WorldWideScience

Sample records for policy deliberation aboutwhich

  1. Changing Policy Framing as a Deliberate Strategy for Public Health Advocacy: A Qualitative Policy Case Study of Minimum Unit Pricing of Alcohol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Bond, Lyndal; Hilton, Shona

    2014-01-01

    Context Scotland is the first country in the world to pass legislation introducing a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in an attempt to reduce consumption and associated harms by increasing the price of the cheapest alcohol. We investigated the competing ways in which policy stakeholders presented the debate. We then established whether a change in framing helped explain the policy's emergence. Methods We conducted a detailed policy case study through analysis of evidence submitted to the Scottish parliament, and in-depth, one-to-one interviews (n = 36) with politicians, civil servants, advocates, researchers, and industry representatives. Findings Public- and voluntary-sector stakeholders tended to support MUP, while industry representatives were more divided. Two markedly different ways of presenting alcohol as a policy problem were evident. Critics of MUP (all of whom were related to industry) emphasized social disorder issues, particularly among young people, and hence argued for targeted approaches. In contrast, advocates for MUP (with the exception of those in industry) focused on alcohol as a health issue arising from overconsumption at a population level, thus suggesting that population-based interventions were necessary. Industry stakeholders favoring MUP adopted a hybrid framing, maintaining several aspects of the critical framing. Our interview data showed that public health advocates worked hard to redefine the policy issue by deliberately presenting a consistent alternative framing. Conclusions Framing alcohol policy as a broad, multisectoral, public health issue that requires a whole-population approach has been crucial to enabling policymakers to seriously consider MUP, and public health advocates intentionally presented alcohol policy in this way. This reframing helped prioritize public health considerations in the policy debate and represents a deliberate strategy for consideration by those advocating for policy change around the world and in

  2. Changing policy framing as a deliberate strategy for public health advocacy: a qualitative policy case study of minimum unit pricing of alcohol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Bond, Lyndal; Hilton, Shona

    2014-06-01

    Scotland is the first country in the world to pass legislation introducing a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in an attempt to reduce consumption and associated harms by increasing the price of the cheapest alcohol. We investigated the competing ways in which policy stakeholders presented the debate. We then established whether a change in framing helped explain the policy's emergence. We conducted a detailed policy case study through analysis of evidence submitted to the Scottish parliament, and in-depth, one-to-one interviews (n = 36) with politicians, civil servants, advocates, researchers, and industry representatives. Public- and voluntary-sector stakeholders tended to support MUP, while industry representatives were more divided. Two markedly different ways of presenting alcohol as a policy problem were evident. Critics of MUP (all of whom were related to industry) emphasized social disorder issues, particularly among young people, and hence argued for targeted approaches. In contrast, advocates for MUP (with the exception of those in industry) focused on alcohol as a health issue arising from overconsumption at a population level, thus suggesting that population-based interventions were necessary. Industry stakeholders favoring MUP adopted a hybrid framing, maintaining several aspects of the critical framing. Our interview data showed that public health advocates worked hard to redefine the policy issue by deliberately presenting a consistent alternative framing. Framing alcohol policy as a broad, multisectoral, public health issue that requires a whole-population approach has been crucial to enabling policymakers to seriously consider MUP, and public health advocates intentionally presented alcohol policy in this way. This reframing helped prioritize public health considerations in the policy debate and represents a deliberate strategy for consideration by those advocating for policy change around the world and in other public health areas. © 2014

  3. In the public interest: assessing expert and stakeholder influence in public deliberation about biobanks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacLean, Samantha; Burgess, Michael M

    2010-07-01

    Providing technical and experiential information without overwhelming participants' perspectives presents a major challenge to public involvement in policy decisions. This article reports the design and analysis of a case study on incorporating expert and stakeholder knowledge without including them as deliberators, while supporting deliberative participants' ability to introduce and critically assess different perspectives. Analysis of audio-recorded deliberations illustrates how expert and stakeholder knowledge was cited, criticized and incorporated into deliberations. In conclusion, separating experts and stakeholders from deliberations may be an important prima facie principle when the goal is to enhance citizen representation on technical issues and related policy.

  4. A method for the deliberate and deliberative selection of policy instrument mixes for climate change adaptation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heleen L. P. Mees

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Policy instruments can help put climate adaptation plans into action. Here, we propose a method for the systematic assessment and selection of policy instruments for stimulating adaptation action. The multi-disciplinary set of six assessment criteria is derived from economics, policy, and legal studies. These criteria are specified for the purpose of climate adaptation by taking into account four challenges to the governance of climate adaptation: uncertainty, spatial diversity, controversy, and social complexity. The six criteria and four challenges are integrated into a step-wise method that enables the selection of instruments starting from a generic assessment and ending with a specific assessment of policy instrument mixes for the stimulation of a specific adaptation measure. We then apply the method to three examples of adaptation measures. The method's merits lie in enabling deliberate choices through a holistic and comprehensive set of adaptation specific criteria, as well as deliberative choices by offering a stepwise method that structures an informed dialog on instrument selection. Although the method was created and applied by scientific experts, policy-makers can also use the method.

  5. Fostering citizen deliberations on the social acceptability of renewable fuels policy: The case of advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Longstaff, Holly; Secko, David M.; Capurro, Gabriela; Hanney, Patricia; McIntyre, Terry

    2015-01-01

    It is widely recognized that a lack of social acceptance is likely to hinder the ability of governments to achieve policy targets concerning renewable energies. In this paper, we discuss the results of a pre- and post-test online survey that was conducted as part of the 2012 “Advanced Biofuels” deliberative democracy public engagement event in Montréal, Québec. The event sough to foster public learning and discussion in order to produce socially acceptable policy input for one type of renewable energy: advanced lignocellulosic biofuels. Survey results show that the majority of participants were strongly supportive of advanced lignocellulosic biofuel development in Canada after the deliberative event. By the end of the event, support also grew for current Canadian biofuel policies and many agreed that increasing biofuel production should be widely supported by the Canadian public. However, despite this support, about two thirds of participants revealed that they did not feel included in government decisions about biofuels. The gap between support after inclusive deliberation and expressed exclusion from Canadian government decisions points to the importance of fostering future citizen engagements in this area of renewable energy policy. - Highlights: • We analyze outputs from the 2012 “Advanced Biofuels” deliberative democracy event. • We focus on social acceptance levels of advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in Canada. • Participants became less supportive of using food crops after the deliberation. • The majority were also supportive of current federal policy after the event. • However, most did not feel included in government decisions about biofuels

  6. Post Rio Communication Styles for Deliberation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holm, Jesper; Almlund, Pernille

    2015-01-01

    The communicative turn in planning, multi-layered governance and governmentality are analytical concepts from various schools of thought to comprehend the emergence of new types of publicprivate politics when it comes to complex, wicked issues such as sustainability or the 3rd wave of public health......: health promotion. The paper explores a research approach to compare two different policy communication tracks in order to conceive various impacts on deliberation. The tracks are constructed along the narratives individual-collective & consensus-conflictual in the discursive framing of political...... communication. We build on an ANT inspired methodology and look into two simultaneously evolving political agendas during the last two decades - sustainability and health promotion - that have framed communication efforts, campaigns and politics in general. How is public participation and deliberation...

  7. Engaging Youth and Pre-Service Teachers in Immigration Deliberations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Shannon M.

    2015-01-01

    In this report of innovative teacher practice, the author describes an arts-based event which brought together adolescent refugee and immigrant students and pre-service teachers to deliberate about immigration policies and attitudes in the United States.

  8. Voluntarism and transparent deliberation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steglich-Petersen, Asbjørn

    2006-01-01

    It is widely assumed that doxastic deliberation is transparent to the factual question of the truth of the proposition being considered for belief, and that this sets doxastic deliberation apart from practical deliberation. This feature is frequently invoked in arguments against doxastic voluntar......It is widely assumed that doxastic deliberation is transparent to the factual question of the truth of the proposition being considered for belief, and that this sets doxastic deliberation apart from practical deliberation. This feature is frequently invoked in arguments against doxastic...

  9. Is Deliberation a Laudable Goal When Policy Is a "Done Deal"? The Habermasian Public Sphere and Legitimacy in a Market Era of Education Policymaking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappas, Liza N.

    2016-01-01

    The state mandated public hearings concerning school closing proposals in New York City provide a window into a diverse set of policy actors and their deliberations. Opposition to school closures is often cast as entrenched interests, emotional attachment, support for the status quo or at worst negligence. However, content analysis reveals that…

  10. Deliberate Self Harm Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatma Gul Helvaci Celik

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The deliberate self-harm behaviour which defined as attempting to own body resulting in tisue damage without conscious desire of peolple to die, is a major public health problem worldwide. The causes of deliberate self- harm, risk factors, the relationship between mental disorders and treatment strategies are not fully known. Deliberate self- harm can be observed together with psychiatric disorders such as borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, eating disorders and mood disorders. Also, deliberate self-harm must be distinguished from suicidal behavior. Psychologi-cal trauma has been suggested as a risk factor for deliberate self- harm behavior. Trauma and traumatic events have long been associated with deliberate self- harm behavior. The aim of this review article is to investigate the etiology and epidemiology of deliberate self-harm behaviour and relationship between psychiatric disorders. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2017; 9(2.000: 209-226

  11. Creating informed public opinion: citizen deliberation about nanotechnologies for human enhancements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cobb, Michael D.

    2011-01-01

    Many people believe that ordinary citizens should influence scientific and technological developments, but the American public is routinely uninformed about these issues. As a solution, some scholars advocate creating informed public opinions by encouraging citizens to deliberate about the issues. Although this idea is currently widely applauded in the science and technology literature, deliberative outcomes are infrequently measured and the practice of deliberation is routinely criticized in other disciplines. This research contributes to our understanding of the effectiveness of citizen deliberation as a method for increasing public engagement with science. I report data measuring results of deliberation in a national citizens’ technology forum (NCTF) about nanotechnologies for human enhancement. The NCTF was a month-long process involving six groups of 9–15 ordinary citizens who deliberated in different locations across the United States with the goal of reaching consensus about policy recommendations within their groups. I find that structured deliberation generated informed opinions, sometimes meaningful shifts in preferences, and increased trust and internal efficacy among the participants. Nevertheless, the NCTF has important shortcomings, and it is not obvious that consensus conferences should be preferred over other mechanisms for creating informed opinions. Future research is needed to corroborate the findings of this study and to systematically compare outcomes of structured citizen deliberation to other less resource intensive forms of engagement.

  12. Sociopolitical drivers in the development of deliberate carbon storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephens, Jennie C.

    The idea of engineering the storage of carbon released from fossil fuel burning in reservoirs other than the atmosphere has developed in the past 20 years from an obscure idea to an increasingly recognized potential approach that could be an important contributor to stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Despite the intense application of scientific and technological expertise to the development of options for deliberate carbon storage, nontechnical factors play an important role. This chapter identifies sociopolitical, nontechnical factors that have contributed to the development of ideas and technologies associated with deliberate carbon storage. Broadly, interest in deliberate storage has expanded in response to increasing societal attention to reducing CO2 emissions for climate change mitigation. Specific societal groups, or stakeholders, which have contributed to the recent focus on carbon storage include the fossil fuel industry that has been shifting to a strategy of confronting rather than denying the CO2-climate change connection, a scientific community motivated by an increased sense of urgency of the need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the general public with little knowledge about or awareness of carbon storage, and environmental advocacy groups that have demonstrated some divergence in levels of support for deliberate carbon storage. Among the policy mechanisms that have provided incentives for deliberate carbon storage are national accounting of carbon sources and sinks and carbon taxes. Another driver with particular importance in the United States is the political preference of some politicians to support development of advanced technologies for climate change mitigation rather than supporting mandatory CO2 regulations.

  13. Aims and harvest of moral case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weidema, Froukje C; Molewijk, Bert A C; Kamsteeg, Frans; Widdershoven, Guy A M

    2013-09-01

    Deliberative ways of dealing with ethical issues in health care are expanding. Moral case deliberation is an example, providing group-wise, structured reflection on dilemmas from practice. Although moral case deliberation is well described in literature, aims and results of moral case deliberation sessions are unknown. This research shows (a) why managers introduce moral case deliberation and (b) what moral case deliberation participants experience as moral case deliberation results. A responsive evaluation was conducted, explicating moral case deliberation experiences by analysing aims (N = 78) and harvest (N = 255). A naturalistic data collection included interviews with managers and evaluation questionnaires of moral case deliberation participants (nurses). From the analysis, moral case deliberation appeals for cooperation, team bonding, critical attitude towards routines and nurses' empowerment. Differences are that managers aim to foster identity of the nursing profession, whereas nurses emphasize learning processes and understanding perspectives. We conclude that moral case deliberation influences team cooperation that cannot be controlled with traditional management tools, but requires time and dialogue. Exchanging aims and harvest between manager and team could result in co-creating (moral) practice in which improvements for daily cooperation result from bringing together perspectives of managers and team members.

  14. Voluntarism and transparent deliberation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steglich-Petersen, Asbjørn

    2006-01-01

    voluntarism. I argue that transparency to factual questions occurs in practical deliberation in ways parallel to transparency in doxastic deliberation. I argue that this should make us reconsider the appeal to transparency in arguments against doxastic voluntarism, and the wider issue of distinguishing...... theoretical from practical rationality....

  15. Public Deliberation as a Teaching Andragogy: Implications for Adult Student Learning from a Doctoral Higher Education Policy Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Matthew; Partlo, Margaret; Hullender, Tammy; Akanwa, Emmanuel; Burke, Heather; Todd, Jerry; Alwood, Christine

    2014-01-01

    Public deliberation provides an inclusive and robust mechanism for making shared decisions in community and political settings; however, its application to teaching and learning remains underutilized (McMillan & Harriger, 2007). This manuscript reports on a case study of the use of public deliberation as a teaching andragogy in a graduate…

  16. The Effect Specialization and Diversification Involvement on Learning of Sports Skills According To Deliberate Practice and Deliberate Play

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Fahimi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim was effect deliberate practice and deliberate play on sports skills with emphasis on specialization and diversification in boys 10-12. Methods: The 120 male students randomly divided into four groups of volleyball, soccer, basketball deliberate practice and deliberate play. Pretest and posttest were AAHPERD volleyball, soccer, and Basketball sports skills. Duration of the project was 16 weeks and 3 sessions per week and 90 minutes each session began. Data obtained from questionnaires and personal details about sports experience and test were adjusted using parametric tests, such as T-dependent test and MANOVA with Tukey post hoc test, and software Statistical SPSS19. Results: The results of the study showed that compared four groups, deliberate plays to other deliberate practices have a better motor skill in volleyball, soccer and Basketball sports skills (P<0.05. Volleyball and soccer deliberate practice group had developed Soccer Dribble Test and Control dribble and Defensive movement basketball skills test. Basketball deliberate practice group had not developed the others soccer and volleyball skills. Conclusion: The results showed that diversification participation in some exercises during the early stages of growth, can facilitate the development of general cognitive and physiological skills and create a rich environment for children.

  17. Deliberate Self-Harm within an International Community Sample of Young People: Comparative Findings from the Child & Adolescent Self-Harm in Europe (CASE) Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madge, Nicola; Hewitt, Anthea; Hawton, Keith; de Wilde, Erik Jan; Corcoran, Paul; Fekete, Sandor; van Heeringen, Kees; De Leo, Diego; Ystgaard, Mette

    2008-01-01

    Background: Deliberate self-harm among young people is an important focus of policy and practice internationally. Nonetheless, there is little reliable comparative international information on its extent or characteristics. We have conducted a seven-country comparative community study of deliberate self-harm among young people. Method: Over 30,000…

  18. Deliberation as Communication Instruction: A Study of a Climate Change Deliberation in an Introductory Biology Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, Sara A. Mehltretter

    2015-01-01

    The author argues that deliberation is an innovative method for teaching communication skills, particularly group communication, in the undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum. A case study using a deliberation activity on global climate change in an introductory biology course demonstrates how deliberative…

  19. Deliberate honesty

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bereby-Meyer, Y.; Shalvi, S.

    2015-01-01

    Studies on lying, especially on inhibiting honest responses and generating dishonest responses, suggest that honesty is the default behavior and dishonesty requires deliberate effort. Here, we argue that when lying serves self-interest, that is, when lying is tempting and lies are easy to craft,

  20. Intuition, deliberation, and the evolution of cooperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bear, Adam; Rand, David G

    2016-01-26

    Humans often cooperate with strangers, despite the costs involved. A long tradition of theoretical modeling has sought ultimate evolutionary explanations for this seemingly altruistic behavior. More recently, an entirely separate body of experimental work has begun to investigate cooperation's proximate cognitive underpinnings using a dual-process framework: Is deliberative self-control necessary to reign in selfish impulses, or does self-interested deliberation restrain an intuitive desire to cooperate? Integrating these ultimate and proximate approaches, we introduce dual-process cognition into a formal game-theoretic model of the evolution of cooperation. Agents play prisoner's dilemma games, some of which are one-shot and others of which involve reciprocity. They can either respond by using a generalized intuition, which is not sensitive to whether the game is one-shot or reciprocal, or pay a (stochastically varying) cost to deliberate and tailor their strategy to the type of game they are facing. We find that, depending on the level of reciprocity and assortment, selection favors one of two strategies: intuitive defectors who never deliberate, or dual-process agents who intuitively cooperate but sometimes use deliberation to defect in one-shot games. Critically, selection never favors agents who use deliberation to override selfish impulses: Deliberation only serves to undermine cooperation with strangers. Thus, by introducing a formal theoretical framework for exploring cooperation through a dual-process lens, we provide a clear answer regarding the role of deliberation in cooperation based on evolutionary modeling, help to organize a growing body of sometimes-conflicting empirical results, and shed light on the nature of human cognition and social decision making.

  1. [THE FORMS OF DELIBERATION INVOLVED IN THE FIELD OF BIOETHICS: TECHNIQUE DELIBERATION AND ETHICS DELIBERATION].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neves Pinto, Gerson

    2015-12-01

    In this article the author examines the formulation of the problem of new technologies with their ethical limits and legal. To do this, in a first it is d'assess the contribuitions of the two most important contemporary philosophers who have treated this subject: Jürgen Habermas and Ronald Dworkin, while trying to put them into dialog with the one who has been one of the founders of l'classic ethics: Aristotle. Then, it tries to answer the question of how could we understand this notion that Dworkin nome "moral dislocation" between the random and the choice or well, as the appointed Habermas, "l'extension of the contingency". Finally, we questioned how the Aristotelian distinction between the technical deliberation and deliberative ethical-moral can contribute to a better understanding of the questions on the decisions and choices that will make the moral agents (such as patients or the judges), as well as those relating to the type of deliberation technique chosen by the doctor or by the health professional.

  2. Designing Deliberation Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rose, Jeremy; Sæbø, Øystein

    2010-01-01

    the potential to revitalize and transform citizen engagement in democracy.  Although the majority of web 2.0 systems enable these discourses to some extent, government institutions commission and manage specialized deliberation systems (information systems designed to support participative discourse) intended...... to promote citizen engagement.  The most common examples of these are political discussion forums.  Though usually considered trivial adaptations of well-known technologies, these types of deliberative systems are often unsuccessful, and present a distinct set of design and management challenges.......  In this article we analyze the issues involved in establishing political deliberation systems under four headings: stakeholder engagement, web platform design, service management, political process re-shaping and evaluation and improvement.  We review the existing literature and present a longitudinal case study...

  3. Procedures and Methods for Cross-community Online Deliberation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cyril Velikanov

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we introduce our model of self-regulated mass online deliberation, and apply it to a context of cross-border deliberation involving translation of contributions between participating languages, and then to a context of cross-community online deliberation for dispute resolution, e.g. between opposing ethnic or religious communities. In such a cross-border or cross-community context, online deliberation should preferably progress as a sequence of segmented phases each followed by a combining phase. In a segmented phase, each community deliberates separately, and selects their best contributions for being presented to all other communities. Selection is made by using our proposed mechanism of mutual moderation and appraisal of contributions by participants themselves. In the subsequent combining phase, the selected contributions are translated (by volunteering or randomly selected participants among those who have specified appropriate language skills and presented to target segments for further appraisal and commenting. Our arguments in support of the proposed mutual moderation and appraisal procedures remain mostly speculative, as the whole subject of mass online self-regulatory deliberation still remains largely unexplored, and there exist no practical realisation of it .

  4. Homo Ignorans: Deliberately Choosing Not to Know.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hertwig, Ralph; Engel, Christoph

    2016-05-01

    Western history of thought abounds with claims that knowledge is valued and sought. Yet people often choose not to know. We call the conscious choice not to seek or use knowledge (or information) deliberate ignorance. Using examples from a wide range of domains, we demonstrate that deliberate ignorance has important functions. We systematize types of deliberate ignorance, describe their functions, discuss their normative desirability, and consider how they can be modeled. To date, psychologists have paid relatively little attention to the study of ignorance, let alone the deliberate kind. Yet the desire not to know is no anomaly. It is a choice to seek rather than reduce uncertainty whose reasons require nuanced cognitive and economic theories and whose consequences-for the individual and for society-require analyses of both actor and environment. © The Author(s) 2016.

  5. Deliberate change without hierarchical influence?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørskov, Sladjana; Kesting, Peter; Ulhøi, John Parm

    2017-01-01

    reveals that deliberate change is indeed achievable in a non-hierarchical collaborative OSS community context. However, it presupposes the presence and active involvement of informal change agents. The paper identifies and specifies four key drivers for change agents’ influence. Originality....../value The findings contribute to organisational analysis by providing a deeper understanding of the importance of leadership in making deliberate change possible in non-hierarchical settings. It points to the importance of “change-by-conviction”, essentially based on voluntary behaviour. This can open the door...

  6. Establishing Political Deliberation Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rose, Jeremy; Sæbø, Øystein

    2008-01-01

    The extension and transformation of political participation is dependent on widespread deliberation supported by information and communication technologies.  The most commonly found examples of these eParticipation systems are political discussion forums.  Though much of the discussion...... of these technologies is conducted in the eGovernment and (particularly) the eDemocracy literature, political discussion forums present a distinct set of design and management challenges which relate directly to IS concerns. In this article we analyze problems in establishing political deliberation systems under five...... headings: stakeholder engagement, web platform design, web platform management, political process re-shaping and evaluation and improvement. We review the existing literature and present a longitudinal case study of a political discussion forum: the Norwegian DemokratiTorget (Democracy Square).  We define...

  7. Policy Game, Online Game--Simulated: Applying the Ecology of Policy Game to Virtual World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Yong Jin

    2012-01-01

    Teaching communication policy to young college students can be a challenge. Students often consider law and policy as difficult, abstract, or even unrelated to their lives. Yet experienced teachers note that students--especially those who are first exposed to regulatory concepts--benefit when they actively participate, engage, and deliberate for…

  8. Evaluation and perceived results of moral case deliberation: A mixed methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janssens, Rien M J P A; van Zadelhoff, Ezra; van Loo, Ger; Widdershoven, Guy A M; Molewijk, Bert A C

    2015-12-01

    Moral case deliberation is increasingly becoming part of various Dutch healthcare organizations. Although some evaluation studies of moral case deliberation have been carried out, research into the results of moral case deliberation within aged care is scarce. How did participants evaluate moral case deliberation? What has moral case deliberation brought to them? What has moral case deliberation contributed to care practice? Should moral case deliberation be further implemented and, if so, how? Quantitative analysis of a questionnaire study among participants of moral case deliberation, both caregivers and team leaders. Qualitative analysis of written answers to open questions, interview study and focus group meetings among caregivers and team leaders. Caregivers and team leaders in a large organization for aged care in the Netherlands. A total of 61 moral case deliberation sessions, carried out on 16 care locations belonging to the organization, were evaluated and perceived results were assessed. Participants gave informed consent and anonymity was guaranteed. In the Netherlands, the law does not prescribe independent ethical review by an Institutional Review Board for this kind of research among healthcare professionals. Moral case deliberation was evaluated positively by the participants. Content and atmosphere of moral case deliberation received high scores, while organizational issues regarding the moral case deliberation sessions scored lower and merit further attention. Respondents indicated that moral case deliberation has the potential to contribute to care practice as relationships among team members improve, more openness is experienced and more understanding for different perspectives is fostered. If moral case deliberation is to be successfully implemented, top-down approaches should go hand in hand with bottom-up approaches. The relevance of moral case deliberation for care practice received wide acknowledgement from the respondents. It can contribute

  9. Production-phase greenhouse gas emissions arising from deliberate withdrawal and destruction of fresh fruit and vegetables under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porter, Stephen D; Reay, David S; Bomberg, Elizabeth; Higgins, Peter

    2018-08-01

    Since 1962 the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has enabled payment of subsidy to some food producers for withdrawal of specific commodities - including fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) - where market prices have fallen below a pre-set level. These deliberate withdrawals have led to large amounts of usable food (~60% of withdrawals) being destroyed on farms across the EU. Such wasted food incurs a significant climate change cost through its production-phase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here, we assess the magnitude of this FFV withdrawal and destruction, its spatial and temporal trends, and its associated GHG emissions between 1989 and 2015. We find the total mass of avoidable FFV losses occurring as a result of these EU CAP market interventions for this 26-year period to be 23.6Mt. The production-phase GHG emissions associated with the withdrawn FFV that was subsequently destroyed amount to 5.1Mt CO 2 e over this period. We also find that, with each successive Common Market Organisation (CMO) reform there has been a marked reduction (~95% between 1989 and 2015) in the quantity of such deliberate withdrawals. Surprisingly, however, whilst the absolute quantity of FFV withdrawn and destroyed has fallen, the proportion of withdrawals that is destroyed remained roughly static at an average of about 60%. Finally, to inform debate on action needed to address FFV specifically, and food loss and waste more generally, we highlight potential scenarios and mechanisms to reduce withdrawals, avoid FFV destruction and improve alternative use of withdrawn food in the future. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. The epistemic-teleologic model of deliberate self-persuasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maio, Gregory R; Thomas, Geoff

    2007-02-01

    Although past theory and research point to the importance of understanding deliberate self-persuasion (i.e., deliberate self-induced attitude change), there have been no empirical and theoretical efforts to model this process. This article proposes a new model to help understand the process, while comparing the process of deliberate self-persuasion with relevant theory and research. The core feature of this model is a distinction between epistemic processes, which involve attempting to form new valid attitudes, and teleologic processes, which involve self-induced attitude change but with minimal concerns for validity. The epistemic processes employ tactics of reinterpretation, reattribution, reintegration, retesting, changing comparators, and changing dimensions of comparison. The teleologic processes include suppression, preemption, distraction, and concentration. By mapping these processes, this model helps to generate many novel and testable hypotheses about the use of deliberate self-persuasion to cope with ambivalent attitudes.

  11. Deliberating on intersectionality: women’s conferences in Recife

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria-Hélène Sa Vilas Boas

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Under what conditions can deliberation include marginalized social groups? Several feminist authors criticize deliberative theory for reproducing power relations between social groups. They defend the explicit recognition of marginalized social groups within deliberative devices. This article aims to analyze the dynamics of deliberation when it gathers a traditionally underrepresented group, women. Based on the study of women’s conferences in Recife, it shows that the combination the politics of recognition and deliberation can lead both to the integration and marginalization of different actors within the group of women, depending on the resources they have available to voice their perspectives.

  12. Freedom of Expression, Deliberation, Autonomy and Respect

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rostbøll, Christian F.

    2011-01-01

    This paper elaborates on the deliberative democracy argument for freedom of expression in terms of its relationship to different dimensions of autonomy. It engages the objection that Enlightenment theories pose a threat to cultures that reject autonomy and argues that autonomy-based democracy...... is not only compatible with but necessary for respect for cultural diversity. On the basis of an intersubjective epistemology, it argues that people cannot know how to live on mutually respectful terms without engaging in public deliberation and develop some degree of personal autonomy. While freedom...... of expression is indispensable for deliberation and autonomy, this does not mean that people have no obligations regarding how they speak to each other. The moral insights provided by deliberation depend on the participants in the process treating one another with respect. The argument is related to the Danish...

  13. Deliberation and Scale in Mekong Region Water Governance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dore, John; Lebel, Louis

    2010-07-01

    Understanding the politics of deliberation, scales, and levels is crucial to understanding the social complexity of water-related governance. Deliberative processes might complement and inform more conventional representational and bureaucratic approaches to planning and decision-making. However, they are also subject to scale and level politics, which can confound institutionalized decision-making. Scale and level contests arise in dialogues and related arenas because different actors privilege particular temporal or spatial scales and levels in their analysis, arguments, and responses. Scale contests might include whether to privilege administrative, hydrological, ecosystem, or economic boundaries. Level contests might include whether to privilege the subdistrict or the province, the tributary watershed or the international river basin, a river or a biogeographic region, and the local or the regional economy. In the Mekong Region there is a recurrent demand for water resources development projects and major policies proposed by governments and investors to be scrutinized in public. Deliberative forms of engagement are potentially very helpful because they encourage supporters and critics to articulate assumptions and reasoning about the different opportunities and risks associated with alternative options, and in doing so, they often traverse and enable higher-quality conversations within and across scales and within and between levels. Six case studies from the Mekong Region are examined. We find evidence that scale and level politics affects the context, process, content, and outcomes of deliberative engagement in a region where public deliberation is still far from being a norm, particularly where there are sensitive and far-reaching choices to be made about water use and energy production.

  14. Non-Conscious vs. Deliberate Dynamic Decision-Making—A Pilot Experiment

    OpenAIRE

    Andreas Größler; Etiënne Rouwette; Jac Vennix

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for deliberate cognitive processing), considerate decision-making (relatively long time for deliberate cognitive processing), and distracted decision-making (time for non-conscious cognitive processing ...

  15. Non-conscious vs. deliberate dynamic decision-making—a pilot experiment

    OpenAIRE

    Grössler, A.; Rouwette, E.A.J.A.; Vennix, J.A.M.; Größler, A.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for deliberate cognitive processing), considerate decision-making (relatively long time for deliberate cognitive processing), and distracted decision-making (time for non-conscious cognitive processing ...

  16. The effects of deliberate practice in undergraduate medical education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moulaert, Véronique; Verwijnen, Maarten GM; Rikers, Remy; Scherpbier, Albert JJA

    2004-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Ericsson and colleagues introduced the term 'deliberate practice' to describe training activities that are especially designed to maximise improvement. They stressed that how much one practises is as important as how one practises. Essential aspects of deliberate practice are the

  17. WORKSHOP: Discussion, debate, deliberation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jeliazkova, Margarita I.

    2014-01-01

    Discussing, deliberating and debating are a core part of any democratic process. To organise these processes well, a great deal of knowledge and skill is required. It is not simple to find a good balance between a number of elements: appropriate language and terminology; paying attention to solid

  18. Curricular Deliberation about "Hamlet": An Exercise in the Practical.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siegel, Judith Susan

    This study attempts to clarify and exploit Joseph Schwab's recent and current work on "practical" and "eclectic" curriculums in a simulated deliberation about a concrete curricular question, How might "Hamlet" be taught to one group of high school juniors? By exemplifying curricular deliberation, it aims to clarify…

  19. Democracy and the Internet: Access, Engagement and Deliberation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roman Gerodimos

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The internet has the capacity to facilitate the creation of new forms of civic engagement, but the realisation of these opportunities requires institutional and cultural reinforcement. The democratic character of e-citizenship and the equal distribution of online resources to the public require the fulfilment of four conditions: access, engagement (incorporating education, motivation and trust, meaningful deliberation and a link between civic input and public policy output. Furthermore, the gap between the main features of cyberspace and the inherent prerequisites of democracy, such as a finite space and a set of rules, create tensions that need to be negotiated politically. Although the empirical evidence available includes some encouraging signs regarding the future use of the internet for civic engagement, the existing limitations and obstacles mean that the new media will complement, rather than replace, the old media as a democratic public sphere.

  20. Evaluation and perceived results of moral case deliberation: A mixed methods study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janssens, R.; van Zadelhoff, E.; van Loo, G.; Widdershoven, G.A.; Molewijk, A.C.

    2015-01-01

    Background: Moral case deliberation is increasingly becoming part of various Dutch healthcare organizations. Although some evaluation studies of moral case deliberation have been carried out, research into the results of moral case deliberation within aged care is scarce. Research questions: How did

  1. Deliberate self harm in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnakumar, P; Geeta, M G; Riyaz, A

    2011-05-01

    To study the nature of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in children and to identify the associated factors. Child Guidance Clinic attached to the Department of Pediatrics of a teaching hospital in South India. Children with history of deliberate self harm who were referred to the CGC for psychological evaluation during a 10 year period. Children and parents were interviewed together and separately and details regarding age, sex, family and school environment, stresses and nature of self harm were documented. Psychiatric diagnosis was made based on DSM IV diagnostic criteria. Among the 30 children included in the study, 21 were boys and 9 were girls. Majority of children were between the ages of 11 and 13 years, the youngest being 6 years old. 76%of children had history of acute stressful life events and 62%of them had chronic ongoing stress. 62%of children had stress in the family and 41%had stress at school. Stress in the family included death of a parent, conflicts with parents or siblings, mental illness in the family, parental alcoholism and parental disharmony. Stress at school included conflicts with classmates, punishment or negative comments by teachers and learning problems. Psychiatric disorders were present in 52%of children, the commonest being depressive disorder. The commonest mode of DSH was self poisoning, and rat poison (zinc phosphide) was the commonest substance used. Deliberate self harm occurs in young children and the risk factors are comparable to those in adolescents.

  2. From consultation to deliberation? Tracing deliberative norms in EIA frameworks in Swedish roads planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isaksson, Karolina; Richardson, Tim; Olsson, Krister

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the results of an analysis of deliberative norms in the framework for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in roads planning in Sweden. The more specific question is how this framework has responded to the shift towards more deliberative approaches to planning and decision making, advocated in planning theory and policy literature over the last decade. The analysis, which compares the current framework and guidance with an earlier iteration, identifies a shift towards deliberation; deliberative norms are present, and even dominate recent guidance. However, an instrumental norm permeates both the former and the current guidance, suggesting that even as a language of consultation is replaced by one of deliberation, the intention remains to secure and legitimise a smooth development pathway. Evidence from interviews with professionals working in the Swedish EIA system highlights the difficulties of navigating these uncertainties in practice. By opening up critical analysis of deliberative norms as they shape the conditions for practice, this study contributes to the continuous development of planning practice, by supporting a more normatively reflexive approach to framework-design.

  3. What’s There Not to ‘Like’? Sustainability Deliberations on Facebook

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roy Bendor

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Social media are considered ideal means to promote inclusive political participation by “reaching citizens where they are” in scalable and cost-effective ways. However, with all the excitement about the new virtual public sphere, little attention is given to the technical mediation itself – the affordances of e-deliberation platforms and the kind of interactions they support. In response, this paper aims to thicken the account of the interrelated political and technological contexts of e-deliberation. Using recent Facebook deliberations on sustainable transportation in Vancouver as our example, we argue that different rationales for public participation in policymaking animate different approaches to discourse, which, in turn, inform and are affected by different design and use strategies for e-deliberation platforms. Our argument suggests that the design affordances of e-deliberation represent opportunities to promote or curtail certain visions of a political culture of sustainability.

  4. Incidence Rates of Deliberate Self-Harm in Denmark 1994–2011

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morthorst, Britt Reuter; Soegaard, Bodil; Nordentoft, Merete

    2016-01-01

    Background: The validity and reliability of suicide statistics have been questioned and few nationwide studies of deliberate selfharm have been presented. Aim: To calculate rates of deliberate self-harm in Denmark in order to investigate trends and assess the reliability of hospital records...... incidence of deliberate self-harm among young Danish women was observed, despite detection bias. An improved registration procedure of suicidal behavior is needed....

  5. Ethical case deliberation and decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gracia, Diego

    2003-01-01

    During the last thirty years different methods have been proposed in order to manage and resolve ethical quandaries, specially in the clinical setting. Some of these methodologies are based on the principles of Decision-making theory. Others looked to other philosophical traditions, like Principlism, Hermeneutics, Narrativism, Casuistry, Pragmatism, etc. This paper defends the view that deliberation is the cornerstone of any adequate methodology. This is due to the fact that moral decisions must take into account not only principles and ideas, but also emotions, values and beliefs. Deliberation is the process in which everyone concerned by the decision is considered a valid moral agent, obliged to give reasons for their own points of view, and to listen to the reasons of others. The goal of this process is not the reaching of a consensus but the enrichment of one's own point of view with that of the others, increasing in this way the maturity of one's own decision, in order to make it more wise or prudent. In many cases the members of a group of deliberation will differ in the final solution of the case, but the confrontation of their reasons will modify the perception of the problem of everyone. This is the profit of the process. Our moral decisions cannot be completely rational, due to the fact that they are influenced by feelings, values, beliefs, etc., but they must be reasonable, that is, wise and prudent. Deliberation is the main procedure to reach this goal. It obliges us to take others into account, respecting their different beliefs and values and prompting them to give reasons for their own points of view. This method has been traditional in Western clinical medicine all over its history, and it should be also the main procedure for clinical ethics.

  6. Sources of bias in clinical ethics case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magelssen, Morten; Pedersen, Reidar; Førde, Reidun

    2014-10-01

    A central task for clinical ethics consultants and committees (CEC) is providing analysis of, and advice on, prospective or retrospective clinical cases. However, several kinds of biases may threaten the integrity, relevance or quality of the CEC's deliberation. Bias should be identified and, if possible, reduced or counteracted. This paper provides a systematic classification of kinds of bias that may be present in a CEC's case deliberation. Six kinds of bias are discussed, with examples, as to their significance and risk factors. Possible remedies are suggested. The potential for bias is greater when the case deliberation is performed by an individual ethics consultant than when an entire clinical ethics committee is involved. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  7. Good Will: Cosmopolitan Education as a Site for Deliberation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Klas

    2011-01-01

    Why should we deliberate? I discuss a Kantian response to this query and argue that we cannot as rational beings avoid deliberation in principle; and that we have good reasons to consider the value and strength of Kant's philosophical investigations concerning fundamental moral issues and their relevance for the question of why we ought to…

  8. Improving drug policy: The potential of broader democratic participation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, Alison; Lancaster, Kari; Diprose, Rosalyn

    2018-05-01

    Policies concerned with illicit drugs vex governments. While the 'evidence-based policy' paradigm argues that governments should be informed by 'what works', in practice policy makers rarely operate this way. Moreover the evidence-based policy paradigm fails to account for democratic participatory processes, particularly how community members and people who use drugs might be included. The aim of this paper is to explore the political science thinking about democratic participation and the potential afforded in 'deliberative democracy' approaches, such as Citizens Juries and other mini-publics for improved drug policy processes. Deliberative democracy, through its focus on inclusion, equality and reasoned discussion, shows potential for drug policy reform and shifts the focus from reliance on and privileging of experts and scientific evidence. But the very nature of this kind of 'deliberation' may delimit participation, notably through its insistence on authorised modes of communication. Other forms of participation beyond reasoned deliberation aligned with the ontological view that participatory processes themselves are constitutive of subject positions and policy problems, may generate opportunities for considering how the deleterious effects of authorised modes of communication might be overcome. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Bringing values and deliberation to science communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietz, Thomas

    2013-08-20

    Decisions always involve both facts and values, whereas most science communication focuses only on facts. If science communication is intended to inform decisions, it must be competent with regard to both facts and values. Public participation inevitably involves both facts and values. Research on public participation suggests that linking scientific analysis to public deliberation in an iterative process can help decision making deal effectively with both facts and values. Thus, linked analysis and deliberation can be an effective tool for science communication. However, challenges remain in conducting such process at the national and global scales, in enhancing trust, and in reconciling diverse values.

  10. Integrating Deliberative Justice Theory into Social Work Policy Pedagogy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrow, Helen

    2011-01-01

    Deliberation that upholds the social work values of justice and inclusion is an essential component of the policy-making process; yet most social welfare policy curricula focus instead on the goals of distributive justice. This article presents a model that demonstrates how deliberative justice can be easily incorporated into beginning level…

  11. Cultivating Mathematical Skills: From Drill-and-Practice to Deliberate Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehtinen, Erno; Hannula-Sormunen, Minna; McMullen, Jake; Gruber, Hans

    2017-01-01

    Contemporary theories of expertise development highlight the crucial role of deliberate practice in the development of high level performance. Deliberate practice is practice that intentionally aims at improving one's skills and competencies. It is not a mechanical or repetitive process of making performance more fluid. Instead, it involves a…

  12. How Should We Deliberate? Between the Argumentative and the Representative Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tutui Viorel

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: My paper focuses on an important subject of the contemporary theory of democracy: what is the relationship between the argumentative and the representative dimensions of deliberative democracy? Using James Fishkin’s account of deliberative democracy and its relations with other democratic models I will argue that there is a severe conflict between these two dimensions: the attempt to enhance the value of argumentation presupposes a decrease in the representative value and the attempt to enhance the representative value results in a decrease in the argumentative value. This conflict is generated by what I call ‘the paradox of democratic deliberation’: the legitimacy of political decisions demands for the ‘raw’ opinion of the citizens, while the epistemic rightness of political decisions demands for a ‘filtered’ public opinion. But we cannot have both. In the final part of this paper I will sustain a moderate conception regarding the role of deliberation in democracy which offers us a way around this paradox but only at the price of significantly reducing the importance of deliberation.

  13. Improving policy implementation through collaborative policymaking

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ansell, Christopher; Sørensen, Eva; Torfing, Jacob

    2017-01-01

    We offer a fresh perspective on implementation problems by suggesting that collaborative policy design and adaptive policy implementation will help public policy makers to improve policy execution. Classical implementation theories have focused too narrowly on administrative stumbling blocks and ...... collaborative policymaking and adaptive policy implementation might work in theory and practice......We offer a fresh perspective on implementation problems by suggesting that collaborative policy design and adaptive policy implementation will help public policy makers to improve policy execution. Classical implementation theories have focused too narrowly on administrative stumbling blocks...... and New Public Management has reinforced the split between politics and administration. Attempts to improve policy implementation must begin by looking at policy design, which can be improved through collaboration and deliberation between upstream and downstream actors. We provide a broad overview of how...

  14. Deliberate interventions in the availability and circulation of practice elements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quitzau, Maj-Britt; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    competences in relation to the heating system. Otherwise, the circulating ideas about comfort and the daily practices performed in the house remained unchanged. On the basis of these findings, we highlight how the considerations done by the urban government prior to the project and the negotiations undertaken...... of practices can help to inform policy makers in this regard, there is a need for more detailed insight into how such deliberate interventions are performed in practice and intersect with the availability and circulation of practice elements, among others. The aim of this paper is to explore the considerations...... area by setting up very strict requirements to the energy performance of the new buildings. Through qualitative interviews with the urban government, the building companies and the involved families, we have studied how this intervention hindered the circulation of certain practice elements, while...

  15. Ethical case deliberation on the ward. A comparison of four methods.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steinkamp, N.L.; Gordijn, B.

    2003-01-01

    The objective of this article is to analyse and compare four methods of ethical case deliberation. These include Clinical Pragmatism, The Nijmegen Method of ethical case deliberation, Hermeneutic dialogue, and Socratic dialogue. The origin of each method will be briefly sketched. Furthermore, the

  16. Suicide Following Deliberate Self-Harm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olfson, Mark; Wall, Melanie; Wang, Shuai; Crystal, Stephen; Gerhard, Tobias; Blanco, Carlos

    2017-08-01

    The authors sought to identify risk factors for repeat self-harm and completed suicide over the following year among adults with deliberate self-harm. A national cohort of Medicaid-financed adults clinically diagnosed with deliberate self-harm (N=61,297) was followed for up to 1 year. Repeat self-harm per 1,000 person-years and suicide rates per 100,000 person-years (based on cause of death information from the National Death Index) were determined. Hazard ratios of repeat self-harm and suicide were estimated by Cox proportional hazard models. During the 12 months after nonfatal self-harm, the rate of repeat self-harm was 263.2 per 1,000 person-years and the rate of completed suicide was 439.1 per 100,000 person-years, or 37.2 times higher than in a matched general population cohort. The hazard of suicide was higher after initial self-harm events involving violent as compared with nonviolent methods (hazard ratio=7.5, 95% CI=5.5-10.1), especially firearms (hazard ratio=15.86, 95% CI=10.7-23.4; computed with poisoning as reference), and to a lesser extent after events of patients who had recently received outpatient mental health care (hazard ratio=1.6, 95% CI=1.2-2.0). Compared with self-harm patients using nonviolent methods, those who used violent methods were at significantly increased risk of suicide during the first 30 days after the initial event (hazard ratio=17.5, 95% CI=11.2-27.3), but not during the following 335 days. Adults treated for deliberate self-harm frequently repeat self-harm in the following year. Patients who use a violent method for their initial self-harm, especially firearms, have an exceptionally high risk of suicide, particularly right after the initial event, which highlights the importance of careful assessment and close follow-up of this group.

  17. Ethical case deliberation on the ward. A comparison of four methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinkamp, Norbert; Gordijn, Bert

    2003-01-01

    The objective of this article is to analyse and compare four methods of ethical case deliberation. These include Clinical Pragmatism, The Nijmegen Method of ethical case deliberation, Hermeneutic dialogue, and Socratic dialogue. The origin of each method will be briefly sketched. Furthermore, the methods as well as the related protocols will be presented. Each method will then be evaluated against the background of those situations in which it is being used. The article aims to show that there is not one ideal method of ethical case deliberation, which fits to all possible kinds of moral problems. Rather, as each of the methods highlights a limited number of morally relevant aspects, each method has its strengths and weaknesses as well. These strengths and weaknesses should be evaluated in relation to different types of situations, for instance moral problems in treatment decisions, moral uneasiness and residue, and the like. The suggestion arrived at on the basis of the findings of this paper is a reasonable methodological plurality. This means that a method can be chosen depending on the type of moral problem to be deliberated upon. At the same time it means, that by means of a method, deliberation should be facilitated.

  18. Implementing public employment policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Flemming; Bredgaard, Thomas

    disciplining of the unemployed (work first) (cf.Bredgaard & Larsen, 2005; Sol & Westerweld, 2005). It is, however, remarkable that in the research field there seems to be a division of labour so that changes in public administration and changes in the substance of employment policies are dealt with separately......Like most other areas within welfare policy, the employment and social policy areas are undergoing far-reaching changes in many countries. Partly in the shape of new forms of governance inspired by New Public Management (NPM), partly through new policies oriented towards activation and stronger....... But there is an interesting question to investigate here: whether and if so how, NPM-inspired reforms are related to changes in employment policy towards a work-first approach? Are changes in public management systems created as deliberate policy changes, or do they bring about more indirect and unintended policy changes...

  19. Deliberate Evolution in Multi-Agent Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brazier, F.M.; Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Wijngaards, N.J.E.; Gabbay, D.

    2001-01-01

    Evolution in societies of agents is a challenging phenomenon, both from a fundamental perspective and from an applied perspective. In the literature often genetic programming approaches are used and relatively simple agents are considered, which have no deliberate influence on the direction of the

  20. The purpose of forests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Westoby, J.

    1987-01-01

    The writings and speeches in this book have been selected to illustrate Jack Westoby's contributions to international forestry over the last two decades and more, and to show something of the evolution of his thinking. The problems he addresses are ones central to international forest policy and to the proper social responsibilities of foresters. This paper covers the following topics: Part I is a selection of papers which Westoby wrote during the 1960s on forest industries and their part in propelling economic development. The papers of Part II explore the responsibilities and dilemmas of the forestry profession in deciding which, among conflicting interests, to serve. Part III develops and enlarges Westoby's ideas of what forestry should be about-which he earlier defined as making trees serve people

  1. It's not all about moral reasoning: Understanding the content of Moral Case Deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svantesson, Mia; Silén, Marit; James, Inger

    2018-03-01

    Moral Case Deliberation is one form of clinical ethics support described as a facilitator-led collective moral reasoning by healthcare professionals on a concrete moral question connected to their practice. Evaluation research is needed, but, as human interaction is difficult to standardise, there is a need to capture the content beyond moral reasoning. This allows for a better understanding of Moral Case Deliberation, which may contribute to further development of valid outcome criteria and stimulate the normative discussion of what Moral Case Deliberation should contain. To explore and compare the content beyond moral reasoning in the dialogue in Moral Case Deliberation at Swedish workplaces. A mixed-methods approach was applied for analysing audio-recordings of 70 periodic Moral Case Deliberation meetings at 10 Swedish workplaces. Moral Case Deliberation facilitators and various healthcare professions participated, with registered nurses comprising the majority. Ethical considerations: No objection to the study was made by an Ethical Review Board. After oral and written information was provided, consent to be recorded was assumed by virtue of participation. Other than 'moral reasoning' (median (md): 45% of the spoken time), the Moral Case Deliberations consisted of 'reflections on the psychosocial work environment' to a varying extent (md: 29%). Additional content comprised 'assumptions about the patient's psychosocial situation' (md: 6%), 'facts about the patient's situation' (md: 5%), 'concrete problem-solving' (md: 6%) and 'process' (md: 3%). The findings suggest that a restorative function of staff's wellbeing in Moral Case Deliberation is needed, as this might contribute to good patient care. This supports outcome criteria of improved emotional support, which may include relief of moral distress. However, facilitators need a strategy for how to proceed from the participants' own emotional needs and to develop the use of their emotional knowing to focus on

  2. The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of clinical skills

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Duvivier Robbert J

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The role of deliberate practice in medical students' development from novice to expert was examined for preclinical skill training. Methods Students in years 1-3 completed 34 Likert type items, adapted from a questionnaire about the use of deliberate practice in cognitive learning. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to validate the questionnaire. Analysis of variance examined differences between years and regression analysis the relationship between deliberate practice and skill test results. Results 875 students participated (90%. Factor analysis yielded four factors: planning, concentration/dedication, repetition/revision, study style/self reflection. Student scores on 'Planning' increased over time, score on sub-scale 'repetition/revision' decreased. Student results on the clinical skill test correlated positively with scores on subscales 'planning' and 'concentration/dedication' in years 1 and 3, and with scores on subscale 'repetition/revision' in year 1. Conclusions The positive effects on test results suggest that the role of deliberate practice in medical education merits further study. The cross-sectional design is a limitation, the large representative sample a strength of the study. The vanishing effect of repetition/revision may be attributable to inadequate feedback. Deliberate practice advocates sustained practice to address weaknesses, identified by (self-assessment and stimulated by feedback. Further studies should use a longitudinal prospective design and extend the scope to expertise development during residency and beyond.

  3. Freedom of Expression, Deliberation, Autonomy, and Respect

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rostbøll, Christian Fogh

    for freedom of expression in terms of its relationship to different dimensions of autonomy. In response to the objection that Enlightenment theories pose a threat to cultures that reject autonomy, it is argued that autonomy-based democracy is not only compatible with but necessary for respect for cultural......The strongest versions of the democracy argument for freedom of expression rely on the deliberative conception of democracy. Deliberative democracy entails both an ideal of political autonomy and of autonomous preference formation. This paper elaborates the deliberative democracy argument...... diversity. On the basis of an intersubjective epistemology, I argue that citizens cannot know how to live on mutually respectful terms without engaging in public deliberation. Moreover, to be successful deliberation must foster some degree of personal autonomy, at least the ability to distinguish what...

  4. Using deliberation to address controversial issues: Developing Holocaust education curriculum.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    THOMAS MISCO

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores how a cross-cultural project responded to the need for new Holocaust educational materials for the Republic of Latvia through the method of curriculum deliberation. Analysis of interview, observational, and document data drawn from seven curriculum writers and numerous project members suggest that curriculum deliberation helped awaken a controversial and silenced history while attending to a wide range of needs and concerns for a variety of stakeholders. The findings highlight structural features that empowered the curriculum writers as they engaged in protracted rumination, reflected upon competing norms, and considered the nuances of the curriculum problem in relation to implementation. Understanding the process, challenges, and promises of cross-cultural curriculum deliberation holds significance for educators, curricularists, and educational researchers wishing to advance teaching and learning within silenced histories and controversial issues.

  5. Comparison of heuristics for an economic lot scheduling problem with deliberated coproduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pilar I. Vidal-Carreras

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available We built on the Economic Lot Scheduling Problem Scheduling (ELSP literature by making some modifications in order to introduce new constraints which had not been thoroughly studied with a view to simulating specific real situations. Specifically, our aim is to propose and simulate different scheduling policies for a new ELSP variant: Deliberated Coproduction. This problem comprises a product system in an ELSP environment in which we may choose if more than one product can be produced on the machine at a given time. We expressly consider the option of coproducing two products whose demand is not substitutable. In order to draw conclusions, a simulation model and its results were developed in the article by employing modified Bomberger data which include two items that could be produced simultaneously.

  6. Aristotle on Deliberation:Its Place in Ethics, Politics and Rhetoric

    OpenAIRE

    Kock, Christian Erik J

    2014-01-01

    Aristotle differs from most later philosophers in distinguishing clearly between epistemic reasoning, which aims for truth, and practical reasoning, which does not. How can he posit this distinction and yet not dismiss practical reasoning as flattery and manipulation, as Plato did? The answer lies in the concepts of deliberation (boulē, bouleusis) and deliberate choice (proairesis). They link Aristotle's rhetoric, ethics, and politics together and help provide definitions of all three: Ethics...

  7. Developing New Mexico Health Care Policy: An application of the Vital Issues Process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Engi, D. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Icerman, L. [Icerman & Associates, Santa Fe, NM (United States)

    1995-06-01

    The Vital Issues Process, developed by the Sandia National Laboratories Strategic Technologies Department, was utilized by the Health Care Task Force Advisory Group to apply structure to their policy deliberations. By convening three expert panels, an overarching goal for the New Mexico health care system, seven desired outcomes, nine policy options, and 17 action items were developed for the New Mexico health care system. Three broadly stated evaluation criteria were articulated and used to produce relative rankings of the desired outcomes and policy options for preventive care and information systems. Reports summarizing the policy deliberations were submitted for consideration by the Health Care Task Force, a Joint Interim Committee of the New Mexico Legislature, charged with facilitating the development and implementation of a comprehensive health care delivery system for New Mexico. The Task Force reported its findings and recommendations to the Second Session of the 41st New Mexico State Legislature in January 1994.

  8. How deliberation makes better citizens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kasper Møller; Normann Andersen, Vibeke

    2007-01-01

    This article presents results from a Danish national Deliberative Poll on the single European currency. A representative sample of 364 Danish citizens assembled to deliberate on Denmark's participation in the single currency. As a quasi-experiment, the Deliberative Poll is an example of deliberat...... emphasizes the need for further elaboration of the theory of deliberative democracy so that it better reflects these features of ‘real-life' politics....

  9. Neural basis of moral verdict and moral deliberation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borg, Jana Schaich; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Calhoun, Vince D.; Kiehl, Kent A.

    2011-01-01

    How people judge something to be morally right or wrong is a fundamental question of both the sciences and the humanities. Here we aim to identify the neural processes that underlie the specific conclusion that something is morally wrong. To do this, we introduce a novel distinction between “moral deliberation,” or the weighing of moral considerations, and the formation of a “moral verdict,” or the commitment to one moral conclusion. We predict and identify hemodynamic activity in the bilateral anterior insula and basal ganglia that correlates with committing to the moral verdict “this is morally wrong” as opposed to “this is morally not wrong,” a finding that is consistent with research from economic decision-making. Using comparisons of deliberation-locked vs. verdict-locked analyses, we also demonstrate that hemodynamic activity in high-level cortical regions previously implicated in morality—including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, and temporoparietal junction—correlates primarily with moral deliberation as opposed to moral verdicts. These findings provide new insights into what types of processes comprise the enterprise of moral judgment, and in doing so point to a framework for resolving why some clinical patients, including psychopaths, may have intact moral judgment but impaired moral behavior. PMID:21590588

  10. Food and beverage policies and public health ethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resnik, David B

    2015-06-01

    Government food and beverage policies can play an important role in promoting public health. Few people would question this assumption. Difficult questions can arise, however, when policymakers, public health officials, citizens, and businesses deliberate about food and beverage policies, because competing values may be at stake, such as public health, individual autonomy, personal responsibility, economic prosperity, and fairness. An ethically justified policy strikes a reasonable among competing values by meeting the following criteria: (1) the policy serves important social goal(s); (2) the policy is likely to be effective at achieving those goal(s); (3) less burdensome options are not likely to be effective at achieving the goals; (4) the policy is fair.

