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Sample records for expertise based trial

  1. A systematic review of the use of an expertise-based randomised controlled trial design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Jonathan A; Elders, Andrew; Boachie, Charles; Bassinga, Ted; Fraser, Cynthia; Altman, Doug G; Boutron, Isabelle; Ramsay, Craig R; MacLennan, Graeme S

    2015-05-30

    Under a conventional two-arm randomised trial design, participants are allocated to an intervention and participating health professionals are expected to deliver both interventions. However, health professionals often have differing levels of expertise in a skill-based interventions such as surgery or psychotherapy. An expertise-based approach to trial design, where health professionals only deliver an intervention in which they have expertise, has been proposed as an alternative. The aim of this project was to systematically review the use of an expertise-based trial design in the medical literature. We carried out a comprehensive search of nine databases--AMED, BIOSIS, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Cochrane Methodology Register, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, and PsycINFO--from 1966 to 2012 and performed citation searches using the ISI Citation Indexes and Scopus. Studies that used an expertise-based trial design were included. Two review authors independently screened the titles and abstracts and assessed full-text reports. Data were extracted and summarised on the study characteristics, general and expertise-specific study methodology, and conduct. In total, 7476 titles and abstracts were identified, leading to 43 included studies (54 articles). The vast majority (88%) used a pure expertise-based design; three (7%) adopted a hybrid design, and two (5%) used a design that was unclear. Most studies compared substantially different interventions (79%). In many cases, key information relating to the expertise-based design was absent; only 12 (28%) reported criteria for delivering both interventions. Most studies recruited the target sample size or very close to it (median of 101, interquartile range of 94 to 118), although the target was reported for only 40% of studies. The proportion of participants who received the allocated intervention was high (92%, interquartile range of 82 to 99%). While use of an expertise-based trial design is growing, it remains uncommon

  2. A prospective randomized trial of content expertise versus process expertise in small group teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peets, Adam D; Cooke, Lara; Wright, Bruce; Coderre, Sylvain; McLaughlin, Kevin

    2010-10-14

    Effective teaching requires an understanding of both what (content knowledge) and how (process knowledge) to teach. While previous studies involving medical students have compared preceptors with greater or lesser content knowledge, it is unclear whether process expertise can compensate for deficient content expertise. Therefore, the objective of our study was to compare the effect of preceptors with process expertise to those with content expertise on medical students' learning outcomes in a structured small group environment. One hundred and fifty-one first year medical students were randomized to 11 groups for the small group component of the Cardiovascular-Respiratory course at the University of Calgary. Each group was then block randomized to one of three streams for the entire course: tutoring exclusively by physicians with content expertise (n = 5), tutoring exclusively by physicians with process expertise (n = 3), and tutoring by content experts for 11 sessions and process experts for 10 sessions (n = 3). After each of the 21 small group sessions, students evaluated their preceptors' teaching with a standardized instrument. Students' knowledge acquisition was assessed by an end-of-course multiple choice (EOC-MCQ) examination. Students rated the process experts significantly higher on each of the instrument's 15 items, including the overall rating. Students' mean score (±SD) on the EOC-MCQ exam was 76.1% (8.1) for groups taught by content experts, 78.2% (7.8) for the combination group and 79.5% (9.2) for process expert groups (p = 0.11). By linear regression student performance was higher if they had been taught by process experts (regression coefficient 2.7 [0.1, 5.4], p teach first year medical students within a structured small group environment; preceptors with process expertise result in at least equivalent, if not superior, student outcomes in this setting.

  3. Do authors report surgical expertise in open spine surgery related randomized controlled trials? A systematic review on quality of reporting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Oldenrijk, Jakob; van Berkel, Youri; Kerkhoffs, Gino M. M. J.; Bhandari, Mohit; Poolman, Rudolf W.

    2013-01-01

    A systematic review of published trials in orthopedic spine literature. To determine the quality of reporting in open spine surgery randomized controlled trials (RCTs) between 2005 and 2010 with special focus on the reporting of surgical skill or expertise. In technically demanding procedures such

  4. An Agent Based Approach To Finding Expertise In The Engineering Design Environment

    OpenAIRE

    Crowder, Richard; Hughes, Gareth; Hall, Wendy

    2003-01-01

    During the engineering design process people need to locate colleagues with knowledge to resolve a problem. As identified by discussions with practicing designers the use of computer based systems that assist users with finding such expertise will become increasingly important. In this paper we discuss the development of an agent based Expertise Finder suitable for use within an engineering design environment. A key feature of our approach is that the Expertise Finder returns both recommended...

  5. Re-inscribing Gender in New Modes of Medical Expertise: The Investigator–Coordinator Relationship in the Clinical Trials Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Jill A.

    2011-01-01

    This article analyses the ways in which research coordinators forge professional identities in the highly gendered organizational context of the clinic. Drawing upon qualitative research on the organization of the clinical trials industry (that is, the private sector, for profit auxiliary companies that support pharmaceutical drug studies), this article explores the relationships between predominantly male physician-investigators and female research coordinators and the constitution of medical expertise in pharmaceutical drug development. One finding is that coordinators actively seek to establish relationships with investigators that mirror traditional doctor–nurse relationships, in which the feminized role is subordinated and devalued. Another finding is that the coordinators do, in fact, have profound research expertise that is frequently greater than that of the investigators. The coordinators develop expertise on pharmaceutical products and diseases through their observations of the patterns that occur in patient–participants’ responses to investigational drugs. The article argues, however, that the nature of the relationships between coordinators and investigators renders invisible the coordinators’ expertise. In this context, gender acts as a persistent social structure shaping both coordinators’ and investigators’ perceptions of who can be recognized as having authority and power in the workplace. PMID:21394219

  6. The impact of radiologists' expertise on screen results decisions in a CT lung cancer screening trial

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heuvelmans, Marjolein A.; Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn; Oudkerk, Matthijs; Jong, Pim A. de; Mali, Willem P.; Groen, Harry J.M.

    2015-01-01

    To evaluate the impact of radiological expertise on screen result decisions in a CT lung cancer screening trial. In the NELSON lung cancer screening trial, the baseline CT result was based on the largest lung nodule's volume. The protocol allowed radiologists to manually adjust screen results in cases of high suspicion of benign or malignant nodule nature. Participants whose baseline CT result was based on a solid or part-solid nodule were included in this study. Adjustments by radiologists at baseline were evaluated. Histology was the reference for diagnosis or to confirm benignity and stability on subsequent CT examinations. A total of 3,318 participants (2,796 male, median age 58.0 years) were included. In 195 participants (5.9 %) the initial baseline screen result was adjusted by the radiologist. Adjustment was downwards from positive or indeterminate to negative in two and 119 participants, respectively, and from positive to indeterminate in 65 participants. None of these nodules turned out to be malignant. In 9/195 participants (4.6 %) the screen result was adjusted upwards from negative to indeterminate or indeterminate to positive; two nodules were malignant. In one in 20 cases of baseline lung cancer screening, nodules were reclassified by the radiologist, leading to a reduction of false-positive screen results. (orig.)

  7. Cognitive and neuronal bases of expertise

    OpenAIRE

    Campitelli, Guillermo

    2003-01-01

    This thesis examines the cognitive and neural bases of expertise. In so doing, several psychological phenomena were investigated-imagery. memory and thinking-using different tasks, and a variety of techniques of data gathering, including standard behavioural experiments, questionnaires, eye-movement recording, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Chess players participated in all the studies, and chess tasks were used. The data confirmed the versatility and power of chess as ...

  8. The impact of radiologists' expertise on screen results decisions in a CT lung cancer screening trial

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heuvelmans, Marjolein A.; Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn [University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Medical Imaging - North East Netherlands, Groningen (Netherlands); University of Groningen / University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Radiology, Groningen (Netherlands); Oudkerk, Matthijs [University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Medical Imaging - North East Netherlands, Groningen (Netherlands); Jong, Pim A. de; Mali, Willem P. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Groen, Harry J.M. [University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pulmonology, Groningen (Netherlands)

    2014-11-04

    To evaluate the impact of radiological expertise on screen result decisions in a CT lung cancer screening trial. In the NELSON lung cancer screening trial, the baseline CT result was based on the largest lung nodule's volume. The protocol allowed radiologists to manually adjust screen results in cases of high suspicion of benign or malignant nodule nature. Participants whose baseline CT result was based on a solid or part-solid nodule were included in this study. Adjustments by radiologists at baseline were evaluated. Histology was the reference for diagnosis or to confirm benignity and stability on subsequent CT examinations. A total of 3,318 participants (2,796 male, median age 58.0 years) were included. In 195 participants (5.9 %) the initial baseline screen result was adjusted by the radiologist. Adjustment was downwards from positive or indeterminate to negative in two and 119 participants, respectively, and from positive to indeterminate in 65 participants. None of these nodules turned out to be malignant. In 9/195 participants (4.6 %) the screen result was adjusted upwards from negative to indeterminate or indeterminate to positive; two nodules were malignant. In one in 20 cases of baseline lung cancer screening, nodules were reclassified by the radiologist, leading to a reduction of false-positive screen results. (orig.)

  9. Protocol of an expertise based randomized trial comparing surgical Venae Sectio versus radiological Puncture of Vena Subclavia for insertion of Totally Implantable Access Port in oncological patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radeleff Boris

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Totally Implantable Access Ports (TIAP are being extensively used world-wide and can be expected to gain further importance with the introduction of new neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatments in oncology. Two different techniques for the implantation can be selected: A direct puncture of a central vein and the utilization of a Seldinger device or the surgical Venae sectio. It is still unclear which technique has the optimal benefit/risk ratio for the patient. Design A single-center, expertise based randomized, controlled superiority trial to compare two different TIAP implantation techniques. 100 patients will be included and randomized pre-operatively. All patients aged 18 years or older scheduled for primary elective implantation of a TIAP under local anesthesia who signed the informed consent will be included. The primary endpoint is the primary success rate of the randomized technique. Control Intervention: Venae Sectio will be employed to insert a TIAP by a surgeon; Experimental intervention: Punction of V. Subclavia will be used to place a TIAP by a radiologist. Duration of study: Approximately 10 months, follow up time: 90 days. Organisation/Responsibility The PORTAS 2 – Trial will be conducted in accordance with the protocol and in compliance with the moral, ethical, and scientific principles governing clinical research as set out in the Declaration of Helsinki (1989 and Good Clinical Practice (GCP. The Center of Clinical Trials at the Department of Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg is responsible for design and conduct of the trial including randomization and documentation of patients' data. Data management and statistical analysis will be performed by the independent Institute for Medical Biometry and Informatics (IMBI, University of Heidelberg. Trial Registration The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00600444.

  10. Expertise and contra expertise independence and transparency; Expertises -contre expertises independance et transparence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abarnou, G; Ades, Y; Ancelin, G; Balle, St; Bardy, J Ch; Beringer, F; Blanc, M; Bontoux, J; Bovy, M; Brunet, F; Calafat, A; Cartier, M; Constant, H; Delcourt, R; Duvert, J C; Eichholtzer, F; Fernandez, P; Fernex, S; Foechterle, A; Gatesoupe, J P; Geneau, Ch; Goerg, C; Gourod, A; Graschaire, G; Hubscher Ibert, J; Jaegert, M; Lacoste, A C; Lacote, J P; Laroche, D; Lazar, Ph; Lelievre, D; Levasseur, E; Levent, L; Louvat, D; Manon, Ch; Maugein, J; Melguen, M; Mouchet, Ch; Mourat, J P; Naegelen, L; Niquet, G; Perves, J P; Potelet, P; Regent, A; Romann, J M; Rossa, N; Saut, C; Sazy, Ch; Schmitt, P; Sene, M; Sene, Raymond; Sornein, J F; Sugier, A; Tfibel, V; Uhart, M; Vidal, J; Vieillard Baron, B; Vigny, P; Walgenwitz, G; Wiest, A; Wisselmann, R; Zuberbuhler, A

    2006-07-01

    About sixty participants: members of C.L.I., academics, elected representatives, manufacturers, representatives of association, institutional, crossed their experiences. The debate was mainly centred on the role of the expert, the limits of its intervention and its independence. The presented titles are following: experiences of two C.L.I. in expertise; the work of communication of the nuclear experts; interest and limits of the expertise; presentation of the I.R.S.N. and the D.G.S.N.R.; expertise: problems and experiences; presentation of the works realised in work group; the considerations of the C.S.S.I.N.. (N.C.)

  11. Implementing Expertise-Based Training Methods to Accelerate the Development of Peer Academic Coaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Lisa

    2016-01-01

    The field of expertise studies offers several models from which to develop training programs that accelerate the development of novice performers in a variety of domains. This research study implemented two methods of expertise-based training in a course to develop undergraduate peer academic coaches through a ten-week program. An existing…

  12. Beyond Faces and Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Mintao; Bülthoff, Heinrich H.; Bülthoff, Isabelle

    2016-01-01

    Holistic processing—the tendency to perceive objects as indecomposable wholes—has long been viewed as a process specific to faces or objects of expertise. Although current theories differ in what causes holistic processing, they share a fundamental constraint for its generalization: Nonface objects cannot elicit facelike holistic processing in the absence of expertise. Contrary to this prevailing view, here we show that line patterns with salient Gestalt information (i.e., connectedness, closure, and continuity between parts) can be processed as holistically as faces without any training. Moreover, weakening the saliency of Gestalt information in these patterns reduced holistic processing of them, which indicates that Gestalt information plays a crucial role in holistic processing. Therefore, holistic processing can be achieved not only via a top-down route based on expertise, but also via a bottom-up route relying merely on object-based information. The finding that facelike holistic processing can extend beyond the domains of faces and objects of expertise poses a challenge to current dominant theories. PMID:26674129

  13. Security Expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    systematic study of security expertise and opens up a productive dialogue between science and technology studies and security studies to investigate the character and consequences of this expertise. In security theory, the study of expertise is crucial to understanding whose knowledge informs security making......This volume brings together scholars from different fields to explore the power, consequences and everyday practices of security expertise. Expertise mediates between different forms of knowledge: scientific and technological, legal, economic and political knowledge. This book offers the first...... and to reflect on the impact and responsibility of security analysis. In science and technology studies, the study of security politics adds a challenging new case to the agenda of research on expertise and policy. The contributors investigate cases such as academic security studies, security think tanks...

  14. From Formal Expertise to Co-expertise: Experience in the Field of Protection against Radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lochard, Jacques

    2002-01-01

    As a result of the growing difficulties confronting the heads of public and private high-risk activities, expertise practices have changed radically over the past years in the areas of risk assessment and management. In answer to the erosion of the credibility and legitimacy of traditional 'scientific' expertise, new forms of expertise based on citizen participation have emerged, particularly in fields involving public trust. The author's aim is to analyse the main changes in the field of radiological protection, on the basis of his 25 years of experience in the field. In conclusion, the author discusses the independence of expert assessment, an issue central to the present debate on the organization and practice of expertise in the field of high-risk activities

  15. The paradox of scientific expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alrøe, Hugo Fjelsted; Noe, Egon

    2011-01-01

    Modern societies depend on a growing production of scientific knowledge, which is based on the functional differentiation of science into still more specialised scientific disciplines and subdisciplines. This is the basis for the paradox of scientific expertise: The growth of science leads to a f...... cross-disciplinary research and in the collective use of different kinds of scientific expertise, and thereby make society better able to solve complex, real-world problems.......Modern societies depend on a growing production of scientific knowledge, which is based on the functional differentiation of science into still more specialised scientific disciplines and subdisciplines. This is the basis for the paradox of scientific expertise: The growth of science leads...... to a fragmentation of scientific expertise. To resolve this paradox, the present paper investigates three hypotheses: 1) All scientific knowledge is perspectival. 2) The perspectival structure of science leads to specific forms of knowledge asymmetries. 3) Such perspectival knowledge asymmetries must be handled...

  16. Prescribing safety, negotiating expertise. Building of nuclear safety human factors expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rolina, Gregory

    2008-01-01

    This Ph.D thesis is dedicated to a specific type of expertise, the safety of nuclear installations in the field of human and organisational factors. Empirical work is at the foundation of this thesis: the monitoring of experts 'in action', allowed a detailed reconstruction of three cases they were examining. The analysis, at the core of which lies the definition of what an efficient expertise can be, emphasizes the incompleteness of the knowledge that links together the nuclear facilities' organisational characteristics and their safety. This leads us to identify the expert's three ranges of actions (rhetorical, cognitive, operative). Defined from objectives and constraints likely to influence the expert's behaviour, those three ranges each require specific skills. A conception of expertise based on these ranges seems adaptable to other sectors and allows an enrichment of models of expertise cited in literature. Historical elements from French institutions of nuclear safety are also called upon to take into consideration some of the determinants of the expertise; its efficiency relies on the upholding of a continuous dialogue between the regulators (the experts and the control authority) and the regulated (the operators). This type of historically inherited regulation makes up a specificity of the French system of external control of nuclear risks. (author) [fr

  17. Beyond Faces and Expertise: Facelike Holistic Processing of Nonface Objects in the Absence of Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Mintao; Bülthoff, Heinrich H; Bülthoff, Isabelle

    2016-02-01

    Holistic processing-the tendency to perceive objects as indecomposable wholes-has long been viewed as a process specific to faces or objects of expertise. Although current theories differ in what causes holistic processing, they share a fundamental constraint for its generalization: Nonface objects cannot elicit facelike holistic processing in the absence of expertise. Contrary to this prevailing view, here we show that line patterns with salient Gestalt information (i.e., connectedness, closure, and continuity between parts) can be processed as holistically as faces without any training. Moreover, weakening the saliency of Gestalt information in these patterns reduced holistic processing of them, which indicates that Gestalt information plays a crucial role in holistic processing. Therefore, holistic processing can be achieved not only via a top-down route based on expertise, but also via a bottom-up route relying merely on object-based information. The finding that facelike holistic processing can extend beyond the domains of faces and objects of expertise poses a challenge to current dominant theories. © The Author(s) 2015.

  18. Expertise, Ethics Expertise, and Clinical Ethics Consultation: Achieving Terminological Clarity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iltis, Ana S.; Sheehan, Mark

    2016-01-01

    The language of ethics expertise has become particularly important in bioethics in light of efforts to establish the value of the clinical ethics consultation (CEC), to specify who is qualified to function as a clinical ethics consultant, and to characterize how one should evaluate whether or not a person is so qualified. Supporters and skeptics about the possibility of ethics expertise use the language of ethics expertise in ways that reflect competing views about what ethics expertise entails. We argue for clarity in understanding the nature of expertise and ethics expertise. To be an ethics expert, we argue, is to be an expert in knowing what ought to be done. Any attempt to articulate expertise with respect to knowing what ought to be done must include an account of ethics that specifies the nature of moral truth and the means by which we access this truth or a theoretical account of ethics such that expertise in another domain is linked to knowing or being better at judging what ought to be done and the standards by which this “knowing” or “being better at judging” is determined. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our analysis for the literature on ethics expertise in CEC. We do think that there are clear domains in which a clinical ethics consultant might be expert but we are skeptical about the possibility that this includes ethics expertise. Clinical ethics consultants should not be referred to as ethics experts. PMID:27256848

  19. Expertise and contra expertise independence and transparency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abarnou, G.; Ades, Y.; Ancelin, G.; Balle, St.; Bardy, J.Ch.; Beringer, F.; Blanc, M.; Bontoux, J.; Bovy, M.; Brunet, F.; Calafat, A.; Cartier, M.; Constant, H.; Delcourt, R.; Duvert, J.C.; Eichholtzer, F.; Fernandez, P.; Fernex, S.; Foechterle, A.; Gatesoupe, J.P.; Geneau, Ch.; Goerg, C.; Gourod, A.; Graschaire, G.; Hubscher Ibert, J.; Jaegert, M.; Lacoste, A.C.; Lacote, J.P.; Laroche, D.; Lazar, Ph.; Lelievre, D.; Levasseur, E.; Levent, L.; Louvat, D.; Manon, Ch.; Maugein, J.; Melguen, M.; Mouchet, Ch.; Mourat, J.P.; Naegelen, L.; Niquet, G.; Perves, J.P.; Potelet, P.; Regent, A.; Romann, J.M.; Rossa, N.; Saut, C.; Sazy, Ch.; Schmitt, P.; Sene, M.; Sene, Raymond; Sornein, J.F.; Sugier, A.; Tfibel, V.; Uhart, M.; Vidal, J.; Vieillard Baron, B.; Vigny, P.; Walgenwitz, G.; Wiest, A.; Wisselmann, R.; Zuberbuhler, A.

    2006-01-01

    About sixty participants: members of C.L.I., academics, elected representatives, manufacturers, representatives of association, institutional, crossed their experiences. The debate was mainly centred on the role of the expert, the limits of its intervention and its independence. The presented titles are following: experiences of two C.L.I. in expertise; the work of communication of the nuclear experts; interest and limits of the expertise; presentation of the I.R.S.N. and the D.G.S.N.R.; expertise: problems and experiences; presentation of the works realised in work group; the considerations of the C.S.S.I.N.. (N.C.)

  20. Anticorruption expertise of law-enforcement acts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey B. Polyakov

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective to substantiate public necessity to define the subject methodological and organizational capabilities of anticorruption expertise of law enforcement acts. Methods universal dialecticmaterialistic method was used to study the needs in anticorruption expertise of law enforcement acts in the mechanism of legal regulation based on it general scientific and special formal legal and comparative legal methods of research used for the definition of subjectmatter of the proposed expertise. Results the value of anticorruption expertise of law enforcement was shown corruption factors and corruption indicators enabling legislation were identified ways of conducting such examinations were proposed. Scientific novelty the article examines the need and the subject proposes methods of a new type of anticorruption expertise. Practical significance the conditions of corruption are defined which are created in law enforcement activities and methods for their detection are proposed. nbsp

  1. Implementing a low-cost web-based clinical trial management system for community studies: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geyer, John; Myers, Kathleen; Vander Stoep, Ann; McCarty, Carolyn; Palmer, Nancy; DeSalvo, Amy

    2011-10-01

    Clinical trials with multiple intervention locations and a single research coordinating center can be logistically difficult to implement. Increasingly, web-based systems are used to provide clinical trial support with many commercial, open source, and proprietary systems in use. New web-based tools are available which can be customized without programming expertise to deliver web-based clinical trial management and data collection functions. To demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing low-cost configurable applications to create a customized web-based data collection and study management system for a five intervention site randomized clinical trial establishing the efficacy of providing evidence-based treatment via teleconferencing to children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The sites are small communities that would not usually be included in traditional randomized trials. A major goal was to develop database that participants could access from computers in their home communities for direct data entry. Discussed is the selection process leading to the identification and utilization of a cost-effective and user-friendly set of tools capable of customization for data collection and study management tasks. An online assessment collection application, template-based web portal creation application, and web-accessible Access 2007 database were selected and customized to provide the following features: schedule appointments, administer and monitor online secure assessments, issue subject incentives, and securely transmit electronic documents between sites. Each tool was configured by users with limited programming expertise. As of June 2011, the system has successfully been used with 125 participants in 5 communities, who have completed 536 sets of assessment questionnaires, 8 community therapists, and 11 research staff at the research coordinating center. Total automation of processes is not possible with the current set of tools as each is loosely

  2. Segmentation of dance movement: Effects of expertise, visual familiarity, motor experience and music

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bettina E. Bläsing

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available According to event segmentation theory, action perception depends on sensory cues and prior knowledge, and the segmentation of observed actions is crucial for understanding and memorizing these actions. While most activities in everyday life are characterized by external goals and interaction with objects or persons, this does not necessarily apply to dance-like actions. We investigated to what extent visual familiarity of the observed movement and accompanying music influence the segmentation of a dance phrase in dancers of different skill level and non-dancers. In Experiment 1, dancers and non-dancers repeatedly watched a video clip showing a dancer performing a choreographed dance phrase and indicated segment boundaries by key press. Dancers generally defined less segment boundaries than non-dancers, specifically in the first trials in which visual familiarity with the phrase was low. Music increased the number of segment boundaries in the non-dancers and decreased it in the dancers. The results suggest that dance expertise reduces the number of perceived segment boundaries in an observed dance phrase, and that the ways visual familiarity and music affect movement segmentation are modulated by dance expertise. In a second experiment, motor experience was added as factor, based on empirical evidence suggesting that action perception is modified by visual and motor expertise in different ways. In Experiment 2, the same task as in Experiment 1 was performed by dance amateurs, and was repeated by the same participants after they had learned to dance the presented dance phrase. Less segment boundaries were defined in the middle trials after participants had learned to dance the phrase, and music reduced the number of segment boundaries before learning. The results suggest that specific motor experience of the observed movement influences its perception and anticipation and makes segmentation broader, but not to the same degree as dance expertise

  3. E-Commerce Audit Judgment Expertise: Does Expertise in System Change Management and Information Technology Auditing Mediate E-Commerce Audit Judgment Expertise?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jagdish PATHAK

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A global survey of 203 E-commerce auditors was conducted to investigate the perceptions about the potential determinants of expertise in E-commerce audits. We hypothesize and find evidence indicating that information technology and communication expertise are positively related to expertise in E-commerce audit judgment. We also find that system change management expertise and information technology audit expertise mediate this relationship.

  4. A constraints-based approach to the acquisition of expertise in outdoor adventure sports

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davids, Keith; Brymer, Eric; Seifert, Ludovic; Orth, Dominic

    2013-01-01

    A constraints-based framework enables a new understanding of expertise in outdoor adventure sports by considering performer-environment couplings through emergent and self-organizing behaviours in relation to interacting constraints. Expert adventure athletes, conceptualized as complex, dynamical

  5. E-expertise modern collective intelligence

    CERN Document Server

    Gubanov, Dmitry; Novikov, Dmitry; Raikov, Alexander

    2014-01-01

      This book focuses on organization and mechanisms of expert decision-making support using modern information and communication technologies, as well as information analysis and collective intelligence technologies (electronic expertise or simply e-expertise). Chapter 1 (E-Expertise) discusses the role of e-expertise in decision-making processes. The procedures of e-expertise are classified, their benefits and shortcomings are identified, and the efficiency conditions are considered. Chapter 2 (Expert Technologies and Principles) provides a comprehensive overview of modern expert technologies. A special emphasis is placed on the specifics of e-expertise. Moreover, the authors study the feasibility and reasonability of employing well-known methods and approaches in e-expertise. Chapter 3 (E-Expertise: Organization and Technologies) describes some examples of up-to-date technologies to perform e-expertise. Chapter 4 (Trust Networks and Competence Networks) deals with the problems of expert finding and grouping...

  6. The contribution of research on expertise to understanding of expert thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krnjaić Zora

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Expertise is determined based on the high level of mastery of knowledge and skills in different areas of human activities (science, art, sports and other less formal domains. This paper explores the contribution of empirical research on expertise to understanding of the nature of expert thinking. For that purpose we have compiled an overview and performed an analysis of the findings of relevant research on expertise based on different approaches and paradigms. We have included the studies that researched experts singled out based on their exceptional performances in different domains (absolute expertise and the studies based on comparing experts with novices (relative expertise. We have analyzed the studies using different paradigms: psychometric and cognitive paradigms, as well as the new offshoot, the paradigm based on viewing giftedness as developing expertise. Research results provide empirically grounded findings on the characteristics of expert thinking and consistently point to the fact that knowledge is the core of expertise. The characteristics of expert knowledge are operationalized via the quantity and organization of knowledge and the mastery of deep contents and knowledge systems, which enables the recognition of rules, models and information sets, as well as the use of knowledge in further studying, detecting and solving different problems. It can be concluded that research findings on expertise are one of the foundations in the conceptualization of expert thinking. They significantly contribute to obtaining an insight into the way in which knowledge shapes thought and into understanding the mechanisms of demonstrating knowledge in the mental processes of experts.

  7. Using Network-Based Language Analysis to Bridge Expertise and Cultivate Sensitivity to Differentiated Language Use in Interdisciplinary Geoscience Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannah, M. A.; Simeone, M.

    2017-12-01

    On interdisciplinary teams, expertise is varied, as is evidenced by differences in team members' language use. Developing strategies to combine that expertise and bridge differentiated language practices is especially difficult between geoscience subdisciplines as researchers assume they use a shared language—vocabulary, jargon, codes, linguistic styles. In our paper, we discuss a network-based approach used to identify varied expertise and language practices between geoscientists (n=29) on a NSF team funded to study how deep and surface Earth processes worked together to give rise to the Great Oxygenation Event. We describe how we modeled the team's expertise from a language corpus consisting of 220 oxygen-related terms frequently used by team members and then compared their understanding of the terms to develop interventions to bridge the team's expertise. Corpus terms were identified via team member interviews, observations of members' interactions at research meetings, and discourse analysis of members' publications. Comparisons of members' language use were based on a Likert scale survey that asked members to assess how they understood a term; how frequently they used a term; and whether they conceptualized a term as an object or process. Rather than use our method as a communication audit tool (Zwijze-Koning & de Jong, 2015), teams can proactively use it in a project's early stages to assess the contours of the team's differentiated expertise and show where specialized knowledge resides in the team, where latent or non-obvious expertise exists, where expertise overlaps, and where gaps are in the team's knowledge. With this information, teams can make evidence based recommendations to forward their work such as allocating resources; identifying and empowering members to serve as connectors and lead cross-functional project initiatives; and developing strategies to avoid communication barriers. The method also generates models for teaching language

  8. Powering Ideas through Expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

    2016-01-01

    This contribution discusses how ideas are powered through expertise and moral authority. Professionals compete with each other to power ideas by linking claims to expertise, how things best work, to moral claims about how things should be. To show how, we draw on a case of battles over global tax...... reporting multinational corporations should provide to ensure they pay their fair share of tax. Ideas powered by expertise contain shared causal beliefs, as well as principled beliefs about value systems. We demonstrate that professionals can contest the established order when demonstrations of expertise...

  9. Assessing Expertise in Introductory Physics Using Categorization Task

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Andrew; Singh, Chandralekha

    2011-01-01

    The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than surface features or contexts, is considered one of several proxy predictors of expertise in problem solving. With inspiration from the classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we assess the distribution of expertise among introductory physics students by asking…

  10. Developing expertise in surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alderson, David

    2010-01-01

    The concept of expertise is widely embraced but poorly defined in surgery. Dictionary definitions differentiate between authority and experience, while a third view sees expertise as a mind-set rather than a status. Both absolute and relative models of expertise have been developed, and each allows a richer understanding of the application of these concepts to emerge. Trainees must develop both independent and interdependent expertise, and an appreciation of the essentially constructivist and uncertain nature of medical knowledge. Approach may be more important than innate talent; the concepts of 'flow', sustained 'deliberate practice' and 'adaptive expertise' are examples of expert approaches to learning. Non-analytical reasoning plays a key role in decision making at expert levels of practice. A technically gifted surgeon may be seen as a safety hazard rather than an expert if inter-dependent expertise has not been developed. Key roles of a surgical educator are to facilitate the development of an expert approach to education and to enable entry into and movement towards the centre of an expert community of practice.

  11. Studying Real-World Perceptual Expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianhong eShen

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Significant insights into visual cognition have come from studying real-world perceptual expertise. Many have previously reviewed empirical findings and theoretical developments from this work. Here we instead provide a brief perspective on approaches, considerations, and challenges to studying real-world perceptual expertise. We discuss factors like choosing to use real-world versus artificial object domains of expertise, selecting a target domain of real-world perceptual expertise, recruiting experts, evaluating their level of expertise, and experimentally testing experts in the lab and online. Throughout our perspective, we highlight expert birding (also called birdwatching as an example, as it has been used as a target domain for over two decades in the perceptual expertise literature.

  12. [Traumatic brain injuries--forensic and expertise aspects].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuleković, Petar; Simić, Milan; Misić-Pavkov, Gordana; Cigić, Tomislav; Kojadinović, Zeljko; Dilvesi, Dula

    2008-01-01

    Traumatic brain injuries have major socio-economic importance due to their frequency, high mortality and serious consequences. According to their nature the consequences of these injuries may be classified as neurological, psychiatric and esthetic. Various lesions of brain structures cause neurological consequences such as disturbance of motor functions, sensibility, coordination or involuntary movements, speech disturbances and other deviations, as well as epilepsy. Psychiatric consequences include cognitive deficit, emotional disturbances and behavior disturbances. CRIMINAL-LEGAL ASPECT OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES AND LITIGATION: Criminal-legal aspect of traumatic brain injuries expertise understands the qualification of these injuries as mild, serious and qualified serious body injuries as well as the expertise about the mechanisms of their occurrence. Litigation expertise includes the estimation of pain, fear, diminished, i.e. lost vital activity and disability, esthetic marring, and psychological suffer based on the diminished general vital activity and esthetic marring. Evaluation of consequences of traumatic brain injuries should be performed only when it can be positively confirmed that they are permanent, i.e. at least one year after the injury. Expertise of these injuries is interdisciplinary. Among clinical doctors the most competent medical expert is the one who is in charge for diagnostics and injury treatment, with the recommendation to avoid, if possible, the doctor who conducted treatment. For the estimation of general vital activity, the neurological consequences, pain and esthetic marring expertise, the most competent doctors are neurosurgeon and neurologist. Psychological psychiatric consequences and fear expertise have to be performed by the psychiatrist. Specialists of forensic medicine contribute with knowledge of criminal low and legal expertise.

  13. Expertise in physiological breech birth: A mixed-methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Shawn; Parker, Pam; Scamell, Mandie

    2018-06-01

    The safety of vaginal breech birth depends on the expertise of birth attendants, yet the meaning of "expertise" remains unclear and subjectively defined. The objective of this study was to define expertise and the roles experts may play in expanding access to this service. We performed an integrative analysis of two strands of data concerning expertise in physiological breech birth, including the following: survey data from a Delphi study involving 26 very experienced clinicians (mean experience = 135 breech births) and 2 service user representatives, and interviews from a grounded theory study of 14 clinicians more moderately experienced with physiological methods (5-30 upright breech births). Data were pooled and analyzed using constant comparative methods. Expertise is defined by its ongoing function, the generation of comparatively good outcomes, and confidence and competence among colleagues. Although clinical experience is important, expertise is developed and expressed in social clinical roles, which expand as experience grows: clinician, mentor, specialist, and expert. To develop expertise within a service, clinicians who have an interest in breech birth should be supported to perform these roles within specialist teams. Specialist breech teams may facilitate the development of expertise within maternity care settings. Evaluation of expertise based on enablement of women and colleagues, as well as outcomes, will potentially avoid the pitfalls of alienation produced by some forms of specialist authority. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Expertise for Teaching Biology Situated in the Context of Genetic Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van der Zande, Paul; Akkerman, Sanne F.; Brekelmans, Mieke; Waarlo, Arend Jan; Vermunt, Jan D.

    2012-07-01

    Contemporary genomics research will impact the daily practice of biology teachers who want to teach up-to-date genetics in secondary education. This article reports on a research project aimed at enhancing biology teachers' expertise for teaching genetics situated in the context of genetic testing. The increasing body of scientific knowledge concerning genetic testing and the related consequences for decision-making indicate the societal relevance of an educational approach based on situated learning. What expertise do biology teachers need for teaching genetics in the personal health context of genetic testing? This article describes the required expertise by exploring the educational practice. Nine experienced teachers were interviewed about the pedagogical content, moral and interpersonal expertise areas concerning how to teach genetics in the personal health context of genetic testing, and the lessons of five of them were observed. The findings showed that the required teacher expertise encompasses specific pedagogical content expertise, interpersonal expertise and a preference for teacher roles and teaching approaches for the moral aspects of teaching in this context. A need for further development of teaching and learning activities for (reflection on) moral reasoning came to the fore. Suggestions regarding how to apply this expertise into context-based genetics education are discussed.

  15. Influence of tutors' subject-matter expertise on student effort and achievement in problem-based learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    H.G. Schmidt (Henk); A. van der Arend (Arie); J.H.C. Moust (Jos); I. Kokx (Irma); L. Boon (Louis)

    1993-01-01

    textabstractPurpose. To investigate the effects of tutors' subject-matter expertise on students' levels of academic achievement and study effort in a problem-based health sciences curriculum. Also, to study differences in turors' behaviors and the influences of these differences on students'

  16. An Abstraction Hierarchy based mobile PC display design in NPP maintenance considering the level of expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yim, Ho Bin; Kim, In; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → Six levels of Abstraction Hierarchy based information for maintenance were proposed. → Errors and workload with AH based information display were reduced for LL subjects. → Design concerns discovered can be applied to practical use of mobile maintenance aids. - Abstract: Recently, the importance of effective maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been emphasized and research into effective maintenance by adopting mobile maintenance aids (MMAs) have been attempted. For improved and effective use of an MMA display design method based on the hierarchy is proposed and its design considerations are discussed in this study. Six levels of hierarchy are proposed in this paper to classify the maintenance information. By classifying and organizing maintenance information using the hierarchy, maintenance information can be used effectively by users with either high or low levels of expertise. When information classification has been finished, the information for MMA design is selected and designed. With the considerations of MMA design analysis and guidelines, a hierarchy-based MMA is designed for the maintenance tasks. An experiment is conducted using the hierarchy-based MMA in order to estimate the effectiveness of the proposed method for the maintenance tasks and to identify design considerations to enhance the proposed MMAs. The result indicated that a hierarchy-based manual was more effective than a conventional manual in terms of task completion time and number of errors. The workload for the hierarchy-based manual was estimated less than the conventional manual for subjects with low level of expertise. As the level of expertise increases, subjects tended to follow more abstract information while the number of navigations decreased. It is believed that when mobile devices become pervasive in NPP maintenance fields, the hierarchy model applied MMAs can be used as an effective maintenance supporting tool.

  17. Whether Audit Committee Financial Expertise Is the Only Relevant Expertise: A Review of Audit Committee Expertise and Timeliness of Financial Reporting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeed Rabea Baatwah

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This study reviews the literature on audit committee expertise and financial reporting timeliness. Financial reporting timeliness and audit committee expertise are two areas of research gaining the attention of a large number of stakeholders because they contribute to the reliability and the  relevancy of financial reporting. Indeed, the focus of this review is primarily on the recent developments in the pertinent literature in order to show the limitations of such research and encourage future research to overcome these limitations. By also looking at the development of the audit committee expertise literature, this study concludes that (1 like most audit committee literature, financial reporting timeliness literature continues to assume the absence of the contribution of expertise other than financial expertise, and ignore the role of audit committee chair; (2 most of this literature fails to find a significant effect because it ignores the interaction among corporate governance mechanisms. Accordingly, this study posits that ignoring the issues raised in such research by future research would lead to major mistakes in reforms relating to how the quality of financial reporting can be enhanced.

  18. A new rejection of moral expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowley, Christopher

    2005-01-01

    There seem to be two clearly-defined camps in the debate over the problem of moral expertise. On the one hand are the "Professionals", who reject the possibility entirely, usually because of the intractable diversity of ethical beliefs. On the other hand are the "Ethicists", who criticise the Professionals for merely stipulating science as the most appropriate paradigm for discussions of expertise. While the subject matter and methodology of good ethical thinking is certainly different from that of good clinical thinking, they argue, this is no reason for rejecting the possibility of a distinctive kind of expertise in ethics, usually based on the idea of good justification. I want to argue that both are incorrect, partly because of the reasons given by one group against the other, but more importantly because both neglect what is most distinctive about ethics: that it is personal in a very specific way, without collapsing into relativism.

  19. Prescribing safety, negotiating expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rolina, Gregory

    2010-01-01

    Owing to their presumed impact on the safety of high-risk installations, the interactions between regulators and the regulated are a major but seldom explored subject of research in risk management. A study by experts on human and organizational factors in nuclear safety sheds light on the various phases (and their effects) of the process whereby experts produce assessments. Light is shed on a 'negotiated expertise' typical of the French style of safety regulations in nuclear installations. It is based on an ongoing technical dialog between experts and operators ('French cooking' for Anglo-Saxons). This analysis of 'expertise' and thus of the 'logics of action' implemented by experts proposes a typology of actions that can be transposed to other sorts of risk or other fields of activity. It hands us the keys for understanding a very contemporary activity. (author)

  20. Rituals of environmental expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Lars Kjerulf

    2008-01-01

    Use of experts in media reports about the environment is not confined to its information function. Voices of expertise also serve a ritual function in societal communication by enacting collective sentiments and common world views cast around consensus as well as conflict. This article presents...... theoretical discussions and examples from a case study of Danish television news coverage of the environment supporting such an understanding of expertise in broadcast media. And adds to the discussion of expertise a discussion of the opposing category of lay knowledge....

  1. Understanding Expertise from Elite Badminton Coaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheu, Feng-Ru

    2011-01-01

    Badminton is a growing sport with a limited amount of expertise both in players and coaches so attempts are being made to extend the expertise internationally. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of coaching expertise in badminton because such an understanding might have implications for a more general understanding of expertise,…

  2. Competence and Professional Expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Evers, A.T.; Heijden, B.I.J.M. van der; Mulder, M.

    2017-01-01

    Theoretical and empirical controversies exist about the understanding and potentials of the concepts of competence and professional expertise. In this chapter, both concepts will be thoroughly conceptualised and discussed. Competence and professional expertise are important as all professionals need

  3. Competence and Professional Expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Evers, Arnoud; Van der Heijden, Beatrice

    2018-01-01

    Theoretical and empirical controversies exist about the understanding and potentials of the concepts competence and professional expertise. In this chapter, both concepts will be thoroughly conceptualised and discussed. Competence and professional expertise are important as all professionals need to

  4. Expertise-based peer selection in Peer-to-Peer networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haase, Peter; Siebes, Ronny; Harmelen, van Frank

    2007-01-01

    Peer-to-Peer systems have proven to be an effective way of sharing data. Modern protocols are able to efficiently route a message to a given peer. However, determining the destination peer in the first place is not always trivial. We propose a model in which peers advertise their expertise in

  5. From deep to superficial categorization with increasing expertise.

    OpenAIRE

    Ormerod, Thomas C.; Fritz, Catherine O.; Ridgway, James

    1999-01-01

    An experimental study of task design expertise is reported wherein a set of 12 mathematics tasks were sorted by specialist designers of mathematics tasks and by experienced mathematics teachers without specialist design experience. Contrary to the frequent finding of increasing conceptual depth with increasing expertise, conceptual depth did not differ between groups. Teachers sorted on the basis of mathematical content earlier than designers, and were more specific in their content-based cat...

  6. The politics of expertise in participatory forestry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Green, Kathryn E.; Lund, Jens Friis

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we show how the framing of a community-based forest management (CBFM) intervention implies the professionalization of forest management and the privileging of certain forms of knowledge in a village in Tanzania. We describe how the framing of CBFM in technical and procedural terms......, and the subsequent construction of expertise by implementers through training, combine with existing signifiers of social stratification to shape struggles over participation and access to benefits from forest use and management. We also describe how the perceived necessity of expertise is not questioned by village...

  7. Adults' and Children's Understanding of How Expertise Influences Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danovitch, Judith H; Shenouda, Christine K

    2018-01-01

    Adults and children use information about expertise to infer what a person is likely to know, but it is unclear whether they realize that expertise also has implications for learning. We explore adults' and children's understanding that expertise in a particular category supports learning about a closely related category. In four experiments, 5-year-olds and adults (n = 160) judged which of two people would be better at learning about a new category. When faced with an expert and a nonexpert, adults consistently indicated that expertise supports learning in a closely related category; however, children's judgments were inconsistent and were strongly influenced by the description of the nonexpert. The results suggest that although children understand what it means to be an expert, they may judge an individual's learning capacity based on different considerations than adults.

  8. The committee of scientific expertise coordination; Le comite de coordination d'expertise scientifique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-07-01

    Placed under the MIES control, the Committee of scientific expertise coordination defines the needs, the contain and the planing of expertises realized in function of Climate national and international decisions and negotiations calendars. The Committee verifies the different expertises and offers the administrations, scientific tools and techniques useful for the negotiations. It can also define long-dated research needs which require the scientific community mobilization. This paper provides some document of the Committee: objectives, operating and priorities of the Committee, scenarios ''Factor 4'' and ''crack technology'', perceptions and practices, developing countries (China, India...), Euromed. (A.L.B.)

  9. Teachers’ Professional Development in Context-based Chemistry Education : Strategies to Support Teachers in Developing Domain-specific Expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dolfing, R.

    2013-01-01

    The international trend of redesigning science curricula in terms of meaningful context-based programmes, involves a tremendous change in teachers’ practices. The successful implementation of such new curricula requires that teachers develop new domain-specific expertise in teaching innovative

  10. Assessing expertise in introductory physics using categorization task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Mason

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than surface features or contexts, is considered one of several proxy predictors of expertise in problem solving. With inspiration from the classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we assess the distribution of expertise among introductory physics students by asking three introductory physics classes, each with more than a hundred students, to categorize mechanics problems based upon similarity of solution. We compare their categorization with those of physics graduate students and faculty members. To evaluate the effect of problem context on students’ ability to categorize, two sets of problems were developed for categorization. Some problems in one set included those available from the prior study by Chi et al. We find a large overlap between calculus-based introductory students and graduate students with regard to their categorizations that were assessed as “good.” Our findings, which contrast with those of Chi et al., suggest that there is a wide distribution of expertise in mechanics among introductory and graduate students. Although the categorization task is conceptual, introductory students in the calculus-based course performed better than those in the algebra-based course. Qualitative trends in categorization of problems are similar between the non-Chi problems and problems available from the Chi study used in our study although the Chi problems used are more difficult on average.

  11. 40 CFR 1508.26 - Special expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Special expertise. 1508.26 Section 1508.26 Protection of Environment COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TERMINOLOGY AND INDEX § 1508.26 Special expertise. Special expertise means statutory responsibility, agency mission, or related program...

  12. Musical expertise and second language learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chobert, Julie; Besson, Mireille

    2013-06-06

    Increasing evidence suggests that musical expertise influences brain organization and brain functions. Moreover, results at the behavioral and neurophysiological levels reveal that musical expertise positively influences several aspects of speech processing, from auditory perception to speech production. In this review, we focus on the main results of the literature that led to the idea that musical expertise may benefit second language acquisition. We discuss several interpretations that may account for the influence of musical expertise on speech processing in native and foreign languages, and we propose new directions for future research.

  13. The Importance of Domain-Specific Expertise in Creativity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baer, John

    2015-01-01

    Although creativity and expertise are related, they are nonetheless very different things. Expertise does not usually require creativity, but creativity generally does require a certain level of expertise. There are similarities in the relationships of both expertise and creativity to domains, however. Research has shown that just as expertise in…

  14. 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.

  15. Relational Expertise in Participatory Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dindler, Christian; Iversen, Ole Sejer

    2014-01-01

    This paper positions relation expertise as a core competence in participatory design. It is an expertise that demands the participatory designer to stimulate the emergence of loosely coupled knotworks, and obtain symbiotic agreement between participants disregarding their professional and social...

  16. The committee of scientific expertise coordination; Le comite de coordination d'expertise scientifique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-07-01

    Placed under the MIES control, the Committee of scientific expertise coordination defines the needs, the contain and the planing of expertises realized in function of Climate national and international decisions and negotiations calendars. The Committee verifies the different expertises and offers the administrations, scientific tools and techniques useful for the negotiations. It can also define long-dated research needs which require the scientific community mobilization. This paper provides some document of the Committee: objectives, operating and priorities of the Committee, scenarios ''Factor 4'' and ''crack technology'', perceptions and practices, developing countries (China, India...), Euromed. (A.L.B.)

  17. The Automation-by-Expertise-by-Training Interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strauch, Barry

    2017-03-01

    I introduce the automation-by-expertise-by-training interaction in automated systems and discuss its influence on operator performance. Transportation accidents that, across a 30-year interval demonstrated identical automation-related operator errors, suggest a need to reexamine traditional views of automation. I review accident investigation reports, regulator studies, and literature on human computer interaction, expertise, and training and discuss how failing to attend to the interaction of automation, expertise level, and training has enabled operators to commit identical automation-related errors. Automated systems continue to provide capabilities exceeding operators' need for effective system operation and provide interfaces that can hinder, rather than enhance, operator automation-related situation awareness. Because of limitations in time and resources, training programs do not provide operators the expertise needed to effectively operate these automated systems, requiring them to obtain the expertise ad hoc during system operations. As a result, many do not acquire necessary automation-related system expertise. Integrating automation with expected operator expertise levels, and within training programs that provide operators the necessary automation expertise, can reduce opportunities for automation-related operator errors. Research to address the automation-by-expertise-by-training interaction is needed. However, such research must meet challenges inherent to examining realistic sociotechnical system automation features with representative samples of operators, perhaps by using observational and ethnographic research. Research in this domain should improve the integration of design and training and, it is hoped, enhance operator performance.

  18. The nature of expertise and human resource functions supporting expertise in nuclear industry organizations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rintala, N.; Katri, S.; Eila, J.; Pahkin, K.; Anneli, L.

    2007-01-01

    Full text: The nuclear industry worldwide faces the challenge of preserving the existing expertise, competence and knowledge despite of the ageing workforce and upcoming retirements. Challenges are also imposed by the reducing amount of new recruits and students entering the nuclear industry, which amounts to fewer young professionals that have the potential to become nuclear experts in the future. Although many other industries share similar challenges, the preservation of expertise in the nuclear industry is even more important due to the safety-critical nature of the nuclear operations and the special characteristics that high-reliability organizations such as nuclear power plants have. As a response to the risk of knowledge loss, nuclear organizations have engaged in knowledge capturing efforts. New information systems and organizational practices have been implemented to safeguard nuclear expertise. Recently, IAEA has proposed nuclear organizations to design and adopt people-centered programs that encompass themes such as workforce planning, recruitment, training, succession planning, leadership development and knowledge management. Thus, in order to address the current risks to nuclear expertise, attention should be focused on these different areas and corresponding human resources (HR) functions within the nuclear organizations. Our paper presents results from a project which examines the nature of expert work and human resources (HR) functions that support the development and preservation of expertise. The study adopts a qualitative cross-sectional case study design. Two organizational units from different nuclear industry organizations have been selected as cases. The research data will be gathered in April-May 2007 and preliminary results will be presented in the International Conference of Knowledge Management in Nuclear Facilities, in June 2007. The main data will comprise of thematic interviews to experts, their managers and HR representatives

  19. [Effects of attitude formation, persuasive message, and source expertise on attitude change: an examination based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Attitude Formation Theory].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, M; Saito, K; Wakabayashi, M

    1990-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate how attitude change is generated by the recipient's degree of attitude formation, evaluative-emotional elements contained in the persuasive messages, and source expertise as a peripheral cue in the persuasion context. Hypotheses based on the Attitude Formation Theory of Mizuhara (1982) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Petty and Cacioppo (1981, 1986) were examined. Eighty undergraduate students served as subjects in the experiment, the first stage of which involving manipulating the degree of attitude formation with respect to nuclear power development. Then, the experimenter presented persuasive messages with varying combinations of evaluative-emotional elements from a source with either high or low expertise on the subject. Results revealed a significant interaction effect on attitude change among attitude formation, persuasive message and the expertise of the message source. That is, high attitude formation subjects resisted evaluative-emotional persuasion from the high expertise source while low attitude formation subjects changed their attitude when exposed to the same persuasive message from a low expertise source. Results exceeded initial predictions based on the Attitude Formation Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

  20. Expertise and Intuitions about Reference

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edouard Machery

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Many philosophers hold that experts’ semantic intuitions are more reliable and provide better evidence than lay people’s intuitions—a thesis commonly called “the Expertise Defense.” Focusing on the intuitions about the reference of proper names, this article critically assesses the Expertise Defense.

  1. Digital gaming expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Toft-Nielsen, Claus

    In a digitally saturated environment digital media users of all kinds, engaged in different areas of activity, are increasingly categorized in terms of their ability to appropriate and use digital media – they are regarded as non-users, experts, natives, or literates for instance. Within communic......In a digitally saturated environment digital media users of all kinds, engaged in different areas of activity, are increasingly categorized in terms of their ability to appropriate and use digital media – they are regarded as non-users, experts, natives, or literates for instance. Within...... communication and game studies there are multiple understandings of how digital expertise is expressed and performed, and subsequently how these expressions and performances can be valued, understood and theorized within the research community. Among other things expertise with and within digital games has......-of-game (Schrøder, 2003) in a three-year-long study of men and women (couples and singles) playing the largest Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game to date, World of Warcraft. In focusing on how different aspects of gaming expertise are articulated, negotiated, and performed, I aim to illustrate how...

  2. Reflections on clinical expertise and silent know-how in voice therapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iwarsson, Jenny

    2014-01-01

    The concept of ‘clinical expertise’ is described as a part of evidence-based practice (EBP) together with ‘external scientific evidence’ and ‘patient values and perspectives’. However, clinical expertise in the management of voice disorders has not been described or discussed in much detail....... The expertise seems to consist partly of silent know-how that, from the outside, may seem improperly related to the personality of the speech-language pathologist or exclusively dependent on the number of years in the field. In this paper, it is suggested that clinical expertise in voice therapy consists...

  3. Understanding the Validity of Data: A Knowledge-Based Network Underlying Research Expertise in Scientific Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Ros

    2016-01-01

    This article considers what might be taught to meet a widely held curriculum aim of students being able to understand research in a discipline. Expertise, which may appear as a "chain of practice," is widely held to be underpinned by networks of understanding. Scientific research expertise is considered from this perspective. Within…

  4. Rethinking global health research: towards integrative expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MacLachlan Malcolm

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The Bamako Call for Action on Research for Health stresses the importance of inter-disciplinary, inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral working. This challenges much of our current research and postgraduate research training in health, which mostly seeks to produce narrowly focused content specialists. We now need to compliment this type of research and research training, by offering alternative pathways that seek to create expertise, not only in specific narrow content areas, but also in the process and context of research, as well as in the interaction of these different facets of knowledge. Such an approach, developing 'integrative expertise', could greatly facilitate better research utilisation, helping policy makers and practitioners work through more evidence-based practice and across traditional research boundaries.

  5. Science, expertise, and democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinberg, Justin; Elliott, Kevin C

    2012-06-01

    The combination of government's significant involvement in science, science's significant effects on the public, and public ignorance (of both politics and science) raise important challenges for reconciling scientific expertise with democratic governance. Nevertheless, there have recently been a variety of encouraging efforts to make scientific activity more responsive to social values and to develop citizens' capacity to engage in more effective democratic governance of science. This essay introduces a special issue of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, "Science, Expertise, and Democracy," consisting of five papers that developed from the inaugural Three Rivers Philosophy conference held at the University of South Carolina in April 2011. The pieces range from a general analysis of the in-principle compatibility of scientific expertise and democracy to much more concrete studies of the intersection between scientific practices and democratic values in areas such as weight-of-evidence analysis, climate science, and studies of locally undesirable land uses.

  6. Wine Expertise Predicts Taste Phenotype.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, John E; Pickering, Gary J

    2012-03-01

    Taste phenotypes have long been studied in relation to alcohol intake, dependence, and family history, with contradictory findings. However, on balance - with appropriate caveats about populations tested, outcomes measured and psychophysical methods used - an association between variation in taste responsiveness and some alcohol behaviors is supported. Recent work suggests super-tasting (operationalized via propylthiouracil (PROP) bitterness) not only associates with heightened response but also with more acute discrimination between stimuli. Here, we explore relationships between food and beverage adventurousness and taste phenotype. A convenience sample of wine drinkers (n=330) were recruited in Ontario and phenotyped for PROP bitterness via filter paper disk. They also filled out a short questionnaire regarding willingness to try new foods, alcoholic beverages and wines as well as level of wine involvement, which was used to classify them as a wine expert (n=110) or wine consumer (n=220). In univariate logisitic models, food adventurousness predicted trying new wines and beverages but not expertise. Likewise, wine expertise predicted willingness to try new wines and beverages but not foods. In separate multivariate logistic models, willingness to try new wines and beverages was predicted by expertise and food adventurousness but not PROP. However, mean PROP bitterness was higher among wine experts than wine consumers, and the conditional distribution functions differed between experts and consumers. In contrast, PROP means and distributions did not differ with food adventurousness. These data suggest individuals may self-select for specific professions based on sensory ability (i.e., an active gene-environment correlation) but phenotype does not explain willingness to try new stimuli.

  7. Expertise seeking

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hertzum, Morten

    2014-01-01

    used sources. Studies repeatedly show the influence of the social network – of friendships and personal dislikes – on the expertise-seeking network of organisations. In addition, people are no less prominent than documentary sources, in work contexts as well as daily-life contexts. The relative...

