMRI. Chess experts and novices exhibited face selective areas, but these regions showed no selectivity to chess configurations relative to other stimuli. We next compared neural responses to chess and to scrambled chess displays to isolate areas relevant to expertise. Areas within the posterior cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex, and right temporal cortex were active in this comparison in experts over novices. We also compared chess and face responses within the posterior cingulate and found this area responsive to chess only in experts. These findings indicate that the configurations in chess are not strongly processed by face-selective regions that are selective for faces in individuals who have expertise in both domains. Further, the area most consistently involved in chess did not show overlap with faces. Overall, these results suggest that expert visual processing may be similar at the level of recognition, but need not show the same neural correlates. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating unknown parameters in haemophilia using expert judgement elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, K; Lewandowski, D; Janssen, M P

2013-09-01

The increasing attention to healthcare costs and treatment efficiency has led to an increasing demand for quantitative data concerning patient and treatment characteristics in haemophilia. However, most of these data are difficult to obtain. The aim of this study was to use expert judgement elicitation (EJE) to estimate currently unavailable key parameters for treatment models in severe haemophilia A. Using a formal expert elicitation procedure, 19 international experts provided information on (i) natural bleeding frequency according to age and onset of bleeding, (ii) treatment of bleeds, (iii) time needed to control bleeding after starting secondary prophylaxis, (iv) dose requirements for secondary prophylaxis according to onset of bleeding, and (v) life-expectancy. For each parameter experts provided their quantitative estimates (median, P10, P90), which were combined using a graphical method. In addition, information was obtained concerning key decision parameters of haemophilia treatment. There was most agreement between experts regarding bleeding frequencies for patients treated on demand with an average onset of joint bleeding (1.7 years): median 12 joint bleeds per year (95% confidence interval 0.9-36) for patients ≤ 18, and 11 (0.8-61) for adult patients. Less agreement was observed concerning estimated effective dose for secondary prophylaxis in adults: median 2000 IU every other day The majority (63%) of experts expected that a single minor joint bleed could cause irreversible damage, and would accept up to three minor joint bleeds or one trauma related joint bleed annually on prophylaxis. Expert judgement elicitation allowed structured capturing of quantitative expert estimates. It generated novel data to be used in computer modelling, clinical care, and trial design. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Computer-assisted expert case definition in electronic health records.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Alexander M; Zhou, Xiaofeng; Ananthakrishnan, Ashwin N; Weiss, Lisa S; Shen, Rongjun; Sobel, Rachel E; Bate, Andrew; Reynolds, Robert F

2016-02-01

To describe how computer-assisted presentation of case data can lead experts to infer machine-implementable rules for case definition in electronic health records. As an illustration the technique has been applied to obtain a definition of acute liver dysfunction (ALD) in persons with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The technique consists of repeatedly sampling new batches of case candidates from an enriched pool of persons meeting presumed minimal inclusion criteria, classifying the candidates by a machine-implementable candidate rule and by a human expert, and then updating the rule so that it captures new distinctions introduced by the expert. Iteration continues until an update results in an acceptably small number of changes to form a final case definition. The technique was applied to structured data and terms derived by natural language processing from text records in 29,336 adults with IBD. Over three rounds the technique led to rules with increasing predictive value, as the experts identified exceptions, and increasing sensitivity, as the experts identified missing inclusion criteria. In the final rule inclusion and exclusion terms were often keyed to an ALD onset date. When compared against clinical review in an independent test round, the derived final case definition had a sensitivity of 92% and a positive predictive value of 79%. An iterative technique of machine-supported expert review can yield a case definition that accommodates available data, incorporates pre-existing medical knowledge, is transparent and is open to continuous improvement. The expert updates to rules may be informative in themselves. In this limited setting, the final case definition for ALD performed better than previous, published attempts using expert definitions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topics in expert system design methodologies and tools

CERN Document Server

Tasso, C

1989-01-01

Expert Systems are so far the most promising achievement of artificial intelligence research. Decision making, planning, design, control, supervision and diagnosis are areas where they are showing great potential. However, the establishment of expert system technology and its actual industrial impact are still limited by the lack of a sound, general and reliable design and construction methodology.This book has a dual purpose: to offer concrete guidelines and tools to the designers of expert systems, and to promote basic and applied research on methodologies and tools. It is a coordinated coll

An expert system in medical diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raboanary, R.; Raoelina Andriambololona; Soffer, J.; Raboanary, J.

2001-01-01

Health problem is still a crucial one in some countries. It is so important that it becomes a major handicap in economic and social development. In order to solve this problem, we have conceived an expert system that we called MITSABO, which means TO HEAL, to help the physicians to diagnose tropical diseases. It is clear that by extending the data base and the knowledge base, we can extend the application of the software to more general areas. In our expert system, we used the concept of 'self organization' of neural network based on the determination of the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors associated to the correlation matrix XX t . The projection of the data on the two first eigenvectors gives a classification of the diseases which is used to get a first approach in the diagnosis of the patient. This diagnosis is improved by using an expert system which is built from the knowledge base.

Meanings & motives. Experts debating tobacco addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Mars, Sarah G; Ling, Pamela M

2008-10-01

Over the last 50 years, tobacco has been excluded from and then included in the category of addictive substances. We investigated influences on these opposing definitions and their application in expert witness testimony in litigation in the 1990s and 2000s. A scientist with ties to the tobacco industry influenced the selection of a definition of addiction that led to the classification of tobacco as a "habituation" in the 1964 Surgeon General's Advisory Committee report. Tobacco was later defined as addictive in the 1988 surgeon general's report. Expert witnesses for tobacco companies used the 1964 report's definition until Philip Morris Tobacco Company publicly changed its position in 1997 to agree that nicotine was addictive. Expert witnesses for plaintiffs suing the tobacco industry used the 1988 report's definition, arguing that new definitions were superior because of scientific advance. Both sides viewed addiction as an objective entity that could be defined more or less accurately.