  11. Brookings supports breastfeeding: using public deliberation as a community-engaged approach to dissemination of research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Jenn; Kuehl, Rebecca A; Mehltretter Drury, Sara A; Tschetter, Lois; Schwaegerl, Mary; Yoder, Julia; Gullickson, Heidi; Lamp, Jamison; Bachman, Charlotte; Hildreth, Marilyn

    2017-12-01

    Empirical evidence demonstrates myriad benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child, along with benefits to businesses that support breastfeeding. Federal and state legislation requires workplace support for pumping and provides protections for public breastfeeding. Yet, many are unaware of these laws, and thus, support systems remain underdeveloped. We used a community-based approach to spread awareness about the evidence-based benefits of breastfeeding and breastfeeding support. We worked to improve breastfeeding support at the local hospital, among local employers, and throughout the broader community. Our coalition representing the hospital, the chamber of commerce, the university, and local lactation consultants used a public deliberation model for dissemination. We held focus groups, hosted a public conversation, spoke to local organizations, and promoted these efforts through local media. The hospital achieved Baby-Friendly status and opened a Baby Café. Breastfeeding support in the community improved through policies, designated pumping spaces, and signage that supports public breastfeeding at local businesses. Community awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and breastfeeding support increased; the breastfeeding support coalition remains active. The public deliberation process for dissemination engaged the community with evidence-based promotion of breastfeeding support, increased agency, and produced sustainable results tailored to the community's unique needs.

  12. Psychosocial therapy and causes of death after deliberate self-harm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birkbak, J; Stuart, E A; Lind, B D

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Psychosocial therapy after deliberate self-harm might be associated with reduced risk of specific causes of death. METHOD: In this matched cohort study, we included patients, who after an episode of deliberate self-harm received psychosocial therapy at a Suicide Prevention Clinic...... in Denmark between 1992 and 2010. We used propensity score matching in a 1:3 ratio to select a comparison group from 59 046 individuals who received standard care. National Danish registers supplied data on specific causes of death over a 20-year follow-up period. RESULTS: At the end of follow-up, 391 (6.......5-448.4) for mental or behavioural disorders as a cause of death, 111.1 (95% CI 79.2-210.5) for alcohol-related causes and 96.8 (95% CI 69.1-161.8) for other diseases and medical conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that psychosocial therapy after deliberate self-harm might reduce long-term risk of death...

  13. Sustainability and deliberate transition of socio-technical systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Ole Erik; Søndergård, Bent; Stærdahl, Jens

    or developing socio-technical systems in order to integrate the concept of sustainability as a driver for the deliberate and purposeful shaping and transition. The article discusses the requirements to effective governance networks and governing of governance networks. Research within innovation systems......The article suggests that deliberate planning for sustainability demands a focus on the transition of socio-technical systems in order to establish robust and more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. This implies the necessity of a new perspective for environmental planning......, transition management and technology systems combined with planning and experimental activities provides both a theoretical and empirical body of knowledge of such governance processes. The article discusses how this perspective can be used in relation to the process of developing bio-fuel systems...

  14. "While you still think, I already type": experienced social power reduces deliberation during e-mail communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scholl, Annika; Sassenberg, Kai

    2014-11-01

    E-mail allows individuals to deliberate on their communication before sending it off. For instance, communication partners can easily take their time to ponder how best to frame a request before they actually send a message. Individuals at times strategically exploit this opportunity to deliberate in order to tailor messages to their communication partner, such as when communicating with a relatively more powerful person. As social power reduces concerns about impression management, we predicted that individuals deliberate more while composing e-mail messages under low (vs. high) power. This assumption was tested with well-established power priming. As such, we expected that experienced power in one context would diminish deliberation times during a subsequent e-mail communication. An experiment manipulating the experience of (low vs. high) power and measuring deliberation times during e-mail composition supported this hypothesis. The findings thus indicate how social power alters deliberation times. More importantly, the results show that individuals not only strategically deliberate during e-mail communication in line with their current situation, but also in line with their social standing in a previous situation (here, their experience of power).

  15. Emergency planning and preparedness for the deliberate release of toxic industrial chemicals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, David; Simpson, John

    2010-03-01

    Society in developed and developing countries is hugely dependent upon chemicals for health, wealth, and economic prosperity, with the chemical industry contributing significantly to the global economy. Many chemicals are synthesized, stored, and transported in vast quantities and classified as high production volume chemicals; some are recognized as being toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). Chemical accidents involving chemical installations and transportation are well recognized. Such chemical accidents occur with relative frequency and may result in large numbers of casualties with acute and chronic health effects as well as fatalities. The large-scale production of TICs, the potential for widespread exposure and significant public health impact, together with their relative ease of acquisition, makes deliberate release an area of potential concern. The large numbers of chemicals, together with the large number of potential release scenarios means that the number of possible forms of chemical incident are almost infinite. Therefore, prior to undertaking emergency planning and preparedness, it is necessary to prioritize risk and subsequently mitigate. This is a multi-faceted process, including implementation of industrial protection layers, substitution of hazardous chemicals, and relocation away from communities. Residual risk provides the basis for subsequent planning. Risk-prioritized emergency planning is a tool for identifying gaps, enhancing communication and collaboration, and for policy development. It also serves to enhance preparedness, a necessary prelude to preventing or mitigating the public health risk to deliberate release. Planning is an iterative and on-going process that requires multi-disciplinary agency input, culminating in the formation of a chemical incident plan complimentary to major incident planning. Preparedness is closely related and reflects a state of readiness. It is comprised of several components, including training and exercising

  16. Deliberating emission reduction options

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dowd, A.M.; Rodriguez, M.; Jeanneret, T. [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO, 37 Graham Rd, Highett VIC 3190 (Australia); De Best-Waldhober, M.; Straver, K.; Mastop, J.; Paukovic, M. [Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, Policy Studies, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2012-06-15

    participants to evaluate and choose between several options tend to lead to pseudo-opinions, incorrect assumptions and isolated responses. In order to address these methodological issues, researchers in the Netherlands created an Information Choice Questionnaire (ICQ). The ICQ provides the respondent with: (1) the entire (complex) policy problem, (2) expert information that is independent and balanced, (3) in a way that is understandable for the general public, (4) is a comparative process, and (5) asks for an evaluation. The aim of this research was to develop an online decision guide to aid public awareness, knowledge, deliberation and choice around carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) compared with other greenhouse gas mitigation options. More specifically, the objectives were to: (a) compare the Australian survey results to Dutch respondents; and (b) examine the most effective way to make online information and opinion formation more interactive and engaging. The following research questions are addressed: (1) How do Australian opinions on energy options differ from the Dutch when measured using the ICQ? ; (2) Is it possible to enhance the quality of the original ICQ by making the questionnaire an interactive application?.

  17. Deliberating emission reduction options

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dowd, A. M.; Rodriguez, M.; Jeanneret, T. [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO, 37 Graham Rd, Highett VIC 3190 (Australia); De Best-Waldhober, M.; Straver, K.; Mastop, J.; Paukovic, M. [Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, Policy Studies, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2012-06-15

    evaluate and choose between several options tend to lead to pseudo-opinions, incorrect assumptions and isolated responses. In order to address these methodological issues, researchers in the Netherlands created an Information Choice Questionnaire (ICQ). The ICQ provides the respondent with: (1) the entire (complex) policy problem, (2) expert information that is independent and balanced, (3) in a way that is understandable for the general public, (4) is a comparative process, and (5) asks for an evaluation. The aim of this research was to develop an online decision guide to aid public awareness, knowledge, deliberation and choice around carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) compared with other greenhouse gas mitigation options. More specifically, the objectives were to: (a) compare the Australian survey results to Dutch respondents; and (b) examine the most effective way to make online information and opinion formation more interactive and engaging. The following research questions are addressed: (1) How do Australian opinions on energy options differ from the Dutch when measured using the ICQ? ; (2) Is it possible to enhance the quality of the original ICQ by making the questionnaire an interactive application?.

  18. Cognitive-behavioural therapy for deliberate self-harm

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slee, Nadja

    2008-01-01

    This thesis describes the outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) intervention for patients who engage in Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH). The CBT intervention was designed to supplement usual care following an episode of DSH. The study involved 90 people (95%

  19. Research opportunities in simulation-based medical education using deliberate practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGaghie, William C

    2008-11-01

    There are many opportunities for the academic emergency medicine (EM) community to engage in simulation-based educational research using deliberate practice (DP). This article begins by defining and giving examples of two key concepts: deliberate practice and mastery learning. The article proceeds to report six lessons learned from a research legacy in simulation-based medical education (SBME). It concludes by listing and amplifying 10 DP research opportunities in academic EM. A coda states that the research agenda is rich and ambitious and should focus on the goal of educating superb, expert clinicians.

  20. Conscious thought beats deliberation without attention in diagnostic decision-making: at least when you are an expert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamede, Sílvia; Schmidt, Henk G; Rikers, Remy M J P; Custers, Eugene J F M; Splinter, Ted A W; van Saase, Jan L C M

    2010-11-01

    Contrary to what common sense makes us believe, deliberation without attention has recently been suggested to produce better decisions in complex situations than deliberation with attention. Based on differences between cognitive processes of experts and novices, we hypothesized that experts make in fact better decisions after consciously thinking about complex problems whereas novices may benefit from deliberation-without-attention. These hypotheses were confirmed in a study among doctors and medical students. They diagnosed complex and routine problems under three conditions, an immediate-decision condition and two delayed conditions: conscious thought and deliberation-without-attention. Doctors did better with conscious deliberation when problems were complex, whereas reasoning mode did not matter in simple problems. In contrast, deliberation-without-attention improved novices' decisions, but only in simple problems. Experts benefit from consciously thinking about complex problems; for novices thinking does not help in those cases.

  1. Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macnamara, Brooke N; Hambrick, David Z; Oswald, Frederick L

    2014-08-01

    More than 20 years ago, researchers proposed that individual differences in performance in such domains as music, sports, and games largely reflect individual differences in amount of deliberate practice, which was defined as engagement in structured activities created specifically to improve performance in a domain. This view is a frequent topic of popular-science writing-but is it supported by empirical evidence? To answer this question, we conducted a meta-analysis covering all major domains in which deliberate practice has been investigated. We found that deliberate practice explained 26% of the variance in performance for games, 21% for music, 18% for sports, 4% for education, and less than 1% for professions. We conclude that deliberate practice is important, but not as important as has been argued. © The Author(s) 2014.

  2. Deliberate practice predicts performance over time in adolescent chess players and drop-outs: a linear mixed models analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bruin, Anique B H; Smits, Niels; Rikers, Remy M J P; Schmidt, Henk G

    2008-11-01

    In this study, the longitudinal relation between deliberate practice and performance in chess was examined using a linear mixed models analysis. The practice activities and performance ratings of young elite chess players, who were either in, or had dropped out of the Dutch national chess training, were analysed since they had started playing chess seriously. The results revealed that deliberate practice (i.e. serious chess study alone and serious chess play) strongly contributed to chess performance. The influence of deliberate practice was not only observable in current performance, but also over chess players' careers. Moreover, although the drop-outs' chess ratings developed more slowly over time, both the persistent and drop-out chess players benefited to the same extent from investments in deliberate practice. Finally, the effect of gender on chess performance proved to be much smaller than the effect of deliberate practice. This study provides longitudinal support for the monotonic benefits assumption of deliberate practice, by showing that over chess players' careers, deliberate practice has a significant effect on performance, and to the same extent for chess players of different ultimate performance levels. The results of this study are not in line with critique raised against the deliberate practice theory that the factors deliberate practice and talent could be confounded.

  3. Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments Increment 2A (DCAPES Inc 2A)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments Increment 2A (DCAPES Inc 2A...Program Name Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments Increment 2A (DCAPES Inc 2A) DoD Component Air Force Responsible Office Program...APB) dated March 9, 2015 DCAPES Inc 2A 2016 MAR UNCLASSIFIED 4 Program Description Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments

  4. Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments Increment 2B (DCAPES Inc 2B)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments Increment 2B (DCAPES Inc 2B...Information Program Name Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments Increment 2B (DCAPES Inc 2B) DoD Component Air Force Responsible Office...been established. DCAPES Inc 2B 2016 MAR UNCLASSIFIED 4 Program Description Deliberate and Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segments (DCAPES) is

  5. Non-Conscious vs. Deliberate Dynamic Decision-Making—A Pilot Experiment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Größler

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for deliberate cognitive processing, considerate decision-making (relatively long time for deliberate cognitive processing, and distracted decision-making (time for non-conscious cognitive processing only. As experimental stimulus, a simulator based on the Kaibab Plateau model was employed. With a sample size of more than 100 experimental participants, group differences are not significant for most data examined. Implications comprise the formulation of a framework to guide further research. The value of this paper lies in the fact that it connects to a recent discussion in psychology and transfers it to a domain in the core interest of the system community: decision-making in situations with dynamic complexity. Furthermore, it offers a range of improvement points for potential follow-up studies.

  6. Policy on synthetic biology: deliberation, probability, and the precautionary paradox.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wareham, Christopher; Nardini, Cecilia

    2015-02-01

    Synthetic biology is a cutting-edge area of research that holds the promise of unprecedented health benefits. However, in tandem with these large prospective benefits, synthetic biology projects entail a risk of catastrophic consequences whose severity may exceed that of most ordinary human undertakings. This is due to the peculiar nature of synthetic biology as a 'threshold technology' which opens doors to opportunities and applications that are essentially unpredictable. Fears about these potentially unstoppable consequences have led to declarations from civil society groups calling for the use of a precautionary principle to regulate the field. Moreover, the principle is prevalent in law and international agreements. Despite widespread political recognition of a need for caution, the precautionary principle has been extensively criticized as a guide for regulatory policy. We examine a central objection to the principle: that its application entails crippling inaction and incoherence, since whatever action one takes there is always a chance that some highly improbable cataclysm will occur. In response to this difficulty, which we call the 'precautionary paradox,' we outline a deliberative means for arriving at threshold of probability below which potential dangers can be disregarded. In addition, we describe a Bayesian mechanism with which to assign probabilities to harmful outcomes. We argue that these steps resolve the paradox. The rehabilitated PP can thus provide a viable policy option to confront the uncharted waters of synthetic biology research. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. The influence of deliberate practice on musical achievement: A meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Friedrich ePlatz

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Deliberate practice (DP is a task-specific structured training activity that plays a key role in understanding skill acquisition and explaining individual differences in expert performance. Relevant activities that qualify as DP have to be identified in every domain. For example, for training in classical music, solitary practice is a typical training activity during skill acquisition. To date, no meta-analysis on the quantifiable effect size of deliberate practice on attained performance in music has been conducted. Yet the identification of a quantifiable effect size could be relevant for the current discussion on the role of various factors on individual difference in musical achievement. Furthermore, a research synthesis might enable new computational approaches to musical development. Here we present the first meta-analysis on the role of deliberate practice in the domain of musical performance. A final sample size of 13 studies (total N = 788 was carefully extracted to satisfy the following criteria: reported durations of task-specific accumulated practice as predictor variables and objectively assessed musical achievement as the target variable. We identified an aggregated effect size of rc = .61; 95% CI [.54, .67] for the relationship between task-relevant practice (which by definition includes DP and musical achievement. Our results corroborate the central role of long-term (deliberate practice for explaining expert performance in music.

  8. The prevalence of self-reported deliberate self harm in Irish adolescents.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Morey, Carolyn

    2008-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Deliberate self harm is major public health problem, in particular among young people. Although several studies have addressed the prevalence of deliberate self harm among young people in the community, little is known about the extent to which deliberate self harm comes to the attention of medical services, the self harm methods used and the underlying motives. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of deliberate self harm in adolescents and the methods, motives and help seeking behaviour associated with this behaviour. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using an anonymous self-report questionnaire was administered in 39 schools in the Southern area of the Health Service Executive, Ireland. Of the 4,583 adolescents aged 15-17 years who were invited to participate in the survey, 3,881 adolescents took part (response: 85%). RESULTS: A lifetime history of DSH was reported by 9.1% (n = 333) of the adolescents. DSH was more common among females (13.9%) than males (4.3%). Self cutting (66.0%) and overdose (35.2%) were the most common DSH methods. A minority of participants accessed medical services after engaging in DSH (15.3%). CONCLUSION: DSH is a significant problem in Irish adolescents and the vast majority do not come to the attention of health services. Innovative solutions for prevention and intervention are required to tackle DSH in adolescents.

  9. The influence of deliberate practice on musical achievement: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platz, Friedrich; Kopiez, Reinhard; Lehmann, Andreas C; Wolf, Anna

    2014-01-01

    Deliberate practice (DP) is a task-specific structured training activity that plays a key role in understanding skill acquisition and explaining individual differences in expert performance. Relevant activities that qualify as DP have to be identified in every domain. For example, for training in classical music, solitary practice is a typical training activity during skill acquisition. To date, no meta-analysis on the quantifiable effect size of deliberate practice on attained performance in music has been conducted. Yet the identification of a quantifiable effect size could be relevant for the current discussion on the role of various factors on individual difference in musical achievement. Furthermore, a research synthesis might enable new computational approaches to musical development. Here we present the first meta-analysis on the role of deliberate practice in the domain of musical performance. A final sample size of 13 studies (total N = 788) was carefully extracted to satisfy the following criteria: reported durations of task-specific accumulated practice as predictor variables and objectively assessed musical achievement as the target variable. We identified an aggregated effect size of r c = 0.61; 95% CI [0.54, 0.67] for the relationship between task-relevant practice (which by definition includes DP) and musical achievement. Our results corroborate the central role of long-term (deliberate) practice for explaining expert performance in music.

  10. Informal and Deliberate Learning with New Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinder, Ruth

    2017-01-01

    Due to the ready availability of new technologies, opportunities for the incidental as well as deliberate practice of English have multiplied and far exceed what can be done in more formal environments. Yet, despite the sizeable literature on the classroom-based use of specific digital resources, few studies have investigated how students evaluate…

  11. John porter lecture: waves of protest--direct action, deliberation, and diffusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Lesley

    2015-02-01

    The book Direct Action, Deliberation and Diffusion: Collective Action After the WTO Protests in Seattle argues that the process of diffusion is dependent on social processes in the receiving context. The most important in social movements is an egalitarian and reflexive deliberation among diverse actors. The book traces the direct action tactics associated with the Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization in 1999 and how these spread to activists in Toronto and New York City. It shows how the structure of the political field, racial and class inequalities, identity boundaries, and organizational and conversational dynamics limited deliberation among activists, and thus limited the diffusion of the Seattle tactics. By constraining the spread of the Seattle tactics, this slowed the global justice movement's wave of protest. In this paper, I explore the application of and implications of this model of protest tactic diffusion to the recent Idle No More mobilizations. © 2015 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.

  12. [Moral case deliberation: time for ethical reflection in the daily practice of mental health care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vellinga, A; van Melle-Baaijens, E A H

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays, reflecting on ethics, which we choose to call moral case deliberation, is occurring more and more frequently in psychiatric institutions. We have personal experience of organising and supervising moral case deliberation in a large psychiatric institute and we can confirm the positive effects of moral case deliberation which have been reported in the literature. To describe a structured method for moral case deliberation which enables care-givers in health care and/or addiction care to reflect on moral dilemmas. We refer to the main findings in relevant literature and describe how we developed a structured method for implementing moral case deliberation. Our studies of the literature indicate that systematic reflection about ethical dilemmas can improve the quality of care and make care-givers more satisfied with their work. This is why we have developed our own method which is applicable particularly to psychiatric and/or addition care and which can be used systematically in discussions of moral dilemmas. Our method for discussing ethical issues works well in clinical practice, particularly when it is embedded in a multidisciplinary context. Of course, to ensure the continuity of the system, deliberation about moral and ethical issues needs to be financially safeguarded and embedded in the organisation. Discussion of moral issues improves the quality of care and increases care-givers' satisfaction with their work.

  13. Place and Situated Deliberation in Participatory Planning – A Research Proposal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korn, Matthias

    2011-01-01

    for everyone and everywhere through a mobile augmented reality application that visualizes future, planned buildings on capable mobile phones. I conclude with the central questions and problems for future research that focuses on place and situated deliberation.......Within the domain of participatory urban planning, this position paper argues for a focus on the notion of place in the design of mobile and/or ubiquitous systems that are used in deliberation processes with central spatial references. I discuss (1) leveraging properties of place as a resource...

  14. Doctor coach: a deliberate practice approach to teaching and learning clinical skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gifford, Kimberly A; Fall, Leslie H

    2014-02-01

    The rapidly evolving medical education landscape requires restructuring the approach to teaching and learning across the continuum of medical education. The deliberate practice strategies used to coach learners in disciplines beyond medicine can also be used to train medical learners. However, these deliberate practice strategies are not explicitly taught in most medical schools or residencies. The authors designed the Doctor Coach framework and competencies in 2007-2008 to serve as the foundation for new faculty development and resident-as-teacher programs. In addition to teaching deliberate practice strategies, the programs model a deliberate practice approach that promotes the continuous integration of newly developed coaching competencies by participants into their daily teaching practice. Early evaluation demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of implementing the Doctor Coach framework across the continuum of medical education. Additionally, the Doctor Coach framework has been disseminated through national workshops, which have resulted in additional institutions applying the framework and competencies to develop their own coaching programs. Design of a multisource evaluation tool based on the coaching competencies will enable more rigorous study of the Doctor Coach framework and training programs and provide a richer feedback mechanism for participants. The framework will also facilitate the faculty development needed to implement the milestones and entrustable professional activities in medical education.

  15. Deliberative Democracy, Critical Thinking, and the Deliberating Individual: empirical challenges to the reasonability of the citizen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juho Ritola

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In this essay, I first discuss the conditions set by theorists of democratic deliberation on proper deliberation. These conditions call for reasoned decisions from mutually acceptable premises. Next, I present the ideal of critical thinking that should guide the citizen in this deliberation. I then examine the empirical literature on human reasoning. Some research results in the empirical literature paint a bleak picture of human rationality: we fall victim to heuristics and biases, persevere in our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence, and justify our moral judgments by post hoc-reasoning. In addition, the deliberating groups have problems of their own. The groups may, for example, amplify errors or fall victim to information cascades.  Though these epistemically detrimental processes can be overcome, they do present a challenge to our rationality. The essay concludes by arguing that the empirical evidence in fact supports an internalistic approach to group deliberation, a claim challenged by Solomon (2006.

  16. Vaginismus and dyspareunia: automatic vs. deliberate disgust responsivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borg, Charmaine; de Jong, Peter J; Schultz, Willibrord Weijmar

    2010-06-01

    The difficulty of penetration experienced in vaginismus and dyspareunia may at least partly be due to a disgust-induced defensive response. To examine if sex stimuli specifically elicit: (i) automatic disgust-related memory associations; (ii) physiological disgust responsivity; and/or (iii) deliberate expression of disgust/threat. Two single target Implicit Association Task (st-IAT) and electromyography (EMG) were conducted on three groups: vaginismus (N = 24), dyspareunia (N = 24), and control (N = 31) group. st-IAT, to index their initial disgust-related associations and facial EMG for the m. levator labii and m. corrugator supercilii regions. Both clinical groups showed enhanced automatic sex-disgust associations. As a unique physiological expression of disgust, the levator activity was specifically enhanced for the vaginismus group, when exposed to a women-friendly SEX video clip. Also at the deliberate level, specifically the vaginismus group showed enhanced subjective disgust toward SEX pictures and the SEX clip, along with higher threat responses. Supporting the view that disgust is involved in vaginismus and dyspareunia, for both, clinical groups' sex stimuli automatically elicited associations with disgust. Particularly for the vaginismus group, these initial disgust associations persisted during subsequent validation processes and were also evident at the level of facial expression and self-report data. Findings are consistent with the notion that uncontrollable activated associations are involved in eliciting defensive reactions at the prospect of penetration seen in both conditions. Whereas deliberate attitudes, usually linked with the desire for having intercourse, possibly generate the distinction (e.g., severity) between these two conditions.

  17. Governance networks as a frame for inter-demoi participation and deliberation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Eva

    2012-01-01

    By focusing exclusively on the contributions of political participation and deliberation to the enhancement of democratic regulation within a unitary democratic unit-that is, a demos-traditional liberal theories of democracy overlook the democratic value of political participation and deliberation...... between demoi. The need to find ways to increase the democratic quality of inter-demoi interaction is growing rapidly due to the emergence of a pluricentric political system in which cross-demoi decision-making is more the rule than the exception. There is an urgent call for new theories of democracy able...

  18. The control of deliberate waiting strategies in a stop-signal task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R.P. Sylwan

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available To inhibit an ongoing flow of thoughts or actions has been largely considered to be a crucial executive function, and the stop-signal paradigm makes inhibitory control measurable. Stop-signal tasks usually combine two concurrent tasks, i.e., manual responses to a primary task (go-task are occasionally countermanded by a stimulus which signals participants to inhibit their response in that trial (stop-task. Participants are always instructed not to wait for the stop-signal, since waiting strategies cause the response times to be unstable, invalidating the data. The aim of the present study was to experimentally control the strategies of waiting deliberately for the stop-signal in a stop-task by means of an algorithm that measured the variation in the reaction times to go-stimuli on-line, and displayed a warning legend urging participants to be faster when their reaction times were more than two standard deviations of the mean. Thirty-four university students performed a stop-task with go- and stop-stimuli, both of which were delivered in the visual modality and were lateralized within the visual field. The participants were divided into two groups (group A, without the algorithm, vs group B, with the algorithm. Group B exhibited lower variability of reaction times to go-stimuli, whereas no significant between-group differences were found in any of the measures of inhibitory control, showing that the algorithm succeeded in controlling the deliberate waiting strategies. Differences between deliberate and unintentional waiting strategies, and anxiety as a probable factor responsible for individual differences in deliberate waiting behavior, are discussed.

  19. Public deliberation in municipal planning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bohøj, Morten; Borchorst, Nikolaj Gandrup; Bødker, Susanne

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports on an exploratory participatory design process aimed at supporting citizen deliberation in municipal planning. It presents the main outcomes of this process in terms of selected prototypes and an approach to the use setting. We support and discuss different ways for citizens...... to act and reflect on proposed plans: in-situ, while physically close to the planning object, and ex-situ, when citizens are remote from this. The support of in-situ and ex-situ participation allows citizens to engage in continuous reflection-in and on-action as a collaborative activity with other...

  20. An exploration of potential directions for climate change policy in Northern Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newton, J.

    2001-01-01

    The challenges facing decision and policy makers for climate change actions in the Canadian North were described. While Northern Canada contributes only a small fraction of the world's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the impacts are already being felt there, and scientists forecast changes in average annual temperatures to be among the highest in the world. Canada is well positioned to take a lead role in addressing climate change in northern regions. This paper examined the policy choices in the North and outlined the policy directions worthy of further consideration and development. The objective of the paper is to provide a catalyst for on-going discussion and deliberation on climate change actions and policy options in Northern Canada. The paper also addressed the global context that influences national framework and local initiatives. Some tentative policy choices were proposed and described within the general context of the global challenge that climate change presents for the design of coherent regional public policy. It was suggested that integration and mitigation measures should not be approached in isolation from other environmental and socio-economic changes, such as pollution abatement and economic and social development. It was emphasized that building on the sound foundation of current policy frameworks in these areas is essential to the integration of climate change initiatives within established and complementary processes. It was concluded that the evolution of policy options for climate change in the North will be driven by a political willingness to take deliberate actions. 13 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig

  1. Seeking Deliberation on the Unborn in International Law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SA de Freitas

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available International human rights instruments and jurisprudence radiate an understanding of international law as also serving to protect fundamental rights and the interests of the individual. The idea that human rights provide a credible framework for constructing common norms among nations and across cultures is both powerful and attractive. If the protection of being human serves as the common denominator in human rights discussion, and if human rights are deeply inclusive, despite being culturally and historically diverse, then a failure to deliberate on the legal status and protection of the unborn may be seen as a failure to extend respect where it is due. Such deliberation is required, irrespective of the fact that jurisprudential debate on the unborn and on abortion is complex and controversial. The protection of human life, well-being, and dignity are essential aims of the United Nations Charter and the international system created to implement it. Although there have been collective efforts resulting in substantial development in international human rights law, the international community has not approached the legal status and protection of the unborn as a matter of urgency – this, while much has been accomplished regarding women, children, animals and cloning. This article therefore argues for the development of a deliberative framework so as to further the recognition (not necessarily in an absolute sense of the unborn in international law, bearing in mind that opposition to abortion does not of itself constitute an attack on a woman's right to respect for privacy in her life. The article also sets out what such deliberation on the legal status and protection of the unborn entails, against the background of a procedurally-rational approach.

  2. Assessing the associations among trait and state levels of deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seli, Paul; Risko, Evan F; Smilek, Daniel

    2016-04-01

    Recent research has demonstrated that mind wandering can be subdivided into spontaneous and deliberate types, and this distinction has been found to hold at both the trait and state levels. However, to date, no attempts have been made to link trait-level spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering with state-level assessments of these two subtypes of mind wandering. Here we evaluated whether trait-level deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering map onto state levels of these subtypes of mind wandering. Results showed correspondence between trait-level reports of spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering and their state-level counterparts, indicating that people's reports on the intentionality of their mind wandering in the laboratory correspond to their reports of the intentionality of mind wandering in everyday life. Thus, the trait- and state-level scales of mind wandering were found to validate each other: Whereas the state-level measures provided some construct validity for the trait-level measures, the trait-level measures indicated that the state-level measures may be generalizable to everyday situations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Australia's national men's health policy: masculinity matters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saunders, Margo; Peerson, Anita

    2009-08-01

    The development of Australia's first national men's health policy provides an important opportunity for informed discussions of health and gender. It is therefore a concern that the stated policy appears to deliberately exclude hegemonic masculinity and other masculinities, despite evidence of their major influence on men's health-related values, beliefs, perspectives, attitudes, motivations and behaviour. We provide an evidence-based critique of the proposed approach to a national men's health policy which raises important questions about whether the new policy can achieve its aims if it fails to acknowledge 'masculinity' as a key factor in Australian men's health. The national men's health policy should be a means to encourage gender analysis in health. This will require recognition of the influence of hegemonic masculinity, and other masculinities, on men's health. Recognising the influence of 'masculinity' on men's health is not about 'blaming' men for 'behaving badly', but is crucial to the development of a robust, meaningful and comprehensive national men's health policy.

  4. Policy Design and Non-Design: Towards a Spectrum of Policy Formulation Types

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Howlett

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Public policies are the result of efforts made by governments to alter aspects of behaviour—both that of their own agents and of society at large—in order to carry out some end or purpose. They are comprised of arrangements of policy goals and policy means matched through some decision-making process. These policy-making efforts can be more, or less, systematic in attempting to match ends and means in a logical fashion or can result from much less systematic processes. “Policy design” implies a knowledge-based process in which the choice of means or mechanisms through which policy goals are given effect follows a logical process of inference from known or learned relationships between means and outcomes. This includes both design in which means are selected in accordance with experience and knowledge and that in which principles and relationships are incorrectly or only partially articulated or understood. Policy decisions can be careful and deliberate in attempting to best resolve a problem or can be highly contingent and driven by situational logics. Decisions stemming from bargaining or opportunism can also be distinguished from those which result from careful analysis and assessment. This article considers both modes and formulates a spectrum of policy formulation types between “design” and “non-design” which helps clarify the nature of each type and the likelihood of each unfolding.

  5. Transition in Food and Agricultural Policy: Key Stakeholder--Domestic Consumers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinsey, Jean

    Assurance of an adequate and safe supply of food at a reasonable price is consumers' primary stake in the outcome of 1995 farm bill deliberations and related food and agricultural policies. Farm programs have provided an economically stable environment wherein farmers produce an abundance of food. The declining portion of household budgets…

  6. Comparing group deliberation to other forms of preference aggregation in valuing ecosystem services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mackenzie B. Murphy

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Deliberative methods for valuing ecosystem services are hypothesized to yield group preferences that differ systematically from those that would be obtained through calculative aggregation of the preferences of participating individuals. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the group consensus results of structured deliberations against a variety of aggregation methods applied to individual participant preferences that were elicited both before and after the deliberations. Participants were also asked about their perceptions of the deliberative process, which we used to assess their ability to detect preference changes and identify the causes of any changes. For five of the seven groups tested, the group consensus results could not have been predicted from individual predeliberation preferences using any of the aggregation rules. However, individual postdeliberation preferences could be used to reconstruct the group preferences using consensual and rank-based aggregation rules. These results imply that the preferences of participants changed over the course of the deliberation and that the group preferences reflected a broad consensus on overall rankings rather than simply the pairwise preferences of the majority. Changes in individual preferences seem to have gone largely unnoticed by participants, as most stated that they did not believe their preferences had substantially changed. Most participants were satisfied with the outcome of the deliberation, and their degree of satisfaction was correlated with the feeling that their opinion was heard and that they had an influence on the outcome. Based on our results, group deliberation shows promise as a means of generating ecosystem service valuations that reflect a consensus opinion rather than simply a collection of personal preferences.

  7. Don't just do something, stand there! The value and art of deliberate clinical inertia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keijzers, Gerben; Cullen, Louise; Egerton-Warburton, Diana; Fatovich, Daniel M

    2018-04-01

    It can be difficult to avoid unnecessary investigations and treatments, which are a form of low-value care. Yet every intervention in medicine has potential harms, which may outweigh the potential benefits. Deliberate clinical inertia is the art of doing nothing as a positive response. This paper provides suggestions on how to incorporate deliberate clinical inertia into our daily clinical practice, and gives an overview of current initiatives such as 'Choosing Wisely' and the 'Right Care Alliance'. The decision to 'do nothing' can be complex due to competing factors, and barriers to implementation are highlighted. Several strategies to promote deliberate clinical inertia are outlined, with an emphasis on shared decision-making. Preventing medical harm must become one of the pillars of modern health care and the art of not intervening, that is, deliberate clinical inertia, can be a novel patient-centred quality indicator to promote harm reduction. © 2018 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

  8. Teaching ethics in the clinic. The theory and practice of moral case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molewijk, A C; Abma, T; Stolper, M; Widdershoven, G

    2008-02-01

    A traditional approach to teaching medical ethics aims to provide knowledge about ethics. This is in line with an epistemological view on ethics in which moral expertise is assumed to be located in theoretical knowledge and not in the moral experience of healthcare professionals. The aim of this paper is to present an alternative, contextual approach to teaching ethics, which is grounded in a pragmatic-hermeneutical and dialogical ethics. This approach is called moral case deliberation. Within moral case deliberation, healthcare professionals bring in their actual moral questions during a structured dialogue. The ethicist facilitates the learning process by using various conversation methods in order to find answers to the case and to develop moral competencies. The case deliberations are not unique events, but are a structural part of the professional training on the work floor within healthcare institutions. This article presents the underlying theory on (teaching) ethics and illustrates this approach with an example of a moral case deliberation project in a Dutch psychiatric hospital. The project was evaluated using the method of responsive evaluation. This method provided us with rich information about the implementation process and effects the research process itself also lent support to the process of implementation.

  9. Simulation-Based Mastery Learning with Deliberate Practice Improves Clinical Performance in Spinal Anesthesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ankeet D. Udani

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Properly performing a subarachnoid block (SAB is a competency expected of anesthesiology residents. We aimed to determine if adding simulation-based deliberate practice to a base curriculum improved performance of a SAB. Methods. 21 anesthesia residents were enrolled. After baseline assessment of SAB on a task-trainer, all residents participated in a base curriculum. Residents were then randomized so that half received additional deliberate practice including repetition and expert-guided, real-time feedback. All residents were then retested for technique. SABs on all residents’ next three patients were evaluated in the operating room (OR. Results. Before completing the base curriculum, the control group completed 81% of a 16-item performance checklist on the task-trainer and this increased to 91% after finishing the base curriculum (P<0.02. The intervention group also increased the percentage of checklist tasks properly completed from 73% to 98%, which was a greater increase than observed in the control group (P<0.03. The OR time required to perform SAB was not different between groups. Conclusions. The base curriculum significantly improved resident SAB performance. Deliberate practice training added a significant, independent, incremental benefit. The clinical impact of the deliberate practice intervention in the OR on patient care is unclear.

  10. Simulation-based mastery learning with deliberate practice improves clinical performance in spinal anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Udani, Ankeet D; Macario, Alex; Nandagopal, Kiruthiga; Tanaka, Maria A; Tanaka, Pedro P

    2014-01-01

    Introduction. Properly performing a subarachnoid block (SAB) is a competency expected of anesthesiology residents. We aimed to determine if adding simulation-based deliberate practice to a base curriculum improved performance of a SAB. Methods. 21 anesthesia residents were enrolled. After baseline assessment of SAB on a task-trainer, all residents participated in a base curriculum. Residents were then randomized so that half received additional deliberate practice including repetition and expert-guided, real-time feedback. All residents were then retested for technique. SABs on all residents' next three patients were evaluated in the operating room (OR). Results. Before completing the base curriculum, the control group completed 81% of a 16-item performance checklist on the task-trainer and this increased to 91% after finishing the base curriculum (P < 0.02). The intervention group also increased the percentage of checklist tasks properly completed from 73% to 98%, which was a greater increase than observed in the control group (P < 0.03). The OR time required to perform SAB was not different between groups. Conclusions. The base curriculum significantly improved resident SAB performance. Deliberate practice training added a significant, independent, incremental benefit. The clinical impact of the deliberate practice intervention in the OR on patient care is unclear.

  11. Dewey's Theory of Moral (and Political) Deliberation Unfiltered

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralston, Shane J.

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, I argue that many recent interpretations of John Dewey's vision of democracy distort that vision by filtering it through the prism of contemporary deliberative democratic theories. An earlier attempt to defend Dewey's theory of moral deliberation is instructive for understanding the nature and function of this filter. In James…

  12. Tax Salience, Voting, and Deliberation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sausgruber, Rupert; Tyran, Jean-Robert

    Tax incentives can be more or less salient, i.e. noticeable or cognitively easy to process. Our hypothesis is that taxes on consumers are more salient to consumers than equivalent taxes on sellers because consumers underestimate the extent of tax shifting in the market. We show that tax salience...... biases consumers' voting on tax regimes, and that experience is an effective de-biasing mechanism in the experimental laboratory. Pre-vote deliberation makes initially held opinions more extreme rather than correct and does not eliminate the bias in the typical committee. Yet, if voters can discuss...... their experience with the tax regimes they are less likely to be biased....

  13. Online Public Deliberation in China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Medaglia, Rony; Yang, Yang

    2017-01-01

    Internet discussion platforms in China provide a hugely interesting and relevant source for understanding dynamics of online discussions in a unique context. Adopting the theoretical lens of public deliberation, this paper investigates the evolution of patterns of similar-minded and different......-minded interactions over time on a Chinese online discussion forum. We analyse the content and reply networks of 18,000+ messages on four highly debated topics on the Bulletin Board System (BBS) platform Tianya. Findings provide nuanced evidence to the phenomenon of increased network homophily over time, mitigated...... investigation on independent variables for understanding dynamics of online discussions, and for studies comparing cases across different contexts....

  14. Longitudinal relationships between gratitude, deliberate rumination, and posttraumatic growth in adolescents following the Wenchuan earthquake in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Xiao; Wu, Xinchun

    2015-10-01

    To examine the longitudinal relationship between gratitude, deliberate rumination and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in the adolescent survivors after the Wenchuan earthquake, 217 adolescent survivors were randomly selected from several primary and secondary schools in the county of Wenchuan, and were assessed by questionnaires at three and a half years (T1), four and a half years (T2), five and a half years (T3) after the Wenchuan earthquake, respectively. The results found that there was a one-way predictive relationship of gratitude onto PTG from T1 to T3, and gratitude predicted deliberate rumination from T1 to T2 but not T2 to T3. Deliberate rumination only had a significant positive effect on PTG from T2 to T3, and PTG only predicted deliberate rumination from T1 to T2. These results indicated that gratitude could be a stable predictive factor for the development of PTG, and gratitude could also affect PTG by deliberate rumination. In addition, the predictive effect between deliberate rumination and PTG is unstable with time change. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Intuitive and Deliberate Judgments Are Based on Common Principles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruglanski, Arie W.; Gigerenzer, Gerd

    2011-01-01

    A popular distinction in cognitive and social psychology has been between "intuitive" and "deliberate" judgments. This juxtaposition has aligned in dual-process theories of reasoning associative, unconscious, effortless, heuristic, and suboptimal processes (assumed to foster intuitive judgments) versus rule-based, conscious, effortful, analytic,…

  16. The role of emotions in moral case deliberation: theory, practice, and methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molewijk, Bert; Kleinlugtenbelt, Dick; Widdershoven, Guy

    2011-09-01

    In clinical moral decision making, emotions often play an important role. However, many clinical ethicists are ignorant, suspicious or even critical of the role of emotions in making moral decisions and in reflecting on them. This raises practical and theoretical questions about the understanding and use of emotions in clinical ethics support services. This paper presents an Aristotelian view on emotions and describes its application in the practice of moral case deliberation. According to Aristotle, emotions are an original and integral part of (virtue) ethics. Emotions are an inherent part of our moral reasoning and being, and therefore they should be an inherent part of any moral deliberation. Based on Aristotle's view, we examine five specific aspects of emotions: the description of emotions, the attitude towards emotions, the thoughts present in emotions, the reliability of emotions, and the reasonable principle that guides an emotion. We then discuss three ways of dealing with emotions in the process of moral case deliberation. Finally, we present an Aristotelian conversation method, and present practical experiences using this method. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  17. From Protest to Political Parties: Online Deliberation in New Parties in Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa Borge Bravo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The new parties that emerged following the 15-M movement and against the austerity measures in Spain want to build parties open to the participation and deliberation for all the citizenry. To what extent are these ideals being fulfilled? The aim of this article is to describe and assess some of the main online deliberative processes of the two most important parties, Podemos and Barcelona En Comú, following commonly accepted criteria in the literature for measuring online deliberation. Specifically, we have examined the two most-voted proposals from the online platform Plaza Podemos and the online development of the electoral programme of Barcelona En Comú. Thus, we have conducted a content analysis of 713 (Plaza Podemos and 563 (Barcelona En Comú posts. Both platforms meet the structural and technical criteria for fostering deliberation, but the external impact is high only in the case of Barcelona En Comú. The deliberative quality of the communication is good but not the criteria of reflexivity, inclusion and plurality.

  18. RETHINKING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY ACCESS IN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: REACTIONS TO POLICY FORUM DISCUSSIONS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sampietro-Colom, Laura; Thomas, Sarah

    2016-01-01

    The need to progress and innovate in health technology assessment (HTA) is a must in a continuously changing environment. The HTAi Policy Forum reflected on two specific areas for development where it was thought there was need for careful consideration and deliberation during the main annual meeting in February 2016. The study by Husereau et al. (1) in this journal presents the discussions resulting from this Forum. To further share the deliberations of the Forum and with a view to opening this debate to the wider HTA community, a panel session during the HTAi Annual Meeting in Tokyo was organized. Presentations at the panel included a summary of the HTAi Policy Forum discussions and perspectives from a patient, a representative of healthcare system provider, and a representative from an HTA organization and industry. This letter presents the issues raised in the panel session.

  19. Aristotle’s contribution to the deliberation from a bioethical perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Orlando Parra-Pineda

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Deliberation is a basic rational human activity recognized since ancient times due to its role in decision making during daily life activities and in specialized areas of knowledge such as medicine, politics and ethics. The objective of this reflection paper is to study the contribution of Aristotle to the deliberative process through his work the Nicomachean Ethics, where the following aspects of deliberation were identified for analysis: origin, definition, characteristics, and types and conditions for its development. Bioethics defend these aspects, since it finds in Aristotelian phronesis the fundamental axis to guide its actions in search of human self-realization and the analysis and decision making of the clinical bioethical problems. Twenty-four centuries have passed until the importance of this process and the need to educate about it was finally rediscovered.

  20. Immigration Restrictions as Active Labor Market Policy: Evidence from the Mexican Bracero Exclusion

    OpenAIRE

    Clemens, Michael A.; Lewis, Ethan Gatewood; Postel, Hannah M.

    2017-01-01

    An important class of active labor market policy has received little rigorous impact evaluation: immigration barriers intended to improve the terms of employment for domestic workers by deliberately shrinking the workforce. Recent advances in the theory of endogenous technical change suggest that such policies could have limited or even perverse labor-market effects, but empirical tests are scarce. We study a natural experiment that excluded almost half a million Mexican 'bracero' seasonal ag...

  1. In search of online deliberation : Towards a new method for examining the quality of online discussions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Graham, Todd; Witschge, Tamara

    2003-01-01

    Many advocates of deliberative democracy see in the Internet a new opportunity for the development of public spaces, public spheres, and places where deliberation can take place. An important element of the notion of the public sphere in general and of deliberation specifically, is the quality of

  2. Examining the scope and patterns of deliberate self-injurious cutting content in popular social media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miguel, Elizabeth M; Chou, Tommy; Golik, Alejandra; Cornacchio, Danielle; Sanchez, Amanda L; DeSerisy, Mariah; Comer, Jonathan S

    2017-09-01

    Social networking services (SNS) have rapidly become a central platform for adolescents' social interactions and media consumption patterns. The present study examined a representative sample of publicly accessible content related to deliberate self-injurious cutting across three SNS platforms: Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Data collection simulated searches for publicly available deliberate self-injury content on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Over a six-month period at randomly generated time points, data were obtained by searching "#cutting" on each SNS platform and collecting the first 10 posts generated. Independent evaluators coded posts for presence of the following: (a) graphic content, (b) negative self-evaluations, (c) references to mental health terms, (d) discouragement of deliberate self-injury, and (e) recovery-oriented resources. Differences across platforms were examined. Data collection yielded a sample of 1,155 public posts (770 of which were related to mental health). Roughly 60% of sampled posts depicted graphic content, almost half included negative self-evaluations, only 9.5% discouraged self-injury, and Instagram posts displayed the greatest proportion of graphic content and negative self-evaluations, whereas Twitter exhibited the smallest proportion of each. Findings characterize the graphic nature of online SNS deliberate self-injury content and the relative absence of SNS-posted resources for populations seeking out deliberate self-injurious cutting content. Mental health professionals must recognize the rapidly changing landscape of adolescent media consumption, influences, and social interaction as they may pertain to self-harm patterns. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Deliberate Learning and Vocabulary Acquisition in a Second Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elgort, Irina

    2011-01-01

    This study investigates outcomes of deliberate learning on vocabulary acquisition in a second language (L2). Acquisition of 48 pseudowords was measured using the lexical decision task with visually presented stimuli. The experiments drew on form priming, masked repetition priming, and automatic semantic priming procedures. Data analyses revealed a…

  4. Parliament and the making of Indian foreign policy: a study of nuclear policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paranjpe, Shrikant

    1997-01-01

    This book is a study that attempts to look at the emerging role design that the Indian Parliament has come to acquire in the exercise of its functions of participating in the formulation of foreign policy. The choice of the case study of nuclear policy is deliberate in that it evokes responses in all the three important dimensions of the role of the parliament: policy-making, representational activity, and system maintenance activity. The executive and the legislature are closely associated in the process of policy-making in the Indian parliamentary set-up. The representational activities focuses on the role perception of a parliamentarian and his interest in the area of foreign policy. The system maintenance activity includes support for the regime and political system essentially ensuring continuation of policy. This book also brings out the policies as they developed and the role played by the Parliament in terms of participation in the formulation of the policies. The issue areas covered includes the scientific and technological aspects of atomic energy policy; the debate on the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty; peaceful nuclear explosions; and the question of the nuclear weapons option. The essential sources of the study have been parliamentary debates, published reports and other statements dealing with the topic and interviews with legislators and officials involved in the issue. Most of the recommendations and concluding observations have been based on the interviews conducted

  5. Deliberation at the hub of medical education: beyond virtue ethics and codes of practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barilan, Y M; Brusa, M

    2013-02-01

    Although both codes of practice and virtue ethics are integral to the ethos and history of "medical professionalism", the two trends appear mutually incompatible. Hence, in the first part of the paper we explore and explicate this apparent conflict and seek a direction for medical education. The theoretical and empirical literature indicates that moral deliberation may transcend the incompatibilities between the formal and the virtuous, may enhance moral and other aspects of personal sensitivity, may help design and improve other parts of the curricula, and may foster self-awareness and clarification of the professional role. Not only are these goals essential for good and conscientious doctoring, but they may also reduce physicians' "burn-out". We argue that medical education should focus on the ubiquitous practice of deliberation in contemporary medicine, and especially the practice of moral deliberation.

  6. Inquiry into Turkey's Educational Technology, Governance, Situational Educational Policy: An Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tolu, Hüseyin

    2018-01-01

    Investigating the sociology of educational technology can be approached through a series of deliberations based on the interaction between Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) and Proprietary Close Source Software (PCSS). This article consults public policy discourses of the Fatih project, which is the current educational technology project in…

  7. Policy implications of technologies for cognitive enhancement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarewitz, Daniel R. (Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ); Karas, Thomas H.

    2007-02-01

    The Advanced Concepts Group at Sandia National Laboratory and the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University convened a workshop in May 2006 to explore the potential policy implications of technologies that might enhance human cognitive abilities. The group's deliberations sought to identify core values and concerns raised by the prospect of cognitive enhancement. The workshop focused on the policy implications of various prospective cognitive enhancements and on the technologies/nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science--that enable them. The prospect of rapidly emerging technological capabilities to enhance human cognition makes urgent a daunting array of questions, tensions, ambitions, and concerns. The workshop elicited dilemmas and concerns in ten overlapping areas: science and democracy; equity and justice; freedom and control; intergenerational issues; ethics and competition; individual and community rights; speed and deliberations; ethical uncertainty; humanness; and sociocultural risk. We identified four different perspectives to encompass the diverse issues related to emergence of cognitive enhancement technologies: (1) Laissez-faire--emphasizes freedom of individuals to seek and employ enhancement technologies based on their own judgment; (2) Managed technological optimism--believes that while these technologies promise great benefits, such benefits cannot emerge without an active government role; (3) Managed technological skepticism--views that the quality of life arises more out of society's institutions than its technologies; and (4) Human Essentialism--starts with the notion of a human essence (whether God-given or evolutionary in origin) that should not be modified. While the perspectives differ significantly about both human nature and the role of government, each encompasses a belief in the value of transparency and reliable information that can allow public discussion and

  8. Dewey's Ethical Justification for Public Deliberation Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shook, John

    2013-01-01

    Interpretations of John Dewey's political theory grasp his respect for public deliberation, but typically overlook his ethical justification for democracy. Dewey gave two primary reasons why democracy is superior to other forms of government. First, a public educated in the tools of social intelligence can be more effective at managing their…

  9. Reorienting Deliberation: Identity Politics in Multicultural Societies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca Mason

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Many political theorists argue that cross-cultural communication within multicultural democracies is not best served by a commitment to identity politics. In response, I argue that identity politics only interfere with democratic participation according to an erroneous interpretation of the relationship between identity and reasoning. I argue that recognizing the importance of identity to the intelligibility of reasons offered in the context of civic deliberation is the first step towards the kind of dialogue that democratic participation requires.

  10. Suicide attempts by deliberate self-poisoning in children and adolescents

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Zakharov, S.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Pelclová, D.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 210, č. 1 (2013), s. 302-307 ISSN 0165-1781 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : Deliberate suicidal self-poisoning * Suicide attempts in children and adolescents * Czech Toxicological Information Centre Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.682, year: 2013

  11. Enacting Ethics: Bottom-up Involvement in Implementing Moral Case Deliberation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weidema, F.C.; Molewijk, A.C.; Widdershoven, G.A.M.; Abma, T.A.

    2012-01-01

    In moral case deliberation (MCD), healthcare professionals meet to reflect upon their moral questions supported by a structured conversation method and non-directive conversation facilitator. An increasing number of Dutch healthcare institutions work with MCD to (1) deal with moral questions, (2)

  12. Enacting Effective Climate Policy Advice: Institutional Strategies to Foster Saliency, Credibility and Legitimacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Anja; Pregernig, Michael; Reinecke, Sabine

    2016-01-01

    This article asks how scientific advisory institutions (SAIs) in climate policy strive towards effectiveness. Our analysis is grounded on the assumption that effectiveness is not passively experienced but is deliberately enacted by SAIs. We draw on a widely used set of criteria, namely saliency, credibility and legitimacy (SCL). Based on an…

  13. Pragmatism, metaphysics, and bioethics: beyond a theory of moral deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pamental, Matthew

    2013-12-01

    Pragmatism has been understood by bioethicists as yet another rival in the "methods wars," as yet another theory of moral deliberation. This has led to criticism of pragmatic bioethics as both theoretically and practically inadequate. Pragmatists' responses to these objections have focused mainly on misunderstandings of pragmatism's epistemology. These responses are insufficient. Pragmatism's commitment to radical empiricism gives it theoretical resources unappreciated by critics and defenders alike. Radical empiricism, unlike its more traditional ancestors, undercuts the gaps between theory and practice, and subjective and objective accounts of experience, and in so doing provides the metaphysical and epistemological basis for a thoroughgoing empirical naturalism in ethics. Pragmatism's strength as an approach to moral problems thus emerges as a result of a much wider array of resources than contemporary interpreters have acknowledged, which makes it a richer, deeper framework for understanding moral deliberation in general and bioethical decision making in particular.

  14. Health Policy, Ethics, and the Kansas Legislative Health Academy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maree, Gina; Schrandt, Suzanne; Soderquist, Chris; Steffensmeier, Tim; St. Peter, Robert

    2015-01-01

    We describe a unique program, the Kansas Legislative Health Academy, that brings together state legislators from across the political spectrum to build their capacity in advancing policies that can improve the health of Kansans. To that end, the academy helps legislators develop new skills to deliberate the ethics of health policy, use systems thinking to understand the long- and short-term effects of policy action and inaction, and engage in acts of civic leadership. The academy also seeks to foster an environment of respectful open dialogue and to build new cross-chamber and cross-party relationships. Among the most important outcomes cited by program participants is the value of sustained, personal interaction and problem solving with individuals holding differing political views. PMID:25607945

  15. Health policy, ethics, and the Kansas Legislative Health Academy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blacksher, Erika; Maree, Gina; Schrandt, Suzanne; Soderquist, Chris; Steffensmeier, Tim; St Peter, Robert

    2015-03-01

    We describe a unique program, the Kansas Legislative Health Academy, that brings together state legislators from across the political spectrum to build their capacity in advancing policies that can improve the health of Kansans. To that end, the academy helps legislators develop new skills to deliberate the ethics of health policy, use systems thinking to understand the long- and short-term effects of policy action and inaction, and engage in acts of civic leadership. The academy also seeks to foster an environment of respectful open dialogue and to build new cross-chamber and cross-party relationships. Among the most important outcomes cited by program participants is the value of sustained, personal interaction and problem solving with individuals holding differing political views.