  8. Predicting stabilizing treatment outcomes for complex posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder: an expertise-based prognostic model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baars, E.W.; van der Hart, O.; Nijenhuis, E.R.S.; Chu, J.A.; Glas, G.; Draaijer, N.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop an expertise-based prognostic model for the treatment of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative identity disorder (DID).We developed a survey in 2 rounds: In the first round we surveyed 42 experienced therapists (22 DID and 20 complex

  9. Teacher expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens

    Teacher Expertise: How to improve the relationship between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Jens Rasmussen, Department of Education, Aarhus University In several studies and reports it has been nailed over and over that teachers’ matter. So this is not the question in this study. The ques......Teacher Expertise: How to improve the relationship between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Jens Rasmussen, Department of Education, Aarhus University In several studies and reports it has been nailed over and over that teachers’ matter. So this is not the question in this study....... The question is how teacher preparation leads to effective teachers. The study Expert in Teaching paid special attention to the intention of connecting coursework more directly to practice in pre-service teacher education. The overall objective of the study was to strengthen the relationship between theory...... that the three parties (college teachers, practice teachers and teacher students) found it difficult to perform and maintain their different roles....

  10. Digital Student Expertise in the Making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stenbøg, Sofie

    student (e.g. Bennett et. al. 2008, Helsper & Eynon 2009). In this paper I go beyond the idea of digital expertise as something intrinsic. Building on STS’s central notion of performativity (e.g. Law & Singleton 2000) the paper argues that digital expertise should be studied as a temporary achievement......Digital Natives, iGens’ or New Millennium Learners (Prensky 2001, Raphelson 2014, OECD 2008). There are many labels for the generation of young (western) citizens who have grown up with digital, web based technologies as a crucial part of their everyday life. This genera-tion now inhabits schools...... all around the world and their entry has not escaped the attention from teachers, school managers and policy makers. A current trend within education management, in Denmark as well as internationally, is to incorporate the students’ digital skills or ‘expertise’ as a resource in teaching, e.g. through...

  11. Powering Ideas through Expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

    2016-01-01

    policy. Corporate reporting for tax purposes is an area where the European Union, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, large global accountancy firms and non-governmental organizations have been active. The point of contention here is what form of financial...... reporting multinational corporations should provide to ensure they pay their fair share of tax. Ideas powered by expertise contain shared causal beliefs, as well as principled beliefs about value systems. We demonstrate that professionals can contest the established order when demonstrations of expertise...

  12. The committee of scientific expertise coordination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-01-01

    Placed under the MIES control, the Committee of scientific expertise coordination defines the needs, the contain and the planing of expertises realized in function of Climate national and international decisions and negotiations calendars. The Committee verifies the different expertises and offers the administrations, scientific tools and techniques useful for the negotiations. It can also define long-dated research needs which require the scientific community mobilization. This paper provides some document of the Committee: objectives, operating and priorities of the Committee, scenarios ''Factor 4'' and ''crack technology'', perceptions and practices, developing countries (China, India...), Euromed. (A.L.B.)

  13. Development of professional expertise in optometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faucher, Caroline

    2011-04-01

    Development of professional expertise is the gradual transition from novice to expert within a profession. Studies on expertise in the profession of optometry have never been published. However, many studies have been performed in other health professions (e.g., nursing, medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy). This report is an overview of the development of professional expertise that will highlight some applications for optometry. A 5-level scale of professional expertise development, divided into 2 parts, is described. The first part is the progression of students during their professional studies (novice, intermediate, competent). The second part is the professional development occurring during the practice years (advanced, expert). Personal and collective efforts are required to foster the progression toward expertise. Great interest for the profession, motivation, and deliberate practice are individual attitudes that help this progression. The "optometric community of practice," by means of university (professional) training, continuing education, and collaboration between colleagues, also contributes to this process. Professional development is an integral part of the Optometric Oath. Each clinical case is a potential learning experience contributing to one's professional development. Optometrists' attitudes are predominant factors in the progression from one level to another. Copyright © 2011 American Optometric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Does tutor subject-matter expertise influence student achievement in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objective. To establish whether or not tutor subject-matter expertise influences student achievement in content-based examinations in the problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at the University of Transkei (UNITRA) Medical School. Design. A retrospective study of MB ChB III student achievement in end-of-block ...

  15. Emergent Expertise?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGivern, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    The concept of emergence appears in various places within the literature on expertise and expert practice. Here, I examine some of these applications of emergence in the light of two prominent accounts of emergence from the philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. I evaluate these accounts with respect to several specific contexts in which…

  16. Are Tutor Behaviors in Problem-Based Learning Stable? A Generalizability Study of Social Congruence, Expertise and Cognitive Congruence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Judith C.; Alwis, W. A. M.; Rotgans, Jerome I.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the stability of three distinct tutor behaviors (1) use of subject-matter expertise, (2) social congruence and (3) cognitive congruence, in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment. The data comprised the input from 16,047 different students to a survey of 762 tutors administered in three consecutive…

  17. The mediatization of health expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Christa Lykke

    2016-01-01

    , the article is informed by ‘mediatization’ theory and demonstrates how television influences changes to the discursive construction of Health and health expertise in factual programming in this 20-year period. The analysis demonstrates how early factual programmes were dominated by information on illness......This article concerns the Danish public service broadcaster, Danmark Radio, and the programmes on health it produced from 1990 to 2010. It applies a historical perspective and, methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative content analysis of selected health programmes. Theoretically...

  18. A web-based endpoint adjudication system for interim analyses in clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolen, Tracy L; Dimmick, Bill F; Ostrosky-Zeichner, Luis; Kendrick, Amy S; Sable, Carole; Ngai, Angela; Wallace, Dennis

    2009-02-01

    A data monitoring committee (DMC) is often employed to assess trial progress and review safety data and efficacy endpoints throughout a trail. Interim analyses performed for the DMC should use data that are as complete and verified as possible. Such analyses are complicated when data verification involves subjective study endpoints or requires clinical expertise to determine each subject's status with respect to the study endpoint. Therefore, procedures are needed to obtain adjudicated data for interim analyses in an efficient manner. In the past, methods for handling such data included using locally reported results as surrogate endpoints, adjusting analysis methods for unadjudicated data, or simply performing the adjudication as rapidly as possible. These methods all have inadequacies that make their sole usage suboptimal. For a study of prophylaxis for invasive candidiasis, adjudication of both study eligibility criteria and clinical endpoints prior to two interim analyses was required. Because the study was expected to enroll at a moderate rate and the sponsor required adjudicated endpoints to be used for interim analyses, an efficient process for adjudication was required. We created a web-based endpoint adjudication system (WebEAS) that allows for expedited review by the endpoint adjudication committee (EAC). This system automatically identifies when a subject's data are complete, creates a subject profile from the study data, and assigns EAC reviewers. The reviewers use the WebEAS to review the subject profile and submit their completed review form. The WebEAS then compares the reviews, assigns an additional review as a tiebreaker if needed, and stores the adjudicated data. The study for which this system was originally built was administratively closed after 10 months with only 38 subjects enrolled. The adjudication process was finalized and the WebEAS system activated prior to study closure. Some website accessibility issues presented initially. However

  19. Detangling Value: A study into the benefits of using in-house CSR expertise compared with the benefits of using CSR consultancy expertise

    OpenAIRE

    MacCarthy, Jennifer

    2007-01-01

    Abstract The topic of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an area with an increasing breadth of literature. However, literature regarding how CSR expertise is sourced for developing CSR projects and programmes within companies is distinctly weak. This study takes, arguably, the two most predominant forms of CSR expertise, in-house CSR expertise and CSR consultancies, and investigates what value these different types of expertise offer in sourcing for CSR activities. Bey...

  20. Driven by Expertise and Insulation? The Autonomy of European Regulatory Agencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christoph Ossege

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Expertise and autonomy are cornerstones to the effective operation and legitimacy of European Regulatory Agencies (ERAs. Yet, we know little about ERAs’ actual autonomy, nor about factors shaping it. This article studies ERAs’ actual autonomy from public and private actors, emphasising two crucial explanatory factors: expertise and rulemaking competences. The lack of insights on expertise is particularly striking, as expertise—the “raison d’être” and main resource of expert bodies—provides ERAs with a potentially powerful means to increase autonomy. Relying on a rational institutionalist framework within which ERAs enjoy substantive discretion to pursue their goals, the study empirically compares three powerful ERAs—the European Medicines Agency, the European Chemicals Agency, and the European Food Safety Authority. Based on the analysis of 39 semi-structured expert interviews, findings show that expertise is a crucial explanation for ERAs’ substantive autonomy from the Commission. Towards research intensive private stakeholders, the role of expertise becomes less pronounced. Instead, ERAs are more successful in protecting their autonomy by engaging in the risk-averse interpretation of the regulatory framework and by adapting rules over time to adapt their needs: they engage in “procedural insulation”. Political salience provides a scope condition for ERAs to use expert knowledge and rulemaking competences more strategically—potentially undermining scientific quality.

  1. Designing Education for Professional Expertise Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elvira, Quincy; Imants, Jeroen; Dankbaar, Ben; Segers, Mien

    2017-01-01

    How to facilitate learning by novices (students) on their road to expertise has attracted the attention of a vast number of researchers in cognitive and educational psychology as well in the field of learning and instruction. Although many studies have investigated the phenomenon of expertise development, the implications of the findings for…

  2. Expertise as evidence in criminal proceedings from the Communist period until nowadays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saimir Fekolli

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available During their procedural activity, investigative and judicial bodies have the pressing need to make use of special knowledge in different scientific fields of technique and science in order to resolve outstanding issues related to the subject of verification, which the law has defined as subject of expertise in criminal trial. Experts’ opinion is conceived and implemented as a particular means of verification; experts help in discovering the facts that are important to finding out the truth in criminal proceedings. In addition, they ascertain the facts and give an opinion on them, as a result of specific skills they have in the field of technique, science or culture. Experts and the process conducted by them were given importance in the legislation of the Communist era particularly with the drafting of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1979 which provides in considerable detail both the functions and the importance of expertise to resolve a criminal case. Furthermore, nowadays expertise as evidence in criminal proceedings is becoming increasingly important and is emerging, especially in view of developments in the field of Technique and Science since many criminals are very good at using innovations as a priority means for escaping detection and punishment. But on the other hand, scientific developments are increasingly cooperating with law and justice institutions to resolve the events and to provide assistance for achieving quality results in a shorter time, something that probably was unthinkable before.

  3. Progress and problems for randomized clinical trials: from streptomycin to the era of megatrials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilbrich, Lutz; Sleight, Peter

    2006-09-01

    Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are the definitive contributors to evidence-based medicine. RCTs assessing serious outcomes in cardiovascular disease have grown, with 'megatrials' becoming more common with the realization that wrong conclusions resulted from random error in inadequately sized trials. Simple design and a heterogeneous patient population were early features, but multinational trials have increased in scientific, logistical, bureaucratic, regulatory, and legal complexity. These studies now exceed the financial means of academia or medical charities. Governments have left the bill with the pharmaceutical industry, encouraging a symbiosis with academics, who contribute medical and scientific expertise, and access to patients. Industry provides pharmacological, pharmaceutical, technical and regulatory know-how, good clinical practice expertise, and legal assistance during the trial. Study supervision is then in the hands of an independent steering committee and associated subcommittees, until appropriate dissemination of results. Prospectively defined interaction with the sponsor facilitates unbiased design and conduct, but arrangements need careful implementation to avoid conflicts of interest. The patient is protected by a strong data safety monitoring board that is wholly independent. Megatrials are under threat from over-regulation, increasing costs, and difficulties in execution. These issues merit urgent public and political education and debate.

  4. Powering Ideas through Expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

    2016-01-01

    This contribution discusses how ideas are powered through expertise and moral authority. Professionals compete with each other to power ideas by linking claims to expertise, how things best work, to moral claims about how things should be. To show how, we draw on a case of battles over global tax...... policy. Corporate reporting for tax purposes is an area where the European Union, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, large global accountancy firms and non-governmental organizations have been active. The point of contention here is what form of financial...... can be fused with claims to moral authority. Such a constellation is more likely when political conditions are favourable....

  5. Communication is the key to success in pragmatic clinical trials in Practice-based Research Networks (PBRNs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertram, Susan; Graham, Deborah; Kurland, Marge; Pace, Wilson; Madison, Suzanne; Yawn, Barbara P

    2013-01-01

    Effective communication is the foundation of feasibility and fidelity in practice-based pragmatic research studies. Doing a study with practices spread over several states requires long-distance communication strategies, including E-mails, faxes, telephone calls, conference calls, and texting. Compared with face-to-face communication, distance communication strategies are less familiar to most study coordinators and research teams. Developing and ensuring comfort with distance communications requires additional time and use of different talents and expertise than those required for face-to-face communication. It is necessary to make sure that messages are appropriate for the medium, clearly crafted, and presented in a manner that facilitates practices receiving and understanding the information. This discussion is based on extensive experience of 2 groups who have worked collaboratively on several large, federally funded, pragmatic trials in a practice-based research network. The goal of this article is to summarize lessons learned to facilitate the work of other research teams.

  6. The Development of Sport Expertise: From Leeds to MVP Legend.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Katherine Thomas

    1994-01-01

    Contributions of motor skill and cognition to sport performance change across age, expertise, and sports. Knowledge and decision making should not limit the development of expertise. Specific strategies for teachers may help students develop expertise. The paper discusses the contribution of knowledge and skill to expertise and its development.…

  7. Preserving skills and expertise for nuclear safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Storey, P.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: For many decades to come the international nuclear sector will require a wide range of highly trained, experienced and competent personnel. However, with the decline in the availability of nuclear expertise which is being felt in many countries, maintaining safety competence for both the industry and the regulator becomes a difficult challenge. Assessing the extent of the decline now and predicting what is the likely need for expertise in the future is an important task for all countries. Assessment should take account of likely scenarios for change in the nuclear industry and should aim to identify areas of expertise most likely to be at risk. International Agencies are playing a key role in raising awareness about regulatory concern and are starting to coordinate response and exchange good practice. Regulatory responsibility for preserving skills and expertise and International Agency leadership are essential for a successful outcome to the issue. (author)

  8. Using Highlighting to Train Attentional Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roads, Brett; Mozer, Michael C; Busey, Thomas A

    2016-01-01

    Acquiring expertise in complex visual tasks is time consuming. To facilitate the efficient training of novices on where to look in these tasks, we propose an attentional highlighting paradigm. Highlighting involves dynamically modulating the saliency of a visual image to guide attention along the fixation path of a domain expert who had previously viewed the same image. In Experiment 1, we trained naive subjects via attentional highlighting on a fingerprint-matching task. Before and after training, we asked subjects to freely inspect images containing pairs of prints and determine whether the prints matched. Fixation sequences were automatically scored for the degree of expertise exhibited using a Bayesian discriminative model of novice and expert gaze behavior. Highlighted training causes gaze behavior to become more expert-like not only on the trained images but also on transfer images, indicating generalization of learning. In Experiment 2, to control for the possibility that the increase in expertise is due to mere exposure, we trained subjects via highlighting of fixation sequences from novices, not experts, and observed no transition toward expertise. In Experiment 3, to determine the specificity of the training effect, we trained subjects with expert fixation sequences from images other than the one being viewed, which preserves coarse-scale statistics of expert gaze but provides no information about fine-grain features. Observing at least a partial transition toward expertise, we obtain only weak evidence that the highlighting procedure facilitates the learning of critical local features. We discuss possible improvements to the highlighting procedure.

  9. Using Highlighting to Train Attentional Expertise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett Roads

    Full Text Available Acquiring expertise in complex visual tasks is time consuming. To facilitate the efficient training of novices on where to look in these tasks, we propose an attentional highlighting paradigm. Highlighting involves dynamically modulating the saliency of a visual image to guide attention along the fixation path of a domain expert who had previously viewed the same image. In Experiment 1, we trained naive subjects via attentional highlighting on a fingerprint-matching task. Before and after training, we asked subjects to freely inspect images containing pairs of prints and determine whether the prints matched. Fixation sequences were automatically scored for the degree of expertise exhibited using a Bayesian discriminative model of novice and expert gaze behavior. Highlighted training causes gaze behavior to become more expert-like not only on the trained images but also on transfer images, indicating generalization of learning. In Experiment 2, to control for the possibility that the increase in expertise is due to mere exposure, we trained subjects via highlighting of fixation sequences from novices, not experts, and observed no transition toward expertise. In Experiment 3, to determine the specificity of the training effect, we trained subjects with expert fixation sequences from images other than the one being viewed, which preserves coarse-scale statistics of expert gaze but provides no information about fine-grain features. Observing at least a partial transition toward expertise, we obtain only weak evidence that the highlighting procedure facilitates the learning of critical local features. We discuss possible improvements to the highlighting procedure.

  10. Effects of expertise on football betting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khazaal, Yasser; Chatton, Anne; Billieux, Joël; Bizzini, Lucio; Monney, Grégoire; Fresard, Emmanuelle; Thorens, Gabriel; Bondolfi, Guido; El-Guebaly, Nady; Zullino, Daniele; Khan, Riaz

    2012-05-11

    Football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports in the world, including Europe. It is associated with important betting activities. A common belief, widely spread among those who participate in gambling activities, is that knowledge and expertise on football lead to better prediction skills for match outcomes. If unfounded, however, this belief should be considered as a form of "illusion of control." The aim of this study was to examine whether football experts are better than nonexperts at predicting football match scores. Two hundred and fifty-eight persons took part in the study: 21.3% as football experts, 54.3% as laypersons (non-initiated to football), and 24.4% as football amateurs. They predicted the scores of the first 10 matches of the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. Logistic regressions were carried out to assess the link between the accuracy of the forecasted scores and the expertise of the participants (expert, amateur, layperson), controlling for age and gender. The variables assessed did not predict the accuracy of scoring prognosis (R2 ranged from 1% to 6%). Expertise, age, and gender did not appear to have an impact on the accuracy of the football match prognoses. Therefore, the belief that football expertise improves betting skills is no more than a cognitive distortion called the "illusion of control." Gamblers may benefit from psychological interventions that target the illusion of control related to their believed links between betting skills and football expertise. Public health policies may need to consider the phenomenon in order to prevent problem gambling related to football betting.

  11. [The genesis, system, functions, and tendencies in the development of forensic expertise].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossinskaya, E R

    The author considers the main landmarks in the formation and development of the science of forensic expertise and related activities. Special attention is given to the necessity of increasing knowledge and skills in judicial proceedings, further elaboration and perfection of the theory and practice of forensic expertise to meet the requirements put forward by the XXIth century. It is emphasized that this work is needed to lay the foundation for the creation of the self-consistent science - forensic expertology, based on the interdisciplinary general theory of forensic expertise. The author builds up the definition of the subject of forensic expertology taking into consideration the basic issues studied by this science. The scientific paradigm, its functions, tendencies and prospects for its further development are substantiated.

  12. Expertise and age-related changes in components of intelligence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masunaga, H; Horn, J

    2001-06-01

    In a sample of 263 male GO players at 48 levels of expertise and ranging from 18 to 78 years of age, it was found that factors of expertise deductive reasoning (EDR) and expertise working memory (EWM) were independent of factors of fluid reasoning (Gf) and short-term working memory (STWM) that, along with cognitive speed (Gs), have been found to characterize decline of intelligence in adulthood. The main effects of analyses of cross-sectional age differences indicated age-related decline in EDR and EWM as well as in Gf, STWM, and Gs. However, interaction and partialing analyses indicated that decline in EDR and EWM decreased to no decline with increase in level of expertise. The results thus suggest that with increase in factors known to raise the level of expertise--particularly, intensive, well-designed practice--there may be no age-related decline in the intelligence that is measured in the abilities of expertise.

  13. [Consistency and Reliability of MDK Expertise Examining the Encoding in the German DRG System].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaertner, T; Lehr, F; Blum, B; van Essen, J

    2015-09-01

    Hospital inpatient stays are reimbursed on the basis of German diagnosis-related groups (G-DRG). The G-DRG classification system is based on complex coding guidelines. The Medical Review Board of the Statutory Health Insurance Funds (MDK) examines the encoding by hospitals and delivers individual expertises on behalf of the German statutory health insurance companies in cases in which irregularities are suspected. A study was conducted on the inter-rater reliability of the MDK expertises regarding the scope of the assessment. A representative sample of 212 MDK expertises was taken from a selected pool of 1 392 MDK expertises in May 2013. This representative sample underwent a double-examination by 2 independent MDK experts using a special software based on the 3MTM G-DRG Grouper 2013 of 3M Medica, Germany. The following items encoded by the hospitals were examined: DRG, principal diagnosis, secondary diagnoses, procedures and additional payments. It was analysed whether the results of MDK expertises were consistent, reliable and correct. 202 expertises were eligible for evaluation, containing a total of 254 questions regarding one or more of the 5 items encoded by hospitals. The double-examination by 2 independent MDK experts showed matching results in 187 questions (73.6%) meaning they had been examined consistently and correctly. 59 questions (23.2%) did not show matching results, nevertheless they had been examined correctly regarding the scope of the assessment. None of the principal diagnoses was significantly affected by inconsistent or wrong judgment. A representative sample of MDK expertises examining the DRG encoding by hospitals showed a very high percentage of correct examination by the MDK experts. Identical MDK expertises cannot be achieved in all cases due to the scope of the assessment. Further improvement and simplification of codes and coding guidelines are required to reduce the scope of assessment with regard to correct DRG encoding and its

  14. Thoughts on Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, Robert

    This paper briefly reviews research on tasks in knowledge-rich domains including developmental studies, work in artificial intelligence, studies of expert/novice problem solving, and information processing analysis of aptitude test tasks that have provided increased understanding of the nature of expertise. Particularly evident is the finding that…

  15. Conflict Resolution and Public Participation Center of Expertise

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — On October 17, 2008, the Conflict Resolution and Public Participation Center (CPCX) was named a Corps Center of Expertise (CX) and Directory of Expertise (DX). The...

  16. Effects of expertise on football betting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khazaal Yasser

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Football (soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, including Europe. It is associated with important betting activities. A common belief, widely spread among those who participate in gambling activities, is that knowledge and expertise on football lead to better prediction skills for match outcomes. If unfounded, however, this belief should be considered as a form of “illusion of control.” The aim of this study was to examine whether football experts are better than nonexperts at predicting football match scores. Methods Two hundred and fifty-eight persons took part in the study: 21.3% as football experts, 54.3% as laypersons (non-initiated to football, and 24.4% as football amateurs. They predicted the scores of the first 10 matches of the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. Logistic regressions were carried out to assess the link between the accuracy of the forecasted scores and the expertise of the participants (expert, amateur, layperson, controlling for age and gender. Results The variables assessed did not predict the accuracy of scoring prognosis (R2 ranged from 1% to 6%. Conclusions Expertise, age, and gender did not appear to have an impact on the accuracy of the football match prognoses. Therefore, the belief that football expertise improves betting skills is no more than a cognitive distortion called the “illusion of control.” Gamblers may benefit from psychological interventions that target the illusion of control related to their believed links between betting skills and football expertise. Public health policies may need to consider the phenomenon in order to prevent problem gambling related to football betting.

  17. Toward a multifactorial model of expertise: beyond born versus made.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hambrick, David Z; Burgoyne, Alexander P; Macnamara, Brooke N; Ullén, Fredrik

    2018-02-15

    The debate over the origins of individual differences in expertise has raged for over a century in psychology. The "nature" view holds that expertise reflects "innate talent"-that is, genetically determined abilities. The "nurture" view counters that, if talent even exists, its effects on ultimate performance are negligible. While no scientist takes seriously a strict nature-only view of expertise, the nurture view has gained tremendous popularity over the past several decades. This environmentalist view holds that individual differences in expertise reflect training history, with no important contribution to ultimate performance by innate ability ("talent"). Here, we argue that, despite its popularity, this view is inadequate to account for the evidence concerning the origins of expertise that has accumulated since the view was first proposed. More generally, we argue that the nature versus nurture debate in research on expertise is over-or certainly should be, as it has been in other areas of psychological research for decades. We describe a multifactorial model for research on the nature and nurture of expertise, which we believe will provide a progressive direction for future research on expertise. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

  18. Development of the CAI system for inheritance of maintenance expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanafusa, Hidemitsu; Chigusa, Naoki; Furuta, Kazuo

    2002-01-01

    High quality maintenance is required in order to secure the safety of nuclear power plants. The engineers engaged in maintenance activities have to master various knowledge, including the explicit and tacit knowledge of experienced experts, through education and training. Moreover, it is also very important to prevent these knowledge from getting scattered and lost with a change of generation and to share the knowledge or expertise. The purpose of this study is to develop a support system for the next generation experts to help them master and make use of the knowledge of their predecessors. The knowledge or expertise consist of ''knowledge about the maintenance tasks'', ''knowledge about structure/function of plant system/equipment'', and ''individual knowledge based on trouble experience etc.''. The ways this knowledge could be represented were considered first, then this support system was developed based on such representation. (author)

  19. Negotiating knowledges and expertise in refugee resettlement organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Steimel

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Interviews with both refugees and organizational staff in two nonprofit refugee resettlement organizations in the United States reveal the ways in which knowledge(s and expertise are crafted, threatened, and understood in refugee organizations. Refugee-participants described the need for knowledgeable communication, barriers to the communication of knowledge, and processes of negotiating whose expertise is involved. Organizational staff participants described the duty of communicating expert knowledge, the limits of knowledge as expertise, and alternative communications of expertise. These tensions surrounding “knowing” in refugee resettlement organizations highlights the need for a more complex theoretical understanding of the processes of knowing present in refugee resettlement. These tensions also suggest areas in which refugee resettlement agencies and other nonprofit staff can make on-the-ground changes to better facilitate refugee resettlement processes.

  20. Using professional expertise in partnership with families: A new model of capacity building.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clerke, Teena; Hopwood, Nick; Chavasse, Fran; Fowler, Cathrine; Lee, Sally; Rogers, Julie

    2017-03-01

    The first five years of parenting are critical to children's development. Parents are known to respond best to interventions with a partnership-based approach, yet child and family health nurses (CFHNs) report some tension between employing their expertise and maintaining a partnership relationship. This article identifies ways in which CFHNs skilfully use their professional expertise, underpinned by helping qualities and interpersonal skills, to assist families build confidence and capacity, and thus buffer against threats to parent and child well-being. It reports on an Australian ethnographic study of services for families with young children. Fifty-two interactions were observed between CFHNs and families in day-stay and home visiting services in Sydney. A new model is presented, based on four partnership activities and the fluid movement between them, to show how CFHNs use their expertise to identify strengths and foster resilience in families in the longer term, without undermining the principles of partnership.

  1. Perceptions and Predictions of Expertise in Advanced Musical Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papageorgi, Ioulia; Creech, Andrea; Haddon, Elizabeth; Morton, Frances; De Bezenac, Christophe; Himonides, Evangelos; Potter, John; Duffy, Celia; Whyton, Tony; Welch, Graham

    2010-01-01

    The aim of this article was to compare musicians' views on (a) the importance of musical skills and (b) the nature of expertise. Data were obtained from a specially devised web-based questionnaire completed by advanced musicians representing four musical genres (classical, popular, jazz, Scottish traditional) and varying degrees of professional…

  2. Clinical Ethics Consultants are not “Ethics” Experts—But They do Have Expertise 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmussen, Lisa M.

    2016-01-01

    The attempt to critique the profession of clinical ethics consultation by establishing the impossibility of ethics expertise has been a red herring. Decisions made in clinical ethics cases are almost never based purely on moral judgments. Instead, they are all-things-considered judgments that involve determining how to balance other values as well. A standard of justified decision-making in this context would enable us to identify experts who could achieve these standards more often than others, and thus provide a basis for expertise in clinical ethics consultation. This expertise relies in part on what Richard Zaner calls the “expert knowledge of ethical phenomena” (1988, 8). PMID:27302970

  3. Programs and Expertise

    CERN Document Server

    2001-01-01

    Description of programs and expertise implemented by Radiation Protection Centre is presented. RPC implements study assessing the doses received by air crew members of Lithuanian Airlines. In 2001 RPC started measurements of indoor radon concentrations in the houses of regions with karst formations, commenced new program analyzing amounts of radionuclides in typical diet of hospital patients.

  4. Organizational change and human expertise in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masson, M.; Malaisc, N.

    1992-01-01

    Reliability and safety are two very important goals, which depend on technical and organizational factors, but also on human expertise. How to ensure a safe functioning of a nuclear power plant in a changing context, and what might be the role and aspects of training and transfer of knowledge? These are the questions we shall deal with in this paper, on the basis of two field studies. The two field studies stress the needs for setting up case based training, which best ensure the acquisition of know-how. Furthermore, as shown by the second one, gaining expertise involves developing large repertoires of highly skilled, semi-routinized activities. Supporting expert operators not only should tackle problem solving activities but should thus also include the prevention of routine errors, which go along with skill acquisition. (author)

  5. IRSN's expertise about nuclear medicine hospital effluents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    This brief note aims at presenting the radioactivity follow up of hospital effluents performed by the French Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). This follow up concerns the radioactive compounds and radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine, and principally technetium 99 and iodine 131. The IRSN has developed a network of remote measurement systems for the monitoring of sewers and waste water cleaning facilities. Data are compiled in a data base for analysis and subsequent expertise. (J.S.)

  6. Expertise in chess

    OpenAIRE

    Gobet, F

    2006-01-01

    This chapter provides an overview of research into chess expertise. After an historical background and a brief description of the game and the rating system, it discusses the information processes enabling players to choose good moves, and in particular the trade-offs between knowledge and search. Other topics include blindfold chess, talent, and the role of deliberate practice and tournament experience.

  7. Fundamentals of clinical trials

    CERN Document Server

    Friedman, Lawrence M; DeMets, David L; Reboussin, David M; Granger, Christopher B

    2015-01-01

    This is the fifth edition of a very successful textbook on clinical trials methodology, written by recognized leaders who have long and extensive experience in all areas of clinical trials. The three authors of the first four editions have been joined by two others who add great expertise.  Most chapters have been revised considerably from the fourth edition.  A chapter on regulatory issues has been included and the chapter on data monitoring has been split into two and expanded.  Many contemporary clinical trial examples have been added.  There is much new material on adverse events, adherence, issues in analysis, electronic data, data sharing, and international trials.  This book is intended for the clinical researcher who is interested in designing a clinical trial and developing a protocol. It is also of value to researchers and practitioners who must critically evaluate the literature of published clinical trials and assess the merits of each trial and the implications for the care and treatment of ...

  8. The unrivalled expertise for Pu recycling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fournier, W.; Pouilloux, M.

    1997-01-01

    Relying on the outstanding performances of the reprocessing facilities and the growing fabrication facilities, the in-reactor Pu recycling program in France and in other European countries is steadily implemented and has reached full-scale industrial operation. The RCR strategy -Reprocessing, Conditioning and Recycling- developed by COGEMA is now a well proven industrial reality. In 1997, plutonium recycling through MOX fuel is a mature industry, with successful operational experience and large-scale fabrication plants. In this field, COGEMA is the main actor, on operating simultaneously three complete multidesign fuel production plants: MELOX plant (in Marcoule), CADARACHE plant and DESSEL plant (in Belgium). Present MOX production capacity available to COGEMA fits 175 tHM per year and will be extended to reach about 325 tHM in the year 2000, that will represent 75% of the total MOX fabrication capacity in Europe. The industrial mastery and the high production level in MOX production assured by high technology processes confers COGEMA an unrivalled expertise for Pu recycling. This allows COGEMA to be a major actor in Pu-based fuels in the coming second nuclear era with advanced fuel cycles. The paper depicts the steps of the progressive advance of COGEMA to reach the Pu recycling expertise. (author)

  9. Teachers’ Shared Expertise at a Multidisciplinary University of Applied Sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arto O. Salonen

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Shared expertise, team teaching, and cooperation among lecturers from different fields have become more and more important in promoting learning and achieving more innovative learning outcomes in multidisciplinary universities. To increase and improve sharing expertise between teachers from different faculties and disciplines, we wanted, on one hand, to identify skills and competences that teachers have in common and, on the other hand, to find areas in which they identify that they need complementation. As a framework for this research, we applied Lee Shulman’s (1986 seven categories of teachers’ knowledge base including the theory of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK. The data were collected by group discussions. The teachers (N = 22 represented all seven faculties of Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (UAS, that is, Business School, Civil Engineering and Building Services, Culture and Creative Industries, Health Care and Nursing, School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT, Industrial Engineering, and Welfare and Human Functioning. The data were analyzed using theory-based content analysis. According to our data, the mutual core competence of a teacher is the capacity to interact effectively. It is a basis for shared expertise. Interaction skills are necessary in collaborative construction of knowledge as students, teachers of different fields, and their partners inside and outside the organization co-operate. Multidisciplinary co-operation among colleagues also helps to maintain subject matter knowledge, as it supports peer learning and encourages everyone to move out of their comfort zones.

  10. OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Emery, C. A.; Roos, Ewa M.; Verhagen, E.

    2015-01-01

    The risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) substantially increases following joint injury. Research efforts should focus on investigating the efficacy of preventative strategies in high quality randomized controlled trials (RCT). The objective of these OARSI RCT recommendations is to inform...... the design, conduct and analytical approaches to RCTs evaluating the preventative effect of joint injury prevention strategies. Recommendations regarding the design, conduct, and reporting of RCTs evaluating injury prevention interventions were established based on the consensus of nine researchers...... internationally with expertise in epidemiology, injury prevention and/or osteoarthritis (OA). Input and resultant consensus was established through teleconference, face to face and email correspondence over a 1 year period. Recommendations for injury prevention RCTs include context specific considerations...

  11. Driven by expertise and insulation?: the autonomy of European regulatory agencies

    OpenAIRE

    Ossege, Christoph

    2015-01-01

    Expertise and autonomy are cornerstones to the effective operation and legitimacy of European Regulatory Agencies (ERAs). Yet, we know little about ERAs' actual autonomy, nor about factors shaping it. This article studies ERAs' actual autonomy from public and private actors, emphasising two crucial explanatory factors: expertise and rulemaking competences. The lack of insights on expertise is particularly striking, as expertise -the "raison d'être" and main resource of expert bodies- provides...

  12. Intuitive expertise in ICT graduate supervision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jill Jameson

    2002-12-01

    Full Text Available Intuitive expertise in the application of advanced interdisciplinary facilitation is the subject of this personal reflection on the graduate supervisory style of Professor David Squires in computers in education. This single-case reflective study examines the characteristics of effective supervision observed during masters and doctoral supervision at King's College in the years 1990-9. Interdisciplinarity in ICT graduate studies particularly requires a fluency of supervisory expertise in enabling supervisees to combine multiple complex perspectives from a number of fields of knowledge. Intuitive combinatory aspects of supervision are highlighted in this reflection on the role carried out by an academic expert in facilitating student success. This is examined from a perspective incorporating affective as well as intellectual elements, informed by characteristics identified in professional sports and performing arts coaching/mentoring. Key characteristics comprising a model of intuitive expertise in ICT graduate supervision were outlined. The resultant portrait aims to complement existing literature on graduate supervision, with reference to the field of ICTI computers in education relating to student hypermedia composition.

  13. Nursing expertise: a course of ambiguity and evolution in a concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, Marie; Higson, Mary; Cleary, Michelle; Jackson, Debra

    2016-12-01

    In this article, we clarify and describe the nature of nursing expertise and provide a framework to guide its identification and further development. To have utility and rigour, concept-driven research and theories of practice require underlying concepts that are robust, valid and reliable. Advancing understanding of a concept requires careful attention to explicating its knowledge, metaphors and conceptual meaning. Examining the concepts and metaphors of nursing expertise, and how they have been interpreted into the nursing discourse, we aimed to synthesise definitions and similarities between concepts and elicit the defining characteristics and properties of nursing expertise. In clarifying the concept, we sought to move beyond the ambiguity that currently surrounds expertise in nursing and unravel it to make explicit the characteristics of nursing expertise from published peer-reviewed studies and structured literature synthesis. Findings indicate a lack of clarity surrounding the use of the term expertise. Traditional reliance upon intuition as a way of explaining expert performance is slowly evolving. Emerging from the analysis is a picture of expertise as the relationship between networks of contextual reasoning, understanding and practice. Striking absences in the discourse include limited explication of ethical reasoning and theorising a broader interpretation of expertise reflective of contemporary forms of nursing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Moral Expertise in the Clinic: Lessons Learned from Medicine and Science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClimans, Leah; Slowther, Anne

    2016-08-01

    Philosophers and others have questioned whether or not expertise in morality is possible. This debate is not only theoretical, but also affects the perceived legitimacy of clinical ethicists. One argument against moral expertise is that in a pluralistic society with competing moral theories no one can claim expertise regarding what another ought morally to do. There are simply too many reasonable moral values and intuitions that affect theory choice and its application; expertise is epistemically uniform. In this article, we discuss how similar concerns have recently threatened to undermine expertise in medicine and science. In contrast, we argue that the application of values is needed to exercise medical, scientific, and moral expertise. As long as these values are made explicit, worries about a pretense to authority in the context of a liberal democracy are ill-conceived. In conclusion, we argue for an expertise that is epistemically diverse. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. The Politics of Neutrality and the Changing Role of Expertise in Public Administration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Triantafillou, Peter

    2015-01-01

    This article explores and discusses the ongoing attempt to reinstate an ethos of neutrality in public administration. It focuses on the political benefits and costs of contemporary strategies in public administration for using expertise based on an ethos of neutrality. On the one hand, expertise...... may serve to allow a particular form of value neutrality that curbs abuse of political office, questions received wisdom on the efficacy of policy interventions, and thereby holds the potential to minimize the waste of public resources employed to meet political goals. On the other hand, the use...

  16. What is an expert? A systems perspective on expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caley, Michael Julian; O'Leary, Rebecca A; Fisher, Rebecca; Low-Choy, Samantha; Johnson, Sandra; Mengersen, Kerrie

    2014-01-01

    Expert knowledge is a valuable source of information with a wide range of research applications. Despite the recent advances in defining expert knowledge, little attention has been given to how to view expertise as a system of interacting contributory factors for quantifying an individual's expertise. We present a systems approach to expertise that accounts for many contributing factors and their inter-relationships and allows quantification of an individual's expertise. A Bayesian network (BN) was chosen for this purpose. For illustration, we focused on taxonomic expertise. The model structure was developed in consultation with taxonomists. The relative importance of the factors within the network was determined by a second set of taxonomists (supra-experts) who also provided validation of the model structure. Model performance was assessed by applying the model to hypothetical career states of taxonomists designed to incorporate known differences in career states for model testing. The resulting BN model consisted of 18 primary nodes feeding through one to three higher-order nodes before converging on the target node (Taxonomic Expert). There was strong consistency among node weights provided by the supra-experts for some nodes, but not others. The higher-order nodes, “Quality of work” and “Total productivity”, had the greatest weights. Sensitivity analysis indicated that although some factors had stronger influence in the outer nodes of the network, there was relatively equal influence of the factors leading directly into the target node. Despite the differences in the node weights provided by our supra-experts, there was good agreement among assessments of our hypothetical experts that accurately reflected differences we had specified. This systems approach provides a way of assessing the overall level of expertise of individuals, accounting for multiple contributory factors, and their interactions. Our approach is adaptable to other situations where it

  17. France bundles knowledge and expertise in intelligent energy networks; Frankrijk bundelt kennis en expertise in intelligente energienetwerken

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Kooij, E.

    2012-03-15

    The networks that provides cities, office buildings, houses, cars and mobile phones with energy, is expected in the coming years to be digitized. The French innovation cluster Systematic has recently taken the initiative to set up a knowledge partnership which should connect knowledge and expertise with regard to future smart grids [Dutch] Het netwerk dat onze steden, kantoren, huizen, auto's en mobieltjes van energie voorziet, zal naar verwachting in de komende jaren een digitalisering ondergaan. Het Franse innovatiecluster Systematic heeft onlangs het initiatief genomen een samenwerkingsverband op te richten die kennis en expertise op het gebied van toekomstige intelligente energienetwerken bij elkaar brengt.

  18. Instructional Design for Accelerated Macrocognitive Expertise in the Baseball Workplace

    OpenAIRE

    Fadde, Peter J.

    2016-01-01

    The goal of accelerating expertise can leave researchers and trainers in human factors, naturalistic decision making, sport science, and expertise studies concerned about seemingly insufficient application of expert performance theories, findings and methods for training macrocognitive aspects of human performance. Video-occlusion methods perfected by sports expertise researchers have great instructional utility, in some cases offering an effective and inexpensive alternative to high-fidelity...

  19. The influence of expertise on continuous categories: A whole report study of colour expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dall, Jonas Olsen; Sørensen, Thomas Alrik

    2018-01-01

    Recently research has shifted from examining discrete categories (e.g. letters) to continuous categories (e.g. colours). While studies have shown that stimuli specific expertise influence discrete categories, there are little research into how it influences continuous categories. The current study...

  20. Exploring Integration in Action: Competencies as Building Blocks of Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mylopoulos, Maria; Borschel, Debaroti Tina; O'Brien, Tara; Martimianakis, Sofia; Woods, Nicole N

    2017-12-01

    Competency frameworks such as the CanMEDS roles and the ACGME core competencies may lead to the implicit assumption that physicians can learn and practice individual competencies in isolation. In contrast, models of adaptive expertise suggest that the integration of competencies reflects the capabilities of an expert physician. Thus, educational programming aimed at teaching discrete roles or competencies might overlook expert physician capabilities that are central to patient care. To develop expertise, learning opportunities must reflect expert capabilities. To better understand the relationship between competency-based medical education and expert development, the authors sought to explore how integrated competencies are enacted during patient care by postgraduate medical trainees. Using a cognitive ethnographic approach, in 2014-2015 the authors conducted observations and-to refine and elaborate these observations-ad hoc informal interviews with 13 postgraduate trainee participants. Data collection resulted in 92 hours of observation, 26 patient case portraits, and a total of 220 pages of field notes for analysis. Through analysis, the authors identified and examined moments when postgraduate trainees appeared to be simultaneously enacting multiple competencies. The authors identified two key expert capabilities in moments of integrated competence: finding complexity and being patient-centered. They described two mechanisms for these forms of integration: valuing the patient's narrative of their illness, and integrated understanding. Understanding integrated competencies as the building blocks of expert capabilities, along with recognizing the importance of mechanisms that support integration, offers an opportunity to use existing competency-based frameworks to understand and teach adaptive expertise.

  1. A data grid for imaging-based clinical trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Zheng; Chao, Sander S.; Lee, Jasper; Liu, Brent; Documet, Jorge; Huang, H. K.

    2007-03-01

    Clinical trials play a crucial role in testing new drugs or devices in modern medicine. Medical imaging has also become an important tool in clinical trials because images provide a unique and fast diagnosis with visual observation and quantitative assessment. A typical imaging-based clinical trial consists of: 1) A well-defined rigorous clinical trial protocol, 2) a radiology core that has a quality control mechanism, a biostatistics component, and a server for storing and distributing data and analysis results; and 3) many field sites that generate and send image studies to the radiology core. As the number of clinical trials increases, it becomes a challenge for a radiology core servicing multiple trials to have a server robust enough to administrate and quickly distribute information to participating radiologists/clinicians worldwide. The Data Grid can satisfy the aforementioned requirements of imaging based clinical trials. In this paper, we present a Data Grid architecture for imaging-based clinical trials. A Data Grid prototype has been implemented in the Image Processing and Informatics (IPI) Laboratory at the University of Southern California to test and evaluate performance in storing trial images and analysis results for a clinical trial. The implementation methodology and evaluation protocol of the Data Grid are presented.

  2. Classroom Application of a Trial-Based Functional Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloom, Sarah E.; Iwata, Brian A.; Fritz, Jennifer N.; Roscoe, Eileen M.; Carreau, Abbey B.

    2011-01-01

    We evaluated a trial-based approach to conducting functional analyses in classroom settings. Ten students referred for problem behavior were exposed to a series of assessment trials, which were interspersed among classroom activities throughout the day. Results of these trial-based functional analyses were compared to those of more traditional…

  3. Should We Value Knowledge and Expertise? (editorial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Koufogiannakis

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available As I write this editorial, I am on an airplane, reflecting on the EBLIP6 conference, held June 27-30, 2011 in Salford, U.K. In my personal opinion, the conference was a great success. There were a wide variety of concurrent paper sessions from an international group of delegates, thought provoking keynotes, and just the right amount of social activity, including the main conference dinner at the Manchester United Football Club! This journal will have a Feature section in our next issue (December that highlights the conference, including keynote presentations, some of the papers that were presented, and commentaries from attendees about the conference itself. So for now, I’ll just offer my warmest congratulations to the organizers.As I left Salford and tried to reflect on what I had learned and discussed with others, there were many things that came to mind. Immediate things that stood out for me had to do with impact, reflection, and the complexity of decision making. The theme of EBLIP6 was “Valuing Knowledge and Expertise”. This is a somewhat controversial theme for an evidence based practice conference, where research evidence and its implementation are the focus, and expert opinion is not generally held in high regard. None of the keynote speakers’ presentations spoke directly to the theme, however several paper presentations did include some reference to the importance of professional knowledge.Expertise is a loaded word, filled with notions of snobbery and over-confidence, even close-mindedness. If anything, those involved with EBLIP remove themselves as far from the notion of “expert” as they can. But if we consider an expert to be someone who has built up a significant amount of professional knowledge (both through experience and research on a topic, then the EBLIP movement should not simply dismiss this notion of “expert”. Perhaps, we more appropriately should consider expert voices (knowledgeable, reasonable

  4. Using Cognitive Load Theory to Tailor Instruction to Levels of Accounting Students' Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blayney, Paul; Kalyuga, Slava; Sweller, John

    2015-01-01

    Tailoring of instructional methods to learner levels of expertise may reduce extraneous cognitive load and improve learning. Contemporary technology-based learning environments have the potential to substantially enable learner-adapted instruction. This paper investigates the effects of adaptive instruction based on using the isolated-interactive…

  5. From Meaning Well to Doing Well: Ethical Expertise in the GIS Domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huff, Chuck

    2014-01-01

    There is evidence to support the idea that moral action can be thought of in terms of expertise in a domain. This paper reviews work on the development of moral expertise across five levels, from novice to expertise. It addresses the role of habit in expertise and self-regulation strategies that signal when habitual action is not working and that…

  6. The role of surgical expertise with regard to chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) after Lichtenstein correction of inguinal hernia: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lange, J F M; Meyer, V M; Voropai, D A; Keus, E; Wijsmuller, A R; Ploeg, R J; Pierie, J P E N

    2016-06-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a relation exists between surgical expertise and incidence of chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) after inguinal hernia repair using the Lichtenstein procedure . CPIP after inguinal hernia repair remains a major clinical problem despite many efforts to address this problem. Recently, case volume and specialisation have been found correlated to significant improvement of outcomes in other fields of surgery; to date these important factors have not been reviewed extensively enough in the context of inguinal hernia surgery. A systematic literature review was performed to identify randomised controlled trials reporting on the incidence of CPIP after the Lichtenstein procedure and including the expertise of the surgeon. Surgical expertise was subdivided into expert and non-expert. In a total of 16 studies 3086 Lichtenstein procedures were included. In the expert group the incidence of CPIP varied between 6.9 and 11.7 % versus an incidence of 18.1 and 39.4 % in the non-expert group. Due to the heterogeneity between groups no statistical significance could be demonstrated. The results of this evaluation suggest that an association between surgical expertise and CPIP is highly likely warranting further analysis in a prospectively designed study.

  7. Engineering expertise on shift in nuclear power plants: the foreign experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melber, B.D.; Schreiber, R.E.

    1983-02-01

    This report describes the practices of selected foreign countries with providing engineering expertise on shift in nuclear power plants. The extent to which engineering expertise is made available and the alternative models of providing such expertise are presented. The implications of foreign practices for US consideration of alternatives are discussed, with reference to the shift technical advisor (STA) position and to a proposed shift engineer position. The procedure used to obtain information on foreign practices was primarily a review of the literature, including publications, presentations, and government and utility reports. There are two approaches that are in use to make engineering expertise available on shift: (1) employing a graduate engineer in a line management operations position; and (2) creating a specific engineering position for the purpose of providing expertise to the operations staff

  8. An Expertise Engine: MAST in the 2020s

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldston Peek, Joshua Eli; Smith, Arfon M.; Momcheva, Ivelina G.

    2018-06-01

    The original Hubble Space Telescope archive showed how encapsulating expertise in science-ready data products could accelerate the pace of scientific advancement, and enable extremely productive archival research. In the 2000s, MAST and the Hubble Legacy Archive showed how taking these products to the next level further democratized astronomy, with archival science overtaking PI science as the dominant output of MAST missions. We argue that these data products fundamentally act as a vector for expertise, allowing novice users access to the detailed and advanced techniques of experts. In the 2020s we will see an explosion of data volume, data precision, and data complexity which will demand an even more powerful and sophisticated expertise engine. We’ll discuss how MAST plans to rise to meet that challenge.

  9. Invasive Species Working Group: Research Summary and Expertise Directory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jack Butler; Dean Pearson; Mee-Sook Kim

    2009-01-01

    Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) personnel have scientific expertise in widely ranging disciplines and conduct multidisciplinary research on invasive species issues with emphasis in terrestrial and aquatic habitats throughout the Interior West, Great Plains, and related areas (fig. 1; Expertise Directory; appendix). RMRS invasive species research covers an array...

  10. Translating U-500R Randomized Clinical Trial Evidence to the Practice Setting: A Diabetes Educator/Expert Prescriber Team Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergen, Paula M; Kruger, Davida F; Taylor, April D; Eid, Wael E; Bhan, Arti; Jackson, Jeffrey A

    2017-06-01

    Purpose The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations to the diabetes educator/expert prescriber team for the use of human regular U-500 insulin (U-500R) in patients with severely insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes, including its initiation and titration, by utilizing dosing charts and teaching materials translated from a recent U-500R clinical trial. Conclusions Clinically relevant recommendations and teaching materials for the optimal use and management of U-500R in clinical practice are provided based on the efficacy and safety results of and lessons learned from the U-500R clinical trial by Hood et al, current standards of practice, and the authors' clinical expertise. This trial was the first robustly powered, randomized, titration-to-target trial to compare twice-daily and three-times-daily U-500R dosing regimens. Modifications were made to the initiation and titration dosing algorithms used in this trial to simplify dosing strategies for the clinical setting and align with current glycemic targets recommended by the American Diabetes Association. Leveraging the expertise, resources, and patient interactions of the diabetes educator who can provide diabetes self-management education and support in collaboration with the multidisciplinary diabetes team is strongly recommended to ensure patients treated with U-500R receive the timely and comprehensive care required to safely and effectively use this highly concentrated insulin.

  11. Efficacy of gamification-based smartphone application for weight loss in overweight and obese adolescents: study protocol for a phase II randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timpel, Patrick; Cesena, Fernando Henpin Yue; da Silva Costa, Christiane; Soldatelli, Matheus Dorigatti; Gois, Emanuel; Castrillon, Eduardo; Díaz, Lina Johana Jaime; Repetto, Gabriela M; Hagos, Fanah; Castillo Yermenos, Raul E; Pacheco-Barrios, Kevin; Musallam, Wafaa; Braid, Zilda; Khidir, Nesreen; Romo Guardado, Marcela; Roepke, Roberta Muriel Longo

    2018-06-01

    Overweight and obesity are significant public health concerns that are prevalent in younger age cohorts. Preventive or therapeutic interventions are difficult to implement and maintain over time. On the other hand, the majority of adolescents in the United States have a smartphone, representing a huge potential for innovative digitized interventions, such as weight loss programs delivered via smartphone applications. Although the number of available smartphone applications is increasing, evidence for their effectiveness in weight loss is insufficient. Therefore, the proposed study aims to assess the efficacy of a gamification-based smartphone application for weight loss in overweight and obese adolescents. The trial is designed to be a phase II, single-centre, two-arm, triple-blinded, randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a duration of 6 months. The intervention consists of a smartphone application that provides both tracking and gamification elements, while the control arm consists of an identically designed application solely with tracking features of health information. The proposed trial will be conducted in an urban primary care clinic of an academic centre in the United States of America, with expertise in the management of overweight and obese adolescents. Eligible adolescents will be followed for 6 months. Changes in body mass index z score from baseline to 6 months will be the primary outcome. Secondary objectives will explore the effects of the gamification-based application on adherence, as well as anthropometric, metabolic and behavioural changes. A required sample size of 108 participants (54 participants per group) was calculated. The benefits of the proposed study include mid-term effects in weight reduction for overweight and obese adolescents. The current proposal will contribute to fill a gap in the literature on the mid-term effects of gamification-based interventions to control weight in adolescents. This trial is a well-designed RCT that is in

  12. Using focused ethnography in paediatric settings to explore professionals' and parents' attitudes towards expertise in managing chronic kidney disease stage 3-5.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nightingale, Ruth; Sinha, Manish D; Swallow, Veronica

    2014-09-18

    Interactions between parents and healthcare professionals are essential when parents of children with chronic conditions are learning to share expertise about clinical care, but limited evidence exists on how they actually interact. This paper discusses the use of focused ethnography in paediatric settings as an effective means of exploring attitudes towards expertise. The paper draws on repeated observations, interviews and field-notes involving the parents of six children with chronic kidney disease, and 28 healthcare professionals at two, tertiary, children's hospital-based units. Data were analysed using the Framework approach and the concepts of expertise and self-management. Our study highlighted rewards and challenges associated with focused ethnography in this context. Rewards included the ability to gain a richer understanding of the complex phenomena of mutual acknowledgement of expertise that occurs during parent/ healthcare professional interactions. Challenges related to gaining informed consent and ensuring potential participants had an adequate understanding of the purpose of the study. Two dimensions of parental expertise around their child (personal and clinical) were evident in our data. Parents' and professionals' expertise about the child and their condition was acknowledged and exchanged as parents learnt to share clinical-care with the multi-disciplinary team. Healthcare professionals acknowledged parents' need to understand aspects of each of the eight disciplinary knowledge bases relating to their child's management and recognised parents' expert knowledge of their child, found ways to mobilise this knowledge, and wove parents' expertise into the management plan. Parents spoke of the degree to which their own expert knowledge of their child complemented healthcare professionals' clinical knowledge. However, ambivalence around expertise was evident as both parents and healthcare professionals questioned what the expertise was, and who the

  13. Musical Expertise Increases Top–Down Modulation Over Hippocampal Activation during Familiarity Decisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pierre Gagnepain

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The hippocampus has classically been associated with episodic memory, but is sometimes also recruited during semantic memory tasks, especially for the skilled exploration of familiar information. Cognitive control mechanisms guiding semantic memory search may benefit from the set of cognitive processes at stake during musical training. Here, we examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging, whether musical expertise would promote the top–down control of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG over the generation of hippocampally based goal-directed thoughts mediating the familiarity judgment of proverbs and musical items. Analyses of behavioral data confirmed that musical experts more efficiently access familiar melodies than non-musicians although such increased ability did not transfer to verbal semantic memory. At the brain level, musical expertise specifically enhanced the recruitment of the hippocampus during semantic access to melodies, but not proverbs. Additionally, hippocampal activation contributed to speed of access to familiar melodies, but only in musicians. Critically, causal modeling of neural dynamics between LIFG and the hippocampus further showed that top–down excitatory regulation over the hippocampus during familiarity decision specifically increases with musical expertise – an effect that generalized across melodies and proverbs. At the local level, our data show that musical expertise modulates the online recruitment of hippocampal response to serve semantic memory retrieval of familiar melodies. The reconfiguration of memory network dynamics following musical training could constitute a promising framework to understand its ability to preserve brain functions.

  14. Talent in the taxi: a model system for exploring expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woollett, Katherine; Spiers, Hugo J; Maguire, Eleanor A

    2009-05-27

    While there is widespread interest in and admiration of individuals with exceptional talents, surprisingly little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underpinning talent, and indeed how talent relates to expertise. Because many talents are first identified and nurtured in childhood, it can be difficult to determine whether talent is innate, can be acquired through extensive practice or can only be acquired in the presence of the developing brain. We sought to address some of these issues by studying healthy adults who acquired expertise in adulthood. We focused on the domain of memory and used licensed London taxi drivers as a model system. Taxi drivers have to learn the layout of 25,000 streets in London and the locations of thousands of places of interest, and pass stringent examinations in order to obtain an operating licence. Using neuropsychological assessment and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we addressed a range of key questions: in the context of a fully developed brain and an average IQ, can people acquire expertise to an exceptional level; what are the neural signatures, both structural and functional, associated with the use of expertise; does expertise change the brain compared with unskilled control participants; does it confer any cognitive advantages, and similarly, does it come at a cost to other functions? By studying retired taxi drivers, we also consider what happens to their brains and behaviour when experts stop using their skill. Finally, we discuss how the expertise of taxi drivers might relate to the issue of talent and innate abilities. We suggest that exploring talent and expertise in this manner could have implications for education, rehabilitation of patients with cognitive impairments, understanding individual differences and possibly conditions such as autism where exceptional abilities can be a feature.