The Evidentiary Value of DNA Fingerprint as Criminal Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mussa Masoud Irhouma

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The subject of criminal evidence is considered to be one of the greatest challenges that face authorities concerned with fighting crime at all levels. Due to this, authorities try to benefit as much as possible from scientific evidence due to the important role it plays in revealing the identity of criminals or victims in present or past criminal cases against unknown people through the physical traces that are found at the scene of an event, which include biological traces. DNA is one of these scientific evidences which can be benefited from in the field of crime investigation. Despite the importance of DNA technology in this area of work, there is still some debate surrounding its acceptance as criminal evidence. Some experts believe it to be of great importance whereas others cast doubt on its evidentiary value. They attribute this to a number of factors including the experts who are entrusted to examine DNA samples, the laboratories in which DNA analysis takes place, as well as the fact that resorting to DNA as a criminal evidence raises some legal complexities related to the permissibility of using it and the conditions and scope of its use. This paper sheds light on DNA and its evidentiary value among the judiciary in criminal cases by answering a number of questions such as the possibility of forcing a person to undergo DNA analysis or not to do so and to what extent it is to be relied upon as criminal evidence. This paper concluded the importance of DNA and its role in the field of criminal evidence. Despite this, even if the DNA evidence is sufficient in proving the innocence of the accused, it is only an indication that must not be solely relied upon and treated as a single conclusive evidence, particularly in cases that involve prescribed Islamic or retributive punishments.

Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events: Expert judgment elicitation. Part 1: Expert panel results. Part 2: Project staff results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wheeler, T A; Cramond, W R [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hora, S C [University of Hawii at Hilo (United States); Unwin, S D [Brookhaven National Laboratory (United States)

1989-04-01

Quantitative modeling techniques have limitations as to the resolution of important issues in probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Not all issues can be resolved via the existing set of methods such as fault trees, event trees, statistical analyses, data collection, and computer simulation. Therefore, an expert judgment process was developed to address issues perceived as important to risk in the NUREG-1150 analysis but which could not be resolved with existing techniques. This process was applied to several issues that could significantly affect the internal event core damage frequencies of the PRAs performed on six light water reactors. Detailed descriptions of these issues and the results of the expert judgment elicitation are reported here, as well as an explanation of the methodology used and the procedure followed in performing the overall elicitation task. The process is time-consuming and expensive. However, the results are very useful, and represent an improvement over the draft NUREG-1150 analysis in the areas of expert selection, elicitation training, issue selection and presentation, elicitation of judgment and aggregation of results. The results are presented in two parts. Part documents the expert panel elicitations, where the most important issues were presented to a panel of experts convened from throughout the nuclear power risk assessment community. Part 2 documents the process by which the project staff performed expert judgment on other important issues, using the project staff as panel members. (author)

Comparison of a new expert elicitation model with the Classical Model, equal weights and single experts, using a cross-validation technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flandoli, F. [Dip.to di Matematica Applicata, Universita di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Giorgi, E. [Dip.to di Matematica Applicata, Universita di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, via della Faggiola 32, 56126 Pisa (Italy); Aspinall, W.P. [Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, and Aspinall and Associates, Tisbury (United Kingdom); Neri, A., E-mail: neri@pi.ingv.it [Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, via della Faggiola 32, 56126 Pisa (Italy)

2011-10-15

The problem of ranking and weighting experts' performances when quantitative judgments are being elicited for decision support is considered. A new scoring model, the Expected Relative Frequency model, is presented, based on the closeness between central values provided by the expert and known values used for calibration. Using responses from experts in five different elicitation datasets, a cross-validation technique is used to compare this new approach with the Cooke Classical Model, the Equal Weights model, and individual experts. The analysis is performed using alternative reward schemes designed to capture proficiency either in quantifying uncertainty, or in estimating true central values. Results show that although there is only a limited probability that one approach is consistently better than another, the Cooke Classical Model is generally the most suitable for assessing uncertainties, whereas the new ERF model should be preferred if the goal is central value estimation accuracy. - Highlights: > A new expert elicitation model, named Expected Relative Frequency (ERF), is presented. > A cross-validation approach to evaluate the performance of different elicitation models is applied. > The new ERF model shows the best performance with respect to the point-wise estimates.

Advisory expert system for test rig operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zielczynski, P.

1994-01-01

The advisory expert system MAESTRO (Modular Advisory Expert System for Test Rig Operator) has been designed to guide the operator of large experimental installation during start-up, steady state and shut down. The installation is located in the research reactor MARIA in the Institute of Atomic Energy in Swierk, Poland. The system acquires and analyses on line signals from installation and performs two tasks in real time: leading the operator and monitoring of the installation (including signal validation). Systems tasks, architecture and knowledge representation concepts are described. The system is based on expert systems techniques what makes in phases of continuous change of process parameters and it has been achieved by special knowledge representation allowing its dynamical modification. (author). 147 refs, 42 figs, 5 tab

An expert system approach for safety diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erdmann, R.C.; Sun, B.K.H.

1988-01-01

An expert system was developed with the intent to provide real-time information about an accident to an operator who is in the process of diagnosing and bringing that accident under control. Explicit use was made of probabilistic risk analysis techniques and plant accident response information in constructing this system. The expert system developed contains 70 logic rules and provides contextual messages during simulated accident sequences and logic sequence information on the entire sequence in graphical form for accident diagnosis. The present analysis focuses on integrated control system-related transients with Babcock and Wilcox-type reactors. While the system developed here is limited in extent and was built for a composite reactor, it demonstrates that an expert system may enhance the operator's capability in the control room

An expert system for diesel generator diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bley, D.C.; Read, J.W.; Kaplan, S.; Liming, J.K.; Brosee, N.M.; Hanley, D.W.

1987-01-01

The idea of developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems to capture the knowledge of human experts is receiving much attention these days. The idea is even more attractive when important expertise resides within a single individual, especially one who is nearing retirement and who has not otherwise recorded or passed along his important knowledge and thought processes. The diesel generators at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station have performed exceptionally well, primarily due to the care and attention of one man. Therefore, the authors are constructing an expert system for the diagnosis of diesel generator problems at Pilgrim. This paper includes a description of the expert system design and operation, examples from the knowledge base, and sample diagnoses, so the reader can observe the process in action

Bioethics for Technical Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Asano, Shigetaka

Along with rapidly expanding applications of life science and technology, technical experts have been implicated more and more often with ethical, social, and legal problems than before. It should be noted that in this background there are scientific and social uncertainty elements which are inevitable during the progress of life science in addition to the historically-established social unreliability to scientists and engineers. In order to solve these problems, therefore, we should establish the social governance with ‘relief’ and ‘reliance’ which enables for both citizens and engineers to share the awareness of the issues, to design social orders and criterions based on hypothetical sense of values for bioethics, to carry out practical use management of each subject carefully, and to improve the sense of values from hypothetical to universal. Concerning these measures, the technical experts can learn many things from the present performance in the medical field.