  16. Deliberation before determination: the definition and evaluation of good decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elwyn, Glyn; Miron-Shatz, Talya

    2010-06-01

    In this article, we examine definitions of suggested approaches to measure the concept of good decisions, highlight the ways in which they converge, and explain why we have concerns about their emphasis on post-hoc estimations and post-decisional outcomes, their prescriptive concept of knowledge, and their lack of distinction between the process of deliberation, and the act of decision determination. There has been a steady trend to involve patients in decision making tasks in clinical practice, part of a shift away from paternalism towards the concept of informed choice. An increased understanding of the uncertainties that exist in medicine, arising from a weak evidence base and, in addition, the stochastic nature of outcomes at the individual level, have contributed to shifting the responsibility for decision making from physicians to patients. This led to increasing use of decision support and communication methods, with the ultimate aim of improving decision making by patients. Interest has therefore developed in attempting to define good decision making and in the development of measurement approaches. We pose and reflect whether decisions can be judged good or not, and, if so, how this goodness might be evaluated. We hypothesize that decisions cannot be measured by reference to their outcomes and offer an alternative means of assessment, which emphasizes the deliberation process rather than the decision's end results. We propose decision making comprises a pre-decisional process and an act of decision determination and consider how this model of decision making serves to develop a new approach to evaluating what constitutes a good decision making process. We proceed to offer an alternative, which parses decisions into the pre-decisional deliberation process, the act of determination and post-decisional outcomes. Evaluating the deliberation process, we propose, should comprise of a subjective sufficiency of knowledge, as well as emotional processing and

  17. Detecting the Evolution of Deliberate Fertility Control before the Demographic Transition in Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aliaksandr Amialchuk

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Pervious literature has established the existence of deliberate non-parity-specific fertility control in pre-transitional populations. However, less focus has been given to the timing of its onset. In addition, previous studies focused on the changes in fertility in response to the local prices of grains, which may be endogenous. OBJECTIVE This paper studies the emergence and evolution of deliberate fertility control by investigating the link between child mortality and economic stress on the one hand and non-parity-specific birth control on the other, in historic German villages between 1700 and 1900. METHODS Birth histories from fourteen German villages (1700-1900 and rye price series are used in a micro-level event history analysis. The fertility response of second and higher-order births to the mortality of children over age two and exogenous fluctuations in rye price are used as measures of the extent of deliberate non-parity-specific birth control. RESULTS Over the course of the demographic transition, the effect of the death of children generally increases after controlling for the effect of the death of children less than two years old. The negative fertility response to high rye prices before and in the year immediately following the price change occurred only after 1800. CONCLUSIONS The replacement and insurance effects associated with child mortality generally increased before the demographic transition. The emergence of the negative effect of high rye prices on fertility after 1800 further supports the presence and evolution of deliberate non-parity-specific fertility control before the demographic transition.

  18. Client participation in moral case deliberation: a precarious relational balance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weidema, F.C.; Abma, T.A.; Widdershoven, G.A.M.; Molewijk, A.C.

    2011-01-01

    Moral case deliberation (MCD) is a form of clinical ethics support in which the ethicist as facilitator aims at supporting professionals with a structured moral inquiry into their moral issues from practice. Cases often affect clients, however, their inclusion in MCD is not common. Client

  19. Cognitive and Contextual Correlates of Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind-Wandering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robison, Matthew K.; Unsworth, Nash

    2018-01-01

    Individuals with greater cognitive abilities generally show reduced rates of mind-wandering when completing relatively demanding tasks (Randall, Oswald, & Beier, 2014). However, it is yet unclear whether elevated rates of mind-wandering among low-ability individuals are manifestations of deliberate, intentional episodes of mind-wandering…

  20. Public Deliberation on Government-managed Social Media

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Medaglia, Rony; Zhu, Demi

    2017-01-01

    – characterised by exposure to different opinions, mutual understanding, and reasonableness – or hinder them, resulting in increased homophily and polarisation. Using the theoretical lens of public deliberation, this study investigates attitudinal and cognitive aspects of user conversations on government......-managed social media accounts. Drawing on a survey of 417 users of the Chinese social media platform Weibo, our findings show that interactions on social media are mostly non-dialogical and non-creative in nature, and characterised by homophily and polarisation, even though users perceive their interactions...

  1. Speed or deliberation: a comparison of post-disaster recovery in Japan, Turkey, and Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platt, Stephen; So, Emily

    2017-10-01

    This paper compares recovery in the wake of three recent earthquakes: the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011; the Van earthquake in Turkey in October 2011; and the Maule earthquake in Chile in February 2010. The authors visited all three locations approximately 12-18 months after the incidents and interviewed earthquake specialists, disaster managers, urban planners, and local authorities. A key challenge to post-disaster recovery planning is balancing speed and deliberation. While affected communities must rebuild as quickly as possible, they must also seek to maximise the opportunities for improvement that disasters provide. The three case studies bring this dilemma into stark relief, as recovery was respectively slow, fast, and just right in the aftermath of the events: the Government of Japan adopted a deliberate approach to recovery and reconstruction; speed was of the essence in Turkey; and an effective balance between speed and deliberation was achieved in Chile. © 2017 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2017.

  2. Deliberate practice is necessary but not sufficient to explain individual differences in piano sight-reading skill: the role of working memory capacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinz, Elizabeth J; Hambrick, David Z

    2010-07-01

    Deliberate practice-that is, engagement in activities specifically designed to improve performance in a domain-is strongly predictive of performance in domains such as music and sports. It has even been suggested that deliberate practice is sufficient to account for expert performance. Less clear is whether basic abilities, such as working memory capacity (WMC), add to the prediction of expert performance, above and beyond deliberate practice. In evaluating participants having a wide range of piano-playing skill (novice to expert), we found that deliberate practice accounted for nearly half of the total variance in piano sight-reading performance. However, there was an incremental positive effect of WMC, and there was no evidence that deliberate practice reduced this effect. Evidence indicates that WMC is highly general, stable, and heritable, and thus our results call into question the view that expert performance is solely a reflection of deliberate practice.

  3. Discussing dialogue: perspectives on the value of science dialogue events that do not inform policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davies, Sarah Rachael; McCallie, Ellen; Simonsson, Elin

    2009-01-01

    deliberately draw on different literatures and seek to make use of practitioner expertise within our discussion, in order to display several perspectives on the value of non-policy dialogue on science as sites of symmetrical individual or small-scale learning --rather than institutional learning......--through social processes...

  4. Short-term and long-term effects of psychosocial therapy for people after deliberate self-harm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Erlangsen, Annette; Lind, Bertel Dam; Stuart, Elizabeth A

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Although deliberate self-harm is a strong predictor of suicide, evidence for effective interventions is missing. The aim of this study was to examine whether psychosocial therapy after self-harm was linked to lower risks of repeated self-harm, suicide, and general mortality. METHODS......: In this matched cohort study all people who, after deliberate self-harm, received a psychosocial therapy intervention at suicide prevention clinics in Denmark during 1992-2010 were compared with people who did not receive the psychosocial therapy intervention after deliberate self-harm. We applied propensity...... score matching with a 1:3 ratio and 31 matching factors, and calculated odds ratios for 1, 5, 10, and 20 years of follow-up. The primary endpoints were repeated self-harm, death by suicide, and death by any cause. FINDINGS: 5678 recipients of psychosocial therapy (followed up for 42·828 person...

  5. Non-conscious vs. deliberate dynamic decision-making—a pilot experiment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grössler, A.; Rouwette, E.A.J.A.; Vennix, J.A.M.; Größler, A.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for

  6. A Deliberate Practice Instructional Approach for Upper Division Physics Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, David

    2015-05-01

    In upper division physics courses, an overarching educational goal is to have students think about and use the material much as a practicing physicist in the field does. Specifically, this would include knowledge (such as concepts, formalism, and instruments), approaches, and metacognitive skills that physicists use in solving ``typical'' (research context) problems to both understand and predict physical observations and accompanying models. Using an interactive instructional approach known as deliberate practice (described earlier in this session) we will discuss our work on how to provide students with the necessary practice and feedback to achieve these skills in a core DAMOP course of modern optics. We present the results of a direct and explicit comparison between this approach and traditional lecture-based instruction revealing evidence that a significant improvement of the students' mastery of these skills occurs when deliberate practice is employed. Our work was supported by the University of British Columbia through the CWSEI.

  7. Sociopolitical determinants of international health policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Vos, Pol; Van der Stuyft, Patrick

    2015-01-01

    For decades, two opposing logics have dominated the health policy debate: a comprehensive health care approach, with the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration as its cornerstone, and a private competition logic, emphasizing the role of the private sector. We present this debate and its influence on international health policies in the context of changing global economic and sociopolitical power relations in the second half of the last century. The neoliberal approach is illustrated with Chile's health sector reform in the 1980s and the Colombian reform since 1993. The comprehensive "public logic" is shown through the social insurance models in Costa Rica and in Brazil and through the national public health systems in Cuba since 1959 and in Nicaragua during the 1980s. These experiences emphasize that health care systems do not naturally gravitate toward greater fairness and efficiency, but require deliberate policy decisions. © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions:]br]sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  8. Deliberate self-harm before psychiatric admission and risk of suicide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Trine; Agerbo, Esben; Mortensen, Preben Bo

    2013-01-01

    Psychiatric illness and deliberate self-harm (DSH) are major risk factors of suicide. In largely 15 % of psychiatric admissions in Denmark, the patient had an episode of DSH within the last year before admission. This study examined the survival and predictors of suicide in a suicidal high...

  9. Un/Doing Gender? A Case Study of School Policy and Practice in Zambia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bajaj, Monisha

    2009-01-01

    This article explores an attempt to disrupt gender inequality in a unique, low-cost private school in Ndola, Zambia. It examines deliberate school policies aimed at "undoing gender" or fostering greater gender equity. These include efforts to maintain gender parity at all levels of the school and the requirement that both young men and…

  10. Deliberate Self-Harm in Adolescence: A Challenge for Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Best, Ron

    2006-01-01

    Acts of deliberate self-harm (DSH) by adolescents are thought to be on the increase. Many of those who self-harm are of school age and it is to be expected that schools (and their teachers) will be aware of the problem and will respond appropriately as part of their pastoral-care provision. However, a recent survey of research in pastoral care and…

  11. Adapting the coping in deliberation (CODE) framework: a multi-method approach in the context of familial ovarian cancer risk management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witt, Jana; Elwyn, Glyn; Wood, Fiona; Rogers, Mark T; Menon, Usha; Brain, Kate

    2014-11-01

    To test whether the coping in deliberation (CODE) framework can be adapted to a specific preference-sensitive medical decision: risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in women at increased risk of ovarian cancer. We performed a systematic literature search to identify issues important to women during deliberations about RRSO. Three focus groups with patients (most were pre-menopausal and untested for genetic mutations) and 11 interviews with health professionals were conducted to determine which issues mattered in the UK context. Data were used to adapt the generic CODE framework. The literature search yielded 49 relevant studies, which highlighted various issues and coping options important during deliberations, including mutation status, risks of surgery, family obligations, physician recommendation, peer support and reliable information sources. Consultations with UK stakeholders confirmed most of these factors as pertinent influences on deliberations. Questions in the generic framework were adapted to reflect the issues and coping options identified. The generic CODE framework was readily adapted to a specific preference-sensitive medical decision, showing that deliberations and coping are linked during deliberations about RRSO. Adapted versions of the CODE framework may be used to develop tailored decision support methods and materials in order to improve patient-centred care. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Cooperation, Fast and Slow: Meta-Analytic Evidence for a Theory of Social Heuristics and Self-Interested Deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rand, David G

    2016-09-01

    Does cooperating require the inhibition of selfish urges? Or does "rational" self-interest constrain cooperative impulses? I investigated the role of intuition and deliberation in cooperation by meta-analyzing 67 studies in which cognitive-processing manipulations were applied to economic cooperation games (total N = 17,647; no indication of publication bias using Egger's test, Begg's test, or p-curve). My meta-analysis was guided by the social heuristics hypothesis, which proposes that intuition favors behavior that typically maximizes payoffs, whereas deliberation favors behavior that maximizes one's payoff in the current situation. Therefore, this theory predicts that deliberation will undermine pure cooperation (i.e., cooperation in settings where there are few future consequences for one's actions, such that cooperating is not in one's self-interest) but not strategic cooperation (i.e., cooperation in settings where cooperating can maximize one's payoff). As predicted, the meta-analysis revealed 17.3% more pure cooperation when intuition was promoted over deliberation, but no significant difference in strategic cooperation between more intuitive and more deliberative conditions. © The Author(s) 2016.

  13. Peer sexual harassment and deliberate self-injury: longitudinal cross-lag investigations in Canada and Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Sheila K; Faaborg-Andersen, Pernille; Tilton-Weaver, Lauree C; Stattin, Håkan

    2013-12-01

    Although the receipt of peer sexual harassment in schools has been linked to deliberate self-injury, the direction of association over time has not been tested. Two longitudinal studies examined whether receipt of peer sexual harassment within schools predicts engagement in deliberate self-injury or vice versa. Differences between boys and girls were also tested. Surveys were conducted in two countries, Canada and Sweden. Measures of sexual harassment and deliberate self-injury were administered yearly in classrooms. Two waves of data were collected in the Canadian study (N = 161, 59.6% girls, mean age = 13.82 years); three waves of data were collected in Sweden (N = 513, 47% girls, mean age = 13.23 years). In the Canadian study, deliberate self-injury predicted subsequent peer sexual harassment; the converse relationship was not significant. No significant gender differences were found. Across the three waves of the Swedish study, peer sexual harassment predicted self-injury from T1 to T2, and self-injury predicted peer sexual harassment from T2 to T3. However, self-injury did not mediate peer sexual harassment at T1 and T3. Tests of gender differences revealed self-injury predicted sexual harassment from T2 to T3 among Swedish girls but not boys. Adolescents who deliberately self-injure may be vulnerable to sexual harassment by peers at school. Cultural norms may have a role in whether this process applies primarily to girls or to both genders. Sexual harassment by peers may also increase self-injury, but this is not subsequently linked to increases in receipt of sexual harassment. Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Motive Matters! An exploration of the notion ‘deliberate breach of contract’ and its consequences for the application of remedies

    OpenAIRE

    Kogelenberg, Martijn

    2012-01-01

    textabstractThis thesis explores the notion of deliberate breach of contract and its potential remedial consequences. In the major jurisdictions in Europe and in the United States the notion of deliberate breach of contract is generally not coherently and officially defined and acknowledged as an independent legal phenomenon. The ultimate added value of this thesis intends to be a first coherent comparative research on deliberate breach of contract and its potential consequences for the core ...

  15. Policy Dialogue and Engagement between Non-Governmental Organizations and Government: A Survey of Processes and Instruments of Canadian Policy Workers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan Mitchell Evans

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Various analysts have raised concerns respecting declining research, evaluation and analytical capacities within public services. Typically, the decline is attributed to reforms associated with neoliberal restructuring of the state and its concomitant managerial expression in New Public Management (NPM.  This has given rise to a conceptual shift now commonly captured as a movement from ‘government’ to ‘governance’. Policy advising from a new governance perspective entails an image of a more distributed policy advisory system where a plurality of actors, including non-state actors, engages with government in deliberating policy interventions to address collective problems.The original research presented here suggests that those responsible for policy work across four policy communities in the three Canadian provinces surveyed differ in terms of their capacities, depth of commitment to a specific policy file/field, roles and functions, as well as perceptions of the policy work that they undertake. Over the past several years, a number of primarily quantitative analyses examining the processes, tools and perspectives of Canadian federal and provincial government policy analysts have been published.  Consequently, a significant knowledge-base has been acquired respecting what government policy analysts do and their attitudes toward their work but very little is known about external interactions with non-governmental organizations (NGOs.

  16. 'What the hell is water?' How to use deliberate clinical inertia in common emergency department situations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egerton-Warburton, Diana; Cullen, Louise; Keijzers, Gerben; Fatovich, Daniel M

    2018-06-01

    Appropriate deliberate clinical inertia refers to the art of doing nothing as a positive clinical response. It includes shared decision-making to improve patient care with the use of clinical judgement. We discuss common clinical scenarios where the use of deliberate clinical inertia can occur. The insertion of peripheral intravenous cannulae, investigating patients with suspected renal colic and the investigation of low risk chest pain are all opportunities for the thoughtful clinician to 'stand there' and use effective patient communication to avoid low value tests and procedures. Awareness is key to identifying these opportunities to practice deliberate clinical inertia, as many of the situations may be so much a part of our environment that they are hidden in plain view. © 2018 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

  17. Organizing moral case deliberation experiences in two Dutch nursing homes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Dam, S.; Abma, T.A.; Molewijk, A.C.; Kardol, M.J.M.; Schols, J.M.G.A.

    2011-01-01

    Moral case deliberation (MCD) is a specific form of clinical ethics, aiming to stimulate ethical reflection in daily practice in order to improve the quality of care. This article focuses on the implementation of MCD in nursing homes and the questions how and where to organize MCD. The purpose of

  18. The significance of internet communication in public deliberation:

    OpenAIRE

    Rasmussen, Terje

    2009-01-01

    The article addresses recent structural changes in the public sphere related to media as platforms for debate and deliberation. New media platforms for communication lead to changes in the communication structure itself. This can easily be seen in the differentiation processes of the public sphere that is now taking place: The differentiation of topics, styles and actors is an astonishing phenomenon, is constantly a topic of debate in itself, often labelled as both decay and democratisation. ...

  19. Decentralization and social participation: the new design of social policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solange Maria Teixeira

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available This text indicates essential elements needed for an analysis of direct democracy, materialized in processes of decentralization and civil society participation in spaces for deliberating public policies, in a context of reform of these policies in the 1990’s. It analyzes the national Policy for the Elderly and the experiences of elderly rights councils. It concludes that despite the fact that spaces for participation are contradictory and the orientations of participation of the various subjects are in conflict, the correlation of forces favorable to conservative forces, redirect social policies, giving them a new rationality and new legitimacy that distribute responsibilities to civil society. These changes reinforce a culture of privation in light of the clashes of the refractions of the social issue and transmute popular participation into consent and legitimization of the given order.

  20. The Quality of Deliberation in Two Committees of the European Parliament: The Neglected Influence of the Situational Context and the Policymaking Stage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Léa Roger

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available In our paper we try to answer two empirical research questions. First, we assess the deliberative quality of discussions in two committees of the EU Parliament. In order to do so, we use a slightly revised version of the DQI. Second, we identify and empirically measure those variables that systematically influence the quality of deliberation in interviews with debate actors. We argue that the quality of deliberation in EU committees is influenced by two normative values: deliberation (common good orientation and responsiveness (particular interest orientation, with the guiding value determined by the particular situation. Using a multidimensional concept of deliberation, we empirically test the impact of situational variables on specific aspects of deliberative quality. In addition, we take into account the temporal dimension of deliberation.

  1. Tobacco control, global health policy and development: towards policy coherence in global governance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collin, Jeff

    2015-01-01

    The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) demonstrates the international political will invested in combating the tobacco pandemic and a newfound prominence for tobacco control within the global health agenda. However, major difficulties exist in managing conflicts with foreign and trade policy priorities, and significant obstacles confront efforts to create synergies with development policy and avoid tensions with other health priorities. This paper uses the concept of policy coherence to explore congruence and inconsistencies in objectives, policy, and practice between tobacco control and trade, development and global health priorities. Following the inability of the FCTC negotiations to satisfactorily address the relationship between trade and health, several disputes highlight the challenges posed to tobacco control policies by multilateral and bilateral agreements. While the work of the World Bank has demonstrated the potential contribution of tobacco control to development, the absence of non-communicable diseases from the Millennium Development Goals has limited scope to offer developing countries support for FCTC implementation. Even within international health, tobacco control priorities may be hard to reconcile with other agendas. The paper concludes by discussing the extent to which tobacco control has been pursued via a model of governance very deliberately different from those used in other health issues, in what can be termed ‘tobacco exceptionalism’. The analysis developed here suggests that non-communicable disease (NCD) policies, global health, development and tobacco control would have much to gain from re-examining this presumption of difference. PMID:22345267

  2. Deliberating about race as a variable in biomedical research | van ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Race as a variable in research ethics is investigated: to what extent is it morally appropriate to regard the race of research subjects as pivotal for research outcomes? The challenges it poses to deliberation in research ethics committees are considered, and it is concluded that race sometimes must be considered, subject to ...

  3. From the shadows into the light: How pretrial publicity and deliberation affect mock jurors' decisions, impressions, and memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruva, Christine L; Guenther, Christina C

    2015-06-01

    This 2-part study explored how exposure to negative pretrial publicity (Neg-PTP) influences the jury process, as well as possible mechanisms responsible for its biasing effects on decisions. Study Part A explored how PTP and jury deliberations affect juror/jury verdicts, memory, and impressions of the defendant and attorneys. One week before viewing a criminal trial mock-jurors (N = 320 university students) were exposed to Neg-PTP or unrelated crime stories (No-PTP). Two days later deliberating jurors came to a group decision, whereas nondeliberating jurors completed an unrelated task before making an individual decision. Neg-PTP jurors were more likely to vote guilty, make memory errors, and rate the defendant lower in credibility. Deliberation reduced Neg-PTP jurors' memory accuracy and No-PTP jurors' guilty verdicts (leniency bias). Jurors' memory and ratings of the defendant and prosecuting attorney significantly mediated the effect of PTP on guilt ratings. Study Part B content analyzed 30 mock-jury deliberations and explored how PTP influenced deliberations and ultimately jury decisions. Neg-PTP juries were more likely than No-PTP juries to discuss ambiguous trial evidence in a proprosecution manner and less likely to discuss judicial instructions and lack of evidence. All Neg-PTP juries mentioned PTP, after instructed otherwise, and rarely corrected jury members who mentioned PTP. Discussion of ambiguous trial evidence in a proprosecution manner and lack of evidence significantly mediated the effect of PTP on jury-level guilt ratings. Together the findings suggest that judicial admonishments and deliberations may not be sufficient to reduce PTP bias, because of memory errors, biased impressions, and predecisional distortion. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Personal Characteristics of Teachers, Situational Variables and Deliberations in Planning Instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kremer, Lya

    This study reveals possible relationships among teachers' personality traits, situational variables, and deliberation characteristics in planning instruction. Dogmatism and locus of control perceptions were the personality traits studied, and the situations compared student teachers with elementary and secondary school teachers. Both groups were…

  5. Family Grant: social policy or political marketing?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Gabriel Martins de Moura

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available This essay, a political analysis, criticizes the Family Grant Program, implemented by the Lula government of 2003-2005. It is based on the ongoing analysis methodology originated in U.S. political science. It seeks to establish a parallel of these analyses with criticisms of the Family Grant program presented in the media and made by specialists. They focus on the absence of a conceptual reference for the program (or its practical non-application, supported by accumulated knowledge in the field, that would guide the social policies of the Lula government. Based on secondary sources about official data and on statements from specialists, the analysis identifies an apparent 'schizophrenia' in the 'philosophical' references that orient the government's social policies, suggesting that the solution chosen was a situational response to a demand for government marketing and not oriented to a deliberate public policy pre-conceived as such, which, if it exists, is not evident in the government actions.

  6. To Think or Not to Think:The Effect of Cognitive Deliberation on the Influence of Injunctive Versus Descriptive Social Norms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Melnyk, V.; Herpen, van E.; Fischer, A.R.H.; Trijp, van H.C.M.

    2011-01-01

    Consumers can process information containing social norms at different cognitive deliberation levels. This paper investigates the effect of cognitive deliberation for both descriptive and injunctive norms. The experimental study examines the consequences for attitudes and behavioral intentions of

  7. Managers' views on and experiences with moral case deliberation in nursing teams

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weidema, F.C.; Molewijk, A.C.; Kamsteeg, F.; Widdershoven, G.A.M.

    2015-01-01

    Aims: Providing management insights regarding moral case deliberation (MCD) from the experiential perspective of nursing managers. Background: MCD concerns systematic group-wise reflection on ethical issues. Attention to implementing MCD in health care is increasing, and managers' experiences

  8. Drug policy constellations: A Habermasian approach for understanding English drug policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Alex; Zampini, Giulia Federica

    2018-07-01

    It is increasingly accepted that a view of policy as a rational process of fitting evidence-based means to rationally justified ends is inadequate for understanding the actual processes of drug policy making. We aim to provide a better description and explanation of recent English drug policy decisions. We develop the policy constellation concept from the work of Habermas, in dialogue with data from two contemporary debates in English policy; on decriminalisation of drug possession and on recovery in drug treatment. We collect data on these debates through long-term participant observation, stakeholder interviews (n = 15) and documentary analysis. We show the importance of social asymmetries in power in enabling structurally advantaged groups to achieve the institutionalisation of their moral preferences as well as the reproduction of their social and economic power through the deployment of policies that reflect their material interests and normative beliefs. The most influential actors in English drug policy come together in a 'medico-penal constellation', in which the aims and practices of public health and social control overlap. Formal decriminalisation of possession has not occurred, despite the efforts of members of a challenging constellation which supports it. Recovery was put forward as the aim of drug treatment by members of a more powerfully connected constellation. It has been absorbed into the practice of 'recovery-oriented' drug treatment in a way that maintains the power of public health professionals to determine the form of treatment. Actors who share interests and norms come together in policy constellations. Strategic action within and between constellations creates policies that may not take the form that was intended by any individual actor. These policies do not result from purely rational deliberation, but are produced through 'systematically distorted communication'. They enable the most structurally favoured actors to institutionalise

  9. Deliberations of working group 3: stakeholders and the public: who are they?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webster, S.

    2000-01-01

    The working-group deliberations opened with a general discussion centred primarily around the issues introduced in the two papers presented that morning in plenary session: 'Who Are Stakeholders in Environmental Risk Decisions?' and 'Participation of Stakeholders in Waste Management Decisions: The German Experience'. In general, the interventions by the group were open and frank and adequately covered the key issues of the subject. This was followed by a presentation on the views and experience of the current siting debate in Sweden from the perspective of the regulatory bodies and a brief summary by the Chairman of the definition of the public in EU legislation and International Conventions. The majority of the working-group members contributed actively to the debate, and the discussions were conducted in an informal and open-minded manner. Hereinafter are the main observations made during the working group deliberations. (author)

  10. Leveraging U.S. nuclear weapons policy to advance U.S. nonproliferation goals : implications of major theories of international relations.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walter, Andrew

    2009-06-01

    National policymakers are currently considering a dilemma of critical importance to the continued security of the United States: how can U.S. nuclear weapons policies be leveraged to benefit U.S. nuclear nonproliferation goals in the near-term, without sacrificing U.S. national security? In its role supporting U.S. nuclear weapons policy, Sandia National Laboratories has a responsibility to provide objective technical advice to support policy deliberations on this question. However, to best fulfill this duty Sandia must have a broader understanding of the context of the problem. To help develop this understanding, this paper analyzes the two predominant analytical perspectives of international relations theory to explore their prescriptions for how nuclear weapons and nonproliferation policies interact. As lenses with which to view and make sense of the world, theories of international relations must play a crucial role in framing the trade-offs at the intersection of the nuclear weapons and nonproliferation policy domains. An analysis of what these theories suggest as courses of action to leverage nuclear weapons policies to benefit nonproliferation goals is then offered, with particular emphasis on where the policy prescriptions resulting from the respective theories align to offer near-term policy changes with broad theoretical support. These policy prescriptions are then compared to the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review to understand what the theories indicate policymakers may have gotten right in their dealing with the nuclear dilemma, and where they may have gone wrong. Finally, a brief international relations research agenda is proposed to help address the dilemma between nuclear deterrence and nuclear nonproliferation policies, with particular emphasis on how such an agenda can best support the needs of the policy community and a potential 'all things nuclear' policy deliberation and decision-support framework.

  11. Air Force Leadership Study: The Need for Deliberate Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-01

    Abraham Maslow , once the basic needs of survival and security are met, people concern themselves with higher needs like affection, be- longing, the...maintaining the data needed , and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of...Study: The Need for Deliberate Development 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e

  12. The Cognitive-Miser Response Model: Testing for Intuitive and Deliberate Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bockenholt, Ulf

    2012-01-01

    In a number of psychological studies, answers to reasoning vignettes have been shown to result from both intuitive and deliberate response processes. This paper utilizes a psychometric model to separate these two response tendencies. An experimental application shows that the proposed model facilitates the analysis of dual-process item responses…

  13. Environmental policy in the 9th German Bundestag and the Bundesrat (1980-1983)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-01-01

    This presentation of environmental policy constitutes the continuation of copies No. 49 and No. 72 of the 'Materialien' [Materials] (Environmental policy in the 7th German Bundestag or environmental policy in the 8. German Bundestag and in the Bundesrat, resp. - 1976 to 1980). References to factual terms espec. indications of speech references, apply to the register annexed to 'Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages und des Bundesrates' (Deliberations of the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat) for the 9th period of office on which the 'Materialie' is based. Among other things, the 'Materialie' comprises: General fundamentals and primaples, aspects of structural policy, scientific and technical/technological fundamentals, organizational fundamentals, international and intergovernmental co-operation, air-borne emission abatement, waste management, chemical substances released to environment, nuclear energy. (orig./HP) [de

  14. Motive Matters! An exploration of the notion ‘deliberate breach of contract’ and its consequences for the application of remedies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. van Kogelenberg (Martijn)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractThis thesis explores the notion of deliberate breach of contract and its potential remedial consequences. In the major jurisdictions in Europe and in the United States the notion of deliberate breach of contract is generally not coherently and officially defined and acknowledged as an

  15. Austin, Texas: An Educator/Business Collaboration in Support of Teacher Compensation Reform. Teacher Compensation and Teacher Quality: Policy Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Committee for Economic Development, 2013

    2013-01-01

    In its 2009 report "Teacher Compensation and Teacher Quality," the Committee for Economic Development urged business leaders to be active participants in school district deliberations about teacher compensation policies. The Committee for Economic Development (CED) noted that "business leaders can make the case to the public that…

  16. The Political Representation of Women in Public Policy Management Councils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lígia Helena Hahn Lüchmann

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This work raises some hypotheses to explain the significant presence of women on public policy management councils, which are spaces for discussion and deliberation of policies that have been implemented in Brazil in recent decades. The data about the profile of representatives on these spaces indicates a situation inversely proportional to the low degree of political inclusion of women in traditional spaces of political representation – executive positions, city councils, and state legislatures. There is thus a need to develop new analytical tools to understand the phenomenon of political representation. The data also question a reductive perspective of action and politics, which concludes that there is a low degree of political inclusion of women.

  17. Prevalence and characteristics of moral case deliberation in Dutch health care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dauwerse, L.; Stolper, M.M.; Widdershoven, G.; Molewijk, A.C.

    2014-01-01

    The attention for Moral case deliberation (MCD) has increased over the past years. Previous research on MCD is often written from the perspective of MCD experts or MCD participants and we lack a more distant view to the role of MCD in Dutch health care institutions in general. The purpose of this

  18. 'Penetrated system' or 'normal' state? An exploration of INF arms control policy, East-West economic relations, and inter-German policy in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1979-1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fisher, C.S.

    1991-01-01

    The thesis explores policy-making processes in the Federal Republic from 1979-1987 in three areas: INF arms control policy, East-West economic relations, and inter-German policy. Each case study assesses the degree of complexity and domestic accountability in policy-making processes and evaluates the relative influence of domestic and external factors on policy choices. It argues that the trends in West German foreign policy toward greater assertiveness reflected the evolution of the FRG as a state, society, and polity. The 'maturation' of the Federal Republic has introduced greater complexity into foreign policy-making processes, and more frequent societal intervention into what heretofore were elite deliberations. Domestic actors have begun to demand greater accountability, while West German leaders, in turn, have become more assertive and confident in defending German national interests. As the FRG has gained respect and self-respect, it has begun to assume the international role that might be expected of a state of its size, population, geo-political importance, and level of political and economic development. The FRG has become a 'normal' state

  19. Outcomes of moral case deliberation--the development of an evaluation instrument for clinical ethics support (the Euro-MCD).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svantesson, Mia; Karlsson, Jan; Boitte, Pierre; Schildman, Jan; Dauwerse, Linda; Widdershoven, Guy; Pedersen, Reidar; Huisman, Martijn; Molewijk, Bert

    2014-04-08

    Clinical ethics support, in particular Moral Case Deliberation, aims to support health care providers to manage ethically difficult situations. However, there is a lack of evaluation instruments regarding outcomes of clinical ethics support in general and regarding Moral Case Deliberation (MCD) in particular. There also is a lack of clarity and consensuses regarding which MCD outcomes are beneficial. In addition, MCD outcomes might be context-sensitive. Against this background, there is a need for a standardised but flexible outcome evaluation instrument. The aim of this study was to develop a multi-contextual evaluation instrument measuring health care providers' experiences and perceived importance of outcomes of Moral Case Deliberation. A multi-item instrument for assessing outcomes of Moral Case Deliberation (MCD) was constructed through an iterative process, founded on a literature review and modified through a multistep review by ethicists and health care providers. The instrument measures perceived importance of outcomes before and after MCD, as well as experienced outcomes during MCD and in daily work. A purposeful sample of 86 European participants contributed to a Delphi panel and content validity testing. The Delphi panel (n = 13), consisting of ethicists and ethics researchers, participated in three Delphi-rounds. Health care providers (n = 73) participated in the content validity testing through 'think-aloud' interviews and a method using Content Validity Index. The development process resulted in the European Moral Case Deliberation Outcomes Instrument (Euro-MCD), which consists of two sections, one to be completed before a participant's first MCD and the other after completing multiple MCDs. The instrument contains a few open-ended questions and 26 specific items with a corresponding rating/response scale representing various MCD outcomes. The items were categorised into the following six domains: Enhanced emotional support, Enhanced

  20. Outcomes of Moral Case Deliberation - the development of an evaluation instrument for clinical ethics support (the Euro-MCD)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Clinical ethics support, in particular Moral Case Deliberation, aims to support health care providers to manage ethically difficult situations. However, there is a lack of evaluation instruments regarding outcomes of clinical ethics support in general and regarding Moral Case Deliberation (MCD) in particular. There also is a lack of clarity and consensuses regarding which MCD outcomes are beneficial. In addition, MCD outcomes might be context-sensitive. Against this background, there is a need for a standardised but flexible outcome evaluation instrument. The aim of this study was to develop a multi-contextual evaluation instrument measuring health care providers’ experiences and perceived importance of outcomes of Moral Case Deliberation. Methods A multi-item instrument for assessing outcomes of Moral Case Deliberation (MCD) was constructed through an iterative process, founded on a literature review and modified through a multistep review by ethicists and health care providers. The instrument measures perceived importance of outcomes before and after MCD, as well as experienced outcomes during MCD and in daily work. A purposeful sample of 86 European participants contributed to a Delphi panel and content validity testing. The Delphi panel (n = 13), consisting of ethicists and ethics researchers, participated in three Delphi-rounds. Health care providers (n = 73) participated in the content validity testing through ‘think-aloud’ interviews and a method using Content Validity Index. Results The development process resulted in the European Moral Case Deliberation Outcomes Instrument (Euro-MCD), which consists of two sections, one to be completed before a participant’s first MCD and the other after completing multiple MCDs. The instrument contains a few open-ended questions and 26 specific items with a corresponding rating/response scale representing various MCD outcomes. The items were categorised into the following six domains: Enhanced

  1. Automatic and deliberate affective associations with sexual stimuli in women with lifelong vaginismus before and after therapist-aided exposure treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melles, Reinhilde J; ter Kuile, Moniek M; Dewitte, Marieke; van Lankveld, Jacques J D M; Brauer, Marieke; de Jong, Peter J

    2014-03-01

    The intense fear response to vaginal penetration in women with lifelong vaginismus, who have never been able to experience coitus, may reflect negative automatic and deliberate appraisals of vaginal penetration stimuli which might be modified by exposure treatment. The aim of this study is to examine whether (i) sexual stimuli elicit relatively strong automatic and deliberate threat associations in women with vaginismus, as well as relatively negative automatic and deliberate global affective associations, compared with symptom-free women; and (ii) these automatic and more deliberate attitudes can be modified by therapist-aided exposure treatment. A single target Implicit Association Test (st-IAT) was used to index automatic threat associations, and an Affective Simon Task (AST) to index global automatic affective associations. Participants were women with lifelong vaginismus (N = 68) and women without sexual problems (N = 70). The vaginismus group was randomly allocated to treatment (n = 34) and a waiting list control condition (n = 34). Indices of automatic threat were obtained by the st-IAT and automatic global affective associations by the AST, visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to assess deliberate appraisals of the sexual pictures (fear and global positive affect). More deliberate fear and less global positive affective associations with sexual stimuli were found in women with vaginismus. Following therapist-aided exposure treatment, the strength of fear was strongly reduced, whereas global positive affective associations were strengthened. Automatic associations did not differ between women with and without vaginismus and did not change following treatment. Relatively stronger negative (threat or global affect) associations with sexual stimuli in vaginismus appeared restricted to the deliberate level. Therapist-aided exposure treatment was effective in reducing subjective fear of sexual penetration stimuli and led to more global positive affective

  2. From core belief challenge to posttraumatic growth in para sport athletes: moderated mediation by needs satisfaction and deliberate rumination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammer, Chris; Podlog, Leslie; Wadey, Ross; Galli, Nick; Forber-Pratt, Anjali J; Newton, Maria

    2018-04-25

    To examine how deliberate rumination and psychological need satisfaction interact to facilitate posttraumatic growth for para sport athletes with acquired disability. Utilizing a sample of 70 para sport athletes, the hypothesized mediating role of deliberate rumination was examined via a simple mediation model. The interaction between needs satisfaction and deliberate rumination and their effect on posttraumatic growth was examined utilizing a moderated mediation procedure. Disruption to one's core beliefs was significantly associated with posttraumatic growth. This relationship, was in part, explained by the deliberate rumination engaged in soon after the trauma. Needs satisfaction, while a significant predictor of posttraumatic growth, did not moderate the indirect effect. Although deliberate rumination at both timeframes and needs satisfaction were independently associated with posttraumatic growth, they did not interact in the hypothesized manner to influence posttraumatic growth. There remains a need to better understand how the experience of posttraumatic growth is achieved amongst individuals with acquired disability, and the role that para sport may play in this process. Implications for rehabilitation The disruption to one's core beliefs caused by acquiring a physical disability is not only a natural experience but also a necessary antecedent to posttraumatic growth. As such, rehabilitation practitioners ought to normalize these types of challenges when working with individuals with acquired disability. Practitioners may help to facilitate growth outcomes by encouraging individuals to deliberately ruminate about their acquired disability. That is, practitioners can help those with acquired disability to seek meaning and understanding about their disability or the precipitating event. For those who struggle to deliberately ruminate in the immediate disability aftermath, practitioners may encourage para sport participation to potentially prompt constructive

  3. Deliberate release of genetically modified plants into the environment in Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zlata LUTHAR

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Deliberate release of genetically modified higher plants (GMHPs into the environment in Slovenia is regulated by the Law on the Management of Genetically Modified Organisms (ZRGSO Ur. l. RS 23/2005 and 21/2010, III chapter. For each deliberate release of GMPs into the environment a license issued by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP must be acquired. The application or notification should contain a very accurate and complex description of the GMP, of the field where it will be released and of wider surroundings or environment. The application consists of Annex 2 with accessories: 1. Part A (technical data for the authorization of deliberate GMP release into the environment; 2. Part B (environmental risk assessment; 3. Application summary in Slovenian and English language for the release of GMP into environment, which is transmitted to Brussels by MESP; 4. Extract from the Land Cadastre of the field to which the GMP will be released. The release procedure runs (till here under the above mentioned Law, which has been in place for several years and which clearly defines that it is possible to release GMP in Slovenia. In the case of GM rice in 2011, the law applied till the site selection of the experiment. Here, the law was not sufficiently taken into account. It was prevailed by the regulation of Farmland and Forest Fund of the Republic of Slovenia and municipal decision, which was stronger than the national law and prevented the cultivation of GM rice in an area that is legally suitable for release of GMO into the environment. Rice is not grown in Slovenia and does not have wild ancestors or close relatives with whom it might mate. Nearest area of cultivation is in neighboring Italy, which is from potentially selected location in Slovenia more than 70 km away.

  4. Problem solving ability and repetition of deliberate self-harm: a multicentre study.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    McAuliffe, C.; Corcoran, P.; Keeley, H.S.; Arensman, E.; Bille Brahe, U.; de Leio, D.; Fekete, S.; Hawton, K.; Hjelmeland, H.; Kelleher, M.; Kerkhof, A.J.F.M.; Lonnqvist, J.; Michel, K.; Salander Renberg, E.; Schmidtke, A.; van Heeringen, K.; Wasserman, D.

    2006-01-01

    Background. While recent studies have found problem-solving impairments in individuals who engage in deliberate self-harm (DSH), few studies have examined repeaters and non-repeaters separately. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether specific types of problem-solving are associated

  5. Adolescent Deliberate Self-Harm: Linkages to Emotion Regulation and Family Emotional Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Leslie; Adrian, Molly; Zeman, Janice; Cassano, Michael; Friedrich, William N.

    2009-01-01

    Parents' responses to their children's emotional expressivity have been shown to significantly influence children's subsequent psychosocial functioning. This study hypothesized that adolescents' deliberate self-harm (DSH) may be an outcome associated with poor emotion regulation as well as an invalidating family environment. The mediational role…

  6. Sophistic Ethics in the Technical Writing Classroom: Teaching "Nomos," Deliberation, and Action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, J. Blake

    1995-01-01

    Claims that teaching ethics is particularly important to technical writing. Outlines a classical, sophistic approach to ethics based on the theories and pedagogies of Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates, which emphasizes the Greek concept of "nomos," internal and external deliberation, and responsible action. Discusses problems and…

  7. Schizophrenia and Deliberate Self-Harm: A Systematic Review of Risk Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haw, Camilla; Hawton, Keith; Sutton, Lesley; Sinclair, Julia; Deeks, Jonathan

    2005-01-01

    Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a strong predictor of suicide in schizophrenia. The aim of this review was to identify risk factors for DSH in schizophrenia. This systematic review of the international literature examined cohort and case-control studies of patients with schizophrenia or related diagnoses that reported DSH as an outcome. Studies were…

  8. Promoting Evidence to Policy Link on the Control of Infectious Diseases of Poverty in Nigeria: Outcome of A Multi-Stakeholders Policy Dialogue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uneke, Chigozie Jesse; Ebeh Ezeoha, Abel; Uro-Chukwu, Henry; Ezeonu, Chinonyelum Thecla; Ogbu, Ogbonnaya; Onwe, Friday; Edoga, Chima

    2015-01-01

    Background: In Nigeria, malaria, schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis are among infectious diseases of poverty (IDP) with severe health burden and require effective policy strategies for their control. In this study, we investigated the value of policy brief and policy dialogue as excellent policymaking mechanisms that enable policymakers to adapt effective evidence informed policy for IDP control. Methods: A policy brief was developed on the control of malaria, schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis and subjected to deliberations in a one-day multi-stakeholder policy dialogue held in Ebonyi State Nigeria. A modified cross sectional intervention study design was used in this investigation. Structured pre-tested questionnaires were used to evaluate the policy brief document and policy dialogue process at the end of the policy dialogue. Results: Forty-seven policymakers participated in the dialogue. An analysis of the response on the policy brief regarding context, different features of the problem; policy options and key implementation considerations indicated the mean ratings (MNRs) mostly ranged from 6.40-6.85 on 7 point scale. The over-all assessment of the policy brief had MNR at 6.54. The analysis of the response on the policy dialogue regarding the level of priority of policy issue, opportunity to discuss different features of the problem and options for addressing the problem, and the MNRs mostly ranged from 6.50-6.82. The overall assessment of the policy dialogue had MNR at 6.72. Conclusion: Policy dialogues can allow research evidence to be considered together with views, experiences and tacit knowledge of policymakers and can enhance evidence-to-policy link. PMID:26290826

  9. Mental Models and Deliberate Manipulation of Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koester, Thomas; Jakobsen, Jeanette; Brøsted, Jesper Ejdorf

    2015-01-01

    Human factors risk analysis and usability tests in telemedicine contexts primarily seek to investigate how to reduce the likelihood of slips, lapses and mistakes. However, to ensure trustworthiness in e-health data, one must also be aware of more intentional patient actions which could potentially...... compromise patient safety and/or the integrity of the system. The pilot study in this paper set out to explore mental models and deliberate manipulation of data in a Danish telemedicine setting of home monitoring among pregnant women. Results show, that patients construct mental models of the telemedicine...... system, and that the patient can utilize such mental models in attempts to manipulate their data input to get a desired output from the telemedicine system....

  10. Seven Foundational Principles of Population Health Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharya, Dru; Bhatt, Jay

    2017-10-01

    In 2016, Keyes and Galea issued 9 foundational principles of population health science and invited further deliberations by specialists to advance the field. This article presents 7 foundational principles of population health policy whose intersection with health care, public health, preventive medicine, and now population health, presents unique challenges. These principles are in response to a number of overarching questions that have arisen in over a decade of the authors' collective practice in the public and private sectors, and having taught policy within programs of medicine, law, nursing, and public health at the graduate and executive levels. The principles address an audience of practitioners and policy makers, mindful of the pressing health care challenges of our time, including: rising health-related expenditures, an aging population, workforce shortages, health disparities, and a backdrop of inequities rooted in social determinants that have not been adequately translated into formal policies or practices among the key stakeholders in population health. These principles are meant to empower stakeholders-whether it is the planner or the practitioner, the decision maker or the dedicated caregiver-and inform the development of practical tools, research, and education.

  11. Bioethics education in clinical settings: theory and practice of the dilemma method of moral case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stolper, Margreet; Molewijk, Bert; Widdershoven, Guy

    2016-07-22

    Moral Case Deliberation is a specific form of bioethics education fostering professionals' moral competence in order to deal with their moral questions. So far, few studies focus in detail on Moral Case Deliberation methodologies and their didactic principles. The dilemma method is a structured and frequently used method in Moral Case Deliberation that stimulates methodological reflection and reasoning through a systematic dialogue on an ethical issue experienced in practice. In this paper we present a case-study of a Moral Case Deliberation with the dilemma method in a health care institution for people with an intellectual disability, describing the theoretical background and the practical application of the dilemma method. The dilemma method focuses on moral experiences of participants concerning a concrete dilemma in practice. By an in-depth description of each of the steps of the deliberation process, we elucidate the educational value and didactics of this specific method. The didactics and methodical steps of the dilemma method both supported and structured the dialogical reflection process of the participants. The process shows that the participants learned to recognize the moral dimension of the issue at stake and were able to distinguish various perspectives and reasons in a systematic manner. The facilitator played an important role in the learning process of the participants, by assisting them in focusing on and exploring moral aspects of the case. The reflection and learning process, experienced by the participants, shows competency-based characteristics. The role of the facilitator is that of a Socratic teacher with specific knowledge and skills, fostering reflection, inquiry and dialogue. The specific didactics of the dilemma method is well suited for teaching bioethics in clinical settings. The dilemma method follows an inductive learning approach through a dialogical moral inquiry in which participants develop not only knowledge but also skills

  12. Beyond Reactive Planning: Self Adaptive Software and Self Modeling Software in Predictive Deliberation Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Lenahan, Jack; Nash, Michael P; Charles, Phil

    2008-01-01

    .... We present the following hypothesis: predictive deliberation management using self-adapting and self-modeling software will be required to provide mission planning adjustments after the start of a mission...

  13. Deliberate Indiscretion?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Loftis, Matthew

    2015-01-01

    democracies has overlooked how corruption and political influence over bureaucrats can turn delegation into a means of obfuscating responsibility. Using a measure that differentiates political corruption from corruption at lower levels of government and a new data set of policy making on more than 600...

  14. European public deliberation on brain machine interface technology: five convergence seminars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jebari, Karim; Hansson, Sven-Ove

    2013-09-01

    We present a novel procedure to engage the public in ethical deliberations on the potential impacts of brain machine interface technology. We call this procedure a convergence seminar, a form of scenario-based group discussion that is founded on the idea of hypothetical retrospection. The theoretical background of this procedure and the results of five seminars are presented.

  15. Truth in politics : rhetorical approaches to democratic deliberation in Africa and beyond

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salazar, P.J.; Osha, S.; Binsbergen, van W.M.J.

    2004-01-01

    Democracy is about competing "truths". This is why "rhetoric"- the study of public deliberation and the training in public debate and argumentation - is part of democracy in development. This volume acclimatizes "rhetoric" to the philosophical scene in South Africa, and more in general in Africa as

  16. Cognitive Functions of the Cerebellum Explain How Ericsson's Deliberate Practice Produces Giftedness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandervert, Larry R.

    2007-01-01

    A critical issue for Ericsson et al.'s proposal is the development of a fully adequate description of neurophysiological substrates for deliberate practice. Ericsson et al. do provide two substantial subsections on biological substrates--namely, their subsections, "Acquisition of superior power, control, and speed of motor activities" and…

  17. Penetrated system' or normal' state An exploration of INF arms control policy, East-West economic relations, and inter-German policy in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1979-1987

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fisher, C.S.

    1991-01-01

    The thesis explores policy-making processes in the Federal Republic from 1979-1987 in three areas: INF arms control policy, East-West economic relations, and inter-German policy. Each case study assesses the degree of complexity and domestic accountability in policy-making processes and evaluates the relative influence of domestic and external factors on policy choices. It argues that the trends in West German foreign policy toward greater assertiveness reflected the evolution of the FRG as a state, society, and polity. The maturation' of the Federal Republic has introduced greater complexity into foreign policy-making processes, and more frequent societal intervention into what heretofore were elite deliberations. Domestic actors have begun to demand greater accountability, while West German leaders, in turn, have become more assertive and confident in defending German national interests. As the FRG has gained respect and self-respect, it has begun to assume the international role that might be expected of a state of its size, population, geo-political importance, and level of political and economic development. The FRG has become a normal' state.

  18. Design and usability of heuristic-based deliberation tools for women facing amniocentesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durand, Marie-Anne; Wegwarth, Odette; Boivin, Jacky; Elwyn, Glyn

    2012-03-01

    Evidence suggests that in decision contexts characterized by uncertainty and time constraints (e.g. health-care decisions), fast and frugal decision-making strategies (heuristics) may perform better than complex rules of reasoning. To examine whether it is possible to design deliberation components in decision support interventions using simple models (fast and frugal heuristics). The 'Take The Best' heuristic (i.e. selection of a 'most important reason') and 'The Tallying' integration algorithm (i.e. unitary weighing of pros and cons) were used to develop two deliberation components embedded in a Web-based decision support intervention for women facing amniocentesis testing. Ten researchers (recruited from 15), nine health-care providers (recruited from 28) and ten pregnant women (recruited from 14) who had recently been offered amniocentesis testing appraised evolving versions of 'your most important reason' (Take The Best) and 'weighing it up' (Tallying). Most researchers found the tools useful in facilitating decision making although emphasized the need for simple instructions and clear layouts. Health-care providers however expressed concerns regarding the usability and clarity of the tools. By contrast, 7 out of 10 pregnant women found the tools useful in weighing up the pros and cons of each option, helpful in structuring and clarifying their thoughts and visualizing their decision efforts. Several pregnant women felt that 'weighing it up' and 'your most important reason' were not appropriate when facing such a difficult and emotional decision. Theoretical approaches based on fast and frugal heuristics can be used to develop deliberation tools that provide helpful support to patients facing real-world decisions about amniocentesis. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  19. TRUTH OR DARE: ONLINE DELIBERATION. A CASE STUDY OF TWO INTERNET BASED DELIBERATIVE PLATFORMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luana Maria BIDAȘCĂ

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In this article, I attempt to discuss how the internet can be used to stimulate an effective communication between citizens and decision-makers. In particular, I will aim to see if it can facilitate a greater degree of deliberation among citizens, if it can make democracy more inclusive and if it can make decision makers more responsible. I will first look at the definition and characteristics of deliberative democracy. Then after looking at what has been written so far about the effect of online discussions on democracy, I shall analyze the role the internet played in two case studies: web based participatory budgeting (PB and domnuleprimar.ro (DearMrMayor.ro. Both of these platforms were designed to create a closer bond between decisionmakers and citizens and will thus prove relevant to the discussion. Finally, I conclude that while the two case studies seem to favor increased inclusiveness, it only partially increases accountability and does not register any significant progress with regard to deliberation. Still, I argue that reasons for optimism exist even with regard to the deliberative aspect. Since the debate regarding the value of online deliberation is far from over, more research is needed in order to perhaps design a framework which will allow us to exploit the democratic value of the internet to its full potential.

  20. Clinical Diagnostic and Sociocultural Dimensions of Deliberate Self-Harm in Mumbai, India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkar, Shubhangi R.; Dawani, Varsha; Weiss, Mitchell G.

    2006-01-01

    Patients' accounts complement psychiatric assessment of deliberate self-harm (DSH). In this study we examined psychiatric disorders, and sociocultural and cross-cultural features of DSH. SCID diagnostic interviews and a locally adapted EMIC interview were used to study 196 patients after DSH at a general hospital in Mumbai, India. Major depression…

  1. Research Evidence and School Board Deliberations: Lessons from Three Wisconsin School Districts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asen, Robert; Gurke, Deb; Conners, Pamela; Solomon, Ryan; Gumm, Elsa

    2013-01-01

    This article analyzes the use of research evidence in school-board deliberations in three school districts in Wisconsin. In these settings, the circulation, meaning, and function of research depended importantly on the interests and backgrounds of advocates, the composition of audiences, and the values and contexts of decision-making. Board…

  2. The challenges and directions for nuclear energy policy in Japan. Japan's nuclear energy national plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanase, Tadao

    2007-01-01

    According to the 'framework for nuclear energy policy' (October, 2005 adopted by cabinet), basic goals of nuclear policy are (1) for nuclear energy to continue to meet more than around 30-40% of electricity supply, and also (2) to further promote a fuel cycle steadily aiming at commercial introduction of a fast breeder by 2050. In order to realize an aim of this framework for nuclear energy policy', the nuclear energy subcommittee of the METI advisory committee deliberated concrete actions and the subcommittee recommendations were drawn up as 'Japan's nuclear energy national plan' in August, 2006 and incorporated as main part of the revised 'basic plan on energy' adopted by the cabinet in March 2007. Backgrounds and directions of future actions for nuclear energy policy were described. (T. Tanaka)

  3. One angry woman: Anger expression increases influence for men, but decreases influence for women, during group deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salerno, Jessica M; Peter-Hagene, Liana C

    2015-12-01

    We investigated whether expressing anger increases social influence for men, but diminishes social influence for women, during group deliberation. In a deception paradigm, participants believed they were engaged in a computer-mediated mock jury deliberation about a murder case. In actuality, the interaction was scripted. The script included 5 other mock jurors who provided verdicts and comments in support of the verdicts; 4 agreed with the participant and 1 was a "holdout" dissenter. Holdouts expressed their opinions with no emotion, anger, or fear and had either male or female names. Holdouts exerted no influence on participants' opinions when they expressed no emotion or fear. Participants' confidence in their own verdict dropped significantly, however, after male holdouts expressed anger. Yet, anger expression undermined female holdouts: Participants became significantly more confident in their original verdicts after female holdouts expressed anger-even though they were expressing the exact same opinion and emotion as the male holdouts. Mediation analyses revealed that participants drew different inferences from male versus female anger, which created a gender gap in influence during group deliberation. The current study has implications for group decisions in general, and jury deliberations in particular, by suggesting that expressing anger might lead men to gain influence, but women to lose influence over others (even when making identical arguments). These diverging consequences might result in women potentially having less influence on societally important decisions than men, such as jury verdicts. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Emotions and clinical ethics support. A moral inquiry into emotions in moral case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molewijk, Bert; Kleinlugtenbelt, Dick; Pugh, Scott M; Widdershoven, Guy

    2011-12-01

    Emotions play an important part in moral life. Within clinical ethics support (CES), one should take into account the crucial role of emotions in moral cases in clinical practice. In this paper, we present an Aristotelian approach to emotions. We argue that CES can help participants deal with emotions by fostering a joint process of investigation of the role of emotions in a case. This investigation goes beyond empathy with and moral judgment of the emotions of the case presenter. In a moral case deliberation, the participants are invited to place themselves in the position of the case presenter and to investigate their own emotions in the situation. It is about critically assessing the facts in the case that cause the emotion and the related (moral) thoughts that accompany the emotion. It is also about finding the right emotion in a given situation and finding the right balance in dealing with that emotion. These steps in the moral inquiry give rise to group learning. It is a process of becoming open towards the perspectives of others, leading to new insights into what is an appropriate emotion in the specific situation. We show how this approach works in moral case deliberation. A physician presents a situation in which he is faced with a pregnant woman who is about to deliver multiple extremely premature infants at the threshold of viability. The moral deliberation of the case and the emotions therein leads to the participants' conclusion that "compassion" is a more adequate emotion than "sadness". The emotion "sadness" is pointed towards the tragedy that is happening to the woman. The emotion "compassion" is pointed towards the woman; it combines consideration and professional responsibility. Through the shift towards compassion, participants experienced more creativity and freedom to deal with the sad situation and to support the woman. The paper ends with an analysis and reflection on the deliberation process. In the conclusion we argue for more attention to

  5. Developing Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: The Need for Deliberate Practice and Collaboration across Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Scott J.; Shankman, Marcy Levy; Haber-Curran, Paige

    2016-01-01

    This chapter continues the discussion of what leadership education is and highlights the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership. The authors assert the need for deliberate practice and better collaboration between student affairs, academic affairs, and academic departments to develop emotionally intelligent leaders.