  15. Expertise synthesis on the CSPE; Synthese d'expertise sur la CSPE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blonde, G.; Poizat, F

    2008-01-15

    This document presents a synthesis of the results of an expertise realized on the CSPE, the compensation tax of the electric public service. This tax concerns the management of the electricity production additional costs in isolated areas, the solidarity, a policy to favor the energy efficiency and the renewable energies. The document explains the historical aspects of the tax elaboration, its financial importance, the consequences and the impacts on the competition. (A.L.B.)

  16. Developing a Deeper Understanding of "Mathematics Teaching Expertise": An Examination of Three Chinese Mathematics Teachers' Resource Systems as Windows into Their Work and Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pepin, Birgit; Xu, Binyan; Trouche, Luc; Wang, Chongyang

    2017-01-01

    In order to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise, in this study we use the Documentational Approach to Didactics to explore the resource systems of three Chinese mathematics "expert" teachers. Exploiting the Western and Eastern literature we examine the notion of "mathematics teaching expertise", as…

  17. Forensic entomology: implementing quality assurance for expertise work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaudry, Emmanuel; Dourel, Laurent

    2013-09-01

    The Department of Forensic Entomology (Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale, France) was accredited by the French Committee of Accreditation (Cofrac's Healthcare section) in October 2007 on the basis of NF EN ISO/CEI 17025 standard. It was the first accreditation in this specific field of forensic sciences in France and in Europe. The present paper introduces the accreditation process in forensic entomology (FE) through the experience of the Department of Forensic Entomology. Based upon the identification of necrophagous insects and the study of their biology, FE must, as any other expertise work in forensic sciences, demonstrate integrity and good working practice to satisfy both the courts and the scientific community. FE does not, strictly speaking, follow an analytical method. This could explain why, to make up for a lack of appropriate quality reference, a specific documentation was drafted and written by the staff of the Department of Forensic Entomology in order to define working methods complying with quality standards (testing methods). A quality assurance system is laborious to set up and maintain and can be perceived as complex, time-consuming and never-ending. However, a survey performed in 2011 revealed that the accreditation process in the frame of expertise work has led to new well-defined working habits, based on an effort at transparency. It also requires constant questioning and a proactive approach, both profitable for customers (magistrates, investigators) and analysts (forensic entomologists).

  18. Expertise, motivation and teaching in learning companion systems

    OpenAIRE

    Uresti, Jorge Adolfo Ramirez; du Boulay, Benedict

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes work carried out to explore the role of a learning companion as a teachable student of the human student. A LCS for Binary Boolean Algebra has been developed to explore the hypothesis that a learning companion with less expertise than the human student would be beneficial if the student taught it. The system implemented two companions with different expertise and two types of motivational conditions. An empirical evaluation was conducted. Although significant differential...

  19. Fusion of expertise among accounting accounting faculty. Towards an expertise model for academia in accounting.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Njoku, Jonathan C.; van der Heijden, Beatrice; Inanga, Eno L.

    2010-01-01

    This paper aims to portray an accounting faculty expert. It is argued that neither the academic nor the professional orientation alone appears adequate in developing accounting faculty expertise. The accounting faculty expert is supposed to develop into a so-called ‘flexpert’ (Van der Heijden, 2003)

  20. Accurate diagnosis of CHD by Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacob, Hannah C; Massey, Hannah; Yates, Robert W M; Kelsall, A Wilfred

    2017-08-01

    Introduction Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology assess children with a full history, examination, and often perform an echocardiogram. A minority are then referred to an outreach clinic run jointly with a visiting paediatric cardiologist. The accuracy of the echocardiography diagnosis made by the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology is unknown. Materials and methods We conducted a retrospective review of clinic letters for children seen in the outreach clinic for the first time between March, 2004 and March, 2011. Children with CHD diagnosed antenatally or elsewhere were excluded. We recorded the echocardiography diagnosis made by the paediatric cardiologist and previously by the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology. The Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology referred 317/3145 (10%) children seen in the local cardiac clinics to the outreach clinic over this period, and among them 296 were eligible for inclusion. Their median age was 1.5 years (range 1 month-15.1 years). For 244 (82%) children, there was complete diagnostic agreement between the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology and the paediatric cardiologist. For 29 (10%) children, the main diagnosis was identical with additional findings made by the paediatric cardiologist. The abnormality had resolved in 17 (6%) cases by the time of clinic attendance. In six (2%) patients, the paediatric cardiologist made a different diagnosis. In total, 138 (47%) patients underwent a surgical or catheter intervention. Discussion Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology can make accurate diagnoses of CHD in children referred to their clinics. This can allow effective triage of children attending the outreach clinic, making best use of limited specialist resources.

  1. TheME: an environment for building formal KADS II models of expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Balder, John; Akkermans, J.M.; Akkermans, Hans

    1992-01-01

    COMMONKADS is a well-known methodology for the development of knowledge-based systems. In this methodology one constructs so-called models of expertise as a basis for the development. A new feature with respect to older versions of the KADS methodology is a formal version of these models, whereby

  2. Competencies of Thai expertise teacher and PCK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chantaranima, Tarntip; Yuenyong, Chokchai

    2018-01-01

    Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) was accepted by worldwide Educators that it is a ubiquitous word in the preparation of teachers in the past decade. This study uses Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) framework as a lens for classifying the guidelines and expectations for categorizing expertise teachers. Therefore, the paper tries to clarify the relationship between competencies of Thai expertise teacher and PCK elements. To promote skillful Thai teachers by offering them academic titles, the Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Education Personal Commission were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for categorizing expertise teachers (OTEPC, 2009). This article focuses on the guideline criteria which are three areas of consideration. The first area of consideration is teacher's disciplines including virtues and professional conducts. The second area of consideration is teacher's knowledge and teaching ability. The last area of consider is teacher's performance. It seemed that the OTEPC guideline pay too much attention on the first area. However, there are some issues of PCK appearing on the OTEPC teacher competency. The paper will discuss some suggestions of fill up PCK in the OTEPC guideline. The paper may have implication for Thailand teacher education.

  3. Musical expertise induces neuroplasticity of the planum temporale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Martin; Elmer, Stefan; Jäncke, Lutz

    2012-04-01

    The present manuscript summarizes and discusses the implications of recent neuroimaging studies, which have investigated the relationship between musical expertise and structural, as well as functional, changes in an auditory-related association cortex, namely, the planum temporale (PT). Since the bilateral PT is known to serve as a spectrotemporal processor that supports perception of acoustic modulations in both speech and music, it comes as no surprise that musical expertise corresponds to functional sensitivity and neuroanatomical changes in cortical architecture. In this context, we focus on the following question: To what extent does musical expertise affect the functioning of the left and right plana temporalia? We discuss the relationship between behavioral, hemodynamic, and neuroanatomical data obtained from musicians in light of maturational and developmental issues. In particular, we introduce two studies of our group that show to what extent brains of musicians are more proficient in phonetic task performance. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

  4. An adaptive toolbox approach to the route to expertise in sport.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Rita F; Lobinger, Babett H; Raab, Markus

    2014-01-01

    Expertise is characterized by fast decision-making which is highly adaptive to new situations. Here we propose that athletes use a toolbox of heuristics which they develop on their route to expertise. The development of heuristics occurs within the context of the athletes' natural abilities, past experiences, developed skills, and situational context, but does not pertain to any of these factors separately. This is a novel approach because it integrates separate factors into a comprehensive heuristic description. The novelty of this approach lies within the integration of separate factors determining expertise into a comprehensive heuristic description. It is our contention that talent identification methods and talent development models should therefore be geared toward the assessment and development of specific heuristics. Specifically, in addition to identifying and developing separate natural abilities and skills as per usual, heuristics should be identified and developed. The application of heuristics to talent and expertise models can bring the field one step away from dichotomized models of nature and nurture toward a comprehensive approach to the route to expertise.

  5. An adaptive toolbox approach to the route to expertise in sport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita F De Oliveira

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Expertise is characterized by fast decision-making which is highly adaptive to new situations. Here we propose that athletes use a toolbox of heuristics which they develop on their route to expertise. The development of heuristics occurs within the context of the athletes’ natural abilities, past experiences, developed skills, and situational context, but does not pertain to any of these factors separately. This is a novel approach because it integrates separate factors into a comprehensive heuristic description. The novelty of this approach lies within the integration of separate factors determining expertise into a comprehensive heuristic description. It is our contention that talent identification methods and talent development models should therefore be geared towards the assessment and development of specific heuristics. Specifically, in addition to identifying and developing separate natural abilities and skills as per usual, heuristics should be identified and developed. The application of heuristics to talent and expertise models can bring the field one step away from dichotomized models of nature and nurture towards a comprehensive approach to the route to expertise.

  6. Trial-Based Functional Analysis Informs Treatment for Vocal Scripting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rispoli, Mandy; Brodhead, Matthew; Wolfe, Katie; Gregori, Emily

    2018-05-01

    Research on trial-based functional analysis has primarily focused on socially maintained challenging behaviors. However, procedural modifications may be necessary to clarify ambiguous assessment results. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the utility of iterative modifications to trial-based functional analysis on the identification of putative reinforcement and subsequent treatment for vocal scripting. For all participants, modifications to the trial-based functional analysis identified a primary function of automatic reinforcement. The structure of the trial-based format led to identification of social attention as an abolishing operation for vocal scripting. A noncontingent attention treatment was evaluated using withdrawal designs for each participant. This noncontingent attention treatment resulted in near zero levels of vocal scripting for all participants. Implications for research and practice are presented.

  7. A computational approach to measuring the correlation between expertise and social media influence for celebrities on microblogs

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Wayne Xin; Liu, Jing; He, Yulan; Lin, Chin Yew; Wen, Ji-Rong

    2016-01-01

    Social media influence analysis, sometimes also called authority detection, aims to rank users based on their influence scores in social media. Existing approaches of social influence analysis usually focus on how to develop effective algorithms to quantize users’ influence scores. They rarely consider a person’s expertise levels which are arguably important to influence measures. In this paper, we propose a computational approach to measuring the correlation between expertise and social medi...

  8. OPTIMIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE OF THE APPLICATIONS FOR STATE SUBSIDIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Yu. Tuzova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The main aspects of the evaluation of projects for the grant of Federal Target Program «Researches and developments in priority directions of scientific and technological complex of Russia for 2014-2020» is discussed. This subject is very relevant, because the efficiency of scientific and technical expertise is a guarantee of the eff ectiveness of innovative projects management. This is particularly important for the projects, which have significant practical orientation and being competitive in the international scientific and technical level.The purpose of this article is a justification of importance of improvement of technologies of information support of experts. These technologies allow to draw the attention of the expert to a number of discrepancies in the documentation, to quickly process the large volume of information at various scientometric databases, to reduce the manhours of the expert per project and to increase efficiency of scientific and technical expertise.Advantages and disadvantages of the use of machine analysis of keyword and semantic analysis of documents during the scientific and technical expertise have been described. The criteria for peer review as a quality research project; qualifications, work experience, academic achievements of the project implementing team and instrument base; the potential Bidder; financial support of the project. Various criteria for analysis of the project (quality of the research project, qualifications, work experience, academic achievements of the project implementing team and their instrument base, the potential and the project financial support are considered.Conclusions. First, use of modern information technology in scientific and technical expertise allows to expand the information field and an expert to carry out a deeper analysis of projects. Secondly, the stocktaking of the advantages and disadvantages of using machine analysis for keywords and semantic analysis of the documents

  9. Democracy and expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sundqvist, G.

    1992-01-01

    In the middle of the 1970s when Sweden had realized half of its planned nuclear power programme (six reactors of twelve), nuclear power came up on the top of the political agenda. This paper reports that the new government, who had to make the final decisions about the programme, was divided and disagreed about the future use of nuclear power. When the crucial decisions had to be made the government consulted both the expertise and the general public (in a referendum), but the outcome of these consultations were used only to legitimate the government's decisions

  10. A Multimodal Neural Network Recruited by Expertise with Musical Notation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Yetta Kwailing; Gauthier, Isabel

    2010-01-01

    Prior neuroimaging work on visual perceptual expertise has focused on changes in the visual system, ignoring possible effects of acquiring expert visual skills in nonvisual areas. We investigated expertise for reading musical notation, a skill likely to be associated with multimodal abilities. We compared brain activity in music-reading experts…

  11. Are all types of expertise created equal? Car experts use different spatial frequency scales for subordinate categorization of cars and faces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harel, Assaf; Bentin, Shlomo

    2013-01-01

    A much-debated question in object recognition is whether expertise for faces and expertise for non-face objects utilize common perceptual information. We investigated this issue by assessing the diagnostic information required for different types of expertise. Specifically, we asked whether face categorization and expert car categorization at the subordinate level relies on the same spatial frequency (SF) scales. Fifteen car experts and fifteen novices performed a category verification task with spatially filtered images of faces, cars, and airplanes. Images were categorized based on their basic (e.g. "car") and subordinate level (e.g. "Japanese car") identity. The effect of expertise was not evident when objects were categorized at the basic level. However, when the car experts categorized faces and cars at the subordinate level, the two types of expertise required different kinds of SF information. Subordinate categorization of faces relied on low SFs more than on high SFs, whereas subordinate expert car categorization relied on high SFs more than on low SFs. These findings suggest that expertise in the recognition of objects and faces do not utilize the same type of information. Rather, different types of expertise require different types of diagnostic visual information.

  12. On the assessment of expertise profiles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berendsen, R.; Rijke, M. de; Balog, K.; Bogers, T.; Bosch, A.P.J. van den

    2013-01-01

    Expertise retrieval has attracted significant interest in the field of information retrieval. Expert finding has been studied extensively, with less attention going to the complementary task of expert profiling, that is, automatically identifying topics about which a person is knowledgeable. We

  13. Experts, meta-expertise and mediators. Ethical oversight of research in multidisciplinary scenarios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilfredo Betancourt Mosquera

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Based on a case study drawn from the written records of a Colombian Research Ethics Committee (rec, this article discusses the impact that its multidisciplinary nature has on its decision-making processes. recs are analyzed as “boundary organizations” in which experts from different disciplines can meet. Additionally, recs are viewed as contemporary socio-epistemic arenas in which research ethics are produced. It was found that multiple expertise is often seen by some of its members as an «anomaly» which impedes ordinary work and ideally should be avoided. During the assessment of research projects the rec sought to manage this task through homogenizing decision-making processes in accordance with the expertise of some of its members, avoiding the convergence of «communities of practice.» Furthermore, the members of the rec frequently base their decisions either on their own ethical judgments, or by mirroring those of more qualified reviewers. This dynamic is largely a consequence of «meta-expertise,» that is to say, rec members’ ability or legitimacy to judge expert knowledge which they do not possess. It is concluded that researchers have wide possibilities to interpret and define the ethical dimension of their work. Within local practices of ethical reviews, researchers act as «interactional» actors able to assess and communicate recs about their own ethics. Paradoxically, despite their character as a public setting for multidisciplinary dialogue, recs end up being spaces in which the professional esotericism of disciplinary communities is reaffirmed and the socio-epistemic authority of experts reinforced.

  14. DEVELOPING A MODEL OF COMPETENCY AND EXPERTISE CERTIFICATION TESTS FOR VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pardjono Pardjono

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to: (1 develop, produce, and investigate the appropriateness model of competency and expertise certification tests for vocational high school (VHS students of the Mechanical Engineering expertise competency.To attain the objectives, the researcher conducted a research and development study consisting of 10 steps. The research product was validated by experts, VHS teachers, and lecturers at Mechanical Engineering Education through Focus Group Discussion (FGD, and the field tryout conducted at SMK Warga Surakarta and SMK Bhineka Karya Simo, Boyolali, Central Java. The results of the study are. (1 The study produces a model of Competency and Expertise Certification Tests Based on the School Production Unit (CECT_SPU for VHS Students of the Mechanical Engineering Expertise Competency; (2 The CECT_SPU model satisfies the criteria for a good modelby a mean score of 3.557; (3 The mean score of the model implementation in the tryouts were 3.670 in the individual tryout and 3.730 in the small-group tryout;  (4 The CECT_SPU model satisfies the criteria for an effective modelby a mean score of 3.730; (5 The CECT_SPU model satisfies the criteria for an efficient modelby a mean score of 3.780; (6 The CECT_SPU model satisfies the criteria for a practical model; by a mean score of 3.700.

  15. Reactor pressure vessel and reactor coolant circuit cast duplex stainless steel components contribution of the expertise for life management studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezdikian, Georges

    2006-09-01

    The life management of French Nuclear Power Plants is a major stake from an economic and a technical point of view considering the aging management assessment of the key components of the plant. The actual life evaluation is the result of prediction of life assessment from important program of expertise for the 3-loop PWR and 4-loop PWR plants in operation. To optimize the strategic policy in order to achieve the best possible performance and to prepare the technical and economical choice and decision, the paper presents the association of life management strategy and the program of expertise considering: - the identification of degradation for different components and prediction criteria proposed; - the large database from cast reactor coolant and component removed from nuclear power plants and expertise studies to confirm the prediction; - the life evaluation of RPV with radiation surveillance program based on the expertise of irradiation capsules, it is particularly shown how the expertise is in the center of the strategic choice. The French utility has organized the life management of nuclear plant as a function of several programs of expertise of knowledge on the long term experience feedback and the maintenance program for life. This paper shows updated on RPV and reactor coolant equipment activities engaged by utility on: - periodic maintenance and volume of expertise; - Alternative maintenance actions; - Large volume of expertise and how are managed these results to predict the aging management. (author)

  16. The scripts and expertise of firesetters: A preliminary conceptualization

    OpenAIRE

    Butler, Helen; Gannon, Theresa A.

    2015-01-01

    The importance of cognition in the facilitation and reinforcement of criminal behavior has been highlighted and recognized in numerous offender populations. Coupled with this is an emerging body of literature suggesting offenders may, in fact, display a certain level of expertise in their offending. In this paper, the notion of offending expertise along with cognition—specifically the concept of offence scripts—will be explored in relation to firesetting behavior for the first time. Using res...

  17. Flight nursing expertise: towards a middle-range theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reimer, Andrew P.; Moore, Shirley M.

    2010-01-01

    Aim This paper presents a middle-range Theory of Flight Nursing Expertise. Background Rotary-wing (helicopter) medical transport has grown rapidly in the USA since its introduction, particularly during the past 5 years. Patients once considered too sick to transport are now being transported more frequently and over longer distances. Many limitations are imposed by the air medical transport environment and these require nurses to alter their practice. Data sources A literature search was conducted using Pubmed, Medline, CINAHL, secondary referencing and an Internet search from 1960 to 2008 for studies related to the focal concepts in flight nursing. Discussion The middle-range Theory of Flight Nursing Expertise is composed of nine concepts (experience, training, transport environment of care, psychomotor skills, flight nursing knowledge, cue recognition, pattern recognition, decision-making and action) and their relationships. Five propositions describe the relationships between those concepts and how they apply to flight nursing expertise. Implications for nursing After empirical testing, this theory may be a useful tool to assist novice flight nurses to attain the skills necessary to provide safe and competent care more efficiently, and may aid in designing curricula and programmes of research. Conclusion Research is needed to determine the usefulness of this theory in both rotary and fixed-wing medical transport settings, and to examine the similarities and differences related to expertise needed for different flight nurse team compositions. Curriculum and training innovations can result from increased understanding of the concepts and relationships proposed in this theory. PMID:20337803

  18. A dynamic network model of expertise and exceptional performance in sports

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    den Hartigh, Ruud; van Geert, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Introduction The study of expertise and exceptional performance covers a range from “beginner” to world-class performance. While developing sport expertise a variety of interacting internal and external performance factors are involved, which may differ between athletes (Phillips et al., 2010). The

  19. Central endoscopy reads in inflammatory bowel disease clinical trials: The role of the imaging core lab.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Harris; Berzin, Tyler M; Yu, Hui Jing; Huang, Christopher S; Mishkin, Daniel S

    2014-08-01

    Clinical trials in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are evolving at a rapid pace by employing central reading for endoscopic mucosal assessment in a field that was, historically, largely based on assessments by local physicians. This transition from local to central reading carries with it numerous technical, operational, and scientific challenges, many of which can be resolved by imaging core laboratories (ICLs), a concept that has a longer history in clinical trials in a number of diseases outside the realm of gastroenterology. For IBD trials, ICLs have the dual goals of providing objective, consistent assessments of endoscopic findings using central-reading paradigms whilst providing important expertise with regard to operational issues and regulatory expectations. This review focuses on current approaches to using ICLs for central endoscopic reading in IBD trials. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press and the Digestive Science Publishing Co. Limited.

  20. Rapid Dynamic Assessment of Expertise to Improve the Efficiency of Adaptive Elearning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalyuga, Slava; Sweller, John

    2005-01-01

    In this article we suggest a method of evaluating learner expertise based on assessment of the content of working memory and the extent to which cognitive load has been reduced by knowledge retrieved from long-term memory. The method was tested in an experiment with an elementary algebra tutor using a yoked control design. In the learner-adapted…

  1. Financial Expertise as an Arms Race

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Glode, V.; Green, R.C.; Lowery, R.

    2010-01-01

    We propose a model in which rms involved in trading securities overinvest in financial expertise. Intermediaries or traders in the model meet and bargain over a financial asset. As in the bargaining model in Dang (2008), counterparties endogenously decide whether to acquire information, and improve

  2. Financial Expertise as an Arms Race

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Glode, V.; Green, R.C.; Lowery, R.

    2010-01-01

    We propose a model in which firms involved in trading securities overinvest in financial expertise. Intermediaries or traders in the model meet and bargain over a financial asset. As in the bargaining model in Dang (2008), counterparties endogenously decide whether to acquire information, and

  3. Supervisor Expertise: Resolving the Dilemma between Bureaucratic Control and Teacher Autonomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Street, Mary Sue; Licata, Joseph W.

    1989-01-01

    Ideally, teacher confidence in the principal's instructional or supervisory expertise can overcome concerns about professional autonomy and bureaucratic control. This study focuses on elementary teachers' perceptions of the relationships among the principal's supervisory expertise, teacher sense of autonomy, and the robustness of school climate.…

  4. Expertise prompts initial faster processing followed by increased short-term memory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dall, Jonas Olsen; Watanabe, Katsumi; Sørensen, Thomas Alrik

    2017-01-01

    with varying degrees of expertise in Japanese reading participated: Danish students (novice), Danish students studying Japanese (trained), and Japanese students (expert).The results showed that while expertise enhanced VSTM only for the expert group, replicating our previous study (Dall et al., 2016), it did...

  5. Recommendations for centres of expertise in rare anaemias. The ENERCA White Book

    OpenAIRE

    Joan-Lluis Vives Corrons; María del Mar Mañú Pereira; Carlos Romeo-Casabona; Pilar Nicolás; Béatrice Gulbis; Androulla Eleftheriou; Michael Angastiniotis; Patricia Aguilar Martínez; Paola Bianchi; Richard Van Wijk; Hermann Heimpel; Barbara De la Salle; Andrea Mosca

    2014-01-01

    The Community added value of Centres of Expertise (CoE) and European Reference Networks (ERN) is particularly high for rare diseases (RD) due to the rarity of these conditions, which implies both a small number of patients and scarcity of expertise within a single country. Gathering expertise at the European level is therefore, paramount in order to ensure equal access to accurate information, appropriate and timely diagnosis and high quality clinical care and follow up for patients with rare...

  6. Social networks and expertise development for Australian breast radiologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taba, Seyedamir Tavakoli; Hossain, Liaquat; Willis, Karen; Lewis, Sarah

    2017-02-11

    In this study, we explore the nexus between social networks and expertise development of Australian breast radiologists. Background literature has shown that a lack of appropriate social networks and interaction among certain professional group(s) may be an obstacle for knowledge acquisition, information flow and expertise sharing. To date there have not been any systematic studies investigating how social networks and expertise development are interconnected and whether this leads to improved performance for breast radiologists. This study explores the value of social networks in building expertise alongside with other constructs of performance for the Australian radiology workforce using semi-structured in-depth interviews with 17 breast radiologists. The findings from this study emphasise the influences of knowledge transfer and learning through social networks and interactions as well as knowledge acquisition and development through experience and feedback. The results also show that accessibility to learning resources and a variety of timely feedback on performance through the information and communication technologies (ICT) is likely to facilitate improved performance and build social support. We argue that radiologists' and, in particular, breast radiologists' work performance, needs to be explored not only through individual numerical characteristics but also by analysing the social context and peer support networks in which they operate and we identify multidisciplinary care as a core entity of social learning.

  7. Expertise effects in cutaneous wind perception

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pluijms, Joost P.; Cañal-Bruland, Rouwen; Bergmann Tiest, Wouter M.; Mulder, F.A.; Savelsbergh, Geert J.P.

    2015-01-01

    We examined whether expertise effects are present in cutaneous wind perception. To this end, we presented wind stimuli consisting of different wind directions and speeds in a wind simulator. The wind simulator generated wind stimuli from 16 directions and with three speeds by means of eight

  8. Evaluating the design and reporting of pragmatic trials in osteoarthritis research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Shabana Amanda; Kloseck, Marita; Lee, Karen; Walsh, Kathleen Ellen; MacDermid, Joy C; Fitzsimmons, Deborah

    2018-01-01

    Among the challenges in health research is translating interventions from controlled experimental settings to clinical and community settings where chronic disease is managed daily. Pragmatic trials offer a method for testing interventions in real-world settings but are seldom used in OA research. The aim of this study was to evaluate the literature on pragmatic trials in OA research up to August 2016 in order to identify strengths and weaknesses in the design and reporting of these trials. We used established guidelines to assess the degree to which 61 OA studies complied with pragmatic trial design and reporting. We assessed design according to the pragmatic-explanatory continuum indicator summary and reporting according to the pragmatic trials extension of the CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines. None of the pragmatic trials met all 11 criteria evaluated and most of the trials met between 5 and 8 of the criteria. Criteria most often unmet pertained to practitioner expertise (by requiring specialists) and criteria most often met pertained to primary outcome analysis (by using intention-to-treat analysis). Our results suggest a lack of highly pragmatic trials in OA research. We identify this as a point of opportunity to improve research translation, since optimizing the design and reporting of pragmatic trials can facilitate implementation of evidence-based interventions for OA care. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  9. Dedicated OO expertise applied to Run II software projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amidei, D.

    2000-01-01

    The change in software language and methodology by CDF and D0 to object-oriented from procedural Fortran is significant. Both experiments requested dedicated expertise that could be applied to software design, coding, advice and review. The Fermilab Run II offline computing outside review panel agreed strongly with the request and recommended that the Fermilab Computing Division hire dedicated OO expertise for the CDF/D0/Computing Division joint project effort. This was done and the two experts have been an invaluable addition to the CDF and D0 upgrade software projects and to the Computing Division in general. These experts have encouraged common approaches and increased the overall quality of the upgrade software. Advice on OO techniques and specific advice on C++ coding has been used. Recently a set of software reviews has been accomplished. This has been a very successful instance of a targeted application of computing expertise, and constitutes a very interesting study of how to move toward modern computing methodologies in HEP

  10. Current expertise location by exploiting the dynamics of knowledge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josef Nozicka

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Systems for expertise location are either very expensive in terms of the costs of maintenance or they tend to become obsolete or incomplete during the time. This article presents a new approach to knowledge mapping/expertise location allowing reducing the costs of knowledge mapping by maintaining the accuracy of the knowledge map. The efficiency of the knowledge map is achieved by introducing the knowledge estimation measures analysing the dynamics of knowledge of company employees and their textual results of work. Finding an expert with most up-to date knowledge is supported by focusing publishing history analysis. The efficiency of proposed measures within various timeframes of publishing history is evaluated by evaluation method introduced within the article. The evaluation took place in the environment of a middle-sized software company allowing seeing directly a practical usability of the expertise location technique. The results form various implications deployment of knowledge map within the company.

  11. Healthy Beyond Pregnancy, a Web-Based Intervention to Improve Adherence to Postpartum Care: Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Himes, Katherine Park; Donovan, Heidi; Wang, Stephanie; Weaver, Carrie; Grove, Jillian Rae; Facco, Francesca Lucia

    2017-10-10

    During the postpartum visit, health care providers address issues with short- and long-term implications for maternal and child health. Women with Medicaid insurance are less likely to return for a postpartum visit compared with women with private insurance. Behavioral economics acknowledges that people do not make exclusively rational choices, rather immediate gratification, cognitive and psychological biases, and social norms influence decision making. Drawing on insights from decision science, behavioral economists have examined how these biases can be modulated through carefully designed interventions. We have developed a Web-based tool, Healthy Beyond Pregnancy, that incorporates empirically derived concepts of behavioral economics to improve adherence rates to the postpartum visit. The primary objectives of this pilot study were to (1) refine and assess the usability of Healthy Beyond Pregnancy and (2) assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the intervention. We used a multistep process and multidisciplinary team of maternal-fetal medicine physicians, a behavioral economist, and researchers with expertise in behavioral interventions to design Healthy Beyond Pregnancy. We assessed the usability of the program with the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ), a validated 7-point scale, and semistructured interviews with postpartum women. We then conducted a feasibility trial to determine the proportion of eligible women who were willing to participate in an RCT of Healthy Beyond Pregnancy and the proportion of women willing to complete the Web-based program. Exploratory outcomes of the pilot trial included attendance at the postpartum visit, uptake of long-acting reversible contraception, and uptake of any contraception. The median PSSUQ score for Healthy Beyond Pregnancy was 6.5 (interquartile range: 6.1-7) demonstrating high usability. Semistructured interviews (n=10) provided in-depth comments about users' experience and

  12. Development of students’ eHealth, mHealth and serious games expertise in health behavior change during health and social studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mari Punna

    2015-10-01

    New clienthoods require new ways to work in health care and social services at the future. Professionals’ expertise in different kind of digital environments is essential. Expertise should be a combination of evidence-based practice, behavior change theories and the practical experiences of using different kind of applications and they should also overcome of the possible fear of unknown and technological challenges. These are the reasons why eHealth, mHealth and serious games should be involved to curriculum in health care and social services studies. When the expertise has started to develop during the studies by varied methods, the interest and motivation to utilize digital solutions could be increased. Skills to critically assess various digital applications in the aspect of behavior change theories also increase the quality of evidence based practice in health care and social services.

  13. Introduction: Recent advances in expertise research.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rikers, Remy; Paas, Fred

    2007-01-01

    During the 55th meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA, 2004) in San Diego, a symposium was organized on Recent Advances in Expertise Research. Most papers in this special issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology were presented in this symposium. The aim of this special issue is

  14. Expertise and processing distorted structure in chess.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartlett, James C; Boggan, Amy L; Krawczyk, Daniel C

    2013-01-01

    A classic finding in research on human expertise and knowledge is that of enhanced memory for stimuli in a domain of expertise as compared to either stimuli outside that domain, or within-domain stimuli that have been degraded or distorted in some way. However, we do not understand how experts process degradation or distortion of stimuli within the expert domain (e.g., a face with the eyes, nose, and mouth in the wrong positions, or a chessboard with pieces placed randomly). Focusing on the domain of chess, we present new fMRI evidence that when experts view such distorted/within-domain stimuli, they engage an active search for structure-a kind of exploratory chunking-that involves a component of a prefrontal-parietal network linked to consciousness, attention and working memory.

  15. Developing a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise : An examination of three Chinese mathematics teachers’ resource systems as windows into their work and expertise

    OpenAIRE

    Pepin , Birgit; Xu , Binyan; Trouche , Luc; Wang , Chongyang

    2017-01-01

    International audience; In order to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise, in this study we use the Documentational Approach to Didactics to explore the resource systems of three Chinese mathematics Bexpert^ teachers. Exploiting theWestern and Eastern literature we examine the notion of Bmathematics teaching expertise^, as it is perceived in the East and the West. The data consist of two rounds of in-depth interviews, observations and teachers’ representations of th...

  16. Towards “Operating Within” the Field: Doctoral Students’ Views of Supervisors’ Discipline Expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Gube

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim/Purpose: This paper considers the role of supervisors’ discipline expertise in doctoral learning from a student perspective. Background:\tDoctoral students need to develop expertise in a particular field of study. In this context, developing expertise requires doctoral students to master disciplinary knowledge, conventions and scholarship under the guidance of supervisors. Methodology\t: The study draws on a mixed-method approach, using an online survey and semi-structured interviews conducted with doctoral students. Contribution: The paper brings to the fore the role of supervisors’ discipline expertise on doctoral students’ research progress. Findings: The survey data suggest that doctoral students nominate their supervisors on the basis of their discipline expertise. They also view supervisors’ expertise as key to the development of ‘insider’ knowledge of their doctoral research. Recommendations for Practitioners: Supervisors play a pivotal role in helping doctoral students overcome intellectual barriers by imparting their discipline knowledge as well as balancing satisfactory doctoral completion rate and high quality student experience. Impact on Society\t: Doctoral supervision equips doctoral students with the right arsenal to be able to competently operate within their field and prepares them for their future research or professional career that demands a high level of discipline expertise. Future Research:\tThe scope of the findings leaves open a discussion about the experiences of doctoral students matched with non-discipline expert supervisory teams; for example, the extent of the mismatch and its ramifications.

  17. Educational Expertise, Advocacy, and Media Influence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malin, Joel R.; Lubienski, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    The efforts of many advocacy organizations to advance their preferred policies despite conflicting evidence of the effectiveness of these policies raise questions about factors that shape successful policy promotion. While many may like to think that expertise on an issue in question is an essential prerequisite for influence in public policy…

  18. Psychological Factors Associated with Paranursing Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brammer, Robert; Haller, Katherine

    The psychological factors associated with paranursing expertise were examined in a study of 135 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at a geriatric nursing facility in Amarillo, Texas. Data were collected through a project-developed screening tool called the Geriatric Employee Screening Tool (GEST), which is a true-false instrument patterned after…

  19. Basic-level categorization of intermediate complexity fragments reveals top-down effects of expertise in visual perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harel, Assaf; Ullman, Shimon; Harari, Danny; Bentin, Shlomo

    2011-07-28

    Visual expertise is usually defined as the superior ability to distinguish between exemplars of a homogeneous category. Here, we ask how real-world expertise manifests at basic-level categorization and assess the contribution of stimulus-driven and top-down knowledge-based factors to this manifestation. Car experts and novices categorized computer-selected image fragments of cars, airplanes, and faces. Within each category, the fragments varied in their mutual information (MI), an objective quantifiable measure of feature diagnosticity. Categorization of face and airplane fragments was similar within and between groups, showing better performance with increasing MI levels. Novices categorized car fragments more slowly than face and airplane fragments, while experts categorized car fragments as fast as face and airplane fragments. The experts' advantage with car fragments was similar across MI levels, with similar functions relating RT with MI level for both groups. Accuracy was equal between groups for cars as well as faces and airplanes, but experts' response criteria were biased toward cars. These findings suggest that expertise does not entail only specific perceptual strategies. Rather, at the basic level, expertise manifests as a general processing advantage arguably involving application of top-down mechanisms, such as knowledge and attention, which helps experts to distinguish between object categories. © ARVO

  20. How to attain expertise in clinical communication?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wouda, Jan C.; van de Wiel, Harry B. M.

    2013-01-01

    Several factors complicate the attainment of expertise in clinical communication. Medical curricula and postgraduate training insufficiently provide the required learning conditions of deliberate practice to overcome these obstacles. In this paper we provide recommendations for learning objectives

  1. Bureaucratic power in note-writing: authoritative expertise within the state.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangset, Marte; Asdal, Kristin

    2018-02-24

    What produces the power of senior civil servants at ministries of finance, positioned at the top of the bureaucratic hierarchy? Max Weber has claimed that a hierarchical organization, meritocratic recruitment and procedural work provide bureaucracies with legitimacy. In particular he insisted on the role of Fachwissen (disciplinary knowledge) obtained through formal education. However, he also argued for the role of Dienstwissen, forms of knowledge and skills stemming from the experience of service in itself. Weber did not elaborate on this concept in detail, and few analysts of governmental expertise have examined this notion. We draw on the practice-turn in sociology, combining the study of governmental expertise with micro-sociological studies of administrative practices. By analysing interviews with 48 senior civil servants at the British, French and Norwegian ministries of finance about their daily practices, this article demonstrates that bureaucratic note-writing and the procedural evaluation of such notes constitute a key form of expertise that yields authority. The study provides an analytical framework for understanding what administrative expertise consists of, how it is integral to procedural work, the forms bureaucratic hierarchies take in practice and how these three dimensions provide authority. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2018.

  2. How do ICT firms in Turkey manage innovation? : diversity in expertise versus diversity in markets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akçomak, S.; Akdeve, E.; Fındık, D.

    2013-01-01

    This paper provides a novel taxonomy of firms based on specialization versus diversification in production and markets. Firms may choose to specialize on few production activities or alternatively may build expertise in many activities. There is an accompanying decision when firms sell their

  3. Expertise synthesis on the CSPE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blonde, G.; Poizat, F.

    2008-01-01

    This document presents a synthesis of the results of an expertise realized on the CSPE, the compensation tax of the electric public service. This tax concerns the management of the electricity production additional costs in isolated areas, the solidarity, a policy to favor the energy efficiency and the renewable energies. The document explains the historical aspects of the tax elaboration, its financial importance, the consequences and the impacts on the competition. (A.L.B.)

  4. Musical expertise and the ability to imagine loudness.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Bishop

    Full Text Available Most perceived parameters of sound (e.g. pitch, duration, timbre can also be imagined in the absence of sound. These parameters are imagined more veridically by expert musicians than non-experts. Evidence for whether loudness is imagined, however, is conflicting. In music, the question of whether loudness is imagined is particularly relevant due to its role as a principal parameter of performance expression. This study addressed the hypothesis that the veridicality of imagined loudness improves with increasing musical expertise. Experts, novices and non-musicians imagined short passages of well-known classical music under two counterbalanced conditions: 1 while adjusting a slider to indicate imagined loudness of the music and 2 while tapping out the rhythm to indicate imagined timing. Subtests assessed music listening abilities and working memory span to determine whether these factors, also hypothesised to improve with increasing musical expertise, could account for imagery task performance. Similarity between each participant's imagined and listening loudness profiles and reference recording intensity profiles was assessed using time series analysis and dynamic time warping. The results suggest a widespread ability to imagine the loudness of familiar music. The veridicality of imagined loudness tended to be greatest for the expert musicians, supporting the predicted relationship between musical expertise and musical imagery ability.

  5. Musical expertise and the ability to imagine loudness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Laura; Bailes, Freya; Dean, Roger T

    2013-01-01

    Most perceived parameters of sound (e.g. pitch, duration, timbre) can also be imagined in the absence of sound. These parameters are imagined more veridically by expert musicians than non-experts. Evidence for whether loudness is imagined, however, is conflicting. In music, the question of whether loudness is imagined is particularly relevant due to its role as a principal parameter of performance expression. This study addressed the hypothesis that the veridicality of imagined loudness improves with increasing musical expertise. Experts, novices and non-musicians imagined short passages of well-known classical music under two counterbalanced conditions: 1) while adjusting a slider to indicate imagined loudness of the music and 2) while tapping out the rhythm to indicate imagined timing. Subtests assessed music listening abilities and working memory span to determine whether these factors, also hypothesised to improve with increasing musical expertise, could account for imagery task performance. Similarity between each participant's imagined and listening loudness profiles and reference recording intensity profiles was assessed using time series analysis and dynamic time warping. The results suggest a widespread ability to imagine the loudness of familiar music. The veridicality of imagined loudness tended to be greatest for the expert musicians, supporting the predicted relationship between musical expertise and musical imagery ability.

  6. Varying Use of Conceptual Metaphors across Levels of Expertise in Thermodynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2015-04-01

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

  7. Drawing on a Sculpted Space of Actions : Educating for Expertise while Avoiding a Cognitive Monster

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keestra, M.

    Although expertise is usually considered as a positive outcome of education and practice in domains as varied as sports, science, music and politics, there are also concerns about negative effects of expertise. Since expertise is facilitated largely by implicit, automatic cognitive and brain

  8. Context-specific effects of musical expertise on audiovisual integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Laura; Goebl, Werner

    2014-01-01

    Ensemble musicians exchange auditory and visual signals that can facilitate interpersonal synchronization. Musical expertise improves how precisely auditory and visual signals are perceptually integrated and increases sensitivity to asynchrony between them. Whether expertise improves sensitivity to audiovisual asynchrony in all instrumental contexts or only in those using sound-producing gestures that are within an observer's own motor repertoire is unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that musicians are more sensitive to audiovisual asynchrony in performances featuring their own instrument than in performances featuring other instruments. Short clips were extracted from audio-video recordings of clarinet, piano, and violin performances and presented to highly-skilled clarinetists, pianists, and violinists. Clips either maintained the audiovisual synchrony present in the original recording or were modified so that the video led or lagged behind the audio. Participants indicated whether the audio and video channels in each clip were synchronized. The range of asynchronies most often endorsed as synchronized was assessed as a measure of participants' sensitivities to audiovisual asynchrony. A positive relationship was observed between musical training and sensitivity, with data pooled across stimuli. While participants across expertise groups detected asynchronies most readily in piano stimuli and least readily in violin stimuli, pianists showed significantly better performance for piano stimuli than for either clarinet or violin. These findings suggest that, to an extent, the effects of expertise on audiovisual integration can be instrument-specific; however, the nature of the sound-producing gestures that are observed has a substantial effect on how readily asynchrony is detected as well. PMID:25324819

  9. Music and words in the visual cortex: The impact of musical expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mongelli, Valeria; Dehaene, Stanislas; Vinckier, Fabien; Peretz, Isabelle; Bartolomeo, Paolo; Cohen, Laurent

    2017-01-01

    How does the human visual system accommodate expertise for two simultaneously acquired symbolic systems? We used fMRI to compare activations induced in the visual cortex by musical notation, written words and other classes of objects, in professional musicians and in musically naïve controls. First, irrespective of expertise, selective activations for music were posterior and lateral to activations for words in the left occipitotemporal cortex. This indicates that symbols characterized by different visual features engage distinct cortical areas. Second, musical expertise increased the volume of activations for music and led to an anterolateral displacement of word-related activations. In musicians, there was also a dramatic increase of the brain-scale networks connected to the music-selective visual areas. Those findings reveal that acquiring a double visual expertise involves an expansion of category-selective areas, the development of novel long-distance functional connectivity, and possibly some competition between categories for the colonization of cortical space. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Processes mediating expertise in air traffic control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Meeuwen, Ludo; Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen; De Bock, Jeano; Kirschner, Paul A.

    2011-01-01

    Van Meeuwen, L. W., Jarodzka, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., De Bock, J. J. P. R., & Kirschner, P. A. (2010, September). Processes mediating expertise in air traffic control. Poster presented at the European Association for Aviation Psychology Conference, Budapest.

  11. Separation of time-based and trial-based accounts of the partial reinforcement extinction effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouton, Mark E; Woods, Amanda M; Todd, Travis P

    2014-01-01

    Two appetitive conditioning experiments with rats examined time-based and trial-based accounts of the partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE). In the PREE, the loss of responding that occurs in extinction is slower when the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been paired with a reinforcer on some of its presentations (partially reinforced) instead of every presentation (continuously reinforced). According to a time-based or "time-accumulation" view (e.g., Gallistel and Gibbon, 2000), the PREE occurs because the organism has learned in partial reinforcement to expect the reinforcer after a larger amount of time has accumulated in the CS over trials. In contrast, according to a trial-based view (e.g., Capaldi, 1967), the PREE occurs because the organism has learned in partial reinforcement to expect the reinforcer after a larger number of CS presentations. Experiment 1 used a procedure that equated partially and continuously reinforced groups on their expected times to reinforcement during conditioning. A PREE was still observed. Experiment 2 then used an extinction procedure that allowed time in the CS and the number of trials to accumulate differentially through extinction. The PREE was still evident when responding was examined as a function of expected time units to the reinforcer, but was eliminated when responding was examined as a function of expected trial units to the reinforcer. There was no evidence that the animal responded according to the ratio of time accumulated during the CS in extinction over the time in the CS expected before the reinforcer. The results thus favor a trial-based account over a time-based account of extinction and the PREE. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Associative and Temporal Learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Qualitative Understanding of Magnetism at Three Levels of Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefani, Francesco; Marshall, Jill

    2010-03-01

    This work set out to investigate the state of qualitative understanding of magnetism at various stages of expertise, and what approaches to problem-solving are used across the spectrum of expertise. We studied three groups: 10 novices, 10 experts-in-training, and 11 experts. Data collection involved structured interviews during which participants solved a series of non-standard problems designed to test for conceptual understanding of magnetism. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. None of the novices and only a few of the experts in training showed a strong understanding of inductance, magnetic energy, and magnetic pressure; and for the most part they tended not to approach problems visually. Novices frequently described gist memories of demonstrations, text book problems, and rules (heuristics). However, these fragmentary mental models were not complete enough to allow them to reason productively. Experts-in-training were able to solve problems that the novices were not able to solve, many times simply because they had greater recall of the material, and therefore more confidence in their facts. Much of their thinking was concrete, based on mentally manipulating objects. The experts solved most of the problems in ways that were both effective and efficient. Part of the efficiency derived from their ability to visualize and thus reason in terms of field lines.

  13. Application of teleoperator expertise to robotics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grisham, D.L.; Lambert, J.E.

    1985-01-01

    This paper will briefly describe the evolution of Monitor remote handling system and its present capabilities and accomplishments. It will also suggest that the equipment and operational expertise can be applied to robotic systems in radioactive and other hostile environments. The Monitor methods of operation, tooling devised and employed, and the applications of these methods to robotic systems will be described

  14. A sociological analysis of ethical expertise: The case of bioethics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan Emmerich

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the question of ethical expertise and does so in the context of bioethics or, more accurately, applied ethics and the ethical governance of the life sciences. This analysis builds on a perspective set out in a previous paper and develops it further such that it relates to democratic processes. I argue that the academic practice of applied ethics exhibits a particular logic, way of thinking or eidos. Drawing on work in the history of science I present the logic of this practice as underpinned by a particular set of values or ethos. This can be contrasted with what Bernstein calls the democratic ethos as well as that of everyday moral agents. Using the framework of expertise developed by Collins and Evan’s—which differentiates between ubiquitous, contributory, and interactional expertise—I suggest that (bioethicists should modulate their expertise depending on the particular nature of the fora—academic, public, and policy-making—they are speaking in.

  15. Embracing model-based designs for dose-finding trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Love, Sharon B; Brown, Sarah; Weir, Christopher J; Harbron, Chris; Yap, Christina; Gaschler-Markefski, Birgit; Matcham, James; Caffrey, Louise; McKevitt, Christopher; Clive, Sally; Craddock, Charlie; Spicer, James; Cornelius, Victoria

    2017-07-25

    Dose-finding trials are essential to drug development as they establish recommended doses for later-phase testing. We aim to motivate wider use of model-based designs for dose finding, such as the continual reassessment method (CRM). We carried out a literature review of dose-finding designs and conducted a survey to identify perceived barriers to their implementation. We describe the benefits of model-based designs (flexibility, superior operating characteristics, extended scope), their current uptake, and existing resources. The most prominent barriers to implementation of a model-based design were lack of suitable training, chief investigators' preference for algorithm-based designs (e.g., 3+3), and limited resources for study design before funding. We use a real-world example to illustrate how these barriers can be overcome. There is overwhelming evidence for the benefits of CRM. Many leading pharmaceutical companies routinely implement model-based designs. Our analysis identified barriers for academic statisticians and clinical academics in mirroring the progress industry has made in trial design. Unified support from funders, regulators, and journal editors could result in more accurate doses for later-phase testing, and increase the efficiency and success of clinical drug development. We give recommendations for increasing the uptake of model-based designs for dose-finding trials in academia.

  16. Anticipatory Governance: Bioethical Expertise for Human/Animal Chimeras

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Alison; Salter, Brian

    2012-01-01

    The governance demands generated by the use of human/animal chimeras in scientific research offer both a challenge and an opportunity for the development of new forms of anticipatory governance through the novel application of bioethical expertise. Anticipatory governance can be seen to have three stages of development whereby bioethical experts move from a reactive to a proactive stance at the edge of what is scientifically possible. In the process, the ethicists move upstream in their engagement with the science of human-to-animal chimeras. To what extent is the anticipatory coestablishment of the principles and operational rules of governance at this early stage in the development of the human-to-animal research field likely to result in a framework for bioethical decision making that is in support of science? The process of anticipatory governance is characterised by the entwining of the scientific and the philosophical so that judgements against science are also found to be philosophically unfounded, and conversely, those activities that are permissible are deemed so on both scientific and ethical grounds. Through what is presented as an organic process, the emerging bioethical framework for human-to-animal chimera research becomes a legitimating framework within which ‘good’ science can safely progress. Science gives bioethical expertise access to new governance territory; bioethical expertise gives science access to political acceptability. PMID:23576848

  17. Reporting of Positive Results in Randomized Controlled Trials of Mindfulness-Based Mental Health Interventions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephanie Coronado-Montoya

    Full Text Available A large proportion of mindfulness-based therapy trials report statistically significant results, even in the context of very low statistical power. The objective of the present study was to characterize the reporting of "positive" results in randomized controlled trials of mindfulness-based therapy. We also assessed mindfulness-based therapy trial registrations for indications of possible reporting bias and reviewed recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses to determine whether reporting biases were identified.CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, ISI, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and SCOPUS databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of mindfulness-based therapy. The number of positive trials was described and compared to the number that might be expected if mindfulness-based therapy were similarly effective compared to individual therapy for depression. Trial registries were searched for mindfulness-based therapy registrations. CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, ISI, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and SCOPUS were also searched for mindfulness-based therapy systematic reviews and meta-analyses.108 (87% of 124 published trials reported ≥1 positive outcome in the abstract, and 109 (88% concluded that mindfulness-based therapy was effective, 1.6 times greater than the expected number of positive trials based on effect size d = 0.55 (expected number positive trials = 65.7. Of 21 trial registrations, 13 (62% remained unpublished 30 months post-trial completion. No trial registrations adequately specified a single primary outcome measure with time of assessment. None of 36 systematic reviews and meta-analyses concluded that effect estimates were overestimated due to reporting biases.The proportion of mindfulness-based therapy trials with statistically significant results may overstate what would occur in practice.

  18. One Small Droplet: News Media Coverage of Peer-Reviewed and University-Based Education Research and Academic Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yettick, Holly

    2015-01-01

    Most members of the American public will never read this article. Instead, they will obtain much of their information about education from the news media. Yet little academic research has examined the type or quality of education research and expertise they will find there. Through the lens of gatekeeping theory, this mixed-methods study aims to…

  19. Expertise dissimilarity and creativity: the contingent roles of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xu; Hsieh, J J Po-An; He, Wei

    2014-09-01

    In this study, we investigated whether team-level knowledge sharing moderates the effects of individual-level expertise dissimilarity on individual employees' creativity in research and development (R&D) project teams. Expertise dissimilarity--defined as the difference in expertise and knowledge between a focal team member and her or his fellow team members--was operationalized in terms of the research department to which each member belonged. In Study 1, multilevel analyses of data collected from 200 members of 40 R&D project teams in a telecommunications company revealed that a team member with expertise dissimilar to that of her or his teammates was more likely to exhibit creativity when the project team as a whole engaged in higher levels of tacit, rather than explicit, knowledge sharing. In contrast, a member whose expertise was similar to that of her or his teammates was more likely to exhibit creative behavior when the team engaged in higher levels of explicit, rather than tacit, knowledge sharing. These findings were largely replicated in Study 2 using data collected from 82 members of 25 project teams from another telecommunications company. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. Latest expertise investigations in nuclear dismantling and industrial applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallozzi Ulmann, Adrien; Chazalet, Julien; Couturier, Pierre; Touzain, Etienne; Amgarou, Khalil; Menaa, Nabil

    2013-06-01

    During the last decades, CANBERRA has developed know-how, expertise and intervention strategies based on its feedback experiences in many countries. This document covers a wide range of applications involving nuclear characterization, for which CANBERRA is able to provide measurement set-up and results, activity characterization and radioactive source localization, as well as to guarantee safety or process thresholds corresponding to the customer's needs. To improve processes best-in-class methodology, know-how and tools have been used in complex examples described in this paper. CANBERRA has demonstrated its ability to better and efficiently prepare for and execute decontamination and dismantling activities. (authors)

  1. Musical expertise and foreign speech perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Montes, Eduardo; Hernández-Pérez, Heivet; Chobert, Julie; Morgado-Rodríguez, Lisbet; Suárez-Murias, Carlos; Valdés-Sosa, Pedro A; Besson, Mireille

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this experiment was to investigate the influence of musical expertise on the automatic perception of foreign syllables and harmonic sounds. Participants were Cuban students with high level of expertise in music or in visual arts and with the same level of general education and socio-economic background. We used a multi-feature Mismatch Negativity (MMN) design with sequences of either syllables in Mandarin Chinese or harmonic sounds, both comprising deviants in pitch contour, duration and Voice Onset Time (VOT) or equivalent that were either far from (Large deviants) or close to (Small deviants) the standard. For both Mandarin syllables and harmonic sounds, results were clear-cut in showing larger MMNs to pitch contour deviants in musicians than in visual artists. Results were less clear for duration and VOT deviants, possibly because of the specific characteristics of the stimuli. Results are interpreted as reflecting similar processing of pitch contour in speech and non-speech sounds. The implications of these results for understanding the influence of intense musical training from childhood to adulthood and of genetic predispositions for music on foreign language perception are discussed.

  2. Musical expertise and foreign speech perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo eMartínez-Montes

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this experiment was to investigate the influence of musical expertise on the automatic perception of foreign syllables and harmonic sounds. Participants were Cuban students with high level of expertise in music or in visual arts and with the same level of general education and socio-economic background. We used a multi-feature Mismatch Negativity (MMN design with sequences of either syllables in Mandarin Chinese or harmonic sounds, both comprising deviants in pitch contour, duration and Voice Onset Time (VOT or equivalent that were either far from (Large deviants or close to (Small deviants the standard. For both Mandarin syllables and harmonic sounds, results were clear-cut in showing larger MMNs to pitch contour deviants in musicians than in visual artists. Results were less clear for duration and VOT deviants, possibly because of the specific characteristics of the stimuli. Results are interpreted as reflecting similar processing of pitch contour in speech and non-speech sounds. The implications of these results for understanding the influence of intense musical training from childhood to adulthood and of genetic predispositions for music on foreign language perception is discussed.

  3. Universities and the Public Recognition of Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnoldi, Jakob

    2007-01-01

    This article argues that new sites of knowledge production, increasingly cultivated by the mass media, are threatening the role of academics and universities as traditional sources of expertise. Drawing upon the conceptual categories of Pierre Bourdieu, the article suggests an alternative way of understanding this "crisis of legitimacy."

  4. Behavioral and subcortical signatures of musical expertise in Mandarin Chinese speakers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caitlin Dawson

    Full Text Available Both musical training and native language have been shown to have experience-based plastic effects on auditory processing. However, the combined effects within individuals are unclear. Recent research suggests that musical training and tone language speaking are not clearly additive in their effects on processing of auditory features and that there may be a disconnect between perceptual and neural signatures of auditory feature processing. The literature has only recently begun to investigate the effects of musical expertise on basic auditory processing for different linguistic groups. This work provides a profile of primary auditory feature discrimination for Mandarin speaking musicians and nonmusicians. The musicians showed enhanced perceptual discrimination for both frequency and duration as well as enhanced duration discrimination in a multifeature discrimination task, compared to nonmusicians. However, there were no differences between the groups in duration processing of nonspeech sounds at a subcortical level or in subcortical frequency representation of a nonnative tone contour, for fo or for the first or second formant region. The results indicate that musical expertise provides a cognitive, but not subcortical, advantage in a population of Mandarin speakers.

  5. Processes mediating expertise in air traffic control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Meeuwen, Ludo; Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen; De Bock, Jeano; Kirschner, Paul A.

    2010-01-01

    Van Meeuwen, L., Jarodzka, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., De Bock, J. J. P. R., & Kirschner, P. A. (2010, August). Processes mediating expertise in air traffic control. Meeting of the EARLI SIG6/7 Instructional Design and Learning and Instruction with Computers, Ulm, Germany.