Influences of credibility of testimony and strength of statistical evidence on children's and adolescents' reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Kail, Robert V

2013-11-01

According to dual-process models that include analytic and heuristic modes of processing, analytic processing is often expected to become more common with development. Consistent with this view, on reasoning problems, adolescents are more likely than children to select alternatives that are backed by statistical evidence. It is shown here that this pattern depends on the quality of the statistical evidence and the quality of the testimonial that is the typical alternative to statistical evidence. In Experiment 1, 9- and 13-year-olds (N=64) were presented with scenarios in which solid statistical evidence was contrasted with casual or expert testimonial evidence. When testimony was casual, children relied on it but adolescents did not; when testimony was expert, both children and adolescents relied on it. In Experiment 2, 9- and 13-year-olds (N=83) were presented with scenarios in which casual testimonial evidence was contrasted with weak or strong statistical evidence. When statistical evidence was weak, children and adolescents relied on both testimonial and statistical evidence; when statistical evidence was strong, most children and adolescents relied on it. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for dual-process accounts of cognitive development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Most Quoted Danish Economic Expert and the Welfare State

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Poul Thøis

It is well-known that economic experts (as well as other experts) are biased. However, it is not normally demonstrated systematically. By identifying and analyzing the viewpoints of the most quoted Danish expert on five characteristic debates bias is demonstrated. The character of the bias...

Application of expert systems in damage assessment of reinforced concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fazel Zarandi, M. H.; Sobhani, J.

2003-01-01

Expert systems are receiving great attentions in construction industry to support decision making processes in diagnostics, design, repair and rehabilitation of the structures. Although several expert systems have been examined in engineering since the 1970's, their applications in construction industry are rate. This was largely due to the lack of expert system tools available to represent the domain knowledge. Lack of flexibility, applicability, and robustness of the classical models, have forced the scientists to discover the ability of the expert systems in problem solving of civil engineering. This paper present an expert system for diagnosis the deterioration of concrete structures. This expert system emphasizes on cracking distress in reinforced concrete elements. A case study has been presented to examine and evaluate the proposed expert system. The system demonstrates a straightforward method for diagnosing the cause of reinforced concrete elements cracking

Expert system based radionuclide identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aarnio, P.A.; Ala-Heikkil, J.J.; Hakulinen, T.T.; Nikkinen, M.T.

1998-01-01

An expert system coupled with the gamma spectrum analysis system SAMPO has been developed for automating the qualitative identification of radionuclides as well as for determining the quantitative parameters of the spectrum components. The program is written in C-language and runs in various environments ranging from PCs to UNIX workstations. The expert system utilizes a complete gamma library with over 2600 nuclides and 80,000 lines, and a rule base of about fifty criteria including energies, relative peak intensities, genesis modes, half lives, parent-daughter relationships, etc. The rule base is furthermore extensible by the user. This is not an original contribution but a somewhat updated version of papers and reports previously published elsewhere. (author)

An Embedded Rule-Based Diagnostic Expert System in Ada

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Robert E.; Liberman, Eugene M.

1992-01-01

Ada is becoming an increasingly popular programming language for large Government-funded software projects. Ada with it portability, transportability, and maintainability lends itself well to today's complex programming environment. In addition, expert systems have also assumed a growing role in providing human-like reasoning capability expertise for computer systems. The integration is discussed of expert system technology with Ada programming language, especially a rule-based expert system using an ART-Ada (Automated Reasoning Tool for Ada) system shell. NASA Lewis was chosen as a beta test site for ART-Ada. The test was conducted by implementing the existing Autonomous Power EXpert System (APEX), a Lisp-based power expert system, in ART-Ada. Three components, the rule-based expert systems, a graphics user interface, and communications software make up SMART-Ada (Systems fault Management with ART-Ada). The rules were written in the ART-Ada development environment and converted to Ada source code. The graphics interface was developed with the Transportable Application Environment (TAE) Plus, which generates Ada source code to control graphics images. SMART-Ada communicates with a remote host to obtain either simulated or real data. The Ada source code generated with ART-Ada, TAE Plus, and communications code was incorporated into an Ada expert system that reads the data from a power distribution test bed, applies the rule to determine a fault, if one exists, and graphically displays it on the screen. The main objective, to conduct a beta test on the ART-Ada rule-based expert system shell, was achieved. The system is operational. New Ada tools will assist in future successful projects. ART-Ada is one such tool and is a viable alternative to the straight Ada code when an application requires a rule-based or knowledge-based approach.

Expert Graphics System Research in the Department of the Navy.

Science.gov (United States)

Duff, Jon M.

1987-01-01

Presents current trends in the development of expert systems within the Department of the Navy, particularly research into expert graphics systems intended to support the Authoring Instructional Methods (AIM) research project. Defines artificial intelligence and expert systems. Discusses the operations and functions of the Navy's intelligent…

Expert System for ASIC Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Shri N.; Arshak, Khalil I.; McDonnell, Pearse; Boyce, Conor; Duggan, Andrew

1989-07-01

With the developments in the techniques of artificial intelligence over the last few years, development of advisory, scheduling and similar class of problems has become very convenient using tools such as PROLOG. In this paper an expert system has been described which helps lithographers and process engineers in several ways. The methodology used is to model each work station according to its input, output and control parameters, combine these work stations in a logical sequence based on past experience and work out process schedule for a job. In addition, all the requirements vis-a-vis a particular job parameters are converted into decision rules. One example is the exposure time, develop time for a wafer with different feature sizes would be different. This expert system has been written in Turbo Prolog. By building up a large number of rules, one can tune the program to any facility and use it for as diverse applications as advisory help, trouble shooting etc. Leitner (1) has described an advisory expert system that is being used at National Semiconductor. This system is quite different from the one being reported in the present paper. The approach is quite different for one. There is stress on job flow and process for another.