  6. Deliberate ingestion of foreign bodies by institutionalised psychiatric hospital patients and prison inmates.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    O'Sullivan, S T

    2012-02-03

    Deliberate and recurrent foreign body ingestion is a common problem among institutionalised patients. We review our experience with 36 cases of deliberate foreign body ingestion by prisoners or psychiatric patients, thirty of whom were institutionalised at the time of ingestion. Symptoms were frequently severe in the prison inmate group but, in contrast, psychiatric patients presented with few, if any, symptoms. A majority of objects pass spontaneously or remain in situ without complication. Twenty-four patients were discharged following initial evaluation and without specific treatment. Eight of these were reviewed electively and discharged within one week. Twelve patients were admitted for observation, seven of whom were discharged within 48 hrs. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in four patients and an intragastric foreign body identified in two cases. Laparotomy was performed in two cases for unresolving mechanical intestinal obstruction. Management should be conservative when possible, with surgery indicated only for complications.

  7. Talent identification and deliberate programming in skeleton: ice novice to Winter Olympian in 14 months.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bullock, Nicola; Gulbin, Jason P; Martin, David T; Ross, Angus; Holland, Terry; Marino, Frank

    2009-02-15

    The aims of this study were to talent transfer, rapidly develop, and qualify an Australian female athlete in the skeleton event at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games and quantify the volume of skeleton-specific training and competition that would enable this to be achieved. Initially, 26 athletes were recruited through a talent identification programme based on their 30-m sprint time. After attending a selection camp, 10 athletes were invited to undertake an intensified skeleton training programme. Four of these athletes were then selected to compete for Australia on the World Cup circuit. All completed runs and simulated push starts were documented over a 14-month period. The athlete who eventually represented Australia at the Torino Winter Olympic Games did so following approximately 300 start simulations and about 220 training/competition runs over a period of 14 months. Using a deliberate programming model, these findings provide a guide to the minimum exposure required for a novice skeleton athlete to reach Olympic representative standard following intensified sport-specific training. The findings of this study are discussed in the context of the deliberate practice theory and offer the term "deliberate programming" as an alternative way of incorporating all aspects of expert development.

  8. Basic policy of JMTR refurbishment and regulatory procedure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tobita, Kenji

    2012-04-01

    The JMTR refurbishment started from FY2007 had been completed on the end of the FY2010. The refurbishment works carried out on about 60 items nuclear reactor systems, (about 40 of facilities and about 20 constructions) with no trouble. This report review the basic policy of JMTR refurbishment, such as a selection of facilities/equipments for the refurbishment and the determination method of specifications for repairs. The deliberation and discussion by the safety review committee of Oarai Research and Development Center in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and nuclear regulatory procedure are included in this report. (author)

  9. The shared circuits model (SCM): how control, mirroring, and simulation can enable imitation, deliberation, and mindreading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurley, Susan

    2008-02-01

    Imitation, deliberation, and mindreading are characteristically human sociocognitive skills. Research on imitation and its role in social cognition is flourishing across various disciplines. Imitation is surveyed in this target article under headings of behavior, subpersonal mechanisms, and functions of imitation. A model is then advanced within which many of the developments surveyed can be located and explained. The shared circuits model (SCM) explains how imitation, deliberation, and mindreading can be enabled by subpersonal mechanisms of control, mirroring, and simulation. It is cast at a middle, functional level of description, that is, between the level of neural implementation and the level of conscious perceptions and intentional actions. The SCM connects shared informational dynamics for perception and action with shared informational dynamics for self and other, while also showing how the action/perception, self/other, and actual/possible distinctions can be overlaid on these shared informational dynamics. It avoids the common conception of perception and action as separate and peripheral to central cognition. Rather, it contributes to the situated cognition movement by showing how mechanisms for perceiving action can be built on those for active perception.;>;>The SCM is developed heuristically, in five layers that can be combined in various ways to frame specific ontogenetic or phylogenetic hypotheses. The starting point is dynamic online motor control, whereby an organism is closely attuned to its embedding environment through sensorimotor feedback. Onto this are layered functions of prediction and simulation of feedback, mirroring, simulation of mirroring, monitored inhibition of motor output, and monitored simulation of input. Finally, monitored simulation of input specifying possible actions plus inhibited mirroring of such possible actions can generate information about the possible as opposed to actual instrumental actions of others, and the

  10. Using a Deliberation of Energy Policy as an Educational Tool in a Nonmajors Chemistry Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, Sara A. Mehltretter; Stucker, Kyle; Douglas, Anthony; Rush, Ryan A.; Novak, Walter R. P.; Wysocki, Laura M.

    2016-01-01

    A central goal of nonmajors chemistry courses is to instill within students the sense that chemistry does not occur in a vacuum but rather permeates everyday life. To encourage students to consider chemistry within the broader context of society and public policy, a week-long module in a survey course for nonmajors was designed to connect…

  11. Participatory Sustainability Approach to Value Capture-Based Urban Rail Financing in India through Deliberated Stakeholder Engagement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satya Sai Kumar Jillella

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Increasingly, cities around the world are seeking innovative financial mechanisms to build rail transit projects. Land value capture (VC is a financing mechanism to fund urban rail transit. Often VC mechanisms are viewed only as a financing tool applied in relation to increased land values from the administration and legislation perspectives, without actively involving the community in the process. The lack of such participation has resulted in the under collection of the true value established. The transit beneficiary community and city tax payers are especially important stakeholders in this process as their willingness to participate is really critical to the overall VC success and transport outcome. This paper introduces a participatory sustainability approach to enable a more deliberated stakeholder engagement intervention across the VC life cycle. A four-step “Participatory Strategic Value Capture (PSVC” framework is proposed offering step-by-step guidance toward facilitating a meaningful stakeholder dialogue, deliberation, and collaboration around the stated engagement interests. The PSVC framework, applied to the proposed Bangalore sub-urban rail project in India, has demonstrated the importance of stakeholder engagement using deliberated participatory approaches from a win-win perspective.

  12. A Decision Support Framework For Science-Based, Multi-Stakeholder Deliberation: A Coral Reef Example

    Science.gov (United States)

    We present a decision support framework for science-based assessment and multi-stakeholder deliberation. The framework consists of two parts: a DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses) analysis to identify the important causal relationships among anthropogenic environ...

  13. Toward Cultural Policy Studies on Mobility: Reflections on a Study of the Hong Kong Working Holiday Scheme

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louis Ho

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Cultural policy is predominantly, and practically, considered the sum of a government’s activities with respect to the arts, humanities and heritage. Thus, cultural policy encompasses a much broader range of activities than was traditionally associated with an arts policy. Critical cultural policy studies, then, sees a distinction between ‘explicit’ cultural policies that are manifestly labelled as ‘cultural’, and ‘implicit’ cultural policies that are not labelled as such, but that work to shape cultural experiences. This article considers this explicit/implicit cultural policy distinction through John Urry’s idea of ‘social as mobility’, suggesting that some public policies regarding mobility (such as immigration, international trade and labour policy have led to specific cultural consequences and therefore qualify as implicit cultural policy. Using Hong Kong’s working holiday scheme as a case study, this article explores how an economic policy on temporary immigrant labour involves a deliberate cultural agenda as well as ‘unintentional’ cultural consequences and problematises the fact that cultural policy studies are largely framed by the idea of ‘social as society’.

  14. Bringing health and social policy together: the case of the earned income tax credit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arno, Peter S; Sohler, Nancy; Viola, Deborah; Schechter, Clyde

    2009-07-01

    The principal objective of our research is to examine whether the earned income tax credit (EITC), a broad-based income support program that has been shown to increase employment and income among poor working families, also improves their health and access to care. A finding that the EITC has a positive impact on the health of the American public may help guide deliberations about its future at the federal, state, and local levels. The authors contend that a better understanding of the relationship between major socioeconomic policies such as the EITC and the public's health will inform the fields of health and social policy in the pursuit of improving population health.

  15. Deliberate Science, Continuum Magazine: Clean Energy Innovation at NREL, Winter 2012 (Book)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2012-02-01

    This quarterly magazine is dedicated to stepping beyond the technical journals to reveal NREL's vital work in a real-world context for our stakeholders. Continuum provides insights into the latest and most impactful clean energy innovations, while spotlighting those talented researchers and unique facilities that make it all happen. This edition focuses on deliberate science.

  16. Using deliberative techniques to engage the community in policy development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory, Judy; Hartz-Karp, Janette; Watson, Rebecca

    2008-07-16

    This paper examines work in deliberative approaches to community engagement used in Western Australia by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and other planning and infrastructure agencies between 2001 and 2005, and considers whether the techniques could be applied to the development of health policy in Australia. Deliberative processes were used in WA to address specific planning and infrastructure problems. Using deliberative techniques, community participants contributed to joint decision making and policy development. Outcomes from deliberative processes were seriously considered by the Minister and used to influence policy decisions. In many cases, the recommendations generated through deliberative processes were fully adopted by the Minister. The experiences in WA demonstrate that deliberative engagement processes can be successfully implemented by government and can be used to guide policy. The techniques can be adapted to suit the context and issues experienced by a portfolio, and the skills required to conduct deliberative processes can be fostered amongst the portfolio's staff. Health policy makers may be able to learn from the experiences in WA, and adopt approaches to community engagement that allow for informed deliberation and debate in the community about the future of Australia's health system.

  17. Deliberate self-harming application of superglue in the nose: case report and literature review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tikka, T; Al Abduwani, J; Costello, D

    2015-01-01

    Accidental and non-accidental applications of superglue in the ear, nose and oral cavity have been reported previously. Surgical removal of glue from the nose is the current practice. This paper reports the case of an 18-year-old female, who presented with complete bilateral nasal occlusion due to deliberate self-application of superglue in both nostrils to avoid nasogastric tube insertion. Removal of glue was accomplished with a combination of local anaesthetic cream and acetone-soaked cotton buds, which caused only minimal discomfort to the patient. All traces of glue disappeared within 10 days, without causing damage to the nasal mucosa, nasal blockage or pain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of deliberate self-application of superglue in the nose. A successful non-surgical management option for the removal of glue from the nose is introduced.

  18. The social construction of illness: key insights and policy implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conrad, Peter; Barker, Kristin K

    2010-01-01

    The social construction of illness is a major research perspective in medical sociology. This article traces the roots of this perspective and presents three overarching constructionist findings. First, some illnesses are particularly embedded with cultural meaning--which is not directly derived from the nature of the condition--that shapes how society responds to those afflicted and influences the experience of that illness. Second, all illnesses are socially constructed at the experiential level, based on how individuals come to understand and live with their illness. Third, medical knowledge about illness and disease is not necessarily given by nature but is constructed and developed by claims-makers and interested parties. We address central policy implications of each of these findings and discuss fruitful directions for policy-relevant research in a social constructionist tradition. Social constructionism provides an important counterpoint to medicine's largely deterministic approaches to disease and illness, and it can help us broaden policy deliberations and decisions.

  19. Beyond the ABC: climate change policy and theories of social change

    OpenAIRE

    Elizabeth Shove

    2010-01-01

    In this short and deliberately provocative paper I reflect on what seems to be a yawning gulf between the potential contribution of the social sciences and the typically restricted models and concepts of social change embedded in contemporary environmental policy in the UK, and in other countries too. As well as making a strong case for going beyond what I refer to as the dominant paradigm of ‘ABC’—attitude, behaviour, and choice—I discuss the attractions of this model, the blind spots it cre...

  20. Training healthcare professionals as moral case deliberation facilitators : evaluation of a Dutch training programme

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plantinga, Mirjam; Molewijk, Bert; de Bree, Menno; Moraal, Marloes; Verkerk, Marian; Widdershoven, Guy A. M.

    2012-01-01

    Until recently, moral case deliberation (MCD) sessions have mostly been facilitated by external experts, mainly professional ethicists. We have developed a train the facilitator programme for healthcare professionals aimed at providing them with the competences needed for being an MCD facilitator.

  1. Training healthcare professionals as moral case deliberation facilitators: evaluation of a Dutch training programme

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plantinga, M.; Molewijk, A.C.; de Bree, M.; Moraal, M.; Verkerk, M.; Widdershoven, G.A.

    2012-01-01

    Until recently, moral case deliberation (MCD) sessions have mostly been facilitated by external experts, mainly professional ethicists. We have developed a train the facilitator programme for healthcare professionals aimed at providing them with the competences needed for being an MCD facilitator.

  2. Hominin skeletal part abundances and claims of deliberate disposal of corpses in the Middle Pleistocene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egeland, Charles P; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel; Pickering, Travis Rayne; Menter, Colin G; Heaton, Jason L

    2018-05-01

    Humans are set apart from other organisms by the realization of their own mortality. Thus, determining the prehistoric emergence of this capacity is of significant interest to understanding the uniqueness of the human animal. Tracing that capacity chronologically is possible through archaeological investigations that focus on physical markers that reflect "mortality salience." Among these markers is the deliberate and culturally mediated disposal of corpses. Some Neandertal bone assemblages are among the earliest reasonable claims for the deliberate disposal of hominins, but even these are vigorously debated. More dramatic assertions center on the Middle Pleistocene sites of Sima de los Huesos (SH, Spain) and the Dinaledi Chamber (DC, South Africa), where the remains of multiple hominin individuals were found in deep caves, and under reported taphonomic circumstances that seem to discount the possibility that nonhominin actors and processes contributed to their formation. These claims, with significant implications for charting the evolution of the "human condition," deserve scrutiny. We test these assertions through machine-learning analyses of hominin skeletal part representation in the SH and DC assemblages. Our results indicate that nonanthropogenic agents and abiotic processes cannot yet be ruled out as significant contributors to the ultimate condition of both collections. This finding does not falsify hypotheses of deliberate disposal for the SH and DC corpses, but does indicate that the data also support partially or completely nonanthropogenic formational histories.

  3. Applying What Works: A Case for Deliberate Psychological Education in Undergraduate Business Ethics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Christopher Drees; Davidson, Kathleen M.; Adkins, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    The teaching of business ethics continues to be a topic of great concern as both businesses and business schools seek to develop effective approaches for fostering ethical behavior. Responses to this objective have been varied, and consistent empirical evidence for a particular approach has not emerged. One approach, deliberate psychological…

  4. Ethnic density and deliberate self harm; a small area study in south east London

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Neeleman, J; Wilson-Jones, C; Wessely, S

    Study objective-Relative risks are frequently used to convey how strongly outcomes like mental illness and suicidal behaviour are associated with personal characteristics Like ethnic background. This study examined whether RRs for deliberate self harm (DSH) in ethnic groups vary between small areas

  5. Competencies in nursing students for organized forms of clinical moral deliberation and decision-making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    dr. Bart Cusveller; Jeanette den Uil-Westerlaken

    2014-01-01

    Bachelor-prepared nurses are expected to be competent in moral deliberation and decision-making (MDD) in clinical practice. It is unclear, however, how this competence develops in nursing students. This study explores the development of nursing students’ competence for participating in organized

  6. 77 FR 65019 - DBI, Inc., Casper, WY; Confirmatory Order Modifying License (Effective Immediately)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-24

    ... examples of willful violations (careless disregard and deliberate misconduct), the fact that deliberate... individuals who engage in deliberate misconduct (10 CFR 30.10), and examples of enforcement actions that the... Safety Culture Policy Statement, and DBI management's support of the policy. DBI will provide a copy of...

  7. Foxes, hedgehogs, and greenhouse governance: Knowledge, uncertainty, and international policy-making in a warming World

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michel, David

    2009-01-01

    Global environmental challenges like greenhouse warming are characterized by profound uncertainties about the workings of complex systems, high stakes as to the costs and benefits of various possible actions, and important differences concerning the values that should shape public choices, confounding ready resolution by conventional decision-making procedures. So-called adaptive or reflexive governance strategies provide policy-makers an alternative framework for tackling the greenhouse problem. Adaptive governance employs deliberate experimentation and continuous learning-by-doing to test and adjust ongoing policy responses. Yet pursuing such approaches poses particular challenges to global climate cooperation. In an increasingly interdependent world, coordinating multiple parties experimentally adopting different climate measures could prove contentious. Unequivocal policy lessons may be difficult to draw and apply. Timely collective revisions to ongoing policies may prove more difficult still to define and agree. Advocates must engage these issues directly and develop means of addressing them if adaptive governance approaches are to allow policy-makers to formulate better strategies for combating climate change. (author)

  8. Nonverbal contention and contempt in U.K. parliamentary oversight hearings on fiscal and monetary policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schonhardt-Bailey, Cheryl

    2017-01-01

    In parliamentary committee oversight hearings on fiscal policy, monetary policy, and financial stability, where verbal deliberation is the focus, nonverbal communication may be crucial in the acceptance or rejection of arguments proffered by policymakers. Systematic qualitative coding of these hearings in the 2010-15 U.K. Parliament finds the following: (1) facial expressions, particularly in the form of anger and contempt, are more prevalent in fiscal policy hearings, where backbench parliamentarians hold frontbench parliamentarians to account, than in monetary policy or financial stability hearings, where the witnesses being held to account are unelected policy experts; (2) comparing committees across chambers, hearings in the House of Lords committee yield more reassuring facial expressions relative to hearings in the House of Commons committee, suggesting a more relaxed and less adversarial context in the former; and (3) central bank witnesses appearing before both the Lords and Commons committees tend toward expressions of appeasement, suggesting a willingness to defer to Parliament.

  9. Decision making and coping in healthcare: the Coping in Deliberation (CODE) framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witt, Jana; Elwyn, Glyn; Wood, Fiona; Brain, Kate

    2012-08-01

    To develop a framework of decision making and coping in healthcare that describes the twin processes of appraisal and coping faced by patients making preference-sensitive healthcare decisions. We briefly review the literature for decision making theories and coping theories applicable to preference-sensitive decisions in healthcare settings. We describe first decision making, then coping and finally attempt to integrate these processes by building on current theory. Deliberation in healthcare may be described as a six step process, comprised of the presentation of a health threat, choice, options, preference construction, the decision itself and consolidation post-decision. Coping can be depicted in three stages, beginning with a threat, followed by primary and secondary appraisal and ultimately resulting in a coping effort. Drawing together concepts from prominent decision making theories and coping theories, we propose a multidimensional, interactive framework which integrates both processes and describes coping in deliberation. The proposed framework offers an insight into the complexity of decision making in preference-sensitive healthcare contexts from a patient perspective and may act as theoretical basis for decision support. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Social acceptability of climate change policies; will energy efficiency always fail to win its case through the consultation process? Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pett, Jacky

    2007-01-01

    Which segments of society 'win' as a result of climate change policies? Actors generally support the principle of reduced emissions through decarbonising fuels, and many are convinced that reducing overall energy consumption is an essential strategy to prevent further damaging climate change. However, proposed strategies for ensuring that sufficient action is taken to reduce emissions suffer from complexity, uncertainty and dissent, especially from vested interests. The policy maker has to choose between many options, and many conflicting consultation responses, to select the most politically feasible and socially acceptable pathway. An FP6 funded project into Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for climate change is developing an innovative tool to support policy choice based on a mix of methods, using case studies to test the outputs. Resources include stakeholder deliberation on criteria necessary to evaluate pathway options. The first stage maps energy actors' perspectives of climate change, identifying key issues for socially acceptable policies for the 2012 - 2050 period that would either limit climate change to only 2 deg C increase, or provide a 'soft landing' to a world 5 degrees above present.This paper describes this mapping exercise and indicates the issues of most debate, on which rest the criteria for social acceptability. It describes how deliberative methods can involve stakeholders more effectively in policy formation, contrasts the roles of deliberation and consultation, and discusses the engagement of powerful vested interests with this approach. While there are considerable overlaps in perspectives of different actors, leading to specific points of contention, importantly, decisions on selection and engagement of stakeholders with the process become critical if the criteria for policy decisions are to be accepted by society

  11. Health in All (Foreign) Policy: challenges in achieving coherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labonté, Ronald

    2014-06-01

    Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach is generally perceived as an intersectoral approach to national or sub-national public policy development, such that health outcomes are given full consideration by non-health sectors. Globalization, however, has created numerous 'inherently global health issues' with cross-border causes and consequences, requiring new forms of global governance for health. Although such governance often includes both state and non-state (private, civil society) actors in agenda setting and influence, different actors have differing degrees of power and authority and, ultimately, it is states that ratify intergovernmental covenants or normative declarations that directly or indirectly affect health. This requires public health and health promotion practitioners working within countries to give increased attention to the foreign policies of their national governments. These foreign policies include those governing national security, foreign aid, trade and investment as well as the traditional forms of diplomacy. A new term has been coined to describe how health is coming to be positioned in governments' foreign policies: global health diplomacy. To become adept at this nuanced diplomatic practice requires familiarity with the different policy frames by which health might be inserted into the foreign policy deliberations, and thence intergovernmental/global governance negotiations. This article discusses six such frames (security, trade, development, global public goods, human rights, ethical/moral reasoning) that have been analytically useful in assessing the potential for greater and more health-promoting foreign policy coherence: a 'Health in All (Foreign) Policies' approach. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Attitude Towards Deliberate Self-Harm Questionnaire

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kool, N.; van Meijel, B.; van der Bijl, J.; Koekkoek, B.; Kerkhof, A.

    2015-01-01

    The attitude of nurses and treatment staff is crucial in the treatment of patients who self-harm. However, many patients experience that attitude as negative. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Attitude Towards Deliberate Self-Harm

  13. Learning by doing. Training health care professionals to become facilitator of moral case deliberation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stolper, M.M.; Molewijk, A.C.; Widdershoven, G.

    2015-01-01

    Moral case deliberation (MCD) is a dialogue among health care professionals about moral issues in practice. A trained facilitator moderates the dialogue, using a conversation method. Often, the facilitator is an ethicist. However, because of the growing interest in MCD and the need to connect MCD to

  14. Informed decision making about predictive DNA tests: arguments for more public visibility of personal deliberations about the good life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boenink, Marianne; van der Burg, Simone

    2010-05-01

    Since its advent, predictive DNA testing has been perceived as a technology that may have considerable impact on the quality of people's life. The decision whether or not to use this technology is up to the individual client. However, to enable well considered decision making both the negative as well as the positive freedom of the individual should be supported. In this paper, we argue that current professional and public discourse on predictive DNA-testing is lacking when it comes to supporting positive freedom, because it is usually framed in terms of risk and risk management. We show how this 'risk discourse' steers thinking on the good life in a particular way. We go on to argue that empirical research into the actual deliberation and decision making processes of individuals and families may be used to enrich the environment of personal deliberation in three ways: (1) it points at a richer set of values that deliberators can take into account, (2) it acknowledges the shared nature of genes, and (3) it shows how one might frame decisions in a non-binary way. We argue that the public sharing and discussing of stories about personal deliberations offers valuable input for others who face similar choices: it fosters their positive freedom to shape their view of the good life in relation to DNA-diagnostics. We conclude by offering some suggestions as to how to realize such public sharing of personal stories.

  15. Decision making uncertainty, imperfection, deliberation and scalability

    CERN Document Server

    Kárný, Miroslav; Wolpert, David

    2015-01-01

    This volume focuses on uncovering the fundamental forces underlying dynamic decision making among multiple interacting, imperfect and selfish decision makers. The chapters are written by leading experts from different disciplines, all considering the many sources of imperfection in decision making, and always with an eye to decreasing the myriad discrepancies between theory and real world human decision making. Topics addressed include uncertainty, deliberation cost and the complexity arising from the inherent large computational scale of decision making in these systems. In particular, analyses and experiments are presented which concern: • task allocation to maximize “the wisdom of the crowd”; • design of a society of “edutainment” robots who account for one anothers’ emotional states; • recognizing and counteracting seemingly non-rational human decision making; • coping with extreme scale when learning causality in networks; • efficiently incorporating expert knowledge in personalized...

  16. Immigration, Suicidal Ideation and Deliberate Self-Injury in the Boston Youth Survey 2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borges, Guilherme; Azrael, Deborah; Almeida, Joanna; Johnson, Renee M.; Molnar, Beth E.; Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew

    2011-01-01

    The prevalence and immigration-related correlates of deliberate self-injury (DSI) and suicidal ideation (SI) were estimated in a sample of Boston public high school students in 2006. Compared with U.S.-born youth, immigrant youth were not at increased risk for DSI or SI, even if they had experienced discrimination due to their ancestry. By…

  17. The Socialization of Children’s Memory: Linking Maternal Conversational Style to the Development of Children’s Autobiographical and Deliberate Memory Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langley, Hillary A.; Coffman, Jennifer L.; Ornstein, Peter A.

    2017-01-01

    Data from a large-scale, longitudinal research study with an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample were utilized to explore linkages between maternal elaborative conversational style and the development of children’s autobiographical and deliberate memory. Assessments were made when the children were 3, 5, and 6 years of age, and the results reveal concurrent and longitudinal linkages between maternal conversational style in a mother-child reminiscing task and children’s autobiographical memory performance. Maternal conversational style while reminiscing was also significantly related to children’s strategic behaviors and recall in two deliberate memory tasks, both concurrently and longitudinally. Results from this examination replicate and extend what is known about the linkages between maternal conversational style, children’s abilities to talk about previous experiences, and children’s deliberate memory skills as they transition from the preschool to early elementary school years. PMID:29270083

  18. Keep your bias to yourself: How deliberating with differently biased others affects mock-jurors' guilt decisions, perceptions of the defendant, memories, and evidence interpretation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruva, Christine L; Guenther, Christina C

    2017-10-01

    This experiment explored how mock-jurors' (N = 648) guilt decisions, perceptions of the defendant, memories, and evidence interpretation varied as a function of jury type and pretrial publicity (PTP); utilizing a 2 (jury type: pure-PTP vs. mixed-PTP) × 3 (PTP: defendant, victim, and irrelevant) factorial design. Mock-juries (N = 126) were composed of jurors exposed to the same type of PTP (pure-PTP; e.g., defendant-PTP) or different types of PTP (mixed-PTP; e.g., half exposed to defendant-PTP and half to irrelevant-PTP). Before deliberations jurors exposed to defendant-PTP were most likely to vote guilty; while those exposed to victim-PTP were least likely. After deliberations, jury type and PTP affected jurors' guilt decisions. Specifically, jurors deliberating on pure-PTP juries had verdict distributions that closely resembled the predeliberation distributions. The verdict distributions of jurors on mixed-PTP juries suggested that jurors were influenced by those they deliberated with. Jurors not exposed to PTP appeared to incorporate bias from PTP-exposed jurors. Only PTP had significant effects on postdeliberation measures of memory and evidence interpretation. Mediation analyses revealed that evidence interpretation and defendant credibility assessments mediated the effect of PTP on guilt ratings. Taken together these findings suggest that during deliberations PTP bias can spread to jurors not previously exposed to PTP. In addition, juries composed of jurors exposed to different PTP slants, as opposed to a single PTP slant, can result in less biased decisions. Finally, deliberating with others who do not share similar biases may have little, if any, impact on biased evidence interpretation or memory errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. High-dose amrinone is required to accelerate rewarming from deliberate mild intraoperative hypothermia for neurosurgical procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inoue, Satoki; Kawaguchi, Masahiko; Sakamoto, Takanori; Kitaguchi, Katsuyasu; Furuya, Hitoshi; Sakaki, Toshisuke

    2002-07-01

    Since the time available to provide the cooling and rewarming is limited during deliberate mild hypothermia, the technique to accelerate the cooling and rewarming rate of core temperature has been studied. Amrinone has been reported to accelerate the cooling rate but not the rewarming rate of core temperature during deliberate mild hypothermia. The failure of amrinone effect on the rewarming rate might be due to an insufficient dose of amrinone during hypothermic conditions. The authors therefore tested whether higher doses of amrinone can accelerate the rewarming rate of core temperature during deliberate mild hypothermia for neurosurgery. After institutional approval and informed consent, 30 patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Patients in the control group (n = 10) did not receive amrinone; patients in the AMR 15 group (n = 10) received 15 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) amrinone with a 1.0-mg/kg loading dose of amrinone at the beginning of cooling; and patients in the ReAMR group (n = 10) received 5 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) amrinone with 1.0-mg/kg loading and reloading doses of amrinone at the beginning of cooling and rewarming, respectively. Administration of amrinone was started just after the induction of cooling and continued until the end of anesthesia. Anesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide in oxygen, propofol, and fentanyl. After induction of anesthesia, patients were cooled, and tympanic membrane temperature was maintained at 34.5 degrees C. After completion of the main surgical procedures, patients were actively rewarmed and extubated in the operating room. The cooling and rewarming rates of core temperature were both significantly faster in both amrinone groups than in the control group. During the cooling and rewarming periods, forearm minus fingertip temperature gradient was significantly smaller in both amrinone groups than in the control group. During the rewarming period, heart rate and mean arterial pressure in the AMR 15

  20. Learning to listen. Institutional change and legitimation in UK radioactive waste policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mackerron, G. [SPRU Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex, Brighton (United Kingdom); Berkhout, F. [Institute for Environmental Studies IVM, VU University, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2009-04-15

    Over the course of 50 years, UK radioactive waste policy change has been coupled with institutional change, without much progress towards the ultimate goal of safe, long-term stewardship of wastes. We explain this history as a search for legitimacy against a shifting context of legitimation needs and deficits. Following Habermas, we argue that legitimation is derived from a process of justificatory discourse. In principle, there must be a reasonable exchange of arguments between diverse parties in society, based on common norms, for legitimacy to be achieved. We show that the work of legitimation in UK radioactive waste policy has moved from a focus on factual validity claims towards an increasing emphasis on deliberative processes. This reframing of legitimation needs explains institutional and policy changes in UK radioactive waste policy. The most recent phase of policy and institutional change, which placed public deliberation about long-term management and disposal options centre-stage, represents a new step towards bridging legitimation deficits. Plans to build new nuclear reactors in the UK based on a more closed 'streamlined' decision process risk reversing the legitimacy gains that have been achieved through growing openness on radioactive waste management.

  1. MENSTRUAL PHASE OF WOMEN AND DEATH DUE TO DELIBERATE SELF HARM: AN AUTOPSY STUDY

    OpenAIRE

    Sujith Sreenivas

    2015-01-01

    The study was conducted by determining the phase of menstruation of women, who committed suicide by subjecting the uterus for gross and histopathological examination. An understanding whether there was an increased incidence of deliberate self - harm during any particular phase of menstruation was made by this study. AIMS: Determination of me...

  2. Deliberate total parathyroidectomy: a potentially novel therapy for tumor-induced hypophosphatemic osteomalacia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhadada, Sanjay K; Palnitkar, Saroj; Qiu, Shijing; Parikh, Nayana; Talpos, Gary B; Rao, Sudhaker D

    2013-11-01

    Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is an acquired hypophosphatemic metabolic bone disorder that can be cured by removing or ablating the offending tumor. However, when the tumor cannot be localized, lifelong therapy with oral phosphate and calcitriol or cinacalcet with close monitoring is required. A 56-year-old man was diagnosed with TIO in 1990. Initial therapy consisted of oral phosphate and calcitriol with symptomatic and biochemical improvement and healing of osteomalacia. Eight years later, hypercalcemic hyperparathyroidism developed, requiring subtotal parathyroidectomy with a transient increase in serum phosphate and normalization of serum calcium and PTH. Recurrent hypercalcemic hyperparathyroidism developed after 10 years of medical therapy. A deliberate total parathyroidectomy produced a prompt rise in serum phosphate into the normal range > 3.0 mg/dL and remained normal during the next 4 years of follow-up, despite continued very high serum fibroblast growth factor-23 levels throughout the 23-year follow-up. We report an unusual case of a TIO patient with long-term follow-up who developed recurrent hypercalcemic hyperparathyroidism on long-term oral phosphate therapy. Deliberate total parathyroidectomy normalized serum phosphate despite persistently elevated fibroblast growth factor-23 levels. Total parathyroidectomy offers a potentially novel therapy in some patients with TIO in whom medical therapy is not feasible or the tumor is unresectable.

  3. Investigating the "self" in deliberate self-harm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Joanna; Rodham, Karen; Gavin, Jeff

    2005-12-01

    In this study, the authors explored how a group of young people aged 16 to 26 years (who identified themselves as having engaged in deliberate self-harm) made sense of the self by conducting two online focus groups and four e-mail interviews. They analyzed data using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The concept of validation was the primary means of making sense of the self and concerned the desire to be considered legitimate and of worth. This desire was clearly evident across three realms of conflict: (a) the intrinsic or extrinsic self, which marked the distinction between objective fact and subjective opinion; (b) the accepted or denied self; and (c) the notion of normality. It is possible that having one's denied self validated online might lead to an exacerbation of an individual's self-harming behavior. Further work is needed to explore the effects of online discussion forums on such taboo forms of behavior.

  4. Green industrial policy. Perspectives of economic and political scienc; Oekologische Industriepolitik. Wirtschafts- und politikwissenschaftliche Perspektiven

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jacob, Klaus [Freie Univ. Berlin (Germany)

    2009-01-15

    The necessity and possibilities of, limits to and the specific instruments employed for green industrial policy are a topic of both scientific and political debate. Economists and politicians can draw on rich resources in dealing with these issues. The contributions contained in this volume are the outcome of a workshop held by the German Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Environment Ministry on the topic of ''Green industrial policy'' on 18 April 2008 in Berlin. Economists and politicians were invited to participate in an expert dialog to locate the topic of green industrial policy within the larger discourses of political economics, deliberate on theoretical motives and practical limits to the concept from an economic viewpoint and discuss possible instruments and fields of action. The workshop focussed on questions relating to the necessity of green industrial policy, the framing of political programmes and the implementation of adopted goals into specific measures.

  5. Emotion and self-regulation in deliberate personal change: A case study analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Lopes, Paulo Nuno; Coyle, Adrian; Gallie, Jack

    2014-01-01

    Two young adults’ experiences of deliberate personal change in the realms of study habits and social interaction were examined using a qualitative, interview-based case study approach. Both talked about an aspect of their behavior that they had changed and one that they would like to change. Thematic analysis was used to interpret their stories and reach an integrative and contextualized understanding of their individual developmental trajectories. Our analysis explored the use of motivated r...

  6. Making sense of the global health crisis: policy narratives, conflict, and global health governance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ney, Steven

    2012-04-01

    Health has become a policy issue of global concern. Worried that the unstructured, polycentric, and pluralist nature of global health governance is undermining the ability to serve emergent global public health interests, some commentators are calling for a more systematic institutional response to the "global health crisis." Yet global health is a complex and uncertain policy issue. This article uses narrative analysis to explore how actors deal with these complexities and how uncertainties affect global health governance. By comparing three narratives in terms of their basic assumptions, the way they define problems as well as the solutions they propose, the analysis shows how the unstructured pluralism of global health policy making creates a wide scope of policy conflict over the global health crisis. This wide scope of conflict enables effective policy-oriented learning about global health issues. The article also shows how exclusionary patterns of cooperation and competition are emerging in health policy making at the global level. These patterns threaten effective learning by risking both polarization of the policy debate and unanticipated consequences of health policy. Avoiding these pitfalls, the analysis suggests, means creating global health governance regimes that promote openness and responsiveness in deliberation about the global health crisis.

  7. The Basic Act for Suicide Prevention: Effects on Longitudinal Trend in Deliberate Self-Harm with Reference to National Suicide Data for 1996–2014

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miharu Nakanishi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A suicide prevention strategy was launched in Japan in 2006 to address the high suicide rate, which had increased considerably since 1998. The national strategy from 2007 involved the enhancement of psychiatric treatment services at emergency medical facilities and supportive observation by individuals close to patients. The national suicide rate has decreased gradually since 2008; however, national information regarding the number of patients who had engaged in deliberate self-harm was absent. Therefore, the present study examined the longitudinal trend in hospital admissions due to deliberate self-harm in Japan. Data from the National Patient Survey between 1996 and 2014—a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of inpatient care every 3 years—were used. Data for 13,014 patients were included in the estimation of the number of hospital admissions due to deliberate self-harm. The results show that the estimated number of admissions due to deliberate self-harm increased from 2078 in September 1996 to 3189 in September 2008, when the national number of suicide cases peaked, and decreased to 1783 in 2014. Approximately half of the patients were admitted to hospital because of self-harm via means other than drug poisoning, which had a high mortality rate (5.6%. The proportion of patients receiving public assistance was higher in those who had engaged in deliberate self-harm (8.5% relative to that observed in the general population. Overall, the trend in deliberate self-harm was synchronous with the number of suicide cases over time. As economic poverty has been associated with suicidal ideation and behavior and some recipients of public assistance tend to abuse psychotropic medication, the public assistance program should provide mental health support for recipients of social benefit schemes.

  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. Tragedy in moral case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spronk, Benita; Stolper, Margreet; Widdershoven, Guy

    2017-09-01

    In healthcare practice, care providers are confronted with tragic situations, in which they are expected to make choices and decisions that can have far-reaching consequences. This article investigates the role of moral case deliberation (MCD) in dealing with tragic situations. It focuses on experiences of care givers involved in the treatment of a pregnant woman with a brain tumour, and their evaluation of a series of MCD meetings in which the dilemmas around care were discussed. The study was qualitative, focusing on the views and experiences of the participants. A case study design is used by conducting semi-structured interviews (N = 10) with health care professionals who both played a role in the treatment of the patient and attended the MCD. The results show that MCD helps people to deal with tragic situations. An important element of MCD in this respect is making explicit the dilemma and the damage, demonstrating that there is no simple solution. MCD prompts participants to formulate and share personal experiences with one another and thus helps to create a shared perception of the situation as tragic. The article concludes that MCD contributes to the sharing of tragic experiences, and fosters mutual interaction during a tragedy. Its value could be increased through explicit reflection on the aspect of contingency that characterises tragedy.

  10. Young People and Caregivers' Perceptions of an Intervention Program for Children Who Deliberately Light Fires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambie, Ian; Seymour, Fred; Popaduk, Tanya

    2012-01-01

    A significant number of children and adolescents engage in deliberate fire setting, beyond the scope of curiosity and experimentation. Interventions developed to respond to the needs of such fire setters generally involve educational and/or psychosocial approaches. Research evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions is dominated by…

  11. Comparative study of personality disorder associated with deliberate self harm in two different age groups (15?24 years and 45?74 years)

    OpenAIRE

    Nath, Saswati; Patra, Dipak Kumar; Biswas, Srilekha; Mallick, Asim Kumar; Bandyopadhyay, Gautam Kumar; Ghosh, Srijit

    2008-01-01

    Aims: To study the presence of personality disorder in cases of deliberate self harm (DSH) in young (15?24 years) and elderly (45?74 years) and compare. Materials and Methods: Deliberate self harm cases admitted in Medical and surgical departments and cases attending psychiatry department of R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata were studied. For diagnosis of personality disorder ICD 10 International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) questionnaire was used. Results: Percentage of elderly pa...

  12. Deliberate practice theory: relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment of music practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyllegard, Randy; Bories, Tamara L

    2008-10-01

    This study examined three assumptions of the theory of deliberate practice for practice playing music on an electronic keyboard. 40 undergraduate students, divided into two separate groups, practiced one of two music sequences and rated the relevance of practice for improving performance on the sequences, the amount of effort needed to learn the sequences, and the inherent enjoyment of practice sessions. Findings for each assumption were consistent with those suggested by theory but also showed that perceptions are affected by the amount of practice completed and performance of the skill.

  13. An examination of emergency department nurses' attitudes towards deliberate self-harm in an Irish teaching hospital.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McCarthy, Linda

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine emergency department (ED) nurses\\' attitudes towards individuals presenting with deliberate self-harm (DSH), including the relationship between attitudes and factors such as age, academic achievements, length of experience, and self-harm education.

  14. Safety policy for nuclear power development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchida, Hideo

    1987-01-01

    The report discusses various aspects of the safety policy for nuclear power development in Japan. Nuclear power development over three decades in Japan has led to operating performance which is highly safe and reliable. This has been appreciated internationally. Discussed here is the Japanese basic safety policy for nuclear power development that is essential first to design, manufacture and construction using high technology. The current careful quality assurance and reliable operation management by skilled operators are relied upon, on the basis of the fact that measures to prevent abnormal events are given first priority rather than those to mitigate consequences of abnormal events or accidents. Lessons learned from accidents and failures within or outside Japan such as the TMI accident and Chernobyl accident have been reflected in the improvement of safety through careful and thorough examinations of them. For further improvement in nuclear safety, deliberate studies and investigations on severe accidents and probabilistic safety assessment are considered to be important. Such efforts are currently being promoted. For this purpose, it is important to advance international cooperation and continue technical exchanges, based on operation experience in nuclear power stations in Japan. (Nogami, K.)

  15. The use of moral deliberation in empirical research in bioethics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elma Zoboli

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The article presents an integrated empirical ethics research project that used the moral deliberation, according to the theoretical and philosophical conception, and methodical proposal of Diego Gracia, as a theoretical and methodological framework. The application showed the potential to realize the dynamics of the studied object in real life, making it possible, from the situation presented in the vignettes, for participants to include what they considered for dealing with the conflict of values. It also made the integration of philosophical and empirical approaches in bioethics research possible. The analytical category of prudence allowed the results to be assessed in a critical and comprehensive way.

  16. Uncertain Future, Deliberate Action: Proceedings of the Circumpolar Climate Change Summit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    Northern environments and communities are entering a period of unprecedented change. Emissions of greenhouse gases due to human activities are altering the atmosphere and are expected to change global climate in ways that may be detrimental to our environmental, social and economic systems. An increasing body of observation provides convincing evidence of a warming world, and there is strong evidence that the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activity. While climate change science is, without a doubt, complicated and not all views about climate change are universally accepted by all, in northern Canada, climate change is no longer an abstract idea. There is strong scientific and anecdotal evidence that the northern environment is responding to new climatic conditions, evidence that strongly supports the current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) models and predictions on global climatic change. This conference, 'Uncertain future, deliberate action -- Climate Change in the Circumpolar North' was organized to provide northerners, and those with an interest in the North, an opportunity to learn more about climate change from internationally recognized experts, business leaders, professionals and community leaders who shared their ideas about climate change and the circumpolar North. Discussions, talks, exhibits, and posters were structured around the three themes of 'Understanding Climate Change in the North: (1) State of knowledge and new directions in research'; (2) 'Responding to climate change in the North: Measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our vulnerability to a changing climate'; and (3) 'Policy and planning responses to climate change in the North'. This special issue of the NORTHERN REVIEW contains a report, and the presentations and discussions at the Summit, along with papers that complement the main themes

  17. Stress potentiates decision biases: A stress induced deliberation-to-intuition (SIDI model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rongjun Yu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Humans often make decisions in stressful situations, for example when the stakes are high and the potential consequences severe, or when the clock is ticking and the task demand is overwhelming. In response, a whole train of biological responses to stress has evolved to allow organisms to make a fight-or-flight response. When under stress, fast and effortless heuristics may dominate over slow and demanding deliberation in making decisions under uncertainty. Here, I review evidence from behavioral studies and neuroimaging research on decision making under stress and propose that stress elicits a switch from an analytic reasoning system to intuitive processes, and predict that this switch is associated with diminished activity in the prefrontal executive control regions and exaggerated activity in subcortical reactive emotion brain areas. Previous studies have shown that when stressed, individuals tend to make more habitual responses than goal-directed choices, be less likely to adjust their initial judgment, and rely more on gut feelings in social situations. It is possible that stress influences the arbitration between the emotion responses in subcortical regions and deliberative processes in the prefrontal cortex, so that final decisions are based on unexamined innate responses. Future research may further test this ‘stress induced deliberation-to-intuition’ (SIDI model and examine its underlying neural mechanisms.

  18. Public deliberation in the function of overcoming the democratic deficit, public debate and delineation from public hearing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vukadinović Slobodan

    2016-01-01

    process of decision making and policy making, through contributions to correcting, stabilizing and consolidating the modern representative democracy. Considering the forms of direct citizen participation in the Serbian society, the next part of the article focuses on the public debate and analyses its legal framework in Serbia and the region. With an analysis of public hearings, the article confirms the author's initial hypothesis that public hearing is not synonymous to or a form of public debate (as often understood in the Serbian public. The author identified 13 original criteria of delineation by which these two institutes differ. Indicating the possibilities of application of other innovative mechanisms of citizen participation which have been proven in the practice of other countries, the author provides concrete recommendations and three possible legal routes for the improvement of public deliberation and concludes that by the power of an argumentative public deliberation and the participation of a larger number of citizens and all sectors of the society, as well as the involvement of their arguments in final texts of laws and other regulations, the present partocracy could be led to a rule of reason, i.e. that the state of political parties is transformed into a state of reason.

  19. The Use of Expressives in Online Political Talk : Impeding or Facilitating the Normative Goals of Deliberation?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Graham, T.S.; Tambouris, E; Macintosh, A; Glassey, O

    2010-01-01

    Net-based public sphere researchers have questioned whether the internet presents the public sphere with a new opportunity for the development of public spaces where free, equal and open deliberation among citizens can flourish. However, much of the research has operationalized a formal notion of

  20. Parental Choices and Ethical Dilemmas Involving Disabilities: Special Education and the Problem of Deliberately Chosen Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauffman, James M.; Hallahan, Daniel P.

    2009-01-01

    Ethical issues regarding children with disabilities have long involved their treatment after they are born. These issues remain important, but children may be deliberately created with or without characteristics that are usually thought of as disabilities. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and related technologies that involve human…

  1. Motives and Suicide Intent Underlying Hospital Treated Deliberate Self-Harm and Their Association with Repetition

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAuliffe, Carmel; Arensman, Ella; Keeley, Helen S.; Corcoran, Paul; Fitzgerald, Anthony P.

    2007-01-01

    The association between motives for deliberate self-harm (DSH), level of suicide intent, and history of DSH is poorly understood. As part of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior, the Suicide Intent Scale, and the Motives for Parasuicide Questionnaire were administered to 146 patients presenting with DSH in the Cork region in…

  2. Barriers to clinical adoption of next generation sequencing: Perspectives of a policy Delphi panel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donna A. Messner

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to inform policymakers by engaging expert stakeholders to identify, prioritize, and deliberate the most important and tractable policy barriers to the clinical adoption of next generation sequencing (NGS. A 4-round Delphi policy study was done with a multi-stakeholder panel of 48 experts. The first 2 rounds of online questionnaires (reported here assessed the importance and tractability of 28 potential barriers to clinical adoption of NGS across 3 major policy domains: intellectual property, coverage and reimbursement, and FDA regulation. We found that: 1 proprietary variant databases are seen as a key challenge, and a potentially intractable one; 2 payer policies were seen as a frequent barrier, especially a perceived inconsistency in standards for coverage; 3 relative to other challenges considered, FDA regulation was not strongly perceived as a barrier to clinical use of NGS. Overall the results indicate a perceived need for policies to promote data-sharing, and a desire for consistent payer coverage policies that maintain reasonably high standards of evidence for clinical utility, limit testing to that needed for clinical care decisions, and yet also flexibly allow for clinician discretion to use genomic testing in uncertain circumstances of high medical need.

  3. New York State's landmark policies on oversight and compensation for egg donation to stem cell research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roxland, Beth E

    2012-05-01

    In 2009, New York became the first US state to implement a policy permitting researchers to use public funds to reimburse women who donate oocytes directly and solely to stem cell research, not only for the woman's out-of-pocket expenses, but also for the time, burden and discomfort associated with the donation process. The debate about the propriety of such compensation was recently renewed with the publication of a stem cell study in which women were provided with compensation for donating their eggs. This article explores the scientific and ethical rationales that led to New York's decision to allow donor compensation. The multifaceted deliberation process and comprehensive policies may serve as a model for other states and countries considering the issue of oocyte donor compensation.

  4. Comparative-Effectiveness of Simulation-Based Deliberate Practice Versus Self-Guided Practice on Resident Anesthesiologists' Acquisition of Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Udani, Ankeet Deepak; Harrison, T Kyle; Mariano, Edward R; Derby, Ryan; Kan, Jack; Ganaway, Toni; Shum, Cynthia; Gaba, David M; Tanaka, Pedro; Kou, Alex; Howard, Steven K

    2016-01-01

    Simulation-based education strategies to teach regional anesthesia have been described, but their efficacy largely has been assumed. We designed this study to determine whether residents trained using the simulation-based strategy of deliberate practice show greater improvement of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) skills than residents trained using self-guided practice in simulation. Anesthesiology residents new to UGRA were randomized to participate in either simulation-based deliberate practice (intervention) or self-guided practice (control). Participants were recorded and assessed while performing simulated peripheral nerve blocks at baseline, immediately after the experimental condition, and 3 months after enrollment. Subject performance was scored from video by 2 blinded reviewers using a composite tool. The amount of time each participant spent in deliberate or self-guided practice was recorded. Twenty-eight participants completed the study. Both groups showed within-group improvement from baseline scores immediately after the curriculum and 3 months following study enrollment. There was no difference between groups in changed composite scores immediately after the curriculum (P = 0.461) and 3 months following study enrollment (P = 0.927) from baseline. The average time in minutes that subjects spent in simulation practice was 6.8 minutes for the control group compared with 48.5 minutes for the intervention group (P < 0.001). In this comparative effectiveness study, there was no difference in acquisition and retention of skills in UGRA for novice residents taught by either simulation-based deliberate practice or self-guided practice. Both methods increased skill from baseline; however, self-guided practice required less time and faculty resources.

  5. Oxytocin promotes intuitive rather than deliberated cooperation with the in-group.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ten Velden, Femke S; Daughters, Katie; De Dreu, Carsten K W

    2017-06-01

    A contribution to a special issue on Hormones and Human Competition. In intergroup settings, individuals prefer cooperating with their in-group, and sometimes derogate and punish out-groups. Here we replicate earlier work showing that such in-group bounded cooperation is conditioned by oxytocin and extend it by showing that oxytocin-motivated in-group cooperation is intuitive rather than deliberated. Healthy males (N=65) and females (N=129) self-administered intranasal placebo or 24IU oxytocin in a double-blind placebo-controlled between-subjects design, were assigned to a three-person in-group (that faced a 3-person out-group), and given an endowment from which they could contribute to a within-group pool (benefitting the in-group), and/or to a between-group pool (benefitting the in-group and punishing the out-group). Prior to decision-making, participants performed a Stroop Interference task that was either cognitively taxing, or not. Cognitively taxed individuals kept less to themselves and contributed more to the within-group pool. Furthermore, participants receiving placebo contributed more to the within-group pool when they were cognitively taxed rather than not; those receiving oxytocin contributed to the within-group pool regardless of cognitive taxation. Neither taxation nor treatment influenced contributions to the between-group pool, and no significant sex differences were observed. It follows that in intergroup settings (i) oxytocin increases in-group bounded cooperation, (ii) oxytocin neither reduces nor increases out-group directed spite, and (iii) oxytocin-induced in-group cooperation is independent of cognitive taxation and, therefore, likely to be intuitive rather than consciously deliberated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Deliberate utilization of interaction torques brakes elbow extension in a fast throwing motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hore, Jon; Debicki, Derek B; Gribble, Paul L; Watts, Sherry

    2011-05-01

    We tested the hypothesis that in fast arm movements the CNS deliberately utilizes interaction torques to decelerate (brake) joint rotations. Twelve subjects performed fast 2-D overarm throws in which large elbow extension velocities occurred. Joint motions were computed from recordings made with search coils; joint torques were calculated using inverse dynamics. After ball release, a large follow-through shoulder extension acceleration occurred that was initiated by shoulder extensor muscle torque. This shoulder acceleration produced a flexor interaction torque at the elbow that initiated elbow deceleration (braking). An instantaneous mechanical interaction of passive torques then occurred between elbow and shoulder, i.e., elbow extension deceleration produced a large shoulder extensor interaction torque that contributed to the shoulder extension acceleration which, simultaneously, produced a large elbow flexor interaction torque that contributed to elbow extension deceleration, and so on. Late elbow flexor muscle torque also contributed to elbow deceleration. The interaction of passive torques between shoulder and elbow was braked by shoulder flexor muscle torque. In this mechanism, shoulder musculature contributed to braking elbow extension in two ways: shoulder extensors initiated the mechanical interaction of passive torques between shoulder and elbow and shoulder flexors dissipated kinetic energy from elbow braking. It is concluded that, in fast 2-D throws, the CNS deliberately utilizes powerful interaction torques between shoulder and elbow to brake motion at the elbow.

  7. Science Center Public Forums: Engaging Lay-Publics in Resilience Deliberations Through Informal Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sittenfeld, D.; Choi, F.; Farooque, M.; Helmuth, B.

    2017-12-01

    Because climate hazards present a range of potential impacts and considerations for different kinds of stakeholders, community responses to increase resilience are best considered through the inclusion of diverse, informed perspectives. The Science Center Public Forums project has created multifaceted modules to engage diverse publics in substantive deliberations around four hazards: heat waves, drought, extreme precipitation, and sea level rise. Using a suite of background materials including visualization and narrative components, each of these daylong dialogues engage varied groups of lay-participants at eight US science centers in learning about hazard vulnerabilities and tradeoffs of proposed strategies for building resilience. Participants listen to and consider the priorities and perspectives of fellow residents and stakeholders, and work together to formulate detailed resilience plans reflecting both current science and informed public values. Deliverables for the project include visualizations of hazard vulnerabilities and strategies through immersive planetarium graphics and Google Earth, stakeholder perspective narratives, and detailed background materials for each project hazard. This session will: communicate the process for developing the hazard modules with input from subject matter experts, outline the process for iterative revisions based upon findings from formative focus groups, share results generated by participants of the project's first two pilot forums, and describe plans for broader implementation. These activities and outcomes could help to increase the capacity of informal science education institutions as trusted conveners for informed community dialogue by educating residents about vulnerabilities and engaging them in critical thinking about potential policy responses to critical climate hazards while sharing usable public values and priorities with civic planners.