  6. Institutionalized Ignorance as a Precondition for Rational Risk Expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Merkelsen, Henrik

    2011-01-01

    the lowest organizational level, where concrete risks occur, to the highest organizational level, where the body of professional risk expertise is situated. The article emphasizes the role of knowledge, responsibility, loyalty, and trust as risk-attenuation factors and concludes by suggesting......The present case study seeks to explain the conditions for experts’ rational risk perception by analyzing the institutional contexts that constitute a field of food safety expertise in Denmark. The study highlights the role of risk reporting and how contextual factors affect risk reporting from...... that the preconditions for the expert's rationality may rather be a lack of risk-specific knowledge due to poor risk reporting than a superior level of risk knowledge....

  7. A study on mobile PC display design in NPP maintenance considering the level of expertise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, In

    2010-02-01

    Recently, the importance of effective maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been emphasized and research into effective maintenance by adopting mobile maintenance aids (MMAs) have been attempted. MMAs are currently used during operation and maintenance in NPPs, but no method that considers the limitations of mobile devices has been proposed. For improved and effective use, an MMA display design method based on abstraction hierarchy (AH) is proposed and its design considerations are discussed in this study. Six levels of abstraction hierarchy are proposed in this paper to classify the maintenance information. By classifying and organizing maintenance information using AH, maintenance information can be used effectively by users either high or low levels of expertise. When information classification has been finished, the information requirements and relationships for MMA design is extracted from the analysis of the AH result. Representative human-machine interface (HMI) guidelines issued by the US NRC, which are generally used in NPPs, are applied. With the considerations of MMA design analysis and practical guidelines, AH-based MMA is designed for maintenance tasks. An experiment is conducted using the AH-based MMA in order to estimate the effectiveness of the proposed method for maintenance tasks and to identify design considerations to enhance the proposed MMAs. The result indicated that an AH-based manual was more effective than a conventional manual in terms of task completion time and number of errors. The workload for the AH-based manual was estimated to be less than the conventional manual for low levels of expertise. However, a conventional manual was more comprehensive than the proposed manual and the steps contained in the maintenance manual were easier to remember. As the level of expertise increases, subjects tended to follow more abstract information while the number of navigations decreased. It is believed that when mobile devices become

  8. On the Dynamics of Building Systems of Scientific Expertise: The Case of Ionizing Radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boudia, Soraya

    2008-01-01

    An examination of historical work shows that several systems of scientific expertise were shaped by public controversies. Taking the case of the health and environmental hazards of radioactivity as an example, this articles seeks to account for a twofold dynamic at work in building and/or reconfiguring systems of scientific expertise: expertise either as a resource to manage public mobilisation or as vector whereby some of the criticisms are incorporated into existing institutional systems by reconfiguring them or setting up new organisations

  9. Working memory, reasoning, and expertise in medicine-insights into their relationship using functional neuroimaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hruska, Pam; Krigolson, Olav; Coderre, Sylvain; McLaughlin, Kevin; Cortese, Filomeno; Doig, Christopher; Beran, Tanya; Wright, Bruce; Hecker, Kent G

    2016-12-01

    Clinical reasoning is dependent upon working memory (WM). More precisely, during the clinical reasoning process stored information within long-term memory is brought into WM to facilitate the internal deliberation that affords a clinician the ability to reason through a case. In the present study, we examined the relationship between clinical reasoning and WM while participants read clinical cases with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). More specifically, we examined the impact of clinical case difficulty (easy, hard) and clinician level of expertise (2nd year medical students, senior gastroenterologists) on neural activity within regions of cortex associated with WM (i.e., the prefrontal cortex) during the reasoning process. fMRI was used to scan ten second-year medical students and ten practicing gastroenterologists while they reasoned through sixteen clinical cases [eight straight forward (easy) and eight complex (hard)] during a single 1-h scanning session. Within-group analyses contrasted the easy and hard cases which were then subsequently utilized for a between-group analysis to examine effects of expertise (novice > expert, expert > novice). Reading clinical cases evoked multiple neural activations in occipital, prefrontal, parietal, and temporal cortical regions in both groups. Importantly, increased activation in the prefrontal cortex in novices for both easy and hard clinical cases suggests novices utilize WM more so than experts during clinical reasoning. We found that clinician level of expertise elicited differential activation of regions of the human prefrontal cortex associated with WM during clinical reasoning. This suggests there is an important relationship between clinical reasoning and human WM. As such, we suggest future models of clinical reasoning take into account that the use of WM is not consistent throughout all clinical reasoning tasks, and that memory structure may be utilized differently based on level of expertise.

  10. Learning and Development Expertise: An Australian Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodge, Steven; Harvey, Jack

    2015-01-01

    Learning and development (L&D) practitioners draw on a distinctive range of knowledge, skills and techniques in their work. Over the years, there have been attempts to capture this range and identify typical L&D roles. The research presented here was undertaken to identify characteristic areas of expertise (AOEs) of L&D practice in…

  11. How to attain expertise in clinical communication?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wouda, Jan C; van de Wiel, Harry B M

    2013-12-01

    Several factors complicate the attainment of expertise in clinical communication. Medical curricula and postgraduate training insufficiently provide the required learning conditions of deliberate practice to overcome these obstacles. In this paper we provide recommendations for learning objectives and teaching methods for the attainment of professional expertise in patient education. Firstly, we propose to use functional learning objectives derived from the goals and strategies of clinical communication. Secondly, we recommend using teaching and assessment methods which: (1) contain stimulating learning tasks with opportunities for immediate feedback, reflection and corrections, and (2) give ample opportunity for repetition, gradual refinements and practice in challenging situations. Video-on-the-job fits these requirements and can be used to improve the competency in patient education of residents and medical staff in clinical practice. However, video-on-the-job can only be successful if the working environment supports the teaching and learning of communication and if medical staff which supervises the residents, is motivated to improve their own communication and didactic skills. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. "No level up!": no effects of video game specialization and expertise on cognitive performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gobet, Fernand; Johnston, Stephen J; Ferrufino, Gabriella; Johnston, Matthew; Jones, Michael B; Molyneux, Antonia; Terzis, Argyrios; Weeden, Luke

    2014-01-01

    Previous research into the effects of action video gaming on cognition has suggested that long term exposure to this type of game might lead to an enhancement of cognitive skills that transfer to non-gaming cognitive tasks. However, these results have been controversial. The aim of the current study was to test the presence of positive cognitive transfer from action video games to two cognitive tasks. More specifically, this study investigated the effects that participants' expertise and genre specialization have on cognitive improvements in one task unrelated to video gaming (a flanker task) and one related task (change detection task with both control and genre-specific images). This study was unique in three ways. Firstly, it analyzed a continuum of expertise levels, which has yet to be investigated in research into the cognitive benefits of video gaming. Secondly, it explored genre-specific skill developments on these tasks by comparing Action and Strategy video game players (VGPs). Thirdly, it used a very tight experiment design, including the experimenter being blind to expertise level and genre specialization of the participant. Ninety-two university students aged between 18 and 30 (M = 21.25) were recruited through opportunistic sampling and were grouped by video game specialization and expertise level. While the results of the flanker task were consistent with previous research (i.e., effect of congruence), there was no effect of expertise, and the action gamers failed to outperform the strategy gamers. Additionally, contrary to expectation, there was no interaction between genre specialization and image type in the change detection task, again demonstrating no expertise effect. The lack of effects for game specialization and expertise goes against previous research on the positive effects of action video gaming on other cognitive tasks.

  13. The Effect of Perceptual Expertise on Visual Short-Term Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Zhang

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Visual working memory (VWM capacity is larger for faces than other complex objects. Inversion reduces capacity for faces more than nonfaces (Curby and Gauthier, 2007. These findings suggest that VWM is influenced by the encoding processes employed by face experts. Scolari, Vogel and Awh (2008 found that perceptual expertise enables a more detailed memory, instead of a larger WM capacity, for faces than nonfaces. Since people are more expert at recognizing own-race than other-race faces, we investigated whether this advantage is due to a higher resolution of own-race face representations. Six study items (Chinese and Caucasian faces, shaded cubes were simultaneously shown on screen on each trial. After a short delay, a single image was presented. Participants were asked to judge whether this image was the same or different from the item that originally appeared in that location. Neither own-race nor other-race faces showed an inversion effect when stimuli changed between categories (face to cube, cube to face. However, an inversion effect was found for both own-race and other-race faces when changes occurred within a category (face to face, cube to cube. These results suggest that both own-race and other-race faces are stored with high resolution in working memory.

  14. L’expertise psychiatrique au service de la gouvernance ? Psychiatric expertise in the service of governance? ¿La pericia psiquiátrica al servicio de la gobernanza?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivier Dembinski

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Cet article analyse le processus d’institutionnalisation d’une expertise gestionnaire en psychiatrie dans le cadre du nouveau management public. Portée par des acteurs intéressés à la faire fonctionner, cette expertise est le produit d’une hybridation entre connaissances gestionnaire et médicale. Elle participe aujourd’hui à la construction d’un appareil idéologique d’État dont l’objectif est d’obtenir la rationalisation de l’activité en psychiatrie.The article examines the process by means of which the New Public Management framework institutionalizes management expertise in the field of psychiatry. Conveyed by actors who have a stake in success, such expertise is the product of a hybridization between managerial and medical knowledge. Today it underpins the construction of an ideological state apparatus whose objective is to rationalize certain activities in psychiatry.En este artículo se analiza el proceso de institucionalización de una pericia de gestión en psiquiatría, en el marco del nuevo management público. Esgrimida por actores interesados en hacerla funcionar, dicha pericia es el producto de una hibridación de conocimientos de gestión y medicina. Actualmente contribuye a la construcción de un aparato ideológico de Estado que busca lograr una racionalización de la actividad psiquiátrica.

  15. Assessing Clinical Trial-Associated Workload in Community-Based Research Programs Using the ASCO Clinical Trial Workload Assessment Tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Good, Marjorie J; Hurley, Patricia; Woo, Kaitlin M; Szczepanek, Connie; Stewart, Teresa; Robert, Nicholas; Lyss, Alan; Gönen, Mithat; Lilenbaum, Rogerio

    2016-05-01

    Clinical research program managers are regularly faced with the quandary of determining how much of a workload research staff members can manage while they balance clinical practice and still achieve clinical trial accrual goals, maintain data quality and protocol compliance, and stay within budget. A tool was developed to measure clinical trial-associated workload, to apply objective metrics toward documentation of work, and to provide clearer insight to better meet clinical research program challenges and aid in balancing staff workloads. A project was conducted to assess the feasibility and utility of using this tool in diverse research settings. Community-based research programs were recruited to collect and enter clinical trial-associated monthly workload data into a web-based tool for 6 consecutive months. Descriptive statistics were computed for self-reported program characteristics and workload data, including staff acuity scores and number of patient encounters. Fifty-one research programs that represented 30 states participated. Median staff acuity scores were highest for staff with patients enrolled in studies and receiving treatment, relative to staff with patients in follow-up status. Treatment trials typically resulted in higher median staff acuity, relative to cancer control, observational/registry, and prevention trials. Industry trials exhibited higher median staff acuity scores than trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, academic institutions, or others. The results from this project demonstrate that trial-specific acuity measurement is a better measure of workload than simply counting the number of patients. The tool was shown to be feasible and useable in diverse community-based research settings. Copyright © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  16. Effects of psychological therapies in randomized trials and practice-based studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barkham, Michael; Stiles, William B; Connell, Janice; Twigg, Elspeth; Leach, Chris; Lucock, Mike; Mellor-Clark, John; Bower, Peter; King, Michael; Shapiro, David A; Hardy, Gillian E; Greenberg, Leslie; Angus, Lynne

    2008-11-01

    Randomized trials of the effects of psychological therapies seek internal validity via homogeneous samples and standardized treatment protocols. In contrast, practice-based studies aim for clinical realism and external validity via heterogeneous samples of clients treated under routine practice conditions. We compared indices of treatment effects in these two types of studies. Using published transformation formulas, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores from five randomized trials of depression (N = 477 clients) were transformed into Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) scores and compared with CORE-OM data collected in four practice-based studies (N = 4,196 clients). Conversely, the practice-based studies' CORE-OM scores were transformed into BDI scores and compared with randomized trial data. Randomized trials showed a modest advantage over practice-based studies in amount of pre-post improvement. This difference was compressed or exaggerated depending on the direction of the transformation but averaged about 12%. There was a similarly sized advantage to randomized trials in rates of reliable and clinically significant improvement (RCSI). The largest difference was yielded by comparisons of effect sizes which suggested an advantage more than twice as large, reflecting narrower pre-treatment distributions in the randomized trials. Outcomes of completed treatments for depression in randomized trials appeared to be modestly greater than those in routine care settings. The size of the difference may be distorted depending on the method for calculating degree of change. Transforming BDI scores into CORE-OM scores and vice versa may be a preferable alternative to effect sizes for comparisons of studies using these measures.

  17. Assessing Cognitive Function in Bipolar Disorder: Challenges and Recommendations for Clinical Trial Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burdick, Katherine E.; Ketter, Terence A.; Goldberg, Joseph F.; Calabrese, Joseph R.

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE Neurocognitive impairment in schizophrenia has been recognized for more than a century. In contrast, only recently have significant neurocognitive deficits been recognized in bipolar disorder. Converging data suggest the importance of cognitive problems in relation to quality of life in bipolar disorder, highlighting the need for treatment and prevention efforts targeting cognition in bipolar patients. Future treatment trials targeting cognitive deficits will be met with methodological challenges due to the inherent complexity and heterogeneity of the disorder, including significant diagnostic comorbidities, the episodic nature of the illness, frequent use of polypharmacy, cognitive heterogeneity, and a lack of consensus regarding measurement of cognition and outcome in bipolar patients. Guidelines for use in designing future trials are needed. PARTICIPANTS The members of the consensus panel (each of the bylined authors) were selected based upon their expertise in bipolar disorder. Dr. Burdick is a neuropsychologist who has studied cognition in this illness for 15 years; Drs. Ketter, Calabrese, and Goldberg each bring considerable expertise in the treatment of bipolar disorder both within and outside of controlled clinical trials. This consensus statement was derived from work together at scientific meetings (e.g. symposium presention at the 2014 Annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, among others) and ongoing discussions by conference call. With the exception of the public presentations on this topic, these meetings were closed to outside participants. EVIDENCE A literature review was undertaken by the authors to identify illness-specific challenges relevant to the design and conduct of treatment trials targeting neurocognition in bipolar disorder. Expert opinion from each of the authors guided the consensus recommendations. CONSENSUS PROCESS Consensus recommendations, reached by unanimous opinion of the authors, are

  18. Instructional Design for Accelerated Macrocognitive Expertise in the Baseball Workplace.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fadde, Peter J

    2016-01-01

    The goal of accelerating expertise can leave researchers and trainers in human factors, naturalistic decision making, sport science, and expertise studies concerned about seemingly insufficient application of expert performance theories, findings and methods for training macrocognitive aspects of human performance. Video-occlusion methods perfected by sports expertise researchers have great instructional utility, in some cases offering an effective and inexpensive alternative to high-fidelity simulation. A key problem for instructional designers seems to be that expertise research done in laboratory and field settings doesn't get adequately translated into workplace training. Therefore, this article presents a framework for better linkage of expertise research/training across laboratory, field, and workplace settings. It also uses a case study to trace the development and implementation of a macrocognitive training program in the very challenging workplace of the baseball batters' box. This training, which was embedded for a full season in a college baseball team, targeted the perceptual-cognitive skill of pitch recognition that allows expert batters to circumvent limitations of human reaction time in order to hit a 90 mile-per-hour slider. While baseball batting has few analogous skills outside of sports, the instructional design principles of the training program developed to improve batting have wider applicability and implications. Its core operational principle, supported by information processing models but challenged by ecological models, decouples the perception-action link for targeted part-task training of the perception component, in much the same way that motor components routinely are isolated to leverage instructional efficiencies. After targeted perceptual training, perception and action were recoupled via transfer-appropriate tasks inspired by in situ research tasks. Using NCAA published statistics as performance measures, the cooperating team

  19. Instructional Design for Accelerated Macrocognitive Expertise in the Baseball Workplace

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter J. Fadde

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The goal of accelerating expertise can leave researchers and trainers in human factors, naturalistic decision making, sport science, and expertise studies concerned about seemingly insufficient application of expert performance theories, findings and methods for training macrocognitive aspects of human performance. Video-occlusion methods perfected by sports expertise researchers have great instructional utility, in some cases offering an effective and inexpensive alternative to high-fidelity simulation. A key problem for instructional designers seems to be that expertise research done in laboratory and field settings doesn’t get adequately translated into workplace training. Therefore, this article presents a framework for better linkage of expertise research/training across laboratory, field, and workplace settings. It also uses a case study to trace the development and implementation of a macrocognitive training program in the very challenging workplace of the baseball batters’ box. This training, which was embedded for a full season in a college baseball team, targeted the perceptual-cognitive skill of pitch recognition that allows expert batters to circumvent limitations of human reaction time in order to hit a 90 mile-per-hour slider. While baseball batting has few analogous skills outside of sports, the instructional design principles of the training program developed to improve batting have wider applicability and implications. Its core operational principle, supported by information processing models but challenged by ecological models, decouples the perception-action link for targeted part-task training of the perception component, in much the same way that motor components routinely are isolated to leverage instructional efficiencies. After targeted perceptual training, perception and action were recoupled via transfer-appropriate tasks inspired by in situ research tasks. Using NCAA published statistics as performance measures

  20. The changing role of veterinary expertise in the food chain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Enticott, Gareth; Donaldson, Andrew; Lowe, Philip; Power, Megan; Proctor, Amy; Wilkinson, Katy

    2011-07-12

    This paper analyses how the changing governance of animal health has impacted upon veterinary expertise and its role in providing public health benefits. It argues that the social sciences can play an important role in understanding the nature of these changes, but also that their ideas and methods are, in part, responsible for them. The paper begins by examining how veterinary expertise came to be crucial to the regulation of the food chain in the twentieth century. The relationship between the veterinary profession and the state proved mutually beneficial, allowing the state to address the problems of animal health, and the veterinary profession to become identified as central to public health and food supply. However, this relationship has been gradually eroded by the application of neoliberal management techniques to the governance of animal health. This paper traces the impact of these techniques that have caused widespread unease within and beyond the veterinary profession about the consequences for its role in maintaining the public good of animal health. In conclusion, this paper suggests that the development of the social sciences in relation to animal health could contribute more helpfully to further changes in veterinary expertise.

  1. Computer-Based Driving in Dementia Decision Tool With Mail Support: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rapoport, Mark J; Zucchero Sarracini, Carla; Kiss, Alex; Lee, Linda; Byszewski, Anna; Seitz, Dallas P; Vrkljan, Brenda; Molnar, Frank; Herrmann, Nathan; Tang-Wai, David F; Frank, Christopher; Henry, Blair; Pimlott, Nicholas; Masellis, Mario; Naglie, Gary

    2018-05-25

    Physicians often find significant challenges in assessing automobile driving in persons with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia and deciding when to report to transportation administrators. Care must be taken to balance the safety of patients and other road users with potential negative effects of issuing such reports. The aim of this study was to assess whether a computer-based Driving in Dementia Decision Tool (DD-DT) increased appropriate reporting of patients with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment to transportation administrators. The study used a parallel-group cluster nonblinded randomized controlled trial design to test a multifaceted knowledge translation intervention. The intervention included a computer-based decision support system activated by the physician-user, which provides a recommendation about whether to report patients with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment to transportation administrators, based on an algorithm derived from earlier work. The intervention also included a mailed educational package and Web-based specialized reporting forms. Specialists and family physicians with expertise in dementia or care of the elderly were stratified by sex and randomized to either use the DD-DT or a control version of the tool that required identical data input as the intervention group, but instead generated a generic reminder about the reporting legislation in Ontario, Canada. The trial ran from September 9, 2014 to January 29, 2016, and the primary outcome was the number of reports made to the transportation administrators concordant with the algorithm. A total of 69 participating physicians were randomized, and 36 of these used the DD-DT; 20 of the 35 randomized to the intervention group used DD-DT with 114 patients, and 16 of the 34 randomized to the control group used it with 103 patients. The proportion of all assessed patients reported to the transportation administrators concordant with recommendation did not differ

  2. The Effect of Domain and Technical Expertise on the Training Outcomes for Case Management Systems in High Domain Expertise Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epstein, Steven L.

    2017-01-01

    The successful implementation of an enterprise system requires training and end users in the new systems and procedures. There has been no research reporting a relationship between Domain Expertise (DE) and the successful implementation of an enterprise system. This study sought to begin filling this knowledge gap by exploring the relationship…

  3. Radiofrequency and health. Expertise update. Opinion of the ANSES. Collective expertise report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cardis, Elisabeth; Dore, Jean-Francois; Marc-Vergnes, Jean-Pierre; Agnani, Jean-Benoit; Bruguiere, Pierre; Crouzier, David; Debaz, Josquin; Debuire, Brigitte; Deltour, Isabelle; LE Drean, Yves; Ledoigt, Gerard; Letertre, Thierry; Marchand, Dorothee; Massardier-Pilonchery, Amelie; Nadi, Mustapha; Pereira De Vasconcelos, Anne; Hours, Martine; Fite, Johanna; Merckel, Olivier; Roth, Olivia; Vergriette, Benoit; Saddoki, Sophia

    2013-10-01

    In a context of development of new technologies of wireless communications, and therefore of radio-electric signals used to transmit information, this voluminous document reports a detailed study on the effects of radiofrequency on health. It is notably based on a large literature survey and on an assessment of the level of proof of these effects by experts (proved, possible, probable, insufficiently proved, or no effect on mankind). These effects can be either biological or on health. The report presents the context, scope and modalities of the expertise study, presents the main artificial and natural sources of radiofrequency radiation, gives a detailed presentation of new exposure sources (new signals, new radio-electric networks and their applications like mobile phones, pads, mobile television, local wireless networks, RFID, so on). It describes metrology and dose measurement techniques for electromagnetic fields (exposure characterization in laboratory, characterization of the electromagnetic environment, individual exposure measurement devices, digital dosimetry). It addresses the efficiency of anti-wave devices. The next part presents the literature survey (method, analysis, results). The authors then report an assessment of the risk level related to radio-frequencies for the central nervous system (neurotoxicity mechanisms, cognitive functions, memory and behaviour, sleep and circadian rhythms, hearing functions, neurological and neuro-degenerative diseases), and an assessment of the risk level of radio-frequencies for other non-carcinogenic effects (possible mechanisms, reproduction, immunology, endocrine system, and so on). They discuss the researches on potential carcinogenic mechanisms. They give an overview of the evolutions of regulations and management measures in France, and propose a set of recommendations

  4. Visual strategies underpinning the development of visual-motor expertise when hitting a ball.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarpeshkar, Vishnu; Abernethy, Bruce; Mann, David L

    2017-10-01

    It is well known that skilled batters in fast-ball sports do not align their gaze with the ball throughout ball-flight, but instead adopt a unique sequence of eye and head movements that contribute toward their skill. However, much of what we know about visual-motor behavior in hitting is based on studies that have employed case study designs, and/or used simplified tasks that fall short of replicating the spatiotemporal demands experienced in the natural environment. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive examination of the eye and head movement strategies that underpin the development of visual-motor expertise when intercepting a fast-moving target. Eye and head movements were examined in situ for 4 groups of cricket batters, who were crossed for playing level (elite or club) and age (U19 or adult), when hitting balls that followed either straight or curving ('swinging') trajectories. The results provide support for some widely cited markers of expertise in batting, while questioning the legitimacy of others. Swinging trajectories alter the visual-motor behavior of all batters, though in large part because of the uncertainty generated by the possibility of a variation in trajectory rather than any actual change in trajectory per se. Moreover, curving trajectories influence visual-motor behavior in a nonlinear fashion, with targets that curve away from the observer influencing behavior more than those that curve inward. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the development of visual-motor expertise in interception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. How does the World Trade Organization know? The mobilization and staging of scientific expertise in the GMO trade dispute.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonneuil, Christophe; Levidow, Les

    2012-02-01

    The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement procedure is a key arena for establishing global legal norms for what counts as relevant knowledge. As a high-profile case, the WTO trade dispute on GMOs mobilized scientific expertise in somewhat novel ways. Early on, the Panel put the dispute under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement through a new legal ontology; it classified transgenes as potential pests and limited all environmental issues to the 'plant and animal health' category. The selection of scientific experts sought a multi-party consensus through a fast adversarial process, reflecting a specific legal epistemology. For the SPS framing, focusing on the defendant's regulatory procedures, the Panel staged scientific expertise in specific ways that set up how experts were questioned, the answers they would give, their specific role in the legal arena, and the way their statements would complement the Panel's findings. In these ways, the dispute settlement procedure co-produced legal and scientific expertise within the Panel's SPS framework. Moreover, the Panel operated a procedural turn in WTO jurisprudence by representing its findings as a purely legal-administrative judgement on whether the EC's regulatory procedures violated the SPS Agreement, while keeping implicit its own judgements on substantive risk issues. As this case illustrates, the WTO settlement procedure mobilizes scientific expertise for sophisticated, multiple aims: it recruits a source of credibility from the scientific arena, thus reinforcing the standard narrative of 'science-based trade discipline', while also constructing new scientific expertise for the main task--namely, challenging trade restrictions for being unduly cautious.

  6. Organizational change and human expertise in nuclear power plants: some implications for training and error prevention

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masson, M.; Malaise, N.; Housiaux, A.; Keyser, V. de

    1993-01-01

    Reliability and safety are two very important goals, which depend on technical and organizational factors, but also on human expertise. How to ensure a safe functioning of a nuclear power plant in a changing context, and what might be the role and aspects of training and transfer of knowledge? These are the questions we shall deal with in this paper, on the basis of two field studies. The two field studies stress the needs for setting up case based training, which best ensure the acquisition of know-how. Furthermore, as shown by the second one, gaining expertise involves developing large repertoires of highly skilled, semi-routinized activities. Supporting expert operators not only should tackle problem solving activities but should thus also include the prevention of routine errors, which go along with skill acquisition. (orig.)

  7. 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.

  8. Chasing expertise: reappraising the role of intuitive process in creative decisionmaking

    OpenAIRE

    Melrose, Susan

    2015-01-01

    What are some of the implications for the ways we think about contemporary dance-making, today, if we start from the premise that while art-making is a mode of work, expertise in that mode of work is rarely thematised in Dance writing - even though that expertise is widely celebrated in the world or worlds of dance and performance? \\ud I asked in the early days of the 21stC why terms like “performance mastery”, “virtuosity” and “disciplinary expertise” figured so rarely in performance and dan...

  9. Neurology expertise and postgraduate training programmes in the Arab world: a survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benamer, Hani T S

    2010-01-01

    Neurological disorders are increasingly recognised as a major public health problem, especially in the developing world. Having adequate neurology expertise to tackle this issue is essential. A 17-item survey was conducted to gather information about the number, training and location of neurologists and supportive facilities available to them in the 16 middle- and high-income Arab countries. Data about the availability of postgraduate training programmes was collected. Surveys were returned from all targeted countries. The population per neurologist ranges from 35,000 to just over two million, and the most neurologists are based in large cities. Most of the practising neurologists had received extensive training in neurology and/or passed specialty exams. The majority had all or part of their training abroad. Neuro-radiological and neuro-physiological investigations are generally available in most surveyed countries but neuro-genetics and neuro-immunology services are lacking. Neurology training programmes are available in ten Arab countries with a total of 504-524 trainees. The availability of neurologists, supportive services and training programmes varies between Arab countries. Further development of neurology expertise and local training programmes are needed. Copyright 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  10. Developing expertise in gynecologic surgery: reflective perspectives of international experts on learning environments and processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hardre PL

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Patricia L Hardré,1 Mikio Nihira,2 Edgar L LeClaire3 1Department of Educational Psychology, University of Oklahoma College of Education, Norman, 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Kansas College of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, USA Abstract: Research in medical education does not provide a clear understanding of how professional expertise develops among surgeons and what experiential factors contribute to that development. To address this gap, the researchers interviewed 16 international experts in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery to assess their reflective perceptions of what specific opportunities and experiences initiated and supported their development toward expertise in their field. Characteristics and influences explaining the speed and quality of expertise development were sorted into the following themes: the dynamic process of expertise development, internal and personal characteristics, general aptitudes and preparatory skills, role modeling and interpersonal influences, opportunities to learn and practice, and roles and reference points. Across the narratives and perspectives of these expert surgeons, both individual characteristics and choices, and contextual activities and opportunities were necessary and important. Experiences with greatest impact on quality of expertise development included those provided by the environment and mentors, as well as those sought out by learners themselves, to elaborate and supplement existing opportunities. The ideal combination across experts was interaction and integration of individual characteristics with experiential opportunities. Grounded in theory and research in expertise development, these findings can support improvement of medical education, both for individual mentors and strategic program development. As surgery evolves at a continuously

  11. Expertise Effects in Face-Selective Areas are Robust to Clutter and Diverted Attention, but not to Competition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGugin, Rankin Williams; Van Gulick, Ana E; Tamber-Rosenau, Benjamin J; Ross, David A; Gauthier, Isabel

    2015-09-01

    Expertise effects for nonface objects in face-selective brain areas may reflect stable aspects of neuronal selectivity that determine how observers perceive objects. However, bottom-up (e.g., clutter from irrelevant objects) and top-down manipulations (e.g., attentional selection) can influence activity, affecting the link between category selectivity and individual performance. We test the prediction that individual differences expressed as neural expertise effects for cars in face-selective areas are sufficiently stable to survive clutter and manipulations of attention. Additionally, behavioral work and work using event related potentials suggest that expertise effects may not survive competition; we investigate this using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects varying in expertise with cars made 1-back decisions about cars, faces, and objects in displays containing one or 2 objects, with only one category attended. Univariate analyses suggest car expertise effects are robust to clutter, dampened by reducing attention to cars, but nonetheless more robust to manipulations of attention than competition. While univariate expertise effects are severely abolished by competition between cars and faces, multivariate analyses reveal new information related to car expertise. These results demonstrate that signals in face-selective areas predict expertise effects for nonface objects in a variety of conditions, although individual differences may be expressed in different dependent measures depending on task and instructions. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. MICROSCOPE mission: drag-free and attitude control system expertise activities toward the scientific team

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delavault, Stéphanie; Prieur, Pascal; Liénart, Thomas; Robert, Alain; Guidotti, Pierre-Yves

    2018-04-01

    Microscope is a CNES-ESA-ONERA-CNRS-OCA-DLR-ZARM mission dedicated to the test of the Equivalence Principle with an improved accuracy of 10-15. The 300 kg drag-free microsatellite was launched on April 25th 2016 into a 710 km dawndusk sun-synchronous orbit for a 2-year mission. To comply with stringent requirements, the drag-free and attitude control system (DFACS) involves the scientific accelerometer as main sensor and a set of 8 cold gas proportional thrusters. Once in mission mode, within the CNES drag-free expertise center (CECT) the DFACS team provides several services to the system and to the scientific mission center: cold gas monitoring and management, `Attitude' ancillary data, DFACS expertise ancillary data. For this purpose, expertise tools have been implemented in the CECT, using the flexibility and efficiency of Matlab™ utilities. This paper presents the role of the CECT within the mission and details the expertise activities of the DFACS team illustrated with some typical in flight results.

  13. A Step Forward: Investigating Expertise in Materials Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Keith; Kim, Mija; Ya-Fang, Liu; Nava, Andrea; Perkins, Dawn; Smith, Anne Margaret; Soler-Canela, Oscar; Lu, Wang

    2008-01-01

    This article reports on a study investigating the textbook evaluation techniques of novice and experienced teachers, which was conducted by the Language Teaching Expertise Research Group (or LATEX) within Lancaster University's Department of Linguistics and English Language. Three ELT teachers were chosen to evaluate the student and teacher…

  14. Expertise in the Age of Post-Factual politics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berling, Trine Villumsen; Bueger, Christian

    2017-01-01

    What has become known as post-factual politics poses particular challenges to the role of expertise, calling for a new type of reflexivity able to inform scholarly strategies towards policy. Taking recent literature on the ‘practice turn’ as our point of departure, we argue for introducing a sens...

  15. Political Expertise and Affect: Effects on News Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Mei-Ling; Price, Vincent

    1993-01-01

    Investigates interactions between political expertise and affect in shaping cognitive strategies people employ in forming reactions to newspaper stories. Finds that, in processing the news articles, political experts produced a greater number of thoughts and a larger share of arguments than did novices. Observes no predicted main effects of…

  16. The Politics of Financial Regulation Expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ban, Cornel; Seabrooke, Leonard; Freitas, Sarah

    Who controls global policy debates on shadow banking regulation? By looking at the policy recommendations of the Bank of International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board, we show how experts tied to these institutions secured control over how shadow...... banking is treated. In so doing, these technocrats reinforced each other’s expertise and excluded some potential competitors (legal scholars), coopted others (select Fed and elite academic economists). The findings have important implications for studying the relationship between IOs technocrats...

  17. A web-based clinical trial management system for a sham-controlled multicenter clinical trial in depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durkalski, Valerie; Wenle Zhao; Dillon, Catherine; Kim, Jaemyung

    2010-04-01

    Clinical trial investigators and sponsors invest vast amounts of resources and energy into conducting trials and often face daily challenges with data management, project management, and data quality control. Rather than waiting months for study progress reports, investigators need the ability to use real-time data for the coordination and management of study activities across all study team members including site investigators, oversight committees, data and safety monitoring boards, and medical safety monitors. Web-based data management systems are beginning to meet this need but what distinguishes one system from the other are user needs/requirements and cost. To illustrate the development and implementation of a web-based data and project management system for a multicenter clinical trial designed to test the superiority of repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation versus sham for the treatment of patients with major depression. The authors discuss the reasons for not using a commercially available system for this study and describe the approach to developing their own web-based system for the OPT-TMS study. Timelines, effort, system architecture, and lessons learned are shared with the hope that this information will direct clinical trial researchers and software developers towards more efficient, user-friendly systems. The developers use a combination of generic and custom application code to allow for the flexibility to adapt the system to the needs of the study. Features of the system include: central participant registration and randomization; secure data entry at the site; participant progress/study calendar; safety data reporting; device accounting; monitor verification; and user-configurable generic reports and built-in customized reports. Hard coding was more time-efficient to address project-specific issues compared with the effort of creating a generic code application. As a consequence of this strategy, the required maintenance of the system is

  18. Professional Expertise in Magic – Reflecting on professional expertise in magic:An interview study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olli eRissanen

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the present investigation was to analyse interviews of highly regarded Finnish magicians. Social network analysis (N=120 was used to identify Finland’s most highly regarded magicians (N=16. The selected participants’ careers in professional magic and various aspects of their professional conduct were examined by relying on semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that cultivation of professional level competence in magic usually requires an extensive period of time compared with other domains of expertise. Magic is a unique performing art and it differs from other professions focusing on deceiving the audience. A distinctive feature of magical expertise is that the process takes place entirely through informal training supported by communities of magical practitioners. Three interrelated aspects of magical activity were distinguished: magic tricks, performance, and audience. Although magic tricks constitute a central aspect of magic activity, the participants did not talk about their tricks extensively; this is in accordance with the secretive nature of magic culture.The interviews revealed that a core aspect of the magicians’ activity is performance in front of an audience that repeatedly validates competence cultivated through years of practice. The interviewees reported investing a great deal of effort in planning, orchestrating, and reflecting on their performances. Close interaction with the audience plays an important role in most interviewees’ activity. Many participants put a great deal of effort in developing novel magic tricks. It is common to borrow magic effects from fellow magicians and develop novel methods of implementation. Because magic tricks or programs are not copyrighted, many interviewees considered stealing an unacceptable and unethical aspect of magical activity. The interviewees highlighted the importance of personality and charisma in the successful pursuit of magic activity.

  19. Deliberate Practice in Medicine: The Motivation to Engage in Work-Related Learning and Its Contribution to Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Wiel, Margje W. J.; Van den Bossche, Piet

    2013-01-01

    This study examined physicians' motivation to engage in work-related learning and its contribution to expertise development beyond work experience. Based on deliberate practice theory, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 residents and 28 experienced physicians in internal medicine, focusing on the activities they engaged in during…

  20. Conditions for Intuitive Expertise: A Failure to Disagree

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahneman, Daniel; Klein, Gary

    2009-01-01

    This article reports on an effort to explore the differences between two approaches to intuition and expertise that are often viewed as conflicting: heuristics and biases (HB) and naturalistic decision making (NDM). Starting from the obvious fact that professional intuition is sometimes marvelous and sometimes flawed, the authors attempt to map…

  1. Social dimensions of expertise in World of Warcraft players

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Chen

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Expertise development in the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004 depends greatly on a player's use of social skills to gain access to expert player groups and accrue social and cultural capital. Drawn from ethnographic research, this paper maps out various forms of expert practice and highlights the social aspects of game play that often eclipse the importance of game-mechanics knowledge. At the time of this research, playing World of Warcraft and developing expertise in the game happened roughly within a two-stage process: (1 leveling up, or advancing one's character or avatar while learning the mechanics of the game, and (2 drawing on social capital gained during the first stage to join a group of up to 40 players to partake in high-end or endgame content.

  2. How student models of expertise and innovation impact the development of adaptive expertise in medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mylopoulos, Maria; Regehr, Glenn

    2009-02-01

    The ability to innovate new solutions in response to daily workplace challenges is an important component of adaptive expertise. Exploring how to optimally develop this skill is therefore of paramount importance to education researchers. This is certainly no less true in health care, where optimal patient care is contingent on the continuous efforts of doctors and other health care workers to provide the best care to their patients through the development and incorporation of new knowledge. Medical education programmes must therefore foster the skills and attitudes necessary to engage future doctors in the systematic development of innovative problem solving. The aim of this paper is to describe the perceptions and experiences of medical students in their third and fourth years of training, and to explore their understanding of their development as adaptive experts. A sample of 25 medical students participated in individual 45-60-minute semi-structured interviews. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and entered into NVivo qualitative data analysis software to facilitate a thematic analysis. The analysis was both inductive, in that themes were generated from the data, and deductive, in that our data were meaningful when interpreted in the context of theories of adaptive expertise. Participants expressed a general belief that, as learners in the health care system, exerting any effort to be innovative was beyond the scope of their responsibilities. Generally, students suggested that innovative practice was the prerogative of experts and an outcome of expert development centred on the acquisition of knowledge and experience. Students' perceptions of themselves as having no responsibility to be innovative in their learning process have implications for their learning trajectories as adaptive experts.

  3. Neural basis of nonanalytical reasoning expertise during clinical evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Durning, S.J.; Costanzo, M.E.; Artino, A.R.; Graner, J.; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der; Beckman, T.J.; Wittich, C.M.; Roy, M.J.H.M. van; Holmboe, E.S.; Schuwirth, L.

    2015-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Understanding clinical reasoning is essential for patient care and medical education. Dual-processing theory suggests that nonanalytic reasoning is an essential aspect of expertise; however, assessing nonanalytic reasoning is challenging because it is believed to occur on the

  4. The appraisal rationalisation of real estate expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Ciuna

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The Italian appraisal practice is characterized by valuations developed in subjective opinions formulated by the valuers, according to the experience and the competence rather than on the survey of the market data of comparable properties. This practice makes up for the lack of information on the real estate market and to the consequent absence of systematic collections of market data. This tradition is in the cadastral appraisal for the rural (1886 and urban properties (1939. The assessed income is appraised for a representative property and wide to all the other properties with arbitrary scores (pure number. The assessed value is derived from the income with fixed multipliers. The reform of the cadastral appraisals (2013 provides the employment of predetermined statistic functions rather than the automated valuation models applied in the mass appraisal. There are therefore ample spaces to rationalize the Italian valuations. For the market appraisal the process of rationalization is based on the comparison between the expertise and the market comparison approach. For the cadastral appraisal the process of rationalization is based on the statistic application to the fixed functions with the survey of a sample of market prices and the ratios study according to the valuation standards.

  5. Researchers', Regulators', and Sponsors' Views on Pediatric Clinical Trials: A Multinational Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Pathma D; Craig, Jonathan C; Tong, Allison; Caldwell, Patrina H Y

    2016-10-01

    The last decade has seen dramatic changes in the regulatory landscape to support more trials involving children, but child-specific challenges and inequitable conduct across income regions persist. The goal of this study was to describe the attitudes and opinions of stakeholders toward trials in children, to inform additional strategies to promote more high-quality, relevant pediatric trials across the globe. Key informant semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders (researchers, regulators, and sponsors) who were purposively sampled from low- to middle-income countries and high-income countries. The transcripts were thematically analyzed. Thirty-five stakeholders from 10 countries were interviewed. Five major themes were identified: addressing pervasive inequities (paucity of safety and efficacy data, knowledge disparities, volatile environment, double standards, contextual relevance, market-driven forces, industry sponsorship bias and prohibitive costs); contending with infrastructural barriers (resource constraints, dearth of pediatric trial expertise, and logistical complexities); navigating complex ethical and regulatory frameworks ("draconian" oversight, ambiguous requirements, exploitation, excessive paternalism and precariousness of coercion versus volunteerism); respecting uniqueness of children (pediatric research paradigms, child-appropriate approaches, and family-centered empowerment); and driving evidence-based child health (advocacy, opportunities, treatment access, best practices, and research prioritization). Stakeholders acknowledge that changes in the regulatory environment have encouraged more trials in children, but they contend that inequities and political, regulatory, and resource barriers continue to exist. Embedding trials as part of routine clinical care, addressing the unique needs of children, and streamlining regulatory approvals were suggested. Stakeholders recommended increasing international collaboration

  6. Expertise development in the professions; Implications for teaching and assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boshuizen, Els

    2011-01-01

    Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2011, 30 August - 3 September). Expertise development in the professions; Implications for teaching and assessment. Paper presented at the bi-annual EARLI conferences, Exeter, UK.

  7. Classification of Recommender Expertise in the Wikipedia Recommender System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Christian D.; Pilkauskas, Povilas; Lefévre, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    to the quality of articles. The Wikipedia Recommender System (WRS) was developed to help users determine the credibility of articles based on feedback from other Wikipedia users. The WRS implements a collaborative filtering system with trust metrics, i.e., it provides a rating of articles which emphasizes...... an evaluation of four existing knowledge classification schemes with respect to these requirements. This evaluation helped us identify a classification scheme, which we have implemented in the current version of the Wikipedia Recommender System....... feedback from recommenders that the user has agreed with in the past. This exposes the problem that most recommenders are not equally competent in all subject areas. The first WRS prototype did not include an evaluation of the areas of expertise of recommenders, so the trust metric used in the article...

  8. Classification of Recommender Expertise in the Wikipedia Recommender System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Christian D.; Pilkauskas, Povilas; Lefevre, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    to the quality of articles. The Wikipedia Recommender System (WRS) was developed to help users determine the credibility of articles based on feedback from other Wikipedia users. The WRS implements a collaborative filtering system with trust metrics, i.e., it provides a rating of articles "which emphasizes...... an evaluation of four existing knowledge classification schemes with respect to these requirements. This evaluation helped us identify a classification scheme, which we have implemented in the current version of the Wikipedia Recommender System....... feedback from recommenders that the user has agreed with in the past. This exposes the problem that most recommenders are not equally competent in all subject areas. The first WRS prototype did not include an evaluation of the areas of expertise of recommenders, so the trust metric used in the article...

  9. The nature of chess expertise: knowledge or search?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ekaterina E. Vasyukova

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we briefl y survey studies of the nature of expertise, and we presentthe results of research directed at evidence of the complicated nature of expertise,which is most eff ectively seen in experts’ use of a transfer mechanism. Thephenomenon of the transfer of verbalized operational senses (VOS is analyzedand is investigated on the basis of the sense theory of thinking, as proposed byTikhomirov (1969, 1984.It is shown that VOS transfer manifests itself in diverse forms. It seems to be dependenton the factors of chess position and the age and skill level of the player.Diverse forms of transferring are associated with a change in separate indices ofVOS volume, structure, depth, and degree of consciousness in a connected position.VOS transfer is found more in skilled than in unskilled chess players; skilledplayers demonstrate selectivity of search in a connected position. VOS transfer isassociated not simply with the repetition and copying of some forecasts, whichgive the direction of search, but also with using and transforming the results ofprevious verbal searches.

  10. Effects of musical expertise on oscillatory brain activity in response to emotional sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolden, Sophie; Rigoulot, Simon; Jolicoeur, Pierre; Armony, Jorge L

    2017-08-01

    Emotions can be conveyed through a variety of channels in the auditory domain, be it via music, non-linguistic vocalizations, or speech prosody. Moreover, recent studies suggest that expertise in one sound category can impact the processing of emotional sounds in other sound categories as they found that musicians process more efficiently emotional musical and vocal sounds than non-musicians. However, the neural correlates of these modulations, especially their time course, are not very well understood. Consequently, we focused here on how the neural processing of emotional information varies as a function of sound category and expertise of participants. Electroencephalogram (EEG) of 20 non-musicians and 17 musicians was recorded while they listened to vocal (speech and vocalizations) and musical sounds. The amplitude of EEG-oscillatory activity in the theta, alpha, beta, and gamma band was quantified and Independent Component Analysis (ICA) was used to identify underlying components of brain activity in each band. Category differences were found in theta and alpha bands, due to larger responses to music and speech than to vocalizations, and in posterior beta, mainly due to differential processing of speech. In addition, we observed greater activation in frontal theta and alpha for musicians than for non-musicians, as well as an interaction between expertise and emotional content of sounds in frontal alpha. The results reflect musicians' expertise in recognition of emotion-conveying music, which seems to also generalize to emotional expressions conveyed by the human voice, in line with previous accounts of effects of expertise on musical and vocal sounds processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Delusions of expertise: the high standard of proof needed to demonstrate skills at horserace handicapping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browne, Matthew; Rockloff, Matthew J; Blaszcynski, Alex; Allcock, Clive; Windross, Allen

    2015-03-01

    Gamblers who participate in skill-oriented games (such as poker and sports-betting) are motivated to win over the long-term, and some monitor their betting outcomes to evaluate their performance and proficiency. In this study of Australian off-track horserace betting, we investigated which levels of sustained returns would be required to establish evidence of skill/expertise. We modelled a random strategy to simulate 'naïve' play, in which equal bets were placed on randomly selected horses using a representative sample of 211 weekend races. Results from a Monte Carlo simulation yielded a distribution of return-on-investments for varying number of bets (N), showing surprising volatility, even after a large number of repeated bets. After adjusting for the house advantage, a gambler would have to place over 10,000 bets in individual races with net returns exceeding 9 % to be reasonably considered an expert punter (α = .05). Moreover, a record of fewer bets would require even greater returns for demonstrating expertise. As such, validated expertise is likely to be rare among race bettors. We argue that the counter-intuitively high threshold for demonstrating expertise by tracking historical performance is likely to exacerbate known cognitive biases in self-evaluation of expertise.

  12. Exchanging expertise and constructing boundaries: The development of a transnational knowledge network around heroin-assisted treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duke, Karen

    2016-05-01

    Over the last 20 years, supervised injectable and inhalable heroin prescribing has been developed, tested and in some cases introduced as a second line treatment for limited groups of entrenched heroin users in a number of European countries and Canada. Based on documentary analyses and eleven key informant interviews, this paper investigates the growth of 'expertise' and the sharing of knowledge between scientific stakeholders from different countries involved in researching and developing this area of treatment. Drawing on Stone's concept of the 'knowledge network' (Stone, 2013) and Gieryn's theory of 'boundary-work' (Gieryn, 1983), the analysis demonstrates the collective power of this group of scientists in producing a particular form of knowledge and expertise which has accrued and been exchanged over time. It also illustrates the ways in which this type of science has gained credibility and authority and become legitimised, reinforced and reproduced by those who employ it in both scientific and political debates. Boundaries were constructed by the knowledge network between different types of professions/disciplines, different forms of science and between the production of science and its consumption by non-scientists. The uniformity of the knowledge network in terms of their professional and disciplinary backgrounds, methodological expertise and ideological perspectives has meant that alternative forms of knowledge and perspectives have been neglected. This limits the nature and scope of the scientific evidence on which to base policy and practice decisions impacting on the work of policy makers and practitioners as well as the experiences of those in treatment who are most affected by this research and policy development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. How Well Do Computer-Generated Faces Tap Face Expertise?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate Crookes

    Full Text Available The use of computer-generated (CG stimuli in face processing research is proliferating due to the ease with which faces can be generated, standardised and manipulated. However there has been surprisingly little research into whether CG faces are processed in the same way as photographs of real faces. The present study assessed how well CG faces tap face identity expertise by investigating whether two indicators of face expertise are reduced for CG faces when compared to face photographs. These indicators were accuracy for identification of own-race faces and the other-race effect (ORE-the well-established finding that own-race faces are recognised more accurately than other-race faces. In Experiment 1 Caucasian and Asian participants completed a recognition memory task for own- and other-race real and CG faces. Overall accuracy for own-race faces was dramatically reduced for CG compared to real faces and the ORE was significantly and substantially attenuated for CG faces. Experiment 2 investigated perceptual discrimination for own- and other-race real and CG faces with Caucasian and Asian participants. Here again, accuracy for own-race faces was significantly reduced for CG compared to real faces. However the ORE was not affected by format. Together these results signal that CG faces of the type tested here do not fully tap face expertise. Technological advancement may, in the future, produce CG faces that are equivalent to real photographs. Until then caution is advised when interpreting results obtained using CG faces.

  14. Sources of transportation expertise by selected technical areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-01-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) has assigned components of its Waste Transportation Program to three of the DOE Operations offices. The DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office (ORO) is responsible for the transportation operations design, development, acquisition, testing, implementation, and program management, including the equipment, facilities, and services of the transportation system. Within ORO, the OCRWM transportation component is assigned to the Transportation Operations Project Office (TOPO). The specific activities involved in the ORO/TOPO include procurement, operational testing, inspection, logistics, interfaces, maintenance, management and improvements, and system operation. Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) has developed (and will maintain and enhance) a data base of sources of transportation expertise in selected technical areas for ORO. The data base includes individuals and organizations who have indicated that they have capabilities and interest in assisting ORO in the design, development, implementation, and management of the OCRWM transportation system. This assistance might be in the form of consulting or subcontract work and/or participation in peer review panels, technical evaluation committees, workshops, advisory groups, etc. This initial project was completed in the four month period of January 30, 1987 through May 31, 1987

  15. Clinical Trials Infrastructure as a Quality Improvement Intervention in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denburg, Avram; Rodriguez-Galindo, Carlos; Joffe, Steven

    2016-06-01

    Mounting evidence suggests that participation in clinical trials confers neither advantage nor disadvantage on those enrolled. Narrow focus on the question of a "trial effect," however, distracts from a broader mechanism by which patients may benefit from ongoing clinical research. We hypothesize that the existence of clinical trials infrastructure-the organizational culture, systems, and expertise that develop as a product of sustained participation in cooperative clinical trials research-may function as a quality improvement lever, improving the quality of care and outcomes of all patients within an institution or region independent of their individual participation in trials. We further contend that this "infrastructure effect" can yield particular benefits for patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The hypothesis of an infrastructure effect as a quality improvement intervention, if correct, justifies enhanced research capacity in LMIC as a pillar of health system development.

  16. The Neural Circuitry of Expertise: Perceptual Learning and Social Cognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael eHarre

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Amongst the most significant questions we are confronted with today include the integration of the brain's micro-circuitry, our ability to build the complex social networks that underpin society and how our society impacts on our ecological environment. In trying to unravel these issues one place to begin is at the level of the individual: to consider how we accumulate information about our environment, how this information leads to decisions and how our individual decisions in turn create our social environment. While this is an enormous task, we may already have at hand many of the tools we need. This article is intended to review some of the recent results in neuro-cognitive research and show how they can be extended to two very specific types of expertise: perceptual expertise and social cognition. These two cognitive skills span a vast range of our genetic heritage. Perceptual expertise developed very early in our evolutionary history and is likely a highly developed part of all mammals' cognitive ability. On the other hand social cognition is most highly developed in humans in that we are able to maintain larger and more stable long term social connections with more behaviourally diverse individuals than any other species. To illustrate these ideas I will discuss board games as a toy model of social interactions as they include many of the relevant concepts: perceptual learning, decision-making, long term planning and understanding the mental states of other people. Using techniques that have been developed in mathematical psychology, I show that we can represent some of the key features of expertise using stochastic differential equations. Such models demonstrate how an expert's long exposure to a particular context influences the information they accumulate in order to make a decision.These processes are not confined to board games, we are all experts in our daily lives through long exposure to the many regularities of daily tasks and

  17. Learning Mathematics in a Visuospatial Format: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Mental Abacus Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barner, David; Alvarez, George; Sullivan, Jessica; Brooks, Neon; Srinivasan, Mahesh; Frank, Michael C.

    2016-01-01

    Mental abacus (MA) is a technique of performing fast, accurate arithmetic using a mental image of an abacus; experts exhibit astonishing calculation abilities. Over 3 years, 204 elementary school students (age range at outset: 5-7 years old) participated in a randomized, controlled trial to test whether MA expertise (a) can be acquired in standard…

  18. ‘No Level Up!’: No effects of video game specialization and expertise on cognitive performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernand eGobet

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Previous research into the effects of action video gaming on cognition has suggested that long term exposure to this type of game might lead to an enhancement of cognitive skills that transfer to non-gaming cognitive tasks. However, these results have been controversial. The aim of the current study was to test the presence of positive cognitive transfer from action video games to two cognitive tasks. More specifically, this study investigated the effects that participants’ expertise and genre specialisation have on cognitive improvements in one task unrelated to video gaming (a flanker task and one related task (change detection task with both control and genre-specific images. This study was unique in three ways. Firstly, it analysed a continuum of expertise levels, which has yet to be investigated in research into the cognitive benefits of video gaming. Secondly, it explored genre-specific skill developments on these tasks by comparing Action and Strategy video game players. Thirdly, it used a very tight experiment design, including the experimenter being blind to expertise level and genre specialisation of the participant. Ninety-two university students aged between 18 and 30 (M = 21.25 were recruited through opportunistic sampling and were grouped by video game specialization and expertise level. While the results of the flanker task were consistent with previous research (i.e. effect of congruence, there was no effect of expertise, and the action gamers failed to outperform the strategy gamers. Additionally, contrary to expectation, there was no interaction between genre specialisation and image type in the change detection task, again demonstrating no expertise effect. The lack of effects for game specialization and expertise goes against previous research on the positive effects of action video gaming on other cognitive tasks.

  19. La relación entre creatividad y expertise: contribuciones teóricas y empíricas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afonso C. T. Galvao

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available La creatividad y el expertise son temas que están recibiendo mayor atención de los inves­tigadores en distintos campos del conocimiento. Atributos personales asociados a la alta producción creativa, factores que favorecen el desarrollo, la expresión de la creatividad y el expertise, así como los procesos implicados en el desarrollo de la alta competencia y la creatividad, son temas que han sido objeto de numerosos estudios. El presente estudio pre­senta contribuciones teóricas y estudios empíricos acerca de la creatividad y el expertise. Se describen los elementos comunes para el desarrollo de la creatividad y el expertise, así como las características de los ambientes educativos que los promueven, los modelos teóricos y estudios empíricos.