Problematic Aspects of the Use of Expert Systems in Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Kalinauskas

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Summary. The usage of expert systems in law brings many problematic questions. Complexity and intricacy of law, combined with limited possibilities of information technologies makes it difficult to create flawlessly working expert systems. In this article the author analyses problematic aspects related to expert system usage in law. Comparisons of various research are made according to analysis of scientific articles. The author analyses practical difficulties of legal norm representation, creation of expert knowledge ontology, expert systems liability issues. Legal responsibility of expert system developers, users, and owners are also covered in this paper. Creation of legal ontologies is a complicated process because of the nature of the subject itself and the complexity and quantity of knowledge which must be represented in order to have fully functional legal expert system. Legal information basically consists of legal norms, doctrine, precedents and expert knowledge. All of these areas have specific representation issues, but the most difficult part is to make ontology and representation of expert knowledge. Different experts may have distinct points of view in some similar cases. Human decisions are made not only by applying certain rules to the problem decision pattern. Providence, analytical skills and critical thinking is required in legal professional work. Human reasoning and decision-making is not only based on symbolic values, it also consists of intermediate symbolic assumptions. So the question is: is it possible to give a clear structure to something which has no permanent state? The other problem which is analyzed in this article is artificial reasoning methods, which are basically different forms of pattern recognition with some specific methods applied to them. The second part of the paper analyses the liability of expert systems. Nowadays expert systems can’t be legally responsible for their decisions. They lack

Problematic Aspects of the Use of Expert Systems in Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Kalinauskas

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The usage of expert systems in law brings many problematic questions. Complexity and intricacy of law, combined with limited possibilities of information technologies makes it difficult to create flawlessly working expert systems. In this article the author analyses problematic aspects related to expert system usage in law. Comparisons of various research are made according to analysis of scientific articles. The author analyses practical difficulties of legal norm representation, creation of expert knowledge ontology, expert systems liability issues. Legal responsibility of expert system developers, users, and owners are also covered in this paper. Creation of legal ontologies is a complicated process because of the nature of the subject itself and the complexity and quantity of knowledge which must be represented in order to have fully functional legal expert system. Legal information basically consists of legal norms, doctrine, precedents and expert knowledge. All of these areas have specific representation issues, but the most difficult part is to make ontology and representation of expert knowledge. Different experts may have distinct points of view in some similar cases. Human decisions are made not only by applying certain rules to the problem decision pattern. Providence, analytical skills and critical thinking is required in legal professional work. Human reasoning and decision-making is not only based on symbolic values, it also consists of intermediate symbolic assumptions. So the question is: is it possible to give a clear structure to something which has no permanent state? The other problem which is analyzed in this article is artificial reasoning methods, which are basically different forms of pattern recognition with some specific methods applied to them. The second part of the paper analyses the liability of expert systems. Nowadays expert systems can’t be legally responsible for their decisions. They lack intellectual

Expert System Applications for the Electric Power Industry: Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-06-01

A conference on Expert System Applications for the Electric Power Industry was held in Boston on September 8--11, 1991 to provide a forum for technology transfer, technical information exchange, and education. The conference was attended by more than 150 representatives of electric utilities, equipment manufacturers, engineering consulting organizations, universities, national laboratories, and government agencies. The meeting included a keynote address, 70 papers, and 18 expert system demonstrations. Sessions covered expert systems in power system planning operations, fossil power plant applications, nuclear power plant applications, and intelligent user interfaces. The presentations showed how expert systems can provide immediate benefits to the electric power industry in many applications. Individual papers are indexed separately

26th Hohenheim Consensus Conference, September 11, 2010 Scientific substantiation of health claims: Evidence-based nutrition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Biesalski, H.K.; Aggett, P.J.; Anton, R.; Bernstein, P.S.; Blumberg, J.; Heaney, R.P.; Henry, J.; Nolan, J.M.; Richardson, D.P.; Ommen, B. van; Witkamp, R.F.; Rijkers, G.T.; Zöllner, I.

2011-01-01

Objective: The objective was to define the term evidence based nutrition on the basis of expert discussions and scientific evidence. Methods and procedures: The method used is the established Hohenheim Consensus Conference. The term "Hohenheim Consensus Conference" defines conferences dealing with

Expert elicitation and the problem of detecting undeclared activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilat, Joseph F.; Sylvester, Kori Budlong; Stanbro, William D.

2002-01-01

Measures applicable to the detection of undeclared activities are not well established, and their effectiveness is uncertain. To detect clandestine paths, the IAEA is still developing processes and procedures. As the Agency gains experience with new measures and with integrated safeguards, dealing with such problems may become more experience-based and perhaps more closely parallel the process with current safeguards where detection probabilities for the measures to be utilized on declared paths are well characterized. Whether or not this point will be reached for undeclared and mixed paths, the only tool that appears suitable at present for the purpose of generating a reasonable detection probability that can over time be tested against reality and, if necessary, adjusted is formal expert judgment, or expert elicitation. Formal expert elicitation is a structured process that makes use of people knowledgeable in certain areas to make assessments. To provide a 'proof of principle' of this methodology for presentation to the Agency, experts in nuclear technology, nonproliferation, safeguards and open source information, as well as in formal expert elicitation processes, engaged in three illustrative expert elicitations on assessing information analysis as a means to detect undeclared activities. These elicitations were successful. This paper will discuss the process of and issues raised by the elicitations.

AN EXPERT SYSTEM USED IN DESIGN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hüdayim BAŞAK

2001-03-01

Full Text Available In this work, an expert system used in computer aided design has been developed. In the developed program, the features which are used in the models prepared by a feature based design program are evaluated by the expert system module and are used in part modeling after determining of their compatibilty according to the rules. This program, particulary for those who do not know or know very little manufacturing stages, accomplishes the duty of informing and directing them. The program developed warns the user for design mistakes made during modeling.

The Management and Security Expert (MASE)

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Mark D.; Barr, Stanley J.; Gryphon, Coranth D.; Keegan, Jeff; Kniker, Catherine A.; Krolak, Patrick D.

1991-01-01

The Management and Security Expert (MASE) is a distributed expert system that monitors the operating systems and applications of a network. It is capable of gleaning the information provided by the different operating systems in order to optimize hardware and software performance; recognize potential hardware and/or software failure, and either repair the problem before it becomes an emergency, or notify the systems manager of the problem; and monitor applications and known security holes for indications of an intruder or virus. MASE can eradicate much of the guess work of system management.