  8. Deliberate practice predicts performance throughout time in adolescent chess players and dropouts: A linear mixed models analysis.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Bruin, A.B.H.; Smits, N.; Rikers, R.M.J.P.; Schmidt, H.G.

    2008-01-01

    In this study, the longitudinal relation between deliberate practice and performance in chess was examined using a linear mixed models analysis. The practice activities and performance ratings of young elite chess players, who were either in, or had dropped out of the Dutch national chess training,

  9. Managing deliberate self-harm in young people: An evaluation of a training program developed for school welfare staff using a longitudinal research design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    McGorry Patrick D

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Although deliberate self-harm is prevalent among young people, many who engage in deliberate self-harm receive sub-optimal care. Although schools are a well placed setting to support young people who engage in self-harm there are no specific training packages designed to assist school welfare staff to support these young people. The current study aimed to design, deliver and evaluate a training course specifically for school staff. Methods The study employed a longitudinal design. Two hundred and thirteen people participated in the training and evaluation. A questionnaire was administered at baseline, immediately after the training and at 6-month follow-up in order to determine if the training led to improvements in confidence when working with young people who self-harm, perceived skill, knowledge of, and attitudes towards people who self harm. Results Prior to the course, the majority of participants demonstrated relatively high levels of confidence, perceived skill and knowledge of self-harm and endorsed relatively positive attitudes towards people who engage in self-harm. Despite this, significant improvements were observed in terms of increased confidence, increased perceptions of skill along with increased knowledge of deliberate self-harm. These improvements were sustained over the follow-up period. Conclusion The results demonstrated that the provision of specifically designed training can help school welfare staff to feel better equipped to support young people who are engaging in deliberate self-harm.

  10. Abstract 20854: A Tale of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Emergency Medical Technicians Deliberately Perform Substandard CPR When Anticipating Poor Prognosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bødtker, Henrik; Klausen, Troels M; Lauridsen, Kasper G

    2017-01-01

    ) if they believe resuscitation to be futile. Furthermore, to investigate if different patient and resuscitation attempt characteristics result in EMTs deliberately performing substandard CPR.Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey study conducted in 2016 through 2017 including EMTs from a Danish...... and compressions). Overall, 22% and 51% would perform substandard CPR if the patient were 80 or 90 years old respectively, 46% if the patient was living in a nursing home and up to 31% due to comorbidity such as cancer. EMTs (51%) would deliberately perform substandard CPR in case of on-going bystander CPR >20...... minutes. EMTs (72%) felt competent to terminate resuscitation, but only 9% knew international termination guidelines.Conclusion: EMTs delay start of resuscitation if they anticipate resuscitation to be futile. Furthermore, they deliberately perform substandard CPR based on controversial patient...

  11. Outcomes of moral case deliberation - the development of an evaluation instrument for clinical ethics support (the Euro-MCD)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Svantesson, M.; Karlsson, J.; Boitte, P.; Schildman, J.; Dauwerse, L.; Widdershoven, G.; Pedersen, R.; Huisman, M.; Molewijk, A.C.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Clinical ethics support, in particular Moral Case Deliberation, aims to support health care providers to manage ethically difficult situations. However, there is a lack of evaluation instruments regarding outcomes of clinical ethics support in general and regarding Moral Case

  12. The International Rare Diseases Research Consortium: Policies and Guidelines to maximize impact.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lochmüller, Hanns; Torrent I Farnell, Josep; Le Cam, Yann; Jonker, Anneliene H; Lau, Lilian Pl; Baynam, Gareth; Kaufmann, Petra; Dawkins, Hugh Js; Lasko, Paul; Austin, Christopher P; Boycott, Kym M

    2017-12-01

    The International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) has agreed on IRDiRC Policies and Guidelines, following extensive deliberations and discussions in 2012 and 2013, as a first step towards improving coordination of research efforts worldwide. The 25 funding members and 3 patient umbrella organizations (as of early 2013) of IRDiRC, a consortium of research funders that focuses on improving diagnosis and therapy for rare disease patients, agreed in Dublin, Ireland in April 2013 on the Policies and Guidelines that emphasize collaboration in rare disease research, the involvement of patients and their representatives in all relevant aspects of research, as well as the sharing of data and resources. The Policies and Guidelines provide guidance on ontologies, diagnostics, biomarkers, patient registries, biobanks, natural history, therapeutics, models, publication, intellectual property, and communication. Most IRDiRC members-currently nearly 50 strong-have since incorporated its policies in their funding calls and some have chosen to exceed the requirements laid out, for instance in relation to data sharing. The IRDiRC Policies and Guidelines are the first, detailed agreement of major public and private funding organizations worldwide to govern rare disease research, and may serve as a template for other areas of international research collaboration. While it is too early to assess their full impact on research productivity and patient benefit, the IRDiRC Policies and Guidelines have already contributed significantly to improving transparency and collaboration in rare disease research.

  13. Risk factors and correlates of deliberate self-harm behavior: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fliege, Herbert; Lee, Jeong-Ran; Grimm, Anne; Klapp, Burghard F

    2009-06-01

    Deliberate self-harm behavior--without suicidal intent--is a serious health problem and may be studied as a clinical phenomenon in its own right. Empirical studies of sociodemographic and psychological correlates and risk factors are systematically reviewed. We searched Medline, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX (German psychological literature), and reference lists. We targeted self-induced bodily harm without conscious suicidal intent. Studies on suicidal behavior or self-poisoning were only included if they also assessed nonsuicidal self-harm. Fifty-nine original studies met the criteria. Deliberate self-harm may occur at all ages, yet adolescents and young adults are at a higher risk. Evidence on gender is complex. Only 5 studies realize a prospective design (6 months to 10 years) and test predictors. The majority use cross-sectional and retrospective methods. No longitudinal study (separately) examines new incidence. Evidence of correlates encompasses distal/proximal, person/environment, and state/trait factors. Many studies report associations between current self-harm behavior and a history of childhood sexual abuse. Adolescent and adult self-harmers experience more frequent and more negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, and aggressiveness, than persons who do not self-harm. Two studies yield specific interactions between childhood trauma and current traits and states such as low emotional expressivity, low self-esteem, and dissociation with respect to a vulnerability to self-harm. Evidence of distal, biographical stressors is fairly strong. Proximal stressors have rarely been investigated; protective factors, hardly at all. Despite many findings of correlates, the data do not yet justify terming them risk factors. Longitudinal studies are needed.

  14. Effect of alcohol dose on deliberate self-harm in men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berman, Mitchell E; Fanning, Jennifer R; Guillot, Casey R; Marsic, Angelika; Bullock, Joshua; Nadorff, Michael R; McCloskey, Michael S

    2017-09-01

    Nonexperimental survey and field research support the notion that alcohol use may be associated with deliberate self-harm (DSH) across the spectrum of lethality, from nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) through suicide. Nonexperimental studies, however, provide limited information about potential causal relationships between alcohol consumption and DSH. Two previous experiments showed that a relatively high-dose of alcohol increases the likelihood of engaging in DSH in men, with DSH defined by the self-administration of a "painful" shock (the self-aggression paradigm [SAP]; Berman & Walley, 2003; McCloskey & Berman, 2003). In this study, we examined whether (a) lower doses of alcohol also elicit DSH, (b) this effect occurs for women as well as men, and (c) individual differences in past nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) moderate alcohol's effects on DSH. Nonalcohol dependent men and women (N = 210) were assigned either to .00%, .05%, .075%, or .100% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) drink conditions and completed a self-rating scale of NSSI (the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory [DSHI]; Gratz, 2001). As in previous SAP studies, DSH was operationalized by shock setting behavior during a competitive reaction time (RT) game. Overall, a greater proportion of participants in the .075% and .100% (but not .050%) alcohol conditions self-selected a "painful" shock to administer compared to participants in the placebo condition. NSSI predicted self-administration of painful shocks, but did not moderate the alcohol effect. Results provide experimental evidence to support the notion that interventions for self-harm should include processes to monitor and limit alcohol intake. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Deliberate acquisition of competence in physiological breech birth: A grounded theory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Shawn; Scamell, Mandie; Parker, Pam

    2018-06-01

    Research suggests that the skill and experience of the attendant significantly affect the outcomes of vaginal breech births, yet practitioner experience levels are minimal within many contemporary maternity care systems. Due to minimal experience and cultural resistance, few practitioners offer vaginal breech birth, and many practice guidelines and training programmes recommend delivery techniques requiring supine maternal position. Fewer practitioners have skills to support physiological breech birth, involving active maternal movement and choice of birthing position, including upright postures such as kneeling, standing, squatting, or on a birth stool. How professionals learn complex skills contrary to those taught in their local practice settings is unclear. How do professionals develop competence and expertise in physiological breech birth? Nine midwives and five obstetricians with experience facilitating upright physiological breech births participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed iteratively using constructivist grounded theory methods to develop an empirical theory of physiological breech skill acquisition. Among the participants in this research, the deliberate acquisition of competence in physiological breech birth included stages of affinity with physiological birth, critical awareness, intention, identity and responsibility. Expert practitioners operating across local and national boundaries guided less experienced practitioners. The results depict a specialist learning model which could be formalised in sympathetic training programmes, and evaluated. It may also be relevant to developing competence in other specialist/expert roles and innovative practices. Deliberate development of local communities of practice may support professionals to acquire elusive breech skills in a sustainable way. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Integrating policy, disintegrating practice: water resources management in Botswana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swatuk, Larry A.; Rahm, Dianne

    Botswana is generally regarded as an African ‘success story’. Nearly four decades of unabated economic growth, multi-party democracy, conservative decision-making and low-levels of corruption have made Botswana the darling of the international donor community. One consequence of rapid and sustained economic development is that water resources use and demands have risen dramatically in a primarily arid/semi-arid environment. Policy makers recognize that supply is limited and that deliberate steps must be taken to manage demand. To this end, and in line with other members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Botswana devised a National Water Master Plan (NWMP) and undertook a series of institutional and legal reforms throughout the 1990s so as to make water resources use more equitable, efficient and sustainable. In other words, the stated goal is to work toward Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in both policy and practice. However, policy measures have had limited impact on de facto practice. This paper reflects our efforts to understand the disjuncture between policy and practice. The information presented here combines a review of primary and secondary literatures with key informant interviews. It is our view that a number of constraints-cultural, power political, managerial-combine to hinder efforts toward sustainable forms of water resources use. If IWRM is to be realized in the country, these constraints must be overcome. This, however, is no small task.

  17. 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…

  18. Using decision pathway surveys to inform climate engineering policy choices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory, Robin; Satterfield, Terre; Hasell, Ariel

    2016-01-19

    Over the coming decades citizens living in North America and Europe will be asked about a variety of new technological and behavioral initiatives intended to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. A common approach to public input has been surveys whereby respondents' attitudes about climate change are explained by individuals' demographic background, values, and beliefs. In parallel, recent deliberative research seeks to more fully address the complex value tradeoffs linked to novel technologies and difficult ethical questions that characterize leading climate mitigation alternatives. New methods such as decision pathway surveys may offer important insights for policy makers by capturing much of the depth and reasoning of small-group deliberations while meeting standard survey goals including large-sample stakeholder engagement. Pathway surveys also can help participants to deepen their factual knowledge base and arrive at a more complete understanding of their own values as they apply to proposed policy alternatives. The pathway results indicate more fully the conditional and context-specific nature of support for several "upstream" climate interventions, including solar radiation management techniques and carbon dioxide removal technologies.

  19. Short-term and long-term effects of psychosocial therapy for people after deliberate self-harm: a register-based, nationwide multicentre study using propensity score matching

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lind, Bertel; Erlangsen, Anette; Stuart, Elisabeth

    2014-01-01

    Background Although deliberate self-harm is a strong predictor of suicide, evidence for effective interventions is missing. The aim of this study was to examine whether psychosocial therapy after self-harm was linked to lower risks of repeated self-harm, suicide, and general mortality. Methods...... In this matched cohort study all people who, after deliberate self-harm, received a psychosocial therapy intervention at suicide prevention clinics in Denmark during 1992—2010 were compared with people who did not receive the psychosocial therapy intervention after deliberate self-harm. We applied propensity...... score matching with a 1:3 ratio and 31 matching factors, and calculated odds ratios for 1, 5, 10, and 20 years of follow-up. The primary endpoints were repeated self-harm, death by suicide, and death by any cause. Findings 5678 recipients of psychosocial therapy (followed up for 42·828 person...

  20. Deliberate and emergent strategies for implementing person-centred care: a qualitative interview study with researchers, professionals and patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naldemirci, Öncel; Wolf, Axel; Elam, Mark; Lydahl, Doris; Moore, Lucy; Britten, Nicky

    2017-08-04

    The introduction of innovative models of healthcare does not necessarily mean that they become embedded in everyday clinical practice. This study has two aims: first, to analyse deliberate and emergent strategies adopted by healthcare professionals to overcome barriers to normalization of a specific framework of person-centred care (PCC); and secondly, to explore how the recipients of PCC understand these strategies. This paper is based on a qualitative study of the implementation of PCC in a Swedish context. It draws on semi-structured interviews with 18 researchers and 17 practitioners who adopted a model of PCC on four different wards and 20 patients who were cared for in one of these wards. Data from these interviews were first coded inductively and emerging themes are analysed in relation to normalization process theory (NPT). In addition to deliberate strategies, we identify emergent strategies to normalize PCC by (i) creating and sustaining coherence in small but continuously communicating groups (ii) interpreting PCC flexibly when it meets specific local situations and (iii) enforcing teamwork between professional groups. These strategies resulted in patients perceiving PCC as bringing about (i) a sense of ease (ii) appreciation of inter-professional congruity (ii) non-hierarchical communication. NPT is useful to identify and analyse deliberate and emergent strategies relating to mechanisms of normalization. Emergent strategies should be interpreted not as trivial solutions to problems in implementation, but as a possible repertoire of tools, practices and skills developed in situ. As professionals and patients may have different understandings of implementation, it is also crucial to include patients' perceptions to evaluate outcomes.

  1. Improving access to skilled attendance at delivery: a policy brief for Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nabudere, Harriet; Asiimwe, Delius; Amandua, Jacinto

    2013-04-01

    This study describes the process of production, findings for a policy brief on Increasing Access to Skilled Birth Attendance, and subsequent use of the report by policy makers and others from the health sector in Uganda. The methods used to prepare the policy brief use the SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health policy making. The problem that this evidence brief addresses was identified through an explicit priority setting process involving policy makers and other stakeholders, further clarification with key informant interviews of relevant policy makers, and review of relevant documents. A working group of national stakeholder representatives and external reviewers commented on and contributed to successive drafts of the report. Research describing the problem, policy options, and implementation considerations was identified by reviewing government documents, routinely collected data, electronic literature searches, contact with key informants, and reviewing the reference lists of relevant documents that were retrieved. The proportion of pregnant women delivering from public and private non-profit facilities was low at 34 percent in 2008/09. The three policy options discussed in the report could be adopted independently or complementary to the other to increase access to skilled care. The Ministry of Health in deliberating to provide intrapartum care at first level health facilities from the second level of care, requested for research evidence to support these decisions. Maternal waiting shelters and working with the private-for-profit sector to facilitate deliveries in health facilities are promising complementary interventions that have been piloted in both the public and private health sector. A combination of strategies is needed to effectively implement the proposed options as discussed further in this article. The policy brief report was used as a background document for two stakeholder dialogue meetings involving members of parliament, policy makers

  2. Collaborative deliberation: a model for patient care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elwyn, Glyn; Lloyd, Amy; May, Carl; van der Weijden, Trudy; Stiggelbout, Anne; Edwards, Adrian; Frosch, Dominick L; Rapley, Tim; Barr, Paul; Walsh, Thom; Grande, Stuart W; Montori, Victor; Epstein, Ronald

    2014-11-01

    Existing theoretical work in decision making and behavior change has focused on how individuals arrive at decisions or form intentions. Less attention has been given to theorizing the requirements that might be necessary for individuals to work collaboratively to address difficult decisions, consider new alternatives, or change behaviors. The goal of this work was to develop, as a forerunner to a middle range theory, a conceptual model that considers the process of supporting patients to consider alternative health care options, in collaboration with clinicians, and others. Theory building among researchers with experience and expertise in clinician-patient communication, using an iterative cycle of discussions. We developed a model composed of five inter-related propositions that serve as a foundation for clinical communication processes that honor the ethical principles of respecting individual agency, autonomy, and an empathic approach to practice. We named the model 'collaborative deliberation.' The propositions describe: (1) constructive interpersonal engagement, (2) recognition of alternative actions, (3) comparative learning, (4) preference construction and elicitation, and (5) preference integration. We believe the model underpins multiple suggested approaches to clinical practice that take the form of patient centered care, motivational interviewing, goal setting, action planning, and shared decision making. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Knowledge and power in policy-making for child survival in Niger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalglish, Sarah L; Rodríguez, Daniela C; Harouna, Abdoutan; Surkan, Pamela J

    2017-03-01

    Calls to enhance the use of scientific evidence in international health and development policy have increased in recent years; however, analytic frameworks for understanding evidence use focus narrowly on scientific research and were created using data and observations nearly exclusively from Western countries. We examine processes of health policy development in a case study of Niger, a low-income West African country that adopted integrated community case management of childhood illness (iCCM) beginning in 2007, resulting in measurable declines in child mortality. Data collection included in-depth interviews with policy actors in Niger (N = 32), document review (N = 103) and direct observation of policy forums (N = 3). Data analysis used process tracing methodology and applied an Aristotelian definition of "knowledge" as 1) episteme (facts), 2) techne (skills) and 3) phronesis (practical wisdom), while also using a critical perspective to understand issues of power. We found sharp differentials in policy-makers' possession and use of codified forms of knowledge (episteme), with Nigerien policy officers' access highly mediated by actors at international agencies. Government policy-makers possessed skills and capacities (techne) to negotiate with donors and deliberate and weigh conflicting considerations; however they lacked capacity and resources to formally evaluate and document programs and thus reliably draw lessons from them. Practical wisdom (phronesis) emerged as key to the iCCM policy enterprise, particularly among Nigerien government actors, who used logical and ethical arguments to make decisions later found to be critical to iCCM's success. While codified knowledge confers power on members of policy discussions who can access it, this represents only one form of knowledge used in the policy process and perhaps not the most important. Future research on evidence-based policy should use broader definitions of evidence or knowledge, examine on how

  4. Investigation of Groundwater Flow Variations near a Recharge Pond with Repeat Deliberate Tracer Experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jordan F Clark

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Determining hydraulic connections and travel times between recharge facilities and production wells has become increasingly important for permitting and operating managed aquifer recharge (MAR sites, a water supply strategy that transfers surface water into aquifers for storage and later extraction. This knowledge is critical for examining water quality changes and assessing the potential for future contamination. Deliberate tracer experiments are the best method for determining travel times and identifying preferential flow paths between recharge sites over the time scales of weeks to a few years. This paper compares the results of two deliberate tracer experiments at Kraemer Basin, Orange County, CA, USA. Results from the first experiment, which was conducted in October 1998, showed that a region of highly transmissive sedimentary material extends down gradient from the basin for more than 3 km [1]. Mean groundwater velocities were determined to be approximately 2 km/year in this region based on the arrival time of the tracer center of mass. A second experiment was initiated in January 2008 to determine if travel times from this basin to monitoring and production wells changed during the past decade in response to new recharge conditions. Results indicate that flow near Kraemer Basin was stable, and travel times to most wells determined during both experiments agree within the experimental uncertainty.

  5. Hierarchy, Dominance, and Deliberation: Egalitarian Values Require Mental Effort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Berkel, Laura; Crandall, Christian S; Eidelman, Scott; Blanchar, John C

    2015-09-01

    Hierarchy and dominance are ubiquitous. Because social hierarchy is early learned and highly rehearsed, the value of hierarchy enjoys relative ease over competing egalitarian values. In six studies, we interfere with deliberate thinking and measure endorsement of hierarchy and egalitarianism. In Study 1, bar patrons' blood alcohol content was correlated with hierarchy preference. In Study 2, cognitive load increased the authority/hierarchy moral foundation. In Study 3, low-effort thought instructions increased hierarchy endorsement and reduced equality endorsement. In Study 4, ego depletion increased hierarchy endorsement and caused a trend toward reduced equality endorsement. In Study 5, low-effort thought instructions increased endorsement of hierarchical attitudes among those with a sense of low personal power. In Study 6, participants' thinking quickly allocated more resources to high-status groups. Across five operationalizations of impaired deliberative thought, hierarchy endorsement increased and egalitarianism receded. These data suggest hierarchy may persist in part because it has a psychological advantage. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  6. Decision-making in adolescent females who deliberately self-harm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rigler Tristan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Self-harming behaviour most commonly begins in adolescence and is more frequent among adolescent females. We explored the hypothesis that adolescent females who deliberately selfharm were more likely to perform worse on a decision-making task. Previous research in adolescents who self-harm reported impaired decision-making. However, research put little emphasis on older adolescents and the emotional learning. In our research, we presented the Iowa Gambling Task to 35 adolescent females who self-harmed and were treated at a psychiatric clinic, and to 35 healthy female controls. Our results show that in comparison to the control group the adolescents who self-harm took more risky decisions and were less concerned about the outcome. In addition, the clinical group also focused more on immediate gains and showed a reduced ability to learn from poor decisions in the past. Further research is suggested to explore the potential neurological correlates of decision-making and selfharming behaviour.

  7. The effectiveness of the Geritalk communication skills course: a real-time assessment of skill acquisition and deliberate practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelfman, Laura P; Lindenberger, Elizabeth; Fernandez, Helen; Goldberg, Gabrielle R; Lim, Betty B; Litrivis, Evgenia; O'Neill, Lynn; Smith, Cardinale B; Kelley, Amy S

    2014-10-01

    Communication skills are critical in Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine because these patients confront complex clinical scenarios. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Geritalk communication skills course by comparing pre- and post-course real-time assessment of the participants leading family meetings. We also evaluated the participants' sustained skills practice. We compare the participants' skill acquisition before and after Geritalk using a direct observation Family Meeting Communication Assessment Tool and assess their deliberate practice at follow-up. First-year Geriatrics or Palliative Medicine fellows at Mount Sinai Medical Center and the James J. Peters Bronx VA Medical Center participated in Geritalk. Pre- and post-course family meeting assessments were compared. An average net gain of 6.8 skills represented a greater than 20% improvement in use of applicable skills. At two month follow-up, most participants reported deliberate practice of fundamental and advanced skills. This intensive training and family meeting assessment offers evidence-based communication skills training. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  8. Clinical diagnostic and sociocultural dimensions of deliberate self-harm in Mumbai, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkar, Shubhangi R; Dawani, Varsha; Weiss, Mitchell G

    2006-04-01

    Patients' accounts complement psychiatric assessment of deliberate self-harm (DSH). In this study we examined psychiatric disorders, and sociocultural and cross-cultural features of DSH. SCID diagnostic interviews and a locally adapted EMIC interview were used to study 196 patients after DSH at a general hospital in Mumbai, India. Major depression was the most common diagnosis (38.8%), followed by substance use disorders (16.8%), but 44.4% of patients did not meet criteria for an enduring Axis-I disorder (no diagnosis, V-code, or adjustment disorder). Psychache arising from patient-identified sociocultural contexts and stressors complements, but does not necessarily fulfill, criteria for explanatory psychiatric disorders.

  9. Summary of discussion points and further deliberations in the special committee on the ITER project in the Atomic Energy Commission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, H.

    1998-01-01

    Discussion points and further deliberations in the Special Committee, which was established in December 1996 on the ITER Project were: 'Global environment problem and energy problem', 'Promotion of the fusion energy development' and 'ITER Project'

  10. The effect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on suicide and deliberate self-harm : A time trend study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Lange, AW; Neeleman, J

    2004-01-01

    Suicide rates may be affected by world news. Our objective was to investigate the possible impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on suicidal behavior in the Netherlands. There was evidence of an increase in rates of suicide and deliberate self-harm in the weeks immediately following

  11. Deliberative Communication Goes to College: The "Deliberation Forum" Project as a Democratic Agent of Empowerment for Communication Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malka, Vered

    2016-01-01

    A new field of research has developed over the last few decades, called "Deliberative Communication". It focuses on the potential contribution of public deliberations to strengthening the foundations of democracy and the promotion of social-political goals and objectives. The current research focuses on a unique case study, the…

  12. Measuring emergency department nurses' attitudes towards deliberate self-harm using the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Conlon, Mary

    2012-01-31

    The emergency department is an important gateway for the treatment of self-harm patients. Nurses\\' attitudes towards patients who self-harm can be negative and often nurses experience frustration, helplessness, ambivalence and antipathy. Patients are often dissatisfied with the care provided, and meeting with positive or negative attitudes greatly influences whether they seek additional help. A quantitative design was utilised to measure emergency department nurses\\' attitudes towards deliberate self-harm. The \\'Self-Harm Antipathy Scale\\

  13. Participation as Post-Fordist Politics: Demos, New Labour, and Science Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    In recent years, British science policy has seen a significant shift ‘from deficit to dialogue’ in conceptualizing the relationship between science and the public. Academics in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) have been influential as advocates of the new public engagement agenda. However, this participatory agenda has deeper roots in the political ideology of the Third Way. A framing of participation as a politics suited to post-Fordist conditions was put forward in the magazine Marxism Today in the late 1980s, developed in the Demos thinktank in the 1990s, and influenced policy of the New Labour government. The encouragement of public participation and deliberation in relation to science and technology has been part of a broader implementation of participatory mechanisms under New Labour. This participatory program has been explicitly oriented toward producing forms of social consciousness and activity seen as essential to a viable knowledge economy and consumer society. STS arguments for public engagement in science have gained influence insofar as they have intersected with the Third Way politics of post-Fordism. PMID:21258426

  14. Decreased frontal serotonin 5-HT{sub 2a} receptor binding index in deliberate self-harm patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Audenaert, K. [Dept. of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ghent University Hospital (Belgium); Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Ghent University Hospital (Belgium); Laere, K. van; Dierckx, R.A. [Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Ghent University Hospital (Belgium); Dumont, F.; Slegers, G. [Dept. of Radiopharmacy, Ghent Univ. (Belgium); Mertens, J. [VUB-Cyclotron, Brussels (Belgium); Heeringen, C. van [Dept. of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ghent University Hospital (Belgium)

    2001-02-01

    Studies of serotonin metabolites in body fluids in attempted suicide patients and of post-mortem brain tissue of suicide victims have demonstrated the involvement of the serotonergic neurotransmission system in the pathogenesis of suicidal behaviour. Recently developed neuroimaging techniques offer the unique possibility of investigating in vivo the functional characteristics of this system. In this study the 5-HT{sub 2a} receptor population of patients who had recently attempted suicide was studied by means of the highly specific radio-iodinated 5-HT{sub 2a} receptor antagonist 4-amino-N-[1-[3-(4-fluorophenoxy)propyl]-4-methyl-4-piperidinyl]-5-iodo-2-methoxybenzamide or {sup 123}I-5-I-R91150. Nine patients who had recently (1-7 days) attempted suicide and 12 age-matched healthy controls received an intravenous injection of 185 MBq {sup 123}I-5-I-R91150 and were scanned with high-resolution brain single-photon emission tomography (SPET). Stereotactic realigned images were analysed semi-quantitatively using predefined volumes of interest. Serotonin binding capacity was expressed as the ratio of specific to non-specific activity. The cerebellum was used as a measure of non-specific activity. An age-dependent 5-HT{sub 2a} binding index was found, in agreement with previous literature. Deliberate self-harm patients had a significantly reduced mean frontal binding index after correction for age (P=0.002) when compared with controls. The reduction was more pronounced among deliberate self-injury patients (DSI) (P<0.001) than among deliberate self-poisoning patients (DSP). Frontal binding index was significantly lower in DSI patients than in DSP suicide attempters (P<0.001). It is concluded that brain SPET of the 5-HT{sub 2a} serotonin receptor system in attempted suicide patients who are free of drugs influencing the serotonergic system shows in vivo evidence of a decreased frontal binding index of the 5-HT{sub 2a} receptor, indicating a decrease in the number and/or in

  15. Deliberations about nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boskma, P.; Smit, W.A.; Vries, G.H. de; Dijk, G. van; Groenewold, H.J.; Jelsma, J.; Tans, P.P.; Doorn, W. van

    1975-01-01

    This report is a discussion of points raised in three safety studies dealing with nuclear energy. It reviews the problems that must be faced in order to form a safe and practical energy policy with regard to health and the environment (potential hazards, biological effects and radiation dose norms), the proliferation of nuclear weapons, reactor accidents (including their causes, consequences and evacuation problems that arise), the fallout and contamination problems, and security (both reactor security and national security)

  16. Shifting Gear. The daily deliberation between arts and economics in cultural and creative organisations in Utrecht, 2010–2012

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kolsteeg, J

    2014-01-01

    This research analyses strategic practice and discourse in ten cultural and for-profit creative organisations in the Dutch city of Utrecht, between 2010 and 2012. The main question of this research is how deliberations on culture, creativity and business structure strategic discourse and practice in

  17. How did policy actors use mass media to influence the Scottish alcohol minimum unit pricing debate? Comparative analysis of newspapers, evidence submissions and interviews

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, Shona

    2015-01-01

    Aims: To explore how policy actors attempted to deliberately frame public debate around alcohol minimum unit pricing (MUP) in the UK by comparing and contrasting their constructions of the policy in public (newspapers), semi-public (evidence submissions) and private (interviews). Methods: Content analysis was conducted on articles published in ten national newspapers between 1 January 2005 and 30 June 2012. Newsprint data were contrasted with alcohol policy documents, evidence submissions to the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee and 36 confidential interviews with policy stakeholders (academics, advocates, industry representatives, politicians and civil servants). Findings: A range of policy actors exerted influence both directly (through Parliamentary institutions and political representatives) and indirectly through the mass media. Policy actors were acutely aware of mass media's importance in shaping public opinion and used it tactically to influence policy. They often framed messages in subtly different ways, depending on target audiences. In general, newspapers presented the policy debate in a “balanced” way, but this arguably over-represented hostile perspective and suggested greater disagreement around the evidence base than is the case. Conclusions: The roles of policy actors vary between public and policy spheres, and how messages are communicated in policy debates depends on perceived strategic advantage. PMID:26045639

  18. Adolescents' Deliberate Self-Harm, Interpersonal Stress, and the Moderating Effects of Self-Regulation: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jutengren, Goran; Kerr, Margaret; Stattin, Hakan

    2011-01-01

    The predictive effects of peer victimization and harsh parenting on deliberate self-harm were examined. As derived from the experiential avoidance model, the study also tested whether these links were moderated by individual self-regulation approaches. Data were collected at two points in time from 880 junior high school students (mean age =…

  19. Organizing mini-public deliberations: a careful preparation of the background during four deliberative experiments in Geneva

    OpenAIRE

    Deville, Marion

    2015-01-01

    In order to be institutionalized, deliberative democracy needs places were ordinary citizens debate together. Such places should offer the best possible conditions for debating. These conditions are not straightforward to gather. A lot of empirical work has recently been published on this topic. Mini-public deliberations and deliberative polls are at the interface between academic research and public spiritedness stimulation. Our research team in Geneva organized four corpus of debate experim...

  20. Seeing through the public health smoke-screen in drug policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Csete, Joanne; Wolfe, Daniel

    2017-05-01

    In deliberations on drug policy in United Nations fora, a consensus has emerged that drug use and drug dependence should be treated primarily as public health concerns rather than as crimes. But what some member states mean by "public health approach" merits scrutiny. Some governments that espouse treating people who use drugs as "patients, not criminals" still subject them to prison-like detention in the name of drug-dependence treatment or otherwise do not take measures to provide scientifically sound treatment and humane social support to those who need them. Even drug treatment courts, which the U.S. and other countries hold up as examples of a public health approach to drug dependence, can serve rather to tighten the hold of the criminal justice sector on concerns that should be addressed in the health sector. The political popularity of demonisation of drugs and visibly repressive approaches is an obvious challenge to leadership for truly health-oriented drug control. This commentary offers some thoughts for judging whether a public health approach is worthy of the name and cautions drug policy reformers not to rely on facile commitments to health approaches that are largely rhetorical or that mask policies and activities not in keeping with good public health practise. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Deliberate practice theory: perceived relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment of music practice: study II.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyllegard, Randy; Bories, Tamara L

    2009-10-01

    This study, based on the theory of deliberate practice, examined the practice relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment aspects of the theory. 25 college undergraduates practiced playing a melody on an electronic keyboard for three 20-min. practice sessions. Following each session, the perceived relevance of the practice for improving performance of the melody, the effort needed to learn the melody, and the inherent enjoyment of the practice were each rated on 10-point scales. Findings were consistent with theory and similar to previous studies also involving music practice and other tasks.

  2. The Problem of Character Education and Kohlberg's Moral Education: Critique from Dewey's Moral Deliberation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiangdong

    2014-01-01

    In this article, the author examines Dewey's moral deliberation. Liu argues that Dewey's work will enrich both character education and Kohlberg's moral education. Liu focuses on character education and on Kohlberg's moral education because these are the two dominant approaches. Character education seeks to cultivate good…

  3. U.S. International Agricultural Trade Policy: Interests, Institutions and Information in the Corn Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laís Forti Thomaz

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to analyze the U.S. international agricultural trade policy by focusing on instruments and institutional arrangements. Policy decision-making is analyzed by means of three variables: 1 how interests are mobilized; 2 how information is disseminated; and 3 how spaces are occupied in deliberation arenas. The study refers to the corn sector and observes how the National Corn Growers Association operated to ensure subsidies and incentives for this supply chain along the elaboration of the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills, as well as from other laws pertaining to agricultural and energy incentives. This paper provides evidences in favor of four arguments: first, empirical studies on the formulation and implementation of foreign trade policy, especially when it comes to agricultural issues, would greatly benefit with a greater attention on understanding the role domestic actors play in the decision-making processes; second, interest groups play a key role in this decision-making process; third, they provide the rationale for the formulation and implementation of the U.S. international agricultural trade policy; and, fourth, when the economic sector coordinates complex and relevant supply chains in the U.S. economy, it is hardly possible to revert the U.S. protectionist position in the Legislative branch.

  4. Stimulus-dependent deliberation process leading to a specific motor action demonstrated via a multi-channel EEG analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonja eHenz

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to determine whether a deliberative process, leading to a motor action, is detectable in high density EEG recordings. Subjects were required to press one of two buttons. In a simple motor task the subject knew which button to press, whilst in a color-word Stroop task subjects had to press the right button with the right index finger when meaning and color coincided, or the left button with the left index finger when meaning and color were disparate.EEG recordings obtained during the simple motor task showed a sequence of positive (P and negative (N cortical potentials (P1-N1-P2 which are assumed to be related to the processing of the movement.The sequence of cortical potentials was similar in EEG recordings of subjects having to deliberate over how to respond, but the above sequence (P1-N1-P2 was preceded by slowly increasing negativity (N0, with N0 being assumed to represent the end of the deliberation process.Our data suggest the existence of neurophysiological correlates of deliberative processes.

  5. Mainstreaming biodiversity and wildlife management into climate change policy frameworks in selected east and southern African countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga L. Kupika

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The Rio+20 outcomes document, the Future We Want, enshrines green economy as one of the platforms to attain sustainable development and calls for measures that seek to address climate change and biodiversity management. This paper audits climate change policies from selected east and southern African countries to determine the extent to which climate change legislation mainstreams biodiversity and wildlife management. A scan of international, continental, regional and national climate change policies was conducted to assess whether they include biodiversity and/or wildlife management issues. The key finding is that many climate change policy–related documents, particularly the National Adaptation Programme of Actions (NAPAs, address threats to biodiversity and wildlife resources. However, international policies like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol do not address the matter under deliberation. Regional climate change policies such as the East African Community, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and African Union address biodiversity and/or wildlife issues whilst the Southern African Development Community region does not have a stand-alone policy for climate change. Progressive countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia have recently put in place detailed NAPAs which are mainstream responsive strategies intended to address climate change adaptation in the wildlife sector. Keywords: mainstreaming, biodiversity, wildlife, climate change policy, east and southern Africa

  6. Performing compliance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wimmelmann, Camilla Lawaetz

    2017-01-01

    the local policy workers front-staged some practices in the implementation process and back-staged others. The local policy workers deliberately performed ‘guideline compliance’ by using information control and impression management techniques. The findings suggest that local guideline compliance should...... be regarded as a staged performance in which deliberate techniques are used to produce and manage certain impressions of compliance....

  7. Socio-Technical Deliberation about Free and Open Source Software: Accounting for the Status of Artifacts in Public Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benoit-Barne, Chantal

    2007-01-01

    This essay investigates the rhetorical practices of socio-technical deliberation about free and open source (F/OS) software, providing support for the idea that a public sphere is a socio-technical ensemble that is discursive and fluid, yet tangible and organized because it is enacted by both humans and non-humans. In keeping with the empirical…

  8. The Socialization of Children's Memory: Linking Maternal Conversational Style to the Development of Children's Autobiographical and Deliberate Memory Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langley, Hillary A.; Coffman, Jennifer L.; Ornstein, Peter A.

    2017-01-01

    Data from a large-scale, longitudinal research study with an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample were utilized to explore linkages between maternal elaborative conversational style and the development of children's autobiographical and deliberate memory. Assessments were made when the children were aged 3, 5, and 6 years old, and the…

  9. Automatic and deliberate affective associations with sexual stimuli in women with lifelong vaginismus before and after therapist-aided exposure treatment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Melles, Reinhilde J.; ter Kuile, Moniek M.; Dewitte, Marieke; van Lankveld, Jacques J. D. M.; Brauer, Marieke; de Jong, Peter J.

    2014-01-01

    The intense fear response to vaginal penetration in women with lifelong vaginismus, who have never been able to experience coitus, may reflect negative automatic and deliberate appraisals of vaginal penetration stimuli which might be modified by exposure treatment. The aim of this study is to

  10. Fairness requires deliberation: the primacy of economic over social considerations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hochman, Guy; Ayal, Shahar; Ariely, Dan

    2015-01-01

    While both economic and social considerations of fairness and equity play an important role in financial decision-making, it is not clear which of these two motives is more primal and immediate and which one is secondary and slow. Here we used variants of the ultimatum game to examine this question. Experiment 1 shows that acceptance rate of unfair offers increases when participants are asked to base their choice on their gut-feelings, as compared to when they thoroughly consider the available information. In line with these results, Experiments 2 and 3 provide process evidence that individuals prefer to first examine economic information about their own utility rather than social information about equity and fairness, even at the price of foregoing such social information. Our results suggest that people are more economically rational at the core, but social considerations (e.g., inequality aversion) require deliberation, which under certain conditions override their self-interested impulses. PMID:26106342

  11. Fairness requires deliberation: the primacy of economic over social considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hochman, Guy; Ayal, Shahar; Ariely, Dan

    2015-01-01

    While both economic and social considerations of fairness and equity play an important role in financial decision-making, it is not clear which of these two motives is more primal and immediate and which one is secondary and slow. Here we used variants of the ultimatum game to examine this question. Experiment 1 shows that acceptance rate of unfair offers increases when participants are asked to base their choice on their gut-feelings, as compared to when they thoroughly consider the available information. In line with these results, Experiments 2 and 3 provide process evidence that individuals prefer to first examine economic information about their own utility rather than social information about equity and fairness, even at the price of foregoing such social information. Our results suggest that people are more economically rational at the core, but social considerations (e.g., inequality aversion) require deliberation, which under certain conditions override their self-interested impulses.

  12. Fairness requires deliberation: The primacy of economic over social considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guy eHochman

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available While both economic and social considerations of fairness and equity play an important role in financial decision-making, it is not clear which of these two motives is more primal and immediate and which one is secondary and slow. Here we used variants of the ultimatum game to examine this question. Experiment 1 shows that acceptance rate of unfair offers increases when participants are asked to base their choice on their gut-feelings, as compared to when they thoroughly consider the available information. In line with these results, Experiments 2 and 3 provide process evidence that individuals prefer to first examine economic information about their own utility rather than social information about equity and fairness, even at the price of foregoing such social information. Our results suggest that people are more economically rational at the core, but social considerations (e.g., inequality aversion require deliberation, which under certain conditions override their self-interested impulses.

  13. Assessing Anonymous Communication on the Internet: Policy Deliberations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kling, Rob; Lee, Yaching; Frankel, Mark S.; Teich, Al

    1999-01-01

    Examines the social character of anonymous online communication and the ways that anonymous communication has played important roles for professionals such as journalists and the police. Explains some of the new technological supports for anonymous communication on the Internet. Discusses some of the nuances behind the controversies and policy…

  14. Evaluation of moral case deliberation at the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seekles, Wike; Widdershoven, Guy; Robben, Paul; van Dalfsen, Gonny; Molewijk, Bert

    2016-05-21

    Moral case deliberation (MCD) as a form of clinical ethics support is usually implemented in health care institutions and educational programs. While there is no previous research on the use of clinical ethics support on the level of health care regulation, employees of regulatory bodies are regularly confronted with moral challenges. This pilot study describes and evaluates the use of MCD at the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ). The objective of this pilot study is to investigate: 1) the current way of dealing with moral issues at the IGZ; 2) experience with and evaluation of MCD as clinical ethics support, and 3) future preferences and (perceived) needs regarding clinical ethics support for dealing with moral questions at the IGZ. We performed an explorative pilot study. The research questions were assessed by means of: 1) interviews with MCD participants during four focus groups; and 2) interviews with six key stakeholders at the IGZ. De qualitative data is illustrated by data from questionnaires on MCD outcomes, perspective taking and MCD evaluation. Professionals do not always recognize moral issues. Employees report a need for regular and structured moral support in health care regulation. The MCD meetings are evaluated positively. The most important outcomes of MCD are feeling secure and learning from others. Additional support is needed to successfully implement MCD at the Inspectorate. We conclude that the respondents perceive moral case deliberation as a useful form of clinical ethics support for dealing with moral questions and issues in health care regulation.

  15. Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH): a follow-up study of Irish children.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Cassidy, C

    2012-02-01

    This study aimed to look at rates of repetition in children presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a paediatric A&E department. Children presenting with DSH to a paediatric A&E between 2000 and 2005 were invited to participate in the study. Telephone interviews collected information on demographic details and mental health functioning, including repetition of DSH. Data was obtained from 39 parents and 10 children (31 girls and 8 boys, mean age 15) 1 in 5 females (20%) had made a repeat attempt of DSH and 1 in 10 (10%) had repeated more than once. No males repeated self-harm. On going parental concern rather than clinician risk assessment at index episode predicted subsequent DSH. Given the poor predictive value of clinician risk assessment, all attempts of DSH must be taken seriously, especially those associated with ongoing parental concern.

  16. Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH): a follow-up study of Irish children.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Cassidy, C

    2009-04-01

    This study aimed to look at rates of repetition in children presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a paediatric A&E department. Children presenting with DSH to a paediatric A&E between 2000 and 2005 were invited to participate in the study. Telephone interviews collected information on demographic details and mental health functioning, including repetition of DSH. Data was obtained from 39 parents and 10 children (31 girls and 8 boys, mean age 15) 1 in 5 females (20%) had made a repeat attempt of DSH and 1 in 10 (10%) had repeated more than once. No males repeated self-harm. On going parental concern rather than clinician risk assessment at index episode predicted subsequent DSH. Given the poor predictive value of clinician risk assessment, all attempts of DSH must be taken seriously, especially those associated with ongoing parental concern.

  17. Behind the stage of deliberate self-persuasion: When changes in valence of associations to an attitude object predict attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Tong; Lord, Charles G; Yoke, Kristin

    2015-12-01

    Modern theory and research on evaluative processes, combined with a comprehensive review of deliberate self-persuasion (Maio & Thomas, 2007, Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., 11, 46), suggest two types of strategies people can use to construct new, more desired attitudes. Epistemic strategies change the perceived valence of associations activated by the attitude object. Teleologic strategies, in contrast, keep undesired associations from being activated in the first place, thus obviating the need to change their perceived valence. Change in perceived valence of associations therefore might predict attitude change better when people pursue epistemic than teleologic strategies for deliberate self-persuasion. This hypothesis gained convergent support from three studies in which use of epistemic versus teleologic strategies was measured as an individual difference (Study 1) and manipulated (studies 2 and 3). The results of these studies supported the theoretical distinction between the two strategies and suggested further research directions. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  18. Deliberation in Multi-Stakeholder Participation: A Heuristic Framework Applied to the Committee on World Food Security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matheus Alves Zanella

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Multi-stakeholder participation (MSP has become a central feature in several institutions and processes of global governance. Those who promote them trust that these arrangements can advance the deliberative quality of international institutions, and thereby improve the democratic quality, legitimacy and effectiveness of both the institutional landscape, as well as decisions made within it. This paper employs a heuristic framework to analyze the deliberative quality of MSP. Specifically, it applies Dryzek’s deliberative systems framework to the case of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS. The assessment shows that the CFS improves the deliberative quality of food security governance by including and facilitating the transmission of discourses from the public to the empowered spaces. However, the deliberative quality of CFS could be higher with stronger accountability mechanisms in place, more meta-deliberation and adoption of CFS outcomes at national and local levels. Reflecting on the limitations of using this heuristic framework to assess MSP, we conclude that the analysis would benefit from more explicit consideration of different forms of power that are part of the social relations between actors involved in such settings. By proposing this analytical approach, we expect to advance a heuristic framework for assessing deliberation in an international context of the growing importance of MSP in sustainability and global governance.

  19. Moral deliberation and nursing ethics cases: elements of a methodological proposal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Dulcinéia Ghizoni; Ramos, Flávia Regina Souza

    2012-11-01

    A qualitative study with an exploratory, descriptive and documentary design that was conducted with the objective of identifying the elements to constitute a method for the analysis of accusations of and proceedings for professional ethics infringements. The method is based on underlying elements identified inductively during analysis of professional ethics hearings judged by and filed in the archives of the Regional Nursing Board of Santa Catarina, Brazil, between 1999 and 2007. The strategies developed were based on the results of an analysis of the findings of fact (occurrences/infractions, causes and outcomes) contained in the records of 128 professional ethics hearings and on the structural elements (statements, rules and practices) identified in five example professional ethics cases. The strategies suggested for evaluating accusations of ethics infringements and the procedures involved in deliberating on ethics hearings constitute a generic proposal that will require adaptation to the context of specific professional ethics accusations.

  20. Deliberate Integration of Student Leadership Development in Doctor of Pharmacy Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Michael H.; Bzowyckyj, Andrew S.; Fuentes, David G.; Rosenberg, Ettie; DiCenzo, Robert

    2016-01-01

    The CAPE 2013 Outcomes answered the call for increased student leadership development (SLD) by identifying leadership as a desired curricular goal. To meet this outcome, colleges and schools of pharmacy are advised to first identify a set of SLD competencies aligned with their institution’s mission and goals and then organize these competencies into a SLD framework/model. Student leadership development should be integrated vertically and horizontally within the curriculum in a deliberate and longitudinal manner. It should include all student pharmacists, begin at the point of admission, and extend beyond extracurricular activities. The school’s assessment plan should be aligned with the identified SLD competencies so student learning related to leadership is assessed. To accomplish these recommendations, a positive environment for SLD should be cultivated within the school, including administrative backing and resources, as well as support among the broader faculty for integrating SLD into the curriculum. PMID:26941428

  1. Deliberate Integration of Student Leadership Development in Doctor of Pharmacy Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janke, Kristin K; Nelson, Michael H; Bzowyckyj, Andrew S; Fuentes, David G; Rosenberg, Ettie; DiCenzo, Robert

    2016-02-25

    The CAPE 2013 Outcomes answered the call for increased student leadership development (SLD) by identifying leadership as a desired curricular goal. To meet this outcome, colleges and schools of pharmacy are advised to first identify a set of SLD competencies aligned with their institution's mission and goals and then organize these competencies into a SLD framework/model. Student leadership development should be integrated vertically and horizontally within the curriculum in a deliberate and longitudinal manner. It should include all student pharmacists, begin at the point of admission, and extend beyond extracurricular activities. The school's assessment plan should be aligned with the identified SLD competencies so student learning related to leadership is assessed. To accomplish these recommendations, a positive environment for SLD should be cultivated within the school, including administrative backing and resources, as well as support among the broader faculty for integrating SLD into the curriculum.

  2. Parenting style and conduct problems in children: Case report of deliberate self poisoning in a Nigerian child

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M F Tunde-Ayinmode

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The correlation between psychosocially unhealthy parenting styles and child psychopathology has been established. This case report describes how chronic harsh and overbearing paternal parenting style tipped a young boy into deliberate self poisoning with the aid of organo-phosphorous chemicals (rat poison. This report is purposed to increase the interest of physicians and psychiatrists in parenting style research and in how potentially its modification could be a therapeutic and preventive tool.

  3. The Process Architecture of EU Territorial Cohesion Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Faludi

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available When preparing the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP, Member States were supported by the European Commission but denied the EU a competence in the matter. Currently, the Treaty of Lisbon identifies territorial cohesion as a competence shared between the Union and the Member States. This paper is about the process architecture of territorial cohesion policy. In the past, this architecture resembled the Open Method of Coordination (OMC which the White Paper on European Governance praised, but only in areas where there was no EU competence. This reflected zero-sum thinking which may continue even under the Lisbon Treaty. After all, for as long as territorial cohesion was not a competence, voluntary cooperation as practiced in the ESDP process was pursued in this way. However, the practice of EU policies, even in areas where there is an EU competence, often exhibits features of the OMC. Surprisingly effective innovations hold the promise of rendering institutions of decision making comprehensible and democratically accountable. In the EU as a functioning polity decision making is thus at least part deliberative so that actors’ preferences are transformed by the force of the better argument. This brings into focus the socialisation of the deliberators into epistemic communities. Largely an informal process, this is reminiscent of European spatial planning having been characterised as a learning process.

  4. A microeconomic perspective on the role of efficiency and equity criteria in designing natural resource policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geoff Kaine

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Deliberating on policy design to manage natural resources with clarity and precision is a difficult task, even for professional and highly experienced policy practitioners. These difficulties are exacerbated by confounding the crafting of policy instruments to change resource use (a behavioral matter related to resource management with the consequential issue of who bears the cost of changing resource use (an equity matter. The confounding of behavioral and equity issues is not surprising because equity is commonly suggested as a criterion in the literature on policy instrument choice, and inequity in access to resources may also be one of the initial drivers of policy intervention. Here, we restate the microeconomic analysis of "open access" resources and highlight the fundamental difference between efficiency (including allocative inefficiency and equity that emerges from that analysis. We then discuss the implications of this difference for the choice of policy instruments to resolve problems in natural resource management, at least for instruments that entail changing the behavior of primary producers. This discussion is centered on three key decisions for formulating policy: (1 choosing the preferred portfolio of uses for a natural resource, (2 choosing a policy instrument to change that portfolio, and (3 choosing a mechanism to distribute the costs of change fairly. To illustrate how these decisions may play out in a real-world example, we apply the decisions to a freshwater policy process in New Zealand. By articulating the distinction, microeconomics draws distinctions between efficiency and equity as policy objectives. Linking that distinction with the Tinbergen's principle regarding the matching of instruments to objectives, we aim to reduce the conflation of the decision-making criteria employed in policy formulation decisions. In doing so, we hope to assist policy makers to avoid policy failure by reducing the potential for the

  5. Disinvestment policy and the public funding of assisted reproductive technologies: outcomes of deliberative engagements with three key stakeholder groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgetts, Katherine; Hiller, Janet E; Street, Jackie M; Carter, Drew; Braunack-Mayer, Annette J; Watt, Amber M; Moss, John R; Elshaug, Adam G

    2014-05-05

    Measures to improve the quality and sustainability of healthcare practice and provision have become a policy concern. In addition, the involvement of stakeholders in health policy decision-making has been advocated, as complex questions arise around the structure of funding arrangements in a context of limited resources. Using a case study of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), deliberative engagements with a range of stakeholder groups were held on the topic of how best to structure the distribution of Australian public funding in this domain. Deliberative engagements were carried out with groups of ART consumers, clinicians and community members. The forums were informed by a systematic review of ART treatment safety and effectiveness (focusing, in particular, on maternal age and number of treatment cycles), as well as by international policy comparisons, and ethical and cost analyses. Forum discussions were transcribed and subject to thematic analysis. Each forum demonstrated stakeholders' capacity to understand concepts of choice under resource scarcity and disinvestment, and to countenance options for ART funding not always aligned with their interests. Deliberations in each engagement identified concerns around 'equity' and 'patient responsibility', culminating in a broad preference for (potential) ART subsidy restrictions to be based upon individual factors rather than maternal age or number of treatment cycles. Community participants were open to restrictions based upon measures of body mass index (BMI) and smoking status, while consumers and clinicians saw support to improve these factors as part of an ART treatment program, as distinct from a funding criterion. All groups advocated continued patient co-payments, with measures in place to provide treatment access to those unable to pay (namely, equity of access). Deliberations yielded qualitative, socially-negotiated evidence required to inform ethical, accountable policy decisions in the specific

  6. Reforming primary healthcare: from public policy to organizational change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Frédéric; Denis, Jean-Louis; Lamothe, Lise; Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; D'amour, Danielle; Goudreau, Johanne

    2015-01-01

    Governments everywhere are implementing reform to improve primary care. However, the existence of a high degree of professional autonomy makes large-scale change difficult to achieve. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the change dynamics and the involvement of professionals in a primary healthcare reform initiative carried out in the Canadian province of Quebec. An empirical approach was used to investigate change processes from the inception of a public policy to the execution of changes in professional practices. The data were analysed from a multi-level, combined contextualist-processual perspective. Results are based on a longitudinal multiple-case study of five family medicine groups, which was informed by over 100 interviews, questionnaires, and documentary analysis. The results illustrate the multiple processes observed with the introduction of planned large-scale change in primary care services. The analysis of change content revealed that similar post-change states concealed variations between groups in the scale of their respective changes. The analysis also demonstrated more precisely how change evolved through the introduction of "intermediate change" and how cycles of prescribed and emergent mechanisms distinctively drove change process and change content, from the emergence of the public policy to the change in primary care service delivery. This research was conducted among a limited number of early policy adopters. However, given the international interest in turning to the medical profession to improve primary care, the results offer avenues for both policy development and implementation. The findings offer practical insights for those studying and managing large-scale transformations. They provide a better understanding of how deliberate reforms coexist with professional autonomy through an intertwining of change content and processes. This research is one of few studies to examine a primary care reform from emergence to implementation

  7. Deliberate introduction of the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, into Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenner, F

    2010-04-01

    The European rabbit was brought to Australia as a companion animal by early settlers. It sometimes escaped, but failed to survive in the Australian bush. In 1879 wild rabbits were deliberately sent to Victoria to provide game for wealthy settlers to shoot. They soon spread all over Australia, except in the tropics, and became Australia's major animal pest. After careful testing in Australian wildlife and in humans, control by myxoma virus was introduced at various sites between 1937 and 1950, spreading all over the Murray-Darling Basin in 1950. Within one year mutations in the virus had led to slightly less virulence, and these continued for the next 50 years. In the early 21st Century testing viruses obtained from wild rabbits showed that the majority of these viruses were more virulent than the virus used to initiate the epidemic. In 1995 another virus specific for European rabbits, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus, escaped from areas in which field trials were being carried out and spread around Australia. It was more successful than myxomatosis for rabbit control in arid regions.