  20. Treatment Algorithms Based on Tumor Molecular Profiling: The Essence of Precision Medicine Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Tourneau, Christophe; Kamal, Maud; Tsimberidou, Apostolia-Maria; Bedard, Philippe; Pierron, Gaëlle; Callens, Céline; Rouleau, Etienne; Vincent-Salomon, Anne; Servant, Nicolas; Alt, Marie; Rouzier, Roman; Paoletti, Xavier; Delattre, Olivier; Bièche, Ivan

    2016-04-01

    With the advent of high-throughput molecular technologies, several precision medicine (PM) studies are currently ongoing that include molecular screening programs and PM clinical trials. Molecular profiling programs establish the molecular profile of patients' tumors with the aim to guide therapy based on identified molecular alterations. The aim of prospective PM clinical trials is to assess the clinical utility of tumor molecular profiling and to determine whether treatment selection based on molecular alterations produces superior outcomes compared with unselected treatment. These trials use treatment algorithms to assign patients to specific targeted therapies based on tumor molecular alterations. These algorithms should be governed by fixed rules to ensure standardization and reproducibility. Here, we summarize key molecular, biological, and technical criteria that, in our view, should be addressed when establishing treatment algorithms based on tumor molecular profiling for PM trials. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

  1. A Structural Equation Model of Expertise in College Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taasoobshirazi, Gita; Carr, Martha

    2009-01-01

    A model of expertise in physics was tested on a sample of 374 college students in 2 different level physics courses. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships among variables linked to expert performance in physics including strategy use, pictorial representation, categorization skills, and motivation, and these…

  2. Expertise, Task Complexity, and Artificial Intelligence: A Conceptual Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckland, Michael K.; Florian, Doris

    1991-01-01

    Examines the relationship between users' expertise, task complexity of information system use, and artificial intelligence to provide the basis for a conceptual framework for considering the role that artificial intelligence might play in information systems. Cognitive and conceptual models are discussed, and cost effectiveness is considered. (27…

  3. Example-Based Learning: Effects of Model Expertise in Relation to Student Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boekhout, Paul; van Gog, Tamara; van de Wiel, Margje W. J.; Gerards-Last, Dorien; Geraets, Jacques

    2010-01-01

    Background: Worked examples are very effective for novice learners. They typically present a written-out ideal (didactical) solution for learners to study. Aims: This study used worked examples of patient history taking in physiotherapy that presented a "non"-didactical solution (i.e., based on actual performance). The effects of model expertise…

  4. Automatic Selection of Clinical Trials Based on A Semantic Web Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuggia, Marc; Campillo-Gimenez, Boris; Bouzille, Guillaume; Besana, Paolo; Jouini, Wassim; Dufour, Jean-Charles; Zekri, Oussama; Gibaud, Isabelle; Garde, Cyril; Duvauferier, Regis

    2015-01-01

    Recruitment of patients in clinical trials is nowadays preoccupying, as the inclusion rate is particularly low. The main identified factors are the multiplicity of open clinical trials, the high number and complexity of eligibility criteria, and the additional workload that a systematic search of the clinical trials a patient could be enrolled in for a physician. The principal objective of the ASTEC project is to automate the prescreening phase during multidisciplinary meetings (MDM). This paper presents the evaluation of a computerized recruitment support systems (CRSS) based on semantic web approach. The evaluation of the system was based on data collected retrospectively from a 6 month period of MDM in Urology and on 4 clinical trials of prostate cancer. The classification performance of the ASTEC system had a precision of 21%, recall of 93%, and an error rate equal to 37%. Missing data was the main issue encountered. The system was designed to be both scalable to other clinical domains and usable during MDM process.

  5. Knowledge management: Preserving skills and expertise for nuclear industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urjan, Daniel; Havris, Alexandru

    2003-01-01

    All healthy organizations generate and use knowledge. As organizations interact with their environments, they absorb information, turn it into knowledge and take action based on it in combination with their experiences, values and internal rules. Without knowledge, an organization could not organize itself; it would be unable to maintain itself as a functioning enterprise. Like any highly technical endeavor, the use of nuclear technology relies heavily on a vast accumulation of knowledge - volumes of scientific research, engineering analysis, operational data, regulatory reviews and many other types of technical information - combined with a complex assortment of people with the requisite educational background, expertise and acquired insight to apply that body of knowledge safely and effectively. Methods must be found to better capture this enormous body of nuclear experience. Today's nuclear workforce needs to document knowledge and then mentor the new nuclear scientists to build upon it, rather than having to re-create it. The latest studies have shown that at present NPPs cannot be replaced by other kinds of electric sources and in no case by renewable ones in an efficient manner. Therefore it is necessary to carefully manage knowledge gathered in the nuclear field during the years and to keep on the nuclear safety research, education and training to ensure and upgrade safe and reliable operation of existing and future nuclear facilities. Having in mind the complexity of this issue of global concern, this presentation tries to provide a brief overview of what knowledge management is and how it can help organizations to preserve knowledge, skills and expertise, particularly for the nuclear environment. What are the challenges of nuclear knowledge management and who should lead knowledge management efforts are also some of the issues covered in the presentation. (authors)

  6. Social and psychological risks expertise in crisis communities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shvalb, Y.

    1998-01-01

    Emerging and development of crises in the communities leads to considerable increase of individual's risks' quality and quantity. Irrespectively of risk scale - partial or total influence on a community - a number of tendencies of risks increase could be identified. On social level risks result from the tendency of social protection decrease and restriction in free choice of activities' forms and kinds. On group level confrontation and clashes emerge, increase intolerance and decrease tolerance are identified. On interpersonal (micro group) level aggression and abuse intensify. On individual level a complex of negative psychological statuses develops, which is diverse both as for its content and forms. Reasons of crisis development and its dynamics determine the content and concrete forms of risks on all levels. Systematic description of risks and development of psychological support programmes for population in risk presupposes organization and delivering of comprehensive social and psychological expertise of situation. Such an expertise makes it possible to unite in a comprehensive model of the multi-professional descriptions of crisis situations on the above mentioned levels, the subjective concepts of the population (or its separate groups) together with evaluation of various projects and programmes on crisis coping and risks decrease options. (author)

  7. GENDER LINGUSTICS AND DIAGNOSTICS OF THE SEX AS A PROBLEM OF AUTHORSHIP’S EXPERTISE

    OpenAIRE

    Вязигина, Н. В.

    2017-01-01

    In article the problem of authorship’s expertise connected with diagnostics of a sex of the author of the document is described. The solution of the problem with the help of the knowledge base, methods and means of gender linguistics is proposed. The essence of a modern gender linguistics and the main directions of its development is considered: research of language as systems and research of speech behavior of men and women. The analytical review of available scientific works in the sphere o...

  8. Expertise with unfamiliar objects is flexible to changes in task but not changes in class.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel A Searston

    Full Text Available Perceptual expertise is notoriously specific and bound by familiarity; generalizing to novel or unfamiliar images, objects, identities, and categories often comes at some cost to performance. In forensic and security settings, however, examiners are faced with the task of discriminating unfamiliar images of unfamiliar objects within their general domain of expertise (e.g., fingerprints, faces, or firearms. The job of a fingerprint expert, for instance, is to decide whether two unfamiliar fingerprint images were left by the same unfamiliar finger (e.g., Smith's left thumb, or two different unfamiliar fingers (e.g., Smith and Jones's left thumb. Little is known about the limits of this kind of perceptual expertise. Here, we examine fingerprint experts' and novices' ability to distinguish fingerprints compared to inverted faces in two different tasks. Inverted face images serve as an ideal comparison because they vary naturally between and within identities, as do fingerprints, and people tend to be less accurate or more novice-like at distinguishing faces when they are presented in an inverted or unfamiliar orientation. In Experiment 1, fingerprint experts outperformed novices in locating categorical fingerprint outliers (i.e., a loop pattern in an array of whorls, but not inverted face outliers (i.e., an inverted male face in an array of inverted female faces. In Experiment 2, fingerprint experts were more accurate than novices at discriminating matching and mismatching fingerprints that were presented very briefly, but not so for inverted faces. Our data show that perceptual expertise with fingerprints can be flexible to changing task demands, but there can also be abrupt limits: fingerprint expertise did not generalize to an unfamiliar class of stimuli. We interpret these findings as evidence that perceptual expertise with unfamiliar objects is highly constrained by one's experience.

  9. Difference in Agility, Strength, and Flexibility in Competitive Figure Skaters Based on Level of Expertise and Skating Discipline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Lindsay V; Vriner, Melissa; Zapalo, Peter; Arbour, Kat; Hart, Joseph M

    2016-12-01

    Slater, LV, Vriner, M, Zapalo, P, Arbour, K, and Hart, JM. Difference in agility, strength, and flexibility in competitive figure skaters based on level of expertise and skating discipline. J Strength Cond Res 30(12): 3321-3328, 2016-Figure skating is an extremely difficult sport that requires a combination of grace, artistry, flexibility, speed, and power. Although many skaters are involved with strength and conditioning programs, there is no current information about differences in off-ice performance measures based on skating discipline and level. The purpose of this study was to compare agility, strength, and flexibility performance based on skating discipline and level. A total of 343 figure skaters from 4 different disciplines (singles, dance, pair, and synchronized skating) and 3 different levels (novice, junior, and senior) completed combine testing with the United States Figure Skating Association. All subjects completed the hexagon agility test, t-test, triple bound jumps, vertical jump, timed tuck jumps, push-ups, v-ups, hand press, front split, seated reach, and stork pose. A multivariate analysis of variance with Scheffe's post hoc was used to identify differences in performance based on skating discipline and level. Mean differences, Cohen's d effect sizes, and 95% confidence intervals were reported for all significant differences. Senior and junior skaters tended to be faster and stronger than novice skaters. Singles, dance, and pair skaters tended to be more agile, stronger, and flexible than synchronized skaters, however, senior synchronized skaters tended to perform better than senior skaters in other disciplines. These results indicate that strength and conditioning professionals should consider skating discipline and level when designing strengthening programs for figure skaters.

  10. Perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport: some considerations when applying the expert performance approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, A Mark; Ericsson, K Anders

    2005-06-01

    The number of researchers studying perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport is increasing. The intention in this paper is to review the currently accepted framework for studying expert performance and to consider implications for undertaking research work in the area of perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport. The expert performance approach presents a descriptive and inductive approach for the systematic study of expert performance. The nature of expert performance is initially captured in the laboratory using representative tasks that identify reliably superior performance. Process-tracing measures are employed to determine the mechanisms that mediate expert performance on the task. Finally, the specific types of activities that lead to the acquisition and development of these mediating mechanisms are identified. General principles and mechanisms may be discovered and then validated by more traditional experimental designs. The relevance of this approach to the study of perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport is discussed and suggestions for future work highlighted.

  11. In Respect to the Cognitive Load Theory: Adjusting Instructional Guidance with Student Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schilling, Jim

    2017-01-01

    The amount of guidance supplied by educators to students in allied health programs is a factor in student learning. According to the cognitive load theory of learning, without adequate instructional support, novice learners will be overwhelmed and unable to store information, while unnecessary guidance supplied to advanced students will cause extraneous cognitive load on the working memory system. Adjusting instructional guidance for students according to their level of expertise to minimize extraneous cognitive load and optimize working memory storage capacity will enhance learning effectiveness. Novice students presented with complex subject matter require significant guidance during the initial stages, using strategies such as worked examples. As students comprehend information, instructional guidance needs to gradually fade to avoid elevated extraneous cognitive load from the expertise reversal effect. An instructional strategy that utilizes a systemic (fixed) or adjustable (adaptive) tapering of guidance to students in allied health programs depending on their expertise will optimize learning capability.

  12. Integrating LCA and EHS expertise in the assessment of nanoparticles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Stig Irving; Hankin, Steve; Chaudry, Qasim

    DTU with their expertise in LCA have joined forces with IOM in two nanotechnology-related projects, one of which additionally involves and is lead by FERA. The first project, Nancore, includes the evaluation of health risks and environmental impacts over the life cycle concurrently with the devel......DTU with their expertise in LCA have joined forces with IOM in two nanotechnology-related projects, one of which additionally involves and is lead by FERA. The first project, Nancore, includes the evaluation of health risks and environmental impacts over the life cycle concurrently...... the overall environmental impacts of the technology. Through the concurrent assessments, the strengths of the two tools are combined to provide a more qualified assessment of both the health and safety aspects and the life cycle impacts. The overall aim of the second project, sponsored by Defra...

  13. How motor, cognitive and musical expertise shapes the brain: Focus on fMRI and EEG resting-state functional connectivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cantou, Pauline; Platel, Hervé; Desgranges, Béatrice

    2017-01-01

    about functional cerebral reorganization due to expertise at the whole-brain level and might facilitate comparison across studies. Resting-state functional MRI and EEG makes it possible to explore the functional traces of expertise in the brain by measuring temporal correlations of blood oxygen level......, to determine whether there is a domain-specific neural signature of expertise. After highlighting expertise-related changes within resting-state networks for each domain, we discuss their specificity to the trained activity and the methodological considerations concerning different conditions and analyses used......-dependent (BOLD) and spontaneous neural activity fluctuations at rest. Since these correlations are thought to reflect a prior history co-activation of brain regions, we propose reviewing studies that focused on the effects of expertise in the motor, cognitive and musical domains on brain plasticity at rest...

  14. A Population-Based Clinical Trial of Irinotecan and Carboplatin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Derick Lau

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Phase I trials of anticancer drugs are commonly conducted using the method of modified Fibonacci. We have developed a population-based design for phase I trials of combining anticancer drugs such as irinotecan and carboplatin. Patients and Methods. Intrapatient dose escalation of irinotecan and carboplatin was performed according to a predetermined schema to reach individual dose-limiting toxicity (DLT in 50 patients with solid tumors refractory to previous chemotherapy. The individual toxicity-limiting dose levels were analyzed for normal distribution using the method of Ryan-Joiner and subsequently used to determine a population-based maximum tolerated dose (pMTD. For comparison, a simulation study was performed using the method of modified Fibonacci. Results. The most common dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs included neutropenia (58%, thrombocytopenia (16%, and diarrhea (8%. The frequency of individual toxicity-limiting dose levels of 50 patients approximated a normal distribution. The dose levels associated with individual limiting toxicities ranged from level 1 (irinotecan 100 mg/m2 and carboplatin AUC = 4 mg/mL x min to level 8 (irinotecan 350 mg/m2 and carboplatin AUC = 6. The pMTD was determined to be dose level 3 (150 mg/m2 for irinotecan and AUC = 5 for carboplatin. In contrast, the MTD was determined to be dose level 4 (200 mg/m2 for irinotecan and AUC 5 for carboplatin by modified-Fibonacci simulation. Conclusions. The population-based design of phase I trial allows optimization of dose intensity and derivation of a pMTD. The pMTD has been applied in phase II trial of irinotecan and carboplatin in patients with small-cell lung cancer.

  15. Sustainable network of independent technical expertise for radioactive waste disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serres, Christophe; Rocher, Muriel; Lemy, Frank; Havlova, Vaclava; Mrskova, Adela; Heriard Dubreuil, Gilles

    2014-01-01

    been developed. For each of these issues, the needs of national safety authorities and of TSO for dialogue and/or guidance development and harmonisation were identified. A set of R and D activities was structured into main key safety issues related to the safety functions and components of the deep geological disposal. This will constitute the basis for the development and future implementation of a scientific research agenda (SRA) proper to expertise bodies and technical safety organisations. In parallel, an assessment of available technical means and scientific skills amongst SITEX partners is under consideration in order to identify areas for possible co-operation, exchange of staff and needs for improvement. This will contribute to assess how in practice this SRA could be implemented amongst organisation in close co-operation. Another objective of the elaboration of such SRA is to engage in scientific dialogue with IGD-TP, keeping in mind the context of the new EC H2020 programme and the identification of possible research projects of common interest for IGD-TP and SITEX. A tentative framework for deriving a harmonised safety review method is proposed mainly based on development of existing material produced by the former European Pilot Study and the IAEA GEOSAF project. As an integrated part of the technical and scientific review process, SITEX engaged with the identification of practical ways to interact with civil society in the expertise function on a durable process. For this purpose, a dedicated meeting was organised with actors of the civil society in Senec (Slovakia) in September 2013. Finally, a framework document describing the characterisation of the national expertise function and elaborating a reflection on what could be the missions and the role of the future European SITEX network will be issued on the basis on the above elements with the objective to establish the future terms of reference of the network. (authors)

  16. A simple method for calculating power based on a prior trial.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Borm, G.F.; Bloem, B.R.; Munneke, M.; Teerenstra, S.

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: When an investigator wants to base the power of a planned clinical trial on the outcome of another trial, the latter study may not have been reported in sufficient detail to allow this. For example, when the outcome is a change from baseline, the power calculation requires the standard

  17. Developing a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise : an examination of three Chinese mathematics teachers’ resource systems as windows into their work and expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pepin, B.E.U.; Xu, B.; Trouche, L.; Wang, C.

    2017-01-01

    In order to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise, in this study we use the Documentational Approach to Didactics to explore the resource systems of three Chinese mathematics “expert” teachers. Exploiting the Western and Eastern literature we examine the notion of

  18. Spotting expertise in the eyes: billiards knowledge as revealed by gaze shifts in a dynamic visual prediction task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crespi, Sofia; Robino, Carlo; Silva, Ottavia; de'Sperati, Claudio

    2012-10-31

    In sports, as in other activities and knowledge domains, expertise is a highly valuable asset. We assessed whether expertise in billiards is associated with specific patterns of eye movements in a visual prediction task. Professional players and novices were presented a number of simplified billiard shots on a computer screen, previously filmed in a real set, with the last part of the ball trajectory occluded. They had to predict whether or not the ball would have hit the central skittle. Experts performed better than novices, in terms of both accuracy and response time. By analyzing eye movements, we found that during occlusion, experts rarely extrapolated with the gaze the occluded part of the ball trajectory-a behavior that was widely diffused in novices-even when the unseen path was long and with two bounces interposed. Rather, they looked selectively at specific diagnostic points on the cushions along the ball's visible trajectory, in accordance with a formal metrical system used by professional players to calculate the shot coordinates. Thus, the eye movements of expert observers contained a clear signature of billiard expertise and documented empirically a strategy upgrade in visual problem solving from dynamic, analog simulation in imagery to more efficient rule-based, conceptual knowledge.

  19. Guidance for Researchers Developing and Conducting Clinical Trials in Practice-based Research Networks (PBRNs)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolor, Rowena J.; Schmit, Kristine M.; Graham, Deborah G.; Fox, Chester H.; Baldwin, Laura Mae

    2015-01-01

    Background There is increased interest nationally in multicenter clinical trials to answer questions about clinical effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, and safety in real-world community settings. Primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs), comprising community- and/or academically affiliated practices committed to improving medical care for a range of health problems, offer ideal settings for these trials, especially pragmatic clinical trials. However, many researchers are not familiar with working with PBRNs. Methods Experts in practice-based research identified solutions to challenges that researchers and PBRN personnel experience when collaborating on clinical trials in PBRNs. These were organized as frequently asked questions in a draft document presented at a 2013 Agency for Health care Research and Quality PBRN conference workshop, revised based on participant feedback, then shared with additional experts from the DARTNet Institute, Clinical Translational Science Award PBRN, and North American Primary Care Research Group PBRN workgroups for further input and modification. Results The “Toolkit for Developing and Conducting Multi-site Clinical Trials in Practice-Based Research Networks” offers guidance in the areas of recruiting and engaging practices, budgeting, project management, and communication, as well as templates and examples of tools important in developing and conducting clinical trials. Conclusion Ensuring the successful development and conduct of clinical trials in PBRNs requires a highly collaborative approach between academic research and PBRN teams. PMID:25381071

  20. The Development of Information Search Expertise of Research Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kai-Wah Chu, Samuel; Law, Nancy

    2008-01-01

    This study identifies the development of information search expertise of 12 beginning research students (six in education and six in engineering) who were provided with a set of systematic search training sessions over a period of one year. The study adopts a longitudinal approach in investigating whether there were different stages in the…

  1. Mapping the institutional consolidation of EU human health expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Ruijter, A.

    The EU’s role in the field of human health is solidifying in terms of law and policy, but also with respect to the institutional organisation of human health expertise. In light of the emerging health-care union and questions regarding the nature and scope of a European health law, the institutional

  2. Mapping the institutional consolidation of EU human health expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Ruijter, Anniek

    2016-01-01

    The EU’s role in the field of human health is solidifying in terms of law and policy, but also with respect to the institutional organisation of human health expertise. In light of the emerging health-care union and questions regarding the nature and scope of a European health law, the institutional

  3. The role of bureaucratic expertise in nuclear waste policy: Agency power and policy development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henkels, M.

    1989-01-01

    The role of agency expertise in the nuclear waste policy process is explored during three periods: (1) 1957-1959 when nuclear wastes entered the public agenda, (2) 1970-1972 when the Atomic Energy Commission attempted to establish a waste repository in Kansas, and (3) 1984-1986 during the Department of Energy's implementation of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The study evaluated whether the preconditions for dependence on or deference to agency expertise have become less favorable, weakening agency control of the policy process. Five factors of expertise power are evaluated, beginning with the agency's role in the nuclear-energy and radioactive-waste information system. Perspectives on nuclear energy generally and of waste issues specifically are examined next; both indicate attitudes on the tractability of the problem and the likelihood of policy success. References to agency behavior and policies are used to evaluate views of agency competency. Finally, views of agency trustworthiness are examined through the comparison of portrayals of agency priorities and motivations. Agency expertise is evaluated in four contexts: (1) Congressional hearings, (2) nationally prominent newspapers, (3) journals of the scientific community, and (4) state and local papers of affected areas. State and tribal officials involved in the 1980s' nuclear waste policy process were surveyed also

  4. Expertise of using striking techniques for power stroke in badminton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Qin

    2013-10-01

    Two striking techniques (fast swing and angled striking) were examined to see if they allowed effective use of string tension for the power stroke in badminton. 12 participants (4 novices, 4 recreational, and 4 expert badminton players) were recorded by a fast-speed camera while striking a shuttlecock with racquets of 8 different string tensions. The peak speed of the shuttlecock, the racquet angle and the shuttlecock angle were analyzed. The results showed that expert players succeeded in using both striking techniques to overcome the constraint of string tension and produce a consistently superior stroke. Failure to use either striking technique resulted in inferior performance that was constrained by string tension. Expertise in badminton allows the necessary motor adjustments based on the affordance perception of the string tension.

  5. Technological Agency in the Co-Constitution of Legal Expertise and the US Drone Program

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leander, Anna

    2013-01-01

    over the legal status of the US drone program. Target killing suggests that the drone program may be legally regulated. Extrajudicial execution suggests that it falls outside the realm of legality. This article does not seek to settle which terminology is the most appropriate. Instead it analyses...... the legal expertise struggling to do so and its implications. More specifically, it focuses on the processes through which drones constitute the legal expertise that constitutes the drone program as one of targeted killings and of extrajudicial executions; that is, on a process of co-constitution. Drawing...... theoretical inspiration from and combining new materialist approaches (especially as articulated by Bruno Latour) with the sociological approach of Pierre Bourdieu, the article shows that drones have ‘agency’ in the ‘field’ of legal expertise pertaining to the drone program. Drones are redrawing...

  6. Losing nuclear expertise - A safety concern

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ziakova, M.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: Since the mid of eighties several important changes in human beings behaviour, which influence nuclear field, can be observed - the loss of interest in studying technical disciplines (namely nuclear), strong pressure of environmental movements, stagnation of electricity consumption and deregulation of electric markets. All these factors create conditions which are leading to the decrease of job positions related to the nuclear field connected particularly with research, design and engineering. Loss of interest in studying nuclear disciplines together with the decrease of number of job positions has led to the declining of university enrolments, closing of university departments and research reactors. In this manner just a very small number of appropriately educated new experts are brought In the same moment the additional internal factor - the relative ageing of the human workforce on both sites operators of nuclear facilities and research and engineering organisations can be observed. All these factors, if not addressed properly, could lead to the loss of nuclear expertise and the loss of nuclear expertise represents the direct thread to the nuclear safety. The latest studies have shown that at present NPPs cannot be replaced by other kinds of electric sources and in no case by renewable ones in an efficient manner. Therefore it is necessary to carefully manage knowledge gathered in the nuclear field during the years and to keep on the nuclear safety research, education and training to ensure and upgrade safe and reliable operation of existing and future nuclear facilities. This is responsibility of both the governments of the states using nuclear applications and owners of nuclear facilities. (author)

  7. Simulation-based camera navigation training in laparoscopy-a randomized trial

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Cecilia; Sørensen, Jette Led; Konge, Lars

    2017-01-01

    patient safety. The objectives of this trial were to examine how to train laparoscopic camera navigation and to explore the transfer of skills to the operating room. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized, single-center superiority trial with three groups: The first group practiced simulation-based camera...... navigation tasks (camera group), the second group practiced performing a simulation-based cholecystectomy (procedure group), and the third group received no training (control group). Participants were surgical novices without prior laparoscopic experience. The primary outcome was assessment of camera.......033), had a higher score. CONCLUSIONS: Simulation-based training improves the technical skills required for camera navigation, regardless of practicing camera navigation or the procedure itself. Transfer to the clinical setting could, however, not be demonstrated. The control group demonstrated higher...

  8. Perceptual learning and human expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kellman, Philip J; Garrigan, Patrick

    2009-06-01

    We consider perceptual learning: experience-induced changes in the way perceivers extract information. Often neglected in scientific accounts of learning and in instruction, perceptual learning is a fundamental contributor to human expertise and is crucial in domains where humans show remarkable levels of attainment, such as language, chess, music, and mathematics. In Section 2, we give a brief history and discuss the relation of perceptual learning to other forms of learning. We consider in Section 3 several specific phenomena, illustrating the scope and characteristics of perceptual learning, including both discovery and fluency effects. We describe abstract perceptual learning, in which structural relationships are discovered and recognized in novel instances that do not share constituent elements or basic features. In Section 4, we consider primary concepts that have been used to explain and model perceptual learning, including receptive field change, selection, and relational recoding. In Section 5, we consider the scope of perceptual learning, contrasting recent research, focused on simple sensory discriminations, with earlier work that emphasized extraction of invariance from varied instances in more complex tasks. Contrary to some recent views, we argue that perceptual learning should not be confined to changes in early sensory analyzers. Phenomena at various levels, we suggest, can be unified by models that emphasize discovery and selection of relevant information. In a final section, we consider the potential role of perceptual learning in educational settings. Most instruction emphasizes facts and procedures that can be verbalized, whereas expertise depends heavily on implicit pattern recognition and selective extraction skills acquired through perceptual learning. We consider reasons why perceptual learning has not been systematically addressed in traditional instruction, and we describe recent successful efforts to create a technology of perceptual

  9. Perceptual learning and human expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kellman, Philip J.; Garrigan, Patrick

    2009-06-01

    We consider perceptual learning: experience-induced changes in the way perceivers extract information. Often neglected in scientific accounts of learning and in instruction, perceptual learning is a fundamental contributor to human expertise and is crucial in domains where humans show remarkable levels of attainment, such as language, chess, music, and mathematics. In Section 2, we give a brief history and discuss the relation of perceptual learning to other forms of learning. We consider in Section 3 several specific phenomena, illustrating the scope and characteristics of perceptual learning, including both discovery and fluency effects. We describe abstract perceptual learning, in which structural relationships are discovered and recognized in novel instances that do not share constituent elements or basic features. In Section 4, we consider primary concepts that have been used to explain and model perceptual learning, including receptive field change, selection, and relational recoding. In Section 5, we consider the scope of perceptual learning, contrasting recent research, focused on simple sensory discriminations, with earlier work that emphasized extraction of invariance from varied instances in more complex tasks. Contrary to some recent views, we argue that perceptual learning should not be confined to changes in early sensory analyzers. Phenomena at various levels, we suggest, can be unified by models that emphasize discovery and selection of relevant information. In a final section, we consider the potential role of perceptual learning in educational settings. Most instruction emphasizes facts and procedures that can be verbalized, whereas expertise depends heavily on implicit pattern recognition and selective extraction skills acquired through perceptual learning. We consider reasons why perceptual learning has not been systematically addressed in traditional instruction, and we describe recent successful efforts to create a technology of perceptual

  10. General practice-based clinical trials in Germany - a problem analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hummers-Pradier Eva

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In Germany, clinical trials and comparative effectiveness studies in primary care are still very rare, while their usefulness has been recognised in many other countries. A network of researchers from German academic general practice has explored the reasons for this discrepancy. Methods Based on a comprehensive literature review and expert group discussions, problem analyses as well as structural and procedural prerequisites for a better implementation of clinical trials in German primary care are presented. Results In Germany, basic biomedical science and technology is more reputed than clinical or health services research. Clinical trials are funded by industry or a single national programme, which is highly competitive, specialist-dominated, exclusive of pilot studies, and usually favours innovation rather than comparative effectiveness studies. Academic general practice is still not fully implemented, and existing departments are small. Most general practitioners (GPs work in a market-based, competitive setting of small private practices, with a high case load. They have no protected time or funding for research, and mostly no research training or experience. Good Clinical Practice (GCP training is compulsory for participation in clinical trials. The group defined three work packages to be addressed regarding clinical trials in German general practice: (1 problem analysis, and definition of (2 structural prerequisites and (3 procedural prerequisites. Structural prerequisites comprise specific support facilities for general practice-based research networks that could provide practices with a point of contact. Procedural prerequisites consist, for example, of a summary of specific relevant key measures, for example on a web platform. The platform should contain standard operating procedures (SOPs, templates, checklists and other supporting materials for researchers. Conclusion All in all, our problem analyses revealed that

  11. Many faces of expertise: fusiform face area in chess experts and novices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilalić, Merim; Langner, Robert; Ulrich, Rolf; Grodd, Wolfgang

    2011-07-13

    The fusiform face area (FFA) is involved in face perception to such an extent that some claim it is a brain module for faces exclusively. The other possibility is that FFA is modulated by experience in individuation in any visual domain, not only faces. Here we test this latter FFA expertise hypothesis using the game of chess as a domain of investigation. We exploited the characteristic of chess, which features multiple objects forming meaningful spatial relations. In three experiments, we show that FFA activity is related to stimulus properties and not to chess skill directly. In all chess and non-chess tasks, experts' FFA was more activated than that of novices' only when they dealt with naturalistic full-board chess positions. When common spatial relationships formed by chess objects in chess positions were randomly disturbed, FFA was again differentially active only in experts, regardless of the actual task. Our experiments show that FFA contributes to the holistic processing of domain-specific multipart stimuli in chess experts. This suggests that FFA may not only mediate human expertise in face recognition but, supporting the expertise hypothesis, may mediate the automatic holistic processing of any highly familiar multipart visual input.

  12. A phenomenological investigation of science center exhibition developers' expertise development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Denise L.

    The purpose of this study was to examine the exhibition developer role in the context of United States (U.S.) science centers, and more specifically, to investigate the way science center exhibition developers build their professional expertise. This research investigated how successfully practicing exhibition developers described their current practices, how they learned to be exhibition developers, and what factors were the most important to the developers in building their professional expertise. Qualitative data was gathered from 10 currently practicing exhibition developers from three science centers: the Exploratorium, San Francisco, California; the Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois; and the Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota. In-depth, semistructured interviews were used to collect the data. The study embraced aspects of the phenomenological tradition and sought to derive a holistic understanding of the position and how expertise was built for it. The data were methodically coded and organized into themes prior to analysis. The data analysis found that the position consisted of numerous and varied activities, but the developers' primary roles were advocating for the visitor, storytelling, and mediating information and ideas. They conducted these activities in the context of a team and relied on an established exhibition planning process to guide their work. Developers described a process of learning exhibition development that was experiential in nature. Learning through daily practice was key, though they also consulted with mentors and relied on visitor studies to gauge the effectiveness of their work. They were adept at integrating prior knowledge gained from many aspects of their lives into their practice. The developers described several internal factors that contributed to their expertise development including the desire to help others, a natural curiosity about the world, a commitment to learning, and the ability to accept critique. They

  13. Valuing Trial Designs from a Pharmaceutical Perspective Using Value-Based Pricing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breeze, Penny; Brennan, Alan

    2015-11-01

    Our aim was to adapt the traditional framework for expected net benefit of sampling (ENBS) to be more compatible with drug development trials from the pharmaceutical perspective. We modify the traditional framework for conducting ENBS and assume that the price of the drug is conditional on the trial outcomes. We use a value-based pricing (VBP) criterion to determine price conditional on trial data using Bayesian updating of cost-effectiveness (CE) model parameters. We assume that there is a threshold price below which the company would not market the new intervention. We present a case study in which a phase III trial sample size and trial duration are varied. For each trial design, we sampled 10,000 trial outcomes and estimated VBP using a CE model. The expected commercial net benefit is calculated as the expected profits minus the trial costs. A clinical trial with shorter follow-up, and larger sample size, generated the greatest expected commercial net benefit. Increasing the duration of follow-up had a modest impact on profit forecasts. Expected net benefit of sampling can be adapted to value clinical trials in the pharmaceutical industry to optimise the expected commercial net benefit. However, the analyses can be very time consuming for complex CE models. © 2014 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Expertise: Myth or Reality of a Cross-National Definition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Germain, Marie-Line; Ruiz, Carlos Enrique

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a comparison of how human expertise is perceived by human resource development (HRD) scholars across several Western European countries and in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative, exploratory approach using electronic mail was used for this study. In total, 36 leading HRD scholars from…

  15. Teacher Professional Knowledge and Classroom Management: On the Relation of General Pedagogical Knowledge (GPK) and Classroom Management Expertise (CME)

    Science.gov (United States)

    König, Johannes; Kramer, Charlotte

    2016-01-01

    Due to the need for measurement instruments that allow an investigation of teachers' situational cognition and thus go beyond the limited scope of classical paper-and-pencil-tests, we ask how a specific video-based measurement of teachers' classroom management expertise can provide additional information when compared with an established…

  16. Everyday Expertise in Self-Management of Diabetes in the Dominican Republic: Implications for Learning and Performance Support Systems Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes Paulino, Lisette G.

    2012-01-01

    An epidemic such as diabetes is an extremely complex public health, economic and social problem that is difficult to solve through medical expertise alone. Evidence-based models for improving healthcare delivery systems advocate educating patients to become more active participants in their own care. This shift demands preparing chronically ill…

  17. Brain correlates of aesthetic expertise: A parametric fMRI study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirk, Ulrich; Skov, Martin; Christensen, Mark Schram

    2009-01-01

    Several studies have demonstrated that acquired expertise influences aesthetic judgments. In this paradigm we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study aesthetic judgments of visually presented architectural stimuli and control-stimuli (faces) for a group of architects and a grou...

  18. High-resolution imaging of expertise reveals reliable object selectivity in the fusiform face area related to perceptual performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGugin, Rankin Williams; Gatenby, J Christopher; Gore, John C; Gauthier, Isabel

    2012-10-16

    The fusiform face area (FFA) is a region of human cortex that responds selectively to faces, but whether it supports a more general function relevant for perceptual expertise is debated. Although both faces and objects of expertise engage many brain areas, the FFA remains the focus of the strongest modular claims and the clearest predictions about expertise. Functional MRI studies at standard-resolution (SR-fMRI) have found responses in the FFA for nonface objects of expertise, but high-resolution fMRI (HR-fMRI) in the FFA [Grill-Spector K, et al. (2006) Nat Neurosci 9:1177-1185] and neurophysiology in face patches in the monkey brain [Tsao DY, et al. (2006) Science 311:670-674] reveal no reliable selectivity for objects. It is thus possible that FFA responses to objects with SR-fMRI are a result of spatial blurring of responses from nonface-selective areas, potentially driven by attention to objects of expertise. Using HR-fMRI in two experiments, we provide evidence of reliable responses to cars in the FFA that correlate with behavioral car expertise. Effects of expertise in the FFA for nonface objects cannot be attributed to spatial blurring beyond the scale at which modular claims have been made, and within the lateral fusiform gyrus, they are restricted to a small area (200 mm(2) on the right and 50 mm(2) on the left) centered on the peak of face selectivity. Experience with a category may be sufficient to explain the spatially clustered face selectivity observed in this region.

  19. A Semantic Web-based System for Mining Genetic Mutations in Cancer Clinical Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Priya, Sambhawa; Jiang, Guoqian; Dasari, Surendra; Zimmermann, Michael T; Wang, Chen; Heflin, Jeff; Chute, Christopher G

    2015-01-01

    Textual eligibility criteria in clinical trial protocols contain important information about potential clinically relevant pharmacogenomic events. Manual curation for harvesting this evidence is intractable as it is error prone and time consuming. In this paper, we develop and evaluate a Semantic Web-based system that captures and manages mutation evidences and related contextual information from cancer clinical trials. The system has 2 main components: an NLP-based annotator and a Semantic Web ontology-based annotation manager. We evaluated the performance of the annotator in terms of precision and recall. We demonstrated the usefulness of the system by conducting case studies in retrieving relevant clinical trials using a collection of mutations identified from TCGA Leukemia patients and Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology. In conclusion, our system using Semantic Web technologies provides an effective framework for extraction, annotation, standardization and management of genetic mutations in cancer clinical trials.

  20. "If You Have to Ask, You'll Never Know": Effects of Specialised Stylistic Expertise on Predictive Processing of Music

    OpenAIRE

    Hansen, Niels Chr.; Vuust, Peter; Pearce, Marcus

    2016-01-01

    Musical expertise entails meticulous stylistic specialisation and enculturation. Even so, research on musical training effects has focused on generalised comparisons between musicians and non-musicians, and cross-cultural work addressing specialised expertise has traded cultural specificity and sensitivity for other methodological limitations. This study aimed to experimentally dissociate the effects of specialised stylistic training and general musical expertise on the perception of melodies...

  1. About the 'scientification' of politics by way of scientific expertise by advisory bodies. Social science expertise and desicion-making in social problem areas in the Federal Republic of Germany

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagner, P.

    1985-01-01

    Taking the examples of the Council of Economic Advisors, the Education Council and the Federal Parliament's Commission of Inquiry on Future Nuclear Energy Policy, this paper analyses political situations in the Federal Republic of Germany in which social science expertise entered public debate and decision-making in certain social problem areas in a very pronounced way. By considering the social context in which these advisory bodies were created, an attempt is made to link an analysis of different social actors' interests to a review of existing knowledge and patterns of interpretation in the social sciences. It is shown that by using social science findings some actors achieved advantages in justifying and legitimating their political positions and that subsequently the relations of actors in some arenas of conflict changed-without, however, allowing to relate this causally only to the use of scientific knowledge. If, however, the use of scientific arguments is rapidly generalized, the confrontation of expertise and counter-expertise by opposing actors becomes usual practice. This, in turn, provides for questions concerning their 'scientificity', which the social sciences are asked to take up in reflections of their relation to social practice. (orig./HSCH) [de

  2. Public scientific expertise and judicial risks: the case of radon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Massuelle, M.H.

    2000-01-01

    In France, radon has emerged as a public health issue mainly at the initiative of scientists. Even if public authorities have set up an embryo of regulations, for a long time scientists faced the radon issue alone, in producing knowledge, informing about their results, providing advice to public authorities, various bodies and individuals, and in participating in the process of technical standardisation. These functions are identified in the paper in order to sketch out a typology of different situations, formal and informal, in which researchers transformed into experts are called to collaborate. During their missions, experts are exposed to 'judicial risks', particularly in terms of civil liability or 'professional' responsibility and even criminal responsibility. They face legal difficulties because of the lack of a legal framework for public scientific expertise. The situation is confused: there is a growing will to involve scientific experts in decision-making in the field of public health, especially when the precautionary principle is at stake, and in parallel, no real materialisation of this expertise in terms of regulations, which puts on experts' shoulders some new responsibilities. Moreover we can observe a generalised increase in the attribution of blame and penal responsibility in French society which make the position of all actors involved more uncomfortable. We know that radon, as a domestic risk, is particular in many ways. Nevertheless, it can be used in an analysis of scientists' roles/actions and of the legal difficulties they face, to illustrate appropriately the problems that arise as expertise is developed about new risks. (author)

  3. "If You Have to Ask, You'll Never Know": Effects of Specialised Stylistic Expertise on Predictive Processing of Music

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Niels Christian; Vuust, Peter; Pearce, Marcus

    2016-01-01

    Musical expertise entails meticulous stylistic specialisation and enculturation. Even so, research on musical training effects has focused on generalised comparisons between musicians and non-musicians, and cross-cultural work addressing specialised expertise has traded cultural specificity and s......-musicians and classical musicians used a stylistically irrelevant cognitive model of general tonal music providing support for the theory of cognitive firewalls between stylistic models in predictive processing of music.......Musical expertise entails meticulous stylistic specialisation and enculturation. Even so, research on musical training effects has focused on generalised comparisons between musicians and non-musicians, and cross-cultural work addressing specialised expertise has traded cultural specificity...... and sensitivity for other methodological limitations. This study aimed to experimentally dissociate the effects of specialised stylistic training and general musical expertise on the perception of melodies. Non-musicians and professional musicians specialising in classical music or jazz listened to sampled...

  4. Towards identifying programming expertise with the use of physiological measures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kontogiorgos, Dimosthenis; Manikas, Konstantinos

    2015-01-01

    In this position paper we propose means of measuring programming expertise on novice and expert programmers. Our approach is to measure the cognitive load of programmers while they assess Java/Python code in accordance with their experience in programming. Our hypothesis is that expert programmers...

  5. Meeting the challenges of recruitment to multicentre, community-based, lifestyle-change trials: a case study of the BeWEL trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treweek, Shaun; Wilkie, Erna; Craigie, Angela M; Caswell, Stephen; Thompson, Joyce; Steele, Robert J C; Stead, Martine; Anderson, Annie S

    2013-12-18

    Recruiting participants to multicentre, community-based trials is a challenge. This case study describes how this challenge was met for the BeWEL trial, which evaluated the impact of a diet and physical activity intervention on body weight in people who had had pre-cancerous bowel polyps. The BeWEL trial was a community-based trial, involving centres linked to the Scottish National Health Service (NHS) colorectal cancer screening programme. BeWEL had a recruitment target of 316 and its primary recruitment route was the colonoscopy clinics of the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme. BeWEL exceeded its recruitment target but needed a 6-month no-cost extension from the funder to achieve this. The major causes of delay were lower consent rates (49% as opposed to 70% estimated from earlier work), the time taken for NHS research and development department approvals and the inclusion of two additional sites to increase recruitment, for which there were substantial bureaucratic delays. A range of specific interventions to increase recruitment, for example, telephone reminders and a shorter participant information leaflet, helped to increase the proportion of eligible individuals consenting and being randomized. Recruitment to multicentre trials is a challenge but can be successfully achieved with a committed team. In a UK context, NHS research and development approval can be a substantial source of delay. Investigators should be cautious when estimating consent rates. If consent rates are less than expected, qualitative analysis might be beneficial, to try and identify the reason. Finally, investigators should select trial sites on the basis of a formal assessment of a site's past performance and the likelihood of success in the trial being planned. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN53033856.

  6. Cognitive-psychology expertise and the calculation of the probability of a wrongful conviction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rouder, Jeffrey N; Wixted, John T; Christenfeld, Nicholas J S

    2018-05-08

    Cognitive psychologists are familiar with how their expertise in understanding human perception, memory, and decision-making is applicable to the justice system. They may be less familiar with how their expertise in statistical decision-making and their comfort working in noisy real-world environments is just as applicable. Here we show how this expertise in ideal-observer models may be leveraged to calculate the probability of guilt of Gary Leiterman, a man convicted of murder on the basis of DNA evidence. We show by common probability theory that Leiterman is likely a victim of a tragic contamination event rather than a murderer. Making any calculation of the probability of guilt necessarily relies on subjective assumptions. The conclusion about Leiterman's innocence is not overly sensitive to the assumptions-the probability of innocence remains high for a wide range of reasonable assumptions. We note that cognitive psychologists may be well suited to make these calculations because as working scientists they may be comfortable with the role a reasonable degree of subjectivity plays in analysis.

  7. The Healthy Steps Study: A randomized controlled trial of a pedometer-based Green Prescription for older adults. Trial protocol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schluter Philip J

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Graded health benefits of physical activity have been demonstrated for the reduction of coronary heart disease, some cancers, and type-2 diabetes, and for injury reduction and improvements in mental health. Older adults are particularly at risk of physical inactivity, and would greatly benefit from successful targeted physical activity interventions. Methods/Design The Healthy Steps study is a 12-month randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of a pedometer-based Green Prescription with the conventional time-based Green Prescription in increasing and maintaining physical activity levels in low-active adults over 65 years of age. The Green Prescription interventions involve a primary care physical activity prescription with 3 follow-up telephone counselling sessions delivered by trained physical activity counsellors over 3 months. Those in the pedometer group received a pedometer and counselling based around increasing steps that can be monitored on the pedometer, while those in the standard Green Prescription group received counselling using time-based goals. Baseline, 3 month (end of intervention, and 12 month measures were assessed in face-to-face home visits with outcomes measures being physical activity (Auckland Heart Study Physical Activity Questionnaire, quality of life (SF-36 and EQ-5D, depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale, blood pressure, weight status, functional status (gait speed, chair stands, and tandem balance test and falls and adverse events (self-report. Utilisation of health services was assessed for the economic evaluation carried out alongside this trial. As well, a process evaluation of the interventions and an examination of barriers and motives for physical activity in the sample were conducted. The perceptions of primary care physicians in relation to delivering physical activity counselling were also assessed. Discussion The findings from the Healthy Steps trial are due in late

  8. Harnessing the Department of Energy’s High-Performance Computing Expertise to Strengthen the U.S. Chemical Enterprise

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dixon, David A.; Dupuis, Michel; Garrett, Bruce C.; Neaton, Jeffrey B.; Plata, Charity; Tarr, Matthew A.; Tomb, Jean-Francois; Golab, Joseph T.

    2012-01-17

    High-performance computing (HPC) is one area where the DOE has developed extensive expertise and capability. However, this expertise currently is not properly shared with or used by the private sector to speed product development, enable industry to move rapidly into new areas, and improve product quality. Such use would lead to substantial competitive advantages in global markets and yield important economic returns for the United States. To stimulate the dissemination of DOE's HPC expertise, the Council for Chemical Research (CCR) and the DOE jointly held a workshop on this topic. Four important energy topic areas were chosen as the focus of the meeting: Biomass/Bioenergy, Catalytic Materials, Energy Storage, and Photovoltaics. Academic, industrial, and government experts in these topic areas participated in the workshop to identify industry needs, evaluate the current state of expertise, offer proposed actions and strategies, and forecast the expected benefits of implementing those strategies.

  9. Role of expertise and contralateral symmetry in the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis: an experimental study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jampani, Varun; Vaidya, Vivek; Sivaswamy, Jayanthi; Tourani, Kishore L.

    2011-03-01

    Pneumoconiosis, a lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust, is mainly diagnosed using chest radiographs. The effects of using contralateral symmetric (CS) information present in chest radiographs in the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis are studied using an eye tracking experimental study. The role of expertise and the influence of CS information on the performance of readers with different expertise level are also of interest. Experimental subjects ranging from novices & medical students to staff radiologists were presented with 17 double and 16 single lung images, and were asked to give profusion ratings for each lung zone. Eye movements and the time for their diagnosis were also recorded. Kruskal-Wallis test (χ2(6) = 13.38, p = .038), showed that the observer error (average sum of absolute differences) in double lung images differed significantly across the different expertise categories when considering all the participants. Wilcoxon-signed rank test indicated that the observer error was significantly higher for single-lung images (Z = 3.13, p error between single and double lung images is significantly higher in doctors [staff & residents] than in non-doctors [others]. Thus, Expertise & CS information plays a significant role in the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis. CS information helps in diagnosing pneumoconiosis by reducing the general tendency of giving less profusion ratings. Training and experience appear to play important roles in learning to use the CS information present in the chest radiographs.

  10. The Inverse Relation Between Risks and Benefits: The Role of Affect and Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokolowska, Joanna; Sleboda, Patrycja

    2015-07-01

    Although risk and benefits of risky activities are positively correlated in the real world, empirical results indicate that people perceive them as negatively correlated. The common explanation is that confounding benefits and losses stems from affect. In this article, we address the issue that has not been clearly established in studies on the affect heuristic: to what extent boundary conditions, such as judgments' generality and expertise, influence the presence of the inverse relation in judgments of hazards. These conditions were examined in four studies in which respondents evaluated general or specific benefits and risks of "affect-rich" and "affect-poor" hazards (ranging from investments to applications of stem cell research). In line with previous research, affect is defined as good or bad feelings integral to a stimulus. In contrast to previous research, affect is considered as related both to personal feelings and to social controversies associated with a hazard. Expertise is related to personal knowledge (laypersons vs. experts) as well as to objective knowledge (targets well vs. poorly known to science). The direct comparison of the input from personal and objective ignorance into the inverse relation has not been investigated previously. It was found that affect invoked by a hazard guides general but not specific judgments of its benefits and risks. Technical expertise helps to avoid simplified evaluations of consequences as long as they are well known to science. For new, poorly understood hazards (e.g., stem cell research), expertise does not protect from the perception of the inverse relation between benefits and risks. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  11. Teacher knowledge, instructional expertise, and the development of reading proficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid Lyon, G; Weiser, Beverly

    2009-01-01

    Teacher knowledge and instructional expertise have been found in correlational and pre- and posttest studies to be related to student reading achievement. This article summarizes data presented in this special issue and additional research to address four questions: (a) What do expert reading teachers know? (b) Why do teachers need to acquire this knowledge? (c) Do teachers believe they have this knowledge? and (d) Are teachers being adequately prepared to teach reading? Well-designed studies relevant to this topic have been sparse with a noticeable lack of attention given to identifying specific causal links between teacher knowledge, teaching expertise, and student reading achievement. Until the appropriate research designs and methodologies are applied to address the question of causal effects, conclusions about the specific content that teachers must know and the instructional practices that are most beneficial in presenting this content are preliminary at best. Future studies of the effect of essential reading content knowledge must be extended beyond word-level skills to vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

  12. Strategic science: new frameworks to bring scientific expertise to environmental disaster response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoepler, Teresa Michelle; Ludwig, Kristin A.

    2015-01-01

    Science is critical to society’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from environmental crises. Natural and technological disasters such as disease outbreaks, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, oil spills, and tsunamis require coordinated scientific expertise across a range of disciplines to shape effective policies and protocols. Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, new organizational frameworks have arisen for scientists and engineers to apply their expertise to disaster response and recovery in a variety of capacities. Here, we describe examples of these opportunities, including an exciting new collaboration between the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Strategic Sciences Group (SSG).

  13. Mixture-based gatekeeping procedures in adaptive clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kordzakhia, George; Dmitrienko, Alex; Ishida, Eiji

    2018-01-01

    Clinical trials with data-driven decision rules often pursue multiple clinical objectives such as the evaluation of several endpoints or several doses of an experimental treatment. These complex analysis strategies give rise to "multivariate" multiplicity problems with several components or sources of multiplicity. A general framework for defining gatekeeping procedures in clinical trials with adaptive multistage designs is proposed in this paper. The mixture method is applied to build a gatekeeping procedure at each stage and inferences at each decision point (interim or final analysis) are performed using the combination function approach. An advantage of utilizing the mixture method is that it enables powerful gatekeeping procedures applicable to a broad class of settings with complex logical relationships among the hypotheses of interest. Further, the combination function approach supports flexible data-driven decisions such as a decision to increase the sample size or remove a treatment arm. The paper concludes with a clinical trial example that illustrates the methodology by applying it to develop an adaptive two-stage design with a mixture-based gatekeeping procedure.

  14. [The problems of professional competence in the complementary professional forensic medical expertise programs of advanced training and professional requalification].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shadymov, A B; Fominykh, S A; Dik, V P

    This article reports the results of the analysis of the new tendencies and normatives of the working legislation in the field of additional professional education in the speciality of «forensic medical expertise» and the application of the competency-based approach to the training of specialists in the framework of professional requalification and advanced training programs. Special attention is given to the problems of organization of the educational process and the elaboration of additional training programs based on the competency approach to the training of specialists at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Law with the professor V.N. Kryukov Course of Advanced Professional Training and Professional Requalification of Specialists at the state budgetary educational Institution of higher professional education «Altai State Medical University», Russian Ministry of Health. The study revealed the problems pertaining to the development of professional competencies in the framework of educational programs for the professional requalification and advanced training in the speciality «forensic medical expertise». The authors propose the legally substantiated approaches to the solution of these problems.

  15. Eye movements as an index of pathologist visual expertise: a pilot study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tad T Brunyé

    Full Text Available A pilot study examined the extent to which eye movements occurring during interpretation of digitized breast biopsy whole slide images (WSI can distinguish novice interpreters from experts, informing assessments of competency progression during training and across the physician-learning continuum. A pathologist with fellowship training in breast pathology interpreted digital WSI of breast tissue and marked the region of highest diagnostic relevance (dROI. These same images were then evaluated using computer vision techniques to identify visually salient regions of interest (vROI without diagnostic relevance. A non-invasive eye tracking system recorded pathologists' (N = 7 visual behavior during image interpretation, and we measured differential viewing of vROIs versus dROIs according to their level of expertise. Pathologists with relatively low expertise in interpreting breast pathology were more likely to fixate on, and subsequently return to, diagnostically irrelevant vROIs relative to experts. Repeatedly fixating on the distracting vROI showed limited value in predicting diagnostic failure. These preliminary results suggest that eye movements occurring during digital slide interpretation can characterize expertise development by demonstrating differential attraction to diagnostically relevant versus visually distracting image regions. These results carry both theoretical implications and potential for monitoring and evaluating student progress and providing automated feedback and scanning guidance in educational settings.

  16. Can harmonized regulation overcome intra-European differences? Insights from a European Phase III stem cell trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hauskeller, Christine

    2017-09-01

    Harmonized regulation of research with human stem cells in Europe has shaped innovation in regenerative medicine. Findings from a Phase III academic clinical trial of an autologous cell procedure illustrate the obstacles that a multinational trial faces. A typology of the obstacles encountered, may help other teams embarking upon trials. The findings throw light on the situation of clinician-scientists in clinical innovation, as the expertise to run scientific trials is very complex. The innovation route of clinical translation takes insufficient account of the interdependencies between multiple social and cultural factors from outside the laboratory and the clinic. For ethical reasons, however, academic and business routes to stem cell treatments ought to be enabled by the regulators. Suggestions arise, how academics can prepare for trials, that academic research needs better institutional support and that new models of medical innovation may need to be developed for regenerative medicine.

  17. Expertise differences in air traffic control: An eye-tracking study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Meeuwen, Ludo; Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Kirschner, Paul A.; De Bock, Jeano; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen

    2012-01-01

    Van Meeuwen, L. W., Jarodzka, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., Kirschner, P. A., De Bock, J. J. P. R., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2012, April). Expertise differences in air traffic control: An eye-tracking study. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting 2012, Vancouver,

  18. The Unexpected Negotiator at the Table: How the European Commission’s Expertise Informs Intergovernmental EU Policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meng-Hsuan Chou

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available How, if at all, does the Commission’s expertise inform intergovernmental decision-making within the EU? In this article, we aim to capture the relationship between the Commission’s expertise and its influence within intergovernmental policy-areas through a study of Commission influence in two least likely sectors: security and defence policies (military mission Atalanta and EU Maritime Security Strategy and external migration (EU mobility partnerships with third countries. In these cases we observe that the Commission strongly informs policy developments even though it has only limited formal competences. To explore whether and, if so, how this influence is linked to its expertise, we develop and consider two hypotheses: The expert authority hypothesis and the expert arguments hypothesis. To identify possible additional channels of influence, we also consider the relevance of two alternative hypotheses: The strategic coalition hypothesis and the institutional circumvention hypothesis. We find that the Commission’s use of its expertise is indeed key to understanding its de facto influence within policy-areas where its formal competences remain limited. Our findings add to the existing literature by revealing how expertise matters. Specifically, our cases show that the Commission informs intergovernmental decision-making by successfully linking discussions to policy-areas where it holds expert authority. However, the Commission also informs EU policies by circumventing the formal lines of intergovernmental decision-making, and by cooperating with member states that share its preference for further integration.

  19. Guided Web-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Perfectionism: Results From Two Different Randomized Controlled Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rozental, Alexander; Shafran, Roz; Wade, Tracey D; Kothari, Radha; Egan, Sarah J; Ekberg, Linda; Wiss, Maria; Carlbring, Per; Andersson, Gerhard

    2018-04-26

    Perfectionism can become a debilitating condition that may negatively affect functioning in multiple areas, including mental health. Prior research has indicated that internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy can be beneficial, but few studies have included follow-up data. The objective of this study was to explore the outcomes at follow-up of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy with guided self-help, delivered as 2 separate randomized controlled trials conducted in Sweden and the United Kingdom. In total, 120 participants randomly assigned to internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy were included in both intention-to-treat and completer analyses: 78 in the Swedish trial and 62 in the UK trial. The primary outcome measure was the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Concern over Mistakes subscale (FMPS CM). Secondary outcome measures varied between the trials and consisted of the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire (CPQ; both trials), the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Swedish trial), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7; Swedish trial), and the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21; UK trial). Follow-up occurred after 6 months for the UK trial and after 12 months for the Swedish trial. Analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference between pretreatment and follow-up in both studies. Intention-to-treat within-group Cohen d effect sizes were 1.21 (Swedish trial; 95% CI 0.86-1.54) and 1.24 (UK trial; 95% CI 0.85-1.62) for the FMPS CM. Furthermore, 29 (59%; Swedish trial) and 15 (43%; UK trial) of the participants met the criteria for recovery on the FMPS CM. Improvements were also significant for the CPQ, with effect sizes of 1.32 (Swedish trial; 95% CI 0.97-1.66) and 1.49 (UK trial; 95% CI 1.09-1.88); the PHQ-9, effect size 0.60 (95% CI 0.28-0.92); the GAD-7, effect size 0.67 (95% CI 0.34-0.99); and the DASS-21, effect size 0.50 (95% CI 0.13-0.85). The results are promising for the use of

  20. Perception and description of premium beers by panels with different degrees of product expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Giacalone, Davide; Ribeiro, Leticia Machado; Frøst, Michael Bom

    2016-01-01

    The present study compares subjects with varying degrees of product expertise with regards to their ability to provide a sensory profile of beverages. Eight premium beers were evaluated by three different panels using a Napping® test, followed by a descriptive task. Two panels were constituted of...... were all above 0.90, indicating high configurational similarity. In contrast, PLS-DA showed significant differences in the use of attributes, particularly between Experts and Novices, suggesting that product expertise is more associated with descriptive, rather than perceptual, ability....