Management of immune thrombocytopenia: Korean experts recommendation in 2017.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Jun Ho; Kim, Ji Yoon; Mun, Yeung-Chul; Bang, Soo-Mee; Lim, Yeon Jung; Shin, Dong-Yeop; Choi, Young Bae; Yhim, Ho-Young; Lee, Jong Wook; Kook, Hoon

2017-12-01

Management options for patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) have evolved substantially over the past decades. The American Society of Hematology published a treatment guideline for clinicians referring to the management of ITP in 2011. This evidence-based practice guideline for ITP enables the appropriate treatment of a larger proportion of patients and the maintenance of normal platelet counts. Korean authority operates a unified mandatory national health insurance system. Even though we have a uniform standard guideline enforced by insurance reimbursement, there are several unsolved issues in real practice in ITP treatment. To optimize the management of Korean ITP patients, the Korean Society of Hematology Aplastic Anemia Working Party (KSHAAWP) reviewed the consensus and the Korean data on the clinical practices of ITP therapy. Here, we report a Korean expert recommendation guide for the management of ITP.

Communication skills training in oncology: a position paper based on a consensus meeting among European experts in 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Stiefel, F; Barth, J; Bensing, J; Fallowfield, L; Jost, L; Razavi, D; Kiss, A

2010-02-01

Communication in cancer care has become a major topic of interest. Since there is evidence that ineffective communication affects both patients and oncology clinicians (physicians and nurses), so-called communication skills trainings (CSTs) have been developed over the last decade. While these trainings have been demonstrated to be effective, there is an important heterogeneity with regard to implementation and with regard to evidence of different aspects of CST. In order to review and discuss the scientific literature on CST in oncology and to formulate recommendations, the Swiss Cancer League has organised a consensus meeting with European opinion leaders and experts in the field of CST, as well as oncology clinicians, representatives of oncology societies and patient organisations. On the basis of a systematic review and a meta-analysis, recommendations have been developed and agreed upon. Recommendations address (i) the setting, objectives and participants of CST, (ii) its content and pedagogic tools, (iii) organisational aspects, (iv) outcome and (v) future directions and research. This consensus meeting, on the basis of European expert opinions and a systematic review and meta-analysis, defines key elements for the current provision and future development and evaluation of CST in oncology.

A statistical modeling approach to build expert credit risk rating systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Waagepetersen, Rasmus

2010-01-01

This paper presents an efficient method for extracting expert knowledge when building a credit risk rating system. Experts are asked to rate a sample of counterparty cases according to creditworthiness. Next, a statistical model is used to capture the relation between the characteristics...... of a counterparty and the expert rating. For any counterparty the model can identify the rating, which would be agreed upon by the majority of experts. Furthermore, the model can quantify the concurrence among experts. The approach is illustrated by a case study regarding the construction of an application score...

Expert system for web based collaborative CAE

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Liang; Lin, Zusheng

2006-11-01

An expert system for web based collaborative CAE was developed based on knowledge engineering, relational database and commercial FEA (Finite element analysis) software. The architecture of the system was illustrated. In this system, the experts' experiences, theories and typical examples and other related knowledge, which will be used in the stage of pre-process in FEA, were categorized into analysis process and object knowledge. Then, the integrated knowledge model based on object-oriented method and rule based method was described. The integrated reasoning process based on CBR (case based reasoning) and rule based reasoning was presented. Finally, the analysis process of this expert system in web based CAE application was illustrated, and an analysis example of a machine tool's column was illustrated to prove the validity of the system.

A risk-informed approach of quantification of epistemic uncertainty for the long-term radioactive waste disposal. Improving reliability of expert judgements with an advanced elicitation procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, Daisuke; Chida, Taiji; Fujita, Tomonari; Tsukamoto, Masaki

2011-01-01

A quantification methodology of epistemic uncertainty by expert judgement based on the risk-informed approach is developed to assess inevitable uncertainty for the long-term safety assessment of radioactive waste disposal. The proposed method in this study employs techniques of logic tree, by which options of models and/or scenarios are identified, and Evidential Support Logic (ESL), by which possibility of each option is quantified. In this report, the effect of a feedback process of discussion between experts and input of state-of-the-art knowledge in the proposed method is discussed to estimate alteration of the distribution of expert judgements which is one of the factors causing uncertainty. In a preliminary quantification experiment of uncertainty of degradation of the engineering barrier materials in a tentative sub-surface disposal using the proposed methodology, experts themselves modified questions appropriately to facilitate sound judgements and to correlate those with scientific evidences clearly. The result suggests that the method effectively improves confidence of expert judgement. Also, the degree of consensus of expert judgement was sort of improved in some cases, since scientific knowledge and information of expert judgement in other fields became common understanding. It is suggested that the proposed method could facilitate consensus on uncertainty between interested persons. (author)

An Analysis of the Working Memories of Expert Sport Instructors

Science.gov (United States)

McCullick, Bryan; Schempp, Paul; Hsu, Shan-Hui; Jung, Jin Hong; Vickers, Brad; Schuknecht, Greg

2006-01-01

A distinguishing characteristic of expert teachers appears to be an excellent memory (Berliner, 1986; Tan, 1997). Possessing an excellent memory aids experts in building a substantial knowledge base relative to teaching and learning. Despite its importance, the memory skills of expert teachers have yet to be investigated. Therefore, the purpose of…

Computers Simulate Human Experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Steven K.

1983-01-01

Discusses recent progress in artificial intelligence in such narrowly defined areas as medical and electronic diagnosis. Also discusses use of expert systems, man-machine communication problems, novel programing environments (including comments on LISP and LISP machines), and types of knowledge used (factual, heuristic, and meta-knowledge). (JN)

Acquisition of Expert/Non-Expert Vocabulary from Reformulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Antoine, Edwige; Grabar, Natalia

2017-01-01

Technical medical terms are complicated to be correctly understood by non-experts. Vocabulary, associating technical terms with layman expressions, can help in increasing the readability of technical texts and their understanding. The purpose of our work is to build this kind of vocabulary. We propose to exploit the notion of reformulation following two methods: extraction of abbreviations and of reformulations with specific markers. The segments associated thanks to these methods are aligned with medical terminologies. Our results allow to cover over 9,000 medical terms and show precision of extractions between 0.24 and 0.98. The results and analyzed and compared with the existing work.