  8. A Systematic Review of Social Media Use to Discuss and View Deliberate Self-Harm Acts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyson, Michele P; Hartling, Lisa; Shulhan, Jocelyn; Chisholm, Annabritt; Milne, Andrea; Sundar, Purnima; Scott, Shannon D; Newton, Amanda S

    2016-01-01

    To conduct a systematic review of studies of social media platforms used by young people to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. 11 electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2012 for primary research; in June 2014 an updated search of Medline was conducted. Grey literature sources were also searched. Search results were screened by two reviewers. Data were extracted by one reviewer and verified by another. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Due to heterogeneity in study objectives and outcomes, results were not pooled; a narrative analysis is presented. 26 studies were included. Most were conducted in Canada or the UK (30.8% each), used qualitative designs (42.3%), and evaluated discussion forums (73.1%). Participants were most often aged 19-21 years (69.2%), female (mean 68.6%), and 19.2% had a documented history of depression. The social media platforms evaluated were commonly supportive and provided a sense of community among users. Support included suggestions for formal treatment, advice on stopping self-harming behavior, and encouragement. Harms included normalizing and accepting self-harming behavior; discussion of motivation or triggers, concealment, suicidal ideation or plans; and live depictions of self-harm acts. Although this evidence is limited by its descriptive nature, studies identify beneficial and detrimental effects for young people using social media to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. The connections users make online may be valuable to explore for therapeutic benefit. Prospective, longitudinal investigations are needed to identify short- and long-term potential harms associated with use.

  9. A Systematic Review of Social Media Use to Discuss and View Deliberate Self-Harm Acts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele P Dyson

    Full Text Available To conduct a systematic review of studies of social media platforms used by young people to discuss and view deliberate self-harm.11 electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2012 for primary research; in June 2014 an updated search of Medline was conducted. Grey literature sources were also searched. Search results were screened by two reviewers. Data were extracted by one reviewer and verified by another. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.Due to heterogeneity in study objectives and outcomes, results were not pooled; a narrative analysis is presented. 26 studies were included. Most were conducted in Canada or the UK (30.8% each, used qualitative designs (42.3%, and evaluated discussion forums (73.1%. Participants were most often aged 19-21 years (69.2%, female (mean 68.6%, and 19.2% had a documented history of depression. The social media platforms evaluated were commonly supportive and provided a sense of community among users. Support included suggestions for formal treatment, advice on stopping self-harming behavior, and encouragement. Harms included normalizing and accepting self-harming behavior; discussion of motivation or triggers, concealment, suicidal ideation or plans; and live depictions of self-harm acts.Although this evidence is limited by its descriptive nature, studies identify beneficial and detrimental effects for young people using social media to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. The connections users make online may be valuable to explore for therapeutic benefit. Prospective, longitudinal investigations are needed to identify short- and long-term potential harms associated with use.

  10. Clinical features of adolescents with deliberate self-harm: A case control study in Lisbon, Portugal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diogo F Guerreiro

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Diogo F Guerreiro, Ema L Neves, Rita Navarro, Raquel Mendes, Ana Prioste, Diana Ribeiro, Tiago Lila, António Neves, Mónica Salgado, Nazaré Santos, Daniel SampaioYouth Suicide Study Group (NES, The Hospital Santa Maria, Psychiatry Department, Lisbon Faculty of Medicine, PortugalAbstract: Deliberate self-harm (DSH among adolescents is a high-risk condition for suicide. The aim of the present study is to describe the characteristic clinical features of adolescents with DSH according to our local context (Lisbon, Portugal, using easily available information from clinical settings. A case control study was constructed from a sample of 100 adolescents (aged 12 to 21 years. The sample was divided into two groups: adolescents with and without DSH. Case files were examined and data was completed by clinical interviews. Demographic, psychosocial, and psychopathological data were assessed and compared. Ninety-eight subjects completed the protocol. The DSH group was associated with the following: suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior as consultation motive, emergency room referral, previous follow-up attempts, suicidal ideation, psychosocial difficulties, or lack of therapeutic goals. There was a nonsignificant trend towards diagnosis of depression in the DSH group. These results reflect our clinical practice with adolescents and add data about teenagers who self-harm to the literature. Prevention and early recognition of DSH (and frequently associated depression in adolescents are essential and could be life-saving measures. An integrated approach, which takes into account psychosocial difficulties, family dysfunction, and negative expectations, seems to be of great importance.Keywords: deliberate self-harm, suicide, adolescents, suicide risk, case control

  11. How Often Does Deliberate Self-Harm Occur Relative to Each Suicide? A Study of Variations by Gender and Age

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawton, Keith; Harriss, Louise

    2008-01-01

    Deliberate self-harm (DSH; i.e., nonfatal self-poisoning or self-injury) occurs much more frequently than suicide, yet there has been little detailed investigation of the comparative rates of DSH and suicide. We conducted a study of how rates of DSH relate to suicide rates across the life cycle by gender and by method of estimation of DSH rates,…

  12. Deliberating the perceived risks, benefits, and societal implications of shale gas and oil extraction by hydraulic fracturing in the US and UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Merryn; Partridge, Tristan; Harthorn, Barbara Herr; Pidgeon, Nick

    2017-04-01

    Shale gas and oil production in the US has increased rapidly in the past decade, while interest in prospective development has also arisen in the UK. In both countries, shale resources and the method of their extraction (hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking') have been met with opposition amid concerns about impacts on water, greenhouse gas emissions, and health effects. Here we report the findings of a qualitative, cross-national deliberation study of public perceptions of shale development in UK and US locations not yet subject to extensive shale development. When presented with a carefully calibrated range of risks and benefits, participants' discourse focused on risks or doubts about benefits, and potential impacts were viewed as inequitably distributed. Participants drew on direct, place-based experiences as well as national contexts in deliberating shale development. These findings suggest that shale gas development already evokes a similar 'signature' of risk across the US and UK.

  13. Systematic and deliberate orientation and instruction for dedicated education unit staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smyer, Tish; Tejada, Marianne Bundalian; Tan, Rhigel Alforque

    2015-03-01

    On the basis of increasing complexity of the health care environment and recommended changes in how nurses are educated to meet these challenges, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, School of Nursing established an academic-practice partnership with Summerlin Hospital Medical Center to develop a dedicated education unit (DEU). When the DEU model was implemented, variables that were not discussed in the literature needed to be addressed. One such challenge was how to impart pedagogy related to clinical teaching to the DEU nursing staff who would be acting as clinical dedicated unit instructors (CDIs). Of chief concern was the evaluation and monitoring of the quality of CDI-student interactions to ensure optimal student learning outcomes. This article addresses the development of a deliberate, systematic approach to the orientation and continued education of CDIs in the DEU. This information will assist other nursing programs as they begin to implement DEUs. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

  14. Because Political Knowledge Matters: The Impact of Deliberation on Young Citizens’ Opinions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anastasia Deligiaouri

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the importance of “knowledge” and “access to information” in the formation of young citizens’ opinion through deliberative procedures. The research presented in this paper is grounded in the theoretical framework of deliberative democracy as a democratic model and procedure that allows participants to be engaged in a rational and open dialogue before deciding on a particular issue. Our research draws empirically upon a deliberative event that took place in October 2014 at the Western Macedonia University of Applied Sciences in Greece. The topic of deliberation was “Political Public Opinion Polls.” The results of this study are commensurate with the dominant thesis in the relevant literature, which underlines that the deliberative procedure enriches the knowledge of citizens and thus enables them to participate effectively in the decision making process.

  15. Experimenting with International Collaborative Governance for Climate Change Mitigation by Private Actors: Scaling up Dutch Co-Regulation

    OpenAIRE

    TELESETSKY, Anastasia

    2011-01-01

    For the past two decades, international climate policy has been handled as a matter for State to State deliberation. Non-state actors have played at best marginal roles in making and implementing international policy. This paper argues that climate change remains an intractable transnational problem because State to State deliberations failed to acknowledge that both climate mitigation and adaptation require ongoing collaborative governance with non-State actors to shift normative behavior. T...

  16. Unravelling the concept of consumer preference: implications for health policy and optimal planning in primary care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Michele M; Earl, Peter E; Haines, Terry P; Mitchell, Geoffrey K

    2010-10-01

    Accounting for consumer preference in health policy and delivery system design makes good economic sense since this is linked to outcomes, quality of care and cost control. Probability trade-off methods are commonly used in policy evaluation, marketing and economics. Increasingly applied to health matters, the trade-off preference model has indicated that consumers of health care discriminate between different attributes of care. However, the complexities of the health decision-making environment raise questions about the inherent assumptions concerning choice and decision-making behavior which frame this view of consumer preference. In this article, we use the example of primary care in Australia as a vehicle to examine the concept of 'consumer preference' from different perspectives within economics and discuss the significance of how we model preferences for health policy makers. In doing so, we question whether mainstream thinking, namely that consumers are capable of deliberating between rival strategies and are willing to make trade-offs, is a reliable way of thinking about preferences given the complexities of the health decision-making environment. Alternative perspectives on preference can assist health policy makers and health providers by generating more precise information about the important attributes of care that are likely to enhance consumer engagement and optimise acceptability of health care. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. A study on the degree of deliberation and meditation of cyber poll respondents for nuclear-related decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Moon Soo; Moon, Joo Hyun; Kang, Chang Sun

    2006-01-01

    Public participation is essential in each step of the nuclear-related decision-making process. Recently, the electronic systems using the Internet have become quite popular, and have emerged as a good medium for communicating with the public. In this study, a comprehensive utilization of electronic public participation was used to analyze public opinion on a given nuclear-related decision-making process. The degree of deliberation and meditation of the public participating in an electronic poll survey was evaluated, and the decision-making factors representing the personal characteristics of the poll respondents such as age, income, education, residence, degree of knowledge and concern were carefully incorporated when preparing the poll-survey questionnaire for its evaluation. Fuzzy analysis was used to assess and aggregate the responses to each decision-making factor. As a case study, this procedure was used to analyzing public opinion on the location of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility on the campus of Seoul National University. The results show that there is a tendency of respondents who are on the negative side of the argument to be more deliberate and meditative in their decision-making process than those on the positive side. Knowledge and residence were found to be important decision-making factors

  18. A study on the degree of deliberation and meditation of cyber poll respondents for nuclear-related decision making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Moon Soo [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Shilim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)]. E-mail: insrec1@freechal.com; Moon, Joo Hyun [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Shilim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Chang Sun [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Shilim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)

    2006-01-15

    Public participation is essential in each step of the nuclear-related decision-making process. Recently, the electronic systems using the Internet have become quite popular, and have emerged as a good medium for communicating with the public. In this study, a comprehensive utilization of electronic public participation was used to analyze public opinion on a given nuclear-related decision-making process. The degree of deliberation and meditation of the public participating in an electronic poll survey was evaluated, and the decision-making factors representing the personal characteristics of the poll respondents such as age, income, education, residence, degree of knowledge and concern were carefully incorporated when preparing the poll-survey questionnaire for its evaluation. Fuzzy analysis was used to assess and aggregate the responses to each decision-making factor. As a case study, this procedure was used to analyzing public opinion on the location of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility on the campus of Seoul National University. The results show that there is a tendency of respondents who are on the negative side of the argument to be more deliberate and meditative in their decision-making process than those on the positive side. Knowledge and residence were found to be important decision-making factors.

  19. Creating social policy to support women's agency in coercive settings: A case study from Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess, Rochelle; Campbell, Catherine

    2016-01-01

    Many emphasise the need for policies that support women's agency in highly coercive settings, and the importance of involving target women in public deliberation to inform policy design. The Ugandan Marriage and Divorce Bill seeks to strengthen women's agency in marriage, but has faced many obstacles, including objections from many women themselves in public consultations. We explore key stakeholders' accounts of the difficulties facing the Bill's progress to date, through focus groups with 24 rural and urban men and women, interviews with 14 gender champions in government, non-governmental organisations and legal sectors, and 25 relevant media and radio reports. Thematic analysis revealed an array of representations of the way the Bill's progress was shaped by the public consultation process, the nature of the Ugandan public sphere, the understanding and manipulation of concepts such as 'culture' and 'custom' in public discourse, the impact of economic inequalities on women's understandings of their gendered interests and low women's trust in the law and the political process. We discuss the complexities of involving highly marginalised women in public debates about gender issues and highlight possible implications for conceptualising agency, gender and social change as tools for gender policy and activism in extreme inequality.

  20. Power and Agenda-Setting in Tanzanian Health Policy: An Analysis of Stakeholder Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Sara Elisa; Strandberg-Larsen, Martin

    2016-02-09

    Global health policy is created largely through a collaborative process between development agencies and aid-recipient governments, yet it remains unclear whether governments retain ownership over the creation of policy in their own countries. An assessment of the power structure in this relationship and its influence over agenda-setting is thus the first step towards understanding where progress is still needed in policy-making for development. This study employed qualitative policy analysis methodology to examine how health-related policy agendas are adopted in low-income countries, using Tanzania as a case study. Semi-structured, in-depth, key informant interviews with 11 policy-makers were conducted on perspectives of the agenda-setting process and its actors. Kingdon's stream theory was chosen as the lens through which to interpret the data analysis. This study demonstrates that while stakeholders each have ways of influencing the process, the power to do so can be assessed based on three major factors: financial incentives, technical expertise, and influential position. Since donors often have two or all of these elements simultaneously a natural power imbalance ensues, whereby donor interests tend to prevail over recipient government limitations in prioritization of agendas. One way to mediate these imbalances seems to be the initiation of meaningful policy dialogue. In Tanzania, the agenda-setting process operates within a complex network of factors that interact until a "policy window" opens and a decision is made. Power in this process often lies not with the Tanzanian government but with the donors, and the contrast between latent presence and deliberate use of this power seems to be based on the donor ideology behind giving aid (defined here by funding modality). Donors who used pooled funding (PF) modalities were less likely to exploit their inherent power, whereas those who preferred to maintain maximum control over the aid they provided (ie, non

  1. The accidental plagiarist: an institutional approach to distinguishing between a deliberate attempt to deceive and poor academic practice

    OpenAIRE

    Robson, Simon; Harvey, Jackie

    2006-01-01

    There is a distinction in the literature between what is regarded as ‘intentional’ plagiarism involving a deliberate attempt to deceive (by the ‘committed’ plagiarist) in order to gain unfair advantage and ‘unintentional’ plagiarism that is associated with poor academic practice stemming from ignorance or misunderstanding of requirements (the ‘accidental’ plagiarist). Clearly, whilst neither should be condoned the former is decidedly less acceptable than the latter. Further, an analysis of ex...

  2. Masticatory muscle activity during deliberately performed oral tasks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farella, M; Palla, S; Erni, S; Gallo, L M; Michelotti, A

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate masticatory muscle activity during deliberately performed functional and non-functional oral tasks. Electromyographic (EMG) surface activity was recorded unilaterally from the masseter, anterior temporalis and suprahyoid muscles in 11 subjects (5 men, 6 women; age = 34.6 ± 10.8 years), who were accurately instructed to perform 30 different oral tasks under computer guidance using task markers. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, repeated measurements analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hierarchical cluster analysis. The maximum EMG amplitude of the masseter and anterior temporalis muscles was more often found during hard chewing tasks than during maximum clenching tasks. The relative contribution of masseter and anterior temporalis changed across the tasks examined (F ≥ 5.2; p ≤ 0.001). The masseter muscle was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) more active than the anterior temporalis muscle during tasks involving incisal biting, jaw protrusion, laterotrusion and jaw cupping, the difference being statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). The anterior temporalis muscle was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) more active than the masseter muscle during tasks performed in intercuspal position, during tooth grinding, and during hard chewing on the working side. Based upon the relative contribution of the masseter, anterior temporalis, and suprahyoid muscles, the investigated oral tasks could be grouped into six separate clusters. The findings provided further insight into muscle- and task-specific EMG patterns during functional and non-functional oral behaviors

  3. Deliberate self-harm behavior among young violent offenders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laporte, Natalie; Ozolins, Andrejs; Westling, Sofie; Westrin, Åsa; Billstedt, Eva; Hofvander, Björn; Wallinius, Märta

    2017-01-01

    Deliberate self-harm behavior (DSH) can have profound effects on a person's quality of life, and challenges the health care system. Even though DSH has been associated with aggressive interpersonal behaviors, the knowledge on DSH in persons exhibiting such behaviors is scarce. This study aims to (1) specify the prevalence and character of DSH, (2) identify clinical, neurocognitive, psychosocial, and criminological characteristics associated with DSH, and (3) determine predictors of DSH among young violent offenders. Data were collected from a nationally representative cohort of 270 male violent offenders, 18-25 years old, imprisoned in Sweden. Participants were interviewed and investigated neuropsychologically, and their files were reviewed for psychosocial background, criminal history, mental disorders, lifetime aggressive antisocial behaviors, and DSH. A total of 62 offenders (23%) had engaged in DSH at some point during their lifetime, many on repeated occasions, yet without suicidal intent. DSH was significantly associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, various substance use disorders, being bullied at school, and repeated exposure to violence at home during childhood. Mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and being bullied at school remained significant predictors of DSH in a total regression model. Violent offenders direct aggressive behaviors not only toward other people, but also toward themselves. Thus, DSH must be assessed and prevented in correctional institutions as early as possible, and more knowledge is needed of the function of DSH among offenders.

  4. Comparative study of personality disorder associated with deliberate self harm in two different age groups (15-24 years and 45-74 years).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nath, Saswati; Patra, Dipak Kumar; Biswas, Srilekha; Mallick, Asim Kumar; Bandyopadhyay, Gautam Kumar; Ghosh, Srijit

    2008-07-01

    To study the presence of personality disorder in cases of deliberate self harm (DSH) in young (15-24 years) and elderly (45-74 years) and compare. Deliberate self harm cases admitted in Medical and surgical departments and cases attending psychiatry department of R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata were studied. For diagnosis of personality disorder ICD 10 International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) questionnaire was used. Percentage of elderly patients having personality disorder (64%) was higher compared to young DSH patients (58.5%). In young group, most common disorder was emotionally unstable personality disorder (28.6%) and in elderly group most common was anankastic type of personality disorder (36%). Schizoid, dissocial, histrionic, and anxious-avoidant personality disorders were found in small percentages of cases. Among DSH patients, the most common personality disorder found in young age was Emotionally unstable (Impulsive and Borderline) personality disorder, but most common personality disorder found in elderly patients was Anankastic personality disorder.

  5. Track leading to decision of 'framework for nuclear energy policy'. Reading the public attitude with public opinions (the first). Contents of a new plan (as of June 2005)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimooka, Hiroshi

    2006-01-01

    The Government decides to respect the 'Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy', which was decided by the Atomic Energy Commission on October 11th, 2005, as a basic principle for the nuclear energy policy and promote research, development and utilization of nuclear science and engineering. The Planning Council asked public opinion and received 758 opinions from 393 citizens. The Council continued the deliberation taking these opinions and compiled a preliminary draft of the 'Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy'. Reading the public attitude with public opinions had been conducted by the author, which showed the necessity for the nation to communicate crucial issues such as the nation's role of nuclear program's implementation, reasons for further promotion of nuclear program and its impacts on environments as well as more preferable introduction of new energy or energy conservation in stead of nuclear power, more to the public. (T. Tanaka)

  6. A Systematic Review of Social Media Use to Discuss and View Deliberate Self-Harm Acts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyson, Michele P.; Hartling, Lisa; Shulhan, Jocelyn; Chisholm, Annabritt; Milne, Andrea; Sundar, Purnima; Scott, Shannon D.; Newton, Amanda S.

    2016-01-01

    Objective To conduct a systematic review of studies of social media platforms used by young people to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. Study Design 11 electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2012 for primary research; in June 2014 an updated search of Medline was conducted. Grey literature sources were also searched. Search results were screened by two reviewers. Data were extracted by one reviewer and verified by another. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Results Due to heterogeneity in study objectives and outcomes, results were not pooled; a narrative analysis is presented. 26 studies were included. Most were conducted in Canada or the UK (30.8% each), used qualitative designs (42.3%), and evaluated discussion forums (73.1%). Participants were most often aged 19–21 years (69.2%), female (mean 68.6%), and 19.2% had a documented history of depression. The social media platforms evaluated were commonly supportive and provided a sense of community among users. Support included suggestions for formal treatment, advice on stopping self-harming behavior, and encouragement. Harms included normalizing and accepting self-harming behavior; discussion of motivation or triggers, concealment, suicidal ideation or plans; and live depictions of self-harm acts. Conclusions Although this evidence is limited by its descriptive nature, studies identify beneficial and detrimental effects for young people using social media to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. The connections users make online may be valuable to explore for therapeutic benefit. Prospective, longitudinal investigations are needed to identify short- and long-term potential harms associated with use. PMID:27191728

  7. Infusing the School Counseling Internship with a Global Perspective to Promote Ego Development, Moral Reasoning, and Ethnocultural Empathy: A Deliberate Psychological Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Derek Lane

    2013-01-01

    This study utilized a quasi-experimental, pre and posttest, comparison group design to determine the effects of a semester long deliberate psychological education (DPE), infused with a global perspective to promote ego development, moral reasoning and ethnocultural empathy in an intervention group composed of school counseling interns. The…

  8. Ethnocentrism is an unacceptable rationale for health care policy: a critique of transplant tourism position statements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, R W

    2008-06-01

    Medical tourism has emerged as a global health care phenomenon, valued at $60 billion worldwide in 2006. Transplant tourism, unlike other more benign forms of medical tourism, has become a flashpoint within the transplant community, underscoring the uneasy relationships among science, religion, politics, ethics and international health care policies concerning the commercialization of transplantation. Numerous professional associations have drafted or issued position statements condemning transplant tourism. Often the criticism is misdirected. The real issue concerns both the source and circumstances surrounding the procurement of donor organs, including commercialization. Unfortunately, many of the position statements circulated to date represent an ethnocentric and decidedly western view of transplantation. As such, the merits of culturally insensitive policy statements issued by otherwise well-intended transplant professionals, and the organizations they represent, must be evaluated within the broader context of foreign relations and diplomacy, as well as cultural and ethical relativity. Having done so, many persons may find themselves reluctant to endorse statements that have produced a misleading social desirability bias, which, to a great extent, has impeded more thoughtful and inclusive deliberations on the issues. Therefore, instead of taking an official position on policy matters concerning the commercial aspects of transplantation, international professional associations should offer culturally respectful guidance.

  9. Optional thinking ability among hospital-treated deliberate self-harm patients: a 1-year follow-up study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAuliffe, Carmel; Corcoran, Paul; Hickey, Portia; McLeavey, Breda C

    2008-03-01

    To investigate the association between optional thinking (the ability to generate alternative solutions to interpersonal problems) in deliberate self-harm (DSH) patients and repeated self-harm. A prospective study of the association between optional thinking in interpersonal problem solving and repeated DSH within 12 months. A non-consecutive sample (N=152) of DSH patients presenting to the Accident and Emergency department of an acute hospital in Cork city, Ireland, was assessed using a structured interview schedule including the Suicide Intent Scale, the Hopelessness Scale, and the Optional Thinking Test. Repetition within 1 year was established by checking Accident and Emergency records at all three city hospitals. Participants were categorized as repeaters if they engaged in at least one further hospital-treated DSH episode, or non-repeaters. Approximately two-thirds (63.1%) of the sample had engaged in at least one act of DSH prior to their index episode. During follow-up 31 individuals (20.4%) repeated. History of self-harm was significantly associated with prospective repetition when considered alongside all the other predictor variables. Among first evers, low scores on the optional thinking test were significantly associated with the increased risk of repetition within 12 months. Among those with previous DSH, there was no evidence of an association between optional thinking and repetition within 12 months. Poor optional thinking is associated with increased risk of repeated deliberate self-harm in those who present with a first self-harm episode. Interventions to improve optional thinking skills, delivered soon after a first DSH presentation, may be useful in preventing repetition.

  10. Moving knowledge about family violence into public health policy and practice: a mixed method study of a deliberative dialogue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyko, Jennifer A; Kothari, Anita; Wathen, C Nadine

    2016-04-21

    There is a need to understand scientific evidence in light of the context within which it will be used. Deliberative dialogues are a promising strategy that can be used to meet this evidence interpretation challenge. We evaluated a deliberative dialogue held by a transnational violence prevention network. The deliberative dialogue included researchers and knowledge user partners of the Preventing Violence Across the Lifespan (PreVAiL) Research Network and was incorporated into a biennial full-team meeting. The dialogue included pre- and post-meeting activities, as well as deliberations embedded within the meeting agenda. The deliberations included a preparatory plenary session, small group sessions and a synthesizing plenary. The challenge addressed through the process was how to mobilize research to orient health and social service systems to prevent family violence and its consequences. The deliberations focused on the challenge, potential solutions for addressing it and implementation factors. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected via questionnaires, meeting minutes, dialogue documents and follow-up telephone interviews. Forty-four individuals (all known to each other and from diverse professional roles, settings and countries) participated in the deliberative dialogue. Ten of the 12 features of the deliberative dialogue were rated favourably by all respondents. The mean behavioural intention score was 5.7 on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), suggesting that many participants intended to use what they learned in their future decision-making. Interviews provided further insight into what might be done to facilitate the use of research in the violence prevention arena. Findings suggest that participants will use dialogue learnings to influence practice and policy change. Deliberative dialogues may be a viable strategy for collaborative sensemaking of research related to family violence prevention, and other public health

  11. A systematic review of mental disorder, suicide, and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osborn David

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB people may be at higher risk of mental disorders than heterosexual people. Method We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of mental disorder, substance misuse, suicide, suicidal ideation and deliberate self harm in LGB people. We searched Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Cinahl, the Cochrane Library Database, the Web of Knowledge, the Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Sociological Abstracts, the Campbell Collaboration and grey literature databases for articles published January 1966 to April 2005. We also used Google and Google Scholar and contacted authors where necessary. We searched all terms related to homosexual, lesbian and bisexual people and all terms related to mental disorders, suicide, and deliberate self harm. We included papers on population based studies which contained concurrent heterosexual comparison groups and valid definition of sexual orientation and mental health outcomes. Results Of 13706 papers identified, 476 were initially selected and 28 (25 studies met inclusion criteria. Only one study met all our four quality criteria and seven met three of these criteria. Data was extracted on 214,344 heterosexual and 11,971 non heterosexual people. Meta-analyses revealed a two fold excess in suicide attempts in lesbian, gay and bisexual people [pooled risk ratio for lifetime risk 2.47 (CI 1.87, 3.28]. The risk for depression and anxiety disorders (over a period of 12 months or a lifetime on meta-analyses were at least 1.5 times higher in lesbian, gay and bisexual people (RR range 1.54–2.58 and alcohol and other substance dependence over 12 months was also 1.5 times higher (RR range 1.51–4.00. Results were similar in both sexes but meta analyses revealed that lesbian and bisexual women were particularly at risk of substance dependence (alcohol 12 months: RR 4.00, CI 2.85, 5.61; drug

  12. Articulating the history and major departure points evident in post-apartheid South African national water policy and law

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chikozho, C.; Danga, L.; Saruchera, D.

    2017-08-01

    Governance of the water sector in South Africa has reflected the political changes taking place in society. For instance, due to apartheid policies of segregation, inequality of access to water resources marks South Africa's history in a very profound way and redistribution of rights to water to redress the results of past discrimination became an explicit purpose of the post-apartheid water governance policy and legislative regime. In this paper, we articulate the history and major departure points evident in post-apartheid South African national water policy and law. This includes documenting and reflecting on most of the available information that shows how the new water policy and law were developed. Findings from the study show that the key players active in the water law review process deliberately took into account the political goals and dynamics of power asymmetry within which the law was being articulated. Therefore, the water law as it stands today and in the past must be understood within the context of the socio-economic and political landscape that has prevailed in South Africa at different historical junctures. We contend that a detailed examination and articulation of the history and major departure points evident in post-apartheid South African national water policy and law enables practitioners and scholars to better understand the main motivations behind the water sector reforms and the then prevailing thinking behind the policy and legislation eventually promulgated. The present water law must be understood in the context of these reforms and the objectives they sought to achieve.

  13. Inflammation and Nutritional Science for Programs/Policies and Interpretation of Research Evidence (INSPIRE)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raiten, Daniel J; Sakr Ashour, Fayrouz A; Ross, A Catharine

    2015-01-01

    of the bidirectional relations between nutritional status and the development and function of the immune and inflammatory response and 2) the specific impact of the inflammatory response on the selection, use, and interpretation of nutrient biomarkers. The goal of the Inflammation and Nutritional Science for Programs......; and 5) the presentation of new approaches to the study of these relations. Each WG was tasked with synthesizing a summary of the evidence for each of these topics and delineating the remaining gaps in our knowledge. This review consists of a summary of the INSPIRE workshop and the WG deliberations......./Policies and Interpretation of Research Evidence (INSPIRE) is to provide guidance for those users represented by the global food and nutrition enterprise. These include researchers (bench and clinical), clinicians providing care/treatment, those developing and evaluating programs/interventions at scale, and those responsible...

  14. Impact of a Simulated Clinical Day With Peer Coaching and Deliberate Practice: Promoting a Culture of Safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badowski, Donna M; Oosterhouse, Kimberly J

    Nursing education is challenged to shift from task-based proficiencies to higher level competencies with patient safety as a priority. Using a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design, a simulation-based, peer-coached, deliberate practice clinical substitution was implemented to compare nursing students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes for promoting safety. Our findings demonstrated improved knowledge and skill acquisition in the intervention and control groups. The former trended toward improved team communication attitudes and enteral medication skill performance. Additional research with larger samples is needed to further investigate this innovative strategy.

  15. A European network of experts with direct responsibility for monitoring and dosimetry after a deliberate release of radioactive material or a deliberate radiation exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahola, Tua; Muikku, Maarit; Pellow, Peter G.D.; Etherington, George; Hodgson, Alan; Youngman, Mike J.; Le Guen, Bernard; Berard, Philippe; Lopez, Maria A.

    2008-01-01

    In the event of an accidental or deliberate release of radionuclides to the environment, individual monitoring and dose assessment may be needed for large numbers of people. The consequences of such incidents are not limited by national boundaries. However, within the European Union (EU), there has not been any coordinated strategy for individual monitoring and dose assessment. CONRAD (CO-ordination Action for Radiation Dosimetry) is an EC 6 th Framework Programme Co-ordination Action sponsored by EURADOS (the European Radiation Dosimetry Group, http://www.eurados.org). The objective of Task 5.4 of Work Package 5 of the CONRAD project, coordinated by HPA (UK) and STUK (Finland), is the development of a network of people and organisations with responsibilities for emergency monitoring of emergency services personnel and members of the public. The network (named EUREMON) aims to promote sharing of information between countries on plans and arrangements for individual monitoring. It currently has 51 individual members from 22 EU countries, 8 non-EU countries and two international organisations. After it was established, the network was used in a survey of plans and arrangements for emergency personal monitoring in EU countries. Information is also being compiled on portable and transportable monitoring facilities and equipment in the EU. (author)

  16. Deliberate Establishment of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria-A Novel Strategy to Prevent Recurrent UTI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wullt, Björn; Svanborg, Catharina

    2016-07-29

    We have established a novel strategy to reduce the risk for recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI), where rapidly increasing antibiotic resistance poses a major threat. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) protects the host against symptomatic infections with more virulent strains. To mimic this protective effect, we deliberately establish ABU in UTI-prone patients, who are refractory to conventional therapy. The patients are inoculated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) 83972, now widely used as a prototype ABU strain. Therapeutic efficacy has been demonstrated in a placebo-controlled trial, supporting the feasibility of using E. coli 83972 as a tool to prevent recurrent UTI and, potentially, to outcompete antibiotic-resistant strains from the human urinary tract. In addition, the human inoculation protocol offers unique opportunities to study host-parasite interaction in vivo in the human urinary tract. Here, we review the clinical evidence for protection using this approach as well as some molecular insights into the pathogenesis of UTI that have been gained during these studies.

  17. Decreased frontal serotonin 5-HT2a receptor binding index in deliberate self-harm patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Audenaert, K.; Laere, K. van; Dierckx, R.A.; Dumont, F.; Slegers, G.; Mertens, J.; Heeringen, C. van

    2001-01-01

    Studies of serotonin metabolites in body fluids in attempted suicide patients and of post-mortem brain tissue of suicide victims have demonstrated the involvement of the serotonergic neurotransmission system in the pathogenesis of suicidal behaviour. Recently developed neuroimaging techniques offer the unique possibility of investigating in vivo the functional characteristics of this system. In this study the 5-HT 2a receptor population of patients who had recently attempted suicide was studied by means of the highly specific radio-iodinated 5-HT 2a receptor antagonist 4-amino-N-[1-[3-(4-fluorophenoxy)propyl]-4-methyl-4-piperidinyl] -5-iodo-2-methox ybenzamide or 123 I-5-I-R91150. Nine patients who had recently (1-7 days) attempted suicide and 12 age-matched healthy controls received an intravenous injection of 185 MBq 123 I-5-I-R91150 and were scanned with high-resolution brain single-photon emission tomography (SPET). Stereotactic realigned images were analysed semi-quantitatively using predefined volumes of interest. Serotonin binding capacity was expressed as the ratio of specific to non-specific activity. The cerebellum was used as a measure of non-specific activity. An age-dependent 5-HT 2a binding index was found, in agreement with previous literature. Deliberate self-harm patients had a significantly reduced mean frontal binding index after correction for age (P=0.002) when compared with controls. The reduction was more pronounced among deliberate self-injury patients (DSI) (P 2a serotonin receptor system in attempted suicide patients who are free of drugs influencing the serotonergic system shows in vivo evidence of a decreased frontal binding index of the 5-HT 2a receptor, indicating a decrease in the number and/or in the binding affinity of 5-HT 2a receptors. (orig.)

  18. Cost-effectiveness analysis of a home-based social work intervention for children and adolescents who have deliberately poisoned themselves. Results of a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byford, S; Harrington, R; Torgerson, D; Kerfoot, M; Dyer, E; Harrington, V; Woodham, A; Gill, J; McNiven, F

    1999-01-01

    Little evidence exists regarding the effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of alternative treatment services in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. To assess the cost-effectiveness of a home-based social work intervention for young people who have deliberately poisoned themselves. Children aged work intervention (n = 85). Clinical and resource-use data were assessed over six months from the date of trial entry. No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of the main outcome measures or costs. In a sub-group of children without major depression, suicidal ideation was significantly lower in the intervention group at the six-month follow-up (P = 0.01), with no significant differences in cost. A family-based social work intervention for children and adolescents who have deliberately poisoned themselves is as cost-effective as routine care alone.

  19. CAN NEWS SITES STIMULATE ONLINE DELIBERATION? A STUDY OF READERS COMMENTS POSTED ON FOLHA.COM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel Anderson Rocha Barros

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper assesses online deliberation on readers’ comments on the website of the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. To this end, 260 posts on four different stories were analyzed. In addition to the comments, the newspaper’s website, its discursive tools and the political stance of the participants, were examined. It was concluded that there was relevant deliberativeness in discussions but also excessive aggressiveness among participants. The comments posted revealed that most of the participants sought to win debates rather than promoting mutual understanding. Lastly, the paper discusses how to deal normatively with this aggressiveness and attempts to identify ways to increase democratic values through the provision of discursive tools by news sites.

  20. Dilemmas and Deliberations in Reflexive Ethnographic Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Janean Valerie

    2014-01-01

    This paper traces insights into the challenges and dilemmas experienced whilst researching students' interpretations and understandings of the Behaviour Management in Schools policy in Western Australia. Journal records, supported by student transcripts, are woven together in a reflexive ethnographic journey--from the beginning phase of searching…

  1. Relational autonomy in the care of the vulnerable: health care professionals' reasoning in Moral Case Deliberation (MCD).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidenreich, Kaja; Bremer, Anders; Materstvedt, Lars Johan; Tidefelt, Ulf; Svantesson, Mia

    2017-12-14

    In Moral Case Deliberation (MCD), healthcare professionals discuss ethically difficult patient situations in their daily practice. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the content of MCD and there is a need to shed light on this ethical reflection in the midst of clinical practice. Thus, the aim of the study was to describe the content of healthcare professionals' moral reasoning during MCD. The design was qualitative and descriptive, and data consisted of 22 audio-recorded inter-professional MCDs, analysed with content analysis. The moral reasoning centred on how to strike the balance between personal convictions about what constitutes good care, and the perceived dissonant care preferences held by the patient. The healthcare professionals deliberated about good care in relation to demands considered to be unrealistic, justifications for influencing the patient, the incapacitated patient's nebulous interests, and coping with the conflict between using coercion to achieve good while protecting human dignity. Furthermore, as a basis for the reasoning, the healthcare professionals reflected on how to establish a responsible relationship with the vulnerable person. This comprised acknowledging the patient as a susceptible human being, protecting dignity and integrity, defining their own moral responsibility, and having patience to give the patient and family time to come to terms with illness and declining health. The profound struggle to respect the patient's autonomy in clinical practice can be understood through the concept of relational autonomy, to try to secure both patients' influence and at the same time take responsibility for their needs as vulnerable humans.

  2. Corporate coalitions and policy making in the European Union: how and why British American Tobacco promoted "Better Regulation".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Katherine Elizabeth; Fooks, Gary; Gilmore, Anna B; Collin, Jeff; Weishaar, Heide

    2015-04-01

    Over the past fifteen years, an interconnected set of regulatory reforms, known as Better Regulation, has been adopted across Europe, marking a significant shift in the way that European Union policies are developed. There has been little exploration of the origins of these reforms, which include mandatory ex ante impact assessment. Drawing on documentary and interview data, this article discusses how and why large corporations, notably British American Tobacco (BAT), worked to influence and promote these reforms. Our analysis highlights (1) how policy entrepreneurs with sufficient resources (such as large corporations) can shape the membership and direction of advocacy coalitions; (2) the extent to which "think tanks" may be prepared to lobby on behalf of commercial clients; and (3) why regulated industries (including tobacco) may favor the use of "evidence tools," such as impact assessments, in policy making. We argue that a key aspect of BAT's ability to shape regulatory reform involved the deliberate construction of a vaguely defined idea that could be strategically adapted to appeal to diverse constituencies. We discuss the theoretical implications of this finding for the Advocacy Coalition Framework, as well as the practical implications of the findings for efforts to promote transparency and public health in the European Union. Copyright © 2015 by Duke University Press.

  3. Smooth criminal: convicted rule-breakers show reduced cognitive conflict during deliberate rule violations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jusyte, Aiste; Pfister, Roland; Mayer, Sarah V; Schwarz, Katharina A; Wirth, Robert; Kunde, Wilfried; Schönenberg, Michael

    2017-09-01

    Classic findings on conformity and obedience document a strong and automatic drive of human agents to follow any type of rule or social norm. At the same time, most individuals tend to violate rules on occasion, and such deliberate rule violations have recently been shown to yield cognitive conflict for the rule-breaker. These findings indicate persistent difficulty to suppress the rule representation, even though rule violations were studied in a controlled experimental setting with neither gains nor possible sanctions for violators. In the current study, we validate these findings by showing that convicted criminals, i.e., individuals with a history of habitual and severe forms of rule violations, can free themselves from such cognitive conflict in a similarly controlled laboratory task. These findings support an emerging view that aims at understanding rule violations from the perspective of the violating agent rather than from the perspective of outside observer.

  4. Nature, nurture, and capital punishment: How evidence of a genetic-environment interaction, future dangerousness, and deliberation affect sentencing decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Natalie; Greene, Edie

    2018-01-01

    Research has shown that the low-activity MAOA genotype in conjunction with a history of childhood maltreatment increases the likelihood of violent behaviors. This genetic-environment (G × E) interaction has been introduced as mitigation during the sentencing phase of capital trials, yet there is scant data on its effectiveness. This study addressed that issue. In a factorial design that varied mitigating evidence offered by the defense [environmental (i.e., childhood maltreatment), genetic, G × E, or none] and the likelihood of the defendant's future dangerousness (low or high), 600 mock jurors read sentencing phase evidence in a capital murder trial, rendered individual verdicts, and half deliberated as members of a jury to decide a sentence of death or life imprisonment. The G × E evidence had little mitigating effect on sentencing preferences: participants who received the G × E evidence were no less likely to sentence the defendant to death than those who received evidence of childhood maltreatment or a control group that received neither genetic nor maltreatment evidence. Participants with evidence of a G × E interaction were more likely to sentence the defendant to death when there was a high risk of future dangerousness than when there was a low risk. Sentencing preferences were more lenient after deliberation than before. We discuss limitations and future directions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Policy recommendations for addressing privacy challenges associated with cell-based research and interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogbogu, Ubaka; Burningham, Sarah; Ollenberger, Adam; Calder, Kathryn; Du, Li; El Emam, Khaled; Hyde-Lay, Robyn; Isasi, Rosario; Joly, Yann; Kerr, Ian; Malin, Bradley; McDonald, Michael; Penney, Steven; Piat, Gayle; Roy, Denis-Claude; Sugarman, Jeremy; Vercauteren, Suzanne; Verhenneman, Griet; West, Lori; Caulfield, Timothy

    2014-02-03

    The increased use of human biological material for cell-based research and clinical interventions poses risks to the privacy of patients and donors, including the possibility of re-identification of individuals from anonymized cell lines and associated genetic data. These risks will increase as technologies and databases used for re-identification become affordable and more sophisticated. Policies that require ongoing linkage of cell lines to donors' clinical information for research and regulatory purposes, and existing practices that limit research participants' ability to control what is done with their genetic data, amplify the privacy concerns. To date, the privacy issues associated with cell-based research and interventions have not received much attention in the academic and policymaking contexts. This paper, arising out of a multi-disciplinary workshop, aims to rectify this by outlining the issues, proposing novel governance strategies and policy recommendations, and identifying areas where further evidence is required to make sound policy decisions. The authors of this paper take the position that existing rules and norms can be reasonably extended to address privacy risks in this context without compromising emerging developments in the research environment, and that exceptions from such rules should be justified using a case-by-case approach. In developing new policies, the broader framework of regulations governing cell-based research and related areas must be taken into account, as well as the views of impacted groups, including scientists, research participants and the general public. This paper outlines deliberations at a policy development workshop focusing on privacy challenges associated with cell-based research and interventions. The paper provides an overview of these challenges, followed by a discussion of key themes and recommendations that emerged from discussions at the workshop. The paper concludes that privacy risks associated with cell

  6. Un/doing Gender? a Case Study of School Policy and Practice in Zambia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bajaj, Monisha

    2009-11-01

    This article explores an attempt to disrupt gender inequality in a unique, low-cost private school in Ndola, Zambia. It examines deliberate school policies aimed at "undoing gender" or fostering greater gender equity. These include efforts to maintain gender parity at all levels of the school and the requirement that both young men and women carry out cleaning tasks generally viewed as "women's work". Observations, interviews, student diaries and surveys from this school and from government schools provide the basis for a comparison, indicating how the former strives to interrupt the transmission of gender inequalities as well as how students respond to these practices. The findings suggest that the pedagogical practices deployed by this school have generally succeeded in destabilising norms of gender subordination and gender-based violence, though the replicability of these practices is interrogated given broader questions about the country's public resources and political will.

  7. Deliberate Design of TiO2 Nanostructures towards Superior Photovoltaic Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Ziqi; Liao, Ting; Sheng, Liyuan; Kou, Liangzhi; Kim, Jung Ho; Dou, Shi Xue

    2016-08-01

    TiO2 nanostructures are being sought after as flexibly utilizable building blocks for the fabrication of the mesoporous thin-film photoelectrodes that are the heart of the third-generation photovoltaic devices, such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs), and the recently promoted perovskite-type solar cells. Here, we report deliberate tailoring of TiO2 nanostructures for superior photovoltaic cells. Morphology engineering of TiO2 nanostructures is realized by designing synthetic protocols in which the precursor hydrolysis, crystal growth, and oligomer self-organization are precisely controlled. TiO2 nanostructures in forms varying from isolated nanocubes, nanorods, and cross-linked nanorods to complex hierarchical structures and shape-defined mesoporous micro-/nanostructures were successfully synthesized. The photoanodes made from the shape-defined mesoporous TiO2 microspheres and nanospindles presented superior performances, owing to the well-defined overall shapes and the inner ordered nanochannels, which allow not only a high amount of dye uptake, but also improved visible-light absorption. This study provides a new way to seek an optimal synthetic protocol to meet the required functionality of the nanomaterials. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Deliberate self-harm in the emergency department: experience from Karachi, Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahid, Muhammad; Khan, Murad M; Saleem Khan, Muhammad; Jamal, Yasir; Badshah, Aaref; Rehmani, Rifat

    2009-01-01

    Suicidal behavior is an understudied subject in Pakistan, a South-Asian developing country with a predominantly Muslim population. This study examined the characteristics and management of patients presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to the Emergency Department (ED) of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A retrospective chart review of all patients (n = 98), over a period of 12 months was carried out. The demographic details of patients; method of DSH and, if drugs were used, their type, route, and quantity; reason for DSH; past psychiatric history; and outcome were recorded. The mean age of subjects was 23.5 years. The majority of patients were female; most had used drugs for DSH. After initial treatment in the ED, 34 patients were admitted to medical wards for further treatment, 12 were discharged from ED, while 52 patients left against medical advice. The main reasons for leaving against medical advice were financial constraints and fear of legal issues. Seven patients had at least one previous episode of DSH. Patients who left the ED without psychosocial assessment are at increased risk for repetition of DSH as well as suicide.

  9. Direct and indirect welfare chauvinism as party strategies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Careja, Romana; Elmelund-Præstekær, Christian; Klitgaard, Michael Baggesen

    2016-01-01

    welfare chauvinism occurs as a result of legislative changes that explicitly exclude recipients from social protection or reduce the level thereof on the basis of ethnicity. Indirect welfare chauvinism is the result of policy measures that apply to both natives and immigrants, but which deliberately...... and deliberate policy-making strategies of the party. It shows that the distinction between direct and indirect chauvinism is a useful theoretical tool for understanding how the Danish People's Party can fulfill the expectations of both its electorate and its coalition partners, even if they point in different...

  10. Deliberation of Post 3.11 Fast Reactor R&D Strategy in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondo, Shunsuke

    2013-01-01

    • New nuclear energy strategy is still in the process of deliberation in Japan. Though many of idled plants will be restarted after renovation of their safety features in accordance with new safety rules set by the NRA, the contribution of nuclear power in Japan will probably not return to the level before 3.11. • Japan is in the process of reviewing its strategy for SFR R&D with a view to making it compatible with the new situation to be realized under new safety regulation as well as new energy strategy to be formulated within a year. • It is contemplated that major emphasis of the SFR R&D should be on a) the completion and use of MONJU, b) FR safety and c) waste minimization, not to mention the making effective use of our knowledge basis and research and engineering capabilities cultivated through the FaCT project in the development of sustainable nuclear energy systems worldwide for future generations of mankind. • Promotion of international cooperation should be an essential ingredient of the strategy

  11. Ethical problems arising from the use of placebo in clinical trials with drugs for migraine. Their analysis by the moral deliberation method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frías, J; Pascual, J; Lahuerta, J; Gracia, D; Dal-Ré, R

    2011-03-01

    Migraine is characterised as episodes of headache plus a variety of accompanying symptoms. Its pharmacological control remains unsatisfactory for some patients. The use of placebo in drug clinical trials on migraine commonly leads to numerous ethical uncertainties. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the deliberation method helps in analysing the issues and finding solutions to selected ethical problems. Ethical decisions that try to solve conflicts arising from placebo use in clinical trials may be adopted using the moral deliberation method. Thus, the conflict is systematically assessed by identifying the following: Relevant facts; Values in conflict; Duties, or in other words, possible courses of action. Moral duty is following the optimal course of action. To identify this, it is recommended to state extreme courses of action, then intermediate courses of action, and then to proceed to the optimal course(s) of action. In this paper, the application of this method is shown in several conflicting situations arising in two placebo-controlled clinical trials with drugs under development for the prophylaxis and acute treatment of migraine. Copyright © 2010 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  12. Die Versprachlichung des Sakralen: The Transformation of the Authority of the Sacred into Secular Political Deliberation in Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Øjvind Larsen

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available bermas claims in connection with his development of the theory of communicative action that the sacred is transformed in a positive way and can take the form of free deliberation in society, the so called Versprachlichung des Sakralen. The thesis is that the authority which could be found in religion and which is of fundamental significance for the integration of pre-modern societies is taken over by modern societies in forms of deliberation. Habermas develops his thesis in a discussion of Durkheim’s religious-sociological considerations. Habermas presents his thesis about the linguistic transformation of the sacred as a harmonious theory of secularization. However, if we follow Weber in his religious-sociological considerations of modernity, we reach a tragic theory of secularization which poses the real problem that modernity’s connection to the sacred has been dissolved. Cornelius Castoriadis’ theory of the imaginary institution and Claude Lefort’s theory of the empty place of the political as a new insecure moral ground for modern society are presented together as an alternative theory of secularization which can serve as a new framework for Habermas’ theory of communicative ethics and deliberative politics in modern society.

  13. Deliberate Self-harm seen in a Government Licensed Private Psychiatric Hospital and Institute.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnaram, Vaithiyam Devendran; Aravind, Vaithiyam Krishnaram; Vimala, A Rupavathy

    2016-01-01

    Majority of the published studies on suicide deal with identifying the sociodemographic and psychosocial aspects of suicide attempters and those who have completed suicide or to identify the characteristic differences between the two groups. There are very few studies focusing mainly or only on deliberate self harm. Most of these are hospital based studies or in a setting of general hospital psychiatry units. The present study is from Ram Psychiatry Hospital and Institute, a government licensed private psychiatric institute at Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It is a prospective study of individuals with self harm behavior mostly without the intention to kill, attending the psychiatry outpatient department of the hospital for the period of one year (January to December 2014) a total number of 140 cases are registered. Sociodemographic, clinical profiles with Axis I or Axis II diagnosis or otherwise, and the initiating or precipitating cause or mode of self-injury or self-harm are studied. The results are presented and discussed.

  14. Exploring evidence-policy linkages in health research plans: A case study from six countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oladepo Oladimeji

    2008-03-01

    , systematic analyses of research proposals using key considerations ensure such issues are incorporated into research proposals; second, the exact meaning, significance, and inter-relatedness of these considerations can be explored within the research itself; third, cross-country learning can be enhanced; and finally, translation of evidence into action may be facilitated. Health systems research proposals in low and middle income countries should include reflection on transferring research findings into policy. Such deliberations may be informed by employing the four key considerations suggested in this paper in analyzing research proposals.

  15. Grief Processing and Deliberate Grief Avoidance: A Prospective Comparison of Bereaved Spouses and Parents in the United States and the People's Republic of China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonanno, George A.; Papa, Anthony; Lalande, Kathleen; Zhang, Nanping; Noll, Jennie G.

    2005-01-01

    In this study, the authors measured grief processing and deliberate grief avoidance and examined their relationship to adjustment at 4 and 18 months of bereavement for 2 types of losses (spouse, child) in 2 cultures (People's Republic of China, United States). Three hypotheses were compared: the traditional grief work assumption, a conditional…

  16. Political economy of prudent budgetary policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Ploeg, F.

    2010-01-01

    The principles of tax smoothing and public debt management with stochastic shocks to future national income are extended for prudence. A prudent government deliberately underestimates future national income and the tax base, especially if the variance and persistence of shocks hitting the tax base

  17. Suicide attempts by deliberate self-poisoning in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakharov, Sergey; Navratil, Tomas; Pelclova, Daniela

    2013-11-30

    The objective of the study was to examine the toxicological characteristics of suicide attempts by deliberate self-poisoning in children and adolescents. From the Toxicological Information Centre's database, the inquiries due to the suicide attempts in children (9-13 years old) and adolescents (14-18 years old) were evaluated. From 10,492 calls concerning suicide attempts, 2393 concerned children and adolescents. Most suicide attempts were attempted in spring (31.3%). Among the toxic agents, drugs were used in 97.8% cases. The most frequent ingestions appeared using drugs affecting the nervous system and anti-inflammatory non-steroids. The dose was evaluated as toxic in 73.4%, severely toxic in 3.0% and unknown in 11.2% cases. Only one in 10 children used a non-toxic dose. Girls, more frequently than boys (13.2% vs. 8.9%), used non-toxic doses. The symptoms of moderate and severe intoxications were present in 10.5% of the cases. Poison centre consultation was accessed within the first hour after the ingestion in one-fifth of the patients. In both age groups, the severity of the intoxication was greater among elder males who reached the medical facilities later than 4 h after the poisoning. The combinations of three or more drugs affecting central nervous system were present in the most severe cases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Individual decision making, group decision making and deliberation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radovanović Bojana

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Each of us makes a number of decisions, from the less important to those with far-reaching consequences. As members of different groups, we are also actors of group decision making. In order to make a rational decision, a choice-making procedure must satisfy a number of assumptions (conditions of rationality. In addition, when it comes to group decisions, those procedures should also be “fair.” However, it is not possible to define a procedure of choice-making that would transform individual orders of alternatives based on preferences of perfectly rational individuals into a single social order and still meet conditions of rationality and ethics. The theory of deliberative democracy appeared in response to the impossibility of Social Choice theory. The basic assumption of deliberative democracy is that individuals adjust their preferences taking into account interests of the community. They are open for discussion with other group members and are willing to change their attitudes in order to achieve common interests. Ideally, group members come to an agreement during public discussion (deliberation. Still, this concept cannot completely over­come all the difficulties posed by the theory of social choice. Specifically, there is no solution for strategic and manipulative behavior of individuals. Also, the concept of deliberative democracy faces certain problems particular to this approach, such as, to name but a few, problems with the establishment of equality of participants in the debate and their motivation, as well as problems with the organization of public hearings. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47009: Evropske integracije i društveno-ekonomske promene privrede Srbije na putu ka EU i br. 179015: Izazovi i perspektive strukturnih promena u Srbiji: Strateški pravci ekonomskog razvoja i usklađivanje sa zahtevima EU

  19. Deliberate Practice Enhances Quality of Laparoscopic Surgical Performance in a Randomized Controlled Trial: from Arrested Development to Expert Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashimoto, Daniel A.; Sirimanna, Pramudith; Gomez, Ernest D.; Beyer-Berjot, Laura; Ericsson, K. Anders; Williams, Noel N.; Darzi, Ara; Aggarwal, Rajesh

    2014-01-01

    Background This study investigated whether deliberate practice leads to an increase in surgical quality in virtual reality (VR) laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LC). Previous research has suggested that sustained DP is effective in surgical training. Methods Fourteen residents were randomized into deliberate practice (n=7) or control training (n=7). Both groups performed 10 sessions of two VR LCs. Each session, the DP group was assigned 30 minutes of DP activities in between LCs while the control group viewed educational videos or read journal articles. Performance was assessed on speed and dexterity; quality was rated with global (GRS) and procedure-specific (PSRS) rating scales. All participants then performed five porcine LCs. Results Both groups improved over 20 VR LCs in time, dexterity, and global rating scales (all pachieved higher quality of VR surgical performance than control for GRS (26 vs. 20, p=0.001) and PSRS (18 vs. 15, p=0.001). For VR cases, DP subjects plateaued at GRS=25 after 10 cases and control group at GRS=20 after five cases. At completion of VR training, 100% of the DP group reached target quality of performance (GRS≥21) compared to 30% in the control group. There were no significant differences for improvements in time or dexterity over five porcine LCs. Conclusion This study suggests that DP leads to higher quality performance in VR LC than standard training alone. Standard training may leave individuals in a state of “arrested development” compared to DP. PMID:25539697

  20. Childhood Predictors of Deliberate Self-Harm Behavior and Suicide Ideation in Korean Adolescents: A Prospective Population-Based Follow-Up Study

    OpenAIRE

    Shin, Yun Mi; Chung, Young Ki; Lim, Ki Young; Lee, Young Moon; Oh, Eun Young; Cho, Sun Mi

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate predictors of adolescence suicidality in a longitudinal study. Additionally, the prevalence of deliberate self-harm behavior and suicide ideation at age 7 and during middle school were examined. Initial assessment data was obtained from 1998 to 2000, and a follow-up assessment was performed in 2006 when the original subjects became middle school students. The addresses and names of 1,857 subjects were located from the original data; they were 910 boys ...