  1. Integration of technology-based outcome measures in clinical trials of Parkinson and other neurodegenerative diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Artusi, Carlo Alberto; Mishra, Murli; Latimer, Patricia; Vizcarra, Joaquin A; Lopiano, Leonardo; Maetzler, Walter; Merola, Aristide; Espay, Alberto J

    2018-01-01

    We sought to review the landscape of past, present, and future use of technology-based outcome measures (TOMs) in clinical trials of neurodegenerative disorders. We systematically reviewed PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov for published and ongoing clinical trials in neurodegenerative disorders employing TOMs. In addition, medical directors of selected pharmaceutical companies were surveyed on their companies' ongoing efforts and future plans to integrate TOMs in clinical trials as primary, secondary, or exploratory endpoints. We identified 164 published clinical trials indexed in PubMed that used TOMs as outcome measures in Parkinson disease (n = 132) or other neurodegenerative disorders (n = 32). The ClinicalTrials.gov search yielded 42 clinical trials using TOMs, representing 2.7% of ongoing trials. Sensor-based technology accounted for over 75% of TOMs applied. Gait and physical activity were the most common targeted domains. Within the next 5 years, 83% of surveyed pharmaceutical companies engaged in neurodegenerative disorders plan to deploy TOMs in clinical trials. Although promising, TOMs are underutilized in clinical trials of neurodegenerative disorders. Validating relevant endpoints, standardizing measures and procedures, establishing a single platform for integration of data and algorithms from different devices, and facilitating regulatory approvals should advance TOMs integration into clinical trials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Players' expertise and competition with others shape the satisfaction of competence needs, gaming gratifications, and contingent self-esteem in a gaming context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazakova, Snezhanka; Cauberghe, Veroline; Pandelaere, Mario; De Pelsmacker, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    The current study explores how competition and gaming expertise affect the satisfaction of competence needs and gaming gratifications. We demonstrate that competition moderates the effect of gaming expertise on the satisfaction of competence needs, which in turn affects game enjoyment and replay intention. Gaming expertise predicted players' need satisfaction, game enjoyment, and replay intention significantly better in a competitive compared to a noncompetitive context. The effect of gaming expertise on game enjoyment and replay intention was, furthermore, mediated by the satisfaction of competence needs. Finally, gaming expertise positively affected the importance of competition for players' self-esteem only in the competitive gaming context. The present findings demonstrate the importance of competition and gaming expertise for the satisfaction of competence needs, gaming gratifications, and the pursuit of self-esteem during gameplay, attesting to the applicability of self-determination theory to gaming contexts.

  3. Sources of Data and Expertise for Environmental Factors Relevant to Amphibious Operations

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Andrew, Colin

    2000-01-01

    .... Before embarking on a research program it seemed worthwhile to survey the institutions and personnel who already have expertise in the gathering and analysis of relevant environmental data types...

  4. A Visual Short-Term Memory Advantage for Objects of Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curby, Kim M.; Glazek, Kuba; Gauthier, Isabel

    2009-01-01

    Visual short-term memory (VSTM) is limited, especially for complex objects. Its capacity, however, is greater for faces than for other objects; this advantage may stem from the holistic nature of face processing. If the holistic processing explains this advantage, object expertise--which also relies on holistic processing--should endow experts…

  5. Brain Correlates of Aesthetic Expertise: A Parametric fMRI Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk, Ulrich; Skov, Martin; Christensen, Mark Schram; Nygaard, Niels

    2009-01-01

    Several studies have demonstrated that acquired expertise influences aesthetic judgments. In this paradigm we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study aesthetic judgments of visually presented architectural stimuli and control-stimuli (faces) for a group of architects and a group of non-architects. This design allowed us to test…

  6. What does physicians' clinical expertise contribute to oncologic decision-making? A qualitative interview study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salloch, Sabine; Otte, Ina; Reinacher-Schick, Anke; Vollmann, Jochen

    2018-02-01

    Physicians' clinical expertise forms an exclusive body of competences, which helps them to find the appropriate diagnostics and treatment for each individual patient. Empirical evidence, however, suggests that there is an inverse relationship between the number of years in practice and the quality of care provided by a physician. Knowledge and adherence to professional standards (such as clinical guidelines) are often used as indicators in previous research. Semistructured interviews and the Q method were used for an explorative study on oncologists' views on the interplay between their own clinical expertise, intuition, and the external evidence incorporated in clinical guidelines. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed ad verbatim, and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Data analysis shows the complex character of clinical expertise with respect to experience, professional development, and intuition. An irreplaceable role is attributed to personal and bodily experience during the providing of care for a patient. Professional experience becomes important, particularly in those situations that lie out of the focus of "guideline medicine." Intuition is regarded as having a strong emotional component and helps for deciding which therapeutic option the patient can deal with. Using measurable knowledge and adherence to standards as indicators does not account for the complexity of clinical expertise. Other factors, such as the importance of bodily experience and physicians' intuitive knowledge, must be considered, also with respect to the occurrence of treatment biases. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. Perceptual expertise in forensic facial image comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, David; Phillips, P Jonathon; Hahn, Carina A; Hill, Matthew; O'Toole, Alice J

    2015-09-07

    Forensic facial identification examiners are required to match the identity of faces in images that vary substantially, owing to changes in viewing conditions and in a person's appearance. These identifications affect the course and outcome of criminal investigations and convictions. Despite calls for research on sources of human error in forensic examination, existing scientific knowledge of face matching accuracy is based, almost exclusively, on people without formal training. Here, we administered three challenging face matching tests to a group of forensic examiners with many years' experience of comparing face images for law enforcement and government agencies. Examiners outperformed untrained participants and computer algorithms, thereby providing the first evidence that these examiners are experts at this task. Notably, computationally fusing responses of multiple experts produced near-perfect performance. Results also revealed qualitative differences between expert and non-expert performance. First, examiners' superiority was greatest at longer exposure durations, suggestive of more entailed comparison in forensic examiners. Second, experts were less impaired by image inversion than non-expert students, contrasting with face memory studies that show larger face inversion effects in high performers. We conclude that expertise in matching identity across unfamiliar face images is supported by processes that differ qualitatively from those supporting memory for individual faces. © 2015 The Author(s).

  8. You can’t teach speed: sprinters falsify the deliberate practice model of expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael P. Lombardo

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Many scientists agree that expertise requires both innate talent and proper training. Nevertheless, the highly influential deliberate practice model (DPM of expertise holds that talent does not exist or makes a negligible contribution to performance. It predicts that initial performance will be unrelated to achieving expertise and that 10 years of deliberate practice is necessary. We tested these predictions in the domain of sprinting. In Studies 1 and 2 we reviewed biographies of 15 Olympic champions and the 20 fastest American men in U.S. history. In all documented cases, sprinters were exceptional prior to initiating training, and most reached world class status rapidly (Study 1 median = 3 years; Study 2 = 7.5. In Study 3 we surveyed U.S. national collegiate championships qualifiers in sprinters (n = 20 and throwers (n = 44. Sprinters recalled being faster as youths than did throwers, whereas throwers recalled greater strength and throwing ability. Sprinters’ best performances in their first season of high school, generally the onset of formal training, were consistently faster than 95–99% of their peers. Collectively, these results falsify the DPM for sprinting. Because speed is foundational for many sports, they challenge the DPM generally.

  9. Designing Capacity-Building in E-Learning Expertise: Challenges and Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aczel, J. C.; Peake, S. R.; Hardy, P.

    2008-01-01

    This research study looks at how organizations in developing countries perceive the challenge of building capacity in e-learning expertise. Data was collected on six such organizations, and a range of perceived rationales and constraints were identified. The paper hypothesizes a four-part framework to define the e-learning capacity gaps that these…

  10. Predicting stabilizing treatment outcomes for complex posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder: an expertise-based prognostic model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baars, Erik W; van der Hart, Onno; Nijenhuis, Ellert R S; Chu, James A; Glas, Gerrit; Draijer, Nel

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop an expertise-based prognostic model for the treatment of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative identity disorder (DID). We developed a survey in 2 rounds: In the first round we surveyed 42 experienced therapists (22 DID and 20 complex PTSD therapists), and in the second round we surveyed a subset of 22 of the 42 therapists (13 DID and 9 complex PTSD therapists). First, we drew on therapists' knowledge of prognostic factors for stabilization-oriented treatment of complex PTSD and DID. Second, therapists prioritized a list of prognostic factors by estimating the size of each variable's prognostic effect; we clustered these factors according to content and named the clusters. Next, concept mapping methodology and statistical analyses (including principal components analyses) were used to transform individual judgments into weighted group judgments for clusters of items. A prognostic model, based on consensually determined estimates of effect sizes, of 8 clusters containing 51 factors for both complex PTSD and DID was formed. It includes the clusters lack of motivation, lack of healthy relationships, lack of healthy therapeutic relationships, lack of other internal and external resources, serious Axis I comorbidity, serious Axis II comorbidity, poor attachment, and self-destruction. In addition, a set of 5 DID-specific items was constructed. The model is supportive of the current phase-oriented treatment model, emphasizing the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship and the patient's resources in the initial stabilization phase. Further research is needed to test the model's statistical and clinical validity.

  11. The post-accident nuclear issue: the new crisis expertise challenges for the IRSN; Post-accidentel nucleaire: les nouveaux challenges de l'expertise de crise a L'IRSN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Champion, D. [Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN), Direction de l' environnement et de l' intervention, 78 - Le Vesinet (France)

    2010-07-01

    The author reports the work performed by two work groups conducted by the IRSN (the French Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute), the first one on the issue of assessment of radiological and dosimetric consequences in a post-accident situation, and the second one on hypotheses to be used to perform predictive assessments of these consequences. First dealing with the end of the emergency phase, he describes how to anticipate actions of protection against immediate post-accident consequences: orientation of the expertise strategy based on the CODIRPA's doctrine, post-accident zoning based on predictive indicators, use of reasonably prudent hypotheses for the first predictive assessments, importance of initial radioactive deposits to perform predictive assessments. Then, the author presents an iterative method of assessment of post-accident consequences: organization of environment radioactivity measurement programmes, periodic update of mapping of initial deposit and of actual deposits at a given time

  12. SITEX, the European Network of Technical Expertise Organisation for Geological Disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pellegrini, D.; Rocher, M.; Bernier, F.; Detilleux, V.; Hériard Dubreuil, G.; Narkuniene, A.; Miksova, J.

    2016-01-01

    Objective: To identify and prioritize the needs for competence and skills development of the Expertise Function, at the international level. Commitments: − The SRA is developed by applying a transparent methodology; − The SRA addresses the needs associated with the different states of advancement of geological disposal (GD) programmes; The concerns of civil society are taken into consideration. Scope of the SRA: ‒ All the topics relevant to the Expertise Function to assess whether geological disposal facilities are developed and will be constructed, operated and closed in a safe manner. ‒ It encompasses all topics relevant to any waste type and spent fuel for which geological disposal is envisaged as a solution for its long-term management. ‒ The following types of activity are considered: • R&D activities; • exchanging on practices and developing common positions; • developing states of the art; • knowledge transfer (e.g. training or tutoring)

  13. Characteristic and Competency Measurement Instrument Development for Maintenance Staff of Mechanical Expertise with SECI Method: A Case of Manufacturing Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahatmavidya, P. A.; Soesanto, R. P.; Kurniawati, A.; Andrawina, L.

    2018-03-01

    Human resource is an important factor for a company to gain competitiveness, therefore competencies of each individual in a company is a basic characteristic that is taken into account. The increasing employee’s competency will affect directly to the company's performance. The purpose of this research is to improve the quality of human resources of maintenance staff in manufacturing company by designing competency measurement instrument that aims to assess the competency of employees. The focus of this research is the mechanical expertise of maintenance staff. SECI method is used in this research for managing knowledge that is held by senior employees regarding employee competence of mechanical expertise. The SECI method converts the knowledge of a person's tacit knowledge into an explicit knowledge so that the knowledge can be used by others. The knowledge that is gathered from SECI method is converted into a list of competence and break down into the detailed competency. Based on the results of this research, it is known that 11 general competencies, 17 distinctive competencies, 20 indicators, and 20 item list for assessing the competencies are developed. From the result of competency breakdown, the five-level instrument of measurement is designed which can assist in assessing employee’s competency for mechanical expertise.

  14. True Teaching Expertise: The Weaving Together of Theory and Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mascio, Bryan

    2016-01-01

    How do we strengthen the teaching profession? This question weighs on many educators, researchers, politicians, and parents. The public discourse around teaching often feels very negative; it does not clearly define teaching expertise, but it does reflect a very clear belief that many teachers just do not have it. In this article, a former…

  15. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Thermal-Hydraulic Research Program: Maintaining expertise in a changing environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheron, B.W.; Shotkin, L.M.; Baratta, A.J.

    1993-01-01

    Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) thermal-hydraulic research program enjoyed ample funding, sponsored extensive experimental and analytical development programs, and attracted worldwide expertise. With the completion of the major experimental programs and with the promulgation of the revised emergency core-cooling system rule, both the funding and prominence of thermal-hydraulic research at the NRC have declined in recent years. This has led justifiably to the concern by some that the program may no longer have the minimal elements needed to maintain both expertise and world-class status. The purpose of this article is to describe the NRC's current thermal-hydraulic research program and to show how this program ensures maintenance of a viable, robust research effort and retention of needed expertise and international leadership

  16. A case-based assistant for clinical psychiatry expertise.

    OpenAIRE

    Bichindaritz, I.

    1994-01-01

    Case-based reasoning is an artificial intelligence methodology for the processing of empirical knowledge. Recent case-based reasoning systems also use theoretic knowledge about the domain to constrain the case-based reasoning. The organization of the memory is the key issue in case-based reasoning. The case-based assistant presented here has two structures in memory: cases and concepts. These memory structures permit it to be as skilled in problem-solving tasks, such as diagnosis and treatmen...

  17. Sonographic diagnostics of subcutaneous fibrosis and its significance in medical expertise of radiation damage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arndt, D.; Strohmann, G.

    1984-01-01

    In assessing radiation damage of the skin and of underlying tissue - particularly in judging the ability to work of persons with widespread subcutaneous fibrosis in the framework of expertises for invalidity - difficulties are occasionally encountered. One of the reasons for such difficulties is the observed intact state of upper layers of the skin, e.g. after exposure to gamma radiation in telecobalt therapy, which may conceal to the inexperienced doctor the tissue changes present in the deep layers. The experience gained by means of ultrasonic tomography with the purpose of reaching objective findings and determining the exact extent of fibrosis, is reported and examples of expertise are given and demonstrated by figures. The method is easy to handle and, provided by the doctor's expert knowledge, makes possible an exact assessment of the 3-dimensional extension of subcutaneous fibrosis of the squamous cell- and jacket-type, e.g. in the abdominal wall. Thus, sonographic measuring has proved to be a reliable means of expertise in cases of health damage after exposure to ionizing radiation which impairs the person's ability to work. (author)

  18. The size and shape of the attentional "spotlight" varies with differences in sports expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hüttermann, Stefanie; Memmert, Daniel; Simons, Daniel J

    2014-06-01

    Focused attention enhances processing of some aspects of the world at the expense of unattended items. Although focused attention has been studied for decades, few studies have measured individual and group differences in how people distribute attention. In three studies, we explored differences in the breadth and distribution of attention as a function of athletic expertise. Study 1 found 25% greater attention breadth in expert athletes than in novices. Study 2 found that the distribution of focused attention for experts varied as a function of the type of athletic expertise: Experts in sports that demand greater horizontal distribution of attention (e.g., soccer) showed greater horizontal breadth of attention than did those whose sports demand more vertical attention (e.g., volleyball), and vice versa. Study 3 used a slightly modified design to replicate the results of Studies 1 and 2. Overall, the findings reveal a systematic association between the measured "shape" of focused attention in a laboratory task and expertise in a real-world skill. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  19. Likelihood-based methods for evaluating principal surrogacy in augmented vaccine trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei; Zhang, Bo; Zhang, Hui; Zhang, Zhiwei

    2017-04-01

    There is growing interest in assessing immune biomarkers, which are quick to measure and potentially predictive of long-term efficacy, as surrogate endpoints in randomized, placebo-controlled vaccine trials. This can be done under a principal stratification approach, with principal strata defined using a subject's potential immune responses to vaccine and placebo (the latter may be assumed to be zero). In this context, principal surrogacy refers to the extent to which vaccine efficacy varies across principal strata. Because a placebo recipient's potential immune response to vaccine is unobserved in a standard vaccine trial, augmented vaccine trials have been proposed to produce the information needed to evaluate principal surrogacy. This article reviews existing methods based on an estimated likelihood and a pseudo-score (PS) and proposes two new methods based on a semiparametric likelihood (SL) and a pseudo-likelihood (PL), for analyzing augmented vaccine trials. Unlike the PS method, the SL method does not require a model for missingness, which can be advantageous when immune response data are missing by happenstance. The SL method is shown to be asymptotically efficient, and it performs similarly to the PS and PL methods in simulation experiments. The PL method appears to have a computational advantage over the PS and SL methods.

  20. Alternative approaches to providing engineering expertise on shift

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olson, J.; Schreiber, R.E.; Melber, B.D.

    1984-05-01

    This report represents the conclusions of a project studying the role of engineering expertise on shift in nuclear power plants. Using the present shift technical advisor (STA) position as the base case, several alternatives are analyzed. On-shift alternatives included the STA, the SS (shift supervisor), and the SE (shift engineer). The SE is degreed, experienced, trained, and licensed as a Senior Reactor Operator. Some non-shift alternatives were also studied. These included a cadre of on-call engineers and specialists within continual contact and easy reach of the plant; a technical system of phone and data lines linking the plant with a facility similar to an on-site technical support center; and finally, an SPDS (safety parameter display system) to agument technical upgrading of operator aids presently available. Potential problems considered in the analysis of implementation of these alternatives included job content constraints, problems of crew acceptance, and problems of labor supply and retention. Of the considered alternatives, the SE and SS options appear superior to the current STA approach. The SE approach appears the easiest to implement and the most effective under varied plant conditions. The SE may also serve as liaison to off-site support facilities

  1. A Preliminary Trial of a Prototype Internet Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Prevention Program for Young Women with Body Image Concerns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stice, Eric; Rohde, Paul; Durant, Shelley; Shaw, Heather

    2012-01-01

    Objective: A group dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program, in which young women critique the thin ideal, reduces eating disorder risk factors and symptoms, but it can be difficult to identify school clinicians with the time and expertise to deliver the intervention. Thus, we developed a prototype Internet version of this program and…

  2. Autistic expertise: a critical reflection on the production of knowledge in autism studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milton, Damian Em

    2014-10-01

    The field of autism studies is a highly disputed territory within which competing contradictory discourses abound. In this field, it is the voices and claims of autistic people regarding their own expertise in knowledge production concerning autism that is most recent in the debate, and traditionally the least attended to. In this article, I utilise the theories of Harry Collins and colleagues in order to reflect upon and conceptualise the various claims to knowledge production and expertise within the field of autism studies, from the perspective of an author who has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. The notion that autistic people lack sociality is problematised, with the suggestion that autistic people are not well described by notions such as the 'social brain', or as possessing 'zero degrees of cognitive empathy'. I then argue, however, that there is a qualitative difference in autistic sociality, and question to what extent such differences are of a biological or cultural nature, and to what extent interactional expertise can be gained by both parties in interactions between autistic and non-autistic people. In conclusion, I argue that autistic people have often become distrustful of researchers and their aims, and are frequently frozen out of the processes of knowledge production. Such a context results in a negative feedback spiral with further damage to the growth of interactional expertise between researchers and autistic people, and a breakdown in trust and communication leading to an increase in tension between stakeholder groups. The involvement of autistic scholars in research and improvements in participatory methods can thus be seen as a requirement, if social research in the field of autism is to claim ethical and epistemological integrity. © The Author(s) 2014.

  3. Can Team-Based Care Improve Patient Satisfaction? A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Jin; Schulman, Kevin A.

    2014-01-01

    Background Team-based approaches to patient care are a relatively recent innovation in health care delivery. The effectiveness of these approaches on patient outcomes has not been well documented. This paper reports a systematic review of the relationship between team-based care and patient satisfaction. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PSYCHOINFO for eligible studies dating from inception to October 8, 2012. Eligible studies reported (1) a randomized controlled trial, (2) interventions including both team-based care and non-team-based care (or usual care), and (3) outcomes including an assessment of patient satisfaction. Articles with different settings between intervention and control were excluded, as were trial protocols. The reference lists of retrieved papers were also evaluated for inclusion. Results The literature search yielded 319 citations, of which 77 were screened for further full-text evaluation. Of these, 27 articles were included in the systematic review. The 26 trials with a total of 15,526 participants were included in this systematic review. The pooling result of dichotomous data (number of studies: 10) showed that team-based care had a positive effect on patient satisfaction compared with usual care (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.54 to 2.84); however, combined continuous data (number of studies: 7) demonstrated that there was no significant difference in patient satisfaction between team-based care and usual care (standardized mean difference, −0.02; 95% confidence interval, −0.40 to 0.36). Conclusions Some evidence showed that team-based care is better than usual care in improving patient satisfaction. However, considering the pooling result of continuous data, along with the suboptimal quality of included trials, further large-scale and high-quality randomized controlled trials comparing team-based care and usual care are needed. PMID:25014674

  4. Special features of health services and register based trials – experiences from a randomized trial of childbirth classes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sevón Tiina

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Evaluating complex interventions in health services faces various difficulties, such as making practice changes and costs. Ways to increase research capacity and decrease costs include making research an integral part of health services and using routine data to judge outcomes. The purpose of this article is to report the feasibility of a pilot trial relying solely on routinely collected register data and being based on ordinary health services. Methods The example intervention was education to public health nurses (PHN (childbirth classes to reduce caesarean section rates via pre-delivery considerations of pregnant women. 20 maternity health centers (MHC were paired and of each 10 pairs, one MHC was randomly allocated to an intervention group and the other to a control; 8 pairs with successful intervention were used in the analyses (1601 mothers. The women visiting to the study maternity centers were identified from the Customer Register of Helsinki City. A list of the study women was made using the mother's personal identification number, visit date, the maternity center code, birth date and gestation length. The mode of delivery and health outcomes were retrieved from the Finnish Medical Birth Register (MBR. Process data of the intervention are based on observations, written feedback and questionnaires from PHNs, and project correspondence. Results It took almost two years to establish how to obtain permissions and to actually obtain it for the trial. Obtaining permissions for the customer and outcome data and register linkages was unproblematic and the cluster randomization provided comparable groups. The intervention did not succeed well. Had the main aim of the trial been to cause a change in PHNs behavior, we would have very likely intensified the intervention during the trial. Conclusion Our experiences encourage the use of trials that obtain their outcomes from registers. Changing the behavior of ordinary health

  5. Tracks to a Medical Diagnosis: Expertise Differences in Visual Problem Solving

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jaarsma, Thomas; Boshuizen, Els; Jarodzka, Halszka; Nap, Marius; Verboon, Peter; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen

    2018-01-01

    This study focuses on the visual problem-solving process of clinical pathologists. Its aim is to find expertise-related differences in the temporal arrangement of this process, with a special focus on the orientation phase. A theoretical model of the visual diagnostic process of medical specialists

  6. A case-based assistant for clinical psychiatry expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bichindaritz, I

    1994-01-01

    Case-based reasoning is an artificial intelligence methodology for the processing of empirical knowledge. Recent case-based reasoning systems also use theoretic knowledge about the domain to constrain the case-based reasoning. The organization of the memory is the key issue in case-based reasoning. The case-based assistant presented here has two structures in memory: cases and concepts. These memory structures permit it to be as skilled in problem-solving tasks, such as diagnosis and treatment planning, as in interpretive tasks, such as clinical research. A prototype applied to clinical work about eating disorders in psychiatry, reasoning from the alimentary questionnaires of these patients, is presented as an example of the system abilities.

  7. Recruiting faith- and non-faith-based schools, adolescents and parents to a cluster randomised sexual-health trial: experiences, challenges and lessons from the mixed-methods Jack Feasibility Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aventin, Áine; Lohan, Maria; Maguire, Lisa; Clarke, Mike

    2016-07-29

    The move toward evidence-based education has led to increasing numbers of randomised trials in schools. However, the literature on recruitment to non-clinical trials is relatively underdeveloped, when compared to that of clinical trials. Recruitment to school-based randomised trials is, however, challenging, even more so when the focus of the study is a sensitive issue such as sexual health. This article reflects on the challenges of recruiting post-primary schools, adolescent pupils and parents to a cluster randomised feasibility trial of a sexual-health intervention, and the strategies employed to address them. The Jack Trial was funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research. It comprised a feasibility study of an interactive film-based sexual-health intervention entitled If I Were Jack, recruiting over 800 adolescents from eight socio-demographically diverse post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. It aimed to determine the facilitators and barriers to recruitment and retention to a school-based sexual-health trial and identify optimal multi-level strategies for an effectiveness study. As part of an embedded process evaluation, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with principals, vice-principals, teachers, pupils and parents recruited to the study as well as classroom observations and a parents' survey. With reference to social learning theory, we identified a number of individual-, behavioural- and environmental-level factors that influenced recruitment. Commonly identified facilitators included perceptions of the relevance and potential benefit of the intervention to adolescents, the credibility of the organisation and individuals running the study, support offered by trial staff, and financial incentives. Key barriers were prior commitment to other research, lack of time and resources, and perceptions that the intervention was incompatible with pupil or parent needs or the school ethos. Reflecting on the methodological

  8. Redesigning Radiotherapy Quality Assurance: Opportunities to Develop an Efficient, Evidence-Based System to Support Clinical Trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bekelman, Justin E.; Deye, James A.; Vikram, Bhadrasain; Bentzen, Soren M.; Bruner, Deborah; Curran, Walter J.; Dignam, James; Efstathiou, Jason A.; FitzGerald, T. J.; Hurkmans, Coen; Ibbott, Geoffrey S.; Lee, J. Jack; Merchant, Timothy E.; Michalski, Jeff; Palta, Jatinder R.; Simon, Richard; Ten Haken, Randal K.; Timmerman, Robert; Tunis, Sean; Coleman, C. Norman; Purdy, James

    2012-01-01

    Background In the context of national calls for reorganizing cancer clinical trials, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) sponsored a two day workshop to examine the challenges and opportunities for optimizing radiotherapy quality assurance (QA) in clinical trial design. Methods Participants reviewed the current processes of clinical trial QA and noted the QA challenges presented by advanced technologies. Lessons learned from the radiotherapy QA programs of recent trials were discussed in detail. Four potential opportunities for optimizing radiotherapy QA were explored, including the use of normal tissue toxicity and tumor control metrics, biomarkers of radiation toxicity, new radiotherapy modalities like proton beam therapy, and the international harmonization of clinical trial QA. Results Four recommendations were made: 1) Develop a tiered (and more efficient) system for radiotherapy QA and tailor intensity of QA to clinical trial objectives. Tiers include (i) general credentialing, (ii) trial specific credentialing, and (iii) individual case review; 2) Establish a case QA repository; 3) Develop an evidence base for clinical trial QA and introduce innovative prospective trial designs to evaluate radiotherapy QA in clinical trials; and 4) Explore the feasibility of consolidating clinical trial QA in the United States. Conclusion Radiotherapy QA may impact clinical trial accrual, cost, outcomes and generalizability. To achieve maximum benefit, QA programs must become more efficient and evidence-based. PMID:22425219

  9. Global reach: Red Deer oilfield expertise, not least in taming disasters, lures international clientele

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lorenz, A.

    2002-10-07

    The rise to international prominence of two Red Deer, Alberta, firms --Safety Boss and Red Flame -- by performing heroic feats in Kuwait's flaming oil fields, are chronicled. These two firms, along with several others in Red Deer, provide expertise in fire fighting that is sought after by petroleum companies in the farthest corners of the world. Red Deer companies can be found training Kazakhs, Russians, Kuwaitis, Iranians, and Turkmen in fighting oil well fires. Red Flame, for example developed a method called 'hot-tapping' while fighting blazing oil well fires in Kuwait, which they have since extended by developing hot-tapping equipment that would work on the highest pressure wells in the world. Last summer Red Flame personnel trained a Schlumberger crew in Kazakhstan working on custom-designed equipment that could perform at pressures of 5,000 psi. Red Flame also designed 'extended reach' hot-tapping in response to a request from Petro-Canada. Meanwhile, Safety Boss, the oldest and best known oil well fire fighting company in Canada, boasts of having extinguished 180 wells in their 1991 stint in Kuwait, while their closest competitor, Texas-based Wild Well, doused only 117. With improved safety policies and procedures the number of oil well blow-outs diminished dramatically in recent years, but there are always opportunities for the Red Deer expertise somewhere around the world.

  10. Modeling Search Behaviors during the Acquisition of Expertise in a Sequential Decision-Making Task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristóbal Moënne-Loccoz

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Our daily interaction with the world is plagued of situations in which we develop expertise through self-motivated repetition of the same task. In many of these interactions, and especially when dealing with computer and machine interfaces, we must deal with sequences of decisions and actions. For instance, when drawing cash from an ATM machine, choices are presented in a step-by-step fashion and a specific sequence of choices must be performed in order to produce the expected outcome. But, as we become experts in the use of such interfaces, is it possible to identify specific search and learning strategies? And if so, can we use this information to predict future actions? In addition to better understanding the cognitive processes underlying sequential decision making, this could allow building adaptive interfaces that can facilitate interaction at different moments of the learning curve. Here we tackle the question of modeling sequential decision-making behavior in a simple human-computer interface that instantiates a 4-level binary decision tree (BDT task. We record behavioral data from voluntary participants while they attempt to solve the task. Using a Hidden Markov Model-based approach that capitalizes on the hierarchical structure of behavior, we then model their performance during the interaction. Our results show that partitioning the problem space into a small set of hierarchically related stereotyped strategies can potentially capture a host of individual decision making policies. This allows us to follow how participants learn and develop expertise in the use of the interface. Moreover, using a Mixture of Experts based on these stereotyped strategies, the model is able to predict the behavior of participants that master the task.

  11. Effects of a digital intervention on the development of algebraic expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bokhove, C.; Drijvers, P.H.M.

    2012-01-01

    In this article we report on the effects of a digital intervention on the development of algebraic expertise of 17-18 year old students in the Netherlands. The question to be answered was whether the intervention would be effective and what factors influenced the outcome. With notions of

  12. Systematic data ingratiation of clinical trial recruitment locations for geographic-based query and visualization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Jake; Chen, Weiheng; Wu, Min; Weng, Chunhua

    2017-12-01

    Prior studies of clinical trial planning indicate that it is crucial to search and screen recruitment sites before starting to enroll participants. However, currently there is no systematic method developed to support clinical investigators to search candidate recruitment sites according to their interested clinical trial factors. In this study, we aim at developing a new approach to integrating the location data of over one million heterogeneous recruitment sites that are stored in clinical trial documents. The integrated recruitment location data can be searched and visualized using a map-based information retrieval method. The method enables systematic search and analysis of recruitment sites across a large amount of clinical trials. The location data of more than 1.4 million recruitment sites of over 183,000 clinical trials was normalized and integrated using a geocoding method. The integrated data can be used to support geographic information retrieval of recruitment sites. Additionally, the information of over 6000 clinical trial target disease conditions and close to 4000 interventions was also integrated into the system and linked to the recruitment locations. Such data integration enabled the construction of a novel map-based query system. The system will allow clinical investigators to search and visualize candidate recruitment sites for clinical trials based on target conditions and interventions. The evaluation results showed that the coverage of the geographic location mapping for the 1.4 million recruitment sites was 99.8%. The evaluation of 200 randomly retrieved recruitment sites showed that the correctness of geographic information mapping was 96.5%. The recruitment intensities of the top 30 countries were also retrieved and analyzed. The data analysis results indicated that the recruitment intensity varied significantly across different countries and geographic areas. This study contributed a new data processing framework to extract and integrate

  13. Systematic data ingratiation of clinical trial recruitment locations for geographic-based query and visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Jake; Chen, Weiheng; Wu, Min; Weng, Chunhua

    2018-01-01

    Background Prior studies of clinical trial planning indicate that it is crucial to search and screen recruitment sites before starting to enroll participants. However, currently there is no systematic method developed to support clinical investigators to search candidate recruitment sites according to their interested clinical trial factors. Objective In this study, we aim at developing a new approach to integrating the location data of over one million heterogeneous recruitment sites that are stored in clinical trial documents. The integrated recruitment location data can be searched and visualized using a map-based information retrieval method. The method enables systematic search and analysis of recruitment sites across a large amount of clinical trials. Methods The location data of more than 1.4 million recruitment sites of over 183,000 clinical trials was normalized and integrated using a geocoding method. The integrated data can be used to support geographic information retrieval of recruitment sites. Additionally, the information of over 6000 clinical trial target disease conditions and close to 4000 interventions was also integrated into the system and linked to the recruitment locations. Such data integration enabled the construction of a novel map-based query system. The system will allow clinical investigators to search and visualize candidate recruitment sites for clinical trials based on target conditions and interventions. Results The evaluation results showed that the coverage of the geographic location mapping for the 1.4 million recruitment sites was 99.8%. The evaluation of 200 randomly retrieved recruitment sites showed that the correctness of geographic information mapping was 96.5%. The recruitment intensities of the top 30 countries were also retrieved and analyzed. The data analysis results indicated that the recruitment intensity varied significantly across different countries and geographic areas. Conclusion This study contributed a new

  14. Standardized terminology for clinical trial protocols based on top-level ontological categories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heller, B; Herre, H; Lippoldt, K; Loeffler, M

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes a new method for the ontologically based standardization of concepts with regard to the quality assurance of clinical trial protocols. We developed a data dictionary for medical and trial-specific terms in which concepts and relations are defined context-dependently. The data dictionary is provided to different medical research networks by means of the software tool Onto-Builder via the internet. The data dictionary is based on domain-specific ontologies and the top-level ontology of GOL. The concepts and relations described in the data dictionary are represented in natural language, semi-formally or formally according to their use.

  15. European Marketing Authorizations Granted Based on a Single Pivotal Clinical Trial: The Rule or the Exception?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morant, Anne Vinther; Vestergaard, Henrik Tang

    2018-07-01

    A minimum of two positive, adequate, and well-controlled clinical trials has historically been the gold standard for providing substantial evidence to support regulatory approval of a new medicine. Nevertheless, the present analysis of European Marketing Authorizations granted between 2012 and 2016 showed that 45% of new active substances were approved based on a single pivotal clinical trial. For therapeutic areas such as oncology and cardiovascular diseases, approvals based on a single pivotal trial are the rule rather than the exception, whereas new medicines within the nervous system area were generally supported by two or more pivotal trials. While overall similar trends have been observed in the US, the recent US Food and Drug Administration approvals of nervous system medicines based on a single pivotal trial suggest that a case-by-case scientific evaluation of the totality of evidence is increasingly applied to facilitate faster access of new medicines to patients suffering from serious diseases. © 2017 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

  16. When Music and Long-Term Memory Interact: Effects of Musical Expertise on Functional and Structural Plasticity in the Hippocampus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groussard, Mathilde; La Joie, Renaud; Rauchs, Géraldine; Landeau, Brigitte; Chételat, Gaël; Viader, Fausto; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis; Platel, Hervé

    2010-01-01

    The development of musical skills by musicians results in specific structural and functional modifications in the brain. Surprisingly, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study has investigated the impact of musical training on brain function during long-term memory retrieval, a faculty particularly important in music. Thus, using fMRI, we examined for the first time this process during a musical familiarity task (i.e., semantic memory for music). Musical expertise induced supplementary activations in the hippocampus, medial frontal gyrus, and superior temporal areas on both sides, suggesting a constant interaction between episodic and semantic memory during this task in musicians. In addition, a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) investigation was performed within these areas and revealed that gray matter density of the hippocampus was higher in musicians than in nonmusicians. Our data indicate that musical expertise critically modifies long-term memory processes and induces structural and functional plasticity in the hippocampus. PMID:20957158

  17. When music and long-term memory interact: effects of musical expertise on functional and structural plasticity in the hippocampus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathilde Groussard

    Full Text Available The development of musical skills by musicians results in specific structural and functional modifications in the brain. Surprisingly, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study has investigated the impact of musical training on brain function during long-term memory retrieval, a faculty particularly important in music. Thus, using fMRI, we examined for the first time this process during a musical familiarity task (i.e., semantic memory for music. Musical expertise induced supplementary activations in the hippocampus, medial frontal gyrus, and superior temporal areas on both sides, suggesting a constant interaction between episodic and semantic memory during this task in musicians. In addition, a voxel-based morphometry (VBM investigation was performed within these areas and revealed that gray matter density of the hippocampus was higher in musicians than in nonmusicians. Our data indicate that musical expertise critically modifies long-term memory processes and induces structural and functional plasticity in the hippocampus.

  18. When music and long-term memory interact: effects of musical expertise on functional and structural plasticity in the hippocampus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groussard, Mathilde; La Joie, Renaud; Rauchs, Géraldine; Landeau, Brigitte; Chételat, Gaël; Viader, Fausto; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis; Platel, Hervé

    2010-10-05

    The development of musical skills by musicians results in specific structural and functional modifications in the brain. Surprisingly, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study has investigated the impact of musical training on brain function during long-term memory retrieval, a faculty particularly important in music. Thus, using fMRI, we examined for the first time this process during a musical familiarity task (i.e., semantic memory for music). Musical expertise induced supplementary activations in the hippocampus, medial frontal gyrus, and superior temporal areas on both sides, suggesting a constant interaction between episodic and semantic memory during this task in musicians. In addition, a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) investigation was performed within these areas and revealed that gray matter density of the hippocampus was higher in musicians than in nonmusicians. Our data indicate that musical expertise critically modifies long-term memory processes and induces structural and functional plasticity in the hippocampus.

  19. Bringing tacit knowledge back to contributory and interactional expertise: A reply to Goddiksen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes-Galindo, Luis I; Duarte, Tiago Ribeiro

    2015-02-01

    We analyse a recent paper by Goddiksen (2014) where the author raises questions about the relationship between authorship, attribution and Collins & Evans' concept of contributory and interactional expertise. We then highlight recent empirical work in the sociology of climate change science that has made similar points in order to clarify how authorship, division of labour and contribution are handled in real scientific settings. Despite this, Goddiksen's critique of both contributory and interactional expertise is ultimately ineffective because it rests on a misguided attempt to de-socialise these concepts. We conclude by stressing the importance of collective tacit knowledge acquisition through immersion as a critical step in becoming a full-blown contributory or interactional expert. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Effects of a digital intervention on the development of algebraic expertise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bokhove, C.; Drijvers, P.H.M.

    2012-01-01

    In this article we report on the effects of a digital intervention on the development of algebraic expertise of 17–18 year old students in the Netherlands. The question to be answered was whether the intervention would be effective and what factors influenced the outcome. With notions of formative

  1. Expertise and politics crisis: lessons learned from fifteen years of negotiations on climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hourcade, J.Ch.

    2003-01-01

    The author proposes some analyses and comments about the relationships between experts who have been involved in various conferences and meetings (from Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to Marrakech in 2002) on climate change. He presents the different groups of experts and comments the issues which have been a matter of debate between them for the past fifteen years. For each of these issues, he gives an overview of the expertise status, highlights consensus as well as dissensus. He compares this expertise with the content of political discourses, and then shows which mechanisms led to The Hague failure and to the incomplete Marrakech's compromise

  2. The post-accident nuclear issue: the new crisis expertise challenges for the IRSN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Champion, D.

    2010-01-01

    The author reports the work performed by two work groups conducted by the IRSN (the French Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute), the first one on the issue of assessment of radiological and dosimetric consequences in a post-accident situation, and the second one on hypotheses to be used to perform predictive assessments of these consequences. First dealing with the end of the emergency phase, he describes how to anticipate actions of protection against immediate post-accident consequences: orientation of the expertise strategy based on the CODIRPA's doctrine, post-accident zoning based on predictive indicators, use of reasonably prudent hypotheses for the first predictive assessments, importance of initial radioactive deposits to perform predictive assessments. Then, the author presents an iterative method of assessment of post-accident consequences: organization of environment radioactivity measurement programmes, periodic update of mapping of initial deposit and of actual deposits at a given time

  3. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for residents: A randomized controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verweij, H.; Ravesteijn, H.J. van; Hooff, M.L.M. van; Lagro-Janssen, A.L.M.; Speckens, A.E.M.

    2018-01-01

    Background: Burnout is highly prevalent in residents. No randomized controlled trials have been conducted measuring the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on burnout in residents. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of MBSR in reducing burnout in residents. Design: A

  4. Fulfilling the needs for statistical expertise at Aalborg Hospital

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dethlefsen, Claus

    In 2005, the first statistician was employed at Aalborg Hospital due to expanding research activities as part of Aarhus University Hospital. Since then, there has been an increased demand for statistical expertise at all levels. In the talk, I will give an overview of the current staff...... of statisticians and the organisation. I will give examples from our statistical consultancy and illustrate some of the challenges that have led to research projects with heavy statistical involvement....

  5. The effect of navigational expertise on wayfinding in new environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woollett, Katherine; Maguire, Eleanor A

    2010-12-01

    Becoming proficient at navigation in urban environments is something that we all aspire to. Here we asked whether being an expert at wayfinding in one environment has any effect on learning new spatial layouts. Licensed London taxi drivers are among the most proficient urban navigators, training for many years to find their way around a complex and irregularly-laid out city. We first tested how well they could learn the layout of an unfamiliar town compared with a group of non-taxi drivers. Second, we investigated how effectively taxi drivers could integrate a new district into their existing spatial representation of London. We found that taxi drivers were significantly better than control participants at executing routes through the new town, and representing it at a map-like survey level. However, the benefits of navigational expertise were not universal. Compared with their performance in the new town, taxi drivers were significantly poorer at learning the layout of a new area that had to be integrated with their existing knowledge of London. We consider reasons for this picture of facilitation and limitation, in particular drawing parallels with how knowledge acquisition occurs in the context of expertise in general.

  6. Implementation of partnership management model of SMK (Vocational High School) with existing industries in mechanical engineering expertise in Central Java

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumbodo, Wirawan; Pardjono, Samsudi, Rahadjo, Winarno Dwi

    2018-03-01

    This study aims to determine the existing conditions of implementation of partnership management model of SMK with the industry on the mechanical engineering expertise in Central Java. The method used is descriptive analysis. The research result shows that the implementation of partnership management model of SMK based on new existing industry produces ready graduates of 62.5% which belongs to low category, although the partnership program of SMK with the industry is done well with the average score of 3.17. As many as 37.5% of SMK graduates of Mechanical Engineering Expertise Program choose to continue their studies or to be an entrepreneur. It is expected that the partnership model of SMK with the industry can be developed into a reference for government policy in developing SMK that is able to produce graduates who are ready to work according to the needs of partner industry.

  7. The Virtual Anemia Trial: An Assessment of Model‐Based In Silico Clinical Trials of Anemia Treatment Algorithms in Patients With Hemodialysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topping, Alice; Kappel, Franz; Thijssen, Stephan; Kotanko, Peter

    2018-01-01

    In silico approaches have been proposed as a novel strategy to increase the repertoire of clinical trial designs. Realistic simulations of clinical trials can provide valuable information regarding safety and limitations of treatment protocols and have been shown to assist in the cost‐effective planning of clinical studies. In this report, we present a blueprint for the stepwise integration of internal, external, and ecological validity considerations in virtual clinical trials (VCTs). We exemplify this approach in the context of a model‐based in silico clinical trial aimed at anemia treatment in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Hemoglobin levels and subsequent anemia treatment were simulated on a per patient level over the course of a year and compared to real‐life clinical data of 79,426 patients undergoing HD. The novel strategies presented here, aimed to improve external and ecological validity of a VCT, significantly increased the predictive power of the discussed in silico trial. PMID:29368434

  8. Musical and linguistic expertise influence pre-attentive and attentive processing of non-speech sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marie, Céline; Kujala, Teija; Besson, Mireille

    2012-04-01

    The aim of this experiment was two-fold. Our first goal was to determine whether linguistic expertise influences the pre-attentive [as reflected by the Mismatch Negativity - (MMN)] and the attentive processing (as reflected by behavioural discrimination accuracy) of non-speech, harmonic sounds. The second was to directly compare the effects of linguistic and musical expertise. To this end, we compared non-musician native speakers of a quantity language, Finnish, in which duration is a phonemically contrastive cue, with French musicians and French non-musicians. Results revealed that pre-attentive and attentive processing of duration deviants was enhanced in Finn non-musicians and French musicians compared to French non-musicians. By contrast, MMN in French musicians was larger than in both Finns and French non-musicians for frequency deviants, whereas no between-group differences were found for intensity deviants. By showing similar effects of linguistic and musical expertise, these results argue in favor of common processing of duration in music and speech. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

  9. Relative importance of expertise, lifting height and weight lifted on posture and lumbar external loading during a transfer task in manual material handling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plamondon, André; Larivière, Christian; Delisle, Alain; Denis, Denys; Gagnon, Denis

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study was to measure the effect size of three important factors in manual material handling, namely expertise, lifting height and weight lifted. The effect of expertise was evaluated by contrasting 15 expert and 15 novice handlers, the effect of the weight lifted with a 15-kg box and a 23-kg box and the effect of lifting height with two different box heights: ground level and a 32 cm height. The task consisted of transferring a series of boxes from a conveyor to a hand trolley. Lifting height and weight lifted had more effect size than expertise on external back loading variables (moments) while expertise had low impact. On the other hand, expertise showed a significant effect of posture variables on the lumbar spine and knees. All three factors are important, but for a reduction of external back loading, the focus should be on the lifting height and weight lifted. The objective was to measure the effect size of three important factors in a transfer of boxes from a conveyor to a hand trolley. Lifting height and weight lifted had more effect size than expertise on external back loading variables but expertise was a major determinant in back posture.

  10. The Building of Weak Expertise: The Work of Global University Rankers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Miguel Antonio

    2018-01-01

    University rankers are the subject of much criticism, and yet they remain influential in the field of higher education. Drawing from a two-year field study of university ranking organizations, interviews with key correspondents in the sector, and an analysis of related documents, I introduce the concept of "weak expertise." This kind of…

  11. Authority, Expertise, and Impression Management: Gendered Professionalization of Chemists in the Academy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirshfield, Laura Ellen

    Women face more barriers to their success than their men counterparts in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. While much of the research on women's experience in science has focused on their entry into or exit out of STEM fields (the "leaky pipeline"), less is known about the obstacles that women scientists face at work, due to the dearth of ethnographic work exploring gender and day-to-day experiences in the academic workplace. Using data from a qualitative study of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in chemistry involving over 120 hours of ethnographic observation and 40 semi-structured interviews, I focus specifically on the gendered nature of authority, expertise, and impression management to investigate several of the obstacles women scientists face at work. In the first chapter, I investigate men and women graduate students' and postdocs' expectations of expertise. I argue that overall, men are more likely than their women peers to be seen as experts in chemistry. As a result, men graduate students benefit from more practice with skills that are applicable to their future careers: applying scientific knowledge to relevant questions and communicating this information to others. In the second chapter, I focus on gender and graduate student socialization. I find that the link between men, science, and academia creates a context in which men do not need to work as hard to establish their claim to scientific authority. Therefore, men are able to perform masculinity in varied and complex ways, while women, who do not embody masculinity, feel more pressure to conform to strict norms of competition that are associated with traditional masculinity. In the last chapter, I discuss the impression management strategies that men and women chemists-in-training use to navigate authority and expertise. I find that men are more likely than women to employ interactional styles that feature their expertise when in group situations, while women

  12. Expertise in complex decision making: the role of search in chess 70 years after de Groot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connors, Michael H; Burns, Bruce D; Campitelli, Guillermo

    2011-01-01

    One of the most influential studies in all expertise research is de Groot's (1946) study of chess players, which suggested that pattern recognition, rather than search, was the key determinant of expertise. Many changes have occurred in the chess world since de Groot's study, leading some authors to argue that the cognitive mechanisms underlying expertise have also changed. We decided to replicate de Groot's study to empirically test these claims and to examine whether the trends in the data have changed over time. Six Grandmasters, five International Masters, six Experts, and five Class A players completed the think-aloud procedure for two chess positions. Findings indicate that Grandmasters and International Masters search more quickly than Experts and Class A players, and that both groups today search substantially faster than players in previous studies. The findings, however, support de Groot's overall conclusions and are consistent with predictions made by pattern recognition models. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  13. Expertise shapes domain-specific functional cerebral asymmetry during mental imagery: the case of culinary arts and music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bensafi, Moustafa; Fournel, Arnaud; Joussain, Pauline; Poncelet, Johan; Przybylski, Lauranne; Rouby, Catherine; Tillmann, Barbara

    2017-06-01

    Mental imagery in experts has been documented in visual arts, music and dance. Here, we examined this issue in an understudied art domain, namely, culinary arts. Previous research investigating mental imagery in experts has reported either a stronger involvement of the right hemisphere or bilateral brain activation. The first aim of our study was to examine whether culinary arts also recruit such a hemispheric pattern specifically during odor mental imagery. In a second aim, we investigated whether expertise effects observed in a given sensory domain transfer to another modality. We combined psychophysics and neurophysiology to study mental imagery in cooks, musicians and controls. We collected response times and event-related potentials (ERP) while participants mentally compared the odor of fruits, the timbre of musical instruments and the size of fruits, musical instruments and manufactured objects. Cooks were faster in imagining fruit odors, and musicians were faster in imagining the timbre of musical instruments. These differences were not observed in control participants. This expertise effect was reflected in the ERP late positive complex (LPC): only experts showed symmetric bilateral activation, specifically when cooks imagined odors and when musicians imagined timbres. In contrast, the LPC was significantly greater in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere for non-expert participants in all conditions. These findings suggest that sensory expertise does not involve transfer of mental imagery ability across modalities and highlight for the first time that olfactory expertise in cooks induces a balance of activations between hemispheres as does musical expertise in musicians. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Bionergy expertise project in Southern Ostrobothnia; Bioenergia-asiantuntijuutta kehittaemaessae Etelae-Pohjanmaalla

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sivula, A.; Lauhanen, R.; Saarela, A.; Ahtola, T.; Pasila, A.

    2013-06-01

    The EU has set the goal for the use of renewable energy at 20 percent by the year 2020. The Finnish national goal is 38 percent. This goal has set new challenges for entrepreneurs who are working in the field of bioenergy. Bioenergy is developing all the time and because of this new information should be passed on to persons who are working in the field of bioenergy continuously. Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences (School of Forestry and Agriculture) implemented the bioenergy expertise project (Bioenergia-asiantuntijuuden kehittaeminen tyoeelaemaelaehtoeisesti) during the years 2009 - 2012 in Southern Ostrobothnia of Finland. The bioenergy expertise project developed the Learning Environment in the field of bioenergy, formed a bioenergy professionals' network, activated the bioenergy entrepreneur network, implemented the report on the future needs of bioenergy education, tested and piloted a reference model for information collection using mobile systems with the bioenergy actors, and arranged bioenergy themed events. The Learning Environment can be used to meet the needs of the University of Applied Sciences and by the entrepreneurs in the area. The bioenergy professionals' network is a group of professionals who work in the area of Southern Ostrobothnia. Bioenergy themed events attracted a lot of participants, but the most popular events were the bioenergy fairs, which were arranged in Tuomarniemi and Kurejoki. The arranged events were also useful from the entrepreneurs networking point of view. The bioenergy expertise project was overall a success and the feedback was positive. The permanent results of the project are publications, reports, the bioenergy professionals' network and the new Learning Environment. Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences is hosting the Learning Environment. The bioenergy professionals' network is continuing its activities in Jarvikilta network of professionals, which also have activities in the area of

  15. [Evaluation of Web-based software applications for administrating and organising an ophthalmological clinical trial site].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kortüm, K; Reznicek, L; Leicht, S; Ulbig, M; Wolf, A

    2013-07-01

    The importance and complexity of clinical trials is continuously increasing, especially in innovative specialties like ophthalmology. Therefore an efficient clinical trial site organisational structure is essential. In modern internet times, this can be accomplished by web-based applications. In total, 3 software applications (Vibe on Prem, Sharepoint and open source software) were evaluated in a clinical trial site in ophthalmology. Assessment criteria were set; they were: reliability, easiness of administration, usability, scheduling, task list, knowledge management, operating costs and worldwide availability. Vibe on Prem customised by the local university met the assessment criteria best. Other applications were not as strong. By introducing a web-based application for administrating and organising an ophthalmological trial site, studies can be conducted in a more efficient and reliable manner. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  16. Impact of Computer Expertise, Locus of Control and Self-Esteem on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The present study considered the influence of self-esteem, locus of control and computer expertise on computer-induced stress in a cross sectional survey. One hundred and fifty cyber café users drawn from 10 cyber cafes randomly chosen from University of Ibadan and its environs participated in the study. Of the 150 ...

  17. The Use of CAD/CAM Trial Pattern for Facial Prosthesis Fabrication of a Maxillofacial Patient with Large Defect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Ariani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Treatment of maxillofacial patients needs a multidisciplinary approach of several expertise based on the complexityof the case. Prosthodontists often work together with e.g. ENT, oral or plastic surgeons to provide patient with betterprosthesis and optimum treatment. Case report: A 55 years old male was referred to Dental Teaching Hospital ofUniversitas Indonesia for facial prosthesis fabrication. Patient had undergone squamous cell carcinoma ablationsurgery that encompassed nose, cheek, sinuses, upper lip and most of the hard palate. Due to the extensive natureof the defect, Department of Prosthodontics collaborated with Department of Biomedical Engineering to employ3D printing technique using general purpose machine for fabricating the trial pattern for the prosthesis, withattention given especially to margin areas and facial contours. This technique helps for prosthesis fabrication ofthis patient because manual wax carving is no longer necessary. Wax carving usually is a labor/skill intensive stepand takes longer time. Conclusion: 3D printing of the trial pattern for the prosthesis help minimizes the labor/skill intensive part of facial prosthesis fabrication.

  18. The Effects of Topic Familiarity, Author Expertise, and Content Relevance on Norwegian Students' Document Selection: A Mixed Methods Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCrudden, Matthew T.; Stenseth, Tonje; Bråten, Ivar; Strømsø, Helge I.

    2016-01-01

    This mixed methods study investigated the extent to which author expertise and content relevance were salient to secondary Norwegian students (N = 153) when they selected documents that pertained to more familiar and less familiar topics. Quantitative results indicated that author expertise was more salient for the less familiar topic (nuclear…

  19. Collaborative Information Seeking and Expertise Seeking: Different Discourses about Similar Issues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hertzum, Morten

    2017-01-01

    Purpose – This study compares and contrasts research on collaborative information seeking (CIS) and expertise seeking (EXS) to identify focal themes, blind spots, and possibilities for cross-fertilization. Design/methodology/approach – Existing research was reviewed. The review consisted of a con......Purpose – This study compares and contrasts research on collaborative information seeking (CIS) and expertise seeking (EXS) to identify focal themes, blind spots, and possibilities for cross-fertilization. Design/methodology/approach – Existing research was reviewed. The review consisted...... the information need is held by an individual but resolved by consulting other people. While the typical scope of EXS studies is source selection, CIS studies mostly concern the consultation of the sources and the use of the obtained information. CIS and EXS studies also attend differentially to the information...... and prevent duplication of effort. Topics for future research are identified. It should be noted that the findings are limited to the 142 studies reviewed. Originality/value – By analyzing CIS in the context of EXS, and vice versa, this study provides a fresh look at the information-seeking research...