L’évaluation des experts dans les organisations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre Mirralès

2009-03-01

Full Text Available L’avènement des nouvelles technologies et le développement de la société de connaissance n’ont fait qu’amplifier le rôle central de l’expert dans l’organisation. Plus que tout autre individu évoluant dans un milieu professionnel, son évaluation s’avère incontournable et cruciale. Du point de vue managérial pourtant, cette nécessaire évaluation génère très souvent de nombreuses frustrations de l’ensemble des parties prenantes. Notre travail de recherche s’attache à comprendre et à apporter des éléments de réponse à une évaluation des experts qui soit acceptable par eux –mêmes, par les dirigeants de l’organisation et par les autres parties prenantes (Etat, clients, actionnaires, fournisseurs…. Il met en évidence deux grandes modalités de l’évaluation : l’évaluation contrôle et l’évaluation régulation, pour lesquelles les réactions des experts sont diamétralement opposées. Notre méthodologie de recherche utilise des études de cas entreprises auprès d’une trentaine d’experts de deux secteurs d’activité différents.The advent of new technologies and the development of the Knowledge society have increased the central role of experts in organizations. More than any other professional individual, his evaluation is crucial. From the managerial point of view however, this evaluation often creates frustration of many stakeholders. This article tries to understand the process and develop a method which is acceptable to the management of the organization but also for other stakeholders (State, clients, shareholders, suppliers…. The article highlights two methods of evaluation: the control and regulation methods, for which the reactions of the experts are completely opposed. The methodology is based on case studies of firms with some 30 experts in two sectors of activity.

An investigation into the use of ''expert systems'' for system-wide diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, A.W.; Carroll, J.T.

1987-01-01

This paper has explained how expert systems function and how they might be used to provide a FASTBUS system-wide diagnostic program. The authors propose that the system be used to diagnose the FASTBUS system at FERMILAB's CDF experiment. There are many important areas which have not been addressed in great detail in this paper (such as the roles of the knowledge engineer and the expert during the knowledge acquisition phase), but the central idea of the embodiment of an expert skill in a computer is clear. Development of a system-wide diagnostic program requires building knowledge from all our system experts, into the system. To expand the expert system beyond its network diagnostic ability, to include finding faulty modules would be worthwhile. Having an ''intelligent'' assistant who is on shift 24 hours each day would relieve the ''real'' experts from laborious, time-consuming and sometimes repetitive tasks undertaken during the debugging process. The system could also provide a testbed for evaluation and comparison when considering future expert-system applications such as ''run-control'' and ''data analysis''. In the context of a system-wide diagnostic program, an ''expert system'' is not intended to replace human experts but simply to help them. It is envisaged that there will always be important interaction between the human expert and the ''expert system''. The incremental development of the ''expert system'' should ensure that it is useful in the short term (by debugging to the S.I./segment level for example), and even more useful in the medium to longer term as it acquires more and more knowledge and the ability to debug to the module level. Expert systems exist and are working successfully in many problem domains. See the bibliography for examples of ''expert systems'' built in the high energy physics environment

Evidence-based systematic review of saw palmetto by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulbricht, Catherine; Basch, Ethan; Bent, Steve; Boon, Heather; Corrado, Michelle; Foppa, Ivo; Hashmi, Sadaf; Hammerness, Paul; Kingsbury, Eileen; Smith, Michael; Szapary, Philippe; Vora, Mamta; Weissner, Wendy

2006-01-01

Here presented is an evidence-based systematic review including written and statistical analysis of scientific literature, expert opinion, folkloric precedent, history, pharmacology, kinetics/dynamics, interactions, adverse effects, toxicology, and dosing.

Water Sensation During Passive Propulsion for Expert and Nonexpert Swimmers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kusanagi, Kenta; Sato, Daisuke; Hashimoto, Yasuhiro; Yamada, Norimasa

2017-06-01

This study determined whether expert swimmers, compared with nonexperts, have superior movement perception and physical sensations of propulsion in water. Expert (national level competitors, n = 10) and nonexpert (able to swim 50 m in > 3 styles, n = 10) swimmers estimated distance traveled in water with their eyes closed. Both groups indicated their subjective physical sensations in the water. For each of two trials, two-dimensional coordinates were obtained from video recordings using the two-dimensional direct linear transformation method for calculating changes in speed. The mean absolute error of the difference between the actual and estimated distance traveled in the water was significantly lower for expert swimmers (0.90 ± 0.71 meters) compared with nonexpert swimmers (3.85 ± 0.84 m). Expert swimmers described the sensation of propulsion in water in cutaneous terms as the "sense of flow" and sensation of "skin resistance." Therefore, expert swimmers appear to have a superior sense of distance during their movement in the water compared with that of nonexpert swimmers. In addition, expert swimmers may have a better perception of movement in water. We propose that expert swimmers integrate sensations and proprioceptive senses, enabling them to better perceive and estimate distance moved through water.

Grass carp in the Great Lakes region: establishment potential, expert perceptions, and re-evaluation of experimental evidence of ecological impact

Science.gov (United States)

Wittmann, Marion E.; Jerde, Christopher L.; Howeth, Jennifer G.; Maher, Sean P.; Deines, Andrew M.; Jenkins, Jill A.; Whitledge, Gregory W.; Burbank, Sarah B.; Chadderton, William L.; Mahon, Andrew R.; Tyson, Jeffrey T.; Gantz, Crysta A.; Keller, Reuben P.; Drake, John M.; Lodge, David M.