  1. Deliberation by the French Energy Regulatory Commission of 13 July 2017 relating to the report on the implementation of GRTgaz's investment programme for 2016 and approving its amended investment programme for 2017. Deliberation by the French Energy Regulatory Commission of 13 July 2017 concerning the report on the implementation of TIGF's investment programme for 2016 and approving its amended investment programme for 2017

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carenco, Jean-Francois; Chauvet, Christine; Edwige, Catherine; Gassin, Helene; Lastelle, Jean-Laurent

    2017-01-01

    Pursuant to the provisions of 2 of Article L.134-3 and of II of Article L.431-6 of the French Energy code, gas transmission system operators (TSOs) must transmit their annual investment programmes to the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) for approval. Within this framework, CRE 'ensures that the investments required for the proper development of the networks, and for transparent and non-discriminatory access to them are made'. With regard to the investment programme for the year 2016: - in the deliberation of 17 December 2015, CRE approved GRTgaz's and TIGF's investment programmes for 2016; - in the deliberation of 15 December 2016, CRE approved the update of GRTgaz's and TIGF's 2016 investment programmes, and requested the operators to present, for mid-2017, the definitive report on the implementation of their 2016 investment programme. With regard to the investment programme for the year 2017: - in the deliberation of 15 December 2016, CRE approved GRTgaz's and TIGF's 2017 investment programmes, and requested the operators to present, for mid-2017, a report on the implementation mid-year of the investment programme for the year 2017. On 31 May 2017, GRTgaz's and TIGF's forwarded their amended investment programme for 2017 and were interviewed by CRE's Board on 6 July 2017. GRTgaz's and TIGF's presented the differences observed between the investment levels approved and the actual investments made for 2016 on the one hand, and the updated forecasts for 2017 on the other hand

  2. Load-Independent Harmonic Mitigation in SCR-Fed Three-Phase Multiple Adjustable Speed Drive Systems with Deliberately Dispatched Firing Angles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yang, Yongheng; Davari, Pooya; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2018-01-01

    Adjustable speed drives (ASD) are widely used in industry for energy savings, where low-cost diode rectifiers are still employed as the front-ends, also for simplicity in control and reliability in operation. However, significant harmonics appear at the grid, which should be tackled according...... a harmonic mitigation strategy for multiple ASD systems, where silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCR) with boost converters in the dc-link have been adopted to increase the harmonic-current controllability. More specific, the SCR firing angles are deliberately dispatched among the drive units, which results...

  3. Assessing the influence of knowledge translation platforms on health system policy processes to achieve the health millennium development goals in Cameroon and Uganda: a comparative case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ongolo-Zogo, Pierre; Lavis, John N; Tomson, Goran; Sewankambo, Nelson K

    2018-05-01

    There is a scarcity of empirical data on the influence of initiatives supporting evidence-informed health system policy-making (EIHSP), such as the knowledge translation platforms (KTPs) operating in Africa. To assess whether and how two KTPs housed in government-affiliated institutions in Cameroon and Uganda have influenced: (1) health system policy-making processes and decisions aiming at supporting achievement of the health millennium development goals (MDGs); and (2) the general climate for EIHSP. We conducted an embedded comparative case study of four policy processes in which Evidence Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Cameroon and Regional East African Community Health Policy Initiative (REACH-PI) Uganda were involved between 2009 and 2011. We combined a documentary review and semi structured interviews of 54 stakeholders. A framework-guided thematic analysis, inspired by scholarship in health policy analysis and knowledge utilization was used. EVIPNet Cameroon and REACH-PI Uganda have had direct influence on health system policy decisions. The coproduction of evidence briefs combined with tacit knowledge gathered during inclusive evidence-informed stakeholder dialogues helped to reframe health system problems, unveil sources of conflicts, open grounds for consensus and align viable and affordable options for achieving the health MDGs thus leading to decisions. New policy issue networks have emerged. The KTPs indirectly influenced health policy processes by changing how interests interact with one another and by introducing safe-harbour deliberations and intersected with contextual ideational factors by improving access to policy-relevant evidence. KTPs were perceived as change agents with positive impact on the understanding, acceptance and adoption of EIHSP because of their complementary work in relation to capacity building, rapid evidence syntheses and clearinghouse of policy-relevant evidence. This embedded case study illustrates how two KTPs influenced

  4. Deliberating the risks of nanotechnologies for energy and health applications in the United States and United Kingdom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pidgeon, Nick; Harthorn, Barbara Herr; Bryant, Karl; Rogers-Hayden, Tee

    2009-02-01

    Emerging nanotechnologies pose a new set of challenges for researchers, governments, industries and citizen organizations that aim to develop effective modes of deliberation and risk communication early in the research and development process. These challenges derive from a number of issues including the wide range of materials and devices covered by the term `nanotechnology', the many different industrial sectors involved, the fact that many areas of nanotechnology are still at a relatively early stage of development, and uncertainty about the environmental, health and safety impacts of nanomaterials. Public surveys have found that people in the United States and Europe currently view the benefits of nanotechnologies as outweighing their risks although, overall, knowledge about nanotechnology remains very low. However, surveys cannot easily uncover the ways that people will interpret and understand the complexities of nanotechnologies (or any other topic about which they know very little) when asked to deliberate about it in more depth, so new approaches to engaging the public are needed. Here, we report the results of the first comparative United States-United Kingdom public engagement experiment. Based upon four concurrent half-day workshops debating energy and health nanotechnologies we find commonalities that were unexpected given the different risk regulatory histories in the two countries. Participants focused on benefits rather than risks and, in general, had a high regard for science and technology. Application context was much more salient than nation as a source of difference, with energy applications viewed in a substantially more positive light than applications in health and human enhancement in both countries. More subtle differences were present in views about the equitable distribution of benefits, corporate and governmental trustworthiness, the risks to realizing benefits, and in consumerist attitudes.

  5. The incidence and repetition of hospital-treated deliberate self harm: findings from the world's first national registry.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan J Perry

    Full Text Available Suicide is a significant public health issue with almost one million people dying by suicide each year worldwide. Deliberate self harm (DSH is the single most important risk factor for suicide yet few countries have reliable data on DSH. We developed a national DSH registry in the Republic of Ireland to establish the incidence of hospital-treated DSH at national level and the spectrum and pattern of presentations with DSH and repetition.Between 2003 and 2009, the Irish National Registry of Deliberate Self Harm collected data on DSH presentations to all 40 hospital emergency departments in the country. Data were collected by trained data registration officers using standard methods of case ascertainment and definition. The Registry recorded 75,119 DSH presentations involving 48,206 individuals. The total incidence rate fell from 209 (95% CI: 205-213 per 100,000 in 2003 to 184 (95% CI: 180-189 per 100,000 in 2006 and increased again to 209 (95% CI: 204-213 per 100,000 in 2009. The most notable annual changes were successive 10% increases in the male rate in 2008 and 2009. There was significant variation by age with peak rates in women in the 15-19 year age group (620 (95% CI: 605-636 per 100,000, and in men in the 20-24 age group (427 (95% CI: 416-439 per 100,000. Repetition rates varied significantly by age, method of self harm and number of previous episodes.Population-based data on hospital-treated DSH represent an important index of the burden of mental illness and suicide risk in the community. The increased DSH rate in Irish men in 2008 and 2009 coincided with the advent of the economic recession in Ireland. The findings underline the need for developing effective interventions to reduce DSH repetition rates as a key priority for health systems.

  6. Learning by Doing vs Learning by Researching in a Model of Climate Change Policy Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castelnuovo, E.; Galeotti, M.; Vergalli, S.; Gambarelli, G.

    2004-01-01

    Many predictions and conclusions in the climate change literature have been made and drawn on the basis of theoretical analyses and quantitative models that assume exogenous technological change. One is naturally led to wonder whether those conclusions and policy prescriptions hold in the more realistic case of endogenously evolving technologies. In previous work we took a popular integrated assessment model and modified it so as to allow for an explicit role of the stock of knowledge which accumulates through R and D investment. In our formulation knowledge affects both the output production technology and the emission-output ratio. In this paper we make further progress in our efforts aimed to model the process of technological change. In keeping with recent theories of endogenous growth, we specify two ways in which knowledge accumulates: via a deliberate, optimally selected R and D decision or via experience, giving rise to Learning by Doing. As an illustration, we simulate the model under the two versions of endogenous technical change and look at the dynamics of a selected number of relevant variables, including growth rates of GDP and physical capital, as well as total emissions and rate of domestic abatement. Keywords: Climate Policy, Environmental Modeling, Integrated Assessment, Technical Change

  7. A right to health care? Participatory politics, progressive policy, and the price of loose language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reidy, David A

    2016-08-01

    This article begins by clarifying and noting various limitations on the universal reach of the human right to health care under positive international law. It then argues that irrespective of the human right to health care established by positive international law, any system of positive international law capable of generating legal duties with prima facie moral force necessarily presupposes a universal moral human right to health care. But the language used in contemporary human rights documents or human rights advocacy is not a good guide to the content of this rather more modest universal moral human right to health care. The conclusion reached is that when addressing issues of justice as they inevitably arise with respect to health policy and health care, both within and between states, there is typically little to gain and much to risk by framing deliberation in terms of the human right to health care.

  8. Japanese government makes the first step of the nuclear energy policy. The 'Nuclear Power Nation Plan' that shows the future of the nuclear energy policy of Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanase, Tadao

    2006-01-01

    The Nuclear Energy Subcommittee of the METI Advisory Committee deliberated concrete actions for achieving the basic goals of the framework for nuclear energy policy, namely 1) continuing to meet at least 30 to 40% of electricity supply even after 2030 by nuclear power generation, 2) future promoting the nuclear fuel cycle, and 3) aiming at commercializing practical FBR cycle. In August 2006, the subcommittee recommendations were drawn up as a 'Nuclear Energy National Plan'. This report includes 1) building new nuclear power plants in liberalized electricity market, 2) appropriate use of existing nuclear power plants with assuring safety as a key prerequisite, 3) promoting nuclear fuel cycle and strategically reinforcing of nuclear industries, 4) early commercialization of FBR cycle, 5) assuming ample technical and human resources to support the next generation, 6) supporting for international development of Japan's nuclear industry, 7) positive involvement in creating an international framework to uphold both non-proliferation and the expansion of nuclear power generation, 8) building trust between government and local communities through detailed communication and 9) reinforcement of measures for radioactive waste disposal. (S.Y.)

  9. Democracy or war? The communication and deliberation of the climate issue online

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomas Moe Skjølsvold

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available For years, technology optimists have hoped that the internet might serve as a vehicle for democratization. Meanwhile, many STS-scholars have called for a democratization of scientific practices through increased transparency and inclusion of lay-persons in scientific knowledge production. Many expect this to result in increased scientific quality and more legitimate knowledge claims. In this article, we explore what happens when science related communication moves online. Do climate scientists and climate ‘skeptics’ use the internet to engage lay persons in factual deliberations and debate? Does the rise of the internet as a channel of science communication herald a new, democratic scientific era? Our paper suggests that such claims should be made with caution. Instead we identify two ways that the internet is used by climate scientists. First, it is a tool to fight a cold war with climate skeptics, a dynamic which is hidden from public view. Second, it is a site of education, where ready-made packets of facts should be transported to lay-people to mitigate perceived knowledge deficits. This strategy is mimicked by climate skeptics who attempt to make their communication appear more scientific than the scientists.

  10. Transforming a fourth year modern optics course using a deliberate practice framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David J. Jones

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] We present a study of active learning pedagogies in an upper-division physics course. This work was guided by the principle of deliberate practice for the development of expertise, and this principle was used in the design of the materials and the orchestration of the classroom activities of the students. We present our process for efficiently converting a traditional lecture course based on instructor notes into activities for such a course with active learning methods. Ninety percent of the same material was covered and scores on common exam problems showed a 15% improvement with an effect size greater than 1 after the transformation. We observe that the improvement and the associated effect size is sustained after handing off the materials to a second instructor. Because the improvement on exam questions was independent of specific problem topics and because the material tested was so mathematically advanced and broad (including linear algebra, Fourier transforms, partial differential equations, and vector calculus, we expect the transformation process could be applied to most upper-division physics courses having a similar mathematical base.

  11. Transforming a fourth year modern optics course using a deliberate practice framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, David J.; Madison, Kirk W.; Wieman, Carl E.

    2015-12-01

    [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] We present a study of active learning pedagogies in an upper-division physics course. This work was guided by the principle of deliberate practice for the development of expertise, and this principle was used in the design of the materials and the orchestration of the classroom activities of the students. We present our process for efficiently converting a traditional lecture course based on instructor notes into activities for such a course with active learning methods. Ninety percent of the same material was covered and scores on common exam problems showed a 15% improvement with an effect size greater than 1 after the transformation. We observe that the improvement and the associated effect size is sustained after handing off the materials to a second instructor. Because the improvement on exam questions was independent of specific problem topics and because the material tested was so mathematically advanced and broad (including linear algebra, Fourier transforms, partial differential equations, and vector calculus), we expect the transformation process could be applied to most upper-division physics courses having a similar mathematical base.

  12. Did J. Marion Sims deliberately addict his first fistula patients to opium?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wall, L Lewis

    2007-07-01

    American surgeon J. Marion Sims (1813-83) is regarded by many modern authors as a controversial figure because he carried out a series of experimental surgeries on enslaved African American women between 1846 and 1849 in an attempt to cure them of vesicovaginal fistulas, which they had all developed as a result of prolonged obstructed labor. He operated on one woman, Anarcha Westcott, thirty times before he successfully closed her fistula. Sims performed these fistula repair operations without benefit of anesthesia but gave these women substantial doses of opium afterwards. Several modern writers have alleged that Sims did this in order to addict them to the drug and thereby to enhance his control over them. This article examines the controversy surrounding Sims' use of postoperative opium in these enslaved surgical patients. The evidence suggests that although these women were probably tolerant to the doses of opium that he used, there is no evidence that he deliberately tried to addict them to this drug. Sims' use of postoperative opium appears to have been well supported by the therapeutic practices of his day, and the regimen that he used was enthusiastically supported by many contemporary surgeons.

  13. Media deliberation on intra-EU migration. A qualitative approach to framing based on rhetorical analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandru Cârlan

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we investigate how the model of deliberation proposed by Isabela and Norman Fairclough can be used for a better clarification and understanding of the framing processes in media – especially in opinion articles. We thus aim at integrating theoretical contributions from critical discourse analysis and argumentation theory with standard approaches to framing, originating in media studies. We emphasize how a rhetorical approach to framing can provide analytical insights into framing processes and complement the typical quantitative approaches with qualitative analysis based on textual reconstruction. Starting from an issue-specific approach to framing, we discuss a particular case of framing of intra-EU migration, analyzing four opinion articles selected from a larger corpus of Romanian, British and French media. We highlight, along our analysis, various methodological options and analytical difficulties inherent to such an approach.

  14. Big losses lead to irrational decision-making in gambling situations: relationship between deliberation and impulsivity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuji Takano

    Full Text Available In gambling situations, we found a paradoxical reinforcing effect of high-risk decision-making after repeated big monetary losses. The computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task (Bechara et al., 2000, which contained six big loss cards in deck B', was conducted on normal healthy college students. The results indicated that the total number of selections from deck A' and deck B' decreased across trials. However, there was no decrease in selections from deck B'. Detailed analysis of the card selections revealed that some people persisted in selecting from the "risky" deck B' as the number of big losses increased. This tendency was prominent in self-rated deliberative people. However, they were implicitly impulsive, as revealed by the matching familiar figure test. These results suggest that the gap between explicit deliberation and implicit impulsivity drew them into pathological gambling.

  15. Modeling Inhalational Tularemia: Deliberate Release and Public Health Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Ian M.; Leach, Steve

    2011-01-01

    Two epidemic modeling studies of inhalational tularemia were identified in the published literature, both demonstrating the high number of potential casualties that could result from a deliberate aerosolized release of the causative agent in an urban setting. However, neither study analyzed the natural history of inhalational tularemia nor modeled the relative merits of different mitigation strategies. We first analyzed publicly available human/primate experimental data and reports of naturally acquired inhalational tularemia cases to better understand the epidemiology of the disease. We then simulated an aerosolized release of the causative agent, using airborne dispersion modeling to demonstrate the potential number of casualties and the extent of their spatial distribution. Finally, we developed a public health intervention model that compares 2 mitigation strategies: targeting antibiotics at symptomatic individuals with or without mass distribution of antibiotics to potentially infected individuals. An antibiotic stockpile that is sufficient to capture all areas where symptomatic individuals were infected is likely to save more lives than treating symptomatic individuals alone, providing antibiotics can be distributed rapidly and their uptake is high. However, with smaller stockpiles, a strategy of treating symptomatic individuals alone is likely to save many more lives than additional mass distribution of antibiotics to potentially infected individuals. The spatial distribution of symptomatic individuals is unlikely to coincide exactly with the path of the dispersion cloud if such individuals are infected near their work locations but then seek treatment close to their homes. The optimal mitigation strategy will depend critically on the size of the release relative to the stockpile level and the effectiveness of treatment relative to the speed at which antibiotics can be distributed. PMID:22044315

  16. Deliberate self-harm and attachment: mediating and moderating roles of depression, anxiety, social support and interpersonal problems among Pakistani school going adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Haqqani, Sabahat

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: In Pakistan there is dearth of research on deliberate self-harm (DSH) and its predictors among adolescents. While the lack of research in Pakistan can be partly attributed to the sacrilegious status, criminalization and stigmatization attached to DSH, it is also an attribute of paucity of Urdu versions of the standardized psychological instruments. Previous research in developed countries has indicated that attachment theory can be used as a useful framework to un...

  17. Unconscious intuition or conscious analysis? Critical questions for the Deliberation-Without-Attention paradigm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Balazs Aczel

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The Deliberation without Attention (DWA effect refers to apparent improvements in decision-making following a period of distraction. It has been presented as evidence for beneficial unconscious cognitive processes. We identify two major concerns with this claim: first, as these demonstrations typically involve subjective preferences, the effects of distraction cannot be objectively assessed as beneficial; second, there is no direct evidence that the DWA manipulation promotes unconscious decision processes. We describe two tasks based on the DWA paradigm in which we found no evidence that the distraction manipulation led to decision processes that are subjectively unconscious, nor that it reduced the influence of presentation order upon performance. Crucially, we found that a lack of awareness of decision process was associated with poorer performance, both in terms of subjective preference measures used in traditional DWA paradigm and in an equivalent task where performance can be objectively assessed. Therefore, we argue that reliance on conscious memory itself can explain the data. Thus the DWA paradigm is not an adequate method of assessing beneficial unconscious thought.

  18. The Association between Deliberate Self-harm and College Student Subjective Quality of Life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zullig, Keith J

    2016-03-01

    The association between deliberate self-harm (DSH) and domain-based life satisfaction reports and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was explored simultaneously among college students. Randomly selected participants (N = 723) completed an online survey. Relationships among DSH, 7 life satisfaction domains, and HRQOL (as assessed by mean good physical and mental health days, GHDs) were examined through correlational and general linear modeling procedures with post hoc analyses. DSH was a significant predictor for all life satisfaction domains, overall life satisfaction, and mean GHDs, even after controlling for covariates (p Students who engaged in DSH reported 15.2 mean GHDs during the past 30 days compared to 20.4 for the referent group (Cohen's d = .63). Those engaging in DSH report greatest dissatisfaction with friendships and selves compared to those not engaging in DSH. Surprisingly, DSH was only weakly associated with satisfaction with family, and behind that of satisfaction with physical appearance, school, and romantic relationships. Lastly, those engaging in DSH experience on average 60 fewer GHDs each year than those not engaging in DSH.

  19. Stock options, tax credits or employment contracts please! The value of deliberative public disagreement about human tissue donation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walmsley, Heather L

    2011-07-01

    'Deliberative democracy' is increasingly popular globally, as a means of securing public engagement with emerging health technologies and democratizing their governance. Architects of deliberative 'mini-publics' have tended, however, to privilege consensus within deliberation and the generation of 'action commitments' within a 'decisional context', despite widespread critique. Less attention has been paid to the phenomenon of persistent disagreement within constructed deliberative fora. This paper addresses this lacuna, performing a narrative analysis of four days of deliberation within one small group of demographically diverse public participants at the BC Biobank Deliberation (Vancouver, Canada, 2007). It reveals the value of listening to persistent deliberative disagreements. First, this paper argues that disagreements enable identification of deliberation and evaluation of its quality. Second, they generate insight into the deliberative process and the discursive means through which consensus can be achieved. Third, persistent deliberative disagreements can be creative of innovative governance solutions. In the case of the BC Biobank Deliberation, disagreements about compensation for biobank donors generated a range of suggestions for mediating between donor rights, corporate interests and societal needs--from tissue sample rentals to donor tax credits--suggestions that are unique to the existing academic and policy literature. Finally, this paper argues that practitioners should present persistent disagreements to public and policy audiences as an 'output' of deliberative democracy events. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The limits of scientific information for informing forest policy decisions under changing climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLachlan, J. S.

    2011-12-01

    The distribution of tree species is largely determined by climate, with important consequences for ecosystem function, biodiversity, and the human economy. In the past, conflicts about priority among these various goods have produced persistent debate about forest policy and management. Despite this history of conflict, there has been general agreement on the framework for the debate: Our benchmark for assessing human impact is generally some historical condition (in the New World, this is often pre-European settlement). Wilderness is to be managed with minimal human intervention. Native species are preferred over non-natives. And regional landscapes can be effectively partitioned into independent jurisdictions with different management priorities. Each of these principles was always somewhat mythical, but the dynamics of broad scale species range shifts under climate change make all of them untenable in the future. Managed relocation (MR, or assisted migration) is a controversial proposal partly because it demands scientific answers that we do not have: Are trees naturally capable of shifting their ranges as fast as climate will force them? Will deliberate introductions of species beyond their native ranges have adverse impacts on the receiving ecosystem? What are appropriate targets for hydrologic or fire management under novel no-analog climates? However, these demands on science mask a more fundamental concern: the ethical framework underlying existing forest policy is unsupported in the context of long-term non-stationary environmental trends. Whether or not we conclude that MR is a useful policy option, debate about MR is useful because it forces us to place the global change ecology agenda in a larger ethical debate about our goals when managing novel ecosystems.

  1. Quantifying Reaeration Rates in Alpine Streams Using Deliberate Gas Tracer Experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Benson

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Gas exchange across the air-water interface is a critical process that maintains adequate dissolved oxygen (DO in the water column to support life. Oxygen reaeration rates can be accurately measured using deliberate gas tracers, like sulfur hexafluoride (SF6 or xenon (Xe. Two continuous release experiments were conducted in different creeks in the Sierra Nevada of California: Sagehen Creek in September, 2009, using SF6 and Martis Creek in August, 2012, using both SF6 and Xe. Measuring gas loss along the creek, which was approximated with the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation, allows for the estimation of the SF6 or Xe reaeration coefficient (KSF6, KXe, which is converted to DO reaeration (KDO or K2 using Schmidt numbers. Mean KSF6 for upper and lower Sagehen and Martis Creeks were, respectively, 34 day−1, 37 day−1 and 33 day−1, with corresponding KDOs of 61 day−1, 66 day−1 and 47 day−1. In Martis Creek, KXe was slightly higher (21% than KSF6, but the calculated KDO from SF6 agreed with the calculated KDO from Xe within about 15%; this difference may be due to bubble-enhanced gas transfer. Established empirical equations of KDO using stream characteristics did a poor job predicting KDO for both creeks.

  2. The underlying role of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in the association between intimate partner violence and deliberate self-harm among African American women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, Nicole H; Dixon-Gordon, Katherine L; Duke, Aaron A; Sullivan, Tami P

    2015-05-01

    African American women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) and its negative consequences, including health-compromising behaviors. Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is one clinically-relevant behavior that has been understudied among African American women generally and those with exposure to IPV in particular. To date, no studies have examined factors that may account for the relationship between IPV and DSH. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to examine the intercorrelations among IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual), PTSD, and DSH history and versatility, and the potentially mediating role of PTSD symptoms in the IPV-DSH relation. Participants were 197 African American community women currently experiencing IPV. Sixty participants (31%) reported a history of DSH. Among participants who reported DSH, there was an average endorsement of 2.3 unique forms of deliberate self-harm (i.e., DSH versatility). Significant positive associations were detected among physical IPV severity, psychological IPV severity, PTSD symptom severity, and DSH history and versatility. PTSD symptom severity mediated the relationships between physical and psychological IPV severity and DSH history and versatility. Results highlight the relevance of PTSD symptoms to DSH and suggest that treatments targeting PTSD symptoms may be useful in reducing DSH among IPV-exposed African American women. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. Nicomachean Ethics VI.9: good deliberation and phronesis [Ética a Nicômaco VI.9: boa deliberação e phronesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angelo Antonio Pires de Oliveira

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, I put under scrutiny the arguments put forward by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics (NE VI.9. The paper has two main parts. In the first, I examine the NE VI.9’s first part where Aristotle develops the concept of good deliberation, offering its definition in 1142b27-28. In the second, I examine the connection between good deliberation and phronesis, and, then, discuss the vexata quæstio about if the lines 1142b31-33 might be read as introducing the claim that phronesis provides moral ends. [Neste artigo, analiso pormenorizadamente os argumentos apresentados por Aristóteles em Ética a Nicômaco (EN VI.9. O artigo é dividido em duas partes principais. Na primeira, abordo a primeira parte de EN VI.9 onde Aristóteles desenvolve a noção de boa deliberação, culminando com a apresentação da sua definição em 1142b27-28. Na segunda, abordo a conexão entre boa deliberação e phronesis e discuto a vexata quaestio de se as linhas 1142b31-33 podem ser lidas como introduzindo a tese de que a phronesis fornece os fins morais

  4. The Palestinian Problem In The Middle East Policy Of The USSR / Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. V. Nosenko

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article reveals the stages in the formation of the USSR policy in the field of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict resolution, the features of the developed policy and practical conclusions that could be useful in advancing the current Middle East policy of the Russian Federation. Initially, the Soviet Union perceived the Palestinian theme primarily from the point of view of the problem of refugees. However, Moscow increasingly felt the need for reliable allies in the region. The movement for cooperation between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the USSR was bilateral: the PLO departed from revolutionary romanticism and began to follow a pragmatic line to expand contacts with opponents of Israel. Moscow began to consider the activities of the PLO as part of the national liberation movement, took a sharply anti-Israeli stance. Such a distortion led to a loss of freedom of maneuver in the region and to the announcement of deliberately non-constructive proposals for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Only since 1985 the USSR returned to a more flexible position, which sought to combine the interests of the Palestinian people and Israel. At the present stage, Russian diplomacy uses Soviet experience and connections, especially in the sphere of personal contacts. But Russia’s role in the Middle East conflict resolution has decreased due to subjective and objective reasons. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and the Civil War in Syria, Palestinian issues have become secondary in the agenda of Moscow, which, however, can lead to a new surge of violence and tension. Special relations with the Palestinian national liberation movement have always been an advantage of Soviet and then Russian diplomacy. The authors believe that this advantage should be used more actively to strengthen Russia’s positions in the region.

  5. Actor/Actant-Network Theory as Emerging Methodology for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper deliberates on actor/actant-network theory (AANT) as methodology for policy research in environmental education (EE). Insights are drawn from work that applied AANT to research environmental policy processes surrounding the formulation and implementation of South Africa's Plastic Bags Regulations of 2003.

  6. Can the Fed Talk the Hind Legs off the Stock Market? (replaced by EBC DP 2012-006)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raes, L.B.D.; Eijffinger, S.C.W.; Mahieu, R.J.

    2011-01-01

    Deliberately or not, by providing its stance on the prospects of the economy, rationalizing past decisions or announcing future actions, central banks in fluence financial markets' expectations of its future policy. In bad times, monetary policy communication inducing an upward revision of the path

  7. Can the Fed Talk the Hind Legs off the Stock Market? (replaced by CentER DP 2012-012)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raes, L.B.D.; Eijffinger, S.C.W.; Mahieu, R.J.

    2011-01-01

    Deliberately or not, by providing its stance on the prospects of the economy, rationalizing past decisions or announcing future actions, central banks in fluence financial markets' expectations of its future policy. In bad times, monetary policy communication inducing an upward revision of the path

  8. 'Her choice of course': Negotiating legitimacy of 'choice' in abortion rights deliberations during the 'Repeal the Eighth' movement in Ireland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sambaraju, Rahul; Sammon, Myles; Harnett, Frank; Douglas, Emma

    2018-02-01

    Discourses of 'choice' are routinely involved in sexual and reproductive rights' advocacy. In this article, we offer a discursive psychological examination of how 'choice' is oriented to, in online deliberations on the ongoing movement for abortion rights in Ireland. Comment posters treated 'choice' as involving outcomes of and motives for choosing, in negotiating legitimacy of women's rights to choose. These accompanied alternative versions of women, either as independent or as intimately bound up with pregnancy/motherhood, which were flexibly used in negotiation legitimacy of women's rights to 'choice' in abortion practices. Choice advocacy is then situated in particular discursive practices.

  9. Individual differences in preference for epistemic versus teleologic strategies of deliberate self-persuasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Cheryl A; Lord, Charles G; Morin, Amanda L; Brady, Sara E; Yoke, Kristin; Lu, Tong

    2014-03-01

    People are often dissatisfied with their attitudes (e.g., liking their jobs too little or junk food too much) and would like to evaluate differently. On the basis of theory and research, a scale was developed to measure individual differences in preference for 2 types of cognitive tactics (epistemic or teleologic [E or T]) that people use when they try to change their own attitudes (Maio & Thomas, 2007). For each of 3 attitude objects (my life, a romantic partner, Arabs), the scale items loaded on the 2 intended factors, and E - T scale scores were significantly correlated across the 3 attitude objects (Study 1). Scale scores also displayed satisfactory internal and test-retest reliability and discriminant validity (Study 2). In addition, E - T scores (i.e., mean preference for epistemic vs. teleologic tactics) displayed satisfactory predictive and construct validity by predicting the extent to which individuals would recall negative attributes of their lives (Study 3) and of going to a counseling center (Study 4) after a session of deliberate self-persuasion. The discussion centers on theoretical and practical applications of the new scale. 2014 APA

  10. The alcohol industry lobby and Hong Kong's zero wine and beer tax policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Sungwon; Lam, Tai-Hing

    2012-08-30

    Whereas taxation on alcohol is becoming an increasingly common practice in many countries as part of overall public health measures, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is bucking the trend and lowered its duties on wine and beer by 50 percent in 2007. In 2008, Hong Kong removed all duties on alcohol except for spirits. The aim of this paper is to examine the case of Hong Kong with its history of changes in alcohol taxation to explore the factors that have driven such an unprecedented policy evolution. The research is based on an analysis of primary documents. Searches of official government documents, alcohol-related industry materials and other media reports on alcohol taxation for the period from 2000 to 2008 were systematically carried out using key terms such as "alcohol tax" and "alcohol industry". Relevant documents (97) were indexed by date and topic to undertake a chronological and thematic analysis using Nvivo8 software. Our analysis demonstrates that whereas the city's changing financial circumstances and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's strong propensity towards economic liberalism had, in part, contributed to such dramatic transformation, the alcohol industry's lobbying tactics and influence were clearly the main drivers of the policy decision. The alcohol industry's lobbying tactics were two-fold. The first was to forge a coalition encompassing a range of catering and trade industries related to alcohol as well as industry-friendly lawmakers so that these like-minded actors could find common ground in pursuing changes to the taxation policy. The second was to deliberately promote a blend of ideas to garner support from the general public and to influence the perception of key policy makers. Our findings suggest that the success of aggressive industry lobbying coupled with the absence of robust public health advocacy was the main driving force behind the unparalleled abolition of wine and beer duties in Hong

  11. Depressive Symptoms and Deliberate Self-Harm in a Community Sample of Adolescents: A Prospective Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lars-Gunnar Lundh

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The associations between depressive symptoms and deliberate self-harm were studied by means of a 2-wave longitudinal design in a community sample of 1052 young adolescents, with longitudinal data for 83.6% of the sample. Evidence was found for a bidirectional relationship in girls, with depressive symptoms being a risk factor for increased self-harm one year later and self-harm a risk factor for increased depressive symptoms. Cluster analysis of profiles of depressive symptoms led to the identification of two clusters with clear depressive profiles (one severe, the other mild/moderate which were both characterized by an overrepresentation of girls and elevated levels of self-harm. Clusters with more circumscribed problems were also identified; of these, significantly increased levels of self-harm were found in a cluster characterized by negative self-image and in a cluster characterized by dysphoric relations to parents. It is suggested that self-harm serves more to regulate negative self-related feelings than sadness.

  12. The geography of graduate medical education: imbalances signal need for new distribution policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullan, Fitzhugh; Chen, Candice; Steinmetz, Erika

    2013-11-01

    Graduate medical education (GME) determines the overall number, specialization mix, and geographic distribution of the US physician workforce. Medicare GME payments-which represent the largest single public investment in health workforce development-are allocated based on an inflexible system whose rationale, effectiveness, and balance are increasingly being scrutinized. We analyzed Medicare cost reports from teaching hospitals and found large state-level differences in the number of Medicare-sponsored residents per 100,000 population (1.63 in Montana versus 77.13 in New York), total Medicare GME payments ($1.64 million in Wyoming versus $2 billion in New York), payments per person ($1.94 in Montana versus $103.63 in New York), and average payments per resident ($63,811 in Louisiana versus $155,135 in Connecticut). Ways to address these imbalances include revising Medicare's GME funding formulas and protecting those states that receive less Medicare GME support in case funding is decreased and making them a priority if it is increased. The GME system badly needs a coordinating body to deliberate and make policy about public investments in graduate medical education.

  13. Reflexions on Frasnian and Famennian stage boundary decisions as a guide to future deliberations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegler, W.; Sandberg, C.A.

    1996-01-01

    The pros and cons of the three conodont-based boundaries of the Frasnian and Famennian Stages and their corresponding GSSPs (Global Stratotype Section and Point) are evaluated in terms of current taxonomic, biostratigraphic, and sedimentologic knowledge. Two of these boundaries are based on easily identified pelagic species, which provide excellent bases for global correlation. The third, for the base of the Frasnian, is based on a neritic species, whose taxonomy has been heatedly debated. The GSSPs for these three levels are all located in the Montagne Noire of southern France, partly because of political motivation to balance GSSPs selected in other regions. All three GSSPs are at levels from which global correlations cannot be effectively accomplished without aid from other, more complete sections or without making correlations strictly on the basis of taxonomic concepts - i. e., the entry of the definitive conodont species. Future deliberating bodies may want to reconsider the species chosen to delimit the base of the Frasnian and to select better GSSPs for all three boundaries.

  14. The United States and Assassination Policy: Diluting the Absolute

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Mollo, Leif

    2003-01-01

    ... and Sudan, Currently, the U.S. deliberately targets individual enemies, whether in the context of an armed conflict, such as Afghanistan or Iraq, or in the war on terror, such as the November 2002 Predator Hellfire missile strike in Yemen...

  15. Effect of Systematic Follow-Up by General Practitioners after Deliberate Self-Poisoning: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tine K Grimholt

    Full Text Available To assess whether systematic follow-up by general practitioners (GPs of cases of deliberate self-poisoning (DSP by their patients decreases psychiatric symptoms and suicidal behaviour compared with current practice.Randomised clinical trial with two parallel groups.General practices in Oslo and the eastern part of Akershus County.Patients aged 18-75 years admitted to hospital for DSP. We excluded patients diagnosed with psychoses, without a known GP, those not able to complete a questionnaire, and patients admitted to psychiatric in-patient care or other institutions where their GP could not follow them immediately after discharge.The GPs received a written guideline, contacted the patients and scheduled a consultation within one week after discharge, and then provided regular consultations for six months. We randomised the patients to either intervention (n = 78 or treatment as usual (n = 98.Primary outcome measure was the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI. Secondary outcomes were Beck Depression Inventory (BDI and Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS, self-reported further self-harm and treatment for DSP in a general hospital or an emergency medical agency (EMA. We assessed patients on entry to the trial and at three and six months. We collected data from interviews, self-report questionnaires, and hospital and EMA medical records.There were no significant differences between the groups in SSI, BDI, or BHS mean scores or change from baseline to three or six months. During follow-up, self-reported DSP was 39.5% in the intervention group vs. 15.8% in controls (P = 0.009. Readmissions to general hospitals were similar (13% in both groups (P = 0.963, while DSP episodes treated at EMAs were 17% in the intervention group and 7% in the control group (P = 0.103.Structured follow-up by GPs after an episode of DSP had no significant effect on suicide ideation, depression or hopelessness. There was no significant difference in repeated episodes of DSP in

  16. If climate action becomes urgent: The importance of response times for various climate strategies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Vuuren, D.P.; Stehfest, E.

    2013-01-01

    Most deliberations on climate policy are based on a mitigation response that assumes a gradually increasing reduction over time. However, situations may occur where a more urgent response is needed. A key question for climate policy in general, but even more in the case a rapid response is needed,

  17. Paying for Equity: The Role of Taxation in Driving Canada's Educational Success

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freiler, Christa

    2011-01-01

    Using research conducted by the federal government's own finance department, social policy groups released the report, "Paying for Canada: Perspectives on Public Finance and National Programs." It showed that deliberate government policy to reduce taxation levels for some of the most economically advantaged groups in Canada had resulted…

  18. Problem-solving ability and repetition of deliberate self-harm: a multicentre study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAuliffe, Carmel; Corcoran, Paul; Keeley, Helen S; Arensman, Ella; Bille-Brahe, Unni; De Leo, Diego; Fekete, Sandor; Hawton, Keith; Hjelmeland, Heidi; Kelleher, Margaret; Kerkhof, Ad J F M; Lönnqvist, Jouko; Michel, Konrad; Salander-Renberg, Ellinor; Schmidtke, Armin; Van Heeringen, Kees; Wasserman, Danuta

    2006-01-01

    While recent studies have found problem-solving impairments in individuals who engage in deliberate self-harm (DSH), few studies have examined repeaters and non-repeaters separately. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether specific types of problem-solving are associated with repeated DSH. As part of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour, 836 medically treated DSH patients (59% repeaters) from 12 European regions were interviewed using the European Parasuicide Study Interview Schedule (EPSIS II) approximately 1 year after their index episode. The Utrecht Coping List (UCL) assessed habitual responses to problems. Factor analysis identified five dimensions--Active Handling, Passive-Avoidance, Problem Sharing, Palliative Reactions and Negative Expression. Passive-Avoidance--characterized by a pre-occupation with problems, feeling unable to do anything, worrying about the past and taking a gloomy view of the situation, a greater likelihood of giving in so as to avoid difficult situations, the tendency to resign oneself to the situation, and to try to avoid problems--was the problem-solving dimension most strongly associated with repetition, although this association was attenuated by self-esteem. The outcomes of the study indicate that treatments for DSH patients with repeated episodes should include problem-solving interventions. The observed passivity and avoidance of problems (coupled with low self-esteem) associated with repetition suggests that intensive therapeutic input and follow-up are required for those with repeated DSH.

  19. [Mass culling in the context of animal disease outbreaks--veterinarians caught between ethical issues and control policies].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartnack, Sonja; Doherr, Marcus G; Grimm, Herwig; Kunzmann, Peter

    2009-04-01

    In recent years controversial discussions arose during major animal disease outbreaks in the EU about the ethical soundness of mass culling. In contrast to numerous publications about ethical issues and laboratory animals/animal experiments, literature concerning ethical deliberations in the case of mass culling as a means of outbreak control remain scarce. Veterinarians in charge of decision about and implementation of mass culling actions find themselves in an area of conflict in between the officially required animal disease control policy and a public that is increasingly critical. Those veterinarians are faced with the challenge to defend the relevant decisions against all stakeholders and also themselves. In this context an interdisciplinary workshop was initiated in Switzerland in October 2007 with ethicians and (official) veterinarians from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. With the aim to identify ethical components of animal disease control for official veterinarians, talks and moderated group discussions took place. This article summarizes selected discussion points and conclusions.

  20. Examination of Capital Murder Jurors' Deliberations: Methods and Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Keith; Coleman, Susan; Byrd, Gary R.

    2014-01-01

    The study of capital juries remains a subject of critical interest for the public and for legislative and judicial policy makers as well as legal scholars and social scientists. Cowan, Thompson, and Ellsworth established one of the standard methodologies for examination of this topic in their 1984 seminal study by observing the subjects' debate…

  1. Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Persons Presenting with Deliberate Self-harm to the Accident and Emergency Department of the University Hospital of the West Indies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Henry

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of all persons who presented to the Accident and Emergency Department of the University Hospital of the West Indies with a history of deliberate harm over a six-month period. Methods: The dockets of patients presenting with deliberate self-harm were collected and reviewed for the information. A questionnaire was designed to extract the information. Data were analysed using SPSS version 17 and RXC programme. Results: Of the total number of dockets reviewed (n = 61, 78% of patients were below age 40 years, with a mean age of 28 years. Sixty-four per cent were female, 82% were single, 83% lived with someone, 80% had a secondary school level of education and 72% were unemployed. Overdose of medications was the main method of harm. Seventy-five per cent of patients did not use illicit substances. There was a significant association found between reason for self-harm and psychiatric illness (p < 0.001. Conclusion: Given these preliminary results, it would be useful to conduct a wider, island-wide study to determine the extent of self-harming behaviour in Jamaica so that appropriate interventions can be implemented to reduce this problem.

  2. Sustainability Policy and Environmental Policy

    OpenAIRE

    John C. V. Pezzey

    2001-01-01

    A theoretical, representative agent economy with a depletable resource stock, polluting emissions and productive capital is used to contrast environmental policy, which internalises externalised environmental values, with sustainability policy, which achieves some form of intergenerational equity. The obvious environmental policy comprises an emissions tax and a resource stock subsidy, each equal to the respective external cost or benefit. Sustainability policy comprises an incentive affectin...

  3. Agricultural policy, food policy, and communicable disease policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grant, Wyn

    2012-12-01

    Food and agricultural policy is an essential element of a communicable disease policy. The European Union has developed a more systematic and broadly based interest in questions of food safety and animal health and welfare linked to modernization of the Common Agricultural Policy, reflected in a new treaty obligation on animal welfare. Following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, moves were made to create a European competency, but implementation and enforcement resources reside with the member states. The European Animal Health Strategy is meant to lead to an EU animal health law, but this has already been constrained by fiscal austerity. The development of such a law may lead to a lowest common denominator formula that does little to enhance consumer protection or improve animal welfare. This is an inherent risk with top-down forms of Europeanization; more attention should be paid to lessons to be learned from bottom-up initiatives of the type used to counteract the bovine diarrhea virus. There will always be a tension among what is good policy for reducing the incidence of communicable disease, policy that is popular with EU citizens, and policy that is acceptable to member states.

  4. The Development of Information Policy of the Russian Empire During the Reign of Alexander II

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena S. Ustinovich

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available During this historical period was actively carried out the process of interaction and interdependence of the development of state power and social consciousness within the limits of formation of the state information policy. Alexander II and his inner circle, given these trends and evaluating the shortcomings of the reign of his father, after years of ignoring the power of public opinion on important socio-political and socio-economic issues, after a long ban on open discussion of the shortcomings of the actions of the authorities and of the state apparatus, deliberately stimulated the beginning of the «era of conviction». Growth of social consciousness, the press has naturally gained a strong influence on representatives of the Russian society and contributed to raising awareness of and advocate for their rights. The authority is committed to the advancement of social development, directs itself to the expansion of media freedom and on the settlement of socio-political issues through dialogue, carried out with the assistance of the media.

  5. Methods of legitimation: how ethics committees decide which reasons count in public policy decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Kyle T

    2014-07-01

    In recent years, liberal democratic societies have struggled with the question of how best to balance expertise and democratic participation in the regulation of emerging technologies. This study aims to explain how national deliberative ethics committees handle the practical tension between scientific expertise, ethical expertise, expert patient input, and lay public input by explaining two institutions' processes for determining the legitimacy or illegitimacy of reasons in public policy decision-making: that of the United Kingdom's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the United States' American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). The articulation of these 'methods of legitimation' draws on 13 in-depth interviews with HFEA and ASRM members and staff conducted in January and February 2012 in London and over Skype, as well as observation of an HFEA deliberation. This study finds that these two institutions employ different methods in rendering certain arguments legitimate and others illegitimate: while the HFEA attempts to 'balance' competing reasons but ultimately legitimizes arguments based on health and welfare concerns, the ASRM seeks to 'filter' out arguments that challenge reproductive autonomy. The notably different structures and missions of each institution may explain these divergent approaches, as may what Sheila Jasanoff (2005) terms the distinctive 'civic epistemologies' of the US and the UK. Significantly for policy makers designing such deliberative committees, each method differs substantially from that explicitly or implicitly endorsed by the institution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Diffusion of Policy Discourse into Rural Spheres Through Co-Management of State Forestlands: Two Cases from West Java, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubo, Hideyuki

    2008-07-01

    In the context of state forestland management in tropical regions, the implementation of a co-management approach has been widely advocated in order to include the voices of local people and accommodate their interests in management decision-making. Most co-management literatures, however, underestimate the significance of statutory authority held by state to control forestlands and resources. By clarifying the implications of state ownership of forestland, this article aims to critically examine co-management processes with reference to Foucault’s notion of power and subject. Case studies were conducted at two co-management pilot sites in Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Findings demonstrate that co-management processes actually materialize shared decision-making arrangements between state forest bureaucracy and rural people through the application of equity approaches, such as deliberation, negotiation, and experimentation. At the same time, these processes can also function to diffuse state policy discourse in rural spheres, which makes rural subjects who accept and practice the policy discourse. The research also reveals that the diffusion process is complex and does not necessarily make a durable subject unless they are pertinently organized. The results of this research indicate that co-management of state forestlands is a double-edged process for local people who risk becoming a proxy of state bureaucracy in the implementation of state policy. Proponents of co-management should, therefore, critically examine whether new institutional arrangements, which are developed through co-management, truly reflect values and needs of local people and assist them to develop a pertinent subject to deal with it.

  7. Women's perspectives on the ethical implications of non-invasive prenatal testing: a qualitative analysis to inform health policy decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanstone, Meredith; Cernat, Alexandra; Nisker, Jeff; Schwartz, Lisa

    2018-04-16

    Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) is a technology which provides information about fetal genetic characteristics (including sex) very early in pregnancy by examining fetal DNA obtained from a sample of maternal blood. NIPT is a morally complex technology that has advanced quickly to market with a strong push from industry developers, leaving many areas of uncertainty still to be resolved, and creating a strong need for health policy that reflects women's social and ethical values. We approach the need for ethical policy-making by studying the use of NIPT and emerging policy in the province of Ontario, Canada. Using an adapted version of constructivist grounded theory, we conducted interviews with 38 women who have had personal experiences with NIPT. We used an iterative process of data collection and analysis and a staged coding strategy to conduct a descriptive analysis of ethics issues identified implicitly and explicitly by women who have been affected by this technology. The findings of this paper focus on current ethical issues for women seeking NIPT, including place in the prenatal pathway, health care provider counselling about the test, industry influence on the diffusion of NIPT, consequences of availability of test results. Other issues gain relevance in the context of future policy decisions regarding NIPT, including funding of NIPT and principles that may govern the expansion of the scope of NIPT. These findings are not an exhaustive list of all the potential ethical issues related to NIPT, but rather a representation of the issues which concern women who have personal experience with this test. Women who have had personal experience with NIPT have concerns and priorities which sometimes contrast dramatically with the theoretical ethics literature. These findings suggest the importance of engaging patients in ethical deliberation about morally complex technologies, and point to the need for more deliberative patient engagement work in this area.

  8. Building trust and confidence in laboratory ES and H policy and practices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graf, J.

    2000-08-01

    This report describes a successful pilot event among LANL employees that can see as a model for employee involvement and community input. The conference was designed to begin building trust and confidence in Laboratory policy and practices in the area of Environment, Safety, and Health (ES and H). It represents a concrete step toward fostering better relationships among Lab employees and creating a new, innovative approach to communication that can also be used to build trust in the larger community. Based on the proven methods of the National Issues Forums and the Jefferson Center Citizen Jury Process, this conference enabled management to learn more about the thoughts and advice of LANL employees, During the course of the day, a random sample of Lab employees representing the LANL workforce learned about issues of health, safety and the environment, and some of the options available to increase trustworthiness in these areas. These Employee Advisors then discussed the options at some length and presented recommendations to senior Lab managers in the role of Decision Makers. At the end of the day, the participants offered their reflections and discussed what they learned during the conference, and Decision Makers responded to what they heard. The most common view expressed by the Employee Advisors was that a bottom-up approach was necessary to develop more relevant ES and H policies. They were unanimous in their desire for more employee inclusion into the decision making process. All Employee Advisors were in support of a Lab wide survey to determine employee concerns about ES and H issues. After listening to the deliberation, the Decision Makers responded with several commitments. The most significant was the pledge to meet with Employee Advisors by the end of February to discuss the status of their recommendations on ES and H policy and practices. The ensuing follow-up meeting explored employee concerns in greater depth resulting in forward-looking action steps

  9. International exhibitions as an instrument of domestic cultural policy: how Baroque art came to be honoured in socialist Czechoslovakia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michaela Marek

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available At the end of the 1960s the artistic tradition of the Baroque period in Bohemia had gained new acceptance and the established schema for interpreting its history had been revised. This essay asks how it came to this turn. It therefore pursues, on the one hand, the sequence of events in its most important stages and, on the other hand, sketches the gradual reinterpretation of Baroque art as ‘popular’ cultural legacy or at least one compatible with the State’s postulated self-image as a ‘society of the people’. It is argued that this approach to Baroque art derived from a synergy of deliberate strategies of cultural policy and discursive adaptations. The study, moreover, presents a case study for how largely scholarly conceptions and models of interpretation can be dependent on extra-scholarly circumstances and interests – which should by no means be regarded as specific to socialist or communist regimes.

  10. Deliberately generated and imitated facial expressions of emotions in people with eating disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dapelo, Marcela Marin; Bodas, Sergio; Morris, Robin; Tchanturia, Kate

    2016-02-01

    People with eating disorders have difficulties in socio emotional functioning that could contribute to maintaining the functional consequences of the disorder. This study aimed to explore the ability to deliberately generate (i.e., pose) and imitate facial expressions of emotions in women with anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), compared to healthy controls (HC). One hundred and three participants (36 AN, 25 BN, and 42 HC) were asked to pose and imitate facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. Their facial expressions were recorded and coded. Participants with eating disorders (both AN and BN) were less accurate than HC when posing facial expressions of emotions. Participants with AN were less accurate compared to HC imitating facial expressions, whilst BN participants had a middle range performance. All results remained significant after controlling for anxiety, depression and autistic features. The relatively small number of BN participants recruited for this study. The study findings suggest that people with eating disorders, particularly those with AN, have difficulties posing and imitating facial expressions of emotions. These difficulties could have an impact in social communication and social functioning. This is the first study to investigate the ability to pose and imitate facial expressions of emotions in people with eating disorders, and the findings suggest this area should be further explored in future studies. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. Political and environmental attitude toward participatory energy and environmental governance: A survey in post-Fukushima Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Hidenori

    2017-10-01

    The Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident triggered citizen dialogue on energy and environmental management in Japan. However, an international survey has shown that the willingness of Japanese citizens to participate in political and social activities has declined since the Fukushima accident. Employing an internet-based survey in four urban or nuclear power plant-hosting prefectures in Japan, this study examines the willingness to participate in random sampling deliberation on post-disaster energy and environmental policy. It focuses on the effects of political, environmental, and social attitudes towards willingness to participate in citizen dialogue. The survey shows around 40% of respondents may participate in energy and environmental deliberation. Statistical analysis reveals that environmental consciousness raises the propensity to participate in deliberation, while political obedience and social hesitation decreases the will to participate. The effect of environmental attitudes is larger than that of political and social attitudes. The survey also finds that governmental response to deliberation, i.e., information generation and disclosure based on requests from citizen dialogue, encourages participation in deliberation in a conservative prefecture, when citizen dialogue is held at the national level. Random sampling deliberation opens a new mode of environmental governance regardless of local political and social characteristics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Management of science policy, sociology of science policy and economics of science policy

    CERN Document Server

    Ruivo, Beatriz

    2017-01-01

    'Management of science policy, sociology of science policy and economics of science policy' is a theoretical essay on the scientific foundation of science policy (formulation, implementation, instruments and procedures). It can be also used as a textbook.

  13. Turning points towards sustainability: integrative science and policy for novel (but real landscape futures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David J. Brunckhorst

    2004-09-01

    Full Text Available Non-metropolitan landscapes are the major theatre of interactions where large-scale alteration occurs precipitated by local to global forces of economic, social and environmental change. However, these regional landscape effects are critical also to local natural resource and social sustainability, ecosystem health through to larger scales of biospheric functioning. The institutions contributing pressures and responses consequently shape future landscapes and in turn influence how social systems, resource users, governments and policy makers perceive those landscapes and their future. These are, in essence, complex social-ecological systems intertwined in a multitude of ways at many spatial scales across time. Over time, the cycles of complex social-ecological systems also reach crossroads, which might be crisis points at which future options are no longer available (possibly because of resource degradation or loss, or turning points where opportunities arise when it is easier to change direction towards more sustainable activities. This paper provides some examples of interdisciplinary research that has provided a holistic integration through close engagement with residents and communities or through deliberately implementing integrative high-risk ‘on-ground’ experimental models to ‘learn by doing’. In the final analysis, each project has characteristically, however, sought to integrate through spatial (if not temporal synthesis, policy analysis and (new or changed institutional arrangements that are relevant locally and corporately, as well as at broader levels of government and geography. This has provided transferable outcomes that can contribute real options and adaptive capacity for suitable positive futures.

  14. Deliberation versus automaticity in decision making: Which presentation format features facilitate automatic decision making?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anke Soellner

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The idea of automatic decision making approximating normatively optimal decisions without necessitating much cognitive effort is intriguing. Whereas recent findings support the notion that such fast, automatic processes explain empirical data well, little is known about the conditions under which such processes are selected rather than more deliberate stepwise strategies. We investigate the role of the format of information presentation, focusing explicitly on the ease of information acquisition and its influence on information integration processes. In a probabilistic inference task, the standard matrix employed in prior research was contrasted with a newly created map presentation format and additional variations of both presentation formats. Across three experiments, a robust presentation format effect emerged: Automatic decision making was more prevalent in the matrix (with high information accessibility, whereas sequential decision strategies prevailed when the presentation format demanded more information acquisition effort. Further scrutiny of the effect showed that it is not driven by the presentation format as such, but rather by the extent of information search induced by a format. Thus, if information is accessible with minimal need for information search, information integration is likely to proceed in a perception-like, holistic manner. In turn, a moderate demand for information search decreases the likelihood of behavior consistent with the assumptions of automatic decision making.