  20. Computer-based teaching is as good as face to face lecture-based teaching of evidence based medicine: a randomised controlled trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-01-01

    Background At postgraduate level evidence based medicine (EBM) is currently taught through tutor based lectures. Computer based sessions fit around doctors' workloads, and standardise the quality of educational provision. There have been no randomized controlled trials comparing computer based sessions with traditional lectures at postgraduate level within medicine. Methods This was a randomised controlled trial involving six postgraduate education centres in the West Midlands, U.K. Fifty five newly qualified foundation year one doctors (U.S internship equivalent) were randomised to either computer based sessions or an equivalent lecture in EBM and systematic reviews. The change from pre to post-intervention score was measured using a validated questionnaire assessing knowledge (primary outcome) and attitudes (secondary outcome). Results Both groups were similar at baseline. Participants' improvement in knowledge in the computer based group was equivalent to the lecture based group (gain in score: 2.1 [S.D = 2.0] versus 1.9 [S.D = 2.4]; ANCOVA p = 0.078). Attitudinal gains were similar in both groups. Conclusion On the basis of our findings we feel computer based teaching and learning is as effective as typical lecture based teaching sessions for educating postgraduates in EBM and systematic reviews. PMID:17659076

  1. Parental Expertise, Trustworthiness, and Accessibility: Parent-Adolescent Communication and Adolescent Risk Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilamo-Ramos, Vincent; Jaccard, James; Dittus, Patricia; Bouris, Alida, M.

    2006-01-01

    A communication framework of persuasion and attitude change was utilized to analyze parent-adolescent communication about adolescent risk behavior. Three parent dimensions were deemed important: (a) perceived expertise, (b) perceived trustworthiness, and (c) perceived accessibility. Data were collected in surveys from 668 mother-adolescent dyads…

  2. The relaxation exercise and social support trial-resst: study protocol for a randomized community based trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nakkash Rima

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies suggests a possible link between vaginal discharge and common mental distress, as well as highlight the implications of the subjective burden of disease and its link with mental health. Methods/Design This is a community-based intervention trial that aims to evaluate the impact of a psycho-social intervention on medically unexplained vaginal discharge (MUVD in a group of married, low-income Lebanese women, aged 18-49, and suffering from low to moderate levels of anxiety and/or depression. The intervention consisted of 12 sessions of structured social support, problem solving techniques, group discussions and trainer-supervised relaxation exercises (twice per week over six weeks. Women were recruited from Hey el Selloum, a southern disadvantaged suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, during an open recruitment campaign. The primary outcome was self-reported MUVD, upon ruling out reproductive tract infections (RTIs, through lab analysis. Anxiety and/or depression symptoms were the secondary outcomes for this trial. These were assessed using an Arabic validated version of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 (HSCL-25. Assessments were done at baseline and six months using face-to face interviews, pelvic examinations and laboratory tests. Women were randomized into either intervention or control group. Intent to treat analysis will be used. Discussion The results will indicate whether the proposed psychosocial intervention was effective in reducing MUVD (possibly mediated by common mental distress. Trial Registration The trial is registered at the Wellcome Trust Registry, ISRCTN assigned: ISRCTN: ISRCTN98441241

  3. Unitizing worker expertise and maximizing the brain reward centers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez, Anthony Bert [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2010-01-01

    People are experts when it comes to the work they do; unfortunately their expertise is not utilized as frequently as it could be. More opportunities need to be provided that allow people to participate in the design of their work including: accident investigations, job planning, and process improvements. Many employers use some form of job hazard analysis process to identify and document hazards and controls, but the front line worker is rarely involved. This presentation will show the core principles supporting employee involvement, provide examples where workers had brilliant ideas but no one listened, and provide examples where workers were given the opportunity to use their expertise to improve occupational safety. According to Abraham Maslow's Hierarch of Needs model, one essential human need is to be innovative and solve problems. Advances in brain science have proven, through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, the brain reward pathway is activated when people are recognized for their intellectual contributions. As people contribute their expertise to improve occupational safety more frequently they will feel a sense of gratification. In addition, safety professionals will have more time to spend on strategic planning of emerging occupational safety issues. One effect of the current global recession is that SH&E professionals are asked to do more with less. Therefore, to be successful it is essential that SH&E professionals incorporate worker expertise in job planning. This will be illustrated in the presentation through an example where a worker had the answer to a difficult decision on appropriate personal protective equipment for a job but no one asked the worker for his idea during the job planning phase. Fortunately the worker was eventually consulted and his recommendation for the appropriate personal protective equipment for the job was implemented before work began. The goal of this presentation is to expand the awareness and

  4. Trial-based economic evaluations in occupational health: principles, methods, and recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dongen, Johanna M; van Wier, Marieke F; Tompa, Emile; Bongers, Paulien M; van der Beek, Allard J; van Tulder, Maurits W; Bosmans, Judith E

    2014-06-01

    To allocate available resources as efficiently as possible, decision makers need information on the relative economic merits of occupational health and safety (OHS) interventions. Economic evaluations can provide this information by comparing the costs and consequences of alternatives. Nevertheless, only a few of the studies that consider the effectiveness of OHS interventions take the extra step of considering their resource implications. Moreover, the methodological quality of those that do is generally poor. Therefore, this study aims to help occupational health researchers conduct high-quality trial-based economic evaluations by discussing the theory and methodology that underlie them, and by providing recommendations for good practice regarding their design, analysis, and reporting. This study also helps consumers of this literature with understanding and critically appraising trial-based economic evaluations of OHS interventions.

  5. Sources of expertise in transportation planning, management, and operations: Information received as of September 25, 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-01-01

    The DOE Office of Storage and Transportation Systems is responsible for the development and management of a transportation system to provide all the necessary services for the transportation of the spent fuel and wastes from reactor sites to repositories. DOE/ORO has requested Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to assist DOE in developing rosters of sources of transportation expertise in: (1) carrier operations; (2) transportation management, planning, and logistics; (3) transportation equipment; (4) transportation facilities design and operation; (5) vehicle safety; and (6) transportation operations quality assurance; as related to truck, rail, barge, and intermodal transportation. Persons or organizations with experience in shipping of non-hazardous materials, spent nuclear fuel, other radioactive materials, and/or other hazardous materials were included in the information system. A mailed inquiry was sent to over 2300 potential sources of transportation expertise. Responses were received from 207 persons and 254 organizations. Section 1 contains the identification numbers of the individuals and organizations that responded. Section 2 contains identification codes, names, addresses, and phone numbers of each of the individual and organization respondents. The reader can refer to Section 2 for the name and address of the respondents for the identification codes listed for each technical area/experience base in Section 1

  6. Cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions: ethical challenges for early human trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathews, D J H; Sugarman, J; Bok, H; Blass, D M; Coyle, J T; Duggan, P; Finkel, J; Greely, H T; Hillis, A; Hoke, A; Johnson, R; Johnston, M; Kahn, J; Kerr, D; Kurtzberg, J; Liao, S M; McDonald, J W; McKhann, G; Nelson, K B; Rao, M; Regenberg, A; Siegel, A W; Smith, K; Solter, D; Song, H; Vescovi, A; Young, W; Gearhart, J D; Faden, R

    2008-07-22

    Attempts to translate basic stem cell research into treatments for neurologic diseases and injury are well under way. With a clinical trial for one such treatment approved and in progress in the United States, and additional proposals under review, we must begin to address the ethical issues raised by such early forays into human clinical trials for cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions. An interdisciplinary working group composed of experts in neuroscience, cell biology, bioethics, law, and transplantation, along with leading disease researchers, was convened twice over 2 years to identify and deliberate on the scientific and ethical issues raised by the transition from preclinical to clinical research of cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions. While the relevant ethical issues are in many respects standard challenges of human subjects research, they are heightened in complexity by the novelty of the science, the focus on the CNS, and the political climate in which the science is proceeding. Distinctive challenges confronting US scientists, administrators, institutional review boards, stem cell research oversight committees, and others who will need to make decisions about work involving stem cells and their derivatives and evaluate the ethics of early human trials include evaluating the risks, safety, and benefits of these trials, determining and evaluating cell line provenance, and determining inclusion criteria, informed consent, and the ethics of conducting early human trials in the public spotlight. Further study and deliberation by stakeholders is required to move toward professional and institutional policies and practices governing this research.

  7. Critical Pedagogy as Collective Social Expertise in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juha Suoranta

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available In this article, dedicated to the revolutionary educational work of Peter McLaren, we will deal with the question of practical teaching methods in higher education from the point of view of critical pedagogy. We argue that nowadays teaching and learning in educational and social sciences are too often meaningless from the point of view of critical collective learning. Thus the central task in critical pedagogy, and in reform of higher education, is to understand the oppressive aspects of present college life and overall society in order to generate pedagogical, individual and societal transformation while developing pedagogical strategies and study methods that work toward the elimination of various forms of subordination based on class, gender, race and sexual orientation, and strengthen students’ possibilities for genuine collective learning while empowering them to fight against inequalities in the world. Our reflections stem from our academic life and teaching experiences both in Finland and the U.S. We suggest that in order to teach critically, educators need to use more collaborative and collective teaching and learning methods. Thus the idea of collective social expertise becomes a core aim of teaching in the context of critical pedagogy.

  8. The Virtual Anemia Trial: An Assessment of Model-Based In Silico Clinical Trials of Anemia Treatment Algorithms in Patients With Hemodialysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuertinger, Doris H; Topping, Alice; Kappel, Franz; Thijssen, Stephan; Kotanko, Peter

    2018-04-01

    In silico approaches have been proposed as a novel strategy to increase the repertoire of clinical trial designs. Realistic simulations of clinical trials can provide valuable information regarding safety and limitations of treatment protocols and have been shown to assist in the cost-effective planning of clinical studies. In this report, we present a blueprint for the stepwise integration of internal, external, and ecological validity considerations in virtual clinical trials (VCTs). We exemplify this approach in the context of a model-based in silico clinical trial aimed at anemia treatment in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Hemoglobin levels and subsequent anemia treatment were simulated on a per patient level over the course of a year and compared to real-life clinical data of 79,426 patients undergoing HD. The novel strategies presented here, aimed to improve external and ecological validity of a VCT, significantly increased the predictive power of the discussed in silico trial. © 2018 The Authors CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

  9. A Data Management System Integrating Web-based Training and Randomized Trials: Requirements, Experiences and Recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muroff, Jordana; Amodeo, Maryann; Larson, Mary Jo; Carey, Margaret; Loftin, Ralph D

    2011-01-01

    This article describes a data management system (DMS) developed to support a large-scale randomized study of an innovative web-course that was designed to improve substance abuse counselors' knowledge and skills in applying a substance abuse treatment method (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy; CBT). The randomized trial compared the performance of web-course-trained participants (intervention group) and printed-manual-trained participants (comparison group) to determine the effectiveness of the web-course in teaching CBT skills. A single DMS was needed to support all aspects of the study: web-course delivery and management, as well as randomized trial management. The authors briefly reviewed several other systems that were described as built either to handle randomized trials or to deliver and evaluate web-based training. However it was clear that these systems fell short of meeting our needs for simultaneous, coordinated management of the web-course and the randomized trial. New England Research Institute's (NERI) proprietary Advanced Data Entry and Protocol Tracking (ADEPT) system was coupled with the web-programmed course and customized for our purposes. This article highlights the requirements for a DMS that operates at the intersection of web-based course management systems and randomized clinical trial systems, and the extent to which the coupled, customized ADEPT satisfied those requirements. Recommendations are included for institutions and individuals considering conducting randomized trials and web-based training programs, and seeking a DMS that can meet similar requirements.

  10. Committee to evaluate Sandia`s risk expertise: Final report. Volume 1: Presentations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dudley, E.C.

    1998-05-01

    On July 1--2, 1997, Sandia National Laboratories hosted the External Committee to Evaluate Sandia`s Risk Expertise. Under the auspices of SIISRS (Sandia`s International Institute for Systematic Risk Studies), Sandia assembled a blue-ribbon panel of experts in the field of risk management to assess their risk programs labs-wide. Panelists were chosen not only for their own expertise, but also for their ability to add balance to the panel as a whole. Presentations were made to the committee on the risk activities at Sandia. In addition, a tour of Sandia`s research and development programs in support of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission was arranged. The panel attended a poster session featuring eight presentations and demonstrations for selected projects. Overviews and viewgraphs from the presentations are included in Volume 1 of this report. Presentations are related to weapons, nuclear power plants, transportation systems, architectural surety, environmental programs, and information systems.

  11. Experiencing art: the influence of expertise and painting abstraction level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elina ePihko

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available How does expertise influence the perception of representational and abstract paintings? We asked 20 experts on art history and 20 laypersons to explore and evaluate a series of paintings ranging in style from representational to abstract in five categories. We compared subjective aesthetic judgments and emotional evaluations, gaze patterns, and electrodermal reactivity between the two groups of participants. The level of abstraction affected aesthetic judgments and emotional valence ratings of the laypersons but had no effect on the opinions of the experts: the laypersons’ aesthetic and emotional ratings were highest for representational paintings and lowest for abstract paintings, whereas the opinions of the experts were independent of the abstraction level. The gaze patterns of both groups changed as the level of abstraction increased: the number of fixations and the length of the scanpaths increased while the duration of the fixations decreased. The viewing strategies—reflected in the target, location and path of the fixations—however indicated that experts and laypersons paid attention to different aspects of the paintings. The electrodermal reactivity did not vary according to the level of abstraction in either group but expertise was reflected in weaker responses, compared with laypersons, to information received about the paintings.

  12. Evaluating the Impact of Business Service Expertise and Business Links on the Performance of SMEs in England

    OpenAIRE

    John Bryson; David Ingram; Peter Daniels

    1999-01-01

    The last decade has seen a growing body of research on information-intensive business service firms. These are companies that supply expertise and knowledge which are considered to add value to the output of their clients. This paper explores the impact of business service expertise provided via business link on the performance, profitability and competitiveness of client companies. The authors use a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in England as well as case studies...

  13. Persistent bias in expert judgments about free will and moral responsibility: a test of the expertise defense.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulz, Eric; Cokely, Edward T; Feltz, Adam

    2011-12-01

    Many philosophers appeal to intuitions to support some philosophical views. However, there is reason to be concerned about this practice as scientific evidence has documented systematic bias in philosophically relevant intuitions as a function of seemingly irrelevant features (e.g., personality). One popular defense used to insulate philosophers from these concerns holds that philosophical expertise eliminates the influence of these extraneous factors. Here, we test this assumption. We present data suggesting that verifiable philosophical expertise in the free will debate-as measured by a reliable and validated test of expert knowledge-does not eliminate the influence of one important extraneous feature (i.e., the heritable personality trait extraversion) on judgments concerning freedom and moral responsibility. These results suggest that, in at least some important cases, the expertise defense fails. Implications for the practice of philosophy, experimental philosophy, and applied ethics are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. What parents of children who have received emergency care think about deferring consent in randomised trials of emergency treatments: postal survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carrol Gamble

    Full Text Available To investigate parents' views about deferred consent to inform management of trial disclosure after a child's death.A postal questionnaire survey was sent to members of the Meningitis Research Foundation UK charity, whose child had suffered from bacterial meningitis or meningococcal septicaemia within the previous 5 years. Main outcome measures were acceptability of deferred consent; timing of requesting consent; and the management of disclosure of the trial after a child's death.220 families were sent questionnaires of whom 63 (29% were bereaved. 68 families responded (31%, of whom 19 (28% were bereaved. The majority (67% was willing for their child to be involved in the trial without the trial being explained to them beforehand; 70% wanted to be informed about the trial as soon as their child's condition had stabilised. In the event of a child's death before the trial could be discussed the majority of bereaved parents (66% 12/18 anticipated wanting to be told about the trial at some time. This compared with 37% (18/49 of non-bereaved families (p = 0.06. Parents' free text responses indicated that the word 'trial' held strongly negative connotations. A few parents regarded gaps in the evidence base about emergency treatments as indicating staff lacked expertise to care for a critically ill child. Bereaved parents' free text responses indicated the importance of individualised management of disclosure about a trial following a child's death.Deferred consent is acceptable to the majority of respondents. Parents whose children had recovered differed in their views compared to bereaved parents. Most bereaved parents would want to be informed about the trial in the aftermath of a child's death, although a minority strongly opposed such disclosure. Distinction should be drawn between the views of bereaved and non-bereaved parents when considering the acceptability of different consent processes.

  15. Expertise in musical improvisation and creativity: the mediation of idea evaluation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oded M Kleinmintz

    Full Text Available The current study explored the influence of musical expertise, and specifically training in improvisation on creativity, using the framework of the twofold model, according to which creativity involves a process of idea generation and idea evaluation. Based on the hypothesis that a strict evaluation phase may have an inhibiting effect over the generation phase, we predicted that training in improvisation may have a "releasing effect" on the evaluation system, leading to greater creativity. To examine this hypothesis, we compared performance among three groups--musicians trained in improvisation, musicians not trained in improvisation, and non-musicians--on divergent thinking tasks and on their evaluation of creativity. The improvisation group scored higher on fluency and originality compared to the other two groups. Among the musicians, evaluation of creativity mediated how experience in improvisation was related to originality and fluency scores. It is concluded that deliberate practice of improvisation may have a "releasing effect" on creativity.

  16. Expertise in musical improvisation and creativity: the mediation of idea evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleinmintz, Oded M; Goldstein, Pavel; Mayseless, Naama; Abecasis, Donna; Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G

    2014-01-01

    The current study explored the influence of musical expertise, and specifically training in improvisation on creativity, using the framework of the twofold model, according to which creativity involves a process of idea generation and idea evaluation. Based on the hypothesis that a strict evaluation phase may have an inhibiting effect over the generation phase, we predicted that training in improvisation may have a "releasing effect" on the evaluation system, leading to greater creativity. To examine this hypothesis, we compared performance among three groups--musicians trained in improvisation, musicians not trained in improvisation, and non-musicians--on divergent thinking tasks and on their evaluation of creativity. The improvisation group scored higher on fluency and originality compared to the other two groups. Among the musicians, evaluation of creativity mediated how experience in improvisation was related to originality and fluency scores. It is concluded that deliberate practice of improvisation may have a "releasing effect" on creativity.

  17. Expertise in Musical Improvisation and Creativity: The Mediation of Idea Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleinmintz, Oded M.; Goldstein, Pavel; Mayseless, Naama; Abecasis, Donna; Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G.

    2014-01-01

    The current study explored the influence of musical expertise, and specifically training in improvisation on creativity, using the framework of the twofold model, according to which creativity involves a process of idea generation and idea evaluation. Based on the hypothesis that a strict evaluation phase may have an inhibiting effect over the generation phase, we predicted that training in improvisation may have a “releasing effect” on the evaluation system, leading to greater creativity. To examine this hypothesis, we compared performance among three groups - musicians trained in improvisation, musicians not trained in improvisation, and non-musicians - on divergent thinking tasks and on their evaluation of creativity. The improvisation group scored higher on fluency and originality compared to the other two groups. Among the musicians, evaluation of creativity mediated how experience in improvisation was related to originality and fluency scores. It is concluded that deliberate practice of improvisation may have a “releasing effect” on creativity. PMID:25010334

  18. Exploring the Complexity of Tree Thinking Expertise in an Undergraduate Systematics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halverson, Kristy L.; Pires, Chris J.; Abell, Sandra K.

    2011-01-01

    Student understanding of biological representations has not been well studied. Yet, we know that to be efficient problem solvers in evolutionary biology and systematics, college students must develop expertise in thinking with a particular type of representation, phylogenetic trees. The purpose of this study was to understand how undergraduates…

  19. IMPORTANCE OF THE ANAL MANOMETRY IN THE JUDICIALMEDICAL EXPERTISE OF THE ANAL PENETRATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelica Miljkovic

    2001-11-01

    Full Text Available The forceful anal penetration can leave as a consequence a lasting damage ofthe anal sphincter function. The anal manometry is one of the methods that, in anindirect way, by measuring the pressure in the anal channel, may determine theexistence of the anus-closing muscles' function damage. The importance of the analmanometry application as an objective indicator of a possible damage of the analsphincter function is presented in the cases of the judicial-medical expertise of theanal penetration. Three cases of criminal acts of sexual abuse and rape in which thejudicial-medical expertise by the anal manometry method was applied are analyzed.The anal manometry method is reliable in determining the functional stote of theexternal and the internal anal sphincter and it should be accepted as obligatory indiagnostics and verification of the anal penetration.

  20. Designing capacity-building in e-learning expertise: Challenges and strategies

    OpenAIRE

    Aczel, J. C.; Peake, S. R.; Hardy, P.

    2008-01-01

    This research study looks at how organizations in developing countries perceive the challenge of building capacity in e-learning expertise. Data was collected on six such organizations, and a range of perceived rationales and constraints were identified. The paper hypothesizes a four-part framework to define the e-learning capacity gaps that these circumstances appear to represent: the 'instructional design capacity gap', the 'production capacity gap', the 'tutorial capacity gap' and the 'com...

  1. Regime complexity and expertise in transnational governance: Strategizing in the face of regulatory uncertainty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sigrid Quack

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The rise and spread of transnational governance arrangements has added to the legal indeterminacy of existing regime complexes. The combined regulatory uncertainty resulting from international regime complexes and transnational polycentric governance heightens the role of expertise in managing this institutional complexity. The rising importance of knowledgeable actors with claims to policy-relevant expertise, according to many scholars, is expected further to advantage well-resourced and powerful actors. However, attention to recent developments in accounting and copyright, as two transnational governance fields that have been dominated by a small group of powerful actors for more than three decades, sheds doubt on the generalizability of such arguments. Although representing least likely cases for change, the empirical evidence presented in this paper shows how apparently weak or marginalized actors – whether they are part of public bureaucracies or civil society – developed expertise-based strategies to claim greater involvement and influence in rule and standard-setting. Their strategizing on regime complexity opened up previously shielded policy spaces to broader audiences, thereby transforming actor constellations, preferences and problem definitions in the two policy fields. These findings suggest that under conditions of complexity, indeterminacy and uncertainty, claims to expertise-based rule are becoming increasingly contested – even in transnational governance fields that have a long-established trajectory of rule-setting and rule-implementation monopolized by small groups of professionals, industrialists or technical diplomats. El surgimiento y la difusión de las disposiciones de gobierno transnacional ha contribuido a la indeterminación jurídica de los complejos regímenes existentes. La incertidumbre regulatoria resultante de los complejos regímenes internacionales y del gobierno policéntrico transnacional realza el

  2. The UK Lung Cancer Screening Trial: a pilot randomised controlled trial of low-dose computed tomography screening for the early detection of lung cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Field, John K; Duffy, Stephen W; Baldwin, David R; Brain, Kate E; Devaraj, Anand; Eisen, Tim; Green, Beverley A; Holemans, John A; Kavanagh, Terry; Kerr, Keith M; Ledson, Martin; Lifford, Kate J; McRonald, Fiona E; Nair, Arjun; Page, Richard D; Parmar, Mahesh Kb; Rintoul, Robert C; Screaton, Nicholas; Wald, Nicholas J; Weller, David; Whynes, David K; Williamson, Paula R; Yadegarfar, Ghasem; Hansell, David M

    2016-05-01

    Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer in the UK (5-year survival high-risk UK population, determine optimum recruitment, screening, reading and care pathway strategies; and (2) assess the psychological consequences and the health-economic implications of screening. A pilot randomised controlled trial comparing intervention with usual care. A population-based risk questionnaire identified individuals who were at high risk of developing lung cancer (≥ 5% over 5 years). Thoracic centres with expertise in lung cancer imaging, respiratory medicine, pathology and surgery: Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Merseyside, and Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire. Individuals aged 50-75 years, at high risk of lung cancer, in the primary care trusts adjacent to the centres. A thoracic LDCT scan. Follow-up computed tomography (CT) scans as per protocol. Referral to multidisciplinary team clinics was determined by nodule size criteria. Population-based recruitment based on risk stratification; management of the trial through web-based database; optimal characteristics of CT scan readers (radiologists vs. radiographers); characterisation of CT-detected nodules utilising volumetric analysis; prevalence of lung cancer at baseline; sociodemographic factors affecting participation; psychosocial measures (cancer distress, anxiety, depression, decision satisfaction); and cost-effectiveness modelling. A total of 247,354 individuals were approached to take part in the trial; 30.7% responded positively to the screening invitation. Recruitment of participants resulted in 2028 in the CT arm and 2027 in the control arm. A total of 1994 participants underwent CT scanning: 42 participants (2.1%) were diagnosed with lung cancer; 36 out of 42 (85.7%) of the screen-detected cancers were identified as stage 1 or 2, and 35 (83.3%) underwent surgical resection as their primary treatment. Lung cancer was more common in the lowest socioeconomic group. Short-term adverse psychosocial

  3. Neuro-Oncology Branch patient experience and expertise | Center for Cancer Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Experience and Expertise We have more than 20 years of experience working with patients and their physicians to offer a comprehensive approach to patient care. Patients travel from all over the world to be evaluated and treated by our clinical team. The Brain Tumor Clinic sees hundreds of new patients and 2,000–3,000 follow-up patients each year. 

  4. Experience does not equal expertise in recognizing infrequent incoming gunfire: neural markers for experience and task expertise at peak behavioral performance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jason Samuel Sherwin

    Full Text Available For a soldier, decisions to use force can happen rapidly and sometimes lead to undesired consequences. In many of these situations, there is a rapid assessment by the shooter that recognizes a threat and responds to it with return fire. But the neural processes underlying these rapid decisions are largely unknown, especially amongst those with extensive weapons experience and expertise. In this paper, we investigate differences in weapons experts and non-experts during an incoming gunfire detection task. Specifically, we analyzed the electroencephalography (EEG of eleven expert marksmen/soldiers and eleven non-experts while they listened to an audio scene consisting of a sequence of incoming and non-incoming gunfire events. Subjects were tasked with identifying each event as quickly as possible and committing their choice via a motor response. Contrary to our hypothesis, experts did not have significantly better behavioral performance or faster response time than novices. Rather, novices indicated trends of better behavioral performance than experts. These group differences were more dramatic in the EEG correlates of incoming gunfire detection. Using machine learning, we found condition-discriminating EEG activity among novices showing greater magnitude and covering longer periods than those found in experts. We also compared group-level source reconstruction on the maximum discriminating neural correlates and found that each group uses different neural structures to perform the task. From condition-discriminating EEG and source localization, we found that experts perceive more categorical overlap between incoming and non-incoming gunfire. Consequently, the experts did not perform as well behaviorally as the novices. We explain these unexpected group differences as a consequence of experience with gunfire not being equivalent to expertise in recognizing incoming gunfire.

  5. Nurse-Moderated Internet-Based Support for New Mothers: Non-Inferiority, Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, Michael G; Reece, Christy E; Bowering, Kerrie; Jeffs, Debra; Sawyer, Alyssa C P; Mittinty, Murthy; Lynch, John W

    2017-07-24

    Internet-based interventions moderated by community nurses have the potential to improve support offered to new mothers, many of whom now make extensive use of the Internet to obtain information about infant care. However, evidence from population-based randomized controlled trials is lacking. The aim of this study was to test the non-inferiority of outcomes for mothers and infants who received a clinic-based postnatal health check plus nurse-moderated, Internet-based group support when infants were aged 1-7 months as compared with outcomes for those who received standard care consisting of postnatal home-based support provided by a community nurse. The design of the study was a pragmatic, preference, non-inferiority randomized control trial. Participants were recruited from mothers contacted for their postnatal health check, which is offered to all mothers in South Australia. Mothers were assigned either (1) on the basis of their preference to clinic+Internet or home-based support groups (n=328), or (2) randomly assigned to clinic+Internet or home-based groups if they declared no strong preference (n=491). The overall response rate was 44.8% (819/1827). The primary outcome was parenting self-competence, as measured by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) Competence subscale, and the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale scores. Secondary outcome measures included PSI Isolation, Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-Short Form, Maternal Support Scale, Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social-Emotional and MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI) scores. Assessments were completed offline via self-assessment questionnaires at enrolment (mean child age=4.1 weeks, SD 1.3) and again when infants were aged 9, 15, and 21 months. Generalized estimating equations adjusting for post-randomization baseline imbalances showed that differences in outcomes between mothers in the clinic+Internet and home-based support groups did not exceed the pre-specified margin of

  6. Missing data in trial-based cost-effectiveness analysis: An incomplete journey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leurent, Baptiste; Gomes, Manuel; Carpenter, James R

    2018-06-01

    Cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) conducted alongside randomised trials provide key evidence for informing healthcare decision making, but missing data pose substantive challenges. Recently, there have been a number of developments in methods and guidelines addressing missing data in trials. However, it is unclear whether these developments have permeated CEA practice. This paper critically reviews the extent of and methods used to address missing data in recently published trial-based CEA. Issues of the Health Technology Assessment journal from 2013 to 2015 were searched. Fifty-two eligible studies were identified. Missing data were very common; the median proportion of trial participants with complete cost-effectiveness data was 63% (interquartile range: 47%-81%). The most common approach for the primary analysis was to restrict analysis to those with complete data (43%), followed by multiple imputation (30%). Half of the studies conducted some sort of sensitivity analyses, but only 2 (4%) considered possible departures from the missing-at-random assumption. Further improvements are needed to address missing data in cost-effectiveness analyses conducted alongside randomised trials. These should focus on limiting the extent of missing data, choosing an appropriate method for the primary analysis that is valid under contextually plausible assumptions, and conducting sensitivity analyses to departures from the missing-at-random assumption. © 2018 The Authors Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. O Estado Regulador e o Estado Administrativo: A Expertise Política e o Governo dos Técnicos / The Regulatory State and Administrative State: The Expertise and the Government of Experts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilmara Joane Macedo de Medeiros

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Purpose – This essay analyzes the legitimacy of norms produced by the state’s regulatory activity. Underpinnings of the regulatory state and regulatory activity are discussed from the viewpoint of theories that might explain the legitimacy of its normative production, not least the administrative state theory of Dwight Waldo, who defends a government by technicians, valuing expertise. Methodology/approach/design – In the first section, the paper presents concepts of regulation and regulatory state. After that, the paper introduces the underpinnings for legitimate production of norms and the concept of public administration is addressed from the perspectives of the theory proposed by Dwight Waldo. Findings – According to Dwight Waldo, the legitimacy of regulatory decisions taken by a bureaucratic body relies on the technical expertise of its members, admitted through a meritocratic state choice.

  8. Comparison of deck- and trial-based approaches to advantageous decision making on the Iowa Gambling Task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visagan, Ravindran; Xiang, Ally; Lamar, Melissa

    2012-06-01

    We compared the original deck-based model of advantageous decision making assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) with a trial-based approach across behavioral and physiological outcomes in 33 younger adults (15 men, 18 women; 22.2 ± 3.7 years of age). One administration of the IGT with simultaneous measurement of skin conductance responses (SCRs) was performed and the two methods applied: (a) the original approach of subtracting disadvantageous picks of Decks A and B from advantageous picks of Decks C and D and (b) a trial-based approach focused on the financial outcome for each deck leading up to the trial in question. When directly compared, the deck-based approach resulted in a more advantageous behavioral profile than did the trial-based approach. Analysis of SCR data revealed no significant differences between methods for physiological measurements of SCR fluctuations or anticipatory responses to disadvantageous picks. Post hoc investigation of the trial-based method revealed Deck B contributed to both advantageous and disadvantageous decision making for the majority of participants. When divided by blocks of 20, the number of advantageous to disadvantageous choices reversed as the task progressed despite the total number of picks from Deck B remaining high. SCR fluctuations for Deck B, although not significantly different from the other decks, did show a sharp decline after the first block of 20 and remained below levels for Decks C and D toward the end of the task, suggesting that participants may have gained knowledge of the frequency of loss for this deck. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

  9. Atomic risk insurance. Risk policy, safety production and expertise in Germany and the USA 1945 - 1986; Die Versicherung der Atomgefahr. Risikopolitik, Sicherheitsproduktion und Expertise in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und den USA 1945-1986

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wehner, Christoph [Dokumentations- und Forschungsstelle der Sozialversicherungstraeger, Bochum (Germany)

    2017-07-01

    The book covers the following chapters: (I) Between threat and promise: Political change and the corporate perception, the burden of the atomic bomb, promise of nuclear energy risk criticism in the pre-ecological phase, nuclear risk as investment restraint; (II) Risk policy at the insurability limit: hazard knowledge, safety production and insurance expertise in the German nuclear policy (1955-1962); (III) Risk policy beyond the catastrophe, insurability interpretation, concepts and conflicts (1957-1968); (IV) Scandalization of risk policy: safety production, confidence and expertise in the nuclear controversial debate (1969 - 1979); (V) Nuclear risk policy and the challenge of the ''risk society'' (1975-1986); (VI) From safety production to hazard probe: atomic energy And the change of insurance.

  10. Expertise in Everyday Nurse–Patient Conversations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lindsay M. Macdonald

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available A great deal of nursing activity is embedded in what is considered to be everyday conversation. These conversations are important to health professionals because communication can affect health outcomes, and they are important to patients who want to know they are being heard and cared for. How do nurses talk with patients and what are the features of effective communication in practice? In this exploratory study, two expert nurses recorded conversations with patients during domiciliary visits. Linguistic discourse analysis, informed by contextual knowledge of domiciliary nursing shows the nurses skillfully used small talk to support their clinical work. In their conversations, nurses elicit specific information, normalize unpleasant procedures, manage the flow of the interaction, and strengthen the therapeutic relationship. Small talk can be big talk in achieving nursing goals. Critically reflecting on recorded clinical interactions can be a useful method of professional development and a way of demonstrating nursing expertise.

  11. Influence of Musical Expertise on Segmental and Tonal Processing in Mandarin Chinese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marie, Celine; Delogu, Franco; Lampis, Giulia; Belardinelli, Marta Olivetti; Besson, Mireille

    2011-01-01

    A same-different task was used to test the hypothesis that musical expertise improves the discrimination of tonal and segmental (consonant, vowel) variations in a tone language, Mandarin Chinese. Two four-word sequences (prime and target) were presented to French musicians and nonmusicians unfamiliar with Mandarin, and event-related brain…

  12. Metacognition and action: A new pathway to understanding social and cognitive aspects of expertise in sport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadhg Eoghan Macintyre

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available For over a century, psychologists have investigated the mental processes of expert performers - people who display exceptional knowledge and/or skills in specific fields of human achievement. Since the 1960s, expertise researchers have made considerable progress in understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie such exceptional performance. Whereas the first modern studies of expertise were conducted in relatively formal knowledge domains such as chess, more recent investigations have explored elite performance in dynamic perceptual-motor activities such as sport. Unfortunately, although these studies have led to the identification of certain domain-free generalizations about expert-novice differences, they shed little light on an important issue: namely, experts’ metacognitive activities or their insights into, and regulation of, their own mental processes. In an effort to rectify this oversight, the present paper argues that metacognitive processes and inferences play an important if neglected role in expertise. In particular, we suggest that metacognition (including such processes as ‘meta-attention’, ‘meta-imagery’ and ‘meta-memory’, as well as social aspects of this construct provides a window on the genesis of expert performance. Following a critique of the standard empirical approach to expertise, we explore some research on ‘metacognition’ and ‘metacognitive inference’ among experts in sport. After that, we provide a brief evaluation of the relationship between psychological skills training and metacognition and comment on the measurement of metacognitive processes. Finally, we summarize our conclusions and outline some potentially new directions for research on metacognition in action.

  13. Attrition and Adherence in a Web-Based Distress Management Program for Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Patients (WEBCARE): Randomized Controlled Trial

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Habibovic, M.; Cuijpers, P.; Alings, M.

    2014-01-01

    Background: WEB-Based Distress Management Program for Implantable CARdioverter defibrillator Patients (WEBCARE) is a Web-based randomized controlled trial, designed to improve psychological well-being in patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). As in other Web-based trials, ...

  14. Early Engagement of Safety and Mission Assurance Expertise Using Systems Engineering Tools: A Risk-Based Approach to Early Identification of Safety and Assurance Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darpel, Scott; Beckman, Sean

    2016-01-01

    Decades of systems engineering practice have demonstrated that the earlier the identification of requirements occurs, the lower the chance that costly redesigns will needed later in the project life cycle. A better understanding of all requirements can also improve the likelihood of a design's success. Significant effort has been put into developing tools and practices that facilitate requirements determination, including those that are part of the model-based systems engineering (MBSE) paradigm. These efforts have yielded improvements in requirements definition, but have thus far focused on a design's performance needs. The identification of safety & mission assurance (S&MA) related requirements, in comparison, can occur after preliminary designs are already established, yielding forced redesigns. Engaging S&MA expertise at an earlier stage, facilitated by the use of MBSE tools, and focused on actual project risk, can yield the same type of design life cycle improvements that have been realized in technical and performance requirements.

  15. The role of designer expertise in source selection during product metaphor generation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cila, N.; Hekkert, P.P.M.; Visch, V.T.

    2012-01-01

    Metaphors have a communicative role in design that entails a transfer of meaning from an entity (i.e. source) to the designed product (i.e. target). In this paper, we investigate the effect of the expertise of designer on the accessibility of the sources that they employ in metaphors. In the study

  16. The Effects of Cognitive Capacity and Gaming Expertise on Attention and Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Y.-H.; Heeter, C.

    2017-01-01

    Educational video games can impose high cognitive demands on its users. Two studies were conducted to examine the cognitive process involved in playing an educational digital game. Study 1 examined the effects of users' working memory capacity and gaming expertise on attention and comprehension of the educational messages. The results showed that…

  17. Dynamical signatures of isometric force control as a function of age, expertise, and task constraints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieluf, Solveig; Sleimen-Malkoun, Rita; Voelcker-Rehage, Claudia; Jirsa, Viktor; Reuter, Eva-Maria; Godde, Ben; Temprado, Jean-Jacques; Huys, Raoul

    2017-07-01

    From the conceptual and methodological framework of the dynamical systems approach, force control results from complex interactions of various subsystems yielding observable behavioral fluctuations, which comprise both deterministic (predictable) and stochastic (noise-like) dynamical components. Here, we investigated these components contributing to the observed variability in force control in groups of participants differing in age and expertise level. To this aim, young (18-25 yr) as well as late middle-aged (55-65 yr) novices and experts (precision mechanics) performed a force maintenance and a force modulation task. Results showed that whereas the amplitude of force variability did not differ across groups in the maintenance tasks, in the modulation task it was higher for late middle-aged novices than for experts and higher for both these groups than for young participants. Within both tasks and for all groups, stochastic fluctuations were lowest where the deterministic influence was smallest. However, although all groups showed similar dynamics underlying force control in the maintenance task, a group effect was found for deterministic and stochastic fluctuations in the modulation task. The latter findings imply that both components were involved in the observed group differences in the variability of force fluctuations in the modulation task. These findings suggest that between groups the general characteristics of the dynamics do not differ in either task and that force control is more affected by age than by expertise. However, expertise seems to counteract some of the age effects. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Stochastic and deterministic dynamical components contribute to force production. Dynamical signatures differ between force maintenance and cyclic force modulation tasks but hardly between age and expertise groups. Differences in both stochastic and deterministic components are associated with group differences in behavioral variability, and observed behavioral

  18. Recommendations for improving the quality of reporting clinical electrochemotherapy studies based on qualitative systematic review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Campana, LG; Clover, AJ; Valpione, S

    2016-01-01

    Electrochemotherapy is becoming a well-established treatment for malignancies of skin and non-skin origin and its use is widening across Europe. The technique was developed and optimized from solid experimental and clinical evidence. A consensus document is now warranted to formalize reporting re...... studies and to provide the recommendations for reporting clinical trials on electrochemotherapy....... results, which should strengthen evidence-based practice recommendations. This consensus should be derived from high quality clinical data collection, clinical expertise and summarizing patient feedback. The first step, which is addressed in this paper, aims to critically analyze the quality of published...

  19. Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet: A Multifaceted Approach to Bringing Disease-Modifying Therapy to Clinical Use in Type 1 Diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bingley, Polly J; Wherrett, Diane K; Shultz, Ann; Rafkin, Lisa E; Atkinson, Mark A; Greenbaum, Carla J

    2018-04-01

    What will it take to bring disease-modifying therapy to clinical use in type 1 diabetes? Coordinated efforts of investigators involved in discovery, translational, and clinical research operating in partnership with funders and industry and in sync with regulatory agencies are needed. This Perspective describes one such effort, Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, a National Institutes of Health-funded and JDRF-supported international clinical trials network that emerged from the Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 (DPT-1). Through longitudinal natural history studies, as well as trials before and after clinical onset of disease combined with mechanistic and ancillary investigations to enhance scientific understanding and translation to clinical use, TrialNet is working to bring disease-modifying therapies to individuals with type 1 diabetes. Moreover, TrialNet uses its expertise and experience in clinical studies to increase efficiencies in the conduct of trials and to reduce the burden of participation on individuals and families. Herein, we highlight key contributions made by TrialNet toward a revised understanding of the natural history of disease and approaches to alter disease course and outline the consortium's plans for the future. © 2018 by the American Diabetes Association.

  20. Trait-Based Cue Utilization and Initial Skill Acquisition: Implications for Models of the Progression to Expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark eWiggins

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The primary aim of this study was to examine the role of cue utilization in the initial acquisition of psychomotor skills. Two experiments were undertaken, the first of which examined the relationship between cue utilization typologies and levels of accuracy following four simulated, power-off landing trials in a light aircraft simulator. The results indicated that higher levels of cue utilization were associated with a greater level of landing accuracy following training exposure. In the second study, participants’ levels of cue utilization were assessed prior to two 15 minute periods during which they practiced take-offs and landings using a simulated Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV. Consistent with Study 1, the outcomes of Study 2 revealed a statistically significant relationship between levels of cue utilization and the number of trials to criterion on the take-off task, and the proportion of successful trials during both take-off and landing. In combination, the results suggest that the capacity for the acquisition and the subsequent utilization of cues is an important predictor of skill acquisition, particularly during the initial stages of the process. The implications for theory and applied practice are discussed.

  1. A web-based screening and accrual strategy for a cancer prevention clinical trial in healthy smokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohebati, Arash; Knutson, Allison; Zhou, Xi Kathy; Smith, Judith J; Brown, Powel H; Dannenberg, Andrew J; Szabo, Eva

    2012-09-01

    Screening and recruitment of qualified subjects for clinical trials is an essential component of translational research, and it can be quite challenging if the most efficient recruitment method is not utilized. In this report, we describe a successful web-based screening and accrual method used in a randomized prospective chemoprevention clinical trial with urinary biomarker endpoints. The targeted study population was a group of at-risk healthy current smokers with no evidence of lung disease. Craigslist was used as the sole recruitment modality for this study. All interested subjects were directed to a pre-screening website, in which subject questionnaire responses were linked to the study coordinator's secure e-mail account. Of the 429 initial inquiries, 189 individuals were initially eligible based on the questionnaire response. One hundred twenty-two people were telephone-screened, of whom 98 subjects were consented, 84 were randomized and 77 subjects completed the study successfully. Utilizing this single web-based advertising strategy, accrual for the trial was completed 7 months prior to the projected date. Craigslist is a cost effective and efficient web-based resource that can be utilized in accruing subjects to some chemoprevention trials. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  2. Evaluation of web-based annotation of ophthalmic images for multicentric clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalam, K V; Jain, P; Shah, V A; Shah, Gaurav Y

    2006-06-01

    An Internet browser-based annotation system can be used to identify and describe features in digitalized retinal images, in multicentric clinical trials, in real time. In this web-based annotation system, the user employs a mouse to draw and create annotations on a transparent layer, that encapsulates the observations and interpretations of a specific image. Multiple annotation layers may be overlaid on a single image. These layers may correspond to annotations by different users on the same image or annotations of a temporal sequence of images of a disease process, over a period of time. In addition, geometrical properties of annotated figures may be computed and measured. The annotations are stored in a central repository database on a server, which can be retrieved by multiple users in real time. This system facilitates objective evaluation of digital images and comparison of double-blind readings of digital photographs, with an identifiable audit trail. Annotation of ophthalmic images allowed clinically feasible and useful interpretation to track properties of an area of fundus pathology. This provided an objective method to monitor properties of pathologies over time, an essential component of multicentric clinical trials. The annotation system also allowed users to view stereoscopic images that are stereo pairs. This web-based annotation system is useful and valuable in monitoring patient care, in multicentric clinical trials, telemedicine, teaching and routine clinical settings.

  3. Institutional clinical trial accrual volume and survival of patients with head and neck cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wuthrick, Evan J; Zhang, Qiang; Machtay, Mitchell; Rosenthal, David I; Nguyen-Tan, Phuc Felix; Fortin, André; Silverman, Craig L; Raben, Adam; Kim, Harold E; Horwitz, Eric M; Read, Nancy E; Harris, Jonathan; Wu, Qian; Le, Quynh-Thu; Gillison, Maura L

    2015-01-10

    National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) receive treatment at centers with expertise, but whether provider experience affects survival is unknown. The effect of institutional experience on overall survival (OS) in patients with stage III or IV HNC was investigated within a randomized trial of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG 0129), which compared cisplatin concurrent with standard versus accelerated fractionation radiotherapy. As a surrogate for experience, institutions were classified as historically low- (HLACs) or high-accruing centers (HHACs) based on accrual to 21 RTOG HNC trials (1997 to 2002). The effect of accrual volume on OS was estimated by Cox proportional hazards models. Median RTOG accrual (1997 to 2002) at HLACs was four versus 65 patients at HHACs. Analysis included 471 patients in RTOG 0129 (2002 to 2005) with known human papillomavirus and smoking status. Patients at HLACs versus HHACs had better performance status (0: 62% v 52%; P = .04) and lower T stage (T4: 26.5% v 35.3%; P = .002) but were otherwise similar. Radiotherapy protocol deviations were higher at HLACs versus HHACs (18% v 6%; P accounting for radiotherapy protocol deviations. Institutional experience substantially influences survival in locally advanced HNC. © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  4. The Impact of Client Expertise, Client Gender and Auditor Gender on Auditors' Judgments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.H. Gold-Nöteberg (Anna); J.E. Hunton (James); M.I. Gomaa (Mohamed)

    2006-01-01

    textabstractThe purpose of the current study is to assess the extent to which auditors’ judgments are affected by client expertise, client gender and auditor gender. Prior audit research suggests that auditors place more weight on evidence received from clients who possess higher, relative to

  5. Harnessing private sector expertise to improve complementary feeding within a regulatory framework: Where is the evidence?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Liere, Marti J; Tarlton, Dessie; Menon, Ravi; Yellamanda, M; Reerink, Ietje

    2017-10-01

    Global recognition that the complex and multicausal problems of malnutrition require all players to collaborate and to invest towards the same objective has led to increased private sector engagement as exemplified through the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network and mechanisms for blended financing and matched funding, such as the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact. The careful steps made over the past 5 to 10 years have however not taken away or reduced the hesitation and scepticism of the public sector actors towards commercial or even social businesses. Evidence of impact or even a positive contribution of a private sector approach to intermediate nutrition outcomes is still lacking. This commentary aims to discuss the multiple ways in which private sector can leverage its expertise to improve nutrition in general, and complementary feeding in particular. It draws on specific lessons learned in Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, India, Indonesia, and Madagascar on how private sector expertise has contributed, within the boundaries of a regulatory framework, to improve availability, accessibility, affordability, and adequate use of nutritious foods. It concludes that a solid evidence base regarding the contribution of private sector to complementary feeding is still lacking and that the development of a systematic learning agenda is essential to make progress in the area of private sector engagement in nutrition. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Randomised controlled trials in educational research

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2016-05-02

    May 2, 2016 ... Evidence-based practice (EBP) is positioned as an inherent good in the medical and clinical literature, and not without reason. It relies on the integration of research evidence, clinical expertise and patient preferences,[1] and has become a foundation on which health systems are built and improved.

  7. Randomized controlled trials of simulation-based interventions in Emergency Medicine: a methodological review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chauvin, Anthony; Truchot, Jennifer; Bafeta, Aida; Pateron, Dominique; Plaisance, Patrick; Yordanov, Youri

    2018-04-01

    The number of trials assessing Simulation-Based Medical Education (SBME) interventions has rapidly expanded. Many studies show that potential flaws in design, conduct and reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can bias their results. We conducted a methodological review of RCTs assessing a SBME in Emergency Medicine (EM) and examined their methodological characteristics. We searched MEDLINE via PubMed for RCT that assessed a simulation intervention in EM, published in 6 general and internal medicine and in the top 10 EM journals. The Cochrane Collaboration risk of Bias tool was used to assess risk of bias, intervention reporting was evaluated based on the "template for intervention description and replication" checklist, and methodological quality was evaluated by the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument. Reports selection and data extraction was done by 2 independents researchers. From 1394 RCTs screened, 68 trials assessed a SBME intervention. They represent one quarter of our sample. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is the most frequent topic (81%). Random sequence generation and allocation concealment were performed correctly in 66 and 49% of trials. Blinding of participants and assessors was performed correctly in 19 and 68%. Risk of attrition bias was low in three-quarters of the studies (n = 51). Risk of selective reporting bias was unclear in nearly all studies. The mean MERQSI score was of 13.4/18.4% of the reports provided a description allowing the intervention replication. Trials assessing simulation represent one quarter of RCTs in EM. Their quality remains unclear, and reproducing the interventions appears challenging due to reporting issues.

  8. Music and language expertise influence the categorization of speech and musical sounds: behavioral and electrophysiological measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elmer, Stefan; Klein, Carina; Kühnis, Jürg; Liem, Franziskus; Meyer, Martin; Jäncke, Lutz

    2014-10-01

    In this study, we used high-density EEG to evaluate whether speech and music expertise has an influence on the categorization of expertise-related and unrelated sounds. With this purpose in mind, we compared the categorization of speech, music, and neutral sounds between professional musicians, simultaneous interpreters (SIs), and controls in response to morphed speech-noise, music-noise, and speech-music continua. Our hypothesis was that music and language expertise will strengthen the memory representations of prototypical sounds, which act as a perceptual magnet for morphed variants. This means that the prototype would "attract" variants. This so-called magnet effect should be manifested by an increased assignment of morphed items to the trained category, by a reduced maximal slope of the psychometric function, as well as by differential event-related brain responses reflecting memory comparison processes (i.e., N400 and P600 responses). As a main result, we provide first evidence for a domain-specific behavioral bias of musicians and SIs toward the trained categories, namely music and speech. In addition, SIs showed a bias toward musical items, indicating that interpreting training has a generic influence on the cognitive representation of spectrotemporal signals with similar acoustic properties to speech sounds. Notably, EEG measurements revealed clear distinct N400 and P600 responses to both prototypical and ambiguous items between the three groups at anterior, central, and posterior scalp sites. These differential N400 and P600 responses represent synchronous activity occurring across widely distributed brain networks, and indicate a dynamical recruitment of memory processes that vary as a function of training and expertise.

  9. A Newcomer Gains Power: An Analysis of the Role of Rhetorical Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Susan M.

    1998-01-01

    Offers a case study describing how the rhetorical expertise of a young woman (at the lowest professional level in a male-dominated bureaucratic organization) gave her the power to revise the processes by which her organization did its work, to rewrite the job descriptions of the managers within the organization, and to create a unique role for…

  10. Nurture Hidden Talents: Transform School Culture into One That Values Teacher Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmerman, Diane P.

    2014-01-01

    This article looks into the school culture where teacher expertise is often hidden and underused. While the media-rich culture places a high value on talent, the irony is that talent is underrated in most schools, and educators often remain silent about their hidden talents. Many school cultures are not conducive to dialogue that supports displays…

  11. Why Grandmothers May Need Large Brains. (Commentary on Skoyles on Brain Expertise)

    OpenAIRE

    Humphrey, Nicholas

    1999-01-01

    Skoyles's case against human brain size being related to IQ is strong; but his case in favor of its being related to expertise is weak. I propose that the explanation for the evolutionary expansion of the human brain in fact lies far away, in the need to have a brain that could continue to function into old age.

  12. The medical eye: Conclusions from eye tracking research on expertise development in medicine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jarodzka, Halszka; Jaarsma, Thomas; Dewhurst, Richard; Boshuizen, Els

    2013-01-01

    Jarodzka, H., Jaarsma, T., Dewhurst, R., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2012, October). The medical eye: Conclusions from eye tracking research on expertise development in medicine. Paper presented at the New tools and practices for seeing and learning in medicine ’12, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

  13. Quality control of radiation therapy in clinical trials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kramer, S.; Lustig, R.; Grundy, G.

    1983-01-01

    The RTOG is a group of participating institutions which has a major interest in furthering clinical radiation oncology. They have formulated protocols for clinical investigation in which radiation therapy is the major modality of treatment. In addition, other modalities, such as chemotherapy, radiation sensitizers, and hyperthermia, are used in combined approach to cancer. Quality control in all aspects of patient management is necessary to insure quality data. These areas include evaluation of pathology, physics, and dosimetry, and clinical patient data. Quality control is both time consuming and expensive. However, by dividing these tasks into various levels and time frames, by using computerized data-control mechanisms, and by employing appropriate levels of ancillary personnel expertise, quality control can improve compliance and decrease the cost of investigational trials

  14. Accelerating Development of Expertise: A Digital Tutor for Navy Technical Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-11-01

    Association. Craik , F. I., and R. S. Lockhart . 1972. “ Levels of Processing : A Framework for Memory Research.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal...attain levels of knowledge that are persistent and transferable ( Craik and Lockhart 1972; Bourne, Raymond, and Healy 2010; Gick and Holyoak 1980...the entry- level or journeyman- level abilities ordinarily targeted by introductory courses. The goal was to accelerate the development of expertise

  15. What can the parkour craftsmen tell us about bodily expertise and skilled movement?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Højbjerre Larsen, Signe

    2016-01-01

    up, repetitions and material consciousness in developing perceptual and physical skills in parkour. The parkour craftsmen conduct a constant dialogue between concrete, material practices and thinking. It is argued in the article that Sennett’s ideas about craftsmanship are, in many ways, similar......The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion of expertise and skilled movement in sport by analysing the bodily practice of learning a new movement at a high level of skill in parkour. Based on Sennett’s theory of craftsmanship and an ethnographic field study with experienced...... practitioners, the analysis offers insight into the skilful, contextual and unique practice of parkour, and contributes to the renewed discussion of consciousness in sport at a high level of skill. With Sennett’s concept of craftsmanship, it is possible to describe and grasp important aspects of obstacles put...

  16. Defining Pedagogic Expertise: Students and New Lecturers as Co-Developers in Learning and Teaching

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camille Kandiko Howson

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study evaluated a model of student-engaged educational development. Despite widespread commitment to student engagement across many institutional activities, student participation as partners with faculty in teaching and learning enhancement has been identified as a threshold concept for educational development. This study sought not only to establish a student-engaged model of teaching observation in a United Kingdom context, but also to critically examine the ways in which student, faculty, and developer participants conceptualise student expertise in relation to learning and teaching. Concept-map mediated interviews with students and faculty in humanities and healthcare subjects elicited conceptions and comparative knowledge structures of pedagogical intelligence for the purposes of enhancing teaching practice. The outcomes of the study are considered in relation to the theorisation of student engagement with particular focus on perspectives of expertise and power relations.

  17. ASCOT: a text mining-based web-service for efficient search and assisted creation of clinical trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Clinical trials are mandatory protocols describing medical research on humans and among the most valuable sources of medical practice evidence. Searching for trials relevant to some query is laborious due to the immense number of existing protocols. Apart from search, writing new trials includes composing detailed eligibility criteria, which might be time-consuming, especially for new researchers. In this paper we present ASCOT, an efficient search application customised for clinical trials. ASCOT uses text mining and data mining methods to enrich clinical trials with metadata, that in turn serve as effective tools to narrow down search. In addition, ASCOT integrates a component for recommending eligibility criteria based on a set of selected protocols. PMID:22595088

  18. Stages of Psychometric Measure Development: The Example of the Generalized Expertise Measure (GEM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Germain, Marie-Line

    2006-01-01

    This paper chronicles the steps, methods, and presents hypothetical results of quantitative and qualitative studies being conducted to develop a Generalized Expertise Measure (GEM). Per Hinkin (1995), the stages of scale development are domain and item generation, content expert validation, and pilot test. Content/face validity and internal…

  19. Transfer of Perceptual Expertise: The Case of Simplified and Traditional Chinese Character Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tianyin; Chuk, Tin Yim; Yeh, Su-Ling; Hsiao, Janet H.