2014-01-01

Intentional introductions of nonindigenous fishes are increasing globally. While benefits of these introductions are easily quantified, assessments to understand the negative impacts to ecosystems are often difficult, incomplete, or absent. Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) was originally introduced to the United States as a biocontrol agent, and recent observations of wild, diploid individuals in the Great Lakes basin have spurred interest in re-evaluating its ecological risk. Here, we evaluate the ecological impact of grass carp using expert opinion and a suite of the most up-to-date analytical tools and data (ploidy assessment, eDNA surveillance, species distribution models (SDMs), and meta-analysis). The perceived ecological impact of grass carp by fisheries experts was variable, ranging from unknown to very high. Wild-caught triploid and diploid individuals occurred in multiple Great Lakes waterways, and eDNA surveillance suggests that grass carp are abundant in a major tributary of Lake Michigan. SDMs predicted suitable grass carp climate occurs in all Great Lakes. Meta-analysis showed that grass carp introductions impact both water quality and biota. Novel findings based on updated ecological impact assessment tools indicate that iterative risk assessment of introduced fishes may be warranted.

Telecontrol - Expert systems. Real-time monitoring and remote diagnostic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lam, A.

1996-09-01

The role of expert systems in programming simple and complex tasks in utilities companies was discussed with examples from B.C. Hydro, where expert systems have been used in such diverse applications as an in-house programmable logic controller (PLC) training course, and a machine audit on a 150 MW steam turbine generating unit at their Burrard Thermal Generating Plant. The PLC tutoring program uses expert system technology for the air blast circuit breakers` air drier system, for individualized on-site training. The steam turbine audits (an eight-month long project) were performed remotely by dialing an on-site computer configured with customized expert software. Details of these, and other potential applications, such as transformer monitoring and diagnostics, circuit breaker performance analysis, and information management, were described.

[Development of expert diagnostic system for common respiratory diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wei-hua; Chen, You-ling; Yan, Zheng

2014-03-01

To develop an internet-based expert diagnostic system for common respiratory diseases. SaaS system was used to build architecture; pattern of forward reasoning was applied for inference engine design; ASP.NET with C# from the tool pack of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 was used for website-interview medical expert system.The database of the system was constructed with Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The developed expert system contained large data memory and high efficient function of data interview and data analysis for diagnosis of various diseases.The users were able to perform this system to obtain diagnosis for common respiratory diseases via internet. The developed expert system may be used for internet-based diagnosis of various respiratory diseases,particularly in telemedicine setting.

THE EFFECT OF MODERATE AND HIGH-INTENSITY FATIGUE ON GROUNDSTROKE ACCURACY IN EXPERT AND NON-EXPERT TENNIS PLAYERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Lyons

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Exploring the effects of fatigue on skilled performance in tennis presents a significant challenge to the researcher with respect to ecological validity. This study examined the effects of moderate and high-intensity fatigue on groundstroke accuracy in expert and non-expert tennis players. The research also explored whether the effects of fatigue are the same regardless of gender and player's achievement motivation characteristics. 13 expert (7 male, 6 female and 17 non-expert (13 male, 4 female tennis players participated in the study. Groundstroke accuracy was assessed using the modified Loughborough Tennis Skills Test. Fatigue was induced using the Loughborough Intermittent Tennis Test with moderate (70% and high-intensities (90% set as a percentage of peak heart rate (attained during a tennis-specific maximal hitting sprint test. Ratings of perceived exertion were used as an adjunct to the monitoring of heart rate. Achievement goal indicators for each player were assessed using the 2 x 2 Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport in an effort to examine if this personality characteristic provides insight into how players perform under moderate and high-intensity fatigue conditions. A series of mixed ANOVA's revealed significant fatigue effects on groundstroke accuracy regardless of expertise. The expert players however, maintained better groundstroke accuracy across all conditions compared to the novice players. Nevertheless, in both groups, performance following high-intensity fatigue deteriorated compared to performance at rest and performance while moderately fatigued. Groundstroke accuracy under moderate levels of fatigue was equivalent to that at rest. Fatigue effects were also similar regardless of gender. No fatigue by expertise, or fatigue by gender interactions were found. Fatigue effects were also equivalent regardless of player's achievement goal indicators. Future research is required to explore the effects of fatigue on

Expert Opinion on the Perceived Effectiveness and Importance of On-Farm Biosecurity Measures for Cattle and Swine Farms in Switzerland.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karin Kuster

Full Text Available Biosecurity is crucial for safeguarding livestock from infectious diseases. Despite the plethora of biosecurity recommendations, published scientific evidence on the effectiveness of individual biosecurity measures is limited. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of Swiss experts about the effectiveness and importance of individual on-farm biosecurity measures for cattle and swine farms (31 and 30 measures, respectively. Using a modified Delphi method, 16 Swiss livestock disease specialists (8 for each species were interviewed. The experts were asked to rank biosecurity measures that were written on cards, by allocating a score from 0 (lowest to 5 (highest. Experts ranked biosecurity measures based on their importance related to Swiss legislation, feasibility, as well as the effort required for implementation and the benefit of each biosecurity measure. The experts also ranked biosecurity measures based on their effectiveness in preventing an infectious agent from entering and spreading on a farm, solely based on transmission characteristics of specific pathogens. The pathogens considered by cattle experts were those causing Bluetongue (BT, Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD, Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD and Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR. Swine experts expressed their opinion on the pathogens causing African Swine Fever (ASF, Enzootic Pneumonia (EP, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS, as well as FMD. For cattle farms, biosecurity measures that improve disease awareness of farmers were ranked as both most important and most effective. For swine farms, the most important and effective measures identified were those related to animal movements. Among all single measures evaluated, education of farmers was perceived by the experts to be the most important and effective for protecting both Swiss cattle and swine farms from disease. The findings of this study provide an important basis for recommendation to farmers

Expert Opinion on the Perceived Effectiveness and Importance of On-Farm Biosecurity Measures for Cattle and Swine Farms in Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Kuster, Karin; Cousin, Marie-Eve; Jemmi, Thomas; Schüpbach-Regula, Gertraud; Magouras, Ioannis

2015-01-01

Biosecurity is crucial for safeguarding livestock from infectious diseases. Despite the plethora of biosecurity recommendations, published scientific evidence on the effectiveness of individual biosecurity measures is limited. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of Swiss experts about the effectiveness and importance of individual on-farm biosecurity measures for cattle and swine farms (31 and 30 measures, respectively). Using a modified Delphi method, 16 Swiss livestock disease specialists (8 for each species) were interviewed. The experts were asked to rank biosecurity measures that were written on cards, by allocating a score from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Experts ranked biosecurity measures based on their importance related to Swiss legislation, feasibility, as well as the effort required for implementation and the benefit of each biosecurity measure. The experts also ranked biosecurity measures based on their effectiveness in preventing an infectious agent from entering and spreading on a farm, solely based on transmission characteristics of specific pathogens. The pathogens considered by cattle experts were those causing Bluetongue (BT), Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR). Swine experts expressed their opinion on the pathogens causing African Swine Fever (ASF), Enzootic Pneumonia (EP), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), as well as FMD. For cattle farms, biosecurity measures that improve disease awareness of farmers were ranked as both most important and most effective. For swine farms, the most important and effective measures identified were those related to animal movements. Among all single measures evaluated, education of farmers was perceived by the experts to be the most important and effective for protecting both Swiss cattle and swine farms from disease. The findings of this study provide an important basis for recommendation to farmers and

Expert systems for C3I. Volume 1. A user's introduction

Science.gov (United States)

Clapp, J. A.; Hockett, S. M.; Prelle, M. J.; Tallant, A. M.; Triant, D. D.