  15. Language Policy and Communication Policy - Same Same but Different?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergenholtz, Henning; Johnsen, Mia

    2006-01-01

    Surprisingly, no attempts have yet been made to relate language policy and communication policy. This is the case in theoretical contributions on language policy and theoretical contributions on communication policy alike, none of which mentions the other concept. It is also the case in existing...... language policies where the term communication policy is not mentioned at all. Likewise, the term language policy is not found in communication policies, even where a particular company or organisation has a language policy as well as a communication policy. This contribution aims to define both terms...

  16. Improving policy making through government-industry policy learning: The case of a novel Swedish policy framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stigson, Peter; Dotzauer, Erik; Yan Jinyue

    2009-01-01

    Climate change poses an unprecedented challenge for policy makers. This paper analyzes how industry sector policy expertise can contribute to improved policy making processes. Previous research has identified that policy making benefit by including non-governmental policy analysts in learning processes. Recent climate and energy policy developments, including amendments and the introduction of new initiatives, have rendered current policy regimes as novel to both governments and the industry. This increases business investment risk perceptions and may thus reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy framework. In order to explore how government-industry policy learning can improve policy making in this context, this article studied the Swedish case. A literature survey analyzed how policy learning had been previously addressed, identifying that the current situation regarding novel policies had been overlooked. Interviews provided how industrial actors view Swedish policy implementation processes and participatory aspects thereof. The authors conclude that an increased involvement of the industry sector in policy design and management processes can be an important measure to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of climate and energy policies

  17. Evidence-based policy: implications for nursing and policy involvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hewison, Alistair

    2008-11-01

    Evidence-based policy making is espoused as a central feature of government in the United Kingdom. However, an expectation that this will improve the quality of policy produced and provide a path to increased involvement of nurses in the policy process is misplaced. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the emphasis on evidence-based policy is problematic and cannot be regarded as a "new model" of policy making. Also, it could deflect attention from more practical approaches to policy involvement on the part of nurses. Policy development activities, acquisition of skills in policy analysis, and other forms of involvement are needed if nurses are to move along the continuum from policy literacy, through policy acumen, to policy competence. This involves taking a critical stance on the notion of evidence-based policy.

  18. Deliberate ambiguity in a finite environment: The urban ecology of artificial items

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abraham Akkerman

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available A distinction is made between visual declaration and virtual usage of artificial items within a physical environment, such as a street. Visual declaration is a formal pictorial designation, or a function, e.g. “decoration,” of an item, such as a “planter.” Virtual usage refers to the item when it is used in lieu of another item. The formal designation, “sitting,” customarily designated to an item such as “bench,” could also be a virtual usage of the item “planter.” The question asked is, “What is the relationship between items, given their formal, visual declaration and their informal, virtual, usage?” An artificial item, according to its visual declaration, is referred to as a ‘visual’ or ‘real item’. Each visual item has the property of being used as another item by virtue of its undeclared usage. Pending on the item's design and configuration, a visual item can be then substituted for another visual item. An artificial item, thus, attains deliberate ambiguity between its formal designation and its virtual usage. This ambiguity between visual declaration and virtual usage can be quantified. Within the full domain of n possible usages, this relationship can be conveniently presented in a nonnegative matrix. It is shown that the inverse of this matrix belongs to a class of well-known matrices. This being the case, the relationship between visual and virtual properties of items within the environment can be formalized. The formalization throws further light on the emerging opportunities in streetscape design.

  19. Policy Actors: Doing Policy Work in Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ball, Stephen J.; Maguire, Meg; Braun, Annette; Hoskins, Kate

    2011-01-01

    This paper considers the "policy work" of teacher actors in schools. It focuses on the "problem of meaning" and offers a typology of roles and positions through which teachers engage with policy and with which policies get "enacted". It argues that "policy work" is made up of a set of complex and…

  20. Deliberate ignition of hydrogen-air-steam mixtures in condensing steam environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blanchat, T.K.; Stamps, D.W.

    1997-05-01

    Large scale experiments were performed to determine the effectiveness of thermal glow plug igniters to burn hydrogen in a condensing steam environment due to the presence of water sprays. The experiments were designed to determine if a detonation or accelerated flame could occur in a hydrogen-air-steam mixture which was initially nonflammable due to steam dilution but was rendered flammable by rapid steam condensation due to water sprays. Eleven Hydrogen Igniter Tests were conducted in the test vessel. The vessel was instrumented with pressure transducers, thermocouple rakes, gas grab sample bottles, hydrogen microsensors, and cameras. The vessel contained two prototypic engineered systems: (1) a deliberate hydrogen ignition system and (2) a water spray system. Experiments were conducted under conditions scaled to be nearly prototypic of those expected in Advanced Light Water Reactors (such as the Combustion Engineering (CE) System 80+), with prototypic spray drop diameter, spray mass flux, steam condensation rates, hydrogen injection flow rates, and using the actual proposed plant igniters. The lack of any significant pressure increase during the majority of the burn and condensation events signified that localized, benign hydrogen deflagration(s) occurred with no significant pressure load on the containment vessel. Igniter location did not appear to be a factor in the open geometry. Initially stratified tests with a stoichiometric mixture in the top showed that the water spray effectively mixes the initially stratified atmosphere prior to the deflagration event. All tests demonstrated that thermal glow plugs ignite hydrogen-air-steam mixtures under conditions with water sprays near the flammability limits previously determined for hydrogen-air-steam mixtures under quiescent conditions. This report describes these experiments, gives experimental results, and provides interpretation of the results. 12 refs., 127 figs., 16 tabs

  1. The alcohol industry lobby and Hong Kong’s zero wine and beer tax policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoon Sungwon

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Whereas taxation on alcohol is becoming an increasingly common practice in many countries as part of overall public health measures, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is bucking the trend and lowered its duties on wine and beer by 50 percent in 2007. In 2008, Hong Kong removed all duties on alcohol except for spirits. The aim of this paper is to examine the case of Hong Kong with its history of changes in alcohol taxation to explore the factors that have driven such an unprecedented policy evolution. Methods The research is based on an analysis of primary documents. Searches of official government documents, alcohol-related industry materials and other media reports on alcohol taxation for the period from 2000 to 2008 were systematically carried out using key terms such as “alcohol tax” and “alcohol industry”. Relevant documents (97 were indexed by date and topic to undertake a chronological and thematic analysis using Nvivo8 software. Results Our analysis demonstrates that whereas the city’s changing financial circumstances and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s strong propensity towards economic liberalism had, in part, contributed to such dramatic transformation, the alcohol industry’s lobbying tactics and influence were clearly the main drivers of the policy decision. The alcohol industry’s lobbying tactics were two-fold. The first was to forge a coalition encompassing a range of catering and trade industries related to alcohol as well as industry-friendly lawmakers so that these like-minded actors could find common ground in pursuing changes to the taxation policy. The second was to deliberately promote a blend of ideas to garner support from the general public and to influence the perception of key policy makers. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the success of aggressive industry lobbying coupled with the absence of robust public health advocacy was the

  2. The alcohol industry lobby and Hong Kong’s zero wine and beer tax policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Whereas taxation on alcohol is becoming an increasingly common practice in many countries as part of overall public health measures, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is bucking the trend and lowered its duties on wine and beer by 50 percent in 2007. In 2008, Hong Kong removed all duties on alcohol except for spirits. The aim of this paper is to examine the case of Hong Kong with its history of changes in alcohol taxation to explore the factors that have driven such an unprecedented policy evolution. Methods The research is based on an analysis of primary documents. Searches of official government documents, alcohol-related industry materials and other media reports on alcohol taxation for the period from 2000 to 2008 were systematically carried out using key terms such as “alcohol tax” and “alcohol industry”. Relevant documents (97) were indexed by date and topic to undertake a chronological and thematic analysis using Nvivo8 software. Results Our analysis demonstrates that whereas the city’s changing financial circumstances and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s strong propensity towards economic liberalism had, in part, contributed to such dramatic transformation, the alcohol industry’s lobbying tactics and influence were clearly the main drivers of the policy decision. The alcohol industry’s lobbying tactics were two-fold. The first was to forge a coalition encompassing a range of catering and trade industries related to alcohol as well as industry-friendly lawmakers so that these like-minded actors could find common ground in pursuing changes to the taxation policy. The second was to deliberately promote a blend of ideas to garner support from the general public and to influence the perception of key policy makers. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the success of aggressive industry lobbying coupled with the absence of robust public health advocacy was the main driving force behind the

  3. Inflammation and Nutritional Science for Programs/Policies and Interpretation of Research Evidence (INSPIRE).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raiten, Daniel J; Sakr Ashour, Fayrouz A; Ross, A Catharine; Meydani, Simin N; Dawson, Harry D; Stephensen, Charles B; Brabin, Bernard J; Suchdev, Parminder S; van Ommen, Ben

    2015-05-01

    An increasing recognition has emerged of the complexities of the global health agenda—specifically, the collision of infections and noncommunicable diseases and the dual burden of over- and undernutrition. Of particular practical concern are both 1) the need for a better understanding of the bidirectional relations between nutritional status and the development and function of the immune and inflammatory response and 2) the specific impact of the inflammatory response on the selection, use, and interpretation of nutrient biomarkers. The goal of the Inflammation and Nutritional Science for Programs/Policies and Interpretation of Research Evidence (INSPIRE) is to provide guidance for those users represented by the global food and nutrition enterprise. These include researchers (bench and clinical), clinicians providing care/treatment, those developing and evaluating programs/interventions at scale, and those responsible for generating evidence-based policy. The INSPIRE process included convening 5 thematic working groups (WGs) charged with developing summary reports around the following issues: 1) basic overview of the interactions between nutrition, immune function, and the inflammatory response; 2) examination of the evidence regarding the impact of nutrition on immune function and inflammation; 3) evaluation of the impact of inflammation and clinical conditions (acute and chronic) on nutrition; 4) examination of existing and potential new approaches to account for the impact of inflammation on biomarker interpretation and use; and 5) the presentation of new approaches to the study of these relations. Each WG was tasked with synthesizing a summary of the evidence for each of these topics and delineating the remaining gaps in our knowledge. This review consists of a summary of the INSPIRE workshop and the WG deliberations. © 2015 American Society for Nutrition.

  4. CEP energy policy : Policy 917

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-10-01

    Some of the environmental challenges facing the world in the twenty-first century are energy and global warming. Vital human needs such as warmth, light and transportation require energy, which is also required in the production of goods. Absent from the debate concerning the energy industry and its efforts to stop climate change is the voice of energy workers. Previous policies from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) were replaced by this policy document. After providing a brief introduction, the document tackled global challenge: climate change. The following section dealt with global challenge: corporate rule. Canada's energy industries were examined from the workers' perspective, and the state of Canada's energy reserves was discussed. From national policies to national betrayal was the title of the following section of the document. Energy de-regulation and privatization was discussed, and an argument was made for a Canadian energy policy. The industrial policy was explored, as was the environment. A transition to sustainability was examined. refs

  5. Democratic Deliberation Procedures : Theoretical and Practical Issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tutui Viorel

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract : In contemporary political philosophy, the focus of the most important controversies is on the deliberative model of democracy. These controversies concern not only the theoretical problem of providing the best justification for a deliberative model of democratic legitimacy, but also the practical problem of designing the best deliberative procedure that will secure the implementation of deliberative democracy. In this paper I will present and analyze some of the most important deliberative designs: deliberative polls, citizens’ juries, consensus conferences and planning cells. I argue that these deliberative events can have a significant impact on the political behavior of a democratic community. However, I explain that all of them have only a limited influence on the policy-making activities in local and central governing structures. This is the reason why I believe we could only supplement and never fully replace the traditional aggregative procedures of democracy (voting and bargaining with a deliberative design.

  6. Islamic bioethical deliberation on the issue of newborns with disorders of sex development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohamed, Mohd Salim; Noor, Siti Nurani Mohd

    2015-04-01

    This article presents the Islamic bioethical deliberation on the issue of sex assignment surgery (SAS) for infants with disorders of sex development (DSD) or intersexed as a case study. The main objective of this study is to present a different approach in assessing a biomedical issue within the medium of the Maqasid al-Shari'ah. Within the framework of the maqasidic scheme of benefits and harms, any practice where benefits are substantial is considered permissible, while those promoting harms are prohibited. The concept of Maqasid al-Shari'ah which is the mechanistic interpretation of Qur'an and Hadith presents the holistic attention of Islam on many life activities, including healthcare. Indeed, this concept encompasses many aspects of worldly life, both for the human individual and collectively for the whole society. In healthcare, the practice of SAS on DSD newborns has presented an assortment of implications on the future livelihood of the affected individual. The process of decision-making seems to be very multifaceted since every element such as the determination of the 'correct' sex and the urgency of early surgery must consider the benefits and harms, as well as the child's rights and best interest. The application of the concept of Maqasid al-Shari'ah, would convey a pragmatic approach that is often disregarded in Western medicine. This approach considers the right of the individual to live life optimally, individually and socially and practice his faith, precisely, in accordance with the assigned gender.

  7. "Deliberate Preparation" as an Evidence-Based Focus for Primary Physical Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giblin, Susan; Collins, David; MacNamara, Aine; Kiely, John

    2014-01-01

    There is substantial scientific research suggesting the physical and psychological health benefits of a physically active lifestyle. Consequently, governments worldwide prioritize policies, finances, and resources in healthcare, education, and sports sectors to increase mass participation in physical activity. However, practices in physical…

  8. Policies as translation: situating the transnational social policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Stubbs

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This article explores some of the implications of the development of an anthropology or ethnography of the transnational dimensions of policies. The fi rst part explains the basic conceptual apparatus, in terms of policies as a generator of meanings. The second part examines policies as translation and explores its implications in terms of the transnationalization of the policies and, in particular, it seeks to contrast the translation of policies with more orthodox knowledge of policies transference. The third part explores the translation of policies through a refl exive ethnographical approach, analyzing a number of cases based on the practical involvement of the authors in social policies reforms in regions of the Central Europe and the East. The fourth part presents some conclusions and indicates certain theoretical and ethical objections that can and must be raised with regard to the presented approach.

  9. Deliberate self-injury functions and their clinical correlates among adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radziwiłłowicz, Wioletta; Lewandowska, Magdalena

    2017-04-30

    The aim of the study was to analyze the relationships between clinical variables (the severity of depression symptoms, feelings towards the body, dissociation, number and type of traumatic events) and deliberate self-injury functions. Moreover, we investigated whether the of group self-mutilating adolescents is internally diverse in terms of how important individual functions of self-mutilation are, and whether the subgroups singled out by these functions differ between each other in terms of clinical variables. The Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury was used. Characterizations of examined individuals and other research tools are included in our previous article (year, issue, pages). Associated with negative feelings towards the body are the functions of self-injuries (anti-dissociation, self-punishment) that can be described as interpersonal. High levels of depression symptoms (self-depreciation included) are mainly associated with the self-injury functions: self-punishment, anti-dissociation, establishing interpersonal boundaries. Affect regulation becomes more important as a function of self-inflicted injuries in cases of biological dysregulation and intense dissociative symptoms. The adolescents psychiatric inpatients are internally diverse in terms of dominant functions of self-injuries, which can be categorized into intra- and interpersonal. Intrapersonal functions dominate when an individual experiences severe depression, dissociative symptoms, and negative feelings towards the body. In cases of moderate intensity of depression, dissociative symptoms and negative feelings towards the body, both intrapersonal and interpersonal functions of self-mutilation are similarly important. Further research is required to explain the lowest severity of depression symptoms, dissociative symptoms and negative feelings towards the body co-occurs with no awareness of self-injuries functions.

  10. Inflammation and Nutritional Science for Programs/Policies and Interpretation of Research Evidence (INSPIRE)12345

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raiten, Daniel J; Ashour, Fayrouz A Sakr; Ross, A Catharine; Meydani, Simin N; Dawson, Harry D; Stephensen, Charles B; Brabin, Bernard J; Suchdev, Parminder S; van Ommen, Ben

    2015-01-01

    An increasing recognition has emerged of the complexities of the global health agenda—specifically, the collision of infections and noncommunicable diseases and the dual burden of over- and undernutrition. Of particular practical concern are both 1) the need for a better understanding of the bidirectional relations between nutritional status and the development and function of the immune and inflammatory response and 2) the specific impact of the inflammatory response on the selection, use, and interpretation of nutrient biomarkers. The goal of the Inflammation and Nutritional Science for Programs/Policies and Interpretation of Research Evidence (INSPIRE) is to provide guidance for those users represented by the global food and nutrition enterprise. These include researchers (bench and clinical), clinicians providing care/treatment, those developing and evaluating programs/interventions at scale, and those responsible for generating evidence-based policy. The INSPIRE process included convening 5 thematic working groups (WGs) charged with developing summary reports around the following issues: 1) basic overview of the interactions between nutrition, immune function, and the inflammatory response; 2) examination of the evidence regarding the impact of nutrition on immune function and inflammation; 3) evaluation of the impact of inflammation and clinical conditions (acute and chronic) on nutrition; 4) examination of existing and potential new approaches to account for the impact of inflammation on biomarker interpretation and use; and 5) the presentation of new approaches to the study of these relations. Each WG was tasked with synthesizing a summary of the evidence for each of these topics and delineating the remaining gaps in our knowledge. This review consists of a summary of the INSPIRE workshop and the WG deliberations. PMID:25833893

  11. A Case Study of the Philadelphia Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Policymaking Process: Implications for Policy Development and Advocacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purtle, Jonathan; Langellier, Brent; Lê-Scherban, Félice

    Policymakers are increasingly proposing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes as an evidence-based strategy to reduce chronic disease risk; and local health departments (LHDs) are well-positioned to play a role in SSB policy development and advocacy. However, most SSB tax proposals fail to become law and limited empiric guidance exists to inform advocacy efforts. In June 2016, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, passed an SSB tax. To identify features of the Philadelphia SSB tax policymaking process that contributed to the proposal's passage. Qualitative case study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key informants closely involved with the policymaking process. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Local news media about the SSB tax proposal were analyzed to triangulate interview findings. Analysis was conducted in NVivo 10 using inductive qualitative content analysis. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the SSB tax policymaking in process. Nine key informants (2 city councilpersons, 4 city agency officials, 1 community-based advocate, 1 news reporter, and 1 researcher). The Philadelphia SSB tax proposal was introduced with the explicit goal of financing universal prekindergarten and deliberately not framed as a health intervention. This framing shifted contentious debates about government involvement in individual behavior toward discussions about how to finance universal prekindergarten, a goal for which broad support existed. The LHD played an important role in communicating research evidence about potential health benefits of the SSB tax proposal at the end of the policymaking process. During local SSB tax policy development processes, LHD officials and other advocates should encourage policymakers to design SSB tax policies so that revenue is directed toward community investments for which broad public support exists. When communicating with policymakers and the public, LHDs should consider emphasizing how SSB tax revenue will be used in addition

  12. Policy Innovation in Innovation Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borras, Susana

    During the past two decades Europe has experienced important changes and transformations in the way in which governments approach the issue of science, technology and innovation, and their relation to economic growth and competitiveness. This has to do with the European Union level as well...... as with national and sub-national governments in Europe, all of them introducing interesting novelties in their innovation policy. These changes refer to different aspects of policy, mainly the content of policy initiatives towards science, technology and innovation; the instruments governments are using...... at the EU level, and mentions similar trends taking place at national and sub-national levels. The questions that guide the contents here are essentially three, namely, what are the main traits of innovation policies in Europe since the 1990s and how have the EU and different national governments approached...

  13. The agricultural policy of Serbia and common agricultural policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanković Milica

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The agricultural sector has a relatively high importance in the economic structure of Serbia. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP, Common Agricultural Policy is one of the main policies of the European Union. It is very important to point out the fundamental principles and objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy. Harmonization of the national agricultural policy of Serbia with the Common Agricultural Policy and acceptance of its mechanisms is crucial for the development of the agricultural sector as a whole.

  14. Education Policies and Policy Making in Arizona: Report on a Survey of Education Policy Actors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, Stephen B.

    2011-01-01

    This study provides an objective look at the education policies adopted by the State of Arizona since 2000, describes participants in the policy-making process, and identifies policy options for the future. The framework of the study uses a typology of educational policies with seven categories: school building and facilities, curriculum…

  15. Policy Learning and Organizational Capacities in Innovation Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borrás, Susana

    2011-01-01

    Bengt-Åke Lundvall’s work has underlined the importance of policy learning for inducing innovation systems’ adaptability. In spite of his efforts and of the general interest in this topic, studies of policy learning in innovation policy continue to be scarce. Elaborating from recent theoretical...... advances, the paper identifies three levels of policy learning and argues that their effects on innovation systems are related to specific capacities of the relevant organizations implementing change. This analytical framework is used in the study of trans-national policy learning in Europe in the area...... of science–industry relations, showing the importance of capacities (or lack thereof). This calls for the practical need of addressing organizational capacity-building, in particular of analytical capacity, for truly strategic innovation policy-making....

  16. Applying the balanced scorecard to local public health performance measurement: deliberations and decisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kurji Karim

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background All aspects of the heath care sector are being asked to account for their performance. This poses unique challenges for local public health units with their traditional focus on population health and their emphasis on disease prevention, health promotion and protection. Reliance on measures of health status provides an imprecise and partial picture of the performance of a health unit. In 2004 the provincial Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences based in Ontario, Canada introduced a public-health specific balanced scorecard framework. We present the conceptual deliberations and decisions undertaken by a health unit while adopting the framework. Discussion Posing, pondering and answering key questions assisted in applying the framework and developing indicators. Questions such as: Who should be involved in developing performance indicators? What level of performance should be measured? Who is the primary intended audience? Where and how do we begin? What types of indicators should populate the health status and determinants quadrant? What types of indicators should populate the resources and services quadrant? What type of indicators should populate the community engagement quadrant? What types of indicators should populate the integration and responsiveness quadrants? Should we try to link the quadrants? What comparators do we use? How do we move from a baseline report card to a continuous quality improvement management tool? Summary An inclusive, participatory process was chosen for defining and creating indicators to populate the four quadrants. Examples of indicators that populate the four quadrants of the scorecard are presented and key decisions are highlighted that facilitated the process.

  17. Applying the balanced scorecard to local public health performance measurement: deliberations and decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weir, Erica; d'Entremont, Nadine; Stalker, Shelley; Kurji, Karim; Robinson, Victoria

    2009-05-08

    All aspects of the heath care sector are being asked to account for their performance. This poses unique challenges for local public health units with their traditional focus on population health and their emphasis on disease prevention, health promotion and protection. Reliance on measures of health status provides an imprecise and partial picture of the performance of a health unit. In 2004 the provincial Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences based in Ontario, Canada introduced a public-health specific balanced scorecard framework. We present the conceptual deliberations and decisions undertaken by a health unit while adopting the framework. Posing, pondering and answering key questions assisted in applying the framework and developing indicators. Questions such as: Who should be involved in developing performance indicators? What level of performance should be measured? Who is the primary intended audience? Where and how do we begin? What types of indicators should populate the health status and determinants quadrant? What types of indicators should populate the resources and services quadrant? What type of indicators should populate the community engagement quadrant? What types of indicators should populate the integration and responsiveness quadrants? Should we try to link the quadrants? What comparators do we use? How do we move from a baseline report card to a continuous quality improvement management tool? An inclusive, participatory process was chosen for defining and creating indicators to populate the four quadrants. Examples of indicators that populate the four quadrants of the scorecard are presented and key decisions are highlighted that facilitated the process.

  18. Environmental Discourse: Helping Graduate Students Build Effective Deliberation and Communication Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huntzinger, D. N.; Downard, J.; Nielsen, E.

    2015-12-01

    The environmental sciences are at the forefront of critical issues facing society in the coming decades. As a result, many graduates in the environmental sciences find themselves working with the public to help inform the democratic process of making reasonable public policies. In order to be successful, students need to be confronted with the same kinds of questions and problems that practicing scientists face when they are working at the intersection of science and public policy. Otherwise, they lack the skills and confidence needed to work effectively with the public—especially on hotly contested environmental issues when the skills are needed the most. As part of a new Professional Science Master's (PSM) Program in Climate Science and Solutions at Northern Arizona University we have developed a three-semester course series focused on framing discussions on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Each semester, students use a deliberative model to design, frame, and facilitate a public discussion on a targeted issue of regional and local interest. The deliberative model is built around an approach to practical dilemmas that enables students to isolate and clarify the various sources of conflict around the issue. Working in an iterative manner, students learn to identify and untangling some of the sources of disagreement (e.g., policy, ethics and ideals, difference in scientific understanding) around and issue. As a result, students are in a much better position to clarify the key questions and sort through the competing solutions. The course series helps to improve the communication skills of students and promote productive public discourse with individuals from diverse backgrounds within the community. This type of experiential learning provides unique training to our students that not only broadens there understanding of complex issues surrounding climate change, but also provides them with professional skills that are transferrable to their careers.

  19. Venue Shifts and Policy Change in EU Fisheries Policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Princen, S.B.M.

    2010-01-01

    Over the past two decades profound changes have taken place in the European Union's (EU) fisheries policy. Partly these changes have occurred within the EU's Common Fisheries Policy itself, but partly policy change has been effected by the application of environmental legislation and policy

  20. Reshaping skills policy in South Africa: structures, policies and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Reshaping skills policy in South Africa: structures, policies and processes. ... New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy ... South African skills development policy since the promulgation of the Skills Development Act of 1998 has undergone a number of different iterations or attempts at accelerating ...

  1. How nutrition policy affects food and agricultural policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, S R

    1994-09-01

    The impact of the improved understanding of nutrition and the importance of the diet in nutrition status has had subtle but far-reaching consequences for food and agricultural policy. Many of the changes in the food supply are in response to increased consciousness of diet, nutrition and health status. The simple connection between nutrition policy and food and agricultural policy follows from the sovereignty of the consumer. Nutrition policy influences consumers' attitudes and choices. These impact the behavior of agents in the food and production system. And, if properly designed, food and agricultural policies can accelerate the process of adapting the production and distribution systems for agriculture and food to better meet the demands of the more informed consumer. Policies that reflect the behavior of consumers and supply better information to the agents in the food and agricultural system will be the most effective.

  2. Corporate Language Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanden, Guro Refsum

    This paper offers a review of literature dealing with language policies in general and corporate language policies in particular. Based on a discussion of various definitions of these concepts within two research traditions, i.e. sociolinguistics and international management, a three......-level definition of corporate language policies is presented, emphasising that a corporate language policy is a context-specific policy about language use. The three-level definition is based on the argument that in order to acquire a complete understanding of what corporate language policies involve, one needs...... to consider three progressive questions; 1) what is a policy? 2) what is a language policy?, and ultimately, 3) what is a corporate language policy?...

  3. Corporate Language Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanden, Guro Refsum

    2015-01-01

    This paper offers a review of literature dealing with language policies in general and corporate language policies in particular. Based on a discussion of various definitions of these concepts within two research traditions, i.e. sociolinguistics and international management, a three......-level definition of corporate language policies is presented, emphasising that a corporate language policy is a context-specific policy about language use. The three-level definition is based on the argument that in order to acquire a complete understanding of what corporate language policies involve, one needs...... to consider three progressive questions; 1) what is a policy? 2) what is a language policy?, and ultimately, 3) what is a corporate language policy?...

  4. Five key recommendations for the implementation of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration systems in Scotland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathrin Cresswell

    2017-01-01

    Our five recommendations will, we hope, provide a starting point for the strategic deliberations of policy makers. Throughout this journey, it is important to view the deployment of HEPMA as part of a wider strategic goal of creating integrated digital infrastructures across Scotland.

  5. Macroeconomic stability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jespersen, Jesper

    2004-01-01

    It is demonstrated that full employment and sustainable development not necessarily are conflicting goals. On the other hand macroeconomic stability cannot be obtained without a deliberate labour sharing policy and a shift in the composition of private consumption away from traditional material...

  6. Vietnam

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Cathy Egan

    taken with the eager collaboration of Vietnam's government, have since ... social sciences; and environment and natural resource management) was ... deliberate and increasing openness to the world of trade, investment, and knowl- edge ... Vietnam design trade liberalization and competition policies (in part as preparation.

  7. The evolution of health policy guidelines for assisted reproduction in the Republic of Ireland, 2004-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, David J; Ma, Mary L; Sills, Eric Scott

    2011-06-24

    This analysis reports on Irish regulatory policies for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) from 2004-2009, in the context of membership changes within the Medical Council of Ireland. To achieve this, the current (2009) edition of the Guide to Professional Conduct & Ethics was compared with the immediately preceding version (2004). The statutory composition of the Medical Council from 2004-2009 was also studied. Content analysis of the two editions identified the following differences: 1) The 2004 guide states that IVF "should only be used after thorough investigation has failed to reveal a treatable cause of the infertility", while the 2009 guide indicates IVF "should only be used after thorough investigation has shown that no other treatment is likely to be effective"; 2) The 2004 stipulation stating that fertilized ovum (embryo) "must be used for normal implantation and must not be deliberately destroyed" is absent from the 2009 guidelines; 3) The option to donate "unused fertilised ova" (embryos) is omitted from the 2009 guidelines; 4) The 2009 guidelines state that ART should be offered only by "suitably qualified professionals, in appropriate facilities, and according to the international best practice"; 5) The 2009 guidelines introduce criteria that donations as part of a donor programme should be "altruistic and non-commercial". These last two points represent original regulatory efforts not appearing in the 2004 edition. The Medical Practitioners Act 2007 reduced the number of physicians on the Medical Council to 6 (of 25) members. The ethical guidelines from 2004 preceded this change, while the reconstituted Medical Council published the 2009 version. Between 2004 and 2009, substantial modifications in reproductive health policy were incorporated into the Medical Council's ethical guidelines. The absence of controlling Irish legislation means that patients and IVF providers in Ireland must rely upon these guidelines by default. Our critique traces the evolution

  8. Interactions between renewable energy policy and renewable energy industrial policy: A critical analysis of China's policy approach to renewable energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Sufang; Andrews-Speed, Philip; Zhao, Xiaoli; He, Yongxiu

    2013-01-01

    This paper analyzes China's policy approach to renewable energies and assesses how effectively China has met the ideal of appropriate interactions between renewable energy policy and renewable energy industrial policy. First we briefly discuss the interactions between these two policies. Then we outline China's key renewable energy and renewable industrial policies and find that China's government has well recognized the need for this policy interaction. After that, we study the achievements and problems in China's wind and solar PV sector during 2005–2012 and argue that China's policy approach to renewable energies has placed priority first on developing a renewable energy manufacturing industry and only second on renewable energy itself, and it has not effectively met the ideal of appropriate interactions between renewable energy policy and renewable energy industrial policy. Lastly, we make an in-depth analysis of the three ideas underlying this policy approach, that is, the green development idea, the low-carbon leadership idea and indigenous innovation idea. We conclude that Chinas' policy approach to renewable energies needs to enhance the interactions between renewable energy policy and renewable energy industrial policy. The paper contributes to a deeper understanding of China's policy strategy toward renewable energies. -- Highlights: •Interactions between renewable energy policy and renewable energy industrial policy are discussed. •China's key renewable energy and renewable energy industrial policies are outlined. •Two empirical cases illustrate China's policy approach to renewable energies. •We argue that China needs to enhance the interactions between the two policies. •Three ideas underlie China's policy approach to renewable energies

  9. Single Policy Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kronsell, Annica; Manners, Ian James

    2015-01-01

    Single policy studies are the most common form of European Union (EU) research. Single policy studies are widely used to understand the role of the EU in a wide variety of sectors, together with their development over time, and often offer public policy prescriptions. This chapter discusses...... the relevance of single policy studies in EU research and give examples of how such research can be designed and carried out. The chapter reviews three examples of single policy studies using different methods based on EU environmental policy, the EU biofuels directive, and the EU Common Security and Defence...... Policy (CSDP). The examples are illustrative of how single policy studies can be designed to use different approaches in the analysis: multiple streams approach to policy-making; a comparative hypothesis testing; and feminist institutional theory....

  10. A study on the hydrogen recombination rates of catalytic recombiners and deliberate ignition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fineschi, F.; Bazzichi, M.; Carcassi, M.

    1994-01-01

    A study is being carried out by the Department of Nuclear and Mechanical Constructions (DCMN) at the University of Pisa on catalytic recombiners and on deliberately induced weak deflagration. The recombination rates of different types of catalytic devices were obtained from a thorough analysis of published experimental data. The main parameter that affects the effectiveness of these devices seems to be the molar density of the deficiency reactant rather than its volumetric concentration. The recombination rate of weak deflagrations in vented compartments has been assessed with experimental tests carried out in a small scale glass vessel. Through a computerized system of analysis of video recordings of the deflagrations, the flame surface and the burned gas volume were obtained as functions of time. Although approximations are inevitable, the method adopted to identify the position of the flame during propagation is more reliable than other non-visual methods (thermocouples and ion-probes). It can only easily be applied to vented weak deflagrations, i.e. when the hydrogen concentration is far from stoichiometric conditions and near to flammability limits, because the pressurization has to be limited due to the low mechanical resistance of the glass. The values of flame surface and burned gas volume were used as inputs for a computer code to calculate the recombining rate, the burning velocity and the pressure transient in the experimental test. The code is being validated with a methodology principally based on a comparison of the measurements of pressure with the calculated values. The research gave some very interesting results on a small scale which should in the future be compared with large scale data

  11. Efficiency and the public interest: QF transmission and the Energy Policy Act of 1992

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fox-Penner, P.

    1993-01-01

    Prior to the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Act), most Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) deliberations involving transmission services did not occur in transmission rate or service proceedings per se. The Commission conducted a number of general inquiries or studies of the subject, including setting the terms and conditions of transmission services as part of merger proceedings and open-quotes market-basedclose quotes pricing proceedings. With the passage of the Act, the FERC is likely to be asked to confront the advisability of requiring transmission services in a more direct manner. The Act permits open-quotes[a]ny electric utility, Federal power marketing agency, or any other person generating electrical energy for sale for resaleclose quotes to petition the Commission for a wheeling order. The FERC may order wheeling in accordance with section 212 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) and a finding that such wheeling would open-quotes otherwise be in the public interest.close quotes When compounded with the need to find that wheeling is in the public interest, the requirements set forth in section 212 are considerable. This article focuses on an important area of section 212 criteria, namely the interplay between between the public interest and economic efficiency criteria in the case of Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) Qualifying Facilities (QF). Two recent proceedings in which the FERC considered the need to provide power transmission service guarantees for QFs are analyzed from the standpoint of public and private economic welfare. The two proceedings are the merger of Utah Power ampersand Light Company, PacifiCorp, PC/UP ampersand L Merging Corporation (Utah) and the Western Systems Power Pool application (WSPP)

  12. Transformation of Croatian Disabled Policy: Analysis of Policy Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Petek

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is based on the idea of transformation of the policy-making mode of Croatian disabled policy, from the medical model, through the social model to the human rights model. The paper highlights 7 elements according to which these models differ, and which are structured into categories of problem-definition, goal-determination and then implementation of disabled policy. The analysis is focused on the goals of Croatian disabled policy, and is based on an interdisciplinary research project of political science, special education and social work. Empirical data were collected by document analysis, by interviewing relevant policy actors and by a survey with the members of representative bodies on all government levels. With the discourse analysis of documents, open coding of interviews and statistical analysis of data collected in the survey, the paper attempts, through the indicator of activity of persons with disability, to answer to what extent Croatian disabled policy is transformed into human rights policy.

  13. Commodities and Switzerland: Development Policy Challenges and Policy Options

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Werner Thut

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available EDITOR’S NOTEThis paper, written in December 2012, is a contribution to the ‘Policy Debate’ section of the International Development Policy. In this section, academics, policy makers and practitioners engage in a dialogue on global development challenges. Papers are copy-edited but not peer-reviewed. Instead, an initial thematic contribution is followed by critical comments and reactions from different stakeholders. This paper by Werner Thut is followed by reactions and analysis from a non-profit policy institute (Alexandra Gillies, Revenue Watch Institute, New York, ‘Crafting a Strategic Response to the Commodity-Development Conundrum’, a Southern scholar (Prof. Humberto Campodonico, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima ‘Going Beyond Transparency and Good Governance’ | ‘Más allá de la transparencia y una buena gobernanza’ and a representative of the trading sector (Stéphane Graber, Secretary General of Geneva Trading & Shipping Association – ‘Reassessing the Merchants’ Role in a Globalized Economy’.PAPER’S ABSTRACTSwitzerland is one of the world’s largest commodity trading hub. The author, senior policy adviser at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC, reviews experiences and policy options related to commodity trading from a development policy perspective. While this sector has become of strategic importance to Switzerland’s economy, it also entails a number of risks. On the other hand, Swiss development cooperation efforts focus on several resource-rich countries, whose mineral and agricultural commodities are traded via Switzerland. How can Switzerland assist these countries to reap the benefits of their natural resource wealth? This paper looks at development policy aspects of commodity trading in relation to Swiss foreign and domestic policy. It examines ongoing policy debates in Switzerland and discusses development policy options.

  14. When Regional Innovation Policies Meet Policy Rationales and Evidence:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borrás, Susana; Jordana, Jacint

    regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s there has been an important development......In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognise their distinctive patterns across...... of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialisation; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic...

  15. When Regional Innovation Policies Meet Policy Rationales and Evidence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borrás, Susana; Jordana, Jacint

    2016-01-01

    regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s, there has been an important development......In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognize their distinctive patterns across...... of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialization; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic...

  16. Explaining trends in addictive behaviour policy--the role of policy coherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adam, Christian; Raschzok, Andreas

    2014-05-01

    This article analyses addictive behaviour policy regimes - focusing on illegal drugs and gambling - in 19 countries over a period of 50 years. It compares how these countries have combined rules on the consumption and possession of cannabis and on the participation in sports betting with sanctions for violations of these rules. While theories of policy convergence can explain dominant trends in the way the combination of these policy instruments have changed, they cannot account for all of the empirical variation observed. Turning to Portugal, a case which deviates in both illegal drug and gambling policy from the expected trend, we show that explanations of policy change improve substantially when taking the concept of policy coherence into account. Specifically, we argue that changes of the policy status quo are facilitated when policy entrepreneurs succeed in shaping a perception of policy incoherence. In turn, when relevant actors are able to maintain a perception of policy coherence, the policy status quo is stabilized. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. The policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laruelle, Ph.; Snegaroff, Th.; Moreau, S.; Tellenne, C.; Brunel, S.

    2005-01-01

    Fourth chapter of the book on the geo-policy of the sustainable development, this chapter deal with the different and international policies concerned by the problem. The authors analyze the american energy attitude and policy, the economical equilibrium facing the environmental equilibrium for the european policy, the sanctified and sacrificed nature and the japanese attitude, India and China, the great fear of the 21 century and the sustainable development in Africa. (A.L.B.)

  18. Trade Policy

    OpenAIRE

    Murray Gibbs

    2007-01-01

    In an otherwise insightful and thoughtful article, Sebastian Pfotenhauer (Trade Policy Is Science Policy,” Issues, Fall 2013) might better have entitled his contribution “Trade Policy Needs to Be Reconciled with Science Policy.” The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the agreements administered by the World Trade Organization, particularly the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), were adopted to promote international trade and i...

  19. Streamlining Policy Creation in Policy Frameworks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.A. Hills (Mark); N. Martí-Oliet; M. Palomino

    2012-01-01

    textabstract{\\it Policy frameworks} provide a technique for improving reuse in program analysis: the same language frontend, and a core analysis semantics, can be shared among multiple analysis policies for the same language, while analysis domains (such as units of measurement) can be shared among

  20. Prospects for public participation on nuclear risks and policy options: innovations in governance practices for sustainable development in the European Union.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, M; van den Hove, S

    2001-09-14

    We outline the potential participative governance and risk management in application to technological choices in the nuclear sector within the European Union (EU). Well-conducted public participation, stakeholder consultation and deliberation procedures can enhance the policy process and improve the robustness of strategies dealing with high-stakes investment and risk management challenges. Key nuclear issues now confronting EU member states are: public concern with large-scale environmental and health issues; the Chernobyl accident (and others less catastrophic) whose effect has been to erode public confidence and trust in the nuclear sector; the maturity of the nuclear plant, hence the emerging prominence of waste transportation, reprocessing and disposal issues as part of historical liability within the EU; the nuclear energy heritage of central and eastern European candidate countries to EU accession. The obligatory management of inherited technological risks and uncertainties on large temporal and geographical scales, is a novel feature of technology assessment and governance. Progress in the nuclear sector will aid the development of methodologies for technological foresight and risk governance in fields other than the nuclear alone.

  1. Employing imperfect advance demand information in ordering and inventory rationing decisions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tan, T.; Güllü, R.; Erkip, N.

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we consider an inventory problem with two demand classes having different priorities. The appropriate policy of rationing the available stock, i.e. reserving some stock for meeting prospective future demand of preferred customers at the expense of deliberately losing some of the

  2. Pattern of alcohol consumption among males and females and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... majority engaged in problem drinking despite awareness of the health problems associated with alcohol consumption. Hence there is dire need for deliberate Government policy to regulate the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages in view of the health, social, and economic consequences associated ...

  3. Organization for field operator training

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boizet, F.; Dejou, P.

    1996-01-01

    Organization for field operator training is described, dealing with 4 strong ambitions: deliberate policy of encouraging the staff to accept greater personal responsibilities; on shift and off shift support to allow this acceptation; continuous enhancement of individual and team professionalism; reinforcement of the management

  4. EU Policy. A Debate on EU Energy Policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, R.; Kjoelbye, L.; Aaslund, A.; Zwitserloot, R.

    2008-01-01

    Views from four experts in the field of energy on the EU's energy policy, as laid down in the Third Package, are presented. Kjoelbye and Cohen argue about the pros and cons of unbundling, Aaslund defends the policy of reciprocity towards Gazprom, and Zwitserloot warns that Europe's anti-Gazprom policy endangers security of supply

  5. Deliberative Political Leaders: The Role of Policy Input in Political Leadership

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer Lees-Marshment

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article provides a fresh perspective on political leadership by demonstrating that government ministers take a deliberative approach to decision making. Getting behind the closed doors of government through 51 elite interviews in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the article demonstrates that modern political leadership is much more collaborative than we usually see from media and public critique. Politicians are commonly perceived to be power-hungry autocratic, elite figures who once they have won power seek to implement their vision. But as previous research has noted, not only is formal power circumscribed by the media, public opinion, and unpredictability of government, more collaborative approaches to leadership are needed given the rise of wicked problems and citizens increasingly demand more say in government decisions and policy making. This article shows that politicians are responding to their challenging environment by accepting they do not know everything and cannot do everything by themselves, and moving towards a leadership style that incorporates public input. It puts forward a new model of Deliberative Political Leadership, where politicians consider input from inside and outside government from a diverse range of sources, evaluate the relative quality of such input, and integrate it into their deliberations on the best way forward before making their final decision. This rare insight into politician’s perspectives provides a refreshing view of governmental leadership in practice and new model for future research.

  6. Regulation of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF): a Model for Balancing Research, Environmental and Policy Concerns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leinen, M.; Lamotte, R.

    2008-12-01

    The potential of enhancing carbon sequestration by the biosphere for climate mitigation often raises questions of offsetting effects. These questions become more important as the scale of the enhancement increases. Ocean iron fertilization is accompanied by additional questions related to use of the ocean commons. The London Convention (LC) and London Protocol (LP), international treaties adopted in 1972 and 1996 respectively, were designed to prevent use of the ocean for disposal of toxic, harmful and radioactive pollutants. Recently the LC/LP has been called upon to decide whether climate mitigation activities, such as subseafloor injection of CO2 and OIF, are legal under the framework and, if so, how they should be regulated. The broad consultation with the science community by the LC/LP in developing their perspective, and the involvement of the NGO community in these deliberations, provides a model for the process that the international policy community can use to develop science-based regulatory guidelines for carbon mitigation projects involving the commons. And the substance of that emerging regulatory framework -- built on a national-level permitting process informed by internationally agreed guidelines and standards -- may also serve as a model for the oversight of other emerging technologies that take place in the global commons.

  7. Energy policy in transport and transport policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Dender, Kurt

    2009-01-01

    Explanations for, and indirect evidence of, imperfections in the market for private passenger vehicle fuel economy suggest there is a reasonable case for combining fuel economy standards and fuel or carbon taxes to contribute to an energy policy that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security. Estimates of key elasticities, including the rebound effect, indicate that the positive and negative side-effects of fuel economy measures on transport activities and external costs are limited. However, an energy policy for transport does not replace a transport policy that aims to manage the main transport externalities including congestion and local pollution. Conventional marginal cost estimates and standard cost-benefit reasoning suggest that policies that address congestion and local pollution likely bring benefits at least as large as those from fuel economy measures. But the large uncertainty on the possible effects of greenhouse gas emissions constitutes a strong challenge for standard cost-benefit reasoning. Emerging results from methods to cope with this uncertainty suggest that policies to stimulate the widespread adoption of low-carbon technologies in transport are justified.

  8. Energy policy in transport and transport policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Dender, Kurt [Joint Transport Research Centre of the International Transport Forum and the OECD, 2 rue Andre Pascale, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16 (France)

    2009-10-15

    Explanations for, and indirect evidence of, imperfections in the market for private passenger vehicle fuel economy suggest there is a reasonable case for combining fuel economy standards and fuel or carbon taxes to contribute to an energy policy that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security. Estimates of key elasticities, including the rebound effect, indicate that the positive and negative side-effects of fuel economy measures on transport activities and external costs are limited. However, an energy policy for transport does not replace a transport policy that aims to manage the main transport externalities including congestion and local pollution. Conventional marginal cost estimates and standard cost-benefit reasoning suggest that policies that address congestion and local pollution likely bring benefits at least as large as those from fuel economy measures. But the large uncertainty on the possible effects of greenhouse gas emissions constitutes a strong challenge for standard cost-benefit reasoning. Emerging results from methods to cope with this uncertainty suggest that policies to stimulate the widespread adoption of low-carbon technologies in transport are justified. (author)

  9. Policy integration, coherence and governance in Dutch climate policy : a multi-level analysis of mitigation and adoption policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bommel, van S.; Kuindersma, W.

    2008-01-01

    This report assesses the integration of climate policy in Dutch public policy at the national, regional, local and area level. The national analysis focuses on the horizontal integration of climate policy in national government programmes, adaptation and mitigation strategies and specific policy

  10. Learning by doing. Training health care professionals to become facilitator of moral case deliberation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stolper, Margreet; Molewijk, Bert; Widdershoven, Guy

    2015-03-01

    Moral case deliberation (MCD) is a dialogue among health care professionals about moral issues in practice. A trained facilitator moderates the dialogue, using a conversation method. Often, the facilitator is an ethicist. However, because of the growing interest in MCD and the need to connect MCD to practice, healthcare professionals should also become facilitators themselves. In order to transfer the facilitating expertise to health care professionals, a training program has been developed. This program enables professionals in health care institutions to acquire expertise in dealing with moral questions independent of the expertise of an (external) ethicist. Over the past 10 years, we developed a training program with a specific mix of theory and practice, aiming to foster the right attitude, skills and knowledge of the trainee. The content and the didactics of the training developed in line with the philosophy of MCD: pragmatic hermeneutics, dialogical ethics and Socratic epistemology. Central principles are: 'learning by doing', 'reflection instead of ready made knowledge', and 'dialogue on dialogue'. This paper describes the theoretical background and the didactic content of the current training. Furthermore, we present didactic tools which we developed for stimulating active learning. We also go into lessons we learned in developing the training. Next, we provide some preliminary data from evaluation research of the training program by participants. The discussion highlights crucial aspects of educating professionals to become facilitators of MCD. The paper ends with concluding remarks and a plea for more evaluative evidence of the effectiveness and meaning of this training program for doing MCD in institutions.

  11. A Decision Support Framework for Science-Based, Multi-Stakeholder Deliberation: A Coral Reef Example

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehr, Amanda P.; Small, Mitchell J.; Bradley, Patricia; Fisher, William S.; Vega, Ann; Black, Kelly; Stockton, Tom

    2012-12-01

    We present a decision support framework for science-based assessment and multi-stakeholder deliberation. The framework consists of two parts: a DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses) analysis to identify the important causal relationships among anthropogenic environmental stressors, processes, and outcomes; and a Decision Landscape analysis to depict the legal, social, and institutional dimensions of environmental decisions. The Decision Landscape incorporates interactions among government agencies, regulated businesses, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders. It also identifies where scientific information regarding environmental processes is collected and transmitted to improve knowledge about elements of the DPSIR and to improve the scientific basis for decisions. Our application of the decision support framework to coral reef protection and restoration in the Florida Keys focusing on anthropogenic stressors, such as wastewater, proved to be successful and offered several insights. Using information from a management plan, it was possible to capture the current state of the science with a DPSIR analysis as well as important decision options, decision makers and applicable laws with a the Decision Landscape analysis. A structured elicitation of values and beliefs conducted at a coral reef management workshop held in Key West, Florida provided a diversity of opinion and also indicated a prioritization of several environmental stressors affecting coral reef health. The integrated DPSIR/Decision landscape framework for the Florida Keys developed based on the elicited opinion and the DPSIR analysis can be used to inform management decisions, to reveal the role that further scientific information and research might play to populate the framework, and to facilitate better-informed agreement among participants.

  12. Student-Directed Video Validation of Psychomotor Skills Performance: A Strategy to Facilitate Deliberate Practice, Peer Review, and Team Skill Sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeBourgh, Gregory A; Prion, Susan K

    2017-03-22

    Background Essential nursing skills for safe practice are not limited to technical skills, but include abilities for determining salience among clinical data within dynamic practice environments, demonstrating clinical judgment and reasoning, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork competence. Effective instructional methods are needed to prepare new nurses for entry-to-practice in contemporary healthcare settings. Method This mixed-methods descriptive study explored self-reported perceptions of a process to self-record videos for psychomotor skill performance evaluation in a convenience sample of 102 pre-licensure students. Results Students reported gains in confidence and skill acquisition using team skills to record individual videos of skill performance, and described the importance of teamwork, peer support, and deliberate practice. Conclusion Although time consuming, the production of student-directed video validations of psychomotor skill performance is an authentic task with meaningful accountabilities that is well-received by students as an effective, satisfying learner experience to increase confidence and competence in performing psychomotor skills.

  13. Influence of inhomogeneous broadening and deliberately introduced disorder on the width of the lasing spectrum of a quantum dot laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korenev, V. V.; Savelyev, A. V.; Zhukov, A. E.; Omelchenko, A. V.; Maximov, M. V.

    2012-01-01

    Analytical expressions for the shape and width of the lasing spectra of a quantum-dot (QD) laser in the case of a small (in comparison with the spectrum width) homogeneous broadening of the QD energy levels have been obtained. It is shown that the dependence of the lasing spectrum width on the output power at room temperature is determined by two dimensionless parameters: the width of QD distribution over the optical-transition energy, normalized to temperature, and the ratio of the optical loss to the maximum gain. The optimal dimensions of the laser active region have been found to obtain a specified width of the emission spectrum at a minimum pump current. The possibility of using multilayer structures with QDs to increase the lasing spectrum’s width has been analyzed. It is shown that the use of several arrays of QDs with deliberately variable optical-transition energies leads to broadening of the lasing spectra; some numerical estimates are presented.

  14. Influence of inhomogeneous broadening and deliberately introduced disorder on the width of the lasing spectrum of a quantum dot laser

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Korenev, V. V.; Savelyev, A. V., E-mail: savelev@mail.ioffe.ru; Zhukov, A. E.; Omelchenko, A. V.; Maximov, M. V. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Nanotechnology Research and Education Center, St. Petersburg Academic University (Russian Federation)

    2012-05-15

    Analytical expressions for the shape and width of the lasing spectra of a quantum-dot (QD) laser in the case of a small (in comparison with the spectrum width) homogeneous broadening of the QD energy levels have been obtained. It is shown that the dependence of the lasing spectrum width on the output power at room temperature is determined by two dimensionless parameters: the width of QD distribution over the optical-transition energy, normalized to temperature, and the ratio of the optical loss to the maximum gain. The optimal dimensions of the laser active region have been found to obtain a specified width of the emission spectrum at a minimum pump current. The possibility of using multilayer structures with QDs to increase the lasing spectrum's width has been analyzed. It is shown that the use of several arrays of QDs with deliberately variable optical-transition energies leads to broadening of the lasing spectra; some numerical estimates are presented.

  15. Green Subsidies and Learning-by-doing in the Windmill Industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Jørgen Drud; Jensen, Camilla; Madsen, Erik Strøjer

    2001-01-01

    of windmills a dynamic cost function for producing windmills is tested. The cost disadvantage of producing electricity by windmills relative to traditional power stations has narrowed considerably because of a strong learning-by-doing effect. The deliberate policy to subsidize production of electricity...... by windpower has placed Denmark in a first-mover position in this market and the future has to show whether this is a successful story of an infant industrial policy....

  16. Bush vs. Obama Detainee Policy Post-9/11: An Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    total darkness; • deliberate exposure to extremes of heat and cold; • threats of attack from unmuzzled dogs ; • forced nakedness; • short...witness was not available as a practical matter or the production of the witness would have an adverse impact on military or intelligence operations...foreign inmates absent a formal agreement. Lithuania began talks with the United States about accepting prisoners from Guantanamo, and the European

  17. Sustainable Transitions on the Move - Guiding Visions for a Circular Bioeconomy in Scandinavia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Røste, Rannveig; Gregg, Jay Sterling; Coenen, Lars

    Grand societal challenges such as climate change, ageing population and food security feature increasingly on the agenda of policymakers at all scales. While traditional mission-oriented research and innovation policies were largely framed in technical terms, challenge-based policies claim...... to be less instrumental and more open-ended. One cannot simply specify the problem and develop a diagnosis but one needs to learn about the nature of the grand challenge in order to address it. This implies greater deliberation and contestation, both with respect to policy aims and means, and involves new...

  18. Styringskapaciteten i regional arbejdsmarkedspolitik

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Charlotte

    This book discovers the potential in regional labour market policy. It raises the question whether the regional labour market councils seek for and follows deliberative proces norms when they formulate the regional policy, and the more theoretical question about whether corporatism is compatible...... with deliberative proces norms at all. The conclusion is that if certain circumstances are fullfilled such as 1) competence to decide the policy, 2) trust from the central level and 3) an orientation towards a regional identity then there actually exists an institutional basis for deliberation....

  19. Healthy public policy in poor countries: tackling macro-economic policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohindra, K S

    2007-06-01

    Large segments of the population in poor countries continue to suffer from a high level of unmet health needs, requiring macro-level, broad-based interventions. Healthy public policy, a key health promotion strategy, aims to put health on the agenda of policy makers across sectors and levels of government. Macro-economic policy in developing countries has thus far not adequately captured the attention of health promotion researchers. This paper argues that healthy public policy should not only be an objective in rich countries, but also in poor countries. This paper takes up this issue by reviewing the main macro-economic aid programs offered by international financial institutions as a response to economic crises and unmanageable debt burdens. Although health promotion researchers were largely absent during a key debate on structural adjustment programs and health during the 1980s and 1990s, the international macro-economic policy tool currently in play offers a new opportunity to participate in assessing these policies, ensuring new forms of macro-economic policy interventions do not simply reproduce patterns of (neoliberal) economics-dominated development policy.

  20. Working for Policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Colebatch, H.K.; Hoppe, Robertus; Noordegraaf, Mirko

    2010-01-01

    Though democratic government calls for well-designed and implemented policy, there is surprisingly little expert guidance available for policy makers and politicians. Working for Policy fills that gap, addressing the nature of policy work and offering necessary guidance. The contributors bring