    2016-01-01

    Expertise in Chinese character recognition is marked by reduced holistic processing (HP), which depends mainly on writing rather than reading experience. Here we show that, while simplified and traditional Chinese readers demonstrated a similar level of HP when processing characters shared between the simplified and traditional scripts, simplified…

  20. A study of expertise effects for products with contradictory semantics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Ching-Yi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the design studies, researchers often use the semantic differential method with bipolar adjectives, such as “modern vs. classical” or “simple vs. complex” when investigating the semantics projected by product forms. However, in design practice, some design examples clearly exhibit the simultaneous use of contradictory meanings in product semantics. For example, retro car evokes nostalgia by borrowing characteristics from classical cars. At the same time it exhibits a modern style. However, most studies measure the product semantics mostly by using subjective measurement. There is lack objective measurement for that. In this research, we examined the results of applying the semantic differential method to measure contradiction in product semantics. The results showed that the distributions of semantic differential ratings for the stimuli with contradictory meanings have higher standard deviations. The sensitivity of semantic recognition may depend on participant expertise. The design experts are trained to be good at visual thinking that could easily identify the contradiction semantics between products. In general, successful embedding of contradictory meanings into product forms are based on simple, typical, and rational forms that can display complex, novel, and perceptual images by adding supplementary elements.

  1. Investing in Germany's nuclear expertise can reap international awards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shepherd, John [nuclear 24, Brighton (United Kingdom)

    2015-07-15

    At the international expert conference, Annual Meeting on Nuclear Technology (AMNT 2015) in Berlin in May, there was a very welcome public admission from one of the German government's key policymakers. The director-general of the energy policy department at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Bundesministerium fuer Wirtschaft und Energie - BMWi), Thorsten Herdan, said the high level of expertise available throughout Germany's nuclear energy industry was greatly valued at home and abroad and must be retained. He rightly said that the country's technical competence and know-how ''will still be needed'' - despite the country's commitment to phasing out the use of nuclear at home under the politically-inspired 'energy transition' (Energiewende). The nuclear energy industry's commitment to identifying, training and nurturing a new generation of nuclear professionals is self evident. Perhaps what is needed now is for governments such as Germany's, whether supporters of nuclear power generation or not, to do more to endorse the importance of developing nuclear expertise. In the nuclear industry, governments will find a more than willing partner in supporting the training and education of the nuclear engineers and regulators of the future.

  2. Generality and specificity in the effects of musical expertise on perception and cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, Daniel; Rosen, Stuart; Krishnan, Saloni; Pearce, Marcus T; Shepherd, Alex; Aydelott, Jennifer; Dick, Frederic

    2015-04-01

    Performing musicians invest thousands of hours becoming experts in a range of perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills. The duration and intensity of musicians' training - far greater than that of most educational or rehabilitation programs - provides a useful model to test the extent to which skills acquired in one particular context (music) generalize to different domains. Here, we asked whether the instrument-specific and more instrument-general skills acquired during professional violinists' and pianists' training would generalize to superior performance on a wide range of analogous (largely non-musical) skills, when compared to closely matched non-musicians. Violinists and pianists outperformed non-musicians on fine-grained auditory psychophysical measures, but surprisingly did not differ from each other, despite the different demands of their instruments. Musician groups did differ on a tuning system perception task: violinists showed clearest biases towards the tuning system specific to their instrument, suggesting that long-term experience leads to selective perceptual benefits given a training-relevant context. However, we found only weak evidence of group differences in non-musical skills, with musicians differing marginally in one measure of sustained auditory attention, but not significantly on auditory scene analysis or multi-modal sequencing measures. Further, regression analyses showed that this sustained auditory attention metric predicted more variance in one auditory psychophysical measure than did musical expertise. Our findings suggest that specific musical expertise may yield distinct perceptual outcomes within contexts close to the area of training. Generalization of expertise to relevant cognitive domains may be less clear, particularly where the task context is non-musical. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majid, Asifa

    2016-01-01

    People in Western cultures are poor at naming smells and flavors. However, for wine and coffee experts, describing smells and flavors is part of their daily routine. So are experts better than lay people at conveying smells and flavors in language? If smells and flavors are more easily linguistically expressed by experts, or more “codable”, then experts should be better than novices at describing smells and flavors. If experts are indeed better, we can also ask how general this advantage is: do experts show higher codability only for smells and flavors they are expert in (i.e., wine experts for wine and coffee experts for coffee) or is their linguistic dexterity more general? To address these questions, wine experts, coffee experts, and novices were asked to describe the smell and flavor of wines, coffees, everyday odors, and basic tastes. The resulting descriptions were compared on a number of measures. We found expertise endows a modest advantage in smell and flavor naming. Wine experts showed more consistency in how they described wine smells and flavors than coffee experts, and novices; but coffee experts were not more consistent for coffee descriptions. Neither expert group was any more accurate at identifying everyday smells or tastes. Interestingly, both wine and coffee experts tended to use more source-based terms (e.g., vanilla) in descriptions of their own area of expertise whereas novices tended to use more evaluative terms (e.g., nice). However, the overall linguistic strategies for both groups were en par. To conclude, experts only have a limited, domain-specific advantage when communicating about smells and flavors. The ability to communicate about smells and flavors is a matter not only of perceptual training, but specific linguistic training too. PMID:27322035

  4. Compliance behavior and the role of ethnic background, source expertise, self-construals and values

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schouten, B.C.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine whether source expertise and type of compliance-gaining strategy influence compliance behavior differently for people of individualistic versus collectivistic cultures. In addition, the mediating role of people's self-construal and individual values was

  5. Changing the Way Archaeologists Work: blogging and the development of expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Perry

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available While blogging in archaeology has a genealogy that can be traced back nearly two decades, the relationship between such practice and the constitution of disciplinary expertise has barely been probed. Arguably directly relatable to early web-based efforts to reconfigure the archaeological interpretative process and redefine professional identity (e.g. as evidenced in Cornelius Holtorf's 1998 hypermediated PhD dissertation, blog work has long been drawn into the exercise of crafting skilled bodies and accredited knowledge bases. In the last 10 years, however, it has increasingly been applied to the academic classroom, where it is used as a formal teaching tool at all levels of university education. The implications of this pedagogical phenomenon are profound, yet the epistemological consequences for the professionalisation of archaeology are hardly understood. Here I combine a critical analysis of students' experiments with blogging in my own undergraduate archaeology courses with an overview of comparable classroom-based and professional weblog work elsewhere. I draw upon evidence collected through survey, interviews, course assessments and reflective reports to make a case not only for blogging as a meaningful creative exercise, but as a mechanism by which the very nature of archaeology itself can be prodded, extended and perhaps even fundamentally reconfigured. Although often fraught with tension, blog work is an influential intellectual tool for the discipline. I outline here how it promises both to narrow the gap between archaeological theory and practice, and simultaneously to hone and empower emerging professionals.

  6. Evidence-Based Literacy Support: The "Literacy Octopus" Trial. Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lord, Pippa; Rabiasz, Adam; Roy, Palak; Harland, Jennie; Styles, Ben; Fowler, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    The Evidence-based Literacy Support-"Literacy Octopus" Trial tested a range of dissemination interventions and resources, all of which aimed to engage schools in using evidence-based materials to improve teaching and learning in Key Stage 2 literacy. Four delivery partners provided interventions. These included light-touch,…

  7. Defining Primary Geography from Teachers' Expertise: What Chilean Teachers Mean by Geography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salinas-Silva, Victor; Perez-Gallardo, Patricio; Arenas-Martija, Andoni

    2015-01-01

    This article examines teachers' subject expertise in a context where geography could be considered a neglected school subject. Using an empirical approach to the problem, the article aims to provide a view on the dynamics of teaching primary geography in Chile, through considering teachers' narratives on curriculum making and their associated…

  8. Effect of an Automated Training Presentation on Pre-Service Behavior Analysts' Implementation of Trial-Based Functional Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, Joseph M.; Lloyd, Blair P.; Staubitz, Johanna L.; Weaver, Emily S.; Jennings, Chelsea M.

    2014-01-01

    The trial-based functional analysis (FA) is a useful alternative to the traditional FA in contexts in which it is challenging to establish environmental control for extended periods of time. Previous researchers have demonstrated that others can be trained to conduct trial-based FAs with high procedural fidelity by providing a didactic…

  9. Art expertise and attribution of museum porcelain and faience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Revenok N.N.

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available the article considers problems of research of museum art porcelain and faience of the XIX – the beginning of the XX century in the process of carrying out fine art expertise and also reveals the main criteria of Museum attribution. An important part of the examination methodology of thin-ceramic products is the development of special methods for their study in the conditions of modern laboratories on the latest-generation devices. The results presented in the article can contribute to the practical application of the proposed methods in conducting art criticism of art porcelain and faience in the museum research and restoration work.

  10. Trial-based psychotherapy and the efficacy of trial-based thought record in changing unhelpful core beliefs and reducing self-criticism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Irismar Reis; Hemmany, Curt; Powell, Vania B; Bonfim, Thaís D; Duran, Erica P; Novais, Nilma; Velasquez, Michella; Di Sarno, Elaine; Alves, Gledson L; Cesnik, Joici A

    2012-03-01

    The best prevention against relapse results when patients are taught to restructure negative core beliefs (CBs). Efficacy of the trial-based thought record (TBTR) in decreasing the credit given by patients to negative CBs and corresponding emotions was evaluated. Patients (n = 166) were submitted to a simulation of a legal trial to assess their adherence to negative CBs and corresponding emotions after each cognitive therapy technique incorporated by TBTR. Significant reductions existed in percent values after the first and second defense attorney pleas, as well as after jury's verdict and initial preparation for the appeal (p < 0.001), relative to the investigation phase. Significant differences also emerged between the defense attorney's first and second pleas and between the defense attorney's second plea and jury's verdict, as well as preparation for the appeal (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between percentages presented by patients submitted to TBTR used in the empty chair format relative to the conventional format. Similarly, there was no difference between outcomes, regardless of therapists' level of exposure to TBTR. TBTR may help patients reduce attachment to negative CBs and corresponding emotions. Outcomes were significantly favorable regardless of the format use and therapists' level of exposure to TBTR.

  11. Design expertise: how knowledge, experience, and skills set expert architects apart from novices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilson Florio

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of the design process under the cognitive theory proposes an understanding of internal mental processes, based on the processing of information derived from the knowledge, experience, and skills of the architect. Although it is difficult to trace the sources of the architects’ thoughts, the drawings they produce facilitate the identification of the successive approaches used during the design process. Since cognition, or the act of thinking, itself cannot be observed, we can only analyze the results of the thought that guided cognitive actions. The steps of the research conducted by the authors of this article were as follows: 1 three experienced architects and three novices were filmed individually, for 60 minutes, while they carried out a project; 2 these professionals were interviewed for 30 minutes after the end of the project; 3 physical, perceptual, functional, and conceptual cognitive actions were identified by segmenting and codifying the actions performed during the filming; 4 these data were translated into graphs; 5 the differences between novices and experts were identified from the response time in each of the four levels of cognitive actions; and 6 the qualitative analysis of actions and effectiveness were assessed. Experienced architects quickly recovered from their memory-specific knowledge and, based on scant evidence, select, combine, and generate different ideas during the design process. They can do so because the knowledge encoded in typical situations enables them to make faster and better supported decisions. Expertise is the human faculty that allows performance of cognitive operations that involve daily thinking and doing with quality, speed, and vitality. An expert is someone who performs a task significantly better than most other people do. We concluded that expert architects perform projects with greater ease than beginners, not only because they have more knowledge and experience, but

  12. Marketing trials, marketing tricks - how to spot them and how to stop them.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matheson, Alastair

    2017-03-08

    Last this year in this journal, Barbour and colleagues reported a study of "marketing trials" in leading medical journals (Trials 2016;17:31). In this commentary I discuss their research, describe new analyses of the study cohort and consider measures to address marketing within academic medical literature. Barbour et al. sought to identify a subgroup of "marketing trials" within leading medical journals, but in reality, nearly all industry-financed trials serve marketing functions, and many exhibit marketing-related features, including biases, in their framing, methodology or reporting. I conducted new analyses of the cohort of Barbour et al., showing that most trials funded exclusively by drug manufacturers had direct involvement of the manufacturer in design, analysis and reporting, and features supportive of product seeding. However, these commercial enterprises were without exception presented to journal readers as academic-led projects, using attributional spin, which should itself be considered an important form of marketing bias. Barbour et al. correctly conclude that commercial bias in industry clinical trials articles often requires expertise to recognize, and in many cases cannot be identified from the published journal report. Several potential remedies are discussed, including independent clinical research, data sharing, improved reporting guidance, improved tools for assessing research quality, reforms to article attribution, submission checklists and new editorial standards. Medicine's journals have a responsibility to uphold rigorous scientific and reporting standards, require ready trials data access and ensure the commercial dimensions of research are brought prominently to their readers' attention. Failure to meet these responsibilities constitutes an enduring threat to the integrity of biomedical literature.

  13. The Cultural Roots of Professional Wisdom: Towards a Broader View of Teacher Expertise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, David; Skinner, Don

    2009-01-01

    Perhaps the most pressing issue concerning teacher education and training since the end of the Second World War has been that of the role of theory--or principled reflection--in professional expertise. Here, although the main post-war architects of a new educational professionalism clearly envisaged a key role for theory--considering such…

  14. NPD gate decision criteria - a consequence of strategic orientation or decision-maker expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søndergård, Helle Alsted Søndergård; Jespersen, Kristina Risom

    2008-01-01

    criteria at the decision gates. Results from a sample of 132 NPD practitioners studied a simulated NPD process show that the importance of decision criteria is influenced by both the strategic orientation of the company and individual decision-making expertise. Especially the proactive and aggressive...... strategic orientations influence the prioritisation of decision criteria....

  15. Explaining the effects of an intervention designed to promote evidence-based diabetes care: a theory-based process evaluation of a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaner Eileen FS

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The results of randomised controlled trials can be usefully illuminated by studies of the processes by which they achieve their effects. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB offers a framework for conducting such studies. This study used TPB to explore the observed effects in a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of a structured recall and prompting intervention to increase evidence-based diabetes care that was conducted in three Primary Care Trusts in England. Methods All general practitioners and nurses in practices involved in the trial were sent a postal questionnaire at the end of the intervention period, based on the TPB (predictor variables: attitude; subjective norm; perceived behavioural control, or PBC. It focussed on three clinical behaviours recommended in diabetes care: measuring blood pressure; inspecting feet; and prescribing statins. Multivariate analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were used to explore changes in cognitions and thereby better understand trial effects. Results Fifty-nine general medical practitioners and 53 practice nurses (intervention: n = 55, 41.98% of trial participants; control: n = 57, 38.26% of trial participants completed the questionnaire. There were no differences between groups in mean scores for attitudes, subjective norms, PBC or intentions. Control group clinicians had 'normatively-driven' intentions (i.e., related to subjective norm scores, whereas intervention group clinicians had 'attitudinally-driven' intentions (i.e., related to attitude scores for foot inspection and statin prescription. After controlling for effects of the three predictor variables, this group difference was significant for foot inspection behaviour (trial group × attitude interaction, beta = 0.72, p Conclusion Attitudinally-driven intentions are proposed to be more consistently translated into action than normatively-driven intentions. This proposition was supported by the

  16. The FAITH Trial: Baseline Characteristics of a Church-based Trial to Improve Blood Pressure Control in Blacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoenthaler, Antoinette; Lancaster, Kristie; Midberry, Sara; Nulty, Matthew; Ige, Elizabeth; Palfrey, Amy; Kumar, Niketa; Ogedegbe, Gbenga

    2015-08-07

    To describe the baseline characteristics of participants in the Faith-based Approaches in the Treatment of Hypertension (FAITH) Trial. FAITH evaluates the effectiveness of a faith-based lifestyle intervention vs health education control on blood pressure (BP) reduction among hypertensive Black adults. Participants included 373 members of 32 Black churches in New York City. Baseline data collected included participant demographic characteristics, clinical measures (eg, blood pressure), behaviors (eg, diet, physical activity), and psychosocial factors (eg, self-efficacy, depressive symptoms). Participants had a mean age of 63.4 ± 11.9 years and 76% were female. About half completed at least some college (53%), 66% had an income ≥$20,000, and 42.2% were retired or on disability. Participants had a mean systolic and diastolic BP of 152.1 ± 16.8 mm Hg and 86.2 ± 12.2 mm Hg, respectively, and a mean BMI of 32 kg/m2. Hypertension (HTN) medications were taken by 95% of participants, but most (79.1%) reported non-adherence to their regimen. Participants reported consuming 3.4 ± 2.6 servings of fruits and vegetables and received 30.9% of their energy from fat. About one-third (35.9%) reported a low activity level. Participants in the FAITH trial exhibited several adverse clinical and behavioral characteristics at baseline. Future analyses will evaluate the effectiveness of the faith-based lifestyle intervention on changes in BP and lifestyle behaviors among hypertensive Black adults.

  17. Scientific expertise from the inside: AFSSET Working Group on Radio-frequencies (2008-2009)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barthe, Yannick

    2014-01-01

    Although there is now a large amount of social science research on scientific expertise and expert groups, direct evidence by sociologists who themselves participated in scientific expert groups assessing controversial topics remain rare. This paper offers just this type of feedback. The aim is to analyse the production of scientific expert opinions based on personal experience: the author's participation as a sociologist in an expert committee set up by the former French Agency for the Safety of Health, the Environment and Work (AFSSET) on the topic of radio-frequencies. Several problematic aspects of these groups will thus be discussed from this concrete experience: the problem of the composition of the expert group, the issue of conflicts of interest, the organisation of the work within the group, the effects of the presence of an observer from an association, and the differences between performing scientific research and providing scientific expert opinions. (authors)

  18. An information and communication technology-based centralized clinical trial to determine the efficacy and safety of insulin dose adjustment education based on a smartphone personal health record application: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Gyuri; Bae, Ji Cheol; Yi, Byoung Kee; Hur, Kyu Yeon; Chang, Dong Kyung; Lee, Moon-Kyu; Kim, Jae Hyeon; Jin, Sang-Man

    2017-07-18

    A Personal Health Record (PHR) is an online application that allows patients to access, manage, and share their health data. PHRs not only enhance shared decision making with healthcare providers, but also enable remote monitoring and at-home-collection of detailed data. The benefits of PHRs can be maximized in insulin dose adjustment for patients starting or intensifying insulin regimens, as frequent self-monitoring of glucose, self-adjustment of insulin dose, and precise at-home data collection during the visit-to-visit period are important for glycemic control. The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy and safety of insulin dose adjustment based on a smartphone PHR application in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and to confirm the validity and stability of an information and communication technology (ICT)-based centralized clinical trial monitoring system. This is a 24-week, open-label, randomized, multi-center trial. There are three follow-up measures: baseline, post-intervention at week 12, and at week 24. Subjects diagnosed with type 1 DM, type 2 DM, and/or post-transplant DM who initiate basal insulin or intensify their insulin regimen to a basal-bolus regimen are included. After education on insulin dose titration and prevention for hypoglycemia and a 1-week acclimation period, subjects are randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either an ICT-based intervention group or a conventional intervention group. Subjects in the conventional intervention group will save and send their health information to the server via a PHR application, whereas those in ICT-based intervention group will receive additional algorithm-based feedback messages. The health information includes level of blood glucose, insulin dose, details on hypoglycemia, food diary, and step count. The primary outcome will be the proportion of patients who reach an optimal insulin dose within 12 weeks of study enrollment, without severe hypoglycemia or unscheduled clinic visits. This clinical trial

  19. Community based physiotherapeutic exercise in COPD self-management: a randomised controlled trial.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Effing, T.; Zielhuis, G.A.; Kerstjens, H.; Valk, P. van der; Palen, J.A.M. van der

    2011-01-01

    Little is known about effects of community-based physiotherapeutic exercise programmes incorporated in COPD self-management programmes. In a randomised trial, the effect of such a programme (COPE-active) on exercise capacity and various secondary outcomes including daily activity as a marker of

  20. Community based psysiotherapeutic exercise in COPD self-management: A randomised controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Effing, T.W.; Zielhuis, Gerhard; Kerstjens, Huib; van der Valk, Paul; van der Palen, Jacobus Adrianus Maria

    2011-01-01

    Little is known about effects of community-based physiotherapeutic exercise programmes incorporated in COPD self-management programmes. In a randomised trial, the effect of such a programme (COPE-active) on exercise capacity and various secondary outcomes including daily activity as a marker of

  1. "If You Have to Ask, You'll Never Know": Effects of Specialised Stylistic Expertise on Predictive Processing of Music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Niels Chr; Vuust, Peter; Pearce, Marcus

    2016-01-01

    Musical expertise entails meticulous stylistic specialisation and enculturation. Even so, research on musical training effects has focused on generalised comparisons between musicians and non-musicians, and cross-cultural work addressing specialised expertise has traded cultural specificity and sensitivity for other methodological limitations. This study aimed to experimentally dissociate the effects of specialised stylistic training and general musical expertise on the perception of melodies. Non-musicians and professional musicians specialising in classical music or jazz listened to sampled renditions of saxophone solos improvised by Charlie Parker in the bebop style. Ratings of explicit uncertainty and expectedness for different continuations of each melodic excerpt were collected. An information-theoretic model of expectation enabled selection of stimuli affording highly certain continuations in the bebop style, but highly uncertain continuations in the context of general tonal expectations, and vice versa. The results showed that expert musicians have acquired probabilistic characteristics of music influencing their experience of expectedness and predictive uncertainty. While classical musicians had internalised key aspects of the bebop style implicitly, only jazz musicians' explicit uncertainty ratings reflected the computational estimates, and jazz-specific expertise modulated the relationship between explicit and inferred uncertainty data. In spite of this, there was no evidence that non-musicians and classical musicians used a stylistically irrelevant cognitive model of general tonal music providing support for the theory of cognitive firewalls between stylistic models in predictive processing of music.

  2. Autistic Expertise: A Critical Reflection on the Production of Knowledge in Autism Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milton, Damian E. M.

    2014-01-01

    The field of autism studies is a highly disputed territory within which competing contradictory discourses abound. In this field, it is the voices and claims of autistic people regarding their own expertise in knowledge production concerning autism that is most recent in the debate, and traditionally the least attended to. In this article, I…

  3. The Influence of Art Expertise and Training on Emotion and Preference Ratings for Representational and Abstract Artworks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Paasschen, Jorien; Bacci, Francesca; Melcher, David P

    2015-01-01

    Across cultures and throughout recorded history, humans have produced visual art. This raises the question of why people report such an emotional response to artworks and find some works more beautiful or compelling than others. In the current study we investigated the interplay between art expertise, and emotional and preference judgments. Sixty participants (40 novices, 20 art experts) rated a set of 150 abstract artworks and portraits during two occasions: in a laboratory setting and in a museum. Before commencing their second session, half of the art novices received a brief training on stylistic and art historical aspects of abstract art and portraiture. Results showed that art experts rated the artworks higher than novices on aesthetic facets (beauty and wanting), but no group differences were observed on affective evaluations (valence and arousal). The training session made a small effect on ratings of preference compared to the non-trained group of novices. Overall, these findings are consistent with the idea that affective components of art appreciation are less driven by expertise and largely consistent across observers, while more cognitive aspects of aesthetic viewing depend on viewer characteristics such as art expertise.

  4. The Influence of Art Expertise and Training on Emotion and Preference Ratings for Representational and Abstract Artworks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorien van Paasschen

    Full Text Available Across cultures and throughout recorded history, humans have produced visual art. This raises the question of why people report such an emotional response to artworks and find some works more beautiful or compelling than others. In the current study we investigated the interplay between art expertise, and emotional and preference judgments. Sixty participants (40 novices, 20 art experts rated a set of 150 abstract artworks and portraits during two occasions: in a laboratory setting and in a museum. Before commencing their second session, half of the art novices received a brief training on stylistic and art historical aspects of abstract art and portraiture. Results showed that art experts rated the artworks higher than novices on aesthetic facets (beauty and wanting, but no group differences were observed on affective evaluations (valence and arousal. The training session made a small effect on ratings of preference compared to the non-trained group of novices. Overall, these findings are consistent with the idea that affective components of art appreciation are less driven by expertise and largely consistent across observers, while more cognitive aspects of aesthetic viewing depend on viewer characteristics such as art expertise.

  5. Exploring the Influence of Social Determinants, Social Capital, and Health Expertise on Health and the Rural Church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plunkett, Robyn; Leipert, Beverly; Olson, Joanne

    2016-09-01

    In rural communities, religious places can significantly shape health for individuals, families, and communities. Rural churches are prominent community centers in rural communities and are deeply woven into rural culture. Thus, health influences arising from the rural church likely have health implications for the greater community. This article explores health influences emerging from rural churches using social determinants of health, social capital, and health expertise. Although nurses are important health resources for all populations, their value in rural areas may be exceedingly significant. The contribution of nurses to church-based health capital in rural communities may be quite significant and underestimated, although it remains poorly understood. © The Author(s) 2015.

  6. The Holistic Processing Account of Visual Expertise in Medical Image Perception: A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheridan, Heather; Reingold, Eyal M

    2017-01-01

    In the field of medical image perception, the holistic processing perspective contends that experts can rapidly extract global information about the image, which can be used to guide their subsequent search of the image (Swensson, 1980; Nodine and Kundel, 1987; Kundel et al., 2007). In this review, we discuss the empirical evidence supporting three different predictions that can be derived from the holistic processing perspective: Expertise in medical image perception is domain-specific, experts use parafoveal and/or peripheral vision to process large regions of the image in parallel, and experts benefit from a rapid initial glimpse of an image. In addition, we discuss a pivotal recent study (Litchfield and Donovan, 2016) that seems to contradict the assumption that experts benefit from a rapid initial glimpse of the image. To reconcile this finding with the existing literature, we suggest that global processing may serve multiple functions that extend beyond the initial glimpse of the image. Finally, we discuss future research directions, and we highlight the connections between the holistic processing account and similar theoretical perspectives and findings from other domains of visual expertise.

  7. Perceptual-cognitive expertise of handball coaches in their young and middle adult years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Lennart; Baker, Joseph; Rienhoff, Rebecca; Strauß, Bernd; Tirp, Judith; Büsch, Dirk; Schorer, Jörg

    2016-09-01

    There is little research investigating the maintenance of perceptual-cognitive expertise in general and even less comparing coaches of different ages. The aim of this study was to test for perceptual-cognitive differences between age groups, licence levels, and their interaction. This study investigated differences in skilled performance between young and middle-aged coaches of three different skill levels. Participants performed an accuracy-oriented pattern recall (mean distance in pixel) and a time-oriented flicker test (mean detection time in ms). There were some significant differences between age groups and between skill groups for both tests, but no interactions. For the pattern recall test, the effect sizes were larger for skill level differences, while for the flicker test effects were larger for ageing. These results suggest coaches are able to maintain accuracy skills better than reaction timed tasks. This is in line with findings on speeded performance in general populations, which show declines with age. Moreover, results also support findings on perceptual expertise in skills where accuracy was important.

  8. A novel experience-based internet intervention for smoking cessation: feasibility randomised controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Powell

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The internet is frequently used to share experiences of health and illness, but this phenomenon has not been harnessed as an intervention to achieve health behaviour change. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of a randomised trial assessing the effects of a novel, experience-based website as a smoking cessation intervention. The secondary aim was to measure the potential impact on smoking behaviour of both the intervention and a comparator website. Methods A feasibility randomised controlled single-blind trial assessed a novel, experience-based website containing personal accounts of quitting smoking as a cessation intervention, and a comparator website providing factual information. Feasibility measures including recruitment, and usage of the interventions were recorded, and the following participant-reported outcomes were also measured: Smoking Abstinence Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, the single-item Motivation to Stop Scale, self-reported abstinence, quit attempts and health status outcomes. Eligible smokers from two English regions were entered into the trial and given access to their allocated website for two weeks. Results Eighty-seven smokers were randomised, 65 completed follow-up (75 %. Median usage was 15 min for the intervention, and 5 min for the comparator (range 0.5–213 min. Median logins for both sites was 2 (range 1–20. All participant-reported outcomes were similar between groups. Conclusions It was technically feasible to deliver a novel intervention harnessing the online sharing of personal experiences as a tool for smoking cessation, but recruitment was slow and actual use was relatively low, with attrition from the trial. Future work needs to maximize engagement and to understand how best to assess the value of such interventions in everyday use, rather than as an isolated ‘dose of information’. Trial registration ISRCTN29549695 DOI 10.1186/ISRCTN29549695 . Registered 17/05/2013.

  9. Expertise on the project for the decommissioning of the pilot incineration plant at the Paul Scherrer Institute

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-12-01

    This expertise report published by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate ENSI takes a look at the proposed decommissioning of the pilot incineration plant at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Switzerland. Details concerning the operator PSI, the installation, the documentation and criteria used in the expertise are presented. Experience in the decommissioning of nuclear installations is reviewed. Decommissioning variants and the concept proposed are described and details concerning radiation sources and problematical materials such as asbestos are reviewed. The views of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate ENSI are presented and proposals for the disposal of radioactive wastes are examined. Finally, the costs incurred are reviewed

  10. Thermal ageing of steels; from expertise and understanding of the ageing mechanisms to a maintenance strategy for operating nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezdikian, G.; Ould, P.

    2004-01-01

    Some parts of reactor coolant circuit on Nuclear PWR power plants, elbows on primary circuit, are made in cast duplex stainless steel material. It is now identify that the mechanical characteristic of this material should be decrease under thermal ageing mainly after a long time in operation in at reactor coolant circuit temperature conditions. The sensitiveness to the thermal ageing of these components is in relation with chemical composition and the ferrite content, especially the grade of Chromium equivalent (Ceq %Cr + %Si + %Mo). In the context of justification to maintain in operation on the plants these cat duplex components, an important programme of expertises was carried out on cast elbows after removing on the plants during the Steam Generators replacements (SGR). Several expertises, performed in the objective to understand the thermal ageing phenomenon and mechanism on cast components in service on plants, were permit to validate the prediction formulas established from a large database and programme in laboratories. The expertises were based on a lot of metallurgical, mechanical and chemical characteristics of components in operation Small Angle Neutrons Scattering (SANS), Thermal Electric Power (TEP), micro hardness and toughness measurement on small specimens from boat sample (CT10-5) The expertise carried out on one SG inlet elbows from DAMPIERRE, removed a during SGR after 100000 h in operation is shown, the toughness values are very high compared to the prediction formulas. The TEP measurements performed on the specimen cut off on two elbows and the ingots of the same material aged in laboratory in furnace, are very coherent; it is confirmed that this methodology is a good indicator to follow the ageing characteristic of material. The results of expertises on aged material are a mean of validation of the methodology applied on the file of demonstration of maintaining in operation of cast duplex stainless steel sensitive to thermal ageing. So the

  11. Ahmad al-Damanhūrī (1689-1778) and the utility of expertise in early modern Ottoman Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Jane H

    2010-01-01

    Eighteenth-century Arabic manuscripts in the "uncommon sciences"--a range of mathematical, astronomical, astrological, medical, and divinatory practices-number in the thousands. In light of the economic and social upheaval over the eighteenth century this sustained production must be understood from perspectives of both intellectual and social history. Ahmad al-Damanhūrī's writings and his rise from rural orphan to head of al-Azhar Mosque suggest the role and value of expertise in the uncommon sciences, particularly as these fields brought religious scholars and ruling military elites into close relations. Precisely because the uncommon sciences bridged these two social classes, this expertise was important for individuals' social and intellectual formation. Recognizing the significance of the uncommon sciences for the history of this period offers a new reading of the work of the chronicler 'Abd al-Rahmān al-Jabartī, who used language and exemplars from the uncommon sciences to reflect on the proper and just relationship between expertise (embodied by the religious scholarly class) and the emerging state.

  12. From MDMA to Lady Gaga : Expertise and Contribution Behavior of Editing Communities on Wikipedia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkstra, L.J.; Krieg, L.J.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we present a methodology for gaining a better understanding of the contribution behavior, interests and expertise of communities of Wikipedia users. Starting from a list of core articles and their main editors, we identify which other articles (outside of the initial list) they

  13. Gym-based exercise and home-based exercise with telephone support have similar outcomes when used as maintenance programs in adults with chronic health conditions: a randomised trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Jansons

    2017-07-01

    Trial registration: ACTRN12610001035011. [Jansons P, Robins L, O’Brien L, Haines T (2017 Gym-based exercise and home-based exercise with telephone support have similar outcomes when used as maintenance programs in adults with chronic health conditions: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy 63: 154–160

  14. Cynical or Deliberative? An Analysis of the European Commission’s Public Communication on Its Use of Expertise in Policy-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cathrine Holst

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The European Commission has faced increasing criticism that its use of expertise in policy-making is undemocratic and politicized. In response to critics, the Commission has produced a number of publicly available documents where its expert policies and practices are outlined and discussed. Cynics view public communications of this nature with skepticism, as organizations tend to adopt “smooth talk” and cosmetic rhetoric designed to placate critics and create a façade of compliance aimed at decreasing external pressure. An alternative deliberative approach, would expect the Commission to engage in a relatively open, reflective and reason-based interchange. The article’s main aim is to assess the relative merits of these two approaches in capturing the Commission’s framing of its public communication. Cynical expectations, prevalent among Commission critics, are confirmed by the Commission’s silence on unpleasant topics including the undemocratic nature of existing expertise arrangements and the strategic uses of knowledge in EU policy-making. However, firm regulatory initiatives and the Commission’s critical engagement with democratization demands and possible goal conflicts within their critics’ agenda give significant leverage to a deliberative approach.

  15. The Relative Age Effect on Soccer Players in Formative Stages with Different Sport Expertise Levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Práxedes Alba

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The Relative Age Effect (RAE in sport has been targeted by many research studies. The objective of this study was to analyze, in amateur clubs, the RAE of soccer players, according to the sport expertise level of the team (e.g., A, B, C and subsequent that they belong to within the same game category. 1,098 soccer players in formative stages took part in the study, with ages varying between 6 and 18 years old (U8 to U19 categories. All of them were members of 4 Spanish federated clubs. The birth dates were classified into 4 quartiles (Q1 = Jan-Mar; Q2 = Apr-Jun; Q3 = Jul-Sept; Q4 = Oct-Decaccording to the team they belonged to. The results obtained in the chi-squared test and d value (effect size revealed the existence of RAE in the teams with the highest expertise level, “A” (X2 = 15.342, p = .002, d = 0.4473 and “B” (X2 = 10.905, p = .012, d = 0.3657. However, in the lower level teams, “C and subsequent”, this effect was not observed. Present findings show that players born during the first months of the year tend to be selected to play in teams with a higher sport expertise level of each category, due to their physical maturity. Consequently, this causes differences in terms of the experience they accumulate and the motivation that this creates in these players.

  16. The Relative Age Effect on Soccer Players in Formative Stages with Different Sport Expertise Levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Práxedes, Alba; Moreno, Alberto; García-González, Luis; Pizarro, David; Del Villar, Fernando

    2017-12-01

    The Relative Age Effect (RAE) in sport has been targeted by many research studies. The objective of this study was to analyze, in amateur clubs, the RAE of soccer players, according to the sport expertise level of the team (e.g., A, B, C and subsequent) that they belong to within the same game category. 1,098 soccer players in formative stages took part in the study, with ages varying between 6 and 18 years old (U8 to U19 categories). All of them were members of 4 Spanish federated clubs. The birth dates were classified into 4 quartiles (Q1 = Jan-Mar; Q2 = Apr-Jun; Q3 = Jul-Sept; Q4 = Oct-Dec)according to the team they belonged to. The results obtained in the chi-squared test and d value (effect size) revealed the existence of RAE in the teams with the highest expertise level, "A" (X2 = 15.342, p = .002, d = 0.4473) and "B" (X2 = 10.905, p = .012, d = 0.3657). However, in the lower level teams, "C and subsequent", this effect was not observed. Present findings show that players born during the first months of the year tend to be selected to play in teams with a higher sport expertise level of each category, due to their physical maturity. Consequently, this causes differences in terms of the experience they accumulate and the motivation that this creates in these players.

  17. Assessing Expertise in Radiology : Evaluating and Improving the Assessment of Knowledge and Image Interpretation Skill

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ravesloot, C.J.

    2016-01-01

    Aim: Expert radiologists are excellent image interpreters. Unfortunately, image interpretation errors are frequent even among experienced radiologists and not much is known about which factors lead to expertise. Increasing assessment quality can improve radiological performance. Progress tests can

  18. Atomic risk insurance. Risk policy, safety production and expertise in Germany and the USA 1945 - 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wehner, Christoph

    2017-01-01

    The book covers the following chapters: (I) Between threat and promise: Political change and the corporate perception, the burden of the atomic bomb, promise of nuclear energy risk criticism in the pre-ecological phase, nuclear risk as investment restraint; (II) Risk policy at the insurability limit: hazard knowledge, safety production and insurance expertise in the German nuclear policy (1955-1962); (III) Risk policy beyond the catastrophe, insurability interpretation, concepts and conflicts (1957-1968); (IV) Scandalization of risk policy: safety production, confidence and expertise in the nuclear controversial debate (1969 - 1979); (V) Nuclear risk policy and the challenge of the ''risk society'' (1975-1986); (VI) From safety production to hazard probe: atomic energy And the change of insurance.

  19. The roles of talent, physical precocity and practice in the development of soccer expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helsen, W F; Hodges, N J; Van Winckel, J; Starkes, J L

    2000-09-01

    Here we consider the potential contributions of talent, physical precocity and deliberate practice in the development of soccer expertise. After presenting a working definition of 'talent', we examine how coaches perceive and select potential talent. Our findings suggest that much of what coaches see as early talent may be explained by physical precocity associated with a relative age advantage. Finally, as a test of the model of Deliberate Practice, we review the results of studies that assessed the progress of international, national and provincial players based on accumulated practice, amount of practice per week and relative importance and demands of various practice and everyday activities. A positive linear relationship was found between accumulated individual plus team practice and skill. Various practical suggestions can be made to improve talent detection and selection and to optimize career practice patterns in soccer.

  20. Recommendations for data monitoring committees from the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calis, Karim A; Archdeacon, Patrick; Bain, Raymond; DeMets, David; Donohue, Miriam; Elzarrad, M Khair; Forrest, Annemarie; McEachern, John; Pencina, Michael J; Perlmutter, Jane; Lewis, Roger J

    2017-08-01

    Background/aims Use of data monitoring committees to oversee clinical trials was first proposed nearly 50 years ago. Since then, data monitoring committee use in clinical trials has increased and evolved. Nonetheless, there are no well-defined criteria for determining the need for a data monitoring committee, and considerable variability exists in data monitoring committee composition and conduct. To understand and describe the role and function of data monitoring committees, and establish best practices for data monitoring committee trial oversight, the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative-a public-private partnership to improve clinical trials-launched a multi-stakeholder project. Methods The data monitoring committee project team included 16 individuals charged with (1) clarifying the purpose of data monitoring committees, (2) identifying best practices for independent data monitoring committee conduct, (3) describing effective communication practices, and (4) developing strategies for training data monitoring committee members. Evidence gathering included a survey, a series of focus group discussions, and a 2-day expert meeting aimed at achieving consensus opinions that form the foundation of our data monitoring committee recommendations. Results We define the role of the data monitoring committee as an advisor to the research sponsor on whether to continue, modify, or terminate a trial based on periodic assessment of trial data. Data monitoring committees should remain independent from the sponsor and be composed of members with no relevant conflicts of interest. Representation on a data monitoring committee generally should include at least one clinician with expertise in the therapeutic area being studied, a biostatistician, and a designated chairperson who has experience with clinical trials and data monitoring. Data monitoring committee meetings are held periodically to evaluate the unmasked data from ongoing trials, but the content and conduct of

  1. Development and Validation of a Supportive Learning Environment for Expertise Development Questionnaire (SLEED-Q)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elvira, Quincy; Beausaert, Simon; Segers, Mien; Imants, Jeroen; Dankbaar, Ben

    2016-01-01

    Development of professional expertise is the process of continually transforming the repertoire of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to solve domain-specific problems which begins in late secondary education and continues during higher education and throughout professional life. One educational goal is to train students to think more like…

  2. Varieties of teacher expertise in teaching Danish language and literature in lower secondary schools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dorf, Hans; Kelly, Peter; Pratt, Nick

    2012-01-01

    In this study we seek to explore how expert teachers mediate the many influences on their practice. The research we report here is set in the context of lower secondary school teaching of Danish language and literature. Our findings suggest that teacher expertise can be conceptualized by a set...

  3. Measurements of the Russian identity: Sociological assessments and humanitarian expertise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A A Onosov

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Within the framework of the existing scientific approaches, the authors consider the process of ethnization of the Russians’ mass consciousness under the expanding internal and external labor migration in Russia. The article presents the results of the situational analysis and humanitarian expertise of the set of key challenges determined by the migration. Based on the statistics, opinion polls data and expert assessments the article describes the empirical model of the identity of ethnic Russian population of Moscow and the Moscow region as the major centers of attraction for international migrants. The comprehensive analysis of the issues and controversies of the labor migration in the region and relationships of ethnic groups living in the region is preceded by the description of the identity of native inhabitants of the region as perceived by the ethnic Russian population. To measure the identity for the axiological ranking the authors use a number of relatively independent variables besides ethnic (national identity: religious involvement, civilizational orientation, cultural, professional, territorial and other important features. Thus, the authors present a multi-dimensional space of identity, in which each dimension has its specific meaning for personal self-identification and its own scale for assessing particular attributes.

  4. Evidence-based radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hafslund, Bjorg; Clare, Judith; Graverholt, Birgitte; Wammen Nortvedt, Monica

    2008-01-01

    Evidence-based practice (EBP) offers the integration of the best research evidence with clinical knowledge and expertise and patient values. EBP is a well known term in health care. This paper discusses the implementation of EBP into radiography and introduces the term evidence-based radiography. Evidence-based radiography is radiography informed and based on the combination of clinical expertise and the best available research-based evidence, patient preferences and resources available. In Norway, EBP in radiography is being debated and radiographers are discussing the challenges of implementing EBP in both academic and clinical practice. This discussion paper explains why EBP needs to be a basis for a radiography curriculum and a part of radiographers' practice. We argue that Norwegian radiographers must increase participation in research and developing practice within their specific radiographic domain

  5. Initial Field Trial of a Coach-Supported Web-Based Depression Treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schueller, Stephen M; Mohr, David C

    2015-08-01

    Early web-based depression treatments were often self-guided and included few interactive elements, instead focusing mostly on delivering informational content online. Newer programs include many more types of features. As such, trials should analyze the ways in which people use these sites in order to inform the design of subsequent sites and models of support. The current study describes of a field trial consisting of 9 patients with major depressive disorder who completed a 12-week program including weekly coach calls. Patients usage varied widely, however, patients who formed regular patterns tended to persist with the program for the longest. Future sites might be able to facilitate user engagement by designing features to support regular use and to use coaches to help establish patterns to increase long-term use and benefit.

  6. Problems of university-based scientists associated with clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remington, R D

    1979-05-01

    University faculty members who participate in clinical trials face a number of difficulties in connection with this association. Publication opportunities are often limited, and individual scholarship is difficult to express and evaluate within the context of a cooperative trial. Merit increases, promotion, and the award of tenure will usually require evidence of scholarly achievement outside the trial setting. For this reason, it seems inadvisable to recommend that a young investigator devote a major portion of his scholarly and research time to such an activity. A possible exception may be a full-time appointment for 1 to 2 years. Nonetheless, cooperative clinical trials are an important investigative tool and they should continue to be associated with academic centers. If appropriate administrative arrangements can be made, it should be possible to solve the academic problems of the young investigator associated with such trials.

  7. Sources of Safety Data and Statistical Strategies for Design and Analysis: Clinical Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zink, Richard C; Marchenko, Olga; Sanchez-Kam, Matilde; Ma, Haijun; Jiang, Qi

    2018-03-01

    There has been an increased emphasis on the proactive and comprehensive evaluation of safety endpoints to ensure patient well-being throughout the medical product life cycle. In fact, depending on the severity of the underlying disease, it is important to plan for a comprehensive safety evaluation at the start of any development program. Statisticians should be intimately involved in this process and contribute their expertise to study design, safety data collection, analysis, reporting (including data visualization), and interpretation. In this manuscript, we review the challenges associated with the analysis of safety endpoints and describe the safety data that are available to influence the design and analysis of premarket clinical trials. We share our recommendations for the statistical and graphical methodologies necessary to appropriately analyze, report, and interpret safety outcomes, and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of safety data obtained from clinical trials compared to other sources. Clinical trials are an important source of safety data that contribute to the totality of safety information available to generate evidence for regulators, sponsors, payers, physicians, and patients. This work is a result of the efforts of the American Statistical Association Biopharmaceutical Section Safety Working Group.

  8. "If You Have to Ask, You'll Never Know": Effects of Specialised Stylistic Expertise on Predictive Processing of Music.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niels Chr Hansen

    Full Text Available Musical expertise entails meticulous stylistic specialisation and enculturation. Even so, research on musical training effects has focused on generalised comparisons between musicians and non-musicians, and cross-cultural work addressing specialised expertise has traded cultural specificity and sensitivity for other methodological limitations. This study aimed to experimentally dissociate the effects of specialised stylistic training and general musical expertise on the perception of melodies. Non-musicians and professional musicians specialising in classical music or jazz listened to sampled renditions of saxophone solos improvised by Charlie Parker in the bebop style. Ratings of explicit uncertainty and expectedness for different continuations of each melodic excerpt were collected. An information-theoretic model of expectation enabled selection of stimuli affording highly certain continuations in the bebop style, but highly uncertain continuations in the context of general tonal expectations, and vice versa. The results showed that expert musicians have acquired probabilistic characteristics of music influencing their experience of expectedness and predictive uncertainty. While classical musicians had internalised key aspects of the bebop style implicitly, only jazz musicians' explicit uncertainty ratings reflected the computational estimates, and jazz-specific expertise modulated the relationship between explicit and inferred uncertainty data. In spite of this, there was no evidence that non-musicians and classical musicians used a stylistically irrelevant cognitive model of general tonal music providing support for the theory of cognitive firewalls between stylistic models in predictive processing of music.

  9. Monitoring additive manufacturing based products in clinical trials

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marinakis, Yorgos; Harms, Rainer; Walsh, Steven Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Under U.S. federal regulation 31 CFR §312, medical interventions must report on a series of clinical trials phases before being submitted for approval for release to the U.S. market. Clinical trials are now being performed on medical interventions that were constructed through additive

  10. Unbiased tensor-based morphometry: improved robustness and sample size estimates for Alzheimer's disease clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hua, Xue; Hibar, Derrek P; Ching, Christopher R K; Boyle, Christina P; Rajagopalan, Priya; Gutman, Boris A; Leow, Alex D; Toga, Arthur W; Jack, Clifford R; Harvey, Danielle; Weiner, Michael W; Thompson, Paul M

    2013-02-01

    Various neuroimaging measures are being evaluated for tracking Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression in therapeutic trials, including measures of structural brain change based on repeated scanning of patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods to compute brain change must be robust to scan quality. Biases may arise if any scans are thrown out, as this can lead to the true changes being overestimated or underestimated. Here we analyzed the full MRI dataset from the first phase of Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI-1) from the first phase of Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI-1) and assessed several sources of bias that can arise when tracking brain changes with structural brain imaging methods, as part of a pipeline for tensor-based morphometry (TBM). In all healthy subjects who completed MRI scanning at screening, 6, 12, and 24months, brain atrophy was essentially linear with no detectable bias in longitudinal measures. In power analyses for clinical trials based on these change measures, only 39AD patients and 95 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects were needed for a 24-month trial to detect a 25% reduction in the average rate of change using a two-sided test (α=0.05, power=80%). Further sample size reductions were achieved by stratifying the data into Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 carriers versus non-carriers. We show how selective data exclusion affects sample size estimates, motivating an objective comparison of different analysis techniques based on statistical power and robustness. TBM is an unbiased, robust, high-throughput imaging surrogate marker for large, multi-site neuroimaging studies and clinical trials of AD and MCI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Neural basis of music imagery and the effect of musical expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herholz, Sibylle C; Lappe, Claudia; Knief, Arne; Pantev, Christo

    2008-12-01

    Although the influence of long-term musical training on the processing of heard music has been the subject of many studies, the neural basis of music imagery and the effect of musical expertise remain insufficiently understood. By means of magnetoencephalography (MEG) we compared musicians and nonmusicians in a musical imagery task with familiar melodies. Subjects listened to the beginnings of the melodies, continued them in their imagination and then heard a tone which was either a correct or an incorrect further continuation of the melody. Only in musicians was the imagery of these melodies strong enough to elicit an early preattentive brain response to unexpected incorrect continuations of the imagined melodies; this response, the imagery mismatch negativity (iMMN), peaked approximately 175 ms after tone onset and was right-lateralized. In contrast to previous studies the iMMN was not based on a heard but on a purely imagined memory trace. Our results suggest that in trained musicians imagery and perception rely on similar neuronal correlates, and that the musicians' intense musical training has modified this network to achieve a superior ability for imagery and preattentive processing of music.

  12. Museum 2.0: A study into the culture of expertise within the museum blogosphere

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Verboom (Jessica); P.A. Arora (Payal)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractWhile studies on popular culture have a more vast understanding of the impact of the participatory culture on experts and expertise, there is a dearth of literature on the impact of Web 2.0 on museums, which are established authorities within the cultural field. We aim to answer the

  13. Museum 2.0: A study into the culture of expertise within the museum blogosphere

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Verboom (Jessica); P.A. Arora (Payal)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractWhile studies on popular culture have a vast understanding of the impact of the participatory culture on experts and expertise, there is a dearth of literature on the impact of Web 2.0 on museums, which are established authorities within the cultural field. We aim to answer the following

  14. When Should I Trust My Gut? Linking Domain Expertise to Intuitive Decision-Making Effectiveness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dane, Erik; Rockmann, Kevin W.; Pratt, Michael G.

    2012-01-01

    Despite a growing body of scholarship on the concept of intuition, there is a scarcity of empirical research spotlighting the circumstances in which intuitive decision making is effective relative to analytical decision making. Seeking to address this deficiency, we conducted two laboratory studies assessing the link between domain expertise (low…

  15. Knowledge Based Components of Expertise in Medical Diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-09-01

    the ability to ac- cess and use knowledge that one "has" is situationally dependent (e.g., Melton, 1963)1 Tulving and Pearlstone , 1966). For example...Londons Wiley, 1976. Tulving , E., & Pearlstone , E. Availability versus accessibility of information in memory for words. Journal of Verbal Learning...encounter (c.f.Flexser’and Tulving , 19781 Tulving ., 1976). Expert-based instructional devices (computer assisted instruction or decision support sys

  16. The Racer’s Brain – How Domain Expertise is Reflected in the Neural Substrates of Driving

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otto eLappi

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available A fundamental question in human brain plasticity is how sensory, motor, and cognitive functions adapt in the process of skill acquisition extended over a period of many years. Recently, there has emerged a growing interest in cognitive neuroscience on studying the functional and structural differences in the brains of elite athletes. Elite performance in sports, music or the arts, allows us to observe sensorimotor and cognitive performance at the limits of human capability. In this mini-review we look at driving expertise. The emerging brain imaging literature on the neural substrates of real and simulated driving is reviewed (for the first time, and used as the context for interpreting recent findings on the differences between racing drivers and non-athlete controls. Also the cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience of expertise are discussed.

  17. Finding harmony so the music plays on: pragmatic trial design considerations to promote organizational sustainment of an empirically-supported behavior therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartzler, Bryan; Peavy, K Michelle; Jackson, T Ron; Carney, Molly

    2016-01-22

    Pragmatic trials of empirically-supported behavior therapies may inform clinical and policy decisions concerning therapy sustainment. This retrospective trial design paper describes and discusses pragmatic features of a hybrid type III implementation/effectiveness trial of a contingency management (CM) intervention at an opioid treatment program. Prior reporting (Hartzler et al., J Subst Abuse Treat 46:429-438, 2014; Hartzler, Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy 10:30, 2015) notes success in recruiting program staff for voluntary participation, durable impacts of CM training on staff-level outcomes, provisional setting implementation of the intervention, documentation of clinical effectiveness, and post-trial sustainment of CM. Six pragmatic design features, and both scientific and practical bases for their inclusion in the trial, are presented: (1) a collaborative intervention design process, (2) voluntary recruitment of program staff for therapy training and implementation, (3) serial training outcome assessments, with quasi-experimental staff randomization to either single or multiple baseline assessment conditions, (4) designation of a 90-day period immediately after training in which the setting implemented the intervention on a provisional basis, (5) inclusive patient eligibility for receipt of the CM intervention, and (6) designation of two staff as local implementation leaders to oversee clinical/administrative issues in provisional implementation. Each pragmatic trial design feature is argued to have contributed to sustainment of CM. Contributions implicate the building of setting proprietorship for the CM intervention, culling of internal staff expertise in its delivery, iterative use of assessment methods that limited setting burden, documentation of setting-specific clinical effectiveness, expanded penetration of CM among staff during provisional implementation, and promotion of setting self-reliance in the oversight of sustainable implementation procedures

  18. Telegerontology as a Novel Approach to Address Health and Safety by Supporting Community-Based Rural Dementia Care Triads: Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallack, Elizabeth M; Harris, Chelsea; Ploughman, Michelle; Butler, Roger

    2018-02-22

    Telegerontology is an approach using videoconferencing to connect an interdisciplinary team in a regional specialty center to patients in rural communities, which is becoming increasingly practical for addressing current limitations in rural community-based dementia care. Using the remotely-delivered expertise of the Telegerontology dementia care team, we aim to enhance the caregiver/patient/physician triad and thereby provide the necessary support for the person with dementia to "age in place." This is a cluster randomized feasibility trial with four rural regions in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (2 regions randomly assigned to "intervention" and 2 to "control"). The study population includes 22 "dementia triads" that consist of a community-dwelling older Canadian with moderate to late dementia, their family caregivers, and their Primary Care Physician (PCP). Over the 6-month active study period, all participants will be provided an iPad. The intervention is intended as an adjunct to existing PCP care, consisting of weekly Skype-based videoconferencing calls with the Telegerontology physician, and other team members as needed (occupational therapist, physical therapist etc). Control participants receive usual community-based dementia care with their PCP. A baseline (pre-) assessment will be performed during a home visit with the study team. Post intervention, 6- and 12-month follow-up assessments will be collected remotely using specialized dementia monitoring applications and Skype calls. Primary outcomes include admission to long-term care, falls, emergency room visits, hospital stays, and caregiver burden. Results will be available in March of 2018. Results from this study will demonstrate a novel approach to dementia care that has the potential to impact both rural PCPs, family caregivers, and people with dementia, as well as provide evidence for the utility of Telegerontology in models of eHealth-based care. ©Elizabeth M. Wallack, Chelsea

  19. Perception and description of premium beers by panels with different degrees of product expertise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Giacalone, Davide; Ribeiro, Leticia Machado; Frøst, Michael Bom

    2016-01-01

    of consumers, classified according to their self-assessed product expertise into “Novices” (N = 14) and “Enthusiasts” (N = 26). The sensory panel at a large brewery, and a group of master brewers constituted the third panel (“Experts”, N = 15). The Napping® data from the three panels were digitalized using...

  20. Sustainable network of independent technical expertise for radioactive waste disposal (SITEX)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Serres, Christophe; Rocher, Muriel [Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses (France); Bernier, Frederic [FANC, Brussels (Belgium); Havlova, Vaclava [UJV Rez, a.s., Rez (Czech Republic); Mrskova, Adela [DECOM A.S., Trnava (Slovakia); Dubreuil, Gilles Heriard [MUTADIS, Paris (France)

    2013-07-01

    SITEX is a 24 months FP7 Euratom project (from January 2012 to December 2013) led by IRSN and bringing together organisations representing technical safety organisations and nuclear safety authorities performing technical and scientific assessment of geological disposals for radioactive waste in the framework of their respective national regulatory review process of the safety case. Civil society outreach specialists of interaction with civil society are also involved in the project. SITEX aims at establishing the conditions required for developing sustainable interactions among experts from various horizons (nuclear safety authorities, technical safety organisations, civil society organisations..) capable of developing and coordinating joint and harmonized activities in relation with the safety assessment of the safety case. Among foreseen activities, partnership with the civil society experts is considered as a key function of the future network in order to contribute in enhancing trust in the decision making process. The SITEX program of work is split into a set of six workpackages that address technical and organizational issues allowing in fine to propose a structure of the activities and operating modes of the future network. These issues relate on the one hand to the study of the potential for sharing and developing technical expertise practices independently from the expertise developed by waste management organisations, on the other hand on the ability to implement coordinated R and D programs run by technical safety organisations in order to develop the scientific knowledge necessary to perform technical assessments. (orig.)