1985-10-01

There has been a tremendous burgeoning of interest in artificial intelligence (AI) over the last few years. Investments of commercial and government sponsors reflect a widespread belief that AI is now ready for practical applications. The area of AI currently receiving the greatest attention and investment is expert system technology. Most major high tech corporations have begun to develop expert systems, and many software houses specializing in expert system tools and applications have recently appeared. The defense community is one of the heaviest investors in expert system technology, and within this community one of the application areas receiving greatest attention is C3I. Many ESD programs are now beginning to ask whether expert system applications for C3I are ready for incorporation into ESD-developed systems, and, if so, what are the potential benefits and risks of doing so. This report was prepared to help ESD and MITRE personnel working on acquisition programs to address these issues and to gain a better understanding of what expert systems are all about. The primary intention of this report is to investigate what expert systems are and the advances that are being made in expert system technology for C3I applications. The report begins with a brief tutorial on expert systems, emphasizing how they differ from conventional software systems and what they are best at doing.

Evidence-based commissioning in the English NHS: who uses which sources of evidence? A survey 2010/2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Aileen; Taylor-Phillips, Sian; Swan, Jacky; Gkeredakis, Emmanouil; Mills, Penny; Powell, John; Nicolini, Davide; Roginski, Claudia; Scarbrough, Harry; Grove, Amy

2013-05-28

Frameworks) are important for decision-making, but practical sources of evidence such as local intelligence, benchmarking data and expert advice are also influential. New Clinical Commissioning Groups will need a variety of different evidence sources and expert involvement to ensure that effective decisions are made for their populations.

Evidence-based commissioning in the English NHS: who uses which sources of evidence? A survey 2010/2011

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Aileen; Taylor-Phillips, Sian; Swan, Jacky; Gkeredakis, Emmanouil; Mills, Penny; Powell, John; Nicolini, Davide; Roginski, Claudia; Scarbrough, Harry; Grove, Amy

2013-01-01

Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance and government publications (eg, National Service Frameworks) are important for decision-making, but practical sources of evidence such as local intelligence, benchmarking data and expert advice are also influential. New Clinical Commissioning Groups will need a variety of different evidence sources and expert involvement to ensure that effective decisions are made for their populations. PMID:23793669

Criteria for evidence-based practice in Iranian traditional medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Soltani Arabshahi, SeyyedKamran; Mohammadi Kenari, Hoorieh; Kordafshari, Gholamreza; Shams-Ardakani, MohammadReza; Bigdeli, Shoaleh

2015-07-01

The major difference between Iranian traditional medicine and allopathic medicine is in the application  of  evidence  and  documents.  In  this  study,  criteria  for  evidence-based  practice  in  Iranian traditional medicine and its rules of practice were studied. The experts' views were investigated through in- depth, semi-structured interviews and the results were categorized into four main categories including Designing clinical questions/clinical question-based search, critical appraisal, resource search criteria and clinical prescription appraisal. Although the application of evidence in Iranian traditional medicine follows Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) principles but it benefits from its own rules, regulations, and criteria that are compatible with EBM.

26th Hohenheim Concensus Conference, September 11, 2010 Scientific substantiation of health claims: Evidence-based nutrition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Biesalski, H.K.; Aggett, P.J.; Anton, R.; Bernstein, P.S.; Blumberg, J.; Heaney, R.P.; Henry, J.; Nolan, J.M.; Richardson, D.P.; Ommen, van B.; Witkamp, R.F.; Rijkers, G.T.; Zollner, I.

2011-01-01

Objective The objective was to define the term evidence based nutrition on the basis of expert discussions and scientific evidence. Methods and procedures The method used is the established Hohenheim Consensus Conference. The term “Hohenheim Consensus Conference” defines conferences dealing with

Uncertainty in geological linework: communicating the expert's tacit model to the data user(s) by expert elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawley, Russell; Barron, Mark; Lark, Murray

2015-04-01

At BGS, expert elicitation has been used to evaluate uncertainty of surveyed boundaries in several, common, geological scenarios. As a result, a 'collective' understanding of the issues surrounding each scenario has emerged. The work has provoked wider debate in three key areas: a) what can we do to resolve those scenarios where a 'consensus' of understanding cannot be achieved b) what does it mean for survey practices and subsequent use of maps in 3D models c) how do we communicate the 'collective' understanding of geological mapping (with or without consensus for specific scenarios). Previous work elicited expert judgement for uncertainty in six contrasting mapping scenarios. In five cases it was possible to arrive at a consensus model; in a sixth case experts with different experience (length of service, academic background) took very different views of the nature of the mapping problem. The scenario concerned identification of the boundary between two contrasting tills (one derived from Triassic source materials being red in colour; the other, derived from Jurassic materials being grey in colour). Initial debate during the elicitation identified that the colour contrast should provide some degree of confidence in locating the boundary via traditional auger-traverse survey methods. However, as the elicitation progressed, it became clear that the complexities of the relationship between the two Tills were not uniformly understood across the experts and the panel could not agree a consensus regarding the spatial uncertainty of the boundary. The elicitation process allowed a significant degree of structured knowledge-exchange between experts of differing backgrounds and was successful in identifying a measure of uncertainty for what was considered a contentious scenario. However, the findings have significant implications for a boundary-scenario that is widely mapped across the central regions of Great Britain. We will discuss our experience of the use of